January 18, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Randy Holmes(LOS ANGELES) — While he admitted to not knowing a thing about the project, count Liam Neeson in if his old Padawan Ewan McGregor needs a hand in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+. 

Neeson played Kenobi’s master, Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace. Although his physical self met his end at the end of Darth Maul’s lightsaber, his voice was heard as Qui-Gon communicated through the Force in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and at the climax of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

In an interview with Collider about his new number-one film, The Marksman, Neeson admitted that while he “hadn’t heard a thing about the [Kenobi] project,” he added enthusiastically, “Sure! I’d be up for it!”

The upcoming series from repeat Mandalorian director Deborah Chow, which begins filming in March and stars McGregor reprising his role from the Star Wars prequels, is set after the events of Episode III, aka Revenge of the Sith.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 18, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC(LOS ANGELES) — Paul Bettany, star of Marvel’s WandaVision, currently streaming on Disney+, opened up to People magazine recently about the pain he experienced when watching his father struggle to come to terms with his sexuality.  Bettany also spoke about how the experience shaped the way he’s raising his kids with actress Jennifer Connelly.

Bettany says his dad had a 20-year relationship with another man after divorcing his mother, but “went back in the closet” following his partner’s death.

“That really speaks to the power of his Catholicism, which sort of led him to a place of shame and inability to mourn his partner in a real way,” explains the 49-year-old actor.

As a result, Bettany, who has three kids with Connelly — sons Kai, 23, and Stellan, 17, and daughter Agnes, nine — says “I really want my children, and I want everybody, to just live authentically as the person they are, and however hard that is, it’s absolutely better than pretending to be something other than you are.”

“Having been through a thousand years of therapy, there’s real power in getting to know yourself…and I have so many things to be grateful for,” he adds.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

By George Costantino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 18, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

HBO Max/Warner Bros.(LOS ANGELES) — While studios have been holding back films in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Warner Bros. has actually fast-tracked the premiere Godzilla vs. King Kong, according to Variety. 

The film will now drop two months earlier, on March 26, instead of May 21, simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.

The movie is the third in a trilogy of a WB’s “Montserverse,” following the success of 2014’s Godzilla and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, and again follows the mysterious Monarch corporation’s investigation of the earth-shaking titans, with humanity hanging in the balance as these two legendary creatures go head-to-head. 

Godzilla vs. Kong producer, Legendary Entertainment, recently settled a dispute with the Warner Bros. over its surprise decision to release its 2021 movies both in theaters and on HBO Max — after blocking Netflix’s $250 million bid to buy the monster movie. HBO and Legendary have since settled their differences. 

The film stars returning Godzilla players Alexander Skarsgård, Millie Bobby Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Kyle Chandler, and Demián Bichir.

By George Costantino and Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 18, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Craig Sjodin(NEW YORK) — Steve Martin says he has received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but admits he has mixed feelings about it.

Taking to social media over the weekend, the Cheaper by the Dozen star revealed that he received a shot in the arm and described what the process was like.

“Good news/Bad news,” Martin opened up his Saturday announcement on Twitter, “Good news: I just got vaccinated! Bad news: I got it because I’m 75. Ha!”

Martin says, age aside, getting the vaccine appeared to be the least of his worries, adding, “The operation in NYC was smooth as silk” — which he jokingly added he was aware of the cliché.

The Emmy and Academy Award-winning actor continued that the process was “hosted to perfection by the US Army and National Guard” and profusely thanked those who made it possible for him to get vaccinated.

“Thank you all, and thank you science,” concluded Martin.

It was previously announced by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that seven million New York residents are currently eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

New York’s COVID-19 vaccinations are by appointment only as supply is currently limited, says Cuomo.  Those interested in scheduling an appointment can do so on the state’s “Am I Eligible” website. 

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

January 18, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Courtesy of Open Road(NEW YORK) — The Marksman, the action thriller starring Liam Neeson, ended Wonder Woman 1984‘s three-week reign at number 1 at the box office with an estimated $3.2 million opening weekend.  The film, which debuted in 1,975 locations, is on a pace to bring in around $3.7 million through the Martin Luther King holiday on Monday.

That said, The Marksman will also go down as of the lowest-grossing films to top the box office in modern history, alongside Honest Thief and Robert De Niro’s The War With Grandpa, thanks to the country’s latest COVID-19 surge, which has left roughly 65 percent of U.S. theaters closed.

The aforementioned Wonder Woman 1984 slipped to second place with an estimated $2.6 million, bringing its U.S. haul to $35 million and $141.7 million worldwide.

Breathing down Wonder Woman 1984‘s neck though, in third place, is The Croods: A New Age, which delivered an estimated $2 million between Friday and Sunday.  It could overtake Wonder Woman by the end of the long weekend.

The Tom Hanks western, News of the World, landed in fourth place with an estimated three-day total of $1.05 million and $1.27 million for the four-day.

Rounding out the top five was Monster Hunter, the video game adaptation, grabbing an estimated $920,000, over the three-day and a chance at crossing the $1 million threshold through MLK day.

By George Costantino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.