December 18, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Disney+(NEW YORK) — The after-credits of the final chapter of this Mandalorian season contained one more surprise: the announcement of a previously un-announced fifth Star Wars TV series on Disney+.

Without divulging any secrets from the episode — and there are many — the chapter “The Rescue” contains an extra scene that sets up a series centering on fan favorite character Boba Fett. 

Treading lightly here to preserve the surprises, we’ll say after the credits rolled, show creator Jon Favreau treats fans to the sight of Temuera Morrison’s recently resurrected Boba Fett returning to a location first seen on the big screen in Return of the Jedi, and with him is Ming-Na Wen’s master assassin Fennic Shand.

After the action unfolds, a title card reads: “The Book of Boba Fett Coming December 2021.” 

Two weeks ago, Lucasfilm announced a limited Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, a Rogue One prequel show starring Diego Luna called Andor, and The Acolyte, a “mystery thriller” set long before the previous events in the Star Wars saga.

In a sadly ironic twist, the new announcement comes a day after the death of Jeremy Bullock, who played the bounty hunter in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. 

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

December 18, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Disney+(NEW YORK) — The season two finale of Disney+ hit The Mandalorian is now available for streaming, and fans have been champing at the bit to see if Grogu — AKA Baby Yoda —  escapes the clutches of Giancarlo Esposito’s evil Moff Gideon. 

Esposito was Emmy nominated for his performance as the villain, and he’s back in a big way in the finale, wielding the ancient — and pivotal — weapon known as the Darksaber. Esposito explains how excited he was to wield the weapon, which was also a major Easter egg for fans, in the finale of the first season: We see him crash his TIE fighter, ‘Oh, he could fly, too!'” he says with a laugh. 

“And he comes out with the most phenomenal, unbelievable element that is such a throwback to the earlier movies, the Darksaber. And so now you’re really kind of drawn into who this guy is and what is the story.”

The Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul veteran adds, “It’s exciting to be a part of the story that so many people around the world can relate to and and be entertained by, but also be moved by the power of the theology that exists within our storyline.”

Oscar, Emmy, and Tony winner Lin-Manuel Miranda was such a Star Wars fan that he played an uncredited Rebel pilot in The Rise of Skywalker. The Force is strong in his family, he explains to ABC Audio.

“My son just turned six, and so we said when you turn six, you can watch the ‘real’ Star Wars movies as opposed to the LEGO Star Wars that he had already watched so many times, you couldn’t watch them anymore,” Miranda laughs.  “So we just finished Last Jedi…We just did [episodes] 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. And then my wife and I are watching Mandalorian after they go to sleep.”

Brian Volk-Weiss is a super-fan, as well as the producer of Netflix’s hit shows The Movies That Made Us and The Toys That Made Us. He explained how The Mandalorian brings to life toys hardcore fans had as a child, and that they clamor to collect as adults. The sight of one obscure toy onscreen, the Imperial Troop Transport, got him emotional.

“Honestly, man, this is insane — and I’m aware of it — I teared up when I saw that,” he confesses.  “I teared up when I saw Ahsoka Tano … But when they showed Bo Katan for the first time…literally my first thought when I saw her was and again, this is insane, but I was like, like, ‘Wow, she’s real. They did it.'”

Volk-Weiss adds, “We are living in the greatest time in history to be a geek.”  

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

December 18, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Jim Spellman/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — (NOTE NATURE) Cheerstar Jerry Harris has pleaded not guilty on Thursday to seven new felony charges that he solicited sex from minors. 

The charges files against the Netflix reality star, 21, were four counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of enticement, one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of travel with the intent to engage in an illicit sexual contact with a minor, Us Weekly reports. Several of the charges in the indictment carry 15 to 30 year sentences.

When the new charges were announced, and prior to Harris’ plea, an attorney for two of his alleged victims praised the U.S. applauded authorities for being able to “locate victims and take action.”

“We are grateful that the U.S. Attorney and the FBI have continued to investigate this case, locate additional victims and take action,” attorney Sarah Klein said. “This was made possible because our clients’ mother initially had the courage to report Harris to the FBI and provided evidentiary proof of the manipulation, sexual harassment, abuse, and exploitation that her sons had suffered. We urge the authorities to undertake a thorough investigation of the United States All Star Federation, Varsity Spirit, and Cheer Athletics to determine which of their executives, employees, and representatives could have stopped Harris abuse and failed to do so.

Harris, who became a sensation after the January release of the cheerleading docuseries, was first charged with child pornography in September and has remained in custody at a federal facility without bond since his arrest. 

By Danielle Long
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

December 18, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Paramount Pictures(LONDON) — There’s more reported fallout from Tom Cruise’s now-viral rant on the set of Mission Impossible: 7.  After the actor allegedly went on a second tirade, five staffers have reportedly quit.

British tabloid The Sun reports that the 58-year-old actor exploded on set again after audio of his first rant was leaked to the media.

A source tells the publication, “The first outburst was big but things haven’t calmed since. Tension has been building for months and this was the final straw.”

“Since it became public there has been more anger and several staff have walked,” the source continued, who expressed sympathy for the three-time Oscar nominee.

“Tom just can’t take any more after all the lengths they have gone to just to keep filming at all,” the unknown source said. “He’s upset others aren’t taking it as seriously as him. In the end, he’s the one who carries the can.”

Cruise has starred in every Mission: Impossible film and is a producer on the film’s seventh installment.  He has also undergone great lengths to keep production on track after being mired by delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As previously reported, production was suspended in October when 12 employees tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Filming resumed earlier this month and Cruise has allegedly hired a cruise ship to allow staff to isolate.

Adds the source, “Tom has taken it upon himself to try to enforce precautions with a view to keeping the film running.”

However, Spencer MacDonald, who represents Bectu, an entertainment union, says Cruise’s actions were wrong.

“After a very difficult year for freelancers working in the industry the last thing crews deserve is a multi-millionaire Hollywood star screaming abuse and threatening their jobs,” he told The Sun.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

December 18, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News