November 20, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Andrew Eccles/Universal Pictures(SOUTH CAROLINA) — The news of the September 13 cancer-related death of a super fan of both of Halloween the holiday and Halloween the movie has now gone viral.

Twenty-nine year old Anthony Woodie married his longtime girlfriend Emilee on that date, in a ceremony in South Carolina that was officiated over the phone by ordained minister — and Halloween star — Jamie Lee Curtis.

According to the Post and Courier, Woodie, suffering from Stage 4 esophageal cancer, passed away just minutes later. 

This past summer, Woodie, along with the manager of his local movie theater and Emilee, were the first to see the yet-to-be released Halloween Kills.  The final wish was granted by the movie’s backers, Rough House Productions. 

Curtis learned about Woodie’s story afterward, and reached out to him. Not only did they speak on the phone, but she sent him some movie merch, and offered to officiate their wedding on September 13.

By the time the big day came around, however, Woodie’s condition was dire; according to the paper, he fell unconscious, and never awoke. But Woodie was still able to marry Emilee, with his family around him,

At 10:30 p.m. that night, Curtis called and, over the phone, conducted the ceremony. She reportedly said,  “Anthony and Emilee…May the blessings of God rest upon you, may his peace abide with you, may her spirit illuminate your heart now, in this moment.”

“With the power vested in me by the Internet, it is my great pleasure to tell you that you are now married people,” the star concluded.

Less than an hour later, at 11:17 p.m., Woodie passed.

His new bride called Curtis the next day to tell her the news; the two remain in touch, according to the paper.

Halloween Kills opens October 15, 2021.

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

November 20, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Dave J Hogan/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Letitia Wright had some pretty big shoes to fill in the new feature Mangrove from Steve McQueen’s anthology film series Small Axe.

The film, which follows the Mangrove Nine — a group Black British activists who were arrested and tried for inciting a riot at a protest against police — stars Wright as Altheia Jones-LeCointe, the leader of the British Black Panther Movement and one of the Mangrove Nine. Wright tells ABC Audio that she had little knowledge of the actual trial, which led to the first judicial acknowledgement that racism existed within the Metropolitan Police.

“I didn’t know that this case even occurred,” she admits. “But I know that, as fate and God would have it, there’s a time for us to be able to take stories on and bring them to the surface. And now’s the time.”

As Wright alludes, McQueen’s film is the first full-length feature on the protests and trial. Wright says after she researched and “[fed herself] all the information” she needed to become Altheia, her next step was to connect with the activist.

“And it was a beautiful connection,” Wright says. “I really made it very clear to her I wasn’t trying to replicate her or be her. I wanted to just represent her [and] what she was carrying in her spirit at that time to fight for what was important. And just be a voice for change for her people.”

Thankfully, they were both had the same vision with Wright noting that Altheia was “really was adamant about… it being done in the right way.”

“For there being truth there… and substance in what we were saying, what we were doing,” Wright explains.

“So hopefully we’ve achieved that. And hopefully she’s proud,” she adds. 

Mangrove is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.

By Candice Williams
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

November 20, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney(NEW YORK) — Carrie Fisher died at 60 years old on December 27, 2016, following a heart attack, and traces of several drugs were subsequently found in her system. But her brother Todd tells Page Six that Fisher would have died “long ago,” had it not been for the birth of her daughter, Billie Lourd.

The Star Wars actress was open about her lifelong struggles with mental illness and addiction. However, her brother explained, “When Carrie became a mother it grounded her very differently.”

Todd Fisher said, “Looking at Carrie, [we thought] ‘she’s going to be a mother, holy mackerel what is that going to be?'” While admitting she was a “unique” mom, Fisher says motherhood saved her. “It’s what kept Carrie with us. I think we would have lost Carrie long ago, long before if it hadn’t been for Billie,” he asserts.

Lourd gave birth to her first child, a son named Kingston, in September. Todd says Carrie would have loved to be a grandmother.

“Carrie would have continued that, she obsessed over Billie…I mean look what happened to my mom,” he said of actress Debbie Reynolds, who died a day after Fisher.  “[She] bought the house next door to Carrie to be close to Billie. Debbie and Carrie weren’t even talking at the time. She would have bought the house next door, so to speak.”

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

November 20, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.(LOS ANGELES) — Friends will still be there for you on Nickelodeon. The cabler on Thursday announced that it has renewed the award-winning series. 

Nick also announced that beginning Monday at 9 p.m. ET/PT, Nick at Nite it will air its “Super-Stuffed Friends-Giving,” featuring a lineup of classic Friends episodes with beloved funny moments from the series airing throughout the week, and a marathon of Thanksgiving-themed episodes on Thursday.

November 20, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

TM & COPYRIGHT © 1988 BY PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.(LOS ANGELES) — Paramount Pictures’ long-awaited sequel Coming 2 America will debut on March 5, 2021 on the Amazon Prime Video platform.

“Thanks to Eddie Murphy’s comedic genius along with the brilliant filmmakers, writers and fabulous cast, we couldn’t be more excited to celebrate this new adventure,” says Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke in a statement.  “We know audiences around the world will fall in love with this hilarious, joyful movie that will surely become a timeless favorite.”

As previously reported, original cast members Murphy, Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Shari Headley and Paul Bates are all set to reprise their roles in the sequel, which was to have had a theatrical release that the COVID-19 pandemic scuttled.

The original 1988 film Coming to America starred Murphy as Akeem Joffer, the crown prince of the fictional African nation of Zamunda. In an effort to find a wife, Akeem, along with his trusty assistant Semmi, played by Hall, travel to Queens, NY.  In the sequel, Akeem, who is set to become king, learns about a long-lost son and must return to America to meet his unlikely heir to the throne of Zamunda.

Coming 2 America also stars Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, Teyana Taylor, Tracy Morgan, Luenell, Jermaine Fowler, KiKi Layne, and Rick Ross, among others.

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