September 23, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

©2020 Fox Media LLC. (LOS ANGELES) — Liv Tyler has departed 9-1-1: Lone Star due to concerns surrounding COVID-19. 

The 43-year-old actress, who starred as EMS Captain Michelle Blake for one season, will not return for season two of Fox series, according to Deadline. 

Tyler currently resides in London with her partner and two of her children. The uncertainty of the fall transmission rates for COVID-19, in addition to having to travel from London to Los Angeles, were reportedly part of the reasons why she will not be a part of the new season.

Tyler’s role will not be recast or killed off, with producers having an open door policy for her to return, should she choose to do so. 

“What a thrill it was having a movie star of Liv Tyler’s stature to help us launch the first season of 9-1-1: Lone Star. We loved working with Liv and will be forever indebted to her for her haunting, powerful portrayal of Michelle Blake,” 9-1-1 co-creator Tim Minear says in a statement.  “While we were able to tell a complete chapter in Michelle’s story, as with Connie Britton on our mothership, we also feel like there are more stories to be told. The door here will always be open for a return.”

9-1-1: Lone Star stars Rob Lowe in the lead role of Owen Strand, a New York firefighter who moves to Austin, Texas, working to save lives while navigating his own personal problems.  

Production on season two is expected to start next month.

By Cillea Houghton
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

September 23, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Walt Disney Pictures(LOS ANGELES) — Here we go again: yet more major films have been delayed due to COVID-19.

Variety reports the release of Black Widow, West Side Story and Death on the Nile are being pushed to 2021. 

The Scarlett Johansson-fronted Black Widow was slated to open November 6, but will now debut next spring on May 7, while Steven Spielberg’s remake of the Broadway classic musical West Side Story will premiere on December 10, nearly one year after its originally scheduled December 18, 2020 date. 

The Kenneth Branagh-helmed Death on the Nile will still premiere this year, with a new release date of December 18.

Additionally, Deep Water starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, will premiere next summer on August 13. 

Black Widow‘s new release date is causing delays in other Marvel projects as well.  Eternals, starring Angelina Jolie and Kumail Nanjiani, is moving from February 12, 2021 to November 5, while Shang Chai and the Legend of the Ten Rings has been postponed for two months, from May 7 to a July 9, 2021 release.

By Cillea Houghton
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

September 23, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — Hallmark Channel and its parent company, Crown Media Family Network, are delivering on their promise to diversify their holiday movies.

Mean Girls actor Jonathan Bennett will star in The Christmas House, which is about a gay couple looking to adopt their first child, according to Michelle Vicary, executive vice president of programming for Crown Media Family Network.

Bennett’s co-stars include One Tree Hill actor Robert Buckley, Ana Ayora of In the Dark, veteran actor Treat Williams, NYPD Blue star Sharon Lawrence and actor Brad Harder. The Christmas House premieres on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Amid criticism that none of the previously-announced holiday films featured an LGBTQ lead, a Hallmark Channel spokesperson told ABC’s Good Morning America in July that the company was “committed to creating a Hallmark experience where everyone feels welcome” and would be announcing “LGBTQ storylines, characters and actors” in the future.

Last month, Lifetime beat Hallmark to the punch and announced it would be debuting its first-ever Christmas movie featuring an LGBTQ romance.

By Tony Morrison and Lesley Messer
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

September 23, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Eike Schroter/Netflix © 2020(LOS ANGELES) — Netflix is about to get real spooky. 

The streaming giant released the official trailer today for its new thriller, The Haunting of Bly Manor, the follow-up to the popular 2018 series The Haunting of Hill House. 

Creator Mike Flannagan gives Henry James’ 1898 horror story The Turn of the Screw a modern update in Bly Manor, which follows young au pair Dani Clayton, played by Victoria Pedretti, as she cares for two children at a lavish English countryside estate. But not long after her arrival, strange events begin to occur.  

In the clip, viewers head inside the eerie world of the Bly mansion where objects mysteriously move on their own and strange figures appear out of nowhere. 

“It may sound strange, but I’m having somebody else’s dream,” character Hannah Grose, played by T’Nia Miller, suspects, followed by clips of ghostly figures emerging from the water and appearing behind Dani in the mirror. 

“The people here, they’re born here, they die here,” Bly chef Owen, portrayed by Rahul Kohli, says ominously.

The trailer ends as Dani washes the dishes at the sink and frightening figure places a black-gloved hand on her hip.  

Bly Manor sees the return of several former The Haunting of Hill House cast members, including Pedretti and Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Peter Quint. They portrayed Nelly and Luke Crain, respectively, in Hill House. 

Henry Thomas, who played The Haunting of Hill House family patriarch Hugh Crain, and Kate Siegel, who played Theodora, will also appear in the new series.

The Haunting of Bly Manor premieres on Netflix October 9.

By Cillea Houghton
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

September 23, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Bravo(LOS ANGELES) — It’s official. Teddi Mellencamp will not return to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for Season 11. 

The now former housewife and daughter of rocker John Mellencamp confirmed the news in an Instagram video shared on Tuesday with the caption, “You heard it here last… Yes, it’s true, I am not coming back to #RHOBH.”

“Thank you to @bravotv, @evolutionusa, @bravoandy and all of the amazing women for the support (and the shade) for the past three years. Back to the shadows I go,” she wrote.

In the video clip, which is just over a minute-long, Mellencamp appeared fresh-faced, rocking athleisure wear with her six-month-old daughter Dove nearby.

“I recently found out that my contract as a housewife is not being renewed,” she said.

“Of course, when I got the news I was sad. It feels like a breakup almost because you develop such strong relationships with the cast, with the crew, and you get to do incredible things that you’d probably never get to experience without the show,” she continued. 

The mother of three added that despite the bad news, she’s “really looking forward to the future” and being able to focus on her family, friends, and All In — her accountability coach business. 

The 39-year-old reality star did not divulge any reason for why she was axed from the series but a source previously told the Daily Mail, “She is boring and stale and does not offer anything to the franchise with her robotic and staged delivery when interacting with the other cast members.

“The issue is, the other cast members don’t particularly like her and beyond Kyle [Richards] no one is friends with her,” they added.

Mellencamp appeared on RHOBH for three seasons (8,9 and 10).

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