HBO Max/Warner Bros. Pictures(LOS ANGELES) — For the first time in six months, Cinemark’s Regal Cinemas chain will reopen, following shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deadline reports the nation’s second largest theater chain will start things off with a limited opening on April 2, with the release of Godzilla Vs. Kong, and will open more theaters across the country timed for the April 16 release of Mortal Kombat.
The trade further reports Regal has inked a deal with Warner Bros., the studio behind both films, to bring all of its 2021 titles to the big screen exclusively for 45 days.
WB announced earlier this year that its entire 2021 slate would simultaneously be released on theaters and HBO Max, including titles like The Suicide Squad and the upcoming Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark.
Marvel Studios(LOS ANGELES) — Marvel’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is ranked as the most watched series premiere ever on Disney+ during its opening weekend.
The streamer reports The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, starring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan respectively as the titular Avengers, was the most watched title overall Friday through Sunday, and for the same time period on a global basis, including in Disney+ Hotstar markets.
It joins the premieres of Marvel Studios’ first live-action series, WandaVision, and the season two premiere of The Mandalorian from Lucasfilm as the three most-watched Disney+ original series opening weekends to-date.
The series follows Sam Wilson/Falcon and Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, which ended with a very old Steve Rogers passing his Captain America shield and mantel to Wilson, who doubts his worthiness. The duo pairs up on a global adventure that tests their abilities — and their patience.
Marvel and Lucasfilm are owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
Amazon Studios(LOS ANGELES) — A new trailer for Them, the new Amazon Prime anthology series from Lena Waithe, has been derided by viewers as a ripoff of Jordan Peele’s films, Get Out and Us.
Amazon’s official synopsis of the film, set in the 1950s, follows a Black family that “moves from North Carolina to an all-white Los Angeles neighborhood during the period known as The Great Migration.” Their “idyllic home becomes ground zero where malevolent forces, next door and otherworldly, threaten to taunt, ravage and destroy them.”
Following a trailer for the show, released on Monday, Twitter users jumped all over the series, writing it off as a knockoff of Peele’s hit films.
“How’d [Waithe] go from a solid film like Queen and Slim…to producing a Jordan Peele knockoff?” one commenter complained. “It’s giving Get Out themes with US’s approach and title.”
“Imagine being Barry Jenkins and Jordan Peele only having two films under your belt but already having all these copy cats wanting what you have,” wrote another.
“This feels like someone whos [sic] never seen a Jordan Peele movie describing what a Jordan Peele movie is like,” shared one.
“Jordan Peele has given us two black horror movies and now they’re copying him already,” still another suggested.
Finally, one Twitter user observed, “they even ripped off the ‘Us’ title and called it ‘THEM.’”
However, some people who have seen the show have a more positive review, like this fan who raved, “This is going to be THE series to watch. I was fortunate to screen during #sxsw and it is. Amazing writing, storytelling and can we get into this talented and beautiful starring cast?”
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy(LOS ANGELES) — Portia de Rossi, wife of Ellen Degeneres, was rushed to the hospital on Friday for emergency appendicitis surgery.
People reports that the 48-year-old actress is back home and “doing well” after the ordeal.
A source to the magazine explained, “Ellen rushed Portia to the hospital on Friday night, she was in a lot of pain… It was appendicitis and she had surgery.”
Adds the insider, de Rossi is “now resting at home and Ellen is taking care of her. It was a scare at first, but all good now.”
According to Mayo Clinic, appendicitis happens when a blockage causes the organ’s lining to become inflamed. The condition, while common, causes severe pain and requires immediate treatment, which typically involves removal of the organ. The condition can become life threatening as the appendix can burst if left untreated.
Jean Baptiste Lacroix/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — (NOTE LANGUAGE) After spending five weeks at the hospital for a “heart issue,” actor Chevy Chase is recuperating at home.
The National Lampoon’s Vacation star confirmed to Page Six on Monday that he is back home at his residence in Westchester, New York.
“These are my first few days home. I can only say how happy I am to now be back with my family. I’m feeling good,” Chase, 77, explained. “I was in the hospital five weeks. A heart issue.”
The Emmy Award-winning comedian added that he will be staying put for awhile and will be spending all his time “around the house” and “not going anywhere.”
Says Chase, he doesn’t want to tangle with the ongoing pandemic.
“I used to go out and do anything. I’d do slapstick in front of 3,000 people. But at this moment I have no need to go out and meet COVID,” the Caddyshack star expressed before confessing that he is not exactly happy to be confined to his house.
“I read. Turn on TV. Watch the news. All drek,” said Chase, who gave a blunt review of the current state of entertainment and comedy.
“I see actors, comedians, producers, screenwriters working and, God bless them, but I don’t see anything great on television,” he lamented. ” It all became a generation of [morons] laughing at the world.”
Adds the Golden Globe nominee, “The humor today’s giving the next generation worse stuff than they already have in their own lives. It drives me nuts.”
While Chase did not go into detail about his heart condition, this isn’t the first time the comedian had a medical emergency.
While filming Modern Problems in 1981, he was electrocuted when the lights attached to his body for a dream sequence short-circuited.
HBO Max/Warner Bros. Pictures(LOS ANGELES) — For the first time in six months, Cinemark’s Regal Cinemas chain will reopen, following shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
