July 24, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Credit: Scott Garfield. © 2019 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All rights reserved.(LOS ANGELES) — Another day, another announcement that Hollywood studios are shelving their big pictures until 2021. 

With U.S. theaters still shuttered because of the COVID-19 pandemic and cases increasing in many states, Variety reports Paramount has grounded Top Gun: Maverick. The Tom Cruise movie, which had already been bumped from its June 26th release date to December 23, will now fly into theaters on July 2, 2021.

The studio also announced that A Quiet Place II, which had been bumped from March 20 to September 4, will now be released on April 23, 2021.

Similarly, two Spider-Man projects have swung into new release dates; the Marvel Studios co-produced follow-up to Spider-Man: Far from Home will move from July 16, 2021 to November of that year.  The move no doubt is partly to make room for Marvel Studios’ anticipated openings: the studio’s Black Widow was bumped from its May 1 slot, causing a chain reaction of conflicts with the release dates for its other superhero flicks.

Also, the sequel to Sony’s Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has also been delayed by sixth months: it’s now slated for an October 7, 2022 opening.

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

July 24, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

© 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation(LOS ANGELES) — Following several delays, it seems even the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t keeping The New Mutants, the final X-Men universe film from 20th Century Fox, from sticking to its August 28 release date.

The film’s cast appeared at Thursday’s The New Mutants’ panel at ComicCon@Home, the digital version of the annual San Diego festival, to talk about the film, and even presented a glimpse of the opening sequence and a new trailer.

The psychological thriller — starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams and Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton — was shot in 2017, before Disney’s acquisition of the studio, and has had a rocky road to launch.

The movie, about a spooky facility where young mutants are pushed to their psychological and physical limits, was originally supposed to hit theaters April 13, 2018.  Its release was bumped to Feb. 22, 2019, and later moved to August 2, 2019.

The opening scene begins at 24:10 for those looking to find it in the recorded panel.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

July 24, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Amazon Prime(LOS ANGELES) — The Boys are back on Amazon Prime. Even before its second season premiere, the streamer has renewed the superhero vigilante drama for a third season, according to Variety. 

Season two will also present an after-show, titled Prime Rewind: Inside The Boys, hosted and executive produced by Aisha Tyler. The after-show will start on August 28 with a recap of the series so far. 

Based on the comic from Garth Ennis and produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the series centers on a group of egotistical — and in some cases sociopathic — superheroes, and a group of mortals led by Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher who are intent on taking them down.

The Boys launches September 4, three episodes, with an additional five episodes premiering weekly through October 9. 

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

July 24, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

ABC/Randy Holmes(LONDON) — (NOTE LANGUAGE) Amber Heard’s younger sister told a U.K. court on Wednesday that she “begged” her sister not to marry Johnny Depp, claiming that she saw the Pirates of the Caribbean star punch Heard “really hard” during a heated argument.

Whitney Henriquez testified that the estranged couple’s relationship was “tumultuous from the start,” adding that she noticed signs of physical abuse, such as bruises, cuts and burns on the actress, “early on,” according to written testimony submitted in Depp’s libel trial in London’s High Court, and obtained by Variety.

Henriquez, 31, went on to says that she confronted Depp for the first time about the alleged abuse in 2014, asking him, “Why did you f****** have to hit her?”

“Sometimes he would flat out deny it or downplay it by saying ‘No, I just pushed her, I didn’t hit her,’” she continued, adding that other times he’d try to “justify it.”

“He blamed her for it, saying things like: ‘I just love her so much but this is what she does to me,’ and never really took responsibility for it,” she added.

Henriquez claimed Depp’s jealousy was a major factor in the couple’s fights, saying, “Johnny was incredibly jealous and possessive, and was threatened by her former partners and co-stars, both men and women.”

Depp is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) and The Sun’s executive editor, Dan Wootton, over a 2018 article referring to him as a “wife beater.”  He denies abusing Heard.

The trial continues on Friday.

By George Costantino  
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

July 24, 2020 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Karwai Tang/WireImage(LOS ANGELES) — A representative for Mel Gibson confirms to ABC Audio that the Oscar winner spent a week in the hospital battling COVID-19. 

The actor and Hacksaw Ridge director was diagnosed with the disease in April, and was subsequently treated successfully in a U.S. hospital with the drug Remdesivir.

Gibson’s spokesperson says he’s now negative for the coronavirus, and like those who have recovered from the respiratory virus, has COVID-19 antibodies.

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