April 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Courtesy of Marvel Studios(LOS ANGELES) — Daniel Brühl is having the time of his life playing the fist-pumping, Marvin Gaye-admiring, and surprisingly cultured Baron Helmut Zemo in Disney+’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. 

“When I opened these scripts and saw what they had in mind with Zemo this time around, I was mesmerized and so happy because I’m always a fan,” Brühl tells ABC Audio. “[To] get the opportunity to [have] some sense of humor [and] to lighten things up.”

It’s safe to say the new Zemo is very different from the one in Captain America: Civil War, which Brühl describes as “driven and manipulative.” The actor says it is, “a privilege to show so many different sides” of his character.

“If you’re given the chance to revisit a character and do something very different with it, it’s the most wonderful experience,” Brühl explains. “Because then you don’t have to [worry about] repeating yourself [or becoming] redundant and boring.”

Ahead of next episode, Brühl says fans will get to see more of Zemo’s unlikely collaboration with Anthony Mackie’s Falcon and Sebastian’s Stan’s Winter Soldier. He also notes that this includes how the three of them will develop a “mutual understanding” and respect for one another.

“What I loved about the dynamic in the show with these three guys together is that they couldn’t be more different,” Brühl says.

“Obviously, very different attitudes, motivations, very different histories,” he continues. “But underneath it all, I think there’s a mutual understanding for each other’s pains and traumas because they’re all haunted by the demons of the past. And that’s what makes it so compelling to watch.”

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier airs Friday on Disney+.

Disney is the parent company of ABC News.

By Candice Williams
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

April 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Disney Channel Press(LOS ANGELES) — My Big Fat Greek Wedding is turning into a trilogy, says series star Nia Vardalos. The 58-year-old actress seemingly confirmed the news on Wednesday.

“Yes, it is true that for over a year we have been trying to film a script that I wrote called My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,” Vardalos said in an Instagram video, claiming she had to come clean because, “The news leaked because one Greek found out.”

When touching upon the movie’s impressive roster, said Vardalos, “Of course the entire cast is invited back!”

However, it was onto the bad news about the upcoming project, with the actress admitting, “We’re not filming. We are an independent film and apparently independent films cannot get insurance.”

Vardalos claimed that, currently, only studio films are able to obtain insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the indie movie industry in the lurch.

While the Golden Globe-nominee appreciated her fans’ “enthusiasm” over the upcoming title, she called for patience and joked that people need to stop “calling my mom’s house and asking if you can be in it.”

“Yes, everyone can be in it,” she laughed, concluding on the ambitious note that, “When we get film insurance, we are going to Greece to film!”

My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which also starred John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Joey Fatone, Rita Wilson and many others, became a box office success when it opened in theaters in 2002.  It made $368.7 million during its theatrical run, becoming the highest-grossing romantic comedy at the time, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Although the 2003 TV spin-off My Big Fat Greek Life was short-lived on CBS, a theatrical sequel was released in 2016 to moderate success.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

April 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Sony Pictures(LOS ANGELES) — Are you tired of Baby Yoda memes? Who ya gonna call? Well, Ghostbusters. Technically, the new teaser Ghosbusters: Afterlife, which features Paul Rudd running afoul of some mini versions of the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man. 

In the clip, set to spooky music, the actor is shown shopping for some ice cream.  He notices a bag of the marshmallows shaking on its own, only to see a tiny version of the Sta-Puft Marshmallow man emerge. Rudd’s character tries to poke its cute belly, Pillsbury Doughboy-style, when it turns on him and chomps his finger.

Rudd’s foot is then rammed by a Roomba driven by a gaggle of the tiny sailor men, and we see the store is being overrun with them, a la Gremlins. They happily roast each other on a barbecue, and one uses a kitchen torch to melt his smiling buddy into a s’more.

The shot cuts to black, and then we hear the three-note piano riff familiar to the fans of the series, and see the original Ghostbusters logo — a visual confirmation that this film will be a true sequel to the first two films.

Also starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Finn Wolfhard, and Mckenna Grace, Ghostbusters: Afterlife opens November 10.

By Stephen Iervolino
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

April 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage(LOS ANGELES) — Khloe Kardashian has nothing to hide. After receiving criticism and negative remarks over an unauthorized photo that surfaced over the weekend, she hit back at the haters.

On Wednesday, the 36-year-old Good American founder showed off her ripped body Instagram post with the caption, “PS Yes I did a live to show you all this isn’t photoshopped,” along with the tongue sticking out emoji.

The post included two videos of Khloe showing her body as well as a lengthy message addressing body image issues and why she wanted the leaked photo removed from the internet. 

“When someone takes a photo of you that isn’t flattering in bad lighting or doesn’t capture your body the way it is after working so hard to get it to this point, you should have every right to ask for it to not be shared – regardless of who you are,” she wrote.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star made mention of the various criticism she’s faced, including claims she relied on surgery to achieve her slim look and that the late Robert Kardashian is not her real father. 

“In truth, the pressure, constant ridicule and judgment my entire life to be perfect and to meet other’s standards of how I should look has been too much to bear,” she continued. 

Khloe added that she’s speaking out about this not for “sympathy” but to simply be “acknowledged for being human.”

“I have realized that we cannot continue to live life trying to fit into the perfect mold of what others have set for us,” she concluded. “Just do you and make sure your heart is happy.”

By Danielle Long
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

April 8, 2021 • No Comments • Entertainment News

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — Scott Rudin, an EGOT-winner who produced Oscar-winning films such as Lady Bird and No Country for Old Men, has been accused by multiple ex-staffers of physical, mental, racist and sexual abuse.

In a damning Hollywood Reporter story published Wednesday, the piece starts out with ex-staffers recalling a 2012 event when Rudin smashed an Apple computer monitor on one of his assistant’s hands — stating the producer became enraged for not being able to procure a seat on a sold-out flight.

The assistant required immediate medical attention while Rudin, allegedly, called his lawyer.

Andrew Coles, who worked for Rudin at the time, told THR, “There were the guys that were sleeping in the office, the guys whose hair was falling out and were developing ulcers. It was a very intense environment.”

Another staffer, Caroline Rugo, attests she was fired for having Type 1 diabetes but didn’t sue Rudin “because of the fear of being blacklisted.”

Adds Rugo, “Everyone just knows he’s an absolute monster” but excused his behavior because of his success.

Other staffers who have come forward have accused the 62-year-old of fostering a cult-like atmosphere and intimidating employees by throwing and breaking objects around the office. They claim Rudin would retaliate against those who quit, such as removing credits from IMDb pages and sabotaging their careers by emailing false accusations to their new employers.

Since the article’s initial publication, other ex-staffers have spoken out against The Book of Mormon producer, such as Megan Ellison, who worked with Rudin on True Grit.

“This piece barely scratches the surface of Scott Rudin’s abusive, racist, and sexist behavior,” she warned on Twitter. “Similarly to Harvey [Weinstein], too many are afraid to speak out. I support and applaud those who did.”

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.