‘Spider-Verse’ Sequel Is the Franchise’s ‘Empire Strikes Back,’ Chris Miller Says

EXCLUSIVE: Logan Miller (Escape Room franchise) has signed on to star alongside Barbarian breakout Georgina Campbell in Psycho Killer, a new horror-thriller from New Regency, which is heading into production in early spring.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks will release a brand new original short film titled “The Spider Within.” Set in the world of the upcoming release “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” the animated short will debut exclusively at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival this June. In the short, Miles Morales struggles to balance his responsibilities as a teenager, friend and student while acting as Brooklyn’s friendly neighborhood superhero. After a particularly challenging day living with these pressures, Miles experiences a panic attack that forces him to confront the manifestations of his anxiety and learn that reaching out for help can be just as brave an act as protecting his city from evil.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor It’s been more than 25 years since Ben Affleck became the youngest Oscar winner for best original screenplay for “Good Will Hunting,” which he co-wrote and starred in with Matt Damon. Isn’t it time for a sequel? Not so much. Damon laughed when revealing that Affleck was recently approached for a follow-up movie. “Someone just tried to pitch Ben ‘Good Will Hunting 2,’” Damon told me Monday at the premiere of “Air” in Los Angeles. “I shit you not — that happened. He told me today. He was like, ‘You’re not going to believe what I heard.’ This was a flat-out sequel. I don’t get it.”

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast, host Mike DeAngelo laughs and cries all over again for Apple TV+’s new dramedy, “Shrinking.” Created by Bill Lawrence (“Scrubs,” “Ted Lasso”), Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso,” “Thor: Love and Thunder”), and Jason Segel (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “How I Met Your Mother”), the show follows Jimmy (Segel), a therapist who has gone off the deep end after the death of his wife.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Chris Pine is hopeful that “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” gives moviegoers a true escape from real-world problems. “I’ve seen this film probably more than I’ve seen many of my other films because I love watching it with an audience,” the actor told me on Sunday at the film’s Los Angeles premiere. “To come out and see audience’s faces, you see exactly what cinema should do, which is people are, like, alive. They want to talk about it. They’re in a great mood. The world is so shitty so why not use this vehicle — big budget cinema — to make people feel better.” The adaptation of the iconic fantasy game was written and directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. Pine stars alongside Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justin Smith, Sophia Lillis, Hugh Grant and Daisy Head.

Chris Pratt’s son Jack loved seeing his dad in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”.

Oh boy, oh boy, Jimmy’s closet has caught the attention of Shrinking audiences — and are contacting costume designer Allyson Fanger for details.

One week after Gwyneth Paltrow sparked backlash over her intermittent fasting diet, ex-husband Chris Martin has revealed his own strict wellness regimen.

No trip to Las Vegas is complete without a stop at Chef Chris Santos’ Stanton Social Prime, which officially opened on Tuesday, March 21. Connected to the OMNIA Nightclub in Ceasars Palace, the new restaurant is full of whimsical vibes — which is exactly what the Chopped judge was hoping for when designing the eatery.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Wendi McLendon-Covey said during a recent interview with Andy Cohen for SiriusXM that Jeff Garlin’s exit from “The Goldbergs” was “a long time coming.” The two comedians headlined the ABC sitcom from its 2013 debut until December 2021, when Garlin was fired from the show after a series of HR investigations into his alleged misconduct on set. “That was a long time coming,” McLendon-Covey said. “That it finally happened, it was like, ‘Ok, finally someone is listening to us. But that was kind of hard though because we had lost George Segal in real life. To have to go through another loss on a sitcom…you can’t keep asking your audience to mourn people. That’s not why they tune in.”

Rush Hour franchise.Since Jackie Chan first confirmed that a fourth film is on the way in December last year, further details surrounding the film have been scarce. Now, in a recent interview with V-103, Tucker shared that his upcoming slate of work includes Rush Hour 4.Speaking about his upcoming work, Tucker said: “You’re going to see a lot of good stuff coming, but it’s going to be on a whole other level.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jackie Chan announced at the Red Sea International Film Festival last December that “Rush Hour 4” is officially in development. “We’re talking about Rush Hour 4 right now,” the acting icon said, adding that he would be meeting with the film’s director later that night to work on the script. No official “Rush Hour 4” details exist outside of Chan’s tease, but considering his co-star Chris Tucker more than eager to return to the franchise. Tucker recently spoke to  Audacy’s V-103 while making the press rounds for his role in Ben Affleck’s “Air,” and he included “Rush Hour 4” on his roster of projects coming up next. “You’re going to see a lot of good stuff coming, but it’s going to be on a whole other level,” Tucker said. “That’s what I like…I’m excited about that. It’s not going to be what you’ve normally seen…’Rush Hour 4,’ that’s something I definitely will probably drop in there because I love working with Jackie, but I’ve got some new stuff that I think you’re really gonna like. I’m excited about it.”

The Empire Strips Back: A Burlesque Parody” opens on May 10 at the Orpheum Theater in the East Village. It’s based on characters from the franchise and features “Sultry Stormtroopers, a dangerously enticing Boba Fett, and a lady-like Skywalker.” “We have scantily clad droids.

EXCLUSIVE: House of the Dragon star Milly Alcock tells me that she will make her professional theater debut for London’s National Theatre playing the vengeful Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller’s powerful drama The Crucible.

Charna Flam The so-called “crackberry” is back. IFC Films has released the first official trailer for the upcoming comedy-drama film, “BlackBerry,” which provides a peek into exactly how the handheld device revolutionized the cell phone industry. Director Matt Johnson, along with co-screenwriter Matthew Miller, adapted Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s book “Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry” for the big screen. Johnsonplays BlackBerry co-founder Douglas Fregin in the film, alongside Glenn Howerton as chair and co-CEO Jim Balsillie, Jay Baruchel as co-founder Mike Lazaridis and Cary Elwes as Palm CEO Carl Yankowski. The cast also includes Saul Rubinek, Michael Ironside, Rich Sommer, Michelle Giroux, Mark Critch and SungWon Cho.

Nicola Petlz Beckham has shared her hope of starting a family in the future, almost a year after marrying Brooklyn Beckham in a star-studded ceremony in Florida. The actress married Brooklyn, the eldest son of former England footballer David Beckham and Spice Girl and fashion designer Victoria Beckham, in a Palm Beach ceremony last April.

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EJ Panaligan editor The heroes in a half-shell are back. The first trailer for Paramount Pictures’ and Seth Rogen’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” reboot has been released. It’s the latest iteration of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello after several TV shows and film runs, and this is the second fully animated version to hit the big screen. Revealed on Saturday, the voice cast includes Micah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Nicolas Cantu and Brady Noon as the roles of Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael, respectively. The A-list cast has Jackie Chan as Master Splinter, Ayo Edebiri as April O’Neil, Rogen as Bebop, John Cena as Rocksteady, Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog, Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, Ice Cube as Superfly, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Post Malone as Ray Fillet, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom.

Chris Rock has addressed getting slapped by Will Smith for the first time during a new Netflix comedy special.At the 2022 Oscars, Will Smith stormed the stage and hit Chris Rock after the host made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Later that month, Rock said he was “still kind of processing what happened,” during a stand-up show. “At some point I’ll talk about that shit – and it will be serious and funny,” he added.Earlier today (March 5) Rock performed his Selective Outrage stand-up show at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, which was streamed live on Netflix.During the show, Rock addressed his run-in with Smith.