‘The Mandalorian’ Season 4 Is Already Written So That Its Story Fits Perfectly With ‘Ahsoka’ and More ‘Star Wars’ Series

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Mira Sorvino is calling out the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after her father, Paul Sorvino, was left out of the In Memoriam montage during the 2023 Oscars telecast. Mira, an Oscar winner herself for “Mighty Aphrodite,” called it “baffling beyond belief” that father Paul did not make the TV broadcast. She wrote on Twitter after the ceremony ended, “I for one am remembering Dad on this Oscars night…” “It is baffling beyond belief that my beloved father and many other amazing brilliant departed actors were left out,” Mira then wrote on Twitter the day after the 2023 ceremony. “The Oscars forgot about Paul Sorvino, but the rest of us never will!!”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director New “Lord of the Rings” movies are officially on the way from Warner Bros., and Andy Serkis is the first original cast member to say he’s ready to return to Middle-Earth. Serkis gave an iconic motion capture performance as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s original trilogy and reprised the role in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” “Look, [producers] Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens are sort of a second family that I have become part of and have gone on to make so many films with,” Serkis told BroBible’s Post-Credit Podcast. “And — let me tell you — they are the best and most incredible people to work with. I think that there are so many other potential Middle-Earth projects which could come about, and if they’re doing them, I would, of course, jump at the chance to have that relationship rekindled.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Hugh Jackman is officially in Wolverine mode. The actor shared a photo of his daily meal plan as his bulking phase goes into overdrive ahead of filming “Deadpool 3,” in which he will reprise the role of Wolverine opposite Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. The film marks the first “Deadpool” movie and Jackman’s first time playing Wolverine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Bulking. A day in the life,” Jackman wrote as a caption while sharing a photo of the six meals he will eat in a given day. “Thank you, Chef Mario, for helping me stay healthy and properly fed whilst… Becoming. Wolverine. Again.” Jackman’s meals include black bass (2,000 calories), Patagonia salmon (2,100 calories), two chicken burgers (around 1,000 calories each) and two grass-fed sirloins (1,100 calories each). That means Jackson is consuming over 8,000 calories a day now as he gets bulked up for Wolverine. To put that into perspective, Jonathan Majors ate 6,000 calories for four months in order to be play a bodybuilder in his buzzy Sundance movie “Magazine Dreams.” Jackson is eating far more.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director With the Oscars right around the corner, it’s good timing for Ruben Östlund’s satirical dark comedy “Triangle of Sadness” to make its streaming debut on Hulu. The film is up for three Academy Awards, including best picture and best director, so make sure to catch up on it before the 2023 Academy Awards air on March 12.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Chris Pratt’s voice role as Mario in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has been a point of debate ever since he was cast. Pratt is not Italian, after all, and many fans were left baffled when the movie’s first trailer dropped last October and revealed Pratt’s Brooklyn-heavy Mario voice. It’s not a concern for the film’s directors, Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath. The filmmakers told Total Film magazine that casting Pratt made sense given the Mario at the center of their story. “It’s a bit of an origin tale. It’s the story of Mario becoming Super Mario,” Horvath said about the film, adding that finding the perfect Mario voice meant finding an actor who could believably portray a plumber from Brooklyn who is “a blue-collar guy from a family of Italian immigrants.”

A classic theme park ride is getting a new look on the big screen.

From the beginning, the main criticism on Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian,” a show about Mandalorian Bounty Hunter, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), and the little Baby Yoda creature he’s been tasked with protecting, Grogu, was that the series was very episodic. After coming into contact with Grogu and becoming his ward in a fascinating “Lone Wolf and Cub”-like dynamic, that initially felt fresh and like a strange “Star Wars” Western, “The Mandalorian” quickly settled into a familiar pattern.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Evanna Lynch is the latest “Harry Potter” star to comment on the ongoing controversy regarding author and franchise creator J.K. Rowling’s gender beliefs, which have been routinely criticized for being anti-transgender. Lynch starred in the “Harry Potter” film franchise as the quirky Luna Lovegood. Back in 2020, Lynch deleted her Twitter after commenting on Rowling’s controversy. The actor said “it’s irresponsible to discuss such a delicate topic” as transgender rights on Twitter and “I wish [Rowling] wouldn’t,” but she added, “That said, as a friend and admirer of Jo I can’t forget what a generous and loving person she is.” Lynch received blowback at the time for supporting Rowling. In a new interview with The Telegraph, Lynch opened up about her relationship with the controversial author. The two first linked up long before Lynch joined the “Harry Potter” movies. The actor was 11 and living with anorexia and wrote a letter to Rowling about her struggle. The author responded and sent Lynch “incredible, wise letters” while she was in recovery.

K.J. Yossman “Prehistoric Planet” – exec produced by Jon Favreau and narrated by naturalist David Attenborough – has been given a second season order from Apple TV+. The five-episode season promises new dinosaurs, habitats and scientific discoveries when it returns for a week-long event on May 22 as well as glimpses of fan favorites such as Tyrannosaurus rex. Favreau returns to exec produce alongside Mike Gunton and BBC Studios Natural History Unit while Hans Zimmer, Anže Rozman and Kara Talve for Bleeding Fingers Music provide a soaring prehistoric score. The show combines high tech wildlife filmmaking alongside state-of-the-art technology and insight from dinosaur and natural history experts with support from the photorealistic visual effects of MPC (“The Lion King”) applied to concept art created by Jellyfish Pictures (“The Book of Boba Fett”). The result is an immersive experience that transports the viewer back to the prehistoric age.

Prehistoric Planet will be back for a second season. Apple TV+ has renewed the award-winning natural history series from executive producers Jon Favreau and Mike Gunton and BBC Studios Natural History Unit (Planet Earth). Narrated by David Attenborough, the five-episode second season will premiere globally in a five-day week-long event beginning May 22 on Apple TV+.

From the beginning, the main criticism on Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian,” a show about Mandalorian Bounty Hunter, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), and the little Baby Yoda creature he’s been tasked with protecting, Grogu, was that the series was very episodic. After coming into contact with Grogu and becoming his ward in a fascinating “Lone Wolf and Cub”-like dynamic, that initially felt fresh and like a strange “Star Wars” Western, “The Mandalorian” quickly settled into a familiar pattern.

is back with season 3, executive producers Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Rick Famuyiwa are opening about the decisions made in episodes involving Grogu and how that will affect the incredibly Force-sensitive being moving forward. To quickly recap the events of episodes five through seven -- which many have dubbed season 2.5 -- Grogu started his Jedi training with Luke Skywalker when he received a gift from Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal). This ultimately distracted him from the training at hand, with Skywalker eventually making him choose between a future as a Jedi or life on the road with his former steward. In the end, Grogu chose the bounty hunter — a decision that goes against what both Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) thought was best for him — and the two reunited before setting off into the galaxy on their next mission.

finally returned with new episodes as season 3 kicked off with «Chapter 17» on Disney+. The series stars Pedro Pascal as the titular bounty hunter named Din Djarin, who has been tasked with caring for Grogu, a Force-sensitive being he has grown fond of over the first two seasons and now sees as a son-like figure.Although we're only one episode into the new season, it's been confirmed by creator Jon Favreau that season 4 is in the works as they continue to expand the world — and many adventures -- of the hit spinoff series.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Brendan Fraser revealed on a recent episode of “The Kelly Clarkson Show” that he had a near-death experience during a stunt gone wrong while filming “The Mummy.” The Oscar nominee said he was “choked out accidentally” during a scene in which he had to be hanged with a rope. “I was standing on my toes like this with the rope and you only got so far to go,” Fraser said. “Stephen [Sommers, the director] ran over and he said, ‘Hey, it doesn’t really look like your choking. Can you sell it?’” The production team filmed one more take. Fraser said, “The camera swooped around and I went up on the toes and the guy holding the rope above me, he pulled it up a little higher and I was stuck on my toes and I had nowhere to go but down. So he was pulling up and I was going down. And then the next thing I knew, my elbow was in my ear, the world was sideways and there was gravel in my teeth.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Brendan Fraser revealed on a recent episode of “The Kelly Clarkson Show” that he had a near-death experience during a stunt gone wrong while filming “The Mummy.” The Oscar nominee said he was “chocked out accidentally” during a scene in which he had to be hanged with a rope. “I was standing on my toes like this with the rope and you only got so far to go,” Fraser said. “Stephen [Sommers, the director] ran over and he said, ‘Hey, it doesn’t really look like your choking. Can you sell it?’” The production team filmed one more take. Fraser said, “The camera swooped around and I went up on the toes and the guy holding the rope above me, he pulled it up a little higher and I was stuck on my toes and I had nowhere to go but down. So he was pulling up and I was going down. And then the next thing I knew, my elbow was in my ear, the world was sideways and there was gravel in my teeth.”

The Mandalorian has finally returned to Disney+, but fans of the show have revealed one thing viewers need to know before diving in to its third season. The acclaimed Star Wars spin-off follows the adventures of bounty hunter Din Djarin – otherwise known as Mando – and his little green, Yoda-like friend, Grogu.

Pedro Pascal is looking cool on the red carpet!

Zack Sharf Digital News Director David F. Sandberg, the director of “Shazam!” and its upcoming sequel “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” told comic book movie fans on Twitter that the new regime at DC Studios does not necessarily signal the end of his Zachary Levi-starring franchise. “Fury of the Gods” was developed and filmed before James Gunn and Peter Safran took over DC Studios and overhauled the DC Universe. Does Levi’s Shazam have a place in the new universe? It will depend on how “Fury of the Gods” performs at the box office, the director says. “Hey David, I don’t feel like watching the movie because of the drama happening around DC studios,” a Twitter user wrote to the director. “It is just killing the vibe of the film. There is a lot of uncertainty about DC’s Future. Just give us an answer, whether Shazam will have a role in future DCU.”

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer In the Season 2 finale of “The Mandalorian” — which first streamed on Disney+ on Dec. 18, 2020, over two years ago — Mando (Pedro Pascal) bid a moving farewell to Grogu, handing over his adorably wee ward to Grogu’s new Jedi master, Luke Skywalker (played by a digitally de-aged Mark Hamill). The wrenching final scene culminated in Mando removing his helmet — violating the core precept of Mandalorian doctrine — so Grogu could see his face for the first time. It felt like the definitive end of a two-season journey, one painstakingly crafted by executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni to reset the show and send it into a new storytelling galaxy. As the trailers for Season 3 of “The Mandalorian” have already made clear, however, the new season will begin on March 1 with Mando and Grogu back together. It’s almost as if the events of the Season 2 finale hadn’t happened.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The third season of “The Mandalorian” officially arrives on Disney+ this Wednesday, March 1. The third season will take place following the events of “The Book of Boba Fett,” in which “Mandalorian” lead Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) was last seen reuniting with Grogu in the miniseries. The two then left Tatooine, with Mando heading to the planet Mandalore to restore his honor and become a Mandalorian again. In a trailer released in January, Pascal’s Din Djarin and budding Jedi warrior Grogu are seen journeying across a galaxy far, far away, facing threats from Mandalore and the bustling urban planet Coruscant. Another teaser released in September showed Mando facing off against several armored warriors in their homeworld.