‘Transformers,’ ‘Spongebob’ Highlight Paramount’s Animated Movie Slate

It was standing-room only crowd at the Fox upfront — mostly because there was no place to sit. But there were cocktails and lots of f-bombs from Gordon Ramsay, who helped to keep the 55-minute presentation moving at NYC’s Manhattan Center Monday.

Despite the WGA picketers outside, NBC held its upfront presentation Monday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Missed the star-free event that was hosted mostly by news personalities, Real Housewives and Mario Lopez? Here were the highlights:

Nearly two weeks into the national writers' strike spearheaded by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), little progress has been made between both sides. The WGA has a litany of requests for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic At the 58th annual Academy of Country Music Awards, the top prize, entertainer of the year, was handed out to Chris Stapleton, even as Lainey Wilson and Hardy won in the the greatest number of categories, with four each — two of which they shared for the duet “Wait in the Truck.” Technically, Hardy walked away with six trophies, since the ACMs offer double awards for artists who co-write their nominated songs. Accepting for album of the year, Wilson said, “I wrote 300 songs during the pandemic.” Noting that some fans have said listening to her “Bell Bottom Country” album helped save their lives, Wilson said, “Writing these songs saved mine.” She quoted one of her own lines: “Be who you are, ’cause everybody else is taken.”

In Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, the actor lets Davis Guggenheim inside his daily life with Parkinson’s disease. It represents the first time in the documentary space for composer John Powell, who said studying the way Fox moves led him to score the movie like a musical.

Ring the alarm, Beyhive! Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour is finally here!

Lionel Richie and Nicole Scherzinger are putting on a fabulous show!

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Playmaker Munich has signed with producer Ulysses Films to handle international sales for its upcoming family animation project “Pirate Mo & the Legend of the Red Ruby,” which has a planned release of early 2026. Ulysses produced animation box-office hits such as “The Amazing Maurice,” “Niko & the Way to the Stars,” “Rabbit Academy – Mission Eggpossible” and “Tad, the Lost Explorer.” The script for “Pirate Mo,” which is based on Kirsten Boie’s bestselling novel, was written by Richie Conroy, and the director is Florian Westermann, co-director of “The Amazing Maurice.”

The cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars took the golden popcorn for Best Competition Series at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards.

William Earl The 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards ran a lot like a COVID-era awards show, as the non-live event padded out two hours of runtime with throwback clips, a result of a quick pivot due to the writers strike. (And actually, this was a repeat of the very same thing the MTV Movie & TV Awards did during COVID in 2020, when it also had to trot out dusty clips in lieu of new material.) In the days leading up to the show, Variety broke the news that host Drew Barrymore was pulling out of her hosting duties in solidarity with the strike. After that, producers hoped to still pull off some sort of live event sans host. But when the WGA announced it would picket the event on Sunday, producers gave up and announced that the show would shift to a pre-taped event.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor This article first appeared as part of Jenelle Riley’s Acting Up newsletter – to subscribe for early content and weekly updates on all things acting, visit the Acting Up signup page. Jason Henkel came to Los Angeles in 1993 to pursue an acting career, before he pivoted to working in animation production. But his experiences as a performer helped show him the kind of casting director he didn’t want to be. “I didn’t want to go into a field where I secretly felt, ‘I could do this better,’” he says. “And from the moment I became involved with voiceover, watching these amazing actors who were so great at manipulating their voices, I knew I could never do what they do.”

AMC Theaters and Cinemark on Thursday both reported solid audience growth for the first quarter. AMC, the largest chain in the U.S.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Inkas the Ramferinkas,” a story about a small flying dinosaur, is being adapted into an animated feature film. Independent film producer Niels Juul and Sherman Theatrical Entertainment have teamed up to develop the project, which is inspired by music from the Sherman Brothers. It’s the first and final musical from the late Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman, the songwriting duo behind Walt Disney classics from “The Jungle Book,” “Winnie the Pooh,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” and “Mary Poppins.” The Sherman brothers won Oscars for their work on “Mary Poppins,” including best song for “Chim Chim Cher-ee” and best score. They went on to earn nine Oscar nominations, two Grammy Awards, 23 gold and platinum records and have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Perhaps their biggest contribution to the pop culture landscape, however, is writing the song “It’s a Small World (After All).”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter A “Babylon 5” animated movie is in the works from original series creator J. Michael Straczynski. “BABYLON 5 ANIMATED MOVIE [sic] coming from Warner Bros. Animation & WB Home Entertainment!” Straczynski announced via Twitter. “Classic B5: raucous, heartfelt, nonstop, a ton of fun through time and space & a love letter to the fans. Movie title, release date and other details coming one week from today.” The original “Babylon 5” was produced by Warner Bros. Television. The series ran in syndication and on TNT for five seasons, 110 episodes, and seven TV movies, including the 1993 pilot film. The show is considered one of the best sci-fi series ever made by many critics and won numerous awards throughout its run, including two Hugo Awards and a Saturn Award.

Jenny Slate will join the upcoming adaptation of Colleen Hoover's, the author announced today. Slate is the newest in a growing list of stars attached to the much-anticipated project. Slate will play Allysa, the sister of protagonist Ryle Kincaid, portrayed by Justin Baldoni.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Super Mario Bros Movie” and a local sports movie “Dream” gave the South Korean box office some bounce on their first weekend on release. Opening in Korea on Wednesday, some three weeks after the beginning of its international and North American campaigns, “Super Mario” earned $4.67 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). The film has a cumulative of $5.76 million over its opening five days, plus previews. The film’s weekend numbers are the second highest opening tally recorded by any film this year in Korea. And its weekend score represented a comfortable 40% market share.

Rihanna has confirmed that she will be voicing Smurfette in an upcoming animated Smurfs movie for Paramount.Paramount and Rihanna confirmed the news on Thursday (April 27) at CinemaCon, where the singer made a surprise appearance. Rihanna also revealed that besides voicing Smurfette, she will also be writing and recording original music for the film.Rihanna will also serve as a producer on the film, which is set to arrive in cinemas on Valentine’s Day in 2025.

Rihanna is about to be the only girl in the world. 

Paramount Animation, Hasbro and eOne are teaming on the first-ever animated Transformers movie, now titled Transformers One. Directed by Josh Cooley and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the origins story’s key voice cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Jon Hamm and Laurence Fishburne. Release is scheduled for July 19, 2024.

Chris Pine went from Disney prince (Into The Woods) to a Disney King!