Zoe Saldaña Reacts to ‘Avatar 5’ Being Delayed to 2031: ‘Great! I’m Gonna Be 53 When the Last Movie Comes Out’

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Rebecca Romijn’s tenure as Raven Darkhölme/Mystique in the “X-Men” franchise included four feature films (and an uncredited cameo in a fifth) and two male directors who went on to be accused of sexual misconduct and inappropriate set behavior. Bryan Singer directed Romijn in “X-Men,” “X2” and “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” while Brett Ratner took over filmmaking duties on “X-Men: The Last Stand.” Several men have accused Singer of sexual assault, while various “X-Men” actors have called Singer unprofessional on set. High profile actors such as Olivia Munn, Elliot Page and Natasha Henstridge have alleged Ratner sexually harassed them and/or acted rudely toward them on set. Despite many actors coming out publicly against Singer and Ratner over the years, Romijn has never joined the chorus of voices. Why? She told The Independent in a new interview that she’s remained silent because she has nothing else to add on the topics.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan movie, “A Complete Unknown,” is supposed to kick off filming in August, but don’t call it a Bob Dylan biopic. During a recent appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via IndieWire), the film’s director, James Mangold, said “A Complete Unknown” is “not really a Bob Dylan biopic” but a movie about “a very specific moment” in the 1960s folk scene of New York City. The film’s specificity is one reason the real Bob Dylan “has been so supportive of us making it,” the filmmaker reasoned. “The best true-life movies are never cradle to grave but they’re about a very specific moment,” Mangold said. “In this case, it might be presumptuous to call it Altman-esque, but it’s a kind of ensemble piece about this moment in time, the early ’60s in New York, and this 17-year-old kid with $16 in his pockets hitchhikes his way to New York to meet Woody Guthrie who is in the hospital and is dying of a nerve disease. He sings Woody a song that he wrote for him and befriends Pete Seeger, who is like a son to Woody, and Pete sets him up with gigs at local clubs and there you meet Joan Baez and all these other people who are part of this world.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director The much-maligned “Cats” movie musical caused the internet to lose its mind after a visual effects editor on the film confirmed that CGI was used to add buttholes to all of the feline characters. The “butthole cut,” as it became known on social media, was ultimately scrapped by the studio. It’s now been revealed that the upcoming “Barbie” movie flirted with its own potential CGI disaster, as writer-director Greta Gerwig shut down early discussions that would’ve had her actors sporting CGI feet since Barbie is known for her arched heels. “There was a big discussion in the beginning,” Gerwig said on Australia’s “The Project.” “Everyone said, ‘Are you going to CGI all the feet?’ And I thought, ‘Oh god, no! That’s terrifying! That’s a nightmare.’ Also Margot has the nicest feet. She has these beautiful dancer feet. She should just hang on to that bar and do it just like this.”

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor When Variety talks to Zoe Saldana and her husband, the artist and film director, Marco Perego, they’ve only just arrived in Taormina and are in the process of unpacking. Room service arrives and Zoe apologizes about having to tuck into the salad straightaway. They’re here attending the world premiere of Perego’s debut film as a director, “The Absence of Eden,” a drama that takes place in the murky world of the U.S.’s southern border, a hellish landscape inhabited by Coyotes, ICE officers, desperate immigrants and refugees. It’s a universe away from the Pandora of the “Avatar” pictures or the science fiction blockbusters “Star Trek” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” Saldana is more usually associated with. “When I was picked for those films, I had no idea they were going to become franchises. I thought it was going to be a one and done kind of thing. I hold all of those films responsible for any kind of global notoriety I may have. However, it’s time consuming. Between ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Guardians’ and ‘Avatar,’ I had solid work for over 10 years. As I became an asset that had a certain value in this industry, I could turn that to films like this.”

Naomi Campbell has welcomed her second child, a son.  "My little darling, know that you are cherished beyond measure and surrounded by love from the moment you graced us with your presence," the supermodel, 53, captioned an Instagram post Thursday that showed her holding her little one whose face was concealed. "A True Gift from God."  She hashtagged the post "mumoftwo," adding, "It’s never too late to become a mother." The icon received plenty of celebrity well wishes on Instagram after her announcement, including messages from Claudia Schiffer, Kelly Rowland, Ashley Graham, Donatella Versace and Zoe Saldana.  Marc Jacobs wrote, "Oh my! Already? I can’t believe a second blessing.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director James Mangold is moving on to direct a “Star Wars” tentpole following “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” but it’s not his first go-around with the Lucasfilm franchise. Back in 2018, news broke that Mangold had been hired to direct a movie about the bounty hunter Boba Fett. He was also set to co-write the project with Simon Kinberg, best known as a writer and producer on the “X-Men” movies. Mangold’s Boba Fett movie never got off the ground, and he recently said on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that it wasn’t too surprising given the overall tone of the project. “At the point I was doing it I was probably scaring the shit out of everyone,” Mangold said. “I was making much more of a borderline R-rated, single planet spaghetti Western. They probably would never be able to embrace Baby Yoda if I had made that. It didn’t really belong in the world I was kind of envisioning.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kelly Clarkson appeared on “Watch What Happens Live” and clarified the tension behind the making of her hit single “Since U Been Gone,” which still carries a “bad vibe” for her to this day. Clarkson was asked by host Andy Cohen to respond to a revelation in Clive Davis’ memoir in which the mega-producer claimed he had to force Clarkson to record “Since U Been Gone.” “Let’s give some backstory,” Clarkson said. “I was lied to, and they told me there are these producers who want to work with you and there’s this song. It had dummy lyrics. They didn’t have lyrics in. They said they wanted me to work with it. I was told to write to the song.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director The official trailer for “Barbie” begins with a now-iconic shot: Margot Robbie’s eponymous doll steps out of her high-heel slippers to reveal her bare feet are still arched and ready to be slipped into whatever next shoe accessary awaits. For anyone wondering: Yes, those really are Margot Robbie’s arched feet. As revealed in a new Time magazine cover story on the making of the “Barbie” movie: “The shot took eight takes. [Margot Robbie] had to hold onto a bar to keep her feet flexed. And, yes, those are her feet. ‘I really don’t like it when someone else does my hands or feet in an insert shot,’ she says.” Robbie also told Time that she would’ve turned down “Barbie” had Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s script not incorporated many different Barbie characters. Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Hari Nef, Dua Lipa and more actors also play Barbie in the Warner Bros. tentpole.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Argentinian filmmaker Lucrecia Martel (“Zama”) was one of several female directors courted by Marvel Studios to direct “Black Widow,” the comic book tentpole centered on Scarlett Johansson’s assassin. Martel revealed in 2018 that she turned down the project after a meeting with Marvel in which the studio told her to focus on character and not the action scenes. In a recent interview with The Film Stage, Martel confessed she never ended up seeing “Black Widow.” “No, no, no — I didn’t see ‘Black Widow.’ I tried to,” Martel said. “They contacted a great number of female directors. I never would have imagined that Marvel could contact and bring together a pool of directors and I would be a part of it; I never thought that would be possible. I would have loved to make a film with them but I would have had to provide something that I would like to see in that world.”

Selena Gomez is living proof of this! The multi-talented singer and actress has been soaking up the romantic atmosphere of the French capital while filming her latest movie, Emilia Perez, alongside Zoe Saldaña. Selena shared a beautiful series of photos on Instagram that showcased her European adventure, and fans couldn’t get enough of her love for Paris.In her heartfelt caption, Selena expressed her gratitude for the unforgettable two months she spent in Paris, saying, “Thank you Paris for being my home away from home. Working on this film has truly changed my life, and I can’t wait to share more soon.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Before Pedro Pascal landed the male lead in HBO’s adaptation of the hugely popular “The Last of Us” video game, rumors swirled that co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann were trying to lure former “True Detective” stars Mahershala Ali and Matthew McConaughey back to the network to headline the series. Mazin finally sounded off on the casting rumors during a recent interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast. “I actually never talked to Mahershala,” Mazin said before confirming that talks with McConaughey did in fact take place. However, it sounds like McConaughey’s casting never made it past early discussions about the project.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Christopher Nolan has a warning for anyone purchasing “Oppenheimer” tickets: The film might emotionally destroy you. Speaking to Wired magazine in a new interview, Nolan said that some early “Oppenheimer” viewers have had a visceral reaction to the film, which follows theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) as he creates the atomic bomb to end World War II. “Some people leave the movie absolutely devastated,” Nolan said about early screenings. “They can’t speak. I mean, there’s an element of fear that’s there in the history and there in the underpinnings. But the love of the characters, the love of the relationships, is as strong as I’ve ever done.”

Italian artist Marco Perego’s debut feature The Absence of Eden has set a picturesque world premiere at the upcoming edition of Italy’s 69th Taormina Film Festival, running from June 23 to July 1.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor The 69th Taormina Film Festival boasts an impressive lineup of Italian and world premieres as it seeks to reboot and re-establish its status as a date to watch on the festival circuit. Located in the historical Sicilian town – its visibility recently getting an unlooked for boost with the second season of HBO’s ”The White Lotus” – will be hosting a series of screenings. The outdoor Teatro Antico will provide a suitably antique background for the Italian premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” with Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, and Mads Mikkelsen in attendance. The directorial debut of Italian artist Marco Perego, “The Absence of Eden,” will receive its world premiere. The film stars Perego’s wife Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona. The thriller tells the story of an undocumented immigrant fleeing a drug cartel whose path crosses with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in a crisis over the moral dilemmas of his job. An unlikely alliance forms as the two endeavor to save the life of a young girl.

Zoe Saldaña knows what time it is.

Avatar: The Way Of Water, Disney has announced that the next three films in James Cameron‘s epic sci-fi franchise have been delayed.Per a report from Variety, Disney has pushed back the third Avatar film by a full year from December 2024 to December 2025. As a result, the two following films in the sci-fi franchise have also delayed by three years to 2029 and 2031 respectively.That means the final film in the Avatar franchise is set to premiere a whopping 22 years after the original 2009 film’s debut.

Zoe Saldana is reacting to the big Avatar news.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Wes Anderson announced in an interview with IndieWire that his upcoming Netflix movie “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” based on Roald Dahl’s 1977 short story collection, will only be 37 minutes long. The film is Anderson’s second Dahl adaptation after “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel and Ben Kingsley. Notably, “Henry Sugar” marks Anderson’s first Netflix original. He told IndieWire that collaborating with the streamer was more out of necessity than personal preference. “In my case it’s a little bit of a weird thing,” Anderson said about partnering with Netflix. “I knew Roald Dahl since before we made ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox.’ I met Lindsay Dahl, his widow, when we were shooting ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ like 20 years ago. For years I wanted to do ‘Henry Sugar.’ They set this story aside for me because I was friends with them. Lindsay kind of handed the torch to Luke, Dahl’s grandson. So I had this waiting for me. But I really couldn’t figure out the approach. I knew what I liked in the story was the writing of it, Dahl’s words. I couldn’t find the answer, and then suddenly I did. It’s not a feature film. It’s like 37 minutes or something. But by the time I was ready to do it, the Dahl family no longer had the rights at all. They had sold the whole deal to Netflix.”

“Avatar: The Way of Water” may have finally arrived in theatres in 2022, but that long parade of “Avatar” delays isn’t done, yet.

Zoe Saldaña has had an amusing moment of realisation following the news that Avatar 5 has been delayed until 2031.Per a report from Variety, Disney has pushed back the third Avatar film by a full year from December 2024 to December 2025. As a result, the two following films in the sci-fi franchise have also been delayed by three years to 2029 and 2031 respectively.“Great! I’m gonna be 53 when the last Avatar comes out,” Saldaña humorously posted on her Instagram alongside a shocked face emoji.