Warner Bros Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Refresh for latest…: For the fourth weekend in a row, Warner Bros/Legendary Entertainment’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire was the top studio movie at the global and international box office. While it’s true there have not been a whole lot of wide releases on a worldwide level since the start of the year, it’s heartening to see continued play for the big titles. 

Fifth in a series on broadcast network series renewals. As the CW transformation’s under new owners Nexstar continues with the addition of sports as well as acquired scripted series and international co-productions, questions are persisting about the fate of the last remaining dramas from the “old” CW.

A small piece of contemporary cinema history was written last night in St Andrews, Scotland when Steven Soderbergh sat down with Joe and Anthony Russo on stage at the Sands International Film Festival to discuss their 2002 collaboration Welcome to Collinwood. 

EXCLUSIVE: This is a rare occurrence in the current strike-impacted broadcast season — a scripted series getting an order for additional episodes. According to sources, the CW‘s flagship drama All American is having its current sixth season extended from 13 episode to 15 episodes.

EXCLUSIVE: Li Jun Li (Babylon) is the newest addition to the cast of Ryan Coogler‘s untitled supernatural thriller, starring Michael B. Jordan, for Warner Bros.

Mad Max prequel film Furiosa includes a 15-minute action scene that took 78 days to film, it has been revealed.Speaking to Total Film Magazine, the film’s star Anya Taylor-Joy and George Miller’s production partner Doug Mitchell spoke about the scene, which Taylor-Joy says is “very important for understanding” the character of Furiosa better.Mitchell revealed that the film includes a “has one 15-minute sequence which took us 78 days to shoot” and required close to 200 stunt workers on set daily. While little else has been revealed about the scene, it has been described as a “turning point” for Furiosa.Taylor-Joy explained why the scene plays such an integral role in the film: “George and I would have these big conversations about why this particular set-piece was so long.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Beta Cinema is launching international sales in Cannes for director Fatih Akin‘s upcoming film “Amrum,” which starts shooting in Hamburg Monday. The film stars Jasper Billerbeck, Laura Tonke and Diane Kruger. “Amrum” will be released in German theaters in September 2025, distributed by Warner Bros.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Box office sands continue to flow for “Dune: Part Two,” which is nearing $700 million worldwide. Director Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic has grossed $276 million in North America and $419 million overseas, bringing its global tally to $695.8 million after eight weeks of release. It’s an impressive benchmark in post-COVID times; only five movies in 2023, eight in 2022 and five in 2021 managed to cross the $700 million mark.

FRIDAY MIDDAY: Mish mosh at the box office with A24’s weekend two of Civil War at $3.5M today/$11M+ and Universal’s Radio Silence R-rated vampire pic, Abigail with $4M today (that includes $1M previews)/$11M vying for No. 1.

Few films hitting theaters in 2024 have more hyped-up horsepower behind them than “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.”  And there’s good reason for that: George Miller‘s prequel to 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” has a tough act to follow.  “Fury Road” is one of the greatest action movies ever, a modern classic that’s part tour de force, part technical marvel, part pulpy sublime.   Continue reading ‘Furiosa’: Anya Taylor-Joy Boasts That George Miller’s ‘Mad Max’ Prequel Has A 15-Minute Action Sequence That Took 78 Days To Shoot at The Playlist.

After a five-movie spate at Universal that resurrected his career, M. Night Shyamalan now has a first-look deal at Warner Bros.

“Dune: Part Two” returns to IMAX screens this weekend, a move that will likely send Denis Villeneuve‘s sequel over the $700 million global box office barrier. That’ll be a coup for him and Warner Bros. and all but assure Villeneuve makes “Dune: Part Three” as soon as possible (barring a break, of course, and maybe another project first as a creative palette cleanser).

Warwick Davis’ wife has sadly passed away.

Georgia born actress Neva Howell will portray Martha Kent, Clark Kent’s adoptive Earth mother, in Warner Bros/DC Studio’s Superman from filmmaker and studio co-Boss James Gunn.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Henry Cavill nodded to his tumultuous history with post-credits scenes during a recent screening of his new Guy Ritchie-directed movie “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.” As reported by Insider, Cavill made some introductory remarks before the film and references his other Ritchie films, including his leading turn in the 2015 spy film “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” and his appearance “in a post-credits scene” for the director’s 2017 box office disappointment “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.” “Turns out, I don’t have much luck with post-credit scenes,” Cavill then wisecracked to much audience laughter. “So, I may give up on those.” Cavill is likely referring to how “King Arthur” did not get a sequel because it flopped at the box, but also a debacle ensued years later when he showed up as Superman in the post-credits scene of the 2022 comic book tentpole “Black Adam,” headlined by Dwayne Johnson. The moment heralded the return of his iteration of the Man of Steel and set up a future in the DC Universe where he’d go toe-to-toe with Johnson’s Black Adam.

EXCLUSIVE: Dale Dickey has been tapped for a heavily recurring role in the upcoming second season of Max comedy Bookie, from Chuck Lorre and Nick Bakay.

Crazy Rich Asians has it’s eyes set on Broadway!

EXCLUSIVE: Metrograph Pictures announced on Wednesday that Good One — the first feature from writer-director India Donaldson, which premiered to rave reviews at this year’s Sundance Film Festival — will open in theaters nationwide on August 9.

Wicked director Jon M. Chu will make his Broadway directorial debut with a new stage adaptation of his 2018 hit film Crazy Rich Asians, producers announced today.

Warner Bros/DC Studio’s Superman has cast Pruitt Taylor Vince as Jonathan Kent, the Earth citizen father of Krypton native Superman.

EXCLUSIVE: M88 has signed actor Simu Liu (Shang-Chi) for representation.

Two top Congressman want Bob Iger, David Zaslav and Lachlan Murdoch to provide some solid answers about Disney, Warner Bros Discovery and Fox’s proposed sports streaming service.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor The Disney/ESPN, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery sports-streaming joint venture has drawn congressional scrutiny.

Olivia Williams recently recalled a “harrowing” and “alarming” experience she allegedly had while appearing on the iconic TV show “Friends.” “Well, just as an example, I was taken to the studio in a shared car with a wonderful actress whose character, I think, was called ‘Old Woman,’ ” Williams, 55, told the Independent. According to “The Crown” alum, the actress — whose name Williams cannot remember — quickly found herself in hot water with one of the show’s producers.

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Pictures Animation is heading to the Discovery vault to adapt their Animal Planet series, Meerkat Manor, into a feature animated movie. Think Happy Feet. That George Miller hatched franchise which centered around tap-dancing penguins raked in over a half billion at the global box office.

Alex Ritman “Shazam” star Zachary Levi is set to headline rock-climbing action thriller “Free Fall” for XYZ Films, with acclaimed New Zealand stuntwoman and stunt coordinator Zöe Bell tapped to direct. The film — written by Sean Finegan and Gregg Maxwell Parker — tells the story of a father’s attempt to reconcile with his estranged daughter on a rock-climbing trip that turns deadly as an accident leaves them stranded hundreds of feet in the air.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor David Porter, an ad industry veteran and former Turner exec, is joining Warner Bros. Discovery as head of ad sales research, data and insights. Porter reports to Jon Steinlauf, Warner Bros.

Naman Ramachandran Studiocanal’s Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black” debuted atop the U.K and Ireland box office with £2.77 million ($3.4 million), according to numbers from Comscore. It was neck-and-neck for the second spot. Entertainment Film Distributors’ “Civil War,” directed by Alex Garland and starring Kirsten Dunst, debuted with £1.82 million, including previews.

Zack Snyder has revealed which of the films in his back catalogue is the only one that he still wishes he could make changes to.The director is known for revisiting his movies and creating extended director’s cuts of them, perhaps most notably in the case of the 2021 ‘Snyder Cut’ of his 2017 DC film Justice League.But in a new interview with Empire, Snyder has admitted that there is a different film that he remains somewhat unsatisfied with.“The only movie I would change is Sucker Punch, because it never really got finished correctly,” he said. “Even the director’s cut is not really the correct cut.

Columbia Pictures and Wayfarer Studios It Ends With Us, directed and starring Justin Baldoni, and also headlining Blake Lively has moved from June 21 to Aug. 9. The pic is based on the Colleen Hoover novel.