2023 VMAs Adds Doja Cat and Lil Wayne as Performers

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August 31, 2023

Doja Cat VMA Performer — Doja Cat (Photo Credit: Dizz Lee / Provided by VMAs)

The roster of artists set to take the stage during MTV’s 2023 Video Music Awards has expanded to include Doja Cat, Anitta, Kelsea Ballerini, and TOMORROW X TOGETHER. Plus, this year’s awards show will include the return to the VMAs stage by Lil Wayne after a 10-year absence.

The just-announced performances join a list of confirmed artists that includes Demi Lovato, Karol G, Måneskin, and Stray Kids.

Grammy winner Lil Wayne will perform “Kat Food,” his new single that’s dropping on September 1, 2023. The VMAs will mark his first live performance of the song. Grammy winner Doja Cat hosted the VMAs in 2021 and has been nominated for 23 VMAs, winning four. She’s nominated for five awards this year, including Artist of the Year and Best Video of the Year.

Anitta will perform a medley of hits off of her Funk Generation: A Favela Love Story. And TOMORROW X TOGETHER (“TXT”) are set to collaborate with Anitta, and premiere a new single. Kelsea Ballerini will be celebrating her 30th birthday with her first performance on the VMAs stage.

Taylor Swift leads the list of 2023 VMAs nominees with eight, followed by SZA with six. Doja Cat, Kim Petras, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sam Smith each scored five nominations.

The 2023 Video Music Awards will air live from New Jersey’s Prudential Center on September 12th at 8pm ET/PT (tape-delayed on the West Coast).

List of 2023 VMAs Nominees

‘Special Ops: Lioness’ Episode 8 Photos, Cast and Finale Trailer

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Rebecca Murray

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August 31, 2023

Season one of Paramount+’s Special Ops: Lioness wraps up with episode eight, and the season finale’s teaser shows that Cruz is completely on her own as the mission comes to an explosive conclusion. Season one episode eight, “Gone is the Illusion of Order,” will be available to stream on Sunday, September 3, 2023.

Zoe Saldaña leads the cast as Joe, and Laysla De Oliveira stars as Cruz Manuelos. Emmy Award nominee Michael Kelly plays Bryon Westfield, Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman is US Secretary of State Edwin Mullins, Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman Kaitlyn Meade, and Dave Annable is Neal, Joe’s husband.

The cast also includes Jill Wagner as Bobby, LaMonica Garrett as Tucker, James Jordan as Two Cups, Austin Hébert as Randy, Jonah Wharton as Tex, Stephanie Nur as Aaliyah, and Hannah Love Lanier as Kate.

“Gone is the Illusion of Order” Plot: Unforeseen circumstances leave the mission in jeopardy. A suspicious Eshan confronts Cruz before his wedding day. Joe and the team prepare for the worst.

Special Ops Lioness Episode 8 — Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos and Stephanie Nur as Aaliyah in ‘Special Ops: Lioness’ episode 8 (Photo Credit: Luke Varley/Paramount+)

Special Ops: Lioness Plot, Courtesy of Paramount+

Special Ops: Lioness, inspired by an actual U.S. Military program, follows the life of Joe (Saldaña) the Lioness Program director tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives while she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA’s spear in the war on terror. The Lioness Program, overseen by Kaitlyn Meade (Kidman) and Byron Westfield (Kelly), enlists an aggressive Marine Raider named Cruz (De Oliveira) to operate undercover alongside Joe among the power brokers of State terrorism in the CIA’s efforts to thwart the next attack.

Five Nights at Freddy’s Trailer #2 Shines the Spotlight on the Band

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Rebecca Murray

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August 30, 2023

If Chuck E Cheese gave you nightmares, you might want to just go ahead and cross Five Nights at Freddy’s off your must-see list. If not, then the new trailer showcasing the animatronic characters will probably make you move the film higher up on that same list.

Based on the popular video games created by Scott Cawthon, Five Nights at Freddy’s stars Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games franchise), Elizabeth Lail (You), Piper Rubio (Unstable), and Kat Conner Sterling (We Have a Ghost). Mary Stuart Masterson (Blindspot) and Matthew Lillard (Good Girls) also star in the creepy film adaptation.

Creator Cawthon wrote the screenplay along with Emma Tammi and Seth Cuddeback. Tammi directs and Cawthon and Jason Blum serve as producers. Bea Sequeira, Russell Binder, Marc Mostman, and Christopher H. Warner executive produce.

Jim Henson’s Creature Shop created the film’s animatronic characters.

Universal Pictures will release Five Nights at Freddy’s in theaters and streaming on Peacock on October 27, 2023.

The Plot, Courtesy of Universal Pictures:

Can you survive five nights?

The terrifying horror game phenomenon becomes a blood-chilling cinematic event, as Blumhouse — the producer of M3GAN, The Black Phone, and The Invisible Man — brings Five Nights at Freddy’s to the big screen.

The film follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.

‘What Happens Later’ Trailer: Meg Ryan Returns to Rom-Coms

By

Rebecca Murray

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August 30, 2023

The first trailer for What Happens Later makes it clear the title isn’t supposed to have a question mark at the end. Meg Ryan, a queen of romantic comedies back when rom-coms were smiled upon by audiences and studios, returns to the genre as co-writer, director, and star, teaming with David Duchovny to tell the story of a former couple who find themselves stuck together in an airport.

“It has a relationship to movies from the ’40s, like Bringing Up Baby, in terms of the banter and the rhythm of things and a lot of that era of filmmaking,” explained Ryan in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “Nora Ephron used to say about rom-coms that they were really a secretly incredible delivery system to comment on the times, and we do that in this movie.”

The R-rated romantic comedy is based on Steven Dietz’s play Shooting Star, with Dietz, Ryan, and Kirk Lynn writing the screenplay. Producers include Jonathan Duffy, Kelly Williams, Laura D. Smith, and Kristin Mann.

Bleecker Street offers this synopsis:

“Two ex lovers, Bill (David Duchovny) and Willa (Meg Ryan) get snowed in at a regional airport overnight. Indefinitely delayed, Willa, a magical thinker, and Bill, a catastrophic one, find themselves just as attracted to and annoyed by one another as they did decades earlier. But as they unpack the riddle of their mutual past and compare their lives to the dreams they once shared, they begin to wonder if their reunion is mere coincidence, or something more enchanted.”

What Happens Later is opening in theaters on October 13, 2023.

‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo Renewed for Season 3

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Rebecca Murray

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August 30, 2023

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo will reprise his role as Mickey Haller and be back representing clients for a third season of The Lincoln Lawyer. Netflix officially confirmed the popular drama has been renewed for a 10-episode season three.

The series is based on Michael Connelly’s bestselling book series, and season three will be based on The Gods of Guilt – the fifth book of the series.

“The audience response to the show has been so gratifying and wonderful, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to dive back into Michael Connelly’s universe and bring Mickey Haller and his world to the screen again,” stated co-showrunners and executive producers Ted Humphrey (who developed the series for television) and Dailyn Rodriguez.

Additional executive producers include series creator David E. Kelley, author Michael Connelly, Ross Fineman, Barry Jossen, and Tana Jamieson.

“We’re thrilled to bring back The Lincoln Lawyer for a third season. Ted Humphrey and Dailyn Rodriguez have taken us deeper into Mickey Haller’s world, building out characters and stories that have connected with our global audience, and we look forward to seeing what they have in store for everyone’s favorite lawyer. The show continues to top our global lists and it’s a testament to the work from a creative powerhouse team including Michael Connelly, David E. Kelley, Ross Fineman and our partners at A+E Studios,” said Peter Friedlander, Vice President of Scripted Series, Netflix, US and Canada.

Confirmed to reprise their roles for season three are Garcia-Rulfo, Becki Newton as Lorna, Jazz Raycole as Izzy, Angus Sampson as Cisco, and Yaya DaCosta as Andrea Freemann.

Season one premiered in May 2022, and season two arrived in July 2023. Netflix did not release a targeted premiere date for season three.

The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2 Plot, Courtesy of Netflix:

Mickey Haller (Garcia-Rulfo), an iconoclastic idealist, runs his law practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln, as he takes on cases big and small across the expansive city of Los Angeles. Based on the series of bestselling novels by renowned author Michael Connelly, the second season is based on the fourth book in The Lincoln Lawyer series, The Fifth Witness.

Season 3 First Photos and Premiere Date

‘The Amazing Race’ Announces 13 Teams Competing in Season 35

By

Rebecca Murray

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August 30, 2023

The Amazing Race Season 35 Teams — The 13 teams racing on ‘The Amazing Race’ season 35 (Photo: Sonja Flemming © 2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc)

CBS’s award-winning The Amazing Race is increasing the number of competitors for its upcoming 35th season. Season 35 will feature 13 teams attempting to outrace each other and claim the $1 million grand prize.

“We start this season of The Amazing Race with an international flight to Asia, bringing back the thrill of traveling around the globe to exotic places. And on top of that, our cast is fantastic! Their energy is palpable, and their enthusiasm even greater! This season’s big, 90-minute episodes allow us to show more of each city we travel to, especially the people and the culture, plus we get to know our contestants on a deeper level and their relationships with each other,” stated co-creators and executive producers Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri. “You will laugh, you will cry, you will shout at the TV in frustration and also scream with joy, but best of all you will feel the highs and lows on this journey of the human spirit with the majestic backdrop of the world.”

Season 35 kicks off on September 27, 2023 with the racers beginning their globe-trotting adventure at the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles. Every episode this season will be 90 minutes long and will air on Wednesdays at 9:30 – 11:30pm ET/PT. The new season will bring back the Express Pass and commercial travel. Plus, there won’t be any non-elimination legs and the U-Turn will get a new twist.

Phil Keoghan returns as host as the teams travel to locations in Slovenia (new to The Amazing Race), Thailand, India, Germany, Sweden, and Ireland. The race will wrap up in Washington state.

Per CBS: “This season on The Amazing Race, one of the 13 teams trekking around the world will be eliminated at the end of every leg. Each team is comprised of two people who have a pre-existing relationship with one another. At every destination, each team competes in a series of challenges – some mental and some physical – and when the tasks have been completed, they learn their next destination.

In the premiere episode, for the first time, a former team surprises racers as judges at the end of the first Roadblock, where one team member must traverse a perilous tightrope stretched from one rooftop to another at the historic Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.”

The Amazing Race Season 35 Teams:

Jocelyn Chao (49, Grocery Store Manager) and Victor Limary (49, Grocery Store Manager)
Married from Albuquerque, N.M.
Liam Hykel (23, Navy Veteran) and Yeremi Hykel (24, Marine Corps Veteran)
Brothers from Cheyenne, Wyo., and San Marcos, Texas
Malaina Hatcher (45, Tax Examiner Technician) and Andrea Simpson (44, Director of Credit Management)
Best friends from Philadelphia, Pa.
Joe Moskowitz (35, Head of Business Development for a Commercial Real Estate Tech Platform) and Ian Todd (40, Sr. Director of New Business for a Marketing Tech Start-Up)
Engaged from New York, N.Y.
Steve Cargile (54, Residential/Commercial Paint Contractor) and Anna Leigh Wilson (28, Speech Pathologist, Private Flight Attendant, Influencer)
Father and daughter from Petty, Texas, and Royse City, Texas
Morgan Franklin (31, Marketing Executive) and Lena Franklin (29, Marketing Executive)
Sisters from Brooklyn, N.Y., and Los Angeles, Calif.
Ashlie Martin (38, Hospitality Account Manager) and Todd Martin (38, Special Education Teacher)
Married from Chino, Calif.
Robbin Tomich (41, Stay-at-Home Mom) and Chelsea Day (41, Stay-at-Home Mom)
Childhood best friends from Kirkland, Wash., and Shoreline, Wash.
Greg Franklin (25, Software Developer) and John Franklin (27, Product Manager)
Brothers from New York, N.Y., and Mountain View, Calif.
Rob McArthur (48, Teaching Assistant and Assistant Football Coach) and Corey McArthur (25, Senior Manager of Client Strategy and Analytics)
Father and son from Riverside, Calif., and New York, N.Y.
Joel Strasser (42, Auto Claims Training Specialist) and Garrett Smith (43, Delivery Driver)
Best Friends from Kuna, Idaho, and Meridian, Idaho
Elizabeth Rivera (52, Retired Lieutenant) and Iliana Rivera (27, Entrepreneur)
Mother and daughter from Tampa, Fla.
Alexandra Lichtor (34, Consultant) and Sheridan Lichtor (29, Consultant)
Siblings from Chicago, Ill.

13 Teams Announced for Season 36

‘Our Flag Means Death’ Season 2: Trailer, Cast, and Premiere Date

By

Rebecca Murray

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August 30, 2023

Max has released the first Our Flag Means Death season two teaser trailer, and all I can say is it’s about damned time there’s some official news on the upcoming season.

OFMD has an incredibly passionate fan base, and they’ve kept the series in the spotlight on Twitter since season one wrapped up on March 24, 2022. After announcing season two way back in June 2022 and keeping fans anxiously awaiting more of Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard, Max has now confirmed the second season will premiere on October 5, 2023 with the release of the first three episodes.

Two new episodes of the eight-episode season will arrive on Thursdays, with the season finale set for October 26.

Season two stars Rhys Darby as Stede Bonnet, Taiki Waititi as Captain Blackbeard, Samson Kayo as Oluwande, Vico Ortiz as Jim, Ewen Bremner as Buttons, Joel Fry as Frenchie, Matthew Maher as Black Pete, Kristian Nairn as Wee John Feeney, Con O’Neill as Izzy Hands, David Fane as Fang, Samba Schutte as Roach, Nat Faxon as The Swede, and Leslie Jones as Spanish Jackie. Recurring season two guest stars include Ruibo Qian, Madeleine Sami, Anapela Polataivao, and Erroll Shand. Plus, Minnie Driver and Bronson Pinchot will pop in as guest stars.

David Jenkins created the series and serves as showrunner. Jenkins also executive produces along with Taika Waititi, Garrett Basch, Dan Halsted, Adam Stein, and Antoine Douaihy.

Jenkins directed season two’s first two episodes.

Our Flag Means Death Season 2 Poster — Poster for Max’s ‘Our Flag Means Death’ season 2

The Our Flag Means Death Plot, Courtesy of Max:

“Our Flag Means Death is based (very) loosely on the true adventures of 18th-century would-be pirate Stede Bonnet (Darby). After trading the seemingly charmed life of a gentleman for one of a swashbuckling buccaneer, Stede became captain of the pirate ship Revenge. Struggling to earn the respect of his potentially mutinous crew, Stede’s fortunes changed after a fateful run-in with the infamous Captain Blackbeard (Waititi). To their surprise, the wildly different Stede and Blackbeard found more than friendship on the high seas…they found love. Now, they have to survive it.”

‘Saltburn’ Teaser Trailer: Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi Strike Up a Friendship

By

Rebecca Murray

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August 30, 2023

MGM and Amazon Studios have unveiled the first official teaser for Saltburn, writer/director Emerald Fennell’s follow-up to her Oscar-winning film, Promising Young Woman. The gorgeous minute-and-a-half teaser showcases the titular estate that’s the setting of the film and introduces the key players, including Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan’s Oliver and Jacob Elordi’s Felix.

The teaser was accompanied by a new batch of photos from Fennell’s much-anticipated film.

In addition to Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Elordi (Euphoria), Saltburn stars Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe, and Carey Mulligan. Mulligan reunites with Fennell after earning an Oscar nomination for her starring role in Promising Young Woman.

Fennell, Margot Robbie, and Josey McNamara serve as producers. Robbie also produced Promising Young Woman and is currently killing it in Barbie, the highest-grossing Warner Bros. Pictures release in box office history.

Saltburn Jacob Elordi — Jacob Elordi in ‘Saltburn’ (Courtesy of MGM and Amazon Studios)

MGM released this description of Fennell’s sophomore film: “Academy Award-winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell brings us a beautifully wicked tale of privilege and desire. Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick (Keoghan) finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Elordi), who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.”

Saltburn will screen at the Telluride Film Festival and the British Film Institute’s London Film Festival, and is set to open in theaters on November 24, 2023.

Saltburn Film — Barry Keoghan as Oliver and Archie Madekwe as Farleigh (Courtesy of MGM and Amazon Studios)

Saltburn Rosamund Pike — Rosamund Pike as Elspeth (Courtesy of MGM and Amazon Studios)

Saltburn Barry Keoghan — Barry Keoghan as Oliver (Courtesy of MGM and Amazon Studios)

Saltburn Alison Oliver — Alison Oliver as Venetia (Courtesy of MGM and Amazon Studios)

‘Ferrari’ Teaser Trailer Starring Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz

By

Rebecca Murray

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August 30, 2023

There’s only one line of dialogue uttered in the first teaser trailer for Michael Mann’s Ferrari. Following shots of cars racing, snippets of angry people, and a fiery crash, Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari declares, “If you get into one of my cars, you get in to win.”

Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gordon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey also star in director Michael Mann’s much-anticipated examination of Enzo Ferrari’s life.

Neon released this updated synopsis:

“It is the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle of Formula 1, ex-racer Enzo Ferrari is in crisis. Bankruptcy threatens the factory he and his wife, Laura (Cruz) built from nothing ten years earlier. Their volatile marriage has been battered by the loss of their son, Dino a year earlier. Ferrari struggles to acknowledge his son Piero with Lina Lardi (Woodley).

Meanwhile, his drivers’ passion to win pushes them to the edge as they launch into the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, the Mille Miglia.”

In an interview with Variety, Michael Mann confirmed the film takes place over three pivotal months in Enzo Ferrari’s life. “Everything he’s been collides with what he might become, and the company has gone bust,” offered Mann. “His wife finds out about the other woman. It’s a spectacularly operatic melodrama in real life.”

Troy Kennedy Martin adapted Brock Yates’ Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races, The Machine. Producers include Michael Mann, P.J. van Sandwijk, Marie Savare, John Lesher, Thomas Hayslip, John Friedberg, and Laura Rister. Andrea Iervolino, Monika Bacardi, Gareth West, Lars Sylvest, and Thorsten Schumacher also serve as producers.

Ferrari will premiere at the Venice Film Festival and is slated to be the Closing Night film at the New York Film Festival. Following its festival run, Ferrari will race into theaters on December 25th.

‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Shifts to an October Global Release

By

Rebecca Murray

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August 29, 2023

Killers of the Flower Moon Poster — Poster for Apple Studios’ ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’

Apple Studios has changed its release strategy for the much-anticipated Killers of the Flower Moon, announcing the film will now open in theaters around the world on Friday, October 20, 2023 instead of releasing in limited theaters first. The new wide global release date also includes IMAX showings.

Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese (The Departed) reunites with Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio and two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro for the epic tale based on true events. Scorsese and Eric Roth adapted David Grann’s bestselling book of the same name, and Scorsese also serves as a producer along with Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, and Daniel Lupi.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Rick Yorn, Adam Somner, Marianne Bower, Lisa Frechette, John Atwood, Shea Kammer, and Niels Juul executive produce.

DiCaprio stars as Ernest Burkhart, De Niro plays William Hale, and Spirit Awards nominee Lily Gladstone (Certain Women) is Mollie Kyle. The cast also includes Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog), Oscar winner Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, John Lithgow, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, William Belleau, and Louis Cancelmi.

The talented ensemble also includes Tatanka Means, Michael Abbot Jr., Pat Healy, Scott Shepard, Jason Isbell, and Sturgill Simpson.

Paramount Pictures is partnering with Apple Studios on the film’s theatrical release. A premiere date on Apple TV+ still hasn’t been confirmed.

The Plot, Courtesy of Apple Studios:

Killers of the Flower Moon is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror.

At the turn of the 20th century, oil brought a fortune to the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight. The wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers, who manipulated, extorted, and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder.

Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Gladstone), Killers of the Flower Moon is an epic Western crime saga where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal.

ShowbizJunkies

2023 VMAs Adds Doja Cat and Lil Wayne as Performers

‘Special Ops: Lioness’ Episode 8 Photos, Cast and Finale Trailer

Five Nights at Freddy’s Trailer #2 Shines the Spotlight on the Band

‘What Happens Later’ Trailer: Meg Ryan Returns to Rom-Coms

‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ Starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo Renewed for Season 3

‘The Amazing Race’ Announces 13 Teams Competing in Season 35

The Amazing Race Season 35 Teams:

‘Our Flag Means Death’ Season 2: Trailer, Cast, and Premiere Date

‘Saltburn’ Teaser Trailer: Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi Strike Up a Friendship

‘Ferrari’ Teaser Trailer Starring Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz

‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Shifts to an October Global Release

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