Oprah Winfrey Speaks to Taraji P. Henson Feud Rumors, Addresses That Viral Empire State Building Video Where Fans Thought There Was Tension

As we all know, after a long break from theaters and a pivot on Disney+ with TV series, Lucasfilm has ambitious plans to return “Star Wars” to cinemas. While “The Mandalorian And Grogu” might be the next “Star Wars” film to hit theaters (and if it does, the next available release date is May 2026), there’s also another one nipping at its heels.

It seems that being afraid of no ghosts can literally save your life in the fifth and latest entry in the Ghostbusters franchise, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.” The movie is a direct sequel to 2021’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” which very famously handed the series “back to the fans,” and is helmed by Gil Kenan, co-writer of ‘Afterlife’ and director of “Monster House,” with a script from Kenan and Jason Reitman (“Juno,” “Up in the Air”). READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2024 “Frozen Empire” catches up with the descendants of deceased original Ghostbuster, Egon Spengler, his daughter Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon, “The Leftovers,” “The Gilded Age”), and her children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard, “Stranger Things”) and Phoebe (McKenna Grace, Captain Marvel) have relocated to New York City alongside Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd).

The idea of youth escaping into a large section of woods so as to start life anew is a plot device not at all unexplored prior, seen in films as recently as 2013’s “The Kings of Summer,” while literature will always have “My Side of the Mountain. “In “Penelope, “the concept gets the episodic treatment, but if the premiere is any indicator, this is one project with the potential to captivate in its own unique way.

As the latest feature from writers/directors Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero (“Identifying Features”) draws to a close, it’s hard to ignore the starkness, pacing, and tone overall; this is hardly the sort of film one puts on as any sort of a palate cleanser. While superbly well-made, beautifully shot, and comprised of a cast firing on all cylinders in terms of acting ability, to make it through “Sujo” is akin to a slight exercise in endurance, though not without a noticeable crescendo as the film chugs along.

Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox have performed a cover of the Beastie Boys classic ‘Fight For Your Right’ for their latest ‘Sunday Lunch’ performance.The rendition of the iconic ‘80s hit comes as the latest instalment to the married couple’s long-running ‘Sunday Lunch’ video series – which sees them put their own spin on rock classics from their home.Although no longer a weekly series as it was in past years, the two still share the odd new video, and this time it sees them take on a Beastie Boys classic.Shared yesterday (January 28), the King Crimson guitarist took on the ‘Licensed To III’ iconic riff wearing an eye-catching gold, white and black patterned shirt, while Toyah shows off her hip-hop vocals while standing on a table in the background.Fripp even joined in on the vocal duties, singing along with the chorus, and exclaiming “Fight for your right to party with Toyah and Robert’s ‘Sunday Lunch’” at the end. Check it out below.Last week, the married couple shared a cover of Michael Jackson‘s ‘Give In To Me’ for their latest ‘Sunday Lunch’ performance, with the guitarist dressing up as Slash to take on the 1991 track.Before that, they welcomed in the New Year by kicking off 2024 with a cover of KISS’ ‘Lick It Up’.Other recent highlights include a cover of Bon Jovi’s ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’, The Black Keys‘ ‘Lonely Boy’, and Richard Berry’s ‘Have Love, Will Travel’.Last year, the pair brought their viral lockdown concept to the live stage at Glastonbury, where they performed David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’.They also looked back at the success of their series backstage with NME, sharing that the response “did surprise us”.

Rocksteady Studios has been forced to take Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League offline, less than an hour after it was launched in early access.Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is due for release February 2 via PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Steam but players who purchased the more expensive deluxe edition can access the game 72 hours early.That early access window opened earlier today (January 29), starting with players in New Zealand, but the game was quickly taken offline due to a bug. When some players logged in for the very first time, they found that the game had auto-completed itself.Posting on social media, Rocksteady wrote: “We’re aware that a number of players are currently experiencing an issue whereby upon logging into the game for the first time, they have full story completion.”To fix the bug, the studio confirmed it would be performing “maintenance on the game servers” with Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League taken offline soon afterwards.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Depending on whom you ask, Don Lemon is planting his feet firmly in media’s next frontier. Or its last one. The former CNN star anchor is the latest in a parade of onetime TV-news personnel to dip their toes into the entrepreneurial waters of digital and social media.

Channel 4 is merging several commissioning departments including TV drama and film and leaving its Horseferry Road premises as the network sets out its layoffs plan and five-year strategy.

EXCLUSIVE: WTFilms has snapped up international sales rights for Dutch directorial duo Steffan Haars and Flip Van Der Kuil’s English-language debut Krazy House following its world premiere at Sundance.

Selome Hailu Welcome back to Lumon. “Severance” Season 2 has returned to production, which was delayed for months due to the Hollywood strikes. Season 2 of the popular Apple TV+ thriller stopped shooting in May 2023 when the Writers Guild of America first went on strike against the studios represented by the AMPTP.

EXCLUSIVE: Tara Long, who was President of Global Unscripted Television at eOne, has finalized a deal with John Morayniss’ Blink49 Studios.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Paramount Global set a new senior vice president over its efforts to win small-and-medium-sized advertisers, another nod of the growing importance of non-traditional market segments to the business of TV, which has long relied on just Madison Avenue’s biggest residents. Paramount named Emily Huo as its senior vice president of “SMB Advertising.” The category often includes entrepreneurial digital advertisers and regional and local marketers who in the past found national TV too broad or, more likely than not, too expensive. In the streaming era, however, smaller advertisers can run pitches aimed at narrower slices of geography or specific consumer niches.

Ellise Shafer Britney Spears is all for Justin Timberlake‘s musical comeback, despite what her fans may think. In a Sunday night post on her Instagram (which is now private), Spears praised Timberlake’s new song, “Selfish,” while also apologizing for “some of the things” she wrote in her memoir, “The Woman in Me.” “I wanna apologize for some of the things I wrote about in my book. If I offended any of the people I genuinely care about I am deeply sorry,” Spears wrote alongside a video of Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon performing the song on the host’s “Classroom Instruments” segment.

While Joe Biden‘s campaign reportedly is dreaming of the possibilities of a Taylor Swift endorsement, there’s some data suggesting that it could have a real impact.

Ethan Shanfeld If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? Bill Murray, who suits back up as Peter Venkman in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” out March 22. Murray isn’t the only franchise favorite to return for the chilly sequel, which sees the Big Apple covered in ice after an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force. His fellow original Ghostbusters — Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts — are back for “Frozen Empire,” and so is Slimer, aka “The Mean Green Ghost,” who returns with a vengeance.

Ted Lasso went out on a high note at Apple TV+.

Jon Glickman is in talks to become the next CEO of Miramax Films. a post that has been vacant since Bill Block exited last fall.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Blue Ant Media execs Solange Attwood and Asha Daniere have launched an “internationally-focused, next generation studio business” out of Canada.

EXCLUSIVE: Tell Them You Love Me explores the story of a controversial affair between Anna Stubblefield, a white university professor, and Derrick Johnson, a non-verbal Black man with cerebral palsy. Stubblefield claimed she and Johnson had fallen in love, but when his family found out about their intimate relationship, she was arrested, and in 2015 stood trial facing charges of aggravated sexual assault.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Taylor Sheridan‘s upcoming Paramount+ series “Land Man” has added four new series regulars, Variety has learned exclusively. Kayla Wallace (“When Calls The Heart”), frequent Sheridan collaborator James Jordan (“Yellowstone”) Mark Collie (“Nashville”) and Paulina Chávez (“The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia”) have all joined the series alongside previously announced lead Billy Bob Thornton and fellow series regulars Ali Larter, Michelle Randolph and Jacob Lofland.

EXCLUSIVE: BET and CBS News have announced the Season 2 renewal of primetime newsmagazine America In Black. Featured on BET, Paramount+ and CBS News streaming, America In Black focuses on investigative reporting, newsmaker interviews, human interest stories and celebrity profiles.