Zack Sharf: Last News

Zack Sharf Digital News Director The trailer launch for “Joker: Folie à Deux” was no laughing matter for Warner Bros. The marketing for the studio’s upcoming DC sequel, headlined by Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, got off to a stellar start with 167 million viewers in its first 24 hours. The teaser trailer went online right after it debuted at Warner Bros.’s CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Daniel Radcliffe was treated to an unexpected moment during an appearance on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast alongside his “Merrily We Roll Along” co-stars Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez. Podcast host Josh Horowitz played a clip from his Alan Rickman interview in 2016, which Radcliffe had never seen before. Rickman and Radcliffe were co-stars for a decade in the “Harry Potter” film series.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dave Bautista and Eric Nam are set to headline the voice cast for the upcoming “Avatar: The Last Airbender” movie in development at Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Studios. The film’s working title is “Aang: The Last Airbender.” The news was announced during Paramount’s slate presentation at CinemaCon. Joining Bautista and Nam in the voice cast are Dionne Quan, Jessica Matten and Roman Zaragoza.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jonathan Nolan appeared on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast to tout his latest television series, Prime Video’s “Fallout,” but the conversation touched on Nolan’s time co-writing Batman movies with his brother, Christopher Nolan. The siblings share screenwriting credit on 2008’s “The Dark Knight” and 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises.” Jonathan admitted that he was pushing for the Riddler to be the primary villain of “Rises” and not Bane, which is what Christopher and David S. Goyer were planning.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Zendaya was already a big star when she was cast as MJ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” By that point in her career she had already amassed a huge following as the star of two Disney Channel hits, “Shake It Up” and “K.C. Undercover,” plus popped up in Beyonce’s “Lemonade” film and was a runner-up on “Dancing With the Stars.” None of that apparently registered for “Spider-Man” producer Amy Pascal. “To be honest with you, neither [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige nor I knew who she was,” Pascal admitted in Vogue magazine as part of its Zendaya cover story.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel‘s longstanding “Fast & Furious” feud came to an official end last year when Johnson shocked fans by popping up as the beloved Luke Hobbs in a “Fast X” mid-credits scene. Diesel had extended an invitation to Johnson in November 2021 to join “Fast X,” but Johnson said the following month that “I would not be returning to the franchise.” That turned out to be a bluff. The duo’s “Fast & Furious” co-star John Cena recently appeared on the “Armchair Expert” podcast (via People) and was asked by host Dax Shepard about the rumors concerning Johnson and Diesel’s on-set tussle.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Zendaya‘s most prolific roles to date in HBO’s “Euphoria,” which won her two Emmys for outstanding lead actress in a drama series, and three of Marvel’s “Spider-Man” films have something in common: High school. But she’s leaving the classroom behind for her new film, Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers,” which casts Zendaya as a tennis phenom and finds her at one point during the movie playing a mother in her early 30s. “I’m always in a high school somewhere,” Zendaya recently told Vogue magazine about her career thus far.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jackie Chan marked his 70th birthday on April 7 by telling people not to worry about his health after some photos of the acting icon looking old with grey hair circulated online recently and sparked concern among his fans. Chan wrote in an Instagram post that any photo of him looking much older than 70 is just him in character for a new movie. “Not so long ago, a lot of friends saw some recent photos of me on the internet, and they were all concerned about my health,” Chan wrote in the caption.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jonathan Nolan said during a recent interview on the “Armchair Expert” podcast with Dax Shepard that it took some convincing to get his brother, Christopher Nolan, to agree to direct “The Dark Knight.” The filmmaker had already hit a superhero movie slam dunk with “Batman Begins” and was hesitant to make another comic book movie because he didn’t want his career getting pigeonholed. “I worked on ‘Batman Begins’ in this slightly arm’s length capacity, but it was the one comic book my brother ever given me as a kid, ‘Batman: Year One,’ for my 14th birthday, and 10 years later I was on the set working with him,” Jonathan said, remembering thinking “this is nuts.” “Chris was on the fence about making another one,” Jonathan continued, noting that Chris went straight from “Batman Begins” into helming the magician thriller “The Prestige.” “He didn’t want to become a superhero movie director.” Jonathan said that Chris was “very proud” of “Batman Begins,” but “to me, it was like we built this amazing sports car, and I’m like, ‘Let’s take it for a drive.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Steve Burns, who became an icon of children’s television as the host of Nickelodeon‘s “Blue’s Clues” from 1996 to 2002, recently spoke to “Today” and said he watched the viral documentary series “Quiet on Set” in “horror and heartbreak.” The ID Discovery series explores the alleged harassment and abuse that took place at Nickelodeon before and after the turn of the century, which is the same time Burns was the face of “Blue’s Clues.” “I don’t have any particular insight into any of that,” Burns said about the allegations made in the documentary series. “I’m coming to it much the same as anyone else, with horror and heartbreak. It’s just terrible to watch it unfold.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Robert Downey Jr. is not closing the door on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which he kicked off in 2008 with “Iron Man” and headlined for 11 years through 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” Iron Man met his demise in that tentpole, but that has never stopped rumors from circulating that Marvel is trying to bring Downey back into the fold, especially now that the MCU has hit a box office rough patch with 2023 flops such as “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “The Marvels.” Certainly, Downey’s return as Iron Man could restore Marvel to its blockbuster glory days. Speaking to Esquire magazine after his Oscar win for “Oppenheimer” last month, Downey was asked if he would ever return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe now that he is officially an Academy Award winner.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Michael J. Fox‘s retirement from acting might not be permanent. The actor recently told Entertainment Tonight that he’d be open to returning to the profession bearing the right role.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Carla Gugino recently told BuzzFeed that her beloved role in Robert Rodriguez’s 2001 family action film “Spy Kids” was “physically totally impossible.” The actor was 27 years old when she filmed the movie and played Ingrid Cortes, the mother of two spies. By Gugino’s math, the character didn’t add up. “It is so funny because I was 27,” Gugino recounted.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Christian Bale is Frankenstein’s monster in a first look at Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Bride.” The director, who is teaming up with Warner Bros. for the period film, shared images on Instagram from a recent camera test for the movie. Bale’s monster makes his debut alongside Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter” Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley as the eponymous bride.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Anna Paquin stepped onto a red carpet for the first time in well over a year to promote her latest movie, “A Bit of Light,” directed by her husband and “True Bood” co-star Stephen Moyer. The Oscar winner used a cane at the event to help her walk and disclosed to People that she’s had a “difficult” two years dealing with an undisclosed health issue that left her with mobility issues. “It hasn’t been easy,” Paquin told the publication of needing a cane to walk.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Danny McBride has a bone to pick with movie theaters. With the popularization of theaters that now serve dinner and drinks in the middle of a movie (see Alama Drafthouse locations, for example), the “Eastbound & Down” and “Pineapple Express” comedian recently told GQ magazine that he is staunchly against the trend. “I hate it, I can’t stand it,” McBride said while addressing the theaters-that-serves-dinner trend.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jerrod Carmichael recently opened up to Esquire magazine about tensions with fellow comedian Dave Chappelle. Carmichael, who is making the press rounds in support of his new HBO series, generated headlines in June 2022 when he criticized Chappelle, who had already been earning backlash for making jokes about the transgender community. “Chappelle, do you know what comes up when you Google your name, bro?” Carmichael asked during a GQ magazine profile at the time, referring to the comedian’s comments about trans people.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jon Bernthal is back playing Frank Castle (aka Punisher) on the set of “Daredevil: Born Again,” new set photos from which have the character paired up with Charlie Cox’s eponymous hero and soaked in blood. The Disney+ series is now filming in New York City. Bernthal debuted as Frank Castle in Netflix’s “The Punisher” series, which aired for two seasons and 26 episodes between 2017 and 2019.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Michael Keaton participated in a career retrospective interview for GQ magazine and admitted that his casting as Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 superhero movie was “ballsy” considering he was more known for his comedic roles in films like “Mr. Mom” at that point in his career. Keaton’s casting was met with backlash among comic book fans at the time.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Lizzo is not quitting music or social media. Days after the Grammy winner stirred up headlines for posting “I quit” on social media, she took to Instagram to clarify exactly what she meant and assure fans that she still plans to release new music in the future.