Matthews: Last News

Lionsgate’s long-in-the-works The Hunger Games: On Stage has set an October 20 debut at a new 1,200 capacity in-the-round venue: the Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre in London’s financial district, Canary Wharf.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Charlotte Moore, the current chief content officer of the BBC, is set to join London’s Sony-owned Left Bank Pictures as the company’s the new CEO. In an additional dual capacity Moore has also been appointed to the newly created role of executive VP, creative director across Sony Pictures Television (SPT) International Production Group. In her role as as Left Bank CEO, Moore succeeds Andy Harries who on Wednesday announced he will transition to an executive chair role after 18 years at the helm of the storied company behind “The Crown,” among other high-profile titles.

The Masked Singer is back!

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Kate Hudson is an icon of the romantic-comedy genre, but her movies weren’t exactly embraced by film critics. “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” has a 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, for instance. Then there’s “Fools Gold,” “Bride Wars” and “Something Borrowed,” all of which have Rotten Tomatoes scores of 15% or below.

Friends star Matthew Perry was given 27 shots of ketamine in the days leading up to his death.The actor was found unresponsive in a hot tub in his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023, with his death at the age of 54 being attributed to the acute effects of ketamine, with drowning and coronary artery disease listed as other factors.Now, the documentary Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy, which explores the circumstances of his death and premiered in the US on Peacock on Tuesday (February 25), has included alarming comments from the attorney Martin Estrada, who oversaw the case up until January 2024.He stated that in his three final days, Perry was administered with 27 doses of ketamine outside of that which he had been prescribed as therapy for anxiety and depression. Estrada added that the people responsible for the large number of doses “should have known much better”.Five people were charged in connection with Perry’s death in August 2024, including doctors Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia, the actor’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, former rehab program director Erik Fleming, and the so-called “ketamine queen” Jasveen Sangha.Estrada claims that Plasencia was “very clear” in text messages about Perry, saying “he saw this as an opportunity to make a lot of money in a short amount of time, and he allegedly did just that”.“In the past, we used to call these things overdose deaths and do more blaming of the victim,” Estrada added.

Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy is out now.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic How sunny and well-meaning and therapeutically feel-good is the new autism drama “The Unbreakable Boy?” It’s a movie in which the dad, played by Zachary Levi, has an imaginary best friend. It’s a movie in which the local church is run by a Matthew McConaughey sort of dude named Preacher Rick (Peter Facinelli), who’s so down with his downtrodden flock that he himself is a recovering alcoholic who admits he sometimes doesn’t like to go to church. And it’s a movie in which the title character, an owlish 13-year-old named Austin (Jacob Laval), isn’t merely autistic.

Selome Hailu Apple TV+’s upcoming comedy series starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson has added Natalie Martinez and Brittany Ishibashi to the cast. McConaughey and Harrelson, who are close friends in real life, play versions of themselves in the 10-episode series.

Matt Minton mminton@variety.com Peter Jason, a character actor known for his roles in “Deadwood,” “48 Hrs.” and “Prince of Darkness,” along with his many television appearances, died Thursday in his West Hollywood home. He was 80. Jason’s death was confirmed by a rep from Tribesmen Pictures, with the cause of death being cancer.

Gabrielle Union has always been dedicated to her craft. Before starring in 2000’s Bring It On, she starred in The Wonderful World of Disney TV movie H-E Double Hockey Sticks opposite Matthew Lawrence.

Matt Minton mminton@variety.com Amanda Seyfried is back in a leading television role following “The Crowded Room” and her Emmy award-winning turn in “The Dropout.” Based on the New York Times bestseller by Liz Moore published in 2020, the limited series “Long Bright River” follows Mickey (Seyfried), a police officer patrolling an area of Philadelphia that was particularly hit by the opioid crisis. After three girls are found dead, Mickey is forced to grapple with her past as she searches for answers. The tense trailer shows Mickey’s journey as she is questioned for her interest in the case and her personal connection.

Matthew Perry is set to look at the illegal trade of ketamine use in Los Angeles.The Friends star died on October 28, 2023, and was found unresponsive in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home. He was 54. On December 15 of that year, his death was revealed to have occurred due to acute effects of ketamine.The trailer for Matthew Perry: A Hollywood Tragedy debuted February 19 ahead of its premiere on the streaming service Peacock on February 25.

Matthew Lawrence looked back on his experience collaborating with Gabrielle Union in the ’90s.

The Masked Singer is back!

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Matthew Lawrence recently said on the “Magical Rewind” podcast that the only time he got into trouble on a film or television set was when Gabrielle Union allegedly reported him. According to Lawrence, the incident occurred after he declined Union’s offer to rehearse their lines together on the set of their 1999 TV movie “H-E Double Hockey Sticks.” Lawrence starred in the film as a hockey player who becomes the target of a young devil, played by podcast co-host Will Friedle. “There was this one moment where — and, again, I’m oblivious, I had no idea — and [Gabrielle] wanted to rehearse.

The Wombats have recalled the time they were chased by gangsters in Rio de Janeiro while out on tour.The Liverpool band, who released their sixth album ‘Oh! The Ocean’ last week, spoke about the incident during a recent interview with NME.“We got in trouble with some gang [in Rio De Janeiro] and they chased us back to the hotel,” explained frontman Matthew Murphy.“It was a wild night and I guess someone said something to the wrong person whilst intoxicated, and the next thing we knew we were in a van being chased – not chased, but two Range Rovers followed us back to the hotel.”He added: “Our tour manager got me off and then had to deal with it. But apparently it was pretty freaky.”The group also looked back on the run-in during a new interview with the Daily Star‘s ‘Wired’ column.“We got chased in Rio by a gang.

Robert De Niro and Angela Bassett are stepping out for the premiere of their new Netflix limited series!

EXCLUSIVE: The spooks are returning, and we now know who they’re planning to haunt.

The notorious cowboy gas engineer left two sick children without heating or hot water for five months.

In the latest season of Call the Midwife, Trixie has taken on a significant new role, which has allowed her to "come into her own", according to actress Helen George.

Outlander‘s showrunner has confirmed a cast exit ahead of the show’s final season.