Tom Joyner Dies: ‘Jaws’ First AD & Frank Capra Award Winner Was 79

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has web-slinged its way online. In the animated sequel, Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) work to save every Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and Spider-Person in the multiverse. Together with a new crew, Miles must stop a mysterious new villain, who happens to be planning a disaster that could disrupt each universe. In the trailer, he is told, “Being a Spider-Man is a sacrifice.” Alongside Moore and Steinfeld, the cast includes Oscar Isaac as Spider-Man 2099, Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker from the first movie, Issa Rae as Spider-Woman, Daniel Kaluuya as Spider-Punk, Jason Schwartzman as the Spot, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Vélez, Greta Lee, Rachel Dratch, Jorma Taccone and Shea Whigham.

The late Paul O'Grady is about to be seen in his final ever series of For the Love of Dogs - and in his last chat about the ITV show, he pays a poignant tribute to the "privilege" of working with the residents of Battersea Dogs' Home. News of Paul's death on 28 March came as a shock, with his 11th series of passion project Paul O'Grady: For the Love of Dogs already completed and ready to air. Once more, he'll meet rescue dogs facing all kinds of hardship and his final interview about the show is full of the love he felt for the dogs he met.

Viewers of Emmerdale reckon they have rumbled the twist with Nicky, as he makes a bold moved and proposes to Gabby.The pair tell Kim Tate, Bernice Blackstock and Laurel Thomas that they are dating, leaving Kim clearly horrified by the concept. But she's set to be even more surprised, as Nicky whips out an engagement ring and gets down on one knee, proposing to Gabby. It's got fans of the soap wondering who exactly Nicky could be, after actor Lewis Cope teased that Nicky has his reasons for dating Gabby and hinted his decision behind it might not be 100 per cent genuine.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z are celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary on 4 April, and the powerhouse couple are nothing if not honest when it comes to talking about the highs and lows of their relationship. Given that they met in 2000 when Beyoncé was 18, and 12 years Jay-Z’s junior, the odds of their relationship lasting so long were stacked against them.They might be two of the most successful recording artists of all time, but they’ve faced multiple challenges, from Jay-Z’s infidelity to family fallouts and their struggle to have children.

Paul O’Grady voiced his funeral plans back in 2017 – six years before the star’s death. The TV favourite and animal lover sadly passed away earlier this month at the age of 67, leaving his friends, fans and family heartbroken. In the wake of his passing, an old interview from 2017 has resurfaced where the Lily Savage star shared his plans for his funeral – which included a glass coffin.

Tom Cruise is reportedly one of the first people on the planet to see DC’s upcoming movie The Flash.

Charna Flam The ReelAbilities Film Festival returns for its 15th year, as the largest film festival in the U.S. dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation for the lives, stories, and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. The festival announced Academy Award winner Troy Kotsur as the 2023 Spotlight Award recipient, as well as listed the festival’s lineup, which includes 10 features and 24 shorts, from nine countries. Features include “Unidentified Objects,” “Being Michelle,” “Jasmine Is a Star,” “No Ordinary Campaign,” “Pushing Boundaries,” “The Quiet Epidemic,” “Shadow,” “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” “Upside Down” and “Okay! (The ASD Band Film).” The 24 shorts are divided into five categories: Out of the Box, Mental Health, Family Friendly, The Art of Living and With an Edge. The entire schedule can be found here.

Ke Huy Quan is living a dream.

Ke Huy Quan was on a mission. He’d just been named best supporting actor for his performance as Waymond Wang, the goofy husband of a laundromat owner in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and he wanted to experience the moment with Steven Spielberg. Spielberg, you see, was the filmmaker who cast him in his breakout role in 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” when Quan was 12 years old. So during a commercial break in the Academy Awards telecast, Quan, 51, went over to where Spielberg was sitting with his wife, actress Kate Capshaw, whom Quan hadn’t seen since they co-starred in “Temple of Doom” four decades earlier. After hugs all around, Spielberg put his hands on Quan’s shoulders and said, “You are now an Oscar-winning actor.”

Duped,” and a photo of Leonardo DiCaprio in full pilot regalia accompanied the piece. It was the famous still from “Catch Me if You Can,” Steven Spielberg’s 2002 film inspired by Abagnale’s best-selling memoir from 1980.Via email, the “reformed” con artist and author — who now advises businesses, banks, department stores and the FBI on fraud prevention and cybercrime — wanted me to know that it bothered him that “everyday someone writes an article about a bank robbery, forgery, con artist, or even cybercrime and they refer to me.“The crime I committed was writing bad checks,” he wrote.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Me want… nonfungible token? Sesame Workshop is introducing the first digital collectibles based on the iconic Sesame Street kids’ brand. The first NFTs from the initiative will feature Cookie Monster, the beloved blue cookie fiend from the show, with the initial drop scheduled for March 19 on the VeVe digital collectibles app. There will be one Cookie Monster NFT collectible with 5,555 editions for sale, priced at $60 each. According to Sesame Workshop, additional Sesame Street collectibles will be released later this year. NFTs are unique identifiers that verify ownership of digital content. The craze for NFT collectibles kicked off in earnest in early 2021 and has continued since. A number of studios, TV networks, sports leagues and athletes, actors, musicians, artists, gaming companies and more have launched NFT initiatives, looking to generate revenue and engage with fans.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor CNN has scored its first Oscars win: “Navalny,” the harrowing film following Russian dissident and former presidential candidate Alexei Navalny, took the prize for documentary feature film at Sunday’s Academy Awards. The documentary, directed by Daniel Roher, gained new relevance after Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The CNN Films/Warner Bros. documentary is a fly-on-the-wall account of the rousing populist who was once a presidential candidate — and posed such a threat to Putin that Navalny was poisoned in a botched assassination plot ordered by the Kremlin in 2020. Navalny was detained in January 2021 and currently is serving a nine-year sentence in a Russian gulag. He has spent much of the sentence in solitary confinement.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The most anticipated night in entertainment is here. The 95th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 12, at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, where some of the best films of the past year will be celebrated. The ceremony will broadcast live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. There will also be a replayed 8 p.m. broadcast for West Coast viewers. The best way to tune into the event without cable is through Sling TV, which is currently offering half off for subscribers’ first month. In order to access the ABC broadcast, you’ll have to sign up for Sling Blue, which includes ABC in addition to 42 other channels, in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco. The live TV streamer’s current deal brings down the price to $22.50 for the first month. After the first month, the price will go up to $45/month. In Fresno/Visalia, Houston and Raleigh, the price is $40/month ($20 for the first month).

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Tom Cruise got a hero’s welcome in Hollywood over the last week of February. The best actor Oscar nominee for “Top Gun: Maverick” had been largely absent from Los Angeles during prime awards campaigning season, held up filming his latest “Mission: Impossible” epic, and the town was more than compensated for his absence when he finally touched down. On Sunday Feb. 26, “Top Gun: Maverick” producer Jerry Bruckheimer opened his Beverly Hills home to power players and stars (many of them voters for the annual Academy Awards) where Cruise was guest of honor. Days later, former Paramount chief and show business stateswoman Shery Lansing gave an equally well-attended cocktail party to fete Cruise. It’s not surprising that the industry would want to celebrate the man who Steven Spielberg said “saved Hollywood’s ass” by getting moviegoers back in theaters. But were the events legit in the eyes of the film academy, which enforces how and when Oscar hopefuls get to woo the figures that hand them golden trophies? The Academy’s bylaws say that after Oscar nominations are released, campaigns cannot “invite members to attend any parties, dinners, lunches, or other non-screening events that promote nominated films.”

“Oscar Wars” (HarperCollins), Michael Schulman reports on nearly a century of history and ignominy: from SAG boycotts, blacklists, bankruptcy and corruption to streakers, sex pests, racism and high embarrassment — not to mention certain slap-happy actors.“What are the Academy Awards, anyway?” he writes. “They’re an industry party—like a convention of landscapers, but with better outfits.

It’s Hollywood’s biggest night. And this year, the gloves are off.

Wednesday star Jenna Ortega is reportedly in talks to reunite with Tim Burton for a role in Beetlejuice 2.A sequel to Burton’s 1988 film, starring Michael Keaton, has been in discussion for a decade, with Keaton declaring his interest back in 2014 before the script was rewritten in 2017.As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the film now looks set to shoot in London this May and June, with Burton and Keaton likely to return.Ortega, star of the hit Netflix Addams Family spin-off from Burton, is now reportedly in talks to join the film.Sources say that she would likely play the daughter of Lydia (played by Winona Ryder in the original) in the film.Neither studio Warner Bros. nor representatives for Ortega responded to requests for comment.Elsewhere, Ortega is presenting tomorrow’s (March 11) episode of Saturday Night Live, with musical guests The 1975.Ahead of the show, Ortega said in a video posted to social media that she doesn’t want to do the viral Wednesday dance in an SNL promo.Appearing alongside the Please Don’t Destroy crew, Ortega is seen raising her concerns about her and the crew doing the dance – before some hilarity ensues.The skit (see below) was posted to the SNL YouTube on Wednesday (March 8), and begins with Ortega saying: “Honestly, this is really well-written, I just don’t feel like I want to do the Wednesday dance for promo because we’ve seen so much of that already and I think it’s time to do something new.”Today (March 10) saw the promo arrive, with cast member Bowen Yang says he “feel[s] so old” after Ortega introduces The 1975.“I don’t understand any of your generation’s slang,” Yang adds before asking the band: “Are you guys getting any of this”.

It’s the weekend of the 2023 Academy Awards and we’re making our final predictions in all of the categories.

Thanks to “Scream,” “X,” “Wednesday,” and “Scream VI,” Jenna Ortega is now the scream queen of Hollywood’s new generation.

Rachel Seo Jenna Ortega is eyeing a role in Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice 2,” Variety has confirmed. Ortega, best known for her role as Wednesday Addams in Netflix’s recent series reboot “Wednesday,” is in talks to play the daughter of Lydia Deetz, portrayed by Winona Ryder in the original film. This marks her second time working with Burton, who was an executive producer on “Wednesday” and directed four of its eight episodes. Michael Keaton is also set to reprise his role as the title character. Representatives for Warner Bros. and Ortega did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Michael Keaton’s Batman isn’t the only big comic book character return happening in Warner Bros.’ long-awaited “The Flash.” As the film’s official trailer confirmed last month, Michael Shannon is also coming back to the DC Universe as “Man of Steel” villain General Zod in the upcoming Ezra Miller-led comic book tentpole. Shannon admitted in a recent interview with Looper that he was quite baffled when the offer came in to reprise General Zod. “I was a little confused,” Shannon said. “I said, ‘As memory serves me, I think I died in ‘Man of Steel.’ Are they sure they got the right guy?’ But then they explained to me the whole multiverse phenomenon, which I was a little behind the times on that. I can’t say that I’m a huge consumer of this genre of films — not that I have anything against them. If I’m going to watch a movie, the odds are it’s not going to be one of those, but I sure love making them.”