Why Tom Hanks isn't worried about movie theaters
And Kristen Bell might be launching a podcast
What to know
Wonder Woman 3 gets obvious greenlight | Variety
Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot will return to finish their Wonder Woman trilogy. Yes, Variety says WW3 will be the ‘concluding’ chapter. The news came Sunday morning on the heels of relatively big success for Wonder Woman 1984: Nearly half of HBO Max’s ‘retail subscribers’ watched it on day one and the movie brought in a pandemic-high $16.7M at the box office. I haven’t seen it yet but am hearing very mixed things.
Tom Hanks isn’t worried about movie theaters | Variety
Theaters aren’t going anywhere, according to Tom Hanks. While speaking with Collider, the actor shrugged off concerns over the death of movie theaters, saying that he believes people will still seek out franchises (Marvel, etc) on the big screen and that a “sea change was due, anyway. It was coming.” He also thinks, “exhibitors — once they’re up and open — are going to have the freedom of choice of what movies they’re going to play.” Hope so, Tom!
Kristen Bell has plans to launch a podcast | PCB via Armchair Expert
Kristen Bell has made a ton of appearances on her husband Dax Shepard’s wildly popular podcast Armchair Expert — but now the crew let slip that Bell might get her own show in 2021. While appearing on the Holiday Spectacular episode of Shepard’s show last week, Bell and Armchair Expert cohost Monica Padman teased a new podcast collaboration between the two of them.
Here’s what to expect from Times Square on New Year’s Eve | Deadline
There won’t be crowds but there will be live performances. Andra Day, Gloria Gaynor, Pitbull, Anitta, Jennifer Lopez, Billy Porter, Cyndi Lauper, Jimmie Allen, and Machine Gun Kelly are set to perform live in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. The show will be sent out on a commercial-free live stream, but you can also catch some of the performances on ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest and on Univison.
Also...
WB wants 2 to 4 DC movies a year with some in theaters and some on HBO Max
Update: Yoozoo/Netflix producer Li Qin is dead at 39 after apparent poisoning
That bug zapper sound effect in Soul was pretty controversial
Color Purple movie musical and Mad Max prequel Furiosa get 2023 release dates
Tituss Burgess, Adam Lambert, Andre de Shields join Ratatouille TikTok musical concert
Speaking of social media musicals, these folks did The Lion King on Clubhouse
What to watch
Somebody call Taika Waititi: Melissa McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone submitted this hilarious “audition tape” for Thor: Love and Thunder. Apparently the couple was so inspired by Mar-VEL’s ice cream cakes, that they just had to be in its next feature — or provide craft services. It’s up to Taika.
New notables on streaming this week:
Death to 2020 (Dec 27) - Netflix comedy special
Yearly Departed (Dec 30) - Amazon comedy special
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina final season (Dec 31) - Netflix
Cobra Kai season 3 (Jan 1) - Netflix series
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About the Author: Alex Rabinowitz has led the way on social media and story packaging at media outlets big and small. With his acclaimed Tumblr site PopCultureBrain.com, Alex became a leading figure in emerging social networks and entertainment news. Sourced by many top destinations, including New York Magazine, BuzzFeed, and Videogum, Pop Culture Brain was featured by BuzzFeed and TIME as the best pop culture blog on Tumblr. Alex's writing has appeared on The Huffington Post, GQ, Mic, and Time Warner Cable.