Plus, hear about some streaming news… the return of a Scream actor… a deluxe CD… and a Broadway injury!
A couple of things you can look forward to streaming…This Friday night, Feb. 7, Disney+ will stream The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl. In case you forgot the casting controversy, North West — as Simba — sings the show-stopping number, I Just Can’t Wait To Be King. And if you don’t have any Valentine’s plans next Friday night, SNL50: The Homecoming Concert debuts on Peacock. Featured artists include Arcade Fire, Backstreet Boys, Bad Bunny, Bonnie Raitt, Brandi Carlile, Brittany Howard, Chris Martin, David Byrne, Devo, Eddie Vedder, Jack White, Jelly Roll, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Mumford & Sons, Post Malone, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Robyn, The B-52s, and The Roots.
In casting news, SPOILER ALERT! Matthew Lillard confirmed on his Instagram that he is returning for the seventh Scream movie. You may remember that his character Stu Macher was killed off in the original….or was he? After skipping Scream 6, Neve Campbell is back for Scream 7. This one will involve a big time jump to accommodate Sidney’s children growing up. There weill be two main story lines — one involving Sidney and her friends and the other focusing on Sidney’s teenage daughter and her friends. In other casting news, Will Ferrell and Zac Efron are set to star in an untitled courtroom comedy film for Prime Video. According to the release, the story follows a young convict (Zac) who takes a reality TV courtroom hostage because he blames the TV judge (Will) for a past ruling that he believes ruined his life.
Fresh from her big night at the Grammys, Sabrina Carpenter announced she’s releasing a deluxe edition of Short n’ Sweet on Valentine’s Day. The expanded album features five new tracks, including a re-recorded version of Please, Please, Please featuring Dolly Parton. The other four tracks are titled 15 Minutes, Couldn’t Make It Any Harder, Busy Woman, and Bad Reviews. The deluxe album is available for pre-order now, arriving just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Back in October, Charli D’Amelio made her Broadway debut in & Juliet, cast in the dance-heavy ensemble role of Charmian. Her limited engagement was supposed to end last month, but things were going so well, Charli extended her contract through April 6. Over the weekend, things took a scary turn when a piece of the set fell on Charli’s head, causing her to collapse on stage. A TikToker who was in the audience said, “The thing that covers the stage came down and hit her on the head and poor girl was knocked out….They paused the show for about five minutes and then she was back on and dancing. She had a mark on her head and everything.” A source told Page Six that Charli was checked out by a medic and given the all clear to keep going.
Here’s the latest in the ongoing Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds vs. Justin Baldoni dispute. Part of Blake and Ryan’s complaint is that Justin’s PR team used bots to smear her reputation online. In The New York Times article that Justin is suing over, they presented doctored text messages that made it look like this was true, but The Times left out the part where it was obvious they were just joking. In fact, Justin’s publicists were upset because they knew it looked like they were behind the negative social media posts even though, they surmised, it was all organic. A key figure in this controversy is crisis manager Jed Wallace, who operates Street Relations, based out of Dripping Springs, Texas. Team Lively claims Jed was hired by Justin’s PR team to lead an online assault intended to smear Blake’s reputation and rally support for Justin. Team Lively filed a request to depose Jed in Texas, but they have now withdrawn that request. Legal experts speculate this was a strategic move, potentially paving the way for Jed to be included in the ongoing NY case.
Meantime, Blake still has a job to do. Deadline reported that she will be in Austin next month where her movie Another Simple Favor will debut on the opening night of SXSW. This is a sequel to 2018’s A Simple Favor. Both Blake and Anna Kendrick are back, along with director Paul Feig. The thriller-comedy will follow Stephanie (Anna) and Emily (Blake) as they head to Capri, where Emily will marry a rich Italian businessman.
