Month: March 2021

For years, the MCU has existed largely as a male-fronted franchise. Black Widow was, for a long period of time, the lone female Avenger, while popular characters with interesting histories like Wanda Maximoff or Pepper Potts were often relegated to side stories or love interests. Over the course of 23 films, as stories expanded, so too did character inclusion. The world saw new female superheroes in the form of Wakandan warriors, intergalactic aliens, and Norse legends. But no matter how much acclaim these heroes got, and no matter how much of a pop-culture splash they made, it was clear that the face of the MCU lay in the stories of its core characters — most of whom happened to be male superheroes.

That’s all about to change.

With “The Infinity Saga” in the rearview mirror and a fresh start already in progress called “Phase 4,” Marvel is finally giving their female superheroes their time in the sun — by putting them front and center in a way that they’ve never been seen before.

Consider WandaVision, the first new content the MCU has debuted since the global pandemic sidelined the industry over a year ago. The premise of the show may have been about Wanda and Vision (“a most unusual couple”) but the central storyline was squarely centered on Wanda Maximoff — and how her grief journey helped her towards officially accepting the mantle of “The Scarlet Witch.”

WandaVision wasn’t supposed to be the first Phase 4 entry — that honor belonged to the twice-delayed Black Widow solo film, which is currently on track to finally debut in July. But thanks to COVID, the MCU ended up adjusting their content slate, pushing Wanda’s show to the forefront. Serendipitously, it still does the job that Natasha Romanoff’s film was destined to do: kick off a new decade of how women are handled and treated in the MCU.

After watching WandaVision, it’s clear that Wanda’s side-story days are over, and that the character will be a massive player in her next film (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). Similarly, it’s clear from interviews and trailers that Black Widow will no longer be relegated to a supporting role or someone whose history we have to wonder about; the movie will explore the full backstory of a character who for so long, has existed in the shadows.

Over the next few years, audiences will see Monica Rambeau come into her own — after discovering her powers in WandaVision — in Captain Marvel 2. They’ll meet America Chavez, a portal-smashing Latino in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and they’ll see Jane Foster finally wield Mjolnir in Thor: Love and Thunder. On the small screen, female superheroes such as She-Hulk, Ironheart, Ms. Marvel, and Kate Bishop will headline a majority of the upcoming Disney+ shows, as they take up the mantles of their male successors and emerge as the next leading Avengers.

Of course, as much as Kevin Feige deserves acknowledgment for championing and pushing character stories over the years, we should also give credit where credit is due. And that lies in the fact that over the last 5-7 years, the comic industry has changed drastically alongside the film franchise. Writers and artists have introduced a new and diverse slate of characters or fresh takes on outdated favorites and it’s not a coincidence that a majority of these characters or storylines from the past few years – like Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, and America Chavez — are the ones who have been chosen to be incorporated into these upcoming properties.

In Avengers: Endgame, as Thanos reigns destruction upon the battlefield, Captain Marvel steps in to rescue the Infinity Gauntlet from Spider-Man – who promptly asks how she’s going to get it through Thanos’ massive army.

“Don’t worry,” says Wanda Maximoff, appearing beside Carol.

“She’s got help,” Okoye adds, stepping in.

As the three superheroes advance on the battlefield, they’re joined by Wasp, Pepper Potts (in Rescue gear), Mantis, Nebula, Gamora, Valkyrie, and Shuri. The scene is one that has been somewhat contested on social media for being “performative,” with arguments that many of the characters hadn’t ever interacted before this moment and therefore it existed solely to please the audience. But no matter how you personally feel about the scene, it’s an empowering, rousing moment that signifies just how far the MCU has come from the days of one lone female Avenger fighting aliens in midtown Manhattan with a tiny pistol surrounded by five men.

And it’s the perfect launchpad for looking at the MCU’s future.

Beabadoobee made a name for herself last year with her album Fake It Flowers, and now she’s ready for more. She announced today that she has a new EP on the way, Our Extended Play, which she made with The 1975 and is expected at some point this summer. The first look at the album is “Last Day On Earth,” which, sure enough, sounds like a mix of Beabadoobee’s ’90s-inspired work and the lighter tracks from The 1975’s recent output.

Beabadoobee says of the track and the EP more broadly:

“‘Last Day On Earth’ is about all the things I would have done had I known we were going into a lockdown and the world was going to change the way it has. It was written shortly after the first main lockdown and lyrically it’s me reflecting on how it would feel if we all knew ahead of time what was going to happen. All the things I would have done if I knew it was the last day of our old normality. I wrote and recorded the EP on a farm with Matty and George from The 1975 in the countryside. It was really nice being able to create together, my first time writing and recording in that kind of setting. I wanted to experiment on the sounds and sonics even more and the EP to me has a feeling of togetherness to it… how we’re all in this joined as one.”

Watch the “Last Day On Earth” video above. Beabadoobee also announced some tour dates for later this year, so check those out below.

07/08 — Madrid, Spain @ Mad Cool Festival
07/10 — Glasgow, Scotland @ TRNSMT Festival 2021
08/28 — Reading, England @ Reading Festival 2021
08/29 — Leeds, England @ Leeds Festival 2021
09/07 — Manchester, England @ O2 Ritz Manchester
09/09 — Leeds, England @ Beckett University
09/10 — Nottingham, England @ Rescue Rooms
09/11 — Birmingham, England @ O2 Institute Birmingham
09/13 — Cambridge, England @ Junction
09/14 — Leicester, England @ O2 Academy Leicester
09/23 — London, England @ O2 Forum Kentish Town
09/24 — Bristol, England @ SWX
09/25 — Oxford, O2 Academy Oxford
09/28 — Dublin, Ireland @ The Academy
09/29 — Belfast, Northern Ireland @ Oh Yeah Music Centre
10/02 — Newcastle upon Tyne, England @ Newcastle University Students’ Union
10/03 — Edinburgh, Scotland @ The Liquid Room
10/04 — Glasgow, Scotland @ SWG3

It’s been a little over a month since Pink Sweats released his euphoric album Pink Planet, which aptly arrived just in time for Valentine’s Day. Following it’s release, Pink Sweats tapped the venerable musician Kehlani to join him on a remix of the fan-favorite track “At My Worst.” Now, the two have teamed up to share a lighthearted video to their romantic track.

The colorful visual, directed by David Karp and Courtney Loo, shows Kehlani and Pink Sweats courting each other at a retro gas station. Using flowers as a symbol of their love, they turn a simple bouquet into a lush garden.

Speaking about his Pink Planet LP in an interview with Uproxx, Pink Sweats said it was a way of offering fans a unique glimpse into his world:

“It was letting people into my world, the creative space that I made for myself to escape, I want to share that with everybody else. It’s like being a kid, but we’re grown. It’s like where you’re a child, some people at least have grand imaginations, but nobody can come to that place in your head. For me, I get to live out my childhood through music where it’s like I’ve created this place in my head and now I’ve been able to share with the world. Like some Bridge To Terabithia type stuff. You’re just bringing your friends on the rise, everybody wants to listen and give me a shot. So it’s like come on, let me show you.”

Watch Pink Sweats and Kehlani’s “At My Worst” video above.

Pink Planet is out now via Atlantic. Get it here.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Throughout his 2014 breakout hit “Hot N****,” Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda paints a picture of his experiences with street life, from guns to drugs and everything in between. “Run up on that n****, get to squeezing, hoe,” the piercing lyrics go. “Everybody catching bullet holes, n****s got me on my bully, yo.” The beat, produced by Pennsylvania beat maker Jahlil Beats, is a Chex Mix bag of sonic stylings, from Dirty South trap to the aggressive, then-burgeoning sound of New York drill music, which is a direct look into Jahlil’s regional production influences. (He cites Swizz Beatz and Mannie Fresh as some of his major inspirations.)

The platinum-selling song hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hip-Hop/R&B charts, and peaked No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2014. The official remix — one of many — features Fabolous, Chris Brown, Jadakiss, and Bobby’s fellow GS9 crew member Rowdy Rebel. Coupled with a stand-in-place groove now called the “Shmoney Dance,” the track took the internet and the country (especially New York City) on a viral trip. Artists from Lil Kim to French Montana freestyled over the beat, while Beyoncé hit the Shmoney during the On The Run concert tour with Jay-Z.

“I reached out to [Bobby] and I was just like, ‘Yo, you got my blessings, man, rock out with it,” Jahlil smiles. “[The beat and song] took legs of their own, and I was just grateful. I like to live a normal life, so a lot of things just don’t seem like they could reach that level [for me]. I was like, ‘We got one.’ I didn’t think I was going to catch [a hit] like that — I was just making street music. We ended up going number one, and it didn’t even have a chorus on it. That was the most unique thing about it for me.”

By the start of the 2010s, Jahlil Beats was steadily making a name for himself in the hip-hop world. The music maker (born Orlando Tucker) worked closely with fellow Penn State native Meek Mill on a number of tracks, including the standout 2011 single “Ima Boss” featuring Rick Ross. The infectiousness of the song, which gently steels video game sounds with bass-filled hip-hop, resulted in a six-label bidding war for the producer that same year. (He ended up signing with Roc Nation, and you may recognize his work from the tag “Jahlil Beats, holla at me.”)

From then on, Jahlil provided production assists for Rihanna and J. Cole, and released his Legends Era and Crack Music mixtape series featuring Lil Wayne, Big Sean, and many more. However, no one could have predicted the unparalleled success coming to the then-26-year-old, generated by a young Brooklynite who borrowed one of Beats’ tracks for the score to a growing phenomenon.

“People kept tagging me in clips of [Bobby Shmurda] throwing his hat up in the air, I didn’t really pay it no mind, I didn’t hear the song,” Jahlil, now 33, tells Uproxx via Zoom of his initial response to Bobby’s monster hit “Hot N****.” “I think Kevin Durant tweeted me and he was like, ‘yo, you hear this joint? This joint crazy.’”

For “Hot N****,” then-19-year-old East Flatbush-bred Bobby (born Ackquille Pollard) rapped over the beat to Lloyd Banks’ “Jackpot,” produced by Jahlil and originally released in 2012. Bobby had discovered the beat on YouTube and decided “it was the one.” Jahlil says the track was initially intended for Meek Mill to use, but the rapper thought it sounded too much like his song “Burn.”

A few weeks later, Epic Records’ executive vice president Sha Money XL reached out to Jahlil to inform him the label wanted to buy the beat, and that they were working to sign Bobby. The producer confirms Epic bought both “Hot N****” and Rowdy Rebel’s song “Shmoney Dance,” which Bobby is featured on. Jahlil was optimistic about taking his working relationship with Bobby to the next level by producing his debut album under Epic Records. However, a major blindside truncated the project during its developmental stages.

In December 2014, one month after the release of his EP Shmurda She Wrote, Bobby and 14 other members of his crew GS9, including Rowdy Rebel, were arrested. Bobby was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, reckless endangerment, drug possession, and gun possession. According to reports, the NYPD had been investigating GS9 (which stands for a plethora of things, including “Grimey Shooters,” “Gun Squad” and “G-Stone Crips,” according to the NYPD’s reports) for felonies and deadly altercations with rival gangs in the Brooklyn borough since before “Hot N****” became a hit. Former police commissioner Bill Bratton called GS9 “mindless thugs” at a press conference regarding the investigation. Held on $2 million bail, Bobby’s sentence carried a potential length of eight to 25 years.

“The last session I had [with Bobby and Rowdy] was for Juelz [Santana’s] ‘Time Ticking,’ and then a day or two later, they got locked up,” Jahlil recalls. He was at his house when his manager called with the news, which he “couldn’t believe.” “We were just making music. It was just us having fun, and then, that happened. It’s wild. [I felt like] I put all my eggs in the basket for them and Meek Mill, and the same thing happened.” Since the arrest happened in the early stages of working on Bobby’s album, it wasn’t even given a title yet. “I knew the impact these dudes [were] going to have,” Jahlil says. “I was really behind them a thousand percent, so it was kind of tough to deal with.”

Although additional criminal charges were dropped against Bobby in 2015, he still faced sentencing for drug and gun possession. In 2016, as part of a plea deal, Bobby was sentenced to seven years behind bars. He was first incarcerated at Rikers Island, and was subject to solitary confinement at one point; in 2017, he transferred to Clinton Correctional Facility in Upstate New York. He was denied parole in August 2020, but his credit for good behavior was restored last December. Bobby Shmurda was officially released on Feb. 23, 2021, and he will be under parole for the remainder of his sentence, which ends on Feb. 23, 2026.

“I think that once you go through stuff like that, all you [have] is time to think,” Jahlil says of what Bobby may have learned during his time away. While the producer admits he didn’t communicate too often with his collaborator while he was behind bars, he spoke frequently with the “high-spirited” Rowdy Rebel, who was released in December 2020 after serving a six-year sentence of his own. Rowdy reportedly kept him updated on Bobby, who “sent love.”

“I think that [their sentences] were a gift and a curse,” he continues. “Bobby went in and he lost some years, but that might’ve saved his life, you know? Now he can go and take care of his family and do better.” Since his release, he’s voiced his support for the #FreeHaiti movement and performed during events at NBA All-Star Weekend in early-March.

Despite the stalls in production with two of his most notorious collaborators, Jahlil kept busy during these last few years. He has notably produced for Busta Rhymes’ latest album, Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath Of God, and he divulged an as-yet-unreleased Justin Bieber/DaBaby collab to Uproxx. He’s also focused his attention on giving back to his hometown of Chester, Pennsylvania, namely by helping underserved residents of the area find affordable housing, developing properties, and running a sneaker store. “We really cracked down on a lot of our business, especially during this time,” he notes of working through the pandemic. “I’m doing stuff for my community and trying to balance that with music and family.”

However, he’s never forgotten about the unfinished business he has with Bobby Shmurda in the studio. The producer says that the sound they were going for during the planning process for his debut album was whatever fit Bobby’s interests, especially since his EP was a mix of several different sounds from different producers — “Wipe The Case Away” features a chorus sung by Ty Real and a subtle R&B vibe, while “Living Life” with Rowdy Rebel takes fans to the trap.

“He was just trying to figure it out,” Jahlil explains of Bobby’s musical direction. “But he ended up having a classic rap record stemming from him just doing him.” He notes he’s “been in touch” with Bobby’s camp and has sent over potential tracks to get their working relationship back in order. He’s also finished “three joints” with Rowdy Rebel.

Regardless of whether they end up cutting that highly-anticipated debut, Jahlil Beats is optimistic about the lessons Bobby Shmurda, his fans, and musical contemporaries can take from the saga. While GS9’s incarceration “stems from many things,” he hopes Bobby can use the incident as fuel to become the best version of himself.

“We all go through roadblocks, that’s just how life is,” Jahlil proclaims. “I think that it might have had to happen this way… Sometimes, you make mistakes, and some mistakes are a lot more drastic than others. Take something from it.”

Pending restricted free agent John Collins is expected to remain in Atlanta through the rest of the Hawks’ playoff push this season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The 23-year-old big man has been connected with teams like the Celtics and Hornets in recent weeks, but it now seems Collins will stay put. This all after general manager Travis Schlenk said he expected the Hawks to make an offer to Collins and free agency, and after Collins said this week, “I want to be true to Atlanta for my entire career, as corny or as cheesy as it may sound to whoever.”

That all seems to have generated some momentum for Collins to at least stick around in Atlanta until free agency, as the Hawks are now winners of eight of their past nine games under interim head coach Nate McMillan. On ESPN’s Woj & Lowe trade deadline special, Woj said that the expectation as of now is that Collins will finish out the season in Atlanta, citing the difficulty of moving him for a quality player in return since he only makes $4.1 million this season.

Now firmly in a playoff chase, Atlanta would have been hard-pressed to replace Collins’ production. In his fourth season, Collins is averaging 18.3 points per game and shooting 54 percent from the field. He reportedly turned down a four-year, $90 million extension last fall, which will likely be the starting point for negotiations this summer. With ownership pushing hard for the Hawks to chase a playoff spot this year, Collins’ play has been a big reason for their recent run so it’s not surprising they would keep him around for the remainder and possibly re-evaluate their stance on his value come free agency.

Collins could have been among the most interesting pieces to change teams this month, but it appears teams hoping to pry him away from the Hawks will have to do so with a massive offer sheet this summer.

As the U.S. grapples with a return to mass shootings, debates about gun legislation have once again taken center stage. Mass shootings tend to be a catalyst for these conversations, but they’re actually only one part of the issue. The U.S. is a total outlier among high-income nations when it comes to gun violence in general. No other country even comes close to our gun death rates.

One of the most common arguments against gun legislation is that gun control laws simply don’t work. Criminals don’t follow laws, restrictions just punish responsible gun owners, etc.

We often look to other nations that have gun laws that appear to work. Comparisons between nations is tricky, though, and we don’t even have to do that. We have plenty of evidence that gun laws work right here in our own country.

(I hear the “What about Chicago?!?” question echoing already—I promise, we’ll get to that in a minute.)

In the U.S., most gun laws exist at the state level, so we have 50 sets of data we can examine to see how effective these laws are. The fact that there are no border checks between states muddies the waters a little bit (Chicago being a prime example—again, we’ll get there in a minute), but there actually are significant differences in gun death rates between states.

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For example, in 2019, Massachusetts had a firearm mortality rate of 3.4 deaths per 100,000 population. Alaska had 24.4 per 100,000—a full eight times higher. And the next two states on both ends come in at 3.9 and 24.2, so it’s not like Massachusetts and Alaska are outliers. The death rate pretty steadily increases as you go down the firearm mortality rate list, which you can see from the CDC here.

So what does this have to do with gun laws? Well, let’s take a look at the states with the highest and lowest gun death rates and see how they stack up against the gun laws in those states. (These gun law rankings come from the pro-second amendment AZ Defenders’ list of “Best States for Responsible Gun Owners,” based on how loose or how strict state gun laws are. The rankings for gun death rates come from the CDC.)

Among the top 10 states for strict gun laws, the top seven of them are also the top seven states for lowest gun death rates. If that’s a coincidence, it’s a pretty big one.

Upworthy

What about the states with the least restrictive gun laws? Of the top 10 on that list, five of them are also in the top 10 for highest gun death rates.

Upworthy

If you directly compare all 50 states based on of strictness of gun laws and gun death rates, the pattern couldn’t be clearer. States with stricter gun legislation tend to have lower gun death rates and vice versa.

It’s also worth noting that states we might expect to have high gun death rates because of their big urban centers—namely New York and California—actually have some of the lowest gun death rates in the country. And states that have mostly rural populations have the highest gun death rates. Huh.

Don’t those rural states just have more guns, though? Well, yes. There is a clear correlation between the rate of gun ownership and the rate of gun deaths by state as well. (Which pretty much nixes the “If everyone had a gun, we’d all be safer” argument.)

But aren’t a lot of those numbers suicides? Yes. Nearly two-thirds. Guns are absolutely the most immediate and lethal method of ending one’s life, and the mere presence of a firearm in the home dramatically increases the chances of dying by suicide. Gun ownership is considered a risk factor for suicide, so if we want to reduce both suicides and gun death rates overall, we need to be honest about how the ubiquitousness of guns in the U.S. contributes to both problems and do what we can to mitigate it.

Based on the stats we’ve seen here, if we want to lower gun death rates in the U.S., we should either enact federal gun legislation or try to reduce the number of guns overall somehow. Personally, I think the former is preferable and more realistic.

What about Chicago, though? Don’t they have super strict gun laws and super high gun death rates?

Actually, not really and not really. Chicago used to have stricter gun laws, but its firearms ban was lifted by the Supreme Court in 2010, and its concealed carry ban was lifted in 2012. And while Chicago has seen a tragic uptick in shootings this past year, a simple search shows that it hasn’t even been in the top 10 cities for murder rates on any list for years. In fact, it often doesn’t even make the top 20. While the numbers themselves are jarring and every shooting is a tragedy, the numbers are so large because Chicago’s population is huge, not because it’s the gun violence capital of the country. It’s not even close.

And having lived in the Chicago area myself, I’ve seen firsthand how easy it is to drive 30 minutes to Indiana, where gun laws are looser than they are in Chicago or Illinois in general. In fact, according to The 2017 Gun Trace Report, the majority of guns used in crimes in Chicago come from out of state, which is all the more reason we need federal laws that cover the whole country. Having fifty different sets of laws when there are no checks at state borders is simply ludicrous if we want those laws to be the most effective.

We have plenty of evidence that gun legislation works when it’s enacted and enforced across a wide geographic area. Other countries prove it. Our own states prove it. And the vast majority of Americans, including most gun owners, want it.

It’s long past time to make it happen.

The Horse’s Neck is a go-to highball, especially as the weather starts to heat up. With it being National Cocktail Day, it’s also a very easy cocktail to have in your arsenal. There are no syrups to make, and no real skills in shaking or stirring.

This is about building a drink in the glass and enjoying it immediately. Period.

The Horse’s Neck is a 19th-century American classic that’s associated with the Kentucky Derby (hence the name) and used to be made with brandy. Now, it’s usually made with bourbon or rye. I’m making mine with Irish whiskey. Why? With it being March, it felt appropriate. Also, Irish whiskey has a lightness to it that suits this type of soda-pop-meets-spicy-bitters highball alchemy.

That’s all you really need to know. If you have a glass and a knife to peel some lemon rind, you can make this right now in about 15 seconds. Let’s get mixing!

Horse’s Neck

Ingredients:

• 2-oz. Irish whiskey
• 4 dashes Angostura Bitters
• 4-oz. ginger ale
• Lemon peel
• Ice

Again, I’m using Irish whiskey here because of the season. I usually order this with a high-rye bourbon like Old Grand-Dad or just a straight-up MGP rye like Bulleit Rye. What I’m saying is, don’t be afraid to use the bourbon, rye, or Irish whiskey you have on your shelf (though I would steer clear of a peaty malt).

I like to use classic Schweppes Ginger Ale. You know what you’re getting. You can use bespoke local ginger ale, sure. That’ll add a nice element. But it does have to be ginger ale and not ginger beer.

Lastly, you really have to spritz this drink with those lemon oils from the peel (here’s a very short and simple video to help). That’s what takes the drink from “it’s not without its charm” to “ah, that’s a good goddamn cocktail.”

What You’ll Need:

• Collins glass
• Fruit peeler
• Bar spoon
• Jigger

Method:

• Fill the glass with ice (pre-chill the glass — I forgot to do that for the photos and regretted it immediately).
• Add in the whiskey and bitters.
• Top with ginger ale and stir gently, making sure the Angostura is fully blended into the drink.
• Spritz the lemon oils from the peel over the drink and rub the peel around the glass.
• Drop the peel into the drink.
• Serve.

Bottom Line:

This is a super refreshing cocktail. The Roe and Co. Irish whiskey is a nice and light base that reminds you whiskey is there without overwhelming you. The bitters add a nice, rounded bite of botanicals and velvet texture. The ginger ale is also amped up by the bitters, with a bit more of a spicy bite but still, obviously, sweet.

The lemon oils are what ties everything together. The brightness really helps bring out the spicy notes while adding in that x-factor, making it pop.

In the end, this is a very easy drink to make. It’s bright, a little spicy, full of whiskey, and highly crushable. What more could you want in the early days of spring?

The Kyle Lowry sweepstakes has appeared to include three potential outcomes: Staying in Toronto (well, for this season, Tampa), a homecoming in Philadelphia, or a move to lovely South Beach. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, a fourth outcome is now on the table, and it involves the defending NBA champions.

During Wednesday afternoon’s Woj + Lowe show ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, Wojnarowski added the Los Angeles Lakers to the list of teams that have a shot at working out a deal with the Raptors.

The Lakers are obviously in a tricky position due to the fact that their two best players, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, are out for the foreseeable future due to injuries, and while the team is currently in fourth place in the Western Conference, it’s not hard to see how things can go off the rails without the two All-Star players in the lineup — Los Angeles has lost three in a row, including the game where James went down.

Adding Lowry to the team, which could use a player of his caliber in the backcourt even when healthy, would be a good addition for L.A., although it would require a number of rotation players (Dennis Schröder, Montrezl Harrell, Talen Horton-Tucker, etc.) to make the money work.

Nicolas Cage has multiple television shows in development, including one where he plays Joe Exotic and another where he voices an alcoholic, TV-obsessed dragon, but unfortunately he will not be in the National Treasure show. That’s the bad news. The good news is that National Treasure, the only good movie, is being turned into a show.

Disney is adapting the endlessly-rewatchable 2004 adventure film into a 10-episode series on Disney+. It will be overseen by producer Jerry Bruckheimer and original writers Marianne and Cormac Wibberley and explore “the timely issues of identity, community, historical authorship and patriotism, told from the point of view of Jess Morales, a twenty-year-old DREAMer who, with her diverse group of friends, sets off on the adventure of a lifetime to uncover her mysterious family history and recover lost treasure.” Mira Nair (The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding) is attached as director. That’s a surprisingly hefty premise for a TV show based on a movie where Nicolas Cage is a historian and amateur cryptologist named Benjamin Franklin Gates, but as long as there’s at least one scene where a character uses lemon juice to decipher a clue, I’m in.

As for National Treasure 3, it was being written as of last year. Cage has, I imagine, spent most of the pandemic pitching all the things Benjamin Franklin Gates can steal (including someone’s Disney+ account password so he can watch the show).

(Via Deadline)

Thanks to his breakout role in Minari, 8-year-old Alan Kim has already scored his next big role. The young actor has secured a spot on the second season of Awkwafina’s Comedy Central series where he’ll play a younger version of beloved screen actor BD Wong. Via TVLine:

TVLine has learned exclusively that Minari scene-stealer Alan Kim, who has been making quite a name for himself on the awards and talk show circuit this winter, has booked a pivotal role in Season 2 of Comedy Central’s Awkwafina is Nora From Queens. In flashbacks, Kim will guest star as the young version of Nora’s dad Wally (played in the present day by cast member BD Wong).

Earlier in the month, Kim melted hearts during his Critics Choice Awards acceptance speech after being named Best Young Actor/Actress. While starting to thank his family, the Minari star couldn’t help but get a little emotional. “Thank you. Thank you. First of all, I’d like to thank the critics who voted and my family…” As he tried to list more names, the tears started flowing. “Oh my goodness, I’m crying…”

But despite dominating the awards circuit and, at one point, looking like a serious Oscar contender — Kim not picking up a Best Supporting Actor nom was one of the more notable snubs for this year’s Academy Awards — the young actor is enjoying the pleasures of only being eight. Specifically, waking up from a nap to receive a surprise voicemail from Sonic the Hedgehog (Ben Schwartz) after telling W Magazine that the blue hedgehog is his “favorite actor.”

(Via TVLine)