Month: June 2021

James Holzhauer truly made a name for himself on Jeopardy! but he also has some history with the other game show he’s currently mastering, The Chase. And now that history is coming back to the present, he’s more than willing do a little trolling to help promote his current venture.

Holzhauer, who dominated Jeopardy! in 2019 and took part in the show’s Greatest Of All-Time Tournament, parlayed that success into starring in a revival of The Chase on ABC along with fellow GOATs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. But a new season of The Chase is coming soon with a twist: the show is adding the original chaser from its UK version. That man, Mark Labbett, is known as The Beast. And he and Holzhauer have a bit of history, which is why they’re playfully sparring on Twitter ahead of the show’s new season.

The story here is interesting, as The Chase was the first game show where Holzhauer won big money. The deal with the game show is that a team of contestants answer questions to acquire cash, then face off head-to-head with a “chaser” in order to bank that money safely to win it all. If the “chaser” gets more questions right and tracks you down, though, you’re out of the game.

Holzhauer faced off with The Beast during its run on Game Show Network from 2013 to 2015, and he did really well. Which is why he’s taken to gently trolling Labbett on Twitter, even mocking the show’s marketing materials in the process with a quote tweet where he contradicts the fact that “nobody beats The Beast.” Because, well, he did and set a then-record for most questions answered correctly by a contestant.

The back-and-forth here started when Labbett called himself a “titan” amid mortals in reply to a video previewing the new season, with an added smiley face at the end to perhaps deaden the snark a bit.

That was enough for Holzhauer to fire back. And he was more than willing to use some other marketing materials from the show’s first season to make his case for him.

This all admittedly seems in good fun, as the chasers were supportive of each other but also cracked wise about successes and failures while looking on during the first season. These four guys were all competitors at some point, it’s important to note, and old habits die hard. But if there’s any actual drama to be had, it will be from the competitors on Season 2. Because whether Holzhauer wants to admit it or not, the competition chasing them down just got much harder.

Josh Duhamel is officially going through the stages of grief about Jupiter’s Legacy. The Netflix adaptation of the comic series was abruptly canceled last week, even though it reportedly led the streaming services’ most watched list. That news came with a bit of a twist, though: the source material for the show would still be used in a Supercrooks spinoff, making it more of an anthology project than a multi-season Jupiter’s Legacy show.

The actor initially posted what amounted to a thirst trap for other streaming services in the wake of Jupiter’s Legacy getting canceled, the goal clearly being to attract enough attention from other streaming services that the show could be revived.

He also, however, posted a nice tribute to the show and explained his emotions about the cancelation, which came as a surprise to him to say the least.

“It’s never easy to hear that a project you cared about/ believed in/ put so much into is ending prematurely,” he wrote on Instagram. “It was a challenge and a privilege to dive into the character of Sheldon/ Utopian. I got to do things as an actor that took me to places I had never been.

Duhamel thanked Netflix for the opportunity to play the role, and to the fans who took to the show so quickly.

“You took us to the #1 spot around the world and we stayed there for almost 2 weeks,” he wrote. “Your support of the show means everything.”

Duhamel says the experience is “something I’ll never forget” and if things went well with that selfie, well, maybe it’s not over for him and the Jupiter’s Legacy crew just yet.

Sixers superstar Joel Embiid returned to the starting lineup on Sunday for Game 1 of Philly’s second round series with the Hawks after missing Game 5 of the first round with a small tear in his right meniscus. During that first round series, Embiid dominated prior to getting hurt in Game 4, and broke out his favorite crotch chop/thrusting celebration to the delight of many — including the WWE legends who inspired it, Triple H and Shawn Michaels.

Prior to Game 1, the Sixers had a surprise for the home crowd, as their nightly bell ringing was done by none other than Triple H, who came out with Embiid wearing DX shirts and crotch chopping at everything in sight.

The full intro was incredible as they came out to the DX theme, ran around doing crotch chops, and soaked up the crowd reaction before Triple H rang the bell with his sledgehammer.

The shirts they were wearing were custom “Thrust The Process” DX shirts with Joel alongside Triple H and Michaels that, if they ever go on sale, might become the most popular shirt in the city of Philadelphia.

Teams always try to dial up the energy and find ways to involve celebrities to get the crowd amped up a little extra before playoff games, and kudos to the Sixers for recognizing an natural opportunity to build off some first round social media chatter and make a DX intro a reality for Embiid.

Back in April, Megan Thee Stallion announced a hiatus — which appeared to be more of a social media break than a retreat from the public eye — in a post to Twitter. A digital readout that was posted to her social media pages read, “Megan Thee Stallion is recharging! Due to the demands of the Hot Girl lifestyle has now entered a period of regeneration to prepare for what’s next.” It added, “In her absence; mgmt will manage all social posting on behalf of Thee Hot Girl Coach. [[Thee Hotties]] lead a brave //RESISTANCE in anticipation for the return of their Fearless Captain!”

Well, after two months, it seems like the Houston rapper is ready to make her return.

In another cryptic post to social media, Megan shared a video with the caption, “TINA SNOW IS BACK [snowflake emoij].” Tina Snow is one of the rapper’s alter egos, a persona that sparked the Houston native’s mainstream breakout back in 2018 with her Tina Snow EP that housed highlight records like “Big Ol Freak” and “Freak Nasty.” The video itself shows Megan in a healing chamber of sorts with a display screen that shows attributes which include “body,” “mental health,” “bars,” “knees,” and “Tina Show” all at a level of 100%.

It’s good to see that Megan is ready to make her return, but we’ll have to wait and see what the Houston native will deliver first to fans. You can check out the Tina Snow post above.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Joel Embiid missed the Sixers closeout Game 5 against the Washington Wizards last week with a small tear in his right meniscus suffered early in a Game 4 loss. That Embiid had structural damage to that knee was a serious concern and while he was listed as day-to-day, there was significant uncertainty about when he’d be able to return to play during Philly’s second round series against the Atlanta Hawks.

A half hour before tipoff on Sunday afternoon, the Sixers announced that their superstar big man will indeed be playing and return to the starting lineup, a welcome sight for Sixers fans who feared injuries had derailed another hopeful playoff run.

There is, of course, the lingering worry that Embiid could aggravate his knee injury, but that he’s starting Game 1 indicates that he has been feeling good moving on the knee lately and the training staff is pleased with where he’s at physically to let him out on the court. We’ll find out just how well Embiid can move very quickly, as you can be assured that the Hawks will put him in their beloved pick-and-roll action to have to deal with Trae Young and Clint Capela early and often. That said, if he is able to play like his normal self, he is about as strong a deterrent for that action as there is in the East, and will make life as difficult as possible on the Hawks’ pet play.

On the other side, the Hawks announced unfortunate news on their injury report, as De’Andre Hunter will not be able to play with right knee soreness, pushing Solomon Hill into the starting lineup alongside Young, Capela, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and John Collins.

That will put a strain on the Hawks’ wing rotation, where Hunter had been sensational in the Knicks series particularly on defense where he is Atlanta’s best wing defender and was likely to spend time on both Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris. Without him, the Hawks will have to shuffle the deck a bit and the veteran Hill will get the call for his size and defensive abilities.

Mitch Hurwitz, the creator of Arrested Development (and former writer on The Golden Girls), appeared on this week’s episode of the Smartless podcast, hosted by Sean Hayes and two of Hurwitz’s former co-workers on Arrested, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett.

It’s a great episode if you want the inside scoop on The Golden Girls — Bea Arther was apparently tough as nails on the exterior but a teddy bear on the inside, while Betty White was just the opposite, and it sounds like White and Arthur didn’t always get along — or behind-the-scenes details about Arrested Development. For instance, Hurwitz once tried to get Tobias Fünke, the struggling actor played by David Cross, on an episode of House, but the showrunner on House was not keen on the idea. Hurwitz also spoke to how sometimes Jeffrey Tambor could be difficult, but also noted that he was a “teddy bear” and had a very dry sense of humor that could sometimes be mistaken for meanness.

Hurwitz also spoke at length about the audition process from behind the camera. He said that while he understands that actors put a lot of effort and emotional energy into preparing auditions, it rarely comes down to acting ability. In reality, Hurwitz said, “People come in and you immediately know that they’re right or they’re not right for that particular role [before they even deliver a line]. It’s not about the talent.”

Speaking of auditions, however, there is apparently an alternate universe where Rainn Wilson — best known for playing Dwight Schrute on The Office — ends up as G.O.B., the character played by Will Arnett on Arrested Development. However, Will Arnett came in and Mitch Hurwitz just immediately knew he was right for the role. He was so certain, in fact, that Hurwitz told Arnett before his audition with the network that “you’re going to get this.”

However, “it was what I said after [the audition] that was so horrible that I still wake up thinking about it,” Hurwitz said. “[Arnett] came out [of the audition] and I loved him immediately, just like I loved Jason [Bateman] … Arnett came out, and then I stepped out of the room. I grabbed [Arnett] and I said, ‘You got it! You got it! They loved you!’

“And then I looked over to the left and there were two more guys waiting.”

Awkward.

“Oooh, that’s bad,” Sean Hayes chimed in.

“One of them was Rainn Wilson,” Arnett added. “He’s a great actor, and he ended up doing OK.”

“Had he gotten G.O.B.,” Bateman added, “he wouldn’t have gotten The Office, and a longer run.”

Turnabout is fair play. Arnett was actually up as a potential replacement for regional manager of Dunder Mifflin in season 8 of The Office after Steve Carell left the series, but ultimately he did not land the gig. I only hope that Arnett was not in the room when Rainn Wilson congratulated James Spader for landing the part.

Source: Smartless

A day after the Portland Trail Blazers were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets, the team and Terry Stotts “parted ways” after nine seasons that peaked with an appearance in the Western Conference Finals in 2019.

Almost immediately, the list of coaching candidates the Blazers would consider got reported and superstar guard Damian Lillard made his preferences known, saying former Nets and Bucks coach and current Lakers assistant Jason Kidd was who he wanted to be the next head coach in Portland, with Chauncey Billups also high on his list. From there, the expectation was that one of those two would get the job, but on Sunday Jason Kidd quickly removed his name from consideration, saying this to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

“Portland’s a first-class organization and will have great candidates for its head coaching job, but I’ve decided not to be one of them,” Kidd told ESPN. “Whoever they choose will have big shoes to fill from Terry (Stotts).”

Per Woj, it was Lillard’s public support of Kidd that led him to withdraw his name from consideration, saying it left Kidd feeling “awkward” about the situation. As for where the Blazers will go now in their coaching search, Woj says Billups is high on the list as well as Jeff Van Gundy, Mike D’Antoni, Juwan Howard, and others. One name that has been somewhat surprisingly omitted from the reported candidates list is David Vanterpool, the former Blazers assistant and Wolves assistant who got public support from Lillard and CJ McCollum after he was passed over in Minnesota’s search.

As for Kidd, it’s unknown exactly how high on the list he was for the Blazers front office to begin with, but for someone who has been seeking another head coaching opportunity it is a bit odd for him to walk away from the possibility of a good job like Portland. One has to wonder if he believes a different job is going to open — possibly with the team he’s already on in L.A. — that would put him even closer to being the head coach of a championship caliber team.

Lil Durk has dealt with the loss of close friends at several instances in his career and unfortunately, the rapper will now have to deal with the death of another one. According to Chicago’s WGCI, Durk’s brother, DThang, was reportedly shot and killed on Saturday night. The reports say that DThang, born Dontay Banks Jr., was shot in the head outside of Club O, a strip club in Harvey, Illinois, a city south of his hometown of Chicago. HipHopDX adds that witnesses at the scene said DThang suffered a gunshot wound to the head which killed him instantly upon impact.

The passing of DThang comes eight months after King Von, who Durk affectionately referred to as “twin,” was shot and killed outside a nightclub in Atlanta. Von’s death shocked the hip-hop world as the fellow Chicago rapper was quickly rising to become one of the game’s brightest young stars. Durk would honor the late rapper in a number of ways. One example came on the album cover for his late 2020 album The Voice which featured a picture of him and Von together.

DThang’s death occurred during what was supposed to be a celebratory weekend for Durk. The rapper and Lil Baby are just days removed from sharing their highly-anticipated joint album, Voice Of The Heroes, which presented features from Travis Scott, Young Thug, Meek Mill, and Rod Wave.

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

Julio Jones’ unhappiness in Atlanta had been a curiosity among NFL fans hoping their team could acquire a major wideout piece to help their offense. And on Sunday we learned which team will win that major offseason prize: the Tennessee Titans.

According to multiple reports, the Falcons will trade Julio Jones to Tennessee later this week, a major shakeup that would make the Titans a much bigger threat in the AFC. Word first broke on Sunday morning, with ESPN’s Dianna Russini reporting that a trade could come as soon as Monday.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport then reported that the deal is on the way as well, with the Falcons getting a “nice” return in “at least” a second round pick in the NFL Draft.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter, meanwhile, shared an edited image of Jones in a Titans uniform, seemingly indicating that it is a deal that will happen in the coming days.

Acquiring a big-name wideout in the NFL is always fun, so Titans fans are likely thrilled with the offensive upgrade. But given Jones’ talent, it will be hard to love the return knowing what Atlanta is losing here. The AFC is still very much the Kansas City Chiefs’ conference to lose, but as we saw last season when the Buffalo Bills acquired Stefon Diggs, getting a great wideout can make a huge difference in your offense. And if the reports are accurate, the Titans are set to make a big splash in that market this week.

We’ve only had one real competitive weekend at the box office since the pandemic began back in April, when Mortal Kombat and Demon Slayer duked it out for the top spot. Yet this week, things take on a new tenor as the pandemic begins to subside, and theaters continue to open, and studios allow more than one film to compete for our box-office dollars at a time.

This week, it appears that New Line’s The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, the sixth installment in the Conjuring franchise, is going to narrowly take the top spot over last week’s blockbuster entrant, A Quiet Place Part II. The third Conjuring film featuring Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) earned an estimated $24 million, which is the lowest opening weekend for any of the Conjuring films, but it’s also the only Conjuring film to be released simultaneously on HBO Max for free to subscribers. It’s honestly remarkable how well the simultaneous release strategy is doing for HBO Max, which continues to add millions of subscribers. For instance, the network added 2.7 million subscribers last quarter at $15 per subscriber, and if HBO Max can hang on to those subscribers for a full year, that’s nearly $500 million in annual revenue for the streaming service. (It has also recently added an ad-supported tier).

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It received mixed reviews from critics but notched a solid B+ Cinemascore (and an 83 percent RT audience score). Not bad for the sixth film in an eight-year-old franchise.

Meanwhile, A Quiet Place Part II continues to put up good box-office numbers, earning another $18.5 million. That’s a steep 59 percent drop compared to only 34 percent for the original after its opening weekend. After 10 days, Part II stands at $88 million, and depending on how Godzilla vs. Kong does this weekend and next, it could become the first film of the pandemic to earn $100 million at the box office (Godzilla entered the weekend with $97 million, but has seen only a trickle in earnings in recent weeks).

Elsewhere, Cruella also continues to put up strong numbers for a film that is also available on Disney+ (for $30). As most Disney films do, it held well, earning $11 million over the weekend $43.7 million, plus untold millions of dollars that it’s earning on the streaming network that it does not have to share with theaters.

These are all great numbers, especially considering that theaters are not yet at full capacity. Only 73 percent of theaters are open so far in North American, and there’s still so few open in Canada that The Conjuring 3 was made available on PVOD up north.

There was another new release this weekend, as well. Universal’s DreamWorks Animation’s sequel, Spirit Untamed, opened in fourth place with roughly $6.2 million with a very good A Cinemascore, although critics were less impressed, giving it 46 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s not a great number — one of the worst debuts ever for a Dreamworks Animation film — but it’s also a sequel to a 19-year-old film.

Finally, in fifth place this weekend, Jason Statham’s Wrath of Man hangs on to earn another $1.2 million to bring its total to nearly $25 million, which is about what Statham-led films usually generate at the box office.

As the pandemic continues to wind down, new releases continue to ramp up. There are two more wide releases next weekend, Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, as well as Warner Brothers In the Heights, based on the Lin Manuel-Miranda play, which will also play next weekend on HBO Max.

Source: Deadline, Box Office Mojo