Month: April 2024

It turns out that Eminem‘s memorable “Stan” music video reportedly almost had a different lead actor.

Devon Sawa, who starred in it, did a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight where he revealed that directors Dr. Dre and Philip Atwell were aiming for another child star — but it didn’t work out.

“Full disclosure: they went out to Macaulay Culkin first, I believe,” Sawa said. “I think that they wanted him, and he wasn’t available, or didn’t want to do it or whatever.”

“Then Dre, who had just seen Final Destination and was a fan, suggested [me],” he added. “There happened to be somebody in the casting office that knew somebody who was friends with me, and they called me that way… and it ended up working out pretty good.”

Looking back on it, it seems wild to picture the Home Alone star playing a character that idolized and imitated Eminem in 2000. However, when Entertainment Tonight reached out to Culkin and Eminem’s representatives, they didn’t return a comment to confirm.

Although the part could’ve gone to someone else, Sawa did point out just how lucky he still feels to have been selected. “It’s also one of the proudest things I’ve been a part of,” he shared. “I’ll tell you one thing, I know it better now than I did that day. Because I’ve heard it millions of times since.”

Last Friday night, April 12, Shakira was a surprise guest during Bizarrap’s Coachella 2024 set, and her presence was not the only surprise. During the performance, Shakira announced her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour. Earlier this week, Shakira unveiled the North American dates — then added dates due to demand — and ticket presales will be held ahead of the general on-sale on Monday, April 22.

How Much Are Tickets For Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour?

As of this writing, the Citi Cardmember Presale is underway. The Artist Presale, Live Nation Presale, Spotify Presale, and Ticketmaster Presale are scheduled to begin on Friday, April 19. But because the Citi Cardmember Presale is active, we can give an estimation for how much Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour tickets could cost.

According to Ticketmaster, tickets for Shakira’s opening night on November 2 at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, California are listed between $176.95 and $339.75. VIP Packages range from $1,000 to $1,019. Prices may vary depending on the date and venue, but Shakira’s November 2 show gives you a sense, at least.

Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour Dates

11/02 — Palm Desert, CA @ Acrisure Arena
11/03 — Palm Desert, CA @ Acrisure Arena
11/07 — Phoenix, AZ @ Footprint Center
11/09 — Los Angeles, CA @ Kia Forum
11/16 — San Antonio, TX @ Frost Bank Center
11/17 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
11/20 — Miami, FL @ Kaseya Center
11/21 — Miami, FL @ Kaseya Center
11/23 — Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center
11/25 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
11/30 — Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena
12/05 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
12/06 — Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
12/08 — Boston, MA @ TD Garden
12/10 — Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
12/14 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
12/15 — Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena

After delivering The Fablemans in 2022, Steven Spielberg has yet to lock in on his next feature film, but that might be changing very soon. While the legendary director is still developing a Frank Bullitt movie based on Steve McQueen’s iconic character, that project might have to wait as Spielberg is reportedly returning to his early roots.

According to Variety, Spielberg’s next movie will be a “UFO film based on his own original idea” and written by frequent collaborator David Koepp. There are no plot details as of this writing, but visitors from another planet have been a recurring theme for Spielberg. He directed the classic films Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra Terrestial before tackling a remake of War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise in 2005.

However, this is Spielberg we’re talking about, so of course, he’s got other projects he’s tinkering with in the meantime. Including one with his old play Martin Scorsese:

Also on the immediate horizon is a Scorsese collaboration with Steven Spielberg on a Cape Fear TV series for Apple TV+. The two legends will serve as executive producers of the project, based on the 1991 and 1962 Universal movies. (Scorsese directed the 1991 noir thriller, which Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment produced.)

Speaking of Scorsese, he’s looking to get a Frank Sinatra biopic off the ground starring Leonardo DiCaprio. What a neat little update on iconic directors this has been.

(Via Variety)

Transformers One is the eighth Transformers movie in the Michael Bay era (what an era it’s been), but first to be fully animated. Wisely, Hasbro hired an expert in animation to direct the Optimus Prime and Megatron origin story: Josh Cooley, the Oscar-nominated writer of Inside Out and director of Toy Story 4.

You can watch the trailer above.

Transformers One put together a solid voice cast, including Chris Hemsworth as Optimus Prime, Brian Tyree Henry as Megatron, Scarlett Johansson as Elita-13, Keegan-Michael Key as Bumblebee, and Laurence Fishburne as Alpha Trion. Will Transformers One be self-aware like fellow toy movie Barbie? Probably not! But at least we have Jon Hamm, in a less sleepy performance than Orson Welles’ Unicron, as Sentinel Prime.

“The Optimus Prime that you hear on the screen in the films is an older, mature… he’s been around for many, many, many, many years. This is the sort of origin story, so it’s the younger version of him,” Hemsworth told Collider about voicing the leader of the Autobots. “So there are sort of hints and colorings that hopefully resonate enough with the Optimus Prime we know, but it is a youthful version of him, and different. But he won’t be Australian.”

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

TRANSFORMERS ONE is the untold origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, better known as sworn enemies, but once were friends bonded like brothers who changed the fate of Cybertron forever.

Transformers One slams into theaters on September 13.

Netflix has released the first official trailer for Hit Man, the new dark comedy from director Richard Linklater that somehow found a way to make Glen Powell even sexier.

In the film, Powell plays Gary Johnson a college professor who does side work pretending to be a hit man for the New Orleans Police Department. Each arrest is a command performance, and based on what we’ve seen in the trailer, Johnson is imminently charming as he slips into each fake hit man role like a grinning chameleon.

However, when his next target is Adria Arjona (who Andor fans will immediately recognize) things get real complicated, real fast.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Preternaturally gifted at inhabiting different guises and personalities to catch hapless people hoping to bump off their enemies, Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) descends into morally dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to one of those potential criminals, a beautiful young woman named Madison (Adria Arjona). As Madison falls for one of Gary’s hit man personas — the mysteriously sexy Ron — their steamy affair sets off a chain reaction of play acting, deception, and escalating stakes. Inspired by an unbelievable true story, Hit Man is a cleverly existential comedy about identity.

Hitman hits select theaters on May 24 before streaming on Netflix starting June 7.

Weekend 1 of Coachella 2024 brought out all the stars, as the annual festival is known to do. The 2024 lineup possessed enough star power on its own, but Weekend 1 also saw several notable surprise performances across all three days. Headlining sets delivered by Lana Del Rey, Tyler The Creator, and Doja Cat were especially impressive, so the bar is high for Coachella 2024 Weekend 2.

Will Tyler The Creator Have Surprise Guests At Coachella 2024 Weekend 2?

Last Saturday, April 13, Tyler The Creator fulfilled his years-long dream of performing as a Coachella headliner. His jam-packed set “showed what a headliner is supposed to be,” according to a review from Uproxx’s Aaron Williams.

Tyler brought out ASAP Rocky, Charlie Wilson, Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover), and Kali Uchis. It would be weird to go from four guests in Weekend 1 to zero guests in Weekend 2. Anything is possible, of course, but the safe money is probably on Tyler The Creator, indeed, featuring surprise guests during his Weekend 2 headlining set at Coachella 2024 on Saturday, April 20.

Earlier this week, Coachella revealed the setlist schedule for Weekend 2, and Tyler The Creator is penciled in to hit the Coachella Stage at 11:40 p.m. PST. On setlist.fm, fans estimated that Tyler’s Weekend 1 set lasted from 11:40 p.m. to 1 a.m. PT.

Alex Garland’s Civil War, the movie that shows California and Texas fighting together and even rattled Wagner Moura while filming, fared even better than anticipated at the box office last weekend with $25+ million in ticket sales. Some unscheduled Jesse Plemons certainly didn’t hurt the film’s prospects, but will some new AI-generated posters mute the enthusiasm? Perhaps.

The intentionally incendiary A24 indie flick could have long legs, but some of those prospective ticket sales might have fallen by the wayside after the Uncut Gems and Minari studio dropped these posters on their Instagram account:

Several complaints quickly surfaced. There’s the matter of these scenes not appearing in the movie, which might seem like a quibble. The use of a giant swan, however, seems bizarre particularly jarring in an overall “off” set of images, and users pointed out some geographical inaccuracies from what could be botched AI prompts. Given the response to Late Night With The Devil‘s recent tangle with AI-generated images and the fact that A24 is a powerhouse for creators, this certainly feels like an unexpected move. Sure, this could have simply been an attempt at commentary that missed, but the response from filmgoers is not great and includes the following:

– “lol!! thanks for this. i was on the fence about seeing this in theaters and now i’m not going anymore.”

– “For a company that seemingly values artistry, using AI generated works for advertising is a real bummer.”

– “Why is a gunboat hunting a swan in Echo Park Lake? These AI images aren’t in the movie.”

– “I would have thought a company like a24 would not touch the ai plagiarism machine in a million years. Disappointing to say the least.”

– “Fact: Marina City Towers are not separated by the Chicago River.”

– “Hire real artists, this is ridiculous.”

And Hollywood Reporter points out what is perhaps the most bizarro-world reason that these images feel strange:

Ironically enough, before Civil War, Garland was perhaps best known for his 2014 directorial debut, Ex Machina, a film that warned about the dangers of AI.

Civil War, which does not contain a giant AI swan, is currently in theaters.

Doja Cat is heading back to Coachella for weekend two of the festival, as she’ll take the stage this Sunday. Given she went all out with having a giant T-rex on stage and her dancers wearing wigs for costumes, it was one not to miss.

Those who are just now heading to the California festival, or are returning for the second (and last) weekend, might be wondering what they can expect from Doja’s set when they see her. Specifically, if she will be bringing out any other musicians to play with.

Here’s what to know.

Will Doja Cat Have Surprise Guests At Coachella 2024 Weekend 2?

During Doja’s weekend one performance, she brought out The Joy for “Shutcho,” 21 Savage for a cover of his song “N.H.I.E.,” Teezo Touchdown for “Masc,” and ASAP Rocky for “URRRGE!!!!!!!!!!” — with her full setlist available here. While it’s not yet confirmed if she’ll be having the same guests back this weekend, there’s a large chance she’ll be welcoming at least one surprise guest, whether it’s a returning one or a new addition to treat the crowd to.

Throughout her set, Doja also played 21 songs in total, so she has plenty of room to toss in some surprises. No matter what she has in store, it is sure to be another buzzy and entertaining Coachella run for her.

In example #85,331 of how no one can be normal about Sydney Sweeney, the Immaculate actress was criticized by a producer who said she’s “not pretty” and “can’t act.” Carol Baum, who worked on films like Dead Ringers and Father of the Bride and is now an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, took aim at Sydney during a recent conversation with New York Times film critic Janet Maslin. “I said to my class, ‘Explain this girl to me. She’s not pretty, she can’t act. Why is she so hot?’ Nobody had an answer,” she said.

Sweeney responded to Baum’s comments through her representatives.

“How sad that a woman in the position to share her expertise and experience chooses instead to attack another woman,” the statement reads. “If that’s what she’s learned in her decades in the industry and feels is appropriate to teach to her students, that’s shameful. To unjustly disparage a fellow female producer speaks volumes about Ms. Baum’s character.”

A representative for Baum did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment, but TMZ reported Wednesday that the producer is “already expressing regret over the whole thing” and “wishes she never would’ve made her original comments.”

As for Sweeney, she’s doing just fine. Anyone but You was an unexpectedly huge hit, she got some of the best reviews of her career for Immaculate, and most people have already forgotten about Madame Web. Not me, though. I’ll never stop thinking about “he was in the Amazon with my mom when she was researching spiders, right before she died.”

(Via Variety)

Kanye West and wife Bianca Censori apparently had a troubling run-in recently that now involves law enforcement, as West reportedly punched a man who got physical with Censori.

Citing “law enforcement sources,” TMZ reports the Los Angeles Police Department is investigating after being told West punched a man in the face on April 16, after the man had allegedly “pushed or grabbed” Censori. Police reportedly plan to reach out to West and speak to witnesses.

TMZ later reported that a representative for West told them, “‘Grabbed’ is grossly inadequate as a description of what happened. Bianca was physically assaulted. The assailant didn’t merely collide into her. He put his hands under her dress, directly on her body, he grabbed her waist, he spun her around, and then he blew her kisses. She was battered and sexually assaulted.”

West, meanwhile, is currently facing a lawsuit related to Donda Academy. The suit makes some odd and serious allegations, including that West “treated the Black staff considerably worse than white employees” and would “scream and berate Black employees, while never even as much raising his tone at the white staff.” He also reportedly claimed that “gay people are controlled by Bill Gates so that they don’t have children for population control.”