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The Kremlin is none too pleased about former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to instantaneously erase him with a missile. 2023 is already nuts, although to be fair, this is a carryover from 2022.

Let’s refresh the current mess with Putin. His war on Ukraine has resulted in an untold loss of life for Ukrainian President Zelensky’s people and the Russian armies. Putin has been falsely claiming battle wins, and after Zelensky suggested that Putin might not be alive, he had to offer up high-heeled proof of life. Now, the Kremlin has been forced to answer to Johnson’s allegation, via Axios regarding a BBC interview, that a “jolly,” phone-bound Putin threatened to send a missile his way ahead of the Ukraine invasion:

“He threatened me at one point, and he said, ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you but, with a missile, it would only take a minute’ or something like that. Jolly,” Johnson told the [BBC] documentary, “Putin vs. the West,” airing in the U.K. on Monday.

“But I think from the very relaxed tone that he was taking, the sort of air of detachment that he seemed to have, he was just playing along with my attempts to get him to negotiate,” Johnson said.

“Jolly” qualifier be damned, the Kremlin is already pushing back. From The Daily Beast, here’s word from spokesman Dmitry Peskov to the press:

“What Mr. Johnson said is not true, more precisely, it is a lie.” “I know what was discussed during this conversation, and once again I officially repeat: This is a lie,” Peskov continued. “There were no threats of missile strikes. Speaking about the challenges for Russia’s security, President Putin noted that if Ukraine joins NATO, the potential deployment or American missiles at our borders will mean that any missile will reach Moscow in a matter of minutes.”

That’s quite a turn of the tables that the Kremlin spokesperson is asserting, but one can also see that they cannot relish another PR nightmare atop the existing one. Putin is gonna have to hand out more fancy rings to make his supporters (those who still remain, that is) forget about this one.

(Via Axios & The Daily Beast)

HBO’s The Last of Us deviated from its source material in a big way to tell a heartbreaking love story set to the backdrop of a fungal apocalypse in episode three’s “Long Long Time.” And, while we’re all still recovering from that emotionally devastating ending, fans were left with some questions about show-invented storylines for secondary game characters Bill (played by Nick Offerman here) and Frank (Murray Bartlett).

After going on a quick supply run with Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), audiences were treated to a flashback that introduced Offerman’s eccentric survivalist building his own Infected-free Utopia in a small town somewhere in Northern Massachusetts. Like his videogame counterpart, Bill managed to evade a military-enforced evacuation and use his wealth of knowledge and life experience to create a safe haven for himself. He eventually shared it with Frank, a drifter who became his life partner, but that’s where the similarities between the game and show end.

Gamers never met Frank — while he was still alive, anyway — learning that he left Bill over a disagreement, became infected, and chose to kill himself rather than be turned into a fungal puppet. His relationship with Bill in the game was never really fleshed out although his death clearly affected the stoic loner.

“Long Long Time” expanded their love story, dedicating nearly an entire episode to building a moving Queer romance that has a bittersweet ending but also, a happy one, as far as zombie apocalypses go. The show spent time with the pair as they met, fell in love, built a home, and grew old together. After a significant time jump, the episode ends with the pair deciding to die together, a choice Frank initially makes because he seems to be suffering from a debilitating illness that’s greatly affected his quality of life. Naturally, fans were curious as to exactly what Frank was sick with and, thanks to a recent interview with showrunner Craig Mazin, we’ve got a better idea.

In a chat hosted by the official The Last Of Us podcast, Mazin revealed Frank had either MS (multiple sclerosis) or ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as motor neurone disease), though he admitted the writers didn’t want to assign a specific label to the illness. There are enough hints throughout the episode to prove Frank was living with either MS or ALS though, including his later wheelchair-bound state and weight loss. Both diseases damage a person’s nervous system which can lead to problems with movement and speech — hence why Frank could no longer walk on his own or paint like he used to. Frank also alludes to the fact that, even if the fungal outbreak never happened, there still wouldn’t be a way to fight his illness because the world before hadn’t found a cure.

“This happens, it happens so commonly and yet, so rarely,” Mazin said of Frank’s deteriorating state. “As people get older on screen, they tend to be fully healthy until the heart attack staggers them out of nowhere. That does happen but for the majority of people, there is a decline. We thought it was really interesting to think, ‘Look, Bill is older and Frank can literally run circles around him, he’s healthier, Bill gets shot.’ And then we jump ahead a number of years and it’s Frank who’s been brought low by this disease and there’s nothing they can do about it. But you can see how Bill is doing his best to caretake Frank the way that Frank would caretake Bill.”

For years, Dave Bautista campaigned to take over the role of the iconic, back-breaking Batman villain Bane, and for a brief moment, it seemed like the actor might actually get his shot in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. Ultimately, that casting never materialized, but with Gunn now in charge of rebooting the entire DC Universe, surely, Bautista’s chances are better than ever for taking the reins of the character that Tom Hardy brought to menacing life in The Dark Knight Rises.

Unfortunately, not so much, according to Bautista. In a new interview, the frequent Gunn collaborator got candid about his conversations with the new DC Studios head, and he totally understands the direction that Gunn is heading.

“I think for the DC Universe to be revived, you need to start from scratch, and I think you need to start with younger actors,” Bautista told Insider before expanding on why he probably won’t be the new Bane:

“You need to start to plan for the next 15 years, and I just don’t think you can do that with me. And I understand that. And, also, I have to say that I appreciate that because I don’t want to play a character that I can’t bring justice to it. I don’t think at this point in my career that I can bring justice to Bane anymore. I just don’t know if I could handle the physical part, and I don’t think I would have the longevity to plan ahead for films. So, I just don’t know if I’d be that guy.”

Despite missing out on Bane, Bautista’s career is on fire. With his Marvel days coming to an end, he’s focusing on “more dramatic stuff,” which includes his upcoming turn in the M. Night Shymalan movie Knock at the Cabin where he plays a terrifying home invader with grim instructions on how to stop the apocalypse. That requires way more gravitas than punching Batman in the face.

Knock at the Cabin opens in theaters on February 3.

(Via Insider)

The honorees for the annual Billboard Women In Music Awards have been announced, as a new class of women celebrate a year of making their mark on the music industry. Set for March 1, 2023, at the YouTube Theater in Inglewood, California, and hosted by Quinta Brunson — who’s making quite the mark of her own in television — the Women In Music Awards acknowledge the artists who have had an outstanding year.

This year’s honorees include Latin music star Becky G, who will receive the Impact Award; genre-breaking rapper Doechii, who will receive the Rising Star Award; reggaeton pioneer Ivy Queen, who will receive the Icon Award; pop singer Kim Petras, who will receive the Chartbreaker Award; Atlanta rap hitmaker Latto, who will receive the Powerhouse Award; country music rising star Lainey Wilson, who will receive the Rulebreaker Award; Lana Del Rey, who will receive the Visionary Award; and K-pop girl group TWICE, who will receive the Breakthrough Award. The night’s performers will be announced at a later date.

Previous recipients of Women In Music honors include Doja Cat, HER, and Saweetie, all of whom performed at least year’s show. Tickets will be open to the public, with an American Express member-exclusive presale on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 31 and February 1, and the general sale Friday, February 3 at 10 am PT. You can learn more at billboardwomeninmusic.com.

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

John Wick: Chapter 4, Succession season four, and Yellowjackets season two all come out during the same weekend in March. But only one of those three will have “car-fu.” No, it’s not Succession, although what a twist if Kendall, Shiv, and Roman physically fight Logan inside one of their rich people-mobiles.

“We took the car-driving to the next level, which I really enjoy,” Keanu Reeves told Total Film about the fourth film in the John Wick series. “There’s 180s, forward-into-reverse 180s, reverse into-forward 270s, drifting… So it was really fun to get a chance to learn those skills, and to play.” John Wick: Chapter 4 promises to be the best Japan-set action movie featuring drifting since the last Japan-set action movie featuring drifting.

Reeves also discussed his physically demanding role yet.

“John Wick: Chapter 4 has the most action of any of the [John Wick] films, which is saying a lot. And it’s more by a good margin. It’s a big show… John Wick: Chapter 4 was the hardest physical role I’ve ever had in my career so far. They really trained me up to be able to have what we call the toolbox.”

John Wick: Chapter 4, which also stars Donnie Yen (who stunt coordinator Scott Rogers praised for his “world-class” ability to “enhance the choreography through his own creativity”), Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, and Ian McShane, opens on March 24.

(Via Total Film)

SZA’s sophomore album SOS proves to be the gift that keeps on giving. Today (January 30), the album is No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated Februrary 4, for a seventh total week.

With this latest feat, SOS becomes the first R&B/hip-hop album by a woman to top the Billboard 200 for seven weeks, since Whitney Houston’s 1987 album, Whitney, which spent 11 weeks on top upon its release.

SOS has spent the most weeks at No. 1 for any album by a woman since 2020, the last being Taylor Swift’s Folklore. It has also spent the most consecutive weeks at No. 1 within the span of a year for any album across all genres since the soundtrack to Disney’s 2021 film, Encanto.

Upon receiving the news, SZA took to her Instagram story to express her gratitude in a spiritual manner.

“7 is yemayas number,” she said. “I’m so thankful to everyone and God thank you.”

On this week’s top 10 is Swift’s Midnights, which placed at No. 2, now having spent its first 14 weeks in the top two. Trippie Redd’s Mansion Musik makes its debut at No. 3, and country-rock star Hardy’s The Mockingbird & The Crow arrives at No. 4, and Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains is now sitting at No. 5.

Drake & 21 Savage’s Her Loss, which temporarily dethroned Swift’s Midnights upon its release last November, is now at No. 6, pushing Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti to No. 7. Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album has fallen to No. 8, and “Something In The Orange” singer Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak album is now at No. 9. Lil Baby’s It’s Only Me, which became his third album to debut at No. 1 upon its release last year, is now sitting at No. 10.

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

The Last Of Us is one of TV’s early hits of 2023; The video game adaptation was renewed for a second season after just two episodes had aired. The third episode debuted last night and it has turned the spotlight onto Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame singer Linda Ronstadt, who was most professionally active from the late ’60s to the ’00s.

(Spoilers for the third episode of The Last Of Us are below.)

In the new episode (titled “Long Long Time”), Frank and Bill’s relationship is kicked into gear when the two of them play Ronstadt’s “Long, Long Time” together on an antique piano. Given the track’s prominent role in the episode, it got fans talking about Ronstadt, so much so that she became a trending topic on Twitter after the episode aired. Fans are happy to see Ronstadt get some renewed attention, especially when it comes to the streaming royalties that are surely coming her way.

Craig Mazin, series co-creator and episode writer, told IndieWire of choosing that song:

“I had the thought that this would happen, that there was a song that would be played, and that we would be surprised by who was good at it and who was bad at it. I remember saying to [series co-creator Neil Druckmann], ‘I’m not sure what the song is, I just know that it has to be this incredibly sad song about yearning for love, and never getting love, and just making your peace with the fact that you will always be alone. But it can’t be on the nose. And it can’t be a song that we all know.’”

I went through hours and hours and hours. And finally, I was like, ‘I know what to do: I’m going to text my friend Seth Rudetsky,’ who is a host on Sirius XM On Broadway, and has this encyclopedic knowledge of all music. I described what I needed and within 30 seconds, it was [incoming text noise] ‘Long, Long Time by Linda Ronstadt.’ I kinda remembered that song. I played it and was like, ‘Oh, my. There it is.’”

Listen to “Long, Long Time” and check out some more Ronstadt tweets below.

Linda Ronstadt is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston are back to solve another whodunnit in the official trailer for Murder Mystery 2. Following up on the original action comedy, which proved to be a surprise hit for Netflix, the sequel finds the Spitzes attending an extravagant wedding, which quickly devolves into chaos following a murder and kidnapping. However, this time around the bumbling detective couple have some competition in the form of Mark Strong, who really seems like he knows what he’s doing.

More importantly, Murder Mystery 2 captures the magic of pairing veteran comedy pros like Sandler and Aniston and letting them do their thing for their third outing together.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Four years after solving their first murder mystery, Nick and Audrey Spitz (Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston) are now full-time detectives struggling to get their private eye agency off the ground when they’re invited to celebrate the wedding of their friend the Maharaja (Adeel Akhtar) on his private island. But trouble follows the Spitzes again when the groom is kidnapped for ransom soon after the festivities begin — making each glamorous guest, family member, and the bride herself a suspect. MURDER MYSTERY 2 sends Nick and Audrey Spitz on a high-stakes case that finally gives them everything they’ve ever dreamed of: a shot at their detective agency finally becoming successful… and their long-awaited trip to Paris.

Directed by Jeremy Garelick, Murder Mystery 2 also stars Mark Strong, Mélanie Laurent, Jodie Turner-Smith, Kuhoo Verma, with John Kani, and Dany Boon.

Murder Mystery 2 starts streaming March 31 on Netflix.

A Philly hometown hero joined the Philadelphia Eagles as they walked out into the stadium yesterday (January 29): Kicking off the NFC Championship game in which the Eagles took on the San Francisco 49ers, Lil Uzi Vert walked out with the Eagles as their hit single “Just Wanna Rock” played throughout.

Perhaps Uzi proved to be a good luck charm for the Eagles, as they ended up beating the 49ers 31 to 7. Next month, the Eagles will take on the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LVII. That game will take place on Sunday, February 12, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The game will broadcast live on Fox at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Uzi has always held their hometown close to their heart. Last year, during an interview with Jazzy’s World, they said that without Philly, there would be no Uzi: “I was always around a very different crowd, very diverse. […] It just made me who I am today and I really took from it. If it wasn’t for Philly, I wouldn’t be Uzi.”

Check out the clips of Uzi’s NFC Championship walkout with the Eagles above.

Lil Uzi Vert is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Back in 2018, Meghan Trainor, the musician and TV personality who has appeared on shows like The Voice and the new season of Australian Idol, married Daryl Sabara, the actor who is best known for playing Juni Cortez in the Spy Kids movies. In February 2021, Trainor gave birth to her and Sabara’s first child, a baby boy named Riley. Now, she is once again expecting and has a second kid on the way.

She made the announcement this morning (January 30) on Today, while making a virtual appearance on the show to announce/promote her upcoming book Dear Future Mama (the title being a play on her hit song “Dear Future Husband”). A minute into the segment, Hota Kotb opened a copy of the book they had in studio, which made the pregnancy announcement with photos of Trainor’s ultrasound taped to the inside of the book.

Trainor, who has a hit with her recent single “Made You Look,” also made an announcement post on Instagram:

She also recently shared a TikTok video of herself breaking the news to her family (but not yet revealing to her online audience what the news was):

Meanwhile, press materials describe Trainor’s upcoming book:

“Dear Future Mama, which will be released on April 25, 2023, with Harper Horizon, is a heartfelt and humorous guide for expectant mamas and their partners inspired by Meghan’s own journey into motherhood. The book also offers expert insights from Meghan’s own personal trainer, registered dietitian, husband, and ob-gyn.

Yes, pregnancy and motherhood are miracles — but even a miracle can freak you out sometimes. Dear Future Mama offers future mamas a place to relax, laugh out loud, and get the pep talk they need to know that they are absolutely not alone. No shame, no judgment — just straight talk (and laughs) from a bestie who’s been there. Trainor shares her TMI guide to the good, bad, and WTF of conception, pregnancy, and childbirth. The book includes advice about everything from ovulation apps to breastfeeding as well as Meghan’s personal stories about body image, mental health, and navigating her career path as a mother.”