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Before Avatar: The Way of Water came out, director James Cameron made peace with the idea of ending the series before five films, as he planned. “The market could be telling us we’re done in three months, or we might be semi-done, meaning, ‘OK, let’s complete the story within movie three, and not go on endlessly,’ if it’s just not profitable,” he told Total Film, adding, “The question is: how many people give a sh*t now?”

The answer: a lot. Avatar: The Way of Water has grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide, making it not only the highest-grossing movie of 2022, but also the 10th highest-grossing movie ever. Not bad for an endlessly delayed sequel to a film that supposedly left no cultural impact. Cameron is now locked into the finishing the series.

“t looks like just with the momentum that the film has now that will easily pass our breakeven in the next few days, actually, so so it looks like I can’t wiggle out of this, I’m gonna have to do these other these other sequels,” he said on this week’s episode of HBO’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?. Cameron expects to have a conversation with the “top folks” at Disney about the future of the franchise soon.

“[Avatar 3] is already in the can — we’ve already captured and photographed the whole film. And then Avatar 4 and 5 are both written; we even have some of 4 in the can. So you know, I think we can see that that I think we’ve begun a franchise at this point.”

Avatar: The Way of Water is a lot of fun, but I do have one complaint: I didn’t sh*t myself with my mouth wide open. Maybe Cameron is saving that for the fourth movie.

Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? is available on HBO Max.

The Georgia Bulldogs are on the verge of repeating as national champions. The only thing standing in between them and a second straight triumph in the College Football Playoff are the TCU Horned Frogs, one of the best stories in the sport’s recent history. Unfortunately for TCU, it’ll take something special to take down the Dawgs, as Georgia enters the game favored by nearly two touchdowns.

This is not, however, stopping Shaquille O’Neal from trying to annoy Ernie Johnson, who attended the University of Georgia and has never been shy about supporting his alma mater. During Thursday’s edition of Inside the NBA, Johnson decided to spend a little time celebrating his team making it to the title game, which led to Shaq — who, of course, went to a rival SEC school in LSU — saying on television that he will eat a frog if Georgia beats TCU on Monday.

It is worth mentioning that Shaq stressed he will eat a cooked frog, which, that was probably implied but it is still good to get that on the record. Charles Barkley got Johnson to agree to giving Shaq 17 points in this situation, although it didn’t seem like he had to work all that hard, because his prediction was that the Bulldogs would win, 45-17.

In what was already a busy year for all of NCT in 2022, with sub-units like NCT Dream and NCT 127 releasing EPs and singles left and right, as well as going on tours and making guest appearances internationally and domestically, recent news on the members’ well being comes to no surprise to many.

In a statement released by SM Entertainment earlier today (January 6), the Korean music label disclosed Haechan’s health status and future participation in NCT 127’s schedules. In the statement, it was said the 22-year-old singer, who is a part of both NCT Dream and 127 sub-units, has experienced “abnormal conditions such as heart palpitations, chest tightness, and more” and was ultimately advised to receive treatment and rest.

The youngest NCT 127 member will not be able to participate in the group’s upcoming Latin America and US tour stops this month and will take a break from any type of scheduled promotions.

Tour organizer and concert production company Dream Maker USA later followed up with the statement to confirm Haechan’s absence from the upcoming tour saying “eight members will participate in the USA/Latin America concerts as scheduled.”

Check out the full statement from SM Entertainment below:

“Hello.

This is to inform fans with regards to member Haechan’s health status and absence from scheduled activities.

Recently, Haechan had experienced abnormal conditions such as heart palpitations, chest tightness, and more, so he went to the hospital with his manager and got a consultation and examination where he received the medical advice that treatment and rest are required. As Haechan’s health recovery is the most important, he will not participate in scheduled activities for the time being and plans to recover his health while resting.

As a result, Haechan has decided not to participate in scheduled activities starting next week and we will let you know later when it is confirmed for him to resume his schedules. We sincerely apologize to fans for causing concern and we ask for fans’ kind understanding that this is a decision made for Haechan’s health.

We will do our best to work hard and support Haechan so that he can greet fans with a healthier image.

Thank you.”

NCT 127 will embark on their 2023 NEO CITY: THE LINK tour stops in the US and Latin America next week on January 9, 11, 13, and 28.

Mayfair Witches is Alexandra Daddario’s long-overdue first lead role in a TV series, but she’s been popping up in other shows and movies for years. She got her big break in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief; indirectly showed President Obama her boobs on True Detective; and appeared in season one of The White Lotus. Daddario was also in 2017’s Baywatch, alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Zac Efron, which “raised her profile,” she told the New York Times. But at what cost?

“Baywatch raised my profile and changed the kinds of jobs I was being offered, maybe not in a positive way,” she said. “But I’m glad I did it.”

Here’s what we wrote about Baywatch at the time: “Baywatch has no interest in satire or parody, just the occasional fourth wall-breaking for an easy joke. Likewise, it’s hard to tell whether the atrocious, quick cut, shaky-cam fight/action choreography is meant to parody the Bourne movies (which Efron’s character mentions at one point), or whether it’s just badly done.” But at least the cast had fun making it, or so we thought.

Mayfair Witches premieres on AMC (it’s the channel’s second show based on an Anne Rice novel after Interview with the Vampire) on January 8.

(Via the New York Times)

Maybe you have been going through life waiting for one pivotal moment to make everything worth it. Whether it be your dream job or buying a fancy new house, we are always waiting for something. And maybe, just maybe, that something is Alex Baldwin enlisting you on a very important mission to get his wife to 1 million Instagram followers. And now is the time for your big break.

The actor took to Instagram to ask everyone on Earth and the great beyond to give his American Wife Hilaria the gift of a follow. We all know Hilaria’s Instagram presence is a bit dicey, but hey, it’s her birthday and she wants 1 million people to be involved. It’s the least you could do, really, for this famous person who you have never met.

Baldwin began his pleading by joking about the date, which is….you know, a whole thing. “Hey everybody,” Baldwin began in a video. “It’s January 5th, the day before my wife’s birthday. It is my wife Hilaria’s birthday tomorrow January 6th. We don’t attach the same significance to January 6th as other people do. We just say it’s Hilaria’s birthday.” It’s also Norman Reedus’s birthday, but you don’t see him making a big stink about it.

He continued, “My wife is just, it seems like she’s just centimeters shy of 1 million followers on Instagram. And I would like to ask you, as a birthday gift, or even just [a] gesture to my wife, would you follow her on Instagram?” Well, would you? The yoga enthusiast currently sits at 996k followers.

Maybe that didn’t convince you, so here he is begging even more: “I would like as many of you as possible. I would like a really great, great, surge of you to follow my wife on Instagram to say ‘Happy Birthday’ to her. Would you do that for me? Would you follow my wife on Instagram? Please? Thanks.” He’s asking really nicely this time!

But maybe that didn’t convince you either, because Baldwin then uploaded a video featuring a few of his small army of children asking for fans to follow their mother. Will she make it to one million before midnight? Who knows! There’s always next year.

(Via Page Six)

Matt Gaetz stopped by Fox News after two days of Republicans failing to elect a Speaker of the House despite winning a majority following the midterm elections, and from the sound of things, this situation isn’t going to be resolved anytime soon. Gaetz has been lording over a small band of GOP members who have refused to elect Kevin McCarthy as Speaker despite McCarthy making concession after concession in a desperate bid to win votes. That refusal seemed to frustrate Laura Ingraham who grilled Gaetz shortly after he revealed that he’ll never for McCarthy “under any circumstance.”

“That’s personal then,” Ingraham said. “You just made this very principled point. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t say ‘I’m a man of principal and I believe in X, Y and Z. But if he gives me X, Y and Z, I’m not gonna vote for him.’ What? How does that make sense?”

Ingraham then asked Gaetz what he would do if the Democrats help the Republicans elect a moderate candidate to put this thing to bed, which prompted the congressman to threaten us all with a great time. Via Mediaite:

No, listen. I’m on the floor, Laura. These 212 Democrats are going to vote for Hakeem Jeffries every single time. He is a historic candidate for them. They are not going to cleave off under any circumstance. I assure you if Democrats join up to elect a moderate Republican, I will resign from the House of Representatives. That is how certain I am. I can assure your viewers that won’t happen.

Is that legally binding? Can we get that in writing? Talk about a serious motivator to reach across the aisles. Democrats, are you seeing this?

(Via Mediaite)

Bratty is kicking off the new year with new music. Yesterday (January 5), the Mexican singer-songwriter released the alluring muisc video for “Continental” featuring Nsqk and Méne.

Bratty is bringing an alternative edge to Latin music. Bratty is the musical project of Jenny Juárez who grew up in Culiacán, Sinaloa. For “Continental,” Bratty teamed up with fellow Mexican acts Nsqk and Méne. Her love song is reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac’s music with a folk rock sound that you can dance to. In the dreamy track, she trades verses with Méne about a romance that feels otherworldly.

“In one of my sessions in Monterrey, I finally had the opportunity to meet Rodrigo and Luis (Nsqk and Méne),” Bratty said in a statement. “I had heard about their projects and I was intrigued since they are both young Mexican artists from the north. I love that the realization of this song is totally homemade. Rodrigo and I produced it and the three of us wrote the lyrics.”

“Continental” is one of the songs on Bratty’s upcoming release Es Mi Fiesta Y Si Quiero Hago Un EP. She previewed the EP last month with “¿Y Cómo?” featuring Spanish group Hinds. Bratty’s EP that’s coming soon features collaborations with Metronomy, Álvaro Díaz, Depresión Sonora, and Yawners.

The legal team for Alex Jones is still continuing to feel the effects of the InfoWars host’s devastating loss in court against the Sandy Hook families who successfully sued him for over a billion dollars in damages. On Thursday, Jones’ defense attorney, Norm Pattis, had his law license suspended for releasing the medical records of the Sandy Hook families. To be clear, this is not the same attorney that accidentally sent incriminating texts from Jones to the opposing counsel. This situation is an entirely different blunder of which there were many in the explosive trial.

“Simply put, given his experience, there is no acceptable excuse for his misconduct,” Judge Barbara Bellis said of Pattis in her court decision. Via NBC Connecticut:

“We cannot expect our system of justice or our attorneys to be perfect but we can expect fundamental fairness and decency. There was no fairness or decency in the treatment of the plaintiffs’ most sensitive and personal information, and no excuse for the respondent’s misconduct,” Bellis wrote.

Pattis told NBC Connecticut that he plans to appeal the decision, but he’s currently busy in Washington D.C. for the Proud Boy insurrection case.

The decision arrives after Jones was hit with even more damages in November for spewing lies about the Sandy Hook shooting. Jones routinely pushed conspiracy theories that the children and their families were crisis actors and reportedly made millions from his viewers, some of whom threatened and harassed the grieving families for years.

Jones eventually apologized for spreading the false theory, but it was too late. He was already staring down several lawsuits that ultimately cost him a small fortune.

(Via NBC Connecticut)

Wet Leg’s 2022 was nothing short of exciting. With their 2021 hit “Chaise Longue,” their success and hype only accumulated when their debut self-titled LP came out and they were brought on a tour with the one and only Harry Styles, who was arguably the biggest pop star of last year.

The reign of “Chaise Longue” is not over yet. The group handed the song over to Unknown Mortal Orchestra to put their own spin on it, and they did not hold back. The track is completely transformed into a psychedelic, distorted experience, having the texture of a noise-rock anthem. It hits — in a totally different way.

In our interview with Wet Leg, Rhian Teasdale explained her pronunciation of the piece of furniture: “You can hear the demo of ‘Chaise Longue,’ it’s on the B-side of the 7-inch that we put out,” she said. “That’s ‘Chaise Longue’ in its purest form, pretty much. I say ‘chaise longe,’ because that’s how I thought it was pronounced at the time. And then when we went into like the real studio, I thought I’d get my friend Google out and actually learn how to say it, and Google told me it was ‘chaise long.’ So that’s what we went for. Well, there in the States you say ‘chaise lounge.’”

Listen to Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s remix of “Chaise Longue” above.

As classes resume for the second season of Abbott Elementary, many fans are wondering whether or not a certain duo will get together after some “will they/won’t they” scenarios. After Janine and Tariq broke it off earlier this season, it seems like Gregory might swoop in, but that information is under lock and key at the moment.

Still, Lisa Anne Walter knows that it’s on everyone’s mind. “Everybody wants to know obviously about the romance,” Walter recently told Deadline. “I will say that there were a couple of interesting romantic moves that happen before the end of the season. I’m not going to say what, but I think the audience is going to be really happy. They’re just gonna be enthusiastic,” she added.

The actress then added that some fans have been correctly hinting and guessing that Janina and Gregorry would finally get together after a season and a half of speculation. “Last year, when people were saying, ‘What do you want to see happen?’ and I gave a scenario…that’s gonna happen and I can’t tell you what it is, but it’s coming up and I loved the episode. It was a big episode. I think it might be my favorite episode this season.”

Even though some things are spur-of-the-moment decisions, Walter says that Brunson has most of the series’ main plots pointed mapped out. “My joke is that when she sat down, she had five years planned. But not every little thing. They sit in the writer’s room and they break the story, and they come up with different things.” One of those things was securing a cameo from the most in-demand actor of our time: Gritty. And she did that! There’s no telling what else Brunson has up her sleeve.

Abbott Elementary airs Wednesdays on ABC.

(Via Deadline)