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What else does the world need right now, other than not one, but two spinoff shows from a decade-old franchise? It seems to be the trend at the moment. This time, it’s Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes that is getting the TV show treatment.

Sherlock Holmes hit theaters in 2009, just a year after Downey Jr. starred in the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Downey Jr. played the titular character, while Holmes’ sidekick Watson was portrayed by Jude Law. The second film was released in 2011, and a third was set for 2021, though that has obviously been delayed.

According to Variety, HBO Max and the Downey family are currently developing two series for the network which will focus on new characters that are set to be introduced in Sherlock Holmes 3. A series has been in the works ever since the massive success of Downey Jr.’s Marvel movies, which allegedly taught him about the expansive idea of “world-building.” In 2020, the Downey family expressed interest in the idea of a whole Sherlock Holmes universe, which is definitely helped by the fact that there is a massive amount of source material from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

“We think there’s an opportunity to build it out more,” Susan Downey said in 2020. “Spin-off characters from a third movie, to see what’s going on in the television landscape, to see what Warner Media is starting to build out, things with HBO and HBO Max.”

It should be noted that these characters are unrelated to the Enola Holmes Netflix franchise, though seeing Millie Bobby Brown and Robert Downey Jr. trying to out-wit each other would be quite entertaining. Also not to be confused with Will Ferrell’s 2018 forgotten film, Holmes And Watson.

With Morbius now out in theaters and, uh, not exactly wowing critics (Or Martin Scorsese. Sorry, Tyrese.), director Daniel Espinosa has been an open book about the process behind bringing the film to life after it experienced a record-breaking amount of delays due to the pandemic. What’s become abundantly clear in these post-release interviews is that Espinosa is clearly a huge fan of Michael Morbius The Living Vampire, particularly the Marvel Comics character’s hey-day in the ’70s. It’s that love of the character that made him deliberate over how Morbius should look in his first film, and that includes getting Jared Leto‘s hair just right even though the actor basically looks like his usual rock star self.

“I think that he should be like the long hair, Tony Stark-y kind of person,” Espinosa told The Wrap before steering the conversation towards the debate on whether or not to use prosthetics or CGI to create Morbius’ vampire appearance, which involved some advice from Ryan Reynolds:

Yeah, but first we went to this idea that it would be prosthetics. Because I know Ryan Reynolds, we had done two movies before, so I called him because I knew that he was a big prosthetics guy, that he really liked what he did on “Deadpool.” And who doesn’t love “Deadpool”?

And so we started with prosthetics, but the hard thing with Morbius is that his look is that his nose goes back. There were like parts of the look of it that has to do with negative space, that you can’t really do that with prosthetics. Then we had to consider if we’re going to do the head extra-large.

Ultimately, Espinosa was talked into going the CGI route by his VFX supervisor, who worked on Thanos’ face for The Avengers movies and said that he could deliver something even better because the tech had already improved so much. To Espinosa’s surprise, Sony ponied up the extra cash, and Morbius‘ got his photorealistic “pig nose” that fans of the comic will easily recognize.

(Via The Wrap)

Johnny Depp’s delayed defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard will begin on April 11, and it will be televised. That’s a lot already, so let’s back up a bit.

This U.S.-based trial is entirely separate from Depp’s 2020 U.K.-based libel trial against The Sun, which did not end well for Depp. That court shut down Depp’s claim and (devastatingly) ruled that the tabloid’s “wife beater” claim about him was “substantially true.” Not to be deterred from his lack of desired “vindication,” Depp forged ahead with his U.S. civil trial, in which he’s sued Amber for $50 million.

Depp alleges that Heard defamed him while penning a Washington Post op-ed (in which Depp is not named) about her history as a domestic abuse survivor. After a few years of pandemic-and-schedule-related setbacks, this trial’s about to happen in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Court TV will air the proceedings. Via Deadline:

The network will be the pool feed provider for the trial, and plans to provide coverage of the proceedings.

Ethan Nelson, Acting Head of Court TV, said in a statement, “Court cases that are as high-profile as this one often create a lot of noise, and it can be difficult for viewers to break through these distractions to have a clear picture of the facts, but that’s where we come in.”

Both TMZ and Deadline have both reported word on the apparent (virtual) witness lists for the trial. It seems, well, wild, but Heard is apparently calling Elon Musk and James Franco to testify on her behalf while Depp is calling upon Paul Bettany’s testimony.

Hmm. Musk previously seemed to challenge Depp to a “cage fight” while denying allegations that Musk had an affair with Heard while she was married to Depp. In other words (and if Elon is really going to testify), this trial could be a real (televised) circus.

(Via TMZ & Deadline)

Representative Matt Gaetz who, last time we checked, was still under investigation on sex trafficking charges, peacocked his way through yet another congressional hearing this week.

This time, the Republican from Florida used his time in front of the cameras to grill a retired four-star Army general on a proposed defense budget. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin appeared before Congress to lay out the Defense Department’s 2023 fiscal plan but, instead of quizzing the man on how the money might be spent, Gaetz used his time at the mic to berate our military for not doing enough to stop Russia from invading Ukraine and for its newfound “woke-ism.”

“While everyone else in the world seems to be developing capabilities and being more strategic, we got time to embrace critical race theory at West Point, to embrace socialism at the National Defense University, to do mandatory pronoun training,” Gaetz complained while failing to specify exactly how countries like China and North Korea were outpacing the U.S. in terms of weapons capabilities. When pressed, Gaetz maintained that Austin and the Defense Department had “blown many calls,” chief among them, the situation in Ukraine.

“Mr. Secretary, you guys told us that Russia couldn’t lose,” Gaetz continued. “And so I guess I’m wondering what in the $773 billion that you’re requesting today is going to help you make assessments that are accurate in the face of so many blown calls.”

That’s when Austin, who gamely sat for a large portion of his idiotic tirade, let loose on Gaetz.

“I’m sorry you are embarrassed by your country,” the retired general replied.

Gaetz became so angry at Austin’s accusation he stumbled over his words a bit, finally spewing out a rant about how the U.S. Defense Department had predicted Russia would overtake Ukraine in just 36 days. “You totally blew those calls and maybe we would be better at them if the National Defense University actually worked a little more on strategy and a little less on woke-ism,” Gaetz said.

And because this whole inquisition was a PR move on Gaetz’s part to appeal to his anti-woke base, Austin ended the argument by pointing out just how irrational the Florida congressman was being.

“Has it not occurred to you that Russia has not overrun Ukraine because of what we’ve done and our allies have done?” Austin asked. “Have you ever even thought of that?”

(Via The Recount & The Independent)

Late last month, educators and school district officials in Minneapolis, Minnesota came to a tentative agreement that ended a three-week-long teachers’ strike. The agreement put an end to a standoff that closed classrooms for around 30,000 public school students.

The strike was the first for Minneapolis Public Schools in 52 years. In April 1970, teachers left the classrooms and grabbed picket signs for a historic 20-day standoff. At the time, the teachers took a huge risk because public employees were banned from striking.

“The moment they picked up a placard and set foot on the pavement to join a demonstration, they had violated state law,” Dr. William Green, an Augsburg University history professor, told WCCO.

Although the teachers eventually returned to work without a pay raise, the strike prompted the state to give public workers the right to bargain collectively.

As part of its coverage of the 2022 strike, Minneapolis CBS affiliate WCCO hunted down some archival footage of the 1970 demonstrations to show the common themes between both movements. WCCO Production Manager Matt Liddy dug up 13 minutes of restored footage from the original strike in the station vault to use in his new report.

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The footage included a reporter interviewing schoolchildren as teachers picketed near a school. Liddy was shocked when he noticed that one of the children being interviewed looked a lot like Minneapolis and worldwide music icon Prince. In 1970, the artist was known as Prince Nelson.

“I immediately just went out to the newsroom and started showing people and saying, ‘I’m not gonna tell you who I think this is, but who do you think this is?’ And every single person [said] ‘Prince,’” Liddy said.

The newsroom didn’t have the correct equipment to hear the recording, so it found a specialist to extract the audio of the interview.

“I think they should get a better education too cause, um, and I think they should get some more money cause they work, they be working extra hours for us and all that stuff,” the child suspected to be Prince said.

It’s pretty clear why Liddy thought the child in the footage was Prince. The kid physically resembles Prince and his smile is definitely reminiscent of the “Raspberry Beret” singer.

Unfortunately, the child doesn’t say his name to the interviewer. But one of his friends in the video enthusiastically announces that he is “Ronnie Kitchen.” The news crew attempted to find Kitchen but their contact information turned up dead ends.

WCCO then reached out to Kristen Zschomler, a Twin Cities historian who is also a big fan of Prince. She had collected a large, 100-page document following Prince’s rise from Minneapolis to worldwide fame that included pictures of him as a kid.

“I think that’s him, definitely. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I think that’s definitely Prince,” she said.

Zschomler connected them with Terrance Jackson, a boyhood friend of Prince’s who played in his first band, Grand Central. When shown the video, Jackson immediately noticed Kitchen and Prince.

“Oh my God, that’s Kitchen,” Jackson exclaimed as the video began. “That is Prince! Standing right there with the hat on, right? That’s Skipper! Oh my God!”

Prince’s friends called him Skipper when he was a kid.

Liddy’s find is an incredible discovery for Prince fans and people who grew up in Minneapolis. It shows that even before Prince was a teenager he had a twinkle in his eye that would become a trademark of his larger-than-life personality. Nobody knows where incredible charisma comes from, but after seeing this footage, maybe Prince was just born with it.

The Weeknd is one of the most decorated artists both in recent years and over the course of the modern music industry more broadly. That’s true pretty much regardless of whatever measure you use, but right now, let’s look at certifications from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America). There’s actually some news on that front today, as two The Weeknd songs — “Blinding Lights” and “Starboy” — have now achieved Diamond certification, indicating sales of at least 10 million units in the US.

That in itself is a big deal, but what’s even more noteworthy is what this does for The Weeknd’s placement on the all-time ranks: According to the RIAA website, today’s certifications put The Weeknd at three total Diamond singles, which is the second-most ever. (His other Diamond single, by the way, is “The Hills.”)

He’s now behind only Bruno Mars, who has four Diamond singles. The Weeknd is currently tied with Ed Sheeran, Eminem, Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry, and Maroon 5, at three. All those artists are among the few who have multiple Diamond singles: Those with two Diamond singles are Cardi B, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Post Malone, and that’s it.

Meanwhile, The Weeknd got some other RIAA certifications today, too: “I Feel It Coming” is now 6-times Platinum, “Die For You” is 4-times Platinum, “Heartless,” “Party Monster,” and “Reminder” are 3-times Platinum, and as far as albums, Starboy is 4-times Platinum. Overall, The Weeknd now has 30 Gold singles, 30 Platinum singles, and 16 multi-Platinum singles.

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

Today’s hearing in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case against Tory Lanez turned out to be an eventful one. Tory was handcuffed and taken into custody for violating the court’s protective order against him (again) and ordered to pay $350,000 in bail. While that event was the one that rightly got the lion’s share of the attention, another detail emerged thanks to Rolling Stone‘s Nancy Dillon that undermined a key — if unofficial — part of Tory’s defense.

In February, Megan Thee Stallion lit into social media personality DJ Akademiks, who “reported” that “Tory Lanez DNA WAS NOT found on the weapon in the Meg Thee Stallion case.” Megan accused Akademiks of being a stooge for Tory Lanez — an accusation supported by the fact that Akademiks tweeted the tidbit before the hearing had even begun. While he deleted the tweet, he also maintained that he’d obtained the information from court documents, not from Tory or Tory’s lawyer.

Today, Tory’s lawyer corroborated Akademiks’ claim, saying that Tory didn’t provide Akademiks the documents, but complained that if the judge “had seen this document, he presumably would have got it right.” However, some are pointing to the wording of his description of the DNA test, which they say suggests that Tory fudged the results of the test. According to Dillon, Tory’s lawyer, Shawn Holley, “confirmed the swab on the gun came back ‘inconclusive’ with 4 contributors while the magazine swab ‘excluded’ Lanez.”

The obscure wording has fans duking it out via Twitter, with some believing Holley meant that Tory was cleared and others thinking Tory’s DNA was never submitted. In any event, any physical evidence would only suggest that Tory came into contact with the gun or its magazine, not whether or not he fired the gun, which is the claim that will actually be contended on September 14 when the actual trial begins.

Alexander Skarsgard is known for two things: playing a mean guy, and playing a hot guy, and most of the time they are the same guy. But what happens when his character actually translates into real life? This time, the Swedish actor almost hit a child while riding his bike. That child is climate activist Greta Thunberg.

In a new interview with The Times, the actor admitted that he narrowly missed the teenager while he was cycling to the interview in Stockholm. “I nearly ran over Greta Thunberg. She’s how we sell our country now,” he said, adding, “I almost hit her with my bike. Greta is like a modern-day Viking and, like Greta, the Vikings refused to fly.” Some would say that the viral marketing campaign for his new movie The Northman has gone a bit too far.

Thunberg is known for climate activism and was allegedly protesting at the time of the near-hit. Skarsgard is known for his hit TV shows True Blood and Big Little Lies. His latest movie, The Northman (no relation to his True Blood character of the same name) hits theaters later this month. In the film, Skarsgard plays a very shredded Viking who raids Slavic villages. Perhaps accidental violence is his way of method acting.

The Northman also stars Skarsgard’s Big Litte Lies wife Nicole Kidman (though she plays his mom in the film, so it’s fine), Anya Taylor-Joy, Björk, Ralph Ineson, Ethan Hawke, Claes Bang, and Willem Dafoe. The movie hits theaters on April 22nd.

With masking no longer an issue for Megyn Kelly to rail against — They hide her beautiful, flawless skin she spent years perfecting, and clearly, that’s what’s important during a pandemic. — the conservative turned her attention to the right’s favorite bogeyman: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. During Monday’s episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, the disgraced former NBC host went on a tear against AOC’s recent push for President Joe Biden to pass sweeping student loan forgiveness via executive order. (Note: Today, Biden did postpone the restart of payments again through the end of August.)

Kelly, like most conservatives, is against forgiving student loans, particularly if going to college does nothing but turn out “snot nose” elitists who hate America. (An interesting description considering Kelly’s own father was a college professor.) The former Fox News personality also played the “when I was your age” card by explaining how her family struggled to pay for college educations for her brothers and sisters, yet they still repaid their debts.

Via Mediaite:

“It would’ve been nice but I don’t think the neighbors should have to pay for my college education. My mom made a sacrifice,” Kelly said. “We took out loans too but we paid them back! Why should these snot nose kids today – I’m sorry, the one’s who really need it, they can get loans but like you point out a lot of these people are going to be these college – Columbia – elite graduates who are going to spend their years in journalism trying to shame half of America for doing absolutely nothing wrong.

As Kelly’s rant continued, she stopped even making an argument, and instead, refused to be a part of it. “Why should I be paying for their education,” a heated Kelly asked. “I don’t want to!”

(Via Mediaite)

Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian got engaged back in October. Today, there were reports that the Blink-182 drummer and the reality TV star got married in Las Vegas, shortly after Barker joined HER, Lenny Kravitz, and others for a performance of Kravitz’s “Are You Gonna Go My Way” at this past weekend’s Grammys. A TMZ report said hours after the show, the pair went to a wedding chapel at around 1:30 a.m. and got married by an Elvis impersonator.

Now, though, another report insists the ceremony actually wasn’t legally binding, so Barker and Kardashian are not currently legally married.

Page Six reports sources said they never got a marriage license and that an “insider” told them, “They had a ceremony, but on paper it’s not legal yet.” Furthermore, the publication says “Clark County [in Nevada] records for marriage licenses and certificates also show that the couple never applied for or received one.”

The original TMZ report noted there would be “several” other celebrations of the marriage, so perhaps the Vegas “wedding” was just a part of the proceedings and a legally binding ceremony is on the way soon.

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