Category: 5. Entertainment

Gabriel Basso, who stars in Netflix hit series The Night Agent, has joined the cast of Amazon MGM’s romantic drama Love of Your Life.

Margaret Qualley, Aaron Pierre and Patrick Schwarzenegger are already on the call sheet for the weeper, which tells of a young woman (Qualley), who loses her husband and goes on a journey to find a way forward in her life.

The script is written by Julia Cox. Character details, including those of Basso’s role, are being kept under wraps.

Black Panther cinematographer-turned-helmer Rachel Morrison is directing the feature that is being produced by Ryan Gosling and partner Jessie Henderson. The duo is producing via Open Invite Entertainment, formerly known as General Admission.

Production is currently underway.

Basso successfully transitioned from child actor to adult thespian, first appearing in coming-of-age movies such as Super 8 and The Kings of Summer before going on to portray J.D. Vance in Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy and one of the villains in horror movie The Strangers.

This fall, he reprises the horror villain role for The Strangers: Chapter 2, which will hit theaters Sept. 26. And he is part of the ensemble line-up of A House of Dynamite, the highly-anticipated political thriller from Kathryn Bigelow which is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival before its theatrical release and Netflix debut on Oct. 24.

Night Agent, created by Shawn Ryan, is a thriller series that debuted as the platform’s third most-watched series premiere and currently stands as the sixth most-watched series of all time on the platform. The second season was released in January, while a third season is in the works.

Basso is repped by WME, Range Media Partners, Untitled Entertainment, and Yorn Levine.

Geo TV’s music show “Pakistan Idol” auditions in Multan today (Wednesday).

The auditions will take place on Wednesday at 9am at the Multan Arts Council.

If you want to make a name for yourself in music and have a melodious voice, this is a great opportunity for you. Don’t miss the chance to astonish the world with your voice!

Reach the Multan Arts Council by 9am to audition. This could be the moment that changes your life and turns your dreams into reality.

Do try your luck! Who knows, the next Idol might be from Multan!

If you aren’t familiar with Andreas and Christian Ehrlich, a.k.a. the Ehrlich Brothers, just know that their magic show is probably unlike any you’ve seen before. The German duo is known for mixing massive illusions with personal storytelling and performing to sold-out crowds in 10,000-seat arenas. Their ticket sales outnumber those of Madonna and Justin Bieber in their home country and thanks in part to a recent push by Andreas’ son for more of a presence on social media their worldwide fanbase has increased. And now the pair will be bringing their show “Diamonds — The Mind-Blowing Magic Show” to the states for their first-ever U.S. tour, starting Sept. 25.

It’s a chance for American audiences to see some of their illusions up close, which includes levitating and disappearing a gold Lamborghini to making a motorcycle leap from a giant iPad screen onto the stage. And if you’re not convinced by their reputation or their admirers — which include everyone from King Charles III to Tom Hanks — consider this: you could leave the show with candy and cash.

“We make the biggest candy jar in the world appear,” Andreas reveals. “And we give that candy out to the audience.” But Christian can top that. “There’s one illusion which is a classic in the Ehrlich Brothers show for 20 years,” he notes. “We ask a spectator to loan us some money. They give us a small bill and I transform it into $100 and give it back. So in every show, at least one person will go home with more money than they came with.”

Asked what else you can expect and Christian offers, “A huge show with a lot of pyrotechnics and storytelling.” In fact, every illusion is driven by story — that giant candy jar, for example, is a realization of a childhood dream. Says Andreas, “This is one of the biggest dreams you can have — to have a wish and just call it out and make it real.”

Adds Christian, “We try to talk to people using the art of magic. We approach magic like a good song that reaches your heart.” He points to the motorcycle jumping out of the iPad as an example. “It’s really a story about how our dad passed away much too early. It’s something everybody deals with and we put a magic twist on it. We want to be really authentic and talk about emotions and feelings that the audience relates to.”

What you won’t see at an Ehrlich Brothers show, they say, is cliché. “We’ve never cut a girl in half or made a girl vanish out of some boxes,” Christian promises. Adds Andreas, “What is the reason to have a beautiful girl on stage only to make her disappear? No, it’s really about the story and showing one illusion after another. So much so that people can’t believe the show is two hours, it feels much shorter.”

The brothers spend years working on their illusions — there’s one they’re hoping to debut next year that they’ve been focused on since 2019. And they have gone from building small-scale tricks in their father’s workshop to employing 40 people who construct and work out the mechanics. Andreas admits the brainstorming phase involves them coming up with “some crazy stuff” and about 5% of those ideas evolve into actual illusions.

Of course, there are perils with such massive illusions. Earlier this year during a rehearsal, Andreas’ hair caught fire when he moved too close to a flamethrower — video of the incident is online and the pair were able to joke about his “new hairstyle.” In 2016, the motorcycle stunt went wrong, causing Andreas to fall and break his ribs. In both cases, the brothers continued with their shows.

It’s humorous to hear that the pair consider the U.S. shows to be “smaller,” as the theaters average more around 4,000 seats than tens of thousands. They also estimate they’ll be down to six trucks from their usual 30. “We need to be a bit smaller because we have so many of our own illusions [at home],” explains Chris. And some — like their Angel of Death illusion — weigh about five tons. But it’s still set to be a massive spectacle.

The pair have entertained audiences from all over the world at their shows, and were inspired to tour America after getting consistent feedback that the show would translate to the States. “For us, it was always a question: Is it a German show, or a show that works on an international scale?’” says Christian. “And so many people from America told us we needed to come, that it would be a big party. So it motivated us to try. And I think people will love it. There’s nothing especially German about it.”

The 10-city tour will kick off in Washington, D.C., and make stops in Pittsburgh, Newark, Las Vegas, San Jose, Phoenix, Anaheim, San Diego, Tucson, Ariz., and Arlington, Texas, giving the pair some time to check out the sights as a German TV crew will be documenting the tour. Asked if they’ll check out Disneyland on their L.A. leg, and Chris jokes, “We’re going to make it disappear so that all the people come to the show just for one day.”

One stop they’re particularly looking forward to is Las Vegas. “It will be a big pleasure to see some of our colleagues there and also check out the shows,” notes Christian. “Though I’m disappointed I will just be missing the Backstreet Boys. I’m a big fan.”

For touring dates and tickets, visit ehrlich-brothers.com/en/

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the United Kingdom in 2020 to begin an independent life in the United States, settling in a Montecito estate. 

But according to recent reports, their hope of living in a quiet, crime-free community has not fully materialized.

Local media reported that a residence just seven minutes from the Sussexes’ £21 million mansion was “broken into and ransacked” on July 19. 

Another burglary took place only two days later at a nearby cannabis farm, where thieves stole tools and equipment. 

Despite Montecito’s reputation as a secluded haven for celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and Ariana Grande, the area continues to experience robberies and burglaries.

The couple’s 16-bedroom property, complete with tennis courts, a pool, and rose gardens, has doubled in value since their move. 

Meghan has said the pair bought the house after touring only its exterior.

Meanwhile, in Britain, Prince William and Kate Middleton recently confirmed their move to Forest Lodge, a residence where security protocols surrounding the future king and queen leave little risk of local crime. 

Unlike Harry and Meghan’s Californian experiment, the Waleses are expected to remain shielded by royal protection for decades to come.

Five years after the end of Bojack Horseman, creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg is back with Long Story Short, an animated, decade-spanning comedy centered on a dysfunctional Jewish family.

Lisa Edelstein, Paul Reiser, Ben Feldman, Abbi Jacobson, Max Greenfield, Angelique Cabral and Nicole Byer make up the voice cast, and at the show’s Los Angeles premiere on Monday, the stars discussed how it felt to be releasing the show amid the war in Gaza and the surrounding Israel-Palestine discourse.

“I couldn’t believe that something like this was being made, I couldn’t believe something this specifically Jewish was being made,” Feldman, who voices the oldest child of the show’s Schwooper family, told The Hollywood Reporter. And now with the series about to release, the actor admitted to feeling “timid” but “Honestly bring it. There’s going to be vitriol; there was an article this morning that was just a think piece on the show and I stupidly read the first comments. People are feeling very passionate right now and they deserve to be and I understand why. But sometimes their ire and vitriol is misdirected.”

“I think there are plenty of Instagrams to scream on in the comment section, I don’t think a D-list actor on a sitcom is one of them,” he continued. “We’re not saving the world, but I understand this is a fiery, dangerous subject and something about that is really interesting to me.”

Jacobson — who voices the family’s middle child — noted, “I’m really excited to be a part of this show and I love being Jewish. I love representing a Jewish family and I think that this is doing it in a very specific way during a very difficult time,” and Edelstein — who plays the family matriarch — added, “The timing is amazing. I’m really grateful and it’s really important. I really appreciate playing Jewish characters, especially right now.”

For his part, Bob-Waksberg said he “feels great” about debuting his show in this moment; though the story takes place over decades, it only goes up until 2022 — a year before the Oct. 7 attack — and does not mention Israel, which the creator told Vulture is “because the Jewish experience is so much more interesting than that.” He expressed being open to the topic in future seasons, though, saying, “I  don’t want to create any content that is then going to make people want to boycott this show in either direction. We will have to get into that at some point. I want to do it in a way that makes sense for our show, that doesn’t feel didactic, that doesn’t feel like scoring points.”

Danny Boyle is set to direct an adaptation of award-winning play Ink, based on the rise of the Rupert Murdoch empire.

According to Deadline, Guy Pearce is in talks to take on the lead role with Jack O’Connell also in negotiations to star as Larry Lamb, who Murdoch hired to run the Sun in the late 1960s.

The film will be written by original playwright James Graham, whose other screen credits include recent TV drama Brian and Maggie. Ink was a critical hit after it premiered on stage in 2017 going on to win an Olivier award and two Tonys.

The Guardian’s Michael Billington called it a “gripping piece of theatre”.

Murdoch previously referred to Boyle as “a creative genius” on social media after the London Olympics opening ceremony. He also claimed it was “a little too politically correct”.

Boyle recently returned to the zombie franchise he helped to create with 28 Years Later, a box office success earlier this summer making $150m worldwide. The film featured O’Connell in the final scenes and he will be a more prominent feature in the sequel out next year.

Boyle is attached to make the as-yet-confirmed third film dependent on the success of the second which will also see the return of Cillian Murphy.

O’Connell also recently starred in Ryan Coogler’s smash hit horror Sinners and will also soon be seen in Godzilla x Kong: Supernova.

Pearce received his first Oscar nomination this year for Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist and will soon be seen alongside Keira Knightley in mystery thriller The Woman in Cabin 10 and Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars.

Actor Aubrey Plaza opened up about how she’s coping with grief after the sudden death of her husband, Jeff Baena.

Plaza talked about the “daily struggles” she goes through during an appearance on the podcast “Good Hang” — hosted by her “Parks and Recreation” co-star Amy Poehler.

“I feel happy to be with you. I’m here and I’m functioning and I feel, you know, I feel really grateful to be moving through this world,” Plaza said.

Baena, an independent filmmaker, died by suicide in January. The couple tied the knot in 2021 and collaborated on several films together, such as “Spin Me Around,” “The Little Hours,” and “Life After Beth.”

During the interview, Plaza compared her grieving process to the recent film “The Gorge” starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy.

“In the movie, there’s a cliff on one side and then there’s a cliff on the other side and then there’s like a gorge in between and it’s filled with all these monster people that are trying to get them,” she said.

Plaza added: “There’s like a giant ocean of just awfulness that’s right there and I can see it. And sometimes I just want to just dive into it and just be in it. And sometimes I just look at it. And sometimes I’m just trying to get away from it, but it’s always there. It’s just always there.”

The new Paramount owned by Skydance has made it official that Stranger Things architects, the Duffer brothers and their Upside Down Pictures label, are officially coming over to the Melrose Ave lot in a wide-ranging four-year, exclusive deal for feature films, television, and streaming projects. We told you about the new big deal for the David Ellison led Paramount last week.

The big plus here for the Duffers is that now they now get to make movies for the big screen.

Their new deal at Paramount starts at the end of their current deal with Netflix in April 2026. At the end of their Netflix deal, the Duffers will remain involved in Stranger Things and other existing projects in development at the OTT service.

The multi-Emmy nominated Duffers will write, direct, and produce feature films, TV, and original series for Paramount Pictures, Paramount Television, and Paramount Direct-to-Consumer. Their Upside Down Pictures production company is led by producing partner and president, Hilary Leavitt. It’s no coincidence that the first big deal under the David Ellison led Paramount is with the Duffers as the duo have worked with Cindy Holland, Paramount’s Chair of Direct-to-Consumer and Matt Thunell, President of Paramount Television, at Netflix.

Said Matt and Ross Duffer: “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining the Paramount family. David, Josh, and Dana are passionate about bringing bold, original films to the big screen. To be part of that mission is not just exciting – it’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. And to do so at a studio with such a storied Hollywood legacy is a privilege we don’t take lightly. We’re also excited to reunite with our friends Cindy and Matt, who were among the very first to believe in us and an unusual little script we wrote that became Stranger Things. They took a chance on us in 2015, and they’re taking a chance again – we can’t wait to create new stories together.”

“Our time at Netflix has been incredible. Ted, Bela, and Peter have given us the kind of creative freedom and support that artists dream of but so rarely receive. A decade in, they are family. We’re excited to continue collaborating – not only on the upcoming release of Stranger Things 5, but also on shows we’re deeply proud to be producing, including Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen and The Boroughs. And we look forward to building out the future of Stranger Things together – there are many more stories to tell beyond Hawkins, and we can’t wait to share them,” the brothers added.

“I’ve had the privilege of knowing Matt and Ross for over a decade and worked with them from their earliest stages through their deserving global success. We have seen firsthand their extraordinary creative vision and exceptional gift for storytelling,” said Cindy Holland, Paramount’s Chair of Direct-to-Consumer. “We couldn’t be more excited to reunite and welcome them to Paramount.”

“We are thrilled that the incomparable Duffer Brothers are joining our Paramount family,” said Dana Goldberg, Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Chair of Paramount Television, and Josh Greenstein, Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Vice Chair of Platforms. “Their singular talent for creating stories and worlds that shape culture sets them apart, and this partnership is a great example of the new Paramount in action – our film, television, and streaming businesses united to offer Matt and Ross the full power of our platforms to tell their best and most ambitious stories yet.”

New Paramount Motion Picture heads Dana Goldberg and Josh Greenstein told the press last week that there are plans for 15 to 20 movies to be released annually. Paramount already has production pacts with such talent as Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Damien Chazelle, Temple Hill and Walter Hamada’s genre studio 18hz.

Billy Corben and Jen Gatien’s “Men of War,” one of the first documentaries that Neon produced and funded, will be available to watch via PVOD starting Sept. 9.

The doc, which premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film International Festival, chronicles Operation Gideon, a 2020 sea invasion of Venezuela by a coalition of local dissidents and American mercenaries to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro. Former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau planned the failed mission that happened just weeks after the Trump administration placed a $15 million bounty on President Maduro.

Goudreau, a former Special Forces soldier who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, planned to land in Venezuela via speedboat with approximately 60 other men in an attempt to capture Maduro, an authoritarian president. At the time, Goudreau said that he and his team were acting to protect Venezuela’s democracy after Maduro’s 2018 re-election, which was boycotted by the opposition and condemned as undemocratic by the U.S.

In 2024, Goudreau was charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods from the U.S. and unlawful possession of a machine gun, among 14 counts. His trial is expected to begin soon.

Corben (“Cocaine Cowboys”) and Gatien (“Limelight”) began filming “Men of War” in 2021. In the 102-minute film, the directors trace the botched incursion and the few characters who lived to tell the tale: a journalist, Goudreau, a Miami-based dissident, an army general, and the brother of one of the captured American mercenaries. The doc also features exclusive prison recordings of retired Venezuelan General Cliver Alcalá Cordones and interviews with J.J. Rendón, strategist to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

“When the filmmakers approached us with the wildly compelling story behind ‘Men of War,’ we couldn’t have imagined that story would still be playing out in 2025,” Neon said in a statement.

Variety film critic Murtada Elfadl described the film as “a morally complicated portrait of a mercenary who thinks he’s a righteous soldier: a man who obviously cannot grapple with the consequences of his actions.”

Prior to the doc’s TIFF debut, Neon’s EVP of nonfiction, Dan O’Meara, told Variety that “Men of War” appealed to the company for a number of reasons.

“Every part of [Goudreau’s] project felt ill-conceived and impossible,” said O’Meara. “They approached [Venezuela] by boat, and that boat broke down. There also were not that many guys involved. Everybody was wondering, ‘What were these guys thinking? How could they have thought that they were going to get away with this, and at whose behest?’ Jordan was made this laughing stock. As it turns out, he was working for and had been hired by very powerful people in the Venezuelan opposition party, and he was in touch with the White House. Mike Pence’s people were giving [Goudreau] the tacit wink-wink like, ‘If this all works out, you will have our support.’ Jordan was also in touch with Keith Schiller, Trump’s former bodyguard. So, he believed at the time that he was undertaking a project that had the blessing of the Trump administration.”

In May, Neon theatrically released “Men of War” and qualified it for Oscar consideration.

Since Neon’s 2017 inception, the company has become a major player in the doc landscape, distributing “Fire of Love,” “Moonage Daydream,” “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.”

“Men of War” was produced and financed by Neon, in association with Rakontur, Deerjen, and Hyperobject. The film was produced by Alfred Spellman, Jen Gatien, and Billy Corben. Tom Quinn, Dan O’Meara, Todd Schulman, and Adam McKay serve as executive producers.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #6

Written by CHIP ZDARSKY

Art by FRANK ALPIZAR & DELIO DIAZ

Cover and Designs by VALERIO SCHITI

Foil Variant Cover by IVAN TAO

On Sale 12/17

“I love the idea of ‘official’ super heroes, ones who work within the system,” Zdarsky told ComicBook.com. “It felt like there would be some sort of United Nations representatives from the Security Council member countries to deal with situations like Latveria. So, the United Captains came from that idea, a team that isn’t a team, that may have their own agendas.”

Schiti’s work on the X-MEN titles and G.O.D.S. have made him one of the Marvel’s premier character designers. Now, he brings his skills to CAPTAIN AMERICA, modernizing Cap’s suit and creating fantastic, instantly iconic costumes for the four new United Captains, each of which will be spotlighted on design variant covers for CAPTAIN AMERICA #6-9. 

“One of the things I like most about my job is designing new characters,” Schiti said. “It has always been a great hobby of mine, even before becoming a professional! I tried to incorporate some traditional symbols from the countries of origin of the new Captains into their uniforms, which are also practical and suitable for combat.”

Pick up CAPTAIN AMERICA #6 on December 17 and preorder the rest of the series at your local comic shop today!

Grab these comics and more at your local comic book shop! Or redeem then read your digital copy on the Marvel Unlimited app by using the code found in your print comic. Find and support your local comic book shop at ComicShopLocator.com.

To read your Marvel comics digitally, download the Marvel Unlimited app for iOS and Android devices. Gain an expansive catalog of 30,000+ comics spanning Marvel Comics history, plus access your entire digital library including comics redeemed from print.