Skeet Ulrich played one of the killers, Billy Loomis, in the 1996 classic Scream – and things didn’t go well for Billy at the end of that film. When the fifth film in the franchise, which was also simply titled Scream, came around in 2022, fans were surprised to learn that not only would one of the lead characters (Melissa Barrera as Samantha Carpenter) be the never-before-mentioned daughter of Billy Loomis, but she would also be seeing visions of her father throughout, allowing Ulrich, with the help of some digital de-aging, to reprise his role twenty-six years later. Samantha was again a major character in Scream VI, and Ulrich again got to make appearances as Billy. Melissa Barrera was on board to come back for Scream 7… until she was fired from the project after comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war didn’t go over well with executives at Spyglass Media. Speaking with Screen Rant, Ulrich confirmed that he had been expecting the Billy / Samantha story to continue in Scream 7, as he had been pitched a three-movie arc when he was approached about the 2022 Scream.
When asked if the “killer instinct” Samantha inherited from her father would have been featured in Scream 7, Ulrich said, “Exactly that. I was hoping for exactly that, and that’s sort of the idea that was pitched to me a couple years ago. That it was a three-movie arc, with that in mind. Now, I never saw any of the drafts of seven or anything that… And I don’t know, I mean, it’s possible that it didn’t include any of that as well. But yeah, that was my hope is that if it was going to mean anything, that it directly impacted the plot.“
We assume that any chance of Ulrich appearing in Scream 7 was swept off the table when Barrera / Samantha were removed from the project. Also absent from the next sequel will be Jenna Ortega, who played Samantha’s sister Tara, as Ortega allegedly wanted a substantial pay raise the executives weren’t willing to give her.
Spyglass Media and Paramount Pictures are still eager to get a Scream 7 out into the world, though. Returning writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick working on the script, and last we heard they were hoping to get Neve Campbell back in the lead as franchise heroine Sidney Prescott. (Campbell missed out on Scream VI due to a pay dispute of her own.) Patrick Dempsey, who played LAPD homicide detective – and Sidney’s love interest – Mark Kincaid in Scream 3, might also be part of the new plan for the seventh film.
Scream (2022) and Scream VI directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will not be at the helm of the new film. Freaky and Happy Death Day director Christopher Landon had been hired to direct it, but he left when the original version of the film crumbled out from under him. Alone and Sick director John Hyams may be in the running to direct Scream 7 now, along with an unspecified female director.
Are you interested in Scream 7? Are you disappointed that the three-movie arc that had been pitched to Skeet Ulrich didn’t work out? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Even as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in a transition “phase”, there is a still a high demand from actors of all statures to want to join the highest-grossing movie franchise ever. And that includes David Krumholtz – yes, Bernard from The Santa Clause – who went all-in for a shot at playing The Thing in The Fantastic Four…an attempt that he is now “embarrassed” by.
While David Krumholtz has kept a steady career in movies and TV since the early ‘90s, playing The Thing in the MCU would have been a crowning achievement. He even met with director Matt Shakman, but this did not play out as he hoped. )Perhaps we can call this 1 Thing I Hate About You…) Getting into the room stemmed from Krumholtz posting on social media to land the gig. The tweet has since been deleted, with the actor saying, “I was embarrassed. My post said, ‘I just want to be in the conversation.’ And it was a picture of the Thing, and Matt saw it somehow. And I had a meeting with him and we discussed it. And I’ve never been so bold in a meeting before, just begging for the role, just straight up selling the s— out of it, the idea of how committed and passionate I was for it. But obviously that didn’t happen.”
David Krumholtz – like so many – grew up reading Marvel comic books, showing his loyalty to them over DC. Now that the MCU is so expansive, it’s like a dream come true for him even as a fan. “When Marvel started making films, it was mind-blowing. I remember thinking when I was a kid reading these comics that these would be amazing films, but they couldn’t do them. There wasn’t the technology to do them properly. And suddenly there was, and suddenly they were getting it all right. And they were true to the costumes and true to every little detail.” The role of The Thing has gone to The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
Still, David Krumholtz holds no ill will towards either Shakman or Moss-Bachrach, championing the casting decision. As for his future attempts to join the studio, he has recently shown interest in playing Mole Man although he admits, “I’ll probably end up playing like a superhero’s therapist. Let’s face it. There’s slim pickings for guys like me in that world, unfortunately.” Humble – and that’s exactly why he remains an onscreen favorite.
David Krumholtz may not be the superhero type, but his passion for the Marvel Cinematic Universe is quite clear. OK, Marvel fans, let’s assemble and get Krumholtz a decent gig in the MCU!
When you hear about accessibility, what do you think of? When you play a Souls-like game, what do you think of? If both of those answers are about difficulty, you’re partially correct. But not in the way you think.
When you hear about accessibility, what do you think of? When you play a Souls-like game, what do you think of? If both of those answers are about difficulty, you’re partially correct. But not in the way you think.
It’s not uncommon for films to have reshoots when the initial production wraps. Certain scenes would need more energy, more clarity, a better location, etc. However, it was recently reported that the John Wick spin-off, Ballerina, is being pushed back an entire year so that the film can undergo some big reshoots. After the massive success of John Wick: Chapter 4 brought the franchise into the billion-dollar club, Lionsgate is finding ways to continue the series with or without Keanu Reeves since Mr. Wick may or may not finally be at rest.
Ian McShane, who plays Winston in the films, recently appeared on BBC’s The One Show and spoke candidly about the studio bringing in Wick series director Chad Stahelski after they weren’t satisfied with the original cut. McShane says that the movie isn’t undergoing reshoots but having new shoots. He explains, “They’re new-shooting for Ballerina.” Then, he continues, “You know, it’s like, they’ve gotta protect the franchise. We did it about a year ago. And they’ve looked at it and Chad’s come in. And they wanna make it better cause they have to protect [the franchise].”
One of the hosts would then reference the TV prequel series, The Continental, which follows Winston’s early years at the famed assassin hotel. McShane was quick to silence him, then revealed how nobody on Wick was consulted about the show, “They never asked anybody about it. They just went and did it. Just went and did it. Somebody asked Keanu and me about it. We both went, ‘I don’t know. Nobody ever asked us about it.’”
Ballerina stars Ana de Armas as a young woman with killer skills who sets out to get revenge when hitmen kill her family. As the film takes place in the John Wick universe, it will feature appearances from several franchise characters, including Ian McShane as Winston, the owner of the Continental Hotel, the late Lance Reddick as Charon, the Continental’s concierge, and Anjelica Huston as the Director, the head of the Ruska Roma. The film will also include Catalina Sandino Moreno, Gabriel Bryne, and Norman Reedus in unknown roles.
Wendy Williams, the one-time host of her popular, Daytime Emmy-nominated namesake talk show, has been diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. While this is terrible news – especially to her legion of fans – one can only hope that it will bring even more attention to the disease, which gained much more attention once it was revealed that Bruce Willis has been going through similar circumstances.
A statement on Wendy Williams’ condition (via The Hollywood Reporter) reads: “As Wendy’s fans are aware, in the past she has been open with the public about her medical struggles with Graves’ Disease and Lymphedema as well as other significant challenges related to her health…Over the past few years, questions have been raised at times about Wendy’s ability to process information and many have speculated about Wendy’s condition, particularly when she began to lose words, act erratically at times and have difficulty understanding financial transactions.”
This weekend, a multi-part Lifetime documentary titled Where Is Wendy Williams? will air. However, representatives for Williams want fans to know that it may even be outdated in a way already, with her sister stating, “I spoke with her yesterday and I speak with her very regularly when she reaches out to me. She is, from what I understand, in a wellness, healing type of environment…We cannot reach out to her, but she can reach out to us. And she is in a healing place emotionally. She’s not the person that you see in this film.” The reason some family members claim they cannot have contact with Williams is due to her currently being under court-appointed legal guardianship, which itself has drawn the ire of those who have known her the longest.
The documentary began filming in 2022, the same year The Wendy Williams Show went off the air partly due to her ongoing health issues. On average, the show took in more than 1.5 million viewers on a daily basis. Over its 13-season run, the show had more than 1,500 episodes.
Another portion of the statement reads: “Wendy is still able to do many things for herself. Most importantly she maintains her trademark sense of humor and is receiving the care she requires to make sure she is protected and that her needs are addressed. She is appreciative of the many kind thoughts and good wishes being sent her way.” With that, we do wish Wendy Williams luck in her ongoing battle. Considering how wide her fanbase is, perhaps her diagnosis can further highlight the struggle of those who are currently going through all of this.
When news came out that Matthew Perry had passed away at his home in Los Angeles back in October, it came as a tremendous shock to his millions of fans. While no one, initially, knew why the actor had passed, in the weeks that followed the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner revealed that “contributing factors in Mr. Perry’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine”, which he was being legally prescribed. He had been using the drug to treat his ongoing opiate addiction. At only 54, Perry was deserving of a major second act in his career, with him having been sober for many years and having defeated his personal demons. Truly he will forever be part of the pop culture, and his career will never be forgotten.
Matthew Perry (1969-2023)
Seasons three through six of Friends had some of Chandler Bing’s funniest and most character-defining moments. There he is handcuffed, without pants, to a filing cabinet; remaining in “time out” in a box for nearly a full episode; hooking up with—and later marrying—Monica…We all remember them fondly. The one who doesn’t? Matthew Perry, who says these seasons were a blur due to his problems with substance abuse.
But to truly understand the actor, we go back to the beginning. And the beginning began when he was born on August 19th in Williamstown, MA, the son of two prominent people: actor John Bennett Perry and mother Suzanne, who later served as press secretary to Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau (father of Justin, who Perry says he beat up in school).
Early Roles:
Perry developed an interest in acting after he served it up on the tennis court as a youth, moving from Canada to L.A. to live with his father, starting with small bits on shows like 240-Robert (1979)—a series that starred his father and is considered lost—and HBO sketch series Not Necessarily the News (1983), along with more popular fare like Charles in Charge and Silver Spoons. After TV movie Morning Maggie, Perry got his first consistent acting job on the Fox sitcom Second Chance aka Boys Will Be Boys, retitled to focus more on Perry’s character, Chazz. It only lasted one season, but the year it ended, 1988, was a turning point for the actor.
Although most of us haven’t heard of the titles, Matthew Perry was getting steady work. There was TV movie Dance ‘Til Dawn alongside Christina Applegate, Alyssa Milano and Tracey Gold; a one-off on sitcom Just the Ten of Us; a two-episode stint on fantasy Highway to Heaven; and his feature debut, A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (River Phoenix was Jimmy). In 1989, he appeared in the Tony Danza-starring comedy She’s Out of Control, not to mention a three-episode arc on Growing Pains, playing Gold’s boyfriend who drinks and drives, resulting in his death—as part of the “very special episode” craze.
Around this time, he would call it quits on being credited as Matthew L. Perry, which seemed like sort of a good luck charm, since he landed his first lead in a sitcom, co-headlining CBS’ Sydney (1990, with Valerie Bertinelli and Craig Bierko, the fool who turned down Friends a few years later). But it was hardly a good luck charm, with Perry looking to becoming trapped in a series of TV movies and shows, playing Desi Arnaz Jr. in Call Me Anna (1990) and doing one-offs on Beverly Hills 90210 (1991), Dream On (1992), Sibs (1992) before sticking another series, 1993’s Home Free, for ABC, which lasted just 11 episodes (with two unaired). There would also be TV movies such as Deadly Relations (1993) and Parallel Lives (1994), as well as L.A.X. 2194, an unaired pilot that he was too busy doing to initially take a little show called Six of One…He, too, did Doug Liman’s DTV Getting In…And yes, Perry would be getting in the business in a major way that same year…
How did Matthew Perry become Chandler Bing?
After Bierko dropped out, Perry joined the cast of Six of One fortunately renamed to Friends, as the youngest member, playing Chandler Bing, the sarcastic one of the group. Either way, he was a fan favorite. Perry and the cast, which consisted of Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Leblanc and David Schwimmer, would end up earning up to $1 million per episode in the last two seasons (up from $22,500 in the first season). This money, tragically, would come in handy…
It was during this run that Perry went full-on with his drug addiction—he always wanted to be famous but neglected to take into account some of its trappings—first becoming addicted to Vicodin following a jet ski accident in 1997, something that later turned into a 55-pill/day habit, only enhanced by the mounting pressures of shooting Fools Rush In (1997), an innocent yet generic flick that proved a major departure from the TV environment. In 1998, Perry co-starred opposite Chris Farley in Almost Heroes (1998). Far from a Farley/Spade pairing, it remains a tarnish on Farley’s filmography. 1999 would bring another non-challenging rom-com, Three to Tango, while the next year saw the decent enough The Whole Nine Yards, which excels more due to Bruce Willis and his chemistry with Perry and everyone else in the cast. The same year, Perry suffered from pancreatitis, brought on by alcohol abuse, something his Friends co-stars tried and failed to get him off of. By 2001, Perry was heavily into alcohol, Vicodin, methadone, and amphetamines.
Matthew Perry’s Drug Problems:
This came to a head in 2002 while Perry was filming Serving Sara with Elizabeth Hurley. With less than two weeks left in production, his addictions truly started affecting his work, as his quart of vodka/day habit sent him to much-needed rehab…but only because he thought he would die. To date, Perry estimates he spent around $9 million to get sober, going to rehab more than 60 times.
The next few years would see a two-episode stint on Ally McBeal and Perry giving drama a legit go, with three episodes on The West Wing (2003)—earning two Emmy nods—and co-starring in his first play, David Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago (more commonly known for its big screen adaptation, About Last Night). But he couldn’t avoid comedy, next starring in the pointless sequel The Whole Ten Yards (2004), and directing an episode of Scrubs alongside his father.
After Friends
Following Friends’ end in 2004, many in the cast wondered what would come of their careers. Perry waited until 2006 to get in front of the camera, starring in TV movie The Ron Clark Story to Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. So began a fairly reliable pattern of passable but still forgettable TV and movie work that still seems to be active. There was the promising but failed, one-season Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, playing the head writer of an SNL-esque show; 2007’s Numb, which went DTV in the US despite a strong enough turn as a depressive with depersonalization disorder; indie attempt Birds of America (2008); the casually charming 17 Again (2009) with Zac Efron—which capped off the decade and surprisingly and unjustly still remains his most recent feature.
The 2010s started off with potential, with the creators giving him a voice in the video game Fallout: New Vegas based on his avid love for the series. 2011 brought another series, ABC’s Mr. Sunshine—which Perry co-created and wrote episodes of—but that was canceled after just nine episodes. Perry again returned to drama with a four-episode arc as an attorney on The Good Wife (2012-2013), which he’d reprise for a 2017 three-episode run on The Good Fight. Perry yet again was given a shot at headlining a sitcom, playing a sportscaster on Go On, which, yes, was canned after one season. The same year that ended, Perry gave back in a most noble way, opening a Malibu rehab center that unfortunately shut down in 2015—but that’s twice as long as most of his shows at least…That same year, Perry latched onto the Oscar Madison role in an Odd Couple reboot, which miraculously lasted three seasons. In 2016, Perry returned to the stage, writing The End of Longing, which played London and off-Broadway. In 2017, Perry seemed to want to let his fans in more on his personal life, playing famous boozer Ted Kennedy in TV movie The Kennedys: After Camelot.
And then his colon exploded. No, really. His aggressive OxyContin abuse in the latter part of the decade led to an exploded colon, leaving him with a colostomy bag. His abuse also put him in a coma with two weeks on life support, with doctors giving him a 2% chance of survival, detailed graphically and effectively in his 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing.
The Friends reunion:
Perry made his first appearance in awhile on HBO Max’s Friends reunion special, which was filmed during the pandemic. While it was meant to be a lighthearted look back at the show, fans were surprised at Perry’s appearance, with him notably haggard looking, and slurring his words. While some speculated that his substance abuse issues could have returned, the explanation was much more ordinary than that – he’d simply had emergency dental surgery shortly before filming.
Did Matthew Perry Hate Keanu Reeves?
When Perry put our his memoirs, many fans were offended about the way he slighted Keanu Reeves, thanks to the following passage: “It always seems to be the really talented guys who go down. Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?” Fans wondered what Perry, who’d never worked with Reeves before, had against the beloved actor. In response Perry opted to remove the offending passage from future versions of the book, stating, “I said a stupid thing. It was a mean thing to do…I pulled his name because I live on the same street…I’ve apologized publicly to him. Any future versions of the book will not have his name in it.” He added earlier, “I’m actually a big fan of Keanu…I just chose a random name, my mistake. I apologize. I should have used my own name instead.”
Tributes from his Friends co-stars:
Shortly after his death, the Friends cast, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa kudrow, Matt Leblanc and David Schwimmer, released a joint statement, that read as follows:
“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss. In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”
In the weeks that followed, his castmates would post their own, individual, heartfelt tributes to their late co-star.
While Matthew Perry has had his ups and downs, he managed to find sobriety in 2021 and tried to use his story to educated people on the dangers (and stigma) of addiction. Indeed, having passed away at 54, it hard not to think that Perry could have had a tremendous second act in his life and career ahead of him, making his passing all the more tragic. Yet, he leaves behind a wonderful legacy and will never be forgotten.
Austin Butler completely embodied Elvis Presley for Baz Luhrmann’s extravagant biopic, spending three years researching the life and music of the iconic musician. He even adapted Presley’s southern drawl the entire time and needed a vocal coach to help him lose the accent. Thankfully, Austin Butler didn’t go quite that far when it came to playing the sadistic Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two.
“I’ve definitely in the past, with ‘Elvis,’ explored living within that world for three years and that being the only thing that I think about day and night,” Butler told the Los Angeles Times in a joint interview with director Denis Villeneuve. “With Feyd, I knew that that would be unhealthy for my family and friends.” Villeneuve was quick to chime in, “And for me!“
Butler continued, “So I made a conscious decision to have a boundary. It allowed for more freedom between action and cut because I knew I was going to protect everybody else outside of the context of what we were doing. That’s not to say that it doesn’t bleed into your life. But I knew that I wasn’t going to do anything dangerous outside of that boundary, and in a way that allowed me to go deeper, I think.” Villeneuve added that “when the camera was on, it was like you were possessed,” but when the camera was off, “you were still maybe 25 or 30% Feyd. Just enough to still be present and focus but removed enough that you didn’t kill anybody on set.“
The first reactions to Dune: Part Two have been extremely positive, with our own Chris Bumbray giving the film a rave review, including plenty of praise for Austin Butler. “Feyd-Rautha may be the role that finally gets people to stop looking at him as Elvis, with him playing a sadistic baddie who’s about as far removed from The King of rock n’ roll as you can get,” Bumbray wrote. “His intensity and sadism push the boundaries of the PG-13 rating, and the final confrontation with Paul will likely rank highly among the best action scenes of the year.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.
Dune: Part Two will “explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.” The film will hit theaters on March 1st.
At long last, Prime Video has revealed the official release date for The Boys season 4, with the new season set to premiere on June 13th!
The first three mind-blowing episodes of The Boys season 4 will drop on June 13th, followed by a new episode each week, concluding with the epic season finale on July 18th. All eight episodes of the diabolical drama will stream exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. The streaming service also dropped a new poster to celebrate Homelander’s birthday, which you can check out below.
“In Season Four, the world is on the brink. Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the muscly thumb of Homelander, who is consolidating his power,” reads the official synopsis. “Butcher, with only months to live, has lost Becca’s son and his job as The Boys’ leader. The rest of the team are fed up with his lies. With the stakes higher than ever, they have to find a way to work together and save the world before it’s too late.“
The Boys stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, and Cameron Crovetti. New additions to the season 4 cast include Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke teased that fans have another intense season on the way. “I would just like to add that I was in post today, working on a Season 4 scene that miiiiiiight be the batshit craziest thing we’ve ever done?” Kripke tweeted. “Like I truly can’t believe we got away with it.” You’ll remember that this is a show in which a man shrinks to crawl into his lover’s penis, only to sneeze and expand to normal size, exploding his partner from the inside.
In addition to another season of The Boys, there’s another spinoff in development called The Boys: Mexico from Blue Beetle writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, with Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal set to executive produce. The pair are also considering appearing in the series, although they would not be main roles. Since the debut of The Boys in 2019, we’ve seen two spinoff series released: The animated anthology series The Boys Presents: Diabolical and Gen V, a college-set spinoff which wrapped up its first season last year and has been renewed for a second.
Here’s some exciting news: Deadline reports that Tom Cruise is set to star in a new movie from Alejandro Iñárritu for Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment. This would be Iñárritu’s first English language movie since The Revenant, which hit theaters nearly a decade ago.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it’s said that Iñárritu co-wrote the script last year with Sabina Berman as well as his Birdman co-writers Alexander Dinelaris and Nicolás Giacobone. It was reported yesterday that Tom Cruise was looking to return to more serious, dramatic fare with an award-winning director, and Alejandro Iñárritu certainly fits the bill. The movie will also be the first project that will fall under Cruise’s strategic partnership with Warner Bros.
According to Deadline’s report, Cruise arranged a meeting with Iñárritu as soon as he learned of the director’s new project. The actor quickly signed on as soon as the meeting concluded. In addition to starring in the movie, Cruise will also produce alongside Iñárritu.
