Month: January 2021

The movie adaptation of Tony-winning Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen will hit theaters on September 24, Universal Pictures said Friday. Ben Platt is reprising his Tony-winning title role alongside Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amandla Stenberg, Colton Ryan, Nik Dodani, DeMarius Copes and Danny Pino. The story follows Evan Hansen (Platt), a high schooler with social anxiety who unintentionally gets caught up in a lie after the family of a classmate who died by suicide mistakes one of Hansen’s letters for their son’s suicide note. Stephen Chbosky directed the pic from a script by Steven Levenson, who wrote the book for the stage musical, with music and lyrics by La La Land Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Marc Platt and Adam Siegel will produce for their Un...

Planning a trip to Walt Disney World? Be prepared to mask up — even if you’ve been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, according to the company’s newly released safety guidelines.  "Face coverings are required for all Guests (ages 2 and up) and Cast Members, including those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine," the safety guidelines read. "Please bring your own face coverings and wear them at all times, except when dining or swimming." The guidelines are based on those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  "Not enough information is currently available to say if or when CDC will stop recommending that people wear masks and avoid close contact with others to help prevent the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19," even after they receive both doses of th...

Kelly Dodd’s proclamation that she’s a black woman during the Season 15 “Real Housewives of Orange County” reunion didn’t sit well with most viewers, including her own stepdaughter. Veronica Leventhal, daughter of Dodd’s husband, Rick Leventhal, took to Instagram shortly after the reality star argued that she cannot be racist toward black people because she’s black herself, making several key points that challenge Dodd’s reasoning. She is sure, however, never to mention her stepmother’s name. “I don’t think it’s OK for people who say that they’ve experienced racism and prejudice to then turn around and inflict that same bigotry on other people,” Veronica began in a clip reposted on Twitter. “I don’t think you can experience the privileges of whiteness and ...

CODA was the right film to start this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival. Writer-director Siân Heder’s coming-of-age drama about a girl who is the only hearing person in her deaf family premiered last night in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. The pic was well received among buyers, and we hear there have been multiple offers already. We hear the bidding is heading close to Palm Springs territory. That was the Andy Samberg-Cristin Milioti movie that broke the Sundance sales record last year with its $22.5 million deal to Neon and Hulu. Whether it gets there or not, everyone wants this one, and CODA is surely to be the first giant deal of this Sundance. The film (the title’s acronym is for Child of Deaf Adults) centers on Ruby (Emilia Jones), the only hearing person in her ...

George Clooney and wife Amal gave their children traditional names to spare them more attention as famous offsprings, he explained in a new interview with AARP. In the virtual conversation, George, 59, who directed and starred in the Netflix sci-fi film The Midnight Sky, spoke warmly of family life, including his habit of writing letters to Amal, 42, and why they named their three-year-old twin children Alexander and Ella. George Clooney, depicted with his wife Amal Clooney, says he steered clear of Hollywood-sounding names for their children. (Photo: Mondadori via Getty Images/Archivio Mondadori via Getty Images/Mondadori via Getty Images)“I didn’t want, like, weird-ass names for our kids,” he told the outlet. “They're already going to have enough trouble. It’s hard being the son of s...