Month: March 2022

“Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak has leaped to the defense of his show’s contestants after three “dumb” players were mercilessly mocked for taking eight turns and 10 attempts to solve an easy puzzle on Tuesday night’s episode. Sajak, 75, took to Twitter on Wednesday to share a lengthy thread in which he called on viewers to “have a little heart.” “It always pains me when nice people come on our show to play a game and win some money and maybe fulfill a lifelong dream, and are then subject to online ridicule when they make a mistake or something goes awry,” Sajak stated. “Last night’s ‘Feather in your cap’ puzzle was a case in point. Sitting at home, it seems incredible that they couldn’t solve it, but I knew in real time what was happening,” the veteran host...

Alan Ladd Jr., the revered Hollywood producer and studio executive who saved Star Wars when Fox wanted to shut down production and gained vindication when he received an Oscar for Braveheart after being dumped by MGM, has died. He was 84. Ladd, who headed production at Fox, Pathe Entertainment and MGM (in two stints) and ran his own outfit, The Ladd Co., with great success, died Wednesday, his daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones said. “With the heaviest of hearts, we announce that on March 2, 2022, Alan Ladd, Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family,” she wrote on social media. “Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed. His impact on films and filmmaking will live on in his absence.” As a studio executive and producer, Ladd — the son of screen...

Oscar-winning producer and influential motion picture executive Alan Ladd Jr., who ushered in the “Star Wars” era of motion pictures, died Wednesday. He was 84. “With the heaviest of hearts, we announce that on March 2, 2022, Alan Ladd, Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family. Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed. His impact on films and filmmaking will live on in his absence,” his daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones, who directed the documentary “Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies,” wrote on the film’s Facebook page. During his tenure at 20th Century Fox in the late 1970s, Ladd greenlit “Star Wars,” a $10 million sci-fi film that would become the yardstick for blockbuster movies and tentpole film franchises thereafter. He was the son of golden age film star Al...

Evan Rachel Wood (HBO’s Westworld, Phoenix Rising) will star alongside Daniel Radcliffe in Roku’s Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, stepping into the role of Madonna. Roku made the announcement via Instagram, sharing a first-look photo captioned: “First look 🌟 Evan Rachel Wood is joining Daniel Radcliffe in #WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story as the one and only Madonna!” Known for pastiching and parodying the works of his musical contemporaries, Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time. The buzzy upcoming biopic promises to hold nothing back and explore every facet of his life, from his childhood through his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like “Eat It” and “Like a Surgeon,” while touching on his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifest...

Rolling Loud has expanded quickly in less than a decade, going from a single day festival in Miami to a three-day experience as one of the biggest hip-hop festivals in the world, with events expanding to California, New York and Portugal. Today (March 2), they drop their highly anticipated Miami lineup. The festival is scheduled to take place from July 22-24 at the festival’s longtime Hard Rock Stadium home. In addition to some of the brightest names coming out of hip-hop, Kanye West (billed as Ye), Future and Kendrick Lamar are set to headline. This announcement follows West’s recent partnership with the festival to present the live listening part of his most recent album Donda 2, executive produced by Future. Kendrick Lamar has also recently announced that his next album wi...