News Analysis India

Category: Entertainment

  • Priyanka Chopra Jonas announces sequel of ‘We Can Be Heroes’

    By PTI
    LOS ANGELES: Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas on Tuesday announced the sequel of her recently released superhero film “We Can Be Heroes”.

    Written and directed by Robert Rodriguez, the film is a spin-off of his “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D” and the “Spy Kids” franchise.

    It released on Netflix on Christmas Day 2020 in the US.

    The streamer said 44 million households viewed “We Can be Heroes” in the movie’s first 28 days on the service.

    ALSO READ | ‘Bajirao Mastani’, ‘Barfi’, ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ my three most ‘complex’ roles: Priyanka Chopra Jonas

    Chopra Jonas said a follow-up to the movie is in development at Netflix, with Rodriguez set to return.

    “Heroics Headquarters projection: 44 MILLION FAMILIES will have suited up for ‘WE CAN BE HEROES’ in its first 4 weeks!! And.

    BREAKING NEWS: The Heroics are coming back for round two. Sequel is in development with @rodriguez and @Netflix! #WeCanBeHeroes,” she wrote.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix counts viewership based on just two minutes of viewing time by a subscriber.

    The 2020 Christmas week — running from December 25 to December 31 — was the service’s biggest on record for the same week, year-over-year, as measured by both total view hours and average view hours per subscriber across each period.

    Billed as an action-adventure, “We Can Be Heroes” features Chopra Jonas as a nemesis to a group of children who team up to save the planet and their superhero parents who are kidnapped by the aliens.

    Rodriguez, also known for directing films like Mexico trilogy — “El Mariachi”, “Desparado” and “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” — and “Alita: Battle Angel”, has produced the film as well.

    Apart from Chopra Jonas, the film also features Pedro Pascal, Christian Slater, Boyd Holbrook, Sung Kang and veteran actor Christopher McDonald.

    Child stars Akira Akbar, Nathan Blair, Andrew Diaz, Andy Walken and Hala Finley are also part of the cast.

    Chopra Jonas is currently filming for “Text For You” here.

  • Beyonce shares unseen footage of her three kids

    By ANI
    WASHINGTON: While celebrating New Year, American singer-actor Beyonce reflected on some of the most memorable and uplifting moments of 2020, which included time spent with her children — eight and a half-year-old daughter Blue Ivy and three-year-old twins Sir and Rumi.

    According to People Magazine, in a sweet clip posted on Instagram, the 39-year-old star can be seen driving around with her twins in a golf cart as Rumi dances to her mama’s ‘Savage Remix’ collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion.

    The ‘Formation’ singer who’s holding Sir in her lap, goes on to ask her daughter, as Rumi nods her head, “Did you have a good summer?”

    Another sweet moment shows her eldest daughter Blue Ivy recording her part of ‘Brown Skin Girl’ – which garnered her first Grammy nomination.

    The mom of three captioned the video, “Cheers to a New Year Beyhive!! 2020 divided us and united us. Most could not see loved ones and we felt too many losses, but we were united by our humanity. This year for me has been about celebrating joy, chasing happiness, and living in love.”

    “As we all look forward and pray for new beginnings, my wish for you is that you honour yourself and those you love. Celebrate that you are an important individual who contributes to our beautiful collective. Here’s to a better and brighter 2021! Love, B” she added.

    As per People Magazine, in the video, which also documented her charitable contributions and the launch of ‘Black Is King’, Beyonce emphasised that no matter what challenges the year may bring, it’s important to celebrate the good ties.

    “Give yourself permission to experience joy. Moments with the ones you love are precious. Happy New Year,” she wrote.

    As per People Magazine, in her December 2020 British Vogue cover story, Beyonce also reflected on the impact 2020 had on her.

    “It would be difficult to experience life in a pandemic and the current social unrest and not be changed,” she said.

    “I have learnt that my voice is clearer when I am still. I truly cherish this time with my family, and my new goal is to slow down and shed stressful things from my life.”

    And when it comes to her children, Beyonce shared that she makes sure to let them know “that they are never too young to contribute to changing the world.”

    “I never underestimate their thoughts and feelings, and I check in with them to understand how this is affecting them,” she added.

  • Blake Shelton faces backlash over new song ‘Minimum Wage’

    By ANI
    WASHINGTON: American singer-songwriter Blake Shelton faced backlash for debuting a song titled ‘Minimum Wage’ while people in America continue to struggle amid the coronavirus pandemic.

    According to Page Six, the 44-year-old singer debuted the new single on NBC’s New Year’s Eve television special alongside Carson Daly to help ring in 2021. The country singer told the host that his fiancee, Gwen Stefani, helped get her brother, Todd, to direct the video.

    The artist’s new song has to do with his love for the 51-year-old ‘Hollaback Girl’ singer and contains a lyric in the chorus that upset many people who saw the broadcast.

    “Girl, your love can make a man feel rich on minimum wage.”

    As reported by Page Six, given the fact that the coronavirus pandemic has caused many businesses to shut down and put countless Americans out of work, people were quick to take to Twitter to criticise the singer for releasing a song they believed was “tone deaf” given the current climate.

    “The irony of listening to a millionaire Blake Shelton singing about ‘love on minimum wage’ at the end of 2020 might be lost on its target audience,” one user wrote.

    “I love his music but the timing for Minimum Wage isn’t great. With so many people out of work and struggling the song feels a little tone deaf. I’d like to hear songs that are more personal. Wish he wrote more of his own stuff because he’s an incredible song writer,” another wrote in a tweet that was unavailable as of Sunday (local time).

    Someone else agreed, writing: “Does anyone else find Blake Shelton’s “Minimum Wage” song to be incredibly tone deaf to our country’s current state?”

    “What!? @blakeshelton is #MinimumWage even for real? Yes of course @gwenstefani can make a dude on minimum wage feel rich cuz she’s a millionaire. Are you working at the Home Depot now or something? Wanna pay my rent?” someone else concluded.

    As per Page Six, the song has not yet been fully released and Shelton has yet to publicly comment on the backlash on social media.

  • ‘Vikings’ actor Alexander Ludwig, fiancee Lauren Dear get married

    By PTI
    LOSA ANGELES: Actor Alexander Ludwig has tied the knot with fiancee Lauren Dear.

    According to Entertainment Tonight, the couple got married in an intimate ceremony at The Lodge at Blue Sky in Utah in presence of an officiant, a photographer and their dog Yam as their witness.

    The “Vikings” actor shared the wedding news on Instagram.

    “My wife, my best friend, the future mother of my children, my everything.@laurendear,” Ludwig captioned a photo from the ceremony.

    “We decided to elope. It has been such a crazy year but it certainly put things into perspective. Life is too short And i didnt want to spend another day without calling this beautiful woman my wife,” he added.

    Dear also posted the same picture on her Instagram account.

    The couple went public with their relationship in July last year, and announced their engagement in November.

  • ‘Star Wars’ spinoff ‘The Mandalorian’ most pirated show of 2020

    By PTI
    LOS ANGELES: ‘Star Wars’ spinoff ‘The Mandalorian’ was the most pirated television program of 2020 using BitTorrent, according to an analysis from TorrentFreak.

    Based on several sources, including statistics reported by public BitTorrent trackers, the Disney+ show was the most popular in the global ranking of most-torrented shows around the world for 2020, reported IndieWire.

    For years, HBO’s fantasy drama “Game of Thrones”, which concluded its eight-season run in May 2019, was the most pirated show but “The Mandalorian” seems to have dethroned the show for the first time.

    In 2019, during its first season run, ‘The Mandalorian’ was the third-most torrented show according to the same survey.

    Prime Video’s superhero series “The Boys” was at the second spot while HBO’s “Westworld” is at number three, “Vikings” at number four and and CBS’ ‘Star Trek: Picard’ is five, followed by Adult Swim’s ‘Rick and Morty,’ AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead,’ HBO’s ‘The Outsider,’ CW’s ‘The Arrow,’ and CW’s ‘The Flash’.

    The TorrentFreak survey only accounts for BitTorrent traffic, which makes up just a fraction of piracy online.

    ‘The Mandalorian’ finished its second season on December 18.

  • Tanya Roberts, best known for ‘A View to Kill’ and ‘That ’70’s Show’, dies at 65

    By PTI
    LOS ANGELES: Actor Tanya Roberts, best known for playing a Bond girl in “A View to a Kill” and Midge Pinciotti on “That ’70s Show”, has died.

    She was 65.

    A representative for Roberts told TMZ, the actor took her dogs for a walk on Christmas Eve and collapsed upon returning home.

    She was put on a ventilator after being hospitalised, but never recovered.

    Roberts was not ill in the days leading up to her death, the publication further stated.

    Born as Victoria Leigh Blum, Roberts had a career modelling and appearing in television advertisements before turning to acting in 1975 with the horror movie “Forced Entry”.

    In 1980, she was chosen to replace actor Shelley Hack in the fifth season of the detective show “Charlie’s Angels”.

    Roberts played Julie Rogers, a streetwise fighter who used her fists more than her gun on the ABC series.

    After a number of bit-part roles in films like the comedy “Racquet” (1977) and the fantasy epic “The Beastmaster” (1982), she landed her most memorable role in the 1985 James Bond film “A View to a Kill”.

    The film, which was Roger Moore’s last outing as Agent 007 James Bond, saw Roberts play Stacey Sutton, an American geologist who becomes a target of villain Max Zorin (Christopher Walken).

    From 1998 to 2004, Roberts played Midge Pinciotti, the lovable but dim-witted mother of the red-haired tomboy Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon) on the television sitcom “That ’70s Show”.

  • Madonna visits Mercy James Pediatric Hospital to spend time with children 

    By ANI
    WASHINGTON: American singer and songwriter Madonna who is enjoying her homecoming trip to Malawi in Africa visited the Mercy James Institute for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care on Sunday and spent time with the children there.

    The ‘Queen of Pop’ took to her Instagram on Sunday and shared a video of her visit to the Mercy James Pediatric Hospital. In the caption for the video, she wrote “Visiting Mercy James Pediatric Hosptial………..3 Years in and going strong. ! Thanks to Dr. Borgstein and the incredible team of health care workers that make it possible to save childrens lives everyday! Thank you folks around the world that continue to support @raisingmalawi [?] #comealive #mercyjamescenter.”

    In the video, Madonna can be seen playfully interacting with the children at the hospital while talking to the health officials working there. The post from the ‘Hurry Up’ singer received more than a lakh likes within a span of two hours.

    The Mercy James Institute for Pediatric Surgery and Intensive Care is an NGO, founded by Madonna, in collaboration with the Malawian health ministry in the year 2017. 

  • Zoe Kravitz files for divorce from Karl Glusman after less than two years of marriage

    By PTI
    LOS ANGLES: Actors Zoe Kravitz and Karl Glusman are parting ways after 18 months of marriage.

    According to court records obtained by People magazine, the “Big Little Lies” star filed for divorce from Glusman on December 23, 2020.

    A representative for Zoe Kravitz confirmed the split exclusively to the publication.

    The actors, both 32, celebrated their first wedding anniversary on June 30, 2020.

    Zoe Kravitz and Glusman, who were first linked in October 2016, tied the knot in 2019 at the Paris home of her father, musician Lenny Kravitz.

    In an October 2018 interview to Rolling Stone magazine, Zoe Kravitz accidentally revealed she was engaged to Glusman after he proposed to her in her living room earlier that year.