Movies

Halle Bailey Discusses The ‘Pressure’ Of Starring In Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’

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Following the release of the trailer for Disney’s 2023 live action version of The Little Mermaid, star Halle Bailey opened up at the recent D23 Expo about exactly how she felt playing treasured children’s character Ariel and becoming a mermaid.

“I’m so excited about this film,” Bailey told E! News. “You know being here today is so surreal.”

As the interview went on, Bailey described why she felt a bit nervous about tackling the role. “I definitely think that because I love this movie so much, and I’ve treasured it since I was a little girl, I did put a bit of pressure on myself,” she continued. “Just because I want to deliver all of the feels that I saw when I was a little girl… Knowing that gave it my all and gave 110 percent into everything of this film, I am really proud of myself.”

The trailer, which premiered at the Expo earlier this month, inspired lots of viral reactions as parents filmed their young children watching it for the first time. Bailey herself saw a few of these videos, as she replied to them on social media.

“people have been sending these reactions to me all weekend and i’m in truly in awe,” she posted on Twitter. “this means the world to me.”

Watch Bailey in the trailer for The Little Mermaid above.

Halle Bailey Discusses The ‘Pressure’ Of Starring In Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’

by

Following the release of the trailer for Disney’s 2023 live action version of The Little Mermaid, star Halle Bailey opened up at the recent D23 Expo about exactly how she felt playing treasured children’s character Ariel and becoming a mermaid.

“I’m so excited about this film,” Bailey told E! News. “You know being here today is so surreal.”

As the interview went on, Bailey described why she felt a bit nervous about tackling the role. “I definitely think that because I love this movie so much, and I’ve treasured it since I was a little girl, I did put a bit of pressure on myself,” she continued. “Just because I want to deliver all of the feels that I saw when I was a little girl… Knowing that gave it my all and gave 110 percent into everything of this film, I am really proud of myself.”

The trailer, which premiered at the Expo earlier this month, inspired lots of viral reactions as parents filmed their young children watching it for the first time. Bailey herself saw a few of these videos, as she replied to them on social media.

“people have been sending these reactions to me all weekend and i’m in truly in awe,” she posted on Twitter. “this means the world to me.”

Watch Bailey in the trailer for The Little Mermaid above.

Dionne Warwick Is Getting In On The Leonardo DiCaprio ’25 Year Rule’ Jokes, Too

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Leonardo DiCaprio
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Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the last great movie stars, but lately he’s been primarily known for something else: His relentless obsession with very young girlfriends. To take one from David Wooderson, he gets older, they stay the same age, although the star of Blood Diamond likes them a bit older than McConaughey’s character did. His cut-off appears to be 25. He’s now 47. And hot on the heels of yet another DiCaprio love life joke at this year’s Emmys, here’s one from a legend of both music and psychic infomercials.

Dionne Warwick — who’s had a late career resurgence as an excellent Twitterer — took to social media Tuesday to drop her contribution to DiCaprio discourse. “I just heard about Leonardo DiCaprio’s 25 year rule,” wrote the top shelf Burt Bacharach cover artist. “His loss. You don’t know what you’re missing.”

The reason people keep talking about DiCaprio’s dating history? Late last month, he had yet another romantic split with yet another 20-something. Camilla Monroe, whom the actor dated starting when she was 21, had just turned 25 when he called it quits. Amidst an avalanche of jokes — which in the past DiCaprio himself has seemed to find funny — Monroe added her own, albeit with a bit more of an edge to it. And now she has one of the top-selling female artists of all time on his back. But we’ll bet dollars to donuts that it won’t be long before he finds someone who was born after Titanic was released.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Disney Reveals The First Teaser For ‘The Little Mermaid,’ Starring Halle Bailey

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Disney has revealed the first look at the upcoming live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid. Today at Disney’s D23 expo, where fans got an exclusive preview of the company’s upcoming movies, series, and projects, The Little Mermaid director Rob Marshall revealed the teaser clip to a large audience, as reported by Variety.

In the clip, rushing waves splash across the screen, as the familiar harp intro to the movie’s iconic song, “Part Of Your World,” plays in the background. Fish swim throughout the ocean, amid various trenches, and toward the end, singer and actress Halle Bailey is seen as Ariel.

“Out of the sea, wish I could be, part of that world,” Bailey sings, donning Ariel’s red hair, purple seashell bikini, and green tail fin.

After Marshall shared the clip, Bailey arrived to the stage at the expo to roaring applause from the audience. Bailey revealed that the “Part Of Your World” number took three days to film, however, she channeled a younger, imaginative version of herself throughout the entire production process.

“Swimming in the pool, imagining I was a mermaid, I never thought I could see that come to life,” Bailey said.

The Little Mermaid arrives to theaters May 26, 2023.

Check out the first teaser above.

Evan Rachel Wood Is Crossing Her Fingers That Madonna Is Still ‘Cool’ With Her After Her ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’ Performance

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Evan Rachel Wood As Madonna In Weird Al Biopic
Roku

As the Weird Al Yankovic biopic makes it’s debut at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, Evan Rachel Wood is hoping that Madonna is “cool” with her performance as the legendary pop star. In a new interview for Weird‘s TIFF premiere, Wood revealed that she’s actually interacted with Madonna over the years, which helped prepare her for taking on the iconic role in the Daniel Radcliffe-fronted film.

“I love Madonna,” Wood told IndieWire. “I’ve met her before. We’ve been very friendly. So I think we’re cool. I’m hoping we’re cool.”

Working in Wood’s favor is the fact that the film is heavily fictionalized, and also, Madonna has a pretty busy schedule these days:

“The good news is nothing in this movie actually happened, so I’m a little safe there.”

Plus, Wood is doubtful that Madonna will address her portrayal of her short-lived romance with Weird Al, who co-wrote and produced the film. “I don’t think she’s going to respond at all,” Wood said. “She has other things on her mind and other things to do.”

On top of being one of the biggest pop sensations in the world, Madonna is currently working on a biopic of herself. The film, which Madonna will also direct, locked down Ozark‘s Julia Garner for the title role. However, it wasn’t an easy process. Garner faced tough competition (Florence Pugh and Odessa Young were among the top contenders.) and everyone who auditioned reportedly had to take part in a grueling “Madonna boot camp,” which Wood wisely dodged by going the comedy biopic route.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story starts streaming November 4 on The Roku Channel.

(Via IndieWire)

‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Is ‘Amazed’ That His Lawyers Let Him Make ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story’

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weird al
roku channel

In the trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, “Weird Al” Yankovic asks Madonna whether her song “Like a Virgin” is autobiographical. “Yes, she responds, “except for the fact that I’ve had a lot of sex.” They then make out and, presumably, get weird.

This did not happen in real life. This “Weird Al” and Madonna are played by Daniel Racliffe and Evan Rachel Wood, respectively, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a satirical biopic. But the real “Weird Al,” the one who never yelled “you’re all a bunch of normals, I’m the weird one” to his bandmates, is still surprised the film got made. “I’m amazed the lawyers let us get away with this movie, frankly. But they’re like, Oh, yeah, all public figures — go for it,” Yankovic told the New York Times, which added in a parenthetical, “A representative for Madonna did not respond to a request for comment.”

Here’s more:

Daniel Radcliffe is “Weird” Al Yankovic in the unexaggerated true story about the greatest musician of our time. From a conventional upbringing where playing the accordion was a sin, Al rebelled and made his dream of changing the words to world-renowned songs come true. An instant success and sex symbol, Al lives an excessive lifestyle and pursues an infamous romance that nearly destroys him. With Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, and an A-list cast of thousands their agents won’t let us reveal.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story comes to the Roku Channel on Friday, November 4.

(Via the New York Times)

Regina Hall Explains Why She Didn’t Know Crime Mob’s Biggest Hit Until She Had To Learn It For A Role

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In some circles, Atlanta rap group Crime Mob‘s 2004 hit “Knuck If You Buck” goes beyond just being a cultural touchstone. As Charlamagne Tha God recently put it during an interview with Regina Hall about her new movie Honk For Jesus, it’s damn near a “Negro spiritual.” The song came up in the course of the conversation because Hall’s character quotes it in the movie, leading to Hall admitting that she hadn’t heard it before she had to learn the lyrics for one of the film’s awkward-funny gags. This naturally led to some consternation among the Breakfast Club crew, prompting Hall to defend herself.

“I’m highly disappointed that you and Sterling K. Brown had to learn the words to the Negro spiritual, ‘Knuck If You Buck,’” Charlamagne joked. “You’re Black, Regina Hall!” Hall chuckled as she agreed, “It’s embarrassing! That’s what I found out!” She goes on to explain that she was in LA, not her hometown, DC, when the song came out (“It was in LA too!” CTG protests), and that it was a club hit, which is why she didn’t hear it. As she self-deprecatingly jests, “The club days ended so early for me.” When Charlamagne notes that the song is “18 years old,” Hall replies, “It was over by then!” She also explains how it took her a few days to learn Princess’ rhymes (the best part, as acknowledged by the interview crew), and laughed that Issa Rae would be disappointed in her, too.

At least, for Regina’s sake, she proved she remembers the lyrics to Juvenile’s “Back That Azz Up” and Lil Jon’s “Get Low,” or she would have been in danger of getting her Black Card revoked. You can check out the full interview up top.

Sadly, A New Angle Of The Chris Pine/Harry Styles ‘Spitting’ Footage May Disappoint The Spit Truthers

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Harry Styles Spit Chris Pine
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As we approach nearly 24 hours of Spitgate, new evidence has emerged that seemingly refutes the viral theory that Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine during the Venice Film Festival premiere of Don’t Worry Darling. As for why anyone would ever think that Styles would spit on Pine, the film has been a smorgasbord of drama that ramped up in recent weeks before becoming an all-out hot mess in Venice thanks to a reported feud between director Olivia Wilde and Florence Pugh. Pine noticeably zoning out during a press conference also added to the chaos, but it might end up being the key detail that absolves Style of being a rogue spitter.

According to a new report, there’s apparently an explanation for the viral footage that kinda looks like Style hocked a loogie on Pine’s leg before taking his seat. Via Consequence:

“People are mental/love drama,” Irish drag queen/online personality Panti Bliss wrote in a quote tweet of the clip. “Nobody spits on anyone. Chris Pine is holding a pen (?) which he puts down on his seat to clap, then realises that the glasses he’s just been looking for have been there on the seat the whole time too. ‘Silly me!’ (then puts them on in longer clip)”

Naturally, Harry Styles fans have been going wild trying to defend the object of their undying affection, and a slow-motion clip does seem to show that Styles mouth is closed when the alleged spit would’ve happened:

Another Twitter user backed up the sunglasses theory and highlighted that the whole thing can be chalked up to Pine being completely out of it the whole day:

As you can see in this photo from the Don’t Worry Darling premiere, Pine is seen putting on his sunglasses after Styles sits down.

Chris Pine Spit Harry Styles Sunglasses
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Sorry, spit truthers, but it’s starting to look like Pine was really that stunned to discover his missing eyewear was sitting on his leg the whole time. Of course, all of this can be easily settled if the mystery woman filming the whole thing behind Pine and Styles releases her footage. Anytime, lady.

(Via Consequence)

Blac Chyna, Cardi B, And Bella Thorne Are All Reportedly Making Over $100 Million Per Year Via OnlyFans (?!?!?!?!)

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Blac Chyna
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OnlyFans is reporting record profits for 2021 and revealing that its creators pulled in almost $4 billion, which is a heck of a lot of money. The platform, which has been making headlines recently thanks to Denise Richards and her daughter, posted its financial results, and it seemingly backs reports that its top creators are making huge bank. Particularly, Blac Chyna, who reportedly locked down the number one spot for the year while facing some pretty stiff competition.

Via Variety:

In 2021, model and TV personality Blac Chyna was the top-earning creator on OnlyFans, pulling in an estimated $20 million per month, according to research service Statista. Bella Thorne took the No. 2 spot with an estimated $11 million per month followed by rapper Cardi B with $9.34 million per month, per Statista.

If we’re doing the math right and these numbers are actually correct, Blac Chyna not only pulls in twice what superstar artist Cardi B makes, but the former Kardashian family member makes $240 million a year just from OnlyFans? Whoa, if true.

According to the financial statement, OnlyFans saw a 160% revenue growth during 2021, which could’ve easily gone out the window after the platform made a highly controversial decision to ban adult content on the site. It was a move that came out of nowhere considering, well, that was the entire point of OnlyFans. However, after backlash from users and the adult entertainment community forced OnlyFans to reverse its decision within a week, and clearly, it’s been humming along ever since.

Particularly for Blac Chyna, who we seriously can’t believe is doing way more numbers than Cardi B. The internet is wild, folks.

(Via Variety)

The Forthcoming Milli Vanilli Biopic ‘Girl You Know It’s True’ Reveals Its Cast

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Milli Vanilli
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A Milli Vanilli biopic is on its way. Centering on the scandal involving dancers Pilatus and Morvan who pretended to be behind the 1980s hit “Girl You Know It’s True,” the movie is long-awaited and sure to touch on the intricacies of the music industry. Today, more about the movie was revealed, including the casting.

According to Deadline, Tijan Njie and Elan Ben Ali will play Fabrice Morvan and the late Rob Pilatus. Matthias Schweighöfer from Army of Thieves will play the German music producer Frank Farian. Graham Rogers, known for his role in Love and Mercy, will star as Milli Vanilli’s assistant Todd Headlee. Troy: Fall of a City‘s Bella Dayne will be Milli, Farian’s right-hand woman, who is the inspiration for the group’s name.

The film will be produced by Kevin Liles, the CEO of music company 300 Entertainment who also co-wrote the original version of “Girl You Know It’s True” with Baltimore DJ crew Numarx, and co-produced by Verhoeven, Farian, and Stefan Gärtner. Associate producers include Jasmin Davis, who is the daughter of the late John Davis, as well as Brad Howell who were the true voices of Milli Vanilli. It is produced by Leonine Studios and Wiedemann & Berg Film, and it’s in co-production with Sentana Film, SevenPictures, and Mediawan.