Entertainment News Archives

The next installment of the Law & Order franchise will focus on hate crimes. NBC announced a 13-episode order for “Law & Order: Hate Crimes,” from executive producer Dick Wolf. The latest incarnation of the crime series will be introduced in the upcoming season of “Law & Order: SVU,” according to NBC’s co-president of scripted programming, Lisa Katz.  Katz called the series “extremely timely.” She added: “considering that last year there was a double-digit rise in hate crimes in our 10 largest cities — the highest total in over a decade — it seemed like this topic is begging to be explored.” “Law & Order: Hate Crimes” will be set in New York City, which is home to the second oldest bias-based task force in the US, NBC said. Co-creator Warren Leight added that the series will spotlight the men and women “on the front lines in a battle for the soul of our city and nation.” Series stars have not yet been announced.

Henry Cavill will play the lead role in the upcoming Netflix series The Witcher. “Witchers” are monster hunters who develop supernatural abilities at a young age to fight deadly beasts. The series adaptation is based on the best-selling fantasy short stories and novels by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Cavill has been cast as the monster hunter Geralt of Rivia. The books by Sapkowski have also been adapted into video games, which have sold millions of copies worldwide.  This will be the first TV role for Cavill, since The Tudors ended in 2010. The start date for the eight-part series has yet to be confirmed.

Actor Geoffrey Owens, who was a former regular on The Cosby Show, says he’s thankful for the support he has received since photos of him working a regular job at a supermarket were widely circulated. Speaking on Good Morning America and wearing his “Geoffrey” supermarket name tag, Owens said that he was “devastated” when the photos were made public, because he felt people were trying to job shame him. Owens said that he had been working at the New Jersey Trader Joe’s supermarket for 15 months “out of necessity” in between acting gigs and teaching, but that he has now quit because of the unwanted attention he has received. “It hurt, but it’s amazing,” Owens said. “There is no job that’s better than another. It may pay better, it may have better benefits, it may look better on paper. But it’s not better. Every job is worthwhile.” Owens said he had received “hints” of acting work since the story broke but that he would feel uncomfortable taking any jobs because of “this event”.

“Crazy Rich Asians” isn’t showing signs of slowing down at the box office in its third weekend in theaters. The romantic comedy has topped the domestic charts again, with Warner Bros. estimating that the film added an additional $22.2 million this weekend, down only 10 percent from last weekend. To date, the film has grossed nearly $111 million from North American theaters. “Crazy Rich Asians” may have one of the biggest Labor Day weekends ever by the time final numbers are reported on Tuesday. The current four-day Labor Day record sits with 2007’s “Halloween” which opened with $30.6 million, and some are projecting that “Crazy Rich Asians” could hit $30 million. The movie easily won out over their competition at the box office, including the the Nazi war crime film “Operation Finale” and the sci-fi thriller “Kin.” Warner Bros.’ shark pic “The Meg” which took second place with an additional $10.5 million, bringing its global total to $462.8 million. “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” in its fifth weekend, added $7 million for a third place finish. “Operation Finale” landed in fourth place with $6 million.

CNN is pulling footage of actress Asia Argento from her late boyfriend’s travel show, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, following allegations she sexually assaulted a former 17-year-old co-star. The outspoken #MeToo activist was dating Bourdain at the time of his suicide earlier this year, and had appeared in two episodes of the show in Rome and Southern Italy; she also directed another episode in Hong Kong. All three shows have been removed from CNN’s streaming service, CNN Go. “In light of the recent news reports about Asia Argento, CNN will discontinue airing past episodes of Parts Unknown that included her, until further notice,” a CNN spokesperson said on Saturday, September 1st. Argento has been accused of paying former child star Jimmy Bennett hundreds of thousands in hush money after he accused her of sexually assaulting him in a hotel room five years ago, when he was 17. CNN aired the remaining Parts Unknown episodes Bourdain had filmed following his death. The former chef was working on a show in Strasbourg, France when he passed away in June.