Jim Henson Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Chris Martin dropped by “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” for a performance of Coldplay hit “Biutyful”.

Lily Gladstone took a break from jury duty at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday to present Ron Howard with Variety’s Profile in Excellence Award. Howard was the guest of honor at the annual Welcome to Cannes Party, hosted in partnership with the Gotham Film & Media Institute at Lucia Beach, where an array of industry veterans — including The Gotham’s Jeffrey Sharp, Focus Features’ Jason Cassidy, Disney’s Keleigh Thomas Morgan, the Sundance Institute’s Eugene Hernandez and more — donned their best beach chic attire (with sunglasses) to mix, mingle and sip rosé.

Susan Backlinie, who played the first shark attack victim in Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” has died. She was 77. Backlinie died Saturday morning at her California home due to a heart attack, Convention All Stars owner Sean Clark confirmed to Variety. The former actor and stuntwoman was one of the company’s clients.

Saturday Night Live has announced it will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year with a three-hour primetime special on NBC.The tribute will air live on February 16, 2025 – which is a Sunday – and will be part of a “celebratory weekend” for the show.No further details about the show have been shared, although earlier this year, creator Lorne Michaels did indicate plans for such a special.“We’re doing the 50th anniversary show in February of ’25, so I will definitely be there for that, and definitely be there until that, and sometime before that we’ll figure out what we’re gonna do,” he said.NBC ran a similar tribute for the show’s 40th birthday in 2015, featuring appearances from countless alumni from SNL history, including Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Will Ferrell, Norm MacDonald and Tina Fey.A feature film about the show’s premiere episode on October 11, 1975 is also in the works. Titled SNL 1975, it is set to be directed by Jason Reitman (Juno, Up In The Air, Ghostbusters: Afterlife).The film will be based on real-life accounts based on an extensive series of interviews conducted by Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan with “all the living cast, writers and crew”.Gabriel LaBelle from The Fabelmans will portray Michaels, while The Maze Runner’s Dylan O’Brien will play Dan Aykroyd in the film.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor Ron Howard first attended the Cannes Film Festival with his 1988 fantasy-adventure “Willow,” and he’ll never forget his first walk up the stairs at the Palais des Festivals, where the film premiered out of competition. “I remember that first time so vividly,” he says, more than 25 years later. “And what I really remember is how fun it was.” Howard would return over the years as an Oscar-winning director and super-producer (with Brian Grazer) behind Imagine Entertainment.

Whitney Cinkala Variety will return to the Croissette for its annual Welcome to Cannes Party, hosted in partnership with The Gotham Film & Media Institute. The event will take place on May 16 at Lucia Beach. Variety and The Gotham will host executives, talent and filmmakers to kick off the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

Deadline on Monday launched its streaming site for Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted, showing off the full panels of all 20 shows that participated in Saturday’s all-day showcase of the year’s best in nonfiction, unscripted and late-night programming as Emmy season ramps up.

The Cannes Film Festival’s Classics sidebar celebrates 20 years this year with a lineup of films including a 4K restoration of Wim Wenders’s Palme d’Or winning Paris, Texas, and a debut screening of Ron Howard’s 2024 doc Jim Henson Idea Man. 

How did Jim Henson inspire generations of dreamers? Director Ron Howard chronicles the life and legacy of this master puppeteer in “Jim Henson Idea Man.” The documentary follows Henson’s life from working on local television to crafting a highly regarded filmography. Along the way, he would see The Muppets become pop culture icons in their own right with a TV series and several box office hits.

The strikes are behind us, Emmy season is upon us, and it’s time to hear from the creatives and talent behind some of the TV season’s most talked-about nonfiction programs. Deadline’s daylong Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted virtual event will offer just that this weekend, giving awards-watchers a chance to kick back at home and take in the tales.

MUNA‘s Naomi McPherson has landed their first acting role as Janis Ian in Jason Reitman’s forthcoming film SNL 1975.The film centres around the first episode of Saturday Night Live, which aired in October 1975, focusing in particular on the behind-the-scenes moments before it first came to the small screen. Ian appeared on the show as one of its first musical guests, alongside Billy Preston, who will be portrayed in the film by Jon Batiste.

Bill Murray has picked not one, not two, but four surprising actors he’d like to see play him in the upcoming Saturday Night Live movie, SNL 1975.Ghostbusters: Afterlife‘s Jason Reitman is set to direct the film, which will tell the behind-the-scenes story of the show’s premiere episode on October 11, 1975.The star-studded cast will see Maze Runner‘s Dylan O’Brien play Dan Aykroyd, while Succession‘s Nicholas Braun will portray Muppets mastermind Jim Henson. Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard has also been cast as an unnamed NBC intern.Speaking to Entertainment Tonight at the Ghostbusers: Frozen Empire premiere, Murray was asked if he’d spoken to Reitman about the upcoming SNL film.“He’s been picking my brain about the SNL days since he was a grasshopper, so he knows a lot of what I know,” said Murray. “He’s an astute student and director.

The cast of the upcoming SNL 1975 movie has just added three young stars to it’s ensemble!

aespa have teased a brand-new song titled ‘Get Goin”, for the upcoming second season of Apple TV+’s Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock.The upcoming aespa song is described as “Fraggle-pop” by the official Apple TV account on X (formerly Twitter). In its post, the streaming platform also release a teaser video for the song, feature members of the K-pop girl group singing the new track with Fraggle Rock character Uncle Traveling Matt.aespa’s ‘Get Goin” will be released on March 29, alongside season two of Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock.

EXCLUSIVE: Nicholas Braun, Tommy Dewey and Nicholas Podany have joined the cast of Sony Pictures’ SNL 1975, which will be directed by Jason Reitman and based on the real-life behind-the-scenes accounts of the opening episode of Saturday Night Live.

EXCLUSIVE: Shout! Studios has taken exclusive worldwide rights to Jim Henson’s beloved fantasy adventure movies Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, as part of a new multi-year distribution alliance with The Jim Henson Company, Deadline has learned.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been around since the ‘80s. They’ve starred in several animated TV series, live-action movies from Jim Henson costumes to CGI turtles, and two animated films. The latest, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, reinvents the comic book heroes in several ways.

A veteran special effects artistis suing for £150,000 ($191,000) over an injury sustained on set of Disney feature The Little Mermaid at Pinewood Studios.

K.J. Yossman Disney is being sued for £150,000 ($190,000) over an injury that took place on the set of “The Little Mermaid.” Special effects artist Christine Overs, who specializes in making beach and snow sets, says she was sculpting a lagoon scene for the film at Pinewood Studios in October 2020 when she fell from a polystyrene step onto a concrete floor and broke her wrist, according to The Times of London.

Piers Morgan Added To RTS Cambridge Lineup

Blumhouse’s feature take of videogame Five Nights at Freddy’s is going theatrical day and date with Peacock on Oct. 27 this year. The pic will go wide.

opens nationwide. And with it, countless viewers who have never played the tabletop role-playing game, first published back in 1974, will be introduced to a fantastical world full of magical creatures, dangerous dungeons and daring wizards.Chris Pine stars as a bard and former spy who gets together with some other thieves (among them: Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis) to exact some delicious revenge on a former partner (Hugh Grant).

opens nationwide. And with it, countless viewers who have never played the tabletop role-playing game, first published back in 1974, will be introduced to a fantastical world full of magical creatures, dangerous dungeons and daring wizards.Chris Pine stars as a bard and former spy who gets together with some other thieves (among them: Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith and Sophia Lillis) to exact some delicious revenge on a former partner (Hugh Grant).

Naman Ramachandran The smash hit stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s “My Neighbor Totoro” will return to London’s Barbican Theatre for a limited run this fall. The production is from executive producer Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), in collaboration with Improbable and Nippon TV. The global stage premiere of Hayao Miyazaki’s celebrated 1988 animated feature film, adapted by Tom Morton-Smith (“Oppenheimer”), was announced in April 2022 and broke the Barbican’s box office record for most tickets sold in a single day. The production opened at the Barbican in October 2022 and was nominated for nine Olivier Awards, the most nominations for any production this year.

@waukeshaschools @DollyParton @MileyCyrus @mileyworld @gsafewi @CivilRights #publicschools pic.twitter.com/8Na0nETmDw— Maestra Melissa (@melissatempel) March 21, 2023 She also included a screenshot the lyrics to “Rainbowland” in the post.The lyrics are: “Wouldn’t it be nice to live in paradise / Where we’re free to be exactly who we are / Let’s all dig deep inside / Brush the judgment and fear aside / Make wrong things right / And end the fight.”Tempel noted that administrators at Heyer — ostensibly pressured by the school board — also banned the children’s song “The Rainbow Connection” by Jim Henson, which was sung by Kermit the Frog in The Muppet Movie.However, the next day, in a follow-up tweet, she noted that it was later “unbanned” after parents sent emails to administrators complaining about barring “The Rainbow Connection.”Rainbow Connection was unbanned today after parents sent emails to admin. Alliance for Education in Waukesha knows how to ally.

track featuring —at an upcoming spring concert. Melissa Tempel, a dual language teacher at Heyer Elementary in Waukesha, Wisconsin, vented her frustrations on Twitter after learning the song had been deemed too “controversial” for six- and seven-year-olds to perform. “My first graders were so excited to sing 'Rainbowland' for our spring concert, but it has been vetoed by our administration,” Tempel wrote last week. "When will it end?" Initially, administrators did not elaborate on their reasoning for the ban, leading Tempel to wonder if Dolly Parton's vocal support for the LGBTQ community had something to do with it. “The latest I heard is that the song was banned bc @MileyCyrus is controversial,” she added in a subsequent tweet.

EXCLUSIVE: Elizabeth Lail has joined the cast of Blumhouse’s feature take of videogame Five Nights at Freddy’s, which is currently shooting in New Orleans. 

EXCLUSIVE: Kat Conner Sterling has been cast in Blumhouse’s feature film adaptation of the popular video game Five Nights at Freddy’s. Cameras are rolling on the film in New Orleans. 

Carl Goodman is making his exit from Museum of the Moving Image — the New York cultural institution where he’s spent 34 years, most recently as Executive Director.

“Lyle, Lyle Crocodile” star what film he was obsessed with as a kid.“Let me pick one. Well, let me pick a children’s movie.

The long-in-the-works feature adaptation of the hit video game Five Nights at Freddy’s has found a director and is headed toward “an early 2023 production start,” according to an announcement from Blumhouse, which is producing.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer Blumhouse is ready to spend “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” The venerable horror production company has set Emma Tammi (“The Wind”) to direct an adaptation of the popular video game series, set in a Chuck E. Cheese-like children’s restaurant called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where the animatronic creatures within go on a killing rampage after closing time. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop are handling the creation of the evil, murderous children’s mascots. Launched in 2014, the “Five Nights at Freddy’s” video game series quickly developed a robust and inventive fan base due in part to its unusual approach to survival horror gameplay. Rather than navigate the restaurant or fight off the rampaging animatronics, the game places the player in the role of the night watchman, who must remain in their office and use a limited number of grainy security cameras feeds and electronic door controls to track the movements of the creatures. If the player survives five nights — and a subsequent bonus night — they effectively win the game (by getting fired). Subsequent sequels expanded the scope of the world of the game and its macabre mythology.

Five Nights at Freddy’s” video game franchise is in the works for Blumhouse in collaboration with the game’s creator Scott Cawthon.The studio has tapped Emma Tammi (“The Wind,” “Blood Moon”) to direct the “Five Night’s at Freddy’s” film, which according to an official synopsis follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.And bringing the terrifying animatronic characters to life for the film is none other than Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, which will work alongside Blumhouse on the film.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Vying for the Premio Kutxabank at the San Sebastian Film Festival’s New Directors sidebar, “Secaderos” (“Tobacco Barns”), the feature debut of Rocio Mesa, includes a beguiling creature of the woods that was designed and created by the Oscar-winning team behind Guillermo del Toro’s 2007 “Pan’s Labyrinth.” For make-up and special effects whizzes David Martí and Montse Ribé of DDT SFX, it was the script that convinced them to board this small-budgeted film by a novice filmmaker. “Only once in a very long time does a script like this land in your hands; it somewhat reminded us of ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’” said Martí, who added that they also boarded it as associate producers.

Coldplay have shared a new video for their track ‘Biutyful’, featuring puppet band The Weirdos – check it out below.Chris Martin had previously appeared on TV with the puppets to perform the ‘Music Of The Spheres’ track, while the band’s singer Angel Moon has also been appearing on the band’s current world tour.The puppet band was created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, and recently signed to Atlantic and Parlophone Records.In the ‘Biutyful’ video, The Weirdos ascend from newcomers and rockstar wannabes into a huge, stadium-filling band.Check out the new video below.Speaking about the band in May, Martin said: “The Weirdos are a band who we’re trying to help out. I think we thought that we’ve sort of come to the end of doing singles as Coldplay.

Coldplay’s Chris Martin joined puppet group The Weirdos for a performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night (June 10).The puppet band was created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, and recently signed to Atlantic and Parlophone Records.The Weirdos’ singer, Angel Moon, has been joining Coldplay on their current tour to sing ‘Music Of The Spheres’ track ‘Biutyful’. Martin returned the favour for the alien puppets’ Tonight Show appearance, sitting on a raised platform, playing acoustic guitar and trading verses with Angel Moon.Meanwhile, Moon’s bandmates Donk, Sparkman and The Wizard “played” bass, drums and keys for their debut TV performance.