‘Spider-Man’ Producer Amy Pascal Admits Not Knowing Who Zendaya Was When She Auditioned For MJ

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details about Challengers.

Selome Hailu When Justin Kuritzkes began writing what later became the hottest love triangle of the year, there was no star power involved. Though he was already an accomplished playwright and novelist (and the husband of Celine Song, the writer-director who provided last year’s buzziest love triangle with “Past Lives”), “Challengers” was Kuritzkes’ first screenplay and began as a document on his computer that no one was paying him to finish. But in 2021, “Challengers” appeared on the Black List, an annual roundup of the most popular unproduced scripts in Hollywood, which helped him sell it to producers Amy Pascal and Rachel O’Connor.

Robert Downey Jr. has expressed interest in reprising his role as Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Which presents a problem, since he died at the end of Avengers: Endgame.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Robert Downey Jr. elated Marvel fans earlier this month when he told Esquire magazine that he would “happily” return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Tony Stark/Iron Man following his Oscar win for best supporting actor in March.

As Shane Maloney lay in his hospital bed, tears began rolling down his face. His devastated family visited him week after week as he lay lifeless, a severe brain injury reducing him to a shell of his former self.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM Studios has begun the countdown for its Ryan Gosling starring, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller directing space adventure movie, Project Hail Mary for March 20, 2026. No other wide entries are on that weekend.

The USC School of Cinematic Arts has announced that Miky Lee will deliver the 20024 Commencement address.

Apple is turning the story of the Hollywood con queen into a documentary series.

Although Manchester United have conceded at least 20 shots in nine of their last 10 games in the Premier League, Erik ten Hag has played down the problem.

It's been just over three weeks since the body of a woman was pulled out of the water at a south Manchester beauty spot - but her identity still remains a mystery.

Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy wanted to show spoiler-free footage at CinemaCon on Thursday, and perhaps it is, but, boy was it hysterical. In the nine minutes shown of the Marvel tentpole, Ryan Reynolds is adjusting to normal life, content to aim for the middle, because you never miss.

The first footage from the upcoming fourth Captain America movie was just shown at 2024 CinemaCon on Thursday (April 11) in Las Vegas.

Zendaya is switching up her look in the midst of promoting her new movie Challengers!

Brent Lang Executive Editor There was something fitting about the setting. Paramount Pictures unveiled the first footage from “Gladiator II” on the stage of The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, a hotel that reimagines Ancient Rome in all its decadent splendor, albeit with a few more slot machines. Ridley Scott seems to be offering a bloodier version of that distant age, one that finds Paul Mescal enter the arena as a nobleman who has renounced his privilege.

A man gave a group intel on a ‘friend’ before he was kidnapped and tortured, prosecutors allege.

“The View” co-hosts and show staff were forced to flee their studio before Wednesday morning’s show after a grease fire broke out at “The Tamron Hall Show,” which shoots in the studio next door.No one was injured in the blaze, and “The View” (11 a.m./Ch. 7) carried on as usual once the dust (and smoke) settled.“Tamron Hall,” meanwhile, sent its audience home and aired a repeat in its 10 a.m.

When Golden Globe winner Zendaya auditioned to play MJ in "Spider-Man: Homecoming," she was already a well-known actress by Disney fans. Production of "Spider-Man: Homecoming" was wooed by her talent but had no idea who the star was. Zendaya has starred as MJ, the love interest of Peter Parker, otherwise known as Spider-Man, in three movies to date.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Zendaya was already a big star when she was cast as MJ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” By that point in her career she had already amassed a huge following as the star of two Disney Channel hits, “Shake It Up” and “K.C. Undercover,” plus popped up in Beyonce’s “Lemonade” film and was a runner-up on “Dancing With the Stars.” None of that apparently registered for “Spider-Man” producer Amy Pascal. “To be honest with you, neither [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige nor I knew who she was,” Pascal admitted in Vogue magazine as part of its Zendaya cover story.

Will Iron Man return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? The verdict is still out. Since Iron Man’s tragic death in "Avengers: Endgame" (2019), Robert Downey Jr., who played the character over a span of 11 years, has been asked time and time again if he’d return to the role if the opportunity presented itself. Very shortly after his character’s departure from the MCU, Downey appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience," where Rogan took the opportunity to ask the actor if he would ever return to the role he played for so long.

Robert Downey Jr.’s ballyhooed departure from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame seemed to have been set in stone when Marvel president Kevin Feige dismissed hope for an Iron Man return a few months ago.