Sony Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Ken Jennings is sharing his thoughts on Mayim Bialik‘s exit as host of Jeopardy!. The two had been sharing hosting duties on the syndicated show and its primetime specials.

Patrick John Flueger turned 40 this week and he celebrated his birthday by bringing some Chicago PD cast members to a cool VR experience!

Jordan Moreau Aquaman is slowly swimming his way back to theaters, but he may get washed up at the box office. The latest DC Universe movie, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” has made $4.5 million in Thursday previews at the domestic box office. The superhero sequel, which marks the final installment of the DCEU before it gets rebooted by DC Studios chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran, is shaping up to be the latest misfire this year, after “The Flash,” “Blue Beetle” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” disappointed during their box office runs.

Jordan Moreau The video game industry has been rocked by hackers this month, first with the early leak of Rockstar Games’ trailer for “Grand Theft Auto 6” and this week’s hack of Insomniac, the developer behind “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” and the upcoming “Wolverine” game. Hackers stole private data from Insomniac Games employees and released early gameplay footage from the highly anticipated game “Marvel’s Wolverine.” All that had been previously shown of the “Wolverine” game was a short teaser in 2021, but now a stolen, early build of the game has been floating around online. In a statement released Friday morning, Insomniac called the leak “extremely distressing.” “We’re both saddened and angered about the recent criminal cyberattack on our studio and the emotional toll it’s taken on our dev team.

Spy x Family arrives in cinemas in Japan this year.Based on the manga by Tatsuya Endo, Spy x Family is an anime action-comedy series which follows master spy Twilight, who has to disguise himself and build a mock family in order to investigate political leader Donovan Desmond.The show’s first season debuted in April 2022, with the second season set to conclude on December 23, 2023.At the time of season two’s announcement in December 2022, a feature film titled Spy x Family Code: White was also revealed.At the time of writing (December 19), there is no announced UK release date for Spy x Family Code: White.The film hits cinemas in Japan on December 22, 2023. As announced in November, Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment is set to bring Spy x Family Code: White to theatres worldwide at some point in 2024, with confirmed territories being North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Sony has dated an untitled Apple Original Films production starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum for July 12. Formerly known as “Project Artemis,” it’s set to screen in premium large formats with Columbia Pictures distributing. Meanwhile, the George Clooney-Brad Pitt starrer “Wolfs,” also from Apple Original Films, will open Sept.

We told you first that Sony won the theatrical distribution deal to handle Apple Original Films Jon Watts’ directed George Clooney and Brad Pitt thriller Wolfs, as well as the Greg Berlanti directed Scarlett Johansson-Channing Tatum movie Project Artemis (title forthcoming). We heard they were getting 2024 release dates and well, here they are: the latter will bow in theaters on July 12 next year while Wolfs hits theaters on Sept. 20.

Mike Fazioli If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. If you took the evolution drawing showing the progress from ape to man and replaced it with televisions, it would be a long line of large, heavy monkeys for about 60 years, and then a very rapid transformation to the slim, upright human that is today’s Smart TV. Even that plasma TV you owned a mere dozen years ago would be a hairy knuckledragger.

EXCLUSIVE: Streamers are slowly coming around in supplying viewing results, especially when the news is good. Apple has some good news.  

It appears there was some drama going on behind the scenes of Jeopardy! when Mayim Bialik got fired!

Another Ghostbusters movie is on the way!

Selome Hailu Netflix has renewed “My Life With the Walter Boys” for a second season. The series is based on a WattPad novel of the same name by Ali Novak, which has since been published as a book. The coming of age story that follows fifteen-year-old Manhattanite Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez) after losing her family in a tragic accident.

EXCLUSIVE: Maria Anguelova, an 11-year Sony Pictures Entertainment veteran, most recently EVP Corporate Development and Strategy, has been promoted to EVP, Global Head of Corporate Development. She replaces Erik Moreno, who will be stepping into a broader Sony-wide role as EVP, Growth & New Initiatives for Sony Pictures.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Wonka” enjoyed a barnstorming second weekend at the U.K. and Ireland box office with £6.3 million ($8.09 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. After two weekends at the top, the Timothée Chalamet starrer now has a mighty total of £18.4 million.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Sony‘s Indian TV businesses, which has been nearly two years in the making, is likely to be delayed further. The merger agreement was signed in December 2021 and the cut-off date for completion was Dec. 21, 2023.

J. Kim Murphy Mayim Bialik has faced her final “Jeopardy!” Two years after stepping in as a permanent host for the beloved game show following the death of its long-running emcee Alex Trebek, Bialik is exiting her regular role on the series.

Mayim Bialik will no longer host Jeopardy!.

Apple TV+ has picked up a second season of Platonic, its hit half-hour comedy starring and executive produced by Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen.

BreAnna Bell “Platonic” will return for a second season on Apple TV+, the streamer announced on Thursday. Co-created, directed and co-written by Stoller and Delbanco, the series follows a platonic pair of former best friends approaching midlife (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne) who reconnect after a long rift.

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures Animation is in development on a new fantasy-adventure feature from Matt Braly, the creator of Disney’s multiple Emmy-nominated animated series, Amphibia.

EXCLUSIVE: Following the acclaim of the comedy Dumb Money, director Craig Gillespie and Sony Pictures are reteaming on another film in where money plays a factor in the central story. In a competitive situation, Sony has acquired Daniel Casey’s untitled heist spec screenplay, with Gillespie set to direct and Plan B producing.

God Of War Ragnarok: Valhalla has a challenge that is so tough that the development team didn’t even beat it before the game shipped.Mihir Sheth, game director of God of War Ragnarok‘s Valhalla update, posted on X (formerly Twitter), writing that “there is an endgame challenge in God Of War Ragnarok Valhalla that no one of the dev team has completed on the hardest difficulty ‘Show Me Mastery”.Sheth continued, stating “I am so, so curious to see how quickly players will humble us… as they often do… but maybe this time we’ve beaten them?”‘Show Me Mastery’ is a difficulty mode available in God Of War Ragnarok, and is the hardest difficulty available in the game.God Of War Ragnarok Valhalla was revealed during The Game Awards 2023 and launched earlier this week. The DLC is a free update to the base game and sees Kratos and Mimir travelling to find some closure on their adventure in the base game, with the gameplay style shifting from a traditional third-person action-adventure game to a roguelike.NME reviewed God Of War Ragnarok when it was released, with our writer calling the game a “blast”.“God Of War Ragnarok is a good game but never particularly surprising,” Jake Tucker wrote.“Shifting the focus onto Atreus’ story feels like a smart move and the universe painted here is as beautiful narratively as it is graphically, but some players may feel like they have ridden this ride before.”In other gaming news, a new Squid Game title has been announced by the Netflix Games division.

Ellise Shafer Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird IMI has emerged as the new frontrunner to purchase U.K. production-distribution outfit All3Media, Variety understands. The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the investment group is in advanced talks to purchase the “Fleabag” producer in a deal worth £1 billion ($1.26 billion).

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Wonka,” starring Timothee Chalamet, has debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £8.9 million ($11.2 million), according to numbers from Comscore. In its third weekend, Disney’s “Wish” climbed up to £1.9 million in second place for a total of £5.8 million.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Doc,” the Italian medical procedural that’s a local hit and and major export, is getting a theatrical outing in Italy prior to TV play thanks to a deal between production company Lux Vide and UCI Cinemas. In what is being touted as a milestone, the first two episodes of the show’s third season are set to screen in UCI Cinemas across Italy as an event release on Dec. 18 and 19, ahead of the full season release of “Doc” Jan.

Way back in 2017, Hathaway was considering playing Barbie for Sony Pictures, with Alethea Jones circling to direct. The Oscar-winner says now, in hindsight, it’s a “lucky thing” that never happened.

Thania Garcia South Korean boy band Ateez has the No. 1 album in the United States this week, landing its first No. 1 record with their sophomore set “The World EP.Fin: Will.” The 12-song set had the equivalent of 152,000 sales, according to data provided by Luminate, and serves as the follow-up to the eight-member group’s June EP “The World EP.2: Outlaw.” Preceded by the streaming hit “Crazy Form,” which boasts elements of Afro dancehall, “The World EP.2: Outlaw” was released via Sony Music Korea/RCA Records and is the fifth K-pop record to lead the Billboard 200 this year behind releases from Tomorrow X Together, NewJeans and Stray Kids.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Anne Hathaway appeared on the latest “Happy Sad Confused” podcast and called it “lucky” that her iteration of the “Barbie” movie never got off the ground considering the phenomenon that Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” became over the summer. Back in July 2017, Hathaway was announced as the star of Sony’s “Barbie” movie. Comedian Amy Schumer was originally cast, but Hathaway took over the role after Schumer departed.

EXCLUSIVE: The writers room for the new MGM+/Prime Video series Silk: Spider Society is tentatively slated to reconvene in mid to late January, sources tell Deadline.

Tributes continue to pour in after the death this week of 101-year-old television pioneer Norman Lear.

BreAnna Bell AMC has canceled “Lucky Hank” after one season, Variety has confirmed. Based on Richard Russo’s “Straight Man” novel, the eight-episode dramedy follows William Henry “Hank” Devereaux Jr. (Bob Odenkirk), an unlikely chairman in a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt.

Ntertain is putting together a two-day event over the weekend called “The Art of Being Latin” for Miami Art Week. Taking place at the Builders Collective in Annex Wynwood, the presentation will include curated art exhibitions showcasing contemporary Latin artists and live musical performances from up-and-coming and established musicians.

God Of War is a beloved franchise that has transcended generations. God Of War: Ragnarok, the latest installment in the franchise, has sold over 15 million copies worldwide across the PS4 and PS5. Now, to show their appreciation to their loyal fans, GOW will be releasing a new free DLC.

This won’t help his state of mind… Lucky Hank has been canceled after one season.

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Freud’s Last Session, which Sony Pictures Classics pre-bought after teaming with star Anthony Hopkins to release his Oscar-winning turn in The Father.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The top 20 finalists for the visual effects Oscar have been notified they have made it to the next round of voting. With Oscars shortlist voting opening in eight categories on Thursday, Dec. 14, Variety has learned exclusively that the visual effects finalists include Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things,” Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire” and the lone animated feature contender, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.