‘Willow’: Jonathan Kasdan Says Val Kilmer Had To Be Written Out Of Reboot Due To COVID Concerns

He may no longer deliver the final rose, but Chris Harrison isn’t letting go of Bachelor Nation. The former host is launching a new podcast with a title that pays homage to the franchise — and addressing his controversial exit for the first time.

A match made in reality TV heaven? Gabby Windey teased whether she wants a romantic future with Vinny Guadagnino after sparking speculation with flirty messages.

The Off Broadway musical revival of the Stephen Sondheim and George Furth classic Merrily We Roll Along, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff & Lindsay Mendez will move to Broadway in the fall, producers anounced today.

EXCLUSIVE: Saturday Night Live‘s Chloe Fineman is set to lead the comedy Big Time, which Jonathan Glickman’s Panoramic Media recently picked up.

EXCLUSIVE: VMI Releasing, the distribution arm of sales and production outfit VMI Worldwide, has hired Jonathan Barkan as their new Head of US Distribution.

We haven’t had a proper feature film from filmmaker Jonathan Glazer (“Sexy Beast”) since his gritty sci-fi thriller “Under The Skin” from 2013. That acclaimed film starred Scarlett Johansson as a seductive alien in human form, kidnapping and killing men in Scotland by using her feminine charms to lure them at night.

Next month will see the return of the Sundance Film Festival; thankfully, we have a string of first looks of the 2023 lineup of films which includes Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor starring in the near future drama “The Pod Generation” that focuses on technology’s influence on pregnancies, Jonathan Majors-led bodybuilding pic “Magazine Dreams,” and director Brandon Cronenberg’s (“Possession”) new dystopian thriller “Infinity Pool,” which has Alexander Skarsgård (“The Northman”) and Mia Goth (“Pearl”) in lead roles.

Back to in-person attendance for the first time since 2020, the Sundance Film Festival is leaning into its independent roots with a timely 2023 line-up that examines the Russian invasion of Ukraine, conflict in Iran and the dangers of technology, as well as documentaries on author Judy Blume, Michael J Fox, Brooke Shields and the Emperor of Rock’n’Roll himself, Little Richard. 

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced it expects to complete the correction exercise into State Pension underpayments for two groups of claimants by the end of next year. The Pensions Minister said on Monday the exercise for those on CAT BL and CAT D should be completed in 2023, but could run through to “late 2024”

During the Autumn Statement last month, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a series of new cost of living payments to help millions of households across the country mitigate the impact of ever-increasing inflation and rising energy bills during 2023/24.

Just like the movies? Hallmark Channel stars including Alison Sweeney, Lacey Chabert and Jonathan Bennett revealed how they spend the holidays — and whether it resembles any of their Christmas-themed films.

It’s no secret that George Lucas struggled to develop 1988’s “Willow.” Lucas hatched his idea for the film before “Star Wars,” but he couldn’t make it until he approached Ron Howard to direct in 1985. Shortly afterward, MGM entered the production process, Bob Dolman came on board to pen the script, and things moved forward.

In what would be his first series regular television role, two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro is set to star in and executive produce Zero Day, a limited series from Eric Newman and Noah Oppenheim, which is in development at Netflix, sources tell Deadline.

Nearly a fairy tale ending. Val Kilmer wanted to reprise the role of Madmartigan for the Willow reboot series — but was forced to pull out at the last minute.

It’s been 34 years since Lucasfilm’s Willow debuted in theaters. But in the fantasy world first created by Ron Howard and Nigel Wooll in 1988, only about half that amount of time has passed since Willow Ufgood (played by Warwick Davis) rescued the infant empress Elora Danan from the forces of evil.

Based on a story conceived by George Lucas in 1972, Ron Howard’s 1988 epic fantasy film “Willow,” starring Val Kilmer and Warwick Davis, topped off a decade of stellar high fantasy films. The two played the charming mercenary Madmartigan and a farmer (and aspiring sorcerer) named Willow.

EXCLUSIVE: MGM is repping sales on the new movie version of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, starring Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, Ben Foster and Colin Morgan. 

EXCLUSIVE: Production is underway on Lee Soo Man: The King of K-Pop, a feature documentary from production company This Machine that will land on Prime Video.