SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2020

IN THEATERS THIS WEEKEND

Onward will remain on top and should bring in around $22 million.

Bloodshot (PG-13)
My Spy (PG-13)
I Still Believe (PG)
The Hunt (R)

SATURDAY TV

CHILD’S PLAY (8p ET, Epix) — Mark Hamill (Star Wars) is the voice of Chucky in this 2019 reboot of the horror franchise.

FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW (8p ET, HBO) — Franchise veterans Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham team up to take down bad guy Idris Elba in this 2019 spinoff. Vanessa Kirby, Helen Mirren, Kevin Hart and Ryan Reynolds also star.

POMS (8:30p ET, Showtime) — Diane Keaton stars in this 2019 comedy.

MORE FUNNY WOMEN OF A CERTAIN AGE (10p ET, Showtime) — Caroline Rhea and Carol Leifer are among the female comics in this new stand-up special.

SUNDAY TV

AMERICAN IDOL (8p ET, ABC) — New. The auditions continue.

GOD FRIENDED ME (8p ET, CBS) — New. The God Account sends Miles the names of three employees of an old movie theater he and Ali used to go to as children. Frankie Faison (The Wire) guest stars.

LITTLE BIG SHOTS (8p ET, NBC) — New.

CNN DEMOCRATIC DEBATE (8p ET, CNN) — Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders debate in Phoenix. Jake Tapper, Dana Bash and Jorge Ramos moderate.

ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST (9p ET, NBC) — New. Things get complicated for Zoey at Simon’s engagement party.

NCIS: NEW ORLEANS (9p ET, CBS) — Two new episodes.

THE WALKING DEAD (9p ET, AMC) — New.

EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION (9p ET, HGTV) — New.

SEASON PREMIERE: WESTWORLD (9p ET, HBO) — The third season begins with an hour and 8 minute episode. Returning cast members include Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Ed Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Luke Hemsworth and Rodrigo Santoro. New cast members include Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), Vincent Cassel (Black Swan), Lena Waithe (Master of None), former NFL star Marshawn Lynch, and Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy).

THE ROOKIE (10p ET, ABC) — New. Nolan and Harper investigate a murder which may have national security implications.

GOOD GIRLS (10p ET, NBC) — New.

SEASON PREMIERE: BLACK MONDAY (10p ET, Showtime) — Don Cheadle, Regina Hall and Andrew Rannells return for season 2.

Showbiz News and Gossip

THE MOVIE RELEASES PUSHED BACK SO FAR
Amid rising fears of the spread of coronavirus in America and overseas — as well as concerns over how those fears affect the box office — many blockbuster releases have been pushed back.

On March 4, the James Bond film No Time to Die, which was supposed to be released in April, became the first major release to be delayed; it will now debut in November. Since then, many other films have followed suit. Here are the film releases that have been postponed due to coronavirus.

• My Spy: Release moved from March 13 to April 17

• A Quiet Place Part II: Release moved from March 18, new release date TBA

• Blue Story: Release moved from March 20, new release date TBA

• Mulan:Was to have opened March 27, new release date TBA

• The Lovebirds: Release moved from April 3, new release date TBA

• The New Mutants:Release date moved from April 3, new date TBA

• Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway: Release moved from April 3 to August 7

• No Time To Die: Release moved from April 10 to November 25

• Antlers: Release date moved from April 17, new release date TBA

• Fast Furious: F9: Release moved from May 22, 2020 to April 2, 2021

DISNEY POSTPONES RELEASES OF MULAN, THE NEW MUTANTS AND ANTLERS _ Disney has postponed the releases of Mulan, The New Mutants, and Antlers out of “an abundance of caution.”

… Mulan was supposed to hit theaters March 27, while The New Mutants was scheduled for an April 3 release date and Antlers was supposed to open April 17.

MARCH MADNESS IS GOING TO BE A WHOLE LOT QUIETER
NCAA Division I basketball tournament games will not be open to the general public because of concerns about the spread of coronavirus. NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a statement Wednesday that he made the decision to conduct both the men’s and women’s tournaments, which begin next week, with only essential staff and limited family in attendance.

… The decision comes after the NCAA’s COVID-19 advisory panel of medical experts recommended against playing sporting events open to the general public.

NBA SUSPENDS SEASON 
As the NBA was considering playing the balance of its season without fans, the league has unexpectedly — and swiftly — taken things a step farther. After Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday night, the NBA suspended its season.

… It’s unclear when the season will continue, but it will not continue for the foreseeable future.

TOM HANKS AND WIFE HAVE TESTED POSITIVE 
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have tested positive for the coronavirus. Both were down in Australia for the pre-production an Elvis Presley film from Warner Bros. In the film, two-time Oscar winner Hanks plays Presley’s longtime manager Colonel Tom Parker.

… Hanks said in a statement: “Hello, folks. Rita and I are down here in Australia. We felt a bit tired, like we had colds, and some body aches. Rita had some chills that came and went. Slight fevers too. To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the coronavirus, and were found to be positive. … The Medical Officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks’ will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no? We’ll keep the world posted and updated. Take care of yourselves!”

TOM HOLLAND CONFIRMS SPIDER-MAN 3 START DATE AND ZENDAYA’S RETURN
While promoting his new Pixar adventure Onward, Tom Holland revealed that the script for Spider-Man 3 is “absolutely insane” and will feature the return of Zendaya as MJ. The third Spider-Man film from Marvel Studios is set for a July 16, 2021 release.

CHARLES BARKLEY REVEALS HE HAS BEEN ORDERED TO SELF-QUARANTINE
Less than 24 hours after the NBA announced Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell had tested positive for COVID-19, we now have another scare within the NBA community. During Thursday night’s special edition of the Inside The NBA, TNT analyst Charles Barkley revealed he had been self-quarantined after falling ill while traveling and that he had taken a coronavirus test but still has not gotten the result.

CORONAVIRUS: JIMMY FALLON, SETH MEYERS TO SUSPEND PRODUCTION
In one of the more significant moves in late-night TV this week, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers will now go dark next week and remain so through at least the end of the month.

… The decision by NBC is a shift from Wednesday’s announcement that the two shows, along with a number of other New York-based programs, would begin taping without live audiences starting on Monday. Los Angeles-based talk shows The Late Late Show With James Corden and Jimmy Kimmel Live! announced similar measures on Thursday.

SONG OF THE SOUTH WILL NOT BE ON DISNEY+
It looks like Disney+ won’t feed your “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” earworm anytime soon. Disney executive chairman Bob Iger confirmed that the 1946 Disney classic film Song of the South will not be released on the Disney+ streaming platform. Iger said that the classic film is “not appropriate in today’s world.”

… Back in November Dumbo (1941) was all over the news as rumors swirled that the vintage animated film would be added to Disney+, but without the Jim Crow-animated character and its scenes. Turns out, the movie did, in fact, appear on the new streaming platform as originally intended with an added disclaimer which read, “This program is presented as originally created. It may contain outdated cultural depictions.”

SURVIVOR SEASON 41 PRODUCTION DELAYED BECAUSE OF CORONAVIRUS
The next two seasons of Survivor will be postponed at least two months because of the health risks and precautions associated with coronavirus. Jeff Probst, who hosts and executive produces the series, sent out a letter to the hit reality show’s crew Wednesday informing them of the decision to delay shooting Seasons 41 and 42.

… Season 41 was supposed to begin shooting March 24 in Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands but “due to the growing short-term uncertainty surrounding the global spread of COVID-19 and the corresponding desire for the continued well-being of our amazing crew, we have decided to push back our start date.”

… He added that although Fiji has had no reported cases of coronavirus, “our crew numbers over 400 and are flying in from over 20 different countries, creating a need for more time to fully analyze and create our new production safety plan.”

… Season 42 was scheduled to begin shooting May 24 and that will be pushed back as well.

AMERICANS’ FAVORITE SUPERHERO
It’s a bird, it’s a plane — it’s Superman, earning the title of America’s favorite superhero. In a new survey The Man of Steal was No. 1, leading the pack with 47 percent of the vote. Rounding out the top five: Spider-Man (46 percent) and Batman (45 percent), Captain America (42 percent), and Iron Man (41 percent).

… Rounding out the top ten: Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Wolverine.

… America’s top ten favorite villains: Joker, Catwoman, Venom, Thanos, Lex Luthor, Magneto, Penguin, Harley Quinn, Mystique, Loki.

NICOLAS CAGE WILL REPORTEDLY RETURN FOR NATIONAL TREASURE
Nicholas Cage has played a slew of characters over his career, but none have resonated better with a younger audience than that of Benjamin Franklin Gates from the National Treasure films. And while we know that a third chapter is now in development, it seems that Disney is also in the market for a fourth installment.

… In January of this year it was announced that the writer of the script for Bad Boys for Life would write a new script for National Treasure 3. According to sources after the third film, Disney wants to do one more. Nicholas Cage is eager and willing to be a part of No. 3 and No. 4.

IS MONSTERS, INC. THE BEST PIXAR MOVIE?
With Onward, Disney and Pixar have another hit on their hands. It didn’t blow the doors off theaters over the weekend, but that’s likely due in part to the coronavirus keeping some people away from crowds.

With Onward, Pixar now has 20 films in its library. The website Ranker — which ranks pretty much everything — says these are the top Pixar films.

1. Monsters, Inc.

2. Finding Nemo

3. Up

4. The Incredibles

5. Toy Story

6. WALL-E

7. Ratatouille

8. Toy Story 2

9. Toy Story 3

10. Inside Out

… FULL LIST

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