Latest Hollywood News Today Transcript at 7:30 PM on 16 March 2023

Let’s begin with our top story. James Gunn is directing a Superman film. Superman: Legacy, which Gunn also wrote, is also set for a July 11, 2025 release. The film will deal with the superhero’s journey to make sense of both his aristocratic Kryptonian heritage and his small-town, midwestern upbringing as Clark Kent. Gunn wrote on Twitter, “I was offered Superman years ago – I initially said no because I didn’t have a way in that felt unique and fun and emotional that gave Superman the dignity he deserved. … Then a bit less than a year ago I saw a way in.”

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” wrapped its fingers around Hollywood’s top prize Sunday, March 13th, winning best picture at the 95th Academy Awards, along with awards for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Though worlds away from Oscar bait, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s anarchic ballet of everything bagels, googly-eyed rocks, and one messy tax audit emerged as an improbable Academy Awards heavyweight. The indie hit, A24’s second-best-picture winner following “Moonlight,” won seven Oscars in all. Only two other films in Oscar history — “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Network” — have won three acting Academy Awards. Fifty years after “The Godfather” won at the Oscars, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” triumphed with a much different immigrant experience.

Meanwhile, Brendan Fraser recently won the best-actor Oscar for The Whale, a transformative role in which he revived a career that was once so bright. Fraser said “I started in this business 30 years ago and things didn’t come easily to me. I just want to say thank you for this acknowledgement.” Fraser’s portrayal earned him standing ovations at film festivals in Venice and Toronto, and the early praise continued building through the fall and winter. In addition to receiving the best reviews of his career, he earned a SAG Award for his performance. Along the way, he’s given emotional acceptance speeches, unafraid to cry at times.

Former child star Quan capped his extraordinary comeback with the Oscar for best supporting actor for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Quan, beloved for his roles as Short Round in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and Data in “Goonies,” had all but given up acting before being cast in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” His win was one of the ceremony’s most moving moments. The audience — including his “Temple of Doom” director, Steven Spielberg — gave Quan a standing ovation. Quan, 51, whose family fled Vietnam in the war when he was a child said, “They say stories like this only happen in the movies. I can’t believe it’s happening. This is the American dream.”

Next up, Jamie Lee Curtis won best supporting actress, in one of the most competitive categories this year, denying a victory for comic-book fans. Angela Bassett would have been the first performer to win an Oscar for a Marvel movie “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”. It also made history for Curtis, a first-time winner who alluded to herself as “a Nepo baby” during her win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She’s the rare Oscar winner whose parents were both Oscar nominees, something she emotionally referenced in her speech. Tony Curtis was nominated for “The Defiant Ones” in 1959 and Janet Leigh was nominated in 1961 for “Psycho.” Curtis thanked “hundreds” of people who put her in that position.

“Naatu Naatu” lyricist Chandrabose, who recently picked up the trophy for Best Original Song, has opened up about the song’s new admirer. Chandrabose shared he recently met Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise. While speaking to Sakshi TV about his Oscar win, Chandrabose shared, “When I met Tom Cruise, I walked up to him and introduced myself. He said, ‘wow, I love RRR, I love Naatu Naatu’. To hear the word Naatu come from a legendary actor like Tom Cruise, it’s a matter of happiness.” Cruise, whose film Tom Gun: Maverick was nominated in various categories at this year’s Oscars, gave the event a miss as his team said he was shooting for Mission Impossible 8.

Daniel Roher’s “Navalny,” about the imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, won the best documentary at the Oscars. The film’s win came with clear overtones to Navalny’s ongoing imprisonment and Vladimir Putin’s continued war in Ukraine. Yulia Navalnaya joined the filmmakers on the stage. She said, “My husband is in prison just for telling the truth. Stay strong my love.” Some big names weren’t in attendance at the Oscars for various reasons. Neither Tom Cruise, whose “Top Gun: Maverick” was up for the best picture, nor James Cameron, director of the best-picture nominee “Avatar: The Way of Water,” were at the ceremony. Both have been at the forefront of Hollywood’s efforts to get moviegoers back after years of the pandemic.

Lastly, Lindsay Lohan is expecting her first child. The Mean Girls star announced her pregnancy in an Instagram post on Tuesday, sharing an image of a baby onesie with “Coming soon…” written on it. The post was captioned “We are blessed and excited!” Lohan married financier Bader Shammas in 2022, People magazine reported. The 36-year-old actor, who was once a tabloid mainstay, has lived overseas for several years and kept a lower public profile. She recently returned to acting, starring in Netflix’s Falling for Christmas last year, and will star in the streaming service’s upcoming romantic comedy Irish Wish.

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