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After spending years combing the desert with a literal comb for any bleeps, sweeps, or creeps that could clue us into what's happening with Spaceballs 2, Josh Gad has delivered some news: People who've read his script for the film think it's good. Speaking to Forbes, Gad, who co-wrote, is producing,...

Hollywood stardom is a cycle, with It Boys and Girls emerging every couple of years and going through periods of ubiquity before they either make it to mega-stardom or decide to take a different path. While that initial push by producers and studios of "Hey, world, here's your new leading actor!" can be distasteful or off-putting to audiences who haven't quite embraced an up-and-coming actor yet, it can also leave the projects these ingenues make during this period high and dry, the films themselves treated like a byproduct of a separate agenda. Granted, some of these films starring not-quite stars as the leads can feel awkward in retrospect, yet some look like hidden gems in hindsight. Or, if not quite gems, then at least decent entertainment that shouldn't have been lost in the shuffle.

Taron Egerton is a star who, in the few years between his breakout role in "Kingsman: The Secret Service...

Sable Ranch, a nearly 400-acre filming location in the Santa Clarita Valley that has hosted shoots for dozens of films and TV shows over the past five decades, including Sons of Anarchy, Swat, American Horror Story and the upcoming The Accountant 2, has been put up for sale.

The property, comprising the adjacent Rancho Maria and Sable Ranch lots, sits just off the 14 Freeway and Sand Canyon Rd near Coyote Canyon, and features a “Western Street” and multiple rustic facades that have been used for features, scripted and unscripted TV series and commercial shoots. In addition to its set buildings and canyon and grassland locations, it also features two on-site helicopter pads.

The ranches are touted two of six properties that are zoned as part of Santa Clarita’s Movie Ranch Overlay Zone (Moz), which allows for streamlined shoot permit process. “The Moz is a first of its kind special...

MGM is getting into the Robin Hood business.

The network/streamer has ordered a 10-part series based on the English folklore to air in 2025.

The series comes from Jonathan English, exec producer of Librarians: The Next Chapter; showrunner John Glenn, who previously was showrunner of CBS’ Seal Team; and Lionsgate Television. Todd Lieberman of Hidden Pictures also is exec producing.

English, who founded Serbia-based Balkanic Media, and Glenn, have been pitching their take on a new version of Robin Hood for the last couple of years, having previously held talks at Natpe Budapest in 2023.

The series, which will begin production in Serbia at Pfi Studios in February 2025, is a modern take on the classic ale of the roguish outlaw hero who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, and the epic love story between him and a courageous and daring Marian.

Following the Norman invasion of England, Rob...

A new documentary will look at the life and career of filmmaker Mel Brooks, whose films like The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Spaceballs defined comedy for several generations of people through the past seven decades. The docuseries, which is still in production, will air in two parts on HBO. Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio are co-directing it.

“I went into comedy because of my love for Mel Brooks,” Apatow said in a statement. “This project is the dream of a lifetime.”

Apatow, who’s best known for his own films,...

A “Spaceballs” sequel is in development at Amazon MGM Studios. Josh Gad is set to star, and will produce alongside Mel Brooks.

Josh Greenbaum will direct the film from a screenplay by Benji Samit, Dan Hernandez, and Gad, while Kevin Salter will executive produce. The project is in early stages, and plot details are being kept under wraps. Amazon declined to comment.

Writing duo Samit and Hernandez are best known for their work as screenwriters for “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” “Pokemon Detective Pikachu,” “Addams Family 2,” and the upcoming Disney /Lucasfilm special “Lego Star Wars: Rebuild The Galaxy.”

The original 1987 MGM film “Spaceballs” starred Bill Pullman as Lone Star, John Candy as Barf, Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa, Rick Moranis as Lord Dark Helmet and Brooks as President Skroob and Yogurt. The space opera is a parody of both the “Star Wars” franchise and other popular sci-fi franchises like “Star Trek” and “Alien.

Tubi, Fox’s free streaming service, has announced its list of July titles. The Tubi July 2024 slate features new Tubi Originals, as well as numerous action, art house, Black cinema, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, kids and family, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, thriller, and Western titles.

As a leading ad-supported video-on-demand service, the company engages diverse audiences through a personalized experience and the world’s largest content library: over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 Fast channels.

You can watch the Tubi July 2024 lineup for free on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, and Cox Contour.

You can also watch the service on connected television devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on the Tubi site.

Tubi Originals

House Of Heat...

Mel Brooks will receive this year’s Career Achievement Award at the 84th Peabody Awards, and Quinta will be honored with the Peabody Trailblazer Award. Both received a unanimous vote of the Peabody Board of Jurors and will be recognized at the June 9 awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

“Mel Brooks is not only one of the most beloved comedians of all time, but he literally set the standard for television comedy from its earliest days. Across TV, film, theater, and recordings, Mr. Brooks is in a league of his own. And Quinta Brunson has emerged as a refreshingly creative force in network television comedy,” said Jeffrey Jones, executive director of Peabody. “Peabody is proud to honor Mel and Quinta not only for their extraordinary contributions as storytellers, but particularly for their use of comedy to tell stories that matter, enriching the lives of so many.”

The Career Achievement Award is...

The Peabody Awards will honor actor, comedian, writer, and director Mel Brooks with this year’s Career Achievement Award, while “Abbott Elementary” award-winning writer, producer, actor, and comedian Quinta Brunson will receive the org’s Trailblazer Award. Both Brooks and Brunson were chosen by the Peabody Board of Jurors in a unanimous vote and will be recognized at the 84th Annual Peabody Awards ceremony on June 9 in Los Angeles.

“Mel Brooks is not only one of the most beloved comedians of all time, but he literally set the standard for television comedy from its earliest days. Across TV, film, theater, and recordings, Mr. Brooks is in a league of his own. And Quinta Brunson has emerged as a refreshingly creative force in network television comedy,” said Jeffrey Jones, executive director of Peabody, in a statement. “Peabody is proud to honor Mel and Quinta not only for their extraordinary contributions as storytellers,...

Hear this now: we will always come for The Princess Bride. Nearly 40 years on, The Princess Bride remains one of the most beloved and charming movies of the 1980s, a perfect combination of fantasy, romance and action – with some swordplay and, sorry, Grandson, a little kissing thrown in. As for its success and all that it granted him, star Cary Elwes, appropriately enough, called it “really inconceivable, to use a word that’s famous from the movie.”

While not his first movie, Cary Elwes knows that 1987’s The Princess Bride is essentially responsible for his entire career, giving much credit to director Rob Reiner, who was adamant on casting him after his turn in 1986’s Lady Jane. This allowed him to work with some other premiere directors, telling People, “Once I got that part, that really kind of opened the door for me and that’s how I got the...

Tubi, Fox’s free streaming service, has announced its list of April titles. The April 2024 slate features new Tubi Originals as well as numerous action, Black cinema, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, kids and family, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, thriller, and Western titles.

As a leading ad-supported video-on-demand service, Tubi engages diverse audiences through a personalized experience and the world’s largest content library, which includes over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 Fast channels.

You can watch the Tubi April 2024 lineup for free on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, and Cox Contour.

You can also watch the service on connected television devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on the web at Tubi.tv.

Tubi Originals

Documentary

Behind...

Renowned comedian Richard Lewis, famous for his stand-up performances and memorable role on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, died on Tuesday night at his Los Angeles home after he suffered a heart attack. He was 76 years old.

The news of Lewis’s death was confirmed by his publicist, Jeff Abraham. Lewis had been living with Parkinson’s disease, a diagnosis he revealed in April 2023. In a statement, Lewis’s wife, Joyce Lapinsky, expressed gratitude for the love, friendship and support people had extended, and asked for privacy at this difficult time.

Born as Richard Philip Lewis on June 29, 1947, in Brooklyn and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, Lewis went on to graduate from Ohio State University. He emerged in the 1970s comedy scenes of New York and Los Angeles alongside future stars like Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer and Elayne Boosler. Lewis quickly gained popularity and made appearances on late-night shows such...

Richard Lewis’ career has, in some ways, always been defined by his proximity to darkness. As a stand-up comedian, he laid bare his personal struggles with drug addiction and alcoholism, pacing across the stage in his trademark all-black uniform, wringing his hands while he recounted how deeply he hated himself. (The title of his 1985 standup special? “I’m In Pain.”) And on Curb Your Enthusiasm, in which he played himself in perhaps his best known role, his health struggles became fodder for the show, with a 2005 kidney transplant inspiring a whole season arc.

Hollywood suffered another great loss today, with news that comedian and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Richard Lewis has died at age 76.

Last April, Richard announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Diagnosis.

Despite admitting that he felt good, Richard also shared that he was retiring from doing stand-up comedy.

Today, news broke that Richard passed away after suffering a heart attack.

According to Deadline, Richard’s long-time publicist, Jeff Abraham, confirmed the news, revealing the actor died in his Los Angeles home.

“His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship, and support and asks for privacy at this time,” Jeff expressed to the outlet.

Curb Your Enthusiasm comedian Richard Lewis dead at 76

Although best known for Curb Your Enthusiasm, Richard had a long comedic career before his signature role on the hit HBO show in 2000. Richard got his start in the 1970s comedy scene in...

Richard Lewis, the wild, eccentric, ultra-neurotic stand-up comedian and comic actor who most recently served as a semi-regular alongside Larry David on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” is dead. He was 76. Lewis suffered a fatal heart attack Tuesday night less than a year after announcing in April 2023 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was retiring from performing stand-up comedy. Lewis’ death was confirmed by his publicist Jeff Abraham, who noted, “His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for the love, friendship and support and asks everyone for privacy at this time.”

He appeared this month on the 12th and final season of “Curb” after begging off of the show in its 11th season while recovering from a series of surgeries. But he wound up shooting a scene in an episode that year, anyway.

SEECelebrity Deaths 2024: In Memoriam Gallery

A beloved and respected comedian known to be the kind...

Richard Lewis, one of the most influential stand-up comedians of his era and Larry David's hilariously neurotic best friend on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," has died at the age of 76. The official cause of death was listed as a heart attack.

Lewis belonged to a class of comedians who turned joke-telling into a confessional art form. His contemporaries were Richard Belzer, Elayne Boosler, Robert Klein, and Jerry Seinfeld. Lewis got belly laughs out of failed relationships, depression, anxiety, and addiction. He was reliably, identifiably miserable, which was a balm for anyone in his audience who happened to be struggling because, no matter how awful his life seemed to be, he was always back on stage the next night or bantering with David Letterman a week month later after recounting his latest crisis.

He was a neurotic's neurotic, and, therefore, an essential part of our lives. If he could laugh off life's absurd tortures,...

Richard Lewis, a stand-up comic who achieved fame in the 1980s by turning his neuroses into comedy gold and later experienced a renaissance in recent years thanks to Curb Your Enthusiasm, died on Tuesday at the age of 76. The cause of death was a heart attack, his publicist, Jeff Abraham, confirmed to Rolling Stone.

Last April, Lewis revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. “I’m under a doctor’s care, and everything is cool,” he said at the time. “I love my wife, I love my little puppy dog,...

Longtime stand-up comedian Richard Lewis, who had a memorable co-starring role alongside Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm, has died at the age of 76.

“Richard Lewis passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles last night after suffering a heart attack,” his publicist Jeff Abraham said in a statement to TVLine. “His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time.”

More from TVLineCSI: NY Vet Gary Sinise Celebrates Life of His Son Mac, Dead at 33Chris Gauthier, of Once Upon a Time and Eureka, Dead at 48Kenneth Mitchell,...

Richard Lewis, the beloved comedian, stand-up comedy all-star, and series regular on Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, has died after suffering a heart attack. He was 76. Lewis’ death was confirmed by his publicist, Jeff Abraham. “His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time,” Abraham said.

Richard Lewis’ comedic journey began with dual debuts in the New York and Los Angeles comedy arenas in the 1970s. Mentioned in the same breaths as comedy legends like Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer, and Elayne Boosler, Lewis’ comedy style was darker and more self-deprecating than his fellow kings and queens of comedy. Not afraid to lampoon his shortcomings, Richard Lewis shared grim comedy about his addictions and bizarre thinking.

Lewis revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in April 2023 and planned to retire from his stand-up career.

Related Curb Your Enthusiasm...

Richard Lewis, the stand-up comedian who also starred alongside Larry David in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” died Tuesday night at his Los Angeles home due to a heart attack, Variety has confirmed. He was 76.

Lewis announced last April he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was retiring from stand-up comedy. He most recently appeared in Season 12 of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” currently airing on HBO.

In 2021, Lewis announced he would not appear in Season 11 of “Curb” in order to recover from three surgeries. He surprised viewers by returning to set for one Season 11 episode, telling Variety at the time, “When I walked in and they applauded, I felt like a million bucks. Larry doesn’t like to hug, and he hugged me and told me how happy he was after we shot our scene.”

Lewis, who played a semi-fictionalized version of himself throughout the 24 years of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” was known for his neurotic,...

Comedian and actor Richard Lewis has sadly died at the age of 76.

“Richard Lewis passed away peacefully at his home in Los Angeles last night after suffering a heart attack. His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time,” his rep confirmed to TV Line.

Most recently, he appeared in HBO’s hit comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm alongside Larry David. He’s also been known for other TV and film projects, like Robin Hood: Men in Tights and some stand up comedy specials as well.

Keep reading to find out more…

In 2023, Richard confirmed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. “I just wanted to let you know that’s where it’s been at,” Richard told his fans in April of 2023. “I’m just focusing on writing and acting. I have Parkinson’s disease but I...

Richard Lewis, one of America’s most beloved and revered stand-up comics who also played a fictionalized version of himself on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, died Tuesday night at his home in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack. He was 76.

His death was confirmed by his publicist Jeff Abraham. Lewis had been living with Parkinson’s disease, a diagnosis he revealed in April 2023.

“His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time,” Abraham said.

Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.

Related: Remembering Richard Lewis: A Career In Photos

Richard Lewis on ‘The Tonight Show’ in late-’70s

Born Richard Philip Lewis on June 29, 1947, in Brooklyn and raised in Englewood, NJ, Lewis — after a childhood he would describe as difficult — graduated from Ohio State University before landing in the New York and Los Angeles comedy scenes of the 1970s.

Stand at attention and prepare yourself for a history lesson because Guy Ritchie’s next film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, comes to theaters on April 19, 2024, courtesy of Lionsgate. Based on the book “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: How Churchill’s Secret Warriors Set Europe Ablaze and Gave Birth to Modern Black Ops” by Damien Lewis, Ritchie’s new film project is packed with stars and ready to get rude for an outlandish action-comedy.

Henry Cavill leads The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, with Eiza González (Baby Driver), Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer (In Time), Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusamokun (Dune), Henrique Zaga (Beyond the Universe), Til Schweiger, Henry Golding, and Cary Elwes also starring as primary cast members.

Here’s the official logline for the upcoming film:

Based upon recently declassified files of the British War Department and inspired by true events, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is an action-comedy that...

You can call the DC superhero movies a lot of things, but “consistent” isn’t one of them. Even the intentionally interconnected films of the DC Extended Universe vary wildly and unpredictably in quality, with instant classics like “Wonder Woman” and “Shazam!” followed up by giant misfires like “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” (and those were from the same filmmakers).

So after “The Flash” turned out be a historic disaster on many levels, you could be forgiven for wanting give up on this mixed bag of a franchise as-is and wait patiently for the next reboot. Or, failing that, the next-next reboot, because if there’s one thing DC loves it’s completely redoing a superhero universe, over and over again in every medium.

But that’s a pretty rotten state of mind with which to enter a theater showing “Blue Beetle,” which is a delightful...

To celebrate the hugely anticipated release of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, which arrives in cinemas this week, we had the pleasure of reuniting with the film’s cast to find out about their biggest adventure yet in the series.

In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his Imf team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, and dark forces from Ethan’s past closing in, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission – not even the lives of those he cares about most.

First, we catch up with Rebecca Ferguson (Isla...

When I was a little kid in the 1960s and a teen in the 1970s, there was simply no one cooler than Mel Brooks. He was the guy (along with Buck Henry) who created and wrote the comedy masterpiece “Get Smart,” and even as a child I could recognize the genius behind it. While I was a little too young to appreciate the greatness of his 1967 directorial debut, “The Producers”, once the ’70s rolled around I was in comedy heaven thanks to “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein.” Those two classics of big screen comedy came out the same year: 1974.

As a result, I spent much of that year as a high school sophomore and junior laughing my proverbial butt off in movie theaters (those things we used to frequent prior to the advent of streaming technology). The campfire farting scene in “Bs” was my generation’s comedic colossus.

I lost...

Angela Bassett (Photo Credit: D’Andre Michael)

Two-time Academy Award nominee Angela Bassett is finally getting her much-deserved Oscar. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be honoring Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks, and editor Carol Littleton with the Academy’s Honorary Awards during the Governors Awards taking place in November 2023.

Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter will be recognized with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

“The Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to honor four trailblazers who have transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie fans,” stated Academy President Janet Yang. “Across her decades-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting. Mel Brooks lights up our hearts with his humor, and his legacy has made a lasting impact on every facet of entertainment. Carol Littleton’s career in film editing serves as a model for those who come after her.

The Academy Board of Governors voted to present Academy Honorary Awards to Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and editor Carol Littleton and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to the Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter. They will accept the four Oscars at the Academy’s 14th Governors Awards event on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

“The Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to honor four trailblazers who have transformed the film industry and inspired generations of filmmakers and movie fans,” said Academy President Janet Yang in a statement. “Across her decades-long career, Angela Bassett has continued to deliver transcendent performances that set new standards in acting. Mel Brooks lights up our hearts with his humor, and his legacy has made a lasting impact on every facet of entertainment. Carol Littleton’s career in film editing serves as a model for those who come after her. A...

The newest Academy Award winners have been announced.

Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks, and veteran film editor Carol Littleton have been voted Honorary Oscars, and the Sundance Institute’s Michelle Satter the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. All will be presented on Saturday, November 18, during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 14th annual Governors Awards at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

The three Honorary winners have all danced with Oscar before. Brooks won for his Original Screenplay for The Producers in 1968. Littleton received her sole previous nomination for editing E.T. The Extra Terrestrial in 1982. Bassett, coming off a Best Supporting Actress nomination this year for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, also was a Best Actress nominee 30 years ago for her portrayal of Tina Turner in 1993’s What’s Love Got to Do With It.

Satter’s Hersholt award represents the second Sundance-related special Academy Award after creator and founder...

Cary Elwes, Stockard Channing, Christopher Lloyd, Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel are joining the cast of “Knuckles,” the first television series in Paramount , Paramount Pictures and Sega of America’s expanding “Cinematic World of Sonic the Hedgehog.”

The live-action series, which takes place between “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and “Sonic The Hedgehog 3” films, follows the titular character on an action-packed journey of self discovery as he agrees to train Wade as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is currently slated to release on Dec. 20, 2024.

Details of Elwes, Channing, Lloyd, Scheer and Huebel’s characters were not disclosed.

Also Read:

Idris Elba Fights to Save 200 Passengers in First ‘Hijack’ Trailer: ‘It’s Either Us or Them’ (Video)

Idris Elba stars as Knuckles while Adam Pally reprises his role as Wade Whipple. Rounding out the rest of the cast is recurring stars Edi Patterson,...

The live-action “Knuckles” series at Paramount has added five new cast members.

Cary Elwes, Stockard Channing, Christopher Lloyd, Paul Scheer, and Rob Huebel have all joined the series. Details on their characters are being kept under wraps.

As previously announced, Idris Elba will once again voice the character Knuckles as he did in the film “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.” Other cast members include Adam Pally, reprising the role of Wade Whipple, as well as Edi Patterson, Julian Barratt, Scott Mescudi, and Ellie Taylor. Guest stars include Rory McCann and Tika Sumpter, with the latter reprising her role as Maddie.

The show was originally announced in February 2022. It is set in the time between “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and the third film in the franchise, which is slated to debut in theaters on December 20, 2024. In the series, Knuckles “agrees to train Wade as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior,...

Richard Lewis has been a stand-up comedian for half a century and has appeared in numerous comedy classics such as Robin Hood: Men in Tights and HBO’s hit show, Curb Your Enthusiasm with Larry David. According to Deadline, Lewis posted a video on social media revealing that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease and will be hanging up the gloves on his stand-up career. Lewis has recently wrapped his scenes for the upcoming season of Curb Your Enthusiasm and declares that he plans to continue to act and write when he can despite retiring from stand-up.

The comedian would field the common inquiries from friends and fans on social media by revealing what he’s been through in recent years, “The last three and a half years, I’ve had sort of a rocky time, and people said, ‘I haven’t heard from you, are you still touring?...

Stand-up comedian and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actor Richard Lewis revealed in a video posted to Twitter that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The comedian said he’s had “sort of a rocky time” over the past three years with his health. In addition to Parkinson’s disease, Lewis had several surgeries on his shoulder, back and hip. For these reasons, Lewis is strictly focusing on “writing and acting” these days and is no longer performing stand-up.

“Hey listen, I just wrapped a couple of weeks ago season 12 of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and it was just an amazing season and I’m so grateful to be a part of that show,” Lewis said. “But you know the last three and a half years, I’ve had sort of a rocky time and people said, ‘I haven’t heard from you, are you still touring?'”

“Here’s really what happened,...

Richard Lewis, the 78-year-old comedian and co-star of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” posted a video on Sunday to give a little update about his life and career. He knows that fans have been wondering if he’ll ever tour again. The answer to that appears to be “no” due to a feeling of completion with what he’s done with that art form after 50 years, but also a series of health problems.

In the joke-free but still upbeat video, Lewis says that three-and-a-half years ago he completed a tour and felt that if he were to stop, he’d be going out on top. Then, afterward, “the shit hit the fan,” as he put it, and he underwent four back-to-back surgeries, including a hip replacement. Two years ago he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

He was quick to assure people that he spotted it early, he got it late in life,...

Broken Lizard, the five-man comedy troupe which formed in 1990 at a fraternity on the upstate New York campus of preppy Colgate University, have been stoner icons since the very first scene of their 2001 breakout hit “Super Troopers.” That’s when Jay Chandrasekhar’s mustachioed Vermont cop Lieutenant Arcot “Thorny” Ramathorn pulls over a car full of potheads and proceeds to terrorize and freak them out.

Like they did in 2018 with “Super Troopers 2,” their newest film, “Quasi,” a reimagining of Victor Hugo’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” is a no-holds-barred, scatological combination of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” crossed with Mel Brooks’ “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” It premieres today — April 20 — as a Hulu Original through Fox Searchlight.

Boasting their own cannabis brand, Smokin’ Lizard, Chandrasekhar notes, “When we get high with friends like Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg, they take it seriously enough to try to smoke us...

Cary Elwes says he almost missed out on the opportunity to work with Mel Brooks.

The star is set to star in sports drama “Sweetwater”, but has his roots in comedy. Ahead of the 30th anniversary of “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”, Elwes admits he almost missed out on the role by hanging up on the director.

Read More: Cary Elwes Shares Update After Rattlesnake Bite: ‘I Am Doing Much Better’

“When he called me, he actually found my home number and called me at home. He said, ‘Hi, this is Mel Brooks’ and I thought it was a prank. I hung up, I was like, ‘Yeah, right’ and I hung up,” he recalled. “I thought it was one of my friends, you know, making a prank call.”

Luckily for the actor, Brooks as persistent and called him back to convince him it really was the famous director.

“You know,...

One can only imagine how many times a week someone shouts “As you wish!” at Cary Elwes. The role of Westley from The Princess Bride is easily the signature role of Cary Elwes. But he spent years avoiding any movie featuring a sword and/or a pirate, partly because of the restrictions it put on him as an actor.

“I try to look for roles that push me as an artist,” Elwes told The Independent. “Certainly after The Princess Bride I was offered a ton of medieval comedies. I can’t tell you how many scripts I got where I had to pick up a sword or was a pirate. I turned them all down.” Well, almost all of them. “The only one I was willing to accept was Robin Hood,” he said, citing 1993’s Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Mel Brooks’ parody of the legendary character.

Despite the hesitance,...

Good luck trying to define a Cary Elwes character. That’s him as the swashbuckling love interest in The Princess Bride, and as director Mel Brooks’s spoof outlaw in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The dashing Brit, playing a tortured cancer surgeon, even cut off his own foot in the first Saw. None of those roles made him as much of a household name as his Nineties co-stars – that’s also him as foil to Tom Cruise and Charlie Sheen in Days of Thunder and Hot Shots, respectively – but he doesn’t especially mind. “I don’t look at my number on the call sheet,” he tells me. “I’m there to help tell the best story I can.”

The 60-year-old has called the US home since he was a teenager, and it’s reflected in his accent – a curious warble between received pronunciation and transatlantic neutrality. He’s friendly and attentive over Zoom,...

The Broken Lizard comedy troupe returns as they follow in the footsteps of Mel Brooks and Monty Python with a period satire based in medieval France. The trailer for the new Hulu comedy, Quasi, has just dropped from Searchlight Pictures. The troupe, who is known for their past outings, including Super Troopers, Beerfest, and The Slammin’ Salmon, now takes on a satirical look at the famous story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

The official synopsis reads,

A hapless hunchback yearns for love, but finds himself in the middle of a murderous feud between the Pope and the king of France when each orders the hunchback to kill the other.

This film was written by the Broken Lizard crew and is directed by Kevin Heffernan. The comedy is produced by Richard Perello and comes from Searchlight Pictures for a release on Hulu courtesy of their distributing partnership. Quasi stars Jay Chandrasekhar,...

This post contains spoilers for "Forrest Gump."

"I gotta find Bubba!" This, no doubt, was the thought in the mind of casting director Ellen Lewis before she settled on actor Mykelti Williamson ("Heat") for the role of Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue in "Forrest Gump." It's also the cry Gump, played by Tom Hanks, makes as he goes running back into the jungle to save his friend Bubba during the Vietnam War. Yet before Williamson landed the part and donned Bubba's lip attachment, controversial comedian Dave Chappelle — then a relative unknown — was in consideration for the part.

According to Comedy Hype, Williamson suggested they dumb down the character of Bubba, who was smarter in the Winston Groom novel on which "Forrest Gump" was based. The idea was to put Bubba and Forrest on more of a peer level, Iq-wise, so they could relate better. However, Bubba ultimately fares worse than Forrest...

Sir Patrick Stewart can claim a laundry list of awards and acclaim on his resume, and he rocks a turtle neck sweater like no other. The British actor is adored for many reasons. He's charming, confident, silly, elegant, and doesn't take himself too seriously (despite his knighted status.) Though he'd been working steadily in England, an unlikely role came his way in 1987 that changed everything, turning him into a household name in the U.S. and around the globe. That would be the Earl Grey-drinking, noir-loving, contemplative hero of the USS Enterprise, Captain Jean-Luc Picard from "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Across seven seasons of "Tng," multiple feature films, and a recent spin-off, Stewart has continued to present Picard as an iconic Starfleet leader. From his initial interactions with the likes of Q (John de Lancie) to the vulnerability he displayed through Picard's more emotional post-Borg storylines, Stewart has...

When Chappelle’s Show debuted on Comedy Central 20 years ago on January 22, 2003, nobody knew who Dave Chappelle was, outside of a few brief appearances in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Con Air, and Blue Streak in 1999. Mainstream didn’t associate him with stand-up, despite his very first special, Killin’ Them Softly, airing on HBO in 2000, and sketch comedy series like SNL and its ‘edgier cousin’ MadTV were reaching a lull as audiences entered the new millennium. But after the first episode and the closing Clayton Bigsby sketch, which introduced the concept of a black White supremacist, audiences were forced to sit up and pay attention to the man responsible for making them laugh so hard. Not only is the sketch edgy, but it also showcases the silliness of racism as an idea, how anyone is susceptible to being racist, and juggles the subject while remaining humorous. It’s very difficult...

Chris Ledesma, a longtime music editor on “The Simpsons,” has died. He was 64.

News of Ledesma’s death was announced on Sunday night after “The Simpsons” aired. A post-credits tribute card was dedicated to the man behind the music. The Simpsons family was shown sitting down as Bart, Maggie and Lisa played instruments and a cartoon version of Ledesma was shown holding a conductor’s baton.

Ledesma had been with the show since its first season in 1989. He worked on over 700 episodes and 30 seasons until he left the series in 2022.

Ledesma discovered music at a young age. By the age of three, he was playing piano and took formal trumpet lessons soon after.

His first music editing duties were on a student film at CalArts, which prompted him to pursue music editing as his career. Ledesma got an inside look at music scoring while working as a tour guide for...

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Chris Ledesma, who served as the beloved music editor of The Simpsons on every one of its first 734 episodes, from the Fox animated series’ premiere in 1989 through a 34th-season installment in November, has died. He was 64.

Ledesma died Dec. 16 in Los Angeles, a spokesperson for the show told The Hollywood Reporter. No cause of death was revealed.

Ledesma had been hired to fill in as a music editor on Fox’s The Tracey Ullman Show, where The Simpsons began as a series of shorts playing in and out of commercials. He then started on the spinoff on Nov. 22, 1989.

“I was skeptical of turning the little 30- and 60-second featurettes on Tracey into a full-fledged, half-hour show,” he wrote on his blog in 2011. “All that went out the window as soon as I saw the first two shows.”

Ledesma noted on Twitter in September...

The tagline on the poster for Mel Brooks' celebrated 1974 comedy film "Blazing Saddles" was, "Never give a saga an even break." Not only is that a clever pun, but it reveals the central philosophy of modern pop satire. Anything that takes itself seriously enough the deem itself a "saga" is most assuredly ripe for ribald parody. Brooks would continue to deny even breaks to Alfred Hitchcock ("High Anxiety"), historical epics ("History of the World Part I"), and "Star Wars" ("Spaceballs"). In 1993, Brooks -- reacting to the massive, massive popularity of Kevin Reynolds' 1991 actioner "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" -- elected to make "Robin Hood: Men in Tights," a raunchy, slapstick farce that skewered all things Sherwood. 

Many of Brooks' gags in "Men in Tights" were shamelessly recycled from his unsuccessful 1975 sitcom "When Things Were Rotten," starring Dick Gautier as Robin Hood, but he at least did have the good sense to very occasionally skew modern.

The 1982 TV series "Police Squad!," created by the famed Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker (Zaz) comedy team, only lasted six episodes, but it remains one of the best TV shows of all time. In a strange way, its early cancelation was artistically fortuitous. Its small volume allows the show's many fans to savor what was provided. Additionally, the showrunners, fond of repeated jokes and running gags, never had a chance to run their humor into the ground. There's not a lot of "Police Squad!" in terms of raw numbers, but in terms of comedy, it was a feast.

Six years later, Paramount allowed the Zaz team to resurrect their creation on the big screen as a means of introducing the tiny cult series to a larger audiences. David Zucker's "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!" repeated a lot of the jokes from the series, and brought back star...

The Friday the 13th franchise is very important to me, so it always hits me hard when I hear that someone involved with the series has passed away… and last Friday night, the news broke that we have lost another Friday the 13th alumnus. Someone who played the hockey masked icon Jason Voorhees himself: stuntman Ted White. White had already been working in the entertainment industry as an actor and stuntman for thirty-five years by the time he was offered the chance to play Jason in 1984’s Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (watch it Here). It’s not a job he was thrilled to do, he didn’t even want to be credited on the movie, but he accepted it because the pay was good. As years went by, White eventually realized that he had been involved in something special and started connecting with fans at conventions.

It has...

Cary Elwes (Mission: Impossible 7), Corey Stoll (Billions), Michiel Huisman (The Flight Attendant) and Alfonso Herrera (Ozark) have joined the cast of Zack Snyder’s Netflix film Rebel Moon, Deadline can confirm. The quartet will star alongside Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Doona Bae, Ray Fisher, Rupert Friend and Stuart Martin.

The sci-fi pic is set in a peaceful colony on the edge of the galaxy that finds itself threatened by the armies of the tyrannical Regent Balisarius. They dispatch a young woman (Boutella) with a mysterious past to seek out warriors from neighboring planets to help them make a stand.

Snyder is directing from the script he wrote with Shay Hatten (Army of the Dead) and Kurt Johnstad (300), which was based on his and Johnstad’s story. Snyder is also producing alongside Deborah Snyder and Wesley Coller for The Stone Quarry, with Eric Newman of Grand Electric. Bergen Swanson...

The new year is continuing apace at Hulu. The streamer’s list of new releases for February 2022 is highlighted by one very interesting project.

Pam and Tommy is set to premiere on Feb. 2. Perhaps the Groundhog Day release date is intentional as the show will cover a particular moment of celebrity, sex, and exploitation from the early ’90s that seems to have repeated itself over and over. Sebastian Stan and Lily James star as Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson and the series follows the events and fallout of their homemade sex tape being stolen and unleashed on a nascent internet. If nothing else, getting the promo photos of Stan and James as the ’90s stars was worth it.

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Another Hulu original,...

Mel Brooks has been set as the 2021 recipient of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s Career Achievement Award.

He’s the latest in a distinguished line of artists to receive the honor, joining the likes of John Huston, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder, Robert Mitchum, Barbara Stanwyck, Myrna Loy, Robert Preston, Roger Corman, cinematographer Conrad L. Hall and composer Ennio Morricone.

Lafca’s members will decide on other honorees December 12. They will be honored alongside Brooks early next year.

Brooks is a prolific writer, director, producer and actor with a career spanning more than seven decades, whose iconic films include The Producers (1967), The Twelve Chairs (1970), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), Silent Movie (1976), High Anxiety (1977), History of the World, Part I (1981), Spaceballs (1987) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993).

Brooks began his career as a comic and writer on Sid Caesar’s variety series Your Show of Shows. Later, with Carl Reiner, he...