Chris Evans is set to co-star opposite Emily Blunt in Netflix’s Pain Hustlers.  According to the Hollywood Reporter, David Yates will direct the film.

Blunt will portray ‘high-school dropout Liza, who lands a job with a failing pharmaceutical start-up in a strip mall in Central Florida. Liza’s charm, guts and drive catapult the company and her into the high life, where she soon finds herself at the center of a criminal conspiracy with deadly consequences.’

Pain Hustlers is being produced by Lawrence Grey through his Grey Matter Productions banner, along with Yates and Yvonne Walcott’s Wychwood Pictures. Filming is set to start in August.

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ABC News president Kim Godwin told staff that Janai Norman will join the weekend edition of Good Morning America as its new co-anchor, working alongside anchors Whit Johnson and Eva Pilgrim. Norman succeeds Dan Harris, who left the weekend edition of GMA last summer to focus on his meditation company.

Godwin wrote in her memo:  “Janai is a versatile and talented journalist, whether she is anchoring at the desk, conducting a one-on-one interview with a newsmaker of the day or reporting in the field on breaking news. She puts her heart into her work and makes it a priority to cover the most important underreported issues of our time, including the maternal mortality crisis facing Black women and the stigma of mental health.”

Norman started at ABC News as an intern at News One in 2011, and has worked as a correspondent and anchor at ABC News. As a host and anchor, she led Pop News on the weekend, and was the overnight anchor for World News Now and America This Morning.

Janai Norman Named New Co-Anchor For ‘Good Morning America’ On Saturday And Sunday

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Usher is the latest artist to perform for NPR’s popular ‘Tiny Desk’ concert series, in honor of celebrating Black Music Month.

The Dallas native and his band dressed in all-black, and performed six songs – starting all the way back with 1997’s “You Make Me Wanna…”  In addition, Usher performed his chart-topping classics “Superstar,” “U Don’t Have to Call,” “Nice & Slow,” “Confessions Part II” and “My Way”.

Take a look at Usher’s “Tiny Desk Concert”  – here.

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The gang member who shot and killed rapper Nipsey Hussle to death in 2019 has been convicted of first-degree murder in a Los Angeles court.  Eric Holder Jr. was also convicted of several other charges, including attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault for shooting two other men who survived the shootings. Holder faces a possible life sentence; sentencing will take place at a later date to be determined.

Entering their second day of deliberation, jurors announced they had reached a verdict. The jury rejected Holder’s attorney’s contention that a lesser charge was merited because the killing took place in the “heat of passion.”  During the two-week trial, Holder did not deny responsibility for the shooting, but his attorney, Aaron Jansen argued that Holder should be convicted of a lesser charge, manslaughter, rather than murder.

On the day of his murder, March 31, 2019, Hussle was signing autographs outside the clothing store he owned in South Los Angeles when Holder confronted him in a brief conversation, departed, and then returned several minutes to shoot the rapper. Hussle was shot 11 times, along with two other men, but was the only one not to survive. Holder was arrested by police two days after Hussle’s murder, after the woman who drove him away from the site turned herself in and identified him as the shooter. Holder’s identity had been captured on security cameras as well, and he was identified by multiple witnesses.

https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.71525/title.nipsey-hussle-killer-eric-holder-convicted-on-1st-degree-murder-charges

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According to Deadline, Emma Roberts has joined the cast of Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man’ spin-off, Madame Web.  Roberts, 31, joins previously announced stars Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced and Tahar Rahim.

Madame Web serves as an origin story for the Marvel Comics character of the same name. In the comics, Madame Web is a clairvoyant whose psychic abilities prove to be greatly beneficial to Spider-Man; she is depicted as an elderly woman with myasthenia gravis, connected to a life-support system that looked like a spider web. Details about Roberts’ character are being kept under wraps.

This will be Roberts first Marvel picture; she recently wrapped production on the upcoming rom-com Maybe I Do, also starring Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon and Richard Gere.

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‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ broke records over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, earning $125.2 million domestically over the extended 4-day holiday break. Overseas, the movie earned $86 million by Sunday, bringing the film over $200 million in earnings globally.

Minions: The Rise of Gru is a sequel to 2015’s Minions and the fifth installment in the ‘Despicable Me’ franchise, the top-grossing animated series in history. The film voice cast features Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Alan Arkin, Michelle Yeoh, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews, Taraji P. Henson, Lucy Lawless, Dolph Lundgren, RZA, Danny Trejo and Jean-Claude Van Damme. The origin story reveals how the supervillain Gru (Carell) and the Minions met when Gru was a young boy growing up in a 1970s suburb.

Rise of Gru will become only the 10th animated Hollywood film to debut to $100 million or more, a list led by Incredibles 2 ($182.7 million).

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/minions-rise-of-gru-box-office-record-opening-1235175075/

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Nav is back with the announcement of the follow-up to his May 2020 project Good Intentions, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Chart. The Toronto rapper and producer unveiled his new album is called Demons Protected By Angels, set to drop on July 29th.

Nav is known for his famous collaborators; he’s worked with producer Wheezy, and teamed up with Lil Baby for “Don’t Need Friends,” Belly for “Requiem,” Young Thug for “No Debate,” and more.  In 2020, he also shared “Turks,” a song with Travis Scott and Gunna.

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Travis Scott paused his surprise Coney Island concert on July 4th to ensure fans’ safety.  The 31-year-old rapper was performing at the Coney Art Walls with Meek Mill when fans scaled a lighting truss for a better view of the show.

TMZ reported that after Scott spotted the fans dangling from the contraption, he ordered them to come down and they obliged; at which point the concert resumed.

The concert appearance marks one of the first live shows Travis has put on since his headlining set at Astroworld, where 10 people tragically passed away as a result of crowd surges.  Scott is still facing several lawsuits related to the incident; he gave his first interview about the tragedy in December 2021, explaining that he hadn’t heard the audience’s cries for help while he was performing.

https://pitchfork.com/news/travis-scott-pauses-coney-island-show-over-crowd-safety-concerns/

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Sony Pictures has shared plans to release a sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife in 2023.  According to Deadline, the studio said that the new film will open in theaters Dec. 20, 2023.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman and writer Gil Kenan had previously confirmed there would be a sequel film on June 8 — dubbed ‘Ghostbusters Day.’ The new film will return to the franchise’s original New York City and Firehouse setting. Reitman recently told The Hollywood Reporter: “At the end of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the Ecto-1 is driving into Manhattan, returning to its home. And before anyone ever heard the title Afterlife, we called it Rust City. Which would not have made sense to anyone until they saw the movie. The code name for the next movie is Firehouse.” 

The Ghostbusters franchise originated with the 1984 film Ghostbusters, directed by the late Ivan Reitman, Jason’s father. The movie was followed by the 1989 sequel Ghostbusters II, the 2016 reboot Ghostbusters, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which opened in November.

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FX has announced the renewal of  The Old Man for a second season, starring Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow and Amy Brenneman.  The first season of The Old Man, featuring seven episodes, debuted on June 16.  The series follows Dan Chase (Bridges), a former CIA agent living off the grid and trying to avoid assassins sent to kill him.

Eric Schrier, FX Entertainment President, said in a statement: “Jonathan E. Steinberg, Dan Shotz and Warren Littlefield have done a fantastic job with The Old Man, which delivers on the powerful intrigue and breathtaking action of Thomas Perry’s book. The stellar cast led by Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Amy Brenneman and Alia Shawkat is really connecting with audiences and we are excited to get to work on Season 2 with our colleagues at 20th Television and this fantastic team.”

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/the-old-man-renewed-season-2-fx-1235304554/

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