TV/Film

03 Dec 2024

Nathy Peluso Dazzles With Vintage Flair in Her Late-Night Debut on ‘Tonight Show’

Nathy Peluso dazzled during her late-night TV debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday (Dec. 2), captivating audiences with a powerful performance of “El Día Que Perdí Mi Juventud” and “Corleone” from her latest album, Grasa.

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Adorned in an elegant, vintage-inspired off-white gown and a sparkling 1920s-esque headpiece, the Argentine singer-songwriter-producer delivered a set filled with raw emotion and a nostalgic nod to ’70s Latin American crooners, complete with an appearance by U.K. artist-superproducer Blood Orange on acoustic guitar.

The ballad “El Día Que Perdí Mi Juventud” reflects on the loss of youth and innocence, describing moments of longing to return to a simpler, more innocent time. Meanwhile, “Corleone” explores themes of ambition, dissatisfaction and the relentless pursuit of more, despite already having achieved success. “Esta ambición me está matando,” (or “This ambition is killing me”) she belted out with a gut-wrenching delivery.

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The Spain-based 29-year-old released Club Grasa in September, on which she enlisted eight international EDM producers on her first remix project. Her first U.S. headline tour is set to launch in March. “This tour is all about embracing who we are and celebrating it with every beat,” said Nathy Peluso in a press release. “It’s raw and full of energy. I can’t wait to share these unforgettable moments with all of you!”

In November, she won three Latin Grammys for best rap/hip-hop song (“Aprender A Amar”), best alternative song (“El Día Que Perdí Mi Juventud”) and best long-form music video (Grasa); Nathy is currently in the running for a Grammy for best Latin rock or alternative album for Grasa.

Watch Nathy Peluso and Blood Orange’s full performance on The Tonight Show below.

03 Dec 2024

Kristin Chenoweth Surprised Ariana Grande With Matching Glinda Jackets on ‘Wicked’ Set

Because they knew each other, Kristin Chenoweth and Ariana Grande have been changed for good — and now, they have matching jackets to prove it.

On Monday (Dec. 2) — just over a week after Jon M. Chu’s Wicked premiered in theaters Nov. 22 — the 56-year-old singer-actress revealed on Instagram that she’d surprised the 31-year-old pop star with coordinating pink denim coats while on set together. In the film, Grande plays Glinda — a role Chenoweth originated on Broadway — while the Our Little Secret star makes a cameo alongside Idina Menzel, who first played Cynthia Erivo’s role of Elphaba.

“Leading my babygirl down the yellow brick road,” Chenoweth captioned her post, sharing multiple photos of herself and the “Yes, And?” singer posing in their new apparel. “I surprised @arianagrande with these jackets on set at @wickedmovie… a little physical memento of our ‘passing of the wand.’”

The backs of the jackets feature custom illustrations of Grande and the Broadway legend holding hands while walking down Oz’s famous Yellow Brick Road toward the Emerald City, both of them dressed in Glinda gowns. The two women have been in each other’s lives for about two decades now, first meeting when the Victorious alum saw the original Broadway cast of Wicked when she was a child. When Grande was cast to play Chenoweth’s iconic role in the two-part film adaptations, the latter was on hand to give the former advice and support throughout the two-year production process.

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“[Ariana] was really nervous,” Chenoweth recalled on The Kelly Clarkson Show last year. “She said, ‘I want to pay homage to you but I’m scared. I want to make you proud.’ I go, ‘Well you’ve already made me proud, so it doesn’t matter … What I want to encourage you to do, Ariana, is make Glinda your Glinda. Sure, you can tip your hat at me if you want, but really I just want you to do you.”

In her Monday post, Chenoweth added, “I’ll lead you down any road you let me, Ari. I’m so so proud of you baby. ?”

The “We Can’t Be Friends” artist wrote in the comments, “my entire heart ? thank you for your thoughtfulness, generosity and support ♡ my Glinda.”

In the 10 days since its release worldwide, Wicked has seen massive success. Its soundtrack album recently opened at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 — the highest ever debut for a big-screen adaptation of a stage musical on the chart — and the film has so far brought in over $260 million in North America, becoming the highest grossing movie ever at the domestic box office based on a Broadway musical.

The project has also generated newfound interest in the original Broadway soundtrack led by Chenoweth and Menzel. A quarter-century after it was first released, the musical’s album reached the top 40 of the Billboard 200 for the first time ever, jumping to No. 33 on the chart dated Dec. 7.

02 Dec 2024

‘Wicked’ Is More Popular Than Ever: Broadway Cast Album Hits Billboard 200 Top 40 for First Time

The original Broadway cast recording of Wicked reaches the top 40 of the Billboard 200 albums chart for the first time, nearly 21 years after its release in December 2003. The set jumps 79-33 on the chart dated Dec. 7, following continued buzz generated by the recently released film adaptation of the long-running stage show.

The Broadway show, which opened in New York in October 2003, launched with Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in the lead roles of Glinda and Elphaba (played by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in the film).

Wicked is just the seventh musical cast album to reach the top 40 of the Billboard 200 in the last 25 years, following Bruce Springsteen’s solo show Springsteen on Broadway (2018) and the original Broadway cast recordings of Dear Evan Hansen (2017), Hamilton: An American Musical (2015), If/Then (2014), The Book of Mormon (2011) and Disney’s The Little Mermaid (2008).

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The new Wicked film opened in U.S. theaters on Nov. 22 and has earned more than $260 million at the U.S. and Canada box office. Its soundtrack debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, marking the highest debut for a soundtrack of a big-screen adaptation of a stage musical.

In the tracking week ending Nov. 28, as reflected on the Dec. 7-dated Billboard 200 chart, the Wicked Broadway cast recording earned 22,000 equivalent album units (up 60%) while the Wicked film soundtrack starts with 139,000 units.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Dec. 7, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

The original Broadway cast recording of Wicked had previously peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard 200 in March of 2014. Chenoweth and Menzel starred in the Broadway show from its opening through July 2004 and January 2005, respectively. Wicked has continued to play on Broadway since its premiere in 2003, and with more than 8,100 performances, it is the fourth-longest running show in Broadway history.

The original Broadway cast recording of Wicked also spends a 350th nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Cast Albums chart, which ranks the week’s top-selling musical stage show albums. Wicked has the second-most weeks at No. 1 on Cast Albums since the list began in January of 2006. The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical leads the pack with 411 weeks at No. 1.

The Wicked cast album also debuts on the Top Streaming Albums chart at No. 38, where the Wicked movie soundtrack debuts at No. 4.

02 Dec 2024

Ice Cube Reveals Rejected ‘Friday 4’ Script Involving Chris Tucker Back in His Legendary Role

Ice Cube recently revealed a script idea he had for an early version of the highly anticipated fourth film of the Friday franchise.

The rapper and filmmaker sat down with former NFL quarterback Cam Newton on his podcast before Thanksgiving break and broke done the script’s premise. “I wrote a script where Craig and Day-Day, they had a dispensary. They had a flash mob in there and they caught one of the kids and beat his little a–, and they end up going to jail,” he began.

“So they in jail duckin’ Deebo, they in jail duckin’ Damon, they in jail duckin’ the Joker brothers. And then they get into a rehab. — and I was trying to get Chris [Tucker] back — Smokey was running the rehab, but it was a bullsh– rehab where he was taking everybody’s weed and smoking it in the basement.”

He then talked about how his initial idea was shut down because some film executives weren’t into the idea of the movie being set almost entirely in jail. “They were like, ‘Jail’s not funny, it’s too much time in jail. How can you make jail funny?’ And I’m like, ‘Man, y’all don’t know what the f— y’all talking about.’ Then they come out with Orange Is the New Black, Let’s Go to Prison, all these movies about that. And I’m like, ‘See, more Hollywood execs don’t know what the f— they talking about.’”

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Cube has expressed his frustration in the past about trying to make the franchise’s fourth installment, but told Million Dollaz Worth of Game that the tentatively titled Last Friday has finally gotten off the ground. “Yeah, it’s coming back,” the West Coast legend told Gillie and Wallo. “We gonna do what we need to make it dope, make it funny, bring it up to date, introduce new characters, bring back the old characters, create the feeling the movie gives you.”

Chris Tucker also expressed being open to reprising the iconic role that helped turn him into a household name, while also placing the onus on the movie studios. “It’s studios, and they gotta want to do it, and then it’s producers and all that stuff. It’s a lot that goes with it,” he told host Big Tigger during a March interview on Atlanta’s V-103 radio station.

You can watch the full interview below.

02 Dec 2024

Gracie Abrams & Hozier to Serve as Musical Guests on ‘Saturday Night Live’

Gracie Abrams and Hozier are the latest artists to set their sights on Saturday Night Live as the comedy series nears the end of the year.

As announced Monday (Dec. 2), both musicians will serve as musical guests on respective episodes in December, with the “That’s So True” singer-songwriter expected to make her debut Dec. 14 during a Chris Rock-hosted show. The performance will cap off an explosive year for Abrams, who closes out her time opening for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour on Friday (Dec. 6).

A week after Abrams takes the 30 Rock stage, the Irish indie star will return to SNL for his second stint as musical guest on Dec. 21. Martin Short will host the episode, which will follow a few weeks after the Dec. 6 release of Hozier’s Unreal Unearth: Unending, an expanded version of his 2023 album.

Both episodes will air after Shaboozey‘s previously announced performance on SNL‘s Dec. 7 showing, which Paul Mescal will host. The country star’s fast-approaching debut on the series comes after a record-tying 19-week reign atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” which recently scored the Virginia native Grammy nominations for best country song, best country solo performance and song of the year.

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SNL is currently in the midst of its 50th anniversary season, which kicked off in September and will culminate in a celebratory weekend and live primetime special on Feb. 16. So far, Charli XCX has played double duty as host and musical guest this season, while Ariana Grande, John Mulaney, Bill Burr and others have taken turns helming the show as Billie Eilish, Mk.gee, Chappell Roan, Jelly Roll and more have performed.

02 Dec 2024

Ted Danson Will Receive Carol Burnett Award at 2025 Golden Globes

Ted Danson has been named the Carol Burnett Award honoree for 2025. He will be recognized on the 82nd annual Golden Globes telecast, which is set to air live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on CBS on Sunday, Jan. 5.

In addition, Danson – along with Viola Davis, the Golden Globes’ 2025 Cecil B. DeMille Award honoree — will be feted at a separate gala dinner on Friday, Jan. 3, also at the Beverly Hilton. This marks the first time that the Golden Globes will host a special evening dedicated to the recipients of these two honorary awards. The DeMille Award dates to 1952; the Burnett Award originated in 2019.

Danson will be the fifth recipient of the Carol Burnett Award, following Burnett herself in 2019, Ellen DeGeneres in 2020, Norman Lear in 2021 and Ryan Murphy in 2023. So, Danson will be the first performer to receive the award in five years. The award is presented to an honoree who has made outstanding contributions to television on or off screen.

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Danson has won three Golden Globes – best performance by an actor in a limited series, anthology series, or a motion picture made for television for Something About Amelia in 1985, and best performance by an actor in a television series – musical or comedy for Cheers in 1990 and 1991.

He has won two Primetime Emmys for outstanding leading actor in a comedy series, both for Cheers. He has been nominated in that category 14 times, more than anyone else in TV history. He was nominated for all 11 seasons of Cheers and three times for The Good Place. Both shows aired on NBC.

“Ted Danson has entertained audiences for decades with his iconic performances that will forever be ingrained in television history,” said Helen Hoehne, president of the Golden Globes. “His renowned career is a testament to his remarkable talent and versatility as an actor and bears resemblance to the award’s legendary namesake. It is an honor to present him with the 2025 Carol Burnett Award to celebrate the tremendous impact he has made and continues to make in television.” 

The Golden Globe Awards, which likes to call itself Hollywood’s Party of the Year, is the first major awards show of the season. It’s also the world’s largest awards show to celebrate the best of both film and television.

Nikki Glaser is set to host the show for the first time. Glaser was nominated for her first Primetime Emmy this year for outstanding variety special (pre-recorded) as executive producer and performer on the HBO special Someday You’ll Die. She is currently nominated for her first Grammy Award for best comedy album for that same title.

Multi-Emmy Award-winning producing duo Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment will return as executive producing showrunners for the 82nd Golden Globes. Dick Clark Productions will produce the show. Nominations will be announced on Monday, Dec. 9.

The Golden Globes will air on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025 (8-11 p.m. ET/5-8 p.m. PT) on CBS, and streams on Paramount+ in the U.S. (live and on-demand for Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the special airs).

Penske Media Eldridge — a joint venture between Billboard’s parent company Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge — owns Dick Clark Productions, the producer of the Golden Globe Awards.

02 Dec 2024

Keira Knightley Blows Cher Away by Playing ‘Believe’ on Her Teeth: Watch

Keira Knightley has a bizarre talent that even Cher can’t believe.

Seven years after first showing off her ability to play songs on her teeth on The Graham Norton Show — on which she used her biters to perform “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” in 2018 — the actress returned to the show Nov. 29 to once again impress the audience with her unorthodox talent. And since that audience happened to include the Burlesque star, Knightley had no choice but to perform one of Cher’s biggest hits.

At host Graham Norton’s request, the Pirates of the Caribbean star leaned into the microphone and — flicking her teeth to create a percussive resonance in her mouth, kind of like an enamel-covered kalimba — played the melody to “Believe.”

After she finished, Cher was left stunned. “She’s hitting the notes!” the musician said in disbelief. “How do you know what you’re …?”

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“I don’t know!” Knightley replied. “I learned to do it in school. There was a kid at school who was cool, and he could do it, so we all did it.”

The “If I Could Turn Back Time” artist is currently on a press run promoting her new book, Cher: The Memoir, which arrived Nov. 19 and serves as the first autobiography in a two-part series. In the first book, she writes about her time spent with ex-husband and former Sonny & Cher bandmate Sonny Bono — who, she recalled on Graham Norton, once told her that she would be “more famous than [she] ever dreamed possible.”

“And now I’m an icon and a legend,” she added as Norton and Knightley clapped.

Watch Cher react to Knightley’s toothy tribute above.

02 Dec 2024

‘Wicked’ Soundtrack Tops Multiple Billboard Charts, Makes Historic Start on Billboard 200

The Wicked film soundtrack debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales, Soundtracks and Vinyl Albums charts (all dated Dec. 7), while also flying in at No. 2 on the overall Billboard 200 chart. On the latter, the set, which was released on Nov. 22, notches highest debut for a big-screen adaptation of a stage musical ever, dating to the list’s 1956 launch as a regularly published weekly chart. The new Wicked film, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, is based on the long-running stage musical of the same name, which has played on Broadway in New York since 2003.

The Wicked film was released on Nov. 22 and has grossed over $260 million at the U.S. and Canada box office.

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The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multimetric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Dec. 7, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday, Dec. 3. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

The Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week by traditional album sales. Soundtracks ranks the week’s most popular soundtrack albums, by equivalent album units. Vinyl Albums lists the top-selling vinyl albums of the week.

On the Billboard 200, the last time a stage-to-screen musical soundtrack debuted in the top five was when Chicago danced in at No. 4 – over 21 years ago, on the Feb. 1, 2003, chart – on its way to a No. 2 peak a week later. Setting aside debut ranks, the last stage-to-screen movie musical soundtrack to reach the top two was Les Miserables, which spent a week at No. 1 on the Jan. 19, 2013-dated chart. (It debuted at No. 33, and then moved to No. 2 and No. 1 in its second and third weeks.)

Among all soundtracks in 2024, Wicked is the second to reach the top 10 for the first time, and the highest charting, following Twisters (No. 7 peak) in August.

Wicked launches with 139,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Nov. 28 – the biggest week for a full-length theatrical film soundtrack since Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born earned 143,000 units in its second week (Oct. 17, 2018, chart; down from its 162,000 bow). Wicked also logs the biggest week for any stage-to-screen musical soundtrack since the Billboard 200 began ranking titles by equivalent album units in December 2014.

Of Wicked’s opening-week sum, album sales comprise 85,000 (it’s No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 52,000 (equaling 67.66 million on-demand official streams of the album’s tracks; it’s No. 4 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise 2,000. With 67.66 million streams generated by its songs, Wicked has 2024’s biggest streaming week for any soundtrack, and the largest streaming week ever for a stage-to-screen musical film soundtrack.

Of Wicked’s opening-week sales, vinyl sales represent nearly 39,000 copies.

Wicked’s overall first-week album sales of 85,000 score the largest sales week for a full-length theatrical film soundtrack since A Star Is Born’s second week (86,000). Wicked has the largest debut sales week for a stage-to-screen musical film since Dreamgirls opened with 92,000 (Dec. 23, 2006, chart). The last time a stage-to-screen musical film soundtrack sold more than Wicked this past week was when Les Miserables reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 93,000 in its third chart week (Jan. 19, 2013, chart).

Wicked’s opening week sales were bolstered by its availability across six vinyl variants (including a signed edition, autographed by Erivo and Grande), four CD variants (including a signed edition) and a standard digital download album.

01 Dec 2024

Camila Cabello ‘Can’t Stop’ Singing Along to ‘Defying Gravity’ from ‘Wicked’

Camila Cabello is loving the new Wicked movie.

On Saturday (Nov. 30), the 27-year-old pop star took to social media to share her excitement about the live-action adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical, starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda.

“You were brilliant,” Cabello captioned a black-and-white video of herself on her Instagram Story, tagging Erivo and Grande. “Can’t stop listening and singing.”

The post also featured a pink and green heart emoji, symbolizing Grande’s fairytale-like pink dress and Erivo’s iconic green-skinned character.

Along with her congratulations, Cabello included a short clip of herself belting out the musical’s iconic hit “Defying Gravity,” which appears on the film’s soundtrack that debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

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Cabello is no stranger to musical movies. In 2021, the “Havana” hitmaker starred as Cinderella in Amazon’s modern musical adaptation of the classic fairytale, offering a fresh twist on the story that Disney turned into a beloved animated film in 1950.

Meanwhile, Wicked dominated the pre-Thanksgiving weekend box office, debuting at No. 1 with a global total of $164.2 million. Since its release on Nov. 22, the Jon M. Chu-directed film has earned widespread praise, especially for the performances of its lead actresses in these iconic roles. The second part of the Wicked adaptation is set to hit theaters in November 2025.

For fans eager to sing along like Cabello, a special sing-along version of Wicked will be hitting theaters on Christmas Day. The screenings are expected to play at approximately 1,000 theaters across North America, according to Variety. Exact locations and showtimes are still to be confirmed.

Check out Cabello’s Wicked post on her Instagram Story here.

30 Nov 2024

See Box Office Hit ‘Moana 2,’ Find Taylor Swift’s ‘The Anthology’ on Vinyl and More Billboard Family Hits of the Week

The Billboard Family Hits of the Week compiles what’s new and worth your family’s time in music, movies, TV, books, games and more. Forget the mind-numbing scrolling and searching “what to watch for family movie night” … again. The best in family entertainment each week is all in one place, in this handy guide. Isn’t it satisfying to cross something off your list?

While you’re spending time with family this holiday weekend, let Billboard Family catch you up on what’s happening in family entertainment before it’s time to get back to school and work.

Wicked is on the big screen for a second weekend, and this week movie theaters welcomed Moana 2 to the lineup. The sequel to the 2016 Walt Disney Animation film leads the domestic box office (more on that below). When you combine the power of family hits Wicked (Universal) and Moana 2 (Disney), plus action picture Gladiator II (Paramount), you get a commercial phenomenon at the box office: The Hollywood Reporter says revenue over the long Thanksgiving weekend is set to break records, coming in at more than $425 million. Our recommendation for families is to check out Wicked, if you haven’t yet, and then Moana 2, so you can join in on the conversation about one or both in class or at the office.

In new music releases you and your kids might be interested in, Taylor Swift‘s The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology is finally out on vinyl. The set includes all 31 songs from the collection, plus four acoustic bonus tracks, and was made available exclusively at Target — at least in the U.S, where the retailer is also the one place you can find an exclusive CD version of the Anthology release, as well as Swift’s new The Eras Tour Book. I went out on Black Friday in search of all of the above for my family and came out successful, though I had to visit two Target locations to complete the mission.

Coming up on TV is the Monday, Dec. 2 premiere of Stars Wars: Skeleton Crew on Disney+, which is a coming-of-age series tween Star Wars fans should particularly enjoy. (Like my middle schooler, who said, or maybe scoffed, “Of course I’m watching it!” when I asked.)

Find out more about this week’s top picks in the Billboard Family Hits of the Week: