The Last of Us Gets a New Cast Member, and More Entertainment News

The latest news from the world of entertainment, including Jeffrey Wright joining The Last of Us, the CW saying goodbye to Walker, and more.
The Last of Us Gets a New Cast Member, and More Entertainment News

The Last of Us: A New Chapter Unfolds

The world of The Last of Us is about to get a whole lot more interesting. Oscar-nominated actor Jeffrey Wright has joined the cast of HBO’s The Last of Us series, reprising his role as Isaac, a former Marine who became a leader in the Washington Liberation Front resistance group. This is a role he’s already familiar with, having played it in the sequel to the post-apocalyptic video game on which the hit show is based.

The Last of Us gets a new cast member

Wright’s character is described as “the quietly powerful leader of a large militia group who sought liberty but instead has become mired in an endless war against a surprisingly resourceful enemy.” He’ll be playing opposite Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie in the drama.

The second season of the show will also feature Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, Spencer Lord as Owen, and Danny Ramirez as Manny, with Schitt’s Creek Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara also guesting. The show returns in 2025.

In Brief: CW Walks Away from ‘Walker’, and More

The CW is saying goodbye to one of its most popular shows, Walker, after four seasons. The move is due in part to the action crime drama’s high production costs, as well as the network’s new owners, Nexstar, moving away from scripted series in favor of more economical content, such as sports and unscripted series.

The CW says goodbye to Walker

Walker star and executive producer Jared Padalecki shared the news on Instagram, thanking the cast and crew before concluding, “I will forever smile on the years I got to spend with the cast and crew and studio and network and fandom that made this all possible.”

Hulu has released the trailer for BRATS, an original documentary from teen star Andrew McCarthy that explores such iconic 1980s films as St. Elmo’s Fire and Pretty in Pink, and the narrative that took hold when their young stars were dubbed the Brat Pack. The doc reunites McCarthy with his fellow Brat Packers, including Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Jon Cryer, Lea Thompson, and Timothy Hutton — many of whom he had not seen in over 30 years — to answer the question, “What did it mean to be part of the Brat Pack?” McCarthy also talks to writer David Blum, who coined the term Brat Pack in a 1985 New York Magazine cover story.

BRATS premieres June 13 on Hulu

Universal Studios Group is currently eyeing a series adaptation of the 1976 feature comedy Car Wash, as well as a reboot of the classic 1960s TV series The Munsters, according to Variety. The Car Wash series will be set in Washington, D.C., as opposed to Los Angeles, where the film took place, and follows “an immigrant family’s generational and cultural clashes between father and son and their eclectic group of employees,” per the studio. The new Munsters series, titled 1313 — a reference to the Munsters’ fictional address at 1313 Mockingbird Lane — is described by NBC as a horror series that “lives and breathes within the Universal Monsterverse.”

Car Wash gets a series adaptation

‘IF’ Tops the Box Office with a Less-Than-Friendly $35 Million Debut

Paramount Pictures’ John Krasinski’s live-action CGI fantasy comedy IF topped the domestic box office with an estimated $35 million opening weekend — slightly below the $40 million it was expected to take in.

IF tops the box office

The film — starring Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming, and featuring the voices of Steve Carell, Matt Damon, Maya Rudolph, Bradley Cooper, and George Clooney — is about a girl who can see people’s imaginary friends. It opened in France and Belgium last week. After expanding to more international markets this weekend, it added an estimated $20 million, for total earnings of $59 million worldwide.

Prime Video Turns English History on Its Head with ‘My Lady Jane’

Prime Video has just dropped the trailer to My Lady Jane, a buzzy new alternative history series that seems to have all the ingredients for a new Bridgerton-esque bodice ripper: there’s literal palace intrigue, salty language, and, of course, sex.

My Lady Jane premieres on Prime Video