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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Last of Us' Season 2 finale: [Spoiler] dies, and a tease of what's to come in Season 3
WARNING: The following piece contains spoilers about The Last of Us Season 2 finale The Last of Us ended its traumatic second season with the death of another beloved character. More from GoldDerby 'Have I said too much?' David Chase and Alex Gibney on revisiting 'The Sopranos' for 'Wise Guy' doc - and, yes, that finale Every Disney live-action remake, ranked from worst to first (updated) All the 'Mission: Impossible' movies, ranked (updated) During Sunday's season finale, Jesse (Emmy Award nominee Young Mazino) was killed by Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), an act of further retaliation against Ellie (Bella Ramsey) after she murdered Abby's friends. 'You can't just commit acts of violence, walk away, and have your story end,' The Last of Us cocreator Craig Mazin said after the Season 2 premiere in April, establishing the moral ground rules of the episodes to come. 'The repercussions create more of them, not fewer of them.' Those ripple effects have been felt all season. After tracking Abby to Seattle, Ellie and Dina (Isabela Merced) became unwittingly embroiled in a war between the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) and a religious group known as the Seraphites. Against the backdrop of their cyclical violence, Ellie and Dina hunted down Abby and her friends to get revenge on Abby for murdering Joel (Pedro Pascal), who had killed Abby's father in the Season 1 finale. In Episode 5, Ellie encountered Nora (Tati Gabrielle), who was with Abby when she killed Joel. Ellie beat and tortured Nora, who became infected with Cordyceps, and left her to die. The act of violence shook Ellie, as she explained to Dina during the season finale, but not enough to stop her quest for vengeance. During the finale, Ellie tracked Abby to an abandoned aquarium, where she encountered Owen (Spencer Lord) and Mel (Ariela Barer) instead of her target. A standoff ensued and, after Owen pulled a gun on Ellie, Ellie killed him and Mel, who was pregnant. Abby was never found, and it seemed clear from their conversations that Owen and Mel had also lost track of their friend. In the aftermath, Ellie, Jesse, Dina, and Tommy (Gabriel Luna) prepared to leave Seattle, but not before a surprise appearance from Abby. She incapacitated Tommy, shot and killed Jesse, and held a gun on Ellie. The season ended with Abby shooting her weapon in the direction of Ellie, whom she admonished for wasting her second chance at life. It's unclear if Abby shot Ellie or if she merely fired a shot in her direction. (Game fans know Ellie's fate, even if the show left it ambiguous heading into Season 3.) The actual end of Season 2 is a flashback: After Abby shoots at Ellie, the show cuts to black and returns with Abby as the focus three days before the finale events. Season 3 is expected to show what happened to Abby during that period and what led her to confront Ellie and kill Jesse. Speaking to Gold Derby before the finale, Mazino said he was excited for people to see his final episode. 'There's a performance between Bella Ramsey and Kaitlyn Dever that is absolutely phenomenal in the last episode, brilliant stuff,' he said. 'I had the pleasure of being able to be there on set for that, and it was tremendous. It carries so much weight in their words and their stillness in that moment. It was really cool stuff.' Best of GoldDerby 'The Pitt' star Supriya Ganesh on Mohan 'reworking' her trauma and when she'll realize Abbot is flirting with her Dream Team: 'Étoile' creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino on the secrets of their partnership: 'You want to be jealous of something someone has done' TV sound editors roundtable: 'Adolescence' and 'Secret Level' Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Everything to know about HBO's ‘Harry Potter' TV series — including the cast and controversy
Years in the making, HBO's planned Harry Potter series adaptation is closer than ever to coming to the small screen. First revealed as a possibility in early 2021, the upcoming television show is expected to last for several years, with each season adapting one of the seven Harry Potter novels written by J.K. Rowling. More from GoldDerby 'Harry Potter' TV series casts its Harry, Hermione, and Ron Dream Team: 'Étoile' creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino on the secrets of their partnership: 'You want to be jealous of something someone has done' 'Have I said too much?' David Chase and Alex Gibney on revisiting 'The Sopranos' for 'Wise Guy' doc - and, yes, that finale 'The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail, much-loved characters, and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over twenty-five years,' Warner Bros. Discovery said in a press release in 2023. 'Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic, and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally.' In a statement released at the time, Rowling seemed pleased with the concept. 'Max's commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I'm looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long-form television series,' the author said. (When it was first announced, the series was going to be produced exclusively for Max. However, as part of a corporate strategic shift made public this year, the project will now debut as an HBO property.) Ahead, everything to know about the Harry Potter TV series, including its cast, potential release date, and why the controversy about Rowling continues to hang over the project. On May 27, 2025, HBO announced the three child stars of the series: Dominic McLaughlin will play Harry Potter, Alastair Stout will play Ron Weasley, and Arabella Stanton will play Hermione Granger. HBO held a casting call in October 2024 to fill the parts, with thousands of kids auditioning. Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann are the show's primary casting directors. Bevan has worked on several hit projects, including Barbie, The Batman, Belfast, and Cruella. "After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione, and Ron," showrunner and executive producer Francesca Gardiner and director and executive producer Mark Mylod said in a statement. "The talent of these three unique actors is wonderful to behold, and we cannot wait for the world to witness their magic together onscreen. We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned. It's been a real pleasure to discover the plethora of young talent out there." On April 14, 2025, HBO confirmed the long-rumored casting choices for several members of the faculty staff at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, among other students, go to school. John Lithgow was cast as school headmaster Albus Dumbledore, the famed wizard and Harry's mentor. Richard Harris originally played the character in the Potter film franchise. After Harris died following Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the late Michael Gambon took over the part. Janet McTeer is set to star as Minerva McGonagall, the character originally played by the late Maggie Smith in the movies. Paapa Essiedu was hired to play Severus Snape, the complicated antagonist originally played by the late Alan Rickman. Nick Frost, meanwhile, was chosen to star as Rubeus Hagrid, the school's gamekeeper. The late Robbie Coltrane played the part in the movies. Lithgow, McTeer, Essiedu, and Frost will be series regulars on the show for the life of its run. For Season 1, which will adapt Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Luke Thallon was cast as key character Quirinus Quirrell, and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch, the school's caretaker. Respectively, those roles were played in the film franchise by Ian Hart and David Bradley. 'We are happy to announce the casting of John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu, Nick Frost, Luke Thallon and Paul Whitehouse to play Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Hagrid, Quirrell and Filch,' said Francesca Gardiner (Killing Eve, Succession), the Harry Potter series showrunner and executive producer, and Mark Mylod (Succession, The Last of Us), director of multiple episodes and executive producer. 'We're delighted to have such extraordinary talent onboard, and we can't wait to see them bring these beloved characters to new life.' HBO has not yet set a date for the show. However, the expectation is that the series will premiere in 2026, potentially in the second half of the year, depending on when production starts. The series itself isn't necessarily controversial, although there has been a strong response to Essiedu playing Snape (more on that below). However, Rowling is a polarizing figure because of her frequent comments about gender views and transgender community. When the series was first announced in 2023 with Rowling listed as an executive producer, many online critics spoke out against the choice to include the author in the adaptation. Asked then about the author and her views on transgender rights, Bloys declined to discuss the issue. 'I don't have a comment on that today,' he said. 'No, I don't think this is the forum [to discuss that]. That's a very online conversation, obviously very nuanced and complicated and not something we're going to get into.' 'Our priority is what's on the screen,' Bloys added. 'Obviously, the Harry Potter story is incredibly affirmative and positive and about love and self-acceptance. That's our priority — what's on screen.' Rowling has been a lightning rod for controversy for years due to her comments. Film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson (who played Hermione), and Rupert Grint (who played Ron) have all distanced themselves from her views on the transgender community. This decision has drawn the ire of Rowling. More recently, after Rowling celebrated the United Kingdom's Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex and not gender, celebrities like Pedro Pascal, whose sister identifies as trans, and Nicola Coughlan, who has supported transgender rights, have blasted Rowling and the HBO adaptation. Commenting on an Instagram post critical of Rowling this month, Pascal wrote, 'Awful disgusting SH-T is exactly right. Heinous LOSER behavior.' 'Keep your new Harry Potter lads. Wouldn't touch it with a 10ft pole,' Coughlan, who stars on Bridgerton, wrote on social media. The backlash to Rowling has also reached the new cast members of the HBO adaptation. In an interview published this month, Lithgow said he was surprised when people took offense to his participation in the show. 'I thought, 'Why is this a factor at all?' I wonder how J.K. Rowling has absorbed it,' he told the U.K. The Sunday Times. 'I suppose at a certain point I'll meet her, and I'm curious to talk to her.' When asked in the same interview if the criticism had made him reconsider his choice to star on the show, Lithgow said no. Beyond Rowling, the series was also criticized for casting Essiedu, who is Black, as the character of Snape. The character is white in Rowling's books, and so some racist Potter fans took offense to the choice to race-swap the character for the series. However, the decision to cast a Black actor as Snape also drew concern from progressive fans of the franchise. 'I actually am not really bothered by this new Hollywood trend of race-swapping actors at all. A black Commissioner Gordon in Batman, Nick Fury in the MCU etc were all casting choices I fully supported. With Snape, however, I feel it is a different situation,' wrote a fan on Reddit. 'Snape being portrayed by a Black actor, I think, has potential for several of Snape's decisions and experiences to be now attributed to racial issues instead of simply who he is.' Best of GoldDerby 'The Pitt' star Supriya Ganesh on Mohan 'reworking' her trauma and when she'll realize Abbot is flirting with her Dream Team: 'Étoile' creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino on the secrets of their partnership: 'You want to be jealous of something someone has done' TV sound editors roundtable: 'Adolescence' and 'Secret Level' Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Sopranos' Creator Worried James Gandolfini Wasn't 'Threatening Enough'
More than 25 years later, it seems impossible to imagine anyone other than James Gandolfini in the role of Tony Soprano. But The Sopranos creator David Chase was initially worried the actor wasn't 'threatening enough' to play the mafia boss in the acclaimed HBO drama series that ran for six seasons from 1999 to 2007, according to an excerpt from Jason Bailey's Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend. More from Deadline James Gandolfini's Son On Potential 'Sopranos' Prequel Series & Reprising Tony Soprano Role All In The Family: 'Sopranos' Cast Brings Down The House At 25th Anniversary Reunion & Alex Gibney 'Wise Guy' Docu Tribeca Premiere "The Hitler Thing": Bill Maher Lashes Out At Larry David's Mocking Of 'Real Time' Host's Trump Dinner 'Oh my God, I think I have Tony Soprano,' Gandolfini's manager Nancy Sanders recalled after reading the script in the excerpt shared by Vulture. 'All right, here's the deal,' Chase told her after watching Gandolfini's reel. 'I think he's brilliant. I have one concern, and that is, Is he threatening enough?' Sanders quickly shut down that thinking. 'If you said to me, 'He's a little chubby,' or 'He's losing his hair,' I could understand. But he's threatening enough. This is your guy,' she explained. Casting directors Georgianne Walken and Sheila Jaffe recalled Gandolfini 'was really our favorite idea from the beginning.' The late Gandolfini recalled in the excerpt, 'I think my exact words were, 'I could kick this guy right in the ass, but I'll never get cast. They'll hire some f—ing pretty boy.' I thought they'd hire, you know, one of these Irish-looking guys who are all over TV now.' Although the actor worried Chase was 'going to be a pain in the a—' after inviting him to breakfast, the pair quickly hit it off, bonding over their mothers. 'When he finally settled down and really did a reading, it was just obvious,' said Chase, but Gandolfini wasn't sold on the HBO series, which eventually earned him three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. 'Why am I doing this? I came to you to do f—ing movies,' he told Sanders. 'And now I'm doing an HBO series? I don't even know what the network is!' She assured him, 'Jim, listen to me. This is the best piece of writing I've ever read, whether it be TV, film, or theater. I promise you: This is worth doing. It's not going to change the world, but it's going to change TV.' Although Gandolfini was convinced he'd 'be unemployed in less than a year,' he reluctantly signed on to play Tony Soprano with a 'Fine. F— it.' Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far Everything We Know About Netflix's 'The Thursday Murder Club' So Far TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far
