Month: June 2024

Universal Pictures dropped the trailer for the initial installment of the two-part film adaptation of the stage musical, Wicked. The studio shared the trailer featuring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, posting on social media: “Pink goes good with green. #WickedMovie trailer .”  The film version of Wicked is written by Winnie Holzman and directed by Jon M. Chu (‘Crazy Rich Asians’).

Wicked, based on the Broadway musical and Gregory Maguire novel, is inspired by L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The film tells the origin story of the witches of Oz — Elphaba (Erivo), the future Wicked Witch of the West, a young woman, misunderstood because of her unusual green skin, who has yet to discover her true power, and Glinda, the future Glinda the Good, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart.  The trailer shows Glinda and Elphaba meet as students at Shiz University in the Land of Oz, forging an unlikely but profound friendship.

An official film synopsis reads: “Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. Glinda’s unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences on her future.”  The cast also includes Michelle Yeoh as Shiz University headmistress Madame Morrible, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Marissa Bode as Nessarose and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard of Oz.

Part One of ‘Wicked’ is set to open in theaters Nov. 27; with Part Two to follow on Nov. 27, 2025.  Take a look at the trailer: here.

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Halsey has revealed she has been dealing with a serious health battle, sharing the news alongside the release of her new single, ‘The End.’

The 29-year-old captioned a series of videos via Instagram documenting her health journey with the caption: “long story short, i’m Lucky to be alive. short story long, i wrote an album. it begins with The End. out now. @lupusresearchalliance @llsusa”. While Halsey didn’t share her exact diagnosis, she tagged the Lupus Research Alliance and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in her post.

One video clip shows Halsey rubbing her legs in pain, saying: “Seriously, seriously, I feel like an old lady. I told myself, I’m giving myself two more years to be sick. At 30, I’m having a rebirth and I’m not going to be sick and I’m gonna look super hot, and have lots of energy and I’m just gonna get to redo my twenties and my thirties.”  In the next slide, Halsey sits in a chair as she is attached to a machine while telling the camera: “Today is day one of treatment,” and in another clip, Halsey strums her guitar in the studio with her head shaved. The post ends with a series of videos that show her crying, holding up medicine and spending time in the hospital.

Halsey first teased the release of the single on Monday, announcing her fifth studio album with the caption: “I’m releasing the first song off my 5th album tomorrow 6/04 at 9am pt / 12 et. Before the first single comes, I wanted to share this. It means a lot to me and I love it. Let’s try something different this time and start at “The End.”

You can stream Halsey’s new song ‘The End’ – here.

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Normani is teasing her anticipated solo debut album Dopamine with a new trailer. The clip finds the R&B singer in silver body paint, poised on a metallic rocket ship, ready to take off, with the 27-year-old sharing: “Hello, Hotline 159 .. Yes, here to satisfy your deepest, darkest, wildest desires. No rules, no restrictions, straight Dopamine.”  The visual also includes footage from spaceship launches, scenes from Normani’s album photoshoot, and more. Dopamine is set to drop on June 16; take a look at the album trailer – here.

Shortly after the album trailer dropped, Normani officially released the single “Candy Paint” to coincide with her 28th birthday, sharing on social media: “candy paint is out everywhere wanted to start my birthday off right and know that you guys have been asking. you already know the visuals are brewing but until then here y’all goooo. love you to the moon.”.

“Candy Paint” is the second song release of Dopamine; she previously dropped the single “1:59” featuring Gunna back in April.  Normani also shared with ELLE Magazine the meaning behind the album title: “Dopamine represents the highs and the lows I’ve endured. It’s been such an emotional roller coaster. I worked relentlessly with my creative director, [Kwasi Fordjour]. We did our research .. I really wanted to have a title that felt like it definitely encompassed everything that I feel I’ve been through in my journey to get to the point that I’m in right now. [The cover] feels energetic. It feels like a hit, and I feel like people have been waiting—[it’s been] one of the most highly anticipated projects.”

Stream ‘Candy Paint’ – here.

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Ahead of the release of her Paramount+ documentary Let the Canary Sing, it was announced that music icon Cyndi Lauper, 70, is retiring from the road and will embark on her final ‘farewell’ North American tour the fall.  Live Nation wrote on X : “It’s official! Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour is coming, and we couldn’t be more excited. Get ready to sing along to all your favorites and make some amazing memories. Tickets go on sale this Friday.”  Lauper did not personally release a statement regarding the farewell tour, but may speak on the topic later this week as she promotes the new documentary about her career.

The 23-date tour kicks off this fall in Montreal on Oct. 18 and includes a date in her hometown of New York City at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 30, Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Nov. 1, L.A.’s Intuit Dome Nov. 23, the Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert Nov. 24, and San Francisco’s Chase Center Nov. 26 before wrapping on Dec. 5 at Chicago’s United Center. Special guests will accompany Lauper throughout the tour, to be announced at a later date.

“Let the Canary Sing,” directed by Alison Ellwood, will begin showing on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday, June 5. That same day, Lauper will participate in a handprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood before attending a private local premiere of the film at the theater complex, to be followed by a Q&A.

Tickets for Lauper’s farewell tour go on sale with an artist presale Tuesday, followed by other presales before the general on-sale begins Friday at 10 a.m. local time at Live Nation.

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Jennifer Lopez has canceled her This Is Me…Now The Tour, which was set to kick off next month.

Rumors had been circulating in recent months that many shows were set to be canceled due to poor ticket sales; however, Lopez shared that the tour cancellation was done so to take time off to spend with her ‘children, family, and close friends,’ which was announced directly to fans via her ‘OntheJLo’ Newsletter. Lopez, 54, wrote: “I am completely heartsick and devastated about letting you down. Please know that I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t feel that it was absolutely necessary. I promise I will make it up to you and we will all be together again. I love you all so much. Until next time…”  The news also comes amid rumors that Lopez and her husband, Ben Affleck, have separated.

The 30+ city tour was set to begin on June 26th in Orlando with stops across North America in Miami, Los Angeles, Toronto, her hometown of New York City, and more before wrapping up in Houston on August 31st. The tour was intended to support the release of Lopez’s first studio album in nearly a decade, ‘This Is Me…Now’, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart.

Live Nation said fans who purchased tickets through Ticketmaster will automatically be refunded. Lopez is currently promoting the release of her Netflix movie “Atlas,” which debuted on the streaming platform on May 24.

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Less than a month after announcing his next album “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce),” Eminem has dropped its first single, “Houdini.”  Em, 51, announced The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) with a Detroit Murder Files crime show teaser that aired during the NFL Draft; and earlier this month, he placed a fake obituary in the Detroit Free Press to say ‘goodbye’ to Slim Shady, his alter ego.  The rapper has yet to share a release date for the album, but it is expected to debut this summer.

Eminem had announced the arrival of ‘Houdini’ in a video clip on Instagram last week, captioned “Please do not try this at home. Or anywhere else. ” Eminem was shown FaceTiming with magician David Blaine and asks him for help, saying “I was wondering, how far can we go with this magic? Like, can we do like a stunt or something?” After Blaine drinks a glass of wine and proceeds to bite off the rim of the glass, Em ends the FaceTime with: “Well for my last trick, I’m going to make my career disappear.”

‘Houdini’ arrived alongside an accompanying music video, which sees Eminem receiving a call from Dr. Dre who shows him that a portal from 2002 has opened in the city. Eminem takes on his younger self as he raps about “the days of old me” and what his 20-something self would think of the present day. The video also features cameos by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Snoop Dogg, Shane Gillis, Pete Davidson and more.

Check out the video for ‘Houdini’ – here.
To stream ‘Houdini’, head HERE.

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