New Trailer Released for Demi Lovato’s “A Very Demi Holiday Special” Featuring Trixie Mattel, Paris Hilton & More

It’ll be an eclectic holiday season for Demi Lovato.

The latest trailer has been released for the 31-year-old half-Mexican American singer and actress’ upcoming Roku special titled A Very Demi Holiday Special.

Demi LovatoAs seen in the clip, Lovato is bringing together some of her celebrity friends for a jolly ol’ time.

The one-minute clip shows Lovato baking with Paris Hilton, learning The Nutcracker ballet with Trixie Mattel, making ugly sweaters with Tiffany Haddish and singing with JoJo.

The special will air on the Roku Channel on Dec. 8.

During the OBB Pictures-produced special, you can expect to hear songs such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Jingle Bell Rock” and a surprise duet, as well as a some of Lovato’s original hits.

Later in the month, Lovato is welcoming 2024 with a New Year’s Eve concert at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on Sunday (Dec. 31) at 10:30 pm PT. She is fresh off the release of her Revamped album, which featured rock reimaginings of some of her greatest hits including “Skyscraper,” “Give Your Heart a Break,” “La La Land,” “Sorry Not Sorry” and more.

Demi Lovato to Welcome A-List Celebrities on Roku’s “A Very Demi Holiday Special” 

Demi Lovato is preparing to get people into the holiday spirit… And, she’s invited some A-list celebrities to help.

The 31-year-old half-Mexican American singer, songwriter and actress is hosting a Roku special titled A Very Demi Holiday Special with her star-studded lineup of celebrity friends, including Paris Hilton, Trixie Mattel, Hailey Bieber, Tiffany Haddish and JoJo.

Demi LovatoThe show will air on the Roku Channel on December 8, with more special guests to be announced in the coming weeks. 

During the OBB Pictures-produced special, you can expect to hear songs such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Jingle Bell Rock” and a surprise duet, as well as a some of Lovato’s original hits.

If you have Roku, then you can tune in to the special through the Roku channel.

Later in the month, Lovato is welcoming 2024 with a New Year’s Eve concert at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on Sunday, December 31 at 10:30 pm PT.

Lovato is fresh off the release of her Revamped album, which featured rock reimaginings of some of her greatest hits including “Skyscraper,” “Give Your Heart a Break,” “La La Land,” “Sorry Not Sorry” and more.

Disney Releases First Look Photo of Rachel Zegler in Live-Action “Snow White” Film

Rachel Zegler is the fairest of them all

Disney has released a first look photo of its live-action Snow White film, starring the 22-year-old half-Colombian American Golden Globe-winning actress and singer.

Rachel Zegler, Snow WhiteThe film’s release date has been pushed back a year to March 21, 2025, amidst the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

Zegler portrays the title character in the new take on Disney’s 1937 animated classic, a work foundational to the studio’s empire that was itself based on a 19th century fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm.

The story follows a princess who is rescued by seven dwarf miners who make Snow White part of their household after she’s exiled into a dangerous forest by her wicked stepmother.

The new still from Disney’s Snow White features Zegler’s princess opposite dwarves Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy and Sneezy.

Marc Webb directed from a script by Barbie‘s Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson, with Marc Platt producing.

Gal Gadot plays the Evil Queen, with Tony Award winner Andrew Burnap portraying a new male lead character.

Original songs for the film were penned by the Oscar-winning La La Land duo of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Demi Lovato Releases “Revamped,” Featuring Reimagined, Rock Versions of Her Old Tracks

Demi Lovato is (re)vamping things up…

The 31-year-old Mexican American singer, songwriter and actress has released her new album featuring reimagined, rock versions of her old tracks, fittingly titled Revamped.

Demi Lovato

The 10-track LP features some of her biggest hits (“Heart Attack,” “Sorry Not Sorry”) alongside fan favorites (“La La Land,” “Tell Me You Love Me”), all with amped-up guitars and a spotlight on Lovato’s powerhouse vocals. “It just feels really good,” they told Billboard. “I’m really proud of the work that we did, and I’m excited for the songs to be out there.” 

Lovato continued, “I think it reignited an excitement inside of me for those songs. Like, take ‘Give Your Heart a Break,’ for example: I got really tired of performing that one live, because it had been in my catalog for so long, and it didn’t really reflect any sound that I had anymore. Even when I went more R&B-pop, it just wasn’t the kind of sound I was looking for anymore, because it was just so pop. But when we put together the rock version, I was suddenly having a really fun time on stage performing it.”

Lovato performed a slew of her rocked-out hits at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards earlier in the week, including “Heart Attack,” “Sorry Not Sorry” and “Cool for the Summer.”

The new album follows Lovato’s 2022 album, Holy Fvck, which introduced their rock musical abilities to fans. The album peaked at No. 7 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart upon its release, and topped the Billboard Hot Rock Albums chart on September 3, 2022.

Javier Bardem to Star in Sony Pictures’ Film Adaptation of the Popular Children’s Book “Lyle, Lyle Crocodile”

Javier Bardem is getting animated…

The 52-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actor will star in Will Speck and Josh Gordon’s Lyle, Lyle Crocodile for Sony Pictures.

Javier Bardem

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Oscar-winning songwriting team behind the music of La La Land and upcoming Dear Evan Hansen film, will reportedly write original songs for the film.

Speck and Gordon will direct with the script, based on the best-selling children’s book by Bernard Waber, being adapted by Will Davies.

Lyle Lyle Crocodile

First published in 1965, the venerable children’s tale centers on the title reptile, who lives in a house on East 88th Street in New York City. Lyle enjoys helping the Primm family with everyday chores, and playing with the neighborhood kids. He’s the happiest crocodile any home ever had…until one neighbor insists that Lyle belongs in a zoo. Mr. Grumps and his cat, Loretta, don’t like crocodiles, and everything Lyle does to win them over seems to go wrong. It will take all of Lyle’s charm—and courage—to reveal the hero, and friend, behind the big crocodile smile.

The film will debut on July 22, 2022.

For an actor known more for his adult roles like Biutiful and his Oscar-winning work in No Country For Old Menthe film marks his rare trek into the family-friendly genre.

But sources say Waber’s original story was very appealing to Bardem from the moment he was offered the part.

This isn’t his first dive into material meant for all ages. He’s previously played the villain in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and will play King Triton in Disney’s live action adaptation of its acclaimed animated film The Little Mermaid.

When it comes to adult roles, Bardem’s upcoming slate includes Legendary’s DuneFernando León de Aranoa’s The Good Boss (El Buen Patron) and Aaron Sorkin’s Being The Ricardoswhere he plays Desi Arnaz, opposite Nicole Kidman’s Lucille Ball.

Rachel Zegler to Star as Snow White in Disney’s Live-Action Adaptation of the Classic Animated Film

Rachel Zegler’s royal coronation is around the corner…

The 20-year-old half-Colombian American actress and singer will star as Snow White in Disney’s live-action adaptation of the classic film that started it all for the studio’s legendary slate of animated features.

Rachel Zegler,

Marc Webb will direct the film, with Marc Platt producing. Production is expected to begin in 2022.

“Rachel’s extraordinary vocal abilities are just the beginning of her gifts,” said Webb of the actress who will star as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s new retelling of West Side Story. “Her strength, intelligence and optimism will become an integral part of rediscovering the joy in this classic Disney fairytale.”

The original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs cartoon, based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale, was released in 1938.

It was Disney’s inaugural animated feature and became a massive success for the studio.

Insiders say the live-action film will expand upon the story and music from the original. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Oscar– and Tony Award-winning duo behind La La LandThe Greatest Showman and Dear Evan Hansen, will write new songs for the film.

The studio had been taking its time on the live-action adaptation because they wanted to get the music right, and insiders says higher-ups are excited with what Pasek and Paul have come up with so far.

As for the casting process, Webb and studio execs had been meeting with talent for several months for the role of Snow White. Zegler’s auditions impressed everyone, insiders say, but another factor was footage from West Side Story that blew away the Disney studio brass who’ve seen it, and helped push the decision across the finish line.

The casting also marks a step in the right direction of Disney diversifying its Disney Princess characters, after tapping Halle Bailey to play Ariel in the upcoming live-action The Little Mermaid film.

Zegler was just 17 when she beat out more than 30,000 actresses for the lead role of Maria in West Side Story. The new adaptation will debut on December 10 and also stars Ansel Elgort and Rita Moreno.

She’ll also star in her first big comic-book film, joining Zachary Levi in D.C.’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

Universal Pictures to Release Film Adaptation of “Dear Evan Hansen,” Starring Danny Pino, in September

Danny Pino is set to have a dear fall season…

The movie adaptation of Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, starring the 46-year-old Cuban American actor, will hit theaters on September 24, according to Universal Pictures.

Danny Pino

Ben Platt is reprising his Tony-winning title role alongside Amy AdamsJulianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amandla Stenberg, Colton Ryan, Nik Dodani, DeMarius Copes and Pino, who portrays Larry Murphy.

The story follows Evan Hansen (Platt), a high schooler with social anxiety who unintentionally gets caught up in a lie after the family of a classmate who died by suicide mistakes one of Hansen’s letters for their son’s suicide note.

Stephen Chbosky directed the film from a script by Steven Levenson, who wrote the book for the stage musical, with music and lyrics by La La Land Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Pino, an Imagen Award winner, previously starred in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Cold Case and Mayans M.C.

Netflix Gives Series Order to Callie Hernandez’s Musical Drama “Mixtape”

Callie Hernandez is bringing the music to Netflix

Fox’s pilot Mixtape, starring the Latina actress/singer,is headed to series — at Netflix.

Callie Hernandez

The Internet network has given a 10-episode order to the musical drama starring Hernandez, Jenna Dewan and Madeline Stowe.

The project hails from Quantico creator Josh Safran; Annapurna Pictures; 20th Century Fox Television, which produced the original pilot; and its cable/streaming division Fox 21 Television Studios.

The majority of the cast of the Fox pilot, which was directed by Jesse Peretz, are set to continue. That includes Hernandez, Jahmil French, Dewan, Campbell Scott, Stowe, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Megan Ferguson and Evan Whitten.

The male lead, played in the Fox pilot by Raul Castillo, will be recast, and possibly the child role of his young son. As a result, there will be some reshoots on the pilot, which would be helmed by Peretz subject to availability.

Written by former Smash showrunner Safran, Mixtape is a romantic musical drama that looks at the love stories connecting a diverse, disparate group of people in contemporary Los Angeles through the music that lives inside their hearts and minds.

Hernandez is best known for her roles in Blair WitchAlien: CovenantLa La Land and The Endless.

Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” Opens Strong in China

Guillermo del Toro’s latest film is shaping up to be a hit in China…

The 53-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s Best Picture Oscar winner, The Shape Of Water, opened in fairy tale fashion in China over the weekend, grossing $10.35M (RMB 65.7M) on 17,000 screens.

The Shape of Water

The score tops all comps including Fox Searchlight stablemate Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri which bowed to $2.4M (RMB 15.2M) a few weeks back. It also helps push the awards-season darling across the $100M mark at the international box office.

Few recent Best Picture winners have even been released in China, so comps there are difficult to come by. However, Shape topped other films that have figured heavily in recent seasons including The Darkest Hour which opened to $2.2M (RMB 14.1M) and La La Land, which tapped out a $9.35M (RMB 59.3M) debut last year before twirling to a $36M final. The Middle Kingdom result is doubly impressive for a film that leans towards the art house.

The Chinese opening is also Shape‘s best Day One performance ($3M+) and its best launch weekend worldwide. Its PROC share this frame was 11.1% for the No. 4 position behind Tomb Raider, Black Panther and Operation Red Sea.

Online sentiment has been strong; the Sally Hawkins-starrer has a 7.3 score on reviews site Douban. Although del Toro was unable to visit China to promote the movie, he and Searchlight engaged with audiences there.

Post winning his Oscars, del Toro did a round of interviews for the Chinese press and spoke to a number of online influencers and ticketing apps. He also did greetings for some of those platforms and others.

Shape will continue to see play this week, coincidentally before the release this Friday of the del Toro produced Pacific Rim: Uprising.

Miranda Receives First Oscar Nomination for His Work on Disney’s “Moana”

Lin-Manuel Miranda is thisclose to making history…

The 37-year-old Puerto Rican actor, playwright, composer, rapper, and writer, best known for creating and starring in the Broadway musicals Hamilton and In the Heights, has picked up his first Oscar nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Miranda, the recipient of an Emmy, two Grammys and three Tony Awards, earned the recognition for his musical work on the Disney animated film Moana. He’s responsible for the music and lyrics for the track “How Far I’ll Go,” which is nominated in the Best Original Song category.

Should he win, Miranda will become the youngest member of the EGOT club (recipients of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony), replacing Robert Lopez, who completed his quartet in 2014 with a best original song win for Frozen’s “Let It Go.”

He’d be only the second Latino to join the club, following in the footsteps of fellow Puerto Rican multi-faceted artist Rita Moreno.

But Miranda faces stiff competition… “How Far I’ll Go” is up against two songs from Oscar frontrunner La La Land, “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” and Golden Globe-winner “City of Stars,” as well as Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from Trolls and Sting’s “The Empty Chair” from Jim: The James Foley Story.

Miranda isn’t the only Latino nominee this year…

Like Miranda, Juanjo Gimenez has also picked up his first nomination. The 53-year-old Spanish filmmaker is nominated for Best Live Action Short Film for “Timecode.”

The short film picked up the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.

Rodrigo Prieto has picked up the second Oscar nod of his career… The 51-year-old Mexican cinematographer is nominated in the Best Cinematography category for his work on Martin Scorsese’s Silence.

Prieto was previously nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, losing the prize to Dion Beebe’s Memoirs of a Geisha.

Other Latino nominees include Richard Alonzo for Best Makeup and Hair for his work on Star Trek Beyond and Adam Valdez for Best Visual Effects for his work on The Jungle Book.

The 89th annual Academy Awards will take place on February 26 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Here’s the full list of nominees:

Best picture:
“Arrival”
“Fences”
“Hacksaw Ridge”
“Hell or High Water”
“Hidden Figures”
“La La Land”
“Lion”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”

Lead actor:
Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
Andrew Garfield, “Hacksaw Ridge”
Ryan Gosling, “La La Land,”
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Denzel Washington, “Fences”

Lead actress:
Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”
Emma Stone, “La La Land”
Meryl Streep, “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Supporting actor:
Mahershala Ali, “Moonlight”
Jeff Bridges, “Hell or High Water”
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”
Dev Patel, “Lion”
Michael Shannon, “Nocturnal Animals”

Supporting actress:
Viola Davis, “Fences”
Naomie Harris, “Moonlight”
Nicole Kidman, “Lion”
Octavia Spencer, “Hidden Figures”
Michelle Williams, “Manchester by the Sea”

Best director:
“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Mel Gibson
“Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins
“Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan
“Arrival,” Denis Villeneuve 

Animated feature:
“Kubo and the Two Strings,” Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner
“Moana,” John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer
“My Life as a Zucchini,” Claude Barras and Max Karli
“The Red Turtle,” Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki
“Zootopia,” Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer

Animated short:
“Blind Vaysha,” Theodore Ushev
“Borrowed Time,” Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
“Pear Cider and Cigarettes,” Robert Valley and Cara Speller
“Pearl,” Patrick Osborne
“Piper,” Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer

Adapted screenplay:
“Arrival,” Eric Heisserer
“Fences,” August Wilson
“Hidden Figures,” Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
“Lion,” Luke Davies
“Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney 

Original screenplay:
“20th Century Women,” Mike Mills
“Hell or High Water,” Taylor Sheridan
“La La Land,” Damien Chazelle
“The Lobster,” Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
“Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan

Cinematography:
“Arrival,” Bradford Young
“La La Land,” Linus Sandgren
“Lion,” Greig Fraser
“Moonlight,” James Laxton
“Silence,” Rodrigo Prieto

Best documentary feature:
“13th,” Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish
“Fire at Sea,” Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
“I Am Not Your Negro,” Raoul Peck, Remi Grellety and Hebert Peck
“Life, Animated,” Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
“O.J.: Made in America,” Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow

Best documentary short subject:
“4.1 Miles,” Daphne Matziaraki
“Extremis,” Dan Krauss
“Joe’s Violin,” Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen
“Watani: My Homeland,” Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis
“The White Helmets,” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best live action short film:
“Ennemis Interieurs,” Selim Azzazi
“La Femme et le TGV,” Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff
“Silent Nights,” Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson
“Sing,” Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy
“Timecode,” Juanjo Gimenez

Best foreign language film:
“A Man Called Ove,” Sweden
“Land of Mine,” Denmark
“Tanna,” Australia
“The Salesman,” Iran
“Toni Erdmann,” Germany

Film editing:
“Arrival,” Joe Walker
“Hacksaw Ridge,” John Gilbert
“Hell or High Water,” Jake Roberts
“La La Land,” Tom Cross
“Moonlight,” Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon

Sound editing:
“Arrival,” Sylvain Bellemare
“Deep Water Horizon,” Wylie Stateman and Renee Tondelli
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
“La La Land,” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“Sully,” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Sound mixing:
“Arrival,” Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claude La Haye
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
“La La Land,” Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth 

Production design:
“Arrival,” Patrice Vermette, Paul Hotte
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” Stuart Craig, Anna Pinnock
“Hail, Caesar!,” Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
“La La Land,” David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
“Passengers,” Guy Hendrix Dyas, Gene Serdena 

Original score:
“Jackie,” Mica Levi
“La La Land,” Justin Hurwitz
“Lion,” Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
“Moonlight,” Nicholas Britell
“Passengers,” Thomas Newman

Original song:
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” “La La Land” — Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” “Trolls” — Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
“City of Stars,” “La La Land” — Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
“The Empty Chair,” “Jim: The James Foley Story” — Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
“How Far I’ll Go,” “Moana” Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Makeup and hair:
“A Man Called Ove,” Eva von Bahr and Love Larson
“Star Trek Beyond,” Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
“Suicide Squad,” Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson 

Costume design:
“Allied,” Joanna Johnston
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” Colleen Atwood
“Florence Foster Jenkins,” Consolata Boyle
“Jackie,” Madeline Fontaine
“La La Land,” Mary Zophres 

Visual effects:
“Deepwater Horizon,” Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton
“Doctor Strange,” Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould
“The Jungle Book,” Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon
“Kubo and the Two Strings,” Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould