From celebs stirring up Spider-Man rumors to Pete Davidson's sentencing, here's what's happening in entertainment.
Spider-Man IV?
Let's immerse ourselves in a bit of gossip and rumors for just a second and I think if you're an MCU fan, you'll enjoy this one.
Actor Thomas Haden Church, has fans of Spider-Man buzzing about the possible return of Tobey Maguire as your friendly neighborhood superhero. In an interview with USA Today, he said he heard that another fourth installment in the Spidey franchise was in the works with director Sam Raimi behind the camera.
Both actors reprised their roles, Church as Flink Marko aka Sandman and Maguire as Peter Parker, in the 2021 Spider-Man 3: No Way Home. Earlier this year, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed that a fourth installment was in the works but that writers had just begun to put pen to paper.
With the introduction of the multiverse in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, anything is truly possible at this point. So standby MCU fanatics.
Pete Davidson's Driving
SNL alum Pete Davidson is getting off relatively easily after crashing his car into a Los Angeles-area home earlier this year.
The comedian was recently sentenced to community service and will have to attend traffic school after being slapped with a reckless driving charge. The 18-month program will include a hospital visit and a trip to the morgue, to show the severity of how reckless driving incidents can end in tragedy.
Fortunately, there were no injuries in his March 4 accident. The sentencing comes just weeks after Davidson was reportedly admitted into rehab after dealing with mental health struggles.
'Jeopardy!' Strike
Former Jeopardy! champions are planning to boycott the Tournament of Champions over concerns that the show will be forced to use recycled questions as a result of the Hollywood writer's strike. Deadline reported that last season's winner Ray Lalonde told the show's producers that he would not cross the picket line to play if the strike continues.
"I believe the show's writers are a vital part of the show and they are justified in taking their job action to secure a fair contract for themselves and their fellow WGA members," Lalonde said in a Reddit post.
The gaming industry has seen multiple large scales deals this month alone, including Microsoft's megadeal for Activision Blizzard. And, seemingly in response, rival Sony, picked up Bungie for $3.6 billion, a studio once owned by both Microsoft and Activision. The sector is reportedly on track to spend $150 billion on mergers and acquisitions just this year alone, a record-breaking total, according to investment firm Drake Star Partners. Michael Metzger, a partner at the firm specializing in technology, media, and communications, joined Cheddar to discuss the flurry of deals in the gaming space and what might be behind the hot M&A activity.
Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs and TRM Labs, joins Cheddar News to discuss why Facebook is ditching its crypto project and what that means for the space.
Natalie Fertig, federal cannabis policy reporter at Politico Pro, joins Cheddar News to discuss a new YouGov poll that looks at how Americans feel about marijuana and politics.
A virtual gathering in the online space, Decentraland, of Elvis Presley impersonators is looking to grab the Guinness World Record for most Elvis impersonators in one place after the record-keeping org recently approved the use of avatars as stand-ins for people.
A powerful winter storm hit the Northeast over the weekend leaving 100,000 New Yorkers in the dark as well as snowfall up to 30.9 inches in parts of Massachusetts. The nor'easter hit with blizzard conditions of wind speed and poor visibility.
After classic rocker Neil Young demanded removal of his music from Spotify over vaccine misinformation coming from The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the platform made the decision to take down Young's songs and continue supporting Rogan with whom they have an exclusive contract. The move touched off a firestorm of controversy, leading to responses from both the streaming service and the podcasting host. Evan Nierman, CEO of Red Banyan Crisis PR, joined Cheddar to break down the latest on the fracas. "I think when [Spotify] initially said, we're not going to be commenting on that, that was a silly move because guess what? They did end up commenting about it, and nine times out of 10, when an organization says they're not going to be issuing a comment, they ultimately do," Nierman noted.
The 1999 cult classic "Fight Club" has been given a very different ending in China — and this time, the authorities win. Cheddar News speaks with Joan Solsman, senior media reporter at CNET who breaks down how China is using films for political messaging.
NFT art platform TRLab recently raised $4.2 million in funding. TRLab launched just last year but says its platform focused on NFT curation and distribution is growing quickly. The company hopes to bridge traditional and digital art worlds and help artists explore NFTs as an emerging medium. TRLab co-founder and chairwoman Xin Li-Cohen and co-founder and CEO Audrey Ou joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
