ROBERT PATTINSON DONS THE BATSUIT: It’s official! Robert Pattinson has officially started shooting the new Warner Bros The Batman. Matt Reeves is directing, and he tweeted an image of the film’s first clapperboard. Fellow cast member Jeffrey Wright (Commissioner Gordon) retweeted the shot, writing “Shine the light.” The Batman will drop on June 25, 2021.
DEGRASSI CO-CREATOR CHRISTOPHER ‘KIT’ HOOD DIES: Christopher “Kit” Hood, the co-creator of the long-running franchise Degrassi, has died at age 76. Reports indicate that he died “suddenly” at his home in Nova Scotia; no cause of death was given. Co-creator Linda Schuyler said in a statement: “As Kit and I created Kids of Degrassi Street in the early 1980s, he shifted his focus to directing and brought his influence to the world of Degrassi. He added his trademark impish charm, and a kid’s-eye view, never letting the camera look down on our young protagonists.” He is survived by two daughters, Georgia and Fenella, his wife Agnes Malouf and her daughter July, and his sister Nicola.
NICHOLAS PARSONS DIES: The Just a Minute host and Good Omens star Nicholas Parsons has died at age 96. The British radio and TV host worked for more than five decades as a host, actor and voice, most recently as the demon Dagon in Amazon‘s Good Omens. Outgoing BBC director general Tony Hall said: “Very few people have done so much to entertain audiences over the decades, and no one deserves to be called a broadcasting legend more than Nicholas Parsons. His charm, inventive intellect and ability to create laughs were unsurpassed. Our thoughts are with his family and all who knew him.”
OPRAH WINFREY TO DIG INTO AMERICAN DIRT: Oprah Winfrey‘s latest book club choice, American Dirt, prompted a bit of a backlash as it tells the story of a mother fleeing Mexico with her son, and the author, Jeanine Cummins, is white. She is being accused of trafficking in stereotypes and cultural appropriation. But Winfrey is excited to have a “deeper, more substantive discussion” about the selection, with people from both sides of the debate.