Photo: Kevin Winter / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
It’s a big week in entertainment, with the Emmys almost here, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman getting witchy again, and Hollywood somehow releasing two action movies at practically the same time called Runner and The Runner. Because apparently we’ve run out of titles.
First, the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards are coming up, and The Pitt is heading into the ceremony as the drama to beat. The show leads all contenders with 25 nominations, with Pluribus among its biggest competition. Noah Wyle is also looking for another win in the lead drama actor race. On the comedy side, Hacks faces some serious competition from newcomer Widow’s Bay, while Jean Smart could continue her remarkable Emmy streak with another win for Hacks.
Then there’s Practical Magic 2, which reunites Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as Sally and Gillian Owens nearly three decades after the original. The sequel brings back Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing while adding Joey King and Maisie Williams as the next generation of Owens women.
Early reviews suggest the spell may have worn off a little. Variety criticized the sequel for revisiting too much of the original without bringing enough new magic to the story and at 130 minutes, it’s a full half-hour longer than its predecessor.
Meanwhile, Alan Ritchson and Owen Wilson are teaming up for Runner, an action thriller with a premise so wonderfully ridiculous that I kind of want to see it based on the description alone. Ritchson plays a courier who discovers the package he’s transporting is actually a human liver desperately needed by a little girl. Criminals want to steal it, but unfortunately for them, their courier happens to be a massive former Navy SEAL.
And if you think you’ve already heard about a movie called Runner, you probably have.
Gal Gadot is starring in a completely different action movie called The Runner. Her movie is streaming on Prime Video, while Ritchson’s Runner is playing in theaters. The two films are being released within weeks of each other, and apparently neither side was willing to change its title.
So, to recap: Alan Ritchson protecting the liver? Runner. Gal Gadot? The Runner. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman casting spells? Practical Magic 2.
And if you can keep all of that straight, you’re already doing better than Hollywood’s marketing departments.
Listen to the KFI entertainment report with Heather Brooker every Friday on Gary and Shannon!