The daily gossip: James Gunn reveals the future of DC, Ashton Kutcher hopes Danny Masterson is 'found innocent,' and more

1. James Gunn reveals the future of DC

Say it with us: the hierarchy of power in the DC universe has changed yet again. New DC boss James Gunn has unveiled some of his "8-to-10-year plan" for the franchise. The DCU's "first chapter" will include a Superman movie titled Superman: Legacy scheduled for 2025. We're also getting a new Batman movie called The Brave and the Bold, which will introduce a separate Bruce Wayne from Robert Pattinson's. Other projects include a "science-fiction epic" Supergirl movie, a True Detective-style Green Lantern show, and a Game of Thrones-style Themyscira show. But it seems the plan may not be to totally ignore everything that came before, as DC Studios Co-CEO Peter Safran said Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, and others could still return. Gunn even sounded open to bringing back Ezra Miller despite the actor's criminal allegations. But Safran didn't hold back in his assessment of the Batgirl movie that was controversially scrapped, brutally declaring, "That film was not releasable."

Deadline The Wrap

2. Ashton Kutcher hopes Danny Masterson is 'found innocent'

Ashton Kutcher is breaking his silence on Danny Masterson. In an Esquire profile, the actor opened up about the rape allegations against his former That '70s Show and The Ranch co-star, who was criminally charged in 2020. Kutcher told the outlet he wants Masterson "to be found innocent of the charges brought against him," meaning he hopes he actually is innocent. "Ultimately, I can't know," he said. "I'm not the judge. I'm not the jury. I'm not the DA. I'm not the victim. And I'm not the accused. And so, in that case, I don't have a space to comment." A judge declared a mistrial in Masterson's 2022 rape trial, but the actor is set to go on trial again. Kutcher told Esquire that "I wholesale feel for anybody who feels like they were violated in any way." But he also lamented that "someday, [Masterson]'s kid is going to read about this," and according to Esquire, Masterson and Kutcher "remain in touch."

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Esquire Variety

3. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence officially announce 'Bad Boys 4'

Will Smith was a bad boy at the Oscars, but that won't kill the Bad Boys franchise. Smith has taken to Instagram to confirm a fourth Bad Boys film is officially happening. In a video, he's seen driving to the house of his co-star Martin Lawrence, who opens the door and asks, "It's about that time?" The previous Bad Boys movie was a hit in 2020 — and technically the highest-grossing film of that year domestically since it came out before COVID shutdowns. But development on a sequel was reportedly paused last year in the wake of The Slap. Now, it's apparently back on track. Smith's video also features him and Lawrence both coming to the realization that Bad Boys for Life was actually a terrible title for the third film, as now they can't call this one Bad Boys 4 Life. "We shouldn't have called it that, though," Smith says. Whatcha gonna do when poor titling decisions catch up with you?

Instagram

4. Andrea Riseborough's Oscar nomination won't be rescinded

To Leslie won't become a small film with a giant rescinded Oscar. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that Andrea Riseborough will keep her Best Actress Oscar nomination following allegations that her team violated campaign rules. "The Academy has determined the activity in question does not rise to the level that the film's nomination should be rescinded," a statement said. Riseborough scored a shock Best Actress nod for the little-seen movie To Leslie, but there were soon questions about whether people on her team broke Oscar rules regarding lobbying with their aggressive push; this reportedly involved the director's wife asking friends to post about the movie on social media every single day. But the Academy said it "did discover social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern," and "these tactics are being addressed with the responsible parties directly," which presumably just involves the Academy's president shouting "log off" at a bunch of people.

Variety

5. Rupert Grint says working on 'Harry Potter' was 'quite suffocating'

Rupert Grint doesn't look back on his Ron Weasley days with rose-colored glasses. In a Bustle interview, the actor described his experience on the Harry Potter movies as "quite suffocating," explaining, "Potter was so full on — [filming] all year, then we'd promote the rest of the time." For that reason, he said he wasn't sure he even wanted to keep acting after the final movie wrapped. "I wanted a break, to reflect on everything," he said "...It was an out-of-body experience for a while, but I think we finished at the right time. If we continued, it could've gone downhill." Speaking of continuing, Grint separately told GQ he would "love to see Harry Potter be adapted into a TV show," indicating he's open to someone else taking over his role. "I think there'd be a feeling of passing the baton, letting someone else play Ron," he said. Spoken like a guy not necessarily eager to work with J.K. Rowling again.

Bustle GQ