The daily gossip: Will Ferrell destroys James Corden's desk in The Late Late Show finale, Hunger Games prequel trailer arrives, and more

(Image credit: CBS / Screenshot)

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1. Will Ferrell destroys James Corden's desk in 'The Late Late Show' finale
2. 'Hunger Games' prequel trailer brings Rachel Zegler and Peter Dinklage to Panem
3. 'Severance' is reportedly having major behind-the-scenes issues
4. Damon Lindelof 'was asked to leave' the 'Star Wars' universe
5. Chris Pratt 'pretty excited' to drop the first F-bomb in an MCU movie

published 28 April 2023

1. Will Ferrell destroys James Corden's desk in 'The Late Late Show' finale

The Late Late Show is now the late Late Late Show. James Corden has officially ended his late-night reign, signing off for the last time with Thursday's episode. Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and David Letterman all popped up to see Corden off with a goodbye sketch, urging him to keep the secrets of late night — like how they all have a go-to "fake laugh." Corden's final guests were Harry Styles and Will Ferrell, the latter of whom dramatically entered with a sledgehammer that he used to destroy the host's desk, or at least a flimsy prop desk that was easier to smash up. "It's my last show, but it's not the end of the show," Corden jokingly exclaimed, as he still had over half an episode to do. Later, Corden delivered a closing monologue lamenting growing divisions in the United States, a powerful message coming from the man who briefly united us all in our hatred of Cats.

The games are just beginning. Lionsgate has dropped the first trailer for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the prequel to the hit dystopian films. Set 64 years before the original movies, it stars Tom Blyth as a young version of future President Coriolanus Snow, who's assigned to mentor District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird, played by Rachel Zegler. "After Lucy Gray's charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates," the synopsis explains. Peter Dinklage appears in the trailer as the creator of the Hunger Games, who tells Snow his role "is to turn these children into spectacles, not survivors." We also see Viola Davis as the head gamemaker and Hunter Schafer as Coriolanus' cousin. This will be Zegler's third film role after West Side Story and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, both of which underwhelmed financially. May the box office odds be ever in her favor.

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Today's office dance party has been postponed indefinitely. The second season of Apple's Emmy-nominated series Severance is facing delays due to "pricey problems" behind the scenes, according to Puck. A report from Matthew Belloni describes how during the first season, showrunners Dan Erickson and Mark Friedman "ended up hating each other," so Friedman planned to leave. Producer Ben Stiller, though, reportedly couldn't find anyone to replace him, so Friedman returned for season two. The result? "Scrapped scripts and the dreaded showrunners who don't speak to each other," Puck writes. House of Cards creator Beau Willimon was reportedly hired for the third season and to help with the second half of season two, but all this turmoil has led to the new episodes being "delayed significantly." A source close to the show disputed virtually the entire report to TVLine, insisting it's "on schedule." Still, when your outie hears about this drama in about an hour, they're going to be so bummed.

Do you even really work in Hollywood if you haven't been fired from Star Wars at some point? Damon Lindelof has spoken out about his exit from an upcoming Star Wars movie, indicating he didn't leave the project so much as he was fired. The writer behind Lost, The Leftovers, and Watchmen was reportedly co-writing the Star Wars film that we now know will star Daisy Ridley, but Steven Knight has since replaced him. Speaking with Esquire, Lindelof answered a question about being "in talks" to join the Star Wars universe, clarifying, "I was in more than talks to join the Star Wars universe. I joined the Star Wars universe. I was asked to leave the Star Wars universe." He didn't explain what went wrong but added that he'd still be interested in trying to make a Star Wars project at some point. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again," Lindelof said. We have to go back, Rey!

Star-Lord started his journey by listening to "Cherry Bomb," and he's ending it by dropping an F-bomb. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 makes profane MCU history, as it features the first use of the F-word in the 32-film franchise. Chris Pratt fires off the curse during a comedic car scene. "It was not scripted," the actor told Variety, noting "everyone's been trying to improv F-bombs for 10 years," but this was the first to make it in. Pratt also told Jimmy Kimmel he's "pretty excited" about this. "[Marvel Studios President] Kevin Feige talked to [director] James Gunn and said, 'Listen, you don't want to be the guy who's known for having the first F word in your movie,'" Pratt added. "And James was like, 'Yes I do! Don't you know me?'" Well, it's at least the first F-bomb until Marvel offers subtitles translating "I am Groot" to regular English, revealing how foul-mouthed that guy has been from the beginning.

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.