The daily gossip: Pat Sajak is leaving 'Wheel of Fortune,' Ezra Miller reemerges at 'The Flash' premiere, and more

1. Pat Sajak is leaving 'Wheel of Fortune'

Get ready for the final spin. Pat Sajak has announced he's leaving "Wheel of Fortune" next year after more than four decades as host. "Well, the time has come," he tweeted. "I've decided that our 41st season, which begins in September, will be my last. It's been a wonderful ride, and I'll have more to say in the coming months. Many thanks to you all." Sajak has been with "Wheel" since 1981. His exit will leave another big vacancy in the game show universe after Alex Trebek's death sparked a messy "Jeopardy!" host search that ended with Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik both being hired. According to Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw, Ryan Seacrest is a candidate to replace Sajak and has been talking to the producers. But based on how things went down at "Jeopardy!", don't be shocked if this somehow all ends with Mike Richards getting the job.

Twitter

2. Ezra Miller reemerges at 'The Flash' premiere

Ezra Miller has returned to attend the premiere of "The Flash" alongside the giant elephant in the room. The actor made a rare public appearance at the DC film's premiere on Monday night after maintaining a low profile since last year due to a string of criminal allegations. Miller looked stoic on the red carpet and spoke briefly in the theater. "I love you, maestro," Miller told director Andy Muschietti, per Deadline. "I think you're amazing, and I think your work is monumental." Miller also thanked DC Studios Co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran for their "grace and discernment and care in the context of my life and in bringing this moment to fruition." There was a time when it seemed like "The Flash" might not even come out after Miller, who plays the title character, faced allegations of assault, grooming, and more in 2022. Given all that, Miller is mostly sitting out press. Against all odds, the film hits theaters this Friday.

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Deadline

3. Olivia Rodrigo reveals new song 'Vampire' is dropping this month

Ready for a bite out of Olivia Rodrigo's new album? The "Drivers License" singer has revealed she's dropping a song called "Vampire" on June 30th, her first new music since her debut album "Sour" in 2021. "So excited for this ahhhhh!!!!!!!," she wrote on Instagram. Rodrigo has recently been teasing new music, promising in May it was "so so so so so close to being done." In February 2022, she told Billboard she had her second album's title "and a few songs," adding she's "trying not to put too much pressure on myself." Rodrigo also shared the cover art for "Vampire," showing her profile in black-and-white except for purple Band-Aids on her neck. This appears to be inspired by the poster for 1968's "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave," hopefully kickstarting a new era of crossovers between pop music and Christopher Lee movies.

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4. Sarah Polley might direct a live-action remake of 'Bambi'

Oh deer. Oscar-winner Sarah Polley is in talks to direct a live-action remake of "Bambi" for Disney, according to Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter. Polley most recently wrote and directed "Women Talking," which was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and she won the adapted screenplay Oscar. She has also starred in films like "Splice" and "Go." A live-action "Bambi" remake has been in the works since at least January 2020, and Variety reported that it will "employ the same photo-realistic CGI" used on Disney's prior updates of "The Jungle Book" and "The Lion King," suggesting the word "live-action" should be taken with a grain of salt. Congrats to Polley on securing every director's dream job of leaving a new generation of kids traumatized for life.

Deadline The Hollywood Reporter

5. 'Avatar 5' will now be released in 2031

The odds that we're all going to live to see the end of the "Avatar" series just went down. Disney has announced delays to many of its upcoming films, including the next two "Avengers" movies, both of which were postponed a year. "Avengers: The Kang Dynasty" is now set to be released in May 2026. The next "Star Wars" movie was also delayed from December 2025 to May 2026, though a different "Star Wars" film was scheduled for December of that same year. The "Avatar" sequels were also yet again delayed, with "Avatar 3" being pushed back from December 2024 to December 2025. "Avatar 4" was also delayed three years to 2029, and "Avatar 5" is now scheduled for 2031, which we're just supposed to believe is a real year. Best of luck to James Cameron on completing his saga about the destruction of the Earth before the actual destruction of Earth.

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