The daily gossip: March 4, 2020

(Image credit: Brian Ach/Getty Images for Omega)

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1. James Bond movie No Time to Die delayed 7 months over the coronavirus
2. Child rappers North West, ZaZa don't have a beef anymore
3. Dixie Chicks drop first new song in 14 years
4. Ben Affleck takes credit for Matt Damon's acting career
5. Warner Bros offers first look at the new Batmobile

published 4 March 2020

1. James Bond movie No Time to Die delayed 7 months over the coronavirus

You only live twice, which is why MGM and Universal have announced that the new James Bond movie is getting delayed seven months due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. No Time to Die was originally planned to be released in the U.S. on April 10, and will now come out Nov. 25. The decision comes after "careful consideration and thorough evaluation of the global theatrical marketplace," the official 007 Twitter account reported. Fans, naturally, were distraught: "Blofeld's most dastardly scheme yet," tweeted writer and filmmaker Jesse Hawken. "This is gonna be terrible news for the bond market," quipped Time's Alex Fitzpatrick. "007 no match for the coronavirus," added CNN's Jake Tapper.

You can breathe easy knowing that peace has officially been restored between kindergarten-aged rappers ZaZa, 5, and North West, 6. Feelings were hurt last Monday when North performed an uncredited "remix" of ZaZa's viral hit "What I Do?" at her father Kanye West's Paris Fashion Week show. "We not mad BUT PLS SHOW LOVE AND SUPPORT TO THE ORIGINAL FIRST!!!" ZaZa's parents wrote on social media. North's mom, Kim Kardashian West, was all apologies, replying "we love you, and North is a huge fan," and explaining "I didn't mean to not give credit." ZaZa's parents replied "all love, all good," with ZaZa confirming she even hopes for a playdate with North someday soon. "We're going to rap and like, go to Disneyland," she said.

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Guess who's baaaaack. On Wednesday, the Dixie Chicks dropped their first new song in 14 years, "Gaslighter," which will serve as the title track of their forthcoming album, out May 1. "Our last album was the most personal and autobiographical we'd ever been," lead singer Natalie Maines said on the Spiritualgasm podcast last September, "and then this one is, like, 10 times that." Thirteen-time Grammy Award-winners, the Dixie Chicks were famously ostracized from country music in 2003 after Maines told a London audience that the group was "ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas," and it seems fitting that their new track is one of empowerment. As Maines told Spiritualgasm, "I had a lot to say."

Ben Affleck claims he's responsible for driving his childhood friend, Matt Damon, to become an actor — out of jealousy. The Good Will Hunting co-writers grew up together in Boston, around the same time that Affleck was cast to star in the TV series The Voyage of the Mimi. "I was seven or eight, and ended up getting the part," Affleck told SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show, adding "it made Matt Damon so incredibly jealous it drove him into a career in cinema. So I really take credit for that." Damon, for his part, has acknowledged in the past that "we fed on each other's enthusiasm. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't met Ben."

Warner Bros is continuing to dole out exciting teasers for its upcoming 2021 Batman movie. Following a brief screen test of Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne costume last month, director Matt Reeves released three photos of the new Batmobile design, which Indiewire describes as having "the same dark, noir-ish feel." Fans took enthusiastically to the updated look: "This has to be a Dodge Challenger, remixed to look like a suped up and gothic Batmobile, and it absolutely works," raved ComicBook.com's Brandon Davis. Added Rooster Teeth Productions' Jon Risinger, "Ok, I finally get why people date a guy for his car."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.