Only Murders in the Building has just lifted the veil on the season 3 trailer, showing us the impressive cast joining Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin for another round of mystery. The season 3 trailer shows us that we’ll be treated to the before and after of Paul Rudd’s character’s death, also revealing that there’s a lot of animosity between the cast of Oliver’s play. Specifically between Ben and Loretta Durkin we might add, played by none other than the legendary Meryl Streep. We’re going to have to wait and find out to see if the show has cast Meryl Streep as the killer, but it turns out that the iconic actress herself didn’t even know if she was the one to bump off Paul Rudd or not. The show’s boss John Hoffman told Deadline: “Throughout out the season, we keep the scripts pretty tight, even with our main cast. I loved watching Meryl be attuned to that and come to that in some way throughout season 3. “She kept on wondering, ‘Am I going to die? Am I going to be the murderer?’ She had to know what was coming up next, it was funny.”

We’re only three weeks away from the season premiere of “Only Murders in the Building”. As Hollywood is on strike and actors will not participate in any kind of promotion for their recent work, it will be interesting to see how the studios will generate buzz for their recent shows without star power. For “Only Murders”, the official poster for season 3 has been revealed by Hulu, alongside a first production still of Meryl and Martin Short. Details have been kept tight on Meryl’s character or the duration of her performance throughout the season. Edit: Additional stills and character posters have been released, alongside the season’s official synopsis:

Season 3 of “Only Murders in the Building” follows Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) as they dig deeper into a murder that takes place behind the scenes of a Broadway show. Ben Glenroy’s (Paul Rudd) Broadway debut is shortened after his sudden death, in which Charles, Oliver and Mabel band together to investigate. With the help of Ben’s co-star Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep), the trio embarks on their toughest case yet as Oliver battles to keep this show on the road.

Remember “Extrapolations”? Scott Z. Burns’ highly anticipated anthology series for Apple TV+ on climate change with a galaxy of famous faces sat on the shelves for two years until it was released in March this year with zero promotion and just as much public interest. Meryl Streep’s top billing for the series turned out to be a two-scene cameo in the show’s second episode. It was a very disappointing affair for a show that tackles most of the most important issues of our time. It would have been great to learn more on why exactly this prestige project went so under the radar and why its topped billed stars chose not to speak about it ahead of its release. Maybe we have to wait a couple of years for this. In the meantime – better late than never – enjoy screencaptures of Meryl’s appearance, with many thanks to David for sending them in. Much appreciated.

Here’s some positive news (in its very early stages) for all “Mamma Mia!” fans out there, according to Entertainment Weekly: Judy Craymer , the producer of Mamma Mia!, both the original stage production and two subsequent films, is committed to making a third movie and even has an idea for how to do it. “It’s in its earliest stages,” Craymer told Deadline of a potential three-quel. “There is a story there, and I do think Meryl should come back – and if the script is right, she would, I think, because she really loved playing Donna.” Craymer also told Deadline that her ideas for a third film include ways to bring back all of the fan favorite characters, including Streep’s Donna, who was deceased in the second film, and Cher’s Ruby. Craymer did, however, also note that there’s nothing “official” yet. A representative for Universal, which produced the previous two films, also told EW that there’s nothing to share at this moment. Part of this is because anything involving more Mamma Mia! must come with the blessing of Andersson and Ulvaeus. “We want to do another movie, and they’re [being cautious],” Craymer added. “But that’s the story of the last 25 years – there’s always a sense of caution from them, and we’re all getting older now. Obviously, anything to do with the music, they have to be okay with.” The first two films, 2008’s Mamma Mia! and 2018’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, were released ten years apart, so it could take a minute to pull all the pieces together.

According to Variety, Steve Martin casually dropped the release date for the third season of “Only Murders in the Building” during his “You Won’t Believe What They Look Like Today!” touring show alongside Martin Short. At Saturday’s show at the Walt Disney Theater. Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, Fla., which also included Jeff Babko and The Steep Canyon Rangers, the comedic duo unveiled the news while warming up the audience at the start of the show. According to two patrons who were in attendance, Martin and Short were delivering updates on what they were up to recently, showing a picture of them alongside their co-star Selena Gomez and two new cast members for Season 3, Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd. At one point, Martin stated, “Catch the new season August 8,” which was followed by Short responding, “Our show is like Steve trying to pee – it streams for 33 minutes.” The complete article can be read Variety with many thanks to Joan for the heads-up.

Disney has revealed that filming on the third season of “Only Murders In The Building” has wrapped. A couple of pictures have been posted on social media, including one by Selena Gomez, who took to Instagram to profess her love for her famous co-star:

Well we wrapped season 3 of @onlymurdershulu -I’m not sure I have enough words to explain just how beautiful this season has been. It has been deliriously hilarious, challenging and for me, an absolute dream. I’ll post more soon. But I’ll I leave it with the woman I adore, look up to and love.

According to Deadline, Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” has added Jeremy Shamos, Linda Emond and Wesley Taylor to its Season 3 cast in recurring roles. The trio joins series stars Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, as well as Season 3 additions Meryl Streep, Paul Rudd, Jesse Williams and Ashley Park. Details regarding their roles are being kept under wraps. Season 3 will step outside the comforts of home as they follow the latest murder, that of Ben Glenroy (Rudd), the lead actor in Oliver Putnam’s (Short) Broadway play who falls dead onstage just as the curtain flew up signaling the show to begin. Just seconds prior to that, Ben had a peculiar interaction with Charles-Haden Savage (Martin) that was intentionally vague. The 20th Television series hails from co-creators and writers Martin and Hoffman, who executive produce along with Short, Gomez, This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman and Jess Rosenthal.

Most outlets have released their reviews on “Extrapolations”, which will air on AppleTV+ from March 17. They all range from well-meaning mixed to positive, resulting in 60% on Rotten Tomatoes. There’s not much written about Meryl Streep’s performance throughout these reviews, so we can assume her role as Sienna Miller’s mother (and also voicing the world’s last hunchback whale), is brief. Here’s a compilation of reviews:

The Hollywood Reporter, Angie Han (March 15, 2023)
The series [is] serious, heavy and mostly lacking in nuance. The urgency of its message is self-evidently important enough that no expense has been spared in delivering it. The cast is star-studded, and the production design lavish. But all this gravitas comes at the expense of the human characters who should be at the center of its stories, turning the series into a well-intentioned but mostly dry series of discussions.

The Chicago Tribune, Nina Metz (March 16, 2023)
I like that “Extrapolations” is asking serious questions. It’s not a hectoring approach but one designed to be entertaining, its themes delivered in a gleaming package filled with boldface names: Meryl Streep, Kit Harington, Diane Lane, Gemma Chan, David Schwimmer, Keri Russell and more. The series is conspicuously focused on either the comfortably middle class or the ultrarich, the latter of whom are forever manipulating the levers of power and global resource management. The people who experience the worst effects of these decisions, losing access to water or livable environments, are mostly an abstraction. It makes you wonder who the target audience for this series actually is – and whether it will have its intended effect.

The Telegraph, Jasper Rees (March 10, 2023)
Extrapolations does sometimes compel. But when opposing speechifiers go at it hammer and tongs about causes, effects and solutions, it can drag like a long night at the debating soc. “Is there anything you need?” a young woman is asked as she prepares to speak about the failure of the Paris Agreement in 2015. “For people to listen,” she replies. The inconvenient truth for this valiant, tub-thumping act of the imagination is that it preaches to the silo.

In a first look video clip by Entertainment Weekly, Sienna Miller informs Meryl Streep that she is the last humpback whale on Earth. Miller and Streep’s debut episode, “2046,” presents an abysmal hereafter where animals, including tigers and orangutans, are extinct. Miller portrays Rebecca, an archivist who studies the extinctions and works to preserve the animals’ memories, while Streep – without giving too much away – is not merely a whale per se, but Rebecca’s late mother, Eve. While an email from Burns containing an enticing P.S. that Streep would play her mother was enough for Miller to say yes to the project script unseen, it helped that the source material centered on a topic that she already cares deeply about. “When you’re dealing with such an enormous crisis of climate and also climate change denial – especially having lived in America throughout the last presidential reign, and having seen the documentaries, many of which Scott was involved with – there’s a lot that can be said from watching documentaries and dealing with hard facts,” Miller tells EW. “Extrapolations” debuts March 17 on Apple TV+ with three episodes, followed by weekly episodes on Fridays until April 21. The complete article and video clip can be found over at Entertainment Weekly.

Promotion for “Extrapolations” is slowly starting (it better hurries up, since the first three episodes premiere this Friday) with a featurette: “Extrapolations” is a bracing drama from writer, director and executive producer Scott Z. Burns that introduces a near future where the chaotic effects of climate change have become embedded into our everyday lives. Eight interwoven stories about love, work, faith and family from across the globe will explore the intimate, life-altering choices that must be made when the planet is changing faster than the population. Every story is different, but the fight for our future is universal. And when the fate of humanity is up against a ticking clock, the battle between courage and complacency has never been more urgent. Are we brave enough to become the solution to our own undoing before it’s too late? The series stars Meryl Streep, Sienna Miller, Kit Harington, Daveed Diggs, Edward Norton, Diane Lane, Tahar Rahim, Yara Shahidi, Matthew Rhys, Gemma Chan, David Schwimmer, Adarsh Gourav, Keri Russell, Marion Cotillard, Forest Whitaker, Eiza González, Murray Bartlett, Indira Varma, Tobey Maguire, MaameYaa Boafo, Hari Nef, Heather Graham, Michael Gandolfini, Cherry Jones, Gaz Choudhry, Ben Harper, Judd Hirsch and Neska Rose.