Entertainment News Roundup: At Cannes, Barry Keoghan jokes about doing a musical after 'Bird'; More 'Mad Max' stories to tell, says director George Miller and more

Best friends, that's where it's at,” Adlon, the Emmy-winning star and co-creator of FX TV drama "Better Things," told Reuters. Francis Ford Coppola says he didn't realize film 'Megalopolis' would be so timely Francis Ford Coppola did not know how relevant "Megalopolis", a sci-fi epic that is an allegory for the fall of the Roman Republic, would become to U.S. politics when he first began developing the concept decades ago, the legendary auteur said at the Cannes Film Festival.

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

More 'Mad Max' stories to tell, says director George Miller

Director George Miller said there are more stories to be told within the "Mad Max" universe, a day after the fifth film in the franchise, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. "There's certainly other stories there. Mainly because we wrote, in order to tell the story of 'Fury Road,' we had to know the back story of Furiosa and Max in the year before," he told journalists on Thursday.

Pioneering English Channel swimmer celebrated in ‘Young Woman and the Sea’

New Hollywood film "Young Woman and the Sea" brings the story of Gertrude "Trudy" Ederle to the big screen, shining a light on the Olympic gold medalist's feat to become the first woman to swim the English Channel. In 1926, the American set off from northern France for the southern English coast, making the crossing in 14 hours 31 minutes and beating the men’s world record by one hour and 59 minutes.

After decades, Francis Ford Coppola's opus 'Megalopolis' finally debuts at Cannes

Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola closed a decades-in-the-making chapter of his long career on Thursday as his passion project "Megalopolis," a 138-minute epic science-fiction tale drawn from Roman history, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. With "Megalopolis," the Oscar-winning director of "The Godfather" is in the running for the Palme d'Or for the first time since "Apocalypse Now" netted him the top prize in 1979.

At Cannes, Barry Keoghan jokes about doing a musical after 'Bird'

Does Barry Keoghan have a musical in his future? After dance scenes in two recent films, including director Andrea Arnold's fresh new Cannes Film Festival entry "Bird," the Irish actor joked that he is on the lookout. "Yeah, I'm looking for a musical, by the way, if there's any out there," Keoghan told Reuters.

Concord terminates $1.51 billion offer for Hipgnosis

Apollo-backed Concord terminated its proposed $1.51 billion offer for Hipgnosis Songs Fund on Thursday, according to Alchemy Copyrights, which indirectly controls Concord. Nashville-based independent music company Concord's revised offer was trumped by Blackstone's sweetened $1.57 billion proposal for the owner of music rights of artists including Shakira and Blondie.

Disney, Fox, Warner Bros Discovery sports-streaming venture named Venu Sports

The sports-streaming service set to be launched by Walt Disney Co, Warner Bros Discovery and Fox Corp will be called Venu Sports and is on track for launch this fall, Pete Distad, the venture's CEO, said on Thursday. Announced in February, the service will try to woo younger viewers who are not tuned in to cable TV with a bundled offering of the companies' broad portfolio of professional and collegiate sports rights, including the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and FIFA World Cup.

Judge to rule next week on Baldwin bid to avoid 'Rust' trial

A New Mexico judge next week will make a decision on Alec Baldwin's request to have charges dropped against him in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, as the actor tries to avoid an unprecedented Hollywood manslaughter trial for an on-set death. Baldwin's lawyers had filed motions to dismiss his indictment, alleging prosecutorial misconduct, failure to show the actor committed a crime and destruction of evidence during testing of the gun Baldwin used in 2021 during a rehearsal on the New Mexico set of 'Rust.'

A younger Furiosa stars in action-packed 'Mad Max' prequel

Director George Miller needed a fresh set of A-list actors to star in the latest installment of the “Mad Max” franchise, but he knew they would need to bring something special to the iconic roles. That meant recasting the titular role of the officer turned rebel, Furiosa, who was portrayed by Oscar-winning actor Charlize Theron in 2015 film “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Friendship, not romance, at the heart of comedy film 'Babes'

For director Pamela Adlon, Hollywood’s overfocus on romance has faded, making room for more stories focused on friendships like her comedy film “Babes.” “I mean, romance is over. Best friends, that's where it's at,” Adlon, the Emmy-winning star and co-creator of FX TV drama "Better Things," told Reuters.

Francis Ford Coppola says he didn't realize film 'Megalopolis' would be so timely

Francis Ford Coppola did not know how relevant "Megalopolis", a sci-fi epic that is an allegory for the fall of the Roman Republic, would become to U.S. politics when he first began developing the concept decades ago, the legendary auteur said at the Cannes Film Festival. Coppola wanted to do a Roman epic set in modern America.

(With inputs from agencies.)