Hilary Duff to Reprise 'Lizzie McGuire' Role for New Disney+ Series

Disney continues to mine its library for its forthcoming streaming service.

 

The company on Friday announced that Hilary Duff will reprise her role in a new update of her beloved Lizzie McGuire for the forthcoming Disney+ streaming service. Original series creator Terri Minsky is attached to serve as showrunner on the live-action scripted comedy.

 

The new Lizzie McGuire will revolve around Lizzie as a 30-year-old millennial navigating life in New York City. Duff is poised to make the announcement during a surprise appearance Friday at Disney's D23 Expo in Anaheim.

 

Additional details — including an episode count and premiere date — were not immediately available. Also unclear is if any other original Lizzie McGuire stars — including Lalaine, Adam Lamberg, Jake Thomas, Hallie Todd and Robert Carradine — will be part of the new Disney+ series.

 

Duff launched her career playing Lizzie McGuire, a 13-year-old who dreams of being popular at school, on the former Disney Channel comedy. Minsky created the series, which became a marketing gold mine for Disney, spawning soundtracks, books, apparel and a feature film, The Lizzie McGuire Movie. The latter grossed $55 million worldwide. 

 

Duff, who currently stars on TV Land comedy Younger, was in talks to continue Lizzie McGuire in a new ABC primetime scripted series after the Disney Channel show ended after two seasons and 65 episodes in the early 2000s. However, talks between Duff's camp and Disney stalled and the series never metalized.

 

The new Lizzie McGuire series joins a Disney+ roster that also includes multiple Star Wars live-action series, Marvel Cinematic Universe TV spinoffs, a new take on High School Musical and an animated Monsters, Inc., among others.

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/hilary-duff-reprise-lizzie-mcguire-role-new-disney-series-1234243

Taylor Swift plans to re-record her back catalog after Scooter Braun bought it

Music superstar Taylor Swift plans to go back into the studio to create new masters for her classic songs, to offset a blockbuster deal that put earlier versions in the hands of music mogul Scooter Braun, she tells Tracy Smith in an interview for CBS SUNDAY MORNING. The interview will be broadcast Sunday, August 25 (9:00 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.

 

Braun, a talent agent with whom Swift has had a contentious relationship, recently bought the right to Swift’s masters – and more – when his company acquired Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group in a deal reportedly worth $300 million. 

 

In an in-depth interview that features Swift at home, in the studio and much more, the chart-topping singer-songwriter tells Smith she found out about the deal “when it was online” and that nobody in her inner circle knew of the pending deal. Big Machine officials see it differently.

 

Smith asks Swift about re-recording the past songs as a way to regain control of her master recordings.

 

“Might you do that?” Smith asks.

 

“Oh yeah,” Swift says.

 

“That’s a plan?” Smith asks.

 

“Yeah, absolutely,” Swift says. 

 

Swift opens up to Smith about her songwriting process, growing up in the business, addressing her haters in music, her insecurities, her life today and much more. Smith is also behind the scenes for the creation of Swift’s new music video and for the release of her new song. 

 

https://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-news/releases/view?id=53324

‘Lover’ Has Sold Nearly a Million Copies Before Release

Taylor Swift’s ‘Lover’ Has Sold Nearly a Million Copies Before Release (EXCLUSIVE)

 

Taylor Swift has not given up on the full-length album as an indicator of success as well as art form, and judging from pre-release sales for “Lover,” which comes out Friday, her belief in the ongoing viability of the format is not in vain.

 

“The anticipation of this album is extraordinary, with pre-sales quickly approaching one million copies globally,” Monte Lipman, founder and chairman of Republic Records, tells Variety.

 

Swift’s previous album, 2017’s “Reputation,” was the last album to sell a million copies in the U.S. in its opening week, and all eyes are on “Lover” — her first release since signing with Republic — to reveal whether that’s still an attainable goal this late into the streaming era. The international pre-release tally suggests that it might well be.

 

“Reputation,” her final Big Machine release, has sold more than 2.2 million copies in America since it came out 15 months ago. The album before it, the five-year-old “1989,” stands at 6.2 million in U.S. sales.

 

While downward trends for album sales in general make Swift’s first-week tallies hard to predict, the singer has only been trending upward as a touring artist. Her Reputation Stadium Tour broke the record for an American tour gross with $266 million in receipts.

https://variety.com/2019/music/news/taylor-swift-lover-million-copies-before-release-1203307292/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Britney is worth nearly $60M, paid $1M to conservators documents reveal

Britney Spears Raked In Over $2.5 Million Last Year, 80 Trips to Target

 

Britney Spears was an earning machine in 2018, despite being on the verge of an emotional breakdown and going H.A.M. on retail therapy.

 

The Blast obtained financial documents filed in Britney's conservatorship case, which requires an annual accounting of all the money going in and out of her account.

 

The pop star was touring for much of 2018 during her "Piece of Me" tour, which ran from July through October.

 

Britney's portfolio is staggering, with enough investment accounts, mutual funds and trusts set up to make any accountant's head spin.

 

Her total assets, at the end of 2018, come in at $59,079,755.76.

 

The number is obviously impressive, and after all of Britney's pricey expenses, still puts her over $2.5 million ahead of where she was at the end of 2017.

 

Among Britney's $400,000 listed in expenses, her favorite store of choice definitely appears to be Target.

 

Britney's financial documents list over 80 different trips to the retail giant throughout 2018. As if fans needed documents to tell them the "Toxic" singer loved a good sale ... there have been Britney sightings at many Target locations over the years.

 

Her other shops of choice appear to be Ralphs and Home Depot. In total, she spent just over $66,000 on household supplies.

Britney loves to travel, and her documents state that she spent over $70,000 on travel expenses last year, including a 4-night stay at the Beverly Hills Montage in November that cost over $16,000.

 

She also spent over $1 million for fees paid to her conservators and case management advisors, including father Jamie Spears, who collected $128,000.

 

The expenses listed do not include Britney's time spent in a mental health facility from earlier this year.

 

All of the payments paid to the advisors, as well as the entire management of Britney's conservatorship, will come into play as the investigation into the singer's case continues.

 

As we reported, the judge in Britney's conservatorship has ordered a special investigator look at all angles and aspects of the situation, as Britney has asked for certain freedoms granted.

 

A decision could be made as early as next month.

 

https://theblast.com/c/britney-spears-money-earned-conservatorship-target