On a Friday full of surprises, Helen Mirren not only made her music video debut in Kendrick Lamar’s “Count Me Out”, she’s also narrating the teaser trailer for Greta Gerwig’s upcoming “Barbie” film. For the latter, it is not known yet if Mirren also narrates the film, which will star Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, and will premiere next Summer. In the former video, a visual for the “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers” album cut, Helen is featured as Lamar’s therapist, with the two in session. She asks him about an interaction he had with a woman in a parking lot, where the woman accused Lamar of stealing her parking spot. Kendrick makes a joke and the two have a laugh about the incident before the therapist digs deeper, asking him why he texted her “I feel like I’m fallen” at 2 a.m. The Dave Free and Lamar-directed “Count Me Out” video then cuts to different scenes as he attempts to answer her question. Kendrick is seen in various settings: the desert, among a herd of goats, in the car, having drinks with friends—one of whom is Jack Dorsey—and more.

While all eyes are on 1923’s December 18 premiere, let’s not forget next Spring’s theatrical release of “Shazam: Fury of the Gods”. In a recent interview with Total Film, director David F. Sandberg teased Mirren’s compelling new DCU villain in Shazam! Fury of the Gods. After Billy Batson (Asher Angel) is imbued with special powers by the last remaining member of the Council of Wizards in the previous film, the 14-year-old boy is transformed into Shazam (Zachary Levi). To defeat Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong), an evil scientist who was denied the chance to become Shazam’s champion, Batson shares his power with his foster family to create a superhero team. Shazam! Fury of the Gods picks up two years after the events of its predecessor and sees Batson and his family take on the Daughters of Atlas. The director recalled his surprise that he was able to hire Mirren – an actor with a long esteemed career in film – to portray his chief antagonist, Hespera. Read Sandberg’s full quote below:

You need great villains for a great superhero movie. It was interesting that we landed on these mythological characters. It felt like something new for fans. We said from the start we should aim really high. We said, ‘We should get someone on the level of, like, Helen Mirren.’ And then we tried reaching out to her and she said ‘yes’ straight away. It was like, ‘Holy sh*t! We actually got Helen Mirren.’ Then we went to Lucy Liu and she said ‘yes.’ They bring so much to the parts. (David F. Sandberg, Total Film, December 2022)

Yes, that’s a real thing! 2022 marks the first standalone expansion of the Emmy Award competition and establishes a dedicated ceremony separate from the Daytime Emmy Awards, which had been home to children’s and family programming categories. And in its inaugural year, Helen Mirren has been awarded in the category Best Host for Cartoon Network’s “Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses” (which, again, was a real thing). For her work on television, Mirren has received a whopping 11 nominations since 1992’s “Prime Suspect 2”, winning 4 times, for “Prime Suspect: The Scent of Darkness”, “The Passion of Ayn Rand”, “Elizabeth I.” and “Prime Suspect: The Last Act”. So, thanks to the Harry Potter Tournament, Helen Mirren is now a five-time Emmy Award winner. 🙂

We’re only one week away from next Sunday’s premiere of “1923: A Yellowstone Origin Story” and fortunately the marketing for the series is not slowing down. While we’re crossing our fingers for more additional interviews next week, a nice batch of videos from the Los Angeles and Las Vegas premieres, as well as a first featurette, have been added to the video archive. For a complete list, have a look at the previews below.

It has been a big week for “1923” and its upcoming release on Paramount+ on December 18. Premieres for the first season of the “Yellowstone” spin-off were held in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, with additional appearances made for a SAG/AFTRA conversation panel, yesterday. Pictures from all events have been added to the photo gallery.

“He’s fabulously hands-off. He presents the script, and it’s so extraordinary that you don’t want to change a word. You want to do it exactly as it’s written because it’s written with incredible precision but without being labored. To be able to be a part of a franchise in a world that is so singular on American television is very exciting. There’s nothing else quite like it.” (Helen Mirren on Taylor Sheridan, The Hollywood Reporter, December 02, 2022)