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Costume designer Rosanna Norton, who received an Oscar nomination for the sci-fi classic Tron and also worked on Badlands, Carrie, The Stunt Man and Frankie and Johnny during her four-decade career, has died. She was 80.

Norton died Wednesday at her home in Los Angeles of bladder cancer, her granddaughter Mira Gonzalez told The Hollywood Reporter.

Norton also collaborated with Joe Dante on Explorers (1985), Innerspace (1987), The ‘Burbs (1989) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) and with Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker on Airplane! (1980) and Ruthless People (1986).

She worked with Terrence Malick on Badlands (1973), with Brian De Palma on Phantom of the Paradise (1974) and Carrie (1976), with Richard Rush on The Stunt Man (1980) and with Garry Marshall on Frankie and Johnny (1991).

She shared her Oscar nom for Steven Lisberger’s Tron (1982) with Elois Jenssen.

The oldest of four kids, Rosanna White was born in Los Angeles on Oct. 1, 1944. Her mother, Ann Stanford,...

Airplane! is generally considered to be one of the greatest movie comedies of all-time. The sequel, which introduced William Shatner and a bomb-wielding Sonny Bono to the franchise, not so much.

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The steep drop in quality can be explained by the fact that Airplane II: The Sequel was helmed by Canadian comedy writer Ken Finkleman, and not the original filmmaking team of David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker.

Well, it turns out that Zaz did offer to helm a follow-up to Airplane!, but their plans were torpedoed by legendary director and wine magnate Francis Ford Coppola.

David Zucker recently sat for an interview with right-wing YouTuber, and star of the “South Park of X,” Dave Rubin. Zucker discussed how Zaz was approached by Paramount to make Airplane II, and they even put together a pitch that would have picked up right after the events of the original film.

Andor, the Star Wars show that doesn’t feature an adorable, breakfast cereal-friendly alien toddler, returns for its second season this week. But the acclaimed series wouldn’t exist without the 2016 prequel Rogue One, which first introduced audiences to Rebel hero Cassian Andor.

Oddly enough, a key character in that movie was only made possible thanks to a 41-year-old comedy that featured both an underwater bar fight and Academy Award winner Omar Sharif picking up a pile of dog shit: Top Secret!.

Set shortly before the events of the first Star Wars movie, Rogue One opted to bring back the villainous Imperial leader Grand Moff Tarkin, played by Peter Cushing. Instead of simply hiring another actor to play the role, Lucasfilm opted to use state-of-the-art computer technology to recreate the late Cushing’s face on top of another performer’s body, arguably giving Tarkin more of a “taxidermied video game Npc” vibe,...

"Whatever it is you girls do, I'm sure it's nice and innocent." The Asylum has a brand new comedy B-movie out in theaters right now to watch. It's called Airplane 2025, and obviously it's a 2025 spoof-of-a-spoof comedy riff on the classic Airplane! movie from 1980. The original Airplane!, starring Leslie Nielsen and directed by Jim Abrahams & David Zucker & Jerry Zucker, is an all-timer classic that was already a disaster movie spoof making fun of many of the 70s disaster movies. This new 2025 version focuses more on the sex: A group of repressed college co-eds decides to join the sexual revolution... at 30,000 feet. This stars Tom Arnold, Tania Fox, Cody Renee Cameron, Landon Tavernier, Hannah Hueston, and many other unknown actors you won't recognize. Airplane 2025 is playing in select theaters now and is also out on VOD (as of 4/20 of course) to watch at home for anyone who wants to see...

If you were to compile a list of the best parody movies ever made, you would be hard pressed to find one that doesn't include "The Naked Gun" on it. The hilarious riff on procedural cop shows initially started out as "Police Squad!," a hilarious six-episode television comedy series from David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker whose only crime was being ahead of its time. Although the triage had no such luck making it play to audiences on the small screen, the short-lived series proved to be incredibly successful in movie theaters in the form of 1988's "The Naked Gun," which brought back Leslie Nielsen to reprise his role as the bumbling Detective Lt. Frank Drebin.

The David Zucker-directed film not only jumpstarted Nielsen's comedy career after his memorable role in "Airplane!," but it also led to two sequels: "The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear...

Val Kilmer died from pneumonia, the Los Angeles Department of Public Health has confirmed. The veteran actor died April 1 in L.A. at age 65.

TMZ posted an image of Kilmer’s death certificate today. The beloved screen star was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 and underwent two tracheotomy procedures but had recovered.

The Juilliard-trained Kilmer amassed more than 100 credits during his 40-year career, mostly on the big screen. He broke out with his first movie, 1984’s Cold War romp Top Secret! from the Airplane! crew of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, and shot to stardom with his second, the techie teen comedy Real Genius.

Related: Tom Cruise Admits To Tears When Working Once Again With Val Kilmer On ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Kilmer followed that up with his first smash movie, starring as Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky opposite Tom Cruise in 1984’s Top Gun. He reprised the role for 2022 blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick,...

Patrick Swayze was one of a kind. He’s the only actor I can think of who was as comfortable cutting a rug on the dance floor as demolishing a room full of bad guys with his fists of fury. When he passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2009, we lost an icon who was never really recognized as the legend he is in his time. In the years since many Patrick Swayze movies have become cult favourites, and with a Road House remake recently a hit, we decided now would be a good time to pick the five best Patrick Swayze movies.

Red Dawn (1984)

John Millius’s cold war “what if” thriller goes down in the history books as the first-ever PG-13 movie. It was also Patrick Swayze’s first major leading role, with him best known up to this point for a supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders.

Movie stardom rarely occurs overnight. Yes, there is typically a film where the star "arrives," but this performance usually comes after a series of supporting turns in movies or TV shows where they've swiped a scene or two. Eddie Murphy rocketed to fame via "48 Hrs.," but this came as no surprise to anyone who'd been watching him kill it on "Saturday Night Live." It might've felt like Peter O'Toole exploded out of nowhere in "Lawrence of Arabia," but his portrayal of a too-credulous guard in "The Day They Robbed the Bank of England" put moviegoers on notice that he was a special talent. And Julia Roberts popped in ensemble films like "Satisfaction" and "Mystic Pizza" before becoming America's sweetheart in "Pretty Woman."

When I rolled out of bed on the morning of June 22, 1984, Val Kilmer did not exist. When I came home from the movies that night, he was one...

While audiences might be getting sick of sequels, remakes, and reboots, there's at least one coming to theaters this summer that we're actually looking forward to. "The Naked Gun" franchise is being revived with Liam Neeson taking on the role of Frank Debin Jr., son of Leslie Nielsen's Detective Frank Drebin from the original "Naked Gun" spoof trilogy of films that spawned from the short-lived comedy series "Police Squad!"

While reviving old comedy franchises can be rather risky, "The Naked Gun" comes with a promising filmmaker behind the camera, one who hasn't found much box office success but has consistently delivered some of the greatest comedies of the 21st century. Akiva Shaffer, one-third of the groundbreaking "Saturday Night Live" comedy group known as The Lonely Island, who ushered in the era of the "SNL Digital Short," is directing the film, having previously been at helm of "Hot Rod" (which...

Val Kilmer, the actor famous for taking on Tom Cruise in Top Gun, the Riddler in Batman Forever and Johnny Ringo in Tombstone, passed away on Tuesday at age 65. But before Kilmer cemented his reputation as a powerful dramatic actor, he kicked off his career with some of the funniest performances of the 1980s.

Kilmer made his film debut in Top Secret!, the Zucker brothers’ criminally underrated follow-up to Airplane!. After the success of their disaster movie spoof, the Zuckers and Jim Abraham mashed together a parody of spy movies and Elvis musicals. Unlike Airplane!, which featured a cast of fading movie stars, Zaz went with complete unknown Kilmer for the lead role of singer Nick Rivers.

“He did a reading, did a couple of songs, and we thought, Hey, this is the guy,” remembered David Zucker in a ScreenCrush oral history of Top Secret.

“He could sing, he could...

Val Kilmer has died. The actor known for his roles in films like Batman Forever, Top Gun, and The Doors was 65 years old. The performer’s death was confirmed by the New York Times, which revealed it was the result of pneumonia. As fans of Kilmer know, the actor battled throat cancer on and off for several years since 2015. Born in Los Angeles in 1959, Kilmer was raised by his father Eugene and mother Gladys and attended high school with famous classmates like Mare Winningham. He was accepted into the Juilliard School and was the youngest student at the time of his attendance. He went on to appear in various stage productions, making his Broadway debut opposite Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon in 1983’s The Slab Boys. From there, he made his way to film and television, and he made his feature debut in 1984 with the spy parody Top Secret! from David Zucker,...

Val Kilmer, the celebrated actor known for intensely committing to his performances and for starring roles in films like “Tombstone,” “Top Gun,” “The Doors” and more, died Tuesday from complications of pneumonia. He was 65.

His daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, made the news public.

A Los Angeles native born in 1959, Kilmer grew up in the San Fernando Valley and as a teenager set a record as the youngest student to be accepted into the Julliard school of Drama (the record was broken by Seth Numrich.)

Kilmer pursued a stage career when he started acting professionally in the early 80s, but launched his film career with “Top Secret!” a parody of both World War II dramas and musical comedies starring Elvis Presley directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, the team behind “Airplane!”

The film, though considered a bomb, showcased Kilmer’s matinee idol looks, impeccable comic timing but also his versatile singing voice,...

Paul Walter Hauser, the widely lauded star of films like Richard Jewell, and the martial arts comedy show Cobra Kai, is set to feature in the upcoming reboot of the spoof comedy franchise The Naked Gun. Details about the movie remain under wraps and not much has been revealed about the project. However, Hauser has spilled the beans about his own character and that of his co-star, Liam Neeson.

Hauser is currently promoting his latest movie, The Luckiest Man in America. In the film, based on an unbelievable true story, Hauser plays Michael Larson, an ice-cream truck driver who won a ton of cash in the game show Press Your Luck after he found out how to predict some patterns. The Luckiest Man in America opens in theaters next April, and then his next big movie is Marvel's The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

The actor spoke to JoBlo, and he...

The cast of "Star Trek: The Original Series" had an endearing ability to laugh at themselves. It wasn't just about the sense of levity that often existed on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise; it was the actors' willingness to be goofy and play broadly for laughs. Even a performer as seemingly stiff as William Shatner could loosen up and act the fool when a scene called for it. This capacity to clown was on full display when the crew traveled back in time to 1986 San Francisco to kidnap a couple of humpback whales in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"; watching Spock learn to curse, Bones react in horror to the state of 20th century medicine, and Kirk put the moves on Catherine Hicks' cetologist made us howl because it was so clear the cast was having a wonderful time.

The "Star Trek" cast were also game for comedy...

‘Elevated horror’ gets a bad reputation – but the era is easier to identify now it’s definitively ended with such films as The Monkey.

Hot off the critical success of his Silence-Of-The-Lambs-ish serial killer thriller, Longlegs, you could be surprised to find the next film Osgood Perkins’ name appears next to on a marquee is very, very silly.

The Monkey, which arrived in UK cinemas last week, shares a name and a simian mascot with the Stephen King source text. It even shares a certain amount of the author’s nihilistic wink-wink sense of humour. But where even King’s goofiest tales usually possess some amount of sinister melodrama, Perkins mines the “toy monkey that makes random people explode in gnarly ways” premise for damn-near every laugh it’s worth.

Theo James plays two comically opposed twins – one so terrified of a toy monkey he refuses to maintain any long-lasting relationships,...

Whoopi Goldberg has made a name for herself as one of the most beloved comic actors in the industry. The Oscar winner has given many memorable performances throughout her career. However, her role in Ghost still stands out.

Whoopi Goldberg in Star Trek: The Next Generation | Credits: Paramount Television

Well, obviously, since it got her the much sought-after Academy Award. Interestingly, what many don’t know, though, is she credits a huge part of her success to a medical condition that made her childhood miserable.

Although she has spoken of it many times, her words from an interview from 2016 still remind people that blessings can sometimes truly come in disguise.

Whoopi Goldberg credits her huge success to Dyslexia

Born as Cayn Johnson, Whoopi Goldberg is known for wearing many hats throughout her career. While her comedian and actor persona is rightfully world-famous, her books, too, have been known to touch many people’s hearts.

After leading a mixed career as a dramatic actor, Leslie Nielsen experienced one of the greatest career shifts in Hollywood when he reinvented himself as a comedy star, beginning in 1980's Airplane!. Soon after, the actor took on a variety of roles in some of the funniest movies of the next two decades, from police parodies to superhero spoofs. As a result, he has remained one of the most beloved comedy actors of the era, particularly for his deadpan performances.

While his comedy career had its share of hits and misses, Leslie Nielsen always made sure to be the most memorable part of his projects, even if he didn't have a leading role. Under comedy directors like Jim Abrahams, David & Jerry Zucker and Mel Brooks, Nielsen gave audiences the sillier side of humor. While his films might be seen as too low-brow for some viewers, others continue to embrace what...

Gold Derby’s top news stories for Jan. 30, 2025 Marianne Faithfull, Grammy-nominated singer, actress, and muse of Mick Jagger, dies at 78

Marianne Faithfull, the British performer who traveled a bumpy road from fresh-voiced pop star (as well as muse and girlfriend of Rolling Stones‘ frontman Mick Jagger) in the 1960s to homeless heroin addict and ultimately a musical comeback in the late 1970s, died on Thursday in London. She was 78. No cause of death was cited.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of the singer, songwriter, and actress Marianne Faithfull,” read a statement from her publicist. “Marianne passed away peacefully in London today in the company of her loving family. She will be dearly missed.”

Faithfull emerged in the Swinging ’60s, plucked from obscurity by the Stones manager at 16 and in 1964 recorded “As Tears Go By,” becoming an overnight sensation with the Jagger-Keith Richards tune...

Exclusive: Philadelphia plays Kansas City in the Super Bowl on February 9, but there is another event of substance for film fans taking place that day now as well right down the coast in Santa Barbara.

As part of a just-announced career retrospective for newly minted Golden Globe winner Demi Moore, the Santa Barbara Film Festival will be hosting a free 2 p.m. screening at the Arlington Theatre of her Oscar-nominated performance and film The Substance, followed by an in-person conversation with the star.

The retrospective actually begins on Friday, February 7 at 5:40 p.m. Pt at Sbiff’s Film Center with a screening of Adrian Lyne’s Indecent Proposal, in which Moore co-starred with Robert Redford and Woody Harrelson. It will continue February 10 when the festival will host a free screening of Jerry Zucker’s Oscar-winning Ghost at 11 a.m., also at the Arlington.

Coralie Fargeat’s critically acclaimed body horror feature The Substance,...

Credit to them, The Naked Gun series never tried to be gracious with their humor. Between its slapstick, sight gags, play on words, and juvenile humor, writer-directors Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and the late Jim Abrahams threw every kind of joke at you throughout the parody trilogy starring Leslie Nielsen as bumbling police detective Frank Drebin. Regardless of how unsubtle they are in their execution, The Naked Gun films, even its inferior sequels, are purely delightful, and you can find a new gag or punchline upon every re-watch. In certain cases, the Zuckers and Abrahams' humor can touch the third rail, not so much from a socially insensitive lens, but by landing in hot water in court. Promotional material for the final film in the trilogy, The Naked Gun: 33 1/3: The Final Insult, spoofed Demi Moore's famous Vanity Fair cover photo, something its photographer, Annie Leibovitz, was not amused by.

Gwen Van Dam, whose 70-year career as a character actress for film, television and the stage included turns in True Confessions, Halloween, Coming Home, Stir Crazy and The Trip to Bountiful, has died. She was 96.

Van Dam, who compiled about 140 acting credits on IMDb, died Dec. 19 at her home in West Los Angeles after a recurrence of cancer, her son, Dirk Smillie, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Van Dam remained a busy actress until the end, appearing on the first five episodes of Prime Video’s Homecoming in 2018, on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie in 2019 and on two installments of Hulu’s Interior Chinatown last year. She recently finished a play, too.

Her TV résumé included The Brady Bunch, Mannix, Maude, House Calls, Days of Our Lives, Moonlighting, 227, Knots Landing, Star Trek: Generations, ER, Gilmore Girls, Charmed, New Girl, Criminal Minds, Angie Tribeca and Modern Family.

Meanwhile, she spent the...

William Shatner kicked off his career as a promising young actor in the company of the prestigious Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario. But when, despite strong notices for his performances, he failed to springboard to stardom like his Canadian colleague Christopher Plummer, Shatner lowered his sights and embraced the philosophy of a working actor. This isn't a knock. He shined in his "The Twilight Zone" episodes, and was superb as a racist interloper who stokes violence against the Black residents of a small town in Roger Corman's "The Intruder." However, he also took so many guest roles in television that he ran the risk of driving down his value by dint of his ubiquity.

Three seasons and several great episodes of "Star Trek" fixed that for Shatner, but throughout the 1970s he become closely associated with a kind of laughably serious, easily parodied manneredness. The ne plus ultra of...

The second volume of Severin’s All the Haunts Be Ours brings together a dizzying variety of folk horror titles—some recognized cult favorites, others hitherto obscure—that constitute a fabulist bestiary replete with witches, werewolves, and all manner of vengeful spirits. These 24 films included in the set are spread across 13 discs housed in a hardcover book, accompanied by a booklet with synopses and other information on each film, as well as an attractively illustrated 250-page “Little Severin Book” that collects 10 newly commissioned examples of folk horror fiction from authors like Kim Newman and Ramsey Campbell.

Where the first volume, also curated by author Kier-La Janisse, leaned heavily on Anglophone contributions to the subgenre, with a smattering of titles from Eastern Europe and Italy, the second casts its net wider to include a number of films from East and Southeast Asia. These include Sisworo Gautama Putra’s batshit Sundelbolong, from...

The Invisible Raptor is heading to theaters and digital on December 6th, and we caught up with director Mike Hermosa for our latest Q&a. From the origins of this project to casting, VFX, and the on-set experience, we talk about it all below!

"After a top-secret experiment goes wrong, a hyper-intelligent invisible raptor escapes the lab and begins wreaking havoc in the surrounding neighborhood. When the creature’s identity is uncovered, it soon becomes clear that a disgraced paleontologist—alongside his ex-girlfriend, an unhinged amusement park security guard, and a local celebrity chicken farmer—is the town’s only hope for surviving the raptor’s ravenous rampage."

The Invisible Raptor definitely feels like a love letter to 80s and 90s classics. What were some of your foundational films from that era?

Mike Hermosa: The Invisible Raptor is absolutely a love letter to the classics of the 80s and 90s comedies.

Of the top movies of the early 1990s, Ghost may have been the biggest that nobody talks about anymore. Think about it: it was the second highest-grossing film of 1990 (behind only Home Alone) and yet you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who could name a scene outside of the sensual pottery sequence. Hell, can you even give a rundown of the plot? But this was the film that your parents were going to see in theaters or renting, proving an immediate topic of the pop culture water cooler. Yet, this was far from being anticipated, as even star Demi Moore figured Ghost could have been a huge bust.

While noting that her most recent film The Substance had potential to either find its audience or flop, Demi Moore said, “I felt that way also about Ghost because it had so many different genres mixed together that, truly, I thought,...

As 2024 starts to close out, Amazon Prime Video is bringing even more cinematic goodies to its slate for November.

TheWrap is here to give a list of the best of the best of what’s to come on the streamer and what’s already added that you can enjoy. From heart-warming dramas to fresh, animated flicks that will take you on an adventure and more, we’ve got it all here for you.

Check out the best new movies streaming on Prime Video this month below.

“Gladiator” (Universal Pictures) “Gladiator” (2000)

We had to add “Gladiator” to the list with its sequel being in theaters and all. So if you need to watch it before heading to the movies, check it out on Prime Video. In Ridley Scott’s action-adventure “Gladiator,” Maximus (Russell Crowe) is a former general who’s been enslaved and forced to fight for his life as a common gladiator.

This article first appeared into the September 2018 issue of Empire.

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Thirty years after unleashing defective detective Frank Drebin onto the streets of LA, the men behind The Naked Gun talk us through its most iconic moments.

“I’ve finally found someone I can love. A good clean love, without utensils.”

So spoke Lieutenant Frank Drebin in the closing moments of The Naked Gun, romancing his girlfriend mere seconds after his would-be assassin is trampled to death by a marching band. It’s been 30 years since Leslie Nielsen’s Drebin crashed into cinemas, getting everything wrong yet somehow still solving the case. Today, Drebin’s co-creators David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker (aka Zaz), brought together by Empire for an anniversary chinwag, are in fine fettle — there’s no mistaking Drebin’s heritage. “Tell me if I’m wrong,” says Empire, about to pose a question. “You’re wrong!

Jim Abrahams, one of the creative minds behind such comedies as Airplane!, three Naked Gun movies, and the TV series Police Squad!, died November 26, 2024, at his Santa Monica, California home, Deadline reports. He was 80 years old.

Abrahams was born May 10, 1944, in Shorewood, Wi. He grew up with the brothers David and Jerry Zucker, and the trio often referred to as "Zaz" got their start in Hollywood with The Kentucky Fried Movie. Written by Zaz and directed by John Landis, the film consists of a series of crude, sometimes offensive vignettes something which, by modern standards, could never be made today. Abrahams and the Zucker brothers appeared in the movie alongside James Bond actor George Lazenby, Donald Sutherland, and The Incredible Hulk star Bill Bixby, among others.

The trio got their big break in 1980 with Airplane!, a send-up of '70s disaster flicks like Airport and The Poseidon Adventure. Starring Leslie Nielsen,...

Let's play a game, faithful readers, called "Name That Movie." An ex-pilot, who tragically led his team to their deaths in the war, develops a fear of flying. When his significant other leaves him, he boards the plane she's on, hoping for another chance. Then fate intervenes, and both pilots, and a number of passengers, develop food poisoning. With no one else to turn to, it falls on the ex-pilot to overcome his trauma and land the plane. If you said 1980's Airplane!, you're right. If you said 1957's Zero Hour!, you're also right. In the words of Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers), "Exsqueeze me? A baking powder?" How can both be true? Well, believe it or not, Airplane! isn't just one of the greatest comedies of all time, it's also a remake of Zero Hour!, and even though the latter is a taut drama and the former a farce for the ages,...

At the age of 80, filmmaker Jim Abrahams has sadly passed away. If you don't know his name, you certainly know his movies, because he's the comedic mastermind behind movies such as Airplane!, The Naked Gun, and Hot Shots! Airplane! is arguably the best of the bunch, as a hilarious spoof of 70s disaster films like Airport 1975. Abrahams not only wrote but directed the film, along with Jerry Zucker and David Zucker, which famously took a serious actor named Leslie Nielsen and turned him into an instant comedy icon. While that might have been a brilliant casting choice, another decision could have ended in disaster. Before Robert Hays was cast in the lead as Ted Striker, the trio were set on hiring talk show host David Letterman.

The writer and director, who died this week, helped to define what big screen spoofs would look like in the decades after

Jim Abrahams, co-creator of Airplane! and The Naked Gun, dies aged 80

Very few people can honestly claim to have changed the direction of comedy, but Jim Abrahams – who died this week – is one of them. Thanks to the procession of spoof movies he made, both alone and with his fellow writer-directors David and Jerry Zucker, Abrahams helped to carve out a brand new genre of comedy, equal parts straight-faced and scattergun.

The most enduring Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker (Zaz) film remains Airplane! After leveraging the show they honed at University of Wisconsin–Madison into the entertaining if directionless sketch film The Kentucky Fried Movie, the trio came across the 1957 aviation thriller Zero Hour! on television. They were so taken by the silly plot and wooden acting that they decided to parody the whole thing,...

Jim Abrahams, one of the writers and directors behind some of the greatest and most quotable spoof and slapstick comedies of the 20th century — including Airplane!, The Naked Gun, and Hot Shots! — died Tuesday, Nov. 26, Variety reports. He was 80.

Abrahams’ son, Joseph, confirmed his death. No cause of death was given.

Abrahams spent the bulk of his career working alongside his two childhood friends, brothers David and Jerry Zucker. Jerry Zucker, in a statement shared with Rolling Stone, called Abrahams “our third brother.”

He continued: “He had a rebellious streak that drove him.

Jim Abrahams, the comedy legend who brought some of the most beloved movie quotes of all time into the zeitgeist as the co-director of “Airplane” and co-writer of “The Naked Gun,” has died of natural causes at the age of 80. The news was first broken by The Hollywood Reporter.

Born in Wisconsin in 1944, Abrahams is best known for his career-spanning collaboration with his childhood friends David and Jerry Zucker. Working under the moniker Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker, the three men developed a distinct brand of unapologetically goofy, gag-a-minute comedy that often spoofed other popular forms of media.

The trio broke through in 1977 when they co-wrote “The Kentucky Fried Movie,” a star-studded collection of sketches that lampooned many of the era’s lowbrow film genres, including Kung-fu movies and softcore porn. Directed by Max Landis, the film proved to be the perfect introduction to the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker sense of humor, in which landing the perfect...

The world would have been a far less funny place without Jim Abrahams, who passed away today at the age of 80.

Abrahams is likely best remembered for his iconic collaborations with brothers David and Jerry Zucker. The trio’s live “Kentucky Fried Theater” shows eventually paved the way for their first film as screenwriters: The Kentucky Fried Movie. As directors, the Zaz comedy team that gave us all-time classics like Airplane! and Top Secret!, and they later penned the David Zucker-directed The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

When it came to comedies with exclamation points in the titles, they really couldn't be beat.

Speaking of emphatic punctuation, Abrahams continued the absurd, rapid-fire comedic style he pioneered with the Zuckers in his solo directorial effort Hot Shots!, which was quickly followed by Hot Shots! Part Deux.

While the first movie began as a parody of Top Gun,...

Jim Abrahams, part of the writing-directing-producing team behind such comedy touchstones as Airplane!, the Naked Gun films, and Police Squad!, died Tuesday at his Santa Monica home. He was 80.

His son, Joseph Abrahams, confirmed the news to our sister site The Hollywood Reporter.

Along with brothers David and Jerry Zucker, Abrahams also was behind laugh-inducing — and often intentionally groan-inducing — comedy films including Top Secret! and the Top Gun spoofs Hot Shots! and Hot Shots! Part Deux. Students of the Mel Brooks School of Anything for a Laugh, the trio paired absurd situations with deadpan lines and fueled Leslie Nielsen’s unlikely rise to leading man after 30 years in the business.

The trio got their big-screen start writing The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), a series of decidedly un-pc vignettes directed by John Landis that ranged from silly to uproarious to “what the hell?!” and back. Sample: A TV news anchor deadpans from...

One of the major contributors to the comedy film world, Jim Abrahams, has reportedly passed away at the age of 80. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that his son, Joseph, confirmed that Abrahams died of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica. The renowned writer/director was best known as part of the trio Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker, which also consisted of David and Jerry Zucker. All three would produce the immensely beloved comedy Airplane! along with The Naked Gun movies.

The trio would break through by writing the sketch film The Kentucky Fried Movie, which was helmed by John Landis. The Zaz team would also write and direct the spy film parody Top Secret!, which starred Val Kilmer in his debut film role, as well as the Bette Midler and Danny DeVito comedy Ruthless People. The team would eventually go their separate ways, but Abrahams would keep directing with his own comedies,...

Jim Abrahams, the writer-director who with brothers Jerry and David Zucker turned the comedy genre on its ear with such zany efforts as Airplane!, Police Squad! and The Naked Gun films, died Tuesday. He was 80.

Abrahams died of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica, his son Joseph told The Hollywood Reporter.

The trio made their first mainstream impression by writing the sketch-filled Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), directed by John Landis in his prelude to Animal House, and they also combined for Top Secret! (1984), starring a young Val Kilmer, and Ruthless People (1986), featuring Bette Midler and Danny DeVito.

Without his childhood buddies from Wisconsin, Abrahams directed Big Business (1988), starring Midler and Lily Tomlin, and co-wrote and helmed Hot Shots! (1991) and its 1993 sequel, both starring Charlie Sheen.

Joke-filled and laden with sight gags and puns, the humor of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, or Zaz as they came to be known, was fast,...

Prime Video, as one of the world's most popular streaming services, is a platform that offers a wide variety of films and television shows, making it an extremely worthwhile subscription to hold onto. Like Netflix and Disney+, Prime Video has a vast consumer base, with over 200 million active users who often enjoy its content. In fact, the streaming service is well-known for bringing new movies every month, with titles ranging from comedic classics to modern cinematic masterpieces.

In October 2024, for example, several highly anticipated films were added to the platform, including Luca Guadagnino Challengers, Brothers, and House of Spoils. Certainly, the following month will be equally impressive compared to the previous, with many incredible films available for streaming. With that in mind, here's a complete list of movies coming to Prime Video in November 2024.

Airplane! (1980) Streaming November 1

Airplane!, co-written and co-directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker, is...

Demi Moore, whose performance in Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” as been praised as Oscar-worthy, will receive a career tribute at the French Cinematheque in Paris on Nov. 5, ahead of the movie’s local release.

The day-long retrospective and tribute are being co-hosted by Mubi, the global arthouse distributor and streamer which has successfully released the bold and bloody movie in the U.S., the U.K., Latin America, German and most other international territories, as well as Metropolitan which handles the French theatrical release, and the French Cinematheque.

The feminist body-horror movie stars Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, a recently fired daytime-tv who uses a black market drug that creates a younger version of herself, with dangerous side effects.

Underscoring Mubi’s big theatrical push, the movie already ranks as an indie hit, having grossed $53.6 million worldwide since its Sept. 20 release, including $14.5 million in North America. It’s Mubi’s biggest B.

It is exceedingly rare in today's IP-dominated movie marketplace to see an original film spawn a long-running franchise. Granted, these motion pictures aren't always wholly original. But while they tend to be derivative of narrative formulas that have worked in the past, they are at least written from scratch with no significant assistance from a novel or a comic book or a video game or, nowadays, the origin story of a popular brand.

So, kudos to Gregory Widen and Paul Maslansky for possessing the creative chutzpah to launch two very successful franchises in, respectively, "Highlander" and "Police Academy." The former gave fans four feature installments over a 14-year-span, while the latter rattled off six entries once a year between 1984 and 1989 (and a late-in-the-day seventh with much of the same cast in 1994).

"Police Academy" was especially zeitgeisty, trafficking in the zany spoof gags made popular by the Zaz team of David Zucker,...

The world of Arthurian lore is packed with great adventures, high drama. love, lust, betrayal, battles and conniving magic users. Camelot was born from pagan myths turned into chivalric romance, and its archetypes run deep and ancient. It is no surprise that filmmakers have long interested in the story of King Arthur, with varying results. The following list of 16 Arthurian-themed film and TV projects ranks the best of those ambitious cinematic efforts.

16) First Knight (1995)

Columbia Pictures rolled out First Knight in the summer of 1995. A Jerry Zucker-directed Arthurian chivalric romance starring Sean Connery, Richard Gere, Julia Ormond and Ben Cross, First Knight is unique among Arthurian projects for its rejection of the story's magical aspects. First Knight looks to the early works of French poet Chretien de Troyes, who wrote about Arthur in the 12th century, for inspiration.

First Knight's script focuses on the classic relationship/love triangle between Lancelot,...

Airplane!, The Naked Gun and Top Secret are coming together for the Zaz Collection, a brand new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray boxset.

Paramount Pictures has already released the first The Naked Gun on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format. Now we have the confirmed that both Airplane! and the mighty, mighty Top Secret! are also landing on 4K disc later this year.

It’s all part of a new three film set, Zaz: The Collection. The Zaz being David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker, the creative force behind the movies. The trio directed two of them together, with David Zucker taking on sole duties for The Naked Gun.

Zaz: The Collection is coming our way from Paramount Pictures, and has been listed for release in the UK on 25th November 2024. You can find the listing for the release, and further details, here.

See also: Zucker Abrahams Zucker, and why they went their separate ways.

“When did you first feel cancelled by your age?”

You knew that some variation of this question would be asked — it was really just a question of when, and if it would come before the inevitable query about all that nudity. Seven minutes into the Cannes Film Festival press conference for The Substance, writer-director Coralie Fargeat’s extraordinary, extremely gory body-horror movie, a journalist asked the film’s star to talk about getting iced out of Hollywood for being a woman over the age of 40. The fact that the movie...

Demi Moore is getting her due thanks to Metrograph.

The “Substance” actress and Hollywood icon is being honored by Metrograph with a five-film series of Moore’s most beloved features, as curated by the theater. Titled “We Want Moore,” the mini festival begins September 13.

“The rapturous reception of Demi Moore’s performance in Coralie Fargeat’s ‘The Substance’ at this year’s Cannes Film Festival seems to have reminded many people that the New Mexico-born actress is a bona fide movie star — not just in terms of box office receipts and magazine cover shoots, but in her seemingly effortless ability to command the screen every time she walks into frame,” the Metrograph press statement reads. “In ‘We Want Moore,’ we’ve brought together some other timely reminders.”

Selected films screening in 35mm include Moore’s iconic turns in “Ghost,” “Indecent Proposal,” and “Striptease,” which Moore recently told Variety was one of her most under-appreciated performances.

Every single year, there are box office success stories that take us by surprise. 2024 alone has seen several unpredictable hits unfold, from the breakout monster that was "Inside Out 2" to the wildly unlikely $100 million indie horror success "Longlegs." It's not something that happens every day, but when it does, it raises an eyebrow and forces one to look at the movie business just a little bit differently. It's impossible to predict, yet always results in others trying to emulate that same success. As many studios have learned, lightning in a bottle is difficult to capture.

But what are some of the biggest surprises in cinema history? What are the box office hits that truly nobody saw coming? We're not talking about movies that overperformed against expectations. No, we're talking about the movies that truly took the world by storm and, in some cases, changed the course of cinema history in the process.

Even 44 years after its release, Airplane! is still considered one of the funniest movies ever made, having entertained generations of fans, and forever ruined any earnest use of the word “surely” in a sentence.

A big reason why Airplane! works so well is its casting. While Paramount wanted to cast the biggest comedy stars of the day, floating names like Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, directors Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker instead opted to hire more dramatic actors in the lead roles, such as Lloyd Bridges and Leslie Nielsen. Keep in mind, this was back when Leslie Nielsen was still considered a dramatic actor.

Enlisting serious actors to play every single absurd scene completely straight is what made the movie hilarious. But casting non-comedians in a comedy did present certain challenges. For example, in order to get the right performance out of Robert Stack, of TV’s The Untouchables fame,...

As Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024 continues, horror fans are treated to a unique blend of humor and terror with The Invisible Raptor, a gory, adventure comedy about a dinosaur you can’t see. Written by Johnny Wickham and Mike Capes, with Mike also taking on the starring role, this film is a love letter to the creature features of the 80s and 90s, delivering laughs and thrills in equal measure.

Fresh off its successful screening at FrightFest Glasgow earlier this year, The Invisible Raptor returns for its English premiere, promising to be a highlight of the festival. In this exclusive interview, Wickham and Capes share their inspirations, their journey into filmmaking, and their thoughts on FrightFest.

Johnny Wickham, writer and Mike Capes, writer/star 1. Tell us about your film

Johnny Wickham: The Invisible Raptor is a gory, adventure comedy about a dinosaur you can’t see. It’s one part Invisible Man,...

Ghost is making its 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray debut in the UK this October – and there are more details on the release right here.

No arguing with Paramount’s current commitment to physical media, although there is a bit of worrying news on that front from the US. Still, for the minute, there’s a sizeable collection of titles coming through, and the latest from the catalogue to get a 4K makeover is 1990’s Ghost.

Along with Pretty Woman, Ghost was a flat-out sleeper hit in 1990, with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore headlining, and Whoopi Goldberg walking away with her Oscar. Jerry Zucker directed, and we previously dug into the making of the film in a 2021 Film Stories podcast episode.

There’s also the welcome news that Demi Moore still has her old clay pots from the movie.

The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc of Ghost is set to arrive...

The 1995 medieval epic First Knight, often considered one of the most underrated adaptations of the King Arthur legend, will be leaving Netflix on August 31. Despite its star-studded cast and grandiose production, the movie has frequently been overshadowed by other more fantastical or historically gritty retellings of the Arthurian legend.

Directed by Jerry Zucker, the film offers a romantic and action-packed take on the classic Arthurian tale, focusing on the love triangle between King Arthur, Lady Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot. First Knight features a powerhouse cast with Sean Connery as the noble and aging King Arthur, Richard Gere as the charismatic Lancelot, and Julia Ormond as the conflicted Lady Guinevere.

Related Charlie Hunnam Blames Miscasting For King Arthur's Failure, Wants a Do-Over

Actor Charlie Hunnam has expressed his desire to redo King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, believing the movie was negatively impacted by 'miscasting.'

The film deviates from the...

This August, Paramount+ is bringing you a lot of entertainment with the highly anticipated streaming release of the biographical film Bob Marley: One Love and a very weird but humorous and heartfelt film Sasquatch Sunset, which follows the daily lives of a Sasquatch family. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Paramount+ this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 10 best films that are coming to Paramount+ in August 2024 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Airplane! (August 1)

Airplane! is a disaster absurdist comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams, David, and Jerry Zucker. Based on the 1957 drama film Zero Hour! by Arthur Hailey, Hall Bartlett, and John Champion, the 1980 film follows Ted Striker, a former pilot with a fear of flying as he finds himself in the impossible situation of landing a...