Friday news roundup 17/11: New series, F1 in Las Vegas & more

Jonathan Victoria • 17 Nov 2023 News

Select news stories from across sports and entertainment.

ICC Cricket World Cup Final set

A shot at #CWC23 glory 💎🏆 pic.twitter.com/0q5NemHQ5I

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) November 17, 2023

Just over one month of action in India and the ICC Cricket World Cup will be coming to an end Sunday as the hosts will face the competition's most successful side, Australia.

There have been many surprises throughout the tournament, in particular England’s poor defence of their title that saw them not even make it through the group stage.

In the semi-finals, India saw their way past New Zealand with a stellar score that couldn’t be beaten, while Australia dominated South Africa with a superb bowling session to take a fairly straight-forward victory.

Mr and Mrs Smith series given premiere date

The upcoming Prime Video series Mr and Mrs Smith, starring Donald Glover (Solo: A Star Wars Story) and Maya Erskine (Plus One), has been given a premiere date.

The series will be a re-telling of the 2005 movie starring Brad Pitt (Fury) and Angelina Jolie (Tomb Raider), where Pitt and Jolie played John and Jane Smith, two married assassins who didn’t know of each other's professions until they were booked to be each others next targets.

Despite the success of the original, this new series will not follow the exact same formula. Glover and Erskine will play strangers who are recruited to a spy agency under the cover as a married couple, and over time they fall in love for real.

Originally, the show was originally scheduled to be released in 2022, but was pushed back to 2023 only to be delayed again due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

All eight episodes of Mr and Mrs Smith will be available to stream on Prime Video on 2nd February 2024.

Las Vegas GP already in shambles

Carlos Sainz goes quickest in FP2 so far, AMAZING work by Ferrari to get his damaged car back out on track 🔴👏 pic.twitter.com/vyfZUcX2Hb

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 17, 2023

The Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend is finally here, with all the build-up and marketing leading up to… a cancelled Free Practice One session.

Early into the first practice session, the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz ran over a drain cover which came up, causing great damage to the underside of his car and causing the team to change a number of power unit components and subsequently earning a 10-place grid penalty for the race.

The Alpine of Esteban Ocon was also damaged by the same drain cover, and as such the session was red-flagged. Practice Two was then postponed to allow fixes to the cover and checks on the rest of the track. 

Practice Two then didn’t get underway until 2:30am track time, and with the extended time for the session to 90 minutes, the chequered flag didn’t fall until 4am.

Seth MacFarlane’s Ted prequel series first-look details

1993 Ted, you are going to love the internet.
#ted the series is coming soon to Sky. pic.twitter.com/VjSQZ91fbr

— Sky TV (@skytv) November 16, 2023

Seth MacFarlane will be returning to his beloved character of the foul-mouthed teddy bear named Ted for a new prequel series.

The show will head back to the 90s, pitching Ted’s life living with a 16-year-old John Bennett, who was played by Mark Wahlberg (The Other Guys) in the original films. 

The seven-episode series will begin streaming in the UK on Sky Max on 11th January 2024. 

Fury vs Usyk given new fight date

The biggest heavyweight bout in recent boxing history has been given a fight date, with Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk set to throw down on 17th February 2024 in Saudi Arabia.

The two champions will meet in Riyadh for a showdown where all the belts will be on the line, with the winner walking away as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999.

Original plans for the fight had it set for 23rd December this year, with a super card in Saudi that also would’ve featured Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder. 

Instead, those two will continue with their fights this year, with AJ taking on Otto Wahlin and Wilder facing Joseph Parker, both bouts becoming the co-main event for the card.

The reason why Fury vs Usyk was pushed back was due to the Gypsy King's unexpected tough encounter with Francis Ngannou last month, with the former UFC champion shocking the world by not only holding his own against the undefeated WBC champion but to many seemingly beating Fury.

Fury needed some extra time to recover from that fight and get back into his camp for the Usyk fight, hence the suspension for their big clash until next February.