Exclusive: Kelly Marie Tran and Miles Robbins will star in Shal Ngo’s Control Freak, a psychological thriller from WorthenBrooks for Hulu Originals. The feature film has wrapped production and will premiere in early 2025.
Control Freak follows a motivational speaker plagued by an uncontrollable itch on her head, who becomes infected with a parasitic demon from her homeland. Tran stars as “Valerie,” alongside Robbins who plays her husband, “Robbie.”
Additional cast includes Toan Le (The Sympathizer) as Valerie’s father, “Sang” and Kieu Chinh (The Joy Luck Club) as her “Aunt Thuy.”
Toan Le and Kieu Chinh
Ngo was tapped to direct Control Freak based on the short film Control. He also wrote and directed for Season 2 of Hulu’s Bite Size Halloween. WorthenBrooks developed Control Freak for Hulu Originals with David Brooks,...
Control Freak follows a motivational speaker plagued by an uncontrollable itch on her head, who becomes infected with a parasitic demon from her homeland. Tran stars as “Valerie,” alongside Robbins who plays her husband, “Robbie.”
Additional cast includes Toan Le (The Sympathizer) as Valerie’s father, “Sang” and Kieu Chinh (The Joy Luck Club) as her “Aunt Thuy.”
Toan Le and Kieu Chinh
Ngo was tapped to direct Control Freak based on the short film Control. He also wrote and directed for Season 2 of Hulu’s Bite Size Halloween. WorthenBrooks developed Control Freak for Hulu Originals with David Brooks,...
- 4/19/2024
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Got a hankering for chocolate? Here’s how to stream Wonka online from the comfort of your own home!
The Timothée Chalamet-led film — which topped the 2023 box office and to date has grossed $590 million globally — introduces audiences to a young Willy Wonka as he becomes the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker. The prequel is (loosely) based on the Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was of course first adapted in 1971 as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (with the great Gene Wilder in the title role). It was later reimagined in 2005 as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,...
The Timothée Chalamet-led film — which topped the 2023 box office and to date has grossed $590 million globally — introduces audiences to a young Willy Wonka as he becomes the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker. The prequel is (loosely) based on the Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was of course first adapted in 1971 as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (with the great Gene Wilder in the title role). It was later reimagined in 2005 as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,...
- 2/23/2024
- by Claire Franken
- TVLine.com
When Calah Lane was born, her umbilical cord had a knot in it.
She excitedly shares this “fun” fact over a Zoom call with Variety, with the unbridled enthusiasm only a 14-year-old could have. “I mean, that’s kind of sad,” she admits. “But I survived and everything’s good!”
She’s not wrong – things are good for her right now. Barely a teenager, she’s already crafted an impressive résumé, making her film debut in 2019’s “The Day Shall Come” and picking up small roles on series like “This Is Us” and “Family Reunion.”
This year, she found her breakout role in Paul King’s “Wonka,” starring Timothée Chalamet in an origin story of Roald Dahl’s beloved chocolatier character. Lane plays Noodle, a precocious but jaded orphan who teams up with the idealistic Willy to make magic.
In conversation with Variety a day after her nomination for a...
She excitedly shares this “fun” fact over a Zoom call with Variety, with the unbridled enthusiasm only a 14-year-old could have. “I mean, that’s kind of sad,” she admits. “But I survived and everything’s good!”
She’s not wrong – things are good for her right now. Barely a teenager, she’s already crafted an impressive résumé, making her film debut in 2019’s “The Day Shall Come” and picking up small roles on series like “This Is Us” and “Family Reunion.”
This year, she found her breakout role in Paul King’s “Wonka,” starring Timothée Chalamet in an origin story of Roald Dahl’s beloved chocolatier character. Lane plays Noodle, a precocious but jaded orphan who teams up with the idealistic Willy to make magic.
In conversation with Variety a day after her nomination for a...
- 12/21/2023
- by Katcy Stephan
- Variety Film + TV
Warner Bros. Pictures’ second Wonka trailer features Willy meeting his first Oompa Loompa, showing off wacky inventions, and then running into trouble when his candy wows chocolate-lovers. The gorgeous, nearly three-minute trailer reveals new footage but primarily focuses on the relationship between Wonka (Timothee Chalamet) and Lofty the Oompa Loompa (Hugh Grant).
In addition to Oscar nominee Timothee Chalament (Call Me By Your Name) as the titular character, the fantasy film stars Calah Lane (The Day Shall Come), Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon), Paterson Joseph (Noughts + Crosses), Matt Lucas (Paddington), Mathew Baynton (The Wrong Mans), Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Rowan Atkinson (Johnny English), Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), and Oscar winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite).
Additional stars include Natasha Rothwell (White Lotus), Rich Fulcher (Marriage Story), Rakhee Thakrar (Sex Education), Tom Davis (Paddington 2), and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Zack Snyder’s Justice League).
Paddington‘s Paul King...
In addition to Oscar nominee Timothee Chalament (Call Me By Your Name) as the titular character, the fantasy film stars Calah Lane (The Day Shall Come), Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon), Paterson Joseph (Noughts + Crosses), Matt Lucas (Paddington), Mathew Baynton (The Wrong Mans), Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Rowan Atkinson (Johnny English), Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), and Oscar winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite).
Additional stars include Natasha Rothwell (White Lotus), Rich Fulcher (Marriage Story), Rakhee Thakrar (Sex Education), Tom Davis (Paddington 2), and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Zack Snyder’s Justice League).
Paddington‘s Paul King...
- 10/12/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Warner Bros. Pictures’ official Wonka trailer reveals how Willy became Wonka…which makes much more sense after you’ve watched the trailer. Oscar nominee Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) charms his way through the trailer onto 2023 must-see movie lists by transforming into a young man with a huge imagination and the courage to take on the chocolate cartel.
Joining Timothee Chalament in the fantasy film are Calah Lane (The Day Shall Come), Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon), Paterson Joseph (Noughts + Crosses), Matt Lucas (Paddington), Mathew Baynton (The Wrong Mans), Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Rowan Atkinson (Johnny English), Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), and Oscar winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite). Additional stars include Natasha Rothwell (White Lotus), Rich Fulcher (Marriage Story), Rakhee Thakrar (Sex Education), Tom Davis (Paddington 2), and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Zack Snyder’s Justice League).
Paddington‘s Paul King directs and co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Farnaby,...
Joining Timothee Chalament in the fantasy film are Calah Lane (The Day Shall Come), Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon), Paterson Joseph (Noughts + Crosses), Matt Lucas (Paddington), Mathew Baynton (The Wrong Mans), Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Rowan Atkinson (Johnny English), Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), and Oscar winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite). Additional stars include Natasha Rothwell (White Lotus), Rich Fulcher (Marriage Story), Rakhee Thakrar (Sex Education), Tom Davis (Paddington 2), and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Zack Snyder’s Justice League).
Paddington‘s Paul King directs and co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Farnaby,...
- 7/11/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Here’s a first look at the brand new trailer for Wonka, hitting cinemas on December 15.
Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s most iconic children’s book and one of the best-selling children’s books of all time, “Wonka” tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.
From Paul King, writer/director of the “Paddington” films, David Heyman, producer of “Harry Potter,” “Gravity,” “Fantastic Beasts” and “Paddington,” and producers Alexandra Derbyshire and Luke Kelly (“Roald Dahl’s The Witches”), comes an intoxicating mix of magic and music, mayhem and emotion, all told with fabulous heart and humor. Starring Timothée Chalamet in the title role, this irresistibly vivid and inventive big screen spectacle will introduce audiences to a young Willy Wonka, chock-full of ideas and determined...
Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s most iconic children’s book and one of the best-selling children’s books of all time, “Wonka” tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.
From Paul King, writer/director of the “Paddington” films, David Heyman, producer of “Harry Potter,” “Gravity,” “Fantastic Beasts” and “Paddington,” and producers Alexandra Derbyshire and Luke Kelly (“Roald Dahl’s The Witches”), comes an intoxicating mix of magic and music, mayhem and emotion, all told with fabulous heart and humor. Starring Timothée Chalamet in the title role, this irresistibly vivid and inventive big screen spectacle will introduce audiences to a young Willy Wonka, chock-full of ideas and determined...
- 7/11/2023
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The real-life story of Reality Winner’s arrest unfolds as such a sharp piece of on-the-nose political theater that it almost seems to have been dramatized. On June 3, 2017, the FBI showed up at the former Air Force member and Nsa translator’s house to question her about a leaked document that they’d traced back to her. Over the course of the interrogation — during which the agents did not read the ex-intelligence specialist her Miranda rights and during which she refrained from requesting a lawyer — Winner’s composure gradually deteriorated. She was arrested under suspicion of releasing an intelligence report that detailed Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections before being sentenced to five years and three months in prison, the longest ever for the crime.
Tina Satter’s subsequent dramatization of the arrest — first in 2019’s play “Is This a Room” and now in the HBO film “Reality” — pulls...
Tina Satter’s subsequent dramatization of the arrest — first in 2019’s play “Is This a Room” and now in the HBO film “Reality” — pulls...
- 5/29/2023
- by Rachel Seo
- Variety Film + TV
The rising star of stage and screen discusses his new biopic about the whistleblower Reality Winner, Chris Morris’ view on law enforcement and meeting Henry Winkler
Should Marchánt Davis ever find himself being interrogated by the FBI, he will be more prepared than most. His first ever leading film role, in Chris Morris’s bleak 2019 absurdist comedy The Day Shall Come, found the 30-year-old Brooklynite playing the role of Moses Al Shabazz, a Black power preacher in Miami who finds himself set up by a team of bumbling FBI agents aiming to frame him as a nuke-dealing terrorist.
In his latest role, in Tina Satter’s gripping Reality, he plays R Wallace Taylor, one of the two FBI agents who interrogated Nsa whistleblower Reality Winner (played here by Euphoria and The White Lotus’s Sydney Sweeney) using what many have described as unethical – and, given the fact that the agents...
Should Marchánt Davis ever find himself being interrogated by the FBI, he will be more prepared than most. His first ever leading film role, in Chris Morris’s bleak 2019 absurdist comedy The Day Shall Come, found the 30-year-old Brooklynite playing the role of Moses Al Shabazz, a Black power preacher in Miami who finds himself set up by a team of bumbling FBI agents aiming to frame him as a nuke-dealing terrorist.
In his latest role, in Tina Satter’s gripping Reality, he plays R Wallace Taylor, one of the two FBI agents who interrogated Nsa whistleblower Reality Winner (played here by Euphoria and The White Lotus’s Sydney Sweeney) using what many have described as unethical – and, given the fact that the agents...
- 5/18/2023
- by Shaad D'Souza
- The Guardian - Film News
Exclusive: The British Film Institute, one of the UK’s most powerful movie funding bodies, admitted to a filmmaker of color last year that it is “systemically racist” after apologizing for how it handled his long-running complaint over alleged discrimination.
The BFI is making changes to its complaints procedures and has committed to continued anti-racism soul-searching after Faisal A Qureshi, a scriptwriter, producer, and researcher, whose credits include Leaving Neverland and Four Lions, went on record for the first time to detail his experience.
Qureshi remains disturbed by his treatment. His case is unresolved after more than two years and, although the BFI has acknowledged his complaint could have been handled better, Qureshi told Deadline he is yet to receive the formal written apology he requested.
He is fearful that his pursuit of the BFI could be damaging to his career, despite assurances from the institute that complaints would never compromise access to funding.
The BFI is making changes to its complaints procedures and has committed to continued anti-racism soul-searching after Faisal A Qureshi, a scriptwriter, producer, and researcher, whose credits include Leaving Neverland and Four Lions, went on record for the first time to detail his experience.
Qureshi remains disturbed by his treatment. His case is unresolved after more than two years and, although the BFI has acknowledged his complaint could have been handled better, Qureshi told Deadline he is yet to receive the formal written apology he requested.
He is fearful that his pursuit of the BFI could be damaging to his career, despite assurances from the institute that complaints would never compromise access to funding.
- 3/27/2023
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
“Do you have any pets?” When the FBI called at Reality Winner’s Georgia home in June 2017, the agency didn’t exactly start out playing hardball; in fact it, took the better part of hour even to start getting down to brass tacks with the 25-year-old. We know this because the whole event was recorded on a hidden wire and transcribed as evidence for Winner’s subsequent trial. New York director Tina Satter first fashioned this transcript, with zero embellishment, into a critically acclaimed stage play called Is This a Room in 2019, and in Reality, which premiered in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama strand, she expands it into an astonishingly effective docu-drama hybrid.
Reality Winner’s misdemeanor didn’t quite put her in the league of Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning, and, in a way, Satter’s film leans into that. Many know the name, and perhaps also the...
Reality Winner’s misdemeanor didn’t quite put her in the league of Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning, and, in a way, Satter’s film leans into that. Many know the name, and perhaps also the...
- 2/18/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
On the morning of June 3, 2017, a 25-year-old former Air Force linguist improbably named Reality Winner was surprised by the FBI at her home in Augusta, Georgia. Over the next few hours, Winner would be interrogated and eventually charged with leaking evidence of Russian interference in the U.S. election of Donald Trump to the online whistle-blower site The Intercept. In court, she was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, the longest federal sentence ever ordered for the unauthorized release of government information to the media. Reality Winner served four years of her sentence behind bars, before being released to a transitional facility in June 2021.
Those bare facts are well-known and have been exhaustively discussed, dissected and debated.
But in Reality, director Tina Satter, adapting her own 2021 Broadway play Is This A Room?, digs into the subtext of the Reality Winner case. Using the verbatim recording of that...
Those bare facts are well-known and have been exhaustively discussed, dissected and debated.
But in Reality, director Tina Satter, adapting her own 2021 Broadway play Is This A Room?, digs into the subtext of the Reality Winner case. Using the verbatim recording of that...
- 2/17/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Paris-based mk2 films has boarded international sales on Tina Satter’s debut feature Reality about real-life U.S. whistleblower Reality Winner ahead of its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival later this month.
Euphoria and White Lotus star Sydney Sweeney plays Winner.
The former intelligence officer was given the longest prison sentence ever for the unauthorized release of classified material to the media in 2018 (five years and three months) after she leaked a report about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.
Opening with the Saturday afternoon in June 2017 when 25-year-old Winner was confronted at her Georgia home by the FBI, the film follows the cryptic conversation that took place as the young woman’s life begins to unravel.
Satter’s dialogue, taken directly from the FBI’s transcript of the interrogation, alternates between nail-biting and banal, darkly funny and surreal.
The film tracks one woman’s experience of the State at work.
Euphoria and White Lotus star Sydney Sweeney plays Winner.
The former intelligence officer was given the longest prison sentence ever for the unauthorized release of classified material to the media in 2018 (five years and three months) after she leaked a report about Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.
Opening with the Saturday afternoon in June 2017 when 25-year-old Winner was confronted at her Georgia home by the FBI, the film follows the cryptic conversation that took place as the young woman’s life begins to unravel.
Satter’s dialogue, taken directly from the FBI’s transcript of the interrogation, alternates between nail-biting and banal, darkly funny and surreal.
The film tracks one woman’s experience of the State at work.
- 2/1/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Saturday Night Live‘s Alex Moffat has joined Bill Lawrence’s Apple TV+ series Bad Monkey in a key recurring role opposite Vince Vaughn. Written and executive produced by Lawrence based on Carl Hiaasen’s popular 2013 novel, Bad Monkey tells the story of Andrew Yancy (Vaughn), a one-time detective demoted to restaurant inspector in Southern Florida. A severed arm found by a tourist out fishing pulls Yancy into the world of greed and corruption that decimates the land and environment in both Florida and the Bahamas. And yes, there’s a monkey. Moffat will play Evan Shook, an obnoxious real estate developer from Maryland who has bought the land next door to Andrew Yancy (Vaughn) on a secluded promontory in Big Pine Key and is in the process of developing a hideous spec house that is an affront to Yancy’s environmentalist sensibilities. Yancy makes it his mission to scuttle Shook’s plans,...
- 1/29/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Julia Oh has been hired by 2Am, the full-service production and management company founded by Christine D’Souza Gelb, David Hinojosa and Kevin Rowe, as a producer.
Oh will be based in NY with the company’s production team, working alongside Hinojosa and Zach Nutman.
2Am’s film and TV production division, overseen by Hinojosa, is currently in post-production on Halina Reijn’s English-language debut, Bodies Bodies Bodies, starring Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Sennott, and Pete Davidson, and on Emmy winner Billy Porter’s directorial debut, What If?, at Orion Pictures. It’s also finishing principal photography on Past Lives, a feature drama written and directed by Celine Song.
The company’s management division represents such acclaimed writers and directors as Amalia Ulman (El Planeta), Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version), Ari Aster (Hereditary), Janicza Bravo (Zola), Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play), Kota Eberhardt (X-Men: Dark Phoenix), Leilah Weinraub (The Shakedown...
Oh will be based in NY with the company’s production team, working alongside Hinojosa and Zach Nutman.
2Am’s film and TV production division, overseen by Hinojosa, is currently in post-production on Halina Reijn’s English-language debut, Bodies Bodies Bodies, starring Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Sennott, and Pete Davidson, and on Emmy winner Billy Porter’s directorial debut, What If?, at Orion Pictures. It’s also finishing principal photography on Past Lives, a feature drama written and directed by Celine Song.
The company’s management division represents such acclaimed writers and directors as Amalia Ulman (El Planeta), Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version), Ari Aster (Hereditary), Janicza Bravo (Zola), Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play), Kota Eberhardt (X-Men: Dark Phoenix), Leilah Weinraub (The Shakedown...
- 11/11/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman and Sally Hawkins are rounding out what is shaping up to be a delicious cast of “Wonka,” the new film that dares to probe how the world’s most famous chocolatier and confectioner first developed his sweet tooth.
Timothée Chalamet is set to play Willy Wonka, following in the daffy footsteps of Gene Wilder (a gem) and Johnny Depp. Warner Bros. is behind this origin story.
Atkinson is best known for is work in the “Johnny English,” “Black Adder” and “Mr. Bean” franchises. Colman is an Oscar winner for “The Favourite” and a nominee for “The Father.” She just captured an Emmy for channeling Queen Elizabeth II on “The Crown.” And Hawkins earned Academy Award nominations for “Blue Jasmine” and “The Shape of Water.”
Other cast members include Tom Davis, Simon Farnaby, Rich Fulcher, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Paterson Joseph, Keegan-Michael Key, Calah Lane (“The Day Shall Come”), Matt Lucas,...
Timothée Chalamet is set to play Willy Wonka, following in the daffy footsteps of Gene Wilder (a gem) and Johnny Depp. Warner Bros. is behind this origin story.
Atkinson is best known for is work in the “Johnny English,” “Black Adder” and “Mr. Bean” franchises. Colman is an Oscar winner for “The Favourite” and a nominee for “The Father.” She just captured an Emmy for channeling Queen Elizabeth II on “The Crown.” And Hawkins earned Academy Award nominations for “Blue Jasmine” and “The Shape of Water.”
Other cast members include Tom Davis, Simon Farnaby, Rich Fulcher, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Paterson Joseph, Keegan-Michael Key, Calah Lane (“The Day Shall Come”), Matt Lucas,...
- 9/29/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Warner Bros has rolled cameras in the UK on its new musical movie Wonka, starring Timothée Chalamet.
Additional cast members just announced include Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman and Jim Carter.
They join Mathew Baynton (Ghosts), Tom Davis (Paddington 2), Simon Farnaby (the Paddington films), Rich Fulcher (Marriage Story), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Paddington 2), Paterson Joseph (Noughts + Crosses), Emmy and Peabody Award winner Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon!), Calah Lane (The Day Shall Come), Matt Lucas (Paddington), Colin O’Brien (The Mothership), Natasha Rothwell (The White Lotus), Rakhee Thakrar (Sex Education) and Ellie White (The Other One).
Neil Hannon of the band The Divine Comedy is writing original songs for the film. The pic takes place before the events of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Paul King is directing from a screenplay he wrote with Paddington 2 co-writer Simon Farnaby. Harry...
Additional cast members just announced include Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman and Jim Carter.
They join Mathew Baynton (Ghosts), Tom Davis (Paddington 2), Simon Farnaby (the Paddington films), Rich Fulcher (Marriage Story), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Paddington 2), Paterson Joseph (Noughts + Crosses), Emmy and Peabody Award winner Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon!), Calah Lane (The Day Shall Come), Matt Lucas (Paddington), Colin O’Brien (The Mothership), Natasha Rothwell (The White Lotus), Rakhee Thakrar (Sex Education) and Ellie White (The Other One).
Neil Hannon of the band The Divine Comedy is writing original songs for the film. The pic takes place before the events of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Paul King is directing from a screenplay he wrote with Paddington 2 co-writer Simon Farnaby. Harry...
- 9/29/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Curtiss Cook Jr. (The Day Shall Come) and Gbenga Akinnagbe (The Deuce) are joining the second season of Hulu drama Wu-Tang: An American Saga in recurring roles, portraying two key members of the Wu-Tang Clan universe.
Wu-Tang: An American Saga, from Wu-Tang Clan frontman The RZA, writer Alex Tse, Imagine Television and 20th Television, tells the story of the band starting in early 1990s. It looks at the group’s members, who grew up during the height of the crack cocaine epidemic, and tracks the Clan’s formation — a vision of Bobby Diggs aka The RZA, who strives to unite a dozen young black men who are torn between music and crime but eventually rise to become the unlikeliest of American success stories.
Season 2 picks up six months after the close of Season 1, with the Wu-Tang Clan having to overcome even more obstacles, odds and past beefs as they...
Wu-Tang: An American Saga, from Wu-Tang Clan frontman The RZA, writer Alex Tse, Imagine Television and 20th Television, tells the story of the band starting in early 1990s. It looks at the group’s members, who grew up during the height of the crack cocaine epidemic, and tracks the Clan’s formation — a vision of Bobby Diggs aka The RZA, who strives to unite a dozen young black men who are torn between music and crime but eventually rise to become the unlikeliest of American success stories.
Season 2 picks up six months after the close of Season 1, with the Wu-Tang Clan having to overcome even more obstacles, odds and past beefs as they...
- 6/7/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Tehran star Navid Negahban and Pej Vahdat (Empire) are set for recurring roles opposite Jeff Bridges in FX on Hulu drama The Old Man, from Black Sails co-creators Jon Steinberg and Robert Levine.
Written by Steinberg and Levine, the series is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Thomas Perry and centers on Dan Chase (Bridges), the titular “old man”, who absconded from the CIA decades ago and now lives off the grid. When an assassin arrives and tries to take Chase out, the old operative learns that to ensure his future he now must reconcile his past.
Negahban will play Hamzad, the most powerful tribal leader in his corner of Afghanistan, he hopes to use his leverage to seek revenge against Dan Chase (Bridges).
Vahdat will portray Young Hamzad, an Afghan warlord who joins forces with a talented young CIA operative (Bill Heck as Young Chase) during the Soviet-Afghan war.
Written by Steinberg and Levine, the series is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Thomas Perry and centers on Dan Chase (Bridges), the titular “old man”, who absconded from the CIA decades ago and now lives off the grid. When an assassin arrives and tries to take Chase out, the old operative learns that to ensure his future he now must reconcile his past.
Negahban will play Hamzad, the most powerful tribal leader in his corner of Afghanistan, he hopes to use his leverage to seek revenge against Dan Chase (Bridges).
Vahdat will portray Young Hamzad, an Afghan warlord who joins forces with a talented young CIA operative (Bill Heck as Young Chase) during the Soviet-Afghan war.
- 12/15/2020
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Danielle Brooks is set to star opposite John Cena in the “Suicide Squad” spinoff series “Peacemaker” at HBO Max, Variety has learned.
Brooks’ character is named Leota Adebayo, but the exact nature of her role in the series is being kept under wraps. As previously announced, Cena will star as the titular Peacemaker, reprising his role from the upcoming “Suicide Squad” film from James Gunn.
The series is said to explore the origins of Peacemaker, a man who believes in peace at any cost, no matter how many people he has to kill to get it. Production is slated to begin in early 2021, prior to Gunn starting work on “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” “The Suicide Squad” is set to be released in theaters Aug. 6, 2021.
Brooks is best known for her role in the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black,” on which she appeared throughout the show’s seven season run.
Brooks’ character is named Leota Adebayo, but the exact nature of her role in the series is being kept under wraps. As previously announced, Cena will star as the titular Peacemaker, reprising his role from the upcoming “Suicide Squad” film from James Gunn.
The series is said to explore the origins of Peacemaker, a man who believes in peace at any cost, no matter how many people he has to kill to get it. Production is slated to begin in early 2021, prior to Gunn starting work on “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” “The Suicide Squad” is set to be released in theaters Aug. 6, 2021.
Brooks is best known for her role in the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black,” on which she appeared throughout the show’s seven season run.
- 11/11/2020
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Grammy and three-time SAG ensemble winner Danielle Brooks is joining HBO Max’s Peacemaker, the spinoff series to James Gunn’s upcoming The Suicide Squad movie. She joins John Cena, who is playing the title character, and Steve Agee, who is reprising his John Economos character from the film.
Brooks will play Leota Adebayo in the series, which will explore the origins of Cena’s Peacemaker character, a man who believes in peace at any cost — no matter how many people he has to kill to get it. The Suicide Squad is scheduled to hit theaters on August 6. Gunn wrote all eight episodes of Peacemaker and will direct several episodes. He’ll serve as EP with the film’s producer Peter Safran with Cena as co-executive producer.
Peacemaker will be produced by Gunn’s Troll Court Entertainment and The Safran Company in association with Warner Bros. Television. Production is set to begin early next year.
Brooks will play Leota Adebayo in the series, which will explore the origins of Cena’s Peacemaker character, a man who believes in peace at any cost — no matter how many people he has to kill to get it. The Suicide Squad is scheduled to hit theaters on August 6. Gunn wrote all eight episodes of Peacemaker and will direct several episodes. He’ll serve as EP with the film’s producer Peter Safran with Cena as co-executive producer.
Peacemaker will be produced by Gunn’s Troll Court Entertainment and The Safran Company in association with Warner Bros. Television. Production is set to begin early next year.
- 11/11/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Lifetime has extended its partnership with journalist Robin Roberts for four new movies and they are about to fuel the soul with Robin Roberts Presents: The Mahalia Jackson Story. The movie will star Tony Award nominee, SAG and Grammy Award-winning actress Danielle Brooks as the iconic gospel legend and civil rights activist while Tony winner Kenny Leon will direct. The pic comes from Rock’n Robin Productions and Lincoln Square Productions. Roberts will executive produce alongside Linda Berman.
Born in New Orleans, Mahalia began singing at an early age and went on to become one of the most revered gospel figures in U.S. history, melding her music with the civil rights movement. Her recording of the song “Move on Up a Little Higher” sold millions of copies, skyrocketing...
Born in New Orleans, Mahalia began singing at an early age and went on to become one of the most revered gospel figures in U.S. history, melding her music with the civil rights movement. Her recording of the song “Move on Up a Little Higher” sold millions of copies, skyrocketing...
- 8/3/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Starz/Lionsgate is rounding out the cast for its upcoming Power prequel series. London Brown (The Hustle), Malcolm Mays (Snowfall), Shanley Caswell (NCIS: New Orleans), Toby Sandeman (The Royals) and Joey Bada$$ (Mr. Robot) have been cast as series regulars alongside previously announced Patina Miller, Mekai Curtis, Omar Epps, Hailey Kilgore and Lovie Simone in Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Additionally, Quincy Brown (Star) is set as a recurring.
Created by Sascha Penn, who also serves as showrunner, Power Book III: Raising Kanan is a prequel that takes viewers back to the ‘90s and the early years of the now-deceased iconic Power character Kanan Stark, portrayed in the Courtney Kemp-created original series by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
Brown will play Marvin, the muscle for Rag’s drug ring. Marvin is the older brother to Raq (Patina Miller) and Lou-Lou (Malcolm Mays) Thomas. Father to Jukebox and uncle to Kanan. The oldest of the Thomas siblings,...
Created by Sascha Penn, who also serves as showrunner, Power Book III: Raising Kanan is a prequel that takes viewers back to the ‘90s and the early years of the now-deceased iconic Power character Kanan Stark, portrayed in the Courtney Kemp-created original series by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
Brown will play Marvin, the muscle for Rag’s drug ring. Marvin is the older brother to Raq (Patina Miller) and Lou-Lou (Malcolm Mays) Thomas. Father to Jukebox and uncle to Kanan. The oldest of the Thomas siblings,...
- 3/7/2020
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Julia Oh, Lauren Dark and Ben Cohen are all promoted.
The UK’s Film4 has restructured its creative team following the departure of long-time senior commissioning executive Sam Lavender last year.
Commissioners Julia Oh and Lauren Dark have been promoted to senior commissioning executives and Ben Coren becomes the newly-created head of development. Oh and Dark will continue to commission new projects and oversee productions, and will also now co-manage the development team. Coren will oversee Film4’s development slate.
“Lauren, Julia and Ben are among the most talented executives I’ve worked with. Passionate advocates for the filmmakers and projects they support,...
The UK’s Film4 has restructured its creative team following the departure of long-time senior commissioning executive Sam Lavender last year.
Commissioners Julia Oh and Lauren Dark have been promoted to senior commissioning executives and Ben Coren becomes the newly-created head of development. Oh and Dark will continue to commission new projects and oversee productions, and will also now co-manage the development team. Coren will oversee Film4’s development slate.
“Lauren, Julia and Ben are among the most talented executives I’ve worked with. Passionate advocates for the filmmakers and projects they support,...
- 1/8/2020
- by 88¦Louise Tutt¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Mark Harrison Jan 3, 2020
Karen Gillan, Shia Labeouf, and Lupita Nyong'o all rank in our annual rundown of 2019's best, most-likely-to-be-overlooked performances...
This feature contains spoilers of varying degrees for Ad Astra and Avengers: Endgame.
As the New Year begins, we're looking down the barrel of another months-long Oscars season, in which some of the year's most underappreciated performances will inevitably be overlooked. When this time of year rolls around, we like to select and celebrate some of the best acting performances in the sort of films that usually don't rank outside of the technical categories.
Why's that, you ask? Well, even though Joaquin Phoenix is a lock for most Best Actor nominations for his role in Joker, and there's been a steady broadening of the genre movies under awards consideration in recent years, we've found that performances in comedies and horror movies, among other categories that aren't “prestige drama,” still tend to be overlooked.
Karen Gillan, Shia Labeouf, and Lupita Nyong'o all rank in our annual rundown of 2019's best, most-likely-to-be-overlooked performances...
This feature contains spoilers of varying degrees for Ad Astra and Avengers: Endgame.
As the New Year begins, we're looking down the barrel of another months-long Oscars season, in which some of the year's most underappreciated performances will inevitably be overlooked. When this time of year rolls around, we like to select and celebrate some of the best acting performances in the sort of films that usually don't rank outside of the technical categories.
Why's that, you ask? Well, even though Joaquin Phoenix is a lock for most Best Actor nominations for his role in Joker, and there's been a steady broadening of the genre movies under awards consideration in recent years, we've found that performances in comedies and horror movies, among other categories that aren't “prestige drama,” still tend to be overlooked.
- 12/30/2019
- Den of Geek
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
Before we get to our weekly streaming picks, check out our annual feature: Where to Stream the Best Films of 2019.
The Aeronauts (Tom Harper)
The Oscar-garlanded pairing of Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones reteam five years after The Theory of Everything for The Aeronauts, an adventurous family-friendly slice of Victorian nostalgia about the exploits of plucky balloonists who risk all for the pursuit of science. In 1862 London, Redmayne again plays a scientist in his awkward-quirky puppy-dog face vein as a forerunner meteorologist James Glaisher whose climatological predictions he says can only be checked high up in the air. Jones is his erstwhile sidekick Amelia Wren, but...
Before we get to our weekly streaming picks, check out our annual feature: Where to Stream the Best Films of 2019.
The Aeronauts (Tom Harper)
The Oscar-garlanded pairing of Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones reteam five years after The Theory of Everything for The Aeronauts, an adventurous family-friendly slice of Victorian nostalgia about the exploits of plucky balloonists who risk all for the pursuit of science. In 1862 London, Redmayne again plays a scientist in his awkward-quirky puppy-dog face vein as a forerunner meteorologist James Glaisher whose climatological predictions he says can only be checked high up in the air. Jones is his erstwhile sidekick Amelia Wren, but...
- 12/27/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Lodric D. Collins, who currently stars in Bet’s The Oval series, is set to play Motown artist Smokey Robinson in the MGM/Bron Creative Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect. Liesl Tommy is directing the film which has Jennifer Hudson starring as the legendary singer. Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Mary J. Blige, Marc Maron. Tituss Burgess, Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Skye Dakota Turner, Heather Headley, and Tate Donovan also co-star. The film will track the rise of Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom. Scott Bernstein and multiple Grammy-nominated producer Harvey Mason Jr. are producing the pic. Aaron L. Gilbert and Jason Cloth are executive producers. Production began last month and the film will be released on Aug. 14, 2020, in the U.S. with Universal handling overseas. Collins, whose credits include Grimm, Z Nation, and The Haves and the Have Nots,...
- 12/13/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Brooke Smith (Bombshell), Anika Noni Rose, P.J. Byrne (Black Lightning), Malcolm Mays (Snowfall), Jeremiah Birkett and Sophie Guest (The Good Nanny) are set to recur opposite Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas in Amazon’s Them (fka Them: Covenant), the first season of the anthology horror series from executive producer Lena Waithe and writer and executive producer Little Marvin. The project, from Vertigo Entertainment and Sony Pictures TV, has a two-season straight-to-series order.
Written by Little Marvin, the 1953-set Them centers on Alfred and Lucky Emory (Ayorinde and Thomas), who decide to move their family from North Carolina to an all-white Los Angeles neighborhood. The family’s home on a tree-lined, seemingly idyllic street becomes ground zero where malevolent forces both real and supernatural threaten to taunt, ravage and destroy them.
Smith will play Helen Koistra, the realtor who moves the Emory family into their...
Written by Little Marvin, the 1953-set Them centers on Alfred and Lucky Emory (Ayorinde and Thomas), who decide to move their family from North Carolina to an all-white Los Angeles neighborhood. The family’s home on a tree-lined, seemingly idyllic street becomes ground zero where malevolent forces both real and supernatural threaten to taunt, ravage and destroy them.
Smith will play Helen Koistra, the realtor who moves the Emory family into their...
- 12/2/2019
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Hulu is providing some action-packed options next month for those looking for a switch-up on holiday cheer.
The streaming service will debut “Reprisal,” a hyper-noir story that follows a relentless femme fatale (Abigail Spencer) who, after being left for dead, sets out to take revenge against her brother and his bombastic gang of gearheads. It also launches Season 3 of “Marvel’s Runaways” on Dec. 13. If that wasn’t enough, several movies from the “Fast & Furious” franchise are hitting Hulu, plus both “Kill Bill: Volume 1” and “Kill Bill: Volume 2.”
Those dedicated to consuming holiday-only content can watch NBC’s “Holidays With the Houghs” with Julianne and Derek Hough, a song-and-dance performance show featuring special guest artist performances. Ellen DeGeneres will also be giving gifts with the help of celebrity friends on her “Ellen’s Greatest Night of Giveaways” special.
See more movies and TV shows coming to Hulu on December 2019 below.
The streaming service will debut “Reprisal,” a hyper-noir story that follows a relentless femme fatale (Abigail Spencer) who, after being left for dead, sets out to take revenge against her brother and his bombastic gang of gearheads. It also launches Season 3 of “Marvel’s Runaways” on Dec. 13. If that wasn’t enough, several movies from the “Fast & Furious” franchise are hitting Hulu, plus both “Kill Bill: Volume 1” and “Kill Bill: Volume 2.”
Those dedicated to consuming holiday-only content can watch NBC’s “Holidays With the Houghs” with Julianne and Derek Hough, a song-and-dance performance show featuring special guest artist performances. Ellen DeGeneres will also be giving gifts with the help of celebrity friends on her “Ellen’s Greatest Night of Giveaways” special.
See more movies and TV shows coming to Hulu on December 2019 below.
- 11/27/2019
- by Lorraine Wheat
- Variety Film + TV
The supervillain story has now hit £46.7m.
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Oct 25-27)Total gross to date Week 1 Joker (Warner Bros) £3.5m £46.7m 4 2 Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (Disney) £2.2m £7.5m 2 3 The Addams Family (Universal) £2.1m £2.1m 1 4 Terminator: Dark Fate (Disney) £2.1m £2.9m 1 5 A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Studiocanal) £1.1m £3.3m 2
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversionrate: 1.28
Warner Bros
Warner Bros’ Joker continues to dominate the UK box office, holding off the challenge of openers including Terminator: Dark Fate and The Addams Family to stay top of the charts for the fourth weekend in a row.
Todd Phillips’ supervillain origin...
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Oct 25-27)Total gross to date Week 1 Joker (Warner Bros) £3.5m £46.7m 4 2 Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (Disney) £2.2m £7.5m 2 3 The Addams Family (Universal) £2.1m £2.1m 1 4 Terminator: Dark Fate (Disney) £2.1m £2.9m 1 5 A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Studiocanal) £1.1m £3.3m 2
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversionrate: 1.28
Warner Bros
Warner Bros’ Joker continues to dominate the UK box office, holding off the challenge of openers including Terminator: Dark Fate and The Addams Family to stay top of the charts for the fourth weekend in a row.
Todd Phillips’ supervillain origin...
- 10/28/2019
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
The Warner Bros hit has topped the charts for three weeks.
Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Oct 18-20) Total gross to date Week 1 Joker (Warner Bros) £5.5m £40.3m 3 2 Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (Disney) £3.3m £3.3m 1 3 Zombieland: Double Tap (Sony) £1.3m £1.3m 1 4 A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Studiocanal) £1.1m £1.3m 1 5 Abominable (Universal) £988,083 £3.7m 2
Today’s Gbp to USDconversion rate: 1.30
Warner Bros
Supervillain origin story Joker topped the box office for the third weekend in a row, adding £5.5m to take it to £40.3m in total.
The film scored an £8,047 site average, proving a very impressive total for a third session.
Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Oct 18-20) Total gross to date Week 1 Joker (Warner Bros) £5.5m £40.3m 3 2 Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil (Disney) £3.3m £3.3m 1 3 Zombieland: Double Tap (Sony) £1.3m £1.3m 1 4 A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Studiocanal) £1.1m £1.3m 1 5 Abominable (Universal) £988,083 £3.7m 2
Today’s Gbp to USDconversion rate: 1.30
Warner Bros
Supervillain origin story Joker topped the box office for the third weekend in a row, adding £5.5m to take it to £40.3m in total.
The film scored an £8,047 site average, proving a very impressive total for a third session.
- 10/21/2019
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Todd Phillips’ supervillain origin story took £9.7m.
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Oct 11-13)Total gross to date Week 1 Joker (Warner Bros) £9.7m £30m 2 2 Abominable (Universal) £2.1m £2.1m 1 3 Gemini Man (Paramount) £1.7m £1.7m 1 4 Judy (20th Century Fox) £1.1m £4.7m 2 5 Downton Abbey (Universal) £948,923 £25.4m 5
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.25
Warner Bros
Todd Phillips’ Joker posted an outstanding £9.7m on its second weekend, with a drop of just 22% the best of any comic book-inspired movie in 2019.
Playing in 677 locations (up from 668 last weekend), the film took an average of £14,507, which would be an excellent average for a first weekend, and is...
RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (Oct 11-13)Total gross to date Week 1 Joker (Warner Bros) £9.7m £30m 2 2 Abominable (Universal) £2.1m £2.1m 1 3 Gemini Man (Paramount) £1.7m £1.7m 1 4 Judy (20th Century Fox) £1.1m £4.7m 2 5 Downton Abbey (Universal) £948,923 £25.4m 5
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.25
Warner Bros
Todd Phillips’ Joker posted an outstanding £9.7m on its second weekend, with a drop of just 22% the best of any comic book-inspired movie in 2019.
Playing in 677 locations (up from 668 last weekend), the film took an average of £14,507, which would be an excellent average for a first weekend, and is...
- 10/14/2019
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
The king of absurdist satire follows up Four Lions with a tragicomic tale of the Feds setting up a deluded preacher as kingpin of a fake terror plan
Billed as being “based on a hundred true stories”, this dark tragicomedy from co-writer/director Chris Morris paints a cracked portrait of counter-terrorism operations in the United States in which imagined enemies are eminently more imprisonable than their real-life counterparts. While The Day Shall Come may lack the breathtaking bite of Morris’s feature debut Four Lions or the experimental weirdness of his head-spinning TV show Jam, it does boast a fine cast, an alarming premise and a palpable sense of anger behind its increasingly absurdist comedy.
Marchánt Davis is Moses, “sultan” of the “Star of Six community farm and mission” in Miami, which preaches salvation through a heady cocktail of education, mysticism and martial arts, inspired by the figure of Haitian rebel Toussaint Louverture.
Billed as being “based on a hundred true stories”, this dark tragicomedy from co-writer/director Chris Morris paints a cracked portrait of counter-terrorism operations in the United States in which imagined enemies are eminently more imprisonable than their real-life counterparts. While The Day Shall Come may lack the breathtaking bite of Morris’s feature debut Four Lions or the experimental weirdness of his head-spinning TV show Jam, it does boast a fine cast, an alarming premise and a palpable sense of anger behind its increasingly absurdist comedy.
Marchánt Davis is Moses, “sultan” of the “Star of Six community farm and mission” in Miami, which preaches salvation through a heady cocktail of education, mysticism and martial arts, inspired by the figure of Haitian rebel Toussaint Louverture.
- 10/13/2019
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Further new openers include Lionsgate’s ‘Farming’, eOne’s ‘The Day Shall Come’.
Two contrasting titles are among the new openers at the UK box office this weekend, as Universal’s animated comedy Abominable goes up against Paramount’s Will Smith action drama Gemini Man.
However the new openers will have to score strongly to knock Warner Bros’ Joker from top spot, which scored a huge £12.6m debut last weekend.
Abominable is a DreamWorks Animation production, about a magical Yeti in Shanghai on a quest to reunite with his family on Mount Everest. Chloe Bennet, Albert Tsai and Tenzing Norgay Trainor lead the voice cast.
Two contrasting titles are among the new openers at the UK box office this weekend, as Universal’s animated comedy Abominable goes up against Paramount’s Will Smith action drama Gemini Man.
However the new openers will have to score strongly to knock Warner Bros’ Joker from top spot, which scored a huge £12.6m debut last weekend.
Abominable is a DreamWorks Animation production, about a magical Yeti in Shanghai on a quest to reunite with his family on Mount Everest. Chloe Bennet, Albert Tsai and Tenzing Norgay Trainor lead the voice cast.
- 10/11/2019
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) (Eva Husson)
A post-9/11 world rife with domestic terrorism is one our youth should be allowed to avoid. Parents seek an escape as well, though, something that risks leaving their kids alone without supervision for longer than recommended. This concept is never more prevalent than within the affluent sector of society where expendable income and exotic jobs leave a ton of latchkey children trying to defeat boredom. Internet connectivity provides whatever their hearts desire, freedom the ample opportunity to do as they please. Social pressures must be relieved and sex is easily the quickest and cheapest way to do so.
Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story) (Eva Husson)
A post-9/11 world rife with domestic terrorism is one our youth should be allowed to avoid. Parents seek an escape as well, though, something that risks leaving their kids alone without supervision for longer than recommended. This concept is never more prevalent than within the affluent sector of society where expendable income and exotic jobs leave a ton of latchkey children trying to defeat boredom. Internet connectivity provides whatever their hearts desire, freedom the ample opportunity to do as they please. Social pressures must be relieved and sex is easily the quickest and cheapest way to do so.
- 10/4/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Roadside Attractions’ launch of musical “Judy” gave the weak specialized box office a much-needed boost. The bravura performance by Renée Zellweger along with sustained interest in Hollywood icon Judy Garland propelled the film to a strong initial response at 461 theaters. Other award contenders will have to step up to similar numbers to redeem a problematic year, but this is a promising start of the season. Roadside also notched a box-office milestone as its steady performer “The Peanut Butter Falcon” passed A24’s long-running hit “The Farewell.”
On a smaller scale, Japanese genre film “First Love” (Well Go USA) also started impressively for a subtitled film with $25,000 in two theaters. This bodes well for several highly anticipated foreign-language films ahead.
Several titles of note did not report grosses this week: Netflix opened Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat” starring Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman ahead of its October 18 streaming date. No gross was reported,...
On a smaller scale, Japanese genre film “First Love” (Well Go USA) also started impressively for a subtitled film with $25,000 in two theaters. This bodes well for several highly anticipated foreign-language films ahead.
Several titles of note did not report grosses this week: Netflix opened Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat” starring Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman ahead of its October 18 streaming date. No gross was reported,...
- 9/29/2019
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
“This plays like a penny whistle jammed up an orangutan’s butt.” Lines like that come easy to English writer-director Chris Morris, whose satirical sensibility has made him one of “Veep” creator Armando Iannucci’s inner-circle collaborators and a bit of a controversy magnet in his own right. Remember “Four Lions,” the unapologetically offensive 2010 comedy about an inept British terror cell that opened with the bloopers from an al-Qaida-like video recording and ended with a pair of clumsy mujahedeen killing Osama bin Laden by accident? That was Morris’ idea of a reasonable way to confront the hysteria over jihad: Fight extremism with extreme comedy.
In Morris’ latest powder-keg feature, “The Day Shall Come,” the only thing more outrageous than the jokes are the facts that inspired it. The film ends the way so many American action movies do: with a terrorist attack averted and a couple of special agents shaking...
In Morris’ latest powder-keg feature, “The Day Shall Come,” the only thing more outrageous than the jokes are the facts that inspired it. The film ends the way so many American action movies do: with a terrorist attack averted and a couple of special agents shaking...
- 9/28/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
This week came in like a lamb as the Emmys season ended and went out like a lion as critics lost their minds at the press screenings of Martin Scorsese’s New York Film Festival opener-turned-legit-Oscar-candidiate “The Irishman.” As weekly bookends go, it’s a pretty accurate portrait of what the entertainment world looks like right now, and it’s one with no shortage of contradictions.
The annual Fall TV preview is always a massive undertaking, and this time Ann Donahue’s team had the task of narrowing down the list of hot new shows from the gale-force tsunami of TV content headed our way. At this point, Hollywood can recite the incoming streamers with nursery-rhyme familiarity — Apple+, Disney+, Peacock and more! — but no one knows entirely what to expect once they make themselves at home. Where will loyalties lie? What’s the human capacity for remembering which show is where,...
The annual Fall TV preview is always a massive undertaking, and this time Ann Donahue’s team had the task of narrowing down the list of hot new shows from the gale-force tsunami of TV content headed our way. At this point, Hollywood can recite the incoming streamers with nursery-rhyme familiarity — Apple+, Disney+, Peacock and more! — but no one knows entirely what to expect once they make themselves at home. Where will loyalties lie? What’s the human capacity for remembering which show is where,...
- 9/28/2019
- by Dana Harris-Bridson
- Thompson on Hollywood
This week came in like a lamb as the Emmys season ended and went out like a lion as critics lost their minds at the press screenings of Martin Scorsese’s New York Film Festival opener-turned-legit-Oscar-candidiate “The Irishman.” As weekly bookends go, it’s a pretty accurate portrait of what the entertainment world looks like right now, and it’s one with no shortage of contradictions.
The annual Fall TV preview is always a massive undertaking, and this time Ann Donahue’s team had the task of narrowing down the list of hot new shows from the gale-force tsunami of TV content headed our way. At this point, Hollywood can recite the incoming streamers with nursery-rhyme familiarity — Apple+, Disney+, Peacock and more! — but no one knows entirely what to expect once they make themselves at home. Where will loyalties lie? What’s the human capacity for remembering which show is where,...
The annual Fall TV preview is always a massive undertaking, and this time Ann Donahue’s team had the task of narrowing down the list of hot new shows from the gale-force tsunami of TV content headed our way. At this point, Hollywood can recite the incoming streamers with nursery-rhyme familiarity — Apple+, Disney+, Peacock and more! — but no one knows entirely what to expect once they make themselves at home. Where will loyalties lie? What’s the human capacity for remembering which show is where,...
- 9/28/2019
- by Dana Harris-Bridson
- Indiewire
Fooling the Children of the Revolution: Morris Returns with Dark, Political Satire
Stakes are perhaps too high for writer-director Christopher Morris’s sophomore film following the success of his provocative terrorist comedy Four Lions, one of the best films of 2010, which is perhaps one of several reasons why it’s taken so long for a follow-up feature. Arriving nine years later is The Day Shall Come, an equally perverse portrait of our modern corrupt world.
Another reason for the lengthy delay (besides his contributions to “Veep”) might be expectation, both for how much further Morris could push absurdist boundaries under the guise of so-called good taste as well as who the intended audience should be, something which makes his latest a unique marketing challenge.…...
Stakes are perhaps too high for writer-director Christopher Morris’s sophomore film following the success of his provocative terrorist comedy Four Lions, one of the best films of 2010, which is perhaps one of several reasons why it’s taken so long for a follow-up feature. Arriving nine years later is The Day Shall Come, an equally perverse portrait of our modern corrupt world.
Another reason for the lengthy delay (besides his contributions to “Veep”) might be expectation, both for how much further Morris could push absurdist boundaries under the guise of so-called good taste as well as who the intended audience should be, something which makes his latest a unique marketing challenge.…...
- 9/27/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Of all the films opening this weekend at the specialty box office, all eyes will be on Judy, the biopic about Hollywood icon Judy Garland. The film made its premiere at Telluride and played the Toronto Film Festival to a great ovation, prompting early awards contender buzz for star Renee Zellweger.
Joining Judy in a trip for the box office rainbow this weekend: A24’s The Death of Dick Long from Daniel Scheinert; Samantha Buck & Marie Schlingmann’s Sister Aimee; the gripping documentary Always In Season; and the satire The Day Shall Come.
Judy
Roadside Attractions/Ld Entertainment
Written by Tom Edge and directed by Rupert Goold, Judy showcases Zellweger in the title role in a biopic that’s not cradle-to-grave but rather focuses on a specific, significant piece of Judy Garland’s life.
In 1968 London, Garland is set to perform a five-week sold-out run at the nightclub The Talk of the Town.
Joining Judy in a trip for the box office rainbow this weekend: A24’s The Death of Dick Long from Daniel Scheinert; Samantha Buck & Marie Schlingmann’s Sister Aimee; the gripping documentary Always In Season; and the satire The Day Shall Come.
Judy
Roadside Attractions/Ld Entertainment
Written by Tom Edge and directed by Rupert Goold, Judy showcases Zellweger in the title role in a biopic that’s not cradle-to-grave but rather focuses on a specific, significant piece of Judy Garland’s life.
In 1968 London, Garland is set to perform a five-week sold-out run at the nightclub The Talk of the Town.
- 9/27/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
After a week that saw the success of three wide-release openings with “Downton Abbey,” “Ad Astra,” and “Rambo: Last Blood,” we are back to one this week with “Abominable” from DreamWorks Animation. The isolation is the industry’s nod to “Joker,” which opens October 4 and is expected to dominate the month. It’s also a matter of happenstance: Once upon a time, “The Hunt” was expected to open September 27.
A late-September date isn’t unusual for animated features. Sony launched its “Hotel Transylvania” franchise similarly, in anticipation of Halloween. Last year, Warners launched “Smallfoot” to $23 million. And there hasn’t been a major cartoon feature since “The Lion King” more than two months ago.
However, those considerations aren’t the main drivers. This Himalaya-set, Chinese coproduction opening in the Middle Kingdom on a prime period there and the $75 million film is expected to find much of its bounty there.
A late-September date isn’t unusual for animated features. Sony launched its “Hotel Transylvania” franchise similarly, in anticipation of Halloween. Last year, Warners launched “Smallfoot” to $23 million. And there hasn’t been a major cartoon feature since “The Lion King” more than two months ago.
However, those considerations aren’t the main drivers. This Himalaya-set, Chinese coproduction opening in the Middle Kingdom on a prime period there and the $75 million film is expected to find much of its bounty there.
- 9/27/2019
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
The hills are alive...with the sound of Anna Kendrick. The actress appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Wednesday to promote her new film The Day Shall Come and took the opportunity to remind the world she's a sarcastic person who loves musicals. The interview started out with Kendrick and Seth Meyers bonding over their love of Amsterdam. Meyers, who used to live in the Dutch city, and Kendrick, who was recently there for work, gushed over the city's gorgeous scenery. But, Kendrick's signature sarcasm apparently didn't translate very well with the Dutch people. Oops. "I went on the canals," she recalled. "I ended up, you know, just...
- 9/26/2019
- E! Online
In Christopher Morris’ new satire, “The Day Shall Come,” the stories of many people in the United States are condensed into one bitterly funny but dark comedy about the shortcomings of our justice system.
On one side is a charismatic man with delusions of grandeur, Moses (newcomer Marchánt Davis). He oversees a peaceful sect based on a fairly convoluted belief system that references Black Islamist, Jewish and Christian traditions. Moses works with his wife, Venus on the farm, takes in former drug dealers off the streets, and preaches the gospel of nonviolence and communal living. However, his unorthodox prayers call out to the liberator of Haiti, François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, and to Black Santa. It’s erratic enough behavior to get on the FBI’s radar, who deem Moses and his Star of Six group a possible threat.
What follows is a “Veep”-like look at the behind-the-scenes fumblings of the FBI.
On one side is a charismatic man with delusions of grandeur, Moses (newcomer Marchánt Davis). He oversees a peaceful sect based on a fairly convoluted belief system that references Black Islamist, Jewish and Christian traditions. Moses works with his wife, Venus on the farm, takes in former drug dealers off the streets, and preaches the gospel of nonviolence and communal living. However, his unorthodox prayers call out to the liberator of Haiti, François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, and to Black Santa. It’s erratic enough behavior to get on the FBI’s radar, who deem Moses and his Star of Six group a possible threat.
What follows is a “Veep”-like look at the behind-the-scenes fumblings of the FBI.
- 9/26/2019
- by Monica Castillo
- The Wrap
Years before the term “cancel culture” took off and before comedians faced comeuppance for offensive tweets, Chris Morris was deemed “the most hated man in Britain.” Needless to say, he’s well-positioned to dig into these sensitive times — and, unlike many comedians, he’s sympathetic to them.
Morris has been pushing buttons his whole career, and he knows a thing or two about the distinction between good satire and offensive jokes. “It sounds like you’re surrounded by rulebooks, but I think this is all intuitive,” he said in a recent interview. It was a few days after “SNL” fired new cast member Shane Gillis over his racist comments in a podcast, and while Morris declined to comment on Gillis’ specific comments, the veteran writer-turned-director had plenty of insight into the best practices for crafting edgy comedy.
Morris scored the “hated man” moniker almost 20 years ago, after his 2001 TV satire “Brass Eye,...
Morris has been pushing buttons his whole career, and he knows a thing or two about the distinction between good satire and offensive jokes. “It sounds like you’re surrounded by rulebooks, but I think this is all intuitive,” he said in a recent interview. It was a few days after “SNL” fired new cast member Shane Gillis over his racist comments in a podcast, and while Morris declined to comment on Gillis’ specific comments, the veteran writer-turned-director had plenty of insight into the best practices for crafting edgy comedy.
Morris scored the “hated man” moniker almost 20 years ago, after his 2001 TV satire “Brass Eye,...
- 9/24/2019
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
IFC Films has acquired the U.S. rights to “The Painted Bird,” a Holocaust drama starring Stellan Skarsgård, Harvey Keitel and Udo Kier that played at Venice and Toronto earlier this year, the distributor announced Tuesday.
“The Painted Bird” is directed, written, and produced by Václav Marhoul and is based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinski. The foreign language drama will be the official Oscar submission from the Czech Republic. IFC Films is planning a theatrical release for 2020.
The film was praised on the festival circuit for its bleak, unsparing look at Holocaust atrocities and evil, but the nearly three-hour saga, all in black and white on 35mm film, also prompted walkouts among moviegoers and split some critics.
Also Read: 'The Painted Bird' Film Review: Jerzy Kosiński Adaptation Is Gruesome, Poetic Epic of Inhumanity
“Marhoul’s film isn’t shy about the steady stream of ugliness, and that...
“The Painted Bird” is directed, written, and produced by Václav Marhoul and is based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinski. The foreign language drama will be the official Oscar submission from the Czech Republic. IFC Films is planning a theatrical release for 2020.
The film was praised on the festival circuit for its bleak, unsparing look at Holocaust atrocities and evil, but the nearly three-hour saga, all in black and white on 35mm film, also prompted walkouts among moviegoers and split some critics.
Also Read: 'The Painted Bird' Film Review: Jerzy Kosiński Adaptation Is Gruesome, Poetic Epic of Inhumanity
“Marhoul’s film isn’t shy about the steady stream of ugliness, and that...
- 9/24/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Filmmaker Chris Morris has kept audiences waiting for quite some time since his ambitious movie Four Lions hit theaters. That was almost a decade ago, with only four episodes of Veep under his belt since then, and nothing in the past five years or so. All this is to say that Morris’ satirical voice has been missing from cinemas. That changes this week when his sophomore flick The Day Shall Come opens. Having debuted earlier this year the South by Southwest Film Festival, it now ventures out, hoping to catch on. While some will no doubt be put off by some of the content, Morris is telling a deeply American story that’s as enraging as it is humorous. The movie is a comedy about the tragic way things work in America. Based on hundreds of true stories (as the film states), The Day Shall Come introduces us to a...
- 9/23/2019
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Chris Morris has never been afraid to make films that take some of society’s greatest issues and put them through his own satirical point of view. The filmmaker does that to great effect in the new film “The Day Shall Come.”
And in honor of “The Day Shall Come” hitting theaters and VOD soon, we are thrilled to be able to give our readers an exclusive clip at the film, which shows the style of humor that Morris brings to a dire situation.
Continue reading ‘The Day Shall Come’ Exclusive Clip: ‘4 Lions’ Filmmaker Chris Morris Returns With A New Hilarious Satire at The Playlist.
And in honor of “The Day Shall Come” hitting theaters and VOD soon, we are thrilled to be able to give our readers an exclusive clip at the film, which shows the style of humor that Morris brings to a dire situation.
Continue reading ‘The Day Shall Come’ Exclusive Clip: ‘4 Lions’ Filmmaker Chris Morris Returns With A New Hilarious Satire at The Playlist.
- 9/19/2019
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Exclusive: Snowfall regular Malcolm M. Mays has signed with ICM Partners.
The multi-hyphenate actor-filmmaker is also starring in the upcoming Sept. 27 Anna Kendrick IFC feature The Day Shall Come produced by See-Saw Films. Mays is known for playing the role of Kevin Hamilton for two seasons on FX’s Snowfall. He also starred in Antoine Fuqua’s boxing movie Southpaw and the Cuba Gooding Jr.-Dennis Haysbert film Life of a King.
Mays is set to direct and produce the feature Flint for Overbrook Entertainment, which stars John Ortiz and T.I. The pic is described as a modern day Chinatown set against the Flint, Michigan Water Crisis in which a converted ex-con who’s found peace in the Tao, finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery set upon by his ex-lover and young mentee that unravels the fabric of the Water Crisis afflicting the community he grew up in.
The multi-hyphenate actor-filmmaker is also starring in the upcoming Sept. 27 Anna Kendrick IFC feature The Day Shall Come produced by See-Saw Films. Mays is known for playing the role of Kevin Hamilton for two seasons on FX’s Snowfall. He also starred in Antoine Fuqua’s boxing movie Southpaw and the Cuba Gooding Jr.-Dennis Haysbert film Life of a King.
Mays is set to direct and produce the feature Flint for Overbrook Entertainment, which stars John Ortiz and T.I. The pic is described as a modern day Chinatown set against the Flint, Michigan Water Crisis in which a converted ex-con who’s found peace in the Tao, finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery set upon by his ex-lover and young mentee that unravels the fabric of the Water Crisis afflicting the community he grew up in.
- 9/3/2019
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Our massive, two-part fall preview of the arthouse and foreign films to see this season (plus a few studio highlights) will give one an overview of the next four months, but now it’s time to dive a bit deeper. Our September preview features a few of the notable films that recently landed at festivals and beyond, including a good amount of genre fun.
15. Freaks (Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein; Sept. 13)
As Tiff approaches, one of our favorites from last year is finally getting a release. This psychological sci-fi bending thriller conveys the story of seven-year-old Chloe (Lexy Kolker) who has been locked in an abandoned house by her paranoid father (Emile Hirsch), protecting her from unseen horrors in the process. Jared Mobarak wrote in his review, “The film ultimately expands to encompass a worthwhile mythology with ample sequel potential…Fantasies and dreams crafted by a seven-year-old girl’s imagination...
15. Freaks (Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein; Sept. 13)
As Tiff approaches, one of our favorites from last year is finally getting a release. This psychological sci-fi bending thriller conveys the story of seven-year-old Chloe (Lexy Kolker) who has been locked in an abandoned house by her paranoid father (Emile Hirsch), protecting her from unseen horrors in the process. Jared Mobarak wrote in his review, “The film ultimately expands to encompass a worthwhile mythology with ample sequel potential…Fantasies and dreams crafted by a seven-year-old girl’s imagination...
- 9/2/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
It’s time for another trailer round-up, my friends. This is the spot where we compile the odds and ends of the movie trailer world, and try to highlight titles that may be a bit more under-the-radar compared to the bigger films we cover. Check out our trailer round-up below! Rogue Warfare In Rogue Warfare, “a group […]
The post Trailer Round-Up: ‘Rogue Warfare’, ‘I Still Believe’, ‘Corporate Animals’, ‘The Day Shall Come’, ‘Antrum’, ‘Synonyms’, ‘Greener Grass’ appeared first on /Film.
The post Trailer Round-Up: ‘Rogue Warfare’, ‘I Still Believe’, ‘Corporate Animals’, ‘The Day Shall Come’, ‘Antrum’, ‘Synonyms’, ‘Greener Grass’ appeared first on /Film.
- 8/25/2019
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
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