Film
Disney Taps ‘Moonlight’ Filmmaker Barry Jenkins To Direct ‘Lion King’ Sequel
Source: Disney / Disney It’s the circle of life for The Lion King franchise because Disney not only greenlit a sequel, they also secured Moonlight director Barry Jenkins to direct the live-action film. What’s known so far is that the flick will serve as a prequel into Mufasa’s backstory à la “The Godfather: Part II, set on the African plain with a continuation of the tradition of music that was a key part of the 1994 animated classic, the 2019 film and the blockbuster Broadway stage transfer,” according to Deadline. Currently, there’s no release date or actors confirmed this early in the development process. The 2019 remake starring Beyoncé Knowles (Nala), Donald Glover (Simba), Seth Rogen (Pumbaa), and James Earl Jones (Mufasa) earned ...
John Belushi’s Legendary Career Chronicled in New Showtime Documentary: Watch Trailer
John Belushi’s lasting influence hasn’t faded even as we approach the 40th anniversary of his passing. This fall, his legacy will be further cemented and celebrated in R.J. Cutler’s new Showtime documentary, Belushi. The film’s first trailer presents a candid portrait of the comedian and actor via unheard audiotapes, career-spanning clips, and interviews with his friends and family. The doc covers Belushi’s early years growing up in Wheaton, Illinois through his continued impact on the comedy world long after his tragic 1982 death at the age of 33. To help recount Belushi’s life story, audio from the late star is interspersed with interviews from his wife, Judy Belushi; fellow Blues Brother Dan Aykroyd; actual brother Jim Belushi; and Saturday Night Live head Lorne Michaels. Other collabor...
Oscar Isaac to Star as Francis Ford Coppola in Francis and the Godfather
Oscar Isaac will star as Francis Ford Coppola in Francis and the Godfather, a new feature film about the making of — you guessed it — The Godfather. Via The Hollywood Reporter, Barry Levinson will direct and Jake Gyllenhaal will play legendary Paramount head Robert Evans. The Godfather had a famously troubled production history. Evans picked up the rights to Mario Puzo’s book The Godfather for a pittance after learning that Puzo was up to his eyeballs in gambling debt. As he explained in his autobiography The Kid Stays in the Picture, he then offered the director’s chair to half of Hollywood before landing on Coppola. Personally, Coppola didn’t want anything to do with the “sleazy” story, but wouldn’t you know it, he was also deeply in debt. Things didn’t impr...
R.I.P. Helen Reddy, “I Am Woman” Singer Dies at 78
Helen Reddy, the singer and activist whose song “I Am Woman” became an anthem for feminism, has died at the age of 78. “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Helen Reddy, on the afternoon of September 29th 2020 in Los Angeles,” her family announced in a statement. “She was a wonderful Mother, Grandmother and a truly formidable woman. Our hearts are broken. But we take comfort in the knowledge that her voice will live on forever.” A native of Melbourne, Australia, Reddy caught her first big break in 1966 when she won the talent contest on the Australian television program Bandstand. She then relocated to America and soon secured a contract with Capitol Records. Throughout the 1970s, Reddy earned 15 Top 40 singles in the US, including songs like “Delta D...
Zendaya to Star as Ronnie Spector in New Biopic
Zendaya has signed on to star in a new biopic about Ronnie Spector. Deadline reports that A24 has secured the rights to Spector’s memoir, Be My Baby, and is circling Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury to write the film’s script. Originally published in 1990, Be My Baby recounts Spector’s roller-coaster career as lead singer of the Ronettes, her emotionally abusive marriage to the Phil Spector, and her resurgence as a solo singer. Zendaya was apparently handpicked by Spector herself, and A24 leveraged its existing relationship with the actress through Euphoria to close the deal. Both Zendaya and Spector will also serve as producers on the project. Earlier this month, Zendaya made history by becoming the youngest woman to ever win the Emmy for Best Actress – Drama. ...
Billie Eilish’s Apple TV+ Documentary Due Out Early 2021
Billie Eilish’s long-in-the-works documentary from Apple TV+ has formally been announced today. Titled The World’s A Little Blurry, the feature film will hit theaters and Apple’s premium streaming platform in February 2021. The existence of the doc was first revealed in December 2019, when Apple TV+ acquired the project for a whopping $25 million dollars. The World’s A Little Blurry is expected to highlight Eilish’s incredible rise to fame, as well as showcase personal, behind-the-scenes moments from throughout her young yet already historic career. One of those private scenes, a throwback look at the pop megastar’s first piano lessons, is featured in the film’s newly unveiled teaser trailer. Watch below. The forthcoming doc was produced by Apple Original Films, in association with In...
Blumhouse’s ‘The Craft’ remake heading straight to VOD on Amazon
School may be out for a theatrical release of Blumhouse’s remake of The Craft. The teen horror fantasy remake written, directed, and produced by Zoe Lister Jonesis headed straight to video-on-demand on Amazon this October, according to a new press release of incoming Prime Video titles. Just in time for Halloween. The Craft remake release has been set for Amazon Prime Video on October 27, 2020, four days before Halloween. An Amazon Prime Video press release reveals that The Craft will make its VOD premiere on the platform for rental or purchase. Here is the description of The Craft‘s Amazon premiere date: The Craft (2020), a remake of the 1996 film of the same name, follows a group of high school students that form a coven of witches. Available to buy or rent October 27. We haven’t heard m...
Henry Cavill Would “Love to Play James Bond”
Daniel Craig is ready to hang up his martini glass, and the rumors are full of big names who could put the “oh!” into 007. Now, Henry Cavill has announced his desire to be the next James Bond. The 37-year-old actor has already played Superman, Sherlock Holmes, and the titular monster-slayer of The Witcher. That might be enough pop culture dominance for a regular geek, but Cavill is true super nerd. Via GQ, he’s spent quarantine painting Warhammer figurines, and when he was cast in 2013’s Man of Steel, he famously missed the big phone call from Zack Snyder because he was mid-battle in World of Warcraft. Cavill said, “I saw it was him… but you can’t pause World of Warcraft, it’s live.” The actor has apparently always had a soft spot for the world’s greatest spy. In a...
Chadwick Boseman Gave Sienna Miller a Portion of His 21 Bridges Salary
Chadwick Boseman was one of the most famous superheroes in Marvel history, and it turns out he was an everyday hero offscreen, too. In a new interview, Sienna Miller revealed that the Black Panther star gave her a portion of his salary from 21 Bridges so that she could continue working as a co-producer and actor in the movie, reports Variety. As Miller told Empire earlier today, she was thrilled when Boseman reached out to her about working together on the crime drama, but she hesitated to sign on because the studio wouldn’t agree to her suggested salary — despite the fact that she was in a period of her life where she was taking a break from working, and as such needed a suitable amount to justify putting her family life on hold. Boseman hoped she could work as a co-producer and as an act...
The Criterion Channel Has the Best Halloween 2020 Lineup
If you couldn’t tell, Halloween is a big deal when it comes to streaming. Netflix, Hulu, Shudder, and AMC are all offering countless tricks and treats for the month of October. Joining them is The Criterion Channel, and they may be a cut above the rest. As Bloody Disgusting reports, the prestigious channel is dialing things back to the ’70s for October 2020, dropping 29 vintage titles that prove horror looked better in bell bottoms and sequins. It’s a pristine lineup that would impress the likes of Joe Bob Briggs. “In the 1970s, everything was wilder, weirder, and more far-out—and horror movies were no exception,” Criterion announced in a statement. “This tour through the 1970s nightmare realm is a veritable blood feast of perverse pleasures from a time when gore, grime, and sleaze found a...
Father of the Bride Cast to Reunite for Netflix “Sequel”
Get ready to spend the weekend with the Banks. On Friday, Netflix, Facebook, and YouTube will host a reunion with the cast of Father of the Bride for a special charity event to benefit World Central Kitchen. In anticipation, they’ve dropped two teaser trailers that suggest we’re in for a very fun and very crowded video call. How crowded? Well, according to the credits in the second trailer, we’ll be seeing Steve Martin, aka George Banks; Diane Keaton, aka Nina Banks; Kimberly Williams-Paisley, aka Annie Banks-MacKenzie; Kieran Culkin, aka Matty Banks; George Newbern, aka Bryan MacKenzie; and, yes, Martin Short, aka Franck Eggelhoffer. As for the occasion, it’s possible we’ll be seeing Father of the Groom. In the first teaser, we see George (Martin) sorting through his e-mail — gotta love t...
Netflix’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 Gives Aaron Sorkin a Timely Bully Pulpit: Review
The Pitch: In 1968, a coalition of anti-Vietnam War and counterculture protestors took to the streets in Chicago to protest outside the Democratic National Convention, rallying to end the Vietnam War and bring our boys back home. Predictably, the police retaliated with overwhelming force, greeting them with beatings, tear gas, and scores of arrests. Five scant months later, one of the most infamous trials in American history took place, charging seven of the organizers with conspiracy and incitement to riot — YIPpies Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen) and Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong), Mobe leaders Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and Rennie Davis (Alex Sharp), David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch), John Froines (Danie Flaherty) and Lee Weiner (Noah Robbins). Black Panther Bobby Seale (Yahya A...
