Movies
‘Blade’ Director Bassam Tariq Steps Down As Executive Producer
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Andreas Rentz / Getty Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe got blindsided as the director of the much-anticipated Blade movie is stepping down from the project before filming. According to reports, Bassam Tariq has stepped down as director of the movie with Oscar winner Mahershala Ali in the title role. Tariq confirmed the move in a statement released on Tuesday (Sept. 27). “It’s been an honor working with the wonderful folks at Marvel. We were able to put together a killer cast and crew. Eager to see where the next director takes the film,” he wrote. “Due to continued shifts in our production schedule, Bassam is no longer moving forward as director of Blade but will remain an executive producer on the film,” Marvel said in a statement to the press. “We ...
Guy Who Married His Ex-Partner’s Step Daughter Retiring From Making Movies
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: New York Daily News Archive / Getty Woody Allen, the renowned and controversial director who infamously married his ex-partner’s adopted daughter, is retiring. You care. In a recent interview, the 86-year-old with questionable morals said he’s calling it quits after his next, and 50th film. Reports the Hollywood Reporter: The Oscar-winning director and screenwriter told Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia in an interview published Saturday that he intends for his next film to be his last, and that he’ll then focus more on writing, as he would like to work on a novel. He said his 50th and final film, one which he previously has said will film in France later this year, will be similar in tone to his 2005 thriller Match Point. “My idea, in princi...
“Beverly Hills Cop” Netflix Sequel Adds New Actors, Gets New Title
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: 52nd NAACP Image Awards/BET / Getty The long-anticipated sequel to the Beverly Hills Cop movie franchise that gained Eddie Murphy worldwide attention, is moving forward with Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Taylour Paige joining the cast. According to reports, the next installment of the comedy movie franchise will be adding the veteran actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt along with rising star Taylour Paige to its cast. Eddie Murphy will reprise his role as the wisecracking Detroit police officer Axel Foley in the motion picture. Related Stories The film’s new title will be Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley and filming is already underway. Mark Malloy is in the director’s chair, taking over for the Belgian film directing duo of Adil El Ari and Bilal Ferrah. The news i...
Camila Cabello Joins Hans Zimmer for ‘Frozen Planet II’ Song ‘Take Me Back Home’
Camila Cabello and Hans Zimmer have teamed up to write and record the new song “Take Me Back Home” for BBC One’s Frozen Planet II. The track will first premiere on BBC Radio 1 on Friday (Aug. 26) ahead of a first-look trailer for the Sir David Attenborough-narrated series. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The BBC announced the collaboration with a press release on Sunday (Aug. 21), noting that “Take Me Back Home” features Cabello’s vocals with the orchestration of Zimmer. Cabello and Zimmer worked with arranger Anže Rozman and producer Russell Emanuel for Bleeding Fingers Music. “my life is a dream,” Cabello wrote on Twitter, where she shared the news with fans. In a statement to the BBC, she added, “To be able to combine my passion for the...
Gospel Singer Marvin Sapp Shares Past Booger Sugar Use
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Ambre Anderson, Willie Moore Jr. Marvin Sapp, Sheree Whitfield, Lisa W / TV One Bishop Marvin Sapp’s life story has been made into a movie that will debut this Sunday (August 21) on TVOne. In Never Would Have Made It: The Marvin Sapp Story—the Grammy Award-nominated gospel star shares that despite a lifelong dedication to the church, he also experimented with drugs and alcohol. “I’ve always sung gospel music but [that was] because my mother made us go to church,” Sapp told Page Six, “But just because we went to church did not mean the church was in us.” He said, “after my mother and father got divorced I started smoking marijuana daily at the age of twelve,” adding that he started “drinking and popping pills at the age of sixteen and at eighte...
Oscar Winner Viola Davis to Play Lead Villain In ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Joe Maher / Getty The forthcoming Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, will star Academy Award-winner Viola Davis as deranged Head Gamemaker, Dr. Volumnia Gaul. The exciting announcement came from the film’s official Twitter account writing, “Meet your Head Gamemaker. Viola Davis has been cast as Dr. Volumnia Gaul in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – arriving in theaters November 2023.” The Hunger Games movie franchise grossed over $2 billion worldwide. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the prequel’s synopsis reads: “Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a ...
Daniel Kaluuya Officially Will Not Return For ‘Black Panther 2’
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Amy Sussman / Getty Daniel Kaluuya’s appearance in the 2018 Marvel blockbuster film Black Panther looks like it will be a one-and-done deal, as it’s being reported that he officially will not return for the sequel. According to reports, the Oscar-winning Kaluuya was asked to return to his role as W’Kabi, chief security officer and best friend to T’Challa, played by the late Chadwick Boseman. He, unfortunately, had to back out of appearing in the sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as the schedule for filming would’ve conflicted with the schedule for Jordan Peele’s horror film (potentially) involving UFOs, Nope. Filming for Wakanda Forever began last March in Atlanta, Georgia. Kaluuya had already committed to star in Peele’s film before Disney and Marve...
Tomorrowland Has Inspired an “Epic Fantasy Trilogy” of Novels and Films
The iconic Tomorrowland music festival is getting an official beach read makeover, thanks to an “epic fantasy trilogy” of book adaptations that are about to hit the global entertainment marketplace. Soon, you’ll be able to experience all the highs and lows of a fantasy rave bae relationship, from the physical and emotional comforts of your own home. Just kidding. But what we do know is that—at least for the first installment—themes of unity, love and nature will be at the forefront, according to literary agent Paul Lucas of Janklow & Nesbit. He’ll reportedly be representing the project’s fiction series rights while United Talent Agency’s Jason Richman will be handling the book-to-screen end. What are the books actually about? Where are the characters...
Hocus Pocus 2 Resurrects The Sanderson Sisters For A New Generation
The Sanderson sisters are back for revenge! A spooky teaser trailer for Hocus Pocus 2 was summoned on Tuesday (June 28) almost three decades since the first film’s release in 1993. The film is set 29 years after the famed witches’ supposed deaths. The trailer introduces Cassie (Lilia Buckingham), who wishes “happy birthday” to her friend Becca (Whitney Peak) and asks about her plans. “Birthday ritual, scary movie marathon, same as every year,” she responds. Ominous foreshadowing, perhaps? Later, Becca and another friend, Izzy (Belissa Escobedo), go to the local Olde Salem Magic Shoppe, where a black cat can be seen hopping in front of a crystal ball. The shopkeeper (Sam Richardson) mentions a legend that a witch gains powers on her 16th birthday. At night, the duo descend into the woods to...
Box Office Dance-Off: ‘Elvis’ Opens to $30.5M to Tie With ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ for Top Spot
In rare box office dance-off, Baz Luhrmann’s biopic Elvis — starring Austin Butler as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll — and Top Gun: Maverick tied for the weekend crown with an estimated $30.5 million each. The race won’t be declared until Monday morning when final grosses are tallied. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Top Gun: Maverick is doing formidable business in its fifth weekend as it jumps the $1 billion mark globally. The movie fell a scant 32 percent domestically thanks to being rereleased in select Imax and other premium large-format screens. Elvis, from Warner Bros., has older moviegoers to thank for opening ahead of expectations: 56 percent of the audience so far is over the age of 35, i...
Box Office: ‘Elvis’ Rocking to $30M-Plus Opening in Dance-Off With ‘Top Gun 2’
Baz Luhrmann’s biopic Elvis — starring Austin Butler as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll — is dancing to a better-than-expected $30 million to $32 million opening at the domestic box office after topping Friday’s (June 24) chart with $12.7 million, including $3.5 million in previews. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news That could be enough to win the weekend ahead of Top Gun: Maverick, which is doing formidable business in its fifth weekend, thanks to being rereleased in Imax and other premium screens. Elvis, from Warner Bros., has older moviegoers to thank: 65 percent of the audience so far is over the age of 35, including a whopping 30 percent over 55. Naturally, Luhrmann’s frenetic Elvis Presley biopic performed be...
Guy Ritchie to Direct ‘Hercules’ Live-Action Remake
Guy Ritchie has boarded Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of Hercules. Ritchie will direct the remake based on the 1997 film, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Ritchie previously directed Disney’s 2019 live-action Aladdin, which crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office. Dave Callaham, who wrote Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, penned a first draft of the script. The studio is currently in the process of searching for writers for the project. Joe and Anthony Russo, the filmmakers behind Avengers: Endgame and Infinity War, are set to produce the film via their AGBO banner. The original 1997 film, directed by Ron Clements and Jon Musker, offered a musical retelling of the Greek legend i...
