Fran Drescher has been elected president of SAG-AFTRA, in a victory for the faction that has led the union for a dozen years. But Joely Fisher — who campaigned on the rival Membership First slate — has been elected secretary-treasurer. Drescher will succeed Gabrielle Carteris, who has led the organization since 2016. Best known for her lead role on […]
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After the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday night denied a request to issue emergency relief blocking Texas’ new law that bans abortion at six weeks and, say opponents, effectively eliminates access to abortions statewide, some big names in entertainment expressed their opinions about the legislation. A group of prominent actors, musicians and other artists and companies swiftly […]
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Bong Joon-ho was emotional and Jane Campion was touching but the evening belonged to Roberto Benigni. The 78th Venice International Film Festival got off to an emotional start Wednesday night with host, Italian actor Serena Rossi, dedicating opening night to Afghan mothers forced to separate from their children in an attempt to save them from the Taliban. “We […]
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Hunter Schafer, John Malkovich, Gemma Chan and Sofia Boutella are set to star in a new horror film from Neon called “Cuckoo,” the distributor said Tuesday. “Cuckoo” is the latest film from “Luz” director Tilman Singer, who will write and direct the new horror film and hopes to begin principal photography in April 2022. Neon […]
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Seven-time Emmy-winning actor Ed Asner, who starred as Lou Grant on both sitcom “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and hourlong drama “Lou Grant” before a late-career rejuvenation through his poignant voicework in 2009 animated film “Up,” has died. He was 91. His publicist confirmed the news to Variety, writing that he died on Sunday surrounded by family. Asner’s official […]
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Actor, disability-inclusion advocate and double hand amputee John W. Lawson has been cast as Stanny in Paramount Players’ untitled “Pet Sematary” prequel, written and directed by Lindsey Beer. “I have myoelectric hands… or what people commonly call ‘cyborg,’” Lawson jokes. “But most of the time, it’s just my hooks.” This news makes the “Pet Sematary” prequel one of the […]
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Emmy winners Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass have teamed up for a new sci-fi movie titled “Biosphere,” directed by Mel Eslyn. The mysterious movie marks Eslyn’s feature directorial debut. Production on “Biosphere” — written by Eslyn and Duplass — has wrapped, with details of the project’s plot being kept secret. The new movie is produced by Duplass Brothers Productions […]
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Mel Brooks is ready to look back at his life and success in show business in a memoir set to release this Fall. Ballantine Books announced Wednesday that they have acquired and will publish the comedy legend’s upcoming memoir, All About Me! My Remarkable Life in Show Business. In All About Me!, the director, producer, writer, and actor will reflect on growing […]
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Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine has been sold for north of $900 million to a media company backed by the private-equity firm Blackstone Group Inc. Witherspoon and Sarah Harden, Hello Sunshine’s CEO, will join the board of the new company and will continue to oversee day-to-day operations. They will also remain significant equity holders. The Wall Street Journal first reported […]
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Tom Hanks has joined the cast of Wes Anderson’s next project in a minor role, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter. Adrian Brody, Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton are also starring in the untitled project, which is expected to shoot in Spain. Anderson is writing and directing. Plot details are being kept under wraps. […]
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The Walt Disney Co. fired back at Scarlet Johansson’s lawsuit over the release of Black Widow, in a biting statement in which it said that the litigation showed a “callous disregard” to the Covid-19 pandemic and even revealed that she has so far received $20 million from the project. A Disney spokesperson said, “There is no merit whatsoever to this […]
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Disney’s decision to release “Black Widow” on Disney Plus at the same time it hit theaters has sparked a legal battle with Scarlett Johansson, the actress tasked with playing the Marvel superhero. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, attorneys for Johansson allege that the star’s contract was breached when the studio opted […]
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Larry Wilmore and Rainn Wilson are joining Annette Bening and Bryan Cranston in an upcoming Paramount Plus lotto hack project. “Jerry and Marge Go Large,” announced recently as one of the first original films at the ViacomCBS streaming platform, is from director David Frankel. The film tells the remarkable true story of how retiree Jerry Selbee (Cranston) discovered a mathematical […]
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Henry Cavill will star in the upcoming rom-com, “The Rosie Project.” The film, which has been in the making for a few years at Sony Pictures, is based on Graeme Simsion’s novel of the same name and will follow the former “Man of Steel” actor as Don Tillman, a genetics professor on his journey to […]
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Proving the might of the Marvel brand, Black Widow set a new benchmark for the pandemic era in opening to $80 million at the domestic box office. The female-led superhero pic snared the biggest North American start since the COVID-19 crisis commenced, and the largest since Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in Dec. 2019. Overseas, the film earned […]
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“Red Notice,” the upcoming comedic action thriller starring Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, is debuting on Netflix this fall. Johnson announced Thursday morning to his social media platforms that “Red Notice” will premiere on Nov. 12. “You’re officially on notice,” he wrote on Twitter in a message adorned with siren, fire and globe emojis. “Netflix’s biggest […]
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Kaley Cuoco’s feature dance card continues to expand in the wake of the success of her HBO Max series The Flight Attendant with Studiocanal and The Picture Company’s stylish action thriller Role Play, penned by Seth Owen. Cuoco is in negotiations to star and produce Role Play, which follows a young married couple whose life turns upside down after secrets are revealed about about […]
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In a career that spans more than seven decades, Eva Marie Saint has won an Oscar, played Superman’s mom, and acted alongside screen legends such as Paul Newman, Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando. A versatile performer, she appeared in comedies (“The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming”), historical epics (“Raintree County”), social dramas (“On the Waterfront”), […]
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Dwayne Johnson will star in “Red One” for Amazon Studios, the streaming service announced Monday. The film will reunite Johnson with “Fast and Furious” scribe Chris Morgan — the pair recently collaborated on the hit spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw.” The deal for the film treatment, which comes after a highly competitive bidding situation, is another sign that Amazon is […]
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Scarlett Johansson is staying on the Disney ride. The actor, who has Disney and Marvel’s Black Widow due out in two weeks, is attached to produce Tower of Terror, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley is penning the script for the project based on the classic Disney theme park ride. Plot details are being kept under wraps, […]
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Rachel Zegler has been cast as Snow White in Disney’s upcoming remake of the classic fairytale. Zegler, who beat out many for the role, is poised for a major breakout. She is making her feature film debut as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” which bows later in 2021, and will also appear in the superhero sequel to […]
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What a difference two years and a global pandemic make. Steven Spielberg, who a couple of years ago was quoted — his camp maintains he never said it or anything he might have said was severely taken out of context — drawing a clear line between theatrically released films and streamer films, has berthed his Amblin Partners into […]
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 54-person board of governors will look considerably different when it next meets in July, the result of this year’s Academy board elections that took place over the past month. For the first time in the organization’s 94-year history, the majority of the board will be female (that figured […]
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Kristen Wiig is set to star in a film adaptation of “The Husbands,” a feminist thriller based on a novel by “Whisper Network” author Chandler Baker. MGM acquired the rights to the novel for Plan B to produce as part of their ongoing production pact with the studio, and Wiig is also set to produce […]
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Another big streamer sale of a finished film! Paramount+ and Showtime won an auction for U.S rights to Queenpins, the STXfilms comedy that stars Kristen Bell, Kirby Howell Baptiste, Paul Walter Hauser, Vince Vaughn, Bebe Rexha, Dayo Okeniyi, Joel McHale, Nick Cassavetes, Jack McBrayer and Annie Mumolo. With streamers like Hulu in on the bidding, Paramount+ and Showtime […]
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