The Big Cigar is a biographical drama thriller miniseries created by Jim Hecht. Based on the 2012 Playboy article of the same name by Joshua Bearman, the Apple TV+ series is set in the 1970s and it follows the story of Black Panther party founder Huey P. Newton as he tries to escape from the FBI to Cuba with the help of film and TV producer Bert Schneider.
If you love historical figures and their stories, The Big Cigar is for you as we get an in-depth look at the life of Huey P. Newton. So, if you love the Apple TV+ biographical series here are all the release dates for its upcoming episodes.
The Big Cigar – Episode Guide (When Will The New Episodes Come Out?) Credit – Apple TV+
The Big Cigar consists of six episodes in total. The biographical drama miniseries premiered on Apple TV+ with its first two episodes...
If you love historical figures and their stories, The Big Cigar is for you as we get an in-depth look at the life of Huey P. Newton. So, if you love the Apple TV+ biographical series here are all the release dates for its upcoming episodes.
The Big Cigar – Episode Guide (When Will The New Episodes Come Out?) Credit – Apple TV+
The Big Cigar consists of six episodes in total. The biographical drama miniseries premiered on Apple TV+ with its first two episodes...
- 5/25/2024
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
Plot: The incredible true story of Hollywood revolution meeting social revolution: it’s a wild caper of Black Panther founder Huey Newton escaping from the FBI to Cuba with the help of famed producer Bert Schneider in an impossibly elaborate plan – involving a fake movie production — that goes wrong every way it possibly can. And somehow, it’s all true. Mostly.
Review: The stories of revolutionary political figures and social reformers have been popular for big and small screen adaptations for decades. There seems to be more focus on the 1960s and 1970s than any other period in American history. The 2021 film Judas and the Black Messiah looked at controversial figure Fred Hampton, while this year’s Shirley chronicled Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s run for United States President. While these and the stories of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X have made for acclaimed productions, the story of Black...
Review: The stories of revolutionary political figures and social reformers have been popular for big and small screen adaptations for decades. There seems to be more focus on the 1960s and 1970s than any other period in American history. The 2021 film Judas and the Black Messiah looked at controversial figure Fred Hampton, while this year’s Shirley chronicled Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s run for United States President. While these and the stories of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X have made for acclaimed productions, the story of Black...
- 5/18/2024
- by Alex Maidy
- JoBlo.com
Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to “Daytime Revolution,” a documentary about the week that John Lennon and Yoko Ono co-hosted “The Mike Douglas Show” in early 1972. Directed by Erik Nelson, with creative consultation from Ono and her son, Sean Ono Lennon, the doc uses archival footage from each of the five 70-minute shows as well as interviews with six surviving guests, including Ralph Nader, to tell the behind-the-scenes story of theses shows.
Kino Lorber will open “Daytime Revolution” theatrically later this year, followed by a home video, educational, and digital release on all major platforms.
“Erik Nelson has unearthed a fascinating and undeniably radical moment of cultural history with ‘Daytime Revolution,’ giving viewers incredible behind the scenes access to a week of
television that continues to resonate today,” says Wendy Lidell, Kino Lorber’s senior VP of theatrical distribution and acquisitions. “John and Yoko used this memorable week...
Kino Lorber will open “Daytime Revolution” theatrically later this year, followed by a home video, educational, and digital release on all major platforms.
“Erik Nelson has unearthed a fascinating and undeniably radical moment of cultural history with ‘Daytime Revolution,’ giving viewers incredible behind the scenes access to a week of
television that continues to resonate today,” says Wendy Lidell, Kino Lorber’s senior VP of theatrical distribution and acquisitions. “John and Yoko used this memorable week...
- 5/8/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
John Lennon and Yoko Ono were essential figures in the counterculture movement of the 1970s. Not only did their music embrace the avant-garde, but they also performed several publicity stunts, like the anti-war protest bed-ins. Lennon and Ono were seen as controversial figures on certain sides of the political aisle, and many were not pleased when the couple “hijacked” an American TV show in 1972.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono appeared on several episodes of ‘The Mike Douglas Show’ in 1972
After The Beatles ended in 1970, Lennon fully committed to voicing his politics in his music. While he had more subtle, calmer songs like “Imagine”, he also had more provocative and uncompromising songs like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Power to the People”.
This made Lennon a not-so-popular figure with certain politicians, who didn’t want his counterculture brand to infect the youth. However, audiences were given a healthy dose of Lennon and...
John Lennon and Yoko Ono appeared on several episodes of ‘The Mike Douglas Show’ in 1972
After The Beatles ended in 1970, Lennon fully committed to voicing his politics in his music. While he had more subtle, calmer songs like “Imagine”, he also had more provocative and uncompromising songs like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “Power to the People”.
This made Lennon a not-so-popular figure with certain politicians, who didn’t want his counterculture brand to infect the youth. However, audiences were given a healthy dose of Lennon and...
- 7/23/2023
- by Ross Tanenbaum
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Exclusive: Grantham Coleman (Rustin) is the newest addition to the Paramount+ limited series Bass Reeves, exec produced by and starring David Oyelowo.
He joins an ensemble that also counts Lauren E. Banks, Forrest Goodluck and Barry Pepper as series regulars, and Dennis Quaid as recurring, as previously announced.
Related Story ‘Dune: The Sisterhood’: Director Johan Renck & Star Shirley Henderson Exit HBO Max Series Amid Creative Overhaul & Production Hiatus Related Story 'Fatal Attraction' Teaser: Paramount+ Gives First Look At Joshua Jackson-Lizzy Caplan Series Related Story '1923' Star Helen Mirren On Working With Harrison Ford, Her Character's Irish Roots And Why You Won't See Her On A Horse
The show from Yellowstone‘s Taylor Sheridan, which is currently in production in Texas, tells the story of Bass Reeves (Oyelowo), a legendary lawman of the Wild West. Known as the greatest frontier hero in American history, Reeves...
He joins an ensemble that also counts Lauren E. Banks, Forrest Goodluck and Barry Pepper as series regulars, and Dennis Quaid as recurring, as previously announced.
Related Story ‘Dune: The Sisterhood’: Director Johan Renck & Star Shirley Henderson Exit HBO Max Series Amid Creative Overhaul & Production Hiatus Related Story 'Fatal Attraction' Teaser: Paramount+ Gives First Look At Joshua Jackson-Lizzy Caplan Series Related Story '1923' Star Helen Mirren On Working With Harrison Ford, Her Character's Irish Roots And Why You Won't See Her On A Horse
The show from Yellowstone‘s Taylor Sheridan, which is currently in production in Texas, tells the story of Bass Reeves (Oyelowo), a legendary lawman of the Wild West. Known as the greatest frontier hero in American history, Reeves...
- 3/1/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
At a time when daytime talk shows reigned on television, Yoko Ono and John Lennon co-hosted The Mike Douglas Show for a week in 1972. Daytime Revolution, a documentary about their time on the Philadelphia-based talk show with Douglas, has been approved by Ono and her son Sean Lennon, Variety reports.
It was the most popular show on daily television and watched by about 40 million people a week. The pair joined the show a few months following the release of their single “Happy Christmas (War Is Over).” As hosts, Ono and...
It was the most popular show on daily television and watched by about 40 million people a week. The pair joined the show a few months following the release of their single “Happy Christmas (War Is Over).” As hosts, Ono and...
- 2/16/2023
- by Charisma Madarang
- Rollingstone.com
Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon have authorized “Daytime Revolution,” a documentary about the week John Lennon and Ono co-hosted “The Mike Douglas Show” in early 1972, a few months after the release of their single “Happy Christmas (War Is Over).”
The Shout! Studios, Creative Differences, and CBS Media Ventures feature docu uses archival footage from each of the five 70-minute shows as well as interviews with six surviving guests, including Ralph Nader, to tell the behind-the-scenes story of the unprecedented week. While Ono and her son did not participate on camera, the duo approved and creatively consulted on the project. Directed by Erik Nelson, the 108-minute docu recently wrapped production and is looking for a distributor as Ono prepares to celebrate her 90th birthday Feb. 18.
“It’s become a cliche that Woodstock was the defining moment of the counterculture,” Nelson says, but “when I watched these broadcasts in their entirety, I realized that,...
The Shout! Studios, Creative Differences, and CBS Media Ventures feature docu uses archival footage from each of the five 70-minute shows as well as interviews with six surviving guests, including Ralph Nader, to tell the behind-the-scenes story of the unprecedented week. While Ono and her son did not participate on camera, the duo approved and creatively consulted on the project. Directed by Erik Nelson, the 108-minute docu recently wrapped production and is looking for a distributor as Ono prepares to celebrate her 90th birthday Feb. 18.
“It’s become a cliche that Woodstock was the defining moment of the counterculture,” Nelson says, but “when I watched these broadcasts in their entirety, I realized that,...
- 2/15/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Groundbreaking screenwriter and playwright Gregory Allen Howard passed away today at the age of 70. Howard made waves when his spec script about a real-life Black coach coming into a newly segregated Virginia school and helping lead their football team to victory hit Hollywood and was snapped up by Jerry Bruckheimer. Ultimately, they'd hire Denzel Washington to play the lead coach, Herman Boone, and the rest is history. "Remember the Titans" would go on to break the 100 million mark at the box office in 2000, a surprise hit for Buena Vista and its parent company, Walt Disney Pictures.
This would mark the first-ever accomplishment of a spec sale leading to a 100 million+ hit from a screenwriter of color and set Howard as Hollywood's go-to guy when it came to adapting the stories of historical Black figures.
Like most screenwriters, a good amount of Howard's work would remain unproduced, but he did collaborate...
This would mark the first-ever accomplishment of a spec sale leading to a 100 million+ hit from a screenwriter of color and set Howard as Hollywood's go-to guy when it came to adapting the stories of historical Black figures.
Like most screenwriters, a good amount of Howard's work would remain unproduced, but he did collaborate...
- 1/28/2023
- by Eric Vespe
- Slash Film
Marvel Studios’ Wonder Man series has found its lead in Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, per reports, marking the actor’s third foray into comic book territory following his roles in HBO’s “Watchmen” and DC’s “Aquaman.”
Also Read:
‘Topdog/Underdog’ Broadway Review: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Corey Hawkins Create Sparks
A live-action Wonder Man show from Marvel Studios was announced back in June, with Andrew Guest (“Hawkeye”) serving as the head writer and executive producer for the series, along with “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton, who is also an EP and is co-developing the project as part of his overall deal with Marvel and Onyx Collective.
In the Marvel comics, “Wonder Man” centers on Simon Williams, an actor and stuntman who was a founding member of the Los Angeles-based West Coast Avengers. Williams inherited his father’s industrial munitions plant and fell on...
Also Read:
‘Topdog/Underdog’ Broadway Review: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Corey Hawkins Create Sparks
A live-action Wonder Man show from Marvel Studios was announced back in June, with Andrew Guest (“Hawkeye”) serving as the head writer and executive producer for the series, along with “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton, who is also an EP and is co-developing the project as part of his overall deal with Marvel and Onyx Collective.
In the Marvel comics, “Wonder Man” centers on Simon Williams, an actor and stuntman who was a founding member of the Los Angeles-based West Coast Avengers. Williams inherited his father’s industrial munitions plant and fell on...
- 10/31/2022
- by Natalie Oganesyan
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Grantham Coleman is joining the Starz family.
Coleman will star in a key role in season three of Power Book III: Raising Kanan. It comes after the drama series’ dramatic cliffhanger at the end of season two, which aired on Sunday.
Coleman, who has starred in series such as FX’s The Americans, will play Ronnie Mathis, Unique’s older brother, who was recently released from prison. Ronnie’s stoic demeanor belies a shocking ruthlessness. It’s not that Ronnie’s immoral, it’s that he’s amoral, conscienceless, unyielding and vindictive.
Production on season three of the family crime drama series has started in New York.
Set in the early 1990’s, the third series in the Power universe tells the origin story of Kanan Stark, and his entry into the criminal world through his mother, who ruthlessly runs the family’s drug empire. It stars MeKai Curtis in...
Coleman will star in a key role in season three of Power Book III: Raising Kanan. It comes after the drama series’ dramatic cliffhanger at the end of season two, which aired on Sunday.
Coleman, who has starred in series such as FX’s The Americans, will play Ronnie Mathis, Unique’s older brother, who was recently released from prison. Ronnie’s stoic demeanor belies a shocking ruthlessness. It’s not that Ronnie’s immoral, it’s that he’s amoral, conscienceless, unyielding and vindictive.
Production on season three of the family crime drama series has started in New York.
Set in the early 1990’s, the third series in the Power universe tells the origin story of Kanan Stark, and his entry into the criminal world through his mother, who ruthlessly runs the family’s drug empire. It stars MeKai Curtis in...
- 10/25/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s career thus far has included an Emmy-winning turn on HBO’s “Watchmen,” awards buzz for playing Bobby Seale in “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and movies like “Candyman,” “Aquaman” and “The Matrix Resurrections.” Such an eclectic balance of film and TV projects is the result of Abdul-Mateen’s curation, as he’s made it a priority to balance out comic book tentpoles like “Aquaman” with more serious dramatic fare. The actor recently told Vulture that acting in a movie like “Aquaman” is “clown work,” so it’s important for him to flex his acting muscles in other projects.
“Everything should be about getting to the truth. But sometimes you got to know which movie or genre you’re in,” Abdul-Mateen said. “Something like ‘Aquaman,’ that’s clown work. ‘Aquaman’ is not ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7.’ You have got to get over yourself.”
The actor added,...
“Everything should be about getting to the truth. But sometimes you got to know which movie or genre you’re in,” Abdul-Mateen said. “Something like ‘Aquaman,’ that’s clown work. ‘Aquaman’ is not ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7.’ You have got to get over yourself.”
The actor added,...
- 8/31/2022
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Jordane Christie (Why Women Kill) has signed on for a recurring role in Apple TV+’s limited series The Big Cigar. He joins an ensemble led by André Holland that also includes Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, Pj Byrne and Marc Menchaca.
The six-episode series based on the eponymous Playboy magazine article by Joshuah Bearman (Argo) tells the extraordinary, hilarious, almost-too-good-to-be-true story of how Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton (Holland) relied on his best friend, Bert Schneider (Nivola) — the Hollywood producer behind Easy Rider — to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI.
2022 Apple TV+ Pilot & Series Orders
Christie will play Newton’s friend and Black Panther Party co-founder, Bobby Seale, who bonded with Newton over repeated incarcerations and infiltration by the FBI before deciding to leave the party.
The Big Cigar‘s showrunner is NAACP Image Award winner Janine Sherman Barrois. Jim Hecht (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) penned the show’s first episode, with Don Cheadle directing and exec producing the first two. The show hails from Warner Bros. Television, where Barrois and her Folding Chair Productions are under an overall deal. Barrois and Hecht are exec producing alongside Bearman, Joshua Davis and Arthur Spector (Little America) through their production company Epic, a division of Vox Media Studios.
Christie has been seen on the Paramount+ dark comedy series Why Women Kill, along with such shows as The Haunting of Hill House, Atlanta, S.W.A.T., Underground, Chicago P.D. and Containment. He is repped by APA and Authentic Talent and Literary Management.
The six-episode series based on the eponymous Playboy magazine article by Joshuah Bearman (Argo) tells the extraordinary, hilarious, almost-too-good-to-be-true story of how Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton (Holland) relied on his best friend, Bert Schneider (Nivola) — the Hollywood producer behind Easy Rider — to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI.
2022 Apple TV+ Pilot & Series Orders
Christie will play Newton’s friend and Black Panther Party co-founder, Bobby Seale, who bonded with Newton over repeated incarcerations and infiltration by the FBI before deciding to leave the party.
The Big Cigar‘s showrunner is NAACP Image Award winner Janine Sherman Barrois. Jim Hecht (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty) penned the show’s first episode, with Don Cheadle directing and exec producing the first two. The show hails from Warner Bros. Television, where Barrois and her Folding Chair Productions are under an overall deal. Barrois and Hecht are exec producing alongside Bearman, Joshua Davis and Arthur Spector (Little America) through their production company Epic, a division of Vox Media Studios.
Christie has been seen on the Paramount+ dark comedy series Why Women Kill, along with such shows as The Haunting of Hill House, Atlanta, S.W.A.T., Underground, Chicago P.D. and Containment. He is repped by APA and Authentic Talent and Literary Management.
- 8/1/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
A biopic of Afeni Shakur — the late mother of rapper Tupac and a prominent member of the Black Panther party — is in the works from Amaru Entertainment and the Shakur Estate.
Titled “Peace, Love & Respect; the Afeni Shakur/Panther 21 story,” actor/singer Jasmine Guy and writer/director Jamal Joseph — who was arrested as one of the “Panther 21” with Afeni — are on board as executive producers, while Dina Lapolt, who worked with the estate for many years, is a producer. The film, titled “Peace, Love & Respect, the Afeni Shakur/Panther 21 story,” is the first to have the full backing and approval of the Shakur estate.
The film will span a pivotal two-year period — from April 2, 1969, when she and 20 other Black Panthers were arrested and charged with conspiracy to bomb police stations in New York, through June 16, 1971, the day Tupac was born — along with flashbacks to childhood and teenage years.
Lapolt...
Titled “Peace, Love & Respect; the Afeni Shakur/Panther 21 story,” actor/singer Jasmine Guy and writer/director Jamal Joseph — who was arrested as one of the “Panther 21” with Afeni — are on board as executive producers, while Dina Lapolt, who worked with the estate for many years, is a producer. The film, titled “Peace, Love & Respect, the Afeni Shakur/Panther 21 story,” is the first to have the full backing and approval of the Shakur estate.
The film will span a pivotal two-year period — from April 2, 1969, when she and 20 other Black Panthers were arrested and charged with conspiracy to bomb police stations in New York, through June 16, 1971, the day Tupac was born — along with flashbacks to childhood and teenage years.
Lapolt...
- 2/17/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
In the wake of playing the wise and balanced god of the universe, Doctor Manhattan, in HBO’s Watchmen, a role which earned Yahya Abdul-Mateen II a Primetime Emmy for supporting actor in a limited series, the actor has accumulated a resume of socially philosophical protagonists including Bobby Seale in The Trial of the Chicago 7, Anthony McCoy in Candyman and now Morpheus in Warner Bros/Village Roadshow’s Matrix Resurrections.
Commenting on that momentum, Abdul-Mateen II tells us on the Hero Nation podcast, “Each of those (roles) did have a perspective to have something to say about humanity, have something to say about magic and what it is to be human or standing up for human rights, or finding the other side of this existence, and fighting for it as well.”
You can listen to our intriguing conversation with the Matrix Resurrections star here:
Abdul-Mateen II is taking his...
Commenting on that momentum, Abdul-Mateen II tells us on the Hero Nation podcast, “Each of those (roles) did have a perspective to have something to say about humanity, have something to say about magic and what it is to be human or standing up for human rights, or finding the other side of this existence, and fighting for it as well.”
You can listen to our intriguing conversation with the Matrix Resurrections star here:
Abdul-Mateen II is taking his...
- 12/18/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Emmy-winning actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has officially added producer to his resume, with the launch of his production company House Eleven10.
Abdul-Mateen and House Eleven10 have also inked a creative partnership with Netflix, with the actor starring in and producing films for the streamer under the new production banner. Named as an homage to his childhood home in Oakland, Calif., House Eleven10 aims to “be a place where the legacy of the stories from Abdul-Mateen II’s youth will live on in creative form; a home for different narrative universes, illustrating both the magic and humanity within them including extraordinary stories about ordinary people.”
“I am so proud of the vision of House Eleven10 and couldn’t be more excited about Netflix’s shared passion for the ideas we’d like to put into the world,” Abdul-Mateen II said in a statement.
“I want our films and shows to be...
Abdul-Mateen and House Eleven10 have also inked a creative partnership with Netflix, with the actor starring in and producing films for the streamer under the new production banner. Named as an homage to his childhood home in Oakland, Calif., House Eleven10 aims to “be a place where the legacy of the stories from Abdul-Mateen II’s youth will live on in creative form; a home for different narrative universes, illustrating both the magic and humanity within them including extraordinary stories about ordinary people.”
“I am so proud of the vision of House Eleven10 and couldn’t be more excited about Netflix’s shared passion for the ideas we’d like to put into the world,” Abdul-Mateen II said in a statement.
“I want our films and shows to be...
- 11/30/2021
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
The Attica Prison riot, immortalized by Al Pacino’s rebellious refrain in Sidney Lumet’s “Dog Day Afternoon,” became a rallying cry against overzealous policing. Yet with the death of each participant, the exact events at Attica, the largest prison rebellion in US history, have begun to fade in the unforgiving ether of time. In “Attica,” co-directors Stanley Nelson (“The Murder Of Emmett Till”) and Traci A. Curry interview the remaining survivors: the former inmates and the family of the now-deceased prison guards to recall an incident during which self-respect was demanded but tragedy soon followed.
The uprising occurred September 9, 1971 on the grounds of the inhuman prison practices used by prison officials. 1,200 inmates took over the prison, taking 42 people hostage. The conflict lasted for five days, resulting in 29 inmates and 10 hostages dead. It led to murder, created villains and heroes, and uncovered the inequities that existed between races then, and still,...
The uprising occurred September 9, 1971 on the grounds of the inhuman prison practices used by prison officials. 1,200 inmates took over the prison, taking 42 people hostage. The conflict lasted for five days, resulting in 29 inmates and 10 hostages dead. It led to murder, created villains and heroes, and uncovered the inequities that existed between races then, and still,...
- 9/10/2021
- by Robert Daniels
- Indiewire
With “Candyman” debuting at the top of the box office, earning $22 million in its opening weekend, star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is just getting started with his Hollywood takeover.
After top-lining the “spiritual sequel” to the 1992 horror classic, directed by Nia DaCosta, Abdul-Mateen has a string of high-profile roles in the pipeline, including a secretive part in “The Matrix Resurrections,” plus reprising his role as Black Manta in the comic book sequel “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.”
It’s only been five years since the actor’s breakout performance in Baz Luhrmann’s gone-but-not-forgotten series, “The Get Down,” but lately, Abdul-Mateen’s career has shifted into a higher gear, and the actor is certainly not letting up on the gas anytime soon.
In 2020, he earned his first Emmy for HBO’s “Watchmen,” and, in April, won a SAG award for his portrayal as Bobby Seale as part of the ensemble cast...
After top-lining the “spiritual sequel” to the 1992 horror classic, directed by Nia DaCosta, Abdul-Mateen has a string of high-profile roles in the pipeline, including a secretive part in “The Matrix Resurrections,” plus reprising his role as Black Manta in the comic book sequel “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.”
It’s only been five years since the actor’s breakout performance in Baz Luhrmann’s gone-but-not-forgotten series, “The Get Down,” but lately, Abdul-Mateen’s career has shifted into a higher gear, and the actor is certainly not letting up on the gas anytime soon.
In 2020, he earned his first Emmy for HBO’s “Watchmen,” and, in April, won a SAG award for his portrayal as Bobby Seale as part of the ensemble cast...
- 8/29/2021
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
“Candyman,” the 1992 slasher movie starring Tony Todd as a vengeful specter in a floor-length fur-lined coat, with a hook for a left hand and a devoted swarm of killer bees, was an urban-legend horror film that was ahead of its time but also, just maybe, a little too much of its time. Todd’s scowling ripper started off as an enslaved person’s son, Daniel Robitaille, who in the late 1800s was a successful artist. But then he had a relationship (and fathered a child) with a wealthy white ingenue whose portrait he’d been commissioned to paint. Her father hired a lynch mob to go after him. The mob tore off his hand and covered him in honey, and a swarm of bees stung him to death. Candyman is the violent ghost he became.
That’s a potentially incendiary premise, but in 1992, amid a swarm of boilerplate sequels featuring Freddy Krueger,...
That’s a potentially incendiary premise, but in 1992, amid a swarm of boilerplate sequels featuring Freddy Krueger,...
- 8/25/2021
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Grantham Coleman is set to join Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu latest film, which is currently shooting in Mexico City. The Spanish-language movie going by the title Limbo also stars Daniel Giménez Cacho, the Mexican actor who starred in Lucrecia Martel’s Zama.
Story details are unknown as of yet, but it is understood to be a form of fable exploring the political and social modernity of Mexico.
Coleman, a Juilliard trained stage actor, most recently starred in Central Park in Much Ado About Nothing opposite Danielle Brooks for Kenny Leon and also played Martin Luther King in The Great Society with Brian Cox on Broadway. Also was in Hamlet at the Old Globe.
He was also recently seen as Bobby Seale in Seberg.
He is repped APA and Inspire Entertainment.
Story details are unknown as of yet, but it is understood to be a form of fable exploring the political and social modernity of Mexico.
Coleman, a Juilliard trained stage actor, most recently starred in Central Park in Much Ado About Nothing opposite Danielle Brooks for Kenny Leon and also played Martin Luther King in The Great Society with Brian Cox on Broadway. Also was in Hamlet at the Old Globe.
He was also recently seen as Bobby Seale in Seberg.
He is repped APA and Inspire Entertainment.
- 7/29/2021
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
Emmy winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is attached to star and executive produce Blitz Bazawule’s The Scent of Burnt Flowers, a six-episode limited series based on Bazawule’s upcoming novel, from Charles D. King’s Macro Television Studios and Bazawule’s production banner Inward Gaze.
The Scent of Burnt Flowers is created, written, directed and executive produced by Bazawule via his Inward Gaze. In a competitive situation, Ballantine Books/Penguin Random House won the publishing rights and Macro Television Studios secured the television rights to the book which will be published in 2022. The series, produced by Macro Television Studios and Inward Gaze, will be shopped to networks and streaming platforms.
Per the synopsis, mermaids, military coups and love triangles are the fantastical elements that make up the ambitious six-episode geopolitical fugitive thriller limited series. The show intertwines the dark chapters of history with a magical realist lens, elevating the story to an otherworldly experience.
The Scent of Burnt Flowers is created, written, directed and executive produced by Bazawule via his Inward Gaze. In a competitive situation, Ballantine Books/Penguin Random House won the publishing rights and Macro Television Studios secured the television rights to the book which will be published in 2022. The series, produced by Macro Television Studios and Inward Gaze, will be shopped to networks and streaming platforms.
Per the synopsis, mermaids, military coups and love triangles are the fantastical elements that make up the ambitious six-episode geopolitical fugitive thriller limited series. The show intertwines the dark chapters of history with a magical realist lens, elevating the story to an otherworldly experience.
- 7/8/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (1970) can be streamed on Mubi for free June 18-19, 2021 at mubi.com/free.In Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (1970) director Terence Dixon sets out to portray Baldwin as a writer rather than a political figure. To do so he devises what he termed “a system and scheme” to project Baldwin, focusing on his literary relationship with Paris, where Baldwin lived for the first nine years of his newly flourishing career. It’s a formula that lends itself to cinematic articulation, with elegant vignettes of the city—its symmetrical streets, the River Seine and the Bastille—poetic in their accompaniment to Baldwin’s lacerating prose. However, as cinematographer Jack Hazan recalls, “Things did not go to plan,” for Baldwin swiftly disabuses the filmmakers—Hazan and Dixon—of the fallacy that they are the most influential element in the documentary mix. From the...
- 6/17/2021
- MUBI
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Dwayne Johnson and Beau Flynn will team for action-thriller “Emergency Contact,” set against the Austin, Texas underground music scene, Variety has confirmed.
Abdul-Mateen is attached to star in and executive produce the original project set up at Warner Bros., which is based on a pitch from busy writing team Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani.
It’s described as a high-concept, high-octane action film set in Austin, but no further plot details are available.
Flynn is producing through his FlynnPictureCo. with producing partners Johnson, Hiram Garcia and Dany Garcia and their Seven Bucks Productions.
Haines and Noshirvani wrote the screenplay for “Black Adam,” the DC adventure movie starring Johnson that’s also produced by Seven Bucks and FlynnPictureCo. The writing team garnered a BAFTA nomination for adapted screenplay for legal drama “The Mauritanian.”
“Emergency Contact” will be executive produced by Scott Sheldon with Haines and Noshirvani. FlynnPictureCo.’s Chanel Bowling will oversee.
Abdul-Mateen is attached to star in and executive produce the original project set up at Warner Bros., which is based on a pitch from busy writing team Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani.
It’s described as a high-concept, high-octane action film set in Austin, but no further plot details are available.
Flynn is producing through his FlynnPictureCo. with producing partners Johnson, Hiram Garcia and Dany Garcia and their Seven Bucks Productions.
Haines and Noshirvani wrote the screenplay for “Black Adam,” the DC adventure movie starring Johnson that’s also produced by Seven Bucks and FlynnPictureCo. The writing team garnered a BAFTA nomination for adapted screenplay for legal drama “The Mauritanian.”
“Emergency Contact” will be executive produced by Scott Sheldon with Haines and Noshirvani. FlynnPictureCo.’s Chanel Bowling will oversee.
- 6/4/2021
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who recently won an Emmy for his performance in “Watchmen,” is set to star in and executive produce “Emergency Contact” at Warner Bros. with Dwayne Johnson producing via his Seven Bucks banner, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter.
The studio preemptively picked up the pitch from writers Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani.
While plot details about the project are being kept under wraps, “Emergency Contact” is described as being a high-concept, high-octane action film set in the underground music scene of Austin, Texas.
Beau Flynn will produce “Emergency Contact” via his FlynnPictureCo. banner along with Johnson, Hiram Garcia, and Dany Garcia via their Seven Bucks banner. Scott Sheldon will executive produce the project along with Haines and Noshirvani. Chanel Bowling is overseeing for FlynnPictureCo.
FlynnPictureCo. and Seven Bucks are currently in production on superhero project “Black Adam” for New Line which has Johnson starring as Black Adam.
The studio preemptively picked up the pitch from writers Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani.
While plot details about the project are being kept under wraps, “Emergency Contact” is described as being a high-concept, high-octane action film set in the underground music scene of Austin, Texas.
Beau Flynn will produce “Emergency Contact” via his FlynnPictureCo. banner along with Johnson, Hiram Garcia, and Dany Garcia via their Seven Bucks banner. Scott Sheldon will executive produce the project along with Haines and Noshirvani. Chanel Bowling is overseeing for FlynnPictureCo.
FlynnPictureCo. and Seven Bucks are currently in production on superhero project “Black Adam” for New Line which has Johnson starring as Black Adam.
- 6/4/2021
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Daniel Kaluuya won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for “Judas and the Black Messiah.”
For his stirring portrayal of Black Panther party chairman Fred Hampton in the Shaka King film, Kaluuya has been decorated heavily this awards season. This marks his first Oscar win and second nomination, the previous in 2018 in the best actor category for Jordan Peele’s “Get Out.”
During his speech, after he thanked the cast, crew and producers behind “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Kaluuya paid tribute to Hampton and the entire Black Panther party.
“What a man,” Kaluuya said of Hampton on stage. “What a man. How blessed we are that we lived in a lifetime where he existed. You know what I mean? Thank you for your light. He was on this earth for 21 years, and he found a way to feed kids breakfast. Educate kids, give free medical care, against all the odds.
For his stirring portrayal of Black Panther party chairman Fred Hampton in the Shaka King film, Kaluuya has been decorated heavily this awards season. This marks his first Oscar win and second nomination, the previous in 2018 in the best actor category for Jordan Peele’s “Get Out.”
During his speech, after he thanked the cast, crew and producers behind “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Kaluuya paid tribute to Hampton and the entire Black Panther party.
“What a man,” Kaluuya said of Hampton on stage. “What a man. How blessed we are that we lived in a lifetime where he existed. You know what I mean? Thank you for your light. He was on this earth for 21 years, and he found a way to feed kids breakfast. Educate kids, give free medical care, against all the odds.
- 4/26/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Things are of course very different this year, and all performances for the Academy Award nominees for Best Original Song were performed during the preshow, which began at 6:30 p.m. Et., rather than being interspersed and performed live during the Oscars event at Union Station in Los Angeles.
The nominees for Best Original Song span H.E.R.’s soulful anthem from Judas and the Black Messiah to Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams’ melodramatically hilarious track from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Songwriter Diane Warren, who has yet to win an Oscar,...
The nominees for Best Original Song span H.E.R.’s soulful anthem from Judas and the Black Messiah to Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams’ melodramatically hilarious track from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Songwriter Diane Warren, who has yet to win an Oscar,...
- 4/26/2021
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
Narratively speaking, Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” stands apart from the rest of the Best Picture and Original Script nominees for its scope and multi-layered approach. The fact-based drama balances three story threads in a “Rashomon” fashion: the overheated courtroom drama, how the peaceful demonstrations turned violent during the ’68 Democratic Convention in Chicago, and the bitter political rivalry between Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne) and Abbie Hoffman (Sacha Baron Cohen).
That’s a lot of history and conflict to pack into 130 minutes, which is why Sorkin cleverly wrote a sprawling 12-page prologue to set up the whole movie, calling for archival footage, tricky tonal shifts, and jumping back and forth in time. And the six and a half-minute sequence (view below) proved quite the challenge and opportunity for Oscar-nominated Alan Baumgarten to edit. “It serves several purposes,” he said. “It provides a bit of a history lesson,...
That’s a lot of history and conflict to pack into 130 minutes, which is why Sorkin cleverly wrote a sprawling 12-page prologue to set up the whole movie, calling for archival footage, tricky tonal shifts, and jumping back and forth in time. And the six and a half-minute sequence (view below) proved quite the challenge and opportunity for Oscar-nominated Alan Baumgarten to edit. “It serves several purposes,” he said. “It provides a bit of a history lesson,...
- 4/14/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
It took writer and director Aaron Sorkin fourteen years after the initial meeting with Steven Spielberg at his house on a Saturday back in 2006 to finally get “The Trial of the Chicago 7” made. And according to Sorkin, it finally came together thanks to former president Donald Trump.
“I don’t want to give Donald Trump credit for anything, but he’s the one who got Chicago seven made,” Sorkin tells moderator Jimmie Briggs at The Wrap’s screening series of the film. “Because he would have these protests, he would have these rallies, and there would be protesters at the rallies, and he would start getting nostalgic about the old days when they ‘Carry that guy out of here on a stretcher,’ ‘I’d like to beat the crap out of him,’ ‘Let’s punch him right in the face.'”
“Suddenly, American and Anti-American was being defined the old stupid way,...
“I don’t want to give Donald Trump credit for anything, but he’s the one who got Chicago seven made,” Sorkin tells moderator Jimmie Briggs at The Wrap’s screening series of the film. “Because he would have these protests, he would have these rallies, and there would be protesters at the rallies, and he would start getting nostalgic about the old days when they ‘Carry that guy out of here on a stretcher,’ ‘I’d like to beat the crap out of him,’ ‘Let’s punch him right in the face.'”
“Suddenly, American and Anti-American was being defined the old stupid way,...
- 4/10/2021
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
In 1968, the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago at a time of deep political unrest following the murders of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Thousands of activists filled the streets, resulting in scenes of chaos that led to eight individuals (Black Panther Bobby Seale was later disentangled from the case) being charged by the FBI with inciting a riot. The case was tried in 1969, as depicted in Netflix’s six-time Oscar nominee The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Parallels with today’s world seem obvious now, but as writer-director Aaron Sorkin said during the film’s virtual panel at Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees awards-season event, it was Steven Spielberg’s prescience that saw the film go into a production a year before unrest returned to America’s streets in 2020.
“I always wanted the film to be about today and not 1968—it was just that none of...
Parallels with today’s world seem obvious now, but as writer-director Aaron Sorkin said during the film’s virtual panel at Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees awards-season event, it was Steven Spielberg’s prescience that saw the film go into a production a year before unrest returned to America’s streets in 2020.
“I always wanted the film to be about today and not 1968—it was just that none of...
- 4/10/2021
- by Antonia Blyth
- Deadline Film + TV
While Nomadland picked up Best Picture at the Critics Choice a couple of weeks back—a pretty reliable Oscar top prize indicator—at Sunday night’s SAG, it wasn’t even nominated in that category. Instead, that prize went to Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, possibly bolstering its chances at the Academy show on April 25th.
The ‘Best Picture’ prize at SAG is actually awarded to the Best Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, and in accepting the award on behalf of the all-star cast, Frank Langella, who played Judge Julius Hoffman, recalled Martin Luther King’s words:
“God give us leaders, said the Reverend Martin Luther King, before he was shot down in cold blood on this very date in 1968—a profound injustice. The Trial of the Chicago 7 began 18 months later, ruled by a corrupt judge—me. Aaron Sorkin was determined to tell their story...
The ‘Best Picture’ prize at SAG is actually awarded to the Best Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, and in accepting the award on behalf of the all-star cast, Frank Langella, who played Judge Julius Hoffman, recalled Martin Luther King’s words:
“God give us leaders, said the Reverend Martin Luther King, before he was shot down in cold blood on this very date in 1968—a profound injustice. The Trial of the Chicago 7 began 18 months later, ruled by a corrupt judge—me. Aaron Sorkin was determined to tell their story...
- 4/5/2021
- by Antonia Blyth
- Deadline Film + TV
Updated with full winners list: The Trial of the Chicago 7 won the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture prize, SAG’s version of Best Picture, at the 27th annual SAG Awards on Sunday night. It was one of 13 awards honoring the year’s best film and TV acting performances.
The late Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis took the best leading male and female actor in a motion picture honors for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. In the supporting actor category, Yuh-Jung Youn took the trophy for Minari and Daniel Kaluuya for his role as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah.
Among the movie categories, the marquee ensemble prize is often an Oscar bellwether. Last year, Neon’s Parasite surprised with a win and it later repeated the feat by taking the Academy Awards’ Best Picture prize.The Trial of the Chicago 7 faced off against Da 5 Bloods,...
The late Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis took the best leading male and female actor in a motion picture honors for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. In the supporting actor category, Yuh-Jung Youn took the trophy for Minari and Daniel Kaluuya for his role as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah.
Among the movie categories, the marquee ensemble prize is often an Oscar bellwether. Last year, Neon’s Parasite surprised with a win and it later repeated the feat by taking the Academy Awards’ Best Picture prize.The Trial of the Chicago 7 faced off against Da 5 Bloods,...
- 4/5/2021
- by Denise Petski and Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
While “Nomadland” has been crushing it most of this awards season, it will largely be sitting out of the upcoming SAG Awards. Its only representation is for previous two-time Best Female Actor champion Frances McDormand who isn’t seen as a serious threat to prevail again. (Though the most respected McDormand is always a possibility.)
That leaves the SAG ensemble contest wide open. “Da 5 Bloods,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “One Night in Miami” all missed Oscar nominations for Best Picture, and not since 1996’s “The Birdcage” has a cast flown away with the SAG prize without a corresponding Oscar nom. That leaves two ducks remaining: “Minari” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” While “Minari” is a sweet film with a wonderful team of actors, don’t expect it to follow in the footsteps of last year’s surprise winner, “Parasite.”
Here are five reasons why “The Trial of the Chicago 7...
That leaves the SAG ensemble contest wide open. “Da 5 Bloods,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “One Night in Miami” all missed Oscar nominations for Best Picture, and not since 1996’s “The Birdcage” has a cast flown away with the SAG prize without a corresponding Oscar nom. That leaves two ducks remaining: “Minari” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” While “Minari” is a sweet film with a wonderful team of actors, don’t expect it to follow in the footsteps of last year’s surprise winner, “Parasite.”
Here are five reasons why “The Trial of the Chicago 7...
- 4/1/2021
- by Tariq Khan
- Gold Derby
The decision to incorporate actual archival footage from the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago in “The Trial of the Chicago 7” may have been risky but recently Oscar-nominated editor Alan Baumgarten explains that he and writer/director Aaron Sorkin both came to the decision rather easily. “It was quite easy and we both came to it independently. There was archival material written into the prologue that was very effective,” Baumgarten tells us in our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video above). It was when Sorkin was watching the riot sequence for the second time that he floated the idea of using such footage in the film. “As soon as he mentioned it, I said, ‘Great! I’m all for it. Give me a couple days and let me show you something.’ We quickly locked into the fact that it was going to be used sparingly. It was really...
- 3/31/2021
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
As the awards calendar hurtles toward the delayed Oscars on April 25, we have a clear frontrunner for Best Picture. Last year, Bong Joon Ho’s dark drama “Parasite” rode the Palme d’Or from May through to a Best Picture win. But it was, finally, a global blockbuster that appealed to the mainstream.
That wasn’t an option this pandemic award season. Even if the list of 2021 Oscar contenders is smaller-scale and more independent than usual, the film that boasts wide appeal across the Academy’s 23 branches will finally take home the Best Picture Oscar. With six nominations including Best Picture, Actress, Director, Editor, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography, Chloé Zhao’s hybrid cinéma vérité “Nomadland” (Searchlight/Hulu) is the film that hits the lonely pandemic zeitgeist in this weird year — even if the film didn’t score the SAG Ensemble nomination that “Parasite” did in 2020. “Nomadland” did win the Venice...
That wasn’t an option this pandemic award season. Even if the list of 2021 Oscar contenders is smaller-scale and more independent than usual, the film that boasts wide appeal across the Academy’s 23 branches will finally take home the Best Picture Oscar. With six nominations including Best Picture, Actress, Director, Editor, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography, Chloé Zhao’s hybrid cinéma vérité “Nomadland” (Searchlight/Hulu) is the film that hits the lonely pandemic zeitgeist in this weird year — even if the film didn’t score the SAG Ensemble nomination that “Parasite” did in 2020. “Nomadland” did win the Venice...
- 3/20/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
As the awards calendar hurtles toward the delayed Oscars on April 25, we have a clear frontrunner for Best Picture. Last year, Bong Joon Ho’s dark drama “Parasite” rode the Palme d’Or from May through to a Best Picture win. But it was, finally, a global blockbuster that appealed to the mainstream.
That wasn’t an option this pandemic award season. Even if the list of 2021 Oscar contenders is smaller-scale and more independent than usual, the film that boasts wide appeal across the Academy’s 23 branches will finally take home the Best Picture Oscar. With six nominations including Best Picture, Actress, Director, Editor, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography, Chloé Zhao’s hybrid cinéma vérité “Nomadland” (Searchlight/Hulu) is the film that hits the lonely pandemic zeitgeist in this weird year — even if the film didn’t score the SAG Ensemble nomination that “Parasite” did in 2020. “Nomadland” did win the Venice...
That wasn’t an option this pandemic award season. Even if the list of 2021 Oscar contenders is smaller-scale and more independent than usual, the film that boasts wide appeal across the Academy’s 23 branches will finally take home the Best Picture Oscar. With six nominations including Best Picture, Actress, Director, Editor, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography, Chloé Zhao’s hybrid cinéma vérité “Nomadland” (Searchlight/Hulu) is the film that hits the lonely pandemic zeitgeist in this weird year — even if the film didn’t score the SAG Ensemble nomination that “Parasite” did in 2020. “Nomadland” did win the Venice...
- 3/20/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Lee Daniels’ “Wonder Years” reboot pilot at ABC has added two new cast members.
“Psych” and “The West Wing” alum Dule Hill has joined the series as Bill Williams, Dean’s father and patriarch of the central family. Per ABC, “He’s a music professor by day and a funk musician by night – described by Adult Dean as ‘the baddest guy I knew.’ Almost always calm and composed, his favorite words are ‘be cool.’ Bill wants his family and their black, middle class neighborhood to remain self-sufficient and he puts his money where his mouth is.”
Newcomer Laura Kariuki will play Bill’s daughter and Dean’s teenage sister, Kim Williams. According to the character description, she is confident, bright and popular. “She and Dean bicker as siblings do but they have a good relationship. Her parents have her preparing for college – but Kim is starting to rebel, telling them...
“Psych” and “The West Wing” alum Dule Hill has joined the series as Bill Williams, Dean’s father and patriarch of the central family. Per ABC, “He’s a music professor by day and a funk musician by night – described by Adult Dean as ‘the baddest guy I knew.’ Almost always calm and composed, his favorite words are ‘be cool.’ Bill wants his family and their black, middle class neighborhood to remain self-sufficient and he puts his money where his mouth is.”
Newcomer Laura Kariuki will play Bill’s daughter and Dean’s teenage sister, Kim Williams. According to the character description, she is confident, bright and popular. “She and Dean bicker as siblings do but they have a good relationship. Her parents have her preparing for college – but Kim is starting to rebel, telling them...
- 3/18/2021
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
Dulé Hill and Laura Kariuki have been cast in “The Wonder Years” reboot pilot at ABC, Variety has learned.
They join previously announced cast members Elisha Williams, who will play main character Dean, and Saycon Sengbloh, who will play family matriarch Lillian. The project will show how a black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama in the turbulent late 1960s, made sure it was The Wonder Years for them too.
Hill will star as family patriarch Bill Williams. He’s a music professor by day and a funk musician by night – described by Adult Dean as “The baddest guy I knew.” Almost always calm and composed, his favorite words are “be cool.” Bill wants his family and their black, middle class neighborhood to remain self-sufficient and he puts his money where his mouth is.
Hill is known for starring in the NBC political drama “The West Wing” as well as the USA Network series “Psych.
They join previously announced cast members Elisha Williams, who will play main character Dean, and Saycon Sengbloh, who will play family matriarch Lillian. The project will show how a black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama in the turbulent late 1960s, made sure it was The Wonder Years for them too.
Hill will star as family patriarch Bill Williams. He’s a music professor by day and a funk musician by night – described by Adult Dean as “The baddest guy I knew.” Almost always calm and composed, his favorite words are “be cool.” Bill wants his family and their black, middle class neighborhood to remain self-sufficient and he puts his money where his mouth is.
Hill is known for starring in the NBC political drama “The West Wing” as well as the USA Network series “Psych.
- 3/18/2021
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Psych alum Dulé Hill is set as a lead opposite Elisha “Ej” Williams and Saycon Sengbloh in ABC’s The Wonder Years single-camera comedy reboot pilot. Additionally, newcomer Laura Kariuki (Black Lightning) is set as a series regular in the reboot from Dave exec producer Saladin Patterson, Fred Savage and Empire co-creator Lee Daniels.
Written by Patterson and directed by Savage, the reboot of the classic 1980s family comedy-drama is set in the same era as the original. It looks at how the Williamses, a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, Al, in the turbulent late 1960s made sure it was the Wonder Years for them too.
Hill will play Bill Williams, Dean’s (Elisha Williams) dad. He’s a music professor by day and a funk musician by night – described by Adult Dean as “The baddest guy I knew.” Almost always calm and composed, his favorite words are “be cool.
Written by Patterson and directed by Savage, the reboot of the classic 1980s family comedy-drama is set in the same era as the original. It looks at how the Williamses, a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, Al, in the turbulent late 1960s made sure it was the Wonder Years for them too.
Hill will play Bill Williams, Dean’s (Elisha Williams) dad. He’s a music professor by day and a funk musician by night – described by Adult Dean as “The baddest guy I knew.” Almost always calm and composed, his favorite words are “be cool.
- 3/18/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Mere hours after the conclusion of the Grammys, the organizers of the Academy Awards have announced five more songs worthy of a golden statuette.
The nominees for Best Original Song are a fun mix of highbrow and lowbrow tunes, spanning H.E.R.’s soulful anthem from Judas and the Black Messiah to Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams’ melodramatically hilarious track from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Songwriter Diane Warren, who has yet to win an Oscar, earns her 12th nomination this year for her contribution to the Italian film,...
The nominees for Best Original Song are a fun mix of highbrow and lowbrow tunes, spanning H.E.R.’s soulful anthem from Judas and the Black Messiah to Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams’ melodramatically hilarious track from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Songwriter Diane Warren, who has yet to win an Oscar, earns her 12th nomination this year for her contribution to the Italian film,...
- 3/15/2021
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Shaka King disagreed “a bit” with Aaron Sorkin tonight about how much artistic license filmmakers should take when dealing with historic characters and events. His remarks came during the WGA West’s Beyond Words virtual panel discussion, which featured this year’s WGA Awards nominees for best original and adapted screenplays. Their exploration of truth vs. accuracy was fascinating and altogether respectful and friendly.
Sorkin’s film, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and King’s Judas and The Black Messiah share a common character: Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, who was gunned down by police in 1969 during a pre-dawn raid at his apartment in Chicago. Hampton is the central figure in King’s film, and plays a small but important role – as Bobby Seale’s courtroom advisor – in Sorkin’s.
“For me, The Chicago Seven is a painting; it’s not a photograph,” Sorkin said. “It’s not a piece of journalism.
Sorkin’s film, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and King’s Judas and The Black Messiah share a common character: Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, who was gunned down by police in 1969 during a pre-dawn raid at his apartment in Chicago. Hampton is the central figure in King’s film, and plays a small but important role – as Bobby Seale’s courtroom advisor – in Sorkin’s.
“For me, The Chicago Seven is a painting; it’s not a photograph,” Sorkin said. “It’s not a piece of journalism.
- 3/12/2021
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Even though Aaron Sorkin has a great love for politics, he admits that he didn’t know who the Chicago 7 were at first. It all started when he met with Steven Spielberg at his house and the director said he wanted to make a movie about the Chicago 7. “I said, ‘The Chicago 7? Count me in! That sounds great.’ I left his house, called my father and asked him who the Chicago 7 were,’ Sorkin reveals to us in our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video above). He was familiar with several of the figures, but he had to do a lot of research on the subject. “Most critically, I got to spend time with Tom Hayden and that’s what gave me a look into the tension between Tom and Abbie Hoffman.”
SEEWill Aaron Sorkin join an elite group with Oscar wins for writing and directing ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7...
SEEWill Aaron Sorkin join an elite group with Oscar wins for writing and directing ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7...
- 3/5/2021
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
One of the most distressing scenes in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 is when Judge Julius Hoffman orders that Black Panther Bobby Seale be gagged and shackled during the 1969 proceedings.
Seale’s inhumane treatment — captured by a sketch artist at the time — has inspired a new exhibit by artist Karon Davis at Jeffrey Deitch gallery in New York (March 6 to April 24). Titled “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished,” the show, Davis’ first solo exhibition in New York, features a ghostlike sculpture of Seale facing a looming 12-foot-tall judge’s desk and depictions ...
Seale’s inhumane treatment — captured by a sketch artist at the time — has inspired a new exhibit by artist Karon Davis at Jeffrey Deitch gallery in New York (March 6 to April 24). Titled “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished,” the show, Davis’ first solo exhibition in New York, features a ghostlike sculpture of Seale facing a looming 12-foot-tall judge’s desk and depictions ...
One of the most distressing scenes in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 is when Judge Julius Hoffman orders that Black Panther Bobby Seale be gagged and shackled during the 1969 proceedings.
Seale’s inhumane treatment — captured by a sketch artist at the time — has inspired a new exhibit by artist Karon Davis at Jeffrey Deitch gallery in New York (March 6 to April 24). Titled “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished,” the show, Davis’ first solo exhibition in New York, features a ghostlike sculpture of Seale facing a looming 12-foot-tall judge’s desk and depictions ...
Seale’s inhumane treatment — captured by a sketch artist at the time — has inspired a new exhibit by artist Karon Davis at Jeffrey Deitch gallery in New York (March 6 to April 24). Titled “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished,” the show, Davis’ first solo exhibition in New York, features a ghostlike sculpture of Seale facing a looming 12-foot-tall judge’s desk and depictions ...
Aside from being well-made and effective as a movie, Warner Bros.’ “Judas and the Black Messiah” has a goal: to counter decades of government lies about the Black Panther Party.
The party was founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966, and ceased operations in 1982. The film, which started streaming Feb. 12, centers on the 1969 murder of Bpp leader Fred Hampton and his betrayal by colleague (and FBI informant) William O’Neal.
“Judas,” directed by Shaka King, who wrote the script with Will Berson, from a story by Keith Lucas and Kenneth Lucas, is a contender in the Oscar races.
King had been interested in a project about Hampton, and found out Berson had already written a script; they worked together to merge their two approaches.
King tells Variety, “CoIntelPro was out to destroy the Black Panther party and the radical left. This is an opportunity to shed light on an important topic,...
The party was founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966, and ceased operations in 1982. The film, which started streaming Feb. 12, centers on the 1969 murder of Bpp leader Fred Hampton and his betrayal by colleague (and FBI informant) William O’Neal.
“Judas,” directed by Shaka King, who wrote the script with Will Berson, from a story by Keith Lucas and Kenneth Lucas, is a contender in the Oscar races.
King had been interested in a project about Hampton, and found out Berson had already written a script; they worked together to merge their two approaches.
King tells Variety, “CoIntelPro was out to destroy the Black Panther party and the radical left. This is an opportunity to shed light on an important topic,...
- 3/1/2021
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Frank Langella is Stanislavsky over Strasberg (“Lee took Stanislavsky and bastardized him terribly”), acting over stardom (“I play my strong suit and try to disappear”), and old over young. “I’d hate to be a young actor starting out now,” said the 83-year-old performer; he was 32 when he earned his first film credit, in “Diary of a Mad Housewife,” which earned him a 1971 Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Newcomer-Male. “I’ve seen people write about a new young actor who is only 24 being thrown on the junk heap.”
Langella is also theater over film, usually, but he was delighted to make the exception for Aaron Sorkin, whom he compares to Shakespeare. “All the classics I’ve done, I’m safe inside these brilliant writers,” he said. “There are not many today. With Aaron, you never feel you’re being abandoned: ‘How do I play this?’ Aaron has a delicious chocolate cake,...
Langella is also theater over film, usually, but he was delighted to make the exception for Aaron Sorkin, whom he compares to Shakespeare. “All the classics I’ve done, I’m safe inside these brilliant writers,” he said. “There are not many today. With Aaron, you never feel you’re being abandoned: ‘How do I play this?’ Aaron has a delicious chocolate cake,...
- 2/22/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Frank Langella is Stanislavsky over Strasberg (“Lee took Stanislavsky and bastardized him terribly”), acting over stardom (“I play my strong suit and try to disappear”), and old over young. “I’d hate to be a young actor starting out now,” said the 83-year-old performer; he was 32 when he earned his first film credit, in “Diary of a Mad Housewife,” which earned him a 1971 Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Newcomer-Male. “I’ve seen people write about a new young actor who is only 24 being thrown on the junk heap.”
Langella is also theater over film, usually, but he was delighted to make the exception for Aaron Sorkin, whom he compares to Shakespeare. “All the classics I’ve done, I’m safe inside these brilliant writers,” he said. “There are not many today. With Aaron, you never feel you’re being abandoned: ‘How do I play this?’ Aaron has a delicious chocolate cake,...
Langella is also theater over film, usually, but he was delighted to make the exception for Aaron Sorkin, whom he compares to Shakespeare. “All the classics I’ve done, I’m safe inside these brilliant writers,” he said. “There are not many today. With Aaron, you never feel you’re being abandoned: ‘How do I play this?’ Aaron has a delicious chocolate cake,...
- 2/22/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays Bobby Seale in the Netflix film “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” for which he just received a SAG Award nomination as part of the film’s sprawling cast. This follows a big Emmy win in September for his work on the HBO limited series “Watchmen.”
Abdul-Mateen recently spoke with Gold Derby contributing writer Charles Bright about what he knew about Seale, the scene in the film where he is bound and gagged and his memories of Emmy night. Watch the exclusive webchat above and read the complete transcript below.
See‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ will make Oscar history with at least two Best Supporting Actor nominations
Gold Derby: There’s like a billion questions I wanted to ask you and the events of this past week only multiplied that. So I wanted to ask, were there any thoughts you had about playing someone like...
Abdul-Mateen recently spoke with Gold Derby contributing writer Charles Bright about what he knew about Seale, the scene in the film where he is bound and gagged and his memories of Emmy night. Watch the exclusive webchat above and read the complete transcript below.
See‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ will make Oscar history with at least two Best Supporting Actor nominations
Gold Derby: There’s like a billion questions I wanted to ask you and the events of this past week only multiplied that. So I wanted to ask, were there any thoughts you had about playing someone like...
- 2/22/2021
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
Thursday marked the 51st anniversary of the verdict featured in The Trial of the Chicago 7, and in honor of the milestone, Netflix is streaming the 2020 film for free on their YouTube for 48 hours starting at midnight. Starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, and Eddie Redmayne, the Aaron Sorkin-directed film follows the infamous case of eight men - Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale - who were indicted for inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
"It's our honor to share their story with the world."
"Since my initial introduction fourteen years ago, my relationship to the story of The Trial of the Chicago 7 has changed significantly," Sorkin said in a statement shared by Netflix. "When we began shooting last winter, we knew the story we were telling was not only an important chapter of American history,...
"It's our honor to share their story with the world."
"Since my initial introduction fourteen years ago, my relationship to the story of The Trial of the Chicago 7 has changed significantly," Sorkin said in a statement shared by Netflix. "When we began shooting last winter, we knew the story we were telling was not only an important chapter of American history,...
- 2/18/2021
- by Monica Sisavat
- Popsugar.com
Netflix hopes the whole world will watch “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” as the streamer is taking the rare step of putting the movie on YouTube for free.
Aaron Sorkin’s film will be live on Netflix’s YouTube channel for 48 hours beginning at 12 a.m. Pt on Friday, Feb. 19. With this year marking the 51st anniversary of the trial verdict, it’s a great way to catch up with a poignant film that’s quickly becoming an awards season frontrunner — even if you don’t have a Netflix subscription.
“Since my initial introduction fourteen years ago, my relationship to the story of ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ has changed significantly,” Sorkin said in a statement. “When we began shooting last winter, we knew the story we were telling was not only an important chapter of American history, but was plenty relevant to current events. We certainly didn...
Aaron Sorkin’s film will be live on Netflix’s YouTube channel for 48 hours beginning at 12 a.m. Pt on Friday, Feb. 19. With this year marking the 51st anniversary of the trial verdict, it’s a great way to catch up with a poignant film that’s quickly becoming an awards season frontrunner — even if you don’t have a Netflix subscription.
“Since my initial introduction fourteen years ago, my relationship to the story of ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ has changed significantly,” Sorkin said in a statement. “When we began shooting last winter, we knew the story we were telling was not only an important chapter of American history, but was plenty relevant to current events. We certainly didn...
- 2/18/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Judas and the Black Messiah serves as a historical account of Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton's assassination, detailing the involvement of the FBI through an unlikely infiltrator named William O'Neal. The movie depicts the Black Panthers as increasingly powerful, their strength propelled by incredible orators like Hampton himself. But does the Black Panther Party still exist today?
Who were the Black Panthers?
With a deep understanding of strategy and force in numbers, the Black Panther Party was founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to fight police brutality against the African American community. The political organization first mainly involved citizen patrols and monitoring of police activity throughout several US cities, but later instituted different kinds of social programs such as free breakfast programs for schools and free health clinics in 13 different African American communities. By their peak in 1968, the Black Panthers were a force to be reckoned with, becoming...
Who were the Black Panthers?
With a deep understanding of strategy and force in numbers, the Black Panther Party was founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to fight police brutality against the African American community. The political organization first mainly involved citizen patrols and monitoring of police activity throughout several US cities, but later instituted different kinds of social programs such as free breakfast programs for schools and free health clinics in 13 different African American communities. By their peak in 1968, the Black Panthers were a force to be reckoned with, becoming...
- 2/12/2021
- by Camila Barbeito
- Popsugar.com
The historical drama film Judas and the Black Messiah features an all-star cast with actors like Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield and a timeliness that feels imminent and crucial. A powerhouse of a movie, it's made even more poignant by the fact that it is, of course, based on a true story. Following the life of Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton in the 1960s, it centers on a deep betrayal at the hands of an FBI infiltrator named William O'Neal. Gathering intelligence on the Illinois chapter of the party, O'Neal gets close to Hampton and weaponizes the friendship. This true story is jaw-dropping, and makes a point about justice, US government control, race, and the betrayal of ambivalence.
Who were the Black Panthers and Fred Hampton?
In 1968, Fred Hampton was a 20-year-old leader within the Black Panther Party, a political organization founded in the 1960s by Huey Newton and...
Who were the Black Panthers and Fred Hampton?
In 1968, Fred Hampton was a 20-year-old leader within the Black Panther Party, a political organization founded in the 1960s by Huey Newton and...
- 2/12/2021
- by Camila Barbeito
- Popsugar.com
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