Director Tim Story Wraps On Horror-Comedy ‘ The Blackening’ Starring Yvonne Orji, Jay Pharoah, Jermaine Fowler, & More

Tim Story (Tom and Jerry, Universal’s Ride Along films) has wrapped principal photography on The Blackening, a horror-comedy he directed for MRC Film, which stars Dewayne Perkins (The Upshaws), Grace Byers (Amazon’s Harlem), Jermaine Fowler (Coming 2 America), Melvin Gregg (Nine Perfect Strangers), Jay Pharoah (SNL), Yvonne Orji (Insecure), Antoinette Robertson (Dear White People), X Mayo (The Farewell) and Sinqua Walls (Resort to Love).

The film centers on seven Black friends who go away for the weekend, only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer. It’s based on a 2018 Comedy Central digital short written by Perkins for the Chicago improv group 3-PEAT, of which he was a member, and expands on its basic premise: “The Black cast member is always the first to die in a horror movie, but what happens when everyone is Black?”

Perkins penned the feature film adaptation with Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip). Story is producing via his The Story Company banner alongside Oliver’s Tracy Yvonne Productions, E. Brian Dobbins of Artists First, and Jason Clark and Marcei Brown for Catchlight Studios.

Story has directed ten studio features, seeing eight of them claim the number one slot at the box office during their opening weekend. His films have grossed more than $1 billion in total, making him the first Black director ever to have crossed this box office milestone. Story most recently helmed Warner Bros.’ animated pic Tom and Jerry, which hit theaters and HBO Max in February. Additional credits include Ride Along and Ride Along 2, starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, the Screen Gems comedies Think Like a Man and Think Like a Man Too, Fantastic Four and its sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Barbershop. Story currently serves, on the television side, as a director and exec producer of ABC’S Queens.

MRC Film is an independent studio which has netted more than $6 billion worldwide with its films, along with 12 Oscar nominations, 11 Golden Globe noms and other accolades. Other upcoming projects from the company include Matt Charman’s Netflix sci-fi pic The Mothership, starring Halle Berry; Carrie Cracknell’s Netflix adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion, starring Dakota Johnson; and David Frankel’s Paramount+ pic Jerry and Marge Go Large, starring Oscar nominees Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening.

Story is represented by UTA and attorney Matt Johnson; Oliver by Artists First, ICM Partners and Myman Greenspan Fox; Perkins by Artists First, APA, and Schreck Rose Dapello; Byers by Gersh, Principal Entertainment LA and attorney Erik Hyman; Fowler by UTA, Management 360 and Yorn, Barnes, Levine; Gregg by CAA, 3 Arts Entertainment and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum; Pharoah by ICM Partners, manager Shaina Farrow and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller; Orji by UTA, Odenkirk Provissiero Entertainment and Del, Shaw, Moonves; Robertson by Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson; Mayo by UTA and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz; and Walls by Paradigm and Artists First.

Source: Deadline

Jamie Foxx To Star With Will Ferrell, Will Forte In Universal Comedy Titled ‘Strays’

Universal’s comedy Strays has found its barks.

Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx and Will Forte will voice star in the movie, which is a live-action-CGI hybrid adult-skewing comedy being directed by Josh Greenbaum and is the filmmaker’s follow-up to his feature breakout, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.

Dan Perrault (American Vandal) wrote the script, which follows an abandoned dog who teams up with other strays to get revenge on his former owner.

Ferrell is the abandoned dog while Foxx is one of the pooches who befriends him. Forte is the nasty human owner.

The movie shot in the fall and now heads into post-production. The canine characters are being created via visual effects.

The project has a kennel’s worth of producers. Erik Feig’s Picturestart initially developed it then approached Greenbaum and Louis Leterrier as well as Phil Lord and Chris Miller. All are now acting as producers as well as Lord Miller president of film, Aditya Sood.

Universal picked up Strays from Picturestart and Lord Miller in a preemptive situation earlier this year. The project falls under Lord Miller’s first-look with Universal.

Jessica Switch is executive producing and Julia Hammer is co-producing for Picturestart. Nikki Baida will executive produce for Lord Miller.

Senior vp of production development Jeyun Munford and director of development Tony Ducret will oversee for the studio.

Ferrell is now starring in The Shrink Next Door, an Apple TV mini-series that adapts the true-crime psychological drama podcast. The triple threat, who via his company Gloria Sanchez Productions produced Barb and Star, next star in Apple’s upcoming Christmas-themed musical film Spirited opposite Ryan Reynolds.

Foxx, who voiced the lead in Pixar’s Oscar-winning Soul, will next be seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home. He has two projects in the can: They Cloned Tyrone, with John Boyega, as well as Day Shift. opposite Dave Franco, both of  which will hit Netflix next year. His memoir, Act Like You Got Some Sense, was released in October.

Forte was most recently seen in the streaming series Flipped, and was heard as the voice of characters in Scoob! and The Willoughbys. He lent his voice to Lord and Miller’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and The Lego Movie (the latter also featuring the voicework of Ferrell as well). He is developing MacGruber as a series, which would also reunite original castmates Kristin Wiig and Ryan Philippe, as a series for Peacock.

Ferrell is repped by UTA, Mosaic and Jackoway Austen. Foxx is repped by CAA, LBI Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham. Forte is repped by UTA, Rise, Kovert Creative and Hansen, Jacobson.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart To Headline New Netflix Comedy Festival Launching In LA In 2022

Netflix is launching an 11-day stand-up comedy mega-festival in Los Angeles featuring 130 comics – including Dave Chappelle, whose recent special The Closer was hugely controversial for the streamer.

Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival will take place across 25 venues, including iconic locations such as The Greek Theater and The Hollywood Bowl. The lineup features Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, who will make history as the first stand-up comedian to ever perform at Dodger Stadium, and Kevin Hart, who will headline the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the STAPLES Center). There’s also an LGBTQ+ Celebration event that includes Margaret Cho, Tig Notaro, Wanda Sykes, Eddie Izzard, Sandra Bernhard and others.

If the festival sounds familiar, it’s probably because it was originally scheduled for last spring but was postponed due to the pandemic. If the festival sounds familiar, it’s because an earlier iteration of this was originally scheduled for last spring but was postponed due to the pandemic.

The move helps Netflix expand into the potentially lucrative events space at a time when its subscriber growth has slowed a bit, while at the same time generating a diverse mountain of on-air content. Netflix will record many of the shows to air as new stand-up specials.

More confirmed talent for the festival: Ali Wong, Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer, Aziz Ansari, Bert Kreischer, Bill Burr, Chelsea Handler, Chris Rock, Conan O’Brien, Cristela Alonzo, David Letterman, Deon Cole, Ellen DeGeneres, Felipe Esparza, Fortune Feimster, Hasan Minhaj and Ronny Chieng, Iliza Shlesinger, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, Jerry Seinfeld, John Mulaney, Jonathan Van Ness, Ken Jeong, Kevin Hart, Kevin Smith, Larry David, Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum, Michael McIntyre, Mike Birbiglia, Mike Myers and David O. Russell, Nick Kroll, Nicole Byer, Patton Oswalt, Pete Davidson, Ray Romano, Seth Rogen, Theo Von, Tig Notaro, Tim Robinson and Tina Fey.

Burr and Mulaney headline events at The Forum, while Fey and Poehler will have a freewheeling conversation at the YouTube Theater.

“It’s absolutely thrilling for Netflix to be hosting a comedy festival of this magnitude in Los Angeles, ” said Netflix’s director of stand-up and comedy formats, Robbie Praw, said. “We were so disappointed to postpone the event last spring and our line-up of comedians can’t wait to bring much needed laughs to audiences in LA and around the world on Netflix. Netflix Is A Joke Festival is going to give comedy fans the opportunity to see the greats and discover new faces in one of the greatest cities in the world.”

Chappelle will headline The Hollywood Bowl. The comic’s The Closer, released in October, was arguably the most divisive stand-up special in recent memory. The Closer was billed as the last of a six-special package of Chappelle content for the streamer and until now it wasn’t clear if Netflix was going to do more business with the comic after the controversy.

The special was widely blasted as transphobic, and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was criticized for his defense of the special, later admitting “I screwed up” by not being more sensitive to Netflix employees’ feelings about the content, while still defending the program as “consistent with our comedy offering, it’s consistent with Dave Chappelle’s comedy brand and this is … one of those times when there’s something on Netflix that you’re not going to like.”

The festival will run April 28 to May 8. Presales will be available Dec. 7th and tickets for all events will go on sale Dec. 10 at www.NetflixIsAJokeFest.com.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Actor, Writer, Producer, Comedian, Darryl ‘D’Militant Passes Away

According to several sources, we have heard that comedian Darryl ‘D’Militant has passed away overnight from his many complications with cancer.

Littleton was an amazing person with whom I recently co-wrote a book titled This Day In Comedy- The Ethnic Encyclopedia Of Laughter.

Littleton was an Emmy-nominated writer and former producer of BET’s Comic View who also appeared on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam, ABC’s America’s Funniest People (which he won), and was an actor in which he appeared in such shows as Parent ‘Hood.

Littleton released two comedy CDs, was an NPR commentator for his first book Black Comedians on Black Comedy (which was adapted for a Showtime documentary), and most recently released a virtual calendar This Day In Comedy.

On a personal note, Little was an amazing mentor and great friend to me and to many comedians and writers. Having known that he was battling cancer for a few years he fought a very valiant fight.

I want to send out condolences to his family, his comedy family, his friends, and everyone he touched.

We will love and miss you bro.

Fan In Audience Has Health Scare Amid George Lopez Comedy Show

According to TMZ and several other news reports, it seems that comedian George Lopez was performing on stage and a health crisis started to happen while he was on stage.

Lopez was performing Friday night at the Majestic Theater in San Antonio, when at one point during his set a man started falling into distress in the upper balcony area, to the point that the house lights had to be turned on. As you will notice in the video, it had to be difficult for Lopez to even know what was going on because of the distance between him and the stage.

Check out this video obtained by TMZ as it shows what we’re told were a few minutes after this gentleman, who’s described as mid-aged, fell unconscious with people around him — including what appears to be folks in his own party — attending to him. Meanwhile, Lopez kept on with the show.

Eventually, people flagged down the staff of the MJ Theater, and the fan was carried out and taken to an ambulance. San Antonio Fire confirms he regained consciousness and was stable at the hospital.

‘RHONY’ Star Eboni K. Williams Shocks Crowd And Storms On Comedy Stage

Eboni K. Williams from The Real Housewives of New York City surprised fans when standup comedian Sam Bloomstone heckled her from the stage – so she got on stage and hilariously shut him down.

The entire exchange was captured on video by someone in the audience as Bloomstone leaned into making observational jokes about the audience. But once he called out Williams for her “JCPenney Collection” she couldn’t resist taking the mic.

Bloomstone shared the video on TikTok, which was picked up and shared by the Bravo fan account, Queens of Bravo. He began his musings, wondering if a table of audience members were Trump supporters. Then he asks another person why they are wearing sunglasses in the club. “What are you The Situation from The Jersey Shore?” he asked.

“Where’s your joke? Let’s go,” is heard from someone in the audience.

But that’s when Bloomstone probably picked the wrong audience member to heckle. “Well, I gotta tell you, we don’t like this woman, folks,” he said. “She’s a little bit mean. We think this woman … I mean it’s like she’s at an AOC meeting. She keeps chatting in. We don’t like her one bit.”

Comments are heard from an audience member [likely Williams] and he said, “Listen JCPenney Collection upfront, let’s relax!”

Williams hopped on stage once the words, “JCPenney” trickled from Bloomstone’s mouth. The audience screamed as she took the mic from his hand.

“She’s coming up!” he mocked her. “I put my life savings on whatever you are going to say is nothing funny.”

That’s when Williams delivered a smackdown. “It’s not about being funny b*tch,” she said. “What it is about, is you respecting a motherf**king Black queen.” The crowd went crazy. “And what we don’t do – is JCPenney b*tch, OK?”

“A b*tch like me, you gotta respect bro,” she continued. She then patted him on his backside. Williams added, “JCPenney? On your worst day.”

Bloomstone joked, “What just happened?” as Williams exited the stage. But she didn’t stay off the stage for long.

He added, “Am I canceled?” Bloomstone appeared to be ready to continue his set. But Williams wasn’t finished with him. She got back on stage to clarify her fashion.

“These are Italian,” she said referring to her black pants. “Yeah, yeah these are Italian …”

But then, Bloomstone couldn’t help but then make a crude joke, which received jeers from the crowd. Williams stayed up on stage, which is when the video cut out.

Williams commented on the Queens of Bravo post. “It was a fun night ya’ll,” she replied in the thread. “Relax…the comedian joined us all for dinner and more drinks later. And yes, I was drinking before I took the mic. Sorry I’m not perfect and had a little fun.”

A fan suggested that Williams apologize to Bloomstone. “Apologize to the comedian? For the slap sure…for the rest. No way…we had a blast. He loved it…He put me on FaceTimed with his mom after and wants to do a tour together. Y’all just bored.”

Indeed, Bloomstone seemed to be in on the joke. “Did I do a good job??” he also replied in the thread. A fan asked how the whole thing started and he wrote, “Eboni just jumped on stage. How dare I insult her boots!”

Source: Showbiz Cheatsheet

Spotify Removes Many Top Comedians From It’s Service

John Mulaney, Jim Gaffigan, Tiffany Haddish, and Kevin Hart are among the big-name comedians whose work has been removed from streaming service Spotify in a fight over royalty payments.

The dispute centers on a group of entertainers who are attempting to be paid a copyright royalty for jokes they wrote when they are played on radio and digital service providers such as Spotify, SiriusXM, Pandora, and YouTube.

The effort to win the royalties is being led by global rights administrator Spoken Giants. That organization wants to collect royalties for underlying composition copyrights of spoken-word media. They point to songwriters, who are paid for use of their music and lyrics.

When negotiations broke down, Spotify removed the comedian content.

The Wall Street Journal reported that comics currently are paid as performers on a digital service through their label or distributor and digital performance rights organization SoundExchange. But they aren’t paid as writers of the work, which Spoken Giants calls their literary rights.

Spoken Giants began reaching out to streaming services and satellite and terrestrial radio in the spring. Other services and radio companies have been talking with Spoken Giants. After some negotiations with Spotify, Spoken Giants said it received an email on the eve of Thanksgiving saying it would remove works represented by the organization until an agreement could be reached.

“Spotify does provide entertainers with exposure and access to large audiences. So having their work taken down is harmful to each individual creator,” said CEO Jim King, a former BMI executive.

Spotify responded by stating it has paid “significant amounts of money for the content in question, and would love to continue to do so.”

Source: Deadline

Katt Williams’ New Plea Agreement Avoids Prison Time

ATLANTA — Several victims attacked by a well-known comedian are not happy with the punishment he received in their case.

Katt Williams won’t be going to prison, and they said that is not justice.

“We cannot ignore that this man has not only traumatized not only us. Several other people,” said Lutisha Martinez, one of the victims.

She is one of the several women police said Katt Williams attacked.

They are speaking out after learning Williams accepted an agreement that keeps him a free man.

“We felt very ignored throughout this entire wait,” said Salena Boston.

They think Williams’ celebrity played a role.

“His celebrity just took us out. It made it look like we were I guess making this up,” said Lanette Washington, one of four victims who spoke to Channel 2′s Tom Jones.

Williams faced aggravated assault, aggravated battery, sexual battery, theft by taking and other charges after police say he attacked the women after they asked to take a picture with him outside a club in midtown Atlanta in 2016.

The women said they found out the case was dismissed Monday, Dec., 29th.

They say they also learned the comedian agreed to Pretrial Intervention and virtual mental health evaluations. That didn’t sit well with them.

“And for you to just slap him on the wrist and just say you want another mental health assessment. How many do you need?” Martinez said.

The women said they weren’t included in discussions about the deal. “I didn’t know anything about it. And it’s not right,“Jalisa Rhodes explained.

They said Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis promised them they would get justice.

Willis’ office sent Jones a statement that said Williams entered into the agreement years ago, and his attorney asked for the courts to enforce it. The statement also says emails show the victims were kept informed about the resolution of the case.

The victims’ attorney say the agreement was proposed in 2017.

Loletha Hale says she never heard anything else about it until now. She said she had never seen anything like this in more than 2 decades practicing law.

“There’s really no legal procedural justification for this,” Hale said.

The DA’s office says it also had to consider what could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

Drew Findling, Katt Williams’ attorney, says he was prepared to go to trial, then the resolution was reached. He said Willis was fair.

The victims don’t see it that way. They say the justice system failed them. They are planning a civil suit.

Source: WSB-TV

Exclusive-Eddie Murphy Signs Record Deal With Warner Bros., To Release Reggae Album & Features Beenie Man

According to our sources, we hear that comedian and actor Eddie Murphy has signed with Warner Brothers Records to release his new musical album, a reggae album, at the beginning of the new year.

We also hear that among the many folks who perform with Murphy on the album, one of them is the reggae sensation known as Beenie Man. According to sources, the song Murphy did with Snoop Doggy Dogg- or Snoop Lion for this performance- Red Light will also be on the LP.

No word yet on any plans of Murphy adding any music to the tour he had been planning on doing before the pandemic.

Murphy is currently filming the new untitled Netflix film with Kenya Barris directing and starring Jonah Hill, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Lauren London.

More details soon!