New Line has purchased a comedy pitch, “The Come Up,” an original story from “Sorry to Bother You” co-star Jermaine Fowler. Fowler, who also stars in “Superior Donuts,” will star and also serve as executive producer.
The project will also feature Lil Rel Howery (“Get Out,” “Uncle Drew” and the upcoming Fox series “Rel”) and brothers Keith Lucas and Kenneth Lucas as co-stars. The screenplay will be written by Michael Starrbury (“The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete” and “Central Park Five”).
“I am excited to be collaborating with New Line Cinema, Wrigley Pictures and our screenwriter Michael Starburry on ‘The Come Up’ – a project I have been passionate about for years now,” Fowler said in a statement. “Since bringing the concept to them it’s been nothing but synergy and raw excitement. As an actor, it is a dream come true to be working opposite my comedy brothers, Lil Rel Howery and The Lucas Brothers. I am grateful they’ve come on board to tell this hilarious and inspiring story with me.”
“The Come Up” will be produced by John Rickard (“Rampage,” “Horrible Bosses” and “How to be Single”) through his Wrigley Pictures banner. Plot details are being kept under wraps.
Fowler is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment and WME. Starrbury is repped by Circle of Confusion, CAA and Eclipse Law. Howery and the Lucas brothers are repped by UTA and 4th Wall Management. Lawyers representing the Lucas brothers in the deal are Hansen and Jacobson and Howery’s attorneys are Cohen & Gardner.
Source: Variety
Idris Elba is in final negotiations to play the main villain in “Hobbs and Shaw,” the “Fast and Furious” spinoff starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.
“Deadpool 2” director David Leitch is on board to helm, with Johnson and Statham reprising their roles as special agent Luke Hobbs and criminal mastermind Deckard Shaw, respectively. “Fast and Furious” architect Chris Morgan penned the script, with production set to commence this fall.
he film will see the often-at-odds pair teaming up. Sources say Elba’s character is the antagonist the duo will go up against.
Since his arrival in the franchise’s fifth installment, Universal has tried to find a way to spin off Johnson’s Hobbs character, given his popularity with fans. Statham joined the series in the seventh movie, and considering the chemistry between the two actors in 2017’s “The Fate of the Furious,” Universal took action on plans to develop a spinoff. It hits theaters on July 26, 2019.
Source: Variety
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Singer Chris Brown walked off stage after his concert in Florida and into the hands of waiting sheriff’s deputies, who arrested him on a felony battery charge and booked him into the Palm Beach County Jail.
A sheriff’s spokeswoman said the entertainer was released after posting $2,000 bond on the battery charge issued by the Tampa Police Department. No details about the allegations in the arrest warrant were immediately available.
The 29-year-old entertainer’s record of violence includes a guilty plea to felony assault for beating up his then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009 and a 2016 arrest on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
He’s currently in the middle of his Heartbreak On A Full Moon Tour.
Keegan-Michael Key, one half of Comedy Central’s sketch show Key and Peele, has joined Eddie Murphy in the cast of Netflix’s blaxploitation biopic Dolemite Is My Name! Based on a true story, the movie stars Murphy as Rudy Ray Moore, the comedian and musician who adopted the garish persona Dolemite and appeared as this character in the 1975 movie Dolemite, as well as several other movies that followed.
Key is no stranger to Netflix, as he’s currently starring in the Netflix comedy-drama series Friends From College. Murphy, meanwhile, has had a quiet few years recently, but Dolemite Is My Name! seems like the perfect fit for his comedic talents. The character of Dolemite began as one of Moore’s alter egos on his notoriously edgy comedy rap albums, and Moore used the profits from those albums to finance a low-budget movie starring the character. In the movie, Dolemite is a pimp and nightclub owner who gets set up and sent to jail for 20 years, but later takes his revenge with the help of his band of kung fu prostitutes.
THR reports that Key will play Jerry Jones, the screenwriter behind Dolemite who also played an FBI agent in the movie. Jones went on to write the next Dolemite movie, The Human Tornado, and also appeared in Moore’s 1979 movie Disco Godfather. Key joins a cast that also includes Wesley Snipes, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, and Tituss Burgess.
Source: Screenrant
Luke James and Tone Bell are in talks to join Universal‘s upcoming comedy film, Little.
The two, along with This Is Us star Justin Hartley, Rachel Dratch and Mikey Day were announced Friday.
They join the Marsai Martin-toplined film, which also has confirmed Issa Rae, Regina Hall and JD McCrary.
The Universal film “centers on a woman who gets the chance to relive the carefree life as her younger self (Martin) when the pressures of adulthood become too much.”
Martin came up with the script idea and will executive produce. Fresh off the Boat writer Camilla Blackett wrote the most recent version of the script, which had earlier drafts written by Drumline writer Tina Gordon and Girls Trip writer Tracy Oliver. Oliver wrote the first draft, and all versions are based on Martin’s idea. Gordon is the director.
Will Packer and James Lopez, producers of Girls Trip, are producing through Will Packer Productions along with Black-ish creator Kenya Barris. Josh Martin executive produces alongside Hall, who also executive produces.
R&B singer James has a breakout acting career in progress, beginning with The New Edition Story miniseries on BET. He is currently a series regular on Fox’s Star and appeared in USA’s Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.
Most known for his work as a comedian, Bell has starred in Netflix’s Disjointed and will co-lead the CBS comedy, Fam next year.
Source: Shadow & Act
On this day in comedy on July 1, 1992, Boomerang was released by Paramount Pictures
This Eddie Murphy vehicle was directed by Reginald Hudlin. Murphy plays a womanizing ad executive who meets his match in the form of new colleague, Robin Givens. She gives him the same sex ‘em and diss ‘em attitude Murphy has been dishing out for years and he doesn’t like it, but he’s sprung. Once respected by all, he is now humiliated at work, embarrassed in front of his boys (Martin Lawrence, David Alan Grier) and a disgrace to himself. The absurd part is he’s loved by Halle Berry, but ops for Robin Givens; until he opens his eyes (literally) and takes his ass home to Halle.
Boomerang co-stars Eartha Kitt, John Witherspoon, Bebe Drake-Massey, Geoffrey Holder, Grace Jones, Chris Rock, Jonathan Hicks, Tisha Campbell and Lela Rochon. It was produced by Brian Grazer and Warrington Hudlin with music by Marcus Miller. The screenplay was written by Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield based on a story by Eddie Murphy. On a budget of $42 million Boomerang grossed $131,052,444 at the worldwide box office.
The film was nominated for the BMI Film & TV Award and the MTV Movie Award.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on July 1, 1992, “Def Comedy Jam” premiered on HBO, 1992
Produced by rap mogul, Russell Simmons, the series had its original run from this date in ‘92 until January 1, 1997. Based on the formula established at the Comedy Act Theater in Los Angeles, California, the show was originally set to have that club’s MC, Robin Harris as host, but after his untimely death Martin Lawrence was tapped for that role. The show went on to defy all odds. Despite its raw, in-your-face barrage of 3 black comedians, it not only became must see TV every Friday night; it also changed the comedy landscape in film and television for years. Relative unknowns before their “Def Comedy Jam” exposure, comedians such as Steve Harvey, Jamie Foxx, Bernie Mac, Chris Tucker and others dominated the mediums.
The show was criticized for excessive foul language and negative representations of African Americans by letter writers and celebrities like Bill Cosby; at the time known as “America’s Dad”. However, the public embraced it and it returned on HBO’s fall lineup in 2006. It produced a spinoff called Loco Slam and has been spoofed on In Living Color, Robert Townsend’s Townsend Television and Saturday Night Live.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On this day in comedy on June 30, 1956, Comedian, Actor, David Alan Grier was born in Detroit, Michigan
Grier has received acclaim since he graduated from the Yale School of Drama. His maiden voyage role was in the Martin Charnin directed Broadway musical, The First. He played Jackie Robinson and won the Theatre World Award. He later performed the role of James “Thunder” Early in Dreamgirls and was nominated for a Tony Award. Then Grier took his winning ways to film in 1983 and won the Venice film Festival’s Golden Lion Award for Best Actor in Robert Altman’s, Streamers. He was nominated for an Image Award for Damon and Life with Bonnie and a Satellite Award nomination for the latter. He received his second Tony nomination for his performance in David Mamet’s 2009 Broadway production, Race and his third for Porgy and Bess, where he played Sportin’ Life. Grier was also in A Soldier’s Story on stage (to accolades) and again in the Norman Jewison film.
After working with Keenan Ivory Wayans in his theatrical hit, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Grier was hired as a cast member for Wayans Fox sketch show, In Living Color. There, he displayed his comedic chops. He played a variety of characters imagined (the shop teacher Al MacAfee, the bluesman Calhoun Tubbs, flamboyant film reviewer Antoine Merriweather) and real (Al Sharpton, Ray Charles, Clarence Thomas, Ike Turner, Joe Jackson).
Once In Living Color ended, Grier starred in the Preston Episodes, DAG, My Wife and Kids, Dream On and Damon. He had recurring roles where he played a reverend on Martin, the principal on CBS’s Bad Teacher and he hosted Premium Blend on Comedy Central. His film credits include Boomerang, Blankman. In the Army Now, Jumanji, Tales from the Hood, McHale’s Navy, 3 Strikes, Stuart Little, Bewitched Dance Flick and Tyler Perry’s Peeples.
Grier was so multi-faceted he returned to Broadway in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and in 2009 he published the book, Barack Like Me: The Chocolate Covered Truth. He appeared regularly on Adam Carolla’s Loveline, but was controversially banned under Dr. Drew Pinsky’s regime. He premiered his comedy special, The Book of David: The Cult Figure’s Manifesto on Comedy Central and was a recurring performer on the station’s Crank Yankers. In 2008 Grier hosted Chocolate News, a hilarious spoof on a TV news magazine show. It was raw and offensive, and it was canceled after one season. In the year 2015 he introduced the character of Joe Carmichael on the NBC sitcom, The Carmichael Show; that was the same year he performed in the Live version of The Wiz playing the Cowardly Lion.
Comedy Central ranked the grossly underrated David Alan Grier # 94 on their list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Ups.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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On This Day In Comedy on June 30, 1974, Comedian/Actor, Anthony “Tony” Rock born in NYC, NY
Upon becoming a professional comedian, Tony was chiefly known as Chris Rock’s younger brother. However, that turned around as Tony made a name for himself in a number of projects. At the turn of the century, Rock hosted the game show Can You Tell? for Oprah Winfrey‘s Oh! Oxygen network and was a correspondent for BattleBots on Comedy Central.
Since then he’s made appearances on The Howard Stern Show and The D’Angelo Show; co-starred as Dirk Black on the UPN/CW sitcom All of Us and the Chris Rock sitcom Everybody Hates Chris in the recurring role of uncle Ryan. Tony has also hosted TV One’s, The Funny Spot.
In 2008 Tony starred in his own sketch comedy show called The Tony Rock Project for MyNetworkTV from 2008 to 2009. He starred in Think Like a Man, and hosted Apollo Live on BET. In 2016 Rock took over where many comedy legends left off and hosted the new 21st Century version of Def Comedy Jam – All Def Comedy.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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