Viola Davis will star in Steve McQueen’s upcoming heist thriller “Widows” for New Regency.
“Gone Girl” screenwriter and novelist Gillian Flynn is on board to pen the script with McQueen.
The film will be produced by McQueen, and Iain Canning and Emile Sherman of See-Saw Films, who teamed with McQueen on “Shame” and also produced the best picture Oscar winner “The Kings Speech.” Film 4 is co-financing with New Regency.
The movie marks McQueen’s first feature since winning the best picture Academy Award for “12 Years a Slave.” McQueen has since been working on the HBO limited series “Codes of Conduct.”
HBO recently shelved “Codes of Conduct,” allowing McQueen to focus all his energy on “Widows.” Insiders said Jennifer Lawrence was also approached to play one of the four leads, but scheduling conflicts forced her to pass on the pic.
Davis, star of ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder,” has been busy balancing her TV and film schedule in the past year. Davis was recently seen as Amanda Waller in Warner Bros.’ “Suicide Squad,” and is expected to be in Oscar conversation for her upcoming performance in “Fences,” a part she already won a Tony for on Broadway.
Davis is represented by CAA, Lasher Group, and Michael Adler. McQueen is represented by CAA and Casarotto Ramsay & Associates in the U.K.
Source: Variety
Viva Pictures Distribution
It was about 3 years ago when actor Shemar Moore raised over $630,000 on Indiegogo (a campaign that was featured on this blog) to help fund his feature film “The Bounce Back,” which he stars in and also executive produces. I’ve learned today that the film is now finally set to make its public premiere, when it’ll be released in USA theaters on December 9th, 2016, by Viva Pictures Distribution.
The story: Father, author and relationship expert Matthew Taylor is on a whirlwind book tour promoting his new best seller, “The Bounce Back.” He’s got it all figured out until he meets the acerbic Kristin Peralta, a talk show circuit therapist who’s convinced he’s nothing but a charlatan. Matthew’s life is turned upside down when he inadvertently falls for Kristin and has to face the painful truth of his past relationship.
Directed by Youssef Delara (“Filly Brown”), from a script penned by Victor Teran, Staci Robinson, and Delara, the film stars Shemar Moore, Nadine Velazquez, Bill Bellamy, Sheryl Underwood, and Kali Hawk.
A year after its crowdfunding campaign, as the film wrapped production, we talked to Moore and Bellamy about the project. Here’s some of what they had to say:
On executive producing “The Bounce Back”:
SHEMAR MOORE: It’s been an exciting five weeks. Without sounding corny, it’s kind of a dream come true. Wearing an executive producer hat, I’ve gotten a firsthand look at how hard it is to get a movie made. It’s nice to be on this side and see it because I’ve always been on the acting side, where you just audition, learn your lines and show up to work, but you don’t really know the machine of how it’s all put together. As executive producer I’m in control of the vision, the story, the creative process. There’s nobody taking my idea and turning it into something that I really didn’t have in mind. What’s nice is myself, Youssef Delara and Ray Brown, we all share the same vision of what we think the script is, how we feel it should look, and the story that we want to tell.
On teaming up with producing partner Ray Brown:
SM: “The Bounce Back” will be the first movie out of our production company called Ankle Socks and Baseball Pants. There’s a funny story about when I met Ray playing flag football. He had ankle socks with no elastic in them and I was a baseball player, so I was playing football in baseball pants. We were teasing each other that he needed to find some success so he could afford ankle socks with elastic and I needed to realize what sport I was playing and put on the right uniform. We became best friends and I spent 20 years working on my craft as an actor. He spent 20 years really understanding the business side of Hollywood and bringing ventures to life, and so we’ve collaborated. And so it’s nice to do business with a friend because now it’s like a “we started from the bottom, now we’re here” sort of thing.
On working with Nadine Velasquez:
SM: Nadine was in “Snitch” with The Rock, she was in “Flight” with Denzel, she was in “My Name Is Earl” on television. She’s beautiful and stunning, the camera loves her. But she’s also subtly brilliant. Being a true actress is so important to her.
On casting Bill Bellamy:
BILL BELLAMY: We were both on “The Arsenio Hall Show” and his dressing room was right next door to mine. I hadn’t seen him in a while and we started catching up and he was like, “Yo B, I’m doing this project. You’ve got to do it with me. You’d be perfect to play Terry, my best friend.” So Ray sent me the script and when I finally sat down and read it, I was like, “Oh yeah, this is it.”
SM: Bill, he’s ridiculously funny, but he knows how to maintain the truth of the story. So he’s not just in there for slapstick one-liners. It’s such a challenge working with him because you never know what’s going to come out of his mouth. He stays true to the words, but then he puts his Bill-isms in there. And just the facial expressions, and his timing and cadence. And the thing about Bill, yes he’s very funny, but he’s a universal funny that appeals to so many different people. There’s nobody else who could play this role, to be believable as my best friend and have all the qualities that his character needed. Bill embodies not only the punch lines, but the essence and theme of what the movie is about, at the same time running his mouth and being a fool.
On characters:
BB: Terry is absolutely neurotic, charismatic, fun, and sickly intoxicated with the success of Matthew Taylor. We came up together in the game and we’re trying to go get it. He wrote the book Bounce Back after coming off this horrible divorce, and it has become a hit and everybody’s starting to catch onto it. So you see me fighting with him and believing in him more than he believes in himself sometimes. It’s a fun ride.
On crowdfunding:
SM: Going with Indiegogo, I didn’t know much about it to be honest, so I was a little wary and unsure. The idea of asking complete strangers over the Internet for money just felt a little weird. But I learned that it’s not really all about looking for money. What people need to realize is that crowdfunding helps show the industry that there is a demand for the movie. Hollywood’s about numbers and people in the seats. So by raising the money through Indiegogo, we were able to create a buzz and we knew there was a demand. So now the trick is to make the best movie we possibly can, and I think we’ve done that. We are on the verge of what I call a big little movie. There’s not a lot of eyes on us, which is nice for now because it leaves us alone to really just be creative and make the best movie possible.
On improvising and creating laughs:
BB: You can’t write what comes out of this crazy mind! I definitely have done some fun stuff that was right off the top of the head. And Youssef wants those moments that are just priceless. So I think we got a lot of real moments between me and Shemar, we got some funny as hell moments, we got those business moments, so it’s everywhere. It’s not a straight comedy, but it’s sort of a comedy with heart.
On finding the truth of the film:
SM: The words say one thing, but it’s starting to evolve now that we’re shooting it. There’s many colors of life and relationships, whether it’s family or lovers or heartbreak. On the first day of shooting we did a big seminar scene where my character had seven pages of dialogue and I was pitching the Bounce Back book. We had an audience of extras playing the women in the seminar and one of them yelled out, “This isn’t a freaking movie, this is my freaking life!” It was funny, but it was a great compliment. Not just that we were doing a great job, but if she represents the audience that’s going to watch the movie and she can see a correlation to her own life, then I think we’re on to something. So I want you to leave the theater feeling like you had fun, but also thinking, “Wow, that feels real.” And if we can accomplish that, then I don’t think we can ask for more.
On the resurgence of the ’90s style romantic comedy:
BB: Timing is everything. The ’90s was the era that blew me up, so all the people who were 15, 20, or 30 at that time, years later they’re still my fans, still Shemar’s fans. So literally it’s nostalgic for people to see us and be like, “Yo, when I was in high school you were my dude!” Now that everybody’s grown, people from that generation are the new decision-makers. So they want to see things they saw in their childhood and their high school and college days. It’s starting a trend now and I hope we make more, and give more work to other actors and directors. I hope that it keeps going.
In that same interview, both gentlemen told us that they were developing a sequel to “The Brothers,” the 2001 romantic comedy they both starred in, alongside Morris Chestnut and D.L. Hughley, which was written and directed by Gary Hardwick. They said that the script was done, and they were looking for funding – almost always the most challenging stage of the filmmaking process.
But while you wait for “The Brothers 2,” check out the first trailer for “The Bounce Back,” which opens in theaters in the USA, on December 9:
Whoopi Goldberg
In my item yesterday on news that Whoopi Goldberg intends to leave “The View” at the end of the 2016/2017 TV season, to focus on directing films, I mentioned that one of the upcoming projects on her to-do list is a film on Emmett Till; although, per our last report on the project about a year ago, she had signed on to executive produce only.
Thanks to yesterday’s post, I received an email from folks familiar with the project, informing me that Goldberg has now also signed up to direct the film, making it her narrative feature directorial debut. Recall she directed a documentary on Moms Mabley for HBO 2 years ago.
This Emmett Till film hails from Keith A. Beauchamp (the director of the 2005 documentary, “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till”) and producer Frederick Zollo (“Mississippi Burning,” “Ghosts of Mississippi”), and will be based on Beauchamp’s documentary, as well as Simeon Wright’s “Simeon’s Story: An Eyewitness Account of the Kidnapping of Emmett Till.”
The film, to be titled simply “Till,” was the beneficiary of a 2014 Kickstarter campaign, which raised over $50,000 to jump-start the production process. Filming is now scheduled to begin next year in Mississippi, so we can assume that financing is in place, or will be sooner than later.
As for casting, Goldberg wants a relatively unknown actor to play Till, and has her eyes set on Markees Christmas, star of indie crowd-pleaser “Morris from America,” which was released this year.
Markees Christmas
The project joins other Emmett Till films or miniseries in the works: one from Chaz Ebert, which will be based on the book, “Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America,” co-written by Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley (who passed away in 2003), and journalist Christopher Benson. The second will be based on the play, “The Face of Emmett Till” (also co-written by Till’s mother along with David Barr III) from Skyland Pictures and FireRock Bay Pictures, which James Moll (“The Last Days”) is attached to direct, from a script penned by David Barr III and David Scott Hay, who are also co-producing. A third project is set up at HBO as a miniseries, from a producing team that includes Will Smith, Jay Z and Aaron Kaplan. Currently in active development, Steven Caple Jr. just signed up to pen the script for what has been described as “an immersive and in depth exploration of the Emmett Till story,” and is expected to be a 6-hour miniseries for HBO.
Which of these unmade Emmett Till projects will cross the finish line first? Your guess is as good as mine. Given the star power (Will Smith, Jay Z) and the premium cable TV network (HBO) behind the Steven Caple Jr-scripted series, it may have the smoothest path from thought to screen.
Last year marked the 60th anniversary of Till’s murder, which may be why there are several projects on his life in the works, all of them announced in the last 2 years.
Source: Shadow & Act
On this day in comedy on August 22, 1997 Money Talks was released by New Line Cinema!
Starring Chris Tucker and Charlie Sheen, this action-comedy debuted at #2 its opening weekend.
Tucker is a small time hustler exposed by Sheen’s TV reporter. After being arrested and shackled to a master criminal for transport, Tucker finds himself marked for murder once all prisoners and guards are killed by the criminal’s men during their rescue of their boss. Tucker escapes death and the chase is on to get him. Meanwhile he’s trying to get the stash of diamonds he overheard the criminal discuss.
Tucker is forced to reunite with Sheen, who lost his job for violence against his boss, and hide out. Instead of hiding he seeks out the diamonds with the help of Sheen’s rich soon-to-be father-in-law at a car show where the gems are stashed. Tucker avoids death some more and by the end gets the diamonds, but sacrifices them to stay alive and get the bad guys caught.
Directed by Brett Ratner, Money Talks grossed $48 million worldwide from a budget of $25 million.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
On this day in comedy on August 21, 1949 Actress, Loretta Devine was born in Houston, Texas!
Following several appearances on Broadway, Devine was first introduced to the television audience on the NBC sitcom, A Different World. In 2011she starred in the short-lived comedy for ABC Family, State of Georgia and she played Hallie on Playhouse Disney’s Doc McStuffins. She’s been seen on Amen, Roc, The PJs, Moesha, Clueless, Half & Half, Girlfriends, Everybody Hates Chris and The Carmichael Show with David Alan Grier.
Devine also made her formidable presence known in films. She enhanced projects merely by showing up. A Tyler Perry favorite, she was featured in For Colored Girls and Madea’s Big Happy Family. She brought her talent to Parent Trap III, Livin Large, Class Act (with Kid N Play), Amos & Andrew, Dirty Laundry, First Sunday, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Lottery Ticket and Death at a Funeral.
The versatile Devine has received multiple NAACP Award nominations and wins for her dramatic work (Eli Stone, The Preacher’s Wife, Waiting to Exhale, Grey’s Anatomy, Boston Public, Clueless, Cougar Club, Life is not a Fairy Tale, Woman Thou Art Loose, What Women Want) as well as comedic. In 2012 Devine won the Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Feature Role.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
On this day in comedy on August 20, 2010 Lottery Ticket was released by Warner Bros. Pictures!
Rapper Bow Wow (formerly Lil Bow Wow) stars in this comedy about a lottery winner pursued by everybody in his ghetto neighborhood. His friend (Brandon T. Jackson) and grandmother (Loretta Devine) are the only people who know he has the winning ticket for $370 million, but has to wait over the Fourth of July holiday before being able to cash it in, but before you know it the entire neighborhood knows and everybody wants some. A girl who previously rejected him now wants to be his baby’s mama. The local loan shark wants to assure Bow Wow’s friendship by “loaning” him $100,00 to have a good time. Everybody has an I-need-money-story.
The downside is the community bully (Gbenga Akinnagbe) thinks Bow Wow snitched on him for stealing some sneakers from Bow Wow’s job at Foot Locker. So now he has to look over his shoulder. The truth is Bow Wow’s original dream was to come up with his own line of sneakers. By the end of thj4 movie that dream is realized as he and his real girl (Naturi Naughton) and his boy take his helicopter to his sneaker factory.
Lottery Ticket was directed by Erik White and produced by Matt Alvarez from a screenplay by Abdul Williams. It co-starred Keith David, Ice Cube, Charlie Murphy, Leslie Jones, Teairra Mari, Terry Crews, Jason Weaver, T-Pain, Bill Bellamy and Mike Epps. The worldwide gross was $24.7 million from a budget of $17 million.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
On this day in comedy on August 19, 1994 Blankman was released by Columbia Pictures!
Directed by Mike Binder and co-written and starring Damon Wayans, this superhero spoof tells the story of a clueless repairman living in the hood and almost getting killed in it. Wayans has to have his grandmother slaughtered by local hoodlums to realize he’s not in a good neighborhood. Instead of moving he decides to become a crime fighter like his idol, Batman. He invents gadgets to help him in his quest to clean up the city and puts on a costume complete with a mask to hide his identity and a bullet proof chest, but not head.
Wayans has a brother, played by David Alan Grier, who works as a news cameraman and films his brother in action, hoping this alter-ego will help him psychologically get over the murder of their grandmother. It does just the opposite. Wayans thinks just because he dresses like a superhero he’s equipped to do superhero things and becomes a marked man. He calls press conferences that are ignored and at one point gets the mayor killed in a bomb defusing situation that goes wrong. That’s when the city turns against “Blankman” forcing Wayans to abandon his antics, get a job at McDonald’s and live a typical life (if you consider working at McDonalds typical).
Too bad Wayans made this decision so late in the game. Blankman made some enemies while he reigned and the same crime kingpin (Jon Polito) that killed his grandmother is now calling him out. If Blankman doesn’t show up that kingpin will kill the object of Blankman’s affections, a female news reporter (bet you didn’t see that one coming) played by Robin Givens. This once again forces David Alan Grier to get involved. He dons the crime fighter suit of “Blankman’s sidekick, “The Other Guy”, and goes into action with Blankman. Problem is “The Other Guy” is not bulletproof (which he doesn’t know) and he gets shot (or should I say wounded?).
The story wraps itself up as Blankman comes to the rescue, the crime boss is defeated and our semi-hero gets the girl.
Blankman also features Arsenio Hall, Tony Cox, Jason Alexander, Lynne Thigpen, Harris Peet, Christopher Lawford and Nick Corello. Its box office take was $7,941,977.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
On this day in comedy on August 19, 1969 Comedienne, Actress, Director, Paula Jai Parker was born in Cleveland, Ohio!
After graduating from Howard University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Parker made her way to New York and played clubs. She appeared on The Apollo Comedy Hour and was a cast member on Townsend Television for Fox. Her televised comedy extended to the WB’s The Wayans Bros, The Weird Al Show, My Name is Earl, Roc, Cosby, The Parent ‘Hood and the voice of Trudy Proud in Disney’s animated comedy series, The Proud Family.
Parker made her film debut in 1995s Friday. In 1997 she was featured in Sprung. She played in Woo with Jada Pinkett-Smith, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood and My Baby’s Daddy.
Paula Jai Parker won a Cable ACE Award for her role in HBO’s Cosmic Slop.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
Check out this clip:
For Variety’s latest issue, we asked Lena Dunham to write a tribute for “SNL” regular Leslie Jones, one of 50 people to make our New Power of New York list. Here’s why Jones represents a new generation of movers and shakers that capture the best of Manhattan.
I first met Leslie Jones at “SNL.” She was a new writer and I was a terrified first-time host, being shuttled from office to office to hear pitches. Every conversation was a blur of clever puns and Harvard dude ingenuity (not knocking that approach, but it was different than mine). When I sat down in Leslie’s office my entire body breathed a sigh of relief: she was open about her own anxieties but so funny it didn’t matter, and she pitched a sketch in which I played Jesus’s prospective publicist.
While that never made it to air, I had no doubt that Leslie herself soon would. Everything about her presence was witty, wise and utterly original. It’s telling that in our current society a woman — and a woman of color especially — can be called radical just for daring to exist publicly. But Leslie took to her new job with so much grace, power and style that she should be called radical. She knows and embodies the voices and hopes of many.
Now she’s a full-on star: between scene-stealing moments in “Top Five,” her job as an “SNL” regular and every comedy nerd’s dream role in “Ghostbusters,” she’s become a household name and she’s done it with joy and authenticity. But as she’s brought us so much delight as viewers, she’s also exposed the darkest underbelly of the internet; the racism and misogyny being stoked by the hatred embedded in current American discourse, even as it tries to hide behind the anonymity of a screen.
She has endured more negativity and verbal violence than any person should ever be subjected to, and she’s taken it on with her trademark vulnerability, humor and wisdom. She’s leading the way for bullied teens, victims of abuse, and anyone who has ever felt silenced by judgment. She has embraced the power she has to change the dialogue. She has forced us all to look within at what would be needed, from us and our neighbors, to live in a kinder and more just society, one where we can just let Leslie Jones thrive. Because this woman was born to thrive and we are so lucky to watch her.
Lena Dunham is the executive producer and star of “Girls.”
Source: Variety
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