Half Baked 2, the sequel to the 1998 cult comedy, has finished production in Baton Rouge, LA with Rachel True reprising her role as Mary Jane in the Universal 1440 Entertainment title. Also joining the cast is Maze Runner‘s Dexter Darden, as well as Moses Storm (Moses Storm: Trash White, Everything’s Trash), Ramona Young (Never Have I Ever), Ash Santos (True Story), Joel Courtney (Super 8, The Kissing Booth), and David Koechner (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy).
The film will also feature special appearances by Frankie Muniz, comedian Jeff Ross, and original cast member Harland Williams.
Half Baked 2 follows Thurgood Jenkins’ son JR (Darden) and his best friends Miles (Storm) and Cori (Young) as they search for the money to bury their other best friend Bruce (Courtney), who died from smoking the most powerful joint in the world. Michael Tiddes (Sextuplets, Naked) directs off a script by Justin Hires (MacGyver, 21 Jump Street). Pic is produced by Griff Furst (Where All Light Tends to Go, 57 Seconds).
“We are thrilled to announce the next chapter in Half Baked, with new characters and a hilarious story that is sure to satisfy followers of the original film while attracting a whole new generation of fans,” said Glenn Ross, General Manager and Executive Vice President, Universal 1440 Entertainment. “The sequel features a talented young cast alongside Rachel True reprising her role as the fan-favorite ‘Mary Jane.’ We can’t wait to show audiences where the story goes from here.”
Half Baked 2 will debut on non-theatrical platforms worldwide next year from Universal 1440 Entertainment, a production arm of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. The original 1998 movie, which also starred Dave Chappelle and Jim Breuer, grossed $17.4M at the domestic box office.
New Episodes of the Groundbreaking Documentary Series, Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios, to Feature Jennifer Lopez, Boy George, Remy Ma, and More.
Paramount+ today announced new episodes of the groundbreaking documentary series BEHIND THE MUSIC will premiere exclusively on the service in the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday, Nov. 29, featuring Jennifer Lopez, Boy George, Jason Aldean, and Remy Ma. Additionally, seven remastered episodes spotlighting iconic artists Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera, Gloria Estefan, Hootie & the Blowfish, Mötley Crüe, Pink, and TLC will drop the same day. Paramount+ also released an official trailer and key art for the series. The episodes will drop in additional international markets where the service is available throughout 2022-2023.
Comedian Dave Chappelle guest hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend, appearing in a sketch that lampooned HBO’s new fantasy drama, House of the Dragon.
Chappelle introduced the pre-taped segment as a “sneak peek” of The House of the Dragon Season 2.
SNL players Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, and Punkie Johnson, and rapper-actor Ice-T dropping by for a cameo, played supporters of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Chloe Fineman) and Daemon Targaryen (Michael Longfellow) in the video, which was set at the couple’s Dragonstone castle.
The 4 1/2-minute clip mocked the show’s signature treacherous, incestuous storylines and the characters’ complicated, similar-sounding names.
Chappelle is seen in the sketch playing several different outrageous, anachronistic characters who offer their alliance and eventually show off their dragon-flying skills.
Source-UPI
Nov. 13 (UPI) – Scream and Nope actress Keke Palmer is set to guest host the Dec. 3rd episode of Saturday Night Live.
“Y’all got y’alls wish… guess whole hosting @nbcsnl? I’m so excited for usss yalllllll, couldn’t do it without you,” Palmer tweeted.
Singer-songwriter SZA will provide the musical entertainment for the episode.
Comedian Dave Chappelle hosted this weekend’s sketch comedy show in New York.
Black Star was the musical guest.
In this episode of JUST A COUPLE OF GUYS AT THE MOVIES, we review the new film BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER with one of Def Comedy Jam’s Finest, and host of many comedy shows across the country- TALENT HARRIS!
Talent talks about how he thinks this film will perform, his thoughts on Angela Bassett possibly winning an OSCAR for her performance, and more!
Watch the latest episode below;
In this episode of the Box Seats Sports Comedy Talk Show, we discuss if the Los Angeles Lakers should trade Lebron James and Anthony Davis, we also talk about the NIL and College Sports, Charles Oakley speaking out about Isiah Thomas, and the other hot topics in sports!
According to our sources, we hear that comedian, actor, and musician, Jamie Foxx is about to begin shooting a very secretive film with actress Gwyneth Paltrow in Europe starting in December.
No word yet on what the film is about, but it’s being speculated that the film COULD possibly be something for Marvel Entertainment as both actors have worked for Marvel in the past (Foxx as Electro in No Way Home and Paltrow in the Iron Man/Avengers films). What is certain is the film, shooting overseas and being kept under wraps to this magnitude will only incite speculation that it is possible in the Marvel canon of films or series.
More details on this story as it develops.
Netflix is utilizing its move into live streaming technology with Chris Rock becoming the first person to test it out.
Rock will perform live in a global streaming event in 2023.
It comes after it was revealed in May that the streamer was experimenting with the technology.
It was noted that Rock had another Netflix special to come after the infamous slap incident with Will Smith at the Oscars. Rock has been out on his Ego Death tour over the last few months and during a show in London promised that he would discuss more about his Oscars experience on Netflix.
“People expect me to talk about the bullshit, I’m not going to talk about it right now, I’ll get to it eventually, on Netflix,” he said.
It also marks Rock’s second Netflix special after Tamborine in 2018. He also appeared at the Netflix is a Joke festival alongside Dave Chappelle earlier this year.
“Chris Rock is one of the most iconic and important comedic voices of our generation,” said Robbie Praw, Netflix VP of Stand-up and Comedy Formats. “We’re thrilled the entire world will be able to experience a live Chris Rock comedy event and be a part of Netflix history. This will be an unforgettable moment and we’re so honored that Chris is carrying this torch.”
Source: Deadline
Universal has enlisted Black Panther: Wakanda Forever co-writer Joe Robert Cole and director Allen Hughes, who with his brother Albert directed movies such as Menace II Society and Dead Presidents, to tackle a definitive biopic of iconic rapper and entertainment mogul Snoop Dogg.
Snoop is heavily involved with the project announced Wednesday, which will incorporate music from his past catalog. He is also producing the feature along with Sara Ramaker and Hughes. The project will mark the inaugural film from Snoop’s Death Row Pictures, which he runs with Ramaker.
“I waited a long time to put this project together because I wanted to choose the right director, the perfect writer, and the greatest movie company I could partner with that could understand the legacy that I’m trying to portray on screen, and the memory I’m trying to leave behind,” said Snoop in a statement. “It was the perfect marriage. It was holy matrimony, not holy macaroni.”
Snoop, whose real name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., shot to fame in the early 1990s West Coast rap scene thanks to his collaborations with Dr. Dre and then his one-two-punch albums, Doggystyle and The Doggfather. He parlayed that into a media and business empire, becoming an actor, DJ and media personality as well as an entrepreneur with ties to technology, global consumer brands, food and beverage industries, and, of course, the cannabis world.
With 35 million albums sold worldwide, he is a 17-time Grammy nominee, an American Music Award winner, and a Primetime Emmy Award winner. He has played himself in countless series and appeared in movies such as Training Day, Starsky & Hutch and this summer’s Jamie Foxx vampire action movie Day Shift.
“Snoop Dogg’s life and legacy make him one of the most exciting and influential icons in popular culture,” stated Donna Langley, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group. “We met with Snoop shortly after he acquired Death Row Records and had the opportunity to hear his story in his own words. We are humbled to be able to create the lasting document of this singular artist.”
Universal has had previous success tapping into rap culture with musical biopics focusing on key artists. In 2015, it released Straight Outta Compton, centered on the West Coast hip-hop scene and N.W.A, the seminal group that Dr. Dre was a part of. The film grossed over $200 million and earned an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay. With 2002’s 8 Mile, it told a thinly veiled autobiographical story of Eminem and his rise in an industry and genre dominated by Black artists. That movie grossed over $250 million and won the Oscar for best original song with “Lose Yourself.”
With the Snoop biopic in development, Universal will now have a trifecta of the artists — Snoop, Dr. Dre and Eminem — who performed during this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
Hughes and his brother, both born in Detroit and raised in Southern California, made their names by telling stories of the Black experience with Menace and Dead Presidents at the same time as Snoop was making his rise. In 2017, he tackled the music scene by directing The Defiant Ones, the award-winning four-part HBO documentary focused on Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine.
“Snoop Dogg is one of the most internationally beloved figures in hip-hop,” states Hughes. “There’s just something about his energy that brings people of all walks of life together. Snoop Dogg, not just the artist, but the man and his brand, has transcended generations with his connection and appeal to audiences. His story is so authentic and utterly inspiring, and to have the opportunity to tell his story allows me to go back to the hood 30 years after Menace II Society, and say more now than I could then.”
Cole is a generation younger than Snoop and Hughes and grew up influenced by their work as he made his mark as a screenwriter. He’s notably worked with Ryan Coogler on the two Black Panther movies as well as being a writer-producer on the Emmy-winning FX series American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson; he received an Emmy nomination for writing the episode “The Race Card.”
I’ve been a fan of Snoop since Deep Cover,” says Cole. “His music and the films of Allen Hughes have left an indelible mark on me over my life. What excites me most is the humanity of Snoop’s journey to international icon. Universal has proven they can guide a movie like this to something special. I’m proud to be a part of the team.”
NBCUniversal’s president of music and publishing, Mike Knobloch, will supervise the project’s music. Universal’s senior vp production and development Ryan Jones will oversee the project for the studio.
Snoop is repped by Stephen Barnes of Morris Yorn. Hughes is repped by WME and Hansen Jacobson, while Cole is repped by Circle of Confusion and Jackoway Austen.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Mario Van Peebles (Power Book III: Raising Kanan) has wrapped production in Montana on Outlaws, a new Western that he wrote, directed and stars in for Quiver. Others joining Van Peebles in major roles include Whoopi Goldberg (Till), Cedric the Entertainer (The Neighborhood), Edward James Olmos (Mayans M.C.), John Carroll Lynch (Big Sky), William Mapother (Son of Monarchs) and M. Emmet Walsh (The Immaculate Room).
Outlaws follows Chief (Van Peebles), a renegade cowboy putting together a multicultural team of new and old friends in order to ride into dangerous unsettled territory to retrieve gold from an abandoned mine. Hot on Chief’s tail is Angel (Mapother), a spurned lawman and Civil War veteran with a thirst for vengeance. So begins a cross-country journey, with Chief and his band of Outlaws crossing paths with a number of interesting historical characters along the way, including a true-to-life Stagecoach Mary played by Goldberg.
Pic’s ensemble also includes Cam Gigandet, Allen Payne, Neal McDonough, Mandela Van Peebles, D.C. Young Fly, Amber Reign Smith, Jake Manley, Joseph Culp, Brian Presley, and Sean Bridgers. Joshua Russell and Gerald Olson produced for Iris Indie, alongside Swen Temmel and Meadow Williams for Diamond Films, and Kip Konwiser for Konwiser Brothers Media. Exec producers for the film to be distributed by Quiver are Berry Meyerowitz, Jeff Sackman, Larry Greenberg, Mark Goldberg, and Mario Van Peebles.
“I wanted to make a fresh kickass Western like we’ve never seen, a savvy action adventure with pluck served up in a dirty glass!” Van Peebles stated. “I knew I’d need a gregarious band of producers to go on this rough and tumble journey with me, and the team at Quiver was ready for the ride!”
“We’re thrilled to partner with Mario and this epic ensemble cast for a one-of-a-kind action-adventure set in the west, at the dawn of America’s Age of Invention,” added Quiver Distribution Co-Presidents Meyerowitz and Sackman. “We can’t wait for audiences to saddle up for this action-packed, wild adventure. With Mario at the helm as director, writer, and star, this film certainly doesn’t hold back.”
Goldberg is an EGOT winner best known for her Oscar-winning performance in Ghost, her Oscar-nominated turn in The Color Purple, and the Sister Act films, among other projects. The decorated performer produced and can currently be seen starring in United Artists Releasing’s Till, which tells the true story of Mamie Till Mobley’s fight for justice following the lynching of her son, Emmett Till.
Cedric the Entertainer is an NAACP Image Award-winning actor and comedian who currently stars in and executive produces The Neighborhood, a hit CBS sitcom now in its fifth season. He’s also recently appeared in films like First Reformed, as well as series including Woke and The Last O.G. The multi-hyphenate will also soon be seen in the films The Plus One and Down by the Water.
Olmos earned an Oscar nomination in 1989 for his lead role in the drama Stand and Deliver and has also been recognized over the course of his career with three Emmy noms — winning in 1985 for his role as Martin Castillo on Miami Vice. Other notable credits include films like Blade Runner and Selena, and such series as Battlestar Galactica and Mayans M.C. Also coming up for the actor is the motorcycle racing pic One Fast Move for Gulfstream Pictures and Luber Roklin Entertainment.
Lynch has recently been seen on series like Gaslit and Big Sky, as well as in features like The Trial of the Chicago 7. He’ll next be seen in an as-yet-untitled comedy that Better Things‘ Pamela Adlon is directing for FilmNation Entertainment and Range Media Partners.
Best known for his work in films like In the Bedroom and series like Lost, Mapother’s recent credits include the indie Son of Monarchs and series like FBI: Most Wanted and 9-1-1: Lone Star. Also coming up for him is the topical drama On Sacred Ground from Shout! Studios.
Known for turns in films ranging from Blade Runner to Blood Simple and The Jerk, Walsh has most recently been seen in titles including Knives Out and The Immaculate Room, as well as series like The Righteous Gemstones and American Gigolo.
Quiver just produced and released Walter Hill’s Western Dead for a Dollar with Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe and Rachel Brosnahan. Other recently released titles from the company include the crime thriller Bandit, with Mel Gibson, Josh Duhamel and Elisha Cuthbert, and the buddy comedy Bromates from writer-director Court Crandall. Also coming up for Quiver is The Wrath of Becky — the sequel to its horror-thriller Becky, which emerged as a sleeper hit in 2020. The new film starring Seann William Scott and the original’s Lulu Wilson will be released early next year.
Mario Van Peebles is represented by Buchwald and Luber Roklin Entertainment; Goldberg by WME and Italy’s International Artists; Cedric the Entertainer by CAA, Visions Management Group and Del Shaw Moonves; Olmos by CAA and Untitled Entertainment; Lynch by Suskin/Karshan Management and Schreck Rose Dapello; Mapother by Buchwald and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Walsh by Buchwald and SLJ Management; Gigandet by APA, Luber Roklin Entertainment and Vybe Trybe; Payne by Vanguard Management Group; McDonough by Luber Roklin Entertainment and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman; Mandela Van Peebles by Canada’s Trisko Talent Management and Luber Roklin Entertainment; D.C. Young Fly by Innovative Artists and Fox Rothschild; Smith by Eris Talent Agency and Alexa Model & Talent Management; Manley by Canada’s Ambition Talent and Luber Roklin Entertainment; Culp by Almond Talent Agency and Optimism Entertainment; Presley by Gersh; and Bridgers by Innovative Artists, Louisiana’s LTA and Canada’s OAZ.
Source: Deadline