Blumhouse’s ‘The Exorcist’ Casts Okwui Okpokwasili

Selome Hailu SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for all episodes of “Swarm” on Amazon Prime Video. Rumors of a Donald Glover project about a “Beyoncé-like figure” have been swirling in Hollywood for at least two years. And while no one involved will say Knowles’ name — though Glover has called out the Beyhive and co-creator and showrunner Janine Nabers has spoken about “a certain pop star from Houston” — that series is finally here. “Swarm” stars Dominique Fishback as Dre, an emotionally stunted superfan of a singer named Ni’Jah (Nirine S. Brown), who is a bit unhealthily obsessed with her own sister, Marissa (Chloe Bailey). When a fight between the sisters separates them for a night, Dre goes out to celebrate Ni’Jah’s surprise album drop (clearly inspired by “Lemonade,” in which Beyoncé sings about being cheated on) while Marissa discovers that she’s being cheated on by her boyfriend, Khalid (Damson Idris). Unable to reach Dre for support, she dies by suicide.

Taron Egerton is reacting to all of those James Bond casting rumors.

I, like most of the casting community, have spent time reading over the latest articles on the current state of casting (and the comments on those articles). It has been gut wrenching to read and try to digest, especially as someone who learned this industry in the southeast where self-tapes have been the prominent form of auditions since I started in 2007 working as a casting assistant and in extras casting. 

Joe Otterson TV Reporter “The Penguin” series at HBO Max has added Michael Zegen, James Madio, and Scott Cohen to its cast in recurring roles, Variety has learned exclusively. The three join a cast that includes series lead Colin Farrell, who will reprise the role of Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot from “The Batman, as well as Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, and Clancy Brown. HBO Max is not releasing character details for three new additions, but sources say that Zegen is set to play Alberto Falcone. Alberto is the son of Gotham City crime boss Carmine Falcone, who was played by John Turturro in “The Batman,” and the brother of Sofia Falcone, who will be played by Milioti in “The Penguin.” In the comics, Alberto takes credit for being the serial killer known as The Holiday Killer, who targets Gotham gangsters on a holiday each month.

Jenna Ortega is evidently a fan of the horror movie.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran producer Stephanie Allain has joined David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist, as executive producer. In addition, the first film in the trilogy from Blumhouse and Morgan Creek for Universal and Peacock has recently wrapped principal photography. The pic hits theaters on Oct. 13.

Jordan Moreau The worlds of “Mission: Impossible” and “Ted Lasso” have unexpectedly collided. Next summer’s “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two” has cast Hannah Waddingham, who plays Rebecca Welton on Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso.” Christopher McQuarrie, the writer of the two upcoming “Dead Reckoning” films, revealed the casting on his Instagram account on Friday. He captioned the photo of Waddingham with a cryptic tease, writing “#GodSpeed #DeadReckoning.”A post shared by Christopher McQuarrie (@christophermcquarrie) Franchise star Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt in this summer’s seventh, and penultimate, installment of his long-standing, action-packed franchise. Variety previously reported that he was filming the eighth movie aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Adriatic Sea, which is where the photo of Waddingham appears to be taken.

The Fabelmans, The Banshees of Inisherin, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical were among the big film winners Thursday at the Casting Society’s 38th annual Artios Awards.

Julia MacCary editor “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Abbott Elementary” and “Yellowjackets” received top honors at the 38th annual Casting Society Artios Awards. The ceremony honors top casting spanning films, TV and theater. The celebrations were in-person for the first time in three years, taking place in Los Angeles, New York City and London, with hosts Yvette Nicole Brown, Amber Ruffin and Gordin Griffin, respectively. EGOT winner Rita Moreno received career honors with the Lynn Stalmaster Award, which was presented by her “80s for Brady” co-star Glynn Turman. The Associated Casting Director / Unscripted Casting Producer Spotlight Awards went to Joy Gordo, Jenn Noyes and Martin Ware. Other top honors included United Agents (London), Leslee Feldman, Black Theatre United, Jessica Sherman and Simone Bär.

Casting directors who came to celebrate their own at the 38th Annual Artios Awards Thursday had a message for actors who worry that making a self-tape means sending one’s work into the abyss: they do take the time to see your at-home audition.

An original star of Chicago Fire is returning to the show later this season!

Naomi Osaka is opening up about how she’s preparing for first time motherhood.

EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire) has joined the cast of director Josh Webber’s holiday pic Athena Saves Christmas, with Christina Cooper coming aboard as producer.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Chris Pratt’s voice role as Mario in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has been a point of debate ever since he was cast. Pratt is not Italian, after all, and many fans were left baffled when the movie’s first trailer dropped last October and revealed Pratt’s Brooklyn-heavy Mario voice. It’s not a concern for the film’s directors, Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath. The filmmakers told Total Film magazine that casting Pratt made sense given the Mario at the center of their story. “It’s a bit of an origin tale. It’s the story of Mario becoming Super Mario,” Horvath said about the film, adding that finding the perfect Mario voice meant finding an actor who could believably portray a plumber from Brooklyn who is “a blue-collar guy from a family of Italian immigrants.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Demi Singleton is the latest addition to the cast of the “Bass Reeves” series at Paramount+, Variety has learned exclusively. Singleton will appear in the period drama as a series regular opposite series lead David Oyelowo, who will star as the titular legendary lawman. Additional cast members include Barry Pepper, Dennis Quaid, Forrest Goodluck, Lauren E. Banks, and Grantham Coleman. Per the official logline, the show “will bring the legendary lawman of the wild west to life. Reeves, known as the greatest frontier hero in American history, worked in the post-Reconstruction era as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory, capturing over 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals without ever being wounded.”

Dead by Daylight, the Behaviour team has created a love letter to the world of horror, building an incredible environment teeming with atmosphere and terrifying villains — perfect for a scary cinematic adaptation,” Wan added. “We’re big fans of the game at Atomic Monster, and are thrilled to be teaming up with Blumhouse to bring this frighteningly visceral world to the big screen.”A search for the project’s director and screenwriter is currently underway.

Brent Lang Executive Editor “Dead by Daylight” is coming to Hollywood. Atomic Monster and Blumhouse are teaming up with Behaviour Interactive, the largest Canadian gaming studio, to develop a feature film adaptation of the hit horror multiplayer game, “Dead by Daylight.” Since its launch in 2016, “Dead by Daylight” has reached over 50 million players worldwide, with two million players stepping into The Fog, the terrifying mist that players must make their way through in order to survive, every day. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to work with Jason Blum and James Wan, two giants of the horror film industry, to further expand the ‘Dead by Daylight’ universe,” said Stephen Mulrooney, executive vice president at Behaviour Interactive. “At Behaviour, our motto is to create unique moments, together, forever. Atomic Monster and Blumhouse are the ideal partners to craft ‘Dead by Daylight’s’ killer entrance onto the big screen.”

When Disney announced Halle Bailey had been cast as Ariel in its live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid”, the Chloe x Halle singer was slammed with racist backlash by those who unable to wrap their heads around a Black woman playing a character depicted as white in the animated classic.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter The fourth and final season of “The Umbrella Academy” at Netflix has added Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, and David Cross to its cast, Variety has learned. It was announced in August 2022 that the hit series would be wrapping up with its fourth season. Offerman (“The Last of Us,” “Parks and Recreation”) and Mullally (“Will & Grace,” “Party Down”), who are married in real life, will star as Drs. Gene and Jean Thibedeau. The characters are described as “a married pair of community college professors from New Mexico who wear sensible footwear and suffer from the most extreme case of deja vu this timeline has ever seen.”

Jennifer Nettles is heading to the big screen in The Exorist.