Octavia Spencer, Amblin Partners’ Kristie Macosko Krieger to Produce Film Adaptation of Donna Hill’s ‘Confessions in B-Flat’ (EXCLUSIVE)

As the cost of living crisis continues to place an immense amount of financial pressure on vulnerable households, many will be depending on their benefit payments to make ends meet.

to life. My greatest hope for this project has always been to find a home for it among people who not only love, respect, and understand the romantic comedy genre, but also have that same love and respect for its audience,” Henry added. “The film couldn’t have landed in better hands.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer “Book Lovers,” a subversive romantic comedy and bestselling novel from Emily Henry, is getting the feature film treatment. Movie rights have been picked up by Tango, Lia Buman’s film and television development financier and producer. Sarah Hayward (“Girls,” “Modern Love”) is attached to write the script. “Emily is a dominant force in the world of romantic comedy and we feel so lucky to bring to the screen a story that has already delighted so many on the page. The irreverent and whip smart writing delivers on classic romcom tropes while avoiding cliches, making it perfect for a cozy and refreshing adaptation,” Buman said.

Twice-impeached former president Donald Trump hasn’t been arrested yet, but Jimmy Fallon is pretty sure he’s starting to feel the heat. During Monday night’s episode of “The Tonight Show,” Fallon joked that the location of Trump’s first official 2024 campaign rally was the clearest sign of that.On Saturday, Trump stopped in Waco, Texas to make his first official campaign bid to the people and, as always, his speech was full of lies and gripes about how he’s being treated unfairly.

Brent Lang Executive Editor When it opened in 1995 in Times Square, the All Star Café was supposed to be the sports world’s answer to Planet Hollywood. Not only was it developed by the same restaurant chain, but it borrowed from its playbook, attracting legends such as Joe Montana, Shaquille O’Neal, Ken Griffey Jr. and Andre Agassi to serve as ambassadors to the brand. But what began as a red carpet extravaganza slowly deteriorated, a victim of changing tastes and rocky finances.   Now, Sports Illustrated Studios and 101 Studios, the company behind “Yellowstone,” are partnering with Stephen Curry, the nine-time NBA All-Star, four-time NBA champion and two-time NBA MVP — and his Unanimous Media multimedia company — to produce a feature film and documentary about the All Star Café’s rise and fall. It is based on a 2020 article by Jon Wertheim.

In “The Five Devils,” her beguiling and exquisitely crafted latest, French director Léa Mysius furthers the ideas of adolescent self-discovery and extraordinary perception that drove her riveting début film, “Ava,” even as she introduces new elements of supernatural intrigue and intergenerational trauma to her cinema.  Whereas “Ava” set a coming-of-age story across one ephemeral summer, as experienced by a teenager soon expected to go blind, “The Five Devils” (now in theaters, streaming on Mubi May 12) finds Mysius and co-writer Paul Guilhaume, also the film’s director of photography, casting their gaze back through time to tell a story about the painful family secrets guarded by a young mother (Adèle Exarchopoulos, “Blue is the Warmest Color”) and the magical ability that empowers her child (Sally Dramé) to uncover them.  Continue reading ‘The Five Devils’: Léa Mysius On The Material Magic Of 35mm Film & More [Interview] at The Playlist.

Angelique Jackson Christina Milian continues her streak of rom-coms at Netflix with the upcoming holiday movie “Meet Me Next Christmas.” The project marks the actor and musician’s third collaboration with Netflix following her popular destination romances, 2021’s “Resort to Love” — which spent four weeks on the streamer’s global top 10 film list — and 2019’s “Falling Inn Love.” Milian will executive produce and star in “Meet Me Next Christmas,” playing Layla, who, in pursuit of a fairytale romance with the man of her dreams, must race through New York City to get her hands on the hottest ticket in town: the sold out Pentatonix Christmas Eve Concert.

claimed he’d be arrested on Tuesday. According to the New York Post, Trump’s campaign has raised roughly $1.5 million, or, as Fallon put it, “like 10 hush money payments.”The “Tonight Show” host then joked that it’s a lot of money because, after taxes, it’s still $1.5 million for Trump since, well, he doesn’t properly pay his taxes.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures has preemptively acquired a remake of the 1958 Alfred Hitchcock-directed psychological thriller Vertigo, with Robert Downey Jr eyeing the James Stewart lead role of the former police detective forced to retire after a line of duty trauma that leaves him with fear of heights and vertigo. The script will be written by Steven Knight, the See and Peaky Blinders creator who just signed on to write a Star Wars film.

Uncork’d Entertainment has acquired the prison break action film “Breakout,” which features the late Tom Sizemore in one his final roles. The film is set to release in April.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Bleecker Street, the Oscar-nominated studio behind “Captain Fantastic” and “Trumbo,” has partnered with New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) to award three scholarships to women attending film schools in the New York City area. The grants are part of NYWIFT’s scholarship fund and will assist with educational costs associated with film production, living expenses, books, travel and tuition needs. Bleecker Street’s contribution will be officially acknowledged at NYWIFT’s upcoming Muse Awards on March 28, which recently announced a mix of film executives, actors and filmmakers — including Arianna Bocco, Danielle Brooks, Deborah Chow, Maria Hinojosa, Sandra Lee, Freida Pinto, Lauren Ridloff, Sharon Stone, and Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences president Janet Yang — as this year’s honorees.

EXCLUSIVE: In competition, Apple Studios is acquiring rights to Cesca Major’s latest novel Maybe Next Time. Novel will be developed as an Apple Original Film from Apple Studios, with Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine set to be producer. The author will be executive producer.

told People, which the news as an exclusive on Monday. “Some of the descriptions of being jet-lagged in your family’s kitchen felt very familiar to me.”While Sharpe may be best known in the public eye for his breakout work on HBO and Mike White’s “The White Lotus,” “Crying in H Mart” hardly marks the multihyphenates behind-the-camera debut.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Will Sharpe, who endeared himself to audiences on “The White Lotus,” is directing a feature film adaptation of Michelle Zauner’s 2021 memoir “Crying in H Mart.” Zauner’s novel centers around her relationship with her Korean heritage and her mother, who died from cancer in 2014. Best known as the frontwoman for indie-pop band Japanese Breakfast, Zauner is adapting the screenplay and will also play a part in the film’s music.  According to the official synopsis from MGM, which is backing the movie, “Crying in H Mart” is a “coming-of age story about a half-Korean daughter who returns to small town Oregon to care for her Korean mother. Critical and smothering Chong-mi and creative and independent Michelle struggle to understand each other across a cultural fault line, only learning to see and accept one another through the formative power of music and the vibrant flavors of Korean cooking.”

Charna Flam City Year Los Angeles announced board member and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer will be honored at the organization’s 12th annual Spring Break: Destination Education event on May 6. Spencer’s “The Help” co-star Viola Davis will present her with the award at the fundraiser, which is taking place at Sony Picture Studios in Culver City. In addition to Spencer, Kevin Demoff, COO of the L.A. Rams and City Year board member, will also be honored. For years, Spencer has participated in the City Year mentorship program, which aids thousands of children across Los Angeles public schools through tutoring programs and social opportunities. Spencer has been advocating for education throughout her career, all in an effort to ensure more students have access to the tools they need to succeed.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic The story of Kim Philby is perhaps too good to make up. The British spy, a double agent for Moscow, operated at the highest levels of the intelligence community; his ability to disseminate information to the Soviet Union, to which he eventually defected, is proof, perhaps, of the power of personal charm and erudition to cover over what’s lying in plain sight. That’s the powerfully told story of “A Spy Among Friends,” which streamed on ITVX in the United Kingdom last year and which now arrives on nascent streamer MGM+. Guy Pearce plays Philby, who has at the series’ outset been a valued Soviet source for many years; likely his closest friend in tradecraft, Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis), must get a confession from him. We see the pair’s relationship over time in layered flashbacks, adding context and understanding to Elliott’s failure to nail down Philby.

Shakira has revealed that her viral hit ‘Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53’ was actually inspired by Depeche Mode.Speaking on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, Argentinian producer and DJ Bizarrap explained that the day before he went into the studio with Shakira, he made two potential beats for their collab.Shakira then went on to explain how she was instantly drawn to one of the instrumentals. “It reminded me of Depeche Mode,” she said.If you listen to [‘Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol.

Angelina Jolie celebrated International Women’s Day in Mexico, launching the program “Women for Bees.” The non-profit is meant to preserve the bees from the Mayan civilization, which are in extinction and are the most ancient breed of bees in the world.Angelina Jolie accessorizes her look with Princess Diana’s favorite Dior bag: See photosAngelina Jolie and her kids cut their hair to support Iranian womenThe photos show Jolie in a white dress surrounded by various women who were also dressed in white. The women are sitting in a circle and were captured mid-conversation.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Native filmmaker Billy Luther heads to SXSW this weekend to premiere his narrative feature debut, “Frybread Face and Me” on March 11. Set in the ‘90s, the coming-of-age story follows Benny (Keir Tallman), a young Native American boy who plays with dolls, sports a Fleetwood Mac t-shirt and watches soap operas. Forced to spend his summer on the reservation with his grandmother, Benny finds himself impressed by his cousin “Frybread” (Charley Hogan) who opens his eyes to life on the rez. Featuring an entirely Native cast and predominantly Native crew, Luther says it was important to cast Navajo kids at the core of his film. He says, “With the help of Midthunder Casting, which also worked on FX ‘Reservation Dogs,’ we were able to find these incredible kids. The amount of Indigenous talent – Martin Sensmeier, MorningStar Angeline, and Jeremiah Bitsui came on. And we also brought on some amazing new faces from Indian country that are making their feature debut.”

EXCLUSIVE: Nigeria soccer legend Augustine ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha is getting animated.