Viola Davis On Why ‘The Woman King’ Was Vital To Make Despite Everyone Turning It Down – Contenders LA3C

For director Gina Prince-Bythewood, making the historical epic The Woman King was a dream come true. Despite dealing with a seven-year-long development process, Prince-Bythewood was determined to prove that Hollywood stories centering on powerful Black women deserve to be seen. Based on a real all-female faction of West African soldiers known as the Agojie, the film follows its leader Nanisca (Viola Davis), and her fierce tribe of warriors as they defend the kingdom of Dahomey from a violent neighboring empire and Europeans capitalizing on the slave trade. Here, Prince-Bythewood talks about creating a sisterhood of warriors, world-building, and the importance of seeing yourself on screen.

Editors note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films that will be factors in this year’s movie awards race.

An offer he could nearly refuse? Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were eager to ask Tyler Perry to serve as their daughter Lilibet’s godparent, but the Madea star was initially wary about accepting the role.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever co-writer/director Ryan Coogler joined Deadline’s Contenders LA3C panel to reflect on the impact of the untimely passing of Chadwick Boseman and the sensitive display of Black motherhood. 

“I had never heard of this guy, and I would be the kind of person who would know about the most prolific serial killer in the U.S.,” The Good Nurse director Tobias Lindholm said of the real-life Charles Cullen, played by Eddie Redmayne in the Netflix film.  

Crazy Heart writer-director Scott Cooper joined Deadline’s Contenders: LA3C awards-season event to discuss The Pale Blue Eye, his adaptation of the Louis Bayard novel about a gruesome West Point murder committed while none other than Edgar Allan Poe was a cadet in the military academy.

When Guillermo del Toro takes his shot at an animation classic, he doesn’t mess around. He and co-director Mark Gustafson took the Carlo Collodi creation Pinocchio but made a version unrecognizable compared to the 1940 Disney classic. In the stop-motion animated film, Geppetto, the wood-carved boy and the cricket are there, but in a musical adventure that takes the tale in a direction all its own.

Kerry Condon was thrilled to hear that writer-director Martin McDonagh wanted to return to his Irish roots with The Banshees of Inisherin. The actress reunited with McDonagh for the film after working with him on Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri as well as his plays The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Cripple of Inishmaan.

Till co-writer/director Chinonye Chukwu joined Deadline’s Contenders Film: LA3C awards-season event to talk about the importance of making the film, creating a safe space on set, and casting Danielle Deadwyler.

Thirteen Lives tells the true story of the attempt to rescue a group of young boys and their soccer coach who are trapped in a system of flooding underground caves in Thailand. This isn’t the first time that this story has been told, having been the subject of several documentaries previously, but director Ron Howard saw this film as an opportunity to paint a more intimate portrait of such a harrowing mission.

Following in the footsteps of a massively successful novel, and then the Oscar-nominated 2015 Swedish blockbuster A Man Called Ove, Tom Hanks stars in the English-language remake, A Man Called Otto. It was reinvented to take place in Pittsburgh but still features a central character who is about cranky as they come — a lonely widower who basically wants to end it all but who, with the help of a group of memorable neighbors and one colorful cat named Schmagel, finds hope and heart and a reason for living.

Elvis director Baz Luhrmann joined Deadline’s Contenders Film: LA3C awards-season event to talk about the craft of making his larger-than-life biopic and capturing the unique frenzy of the King’s aura and music.  

Tom Cruise has become notorious for performing his own stunts, and Top Gun: Maverick is no exception. In fact, the entire cast underwent intense training in order to perform many of the wild aerial stunts that audiences saw on screen when they flocked to theaters in May to see Cruise reprise his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell more than three decades after the first film hit the big screen.

If not for The Slap that marred Will Smith’s Best Actor Oscar victory for King Richard last March, Emancipation would surely be at the forefront of the awards conversation.

Deadline’s signature Contenders event hits downtown Los Angeles on Saturday for a hybrid in-person/virtual edition, partnering with the inaugural LA3C, the cultural festival developed by Deadline parent company PMC.

Partnering with this weekend’s inaugural LA3C developed by Deadline parent company, PMC, Deadline’s signature Contenders event hits Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday December 10 for a live in person/virtual edition and final Contenders -film opportunity before Oscar nomination voting begins. With films not previously highlighted at our previous LA and NY outings this Fall, A Man Called Otto, The Woman King, The Banshees Of Inisherin, Emancipation, and The Pale Blue Eye will be front and center for voters and public along with newly produced visits with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Elvis, and Top Gun: Maverick all with talent appearing live at our venue, the J. W. Marriott at LA Live. Also returning to Deadline Contenders will be filmmakers from Till, Thirteen Lives, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.