TUE: Ryan Gosling 1950's movie sold to NEON
Michael Cera + Amy Schumer at HULU / MET Gala goes to Sept, sorta / Lucy Liu joins SHAZAM sequel
Mornin! Here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY April 13, 2021.
Where Madonna bought The Weeknd’s house in LA for $19 Million (pics in link). Right off the 405 in Van Nuys. Oh wait no that’s where I’d be living if I had to find a place in LA in 2021.
But some bad news for LA moviegoing… Arclight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters laid off all staff and will not be re-opening, affecting around 300 screens in California. Future of the Cinerama dome is now in question 😟.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
NEON buys US rights to Ryan Gosling movie “The Actor”
Ryan plays an actor from NYC who is attacked while in Ohio in the 1950’s, loses his memory and has to try and put his life back together.
Shooting this year, directed by Duke Johnson (“Anomalisa”). $4-6 Million dollar acquisition. /Deadline
Cate Blanchett to star in next movie from Todd Field (“Little Children”) at FOCUS
Called “TAR”, shooting in Berlin in September but no plot details avail. /Deadline
APPLE TV’s Will Smith slave drama “Emancipation” directed by Antoine Fuqua no longer going to shoot in Georgia
Because it’s just too hot there in July. OR - it’s because of the restrictive voting law they just passed.
Everyone waiting to see if this is an outlier… or the beginning of a domino effect in Hollywood about Georgia Film/TV production. Movie was to begin shooting in June. /Deadline
ALSO IN MOVIES
Lucy Liu joins “Shazam!” sequel at WB, playing a villain named “Kalypso”, sister of Helen Mirren’s villain character. Begins shooting in May. /THR
20TH CENTURY STUDIOS sets Joe Cornish (“Attack the Block”) to direct comic adaptation of “Starlight” from Mark Millar (“Wanted”, “Kick-Ass”). A space hero saves earth… but no one believes him when he returns. 35 years later, his old rocket “shows up” for one more adventure. Simon Kinberg (“X-Men” film series) producing. /Deadline
NETFLIX sets “Kong: Skull Island” director Jordan Vogt-Roberts to direct live-action movie adaptation of anime series “Gundam”. LEGENDARY producing. Comic book writer Brian K. Vaughn (upcoming “Y: The Last Man” series at FX on HULU) is writing the script. /THR
Jackie Weaver joins Mark Wahlberg boxer-turned-priest movie “Stu” now shooting. /Deadline
MANAGEMENT 360 promotes 6 talent managers to partner. /Deadline
The AP notes the ‘crickets’ around Hollywood after the THR’s Scott Rudin abuse expose´. And I only saw this piece in Brian Stelter’s daily CNN Reliable Sources email. Really curiously quiet… 🧐
📺 THE TV SET
Michael Cera joins Amy Schumer HULU comedy “Life & Beth”
10 episodes, Amy also writing & directing, slated to hit HULU later this year.
NYC woman in the wine business has a sudden incident that makes her re-examine her teenage life to determine how she became the way she is. Cera is playing a farmer/chef friend, Amy’s boyfriend role still TBD. /THR
EPIX orders sci-fi horror series “From”
10 episodes, Russo Bros among producers, shooting this Summer. NETFLIX has it outside of the US.
Nightmarish town traps all who enter it. As people try and find a way out, they must fight creatures who come out of the surrounding forest at night. So it’s set in LA? 🤷♂️ /Deadline
ALSO IN TV
DISNEY+ doing David Beckham unscripted show “Save Our Squad” where he’ll mentor an East London youth soccer club facing hard times. Likely involving a lot of talk about how to “bend it”. /Deadline
NETFLIX adds Sharito Copley (“District 9“) to “Russian Doll” season 2. /Deadline
ESPN giving “American Gladiators” the “30 for 30” treatment. Co-producing doc with VICE. /Deadline
“Access Hollywood” & “Access Daily” renewed through 2025 by NBCU Syndication. /Variety
Luke Bryan has Covid, ABC brought back Paula Abdul to fill the slot on “American Idol’” .
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
JUST SOME QUICK NOTES
Ron & Clint Howard writing a memoir. Called “The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family”, out in October. /THR
ESPN to begin airing alternate game calls on ESPN2 focused on betting, called “Daily Wager Special”. STATE FARM is the lead sponsor. Because there’s nothing better to associate with your insurance product… than betting. /NextTV
The MET Gala moves to a “more intimate” version on Sept 13 this year. /THR
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
VIACOM dropped another 5% (now below $40/share), DISCOVERY dropped close to 4%.
AMC MOVIE THEATERS dropped another 8.5% (CINEWORLD/REGAL down 4.5%, CINEMARK down 3%). Thanks Tom Cruise.
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
APPLE TV+ “Mythic Quest” Season 2 trailer. Premieres Fri May 7.
HBO “In Treatment” Season 4 teaser. The show returns… with Uzo Aduba in the lead role. Premieres Sunday May 23.
BRAVO “Real Housewives of BH” Season 11…. trailer-ish? Kind of a collection of clips to me, but if ya watch the show gonna guess you’ll have a much better idea what they’re all talking about. Premeires May 19.
New Dave Grohl directed docu “What Drives Us” trailer. Dave talks to musicians about something (almost) all musicians do at some point - touring in a van. It’s on something called CODA COLLECTION, which looks like a SONY backed SVOD service with music docs & concerts. You can get it via AMAZON PRIME CHANNELS for $5 a month, and the doc premieres Fri Apr 30.
👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
FOX “Prodigal Son” - Season 2, the second-half. Premieres at 9pm
PBS FRONTLINE :“American Insurrection” - looking at the role far-right groups played on January 6th. Airs at 9pm - Or stream it here after
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
BEABADOOBEE - She’s bringing back 90’s female alternative pop big time. Think like THE SUNDAYS, LETTERS TO CLEO, VERUCA SALT - that kinda thing. So if that was your thing, this is her new song “Last Day on Earth”
Listen on Spotify / Watch on YouTube
And if you dig that - her album last Fall was one of my favorites, stream that here. If you need new tunes:
If you’re new to THE WAKEUP and know someone who would dig it:
Have a great Tuesday! Email me anytime - just reply to this email, or my name below goes to my LinkedIn.