News

Pattinson Premiere

Bong Joon Ho‘s upcoming science fiction film, “Mickey 17,” is scheduled to debut in South Korean theaters on Feb. 28, preceding its global release by a week, Warner Bros. Korea said on Friday. The $118 million production is Bong’s first directorial effort since the Oscar-winning “Parasite.”

Pattinson is set to join Bong in Seoul on Jan. 20 to kick off the movie’s promotional tour. The duo will participate in a press conference and showcase exclusive footage at Cgv Yongsan.

Based on the 2022 novel “Mickey7” by Edward Ashton, the sci-fi thriller stars Pattinson an “expendable” employee named Mickey Barnes. In the novel, Mickey is sent on dangerous missions to colonize an ice planet. When one version of Mickey dies, a duplicate is created to replace him that retains most of his memories. The cast also includes Steven Yeun, Naomi Ackie, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo.

Irish TV Appointment

Screen...

Chicago – Film elites are a particularly hard category of movie buffs to satisfy come gift giving time. When they drop terms like auteur and film movements and directors you’ve never heard of, what’s the best DVDs to give them? Here are three notables that have been released in the last couple of years.

The “Early Short Films of the French New Wave,” (Film Movement), “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands” (Icarus Films)” and “Blonde: The Marilyn Stories, Marilyn Monroe” (Film Chest Media Group) can satisfy any film geek.

’French New Wave’ Shorts, ‘Dona Flor’ & ‘Blonde: The Marilyn Stories’

Photo credit: Film Movement/Icarus Films/Film Chest Media Group

Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com overview of DVD gifts for the Film Elite …

”Early Short Films of the French New Wave,” “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands” and “Blonde: The Marilyn Stories, Marilyn Monroe” are available wherever DVDs are sold.

90 Day Fiancé star Angela Deem isn't a renowned fashionista, and from time to time, her makeovers actually shock her Instagram followers. 90 Day Fiancé's Angela Deem was married once before meeting 34-year-old Michael Ilesanmi on Facebook. Angela was working as a nursing assistant, and living in Hazlehurst. Georgia with her two daughters, their six kids, and her ailing mother. However, her 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days debut turned Angela's life around. She started making money as a reality TV star, and even got weight loss surgery, which helped her to lose 110 pounds.

90 Day Fiancé's Angela and Michael are married despite their age, cultural differences and cheating scandals. However, Angela does keep reminding Michael that she can have any man she wants in America, as he awaits his visa. Angela struts her stuff on Instagram, and shares videos of her flirting with her doctor, or a former stripper from Canada. At the same time,...

Blonde, the Marilyn Monroe biopic, premiered on Netflix and it took the second spot on the charts. The Ana de Armas-starring movie got an 11-minute standing ovation when it was screened at the Venice Film Festival.

Despite glowing reviews for Blonde, the film directed by Andrew Dominik didn’t debut at the top of the streaming service’s chart. The biopic was watched for 37,340,000 hours, according to Netflix’s Global Top 10 chart.

Related Story Marilyn Monroe: Her Life And Career In Photos Related Story Netflix Buys Louis Van Gaal Doc; BBC Profiles Hans Zimmer; BFI Hires For UK Screen Fund – Global Briefs Related Story Netflix Cee Originals Chief Anna Nagler Sets Out Streamer's Stall In Region As Polish Drama Series 'High Water' Launches

Lou, starring Allison Janney, Jurnee Smollett and Logan Marshall-Green, reigned at the top in its second week available on the streaming platform. The Anna Foerster...

Netflix’s “The Recruit,” an upcoming spy series starring “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” alum Noah Centineo, has debuted its first look images. The eight-episode show, about a young CIA lawyer named Owen Hendricks (Centineo) hoping to make a mark in his field, premieres Dec. 16.

The plot unravels as Owen’s “first week on the job turns upside down when he discovers a threatening letter by former asset Max Meladze (Laura Haddock), who plans to expose the agency unless they exonerate her of a serious crime.” That’s when the rookie hopeful becomes entangled in a “dangerous and often absurd world of power politics and mischievous players” as he travels internationally in hopes of completing his assignment and impressing his superiors at the agency.

Also Read:

‘Dahmer’ Debuts at No. 1 Spot on Netflix Top 10 Amid Series’ Ethical Concerns

“It’s rare to find a fresh way into a story these days,...

Separating fact from fiction is tricky in the new Marilyn Monroe drama Blonde.

The Netflix film, which stars Ana de Armas in its central role, doesn’t take the familiar form of a Hollywood biopic steeped in research. Instead it’s based on the best-selling Joyce Carol Oates novel of the same name from 2000, itself a highly fictionalised work emphasising the ways in which Marilyn was victimised across her life.

Similarly, the film controversially depicts some of the most traumatic moments of the Hollywood actor’s life, from her Los Angeles childhood in the 1920s and 30s to her death at the age of 36. But like any fictionalisation of a real person’s life, it raises as many questions as it attempts to answer.

Here is how some of Blonde’s most shocking storylines compare to what really happened.

Was Marilyn Monroe abused as a child?

Blonde depicts Marilyn’s childhood as deeply unstable.

The Netflix film “Blonde” has received its first reviews, and critics are celebrating Ana de Armas’ commitment to the role while questioning the techniques of the film itself.

Directed by Andrew Dominik and rated Nc-17, the film adapts Joyce Carol Oates’ novel of the same name. Alongside de Armas, cast members include Bobby Cannavale, Adrien Brody, Garret Dillahunt, Julianne Nicholson, Sara Paxton, Lucy DeVito and Scoot McNairy.

Some critics appreciate the different approach to the biopic of the woman born Norma Jeane Mortenson. Others find the mostly black and white film devoid of any resonance as to the bigger picture of who Marilyn Monroe actually was as a person.

Also Read:

Brad Pitt Praises Ana de Armas’ ‘Phenomenal’ Performance as Marilyn Monroe in ‘Blonde,’ Despite Accent Backlash

Sophie Monks Kaufman of IndieWire writes that Dominik doesn’t quite give enough effort in saying or showing something about the pop culture icon.

This year’s Venice Film Festival has several highly anticipated films in competition for the Golden Lion. But the festival’s most anticipated movie may arguably be Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde.” Based on Joyce Carol Oates’s 2000 novel of the same name, “Blonde” may be the biopic to end all biopics. It’s an intimate, unflinching look at the life and career of iconic actress Marilyn Monroe – so unflinching that the MPAA gave the film an Nc-17 rating in March for “some sexual content.”

Read More: ‘Blonde’: Marilyn Monroe’s Estate & Brad Pitt Praise Ana De Armas Casting Amid Backlash

An Nc-17 rating usually spells box-office doom for any film that receives it, but “Blonde” avoids that issue thanks to Netflix.

Continue reading ‘Blonde’: Ana De Armas “Doesn’t Understand” Film’s Nc-17 Rating, But Says Movie Had To Go To “Uncomfortable Places” at The Playlist.

The Ana de Armas-starring Marilyn Monroe biopic "Blonde" is director Andrew Dominik's fictional take on the superstar's life, but since it's still based at least partially in history, there are real versions of many of the film's characters. Just as Monroe herself was a real, living human, many of the people she encounters in "Blonde" are also based on real people. The first teaser trailer showed off some stunning footage of de Armas as Monroe, so it's not hard to imagine that they other performers will take their interpretations of these famous faces as seriously. After all, some of them are...

The post Who is Playing Who in Blonde? A Character Guide For Netflix's Marilyn Monroe Biopic appeared first on /Film.

In today’s Global Bulletin, BAFTA prepares online sessions for several top 2021 TV nominees; Modern Films picks up global rights to “Lady Boss”; Mise En Scéne Company adds “Anchorage” to its Marché du Film slate; Abacus Media Rights will distribute “The Masked Dancer U.K.” abroad; Amazon launches miniTV in India and sets “Sherni” premiere date; Head Gear and Big Wave Productions make key hires in the U.K.; Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson gets animated in Sky Kids’ “Dodo”; Strawberry Blond opens offices in Glasgow; and MTV U.K. partners with The Open University on a digital series for promising alumni.

Awards

Jodie Comer, Steve McQueen, Hayley Squires and Waleed Zuaiter are a few of the stars headlining BAFTA’s The Television Sessions 2021, an annual event series — held online for the second year in a row — featuring BAFTA-nominated shows and talent. Taking place May 18 through June 4, the five panels...

Exclusive: The Gurin Company, run by Phil Gurin, whose credits include exec producing ABC’s Shark Tank, and rising British producer Strawberry Blond have teamed up to co-develop formats in the U.S. and UK.

The two companies are developing a number of alternative series and have already started pitching projects, including entertainment series 24 Hours From Here and The Wedding Race, reality show Malled In, and comedy dating format Comic Attraction, to broadcasters in the U.S. and UK.

The Gurin Company produces Canadian competition format Fridge Wars, which is heading to The CW this summer and previously produced NBC’s The Singing Bee.

Strawberry Blond TV, which is run by former Warner Bros and Disney exec Steve Wynne, produces BBC chart show The Playlist and Channel 4’s The Great Big Dig. The production company was recently named Best Place to Work by UK trade Broadcast.

Strawberry Blond CEO Steve Wynne,...

Thanks to Taylor Swift, the world is talking about recorded music “masters” – and the perils facing artists who give them away to record companies. If you’re not up to speed, Swift has been left in a situation where the recorded music rights to her first six albums are owned by her ex-label, Nashville-based Big Machine. That label now looks set to sell these copyrights to a company led by Justin Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun – whom Swift just publicly identified as a personal adversary.

The fact this saga is...

Frank Ocean‘s contempt for the music industry is Shakespearian in its scale and complexity. The singer’s infrequent interviews are often mystifying, so brief and controlled that they’re often meaningless, but his weathered hatred for the music business is a comforting constant. In Gayletter’s latest cover story, Frank explained the abstract ways artists can protect themselves by comparing the industry to being violated.

“Well, fucking with major music companies, you’re going to be… deflowered,” Ocean said. ‘Anytime you get into the business side of the arts,...

It’s a shame that the director behind one of the century’s greatest films, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, has had this much trouble getting his next film going, but it looks like Andrew Dominik’s Blonde is finally moving forward. After years of stops and starts, we heard three years ago that his Marilyn Monroe biopic was picked up by Netflix, and now they finally seem to be eying a production start with a new star.

Collider reports that Ana de Armas is in early talks to star in the film, which could begin shooting as early as this summer. The Cuban actress would be taking over the role last attached to Jessica Chastain, then Naomi Watts before her. Ana de Armas also has a promising upcoming slate, taking part in the next films from Olivier Assayas, Rian Johnson, and Danny Boyle.

Based...

Director Andrew Dominik has been trying to get the Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde off the ground for nearly a decade. Now that the project is set up at Netflix, it sounds like it’s finally going to happen, and the woman who will […]

The post ‘Blade Runner 2049’ Hologram Ana de Armas is Going ‘Blonde’ as Marilyn Monroe appeared first on /Film.

Ana de Armas is a beautiful, talented actress, there’s no question about that. But how will the Cuban-born actress embody the epitome of Hollywood sexuality, Marilyn Monroe? That’s the question that we now face, as the actress is in talks (via Collider) to portray the iconic Monroe in the upcoming film “Blonde.”

Read More: Andrew Dominik’s Long Developing Marilyn Monroe Pic ‘Blonde’ Heads To Netflix, But Without Jessica Chastain

Based on the Joyce Carol Oates novel of the same name, “Blonde” tells the story of Monroe, but through a fictional lens.

Continue reading Ana De Armas To Play Marilyn Monroe In Andrew Dominik’s Upcoming ‘Blonde’ at The Playlist.

Joanna Kulig as Zula in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War. Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios (c)

The Oscar-nominated Cold War is a brilliant, beautiful film about a passionate romance between two mismatched people, set against the backdrop of communist Poland and the Cold War. Shot in gorgeous black and white, director Pawel Pawlikowski’s Polish-language drama traces the ill-fated, incendiary love affair of two musicians through fifteen years, from their meeting in 1949 communist Poland through the decay of Polish communism throughout the Cold War, as the couple cross back and forth over what was called the Iron Curtain. The story is inspired by the director’s own parents, with the characters sharing their names.

Cold War is a compelling romantic drama is full of tragic twists of fate and history, about two people of differing background and personality yet bound by irresistible attraction, all further complicated by the impossible situation...

Part2 Pictures has optioned “Blonde, Beautiful and Dead: The Murder Mystery That Inspired Twin Peaks,” an upcoming project from MetaBook about Hazel Drew, the young woman whose murder 110 years ago became the basis for the fictional killing of Laura Palmer.

“Blonde, Beautiful and Dead,” by David Bushman and Mark Givens, examines the death of Drew in Sand Lake, New York, home of “Twin Peaks” co-creator Mark Frost’s grandmother, Betty Calhoun. Calhoun used to tell Frost stories about Drew, who was found dead in the waters of Teal’s Pond. Like Laura Palmer, she was said to have a double life that included multiple lovers.

Frost will write the foreword of the book, which explains how his grandmother’s stories about the killing lingered with with for decades, leading to the inception of the murder mystery at the center of his and David Lynch’s unforgettable “Twin Peaks.”

Under the deal,...

The world is about to learn much more about Hazel Drew, the 20-year-old whose death in 1908 inspired Laura Palmer’s demise on “Twin Peaks.”

Drew is the subject of an upcoming mulitmedia project from Metabook, “Blonde, Beautiful and Dead.” Metabook creative director Benjamin Alfonsi talked about it in the latest “Shoot This Now” podcast, which you can listen to on Apple or above or right here.

“Twin Peaks” is most often linked to David Lynch, but it was the show’s co-creator, Mark Frost, who felt a personal connection to Drew, Alfonsi explained.

Also Read: We Pitched Emily Ratajkowski and Aaron Paul a Couple Movie Ideas - Here's How It Went (Podcast)

Frost’s grandmother, Betty Calhoun, used to tell him stories about Drew, who was found dead in the waters of Teal’s Pond in Sand Lake, a small community in upstate New York. Like Laura Palmer, she was...

The deepest mysteries of Bob Dylan’s monumental 1966 album Blonde on Blonde will never be solved. It’s impossible to fully explain a song as mystically beautiful as “Visions of Johanna,” and why would you want to, anyway? But in a new book, That Thin Wild Mercury Sound: Dylan, Nashville and the Making of Blonde on Blonde, journalist Daryl Sanders digs as deep as anyone has into the album’s origins, especially the Nashville sessions at its core, as well as influences from the Beatles to Ronnie Milsap to Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Hottest presentations of upcoming Flemish films also include multicultural family film Binti; Patrice Toye’s Tench; and Gust van den Berghe’s Rain Anyway.

The word on everyone’s lips at this year’s Connext, the industry event organised by Flanders Image, was, “What will be the next Girl?”

Last year, Lukas Dhont’s transgender story was presented as a Work In Progress at Connext and is now one of the most lauded films of 2018, winning the Camera d’Or at Cannes and now representing Belgium in the foreign-language Oscar race.

It’s wildly different than Girl, but the buzziest...

Hottest presentations of upcoming Flemish films also include multicultural family film Binti; Patrice Toye’s Tench; and Gust van den Berghe’s Rain Anyway.

The word on everyone’s lips at this year’s Connext, the industry event organized by Flanders Image, was, “What will be the next Girl?”

Last year, Lukas Dhont’s transgender story was presented as a Work In Progress at Connext and is now one of the most lauded films of 2018, winning the Camera d’Or at Cannes and now representing Belgium in the foreign Oscar race.

It’s wildly different than Girl, but the buzziest...

Patrick Williams, who was best-known for his Emmy-winning television music but who was also a renowned and Grammy-winning big-band jazz leader and arranger, died Wednesday morning of complications from cancer at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 79.

Williams was among the most versatile composers of his generation, earning an Oscar nomination, four Emmys and two Grammys during more than 50 years of music-making in New York and Los Angeles.

In the middle of his most prolific period, scoring music for TV including “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and “The Streets of San Francisco,” he was also nominated for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in music for his groundbreaking “An American Concerto” (1976) for jazz quartet and symphony orchestra.

He scored nearly 50 films, often memorable scores for movies that were not big hits, including “Casey’s Shadow,” “The Cheap Detective” and “Cuba” in the 1970s; “Used Cars,...

Drake’s June 29 release of the 25-track “Scorpion” is already well on its way to being the biggest debut of the year, with an estimated haul of 749,000 album equivalent units. That includes some 770 million total U.S. streams, dwarfing the previous record-holder, rapper Post Malone, who logged 431 million streams of his latest album “Beerbongs & Bentleys” back in April.

Word is that Drake is at the end of his contractual obligations to the Young Money/Cash Money label — “Soon as this album drop I’m out of the deal,” he raps on the song “Is There More” — which is distributed through Universal Music Group’s Republic Records. And a well-placed source tells Variety that when Drake signs his next deal, he’ll have another release ready to drop to accompany the news.

Says music attorney Dina Lapolt, whose Lapolt Law firm represents Britney Spears and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler: “Drake...

Singer Frank Ocean has filed a lawsuit alleging that producers on his “Blonde” album are wrongfully claiming co-authorship of songs from the 2016 collection. According to the suit filed Tuesday in federal court in California, Ocean entered into an oral agreement with Om’ Mas Keith and the Analog Genius Corporation in 2014, stating that they would produce tracks for the album in exchange for a flat fee per master recording. The agreement covered a dozen songs, including the “Blonde” tracks “Godspeed” and “White Ferrari,” none of which the defendants wrote or co-wrote, according to the suit. Also Read: Frank Ocean Wins Libel...

Frank Ocean's in a legal war with a guy he used to work with, but who's now trying to take credit for Frank's music ... according to Frank. Frank's suing Om'Mas Keith, whom Frank says he hired in 2014 to produce master recordings for his "Blonde" album. Problem is ... Frank says Om'Mas is now trying to get credit for co-writing a bunch of those songs. In docs, obtained by TMZ, Frank says Om'Mas registered with Ascap...

It’s always a good day when Frank Ocean releases new music, even when it’s an old song. Related: Frank Ocean’s Anti-Bigotry T-Shirt Captures Attention At Concert, And Fans Love It The “Blonde” musician dropped a surprise cover of “Moon River” on YouTube early Thursday morning. Ocean’s rendition of the classic song from the 1961 film “Breakfast...

After the 2018 Grammys on January 28 Kendrick Lamar has now won 12 times in his career, of which 10 were in rap categories and 2 were for music videos — none in the general field despite consistently topping the charts and earning raves from critics. Well, our readers say it’s time for hip-hop artists like Lamar to snub the Grammys after years of being snubbed by them. Scroll down for our complete poll results at the bottom of this post.

Despite repeated bids in the general field — three for Album of the Year, one for Record of the Year and one for Song of the Year — Lamar hasn’t won in top categories. That’s par for the course at the Grammys, where only one rap album has ever won the top prize (“Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” by OutKast, 2004) and no rap songs have ever won Record of the Year or Song of the Year.

The Grammys have long been criticized for their treatment of rap and other genres primarily associated with people of color. No rap song has ever won Record of the Year or Song of the Year, and only one rap album has ever won Album of the Year (“Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” by OutKast, 2004). This year, even though Kendrick Lamar was considered the frontrunner for Album of the Year for “Damn,” the recording academy delivered yet another shutout to hip-hop artists in the general field. Will there be a revolt? If so, it wouldn’t be the first.

Bruno Mars claimed Album of the Year for “24K Magic” as well as Record of the Year for the title track and Song of the Year for “That’s What I Like.” He is a person of color — of Puerto Rican and Filipino descent — and indeed the Grammy nominating committee went out of...

What it is: Learning fight choreography inspired by Charlize Theron‘s kickass super agent in Atomic Blonde.

Who tried it: Kara Warner, People magazine staff writer

Why we tried it: Who doesn’t want to look/be like Charlize Theron? Especially the cool-as-a-cucumber, insanely fit and oh-so-chic super agent Theron plays in Atomic Blonde (out now on DVD/Blu-ray). When the opportunity arose to learn some of the fight choreography inspired by the David Leitch-directed action thriller, in which Theron kicks major ass as undercover MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton sent on a deadly mission to investigate a murder and...

At Venice, he’ll premiere one of our most-anticipated films of fall, the Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds documentary One More Time With Feeling, and now it looks like we’ll be getting another Andrew Dominik film sooner than expected. After developing his Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde for the better part of the last decade, it looks like things are finally coming together.

Buried at the bottom of an interview with Anne Thompson, Dominik confirms rumors that Netflix is backing the film, with New Regency Pictures and Plan B previously on board. While Jessica Chastain was previously set to star, and Naomi Watts before her, Dominik says neither are attached anymore and that he’ll cast a new actress, to be announced this January.

Based on the Joyce Carol Oates novel, he told us, “Blonde‘s interesting because it has very little dialogue in it. My previous three movies have...

Andrew Dominik has created a gorgeous, immersive, and emotional experience in “One More Time With Feeling.” Sprung from the grief of Nick Cave, it is black-and-white, 3D, and a music documentary like no other.

I screened it in the basement of the Australian filmmaker’s Lauren Canyon home, then spoke with Dominik on iPhone video as he smoked an American Spirit on his patio, then inside on iPhone audio over a bowl of spaghetti bolognese. The film will premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.

Dominik first met his fellow countryman because they both once dated the same woman, who is the mother of Dominik’s child. Cave would call her on the phone and the two men would chat; they got along. “Nick Cave was like Jesus in Melbourne where I’m from,” said Dominik. “He’s a person people had a wide array of feelings about. People loved him,...

Andrew Dominik has created a gorgeous, immersive, and emotional experience in “One More Time With Feeling.” Sprung from the grief of Nick Cave, it is black-and-white, 3D, and a music documentary like no other.

I screened it in the basement of the Australian filmmaker’s Lauren Canyon home, then spoke with Dominik on iPhone video as he smoked an American Spirit on his patio, then inside on iPhone audio over a bowl of spaghetti bolognese. The film will premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.

Dominik first met his fellow countryman because they both once dated the same woman, who is the mother of Dominik’s child. Cave would call her on the phone and the two men would chat; they got along. “Nick Cave was like Jesus in Melbourne where I’m from,” said Dominik. “He’s a person people had a wide array of feelings about. People loved him,...

In our ever-more-fragmented media landscape, we're seeing fewer and fewer recognizable brand-name stars for *everybody*, but we're probably getting more and more recognizable brand-name stars for *somebody*.  And that means that people who, to certain individuals, are clearly stars of a certain stature are virtual unknowns to great masses, possibly to majorities. And that's even the case with culture-watching professionals. Take Britt Robertson. I didn't see many "Tomorrowland" reviews calling her an unknown or even a newcomer, thankfully, but plenty of critics are still bending over backwards to reference credits like "Dan in Real Life" or "Delivery Man" as if audiences may struggle to place her. I hear her name and I think of an actress who has been the unquestioned star of at least two network TV shows and one of the stars (if only for a for a season) of a bona fide hit. In the sphere of what I do,...

Bill Murray plans to sing Christmas carols in his own holiday TV special The project, which is still in the developmental stages, would involve Sofia Coppola, who directed Murray in "Lost in Translation." “It’s not going to be live,” Murray tells Variety. “We’re going to do it like a little movie. It won’t have a format, but it’s going to have music. It will have texture. It will have threads through it that are writing. There will be prose.” “Monster-in-Law” is set to become a Fox sitcom the 2005 film starring Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda is being remade for TV. You’ll have to re-watch “Breaking Bad” to appreciate “Better Call Saul” That’s according to the president of Sony Pictures Television: "I won't spill the beans too much, but it is going to force you to go back and check out things that happened...

God Help the Girl is a sweet indie pop musical about a girl in recovery from a severe eating disorder. The girl in question, Eve, is played by Emily Browning, a lovely young actress who has been in some really crap movies (as well as the great A Series of Unfortunate Events). When we first meet Browning she is sneaking out to go to a rock show in Glasgow, singing the first of the movie’s songs, “Act of the Apostle,” about her trip. After the concert she meets James (Olly Alexander), whose disastrous set ended in a fight with his own drummer. Alexander realizes that she is too weak to get home on her own steam and helps her back to the clinic where she is being treated for anorexia. When she leaves, she seeks him out, and they become the best of friends.

The musical was written and...

Skydance Television has hired former Sony Pictures TV exec Jake Rose as Evp Production. Rose will oversee all television production including comedies, dramas, limited series and mini-series in the newly created post, and will report to Marcy Ross, President of Skydance Television. Rose is coming off a a ten-year stint as head of production for Sony Pictures Television Movies, Mini and Limited-Series Division where he oversaw projects such as Hatfields & McCoys, Coma, and The Company. Before Sony, Rose led Skylark Entertainment, an independent film and television production company in Los Angeles where he produced films including Jim Carrey starrer Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Street Fighter, Election, and several television mini-series including Blonde, about the life of Marilyn Monroe based upon the Joyce Carol Oates novel. Rose previously held executive positions at Walt Disney Studios and motion picture finance and bond company CBC. “We are thrilled to have Jake Rose joining the Skydance family,...

Exclusive: Sales powerhouse also takes on Bertrand Bonello’s Paris Is Happening and Andrew Dominik’s Blonde.

Wild Bunch has picked up sales on the Selma Hayek-produced Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet ahead of its special presentation in Cannes.

Based on the inspirational poem by early 20th century, Lebanese writer Kahlil Gibran, the high profile adaptation is currently in post-production.

Hayek will present a work-in-progress in Cannes’ Official Selection on May 17. The actress also features in the voice cast alongside Liam Neeson, John Krasinski, Frank Langella, Alfred Molina and Quvenzhané Wallis.

The animated, portmanteau picture features the work of Roger Allers, Tomm Moore, Tichal Socha, Joan Gratz, Nina Paley, Joann Sfar, Bill Plympton, Mohammed Harib, and Paul and Gaetan Brizzi, who will all also be present at the event.

Other late additions to Wild Bunch’s slate include Paris Is Happening by Bertrand Bonello who is in competition with Saint Laurent.

The film kicks...

Filmmaker Andrew Dominik’s long-in-the-making attempt to turn Joyce Carol Oates’ Pulitzer Prize finalist “Blonde,” a loose (and beloved) 700-page take on the life of Marilyn Monroe, into a feature film has steadily become a prime candidate for inclusion on listicles that chart great-sounding films that never happened. It’s like Dune! Or The Man Who Killed Don Quixote! But it could still totally happen! But the news that Dominik’s feature has snagged a new leading lady to play the Monroe part, despite the long-time attachment of another famous blonde and little public indication that he needed a fresh face, seems to indicate that this thing might actually happen after all. The Wrap shares that Dominik’s film has now cast Jessica Chastain as Monroe, with an eye to start filming in August. As much as we really want to see this film – a true passion project for Dominik, as...

Two-time Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain has a most busy year coming up. This fall, we'll see her in Christopher Nolan's ambitious sci-fi "Interstellar" (November 7) and, hopefully on the festival circuit at least, in director Liv Ullman's Strindberg adaptation "Miss Julie." Also in post-production is director Jc Chandor's "A Most Violent Year," a gritty urban thriller set in the '80s and starring Chastain, Oscar Isaac and Albert Brooks, from A24. What's more? "Killing Them Softly" director Andrew Dominik has found his Marilyn Monroe. Chastain will play her in Dominik's "Blonde," adapted from Joyce Carol Oates' tome about Monroe's first life as Norma Jeane Baker. Brad Pitt's Plan B will produce, and Dominik has adapted the screenplay himself. The script is said to be locked, but the film is still without a start date. Currently, Chastain is in the midst of filming auteur Guillermo del Toro's domestic horror film "Crimson Peak,...

Jessica Chastain has been cast as Marilyn Monroe in director Andrew Dominik's upcoming biopic Blonde.

Brad Pitt's Plan B and Worldview Entertainment will produce the adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates's 2001 novel of the same title, which Naomi Watts originally signed up to star in.

From Michelle Williams to Kerry Katona, we compile 12 other actresses who have portrayed or paid tribute to Hollywood's original blonde bombshell below.

Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams was Oscar-nominated for her critically-acclaimed performance as Monroe in Simon Curtis's My Week with Marilyn (2011). The movie centered on Monroe's fraught relationship with her then co-star Laurence Olivier, played by Kenneth Branagh, during the production of The Prince and the Showgirl in Britain.

Reflecting upon the role, Williams said: "Gosh, sometimes I can't even believe I did it because the challenges were just...

"In a way, you had to remove the fact that she was an...

Jessica Chastain is in line to portray Marilyn Monroe in Blonde.

The Zero Dark Thirty actress is closing a deal to star in director Andrew Dominik's biopic, reports The Wrap.

Brad Pitt's Plan B and Worldview Entertainment will produce the adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates's 2001 novel of the same name.

The story takes biographical and historical sources to paint an intimate picture of the inner life of Norma Jeane Baker.

Dominik wrote the script for Blonde, which was first announced in 2010.

The director previously worked on Killing Them Softly and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Chastain will be seen in the upcoming Miss Julie, Interstellar and Crimson Peak.

Photo gallery - Jessica Chastain's career in pictures:...

Jessica Chastain ("The Help," "Zero Dark Thirty") is nearing a deal to play Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik's passion project "Blonde" for Plan B and Worldview Entertainment.

Based on the imaginary Monroe memoirs "Blonde" by Joyce Carol Oates, the story looks at the "imagined inner life of the iconic actress".

Naomi Watts was previously attached to play Monroe in an earlier incarnation of the project back in 2010. Brad Pitt will produce and was reportedly instrumental in convincing Chastain to tackle the challenging role.

Production is expected to start in August.

Source: The Wrap...

Andrew Dominik has been trying to make a film based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 2001 novel Blonde for more than four years now. It appears he’s close to making it happen, with The Wrap reporting that Jessica Chastain is figuring out a deal to play Marilyn Monroe.Oates’ tome used biographical and historical sources to spin a new story focusing on the inner life of Norma Jean Baker, the woman behind the screen idol and tragic starlet. The portrait emerges of a fragile, gifted young woman with a knack for reinvention, who used those skills to overcome great odds.The book was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and Dominik was so taken with it that he wrote the script adaptation on spec. After floating in limbo for a couple of years, it was snatched up by Brad Pitt’s Plan B, which will...

She's played some remarkable women during her career, and now Jessica Chastain may soon have the chance to play an American icon.

According to The Wrap, the Golden Globe winner is in talks to take on the role of Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik's "Blonde."

The film has been in the works for years, with Naomi Watts slated to play the blonde bombshell until she left the project.

Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Joyce Carol Oates, the motion picture is slated to stat filming later this year.

• Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) is nearing a deal to play Marilyn Monroe in the upcoming film Blonde. Helmed by Killing Them Softly director Andrew Dominik and produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B, Blonde is based on the novel by Joyce Carol Oates which reimagines the life of Norma Jeane Baker, the woman who would later go on to become Marilyn Monroe. When EW reached out for comment, Chastian’s agent would not confirm her involvement in the upcoming film. [The Wrap]

• Rachel Weisz (The Lobster) and Toni Collette (Tammy) are set to star in Thirteen director Catherine Hardwicke...

I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention to realize Naomi Watts was no longer attached to star as Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik's adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' imaginary Marilyn Monroe memoir Blonde, but that's the case and today a replacement has been found in Jessica Chastain. The Wrap reports the news and while the script, written by Dominik, is said to be good to go, the film is still without a start date. It would however, seem a safe bet that filming would begin this year as I would also expect additional casting will be announced shortly. With the Cannes Film Festival coming up it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see the film shopped around the Marche du Film, looking to lock up international distribution as Brad Pitt's Plan B is set to produce. As for the story, Oates is said to have.

It was just three years ago that Michelle Williams earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in Simon Curtis' My Week With Marilyn, but already another big screen portrayal of the Hollywood legend is in the works. Today, the project has found an actress to take on the role. The Wrap is reporting that Jessica Chastain is now attached to play Monroe in Andrew Dominik's upcoming drama Blonde. Chastain, who has twice been nominated for an Academy Award, isn't the first actress to come aboard the project, as Naomi Watts signed on to star all the way back in 2010. In case you couldn't tell, this film has been around for quite a while, but now it appears it's finally starting to get in motion. The movie will be an adaptation of the novel of the same name by author Joyce Carol Oates. You can read...

I've been fascinated by Andrew Dominik's "Blonde," based on the Joyce Carol Oates book about Marilyn Monroe, for some time. A book like that, steeped in the division between myth and reality, wading into some dark corners, seems perfectly suited for the man who brought us the most complex take on the outlaw Jesse James to date with his 2007 masterpiece "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." Speculation has run rampant as to who would play Monroe in the film, and today, it looks like we have an answer, and that answer is Jessica Chastain. For some time, I wasn't even looking in Chastain's direction, to be perfectly honest. Naomi Watts was in the mix at one point. I was expecting any of a number of other actresses. Then Dominik let it slip in February that Chastain was at the top of his list. That happened...

Nearly four years ago, Naomi Watts was tapped to play Marilyn Monroe in Blonde, an adaptation of the book of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates that will be directed by Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). However, the actress seems to have fallen away from the project with The Wrap reporting that Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, The Help) is now getting close to a deal to play the iconic actress. Unlike My Week with Marilyn starring Michelle Williams, this aims to be a more extensive look at Monroe's life, but with a twist from the source material. The book in question is referred to as a fake memoir because it takes the liberty of being told from the point of view of Monroe with the names of certain well-known male suitors changed to vague descriptions including The Ex-Athlete (Joe Dimaggio...