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‘American Horror Stories’ delivers five uniquely alarming tales of terror that tackle liminal spaces, clones, Leprechauns, and more.

“You know, we invented hell.”

There was a lot of promise in American Horror Stories — an episodic anthology horror series — when it was first announced as a companion piece to American Horror Story proper. American Horror Stories’ first season was a lackluster effort that oddly felt compelled to needlessly connect its stories to American Horror Story. The second season worked out many of these kinks and, while still imperfect, there are some genuine gems in the mix, like the Twilight Zone-aping “Facelift.” The third season was an even greater improvement that arguably didn’t have any duds in the mix. More importantly, American Horror Stories seemed to finally find the right rhythm and creative team to do this series justice. Additionally, Season 3 eclipsed the modern seasons of American Horror Story and felt...

Evan Peters and Ryan Murphy are returning to FX together, with the network giving out a series order to the drama “The Beauty.”

Peters will star in “The Beauty” with Murphy serving as co-creator. Ashton Kutcher, Anthony Ramos, and Jeremy Pope will also star in the show, which is based on the Image Comics series of the same name by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley. Matthew Hodgson is also a co-creator on the series. Peters, Murphy, Hodgson, Kutcher, Ramos, and Pope are all executive producers along with Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, Scott Robertson, Nissa Diederich and Eric Gitter. The series is produced by 20th Television in association with Ryan Murphy Television. Murphy is under an overall deal at Disney, which includes 20th Television.

Production is slated to begin this fall, with FX ordering 11 episodes. Exact plot and character details are being kept under wraps, but the description of the comic books states,...

Well-known American filmmaker and actor Mark Duplass partnered with Netflix to create a teen drama series called Penelope. It's set to be released on the streaming platform on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. More on this upcoming Netflix show below.

Penelope comes from Duplass's Duplass Brothers Productions. You might recognize Duplass from his acting work in the movies Creep, Creep 2, Safety Not Guaranteed, Tammy, The Lazarus Effect, Tully, Bombshell and Biosphere. He also starred in the TV sitcom The League, the romantic comedy series The Mindy Project, the comedy-drama series Togetherness and the legal drama Goliath. He currently stars in Apple TV+'s drama series The Morning Show.

Duplass and Mel Eslyn created the teen drama. They wrote the scripts together, and Eslyn also directed the episodes. In addition, Eslyn serves as the series showrunner. Executive producers include Duplass's brother, Jay Duplass, and Shuli Harel.

Little Fires Everywhere -- Courtesy of Hulu

Megan Stott,...

Trap Official Trailer: "Warner Bros. Pictures presents a new experience in the world of M. Night Shayamalan—“Trap” —featuring performances by rising music star Saleka Shyamalan. A father and teen daughter attend a pop concert, where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event. Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, “Trap” stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider. The director of photography is Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (“Call Me by Your Name”). The production designer is Debbie de Villa (“The Hating Game”). It is edited by Noëmi Preiswerk and the music is by Herdĭs Stefănsdŏttir (“Knock at the Cabin”). The music supervisor is Susan Jacobs (“Old”); the costume designer is Caroline Duncan (“Old”). The casting is by Douglas Aibel (“Asteroid City”). Warner Bros.

Young actor and musician Donald Glover, also known by his musician stage name Childish Gambino, is one of the most prominent names of Hollywood’s younger (not youngest!) generation. The actor and musician made his career in 30 Rock when he was just 23, after which he had successful appearances in the Community and Atlanta. He also appeared in several movies, including The Lazarus Effect, Magic Mike Xxl, The Martian, as well as Solo: A Star Wars Story, where he played the young Lando Calrissian.

Aside from his personal appearances, Glover has done a lot of voice work as well, including voicing Simba in the CGI version of The Lion King. He also appeared as Aaron Davis (Uncle Aaron) in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; reprising his live-action cameo from the Spider-Man: Homecoming, although it was a minor live-action role in both of these movies.

As per our friends and colleagues at Discussing Film,...

What an excellent day for an exorcism.

The Blumhouse film “The Exorcist: Believer” will make its streaming debut on Peacock starting on December 1.

Directed by David Gordon Green and co-written by Green and Peter Sattler, “The Exorcist: Believer” is a direct sequel to the 1973 classic “The Exorcist” and returned star Ellen Burstyn to the franchise for the first time since she received a Best Actress nomination for the original film.

“At first, she was very skeptical,” Green told A.frame, the academy’s editorial website. “Her immediate answer was, ‘Hell no.’ I think people have approached her many times about sequels, so I said, ‘If you won’t be in my movie, at least be my friend.’”

Green told the outlet he and Burstyn then began discussing his intentions for the film – particularly his approach to the material.

“Ellen and I spoke and shared literature and philosophies and had a few social conversations.

David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer has scared up over $130 million at the box office, and the film is now available at home on Digital outlets. How about streaming?

The Exorcist: Believer comes exclusively to Peacock on December 1, 2023.

Peacock will also have the following Blumhouse content available to stream on 12/1…

Black Phone Dangerous Breed: Crime.Cons.Cats Don’t Let Go Five Nights at Freddy’s Halloween Kickback Sick The Hunt The Invisible Man (2020) The Lazarus Effect The Purge (series) S1 The Purge (series) S2 They/Them Vengeance You Should Have Left

50 years after the most terrifying horror film shocked the world, The Exorcist: Believer is a brand-new chapter in the saga, directly following on the groundbreaking original 1973 film.

Since his wife’s death, Victor (Leslie Odom Jr.) has raised daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) alone. After Angela and her friend (Olivia O’Neill) return from a three-day disappearance with missing memories,...

Blumhouse’s The Exorcist: Believer, the latest in the Academy Award® nominated The Exorcist franchise, streams exclusively on Peacock Dec 1. For more about The Exorcist: Believer on Peacock, click here. In addition to The Exorcist: Believer, Peacock will also have the following Blumhouse content available to stream as of Dec 1: Black Phone Dangerous Breed: Crime.Cons.Cats Don’t Let Go Five Nights at Freddy’s Halloween Kickback Sick The Hunt The Invisible Man (2020) The Lazarus Effect The Purge (series) S1 The Purge (series) S2 They/Them Vengeance You Should Have Left The Exorcist: Believer is the latest ... Read more...

Exclusive: Neill Blomkamp’s alien abduction thriller They Found Us has shut down pre-production in Saudi Arabia as it reworks its finance structure, we have learned.

Suicide Squad and For All Mankind star Joel Kinnaman is attached to star in the AGC Studios-backed movie, which was due to get underway in coming weeks. Cast had yet to travel to set.

A growing number of sizeable English-language movies are choosing to film in Saudi Arabia. Among big productions to recently shoot in the territory have been AGC’s Anthony Mackie pic Desert Warrior — currently in post-production — and Gerard Butler movie Kandahar. They Found Us is among a handful of U.S. productions being made in collaboration with Saudi production hub Neom.

The move to restructure the finance plan behind the independent movie comes just as tension in the region is growing due to the Israel-Gaza crisis.

Neom is hundreds of miles from Gaza,...

They say timing is everything... well it was only two days ago that we posted a video taking a look at Neill Blomkamp's long lost Agm Heartland project and then - Boom - we get news that the Canadian / South African director has a new movie coming with Joel Kinnaman leading.

The new thriller is They Found Us, an alien abduction thriller set up by AGC Studios and Temple Hill.

It is based on an original screenplay by Jeremy Slater, whose credits include Moon Knight, Fantastic Four, The Exorcist, The Lazarus Effect and The Umbrella Academy.

It will follow a father (Kinnaman) and his da...

Joel Kinnaman (For All Mankind) is attached to star in They Found Us, an alien abduction thriller to be directed for AGC Studios and Temple Hill by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Neill Blomkamp (District 9), which will head into production in Australia later this year.

The film to be fully financed by Stuart Ford’s fast-growing independent content studio, AGC Studios, is based on an original screenplay by Jeremy Slater, whose credits include Moon Knight, Fantastic Four, The Exorcist, The Lazarus Effect and The Umbrella Academy. It will follow a father (Kinnaman) and his daughter Kaylee as they undertake a camping trip in the Utah wilderness to heal their broken relationship. After being attacked by a hostile extraterrestrial lifeform, their lives — not just their relationship — wind up at stake, as they fight with a humanoid beast to stop their abduction to an unknown and terrifying alien world.

Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen...

Damien Chazelle’s Babylon will beat Santa to the Christmas punch by going wide on December 23. Initially, Babylon would have a limited release on Christmas Day in New York and Los Angeles before expanding wide in January. Now, the Chazelle-directed period piece is occupying prime holiday real estate and is competing against movies like 20th Century’s Avatar: The Way of Water and Universal/Dreamworks Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

According to the official synopsis for Babylon, the film is “an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, Babylon traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.”

Babylon stars Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, Jean Smart,...

Order a round of drinks and prepare for a sweaty night on the dance floor because Paramount has debuted a new collection of Babylon character posters. Set against a bustling nightlife fueled by music, merriment, and plenty of martinis, the new prints make it impossible not to feel the heat of Damien Chazelle‘s spiritual successor to La La Land.

According to the official synopsis for Babylon, the film is “an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, Babylon traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.”

Damien Chazelle directs and writes Babylon, with Marc Platt, Matthew Plouffe, and Olivia Hamilton producing. Michael Beugg, Tobey Maguire, Wyck Godfrey, Helen Estabrook,...

Shortly after Vanity Fair revealed a detailed look at Babylon, Damien Chazelle‘s spiritual successor to La La Land, a new collection of Babylon images will give you the urge to time travel back to Old Hollywood. If lavish costumes, swinging soirees, and sweaty dance floors are your business, you might want to hold onto your hat because Chazelle’s next epic will give your dance shoes several reasons to cut rugs.

According to the official synopsis for Babylon, the film is “an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, Babylon traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.”

Damien Chazelle directs and writes Babylon, with Marc Platt, Matthew Plouffe,...

Olivia Wilde’s 20 years in Hollywood have taught her what not to do.

The director behind “Booksmart” and the upcoming psychological thriller “Don’t Worry Darling” revealed to Maggie Gyllenhaal for Interview magazine (in a Q&a seemingly conducted prior to recent scandals dogging the film) that less-than-ideal past acting roles informed her directing style today.

“It helps me navigate any feelings about movies that I don’t think are great when I look back on them, and it helps me understand them within the context of my proxy film school experience,” Wilde told “The Lost Daughter” helmer Gyllenhaal. “I’ve made like 5,000 times more shitty movies than you have.”

Wilde continued, “I’ve been in some really bad ones, and now I think, ‘I did those to learn all the cautionary tales that would help me define myself as a director: how I will never speak to a crew, how...

Actress Olivia Wilde ("Tron: Legacy") poses for "Instyle" magazine, wearing Christian Dior and Max Mara, photographed by Pamela Hanson:

The actress, producer and director is best known for her role as 'Remy Hadley' on TV series "House" (2007–2012) and appearing in the features "Conversations with Other Women" (2005), "Alpha Dog" (2007), "Tron: Legacy" (2010), "Cowboys & Aliens" (2011), "Butter" (2011), "Drinking Buddies" (2013), "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" (2013), "Rush" (2013), "The Lazarus Effect" (2015), "Love the Coopers" (2015) and "Meadowland" (2015).

In 2019, Wilde" directed the comedy feature "Booksmart". Her latest feature is titled "Don't Worry Darling (2022).

Click the images to enlarge…...

By Marc Butterfield

“A long time ago, it is said, a monster came here.”

An all-new action-thriller from 20th Century Studios directed by Dan Trachtenberg, Prey is the latest entry in the Predator franchise. Set in the Comanche Nation 300 years ago, Prey is the story of a young woman, Naru, a fierce and highly skilled warrior, so when danger threatens her camp, she sets out to prove herself a worthy hunter. The prey she stalks, and ultimately confronts, turns out to be a highly evolved alien Predator with a technically advanced arsenal, resulting in a vicious and terrifying showdown between the two adversaries.

The story opens September, 1719, the Northern Great Plains.

They waste No time starting a story that is both beautiful, and terrifying. It introduces the characters artfully, never feeling rushed or incomplete, and sets up the social dynamics of the tribe well enough that you get to know...

The “Dune” prequel series at HBO Max has brought Johan Renck onboard to direct the first two episodes.

Renck will also serve as an executive producer on the show, currently titled “Dune: The Sisterhood.” It was ordered straight-to-series at HBO Max in June 2019. Previously, “Dune” director and co-writer Denis Villeneuve was attached to direct the pilot for “Dune: The Sisterhood,” but his work on the “Dune” sequel film will prevent him from doing so.

The show is set 10,000 years prior to the events of “Dune” and follows the Harkonnen Sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect known as the Bene Gesserit.

Renck won two Emmys for his work on the critically-acclaimed HBO limited series “Chernobyl” — one as an executive producer when the show won best limited series and another for best directing for a limited series, as he directed all five episodes.

By order of the Peaky Blinders, Universal Music is issuing a blood-red vinyl edition of the official soundtrack to the popular series, which just tied its own record for viewers in the Season 6 debut.

The highly-anticipated Season 6 premiere of the period gangster epic was watched by 3.8 million viewers in the UK on Sunday, according to overnight figures. That ties the record set by the Season 5 finale.

The show is expected to return for US viewing via Netflix some time later this year. The soundtrack is available as of May 27, but can be pre-ordered.

Peaky Blinders began airing on BBC Two in 2013 and went on to win the BAFTA for Best Drama in its fourth season. It then moved to BBC One in 2019 and has continued to grow. Executive producers are Caryn Mandabach, Steven Knight, Jamie Glazebrook, David Mason, Anthony Byrne and Cillian Murphy.

The soundtrack features the haunting rendition of...

Actress Olivia Wilde ("Tron: Legacy") poses for "Instyle" magazine, wearing Christian Dior and Max Mara, photographed by Pamela Hanson:

The actress, producer and director is best known for her role as 'Remy Hadley' on TV series "House" (2007–2012) and appearing in the features "Conversations with Other Women" (2005), "Alpha Dog" (2007), "Tron: Legacy" (2010), "Cowboys & Aliens" (2011), "Butter" (2011), "Drinking Buddies" (2013), "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" (2013), "Rush" (2013), "The Lazarus Effect" (2015), "Love the Coopers" (2015) and "Meadowland" (2015).

In 2019, Wilde" directed the comedy feature "Booksmart".

Click the images to enlarge…...

Warning: this A Discovery of Witches review contains spoilers.

What does one wear to a de Clermont creature Christening? The etiquette’s patchy, seeing as Diana and Matthew’s babies are a miraculous anomaly and the family hasn’t hosted a ‘do’ in five hundred years. Something floral, probably. That, or a suit of armour.

Rebecca and Philip’s official entry into the Christian Church was approached more like a military campaign than an excuse to get together and wet the babies’ heads. Invitations were sent out strategically, each one a bomb dropped on centuries-old tradition and on the authority of the Congregation. The run-up resembled nothing so much as the night before a battle, just with Ysabeau inspecting the floral arrangements and embroidered gowns instead of the troops. Jaws were set, grave pronouncements were made, canapes were prepared…

It all ended, as these things often do, with a family punch-up.

Actress Olivia Wilde ("Tron: Legacy") poses for the January 2022 issue of "Vogue" magazine, photographed by Annie Leibovitz:

The actress, producer and director is best known for her role as 'Remy Hadley' on TV series "House" (2007–2012) and appearing in the features "Conversations with Other Women" (2005), "Alpha Dog" (2007)... ..."Tron: Legacy" (2010), "Cowboys & Aliens" (2011), "Butter" (2011), "Drinking Buddies" (2013), "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" (2013), "Rush" (2013), "The Lazarus Effect" (2015), "Love the Coopers" (2015) and "Meadowland" (2015).

In 2019, Wilde" directed the comedy feature "Booksmart" and is currently developing a live-action take on Marvel’s “Spider-Woman”.

Click the images to enlarge...

Actress Olivia Wilde ("Tron: Legacy") poses for the January 2022 issue of "Vogue" magazine, photographed by Annie Leibovitz:

The actress, producer and director is best known for her role as 'Remy Hadley' on TV series "House" (2007–2012) and appearing in the features "Conversations with Other Women" (2005), "Alpha Dog" (2007)... ..."Tron: Legacy" (2010), "Cowboys & Aliens" (2011), "Butter" (2011), "Drinking Buddies" (2013), "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" (2013), "Rush" (2013), "The Lazarus Effect" (2015), "Love the Coopers" (2015) and "Meadowland" (2015).

In 2019, Wilde" directed the comedy feature "Booksmart".

Click the images to enlarge...

Actress Olivia Wilde ("Tron: Legacy") poses for the January 2022 issue of "Vogue" magazine, photographed by Annie Leibovitz:

The actress, producer and director is best known for her role as 'Remy Hadley' on TV series "House" (2007–2012) and appearing in the features "Conversations with Other Women" (2005), "Alpha Dog" (2007)... ..."Tron: Legacy" (2010), "Cowboys & Aliens" (2011), "Butter" (2011), "Drinking Buddies" (2013), "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" (2013), "Rush" (2013), "The Lazarus Effect" (2015), "Love the Coopers" (2015) and "Meadowland" (2015).

In 2019, Wilde" directed the comedy feature "Booksmart".

Click the images to enlarge...

“The Blue Rose,” a new noir thriller from writer- director George Baron, has rounded out its ensemble cast.

Joining the project currently shooting in Los Angeles is Ray Wise, Danielle Bisutti, Nikko Austen Smith, Logan Miller and newcomer and musician Glüme. They join the previously announced Olivia Scott Welch and Baron, who will also star.

Set in the 1950s, the movie follows a one-night journey of two rookie detectives as they set out to solve a homicide, only to find themselves in an alternate reality made up of their worst nightmares.

Sarena Khan and Andra Gordon are producing under their Athena Pictures banner with Jay Van Hoy of Parts & Labor and Tracie Dalton executive producing.

Wise is a screen and stage veteran best known for his role as Leland Palmer on “Twin Peaks,” and has also recently appeared as a series regular on ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat” and FX’s “Fargo.

Did anyone else find the takedown of Scarecrow rather anticlimactic?

Titans Season 3 Episode 13 was a decent season-ender, but there seemed to be untapped potential with the central villain.

There was a lot of simmering tension as we headed into the episode because of Scarecrow's actions, but the team defeated him much quicker than I thought they would.

Maybe we're supposed to believe they work better together, but still, there should have been more desperation in the Titans throughout this final battle for Gotham.

Dick remains one of the worst leaders in the history of TV. Seriously. Gar would have understood if Dick told him Jason was helping in the mission to take down Crane.

Could you imagine Gar tried to attack Jason, and one of them died in the mansion? That would have been yet another problem caused by Dick.

Moving forward, Dick needs to be more of a collaborative member of the Titans.

This article contains Titans spoilers.

Titans Season 3 Episode 5

Ah, Titans. Ever since they cast the perfectly angsty Curran Walters to play Jason Todd we all knew it was coming to this. Titans Season 3 began with Jason being brutally murdered by the Joker in a near direct recreation of his controversial–and fan chosen–death from 1988’s A Death in the Family. While it was quickly revealed that just like in the comics Jason had actually somehow survived and taken on the mantle of the Red Hood, we had been unsure of what led him to the fairground on that fateful night.

But Titans season 3 episode 5, “Lazarus” is, as the title hints, all about Jason’s rebirth and resurrection and the man who was to blame for it… no, not the Joker or the Scarecrow but Batman himself, Bruce Wayne.

If we look back to the classic four issue comic arc that inspired this,...

The residents of Gotham City should be afraid.

Titans Season 3 Episode 5 was the deep-dive we needed into the character of Jason Todd, and it was an hour bursting at the seams with exposition that flawlessly helped us understand Jason's machinations.

Jason was driven by fear and learning that Bruce planned to remove him as the Joker was the final straw. For the most part, he was following Bruce's orders, but Bruce clearly saw him as a liability.

Throughout the first three seasons of Titans, Jason has struggled to keep up the pace due to some near-death experiences that have forever changed him as a person.

It makes sense that he thought losing fear would work wonders for him because let's face it, his ego took a huge beating when he was overpowered in front of Molly.

To an extent, Jason has felt invincible because of the power that comes with being associated with Bruce Wayne,...

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Netflix’s popular “Sweet Tooth” series revealed the kinds of worlds available to those willing to look beyond superheroes and see what else comic books have to offer. There’s more to be found than good-guy-versus-bad-guy slugfests, even inside the seemingly narrow field of post-apocalyptic settings and stories. Take a look at the list below and discover all-new ways that the world could end, on the big scale as well as the small, without even one superhero showing up to save the day.

‘Something Is Killing the Children Vol. 1’

The title of James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera’s hit series paints an evocative picture, but it’s only part of what’s...

Anyone who has studied theater and dance will know the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and its founder. Not only did Ailey form a dance movement, but his company also became a pioneering force for Black artists as they traveled the world, introducing political themes and helping integrate the world of dance.

Street dancer-turned-choreographer Rennie Harris had heard the name but didn’t become interested in the Ailey movement until late in the 2000s. “I was a hardcore dancer. At that point, I wasn’t feeling modern dance,” Harris explains.

Now the two are linked through the doc “Ailey,” which will be released nationwide Aug. 6. The film highlights the legendary choreographer’s life and visionary work, with Harris interpreting his dances.

It was when Harris finally saw the trailblazing “Revelations,” the 1960s work that put Ailey on the map, that he became inspired. Later, he was hired by the Alvin Ailey...

Fox Corp. streaming service Tubi has made a deal with Cohen Media Group to put 80 of its film titles on the free, ad-supported platform.

Tubi will have exclusive free streaming rights to classics like Howards End and Daughters Of The Dust. More recent films that are heading to the platform include Agnès Varda and Jr’s documentary collaboration, Faces Places and Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang.

Cohen titles already on Tubi include Maurice with Hugh Grant; Farewell My Queen, starring Diane Kruger and Léa Seydoux; and François Ozon’s Double Lover and The New Girlfriend. The full slate will roll out throughout the month of June.

Fox closed its $440 million acquisition of Tubi last year and has steadily increased its programming offering. It now has 30,000 film and TV titles from more than 250 suppliers.

Tubi reported having 33 million monthly active users as of last fall. It has also said that streaming...

Tagline: "Raised from the Darkness to Defend the Light." Lazarus is a supernatural thriller. From director R.L. Scott, this feature is out today, on most Digital platforms. The story is loosely based on a character from the Bible, who rose from the dead, after an encounter with Jesus. This version focuses on man who was killed and has risen with "extraordinary powers." Now, he is fighting against an evil organization, which has pushed his city into the darkness. Sean Riggs (S.W.A.T.) centrally stars in this feature, along with: Costas Mandylor (Saw IV), Aeriel Miranda (Straight Outta Compton), Linc Hand and R & B singer Mya. The film's official poster and trailer are available here. The clip shows Lazarus suiting up for war. Members of the underworld attack him as Lazarus struggles to uncover the reason for his murder. Lazarus is being released by Samuel Goldwyn Films, across the USA and Canada,...

James C. Nicola, whose tenure as artistic director of Off Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop included the development of such prominent stage works as Rent, Once, Hadestown, What the Constitution Means to Me, Slave Play and David Bowie’s Lazarus, will leave the post next year, the company announced today.

“In July of 2022, I will reach the age of 72,” Nicola said in a statement. “In my mind, that has always been the moment to interrupt whatever patterns there might be in my life, and to leap off a cliff into reinvention. So that is my plan.”

Nicola will depart Nytw on June 30, 2022. He has been the artistic director since 1988.

Under his stewardship, Nytw has cemented a reputation as an important force in the production and development of new theater work, many of which have gone on to Broadway runs. A partial list of important works developed at the Nytw includes Jonathan Larson’s Rent,...

Emmy-winning television producer Lena Waithe is taking a big step into the music sphere, partnering with Def Jam Recordings to start up a new label, Hillman Grad Records, with the goal of what Def Jam describes as “leveraging opportunities across music, TV and film… to capitalize on the cultural significance generated when these worlds meaningfully intersect.”

Although no artists signings were announced as part of the public launch Wednesday, some key executives are already in place for Hillman Grad. Albert Cooke, the imprint’s general manager, was formerly in the artist relations department at Soundcloud — and before that, at Def Jam. Tebs Maqubela joins the new label as head of A&r, moving over from an A&r post at Columbia Records. These two execs will report to the two chiefs of the label’s parent company, Hillman Grad Productions: Waithe, who is CEO, and Rishi Rajani, president of film and TV.

Accessories brand Happy Socks is paying tribute to Ziggy Stardust with the launch of its latest line of musician-inspired socks. The Happy Socks x Bowie collection features eight pairs of socks that take design cues from David Bowie’s most iconic outfits and memorable characters.

The collection features single socks and limited-edition gift boxes, available in adult and kids sizing. The selection for adults includes six pairs of combed cotton socks (sold individually) as well as a three-pack and six-pack, presented in a collectible box. The kids’ socks come in...

BET Plus has ordered the original series “Birth of Cool” in its first-ever partnership with “Gentefied” producers Macro Television Studios and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and actor Lena Waithe’s production house Hillman Grad Productions.

The 10-episode half-hour dramedy marks Waithe’s third original production with the brand— her other two series with BET are “Twenties” and “Boomerang.”

“Birth of Cool” follows the adventures and misadventures of both students and teachers at Crispus Attucks High, a predominantly black high school in Compton, as they try to make it through the weird, hilarious, stressful, often sobering, and sometimes surreal academic year while hopefully growing a bit in the process on and off-campus.

The show was created by writer-director Juel Taylor and writer Tony Rettenmaier, who both previously worked on the upcoming sci-fi comedy “They Cloned Tyrone” starring John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris. Taylor and Rettenmaier are also attached to executive produce,...

“Francesco,” a comprehensive documentary about Pope Francis with unprecedented access to the The Vatican, will air on Discovery on March 28, to mark the start of Holy Week. The film was directed by Israeli-American filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky, who received Oscar and Emmy nominations for 2015’s “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom.” “Francesco” premiered at the Rome Film Festival, where Discovery+ acquired it as part of the channel’s ambitious new documentary film slate.

“”From the beginning, I got a green light from The Vatican, I never had any restrictions. I had full freedom,” Afineevsky said during Discovery’s session of the TCA’s ongoing winter press tour.

Though he had no restrictions, the film does not address any right-to-life issues, including abortion access or physician-assisted death.

“It was more important to not focus on the Catholic Church, but to focus on the global issues that are related to humanity, that...

Lazarus, an action thriller set up at Samuel Goldwyn Films, will have an exclusive run on Fox Corp. streaming service Tubi starting February 26.

The free, ad-supported outlet will be the first venue for the film in the U.S. and Canada.

R.L. Scott, whose previous films include Call Me King, wrote and directed Lazarus, which centers around a man who unlocks superpowers to battle evil forces after being killed. Sean Riggs, whose credits include series like S.W.A.T. and You, plays the lead. The cast also includes Costas Mandylor, Aeriel Miranda, Shane Brolly, Nicki Micheaux, Noel Gugliemi, Linc Hand, Adamo Palladino and R&b singer Mya.

The film was produced by Scott and Justin “Jtrx” Echols. Sean Riggs, Eddie Riggs and Edward Davie are executive producers.

Tubi had more than 30,000 film and TV titles from 250 suppliers. It and has been showcasing newer programming since being acquired by Fox in 2020, becoming a...

The name Alvin Ailey is synonymous with modern dance everywhere. The legendary dancer, director, and choreographer predominated contemporary dance through the latter half of the 20th century under the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, democratizing the art form with his racially diverse company and emotionally driven movements that spoke directly to the Black American experience. An eponymous documentary tribute to Ailey’s momentous life’s work offers a moving archive of his most momentous achievements, including his masterpiece “Revelations,” but struggles — as many of his friends and collaborators did — to fully understand the man behind the myth. Like all geniuses, an exceedingly rare class of true artists, Alvin Ailey surrendered most of himself to the gods of creativity.

Using audio interviews with Ailey from the end of his life as a guiding narration, director Jamila Wignot weaves a pastiche of archival footage from the Deep South, New York City in the ’70s,...

After a tumultuous year of layoffs and massive internal change, NBCUniversal’s chairman of television and streaming Mark Lazarus believes the company’s “more unified approach” is going to pay off both in the short and longer term.

Speaking during a keynote conversation at the virtual NATPE Miami conference, Lazarus acknowledged that the re-organization to centralize NBCU’s content efforts under one roof was an “aggressive move” for the company, but one which was needed to become a runner in the streaming arms race.

“It positions us for the future and my goal is to make sure this company is resilient for the next two decades, not live off what is an awesome history,” Lazarus said. “It was an aggressive move for our company and for the industry, and we’re balancing that aggression with the core business and our need for growth.”

Lazarus pointed to the multi-platform series order...

Cristin Milioti has released a cover of Bon Iver’s “715 Creeks,” from the band’s 2016 album 22, a Million.

The song marks the How I Met Your Mother and Palm Springs actor’s first solo single, although this is far from her first foray into music: She performed in David Bowie’s Off-Broadway stage show Lazarus and received a Grammy win and a Tony Award nomination for her role in the stage adaptation of Once.

Milioti tells Rolling Stone that she recorded “715 Creeks” around two years ago, while she was shooting the film Palm Springs,...

Few artists of any stripe have ever exited this world with the panache of David Bowie, who left us with some of his most fascinating work just before his death on January 10th, 2016. The biggest surprise was his masterpiece of a final album, Blackstar, released just two days before his passing; but there was also Lazarus, the remarkable off-Broadway play that opened a month earlier. The show picks up the story of Thomas Newton, the alien Bowie played in The Man Who Fell to Earth, 30 years later, while mixing old...

The London production of David Bowie’s musical Lazarus will be livestreamed for the first time next month to mark both the late Bowie’s 74th birthday as well as the fifth anniversary of his death.

Recorded live on the King’s Cross Theatre stage in late 2016, the production starred actor Michael C. Hall as Thomas Newton, the same role Bowie played in the 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth, which in turn inspired the Lazarus musical. Sophia Anne Caruso from the musical Beetlejuice and actress Amy Lennox also...

The filmed London production of the David Bowie musical Lazarus starring Michael C. Hall will stream for three performances this weekend to mark both the late singer’s Jan. 8 birthday and the fifth anniversary of his Jan. 10 death.

Producers Robert Fox and Rzo Entertainment announced the exclusive release of the streamed performances today. The production was captured live on stage during the musical’s sold-out 2016 run at King’s Cross Theatre. Lazarus premiered in 2015 at The New York Theatre Workshop, one of Bowie’s final completed projects.

Inspired by the novel The Man Who Fell To Earth by Walter Tevis (The Queen’s Gambit) and serving as a sequel to the both the book and the 1976 film starring Bowie, Lazarus utilizes classic songs from the Bowie catalog as well as several numbers written for the stage show such as the title song. Directed by...

With Matt Reeves’ The Batman inching towards a release, and plans for new Dark Knight-themed titles at various stages of development, it seems that Warner Bros. and DC Films are keen to compete with Disney and Marvel in terms of output. In fact, one potential future project in the works is a live-action movie with Red Hood/Jason Todd, specifically a new version of the story told in the animated Batman: Under the Red Hood.

According to Geekosity, there’s interest in bringing the tale to the big screen, but how this might work with the planned Robert Pattinson continuity isn’t known at this early stage. What could happen, though, is that Under the Red Hood falls within Zack Snyder or Ben Affleck’s remit for HBO Max, raising the possibility of it joining the many other DC productions that would exist outside of, or adjacent to the main cinematic series.

Always be wary of claims of “first” or “only.” Such is the case with brand-new streaming platform Documentary Plus+, which announced this summer that it would be “the first of its kind to focus exclusively on documentary films.” The venture comes from Xtr, the well-financed Los Angeles-based nonfiction film and television studio that Oscar-nominated documentary short producer Bryn Mooser (“Lifeboat”) launched last year.

Xtr, which took five co-financed films to Sundance 2020 — including well-received docs “Feels Good Man,” “Mucho Mucho Amor,” and “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” — plans to roll out Documentary Plus+ this fall; a representative said they’re hoping for the end of September.

Billed as a “highly curated documentary streaming service,” Documentary Plus+ aims to “provide audiences with the best in documentary film and further serve as a permanent home for the work of nonfiction filmmakers along with added distribution and amplification of their projects across all social channels.

Netflix scored another hit movie this past weekend with the premiere of Charlize Theron’s superhero epic, The Old Guard. Though the streaming service doesn’t typically release viewership numbers, the critically-acclaimed film dominated social media conversation over the weekend, and was heavily promoted by Netflix on the platform.

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Theron, Kiki Layne and Chiwetel Ejiofor, The Old Guard tells the story of a group of crusaders who have outlived their families and foes for centuries, due to the gift — or curse — of immortality. The...

The Old Guard releases on Netflix this Friday, July 10.

Led by a warrior named Andy (Charlize Theron), a covert group of tight-knit mercenaries with a mysterious inability to die have fought to protect the mortal world for centuries. But when the team is recruited to take on an emergency mission and their extraordinary abilities are suddenly exposed, it’s up to Andy and Nile (Kiki Layne), the newest soldier to join their ranks, to help the group eliminate the threat of those who seek to replicate and monetize their power by any means necessary.

The Old Guard – Charlize Theron (“Andy”); Kiki Layne (“Nile”) Photo Credit: Aimee Spinks/Netflix ©2020

Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Greg Rucka and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, The Old Guard is a gritty, grounded, action-packed story that shows living forever is harder than it looks.

The Old Guard flips the conceit of immortality as being...

GLAAD Award-winning comic book writer Greg Rucka has a new Netflix movie on the way in July. The Wonder Woman scribe has adapted his own series, The Old Guard, for Skydance and the streaming service, and Gina Prince-Blythewood (Marvel‘s Cloak & Dagger) has directed the project.

Teased by the tagline “forever is harder than it looks”, The Old Guard follows a group of soldiers who are led by Charlize Theron‘s Andy. The pack are immortal mercenaries who have seen a lot of shit over the centuries, and now they’re pretty bored with life in general. Things start to get interesting again when they discover that a new immortal is serving in the Us Marines, but when their undying existence is captured on camera by a murky organization, events start to spiral out of control.

Theron stars alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Marwan Kenzari, Kiki Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Luca Marinelli,...

Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sparred on Twitter Friday, and not for the first time, either.

It all started when Ocasio-Cortez tweeted about the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on marginalized communities and communities of color, writing, “Covid deaths are disproportionately spiking in Black + Brown communities. Why? Because the chronic toll of redlining, environmental racism, wealth gap, etc. Are underlying health conditions. Inequality is a comorbidity. Covid relief should be drafted with a lens of reparations.”

Ingraham retweeted the congresswoman’s call to action, adding, “The Doctor of Mixology will save us!” in a reference to Ocasio-Cortez’s former job as a bartender.

Also Read: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Calls Out Laura Ingraham After Grammar Tweet: 'You're a Neo-Nazi Fan Favorite'

“Didn’t you just put a doctor on your show who faked their employment at Lenox Hill hospital and touted a Covid ‘treatment’ that you tweeted...