Anthony Mackie Making Directorial Debut On ‘Spark;’ ‘King Richard’s Saniyya Sidney To Star As Unsung Civil Rights Pioneer Claudette Colvin

Will Smith has received his third Oscar nomination this morning, earning his place on the Best Actor list for his role in King Richard. Smith played Richard Williams, the father of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, in a story charting the early days of their careers, and his role in the movie has been a favorite with critics and guilds all season long. In addition to pending nominations from SAG, BAFTA, and Critics’ Choice, Smith has already claimed prizes from several critics groups. It is a long-overdue return to the Oscars spotlight for Smith, whose turn in Warner Bros.’ King Richard, written by Zach Baylin and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, has been recognized 15 years on from his last citation by the Motion Picture Academy.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPrimary Wave Music announced that it has acquired the music rights from the estates of Layne Staley and Mike Starr of the Grammy-nominated Seattle band Alice In Chains.The deal will see the publisher acquire a stake in the Layne Staley’s and Mike Starr’s music publishing catalog, as well as master royalty income stream; terms of the deal were not disclosed.The work of the band’s main songwriter, Jerry Cantrell, was not included, nor drummer Sean Kinney or later members Mike Inez and William DuVall. However, the deal does encompass shares in some of the band’s biggest hits, such as “Man in the Box,” “Rooster” and “No Excuses,” as well as their biggest hit, “Would?” The latter song, released in 1992, and not only appeared in the era-defining Cameron Crowe film “Singles” but was also included on the hit soundtrack.

Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui has called on on-loan Manchester United striker Anthony Martial to do more following his debut for the Spanish club against Osasuna on Saturday evening.

The first clip from Channing Tatum’s “Dog” is here.

Marvel star Anthony Mackie and The Matrix actress Priyanka Chopra are set to star in an explosive new action film, Ending Things. Written by Kevin Sullivan, the story sees Chopra star as a hit-woman who is attempting to leave her life as an assassin behind (via Deadline).

Gallery: Everyone knows the bad guys have all the fun! Did you know these stars have played supervillains? (BANG Showbiz)The '8 Mile' star has recruited 'King Richard' actress Saniyya Sidney to play Claudette Colvin, an unsung hero of the Civil Rights era. Colvin was just 15 when she bravely stood up to racism as she was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a crowded segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The incident occurred nine months before Rosa Parks became an icon of the Civil Rights movement for doing the same thing.

EXCLUSIVE: The hot spec package in front of buyers right now is Ending Things. The Kevin Sullivan spec has Anthony Mackie and Priyanka Chopra Jonas attached to star in a True Lies-esque action film. A hit-woman who wants out of the assassin business tells her “business” partner that she’s ending their personal relationship as well. But she comes to realize she doesn’t want to end that part of their bond. In order to survive the breakup – and their last job together – they must join forces for one last night out.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor“Belfast,” “CODA,” “King Richard,” “House of Gucci,” “West Side Story” and “The Power of the Dog” are among the films nominated for the 37th Annual Artios Awards, presented by the Casting Society of America.The awards honor casting directors’ contribution to film, television and theatre. Winners will be revealed on March 17 via a virtual ceremony.Among the animated features nominated are “Encanto,” “Luca,” “The Mitchells Vs.

Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”) and Regina King (“The Harder They Fall”) sat down for a virtual chat for Variety’s Actors on Actors, presented by Amazon Studios. For more, click here.Regina King and Aunjanue Ellis have shared the screen twice, in 2004’s “Ray” and 2018’s “If Beale Street Could Talk.” In both outings, the actors played adversaries — first as songstresses competing for Ray Charles’ affections and then as the mothers of the central lovers in “Beale Street” who don’t see eye to eye about their children’s relationship.“I feel like we’ve been robbed,” King says.

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit.

Rabbi Israel Dresner was a civil rights activist who protested segregation alongside his friend, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968).Dresner began his life of activism young, well before he became a rabbi, as World War II raged overseas.

The television writers earned their kudos earlier this month, but today it was time for the film scripters to land some union recognition. The Writer’s Guild of America capped off their 2022 WGA Awards nominations process honoring “Being the Ricardos,” “Don’t Look Up,” “The French Dispatch,” “King Richard” and “Licorice Pizza” for Original Screenplay.

Because the WGA created its award to be a prize for its members and those who write under its jurisdiction, a Writers Guild nomination is a less accurate predictor of Oscar success than noms from the other three major Hollywood guilds, the Screen Actors Guild, Producers Guild and Directors Guild.WGA rules restrict eligibility to screenplays that were written under the guild’s Minimum Basic Agreement or under a collective bargaining agreement from one of 11 affiliate guilds around the world. As usual, that rule disqualified a number of top screenplays this year, including “The Power of the Dog,” “Cyrano,” “Passing,” “The Lost Daughter,” “Drive My Car” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” in the adapted-screenplay category and “Belfast,” “A Hero,” “The Hand of God,” “Parallel Mothers” and “Prayers for the Stolen” in original screenplay.“Belfast,” “The Power of the Dog” and “The Lost Daughter” in particular are strong favorites for Oscar nominations.In the documentary category, only three screenplays were nominated: “Being Cousteau,” “Exposing Muybridge” and “Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres.”Winners will be announced at the WGA Awards on March 20, one week before the Oscars.The nominations: ORIGINAL SCREENPLAYBeing the Ricardos, Written by Aaron Sorkin;Amazon StudiosDon’t Look Up, Screenplay by Adam McKay, Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota; NetflixThe French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun, Screenplay by Wes Anderson, Story by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola & Hugo Guinness & Jason Schwartzman;Searchlight PicturesKing Richard, Written by Zach Baylin; Warner Bros.

“King Richard” is much more of a character story than a sports film, but still were you concerned that the tennis looked different than watching ESPN?We thought about that a lot and we struggled with it. So we watched every tennis movie, even though there haven’t been a lot of them. There’s “Battle of the Sexes,” which is about Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs; there’s “Wimbledon,” which is a love story; there’s “Borg vs.

“Belfast,” “Dune,” “King Richard,” “No Time to Die” and “The Power of the Dog” have been nominated as the best dramatic film editing of 2021 by the American Cinema Editors, which announced the nominees for the 72nd annual ACE Eddie Awards on Thursday.Those five films will compete in the Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) category, while the field in Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy) will consist of “Cruella,” “Don’t Look Up,” “The French Dispatch,” “Licorice Pizza” and “tick, tick…BOOM!”The most surprising omission was probably “West Side Story,” while ACE Eddie voters also bypassed “Nightmare Alley,” “CODA” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”Nominations for the editing of animated features went to the same five animated films that have also been nominated by the Cinema Audio Society, Motion Picture Sound Editors, Visual Effects Society and Art Directors Guild: “Encanto,” “Luca,” “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Sing 2.”In the television categories, “Kevin Can F**k Himself” received three nominations to sweep the Best Edited Multi-Camera Comedy Series category, while “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Ted Lasso,” “Succession,” “Mare of Easttown” and “The White Lotus” each received two.The nominations were announced on a day that will also see nomination announcements from the Producers Guild, Directors Guild and Writers Guild, capping a wild four-day blitz in which 10 different guilds or professional societies announced their nominations.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorThe American Cinema Editors (ACE) has nominated “Belfast,” “Dune,” “King Richard,” “No Time to Die” and “The Power of the Dog” in the category of feature film drama at the 72nd annual ACE Eddie Awards.In the best edited comedic feature category, “Cruella,” “Don’t Look Up,” “The French Dispatch,” “Licorice Pizza” and “Tick, Tick…Boom!” all received nominations.Among the animated features nominated were “Encanto,” “Luca,” “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Sing 2.” The TV nominees include “Succession” and “The White Lotus.”The Eddies are considered a precursor for the best picture and best editing categories at the Oscars.

The Producers Guild has pulled back the curtain on the nominations for its 33rd annual PGA Awards, which cover theatrical motion pictures, animated features, TV series and specials and televised/streamed motion pictures. See the full list below.

Clayton Davis The nominations for the Costume Designers Guild Awards will be released on Wednesday, recognizing the achievements of the artisans that created some of the most memorable outfits and clothing designs of the year. Following the 10-month eligibility window, the community of over 1,200 members separates the film categories into three groups — contemporary, period and sci-fi/fantasy.The distinctions between contemporary and period tend to get blurred, especially with modern subjects like Princess Diana in “Spencer” and Venus and Serena Williams in “King Richard” among the selections.

This story about Aunjanue Ellis first appeared in the Awards Preview issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.Late in 2020, Aunjanue Ellis shot her final scene in “King Richard,” the biopic that chronicles young Venus and Serena Williams’ rise to tennis superstardom. It was the last day of a production that, thanks to the pandemic lockdown of spring 2020, had stretched out for a year. And during that year, Ellis gave everything she had to honor the woman whose story she’d been entrusted with: the sisters’ quiet tiger of a mother, Oracene Price.