‘Black Spartans’ Film Thrown Cease-And-Desist Letter From Famed Players & Families; Defamation Lawsuit Threatened

Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman have had a Pulp Fiction reunion backstage on Broadway.The actors, who played Jules Winnfield and Mia Wallace respectively in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film alongside John Travolta, met up last Saturday (October 1) at the Broadway revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.The play is currently being performed in previews at the Barrymore Theatre in New York.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in a new film about the former couple’s recent defamation trial have responded to a backlash from domestic abuse survivors.Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial, which stars Mark Hapka and Megan Davis, premiered on Tubi last week, and recreates the headline-making trial over the summer that saw Depp sue Heard for defamation regarding a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post.In it, Heard wrote about being a survivor of domestic violence, and while the piece did not explicitly name Depp by name, his lawyers argued that it falsely implied that she was sexually and physically abused by him during their marriage.The outcome saw Depp awarded $10million (£8million) in compensatory damages and $5million in punitive damages, while Heard was awarded $2million (£1.5million) following the jury finding that Depp had defamed her through his attorney.Alongside courtroom scenes, the new Hot Take film includes imagined scenes of what may have happened behind closed doors during the couple’s relationship, including scenes of domestic violence.Responding to objections from domestic abuse survivors, Davis – who plays Heard – told Entertainment Weekly: “I think those people are very nervous about this film and very nervous that anything would make light of something as serious as domestic violence.“I think those people have been very vocally upset on social media because their experience is something that deserves to be respected.“To those people, what I’d want them to know is, I believe, based on all of my conversations with producers and directors and the studios involved in this project, that no one would come into this wanting anything other than to try and portray the truth as best as possible from two sides where we

Will Smith screened the film Emancipation with an audience for the first time at a private event on Saturday (October 1) in Washington D.C.

Clayton Davis We have Denzel Washington’s single teardrop. We have Viola Davis’ runny nose. And now, we have Danielle Deadwyler’s lip quiver, expertly executed in Chinonye Chukwu’s deeply moving drama “Till.” Another best actress contender emerges although I wish the film could rise to the level of Deadwyler’s performance.   The sturdy drama follows Mamie Till (Deadwyler), the mother of Emmett Till, whose abduction and lynching in 1955 sparked global outrage and served as an important catalyst in the civil rights movement. “Till” charts Mamie’s grief, as well as her pursuit of justice. But getting people to see a movie about such a horrific event will be a tough sell, even if the film avoids depicting much of the brutality of Emmett Till’s killing.  

The gifts from this birthday party 60 years ago just keep on coming.Marilyn Monroe’s sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday” during a gala celebrating President John F. Kennedy’s 45th birthday at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962, was followed by an exclusive afterparty at the East 69th Street townhouse of then-Democratic National Committee co-chairman Arthur Krim and his wife, Dr.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features Editor The Newport Beach Film Festival has announced it’s 2022 Festival Honors, which includes Oscar winners Ron Howard and Eddie Redmayne and actors from Jonathan Majors and Patton Oswalt to Keke Palmer and Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly.) The artists will be honored at a brunch in conjunction with Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch taking place on Oct. 16 at Balboa Bay Resort. Howard is receiving the Variety Legends and Groundbreakers Award for his creative leadership. After starting as an actor in such classics as “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Happy Days,” Howard became an Oscar-winning filmmaker whose movies as director include “A Beautiful Mind” and “Apollo 13.” Most recently he directed “Thirteen Lives,” the true story of the rescue of a soccer team and their coach from a cave in Thailand. “Thirteen Lives” is available on Amazon Prime.

EXCLUSIVE: Michigan State University wants nothing to do with Ben Cory Jones’ film about the school’s legendary Black Spartans football team.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large NBA veteran Rex Chapman is turning his podcast “Charges with Rex Chapman” into a TV show. Like the podcast, the new series will come from Portal A and Steve Nash’s CTRL Media. Chapman spent 12 years in the NBA, playing for the Charlotte Hornets, Washington Bullets, Miami Heat and Phoenix Sun. But he later struggled with opioid and gambling addictions that led to his arrest. Using his experience as a pro athlete with his own challenges, Chapman will host “Charges” as the podcast is adapted into a TV documentary series chronicling high-profile sports scandals – “with the world’s most beloved and notorious athletes reliving the momentous events that spawned their infamy,” according to the logline.

had coaches Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani ready to adopt a 15-year-old singer!Michigan native Brayden Lape took the stage — with his proud real-life family waiting in the wings — for an impressive performance of Niall Horan's «This Town» that had Camila Cabello urging Blake to turn his chair. «He's gonna win those young girls over, I'm telling you!» she insisted.While Blake was ultimately the only one to turn, all of the coaches were charmed by the high school athlete's voice and impressive height.«Oh my god, he's so cute!» Gwen Stefani gushed.

According to Variety, Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial will dramatise events around the legal action that played out over six weeks earlier this year and will follow the “tumultuous relationship” between the pair. Hot Take stars Mark Hapka as Depp and Megan Davis as Heard, and is directed by Sara Lohman, previously responsible for horror film Off the Grid.

bombshell defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard is now the subject of a new movie which is due for release in just a matter of weeks. The film - which is entitled Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial - will follow the tumultuous relationship between the Pirates of the Caribbean star and his ex-wife, both in and out of court. It is set to debut exclusively on the free Tubi streaming service on September 30.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline can reveal before Sunday’s world premiere of the David O. Russell-directed Amsterdam that the film’s final musical number “Time” was done with help from Drake and platinum recording artist Giveon.

Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial, a scripted original movie based on the controversial Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation case, is set to premiere on Tubi on September 30.

EJ Panaligan editor Disney, Amazon Studios, Fox Corp., Warner Bros. Discovery and other major Hollywood players are pledging support for the Roybal Film and Television Production Magnet, a major educational outreach initiative championed last year by George Clooney and others. Paramount and NBCUniversal/Telemundo Enterprises are also signing on to become founding partners of the Los Angeles Unified School District magnet facility. These companies join previously announced founding partners History Channel/A+E Networks, Netflix and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The group has committed to providing more than $4 million in funding for the school, which opened in August with 150 students at the Edward G. Roybal Learning Complex in downtown Los Angeles.

Amazon Studios, Disney, Fox Corporation, NBCUniversal/Telemundo Enterprises, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery have signed on as Founding Partners of the Roybal Film and Television Production Magnet Fund, which was established by George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Creative Artists Agency’s Bryan Lourd, to support The Roybal Film and Television Production Magnet, a specialized academy created to drive transformational change across the industry by building a more inclusive pipeline of historically underrepresented college- and career-ready students pursuing below-the-line careers in film and television.

The trailer for Netflix’s highly anticipated The School for Good and Evil has finally arrived!