Erykah Badu shows up in an eye catching look for the Thom Browne Womenswear Spring/Summer 2023 show during Paris Fashion Week on Monday (October 3) in Paris, France.
15.09.2022 - 07:43 / variety.com
Jennie Punter Stoked by raves and strong receptions to their world-premiering Toronto festival films, “Brother” producers Damon D’Oliveira and Clement Virgo, “Black Ice” producer Vinay Virmani, and “Alice, Darling” producer Noah Segal are warming up a new basketball-themed crime series, “The Count,” for this fall’s marketplace, Variety has learned. A modern spin on French author Alexandre Dumas’ classic 19th-century novel of wrongful imprisonment “The Count of Monte Cristo,” the TV drama will bounce between Toronto’s basketball milieu and Haiti’s cultural mélange as it follows the transformation of a Haitian basketball player facing a life sentence for murder into to justice-seeking saboteur.
D’Oliveira and Virgo under their Conquering Lion Pictures company, The Good Karma Company’s chief content officer Virmani, and Elevation Pictures co-president Segal have signed on as executive producers on the series. Virgo, who wrote and directed the Lamar Johnson-starring “Brother,” and Hubert Davis, director of the revelatory hockey documentary “Black Ice,” are set to direct “The Count, which starts pre-production in 2023. Virgo’s “Brother” is his adaptation of David Chariandy’s award-winning novel, which explores manhood, ambition, family love and loss in a Scarborough housing complex. Virgo’s extensive TV credits include the series adaptation of Lawrence Hill’s novel “The Book of Negroes” (CBC, BET) and episodes of “Billions” and “Empire.” He and D’Oliveira are developing an adaptation of Esi Edugyan’s jazz-themed novel “Half-Blood Blues” with CBC through their company. “I’m thrilled to be working on the adaptation of this literary masterpiece,” said Virgo, who signed with WME earlier this month. “Adapting ‘The Count’ to a
Erykah Badu shows up in an eye catching look for the Thom Browne Womenswear Spring/Summer 2023 show during Paris Fashion Week on Monday (October 3) in Paris, France.
Black Adam,” the first superhero film for lead star Dwayne Johnson. Rival distributors and analysts tell TheWrap that the first round of box office tracking has the blockbuster earning an opening weekend of over $70 million, which would be the highest opening weekend the industry has seen since Disney/Marvel’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” three months ago.Johnson has been seen for years as one of the few remaining movie stars that could drive box office numbers on his own, but “Black Adam” is new territory for him, placing him in the lead role of a film that’s part of one of Hollywood’s biggest franchises.
Kanye West is speaking out about all the attention he has received after wearing a White Lives Matter shirt at his Yeezy season nine fashion show on Monday (October 3) in Paris, France.
Anna Marie de la Fuente In a clear vote of confidence for Colombian director Juan Sebastián Mesa, Bordeaux-based Dublin Films has boarded his third film “Lovers Go Home!” The company also co-produced Mesa’s lauded sophomore pic, “The Rust.” “Lovers Go Home!” centers on a Colombian single mom who leads a double life as a webcammer. One day she meets a U.S. veteran online who becomes obsessed with her. He flies to Colombia to meet her in person. Their meeting makes them reflect on who they truly are. In development, the project participated in this year’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, one of San Sebastian Film Festival’s key industry events, which ran over Sept. 19-21.
With winter hot on our heels, high street coffee giant Starbucks is gearing itself up for the busiest time of the year. Pumpkin spice lattes are back, and soon the Christmas menu will be too, so you can get your hands on the likes of toffee nut lattes and velvety hot chocolate.
The Black Academy is honouring the best in Black Canadian talent.
Netflix has provided a first glimpse at the upcoming third season of Darren Star’s comedy series Emily In Paris.
Salma Hayek's daughter is growing up! The 56-year-old actress celebrated Valentina Pinault's 15th birthday on Wednesday with a pair of sweet throwback photos — one of which was snapped by none other than Blake Lively. «Happy 15 years to my beloved,» Hayek wrote, in Spanish, on Instagram. «Valentina, you are my everything, thank you for lighting up our lives with the strength of your wonderful spirit.
Marta Balaga “The Woodcutter Story,” a Finnish drama with a surreal touch, has been sold to Australia (Palace Films), Baltics (Estinfilm), Sweden (Njuta), Germany (Eksystent) and France (Urban), Paris-based Totem Films shared exclusively with Variety. Directed by Mikko Myllylahti, it sees a good man who runs into bad luck: he loses his job and his wife leaves, but Pepe (Jarkko Lahti) is trying to keep his head high. Even when strange things start to happen in his sleepy village. The film, which premiered in Cannes’ Critics Week, screens Wednesday at the Helsinki Film Festival – Love & Anarchy. It will have its North American premiere at Chicago Film Festival and its U.K. premiere at the London Film Festival.
EXCLUSIVE: Vince Marcello (The Kissing Booth trilogy) is set to showrun and executive produce Diva, a new drama series inspired by the exploits of real-life French heroine Julie d’Aubigny, from iGeneration Studios. Marcello co-created the series with Max Benitz — who will serve as its head writer — and will also direct a portion of its episodes.
Toronto International Film Festival to discuss their new film “Chevalier,” a period drama about a Black 18th century classical composer who faced constant racism even as his music won the favor of Marie Antoinette. Played by “Luce” star Kelvin Harrison Jr. in the film, Chevalier de Saint-Georges — born Joseph Bologne in Guadeloupe in 1745 — was the child of a white French plantation owner and an African slave.
Blake Lively has revealed that she is pregnant with her and Ryan Reynolds’ fourth child. The Gossip Girl star, 35, shared the news that she and her husband are expanding their family once again while attending the Forbes Power Women’s Summit on Thursday, where she debuted her pregnant stomach.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Florian Zeller, the French filmmaker behind the Oscar-winning “The Father” and “The Son,” is set to make his TV debut with the adaptation of Stefano Massini’s play “The Lehman Trilogy.” Zeller will write, direct and co-produce the series under his newly formed Blue Morning. Lorenzo Mieli at The Apartment Pictures, a Fremantle company, and Domenico Procacci at Fandango are executive producing the series. The pair previously teamed on the acclaimed series “My Brilliant Friend” based on the Elena Ferrante novels. Massini’s epic drama charts the history of one of the global financial institutions that helped spark the 2008 recession. The original production inspired Sam Mendes to stage an English-language version of Massini’s five-hour play. Adapted by Ben Power, the production won five Tony Awards earlier this year, including prizes for Sam Mendes’ direction and for the lead performance of Simon Russell Beale.
festival debut of his new film “The Son,” Florian Zeller has signed on to write, direct and co-produce a television adaptation of the Tony-winning play “The Lehman Trilogy.”The series will mark the first project under the Oscar-winner’s newly formed Blue Morning Pictures banner alongside Mediawan and Federica Sainte-Rose. Lorenzo Mieli will produce for The Apartment Pictures, a Fremantle company, while Domenico Procacci will produce for Fandango.
Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Ina Garten is bringing four new companions over to chat and eat on “Be My Guest With Ina Garten” Season 2, including Faith Hill, Nathan Lane, Emily Blunt and chef Marcus Samuelsson, Variety has learned exclusively. The second season of the Barefoot Contessa’s Food Network and Discovery+ series will debut Oct. 9 at 12 p.m. ET. Per the “Be My Guest” second season description, “In the season premiere, Ina greets Faith Hill with frozen palomas and fresh guacamole and they become fast friends while talking about family, love and music. Faith’s daughter Gracie joins the party to help bake her family’s cola cake recipe and they then take a drive to Topping Rose House to celebrate their new friendship. In the following episode, Ina serves Nathan Lane a taste of nostalgia with her Rum Raisin Rice Pudding recipe, and they discuss his childhood, personal life and show business career from the early years to his prolific roles on stage and screen. She also gives cooking-novice Nathan a lesson in making Mussels with Saffron Cream.
Emma Corrin just gets it. The actor delivered drama at the Toronto International Film Festival, stepping out in nothing but a high-cut bodysuit.
Christopher Vourlias Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales has closed a raft of deals on the animated feature film “Yuku and the Himalayan Flower,” from directors Rémi Durin and Arnaud Demuynck. The children’s animated feature, with graphics by Paul Jadoul, tells the story of Yuku, a little mouse who lives with her family in the basement of a castle and decides to embark on a quest to find the legendary Himalayan flower. The film, which premiered at the Annecy fest and played in the Locarno Kids strand of the Locarno Film Festival, is produced by Artémis Prods. (“Mandibules”) and co-produced by Vivement Lundi! (“Flee”), La Boîte Prods. (“March of the Penguins”), Les Films du Nord and Nadasdy Film.