Marta Balaga Ahead of its 41st edition, International Film Festival Rotterdam’s industry event CineMart isn’t interested in uniformity. “The trend is diversity,” says head of IFFR Pro Alessia Acone.
10.01.2024 - 17:08 / variety.com
Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer Before she was cast in Marvel’s 2021 Disney+ series “Hawkeye,” Alaqua Cox had never considered becoming an actor. But then several friends sent her the same flyer looking for Indigenous deaf women in their 20s to try out for a new TV show.
“I said, ‘No, I don’t want to do that,’ and then two other friends sent it to me,” Cox says via an ASL interpreter. “Now a bunch of people have sent it to me, so I thought, ‘I’ll give it a shot.’” Cox went through a three-month audition process to play Maya Lopez, a tough-as-nails enforcer for crime lord Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), who comes to question her loyalties when she learns Fisk ordered the death of her father, William (Zahn McClarnon). Cox’s performance was so striking, Marvel built a gritty spinoff series around her, “Echo,” with a cast made up almost entirely of Indigenous actors, including Graham Greene (“Dances With Wolves”) and Tantoo Cardinal (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) as Maya’s grandparents, Skully and Chula; Devery Jacobs (“Reservation Dogs”) as her cousin, Bonnie; and Chaske Spencer (“The Twilight Saga”) as her uncle, Henry.
Navajo filmmaker Sydney Freeland (“Reservation Dogs”) directs the bulk of the series, along with Aboriginal Australian filmmaker Catriona McKenzie (“Shining Vale”). All five episodes premiere on Disney+ and Hulu on Jan. 9, making Cox the first Indigenous deaf person to lead a TV series.
Marta Balaga Ahead of its 41st edition, International Film Festival Rotterdam’s industry event CineMart isn’t interested in uniformity. “The trend is diversity,” says head of IFFR Pro Alessia Acone.
It's the series on everyone's lips at the moment - Traitors' second season has dominated our week nights once again. The hit BBC One show first aired in January 2023 and returned earlier this year for another instalment.
Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Oscars nominations might not have given everything the people wanted, but diversity in the acting categories had several high points to celebrate. Lily Gladstone made history as the first Native American nominated for best actress, for her towering role as Mollie Burkhart in the crime thriller “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Colman Domingo became the first Afro Latino nominated in best actor for his powerhouse performance in the civil rights drama “Rustin.” He’s joined by fellow Black nominee Jeffrey Wright for “American Fiction.” This is only the second time in Oscar history where more than one Black actor, who wasn’t either Will Smith or Denzel Washington, was nominated for the leading prize.
EXCLUSIVE: With Anyone But You having just crossed $100M at the global box office and Top Gun 3 chatter lighting up the internet, Hollywood man of the moment Glen Powell has found his next project in the shape of thriller Huntington from Emily The Criminal writer-director John Patton Ford.
Lisa Vanderpump is teasing one thing that will be talked about on the upcoming season of Vanderpump Rules.
Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Norwegian director Thea Hvistendahl’s zombie movie “Handling the Undead,” premiering at Sundance and to be released in the U.S. by Neon, sees the reunion of Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie, the stars of Oscar-nominated “The Worst Person in the World,” in a poetic, visually-charged chronicling of a hot summer’s day in Oslo when the dead mysteriously come back to life.
Jamie Dornan, star of BBC's The Tourist, has bravely opened up about the "worst year of his life", revealing the heartache he experienced when he lost his dad.The Fifty Shades of Grey actor, 41, spoke about the tragic time his father passed away from Covid and how he couldn't be there for him in his final moments, describing his emotions at the time as "pretty severe grief and shock". During his recent appearance on the Late Late Show with host Patrick Kielty, Jamie revealed: "It was an extremely difficult time in my life, which is a mad thing to say because we shot The Tourist that year and Belfast came out that year.
Studio Ghibli‘s animated adventure movie The Boy and the Heron is continuing to blaze a trail for anime, in Europe, Asia and North America.
Alaqua Cox is dishing on her potential future in the MCU!
Any hopes of Tom Schwartz repairing his friendship with Ariana Madix one day may have gone out the window after this new confession!
Annika Pham Paris-based The Party Film Sales has boarded renowned Icelandic auteur Rúnar Rúnarsson’s fourth pic, “When the Light Breaks,” which is selected for Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market’s works in progress session.Rúnarsson serves as producer together with Heather Millard of Iceland’s Compass Films, in co-production with local banner Halibut, Holland’s Revolver, France’s Eaux Vives/Jour2Fête and Croatia’s MP Film. Lauded for his coming-of age tales set against Iceland’s majestic scenery, Rúnarsson saw his international breakthrough in 2008 with his Oscar-nominated short “Two Birds.” Since then, he has delivered equally poetic fare in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight 2011 entry “Volcano,” San Sebastian 2015 winner “Sparrows “ and 2019 Valladolid and Lübeck fest winner “Echo.” As in his earlier works, Rúnarsson was inspired by a personal event for “When the Light Breaks”.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are still hanging around after a tough loss of their starting point guard and forward Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. Donovan Mitchell, the other member of the Cavalier’s frontcourt, has held down the fort while his friend and teammate heals up. When DG the PG be making his return to action? Hollywood News Daily looks to uncover that information.
Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Joyce Randolph, who played Trixie Norton on the classic sitcom “The Honeymooners,” and was the last surviving member of the cast, died Saturday in New York City. She was 99. Randolph was in hospice care at the time of her death and died of natural causes, her son, Randy, told TMZ.
Karen Idelson Though there are still those who view animation primarily as a kids or family form of entertainment, over the last year many of the most challenging, risky stories have been told by the modern masters of animation. Films like “Suzume,” “The Peasants” and “The Boy and the Heron” have all been lauded for taking on compelling stories that often attract more adult audiences or even becoming crossover hits that draw diverse viewers. Makoto Shinkai’s “Suzume” earned well over $300 million in international box office.
Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The CW is spicing up its look. Timed to Sunday’s airing of the Critics Choice Awards, the Nexstar-run netlet is unveiling an “evolution” in its logo and brand identity. That includes a new red-orange color palette that the network calls “CW hot sauce.” “The CW is in the middle of a brand transformation, and a new network deserves a new look and feel,” The CW chief marketing officer Chris Spadaccini said.
Morrissey has claimed that he has been “deleted” from the “essence” and history of The Smiths in a new post.Taking to his official website Morrissey Central yesterday (January 11), the singer-songwriter defended his role in his former band amid numerous reports that – according to him – have downplayed his contributions.“There is also an obvious media shift to delete me from being the central essence of The Smiths,” he began, “but this cannot work because I invented the group name, the song-titles, the album titles, the artwork, the vocal melodies, and all of the lyrical sentiments came from my heart.“And so it’s a bit like saying Mick Jagger had nothing to do with the Stones.”Morrissey continued: “Several news sites now claim that the initial meeting at Rough Trade Records was with ‘Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke,’ even though Andy wasn’t even a committed band member at that point. The meeting, of course, was Morrissey and Marr.“Even Geoff Travis [Rough Trade founder] has now suddenly decided that he ‘can’t remember who was with Johnny,’ even though Geoff looked me squarely in the eye on that very day and said ‘we’d like to release [The Smiths’ 1983 debut single] ‘Hand In Glove’ immediately,’ and he then more importantly said to me that his name was Geoff with a G, not Jeff with a J.
Alex Ritman The BAFTA film awards longlists, announced on Jan 5. ahead of the final nominations on Jan.
The Golden Globes shook up the supporting actress race by awarding Da’Vine Joy Randolph the prize for her scene-stealing work in The Holdovers. Randolph has quickly become the actress to watch after her vulnerable and hilarious performance as Helen in the 1970s-set drama.
Salmon farming giant Mowi has been accused of giving workers in its Norwegian homeland massively better terms and conditions than in Scotland.
The minds behind Aquarius Creative, Scotland's largest influencer agency, have opened up on the idea behind their business and the nitty-gritty that goes on away from social media.