‘Empire Of Light’ Clip: Olivia Colman Shines In Sam Mendes’ Oscar Contender [Exclusive]

Editors note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films that will be factors in this year’s movie awards race.

Filmmaker Sam Mendes (“1917,” “Empire of Light”) is about to make his U.S. television directing debut with a new comedy series at HBO called “The Franchise.” It will see Mendes team up with comedy writer/director Armando Iannucci (“Avenue 5,” “In The Loop”), likely best known to American audiences for the political comedy series “Veep” and the hilarious Soviet-era satire “The Death of Stalin.

The Franchise, a comedy pilot for HBO that takes a wry look at superhero moviemaking, has found its cast.

If you happened to grow up in a particular section of Brooklyn in the ‘70s and played a game called Hot Peas and Butter with neighborhood kids, you might still have the welts to show for it.

In 2018, the Fox News host Laura Ingraham—irritated over political comments made by LeBron James—told the NBA star to just “shut up and dribble.”

Bomman and Belli, the human stars of The Elephant Whisperers, are not your typical parents. Then again, their “children” aren’t typical either—weighing in at roughly 300 lbs. by the time they turn three months old.

At the beginning of the Netflix documentary The Martha Mitchell Effect, Richard Nixon, deflated in his ex-presidential phase, sits for an interview with David Frost. A somber Nixon tells his natty interlocutor, “I’m convinced if it hadn’t been for Martha, there’d have been no Watergate.”

Scarlett Johansson is getting real about what fans don’t see behind the scenes of blockbuster films.

It goes without saying that some of the world’s foremost filmmakers were swept up in personal nostalgia during the stay-at-home period of the pandemic. Kenneth Branagh crafted Best Picture nominee “Belfast,” Steven Spielberg revisited his youth in “The Fablemans” and Alejandro Inarritu had something of an existential crisis with “Bardo.” It appears the world’s English-speaking critics have had enough after the recent response to Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light.” READ MORE: Olivia Colman is heartbreaking in Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light” [Telluride Review] Set in 1981, “Light” centers on Hillary (Olivia Colman), a lonely middle aged movie theater employee who is keeping her bipolar disorder secret from her colleagues.

Taylor Swift will make her feature directorial debut with Searchlight Pictures, the company announced today. The acclaimed singer, songwriter and director has written an original script, which will be produced by the studio.

Taking a step back! Olivia Culpo reveals on an upcoming episode of The Culpo Sisters why she chose to freeze her eggs — and how her fertility struggles are affecting her relationship with Christian McCaffrey.

EXCLUSIVE: Brian Cox (Succession), Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton), Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) and Emilio Villa-Muhammad (The Man Who Fell to Earth) are heading up the all-star cast of Audible Original title Oliver Twist, produced by Oscar winner Sam Mendes (1917). 

“Aftersun”“All Quiet on the Western Front” (international)“All That Breathes” (documentary)“All the Old Knives”“Amsterdam”“Argentina, 1985” (international)“Armageddon Time”“Athena”“The Automat” (documentary)“Bad Guys” (animated)“The Banshees of Inisherin”“The Batman”“Beba” (documentary)“Bitterbrush” (documentary)“Blonde”“Breaking”“Brian and Charles”“Bros”“Bruiser”“Call Jane”“Catherine Called Birdy”“Cha Cha Real Smooth”“Charlotte” (animated)“Close” (international)“The Corridors of Power” (documentary)“Corsage” (international)“DC League of Super Pets” (animated)“Descendant” (documentary)“Decision to Leave” (international)“Doctor Strange”“Dog”“Don’t Worry Darling”“Downton Abbey: A New Era”“Elvis”“Emergency”“Emily”“Emily the Criminal”“Everything Everywhere All at Once”“The Exiles” (documentary)“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”“Fire of Love” (documentary)“Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” (documentary)“Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down” (documentary)“Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”“Good Night Oppy” (documentary)“The Good Nurse”“The Greatest Beer Run Ever”“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song” (documentary)“Holy Spider” (international)“Hustle”“In-Uoh” (animated)“The Inspection”“Is That Black Enough for You?!?” (documentary)“Jacir”“The Janes” (documentary)“A Jazzman’s Blues”“Killing Me Softly With His Songs” (documentary)“Lady Chatterly’s Lover”“Last Flight Home” (documentary)“Lightyear” (animated)“Loren & Rose”“Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues” (documentary)“A Love Song”“Luck” (animated)“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” (animated)“Marry Me”“Master”“Mr. Malcolm’s List”“Mrs.