EXCLUSIVE: Mark Beretta on the balance between Sunrise and family

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorJonathan Bailey is in talks to join the cast of Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked” movies.The “Bridgerton” star will play Fiyero in the two-part feature adaptation headlined by Ariana Grande as Glinda and Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba. The Universal Pictures films are set for release on Christmas in 2024 and 2025.“Wicked” is a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz,” telling the story of how Elphaba became the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.“We decided to give ourselves a bigger canvas and make not just one ‘Wicked’ movie but two!” Chu wrote in a statement when announcing the two-parter. “With more space, we can tell the story of ‘Wicked’ as it was meant to be told while bringing even more depth and surprise to the journeys for these beloved characters.”

Multiple passengers onboard a Ryanair flight were kicked off the aircraft after getting ''drunk'' and reportedly smoking on board. The aircraft was set to depart from Manchester Airport and arrive at Marrakech, Morocco at around 6am on Saturday, September 17.

Brent Lang Executive Editor RLJE Films is partnering with Shudder on “Kids vs. Aliens,” which it will fully finance and premiere at Fantastic Fest later this month. Both companies are business units of AMC Networks. Shudder is a streaming service that focuses on horror, thriller and supernatural films. RLJE Films will release the alien invasion film in theaters, on demand and across digital platforms in early 2023. A Shudder release will follow later in the year.  “Kids vs. Aliens” centers on Gary, who wants to make awesome home movies with his best buds. All his older sister Samantha wants is to hang with the cool kids. When their parents head out of town one Halloween weekend, a teen house party turns to terror when aliens attack, forcing the siblings to band together to survive the night. 

King Charles, members of the royal family and hundreds of world leaders, politicians and other public dignitaries joined in the funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey this morning. 

Common is set to make his Broadway debut this year in the revival of Between Riverside And Crazy.Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play first came to Broadway in 2014, and will return at the Hayes Theater from December 2022.Many of the cast from the original remain in the new show’s lineup, with Common set to join and play the role of Junior, the son of an ex-cop who has just been given parole from jail.A synopsis for Between Riverside And Crazy reads: “Walter “Pops” Washington has had enough. His landlord won’t leave him alone, his wife recently passed away, and the liquor store can’t keep up with his thirst.

Common will be making his Broadway debut in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play Between Riverside and Crazy. The rapper will be playing the role of Junior and the cast is set to start performances on November 30 at Second Stages Hayes Theatre. Following the announcement, Common shared his thoughts on being part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

Nadia Ferreira and Marc Anthony are one of the most fan-favorite couples! The pair have been spending a lot of time together lately, with Nadia joining him for his European tour, and Marc accompanying her as she passed the crown to Miss Paraguay 2022.The celebrity couple are always sharing some of their special moments on social media, and this time Nadia took a moment to write a special message just in time for his birthday.“Happy Birthday love of my life,” Nadia wrote. “May God take care of you and bless you and protect you always.”“I wish a world of happiness for you, because you deserve it,” she concluded by writing “I Love You,” and posted three photos with the singer.

Liza Foreman Expanding the diversity of Spain’s film-TV sector, Moroccan-Spanish director, Swel Noury Cazorla’s “Azahar Baby,” is 10 of ten projects pitching at San Sebastian first Creative Investors’ Conference, which is co-organized with CAA Media Finance.  Written, and to be directed, by Noury (“Heaven’s Door,” “The Man Who Sold the World”), the feature project is the first out of the gate for Noury and executive producer Sonia Ziadi Trives, who is also Moroccan–Spanish, at their Madrid-based joint production venture,Two Flavours Productions. “Azahar Baby” weighs in as a coming-of-age dramedy. It tells the story of Yusef, an aspiring filmmaker who is making a documentary to make sense of his identity as a second-generation Moroccan immigrant. 

Though it feels like an ice age has come and gone, it wasn’t so long ago that writer/director Damien Chazelle became Hollywood’s golden boy. After making a name for himself with 2014’s “Whiplash,” Chazelle solidified his reputation as Tinseltown’s favorite young filmmaker with the 2016 megahit musical “La La Land,” which earned nearly $450 million at the box office and a record-tying fourteen Oscar nominations.

Though it feels like an ice age has come and gone, it wasn’t so long ago that writer/director Damien Chazelle became Hollywood’s golden boy. After making a name for himself with 2014’s “Whiplash,” Chazelle solidified his reputation as Tinseltown’s favorite young filmmaker with the 2016 megahit musical “La La Land,” which earned nearly $450 million at the box office and a record-tying fourteen Oscar nominations.

Luke Bryan may have a massively successful career in country music, but at the end of the day, family always comes first.MORE: The heartbreaking story behind Luke Bryan's 150-acre home in NashvilleThe star has two boys Thomas "Bo," fourteen, and Tatum, twelve, who he shares with wife Caroline Boyer Bryan, and they spend most of their time in Nashville, Tennessee.However, while he appears to love nothing more than being on the road touring and performing in Las Vegas for his residency, he has revealed it's not always easy to manage his time and balance family and work.WATCH: Luke shares helpful farming tip with fansMORE: Luke Bryan shares anxiety of talking about late siblingsIn an interview with E! News, the singer opened up about how hectic it can be to be present for both his boys and his fans, and how he suspects he might have to scale back from his music career."It's a tremendous challenge navigating this career and everything that goes with it," he admitted.He explained that: "You just have to make personal goals to get home and move and there are a lot of nights that I travel through the night just to try to be there one day to hang with the boys." A post shared by Luke Bryan Official (@lukebryan)Luke's family always supports his endeavorsThe Bryans have quite the full house, as not only are they raising their boys, but they also adopted their nephew and two nieces after his sister Kelly passed away in 2007 and her husband Ben later passed away 2017.MORE: How Luke Bryan had everyone in tears over incredibly thoughtful gesture for two young fansMORE: Luke Bryan clears the air on news regarding painful injuryDetailing how overwhelming it can be to fit time for everything, he recalled a recent day when he was almost

Jessica Kiang Of all the immediate familial relationships agonized over in the movies, it’s probably the bonds of siblinghood that remain the least explored. In his sixth film as director, French multihyphenate Roschdy Zem redresses that imbalance just a little, with the charming, unassuming but hardly inconsequential “Our Ties”: a heartfelt and beautifully played burst of bright chatter that doesn’t reinvent the wheel of the domestic drama, but does watch it turn with an unusually compassionate, affectionate eye.  As it opens, Moussa (Sami Bouajila, winner of the 2019 Venice Horizons Best Actor award for Mehdi Barsaoui’s “A Son”) is in the middle of a crisis, not that you’d necessarily know it from the gently perplexed way he is handling his wife Nora’s sudden decision to end their relationship. Nora is in Morocco, where she spends a lot of her time for work, and Moussa, getting nothing but her voicemail, has finally come to the realization that she is serious about their split. Less angry than he is dazed, according to her wishes he packs up all her things, but is helpless to know what to do with them. His concerned, no-nonsense sister Samia (a note-perfect Meriem Serbah), the only one in whom he’s confided about the breakup, takes charge of giving the clothes and jewelry away.  

Yazmin Oukhellou has shared a sneak peek inside her sprawling Marrakesh mansion, where she's been residing over recent weeks. The Only Way Is Essex star, 28, jetted off to her "second home" in Morocco recently as she continues to recover from the horror car crash which saw her sustain serious arm injuries back in July.

The Ukrainian cast and crew of Luxembourg, Luxembourg — premiering in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival — today used their Lido photo call as a powerful call for support of Ukraine’s families.

Italian director Paolo Sorrentino has been named as jury president of Morocco’s Marrakech International Film Festival, which will run as a physical event for the first time in three years from 11 to 19 November.

Gorka Marquez's birthday celebrations are tinged with a bit of sadness for his wife-to-be Gemma Atkinson. The Strictly Come Dancing professional is marking turning 32 on Sunday (September 4) and it couldn't have landed at a better time as he's currently enjoying time at home after being away for work.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Cairo-based film marketing and distribution outfit MAD Solutions has acquired rights for Arab territories to Venice competition entry “Les Miens” (“Our Ties”), directed by French actor and filmmaker of Moroccan descent Roschdy Zem. “Our Ties” is co-written by Zem with actor/director Maïwenn (“Polisse,” “Mon Roi”), who co-stars. Zem is a French cinema fixture, having starred in pics including “Other People’s Children” and directed several films including 2019’s “Persona Non Grata.” “Ties” is a drama about family dynamics centered around a man played by Sami Bouajila whose personality changes radically after he suffers a head injury. Zem plays his TV presenter brother.