Ferdinando Cito Filomarino on John David Washington Netflix Thriller ‘Beckett’ That Will Open Locarno

Disney Branded Television has put into development From The Desk Of Zoe Washington, an original movie based on Janae Marks’ critically acclaimed book, executive produced by Kerry Washington’s Simpson Street Productions, and Gamechanger Films. The announcement was made Wednesday at Disney’s virtual TCA session.

ViacomCBS’ Smithsonian Channel is prepping One Thousand Years of Slavery, a four-part docu-series from Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance’s Bassett Vance Productions.

On this episode of The Playlist Podcast, we’re joined by filmmaker Ferdinando Filomarino, the director of the new Netflix film, “Beckett.” For those unaware, “Beckett” stars John David Washington and Alicia Vikander and tells the story of an American couple on vacation in Greece. After a tragic accident, John David Washington’s character, aptly named Beckett, finds himself on the run from a mysterious group that is out to kill him for an unknown reason.

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(Spoiler alert: Do not read on if you have not seen “Respect.”)Did Dinah Washington really lose it when she attended one of Aretha Franklin’s shows and heard Franklin sing one of Washington’s songs — as depicted in the new movie “Respect”? Not quite — but it did happen at someone else’s show.

You’ve seen Michael B. Jordan fight Black Panther.

Jordan Moreau Michael B. Jordan stars in the first trailer for the appropriately titled romantic drama “A Journal for Jordan,” directed by Denzel Washington.The film is based on the memoir “A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Dana Canedy.

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No matter who you believe, whether it’s the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) saying theaters are being destroyed by streaming or perhaps studios trying to explain how streaming and theatrical release models will benefit everyone involved, the truth is that the theatrical experience is changing in a big way. And some, like John David Washington, are concerned about the survival of the big screen experience.

Will Thorne Staff WriterThe opening night of the Locarno Film Festival was led by a pair of rousing call to arms for the theatrical experience.Early on it was rain, rather than COVID-19, which threatened to put a dampener on proceedings, as sodden conditions in the famous Piazza Grande forced the world premiere of “Beckett” indoors.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticJohn David Washington shot “Beckett” before last summer’s “Tenet” put the actor on a short list of potential action figures. But when it comes to this considerably more modest, Greece-set manhunt movie — which kicks off the Locarno Film Festival before releasing via Netflix on Aug.

For a film in which John David Washington lurches, staggers, stumbles, shambles, flounders, falters, wobbles, scrabbles and totters across an entire Greek province, getting shot, stabbed, cuffed (often in the very same already broken arm), punched, beaten, chased and stung by bees, is in two-car crashes but also gets hit by a car, escapes in the trunk of a car, gets in a taser fight in a car and eventually falls from a great height onto a car, “Beckett” sure is dull.

Kerry Washington is sticking with Netflix.

Kerry Washington will star in and produce the feature film adaptation of Diane Cardwell’s memoir “Rockaway: Surfing Headlong Into a New Life” for Netflix, the streamer announced on Tuesday. The film is a co-production with Liza Chasin’s 3dot Productions, Washington’s Simpson Street and Aevitas Entertainment.

Emmy winner Kerry Washington (Little Fires Everywhere, American Son) has signed on to produce and star in Rockaway, Netflix’s film adaptation of the memoir by Diane Cardwell.

Angelique Jackson Emmy winner Kerry Washington is gearing up for a new adventure, set to star in and produce “Rockaway” for Netflix.The feature film adaptation of Diane Cardwell’s memoir, “Rockaway: Surfing Headlong Into a New Life,” will be written by NAACP Image Award winner Nichelle Tramble Spellman (creator of Apple TV Plus’ “Truth Be Told”).In the movie, Washington plays a Manhattan-based journalist who unexpectedly discovers the transcendent power of surfing while on a routine assignment,

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorDiscovery CEO David Zaslav has big ambition to build up the Warner Bros. Discovery venture to reach some 200 million streaming subscribers around the world.But first, he has to close the $43 billion WarnerMedia spinoff transaction with AT&T that surprised in the industry in May.