Brad Johnson, best known for his work on Melrose Place, has sadly passed away at the age of 62.
16.05.2022 - 19:43 / deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Hilary Swank film Speed Girl has found its writing team.
The feature, which comes from Balcony 9 Productions, will be written by Ford v Ferrari screenwriter Jason Keller and his writing partner Bryan Johnson.
Keller, who will also exec produce, also previously wrote Snow White film Mirror Mirror and Sylvester Stallone’s Escape Plan.
Swank is to play Janet Guthrie, a pilot turned racecar driver who smashed barriers to become the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500, in the film.
Set in the 1970s when the fight for women’s rights was gaining speed, Guthrie made a bid for the Indianapolis 500 in 1976 despite relentless opposition from the racing establishment and the men she hoped to race against. Janet qualified for the race in 1978 where she finished in the top ten, destroying many widely-held stereotypes about female drivers. The film will bring Guthrie’s passion and persistence vividly to life, immersing viewers in the untold story of the woman who came to Indy just hoping to qualify and left a trailblazer, inspiring generations of future female racers.
Swank will also exec produce the film, which is based on alongside Stephan Talty’s book Speed Girl, with Joel David Moore and Rishi Bajaj and her husband Philip Schneider.
Swank is repped by Management 360, Moore is repped by Entertainment 360 and attorney Mark Wetzstein, and Johnson is repped by Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson and Christopher.
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Brad Johnson, best known for his work on Melrose Place, has sadly passed away at the age of 62.
"Melrose Place" star Brad Johnson has died. He was 62. The "Marlboro Man" died in Fort Worth, Texas, Feb.
EXCLUSIVE: Isabela Merced is set to join Dakota Johnson in Sony Pictures’ Madame Web. Also on board are Sydney Sweeney and Celeste O’Connor for director S.J. Clarkson. Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless penned the screenplay, with Kerem Sanga also penning a previous draft.
Paramount+ has set a release date for its upcoming YA film “Honor Society.”The coming-of-age story will debut on the service toward the end of July. Starring Gaten Matarazzo and Angourie Rice, “Honor Society” explores the costs and rewards of being a tenaciously ambitious young woman in the modern world.
Bobby Brown had his heart set on someone else before he met Whitney Houston. The "Can You Stand the Rain" singer, 53, shared in a new documentary that popstar Janet Jackson was the "crush" of his life as he remembered their relationship. "Janet was the crush of my life," Brown says in the "Biography: Bobby Brown" documentary. "What was it about Janet? Everything. Her little smile, body, her dance moves, her little laugh." Bobby Brown calls Janet Jackson the "crush of my life" in a new documentary titled "Biography: Bobby Brown." (Getty Images) Before Brown met Houston backstage of the Soul Music Train Awards in 1989, he was infatuated with Jackson.
EXCLUSIVE: Peter Elkoff has joined newly ordered ABC/20th Television drama series Alaska, headlined by Hilary Swank, as executive producer and showrunner. For the past two seasons, the seasoned TV writer-producer served as executive producer and co-showrunner on another 20th TV drama series, Fox’s The Resident. Fellow exec producer/co-showrunner Andrew Chapman will be the sole showrunner for the medical drama’s upcoming sixth season.
Star Wars fans got a treat Thursday. Harrison Ford made a surprise stop at the Star Wars Celebration at the Anaheim Convention Center to give an update on "Indiana Jones 5." Thursday’s event marked the first in-person convention since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Harrison Ford made a surprise appearance at the Star Wars Celebration event in Anathema, Calif., Thursday.
Star Wars Celebration kick-off marked the convention’s first in-person event since 2019, after the 2020 edition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The crowd at the event held at the Anaheim Convention Center was packed to the brim with fans adorned in Mandalorian armor, Jedi cloaks and Sith robes (many with added KN95 face masks).
Celeste O’Connor (Ghostbusters: Afterlife) has signed on to star alongside Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney in S.J. Clarkson’s Sony film Madame Web, based on the Marvel comics by writer Denny O’Neil and artist John Romita Jr.
EXCLUSIVE: BAFTA-winning Uprising producer Rogan Productions and Electric Shadow Company are forging Original Sin, a documentary miniseries exploring calculated South African murderer Gerhard Jansen van Vuuren and his trial.
Two Hollywood heavy-hitters are headed back to “1932”.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterHarrison Ford and Helen Mirren are set to star in Taylor Sheridan’s new “Yellowstone” prequel “1932” at Paramount+, Variety has learned.The show follows the Dutton family in the titular year, a time of Prohibition, the Great Depression, and westward expansion. “1932” is a followup to “1883,” the latter of which told the story of the Dutton family as they made their way to Montana to found what would become the Yellowstone Ranch in the mothership series. “1932” was ordered to series at Paramount+ back in February.
Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Daria” spinoff “Jodie” is taking shape, but will now be an animated film rather than a series as originally announced. In addition, Variety has learned exclusively that the spinoff has set its main cast.It was previously announced that Tracee Ellis Ross will voice the title role of Jodie, Daria’s friend from high school.
Fred Ward, several of his former costars, including Kevin Bacon, Matthew Modine, Lou Diamond Phillips, Richard E. Grant, and Kate Mulgrew, shared their memories of working with the charmingly gruff star.Bacon shared a photo of himself and Ward from the 1990 cult hit “Tremors,” writing, “So sad to hear about Fred Ward. When it came to battling underground worms I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.
Jen Lilley is now the mom of four!
ABC has made its new series orders.