Buster Scruggs Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Sterlin Harjo’s FX drama pilot starring Ethan Hawke has set its main cast, Variety has learned. The new cast members are: Keith David (“The Princess and the Frog,” “Greenleaf”), Siena East (“The Sex Lives of College Girls”), Jeanne Tripplehorn (“The Terminal List,” “Mrs. America”), Tim Blake Nelson (“Watchmen,” “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”), Scott Shepherd (“The Last of Us,” “Killers of the Flower Moon”), Tracy Letts (“Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” “Lady Bird”), Kyle Maclachlan (“Twin Peaks,” upcoming “Fallout”), and Macon Blair (“Reservation Dogs,” “I Care A Lot”).

Ethan Coen’s solo directorial debut Drive-Away Dolls is released in the UK this week – check out the full list of songs on its soundtrack below. The first solo narrative feature from one half of the Coen Brothers stars Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Fosse/Verdon) and Geraldine Viswanathan (Blockers, Bad Education) as two friends who embark on a road trip and cross paths with a group of inept criminals. The film also co-stars Matt Damon, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal and Bill Camp, and is released in UK cinemas on March 15.Ethan and his brother Joel have started to work separately in recent years after over 30 years of collaborating on modern film classics such as The Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country For Old Men and Barton Fink.

EXCLUSIVE: David Krumholtz (Oppenheimer) has signed on to star in Forelock, a dark comedy marking the solo feature directorial debut of Caleb Alexander Smith (NCIS).

Dune: Part Two director Denis Villeneuve has revealed the character that it caused him the most “pain” to leave out of the new film.Part Two concludes the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 896-page, 1965 novel, following Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he unites with Chani (Zendaya) and the Fremen to learn the ways of the desert, wage war on the forces that destroyed his family, and fulfil his destiny as the supposed chosen one.The film also stars Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Stellan Skarsgård and Dave Bautista.But now, Villeneuve has said that there are other actors that he feels regret for having to cut out of the film’s final edit.In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the director said: “When you adapt, there’s always some kind of violence toward the original material. You have to change things, you have to bend, you have to make painful choices.”“One of the most painful choices for me on this one was Thufir Hawat,” Villeneuve said, referring to the central character Paul Atreides’ mentor, who was to be played by Stephen McKinley Henderson (Lady Bird, Lincoln).Additionally, Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, O Brother Where Art Thou?) had also been announced for the film, but does not appear in the final cut.Nelson recently told Movieweb: “I had a great time over there shooting it.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Dune: Part Two” features one of the starriest casts in recent memory. From Timothée Chalamet to Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista and more, there’s rarely a scene in the Denis Villeneuve-directed sequel that isn’t filled with star power. The cast was supposed to be even bigger, however, but the filmmaker had to make some cuts to the final edit that left at least one actor “heartbroken.” Tim Blake Nelson, a regular of the Coen Brothers thanks to films such as “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” was announced as a cast member for “Dune: Part Two” in January 2023.

Hail, Caesar!, the Coens’ last proper comedy. After that, they made the Western anthology film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, then went their separate ways.Joel went full Shakespeare in 2021 with The Tragedy of Macbeth, an expressionistic exercise that was never quite more than the sum of its parts, while his brother took a hiatus from narrative filmmaking.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Lionsgate has acquired domestic rights to the Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lily James and Himesh Patel comedy “Greedy People.” The film explores what happens when the eccentric residents of a small, picturesque island town are faced with a sensational murder and the discovery of $1 million next to the body. This sparks a series of increasingly bad decisions that do a number on the peace and tranquility of the community.

EXCLUSIVE: The Renny Harlin action thriller The Bricklayer, starring Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight) and Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), has been picked up by Vertical for a day-and-date release in the U.S. early next year.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Ava DuVernay‘s moving drama “Origin,” which tells the story of author Isabel Wilkerson’s journey to write her famous nonfiction novel “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent,” is the latest film to be making the switch from an adapted screenplay run, to original. Deemed an original screenplay by the Writers Guild of America, the announcement comes after Variety reported “Barbie” from Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach and “The Bikeriders” by Jeff Nichols, were also deemed original by the WGA.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios has rounded out its cast for the actioner Heads of State with the addition of Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon), Stephen Root (Barry), Carla Gugino (Leopard Skin), Jack Quaid (The Boys), Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso), Richard Coyle (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore), Clare Foster (Sherlock), Katrina Durden (Doctor Strange) and Aleksandr Kuznetsov (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore).

Blumhouse has hired Netflix publicist Christina Gizoni as the horror studio’s vice president of marketing and communications. She will report to Blumhouse’s chief marketing officer Karen Barragan and handle marketing on the studio’s theatrical films and overall brand.

EXCLUSIVE: Christina Gizoni has joined Blumhouse as VP, Marketing and Communications.

Who would’ve thought that ten years removed from the “Harry Potter” franchise, the most interesting and consistent actor to come out of that young ensemble would be the kid who played Dudley Dursley, of all people? Yet with “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” “The Queen’s Gambit,” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Harry Melling has accumulated a pretty impressive CV.

Actor Bill Heck (Broadway’s Cabaret, Hulu’s The Old Man) will join the return Broadway engagement of Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out co-starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jesse Williams.

Clayton Davis Almost 30 years after “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993), Henry Selick returns with “Wendell & Wild,” another stop-motion animated sensation that’s sure to generate acclaim throughout the industry. Co-written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Jordan Peele, the Netflix feature film debuted at the Toronto Film Festival and may have asserted itself as the new frontrunner for best animated feature. Based on Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman’s unpublished book of the same name, the film tells the story of two scheming demon brothers, Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Peele), who enlist the aid of a 13-year-old Kat (Lyric Ross) to summon them to the Land of the Living. It also features the voice talents of Angela Bassett, James Hong and Ving Rhames.

untitled film for Working Title and Focus Features, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap.The “Booksmart” actress joins Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan, who were announced to star in the film last month.No plot or character details have been revealed yet. Coen will produce and write the screenplay with his wife, Tricia Cooke.

Carson Burton Amiah Miller and Bill Heck are rounding out the cast of Searchlight Pictures’ upcoming horror thriller film “Dust.” The film stars Sarah Paulson of “American Horror Story,” Annaleigh Ashford and Ebon Moss-Bachrach in a story set in 1930s Oklahoma. It follows a woman who, during the region’s increasingly perilous dust storms, is convinced that a sinister presence is threatening her family. The film is directed by Will Joines and Karrie Crouse, and Crouse penned the script. “Dust” commenced principal photography this week in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Miller previously starred as Nova in the 2017 film from 20th Century Studios “War for the Planet of the Apes” alongside Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson and Steve Zahn. In 2020, she was also seen in David Oyelowo’s feature directorial debut “The Water Man.”

Joe Otterson TV ReporterRon Perlman, Nick Nolte, Charles Melton, and Tim Blake Nelson have all joined the cast of the upcoming Peacock series “Poker Face,” Variety has learned exclusively.Perlman (“Sons of Anarchy,” “Hellboy”), Nolte (“Warrior,” “Graves”), Melton (“Riverdale,” “American Horror Stories”), and Nelson (“Watchmen,” “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”) join the show’s already expansive cast. Natasha Lyonne will lead the series, with previously announced cast members including: Adrien Brody, Audrey Corsa, Benjamin Bratt, Chloe Sevigny, Danielle MacDonald, Dascha Polanco, Ellen Barkin, Jameela Jamil, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judith Light, Lil Rel Howery, Niall Cunningham, Nicholas Cirillo, S. Epatha Merkerson, Simon Helberg and Tim Meadows.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentBritish director Michael Winterbottom will start shooting his long-gestating “Promised Land,” a thriller set during the leadup to the 1948 partition of Palestine and the subsequent creation of the state of Israel, this fall in Italy.U.K. actors Douglas Booth (“The Dirt,” “That Dirty Black Bag”) and Harry Melling (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”) and Russia’s Irina Starshenbaum, who was in Cannes in 2018 with Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Leto,” are attached as the pic’s main cast. Italy’s Vision Distribution, which is headed by veteran sales agent Catia Rossi, is launching pre-sales on “Promised Land” in Cannes.Based on real events, “Promised Land” is a political thriller that unfolds during the British Mandate in 1930s Tel Aviv.

EXCLUSIVE: Quiver Distribution has acquired North American rights to the dramedy Small Town Wisconsin, starring David Sullivan (Sharp Objects), Bill Heck (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Kristen Johnson (3rd Rock from the Sun), Tanya Fischer (Life on Mars) and Cooper J. Friedman (9-1-1: Lone Star), slating it for wide release in theaters and on digital platforms on June 10th.

Ethan Coen, one half of the legendary directing duo the Coen Brothers, is going solo for his next feature film, an untitled project that he’s making with both Focus Features and Working Title, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap. Ethan Coen’s solo film follows the peculiarity that his brother Joel Coen had directed A24 and Apple TV+’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” on his own last year without Ethan sharing billing.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterAnnapurna’s chief content officer Sue Naegle is stepping down from her post, Variety has confirmed.The show business veteran had served as Annapurna CEO Megan Ellison’s top content executive for nearly six years, and helped buttress the indie company through the pandemic and other periods of great uncertainty. Naegle is said to be focusing on her forthcoming slate as a producer, and some of those projects were developed and will continue at Annapurna. Insiders close to the company said that Naegle will not be replaced, and the current leadership structure will move to absorb her duties.

EXCLUSIVE: Rupert Friend and Richard Ayoade are the latest additions to join the all-star cast of Netflix’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar with Wes Anderson writing and directing. Friend and Ayoade join previously announced Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley.

Following Netflix’s acquisition of the Roald Dahl Story Company, the streamer has set a major talent to helm its first big Dahl adaptation since the move. Sources confirmed to Deadline that Wes Anderson is on board to write and direct a feature adaptation of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. Insiders add Anderson has set quite the ensemble that includes Benedict Cumberbatch (who will play Sugar), Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel and Ben Kingsley.

In Old Henry, Tim Blake Nelson is the titular frontiersman, living a hermetic life, with only his son for company. His most central role since the Coen brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Blake portrays a man deeply bound by repression—that is, until a chance run-in with an injured stranger forces the emergence of Henry’s true self.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticTim Blake Nelson is a highly skilled and versatile actor (not to mention a terrific director), but for years now there has been one character he owns: the yokel, the snaggletoothed redneck runt, the leering hillbilly bumpkin who never met a big vocabulary word he didn’t like to chew on like tobacco.

Written and Directed by Potsy Ponciroli, “Old Henry” is a Western that’s about to make its debut at the Venice International Film Festival next month.

Jeff Hiller (Nightcap), Mary Catherine Garrison (Veep), Danny McCarthy (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) and Mike Hagerty (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) are set as series regulars and Murray Hill (Shortbus) and Jon Hudson Odom (Lovecraft Country) have been tapped for recurring roles in Somebody Somewhere, a comedy starring and executive produced by Patti Cake$ star Bridget Everett.

Directors who have reached a certain stature always find a way to add a Western to their resume. Or, at least a Western of some ilk.

Awkwafina – “The Farewell,” “Crazy Rich Asians” Zazie Beetz – “Joker,” “High Flying Bird” Alia Bhatt – “Gully Boy,” “Raazi” Bobby Cannavale – “The Irishman,” “The Station Agent” Choi Woo-Shik – “Parasite,” “The Divine Fury” Zendaya Coleman – “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” “The Greatest Showman” Tyne Daly – “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming” Mackenzie Davis – “Terminator: Dark Fate,” “Tully” Ana de Armas – “Knives Out,” “Blade Runner 2049” Kaitlyn Dever – “Booksmart,”

Unlike many people in the entertainment industry, Tim Blake Nelson is already back at work. The “Ballad of Buster Scruggs” and “Syriana” star is currently in Arkansas producing and starring in the independent production “Ghosts of the Ozarks.” But when he looks back over the past 12 months, what will likely pop the most is the euphoric reaction to “Watchmen,” a program that literally was close to home.

Liam Neeson's mother has died at the age of 94 on the day before Neeson's 68th birthday. Neeson's mother Kitty died on Saturday, per a local Ballymena, Ireland outlet Ballymena Daily.

By Andreas Wiseman