Jeffrey Wright Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

EXCLUSIVE: This won’t come as a big surprise after so much speculation, but we hear that Wes Anderson’s comedy Asteroid City definitely is headed to the Cannes Film Festival.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The Jazz Foundation of America has set performers and honorees for its annual “A Great Night in Harlem” benefit, with multiple Grammy winner Jon Batiste among the talent coming to the Apollo Theater and legendary songwriter Mike Stoller among those being honored for a lifetime of work. The concert portions of the March 30 event will be overseen, as always, by drumming great Steve Jordan as the night’s musical director. Batiste will be joined in the performance lineup by a cast that includes Bettye LaVette, Monty Alexander, Ray Parker Jr., Kenny Barron and Robert Cray. Stoller has come back into the pop consciousness in a big way in the past year due to the number of Leiber and Stoller songs featured on the “Elvis” film soundtrack, with the writing due that included Jerry Leiber having been responsible for such career milestones as “Hound Dog” (originally recorded by R&B artist Big Mama Thornton), “Jailhouse Rock,” “Trouble” and many others. (Read Variety‘s 2022 interview with Stoller here.)

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar nominees Maria Bakalova (Bodies Bodies Bodies) and David Strathairn (Nomadland) will topline O Horizon — the second narrative feature from Emmy winner Madeleine Sackler (O.G.), which wrapped production last fall. 

The wig gives it away, otherwise we’d be hard-pressed to immediately – or even slowly – recognize Paul Bettany’s fast-talking, extroverted and inquisitive artist character in Anthony McCarten’s The Collaboration as that historic icon of cryptic, mumbled monosyllables Andy Warhol.

EXCLUSIVE: Two other original scripted series, Westworld and The Nevers, are coming off HBO Max. Unlike others that we have reported on, Lionsgate TV’s Minx and Love Life and Sony TV’s Gordita Chronicles, Westworld and The Nevers are high-end Warner Bros. Discovery productions for HBO proper, and I hear they are likely to resurface on other company platforms. WBD CEO David Zaslav has spoken about entering the thriving FAST channel space, so Westworld and The Nevers would likely be offered in that form, I hear.

Focus Features has dated Wes Anderson’s next movie Asteroid City for June 16, 2023. Do we smell a Cannes selection? Pic will go even wider on June 23. Universal, as previously reported, has overseas.

 EXCLUSIVE: MGM has boarded world sales rights to western Surrounded, starring Letitia Wright, Jamie Bell, Jeffrey Donovan, Brett Gelman and the late Michael K. Williams in his last movie role.

Luke Hemsworth did not see HBO’s cancellation of Westworld coming, but is taking a philosophical approach to the fate of the dystopian sci-fi series.

EXCLUSIVE: Jeffrey Wright is set to star in the Untitled film from MRC and T-Street based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett. Cord Jefferson wrote the adaptation for the untitled film and is making his feature directorial debut.

EXCLUSIVE: The door to Westworld was slammed shut today as HBO confirmed that the dystopian sci-fi series will not get a fifth season. It was bad news for anyone associated with the show, led by creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, who had been hoping and advocating for another chapter, but for the main cast, there was some silver lining. I hear they will be paid for Season 5 regardless of the fact that it will not be produced.

It’s sunset for HBO-Bad Robot’s Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy created series Westworld, the pay-cabler announced this afternoon.

EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Whitesell (Hold the Dark) and Daniel Jun (The Fall of the House of Usher) have boarded Monarch Media’s thriller Valiant One in supporting roles. The pair will star alongside the previously announced Chase Stokes, Lana Condor, Desmin Borges and Callan Mulvey.

box office success, and that’s in part due to director Matt Reeves’ script — which he carefully kept under wraps.Star Paul Dano — who played the sinister yet cunning Riddler — admitted how the screenplay was under such tight security that production locked up the document.The 38-year-old actor recently spoke to GQ Hype about the script, noting that DC even had a tracker plugged on the doc.“‘Don’t lose this. Put it in your special binder,’” the Ruby Sparks” star recalled being told by producers.

Movie studios go to great lengths to keep storylines from their films to leak and superhero movies are known to take the secrecy one step further. Paul Dano is opening up about his time filming The Batman and the “special binder” that had a “tracking device” to maintain everything under wraps.

EXCLUSIVE: Leon Addison Brown, Whoopi Goldberg, Alec Baldwin and Jeffrey Wright are among the cast set to star in Atrabilious, the second feature film made by 18-year-old William Atticus Parker. The pic is now wrapping principal photography.

Wilson Chapman editor October is a boom time for horror stories, with fans preparing for Halloween by spending the month binging the best slasher films, monster shows and horror books. And for those who would prefer to turn off the lights and listen to a spooky story, audiobooks provide plenty of bone-chilling options.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The question is no longer just what Bob Dylan will have to say about Elvis Costello’s “Pump It Up” or the Clash’s “London Calling” when he writes about them in his new book, “The Philosophy of Modern Song.” Now we can wonder how Helen Mirren or Renée Zellweger will sound giving voice to Dylan’s prose as they read those chapters, respectively, in the audiobook version, which, like the hardback, arrives Nov. 1. Variety previously reported the titles of the historical songs Dylan has written essays about for the tome, followed by the the names of the actors enlisted to read individual chapters for the audiobook, but those two lists hadn’t been paired up till now. A look at the list below, being revealed for the first time today, shows that all of the stars involved have been given multiple assignments, including Jeff Bridges, Oscar Isaac, Rita Moreno, Jeffrey Wright, Sissy Spacek, John Goodman, Alfre Woodard and Steve Buscemi as well as Mirren and Zellweger.

New Victory Theater, where productions from across the country and around the world play out in a family-friendly space at family-friendly prices.Not for nothing has the New Victory been called the gold standard in children’s theater, the best first stop on the way to taking your kids to see “Wicked” and everything else Broadway has to offer.This season opens with a bang and a clang in “Cookin’,” a loud, slap-happy import from South Korea. Expect nonstop percussive action as four chefs frantically prepare for a wedding feast, using every utensil they can find, including the kitchen sink.You’ll see martial arts, hear authentic Korean samulnori drumming and watch as some of the real food onstage goes flying into the first few rows of the orchestra.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor It’s not a dream: The third installment of Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” audio drama on Audible is now available. All 19 episodes of “The Sandman: Act III,” with James McAvoy again lending his voice to the title role, are now available exclusively on Audible. It’s a surprise release for the third seasons of the popular series that brings to aural life the world of Gaiman’s best-selling fantasy graphic novels published by DC. The third installment is again adapted and directed by co-executive producer Dirk Maggs and narrated by Gaiman, who also returns as creative director and co-executive producer. “The Sandman: Act III” also features an original score from BAFTA-winning composer James Hannigan.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The list of narrators for the audiobook version of Bob Dylan’s upcoming book has come to light, and it reads like a who’s who of Oscar contenders from the past few decades, along with the author himself doing some of the reading. The lineup of voice talent reading chapters from “The Philosophy of Modern Song” aloud includes Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Oscar Isaac, Helen Mirren, Rita Moreno, Sissy Spacek, Alfre Woodard, Jeffrey Wright and Renée Zellweger. This lineup of all-star Dylan surrogates has yet to be officially announced. It was first published by the U.K. magazine Uncut; Variety has confirmed the list.

74th Primetime Emmy Awards hosted by Kenan Thompson on Sept. 12. Among the 2022 nominees were , which leads the way with the most nominations this year, at 25, while  closely followed with 20 nods.

EXCLUSIVE: The Michael Doneger directed documentary Fate of a Sport, which ESPN acquired ahead of the pic’s Tribeca Film Festival world premiere, will drop on ESPN+ on Aug. 29.

Note: The following contains spoilers for “Westworld” Season 4, Episode 7.“Westworld” viewers know well enough by now that “dead” doesn’t always mean dead in the HBO sci-fi series, but Episode 7 of Season 4 sure seemed to seal the fate of one of the series’ most beloved characters.Since returning from the Sublime, Bernard has maintained that after running simulations, there is only one way to save the world – and in that scenario, he doesn’t make it out alive. After teaming up with a revived Maeve (Thandiwe Newton) to take on Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) and her tower that has human citizens of New York City under control, Bernard was confronted by the William host (Ed Harris) and subsequently shot to death.When asked by TheWrap if Bernard is dead in a recent interview about the episode, Wright replied simply, “It seems so.”The actor wouldn’t let on more than that, and in a season that has seen the return of James Marsden’s Teddy, Wright’s answer seems to leave the door open a smidge for Bernard’s survival – either in the real world or in the Sublime.

Fans of Disney+/Marvel series What If…? got a pleasant surprise at today’s Marvel Studios’ Animation panel at San Diego Comic-Con. Marvel revealed the Emmy-nominated series has been picked up for a third season, ahead of its Season 2 premiere. What If….? Season 2 launches exclusively on Disney+ in early 2023.

San Diego Comic-Con provided plenty of updates on some epic upcoming projects! The panel opened with a voiceover from «The Watcher,» himself, star Jeffrey Wright, building the hype for fans to see all your favorite MCU characters take on new worlds and new threats in their animated adventures. director Kristen Lepore,  EP and head writer Jeff Trammell, and director Bryan Andrews,  EP and head writer Beau DeMayo and more took the stage during the Ballroom 20 panel to preview their upcoming series and share some sneak peeks at what fans can expect.Read on to see what we learned about some of the MCU's animated offerings coming in the next few months!We haven't seen the last of Baby Groot.

Manori Ravindran International EditorBill Murray’s mysterious absence from Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” didn’t go unnoticed this week after Focus Features boarded the project and revealed new details about the film.The actor — an Anderson regular who elevated movies such as “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and “The Royal Tenenbaums” — was one of the first to be attached to the Spain-shot film, which went into production last September. On Wednesday, however, Murray was conspicuously missing from the pic’s heaving cast, which includes Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Carrell, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Ed Norton and Adrien Brody, among many others.A source close to the production tells Variety that Murray contracted COVID-19 shortly before the movie began shooting last September, and the project was forced to recast his role.

Focus Features has re-teamed with Indian Paintbrush on Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City and will handle domestic distribution on the film while Universal International handles foreign.

Westworld actor Aurora Perrineau has said she didn’t know about her character’s identity until they were filming the fourth season.In the third episode of season four, Perrineau plays a character introduced as C, who is among a group of rebels encountered in the desert by Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) and Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth), as they pursue a weapon to take down Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson).In fourth episode ‘Generation Loss’ , which aired on Sunday (July 17), it’s revealed that C is actually the grown-up version of Caleb’s (Aaron Paul) daughter Frankie. The weapon discovered by Bernard and C is also the dead body of Maeve (Thandiwe Newton) – indicating she is the key to setting humanity and the hosts free from Hale’s copy of Dolores.Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the twist, Perrineau confirmed she had no knowledge of her character’s identity prior to filming episode four.“Nothing, I didn’t know anything,” Perrineau said.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaFormer Tribeca Film Institute leaders Amy Hobby, David Earls, and Colleen Hammond are partnering on Subject Matter, a new endeavor designed to support and connect social issue documentary films and nonprofits working on the featured topics. Subject Matter, which will also be a non-profit, will work with films that focus on urgent issues that the country is currently facing.

Westworld has premiered with a cover of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Video Games’ by composer Ramin Djawadi.Djawadi is known for providing instrumental arrangements of classic pop and rock songs for the show and has previously included versions of Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun’, The White Stripes’ ‘Seven Nation Army’ and Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’.The cover of ‘Video Games’, a track which originally came out in 2012, features strings and a piano providing a gentle, haunting rendition of the melody.The new series of Westworld is set seven years after the revolutionary climax of season three. Earlier this month, Tessa Thompson revealed more of what viewers can expect from the fourth season.“I’m anxious not to give anything away,” she told i09 (via Gizmodo), “but I think, as I understood it this season, [Hale’s] plan is sort of bigger than just a desire for power.

The third season of HBO’s “Westworld” was a dour death march as the show’s over-reliance on convoluted twists and turns led it to a place in which it barely resembled the clever sci-fi thriller it was in the first two seasons. Breaking the characters of this world out of the park that gave it a name allowed creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy a chance to tell any number of stories, and they arguably lost their way in this vision of the future, diving so deep into its philosophies and technology that they forgot to entertain.

Tessa Thompson has revealed more of what viewers can expect from the fourth season of Westworld.Speaking to press at a roundtable of the show’s team, Thompson spoke about her feelings surrounding some of the character dynamics and philosophy rather than explicit plot points.“I’m anxious not to give anything away,” she told i09 (via Gizmodo), “but I think, as I understood it this season, [Hale’s] plan is sort of bigger than just a desire for power. I think that’s always been her fundamental nature in a way, both as Hale when we first met her, and as a host”.Thompson did share that the upcoming season “has to do with an idea around what should be the future of host-kind” and that “there’s a sort of righteous path in her mind that she’s carving, not just for herself, but for all hosts.”Watch the latest trailer for Westworld season 4 below.She continued: “And, of course, I think the best leaders don’t make anybody do anything.

, is back with season 4. And the cast, including returning stars Jeffrey Wright and Luke Hemsworth, talk about why the new episodes were worth the wait, while Angela Sarafyan teases how the new installment feels like a return to season 1. “It takes us a little time with this stuff.

Evan Rachel Wood, Tessa Thompson and Angela Sarafyan look so glamorous on the red carpet at the premiere of Westworld‘s season four held at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on Tuesday (June 21) in New York City.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterESPN Films has acquired worldwide rights to the documentary “Fate of a Sport,” Variety has learned exclusively.The deal was struck ahead of the film’s world premiere on Wednesday at the annual Tribeca Film Festival. Directed by Michael Doneger and written by Dan Crane, the expansive sports story was produced by Matt Tolmach (of the “Jumanji” and “Venom” franchises) and Doneger.“Fate” follows trailblazing athlete Paul Rabil, who spent eleven years as one of the most dominant and controversial players in a professional lacrosse league that filmmakers described as “anything but professional.”  Rabil and his brother Mike took matters into their own hands, and document their journey raising capital, attempting to poach top players, fight off lawsuits, and persevere through a global pandemic to launch the Premier Lacrosse League.

new trailer, venture into a new theme park reminiscent of the gangster era.Adapted from “Jurassic Park” writer Michael Crichton’s 1973 film of the same name, the series stars Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Ed Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Luke Hemsworth, Aaron Paul and Angela Sarafyan. Season 4 will also see James Marsden’s return (the actor was in Season 1 and had a recurring role in Season 2).