Taika Waititi Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Our Flag Means Death (★★★★☆). The pirate comedy from David Jenkins was quietly released on MAX last year with little fanfare but quickly caught attention as the tale of the show’s queerness spread.

Add Anonymous Content to the list of entertainment companies hit by layoffs, as Deadline has confirmed that around 8% of staffers were let go on Friday.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Anonymous Content enacted a small round of layoffs on Friday, representing about 8% of the workforce at a company of around 170 people. The talent management and production shop reduced staff across all divisions, including representation, television, motion picture, literary, media rights and branded entertainment. Insiders familiar with Anonymous cited the Hollywood labor strikes and a volatile larger entertainment marketplace as reasons for the job cuts.

Valerie Wu editor Elsie Choi, a film and TV development veteran who has worked for such producers as Dan Lin and Bruce Willis, has joined Los Angeles-based CJ ENM America as executive VP and head of scripted TV. CJ ENM is a South Korean entertainment company that has produced content such as Oscar-winning film “Parasite” and popular Korean fantasy drama series “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God.” Among the company’s recent productions are the romantic drama “Past Lives” with A24. It’s also the company behind the annual KCON Korean pop culture conference and concerts held in downtown Los Angeles in August.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Set sail for the high seas! Max‘s swashbuckling romantic comedy “Our Flag Means Death” returns for season 2 on Oct. 5, a year-and-a-half after season 1 wrapped.

Christopher Nolan has been crowned the best director of the past 25 years in a reader’s poll.To coincide with the site’s 25th anniversary, Rotten Tomatoes asked its readers to vote for the best film director of the past quarter century in a tournament-style bracket.A total of 64 directors were pitted against one another in rounds, with Nolan defeating Denis Villenueve (Dune) in the final with 56 per cent of the vote. According to the website, nearly 30,000 votes were cast in the final round.In the semi-final rounds, Damien Chazelle (La La Land) and Jordan Peele (Get Out) were both knocked out.

Max’s pirate comedy “Our Flag Means Death” felt like a pretty standard spoof of pirate pop culture when it started its first season, but it developed over that 10-episode run into something much richer, smarter, and even moving by its end. As it navigates the tricky waters of streaming comedy in the 2020s, David Jenkins’ show has found a very loyal fan base; one attracted to both its smart sense of humor and its notable representation of LGBTQ+ characters.

You’ll recall in 2014, there was the ridiculously entertaining documentary “Next Goal Wins.” Directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison, the doc follows Thomas Rongen, a Dutch soccer coach hired to lead the national team for American Samoa. This famously pitiful outfit spent nearly two decades at the bottom of FIFA’s international rankings.

Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher.The actor, who is best known for roles in Arrested Development and BoJack Horseman, was asked to choose his favourite Gallagher brother by a fan during an appearance on Johnny Vaughan’s 4-7 Thang on Radio X.In response, Arnett said: “I know that they’re both friends of the programme and I’ve heard them both on the programme, so I don’t want to pick sides, but I did hang out one evening for a couple of hours with Noel… I think Noel because his quotes are just off the charts. Unbelievable.”When Vaughan said Liam’s quotes were on “a different level”, Arnett replied: “Than Noel’s? He once described his brother as a man with a fork in a world of soup.

The 32-year-old singer didn’t hold back when answering a question about her filmmaker husband.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director In a new interview with Vanity Fair, “The Marvels” director Nia DaCosta revealed she was in frequent contact with previous Marvel directors before and during the making of her MCU tentpole. She asked Chloé Zhao (“Eternals”), James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) and Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok”) before accepting “The Marvels” directing gig if entering the Marvel world was a good idea. “Are they going to kill me and destroy my soul? Is Kevin Feige a bad man?” she joked.

So many stars were in attendance at the Hermes Walking on Air fashion show!

“Our Flag Means Death” was a sleeper hit for Max on its series premiere last year. That makes Season 2 of the pirate comedy one of the most anticipated releases on TV this Fall.

Rita Ora is heading to Hollywood.

Primark fans were left 'disappointed' after the fashion brand announced its latest collaboration with a pop singer.

Rita Ora is rocking a classy look at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards!

Fifty Shades, singer of songs, gal who is just —will grace the stage at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, but first she has to slay the red carpet.But tonight wasn't like other nights for Ora, who is set to present an award at the ceremony. Instead of her usual see-through looks, she decided to wear an uncharacteristically covered up dress—a black off-the-shoulder Rodarte gown with never-ending statement sleeves.

The stars stepped out for the 2023 TIFF Tribute Gala & Awards during the Toronto Film Festival over the weekend!

Everybody loves a winner turned loser, especially these days, Taika Waititi. As of late, in his non-“Thor” directorial output, the once-beloved filmmaker has gravitated toward zeroes meekly shuffling around the margins of power.

Taika Waititi approves of the ET Canada team’s fashion sense

Ellise Shafer MIA, the international market held annually in Rome, has announced the first confirmed speakers for its ninth edition. This year, speakers at the industry event — which focuses on co-production, financing strategies and sales and distribution — include Nicole Clemens, president of Paramount of Paramount Television Studios and Paramount+ original scripted series; Sara Bernstein, president of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Documentaries; Marge Dean, head of Skybound Entertainment’s animation studio and president of Women in Animation; “Waltz With Bashir” director Ari Folman; Nicholas Weinstock, founder and president of Invention Studios and “Severance” producer; and James Townley, chief content officer of development at Banijay.

Paramount’s Nicole Clemens, Imagine Documentaries boss Sara Bernstein and Severance producer Nicholas Weinstock are among the first tranche of speakers for this year’s MIA market in Italy.

Taika Waititi just attended the premiere of his new movie Next Goals Wins without the cast due to the strikes in Hollywood.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Does it count as a white savior movie if the white character is the one who needs saving? In “Next Goal Wins,” the world’s top-grossing indigenous director, Taika Waititi, retells the story of how American Samoa went from having the world’s worst soccer team to, well, not the worst. While a white man was involved, the movie — which suggests how a film like “Cool Runnings” might be made with 30 years’ more cultural enlightenment — is mostly about how their coach (Michael Fassbender) needs an attitude adjustment. Come to think of it, that’s essentially the formula for most white savior movies.

Taika Waititi returned to TIFF tonight with his underdog soccer story about the American Samoa team, Next Goal Wins, which received great cheers and a heartfelt response.

UPDATED with latest: The Toronto Film Festival began September 7 in Ontario with opening-night movie The Boy and the Heron, from Oscar-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. It kicks off a lineup for the fest’s 48th edition that includes world premieres of GameStop pic Dumb Money, Netflix’s Pain Hustlers, Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, Kristin Scott Thomas’ Scarlett Johansson pic North Star, Chris Pine’s Poolman, Michael Keaton-directed Knox Goes Away, Anna Kendrick’s Woman of the Hour, Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils, Michael Winterbottom’s Shoshana, Grant Singer’s Reptile, Viggo Mortensen’s The Dead Don’t Hurt, Lee Tamahori’s The Convert and Alex Gibney’s doc In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.

The star power at TIFF will still be shining bright this year.

TIFF 2023 gets underway tomorrow, and that means plenty of world premieres over its ten-day schedule. And there several movies debuting in Toronto to get excited about, like Brian Helgeland‘s “Finestkind,” the GameStop short comedy “Dumb Money,” and the star-studded New England noir “Reptile,” which makes the feature debut for Grant Singer.

David Fincher has explained why he chose to include tracks by The Smiths on the soundtrack for his upcoming film The Killer.Michael Fassbender stars as a troubled assassin in the upcoming thriller, which is based on the French graphic novel by Alexis Nolent. It was adapted by screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, who previously worked with Fincher on Seven.While the film’s score is composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Fincher explained at the Venice Film Festival how The Smiths also came to feature heavily on the soundtrack.“The Smiths were a post-production addition because I knew I wanted to use ‘How Soon Is Now?’ and I love the idea of that song specifically as a tool for assuaging his anxiety,” Fincher said (via IndieWire).

Ellise Shafer While receiving amfAR’s Award of Inspiration at the AIDS nonprofit’s Venice gala on Sunday night, Ava DuVernay recalled the first time she fell in love with movies. “It was the original ‘West Side Story,'” DuVernay said.

Max has announced that the second season of original series “Our Flag Means Death,” starring Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi, will be released on Oct. 5. The streamer also released a teaser for the new season of the pirate-y, period rom-com series.

Rita Ora looked stunning walking around on Thursday (August 31) Venice, Italy!

HBO Max‘s Our Flag Means Death is officially returning for its second season this year – watch the first teaser trailer below.The first teaser trailer for Our Flag Means Death‘s second season was unveiled by HBO Max last night (August 30), and confirms its release date of October 5 on the streaming service.The teaser trailer for season two sees Taika Waititi return as Blackbeard (aka Ed Teach) and Rhys Darby return as Stede Bonnet for HBO’s loose retelling of real-life English pirate Bonnet’s adventures with a comedic twist.Watch the teaser trailer for HBO Max’s Our Flag Means Death season two below.Season one of Our Flag Means Death ended on a bitter note as Bonnet and Teach were separated, leading Teach to believe he had been abandoned by Bonnet. The teaser for season two sees Bonnet embark on a quest to reunite with Teach, who has begun plotting his revenge against Bonnet for his perceived act of betrayal.Aside from Darby and Waititi, Samson Kayo, Vico Ortiz, Ewen Bremner, Joel Fry, Matthew Maher, Kristian Nairn, Con O’Neill, David Fane, Samba Schutte, Nat Faxon and Leslie Jones also star in the series.For its premiere on October 5, HBO Max will release three new episodes, with the rest of the season being released weekly until its conclusion on October 26.In other HBO news, the streaming service announced earlier this week that it has cancelled Sam Levinson and The Weeknd’s controversial series The Idol after just one season.

While many people were expecting big things from the series “Our Flag Means Death,” most probably didn’t expect it to be something of a queer love story. Now, with fans itching to know more about Stede and Blackbeard, we’re getting a tease about what to expect in Season 2.

Netflix has released the first trailer for David Fincher’s The Killer starring Michael Fassbender – check out the clip below.Fassbender plays a troubled assassin in the upcoming film, which is based on the French graphic novel by Alexis Nolent. It was adapted by screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, who previously worked with Fincher on Seven.A synopsis reads: “After a fateful near-miss, an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal.”Other cast members include Charles Parnell, Tilda Swinton, Arliss Howard and Sophie Charlotte.The Killer is set for release in select cinemas on October 28, before it streams on Netflix from November 10.The film marks Fincher’s latest collaboration with Netflix, following House Of Cards, Mindhunter, Love Death & Robots, Voir, and 2020 film Mank starring Gary Oldman.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor The Toronto International Film Festival is using Ticketmaster to book seats this year, and even though opening night is more than a week away, tickets for high-profile films are already going for more than ten times their face value. Festivalgoers are not happy about the high resale prices already popping up.