Riverside Entertainment Hires; Beau Bridges, Eliza Coupe, Michael Madsen, Edward Furlong Castings; ‘I Am DB Cooper’, ‘Jurassic Punk’ Acquisitions; More – Film Briefs

EXCLUSIVE: Mario Van Peebles (Power Book III: Raising Kanan) has wrapped production in Montana on Outlaws, a new Western that he wrote, directed and stars in for Quiver. Others joining Van Peebles in major roles include Whoopi Goldberg (Till), Cedric the Entertainer (The Neighborhood), Edward James Olmos (Mayans M.C.), John Carroll Lynch (Big Sky), William Mapother (Son of Monarchs) and M. Emmet Walsh (The Immaculate Room). 

EXCLUSIVE: MPI Original Films and BET have added to the cast of their feature Kemba, inspired by the life of criminal justice reform advocate Kemba Smith, with Michelle Hurd (Star Trek: Picard), Sean Patrick Thomas (Till), Siddiq Saunderson (Wu-Tang: An American Saga) and June Carryl (Helstrom) signing on for roles. Nesta Cooper will lead the cast of the film directed by Kelley Kali, which is currently shooting in Atlanta, as previously announced.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has picked up U.S. rights to Misanthrope, a psychological thriller marking the first English-feature from BAFTA-winning Argentinian director Damián Szifron (Wild Tales). The indie distributor has slated the film starring Emmy nominee Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies), Emmy winner Ben Mendelsohn (The Outsider) and Emmy nominee Jovan Adepo (Babylon) for release exclusively in theaters nationwide in the first half of 2023.

EXCLUSIVE: Rob Morgan (Smile) will produce and star in the crime film Dixie Crystal, based on the real-life FBI Operation of the same name, from brother filmmakers Conor and Jake Allyn (No Man’s Land).

EXCLUSIVE: Actresses Michaela McManus (The Orville) and Andi Matichak (Halloween franchise) have signed with Silver Lining Entertaining for management.

Screams filled the air at Scone Palace on Friday night marking the return of the frightfully entertaining Spirits of Scone.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor CANNES – The newly constituted senior entertainment team at Fox Corp. came to Mipcom this year with checkbooks in hand. The trio of executives who offered the keynote address Monday evening at the international content conference were blunt in telling the crowd that they came to make some new friends around the world and strike some deals. The company is bucking the trend in media toward direct-to-consumer subscription platforms. Fox is putting its resources into content and IP that can travel around the world and be adaptable in many forms. “While others are trying to hide their content behind paywalls, we are doing the opposite,” said Rob Wade, who was promoted this month to CEO of Fox Entertainment (“I’m 10 days in to the job,” he noted with a smile on stage). “We see the potential of working with (outside) networks, producers and distributors to be able to get our content out there further.”

New Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade has talked up the potential for TMZ to become a “huge entertainment studio,” setting out his stall at Mipcom Cannes for the first time since he replaced Charlie Collier.

MJ, the hit Broadway musical about Michael Jackson and featuring many of his most popular songs, will open in London in March 2024, producers announced today.

Madison the matchmaker? Madison LeCroy has a few thoughts on who ex-boyfriend Austen Kroll should date following his split from Olivia Flowers.

Florence + The Machine have shared a new live album recorded at their huge Madison Square Garden show in New York last month.The gig took place on September 17 as part of a world tour behind Florence’s new album ‘Dance Fever’, and a 24-track live album of the performance has hit streaming services today (October 14).The career-spanning set begins with recent single ‘Heaven Is Here’, with ‘Dance Fever’ songs ‘Free’, ‘King’ and more also aired.The live album then finishes with renditions of huge hits ‘Shake It Out’ and ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’.Listen to the whole thing below.The North American leg of the ‘Dance Fever’ world tour will wrap up tonight (October 14) with a show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. From there, the tour will continue on to the UK and Europe in November, before heading to Australia and New Zealand in early 2023.‘Dance Fever’, Florence + The Machine’s fifth studio album, was released in May 2022.

New footage from January 6, 2021, shows a candid moment where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi threatened to physically strike then-President Trump, should he have joined those protesting at the Capitol. In the video, which was publicly shared Thursday, Pelosi admits the actions could have resulted in her going to prison — a consequence she said she would "be happy" to accept. "I hope he comes, I’m going to punch him out," Pelosi tells her Chief of Staff Terri McCullough, who discourages her boss from making the comments.

UK Government support for fracking is a "smokescreen" to hide its failure to lower the cost of energy, an SNP minister has said.

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol is expected to vote Thursday to subpoena former President Trump.  The committee’s members, seven Democrats and two anti-Trump Republicans, will hold a vote to compel the former president to testify about his conduct leading up to the incident, sources tell Fox News.Trump has previously refused to voluntarily cooperate with the panel, calling it a partisan witch hunt.  "What Donald Trump proceeded to do after the 2020 election is something no president had done before in our country," said Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter ABC Entertainment has hired Felicia Joseph to serve as senior vice president of casting, Variety has learned. Joseph joins ABC from MRC, where she most recently served as the independent studio’s senior vice president of casting. In her new role, she will report to Sharon Klein, the executive vice president of casting for Walt Disney Television. She will oversee casting for all ABC pilots and series as well as unscripted casting for Hulu and other WDTV brands. The role marks a homecoming for Joseph, who began her career in the casting department at ABC. “I’ve had the good fortune of collaborating with Felicia in the past and know how well she cultivates relationships with talent who are at the top of their craft,” Klein said. “Her passion, instinct and deep understanding of our business make her ideal for this role and, quite frankly, the only person I wanted for the job. We’re overjoyed to be welcoming her back to ABC, where she started her career.”

Michael Callan, the versatile actor who appeared in everything from broad comedies such as Cat Ballou to the original Broadway production of West Side Story to frothy romances like Gidget Goes Hawaiian and virtually every hit TV show of the ’70s and ’80s has died, according to a Deadline source. He was 86.

The Broadway production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Between Riverside And Crazy starring Common will be simulcast during its final two weeks in February, producer Second Stage Theatre announced today.