Focus Features, Peacock and Jordan Peele’s MonkeyPaw Productions have acquired worldwide rights to the megachurch satire starring Sterling K. Brown and Regina Hall.
24.01.2022 - 00:40 / deadline.com
Even right down to the title this religious comedy debuting appropriately today on a Sunday in the Premieres section of the Sundance Film Festival can’t seem to decide what it wants to be. Is it Honk For Jesus.? Or is it Save Our Soul.? OR is it as the credits say both? It is a indication of the main problem with this self-styled satire on scandal-ridden Southern Baptist megachurches. Is it supposed to be a comedy? Or is it aiming to be something deeper and more dramatic? Or is it both? Even for the best of satirists trying to keep an even tone without watching the whole souffle fall is a slippery slope, one that writer/director Adamma Ebo hasn’t quite solved, but not for lack of trying. As many have discovered, drama is easy, comedy is hard.
This feature filmmaking debut from Ebo who is part of a pair of American Nigerian twins who partner together on film and tv projects (sister Adanne is a producer on this outing) comes from a personal place for its director who grew up in Atlanta questioning the ethics and authenticity of the megachurch she attended as a young churchgoer. When scandal erupted and the pastor was accused of inappropriate sexual relationships with some of the young male parishoners, the ultimately forgiving and somewhat non-plussed reaction from the church faithful was of great concern to Ebo, further fueling her disaffection with organized money-driven religion to this day. In a search for answers it has inspired this satirical take in which the devoted wife of a pastor caught up in a scandal that threatens their entire enterprise must come to terms with her religion, her once thrving megachurch business, and her marriage during a period when they have been forced to shutter and now are two weeks
Focus Features, Peacock and Jordan Peele’s MonkeyPaw Productions have acquired worldwide rights to the megachurch satire starring Sterling K. Brown and Regina Hall.
previously snagged the rights to the next film by Nikyata Jusu, the director of “Nanny” whose film won the Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance. “Honk for Jesus” is a comedy and satire filmed partially as a faux-documentary, and it follows Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Brown) and his wife, First Lady Trinitie Childs (Hall), as the heads of a Southern Baptist mega church as they try and bounce back from a scandal that’s forced them to shut their doors and led their congregation to leave in a mass exodus. The film picks up in the aftermath as the Childs, still insanely wealthy, try and host an Easter service and drum up attention for the community with a feeble attempt telling passers by on the highway to “Honk for Jesus.” The movie satirizes the culture of for-profit religion and the corruption, back biting and ego that goes on behind the scenes.
Focus Features, Peacock, and Monkeypaw Productions have acquired global rights to Sundance Film Festival premiere Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul which will receive a theatrical day-and-date release in theaters and on Peacock later this year.
Regina Hall As we enter Black History Month, I reflect on the varied meanings it has held for me throughout the many stages of my life. When I was young, it felt like an obligatory time of homework and essays about Black historical figures. As I matured, it began to hold a great sense of pride for what my ancestors not only endured but survived.
Today marks the start of Black History Month, with the broadcast and cable networks and streamers planning a slew of TV series, movies, news programming, documentaries, specials and more to roll out over the course of February to celebrate, educate and entertain.
Tuesday marks the start of Black History Month, with the broadcast and cable networks and streamers planning a slew of TV series, movies, news programming, documentaries, specials and more to roll out over the course of February to celebrate, educate and entertain.
“Master.” When Pond brought up a scene from “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul” that takes place in a pool involving Hall’s toes, ripples of laughter erupted.
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorABC News is planning a wide array of special coverage in February devoted to Black History Month, including two primetime specials and bespoke segments across the news division’s various programs.“While we remain dedicated to telling the impactful and important stories around the Black community all year long, ABC News will provide special coverage throughout February to salute Black excellence,” said Kim Godwin, president of ABC News, in a prepared statement. “We will celebrate and honor Black culture across all programs and platforms, taking an in-depth look at issues past and present while spotlighting those who have overcome significant obstacles and paved the way for a better future.”The ABC News series “Soul of a Nation” will present “Screen Queens Rising” on Thursday, February 3 at 8 p.m..
“We grew up in Atlanta and in the church. Like in the height of Southern Baptist megachurches.
Black History Month is a time to celebrate important Black figures, moments that pushed the movement forward, and causes that support and amplify Black voices. And while there’s no shortage of movies or TV shows that depict the struggle — slavery, the Jim Crow South and other traumas the African American community has gone through — it's important to shine a light on the many stories of Black joy that celebrate family, friendships, love and the complexity of life.There's certainly a number of remarkable films, documentaries and series that explore all of that and more — so consider this a sampling of a few of the very best that are available and ready to stream now.From classic rom-coms like to beloved comedies like, dramedies like (all hail queen Issa Rae) and cultural exploration shows like, ET is celebrating Black History Month with films and television shows that beautifully showcase Black life, love and greatness. Starring Will Smith in a critically acclaimed performance, follows the journey of an instrumental father as he raises and trains two of the world's gifted athletes: Venus and Serena Williams.This hilarious comedy follows four longtime best friends, aka the Flossy Posse, who take a trip to New Orleans for the Essence Music Festival.
Bob Iger is barely out the door at the Walt Disney Company and a film from a scion of the founding family has already come along to give the well compensated ex-CEO a kick in the ass. However, besides attracting a lot of attention, the Abigail Disney co-directed The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales documentary doesn’t have much to add to the discussions of income inequity, ice cold hearted corporations and the legacy of the Reagan Revolution, except a high profile and well-heeled surname.
Things have not been going well for Emily. Some of it is just terrible luck.
Attempting to remake a classic film is never an easy assignment. Especially when said classic is as revered as Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 drama “Ikiru.” Director Oliver Hermanus and screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro could have placed the story in contemporary times, making a new version more palatable for some critics, but instead, set it in the exact same era only interchanging London for Tokyo.
“Bless your heart,” a former congregant says to Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall), the first lady of the Atlanta-based Baptist megachurch Wander To Greater Paths. As the film crew that’s been following the first lady for weeks looks on, Childs’ immediate reaction, Hall has always been a killer emotive actor, is to hold back the flurry of insults swirling underneath her polite grimace-smile.
With a promising start with his first film Shithouse for which he starred, directed and wrote and won the Grand Jury Narrative Prize at SXSW, Cooper Raiff looms now also to be one of the breakouts of this year’s Sundance Film Festival where Cha Cha Real Smooth, his small but splendid second film for which he performs the same triple threat duties debuted Sunday as part of the Dramatic Competition lineup. I can only imagine if the festival had managed to be in person as originally planned rather than virtual in this Omicron-stricken year it would be met with a massive standing ovation. Raiff is bound to become an indie darling as if further proof was needed, but Cha Cha Real Smooth cements him as the real deal both in front of and behind the camera.
Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticHow to take on the hypocrisy of megachurch culture on a micro budget? That’s the quandary at the center of the Ebo twins’ “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.” An easy-target satire of a disgraced Southern Baptist pastor and the First Lady who stood by his side amidst scandal, packed as a Christopher Guest-style mock documentary, writer-director Adamma Ebo’s indie comedy (produced by sister Adanne) should tickle those who share her skepticism of organized religion — especially the profit-oriented variety — but doesn’t go much deeper than the 15-minute short film on which it’s based.The biggest upgrade here comes from recasting power couple Lee-Curtis and Trinitie Childs with Sterling K.
Angelique Jackson Have you ever heard of praise miming?It’s a style of praise dance popular in some Black churches, where performers swap lyrical movement for miming and often wear mimes’ traditional white face makeup. This form of worship plays a central role in “Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul,” the Sundance stunner from identical twin sisters, writer-director Adamma and producer Adanne Ebo.Their film follows pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K.
Resurrection is a tedious, one-note paranoiac thriller that never shifts gears to get out of its rut. With classy production values and a tony cast led by Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth, writer-director Andrew Semans’ first feature in a decade, since the similarly plotted Nancy, Please, grinds on trying to build suspense but doesn’t have much of a clue as to how to tease and tantalize an audience. A significant theatrical release for this Sundance Premieres item seems most unlikely.
Virgino and Sisa live what most people would consider a very simple life. They raise and care for Lamas in the Bolivian highlands keeping the traditions of their Quechua people alive.