‘Till’ Biopic Features New Original Song Oscar Contender From Jazmine Sullivan and D’Mile (EXCLUSIVE)

A.D. Amorosi The import of crafting an original song for “Till,” director and co-writer Chinonye Chukwu’s heart-wrenching biopic on the execution of Emmett Till and the quest for justice led by his mother, Mamie, was never lost on Jazmine Sullivan and Dernst “D’Mile’ Emile II, the songwriters, performer and producer, respectively, of “Stand Up.” Soon to be submitted for Academy Awards consideration, “Stand Up” was released on Oct. 7, as the film, “Till,” expands with its broad theatrical release planned for Oct 21. The lineage of “Stand Up” is beyond stellar. The emotional depth-defying vocals and songwriting skills of Sullivan won her 2022 Grammys for best R&B performance (“Pick Up Your Feelings”) and best R&B album (“Heaux Tales”). Equally emotive when it comes to crafting melody, D’Mile became the first songwriter in Grammy history to win song of the year two years in a row with H.E.R.’s “I Can’t Breathe” in 2021 and Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open” in 2022, along with having won an Oscar for best original song for his “Judas and the Black Messiah” (2021) track, “Fight for You,” with H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas.

Sherri Saum and James Denton team up for a duet at a rehearsal dinner in their new movie, Perfect Harmony, airing tonight on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

Specialty film rollouts continues to accelerate with Chinonye Chukwu’s Till, Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave and A24’s Stars At Noon joining releases from previous weeks to populate theaters as awards season gathers steam.  

Jalyn Hall plays the title character Emmett Till in the new movie Till and we caught up with the young actor to learn more about him!

Independent projections predicted a $50 million opening weekend for the Universal and Blumhouse picture, on par with that of “Halloween Kills.” The 2021 sequel scored $4.9 million at its Thursday box office debut. In 2018, “Halloween” made $7.7 million on its first night and went on to earn an eye-popping $77.5 million from its opening weekend – the second highest of any rated-R horror movie at the time.Set four years after the events of “Halloween Kills,” “Halloween Ends” presents the last showdown between Laurie Strode (Curtis) and longtime nemesis Michael Myers.

Clayton Davis Reputations go a long way in Hollywood, and when you’re seeking Oscar attention, a good one provides a significant edge against the competition. While more than a few contenders in this year’s mix have had previous run-ins with colleagues and journalists, those without that baggage have social media, and the industry, rooting for them. At the top of the list is Brendan Fraser, one of the best comeback stories in years. In Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale” (Aronofsky and Fraser are both on the cover of this week’s New York issue of Variety) where he plays a 600-pound man looking to reconnect with his daughter, he delivers an astounding performance. The adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter’s play may face an uphill battle in other major categories, based on reactions so far. However, the star of “The Mummy” (1999) and “Encino Man” (1992) has been able to rise above any criticism, especially after Variety posted a viral video of him getting emotional during the film’s standing ovation at Venice.

EXCLUSIVE: Guillermo del Toro will add a further string to his bow this season as part of the songwriting team behind the music of Pinocchio. Del Toro directs his warm and wild stop-motion animated adaptation of the classic story from Carlo Collodi with Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr. Fox). It is a project the Oscar-winning filmmaker has nurtured for years, and he also co-wrote the screenplay with Patrick McHale. The film makes its world premiere at the London Film Festival on Saturday.

EXO member D.O. will be contributing a new song to his ongoing K-drama series Bad Prosecutor next week.On October 7, SM Entertainment announced that the idol-actor is set to release the OST song ‘Bite’ for Bad Prosecutor, which he currently leads, on October 19.

Jazmine Sullivan has shared new song "Stand Up." The track features on the soundtrack to Oscar-contender Till and is Sullivan's first single since her 2021 album Heaux Tales, named Best R&B Album at this year's Grammys. Check it out below.

Naman Ramachandran After 22 weeks in cinemas across Ireland and the U.K., writer-director Colm Bairéad’s “An Cailín Ciúin” (“The Quiet Girl”) has crossed €1 million ($971,000) at the box office. The film is Ireland’s entry in the Oscars’ international feature category. Based on Irish author Claire Keegan’s story “Foster,” the coming-of-age film, set in rural Ireland in 1981, follows Cáit (Catherine Clinch) as she is sent from her overcrowded, dysfunctional household to live with distant relatives for the summer. It has been an unstoppable force on the festival and awards circuit, winning top prizes at the Berlin, Dublin and Taipei film festivals and sweeping the Irish Film and Television Awards. Produced by Cleona Ní Chrualaoi for Inscéal, the film is distributed by Break Out Pictures and Curzon.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer After debuting eight new original holiday movies in 2021, BET+ is getting even more into the seasonal spirit this year with 10 more titles rolling out beginning Nov. 3, Variety has learned exclusively. The 2022 slate features films starring Ne-Yo, Sereyah, Romeo Miller, LeToya Luckett and LaLa Milan, as well as returning BET+ holiday movie staples like Jasmine Guy, Terrence Carson and Dorien Wilson. The titles come from directors and writers including Victoria Rowell (who also appears in “A Christmas Gift”), Robin Givens, Bree West and Patricia Cuffie Jones. “We’re committed to bringing quality Black stories to the screen and the holidays are no exception,” BET+ executive vice president and general manager Devin Griffin said. “Year after year, our members devour holiday programming; in fact, our original holiday films continue to out-perform, which is why we’re committed to growing our investment in this area of the service. But it’s not just about meeting demand, it’s also about authenticity. Our cast and crews are a powerhouse of Black excellence from creatives behind the camera like Victoria Rowell, Robin Givens and Patricia Cuffie Jones to the incredible performances of talent like Ne-Yo, Serayah, Romeo Miller, Dorien Wilson and Jasmine Guy, to name a few. With a weekly rollout of content come November, we’re excited to help our members celebrate and enjoy the holidays all season long.”

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages are Davis’ assessment of the current standings of the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any film or performance. Like any organization or body that votes, each individual category is fluid and subject to change. Predictions are updated every Thursday. LAST UPDATED: Oct. 7, 2022 CATEGORY COMMENTARY:

EXCLUSIVE: One of the most honored documentaries of the year is heading to the very big screen.

A phony pawn shop. A fake liquor store. A village made up of one faux storefront after another, like something from a Hollywood backlot. What was this strange, ersatz Main Street erected on an army base in Virginia in 1967? A place dubbed “Riotsville.”

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Growing up in Texas toward the tail end of the 20th century, I was not taught about Emmett Till. I’ve learned about him since, of course. Till’s name adorns this year’s overdue federal antilynching act, and his tragic fate has inspired plays and films, including 2018’s Oscar-nominated short, “My Nephew Emmett,” and now a powerful new feature from Chinonye Chukwu, who gave Alfre Woodard one of her greatest roles in 2019 Sundance winner “Clemency.” Till’s story — that of a 14-year-old Black boy from Chicago who was kidnapped in the middle of the night and lynched while visiting his family in Mississippi — may have been omitted from my Southern schooling for racist reasons, though I suspect it had as much to do with Western culture’s “great man” bias. History, as a field of study, celebrates the achievements of heroic individuals. Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks. Those names were all taught. But Emmett Till was a kid whose murder galvanized the American civil rights movement, and it has taken a different kind of thinking — à la “Say Their Names” campaign or Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station” — to position victims in the public’s mind.

Clayton Davis We have Denzel Washington’s single teardrop. We have Viola Davis’ runny nose. And now, we have Danielle Deadwyler’s lip quiver, expertly executed in Chinonye Chukwu’s deeply moving drama “Till.” Another best actress contender emerges although I wish the film could rise to the level of Deadwyler’s performance.   The sturdy drama follows Mamie Till (Deadwyler), the mother of Emmett Till, whose abduction and lynching in 1955 sparked global outrage and served as an important catalyst in the civil rights movement. “Till” charts Mamie’s grief, as well as her pursuit of justice. But getting people to see a movie about such a horrific event will be a tough sell, even if the film avoids depicting much of the brutality of Emmett Till’s killing.  

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor LCD Soundsystem has released their first single in over five years, “New Body Rhumba.” The song features on the soundtrack of Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise,” which will be wide released in theaters on Nov. 25. The Brooklyn dance-rock band is hoping the song will be a major player in the Oscar race for best original song. Released via Columbia Records and DFA Records, James Murphy, Pat Mahoney and Nancy Whang wrote the single, which was produced by Murphy for DFA Productions. “White Noise” will open the New York Film Festival. The film is an adaptation of Don DeLillo’s novel of the same name and tells the story of a contemporary American family attempting to deal with everyday life’s mundane conflicts amid an airborne toxic event.

Six seasons and a movie is finally real after NBCUniversal’s Peacock ordered a feature film closure for Community.

True-crime films are all the rage nowadays. Thanks to streamers like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and the rest, film and TV libraries are filled to the brim with docuseries and narrative projects about real-life criminal activity.