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Marnie panel and screening with Nicholas Wright and Michael Mayer at the Film Society of Lincoln Center Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Nico Muhly's Marnie, based on Winston Graham’s novel, which had been adapted by Jay Presson Allen for Alfred Hitchcock's film (starring Sean Connery and Tippi Hedren) is coming to The Metropolitan Opera in New York. At the Film Society of Lincoln Center, librettist Nicholas Wright and director Michael Mayer joined Paul Cremo (Director of Opera Commissioning Program at The Met) before a 35mm print screening of Marnie for a conversation on the choices they made in adapting the book for the opera. They shared their comments on the controversial film, Hitchcock's mothers and the sexual politics of the times.

Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard stars as Marnie and baritone Christopher Maltman is the man who pursues her. The costumes are by Arianne Phillips who also did Michael Mayer's Broadway production of Head Over Heels,...

‪Michael Mayer‬ on ‪Keri Russell joining Adam Driver in the director's Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson's Burn This‬: "We did a reading of the play with Adam some weeks ago, and I responded immediately to her great intelligence and passion." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

‪Michael Mayer‬, the director of The Seagull and the timely and rapturous Broadway musical Head Over Heels (based on Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia featuring the song catalogue of The Go-Go's and Belinda Carlisle), has just announced that ‪Keri Russell will be joining her Star Wars: Episode IX comrade Adam Driver (star of Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman) in Mayer's Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson's Burn This‬. The original production of Burn This in 1987 starred John Malkovich and Joan Allen.

‪Michael Mayer,‬ who is also directing Nico Muhly's opera Marnie, based on Winston Graham’s novel, at The Metropolitan Opera in New York, will participate in...

Fox is raising “Bastards.”

The network has given a put pilot order to the single-camera comedy series from Nicholas Wright, James Woods and Ed Weeks.

“Bastards” centers on a womanizing game show host who dies and leaves his mansion to his three kids, who each assumed they were an only child. The offspring then decide to live together and form an unusual family.

Wright and Woods, who co-wrote “Independence Day: Resurrection,” are executive producers with Weeks, known for playing Jeremy on “The Mindy Project.

You could generously call the decision to hide Independence Day: Resurgence from critics an “unconventional” choice. 20th Century Fox initially wasn’t screening the movie at all before it opened, then opted to only show it earlier today at a press screening hours after it hit screens, that’s not much of a sign of confidence. It’s odd too, considering how well regarded the original is and how well nostalgia worked for Jurassic World last year. Well, I hate to be the one to say it, but they were right to hide this one. It’s out now and likely will do strong business, but the quality drop between Independence Day and Independence Day: Resurgence is staggering. What a shame too. I’m sure everyone knows what this flick is about, but just quickly, I’ll state the obvious that it’s a sequel to the disaster epic that...

All the movie buffs out there have a very exciting weekend to look forward to. 24th of June marks the date of some exceptional movie release that cannot be missed. From watching our personal favourite Nawazuddin in a dark avatar in Raman Raghav 2.0 to to Dhanak that is based on the concept of celebrating life, there’s a variety of movies to choose from.

Here are 5 movies you need to watch this weekend with your friends and family:

7 Hours To Go: 7 Hours To Go is an power-packed thriller written & directed by Saurabh Verma starring Shiva Pandit, Sanddepa Dhar, Natasha Stankovic and Varun Badola. The movie is inspired by real life events that take place on a regular basis in Mumbai. 7 Hours To Go revolves around a hostage crisis and the whirlwind of events that take place within 7 hours after that incident. The intensity of the concept and the hard...

All the movie buffs out there have a very exciting weekend to look forward to. 24th of June marks the date of some exceptional movie release that cannot be missed. From watching our personal favourite Nawazuddin in a dark avatar in Raman Raghav 2.0 to to Dhanak that is based on the concept of celebrating life, there’s a variety of movies to choose from.

Here are 5 movies you need to watch this weekend with your friends and family:

7 Hours To Go: 7 Hours To Go is an power-packed thriller written & directed by Saurabh Verma starring Shiva Pandit, Sanddepa Dhar, Natasha Stankovic and Varun Badola. The movie is inspired by real life events that take place on a regular basis in Mumbai. 7 Hours To Go revolves around a hostage crisis and the whirlwind of events that take place within 7 hours after that incident. The intensity of the concept and the hard...

20th Century Fox announced that they will re-release director Roland Emmerich's 1996 sci-fi blockbuster, "Independence Day", as a special double feature in front of this summers "Independence Day: Resurgence" on Thursday, June 23rd.

Emmerich directed the original "Independence Day", which starred Will Smith, and this year's sequel. The screenplay is written by Emmerich, Dean Devlin, James Vanderbilt, James A. Woods, and Nicholas Wright.

The sequel stars Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch, Bill Pullman and Brent Spiner from the original film. The additional cast includes Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher, Maika Monroe, Sela Ward and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

After "Independence Day" redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity...

Roland Emmerich’s follow-up to his 1996 blockbuster that launched the film career of Will Smith will be called Independence Day Resurgence.

Emmerich directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Electric Entertainment chief Dean Devlin, who co-wrote and produced the original, as well as James Vanderbilt, James A Woods and Nicholas Wright.

Devlin, Emmerich and Harald Kloser produce.

Fox will release the alien invasion tentpole on June 24, 2016.

Liam Hemsworth stars with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Angelababy, Sela Ward, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch and Vivica A Fox.

Independence Day had Bill Pullman’s President Thomas J. Whitmore around to rally humanity and fight the aliens. But unless the universe in which the film takes place has very different rules governing Us presidents, he can’t still be the leader of the free world 20 years later. And indeed it’s true – Sela Ward will be President Lanford in Independence Day 2.She’ll be the White House incumbent – we assume the place has been rebuilt since the original attack – for the story of Earth having to fend off the next wave of extra-terrestrial invasion attempts. Ward is one of the new faces for the franchise, joining the likes of Liam Hemsworth, Maika Monroe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jessie Usher, Travis Tope and Joey King, alongside returning cast members Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Vivica A. Fox, Judd Hirsch and Brent Spiner.Emmerich has been developing this one for a while now, working...

Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich are remaking Stargate, because the original is twenty years old and that's just too long to go without a sequel, remake or reboot.

The Hollywood Reporter brings word that  Nicholas Wright and James A Woods are nearing a deal to write the screenplay. Wright and Woods penned the latest, and greenlit, version of Independence Day 2.

Devlin and Emmerich were so thrilled with the ID4:2 script that they just had to sign the duo to write the first of what their planning be a trilogy of Stargate films.

Emmerich will direct the film, with Devlin producing.

Source: THR ...

It's finally, definitely happening: Independence Day 2 - without Will Smith - will land in cinemas in June 2016...

It's taken many, many years to get to this stage, but finally, 20th Century Fox has given Independence Day 2 a formal greenlight.

Ever since the first Independence Day become a monster success back in the summer of 1996, there's been talk of follow-ups. For a while, it looked like there would be a pair of them, and at one stage, the title ID4Ever was being banded around. Fortunately, someone sobered up there just in time.

Deadline now reports though that Independence Day 2 is definitely happening, and that it's going to start shooting in May. Roland Emmerich will be returning to direct, and it'll be one single film, rather than a pair of sequels that we're getting. At least for now.

Dean Devlin is returning to produce, and he and Emmerich put together the first draft of the screenplay.

Opera has always been a reflection of the cultural zeitgeist of Western society. Historical events, popular stories, real people—they’ve all inspired musicalizations which allow patrons to connect directly with cultural moments in artistic ways.

But while opera may have stopped being the most popular art form, it never stopped being a relevant one. Hats off to the contemporary composers who continue to devote themselves to breathing life into the art form (because if they don’t, who will?). Opera is an endangered species, much like pandas or stenographers, and it continues to thrive creatively by reflecting the pop culture moments—movies,...

Stars: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, James Woods | Written by James Vanderbilt | Directed by Roland Emmerich

White House Down might be the greatest film ever made. At least that was my immediate reaction as the couple of people I texted informing them so could testify to. In the cold light of day, I understand that technically it’s not the greatest film ever made but it’s easily one of my favourites of the year so far.

What makes it so easy to like is that it knows exactly what it wants to do and exactly how to do it really well. It helps that what the film wants to do is provide a showcase for some excellent action sequences, make you laugh and do some really big explosions. I am 100% in favour of cinema being an art form with which to explore characters,...

Stars: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, James Woods | Written by James Vanderbilt | Directed by Roland Emmerich

White House Down might be the greatest film ever made. At least that was my immediate reaction as the couple of people I texted informing them so could testify to. In the cold light of day, I understand that technically it’s not the greatest film ever made but it’s easily one of my favourites of the year so far and the most fun I’ve had in a cinema since Bad Lieutenant.

What makes it so easy to like is that it knows exactly what it wants to do and exactly how to do it really well. It helps that what the film wants to do is provide a showcase for some excellent action sequences, make you laugh and do some really big explosions. I...

Naomi Watts risks public backlash by playing Diana, Princess of Wales, while Danny Boyle's biggest headache concerns the pronunciation of his latest movie

Stage or screen?

Trash made one of its infrequent visits to the theatre last week as a panellist for Nt Live, the National Theatre's whizz idea of transmitting live stage performances into cinemas around the world. The play in question was Travelling Light, written by Nicholas Wright and directed by the Nt's artistic director, Nicholas Hytner, both of whom joined me on the panel, hosted by Emma Freud. So while we and the audience at the Lyttelton watched a play starring Antony Sher, about the invention of silent film in a Jewish shtetl as recounted in flashback by a Hollywood mogul, audiences around the world watched too via a live broadcast.

"Was the character based on any real-life Hollywood mogul?" I asked Wright. I couldn't tell...

For those of you who like plays, movies, or silence, you're in luck. Nicholas Wright has a new play that imagines the birth of silent film in a remote eastern European village at the turn of the 20th century. Even though this production is being performed across the Atlantic Ocean in London's National Theatre, National Theatre Live is broadcasting the performance on Feb. 12 at 4 p.m. to hundreds of cinemas and performing arts venues around the world. You can watch this stream at the James Bridge Theater at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, 235 Charles E. Young Dr., L.A. Call (310) 827-0889 or visit www.latw.org. Tickets are $20 ($10 with student ID). For locations in NYC, where the play will be broadcast starting on Feb. 9, and across the country, visit www.ntlive.com.

Royal Court; Lyttelton; Theatre503, London

Every now and then the Royal Court does this. It throws up a small-cast, depth-charge production that makes bigger dramas look over-stuffed and under-nourished. It did so metaphysically with Caryl Churchill's A Number and emotionally with Mike Bartlett's Cock. It has done so again with Nick Payne's wiry new play.

Constellations is a love story that investigates ideas about time. Or it's a look at theories about time that takes the form of a love story. It tells us that we may have no such thing as free will, but leaves its audience to make up its own mind. Following the lead given 14 years ago by Michael Frayn's Copenhagen, in which a scientific theory is demonstrated in the structure of the play that discusses it, Constellations embodies its doubts and questions. It quizzes the notion of destiny by giving alternative versions...

Magic moments in films rarely need words, says Nicholas Wright, as his play about Hollywood, Travelling Light, hits the stage

God knows how many films I've seen in my life (about one a day is my average), but I've seldom witnessed such a receptive audience as I did for The Artist the other week. Memories of all the silent films I watched during my childhood came swinging back to me; looking around, the rest of the cinema seemed to bask in a similarly rapt and innocent haze of pleasure. When it was over, they clapped as they would at the end of an exceptionally good play.

Of all the many strengths of Michel Hazanavicius's film, the absence of words is the greatest. No words means no reliance on a form of communication that isn't, in fact, anything like as effective as we think. The language of gesture often says...

The Observer's critics pick the season's highlights, from Degas to Depp, and Britney to the Bard

September

1 Theatre: Decade In a former trading hall on London's St Katharine Docks, Rupert Goold's production evokes the legacy of 9/11, with the help of Simon Schama and Abi Morgan. Until 15 October.

4 Pop: Adele After her summer to die for (No1 album, ubiquitous single), Adele starts her UK tour in Plymouth. She's in London on the 19th and 20th and ends in Glasgow (25).

6 Dance: Tezuka New evening-length piece by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, inspired by the work of renowned Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Starring Daniel Proietto, the piece features a specially commissioned score by Nitin Sawhney. At Sadler's Wells until 10 September.

8 Pop: Bestival The Isle of Wight weekender always has a hefty line-up: this yearboasts new kids James Blake and Odd Future alongside the Cure, Brian Wilson and Björk.

9 Theatre: We are Three Sisters...

Thea Sharrock will direct Clare Higgins in the title role of Mrs Klein in the first London revival of Nicholas Wright's play. Mrs Klein previews at the Almeida Theatre from 22 October 2009 with press night on 29 October 2009 and will run until 5 December 2009. Joining Clare Higgins are Nicola Walker as Paula and Zoe Waites as Melitta. Designs are by Tim Hatley with lighting by Neil Austin and sound by Ian Dickinson.