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Oscar-nominated actor and Emmy-winning star Sterling K. Brown is reuniting with his “This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman for a new thriller series.

Gone is the feel-good, family-friendly tone of ensemble drama “This Is Us”: Instead, Fogelman and Brown’s latest collaboration “Paradise” is pure murder mystery with a government conspiracy twist.

Brown plays a government agent who is questioned after the death of one of his neighbors. The official synopsis reads: “‘Paradise’ is set in a serene community inhabited by some of the world’s most prominent individuals. But this tranquility explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high-stakes investigation unfolds.”

James Marsden, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Aliyah Mastin, and Percy Daggs IV co-star. Marsden has already been part of a quasi-legal series with meta documentary show “Jury Duty.” Meanwhile, Nicholson won an Emmy for her turn in detective show “Mare of Easttown.”

“Paradise...

Regina Hall and her Rh Negative production company have struck an exclusive first-look deal with MGM Alternative, a division of Amazon MGM Studios.

Under the pact, Hall and her team will develop and produce original unscripted true crime, ensemble docuseries, and game genres.

The first project set under the deal is celebrity competition series Squad Games (working title). Loosely inspired by her film Girls Trip, the series, which is in development, features celebrities and their real-life BFFs on an exotic getaway where they compete in wild challenges.

“Ever since we saw Regina Hall co-hosting the Academy Awards two years ago, we knew she had something special that would resonate with reality fans,” said Barry Poznick, general manager, MGM Alternative. “Her humour, honesty, creativity and style of storytelling make her a perfect partner as we continue to expand MGM Alternative’s slate of premium unscripted programming.”

Hall has starred in franchises such as The Best Man,...

Regina Hall is getting into the unscripted TV business.

The Best Man: Final Chapters and Girls Trip star, via her Rh Negative production company, has signed a first-look deal with MGM Alternative, the unscripted division of Amazon MGM Studios, to develop and produce shows across a range of unscripted genres, including game shows, true crime and docuseries. The first project under the deal is called Squad Games, a competition loosely inspired by Girls Trip that will feature “celebrities and their real-life BFFs on an exotic getaway where they compete in wild challenges.”

“I’m so excited for this new partnership with MGM,” Hall said in a statement. “I’m positive that the relationship between Rh Negative and their team will be an incredibly supportive and productive one and I’m thrilled about what we have in the works.”

Said Barry Poznick, general manager of MGM Alternative, “Ever since we saw...

Regina Hall and her Rh Negative production company have struck an exclusive first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios’ MGM Alternative that will see the actress and her team develop and produce original unscripted true crime, ensemble docuseries and game genres.

The first series to go into development under the pact is “Squad Games” (working title), a competition series where celebrities and their real-life BFFs go on an exotic getaway and participate in wild challenges. The project is loosely inspired on Hall’s 2017 film “Girls Trip,” which she starred in with Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish.

“I’m so excited for this new partnership with MGM,” Hall said in a statement. “I’m positive that the relationship between Rh Negative and their team will be an incredibly supportive and productive one and I’m thrilled about what we have in the works.”

Hall is best known for starring...

Regina Hall and her production company Rh Negative have struck an exclusive first-look deal with MGM Alternative, the division of Amazon MGM Studios behind series like “The Voice,” “Survivor” and “Shark Tank.”

Under the agreement, Hall and her team will develop and produce original unscripted true crime, ensemble docuseries and game genres.

The first series Hall is developing for MGM Alternative has the working title “Squad Games,” a competition series loosely inspired by her film “Girls Trip” that will follow celebrities and their real-life BFFs on an exotic getaway full of wild challenges.

“I’m so excited for this new partnership with MGM. I’m positive that the relationship between Rh Negative and their team will be an incredibly supportive and productive one and I’m thrilled about what we have in the works,” Hall said in a statement.

Barry Poznick, general manager of MGM Alternative, added: “Ever since we...

Exclusive: Indican Pictures has acquired North American rights for Boaz Yakin’s dance, rap and slam poetry-led romance Once Again (For The Very First Time) and will start rolling it out theatrically across the U.S. in October.

Billed as a break-dance, hip-hop supernatural fantasy, the movie stars Jeroboam Bozeman as DeRay, a legendary rapper and convicted killer who falls through the sky to land outside the door of Naima (Mecca Verdell), a slam poetess who is the love of his life.

The lovers are both survivors of trauma and guilt, who channel their pain into their art against the backdrop of the war zone of the New York streets. They wrestle with their love in an emotional and psychological space that is out of place and out of time.

The dance sequences were choreographed by Rennie Harris and the score was written by Marcus Norris (Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul.

Many horror fans probably know that one of the working titles for Wes Craven's 1996 slasher revival "Scream" was "Scary Movie." "Scream," if you'll recall, was a metanarrative horror film, a slasher populated by teenage characters who were movie-savvy enough to recognize they were, themselves, in a slasher situation. The killer had seen "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th," and arranged his murders accordingly. As a character says late in the film, "Movies don't create killers. Movies make killers creative."

"Scream" almost immediately entrenched itself in the pop consciousness, tapping into 1990s self-awareness and reviving the moribund slasher genre for the irony generation. It also wasn't long before the culture became self-aware of its own self-awareness, and thought to dissect the very act of dissection. The ironic mockery of irony was the dominant ethos of the late 1990s. Listen to Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta" sometime for another example of the attitude at play.

When Kara Durrett and Jesse Burgum, the duo behind the production-finance company Pinky Promise, first met, it was 104 degrees. They were filming in the attic of a church in Decatur, Georgia, working on Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul, the first movie Burgum financed where Durrett was working as an independent producer.

“A lot of people were focusing on where they were going to sit in relationship to the monitor. Kara was finding fans and the AC guy. I was like, ‘Ok, this girl’s the real deal,’ ” recalls Burgum. The film went on to screen at the Sundance Film Festival, selling to Focus Features. And Durrett and Burgum went on to form a partnership that has encompassed title’s like Andrea Arnold’s Cannes entry Bird, Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut (upcoming via Sony) and Gia Coppola’s Pamela Anderson starrer The Last Showgirl, which premiered at TIFF on Sept.

Exclusive: Adamma and Adanne Ebo have inked an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television. Under the pact, the sisters will develop, create, and produce drama, comedy, and animation series for all platforms.

Adamma and Adanne Ebo are American-Nigerian identical twins, who create together as a filmmaking duo. They sold their feature film Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul. starring Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown to Focus Features and Monkeypaw at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Their TV writing credits include Emmy-nominated series Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Batman: Caped Crusader, both for Prime Video. Adamma Ebo has directed for Atlanta, Swarm, and up next Peacock’s mystery-drama series Poker Face Season 2.

“Adamma and Adanne are dynamic and talented creators, and we are thrilled to welcome them to the Sony family,” Lauren Stein, Head of Creative, Sony Pictures Television Studios shared in a statement. “We are excited to support and explore...

The stats are impressive enough: In just three-and-a-half years of existence, Pinky Promise Films have produced a dozen films, grown to six total employees, and debuted one heck of a cute website.

But for founder and CEO Jessamine (Aka “Jesse”) Burgum and president Kara Durrett, there’s another, slightly less quantifiable measurement they really like to see grow: people are calling them to produce their projects.

“We’re just entering into this wonderful era right now with Pinky Promise where people now know about us,” Durrett said during a recent interview with IndieWire. “People would not call us first, I would say, for a little while, because they just didn’t know who we were. We are now entering this magical place where we’re getting cold emails from filmmakers that we are obsessed with being like, ‘Hey, I just was at a dinner and everyone just kept talking about you guys.

Pinky Promise Films founder and CEO Jessamine Burgum and president Kara Durrett forego a formula, recipe or expectations of the end result when they choose who to work with on their films.

Burgum founded the production company during the 2020 Covid pandemic and gravitated toward Durrett while working together as a financier and producer on 2021’s well-received indie, “Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul.” from director Adamma Ebo and starring Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown.

“Sometimes we can get hung up on this mystical idea of people’s mandates and ‘If you make the exact right thing that you think people are looking for, then it’s going to win the lottery,’” Burgum told TheWrap of indie filmmaking ahead of debuting their latest film “I Don’t Understand You” at SXSW. “But ultimately, people just have to make the things that they want to make.”

“If you’re always chasing what...

Prior to American Fiction, Sterling K. Brown was best known as Randall Pearson in the long-running, award-winning NBC family drama series This is Us. The part that director Cord Jefferson was offering him couldn’t have been more different: in Jefferson’s adaptation of the satirical novel by Percival Everett, Brown plays Clifford ‘Cliff’ Ellison, a caustic plastic surgeon and brother to the film’s protagonist, Thelonious ‘Monk’ Ellison (Jeffrey Wright). After divorcing his wife, Cliff comes out as gay, further estranging him from his uptight family. This nuanced role allowed Brown to explore the many facets of Blackness and the challenges of the LGBTQ+ community.

Deadline: You studied economics at Stanford and interned at the Federal Reserve, among other things that mesh with this upper echelon of the Black experience. American Fiction also touches on other avenues of the Black experience. How did you relate?

Sterling K. Brown:...

Sterling K. Brown made audiences cry as the obsessively responsible Randall Pearson on the hit NBC drama “This Is Us.” Randall wasn’t humorless, exactly, but he was more serious than his siblings Kate and Kevin on the show, and the drama’s most emotional moments often hinged on revealing the cracks in Randall’s tortured facade.

So it’s a joy to watch him cut loose in “American Fiction” as Cliff, a recently outed gay man who uses drugs, sex and a sharp wit to deal with grief. Though not the lead, Brown steals every scene. Whether flaunting his new lover in front of Monk, frolicking in the family’s swimming pool in the middle of the night or enjoying a cocktail for breakfast, Cliff is the screw-up an audience can’t help but adore. Or, to put it in “This Is Us” terms: After years of playing Randall,...

Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions is producing the psychological horror Goat, with Marlon Wayans in the lead.

This isn’t an unveiling of Jordan Peele’s next directorial outing for Universal, but here’s a story about an intriguing new project that will be produced under the filmmaker’s Monkeypaw banner.

Goat is set to star Marlon Wayans (who you can see pictured in the TV show Marlon) while Justin Tipping will direct. Tipping co-wrote and directed Kicks, another film (like last year’s Air) focused on the mythical status attached to basketball shoes.

In their upcoming project, the focus will be on a mythical athlete rather than their shoes, as ‘the film centres on an up-and-coming young athlete who is invited to train with a team’s retiring star, who will be played by Wayans.’

It hasn’t been announced yet who will play the rookie, but according to Deadline,...

Leonardo DiCaprio, Regina Hall and Sean Penn have been confirmed to have been cast in Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming untitled feature.

According to a source, the movie is said to be set in California in a contemporary setting and will be an ensemble piece.

Warner Bros, who are producing the movie, are keeping all other details on the project top secret. However, it is said that the production is set to be Anderson’s most expensive project to date with an estimated $100 million price tag.

Also in news – Nominations announced for the 2024 BAFTA Ee Rising Star Award

Anderson, although a exceptional filmmaker is not known for his money making projects with the likes of ‘Phantom Thread,’ ‘Boogie Nights’ and ‘Licorice Pizza’ under his belt. In this instance it would seem that the bankability of DiCaprio is to be heavly relied on.

DiCaprio can currently be seen in Martin Scorsese...

Paul Thomas Anderson is lining up the cast for his latest film, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Regina Hall set for the feature.

The film is set up at Warner Bros., whose studio’s picture group heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy worked with Anderson on his last film, Licorice Pizza, during their time at MGM.

Anderson wrote the script and is set produce the film with Adam Somner and Sara Murphy, who worked with the director on Licorice Pizza.

The logline for this feature is being kept under wraps, but it is due to begin filming soon in California. An ensemble cast is expected for the feature.

Licorice Pizza was nominated for three Oscars, including writing and directing for Anderson, and grossed north of $33 million at the box office. Anderson’s career Oscar nominations now total 11.

DiCaprio was last seen in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon,...

Exclusive: Warner Bros has Paul Thomas Anderson set to direct Oscar winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn as well as Regina Hall in an untitled film that will begin production this year in California. Anderson wrote the script, and he will produce the film with Sara Murphy and Adam Somner.

The film is currently untitled and they’re keeping the logline under wraps. We have learned that it is a contemporary setting and it is the most commercial one PTA has attempted, with commensurate budget. It came out of a relationship that Warner Bros Picture Group co-chairs/CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy built making PTA’s last film, Licorice Pizza, while they ran MGM. That film got three Oscar noms for Best Picture, and Best Screenplay and Best Director for PTA.

While DiCaprio, Penn and Hall are the leads, the new film will have a big ensemble cast...

Sterling K. Brown and Talia Ryder will be honored with acting awards at the 46th Denver Film Festival this weekend.

Brown will receive the Excellence in Acting Award for his performance in Cord Jefferson’s satirical drama “American Fiction,” which opened the festival on Nov. 3. A second screening has been added for Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. Mst, where Brown — a three-time Emmy winner, who also starred in IFC’s “Biosphere” earlier this year — will participate in a conversation with writer, producer and podcast host Larry Wilmore.

Ryder will be on hand on Nov. 12 during the Denver Film Festival awards ceremony to accept the Rising Star Award for her role in Sean Prince Williams’ drama “The Sweet East,” which is a part of the festival’s official selection. She will also engage in a conversation after the screening of her film.

Brown and Ryder’s honors were added following the resolution...

Exclusive: Amidst critical raves for her work on The Morning Show Season 3, actress Nicole Beharie has signed with Sugar23 for management.

One of the newest additions to Apple TV+’s Emmy-winning drama, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the cutthroat world of morning news at a time of dramatic cultural change, Beharie joined in September as Chris Hunter, an Olympic gold medalist who takes on the morning anchor position of Reese Witherspoon’s Bradley Jackson at the network Uba. When racist emails at her expense emerge, on the part of Uba board member Cybil Richards (Holland Taylor), Christina is put in the uncomfortable position of interviewing the offender on-air about the messages, and how they reflect on the organization.

Beharie joined Jon Hamm, Stephen Fry, and Tig Notaro in coming aboard the series, which was renewed for a fourth season before its third debuted.

Beharie previously won a Gotham Award as...

Peacock is nothing if not a goldmine of content, with basically something to watch for everyone, and today we are making a list of the best new movies coming to Peacock in November 2023 that you can watch in the upcoming month. The movies in this list are ranked according to their availability dates.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. (November 1)

Synopsis: Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is a satirical comedy starring Regina Hall as Trinitie Childs – the proud first lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch, who together with her husband Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown), once served a congregation in the tens of thousands. But after a scandal forces their church to temporarily close, Trinitie and Lee-Curtis must reopen their church and rebuild their congregation to make the biggest comeback that commodified religion has ever seen.

Jurassic World Dominion (November 2)

Synopsis: Two worlds collide as the epic saga...

“This Is Us” alums Sterling K. Brown and Dan Fogelman are reuniting for a drama that has been ordered to series at Hulu, Variety has learned.

Hulu is not commenting on exact plot details of the untitled series, but sources describe the show as a thriller and say Brown would star as the head of security for a former president.

In addition to writing, Fogelman will executive produce via Rhode Island Ave. Productions along with Jess Rosenthal. Brown will executive produce in addition to starring, with John Hoberg also executive producing. 20th Television is the studio, with Fogelman currently under an overall deal there.

Fogelman previously created the hit NBC family drama “This Is Us,” in which Brown starred as Randall Pearson throughout the show’s six-season run. Brown earned five consecutive Emmy nominations for his work on the show, winning the award for best actor in a drama in...

Three-time Emmy Award winner Sterling K. Brown is set to reunite with “This is Us” creator Dan Fogelman to executive produce and star in a new untitled drama series for Hulu Originals.

The highly secretive spec script from Fogelman quietly went to senior level executives at 20th Television and Hulu and was picked up to series.

In addition to Fogelman and Brown, Jess Rosenthal and John Hoberg serve as executive producers. The series is produced by 20th Television.

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John Cena-Led ‘WWE: Recruits’ Docuseries Greenlit at Roku

Brown, who earned two Primetime Emmy Awards for his performance as Randall Pearson in “This is Us,” most recently starred in Focus Features’ “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul,” which earned him an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.

He will be seen this July in the IFC feature film “Biosphere,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Exclusive: Regina Hall (Honk for Jesus. Save your Soul.) has closed a deal to star alongside Sadie Sink, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Murray Bartlett in O’Dessa, Searchlight Pictures‘ original rock opera from writer-director Geremy Jasper (Patti Cake$), which commences production in Croatia in May.

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, O’Dessa follows Sink’s same-name farm girl on an epic quest to recover a cherished family heirloom. Her journey leads her to a strange and dangerous city where she meets her one true love (Harrison) – but in order to save his soul, she must put the power of destiny and song to the ultimate test.

Hall’s role is under wraps, though we know the project will feature original songs penned and produced by Jasper and Jason Binnick. Michael Gottwald will produce for the Department of Motion Pictures, along with Noah Stahl, and Rodrigo Teixeira for Rt Features. Executive producers include Jonathan Montepare,...

The 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards, hosted by Hasan Minhaj, took place on Saturday, live from the beach in Santa Monica, California. The annual awards ceremony was live-streamed on IMDb’s YouTube page, plus additional social platforms, including Film Independent’s YouTube channel.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” led this year’s nominations with a total of eight and swept up seven awards. Following close behind was Cate Blanchett’s “Tár” with seven nods and “Aftersun” with five. Meanwhile, “The Bear” topped the television categories.

Read More: Before Oscars, ‘Everything Everywhere’ Sweeps Spirit Awards

The 2023 Spirit Awards marks the show’s first time highlighting gender-neutral categories. In other words, Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh were up against Paul Mescal for lead performance. This year’s recipient of the Robert Altman award went to “Women Talking”, in which the award was given to the film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.

The blue carpet has been rolled up, and now we know who are the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards winners. The list of nominees recognized the best among films made for under $30 million in 2023 — that’s an increase from the previous budget cap, in recognition of ever-increasing production costs.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” earned pretty much a clean sweep: winning all seven of the categories in which it was nominated, including Best Feature, and seven of its eight nominees winning overall — Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis were competing against each other in one category, Supporting Performance, with the former winning.

Yes, the 38th edition of the awards put on by Film Independent have made a change previously adopted by the Gotham Awards: to have gender-neutral performance categories. That means Cate Blanchett was not just competing against Michelle Yeoh for Best Lead Performance (who ultimately won), but also Paul Mescal...

The 2023 Independent Spirit Awards were dominated by the Daniels’ “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which led all films this year with eight nominations and a won a total of seven prizes, including best feature. Close behind were Todd Field’s “Tár” with seven noms (it won for best cinematography) and Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun” with five (it won for best first feature). All three movies picked up Oscar nominations this year, with “Everything Everywhere” also leading the Academy Awards pack with a total of 11 nominations.

While last year’s Spirit Award winner for best feature, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” did not go on to land an Oscar nomination in the same category, the 2021 winner, Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” repeated at the Oscars and took home the best picture prize.

This year’s Spirit Award nominees were highlighted by gender neutral categories, meaning Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh faced off...

Indie Spirit Award nomination leader “Everything Everywhere All At Once” has solidified its Oscar frontrunner status, winning seven awards on Saturday afternoon in Santa Monica, including Best Feature, Best Lead Performance (Michelle Yeah), Best Supporting Performance (Ke Huy Quan), Best Director, Best Screenplay (each awarded to the directorial duo The Daniels), Best Film Editing, and Best Breakthrough Performance for Stephanie Hsu.

The film won in every single category it was nominated. Quan was competing alongside his costar Jamie Lee Curtis in the Best Supporting Performance race, giving the film a ceiling of seven wins despite its eight nominations. And seven mark the most wins ever for a single film at the Indie Spirit Awards. Barry Jenkins’s 2016 “Moonlight” was the previous record holder, with five competitive award wins, in addition to the honorary Robert Atman Award, recognizing a film’s ensemble cast.

This year, the Robert Altman Award went to “Women Talking,...

The 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards are being handed out Saturday, March 4, from Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, CA in a show hosted by comedian Hasan Minhaj. Much as it paced the Oscar nominations, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” leads the way among all film nominees with eight Independent Spirit noms, including Best Feature and honors for director (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), lead performance (Michelle Yeoh), supporting performance (Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan) and breakthrough performance (Stephanie Hsu). Todd Field’s “TÁR” earned seven nominations, including director and screenplay (Field), lead performance (Cate Blanchett) and supporting (Nina Hoss). “Aftersun” scored five bids.

Scroll down to see the Indie Spirit Awards winners list live as it happens today. We’ve also included the complete roster of nominees in every category.

Besides “Everything Everywhere” and “TÁR,” the film competing for top feature are “Our Father, the Devil,” “”Bones and All” and “Women Talking.

The 2023 Independent Spirit Awards are being held on Saturday afternoon, March 4, streamed live on IMDb’s YouTube channel, as well as Film Independent’s YouTube and Twitter accounts. The event will be hosted by comedian Hasan Minhaj, but who will win when prizes are handed out? Thousands of Gold Derby users have placed their bets here in our predictions center. Those predictions were combined to generate our official racetrack odds. Scroll down to see the odds below, with our projected winners highlighted in gold.

SEE2023 Gold Derby Film Awards ceremony: Watch 20 exciting acceptance speeches by Michelle Yeoh, Colin Farrell, Austin Butler …

The nominees for the Spirit Awards are chosen by committees of film industry insiders, including critics, programmers, producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, editors, and actors, past Spirit Award nominees and winners, and members of Film Independent’s board of directors. But winners are decided by Film Independent members at large.

The 2023 NAACP Image Awards winners list is full of big names, including Beyoncé, Angela Bassett, and the cast of "Abbott Elementary." The annual award show announced this year's pool of nominees on Jan. 12, recognizing talent, creativity, and trailblazers across film, television, music, streaming, podcasts, literature, and social justice. "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" led the pack with a whopping 12 nominations, snagging wins for the dynamic cast, soundtrack, and Rihanna's original end-credits song, "Lift Me Up," as well as wins for filmmaker Ryan Coogler, costume designer Ruth Carter, and hairstylist Camille Friend.

Trailing behind the Marvel blockbuster was Gina Prince-Bythewood's film "The Woman King" and "Abbott Elementary" leading the TV race; both projects earned nine nominations each. Other notable individuals among the winners list include Beyoncé, Keke Palmer, Quinta Brunson, Viola Davis, Nia Long, Will Smith, Chris Brown, Jennifer Hudson, Tems, Silk Sonic, Kid Cudi, Quavo, and Offset.

This year,...

The 54th NAACP Image Awards, which aired on CBS from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium Saturday night, has wrapped. Queen Latifah hosted the proceedings, which honored the best in Black entertainment for the proceeding year. Inclusive awards that they are, the Image Awards often give a hat-tip to performers of color who aren’t Black, though: Tenoch Huerta Mejía won Best Supporting Actor for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which also won Outstanding Motion Picture.

That film received another big award in the form of Best Supporting Actress for Angela Bassett, who is by far now the frontrunner for the Academy Award. It was one of two awards of the night for Bassett, as she also won Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her role in “9-1-1.”

Among other notable winners, Will Smith won Best Actor for his role in “Emancipation.” And “P-Valley” won Outstanding Drama Series, along with Nico...

After the successes of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" flicks, "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," and "Knock at the Cabin," Dave Bautista has pretty much solidified himself as the greatest wrestler-turned-actor of the era. Like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and John Cena before him, Bautista was originally pigeonholed in tough guy roles because of his size before producers realized, "Hey, this guy is legitimately hilarious." Bautista has been showing off a wide range of acting talent for years now, including holding his own in the 'charismatic action star meets cute kid' formula on display in "My Spy."

The action comedy was released in 2020 to less-than-stellar reviews, but according to Variety, "My Spy" was the third most-watched film on SVOD the year of release. With Bautista's star being pushed to the stratosphere, it's no surprise Prime Video was interested in a sequel. What is a surprise, however, is how the...

The 23rd annual Black Reel Awards took place Monday, February 6th, with “The Woman King” leading the field, snagging six awards including Best Picture. BAFTA nominee Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s historical epic is inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was close behind with five wins.

Special honorary award winners were Angela Bassett (Sidney Poitier Trailblazer Award), Effie T. Brown (Vanguard Award), Debra Martin Chase (Oscar Micheaux Impact Award) and Kerry Washington (Ruby Dee Humanitarian Award).

The Black Reel Awards, or the “Bolt”, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (Faaaf) to recognize the excellence of African-Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the African diaspora, in the global film industry, as assessed by the Foundation’s voting membership.

Although the holidays have come and gone, a new slate of movies on Prime Video gives us the perfect excuse to continue our movie marathon into January.

Whether you’re in the mood for wild adventure — from a perilous journey to protect a sacred religious relic from Nazi forces to finally letting loose on the eve of your high school graduation — a heartfelt romance, or something to take you back to spooky season, we have your streaming plans covered.

Read on for the best new movies on Amazon Prime Video this January.

“If Beale Street Could Talk” (Available Jan. 1) Annapurna Pictures

Hailing from “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins and based on the transformative 1974 novel by James Baldwin, “If Beale Street Could Talk” follows an evocative love story embattled by injustice in the 1970s. KiKi Layne and Stephan James star as best friends turned lovers, Tish and Fonny, respectively, as they struggle...

Nominations for the 2023 NAACP Image Awards have been announced, with Angela Bassett, Mary J. Blige, Quinta Brunson, Viola Davis and Zendaya vying for Entertainer of the Year.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” dominated the motion picture nominations, with 12 total nods — including acknowledgments for filmmaker Ryan Coogler; Letitia Wright, Tenoch Huerta, Bassett, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o and the film’s ensemble cast; costume designer Ruth Carter; and hairstylist Camille Friend. Rihanna’s end credits song “Lift Me Up,” written for the film, was also nominated in the recording categories.

The film is also nominated for outstanding motion picture, alongside “The Woman King”, “Till,” (seven nominations), “A Jazzman’s Blues” (four nominations) and “Emancipation” (five nominations).

“Abbott Elementary” leads the TV race with nine nods, followed by “Black-ish” and “The Best Man: The Final Chapters,” which tied with seven each. TV dramas “Queen Sugar” and “P-Valley” were also well-represented with six nominations, a figured...

The Oscar races for best picture, director and the four acting categories will be put into focus.

On Wednesday, Jan. 11, the SAG Awards will kick things off with their unveiling of its nominees in film and television (Variety has shared its final predictions).

Afterward, the Directors Guild of America will reveal the five directorial achievements for this year’s upcoming 75th ceremony, scheduled to take place on Saturday, Feb. 18, the day before the BAFTA Awards.

You can’t talk about the director race without Steven Spielberg being a part of it, even with the BAFTA snub from the longlist. This year, Spielberg, who won the Oscar prize twice for helming — “Schindler’s List” (1993) and “Saving Private Ryan” (1998) — finds himself in one of his most substantial positions yet for his deeply personal drama “The Fabelmans.” With three DGA wins and 12 nominations, Spielberg is both the most awarded and most nominated filmmaker in history.

As the calendar flips over to 2023, Prime Video is attempting to start a new year on the right track with fresh seasons of some major originals.

Prime Videos’ list of new releases for January 2023 is highlighted by Hunters season 2 on Jan. 13. The first season of Hunters was set in 1977 and followed young Jonah Heidelbaum’s (Logan Lerman) introduction to a world of Nazi-hunting. After a lengthy wait for season 2, the fresh (and final) batch of episodes will find Jonah and friends venturing to South American to take out none other than Adolf Hitler, himself.

While Nazi-hunting undoubtedly takes up a lot of streaming space, two other Amazon original series of note arrive in January. The Rig, a supernatural thriller set on a Scottish oil rig, premieres Jan. 6. That will be followed by season 2 of fantasy role-playing animated series The Legend of Vox Machina on Jan. 20.

The action comedy Shotgun Wedding...

The new year is upon us and Amazon Prime Video is kicking things off in grand fashion. Not only are they debuting the third season of their Tom Clancy adaptation “Jack Ryan,” they’re also debuting the final season of the ambitious, Al Pacino-starring actioner “Hunters.”

Initially debuting to the service in February of 2020, right as the pandemic started, the series’ first season follows a ragtag group of Nazi hunters in 1977 New York City. The so-called Hunters discover that hundreds of high-ranking Nazi officials are living in the United States and are conspiring to create a Fourth Reich in America. The Nazi hunters, led by Pacino, will embark on a bloody quest to bring the Nazis to justice and thwart their genocidal plans. The series concluded in 2020 and has taken some time to get back to screens. Unfortunately, this second season will be a finale as well so fans...

The multiverse-hopping adventure film “ Everything Everywhere All At Once ” had a leading eight nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards with nods for best feature, best director, best lead actor for Michelle Yeoh, supporting actors Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis and breakthrough for Stephanie Hsu.

The organization announced nominees for its 38th edition on Tuesday, where other top contenders include Todd Field’s classical music thriller “ Tár,” with seven nominations — including for feature, director, actor for Cate Blanchett and supporting actor for Nina Hoss — Charlotte Wells’ “ Aftersun,” Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” and Luca Guadagnino’s “ Bones and All.” Aside from “Aftersun,” nominated for best first feature, all are best feature nominees alongside the sole nomination for “Our Father, the Devil.”

Read More: Stars Attend The 2022 Spirit Awards

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s “Everything Everywhere All At Once” has become a bit of a Cinderella story this year,...

The Independent Spirit Awards announced its nominations in film and television on Tuesday morning, where The Daniels’ “Everything Everywhere All at Once” led the tally with eight nominations. Right behind was Todd Field’s “Tár” with seven and Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun” with five.

Some of the big surprises were a complete shutout of Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale” and its best actor frontrunner Brendan Fraser. Will that hurt his Oscar chances? Notable names like Jake Gyllenhaal from “Brokeback Mountain” were also snubbed by the organization and went on to receive recognition.

Other notable omissions were Danielle Deadwyler’s stunning performance in Chinonye Chukwu’s “Till,” in addition to James Gray’s “Armageddon Time” and acting hopeful Jeremy Strong. Michael Grandage’s “My Policeman” wasn’t able to nab supporting noms for either Emma Corrin or Harry Styles.

“Women Talking” won the Robert Altman award which is given to one film’s director,...

The 2023 Film Independent Spirit Award nominations were unveiled on Tuesday, November 22, crowning the past year’s top achievements in indie film. The awards ceremony is over three months away — it takes place March 4 in Santa Monica — but these films now gain traction in the months ahead on the road to the Oscars and other awards. This year’s crop of nominees were revealed by presenters Taylour Paige and Raúl Castillo (a nominee for Best Supporting Male for 2018’s “We the Animals”). This year’s television nominees will be revealed later on December 13.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” leads the nominees with nods in eight categories, with “TÁR” close behind with seven nominations, including Best Feature, Best Lead Performance, Best Supporting Performance, Best Screenplay, and Best Director.

In a first for Film Independent, this year’s awards shifted to gender-neutral acting categories in lead and supporting across film and television. Other...

“Bones and All,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Our Father, the Devil,” “Tár” and “Women Talking” have have been nominated as the best independent films of 2022 at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, which announced its nominations on Tuesday morning by Taylour Paige and Raúl Castillo.

Acting nominees in the gender-neutral categories include Brian Tyree Henry for “Causeway,” Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss for “Tár,” Regina King for “Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul” and Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Those three acting nominations for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” along with a Breakthrough Performance nom for Stephanie Hsu, pushed that film to eight nominations, the most of any film. “Tár” finished second with seven nominations, followed by “Aftersun” with five and “Palm Trees and Power Lines,” “Women Talking” and “Emily the Criminal” with four each.

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‘Everything Everywhere All at Once...

Regina Hall is sending good luck to Jimmy Kimmel after the late-night host was announced as the emcee for the 95th annual Academy Awards, which will be handed out live on Sunday, March 12, 2023.

Hall took the stage alongside co-hosts Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes for this year’s Oscars ceremony, which was overshadowed when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock across the face during the live broadcast after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s, baldness.

Months after the polarizing incident, Smith released a video in which he apologized to the comedian, calling his behaviour “unacceptable” and expressing his deep remorse. “I can say to all of you there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment,” he told viewers in the video shared online in July. “There’s no part of me that thinks that’s...

New Release Wall

“The Power of the Dog” (The Criterion Collection): Jane Campion’s Academy Award–winning adaptation of Thomas Savage’s dark novel is reminiscent of her earlier acclaimed film, “The Piano.” Both are stories of trouble people in troubled landscapes, but here Campion’s attention is on men and the ways they wield power over each other. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Benedict Cumberbatch and Kodi Smit-Mcphee, it’s the story of men who don’t understand their own desires and the violence that can result. This handsome Criterion edition in 4K provides all the usual bonus extras dedicated cinephiles have come to expect from the label.

Also available:

“Ainbo: Spirit of the Amazon” (Shout Factory): A vibrant animated feature about a young girl determined to save her rainforest home.

“Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons” (DC/Warner Bros): The tween superkids of...

Daniel Kaluuya has gone from one Marvel world in Wakanda to another in Sony’s Spider-Verse.

The “Nope” star will join Sony Pictures’ animation film, sequel to the 2018 “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” as the voice of Hobart “Hobie” Brown, a.k.a. Spider-Punk.

The second film will follow Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), who has taken on the mantle of Brooklyn’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, as he reunites with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) to navigate the complicated web of the multiverse in the shadow of a new villain and team of Spider-People.

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Daniel Kaluuya on Producing ‘Honk for Jesus’ While Filming ‘Nope': ‘Same Intent, Just in a Different Accent’

Justin K. Thompson, Joaquim Dos Santos and Kemp Powers are directing the feature, which weavews into theaters on June 2, 2023. Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Christina Steinberg are producing. Lord and Miller will also be credited as writers on the film,...

The trio of movies that Jordan Peele has directed over the past decade — “Get Out,” “Us,” and “Nope” — established him as one of the major filmmakers to arrive this century. Evolving beyond the sketch comedy roots of “MADtv” and “Key & Peele,” Peele’s approach to horror uses the genre as a Trojan horse for big ideas about race, class, and the fragile foundations of American society. They also offer an impeccable combination of eeriness and humor that expands their appeal. “Get Out” ultimately grossed 255 million worldwide on a 4.5 million budget, scored Peele a Best Original Screenplay Oscar, and a first-look deal with Universal. The box office and awards success of “Get Out” was a transformative moment for Black cinema in America — as well as genre storytelling with social impact — and Peele did not take it for granted. Even as he kept making his movies, Peele scaled up his production company,...

The Napa Valley Film Festival announced its 2022 Film, Food and Wine Showcase programming and honors, to take place at The Culinary Institute of America at Copia on Nov. 10-13 featuring a curated group of films and honoree tributes that celebrate artistic achievement.

Leading the honorees is Laura Dern, who will be honored with the Legend Award. Additional honorees include rising director Cooper Raiff, actor Stephanie Hsu, actor and musician Janelle Monáe, actor Regina Hall and others. The showcase will also include CIA-curated culinary events to go along with four special screenings, which aims to celebrate the food and wine culture from each film presented.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled about the 2022 Nvff Film, Food and Wine Showcase nor prouder of our team of dedicated board directors, our partners at The CIA at Copia, and our showcase team. This marks our post-covid return to multi-day events that connect our...

Outside a screening of Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” at the Scotiabank Theatre in Toronto on Sunday, one attendee left feeling that he had seen the best movie playing at the festival, even though it wasn’t an official selection of TIFF, and almost no one knew the screening was happening.

There’s a good chance the hype was deserved. Within 24 hours of that screening, Focus Features closed a deal to acquire “The Holdovers” for a price tag in the 30 million range. It was not just the biggest deal out of Toronto, possibly ever for either the festival or for Focus Features, it also was just about the only deal of substance out of TIFF up until that point.

According to multiple individuals who spoke to TheWrap, representatives from virtually all the major studios and streamers were present at the screening, and producer and financier Miramax was delighted at the turnout,...

Photo: 'Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul' ‘Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.’ is a new film by the Ebo twins, specifically Adamma Ebo and Adanne Ebo. The film was written by both twins but was directed by Adamma Ebo. The film is also a full-length version of a short film with the same name that the Ebo twins made earlier in their careers. The film follows pastor Lee-Curtis Childs and Trinitie Childs during the aftermath of a massive scandal. This massive scandal caused the megachurch that Lee-Curtis preached at to close down. However, the film takes place months after that when the Childs’ are attempting to reopen their church and gain back their old congregation. Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. Limited Time Offer – Free Subscription to The Hollywood Insider Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision,...

Toronto Film Festival attendees were surprised this weekend to find director Mel Eslyn’s “Biosphere,” a humorous, semi-futuristic rumination on the last two men on Earth. A late addition to this year’s lineup, the film stars Mark Duplass as the U.S. president and Sterling K. Brown as an advisor, the planet’s sole living humans who are trapped in the biodome of the film’s title. The story sprang from Duplass’ idea of two guys arguing over the virtues of the video game “Mario Bros.,” according to Eslyn.

“They had me at ‘Mario Bros.,’ man,” Brown said. “I always wanted to warp, so I thought that doing this movie would pick up some trade secrets. It can be that simple sometimes.” To which Duplass said: “If the films sells well in Toronto, I’ll teach you how to warp.”

Brown, Duplass, Eslyn and producer Zachary Drucker sat down with Steve Pond,...