Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery will return to the MCU with Wonder Man - The A.V. Club
Ben Kingsley’s… villain(?) from the historically underrated Iron Man 3 stands as a good illustration of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s power and how it extends beyond the traditional comic book fan audience. Not only was he introduced as an explicit rejection of an old (and problematic) comic book villain, but Kingsley completely wackadoo performance and the twist behind his real identity—he’s an actor hired to play a fake terrorist—made enough of an impression on fans that the MCU was willing to ignore the “but that’s not what happens in the comics!” complaints and bring Kingsley back for Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings.
Now, with that movie already serving as a surprise setup for the main plot of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, it’s apparently also going to set up Kingsley’s continued involvement in the MCU. According to Variety, he’ll be reprising his role as fake terrorist/disgraced theatrical actor Trevor Slattery in Disney+’s upcoming Wonder Man series. The show was co-created by Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton, and assuming it has any connection to the Wonder Man from the comics (which is not a safe assumption, as noted above), it will be about a guy named Simon Williams who gets super powers from an evil experiment and later becomes an Avenger and also an actor.
If that’s what Disney is going with here, Trevor Slattery is a perfect addition: He’s an actor, he met Iron Man and Shang-Chi, and he’s… you know, a wackadoo. It’s fun to have him around, as Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings proved.
It may seem like a disservice to the success of Shang-Chi for Marvel and Disney to just keep using that movie as a platform to reintroduce older side-characters like Trevor Slattery here and Abomination on She-Hulk, but let’s not forget that—in addition to working on Wonder Man—Cretton is making a Shang-Chi sequel and he’s attached to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Marvel clearly wants to stay in the Destin Daniel Cretton business for a while.
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Entertainment
Eugenio Derbez to Undergo ‘Complicated’ Surgery After Accident, His Wife Announces - Variety
Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez is undergoing a “very complicated” surgery after suffering an accident, his wife Alessandra Rosaldo announced on Monday night.
Rosaldo wrote on Instagram that Derbez is currently “fine” but his injuries are “delicate.” The surgery will not compromise his health, but “the recovery process will be long and difficult since he will have to rest for several weeks and then undergo rehabilitation therapies,” Rosaldo wrote. She did not provide any details about Derbez’s accident.
Variety has reached out to Derbez’s reps for more information.
Derbez has been one of Mexico’s most successful international stars, and he has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows since the ’80s. He began to break out in the U.S. in the 2010s and has starred in American projects like last year’s Oscar best picture winner “CODA,” “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” “How to Be a Latin Lover” and the Apple TV+ series “Acapulco.”
Read Rosaldo’s full note below, translated from Spanish to English.
“To our family, friends, and media: Through this medium, I want to inform you that a couple of days ago Eugenio had an accident.
“He is fine, however the injuries he suffered are delicate and in the next few hours, he will have to undergo surgery. The operation is very complicated, but it does not compromise his health.
“The recovery process will be long and difficult since he will have to rest for several weeks and then undergo rehabilitation therapies.
“For us, it is very important to communicate to you all through our own voice the family situation that we are going through since we know how much love you all have for us. At this time, the priority is to focus on this process so that Eugenio can move forward, taking the time necessary to do so.
“I have some work commitments to fulfill that I cannot cancel, but I ask you all with much love, that whatever you want to know about this topic, allow me to communicate it through my social networks. Eugenio will be recovering and maybe for a while he will be away from his social networks and the media.
“Thank you for always being close to us. I know that with the good energy that you all will be sending us and with the favor of God, Eugenio will recover very soon.”
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Entertainment
Netflix Film Exec Tendo Nagenda Leaving Streamer - Hollywood Reporter
Tendo Nagenda is exiting his post at Netflix, where he has served as VP, original film for the past four years. Nagenda’s last day at the streamer will be Sept. 1, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Nagenda’s exit comes as Netflix is looking to streamline its film operations. Under film head Scott Stuber, Kira Goldberg and Ori Marmur will now run the studio film team, which handles the streamers big-budgeted features. The duo were upped in 2021 to run a team that was meant to focus on developing and producing big-budgeted films.
Elsewhere on Netflix’s film team, Niija Kuykendall, who joined the company in 2021, heads the features group focused on mid-sized film, while Netflix veteran Lisa Nishimura continues to head indie film.
Nagenda joined Netflix in 2018 from Disney, where he worked on both modestly budgeted features like Queen of Katwe and major tentpoles like the live-action versions of Dumbo and Mulan. During his time at Netflix, Nagenda worked on the streamer’s splashier fare like Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods and Charlize Theron’s action vehicle The Old Guard, which is getting a sequel at the streamer.
“Tendo joined the company four years ago and helped to build out our studio film team, who delivered movies such as The Harder They Fall, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, The Old Guard, Da 5 Bloods and Hustle. He was integral in our evolution from acquiring and licensing films to making movies ourselves. We wish him all the best for the future,” said Stuber in a statement.
Offered Nagenda: “I’m honored to have been a small part of a film team that has led in Oscar nominations for three years in a row, become the biggest producer of film in the world by any metric, lead the industry through a pandemic, and become the standard bearer for representation and inclusion both in front of and behind the camera. I wish Netflix the continued tenacity and audacity to take the big swings and tell the big and beloved tales that need telling. I plan to.”
The change on Netflix’s film team comes as the streamer continues to restructure, having already gone through multiple rounds of layoffs. In June, 300 employees were laid off, which was preceded by 150 employees being laid off in May. Prior to this, multiple full-time staff and contractors in Netflix’s editorial and marketing division were let go.
In a June 23 memo to staffers, Netflix co-ceo Reed Hastings noted that he wished the company was going through “a more gradual readjustment of the business” following slower than expected revenue growth.
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Entertainment
Monday, August 29, 2022
‘House of the Dragon’: Steve Toussaint on Playing Lord Corlys - The New York Times
One of the most powerful people in Westeros made his reputation as a fearless sailor. The actor who plays him does better on land.
This interview includes spoilers for the first two episodes of “House of the Dragon.”
Legendary explorer, naval commander, lord of a noble house that has long earned its living from the sea: Corlys Velaryon, a.k.a. the Sea Snake, is a boat guy, through and through. Steve Toussaint, the British actor who plays him on “House of the Dragon,” is not.
“It’s a weird thing,” he said, laughing. “The last couple of times I’ve been on a boat, I suddenly started getting seasick. I’ve never had that in my life, but just recently it started happening.”
Whatever Toussaint’s shortcomings as a sailor, Lord Corlys’s prowess on the sea is so formidable that even the dragon-riding scions of the ruling monarchy, House Targaryen, must show him deference. In the show’s second episode, he even rage-quits the Small Council led by King Viserys (Paddy Considine) — he’s one of the few people in the Seven Kingdoms who can turn his back on the ruling monarch and live to tell the tale.
Corlys’s in-world untouchability makes for a salutary counterpoint to the racist reactions Toussaint has faced in some quarters. The actor, who is Black, portrays a character of direct descent from the fallen empire of Valyria who is assumed to be white in the source material by George R.R. Martin, the book “Fire & Blood.” In the world of the show, created by Martin with Ryan Condal, Corlys’s power and prowess are presented unapologetically, without caveat.
“I guess some people live in a different world,” Toussaint said of the controversy. “I’m very lucky that I have friends who are of all persuasions. I’ve got Caucasian friends, East Asian friends, South Asian friends, Black friends. That’s my world, and I want to be in programs that reflect that world.”
In a phone conversation last week, Toussaint spoke from London about the forces that drive Corlys and knowing which rules to follow and which ones to break. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.
Corlys has a cool factor that even some of the most charismatic characters lack. He just seems comfortable in his own skin in a way that many others aren’t.
That’s one of the things I like about Corlys. Of the people he’s around, he’s the guy who went out and made his fortune by himself, with his own bare hands, as he says late in the episode. That gives him a sense of self. It’s one of the things that’s key to who he is.
Funny enough, when I had the initial meeting with Ryan and Miguel, the co-showrunners, all we talked about, really, was fatherhood and his feelings about his family. He’s got this desire to cement the Velaryon name in history. He feels the slights to his wife [Princess Rhaenys, played by Eve Best], the fact that she was passed over [for the Iron Throne], more than she does.
And when he’s realized he can’t get her back on the throne, the next thing for him is get the family as close to power as possible, i.e. marry off the kids in some way or other.
How does Corlys feel about going through with this ritual of having his 12-year-old daughter, Laena [Nova Fouellis-Mosé], court the king? Does he have second thoughts about this system at all?
The thing about Corlys is he is a stickler for the rules. Despite the fact that he felt that his wife is the more capable person to be on the throne as opposed to Viserys, that is what [the Great Council] chose. He thinks they made a mistake, but: “These are the rules that I’ve been given. This is how we have decided power dynamics work in that world. OK, well in that case, I will do this.”
So in Episode 1, when Otto Hightower [Rhys Ifans] says to Viserys, “We’ve got to talk about your succession,” it is Corlys, despite the fact that he wants his wife to be on the throne, who says: “No, no, we have an heir. It’s Daemon [the king’s younger brother, played by Matt Smith].” Now, it may not be to everyone’s liking, but that’s what the rules are. When there is a dispute about [the king’s daughter] Rhaenyra’s position, he again is like, “Well, her father chose her, and so we have to go with that.”
I think he’s like, “I don’t like these rules, but these are the rules. What can I do to thrive in them?”
It’s not just that Corlys built his family’s fortune — he did so by making nine legendary voyages to distant lands, putting himself in great danger. Is that in the back of your mind as you play him?
Yes. I remember saying to Ryan at one point, “It would be great to have some sort of write-up so that I’ve got a memory of them,” basically. Ryan was good enough to come back with a whole dossier of stuff, because Ryan is a supergeek. [Laughs.] It’s a huge part of Corlys’s very being, what he did.
It’s interesting that you said he put himself in great danger. I don’t know if, at the time, he would have thought of it that way. He just had an adventurous spirit. He wanted to get out there and see what was beyond the known world at that time. Certainly when I was in my teens and early 20s, there was no fear — I was going to live forever.
Obviously, being an older man and sitting around these people who like to talk so cavalierly about war, there’s a part of him that’s like, “No, I’ve seen it, you haven’t. If you’d seen it, you wouldn’t be talking this way.”
The thing about battle is you either succeed or you don’t — there’s no gray area. He likes that. He’d like it if life were like that, generally. That’s one of the reasons he’s not always entirely comfortable in the Small Council with diplomacy and so forth. “If something is right, it’s right. Let’s just do it.”
Did that make it difficult to play those Small Council scenes?
In terms of the character, the resentment that Corlys has for what he considers these privileged people helps me a lot. In fact, there were some points where Ryan would have to rein me in and go: “If you spoke to the king like that, you’d have your head cut off. You’ve gone too far.” It would be more difficult for someone like — and I didn’t have this discussion with them, so I don’t know — Paddy or maybe Gavin Spokes [who plays the Small Council member Lord Lyonel Strong], whose characters have to be mindful of not upsetting people and trying to keep the balance. I never felt that way with my character.
There is a side to him that is, as far as he’s concerned, above the rules. Also, he knows just how valuable he is for the realm, because he controls the majority of the navy. So he knows he’s got a little bit more leeway.
You’ve talked about the racist backlash that you initially faced from some segments of the fandom when you were cast. Has that improved?
There are still trickles coming through, but generally, it’s been great. The overwhelming majority of people have been very welcoming and supportive.
Some people have gone out of their way to find my timeline so they can explain to me that “It’s all about the books” and so forth. My view is this: There are shows on TV that I don’t like — I just don’t watch them. There are actors that I don’t find interesting — I just never feel the need to broadcast I don’t like them. There are some people who don’t like my appearance and don’t think someone like me should be playing that particular role because when they read the book, they saw it a different way. All of that is natural. My objection is to people who have racially abused me.
For some reason, the responses that I’ve been getting recently seem to have overlooked that, as if I’m just going, “You don’t like me, and therefore you’re racist.” That’s not what I’m saying. I don’t know what people’s motivations are. But I do know the motivations of somebody who calls me the n-word. I know what that means.
Were you a “Game of Thrones” guy before you got this part?
Yes, I was. It had been going for about three or four seasons before I actually watched it because fantasy is not really my genre. I was staying with a friend in L.A., and he said to me, “Have you seen this ‘Game of Thrones’?” And I was like: “No. It’s got dragons, why the hell would I watch that?” [Laughs.] He said, “Just watch one episode.” And it was so much more gritty and, for want of a better word, realistic than I was expecting. I was hooked.
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Entertainment
Chris Rock says he was asked to host the Oscars, likens it to Nicole Brown Simpson going 'back to the restaurant' - Yahoo Entertainment
Chris Rock addressed "the slap" again on tour — and he had some new information to share. While performing his stand-up show in Phoenix, Ariz. on Sunday night, the comedian claimed he was asked to host next year's Oscars. It's only been five months since Will Smith stormed the stage during the awards show and hit Rock across the face for making a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's hair.
The Arizona Republic reports that during the show, "Rock compared returning to the Oscars like returning to the scene of a crime, referencing the murder trial of O.J. Simpson, whose ex-wife's killing began with her leaving a pair of eyeglasses at an Italian restaurant. Rock said returning to the award ceremony would be like asking Nicole Brown Simpson 'to go back to the restaurant.'"
Rock, who's previously joked about the incident, said he refused the invitation. He also revealed he was offered a Super Bowl commercial due to the incident, but "profanely" refused that as well, per the paper. Rock did not refuse to discuss the slap, though. When someone in the sold-out crowd egged him on to talk about it, the comic admitted the blow from Smith, who played boxer Muhammad Ali in Ali, hurt.
"He's bigger than me," Rock purportedly quipped. "The state of Nevada would not sanction a fight between me and Will Smith."
Yahoo Entertainment reached out to the Academy for comment on Rock's claims, but did not immediately receive a response. However, the group typically never responds to hosting rumors (or offers).
ABC President of Entertainment Craig Erwich said in May he was open to Rock hosting the 2023 telecast. The comedian previously hosted in 2005 and 2016.
"My assessment of the Oscars was that it was really a successful year for the show. Obviously there was a lot of controversy, which overshadowed a lot of the positive things about the show, but I was really happy with the program," Erwich told Deadline. "Even before that very unfortunate moment, the show started off up year over year, and we came back in a big way."
Smith resigned from the Academy after the incident and was later banned from Academy related events for 10 years. After months of staying out of the spotlight, the actor has slowly begun to emerge from hiding. One month ago, Smith returned to social media and apologized to Rock.
"There is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave in that moment. There is no part of me that thinks that's the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect or insults," Smith said.
"I've reached out to Chris and the message that came back is he's not ready to talk and when he is, he will reach out. So I will say to you, Chris, I apologize to you. My behavior was unacceptable and I'm here whenever you're ready to talk," Smith added.
Insiders say it's unlikely that Rock is eager to sit down with the Oscar winner anytime soon.
MORE: Will Smith "is doing good" as he emerges with Jada Pinkett Smith months after Oscars slap
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Entertainment
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Movie Theaters Offering $3 Tickets on Sept. 3 for National Cinema Day - Hollywood Reporter
Theaters want people to put away their Labor Day weekend picnic baskets and see a movie for just $3 or less on Sept. 3 in celebration of the first-ever National Cinema Day.
More than 3,000 movie theaters will participate in the one-day event, which will apply to tickets for all formats, including Imax. Circuits offering the special pricing include AMC Entertainment, Cinemark Theatres and the embattled Regal Cinemas.
The promotion is the brainchild of the Cinema Foundation, a new non-profit organization that’s affiliated with the National Association of Theatre Owners.
“After this summer’s record-breaking return to cinemas, we wanted to do something to celebrate moviegoing,” said Cinema Foundation president Jackie Brenneman. “We’re doing it by offering a ‘thank you’ to the moviegoers that made this summer happen, and by offering an extra enticement for those who haven’t made it back yet.”
Normally, Hollywood studios and cinema operators would be loathe to shave their prices so dramatically, and especially on a Saturday.
In this case, however, it could be a win-win for all involved.
Historically, Labor Day weekend is always slow at cinemas as consumers focus on end-of-summer activities. This year, it is even more quiet than usual as exhibitors contend with a dramatic slowdown in terms of August studio product after a huge March-July. The downturn is due in large part to post-production delays due to the pandemic.
The new nationwide offerings over Labor Day are the specialty pic Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul, starring Sterling K. Brown and Regina Hall, and a pair of rereleases: Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, which is being offered in 3D, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
In 2019, the average ticket price in the U.S. was $9.16 per NATO (the organization hasn’t updated that stat since the pandemic began).
The Cinema Foundation, launched in March, is dedicated to developing future diverse workforces within the exhibition industry and growing moviegoing communities through research, education and philanthropy. It is supported by NATO and an array of new partners, including technology companies, food and beverage leaders, members of the creative community and other individuals and companies dedicated to the future of cinema.
National Cinema Day will feature sneak peeks of upcoming titles from A24, Amazon Studios, Disney, Focus Features, Lionsgate, Neon, Paramount, Sony, Sony Pictures Classics, MGM/United Artists Releasing, Universal and Warner Bros.
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