Author: Deadline

As Chris Rock makes his return to Saturday Night Live, the cast is diving into his filmography. The 4x Emmy winner, who was part of the SNL cast from 1990 to ’93, appeared in a new promo on Thursday for this weekend’s episode with musical guest Gracie Abrams and cast member Heidi Gardner, who bonded over their favorite Rock movie. “You know, Gracie and I were just saying how you did our absolute favorite movie in the world,” Gardner told him. After guessing Madagascar (2005) and Grown Ups (2010), Abrams revealed, “No, Pootie Tang.” “Y’all really like Pootie Tang?” asked…

Clayface is officially joining the new DC Universe more than a year after Mike Flanagan pitched his take on the shapeshifting supervillain. Deadline has confirmed that Flanagan has been tapped to write the script for DC Studios amid his work on the upcoming Exorcist reboot. We understand the studio is still searching for a director. Flanagan has expressed his interest in making a standalone Clayface movie, writing on Twitter in 2021 that he wants to approach the film as a “horror/thriller/tragedy.” In March 2023, our sources told us that Flanagan’s take on Clayface will not feature the character as a…

EXCLUSIVE: Bobby Moresco, who won an Oscar for the screenplay he co-wrote for Crash, was already aboard to write the script for car racing biopic Bugatti, but he will now also direct the project. The film will see Moresco continuing his collaboration with Italian producer Andrea Iervolino (Ferrari). Bugatti is slated to film late next year in Italy and France for Iervolino’s new banner, The Andrea Iervolino Company, and is on course to feature a U.S. and international cast and be English-language. Moresco is scripting with Amanda Moresco and in collaboration with Soraya Azzabi. The movie is set to tell…

The internationalisation of U.S. awards continues apace with a bumper crop of nominations for Cannes and Venice at the Golden Globes. My colleague Pete Hammond pointed out yesterday that Cannes must be happy with 20 nominations for films that premiered at the festival, including Emilia Perez, All We Imagine As Light and The Substance. Cannes has confirmed to me this morning that it’s even better than that and it’s a whopping 28 nominations in total for films that launched on the Riviera. That’s a record. Recent record, at least. It’s a significant hike on previous nominations and points to a…

Title: My Drvier And I Director: Ahd Kamel Red Sea Section: Arab Spectacular Logline: Salma is a young, privileged, and rebellious Saudi girl whose family hires a Sudanese man named Gamar to drive her to and from her day-to-day activities. Initially adhering to a simple employer/employee dynamic, Salma and Gamar’s relationship quickly evolves into an intimate personal friendship that bonds them through her teenage years and beyond, but their friendship is put to the test when Salma gets older and starts taking the wheel. Panelists: Roula Dakheelallah (Actor), Mustafa Shehata (Actor), Georgie Paget (Producer), Nils Astrand (Producer) Key quotes: Dakheelallah said of the reaction to the…

Daniel Craig’s new film seems him take the role of gay William Lee in Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, based on a semi-autobiographical novella by William S Burroughs, but the former James Bond star has shared he would never have considered taking the role during his time at the helm of the 007 franchise. He told The Times of London: “I couldn’t have done this while doing Bond. It would look reactionary, like I was showing my range,” and he said he wasn’t interested in the prospect of taking fans of Bond through to a different depiction of masculinity:   “It’s just not…

Paul Maslansky, the producer behind the Police Academy franchise, has died. He was 91. The Emmy nominee’s death was announced by Police Academy (1984) writer Pat Proft in a heartfelt statement on Friday, recounting their work together on Proft’s first film, which launched six sequels and two series, one animated and one live-action. “Thankful for meeting Paul Maslansky,” wrote Proft on Facebook. “He hired me and Neal Israel to research and write Police Academy. First film I ever wrote. Paul has passed away. Sally and his son.. sorry for your loss. He left behind a trail of comedies. Good life.” Born Nov.…

Japanese singer and actress Miho Nakayama was found dead at her home in Tokyo on Friday. Born in Saku, Japan, Nakayama was known for her lead roles in Love Letter (1995) and Tokyo Weather (1997), among others. She was 54. Nakayama was scheduled to perform at a Christmas concert in Osaka on Friday, but she had canceled her appearance, citing health reasons. Nakayama’s team confirmed the news of her passing on her website, which stated: “We are deeply sorry to have to suddenly announce this to all the people involved who have always looked after her and to all the…

Thirteen years after making her debut feature, Kiran Rao marked her directorial return with Laapataa Ladies (Lost Ladies), which has been selected as India‘s Oscar entry for the Best International Feature Film race. “It felt a bit like cycling, after not having cycled for a while,” Rao tells Deadline about helming her second feature film after more than a decade. “It takes a little while to find your balance, but soon you’re on your way. I had a crew that was not just young and enthusiastic, but also really driven by the film and deeply believed in what we were…

EXCLUSIVE: Universal International Studios (UIS) has shaken up its team with two promotions. CFO Rob Howard has become Executive Vice President and Kelsey Balance has been upped to EVP Global Scripted Series at the Day of the Jackal studio. Howard will expand his oversight beyond finance to the overall operational strategies and its production companies to support the studio’s international ambitions. Balance will take charge of the global scripted series team, developing shows for all platforms. Howard has been with UIS for five years working across finance. He joined shortly after Balance, who used to be Head of Programming at NBCUniversal’s…