Links: Scarjo Shifting, Brie Wrapping, Joss Returning, Cheetah Leaping
Friday, July 13, 2018 at 5:11PM • Out Scarlett Johansson leaves the upcoming trans drama Rub & Tug post-backlash
• THR In unrelated news Scarlett is finally getting her Black Widow solo movie. Australian Cate Shortland (Lore) will direct, beating out finalists Amma Asante and Maggie Betts.
• MovieMaker the 25 coolest film festivals in the world (the giant A list fests are not listed in favor of quirkier ones that use their location in interesting ways.)
• Gizmodo only one Blockbuster video store is still open in the United States!
More after the jump including Die Hard, Danai Gurira, Tab Hunter, Joss Whedon, If Beale Street Could Talk, West Side Story revival, and more...
• Variety Zachary Quinto still pursuing making a Tab Hunter biopic called Tab & Tony. He'd been getting to know Tab offscreen before his death to prepare for the film
• /Film Die Hard is celebrating its 30th anniversary so here is an interview with the original filmmakers
• MNPP Taylor Frey cast as Xavier Dolan's boyfriend in the sequel to It
• /Film Post-Black Panther Danai Gurira is definitely in demand. But sadly she's only circling roles in franchises like Godzilla and Star Trek. I say sadly because she obviously has more in her than just being a fierce fighter onscreen. She's a Tony-nominated playwright after all!
• BlackFilm.com Q & A with the cast of If Beale Street Could Talk and word on a couple of clips
• Cracked on the divide between movies everyone thinks of as failures versus critical darlings everyone thinks of as hits. Amusing but sobering too as in the case of Mad Max Fury Road versus Terminator Genisys
• i09 Kristen Wiig on wires for a leap as Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984
• Deadline Guy Pearce regrets comments he recently made about Kevin Spacey during his time on the set of LA Confidential
• EW Brie Larson has finished filming Captain Marvel
Stage
• Playbill West Side Story returning to Broadway! Ivo van Hove is directing (he usually does very stripped down contemporary stagings) and this will be the first revival to not use the original choreography.
• Playbill The Go-Gos surprised a preview audience of the musical "Head Over Heels" and sang at the curtain call. More on this show soon. I loved it.
TV
• Guardian The rumors are true - the original Downton Abbey cast will reunite to make a feature film despite all the storylines wrapping up so neatly in the series with those weddings and such
• Coming Soon Joss Whedon is finally returning to TV, this time on HBO with a new sci-fi series focused on Victorian women with unusual abilities. So... is this a steampunk situation, sci-fi but retro? The title is The Nevers
• Towleroad Madonna helps Ariane Grande out on her "God is a Woman" video
• Vulture divvies up the Emmy nods for surprises and snubs
Reader Comments (32)
Downton Abbey is such a load of crap. Who wants this!?
Intrigued to see what a Whedon-HBO show is going to look like.
Evangelina -- I do.
It's so sad that Scarlett is no longer doing that movie. I miss the actress.
SJWs bullied Scarlett from playing a transgender by becoming exactly what they hate. Great job asswipes. Let's see if that movie with whoever you want will be any good.
Proud of Scarlett.
Peggy Sue I do,too!!!
Hey, thevoid99, you would do well to heed Inkoo Kang's advice on this topic:
"Every time a casting controversy (or race/gender/sexuality-based criticism) arises in the news, first educate yourself fully on why the aggrieved parties are speaking up before speaking up yourself, especially if you are male or belong to a majority group (white, straight, cis, the able-bodied, whatever). It's called considering other people's perspectives and feelings. It's also the least you could do to not sound so damn stupid."
the downton abbey movie already exists: it's called gosford park
The mob mentality of the Scarlett backlash is unfair.She probably helps the financing.
Thevoid, that fact that you said "a transgender" is just another part of the problem. That Scarlett is a cis woman is only a part of why her casting was so - to use the word most commonly used for such a situation - problematic.
@markgordonuk how so, be her initial response was horrible. If it weren’t for how SHE responded initially, I’m sure it would not have been that harsh. The way some on this board sound I guess you guys have no objections to Blackface either!
That’s why I rarely come here anymore ? Are you all Trump supporters, using terms like SJW smdh!
Nikki: Also, how did SJW even catch on as an insult? I'm not a Trump supporter (just...no), but that just makes your opposition sound awesome! More likely to galvanize than demoralize.
Peggy Sue: Look, Scarlett the (self-consciously Oscar chasing) actress didn't work out. Action movies and auteur fare.
Scarlett Johansson wasn't "bullied by social justice warriors;" she faced the consequences of making a yet another shitty business decision. I know it's difficult for people with any type of privilege -- especially white people -- to believe that they don't have an inherent right to everything simply because that privilege typically allows them access, but they don't. As a producer, she easily could have done all she could to find a suitable actor for the role but deliberately chose not to. People who don't want to be viewed as trash should stop doing trash things. Spare me the poor put-upon picked-on rich, successful, straight white actress routine.
Nikki -- yeah, i was personally shocked at her initial response -- well, her management or PR's initial response. So bitchy! But the response would have been harsh either way, let's be real.
Evangelina - i want it too. well, the idea of it. I'm not sure there's a point since the storylines all wrapped up but that show was so f'ng enjoyable all the time.
@Volvagia SJW is considered a derogatory term.
@Nat , sure she would’ve been criticized still, but her response made it 10 times worse.
It's a tiny storm,there's more going on all over the world besides this,I don't see how your a Trump supporter for siding with an Actress,is he responsible for eveything,this stuff was going on throughout hollywood for years where was a backlash then.
Ha Ha Ha,SJW is a deragoratory term,what world have we entered here.
I'm white,unpriveleged and gay I suppose i'm not allowed to see the world from a different view either,I don't feel the need to attach myself to every "Outraged " bandwaggon going.
Nikki: Um...you did see that, with how I mentioned it, I'm in the camp that honestly can't view it as anything but a COMPLIMENT? I get that its used as an insult, but its a TERRIBLE insult. You fight for social redress and justice? FIGHT. ON. Again HOW does something that can be used that way so EASILY catch on AS an insult?
@mark What are you even talking about? SJW is a term used by the alt right to deride others. Most Trump supporters use that term. What’s so difficult about that? When people start using Trump language “Snowflake “ SJW” I’m going to make the assumption that they are Trump supporters.
Well you think whatever you like and i'll think and feel whatever i like,how's about that,I respect your opinion all i'm asking is the same.
@mark
I'm confused as to why you continue to go back and forth with me. My only response to you was about the harsh criticism that Scarlett received. I said nothing about you being a Trump supporter.
Read your posts.
@ Vol , I understand what you’re saying, I don’t know how it became an insult . It was added to the oxford dictionary in 2015 as derogatory. The earliest I’ve heard of the term was 2013 maybe and it was always considered an insult.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sjw
@mark I did which is why I’m confused. Nothing in my post that @mark accused you of being a Trump supporter. I did ask if you had objections to blackface?
I don't think any person I know agrees with that.
I'm sad for Scarlett, The Actress too... But considering her upcoming projects: NOAH BAUMBACH'S UPCOMING PROJECT and Taika Waititi's JOJO RABBIT, I see some potential showcases for The Actress! [ really want her to become at least an Academy Award nominee, she deserve it! ]
.
BLACK WIDOW standalone movie can also be an acting vehicle where The Avenger Star meets The Actress, specially with Cate Shortland directing it
It will absolutely be more difficult for the film's financing. Like someone said, Scarlett was undoubtedly the glue that got this project off the ground. She's an international star. Do you remember how Jonathan Glazer initially wanted Gemma Arterton for Under the Skin? But he was forced by producers to pick someone more "bankable" (which, in this case, worked out well. Scarlett is incredible in that film). I do think it was the right thing for Scarlett to do, and I still hope this picture is able to go forward.
Woosh - have I stepped into an alternate reality on this board? We’re not reddit people, get your goddamned shit together!
Snap out of it! We celebrate actresses - not debate Trunp, the alt right and the origin of the term SJW! Lord.
Also - my problem with johansson’s (bitchy) response is the age old ‘just because they did it - doesn’t mean it’s okay!’ - I find that so weird and so problematic if you applied it to any other situation (yellow face, black face, racism etc.) - who in her team thought it was a good idea to say that and why she has become so unlikeable?
They were going to need a ton of make up to turn Scarlett Johansen into the "Tex" Gil. Why do people keep calling this person as trans man? Unless I miss something - she was a cross dressing Lesbian - a young Kathy Bates would have been perfect
Ugh. That Cracked article is so depressing.