• 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