Links: A Star is Born obsessions, Scarlett's big payday, Aladdin Teases

• Broadway World Anthony Ramos, of Hamilton fame and currently onscreen as Lady Gaga's bestie in A Star is Born, will headline the film version of Lin Manuel Miranda's In the Heights
• Variety Steven Yeun, Wong Kar Wai and Awkwafina are VIPs at the Hawaii Film Festival. Zhang Yimou's Shadow will open the fest.
• /Film John Carpenter is NOT happy that Dwayne Johnson is remaking Big Trouble In Little China
• /Film Guy Ritchie lines up stars for his next film Toff Guys including Henry Golding

More after the jump including Marvel superhero updates, Scarlett Johansson's payday, Willam and Shangela in A Star is Born, and the fresh teaser to Disney's next billion-dollar grosser Aladdin...

Click to read more ...

Meet your new "Jafar"

The saga of Disney's live-action Aladdin casting is still underway. The new Jafar will be Dutch actor Marwan Kenzari. This is noteworthy because he's the first live-action version of a cartoon character who is hotter than the cartoon character. It's also worth noting that if he's great in the role this could be quite an international breakthrough. He speaks four languages (Arabic, French, Dutch, and English) which you can hear some of in his most acclaimed role in Wolf (2013) so imagine how many country's cinemas could use him!

He's mostly made Dutch films to date but he was recently onscreen in three epic English language flops Ben-Hur, The Promise, and The Mummy. Next up he's playing the French train conductor in the Murder on the Orient Express remake then the lead in a true story thriller about Ashraf Marwan. After those two films, he'll be tormenting Aladdin and Jasmine!

In short: big career ahead. After the jump more pictures (some NSFW) of the new Jafar...

Click to read more ...

"Aladdin" Finds its Leading Man

by Nathaniel R

Will Smith has been booked as the genie for a fair bit but now Disney is really revving up for their live action remake of Aladdin, casting both their "Street Rat! Scoundrel!" and future prince in Mena Massoud (pictured above), and their Princess Jasmine in Naomi Scott, who just played the pink ranger in the film version of Power Rangers...

Click to read more ...

Disney Princess Medley

In case you need a pick me up...

Bonnie Milligan and Laura Osnes duel and duet with The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Mulan but the funny peaks with  Aladdin and Pocahontas. 

So Link We All

EW reunites the cast of Battlestar Galactica for a panel
Variety Ava DuVernay to deliver the UCLA Commencement address
Awards Daily Jazz interviews RuPaul about the phenomenon of Drag Race 
Towleroad Colton Haynes dishes about his management team in Hollywood who tried to keep him in the closet 

Film School Rejects this needed to be written -- an article on the terrible but now familiar and horrifically disingenuous Hollywood excuse "we didn't make it for the critics but the fans!"
Criterion Closet Barry Levinson (Wizards of Lies, Rain Man) picks some classics from those famous shelves including Jules et Jim and Spartacus and also fantasizes about Orson Welles
MNPP sound advice for Tom Hardy on that Jafar in Aladdin rumor - DON'T DO IT. 
i09 the costumes for Black Panther could be a godsend for the black cosplay community
Variety releases a list of 10 comics to watch including John Early (yay), Bollywood star Vir Das, and The Daily Show's Hasan Minhaj 
Coming Soon Michelle Monaghan reprising her character for the sixth installment of Mission: Impossible 

Finally...
TFE remember when we shared our "best 25 list" because of that random NYT best of new century list. Everyone is doing it including...
The New Yorker with Richard Brody's list. I like Brody so much and the list is quite eclectic but I will never ever understand the mass fascination with Scorsese's Wolf of Wall Street. It's such an obnoxious self indulgent movie. Scorsese has made much better films... even within this new century!