Links: Johnny Depp, Carmen Jones, Kathy Griffin, Julia Roberts, and More...

• Coming Soon Jim Carrey, James Marsden, and Tika Sumpter to star in Sonic the Hedgehog movie. It's set to be a live action / animated hybrid. Not sure if that means the stars are just mo-capped or what.
• i09 "even the Defenders action figures hate Iron Fist" LOLOL
• Variety first look at Julia Roberts in the Amazon series Homecoming. Apparently she still wants that Emmy. (Bonus points: Sissy Spacek is playing her mother and her dream man from My Best Friends Wedding Dermot Mulroney also co-stars)
• Awards Daily predictions for what will show at Telluride 

• Vulture lists the 55 essential Queer horror films. I've only seen 20 of them. How about you?
• Playbill lists 14 stage favorites you can catch at the movies this summer
• E!News Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black have a new son
• Towleroad Broadway actors redo "We are the World"... I wish I liked this more but it's too light on starpower (only a few legends in comparison to comparative within-their-field legends in the 80s single)  and weirdly makes that American Idol guy Constantine the focus)
• /Film a look back at Lagaan (2001), India's last Oscar nominee
• The Playlist Toni Collette, Kaitlyn Dever, and Merrit Wever (that's quite a trio!) will star in Unbelievable a film adapted from the Pulitzer winning article "An Unbelievable Story of Rape"
• Boy Culture reviews Kathy Griffin's comeback performance at Radio City Music Hall
• THR Jared Leto is going to play Morbius, the Living Vampire in one of those Sony attempts at making a Spider-verse of villain movies
• /Film Netflix ordered a martial arts series Wu Assassins to star Iko Uwais
• Playbill Carmen Jones with Anika Noni Rose taking over Dorothy Dandridge's famous role has been extended through August.
• ...we had our friend Erica review it right here. (I wish it were on Broadway so Anika could win a second Tony!) 

Johnny Depp painting by Matt Mahurin

This Past Week's Must Read (If You Missed It)
Meant to share this a whole week ago but if you haven't yet read Stephen Rodrick's totally absorbing, fascinating, and non-spiteful but damning profile of Johnny Depp, "The Trouble With Johnny Depp" you must. I've been thinking about it all week and mourning the Johnny that once was, from the Edward Scissorhands, Cry Baby, Donnie Brasco, pre-Jack Sparrow days.

OTD: Yul Marries, Macy Screams, Fellini Premieres

on this day in showbiz-related history...

1944 Yul Brynner marries his first wife, actress Virginia Gilmore, in Los Angeles. They're both in their mid 20s. She's already made 15 movies but he's just starting out with two Broadway shows under his belt. Their marriage will last 16 years and they will have one child together. Rock Brynner (their son) will go on to write a book about his dad and their family history.

1954 Federico Fellini's La Strada premieres at the Venice Film Festival and goes on to win the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Fellini will go on to completely own that category, winning thrice more with The Nights of Cabiria (1957), 8½ (1963), and Amarcord (1974)

Macy Gray, The King's Speech, and more after the jump...

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The Bening hits Venice. Telluride and TIFF queue up.

by Nathaniel R

Consider prestige season officially on. The Venice Film Festival is currently in its first full day of screenings after last night's glitzy opening and Telluride just announced its lineup (which they always keep secret until after everyone has booked their passes). You can safely expect that many of the Oscar players will emerge in the next two weeks though with Spielberg's film not ready for the festivals and with Dunkirk already in theaters this could be the first year in ages where the eventual Best Picture winner does NOT emerge at the fall festivals...

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OTD: Who's "Bad"?

on this day (August 31st) in history as it relates to showbiz

1897 Thomas Edison patents his movie camera the "kinetograph"

1987 Michael Jackson's video "Bad" directed by none other than the master Martin Scorsese premieres. It is 18 minutes long (!) because Martin Scorsese never saw a lengthy running time that didn't make him salivate. The short gave Wesley Snipes one of his earliest gigs prompting the short's switch from black and white to color as Wesley riles Michael up with a "you ain't bad!" burn.

Princess Diana, Brokeback Mountain and more after the jump...

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007/11 Links

Radar Daniel Craig offered $150 million to continue to play 007 twice more. That's rich but the James Bond franchise is worth billions
Billboard Barbra Streisand gets her eleventh #1 album with "Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway" further cementing her lead as the women with the most #1 albums (Madonna is a distant second). Her first #1 album was in 1964. Talk about staying power.
The Guardian Carrie Fisher on getting older and the new doc about her and her mother

Shadowplay isn't as taken with It Follows as most critics were
In Contention will Moonlight be another Oscar player for A24? I'm seeing this tomorrow. Can't wait.
Film Mixtape a lovely review of Little Men
Awards Daily five Oscar takeaways from Telluride Film Festival from Rooney Mara in Best Actress to Arrival's iffy prospects
AV Club Stanley Tucci not up for reprising his Devil Wears Prada role. Curious. That's exactly what he did in Burlesque.
Vulture knitwear as MVP of The Light Between Oceans 
Rachel Wagner surveys the rest of the animated films opening this year 

Finally
Congratulations to Taiwanese superstar Shu Qi who just married longtime rumored boyfriend actor/director Stephen Fung. You've seen Shu Qi in several movies no doubt (including recent critical darling The Assassin) but if Stephen Fung doesn't sound quite as familiar think back. The Hong Kong star was one half of the central romance in LGBT classic Bishonen (1998) as the jaded gigolo who falls for a beautiful young cop (played by Daniel Wu, currently starring on AMC's Into the Badlands). Shu Qi was also in that movie (if I recall correctly as Wu's unaware girlfriend?) so the pair go way back... though it should be noted that they have stated that their romance is only four years old. Fung recently directed and co-starred in the Tai Chi Hero movies.

Next up for the pair? Shu Qi's remake of My Best Friend's Wedding (in the Julia Roberts role of course) is making the rounds now and Stephen Fung's next directorial feature The Adventurers is in preproduction starring Andy Lau, Jean Reno, and you guessed it... Shu Qi