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Chi McBride has been cast in the upcoming Netflix series “I Will Find You,” Variety has learned exclusively.

McBride joins previously announced lead Sam Worthington as well as cast members Britt Lower, Milo Ventimiglia, Logan Browning, Erin Richards, and Jonathan Tucker.

Based on Coben’s novel of the same name, the official logline states, “An innocent father (Worthington) serving life for the murder of his own son receives evidence that his child may still be alive—and must break out of prison to find out the truth.”

McBride will play Max Williams, described as “a legend in the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force who will doggedly pursue the escaped con David Burrough (Worthington) no matter how much it rips his personal life apart.”

McBride’s recent TV credits include “This Is Us” at NBC, and “Hawaii Five-o” at CBS. He is also known for his roles in shows like “Boston Public,...

Starz has announced the movie and TV titles that will be available on the service in April. The Starz April 2025 schedule includes new episodes of Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 4.

The Starz app expands its movie slate in April with an exciting mix of films, including the thriller Both Eyes Open, starring Gail Bean, Joy Brunson, and Taye Diggs; the comedy Strays, featuring the voices of Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, and Will Forte; and the video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s, starring Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, and Piper Rubio.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan

Exclusively available on the Starz app this month, fan-favorite films including 8 Mile, American Gangster, Belly, The Nutty Professor, That’s My Boy, Poetic Justice, and Friday Night Lights join the lineup.

Additionally, Starz will spotlight curated collections, featuring cast members from Power Book III: Raising Kanan, along with specially selected movie picks.

Power Book...

Based on the book by the same name, Nickel Boys follows Elwood Curtis and Turner, two Black teens, as they endure the brutal conditions of Nickel Academy. Elwood's grandmother Hattie does everything in her power to find out what is going on with him, but she is constantly pushed away by those who run the reformatory.

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor plays Hattie. She is a seasoned actress who is well known for her roles in The Help, Ray, Undercover Brother, and Men of Honor. Nickel Boys, which is unfortunately based on a true story, is currently playing in New York theaters and opens in Los Angeles on December 20.

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Related Ava DuVernay & Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor On The Heartbreaking Beauty Of Origin

Origin director and writer Ava DuVernay and star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor discuss their experience creating the biographical drama film together.

ScreenRant interviewed Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor ahead of the release of Nickel Boys. She...

Eleven years have gone by since the release of a new entry in the Scary Movie horror parody series – but the franchise isn’t going to remain dormant for much longer. Back in April, it was announced that the Miramax label at Paramount, which is now operating under new boss Jonathan Glickman, had given the greenlight to a new Scary Movie sequel, with the plan being to get the film into theatres sometime in 2025. We recently learned that the series is being revived with the help of the people who got it started in the first place: the Wayans Brothers – and now Regina Hall, who played the character Brenda Meeks in the first four movies, has said she thinks it would be fun to come back and work on the new sequel with the Wayans.

Directed by In Living Color creator Keenen Ivory Wayans from a screenplay written by a bunch of people,...

A sterling lineup of stars and filmmakers have been set to be honored at the Critics Choice Association’s seventh annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television, which is set for December 9 at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

Among those being recognized are stars of 2024’s most acclaimed and anticipated films including Regina King, John David Washington, Cynthia Erivo, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jharrel Jerome and The Fire Inside breakout Ryan Destiny. On the TV side, honorees include Natasha Rockwell, Wendell Pierce and Michael Rainey Jr. Filmmakers Steve McQueen and Malcolm D. Lee among other luminaries will also be receiving awards.

As previously announced, actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry will be honored with the Icon Award for his body of work and achievements throughout the years. The writer, director and producer of Netflix’s upcoming The Six Triple Eight, Perry has helmed 24 feature films, 20 stage plays, 17 TV shows and penned...

Tyler Perry, Regina King, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and “The Best Man’s” Malcolm D. Lee will be honored at the Critics Choice Association’s seventh annual Celebration of Black Cinema and Television.

Actor and comedian Jay Pharoah, best known for “Saturday Night Live” and his recent comedy special “Jared,” will host the gala on Dec. 9 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. The ceremony will air on Starz in January 2025. It will then be televised on Ktla and shown nationwide on select Nexstar stations through the month of February in honor of Black History Month.

Perry will be presented with the Icon Award, celebrating his body of work. In addition to his upcoming Netflix film “The Six Triple Eight”, Perry has helmed 24 feature films, 20 stage plays, 17 television shows and penned two New York Times bestselling books, in addition to establishing the 330-acre Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta.

Lee will be...

Eleven years have gone by since the release of a new entry in the Scary Movie horror parody series – but the franchise isn’t going to remain dormant for much longer, and it’s being revived with the help of the people who got it started in the first place: the Wayans Brothers! Back in April, it was announced that the Miramax label at Paramount, which is now operating under new boss Jonathan Glickman, had given the greenlight to a new Scary Movie sequel, with the plan being to get the film into theatres sometime in 2025. That announcement didn’t include any mention of writers or a director – but now Deadline has revealed that Scary Movie 6 marks the return of the Wayans Brothers to the franchise. They haven’t been involved with the Scary Movie series since the second movie.

Scary Movie was developed by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans,...

Grammy®-nominated music video director Cooper Roberts makes his feature directorial debut with horror-comedy All You Need Is Blood, and we’ve got the trailer for you today.

All You Need Is Blood debuts exclusively on the Kino Studio app on October 12. The film will be available across VOD outlets following the Kino premiere. Watch the trailer below.

Logan Riley Bruner (Stranger Things), Neel Sethi (The Jungle Book) and newcomer Emma Chasse star alongside Mena Suvari (American Pie) and comedian Eddie Griffin (Undercover Brother) in the “blood-soaked, heartfelt” zombie-comedy.

The film follows Bucky, a 16-year-old aspiring director who dreams of becoming the next arthouse auteur sensation. After a strange meteor crash lands in his backyard and turns his deadbeat father into a brain-eating zombie, Bucky and his friends seize the opportunity to create the ultimate horror flick, starring his undead dad.

They’ll soon realize that making a movie with...

After having its world premiere at the 2023 Sitges Film Festival, the new zombie horror-comedy flick All You Need Is Blood has been acquired by Level 33 Entertainment. The distribution company has set the movie's streaming release for October 2024.

According to Variety, the zombie movie will be released on the Kino Studio app on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. If you weren't aware, Kino is an interactive streaming service that consists of an extensive list of feature films, documentaries, etc. Then, following its Kino debut, the film will be available across all Video on Demand outlets.

Yale Entertainment is the production company behind All You Need Is Blood. Grammy-nominated music video director Cooper Roberts wrote and directed the zombie movie, marking it as his feature directorial debut.

In addition, Yale Entertainment's Jordan Yale Levine, Jordan Beckerman, and Jesse Korman signed on as producers, along with Russell Posternak. Michael J. Rothstein, Jason Kringstein, Scott Levenson,...

Grammy®-nominated music video director Cooper Roberts makes his feature directorial debut with horror-comedy All You Need Is Blood, and Variety reports today that the zom-com has been picked up for October release by Level 33 Entertainment.

All You Need Is Blood debuts exclusively on the Kino Studio app on October 19. The film will be available across VOD outlets following the Kino premiere.

Logan Riley Bruner (Stranger Things), Neel Sethi (The Jungle Book) and newcomer Emma Chasse star alongside Mena Suvari (American Pie) and comedian Eddie Griffin (Undercover Brother) in the “blood-soaked, heartfelt” zombie-comedy.

The film from writer-director Cooper Roberts follows “Bucky, a 16-year-old aspiring director who dreams of becoming the next arthouse auteur sensation. After a strange meteor crash lands in his backyard and turns his deadbeat father into a brain-eating zombie, Bucky and his friends seize the opportunity to create the ultimate horror flick, starring his undead dad.

Starz has announced the movie and TV titles that will be available on the service in September. The Starz September 2024 schedule includes the premiere of Three Women, a limited series based on the New York Times bestselling book that explores female desire through the compellingly raw and honest stories of three women on a crash course to radically change their lives.

Part Two of the final season of Power Book II: Ghost will also premiere. On the film front, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Imaginary, Arthur the King, Knock at the Cabin, The Strangers: Chapter 1, Training Day, Ant-Man, and several other notable titles will join the Starz app this month.

Three Women Starz Highlights

Power Book II: Ghost Season 4 Part 2

The second half of the fourth and final season of “Power Book II: Ghost” premieres on Friday, September 6, at midnight Et on the Starz app. On linear, it will air on Starz at 8:00 p.

PodcastOne (Nasdaq: Podc), a leading podcast platform and a subsidiary of LiveOne (Nasdaq: Lvo), announced today that it has signed comedian and actor Chris Kattan to a multi-year contract for the exclusive sales and distribution rights for Kattan’s debut podcast, Idiotically Speaking with Chris Kattan. The weekly comedy variety show podcast is set for a July 24, 2024 debut and upcoming guests include Saturday Night Live alum and fellow comedians Fred Armisen, Dana Carvey, Rachel Dratch, Tim Meadows, Bobby Moynihan, Chris Parnell and Cecily Strong.

Join Kattan and co-hosts Andy Bolduc and Joseph Nuñez as each week Kattan invites his funniest friends to catch up on old times and hear about the new stuff too (if we have to). Then, our trio ropes their guest into an outrageous scenario where they have to improvise their way out! Will they spin comedy gold or will they just be... Idiotically Speaking?

“PodcastOne is thrilled to welcome Chris,...

Chris Kattan, known for his career in comedy and for starring on Saturday Night Live, is set to launch his debut podcast.

PodcastOne has signed Kattan to a multiyear contract for the distribution and sales of his podcast Idiotically Speaking With Chris Kattan. The weekly comedy and variety show podcast is set to launch July 24 and will feature guests chatting with Kattan and co-hosts Andy Bolduc and Joseph Nuñez and then participating in an improv comedy scenario.

The fellow SNL alums set to join forthcoming episodes of Idiotically Speaking include Fred Armisen, Dana Carvey, Rachel Dratch, Tim Meadows, Bobby Moynihan, Chris Parnell and Cecily Strong.

“PodcastOne is thrilled to welcome Chris, Andy and Joseph to the network,” PodcastOne president Kit Gray said in a statement. “Chris’ comic genius, his improvisational skills and his rapport with his co-hosts on Idiotically Speaking are great additions to the roster of shows already part of our slate of programming.

With its list of May 2024 releases, Amazon Prime Video is giving us the kindest gift of all: cougar Anne Hathaway.

May 2 sees the premiere of The Idea of You, a romantic-comedy that features Hathaway as a 40-year-old mom finding romance with a 24-year-old boy band singer (Nicholas Galitzine). Having saved the medium of film forever, Prime Video is celebrating with some big time library titles this month as well. American Fiction and BlacKkKlansman arrive on May 14 and will be followed by Creed and Pearl: An X-traordinary Origin Story on May 16.

For its TV offerings, Prime is leading off with Outer Range season 2 on May 16. This James Brolin sci-fi Western will continue the mysteries of the strange happenings on Thanos’ ranch. Reality TV fans will be able to enjoy the Daniel Tosh-hosted competition series The Goat on May 9.

Here’s everything coming to Prime Video and Freevee in April – Amazon...

Eleven years have gone by since the release of a new entry in the Scary Movie horror parody series – but the franchise isn’t going to remain dormant for much longer. Deadline reports that the Miramax label at Paramount, which is now operating under new boss Jonathan Glickman, has given the greenlight to a new Scary Movie sequel, with the plan being to get the film into theatres sometime in 2025. If any writers or a director are attached to the project, they weren’t named in this announcement.

Directed by In Living Color creator Keenen Ivory Wayans from a screenplay written by a bunch of people, the first Scary Movie was released by Dimension Films back in 2000. Scary Movie 2 was released in 2001, and the Wayans remained at the head of the creative team for that one. Keenen Ivory Wayans directed it from a screenplay credited to Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans,...

Exclusive: Veteran actor and comedian Eddie Griffin has signed with Independent Artist Group across the board, Deadline has learned.

Appearing in over 50 films and TV shows over more than three decades, Griffin won an NAACP Image Award from multiple nominations for his starring role in Malcolm & Eddie, a sitcom that aired on Upn for four seasons.

Appearing alongside Dave Chappelle, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in the latter’s Academy Award winner A Star Is Born, he’s also been seen over the years in titles like the Denzel Washington thriller John Q, blaxploitation pic Undercover Brother, Armageddon, the Deuce Bigalow comedy franchise, Eddie Murphy starrer Norbit, Date Movie, Scary Movie 3, and My Baby’s Daddy, which he wrote, exec produced and starred in for Miramax.

Previously, Griffin also voiced the role of Richard Pryor on Adult Swim’s animated series Black Dynamite and starred on BET’s The Comedy Get Down.

Grammy®-nominated music video director Cooper Roberts makes his feature directorial debut with horror-comedy All You Need Is Blood, and we’ve got images today.

Logan Riley Bruner (Stranger Things), Neel Sethi (The Jungle Book) and newcomer Emma Chasse star alongside Mena Suvari (American Pie) and comedian Eddie Griffin (Undercover Brother) in the “blood-soaked, heartfelt” zombie-comedy.

Check out the image gallery below for your first look.

In the film from writer-director Cooper Roberts, “When a strange meteor lands in his backyard and turns his deadbeat father into a brain-eating zombie, a 16-year-old aspiring director teams up with his friends to create the ultimate student film.”

“It’s a zombie film but I love it because of how much heart it has. At its core, this story has so many meaningful themes it’s exploring, buried under the carnage,” said producer Jesse Korman.

“Cooper [Roberts] has a tremendously assured vision with this project,...

Independent talent agency 33 & West has signed comedians Masood Boomgaard, Tyler Fischer and Jimmy Dore, TheWrap can exclusively report.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Masood, Jimmy and Tyler to the 33 & West family,” said Peter DeSantis, head of talent & music crossover. “We’ve created an ecosystem at the agency that allows us to properly service their long-term upward trajectory, and a key function for our comedians is our ability to provide film and television opportunities for our comedy roster.”

“Masood is a perfect example of a comedian that started on TikTok and Instagram who is now performing live and headlining their own sold out shows,” said agency co-founder JJ Cassiere.

Boomgaard, who is also known by his alter ego Self-Help Singh, has sold out shows around the world in Singapore, London, Los Angeles, Boston, Australia and Dubai. In 2020, Boomgaard was the first South African comedian to record a lockdown comedy special from his home,...

There’s a scene in John Singleton’s 1991 masterpiece, Boyz n the Hood, in which Laurence Fishburne, playing a man who goes by ‘Furious,’ delivers an impromptu sermon in front of a real estate billboard. He asks his curious onlookers, “Why is it that there’s a gunshop on almost every corner in this community?”

“Why?” an older resident asks.

“I’ll tell you why,” Furious replies. “The same reason that there’s a liquor store on almost every corner in the black community. Why? They want us to kill ourselves.”

They Cloned Tyrone, the directorial debut of Juel Taylor, who co-wrote the script for Creed II, and was one of a bevy of writers to take a crack at Space Jam: A New Legacy, poses similar questions to those asked by Furious, but takes a far more eccentric approach.

Related: 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies You've Probably Never Heard Of

The...

Jamie Foxx and John Boyega uncover a government conspiracy in They Cloned Tyrone's outrageous trailer. Directed and co-written by Juel Taylor, the upcoming comedy-thriller centers on street hustler Fontaine (Boyega), local pimp Slick Charles (Foxx), and sex worker Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris) as they discover an underground lab where an unknown government agency preys on the local Black neighborhood with nefarious experiments. Rounding out the cast are 24's Kiefer Sutherland, In Living Color's David Alan Grier, White Men Can't Jump's (2023) J. Alphonse Nicholson, and The Good Fight's Tamberla Perry.

Netflix's They Cloned Tyrone trailer features Foxx and Boyega uncovering a terrifying government conspiracy.

After witnessing a strange abduction in his neighborhood, Fontaine partners with Slick Charles and Yo-Yo to unravel a Twilight Zone-style plot. Filled with laughs, intrigue, and action, They Cloned Tyrone's trailer teases one of Netflix's biggest comedies of the summer.

What to...

Tubi opens June with an intense WWII drama “Inglourious Basterds.” Allied officer Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) assembles a team of five tough Jewish soldiers to spread fear throughout the Third Reich. They have one assignment: assassinate Nazi leaders. Quentin Tarantino wrote and directed the unconventional war drama. Eli Roth, Melanie Laurent, and Christopher Walz co-star.

Watch the trailer of “Inglourious Basterds”:

The network is also streaming the original documentary “Mystery Unsolved: The Adnan Syed Story” on June 7. The murder of teenager Hae Min Lee was the focal point of a “Serial” podcast, which questioned if boyfriend Syed was her killer. After serving 22 years in prison, Syed was released, still proclaiming his innocence. Now, he may return.

Another streamer original, “Magic Carpet Rides,” arrives June 14. It centers on a social influencer torn between sharing her budding romance or honoring her boyfriend’s request to keep their life private.

Check...

While 1999’s The World Is Not Enough may not be the worst James Bond movie, the outing would have been a lot better if the movie cut one pivotal character. James Bond goes through love interests at an alarming rate. In most Bond movies, 007 had a short-lived dalliance with at least two or three different women, although the franchise relied on this trope a lot less in the Daniel Craig era. However, while critics have complained that many of 007’s so-called “Bond girls” are effectively interchangeable, sometimes, they can mean the difference between a good spy movie and a fatally flawed outing for the franchise.

While The Spy Who Loved Me’s original story focused entirely on the perspective of a Bond girl and didn’t even introduce 007 until the plot was almost over, the franchise never revisited this sort of risky storytelling. During the self-aware, campy Pierce Brosnan era,...

As far as 1990s and 2000s-era screen goddesses go, Denise Richards was probably the biggest of them all. From her role in Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers to her iconic turn in Wild Things, Denise Richards was a formative crush for many of us who came of age in that era, and the image of Richards emerging from a swimming pool in Wild Things was enough to make many teenage pulses flutter. In this episode of What Happened to this Celebrity, we take a look at Richards’ rise to fame, from early roles in low-budget fare such as Tammy & the T-Rex to her eventual breakthrough to her controversial casting as nuclear physicist Dr. Christmas Jones in the James Bond epic The World is Not Enough and beyond.

Arguably, the late nineties and early 2000s were her peak, with her memorably turning up on Friends in a guest spot as Ross’s hot cousin,...

A new season of “The Boys,” the latest “Bond” movie and the entire “Twilight” franchise are among the new streaming additions to Amazon Prime Video in June. The highly anticipated “The Boys” Season 3 is set to premiere on June 3 with the first three episodes of the season, followed by one new episode weekly.

The Jenny Han adaptation “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” a new YA series, premieres on June 17. And Daniel Craig’s final James Bond movie “No Time to Die” makes its streaming debut on Prime Video on June 10.

As far as noteworthy library titles go, this is also your new streaming home for the “Twilight” franchise, while “Shaun of the Dead,” “Galaxy Quest” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” will all be streaming starting June 1.

We’ve also included a complete list of what’s new on Freevee – formerly known as IMDbTV – in June, which will be hosting the entire...

Aunjanue Ellis is aware she’s having a bit of a career renaissance. The talented actor has been consistently delivering great performances in films like 2002’s “Undercover Brother,” 2004’s “Ray” and 2018’s “If Beale Street Could Talk.” But in the last three years, she has earned two Emmy nominations, one for 2019’s limited series “When They See Us” and one for 2020’s HBO series “Lovecraft Country.”

And now Ellis is earning Oscar buzz for her role in “King Richard,” the story of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams that focuses on their supportive family – namely parents Richard Williams (Will Smith) and Oracene “Brandy” Price (Ellis.) Listen below!

On this week’s Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, Ellis admits she isn’t sure what changed – she does say the more she worked, the more she learned. “I think that I started learning how to act,” she muses. “I didn’t learn...

Amazon Prime Video’s epic The Lord of the Rings series won’t arrive until 2022. Thankfully, with its list of new releases for November 2021, Amazon has a pretty major fantasy adaptation to hold us over.

The Wheel of Time is set to premiere on Nov. 19 and will bring Robert Jordan’s massive fantasy universe to life. Rosamund Pike stars as Moiraine, a powerful magic-user who guides five young people on a perilous journey around the world. One of them just might be the reincarnation of the Dragon, a powerful entity who could save the world…or destroy it.

Read more TV The Wheel of Time: Who Are the Aes Sedai? By Michael Ahr TV How The Wheel of Time Adapts a Sprawling Epic Fantasy By Michael Ahr

In addition to that bit of fantasy fun, Amazon Prime also has some other TV options this month. Lesbian dating show Tampa Baes (Nov.

The comedian and former The Daily Show correspondent talks about his favorite Blaxploitation movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

The Castle (1997)

The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973) – Bill Duke’s trailer commentary

Pressure (1976)

Robinson Crusoe On Mars (1964) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary

Boss (1975)

Django Unchained (2012) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary

The Thing With Two Heads (1972) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary

The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971)

The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970)

Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970)

Black Samurai (1977)

Truck Turner (1974)

Schindler’s List (1993)

Black Caesar (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary

Hell Up In Harlem (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary

Judas And The Black Messiah (2021)

Friday Foster (1975)

That Man Bolt (1973)

Blacula (1972)

Foxy Brown (1974) – Jack Hill’s trailer commentary

Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976)

Willie Dynamite (1973) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Billy Jack (1971)

John Wick (2014)

The Matrix (1999)

Cleopatra Jones...

Another music legend is gone as Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas has reportedly passed away. A co-founder of the famous soul-funk group Kool & the Gang, Thomas died peacefully in his sleep in New Jersey on Saturday. He had just recently performed with Kool & the Gang at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on July 4 and his death comes as a shock for fans. Thomas was 70 years old.

Thomas is best known for forming Kool & The Gang with the original group members in 1964 when they were first called the Jazziacs. Consisting of seven friends from school playing together, the group featured Thomas on saxophone, Robert "Kool" Bell on bass, Ronald Bell on keyboards, Robert "Spike" Mickens on trumpet, Ricky West on keyboards, George Brown on drums, and Charles Smith on guitar. Several name changes later, they officially became Kool & the Gang in 1969, debuting their first album under that name in 1970.

A press...

Nichelle Protho has been hired as SVP Development & Production at Loud Sis Productions, Dayna Lynne North’s company that is aiming to produce content that amplifies the stories of Black women, women of color and marginalized voices.

Protho, most recently a development executive at Sander/Moses Productions, joins after North, the former writer and executive producer on HBO’s Insecure, formed Loud Sis and inked a two-year overall deal with Sony Pictures Television. Among Loud Sis’ first projects sees North writing and executive producing with Malcolm D. Lee’s The Best Man: The Final Chapters, Peacock’s 10-episode limited dramedy series adapted from Universal’s movie franchise.

Protho previously oversaw production at Urban Entertainment, where she developed and produced the John Ridley web series Undercover Brother that eventually became one of the industry’s first web-to-film adaptations.

“When launching a production company, having an executive by your side who’s an experienced,...

Stars: Michael Jai White, Michael Eklund, Sabryn Rock, Nakai Takawira, Lyric Justice, Sagine Sémajuste, Gary Owen, Anthony Grant, Kristen Harris, Marrese Crump | Written by Dallas Jackson, Gene Quintano | Directed by Dallas Jackson

It started last year, with the release of Benchwarmers 2… Which is when I speculated that Universal’s Dtv arm Universal 1440 Entertainment were scraping the bottom of the barrel. How little did I know. After being set up to produce sequels to Universal’s properties such as Death Race, Tremors and The Scorpion King, the company has in recent years has churned out sequels to Kindergarten Cop, Daddy Day Care, Cop and a Half, Honey, Bring it On and unexpected sequels to the likes of Backdraft, Bulletproof and Undercover Brother.

Speaking of which, Michael Jai White – who starred in the aforementioned blaxploitation comedy film – is back working with Universal’s Dtv arm for Welcome to Sudden Death. A...

Comedian Chris Kattan may be best remembered as one half of the ridiculous Butabi Brothers from the seriously underrated A Night at the Roxbury, but the movie represents just one character out of dozens that he created for Saturday Night Live in the '90s. Even collaborating with such SNL greats as Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler, he always managed to stand out.

Related: SNL: 5 '90s Sketches That Are Underrated (& 5 Overrated)

Renowned for his impressive physical comedy, he had an earnestness even when playing a weird goth kid like Azrael Abyss on the criminally funny "Goth Talk". Kattan appeared in numerous movies in the '00s like Corky Romano and Undercover Brother, but otherwise has led a relatively private life, leaving fans curious about what he's been up to.

Stars: Faizon Love, Kirk Fox, Tony Todd, Pearl Thusi, Cassie Clare, Fiona Ramsay | Written by Rick Wilkes | Directed by Don Michael Paul

Back in February 2019, when I reviewed Benchwarmers 2 I speculated that Universal’s Dtv arm Universal 1440 Entertainment were scraping the bottom of the barrel. How little did I know… Yes, after being set up to produce sequels to Universal’s properties such as Death Race, Tremors and The Scorpion King, the company has in recent years has churned out sequels to Kindergarten Cop, Daddy Day Care, Cop and a Half, Honey, Bring it On and even Backdraft. Oh, and last November’s out-of-nowhere sequel to Undercover Brother.

But in no way did I or anyone else for that matter, Ever expect Bulletproof 2, a sequel to the 1996 Adam Sandler film Bulletproof. After all, it’s been 24(!) years since the original film was released and both its stars Adam...

Stars: Vince Swann, Barry Bostwick, Michael Jai White, Laila Odom, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Lindsay Lamb, Melanie Loren, Gary Owen, Affion Crockett, Brandon Hirsch, Tyler Crumley, Zac Zedalis, Steven Lee Johnson | Written by Ian Edwards, Stephen Mazur | Directed by Leslie Small

Universal 1440 Entertainment, Universal’s direct to DVD production arm, mine old film franchises once again for a sequel to the Eddie Griffin 2002 blaxploitation comedy Undercover Brother… and you thought a sequel to Benchwarmers was unexpected! Though given we’ve already had new sequels to Kindergarten Cop, Daddy Day Care, the aforementioned Benchwarmers, Cop and a Half, Honey, Bring it On and – get this – even Backdraft; a sequel to Undercover Brother, something of a minor hit back in the day, isn’t that much a surprise. Hell, it beats getting yet Another sequel to The Scorpion King!

This time round Michael Jai White stars as the titular brother and Vince...

Writer-producer Saladin K. Patterson has signed a new multi-year, overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television. Under the pact, Patterson, who currently is an executive producer on FX comedy Untitled Lil Dickey, will develop, write and produce comedy series for network, cable and streaming platforms. Untitled Lil Dicky, based on the life of comedian and rapper Lil Dicky, received a series order at FX earlier this year.

“The studio’s history with Saladin began more than sixteen years ago, and we’re so happy to welcome him back,” said Carolyn Cassidy, 20th Century Fox TV President of Creative Affairs. “His writing is as smart as it is hilarious, two adjectives that pretty well sum up Saladin himself. He’s also as versatile a writer as there is, having worked in single cam and multicam, live action and animation. He can pretty much do anything, and we’re very glad that...

We have a new trailer for Undercover Brother 2, which is probably an assortment of words nobody expected to find themselves reading today. Indeed, Universal Pictures has pulled something of a fast one on all of us by putting together this direct-to-video sequel to its 2001 predecessor rather quietly. Though, it seems to be a sequel mostly in name only, as we've got an entirely new cast, with Michael Jai White as our new titular hero.

The trailer is admittedly brief, clocking in at just 30 seconds, which is normally what we can expect from a TV spot. But this appears to be a very small budget, low-key affair. Though, for those familiar with the 2002 movie, many of the same elements are at play here. We've got the organization known as The Brotherhood, who are tasked with trying to take down The Man. It's all coated in 70s sheen and layers of cheese.

Updated, 8:22 Am: The Kennedy Center has set the talent lineup for its Mark Twain Prize for American Humor gala celebrating Dave Chappelle. Bradley Cooper, Tiffany Haddish. Kevin Hart, Trevor Noah, Jon Stewart, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen for the October 27 event at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan. Other guests will be announced for the show that PBS will air in January.

Previously, May 7: Dave Chappelle will be the recipient of this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. The honor, in its 22nd year being handed out by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, will be bestowed at an gala performance event October 27 at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in Washington, D.C.

The award recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, best known as Mark Twain.

There's been something of a shake-up behind the scenes with Space Jam 2. LeBron James is still set to star in the movie alongside the Looney Tunes, but there's been a change in directors. Terrence Nance, who had originally been tapped to helm the long-awaited sequel, has vacated the project shortly after production got underway. Warner Bros. isn't skipping a beat though, as they've tapped Malcolm D. Lee, the filmmaker behind Girls Trip, to step in and take his place.

According to a new report, the parting of ways with Terrence Nance and Space Jam 2 was amicable. There is no indication that it was some overly dramatic production fiasco or anything along those lines. It isn't clear if the change-up will result in any sort of production delay. In any event, switching directors after filming has already gotten underway on a big movie is no small thing. That said, Malcolm D.

Hey, Bold And The Beautiful fans. We've got some major casting news for you guys in this new article, and it sounds like it could result in a major twist for the Hope stolen baby storyline. It turns out that the producers have decided to bring on the mother of Reese's accomplice Florence! That's right, guys. They're about to make this a family affair. According to the folks over at People.com, the Bold And The Beautiful producers have hired veteran actress Denise Richards to come on and portray Florence's mother Shauna Fulton. The Shauna character is a long term contract role. That means we can expect to see a lot Shauna as well as Florence in the future. Really, it just sounds like they're going to drag this storyline out even more. The official description that's been attached to the new Shauna Fulton character reads like this, "Shauna is a fun-loving,...

Abrams Artists Agency has signed comic and actor Eddie Griffin in all areas.

Griffin, who is onscreen as a pastor in the hit feature A Star Is Born, is a veteran stand-up comedian who probably is best known to moviegoers for starring 2002’s Undercover Brother, written by John Ridley and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. He also toplined the 1996-2000 Upn series Malcom & Eddie alongside Malcom-Jamal Warner.

Griffin’s Las Vegas residency, The Eddie Griffin Experience, is in its ninth consecutive year, and he’s been part of The Comedy Get Down Tour for the past five. He also has done stand-up specials for Comedy Central and Showtime.

His most recent film credits include All About the Money, American Hero and Going to America, and his other credits include Norbit, Date Movie, Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo and The Meteor Man.

Alec Bojalad Jul 16, 2019

The LeBron James-starring Space Jam sequel is officially happening with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler producing.

Space Jam 2 is happening. Really! Honestly! Truly! It’s happening this time.

The Hollywood Reporter says that the long-rumored Space Jam 2 starring LeBron James is officially a-go at Warner Bros., thanks to the addition of a prominent producer. Black Panther director Ryan Coogler will produce the untitled Space Jam sequel.

Space Jam 2 News

Malcolm D. Lee is stepping onto the Space Jam 2 court as its new director, replacing Terrence Nance, reports Deadline. Lee has helmed prominent comedies, with recent offerings like Night School, Girls Trip and Barbershop: The Next Cut, as well as horror offering Scary Movie 5 and, years earlier, Undercover Brother and The Best Man.

Terrence Nance, creator of HBO’s experimental series, Random Acts of Flyness, made an amicable exit as director, according to the report,...

Exclusive: For its first content acceleration program, Imagine Impact has set a diverse roster of established talent to mentor the first round of aspirants. The mentors will be the Oscar-winning Milk scribe Dustin Lance Black, sitcom vet and black-ish exec producer Stacy Traub, Burn Notice exec producer Ben Watkins, The Last O.G. showrunner Saladin K. Patterson, Gaz Alazraki, whose Nosotros los Nobles was a monster hit in Mexico, and Kate Purdy, co-creator of the upcoming Amazon series Undone. They will be the six “Shapers” who will mentor the first group of “Creators,” meeting with their charges twice per week to create a saleable script, teleplay or presentation. After opening the admissions applications process online recently, Imagine Impact received over 37,000 website views from 102 countries, with over 4,000 Creator applications submitted during the two-week window.

Said Tyler Mitchell, the vet exec recently named head of the Imagine Impact initiative: “We are extremely fortunate...

Director John Ridley is teaming up with producer Jason Blum and his Blumhouse Productions company for an adaptation of Ridley's superhero comic book The American Way. Ridley, who won an Oscar for writing 12 Years a Slave and created ABC's American Crime, is currently working on the screenplay adaptation, which will use superheroes to explore timely issues like race and integration. It's possible that this project could be released by Universal, since the studio is in its fourth year of an unprecedented 10-year first look deal with Jason Blum and Blumhouse Productions, although a studio home has not yet been confirmed.

The movie will be based on the 2007 limited comic book series The American Way: Those Above and Those Below, which was published as a six-issue monthly mini-series last year by DC Entertainment's Vertigo label. That series was written by Ridley and illustrated by George Jeanty, and was...

John Ridley and Jason Blum are partnering on a movie adaptation of Ridley’s recent comic book series “The American Way: Those Above and Those Below.”

Ridley is also attached to direct the project, based on his six-issue monthly miniseries published in 2017 by DC Entertainment’s Vertigo label. Ridley wrote the story with illustrator George Jeanty in what was a sequel to their 2007 graphic novel “The American Way,” in which a team of 1960s superheroes were created and called the Civil Defense Corps. The story focuses on Jason Fisher’s the New American, a black man given super strength but a limited pain threshold while the rest of the corps is torn apart by racism and murder.

Ridley won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for “12 Years a Slave.” His other film credits include “Ben-Hur,” “Undercover Brother,” “U Turn,” “Three Kings,” “Red Tails,” and the Jimi Hendrix biopic...

Exclusive: Aunjanue Ellis (The Help) and Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty) are joining Emmy-winning actress Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black) and Matthew Modine in the independent production of Miss Virginia. Also, Australian actor Christopher Egan, known for his work in Letters to Juliet and Resident Evil, has joined Hanna Griffiths (Macbeth, Underbelly Rush) in the new Warren Zide and James Wallace-produced romantic drama Brookers.

First, for Miss Virginia: Niles Fitch, Nadji Jeter, Amirah Vann and Michael Beasley also round out the cast in the film which is being directed by R.J. Daniel Hanna (Shelter) and produced by Erin O’Connor, Rob Pfaltzgraff, and Maurice Black of the Moving Picture Institute, Stacey Parks of Media Sparks Films and M. Elizabeth Hughes. Miss Virginia is set to commence production later this month in Los Angeles.

Inspired by a true story, Miss Virginia follows a struggling inner-city single mother who moves...

“If I will it, I can have it all.” So goes the million-dollar motto for Ryan Pierce (Regina Hall), the bestselling author who centers Malcolm D. Lee’s sprawling, women-gone-wild comedy “Girls Trip.” Ryan’s aspirational thinking is meant to motivate her faithful followers, but it seems as though Lee himself was similarly inspired. Lee’s never had trouble crafting a confidently glossy film (we’ll pretend “Scary Movie 5” didn’t happen), although some of his endeavors (“Undercover Brother”) have been more memorable than others (“Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins”). “Girls Trip,” a raucous ode to African-American sisterhood, may be his most open-hearted effort since.

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga have managed to pull in another big-name star for their upcoming version of the much-remade A Star Is Born. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dave Chappelle has signed on to appear in the film, which stars Cooper and Gaga as Hollywood lovers whose careers take rapidly diverging paths.

It’s been a while since Chappelle last dipped into the world of feature films; outside of a small role in Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq in 2015, he hasn’t been credited for acting in a movie since 2002’s Undercover Brother. It’s not clear how Cooper—who’s also directing the movie, his first—managed to lure him in, but Chappelle will apparently be playing “Noodles,” a blues musician who’s an old friend of Cooper’s fading star. Meanwhile, Sam Elliott and Andrew Dice Clay are also set to star.

Since 1994, New Orleans has hosted the Essence Music Festival, the largest event celebrating African-American culture and music in the United States, featuring prominent artists and entertainers every year. The new film “Girls Trip” prominently features the Essence Festival as a destination spot and a symbol of unity. The film follows four lifelong friends who travel to New Orleans to explore their respective wild sides and also rekindle their friendships. It stars Queen Latifah (“Chicago”), Jada Pinkett Smith (“Magic Mike Xxl”), Regina Hall (“Scary Movie”) and Tiffany Haddish (“Keanu”). Watch a sneak peak trailer for the film below.

Read More: Review: ‘The Best Man Holiday’ Is Overlong & Overstuffed But Features A Whacked Out Terrence Howard Performance

The film is directed by Malcolm D. Lee, cousin of filmmaker Spike Lee. He previously directed the 1999 film “The Best Man” as well as its sequel “The Best Man Holiday.” He also directed the Eddie Griffin vehicle “Undercover Brother,...

Macro, the new production and finance outfit launched by former WME partner Charles D. King, has hired producer and Imagine Entertainment veteran Kim Roth as president of production. She will oversee the slate of film and TV projects at the company that continues to ramp up since its launch earlier this year.

Macro recently closed its first round of funding, securing financing from lead investor Emerson Collective, Mnm Creative and others. King’s L.A.-based company, which is focused on content, distribution and engagement for black, Latino and multicultural audiences, has projects in the works from Ryan Coogler and Craig Brewer. It also just made a deal with Dope writer-director Rick Famuyiwa for a thriller about a seemingly unassuming but brilliant kid from New York’s projects who turns out to be the founder of a notorious hacker group.

Roth’s 16-year run at Brian Grazer and Ron Howard...

He’s won both an Oscar and Emmy for his writing. Now John Ridley will get a shot to direct a big budget feature. Broad Green Pictures and Imagine Entertainment are partnering to produce Ridley’s script on the La Riots with the award-winning scribe set to work behind the camera.

Ridley won an Oscar for 12 Years a Slave and won an Emmy for American Crime. He does have some experience as a director with the biopic Jimi: All is by My Side (2013) as his last film. In addition, Ridley has directed numerous television episodes. However, it’s his writing talents that have earned him the most acclaim in Hollywood. Those writing credits include Three Kings (1999), Undercover Brother (2002) and Red Tails (2012). His first novel, Stray Dogs, was made into the Oliver Stone film U-Turn (1997).

According to Deadline, a major motion picture about the 1992 La Riots has been kicked around numerous studios for years.

When word came not long ago that a second reboot of "Shaft" was in the works at New Line, fans of the character bristled when it was suggested the tone of the new film would be more comedic in nature - conjuring up images of a straight out blaxploitation satire along "Black Dynamite" or "Undercover Brother" lines.

Not helping was the hiring of sitcom writers Kenya Barris ("Black-ish") and Alex Barnow ("The Goldbergs") to pen the script about the black private detective. Producer John Davis, who is behind the new Wesley Snipes-led NBC series "The Player" along with the new "Shaft" reboot, spoke with Collider at the Television Critics Association and says the film will very much be dramatic in nature albeit with some scattered lighter moments:

"[He's] just a great character. He's just the greatest badass. You start with an amazing character - a great badass with charisma. He's...