Fresh News 5/27/21
Posted by NALIP on May 29, 2021
What's happening in the entertainment industry this week?! Amazon set to absorb MGM? This and more in this 5/27/21 fresh news!
Blue Miracle out on Netflix!
Directed by Julio Quintana and written by Chris Dowling, Blue Miracle tells a heartwarming story based on true events about how the boys of Casa Hogar in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico banded together to save their home after it was destroyed during Hurricane Odile. With no prior fishing experience, they entered the famous Black & Blue Fishing Tournament in Cabo to raise the money to save their home. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Anthony Gonzalez, and Jimmy Gonzales as well as a cast of incredibly talented newcomers. The cinematography was done by Puerto Rican-born Santiago Benet Mari.
Now available on Netflix.
Check out the trailer here!
New Hollywood Podcast: Krysta Rodriguez Talks Playing Legend Liza Minnelli In ‘Halston’
Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix
Krysta Rodriguez is an all-star when it comes to playing musical roles on the Broadway stage as she played Wednesday Addams in the Tony-nominated musical The Addams Family, as well as First Date, and Spring Awakening, another Tony-nominated production. She starred in Broadway musicals and in NBC’s hit show series Smash and the Netflix dark comedy Daybreak. Her past performances and roles have led her to take on the legend herself, Liza Minnelli, in the show Haltson. This is a stepping stone in Latinx representation as it was not expected for Minnelli to be played by an actress of Latinx descent.
Click here to read more about her role as Liza Minnelli.
Peter Murrieta Signs First-Look Deal With Universal Television (EXCLUSIVE)
Courtesy of Peter Murrieta
Peter Murrieta will be developing original content for broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms for Universal Television. His record of producing hilarious comedy shows like “Mr. Iglesias” on Netflix, co-writing the Lifetime movie “Feliz Navidad” and showrunning and producing on the Disney Channel series “Wizards of Waverly Place” has led him to take on this amazing role. His other credits include “Superior Donuts” and “One Day at a Time.” Jim Donnelly, executive vice president of comedy development at Universal Television said “Besides being a hilarious writer and all-around great guy, he has an amazing track record of championing and supporting fellow LatinX voices and talent. We look forward to all the great projects we get to collaborate with him on.” Read more here.
Executive Team In Play As Amazon Set To Absorb MGM; What’s On Deck?
Mega; AP
Amazon’s big acquisition of $8.45 billion has absorbed MGM into their company. The amid of this purchase was to help Prime Video compete with the big players like Netflix. However, now the big question is who will be responsible for this merger and who will step down in their executive roles. The roles in question are Amazon Studios’ chief Jennifer Salke, Mark Burnett, chairman of the MGM Worldwide Television Group, and MGM Motion Picture Group chairman Michael De Luca. Read more here.
Edgar Wright’s ‘Last Night in Soho’: Watch the Chilling Trailer With Anya Taylor-Joy
Focus Features
Edgar Wright’s new horror-thriller “Last Night in Soho” will star Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin Mckenzie, and Matt Smith. This mind-bending film will follow the twist and turns that arise when innocent, up-and-coming fashionista Eloise (McKenzie) can reach back in time and meet her idol, a dazzling singer named Sandy (Taylor-Joy), in the 1960s. “Last Night in Soho” is set for release on Oct. 22. Read more here.
Click here to watch the trailer.
Frameline Film Fest Sets ‘In the Heights,’ ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ for ‘Pride Movie Nights at Oracle Park’
Warner Bros./20th Century Studios
On June 11 and 12, movie lovers will be watching “In the Heights” and “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie' ' at the San Francisco Giant’s Oracle Park as Frameline Film Fest takes over. San Francisco international LGBTQ+ film festival will feature a mix of in-person and virtual programming. The highly anticipated musical movies are the screenings of Frameline’s first-ever Pride Movie Nights event, in partnership with the MLB team and SF Pride. Read more on Variety.
For more information on the musical movie night, go to www.frameline.org/pridemovienight.
AAPI Netflix Execs Weigh in on Hollywood’s Representation Problems: ‘An Enormous Amount of Work to Do’
Netflix
Hollywood is playing catch up as the pressure for inclusion and better representation for all marginalized communities feel empowered to question when their stories and culture will be celebrated and told in the right way. In the past year amid the Black Lives Matter protest, anti-Asian hate crimes, many studios, and streaming companies are coming to terms with the long-lasting issues of representation. The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s latest study on Asian American on-screen representation details the same disappointing statistic of lack of representation with the AAPI community, which examined 1,300 popular films from 2007 to 2019 and found that only 44 of those films, or 3.4%, had an Asian or Pacific Islander lead. Only six of those featured an API woman as a lead, and a third of those 44 titles were Dwayne Johnson movies.
Click here to read more about what executives are doing about these statistics.
Emmy Predictions: Lead Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie – Could Kate Winslet (‘Mare of Easttown’) Challenge Mbedu or Taylor-Joy?
Courtesy Images
As the Emmys are quickly approaching, Variety has speculated and predicted based on ratings and popularity who could be taking home an Emmy this year. Based on their speculations, the future seems bright for Anya Taylor-Joy for her performance in The Queen’s Gambit but she’ll face serious competition from Thuso Mbedu for her performance in The Underground Railroad. The Primetime Emmy nominations will be announced on July 13, 2021.
Click here to see Variety’s Full List of Emmy Predictions.
The ‘Eternals’ Trailer Finally Reveals How Chloé Zhao’s Vision Will Fit in the MCU
Screengrab courtesy of Marvel Studios
With the new teaser trailer of Eternals being released, the audience has a greater sense of understanding of how Chloé Zhao, this year’s Oscar-Winning director, will be applying her unique eye to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Zhao’s previous films are similar in the sense that they examine individual lives that are shaped by greater forces they can’t control which is the rising topic of most Marvel movies.
Click here to read more about Eternals and its theories corresponding to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Superstore, ‘Saved by the Bell’ and More TV Series to Consider This Emmy Season
Courtesy of Variety
With the reigning comedy and drama champs, Schitt’s Creek and Succession, both out of the running — one having concluded its run and the other ineligible after a COVID-imposed production hiatus — there would seem to be the opportunity to infuse the two top categories with shows that have never been honored before. Other series categories, too, see potential first-time nominees announcing themselves. Read about Variety's list of series to consider for the Emmy Season here.