Innholdsfortegnelse for 7/15/2021 i Variety

1 Faye Dunaway Joins Kevin Spacey Film ‘The Man Who Drew God’ Faye Dunaway will appear alongside Kevin Spacey in his controversial new project, “The Man Who Drew God.” Directed by Italian actor Franco Nero, who also stars, the feature will be Spacey’s first role since 2017, when dozens of accusations of sexual harassment and assault saw the “House of Cards” actor effectively ostracized from Hollywood. Spacey has never publicly acknowledged the multiple allegations against him. “The Man Who Drew God” producer Louis Nero has confirmed to Variety that Dunaway will be taking the role Vanessa Redgrave had been rumored to play. — K.J. Yossman, Nick Vivarelli 2 Voltage Captures Rights to Action Thriller Gerard Butler, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Hornsby and Ethan Embry have wrapped principal photography on director Brian…

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF At the same time Quentin Tarantino announced last week that he had bought and would restore the historic single-screen Vista Theatre in Los Feliz, the mouthy Hollywood director inexplicably threw major shade on some of the big theater chains that were forced to close during the pandemic. “I never like any theater closing, but some of these exhibitors that are going, they fucking deserve to go. They’ve taken all the specialness out of movies anyway, some of these chains,” Tarantino said in a recent episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, insisting that a movie theater should “re-create my living room.” Really? I say how dare he go on such a rant just as people are finally feeling safe enough to return to movie theaters and exhibitors across America…

The TV development logjam that emerged across broadcast, cable and streaming last year as the pandemic raged is showing little sign of abating as COVID-19 restrictions lift. Multiple TV writers and lit agents tell Variety that the market is incredibly challenging, with little appetite from buyers for new projects. Among the factors contributing to the situation is the number of projects bought up last year for development. As COVID-19 prevented most physical production, companies began snapping up projects to develop in the interim. This led to a glut that brought on a slowdown of buying in the latter half of 2020. Now, with production back up and running (albeit with COVID protocols in place), some of those projects are beginning to see the light of day. However, a substantial backlog…

AWARDS CIRCUIT The annual Primetime Emmys always come with a dash of mystery and intrigue, but Hollywood’s Rise of the Streamers has given the Television Academy a whole new host of things to worry about. Like, what’s a network these days, anyway? The org caught flak for allowing HBO and HBO Max to merge their tallies, giving the combo a slight edge — 130 noms versus 129 — over rival Netflix. But it also tallied Disney’s total conglomerate haul at 146 (ABC, Hulu, Disney Plus, FX Networks, Nat Geo, Freeform), beating them both. Also baffling some observers: the ongoing debate over what is film (and the domain of the Oscars) versus what is TV and falls under the Emmys. That question may have impacted Amazon Prime Video’s “Small Axe,” which…

Ardor isn’t vegan, but Michelin-starred chef John Fraser’s menu at the restaurant, located in the West Hollywood Edition hotel (9040 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood), highlights his love of vegetable-centric cooking. From the tandoor carrots to the arugula farro risotto, plant-based ingredients are a cornerstone of Fraser’s creations. Ardor opened briefly before closing due to the pandemic; it began welcoming back guests, including Nick Kroll and models Slick Woods and Leomie Anderson, last month. Here, Fraser, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, offers his favorite farmers and food markets in and around the city. •→ Santa Monica Farmers Market: “Wednesdays are the best, offering bigger and better-quality produce, but get there early. I’m a big fan of Harry’s Berries, which come from a small organic family farm in Oxnard.”…

Greek Theatre, Los Angeles The Searchlight Pictures doc about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival marks Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s directorial debut. His next project is a documentary about Sly and the Family Stone. “I’m really just checking off my bucket list,” Thompson told Variety before performing a pre-screening DJ set. “I guess it’s my destiny to be a storyteller, and I like my new shoes I’m wearing.” The evening’s festivities also celebrated Hulu’s Onyx Collective, an initiative focused on creators of color led by Freeform president Tara Duncan.…

The field for the 73rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards nominees was narrower than it had been in recent years, but there were still plenty of pleasant surprises to be found (and admittedly a couple of head-scratchers). Here, Variety chief TV critics Daniel D’Addario and Caroline Framke run through the most interesting and exciting honors. D’Addario: “Game of Thrones” is long gone, but here’s one way its impact is still felt — genre has taken over the Emmys. “The Mandalorian” shares the most-nominated-series distinction (with “The Crown,” which at times can feel like high fantasy in its own way). And it’s nominated for drama series alongside “The Boys” and “Lovecraft Country,” with “WandaVision” showing up broadly and deeply in the limited series field. These shows vary in quality, and none might…

A newly energized Latin American & Caribbean Film Commission Network (LAFCN) aims to grab a big piece of the multibillion-dollar production business this year. Led by president Ana Aizenberg of Argentina and vice president Jose Castro, Costa Rican film commissioner, the non-profit org now comprises 13 film commissions from across Latin America and the Caribbean. “My goal is to empower the film commissions of Latin America as we continue to marshal both public and private support for them,” says Aizenberg, who heads the Argentine film commission at national film institute Incaa; she also coordinates the country’s network of regional film commissions. “Since 2010 to the present, the network has grown to become a serious, professional and well-known organization; we expect to incorporate more film commissions from the Caribbean and across…

It’s a pretty rare occasion when the director of a superhero movie sits down with the composer to talk about music and neither of them ever uses the word “action” or even “superhero.” Instead, “Black Widow” director Cate Shortland and composer Lorne Balfe talked about the backstory of Natasha Romanoff and her sister, Yelena Belova. “Every conversation we had, right from the beginning, was about Natasha’s and Yelena’s heritage,” Balfe tells Variety. “I wanted to write the music that Natasha and Yelena listened to when they were children. Russian folk music was their original soundtrack — what their parents would have sung to them, what they would have absorbed as children.” So in what may be the year’s most ambitious film score to date, Balfe enlisted a 118-piece London orchestra…

NBCU execs are wrestling with what could be their biggest sports challenge yet: the Quiet Olympics. Broadcasting and streaming the Tokyo Summer Games already had a high degree of difficulty due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Then Japan declared a state of emergency late last week, and banned live crowds, adding all kinds of new hurdles to the massive production slated to kick off July 23. Will the events seem as powerful and captivating without the roar of the crowd? Can sportscasters communicate the spirit and substance of the games without the hoopla fans have come to expect? NBC’s top sports exec insists they can. “We’re confident that the viewer at home won’t notice a difference,” says Pete Bevacqua, chairman of NBC Sports, in emailed responses to queries.…

STRICTLY BUSINESS The best part of this year’s Allen & Co. moguls conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, was the speed dating. That’s how several attendees described the atmosphere at the annual gathering of business, tech, political and international movers and shakers. In a nod to COVID concerns, organizers erected a large outdoor pavilion space to allow groups to mingle in a meeting-friendly setting without being in close quarters. That had the side benefit of letting everyone see who was taking meetings with whom. It was noted that Disney CEO Bob Chapek and executive chairman Bob Iger made the rounds together. Apple’s Tim Cook and Eddy Cue had a long line at their table. Conferencegoers were encouraged to take part in sessions that ran 30 to 45 minutes max from 12…

Gary Ginsberg’s proximity to power during his years as a lawyer in the Clinton White House gave him a keen understanding of how influence works in the executive branch. But the spark for his new book, “First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (and Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents,” came from his observations of two other political figures: Gary Hart and Donald Trump. Ginsberg, the former head of corporate communications for News Corp. and Time Warner, became fascinated by the notion of close friends who exert influence on presidents when he followed Hart’s boomerang effort to secure the Democratic nomination in 1988. It was no secret that Warren Beatty was a trusted adviser to the former senator from Colorado. “I saw that Beatty was the one guy who could cut right…

Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles Chris Pratt told Variety he doesn’t believe in aliens, but his “Tomorrow War” co-star Yvonne Strahovski says she witnessed what she believes was a UFO while on a beach about 15 years ago. “I saw what looked like a star drop down, do a couple of circles and then diagonally shoot back out into the sky, like into outer space,” Strahovski said. “And I don’t know what does that.” Betty Gilpin is also a nonbeliever but had a message for extraterrestrials just in case she’s wrong: “If you’re real, I wouldn’t be an interesting person for you to take up. You should take someone else.”…

Television Academy members voted down the line on a number of series, but that still led to a more diverse ballot than ever before The year that has passed between the announcement of the 72nd and the 73rd annual Primetime Emmy Award nominations has been one of dramatic change. From the presidential election and subsequent inauguration to the COVID-19 vaccine finally rolling out, allowing more productions to resume, the type of content, let alone its volume and origin, has fluctuated with the times. Last year, for example, we were talking about Quibi’s entrance into the Emmy race, but now that streamer has shut down. And of course, all that affected the 73rd annual Emmy nominations, announced July 13. Such former Television Academy darlings as HBO’s “Succession” and Amazon Prime Video’s “The…

As Italy’s film and TV industries start to bounce back from the pandemic with a verve reminiscent of the country’s postwar economic boom, the fourth edition of the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival is pulling out all the stops to support this effort. The event is being held mostly in person July 21-25 on the emerald island that is becoming a prime destination for international shoots, such as the George Clooney-directed TV series “Catch-22,” and more recently Disney’s live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid.” It aims to serve as a catalyst for the local industry’s restart, while also fostering the formation of new talents and professionals. The fest will also serve as a campus of sorts for 2,000 ltalian film students. As for well-established talents Tiziana Rocca, the former Taormina Film…

Returning director Adam Robitel had production designer Edward Thomas raise the stakes for the sequel to 2019’s “Escape Room.” The new challenges in “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions,” in theaters July 16, include a subway train, a gorgeous vacation beach that soon turns into quicksand and a high-security bank. Thomas found an old art deco building in Cape Town, South Africa, to serve as the bank. “The bank floor becomes a character and the tiles depress when someone steps on them,” Thomas says. When “Pose” actor Indya Moore, who plays Brianna, touches the wrong tile, eight deadly lasers shoot out. On set, string stood in for the lasers, which were created in post by visual effects supervisor Whitney Richman, says Thomas. “It was such a complicated sequence of events,” he…

FILM REVIEW Director: Wes Anderson With: Benicio del Toro, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray Journalists are the heroes in “The French Dispatch,” so expect film critics to be a little bit biased in their embrace of Wes Anderson’s latest. It flatters the field, after all, just not in the way that Pulitzer-centric mega-scoop sagas “All the President’s Men” or “Spotlight” may have done before. Anderson is more of a miniaturist, albeit one whose vision grows more expansive — and more impressive — with each successive project. Here, the Texas-to-Paris transplant sets out to honor The New Yorker and its ilk, re-creating the joy of losing oneself in a 12,000-word article (or three) on the big screen while relocating the entire affair to his adoptive home. Set in the fictional city of…

One of Jeffrey Lurie’s first jobs was cooking hot dogs and selling soda at General Cinema, his family’s chain of drive-in movie theaters. When not working the grill or pouring fountain drinks, he was tasked with checking the trunks of customers to see if anyone was sneaking in friends without buying tickets. Decades later, Lurie has a very different day job, as the billionaire head of the Philadelphia Eagles, guiding the franchise to a Super Bowl championship in 2018 and earning a reputation as one of the most progressive owners in the NFL. He’s used his platform to promote charitable work for causes ranging from improving educational opportunities to police reform. Now, he’s turning his attention to another love — the movies, where he hopes to use cinema to shine…

Queer Disney fans raised a rainbow flag in 2017 when it was revealed that in the Bill Condon-directed live-action adaptation of the animated hit “Beauty and the Beast,” LeFou — played by Josh Gad (1) — was gay. Now the big question is, will LeFou be gay in the upcoming “Beauty and the Beast” Disney Plus series? That project revolves around the friendship between LeFou and Gaston (Luke Evans) (2). More specifically, because it’s a prequel, will a storyline include LeFou’s coming-out journey? “You’re going to have to tune in when this show airs to see what we’re working up, but in the process of working on it, we’re asking ourselves every relevant question about these characters and endeavoring to do right by them and by this world,” Gad says…

WHEN Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple first met, in a ladies’ loo mere minutes before the inaugural table read for “Ted Lasso,” they barely exchanged words before knowing they wouldn’t have to fake the friendship that blooms between their characters. “It was the most strange thing,” says Waddingham of their immediate connection. “It was just completely natural and effortless … and it’s been like that ever since, both on screen and off.” In fact, she admits, her job “would have been far harder if we’d been pitted against each other. I would’ve actually found that quite distressing.” As the only two main women on a sports comedy otherwise packed with men, their characters traditionally would be rivals. Steely Premier League club owner Rebecca Welton (Waddingham) could have been an unrepentant…

Since Amnesty Intl. was founded in 1961 there has been, sadly, no shortage of filmmakers who have been killed or persecuted because of their work. Sixty years on, that risk remains. In 1975 poet-turned-director Pierpaolo Pasolini was murdered in Italy, possibly by the country’s secret services. More recently, in 2012, filmmaker and activist Bassel Shehadeh was gunned down in Syria by the military, which then prevented his friends from attending the funeral. Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen, for whom Amnesty mounted a strong protest campaign, was put behind bars in China due to his 2008 documentary “Leaving Fear Behind.” He was released in 2014 after serving a six-year sentence. There are, of course, many more cases. Recently the Italian branch of Amnesty supported distribution in Italy of “Nasrin,” the clandestinely filmed…

TV REVIEW Limited series: AMC Plus (five episodes; all reviewed); July 15 Starring: Jack O’Connell, Colin Farrell, Stephen Graham, Tom Courtenay Though it’s plenty punishing, AMC Plus’ new limited series “The North Water” has something richly escapist about it: The show, set on a whaling ship in the 1850s and shot within the Arctic Circle, creates a sense of chilliness that will permeate one’s bones on even the hottest summer night. In this adaptation of Ian McGuire’s historical-fiction novel, Jack O’Connell plays Patrick Sumner, a British army surgeon running from his past; he signs on to be a doctor on a ship sailing north. What he doesn’t realize is that the vessel houses not just scoundrels but the personification of evil. Henry Drax, played by Colin Farrell in a turn…

“I love staying unpredictable.” Age: 32 Raised: Fort Worth, Texas Dynamic debut: “Coming Home” made such a splash that he played “Saturday Night Live” and the album’s title track was used in an Apple iPhone ad. Central collaborations: He’s worked with both pop rapper Macklemore and Houston legend Bun B. Big Easy influence: Although he was mostly raised in Fort Worth, his family’s roots are in New Orleans. Leon Bridges is a 32-year-old Texan who launched his career as a retro R&B singer so successfully that he scored two Grammy nominations for his 2015 debut, “Coming Home.” But he felt typecast and basically rebelled, veering off into a more esoteric, contemporary direction with his follow-up, “Good Thing” — which scored him another Grammy R&B album nom and a win for…