Motion Picture: 'Caste' Casts Aunjanue Ellis As The Lead and Walter Hamada Launches Production Company '18hz'
Mercedes Varnado - Jeff Kravitz
Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi: Yale Entertainment’s action-thriller The Collective has cast The Mandalorian’s Mercedes Varnado and Plane’s Paul Ben-Victor. The previously announced cast includes Tyrese Gibson, Lucas Till, Ruby Rose, and Don Johnson. The Collective follows a rookie assassin, Sam Alexander, played by Till, tasked with taking down an elaborate human trafficking ring supported by wealthy members of society. Alexander’s network includes former CIA agents, Hugo and Liam, played by Gibson and Johnson, respectively. Varnado will play the chief of security for Miro Lindell, played by Ben-Victor, an auctioneer linked with the human trafficking ring. The Collective recently wrapped production, but a release date is unknown.
Eddie Grffin - Paras Griffin
Comedy: Candy Cane Lane, with a cast already consisting of Jillian Bell, Genneya Walton, Maddison Thomas, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Nick Offerman, Robin Thede, and Chris Redd, has added Ghosts’ Danielle Pinnock. The Amazon Studios film, in partnership with Eddie Murphy Productions, is a holiday comedy that is inspired by scriptwriter Kelly Younger’s childhood holiday memories. Candy Cane Lane is currently filming in Los Angeles, although plot details remain tightly under wraps. While the exact release date is unknown, audiences can expect the film during the 2023 holiday season.
Undercover Brother’s Eddie Griffin, along with American Beauty’s Mena Suvari and Stranger Things’ Riley Bruner, has joined the cast of Yale Entertainment’s All You Need Is Blood. The comedy horror-thriller follows a hopeful teenage director who, after a meteor lands in his backyard and turns his father into a zombie, decides to create an epic film. It is unclear what role Griffin will play and when All You Need Is Blood will be released.
Aunjanue ellis - Kevin Mazur
Drama: The rights to Azumah Nelson’s novel Small Worlds has been acquired by BBC Studios’ partner, Brock Media. Small Worlds is set to be published by Penguin Random House’s Viking on May 11th, 2023, and will tell the story of “fathers and sons, faith and friendship” across “London and Ghana” over the course of three summers. Although the script has not been written yet, Brock Media plans to work closely with Nelson for the adaptation. He comments that he’s “so excited to be working with Brock Media to bring Small Worlds to the screen” and that “Sarah [Brocklehurst, founder of Brock Media] and her team have showed such energy and enthusiasm towards the book and the emotional response has been palpable.”
Ava DuVernay’s upcoming film, Caste, has secured Aunjanue Ellis as the lead. The film, based on the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, “examines racism in America through the prism of social, economic and cultural delineation and ‘pillars’ of exclusion.” DuVernay comments on Caste that the story “has ignited my imagination and inspired new ways for me to think about social order around the world.” The rest of the cast, as well as the film’s release date, have not been announced.
Tyler Perry’s Six Triple Eight has cast Kerry Washington, Oprah Winfrey, and Sam Waterston for his fourth film for Netflix. The film tells the true story of the “only all-Black, all-female World War II battalion that proved key to the American war effort.” Previously announced cast includes Milauna Jackson, Ebony Obsidian, Kylie Jefferson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, and Jay Reeves. The script, written by Perry, was based on Kevin M. Hymel’s article for the WWII History magazine. Six Triple Eight’s release date is currently unknown.
Norwell Roberts - Fox Photos
Documentary: The North American rights to a documentary about rap-legend The DOC have been acquired by Vertical Entertainment. The documentary tells the story of 30 years after The DOC’s near-fatal car crash that took his voice, when the rapper is faced with the decision of having a risky surgery that might be able to restore his vocal cords. Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Erykah Badu, and Ice Cube, among others, are all featured in the documentary. Directed by Dave Caplan, The DOC first premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, and will hit theatres this spring.
A documentary telling the story of the first Black police officer in the U.K. is in the works after Revelation Films has acquired worldwide rights to the 2022 autobiography I am Norwell Roberts. The documentary has plans to turn into a scripted feature film. However, the documentary will tell Roberts’s story through “archive news, photography, and music that defined the time with the aim of allowing the audience to better understand Norwell’s struggles and successes within a world that was often against him.” It is unclear when this film will be released.
Miiko Taka - EVERETT COLLECTION
Industry Updates: Spain’s Canary Islands has increased its tax relief for a single film shot there to $38.9 million, which is one of the highest in Europe. ZEC President Pablo Hernández comments that the Canary Islands is “one of the most rapidly expanding audiovisual hubs in Europe, and the fastest growing in Spain,” and is “looking to grow all the more in the future.”
Miiko Taka, known for her role in Sayonara with Marlon Brando, has passed away at the age of 97. She was born in Seattle on July 24th, 1925 and grew up in Los Angeles during World War II. She and her family were sent to the Gila River War Relocation Center internment camp in Phoenix. Taka’s credits include Cry for Happy, A Global Affair, The Art of Love, and Walk Don’t Run. Her grandson shared the news of her death on social media on January 4th.
DC Film’s former head Walter Hamada has launched a new production company named 18hx Productions and has hired Nathan Samdahl, former Paramount executive credited for Smile’s success, along with Nick Romano, a creative executive. Last Novemeber, Hamada signed a multi-year production deal with Paramount, which will focus on producing horror films. The company’s name, 18hz, represents the “sound of fear itself,” as 18hz is just under the range of human hearing and is frequently referred to as the “ghost frequency.”
