Motion Picture: Kelvin Harrison to interpret Jean-Michel Basquiat in Biopic; Hasan Minhaj starts his own studio 186K Films, Netflix acquires Arabic-language remake of 'Perfect Strangers'

Jaylen Brown - Pierre Suu

Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi: Sci-Fi thriller No Running will follow teenager Jaylen Brown, played by Skylan Brooks, as a high schooler who is under suspicion for the disappearance of his classmate after a house party. Prejudice is quick to rise in the small southern town as Jaylen is working against the clock to uncover a web of secrets that will lead him to otherworldly powers that are pulling the strings behind the curtain. Vertical Entertainment recently acquired the distribution rights to the film that first premiered during the Tribeca Film Festival. The film will release sometime in April of this year.

A growing force in the Chinese domestic box office are animated films based on the rich ancient mythology of the country mixed with action-packed fantasy. But producers like Zhu Yantong and Gu Chen want to create animated films with less violence and more dialogue. To The Bright Side is directed by seven directors telling diverse stories with different techniques ranging from watercolor to cut-out. The connecting theme though is childhood and family. Characters from the fantasy realm, find themselves commuting, cooking, and doing rather mundane things than heroic battles.

Osomatsu-san

Comedy: Osomatsu-san, the comedy anime television series that is hugely popular in Japan will have a live-action version coming out this spring. The cast for the film will mainly be the crew from the boy band Snow Man. Osomatsu will be interpreted by Mukai Koji, Ichimatsu by Kukazawa Tatsuya, and Yjushimatsu by Sakume Daisuke. Since there are nine band members but only six main characters in the original show, three more characters were created to fit in the entire band.

Zhang hnyu - VCG

Drama: The China-Canada co-production Unspoken will star Zhang Hanyu alongside Michael Cudlitz (Walking Dead). The film will follow Xu, a former police agent interpreted by Hanyu who is estranged from his deaf daughter who is leading a new life studying at a university in the United States. When his daughter is suddenly found dead, Xu distrusts the local police and believes they are following the wrong suspect due to their racial bias. With the help of a translator, played by Vivienne Tien, he will try to learn and reconnect with his daughter’s life.

Disney+Hotstar has now acquired the distribution rights to A Thursday, a psychological thriller about a playschool teacher by the name of Naina Jaiswal played by Yami Gautam who takes 16 children hostage. Ms. Gautam, who has mostly worked in Bollywood productions, was last seen in the Netflix rom-com Ginny Weds Sunny alongside Vikrant Massey. Fans of the actress will be delighted to hear that this year she will also star in Bhoot Police as well as appearing in the movie Dasvi alongside Abhishek Bachchan.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. who recently enacted Christian de Neuvillette in the musical Cyrano, will in his next film portray the New York artist from the 1980s Jean-Michel Basquiat in Samo Lives. The film will be directed by Julius Onah who had already worked with Kelvin in Luce, a drama film that won them both best male lead and best director at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards. The life of Basquiat is truly worthy of a biopic, his overnight transition from a street graffiti artist to a renowned painter whose artworks hang in museums and are sold in million-dollar auctions took the world of art by surprise in the late 80s.

Hasan Minhaj - Axelle/Bauer-Griffin

Industry Update: Hasan Minhaj who is best known for his critically acclaimed political satire show on Netflix called Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj is creating his studio named 186K Films. After a bidding war with Amazon, 186K Films will produce its first feature, For The Culture, a comedy on the cut-throat world of Bollywood and its intense dance competitions that actors have to go through to get a spot in a movie. Co-creator and co-writer of The Patriot Act show on Netflix, Prasanth Venkataramanujam is currently also the co-writer for Hasan’s one-man show, The King’s Jester, that will tour this year in 52 cities nationwide. 

The Arabic-language remake of the Italian hit movie Perfect Strangers has recently been acquired by Netflix. The film will be directed by Lebanese Wissam Smayra who makes his directorial feature debut. The remake will follow the same plot as the original with seven friends who put down their cellphones during a dinner party and all agree to openly share every call and text message as they come. Tensions and heated arguments arise among the group of friends whose dirty little secrets are unveiled from their open phones.