Motion Picture: MGM ‘Blacula’ Reboot In The Works, ‘Manchurian Tiger’ takes Shanghai Film Festival Top Prize
M. Night Shyamalan - Cindy Ord
Action: Director M. Night Shyamalan recently teased details of his soon-to-release feature Old at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival in New York this past week. Most notably Shyamalan detailed that the end of the feature, though only a month out from release, isn’t quite finished yet. “I’m deciding on the minor note; how to end on a minor note,” Shyamalan explained in his conversation with Old cast member Alex Wolff. “Unbreakable ends on a kind of a dip, right? He goes to the dark note, that minor note at the end. … The minor note sticks to you forever.” Shyamalan ended this thought with the affirmation that the ending will be decided within the week.
MGM has resurrected the Blacula franchise with Deon Taylor set to direct this reboot collaboration with Bron and Hidden Empire Film Group. Picking up where the 1972 blaxploitation film left off, the reboot follows a vampire’s thirst for vengeance as he stalks the streets of an American metropolitan cityscape. Roxanne Avent Taylor (Fatale, The Intruder) will produce along with Aaron L. Gilbert (Bombshell). The script is written by duo Taylor and Micah Ranum (The Silencing).
Allen Hughes - Karwai Tang
Drama: Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Chaos Walking) is set to star in the remake of Mark Rydell’s 1979 drama The Rose. Originally starring Bette Midler, The Rose follows the story of a self-destructive female rockstar who struggles under the weight of idealistic mid-century demands and pressures. Searchlight Pictures is currently developing the remake of the 20th Century Fox film with Erivo and Solome Williams to produce under their Edith’s Daughter banner. A director and writer have yet to be attached to the project.
Allen Hughes (Menace II Society, Touching Evil) is set to direct a Marvin Gaye biopic currently in the works at Warner Bros. Written by poet and playwright Marcus Gardley, What’s Going On? will also be produced by Hughes and Suzanne de Passe as well as the soul singer’s widow Jan Gaye. With a budget of over $80M, What’s Going On? is projected to be the most expensive African American music biopic yet. Casting for Gaye’s portrayal is currently underway with the project slated for a 2023 release.
Tyler Perry - Handout
Industry Update: The 24th annual Shanghai Film Festival has come to a close with black comedy Manchurian Tiger taking home the Golden Goblet award for best feature. Directed by self-taught filmmaker Geng Jun, Manchurian Tiger lists the dark comedy of errors that kicks off when a man cooks and serves an associate’s pet dog to a band of ruthless debt collectors. The longest-running international cinema event in China, the Shanghai Film Festival presented over 400 films over its 10-day run this year, proving incredibly popular with the Chinese domestic movie-going crowd. Golden Goblet winners are decided by a jury which typically, unlike this year, feature established Hollywood names among the panel.
Tyler Perry and T.D. Jakes have purchased over 130 acres of land in Atlanta, Georgia as part of an expansion proposition for Tyler Perry Studios that will include a film theater district, retail shops, and restaurants. Of the 130 Jakes will take 94 and Perry 37, adding to his previous buy of 330 acres in 2015. Both Jakes and Perry’s purchases were approved by the Fort Mac LRA Board, with religious leader and filmmaker Jakes proposing development for affordable and workforce housing for underserved communities around Atlanta with his acre shares.
The Walk of Fame class of 2022 film honorees is set to include Michael B. Jordan, James Hong, Salma Hayek, Regina King, and Tessa Thompson, among others. Hong’s honoring is particularly notable as actor Daniel Dae Kim (Hawaii 5-0, Raya and the Last Dragon) launched a GoFundMe campaign to get Hong, with 672 credits to his name, his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Recipients are chosen every year by the Walk of Fame selection panel of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which is comprised by previous Walk of Famers.
Executives from Discovery+, Roku, FilmRise, and Entertainment Studios joined TheGrill: Focus on Streaming June 24. This conference, presented by FilmRise a part of TheWrap’s Grill event series, brings together producers and platform executives to discuss shifts in consumer behavior, consolidation, and the platforms which support streaming. Notable speakers include FilmRise founder and CEO Danny Fisher, TheWrap founder and editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman, and World of Wonder co-founder Fenton Bailey, among others. TheGrill: Focus on Streaming serves as a precursor to TheWrap’s flagship Grill event Sep 29-30.
All ‘Bout Cinema (ABC) Talkies, an Indian film tech startup, has officially made its international debut. ABC Talkies bills itself as “the world’s first Cinema Marketplace,” where filmmakers are able to showcase and monetize their work without having to work around a studio, making it easier for such films to be seen. Co-founder Siddharth Sinha states that “currently in India, filmmakers have 2 major options to showcase their work: (a) Theatres, DTH, OTT platforms – Benefits include reach and returns, and (b) YouTube – If the filmmakers cannot sell his film to either, then his only option is to go to YouTube.” ABC Talkies hopes and intends to specifically foster talent from tier-two cities, small towns, and states in which opportunities for filmmakers are slim.
Netflix has recently shuffled up its leadership team in the Asian Pacific, promoting South Korean region executive Minyoung Kim to oversea operations across the Asian Pacific excluding India. Don Kang, who had previously worked on strengthening distribution relations between Netflix and leading production house Studio Dragon, has been promoted to vice president of Korean content. Other significant promotions include Kaata Sakamoto as VP for content in Japan, Malobika Banerji helming Southeast Asian content, Yongyoot Thongkongtoon for Thailand Content, and Que Minh Luu for content in Australia and New Zealand.
