Motion Picture: New Trailer For 'The Little Mermaid' Drops; Movies Starring Women Of Color Hit 16-Year High
Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi: Disney’s The Marvels, directed by Nia DaCosta, has pushed its release date from this summer to this fall. The feature, starring Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris, had an original release date of July 28th, which is now the date for Haunted Mansion’s release. Instead, The Marvels will be released on November 10th. The Marvels will take place after Captain Marvel, and will feature Parris as the grown-up Monica Rambeau featured in the first installment and in Wandavision. The new film will detail the story of three heroes, Larson, Parris, and Iman Vellani, who every time they use their powers, switch places with each other.
A new trailer for Disney’s live-action The Little Mermaid has dropped. The trailer features more footage of Halle Bailey as Ariel, including her boat ride with Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer), as well as a first look at Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. Directed by Rob Marshall with a screenplay by Jane Goldman, the upcoming film includes additional cast such as Javier Bardem as King Triton, Awkwafina as Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Simone Ashley as India, and Lin-Manuel Miranda as Le Chef Louis. The Little Mermaid will hit theatres on May 26th, 2023.
Servant’s Ishana Night Shyamalan will make her feature directorial debut with New Line’s The Watchers. Also written by Shyamalan, The Watchers will be based on A.M. Shine’s novel of the same name and will tell the story of an artist, Mina, who gets stranded in an Irish forest. After she finds shelter, Mina encounters three strangers who are stalked by strange creatures at night. The film has a release date of June 7th, 2024.
Morning, with a cast already consisting of Laura Dern, Noah Jupe, and Benedict Cumberbatch, has added Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody’s Naomi Ackie to the cast. The film, a sci-fi feature directed by Justin Kurzel, tells the story of “human connection, productivity, and the power of dreams and memories to inspire change.” It is set in the near future in a world where taking a pill can prevent the need for sleep, and an artificial sun allows daytime to last for 24 hours. Ackie comments, “I’m so excited to get to work with Justin Kurzel and this incredible cast. The script is so beautifully written and the world building immaculate. I can’t wait to be a part of creating this piece of work!” Morning will begin filming in Germany in late 2023.
Regina Hall - Steve Granitz
Comedy: Scary Movie’s Regina Hall will star in and produce Breitenbush, a horror-comedy film acquired by Yale Entertainment. Hall will play hopeful district attorney Kate, who returns to the site of her husband’s disappearance after going on a camping trip with powerful hallucinogen drugs; she must face whatever forces have led to his vanishing. Hall will produce alongside Tom Heller through Rh Negative Entertainment, and Jordan Yale Levine and Jordan Beckerman from Yale Entertainment. The film will be directed by Jim Strouse. Breitenbush’s release date is currently unknown.
Elan Ben Ali and Tijan Njie - LEONINE STUDIOS/WIEDEMANN & BERG FILM/DENIS PERNATH
Drama: Voltage Pictures has picked up Girl You Know It’s True from Leonine Studios and Wiedemann & Berg Film after the feature was showcased at Berlin’s European Film Market earlier this month. The biopic tells the story of the 1980s Grammy-winning R&B duo from France and Germany, Milli Vanilli, who fell from the spotlight after it was revealed that they lip-synched all of their songs. Elan Ben Ali and Tijan Nije will play the team, Fabrice Morvan and Robert Pilatus, respectively. Girl you Know It’s True is set for release in late 2023.
Searchlight Pictures has acquired the rights to Jonathan Majors’ Magazine Dreams. This comes after Magazine Dreams earned strong reviews at Sundance in January. The film tells the story of a bodybuilder who, despite struggling to care for his grandfather, is determined to make a name for himself. Directed and written by Elijah Bynum, the film stars Majors in the main role, with Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige, and Mike O’Hear as supporting characters. Release plans are currently unknown.
M. Night Shyamalan - NBC
Industry Updates: M. Night Shyamalan has moved on from Universal after making a “multi-year, first-look deal” with his production company Blinding Edge Pictures and Warner Bros. The first film under this collaboration, Trap, will be released on August 2nd, 2024. He is set to produce The Watchers, a film that his daughter is directing (see above story). Shyamalan’s work with Universal included horror-film The Visit, The Last Airbender, and After Earth, among others. He is known for his work with fellow horror-mogul Jason Blum. Shyamalan comments, “Where I write and direct is my home. Disney and Universal, where I’ve made most of my films, will always be home and family to me. Warner Bros. has a storied history of cinema. Through its recent experiences, the company has rediscovered its love and appreciation for filmmakers, and the impact of the theatrical experience. We all win when movies succeed in theaters.”
USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s annual report has revealed that popular movies starring women of color have hit a 16-year high in 2022. After examining 2022’s top 100 domestic-grossing films, they found that 16% of them starred “women from a historically excluded race or ethnicity,” which outnumbers the movies led or co-led by men of color by 2%. However, representation in lead roles for all women (only 44%) and people of color (only 29%), saw little increase and is disproportionate to the real population, which is 50% and 40.7%, respectively. AI2 founder Stacy L. Smith states, “The progress for women of color in leading roles is encouraging. Girls and women of color are 20% of the U.S. population, but the film industry has not ensured that this is what audiences see on screen. With effort and accountability, this threshold is one that not only can be achieved but easily surpassed.”
