Motion Picture: ‘The Green Knight’ Revised Release Date Announced, ‘Last Action hero’ Frank McRae dies at 80
Action: In a recently revamped trailer, A24 has announced the new release date for David Lowry’s The Green Knight slated for July 30, 2021. An adaptation of the 15th-century tale, The Green Knight follows the Arthurian legend of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), venturing on an epic quest to confront local tester-of-men the Green Knight (Joel Edgerton). The Green Knight marks Lowry’s return to A24 since his 2017 feature Ghost Story and is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated summer releases announced pre-pandemic.
After the success of her directorial debut One Night In Miami, Regina King is set to direct Bitter Root, a 1920’s creature feature adaptation of David F. Walker’s graphic novel of the same name. King will also produce the feature with Reina King through Royal Ties, as well as Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, and Sev Ohanian of Proximity Media. Grounded by the Harlem Renaissance, Bitter Root follows a family of monster hunters as a great evil descends upon New York City.
Shaunette Renée (The Resident) and Boyd Holbrook (In the Shadow of the Moon) are set to join the star-studded cast of Indiana Jones 5 alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen. James Mangold is set to direct with Steven Spielberg producing and John Williams returning as a composer. While plot details are currently unknown at this time, production is set to hopefully begin sometime this summer, with a release planned for July 29, 2022.
Multi Oscar-winner Bong Joon Ho is set to direct his first animated feature, a currently unnamed project produced with Korean VFX studio 4th Creative Party. According to the 4th Creative party via a brief and vague synopsis, “The full CGI animation will deal with the drama that arises between deep-sea creatures and human beings.” As Bong is currently focused on the script for his next production, an English-language live-action project, production, and release date schedules for the animated feature are unknown at this time.
Camilla Cabello will meet her Prince Charming in the Kay Cannon-directed reimagination of Cinderella. Originally set for release by Sony and now by Amazon Studios instead, Cinderella boasts a star-studded cast of musicians and actors alike, such as Minnie Driver, Billy Porter, Idina Menzel, and Pierce Brosnan. The musical is produced by James Corden, Leo Pearlman, Jonathan Kadin, and Shannon McIntosh.
Uzo aduba and andrew bacjelor - Gregg DeGuire/Jemal Countess / Stringer
Drama: Uzo Aduba and Andrew Bachelor have joined the cast of National Champions, a drama exploring the big business of college sports based on the Adam Mervis play of the same name. Directed by Ric Roman Waugh, National Champions focuses its attention on the 72-hour player strike that sparked discussion about fair compensation, equality, and respect for young athletes. National Champions is produced by Basil Iwanyk and Brendon Boyea of Thunder Road and Greg Economou of game1, with production beginning this month in New Orleans.
Frank McRae - Ron Galella
Industry Update: With outward pushback towards the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s dubious ethics and lack of diversity growing in recent days, NBC has announced it will not be airing the Golden Globes in 2022. Long the subject of ridicule by even hosts of its own telecast, recent attention surrounding the HFPA was drummed up as the result of a report stating that out of 90 members, none within the organization’s voters are black. Though the association has pledged to thoroughly reform, major players are waiting for something more concrete, with Netflix and Amazon Studios, prepared to cut ties with the organization.
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he will direct $30M of the state’s $75M budget surplus to the California Film Commission’s Film and TV tax credit initiatives. Referred to as “The May Revision,” this decision functions not only as an assistant to Hollywood-based productions as they recover from the slowly-declining pandemic in the United States but to lure the uptick in Georgia-based productions back to the golden state. To quote Newsom: “This is an opportunity for those productions, TV, and others, in places like Georgia, whose values don’t necessarily align with the productions crews to consider coming back to the state of California.”
Mainstay action hero Frank McRae of License to Kill and Last Action Hero has died at the age of 80. After a brief stint playing for the Chicago Bears in 1967, McRae put his TSU drama degree to use, earning his breakout role in the 1973 film Dillinger – a part he allegedly got by standing in a studio exec’s parking space until he was granted a meeting, IMDB claims. McRae also made several successful appearances in comedic films such as National Lampoon’s Vacation, Batteries Not Included, and Steven Spielberg’s 1941. McRae is survived by his son Marcellus and three grandchildren: Holden, Jensen, and Camden.
