Emperor

Kendrick Lamar’s untitled comedy won’t debut on America’s birthday after all. Paramount, the studio behind the closely guarded movie from Lamar and “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, has been delayed from July 4, 2025 to March 20, 2026.

Lamar will be away for much of the spring and summer on his Grand National stadium tour, which kicks off on April 19 in Minnesota and concludes on Aug. 19 in Sweden. On its new date, the yet-to-be-titled film will open on the same day as Liongate’s faith-based “I Can Only Imagine” sequel with Dennis Quaid.

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As for Lamar’s movie, not a single detail — not the cast, logline or title — has been revealed at this point. What is known, however, is the live-action comedy is written by comedian Vernon Chatman and follows a young Black man who interns as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum.

The UK came together (and might need a lie down and a cup of tea after that) and voted for their Lemmyvision Song Contest entry. The official winner of the selection round, and now moving forward to the finals, was.... 🥁:

"God's Country" by the Lambrini Girls

May the best song win!

A woman who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault says she has four days to live after a car accident.

In a post on Instagram, Virginia Guiffre said she was in a car that was hit by a school bus "driving 110km [68.3mph] as we were slowing for a turn".

Ms Giuffre then said: "I've gone into kidney renal failure, they've given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology.

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A spokesperson for Ms Giuffre told Sky's US partner network in a statement: "Virginia has been in a serious accident and is receiving medical care in the hospital.

"She greatly appreciates the support and well wishes people are sending."

She sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The leader of a small group of self-described satanists and three other people were arrested Friday following a scuffle inside the Kansas Statehouse arising from an effort by the group’s leader to start a Black Mass in the rotunda.

About 30 members of the Kansas City-area Satanic Grotto, led by its president, Michael Stewart, rallied outside the Statehouse for the separation of church and state. The group also protested what members called the state’s favoritism toward Christians in allowing events inside. Gov. Laura Kelly temporarily banned protests inside, just for Friday, weeks after Stewart’s group scheduled its indoor ceremony.

The Satanic Grotto’s rally outside drew hundreds of Christian counterprotesters because of the Grotto’s satanic imagery, and its indoor ceremony included denouncing Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the Son of God. About 100 Christians stood against yellow police tape marking the Satanic Grotto’s area. The two groups yelled at each other while the Christians also sang and called on Grotto members to accept Jesus. Several hundred more Christians rallied on the other side of the Grotto’s area, but further away.

Kelly issued her order earlier this month after Roman Catholic groups pushed her to ban any Satanic Grotto event. The state’s Catholic Bishops called what the group planned “a despicable act of anti-Catholic bigotry” mocking the Catholic Mass. Both chambers of the Legislature also approved resolutions condemning it.

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Satanic Grotto members, who number several dozen, said they hold a variety of beliefs. Some are atheists, some use the group to protest harm they suffered as church members, and others see Satan as a symbol of independence.

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Video shot by KSNT-TV showed that when Stewart tried to conduct his group’s ceremony in the first-floor rotunda, a young man tried to snatch Stewart’s script from his hands, and Stewart punched him. Several Kansas Highway Patrol troopers wrestled Stewart to the ground and handcuffed him. They led him through hallways on the ground floor below and into a room as he yelled, “Hail, Satan!”

There's the old claim that test screenings don't make a movie. Still, It’s interesting how James Gunn and Warner Bros have allowed “Superman” to test so openly given the inevitable leaks that could occur, not to mention the risk of having negative reactions pummeling advanced hype.

Yes, a few days ago, “Superman” had its first non-internal test screening — I only spoke to a few attendees. Suffice it to say, they both felt underwhelmed by Gunn’s film, and I'm being kind here. No need to taint the film further.

Now, reporting on two people who didn’t like “Superman” doesn't mean much in terms of quality. I've heard of people being turned off by the inherent humor, and silliness, that comes with a James Gunn movie — which Superman seems to have in spades.

So far, based on what’s leaked, we've had the usual “scoopers” weighing on the reactions. MyTimeToShineHello says the reactions were “decidedly mixed.” According to “insider” Daniel Richtman, people he spoke to “loved it.”

Yesterday, scooper ViewerAnon shared, "The response I heard directly from Warner Bros was decidedly less glowing than Daniel [Richtman]'s post. Not to say it went terribly, but it’s a divisive film with a particularly silly tone. Some people click with it, some seem to bounce right off."

In the small town of Kawara in Fukuoka Prefecture, something unexpected is happening at the Saidosho Community Center. While kids in most parts of Japan are obsessed with Pokémon cards — or perhaps the franchise’s latest smartphone game, Pokémon TCG Pocket — the children of Kawara are clutching to something a little closer to home.

They are playing a trading card game (TCG) where the stars aren’t fantasy creatures, anime heroes or even famous baseball players, but ojisan (middle-aged or older men) from the local community of Saidosho.

On the surface, this Ojisan TCG looks like any other collectible card game. As of March 18, there are 47 different cards in the collection, including 28 featuring local men with stats and special abilities.

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The creator of the game is Eri Miyahara, the Secretary General of the Saidosho Community Council.

“We wanted to strengthen the connection between the children and the older generations in the community. There are so many amazing people here. I thought it was such a shame that no one knew about them,” she said in an interview with Fuji News Network (FNN). “Since the card game went viral, so many kids are starting to look up to these men as heroic figures.”

The plan worked. Kids have started attending local events and volunteering for community activities — just for a chance to meet the ojisan from their cards. Participation in town events has reportedly doubled since the game launched.

Interestingly, Ojisan TCG didn’t start as a competitive game. The first set of cards was designed purely for collecting, but the local children quickly turned it into something more dynamic. They began comparing stats and declaring, “My card is stronger than yours.”

Seeing this, the game’s creator decided to take it to the next level. New rules were introduced, allowing the cards to be used in actual battles. The objective isn’t to defeat the opponent’s card but to outplay it based on the characters’ skills and abilities.

Earlier this week, A24 announced that the highly-anticipated Ronnie Spector biopic, starring Zendaya, will be directed by Barry Jenkins. The film, titled Be My Baby (of course), is based on Spector’s 1990 memoir Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, or, My Life as a Fabulous Ronette. The girl-group legend personally chose Zendaya to play her shortly before her death in 2022. “Thank you for sharing your life with me, I could listen to your stories for hours and hours,” Zendaya wrote in a tribute back then. “I hope I make you proud.”

Be My Baby is just one of the several highly buzzy biopics of female musicians that are currently in the works. There’s also the long-promised Janis Joplin film starring Shailene Woodley, as well as a Linda Ronstadt movie where the powerhouse vocalist will be played by Selena Gomez. These movies all follow a slew of successful male biopics — most obviously last year’s Bob Dylan film A Complete Unknown, which garnered Oscar nominations for star Timothée Chalamet and others, but also the Queen movie, which Rami Malek actually won an Oscar for, and don’t forget the recent films that dramatized the life stories of Elvis, Elton John, Bob Marley, Mötley Crüe, and Robbie Williams as a chimp for some reason. It will be refreshing to see female musicians get the same Hollywood treatment.

Archive

The long-awaited Red Sonja movie reboot is one step closer to arriving on movie screens worldwide. The film’s release was delayed as the producers secured a theatrical release and an R-rating in the United States. Both these tasks have now been accomplished.

The character of Red Sonja was originally created as a supporting character for Marvel Comics‘ Conan the Barbarian comic series. Based on two historical heroines created by Robert E. Howard (Red Sonya of Rogatino and Dark Agnes), she was intended to act as a foil to the young Conan. Sonja grew to be popular in her own right, with her comics inspiring a 1985 film starring Brigitte Nielsen. However, the finished film took little from the source material, and was an infamous box office bomb.

Deadline confirmed that Samuel Goldwyn Films will distribute the Red Sonja movie reboot. The MPAA later confirmed the movie had been presented with an R-rating for “strong/bloody violence.” This indicates that the final film will be truer to the source material than the 1985 adaptation.

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A release date for the Red Sonja movie reboot has yet to be specifically announced. However, it has been confirmed that it will be released during the later half of 2025. It has also been confirmed that the reboot movie will be based on the more recent comics, based on Red Sonja’s rebooted history in 2013. In her new origin, Sonja lost her family earlier in life and was not blessed by a war goddess in exchange for an oath of chastity.

Filmmakers and studio executives, be warned: a long-suspected Oscars curse may in fact be real.

Over the past 13 years, the vast majority of best director winners have followed up their wins with disastrous films that tanked at the box office or alienated viewers. These films ultimately brought the highs of a career-defining moment crashing down to the reality of the fickle and unpredictable tastes of modern audiences.

Take a look and a pattern becomes clear: Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (2012) follow-up Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016) was a box office disaster. Damien Chazelle’s La La Land (2016) follow-up First Man (2018) failed to connect. Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley (2021) didn’t come close to making back its budget after The Shape of Water (2018) dazzled the Academy. Chloé Zhao followed up the gorgeous Nomadland (2020) with the would-be superhero franchise starter, Eternals (2021). That one landed with a thud.

The heretofore suspected best director curse — seen as early as 1980 with the epic Western and studio bankrupting Heaven’s Gate, Michael Cimino’s post-The Deer Hunter dud — lurched into full view in recent weeks with Mickey 17, Bong Joon Ho’s big-budget, big-swing sci-fi bomb.

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And hey, maybe the curse isn’t real and something else is happening here. Doherty suggested to THR that the best director Oscar may create a halo effect around the filmmaker, which can play a part in dooming his or her follow-up project.

“I wonder if the people working with the director — producers and writers and actors — are over-awed and therefore less willing to question his/her judgment because his/her auteurist brilliance has been validated by the industry’s highest award,” he said. “Back in the studio days, a mogul could tell the director on the payroll the film was too long and he needed to cut 25 minutes. And that was that. Who today would have the stones to say that to Martin Scorsese or Christopher Nolan?”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/41378406

The browser disables firefox telemetry and Pocket by default.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/26464803

Angels in the Asylum, a British indie film starring Simon Pegg and Katherine Waterston, has stopped shooting indefinitely after running out of cash midway through production, Deadline can reveal.

Angels in the Asylum was mounted without its financing fully in place and had to halt filming in February, 15 days into a month-long shoot. There is no clarity on when the £5M ($6.4M) production might restart as producers scramble to bring in new finance.

Angels in the Asylum set out to tell an important story about women incarcerated against their wishes, but has created a messy legacy in which crew members are said to be owed at least £600,000 in wages. Cast pay was ringfenced in an escrow account under Equity union agreements.

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The reasons for the financial strife are disputed. The position of Sorrenti and Greenwood is that funding under an arrangement with distributor Parkland Pictures has not materialized. In a statement, they said it was “devastating” that Angels in the Asylum did not have the funds to carry on shooting. They are in talks with other financiers in a bid to resurrect the movie and “remain determined to find a solution.”

Parkland CEO John Cairns told Deadline that his company had no agreement to finance Angels in the Asylum beyond its work as a sales agent. He added that proposed tax credit funding through Parkland Film Capital was not finalized and, even if it was, there would still be a “very large gap” in the budget.

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Angels in the Asylum was able to begin production with funding from other investors, while Sorrenti and Greenwood also put cash into the project. Around 150 people were left out of work when the film went on hiatus, with crew members being owed at least three weeks’ wages, expenses, and holiday pay. Suppliers are also said to be significantly out of pocket.

Some crew members said they had been left in financial jeopardy amid precarious conditions in the UK film and TV production industry. A small number of people are pursuing legal claims in an effort to recover the money they are owed. Bectu and Equity are supporting members impacted by the hiatus.

Those caught up in the collapse are furious, with some complaining that the issues have been compounded by poor communication and false hope from those running the production. When filming paused in February, producers said they hoped it would be a week before production could resume. “We have been strung along, it’s unbelievable,” said one person. Another source added: “The producers were in over their heads.”

The position of the producers is that they have been working tirelessly to resolve the funding gap. Sorrenti and Greenwood said they have also not been paid and are working to resuscitate the film without remuneration. They are said to be heartbroken about what has taken place.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/26464542

Sean Connery is often cited as the best actor to ever step into the shoes of James Bond. However, his films have never been released on 4K Blu-ray--only Daniel Craig's turn as Bond has received the 4K treatment. That's about to change, as the 007: James Bond Sean Connery 6-Film Collection (4K Blu-ray) is officially up for preorder ahead of its June 3 release date. If you're looking for a premium way to store and display the collection, a Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set is also launching the same day.

Amazon hasn't added images of the box sets to its store pages yet, but we will update this article as soon as promotional images and more details are available.

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The steelbook collection includes six steelbooks--one for each film--plus a massive "steelbook library case" to keep them organized on your shelf. Details are scarce, but we do know you'll get 4K and digital versions of all six films. Expect to learn more about bonus features soon. Since this is the first time the films are making the jump to 4K, we expect there to be high demand for the product. Be sure to preorder if you want to be among the first to have it in their home.

Here's a look at the six films included in the collection:

• Dr. No
• From Russia With Love
• Goldfinger
• Thunderball
• You Only Live Twice
• Diamonds are Forever