Two Months Before ‘The Force Awakens’ Even Hits Theaters, ‘Episode VIII’ Will Start Shooting
Director Rian Johnson is already gearing up and getting to work on the next Star Wars film. Lucasfilm confirmed yesterday that Star Wars: Episode VIII will begin filming on the island Skellig Michael off the southern coast of Ireland later this month. Between the Episodic titles and the spin-off stories, formerly known as anthology films, Lucasfilm is gearing up to deliver a Star Wars film once a year. (COL)
Guillermo Del Toro Doesn’t Have Enough On His Plate, Now Developing Secret Project At Searchlight
Pitched as Wall-E meets Splash, the intriguing take was written by Del Toro, and sees the Pacific Rim director also attached to helm. DanTram Nguyen and David Greenbaum are overseeing for Fox, while Del Toro produces. His gothic horror Crimson Peak, bows October 16th and he’s also in development on another project for Universal, a sequel to his acclaimed 2013 epic Pacific Rim, titled Pacific Rim 2: Maelstrom. (TB)
David Glasser Changes Tack, Decides To Stay With The Weinstein Company Through 2018
The stunning turn of events comes a little more than a month after the TWC President and COO announced he would depart after his contract expires, joining an exodus of top executives leaving the film and television venture over the past year. In recent weeks, Glasser had been entertaining other offers, such as a potential post at DreamWorks Animation. But after lengthy negotiations, Glasser and the Weinsteins instead hammered a new three-year deal. (BIZ)
Netflix Finally Gives ‘Jessica Jones’ a Premiere Date, So Set Your Calendars
Marvel’s 13-episode series will drop in its entirety on November 20th at 12:01 AM PT. Series is the second of four live-action adventure series to premiere only on Netflix. Kristen Ritter stars as Jessica Jones who, after a tragic ending to her short-lived Super Hero stint, is rebuilding her personal life and career as a detective who gets pulled into cases in New York City. Cast also includes David Tennant, Mike Colter, Rachael Taylor, and Carrie-Anne Moss. (DH)
Anne Hathaway Is the Subject of a New Refinery29 Series Spotlighting Female Icons
Called (Un)Cover, the feature is being billed as a multiplatform series that reimagines the traditional magazine cover feature. Each installment of the ongoing series will include fashion photography, video interviews and editorial content. In this first installment, Hathaway shares her thoughts on Internet trolls, her crush on Amy Schumer and why it’s important to be comfortable in your own skin. (THR)
Dennis Haysbert Joins Sophie Okonedo and Adrian Lester In Six-Part BBC Political Thriller, ’Undercover’
To be broadcast on BBC One (no ETA yet), the series stars Okonedo as Maya, who’s about to become the first black Director of Public Prosecutions, and Adrian Lester as her husband. Just as her life comes under intense public scrutiny, Maya discovers that he has been lying to her for years. Is he concealing an affair, or is it something altogether more sinister? Haysbert has signed up to play a man who has been wrongly imprisoned on death row for 20 years. (SAA)
Getting Ready For All the Fall Films? Here Are 50 To See Before You Hit the Theater This Autumn
Looking for originality? This fall’s crop of movies might disappoint you. Over the next four months, you can expect to see about as many sequels as you did the last four months. Worse is the number of remakes, many of them dramatic retellings of stories that were covered just fine in documentaries. You may not be interested in seeing every single major release between now and the end of the year, but if you are you might also be interested in checking these out. (FSR)
Literally Flying Towards Better Ideas: the Creative Habits Of Paul Scheer
One of the early breakout performers from the original Upright Citizen Brigade Theater, he went from an acclaimed sketch show on MTV to juggling his own Adult swim series and a role on FX’s The League in just a couple years. Since then, he’s doubled-down on acting while also assisting in the creation of the Hotwives series for Hulu, and making exceedingly random nostalgia-based comedies for JASH. (FCC)
Trailer Buzz: ‘Carol’
The Weinstein Company has released the first full-length American trailer for the upcoming drama, which has already won awards at Cannes and built enormous buzz ahead of it. Starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara and directed by Todd Haynes, the film hits theaters November 20th. (IW)
Screenwriters: Call for Entries — Women in Film & Television International Short Film Showcase
Founded in 2004, the Showcase not only presents selected films from WIFTI Chapters around the world; some of the recent Showcase short films have been nominated for Academy Awards received distribution deals, garnered recognition around the world. Last year for the 10th anniversary, WIFTI Short-Case received 869 submissions from 58 countries. (SM)