We have another week of Black excellence in Hollywood to dish about and this week, y’all have to make way for a queen.
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Black folks often love to quote “Eat the cake, Anna Mae” (shout-out to the character name callback in her new movie Gunpowder Milkshake) when it comes to What’s Love Got to Do With It star Angela Bassett. In real life…the actress absolutely gets to have her cake and eat it, too. The flavor? Cold-hard cash, baby!
According to Deadline, Bassett will become the highest-paid Black actress on TV, following the ratings success (and fifth season renewal) of her Fox show, 911. Check the numbers…she’ll make upwards of $450,000 an episode! Get it, queen!
Halle Berry’s Directorial Debut Bruised Is Headed to Netflix
In 2020, Halle Berry made her directorial debut at the Toronto International Film Festival with the film Bruised, in which she also stars. Just shy of a year later, that labor of love will finally be headed to a small screen near us soon. Per Entertainment Weekly, Berry’s film will be coming to Netflix as soon as November 24 after securing a monster deal with the streaming service, landing somewhere north of $20 million.
As previously reported by The Root, Bruised is set to follow “a washed-up MMA fighter struggling for redemption as both an athlete and a mother. Jackie ‘Justice’ has been working multiple jobs and barely scraping by ever since losing an important match years ago. When her boyfriend Desi manages to trick her into going to an underground fight, her passion for the sport is reignited. As Jackie prepares to go back to ‘the only thing she is good at,’ the son she once abandoned is dropped off at her doorstep. Confronted by her past choices and traumas, Jackie will have to fight to reclaim the two most meaningful things she has walked away from: 6-year-old Manny and an MMA title.”
Keith David, Rachel True to Star in Upcoming Supernatural Thriller The Last Call
Greenleaf actor Keith David and The Craft and Half & Half actress Rachel True will be bringing the spooky vibes in a new supernatural feature soon. Titled The Last Caller, per Variety, the film will tell the story of “Dr. Amara Rowen, a documentary filmmaker who, after what appears to be a cult mass suicide, is contacted by the group’s survivors. As she begins to learn the truth of the cult’s founder and its abilities, she and the surviving members are being hunted and killed, which could lead to a changing reality.” True will take on the lead role of Dr. Rowen with David set to portray the cult’s founder, Dr. Joseph Crawl. Filming for The Last Call is expected to begin on August 9 in both New Jersey and Los Angeles.
Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack Films Inks Deal With A24
“Sicko Mode” rapper Travis Scott will be making his first foray into the world of film. According to Pitchfork, Scott’s Cactus Jack Films will be teaming up with A24 films, the studio behind critically acclaimed films such as Moonlight and Uncut Gems. Their first project? A feature titled Utopia. Scott announced the new deal to his fans and followers with a picture of the “first-draft” script in an Instagram post, writing: “Life is a movie. So is this album @cactusjack and @a24 set out to bring amazing content for the future. Thru film and media. Starting with this.” The Astroworld artist previously hinted that his next followup album would be named Utopia. Given this new announcement, there’s a pretty strong chance that this rollout will be one for the books.
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures to Publish Catalogues for Spike Lee
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is about to “do the right thing” when it comes to Spike Lee. According to Variety, the museum will publish catalogues devoted to Lee’s work for an inaugural exhibition slated to be published in April 2022. Titled “Spike Lee: Director’s Inspiration,” the catalogue will include “items from the director’s personal collection, along with interviews and contributions from collaborators and friends including Cheryl Dunye, Terence Blanchard, Giancarlo Esposito and Dee Rees.” The museum is expected to open on September 30. Lee has been having one helluva year; back in March he was selected as Jury President for the Cannes Film Festival. Per Deadline, Film at Lincoln Center also recently named Lee the recipient of the 46th annual Chaplin Award at this year’s New York Film Festival.
Academy Awards Slide
The Academy (the folks behind the Oscars) have elected the 2021-2022 Academy Board of Governors officers, per the official press release sent to The Root.
Sure, the Academy president is a white guy once again (reelected president David Rubin)…you know, regularly scheduled programming. But of course, we’re about highlighting the Black members so shout-out to DeVon Franklin (vice president, chair, Equity and Inclusion Committee) and Wynn P. Thomas (vice president, chair, Education and Outreach Committee).
Showtime’s The Chi Has Been Renewed for a Fifth Season
Hours after the season finale of Showtime’s The Chi, the company announced that the show has been renewed for a fifth season. The show, which is on track to becoming one of Showtime’s highest viewed programs, is executive produced and created by Lena Waithe and co-executive produced by Common. Season 4 looked at the conflict and consequences of police interactions with young Black men and women on the South Side of Chicago after Jake, played by Michael V. Epps, has a “fateful run-in with a group of officers,” per Deadline. Season 5 doesn’t have a confirmed release date but will be available sometime during 2022.
Nia Long Joins Netflix’s Plus/ Minus Alongside Lili Reinhart and Luke Wilson
Netflix has just tapped Nia Long to star in the upcoming romantic comedy, Plus/Minus. The film follows Natalie (Reinhart) as her potential futures converge into two parallel timelines on the night before her college graduation—one showing her staying in her small hometown in Texas raising a child, and the other showing her living her dreams in Los Angeles. Long will be starring alongside Lili Reinhard, Luke Wilson, Danny Ramirez, David Corenswet and Andrea Savage. According to Variety, Long’s role has yet to be announced.
Kerry Washington to Produce and Star in Netflix Adaptation of Diane Cardwell’s Memoir, Rockaway
Diane Cardwell’s inspiring and fast-paced memoir Rockaway: Surfing Headlong Into a New Life, is being adapted into a Netflix film, written by NAACP Image Award winner Nichelle Tramble Spellman and produced by Kerry Washington for Netflix. Washington will also star in Rockaway where she will play a New York City journalist who becomes enthralled with surfing while on assignment and finds her way to Rockaway Beach. The book was originally published in July 2020 and “tells the story of Cardwell’s own reinvention as she discovered the world of surfing,” according to Variety. Rockaway is Washington’s latest film with Netflix after starring opposite Lawrence Fishburn and Charlize Theron in the upcoming movie, The School for Good and Evil.
Jennifer Hudson Partners with MasterCard to Celebrate Black Women Business Owners
August is Black Business Month and to honor Black women-owned businesses, Jennifer Hudson has partnered with MasterCard to produce a performance at the Apollo Theater. Per a press release provided to The Root, MasterCard has provided a “limited number of cardholders with special access to the red carpet premiere of Respect at the Regency Village Theater ahead of the film’s global release on August 13.” Additionally, MasterCard presents the “Jennifer Hudson Live at The Apollo” concert, taking place on August 19. This concert will be the first live performance at the historic theater since March 2020. Hudson will be performing classic Aretha Franklin songs and the attendees will be a group of Black women who are all entrepreneurs and select cardholders.
Jodi Baskerville Named the First-Ever Black Executive Producer of The Bachelor and Michelle Young Is Season 18’s Bachelorette
Jodi Baskerville has worked for The Bachelor franchise for almost a decade and in August 2021, became the first Black Executive Producer for the show. Her first season as an EP will begin with The Bachelorette’s season 18, airing this fall. Season 18’s Bachelorette is Michelle Young, the third woman of color and third Black woman to ever be cast as the Bachelorette. Young was also a contestant on the 25th season of The Bachelor. According to People, Warner Horizon and ABC Entertainment released a statement surrounding the announcement of Young and Bakersfield. “As we continue the dialogue around achieving greater equity and inclusion within The Bachelor franchise, we are dedicated to improving the BIPOC representation of our crew, including among the executive producer ranks.”
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