Ryan Coogler to Bring Wakanda-based TV Series to Disney+

Wakanda forever. With WandaVision now halfway through its run as the first-ever Marvel series to bow on Disney+, Disney has now tapped Black Panther co-writer/director Ryan Coogler to start developing a new series for their streamer. Coogler has a new five-year deal with Disney, via his Proximity Media, to develop a Wakanda-based Disney+ series, as well as working on other shows within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Ryan Coogler is a singular storyteller whose vision and range have made him one of the standout filmmakers of his generation,” said Disney executive chairman Bob Iger in a statement.

Screenwriter Kemp Powers on Finding Truth & Beauty in “One Night In Miami”

After nearly two decades as a news reporter, Kemp Powers knew a good story when he found one. Discovering that four cultural icons — heavyweight champ Cassius Clay, soon to take the name Muhammad Ali; activist Malcolm X; crooner Sam Cooke; and NFL superstar Jim Brown — had hung out together in Miami in 1964 inspired him to recreate that night.

Powers’ play, “One Night in Miami,” enjoyed a string of regional productions before it was staged at the prestigious Donmar Warehouse in London in 2016,

Mid-Season “WandaVision” Trailer Highlights Mysteries Revealed & Pending

Assuming that if you’re reading this, you’re all caught up with Marvel’s first-ever Disney+ series WandaVision, showrunner Jac Schaeffer and director Matt Shakman’s gleefully odd show about the MCU’s most beloved odd couple. The fourth episode, which streamed this past Friday, began to reveal some of WandaVision‘s secrets. Or, we should say, began to peel back the edge of their reality—or surreality—that landed Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) in a sitcom world.

The Best Skits From John Krasinski’s Debut on “SNL”

Saturday Night Live returned this past weekend with John Krasinski making his debut as host, nearly a year after Krasinski was supposed to have made his first appearance in Studio 8H. Krasinski’s original debut was slated for March of 2020, pegged to the release of his highly anticipated A Quiet Place Part II. Of course, none of that happened—SNL stopped production, and A Quiet Place Part II‘s release date was pushed due to the pandemic.

Documentarian Sam Pollard on his Must-See New Film “MLK/FBI”

A couple of days after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his era-defining “I have a dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial, J. Edgar Hoover’s second in command at the FBI penned a memo describing him as “The most dangerous Negro in America.” As documented in Sam Pollard‘s new film MLK/FBI (On Demand and in select theaters), that 1963 memo launched the Bureau’s obsession with discrediting America’s foremost civil rights leader by tapping his phones and bugging the hotel rooms he stayed in.

“Zack Snyder’s Justice League” Gets Release Date & New Posters

We’ve got an official release date for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, otherwise known as the Snyder Cut. If you thought this GameStop story revealed the potential power of a group of committed people collaborating online to make something big happen, the upcoming HBO Max release of Snyder’s revamping of Justice League is also emblematic of online people power.

HBO Max has revealed that the new and improved Justice League will stream on March 18.

Viola Davis, Shonda Rhimes & More Pay Tribute to the Legendary Cicely Tyson

The legendary Cicely Tyson, a history-making actress, humanitarian, and style icon beloved within the entertainment industry and beyond, passed away on Thursday at 96. Tyson died just two days after her memoir, “Just as I Am,” was published. She’d recently given interviews about the book, including this sit-down with Gayle King:

Tyson’s career, which included many critically lauded performances, was trail-breaking in every sense of the word,

The Trailer for Kristen Wiig’s “Barb & Star” Has Major “Stranger Things” Vibes

If you ever wondered what a trailer for a Kristen Wiig comedy would look like if it were modeled on Netflix’s juggernaut fantasy/sci-fi series Stranger Things, today is your lucky day. Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar‘s new trailer opens with an extremely credible facsimile of Stranger Thing‘s intro, down to the typeface used in the titles and a shot of a kid pedaling on a bicycle.

Future Critics: Benji Cherukuri on Composers Hans Zimmer & Nicholas Britell

In the first installment of our series Future Critics, we’d like to introduce you to Benji Cherukuri. Benji’s an avid movie fan, musician, and performer himself. You can check out Benji’s videos—which he edits—on his YouTube channel. Today, however, Benji becomes our first Future Critic.

Benji took some time out from his busy schedule, which includes doing homework for his sixth-grade classes, playing “Fortnite” and “Among Us” with his friends,

An Animated “Game of Thrones” Series Under Consideration at HBO Max

Last week we learned about a fresh Game of Thrones prequel based on George R. R. Martin’s novellas, “Tales of Dunk and Egg.” Now, The Hollywood Reporter reveals that an animated Game of Thrones drama is under consideration at HBO Max. THR reports that the animated idea is part of a larger strategy to expand Martin’s fantasy world of dragons and direwolves at HBO.

Currently,

Kristen Stewart is a Young Princess Diana in First “Spencer” Image

The first image of Kristen Stewart as a young Princess Diana in Pablo Larraín’s Spencer is a visual reminder that this is one of the more intriguing films slated for 2021. Stewart and Larraín have teamed up to tell a story about a very specific time period in Princess Diana’s life—the weekend when she decided she was going to leave Prince Charles.

First, check out the full image from Neon:

Kristen Stewart is Diana,

Let Omar Sy Explain Why You Need to Watch “Lupin” on Netflix

“I think Lupin is the ideal character for an actor,” Omar Sy says in this new video from Netflix, titled “The Multiple Faces of Assane Diop.” Sy’s character, Assane Diop, is a gentleman thief. Inspired by the adventures of the titular Arsène Lupin, a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created by the French writer Maurice Leblanc in 1905, the new Netflix series boasts a stellar cast and crew. It just might be your next binge.

Worlds Are About To Collide on “WandaVision”

If you’ve been watching WandaVision, you’ve seen hints that the bizarre sitcom world that Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) have been living in is fracturing. The first three episodes of showrunner Jac Schaeffer and director Matt Shakman’s series have beautifully walked the line between comedy and drama. Wanda and Vision are somehow living inside a world of evolving period sitcoms, with all the goofy hijinx that entails (wacky neighbors, dreadful dinner parties,

Chris Hemsworth Honors First Nations People as “Thor: Love and Thunder” Starts Filming

In an Instagram post marking Thor: Love and Thunder‘s start of filming, star Chris Hemsworth took the opportunity to pay tribute to the history of First Nations people in Australia, where Hemsworth and the Love and Thunder cast and crew are getting to work.

The production was welcomed by a performance of “Welcome to the Country” by Gamay dancers of the Bidgiagal and Gadigal Nation, as well as Maori dancers from Te Aranganui.

A New “Raya and the Last Dragon” Trailer Reveals Disney’s Latest Animated Action-Adventure

Raya and the Last Dragon is ready to take flight. Well, almost ready. The upcoming Walt Disney Animation Studios film, from directors Don Hall (Moana) and Carlos López Estrada (Blindspotting) has released a new trailer ahead of its theatrical and Disney+ Premiere Access release on March 5. The epic action-adventure story is set in the mystical world of Kumandra, where at one point in time,

“Lovecraft Country” Creator Misha Green to Direct “Tomb Raider” Sequel

When we talked to Lovecraft Country director Cheryl Dunye and cinematographer Michael Watson, both of them enthused about working with the show’s creator, Misha Green. Green had assembled an incredible cast and crew to work out her vision for what turned out to be one of 2020’s best series. Now, Green’s career continues its ascent as she’s about to make the jump to feature directing. Deadline broke the story and The Hollywood Reporter confirms that she’ll be helming the next Tomb Raider installment for MGM,

Barry Jenkins Shares a Stunning New Teaser For “The Underground Railroad”

One of 2021’s most eagerly anticipated series is writer/director Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad. Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, Jenkins’ series stars Thuso Mbedu as Cora Randall, a young Black girl who escapes her enslavement on a Georgia plantation and, heading north, utilizes the Underground Railroad to secure her freedom. Only in Whitehead’s mythic telling, the Underground Railroad is an actual, physical system of subterranean trains and stations,

“The Dark Knight” & “Gravity” VFX Supervisor Introducing New Filmmaking Tech in Directorial Debut

If there’s anything good to come from the pandemic in the entertainment world, advancements in filmmaking technology that are making it possible for artists from all over the world to collaborate remotely has got to be high on that list. To that end, The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Tim Weber, who nabbed an Academy Award for his groundbreaking work on Alfonso Cuarón’s 2014 space epic Gravity, will be revealing new collaborative filmmaking technology when he makes his directorial debut.

Costume Designer Trish Summerville on Diving Into Hollywood’s Past in “Mank”

David Fincher’s black and white epic, Mank, revisits the storied Hollywood era of the late 1930s when Orson Welles was writing what would go down in history as one of the best films of all time, Citizen Kane. But did he write it alone or with the help of Herman Mankiewicz, a once sought after screenwriter fallen prey to twin drinking and gambling problems? In Fincher’s version of events,

The Titans Collide in First “Godzilla vs. Kong” Trailer

You could be forgiven for not quite knowing who to root for in director Adam Wingard’s upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong. Now, on the one hand, Kong is certainly closer to our meager human species genetically, and therefore we might have a rooting interest in his survival based purely on our own fellow-feeling for creatures closer to us. Weighting the scales further is the fact that the first trailer for the film clearly wants us rooting for Kong.