Yara Shahidi, Keith Powers and more in talks to star in coming-of-age romance, ‘Bloom’
Disney/PictureGroup
Yara Shahidi and Keith Powers are in talks to star in a coming-of-age romance called Bloom, as are Kedar Williams-Stirling and Renée Elise Goldsberry, Deadline reports.
Directed by Cole Swanson, who also wrote the script, Bloom follows Ace (Williams-Stirling), a young, talented Black artist, who moves to Italy for university and winds up on a journey of self-discovery. Along the way, he finds love and friendship within “a defiant and opulent circle of wealthy young Black adults deemed ‘The Casa Rosa Kids,'” some of whom navigate a “steamy love triangle.” Bloom has been described as Love Jonesset in Italy.
Bloom will mark the feature debut of Swanson. Pineloft Entertainment will produce alongside Jolene Rodriguez of Broken English Productions, while UK-based 1PLUS1 Productions and Adam Strawford come together for music consulting.
Variety reports Columbia Pictures is gearing up for Jumanji 3, with franchise stars Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart and Jack Black all expected to return, along with director Jake Kasdan, who helmed the first two movies in the series, 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and 2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level. The series follows a group of teenagers who get sucked inside a video game and must defeat the enemy in order to survive. Welcome to the Jungle earned over $960 million worldwide, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2017, per the outlet. The Next Level was not far behind, grossing over $800 million globally. Jumanji 3 is slated for a December 2026 release …
Justin Long and Michael McKean have been added to the cast of the upcoming Marc Maron comedy In Memoriam, joining Lily Gladstone and Sharon Stone, according to Deadline. Maron plays a veteran Hollywood actor obsessed with securing a spot in the Oscars’ in memoriam montage following a terminal cancer diagnosis, per the outlet. His campaigning leads to a heartfelt journey of self-exploration. Long and McKean’s roles have not been revealed …
Uma Thurman, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Bridgerton‘s Phoebe Dynevor have been tapped to star in the romantic film The Housekeeper, according to Variety. The film, a fictionalized version of the inspiration behind Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, is set in Cornwall, England, where Thurman’s Danni, a housekeeper at the estate of a wealthy, widowed lord, played by Hopkins, falls in love with the novelist Daphne Du Maurier, portrayed by Dynevor. “For one, their affair is an all-consuming love, for the other an intoxicating realization of her secret longings,” per the outlet …
The Daily Show‘s Ronny Chieng will return with his third Netflix stand-up comedy special, Love to Hate It, on Dec. 17, according to Deadline. The special, taped during a sold-out five-night stand at the Hawai’i Theatre in Honolulu, “unpacks the indignities of the IVF process, the pitfalls of being a man on the internet, American politics and the place of the older generation in today’s world,” per the outlet. Love to Hate It follows his previous Netflix specials, 2022’s Speakeasy and 2019’s Asian Comedian Destroys America! …
Jane Fonda is set to receive the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring the two-time Oscar winner for both her career and humanitarian work.
Fonda will be the 60th recipient of the award, considered SAG-AFTRA’s highest tribute, which is given to an actor who represents the “finest ideals of the acting profession.”
“Jane Fonda is a trailblazer and an extraordinary talent; a dynamic force who has shaped the landscape of entertainment, advocacy and culture with unwavering passion,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher says. “We honor Jane not only for her artistic brilliance but for the profound legacy of activism and empowerment she has created. Her fearless honesty has been an inspiration to me and many others in our industry.”
Fonda shared in a statement that she is “deeply honored and humbled” to be recognized with the award, noting, “I have been working in this industry for almost the entirety of my life and there’s no honor like the one bestowed on you by your peers.”
She adds, “SAG-AFTRA works tirelessly to protect the working actor and to ensure that union members are being treated equitably in all areas, and I am proud to be a member as we continue to work to protect generations of performers to come.”
Fonda will receive her honor at the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, streaming live on Netflix Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. ET.
Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Another box office hit is getting the stage treatment.
Producer Ken Davenport announced Friday he’s developing Slumdog Millionaire, the Oscar-winning film that proved to be a breakout role for Dev Patel, into a musical with help from the film’s composer, A.R. Rahman.
Slumdog Millionaire is based on the Indian novel Q&A, and followed Patel’s Jamal and his brother as they struggled to survive on the streets of Mumbai. The movie also starred Freida Pinto as Jamal’s love interest in her first major film role.
In announcing the new production, Davenport said he was inspired to bring the story to the stage as a way to honor his father, who grew up in India.
“My father … never talked much about growing up in India, until I took him to see Slumdog Millionaire. Immediately after the credits rolled, the stories, the love, and the pride of where he was from poured out of him,” he said. “Right then and there, I vowed to one day find a way to bring our Indian culture to the stage, as a way to honor him, and people of Indian descent all over the world.”
The stage production will reportedly feature new music, as well as the film’s famous “Jai Ho,” for which Rahman won a Best Original Song Oscar.
The English-language single “Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny),” sung by Rahman and The PussycatDolls, became a top-20 Billboard hit in the U.S.
More details about Slumdog Millionaire: The Musical will be announced in the coming months.
