Daniel Kaluuya won’t be back for Black Panther 2; a deep dive on Meryl Streep taking off her glasses; Ana de Armas teams up with the writer of Promising Young Woman.
But First: What are you working on? Some of our favorite things we’ve covered at MovieMaker.com have been films where a director just emailed us about a cool thing they’re doing. If you have a finished project you want to share with us, email me at [email protected].
But Second: There will be no Rundown tomorrow because we have to drive to go see The Empire Strikes Back performed with a live orchestra. We’re so excited.
Outfest: Outfest starts today in Los Angeles, and here’s our interview with Todd Flaherty, whose debut Chrissy Judy — one of our favorite movies of the year — is among the films screening. You can listen to my talk with him about platonic relationships, Woody Allen, and making a great film for under $20,000 on Apple or Spotify or here:
Meryl Streep’s Glasses: “I’ve come to see a pair of glasses on Streep’s face as a Chekhov’s gun: At some point you know they’re coming off, and it’s going to be fabulous,” writes Amanda Hess in this New York Times video/essay. It’s impossible to summarize: You just need to look at clip after clip of Streep whipping off glasses, carefully folding glasses, carelessly casting glasses aside.
Kevin Spacey Pleads Not Guilty: to sexual assault charges in London, and will go on trial next June. Here are details from the BBC.
The 13-Year-Callback: Here’s a good Hollywood Reporter interview with Gordon Smith — who went from a P.A. on Breaking Bad to a writer-executive producer on Better Call Saul, about how he tied Monday’s episode of Saul back to the very first Breaking Bad appearance of Saul Goodman — 13 years ago. This goes very deep on both shows, and I dug it.
Nope: Rotten Tomatoes‘ awards editor Jacqueline Coley reported via Twitter that Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya will not return as W’Kabi in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever because of “schedule conflicts” with his new film Nope, out later this month, in which he reunites with Get Out writer-director Jordan Peele. Someone immediately asked, “Isn’t ‘scheduling conflicts’ the professional Hollywood way of saying they don’t vibe with the project for a number of reasons and don’t want to return?” Coley replied, “No really, they filmed at the same time.” I interviewed Daniel Kaluuya back in 2019, and Black Panther 2 is one of the things we talked about. He didn’t commit to returning: “If they call, they call,” he said.
P.S. Last night I went to see Thor: Love and Thunder (terrific, thanks for asking!) and one of the trailers was a long one for Nope in which Kaluuya’s character is wearing a Scorpion King hoodie. (See above.) I assume this is because the movie is set on a movie ranch, and that Scorpion King is one of the wonderful productions shot there. I like it. What a specific detail.
Ana De Armas Meets Promising Young Woman: A new Elle profile of de Armas reports that Emerald Fennell, who won an Oscar for writing Promising Young Woman, will work on the upcoming John Wick spinoff The Ballerina, in which de Armas stars. “It was really important for me to hire a female writer, because to that point when I got involved in the project, it was only the director, Len Wiseman, and another guy. And I was like, ‘That’s not going to work,’” de Armas told Elle. “So I interviewed, like, five or six female writers. We hired Emerald Fennell, which I was so proud of.”
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Trailer: Here is the new trailer for Amazon Prime’s new Lord of the Rings project, which all of us are legally required to get super into right now and then watch for the next five years or NO MORE DELIVERIES.
Main image: Daniel Kaluuya wears a Scorpion King hoodie in Nope.
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