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For the most part, Darby Harper’s life resembles that of other teenage protagonists of comedy-dramas past and present: She lives with a parent whose sole function is to impart critical lessons in brief one-liners; she is an outcast at her high school, a place of perplexing social mores and calcified cliques; and she wields her acerbic humor to study and judge the world around her. Unlike the typical main characters, however, Darby (Riele Downs) can talk to the dead.

In Silas Howard’s endearing but uneven film Darby and the Dead, the heroine parlays her sixth sense into a side gig. After school, from her bedroom turned office, Darby helps irresolute ghosts make peace with their death and cross definitively to the other side. Her clients skew older, and their requests — to amend relationships with children, to remind spouses of their love...

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the movie Darby and the Dead.Starring Riele Downs and Auli'i Cravalho, Darby and the Dead is now available to stream on Hulu. After the school's Queen Bee dies in a freak hair-straightening accident, she begins to live vicariously through her ex-friend Darby, who has the power to communicate with the dead. Although the film revolves around Capri's death and the emotional aftermath of the tragedy, Darby's ability combined with Capri's lingering comedic presence allows it to maintain a light-hearted tone.

Determined to still feel as if she's among the living, Capri begs Darby to connect with her friend group and salvage her canceled birthday party. But in order to do so, Darby must reinvent herself and step entirely out of her comfort zone. Darby and the Dead is written by Becca Greene and based on a story by Wenonah Wilms. Silas Howard,...

In “Darby and the Dead,” the promise of its premise outweighs the delivered product. Director Silas Howard demonstrates his deft capabilities bringing an energetic irreverence and aesthetic buoyancy to the unfurling feature, which is centered on a tormented teen cajoled into helping a recently deceased mean girl get a new life in the afterlife. Unfortunately, despite the film’s undeniable charms and strong lead performances, the fabric it weaves frays as it wears on, undone by clunky character development, trite sentimentality and rushed resolutions.

High schooler Darby Harper (Riele Downs) sees dead people. But unlike Haley Joel Osment’s “Sixth Sense” character, she knows exactly how to help the deceased with their unfinished business. She’s turned it into a full-fledged job, paid only in gratitude, playing spiritual counselor to those she affectionately calls “Deados” who’ve passed away and are stuck in limbo. This special gift was bestowed on...

For a movie about a teen who communicates with ghosts, “Darby and the Dead” is awfully dispiriting. Writer Becca Greene (“Good Vibes”) and director Silas Howard (“Dickinson”) casually kill off Darby Harper’s mother in the first minute, spend most of the movie requiring Darby (Riele Downs) to change her entire personality, and then proceed to punish her for following the path they’ve set.

Though the film seems designed to exploit a new generation’s affection for movies like “Clueless,” “Mean Girls,” “Bring it On” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the filmmakers have missed the messages of those beloved classics altogether. Plus, there’s so much YA streaming content these days that lazily patched-together projects feel, well, extra lazy.

Even Downs, so appealing on Nickelodeon’s “Henry Danger,” can’t fight the forces of this soulless script (which was based on a potentially promising story idea by Wenonah Wilms). As Darby,...

An outcast girl, Darby Harper (Riele Downs) can commune with ghosts after a freak accident as a child. Due to her severe lack of socializing with the living, she retreats from the high school social scene. Enter Capri (Moana's Auli'i Cravalho), the popular girl who was formally Darby's best friend and now the queen bee cheerleader. At the cusp of turning 17, the self-centered cheerleader suffers an accident that actually kills her. Now, Capri has to handle her unfinished business before moving on to heaven, and who so happens to be the nearest medium to help her do so? Darby, the teenage ghost whisperer. To help the cheerleader pass on, the outcast must become popular and host the epic Sweet 17 party Capri has been planning for months. A deal is struck between the two, but the cost will be much less trivial than a party.

If one thinks the summary for...

Hulu's Darby And The Dead stars Genneya Walton and Nicole Maines compare the new movie to classic high school comedies Clueless and Mean Girls. Darby And The Dead follow Darby Harper (Riele Downs) a young girl who is able to communicate with the dead after a near-death experience. Now in high school, Harper would rather spend her time helping spirits pass on than dealing with the trivialities of her classmates. But when the queen bee of the school Capri (Auliʻi Cravalho) dies in an accident, Darby is forced to convince Capri's friends to throw her a sweet sixteen mega party.

During the Darby And The Dead press conference, Walton and Maines explained how the new movie is similar to Clueless and Mean Girls, but more representative of today’s high school experience. Darby And The Dead has a more diverse cast than these other classics with women of...

20th Century Studios has unveiled the poster and trailer for their supernatural comedy Darby and the Dead, which is set to be released through the Hulu streaming service in the U.S. on December 2nd. (It will be released on Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ under the Star banner in all other territories.) The trailer can be seen in the embed above, and the poster is at the bottom of this article.

Directed by Silas Howard, whose credits include 22 episodes of the TV show Dickinson, from a screenplay written by Becca Greene (Good Vibes), working from a story by Wenonah Wilms (Fem 101), Darby and the Dead has the following synopsis:

After suffering a near-death experience as a young girl, Darby Harper gains the ability to see dead people. As a result, she becomes introverted and shut off from her high school peers and prefers to spend time counseling lonely...

20th Century Studios has announced that its supernatural teen comedy Darby and the Dead, starring Riele Downs (Henry Danger), Auli’i Cravalho (Moana) and more, will stream exclusively on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America, and Disney+ under the Star banner in all other territories on December 2nd.

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The film formerly titled Darby Harper Wants You to Know is about a high school student who moonlights as a spiritual messenger. After suffering a near-death experience as a young girl, Darby Harper (Downs) gains the ability to see dead people. As a result, she becomes introverted and shut off from her high school...

Exclusive: Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park) and Nicole Maines (Supergirl) have signed on for roles in 20th Century Studios’ film Darby Harper Wants You to Know for Hulu, which is currently in production in South Africa.

They’re set to star alongside previously announced cast members including Riele Downs, Auli’i’ Cravalho, Asher Angel, Chosen Jacobs, Derek Luke, Genneya Walton and Tony Danza.

The film from director Silas Howard follows Darby Harper (Downs), who after suffering a near-death experience as a child is granted the ability to see ghosts. To combat the existential boredom of high school, she runs a side business counseling local spirits in her spare time. When an unexpected occurrence happens between Darby and Capri, the most popular girl at her high school, Darby reluctantly agrees to help her and in the process learns how to fit in with the living world again.

Knight will play Mel, a...

Exclusive: Tony Danza has joined the cast of Darby Harper Wants You to Know adaptation. The project is a 20th Century Studios film for Hulu that just started production. The film also stars Riele Downs, Auli’i’ Cravalho , Asher Angel, Chosen Jacobs and Derek Luke.

The story follows Darby Harper, who after suffering a near-death experience as a child is granted the ability to see ghosts. To combat the existential boredom of high school, she runs a side business counseling local spirits in her spare time. When an unexpected occurrence happens between Darby and Capri, the most popular girl at her high school, Darby reluctantly agrees to help her and in the process learns how to fit in with the living world again.

Silas Howard is directing the pic which based on a script written by Wenonah Wilms and Becca Greene. Adam Saunders, Eddie Rubin and Mac Hendrickson of Footprint Features are producing.

Exclusive: James Moses Black is the latest addition to the cast of Renfield, the Universal monster movie from director Chris McKay.

He joins an ensemble that includes Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Bess Rouss, as previously announced.

The film based on an original story outline by Robert Kirkman centers on Renfield (Hoult), who has grown sick and tired of his centuries as Dracula’s (Cage) lackey. The henchman finds a new lease on life and maybe even redemption when he falls for feisty, perennially angry traffic cop Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina).

Ryan Ridley wrote the script. McKay is producing the film shooting in New Orleans with Skybound Entertainment’s film team, including Kirkman, David Alpert, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst. His producing partner Samantha Nisenboim is serving as executive producer.

Black most recently found...

Riele Downs (“Henry Danger”), Auli’i’ Cravalho (“Moana”), Asher Angel (“Shazam”), Chosen Jacobs (“It”) and Derek Luke (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) have joined the cast of “Darby Harper Wants You to Know,” TheWrap has exclusively learned.

The project is a 20th Century Studios film for Hulu that just started production.

The story follows Darby Harper, who after suffering a near-death experience as a child is granted the ability to see ghosts. To combat the existential boredom of high school, she runs a side business counseling local spirits in her spare time. When an unexpected occurrence happens between Darby and Capri, the most popular girl at her high school, Darby reluctantly agrees to help her and in the process learns how to fit in with the living world again.

Riele Downs is playing the title role of Darby Harper, replacing Storm Reid who is no longer attached to the project due to a scheduling conflict.

Exclusive: 20th Century Studios has acquired the spec script Darby Harper Wants You to Know starring Storm Reid, with Footprint Features and A Seed & Wings set to produce. The film will be executive produced by A Seed & Wings, the multimedia production house founded by Reid and Robyn Simpson.

The story follows Darby Harper, who after suffering a near-death experience as a child is granted the ability to see ghosts. To combat the existential boredom of high school, she runs a side business counseling local spirits in her spare time. When an unexpected occurrence happens between Darby and Capri, the most popular girl at her high school, Darby reluctantly agrees to help her and in the process learns how to fit in with the living world again.

The spec was penned by Wenonah Wilms and Becca Greene and will be directed by Silas Howard. Adam Saunders, Eddie Rubin and Mac Hendrickson...

When Angeline Boulley was working on her young adult fiction debut, Firekeeper’s Daughter, she decided she needed to know how to make meth. “I learned how to make meth from the State Police Academy,” she tells Rolling Stone. “I was able to take a workshop at the Academy and it was about learning how to make math and learning how to identify clandestine meth labs. I was the only non-law enforcement person in that workshop.”

That dedication to detail and passion for story led to a bidding war over...

Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions has unveiled its next round of projects in development at Netflix.

Among the new film and series projects in the works are an adaptation of the Mohsin Hamid novel “Exit West” starring Riz Ahmed, a science fiction film written by Ola Shokunbi, a docuseries about National Parks and a series adaptation of the forthcoming novel “Firekeeper’s Daughter.”

“We created Higher Ground to tell great stories,” the former president and first lady said in a statement. “This group of projects builds upon that goal and the incredible path forged by films like Crip Camp, Becoming, and the Oscar-winning American Factory. From science fiction to the beauty of our natural world to the relationships that define us, Higher Ground continues to strive for fresh perspectives, compelling characters, and a healthy dose of inspiration. We couldn’t be more proud to team up with...

President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground Productions has set its latest slate of film and TV projects for Netflix.

The streamer is developing two TV series and four feature films as part of the slate.

On the TV side, Reverie and Extant creator Mickey Fisher is adapting Firekeeper’s Daughter, the debut YA thriller from Angeline Boulley. The book follows an 18-year-old Native girl as she reluctantly goes undercover in a police investigation on her Ojibwe reservation. Fisher will serve as showrunner and co-write with Wenonah Wilms, the Horsehead Girls writer who is also from the Ojibwe tribe and will also act as exec producer.

Great National Parks is a natural history docuseries that comes from Blue Planet II filmmaker James Honeyborne. The series, which is produced with Wild Space Productions, will explore some of the most wondrous national parks and wild spaces on Earth...

President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground Productions, has set a slate of new projects under their deal with Netflix.

The new slate encompasses both TV and film projects, including a film adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s critically-acclaimed novel “Exit West” and a biopic on Tenzing Norgay, who was the first person to reach the peak of Mount Everest alongside Sir Edmund Hillary. The company is also prepping a U.S. National Parks docuseries and a series adaptation of the Angeline Boulley book “Firekeeper’s Daughter.”

The full description of all the projects can be found below. They are currently in different stages of development, to be released over the next several years.

“We created Higher Ground to tell great stories,” the Obamas said. “This group of projects builds upon that goal and the incredible path forged by films like ‘Crip Camp,’ ‘Becoming,’ and the Oscar-winning ‘American Factory.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored five up-and-coming screenwriters Thursday as part of its annual Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting program.

On hand to present the awards was program director Jennifer Yuh Nelson (“Kung Fu Panda 2”) and fellowship chair Robin Swicord (“Memoirs of a Geisha”). Swicord, who began working with the fellowship more than ten years ago as a reader, said the fellowship looks for stories that possess uncomfortable truths, many of which were present in the work of the evening’s honorees.

“You have to have blind faith in order to proceed as a writer,” Swicord told Variety before the awards presentation and live readings of the winning works held at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif. “Sometimes that blind faith pays off and sometimes it takes a little longer than others, so I think that whatever you need to do to cultivate that blind faith,...

Three individuals and one writing team have been named winners of the 2018 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. The fellows will each receive a $35,000 prize, the first installment of which will be distributed at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards Presentation & Live Read at Beverly Hills’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Thursday, November 8.

The 2018 winners are (listed alphabetically by author):

Allison Buckmelter and Nicolas Buckmelter, American Refugee

Joey Clarke, Jr., Miles

Grace Sherman, Numbers and Words

Wenonah Wilms, Horsehead Girls

A total of 6,895 scripts were submitted for this year’s competition. Nine individual screenwriters and one writing team were selected as finalists. Their scripts were then read and judged by the Academy Nicholl Fellowships Committee, who ultimately voted the winners.

For the sixth consecutive year, an ensemble of actors will read selected scenes from the winning scripts.

Three individuals and one writing team have been selected as winners of the 2018 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. The winners are Allison Buckmelter and Nicolas Buckmelter, American Refugee; Joey Clarke, Jr., Miles; Grace Sherman, Numbers and Words; and Wenonah Wilms, Horsehead Girls.

The fellows will each receive a $35,000 prize, the first installment of which will be distributed at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards Presentation & Live Read on Nov. 8 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. For the sixth consecutive year, an ensemble of actors will read selected scenes from ...

Three individuals and one writing team have been selected as winners of the 2018 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition. The winners are Allison Buckmelter and Nicolas Buckmelter, American Refugee; Joey Clarke, Jr., Miles; Grace Sherman, Numbers and Words; and Wenonah Wilms, Horsehead Girls.

The fellows will each receive a $35,000 prize, the first installment of which will be distributed at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards Presentation & Live Read on Nov. 8 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. For the sixth consecutive year, an ensemble of actors will read selected scenes from ...