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Producer Will Packer has some thoughts on longtime collaborator Kevin Hart.

“Oh man, I tell you: I'm so tired of carrying that guy! My back is sore carrying that Kevin Hart!” Packer laughed while chatting with Gold Derby at an FYC event at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel celebrating Peacock's Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist. The all-star limited series is their latest team-up following such comedies as Ride Along and the Think Like a Man franchise.

But Packer admitted that despite the dramatic weight of the series — which unravels the unexpected story of how Muhammad Ali’s 1970 comeback fight and a jaw-dropping robbery at the posh planned afterparty — once he got involved, “the very first call that I made was to Kevin. He's legitimately one of my best friends in the business.”

Packer’s timing coincided with Hart’s attempt to remake the Sidney Poitier-Bill Cosby comedy classic Uptown Saturday Night,...

This one goes out to all those who were children in the early aughts convinced that Spy Kids was the pinnacle of cinema. Your loyalty has been rewarded! Robert Rodriguez's beloved action comedy has been added to the National Film Registry. On Monday, the Library of Congress announced the...

We are just past the 40th anniversary of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It's been now 42 years since the film came out and captivated audiences everywhere. It brought back an iconic Star Trek villain in Khan Noonien Singh and showcased one of the most impressive hero/villain dynamics in franchise history with Khan and James T. Kirk.

The performances of Ricardo Montalban and William Shatner captivated a generation and so much of the modern Star Trek trend follows the model that Wrath of Khan created. Even after 42 years the fans still flock to the film. In many ways, it's the touchtone of Star Trek's creativity.

This is why it was picked, alongside 24 other films, to be added to the National Film Registry for Preservation. The selections for the class of 2024 range from 1895's "Annabelle Serpentine Dance all the way to 2010's The Social Network. And no, the '1895' wasn't a typo.

25 films join the National Film Registry in 2024 (Photo courtesy of Library of Congress)

The 25 new additions to the Library of Congress National Film Registry include Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original), Dirty Dancing, Beverly Hills Cop, The Social Network, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The 2024 honorees represent nearly every genre and were selected for their “cultural, historic, or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage.”

“Films reflect our nation’s history and culture and must be preserved in our national library for generations to come. We’re honored by the responsibility to add 25 diverse new films to the National Film Registry each year as we work to preserve our cultural heritage,” stated Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “This is a collective effort in the film community to preserve our cinematic heritage, and we are grateful to our partners, including the National Film Preservation Board.”

The 2024 selection...

The Library of Congress is back to share one of the most-anticipated lists of the year: its selection of movies that will be placed in the National Film Registry for preservation.

This year’s collection of movies that the United States National Film Preservation Board has deemed as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” span from 1895 to 2010, with the public nominating more than 6,700 titles for consideration. Among the highlights are Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Dirty Dancing (1987), Spy Kids (2001), No Country for Old Men (2007), and the newest film added to the registry, David Fincher’s social media drama The Social Network (2010).

“Films reflect our nation’s history and culture and must be preserved in our national library for generations to come. We’re honored by the responsibility to add 25 diverse new films to the National Film Registry each year as we work to preserve our cultural heritage,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement.

The Library of Congress has added another selection of 25 movies to The National Film Registry. This year’s lineup includes gangster classics, horror essentials, landmark documentaries, and even Spy Kids.

Check out the full list of this year’s inductees into the National Film Registry:

Annabelle Serpentine Dance (1895)

KoKo’s Earth Control (1928)

Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

Pride of the Yankees (1942)

Invaders from Mars (1953)

The Miracle Worker (1962)

The Chelsea Girls (1966)

Ganja and Hess (1973)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Uptown Saturday Night (1974)

Zora Lathan Student Films (1975-76)

Up in Smoke (1978)

Will (1981)

Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (1982)

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)

Powwow Highway (1989)

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

American Me (1992)

Mi Familia (1995)

Compensation (1999)

Spy Kids (2001)

No Country for Old Men (2007)

The Social Network (2010)

Notably, Wrath of Khan is the first Star Trek movie to be added, while The Social Network ranks as one of the most recent entries on the National Film Registry.

Nobody puts Baby in a corner, but the National Film Registry did just put “Dirty Dancing” on its 2024 list. The 1987 Patrick Swayze/Jennifer Grey classic was among the 25 films Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced this morning as being added to the Registry, which honors classic films worthy of preservation.

Trekkies’ hearts are rejoicing this morning, as well, because “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” is a new add to the list — making it the first “Trek” movie ever to join the Registry. And the theme of ’80s blockbusters continued with “Beverly Hills Cop” also making the cut. In a bit of shock that it wasn’t already on there before, Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” one of the most acclaimed horror movies of all time, finally received recognition also.

Before this morning and its 25 additions, there were 900 films on the National Film Registry, which was...

David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” sci-fi classic “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” groundbreaking horror film “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and Eddie Murphy’s “Beverly Hills Cop” are among the 25 films selected by the Library of Congress National Film Registry for 2024. These films will be added due to their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation’s film heritage, and range from silent films to family features.

“The National Film Registry now includes 900 titles, and what’s remarkable to me is that every year when the board talks about films and their significance, we find new titles to consider,” TCM host and film historian Jacqueline Stewart said in a statement. “The wealth of American film history is sometimes rather overwhelming, and people often wonder: how do you recommend this film or that film? It’s through a lot of research, conversation and discussion, and it...

A new batch of classic films have made their way into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry this week, including Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hess!

The National Film Registry recognizes films that are of “cultural, historic or aesthetic importance which preserves the nation’s film heritage.”

Deadline reports that the new selections bring the number of feature titles in the registry to 900. The public submitted nominations of more than 6,700 titles for consideration this year for context.

The National Film Registry says of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, “Graphic, lurid and completely unapologetic in its brutality, ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ has since its debut in drive-ins and grindhouse theaters, become a cultural, generational and filmmaking touchstone. Filmed for a pittance and supposedly as difficult of a production as a film can be (beset with record heat and filthy locations), ‘Texas...

An Eddie Murphy classic, a landmark horror flick, and a timeless Eighties romance are among the films joining the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry for preservation.

Twenty-five films were added to the registry this year, including Beverly Hills Cop, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Dirty Dancing. Other major titles include Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, David Fincher’s Facebook origin story The Social Network, Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke, and the Coen Brothers’ Best Picture-winner No Country for Old Men.

The Film Registry class of...

Since 1989, the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress has been accomplishing the important task of preserving films that “represent important cultural, artistic and historic achievements in filmmaking.” From films way back in 1897 all the way up to 2013, they’ve now reached 900 films that celebrate our heritage and encapsulate our film history.

Today they’ve unveiled their 2024 list, which includes David Fincher’s The Social Network, Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Coens’ No Country For Old Men, Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey’s Chelsea Girls, Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hess, Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, and more.

“The National Film Registry is an essential American enterprise that officially recognizes the rich depth and variety, the eloquence and the real greatness of American cinema and the filmmakers who have created it, film by film,” said Scorsese.

Check out the list of this year’s additions below,...

David Fincher’s 2010 Facebook drama “The Social Network,” 1974’s indie horror classic “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey’s Catskills-set love affair “Dirty Dancing” have been selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.

The Librarian of Congress annually recognizes 25 motion pictures that are at least 10 years old and register as “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant. This year, more than 6,700 titles were submitted by the public for consideration.

Other titles added to the National Film Registry in 2024 include 1982’s sci-fi sequel “Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan,” Gus Van Sant’s 1991 drama “My Own Private Idaho” with River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves, 2001’s family adventure “Spy Kids” and the Coen brothers’ 2007 Western “No Country for Old Men,” as well as Eddie Murphy’s first feature film on the registry, 1984 action comedy “Beverly Hills Cop.”

This year’s selection brings the number of films in the registry...

For Shaye Ogbonna, assembling an A-list roster of talent for “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist” was a blessing for which he cannot take any credit.

“They wouldn’t do it if the material wasn’t great,” the series creator humbly told TheWrap of working with stars like Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Chloe Bailey, Don Cheadle and Taraji P. Henson.

The Peacock limited series outlines the true story of how an Atlanta after-party for Muhammad Ali’s 1970 comeback fight turned into a million dollar robbery, involving some of the biggest Black gangsters and money-movers in the nation.

Ogbonna believed this story would be an opportunity to highlight the origins of how the heist established his hometown of Atlanta as the “Black Mecca.” The writer-producer also saw the potential for some of the biggest Black actors in the business to skyrocket this project to another level.

“I was always influenced...

[This story contains major spoilers from the series finale of Fight Night.]

Kevin Hart’s Chicken Man is on the ground, breathing hard in fear, as Samuel L. Jackson’s badass gangster Frank Moten, known as the Black Godfather, holds a gun.

Subtly channeling Jackson’s legendary Pulp Fiction persona Jules Winnfield, Frank thunders, “You do believe in God, right?” Hart’s Chicken Man reply “with all my soul” produces a soft, but stern “then testify” from Frank. Not long after, a shot is fired, followed by a visual rewinding that flashes back to two weeks earlier, when Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist launched its story.

To launch the hit Peacock limited series — which Hart produces through his Hartbeat shingle with Will Packer — a black screened disclaimer appeared all capped in yellow type with the words “Based On Some Shit,” pause, “That Really Happened.” The series’ eighth and final episode returned to that moment, later revealing that Gordon “Chicken...

Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Parris, John Boyega in They Cloned Tyrone Photo: Netflix At first glance, They Cloned Tyrone is a silly satire of early ’70s blaxploitation flicks like Super Fly or Willie Dynamite that adds what writer-director Juel Taylor and writer Tony Rettenmaier call a “... dash of Scooby Doo.” Fortunately,...

Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Parris, John Boyega in They Cloned TyronePhoto: Netflix

At first glance, They Cloned Tyrone is a silly satire of early ’70s blaxploitation flicks like Super Fly or Willie Dynamite that adds what writer-director Juel Taylor and writer Tony Rettenmaier call a “... dash of Scooby Doo.” Fortunately, the...

When the late Sidney Poitier embarked on a movie career in the early 1950s, he entered an industry with a history of depicting Black people in the most negative fashion. The Birth of a Nation, the seminal 1915 silent film, had set the template – portraying African American characters as sex-crazed and subhuman.

“Then Sidney Poitier comes along singlehandedly smashing decades of racist iconography and turning it all on its head,” said Reginald Hudlin, director of the Apple TV+ documentary Sidney. “Him doing it at the same time as the Civil Rights Movement is making these political gains, he changed the global image of Black people on Earth.”

Related: Sidney Poitier: A Groundbreaking Career In Pictures

Hudlin and producer Derik Murray appeared at Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted virtual event to discuss their film about the Oscar-winning star of Lilies of the Field, A Raisin in the Sun, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner...

Harry Belafonte, the singer who became one of the first Black leading men in Hollywood and later a major voice in the civil rights movement, died Tuesday at age 96.

Belafonte’s extraordinary career includes as a singer, movie star and TV producer (winning an Emmy for CBS’s Tonight with Belafonte).

Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries

His legacy was cemented by his work as an activist and political change-agent. A confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Belafonte and was one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington. He backed several political and social causes including speaking out on behalf of the anti-apartheid movement, equal rights for women, juvenile justice, climate...

On Tuesday, the world lost an icon in the legendary performer, civil rights activist, and humanitarian Harry Belafonte. The Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner passed away at the age of 96. After starting his career in his native New York City as a jazz singer in the late 1940s and early ’50s, often backed by the likes of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Max Roach, he released his first hit song “Matilda” in 1953. Then, a year later, he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac.” His first album “Calypso” was released in 1956 and brought unquestionably the most enduring song of his career, “Day-o (The Banana Boat Song).”

Belafonte went on to regularly perform with the Rat Pack in Las Vegas throughout the years while also transitioning to the screen. During the 1950s, he starred in such films as “Carmen Jones,” “Island in the Sun,...

The legendary Harry Belafonte, whose calypso music is still enjoyed to this day, has been confirmed by his longtime spokesman, Ken Sunshine, to The Hollywood Reporter that the Caribbean-American artist passed on Tuesday due to congestive heart failure at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Belafonte was also an actor who used his fame to garner attention to his causes which include shining a light on civil rights injustices around the world. Belafonte had received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences back in November of 2014.

Belafonte’s hits, “Day-o (Banana Boat Song)” and “Jump in the Line” have found an immortalized place in pop culture thanks in part to their use in the popular movie Beetlejuice, which still connects with younger audiences today. However, the calypso singer would explode onto the billboard charts with his first album, Belafonte, in...

Harry Belafonte, the actor, singer and civil rights trailblazer, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home, with his wife Pamela by his side. He was 96.

Belafonte is considered among the most successful Caribbean-American music stars of all time and one of the first Black leading men in Hollywood, making a name for himself during the 1950s and ’60s. An activist and social campaigner by nature, he was an early supporter of the Civil Rights movement and became a major figure in the American social and political history of the 20th century.

He was a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and backed many historic political and social causes and events, including the anti-apartheid movement, equal rights for women, juvenile justice, climate change and the decolonization of Africa. He was one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington, leading a delegation of Hollywood including best friend Sidney Poitier,...

Did anyone ask for a “White Men Can’t Jump” remake? Doubtful, but the ’90s classic gets the reboot treatment thanks to screenwriters Kenya Barris and Doug Hall. A property like this could be in worse hands, though. Barris — creator of “Black-ish” and “Grown-ish” — is no stranger to the remake game. He’s been involved with updates of “Shaft” and “Cheaper by the Dozen,” with an “Uptown Saturday Night” reimagining also in development.

Continue reading ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ Trailer: 20th Century Studios’ Remake Of The ’90s Classic Hits Hulu On May 19 at The Playlist.

The legendary RZA joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss a few of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Man With The Iron Fists (2012)

Cut Throat City (2020)

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)

Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)

Cooley High (1975) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Car Wash (1976) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary

Grease (1978)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Tfh’s Mogwai Madness

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020) – Dennis Cozzalio’s best of 2020

The Devil You Know (2022)

The Last American Virgin (1982)

The Beastmaster (1982)

Porky’s (1981)

Sixteen Candles (1984)

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Carmen Jones (1954)

An American In Paris (1951)

Singin’ In The Rain (1952) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

The Wizard Of Oz (1939) – John Badham’s trailer commentary

Is That Black Enough for You?!?...

At one point in his four-part documentary We Need To Talk About Cosby, W. Kamau Bell hands an iPad to his interview subjects and invites each of them to watch the iconic scene from The Cosby Show where Cliff Huxtable’s family lip syncs to Ray Charles’ “Night Time is the Right Time” as an anniversary present for Cliff’s parents:

One by one, you see many of Bell’s guests beaming despite themselves. And why shouldn’t they? The Cosby scene is a master class in pleasing its viewers...

Another month, another Criterion Channel lineup. In accordance with Black History Month their selections are especially refreshing: seven by Melvin Van Peebles, five from Kevin Jerome Everson, and Criterion editions of The Harder They Come and The Learning Tree.

Regarding individual features I’m quite happy to see Abderrahmane Sissako’s fantastic Bamako, last year’s big Sundance winner (and Kosovo’s Oscar entry) Hive, and the remarkably beautiful Portuguese feature The Metamorphosis of Birds. Add a three-film Laura Dern collection (including the recently canonized Smooth Talk) and Pasolini’s rarely shown documentary Love Meetings to make this a fine smorgasboard.

See the full list of February titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.

Alan & Naomi, Sterling Van Wagenen, 1992

All That Heaven Allows, Douglas Sirk, 1955

The Angel Levine, Ján Kadár, 1970

Babylon, Franco Rosso, 1980

Babymother, Julian Henriques, 1998

Bamako, Abderrahmane Sissako, 2006

Beat Street, Stan Lathan, 1984

Blacks Britannica, David Koff, 1978

The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,...

Sidney Poitier’s two most iconic moments as an actor both occur in the 1967 Oscar-winning drama “In the Heat of the Night.” The first is his famous declaration “They call me Mister Tibbs!” The second arrives when his big-city detective is questioning a Mississippi cotton tycoon, who slaps Tibbs for implying that he’s a criminal. Tibbs slaps him back — an act of shocking-at-the-time defiance that Poitier improvised, and one that gave a jolt to film history. It connected, electrifyingly, with the militancy of the late ’60s, and left no doubt that Poitier was a figure of mythological magnitude.

As the first Black movie star, the Jackie Robinson of cinema, the trailblazer who always felt (by his own admission) that it was his obligation to represent, Poitier changed the movies with the very fact of presence. Yet it was the meaning of his presence, the ferocity and containment of it,...

Chicago – With the passing of actor Sidney Poitier at the age of 94 on January 6th, 2022, another lion of the cinema – who represented succinctly an era of the movies – has left the mortal coil. HollywoodChicago.com presents the following appreciation through three film essays in retrospect by Patrick McDonald, Spike Walters and Jon Lennon Espino.

Although Poitier represented American blacks in his early career, often cast as the dignified presence among the bigotry floating around him, his early life was in the Bahamas. He moved to Miami at age 15 (he was born in Miami while his Bahamian parents sold produce there) and after serving in the Army during World War II, he joined the American Negro Theater in New York City.

Poster Art: ‘Lilies of the Field’ (1963), Featuring Oscar Best Actor Sidney Poitier

Photo credit: HBO Max (VOD)

After working in theater, he made his major film debut in 1950 with the incendiary “No Way Out.

Hollywood and the nation are mourning a Hollywood pioneer today. Click on the photo above to launch a photo gallery on the career of Oscar winner Sidney Poitier, who has died at 94.

His 60-year résumé is filled with groundbreaking roles in singular movies. He played the Philadelphia homicide detective Virgil Tibbs investigating a murder in a Deep South town (In the Heat of the Night and its sequel), the doctor who gets engaged to a white woman and deals with uncertainly from both sets of parents and a convict chained to a white fellow escapee (Tony Curtis) in The Defiant Ones.

Poitier was the first Black person to win an lead-acting Oscar (Lilies of the Field), the first whose character shared an onscreen interracial kiss in a major movie and the first whose character physically struck a white co-star onscreen.

Hollywood stars such as Tyler Perry, Whoopi Goldberg and Viola Davis took to social media on Friday to pay tribute to Sidney Poitier, who has died at 94. Poitier made history in 1964 when he became the first Black actor to win the Academy Award for best actor.

Poitier starred in many trailblazing films, such as “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “In the Heat of the Night” and “They Call Me Mister Tibbs.”

Perry posted, “Around this time last year Cicely Tyson was releasing her book and promoting it. I had no idea she would pass away shortly thereafter. Now, to wake up this morning to a call that Sidney Poitier has passed away… all I can tell you is that my heart broke in another place,” Perry wrote on Instagram. “The grace and class that this man has shown throughout his entire life, the example he set for me, not only...

Sidney Poitier, the trailblazing and iconic Black actor, director, civil rights activist and humanitarian, has died, the Bahamian Minister of Foreign Affairs announced Friday.

Details of his death were not immediately available.

The first Black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor — for 1964’s Lilies of the Field — Poitier was towering figure in Hollywood and beyond, starring in such classics as A Raisin in the Sun, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night and To Sir With Love, to name a select few, while taking on a global profile for his unceasing calls for civil rights, racial equality and human dignity.

Offscreen, Poitier’s work and support for civil rights in the 1960s put him at the forefront of the movement and made him one of its most prominent public faces. He attended, along with his lifelong friend Harry Belafonte, the 1963 March on Washington,...

Exclusive: Wme has signed Jada Pinkett Smith for representation in all areas.

Pinkett Smith’s Facebook Watch talk show Red Table Talk, which she hosts and executive produces, is the social media site’s #1 show and received an Emmy award nomination for Outstanding Talk Show as well as a Critics’ Choice Real TV Award, and a People’s Choice award. Pinkett Smith was honored with the Trailblazer award at the MTV Movie & TV Awards earlier this year. She hosts the show alongside her daughter, Willow Smith, and mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris. Guests have included Alicia Keys, Ciara, Ellen Pompeo, Gabrielle Union and Jordyn Woods.

In addition, Pinkett Smith recently executive produced the coming-of-age feature Hala which sold to Apple as its first purchase at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. She is also an executive producer on Warner Bros.’ Kevin Hart comedy Uptown Saturday Night.

On the film side, Pinkett Smith...

Joseph Baxter Aug 15, 2019

The superhero movie genre is getting Kevin Hart comedy Night Wolf, which comes from the writers of Detective Pikachu.

Night Wolf is joining the seemingly-ceaseless deluge of superhero cinema, with Kevin Hart set to star-in and produce the comedic cinematic genre offering.

STXfilms announced its acquisition of the script to Night Wolf, which is being described as a “high concept comic superhero” offering. The early details of the plot describe a scenario that’s initially akin to Meet the Parents, in which a man (Hart) meets his prospective father-in-law, eventually discovering the secret that he’s the film’s eponymous superhero, the Night Wolf.

The Night Wolf project was pitched by writer Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, a duo who did some work on the screenplay for this past May’s live-action/animated hybrid film, Pokémon Detective Pikachu, as well as television comedy work on episodes of...

A remake of the classic buddy comedy Uptown Saturday Night starring Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby has been in the works since 2012. The original iteration of the project would have had Denzel Washington and Will Smith taking the lead roles, Adam McKay behind the camera, and Nick Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) on […]

The post ‘Uptown Saturday Night’ Remake Now in the Hands of ‘Dope’ Director Rick Famuyiwa appeared first on /Film.

Kevin Hart adds yet another project to his already sizable list of movies he's starring in, producing, or both. Earlier this week, it was confirmed Hart would star in a remake of the 1974 Sidney Poitier-directed comedy Uptown Saturday Night with director Rick Famuyiwa set to direct. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. which will serve as the studio behind the remake; they were also the studio behind the original movie. Black-ish creator Kenya Barris, who reportedly wrote the most recent draft of the planned remake, will also serve as co-producer. Additional producers on the project …...

Rick Famuyiwa will direct Kevin Hart in the Warner Bros. remake of Uptown Saturday Night.

The original 1974 buddy comedy starred Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby as two friends who visit a high-end, underworld nightclub, where they get robbed and have to go searching for a winning lottery ticket.  

Black-ish creator Kenya Barris wrote the most recent draft of the remake, and will produce.

Will Smith, who at one time was circling the project as a possible starring vehicle, is set to produce via his Overbrook banner with James Lassiter. Hart and John Cheng will also produce through their ...

Rick Famuyiwa will direct Kevin Hart in the Warner Bros. remake of Uptown Saturday Night.

The original 1974 buddy comedy starred Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby as two friends who visit a high-end, underworld nightclub, where they get robbed and have to go searching for a winning lottery ticket.  

Black-ish creator Kenya Barris wrote the most recent draft of the remake, and will produce.

Will Smith, who at one time was circling the project as a possible starring vehicle, is set to produce via his Overbrook banner with James Lassiter. Hart and John Cheng will also produce through their ...

“No Way Outâ€. (1950)

In his big-screen debut, Sidney Poitier makes a memorable impression as a pioneering African American physician who runs afoul of a racist thug (Richard Widmark) whose brother died in his care.

“Blackboard Jungleâ€. (1955)Â

In this melodrama, the first Hollywood feature to include rock songs, Glenn Ford plays a new teacher at a troubled inner-city school where Poitier is music-loving rebel.

“The Defiant Onesâ€. (1958)

Poitier starred opposite Tony Curtis in Stanley Kramer’s Oscar-winning drama about two escaped convicts who — since they are still chained together — reluctantly agree to cooperate despite their differences.

“A Raisin in the Sunâ€. (1961)

Reunited with much of the cast of the 1960 Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry’s play, Poitier plays the ambitious young Chicago man squabbling with his family over how best to spend their late father’s insurance money.

“Lilies of the Fieldâ€. (1963)

Poitier plays a former G.I. who agrees to...

Exclusive: CAA has inked Girls Trip and The Matrix franchise star Jada Pinkett Smith for representation in all areas.

Currently, Pinkett Smith is the host and executive producer of Red Table Talk, Facebook Watch’s #1 show, with more than 300M views. She hosts the series alongside her daughter, Willow Smith, and mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris. Pinkett Smith recently attended the Sundance Film Festival to talk about the show.

Pinkett Smith’s film credits, which also include Magic Mike Xxl, The Nutty Professor, and Set It Off, count $4.4 billion at the global box office. She will next star in Millennium Films’ Angel Has Fallen, the third installment of the Olympus Has Fallen series which opens in August via Lionsgate/Summit.

She has also starred in multiple TV shows, including Hawthorne and Fox’s Gotham as crime boss Fish Mooney.

As a producer, Pinkett Smith has been behind such movies as Sony’s...

Such is his affability – and comedic presence – it’s fair to say that people will go and see Kevin Hart films, because, well, they star Kevin Hart. And his latest, Night School, is out this week. To mark the occasion we caught up with the director Malcolm D. Lee to speak about his experience working with the Hollywood star.

We discussed Hart’s character work, and how he balances that fine line between comedy and pathos, while we also asked Lee what subject he would like to retake if he were to sign up to a night school programme himself. He goes on to discuss Tiffany Haddish, and why it’s reached a point where studios need to keep green-lighting films made by, and starring, people of colour.

Finally he talks about his next project, Uptown Saturday Night, and comments on rumours that we may well see another addition to the Best Man franchise…...

Deadline has confirmed that Girls Trip filmmaker Malcolm D. Lee is in talks to direct a remake of the 1974 Bill Cosby-Sidney Poitier film Uptown Saturday Night. The original pic follows two buddies who enter an illegal high class club and have their wallets stolen, one of them containing a lottery ticket.

Overbrook Entertainment partners Will Smith and James Lassiter are producing. Black-ish creator Kenya Barris is writing the latest draft of the project which is set up at Warner Bros. Lee recently completed Night School with Hart starring alongside Girls Trip‘s Tiffany Haddish. Night School scheduled to open on Sept. 28. Variety first reported the news...

“Girls Trip” director Malcolm D. Lee is in early negotiations to direct Warner Bros. and Overbrook Entertainment’s remake of “Uptown Saturday Night” starring Kevin Hart, sources tell Variety.

Will Smith and his Overbrook Entertainment partner James Lassiter are producing with “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris writing the most recent draft of the script. For years, the project was developed as a possible starring vehicle for Smith and Denzel Washington, but busy schedules for both A-listers have forced Smith to serve as a producer on the project, opening the door for Hart to take the lead.

Kevin Hart and John Cheng will also produce through their HartBeat banner.

The original pic starred Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby and followed two friends who sneak out to visit a high-class but illegal club, and trouble ensues. Jesse Ehrman is overseeing for the studio.

Sources say that once Hart was attached to the project,...

[Editor’s note: The following interview contains spoilers for “Marvel’s Luke Cage” Season 2.]

“Luke Cage” showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker isn’t at all shy when it comes to acknowledging his influences, grinning as he described a jar in his writers’ room that demands a dollar anytime someone makes a reference to “The Wire” or “The Godfather.”

“I come to the room with cash,” Coker laughed.

And that’s clear when you watch the final minutes of “Luke Cage” Season 2, when Luke (Mike Colter) accepts the mantle of leadership from Mariah (Alfre Woodard) over Harlem’s Paradise, and Misty finds herself shut out of the inner sanctum just like Kay Corleone.

“When we were filming that moment, where the door closes on Misty,” Coker said, “I literally had my iPad open to say, ‘okay I want to pause, so that we’re going to match the shot on Kay in reverse.’ We put it in there.”

Coker credited his uncle, Richard Wesley.

“It’s great fun,...

It’s been years since we heard about the gestating remake of Uptown Saturday Night. But the project appears to be back on track, albeit with some changes behind the scenes and in front of the camera. The original 1974 comedy Uptown Saturday Night starred screen legend Sidney Poitier and sexual assaulter Bill Cosby as two […]

The post Kevin Hart Will Lead ‘Uptown Saturday Night’ Remake Without Will Smith or Denzel Washington appeared first on /Film.

On this episode of Collider Movie Talk Mark Ellis, Perri Nemiroff, John Rocha discuss the following: Margot Kidder has passed away. The panel gives their thoughts on her impact as an actress and a humanitarian. In an interview with the BBC, Kevin Feige confirms that Ms. Marvel is "definitely sort of in the works" after Captain Marvel comes out. THR is reporting that Kevin Hart is in talks to star in a remake of Uptown Saturday Night for Warner Bros. Focus Features releases a first trailer for the Jordan Peele produced and Spike Lee directed film …...

Kevin Hart is in talks to star in a remake of Uptown Saturday Night.

Will Smith, who at one time was circling the project as a possible starring vehicle, is set to produce via his Overbrook banner. 

The original 1974 buddy comedy starred Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby as two friends who visit a high-end, underworld nightclub where they get robbed and have to go searching for a winning lottery ticket.

Black-ish creator Kenya Barris wrote the most recent draft of the movie that is set up at Warner Bros.

Hart, who is repped by UTA, 3 Arts and Schreck Rose, most recently starred in...

Kevin Hart is in talks to star in Warner Bros. and Overbrook Entertainment’s remake of 1974’s “Uptown Saturday Night,” an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

Sidney Poitier directed the original comedy and also starred in it alongside Bill Cosby, Harry Belafonte and Calvin Lockhart. (With Richard Pryor in a supporting role.) The film followed two friends as they barely navigate the criminal underworld in order to retrieve a winning lottery ticket stolen during a robbery.

Will Smith and his Overbrook Entertainment partner James Lassiter are producing the remake, while “black-ish” creator Kenya Barris is penning the most recent draft of the script.

Also Read: Kevin Hart to Host CBS Obstacle Course Game Show 'Tko: Total Knock Out'

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Hart’s most recent credits include “Captain Underpants” and “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and will star in “Night School,” “The Secret Life of Pets 2” and the “Jumanji” sequel next.

Warner Bros. and Overbrook Entertainment’s long-gestating remake of the 1974 comedy “Uptown Saturday Night” looks to be gearing up again, with Kevin Hart in negotiations to star.

Will Smith and his Overbrook Entertainment partner James Lassiter are producing with “Black-ish” creator Kenya Barris writing the most recent draft. For years, the project was developed as possible starring vehicle for Smith and Denzel Washington, but busy schedules for both A-listers have forced Smith to serve as a producer on the project, opening the door for Hart to take the lead.

Sources say the studio is now focused on finding a director before tapping Hart’s co-star, and should have one locked in soon.

The original pic starred Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby and followed two friends who sneak out to visit a high-class but illegal club and trouble ensues. Jesse Ehrman is overseeing for the studio.

Hart has become one of...

Roman Polanski felt “blindsided” by the decision of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to expel him, and plans to appeal.

“We plan to ask the Academy to follow its own rules which is to give Roman 10 days notice to present his side,” Polanski’s attorney Harland Braun said in a statement to TheWrap. “We were prepared but were blindsided by their violation of their own standards. What did the 56 members review??”

On Tuesday, the Academy voted to expel Bill Cosby and Polanski in accordance with the organization’s Standard of Conduct.

Also Read: Film Academy Expels Roman Polanski, Bill Cosby

“The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors met on Tuesday night (May 1) and has voted to expel actor Bill Cosby and director Roman Polanski from its membership in accordance with the organization’s Standards of Conduct,” read the statement. “The Board continues to encourage ethical standards that require members to uphold the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity.”

Polanski was expelled 15 years after his film “The Pianist” took home Oscars for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor at the 75th Academy Awards. The film was nominated for Best Picture, but lost to “Chicago.”

Polanski was arrested and charged with raping 13-year-old Samantha Geimer in 1977. He pled guilty and was imprisoned for 42 days, after which he was released and put on probation as part of a plea bargain. When Polanski learned that a judge was planning to revoke the plea deal, the director fled Paris before the sentencing.

Also Read: That Time Quentin Tarantino Said Roman Polanski Didn't Rape 13-Year-Old: 'She Wanted to Have It'

Cosby has never won an Oscar but he was an Academy member. His film credits include “Hickey & Boggs,” “Uptown Saturday Night,” “Ghost Dad,” “The Meteor Man” and “Jack.”

On Wednesday, Cosby’s name was removed from the website of the Television Academy. The comedian was recently found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault in his retrial over accusations made by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.

Cosby had maintained that his interaction with Constand was consensual and that he had given her Benadryl in an effort to help her relax.

A spokesperson for Cosby has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment on whether Cosby plans to appeal as well. The Academy has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Read original story Roman Polanski ‘Blindsided’ by Expulsion From Movie Academy, Plans to Appeal At TheWrap...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors voted to expel Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski in accordance with the organization’s Standard of Conduct, the Academy announced Thursday.

“The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors met on Tuesday night (May 1) and has voted to expel actor Bill Cosby and director Roman Polanski from its membership in accordance with the organization’s Standards of Conduct,” read the statement. “The Board continues to encourage ethical standards that require members to uphold the Academy’s values of respect for human dignity.”

Polanski is out 15 years after his film “The Pianist” took home Oscars for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor at the 75th Academy Awards. The film was nominated for Best Picture but lost to “Chicago.”

Also Read: Bill Cosby Removed From Television Academy Website

Polanski was arrested and charged with raping 13-year-old Samantha Geimer in 1977. He pled guilty and was imprisoned for 42 days, after which he was released and put on probation as part of a plea bargain. When Polanski learned that a judge was planning to revoke the plea deal, the director fled Paris before sentencing.

Cosby has never won an Oscar but he was an Academy member. His film credits include “Hickey & Boggs,” “Uptown Saturday Night,” “Ghost Dad,” “The Meteor Man” and “Jack.”

On Wednesday, Cosby’s name was removed from the website of the Television Academy. The comedian was recently found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault in his retrial over accusations made by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.

Also Read: Bill Cosby Found Guilty: Here's Where His Civil Cases Stand

Cosby had maintained that his interaction with Constand was consensual, and that he had given her Benadryl in an effort to help her relax.

Read original story Film Academy Expels Roman Polanski, Bill Cosby At TheWrap...

In the history of black filmmaking, “Stir Crazy” is rarely cited as a groundbreaker or an enduring high point. However, Sidney Poitier’s 1980 comedy sold more tickets in North America than “The Fate of the Furious,” or any other film by a black director.

Poitier’s career has included multiple breakout moments. He was the first black lead acting Oscar winner with “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner;” he starred in two blockbuster films in 1967 with “To Sir With Love” (over $300 million, adjusted gross) and “In the Heat of the Night” ($177 million, adjusted gross). He was, more than even Denzel Washington or any other black actor-turned-director, an icon of cinema when he made “Stir Crazy.” And it was this film, more than any other, that found access to all domestic audiences.

That said, it’s a film that doesn’t have the resonance of other historical blockbusters like “Gone With the Wind,...