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Imagine not even having to apply for your next job. Most of us don’t have that luxury, but then again, most of us aren’t Timothée Chalamet. According to Paul King (Paddington), who directed the upcoming reboot of the candyman story Wonka, his obsessive deep-dive into Chalamet’s high school rap videos was all he needed to know to confirm that the Dune star was his chocolatier of choice.
“It was a straight offer because he’s great and he was the only person in my mind who could do it,” King told Rolling Stone. Everyone from Donald Glover to Ryan Gosling and Ezra Miller were reportedly considered by Warner Bros. before Chalamet was cast in 2021. King, however, said he only had eyes for Chalamet, though he did do his homework to make sure the star could sing and dance.
“[But] because he’s Timothée Chalamet and his life is so absurd, his high school musical performances [singing “Sweet Charity” from the musical of the same name] are on YouTube [including his 2012 “Timmy Tim” rap] and have hundreds of thousands of views. So I knew from stanning for Timmy Chalamet that he could sing and dance really well. And I knew that was in his arsenal, but I didn’t know how good he was. When I spoke to him he was quite keen. He’d done tap dancing in high school and he was like, ‘I’d quite like to show people I can do that.’”
King’s origin story of Roald Dahl’s belovedly bonkers candy engineer Willy Wonka is due in theaters on Dec. 15, and the recently released first trailer teased Chalamet’s wide-eyed, whimsical take on the character first brought to life by Gene Wilder in the 1971 original.
“The 1971 movie, just because I’m as old as I am, was burnt into my eyeballs as a kid,” King said. “And I always loved the songs in that — Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley were incredible songwriters. The spirit of that and the joy of that seemed really important to the nature of this movie. Reading the book, there’s so much that Dahl writes in verse. So it felt like a no-brainer this should have songs in it.”
The director said having musical numbers was a no-brainer, even though he’d never done anything exactly like that before. “I’ve always had music and singing in things I’ve done, but to actually do proper musical sequences was a really fun challenge,” he said. “And because the film is set in the late ‘40s, it felt like a really fun hat off to the golden age of MGM musicals.”
The trailer only hints at the musical bits, with no sneak peeks at the original songs written by The Divine Comedy singer Neil Hannon and composer Joby Talbot (Son of Rambow). King, who co-wrote the script with Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2), told the magazine that the music in his film will pay homage to the Wilder Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory film directed by Mel Stuart, adding that he considers his take to be a “companion” to that film and Dahl’s 1964 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory novel it was based on.
The film also features Keegan-Michael Key, Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Olivia Colman, Jim Carter and Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa.
Watch the Wonka trailer below.
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Billie Eilish released her simmering contribution to the soundtrack of the summer’s hottest must-see on Thursday morning (July 13), the Barbie movie soundtrack ballad “What Was I Made For?” In the video for the dreamy track Eilish sports a Barbie-like high blonde ponytail and poofy bangs and wears a yellow dress (with matching shoes and earrings, of course) while seated at a child’s desk to open a Barbie-themed box, whose contents she carefully examines.
“I used to to float/ Now I just fall down/ I used to know, but I’m not sure now/ What I was made for/ What was I made for?,” Eilish sings in a breathy whisper over a gentle piano backing on the track co-written and produced by brother FINNEAS. “Takin’ a drive, I was an idea/ Looked so alive, turns out, I’m not real/ Just something you paid for/ What was I made for?”
The Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe-winning singer directed the clip, in which she meticulously tries to arrange the Barbie clothes on a tiny rack in a green void as wind and rain whip them around to her frustration. “Cause I, I/ I don’t know how to feel/ But I wanna try/ I don’t know how to feel/ But someday I might/ someday I might,” she croons on the chorus.
According to a release, the “intimate and heart-rending track exists as the sonic background for pivotal scenes through-out the film, while beautifully and poignantly highlighting the film’s important message and sentiment.”
In a statement accompanying the video’s release, Eilish said director Greta Gerwig showed her and Finneas a handful of unfinished scenes in January, admitting that the sibling collaborators had, “nooooo idea what to expect at ALLL… we were so deeeeeply moved.. that the next day we were writing and COULDNT shut up about it lolll andddddddddd ended up writing almost the entire song that night. to be real with you this all seemed to happen in a time when i really needed it. i’m so so thankful for that.”
She added that the video she created for it, “makes me cryyyyy.. it means so much to me and i hope it will mean just as much to you. don’t have much to say other than that, i think it will speak for itself🫀 :’’’’) enjoy.”
The singer teased the emotional track earlier this week in a video in which a voice was heard telling Barbie (Margot Robbie), to “take my hand, close your eyes, now, feel,” backed by a gentle, melancholy piano and Eilish singing the title of the song. “absolutely over the MOOOOON excited for you to see this,” she captioned the post. Finneas and Eilish won the best original song Oscar in 2022 for their collaboration on the title track to the most recent James Bond film, No Time to Die.
The Mark Ronson-produced soundtrack for Gerwig’s candy-colored toy story will also feature contributions from Lizzo, Charli XCX, Karol G, Sam Smith, co-star Ryan Gosling (with Slash), Dominic Fike, Haim, the Kid LAROI, Khalid, PinkPantheress, Gayle, Ava Max, Fifty Fifty, Tame Impala and already released singles from Dua Lipa and Ice Spice with Nicki Minaj; the movie will hit theaters on July 21.
Watch the “What Was I Made For?” video below.
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Jamie Foxx and Colin Firth are teaming up to celebrate one of the greatest voices in R&B history. Sony Music Entertainment’s Premium Content Division announced on Tuesday (July 11) that Foxx’s Foxxhole Productions and Firth’s Raindog Films are teaming up for the first-ever full-length authorized documentary on late singer Luther Vandross. Production has already begun […]
Acting, singing and getting slapped across the face by global superstar Rihanna — what can’t Michael Cera do? The Tony Award-nominated actor took some time to reflect on the filming process for his 2013 film This Is the End in a new interview with Rolling Stone. “I thought it would look a lot better if […]
Kelis is keeping her private life private. After it was reported last week that the 43-year-old “Milkshake” singer and chef is dating 72-year-old Ghostbuster star Bill Murray, the internet could not get enough of the alleged May-December romance. And while neither of them have officially confirmed the relationship, Murray was seen watching Kelis’ set at […]
Tyson Ritter is used to making audiences go wild as the frontman of All-American Rejects. But during a chat with radio host Stryker on his Tuna on Toast podcast, the singer-turned-occasional-actor shared an intense run-in he had with Machine Gun Kelly on the set of the recently released low-budget crime drama Johnny & Clyde that sounds pretty wild.
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In fact, Ritter said the confrontation was so fiery he used it as acting inspiration for his role in the upcoming film Prisoner’s Daughter with Kate Beckinsdale and Succession‘s Brian Cox. Ritter said among the plot points in the Johnny film — which he sighed is “kind of an okay… bad movie” — is Fox’s character, Alana Hart, teasing his henchman character Vince about putting a finger in her mouth.
Ritter thought it might be interesting to call back to that moment and put his fingers in Fox’s mouth during her death scene later in the film. “So I go over [to her trailer] and there’s her man in there with her. This Colson guy, who you know as Machine Gun Kelly,” he said of Fox’s rapper/rocker/actor fiancé. “I call him Pistol Pete. So I go over there and I was like, ‘Hey, Megan. I wanted to talk to you about this moment where, when you die, because you’ve been teasing putting my fingers in your mouth, that when you’re dead, I put my fingers in your mouth. And it’s like this sort of resolution to my character getting his revenge.”
According to Ritter, that’s when MGK allegedly lost it and gave him “the greatest gift” for his Daughter role. “Colson just goes from… zero to like awesome rage and awesome super angry… He was super-bummed about me asking if I could put my fingers in Megan Fox’s mouth. He just went ballistic. It kinda went maniac mode,” Ritter said, noting that he kept his cool as MGK was allegedly losing it. “I think the whole experience for me was, ‘What the actual f–k is happening?,’” Ritter recalled. ” He had this baby’s arm of a joint dangling out of his mouth. And he was fully unhinged.”
At press time spokespeople for Fox and MGK had not returned a request for comment.
Though it was off-putting, Ritter said the run-in helped him get into character for the other movie he was shooting at the same time, Prisoner’s Daughter, in which he plays a violent, hostile character. “I was like, this is what I’ve been looking for with my character on Prisoner’s Daughter,” Ritter said he thought while MGK was allegedly shouting at him. “Because the next day I had to shoot this scene in Vegas where this character goes in and confronts Kate Beckinsale, who’s his ex-wife, and he goes from zero to apes–t. And I didn’t, I was really struggling [with] how to flip that switch.”
While Ritter said he originally planned to use his relationship with his father to reach down deep for his character’s motivation, the alleged MGK incident helped him dial it in further. “I remember when Pistol Pete just started going ape on me, I was like, this is really confrontational, but also thank you, dude,” Ritter said. “A lot of my role, in that one moment especially, it’s not only my dad being his drunkest, wildest self, but there’s a little bit of Pistol Pete in my role for Prisoner’s Daughter.”
Johnny & Clyde dropped earlier this month and Prisoner’s Daughter is due out on June 30. All-American Rejects are slated to launch their first major tour since 2017 on June 16 at Phase Fest in Kansas City.
Watch the Johnny & Clyde trailer and the Stryker interview below.
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The trailer for The Color Purple remake featuring Fantasia and Halle Bailey has been released by Warner Bros. to rave reviews online.
The new adaptation of the classic film from 1985 which was born from Alice Walker’s acclaimed 1982 novel and the recent Broadway musical released its first trailer on Monday (May 22nd). The film features Fantasia in her major motion picture debut, playing the role of Celie. The R&B star and former American Idol is reprising her role from the original Broadway run from April 2007 to January 2008. Halle Bailey is also prominent in the trailer as young Nettie.
Viewers also get to see Danielle Brooks as Sofia, who is returning to the role that earned her a Tony Award nomination in 2016. Taraji P. Henson stars as Thug Avery, Colman Domingo as Mister, H.E.R. as Squeak, Corey Hawkins as Harpo and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Mama. Rounding out the sterling cast is Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. as Ol Mister, David Alan Grier as Reverend Avery, Deon Cole as Alfonso, Ciara as Nettie, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi as Young Celie, Tamala J. Mann as First Lady, Jon Batiste as Grady and Stephen Hill as Buster.
The film reunites Oprah Winfrey, who originally played Sofia in the 1985 film, and Steven Spielberg who directed. Both are now executive producers for this new version along with Quincy Jones and Scott Sanders. Blitz Bazawule, who directed Black Is King, serves as the director for this film. Alice Walker and her daughter, Rebecca Walker, also serve as producers.
The Color Purple is set to premiere in theaters on Christmas Day, December 25th before opening internationally on January 18th, 2024. When asked about the movie opening on the holiday and what fueled that decision, Winfrey cited a conversation that she had with Fantasia, saying: “The movie changed her because it allowed her to forgive. She said, ‘People coming to this movie will be healed because I was healed.’”
Check out the full trailer for The Color Purple below.
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A pair of BTS summer blockbusters are coming to screens near you next month. Two solo documentaries chronicling the break-out journeys of members J-Hope and Suga will be released in theaters worldwide beginning June 17.
j-hope IN THE BOX and SUGA: Road to D-DAY will be released to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the K-pop superstar group that is currently on a break as its members pursue their solo ventures and prepare for (or begin) their compulsory South Korean military service. According to a release announcing the films, “moviegoers around the world will get a behind-the-scenes look at the lives and work of the global music superstars in an immersive experience that can only be felt in movie theaters, thanks to large screens, three-dimensional sound.”
Tickets for both films will be available here beginning May 16 at 7 p.m. ET.
According to a description of IN THE BOX, the doc follows the BTS member as he works on his first solo album, Jack in the Box. “Over the course of the documentary, viewers will be given a close look at the creative process of the artist during the album’s preparation process, as well as front row seats to j-hope’s epic 2022 Lollapalooza performance and the Jack In The Box listening party,” the release promises.
The Suga film follows the rapper as he heads out on his solo adventure, “traveling the world in search of inspiration for his recently released solo album D-DAY. Throughout the documentary, moviegoers will see the star at his most vulnerable, as he discusses his writer’s block with other musicians, and delves deep into his most traumatic memories to pen lyrics for several of his latest songs.”
In a statement about the films, Trafalgar Releasing CEO Marc Allenby said, “We are excited to continue our long-standing working relationship with the HYBE team for the theatrical release of j-hope and SUGA’s solo documentaries, following our recent record-breaking successes with the BTS projects ‘BTS PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE – SEOUL: LIVE VIEWING’ and ‘BTS: Yet To Come in Cinemas’. It’s great to bring their stories to the big screen in celebration of BTS’ 10th anniversary, a must-see experience for moviegoers around the world.”
Check out a poster below.
Katy Perry may have memorably struggled to find her seat during King Charles III’s coronation ceremony in London this weekend, but her performance at Sunday’s royal concert had a front row seat in her fiancé Orlando Bloom’s heart.
The Carnival Row star heaped praise on the singer in a sweet Instagram post on Monday (May 8) in which he wrote, “Immensely proud of you my my love. You always bring the light,” followed by shooting star, flame and heart emoji. The post included the image of an army of drones forming a glowing lion’s head above the stage during Katy’s performance of “Roar” and a snap of the singer smiling with joy during her set while wearing a shimmering golden gown.
Perry responded to the kind words with the glowing phrase, “Our light.” In her own post, Perry luxuriated in the honor of celebrating the new king with a series of photos from her unforgettable weekend, writing “My #idol set is a little different today #CoronationConcert.” The slides included a pic of Perry in her performance dress posing inside Windsor Castle, a peek at the inside of her gown — which featured the inscription “Katy Perry Charles III, 2023 and the initials of designer Vivienne Westwood — as well as the lion drone shot, footage of the crowd singing along to “Roar” and “Firework” and a sweet backstage pic of her sharing a hug with mom, Mary.
Bloom doubled-down on his praise in Perry’s post, writing, “So proud,” while Kardashian clan mom Kris Jenner added, “Wow!!!! Soooo beautiful!!!” and the official British royal family account commented, “Thank you for a fantastic performance at the #CoronationConcert!”
Perry was among the handful of A-listers who celebrated Charles’ ascent to the throne on Saturday alongside queen consort Camilla, joining a list that included Dame Judi Dench, Emma Thompson and her American Idol co-star, Lionel Richie. The Idol pair were absent from the show in order to participate in the concert, where Richie performed “all Night Long” and the Commodores’ “Easy” for the royals and their 20,000 guests.
The evening hosted by Downtown Abbey star Hugh Bonneville also featured performances from Masked Singer panelist Nicole Scherzinger, British man band Take That (minus Robbie Williams), Paloma Faith, opera singer Andrea Bocelli and a global choir led by Steve Winwood singing a version of his hit “Higher Love.”
Check out Bloom and Perry’s posts below.
The 2023 Tribeca Festival announced the star-studded lineup for its gala events and the opening, closing and centerpiece selections on Thursday (April 27). This year’s fest will kick off on June 7 with the North American premiere of Kiss the Future, a documentary following a group of underground musicians and creatives during the nearly four-year siege of Sarajevo and the 1997 U2 concert celebrating the liberation of the Bosnian capital.
The doc, produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Sarah Anthony — and featuring U2’s Bono, The Edge and Adam Clayton — will officially open the 12-day event’s theme of artists-activists.
“We know U2’s marquee is helpful in getting the lives of these local heroes to a wider audience, but even at my most puffed up I couldn’t have imagined our tiny role being given so much care, attention, and screen time by Nenad Cicin-Sain,” U2 singer Bono said in a statement. “If defiance is the essence of romance, then the people of Sarajevo are the most romantic figures. Viva Sarajevo!”
Damon added that he and childhood friend and producer/writing partner Affleck are proud that Kiss the Future was selected to open this year’s festival. “We are grateful to the people of Sarajevo and to U2 for giving us the opportunity to help tell this special story,” he said in a statement. “Though this event happened almost 30 years ago, we feel it has strong relevance to today’s world, serving as a powerful reminder that human creativity can provide a powerful antidote to even the most horrific of situations.”
The Centerpiece Gala will spotlight the NY premiere of Disney/Pixar’s Elemental, as well as musical documentaries about Carlos Santana (Carlos), Cyndi Lauper (Let the Canary Sing) and French Montana (For Khadija), with each artist performing after the screenings. Megan Thee Stallion will also be on hand for a Storyteller’s conversation on June 14.
“Music is an instrumental form of storytelling, and the Tribeca Festival is thrilled to weave dynamic performances into our Gala events. Our lineup features the best of soul, rock & roll, pop, and hip-hop,” Tribeca Festival Director and VP of Programming Cara Cusuamno said in a statement. “We hope our audiences are inspired by activism in art and riled up by the electrifying acts paired with the screenings.”
This year’s festival will take place from June 7-18 in New York and feature 109 films, including documentaries about Alicia Keys, Gogol Bordello, Milli Vanilli, Gloria Gaynor, Biz Markie, the Indigo Girls and Tierra Whack.