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    'Downton Abbey' Brings Entire Cast Back for Film Sequel, Adds New Faces

    Focus Features/Jaap Buitendijk

    In addition to confirming that the second film is in production for a Christmas release, the statement posted on the official ‘Downton Abbey’ Instagram page reveals Hugh Dancy and Dominic West will be starring in it.

    Apr 20, 2021

    AceShowbiz –
    The Crawleys are gathering up for the upcoming holiday season. Focus Features confirmed on Monday, April 19 that “Downton Abbey” is getting a film sequel for a Christmas release, with series creator Julian Fellowes and the entire cast returning for the second movie.

    The news was announced through the “Downton Abbey” social media pages along with the first teaser poster of “Downton Abbey 2”. In addition to bringing back the original principal cast, the second movie will feature new characters who are going to be portrayed by Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West.

    “We’re thrilled to announce that Julian Fellowes and the entire Downton cast are back for #DowntonAbbey2,” read a statement accompanying the poster, “with Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Nathalie Baye and Dominic West joining! See the film in theaters this Christmas.”

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    Their roles are still kept under wraps as are plot details of the new movie. Fellowes will once again write the script, while Simon Curtis (“My Week with Marilyn”) is tapped to direct. The release is set for December 22 to be precise.

    In a statement announcing the movie, Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski said, “There’s no place like home for the holidays, and we can’t imagine a better gift than getting to reunite with Julian, [producer] Gareth Neame and the entire Downton family in 2021 to bring the Crawleys back home for their fans.”

    “Downton Abbey” started as a series that premiered on ITV in the U.K. in 2010 before airing in the U.S. on PBS in early 2011. The period drama series depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants in the post-Edwardian era, with the great events of the time having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.

    It received acclaim from television critics and won numerous accolades during its six-season run, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie. Thus, after the series ended its run in 2015, giving the show a big-screen treatment was a no-brainer.

    The first film was released in 2019 and received generally positive reviews from critics, grossing $194 million worldwide. Following the success of the film adaptation, Fellowes and the cast teased about a possible sequel, with the screenwriter saying that he already had ideas for the follow-up movie.

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    'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' First Teaser Reveals the Hero's Betrayal to His Father

    [embedded content]

    Raised by the leader of a terrorist group and trained in the martial arts, the titular hero refuses to meet his father’s wish to take the throne beside him nor associate with the organization.

    Apr 20, 2021

    AceShowbiz –
    Marvel Entertainment prepares fans for the birth of a new superhero on big screen with the release of first official teaser trailer for “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”. Unleashed as a surprise birthday gift for the lead actor, Simu Liu, who turned 32 years old on Monday, April 19, the brand new sneak peek grazes on the titular character’s background.

    Shang-Chi is the child of Wenwu (played by Tony Leung), better known as the Mandarin (not the fake version played by Ben Kingsley in “Iron Man 3”), who is the leader of the Ten Rings, a terrorist group whose existence was teased in the very first “Iron Man” movie. Raised and trained in the martial arts to be undefeated, he defies his father’s wish to take the throne beside him.

    In the upcoming movie, Sang-Chi must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization. The teaser also introduces Awkwafina as Katy, Shang-Chi’s close friend and unlikely sidekick, who doesn’t know much about his history.

      See also…

    Speaking with EW about stepping into the shoes of the Marvel character, Liu says, “The most exciting thing about stepping into this character was that his backstory has never been told before.” He elaborates, “We know so many different versions of Batman’s origin story, how his parents were murdered when he was very young. We know Peter Parker, who was bitten by a radioactive spider, and he loses his uncle. Shang-Chi’s story is very much unknown to most of the world, so we had a lot of freedom and creative liberty to make it the way that we wanted to.”

    Producer Jonathan Schwartz, meanwhile, says that the core of the story is actually a family drama. “The core of Shang-Chi’s arc in the comics is really a family drama,” he states. “That was something that Destin (director Destin Daniel Cretton) keyed into really early on in our conversations, the idea of taking this broken family and this really dark, even abusive family background and seeing what that does to a child over time.”

    Based on the Marvel comics created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is scripted by David Callaham, Cretton and Andrew Lanham. Michelle Yeoh, Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu and Ronny Chieng join the cast of the film, which is slated to arrive in the U.S. on September 3 after being delayed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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    'Mank' and 'The Queen's Gambit' Win Big at 2021 ASC Awards

    Netflix

    The David Fincher-directed movie and the Netflix coming-of-age miniseries take home the top prizes at the 35th annual American Society of Cinematographers awards.

    Apr 20, 2021

    AceShowbiz –
    “Mank”, “The Queen’s Gambit”, and “The Crown” were among the big winners at the American Society of Cinematographers 35th annual awards on Sunday (18Apr21).

    “The Mandalorian” was also victorious while filmmaker Sofia Coppola was honoured with the ASC Board of Governors Award for her contributions to cinema.

    Accepting her latest accolade, the director said, “It’s the coolest award that I’ve ever gotten.”

      See also…

    The award was presented to the helmer by her colleague Edward Lachman. “For me, she had a remarkable composure and vision,” he said. “You found a way that allowed myself and all the creative departments around you to contribute while you still maintained your own personal vision. You’ve always been able to enlighten us with your talent. It seems so effortless, enriching us.”

    Meanwhile, during his acceptance speech, “Mank” cinematographer Messerschmidt heaped praise on director David Fincher, “Thanks to David Fincher for creating an environment where we could do our best work, and expecting it.”

    The full list of winners is:

    Theatrical Release: Erik Messerschmidt for “Mank”
    Motion Picture, Miniseries, of Pilot Made for Television: Steven Meizler for “The Queen’s Gambit” – “End Game”
    Spotlight Award: Aurelien Marra for “Two of Us”
    Episode of a One-Hour Television Series – Non-Commercial: Fabian Wagner for “The Crown” – “Imbroglio”
    Episode of a One-Hour Television Series – Commercial: Jon Joffin for “Motherland: Fort Salem” – “Up is Down”
    Documentary: Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw for “The Truffle Hunters”
    Episode of a Half-Hour Series for Television: Baz Idoine for “The Mandalorian” – “Chapter 13: The Jedi”

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    Richard Rush, Who Directed ‘The Stunt Man,’ Dies as 91

    He was nominated for an Oscar for the movie, about filmmaking stunts, perception and reality. His earlier films were aimed at the teenage market.Richard Rush, who made rebellious-youth films in the 1960s that featured emerging stars like Jack Nicholson but who had his biggest success in 1980 with “The Stunt Man,” a quirky, expectation-defying thriller that gained cult status, died on April 8 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 91.His wife, Claude Rush, said the cause was an accumulation of health issues that included heart and kidney failure. He had a heart transplant 18 years ago.Mr. Rush didn’t make a lot of movies; the last of his dozen feature films, the erotic thriller “Color of Night,” was released in 1994. But he made his mark with the actors he cast and with a certain fearlessness in his filmmaking choices.In “The Stunt Man,” Steve Railsback plays a fugitive who accidentally finds himself on a film set and ends up as a stunt man while striking up a romance with one of the stars (played by Barbara Hershey). Mr. Rush was nominated for an Oscar for directing and for the script, which he and Lawrence B. Marcus adapted from a Paul Brodeur novel. Peter O’Toole received an Oscar nomination for his bravura performance as the director who may or may not be trying to kill his new stunt man.The movie is full of wild stunts and misdirection, keeping the audience guessing about what is real and what is movie-within-the-movie magic.“We couldn’t wait to get to the set every day because we knew something exciting and creative was going to happen,” Mr. Railsback said in a phone interview.Mr. Rush, in a 2017 interview with the blog We Are Cult, described what he was going for in the movie.“I had the audacity to think that I could make a picture that would explore illusion and reality,” he said, “and I wanted to use the film as a mirror for the paranoid mind-set that we all live through at one point or another.”If “The Stunt Man” and some of his other films were hard to classify, switching quickly from comedy to drama to romance, that was because reality was like that, he said.“Living life is like falling down through a pinball machine, with balls bouncing off of each other, causing action and reaction in an unexpected way,” he told We Are Cult. “And that’s how I view storytelling: having that great balance of all the various elements. Something is allowed to be funny and serious sometimes within the same moment or scene.”Richard Walter Rush was born on April 15, 1929, in New York. His widow said that his parents were Ray and Nina Rush, Russian immigrants, and that his father had owned bookstores in New York and Los Angeles, where the family settled when Richard was a boy.During the Korean War Mr. Rush was part of a filmmaking unit in the Air Force, stationed in San Bernardino, Calif. After his military service he enrolled in a new film school at the University of California, Los Angeles.His early films were generally low-budget affairs made quickly and aimed at the teenage market.One of Mr. Nicholson’s earliest roles was in Mr. Rush’s first film, “Too Soon to Love” (1960), a drama about a teenage couple dealing with a pregnancy, a somewhat scandalous subject for the time. Mr. Nicholson was back in Mr. Rush’s biker picture, “Hell’s Angels on Wheels,” in 1967, two years before the better-known “Easy Rider” worked a biker theme with a cast that featured Mr. Nicholson, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper (who directed that film).In 1974 Mr. Rush directed the action comedy “Freebie and the Bean,” with James Caan and Alan Arkin starring in an early example of the modern-day buddy-cop genre soon to spawn hits like “48 Hrs” and “Lethal Weapon.”On “Hell’s Angels on Wheels” and several other movies, he worked with the cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, who went on to a long and acclaimed career with credits like “Easy Rider” and “Five Easy Pieces” (1970).Among Mr. Rush’s other movies were “Psych-Out” (1968), about a deaf runaway (Susan Strasberg) in the hippie heart of San Francisco, where Mr. Nicholson and Bruce Dern are among the populace; and “Getting Straight” (1970), with Elliott Gould and Candice Bergen, a film that Vincent Canby of The New York Times dismissed as “the worst of the campus-revolution movies.”Mr. Rush on the set for “Color of Night” (1994), an erotic thriller that drew considerable attention.Cinergi Pictures Entertainment“Color of Night,” which starred Jane March and Bruce Willis, drew considerable attention both for its racy sex scenes and the dispute Mr. Rush got into with the studio over the editing. During arbitration with the studio, Cinergi Productions, Mr. Rush had a heart attack.He also had an unpleasant experience with “Air America,” an action comedy for which he wrote a script that became part of a long development tussle. When the movie finally came out in 1990, it was directed by Roger Spottiswoode; Mr. Rush shared a screenwriting credit.He married Claude Cuvereaux in 1995 after many years together. He is also survived by a son, Anthony, and a grandson.Mr. Rush had definite ideas about the scripts he agreed to direct and how to shoot them. Mr. Railsback recalled that on “The Stunt Man,” the cinematographer, Mario Tosi, was taken aback by Mr. Rush’s hands-on style.“Early on Richard would say, ‘Put your camera here, do this and do this,’” he said, “and Mario was getting upset because Richard was telling him where to put the camera and all this other stuff.”But when the day’s footage (known as dailies) came back, Mr. Railsback said, Mr. Rush’s instincts proved to be spot on.“Mario looked at the dailies,” he said, “and he walked over to Richard and said, ‘You just tell me where to put that camera.’” More

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    Zendaya and Carey Mulligan Dominate Nominations for 2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards

    WENN

    The former Disney actress and the ‘Promising Young Woman’ star are nominated for top honor along with Daniel Kaluuya and late Chadwick Boseman at the MTV Awards.

    Apr 20, 2021

    AceShowbiz –
    Zendaya, Carey Mulligan, Daniel Kaluuya, Sacha Baron Cohen, and the late Chadwick Boseman will fight for the top honour at the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards.

    The actors are up for the Best Performance trophy while Oscar nominated films “Judas and the Black Messiah” and “Promising Young Woman” are up for the Best Movie honour, alongside “Soul”, “To All the Boys: Always and Forever”, and “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”.

    The 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards will take place on 16 May at the Palladium in Los Angeles.

    The full list of nominees is:

    Best Movie:

    Best Show:

    Best Performance in a Movie:

    Best Performance in a Show:

    Best Hero:

    Best Kiss:

    Best Comedic Performance:

    Best Villain:

      See also…

    Breakthrough Performance:

    Best Fight:

    Most Frightened Performance: Best Duo:

    Best Docu-Reality Show:

    Best Dating Show:

    Best Reality Cast:

    Best Competition Series:

    Best Lifestyle Show:

    “Deliciousness”
    “Fixer Upper: Welcome Home”
    “Making rhe Cut”
    “Nailed It!”
    “Queer Eye”

    Best New Unscripted Series:

    Best Talk/Topical Show:

    Best Comedy/Game Show:

    “Floor Is Lava”
    “Impractical Jokers”
    “Kids Say the Darndest Things”
    “Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out”
    “Ridiculousness”

    Best Host:

    Breakthrough Social Star:

    Best Real-Life Mystery or Crime Series:

    Best Fight:

    Best International Reality Series:

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    Christian Bale Debuts Shocking Hair Transformation for 'Thor: Love and Thunder' Role

    WENN/Frederic Kern

    In addition to shaving his head bald for the role of Gorr the God Butcher, the Academy Award-winning actor appears to have shed some pounds to play the villain in the upcoming Marvel movie.

    Apr 19, 2021

    AceShowbiz –
    Christian Bale has gotten a major makeover for his role in “Thor: Love and Thunder”. The actor, who is tapped to play Gorr the God Butcher in the upcoming superhero flick, has been spotted with a dramatic bald head.

    The British thesp, who has been in Sydney, Australia to film the Marvel movie, was not pictured on the set though. He was captured on paparazzi camera while enjoying a family friendly event at Palm Beach, an idyllic beach town an hour north of the city.

    Aside from trading his chestnut tresses with his shaved head, Bale appeared to have shed some pounds for the role as he looks skinnier than before. As for his style during the outing, the 47-year-old opted to go casual in a black T-shirt with matching cargo pants and a checkered shirt. He completed the look with a pair of black canvas slip-on shoes and dark sunglasses.

    Christian Bale debuted bald head for ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ role.

    He was joined by his wife Sibi Blazic, holding hands together as they strolled through the car park. She dressed warmly in a black puffer jacket teamed with a pair of body-hugging black tights. She also wore a pair of round sunglasses and black joggers while letting her brunette hair down.

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    Bale’s casting in “Thor: Love and Thunder” was confirmed by returning cast member Tessa Thompson in March, following weeks of speculation. “Christian Bale is going to play our villain, which is going to be fantastic,” the Valkyrie depicter gushed at the time.

    The upcoming fourth installment of the “Thor” film series has Taika Waititi back at the helm, with Chris Hemsworth reprising his role as the title character a.k.a. God of Thunder. Natalie Portman returns as Jane Foster, who will make her debut as Mighty Thor, after being sidelined in “Thor: Ragnarok”, while Jaimie Alexander is set to reprise her role as Sif.

    Other MCU stars who have been spotted on the set include Chris Pratt, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan and Sean Gunn, with Matt Damon, Sam Neill, Luke Hemsworth, Melissa McCarthy and Russell Crowe reportedly billed to make cameo appearance. The movie is slated to arrive on May 6, 2022 in the United States.

    Meanwhile, in another behind-the-scenes moment, Hemsworth recently shared on his Instagram page a picture of him with Waititi and Damon, whose pose may remind fans of cover art for pop group’s album. “Album drops next week #getreadyworld,” he jokingly announced in the caption.

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    'The Trial of the Chicago 7' Wins Big at ACE Eddie Awards 2021

    Netflix

    One week ahead of the Oscars, film editor Alan Baumgarten picks up the Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) gong, while Disney/Pixar’s ‘Soul’ brings home the Animation prize.

    Apr 19, 2021

    AceShowbiz –
    “The Trial of the Chicago 7” was the big winner at the 71st annual ACE Eddie Awards on Saturday night, April 17.

    Alan Baumgarten, who edited Aaron Sorkin’s acclaimed film, picked up the Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) gong to cap the American Cinema Editors prizegiving a week ahead of the Oscars, where the movie is among the favorites to land a handful of trophies.

    Baumgarten thanked Sorkin for his “enthusiasm for editing” in his virtual acceptance speech, adding, “It was a pleasure to collaborate with you.” He also gave a shout-out to his wife, “I think myself, and as everybody understands, I brought the work home literally – thank you for your patience and understanding.”

    Other top film winners included “Palm Springs” (Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy)) and Disney/Pixar’s “Soul”, which picked up the Animation prize a day after dominating the annual Annie Awards.

      See also…

    TV winners included the editors behind “Schitt’s Creek”, “Ted Lasso”, “Better Call Saul”, “Ozark”, “Rick and Morty” and “Cheer”, while “The Queen’s Gambit” won for Best Edited Limited Series or Motion Picture and ESPN’s “The Last Dance” took the non-theatrical documentary honor.

    The virtual ceremony also featured a salute to Spike Lee, the recipient of the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, while Lynzee Klingman and Sidney Wolinsky received Career Achievement Awards for their contributions to film editing.

    In his tribute to Lee, Leslie Odom Jr. gushed, “When I was a little boy, Spike Lee was synonymous with film and movie going. My parents took us to see every Spike Lee the weekend it opened. Thank you for all you have given to the arts and for all you’ve brought to my life.”

    The complete winners list is:

    BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC): “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Alan Baumgarten)
    BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY): “Palm Springs” (Matthew Friedman, Andrew Dickler)
    BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: “Soul” (Kevin Nolting)
    BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION: “Ozark”, ‘Wartime’ (Cindy Mollo)
    BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION: “Better Call Saul”, ‘Bad Choice Road’ (Chris McCaleb, Joey Liew)
    BEST EDITED COMEDY SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION: “Ted Lasso”, ‘Make Rebecca Great Again’ (Melissa McCoy)
    BEST EDITED COMEDY SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION: “Schitt’s Creek”, ‘Happy Ending’ (Trevor Ambrose)
    BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE): “My Octopus Teacher” (Pippa Ehrlich, Dan Schwalm)
    BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (NON-THEATRICAL): “The Last Dance”, ‘Episode I’ (Chad Beck, Devin Concannon, Abhay Sofsky, Ben Sozanski)
    BEST EDITED ANIMATION (NON-THEATRICAL): “Rick and Morty”, ‘Rattlestar Ricklactica’ (Lee Harting)
    BEST EDITED VARIETY TALK/SKETCH SHOW OR SPECIAL: “David Byrne’s American Utopia” (Adam Gough)
    BEST EDITED LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE: “The Queen’s Gambit”, ‘Exchanges’ (Michelle Tesoro)
    BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES: “Cheer”, ‘God Blessed Texas’ (Kate Hackett, Arielle Kilker, Daniel McDonald, Mark Morgan, David Nordstrom, Sharon Weaver, Ted Woerner)
    ACE GOLDEN EDDIE FILMMAKER AWARD: Spike Lee
    ACE CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS: Lynzee Klingman, Sidney Wolinsky

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