Steve Pond's Blog, page 157

‘Lilly’ Is a Movie for Our Mothers: Complicated, Devoted, Fearless | Guest Column

Mother’s Day is a complicated holiday for me. It’s the day my mother died 11 years ago. It’s also the weekend that “Lilly,” the first feature film I’ve written and directed, will be released in theaters across the county. Filled with these dichotomous emotions, I find a meaningful thread of resilience woven between them, one that has shaped my own life and is at the heart of the story of the film.

“Lilly,” starring Patricia Clarkson, is based on the life of Lilly Ledbetter, a woman known for the extraordinary achievement of becoming the voice of fair pay, of having President Obama honor her struggle by naming his first piece of legislation after her. She was a woman who dedicated her life to making the world a better place for the rest of us. She was also a mother and grandmother – and the daughter of a complicated mother. 

Lilly Ledbetter was born in 1938, in Jim Crowe Alabama, on a dirt farm with no electricity or running water. She was an only child who grew up in poverty, picking cotton at the age of eight for pennies a bag. When I look at Dorothea Lange dustbowl images of hollowed-out mothers, I imagine Lilly’s mother Edna, not surprised that she couldn’t rise above her own difficulties to speak of love to her only child.

I’m also a mother and grandmother whose progeny are the center of my joy. And a daughter born to a challenging mother. Though my mother may be gone, she will forever be the most impactful character in my life. 

My mother, Dorothy, was born in 1923, in Brooklyn, the fourth child born to Russian immigrants. At the age of six, she was molested in the stairwell of her tenement building that she said smelled of cabbage. Much later I learned that childhood trauma such as hers can lead to various personality disorders. My grandparents arrived with little more than their strong beliefs in human rights. Before they mastered the language of this land, they were knee deep in the labor movement. When my mother died, although she no longer knew her children, she had total recall of lyrics that directed marchers to her childhood labor rallies, the social media of her day.

I was adored, but she was mercurial, injured easily, with a wrath that long held grudges. My relationship with her was undeniably complex, shaping me in ways both profound and painful. Yet, above all, it strengthened me. Without this journey of self-realization, I may not have had the stamina to power through the challenges of making this independent film. This is the “Russian dolls” of it all, each generation of mothers doing their best to nurture the next, always aspiring for more.

“Lilly” was produced by a spectacular group of women colleagues, each of us shaped by complex, strong mothers. Producer Simone Pero’s mother Mary Ann, “was a never-married-by-choice single-mother, at a time when that was largely considered radical, the sole breadwinner, housekeeper, chef, plumber, contractor, gardener, fashionista, decorator, student and landlord … She was the epitome of ‘getting s–t done,’ no matter the odds.” 

Producer Jyoti Sarda was profoundly shaped by her mother, Raju, who traveled halfway around the world at the age of 21 to marry a man she had only briefly met before, and despite a high level of education, experienced discrimination as both a woman and an immigrant. “My mother was never given the opportunities she merited, but she crafted her own success, and that self-reliance has been a touchstone for me,” Sarda said.

“There were times when I called my mother Joan, General Patton,” writes producer Allyn Stewart. “I am positive she could have taken the beaches of Normandy. She gave birth to four girls and raised us with a fierce sense of purpose, teaching us to be self-reliant, disciplined … and most importantly, to cook. My mother’s legacy lives on not just in the dishes we prepare but in the way we approach life: with courage, perseverance and a table always big enough to welcome one more guest.”

Vickie Saxon Ledbetter, daughter to Lilly, has said that her mother had “high standards.” Lilly was the first one in and the last one out of that factory every day because she wanted to raise her kids to have a middle-class life – with a car, a nice house and a college education. Movies about remarkable people often focus on their achievement, but I wanted to explore the personal cost of courage. What was it like to be the only woman working in a factory rife with unchecked sexual harassment and demeaning employment policies for two decades? How do you hold your head up high when the other congregants of your church see you as a pariah because they still work for the company you’re suing? What gave Lilly Ledbetter the strength of character to be willing to put a target on her back, to be the literal face of an issue? 

One of the primary reasons our own lead actor took the role of playing Lilly Ledbetter was her mother. We all know Patricia Clarkson as the glorious, Academy Award-nominated actor, but Patti is also the daughter of Jackie Clarkson, an indefatigable public servant and longtime New Orleans City Council leader who also had a highly successful real estate career and raised five daughters. Patti says that her mother wept when she told her she’d be playing Lilly Ledbetter.

I so wish Lilly were with us as we launch this film into the world. She was extremely moved to know that her legacy would live on, but also, as a ballroom dancer who enjoyed the spotlight from time to time, I know how much it would have meant to that little girl from Possum Trot, Alabama, to see the world be inspired by her story and that her legacy would live on. I can also imagine what it would have meant to Patti’s mother seeing her daughter deliver this gorgeous, bravura performance. And I can envision my movie-loving mama, sitting in a dark room with strangers, eating a sandwich wrapped in foil, watching a movie directed by her baby. 

I miss you, Mom.

As a mother and a daughter, I know that motherhood is never simple. It’s a layered story of beauty and struggle, we learn every day, we aspire to do better. I hope that this Mother’s Day, “Lilly” might inspire you to reflect on your own mothers and the legacies we carry forward. It’s our responsibility to continue the work of those who came before us, not just to make the world better for our own children, but for all children under the sun – just as Lilly Ledbetter did.

The post ‘Lilly’ Is a Movie for Our Mothers: Complicated, Devoted, Fearless | Guest Column appeared first on TheWrap.

Bill Maher Jokes That New Pope’s First Prayer Was ‘Keep JD Vance the Hell Away From Me’ | Video

Like pretty much every other night time TV host this week, Bill Maher talked quite a bit about Pope Leo XIV, the newly elected head of the Catholic Church who also happens to be an American from Chicago (born Robert Prevost).

And given the timing of the death of Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis — he died just hours after meeting with the current Vice President of the United States — Maher joked during his monologue on Friday’s “Real Time” that Leo’s first prayer included “keep JD Vance the hell away from me!”

But before that joke, the HBO host brought his audience up to speed. “The other countries in the world can suck it. Because the Pope’s American! How about that? American, his name is Robert Prevost, although he is transitioning to Leo XIV,” Maher said.

“He’s the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics, five of whom actually still go to church,” Maher continued. “Already gave his first mass. Oh, it was a good one. He said some very interesting things. He said, ‘many people perceive Christianity as absurd and meant for the weak and the unintelligent.’ Finally, a Pope who gets me.”

Maher then touched on the political arguments about Leo. “It’s so funny. The way we make everything partisan right away, right we have a new pope, and immediately the Republicans say ‘too woke woke Pope’ and the left was like, ‘No, I think he voted Republican,’ but he was in Chicago. He says he does not pay attention to any of that. He takes his orders only from the Almighty and Bill Belichick’s girlfriend.”

“I know, when you’re a Pope, you got a direct line to the big guy up there. So, you know, his first prayer as a Pope, he’s he prayed for wisdom, he prayed for humility, and he prayed ‘keep JD Vance, the hell away from me.”

Watch the full monologue below:

The post Bill Maher Jokes That New Pope’s First Prayer Was ‘Keep JD Vance the Hell Away From Me’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Taylor Swift Subpoenaed by Justin Baldoni in Blake Lively Legal War to Create ‘Tabloid Clickbait,’ Rep Says

A rep for Taylor Swift quickly denounced her client being subpoenaed in the ongoing legal battle between “It Ends With Us” stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni as “creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case.”

Swift is friends with Lively, but her only involvement in the film was as permitting the use of her song “My Tears Ricochet” in the domestic abuse drama, her spokesperson told TheWrap.

“Taylor Swift never set foot on the set of this movie, she was not involved in any casting or creative decisions, she did not score the film, she never saw an edit or made any notes on the film, she did not even see ‘It Ends With Us’ until weeks after its public release,” the spokesperson said in a statement, citing Swift’s blockbuster Eras 2024 tour.

“Given that her involvement was licensing a song for the film, which 19 other artists also did, this document subpoena is designed to use Taylor Swift’s name to draw public interest by creating tabloid clickbait instead of focusing on the facts of the case,” the statement concluded.

On Thursday, Lively’s attorney Mike Gottlieb confirmed that the actress will take the stand and testify in her upcoming trial with Baldoni. Lively claims she was the victim of sexual harassment and pursuit of a smear campaign, and Baldoni has countered with a lawsuit alleging defamation and civil extortion.

Gottlieb said that additional witnesses would back Lively’s claims, but did not mention any by name.

The post Taylor Swift Subpoenaed by Justin Baldoni in Blake Lively Legal War to Create ‘Tabloid Clickbait,’ Rep Says appeared first on TheWrap.

Josh Hartnett’s 6 Best Performances, From ‘Penny Dreadful’ to ‘Trap’

Josh Hartnett has banked nearly 30 years in Hollywood, beginning with roles in horror flicks “The Faculty” and “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later” and the TV show “Cracker.”

Sure, he landed big roles, like in Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbor,” but the former teen idol never got much respect for his acting. Now, however, thanks to his roles in “Oppenheimer,” “Trap” and “Black Mirror,” we’re in the middle of a Hartnett-issance

He’s back in action mode in his new thriller “Fight or Flight,” which is, essentially, “Bullet Train,” but on a plane: His mercenary character has to fight off several assassins who want him and his client dead.

Here are the roles where he’s demonstrated he’s definitely got the chops. When he’s good, he’s great, but when he’s bad, he’s even better.

Josh Hartnett in “The Faculty” (CREDIT: Dimension Films)The Faculty

Zeke, Hartnett’s drug-dealing, all-attitude high schooler with the world’s worst haircut, saves the day multiple times in Robert Rodriguez’s 1998 classic alien invasion movie. It’s Zeke who comes up with a way of flushing out who’s an alien and who isn’t and who becomes the ragtag group of teens’ default leader. Just as Zeke promises his clients, this performance is guaranteed to jack you up.

Josh Hartnett in “Oppenheimer” (CREDIT: Universal PIctures)Oppenheimer

Hartnett was a significant part of the star-studded cast in this Oscar-winning biopic: He played Oppenheimer colleague physicist Ernest Lawrence, who invented the cyclotron. The more moderate scientist also warned Oppenheimer — who was later subjected to a devastatingly harsh security hearing — about his relationship with Communist Party member Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh).

Josh Hartnett and Lucy Liu in ” (CREDIT: MGM/New Line)Lucky Number Slevin

Hartnett deftly manages the humor in this twisty crime drama, which includes a scene where he’s locked out of his apartment in only a towel. (Fortunately, neighbor Lucy Liu is there to help him out.) He plays a man named Slevin who gets drawn into a mob war between two bosses (Ben Kingsley and Morgan Freeman) and has an unlikely ally in Bruce Willis’ hitman.

Josh Hartnett in Black Mirror (Nick Wall/Netflix)Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea

Hartnett and Aaron Paul star as astronauts David and Cliff, who are assigned to a long two-man mission in space. They are able to return to replicas of their bodies on earth to spend time with their wives and children. After David’s family is horribly slaughtered, Cliff offers a way to ease his grief, but instead it makes David even more unhinged. Kudos, of course, to Paul as well for a brilliantly executed dual role.

Josh Holloway and Ariel Donoghue in “Trap” (CREDIT: Warner Bros.)Trap

In M. Night Shyamalan’s latest, Josh plays Cooper, a doting girl dad taking his daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert of her favorite singer and also the dreaded serial killer known as The Butcher. Once at the show, a vendor tips him off that the heightened police presence is because of a tip that The Butcher would be there. The quick-thinking sociopath repeatedly tries to duck the police in a high-stakes game where he has to pretend everything is A-OK. The ingenuity, the forced smiles and the barely concealed panic build to crescendo where the truth finally comes out.

Josh Hartnett in “Penny Dreadful” (CREDIT: Showtime)Penny Dreadful

This delightfully gothic drama, which ran on Showtime from 2014 to 2016, starred Eva Green as clairvoyant Vanessa Ives, with Hartnett as her on-again, off-again lover Ethan Chandler … who also happened to be a werewolf. The series put a new spin on vampires, the Frankenstein legend and other literary characters, including Dorian Gray and gave Hartnett a fantastic chance to showcase his range.

The post Josh Hartnett’s 6 Best Performances, From ‘Penny Dreadful’ to ‘Trap’ appeared first on TheWrap.

WGA West Upholds Board Vote by 54% to Remove 2 Members Over Strike Violations

The members of the Writers Guild of America West voted on Friday to uphold the expulsion of two writers accused of writing during the 2023 strike, but to rescind a public rebuke of a writer who made a joke on Facebook.

The WGA West board voted earlier this year to kick out Roma Roth and Edward Drake for performing forbidden “writing services” — what the union calls “scab writing” — during the 148-day strike. They appealed, but 54% of the voting membership backed the board’s decision in a tally that concluded on Friday.

Edward John Drake, Roma Roth and Julie Bush were accused of prohibited writing activities during the stoppage, while Tim Doyle was censured for an offensive social media post that compared being on strike to being lynched.

The WGA West board voted last week to expel Drake and Roth, the guild’s harshest penalty. Bush was temporarily suspended and given a lifetime ban from serving as a strike captain. Doyle was publicly censured but that was rescinded in Friday’s vote.

Drake, writer-director of the indie film “Guns Up,” allegedly engaged in “scab writing” and withheld key documents from investigators, the board said. He has denied any wrongdoing, saying he only made minor script adjustments as a director and was being punished for refusing to “name names.”

“This has been a horrible ordeal,” Drake wrote in his appeal, according to Variety. “I have been living under the guillotine of fear for months.”

Roth, who worked as showrunner on “Sullivan’s Crossing” during the strike, broke stories and revised scripts in violation of strike rules, the board stated. She maintained she stopped writing as the strike began and continued as a non-writing producer. She criticized the WGA board for “send[ing] out mass emails during the voting round to tip the scale in their favor and unfairly influence what was supposed to be a fair appeals process.”

She also encouraged members to run for a position on the board “to address these serious issues” raised during this inquiry.

Bush was accused of revising a script for a pilot about Elon Musk during the strike. She argued that she sought guild lawyers’ guidance and was not paid for the work due to the production company’s failure to meet WGA standards.

On Friday, she said she will take the case to the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board. She thanked the members who voted for her: “I believe the closeness of the vote signals that members do not like what has happened here. I have never seen a Guild vote below 90% so to me, losing by just 59 votes is meaningful,” Variety reported.

Doyle defended his Facebook post as “gallows humor” about the dread writers were feeling about their industry’s future. The board cited Doyle at the time for “conduct prejudicial to the welfare of the Guild.” Doyle’s lawyer argued that the guild overstepped its powers in policing his speech on social media.

Originally, Doyle was given a confidential censure and told to undergo equity and inclusion training, according to Variety.

The post WGA West Upholds Board Vote by 54% to Remove 2 Members Over Strike Violations appeared first on TheWrap.

‘Summer of 69’ Review: Ecstatically Funny Teen Sex Comedy Deserves Better Than Hulu Streaming

Jillian Bell’s directorial debut is a drop-dead funny “Risky Business” riff that would have killed in theaters

Some movies feel like they sprang organically from the hearts and souls of their creators. Others, like Jillian Bell’s directorial debut “Summer of 69,” seem to have been reverse-engineered from a clever title. I can’t say for sure that Bell and/or her co-writers Liz Nico and Jules Byrne came up with the idea for a movie about a teen girl hiring a sex worker to teach her how to “69” her prospective boyfriend by working backwards from the phrase “Summer of 69.” But I can say that if they just happened to come up with a 69-centric comedy premise, it sure was kismet that the words “Summer of 69” were already out there, even if the movie really is more of a late spring affair.

“Summer of 69” stars Sam Morelos as Abby Flores, a high school senior who’s had a crush on the hunky Max Warren (Matt Cornett) since grade school. He’s only had one girlfriend all these years, but they break up right before graduation, and that means it’s Abby’s time to shine. There’s just one problem: She has it on good authority that Max is a sucker for the sex position that makes the number “69” elicit the word “nice” whenever everyone hears it out loud.

That may not sound like a problem to some of us, but Abby is so sexually inexperienced when you say the word “porn” she replies “…ography?” She does not have any friends in high school, so she seeks out an exotic dancer named Santa Monica (Chloe Fineman), whose unbridled physical confidence makes Abby jealous. So while Abby’s parents are away she hires Santa Monica as her personal sex coach, and in exchange Santa Monica asks for $20,000. That ungodly sum is the exact amount of money Santa Monica needs to stop her strip club from being sold to the sleazy Rick Richards (Charlie Day), who’s basically what sexual harassment would look and sound like if sexual harassment was a human being.

If the premise of a teenager hiring a sex worker while their parents are out of town and also needing to raise a metric ton of money in the process sounds familiar, don’t worry: Bell has seen “Risky Business” too. It’s less of a rip-off and more of a knowing plot point, like how “Sleepless in Seattle” could not exist without “An Affair to Remember,” or “The Human Centipede II: Full Sequence” could not exist without “The Human Centipede.” Bell’s movie evokes all the best and beautiful parts of 1980s teen comedies while sidestepping all the gross parts that make films like “Sixteen Candles” and “Revenge of the Nerds” hard to watch today.

Indeed, “Summer of 69” is not even all that naughty, the film’s title notwithstanding. The most overtly sexual scene is a fantasy sequence when Abby enters a sex shop and accidentally zones out and has a stress-induced hallucination about her parents chasing her around while wearing strap-ons. And even that is so completely absurd it’s hard to imagine anyone actually being offended.

The most important thing about “Summer of 69” is that it’s got an extremely good heart. Also that’s it’s extremely funny. So the two most important things about “Summer of 69” is that it’s got an extremely good heart and it’s extremely funny, and also that Morelos and Fineman are hilarious together. So that means the three most important things about “Summer of 69” are that it’s got an extremely good heart, it’s extremely funny, Morelos and Fineman are wonderful together, and it’s impressively directed by Bell. Look, amongst the film’s many positive qualities are such elements as a good heart, extremely funny jokes, hilarious leads and impressive direction from Bell. Also the part where Abby tells Alexa to “Play sexy time songs” and instead it plays the theme to TV’s “Taxi,” which surprisingly does the trick.

Bell has been one of our funniest comedians for quite some time, and “Summer of 69” feels like an extension of her humor. Almost all the film’s laugh out loud lines— which is a lot of them — sound like dialogue you would hear from a Bell character in yuck-fests like “22 Jump Street” and “Fist Fight.” This is no bad thing. It makes the movie feel personal, if not necessarily in the story it tells then at least in the telling. It’s all the good parts of a modern comedy feature and none of the bad. It’s the porridge Goldilocks ate, if Goldilocks ate great scripts, pitch perfect casts and exceptional direction. (And for all I know she did. I’m not her biographer.)

The only annoying thing about “Summer of 69” is that this is the exact kind of laugh out loud, emotionally satisfying, share-it-with-a-friend comedy that would probably find a sizable audience in theaters — and instead it’s a Hulu exclusive. That’s right, Hulu, the vestigial tail of Disney Plus that’s just waiting to get chopped off. I’m terribly concerned that people won’t go out of their way to find “Summer of 69” and miss one of the funniest teen comedies in a long while, a film that deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as “Booksmart” and “Bottoms.”

But I hope they do, because just like a real-life 69, there’s only one socially acceptable way to respond to Bell’s “Summer of 69.” And that, my friends, is “Nice.”

The post ‘Summer of 69’ Review: Ecstatically Funny Teen Sex Comedy Deserves Better Than Hulu Streaming appeared first on TheWrap.

Hollywood Studios Meet With MPA to Set Film Tariffs Plan, Strategize for Potential Trump Talks

Executives from several of Hollywood’s major studios met Friday by phone with the Motion Picture Association to discuss the foreign film tariff Donald Trump called for earlier this week.

Details about the meeting, organized by MPA CEO Charles Riven, have not been made public. However, an individual with knowledge of the proceedings told TheWrap that it began with discussion of what studio bosses want Trump to know about the current state of play for production, before eventually turned to California’s film and TV tax credit incentives.

Their conversation mirrored comments made by Sony Pictures CEO Ravi Ahuja Wednesday at the Milken Global Conference, TheWrap learned: that U.S. film and TV production problem is, essentially, a California problem.

“So, while it’s true a lot of production has left the United States, it’s even worse for California, and there are a lot of people — including our companies — that are working on this with the state government and trying to come up with different bills that will help,” he said.

Another individual with knowledge of Friday’s Zoom called downplayed its significance, telling TheWrap it was very similar to the routine meetings that the MPA has with member studios and that nothing concrete came out of it.

Participants in Friday’s call have not been made public, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the meeting was happening this week, Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman, Amazon MGM Studios’ chief Mike Hopkins, Universal Pictures chair and NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios chief Donna Langley, Paramount Global co-CEO Brian Robbins, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chair Tom Rothman, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav were expected to call in.

Although the industry would clearly welcome help from government to spur more domestic production, the solution Trump proposed on Sunday — a 100% tariff on all movies made outside of the United States — isn’t one that anybody wanted. And even if it was, it would be extremely difficult to implement in any rational way.

Trump’s proposal, presented via his social media platform Truth Social, came after a meeting with actor Jon Voight, one of his “Hollywood ambassadors.” The president subsequently acknowledged that he hadn’t spoken to industry leaders before going public with the idea.

As an indication of how different Trump’s thinking on this matter may be from Hollywood leaders’, the president described tax incentives and other tactics used by foreign countries to attract movie productions as “a national security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda.”

Trump’s call for the film tariffs left Hollywood reeling and has since produced a very disunited response from the entertainment industry.

The MPA has not responded to a request for comment from TheWrap.

The post Hollywood Studios Meet With MPA to Set Film Tariffs Plan, Strategize for Potential Trump Talks appeared first on TheWrap.

Weinstein’s Lawyer Says Ex-Model Accuser Used Hollywood Producer to Further Career, Is Using Trial to Stay in Country

On her second day of testimony in the New York rape trial of Harvey Weinstein, accuser Kaja Sokola denied the defense’s allegation that the two sexual assaults she has testified to were actually consensual and that she used the movie mogul to “become a movie star.”

“You believed that if you had consensual sex with Mr. Weinstein, you’d get your foot in the door and become a movie star,” defense lawyer Mike Cibella said, according to the Associated Press.

The Polish born former model, who has stated that Weinstein assaulted her when she was 16 and then again when she was nearly 20, firmly responded, “No, that’s not what happened. I never had a consensual relation with Mr. Weinstein.”

The attorney mentioned that Sokola’s testimony differed from what she told a grand jury last year, including the month of the alleged 2002 assault. He also intimated that her participation in the criminal case could merely be a way for her to continue to stay in the U.S.

Sokola, who is now a psychotherapist, previously sued Weinstein over the alleged 2002 incident when she was 16: She received approximately $3.5 million in compensation.

She testified on Thursday that she’d had a tougher time dealing with the alleged second assault in 2006, which is why she had not previously mentioned it.

She said that Weinstein had promised he would help launch her acting career, but instead “broke my dreams, and he broke my self-esteem.”

Cibella argued that that assault never happened and that she was merely trying to get enough money to leave her estranged husband. Sokola also denied his suggestion, saying that she earned more than husband.

Sokola is expected to take the stand again next week.

Since 2017, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual assault. He has denied all allegations.

The post Weinstein’s Lawyer Says Ex-Model Accuser Used Hollywood Producer to Further Career, Is Using Trial to Stay in Country appeared first on TheWrap.

Rosanna Norton, Oscar-Nominated Costume Designer Behind ‘Carrie’ and ‘Tron,’ Dies at 80

Rosanna Norton, the Oscar-nominated costume designer behind “Tron,” “Carrie,” “RoboCop,” and many more, died Wednesday. She was 80 years old.

The renowned designer and lifelong Angeleno died of cancer, TheWrap has learned. Costume designer Salvador Perez, who credited Norton as a longtime friend and mentor, shared the news on Instagram Thursday.

“We lost a legend,” he wrote alongside a photo of himself with Norton.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Salvador Perez (@salvadorperezcostumes)

Norton changed Carrie White (Sissy Spacek)’s iconic prom dress from red in the Stephen King novel to pink in the 1976 film to better contrast the bucket of blood dumped on her that unleashes her telekinetic rage.

In a 2016 interview with Birth Movies Death for the film’s 40th anniversary, Norton explained why she went with a 1930s-inspired look for the dress. “At the time, prom dresses and bridesmaid dresses and things were very fussy. They had all these ruffles and detail and I wanted to do … a bias cut dress and I wanted it to be really simple and look as if she could have made it herself.”

Perez recalled that Norton “took me under her wing and let me shine” early in his career, where he worked with her on films including “The Flintstones,” “Casper,” “Operation Dumbo Drop” and “The Brady Bunch Movie.” He added that he joined the Costume Designers Guild as Norton’s assistant on the Pamela Anderson movie “Barb Wire.”

“She not only guided me in costumes but in life, she taught me how to work with actors and producers and how to lead a team, she gave me my love of silver jewelry, she was such a light in my life,” Perez continued. “RIP Rosanna, you will be missed. Thank you Rosanna for being my friend and inspiration.”

He listed many of her other credits: Brian de Palma’s “The Phantom of the Paradise,” “Airplane!,” “Ruthless People” and “Frankie and Johnnie.”

Norton was honored by the CDG in 2017 for her work on more than 50 films, including Richard Rush’s “The Stunt Man” and Terrence Malick’s “Badlands.”

She is survived by two children and five grandchildren.

The post Rosanna Norton, Oscar-Nominated Costume Designer Behind ‘Carrie’ and ‘Tron,’ Dies at 80 appeared first on TheWrap.

Fox Greenlights Bible Event Series ‘The Faithful’ From Carol Mendelsohn

Fox has greenlit a new limited series focused on biblical matriarchs, hailing from Carol Mendelsohn (“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”).

The new series, titled “The Faithful,” will center on the courageous and passionate, yet flawed women whose descendants would shape three of the world’s great faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, according to the official logline.

Based on the Old Testament’s book of Genesis, the six-episode limited series will specify focus on Sarah and her former slave, Hagar, Sarah’s great-niece Rebekah and Rebekah’s nieces, sisters Leah and Rachel. “The Faithful” will rollout over three consecutive weeks during next Easter and Passover season in 2026.

“The Faithful” is executive produced by Mendelsohn under her first look broadcast direct deal with Fox, as well as Julie Weitz (“Game of Silence”) and René Echevarria (“Carnival Row,” “The 4400”), who wrote the pilot
and will also serve as showrunner.

“’The Faithful’ follows The Old Testament’s heroic, Biblical matriarchs and opens a new lane of storytelling at FOX. This show is the definition of strong, female character-driven storytelling, exploring timeless themes that originated thousands of years ago, yet remain startlingly modern and relatable,” Fox TV network president Michael Thorn said in a statement. “Carol, Julie and René bring unbelievable depth, dimension, intimacy and surprise to stories so many think they know but will completely rediscover through this powerful new lens.”

“The Faithful” hails from Fox Entertainment Studios and is distributed by Fox Entertainment Global.

See below for the descriptions of the central characters and plots.

Sarah & Hagar     

Sarah feels incomplete without the child that has been promised to her and her husband, Abraham, by God. After braving isolation, famine, the ire of Pharaoh, and several more years of barrenness, she resorts to her own plan to bring a child into the world involving her maidservant Hagar and Abraham. However, jealousy soon sets in after Hagar gives birth to Ishmael (from whom the prophet Mohammed will descend). Then a miracle happens. Though well past her childbearing years, Sarah and Abraham conceive and have a son of their own, Isaac. Lineage, birthrights and personal freedom are at odds with long-held grievances and shattered love.     

Rebekah     

After a difficult and painful pregnancy, Rebekah prophetically learns that she will birth twins who will be divided and that the elder will serve the younger. Her sons exist in conflict from the very start, with Jacob literally holding onto his brother Esau’s heel during birth. While her husband, Isaac, is firm in the right of succession for Esau, Rebekah is equally convinced that Jacob is the most deserving one to be the rightful heir. After watching the boys grow into very different men, she is determined to cajole, manipulate and even deceive Isaac, now on his deathbed, to ensure that Jacob is the chosen one. By executing the ultimate deception, Rebekah sets the stage for one of history’s most paramount moments of brother against brother, family destiny and fulfilled prophecy.     

Leah & Rachel     

Once the best of friends, Leah and her younger sister, Rachel, both yearn for Jacob’s heart and hand in marriage. But Jacob’s heart is with Rachel, whose beauty has captivated him. However, on Jacob and Rachel’s wedding night, her father tricks Jacob and sends Leah into the marriage tent instead of Rachel. So now he is compelled to marry Leah as well, forcing the sisters into a bitter rivalry for Jacob’s love. While Rachel has his heart, it’s Leah who presents Jacob with his firstborn son (and many more to follow). Rachel eventually births a son, Joseph, but the pregnancy and delivery nearly kill her. As Jacob, the rivalrous sisters and their clan return to the promised land of Canaan, Rachel makes the ultimate sacrifice to complete their family. Between them, the sisters bore the famed twelve tribes of Israel, from whom will descend Moses, Joshua, and eventually, two thousand years later, Jesus of Nazareth.     

Deadline first reported the news.

The post Fox Greenlights Bible Event Series ‘The Faithful’ From Carol Mendelsohn appeared first on TheWrap.