International Olympic Committee Makes Landmark Move Into Virtual Sports

Posted on April 23, 2021 by admin

International Olympic Committee makes landmark move into virtual sports by announcing first-ever Olympic Virtual SeriesInternational Olympic Committee makes landmark move into virtual sports by announcing first-ever Olympic Virtual Series

Inaugural Olympic Virtual Series to include International Federations and Game Publishers in Baseball, Cycling, Rowing, Sailing and Motor Sport

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will partner with five International Sports Federations (IFs) and game publishers to produce the Olympic Virtual Series (OVS), the first-ever, Olympic-licensed event for physical and non-physical virtual sports.

Taking place ahead of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the OVS will begin on 13 May, continuing through to 23 June 2021. The Olympic Virtual Series will mobilise virtual sport, esports and gaming enthusiasts all around the world in order to reach new Olympic audiences, while also encouraging the development of physical and non-physical forms of sports in line with the recommendations of the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020+5.

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “The Olympic Virtual Series is a new, unique Olympic digital experience that aims to grow direct engagement with new audiences in the field of virtual sports. Its conception is in line with Olympic Agenda 2020+5 and the IOC’s Digital Strategy. It encourages sports participation and promotes the Olympic values, with a special focus on youth.”
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Mayling Ng (Suicide Squad, Scorpion) to play opposite UFC Champ Michael Bisping in The Journeyman

Posted on April 22, 2021 by admin

British-born Eurasian actor Mayling Ng (“Wonder Woman,” “The Scorpion King: Book of Souls”) will star opposite retired UFC Middleweight Champion and Hall of Famer Michael Bisping (“xXx: Return of Xander Cage,” “Den of Thieves”) in director Dax Phelan’s boxing film, “The Journeyman.”

Set in Nortwest England, the story is about Kenny “The Beast” Breen (Bisping), an alcoholic, drug-abusing, past-his-prime journeyman boxer who, after being diagnosed with neurological damage, continues his career on the small-hall circuit at grave risk to himself and lands a fight with his former rival who’s gone on to become a star in the division. Ng will play Alina, a woman struggling to start her life over after escaping an abusive relationship, who becomes romantically involved with the boxer.

The screenplay was co-written by Phelan and British author Mark Turley, based on Turley’s book, Journeymen: The Other Side of the Boxing Business, a New Perspective on the Noble Art. The book made the long list for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 2015.

“Mayling and I have been wanting to work together for years,” Phelan said. “So, when the opportunity to write a female character from Liverpool arose, Mark and I wrote the part especially for Mayling, who was born there, anxious to show off sides of her talent that audiences haven’t seen yet.”

“Dax and Mark have written a beautiful character who’s as vulnerable as she is strong,” Ng said, “and I can’t wait to explore her many facets with [Bisping] on screen.”
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“Borat,” “Drag Race” and “WandaVision” Lead MTV Movie & TV Awards Nominees

Posted on April 19, 2021 by admin

Carey Mulligan, Daniel Kaluuya, Zendaya, and the late Chadwick Boseman also scored nominations at the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards.

Fan-favorite WandaVision led the television awards with five nominations, while Borat Subsequent Moviefilm led the film awards with three nominations. RuPaul’s Drag Race leads the unscripted awards with four nominations.

Other top nominees includes “Emily in Paris” (4 nominations), “The Boys” (4 nominations) and “Bridgerton” (3 nominations).

Starting today, April 19th, fans will be able to vote for their favorites across 25 gender-neutral categories by visiting vote.mtv.com through April 30, 2021.

The 2021 “MTV Movie & TV Awards” telecast will air live on Sunday, May 16 from the Palladium in Los Angeles, CA at 9PM ET/PT.

The show’s host, presenters and further details will be revealed at a later date.

Here are this year’s nominees:

BEST MOVIE
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
“Promising Young Woman”
“Soul”
“To All the Boys: Always and Forever”

BEST SHOW
“Bridgerton”
“Cobra Kai”
“Emily in Paris”
“The Boys”
“WandaVision”

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MOVIE
Carey Mulligan – “Promising Young Woman”
Chadwick Boseman – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Daniel Kaluuya – “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Sacha Baron Cohen – “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Zendaya – “Malcolm & Marie”

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHOW
Anya Taylor-Joy – “The Queen’s Gambit”
Elizabeth Olsen – “WandaVision”
Elliot Page – “The Umbrella Academy”
Emma Corrin – “The Crown”
Michaela Coel – “I May Destroy You”
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Award-Winning Animation Studio LAIKA Expands Into Live Action

Posted on April 2, 2021 by admin

Oregon Studio Acquires Rights to Screenwriter John Brownlow’s Debut Action Thriller Novel Seventeen

LAIKA, known for the Academy Award®-nominated animated films Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link, is expanding into live action. The studio has optioned Seventeen, the upcoming first novel by acclaimed screenwriter John Brownlow (The Minaturist, Sylvia). Currently in production on its sixth animated feature film, LAIKA secured the rights in an intense bidding war and plans to adapt it as a live action project. The announcement was made today by Travis Knight, President & CEO.

“For the past 15 years, LAIKA has been committed to making movies that matter,” says Knight. “Across mediums and genres, our studio has fused art, craft, and technology in service of bold, distinctive, and enduring stories. With Seventeen, LAIKA is taking that philosophy in an exciting new direction.”

“Seventeen is a stiff cocktail of wicked wit, exhilarating action, and raw emotion,” Knight continues. “John has such a wonderfully unique voice. He’s crafted a brilliant universe with its own powerful identity. Seventeen is a thriller with soul, a sinuous adrenaline-fueled actioner with a sincere heart beating underneath its rippling pectorals.”

Author and screenwriter John Brownlow is well known for his film and television credits. He is the screenwriter of the feature film Sylvia starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig and wrote and executive produced the three-part BBC limited series The Minaturist, which starred Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit). He also wrote the four-episode limited series Fleming, which starred Dominic Cooper as James Bond author Ian Fleming.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be developing Seventeen for the screen with LAIKA,” says Brownlow. “As a long-time fan of LAIKA’s movies for their vision, heart, craft, intelligence and ambition, I couldn’t have hoped for the novel or the universe it inhabits to have found a better or more exciting home. I’m beyond honored to be part of their plans for the future.”

UK publisher Hodder & Stoughton has preemptively acquired worldwide publishing rights to Seventeen. Hanover Square will publish the book in the US in 2022. LAIKA was represented in the deal by CAA. John Brownlow is represented by George Davis at Nelson Davis LLP, Jessica Sykes at Independent Talent Group and CAA.

Historical Documentary “Last Will & Testament” Released By Strike Back Studios

Posted on April 2, 2021 by admin

Strike Back Studios, a new joint venture between Realization Films, Public House Films, and Hideout Pictures, has release Centropolis Entertainment’s fascinating historical documentary “Last Will & Testament”.

With April being Shakespeare international Month, the film is now available to stream on Amazon Prime, Vudu, Tubi and other streaming platforms along with across TVOD platforms iTunes, Fandango Now, Google Play, YouTube, among others globally to rent or buy.

Twin sisters & filmmakers Laura Wilson & Lisa Wilson’s intricate historical journey charts the fascinating documentary “Last Will & Testament” from executive producer Roland Emmerich (who’s brilliant “Anonymous” also explores Shakespeare’s identity) and featuring stage and screen icons Derek Jacobi (“Gladiator,” “Gosford Park, “Dead Again”), Mark Rylance (“Bridge of Spies,” “The BFG,” “Dunkirk”), and Vanessa Redgrave (“Atonement,” “Howards End,” “Coriolanus”). It’s the greatest literary mystery of all time who actually wrote the works of Shakespeare? Featuring a powerful score by Graeme Revell (“The Saint,” “The Crow,” “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”), the greatest mystery of an identity hidden by time and the constructs of society…The Bard himself.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:
It’s the greatest literary mystery of all time; who wrote the works of Shakespeare? Although the official story has held sway for centuries, questions over the authorship of the plays and poems have persisted. Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, Charlie Chaplin and Orson Welles are among the many famous figures who doubt that a grain-dealer from Stratford-upon-Avon was England’s “Star of Poets.” “Last Will & Testament” will transform the way you look at Shakespeare.

San Diego Comic-Con Sets Sights For November 2021 Convention

Posted on March 27, 2021 by admin

By Armando

Currently dubbed “Comic-Con Special Edition,” the planned in-person convention is slated for Thanksgiving weekend of November 26-28 at the San Diego Convention Center. This will be the first time that Comic-Con event held in person since Comic-Con 2019.

“San Diego Comic Convention today announced dates for their November convention,” it says on the announcement. “Comic-Con Special Edition will be held as a three-day event over Thanksgiving weekend, Friday, Saturday,and Sunday, November 26-28, 2021 at the San Diego Convention Center. It is our hope that by Fall conditions will permit larger public gatherings.”

David Glanzer, spokesperson for the organization adds: “Hopefully this event will shore up our financial reserves and mark a slow return to larger in-person gatherings in 2022.”

More details will be announced, particularly information regarding the badge and the size of people who will be able to gather for the event.

Last year, just like nearly every convention in 2020, San Diego Comic-Con was cancelled due to the outbreak of the pandemic, the first time that the event was not held in SDCC’s 50-year history.

This will be the second year in a row wherein the massive gathering of fans at SDCC will be held virtually due to the current situation of the pandemic, the group announced on March 1. More details of the upcoming summer convention will be announced.

On March 1, San Diego Comic-Con announced “Comic-Con@Home”, a free online version of the event that is set to take place July 23-25.

Approximately 135,000 people normally descends to the Gaslamp District area in San Diego, CA for annual Comic-Con. The event is contributes an estimated $147 million to the San Diego economy each year.

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“Wolfwalkers” Garners GKIDS’ Historic 12th And Cartoon Saloon’s Consecutive 4th Oscar® Nomination For “Best Animated Feature”

Posted on March 15, 2021 by admin

Hand-Drawn, Critically-Acclaimed Film is Also Winner of Top Audience Award at AFI Fest; Recognized by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, National Board of Review for “Best Animated Feature” Honors; and a Current BAFTA, Producers Guild, and Multi-Annie Award Nominee

GKIDS, the distributor of multiple Academy Award®-nominated animated films, is has announced its latest, WOLFWALKERS, was nominated for an Oscar for “Best Animated Feature” this morning by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The film marks GKIDS’ historic twelfth Oscar nomination since its inception in 2010. It also marks the fourth consecutive nomination—a streak in this category—for award-winning Ireland-based animation studio, Cartoon Saloon, which has made only four features films to date.

The best-reviewed animated film of 2020, WOLFWALKERS is directed by two-time Academy Award -nominated director Tomm Moore and director Ross Stewart, and is the final installation in Cartoon Saloon’s hand-drawn Irish folkloric trilogy, which include “The Secret of Kells” (2010) and “Song of the Sea” (2015).

GKIDS has a long-standing relationship with Cartoon Saloon, having served as the U.S. distributor for all of the studios’ Academy Award nominated films including Moore’s “The Secret of Kells” and “Song of the Sea,” and Nora Twomey’s “The Breadwinner.” In addition to handling distribution, GKIDS CEO/Founder Eric Beckman and President Dave Jesteadt are executive producers on both “The Breadwinner” and WOLFWALKERS.

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46th Annual Saturn Awards Nominees Announced

Posted on March 4, 2021 by admin

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has unveiled the nominations for the 46th Annual Saturn Awards today.

Due to the unprecedented challenges that face the motion picture and television community during this global crisis, the organization made necessary changes to present this year’s awards show. The Academy extended the nomination period 16 months this year covering a wider selection of submissions between July 15, 2019 through November 15, 2020 and the group extended the eligibility rules to include streaming and VOD in addition to the theatrical release of motion pictures.

This year’s show honoring the best and most significant achievements in genre film, television and theater will be held later this year with details to be announced. The recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards including The Dan Curtis Legacy Award, previously awarded to such luminaries as Vince Gilligan, Bryan Fuller and Sarah Schechter will be announced shortly. The Saturn Awards ceremony will again be produced by the organization and will be honoring the best and most significant achievements in genre film, television and theatre. The Academy was founded in 1972 by Doctor Donald A. Reed and is one year shy of celebrating its 50th Anniversary.

Lucasfilm/Disney’s Star Wars franchise dominated the Saturn nominations with Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker earning 12 noms in features, and The Mandalorian and The Clone Wars in TV/Streaming. Christopher Nolan’s Tenet boasted an impressive 9 nom, Doctor Sleep scared up 8, Knives Out, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, 7 apiece, and Birds of Prey and Disney’s live action Mulan, 6. Directors Gina Prince-Bythewood of Netflix’s The Old Guard and Niki Caro of Disney’s Mulan lead the diverse and talented pack of film nominees, which included such talent as Delroy Lindo (Da Five Bloods), John David Washington (Tenet), Yifei Liui and Donnie Yen (Mulan), Zazie Beetz (Joker),
Jurnee Smollet and Ella Jay Basco (Birds of Prey), Kyliegh Curran (Doctor Sleep) as well as talented screenwriters, editors, costumers and Special FX artists.

See the 46th Annual Saturn Awards Nominees >>
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Miss Universe Competition Set To Return In May

Posted on March 3, 2021 by admin

Miss South Africa, Zozibini Tunzi, was crowned Miss Universe.
Photo: Armando (aiphotoimaging.com

The Miss Universe competition is currently set to return on May 16 with a live telecast. The 69th Miss Universe will be held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood in Hollywood, Florida.

“We have spent months planning and preparing safety precautions to develop this edition of MISS UNIVERSE—one that will be memorable, special and totally innovative,” said Paula M. Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization. “I look forward to seeing this work come to fruition and crowning a new Miss Universe in May.”

Miss South Africa Zozibini Tunzi won the competition in 2019. Last year, the supposed 2020 competition was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, making Tunzi the longest Miss Universe title holder.

“I always knew that my reign as Miss Universe would be unlike any other,” said Tunzi. “While it was nothing like what I had imagined my year to be, this year has opened doors for me I could never have imagined. I am so grateful for the opportunity to connect virtually with people all over the world and elevate the causes I care most about.”

A host is yet to be announced. For the past five years, comedian Steve Harvey has hosted the event.

Jeremy Renner to Star in Taylor Sheridan’s “Mayor Of Kingstown”on Paramount+, Executive Produced by Antoine Fuqua

Posted on February 24, 2021 by admin

Academy Award® nominee Jeremy Renner tapped as lead and Antoine Fuqua to executive produce Taylor Sheridan’s Mayor of Kingstown from MTV Entertainment Studios exclusively for Paramount+. With 101 Studios to serve as production partner, the drama from Yellowstone Co-Creator follows family of power brokers in small Michigan town. Mayor of Kingstown is one of several projects for Paramount+ under Sheridan’s new overall deal

MTV Entertainment Studios announced during today’s ViacomCBS Streaming Event presentation that Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, Wind River) has been tapped as the lead in the highly anticipated drama Mayor of Kingstown exclusively for Paramount+. Prolific director, Antoine Fuqua (Academy Award -winning Training Day), has signed on as executive producer in the new series from Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Taylor Sheridan – co-creator of Yellowstone, cable’s most watched show of 2020 – who recently signed a multi-year pact with ViacomCBS and MTV Entertainment Group.

Mayor of Kingstown follows the McLusky family – power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption and inequality, the series provides a stark look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither. Mayor of Kingstown will be executive produced by Sheridan, co-creator Hugh Dillon, Jeremy Renner, Antoine Fuqua, David Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari and Michael Friedman. MTV Entertainment Studios, Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch Productions and 101 Studios will produce.

“I am excited to dig into the complex and rough-around-the-edges character of Mike McLusky (the Mayor of Kingstown),” said Jeremy Renner. “In a world otherwise forgotten in society, Mike serves as a flawed system of checks and balances. Taylor has brought to life a layered and poignant universe that is not only incredibly intriguing but also more relevant than ever.”

“When Taylor told me about Mayor of Kingstown, I immediately wanted to be a part of it,” said Antoine Fuqua. “The series offers a comprehensive look into the brutal prison system where sociopolitical issues run rampant. Prisons are a forgotten world to most of the population and yet represent a microcosm of society as a whole.”