ESSENTIAL INDUSTRY and AWARD NEWS FROM HOLLYWOOD, compiled by REBECCA KEEGAN
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
It's Tuesday, and I'm starting a Dale Carnegie book club for fired Star Wars directors.
Hello from L.A., where we're turning to our old friend, J.J. Abrams, celebrating James Franco's Toronto triumph, and getting dish from Bette Davis's assistant.
PAGING J.J.
If there was ever a franchise in need of a steadying, Obi-Wan figure, it would seem to be Star Wars, which is shedding directors at a worrying pace under Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. Last week, Kennedy fired Colin Trevorrow from 2019's Star Wars: Episode IX over a disagreement on its script, shortly after the departures of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from Han Solo: A Star Wars Story in June. Enter J.J. Abrams, who revived the space-opera franchise to critical and commercial success with Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. Deadline's Mike Fleming Jr.broke the news Tuesday morning that Abrams is in talks to fill Trevorrow's vacated seat on Episode IX; shortly after that, Disney made things official. In addition to directing, Abrams will also co-write the film with Chris Terrio, according to a press release. "With The Force Awakens, J.J. delivered everything we could have possibly hoped for, and I am so excited that he is coming back to close out this trilogy," Kennedy said in the release. As V.F.'s Joanna Robinsonwrites, though, some Star Wars fans had hoped Kennedy might hire either a woman or a person of color to fill Trevorrow's shoes—the massive franchise has never had a nonwhite, non-male director.
JJ Abrams at the World Premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in Hollywood on December 14, 2015.
By Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images.
OH HAI
V.F.'s Katey Rich writes:
The Midnight Madness section at the Toronto International Film Festival has long hosted some of the festival's most out-there screenings—but it's never been quite as meta as it was on Monday night, when James Francodebuted his filmThe Disaster Artist. Franco directed and stars in the film as Tommy Wiseau, the star and director of ultimate midnight movie The Room. A work-in-progress screening at SXSW earned good buzz, but the word out of Toronto on Monday night was effusive—and the energy spread online Tuesday morning when distributor A24 released a full-length trailer, which you can watch here. In theaters December 1, The Disaster Artist has virtually none of the hallmarks of a typical awards play, but the passion surrounding the film is hard to overlook. A24 and Franco also have a good history together; he was at the center of their first awards campaign, for Spring Breakers in 2013, and netted a good number of critic's prizes for his efforts. Four years and a best-picture win later, A24 has proven they know how to channel enthusiasm into a full-throated campaign. Tommy Wiseau, your moment of glory has arrived at last.
YOUR DAILY DISH
V.F.'s Hillary Busis writes:
There's no gossip quite like firsthand gossip—and that's just what you'll get in spades in this juicy interview with Kathryn Sermak, who served as "Girl Friday" to the incomparable Bette Davis during the Oscar winner's final years and just wrote a delicious book about the experience. (Sermak was actually born "Catherine," but Davis told her to change the spelling of her name to make it "more distinctive.") Tidbits like that are sprinkled throughout Sermak's conversation with V.F. contributor Marcie Bianco; she contends that Joan Crawford hit on Davis on the set of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (!), that most other Davis biographies are bunk, and that despite what you may have seen on Feud, the real Davis was an unmitigated champion of women working together. Also, in case you ever wondered, this is what happened when Bette Davis got angry: "She would say 'merde,' [and] if she was really, really upset, you got the silent treatment. And there's nothing worse, because her eyes, they just go straight through you!"
IT FOLLOWS
V.F.'s Laura Bradley writes:
Thanks to the huge success of It, a sequel is all but inevitable. The film's already highly anticipated follow-up has not yet received an official green light, but plans for it are moving forward all the same—especially since the first film's young stars will likely need to shoot their scenes for it soon, before puberty makes it impossible for them to do so convincingly. So what, exactly, do we know so far about It's second chapter? Director Andy Muschietti will likely return, a couple of the Losers will probably die, and although a release date isn't certain, 2019 is reportedly a safe bet.
THIS IS NOT MY BEAUTIFUL HOUSE
V.F.'s Yohana Desta writes:
I've got "Once in a Lifetime" stuck in my head, and it's all Alexander Payne's fault. A new trailer has officially dropped for Downsizing, the director's latest feature, and it's set perfectly to that classic Talking Heads track. The story follows a couple (played by Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig) undergoing a procedure that will permanently shrink them down to .0364 percent of their current size. Why? Because shrinkage has some truly glorious benefits. In the downsized world, their regular money will inflate, their house will expand, and everything will seem more wondrous and luxurious. A single rose is big enough to be its own bouquet; a bottle of Absolut Vodka (#sponsored) turns into an endless boozy waterfall. It looks like this tiny life can be a dream, if you want it to be—though naturally, there must be a few complications. Downsizing opened the Venice Film Festival (like Oscar winners La La Land and Birdman before it) and was warmly received by critics there, including V.F.'s own Guy Lodge,who called it "a strangely alluring short-term escape route" for these heady political times.
That's the news for this sunny Tuesday in L.A. What are you seeing out there? Send tips, comments, and Bette Davis's Jezebel Oscar to Rebecca_keegan@condenast.com. Follow me on Twitter @thatrebecca.
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