Elijah Wood, Lauren Ambrose & Simone Kessell Take Roles In ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 2

Make this make sense! Totally with Prince Harry here! This and much more on our latest podcast! CLICK HERE to listen to the newest episode of The Perez Hilton Podcast with Chris Booker in full at PerezPodcast.com

EJ Panaligan editor NewFest, a New York-based LGBTQ+ film festival, has announced the full lineup for its 34th iteration. The 2022 edition will run from Oct. 13 to Oct. 25. With world, North American, U.S. and New York premieres for more than 130 films from 23 countries, the festival will be headlined by the world premiere of HBO documentary “Mama’s Boy” from Laurent Bouzereau as the opening night screening. Additionally, the festival will hold an advance screening for the Season 2 premiere of popular HBO series “The White Lotus.” Other high-profile screenings through the festival’s run include Michael Grandage’s love triangle film “My Policeman,” starring Harry Styles and Emma Corrin, and the stop-motion horror comedy “Wendell & Wild,” from writer-director Henry Selick. Jordan Peele co-writes, while also featuring in a lead voice role. Keegan-Michael Key inhabits the film’s other lead voice role, marking a “Key & Peele” reunion on the animated stage between the two longtime collaborators.

David S. Cohen Senior Editor, Features Turning a piece of filmed entertainment into a cultural phenomenon is both an art and a science, say marketers.  But in the 2020s, the science has turbocharged the art.  Variety spoke to two marketing gurus who promoted such blockbusters: Pia Chaozon Barlow, executive VP of HBO and HBO Max originals marketing, who aims to recapture the magic of “Game of Thrones” with spinoff “House of the Dragon”; and Marc Weinstock, Paramount’s president of global distribution and marketing. Paramount has opened five features at #1 in 2022, culminating with “Top Gun: Maverick,” which has grossed more than $1.4 billion.

Michaela Zee editor GKIDS has acquired the North American distribution rights to “Unicorn Wars,” ahead of the adult animated film’s U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. The news was announced Thursday. Set during an ancestral war between teddy bears and unicorns, the horror-comedy film follows Bluet and Tubby, teddy bear brothers who are polar opposites to each other. When their time at teddy bear bootcamp leads to a combat tour in the Magic Forest, Bluet and Tubby’s complicated history and tense relationship could affect the fate of the war, including whether the teddy bears will fulfill the prophecy and usher in a new era. “Unicorn Wars” is directed and written by illustrator Alberto Vázquez. Prior to this deal, GKIDS distributed Vázquez’s Goya Award-winning feature “Birdboy: The Forgotten Children” and animated short “Decorado.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Amazon has formally ordered a “Blade Runner” sequel series, Variety has learned. The live-action project, titled “Blade Runner 2099,” was first announced as being in development at the streamer back in February, while Ridley Scott first revealed the show was in the works in November 2021. Exact plot details are being kept under wraps, but the title indicates the show will take place fifty years after the events of “Blade Runner 2049,” the 2017 sequel to the original “Blade Runner.” Silka Luisa serves as showrunner and executive producer, with Ridley Scott also executive producing under his Scott Free Productions banner.

Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody has just been released – check it out above.The film stars Naomi Ackie as Houston, alongside Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders, Clarke Peters and more.An official synopsis for the film reads: “The film is a no-holds-barred portrait of the complex and multifaceted woman behind The Voice.“From New Jersey choir girl to one of the best-selling and most awarded recording artists of all time, audiences are taken on an inspirational, poignant—and so emotional—journey through Houston’s trailblazing life and career, with show-stopping performances and a soundtrack of the icon’s most beloved hits as you’ve never heard them before. Don’t you wanna dance?”Naomi Ackie recently recalled her audition to play Whitney Houston while she was filming The Score, in an interview with NME.“I remember being told about the audition, around the time we were shooting,” she began.“I remember being in a trailer with Will [Poulter] and saying ‘That is insane! There is no way that’s going to happen.

interview with ABC News on Tuesday, explaining that three cars full of FBI agents cut him off in the parking lot of the fast food joint and issued him the search warrant. Lindell told ABC News he’s not “scared to go to jail” because he’s trying to “save” the country.

The Son and The Father director Florian Zeller will direct, write and co-produce the upcoming big-budget TV adaptation of Tony Award-winning play The Lehman Trilogy, his debut TV project.

Hulu is getting into the love business with a new unscripted show hosted by Taye Diggs.

Actor Bill Heck (Broadway’s Cabaret, Hulu’s The Old Man) will join the return Broadway engagement of Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out co-starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jesse Williams.

John Lydon, who as Johnny Rotten in his punk days with the Sex Pistols wrote the scabrous lyrics to the anti-monarchy anthem “God Save The Queen,” is now directing harsh words to his former bandmates for what the singer says is “a tasteless and disrespectful” attempt to cash in on the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

EXCLUSIVE: There have been whispers for months about a top-secret courtroom docu-style comedy series filming to run on Amazon Freevee. We can reveal that the project, starring James Marsden (Enchanted, Westworld), is now in post-production and headed to the screen.

EXCLUSIVE: This morning in Toronto, writer-director Allen Hughes and FX unveil the first of a five-part docuseries Dear Mama. This is an epic exploration of the life of hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur and his late mom, Afeni Shakur, the former Black Panthers member. It is Hughes’ first trip back to TIFF since he and brother Albert came to unveil their Johnny Depp pic From Hell, only to see that title become all too apt when, on their media day 21 years ago, everything got canceled when two hijacked planes crashed into and took down the Twin Towers. At the behest of the estate of the Shakur family, Hughes, who aside from films like The Book of Eli directed the acclaimed docuseries The Defiant Ones on Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, spent years diving deep into the mythology of Tupac to answer why his art endures so long after he was shot dead at age 25. Much as he would have preferred to avoid it, Hughes had to confront his own provocative history with Tupac. After the Hughes Brothers hired Tupac for a supporting role in Menace II Society, they fired Shakur over disagreements about the part he wanted to play. Later, the hip-hop artist and his pals crossed paths with Hughes and his co-director Albert, and beat them badly enough that it led to a criminal conviction on Shakur for assault and battery., Here, Hughes discusses all, including the spiritual connection between Tupac and Marvin Gaye, whose life Allen Hughes takes on next in a narrative film for Warner Bros and Motown Records.

EXCLUSIVE: Foundation Media Partners has secured exclusive book, film and documentary rights to the life story of Terry Watanabe, the notorious gambling addict who made history as Las Vegas’ biggest ever whale, losing over $200 million in a single year after gambling an unprecedented $825 million.

.“It’s been a half-century since we began our experiment,” Chouinard, 83, said in a statement. “If we have any hope of a thriving planet 50 years from now, it demands all of us doing all we can with the resources we have.

Serial, which focused on the conviction of Adnan Syed for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, was the original hit true crime podcast series when it was released in 2014. Eight years later, new developments look set to see Syed given a new trial.

Marcus Rashford has been given fresh hope of earning a World Cup call-up by England manager Gareth Southgate.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Antonin Baudry, who made his feature debut with Netflix’s submarine thriller “The Wolf’s Call,” is set to adapt Homer’s epic war tales of “The Iliad and The Odyssey” into a science fiction series titled “Ulysse.” Pathé has recently boarded the series project which is being co-developed by Axelle Boucai (The Mad’s Women Ball”) and Alain Goldman (“La Vie en Rose,” “The Mad’s Women Ball”) at Paris-based Ness Films. “Antonin Baudry is writing the adaptation and had the idea of transposing these mythological tales in space and in the future,” said Boucai, who cited “Dune” as inspiration.

EMMERDALE fans have spotted a major baby gaffe - and it could expose Chas and Al's affair. The characters are currently cheating on their respective partners - Paddy Kirk and Kerry Wyatt - and enjoyed a steamy night away in a B&B in a recent episode.

If you watched the first season of “Yellowjackets” it was obvious that some new actors would enter the fold in season two. Who would play the adult versions of Van and Lottie? And, with production ramping up it’s now surprise that Lauren Ambrose and Simone Kessell are on board to play each role, respectively.

Yellowjackets.A press release from Paramount said that Wood was joining the second season of the show in “a season long guest arc.”The statement added that “Wood will play Walter, a dedicated Citizen Detective who will challenge Misty in ways she won’t see coming.”The series will go into production later this month in Vancouver.Responding to the news on social media, Wood tweeted a picture of the script with his character named at the top. He tweeted: “I am beyond stoked to join y’all!”I am beyond stoked to join y'all! https://t.co/SnhE3YL0JQ— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) August 19, 2022The series, which aired earlier this year, won acclaim from critics and fans alike.An official synopsis describes it as “equal parts survival epic, psychological horror story and coming-of-age drama, Yellowjackets is the saga of a team of wildly talented high school girls soccer players who become the (un)lucky survivors of a plane crash deep in the remote northern wilderness.“The series chronicles their descent from a complicated but thriving team to savage clans, while also tracking the lives they’ve attempted to piece back together nearly 25 years later, proving that the past is never really past and what began out in the wilderness is far from over.”The press release also revealed that Liv Hewson and Courtney Eaton have been upped to series regulars in season two, following their appearances in season one.The show is executive produced by Lyle, Nickerson and fellow showrunner Jonathan Lisco.

Elijah Wood is the latest actor to join season 2. Showtime revealed the newest cast member will have “a season-long guest arc” as Walter, when the Emmy-nominated drama returns with new episodes.

More intriguing casting news for season 2 of Yellowjackets: Showtime announced today that Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) is joining the Emmy-nominated drama.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterElijah Wood is the latest addition to the cast of “Yellowjackets” Season 2 at Showtime, Variety has learned.Wood will appear in a season long guest starring role as Walter, a dedicated Citizen Detective who will challenge Misty (Christina Ricci) in ways she won’t see coming.Wood is the latest addition to the second season of the critically-acclaimed drama. It was previously announced that Simone Kessell would appear as adult Lottie, while Lauren Ambrose will play adult Van.

Simone Kessell (Obi-Wan Kenobi) is joining the second season of Showtime’s Yellowjackets as the adult Lottie Matthews.

is continuing to expand its adult cast as it goes back into production on season 2. ET has confirmed that  actress Simone Kessell has been tapped to play the adult version of plane crash survivor Lottie Matthews, whose younger version is currently played by Courtney Eaton. Eaton, who has appeared on the series since season 1, has been promoted to series regular. The news follows the announcement that Lauren Ambrose was cast as the adult version of fellow teammate and survivor Van, whose younger counterpart in season 1 was played by Liv Hewson. Hewson has also been promoted to series regular for season 2. When it comes to Lottie, the news of Kessell’s casting is not a spoiler, since it was revealed in the season 1 finale that Lottie is, in fact, alive.

It looks like we now know who the f— Lottie Matthews is — well, at least who will be playing the adult version of her in Showtime’s smash hit drama “Yellowjackets.” Simone Kessell (“Obi-Wan Kenobi,” “Our Flag Means Death”) has been cast as the current version of the cult leader.Meanwhile, Courtney Eaton, who plays the chilling 1996 version of Lottie, has been upped to series regular, likely signifying that even more disturbing mysticism will haunt the girls stranded in the wilderness.