“The Wizard of Oz” is often cited as one of the greatest films of all time. And though we tend to poopoo any talk of prequels and sequels to treasured classics, there’s no denying everyone’s excitement for “Wicked.” The two-part film debuts its first half later this year and is expected to have the potential of being a major blockbuster.

READ MORE: Summer Movie Preview: 50 Must-See Films To Watch

As seen in the trailer for “Wicked,” the film is based on the acclaimed Broadway musical and tells the story of Glinda and Elphaba, two budding witches as they go to the Shiz University to help grow their craft.

Continue reading ‘Wicked’ Trailer: Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande Lead Jon M. Chu’s Adaptation Of The Broadway Musical at The Playlist.

Intellectual property and franchising always mean trying to use some popular I.P. and spinning it however possible. And lord knows they’ve tried all kinds of riffs on “The Wizard Of Oz.” But the most recent and popular has been Winnie Holzman and Stephen Schwartz’s stage musical “Wicked,” which itself is based on the 1995 novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire  (and yes, that’s based on the original “Wizard Of Oz” book).

Continue reading ‘Wicked: Part One’ Trailer: Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande Star In This Musical Fantasy Arriving In November at The Playlist.

Starring Cynthia Erivo and Alia Shawkat, the upcoming indie drama, “Drift,” a film by filmmaker Anthony Chen (“Ilo Ilo“), from the producers of “Call Me By Your Name” and “Nomadland” opens in early 2024. Two-time Academy Award nominee Erivo stars as Jacqueline, a woman who escapes her war-torn country to a Greek island. There, she meets an unmoored tour guide and the two become close as they each find hope in the other.

Continue reading ‘Drift’ Trailer: Cynthia Erivo’s Acclaimed Sundance Film Opens In February 2024 at The Playlist.

Can John Luther find redemption? The popular series “Luther” ended its run in 2019 with a startling conclusion. Now, Netflix is introducing another chapter in the story with the film “Luther: The Fallen Sun.” It follows the title character as he makes yet another life-changing decision; freeing himself from prison is only the beginning as Luther pursues a familiar killer intent on a reign of terror.

Continue reading ‘Luther: The Fallen Sun’ Trailer: Idris Elba’s Famous Detective Leads His Own Netflix Movie at The Playlist.

Based on the 2013 novel “A Marker to Measure Drift” by Alexander Maksik, set just after the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003, “Drift” aims for impressionistic insight but is ultimately manipulative and reductive. Maksik’s screenplay, which he co-wrote with Susanne Farrell, sees its heroine Jacqueline (Cynthia Erivo, “Harriet”) as nothing more than a vessel to explore an outsider’s view of the trauma inflicted by war.

Continue reading ‘Drift’ Review: Cynthia Erivo Stars In An Impressionistic, But Hollow Refugee Drama [Sundance] at The Playlist.

Here’s one hell of a way to remember just how strange “Pinocchio” (1940) was: watch Robert Zemeckis’ hallucinatory live-action remake of it, now playing on Disney+. Some of the kooky parts here are not from the script by Simon Farnaby and Chris Weitz—to their credit, they didn’t invent the hedonistic sugary kid-hell of Pleasure Island, or the concept of an innocent boy whose wooden appendage grows, or a lonely man’s fixation on having a manic pixie dream son (Italian author Carlo Collodi did).

Continue reading ‘Pinocchio’ Review: Tom Hanks Can’t Save Robert Zemeckis’ Latest Soulless, Weird, Uncanny Valley Effort at The Playlist.

The new women-centric Apple TV+ anthology series “Roar” is extremely literal. Across its eight episodes, a trophy wife lives on a shelf, an ignored woman disappears, and a frustrated wife returns her husband to a big box store. Its short fables are so on the nose that, were the words of this review somehow incorporated into one of the episode’s scripts, viewers would likely see a woman with the show’s title balanced just above her nostrils.

Continue reading ‘Roar’ Review: Apple TV+’s Dark Feminist Fables Anthology Series Offers Very Strange & Mixed Results at The Playlist.

Apple TV+ is having quite the year of television so far, gathering acclaim for shows like Ben Stiller’s “Severance” and “WeCrashed,” with Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto, and is sure to receive attention for strong upcoming series including “Shining Girls” starring Elisabeth Moss and “Slow Horses” featuring Gary Oldman.

Continue reading ‘Roar’ Trailer: Nicole Kidman, Alison Brie, Cynthia Erivo, Betty Gilpin & More Star In Apple TV+’s New Feminist Anthology Series at The Playlist.

Early last year, Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch, the creative tag-team behind the Netflix show “GLOW,” signed an overall deal with Apple for new TV projects. Their first show for AppleTV+? An anthology series of darkly comic feminist fables that stars some of the most talented women in show business.

READ MORE: The 70 Most Anticipated TV Shows & Mini-Series Of 2022

“Roar,” based on a short story collection by Cecelia Ahern, spans eight half-hour episodes about how women navigate others’ perceptions of feminity, as well as their own.

Continue reading ‘Roar’ First Look: Nicole Kidman, Alison Brie & More Lead Anthology Of Darkly Comedic Feminist Fables at The Playlist.

Despite the box office and critical disappointment of “Dear Evan Hansen,” Hollywood is still really excited about the possibilities of bringing famous Broadway musicals to the big screen. This year alone, we’ve had the aforementioned “Dear Evan Hansen,” “In the Heights,” and in December, “West Side Story.” And one of the biggest musicals of all time, “Wicked,” is now bringing in two incredibly talented singers to bring that show to life in film.

Continue reading Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande Cast In Lead Roles For Jon M. Chu’s ‘Wicked’ Adaptation at The Playlist.

What lines would you cross to be with your soulmate? That’s the question posed by the time-travel romance epic “Needle in a Timestack.” The movie’s first trailer gives a taste of what happens to four people put in that situation.

READ MORE: Fall 2021 Movie Preview: 60+ Must-See Films

“Needle in a Timestack,” based on a short story of the same name by Robert Silverberg, follows a blissful married couple, Nick and Janine.

Continue reading ‘Needle In A Timestack’ Trailer: Cynthia Erivo & Leslie Odom, Jr. Star In John Ridley’s Time-Travel Romance at The Playlist.

British actress, writer, singer, and songwriter Cynthia Erivo’s star has been on the rise ever since her breakout turn in “Bad Times at the El Royale,” and the twice Academy Award-nominated performer has now landed arguably her biggest role to date.

READ MORE: ‘Genius: Aretha’: Cynthia Erivo Shines As The Queen Of Soul In A Smart, But Inconsistent Series [Review]

Variety reports that Erivo has signed on to star in Searchlight’s remake of 1979 drama “The Rose,” which starred Bette Midler in the lead.

Continue reading ‘The Rose’: Cynthia Erivo To Star In Remake Of The Bette Midler Film at The Playlist.

After installments that profiled Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso, the Nat Geo dramatic series “Genius” turns to the life of the singular talent that is Aretha Franklin with “Genius: Aretha.” Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”) steps into the giant shoes of this music legend, even admirably tackling some of Franklin’s biggest hits herself, as writer Suzan-Lori Parks (a Pulitzer Prize winner for “Topdog/Underdog”) jumps back and forth, connecting Franklin’s youth to the decisions she made and art she produced as an adult.

Continue reading ‘Genius: Aretha’: Cynthia Erivo Shines As The Queen Of Soul In A Smart, But Inconsistent Series [Review] at The Playlist.

If Disney hires Robert Zemeckis to direct a live-action “Pinocchio” remake, you better believe Tom Hanks is on board to star, right? And that’s exactly what’s happening. But Tom Hanks can’t possibly play all the characters, so now we know who the filmmaker is bringing out to join the Oscar-winning actor in Disney’s latest attempt to remake a classic animated feature.

READ MORE: Disney Continues To Bet Big On Streaming; ‘Raya,’ ‘Pinocchio,’ ‘Enchanted’ Sequel & More Headed To Disney+

According to THR, Disney is bringing on Cynthia Erivo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key, Lorraine Bracco, and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth to round out the cast for its upcoming “Pinocchio” remake that will begin production in the UK later this year.

Continue reading ‘Pinocchio’: Cynthia Erivo, Joseph Gordon-Levitt & More Join Tom Hanks In Disney’s Live-Action Remake at The Playlist.

Since “GLOW” was unceremoniously canceled after Netflix gave the green light to begin work on a final season, it appears the creators of that show are ready to take their talents to Apple TV+ for anew anthology series, “Roar.” And they’re bringing a pretty amazing cast of actresses with them.

READ MORE: Alison Brie Supports A ‘GLOW’ Movie Finale But Warns Fans “Don’t Hold Your Breath”

According to THR, Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo, Merritt Wever, and Alison Brie have been cast in the upcoming Apple TV+ anthology series, “Roar.” The show comes from “GLOW” creators, Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch.

Continue reading ‘Roar’: Nicole Kidman, Alison Brie, Cynthia Erivo & Merritt Wever To Star In Anthology Series From Creators Of ‘GLOW’ at The Playlist.

There may be slightly fewer films for this year’s virtual 2021 Sundance Film Festival, but most of them are still up for the prestigious honors set to be announced on February 2. Today, Sundance announced 22 jurors who will make up seven juries judging the U.S Dramatic, U.S. Documentary, NEXT and World Cinema categories, among others. And, as always, there are some familiar faces holding the scorecards including none other than Cynthia Erivo.

Continue reading Cynthia Erivo Among 2021 Sundance Film Festival Jurors at The Playlist.

There aren’t many films with journeys to reach the big screen as torrid as “Chaos Walking.” Director Doug Liman‘s adaptation of the first book in the young-adult series by Patrick Ness has hit snag after snag on its way to theaters. Now, over nine years after Lionsgate first acquired the rights to the novels, a trailer for the film has been released, and fans of the series get their first glimpse of the New World onscreen.  

READ MORE: Long-Delayed ‘Chaos Walking’ Finally Gets A January 2021 Release Date

Set in a dystopian near-future on an alien planet, “Chaos Walking” follows Todd Hewitt, a boy brought up to believe a pathogen has killed all the women in his colony Prentisstown.

Continue reading ‘Chaos Walking’ Trailer: Doug Liman’s Long-Delayed Sci-Fi YA Adaptation Finally Arrives at The Playlist.

The world of TV is interesting. Normally, in the old days at least, a TV series would last forever on a network as long as the ratings were good enough. And once the ratings suffered, the show got the ax. Well, that’s not the case anymore with folks like Netflix and HBO seemingly canceling shows that are acclaimed and watched by millions. In 2020, a show needs more than just viewers and a good story to get the renewal, as seen in HBO’s latest move to cancel “The Outsider.”

READ MORE: The Best TV Of 2020… So Far

Debuting in early 2020, “The Outsider” is a crime thriller that stars Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, and Jason Bateman, with the latter directing the first two episodes.

Continue reading HBO Cancels ‘The Outsider’ But Producers Are Looking For A New Home For The Stephen King Series at The Playlist.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited 819 new members from 68 countries as the ranks of Hollywood’s top club swell to close to well over 9,300. The good news? According to AMPAS, 45% of the 2020 class are women, 36% underrepresented ethnic/racial communities and 49% international from 68 countries.  This is an impressive result for an organization that announced a goal in 2016 to double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by 2020.

Continue reading Awkwafina, Florence Pugh & Cynthia Erivo Among 819 New Academy Members at The Playlist.

It actually happened. The #BongHive hype paid off and “Parasite” became the first film not in the English language to win Best Picture at the Oscars, and also the first film to win both Best Picture and Best International Film (previously s Best Foreign Language Film). Beyond the historic win, lots of love, respect, and awards were shared between the nominated films, as all the Best Picture nominees (except “The Irishman”) got some awards recognition.

Continue reading Best and Worst Oscars 2020: ‘Parasite,’ Janelle Monáe, Eminem at The Playlist.

After earning
an Oscar nomination for playing Harriet Tubman, and right in time for the
awards ceremony tomorrow night, we’re now getting our first look at Cynthia
Erivo playing none other than Aretha Franklin in season three of the National
Geographic anthology biopic, “Genius.”

READ MORE: ‘McQueen’ Director Brought On To Helm Marianne Faithfull Biopic Starring Lucy Boynton

Erivo has proven
herself as a breakout performer in a short amount of time, with outstanding
roles in “Widows” and “Bad Times at the El Royale,” the last of
which also has her use the musical abilities she has used on the stage to earn
a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in “The Color Purple”
as well as earning a successful career as a singer.

Continue reading Cynthia Erivo Becomes The Queen Of Soul In First Teaser For ‘Genius: Aretha’ at The Playlist.

In a surprise announcement, The Academy has revealed that Billie Eilish will perform during the 2020 Academy Awards telecast on Feb. 9. Eilish just won five Grammy Awards on Sunday night including Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. Eilish is also singing the title track for the next James Bond film, “No Time To Die,” which hits theaters in April.

Are you ready?

Continue reading Grammy Champ Billie Eilish To Perform On The 2020 Oscars Telecast at The Playlist.

Yesterday, some tweets from horror author (and executive producer on about two dozen TV shows and films that are in development based on his stories) Stephen King went viral after the writer decided to use the platform to explain why he didn’t feel that diversity should be a consideration in the selection of awards. As you might expect, this stance caused a bit of controversy.

Today, during a TCA panel (via Deadline), Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo, who stars in the new HBO series “The Outsider” (based on King’s novel of the same name), responded to the comments.

Continue reading ‘The Outsider’ Actress Cynthia Erivo Responds To Stephen King’s Controversial Comments About Diversity at The Playlist.

Oscars nominations day is always a happy day for the nominees and this year’s crop was no different. Even if some of their directors, co-stars or colleagues weren’t nominated alongside them. Here’s a rundown of the official reactions from this year’s Academy Award honorees.

READ MORE: Oscars 2020 Snubs and Surprises: JLo, “Frozen II,” Beyonce and more

“To receive two Oscar nominations for a film paying tribute to Harriet Tubman, a person whose heart and spirit are the embodiment of courage, makes this morning’s news beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

Continue reading Oscar Nomination Reactions: Adam Driver, Cynthia Erivo, Saoirse Ronan at The Playlist.

Some of the biggest music stars in history are in contention for the 2020 Original Song Oscar after the Academy of Motion Pictures announced the shortlist today.  Songwriters Beyonce (“Spirit” from “The Lion King”), Thom Yorke (“Daily Battles” from “Motherless Brooklyn”), Pharrell Williams (“Letter To My Godfather” from “The Black Godfather”) and Elton John (“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman”) are all in contention as well as “Frozen II’s” Kristen Anderson-Lopez and EGOT winner Robert Lopez (“Into the Unknown”).

Continue reading Beyonce, Thom Yorke & ‘Frozen II’ Make Oscar’s 2020 Original Song Shortlist at The Playlist.