Need a quick recap of the past week in movie news? Here are the highlights:
Wonka and the Oscar-caliber actresses: As if the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory prequel wasn’t already prestigious enough with Timothée Chalamet in the lead role, the cast has added some more Oscar-caliber talents. According to Deadline, Academy Award-winning actress Olivia Colman (The Favourite, Netflix’s The Crown) and two-time Oscar-nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water, Blue Jasmine) joined the ensemble cast. Hawkins reunites with Paddington writer/director, Paul King, for the Roald Dahl-inspired project. And Mr. Bean himself, Rowan Atkinson, will also have a role in the musical. Wonka is now shooting in the UK and is set for release on March 17, 2023.
Stanley Tucci is Clive Davis: Speaking of Oscar-caliber talent, actor Stanley Tucci, who was nominated for his work in The Lovely Bones, has been cast in Kasi Lemmons’ Whitney Houston biopic. Deadline reports that Tucci will portray legendary Grammy-winning record executive Clive Davis in I Wanna Dance With Somebody. The real Davis, who is credited with discovering Houston and making her a star, is also a producer on the movie. Tucci has played a few famous figures in his career, including filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, Hollywood executive Jack Warner and gangster Lucky Luciano, but this could be his most prominent. The music-driven drama is due in theaters December 23, 2022.
Randall Park is back for Aquaman 2: In other exciting casting news, superhero franchise favorite Randall Park (Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp and WandaVision) is reprising his role in the DC sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Park will again portray the comic book character Dr. Stephen Shin, a marine biologist whom he previously played in 2018’s Aquaman. The follow-up also just added Indya Moore (FX’s Pose) as the villain Karshon, Portuguese television actress Jani Zhao (South) as someone called Stingray and Vincent Regan (300) as Atlan, the ancient ruler of Atlantis. Aquaman 2 swims into cinemas on December 16, 2022.
Lee Majdoub returns for more Sonic: Another essential supporting player is returning for a sequel, as actor Lee Majdoub confirmed on Twitter that he’s reprising his role as Agent Stone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Fans will remember him as the sidekick to Jim Carrey’s main villain in the 2020 original, which is based on the popular Sonic video games. The highly anticipated follow-up will also bring Carrey back as the nefarious Dr. Robotnik (a.k.a. Dr. Eggman) as well as his fellow live-action cast mates James Marsden and Tika Sumpter. Idris Elba joins them as the voice of Knuckles and Ben Schwartz is again voicing the title character. Sonic 2 will be racing into theaters on April 8, 2022.
