movies
Ramy Youssef Sharon Stone A24 Comedy Martha & Muhammad,
Comedian Ramy Youssef and screen legend Sharon Stone will star in Martha & Muhammad, an of-the-moment comedy being produced and financed by A24.
The standup comedian wrote the script and will make his directorial debut on the feature, which tackles several hot button flashpoints as it tells the story of a white widowed socialite in New York who develops a relationship with a young Muslim man. Class, religion, immigration and age are on the table on what promises to be a showcase for both Youssef and Stone.
Youssef is producing via his Cairo Cowboy banner alongside Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, and Josh Safdie of Central, Christopher Storer and Tyson Bidner for American Light & Fixture, and A24.
Production is looking to begin this fall.
The feature is being made at a critical moment in American culture as Middle Eastern representation and the American-Muslim experience gain new levels of prominence. Much of that is being fueled on the political level, with figures such as New York mayor Zohran Mamdani and Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed currently on the frontlines of many conversations on those topics.
Youssef has been tackling the Muslim-American experience for years within his stand-up comedy as well as his Hulu series, Ramy, which earned him a Golden Globe and a Peabody award, as well as a pair of Emmy Award nominations, for acting and directing.
Martha & Muhammad is the latest collaboration between Youssef and A24, which has proven a potent partnership. The team-up birthed Ramy as well as Youssef’s two critically acclaimed comedy specials, Feelings and More Feelings, both of which were nominated for Critics’ Choice and Writers Guild Awards. And the two were also behind Happy Family USA, Prime Video’s hit animated series which is returning for a second season.
Stone is the Hollywood legend who starred with Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct and earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s 1995 crime saga Casino. The actress has been enjoying a resurgence of late and appeared in HBO’s third season of Euphoria. On the feature side, she recently wrapped David Mamet’s Speed the Plow alongside Ben Mendelsohn and has several other movies in the can, including Marc Maron’s ensemble feature In Memoriam as well as AGC Studios’ feature Babies in which she appears with Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick.
Youssef, who earlier this year released his third HBO stand-up special, Ramy Youssef: In Love, is repped by WME, Entertainment 360 and Yorn Levine.
Stone, who was last seen on the big screen as the scene-stealing villainess in Nobody 2, is repped by IAG, The Artists Partnership, Link Entertainment and Brecheen Feldman.
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movies
Connie Britton Pays Tribute To ‘Nashville’ Co-Star Hayden Panettiere
Following her breakout role as cheerleader Claire Bennett on NBC’s Heroes, Hayden Panettiere in 2012 was cast as the co-lead opposite Connie Britton in the ABC country music drama Nashville.
Following Panettiere’s passing at the age of 36, Britton posted a heartfelt tribute on Instagram.
“This was Hayden. Bursting with brilliance, shining so bright,” Britton wrote next to carousel of photos from Nashville. “I have no words for this sad song. Just heartbreak. I love you girl. Sleep easy now. 💔”
Panettiere was actually the first of the two leads to be cast in the show, joined later by the Friday Night Lights star.
The series centered on 40-year-old Nashville superstar Rayna James (Britton) who is stunned to find that her star is fading and her label requires her to team up with teen sensation Juliette Barnes (Panettiere) on tour–or else face the loss of her own tour and the label’s promotion of her latest record, whose sales have been underwhelming.
It was the dynamic between Rayna and Juliette and the chemistry Britton and Panettiere that made Nashville a hit.
In later seasons, the show, which moved from ABC to CMT after four years, chronicled Juliette’s struggles with alcoholism, substance abuse and postpartum depression, all issues Panettiere had been dealing with in real life. She admitted in interviews that doing the storyline that mirrored her experiences was traumatizing.
Panettiere had a rocky tenure on Nashville. Her addiction problems would spiral, impacting production. Meanwhile, she felt that the show did not have her back.
“It’s just shocking to me how little empathy people had,” she said of Nashville a couple of months ago while promoting her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, published this past May. “There were plenty of people who made the choice to not protect me.”
When it came to Britton, Panettiere always had nice things to say, calling her “amazing,” “so supportive” and “just a class act.”
“Just being able to be on screen with her, I was honored,” Panettiere told EW last year.
Nashville came from Lionsgate, which co-produced the series with ABC Studios.
“Lionsgate and the entire Nashville family mourn the tragic passing of Hayden Panettiere, a singular talent who brought so much life, radiance and conviction to the role of Juliette Barnes,” the indie studio, said in a statement. “Her unflinching and nuanced portrayal of a rising star ingenue captivated millions of fans around the world for six wonderful seasons. She has left us far too young, but we are richer for the gifts she shared with us in the many film and television roles she inhabited with so much grace and vitality. Our heartfelt condolences go out to her family and friends.”
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movies
New Yorker’s Ariel Levy To Join ’60 Minutes’ As A Contributor
Ariel Levy, a staff writer at The New Yorker, is joining CBS News‘ 60 Minutes as a contributor.
Executive Producer Nick Bilton wrote, “Ariel is an astonishingly original writer and reporter, fearlessly going to far-flung places and exploring sensitive topics that have driven consequential debates. For nearly three decades, first at New York magazine and then at The New Yorker, she has reported on culture, gender, sexuality, health and the people and ideas shaping modern life in a way that is entirely unique.”
Levy will be the newest addition to the newsmagazine after an overhaul in May, which saw the executive producer replaced and three correspondents fired, including Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and Scott Pelley.
Last month, Bilton announced the hiring of Ross Douthat as correspondent, and Sebastian Junger, Trevor Phillips and Gianna Toboni as contributors. Norah O’Donnell will be a correspondent after contributing to the show.
Levy is the author of a memoir, The Rules Do Not Apply, and Female Chauvinist Pigs, about the rise of raunch culture. She also hosted the podcast The Just Enough Family.
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movies
Lakers Sale: Buss Family Sells Remaining Stake To Bob Iger & Josh Kushner
Bob Iger was feted like a Disney Prince at D23 this past weekend, but the ex-CEO real starturn looks to be scoring an even greater stake in the L.A. Lakers today.
With longtime owners the Buss family voting to tag along with Iger and Josh Kushner’s $12.5 billion purchase last week of the NBA team from Mark Walter, the former House of Mouse boss and brother of Donald Trump‘s number #1 son-in-law now own 83% of the Lakers.
That’s a 17.8% rise over the 65% or so the duo had last week when the purchase off Dodgers shareholder Walter was made public after a frantic 72-hours of bartering.
Kushner’s Thrive Capital did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on enlarged ownership. However, the Buss family were court side with a statement of their own Monday.
“We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction,” the Buss’ said today to ESPN (which Iger used to lord over) after four out of the six siblings voted for the sale. “We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”
As viewers of HBO‘s two-season Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty know, Dr. Jerry Buss bought the team (plus the L.A. Kings and the Forum itself) in 1979 and brought some Tinseltown magic (+ Magic Johnson) to the NBA. Under the Buss family, with patriarch Jerry passing away in 2013, the Lakers snagged 11 NBA Championships. Last year, the family sold control of the organization to Walter for $10 billion. Under investigation for alleged dodgy finances, Walter flipped the team to franchise seeking Iger and Kushner almost as fast as a Kobe lay-up.
Under both Walter and it seemed Iger and Kushner, Jeanie Buss remained a governor of the team. “We have enormous respect and appreciation for Jeanie, her father and what they’ve contributed to this franchise,” Iger told Rupert Murdoch’s The California Post on August “And we have every intention to honor the agreement that was made between Mark and Jeanie. If things change, they’ll change, but we’re going into this with enormous respect and appreciation for who she is and what she represents in the organization.”
That era comes to an end now as NBA rules demand a governor has to own at least 15% of a team.
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