Happy Monday! As has been the case with the past few weeks, a busy End of Week Production Notes generally means that things will be a little slower on Monday.
On Friday, we got word of the death of a crew member on the set of ABC‘s The Conners, and we now have more information after the cast of the show dedicated the third season to a member of its audio crew named Terrel Richmond. Michael Fishman, who plays D.J. Conner on the show, shared a touching tribute to the late Richmond, originally posted by director Jody Margolin Hahn, a picture of the season finale clapboard with “In memory of Terrell” written across the top.
“Yesterday, we lost a dear member of our audio crew, Terrel Richmond. Today, we shoot our final episode of @theconnersabc Season 3 in loving memory of a lovely man,” it stated on the original post to which Fishman added, “We shared a stage, a large portions of our lives, and we will forever be connected.”
Richmond died on Friday after suffering a medical emergency while walking on the catwalk of Stage 22 at the CBS Studio Center. Production company Werner Entertainment released a statement to Deadline saying, “With heavy hearts we regret to confirm that a member of our technical crew suffered a fatal medical event today. He was a much loved member of The Conners and Roseanne families for over 25 years. As we remember our beloved colleague, we ask that you respect the privacy of his family and loved ones as they begin their grieving process.”
On Sunday evening, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced the winners for its 2021 Writers Guild Awards with Emerald Fennell ‘s Original Screenplay for Promising Young Woman winning in that category, and the mass of writers behind Sacha Baron Cohen‘s Borat Subsequent Film were honored for their Adapted Screenplay since that’s where sequels are categorized. The Dissident received the WGA Award for Documentary Screenplay. Ted Lasso and The Crown continued their streak, winning for their screenplays for Comedy and Drama series, respectively. Showtime‘s Desus & Mero won the WGA for Comedy/Variety Talk Series. The Producers Guild of America will announce its winners this coming Wednesday night, and then we get a week off before the Make-up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild announce their awards on March 31.
A few quick casting tidbits:
According to Deadline, Daniel Radcliffe, star of the blockbuster Harry Potter series, has joined Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in Paramount Pictures‘ Lost City of D, playing the film’s villain. Adam and Aaron Nee are directing the film thats being produced by Bullock through her Fortis Films with Liza Chasin and 3dot Productions, while Seth Gordon‘s Exhibit A is also producing. The film is about “a reclusive romance novelist (Bullock) who was sure nothing could be worse than getting stuck on a book tour with her cover model (Tatum) until a kidnapping attempt sweeps them both into a cutthroat jungle adventure, proving life can be so much stranger, and more romantic, than any of her paperback fictions.”
Actor James Ransone is reuniting with director Scott Derrickson for the latter’s new horror film, The Black Phone, Ransone having appeared in Derrickson’s horror film Sinister, as well as starring in its sequel, Sinister 2, It: Chapter 2 and Ti West‘s In a Valley of Violence. Ethan Hawke, who had the leading role in Sinister, is also appearing in The Black Phone.
Also in Deadline, MGM is close to buying the “Hot Package” Combat Control, in which Jake Gyllenhaal will play Medal of Honor Winner, John Chapman, with Extraction director Sam Hargrave at the helm. Gyllenhaal will executive produce with Hideaway Entertainment co-financing, its CEO Jonathan Gray producing with President Matthew Rhodes and VP Kristy Grisham. Hargrave’s collaborator Shelby Malone will act as associate producer.
Combat Control is based on the true story of war hero Chapman, a Combat Control Technician who died in battle in Afghanistan on March 4, 2002, although it took fifteen years to figure out what happened, with Air Force Captain Cora Alexander given the task to investigate whether Chapman was a worthy recipient of the Medal of Honor or not. Michael Russell Gunn is adapting Dan Schilling and Lori Chapman Longfritz’s New York Times bestseller, Alone at Dawn, with Schilling acting as a military consultant on the movie.
Although the box office is very slowly working its way back, things are definitely improving on a week-to-week basis, especially now that both Los Angeles and New York movie theaters have now reopened, and people are slowly going back to make sure that they’re safe with new COVID protocols in place. In fact, it was reported that the box office from L.A. alone was over $1 million this past weekend. The two returning family films, Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon and Warner Bros‘ Tom and Jerry, both held on well in first and second place with $5.5 million and $3.8 million respectively. Opening in third place, Roadside Attractions‘ spy-thriller The Courier, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, brought in $2 million from the 1,433 theaters, earning roughly $1,400 per theater. Things are likely to continue to be slow as people slowly adjust to movie theaters being open again, but I expect Warner Bros‘ Godzilla vs. Kong, opening March 31, to really kick the box office in the butt for the first time in months.
No new trailer to share today, so that’s it until Friday.