Behind the Scenes Buzz

BILL BELLAMY JOINS OCTAVIA SPENCER IN MADAM CJ WALKER: Bill Bellamy has joined the forthcoming Netflix series Madam CJ Walker, which will follow the true story of the black hair care pioneer. Octavia Spencer is starring as Walker and producing with LeBron James. Bellamy will play Sweetness, a banker inspired by Walker’s success, who is determined to partner with her. Tiffany Haddish, Carmen Ejogo, Blair Underwood, Garrett Morris and Kevin Carroll also star in the series, which will launch in 2020.

FIRST CLIP FOR THE PAINTED BIRD LANDS: The first look at The Painted Bird, the black-and-white, 35mm adaptation of the Jerzy Kosinski (Being There) novel of the same name was published on Deadline Wednesday. The film is described as an “evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II.” The cast is led by Petr Kotlar, and includes Harvey Keitel and Julian Sands.

A RAINY DAY TO OPEN FRENCH FESTIVAL: Woody Allen‘s A Rainy Day in New York isn’t being released in the U.S., but it is getting plenty of traction overseas. The film has been set to open France’s Deauville American Film Festival on September 6^th. A Rainy Day stars Timothe Chalamet and Elle Fanning.

JON FAVREAU TALKS GOLEM: Jon Favreau sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to discuss his new venture, Golem Creations. Favreau said: “My fascination is with where technology and storytelling overlap. Mlis, the Lumire brothers, Walt Disney, Jim Cameron. It comes from the tradition of stage magic. When you have a tech breakthrough like Star Wars, like Avatar, like Jurassic Park, people’s minds go into a fugue state where they just accept this illusion as reality. What’s also enjoyable about it for me is that you’re not being tricked by it, you’re complicit in that you are agreeing to suspend your disbelief if the spectacle is sufficiently enjoyable. That’s why Star Wars is so enduring and why we’re surrounded [here] by artwork for Star Wars, why that’s a world I want to play in because it’s tech and myth coming together in a perfect way.”