By Express News Service
Disney+’s upcoming limited series Star Wars: Ahsoka began production earlier today.
The Mandalorian spin-off series has Rosario Dawson reprising the titular role of Ahsoka Tano, the Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels character which made its live-action debut in The Mandalorian.
By Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE: The Florida Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to repeal a law allowing Walt Disney World to operate a private government over its properties in the state, escalating a feud with the entertainment giant over its opposition to what critics call the “ Don’t Say Gay ” law.
The proposal could have huge tax implications for Disney, whose series of theme parks have over the decades transformed Orlando into one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. And Democrats have warned that the move could cause local homeowners to get hit with big tax bills if they have to absorb bond debt from Disney — although such details are far from clear.
The measures, pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, come as the governor battles with Disney after the company’s criticism of a new GOP law barring instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade as well as instruction that is not “age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.”
The bill would eliminate the Reedy Creek Improvement District, as the Disney government is known, as well as a handful of other similar districts by June 2023. The measure leaves room for the districts to be reestablished, with a Republican legislative leader signaling a likely restructuring of a 1967 deal that lawmakers struck with the company that allows it to provide services such as zoning, fire protection, utilities and infrastructure.
“By doing it this early, we have until next June or July to this put together, so we’re actually giving ourselves more time to be thoughtful,” Republican Senate President Wilton Simpson told reporters after the vote. “I don’t know how the end will come, but I know that this is a very worthy process that we’re taking and I think whatever comes out of it will be better than what we have today.”
Still, the move represents the latest blow in a culture war harnessed by DeSantis as he runs for reelection and bolsters himself as a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate through staunch opposition to liberal policies on race, gender and abortion.
“If Disney wants to pick a fight, they chose the wrong guy,” DeSantis wrote in a campaign fundraising email Wednesday. “As governor, I was elected to put the people of Florida first, and I will not allow a woke corporation based in California to run our state.”
Democrats, the minority party in the Legislature, have railed against the proposal as clear retaliation against a company that has been a major economic driver in the state.
“Let’s call this what it is, it’s the punitive, petulant political payback to a corporation who dared to say the emperor has no clothes, but if they behave this next election cycle, maybe we’ll put it back together,” said Sen. Gary M. Farmer, a Democrat.
Disney did not return an email seeking comment. The company is one of Florida’s biggest private employers and last year said it had more than 60,000 workers in the state. It is not immediately clear exactly how Disney or neighboring governments would be affected if the district was dissolved.
The push to punish Disney came after it announced it would suspend political donations in the state and said it was committed to supporting organizations working to oppose the state’s new law limiting sexual orientation or gender identify instruction in the classroom.
DeSantis and other Republicans have lashed out at Disney and other critics of the law, arguing that the policy is reasonable and that parents, not teachers, should be addressing such topics with children.
The creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and the control it gave Disney over 27,000 acres (11,000 hectares) in Florida, was a crucial element in the company’s plans to build near Orlando in the 1960s. Company officials said they needed autonomy to plan a futuristic city along with the theme park. The city never materialized, however; instead, it morphed into the Epcot theme park.
The Florida House of Representatives is expected to take up the bill Thursday.
By Express News Service
Actor Wendi McLendon-Covey has joined the cast of Disney+’s upcoming romantic-comedy Prom Pact. Headlined by Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim, the cast of the film also includes Margaret Cho, Monique Green, Arica Himmel, Jason Sakaki, David S Jung, and Blake Draper.
Written by Anthon Lombardo, the film has set Anya Adams as the director. Set at the height of prom season, the film follows high-school senior Mandy Coleman (Lee) and her best friend Ben (Manheim) who are surrounded by over-the-top 80s themed prom proposals.
Mandy, however, has her eyes set on her dream of going to Harvard. When she realises that her acceptance has been deferred, she now has to do something to get her off the waitlist, even if that means asking for help from the one person she abhors – popular all-star jock Graham Lansing, whose father is a powerful senator and Harvard alum. Once Mandy becomes Graham’s tutor, she begins to realize there’s more to him than she thought and perhaps something more to life than Harvard.
McLendon-Covey will play Alyssa, Mandy’s mother and the wife of Tom (Jung). Although she is proud of the person her daughter has become, she wishes that Mandy would take the time to her enjoy her time in high school. McLendon-Covey is best known for her role in Bridesmaids and for playing Beverly Goldberg in The Goldbergs.
By PTI
LOS ANGELES: “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from “Encanto” will have its first live performance at the 94th Oscars, show producers Will Packer and Shayla Cowan announced Friday.
Encanto cast members Adassa, Stephanie Beatriz, Mauro Castillo, Carolina Gaitan and Diane Guerrero, along with Becky G and Luis Fonsi, will perform the song, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is nominated for Best Original Song for Dos Oruguitas, also from Encanto.
The 94th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.
By Express News Service
We had earlier reported that Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim are headlining Disney’s upcoming teen romantic comedy film Prom Pact. The latest is that actor Margaret Cho has joined the cast of the film.The project has also added a slew of new actors to its cast including Monique Green, Arica Himmel, Jason Sakaki, David S Jung, and Blake Draper.
Written by Anthon Lombardo, the film has set Anya Adams as the director. Set at the height of prom season, the film follows high-school senior Mandy Coleman (Lee) and her best friend Ben (Manheim) who are surrounded by over-the-top 80s themed prom proposals.
Mandy, however, has her eyes set on her dream of going to Harvard. When she realises that her acceptance has been deferred, she now has to do something to get her off the waitlist, even if that means asking for help from the one person she abhors – popular all-star jock Graham Lansing, whose father is a powerful senator and Harvard alum.
Once Mandy becomes Graham’s tutor, she begins to realize there’s more to him than she thought and perhaps something more to life than Harvard. Cho is set to play Ms Chen, a witty, sarcastic, and comedic counsellor. Draper will play Graham Lansing, while Green will play popular cheerleader LaToya. Himmel and Sakaki are set to play two of Mandy’s closest friends.
By ANI
WASHINGTON: A fire broke out on the set of Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of ‘Snow White’ at Pinewood Studios in the UK on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Variety, the stage had been under construction for the movie when reportedly a tree caught alight, leading to a huge blaze. “No filming was underway,” a Disney source confirmed.
Photographs show enormous flames next to a mock thatched cottage, with thick smoke all the way up to the ceiling. The fire is believed to have broken out on Pinewood’s Richard Attenborough stage. Image clicked outside the production facility also showed smoke billowing around the outside of the building.
“A set made up of a lot of wood, and trees etc was currently being built in the Richard Attenborough stage. Rumour is a piece of set that has caught alight and spread across the rest of the set. Some crew in the studio were shaken but evacuated without injury,” an unnamed source told a local news outlet.
No casualties have been reported and it is not believed any actors were on set when the fire broke out. The live-action version of the animated classic is set to star Rachel Zegler as the Disney princess and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.
As per Variety, previously, Pinewood sets have caught fire on at least two other occasions: on Ridley Scott’s 1984 film ‘Legend’ and in 2006 during a shoot for Bond film ‘Casino Royale’.
By PTI
LOS ANGELES: “The King’s Man” star Gemma Arterton and Kirby Howell-Baptiste of “The Good Place” fame have boarded the cast of Disney Plus series “Culprits”.
“Candyman” breakout Nathan Stewart-Jarrett was previously announced the lead of the eight-episode show, reported Variety.
It is one of the streamer’s first U K original series to be announced, commissioned under the Star brand.
J Blakeson, best known for the Rosamund Pike-starrer “I Care A Lot”, will direct the first five episodes while Claire Oakley (“Make Up”) is set to direct the remaining three.
Described as a “dark and funny heist series”, the show follows the aftermath of a heist, with the crew being picked off one-by-one by what appears to be a serial killer.
Arterton will play Dianne while Howell-Baptiste will play Officer.
Also part of the cast are Niamh Algar as Psycho, Kamel El Basha as Youssef, newcomer Tara Abboud as Azar, Kevin Vidal as Jules, Ned Dennehy as Devil and Eddie Izzard as Vincent.
A Character 7 production, “Culprits” is executive produced by Stephen Garrett (“The Undoing”) and Blakeson.
Johanna Devereaux will executive produce for Disney Plus.
Morenike Williams, whose previous credits include “Killing Eve”, is on board as a producer.
By Express News Service
Catherine Zeta-Jones has been cast in the Disney+ series National Treasure and she will be joining Lisette Alexis, Zuri Reed, Jordan Rodrigues, Antonio Cipriano, Jake Austin Walker, and Lyndon Smith. The show will be a continuation of the film franchise of the same name according to reports on variety.com.
National Treasure, the series will focus on a young woman, Jess (Alexis), who is a brilliant and resourceful dreamer. She embarks on this adventure of a lifetime to uncover the truth about her family’s past and save a lost Pan-American treasure. Production is set to begin in February in Baton Rouge, LA.
The character that Zeta-Jones will portray is Billie, who is described as a billionaire, black-market antiquities expert, and treasure hunter. She has come a long way—from a penniless orphan to a shrewd, stylish businesswoman and adventurer. Billie’s used to getting what she wants—and she wants the Pan-American treasure.
Rick Muirragui is the writer and also executive producer of the series. Jerry Bruckheimer, Cormac and Marianne Wibberley, Jonathan Littman, and KristieAnne Reed will also serve as executive producers.
By Express News Service
Actors Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Menheim have joined the cast of Disney’s upcoming teen romantic comedy film Prom Pact. The movie is produced by actor Julie Bowen and producer Melvin Mar.
Written by Anthon Lombardo, the movie is set to be directed by Anya Adams. Set at the height of prom season, the film follows high-school senior Mandy Coleman (Lee) and her best friend Ben (Manheim) who are surrounded by over-the-top 80s themed prom proposals. Mandy, however, has her eyes set on her dream of going to Harvard. When she realises that her acceptance has been deferred, she now has to do something to get her off the waitlist, even if that means asking for help from the one person she abhors – popular all-star jock Graham Lansing, whose father is a powerful senator and Harvard alum. Once Mandy becomes Graham’s tutor, she begins to realize there’s more to him than she thought and perhaps something more to life than Harvard.
Mar and his producing partner Jake Kasdan also executive produce under their The Detective Agency banner. Bowen executive produces with her producing partner Rachael Field at Bowen & Sons. Actor Lee also serves as co-producer.
Lee is best-known for starring in titles such as Andi Mack, Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. and Secret Society of Second-Born Royals. Manheim is known for starring in the Zombie TV movie franchise.
By Express News Service
Disney+ has ordered a scripted National Geographic limited series about the Dutch woman who risked her life to shelter Anne Frank’s family from the Nazis for more than two years and then preserved Anne’s diary.
Titled A Small Light, the project is produced by Grey’s Anatomy alums Joan Rater and Tony Phelan, Susanna Fogel, ABC Signature and Keshet Studios.
Written by Rater and Phelan, the story follows the twenty-something Miep Gies, who din’t hesitate even for a moment when her boss Otto Frank came to her and asked her to hide his family from the Nazis during World War II. For the next two years, Miep, her husband Jan, and the other helpers watched over the eight souls (Otto Frank, his wife Edith and daughters Anne and Margot as well as four others) in hiding in the Secret Annex. And it was Miep who found Anne’s Diary and kept it safe so Otto, the only one of the eight who survived, could later share it with the world as one of the most powerful accounts of the Holocaust.
Gies died in 2010 at the age of 100. The title of the series is inspired from something Gies said late in her life: “I don’t like being called a hero because no one should ever think you have to be special to help others. Even an ordinary secretary or a housewife or a teenager can turn on a small light in a dark room.”
A Small Light is produced by ABC Signature in partnership with Keshet Studios. Rater, Phelan and Fogel executive produce alongside Keshet Studios’ Peter Traugott, Keshet International’s Alon Shtruzman and Keshet Media Group’s Avi Nir.
Casting for the seven-episode series is currently underway. Filming is slated to begin in Europe in the upcoming months. Notably, the project marks the second Nat Geo scripted series for Disney+ after The Right Stuff.