A couple days ago, Neon announced that they will be releasing the horror film Cuckoo, which stars Hunter Schafer (Euphoria), in just a few months, on May 3rd. Now Deadline reports that Schafer has signed on to star in another genre project, the psychological horror thriller Palette, where she’ll be sharing the screen with Noomi Rapace (Prometheus).
The screenplay for Palette landed on the Black List last year, the Black List being an annual survey of the most-liked screenplays that are bouncing around in the system but haven’t been produced yet. Now this one is going into production with writer Zach Strauss at the helm. This will be the first feature directing credit for Strauss, who has also written Spike Lee’s upcoming film Da Understudy and episodes of the Frankie Shaw Showtime series SMILF.
Palette will see Schafer taking on the role of Dolly, a woman suffering from extreme synesthesia, a rare condition through which she is able to hear colors. She is recruited into a secretive, cult-like industry of color design, where she discovers the dark reality of what it takes to make the world’s greatest hues. Rapace’s character is “the company’s enigmatic executive Latrice”. Frankie Shaw is also in the cast and will be playing Sidney, “Dolly’s cutthroat rival.”
Strauss provided the following statement: “I feel beyond lucky to be making this dark and twisted movie with a truly exceptional cast and with such incredible partners in Anton, I know we’re going to create something really special.“
Producer John Zois noted that Strauss has written a “compelling and completely distinctive” screenplay, and went on to say, “We are putting together a team that will bring the stunning visuals of the story to the screen. Hunter and Noomi are truly perfect for our two leads and I cannot wait to see them bring these rich and unique characters to life. We could not be more excited about this film.“
Zois is producing Palette with Sebastien Raybaud for Anton, while Shaw and Strauss produce for Uncle Pete Productions. Ryan Christians is also a producer on the project. Schafer serves as an executive producer alongside Brandt Wrightsman of Anton and Ross Dinerstein of Campfire Studios. Anton will be presenting a sizzle reel to potential buyers at the European Film Market. CAA Media Finance and Verve Ventures co-rep the film’s US rights with Anton.
Are you interested in seeing Hunter Schafer, Noomi Rapace, and Frankie Shaw in a psychological horror thriller? Share your thoughts on Palette by leaving a comment below.
As smash hit survival and animal-catching game Palworld is still in Early Access, bugs and hiccups are to be expected. The game’s developer, Pocketpair, has been quick to address many of the game’s more frustrating bugs, including issues with its respec item which were plaguing players. The latest patch continues the…
As smash hit survival and animal-catching game Palworld is still in Early Access, bugs and hiccups are to be expected. The game’s developer, Pocketpair, has been quick to address many of the game’s more frustrating bugs, including issues with its respec item which were plaguing players. The latest patch continues the…
Video games have always had a hit-or-miss relationship with adaptations. For every fantastic movie or series, there are countless mediocre cahs-grabs that pad studio IP and disappoint fans. But, most of those lackluster productions seem to be a thing of the past as we have entered a wonderful era of quality video game series and films. Two years ago, the long-awaited live-action take on Halo arrived on Paramount+ with Pablo Schreiber in the lead as Master Chief. The series was good enough to warrant a renewal but with a new showrunner brought in to pull the story in a new direction. The result is the far superior second season of Halo, premiering this week (read our review HERE).
The second season of Halo follows the events of the first which found the war between ONI/USMC and Covenant ramping up. Master Chief and his Silver Team encountered Makee (Charlie Murphy) and a slew of enemies they had to combat while also learning the truth of who and what they are from the duplicitous Dr. Halsey (Natascha McElhonne). This year, things have changed as Halsey is replaced by James Ackerson (Joseph Morgan), the Covenant widens its attacks, and the fate of Dr. Halsey is revealed. With new characters and returning favorites, there is more action in this new season of Halo along with better character development for everyone in the ensemble.
I recently chatted with the cast and crew of Halo’s second season. New showrunner David Wiener talked about taking the foundation of the first season and broadening the story this year. Microsoft game honcho Kiki Wolfkill discussed what makes Halo as a television series so unique compared to the best-selling video games. Joseph Morgan discussed joining the cast as a character whose true intentions are hard to fathom while Bokeem Woodbine talked about what is different about playing Soren compared to other roles in his career. I also spoke with star Pablo Schreiber about how playing Master Chief this season differed from last time around. Check out the full interviews in the embed above.
The second season of Halo premieres on February 8th on Paramount+.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was featured heavily during Sony’s January State of Play presentation. The PlayStation 5 sequel is coming out in 2025, but while it’s still over a year away, we did learn a lot about it in the nearly 10 minutes of new footage from the show. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, for a game helmed by…
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was featured heavily during Sony’s January State of Play presentation. The PlayStation 5 sequel is coming out in 2025, but while it’s still over a year away, we did learn a lot about it in the nearly 10 minutes of new footage from the show. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, for a game helmed by…
After a brief halt in production, AMC was able to secure “significant agreements” with the SAG-AFTRA actors union that allowed them to continue filming Interview with the Vampire season 2 during the SAG strike last year, keeping the show on track for its 2024 premiere… and now we know exactly when that premiere is going to happen. Entertainment Weekly reports that Interview with the Vampire season 2 is set to begin airing on AMC on Sunday, May 12th.
Anne Rice’s novel Interview with the Vampire centers on the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac as he relates the story of his life to a reporter, in particular how he was turned into a vampire and then mentored by Lestat de Lioncourt. Season 2 of the TV series will pick up in the year 2022, with vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac recounting his life story to journalist Daniel Molloy after the bloody events in New Orleans in 1940 when Louis and teen vampire Claudia tried to kill Lestat de Lioncourt. The adventure continues as Louis and Claudia escape to Europe on a quest to discover Old World Vampires and the Theatre Des Vampires in Paris, and it’s there that Louis meets vampire Armand. Louis and Armand’s love affair will prove to have devastating consequences both in the past and in the future.
Executive producer Mark Johnson has previously said that Interview with the Vampire season 2 takes place in the 1790s, 1940s, 1970s, and 2023.
The new season stars Sam Reid as the vampire Lestat; Jacob Anderson as Lestat’s companion Louis de Pointe du Lac; Assad Zaman as Rashid, Louis’ companion in present day; Kalyne Coleman as Louis’ sister Grace; Christian Robinson as Levi, an upstanding Baptist who has won Grace’s heart; and Eric Bogosian as Daniel Molloy, an investigative journalist nearing the end of his career who’s given a second chance at the interview of a lifetime. For season 2, Ben Daniels (Foundation) joins the cast as the vampire Santiago. And while Bailey Bass played the vampire Claudia in the first season, Delainey Hayles takes over the role in the new season.
Guest stars include David Costabile (Suits) as Leonard, “a seasoned TV personality who has a run-in with Molloy”; Roxane Duran (Riviera) as Madeleine, and Bally Gill (Slow Horses) as “Real Rashid.”
Alan Taylor, who directed the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, executive produces Interview with the Vampire and directed the first two episodes of the show. Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul producer Mark Johnson is overseeing the building of AMC’s Vampire Chronicles franchise. Rolin Jones, co-creator and showrunner on the first season of the HBO series Perry Mason, is the creator, showrunner, and writer of the Interview with the Vampire series. Jones and Johnson executive produce the show alongside Taylor. Anne Rice’s son Christopher Rice is also on board as executive producer, and Rice receives an executive producer credit as well.
What did you think of the first season of Interview with the Vampire? Will you be tuning in when season 2 premiers in May? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Taylor Sheridan’s new Yellowstone spin-off is currently undergoing negotiations that could keep some of the popular stars from the original series from reprising their roles. However, all the behind-the-scenes drama will not deter the hitmaker from concentrating on his future projects. It was announced this week that Landman, Sheridan’s new show that he created along with Christian Wallace, has started production. The series is headlined by Billy Bob Thornton, but The Hollywood Reporter has now revealed that Demi Moore is set to join the cast.
Demi Moore is currently starring in the new FX drama, Feud: Capote vs The Swans. She will be continuing her TV run in Landman as Cami, the “wife to one of the most powerful oil men in Texas and a friend of Tommy Norris (Thornton).” The official description for the series reads, “Set in the proverbial boomtowns of West Texas, Landman is a modern-day tale of fortune-seeking in the world of oil rigs. Based on the notable 11-part podcast Boomtown, the series is an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires fueling a boom so big, it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.”
Landman also stars Ali Larter of The Last Victim, Michelle Randolph, from Sheridan’s other series 1923, Jacob Lofland, who can be seen in the upcoming sequel to Todd Phillips’ Joker, Kayla Wallace, seen in When Calls the Heart, James Jordan, who also worked on Yellowstone, Mark Collie, from Nashville and Paulina Chávez, whose credits include The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia.
The production started in and around Fort Worth, Texas. Landman is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios, 101 Studios and Sheridan’s Bosque Ranch Productions. Moore joins the impressive list of veteran actors who star in Sheridan’s shows, including Kevin Costner, Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren and Nicole Kidman. Michelle Pfeiffer is also being courted for the Yellowstone sequel show.
Howard Stern has been one of the most controversial – and revered – figures in the history of modern media. With a passion for the field as a child, Stern’s climb to the top of the radio world truly began in the ‘80s. And he did it off of his unique, button-pressing, FCC-clashing brand and humor: the boobs, the prank calls, the Wack Pack, all of it all made Howard Stern one of the most recognizable figures in all of media. And so as his markets grew and his written word topped the charts – but long before his first $500 million contract with Sirius – it was time for Stern to enter the movie business…with something a little more commercially viable than BUTT BONGO FIESTA.
So how did the guy who mocked his wife’s miscarriage on the air and flipped the bird to nearly every boss he’s ever had even get his own shot in Hollywood? How did he micromanage his own book into a motion picture? How did he further solidify himself as the King of All Media? Let’s find out: WTF Happened to this movie?!
Private Parts began, as with so many movies, with a fart. Well, a Fartman, Howard Stern’s flatulent superhero who you might remember from the 1992 VMAs. That same year, there were plans at New Line Cinema to make The Adventures of Fartman with Pretty Woman’s J.F. Lawton writing, which was eventually shelved over PG-13 vs. R debates and merchandising rights.
And then came Howard Stern’s private parts – the book that is, a 1993 New York Times Best Seller that was the “fastest selling autobiography of all time”. Set up at Rysher Entertainment, the book would be fast-tracked into production as Stern’s feature debut, with the shock jock getting linked to the likes of Paramount producer David Kirkpatrick, director John G. Avildsen (Rocky) and screenwriter Peter Torokvei (since changed to PJ), whose credits included Back to School and Caddyshack II.
Torokvei would complete the script – which would cover Stern’s youth up until around 1993 – but it was not approved by Stern, who had worked final screenplay approval into his contract. As it turns out, this would be one of nearly two dozen drafts that Stern rejected, citing how boring they were becoming with each subsequent rewrite. But we’re still not sure what’s so boring about Richard Simmons running around Stern’s house in a pink tutu and Stern riding an elephant down Fifth Avenue, both events in drafts and part of studio pitches. In would come, at various points, “Private Parts” book editor Larry Sloman, Michael Kalesniko, Laurice Elehwany (the My Girl movies), and TV writer Rick Copp. By November 1994, Avildsen was fed up with all of the rewrites and bailed – although his career could have used a hit after two consecutive Razzie nominations. As Kirkpatrick put it, “To say Howard is difficult is an understatement.”
Three months later, Stern had yet to formally approve a shooting script, leading to speculation as to whether the movie would even come out, that he might be nervous that it wouldn’t be a success. Stern had genuine concerns over how his story would be told, saying the script had to avoid any “sugarcoating”, that it had to be real and bring both sides of his personality to the screen. “I wanted the movie to feel like there was a camera hidden in the room somewhere and you were eavesdropping on my life.” Stern would rehire hired Kalesniko and bring in Len Blum (Meatballs, Stripes), who wasn’t initially a fan of Stern, calling him “dangerous”, but wound up liking him after realizing he had laughed harder than he had in 20 years after meeting him. He, too, imagined the movie like “the Annie Hall of the ‘90s” — and while it did hit on the comedy-romance and had protagonist interjections, unfortunately, there were no animated sequences. Stern would also call the project a love letter to his wife…who he would divorce in 2001.
Not long after he lost his director, Stern paired up with Ivan Reitman, not as director but producer. Directorial duties instead would go to Betty Thomas (The Late Shift), and no doubt a female in the role gave Private Parts some extra clout, as Stern was frequently accused of being misogynistic. Thomas wasn’t sure she could stomach him (although her boyfriend was a fan), which was actually a perk as far as Reitman saw it. To her surprise, she was won over by Stern almost immediately.
And so casting could begin on Private Parts. While we all know that the core group – Stern, Robin Ophelia Quivers, Fred Norris, and Jackie Martling – would all play themselves, at one point the studio threatened to hire Jeff Goldblum as the lead, to which Stern responded, “That will be the biggest bomb in history. The Fly as Howard Stern?” (Stern would be played in various adolescent and teenage years by Bobby Boriello, Michael Maccarone and Matthew Friedman). This core group was so close-knit, having shared tight quarters for years, that they would often go on tangents during filming, with Thomas saying “they would never shut up!”
Two other key roles would go to Mary McCormack as then-wife Allison Stern (Julia Louis-Dreyfus was an early choice) and Paul Gimatti as Pig Vomit aka Kenny Rushton (based on Kevin “Pig Virus” Metheny), who actually beat out Philip Seymour Hoffman. Other supporting roles would be rounded out by the likes of Allison Janney, Richard Portnow, Kelly Bishop, Michael Murphy, Carol Alt, and even a young Sarah Hyland, who plays one of Stern’s daughters.
And who can forget the Wack Pack, with Crackhead Bob and Nicole Bass turning up. Sadly, Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf didn’t meet Stern until around the time filming wrapped. There, too, is Gary “Baba Booey” Dell’Abate in a small role — casual fans would ask why he wasn’t more prominent in Private Parts, not knowing they didn’t meet until after the events in the movie. David Letterman even reenacted an interview segment from the ‘80s but refused to wear a time-appropriate wig, while porn star Jenna Jameson was so comfortable being naked that she grabbed grub at the craft service table completely nude! There, too, are cameos from “Stuttering John” Melendez, Mia Farrow, Ozzy, Ted Nugent, Slash, John Stamos, and so many more. And behind the scenes a young Eli Roth worked as a production assistant, tinkering with a script during down time that would eventually become Cabin Fever.
With a budget pegged between $25-28 million, filming on Private Parts began on May 2nd, 1996. The first scenes shot (actually two months before principal photography) were Dell’Abate’s, which are interspersed throughout the story. The first day for Stern, however, was more trying than getting women to take their tops off, finding the filmmaking process incredibly slow and boring. It took a few days for him to get acclimated and another couple weeks to get the feel for being in front of the camera, so obsessed that he would constantly want to rewatch his scenes on the playback monitor. This was one of director Thomas’ greatest challenges: getting the star to not be camera-shy (hey, he does have a face for radio…). But despite saying it was “not an easy shoot”, Thomas pulled it off, getting what is undoubtedly one of the best performances by someone playing themselves. Over time, she even said they would have been a “hot couple”! Hey, it makes more sense than him and Beth…Still, even when he did finally loosen up, Stern would ad-lib too much, forcing Thomas to make him stick to the script. Another instance of Thomas’ directing tactics was when she couldn’t get the right reaction when Allison tells Howard she’s pregnant. To finally nail it, she told Stern she had ovarian cancer, getting just the sort of response she needed.
But Stern was also putting in the work, insisting on sheer authenticity. Many interiors were shot at Silvercup Studios in New York, with replicas of Stern’s early booths produced. In these, he had to make sure everything on the boards worked so he could hear himself, as would be the case when he’s actually on air. He even studied his own voice from his college days of DJing to get what Ben Stern would call “proper modulation.”
Stern, too, would work tremendously strenuous and draining hours, showing up some of Hollywood’s biggest prima donnas, always a target of mockery on his show. Production took place around the greater New York area not just for authenticity but to match Stern’s schedule, as he hosted his show every single morning (mind you, this was before he became a part-time basement dweller). Since his show started at 6:00 a.m., that meant 4:00 a.m. wakeup calls for Stern, nothing new for him. What was was that shooting nights mostly put him in bed by 9 p.m. but some were scheduled to end as late as 2 a.m.
After some minor delays, filming on Private Parts would end in August…although some reshoots would be necessary, causing Stern to delay rhinoplasty, although he still got surgery done before all of them were done. Tragically for Stern, there is still one shot in the movie that he objects to because of the way his schnoz looks. Oh, and for those wondering, yes, that is a metal stunt penis used for Stern’s erection scene.
The first cut of Private Parts reportedly clocked in at two and a half hours. It would end up being trimmed to an agreeable 109 minutes, but no doubt Stern acolytes want the director’s cut. Perhaps shockingly, test screenings for Private Parts were wildly successful, with Paramount saying scores were as high as they had seen since Forrest Gump.
Private Parts would have its world premiere on February 27th, 1997 at Madison Square Garden, with Porno for Pyros and Rob Zombie performing, with the latter giving a rendition of “The Great American Nightmare”, which would become Stern’s theme song on his radio show. The event, fittingly, was called “the quintessential, insane New York event”.
Private Parts opened on March 7th, 1997, debuting at #1 with $14.6 million, topping Disney’s Jungle 2 Jungle and even the special edition of The Empire Strikes Back (then in its third week). It would eventually gross $41.2 million, making it a success, something Stern had gotten well used to in his career.
Riding off of this, Stern and company took his show to the Cannes Film Festival to promote the movie in the international market…with a 40-foot inflatable recreation of the poster. And – also as he had grown accustomed to – Stern attracted widespread attention, this time from foreign dignitaries. Such a stunt caught the eye of then-French president Jacques Chirac, who reportedly objected outright. As such, Rhyser Entertainment reps deflated the naked Stern upon request…blowing it back up once the president left!
Although Stern didn’t get the Oscar like he did in the end credits, he did get nominated for the Worst New Star Razzie, but “lost” to Dennis Rodman in Double Team. He, too, would snag a Golden Satellite nomination. In 2000, the American Film Institute even nominated it as one of the funniest movies ever, making it one of the more recent (for the time) recognitions.
Private Parts wasn’t just the perfect movie for Howard Stern fans and a hit with critics; it landed remarkably well on network TV, too, which might be surprising considering it has an onscreen female orgasm, a kielbasa queen and Fred Norris in a bathtub. The month after it premiered, USA paid $7 million for the TV rights; in this version (which wasn’t altered in the traditional sense), Stern recorded additional footage providing commentary on the censorship, which was mostly bleeped naughty words and blurred naughty bits.
As with the book, Private Parts kept Howard Stern on top as the King of All Media. And while a sequel almost feels natural, those days are long gone as Stern hits 70 in 2024. Instead, we almost got something far less warranted: an animated series called Howard Stern: The High School Years. But he was a star, even reportedly tied to a Melanie Griffith movie and the role of Scarecrow in the never-produced Batman Triumphant. He, too, was offered the role of Bradley Cooper’s brother in A Star Is Born. Now there’s something even more frightening than his wet tighty-whities!
With the release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth only weeks away, it’s becoming abundantly clear that Square Enix is playing fast and loose with the original game’s script. That was true of FF7 Remake, but the most recent State of Play, focused entirely on Rebirth, was a bounty of spoilers and scenes that suggest this…
