Eddie Murphy is considering a return to music -- but never with raunchy rapper Megan Thee Stallion.
In the March 11 episode of Tamron Hall, Eddie -- who appears with his daughter Bella -- talked about the much-anticipated sequel Coming 2 America, which premieres on March 5 on Amazon Prime.
Tamron Hall
Tamron asked him if he would ever consider recording new music. The comedian peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his Rick James-produced club hit "Party All the Time" in 1985.
According to Eddie, if he ever did go back into the studio, it wouldn't be with rapper Megan Thee Stallion.
"Megan Thee Stallion?! I'm 59, I can't be doing nothing with no Megan Thee Stallion," he laughs. "You know how crazy I would look doing something with Megan Thee Stallion? I'm gonna be 60 in April. I can't be having Megan Thee Stallion doing her stuff and I'm standing next to her with my old ass playing my guitar.
"I have my first grandchild," he adds of his son Miles' baby girl. "Once you're a grandpa, you can't do no tracks with Megan Thee Stallion."
Charlize Theron, star of action films like Mad Max: Fury Road, is down for an all lesbian "Die Hard" with herself as a lesbian Bruce Willis lead.
She made the pitch in response to one fan who tweeted: "Lesbian Christmas rom coms are all well and good but what I REALLY want is a Die Hard where Charlize Theron goes on a rampage to save her wife."
Theron retweeted the post and added: "Where do I sign?"
In a new Vanity Fair interview, she stated, "It's a great idea. That's why I replied on Twitter, because I just thought it was kind of brilliant. I was like, 'This person needs to start pitching. That's a great idea', and the fact it would be two women, I was like, 'Yeah, sign me on'."
But the lesbian community is not eager for an all-lesbian "Die Hard" remake with an all-heterosexual female cast.
Here are just a sample of the responses on Twitter:
One user wrote:
"If it got greenlit there would be 2 factions on twitter condemning it, Die Hard fans and those who think Charlize Theron would be taking an acting role away from a lesbian actor."
Another user wrote:
"Please no, just make a good movie with strong female characters. Charlie's Angels and Ghostbusters remakes were disasters. Stop trying to make a point and make a good move."
And a third user tweeted:
"Of course ride the name for money and make this change, because Hollywood can't simply make a new and original movie, that would be too hard."
When the comedy film "Coming To America" premiered in theaters in 1988, Black women everywhere expressed their dismay that Eddie Murphy's character, Prince Akeem had colorism issues.
At issue was Vanessa Bell Calloway's character, Imani, who was groomed by her father to be Akeem's obedient and subservient wife.
On the day they were to be married, Akeem ordered her to "bark like a dog" and "hop on one leg" in a humiliating and degrading manner.
Akeem and his loyal man servant traveled to New York to pick his queen, Lisa, an arrogant and self-entitled light skinned woman, not a dark-skinned, regal, beautiful African woman like his mother, the Queen.
Leon Bennett/Getty Images
In an interview with Page Six, Calloway confirmed suspicions that colorism issues played a role in her casting as Murphy's queen-to-be.
"When you have white people hiring Black people in movies, sometimes a certain look is wanted," said Calloway, who added that Murphy and the other executives "wanted a light-skinned girl" to play Lisa.
"I just wasn't light enough. Even though Eddie had the final say on who played Lisa."
YouTube
Murphy chose Shari Headley to play the part of Lisa McDowell.
"That's something that we've always dealt with within our race: A lot of men were indoctrinated by having a white woman or light-skinned woman on their arm," Calloway said. "I didn't want the part of Imani, I wanted to be Lisa -- I had read the script and I wanted the bigger role."
Black female moviegoers shared her frustration. They wrote letters to Murphy, the movie production company, and Ebony and Jet magazines, voicing their outrage over the optics of a stunningly beautiful African woman barking like a dog onscreen. While Lisa received $500,000 diamond and ruby earrings.
Calloway ultimately accepted the part despite her disappointment.
"The real deal is, when you're in a situation like that, you wanna be a part of an Eddie Murphy movie. I wasn't gonna say no! I would've loved to have had the lead part, but I was very happy to be in the movie. I can't lie about that. I said, 'I'll make the best out of this and I'll be the best.' It was a smaller role but it was a glamorous part to play. And Shari did a great job."
Whitney Houston fans don't want to see a Bodyguard remake with rapper Cardi B in the lead role as an iconic singer.
The movie and soundtrack launched Whitney's career into the stratosphere after the film premiered in 1992. Whitney's debut role made her the biggest pop star in the world.
In the 1992 movie, Kevin Costner played a sexy Secret Service agent who guarded Whitney with his life.
BACKGRID
It's hard to imagine the Bronx rapper as a pop singer who begins an affair with her studly bodyguard (Channing Tatum).
Many on social media pleaded with Cardi not to ruin a classic film.
On Tuesday, Cardi lashed out at the haters with a cryptic warning on Twitter.com.
"I'm tired of people coming for me. It's going to be a day when I explode and I really don't want to go back to my old self."
This is an open post where you can discuss any subject matter. This post will not be censored or moderated. Disqus may automatically moderate certain words considered offensive. There are no rules in Open Posts. So enter at your own risk.
Now that the Covid-19 outbreak is nearly over, Hollywood has gone into overdrive producing movies and television projects.
One upcoming project about racial identity is sure to have tongues wagging.
For three years, Rebecca Hall had been struggling to find financing for her racial identity movie, Passing.
The movie's premise -- about minority women passing as white -- was considered too controversial.
In 2018, Hall approached producing partners Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker, who had financially backed other films. They were blown away by Hall's script and decided to back her directorial debut.
MTRX / BACKGRID
The film — starring Tessa Thompson (right) and Ruth Negga — is shot in black-and-white. It will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 30.
Thompson and Negga, who are both mixed race, explained why now is the perfect time for a film about women embracing their mixed-race heritage.
"As a British woman of Welsh and Nigerian parentage, I was struck by how resonant and contemporary the theme of Passing still is," Thompson said. "Even in this moment as some of the old binaries break down or become more fluid, others remain stubbornly resistant."
Negga added: "Being a mixed-race person, I think that it naturally informed Clare. Feelings of perhaps alienation, of being different, about trying to find your place. But it's very hard for me to find distinct experiences. And even if I did, I'm not sure if I'd be comfortable articulating them because I think sometimes that's one's personal journey to a character, really."
In a 2018 interview with Deadline, director Hall, who is also mixed race, said, "I came across the novel at a time when I was trying to reckon creatively with some of my personal family history, and the mystery surrounding my bi-racial grandfather on my American mother's side. In part, making this film is an exploration of that history, to which I've never really had access."
Actor Neil Patrick Harris says it's "sexy" for straight actors to play LGBT+ roles.
The former child star, best known for his role as Doogie Howser, M.D., is bucking the trend of shaming straight actors for playing LGBT+ roles.
He even said it can be "sexy" to cast a straight actor in same-sex relationships on the screen, according to the NY Post.
"I think there's something sexy about casting a straight actor to play a gay role — if they're willing to invest a lot into it," Harris, 47, told The Times.
Harris later explained that straight actors should do more than ghey for pay -- they should be willing to participate in steamy sex scenes with another man on-screen.
Heterosexual actor Darren Criss, who played the late fashion icon Gianni Versace, announced in 2018 that he will no longer take on roles that could be filled by LGBT+ actors.
Hollywood movie houses and TV producers say they will increase LGBT+ visibility 40% in roles in 2021.
Amazon Studios Announces the Royal Arrival of Coming 2 America's Official Teaser Trailer and Official Movie Poster.
Set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi (Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new hilarious adventure that has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens, New York – where it all began in 1988.
Amazon Studios
Available March 5th on Prime Video. Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, with Wesley Snipes and James Earl Jones.
Also starring John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Paul Bates, Nomzamo Mbatha, Bella Murphy.
Screenplay by: Kenya Barris and Barry W. Blaustein & David Sheffield
Story by: Barry W. Blaustein & David Sheffield and Justin Kanew
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Based on characters created by: Eddie Murphy
Produced by: Kevin Misher and Eddie Murphy
Costumes by: Ruth E. Carter
Amazon Studios will exclusively release COMING 2 AMERICA globally on Prime Video March 5th, 2021.
Justin Timberlake has teamed up with Apple TV to promote transgenderism in a new film titled Palmer. Timberlake plays a hardened ex-con in the Deep South who befriends a boy who thinks he's a girl.
YouTube/ Apple TV
According to IMDB.com, the ex-con meets the boy, who is a neighbor from a single parent home, and strikes up an unlikely friendship with him.
The boy, who is constantly bullied by adults and children, is abandoned by his mother, and Timberlakes steps in to raise the boy. No, this isn’t the hick town version of Moonlight.
YouTube/ Apple TV
Palmer checks off all the diversity and inclusion boxes. Black actress Stacie Davis plays one of the few sympathetic adults in the film. Her film credits include The Wire (2002) and Lottery Ticket (2010).
Arsenio Hall (left) is feeling the pressure for Coming 2 America to be successful after reading social media comments.
Social media followers warned the Arsenio and his co-stars not to mess up the sequel to the much-loved original classic.
The 64-year-old actor reprises his role as Semmi alongside Eddie Murphy's Prince Akeem in the long-awaited comedy sequel to 1988 film Coming to America. He admits that after reading comments from fans on Twitter he is now aware of just how meaningful the original movie was to people.
"I'm a big social media nut," Arsenio explained. "Eddie's not so much into social media. One day we're sitting at his house, and I'm looking at something. I'm reading different stuff. I guess I said something like, 'Wow'. He said, 'What?' It was somebody tweeting saying, 'Don't y'all f**k it up.' I was like, 'I never thought about it that way.'"
Arsenio continued: "Here's what I got out of the entire tweet, 'That's our movie. My daddy used to make us watch that once a year like The Wizard of Oz at the house. Don't y'all f**k it up.'"
Amazon Studios
Arsenio told Complex magazine the fan's comment "shook him up" even though his response was met with disapproval by Eddie (pictured with Shari Headley).
"I was like, 'Eddie...' He said, 'First of all, put that f***ing phone down, man. Somebody got to you like that? Put your f***ing phone down.'
"But I had never thought about the fact that it means a lot to people, and they put that in our arms and say, 'Care for it and do it right, y'all.'
"That shook me up, but I'll tell you what it did. It made me go read the script three more times in a row and say, 'Let me get ready for this s**t.'"
Arsenio insists the story is a "perfect" continuation from the 1988 movie.
The sequel, which is set after the events of the first film, sees Akeem set to become king of Zamunda when he discovers he has a son in America named Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler).
Akeem and Semmi return to America to find Akeem's son.
Coming 2 America will stream on Amazon Prime Video starting on March 5, 2021.
Five crew members stormed off the set after another one of Tom Cruise's rants on the set of his new Mission: Impossible 7 blockbuster.
The five crew members abandoned ship after a second on-set outburst by Cruise over his strict COVID-19 safety regulations.
The superstar lost his cool recently when he spotted two assistants huddled around a monitor, watching playback, ignoring his social distancing rules to keep the set corona-free.
KIKA/WENN
Cruise ranted and raved, threatening to fire anyone who didn't take his rules seriously.
"We are creating thousands of jobs, you motherf**kers," Cruise raged at the Warner Bros. Studios in Hertfordshire, England. "I don't ever want to see it again, ever! And if you don't do it you're fired, if I see you do it again you're f**king gone."
The audio was leaked by The Sun on Tuesday, Dec. 15, and shortly after the leak made global headlines, he allegedly unleashed another tirade at the cast, prompting five crew members to quit.
"The first outburst was big but things haven't calmed since," a source told The Sun. "Tension has been building for months and this was the final straw. Since it became public, there has been more anger and several staff have walked.
"But Tom just can't take any more after all the lengths they have gone to just to keep filming at all. He's upset others aren't taking it as seriously as him. In the end, he's the one who carries the can."
Representatives for Cruise and Paramount Pictures studio officials have yet to comment on the news.o coronavirus-related issues.
