Top News

Director James Cameron and producer Jon Landau arrived in Wellington, New Zealand on Sunday morning local time in preparation for the resumption of filming of the “Avatar” film series.

Some 54 passengers were on board a chartered Air New Zealand plane, departing Friday night from Lax, and flying for nearly 13 hours direct from Los Angeles to Wellington.

But filming may not restart immediately. The inbound travelers will be subject to a 14-day quarantine period.

In an Instagram posting on May 22, Landau announced that the staff evacuated from New Zealand would be heading back to the country next week. He used the same medium on Sunday to announce their arrival.

“Made it to New Zealand. Our 14-day government supervised self-isolation now begins,” Landau said.

View this post on Instagram

Made it to New Zealand. Our 14-day government supervised self-isolation now begins. #avatarsequels #jamescameron #newzealand #airnewzealand✈️ #selfisolation

A post shared by Jon Landau

While theater chains like AMC, Cinemark and Regal game plan on how to reopen this summer, Imax faces unique challenges when it comes to getting audiences back in the seats of its premium platform theaters. Imax Corp., which partners with multiplexes, had its best box office and revenue year ever in 2019. Then the Covid-19 hit China, where the premium platform has a strong presence. Last month, the company reported it lost money in the first quarter of 2020, as revenue took a significant hit as a result of the pandemic. As Imax Entertainment president Megan Colligan prepares to meet with exhibitors about sanitation and safety guidelines, TheWrap spoke with her about what it will take to draw audiences back, as well as her optimism around relaunching moviegoing and the uncertainty theaters face. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity). Also Read: IMAX Reports Q1 Loss, Revenue Decline Due to

Oscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay will host a live discussion of her critically-acclaimed Netflix series “When They See Us,” which tells the story of “The Exonerated Five” — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana Jr. and Korey Wise — the five young men who were wrongfully convicted of the rape and assault of a woman in Central Park in 1989.

Commemorating the one year anniversary of the release of the four-part drama series, DuVernay will watch the first episode and chat along with audiences in real time.

The virtual watch party also follows the news that DuVernay’s production company Array Now has officially launched Array 101, an educational initiative aimed to bridge the gap between Hollywood and social justice by providing educational resources to help audiences explore the historical context of the story and work through the emotional questions it brings up. Featured on the site, is a detailed breakdown of the

The 2020 edition of the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado is still happening, despite growing concerns in an industry that has this year seen festivals shutter left and right. This year’s 47th edition of the festival will kick off on Thursday, September 3, the festival confirmed to press on Friday. That’s a day earlier than its usual launch on the first month of September in Friday, over the Labor Day weekend. The festival was originally set to take place September 4 through 7.

“We’re contacting you today to let you know we’re hard at work to provide a safe and joyous environment that will include an extra day to allow more space within and between screenings, along with all of the necessary safety tweaks and adjustments you’ve become very familiar with, regardless of where you call home,” said a festival email sent to media.

The email spells out why

Lee intercuts footage of his 1989 film Do the Right Thing with that of the arrests of Floyd and Eric Garner – both of which resulted in their deaths

Warner: some viewers may find the following content distressing

Spike Lee has released a short film as protests against the death of George Floyd continue, which equates Floyd’s treatment at the hands of police with Eric Garner’s and Radio Raheem, the character in Lee’s 1989 film Do the Right Thing.

3 Brothers-Radio Raheem, Eric Garner And George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/EB0cXQELzE

Herb Stempel, the federal whistleblower who exposed how the NBC game show “Twenty-One” was manipulated for ratings, died last month at the age of 93. His death was confirmed this weekend by Stempel’s stepdaughter to The New York Times.

Stempel’s story was told in the Robert Redford film “Quiz Show,” which starred John Turturro as Stempel and earned five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Stempel, an Army veteran attending school on the G.I. Bill, applied to be on “Twenty-One” and was handpicked by producer Dan Enright to be the star of the show, portrayed as an American underdog making thousands for his family.

Stempel was given the answers to questions in advance, winning thousands during his run on the show.

Also Read: Anthony James, 'In the Heat of the Night' and 'Unforgiven' Actor, Dies at 77

But as ratings began to level off, Enright turned

The future for Latino voices in mainstream entertainment looks to be a little brighter with the announcement that the Disney+ family series “Diary of a Future President” has been greenlit for a second season.

The series, created by Ilana Peña, originally premiered in January of this year and tells the story of Elena Cañero-Reed (played by newcomer Tess Romero) as she deals with family drama and school, with the audience knowing she will one day become President of the United States. “Jane the Virgin” actress Gina Rodriguez plays an older and Presidential Elena; Rodriguez also acts as executive producer through her production company, I Can and I Will.

“Diary of a Future President” lacks the name recognition of the more popular Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” but it has garnered a legion of devout fans with many comparing it to Disney’s early-2000s series “Lizzie McGuire.” And with “Lizzie McGuire

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes will perform a drive-in concert at New Jersey’s Monmouth Park Racetrack on July 11th, becoming the state’s first non-virtual show during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The Asbury Jukes and I are so excited that we can play this first of its kind live concert and help get New Jersey started on a quick and healthy return to normal,” Southside Johnny said in a statement. “Why sit at home when ‘We’re Havin’ a Party,’ drive-in style? We’ll safely see everyone July 11th.

In thinking about the protests that have continued across the country over the death of George Floyd, director James Mangold reflected back on his 1997 film “Cop Land” and criticized cops who don’t live in the cities and neighborhoods they protect.

Mangold’s “Cop Land” stars Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta and is about a New Jersey Sheriff who discovers that his town, populated by a number of New York City police officers, is a front for corruption and other mob connections. In a Twitter thread from Sunday, Mangold said he was forced by the Weinsteins at Miramax to change his film because they claimed the premise of cops no longer living in the five boroughs of New York was “impossible.”

“They said it was impossible because of a residency requirement insisting NYPD live in the place they protected. Of course, I knew cops got around this

While President Trump reportedly has “nothing to say” to a nation protesting the death of George Floyd and other black victims of police brutality, former President Barack Obama penned an essay Monday about “how to make this moment a real turning point to bring about real change.”

I wrote out some thoughts on how to make this moment a real turning point to bring about real change––and pulled together some resources to help young activists sustain the momentum by channeling their energy into concrete action. https://t.co/jEczrOeFdv

Pioneering all-female Sixties band Ace of Cups have released “Made for Love,” a tender, timely new song about remaining connected during difficult times.

Featuring Bob Weir, Jackson Browne and David Freiberg of Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane, the track centers around the the mantra “We were made for love” against spoken word verses. “Remember what we came here for/It’s not for hate, it’s not for war,” Denise Kaufman sings.

“We felt that with the coronavirus, we just wanted to put something out that expressed how we felt,

In keeping with the Twitter truism that “there’s always a tweet” posted by Donald Trump before he took office that can be applied to his current administration, some Twitter users have been circulating an old Trump tweet where he talked about “riots and looting.”

“Our country is totally fractured and, with our weak leadership in Washington, you can expect Ferguson type riots and looting in other places,” Trump tweeted in November 2014, after demonstrations against the death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown at the hands of white officer Darren Wilson were held in major cities around the country.

Our country is totally fractured and, with our weak leadership in Washington, you can expect Ferguson type riots and looting in other places

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2014

On Memorial Day this year, an unarmed black man named George Floyd died as a white officer kneeled on his neck in Minneapolis.

Last week, Man On Man, a new rock duo created by Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum and his musical partner and boyfriend Joey Holman, released the video for their first single “Daddy.” The clip, which featured Bottum and Holman embracing in their tighty-whiteys, sharing a banana Lady and the Tramp-style, and seductively pulling on each other’s underwear, was not without its sexual overtones but featured no nudity and paled in comparison to some of YouTube’s more overtly sexual videos by A-list artists.

“The statement of the song

Each month, the editors and critics at Rolling Stone compile a list of must-hear new albums. Our picks for May include Lady Gaga’s return to the dancefloor, Bad Bunny’s quarantine quickie and Steve Earle’s tribute to coal country

Lady Gaga, Chromatica

Chromatica is a return to form, and a return to the dance floor for Lady Gaga. The singles “Stupid Love” and “Rain on Me” have the pop sensibilities of her early hits, and the music throws back to house, disco, and even new wave, but it

TV networks have some news for Madison Avenue: TV ads still cost money, even amid a pandemic.

The nation’s big media companies are trying to resist great pressure from advertisers and media buyers to take severe cutbacks in ad rates in early talks as part of the industry’s annual “upfront” advertising market, according to three executives familiar with discussions. Their pushback suggests owners of networks like CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox are betting that a return of favorite TV elements like sports will draw new interest from sponsors and generate more demand for TV commercials – and potentially help

Actress and activist Jane Fonda spoke about the need to recognize and upend white privilege to combat the many facets of systemic racism during an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon Sunday.

“Because we’re white, we have had privilege,” Fonda said. “Even the poorest of us have had privilege. And we need to recognize that, and we have to understand what it is that keeps racism in place — the policies, redlining, banking policies, mortgage policies. All of the things that are really making it very, very difficult for black people to lift themselves up.

Protests around the nation have erupted in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and many more unarmed black people at the hands of police. Thousands of protesters have been arrested, and the National Guard has been ordered to deploy in several major U.S. cities.

Given the hazards of protesting right now — especially in the middle of the pandemic — it’s understandable if citizens are cautious about taking to the streets, even if they support activists’ demands for justice and are against police racism and brutality.

A reopening of mainland Chinese cinemas may shortly become reality, but for some operators, that moment could come too late as the prospect of bankruptcy looms.

A new survey from industry body, the China Film Association, published by the South China Morning Post, suggests that 40% of cinemas could permanently shut down as a result of the prolonged closure. Movie theaters have remained dark in China longer than any other country — it is now 130 days since they were ordered shut on Jan. 23.

At the end of 2019 there were 69,800 cinema screens in operation, according to official state media. They were located at some 12,400 complexes. A 40% closure could therefore mean the loss of 5,000 venues and 27,920 screens.

Those figures tally with data previously disclosed by Asian cinema investment and industry research consultant Artisan Gateway. “China suffered the permanent closure of at least 2,300 cinemas through the first two months of the Covid-19 industry shutdown. This equals a loss of 12,000 screens,

Five days after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, Twin Cities artist and activist Dua Saleh has released “Body Cast,” a mournful missive that chronicles the trauma and violence caused by police brutality.

The song begins with audio from a 2019 incident in which a cop enters a black family’s home in Virginia without any stated reason (“You are violating my right, sweetheart”) before Saleh begins the first verse: “Y’all been dodging camera like they bullets over crime,” they sing.

“This song is about police brutality and injustice,

There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and if you’re looking for a natural way to stay calm and keep your spirits lifted, you may want to consider using a Cbd oil.

Unlike Thc, a psychoactive compound found in marijuana that is still illegal in many parts of the country, cannabidiol, or Cbd products, won’t create the same “high” that you might experience from Thc. Instead, for some users, Cbd acts like a favorite blanket, promoting feelings of warmth, comfort, and tranquility. Most Cbd