Women and Hollywood's Weekly Newsletter
May 16
NEWS & HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK
Viola Davis’s Ashé Ventures has boarded narrative feature project “The Girl Who Could Fly,” which they will co-produce with Brazil’s Maria Farinha Filmes, Variety has revealed. The film is inspired by the life and gymnastics journey of Daiane dos Santos, who was the first Brazilian and first Black woman to win gold at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and who had two floor exercise skills named after her - Flávia Vieira and Janaína Tokitaka have penned the script, with the project currently in advanced development. Ashé, which Davis co-founded with her husband Julius Tennon, and Brazilian producer and entrepreneur Maurício Mota, seeks to be a bridge between the U.S. and Brazil through stories about the African diaspora.
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (“Captain Marvel”) have boarded a feature film adaptation of novellist Taylor Jenkins Reid’s newest book, “Atmosphere.” The project is in development at studio Laika - known for it’s stop-motion animation projects such as “Coraline,” and now branching out into live-action - with Boden and Fleck hired to both write and direct. Set to be published on June 3 via Ballantine Books, the latest work from the “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” writer is a sweeping love story between two pioneering women astronauts set against the backdrop of the early days of the shuttle programme at NASA in the late 1970s and early 80s.
The previously announced “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” reboot has found its Slayer: Deadline reports that Ryan Kiera Armstrong (“Star Wars: Skeleton Crew”) is set to star opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar, who is also exec producing. Currently under pilot order at Hulu, with Oscar winner Chloé Zhao directing from a script by Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman, the as-yet-untitled project will see Armstrong playing an introverted high-school student, according to casting materials.
Trailer watch: Disney+ has revealed a first look at the latest Marvel Television series, “Ironheart,” which stars Dominique Thorne as genius teenaged inventor Riri Williams, first introduced in Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Created by Chinaka Hodge, and with Coogler among the exec producers, the series follows Williams’ efforts to build a suit of technologically advanced armor. It will premiere on the streamer June 24.
All synopses are courtesy of press materials, unless otherwise noted.
FILMS ABOUT WOMEN AND NON-GENDERED PERSONS OPENING AND COMING TO STREAMING/VOD
Final Destination: Bloodlines – Written by Lori Evans Taylor and Guy Busick (Now in theaters)
Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.