Lucas Hedges to play Shia LaBeouf in “Honey Boy”
Lucas Hedges, who received an Oscar nomination last year for his supporting role in Manchester by the Sea, is set to play a younger Shia LaBeouf in a biopic LaBeouf wrote himself (an autobiopic?). Honey Boy, which references the Transformers star’s childhood nickname, follows him as a child star trying to repair his relationship with his law-breaking and alcohol-abusing father. LaBeouf plans to play his own father in the film.
“But it’s the titular role!”
At a panel discussion last week, The Crown producers let slip that Matt Smith was paid more than Claire Foy for their work on the first two seasons of the hit Netflix show. Foy reportedly made $40,000 per episode for her Golden Globe-winning performance as Queen Elizabeth II. Smith’s salary for playing Prince Phillip has not been revealed. Smith’s agents were most likely able to leverage his The Crown deal with his work and salary on Doctor Who, which earnt the actor international fame. Moreover, Netflix needed a large American audience in order to recoup the massive $130million spent on the first season, and so Smith’s fame was essential to the streaming service. The producers were quick to announce that for future seasons “no one gets paid more than the Queen.” The entire show is being recast for the third season in order to cater for a time jump, with Olivia Colman signed on to play the queen. Considering Colman’s significant fame, it should not be hard to ensure she is paid the most for playing the central pivot of the show.
Danny Boyle to write and direct “Bond 25”
Danny Boyle, director of Slumdog Millionaire and Steve Jobs, announced last week that he is working on a screenplay for, and plans to direct, the 25th James Bond film with his Trainspotting collaborator John Hodge. The Bond franchise is infamous for its embarrassingly appalling treatment of female characters; ‘Bond girls’ are often just sexual objects for the daring spy who are hired to look impressed and sexy. Boyle faces an uphill climb to portray women that reflect the “modern world” in a franchise that has made so little progress in this area. The 25th instalment in the franchise will be the fifth, and most likely last, outing for Daniel Craig as Bond.
Academy president reportedly under investigation for sexual harassment
John Bailey, the president of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Societies, the organisation that awards the Oscars, is reportedly under investigation for three claims of sexual harassment. The news comes just two weeks after the 90th Academy Awards which focused on the mistreatment of women in Hollywood.
