News

Exclusive: Sony has rounded out its cast for The Equalizer 3, with Eugenio Mastrandrea (From Scratch), Remo Girone (Ford v Ferrari), Sonia Ammar (Scream), Daniele Perrone (Baaria), Andrea Scarduzio (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One) and Andrea Dodero (Blocco 181) signing on for roles.

The actors join an ensemble led by Denzel Washington which also includes Dakota Fanning, and Gaia Scodellaro, as previously announced.

While the film’s plot is being kept under wraps, it’s the third in an action series centered on Washington’s vigilante Robert McCall, from director Antoine Fuqua. The first released in 2014 earned over 194M worldwide, spurring a 2018 sequel that grossed over 190M worldwide.

Slated for release in theaters on September 1, 2023, The Equalizer 3 was written by Richard Wenk. Producers include Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Washington, Fuqua, Clayton Townsend, Alex Siskin, Steve Tisch, Tony Eldridge and Michael Sloan.

Mastrandrea can currently be seen opposite Zoe Saldana...

Danity Kane singer Dawn Richard has been cast as the lead in writer/director Jean Claude Lamarre’s erotic-romance drama “Kinky,” joining the previously-cast Vivica A. Fox and male lead Robert Ri’Chard. Currently in pre-production, and set to begin filming in Los… Continue Reading →...

Vivica A. Fox has signed up to star in the indie feature, “Kinky,” from writer/director Jean Claude Lamarre (last year’s “Chocolate City”). Currently in pre-production, and set to begin filming in Los Angeles on September 15th, “Kinky” is described as a… Continue Reading →...

Exclusive: Fresh off of Fox’s Independence Day: Resurgence, Vivica A. Fox has just signed on to star in the indie feature Kinky from Chocolate City writer/director Jean Claude Lamarre. The project is described as “a racy, African American sex drama, which is being positioned as counter programming to 50 Shades Darker.” The film is currently in pre-production and will roll in Los Angeles on September 15. The story is set in the affluent community of Buckhead, Atlanta and…...

Exclusive: Fugees co-founder Pras Michel has teamed with Karyn Rachtman to land The Search For Johnny Nicholas: The Secret of Nazi Prisoner No. 44451, a book by Dave C. Smith and Hugh Wray McCann that tells an unbelievable story of a Haitian man imprisoned in a concentration camp in WWII. Jean Claude Lamarre will write the script. Haitian born Johnny Nicholas was a savant and con man who moved to Paris and lived the high life under the guise of being an American fighter…...

Important Announcement: There is not only one movie about hot male strippers coming out this summer. We repeat: there is not just one movie about mostly naked, extremely attractive men bumping and grinding coming out soon. There. Are. Two. We are so embarrassed that we didn't know about this until now. But we forgive ourselves because the trailer for Chocolate City has been released and there is no use blaming ourselves for our insolence when there is footage like this to watch: Chocolate City, which comes out May 22, comes from director Jean-Claude La Marre, who reportedly said he jumped on the opportunity to make this film after seeing Magic Mike and noticing there was "one glaring omission,...

Magic Mike was great for many reasons, one being that it finally acknowledged that women like to go to the movies and shamelessly lust after who's onscreen, too. (Thank you, again!) But it wasn't perfect, and had a severe lack of black male strippers working the pole. Luckily, we now have the trailer for Chocolate City, Jean-Claude La Marre's very necessary "black version" of Magic Mike. It stars Robert Ri'chard as a guy struggling to make ends meet with his mom (Vivica A. Fox), who does what anyone desperate for some fast cash would do: sign up for amateur night! Michael Jai White recruits him for his strip club (DJ-ed by Carmen Electra, sure), and it's there that "Sexy Chocolate" is born. Tyson Beckford's abs are also involved, and so is a Ginuwine cameo! Your move, Magic Mike Xxl.

Following the unexpected success of Magic Mike, the all-male stripper film starring Channing Tatum and Joe Mangainello, Hollywood started production on an urban version called Chocolate City.

Citing a “glaring omission” of any people of color, director Jean-Claude La Marre pushed forward with a new film starring former model Tyson Beckford and Michael Jai White.

But that’s where any and all comparisons should stop.

“I hate when people use that reference, because it’s totally about a different kind of experience,” Beckford tells HIV Plus magazine of the upcoming film, which hits theaters on March 19, 2015. “Black strip clubs and white strip clubs are totally different.”

Beckford also describes the strip club experience as “more rhythm-driven” – something we hope to see more of given that the Chocolate City also stars Ginuwine as a character named Pharoah. (His hit single, “Pony,” was featured in Magic Mike during a showcase dance number by Tatum.)

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The Longest Ride

Jack Huston ("Boardwalk Empire") has been set to star in George Tillman's film adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks tale "The Longest Ride" at Fox 2000.

Huston will play the young Ira in a tale that brings together two intertwining love stories - an elderly couple reminiscing about life, and the blossoming romance of a young art history major and a handsome bull rider (Huston). [Source: Deadline]

Chocolate City

Rapper and actor Romeo Miller (aka. Lil' Romeo) will join Michael Jai White and Tyson Beckford in Jean Claude Lamarre's urban stripper drama "Chocolate City". Filming begins in Los Angeles at the end of June.

Miller will star a young college student who is lured into the world of male exotic dancing to pay the bills. Eurika Pratts ("Basketball Girlfriends") has also been cast as his girlfriend Carmen, the pair's relationship strained by his new career. [Source: Deadline]

The Woman in Gold

Jonathan Pryce...

• You’ve met Magic Mike. Now pay a visit to Chocolate City. Tyson Beckford (Into the Blue) and Michael Jai White (The Dark Knight) are in talks for the male stripper movie (it’s becoming its own genre!) written and directed by Jean-Claude La Marre (Gang of Roses). The film is about a college student who gets pulled into the world of male stripping by a club owner (White) and the veteran dancer (Beckford) who worries the young guns are stealing his spotlight. [Deadline]

• Just a day after Juliette Lewis was confirmed for a mystery role in the upcoming Jem and the Holograms live-action movie,...

Rapper/actress Teyana Taylor claims she and a movie director got into an all out bloody brawl ... because he ignored her pleas to be taken home while she dealt with an abscessed tooth. Teyana and the director -- Jean-Claude La Marre -- were filming "Gang of Roses 2" last weekend outside L.A. ... when Teyana asked to be taken home because the pain was just too much to bear. According to 20-year-old Teyana, she asked multiple...

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"Tesis" (1996)

Directed by Alejandro Amenabar

Released by Widowmaker Films

Long out of print, "The Others" director Alejandro Amenabar's debut about a grad student's discovery of a snuff film is being remastered and rereleased by Widowmaker Films.

"Alice in Murderland" (2011)

Directed by Dennis Devine

Released by Brain Damage Films

A year after Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" scared the bejeezus out of kids in multiplexes everywhere, this horror take on Lewis Carroll's classic fairy tale aims to do so intentionally on DVD players around the country.

"America, America" (1963)

Directed by Elia Kazan

Released by Fox Home Entertainment

Elia Kazan's most personal film based on the story of his uncle's immigration to the United States from Turkey, where as a Greek his family is persecuted, was already released as part of last year's Kazan boxed set, but now will be...

Whew, where to start. It’s a tough category to gauge with the wide range of junk on all fronts of cinema in general, but this is a subject I have had running through out my mind, since day one of writing for this site. Scrolling down the categories of which to label and stipulate what the written piece of information would fall under, I saw a tag of Worst Black Film. This stamp was burned into my mind for so long and started to run the rolodex of junk I had seen, and also some I needed to still witness, because let’s face it, Tyler Perry is still popping shit out, two a year.

But this is also a tough criteria to tackle as I tend to like crap and junk in general. The campy, sappy and overblown, overacted ridiculousness that flickers at us can be overall fun.

We just discovered some news from actress Vivica Fox as she has just inked a multi-episode deal to star in the upcoming series titled Pastor Jones. The deal, inked with Nulite Entertainment, calls for Ms. Fox to play Dr.Hunter, an ex-girlfriend of Pastor Jones', who recently joins Grace United Christian Church.

Nulite Entertainment will produce 75 episodes of the show, based on the popular character, Pastor Jones, played by actor Jean Claude Lamarre. Other talent includes Sheryl Lee Ralph, Clifton Powell, Paula Jai Parker and Marcello Thedford.

Since its debut in 2006, Pastor Jones, which stars Lamarre, has sold more than 2 million units on home video, grossing approximately $8 million in sales. The movies have amassed a large Christian following among African-American audiences with inspirational storylines, dealing with themes of abuse, infidelity, redemption and faith. Lamarre is now venturing into television with this new half hour comedy also entitled Pastor Jones.

Rap star Kurupt and David Carradine are set to star in Click, an urban Western from Gang of Roses' helmer Jean-Claude La Marre. Antwon Tanner, Clifton Powell, Raymond Cruz, Glenn Plummer, Gabriel Casseus, Kenya Moore and Idalis DeLeon also will star. Set at the end of the Civil War in a lawless land, Click follows a group of outlaws out to rob the town bank. The gang runs into trouble when a scheming cattle baron, a ruthless bounty hunter and a female sheriff stand in the way of the biggest heist.

Hip-hop star Lil' Kim is set to make her feature film debut in the indie urban Western Guns and Roses, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film, written and directed by Jean Claude LaMarre (Higher Ed), is currently in production and features a cast that also includes singer Bobby Brown, LisaRaye (The Player's Club), Monica Calhoun (The Best Man), Marie Matiko (The Art of War) and Louis Mandylor (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). Set in the 1800s, the period action film follows the turbulent journey of five female outlaws who are fighting to avenge the murder of one of their own.

Hip-hop star Lil' Kim is set to make her feature film debut in the indie urban Western Guns and Roses. The film, written and directed by Jean Claude LaMarre (Higher Ed), is currently in production and features a cast that also includes singer Bobby Brown, LisaRaye (The Player's Club), Monica Calhoun (The Best Man), Marie Matiko (The Art of War) and Louis Mandylor (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). Set in the 1800s, the period action film follows the turbulent journey of five female outlaws who are fighting to avenge the murder of one of their own. Combining elements of classic spaghetti Westerns with the gritty world of hip-hop, Guns is now shooting in Los Angeles. The film is being executive produced by Doug Schwab and Tim Swain of Sleeping Giant Prods. along with LaMarre's Warning Films. Jesse H. Rivard is producing, while Brian Skinny and B. Lewis are co-producers on the project.