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Denzel Washington Hands Over Reins to Son Malcolm to Bring August Wilson’s ‘The Piano Lesson’ to the Big Screen

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TORONTO (AP) — August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” has an insightful tackle the subject of ancestry and heritage, making the latest film adaptation, produced by Denzel Washington and directed by his son Malcolm, a family affair.

“The Piano Lesson,” which premiered Tuesday at the Toronto International Film Festival, is Washington’s third in an ongoing effort to bring Wilson’s plays to the screen. The film follows “Fences” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and, like those movies, features several strong performances from actors, including Danielle Deadwyler as Berniece and John David Washington, Malcolm’s older brother, as Berniece’s brother, Boy Willie.

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In Thirties Pittsburgh, Boy Willie arrives at his sister’s home with plans to sell a family heirloom, a piano engraved by their ancestors who took it from a slave. In the heartbreaking family drama that follows, Berniece, Boy Willie, and others (Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Potts, and Ray Fisher) grapple with the haunting shadow of slavery and the burden of their family legacy.

Malcolm Washington, right, director/co-writer of “The Piano Lesson,” poses together with his brother and forged member John David Washington, left, and forged member Danielle Deadwyler at the Shangri-La Hotel during the Toronto International Film Festival, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello, AP)

“There are so many legacies that come with it,” says Malcolm Washington. “I think it’s part of our responsibility, when you’re in a position to make a film like this, to honor that and to keep that alive. We’re here because so many people fought and sacrificed and worked to give the next generation a chance. This film and its story are ultimately so much bigger than my family.”

Malcolm, 33, sat next to his older brother and Deadwyler just a few hours before the premiere of “The Piano Lesson,” which Netflix will release on Nov. 8 after which stream on Nov. 22. As the interview was wrapping up, Denzel Washington burst into the room.

“It all started with me,” Denzel jokingly declared, as the other three howled with laughter. “Then I had two sons, and before I knew it, I was unemployed!”

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Denzel, joined by his producing partner Todd Black, said it was his son’s idea to direct “The Piano Lesson.” The 2022 Broadway production was based on Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play with much of the forged, including John David.

“Malcolm said he had an idea,” Denzel recalls. “He said, ‘Let me put something together.’ So he made a short film. I looked at him like, ‘Wow, OK. You want to make a film? This is great, make a film.’”

But Malcolm didn’t immediately resolve to do it. He told his father, “Let me see if I can watch the movie first.” He began working on the script and eventually co-wrote it with Virgil Williams (“Mudbound”).

“At first I was like, ‘Watch the movie?’ But now I get it,” Denzel says. “He’s a real filmmaker. He took his time and didn’t jump right in.”

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While John David, the 40-year-old star of “BlacKkKlansman” and “Tenet,” has established himself as a significant actor in Hollywood, Malcolm, a graduate of the American Film Institute’s directing program, is just entering the highlight. “He knew what he wanted,” Black says. “And he wasn’t afraid to connect with people who knew more than he did.”

Throughout the making of “The Piano Lesson,” Denzel largely kept his distance, allowing Malcolm to do his work. Yet his passion for Wilson’s art permeated the entire production.

“He’s a huge fan of August Wilson, and it’s a really important part of his legacy to continue telling August’s story,” Malcolm says. “His main thing with all of us was to keep that focus: We’re here to honor one of our greats.”

“The Piano Lesson” is a Washington family film in other ways, too. Malcolm and John David’s mother, Pauletta Washington, plays Mama Ola. The film is devoted to their mother.

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“I started with the clear idea that it was about fathers and sons,” Malcolm says. “As we were making the film, I just started seeing this mother-daughter story, and my mom is a huge inspiration to me. I’ve always seen my mom as connected to Berniece’s story.”

Malcolm’s sisters are also involved. Olivia Washington plays Mama Ola as a young woman, and Katia Washington is an executive producer. Ironically, their father, Denzel, is nearly the only person in the family not in the film. But Malcolm, wanting all the members of the family to be represented in the film, asked his father to take part in a brief voiceover.

“Am I in this?” Denzel asks. “I recorded something. I didn’t get credit. Did I get credit? I don’t think so!”

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

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“One of the greatest actors in history”: Spike Lee praises Denzel and Drops trailer of the new movie Together

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There are few dynamic duets in Hollywood that require attention like Spike Lee and Denzel Washington. Many of us still resemble the electric sense of watching “Got Game” or “Malcolm X” and about how their good history has transported us to a different place and time.

Now fans of the best filmmaker from Brooklyn and Money are gaining their very own Mount Vernon, they not must wait for fresh inspiration.

This week, Lee divided for the first time into the “highest 2 lowest”, his new thriller with Washington, which also includes $ AP Rocky, Jeffrey Wright, Lachanze, and even the Ice Spice camera. He wrote on Instagram:

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“I know that you waited” Hella Long “, and here is the trailer will give a teaser (finally) to 5. Return D and Lee-Otwywy Street 2 lowest. I da Washington/Lees Family Truth, Ruth. Ya-dig? Sho-Nuff. Simple up (fire) “

The mysterious trailer plays on the hit of James Brown “The Big Payback”, and Denzel Washington talks a few warning about the pursuit of money: “Can you deal with it? All the money is not good.”

IN Last performance In Anthony’s Carmelo Podcastie, “19:00 in Brooklyn” Lee suggested the creation of a movie, not revealing an excessive amount of.

“Denzel plays a music tycoon known as the best ears in the industry – and there is a kidnapping,” Lee said. The film is a reinterpretation of Lee in the classic “High and low” by Akira Kurosawa from 1963.

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The film, produced by the iconic favorites A24 Studio, will definitely generate noise in theaters, and when Apple TV+will hit. His release appears amongst the growing expectations for one more known project Duo Black Filmmaking Duo-Ryan Coogler and “Sinners” by Michael B. Jordan.

“It’s as if we were outside in the garden … it’s amazing! Amazing,” Lee said, Praining Coogler and Jordan. “They do their job.”

Lee had nothing but Washington, saying Carmelo that their relationship was an actual creative blessing.

New York, New York – April 21: (LR) Denzel Washington and Spike Lee participate in Entertainment Community Fund 2025 Gala at Marriot Marquis on April 21, 2025 in New York. (Photo Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

“This is a blessing,” he said, serious about their ten-year partnership, including “Mo ‘Better Blues” and “Inside Man”. “I am blessed that I work with one of the greatest actors in history.”

Lee also shared that “the highest 2 lowest” was invited to be shown at the Cannes film festival – on a major date: May 19. This is the same day “To The Right Thing” of the premiere in Cannes in 1989, in addition to the birthday of Malcolm X.

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“I believe in numerology. It’s special for me,” Lee said.

“I am very pleased with the way the film has come up with, and I can’t wait to share it with the world.”

Check the trailer “top 2 lowest” below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4cgw8aojbw

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Jeffrey Wright, Denzel Washington to play

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Trump threatened 100% tariff in a film made outside the USA. Here’s what we know

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President Donald Trump looks at Hollywood at the next round of tariffs, threatening to download all movies produced outside the US 100%.

At the weekend, Trump accused other countries of “theft of film abilities” of the USA and said that he authorized the US trade and US trade representative to instantly start the strategy of implementing this recent import tax on all foreign movies. But further details or dates haven’t been delivered. And the White House confirmed that no final decisions were made from Monday.

Later Trump said that he would meet with industry directors about this proposal, but many remain unclear as to how you may even implement import tax on complex, international productions.

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If they’re imposed, experts warn that such a tariff would dramatically raise the costs of making movies. This uncertainty can place film creators suspended, like other industries which have recently been caught on the sight of today’s ongoing industrial wars.

Unlike other sectors, which were recently addressed to tariffs, movies transcend physical goods, questioning the greater consequences of mental property. Here’s what we know.

Why does Trump threaten this steep film tariff?

Trump refers to fears related to national security, justification, which is similarly used to impose import taxes in some countries and a variety of goods specific to the sector.

On Sunday evening post On its Social Social Trump social networking platform, the American film industry “dies for a very fast death” because other countries offer “all kinds of encouragement” to drag out movies from the USA

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Trump previously expressed concern about the production of movies abroad. And in recent years, American film and tv production has been difficult between Covid-19 pandemic failures, Hollywood Guild Strikes from 2023 and up to date fires in the Los Angeles region. Motivation programs have also been inspired for a very long time where movies are shot each abroad and in the USA, and more production leaves California to states similar to Georgia and New Mexico-also countries similar to Canada.

But unlike other sectors directed until recently imposed Trump tariffs, the American film industry currently has a industrial deficit, which is in favor of the USA.

In cinemas, movies produced by America predominantly dominate the domestic market. Data from the Motorcyclist Association also show that American movies have earned $ 22.6 billion for export and $ 15.3 billion in 2023 – with the last report noted that these movies “generated a positive trade balance in every main market in the world” for the USA for the USA

Last yr, international markets accounted for over 70% of total money revenues in Hollywood, notes Heeyon Kim, assistant to the strategy professor at Cornell University. He warns that tariffs and potential retaliation from other countries affecting this industry may result in billions of dollars of lost earnings and 1000’s of jobs.

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“For me (this) there is simply no sense,” she said, adding that such tariffs can “undermine the flowering part of the American economy differently.”

The international Alliance of theatrical Stage Employees who represents the behind -the -scenes entertainment employees in the USA and Canada, on Monday said that Trump “correctly recognized” “urgent threat from international competition”, which is facing the American film and tv industry. But the union said that as a substitute, she really useful the administration of the implementation of the federal encouragement of production on production and other provisions regarding the “leveling of the pitch”, while not harming the industry.

Experts warn that Trump Cuts to Federal Grants will make black communities less safe and prosperous

How could a tax on foreign movies work?

This is no person.

“Traditional tariffs apply to physical imports cutting boundaries, but film production includes primarily digital services-photographing, editing and post-production work that takes place electronically,” notes Ann Koppuzha, a lawyer and lecturer in business law at the Leave School of Business University at the University of Santa Clara.

Koppuzha said that film production is more like a used service that could be taxed, not a cell. But taxes require confirmation by the Congress, which could also be a challenge even in the case of a republican majority.

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Making a film can be an incredibly complex – and international process. Both large and small movies include production in the US and other countries. For example, large budget movies, similar to the upcoming “Mission: Impossible-The Final Reconing”, are shot throughout the world.

US studies often shoot abroad because tax incentives may help in production costs. But the general tariff around the world can discourage or limit options, she said Kim – hurting each Hollywood movies and global industry that help to create them.

“When you create this kind of vocabulary, you lack any nuances of how production works,” added Steven Schiffman, a longtime industry veteran and assistant professor at Georgetown University. “Sometimes it is enough to go to the location, because to be honest, it is too expensive to try to create on the sound stage”

Schiffman points to popular titles shot outside the USA – similar to the “Harry Potter” Warner Bros series, which was almost entirely shot in Great Britain “the costs of making that would literally produce these films under the proposed tariff,” he said.

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Trump in a new interview says that he does not know if he supports constitutional rights

Can film tariffs have repercussions on one other mental property?

In general, experts warn that the perspective of tariffing foreign movies falls into unexplored waters.

“There is simply no precedent or the sense of using tariffs for this type of creative services,” said Koppuzha. And although the Trump administration can extend similar threats to other types of mental property, similar to music, “they would encounter the same practical obstacles.”

But if it succeeds, some also warn of potential retaliation. Kim points to “amounts” that some countries had to assist in increasing their national movies, ensuring that, for instance, they get a few of the theater screens. Many of them have reduced or suspended such amounts over the years in the name of an open trade-but if the US imposes a wide tariff to all foreign movies, such amounts could return, “which will hurt a Hollywood film or any intellectual property,” Kim said.

And although the US domination in the film means “there are fewer substitutes”, Schiffman notes that other types of entertainment – similar to game development – could see related effects on the road.

Others emphasize the potential consequences of international cooperation.

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“Creative distribution of content requires thoughtful economic approaches that recognize how modern story story flows over the boundaries,” notes Frank Albarrella, the American leader of the media and telecommunications sector at KPMG. “The question hanging on every screen: can we better cultivate American history through intelligent, targeted incentives, and maybe inadvertently force the audience to pay for more for what can become a narrower creative landscape?”

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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“Sinners” by Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler is the number 1 at the ticket office, earning $ 45.6 million at the opening weekend

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As expected, the film “Sinners” by Ryan Coogler, with the participation of Michael B. Jordan, was an enormous success at the ticket office at the opening weekend. According to Diversity“Sinners” reached first place at the ticket office, earning about $ 45.6 million in the USA and $ 15.6 million abroad, which is $ 61 million of their global debut.

“When we still try to introduce a number of films to filmmakers, we are glad that Ryan Coogler Sinners’ original film (…) resonated with the audience in such a star way,” said in an announcement Mike de Luca and Pam Ryan Abdy Ryan Ryan Bros. Motion Picture Group for a thr. “Movies have the power to transport us to the worlds seen only on the big screen, and Warner Bros. Pictures remains involved in providing individual experience in the theater among viewers looking for bold films, both original and based on beloved existing real estate.”

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“Sinners” not only defeated “Minecraft Movie” from place 1, but apparently it is also the best starting of the original film since Jordan Peele’s “US”, who reached $ 71.1 million at the opening weekend in 2019. However, money sales should not the only thing that makes Coogler’s film observed. When negotiating the production of a movie with studies, Coogler reportedly asked to take care of the final reduction of the film, the percentage of revenues from the money register, and not waiting for a return, and most significantly, Property of “sinners” 25 years after its release.

“My uncle James was from Mississippi, he was born there and raised. I was very close to him and was my introduction, my point of entry into the blues (because) listened to him when I spent time with him,” explained Coogler. “After my death in 2015, I listened to CDs with a renovated perspective and a desire to understand my uncle again, although he was not here anymore. And thanks to these research I found the motivation to make this movie.”

(*1*)

With an almost ideal rating at Rotten Tomatoes, vampires Horror tells everyone talking. In 1932, Mississippi, “Sinners” appears in Jordan in double roles as an identical twins that smoke and piles that return to his hometown to open Juke Juke. But things are taken by an unexpected phrase when the great opening of dual entrepreneurs, which was to be full of music and fun, is interrupted by vampires. Delroy Lindo, Hailee Steinfeld, Wunmi Mosaku and Pękaw Miles CatonThe sinners make clear the blues delta, spirituality and way more.

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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