Congratulations are in order for Lena Waithe, a writer and producer
whose name a lot of you will not know, having produced content for film,
TV and the web, most recently, making her debut as a film producer with
the crowd-pleasing, critically-acclaimed independent feature, Dear
White People. Waithe has inked a deal with the BET Network to write a
pilot script based on a personal project titled Twenties, which follows the
trials and triumphs of the lives of 3 black women in their twenties - hence
the title.
Lena Waithe
It looks like the casting for the Ride Along
sequel is in full swing, as we hear actors
are joining the new film. In the past few
days we heard that Benjamin Bratt (most
recently of 24: Live Another Day) had
landed in the new film, along with actress
and former comedian Olivia Munn (of the
new film Deliver Us From Evil and HBO’s
The Newsroom). As reported, the stars of
the film Kevin Hart and Ice Cube are
back in Universal’s new film with Tim Story
(from the original film and Think Like A
Man Too) returning to direct. Cube and
Matt Alvarez will produce the new film for
Cube Vision alongside Will Packer for his
new production
arm, Will Packer
Productions, as the film is set to be
released on Jan. 15, 2016.
Benjamin
Bratt
Ice
Cube
L-R: Whoopi Goldberg, Jenny McCarthy,
Sherri Shepherd & Barbara Walters
24
Olivia
Munn
Will
Packer
A couple of weeks ago comedic actress and television
host Sherri Shepherd was abruptly released from her
hosting gig at ABC’s daytime talker, The View.
Shepherd’s contract was coming up, and the two sides
(her management and the network) were talking, but
somewhere along those lines communication broke
down. According to sources with knowledge of the
situation, ABC and Shepherd’s camp were “too far
apart” on terms of a new deal. In April, not long before
she stepped down as the show’s on-air Den Mom,
Barbara Walters — who remains exec producer — said
in various interviews that Shepherd “definitely” was
coming back next season, as were Jenny McCarthy
and Whoopi Goldberg. Jenny is no longer there as
Whoopi is still on board and taking up most of the
hosting duties. ABC declined to comment.