The prestige project represents an edgy departure for the Russos’ company AGBO Films.

Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne is attached to star in the untitled Cambridge Analytica movie for Joe and Anthony Russo’s company AGBO Films, which is in talks with two-time Oscar winner Peter Farrelly to direct, Collider has exclusively learned.

A representative for AGBO had no comment.

Avengers: Endgame scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely wrote the script, and the project is financed and ready to go into production, though just like last year when we reported that Matt Shakman was in talks to direct, it’s still anyone’s guess as to when that will actually be. The project was initially slated to be directed by David Gordon Green.

Redmayne is poised to play Christopher Wylie, the pink-haired data consultant who hatched the idea of Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics firm that illegally harvested the personal data of 87 million Facebook users in order to influence Donald Trump’s presidential victory and the Brexit vote. Wylie’s guilty conscience led him to become a whistleblower and tell his story, both in court and in the press, and it was an article in The Guardian by Carole Cadwalladr that was acquired by AGBO and serves as the catalyst for this project.

Eddie Redmayne will return to London theatre, for his first West End role in 10 years, to play the Emcee in Cabaret opposite Jessie Buckley as Sally Bowles. An intimate revival of the classic musical is set to recreate the Weimar-era Kit Kat Club for an audience capped at 550 from this November.

The show will be designed by Tom Scutt, choreographed by Julia Cheng and directed by Rebecca Frecknall, whose acclaimed Almeida production of Tennessee Williams’s Summer and Smoke transferred to the West End in 2018.

Frecknall said Cabaret had always been “dear to my heart”, and that she was in awe of her creative team, “who have come together to create a bold new production as well as a new Kit Kat Club, a bespoke home where we can truly embrace and unlock the world of Cabaret for a new audience”.

The show – which charts the friendship between Sally, an American performer at the riotous Kit Kat, and a shy Brit, Brian – is set against the rise of the Nazis in 1930s Berlin and unflinchingly depicts antisemitism and persecution. Frecknall said it was an important musical and that its revival comes “at a time when its themes and atmosphere feel so contemporary and resonant”.

With music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Joe Masteroff, Cabaret is based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood. It opened on Broadway in 1966 and won eight Tony awards; the 1972 film version picked up the same number of Oscars. Joel Grey played the lascivious Emcee both on stage and screen, performing in the musical numbers that interlink the drama. Grey told the Guardian last year that Cabaret took on a “heinous and terrifying subject: the Holocaust” at a time when “there were a lot of people who just wanted to forget about it. They tried to write it out of textbooks.”

Redmayne first played the Emcee 20 years ago in an Edinburgh fringe production. His last West End roles were in Red (in 2009), as the assistant of painter Mark Rothko (played by Alfred Molina), and as Shakespeare’s Richard II (in 2011), both of which were staged at the Donmar Warehouse. Buckley was recently acclaimed for her performance in a film version of Romeo and Juliet shot at the National Theatre. [Source]

The production is expected to begin performances at Playhouse Theatre in November 2021.

According to Baz Bamigboye of The Daily Mail, Kander and Ebb’s classic musical Cabaret is headed back to the West End stage in an all-new production.

According to the report, Academy Award-winning actor Eddie Redmayne and BAFTA nominee Jessie Buckley are currently in final talks to portray the Emcee and Sally Bowles, respectively.

The production is expected to begin performances at Playhouse Theatre in November 2021.

Two-time BAFTA nominee Jessie Buckley was most recently seen in the National Theatre film production of Romeo and Juliet. Buckley first rose to recognition as a finalist on the Oliver! reality competition series, I’d Do Anything. She has been seen on the West End in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Her notable screen credits include Chernobyl, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, and Fargo. Her film roles include Beast and Wild Rose.

On Broadway, Redmayne co-starred with Alfred Molina in the award-winning John Logan play RED for which he took home a Tony Award for Featured Actor in a Play in 2010. He originated the role at the Donmar Warehouse in London where he won the coveted Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor. His film work includes the Les Miserables, Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Danish Girl, and The Theory of Everything, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Cabaret features some of the best-known songs in musical theatre, including “Willkommen,” “Maybe This Time” and “Cabaret.”

The musical premiered on Broadway in 1966 and won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, in addition to the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, the Outer Critics’ Circle Award, the Variety Poll of New York Critics, and London’s Evening Standard Award. [Source]

Some freelancers have been out of work for a year and are ineligible for Government schemes.

Michaela Coel and Eddie Redmayne are among the stars backing a campaign to raise money for the Theatre Artists Fund ahead of the anniversary of theatres closing.

They will be joined by Maxine Peake, Harriet Walter and Ruth Madeley in encouraging donations to the fund, which provides emergency financial aid to struggling freelance theatre workers.

Theatres around the country closed their doors last March amid the global pandemic and only a few were able to re-open with social distancing in between lockdowns last year.

Stars have also been revealing their ‘turning point’ – a moment in their career when they were almost forced to give up but received a helping hand.

Redmayne has revealed the turning point in his career was in 2003 when he was working in a pub and failing to land any parts before someone took a chance on him and cast him in a play.

In Coel’s video, she discusses the two bursaries she received that allowed her to pursue her creative career.

On March 16 they will be joined by more famous faces, theatre lovers and people across the industry sharing selfies in support, using the hashtags #16March, #TheatreArtistsFund and #FirstInLastOut – referencing the fact that theatre workers were first into lockdown and will be among the last to return.

The Theatre Artists Fund was set up in July 2020 by director Sir Sam Mendes, the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre.

It has since given out £5.5 million across 5,359 individual grants, made possible by donations from a range of organisations and individuals, including the Backstage Trust.

“The Trial of the Chicago 7″ director Aaron Sorkin and the film’s cast will receive the Vanguard Award from the Palm Springs International Film Awards.

“‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ is a thrilling court-room drama that chronicles the highlights of the historic trial that sought to punish activists for inciting riots outside of the 1968 Democratic National Convention,” Harold Matzner, the festival chairman, said. “Writer and director Aaron Sorkin has created a thought-provoking film featuring outstanding performances from a powerhouse cast that includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance, Jeremy Strong and more.”

Past recipients of the ensemble award include Academy Award winners for best picture, such as Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” and Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water.” The Vanguard Award is a group honor distinguishing a film’s cast and director in recognition of their work on a superb film project.

“The Trial of the Chicago 7” joins this year’s previously announced honorees Riz Ahmed (Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor), Carey Mulligan (International Star Award), Gary Oldman (Chairman’s Award) and Chloé Zhao (Director of the Year Award).

The drama follows the fallout and the infamous trial after what was intended to be a peaceful protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention turned into a violent clash with police and the National Guard.

Though the Palm Springs Film Festival and gala ceremony will not return until 2022, the festival will honor excellence in film this year at a tribute airing on “Entertainment Tonight” Feb. 11 and Feb. 25. The festival also plans to move ahead with the Palm Springs ShortFest in June. [Source]

Variety and PBS SoCal announced today the actor lineup and schedule for the thirteenth season of their three-time Emmy Award-winning series Variety Studio: Actors on Actors.

The new season was filmed entirely from the actors’ homes and includes exclusive one-on-one conversations between top acting talent from potential contending movies in this year’s Academy Awards race. The episodes will premiere on PBS SoCal on Friday, March 5 at 8:00 pm, 8:30 pm, 9:00 pm and 9:30 pm. All episodes will stream on pbssocal.org and on the free PBS Video app following their premieres.

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2019 and Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards for best entertainment programming in 2015 and 2016. The series was produced by PBS SoCal in partnership with Variety Media, LLC.

Variety’s Actors on Actors issue will hit newsstands on Jan. 20 with clips appearing on Variety.com starting Jan. 19. All Variety.com Actors on Actors videos will be presented by Amazon Studios.

We are delighted to share with our supporters the ICR’s first virtual Carols from Chelsea concert to celebrate the festive season and our world-leading research.

For the past 17 years, the Christmas service, our flagship annual social and fundraising event, has been held in the stunning Wren Chapel of The Royal Hospital Chelsea, but had to be recorded in advance this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The recording features Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne giving a special video performance of Alan Titchmarsh’s poem, ‘A New Nativity’, alongside a moving tribute to Abbie Shaw, who lost her life to cancer aged just five. The service also includes beautiful carols and music directed by award-winning British conductor and pianist Will Vann, and a wonderful reading of ‘The Birth of Jesus’ by Chelsea In-Pensioner Dewi Treharne.

We are pleased to be able to share the full recording from this year’s service online for the very first time:

Please consider making a donation this Christmas to help our scientists in making the discoveries that defeat cancer. With your support, we can continue to improve the lives and outcomes for patients and their families. [Source]

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Netflix seems to have three robust contenders for the top prize with the actors guild. “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Mank” feel like they could be no-brainers while the plethora of film and television talent in “The Prom” should be a safe bet this early. Expect Amazon Studios to keep the pedal to the floor for “One Night in Miami” while “Minari” may hit a sweet spot with voters. This space will be the first real test for “Nomadland” to see how strong it really is. [Source]

AND THE PREDICTED NOMINEES ARE:

1. "The Trial of the Chicago 7" (Netflix)
   CAST:
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael
Keaton, John Carroll Lynch, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance, Alex Sharp,
Jeremy Strong

   ---

2. "Mank" (Netflix)
   CAST:
Tom Burke, Lily Collins, Joseph Cross, Charles Dance, Monika Gossman,
Ferdinand Kingsley, Jamie McShane, Tuppence Middleton, Toby Leonard
Moore, Gary Oldman, Tom Pelphrey, Amanda Seyfried, Sam Troughton

   ---

3. "Minari" (A24)
   CAST. Yeri Han, Alan S. Kim, Will Patton, Steven Yeun, Yuh Jong-Youn

   ---

4. "One Night in Miami" (Amazon Studios)
   CAST: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom, Jr.

   ---

5. "The Prom" (Netflix)
   CAST:
James Corden, Ariana DeBose, Keegan-Michael Key, Nicole Kidman, Jo
Ellen Pellman, Andrew Rannells, Meryl Streep, Kerry Washington

From Academy Awards to a Harry Potter franchise, is Redmayne the world’s most versatile actor?

However, this month he leads an all-star cast in Netflix’s most important film of the year, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and starts filming the next installment of the world’s most popular franchise…

In Kettle’s Yard Art Gallery in Cambridge, sat on top of a dark mahogany piano is a marble sculpture called Prometheus made by Constantin Brâncusi. It is the one piece of art that Eddie Redmayne would save in the case of ultimate catastrophe.

The actor who studied Art History at Cambridge University tells me about it as we leave the film set of the third installment of Fantastic Beasts in the early days of an autumn that, we suspect, we will never forget.

Eddie Redmayne loves the arts. Not only is he knowledgeable about sculptures, painters and artists, but in his downtime he sketches and even plays the piano. It’s no surprise then that he started his career on theatre boards, despite several people warning him that he would not survive in it.

“Many people took it upon themselves to tell me that it would never work, that only extraordinary cases achieve it and that I could not make a living from this professionally.” Even his father came home one day with a list of statistics on unemployed young actors and gave it to him.

Redmayne comes across as modest, polite and with a dry (but sharp) sense of humour. He adds: “But I enjoyed theatre so much that I got to the point of thinking that if I could only do one play a year for the rest of my life… I would do it. And that would completely fulfil me.”