Lupita Nyong’o + David Oyelowo Link Again for Disney Chess Biopic Queen of Katwe
Fresh off Selma and still riding the wave of 12 Years a Slave, David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong’o, respectively, are teaming up for Disney’s Queen of Katwe, a (based on a true) story about the rise of an African chess prodigy. The film—based on Tim Crothers’s The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl’s Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster—focuses on Phiona Mutesi, a Ugandan Bobby Fischer who emerges from the slums to reach the World Chess Olympiad. Oyelowo will play her mentor Robert Kayende, while Nyong’o plays Harriet Mutesi, Phiona’s mother. The Mira Nair-directed movie will begin filming in South Africa and Uganda this spring. Both Oyelowo and Nyong’o will also appear in the big-screen adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s best-selling novel, Americanah.
The Weeknd Arrested for Allegedly Punching a Cop in Las Vegas
If The Weeknd’s music suggests the Canadian singer lives life on the edge, his recent arrest proves it. The elusive 24-year-old star was bagged in Vegas for allegedly punching a police officer in the head, as if he hasn’t watched U.S. news in the past… ever. As Las Vegas Police Officer Laura Meltzer tells it, the police were trying to stop a fight at a hotel on the strip when The Weeknd (born Abel Tesfaye) struck. It’s unclear whether he was involved in the fight before police arrived. He was brought to the Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of misdemeanor battery of a protected person, but wasn’t wasn’t listed on the jail roster on Monday, according to AP. Fortunately, neither Tesfaye nor the assaulted officer were seriously hurt.
Phylicia Rashad Cast in Rocky Spinoff
The Rocky franchise is getting another chapter, based around the legendary fictional boxer’s foe-turned-friend, Apollo Creed. The update on the film series centers on Creed’s grandson, Adonis (played by Michael B. Jordan), who Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) reluctantly decides to train. Phylicia Rashad was recently announced to play Adonis’ grandmother—Apollo’s widow—in the Ryan Coogler-directed flick. Tessa Thompson of Dear White People also co-stars in the film, slated to hit theaters in 2016.
