From there, Desrumaux began creating a backstory for Lunaria, home of the towering, diva-like Moon goddess, Chang’e (Phillipa Soo). According to their update of the Chinese fable, Chang’e takes a magic potion and spends eternity on the moon longing for her lover. When 12-year-old Fei Fei (Cathy Ang) mourns the passing of her mother, she builds a rocket to the moon to enlist the aid of Chang’e. “I came up with Chang’e arriving on Lunaria and the idea that God is creating his own kind and that everything should be formed from her tears,” Desrumaux said....

Deadline reported on Monday that Varma will appear in the series, though details about her character are under wraps. That said, the casting detail is nonetheless a sign that progress is steadily continuing on the still-untitled series, which will premiere on Disney+. Varma, who also starred in recent television shows such as “Carnival Row” and “For Life” and films such as “Crisis,” will appear in the series alongside Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, who portrayed Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, respectively....

“It was unbelievably negative, I have to say,” McWilliams said about the reaction to Craig’s casting. “The press response was awful and I felt so sorry for him, but in a funny kind of a way I think it almost spurred him on to do his damndest to prove everybody wrong. The whole way through the film, stuff would come out about [how] he couldn’t walk and talk, he couldn’t run, he couldn’t drive a car properly, so much stuff which was completely and utterly untrue....

“James Franco has an obvious physical resemblance with Fidel Castro, besides his skills and charisma,” Fernández told Deadline of the “This Is the End” star portraying her Communist leader father. “The project is almost entirely Latino, both in front and behind the camera,” Fernández added, citing Franco’s Portuguese heritage. “I find the selection of the cast amazing. The filmmakers worked a lot and I can’t be more grateful to them for their overall inclusive selection....

Ever since Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, Lawrence has made an effort to address the divided nation as embodied by her own Kentucky-based family. “I just worked so hard in the last five years to forgive my dad and my family and try to understand: It’s different. The information they are getting is different. Their life is different,” Lawrence told Vogue in a new cover story. “I’ve tried to get over it and I really can’t....

Currently doing the press rounds for “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Coen spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the topic. It’s an apropros one, as A24 released “The Tragedy of Macbeth in theaters December 25, but the stylized new take on the Shakespeare classic will be available to stream on Apple TV+ January 14. “When Ethan and I started, studios were able to take advantage of revenue from ancillary markets like VHS as a financial balance to risk-taking,” Coen said, pointing out that that form of revenue made riskier movies seem like better financial bets....

“The nepotism thing, I mean… I don’t really care,” Hudson said in the interview. “I look at my kids and we’re a storytelling family. It’s definitely in our blood. People can call it whatever they want, but it’s not going to change it.” Hudson further compared Hollywood to other industries like modeling and business, saying that nepotism is just as common in those fields, but people who benefit from it there face much less scrutiny....