KATE WINSLET, JENNIFER HUDSON, GLENN CLOSE JOIN BABY YAGA: Oscar winners Kate Winslet, Jennifer Hudson and Glenn Close have joined Daisy Ridley in the all-female voice cast of Baby Yaga, an immersive VR animated film that will bow at the Venice Film Festival next month. “Baba Yaga is a beautiful work of animation and I was honored to be an executive producer alongside my talented collaborators at Baobab Studios,” said Hudson. “While the story is rooted in classic folklore, we were inspired to bring it into modern light by focusing on environmental themes and strong female characters, themes the world needs to explore now more than ever. It was my pleasure to be part of the strong female cast alongside Daisy, Kate, and Glenn.”
IDRIS ELBA TO ESTABLISH BOXING SCHOOL: Idris Elba is set to create a boxing school for seven disadvantaged young people. The experience will be documented in the BBC Two‘s Idris Elba Fight School. Elba said: “I see history constantly repeating itself and can empathize with these kids. I believe there is a better way to teach people that you don’t need knives to protect yourself. It’s a proven fact that in urban areas where fight schools open, violent crime drops dramatically – which is why I wanted to do this project, in hope that we can change people’s lives. I want this project to be an ongoing presence that will continue to provide support and education for the community for years to come.”
PARASITE‘S SONG KANG-HO TO STAR IN BABY, BOX, BROKER: Song Kang-ho, the star of the Oscar-winning Parasite, is set to topline Baby, Box, Broker, the Korean-language debut of Shoplifters director Hirokazu Kore-eda. “It’s Korean movie with Korean actors, Korean staff, being shot in the Korean language,” producer Eugene Lee told Variety. “It will shoot in Korea also.”
ROMAN POLANSKI LOSES REINSTATEMENT BID: Roman Polanski has lost his bid to be reinstated in the Academy. The fugitive from justice was ousted in 2018 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The 87-year-old sued in 2019 but L.A. Judge Mary Strobel ruled that the Academy was in the right. “While the Board could have found the circumstances surrounding Petitioner’s continued fugitive status, including his allegations of serious judicial and prosecutorial misconduct, mitigated the need for expulsion, the Board’s decision is supported by the evidence, was not arbitrary or capricious, and was not an abuse of discretion,” Strobel wrote.