I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Rick and Morty, Vice, Women in Blue, Boss Level, Jeremy Zucker and Chelsea Cutler, and Sasquatch.
- Hulu announced that the streaming platform has acquired the U.S. rights to Lee Daniels’ THE UNITED STATES vs. BILLIE HOLIDAY, which will debut as a Hulu Original film on Hulu on February 26, 2021. Sierra/Affinity will continue to handle international sales on the film. The legendary Billie Holiday, one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, spent much of her career being adored by fans across the globe. Beginning in the 1940’s in New York City, the federal government targeted Holiday in a growing effort to escalate and racialize the war on drugs, ultimately aiming to stop her from singing her controversial and heart-wrenching ballad, “Strange Fruit.” Led by Oscar® nominated director Lee Daniels and introducing Grammy® nominated singer-songwriter Andra Day, THE UNITED STATES vs. BILLIE HOLIDAY unapologetically presents the icon’s complicated, irrepressible life. Screenplay Writer Suzan-Lori Parks, the first African American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, pens this intimate tale of a fierce trailblazer whose defiance through music helped usher in the civil rights movement. NAACP Image Award® Nominee Trevante Rhodes and Emmy® Nominee Natasha Lyonne co-star along with Garrett Hedlund, Miss Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Evan Ross, Tyler James Williams, Tone Bell, and Erik LaRay Harvey.
- Wubba-lubba-dub-dub! From creators Justin Roiland (“Adventure Time”) and Dan Harmon (“Community”), go on an intergalactic journey across the multi-verse with the release of Rick and Morty: Seasons 1-4 boxed set from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 2, 2021. Get ready to binge on one of cables #1 watched comedies - and follow the misadventures of America’s favorite crazy scientist and his grandchildren with this outrageous boxed set which includes all 41 episodes from the first four seasons of the award-winning series, along with copious special features, including audio commentary, deleted scenes, “Inside the Episode” segments, numerous featurettes, past animatic sketches, and more. For a limited time, fans who purchase the set will receive an exclusive poster from the series. Rick and Morty: Seasons 1-4 is priced to own at $79.99 SRP for the DVD ($89.99 in Canada) and $89.99 SRP for the Blu-ray ($99.99 in Canada), which includes a Digital Copy (U.S. only). Rick and Morty also available to own on Digital via purchase from digital retailers.
- SHOWTIME announced today that season two of the award-winning documentary series VICE will premiere Sunday, March 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The season will consist of 15 episodes, eight of which will air weekly on Sundays leading to a midseason finale on April 25. The remaining seven episodes will air this fall. Known for delivering immersive reporting from the frontlines of global conflicts, civil uprisings and more, VICE returns with a new slate of groundbreaking stories from its team of global correspondents, taking on a range of issues from police brutality in Nigeria to the continued shockwaves of President Trump’s foreign policy in Iran and Yemen. And in the U.S., VICE will continue its fearless exploration of the racial reckoning underway in the country. Watch and share a glimpse of season two here: https://youtu.be/2vmDDm5yyPA.
- Filmed from 2017-2020, WOMEN IN BLUE follows Minneapolis’ first female police chief Janeé Harteau, as she works to reform the Minneapolis Police Department by getting rid of bad cops, retraining the rest, diversifying the ranks and promoting women—who statistically use less force than their male counterparts—into every rank of leadership. The film focuses on four women in Harteau’s department, each trying to redefine what it means to protect and serve. After a high-profile, officer-involved shooting forces Chief Harteau to resign, the new, male chief selects only men as his top brass. The women left behind continue to fight to police differently and to rebuild community trust. WOMEN IN BLUE offers an unprecedented view into the inner workings of the MPD, chronicling a department—and a community—grappling with racism and a troubled history of police misconduct long before an MPD officer killed George Floyd in May of 2020. The film reveals the limitations of police reform through incremental change and asks questions that apply well beyond the city of Minneapolis. Could increased gender equity and more women —especially Black women — contribute to greater public safety? WOMEN IN BLUE will broadcast on PBS television series Independent Lens series on Monday, February 8, 2021.
- From acclaimed filmmaker Joe Carnahan comes BOSS LEVEL, an action-packed drama starring Frank Grillo, Mel Gibson and Naomi Watts. The clock is ticking, get in on the thrill Friday, March 5, only on Hulu! Trapped in a time loop that constantly repeats the day of his murder, former special forces agent Roy Pulver (Frank Grillo) uncovers clues about a secret government project that could unlock the mystery behind his untimely death. In a race against the clock, Pulver must hunt down Colonel Ventor (Mel Gibson), the powerful head of the government program, while outrunning skilled ruthless assassins determined to keep him from the truth in order to break out of the loop, save his ex-wife (Naomi Watts) and live once again for tomorrow.
- Rekindling their undeniable chemistry once again, singers, songwriters and producers Jeremy Zucker and Chelsea Cutler return today with a new single “this is how you fall in love” out now—listen HERE! “this is how you fall in love” heralds the arrival of their forthcoming EP, brent ii, releasing February 5th. Pre-order/pre-save HERE. Additionally, they unveiled the song’s official music video, watch HERE. “this is how you fall in love” is a smoothly harmonious song that brings Jeremy and Chelsea’s strongest vocals to the table in what they describe as “the kind of song to slow dance to at your wedding.”
- Hulu has announced Sasquatch, a three-part documentary series from Duplass Brothers Productions and Director Joshua Rofé, which investigates rumors of a bizarre twenty-five year old triple homicide said to be the work of a mythical creature, will launch exclusively as a Hulu Documentary this Spring. Synopsis: While visiting a pot farm in Northern California in 1993, investigative journalist David Holthouse heard a story that still haunts him: On a nearby farm three men were torn limb from limb in a savage Bigfoot attack. Sasquatch follows David as he revisits the Redwoods twenty-five years later, in search of any evidence that might lead to the truth of what happened that night. As he pulls at the threads of this story, he’ll be taken down a path that’s far more terrifying than anyone would have imagined.
