Movie News: Tomorrow’s the Day; Black Panther Dilemma; Paul Thomas Anderson’s New Cast

In today’s Movie News: Tomorrow is the biggest movie day of the year; Paul Thomas Anderson casts Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s son; Marvel faces a Black Panther 2 quandary as it mourns Chadwick Boseman; and Bond is back and excited for Thanksgiving.

I’m Thinking This Will Be a Nice Weekend: Tomorrow is the biggest movie day of this very weird year — Tenet is in theaters today, and tomorrow, Mulan appears on Disney+, while Netflix releases the new Charlie Kaufmann film I’m Thinking of Ending Things. There’s something for everyone. Also: We’ll have a great Kaufman interview tomorrow.

Paul Thomas Anderson: He’s cast Cooper Hoffman, son of his longtime collaborator Phillip Seymour Hoffman, as the lead in his new film, set in the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s. Cooper plays a child actor and stars alongside singer Alana Haim. Bradley Cooper and Bennie Safdie are also in the ensemble. Here’s more from The Hollywood Reporter.

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Black Panther 2: This THR story says Chadwick Boseman believed until about a week before he died that he would be able to start preparing for the Black Panther sequel this month. It says only four people outside his family knew of his fight with cancer, and that none were at Marvel. Now the studio, reeling from the loss of a friend, must also decide how it can make a sequel respectfully. One option, which you’ve probably seen floated by fans, is to make T’Challa’s sister, Shuri (Letitia Wright) the new Black Panther.

‘He’s in the Red Sand’: That’s my friend Aaron Lanton’s three-year-old son, trying to process Boseman’s death through the images in Black Panther. In the latest Low Key podcast, Aaron talks about how he used this moment to explain the concept of loss. We also talk about how Boseman connected the past and future in his portrayals of Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and James Brown, and how Black Panther changed everything. You can listen on Apple or Spotify or here:

https://shows.acast.com/low-key/episodes/chadwick-boseman-memories

Tenet Comes to Jersey: New Jersey’s AMC theaters will re-open just in time for Tenet, and does this feel like a thing that maybe should have been meticulously plotted out rather than happening just in time? Deadline listed drive times for New Yorkers whose theaters remain closed.

November: The pre-shutdown delay of No Time to Die in the spring was one of the first signs of how seriously Hollywood was taking COVID-19. The film’s brand-new trailer, below, promises it will be in theaters in November. Looks good.

Thanks: For all the updates on what you’re working on in response to my question in yesterday’s Movie News. I’m reading them all, focusing especially on the ones that will most help moviemakers share the lessons they’ve learned with other moviemakers. Stay tuned.