Spielberg Takes on McQueen; Hope for Armie Hammer; Digital Cover Reveal

Steven Spielberg is reinventing a character originally played by Steve McQueen for Bradley Cooper; Luca Guadagnino says “of course” Armie Hammer would be in a Call Me By Your Name sequel; Behold, our fall digital cover featuring the great J.D. Dillard, director of Devotion. All in today’s Movie News Rundown.

But First: We’re officially debuting our new digital cover of Devotion director JD Dillard. The son of a Navy pilot, Dillard grew up on naval bases where he quickly became fascinated by water and planes — “I could swim before I could walk,” he tells MovieMaker. Dillard gives us the scoop on how he told the story of Korean War hero Jesse L. Brown, the first Black aviator to complete the U.S. Navy’s basic flight training program. Admire the cover at your leisure below, and read the story here.

Out Today: Bones and All, The Fabelmans, The Menu, and She Said all arrive in theaters today. MovieMaker’s Joshua Encinias spoke to Taylor Russell, who co-stars opposite Timothée Chalamet in Bones and All, and director Luca Guadagnino if you’re curious to learn more about the cannibal love story. If you’re interested in The Fabelmans, click here to learn about how Paul Dano approached playing Steven Spielberg’s dad. And if you’re here for The Menu, here’s a very interesting piece from MovieMaker‘s Celia Mattison about what the movie says and doesn’t say about American wealth.

Speaking of Luca Guadagnino: The director is still entertaining the idea of a Call Me By Your Name sequel — and if he did make one, Armie Hammer would “of course” be in it, Guadagnino told Variety. There are no concrete plans in motion at this time, but it’s entirely possible that it could happen, and that Armie Hammer might still have a career despite the allegations against him, which he denies. Read more here.

You Go, K-Stew: Crimes of the Future star Kristen Stewart is officially making her feature directorial debut with Chronology of Water, based on the memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch about her experience as a swimmer-turned-artist grappling with her sexuality and family trauma. Imogen Poots will star, according to Deadline, and Stewart is working with Scott Free with Ridley Scott producing. Read more here.

Steven Does Steve: That is, Steven Spielberg is taking a swing at a character originally played by Steve McQueen — Frank Bullitt, protagonist of the 1968 Peter Yates movie Bullitt. Bradley Cooper will take over the role, Vulture says. In the original film, Bullitt is a San Francisco cop searching for a mobster who killed a witness he was protecting. The film is still in development, but Spielberg and Spotlight writer Josh Singer are planning to make a whole new story for the character, not just redo the original Bullitt.

Jonah Hill’s Therapist: You know, Phil Stutz — the author and therapist-to-the-stars who Jonah Hill made a Netflix documentary about called Stutz — he’s weighing in on Hill’s decision to stop promoting his movies. “To be honest, it made me smile,” Stutz told IndieWire. “In one way, it was so ridiculous. You know, the guy’s peaking. I said to myself, ‘Is he serious?’” Stutz wrote the popular self-help book The Tools, which is discussed in the new documentary. I read The Tools, and watching Stutz, which is streaming now on Netflix, is next on my list.

Main Image: JD Dillard, director of Devotion, on the fall digital cover of MovieMaker.