Best of 2024: “Challengers” Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes on Acing his Zendaya-led Tennis Scorcher

Spoiler Alert: The following article contains spoilers for Challengers.

Back in 2018, playwright and author Justin Kuritzkes was obsessively consuming the world of elite tennis. As the first-time screenwriter conveyed to The Credits, it was better than anything in theaters or on the small screen — tennis was really just that good.

During that year’s U.S. Open match between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams,

“Challengers” Production Designer Merissa Lombardo Sets the Stage on Court & Off

Director Luca Guadagnino’s sexy new tennis romance, Challengers, layers a years-long love triangle of three millennial-era players over the highs and lows of their careers. At the center is talented, driven, and stunning Tashi (Zendaya). She first dates Patrick (Josh O’Connor), who plays as well as she does, but doesn’t take his career or their relationship seriously enough for either to work out. After getting knocked out of the circuit with a knee injury,

“Challengers” Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes on Acing his Zendaya-led Tennis Scorcher

Spoiler Alert: The following article contains spoilers for Challengers.

Back in 2018, playwright and author Justin Kuritzkes was obsessively consuming the world of elite tennis. As the first-time screenwriter conveyed to The Credits, it was better than anything in theaters or on the small screen — tennis was really just that good.

During that year’s U.S. Open match between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams,

Game On: Zendaya & Co. Reveal Why “Challengers” Will Be Your New Obsession

From the warm embrace of Call Me By Your Name to the eerie thrill of Bones and All, Luca Guadagnino’s latest film, Challengers, is a culmination of the better parts of all of his earlier work, ending in an explosive (and sweaty) finale.

The film centers on a love triangle, set in the world of high-stakes tennis matches, with three characters who once,

“American Fiction” Writer/Director Cord Jefferson on Cutting to the Heart of the Matter

Writer/director Cord Jefferson’s narrative feature debut, American Fiction, has become one of the most talked about films this awards season, and for good reason. Adapted from Percival Everett’s 2001 novel “Erasure,” the satirical drama won the audience award upon its debut at the Toronto Film Festival, with a number of subsequent fests following suit, and was recently named one of the top ten films of 2023 by the AFI.

“American Fiction” Star Jeffrey Wright Authors a New Chapter in a Stellar Career

Jeffrey Wright has found a great role as Monk Ellison in writer/director Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction. The story is based on a 2001 novel called “Erasure” by Percival Everett and centers on a professor and writer fed up with the way the literary world limits how Blackness is portrayed in pop culture. In response, Monk writes a blatantly stereotypical novel full of gangs, thugs, and criminals using a pseudonym. To his shock,

“Saltburn” Cinematographer Linus Sandgren on Creating a Fluid Painting for Emerald Fennell

The comic drama Saltburn from director Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) is as beautiful as it is macabre. It’s 2006, and Oliver (Barry Keoghan), an awkward, lonely student at Oxford, finds his place within the scenic confines of his university by becoming friends with Felix (Jacob Elordi), who is everything Oliver is not — handsome, charming, and rich. Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer at Saltburn,

How “Saltburn” Production Designer Suzie Davies Imbued a Palatial Estate With Sinister Detailing

Like so many of us, production designer Suzie Davies loved Emerald Fennel’s debut, Promising Young Woman. When she heard that the actress-turned-director planned a sex-drenched thriller called Saltburn as a follow-up to her debut feature, Davies, Oscar-nominated for designing Mike Leigh’s lush period piece Mr. Turner, threw her hat in the ring. “I was like, ‘Let me get in the room with Emerald!'” she says. “My agent got me the script,

“Godfather of Harlem” Production Designer Patrick Howe on Handling History in Season 3

The story of gangster Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) continues to unfold with the third season of Godfather of Harlem, from creators Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein. This prequel series to Ridley Scott‘s 2007 feature American Gangster, starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, cleverly intertwines a kinetic group of characters in a period crime drama well worth watching.

This season, Bumpy faces no shortage of challenges—the CIA,

First Trailer for Guy Ritchie’s “The Covenant” Finds Jake Gyllenhaal Paying a Battlefield Debt

The first trailer for writer/director Guy Ritchie’s latest film, The Covenant, is here, and it packs a punch. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as John Kinley, a sergeant deployed on his last tour in Afghanistan. Disaster strikes and John’s facing certain death, but he’s saved by a local interpreter named Ahmed (Dal Salim), who goes above and beyond to literally drag, push, and carry John to safety. His efforts are practically superhuman, and while John can barely remember a thing that happened,

“Women Talking” Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir on Scoring Sarah Polley’s Astonishing New Film

Based on the novel by Miriam Toews, writer/director Sarah Polley’s new narrative Women Talking considers how a group of women can move forward after the shocking betrayal and abuse by men in their isolated religious community. The backstory of the novel and subsequent film, which is set in 2010, mirrors horrific true events that took place at a Mennonite colony in Bolivia. For over four years, nine men secretly sedated over a hundred girls and women,

“Bones And All” Writer/Producer David Kajganich on Creating a Consuming Cannibal Love Story

When screenwriter David Kajganich decided to adapt the YA novel Bones And All by Camille DeAngelis, he approached his friend and longtime collaborator, director Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name), about taking on the project — the two had worked together on Suspiria and A Bigger Splash. Though professional commitments initially prevented Guadagnino from doing so, eventually,

See Timothée Chalamet & Taylor Russell as a Cannibals in Love in First “Bones and All” Teaser

Timothée Chalamet has revealed the first teaser for Bones and All, his upcoming collaboration with his Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino. Bones and All will make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival at the end of this month (August 31, to be exact) and is one of the fest’s most eagerly-anticipated entries.

Guadagnino’s film is an adaptation of Camille DeAngelis’s novel of the same name by his longtime collaborator screenwriter David Kajganich,

“Cyrano” Composer Aaron Dessner on Tuning Into Timeless Love

Director Joe Wright, known best for emotional period films like Atonement and Pride & Prejudice, has brought a new musical version of Cyrano to the screen, starring Peter Dinklage in the title role. Dinklage is receiving rave reviews for his part in the romantic classic, bringing a new depth to the brilliant wordsmith and swordsman who loves his best friend, the gorgeous Roxanne (Haley Bennett), from afar. The film is based on a theatrical version directed and written by Erica Schmidt,

Oscar-Nominated “Cyrano” Costume Designer Massimo Cantini on a New Vision For a Timeless Tale

Cyrano (in theaters on February 25) boasts megawatt talent – notably, Peter Dinklage in the title role – but newly minted Oscar-nominee, costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini, may be the film’s secret weapon. Parrini has won a bundle of European awards, mostly for his work in his native Italy. He came to Hollywood’s attention in 2020 when he was nominated for an Oscar for his costumes for Pinocchio,

“Cyrano” Screenwriter Erica Schmidt on Adapting the Iconic Love Triangle for Film

It is one of the dramatic arts’ most famous and heartbreaking love triangles: Cyrano de Bergerac, in love with Roxanne, who loves Christian and he her, aided in his pursuit by Cyrano’s eloquent written and spoken words. Edmond Rostand’s 1897 play about the brilliant wordsmith and his unrequited passion has been adapted over the past century-plus for many stages and screens.

Director Joe Wright (Atonement) is the latest filmmaker to tackle the tale with MGM’s Cyrano (in theaters on February 25),

“House of Gucci” Screenwriter Roberto Bentivegna on Centering Lady Gaga’s Obsessive Patrizia Reggiani

Sometimes you just have to say, “F*** it all, I’ll give it a shot.”

That’s what Roberto Bentivegna did when he got his shot to write the screenplay for the new MGM Studios feature House of Gucci, opening November 24.

At the time, Bentivegna had only a handful of short-film credits and award wins from way back in film school at Columbia. But he also had something else: a great idea.

Leonardo DiCaprio in Final Talks to Play Cult Leader Jim Jones in MGM Film

Leonardo DiCaprio gravitates towards difficult roles, so it’s hardly surprising he’s in final talks to play the infamous religious cult leader Jim Jones in MGM’s upcoming film. Deadline reports that DiCaprio is close to finalizing the deal for the feature written by Scott Rosenberg that’s centered on Jones, the leader of the Peoples Temple religious group and the driving force behind the November 1978 mass suicide—of more than 900 people— at his Jonestown settlement in 1978.

“No Time To Die” Is Officially the Longest Bond Movie Ever

It was another lifetime ago (seriously, it feels like that) when we shared the news that No Time To Die was likely going to be the longest Bond movie ever made. This was way, way back in February of 2020 before the pandemic had changed everything. Now it’s official—United Artists has told domestic exhibitors not only the date that No Time To Die tickets can go on sale (September 17),

Listen to the First Episode of The Official “No Time To Die” Podcast

If you’ve been hankering for some more James Bond in your life (and who hasn’t?), you can now get your fix, podcast style. A new No Time To Die podcast featuring the film’s director, stars, producers, and more is now available. No Time To Die: The Official James Bond Podcast includes stars Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Jeffrey Wright, Ana de Armas, and Naomie Harris, as well as writer/director Cary Joji Fukunaga and recording artist superstar and No Time To Die theme song creator Billie Eilish.