Film News Roundup: ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ Returns for 40th Anniversary

In today’s film news roundup, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” comes back, Aubrey Plaza gets cast in a thriller and the Ruderman Family Foundation honors two series and two movies.

RE-RELEASE

Fathom Events and Paramount Pictures have scheduled 40th anniversary showings of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” on Sept. 15 and 18.

It’s the first nationwide cinema release since the film premiered in December, 1979. The  presentation will also feature the behind-the-scenes documentary short “The Longest Trek: Writing the Motion Picture.”

Robert Wise directed “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.” which became the fourth highest grossing film of the year and earned Academy Award nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, and Best Music, Original Score. It starred William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, and James Doohan.

“’Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ is a visual marvel and a film that even many ardent ‘Star Trek’ fans have never had an opportunity to see on a big screen,” said Tom Lucas, vice president of studio relations.

CASTINGS

Productivity Media Inc and Oakhurst Entertainment have cast Aubrey Plaza, Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon in the upcoming thriller “Black Bear.”

Lawrence Michael Levine is directing from his own script. An expecting couple (Gadon and Abbott) is confronted with an out of town guest Abigail (Plaza), a filmmaker suffering from writer’s block who seeks solace in the woods but finds herself at the center of a twisted love triangle.

Producers are Tandem Pictures’ Julie Christeas and Jonathan Blitstein, Richard J Bosner (Blue Creek Pictures), Sophia Takal and Oakhurst’s Marina Grasic and Jai Khanna. Productivity will finance the film.

Shooting is underway in the Adirondack Mountains in Long Lake, NY. The news was first reported by Deadline.

RUDERMAN RECOGNITION

The Ruderman Family Foundation has recognized two television series and two feature films for its Seal of Authentic Representation for commitment toward full inclusiveness in popular culture.

The TV honorees are Hulu’s “Ramy,” based on the life of comedian Ramy Youssef and his best friend Steve Way, who has Muscular Dystrophy; and “This Close,” a romantic drama created by and starring deaf actors Shoshannah Stern and Josh Feldman.

The film honorees are “Give Me Liberty,” centered on a medical transport driver played by Lauren Spencer who endures a very trying day in wintry Milwaukee; and “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” the story of a young man with Down Syndrome who runs away from home to become a wrestler. Played by Zack Gottsagen, he is befriended by a petty thief played by Shia LaBeouf.

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Source: variety.com