Euphoria Star Hunter Schafer Has Two Films Coming Next Year
Hunter Schafer is a bright light among the troubled and trouble-making teens in the world of Euphoria and the trans actress is just getting started. In 2023 she has two films on track for release, one of which you won’t be able to avoid. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a prequel to the Jennifer Lawrence-starring franchise, and directed by Hunger Games veteran filmmaker Francis Lawrence, will hit theaters in November of next year and feature Schafer alongside a cast that includes Viola Davis, Rachel Zegler (West Side Story), Jason Schwartzman and Peter Dinklage. Before that one comes along, Schafer will star in Cuckoo, a horror-thriller from German filmmaker Tilman Singer (2018’s Luz). Prestige distributor NEON is handling this one, and it co-stars Downton Abbey alum Dan Stevens and Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrection). Three cheers for trans talent on the big screen. ▼
Kristen Stewart to Direct The Chronology of Water
It’s time, of course, for Kristen Stewart to become the next great director. She’s already shown the world what she can do in front of the camera, after all, so she’s about to make her feature directorial debut with The Chronology of Water, with Imogen Poots (The Father) set to star in the lead role. Stewart and producer Andy Mingo will collaborate on the screenplay, an adaptation of the poetic memoir by author Lidia Yuknavitch. The story concerns Yuknavitch’s difficult childhood with an abusive father and suicidal mother, her struggle with grief and addiction, and her eventual, life-affirming coming-of-age as a swimmer, a writer, and a confident queer woman. Since her days of Twilight superstardom, Stewart has been making her own confident, arthouse-driven choices in terms of the films she’s in and the directors she works with—Personal Shopper with French filmmaker Olivier Assayas, for example—and this bodes well for her own instincts when she gets behind the camera. ▼
Gabrielle Union and Eva Longoria Will Produce a Queer Wedding Comedy for Amazon
You’re about to be treated to Gabrielle Union setting it on fire in the soon-to-be-released queer drama, The Inspection. Meanwhile, as the activist stepmom to her transgender child, she’s also become a super ally of the LGBTQ+ community. Now she and Eva Longoria will co-produce a queer wedding comedy for Amazon Studios. The project has no title at the moment, though both women are likely to be cast in the lead roles as rival moms, future mothers-in-law, whose gay sons are getting married. The plot will involve the ego-driven parents trying to take charge of the wedding for their own purposes rather than what will make their queer kids happy, and though we’ve seen the monster-in-law trope before, we’re very excited to see where this goes. Look for more concrete news about this one in 2023. ▼
Stormy Daniels Loves DILFS
Everyone’s favorite porn patriot, Stormy Daniels, has a new gig. The former adult film actress, known for her brave public battles with a former Republican president, is going to host a lighthearted reality show for queer men called For the Love of DILFS. Now, if you need to google what a DILF is, then you should by all means do that, but in the press materials her job on the competition series will be to play “den mother to a bunch of Daddies.” Set in a Bachelor-style mansion, a group of men-who-love-men, divided into the somewhat reductive categories of “Daddies” and “Himbos,” will live together and look for love. Will the Daddies fall only for Himbos? Will the Himbos hook up with each other instead? These are the important issues certain to be explored when the eight-episode game show premieres on the OUTtv platform in early 2023. And you know we’re going to watch. ▼