The American Film Institute (AFI) announced that Academy Award®-nominated director and producer Ridley Scott will be honored by AFI Fest 2017 with a tribute and world premiere closing night gala screening of TriStar Pictures’ All The Money In The World on Thursday, November 16, at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The tribute will celebrate Scott’s legendary filmmaking career with a moderated discussion of his work followed by the screening of the Scott-directed All The Money In The World starring Academy Award® nominees Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams, and Academy Award® winner Kevin Spacey.
“For five decades, Ridley Scott’s tremendous visions of cities, new worlds, histories and science have transformed and influenced not only film, but our culture,” said Jacqueline Lyanga, AFI Fest director. “We’re honored to be celebrating the artistry of a director whose work has had an indelible influence on cinema culture, and the lexicon of visual style.”
One of our most prolific directors and producers, Scott is a four-time Academy Award® nominee–Best Picture for The Martian (2015) and Best Director for Black Hawk Down (2001), Gladiator (2000) and Thelma & Louise (1991). Additional films include Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Legend (1985), Black Rain (1989), G.I. Jane (1997), Matchstick Men (2003), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), American Gangster (2007), Robin Hood (2010), Prometheus (2012), The Counselor (2013), Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) and Alien: Covenant (2017).
All The Money In The World follows the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III (Charlie Plummer) and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother Gail (Michelle Williams) to convince his billionaire grandfather (Kevin Spacey) to pay the ransom. When Getty, Sr., refuses, Gail attempts to sway him as her son’s captors become increasingly volatile and brutal. With her son’s life in the balance, Gail and Getty’s advisor (Mark Wahlberg) become unlikely allies in the race against time that ultimately reveals the true and lasting value of love over money.
TriStar Pictures’ and Imperative Entertainment’s All The Money In The World is written by David Scarpa, based on the book by John Pearson. Produced by Scott, Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Quentin Curtis, Chris Clark, Mark Huffam and Kevin Walsh, the film stars Williams, Spacey, Wahlberg, Plummer, Romain Duris and Timothy Hutton.
The film debuts in theaters this December.
James Earl Jones, Lauded Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies At 93
James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, "The Lion King" and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York's Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.
The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of "The Gin Game" having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.
"The need to storytell has always been with us," he told The Associated Press then. "I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."
Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in "Field of Dreams," the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit "The Great White Hope," the writer Alex Haley in "Roots: The Next Generation" and a South African minister in "Cry, the Beloved Country."
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader ("No, I am your father," commonly misremembered as "Luke, I am your father"), as... Read More