Hollywould: Danny Leiner, Selma Blair, and ‘Pirates of the Carribean’

The film and television business moves at a mile a minute, so keeping up with the latest news can be a little daunting. Not to worry—we have your back. In Hollywould, we’ll round up the industry developments you need to know. Here’s what you may have missed:

Danny Leiner

The director of stoner classics Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and Dude, Where’s My Car?, Danny Leiner, has passed away of a “long illness.” He was 57.

Selma Blair

Actress Selma Blair revealed in an emotional, lengthy Instagram post that she has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

View this post on Instagram

I was in this wardrobe fitting two days ago. And I am in the deepest gratitude. So profound, it is, I have decided to share. The brilliant costumer #Allisaswanson not only designs the pieces #harperglass will wear on this new #Netflix show , but she carefully gets my legs in my pants, pulls my tops over my head, buttons my coats and offers her shoulder to steady myself. I have #multiplesclerosis . I am in an exacerbation. By the grace of the lord, and will power and the understanding producers at Netflix , I have a job. A wonderful job. I am disabled. I fall sometimes. I drop things. My memory is foggy. And my left side is asking for directions from a broken gps. But we are doing it . And I laugh and I don’t know exactly what I will do precisely but I will do my best. Since my diagnosis at ten thirty pm on The night of August 16, I have had love and support from my friends , especially @jaime_king @sarahmgellar @realfreddieprinze @tarasubkoff @noah.d.newman . My producers #noreenhalpern who assured me that everyone has something. #chrisregina #aaronmartin and every crew member… thank you. I am in the thick of it but I hope to give some hope to others. And even to myself. You can’t get help unless you ask. It can be overwhelming in the beginning. You want to sleep. You always want to sleep. So I don’t have answers. You see, I want to sleep. But I am a forthcoming person and I want my life to be full somehow. I want to play with my son again. I want to walk down the street and ride my horse. I have MS and I am ok. But if you see me , dropping crap all over the street, feel free to help me pick it up. It takes a whole day for me alone. Thank you and may we all know good days amongst the challenges. And the biggest thanks to @elizberkley who forced me to see her brother #drjasonberkley who gave me this diagnosis after finding lesions on that mri. I have had symptoms for years but was never taken seriously until I fell down in front of him trying to sort out what I thought was a pinched nerve. I have probably had this incurable disease for 15 years at least. And I am relieved to at least know. And share. 🖤 my instagram family… you know who you are.

A post shared by Selma Blair (@selmablair) on Oct 20, 2018 at 11:23am PDT

Sarah Silverman and Louis C.K.

On Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show, comedian Sarah Silverman revealed that Louis C.K. used to masturbate in front of her with her consent:

“I know I’m going to regret saying this. I’ve known Louis forever, I’m not making excuses for him, so please don’t take this that way. We are peers. We are equals. When we were kids, and he asked if he could masturbate in front of me, sometimes I’d go, ‘Fuck yeah I want to see that!’… It’s not analogous to the other women that are talking about what he did to them. He could offer me nothing. We were only just friends. Sometimes, yeah, I wanted to see it, it was amazing. Sometimes I would say, ‘Fucking no, gross,’ and we got pizza.”

Silverman elaborated that the, uh, displays happened when they were young comics on the road, “letting our freak flags fly.” She noted that C.K. never adjusted to fame as he should have:

“Once he became powerful, even within just his [comedy] community, he felt like he was the same person, but the dynamic was different and it was not OK. … I’m not saying everyone should embrace Louis again. I believe he has remorse. I just want him to talk about it on stage. He’s going to have to find his way or not find his way.”

Quicksand

David Tennant and Emily Watson have both joined Quicksand, the feature debut of longtime television director, Mark Brozel (Humans). The story centers around a British family living the good life in the Mediterranean, but their “paradise comes to an abrupt end when their visiting son is tragically murdered by a local youth. The husband is offered a chance at revenge by a dangerous stranger who won’t take no for an answer, but the price of revenge is one more murder.”

Producer Mark Lavender gushed about the script:

“This script is terrifically well-crafted and deeply conceived. With rich psychological undertones and plenty of beautiful visual moments, it is a contemporary classic in the making. And with this cast and director, it’ll take the audience on a visceral ride, resonating long-term.”

Jean-Marc Vallée and Yoko Ono

Deadline reports Sharp Objects and Dallas Buyers Club director Jean-Marc Vallée has joined Yoko Ono’s untitled biopic, centering on late husband John Lennon. The script is from Anthony McCarten, writer of Bohemian Rhapsody and Darkest Hour.

Joker

Tired of Joker news? …Too bad because it keeps coming. New set photos from Just Jared give us a new look at Joaquin Phoenix falling down, and Brett Cullen as Thomas Wayne.

Meanwhile, Shea Whigham hyped the film during an interview with Collider:

I’m flowing back and forth between television and film, and it’s not lost on me, to work with Joaquin [Phoenix] and to see what he’s doing. And Todd Phillips has put this amazing script together. It’s the origin story. People haven’t seen how the Joker becomes the Joker, and oh, my God, man, it’s incredible. It really is.

On top of that, it’s reported that Dante Pereira-Olson has been cast as a young Bruce Wayne; this movie keeps getting stranger.

Pirates of the Carribean

Disney’s considering reviving the Pirates of the Carribean franchise for a sixth film—this time penned by Deadpool scribes, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, according to Variety.

Aquaman

Director James Wan shared new pictures of Vulko (Willem Dafoe) and Orm (Patrick Wilson) on some bigass fishes:

Vulko and King Orm on their steeds. #hammerhead #tylosaur #sealife #underwaterkingdom #Aquaman #highres pic.twitter.com/EjPvuM5gHX

— James Wan (@creepypuppet) October 20, 2018

Trailer Roundup

Can you survive the Escape Room?:

Netflix gives us a look at Australian import Tidelands:

Love spooky kids? You’ll dig The Prodigy:

Pauly Shore plays a serial killer in Sin City Psycho, and I did not make any of that up:

—Jackson Sutliff