Legendary gay filmmaker Gus Van Sant is currently in talks to direct a feature film about model Hoyt Richards. Don’t know that name? He was widely known in the fashion world for being the highest paid male model of the 1980s and ’90s. He worked in the same places as Cindy, Naomi and Linda and was the face of ad campaigns for Gianni Versace, Ralph Lauren and Valentino. Meanwhile, he also found himself part of a strange New Age cult of models called Eternal Values, a group that is currently the subject of the HBO docuseries “Bring Me the Beauties.” Nicholas Galitzine (“Masters of the Universe,” “Red, White & Royal Blue”) has signed on to play Richards, who worked in front of the camera while giving lots of time and money to the cult and its leader behind the scenes. We assume the docuseries will inform the narrative when it eventually begins shooting and Van Sant strips away the glamour. More information to come as this project takes shape.
François Arnaud hangs with Lindsay, Shailene and Superman
François Arnaud, queer breakout star of “Heated Rivalry,” has a lot on his plate. He’s just joined the cast of the Hulu limited series “Count My Lies,” from “Love, Simon” writers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, in which he’ll play friend to co-star Lindsay Lohan. The series is about a woman (Shailene Woodley) who untruths her way into working as a Nanny for Lohan and “Game of Thrones” alum Kit Harington. Turns out they live in a house full of readymade secrets, and their new pathological employee might be the match that lights it on fire. Arnaud will also be hitting Broadway in a revival of Richard Greenberg’s acclaimed 1997 play “Three Days of Rain,” to be directed by Tony Award winner Anna D. Shapiro (“Eureka Day”). Joining him there — it’s also a family drama with secrets revealed — will be Yvonne Strahovski (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) and “Superman” star David Corenswet, with performances on track to begin in February of 2027. This should keep him busy until it’s time put the skates back on for season two of “Rivalry.”
‘Dreams in Nightmares’ ushers in Queer Cinema Autumn
It’s been a packed Pride Month, with multiple queer indie films opening across the country in multiplexes and arthouses, from big releases like “Leviticus” and “Girls Like Girls,” to smaller films like “She’s the He,” “Drunken Noodles,” and more. Once June is over, though, more titles are coming to wrap up the summer and usher in fall. Among them is Shatara Michelle Ford’s next (her first feature was the 2019 indie drama “Test Pattern”), a highly anticipated drama called “Dreams in Nightmares,” which finds three queer Black friends on a road trip as they try to find a friend who’s disappeared. The largely queer cast is impressive: Broadway star and Tony Award nominee Denée Benton (“Hamilton”), “Yellowjackets” star Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sasha Compere (“Single Drunk Female”), Charlie Barnett (“Chicago Fire”), Mars Storm Rucker (“A Strange Loop”) and newcomer Dezi Bing. The film’s been making the festival rounds to acclaim and will wisely begin its arthouse rollout in August and September, after the June deluge has had its time to shine. Seek it out.
Reshaping ‘Rocky Horror’ for The Sphere
Las Vegas entertainment ball The Sphere has already struck gold once with its AI-altered and truncated version of “The Wizard of Oz.” Now another classic film with special relevance to queer people is getting the tourist attraction treatment: “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” is coming to immerse your senses in 2027. The flop that became a cult and cinematic rite of passage for generations of LGBTQ+ audiences has, after 50 years, found its way to the Vegas strip. What will be done to it in the process to satisfy the greatest number of people? There’s no telling, especially when AI is thrown into the mix, and currently there’s no news of what elements will be added or lost in the process. But the hopeful news is that the lead character is a ”sweet transvestite from transexual Transylvania” and nothing short of complete overhaul will be able to dilute that level of heroic queerness. Anybody want to lay bets on the rest?
Romeo San Vicente’s pelvic thrust will really drive you insane.