Let there be no confusion regarding this point: “Scream” has always been queer to its core. Created by a gay writer, the great Kevin Williamson, and guided by his ideas for the first several films of the franchise, it has been steeped in queerness that’s ambient, very open to alternate readings, and eventually populated with forthrightly queer characters. (If you haven’t yet watched the Emmy-nominated Shudder documentary, “Queer for Fear,” do so, and settle in.) But now a gay director will take the helm for the very first time. Christopher Landon, the filmmaker behind the left-field hits “Happy Death Day” and “Freaky,” among many others, is handling the seventh installment (no cast announced yet, there’s a strike on, support it) and it’s safe to say that his own queer imprint will be felt. More on this one as it develops. Ghostface pride!
Kit Connor stirs up a little ‘Tea and Tomorrow’
“Heartstopper” star Kit Connor is about to play audience heartstrings as the co-lead in the film adaptation of Laura Taylor Namey’s YA novel, “A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow.” The sweet romantic dram-com follows a young woman named Lila (Maia Reficco, “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin”) from the U.S. to the U.K. for a summer. It’s there she meets a young teashop clerk named Orion (Connor) who’s determined to show her the best of his country and, well, you can guess the rest. (There’s also been a bit of internet gossip about the bisexual Connor possibly being romantically involved with his co-star, but so far nothing confirmed — it’ll be our business when they invite us to dinner, right?) The sure-to-be-swoony movie is currently in production, so “Heartstopper” fans will have to wait a while for this one and just re-binge season two again.
No, the other ‘Pet Shop Boys’
Due to premiere at the Venice Film Festival is “Pet Shop Boys,” the debut feature from Olmo Schnabel. If that last name sounds familiar, he’s the son of filmmaker and artist Julian Schnabel (the Oscar-nominated “At Eternity’s Gate”) and if you think the film’s familiar title is referencing the legendary queer pop group, it’s not. The film stars Dario Yazbek Bernal (“The House of the Flowers”) and Jack Irv (“Giants Being Lonely”), and the plot involves an impulsive young man (Bernal) who begins an affair with pet store employee (Irv), setting in motion a series of escalating troubles. Balancing the relative newcomers are a supporting cast that includes Peter Sarsgaard and Julian Schnabel film vets Willem Dafoe (“At Eternity’s Gate”) and Emmanuelle Seigner (“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”). Young queer lovers on the run? Sign us up, and look for this one to hit U.S. arthouse theaters soon enough.
That Megan Thee Stallion and Bowen Yang movie is called ‘Dicks: The Musical’ now
If you were wondering when the comedy formerly known as “F*cking Identical Twins” was going to drop into your local theater, it’s soon: September 29 to be precise. But the name has changed from the offensive-to-some original to the freshly offensive-to-some-others “Dicks: The Musical.” The revamped title is fully in keeping with the insane trailer that just dropped, following an outrageous “Parent Trap”-style plot where writers/stars Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp (from Comedy Central’s “The Opposition with Jordan Klepper”) play separated-at-birth twins determined to reunite their divorced parents. Co-starring Megan Thee Stallion, Bowen Yang, Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally and a lot of wild musical numbers, this queer-inclusive A24 title is ready to take early fall by storm, ready or not. But we’re ready.
Romeo San Vicente has seen a lot of musicals.