Billy Eichner is set to star with Kate Mara, Leslie Mann and Ashton Kutcher in “Home Shopper,” a dark comedy from “Cuckoo” director Tilman Singer, Deadline reported Wednesday, Nov. 4. “Home Shopper is a delicious, wickedly funny and riotous tale of sex, intrigue and unbridled ambition,” said Calum Gray of Architect, which is launching international sales ahead of the American Film Market.
What Billy Eichner’s ‘Home Shopper’ Is About
“Trapped in a stifling marriage, Penny (Mara) finds escape in an unlikely place: the Home Shopping Network, where charismatic host Willy (Kutcher) promises the perfect life, one must-have product at a time,” the synopsis reads. Penny takes a job on the network without telling her controlling husband, James, and fills in while co-host Cybil (Mann) is away, according to Deadline, which didn’t say whom Eichner plays.
Ryan Farhoudi wrote the feature, and he also wrote Dev Patel’s 2018 Sundance short of the same name, from a story by Leigh Whannell.
CAA Media Finance is handling North American rights, and the plan is to shoot in spring 2027. “I’ve been an openly gay actor and comedian my whole career, way before people knew me,” Eichner told The Associated Press in 2022, ahead of his gay rom-com “Bros.”
Joel Kim Booster Hosts Nature and Climate Awards in Los Angeles
Joel Kim Booster, who’s also judging “Canada’s Drag Race” Season 7, will host the joint Jackson Wild Media Awards and Hollywood Climate Summit Awards, The Hollywood Reporter reported. “Climate and nature stories are being told across every medium, and excellence deserves recognition everywhere,” Jackson Wild executive director Christie Quinn said when the two groups combined their awards.
The gala on Tuesday, Nov. 10, closes Nature Media Exchange, a two-day industry gathering in Los Angeles, and winners from both programs will be announced there, according to the Hollywood Climate Summit.
Russell Tovey Gets a HollyShorts London Honor in Leicester Square
Russell Tovey, who starred opposite Tom Blyth in the queer drama “Plainclothes,” is one of five honorees at HollyShorts’ London edition, which kicks off Nov. 12 at the Vue West End in Leicester Square, The Hollywood Reporter reported Wednesday. “And suddenly you’ve got this gay man who could guide you into this next chapter of your life,” Tovey told Gayety last year of Andrew, his “Plainclothes” character.
His London honor follows a Best Performance win at HollyShorts in Los Angeles in August for the short “I Am the Prize,” from director Sai Karan Talwar, according to the festival and THR.
Tinie Tempah gets the festival’s Music Visionary Award, and Nathalie Emmanuel, Nicholas Pinnock and David Bradley will also be recognized, THR reported. “His career has expanded beyond music into fashion, entrepreneurship and wider cultural influence,” organizers said of Tinie Tempah.
Greg Berlanti and Harrison Ford Headline the Paley Honors Gala
Harrison Ford joined Greg Berlanti, Goldie Hawn and Melissa McCarthy as honorees for the Paley Honors Fall Gala, THR reported Wednesday, and each will receive the Paley Honors Award on Thursday, Dec. 3, at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. The Paley Center’s October announcement of Berlanti’s honor praised his “pioneering inclusion of diverse and LGBTQ+ characters.”
“For more than 30 years, Greg Berlanti has captivated audiences with acclaimed storytelling that has entertained, inspired, and brought enormous joy to people around the world,” Paley president and CEO Maureen J. Reidy said in that announcement.
His shows run from “Dawson’s Creek” and “Everwood” to “Riverdale” and “You,” according to the Paley Center, and THR says his upcoming series include “Stillwater” and “Afterlife with Archie.”
Lili Reinhart’s ‘Violet’ Is About a Dead Ex Who Texts
Lili Reinhart joins Danny Ramirez, Suki Waterhouse, Mark Duplass and Lukas Gage in “Violet,” a horror film from “Creep” director Patrick Brice, Variety reported Wednesday. “Although I’ve never announced it publicly before, I am a proud bisexual woman,” Reinhart wrote on Instagram in June 2020, Entertainment Tonight reported.
Reinhart plays Kate, Sean’s childhood friend. They fall in love two years after his fiancée, Violet (Waterhouse), dies. When Kate and Sean (Ramirez) move into his former home with Violet, he receives texts claiming to come from her. “There is a book that I’m trying to get adapted that is about lesbian vampires and people are too afraid to make that,” Reinhart told Hits Radio, Gayety reported in September.
The script, by Nick Antosca, who wrote “Verity,” and Alana B. Lytle, adapts Antosca’s short story “Ghostfish,” and FilmNation is selling the film at the American Film Market ahead of a spring 2027 shoot.
