Regina Hall came down with pneumonia while shooting Girls Trip, the irreverent 2017 comedy from Will Packer, a savant who repeatedly has shown an obdurate Hollywood that Black movies can mint money at the box office. Hall recalls Packer’s superpower: persuading anyone, be they filmmakers, studio execs or, in this case, his star, to do what needs to be done. “I came to work, they tested me, and I had a fever. Will said he would rearrange the entire schedule so we could shoot my part first: ‘If you can just get through this scene for me, you won’t have to do anything else,’ ” she says. “I did get through it, and he made sure I had everything I needed to heal.”
Girls Trip — the first movie produced, written, directed by and starring African Americans to cross $100 million at the domestic box office on its way to earning $140.9 million...
Girls Trip — the first movie produced, written, directed by and starring African Americans to cross $100 million at the domestic box office on its way to earning $140.9 million...
- 1/8/2024
- by Pamela McClintock
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This year, the Cannes Film Festival kicked off with a restoration of Jean Eustache’s 1973 ménage à trois scandal “The Mother and the Whore” and concluded with a screening of controversial Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness,” creating an odd kind of symmetry for the event’s 75th anniversary edition. Made half a century apart, Eustache and Östlund’s rhyming triangles were hardly the only parallels to be found at Cannes — though anyone who’s ever binge-watched movies at a major festival knows the feeling of such connections, often just a fluke of the order in which you see movies whose images and ideas inevitably resonate with one another.
Masked in screening rooms full of Covid-defiant strangers, I somehow managed to screen all 21 films in competition this year, and such similarities were myriad, while the masterpieces were scarce.
Consider this could-be coincidence: Roughly midway through Östlund’s diamond-sharp, influencer-skewering...
Masked in screening rooms full of Covid-defiant strangers, I somehow managed to screen all 21 films in competition this year, and such similarities were myriad, while the masterpieces were scarce.
Consider this could-be coincidence: Roughly midway through Östlund’s diamond-sharp, influencer-skewering...
- 5/30/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
With the $28 million opening of Kevin Hart-Tiffany Haddish comedy “Night School” last weekend, producer Will Packer scored his tenth first-place box office opening. He’s a success story that stands out at a time when issues surrounding inclusivity and diversity are a cause célèbre, as the Hollywood machine faces steadfast criticism for its shortcomings on those fronts. Collectively, Packer’s films have earned a box office lifetime gross of over $1.2 billion, topping even the prolific Tyler Perry — a fellow African American director-producer with a similar ethos with respect to producing and distributing content. So what’s Packer’s secret?
It’s a formula that the seasoned producer honed very early in his career, with indie efforts like the 2000 erotic thriller “Trois”: relatively low- to moderately-budgeted films, targeting specific audiences that have been historically ignored by the studio system. “Trois” was made on a $250,000 budget, and grossed over...
It’s a formula that the seasoned producer honed very early in his career, with indie efforts like the 2000 erotic thriller “Trois”: relatively low- to moderately-budgeted films, targeting specific audiences that have been historically ignored by the studio system. “Trois” was made on a $250,000 budget, and grossed over...
- 10/5/2018
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Few producers have had the sort of impact in Hollywood than Will Packer has had, while remaining based in Atlanta, Georgia. From his early days producing independent films like Trois and The Gospel to producing the hit dance movie Stomp the Yard, taking him all the way through enormous hits like Think Like a Man and Ride Along and their respective sequels. In all his ventures, Packer has found a way to produce material that connected with African-American audiences in the country while finding and cultivating talent like Columbus Short, Idris Elba, Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy and many more.
Packer’s latest film Almost Christmas teams him with writer/director David E. Talpert (Baggage Claim) to create an amazing ensemble comedy, starring Danny Glover as Walter, a widower and head of the Meyers family: feuding sisters Rachel and Cheryl (Gabrielle Union, Kimberly Elise), Christian (Romany Malco) who is in the...
Packer’s latest film Almost Christmas teams him with writer/director David E. Talpert (Baggage Claim) to create an amazing ensemble comedy, starring Danny Glover as Walter, a widower and head of the Meyers family: feuding sisters Rachel and Cheryl (Gabrielle Union, Kimberly Elise), Christian (Romany Malco) who is in the...
- 11/7/2016
- by Edward Douglas
- LRMonline.com
“Think Like a Man Too” producers Will Packer and Rob Hardy are being sued by a former business partner who owned approximately 33% of their company Rainforest Films, according to court documents obtained by TheWrap. Bronner Brothers president/CEO Bernard Bronner invested more than $500,000 to help Packer and Hardy launch Rainforest, in addition to helping them raise more than $250,000 for the company. It was Bronner's initial investment in Rainforest's “Trois” that led to the company's continued success with box office hits such as “Stomp the Yard,” “Obsessed” and “Takers.” Also read: Evan Rachel Wood Sued for $30 Million for Leaving '10...
- 7/3/2014
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
Director and actor Carl Franklin will be 62 today. As an actor, he’s appeared in Five On The Black Hand Side, Good Times, The Fantastic Journey tv series, Lou Grant, The A-Team, Hill Street Blues, Steel Magnolias and more. His directing creations include One False Move, Devil In A Blue Dress, One True Thing and Last Of The Ninth. Upcoming productions include Bless Me, Ultima and El Chico Blanco.
Actor Vicellous Reon Shannon welcomes 40. The Tennessee native’s credits include MacGyver, Sister To Sister, Roc, Deep Cover, Chicago Hope, Touched By An Angel, The Hurricane, 24, Dancing In September, House M.D., Jag and Sons Of Anarchy.
Producer Will Packer has a birthday today. The Florida native has produced a slew of hits. Trois, The Gospel, This Christmas, Stomp The Yard, Takers and Obsessed are just a few.
Actor Vicellous Reon Shannon welcomes 40. The Tennessee native’s credits include MacGyver, Sister To Sister, Roc, Deep Cover, Chicago Hope, Touched By An Angel, The Hurricane, 24, Dancing In September, House M.D., Jag and Sons Of Anarchy.
Producer Will Packer has a birthday today. The Florida native has produced a slew of hits. Trois, The Gospel, This Christmas, Stomp The Yard, Takers and Obsessed are just a few.
- 4/11/2011
- by Cynthia
- ShadowAndAct
Rainforest Films' "Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming" has begun principal photography in Atlanta.
"Fame" lead Collins Pennie stars as Chance Harris, a student juggling school, girls, job, debt and a looming nationally televised step competition during a stressful homecoming weekend at Truth University.
Pooch Hall ("The Game"), Terrence J ("106 & Park"), Lil Duval ("Comedian"), Tika Sumpter ("One Life To Live"), Kiely Alexis Williams ("The Cheetah Girls"), Keith David ("Gamer"), rapper David Banner and music artist Teyena Taylor join "So You Think You Can Dance" runner-up Stephen "tWitch" Boss in the cast.
Rob Hardy ("Trois," CBS's "Criminal Minds") is directing a script written by Albert Leon ("Feel the Noise"). Rainforest's Will Packer ("Obsessed") is producing the follow-up to the 2007 Screen Gems release "Stomp the Yard," which grossed $74 million worldwide.
Pennie, repped by Icm and Untitled, has appeared in "Half Nelson," "Fired Up!" and "Prom Night."
Rainforest, which Hardy and Packer founded in 1994, recently produced "This Christmas,...
"Fame" lead Collins Pennie stars as Chance Harris, a student juggling school, girls, job, debt and a looming nationally televised step competition during a stressful homecoming weekend at Truth University.
Pooch Hall ("The Game"), Terrence J ("106 & Park"), Lil Duval ("Comedian"), Tika Sumpter ("One Life To Live"), Kiely Alexis Williams ("The Cheetah Girls"), Keith David ("Gamer"), rapper David Banner and music artist Teyena Taylor join "So You Think You Can Dance" runner-up Stephen "tWitch" Boss in the cast.
Rob Hardy ("Trois," CBS's "Criminal Minds") is directing a script written by Albert Leon ("Feel the Noise"). Rainforest's Will Packer ("Obsessed") is producing the follow-up to the 2007 Screen Gems release "Stomp the Yard," which grossed $74 million worldwide.
Pennie, repped by Icm and Untitled, has appeared in "Half Nelson," "Fired Up!" and "Prom Night."
Rainforest, which Hardy and Packer founded in 1994, recently produced "This Christmas,...
- 11/13/2009
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Stephen "tWitch" Boss has joined Ranforest Films' "Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming." Rob Hardy ("Trois") helms from the screenplay written by Albert Leon ("Feel the Noise"). Will Packer, producer of "Obsessed" starring Idris Elba and Beyonce Knowles, produces and the film stars shooting in Atlanta next week. Boss will play an antagonist called Taz. The first film aired in 2007 and managed to accumulated over $74 million worldwide.
- 10/29/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Stephen "tWitch" Boss has stomped his way from the stage to the yard.
The footloose runner-up of the fourth season of Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" has been cast in Rainforest Films' "Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming." Rob Hardy ("Trois") is directing a script written by Albert Leon ("Feel the Noise").
Rainforest's Will Packer ("Obsessed") is producing the project, which starts shooting in Atlanta next week.
Boss is slated to star as the antagonist, Taz.
The original "Stomp the Yard," which Screen Gems released in 2007, kicked up $74 million worldwide.
Boss, repped by Msa and Diaz Management Group, displayed his dance skills in the features "Blades of Glory" and "Hairspray." He next appears in Disney's "Step Up 3-D," in August.
The footloose runner-up of the fourth season of Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" has been cast in Rainforest Films' "Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming." Rob Hardy ("Trois") is directing a script written by Albert Leon ("Feel the Noise").
Rainforest's Will Packer ("Obsessed") is producing the project, which starts shooting in Atlanta next week.
Boss is slated to star as the antagonist, Taz.
The original "Stomp the Yard," which Screen Gems released in 2007, kicked up $74 million worldwide.
Boss, repped by Msa and Diaz Management Group, displayed his dance skills in the features "Blades of Glory" and "Hairspray." He next appears in Disney's "Step Up 3-D," in August.
- 10/28/2009
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Writer-director Rob Hardy has signed on to helm the sequel "Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming" for Rainforest Films.
Columbus Short, who starred in the original Sony Screen Gems release, is in negotiations to reprise his role as DJ, a master street dancer. Other casting is under way. The sequel is set to shoot early next month in Atlanta.
Will Packer ("Obsessed") will produce through his Rainforest banner, along with Short. Hardy was an executive producer on the original "Stomp the Yard," which unspooled in 2007 and rang up $74 million worldwide.
Repped by Gersh and manager Adam Robinson, Hardy is a partner in Rainforest ("Obsessed," "This Christmas") and an exec producer on the comedies "Act Like a Lady Think Like a Man" and "The Black Phantom," both at Screen Gems. He wrote and directed the features "The Gospel" and "Trois" and has directed episodes of "Criminal Minds" and "ER."
Short -- repped...
Columbus Short, who starred in the original Sony Screen Gems release, is in negotiations to reprise his role as DJ, a master street dancer. Other casting is under way. The sequel is set to shoot early next month in Atlanta.
Will Packer ("Obsessed") will produce through his Rainforest banner, along with Short. Hardy was an executive producer on the original "Stomp the Yard," which unspooled in 2007 and rang up $74 million worldwide.
Repped by Gersh and manager Adam Robinson, Hardy is a partner in Rainforest ("Obsessed," "This Christmas") and an exec producer on the comedies "Act Like a Lady Think Like a Man" and "The Black Phantom," both at Screen Gems. He wrote and directed the features "The Gospel" and "Trois" and has directed episodes of "Criminal Minds" and "ER."
Short -- repped...
- 10/21/2009
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.