‘Tenet’ Finally Gets Big Screen Release in Los Angeles (EXCLUSIVE)

Welcome to the return of “Just for Variety,” the legendary Daily Variety column that began in 1945 and, with Army Archerd at the helm, was a must-read until it ended in 2005. The new “Just for Variety,” written by yours truly, will run in print and online. My mission? To provide inside dish from in front and back of the camera, as well as from sets, boardrooms and more. Fun fact: Archerd and I both attended New York’s Townsend Harris High School. He was class of 1935 and inducted into THHS’ Hall of Fame in 1993. With that said, we debut the new “Just for Variety.”

Tenet” will finally show on a big screen in Los Angeles. The Christopher Nolan film hasn’t been released in the city because of theater closures due to the pandemic. However, I can exclusively report that “Tenet” will run at the Hollywood Theater Legion Drive-In at Post 43 from Dec. 5-16 before the movie is released on Blu-Ray. … I can also tell you exclusively that Mark Hamill will receive the Icon Award during the Voice Arts Awards livestream on Dec. 20. The presenter will be “SpongeBob SquarePants” legend Tom Kenny.

Colman Domingo will never forget shooting one particular scene in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” with Chadwick Boseman: In it, Domingo’s Cutler is telling his band about the racial atrocities inflicted on a Black pastor when Boseman’s Levee, overhearing Cutler, comes into the room. “I started yelling at him at the top of my lungs, ‘Tell me what you want to say!’” Domingo tells me. “And he just exploded with ‘God hates n—–s! God takes a n—–’s dreams and throws them in the garbage. God don’t care about your Black ass.’” The scene ends with Cutler punching Levee in the face. “We embraced and started sobbing,” Domingo says. “Everyone in the room was shook because we didn’t know what was going on in the room. I think there was this other player there. In hindsight, that player was sickness. That player… was death. It was in the room.” Boseman, who died in August of cancer at 43, never revealed his illness to his co-stars.

Domingo attended his private memorial: “It was a memorial for a king, but there was no pomp and circumstance. It was small… His wife, Simone, told me that Chad was so proud that this was his final film, work that he believed will have an impact on the world.”

He laughs remembering how he chided Boseman for not saying hello to him one morning. “Chad said, ‘I’m so sorry’ and then he made a point when he came in every morning to shake my hand,” Domingo says.

Domingo, who learned to play the trombone for his work as the band leader for the George C. Wolfe-directed film, also recalled seeing Viola Davis in full wardrobe and hair and makeup as Ma Rainey. “It was a little messy and sweaty, almost a little garish,” he says. And that was exactly the point. “Then she had those big hips and those breasts and to watch her move,” he says. “Viola is just fun. She’s very sweet. She works hard. And she’ll always give you a little something different on every single take.”

Ma Rainey was a pioneer like no other. “To me, she was challenging so many systems a black queer woman,” Domingo says. “She was challenging everyone wherever she went and she always trusted her talent and said, ‘I’m going to honor this gift that I have and I want people to meet with that gift.’”

Domingo has been busy during the pandemic. In addition to shooting “Fear of the Walking Dead” and developing projects as part of his first-look deal with AMC Studios, he tells me he’s written two musicals. “When things are a real shit show, I think people think, ‘What do I want to put out in the world?’” he says. “I think people have been challenged to be innovative and even recreate themselves right now. We had to. You can’t just sit back. Otherwise, I don’t think you’re going to survive. You’re going to lose your mind.”

Maria Bakalova is getting all sorts of Oscar buzz for her work in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” but did you know she also appears in “The Father,” Bulgaria’s entry in the foreign-language category of the 2021 Oscars? Just don’t confuse it with the Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins film of the same name.

Stacey Abrams shocked social media when she sounded off on Twitter last month about, not politics, but “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” The political powerhouse tweeted, “To be fair, Angel was the right boyfriend for Buffy coming into her power. Spike was the right man to be with as she became the power.” Now, David Boreanaz, who played Angel, weighs in. “Your first love is your true love, and your true love is your first love. Game over. … Stacey is a great person and all, but I disagree,” the actor tells me. “We can agree to disagree.” If only politics were that civil. You can listen to my full interview with Boreanaz on the Variety and iHeart podcast “The Big Ticket.”

The UN, with the International Labour Organization (ILO), is hosting a globally-available conversation on “Crip Camp“ to discuss disability equity in employment and the significance of the day. Marlee Matlin, Judy Heumann, “Crip Camp” co-directors Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht, and Andraéa LaVant will participate. PurpleSpace is streaming the talk.

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend shopped for bedding at Crate and Barrel in Beverly Hills. They even picked up some items from the clearance shelves. Who doesn’t like a good deal?

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