Every week, The GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBTQ-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend.
1) Festival favorite film The Obituary of Tunde Johnson is out in limited theaters and on demand today. The film follows gay, Black teenager Tunde Johnson on the day he gets wrongfully shot by the police, and then proceeds to live the same day over and over again. The film delves into the realities of being a queer Black man in America, his relationship with his family, and the closeted boy he’s seeing. Click here to rent or buy the film, and watch the trailer below.
2) Hulu’s The United States vs. Billie Holiday is out on Hulu today. The film, from out director Lee Daniels, follows the acclaimed singer throughout her career, her struggle with addiction, and being targeted by government agents. The film also shows Holiday’s queerness, throughout with her lover Tallulah Bankhead having a significant role. The United States vs. Billie Holiday is available now on Hulu; watch the trailer below.
3) A trailer has been released for Netflix original film Ride or Die, based on the manga Gunjo. The movie follows two women on a road trip movie after Rei, who commits murder to protect, Nanae, the woman she’s loved for years. The film will be released on April 15; watch the trailer below. A trailer has also been released for upcoming action thriller SAS: Red Notice, starring out actress Ruby Rose. The film follows a man on a train to Paris to propose when a mercenary, played by Rose, takes control of the train and holds all the passengers hostage. The film will be released March 16. In more film news, Out writers Jeremy O. Harris and Aziza Barnes are writing and executive producing a television adaptation of The Vanishing Half, the popular noel by Brit Bennett. The story follows two light-skinned identical twin sisters over the course of decades, where one of them passes for white. The book also includes queer and trans characters.
4) Out actor Keiynan Londsdale has been cast in Starz’ Step Up series, a continuation of the show that had its first two seasons on YouTube Premium. Londsdale will play the role of Tal in a recasting, a queer character who becomes the lead dancer for a massive tour. In more casting news, the cast has been revealed for the second season of Amazon’s Modern Love, the anthology series that tells love stories based on The New York Times column of the same name. The cast of the second season includes out stars Kathryn Gallagher, Larry Owens, Anna Paquin, Isaac Powell, and James Scully.
#modernlove season 2! so fun to be in this episode written and directed by andrew rannels!!! https://t.co/mt68toGoRT
— fat jon boyega (@larryowenslive) February 22, 2021
5) Netflix has renewed popular Spanish teen series Élite for a fifth season, before the fourth season premieres in May. The show features queer couple Omar and Ander, as well as other queer characters. The second season of GLAAD Media Award-winning series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has announced its premiere date of May 14. The show includes queer characters Carlos and Seb who will return for the second season.
#HSMTMTS Season 2. Streaming May 14 on #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/iWDM6Q0hsb
— Disney (@Disney) February 24, 2021
6) Clean Slate, the comedy formerly intended for streaming service Peacock has moved to IMDb TV. The show, from Laverne Cox and George Wallace and executive produced by Norman Lear, follows Henry (Wallace), and his estranged child (Cox) who returns to Alabama after 17 years, surprising her father when she returns as a proud trans woman. The full lineup has been announced for Paramount Plus, the new rebranded streaming service from VicacomCBS. Standouts from the announcements include the continuation of Star Trek: Discovery, the seventh and final season of Younger, RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars as well as new drag singing competition series Queen of the Universe,
7) Out queer singer Julien Baker released her new album Little Oblivion today. Click here to listen to the album. Angel Baribeau, a queer non-binary indigenous artist released their newest video “Wish We Were Older” this week, off of their EP, For Those I Love(d). Listen to the EP here, and watch the music video below!
8) Leslie Jordan, the out actor who reached new heights of internet fame last year, is releasing an an album of hymns, reclaiming the genre for those who have every felt excluded for it. The first single, out April 2, will feature queer singer Brandi Carlile. Singer-songwriter EVVAN has released a new music video “I’m Not Done Yet,” following their journey coming out as pansexual and non-binary. It’s off of their upcoming EP Home, which will be out April 30. Pre-order the album here, and watch the music video below.
9) Audible has announced several new scripted podcasts, including Hot White Heist, a queer action comedy from out creator Adam Goldman, produced by Alan Cumming, and starring Bowen Yang. Other queer talent involved in the project include Cynthia Nixon, Abbi Jacobson, Jane Lynch, Margaret Cho, Bianca Del Rio, MJ Rodriguez, Shannon Woodward, Stephanie Beatriz, John Cameron Mitchell, Cheyenne Jackson, Jonathan Bailey, Peppermint, Brian McCook (as Katya Zamolodchikova) and Tony Kushner. In other podcast news, out actors Zachary Quinto and Ashley Benson have been cast in Audible’s Sorry Charlie Miller, which follows the disappearance of a reality star (Benson), and the unlikely pair (Quinto and Michelle Buteau), who are on the hunt for her.
It’s about to get even funnier up in your Audible library. https://t.co/u8Cn5QkXCq
— Audible (@audible_com) February 24, 2021
10) The line-up for the virtual PaleyFest LA 2021 has been announced. The television festival always hosts panels celebrating certain television programs. This year’s LGBTQ-inclusive highlights that will be having panels include Lovecraft Country, What We Do in the Shadows, and a 20th universe celebration of GLAAD Media Award-winning drama Six Feet Under. For more information, and how to watch, click here!
Get ready for #PaleyFest LA 2021!
Here is the full lineup of the country’s premier TV festival, which will feature conversations with the cast & creative teams from television’s most acclaimed & most popular shows.
Sponsored by @Citibank & @Verizonhttps://t.co/L5BPpCDX0I pic.twitter.com/waPuttIzIe
— paleycenter (@paleycenter) February 23, 2021