Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”
Anya Taylor-Joy is hoping to shave her head for her starring role in “Furiosa,” George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel. “She wants to, but George doesn’t want her to,” the movie’s costume designer, Jenny Beavan, tells me. “So I don’t know whether she will or not.”
Charlize Theron famously buzzed her locks for her turn as Furiosa in “Fury Road.”
I’ve asked Taylor-Joy about her hair plans a couple of times since she signed onto the project. She has always politely declined to comment.
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It’s been a little over three years since “Bird Box” became a bona fide hit on Netflix, with Nielsen reporting that 26 million viewers watched the Sandra Bullock horror thriller in its first week of release.
So where in the world is the sequel? Josh Malerman, author of the “Bird Box” novel, claimed in July 2020 that Netflix was developing a second film. Director Susanne Bier tells me she’s ready to work on a follow-up. “I want to,” she said at the premiere of her latest project, Showtime’s “The First Lady.” When I asked Bier when the sequel was happening, she replied, “Good question, right?”
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Kristen Stewart and Dylan Meyer at the 2022 Oscars. Michael Buckner for Variety
How do Kristen Stewart and fiancée Dylan Meyer relax? “We hang out with the dog, there’s some golfing — classic chilling stuff,” Meyer tells me. Stewart, just off her whirlwind “Spencer” press tour and awards campaign, adds, “We got really into backgammon.”
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SIGHTINGS: “And Just Like That…” creator Michael Patrick King having dinner at Bottega Louie in West Hollywood … CAA boss Bryan Lourde and Bruce Bozzi dining at the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
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Courtesy
Priyanka Chopra Jonas confirms that Celine Dion has an original number in the upcoming romantic drama “It’s All Coming Back to You.” “She has recorded a song,” Chopra Jonas tells me. Co-star Sam Heughan first teased the tune and a Dion cameo in the movie during a recent appearance on the “Just for Variety” podcast.
“I’ve been a Celine fan since I was a child,” Chopra Jonas says. “She’s a boss. She lives life on her own terms. She loves fashion. She loves her fans.” In fact, years ago, Chopra Jonas was sleeping in a Paris hotel room when she heard a “loud roar” outside at about 1 a.m. “We looked out the balcony, and Celine was in the street on top of her car singing with her fans for 45 minutes,” Chopra Jonas recalls.
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Daniel Durant at the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards. Michael Buckner for Variety
“CODA” star Daniel Durant wants to play a superhero. “I love Spider-Man and Superman,” he says. “I’d love to play someone strong. I can also do romance.”
Speaking of Spider-Man, did you know that Andrew Garfield’s Spidey friendship with Tobey Maguire has continued to blossom after they appeared together in “Spider-Man: No Way Home”? Maguire was Garfield’s guest at a recent screening of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” at CAA’s Los Angeles offices. “Andrew was waiting in the lobby, and then Tobey showed up, and they embraced and went in to watch the movie together. It was very cute,” an eyewitness tells me.
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Jonathan Majors Alex Gitman for Variety
It’s no surprise that Jonathan Majors has muscled up for his role in “Creed III,” the latest installment of Michael B. Jordan’s “Rocky” franchise. He trained for at least a year to prepare. His hands have become so big he couldn’t even squeeze on a wristband for the Chanel pre-Oscars party. “Over time, they just got bigger and bigger,” Majors says. Despite playing a boxer in the movie, which marks Jordan’s directorial debut, Majors insists he wasn’t left with any injuries: “I got punched in the face about 100 times, but it’s all OK!”
