Skip to main content

Selma director to helm fashion film for HBO

As a woman of color, director Ava DuVernay is a rare bird in Hollywood, where women and minorities are both chronically underrepresented. That said, lots of folks have taken an active interest in the trajectory of her career.

Last month, we found out that the Selma director and Black Panther almost-director would be taking on the A Wrinkle in Time adaptation for Disney, and yesterday brought more news for DuVernay watchers.

Recommended Videos

According to Deadline, DuVernay has been tapped by HBO to direct and executive produce its upcoming film The Battle of Versailles, which tells the story of an epic fashion face-off in France that brought recognition for both American designers and black models.

The film is an adaptation of Robin Givhan’s 2015 book about the 1973 Palace of Versailles fashion show which saw five top French designers (Hubert de Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Marc Bohan, and Emanuel Ungaro) pitted against five up-and-coming Americans (Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Halston, Stephen Burrow, and Anne Klein with her assistant Donna Karan in tow). Despite being massive underdogs, the Americans trumped the French team’s over-the-top presentation with a simple, soul-music backed show that featured 30 models, 10 of whom were African American. At the time, the United States was less than 10 years removed from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the show was a big step toward equality in the industry and in the country generally.

HBO has a history of producing socially conscious films and shows, while DuVernay has a history of handling the issue of race powerfully and tactfully. As a result, this feels like a pretty natural fit.

DuVernay will also co-write the project with Michael Starrbury (The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete). We don’t yet know when production will begin or when the film will debut, but we’ll keep you updated as information becomes available.

Adam Poltrack
Former Contributor
Adam is an A/V News Writer for Digital Trends, and is responsible for bringing you the latest advances in A/V…
5 great (HBO) Max movies to stream on Election Day
A man stands next to a smiling woman.

In the U.S., November 4 is Election Day. Numerous general elections will be held for federal, state, and local offices. Many networks will provide wall-to-wall coverage of Election Day, with a particular emphasis on the presidential election. If you love political television, this is your time to shine.

For some, political coverage can be the bane of their existence. Sometimes, you just need an escape. HBO Max is a streaming service with an impressive vault of hit movies. It's the perfect option for someone looking to dive into a rom-com or adventure film to take their mind off politics. Our suggestions for movies to stream on Election Day include a Christmas classic, a psychological thriller, and an action prequel.
Elf (2003)

Read more
5 years ago, HBO took a wrecking ball to the superhero genre
Tim Blake Nelson sits in front of a wall of TV screens in Watchmen.

It takes a lot of guts to try to follow up an iconic piece of superhero storytelling, and even more to do so in service of exploring some of the most troubling aspects of the genre's past. Fortunately, if there's one thing Damon Lindelof and HBO's Watchmen have plenty of, it's guts.

The superhero series, which premiered five years ago this month on HBO, is essentially a sequel to Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins' original, seminal Watchmen comic book that picks up 34 years after its ending. The show abandons the Cold War setting and tensions of its source material in favor of turning Watchmen's uniquely unsentimental eye on America's ongoing, age-old issues with racism and white supremacy. In doing so, the series also gets to focus its scornful gaze on the history of the superhero genre itself.

Read more
The Franchise trailer spoofs the craziness and absurdity of superhero films
A group of people stand in a line and wait together.

HBO is both embracing and spoofing the superhero genre starting on October 6. Following a new episode of The Penguin, a gritty crime drama based on a character from The Batman, a new comedy series, The Franchise, will air and highlight the absurdity of superhero movies.

HBO released the first official trailer for The Franchise, a comedy from executive producers Sam Mendes, Armando Iannucci, and Jon Brown. Himesh Patel stars as Daniel, the first assistant director who says it's his job to "keep the actors from killing themselves." The large-scale blockbuster production is a roller-coaster ride. From erratic behavior from actors and a pretentious director to gender politics and on-set breakdowns, Daniel must keep it together and find solutions before the film falls apart.

Read more