In this Sept. 6, 2013 file photo, director Peter Landesman arrives at the premiere of "Parkland" on day 2 of the Toronto International Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall, in Toronto. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) --
The Will Smith-starring NFL drama "Concussion" will premiere as the centerpiece to the AFI Fest.
The Los Angeles film festival announced Wednesday that the Peter Landesman-directed film will debut at AFI on November 10. Smith stars in the film, which Sony Pictures will release in December, as Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic neuropathologist who discovered brain effects from head trauma in football.
"Concussion" has already proven a hot-button movie. The New York Times earlier reported that the film was altered to placate the NFL, a charge Landesman and Sony have denied.
Tom Rothman, chairman of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, said he wanted to unveil "Concussion" early "so that the discussion can be more informed."
Cynthia Erivo attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Cynthia Erivo, who is starring in the hit musical "Wicked," was named Tuesday as the 2025 Woman of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
The theater group, which dates to 1844 and claims to be the world's third-oldest still operating, said Erivo will receive her Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast Feb. 5. Afterward, she will attend a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals' 176th production, "101 Damnations." Actor Jon Hamm, who came to fame starring as ad executive Don Draper on the AMC series "Mad Men," is the 2025 Man of the Year. He will receive his Pudding Pot Jan. 31.
"We are holding space for Cynthia Erivo's arrival," Man and Woman of the Year Events Coordinator Hannah Frazer said in a statement. "We're sweeping out our broomstick closets and prepping some wicked smart humor as we eagerly await her in February. Before she flies off with her Pudding Pot, she'll have to work a little magic to earn it."
Along with starirng in the smash hit musical, the British entertainer is a two-time Oscar nominee and an Emmy Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award winner.
Erivo burst onto the scene with her brilliant performance in the Broadway revival of "The Color Purple." winning her the 2016 Tony for best actress in a musical. She performed songs from the play on the "Today" show, earning the Daytime Emmy for outstanding music performance in a daytime program. And the show's soundtrack won best musical theater album at the 2017 Grammys.
Last year, Erivo starred in and produced "Drift," which follows a young Liberian refugee who has escaped her war-torn country to a Greek island. In 2021, Erivo was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in the National Geographic series "Genius:... Read More
