After ‘Wonka’ and ‘Dune,’ Timothée Chalamet Signs First Look Deal with Warner Bros. 

Timothée Chalamet arrives at the world premiere of the film "Dune: Part Two" in London on Feb. 15, 2024. (AP)
Timothée Chalamet arrives at the world premiere of the film "Dune: Part Two" in London on Feb. 15, 2024. (AP)
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After ‘Wonka’ and ‘Dune,’ Timothée Chalamet Signs First Look Deal with Warner Bros. 

Timothée Chalamet arrives at the world premiere of the film "Dune: Part Two" in London on Feb. 15, 2024. (AP)
Timothée Chalamet arrives at the world premiere of the film "Dune: Part Two" in London on Feb. 15, 2024. (AP)

Following the success of “Wonka ” and the “Dune” movies, Warner Bros. is staying in the Timothée Chalamet business. The star signed a first look deal with the studio to collaborate on future projects as an actor and producer, Warner Bros. said Tuesday.

This doesn’t mean that Chalamet can only make movies with Warner Bros., just that the studio is entitled to right of first refusal. The terms of the deal were not released, but it is a “multi-year” agreement.

Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairs and CEO’s Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy said in a statement that they’ve admired his “commitment to his craft” and his “unwavering dedication to give 100% of his time and attention to every project he has made.”

Chalamet, in a statement, said of De Luca and Abdy: “These are studio heads who believe in real movie making, and I’m so grateful for their support as an actor, producer and collaborator. This partnership feels like a natural next step. Let’s go!”

The 28-year-old recently became the first star in over four decades to be in two top-grossing films released within eight months of each other with “Dune: Part Two,” which has a running box office total of $575.5 million, and “Wonka,” which made over $632 million globally. The previous record-holder was John Travolta with “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever.”

Chalamet was a producer on Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All” and is also producing and starring in the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown,” which is currently filming.



UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
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UK Blues Legend John Mayall Dead at 90 

English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)
English blues singer John Mayall performs with his band The Bluesbreakers, on the stage of the Miles Davis hall during the 42nd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Monday, July 7, 2008. (AP)

John Mayall, the British blues pioneer whose 1960s music collective the Bluesbreakers helped usher in a fertile period of rock and brought guitarists like Eric Clapton to prominence, has died at 90, his family said Tuesday.

Mayall, a singer and multi-instrumentalist who was dubbed "the godfather of British blues," and whose open-door arrangement saw some of the greats in the genre hone their craft with him and his band, "passed away peacefully in his California home" on Monday, according to a statement posted on his Facebook page.

It did not state a cause of death.

"Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world's greatest road warriors," it said. "John Mayall gave us 90 years of tireless efforts to educate, inspire and entertain."

Mayall's influence on 1960s rock and beyond is enormous. Members of the Bluesbreakers eventually went on to join or form groups including Cream, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and many more.

At age 30, Mayall moved to London from northern England in 1963. Sensing revolution in the air, he gave up his profession as a graphic designer to embrace a career in blues, the musical style born in Black America.

He teamed up with a series of young guitarists including Clapton, Peter Green, later of Fleetwood Mac, and Mick Taylor who helped form the Rolling Stones.

In the Bluesbreakers' debut album in 1966, "Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton," John Mayall enthralled music aficionados with a melding of soulful rock and gutsy, guitar-driven American blues featuring covers of tunes by Robert Johnson, Otis Rush and Ray Charles.

The blues music he was playing in British venues was "a novelty for white England," he told AFP in 1997.

That album was a hit, catapulting Clapton to stardom and bringing a wave of popularity to a more raw and personal blues music.

Mayall moved to California in 1968 and toured America extensively in 1972.

He recorded a number of landmark albums in the 1960s including "Crusade," "A Hard Road," and "Blues From Laurel Canyon." Dozens more followed in the 1970s and up to his latest, "The Sun Is Shining Down," in 2022.

Mayall was awarded an OBE, an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, in 2005.