Chadwick Boseman, Netflix up for Honors at Virtual Golden Globes

FILE PHOTO: Chadwick Boseman arrives at the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award gala honoring actor Denzel Washington in Los Angeles, California, US, June 6, 2019. REUTERS/Monica Almeida/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Chadwick Boseman arrives at the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award gala honoring actor Denzel Washington in Los Angeles, California, US, June 6, 2019. REUTERS/Monica Almeida/File Photo
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Chadwick Boseman, Netflix up for Honors at Virtual Golden Globes

FILE PHOTO: Chadwick Boseman arrives at the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award gala honoring actor Denzel Washington in Los Angeles, California, US, June 6, 2019. REUTERS/Monica Almeida/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Chadwick Boseman arrives at the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award gala honoring actor Denzel Washington in Los Angeles, California, US, June 6, 2019. REUTERS/Monica Almeida/File Photo

The Golden Globes will be handed out under pandemic conditions on Sunday on a night that could see big wins for streaming service Netflix, honors for late actor Chadwick Boseman, and a smattering of celebrities in pajamas.

Netflix Inc goes into Sunday’s virtual celebration of movies and television, hosted from New York and Los Angeles by comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, with a dominant 22 film nominations but still in search of its first best movie win.

That could come from period drama “Mank,” about the screenwriter of “Citizen Kane,” which leads with six nods, including for best drama movie, for actors Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried, and for director David Fincher.

Yet pundits say a “Mank” victory is far from assured from the small and unpredictable Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) whose members choose the winners, Reuters reported.

“It has everything going for it in terms of pedigree and there is a sense that awards shows love stories about the industry. But I feel like ‘Mank’ is not everyone’s favorite,” said Alison Willmore, film critic at entertainment website Vulture.com

The biggest competition comes from Searchlight Pictures’ “Nomadland,” a moving documentary-style drama about van dwellers in recession-hit America, and star-laden Netflix 1960s hippie courtroom drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” The #MeToo revenge black comedy “Promising Young Woman” and the unsettling ageing tale “The Father” round out the film drama nominations.

The Disney+ TV film of hit Broadway musical “Hamilton” and Amazon Studios’ “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” a satire on the America of former President Donald Trump, are seen as front-runners in the best comedy or musical movie category.

For television, the Netflix royal series “The Crown,” whose current season focuses on the late Princess Diana, leads the way with six nods, followed by quirky small-town comedy “Schitt’s Creek” on Pop TV.

Boseman, whose death at 43 of an undisclosed battle with cancer stunned fans and the industry, is considered the favorite for a posthumous best actor Golden Globe. Boseman’s last performance, as a brash trumpet player in drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” was released after his death.

“It’s a big room-filling performance that is set apart from a lot of the other contenders,” said Willmore.

Jane Fonda and TV producer Norman Lear will get lifetime achievement awards, while a diverse array of stars, including Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”), Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) and Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”), are up for acting honors.

This year, because of the pandemic, they will be waiting at home for their names to be called, rather than walking the red carpet before wining and dining in the Beverly Hilton hotel.

Nicholas Hoult, who is nominated for playing Russian Emperor Peter III in TV comedy “The Great,” said he would be watching from home in London, where it will be well past midnight.

“I will probably be sitting in bed with the top half of my tuxedo, and pajamas on the bottom,” said Hoult.



‘The Institute’: Stephen King’s New TV Thriller Premieres in London

Author and screenwriter Stephen King appears at the premiere of "The Life of Chuck" during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Sept. 6, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
Author and screenwriter Stephen King appears at the premiere of "The Life of Chuck" during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Sept. 6, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
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‘The Institute’: Stephen King’s New TV Thriller Premieres in London

Author and screenwriter Stephen King appears at the premiere of "The Life of Chuck" during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Sept. 6, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
Author and screenwriter Stephen King appears at the premiere of "The Life of Chuck" during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Sept. 6, 2024. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

American writer Stephen King and director Jack Bender have joined forces again for a new TV thriller "The Institute", which premiered in London on Thursday.

Based on King’s best-selling 2019 novel by the same name, Bender said after working together on shows such as crime drama "Mr. Mercedes" and sci-fi show "Under the Dome" they were keen to find a new project.

"This show is about the power of youth coming together to rectify the world that all of us adults have screwed up a little bit," Bender said.

As well as directing, Bender, along with King has an executive producer credit on the show, as does Ben Cavell, who also wrote the small screen adaptation.

Joe Freeman, in his first major role, stars as Luke Ellis, a teenager with unusual abilities, who is kidnapped and taken to "The Institution," a facility full of trapped kids with psychological powers.

"He's never acted and he's remarkable .... The minute I saw him on tape, it was: 'Oh, my God, this kid is it. He's so real,'" Bender said of 19-year-old Freeman, the son of actor Martin Freeman.

Asked if his dad, known for "The Hobbit" franchise and "Sherlock" had given him any advice, Joe Freeman said it was not to take anything for granted, as "the job (of an actor) is 99% rejection."

Freeman stars alongside Emmy award winner Mary-Louise Parker as Ms. Sigsby, who runs the institution and Ben Barnes, who plays an ex-cop whose life becomes intertwined with the facility.

"It's a sort of... a slow simmering sort of horrifying thriller rather than a horror," Barnes said.

While the first series covers the book, there are plans to continue.

"We certainly intend to tell much more story... if there's an appetite for it, we will absolutely continue this story because these characters, these actors, this crew... it all feels too good to leave behind," Cavell said.