A Minute With: ‘No Sudden Move’ Cast on Twists and Filming in COVID

Jon Hamm. (Reuters)
Jon Hamm. (Reuters)
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A Minute With: ‘No Sudden Move’ Cast on Twists and Filming in COVID

Jon Hamm. (Reuters)
Jon Hamm. (Reuters)

Oscar winning director Steven Soderbergh brings together an all-star cast for crime drama “No Sudden Move” in which a bunch of criminals are called on to carry out a heist that goes wrong.

Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle, Ray Liotta, Jon Hamm and Brendan Fraser star in the movie, set in 1954 Detroit, where the robbers embark on a mission to find out who hired them.

The actors and co-stars Julia Fox and Frankie Shaw spoke to Reuters about the movie’s unexpected twists and filming during COVID. “No Sudden Move” is released on streaming service HBO Max on Thursday.

Below are excerpts edited for length and clarity.

Q: Did you agree to this film without reading the script?

Del Toro: “For me it was, Don Cheadle in the film, Steven Soderbergh ... I said yes before I read the script. I assumed that Don reads the script for me and then I go.”

Hamm: “We shot this movie in deep pandemic in October, November in Detroit ... you couldn’t be in better hands than to be in Steven’s (Soderbergh) hands ... he works tirelessly, he is editing while he’s shooting. He’s got everything in his head ... That feels very good. In a mode where we were very much uncertain about everything, this felt very certain.”

Q: What was filming during the pandemic like?

Shaw: “The crew was pretty pared down because of COVID, which also led to probably more intimacy because there weren’t like a lot of people around.”

Q: Did you figure out the twist in the film when you first read the script?

Liotta: “What you think might be happening doesn’t exactly happen, it goes off into a different direction, so you never really know what’s going on ... who knows who.”

Q: Can you describe the film in one word?

Fraser: “Everyone wants something desperately in this film and everyone gets what they deserve.”

Hamm: “Suspense ... it’s a very complicated story and it pays off.”

Cheadle: “Entertaining.”

Del Toro: “Fun.”

Fox: “I would say greed.”



US Singer Chris Brown in London Court on Assault Case

US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
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US Singer Chris Brown in London Court on Assault Case

US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
US singer Chris Brown was released on a £5 million bail by a UK court and allowed to continue his international tour. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP

American R&B singer Chris Brown, the former boyfriend of superstar Rihanna, was due to appear in court Friday in London on assault charges.

Brown was freed from UK custody last month on £5 million ($6.7 million) bail after his arrest in the northwestern city of Manchester, AFP said.

Under the terms of his bail, which would see him forfeit the £5 million guarantee if he failed to return for court proceedings, the Grammy-winning Brown, 36, was given the go-ahead to continue his scheduled international tour, which began on June 8 in Amsterdam.

The star, who had a troubled relationship with Barbadian singer Rihanna, is currently performing the UK leg of his tour, with his next date in London on Saturday.

Concerts are also scheduled in France, Portugal and the US later in the year, before the tour wraps up in Memphis in mid-October.

The star is charged with "grievous bodily harm with intent" in relation to an assault in which the victim was allegedly struck several times with a bottle before being pursued, punched and kicked.

The alleged incident took place at a nightclub in Hanover Square in London on February 19, 2023 while Brown was touring in the UK.

Police detained him in the early hours of May 13 at a five-star hotel in Manchester after he reportedly flew in by private jet.

Judge Tony Baumgartner, at Southwark Crown Court in London, last month ordered that he could be freed on bail, and also stipulated that he should surrender his passport if he is not travelling.

He is required to live at a specific address known to the court and is not permitted to visit the nightclub were the alleged assault took place or contact the alleged victim, Abraham Diah.

Co-defendant Omololu Akinlolu, a 38-year-old US national, has also been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent.

Brown is known for mid-2000s hits such as "Kiss, Kiss".

He rose from a local church choir in Virginia to sudden fame with his rich R&B voice and later rap, but his reputation has been tarnished by the allegations of abuse.