Film Bits: SXSW Goes ‘Rogue’; ‘Stranger Things’ Adds More Strange; ‘The Accountant’ Shoots to the Top

‘Rogue One’ Directed Added To SXSW Keynotes

SXSW added some force to their 2017 keynote speaker series. The festival announced today that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards has been confirmed as a speaker for the upcoming film festival. Edwards joins the previously announced Lee Daniels as one of the speakers for next year. SXSW Keynotes offer the chance for audiences to hear some of the hottest names and biggest thinkers in film, music, and technology to talk about the processes and innovations from their fields. Edwards’s acclaim is at an all-time high now, thanks to his involvement with the Star Wars franchise.

(SXSW)

‘Stranger Things’ Adds Two Cast Members

Netflix’s runaway success Stranger Things has expanded its cast. Actor Dacre Montgomery (Power Rangers) and actress Sadie Sink (American Odyssey) have been cast as step-siblings Billy and Max. Montgomery’s Billy is described as a hard-partying bad boy with a violent streak while Sink’s Max is a tough as nails tomboy with a strange past. No word yet on what roles either character will play in the coming season, which is expected sometime in 2017.

(Entertainment Weekly)

‘The Accountant’ Balances the Books at Weekend Box Office

The Accountant added up to box office success in its opening weekend, earning $24.7 million at the box office. It was followed distantly by comedian Kevin Hart’s stand up/film mashup Kevin Hart: What Now? which garnered an $11.98 million take, slightly edging out The Girl on the Train which earned $11.97 in its second weekend. That pushed Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children to fourth place in its third weekend, with a take of $8.9 million while Deepwater Horizon fell to fifth with $6.3 million.