Mookie Cook as LeBron James in “Shooting Stars” Oluwaseye Olusa/Universal Pictures
SOURCE: Deadline.com | Katie Campione
July 5, 2023
The original film Shooting Stars has now become Peacock’s most-watched original film in its first four weeks of availability.
Since its June 2 premiere, Shooting Stars has remained the #1 original film every weekend on Peacock. Specific viewership data for the film isn’t available.
Peacock currently streams nine original films, including Praise This, They/Them, Meet Cute and Sick.
Directed by Chris Robinson and based on the book by LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger, Shooting Stars is the origin story of a basketball superhero, revealing how James and his childhood friends become the No. 1 high school team in the country, launching James’ breathtaking career as a four-time NBA champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
The cast of Shooting Stars includes Marquis “Mookie” Cook, Wood Harris, Caleb McLaughlin, Khalil Everage, Avery S. Willis, Jr., Sterling “Scoot” Henderson, Dermot Mulroney, Natalie Paul, Diane Howard, Algee Smith and Katlyn Nichol.
Academy Award-nominees Rachel Winter and Terence Winter produced the film along with Maverick Carter’s The SpringHill Company. Spencer Beighley and Jamal Henderson also produce.
A production crew films a scene for “Shooting Stars” in Shaker Heights, May 2022. Carrie Wise / Ideastream Public Media
SOURCE: Ideastream Public Media | Douglas J. Guth
June 12, 2023
Cleveland filmmaker Nick Muhlbach wants his stories to be relatable – the same slice-of-life humanity that Muhlbach’s cinematic hero Kevin Smith accomplished with his 1994 Gen X slacker comedy, “Clerks.”
Muhlbach’s contribution to this genre is “Calendar,” a Cleveland-shot and produced drama about a young woman’s struggles with family and relationships. Muhlbach hopes his movie can be a touchstone for audience members encountering similar issues.
Universal Pictures
SOURCE: MovieWeb | Philana Marie Boles
June 11, 2023
Set in the 1990s, Shooting Stars is a real-life basketball story about NBA basketball player and movie producer LeBron James and his friends growing up in Akron, Ohio. With touching, uplifting, and often humorous, themes about friendship, loyalty, perseverance, and sacrifice, it stars Marquis “Mookie” Cook (in his screen acting debut) as James, Caleb McLaughlin(Stranger Things) as ‘Lil Dru, Avery “AJ” Wills Jr. (Swagger) as Willie McGee, Khalil Everage(Cobra Kai) as Sian Cotton, and Sterling “Scoot” Henderson as Romeo Travis (also in his screen acting debut).
SOURCE: Cleveland Scene | Scene Staff
June 9, 2023
Many movies and TV shows have used Cleveland — and the generous tax breaks it offers productions — as a place to film, especially in recent years. But many of those productions dress up Cleveland to make it look like New York City or other places. We covered all of the films that were shot here in a previous slideshow.
These films and shows, however, actually use Cleveland as their setting. It’s a surprising number that goes far beyond Major League and Hot in Cleveland.
Our list details not only what to watch, but where to find it today. If a free streaming option isn’t listed, that means the titles are available to rent or buy on iTunes, Amazon Prime and elsewhere.
SOURCE: Akron Beacon Journal | George M. Thomas
June 9, 2023
Filmmaker Steven Caple Jr. has gone from his hometown with the indie movie “The Land” to Peru with “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” in his career.
It’s a significant elevation in projects and his profile in Hollywood. Caple, a Cleveland Native, caught attention with “The Land,” a heist film set among skateboarders in his hometown, parlayed that into directing “Creed II,” which won praise, enjoyed box office success and, now, he finds himself helming one of the biggest franchises of the past 20 years – “Transformers.”
Transforming the film industry. Photo: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage
SOURCE: Axios Cleveland | Troy Smith
June 7, 2023
A Cleveland native is at the helm of what promises to be one of this summer’s blockbusters.
Driving the news: “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” opens this week and is directed by John Marshall High School grad Steven Caple Jr., who left Tremont for USC film school.
- Here’s a look at the projects that propelled Caple to blockbuster glory:
“A Different Tree”
Caple’s big break came in 2013 when his student film “A Different Tree” won HBO’s Short Film competition.
- It follows an 8-year-old girl who builds a relationship with her absent father through a school family tree project.
“The Land”
Caple’s first feature film was shot in Cleveland over three weeks in July 2015.
- “The Land,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016, centers on four teenage boys who hope to use skateboarding to make it out of Cleveland but get caught in the web of a local drug queenpin.
“Creed II”
Caple stepped up to the big leagues when he took over the “Rocky”/”Creed” franchise from former USC classmate Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”).
- Caple directed Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone in “Creed 2,” which grossed more than $214 million worldwide.
“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”
Caple directs the seventh entry in a “Transformers” film franchise that has grossed nearly $5 billion worldwide.
- “Rise of the Beasts” is expected to earn around $70 million during its opening week in North America, which would be the largest haul yet for a Caple-helmed film.
What’s next: Caple will direct and produce “Byall,” according to Deadline.
- The film is set in a dystopian world without police, where justice is crowd sourced.
Transforming the film industry. Photo: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage
SOURCE: Axios Cleveland | Troy Smith
June 7, 2023
A Cleveland native is at the helm of what promises to be one of this summer’s blockbusters.
Driving the news: “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” opens this week and is directed by John Marshall High School grad Steven Caple Jr., who left Tremont for USC film school.
- Here’s a look at the projects that propelled Caple to blockbuster glory:
“A Different Tree”
Caple’s big break came in 2013 when his student film “A Different Tree” won HBO’s Short Film competition.
- It follows an 8-year-old girl who builds a relationship with her absent father through a school family tree project.
“The Land”
Caple’s first feature film was shot in Cleveland over three weeks in July 2015.
- “The Land,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016, centers on four teenage boys who hope to use skateboarding to make it out of Cleveland but get caught in the web of a local drug queenpin.
“Creed II”
Caple stepped up to the big leagues when he took over the “Rocky”/”Creed” franchise from former USC classmate Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”).
- Caple directed Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone in “Creed 2,” which grossed more than $214 million worldwide.
“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”
Caple directs the seventh entry in a “Transformers” film franchise that has grossed nearly $5 billion worldwide.
- “Rise of the Beasts” is expected to earn around $70 million during its opening week in North America, which would be the largest haul yet for a Caple-helmed film.
What’s next: Caple will direct and produce “Byall,” according to Deadline.
- The film is set in a dystopian world without police, where justice is crowd sourced.
SOURCE: WKYC 3 Studios | Ben Axelrod
June 5, 2023
CLEVELAND — On Friday, Peacock released “Shooting Stars,” which chronicles LeBron James’ rise to becoming the nation’s top basketball prospect alongside his close friends and teammates at Akron‘s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
But while James is played by actor Mookie Cook, those in Northeast Ohio who have watched the feature film likely recognized plenty of familiar faces, including former WKYC anchors Romona Robinson and Tim White.
All winners squeeze together for a celebratory photo. CJN Photo / Sherry Gavanditti
SOURCE: Cleveland Jewish News | Sherry Gavanditti
May 25, 2023
The St. Clair Ballroom at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Tower in Cleveland was filled May 19 for The Growth Opps Carpe Diem Awards luncheon, where dozens of students from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District gathered for the announcement of winners in an essay, rap, poetry and video competition based on “Caesar the Musical,” a play written and directed by Mike Petrone, a longtime Cleveland singer-songwriter and director.
All winners squeeze together for a celebratory photo. CJN Photo / Sherry Gavanditti
SOURCE: Cleveland Jewish News | Sherry Gavanditti
May 25, 2023
The St. Clair Ballroom at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Tower in Cleveland was filled May 19 for The Growth Opps Carpe Diem Awards luncheon, where dozens of students from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District gathered for the announcement of winners in an essay, rap, poetry and video competition based on “Caesar the Musical,” a play written and directed by Mike Petrone, a longtime Cleveland singer-songwriter and director.
