After delving into the civil rights movement in "Selma," filmmaker Ava DuVernay and star David Oyelowo are looking to reunite for a drama set against the backdrop of Hurricane Katrina.

DuVernay is on board to write, direct and produce a story of love and murder that takes place during the historic 2005 storm, Participant Media announced Monday, and Oyelowo is in negotiations to star and produce.

DuVernay and Oyelowo previously teamed with Participant on the 2012 drama "Middle of Nowhere."

Plot details for the new film were not revealed, but DuVernay has shown an interest in tackling issues of race, class and inequality in her work before, and the Katrina disaster would give her plenty of material to work with.

As President George W. Bush acknowledged in the aftermath of the storm, "The greatest hardship fell upon citizens already facing lives of struggle: the elderly, the vulnerable and the poor. And this poverty has roots in generations of segregation and discrimination that closed...

Emma Watson is ready to tell a tale as old as time. The former "Harry Potter" star has been cast as Belle in Disney's live-action "Beauty and the Beast" movie, the studio announced Monday.

Directed by Bill Condon ("The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1" and "Part 2"), the film is slated to begin production later this year. A release date has not been set.

"Beauty and the Beast" is the latest Disney animated classic to get a live-action revamp, following "Alice in Wonderland," "Sleeping Beauty" (via "Maleficent") and the upcoming "Cinderella" and "The Jungle Book."

Originally released in 1991, Disney's animated "Beauty" was a critical and commercial hit that has grossed more than $424 million worldwide, counting Imax and 3-D re-releases. It is also one of the few animated films to earn an Oscar nomination for best picture, and the only one to do so before the academy expanded the number of nominees in 2009.

On Watson's Facebook page, the 24-year-old British actress said the 1991...

Virtual-reality firm Oculus is making a move into original‎ film content.

The manufacturer of the much-anticipated Rift headset is expected to announce at the Sundance Film Festival on Monday that it is launching a new unit called Story Studio and has hired Pixar veteran Saschka Unseld to run it.

Working with a team of about 10 staffers and contractors, Unseld will develop and produce an unspecified number of animated shorts in the VR format. VR essentially allows a viewer wearing a headset to inhabit a film's entire world, instead of the more traditional method of simply watching a rectangular display.

The move is a small but notable step in the bid to bring the nascent technology into the Hollywood mainstream. Oculus has worked extensively with the game community to develop VR content, but conversations with film and television figures have up to this point been largely hypothetical.

"We felt the 360-side of filmmaking has been covered," said Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe in a phone...

With its win for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture on Sunday night, "Birdman" certainly looked like another instance of the Screen Actors Guild celebrating actors for playing actors. The film follows the backstage events of a theater production put on by a film star attempting to revive his floundering career and faltering sense of self-worth.

"This film showed the courage actors have to lay it all on the line," the film's Michael Keaton said speaking backstage after the awards. "I think that's why [the voters] respectfully thought as a group we deserved a little prize."

FULL COVERAGE: SAG Awards 2015

SAG has often recognized stories set in and around acting and/or Hollywood. Two years ago they gave their top prize to "Argo," which depicted small-time Hollywood hustlers in a scheme to free Americans from Iran. Eventual Best Picture Oscar winner "The Artist" was also nominated for SAG's cast award. "Chicago" was another razzle-dazzle showbiz-themed SAG Award winner....

Julianne Moore can't stop thinking about the Oscars, because, well, the media won't let her.

"It's hard not to think about it when people keep bringing it up," the actress told reporters backstage after her victory for female actor in a lead movie role at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday.

FULL COVERAGE: SAG Awards 2015

For Moore, who portrays a woman diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's in "Still Alice," and the other actors honored at the Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles, the SAG Awards mark the last stop before the biggest night in the film world.

"It's been a beautiful ride," Moore continued. "It hasn't even been a year since we finished [the movie]. I'm trying to remain as calm as I can and as present. I'm incredibly grateful for everything."

Moore talked about the four months she spent preparing for the role -- which included Skype calls with people from the National Alzheimer's Assn. who had the same condition as her character.  And the reaction from those in the...

J.K. Simmons, for his turn as a ruthless music teacher in “Whiplash,” captured the Screen Actors Guild Award on Sunday for best performance by a male actor in a supporting role.

With the win, Simmons solidified his status as a favorite to win an Oscar next month. He took home a Golden Globe for the role two weeks ago and has won several critics awards.

FULL COVERAGE: SAG Awards 2015

Simmons beat out Robert Duvall in “The Judge,” Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood,” Edward Norton in “Birdman” and Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher” for the SAG Award.

Backstage at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles after accepting his victory, he jokingly cited an inspiration.

"I think it's every actor’s inner ninth-grade jock's fantasy to be Arnold Schwarzenegger," he teased a reporter who praised his buff physique. Simmons added that he spent plenty of time at the gym in anticipation of the film. "I'm continuing to fight Father Time as best as I can."

PHOTOS: SAG Awards 2015 top nominees and winners | Red...