Every week, The GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBT-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend.
1) HBO will be developing the iconic Battle of the Sexes tennis match between lesbian player Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs into a feature film. Battle of the Sexes will star Paul Giamatti as Riggs and Elizabeth Banks as King, and will be directed by Proof's David Auburn.
2) Rutina Wesley has been cast as one of the four leads in ABC's cop drama Broad Squad, a show about the first four women to graduate from Boston's Police Academy in the late seventies. Wesley will play Joanne, a "strong, strict and reserved" lesbian who will have to work even harder because of her race, gender and sexual orientation. It was also announced recently that Wesley would join the third season of NBC's Hannibal.
3) Bombshell, the musical-within-a-show from NBC's short lived series Smash, will be performed as a one-night benefit for The Actors Fund. The fictional show, which follows the life of Marilyn Monroe through songs by Tony-award winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitmann, will see original cast members Christian Borle, Will Chase, Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee and Debra Messing returning. It will play at the Miskoff Theatre for June 8 only.
4) Ricky Martin has released his new single"Mr. Put It Down" featuring fellow Latin superstar Pitbull. The song is part of Martin's upcoming as-yet-untitled English album, which will be a follow up to A Quien Quiera Escuchar, his Spanish album released in February. No further details about other singles or an album release date are known, check out "Mr. Put It Down" below.
5) Eurovision sensation and drag performer Conchita Wurst has released the lyric video for her newest song "You Are Unstoppable." An anthem about self-empowerment and overcoming hard times, the video features a plethora of diverse individuals holding the now iconic Conchita beard over their faces. You can watch below:
6) DC Comics has announced that, as part of their 24 upcoming new titles, it will launch a monthly comic book series starring Midnighter, one of the few openly gay superheroes in their universe. Writer Steve Orlando revealed in an interview with Comic Book Resources that this will be an opportunity to explore new sides of the hero, who made his first appearance in 1998's Stormwatch #4: "When we start, he is realizing, he is out of the closet as a gay man, he is out of the closet as a superhero. He has no secret identity. And he needs to find a way to really be a person." The first issue of Midnighter will be released on June 3.
7) News broke this week that Star Wars will be introducing the first LGBT character into its official canon. The character of Moff Mors will be presented as an "Imperial who has made some very serious mistakes but […] is an incredibly capable leader and spends much of the book working hard to prevent absolute failure. She also happens to be a lesbian." The novel, titled Lords of the Sith and written by Paul S. Kemp, will be released on April 28.
8) Director Arshad Khan is currently crowd funding his film Abu, which revolves around "a gay son [that] revisits his contentious relationship with his fundamentalist Muslim father." Khan based the story on his personal experience with "migration, self-actualization, spirituality, sexuality and love." For more information, check out the Abu Indiegogo page.
