Tate Taylor

There are few movies that feature Allison Janney in a leading role. This is not because filmmakers don’t want to hire her. During a long-standing stint as an in-demand character actress, she’s worked with Ang Lee, Mike Nichols, Todd Solondz, Kenneth Lonergan, Tim Burton and Sam Mendes, among others, culminating in a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in I, Tonya (on top of the multiple Emmys for The West Wing and Mom). So it feels notable that in 2021, a few years past her 60th birthday, Allison Janney is unequivocally starring in a movie: Breaking News in Yuba County, which came out last weekend on VOD (and in theaters, where available). The director is not Ang Lee, Todd Solondz, or Sam Mendes. It is, instead, perhaps her greatest champion: Tate Taylor, the actor-turned-director who made The Help.

With Tate Taylor's star-studded crime comedy Breaking News in Yuba County opening in select theaters and On-Demand this weekend, I recently got to speak with Mila Kunis and Juliette Lewis about making the dark comedy. If you haven’t seen the trailers, the film stars Allison Janney as a housewife that becomes a local celebrity after her husband (Matthew Modine) goes missing. As the investigation intensifies, she finds herself dodging a suspicious cop (Regina Hall), a local news reporter (Kunis) who just so happens to be her half-sister, a wannabe mobster (Awkwafina), and her husband’s deadbeat brother (Jimmi Simpson), all of whom want to know what really happened. The film also stars Wanda Sykes, Ellen Barkin, Samira Wiley, Bridget Everett, Clifton Collins Jr. and Keong Sim.

With Tate Taylor's star-studded crime comedy Breaking News in Yuba County opening in select theaters and On-Demand this weekend, I recently got to speak with Allison Janney about making the dark comedy. If you haven’t seen the trailers, the film stars Janney as a housewife that becomes a local celebrity after her husband (Matthew Modine) goes missing. As the investigation intensifies, she finds herself dodging a suspicious cop (Regina Hall), a local news reporter (Mila Kunis) who just so happens to be her half-sister, a wannabe mobster (Awkwafina), and her husband’s deadbeat brother (Jimmi Simpson), all of whom want to know what really happened. The film also stars Wanda Sykes, Juliette Lewis, Ellen Barkin, Samira Wiley, Bridget Everett, Clifton Collins Jr. and Keong Sim.

Back in 2019, the Octavia Spencer-starring Ma scared up over $60 million at the worldwide box office on a $5 million production budget, with the film’s finale suggesting that the titular villain died in a fiery blaze. Of course, nobody is ever really dead in the world of horror movies, especially when we’re talking about horror movies that turn a pretty sizable profit.

Released in 2019, horror movie Ma proved to be one of the most bizarre studio movies made in years. Despite its tepid critical reception, Ma has garnered a dedicated following, which has led to writer and director Tate Taylor devising ideas for a potential Ma 2, with the idea to resurrect the title character and her nefarious ways in a brand-new environment.

[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Ma.]. Ma is so good, you guys. You gotta watch it. It's an absurd, tone-shifting, and genuinely frightening horror film starring Octavia Spencer as an adult woman so warped by trauma and loneliness that she starts befriending and hosting local high schoolers in a sociological attempt at revenge. It's out of this world, it inspired a ton of wonderful memes, and I fully believe Spencer deserved an Oscar nod for her work.