Movie News
Writer-director John Krasinski‘s original family film IF has started off its box office run with $1.8 million in Thursday previews.
The fantasy pic, headlining Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming alongside an A-list voice cast, explores the world of discarded imaginary friends and what happens when a young girl and her neighbor try to reunite them with their previous human pals.
The live-action/CGI animated Paramount pic is tracking for a domestic debut in the $40 million range from more than 4,000 theaters, but the family marketplace continues to struggle in the post-pandemic era. Nor is original fare an easy proposition. It’s hard to read too much into Thursday previews since families don’t start turning out in earnest until Friday and Saturday, generally speaking, although some exhibitors are worried the movie could have a hard time getting to $40 million based on presales, according to sources.
Reviews aren’t so great — If...
The fantasy pic, headlining Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming alongside an A-list voice cast, explores the world of discarded imaginary friends and what happens when a young girl and her neighbor try to reunite them with their previous human pals.
The live-action/CGI animated Paramount pic is tracking for a domestic debut in the $40 million range from more than 4,000 theaters, but the family marketplace continues to struggle in the post-pandemic era. Nor is original fare an easy proposition. It’s hard to read too much into Thursday previews since families don’t start turning out in earnest until Friday and Saturday, generally speaking, although some exhibitors are worried the movie could have a hard time getting to $40 million based on presales, according to sources.
Reviews aren’t so great — If...
- 5/17/2024
- by Pamela McClintock
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Daniel Baur’s K5 Intl. has sold out most of international on Kevin Costner’s two-part Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga,” with only a few territories left, ahead of its world premiere Sunday in Cannes’ out of competition section.
K5 closed sales to Tobis Film (German-speaking territories), Metropolitan Filmexport (France), Stan Entertainment (Australia), Unicorn (Eastern Europe), Sf Studios/Ab Svensk (Scandinavia), Echo Lake Distribution (Airlines), EnterMode (South Korea), Falcon Films (Middle East), Nos Lusomundo (Portugal), Tanweer (Greece), MadMen (Australia), Parallax Studios/Saga Film (Philippines), Aqua Group (Turkey) and Myndform (Iceland).
Warner Bros./New Line will give the films wide releases in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Spain, Italy and the Netherlands on June 28 and Aug. 16.
Last year, Baur re-launched K5 Intl. with a new focus on high-budgeted elevated genre films and series. When Baur received the call from producer Howard Kaplan of Territory Pictures that he was...
K5 closed sales to Tobis Film (German-speaking territories), Metropolitan Filmexport (France), Stan Entertainment (Australia), Unicorn (Eastern Europe), Sf Studios/Ab Svensk (Scandinavia), Echo Lake Distribution (Airlines), EnterMode (South Korea), Falcon Films (Middle East), Nos Lusomundo (Portugal), Tanweer (Greece), MadMen (Australia), Parallax Studios/Saga Film (Philippines), Aqua Group (Turkey) and Myndform (Iceland).
Warner Bros./New Line will give the films wide releases in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Spain, Italy and the Netherlands on June 28 and Aug. 16.
Last year, Baur re-launched K5 Intl. with a new focus on high-budgeted elevated genre films and series. When Baur received the call from producer Howard Kaplan of Territory Pictures that he was...
- 5/17/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety - Film News
A new entry in the “Insidious” franchise has been set for the theaters. The next installment of the Blumhouse Productions horror property, co-produced by Screen Gems, has been added to Sony’s theatrical slate, with the studio dating the film for an Aug. 29, 2025 release.
No further details on the project were disclosed, including whether series regulars such as Patrick Wilson and Leigh Whannell would be involved. The newly announced feature is different from “Thread: An Insidious Tale,” an in-universe series spin-off that was first reported on by Deadline in May 2023 and is said to star Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani, with Jeremy Slater attached to write and direct.
Barring no other “Insidious” installments releasing before this newly announced one, this would mark the sixth entry in the horror franchise and the first since last year’s “Insidious: The Red Door,” which saw actors Patrick Wilson and Ty Simpkins return to...
No further details on the project were disclosed, including whether series regulars such as Patrick Wilson and Leigh Whannell would be involved. The newly announced feature is different from “Thread: An Insidious Tale,” an in-universe series spin-off that was first reported on by Deadline in May 2023 and is said to star Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani, with Jeremy Slater attached to write and direct.
Barring no other “Insidious” installments releasing before this newly announced one, this would mark the sixth entry in the horror franchise and the first since last year’s “Insidious: The Red Door,” which saw actors Patrick Wilson and Ty Simpkins return to...
- 5/17/2024
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety - Film News
The revival of I Know What You Did Last Summer is appropriately set to hit theaters in the dead of summer.
Sony Pictures announced Thursday that its new film with the same name as the original 1997 slasher flick is set for theatrical release domestically on July 18, 2025. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) is directing the sequel from a screenplay she co-wrote with Sam Lansky after an initial script from Leah McKendrick. Neal Moritz produces the film.
The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. were in talks to reprise their roles from the first movie that hit theaters Oct. 17, 1997.
Also scheduled for release on July 18, 2025, is Paramount’s Naked Gun reboot from director Akiva Schaffer that features Liam Neeson as bumbling detective Frank Drebin.
The original I Know What You Did Last Summer starred Hewitt, Prinze, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe. It was penned by...
Sony Pictures announced Thursday that its new film with the same name as the original 1997 slasher flick is set for theatrical release domestically on July 18, 2025. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) is directing the sequel from a screenplay she co-wrote with Sam Lansky after an initial script from Leah McKendrick. Neal Moritz produces the film.
The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. were in talks to reprise their roles from the first movie that hit theaters Oct. 17, 1997.
Also scheduled for release on July 18, 2025, is Paramount’s Naked Gun reboot from director Akiva Schaffer that features Liam Neeson as bumbling detective Frank Drebin.
The original I Know What You Did Last Summer starred Hewitt, Prinze, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe. It was penned by...
- 5/16/2024
- by Ryan Gajewski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Freddy Fazbear will return to haunt multiplexes in 2025.
Universal and Blumhouse’s “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” a horror sequel set in the haunted Chuck E. Cheese-esque establishment known as Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, will land in theaters on Dec. 5, 2025.
Universal added several Blumhouse titles to its release calendar, including “The Woman in the Yard” and “Drop”. The studio also shifted the dates for two other buzzy sequels: “M3GAN 2.0” from May 16, 2025, to June 27, 2025; and “The Black Phone 2” from June 27, 2025, to Oct. 17, 2025.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s,” adapted from the popular video game, made a killing at the box office last October with $297 million globally and became Blumhouse’s highest-grossing film of all time — all while streaming simultaneously on Peacock. Josh Hutcherson starred in the original as a nighttime security guard at Freddys Fazbear’s Pizza, where the animatronic mascots are prone to murder. The studio hasn’t clarified who is returning for the follow-up,...
Universal and Blumhouse’s “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” a horror sequel set in the haunted Chuck E. Cheese-esque establishment known as Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, will land in theaters on Dec. 5, 2025.
Universal added several Blumhouse titles to its release calendar, including “The Woman in the Yard” and “Drop”. The studio also shifted the dates for two other buzzy sequels: “M3GAN 2.0” from May 16, 2025, to June 27, 2025; and “The Black Phone 2” from June 27, 2025, to Oct. 17, 2025.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s,” adapted from the popular video game, made a killing at the box office last October with $297 million globally and became Blumhouse’s highest-grossing film of all time — all while streaming simultaneously on Peacock. Josh Hutcherson starred in the original as a nighttime security guard at Freddys Fazbear’s Pizza, where the animatronic mascots are prone to murder. The studio hasn’t clarified who is returning for the follow-up,...
- 5/16/2024
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Lily Allen is the latest star ready to lighten up Night and Day, an adaptation of the comedic Virginia Woolf novel.
The singer and actress joins a cast that includes Haley Bennett, Elyas M’Barek and Timothy Spall, who will bring to life the 1919 novel revolving around the daily lives and romances of two women. Katharine Hilbery (Bennett), is an Edwardian astronomer who avoids love, while Mary (Allen) is a straight-talking, fearless, funny suffragette. Jack Farthing rounds out the cast for the feature.
Justine Waddell penned the script and will produce, with BAFTA nominee Tina Gharavi directing the feature, which is aiming to shoot this fall in Newcastle, England and Cologne, Germany.
Financing company FilmHedge has come on board to back the project, withs its founder and CEO Jon Gosier and its COO Chandler Heinz Laun serving as executive producers, along with Konstantin Korenchuk.
Producers include Christopher Figg, Meg Thomson and German co-producers Glisk,...
The singer and actress joins a cast that includes Haley Bennett, Elyas M’Barek and Timothy Spall, who will bring to life the 1919 novel revolving around the daily lives and romances of two women. Katharine Hilbery (Bennett), is an Edwardian astronomer who avoids love, while Mary (Allen) is a straight-talking, fearless, funny suffragette. Jack Farthing rounds out the cast for the feature.
Justine Waddell penned the script and will produce, with BAFTA nominee Tina Gharavi directing the feature, which is aiming to shoot this fall in Newcastle, England and Cologne, Germany.
Financing company FilmHedge has come on board to back the project, withs its founder and CEO Jon Gosier and its COO Chandler Heinz Laun serving as executive producers, along with Konstantin Korenchuk.
Producers include Christopher Figg, Meg Thomson and German co-producers Glisk,...
- 5/16/2024
- by Aaron Couch
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The “Silent Hill” film franchise continues with “Return to Silent Hill,” the latest adaptation of the hit horror anthology video game series. Variety has the first look at the famed monster Pyramid Head in the Christophe Gans-directed film, which is previewing at the Cannes Film Festival.
After helming the “Silent Hill” in 2006, Gans returns to direct the next installment from a script he co-with Sandra Vo-Anh and William Josef Schneider. The project is produced by Victor Hadida for Davis Films, Molly Hassell for Hassell Free Productions and David Wulf.
“Return to Silent Hill” is based on “Silent Hill 2,” the second and most popular game in Konami’s successful video game series, which has been named to top video game lists by Time Magazine, IGN and more. Originally released in 2001 for PlayStation 2, “Silent Hill 2,” is widely considered the best game in the series (and introduced the Pyramid Head character.
After helming the “Silent Hill” in 2006, Gans returns to direct the next installment from a script he co-with Sandra Vo-Anh and William Josef Schneider. The project is produced by Victor Hadida for Davis Films, Molly Hassell for Hassell Free Productions and David Wulf.
“Return to Silent Hill” is based on “Silent Hill 2,” the second and most popular game in Konami’s successful video game series, which has been named to top video game lists by Time Magazine, IGN and more. Originally released in 2001 for PlayStation 2, “Silent Hill 2,” is widely considered the best game in the series (and introduced the Pyramid Head character.
- 5/16/2024
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety - Film News
Neon has bought North American rights to “The Unknown” (“L’Inconnue”), the hotly anticipated next movie from “Anatomy of a Fall”’s Oscar-winning co-writer Arthur Harari.
As revealed by Variety earlier this week, the movie will star Léa Seydoux (“Dune 2”) and is being represented in international markets. Harari is rolling off of “Anatomy of a Fall” which he co-wrote with director Justine Triet, abd won an Oscar, two Golden Globes, a BAFTA and the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The deal was negotiated by Neon’s president of acquisitions and production Jeff Deutchman with producer Nicolas Anthomé on behalf of the filmmakers, and marks Neon’s second collaboration with Harari following last year’s “Anatomy of a Fall” which Neon acquired out of Cannes in 2023 before it won the Palme d’Or for that year. This deal further cements Neon’s commitment to bringing top-of-the-line international cinema to U.
As revealed by Variety earlier this week, the movie will star Léa Seydoux (“Dune 2”) and is being represented in international markets. Harari is rolling off of “Anatomy of a Fall” which he co-wrote with director Justine Triet, abd won an Oscar, two Golden Globes, a BAFTA and the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The deal was negotiated by Neon’s president of acquisitions and production Jeff Deutchman with producer Nicolas Anthomé on behalf of the filmmakers, and marks Neon’s second collaboration with Harari following last year’s “Anatomy of a Fall” which Neon acquired out of Cannes in 2023 before it won the Palme d’Or for that year. This deal further cements Neon’s commitment to bringing top-of-the-line international cinema to U.
- 5/17/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety - Film News
Mofac Animation has found Jesus.
Oscar Isaac has signed on to portray Jesus Christ in The King of Kings, the animated family film being made by the South Korean-based animation house. At the same time, Forest Whitaker has been tapped to give voice to the apostle Peter.
The duo join a growing A-list voice cast that includes Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman, and Jojo Rabbit actor Roman Griffin Davis.
Seong-ho “Jay” Jang, known as a visual effects pioneer in Korea, is directing King of Kings while Anfernee Kim (Last Knights, John Woo’s The Crossing 2) is producing.
The faith-based feature is very loosely inspired by The Life of Our Lord, a little-known Charles Dickens short story that was published posthumously and that depicted the life and times of Jesus.
The script, by Jang and Rob Edwards (Disney’s The Princess and the Frog), sees Charles and Walter Dickens, voiced by Branagh and Davis,...
Oscar Isaac has signed on to portray Jesus Christ in The King of Kings, the animated family film being made by the South Korean-based animation house. At the same time, Forest Whitaker has been tapped to give voice to the apostle Peter.
The duo join a growing A-list voice cast that includes Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman, and Jojo Rabbit actor Roman Griffin Davis.
Seong-ho “Jay” Jang, known as a visual effects pioneer in Korea, is directing King of Kings while Anfernee Kim (Last Knights, John Woo’s The Crossing 2) is producing.
The faith-based feature is very loosely inspired by The Life of Our Lord, a little-known Charles Dickens short story that was published posthumously and that depicted the life and times of Jesus.
The script, by Jang and Rob Edwards (Disney’s The Princess and the Frog), sees Charles and Walter Dickens, voiced by Branagh and Davis,...
- 5/16/2024
- by Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Stephen Curry has netted a new scripted project as the basketball superstar continues making inroads as a Hollywood playmaker.
Curry’s producing banner Unanimous Media and David Henrie’s Cedar Hill are developing the basketball-focused comedy feature Trick Shot. A director has yet to be attached to the film that has a script from Jay Longino, whose previous writing credits include Uncle Drew (2018) and Skiptrace (2016).
Trick Shot centers on a middle school student who is dismal at basketball until a freak accident occurs, and he suddenly can’t miss a shot. His newfound hoops talent leads him to become an unexpected NBA rookie, where he is soon an integral member of his favorite team.
Producers include Curry and Erick Peyton for Unanimous Media, David Henrie and James Henrie for Cedar Hill and Ben Everard for Everard Entertainment. Longino and Unanimous’ Brian Testuro Ivie serve as executive producers.
Curry is a...
Curry’s producing banner Unanimous Media and David Henrie’s Cedar Hill are developing the basketball-focused comedy feature Trick Shot. A director has yet to be attached to the film that has a script from Jay Longino, whose previous writing credits include Uncle Drew (2018) and Skiptrace (2016).
Trick Shot centers on a middle school student who is dismal at basketball until a freak accident occurs, and he suddenly can’t miss a shot. His newfound hoops talent leads him to become an unexpected NBA rookie, where he is soon an integral member of his favorite team.
Producers include Curry and Erick Peyton for Unanimous Media, David Henrie and James Henrie for Cedar Hill and Ben Everard for Everard Entertainment. Longino and Unanimous’ Brian Testuro Ivie serve as executive producers.
Curry is a...
- 5/16/2024
- by Ryan Gajewski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Horror and thriller directors Michael and Peter Spierig (Lionsgate’s Jigsaw) are set to direct Fall 2, it was announced by Capstone Studios’ CEO Christian Mercuri. Scott Mann, who directed and co-wrote the first film, is returning to co-write Fall 2 with Jonathan Frank.
Following the successful survival thriller Fall released in 2022 by Lionsgate, Fall 2 will reunite producers Mark Lane and James Harris of Tea Shop Productions (47 Meters Down), Capstone’s Christian Mercuri, David Haring, and Scott Mann via the Flawless banner.
Dan Asma, John Long, and Roman Viaris will also reunite as executive producers alongside Capstone’s Ruzanna Kegeyan. Capstone will finance the sequel, with Fall 2 set to begin shooting in June 2024.
Capstone Global is handling worldwide rights to the franchise. In late 2023, Capstone Studios greenlit both Fall 2 and Fall 3 under the franchise. Mann will return to write and direct the third installment.
“We’re extremely excited to helm the second...
Following the successful survival thriller Fall released in 2022 by Lionsgate, Fall 2 will reunite producers Mark Lane and James Harris of Tea Shop Productions (47 Meters Down), Capstone’s Christian Mercuri, David Haring, and Scott Mann via the Flawless banner.
Dan Asma, John Long, and Roman Viaris will also reunite as executive producers alongside Capstone’s Ruzanna Kegeyan. Capstone will finance the sequel, with Fall 2 set to begin shooting in June 2024.
Capstone Global is handling worldwide rights to the franchise. In late 2023, Capstone Studios greenlit both Fall 2 and Fall 3 under the franchise. Mann will return to write and direct the third installment.
“We’re extremely excited to helm the second...
- 5/16/2024
- by Mirko Parlevliet
- Vital Thrills
One Cannes ritual is IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond’s annual press lunch. IMAX is thriving in the global marketplace, with more than 1,700 screens in 90 countries, as audiences continue to recognize and embrace the global brand for giant film and digital cameras and big-screen formats. Helfand announced the company’s upcoming 2025 filmed for IMAX slate (below) while at Cannes, which he believes will break records for the company. Thanks to IMAX believer Chris Nolan‘s global blockbuster “Oppenheimer,” IMAX performed at peak capacity with over $1 billion in revenue in 2023, matching the company’s 2019 pre-pandemic record.
IMAX delivered 20% of the global box office for “Oppenheimer” — shot entirely with IMAX film cameras — and more than $190 million worldwide, making it the fifth highest grossing IMAX film of all time. IMAX also delivered 21% of the global box office for “Dune: Part Two” — shot entirely with IMAX-certified digital cameras — and over $145 million worldwide, making it the seventh highest.
IMAX delivered 20% of the global box office for “Oppenheimer” — shot entirely with IMAX film cameras — and more than $190 million worldwide, making it the fifth highest grossing IMAX film of all time. IMAX also delivered 21% of the global box office for “Dune: Part Two” — shot entirely with IMAX-certified digital cameras — and over $145 million worldwide, making it the seventh highest.
- 5/16/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The main cast of Jim Jarmusch‘s first film since 2019’s “The Dead Don’t Die” has been revealed, and what a cast it is. Variety reports that Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Jarmusch regular Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Indya Moore, and Luka Sabbat join Cate Blanchett and Vicky Krieps on “Father Mother Sister Brother.” Jarmusch has already wrapped shooting, with post-production underway in NYC, so expect the film to be ready for a premiere later this year.
Continue reading ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’: Jim Jarmusch’s Latest Star Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, Tom Waits & More at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’: Jim Jarmusch’s Latest Star Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver, Tom Waits & More at The Playlist.
- 5/16/2024
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
At this point, any actor signing on for a Yorgos Lanthimos film knows they wont be resting on their laurels. Literally. One of his trademarks is a kind of heightened physicality — whether its Rachel Weisz and Joe Alwyn twerking in “The Favourite,” Emma Stone “furious jumping” in “Poor Things” or Nicole Kidman lending a man a hand, so to speak, in a parking lot in “The Killing of a Sacred Deer.”
This kind of movement, be it awkward, sexy or just bizarre, came up on Saturday during the Cannes Film Festival press conference for Lanthimos’ latest, “Kinds of Kindness.” Reunited with Stone, Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley, and newcomers Jesse Plemons, Mamoudou Athie, Hunter Schafer and Hong Chau, the new project sees the acting troupe engage in group sex, hardcore breakdancing , eckless driving and some light cannibalism. Another day on a Lanthimos set.
“I certainly don’t mistreat the body,...
This kind of movement, be it awkward, sexy or just bizarre, came up on Saturday during the Cannes Film Festival press conference for Lanthimos’ latest, “Kinds of Kindness.” Reunited with Stone, Willem Dafoe and Margaret Qualley, and newcomers Jesse Plemons, Mamoudou Athie, Hunter Schafer and Hong Chau, the new project sees the acting troupe engage in group sex, hardcore breakdancing , eckless driving and some light cannibalism. Another day on a Lanthimos set.
“I certainly don’t mistreat the body,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Matt Donnelly and Ellise Shafer
- Variety - Film News
Unspooling May 18 as part of an overall Swiss Focus at the Marché du Film, Solothurn Film Festival Goes to Cannes marks the first collaboration between the long-standing Swiss festival and the Cannes market, but also a first for many of the talents and producers carefully picked for the event.
Two of Switzerland’s top documentary filmmakers Jacqueline Zünd, winner of a 2019 Crystal Bear nominated for “Where We Belong,” and Nicholas Steiner, director of “Above & Below”, ranked among Variety reviewer Peter Debruge’s Top 10 films of 2015, are set to attract buyers, sales agents and programmers’ attention with their star-stubbed fiction debuts.
In “Do You Believe in Angels, Mr Drowak,” Steiner has hired Karl Markovics, star of the 2008 Oscar winner “The Counterfeiters”, rising acting talent Lune Wedler, Lars Eidinger and Dominique Pinon.
“After two cinematic documentaries that ran worldwide and an original Netflix series [“Dig Deeper-The Disappearance of Birgit Meier”], I was excited to create this technically demanding,...
Two of Switzerland’s top documentary filmmakers Jacqueline Zünd, winner of a 2019 Crystal Bear nominated for “Where We Belong,” and Nicholas Steiner, director of “Above & Below”, ranked among Variety reviewer Peter Debruge’s Top 10 films of 2015, are set to attract buyers, sales agents and programmers’ attention with their star-stubbed fiction debuts.
In “Do You Believe in Angels, Mr Drowak,” Steiner has hired Karl Markovics, star of the 2008 Oscar winner “The Counterfeiters”, rising acting talent Lune Wedler, Lars Eidinger and Dominique Pinon.
“After two cinematic documentaries that ran worldwide and an original Netflix series [“Dig Deeper-The Disappearance of Birgit Meier”], I was excited to create this technically demanding,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety - Film News
In this first look from “Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare” — from the makers of slasher horror hit “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey” — Martin Portlock plays an evil, murderous and disfigured version of the children’s character.
The Jagged Edge Productions film — being sold by ITN Studios in Cannes — follows Wendy Darling as she strikes out in an attempt to rescue her brother Michael from “the clutches of the evil Peter Pan.” Along the way she meets Tinkerbell, who in this twisted version of the story will be seen taking heroine, convinced that it’s pixie dust. Scott Chambers writes and directs while Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who directed “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey,” produces.
The cast includes Megan Placito, Peter Desouza-Feighoney (“The Popes Exorcist”), Kit Green, Martin Portlock (“Wolf Manor”), Nicholas Woodeson, Kierston Wareing (“Fish Tank”), Olumide Olorunfemi (“Venom: Let There Be Carnage”), Teresa Banham, Charity Kase and Campbell Wallace.
Currently shooting in the U.
The Jagged Edge Productions film — being sold by ITN Studios in Cannes — follows Wendy Darling as she strikes out in an attempt to rescue her brother Michael from “the clutches of the evil Peter Pan.” Along the way she meets Tinkerbell, who in this twisted version of the story will be seen taking heroine, convinced that it’s pixie dust. Scott Chambers writes and directs while Rhys Frake-Waterfield, who directed “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey,” produces.
The cast includes Megan Placito, Peter Desouza-Feighoney (“The Popes Exorcist”), Kit Green, Martin Portlock (“Wolf Manor”), Nicholas Woodeson, Kierston Wareing (“Fish Tank”), Olumide Olorunfemi (“Venom: Let There Be Carnage”), Teresa Banham, Charity Kase and Campbell Wallace.
Currently shooting in the U.
- 5/18/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety - Film News
In the Canadian cities of Montreal and Winnipeg, a futile tension exists between French and English speakers — doubly silly, since the country is officially bilingual. In his gently satirical “Universal Language,” writer-director Matthew Rankin imagines a rather fanciful solution, where Farsi is now the region’s dominant tongue. Taking his cues from such Iranian classics as “Children of Heaven” and “The White Balloon,” Rankin mixes the humanism of Majid Majidi, Jafar Panahi, et al. with his own peculiar brand of comedy (as seen in the more off-the-wall “The Twentieth Century”), offering a delightful cross-cultural hybrid designed to celebrate our differences.
Though Rankin shows a genuine affection for all things Persian, the first and most obvious hiccup to his premise is that audiences don’t necessarily share his interest or his references. There’s something inherently provocative — and perhaps even triggering to some — about seeing a nondescript Canadian elementary school where...
Though Rankin shows a genuine affection for all things Persian, the first and most obvious hiccup to his premise is that audiences don’t necessarily share his interest or his references. There’s something inherently provocative — and perhaps even triggering to some — about seeing a nondescript Canadian elementary school where...
- 5/18/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety - Film News
Last summer’s strikes, as writers and actors took on the studios, led to historic change – but how is the industry faring now?
Fans of Pete Davidson who tuned in to watch him host Saturday Night Live were disappointed to find a rerun instead. Viewers of Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel found they too had gone dark. While late-night TV had found ingenious ways to stay on air during a global pandemic, this was different.
It was a year ago this month that screenwriters hit the picket lines. Actors followed suit with a walkout in mid-July, the first time that the two unions had been on strike together since 1960. As Hollywood came to a standstill, studios were forced to the negotiating table on issues including minimum pay, streaming residuals and guardrails against the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
Fans of Pete Davidson who tuned in to watch him host Saturday Night Live were disappointed to find a rerun instead. Viewers of Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel found they too had gone dark. While late-night TV had found ingenious ways to stay on air during a global pandemic, this was different.
It was a year ago this month that screenwriters hit the picket lines. Actors followed suit with a walkout in mid-July, the first time that the two unions had been on strike together since 1960. As Hollywood came to a standstill, studios were forced to the negotiating table on issues including minimum pay, streaming residuals and guardrails against the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
- 5/18/2024
- by David Smith in Washington
- The Guardian - Film News
Andor and Hit Man’s Adria Arjona is to star alongside Emilio Perez, American Crime Story and Carlos’ Edgar Ramirez in Jayro Bustamante’s dystopian thriller El Sombreron.
The feature is being launched at Cannes by The Match Factory which will represent worldwide sales outside of North America. CAA Media Finance will handle North American rights. Jayro Bustamante’s La Casa de Produccion, Alejandro De Leon and Brian Clark, and Sergio Lira and Lynette Coll for Luz Films serve as producers.
Bustamante’s previous crime horror La Llorona won Bustamente the GdA’s Best Director and Best Film awards in Venice Days.
The feature is being launched at Cannes by The Match Factory which will represent worldwide sales outside of North America. CAA Media Finance will handle North American rights. Jayro Bustamante’s La Casa de Produccion, Alejandro De Leon and Brian Clark, and Sergio Lira and Lynette Coll for Luz Films serve as producers.
Bustamante’s previous crime horror La Llorona won Bustamente the GdA’s Best Director and Best Film awards in Venice Days.
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Adria Arjona and Edgar Ramirez, the Golden Globe-nominated actor of “American Crime Story” and “Carlos,” have been tapped to star in “El Sombreron,” a dystopian thriller from Jayro Bustamante, the acclaimed director of “La Llorona” (2019) and “Ixcanul” (2015).
The feature is to be launched at Cannes by the Match Factory, which will represent worldwide sales outside of North America. CAA Media Finance will represent North American rights.
Bustamante’s La Casa de Produccion, Alejandro De Leon and Brian Clark, and Sergio Lira and Lynette Coll for Luz Films will serve as producers.
“El Sombreron” tells the story of Lila, an ambitious woman trapped in hell as the trophy wife of a violent cartel boss.
Desperate for liberation, she seizes the opportunity presented by a mysterious stranger named Ramón, who promises to smuggle her north to Paradise.
However, as Lila journeys with him, she discovers the harrowing truth about her companion and...
The feature is to be launched at Cannes by the Match Factory, which will represent worldwide sales outside of North America. CAA Media Finance will represent North American rights.
Bustamante’s La Casa de Produccion, Alejandro De Leon and Brian Clark, and Sergio Lira and Lynette Coll for Luz Films will serve as producers.
“El Sombreron” tells the story of Lila, an ambitious woman trapped in hell as the trophy wife of a violent cartel boss.
Desperate for liberation, she seizes the opportunity presented by a mysterious stranger named Ramón, who promises to smuggle her north to Paradise.
However, as Lila journeys with him, she discovers the harrowing truth about her companion and...
- 5/18/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety - Film News
Sudanese first-timer Mohamed Kordofani’s “Goodbye Julia,” a timely morality tale that takes place just before the 2011 secession of South Sudan, has won top awards for both fest feature film and best screenplay at the eighth edition of the Critics Awards for Arab Films that will be handed out today at the Plage des Palmes in Cannes.
The first Sudanese film ever to screen in Cannes’ official selection, where it premiered in Un Certain Regard last year, “Goodbye Julia” (pictured) is the story of two women — one from the North, the other from the South — who are brought together by fate in a complex relationship that attempts to reconcile differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities in the war-ravaged country.
Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s hybrid doc-drama “Four Daughters,” about an Arab mother contending with the Islamic radicalization and the sexual desires of her teenage daughters, scored three awards: best director for Ben Hania,...
The first Sudanese film ever to screen in Cannes’ official selection, where it premiered in Un Certain Regard last year, “Goodbye Julia” (pictured) is the story of two women — one from the North, the other from the South — who are brought together by fate in a complex relationship that attempts to reconcile differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities in the war-ravaged country.
Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s hybrid doc-drama “Four Daughters,” about an Arab mother contending with the Islamic radicalization and the sexual desires of her teenage daughters, scored three awards: best director for Ben Hania,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety - Film News
The restored version of Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s 1976 masterpiece “Manthan” (“The Churning”) is screening at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cannes Classics strand.
Shot by DoP Govind Nihalani in rural Gujarat, western India, the film is produced by 500,000 farmers who contributed towards its making, under the banner Gujarat Milk Co-Op Marketing Federation Ltd. The film is a fictionalized version of the beginnings of the dairy cooperative movement that transformed India from a milk-deficient nation to the world’s largest milk producer, inspired by Dr. Verghese Kurien. It also examines issues like caste, class, gender and economic discrimination. The cast includes Girish Karnad, Smita Patil, Anant Nag, Mohan Agashe and Naseeruddin Shah.
“The first thing we did was speak to the Gujarat Milk Co-Op Marketing Federation, and we had to make them understand that the film needs to be on 4K, we need to project it back on screen and...
Shot by DoP Govind Nihalani in rural Gujarat, western India, the film is produced by 500,000 farmers who contributed towards its making, under the banner Gujarat Milk Co-Op Marketing Federation Ltd. The film is a fictionalized version of the beginnings of the dairy cooperative movement that transformed India from a milk-deficient nation to the world’s largest milk producer, inspired by Dr. Verghese Kurien. It also examines issues like caste, class, gender and economic discrimination. The cast includes Girish Karnad, Smita Patil, Anant Nag, Mohan Agashe and Naseeruddin Shah.
“The first thing we did was speak to the Gujarat Milk Co-Op Marketing Federation, and we had to make them understand that the film needs to be on 4K, we need to project it back on screen and...
- 5/18/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety - Film News
Bulgarian-American filmmaker Konstantin Bojanov’s Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard selection “The Shameless” has taken 14 years to come to fruition.
Bojanov previously directed the documentary “Invisible” (2005), followed by his Cannes-debuting fiction feature debut “Avé” (2011). Post “Avé” and prior to his 2017 Rotterdam selection “Light Thereafter,” which starred Barry Keoghan and Kim Bodnia, Bojanov acquired the rights to William Dalrymple’s 2009 book, “Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India.” The idea at the time was to make a documentary cross referencing four different stories from the book, including one of a sex worker in Karnataka, southern India.
Bojanov scoured India to find real stories similar to the ones in the book and in 2014 he started filming in Karnataka, with a view to using the footage to attract finance for a feature-length documentary. During his research, the filmmaker also came across a young girl growing up in a family...
Bojanov previously directed the documentary “Invisible” (2005), followed by his Cannes-debuting fiction feature debut “Avé” (2011). Post “Avé” and prior to his 2017 Rotterdam selection “Light Thereafter,” which starred Barry Keoghan and Kim Bodnia, Bojanov acquired the rights to William Dalrymple’s 2009 book, “Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India.” The idea at the time was to make a documentary cross referencing four different stories from the book, including one of a sex worker in Karnataka, southern India.
Bojanov scoured India to find real stories similar to the ones in the book and in 2014 he started filming in Karnataka, with a view to using the footage to attract finance for a feature-length documentary. During his research, the filmmaker also came across a young girl growing up in a family...
- 5/18/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety - Film News
Billed the ‘Trollywood’ of the North for its close ties to talent, the leading Scandinavian regional film fund Film i Väst in Sweden’s Trollhättan has boarded the Noomi Rapace starrer “Mother, to be helmed by Macedonia’s Teona Stugar Mitevska.
The biopic, in which Rapace will play the legendary religious figure Mother Teresa, will mark the English-language debut of esteemed auteur Mitevska, credited for the 2019 Berlin entry “God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya”.
“I am Macedonian, and I grew up in Skopje- Mother Teresa’s birth place,” Mitevska told Variety. “I didn’t grow up religious, as it was Yugoslavia at the time and we were all atheist or existentialists, but I grew up in a vast family of strong dominant women, almost a matriarchy.”
The director says she got the idea for the pic while working on the docu series “Teresa and I” for Macedonian television, more than a decade ago.
The biopic, in which Rapace will play the legendary religious figure Mother Teresa, will mark the English-language debut of esteemed auteur Mitevska, credited for the 2019 Berlin entry “God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya”.
“I am Macedonian, and I grew up in Skopje- Mother Teresa’s birth place,” Mitevska told Variety. “I didn’t grow up religious, as it was Yugoslavia at the time and we were all atheist or existentialists, but I grew up in a vast family of strong dominant women, almost a matriarchy.”
The director says she got the idea for the pic while working on the docu series “Teresa and I” for Macedonian television, more than a decade ago.
- 5/18/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety - Film News
Movistar Plus+, Spain’s most-viewed pay TV operator, is partnering on “Los domingos,” a new film from “Lullaby” director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa and the producers of that critically acclaimed film.
A Movistar Plus+ Original, “Los Domingos” is set in and will shoot in Ruiz de Azúa’s native Basque country, said Nahikari Ipiña at Sayaka Producciones (“Colossal”).
Now in development, “Los Domingos” is produced by Movistar Plus+ and Sayaka and Marisa Fernández Armenteros’ Buenapinta Media (“The Mole Agent”), Sandra Hermida at Think Studio and Colosé Producciones (“Society of the Snow”) and Manu Calvo (“Wounded”).
“‘Los domingos’ is a co-production between Movistar Plus+ and four producers and as independent producers for us that’s important,” Fernández Armenteros said at Cannes.
“Domingos,” which shoots in the first half of 2025, is a drama, although plot details are under wraps.
“It is such luck to accompany Alauda in ‘Los domingos’ after ‘Lullaby’ success with audiences and critics.
A Movistar Plus+ Original, “Los Domingos” is set in and will shoot in Ruiz de Azúa’s native Basque country, said Nahikari Ipiña at Sayaka Producciones (“Colossal”).
Now in development, “Los Domingos” is produced by Movistar Plus+ and Sayaka and Marisa Fernández Armenteros’ Buenapinta Media (“The Mole Agent”), Sandra Hermida at Think Studio and Colosé Producciones (“Society of the Snow”) and Manu Calvo (“Wounded”).
“‘Los domingos’ is a co-production between Movistar Plus+ and four producers and as independent producers for us that’s important,” Fernández Armenteros said at Cannes.
“Domingos,” which shoots in the first half of 2025, is a drama, although plot details are under wraps.
“It is such luck to accompany Alauda in ‘Los domingos’ after ‘Lullaby’ success with audiences and critics.
- 5/18/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety - Film News
David Cronenberg is returning to Cannes with “The Shrouds,” the story of an industrialist named Karsh, who invents a controversial technology that allows grieving families to see inside the graves of their loved ones with high-resolution cameras.
It’s a film that defies easy categorization. This being a Cronenberg production, there are elements of body horror, but there’s also a conspiracist undercurrent, as Karsh (Vincent Cassel) begins to suspect that shadowy forces are undercutting his expansion plans after his cemetery is ransacked. He has his own reasons for developing his business. Karsh’s wife died after a brutal fight with cancer, leaving him inconsolable. He begins to question if her death may be part of a larger plot by the medical establishment.
The material has personal resonance for Cronenberg as well. His wife, Carolyn Cronenberg, died from cancer at the age of 66, and the unyielding grief that he felt...
It’s a film that defies easy categorization. This being a Cronenberg production, there are elements of body horror, but there’s also a conspiracist undercurrent, as Karsh (Vincent Cassel) begins to suspect that shadowy forces are undercutting his expansion plans after his cemetery is ransacked. He has his own reasons for developing his business. Karsh’s wife died after a brutal fight with cancer, leaving him inconsolable. He begins to question if her death may be part of a larger plot by the medical establishment.
The material has personal resonance for Cronenberg as well. His wife, Carolyn Cronenberg, died from cancer at the age of 66, and the unyielding grief that he felt...
- 5/18/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety - Film News
The Sony Pictures sequel “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” made headlines as it rolled through a succession of Florida locations in late February and early March, with reports of crews “spark(ing) buzz” filming on the A1A Highway in Fort Lauderdale, fans catching a glimpse of stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in Brickell, and traffic tie-ups in Miami.
“If you look at the trailer, you’ll see anything that has to do with the beach is all us, with the stunt scene that they did on Ocean Drive in Fort Lauderdale,” boasts Sandy Lighterman, film commissioner for Broward County (Film Lauderdale) and president of Film Florida. “That was because we made it so easy for them.”
One of the reasons the presence of the latest “Bad Boys” movie was such big news is that while Florida has a wealth of TV production courtesy of Spanish language networks Telemundo and Univision,...
“If you look at the trailer, you’ll see anything that has to do with the beach is all us, with the stunt scene that they did on Ocean Drive in Fort Lauderdale,” boasts Sandy Lighterman, film commissioner for Broward County (Film Lauderdale) and president of Film Florida. “That was because we made it so easy for them.”
One of the reasons the presence of the latest “Bad Boys” movie was such big news is that while Florida has a wealth of TV production courtesy of Spanish language networks Telemundo and Univision,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Todd Longwell
- Variety - Film News
In a deal sealed at Cannes, Spain’s Film Factory has closed France with Wild Bunch on action film “The Gentleman” as well as crime thriller “Undercover.”
The directorial debut of seasoned Mexican cinematographer Luis Gabriel Beristáin, “The Gentleman” stars Ron Perlman as Theo, an aging former U.S. soldier who pays Olga, a prostitute, to talk with him about who he once was and what he might have been. When Olga is brutally murdered, Theo embarks on bloody revenge.
“The Gentleman” is produced by Spain’s Esto También Pasará (“Ferocious Wolf”). Now shooting, “The Gentleman” will be released by Universal in Spain next year.
From Goya winner Arantxa Echevarría (“Lola and Carmen”), “Undercover” is inspired by the real-life story of Spain’s only police officer to successfully infiltrate Eta. Carolina Yuste (“Saben aquell”) and Luis Tosar (“Maiaxabel”) headline; Bowfinger Intl. Pictures and Beta Fiction Spain produce, with the latter...
The directorial debut of seasoned Mexican cinematographer Luis Gabriel Beristáin, “The Gentleman” stars Ron Perlman as Theo, an aging former U.S. soldier who pays Olga, a prostitute, to talk with him about who he once was and what he might have been. When Olga is brutally murdered, Theo embarks on bloody revenge.
“The Gentleman” is produced by Spain’s Esto También Pasará (“Ferocious Wolf”). Now shooting, “The Gentleman” will be released by Universal in Spain next year.
From Goya winner Arantxa Echevarría (“Lola and Carmen”), “Undercover” is inspired by the real-life story of Spain’s only police officer to successfully infiltrate Eta. Carolina Yuste (“Saben aquell”) and Luis Tosar (“Maiaxabel”) headline; Bowfinger Intl. Pictures and Beta Fiction Spain produce, with the latter...
- 5/18/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety - Film News
Warsaw-based sales agency New Europe Film Sales has teamed up with Spade, the production arm of the French genre label The Jokers, and leading German distribution company Plaion Pictures to create Cherry, a development fund for edgy films with crossover potential.
The partners declined to reveal any figures but emphasised Cherry was a development rather than production fund
The three companies previously worked together on Valdimar Jóhannsson’s folk horror hit Lamb, and will now tighten their collaboration and enter projects at an earlier stage.
Cherry will focus on finding edgy, auteur -driven projects with breakout possibilites. The fund will...
The partners declined to reveal any figures but emphasised Cherry was a development rather than production fund
The three companies previously worked together on Valdimar Jóhannsson’s folk horror hit Lamb, and will now tighten their collaboration and enter projects at an earlier stage.
Cherry will focus on finding edgy, auteur -driven projects with breakout possibilites. The fund will...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
The Intl. Emerging Film Talent Foundation (Ieftf), a new Athens-based venture established to provide support for unheard and unseen talent, launches May 18 at the Cannes Film Festival during the ceremony for the Arab Cinema Center film awards at the Plage des Palmes.
Established by Marco Orsini (pictured), the founder of the Intl. Emerging Film Talent Assn. (Iefta), the new foundation will offer tens of thousands of euros in support each year through grants to Iefta, which will in turn collaborate directly with film institutions, industry bodies, festivals and events with the goal of aiding emerging filmmakers who must overcome extraordinary challenges in entering the industry.
The launch is part of a series of events Iefta is hosting this week in Cannes, including a discussion with two-time Academy Award winner and Goodwill Ambassador for Unhcr, the U.N. Refugee Agency, Cate Blanchett, who will appear in conversation May 20 with journalist Hadley Gamble...
Established by Marco Orsini (pictured), the founder of the Intl. Emerging Film Talent Assn. (Iefta), the new foundation will offer tens of thousands of euros in support each year through grants to Iefta, which will in turn collaborate directly with film institutions, industry bodies, festivals and events with the goal of aiding emerging filmmakers who must overcome extraordinary challenges in entering the industry.
The launch is part of a series of events Iefta is hosting this week in Cannes, including a discussion with two-time Academy Award winner and Goodwill Ambassador for Unhcr, the U.N. Refugee Agency, Cate Blanchett, who will appear in conversation May 20 with journalist Hadley Gamble...
- 5/18/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety - Film News
“Succession” star Nicholas Braun is in talks to star in Ruben Östlund’s “The Entertainment System Is Down.” Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Brühl are already on board the buzzy satire.
“The Entertainment System Is Down” is one of the sexiest packages being shopped at the Cannes Film Market, where the Coproduction Office has launched international sales. Östlund is on the ground in Cannes, where he previously won a pair of Palme d’Or trophies with “Triangle of Sadness” in 2022, and “The Square” in 2017.
Ostlund is set to present the project during an event for Swedish film fund Film i Vast Saturday.
Slated to start shooting next month, the movie takes place on a long-haul flight where the entertainment system fails and passengers are forced to face the horror of being bored. The exact plot of the movie remains under wraps, although it’s already known that it involves a cheating husband,...
“The Entertainment System Is Down” is one of the sexiest packages being shopped at the Cannes Film Market, where the Coproduction Office has launched international sales. Östlund is on the ground in Cannes, where he previously won a pair of Palme d’Or trophies with “Triangle of Sadness” in 2022, and “The Square” in 2017.
Ostlund is set to present the project during an event for Swedish film fund Film i Vast Saturday.
Slated to start shooting next month, the movie takes place on a long-haul flight where the entertainment system fails and passengers are forced to face the horror of being bored. The exact plot of the movie remains under wraps, although it’s already known that it involves a cheating husband,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety - Film News
The 2024 Eave Impact Think Tank report into ‘best practice for co-productions’ has highlighted “systemic racism and other forms of discrimination and prejudice” that are severely hampering producers from countries with limited state financing tools.
This Think Tank’s recommendations have been published in Cannes today (May 18).
Amid “horror stories about how people have lost their IP and lost their creative control,” there are calls from the Think Tank members for coproduction treaties to be radically revised and rewritten.
“These treaties are primarily European and were primarily set up with a very European perspective,” said Ethiopian-Canadian filmmaker Tamara Dawit of Gobez Media,...
This Think Tank’s recommendations have been published in Cannes today (May 18).
Amid “horror stories about how people have lost their IP and lost their creative control,” there are calls from the Think Tank members for coproduction treaties to be radically revised and rewritten.
“These treaties are primarily European and were primarily set up with a very European perspective,” said Ethiopian-Canadian filmmaker Tamara Dawit of Gobez Media,...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Cannes film festival
Completed just before his assisted death, the French New Wave master director talks through his ideas as illustrated in his hand-drawn scrapbook
Here is an intriguing footnote to Jean-Luc Godard’s extraordinary career - a docu-textual movie collage lasting just under an hour in two parts, or maybe two layers, completed just before his assisted death two years ago in Switzerland at the age of 91. His collaborator and cinematographer Fabrice Aragno calls it not the “last Godard” but a “new Godard”. In its way, this little double film shows us a very great deal about Godard’s working habits, and it’s a late example of Godard speaking intimately in his own person about his own creative process.
Scénarios appears to have grown out of thoughts generated by his last film, The Image Book, which emerged in 2018. Godard sketched out his storyboarded or scrapbooked ideas for a short piece,...
Completed just before his assisted death, the French New Wave master director talks through his ideas as illustrated in his hand-drawn scrapbook
Here is an intriguing footnote to Jean-Luc Godard’s extraordinary career - a docu-textual movie collage lasting just under an hour in two parts, or maybe two layers, completed just before his assisted death two years ago in Switzerland at the age of 91. His collaborator and cinematographer Fabrice Aragno calls it not the “last Godard” but a “new Godard”. In its way, this little double film shows us a very great deal about Godard’s working habits, and it’s a late example of Godard speaking intimately in his own person about his own creative process.
Scénarios appears to have grown out of thoughts generated by his last film, The Image Book, which emerged in 2018. Godard sketched out his storyboarded or scrapbooked ideas for a short piece,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Aaron Eckhart is set to return to the “Muzzle” universe in action thriller “Muzzle: City of Wolves.”
The actioner marks the sequel to “Muzzle” and will be directed by John Stalberg Jr. (Lionsgate’s “Crypto”), who also directed the first installment. Jacob Michael King (“Caviar”) wrote the script from a story by Carlyle Eubank (“The Signal”) and Stalberg Jr.
Highland Film Group is handling international rights and introducing “Muzzle: City of Wolves” to buyers at the Marché du Film.
In “Muzzle: City of Wolves,” Jake Rosser (Eckhart), haunted by Ptsd from his days as a K-9 officer, endeavors to lead a peaceful life with his family and retired K-9 companion, Socks. But the tranquility quickly dissolves when a ruthless gang targets them in a brutal attack. Determined to protect his loved ones, Jake and his new K-9 partner Argos delve into a violent underbelly of crime where Jake confronts corrupt officials,...
The actioner marks the sequel to “Muzzle” and will be directed by John Stalberg Jr. (Lionsgate’s “Crypto”), who also directed the first installment. Jacob Michael King (“Caviar”) wrote the script from a story by Carlyle Eubank (“The Signal”) and Stalberg Jr.
Highland Film Group is handling international rights and introducing “Muzzle: City of Wolves” to buyers at the Marché du Film.
In “Muzzle: City of Wolves,” Jake Rosser (Eckhart), haunted by Ptsd from his days as a K-9 officer, endeavors to lead a peaceful life with his family and retired K-9 companion, Socks. But the tranquility quickly dissolves when a ruthless gang targets them in a brutal attack. Determined to protect his loved ones, Jake and his new K-9 partner Argos delve into a violent underbelly of crime where Jake confronts corrupt officials,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety - Film News
Sanne Kortooms and Marte Visser’s feature documentary Boom Chicago, about the Amsterdam comedy club that launched the careers of stand up comedians including Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele, Amber Ruffin is gearing up to shoot later this year in Amsterdam, New York and Los Angeles.
The documentary is based on the book ‘Boom Chicago Presents the 30 Most Important Years in Dutch History’. It is produced by Ewoud Bon and Joeri Pruys of Rainproof Media in association with Boom Chicago.
The film will feature interviews with alumni, archival footage, and a look at the inner workings of the comedy club. Kortooms previously co-directed the documentary Custaryans.
The documentary is based on the book ‘Boom Chicago Presents the 30 Most Important Years in Dutch History’. It is produced by Ewoud Bon and Joeri Pruys of Rainproof Media in association with Boom Chicago.
The film will feature interviews with alumni, archival footage, and a look at the inner workings of the comedy club. Kortooms previously co-directed the documentary Custaryans.
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Chinese auteur Lou Ye is on a mission to finish An Unfinished Film, which he is presenting as a Cannes Special Screenings, in a way that he set out to make before the Covid pandemic changed its course. It will exist as a separate film.
He describes the new untitled project as “organic, made in a casual and personal way on a modest budget”. It exists as a separate project to the Cannes title and will contain old and mostly unseen footage from his previous films including Spring Fever, which won best screenplay in Cannes in 2009; Mystery, which premiered in...
He describes the new untitled project as “organic, made in a casual and personal way on a modest budget”. It exists as a separate project to the Cannes title and will contain old and mostly unseen footage from his previous films including Spring Fever, which won best screenplay in Cannes in 2009; Mystery, which premiered in...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Pedring Lopez’s Philippine-Singapore martial arts horror Blood Passage has been boarded for sales by the UK’s Gfm Film Sales.
The horror is set in southeast Asia, and unravels around a rescue mission gone wrong.
It is the first project of the recent co-production deal struck between Philippines’ Blackops Studios Asia and Singapore’s Very Tay Media, inked at last December’s Asia Television Forum and Market in Singapore.
Casting is underway.
Fred Hedman, partner at Gfm Film Sales and CEO of Evolution Pictures, and Christopher Shaw of the Shaw Organisation are executive producers.
Gemma Arterton to star in...
The horror is set in southeast Asia, and unravels around a rescue mission gone wrong.
It is the first project of the recent co-production deal struck between Philippines’ Blackops Studios Asia and Singapore’s Very Tay Media, inked at last December’s Asia Television Forum and Market in Singapore.
Casting is underway.
Fred Hedman, partner at Gfm Film Sales and CEO of Evolution Pictures, and Christopher Shaw of the Shaw Organisation are executive producers.
Gemma Arterton to star in...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Signature Entertainment has taken UK-Ireland rights for French horror Schlitter, from WTFilms.
Pierre Mouchet directs, while Alain Benguigui produces, with a cast of Louka Meliava, Léna Laprés, Gilles David and Côme Levin.
A man returns to his native mountain village for his parents’ funeral, where he is confronted with a trauma from his past, in the shape of the father of his dead childhood friend.
WTFilms’ co-partner Gregory Chambet described the film as a ”cruel tale of revenge that will make you think twice before taking a trip in the French mountains”.
“Taking the cabin in the woods film to new gory heights,...
Pierre Mouchet directs, while Alain Benguigui produces, with a cast of Louka Meliava, Léna Laprés, Gilles David and Côme Levin.
A man returns to his native mountain village for his parents’ funeral, where he is confronted with a trauma from his past, in the shape of the father of his dead childhood friend.
WTFilms’ co-partner Gregory Chambet described the film as a ”cruel tale of revenge that will make you think twice before taking a trip in the French mountains”.
“Taking the cabin in the woods film to new gory heights,...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
UK genre specialist has sold Federico Zampaglione’s gothic horror and Sitges premiere The Well to Uncork’d Entertainment for North America, for a theatrical release in July.
The Well is also set for a theatrical release in its native Italy, where it has been acquired by CG Entertainment. Other new deals include High-Fliers for UK, Premier TV for Benelux, Njuta for Scandinavia and Phoenicia for Middle East.
It has already sold widely across Europe and Asia.
Set in a remote Italian village, Lauren Lavera plays a young American art restorer hired to bring a medieval painting back to its former glory,...
The Well is also set for a theatrical release in its native Italy, where it has been acquired by CG Entertainment. Other new deals include High-Fliers for UK, Premier TV for Benelux, Njuta for Scandinavia and Phoenicia for Middle East.
It has already sold widely across Europe and Asia.
Set in a remote Italian village, Lauren Lavera plays a young American art restorer hired to bring a medieval painting back to its former glory,...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mia Bays, director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund, is extending her contract to October 2026, after initially taking up the post for three years.
“Change takes time, film is slow to evolve,” said Bays. “The more I thought about it at the midpoint [of the contract], the more I felt there was more for me to do. The team has changed, it’s all quite recent. You need longer to do the finessing of the evolution. I can still see some gaps. It felt like the right thing, so I proposed it, and the upper echelons of the BFI agreed.”
She does not plan...
“Change takes time, film is slow to evolve,” said Bays. “The more I thought about it at the midpoint [of the contract], the more I felt there was more for me to do. The team has changed, it’s all quite recent. You need longer to do the finessing of the evolution. I can still see some gaps. It felt like the right thing, so I proposed it, and the upper echelons of the BFI agreed.”
She does not plan...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Imagineers Studio, the Paris-based production company with a focus on French and European superheroes, is in production on Tristan Aurouet’s Fantax set to start shooting in Paris and the UK in the summer of 2025.
The live-action film is about Fantax, a once beloved superhero, who is haunted by the death of his daughter but must fight against a society that rejects him.
The film is adapted from popular French comic book series created by J.K. Melwyn-Nash (aka Marcel Navarro) and artist Chott (Pierre Mouchot) in 1946. Imagineers Studio was founded by Florent Lamy of Elevate Artist Management (Eam) who...
The live-action film is about Fantax, a once beloved superhero, who is haunted by the death of his daughter but must fight against a society that rejects him.
The film is adapted from popular French comic book series created by J.K. Melwyn-Nash (aka Marcel Navarro) and artist Chott (Pierre Mouchot) in 1946. Imagineers Studio was founded by Florent Lamy of Elevate Artist Management (Eam) who...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Sanne Kortooms and Marte Visser’s feature documentary Boom Chicago, about the Amsterdam comedy club that launched the careers of stand up comedians including Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele, Amber Ruffin is gearing up to shoot later this year in Amsterdam, New York and Los Angeles.
The documentary is based on the book ‘Boom Chicago Presents the 30 Most Important Years in Dutch History’. It is produced by Ewoud Bon and Joeri Pruys of Rainproof Media in association with Boom Chicago.
The film will feature interviews with alumni, archival footage, and a look at the inner workings of the comedy club. Kortooms previously co-directed the documentary Custaryans.
The documentary is based on the book ‘Boom Chicago Presents the 30 Most Important Years in Dutch History’. It is produced by Ewoud Bon and Joeri Pruys of Rainproof Media in association with Boom Chicago.
The film will feature interviews with alumni, archival footage, and a look at the inner workings of the comedy club. Kortooms previously co-directed the documentary Custaryans.
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Paris production house Agat Films – Ex Nihilo, which has six films in Cannes, is now in various stages of production on six more titles including Robert Guedigian’s drama Stealing Angel, starring Ariane Ascaride and Jean-Paul Darroussin that is in post. Playtime is handling sales.
Agat Films- Ex Nihilo are separate entities operating under the same banner. “We are a house of auteur cinema,” said producer Nicolas Blanc. “We are at the service of auteurs – we like what they think, what they say and how they say it.”
International titles in the works include Thierry Machado’s Inuit -language Yura,...
Agat Films- Ex Nihilo are separate entities operating under the same banner. “We are a house of auteur cinema,” said producer Nicolas Blanc. “We are at the service of auteurs – we like what they think, what they say and how they say it.”
International titles in the works include Thierry Machado’s Inuit -language Yura,...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Leading European film strategists and creatives discussed how to build a successful campaign for the European Film Awards, to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The panel was held by Swiss Films and the European Film Academy at the Riviera at the Cannes Film Festival.
It featured:
Philip Einstein Lipski, founder andpartner, The Einstein Couple; Claudia Tomassini, founder,claudiatomassini + associates; Susanne Regina Meures, director of Saudi Runaway and Girl Gang; and was moderated by Screen International’s Tom Dams.
Presented by:...
The panel was held by Swiss Films and the European Film Academy at the Riviera at the Cannes Film Festival.
It featured:
Philip Einstein Lipski, founder andpartner, The Einstein Couple; Claudia Tomassini, founder,claudiatomassini + associates; Susanne Regina Meures, director of Saudi Runaway and Girl Gang; and was moderated by Screen International’s Tom Dams.
Presented by:...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Italy’s Intramovies has acquired international sales rights to Vittoria from Venice prize winning directors Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman.
Directing duo Cassigoli and Kauffman’s first fiction feature, 2021’s Californie, premiered at Venice’s Giornate degli Autori winning the Europa Cinema Label Award. They also collaborated on 2018 documentary feature Butterfly, which played at IDFA and HotDocs.
Vittoria centres on a Naples hairdresser, with three sons and a devoted husband, who is consumed by the dream of having a daughter. Determined to make it a reality, she decides to adopt, risking her marriage, her sons’ well-being, and her own moral compass.
Directing duo Cassigoli and Kauffman’s first fiction feature, 2021’s Californie, premiered at Venice’s Giornate degli Autori winning the Europa Cinema Label Award. They also collaborated on 2018 documentary feature Butterfly, which played at IDFA and HotDocs.
Vittoria centres on a Naples hairdresser, with three sons and a devoted husband, who is consumed by the dream of having a daughter. Determined to make it a reality, she decides to adopt, risking her marriage, her sons’ well-being, and her own moral compass.
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Chloe Abrahams’ BIFA-winning documentary The Taste Of Mango has sold to Oscilloscope Laboratories for the US and Conic for UK-Ireland.
A True/False 2023 premiere, The Taste Of Mango sees Abrahams untangle knots in her family’s unspoken past, by probing questions her mother and grandmother have long pushed aside.
It is produced by Abrahams for Cardamom Films and Elliott Whitton at Fit Via Vi. Both distributors acquired the film from the filmmakers, and are planning theatrical releases for 2024.
Executive producers are Diane Quon, Kellen Quinn, Martha Gregory, Hannah Bush Bailey, Robina Riccitiello and Bill Way.
Sri Lankan-British filmmaker Abrahams won...
A True/False 2023 premiere, The Taste Of Mango sees Abrahams untangle knots in her family’s unspoken past, by probing questions her mother and grandmother have long pushed aside.
It is produced by Abrahams for Cardamom Films and Elliott Whitton at Fit Via Vi. Both distributors acquired the film from the filmmakers, and are planning theatrical releases for 2024.
Executive producers are Diane Quon, Kellen Quinn, Martha Gregory, Hannah Bush Bailey, Robina Riccitiello and Bill Way.
Sri Lankan-British filmmaker Abrahams won...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Production is underway in Croatia and the Czech Republic on Ungrateful Beings, the English-language debut of Czech-based Slovenian filmmaker Olmo Omerzu.
Jimmy’s Hall actor Barry Ward and Slovak-Italian star Barbora Bobulova lead the cast, alongside newcomers Dexter Franc and Antonin Chmela, and Slovenian actor Timon Sturbej, who was named a European Film Promotion Shooting Star in 2022.
Ungrateful Beings follows a family in the Czech Republic who come back from an Adriatic holiday where their 17-year-old daughter – who suffers from an eating disorder – has fallen in love with a local scoundrel. When it turns out he is a murder suspect, the...
Jimmy’s Hall actor Barry Ward and Slovak-Italian star Barbora Bobulova lead the cast, alongside newcomers Dexter Franc and Antonin Chmela, and Slovenian actor Timon Sturbej, who was named a European Film Promotion Shooting Star in 2022.
Ungrateful Beings follows a family in the Czech Republic who come back from an Adriatic holiday where their 17-year-old daughter – who suffers from an eating disorder – has fallen in love with a local scoundrel. When it turns out he is a murder suspect, the...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Cairo-based Mad Distribution has acquired Jonathan Millet’s Critics’ Week opener Ghost Trail from mk2 Films, Somali director Mo Harawe’s Un Certain Regard drama The Village Next To Paradise from Totem Films and Anne-Marie Jacir’s upcoming All Before You for release in the Middle East and North Africa.
They are three of 30 titles secured by Mad Distribution for Mena territories, which also include Saif Hammash’s Palestinian short Deer’s Tooth, selected for La Cinef, and Rayane Mcirdi’s Algerian-French short After The Sun, which plays in Directors’ Fortnight.
The distribution arm of indie studio Mad Solutions plans...
They are three of 30 titles secured by Mad Distribution for Mena territories, which also include Saif Hammash’s Palestinian short Deer’s Tooth, selected for La Cinef, and Rayane Mcirdi’s Algerian-French short After The Sun, which plays in Directors’ Fortnight.
The distribution arm of indie studio Mad Solutions plans...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Jonathan Rhys Meyers joins ‘It’s Okay Go Back To Sleep’, S&r Films launches Cannes sales (exclusive)
Jonathan Rhys Meyers from The Tudors and Match Point has been cast in the sci-fi thriller It’s Okay Go Back To Sleep, which Scatena & Rosner Films (S&r) has acquired for sales here in Cannes.
Currently in production in the UK, the film follows a scientist working on a device to heal paralysed people who is tormented by his own sleep paralysis as boundaries blur between what is real and imagined.
Edmund Kingsley, Poppy Drayton, Oliver Trevena, Henning Baum, and Pippa Bennett-Warner round out the key cast. Brian Klemesrud directs from his screenplay.
Sasha Yelaun, Dominic Burns, Mark Schimmel...
Currently in production in the UK, the film follows a scientist working on a device to heal paralysed people who is tormented by his own sleep paralysis as boundaries blur between what is real and imagined.
Edmund Kingsley, Poppy Drayton, Oliver Trevena, Henning Baum, and Pippa Bennett-Warner round out the key cast. Brian Klemesrud directs from his screenplay.
Sasha Yelaun, Dominic Burns, Mark Schimmel...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mohamed Kordofani’s Goodbye Julia has won best film at the 8th Critics Awards for Arab Films, which will celebrate its winners in Cannes today.
The film, which was the first from Sudan ever selected for Cannes where it premiered in Un Certain Regard last year, also picked up best screenplay for feature debut writer/director Kordofani.
Tunisian documentary-drama hybrid Four Daughters secured three awards: best director for Kaouther Ben Hania, best documentary and best editing for the work of Qutaiba Barhamji. The film also played at last year’s Cannes, winning the Golden Eye for director Ben Hania, and...
The film, which was the first from Sudan ever selected for Cannes where it premiered in Un Certain Regard last year, also picked up best screenplay for feature debut writer/director Kordofani.
Tunisian documentary-drama hybrid Four Daughters secured three awards: best director for Kaouther Ben Hania, best documentary and best editing for the work of Qutaiba Barhamji. The film also played at last year’s Cannes, winning the Golden Eye for director Ben Hania, and...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
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