Re-releases reliably dot the theatrical calendar and this week have a standout. Oldboy, the 2004 Cannes prize-winner, re-released by Neon on its 20th anniversary restored and remastered, grossed $235k on Wednesday and $150k Thursday — for a total cume $385k on 250 screens heading into the weekend.
San Francisco, NYC and LA, led by Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, are the top-performing cities so far for Park Chan-wook’s classic film — the first screening in U.S. theaters since its original North American release in 2005.
Oldboy follows Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik), who, after being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, is released but must find his captor in five days. The critically acclaimed film is the second installment of Park’s The Vengeance Trilogy, preceded by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and followed by Lady Vengeance (2005). Oldboy won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It grossed $15 million worldwide, and saw...
San Francisco, NYC and LA, led by Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, are the top-performing cities so far for Park Chan-wook’s classic film — the first screening in U.S. theaters since its original North American release in 2005.
Oldboy follows Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-sik), who, after being kidnapped and imprisoned for fifteen years, is released but must find his captor in five days. The critically acclaimed film is the second installment of Park’s The Vengeance Trilogy, preceded by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and followed by Lady Vengeance (2005). Oldboy won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It grossed $15 million worldwide, and saw...
- 8/18/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: In-demand actress Emma Roberts is in final talks to join Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush in action-comedy Verona Spies, which will be directed by comedy veteran Frank Coraci, known for movies including The Wedding Singer and The Waterboy.
Luminosity Entertainment is handling world sales, co-financing and launching the project at the AFM this week.
Roberts, currently in production on Sony’s Spider Man spinoff Madame Web, will play the title role of Verona, “a loveable hot mess” who, through a case of mistaken identity, is hired as an escort/assassin. Her mission: to seduce a pharmaceutical executive and steal his formula for a revolutionary new drug that can change the world. When she meets her charmingly handsome target, sparks fly. Instead of killing him they decide to team up and flee for their lives as Big Pharma and hired killers come gunning for them. Casting for the pharma exec-come-lover is under way.
Luminosity Entertainment is handling world sales, co-financing and launching the project at the AFM this week.
Roberts, currently in production on Sony’s Spider Man spinoff Madame Web, will play the title role of Verona, “a loveable hot mess” who, through a case of mistaken identity, is hired as an escort/assassin. Her mission: to seduce a pharmaceutical executive and steal his formula for a revolutionary new drug that can change the world. When she meets her charmingly handsome target, sparks fly. Instead of killing him they decide to team up and flee for their lives as Big Pharma and hired killers come gunning for them. Casting for the pharma exec-come-lover is under way.
- 11/1/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Two-time BAFTA nominee Maxine Peake (The Village) is set to star as renowned Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in the timely Cannes market package Mother Russia.
The film will tell the story of world-renowned journalist and human rights activist Politkovskaya, who went from being a local print journalist to braving the Chechen killing fields and exposing Russian state corruption under Vladimir Putin. She refused to give up reporting on the war in Chechnya despite numerous acts of intimidation and violence, including being poisoned. She was ultimately murdered in the elevator of her block of flats and it remains unclear who paid for the contract killing.
Oscar nominee Ciaran Hinds (Belfast) will play Nobel Prize-winning newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov and BAFTA nominee Jason Isaacs (The Death Of Stalin) will play Politkovskaya’s husband Sacha.
Luminosity Entertainment is launching worldwide sales on the project at the Cannes market.
Pic is being produced...
The film will tell the story of world-renowned journalist and human rights activist Politkovskaya, who went from being a local print journalist to braving the Chechen killing fields and exposing Russian state corruption under Vladimir Putin. She refused to give up reporting on the war in Chechnya despite numerous acts of intimidation and violence, including being poisoned. She was ultimately murdered in the elevator of her block of flats and it remains unclear who paid for the contract killing.
Oscar nominee Ciaran Hinds (Belfast) will play Nobel Prize-winning newspaper editor Dmitry Muratov and BAFTA nominee Jason Isaacs (The Death Of Stalin) will play Politkovskaya’s husband Sacha.
Luminosity Entertainment is launching worldwide sales on the project at the Cannes market.
Pic is being produced...
- 5/13/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
J.K. Simmons, Forest Whitaker, Sarah Silverman among narrators.
Luminosity Entertainment will kick off world sales in Cannes on Assaf Ben Shetrit’s documentary Prophets Of Change examining the lives of musicians and activists from both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and featuring all all-star roster of narrators.
President Daniel Diamond announced the acquisition on Tuesday (May 10) and said, “Assaf has crafted an enormously inspiring film about extraordinary human beings who find a way to break a cycle of decades of distrust and fear to create unlikely friendships and extraordinary music. This is exactly the movie the world needs right now.
Luminosity Entertainment will kick off world sales in Cannes on Assaf Ben Shetrit’s documentary Prophets Of Change examining the lives of musicians and activists from both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and featuring all all-star roster of narrators.
President Daniel Diamond announced the acquisition on Tuesday (May 10) and said, “Assaf has crafted an enormously inspiring film about extraordinary human beings who find a way to break a cycle of decades of distrust and fear to create unlikely friendships and extraordinary music. This is exactly the movie the world needs right now.
- 5/10/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired Plaza Catedral, the Oscar-shortlisted film from writer-director Abner Benaim, which looks to represent Panama at the 94th Academy Awards, in the category of Best International Feature. The company’s release plan has not yet been disclosed.
The drama centers on Alicia (Ilse Salas), a woman who had a perfect life before her 6-year-old son died in a tragic accident. Plagued by grief, she becomes estranged from society – until one night a street-smart 13-year-old boy named Chief (Fernando Xavier de Casta) arrives at her door bleeding from a gunshot wound, and begs her to let him inside.
Plaza Catedral made its world premiere at the Guadalajara International Film Festival, where it won the awards for both Best Actress and Best Actor. The film then went on to win the Audience Award for Best Film at the International Film Festival of Panama. Benaim produced it with...
The drama centers on Alicia (Ilse Salas), a woman who had a perfect life before her 6-year-old son died in a tragic accident. Plagued by grief, she becomes estranged from society – until one night a street-smart 13-year-old boy named Chief (Fernando Xavier de Casta) arrives at her door bleeding from a gunshot wound, and begs her to let him inside.
Plaza Catedral made its world premiere at the Guadalajara International Film Festival, where it won the awards for both Best Actress and Best Actor. The film then went on to win the Audience Award for Best Film at the International Film Festival of Panama. Benaim produced it with...
- 1/19/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Luminosity Entertainment is teaming up with Dean Altit’s Altit Media Group and Kia Jam’s K.Jam Media to finance and co-produce Bot Wars, a sci-fi tentpole film based on the novels of the same name by J.V. Kade, which will be directed by Alexander Kiesl and Steffen Hacker.
The Bot Wars books tell the story of how mankind was brought to the brink of extinction by waging war against Artificial Intelligence and sentient Robots, and how human ingenuity and the primal instinct to survive led to mankind’s ultimate victory. A writer for the film has not yet been attached.
“The world and characters brought to life in J.V. Kade’s novels are tremendously original, thrilling and thought provoking,” said Luminosity’s Daniel Diamond. “We are very excited to be working with Dean and Kia in bringing Alexander and Steffen’s vision of this incredible story to the big screen.
The Bot Wars books tell the story of how mankind was brought to the brink of extinction by waging war against Artificial Intelligence and sentient Robots, and how human ingenuity and the primal instinct to survive led to mankind’s ultimate victory. A writer for the film has not yet been attached.
“The world and characters brought to life in J.V. Kade’s novels are tremendously original, thrilling and thought provoking,” said Luminosity’s Daniel Diamond. “We are very excited to be working with Dean and Kia in bringing Alexander and Steffen’s vision of this incredible story to the big screen.
- 12/6/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Elie Samaha, Missy Valdez, Geno Taylor and Daniel Diamond’s newly launched Luminosity Entertainment have set their first movie, the comedy Back on the Strip, starring Wesley Snipes and Tiffany Haddish.
Luminosity will finance, produce and distribute feature films theatrically in the U.S. and handle foreign sales.
Back on the Strip reps the theatrical directorial debut of Chris Spencer, the creator and EP of Real Husbands of Hollywood and EP and scribe of Grown-ish. It follows a young man, Merlin (Spence Moore II), who moves to Las Vegas to pursue his dream of becoming a magician after losing the woman of his dreams. But when a costume malfunction reveals his physical “gifts,” he is recruited to become the frontman of an infamous male revue group. The comedy chronicles a series of escapades as Merlin tries to achieve magician success, pursuing his dream girl and finding family in the process.
Luminosity will finance, produce and distribute feature films theatrically in the U.S. and handle foreign sales.
Back on the Strip reps the theatrical directorial debut of Chris Spencer, the creator and EP of Real Husbands of Hollywood and EP and scribe of Grown-ish. It follows a young man, Merlin (Spence Moore II), who moves to Las Vegas to pursue his dream of becoming a magician after losing the woman of his dreams. But when a costume malfunction reveals his physical “gifts,” he is recruited to become the frontman of an infamous male revue group. The comedy chronicles a series of escapades as Merlin tries to achieve magician success, pursuing his dream girl and finding family in the process.
- 10/19/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Elie Samaha’s Luminosity Entertainment and Mike Karz’s Gulfstream Pictures have snagged the worldwide rights to Abner Benaim’s dramatic thriller, “Plaza Catedral.”
The deal, forged by Luminosity partner and co-president Daniel Diamond and Karz, closed just ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Guadalajara Int’l Film Festival (Ficg) on Oct. 3. “Plaza Catedral” is in competition at Ficg’s main category, the Mezcal Awards.
“Plaza Catedral is a very powerful, moving film with superb performances and outstanding direction by Benaim. We are proud to be a part of bringing this film to worldwide audiences,” said Diamond.
This is the first non-English pickup by Luminosity, which was launched in September. “I haven’t represented many, if any, non English-language films but audiences in the U.S. and around the world are demonstrating their interest in content of all nationalities and languages, as evidenced by the success of shows like ‘Lupin,...
The deal, forged by Luminosity partner and co-president Daniel Diamond and Karz, closed just ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Guadalajara Int’l Film Festival (Ficg) on Oct. 3. “Plaza Catedral” is in competition at Ficg’s main category, the Mezcal Awards.
“Plaza Catedral is a very powerful, moving film with superb performances and outstanding direction by Benaim. We are proud to be a part of bringing this film to worldwide audiences,” said Diamond.
This is the first non-English pickup by Luminosity, which was launched in September. “I haven’t represented many, if any, non English-language films but audiences in the U.S. and around the world are demonstrating their interest in content of all nationalities and languages, as evidenced by the success of shows like ‘Lupin,...
- 10/3/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: One of Hollywood’s most colorful characters of recent decades, Elie Samaha, is making a comeback with L.A.-based Luminosity Entertainment.
Samaha, entrepreneur and producer of movies including The Whole Nine Yards, Battlefield Earth and The Pledge, is joining forces with fellow industry vets Daniel Diamond and Geno Taylor at Luminosity, which will look to finance, produce and distribute movies in the U.S., as well as handle international sales.
The company tells us it plans to develop and produce 15 films over the next two years, with budgets up to $50M per title. Genres will include action, thriller, urban, faith-based, comedy, family, fantasy and sci-fi with an eye toward diversity and global appeal.
Financing for the company includes investments by Samaha, Steven Markoff, Sherwin Jarol and Dr. David Wood. The Board of Advisors includes former Warner Bros Domestic Distribution President Dan Fellman, former William Morris Chairman Jim Wiatt...
Samaha, entrepreneur and producer of movies including The Whole Nine Yards, Battlefield Earth and The Pledge, is joining forces with fellow industry vets Daniel Diamond and Geno Taylor at Luminosity, which will look to finance, produce and distribute movies in the U.S., as well as handle international sales.
The company tells us it plans to develop and produce 15 films over the next two years, with budgets up to $50M per title. Genres will include action, thriller, urban, faith-based, comedy, family, fantasy and sci-fi with an eye toward diversity and global appeal.
Financing for the company includes investments by Samaha, Steven Markoff, Sherwin Jarol and Dr. David Wood. The Board of Advisors includes former Warner Bros Domestic Distribution President Dan Fellman, former William Morris Chairman Jim Wiatt...
- 9/23/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Eclipse Pictures has acquired worldwide sales rights to Tropico, a noirish thriller set in Brazil being directed by Giada Colagrande from a screenplay by Barry Gifford. Willem Dafoe, Morena Baccarin and Pedro Pascal will star. Colagrande previously directed Padre and Pasolini.
In Tropico, Willem Dafoe plays Raymond Sanz, a veteran operative hired to spy on Mark, an American businessman (Pascal) in a steamy costal town in Northern Brazil. However, things get more complicated when Sanz falls simultaneously for Mark’s wife, the mysterious and beautiful Lucia (Baccarin), and her equally beautiful identical twin sister, Olivia (Baccarin). “Barry’s atmospheric screenplay is an exotic thriller in the best traditions of the noir genre,” said Colagrande, “and I also couldn’t be more excited to work with such an accomplished group of actors.”
Nathalia Scarton is producing Tropico through her Bidou Pictures Brazil banner, with Jeremy Dawson executive producing. Eclipse’s...
In Tropico, Willem Dafoe plays Raymond Sanz, a veteran operative hired to spy on Mark, an American businessman (Pascal) in a steamy costal town in Northern Brazil. However, things get more complicated when Sanz falls simultaneously for Mark’s wife, the mysterious and beautiful Lucia (Baccarin), and her equally beautiful identical twin sister, Olivia (Baccarin). “Barry’s atmospheric screenplay is an exotic thriller in the best traditions of the noir genre,” said Colagrande, “and I also couldn’t be more excited to work with such an accomplished group of actors.”
Nathalia Scarton is producing Tropico through her Bidou Pictures Brazil banner, with Jeremy Dawson executive producing. Eclipse’s...
- 9/4/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Laura Dern and Will Ferrell will star in Fruitcake, a film that Max Winkler will direct from a script by Trey Selman. Eclipse Pictures is set to finance.
Fruitcake is the true story of Sandy and Kay Jenkins, a seemingly upstanding middle-class couple, who achieved the American dream after Sandy used his job as an accountant to embezzle $17 million from Collin Street Bakery, the world-famous fruitcake company based in Corsicana, Texas. Ferrell will play Sandy and Dern will play Kay.
Jordan Horowitz, Dern and her producing partner Jayme Lemons will produce along with Adam Kolbrenner and Red Sanders. Eclipse’s Benedict Carver and Daniel Diamond will executive produce, together with Collin Street president and CEO Bob McNutt.
“Trey’s writing is original and dynamic and unlike any I’ve read before,” said Winkler, “and I’m deeply excited to help tell this story along with two of my favorite actors working today.
Fruitcake is the true story of Sandy and Kay Jenkins, a seemingly upstanding middle-class couple, who achieved the American dream after Sandy used his job as an accountant to embezzle $17 million from Collin Street Bakery, the world-famous fruitcake company based in Corsicana, Texas. Ferrell will play Sandy and Dern will play Kay.
Jordan Horowitz, Dern and her producing partner Jayme Lemons will produce along with Adam Kolbrenner and Red Sanders. Eclipse’s Benedict Carver and Daniel Diamond will executive produce, together with Collin Street president and CEO Bob McNutt.
“Trey’s writing is original and dynamic and unlike any I’ve read before,” said Winkler, “and I’m deeply excited to help tell this story along with two of my favorite actors working today.
- 5/15/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: U.S. outfit Eclipse Pictures has boarded the Skybound Entertainment-Radar Pictures thriller Exo, which Cedric Nicolas-Troyan (The Huntsman: Winter’s War) will direct.
Eclipse will arrange financing for the film, and represent it for worldwide sales. Casting will shortly be underway for an estimated spring 2020 production start.
Exo is an original screenplay by Adam Cohen. Skybound’s Sean Furst and Bryan Furst, and Radar’s Ted Field and Mike Weber, will produce the film. Executive producers are Skybound’s Robert Kirkman and David Alpert, alongside Eclipse’s Benedict Carver and Daniel Diamond.
In Exo, over-imaginative high school senior Nathan has spotted an uptick in local UFO sightings, and, when the new girl next door, Kyra, starts behaving mysteriously, he becomes suspicious. Defying his ultra-disciplined father, Nathan decides to investigate further, eventually coming to an unbelievable discovery. Bella Thorne and Jack Kilmer were attached to a previous version of the project.
Eclipse will arrange financing for the film, and represent it for worldwide sales. Casting will shortly be underway for an estimated spring 2020 production start.
Exo is an original screenplay by Adam Cohen. Skybound’s Sean Furst and Bryan Furst, and Radar’s Ted Field and Mike Weber, will produce the film. Executive producers are Skybound’s Robert Kirkman and David Alpert, alongside Eclipse’s Benedict Carver and Daniel Diamond.
In Exo, over-imaginative high school senior Nathan has spotted an uptick in local UFO sightings, and, when the new girl next door, Kyra, starts behaving mysteriously, he becomes suspicious. Defying his ultra-disciplined father, Nathan decides to investigate further, eventually coming to an unbelievable discovery. Bella Thorne and Jack Kilmer were attached to a previous version of the project.
- 2/6/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Louis Leterrier will direct Alex, an adaptation of the bestselling crime novel by French author Pierre Lemaitre. The script is being written by David Birke, who’s coming off the Paul Verhoeven-directed Elle, the drama that bought an Oscar nomination for Isabelle Huppert. Alex launches Eclipse Pictures, a production, financing and sales company formed by Benedict Carver and Daniel Diamond. Straight Up Films' Marisa Polvino and Kate Cohen, who acquired the novel…...
- 5/11/2017
- Deadline
We now know when we'll be able to enter the labyrinthine confines of the Winchester Mystery House on the big screen, as CBS Films has set a release date for Winchester.
Deadline reports that Winchester is slated to come out on February 23rd, 2018, the same day Pacific Rim: Uprising stomps into theaters.
In the film, Helen Mirren stars as Sarah Winchester, who believed she was haunted by the spirits of people slain by Winchester rifles.
Directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig (Saw: Legacy, Predestination, Daybreakers), Winchester also stars Jason Clarke, Sarah Snook, and Angus Sampson.
Filming on the movie takes place partly in the real-life Winchester Mystery House, and we have more official details below:
"Coming soon from CBS Films is the supernatural thriller Winchester. The film stars Academy Award®-winner Helen Mirren (The Queen, Eye in the Sky) and Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,...
Deadline reports that Winchester is slated to come out on February 23rd, 2018, the same day Pacific Rim: Uprising stomps into theaters.
In the film, Helen Mirren stars as Sarah Winchester, who believed she was haunted by the spirits of people slain by Winchester rifles.
Directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig (Saw: Legacy, Predestination, Daybreakers), Winchester also stars Jason Clarke, Sarah Snook, and Angus Sampson.
Filming on the movie takes place partly in the real-life Winchester Mystery House, and we have more official details below:
"Coming soon from CBS Films is the supernatural thriller Winchester. The film stars Academy Award®-winner Helen Mirren (The Queen, Eye in the Sky) and Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,...
- 5/10/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Sarah Snook in Jocelyn Moorhouse's 'The Dressmaker'.
Angus Sampson and Sarah Snook have joined the cast of Winchester, currently shooting in Melbourne..
The duo join the already-announced Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke in the film, directed by the Spierig brothers Michael and Peter. Snook starred in the Spierigs' last film, Predestination.
Mirren plays Sarah Winchester, who is convinced she's haunted by the souls killed at the hands of the Winchester repeating rifle. After the sudden deaths of her husband and child, she throws herself into the construction of an enormous mansion to keep the evil spirits at bay..
When a sceptical psychiatrist (Clarke) is dispatched to the estate to evaluate her state of mind, he discovers that her obsession may not be so insane at all.
The shoot is set to take place on location around Melbourne and at Docklands, as well as in San Jose, California.
Angus Sampson and Sarah Snook have joined the cast of Winchester, currently shooting in Melbourne..
The duo join the already-announced Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke in the film, directed by the Spierig brothers Michael and Peter. Snook starred in the Spierigs' last film, Predestination.
Mirren plays Sarah Winchester, who is convinced she's haunted by the souls killed at the hands of the Winchester repeating rifle. After the sudden deaths of her husband and child, she throws herself into the construction of an enormous mansion to keep the evil spirits at bay..
When a sceptical psychiatrist (Clarke) is dispatched to the estate to evaluate her state of mind, he discovers that her obsession may not be so insane at all.
The shoot is set to take place on location around Melbourne and at Docklands, as well as in San Jose, California.
- 3/15/2017
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Sarah Snook in Jocelyn Moorhouse's 'The Dressmaker'.
Angus Sampson and Sarah Snook have joined the cast of Winchester, currently shooting in Melbourne..
The duo join the already-announced Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke in the film, directed by the Spierig brothers Michael and Peter. Snook starred in the directors' last film, Predestination.
Mirren plays Sarah Winchester, who is convinced she's haunted by the souls killed at the hands of the Winchester repeating rifle. After the sudden deaths of her husband and child, she throws herself into the construction of an enormous mansion to keep the evil spirits at bay..
When a sceptical psychiatrist (Clarke) is dispatched to the estate to evaluate her state of mind, he discovers that her obsession may not be so insane at all.
The shoot is set to take place on location around Melbourne and at Docklands, as well as in San Jose, California.
Angus Sampson and Sarah Snook have joined the cast of Winchester, currently shooting in Melbourne..
The duo join the already-announced Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke in the film, directed by the Spierig brothers Michael and Peter. Snook starred in the directors' last film, Predestination.
Mirren plays Sarah Winchester, who is convinced she's haunted by the souls killed at the hands of the Winchester repeating rifle. After the sudden deaths of her husband and child, she throws herself into the construction of an enormous mansion to keep the evil spirits at bay..
When a sceptical psychiatrist (Clarke) is dispatched to the estate to evaluate her state of mind, he discovers that her obsession may not be so insane at all.
The shoot is set to take place on location around Melbourne and at Docklands, as well as in San Jose, California.
- 3/15/2017
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Sarah Snook and Angus Sampson join cast.
CBS Films has revealed that principal photography on the supernatural thriller Winchester, written and directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, has started in Melbourne, Australia.
The film stars Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke and follows the story of a firearm heiress who, after convincing herself that she is haunted by the souls of people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle, throws herself into the demanding construction of an enormous mansion designed to keep the evil spirits at bay.
When a San Francisco psychiatrist is dispatched to evaluate her state of mind, he discovers that her obsession may not be so insane after all.
Sarah Snook and Angus Sampson have also joined the cast of the project, which will also shoot at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Calfiornia at a later date.
Winchester is financed by Eclipse Pictures and Blacklab Entertainment and has secured production investment from Screen...
CBS Films has revealed that principal photography on the supernatural thriller Winchester, written and directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, has started in Melbourne, Australia.
The film stars Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke and follows the story of a firearm heiress who, after convincing herself that she is haunted by the souls of people killed by the Winchester repeating rifle, throws herself into the demanding construction of an enormous mansion designed to keep the evil spirits at bay.
When a San Francisco psychiatrist is dispatched to evaluate her state of mind, he discovers that her obsession may not be so insane after all.
Sarah Snook and Angus Sampson have also joined the cast of the project, which will also shoot at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Calfiornia at a later date.
Winchester is financed by Eclipse Pictures and Blacklab Entertainment and has secured production investment from Screen...
- 3/15/2017
- ScreenDaily
Jason Clarke.
Jason Clarke (Everest, Zero Dark Thirty) is set to join the cast of Michael and Peter Spierig.s supernatural thriller Winchester, acting opposite Helen Mirren.
.Jason Clarke is an extremely talented actor and we look forward to seeing him face off against Dame Helen Mirren as well as any vengeful spirits that might be lurking about the Winchester house,. said the Spierigs.
Production of the film is set to begin in early 2017, following confirmation of Screen Australia Production Investment earlier this month.
The film is also being financed by Bullitt Entertainment, Diamond Pictures and Blacklab Entertainment with further assistance from Film Victoria.s Production Incentive Attraction Fund and production investment from Screen Queensland.
Winchester follows firearm heiress Sarah Winchester (Mirren) who, after the sudden deaths of her husband and child, believed she was haunted by the souls killed at the hands of the Winchester repeating rifle.
But when...
Jason Clarke (Everest, Zero Dark Thirty) is set to join the cast of Michael and Peter Spierig.s supernatural thriller Winchester, acting opposite Helen Mirren.
.Jason Clarke is an extremely talented actor and we look forward to seeing him face off against Dame Helen Mirren as well as any vengeful spirits that might be lurking about the Winchester house,. said the Spierigs.
Production of the film is set to begin in early 2017, following confirmation of Screen Australia Production Investment earlier this month.
The film is also being financed by Bullitt Entertainment, Diamond Pictures and Blacklab Entertainment with further assistance from Film Victoria.s Production Incentive Attraction Fund and production investment from Screen Queensland.
Winchester follows firearm heiress Sarah Winchester (Mirren) who, after the sudden deaths of her husband and child, believed she was haunted by the souls killed at the hands of the Winchester repeating rifle.
But when...
- 9/19/2016
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Company is coming to visit Helen Mirren's character in the upcoming haunted house movie Winchester, as CBS Films announced that Jason Clarke has joined the cast as a psychiatrist who gets a lot more than he bargained for when he's sent to the haunted Winchester mansion to check on Sarah Winchester's (Helen Mirren) mental well-being.
Directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig (Predestination, Daybreakers), Winchester will begin filming early next year in Melbourne, Australia, before coming stateside to shoot in the real-life Winchester Mystery House. For more information, we have the official press release with full details:
Press Release: Los Angeles – September 13, 2016 – CBS Films announced today that Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Zero Dark Thirty) is joining Academy Award®-winner Helen Mirren (The Queen, Eye in the Sky) in the supernatural thriller Winchester. Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig (Predestination) are directing the film based on their screenplay with Tom Vaughan.
Directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig (Predestination, Daybreakers), Winchester will begin filming early next year in Melbourne, Australia, before coming stateside to shoot in the real-life Winchester Mystery House. For more information, we have the official press release with full details:
Press Release: Los Angeles – September 13, 2016 – CBS Films announced today that Jason Clarke (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Zero Dark Thirty) is joining Academy Award®-winner Helen Mirren (The Queen, Eye in the Sky) in the supernatural thriller Winchester. Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig (Predestination) are directing the film based on their screenplay with Tom Vaughan.
- 9/14/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Directed by Michael and Peter Spierig (who are expected to helm the new Saw movie), starring Helen Mirren, and taking place in the real-life—and quite possibly haunted—Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, the horror movie Winchester doesn’t begin filming until next March, but it has already been acquired for Us distribution by CBS films:
Press Release: Los Angeles – August 8, 2016 – CBS Films announced today that it has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Winchester from Bullitt Entertainment and Diamond Pictures.
The film is being directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig (Predestination) who wrote the screenplay for Winchester with Tom Vaughan. Academy Award®-winner Helen Mirren (The Queen) will star, with Imagination Design Works’ Brett Tomberlin and Blacklab Entertainment’s Tim McGahan producing.
The film follows the story of firearm heiress Sarah Winchester (Mirren), who was convinced that she was haunted by the souls killed at...
Press Release: Los Angeles – August 8, 2016 – CBS Films announced today that it has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Winchester from Bullitt Entertainment and Diamond Pictures.
The film is being directed by Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig (Predestination) who wrote the screenplay for Winchester with Tom Vaughan. Academy Award®-winner Helen Mirren (The Queen) will star, with Imagination Design Works’ Brett Tomberlin and Blacklab Entertainment’s Tim McGahan producing.
The film follows the story of firearm heiress Sarah Winchester (Mirren), who was convinced that she was haunted by the souls killed at...
- 8/9/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
The distributor has acquired Us rights from to Bullitt Entertainment and Diamond Pictures the thriller that will star Helen Mirren.
Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig will direct the story about Sarah Winchester, the guilt-ridden firearms heiress who built a mansion to house what she believed were the spirits of those killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.
The venue is said to be haunted and is situated in northern California.
Production is scheduled in March 2017 on location and in Australia.
The Spierigs wrote the screenplay with Tom Vaughan, while Imagination Design Works’ Brett Tomberlin and Blacklab Entertainment’s Tim McGahan are producing.
Bullitt Entertainment, Diamond Pictures and Blacklab Entertainment are financing the project and Diamond Pictures handles international sales.
Bullitt’s Benedict Carver, Diamond’s Daniel Diamond and Tobin Armbrust serve as executive producers with Andy Trapani, Toni Lianos, Brian Gilbert, Marc Shipper and Simon Oakes.
Carver, Diamond and Wme brokered the deal with CBS Films.
CBS Films’ action...
Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig will direct the story about Sarah Winchester, the guilt-ridden firearms heiress who built a mansion to house what she believed were the spirits of those killed by the Winchester repeating rifle.
The venue is said to be haunted and is situated in northern California.
Production is scheduled in March 2017 on location and in Australia.
The Spierigs wrote the screenplay with Tom Vaughan, while Imagination Design Works’ Brett Tomberlin and Blacklab Entertainment’s Tim McGahan are producing.
Bullitt Entertainment, Diamond Pictures and Blacklab Entertainment are financing the project and Diamond Pictures handles international sales.
Bullitt’s Benedict Carver, Diamond’s Daniel Diamond and Tobin Armbrust serve as executive producers with Andy Trapani, Toni Lianos, Brian Gilbert, Marc Shipper and Simon Oakes.
Carver, Diamond and Wme brokered the deal with CBS Films.
CBS Films’ action...
- 8/8/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
A big-hearted comedy invites us all to enjoy laughter, tears and love when Mother’S Day arrives on Digital HD on July 19, 2016, and on Blu-ray™, DVD and On Demand on August 2, 2016, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses, “Friends”), Kate Hudson (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Almost Famous), Julia Roberts (Eat Pray Love, Erin Brockovich) and Jason Sudeikis (“The Last Man on Earth,” “Saturday Night Live”) lead an incredible cast in a film that connects the lives of a group of people maneuvering their way through relationships and family dysfunction in the week leading up to Mother’s Day. The Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital HD feature even more funny and feel-good moments with a gag reel and deleted scenes.
From Garry Marshall, the director of Pretty Woman and Valentine’s Day, comes Mother’S Day, an all-star comedy that celebrates parenthood and family. The star-studded...
Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses, “Friends”), Kate Hudson (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Almost Famous), Julia Roberts (Eat Pray Love, Erin Brockovich) and Jason Sudeikis (“The Last Man on Earth,” “Saturday Night Live”) lead an incredible cast in a film that connects the lives of a group of people maneuvering their way through relationships and family dysfunction in the week leading up to Mother’s Day. The Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital HD feature even more funny and feel-good moments with a gag reel and deleted scenes.
From Garry Marshall, the director of Pretty Woman and Valentine’s Day, comes Mother’S Day, an all-star comedy that celebrates parenthood and family. The star-studded...
- 8/2/2016
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Timothy Olyphant, Shay Mitchell, Britt Robertson, Jack Whitehall, Aasif Mandvi and Loni Love have all joined the cast of Garry Marshall's ensemble romantic comedy "Mother's Day" at Open Road Films.
Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Jason Sudeikis are already onboard the film which marks Marshall's third holiday-themed film of this type after "Valentine's Day" and "New Year's Eve".
Olyphant plays Aniston's ex-husband and Mitchell as his new wife, Robertson as a slightly neurotic new mother and Whitehall as her aspiring standup comedian boyfriend, Mandvi as the successful doctor husband of Hudson's character, and Love as a friend of Sudeikis' character.
Anya Kochoff-Romano, Lily Hollander, Matt Walker and Tom Hines penned the script and filming began in Atlanta this week ahead of an April 2016 release. Wayne Rice, Mike Karz, Daniel Diamond and Brandt Andersen are producing.
Source: Deadline...
Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Jason Sudeikis are already onboard the film which marks Marshall's third holiday-themed film of this type after "Valentine's Day" and "New Year's Eve".
Olyphant plays Aniston's ex-husband and Mitchell as his new wife, Robertson as a slightly neurotic new mother and Whitehall as her aspiring standup comedian boyfriend, Mandvi as the successful doctor husband of Hudson's character, and Love as a friend of Sudeikis' character.
Anya Kochoff-Romano, Lily Hollander, Matt Walker and Tom Hines penned the script and filming began in Atlanta this week ahead of an April 2016 release. Wayne Rice, Mike Karz, Daniel Diamond and Brandt Andersen are producing.
Source: Deadline...
- 8/27/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
The distributor has picked up all Us rights to rom-com to star Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson and Jason Sudeikis.
Garry Marshall will direct Mother’s Day and Wayne Rice and Gulfstream Pictures’ Mike Karz will produce Mother’s Day, which Open Road plans to release wide on April 29, 2016.
Daniel Diamond, who also serves as a producer, handles international sales through his Diamond Pictures. Jared Underwood and Danny Mandel of Aperture Media Partners provide the debt financing.
Anya Kochoff-Romano and Lily Hollander, Matt Walker and Tom Hines wrote the screenplay and principal photography will take place in Atlanta in August.
Open Road brokered the deal with CAA, which packaged the film and represented Us rights.
In other news, Kino Lorber has acquired all North American rights to Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht’s How To Smell A Rose: A Visit With Ricky Leacock In Normandy.
Garry Marshall will direct Mother’s Day and Wayne Rice and Gulfstream Pictures’ Mike Karz will produce Mother’s Day, which Open Road plans to release wide on April 29, 2016.
Daniel Diamond, who also serves as a producer, handles international sales through his Diamond Pictures. Jared Underwood and Danny Mandel of Aperture Media Partners provide the debt financing.
Anya Kochoff-Romano and Lily Hollander, Matt Walker and Tom Hines wrote the screenplay and principal photography will take place in Atlanta in August.
Open Road brokered the deal with CAA, which packaged the film and represented Us rights.
In other news, Kino Lorber has acquired all North American rights to Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht’s How To Smell A Rose: A Visit With Ricky Leacock In Normandy.
- 7/22/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Darren Lynn Bousman and company's Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival screening tour in the U.S. will commence this August in Los Angeles. Also in this round-up: details on The Charnel House and U.S. release details for the Morituris Blu-ray / DVD.
Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival: In 2012, director Darren Lynn Bousman and his team hit the road and took Lucifer with them, bringing The Devil's Carnival film and accompanying live entertainment to cities across America. Bousman and company are now back to raise a lot of hell and a little heaven in Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival.
Featuring David Hasselhoff, Paul Sorvino as God, and Terrance Zdunich as Lucifer, Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival kicks off its U.S. theater screenings tour on August 11th in Los Angeles. For tour and ticket info, visit:
http://www.thedevilscarnival.com/tickets
"After triumphant collaborations on 2008's Repo! The Genetic Opera and 2012's The Devil's Carnival: Episode One,...
Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival: In 2012, director Darren Lynn Bousman and his team hit the road and took Lucifer with them, bringing The Devil's Carnival film and accompanying live entertainment to cities across America. Bousman and company are now back to raise a lot of hell and a little heaven in Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival.
Featuring David Hasselhoff, Paul Sorvino as God, and Terrance Zdunich as Lucifer, Alleluia! The Devil's Carnival kicks off its U.S. theater screenings tour on August 11th in Los Angeles. For tour and ticket info, visit:
http://www.thedevilscarnival.com/tickets
"After triumphant collaborations on 2008's Repo! The Genetic Opera and 2012's The Devil's Carnival: Episode One,...
- 7/2/2015
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Exclusive: The distributor has acquired North American and UK rights to the John Travolta thriller, which Diamond Pictures is selling on the Croisette.
Jackie Earle Haley directs Criminal Activities from a screenplay by Robert Lowell about four young men who fall foul of the mob when they follow a tip-off.
Haley also stars alongside Dan Stevens, Michael Pitt, Christopher Abbott, Rob Brown and Edi Gathegi.
“This is a smart, witty, extremely commercial thriller with elements of Boiler Room and Reservoir Dogs and an ending you don’t see coming,” said Mark Ward, chief acquisitions officer for the Image brands at Image parent company Rlj Entertainment. “We’re excited to bring this film with a star-studded cast to the big screen.”
Image plans an autumn theatrical release on the film after Ward and Matt Hooper brokered the deal with Wme Global.
Wayne Rice, Howard Burd and Micah Sparks produced and Rodger May, Gayle Nosal and [link...
Jackie Earle Haley directs Criminal Activities from a screenplay by Robert Lowell about four young men who fall foul of the mob when they follow a tip-off.
Haley also stars alongside Dan Stevens, Michael Pitt, Christopher Abbott, Rob Brown and Edi Gathegi.
“This is a smart, witty, extremely commercial thriller with elements of Boiler Room and Reservoir Dogs and an ending you don’t see coming,” said Mark Ward, chief acquisitions officer for the Image brands at Image parent company Rlj Entertainment. “We’re excited to bring this film with a star-studded cast to the big screen.”
Image plans an autumn theatrical release on the film after Ward and Matt Hooper brokered the deal with Wme Global.
Wayne Rice, Howard Burd and Micah Sparks produced and Rodger May, Gayle Nosal and [link...
- 5/14/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Ten years ago Elsa started practicing law on the backlot of Universal Studios, in a trailer on the lot. “I began in 2005 with a lot of schlock films in the early days of digital shooting,” she told me from her Beverly Hills office where she now employs five other women attorneys and has just hired the first man. In 2005 you could make digital movies (just after “Blair Witch”) and international sales agents paid good money for them. DVDs still existed and were a relevant income stream for independent producers. For a $200,000 budget you could reap a return of $2 million even without a large theatrical release. What came out of those days was “bootstrap entrepreneurship” from producers who could produce a film digitally on a shoestring budget.
Her firm also employs a packaging and sales person, Tiffany Boyle, to consult and advise with producer and financier clients on meeting and evaluating distributors, sales agents and financiers. This is not too different from the job of producer reps, but the packaging and sales consultant can work on an hourly or take a percentage of distribution which includes legal.
“It is an enhanced legal service, not at all in competition with Submarine, Preferred Content and other indie producer reps. In fact, sometimes we place our films with them, or we work in tandem with them and even introduce our clients to them as we value what producer reps and agents bring to the table in terms of procuring offers and creating a marketplace for an independent,” she adds.
Tiffany Boyle was previously director of sales at Crystal Sky, working under head of production Benedict Carver (“Underworld”, “Resident Evil”) and head of international sales Daniel Diamond (“The Believer”). She worked in the development and sales on the company’s films, including “Doomsday”, “Big Stan” And “Bratz”.
Ramo herself was born in L.A. but grew up in San Diego as a first generation U.S. citizen. She went to Uc Riverside and as soon as she graduated from University of San Diego School of Law, she returned to L.A.
She began in royalty litigation for music and asked her first employers if she could find her own clients and proceeded to network through the film organizations in L.A. for whom she would do free transactional work. She came from a family business and is very entrepreneurial by nature.
Her expertise has been featured in numerous outlets, including Variety’s 2014 Women Impact Report, The Wrap, Forbes, and Latino Weekly. Incidentally, she is not Latino but her partner, Erika Canchola, is Mexican-American. Erika was an intern for Elsa during law school, then was hired, became an associate, and now is a partner.
Ramo has also lectured on film financing for the California Lawyers for the Arts, Film Independent, Attorney Credits, LawReview Cle,myLawCLE, and the Institute for International Film Financing.
She has been a panel and guest speaker at USC, AFI, UCLA, South by Southwest V2V, Slamdance Film Festival, the San Diego Film Festival, Digital Hollywood, Boston University School of Law, and the University of San Diego Law School. In May 2010, she was awarded an Artistic License Award along with Maria Shriver by California Lawyers for the Arts for her outstanding pro-bono work providing artists and arts organizations with legal services.
Eight years ago she moved her office to Beverly Hills. Every year her business doubles in size. She handles about 50 features a year at various stages of financing, production and distribution. At every major market she has a handful of films.
She just spoke at Digital Hollywood on a panel about women entrepreneurship. She recognizes that men and woman are different and respect for one another professionally is what makes progress possible. She began ten years ago as a young woman in an older man pool, but now she is seen less as a female and more as an equal professional. She tells her interns who are women “never give an excuse of sexism, better than putting energy in negativity is putting it into negotiating and doing your job well irrespective of your sex.”
Elsa is straightforward and outgoing, she has a self-confidence that is warm and welcoming. You want to share with her.
She also notes that the talent to produce low budget films is the same skill set which, even without money to back it, can be used for the new networks and she finds that she is succeeding at pre-selling TV series lately. She is currently legal counsel for her first unscripted doc series to Netflix Chef’s Table and finds that non-conventional serial content is hot now.”
“What is your real goal?” I asked, and she answered that she appreciates the opportunities given to her and appreciates the growth of herself and of her clients. She is also interested in “how much the indie business is changing and has always changed. Three or four years ago it was DVD, and now it is all changed to digital streams of revenue and the great thing is it will all change again.”
Content evolves in a circle. She started with offering free services and was happy to be hired. Now she gives low rates to new filmmakers; she can evaluate their talent better, she recognizes passion and talent. Sometimes it works out for her and the new talent, and sometimes it fails.
“I am always looking for emerging talent, looking at the cutting edge.” The business is constantly evolving and my biggest goal is never to ‘settle’, never to stop.”
Check out her website at www.ramolaw.com. It offers a great list of filmmaker resources as well as bios of her growing staff.
Her firm also employs a packaging and sales person, Tiffany Boyle, to consult and advise with producer and financier clients on meeting and evaluating distributors, sales agents and financiers. This is not too different from the job of producer reps, but the packaging and sales consultant can work on an hourly or take a percentage of distribution which includes legal.
“It is an enhanced legal service, not at all in competition with Submarine, Preferred Content and other indie producer reps. In fact, sometimes we place our films with them, or we work in tandem with them and even introduce our clients to them as we value what producer reps and agents bring to the table in terms of procuring offers and creating a marketplace for an independent,” she adds.
Tiffany Boyle was previously director of sales at Crystal Sky, working under head of production Benedict Carver (“Underworld”, “Resident Evil”) and head of international sales Daniel Diamond (“The Believer”). She worked in the development and sales on the company’s films, including “Doomsday”, “Big Stan” And “Bratz”.
Ramo herself was born in L.A. but grew up in San Diego as a first generation U.S. citizen. She went to Uc Riverside and as soon as she graduated from University of San Diego School of Law, she returned to L.A.
She began in royalty litigation for music and asked her first employers if she could find her own clients and proceeded to network through the film organizations in L.A. for whom she would do free transactional work. She came from a family business and is very entrepreneurial by nature.
Her expertise has been featured in numerous outlets, including Variety’s 2014 Women Impact Report, The Wrap, Forbes, and Latino Weekly. Incidentally, she is not Latino but her partner, Erika Canchola, is Mexican-American. Erika was an intern for Elsa during law school, then was hired, became an associate, and now is a partner.
Ramo has also lectured on film financing for the California Lawyers for the Arts, Film Independent, Attorney Credits, LawReview Cle,myLawCLE, and the Institute for International Film Financing.
She has been a panel and guest speaker at USC, AFI, UCLA, South by Southwest V2V, Slamdance Film Festival, the San Diego Film Festival, Digital Hollywood, Boston University School of Law, and the University of San Diego Law School. In May 2010, she was awarded an Artistic License Award along with Maria Shriver by California Lawyers for the Arts for her outstanding pro-bono work providing artists and arts organizations with legal services.
Eight years ago she moved her office to Beverly Hills. Every year her business doubles in size. She handles about 50 features a year at various stages of financing, production and distribution. At every major market she has a handful of films.
She just spoke at Digital Hollywood on a panel about women entrepreneurship. She recognizes that men and woman are different and respect for one another professionally is what makes progress possible. She began ten years ago as a young woman in an older man pool, but now she is seen less as a female and more as an equal professional. She tells her interns who are women “never give an excuse of sexism, better than putting energy in negativity is putting it into negotiating and doing your job well irrespective of your sex.”
Elsa is straightforward and outgoing, she has a self-confidence that is warm and welcoming. You want to share with her.
She also notes that the talent to produce low budget films is the same skill set which, even without money to back it, can be used for the new networks and she finds that she is succeeding at pre-selling TV series lately. She is currently legal counsel for her first unscripted doc series to Netflix Chef’s Table and finds that non-conventional serial content is hot now.”
“What is your real goal?” I asked, and she answered that she appreciates the opportunities given to her and appreciates the growth of herself and of her clients. She is also interested in “how much the indie business is changing and has always changed. Three or four years ago it was DVD, and now it is all changed to digital streams of revenue and the great thing is it will all change again.”
Content evolves in a circle. She started with offering free services and was happy to be hired. Now she gives low rates to new filmmakers; she can evaluate their talent better, she recognizes passion and talent. Sometimes it works out for her and the new talent, and sometimes it fails.
“I am always looking for emerging talent, looking at the cutting edge.” The business is constantly evolving and my biggest goal is never to ‘settle’, never to stop.”
Check out her website at www.ramolaw.com. It offers a great list of filmmaker resources as well as bios of her growing staff.
- 11/10/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Twilight actor Edi Gathegi has joined the cast of thriller Criminal Activities, starring John Travolta, Michael Pitt and Dan Stevens. Actor Jackie Earle Haley is making his directorial debut with the indie project, which centers on four young men who find themselves in trouble with the mob. Photos: 'Twilight': Where Are They Now? The project, from Capacity Pictures, Phoenix Rising Motion Pictures and Producer Capital Fund, will shoot in Cleveland in June. Wayne Rice, Howard Burd and Micah Sparks are producing, with Mark Johnson, Warren Ostergard and Daniel Diamond exec producing. Gathegi played Laurent in the Twilight franchise. More recently, he appeared
read more...
read more...
- 5/29/2014
- by Rebecca Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Jackie Earle Haley, who has made the most of a second career wind since his Oscar-nominated turn in Little Children, has made it to the directing chair. He’ll make his feature debut on Criminal Activities, an indie crime drama that stars John Travolta, Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens and Rebecca Da Costa. Haley will also appear in the film. Pic is about four young guys who reunite at an ex-classmate’s funeral. One mentions to the others inside information on a stock that is a guaranteed lock to make them instant millionaires. Unfortunately, the deal goes south along with their investment. Things go from bad to worse: one of them borrowed his share of the money from a mobster. The film is a co-production between Capacity Pictures, Phoenix Rising Motion Pictures and Producer Capital Fund, and Wayne Rice, Howard Burd and Micah Sparks are producing. Mark Johnson, Warren Ostergard...
- 4/23/2014
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
Exclusive: Qed International has committed to produce, finance and handle international sales for Haunt, an original horror film that Mac Carter will direct from a script by Andrew Barrer. A family that moves into a new home with a dark past. When their son becomes involved with a beautiful girl next door, and together they begin to explore their sexual awakening, they unwittingly invoke an alternative dimension of the house. Haunt will be produced by Sasha Shapiro, Anton Lessine, Bill Block, Paul Hanson, Steven Schneider and Will Rowbotham. Production starts in November. Qed adds Haunt to a slate that includes the David Ayer-directed Ten with Arnold Schwarzenegger and the John Turturro-directed Fading Gigolo that stars Turturro and Woody Allen. Daniel Diamond just joined as Qed president of International, and he and block will be selling territories on the slate at Toronto and Afm. “With Haunt, Andrew Barrer has...
- 8/27/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Daniel Diamond has joined Qed International as president of international. Diamond is coming from Morgan Creek Productions, where he acted as president of international distribution. Photos: 80s Action Stars: Where Are They Now? The move is described by the company as being part of an “operational expansion” as it heads in the Toronto International Film Festival and the American Film Market where it will be selling a line-up of star-driven projects. On the slate are Ten (formerly Breacher), directed by David Ayer and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; Fading Gigolo, directed by John Turturro and starring Turturro and Woody Allen;
read more...
read more...
- 8/21/2012
- by Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Qed International has appointed Daniel Diamond as president, company CEO Bill Block announced on Tuesday. News of Diamond's new position followed TheWrap's exclusive report about his departure this week from Morgan Creek and confirmed speculation among international distribution executives that the sales veteran was heading to Qed. The appointment comes as Qed gears up to work on studio-level films with studio-level budgets, following an eight-figure investment in the company this summer from Media Content Capital. "We're committed to bringing the best films to our international partners, and heading into the fall markets,...
- 8/21/2012
- by Liza Foreman
- The Wrap
Los Angeles, August 21, 2012 – Qed international has appointed Daniel Diamond as President of International, it was announced today by Qed International CEO Bill Block. Diamond comes to Qed International from Morgan Creek Prods. where he served as President of International Distribution. Diamond’s appointment is part of an operational expansion of Qed as it heads into the Toronto Intl. Film Festival and Afm with a robust film slate including Ten, directed by David Ayres and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; Fading Gigolo, directed by John Turturro and starring Turturro and Woody Allen; and Elysium, directed by Neil Blomkamp and starring Matt Damon. Earlier this year, Media Content Capital made an eight-figure investment in Qed International. “We’re committed to bringing the best films to our international partners, and heading into the fall markets, we’re better equipped than ever to deliver on that promise,” said Block. “Daniel will add significantly to our global fire power.
- 8/21/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Veteran sales executive Daniel Diamond is leaving Morgan Creek Productions as early as this week, where he has served as head of international distribution since 2009, an individual with knowledge of his departure told TheWrap. Diamond joined the company shortly after ex-caa agent Rick Nicita was brought on to oversee an ambitious slate of projects. Nicita became co-chairman and COO before exiting Morgan Creek in January, after only one of their films, "Dream House," was released. The film, directed by Jim Sheridan, starred Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts and Rachel Weisz, was...
- 8/21/2012
- by Liza Foreman
- The Wrap
Morgan Creek Productions is doing well in selling offshore rights to Tupac, the biopic of rapper Tupac Shakur that will begin production by the summer with Antoine Fuqua directing. One might think a film about an American rapper who died in 1996 might be a tough sell outside the U.S. Not so. Morgan Creek has sold Canada TV rights to E!, Australia/New Zealand to Hopscotch, UK free TV to BBC, Benelux to Paradiso, Scandanavia to Ab Svensk, South Africa to NuMetro, Middle East to Italia Films, Switzerland to Ascot Elite, Greece to Village Roadshow, Taiwan to Studio Solutions Group, India to Italia Films and Iceland to Sam Film. Universal is distributing in the Us and Daniel Diamond, McP's president of International Sales & Distribution, continues to move territories in Berlin.
- 2/12/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Berlin -- Licensing group EEAP has signed a deal with Morgan Creek to rep free and pay TV rights in central and eastern Europe for the indie shingle's entire library.
Morgan Creek's back catalogue includes tentpole titles such as "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" and "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective."
Morgan Creek's Daniel Diamond, Morgan Creek's president of international sales negotiated the deal with Eeap managing director Alexander van Dulmen. EEAP has already signed a number of multi-film deals for Morgan Creek titles with, among others, Polish network TVP, Ukraine's ICTV and TV 1000 Balkan, the multi-territory platform run by Viasat. The Berlin-based sales outfit will be shopping the catalogue to other Eastern buyers at MIPCOM next week.
Morgan Creek's back catalogue includes tentpole titles such as "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" and "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective."
Morgan Creek's Daniel Diamond, Morgan Creek's president of international sales negotiated the deal with Eeap managing director Alexander van Dulmen. EEAP has already signed a number of multi-film deals for Morgan Creek titles with, among others, Polish network TVP, Ukraine's ICTV and TV 1000 Balkan, the multi-territory platform run by Viasat. The Berlin-based sales outfit will be shopping the catalogue to other Eastern buyers at MIPCOM next week.
- 9/30/2010
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For some reason Anchor Bay Films acquired the the U.S. and Australia/New Zealand distribution rights to the awful looking new video game based film Tekkan.
Tekken was written by Alan McElroy and directed by Dwight Little. Anchor Bay plans on giving this film a wide release in the United States in 2011.
I'm shocked this movie got picked up! I know it's based on a popular video game, but the film looks so bad. When I see a movie like this get picked up, it just proves anything can get a distribution deal.
The film is set in a world run by all-powerful corporations, of which the mightiest is the Tekken Corporation, headed by Heiachi Mishima. These corporations regularly send their best fighters to challenge each other in the ring. After running contraband outside the fortified walls of Tekken City, Jin Kazama returns home in time to witness Tekken...
Tekken was written by Alan McElroy and directed by Dwight Little. Anchor Bay plans on giving this film a wide release in the United States in 2011.
I'm shocked this movie got picked up! I know it's based on a popular video game, but the film looks so bad. When I see a movie like this get picked up, it just proves anything can get a distribution deal.
The film is set in a world run by all-powerful corporations, of which the mightiest is the Tekken Corporation, headed by Heiachi Mishima. These corporations regularly send their best fighters to challenge each other in the ring. After running contraband outside the fortified walls of Tekken City, Jin Kazama returns home in time to witness Tekken...
- 9/15/2010
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Trevor Groth continues as CineVegas as Artistic Director and Mike Plante has been named Director of Programming. After Groth's recent appointment as Sundance's Director of Programming there had been a question about his continuing involvement with CineVegas.
Michelle Byrd is leaving the top post of he Independent Feature Project at the end of the year. A successor is being sought through Time Warner’s Worldwide Recruitment & Executive Search.
Rose Einstein and 10 others have been let go from Hollywood Reporter.
Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley’s have been named Presidents of Fox Searchlight following the departure last March of Peter Rice. Gilula and Utley, who served as COOs since 2006, have signed new multi-year deals and report directly to Fox Filmed Entertainment chairmen Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos.
William Morris Independent’s heads Cassian Elwes and Rena Ronson have left the merged William Morris Endeavor (Wme) Entertainment. Endeavor Independent head Graham Taylor...
Michelle Byrd is leaving the top post of he Independent Feature Project at the end of the year. A successor is being sought through Time Warner’s Worldwide Recruitment & Executive Search.
Rose Einstein and 10 others have been let go from Hollywood Reporter.
Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley’s have been named Presidents of Fox Searchlight following the departure last March of Peter Rice. Gilula and Utley, who served as COOs since 2006, have signed new multi-year deals and report directly to Fox Filmed Entertainment chairmen Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos.
William Morris Independent’s heads Cassian Elwes and Rena Ronson have left the merged William Morris Endeavor (Wme) Entertainment. Endeavor Independent head Graham Taylor...
- 5/28/2009
- by Sydney@SydneysBuzz.com (Sydney)
- Sydney's Buzz
AFI Fest
Henry Bean wrote the excellent Richard Gere thriller Internal Affairs, and made his directorial debut with a 2001 Sundance Film Festival prize-winner The Believer that put Ryan Gosling on the map in the role of a self-hating Jew who becomes a neo-Nazi.
But Bean has been inactive in recent years, except for a writing stint on Basic Instinct 2 that he might prefer to forget. So expectations were high for his sophomore helming effort, Noise, which had its premiere at the AFI Fest and which will be released next year by ThinkFilm. But despite its intriguing premise, the movie is a disappointing misfire.
David (Tim Robbins) is a New York lawyer obsessed with urban noise in general and obstreperous car alarms in particular. Instead of allowing his sleep, his sex life, and his general tranquility to be interrupted, he decides to take action against the offending vehicles with hammers, golf clubs and other available weapons. His behavior lands him in repeated trouble with the law and also wreaks havoc with his marriage to a musician (the lovely Bridget Moynahan).
While it's easy to identify with David's frustration and rage, the film keeps an ironic distance from its protagonist, allowing us to see him alternately as a put-upon hero and as a loon who is as much of an irritant as the thoughtless drivers he attacks. Vigilante movies are becoming more prevalent as the perils of urban living mount, but Noise is one of the few to take a comic view of the subject. While this approach yields a few droll moments, Bean's script ultimately is too mild to have much impact. The performances don't maximize the comic potential, either. Robbins fails to bring the requisite intensity to the role; he's too aware that the movie is a daffy satire, and he keeps winking at the audience. The same phenomenon of an actor standing outside his role undermines William Hurt's exaggerated performance as David's nemesis, New York's self-satisfied Mayor Schneer. Even granting that a lot of contemporary politicians are a long way from being Mensa members, Hurt comes off as such a buffoon that it would be hard to imagine him being elected dog catcher.
The women fare better. Moynahan is thoroughly convincing as David's beleaguered wife, and Margarita Levieva is warmly appealing as the Russian woman who takes David in when Moynahan kicks him out. However, a sex scene in which David and his new love invite another woman for a threesome seems utterly pointless.
Bean pulls off a couple of clever split-screen episodes imagining alternate ways in which David might react to a tense confrontation. But the look of the film is drab, and the music by Phillip Johnston punctuates the action a little too obviously. Bean doesn't demonstrate the same flair for comedy that he's shown in more dramatic work, so Noise seems like a strained novelty item without much boxoffice potential.
NOISE
ThinkFilm
Seven Arts, Fuller Film Prods.
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Henry Bean
Producers: Susan Hoffman, Henry Bean
Executive producers: Daniel Diamond, Paul de Souza
Director of photography: Andrij Parekh
Production designer: Kelly McGehee
Music: Phillip Johnston
Costume designer: Alex Alvarez
Editors: Lee Percy, Julie Carr
Cast:
David Owen: Tim Robbins
Helen Owen: Bridget Moynahan
Mayor Schneer: William Hurt
Chief of Staff: William Baldwin
Ekaterina Filippovna: Margarita Levieva
Chris Owen: Gabrielle Brennan
Gruska: Maria Ballesteros
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Henry Bean wrote the excellent Richard Gere thriller Internal Affairs, and made his directorial debut with a 2001 Sundance Film Festival prize-winner The Believer that put Ryan Gosling on the map in the role of a self-hating Jew who becomes a neo-Nazi.
But Bean has been inactive in recent years, except for a writing stint on Basic Instinct 2 that he might prefer to forget. So expectations were high for his sophomore helming effort, Noise, which had its premiere at the AFI Fest and which will be released next year by ThinkFilm. But despite its intriguing premise, the movie is a disappointing misfire.
David (Tim Robbins) is a New York lawyer obsessed with urban noise in general and obstreperous car alarms in particular. Instead of allowing his sleep, his sex life, and his general tranquility to be interrupted, he decides to take action against the offending vehicles with hammers, golf clubs and other available weapons. His behavior lands him in repeated trouble with the law and also wreaks havoc with his marriage to a musician (the lovely Bridget Moynahan).
While it's easy to identify with David's frustration and rage, the film keeps an ironic distance from its protagonist, allowing us to see him alternately as a put-upon hero and as a loon who is as much of an irritant as the thoughtless drivers he attacks. Vigilante movies are becoming more prevalent as the perils of urban living mount, but Noise is one of the few to take a comic view of the subject. While this approach yields a few droll moments, Bean's script ultimately is too mild to have much impact. The performances don't maximize the comic potential, either. Robbins fails to bring the requisite intensity to the role; he's too aware that the movie is a daffy satire, and he keeps winking at the audience. The same phenomenon of an actor standing outside his role undermines William Hurt's exaggerated performance as David's nemesis, New York's self-satisfied Mayor Schneer. Even granting that a lot of contemporary politicians are a long way from being Mensa members, Hurt comes off as such a buffoon that it would be hard to imagine him being elected dog catcher.
The women fare better. Moynahan is thoroughly convincing as David's beleaguered wife, and Margarita Levieva is warmly appealing as the Russian woman who takes David in when Moynahan kicks him out. However, a sex scene in which David and his new love invite another woman for a threesome seems utterly pointless.
Bean pulls off a couple of clever split-screen episodes imagining alternate ways in which David might react to a tense confrontation. But the look of the film is drab, and the music by Phillip Johnston punctuates the action a little too obviously. Bean doesn't demonstrate the same flair for comedy that he's shown in more dramatic work, so Noise seems like a strained novelty item without much boxoffice potential.
NOISE
ThinkFilm
Seven Arts, Fuller Film Prods.
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Henry Bean
Producers: Susan Hoffman, Henry Bean
Executive producers: Daniel Diamond, Paul de Souza
Director of photography: Andrij Parekh
Production designer: Kelly McGehee
Music: Phillip Johnston
Costume designer: Alex Alvarez
Editors: Lee Percy, Julie Carr
Cast:
David Owen: Tim Robbins
Helen Owen: Bridget Moynahan
Mayor Schneer: William Hurt
Chief of Staff: William Baldwin
Ekaterina Filippovna: Margarita Levieva
Chris Owen: Gabrielle Brennan
Gruska: Maria Ballesteros
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 12/5/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Screened
Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO -- "I Love Your Work" is a movie directed and co-written by an actor, Adam Goldberg, that features many of his actor buddies. So what's it all about? It's about how awful it is to be an actor or, worse, a movie star and how an acting career can damage one's fragile psyche. Before you can even accuse the moviemaker and his pals of naval gazing, a "narcissism expert" appears on a TV talk show and turns to the movie's protagonist to lecture him about listening to other people and getting over his egocentricity. Of course, he doesn't listen to her.
However much this movie may speak to the current generation of actors, it has little to say to moviegoers. Goldberg's direction is all flash and no substance, and his story and characters offer little reason for viewers to empathize with such self-pitying characters. Because Goldberg borrows -- or believes he is borrowing -- from the stylistic flourishes of filmmakers ranging from David Lynch and John Cassavetes to Martin Scorsese and the French New Wave, the movie may stimulate cineastes who look for "references" in movies rather than originality. Otherwise, "I Love Your Work" will have little life off the festival circuit.
Giovanni Ribisi plays Gray Evans, a movie star whose life and marriage to fellow movie star Mia (Franka Potente) is falling apart. As Mia accurately points out to Gray: "You hate the business. You hate the rags. And you hate being a celebrity." No one bothers to ask why Gray pursues a career guaranteed to bring him so much grief.
Goldberg and co-writer Adrian Butchart try to establish layers of reality in order to play peekaboo with the narrative structure. So there is a movie being made within the movie. Gray's obsessions and fantasies may or may not be real. And he suffers many mental mix-ups wherein his wife turns into his ex-lover Shana (Christina Ricci) and Shana gets confused with Jane (Marisa Coughlan), the young girlfriend of one of Gray's fans, John (Joshua Jackson). But since no level of reality is given any substance or plausibility, the movie feels void of narrative purpose.
Gray, who exists on a diet of booze and tobacco, apparently goes to a premiere nearly every night. Yet every time a photographer's flash goes off, his face has the startled, horrified look of a deer caught in the headlights of an on-rushing car. Gray sees stalkers everywhere, to the amusement of his security expert (Jared Harris), who pads his bank account nicely by following up on every obsession. And every time Elvis Costello leaves a message on the answering machine for Mia, Gray goes into a jealous rage.
Meanwhile, Gray and Mia live a strange movie-star existence as they inhabit a cool, sterile loft above an aging movie theater. The only real twist to this film comes when the movie star essentially stalks his own fan. Gray's spying on John and Jane allows him to fantasize about what a "normal" life would be like. Yet he gleams no wisdom from his intrusion into their lives. Instead, his continual delusions and flawed memories offer Goldberg the opportunity to wallow in an impressionistic style, courtesy of cinematographer Mark Putnam's crisp, gloomy lighting, designer Erin Smith's antiseptic decors and editors Zack Bell and John Valerio's jumble of images culled from Gray's confused mind.
Goldberg's actors work hard, but the overwrought melodrama betrays their efforts. Ribisi, who has never looked less like a movie star, is too weird and affected from the opening scene to pull you into his character's turmoil and troubles. Potente, who does look like a movie star, comes off with dignity at least as a women struggling to cope with a failing marriage. Jackson, Coughlan and Ricci, all playing quasi-figments of Gray's imagination, can do little more than pose and react.
I LOVE YOUR WORK
Fireworks presents a Muse production in association with Cyan Pictures, Departure Entertainment, Miracle Mile Films, Rice/Walter Prods. in association with In Association With Prods.
Credits:
Director: Adam Goldberg
Screenwriters: Adam Goldberg, Adrian Butchart
Producers: Chris Hanley, David Hillary, Tim Peternel, Joshua Newman, Adam Goldberg
Executive producers: Daniel Diamond, Jay Firestone, Damon Martin, Chad Troutwine, Boro Vukadinovic
Director of photography: Mark Putnam
Production designer: Erin Smith
Music: Adam Goldberg, Stephen Drozd
Costume designer: Dawn Weisberg
Editors: Zack Bell, John Valerio
Cast:
Gray: Giovanni Ribisi
Mia: Franka Potente
Shana: Christina Ricci
John: Joshua Jackson
Jane: Marisa Coughlan
Yehud: Jared Harris
Stalker: Jason Lee
Running time -- 111 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Toronto International Film Festival
TORONTO -- "I Love Your Work" is a movie directed and co-written by an actor, Adam Goldberg, that features many of his actor buddies. So what's it all about? It's about how awful it is to be an actor or, worse, a movie star and how an acting career can damage one's fragile psyche. Before you can even accuse the moviemaker and his pals of naval gazing, a "narcissism expert" appears on a TV talk show and turns to the movie's protagonist to lecture him about listening to other people and getting over his egocentricity. Of course, he doesn't listen to her.
However much this movie may speak to the current generation of actors, it has little to say to moviegoers. Goldberg's direction is all flash and no substance, and his story and characters offer little reason for viewers to empathize with such self-pitying characters. Because Goldberg borrows -- or believes he is borrowing -- from the stylistic flourishes of filmmakers ranging from David Lynch and John Cassavetes to Martin Scorsese and the French New Wave, the movie may stimulate cineastes who look for "references" in movies rather than originality. Otherwise, "I Love Your Work" will have little life off the festival circuit.
Giovanni Ribisi plays Gray Evans, a movie star whose life and marriage to fellow movie star Mia (Franka Potente) is falling apart. As Mia accurately points out to Gray: "You hate the business. You hate the rags. And you hate being a celebrity." No one bothers to ask why Gray pursues a career guaranteed to bring him so much grief.
Goldberg and co-writer Adrian Butchart try to establish layers of reality in order to play peekaboo with the narrative structure. So there is a movie being made within the movie. Gray's obsessions and fantasies may or may not be real. And he suffers many mental mix-ups wherein his wife turns into his ex-lover Shana (Christina Ricci) and Shana gets confused with Jane (Marisa Coughlan), the young girlfriend of one of Gray's fans, John (Joshua Jackson). But since no level of reality is given any substance or plausibility, the movie feels void of narrative purpose.
Gray, who exists on a diet of booze and tobacco, apparently goes to a premiere nearly every night. Yet every time a photographer's flash goes off, his face has the startled, horrified look of a deer caught in the headlights of an on-rushing car. Gray sees stalkers everywhere, to the amusement of his security expert (Jared Harris), who pads his bank account nicely by following up on every obsession. And every time Elvis Costello leaves a message on the answering machine for Mia, Gray goes into a jealous rage.
Meanwhile, Gray and Mia live a strange movie-star existence as they inhabit a cool, sterile loft above an aging movie theater. The only real twist to this film comes when the movie star essentially stalks his own fan. Gray's spying on John and Jane allows him to fantasize about what a "normal" life would be like. Yet he gleams no wisdom from his intrusion into their lives. Instead, his continual delusions and flawed memories offer Goldberg the opportunity to wallow in an impressionistic style, courtesy of cinematographer Mark Putnam's crisp, gloomy lighting, designer Erin Smith's antiseptic decors and editors Zack Bell and John Valerio's jumble of images culled from Gray's confused mind.
Goldberg's actors work hard, but the overwrought melodrama betrays their efforts. Ribisi, who has never looked less like a movie star, is too weird and affected from the opening scene to pull you into his character's turmoil and troubles. Potente, who does look like a movie star, comes off with dignity at least as a women struggling to cope with a failing marriage. Jackson, Coughlan and Ricci, all playing quasi-figments of Gray's imagination, can do little more than pose and react.
I LOVE YOUR WORK
Fireworks presents a Muse production in association with Cyan Pictures, Departure Entertainment, Miracle Mile Films, Rice/Walter Prods. in association with In Association With Prods.
Credits:
Director: Adam Goldberg
Screenwriters: Adam Goldberg, Adrian Butchart
Producers: Chris Hanley, David Hillary, Tim Peternel, Joshua Newman, Adam Goldberg
Executive producers: Daniel Diamond, Jay Firestone, Damon Martin, Chad Troutwine, Boro Vukadinovic
Director of photography: Mark Putnam
Production designer: Erin Smith
Music: Adam Goldberg, Stephen Drozd
Costume designer: Dawn Weisberg
Editors: Zack Bell, John Valerio
Cast:
Gray: Giovanni Ribisi
Mia: Franka Potente
Shana: Christina Ricci
John: Joshua Jackson
Jane: Marisa Coughlan
Yehud: Jared Harris
Stalker: Jason Lee
Running time -- 111 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 9/12/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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