Movie News
The Sydney Sweeney-led “Barbarella” film is taking shape, with Edgar Wright in talks to direct the picture for Sony. Jane Goldman and Honey Ross are in talks to pen the script.
Wright, best known for making the satiric zombie film “Shaun of the Dead,” is next set to direct Glen Powell in an adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Running Man.” Wright’s other directorial credits include “Last Night in Soho,” “Hot Fuzz,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and “Baby Driver.”
The project also marks another step in Sweeney’s continued relationship with Sony Pictures — she’s most recently starred in “Anyone but You” and “Madame Web” for the studio. While “Madame Web” was largely panned by critics, Sweeney says her involvement in the film was a “strategic business decision” that’s since paid off.
“To me, that film was a building block, it’s what allowed me to build a relationship with Sony,...
Wright, best known for making the satiric zombie film “Shaun of the Dead,” is next set to direct Glen Powell in an adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Running Man.” Wright’s other directorial credits include “Last Night in Soho,” “Hot Fuzz,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and “Baby Driver.”
The project also marks another step in Sweeney’s continued relationship with Sony Pictures — she’s most recently starred in “Anyone but You” and “Madame Web” for the studio. While “Madame Web” was largely panned by critics, Sweeney says her involvement in the film was a “strategic business decision” that’s since paid off.
“To me, that film was a building block, it’s what allowed me to build a relationship with Sony,...
- 5/13/2024
- by Katcy Stephan
- Variety - Film News
Disney and 20th Century’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” climbed to $72.5 million at the international box office in its first weekend of release.
The newest film in the long-running “Apes” series also notched No. 1 in North America with $58.5 million, bringing its initial global tally to a promising $131 million. Those ticket sales were above Sunday’s projections of $56.5 million domestically and $129 million worldwide. Like its predecessors, the $160 million-budgeted “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is projected to earn the bulk of its revenues at the international box office.
Overseas, the movie enjoyed the biggest start in China with $11.4 million (a lackluster debut for the territory), France with $7.1 million, Mexico with $6.4 million and the United Kingdom with $4.8 million. Other top markets were Korea ($3.2 million), Australia ($2.7 million), Brazil ($2.6 million), Germany (2.2 million) and Spain ($2.2 million).
Audiences opted to watch the film in the best possible quality as premium formats represented 41% of global box office revenues.
The newest film in the long-running “Apes” series also notched No. 1 in North America with $58.5 million, bringing its initial global tally to a promising $131 million. Those ticket sales were above Sunday’s projections of $56.5 million domestically and $129 million worldwide. Like its predecessors, the $160 million-budgeted “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is projected to earn the bulk of its revenues at the international box office.
Overseas, the movie enjoyed the biggest start in China with $11.4 million (a lackluster debut for the territory), France with $7.1 million, Mexico with $6.4 million and the United Kingdom with $4.8 million. Other top markets were Korea ($3.2 million), Australia ($2.7 million), Brazil ($2.6 million), Germany (2.2 million) and Spain ($2.2 million).
Audiences opted to watch the film in the best possible quality as premium formats represented 41% of global box office revenues.
- 5/12/2024
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety - Film News
At the Academy Awards in 1929, Charles Reisner's "The Hollywood Revue of 1929" was nominated for Best Picture. "Revue" is a relative obscurity to modern audiences — even less well-known than that year's Best Picture winner "The Broadway Melody" — and it may even baffle certain viewers. True to its title, "The Hollywood Revue" is a collection of musical numbers, comedic sketches, and dramatic scenes, all played out "live" on a theater stage. A curtain closes and opens in between each number, and two emcees — Jack Benny and Conrad Nagel — introduce each vignette.
Such filmed stage performances may look a little odd to the modern eye, but they were common throughout the '20s and '30s. Few audiences had access to high-end live theater, and Hollywood was happy to step in to provide. Studios would distribute such revues as, essentially, a Broadway substitute, allowing distant viewers to experience the theater events...
Such filmed stage performances may look a little odd to the modern eye, but they were common throughout the '20s and '30s. Few audiences had access to high-end live theater, and Hollywood was happy to step in to provide. Studios would distribute such revues as, essentially, a Broadway substitute, allowing distant viewers to experience the theater events...
- 5/14/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to see Koba from the “Planet of the Apes” reboot film series in other movies? Neither had we here at IndieWire. That was until last week when @jbromovies posted this tweet to X, formerly known as Twitter.
Koba should be in every movie
— joe bro (@jbromovies) May 9, 2024
Little did @jbromovies know what they were in for as what followed was an avalanche of photoshopped masterpieces that embed “Apes” character Koba into every piece of cinema imaginable. From “Challengers” to “The Lion King,” there are literally too many gems to choose from, but IndieWire has put together a collection of the eight best, each featuring a possible arc for how Koba could be inserted into the plot of the film.
Has anyone done 12 Angry Men yet? https://t.co/SyaxVtD8LX pic.twitter.com/9KYSQfatwu
— bread boy (@MarxistSmart) May 11, 2024 “12 Angry Men...
Koba should be in every movie
— joe bro (@jbromovies) May 9, 2024
Little did @jbromovies know what they were in for as what followed was an avalanche of photoshopped masterpieces that embed “Apes” character Koba into every piece of cinema imaginable. From “Challengers” to “The Lion King,” there are literally too many gems to choose from, but IndieWire has put together a collection of the eight best, each featuring a possible arc for how Koba could be inserted into the plot of the film.
Has anyone done 12 Angry Men yet? https://t.co/SyaxVtD8LX pic.twitter.com/9KYSQfatwu
— bread boy (@MarxistSmart) May 11, 2024 “12 Angry Men...
- 5/14/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Are we headed for a bon marché?
A new class of finished films and packages (unmade movies with big stars and a director attached) will travel to Cannes this week in search of cash and homes with the studios, streamers and global indie players.
The 2024 Cannes market comes equipped with some interesting contradictions. Stateside, the content buying machine is fraught. Major media stock prices are getting hammered day by day, and a new age of austerity has gripped the once free-spending tech giants. At the same time, distributors paralyzed by the 2023 Hollywood labor strikes need content to fill their slates for the end the year and the top of 2025.
“We’d agree that finished film volume isn’t as high due to the strikes, but Cannes is a much better setting for packages to begin with,” one top sales agent told Variety. “These movies can get financed out of the international marketplace,...
A new class of finished films and packages (unmade movies with big stars and a director attached) will travel to Cannes this week in search of cash and homes with the studios, streamers and global indie players.
The 2024 Cannes market comes equipped with some interesting contradictions. Stateside, the content buying machine is fraught. Major media stock prices are getting hammered day by day, and a new age of austerity has gripped the once free-spending tech giants. At the same time, distributors paralyzed by the 2023 Hollywood labor strikes need content to fill their slates for the end the year and the top of 2025.
“We’d agree that finished film volume isn’t as high due to the strikes, but Cannes is a much better setting for packages to begin with,” one top sales agent told Variety. “These movies can get financed out of the international marketplace,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety - Film News
Blandine Lenoir’s completed family drama Juliette In Spring, starring Izia Higelin, has sold to key buyers including Palace Films for Australia and New Zealand, Polyfilm in Austria, Pandora in Germany, Surstey in Spain, and Cineworx in Switzerland for Indie Sales.
The film, based on Camille Jourdy’s graphic novel, is about a woman who returns to her hometown to spend time with her family as buried memories, unspoken truths and long-buried secrets bubble up to the surface in what Indie Sales calls “a sweet, tender and sometimes extravagant family portrait.”
Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Noémie Lvovsky and Sophie Guillemin co-star in...
The film, based on Camille Jourdy’s graphic novel, is about a woman who returns to her hometown to spend time with her family as buried memories, unspoken truths and long-buried secrets bubble up to the surface in what Indie Sales calls “a sweet, tender and sometimes extravagant family portrait.”
Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Noémie Lvovsky and Sophie Guillemin co-star in...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Shortly before last year’s Cannes Film Festival, director Sophie Fillières attended a cast and crew screening of “Anatomy of a Fall.” The filmmaker had a supporting role in the film, playing the deceased’s sister, and she soon celebrated her work’s Palme d’Or win from afar, hanging back in Paris, where she was preparing to shoot her seventh feature, “This Life of Mine.”
The five-week production kicked off in late June, running smoothly and wrapping on the last day of July. The next day, Fillières checked into the hospital; in less than a month, she was gone.
If hardly offsetting the shock and hurt of her passing, Fillières leaves behind a remarkable legacy, as her final film will open this year’s Director’s Fortnight while a generation of French talents now looks to her with awe.
“Seeing Sophie’s work for the first time gave me...
The five-week production kicked off in late June, running smoothly and wrapping on the last day of July. The next day, Fillières checked into the hospital; in less than a month, she was gone.
If hardly offsetting the shock and hurt of her passing, Fillières leaves behind a remarkable legacy, as her final film will open this year’s Director’s Fortnight while a generation of French talents now looks to her with awe.
“Seeing Sophie’s work for the first time gave me...
- 5/14/2024
- by Ben Croll
- Variety - Film News
A far-sighted scientist is living with his wife and daughter in what remains of Brooklyn in 2039. Then Milla Jovovich arrives
The planet has finally conked out; it went not with a boom or a bang, but choking on a last gasp of polluted air. This frighteningly plausible end-of-the-world scenario is probably the most convincing detail in this solidly acted but underwhelming post-apocalyptic thriller. It’s set in 2039, six years after the conk-out; in Brooklyn, one family is miraculously still alive in a bunker built by scientist and survivalist Darius (Common). He spent years planning for the end of the world; everyone thought he was a crackpot, says his teenage daughter Zora (Quvenzhané Wallis). “Too bad he wasn’t.” Handily, her mum is gardener Maya (Jennifer Hudson). So the three of them – along with Darius’s dad – keep healthy on homegrown greens.
The bunker is a fortress and whenever they step...
The planet has finally conked out; it went not with a boom or a bang, but choking on a last gasp of polluted air. This frighteningly plausible end-of-the-world scenario is probably the most convincing detail in this solidly acted but underwhelming post-apocalyptic thriller. It’s set in 2039, six years after the conk-out; in Brooklyn, one family is miraculously still alive in a bunker built by scientist and survivalist Darius (Common). He spent years planning for the end of the world; everyone thought he was a crackpot, says his teenage daughter Zora (Quvenzhané Wallis). “Too bad he wasn’t.” Handily, her mum is gardener Maya (Jennifer Hudson). So the three of them – along with Darius’s dad – keep healthy on homegrown greens.
The bunker is a fortress and whenever they step...
- 5/14/2024
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Sales
International sales agent Incredible Film has secured global distribution rights to “Amsterdamned II,” the sequel to Dick Maas’ 1988 cult classic, “Amsterdamned.” Veteran Dutch actor Huub Stapel reprises his role as detective Eric Visser, who once pursued a serial killer through the Dutch canals three decades ago, as he is brought back from retirement by a revelation that shakes him to his core. In the sequel, also directed by Maas, Visser and fellow detective Tara Lee fight against an evil that threatens them and the city of Amsterdam.
The film is a coproduction from the Netherlands’ 2CFilm and Parachute Pictures and Belgium’s Potemkino. Production is set to begin later this year, with release scheduled for 2025, in time for the city of Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary.
Daniëlle Raaphorst, CEO of Incredible Film, said: “Three decades ago, the chilling horror ‘Amsterdamned’ gripped audiences around the world. Now, we are delighted to be representing the sequel.
International sales agent Incredible Film has secured global distribution rights to “Amsterdamned II,” the sequel to Dick Maas’ 1988 cult classic, “Amsterdamned.” Veteran Dutch actor Huub Stapel reprises his role as detective Eric Visser, who once pursued a serial killer through the Dutch canals three decades ago, as he is brought back from retirement by a revelation that shakes him to his core. In the sequel, also directed by Maas, Visser and fellow detective Tara Lee fight against an evil that threatens them and the city of Amsterdam.
The film is a coproduction from the Netherlands’ 2CFilm and Parachute Pictures and Belgium’s Potemkino. Production is set to begin later this year, with release scheduled for 2025, in time for the city of Amsterdam’s 750th anniversary.
Daniëlle Raaphorst, CEO of Incredible Film, said: “Three decades ago, the chilling horror ‘Amsterdamned’ gripped audiences around the world. Now, we are delighted to be representing the sequel.
- 5/14/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety - Film News
Archstone Entertainment has acquired international rights to multiple pictures produced by the Todd Slater-run Convoke Media and Brick Lane Entertainment.
They include “Succubus,” which was written and directed by R.J. Daniel Hanna (“Hard Miles”) and stars Ron Perlman and Rosanna Arquette. The film follows a new father in a failing marriage who joins a dating app and matches with a beautiful but mysterious woman. He is completely entranced by her allure until her powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in unexpected ways. The cast also includes Brendan Bradley, Rachel Cook, Olivia Applegate, Derek Smith and Emily Kincaid. Producers are Slater, Ari Novak and Anna Elizabeth James.
Shout! Studios has secured all distribution rights in North America to “Succubus,” including theatrical, digital, video-on-demand and home entertainment for cross-platform releases.
Thomas Mignone’s “Queen of Manhattan” is a biographical drama that tells the true life story of adult star Vanessa Del Rio.
They include “Succubus,” which was written and directed by R.J. Daniel Hanna (“Hard Miles”) and stars Ron Perlman and Rosanna Arquette. The film follows a new father in a failing marriage who joins a dating app and matches with a beautiful but mysterious woman. He is completely entranced by her allure until her powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in unexpected ways. The cast also includes Brendan Bradley, Rachel Cook, Olivia Applegate, Derek Smith and Emily Kincaid. Producers are Slater, Ari Novak and Anna Elizabeth James.
Shout! Studios has secured all distribution rights in North America to “Succubus,” including theatrical, digital, video-on-demand and home entertainment for cross-platform releases.
Thomas Mignone’s “Queen of Manhattan” is a biographical drama that tells the true life story of adult star Vanessa Del Rio.
- 5/14/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety - Film News
Screen is running this regularly updated page with the latest film festival and market dates from across the world.
To submit details of or alter your festival dates, please contact us here with the name, dates, country and website for the event. Screen is also running a calendar for UK-Ireland film release dates here.
Ongoing
Seattle International Film Festival, US - May 9-19
Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival Part 2, US - May 11-26
Cannes Film Festival, France - May 14-25
Marche Du Film, France - May 14-22
May
Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, US - May 15-19
Harlem International Film Festival,...
To submit details of or alter your festival dates, please contact us here with the name, dates, country and website for the event. Screen is also running a calendar for UK-Ireland film release dates here.
Ongoing
Seattle International Film Festival, US - May 9-19
Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival Part 2, US - May 11-26
Cannes Film Festival, France - May 14-25
Marche Du Film, France - May 14-22
May
Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, US - May 15-19
Harlem International Film Festival,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Woman-focused streamer Herflix, the Female Film Club, female empowerment community Yes She Cannes and French management and production company Sisterland have teamed to launch female collective Her Club Cannes.
Attended by some 250 invited film professionals, the event aims to highlight the power and importance of women in film. The event will be turned into a TV show, consisting of red carpet interviews and talks during the evening, in addition to behind the scenes clips of the event. This show will stream on Herflix.
Partners and sponsors include BondIt, Buffalo 8, Imgn.Ai, Design essentials, United Voices 4 Peace, Ak Production Pro, Winston Baker, Tve Global, Sustainability Awards and African American Women in Cinema.
Adriana Shaw, founder and president of Herflix, said: “We’ll reach over 152 countries as we work together to amplify Her Story. Since Cannes, 2023, we have experienced the SheEconomy, which has given us optimism, but with this Live Stream reach,...
Attended by some 250 invited film professionals, the event aims to highlight the power and importance of women in film. The event will be turned into a TV show, consisting of red carpet interviews and talks during the evening, in addition to behind the scenes clips of the event. This show will stream on Herflix.
Partners and sponsors include BondIt, Buffalo 8, Imgn.Ai, Design essentials, United Voices 4 Peace, Ak Production Pro, Winston Baker, Tve Global, Sustainability Awards and African American Women in Cinema.
Adriana Shaw, founder and president of Herflix, said: “We’ll reach over 152 countries as we work together to amplify Her Story. Since Cannes, 2023, we have experienced the SheEconomy, which has given us optimism, but with this Live Stream reach,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety - Film News
Actors as gifted as Jane Asher and Joe Wilkinson can’t do much with jokes about a failing guest house 40 years past their use-by date
A car door opens; the elderly gent in the driver’s seat has popped a pill for erectile dysfunction (brand name Super Stallion). He’s at his son’s guest house to scatter the ashes of his wife – and he’s brought along a date, a gorgeous young blonde (“she’s my carer”). The pill has worked its magic, so as the man gets out of the car, he reaches for a jacket to cover the bulge in his trousers. At this point you half expect a blast of canned laughter. But this is not a sitcom from 1986, even though the script contains the same tired gags and stereotypes that should have died long ago.
A Family Affair wastes the talents of Joe Wilkinson (excellent...
A car door opens; the elderly gent in the driver’s seat has popped a pill for erectile dysfunction (brand name Super Stallion). He’s at his son’s guest house to scatter the ashes of his wife – and he’s brought along a date, a gorgeous young blonde (“she’s my carer”). The pill has worked its magic, so as the man gets out of the car, he reaches for a jacket to cover the bulge in his trousers. At this point you half expect a blast of canned laughter. But this is not a sitcom from 1986, even though the script contains the same tired gags and stereotypes that should have died long ago.
A Family Affair wastes the talents of Joe Wilkinson (excellent...
- 5/14/2024
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Paris-based The Party Film Sales and Heather Millard of Iceland’s Compass Films have reunited with “When the Light Breaks” Rúnar Rúnarsson on his next poetic filmic venture ‘O’.
The Icelandic film “When the Light Breaks” is due to open Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section May 15.
Headlining Iceland’s major international star Ingvar E. Sigurðsson (“A White, White Day,” “Fantastic Beasts, the Crimes of Grindelwald”), the 20-minute film “O” is a “humanistic and poetic story of a fragile man, trying to achieve a simple task where his main obstacle is within himself,” according to the official logline.
“We’re very excited to also accompany Rúnar on his new short film,” said The Party Film Sales’ Samuel Blanc. “O” and “When the Light Breaks” have a lot in common and resonate with each other. We’re confident distributors will be interested in programming both films in tandem: in the frame of special screenings,...
The Icelandic film “When the Light Breaks” is due to open Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section May 15.
Headlining Iceland’s major international star Ingvar E. Sigurðsson (“A White, White Day,” “Fantastic Beasts, the Crimes of Grindelwald”), the 20-minute film “O” is a “humanistic and poetic story of a fragile man, trying to achieve a simple task where his main obstacle is within himself,” according to the official logline.
“We’re very excited to also accompany Rúnar on his new short film,” said The Party Film Sales’ Samuel Blanc. “O” and “When the Light Breaks” have a lot in common and resonate with each other. We’re confident distributors will be interested in programming both films in tandem: in the frame of special screenings,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety - Film News
The Cannes Film Festival is bracing for a tumultuous 77th edition. As wars rage in Gaza and Ukraine, attendees and organizers anticipate protests, politically charged speeches and pins and flags that signal solidarity with Palestinian civilians, Israeli hostages and Ukrainians looking for more military assistance from the West as they try to fend off the Russian invasion.
But if the festival has its way, there will be none of that. The city of Cannes preemptively banned protests along the Croisette and its surroundings during the 11-day festival. Likewise, the festival hired private security to trail the Competition jurors including Eva Green and Lily Gladstone to keep activists from approaching them. And while the festival was initially amenable to a plan for Arab filmmakers to wear pins showing support for the Palestinians under siege in Gaza, it changed course and will not take part in the distribution of them as well...
But if the festival has its way, there will be none of that. The city of Cannes preemptively banned protests along the Croisette and its surroundings during the 11-day festival. Likewise, the festival hired private security to trail the Competition jurors including Eva Green and Lily Gladstone to keep activists from approaching them. And while the festival was initially amenable to a plan for Arab filmmakers to wear pins showing support for the Palestinians under siege in Gaza, it changed course and will not take part in the distribution of them as well...
- 5/14/2024
- by Tatiana Siegel and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety - Film News
Longtime Sony Pictures Entertainment executive Doug Belgrad is joining Netflix as vice president of film, joining the team assembled by the streamer’s new film head Dan Lin.
Belgrad was at Sony for more than 25 years, most recently as president of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group. Before that, he spent a decade as president and head of production at Columbia Pictures.
At Sony, he was involved in the Spider-man, Men In Black and Bad Boys franchises, as well as individual projects including The Social Network, Zero Dark Thirty, Captain Phillips and American Hustle.
In 2016, after leaving Sony, Belgrad founded 2.0 Entertainment,...
Belgrad was at Sony for more than 25 years, most recently as president of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group. Before that, he spent a decade as president and head of production at Columbia Pictures.
At Sony, he was involved in the Spider-man, Men In Black and Bad Boys franchises, as well as individual projects including The Social Network, Zero Dark Thirty, Captain Phillips and American Hustle.
In 2016, after leaving Sony, Belgrad founded 2.0 Entertainment,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
The first-look photo of Pierce Brosnan and Amir El-Masry on the set of “Giant,” written and directed by Rowan Athale, has been revealed. The sports drama is shooting in Leeds, England.
“Giant” is based on the true-life story of British-Yemeni boxer Prince Naseem “Naz” Hamed (El-Masry) and his rags to riches ascent to a world championship under the tutelage of his Irish-born boxing trainer Brendan Ingle (Brosnan).
The picture is financed by AGC Studios and BondIt Media Capital. The producers are Mark Lane of Tea Shop Productions, Kevin Sampson of White Star Productions and Stuart Ford, AGC Studios chairman and CEO.
Executive producers are Sylvester Stallone and Braden Aftergood of Balboa Productions, AGC Studios’ Miguel Palos, Zach Garrett and Anant Tamirisa, BondIt’s Matthew Helderman, Luke Taylor and Tyler Gould, Michael Ewing and True Brit Entertainment’s Zygi Kamasa.
True Brit has taken U.K. distribution rights with AGC International...
“Giant” is based on the true-life story of British-Yemeni boxer Prince Naseem “Naz” Hamed (El-Masry) and his rags to riches ascent to a world championship under the tutelage of his Irish-born boxing trainer Brendan Ingle (Brosnan).
The picture is financed by AGC Studios and BondIt Media Capital. The producers are Mark Lane of Tea Shop Productions, Kevin Sampson of White Star Productions and Stuart Ford, AGC Studios chairman and CEO.
Executive producers are Sylvester Stallone and Braden Aftergood of Balboa Productions, AGC Studios’ Miguel Palos, Zach Garrett and Anant Tamirisa, BondIt’s Matthew Helderman, Luke Taylor and Tyler Gould, Michael Ewing and True Brit Entertainment’s Zygi Kamasa.
True Brit has taken U.K. distribution rights with AGC International...
- 5/14/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety - Film News
Bill Murray has joined the cast of “Riff Raff,” the upcoming crime comedy from director Dito Montiel set to feature Jennifer Coolidge (“The White Lotus”), Ed Harris (“Love Lies Bleeding”) Gabrielle Union (“The Inspection”), Lewis Pullman (“Top Gun: Maverick”), Emanuela Postacchini (“Robots”), Miles J. Harvey (“American Vandal”) and Pete Davidson (“The King of Staten Island”).
Signature Films, which is handling international sales on the title, has closed territory deals in Italy (Maestro Distribution), Scandinavia (Scanbox), the Middle East (Phoenicia), Eastern Europe (ProRom), Poland (Kino Siwiat), Taiwan (MovieCloud), airline rights (CineSky), Commonwealth of Independent States (Mgn), Greece (Tanweer), Portugal (Lusomundo) and Turkey (Vagon). Signature will distribute the film in the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Based on a script by John Pollono (“Stronger”), “Riff Raff” centers on a former criminal’s ordinary life which is thrown upside down when his old family shows up for a long-awaited reckoning.
Signature...
Signature Films, which is handling international sales on the title, has closed territory deals in Italy (Maestro Distribution), Scandinavia (Scanbox), the Middle East (Phoenicia), Eastern Europe (ProRom), Poland (Kino Siwiat), Taiwan (MovieCloud), airline rights (CineSky), Commonwealth of Independent States (Mgn), Greece (Tanweer), Portugal (Lusomundo) and Turkey (Vagon). Signature will distribute the film in the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Based on a script by John Pollono (“Stronger”), “Riff Raff” centers on a former criminal’s ordinary life which is thrown upside down when his old family shows up for a long-awaited reckoning.
Signature...
- 5/14/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety - Film News
Michael Head stars in this less than convincing story of a London crime lord and his associates
There was a period in the Cool Britannia days when you couldn’t throw a brick at a cinema in the UK without hitting a British gangster movie with a castful full of dodgy geezers blagging their way around an underground scene full of drugs and farfetched capers. Some were ludicrously entertaining creations of actual working-class talent, such as Nick Love’s The Business, others transcended genre pigeonholing to work their way into various top critics’ lists (such as Jonathan Glazer’s Sexy Beast), and still others were Guy Ritchie movies. There were hundreds of less high-profile efforts too, destined for VHS or DVD, but each having somehow found funding.
These days the British gangster flick is no longer flavour of the week, or month, and there’s something appealingly bullish about attempts to make these films now.
There was a period in the Cool Britannia days when you couldn’t throw a brick at a cinema in the UK without hitting a British gangster movie with a castful full of dodgy geezers blagging their way around an underground scene full of drugs and farfetched capers. Some were ludicrously entertaining creations of actual working-class talent, such as Nick Love’s The Business, others transcended genre pigeonholing to work their way into various top critics’ lists (such as Jonathan Glazer’s Sexy Beast), and still others were Guy Ritchie movies. There were hundreds of less high-profile efforts too, destined for VHS or DVD, but each having somehow found funding.
These days the British gangster flick is no longer flavour of the week, or month, and there’s something appealingly bullish about attempts to make these films now.
- 5/14/2024
- by Catherine Bray
- The Guardian - Film News
A first-look at Pierce Brosnan and Amir El-Masry in sports drama Giant has been unveiled, with AGC Studios selling the title.
Production is underway in Leeds on the Rowan Athale-directed feature, with Mark Lane of Tea Shop Productions producing alongside Kevin Sampson of White Star Productions out of the UK, and Stuart Ford of the US’s AGC Studios.
Zygi Kamasa’s True Brit Entertainment has taken UK distribution rights.
The feature was originally scheduled to shoot all of its interiors in Malta, but AGC moved the entirety of production back to the UK, making Giant one of the first...
Production is underway in Leeds on the Rowan Athale-directed feature, with Mark Lane of Tea Shop Productions producing alongside Kevin Sampson of White Star Productions out of the UK, and Stuart Ford of the US’s AGC Studios.
Zygi Kamasa’s True Brit Entertainment has taken UK distribution rights.
The feature was originally scheduled to shoot all of its interiors in Malta, but AGC moved the entirety of production back to the UK, making Giant one of the first...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Having starred in only his first Western films in the last few years with “The Old Way” and “Butcher’s Crossing,” Nicolas Cage is doubling down on the genre, having teamed up with Heather Graham (“The Hangover”) and Stephen Dorff (“True Detective”) for “The Gunslingers.”
Costas Mandylor (“Saw”), Scarlet Stallone (“Tulsa King”), Tzi Ma (“The Farewell”), and Randall Batinkoff (“Dead Man’s Hand”) also star in the film, which is being launched in Cannes with Brilliant Pictures handling international sales. Grindstone has U.S. rights to the film.
Written and directed by prolific genre filmmaker Brian Skiba (“The 2nd,” “Dead Man’s Hand”), “The Gunslingers” is set in a rugged town named Redemption. Reformed gunslinger, Thomas Keller (Dorff) and mad genius Ben (Cage) are guided by spiritual leader Jericho (Mandylor) as they strive for vindication. Confronting his violent history, a brutal bar fight and deadly feud reignites between Thomas, Ben and the notorious Five Points Gang.
Costas Mandylor (“Saw”), Scarlet Stallone (“Tulsa King”), Tzi Ma (“The Farewell”), and Randall Batinkoff (“Dead Man’s Hand”) also star in the film, which is being launched in Cannes with Brilliant Pictures handling international sales. Grindstone has U.S. rights to the film.
Written and directed by prolific genre filmmaker Brian Skiba (“The 2nd,” “Dead Man’s Hand”), “The Gunslingers” is set in a rugged town named Redemption. Reformed gunslinger, Thomas Keller (Dorff) and mad genius Ben (Cage) are guided by spiritual leader Jericho (Mandylor) as they strive for vindication. Confronting his violent history, a brutal bar fight and deadly feud reignites between Thomas, Ben and the notorious Five Points Gang.
- 5/14/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety - Film News
London- and Paris-based production, finance and international sales outfit Film Constellation has unveiled a first exclusive clip from Titus Kaphar’s well-received drama “Exhibiting Forgiveness.”
Film Constellation will screen the film for buyers in Cannes on Tuesday.
The film received glowing reviews after its January premiere at Sundance in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section, and was picked up for North American distribution by Roadside Attractions, with a theatrical release scheduled for the Fall awards season.
In the film, an artist finds his path to success derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father, a troubled man desperate to reconcile. Together they learn that forgetting may be harder than forgiving.
The directorial debut of visual artist Kaphar, “Exhibiting Forgiveness” stars Spirit Award winner and SAG nominee André Holland, Academy Award nominee, Golden Globes winner and Grammy Award winner Andra Day, Tony Award nominee John Earl Jelks, and Academy Award nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
Film Constellation will screen the film for buyers in Cannes on Tuesday.
The film received glowing reviews after its January premiere at Sundance in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section, and was picked up for North American distribution by Roadside Attractions, with a theatrical release scheduled for the Fall awards season.
In the film, an artist finds his path to success derailed by an unexpected visit from his estranged father, a troubled man desperate to reconcile. Together they learn that forgetting may be harder than forgiving.
The directorial debut of visual artist Kaphar, “Exhibiting Forgiveness” stars Spirit Award winner and SAG nominee André Holland, Academy Award nominee, Golden Globes winner and Grammy Award winner Andra Day, Tony Award nominee John Earl Jelks, and Academy Award nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
- 5/14/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety - Film News
The feature “Tales of Taipei” is a tribute to the low-pressure, culturally rich city, which has been shaped by its regional neighbors, taken in diverse peoples and distilled the multiple competing influences into a messy, happy-go-lucky morass.
Produced by Bowie Tsang and Amy Ma, the film calls on 10 directors hailing from Malaysia, France, Bhutan and Hong Kong, and Taiwanese locals Yin Cheng-han and Remii Huang to contribute.
“Everything is possible in Taiwan, everything exits side by side,” says Tsang, who was born in Hong Kong. “We have old Chinese myths. We believe in the afterlife. Churches exist side by side with temples. We are still trying to figure out how to tell our stories.”
As in the film, juxtapositions exist throughout the Taiwan film industry. Theatrical B.O. improved last year, but from a low 2022 base. Last year, Taiwan productions increased market share from 10% to nearly 16%, helping to lift the...
Produced by Bowie Tsang and Amy Ma, the film calls on 10 directors hailing from Malaysia, France, Bhutan and Hong Kong, and Taiwanese locals Yin Cheng-han and Remii Huang to contribute.
“Everything is possible in Taiwan, everything exits side by side,” says Tsang, who was born in Hong Kong. “We have old Chinese myths. We believe in the afterlife. Churches exist side by side with temples. We are still trying to figure out how to tell our stories.”
As in the film, juxtapositions exist throughout the Taiwan film industry. Theatrical B.O. improved last year, but from a low 2022 base. Last year, Taiwan productions increased market share from 10% to nearly 16%, helping to lift the...
- 5/14/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety - Film News
“Our new film ‘Megalopolis’ is the best work I’ve ever had the privilege to preside over,” reads a quote attributed to iconic director Francis Ford Coppola attached to the official trailer for his new epic film.
The picture, which will premiere in competition on Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival, has been a project many years in the making for the director. He first began work on the screenplay in the 1980s.
The legendary filmmaker behind “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now” has invested $120 million of his own money into the film.
The trailer starts with a voice-over musing about the decline of empires – “when does an empire die? Does it collapse in one terrible moment? No, no. But there comes a time when people no longer believe in it” — before cutting to a Roman chariot race, a metropolitan skyscape and scenes of protest.
According to the official synopsis, “‘Megalopolis...
The picture, which will premiere in competition on Thursday at the Cannes Film Festival, has been a project many years in the making for the director. He first began work on the screenplay in the 1980s.
The legendary filmmaker behind “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now” has invested $120 million of his own money into the film.
The trailer starts with a voice-over musing about the decline of empires – “when does an empire die? Does it collapse in one terrible moment? No, no. But there comes a time when people no longer believe in it” — before cutting to a Roman chariot race, a metropolitan skyscape and scenes of protest.
According to the official synopsis, “‘Megalopolis...
- 5/14/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety - Film News
Sarah Paulson will never forget the actor who sent her six pages of unsolicited notes after watching her in a play.
Paulson recently appeared on the “Smartless” podcast, where she and hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett discussed the theater custom of celebrities coming backstage to meet with the cast.
When Bateman asked the group if they would accept criticism from these visitors, Paulson recalled the “outrageous” experience she had after a show.
“I did do a play once. The last time I was on stage, I did a play called ‘Talley’s Folly’ at the Roundabout, and the actress — and I’m going to say this, and I’m not going to ask you to cut this out, because I don’t f—ing care — this actress came to the play. Her name is Trish Hawkins — Hi, Trish! Hi, Trisha!” Paulson said. “Trish Hawkins came to the...
Paulson recently appeared on the “Smartless” podcast, where she and hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett discussed the theater custom of celebrities coming backstage to meet with the cast.
When Bateman asked the group if they would accept criticism from these visitors, Paulson recalled the “outrageous” experience she had after a show.
“I did do a play once. The last time I was on stage, I did a play called ‘Talley’s Folly’ at the Roundabout, and the actress — and I’m going to say this, and I’m not going to ask you to cut this out, because I don’t f—ing care — this actress came to the play. Her name is Trish Hawkins — Hi, Trish! Hi, Trisha!” Paulson said. “Trish Hawkins came to the...
- 5/14/2024
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety - Film News
Beta Cinema is launching pre-sales at Cannes on a big-screen version of Julian Barnes’ novel The Noise Of Time that is being adapted by two- time Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton and will star August Diehl and Andrea Riseborough.
Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa, who was Oscar nominated for his 2019 feature Corpus Christi, is lined up to direct the fictionalised account of the life of composer Dimitri Shostakovich in Stalinist Russia.
Diehl will star as Shostakovich, while Riseborough will play his wife Nita, Shostakovich’s wife and intellectual equal.
The story follows the trajectory of the Russian composer’s life and career,...
Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa, who was Oscar nominated for his 2019 feature Corpus Christi, is lined up to direct the fictionalised account of the life of composer Dimitri Shostakovich in Stalinist Russia.
Diehl will star as Shostakovich, while Riseborough will play his wife Nita, Shostakovich’s wife and intellectual equal.
The story follows the trajectory of the Russian composer’s life and career,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed first sales and released the first-look image from Oscar-nominated Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland’s biopic of the Czech novelist Franz Kafka, “Franz.”
The project has sold to September Film in Benelux, Filmin in Spain, Vertigo in Hungary, McF Megacom for the former Yugoslavia and Movies Inspired in Italy.
The film was previously acquired for theatrical distribution by Bac Films Distribution in France, X Verleih in Germany and Austria, Bioscop in Czech Republic and Tvp in Poland.
Kafka, a German-speaking Jewish Bohemian famous for surrealist and nightmarish visions, wrote “The Metamorphosis,” “The Trial” and “The Castle,” among others.
The film started shooting in Prague on April 12, including the Old Town near Kafka’s birthplace, and will continue there until the end of May, when the production moves for a week’s shoot in Berlin.
Šárka Cimbalová produces through Czech Republic’s Marlene Film Production,...
The project has sold to September Film in Benelux, Filmin in Spain, Vertigo in Hungary, McF Megacom for the former Yugoslavia and Movies Inspired in Italy.
The film was previously acquired for theatrical distribution by Bac Films Distribution in France, X Verleih in Germany and Austria, Bioscop in Czech Republic and Tvp in Poland.
Kafka, a German-speaking Jewish Bohemian famous for surrealist and nightmarish visions, wrote “The Metamorphosis,” “The Trial” and “The Castle,” among others.
The film started shooting in Prague on April 12, including the Old Town near Kafka’s birthplace, and will continue there until the end of May, when the production moves for a week’s shoot in Berlin.
Šárka Cimbalová produces through Czech Republic’s Marlene Film Production,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety - Film News
Gaumont has unveiled a first look at Leila Bekti in Ken Scott’s family comedy Once Upon My Mother.
Set in 1960s Paris and based on a true story, Bekhti stars as a mother of six who refuses to accept a medical diagnosis that her son will never walk and instead defies insurmountable odds to guide him to the life he imagines for him through optimism and faith.
Bekhti’s previous roles include All That Glitters and A Prophet.
The lowdown on all the Cannes 2024 titles...
Set in 1960s Paris and based on a true story, Bekhti stars as a mother of six who refuses to accept a medical diagnosis that her son will never walk and instead defies insurmountable odds to guide him to the life he imagines for him through optimism and faith.
Bekhti’s previous roles include All That Glitters and A Prophet.
The lowdown on all the Cannes 2024 titles...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Studiocanal ex-Orange Studio (sic), the sales company in transition following Canal+’s acquisition of Orange Studio and Ocs earlier this year, has taken on All For One, the anticipated second feature from Camera d’Or-winning Divines director Houda Benyamina.
The comedy drama reteams Beyamina with Divines actresses Oulaya Amamra and Déborah Lukumuena who star alongside Daphné Patakia and Sabrina Ouazani. Set in France in 1625, All For One is a feminist retelling of The Three Musketeers and follows four women tasked with protecting the Queen of France.
Orange Studio’s head of sales Charlotte Boucon will be at the market selling the film,...
The comedy drama reteams Beyamina with Divines actresses Oulaya Amamra and Déborah Lukumuena who star alongside Daphné Patakia and Sabrina Ouazani. Set in France in 1625, All For One is a feminist retelling of The Three Musketeers and follows four women tasked with protecting the Queen of France.
Orange Studio’s head of sales Charlotte Boucon will be at the market selling the film,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Lars Mikkelsen and François Cluzet have signed to star in Stephane Demoustier’s The Great Arch, a 1980s-set saga about a Danish architect tasked with building France’s famed La Defense structure.
Sidse Babett Knudsen, Vincent Macaigne and Swann Arlaud round out the starry cast of the film adapted from Laurence Cossé’s book of the same name that is set to start shooting later this year.
Mikkelsen plays Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, a real-life architecture teacher from Copenhagen who surprised the world when he won an open- call competition launched by French president François Mitterrand (Cluzet) and is...
Sidse Babett Knudsen, Vincent Macaigne and Swann Arlaud round out the starry cast of the film adapted from Laurence Cossé’s book of the same name that is set to start shooting later this year.
Mikkelsen plays Johan Otto von Spreckelsen, a real-life architecture teacher from Copenhagen who surprised the world when he won an open- call competition launched by French president François Mitterrand (Cluzet) and is...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
A first look at The Prosecutor, directed by and starring Donnie Yen, has been revealed at the Cannes market.
Based on a true case in Hong Kong, the action crime thriller sees Yen plays a dedicated prosecutor who risks his life and career to set free a wrongfully charged man and bring the real culprit to justice.
Yen, who is the star of the Ip Man franchise and more recently appeared in John Wick: Chapter 4, is also producing with his long-time producer Raymond Wong. The film, previously known as Misjudgement, is scheduled for worldwide release this year.
Ahead of the market,...
Based on a true case in Hong Kong, the action crime thriller sees Yen plays a dedicated prosecutor who risks his life and career to set free a wrongfully charged man and bring the real culprit to justice.
Yen, who is the star of the Ip Man franchise and more recently appeared in John Wick: Chapter 4, is also producing with his long-time producer Raymond Wong. The film, previously known as Misjudgement, is scheduled for worldwide release this year.
Ahead of the market,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Vietnamese director Truong Minh Quy’s Viet And Nam, which is set to world premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, has been banned in Vietnam due to its “negative view” about the country and its people.
It is understood the queer characters are not a deciding factor for the ban as Vietnam has been more relaxed with LGBTQ+ characters and themes on screen in recent years.
Instead, the issues are the Vietnamese version of the film’s title (which means In The Heart Of The Earth) content, and theme, which portray “a gloomy, deadlocked, and negative view” about the country and people,...
It is understood the queer characters are not a deciding factor for the ban as Vietnam has been more relaxed with LGBTQ+ characters and themes on screen in recent years.
Instead, the issues are the Vietnamese version of the film’s title (which means In The Heart Of The Earth) content, and theme, which portray “a gloomy, deadlocked, and negative view” about the country and people,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Signature Entertainment has acquired The Mother starring Everything Everywhere All At Once Michelle Yeoh for UK, Ireland and the Nordics from AGC.
French filmmaker Mélanie Laurent directs the action thriller, that Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee will produce through Thunder Road, alongside Arthur Sarkissian and John Schramm. 30West will finance.
The film centres on a mother whose two teenage sons stumble into trouble with a Boston dirty cop and a crime ring, and must rekindle her past to keep them safe.
“The combination of Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh with director Mélanie Laurent and the producers of John Wick immediately made...
French filmmaker Mélanie Laurent directs the action thriller, that Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee will produce through Thunder Road, alongside Arthur Sarkissian and John Schramm. 30West will finance.
The film centres on a mother whose two teenage sons stumble into trouble with a Boston dirty cop and a crime ring, and must rekindle her past to keep them safe.
“The combination of Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh with director Mélanie Laurent and the producers of John Wick immediately made...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Cult crime-action franchise Rise Of The Footsolider is heading to Ibiza for its seventh instalment, which will see Craig Fairbrass back as Pat Tate, heading to the Spanish island to track down the villains responsible for a friend’s murder.
Rise Of The Footsolider: Ibiza is being sold by the UK’s Carnaby International, and is a direct sequel to 2023’s Rise Of The Footsolider: Vengeance. Nick Nevern returns to direct, with Andrew Loveday producing.
Anthony Skordi reprises his role as Mo from Rise Of The Footsoldier: Vengeance, with production set to begin at the end of 2024. Tate will be...
Rise Of The Footsolider: Ibiza is being sold by the UK’s Carnaby International, and is a direct sequel to 2023’s Rise Of The Footsolider: Vengeance. Nick Nevern returns to direct, with Andrew Loveday producing.
Anthony Skordi reprises his role as Mo from Rise Of The Footsoldier: Vengeance, with production set to begin at the end of 2024. Tate will be...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Katherine Waterston, Simon Pegg, Minnie Driver, Cush Jumbo, Rose Williams and Miriam Margolyes are to star in UK filmmaker Rob Sorrenti’s debut feature Angels In The Asylum.
Parkland Pictures is representing sales on the film, which was inspired by a BBC Newsnight exposé on 50 women who were incarcerated in isolation at Surrey’s Long Grove Asylum, a former hospital for the mentally ill, because they were typhoid carriers, starting in 1907.
The UK shoot is set to begin in early 2025 around the Kent area, with Heather Greenwood, Marie-Elena Dyche and Charlotte Carey producing.
James Friend will be the film’s cinematographer.
Parkland Pictures is representing sales on the film, which was inspired by a BBC Newsnight exposé on 50 women who were incarcerated in isolation at Surrey’s Long Grove Asylum, a former hospital for the mentally ill, because they were typhoid carriers, starting in 1907.
The UK shoot is set to begin in early 2025 around the Kent area, with Heather Greenwood, Marie-Elena Dyche and Charlotte Carey producing.
James Friend will be the film’s cinematographer.
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Beta Cinema is launching pre-sales at Cannes on a big-screen version of Julian Barnes’ novel The Noise Of Time that is being adapted by two- time Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton and will star August Diehl and Andrea Riseborough.
Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa, who was Oscar nominated for his 2019 feature Corpus Christi, is lined up to direct the fictionalised account of the life of composer Dimitri Shostakovich in Stalinist Russia.
Diehl will star as Shostakovich, while Riseborough will play his wife Nita, Shostakovich’s wife and intellectual equal.
The story follows the trajectory of the Russian composer’s life and career,...
Polish filmmaker Jan Komasa, who was Oscar nominated for his 2019 feature Corpus Christi, is lined up to direct the fictionalised account of the life of composer Dimitri Shostakovich in Stalinist Russia.
Diehl will star as Shostakovich, while Riseborough will play his wife Nita, Shostakovich’s wife and intellectual equal.
The story follows the trajectory of the Russian composer’s life and career,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Gemma Arterton has joined the cast of Carl Tibbetts’s comic crime thriller Sweet Dreams.
Aimee Lou-Wood, Niamh Algar, Nick Frost, Paapa Essiedu and Billy Howle are also set to star, as previously announced.
Metro International Entertainment continues world sales at Cannes, with the film to shoot later this year. Producers are Matthew James Wilkinson and Patrick Tolan for the UK’s Stigma Films, alongside co-producer Jamie Harvey.
The thriller unfurls in the decaying English seaside town of Claypole, where a local property developer is swindled out of a million pounds, triggering a chain of grisly and murderous events.
Major...
Aimee Lou-Wood, Niamh Algar, Nick Frost, Paapa Essiedu and Billy Howle are also set to star, as previously announced.
Metro International Entertainment continues world sales at Cannes, with the film to shoot later this year. Producers are Matthew James Wilkinson and Patrick Tolan for the UK’s Stigma Films, alongside co-producer Jamie Harvey.
The thriller unfurls in the decaying English seaside town of Claypole, where a local property developer is swindled out of a million pounds, triggering a chain of grisly and murderous events.
Major...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Cannes and Sundance-winning filmmaker Tarik Saleh starts shooting tomorrow (May 15) on political thriller Eagles Of The Republic with Playtime on board for international sales. Memento Distribution will release in France and Sf Studios has bought Nordic rights.
Eagles Of The Republic is third and final film in Saleh’s Cairo trilogy after Sundance Grand Jury prize winner The Nile Hilton Incident (2017) and Cannes screenplay winner Cairo Conspiracy aka Boy from Heaven (2022).
Written and directed by Saleh, its cast includes Swedish actor Fares Fares, French star Lyna Khoudri, American-Palestinian actress Cherien Dabis, French-Moroccan actress Zineb Triki and Finnish-Syrian actor Sherwan Haji.
Eagles Of The Republic is third and final film in Saleh’s Cairo trilogy after Sundance Grand Jury prize winner The Nile Hilton Incident (2017) and Cannes screenplay winner Cairo Conspiracy aka Boy from Heaven (2022).
Written and directed by Saleh, its cast includes Swedish actor Fares Fares, French star Lyna Khoudri, American-Palestinian actress Cherien Dabis, French-Moroccan actress Zineb Triki and Finnish-Syrian actor Sherwan Haji.
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
South Korea’s Contents Panda has sold omnibus horror thriller Tarot to a raft of distributors across Asia on the eve of the Cannes market.
The anthology feature has been picked up for Taiwan (Long Shong), Mongolia (Filmbridge), Indonesia (Pt Prima) and Vietnam (Cj Cgv Vietnam)
Parasite star Cho Yeo-jeong is among the cast of the film, in which people have sinister experiences after receiving tarot cards. Comprising seven short stories, it marks the feature directing debut of Choi Byong-gil, who previously worked with actress Cho on TV series High Class. The cast also includes Ko Kyu-pil of box-office hit...
The anthology feature has been picked up for Taiwan (Long Shong), Mongolia (Filmbridge), Indonesia (Pt Prima) and Vietnam (Cj Cgv Vietnam)
Parasite star Cho Yeo-jeong is among the cast of the film, in which people have sinister experiences after receiving tarot cards. Comprising seven short stories, it marks the feature directing debut of Choi Byong-gil, who previously worked with actress Cho on TV series High Class. The cast also includes Ko Kyu-pil of box-office hit...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
A new feature from acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike is to be launched by Gaga Corporation at the Cannes market this week.
The untitled project will centre on two young men in a juvenile reformatory who become inspired to participate in a martial arts tournament called Breaking Down and both go into training. Casting has not yet been announced.
Now in production, the script is written by Shin Kibayashi, best known as the co-creator of popular manga Drops of God, which was adapted by Legendary Entertainment and launched on Apple TV+ last year.
Miike is known as the director of Audition,...
The untitled project will centre on two young men in a juvenile reformatory who become inspired to participate in a martial arts tournament called Breaking Down and both go into training. Casting has not yet been announced.
Now in production, the script is written by Shin Kibayashi, best known as the co-creator of popular manga Drops of God, which was adapted by Legendary Entertainment and launched on Apple TV+ last year.
Miike is known as the director of Audition,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mubi has bought UK-Ireland rights to Andrea Arnold’s Bird, ahead of its Cannes Competition launch on Thursday.
The distributor acquired the film from Cornerstone Films, which is handling international rights and co-representing the US sale with CAA Media Finance.
Bird tells the story of Bailey, a 12-year-old girl living with her single father and brother in a North Kent squat. As her father has little time for her, Bailey, who is approaching puberty, seeks adventure elsewhere.
Barry Keoghan stars as the father, with Franz Rogowski also on the cast alongside newcomers Nykiya Adams and Jason Buda.
Bird was written and directed by Arnold,...
The distributor acquired the film from Cornerstone Films, which is handling international rights and co-representing the US sale with CAA Media Finance.
Bird tells the story of Bailey, a 12-year-old girl living with her single father and brother in a North Kent squat. As her father has little time for her, Bailey, who is approaching puberty, seeks adventure elsewhere.
Barry Keoghan stars as the father, with Franz Rogowski also on the cast alongside newcomers Nykiya Adams and Jason Buda.
Bird was written and directed by Arnold,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
UK production company Randan, Scottish slang for ’raucous partying’, is launching in Cannes with a slate of productions and backing from the UK Global Screen Fund.
It has been formed by Scotland-based producers Reece Cargan, founder of Bombito, and James Heath, managing director of commrcials outfit Mtp, where he will remain as exec producer for commercials work.
Three projects are in post-production: Rada Leonora’s In The Morning Light, about the life of surrealist artist Leonard Carrington. Mtp had been coproducing the film alongside Lena Vurma’s Dragonfly Films, Meli Melo Cultura & Piano (Mx), Digital Cube (Ro), and Skye Film; Polly Findlay’s Midwinter Break,...
It has been formed by Scotland-based producers Reece Cargan, founder of Bombito, and James Heath, managing director of commrcials outfit Mtp, where he will remain as exec producer for commercials work.
Three projects are in post-production: Rada Leonora’s In The Morning Light, about the life of surrealist artist Leonard Carrington. Mtp had been coproducing the film alongside Lena Vurma’s Dragonfly Films, Meli Melo Cultura & Piano (Mx), Digital Cube (Ro), and Skye Film; Polly Findlay’s Midwinter Break,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Tech company and AI pioneer Flawless and the UK’s Tea Shop Productions have launched a production partnership in Cannes backed by an initial $100m fund.
Flawless Productions plans to produce and fully finance up to 10 commercial genre features in its first year. Flawless co-founders and co-CEOs Scott Mann and Nick Lynes announce the partnership and are taking meetings here with Tea Shop co-founders James Harris and Mark Lane will run the venture.
Tea Shop, which is currently in production in the UK on the Naseem Hamed boxing biopic Giant with AGC Studios and White Star Productions, will continue its own production work,...
Flawless Productions plans to produce and fully finance up to 10 commercial genre features in its first year. Flawless co-founders and co-CEOs Scott Mann and Nick Lynes announce the partnership and are taking meetings here with Tea Shop co-founders James Harris and Mark Lane will run the venture.
Tea Shop, which is currently in production in the UK on the Naseem Hamed boxing biopic Giant with AGC Studios and White Star Productions, will continue its own production work,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Josh Whitehouse, Natalia Tena, Simona Brown and Sienna Guillory have all joined the cast of Sean McConville’s thriller The Last Moon, with LevelK boarding world sales.
Production is scheduled for October 2024 in the UK, produced by Stephanie Joalland, Mat Braddy and McConville for their Frenzy Films.
The Last Moon takes place across one evening at a remote family home, as Max tries to trick his estranged brother Fred into shooting him to stop him transforming into a werewolf.
It has been selected for high-profile development labs including the European Genre Forum, London Production Finance Market, Frontieres, Naff It at...
Production is scheduled for October 2024 in the UK, produced by Stephanie Joalland, Mat Braddy and McConville for their Frenzy Films.
The Last Moon takes place across one evening at a remote family home, as Max tries to trick his estranged brother Fred into shooting him to stop him transforming into a werewolf.
It has been selected for high-profile development labs including the European Genre Forum, London Production Finance Market, Frontieres, Naff It at...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
TrustNordisk has sold family animation Super Charlie to additional territories ahead of showing new footage in a promo reel today (May 14) in Cannes.
Deals have been struck for Poland (Best Film Co), Portugal (Pris audiovisuals), Bulgaria (Pro Films) and Middle East (Empire Networks).
3D animation Super Charlie is adapted from Camilla Lackberg’s book series, about a young boy whose dreams of becoming a superhero and fighting crime like his policeman father are shattered when his baby brother Charlie is born – and has superpowers himself. It is in production ahead of a Nordic release on December 12 this year.
With a script by Jon Holmberg,...
Deals have been struck for Poland (Best Film Co), Portugal (Pris audiovisuals), Bulgaria (Pro Films) and Middle East (Empire Networks).
3D animation Super Charlie is adapted from Camilla Lackberg’s book series, about a young boy whose dreams of becoming a superhero and fighting crime like his policeman father are shattered when his baby brother Charlie is born – and has superpowers himself. It is in production ahead of a Nordic release on December 12 this year.
With a script by Jon Holmberg,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
One year since launching its international sales division, Gravitas Ventures arrives in Cannes with a raft of titles including chess drama The Nana Project, and sci-fi thriller Tomorrow Before After.
The Nana Project stars Mercedes Ruehl from The Fisher King and Nolan Gould from Modern Family and is set against the competitive chess world as a woman and her grandsons take a road trip to the state championships. Robin Givens directs.
Tomorrow Before After stars Natalia Reyes from Terminator: Dark Fate as a pregnant woman who along with her dog fights to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Alfonso Quijada directs.
The Nana Project stars Mercedes Ruehl from The Fisher King and Nolan Gould from Modern Family and is set against the competitive chess world as a woman and her grandsons take a road trip to the state championships. Robin Givens directs.
Tomorrow Before After stars Natalia Reyes from Terminator: Dark Fate as a pregnant woman who along with her dog fights to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Alfonso Quijada directs.
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
The director has spent half his life and $120m of his own money to make his sci-fi epic. Just days ahead of its debut in Cannes, some of his crew members are questioning his methods
‘My greatest fear is to make a really shitty, embarrassing, pompous film on an important subject, and I am doing it,” Francis Ford Coppola said in 1978. “I will tell you right straight from the most sincere depths of my heart, the film will not be good.” The film was Apocalypse Now, and it was good, and the rest is history.
Part of that history has been Coppola’s reputation as an intrepid adventurer who was prepared to risk everything, to defy the studio suits, to go to the brink of ruin and madness, all for the sake of art. The making of Apocalypse Now cemented that legend – the epic scale, the jungle insanity, the heart attacks,...
‘My greatest fear is to make a really shitty, embarrassing, pompous film on an important subject, and I am doing it,” Francis Ford Coppola said in 1978. “I will tell you right straight from the most sincere depths of my heart, the film will not be good.” The film was Apocalypse Now, and it was good, and the rest is history.
Part of that history has been Coppola’s reputation as an intrepid adventurer who was prepared to risk everything, to defy the studio suits, to go to the brink of ruin and madness, all for the sake of art. The making of Apocalypse Now cemented that legend – the epic scale, the jungle insanity, the heart attacks,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Phoebe Dynevor is in talks to star in an untitled shark thriller at Sony Pictures with Tommy Wirkola (“Violent Night”) directing, Variety has confirmed.
While plot details are being kept under wraps, production is set to begin in Australia this summer. Adam McKay and Kevin Messick will produce the shark movie under their Hyperobject Industries banner.
Dynevor is best known for her role as Daphne Bridgerton in the first two seasons of the Netflix series “Bridgerton.” She recently starred opposite Alden Ehrenreich in the 2023 thriller “Fair Play,” which sold to Netflix in a massive $20 million deal following the film’s premiere at Sundance Film Festival.
In late April, Variety exclusively reported that Dynevor and Bella Ramsey star in the new short film “More Flames,” from McKay‘s Yellow Dot Studios and Climate Spring; the short marks the launch of the #FlipTheScript campaign aimed at changing the narrative around the climate crisis.
While plot details are being kept under wraps, production is set to begin in Australia this summer. Adam McKay and Kevin Messick will produce the shark movie under their Hyperobject Industries banner.
Dynevor is best known for her role as Daphne Bridgerton in the first two seasons of the Netflix series “Bridgerton.” She recently starred opposite Alden Ehrenreich in the 2023 thriller “Fair Play,” which sold to Netflix in a massive $20 million deal following the film’s premiere at Sundance Film Festival.
In late April, Variety exclusively reported that Dynevor and Bella Ramsey star in the new short film “More Flames,” from McKay‘s Yellow Dot Studios and Climate Spring; the short marks the launch of the #FlipTheScript campaign aimed at changing the narrative around the climate crisis.
- 5/14/2024
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety - Film News
Often considered one of the worst episodes of "Star Trek," "Spock's Brain" boasted a story wherein a species of low-intelligence aliens infiltrate the U.S.S. Enterprise, sedate everyone on board, and steal the grey matter belonging to Spock (Leonard Nimoy) for nefarious purposes. It will later be revealed that Spock's brain was required to power a super-computer on a nearby planet and that the computer could temporarily inject complex information and skills into people's heads. The crew of the Enterprise outfit Spock's brainless body with a temporary brain-like machine, and they can pilot him via remote control.
Eventually, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) will be injected -- via the supercomputer -- with knowledge of how to surgically return Spock's brain to his body. When McCoy runs out of knowledge partway through the operation, the now-conscious Spock talks him the rest of the way through. "Spock's Brain" is farfetched and silly,...
Eventually, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) will be injected -- via the supercomputer -- with knowledge of how to surgically return Spock's brain to his body. When McCoy runs out of knowledge partway through the operation, the now-conscious Spock talks him the rest of the way through. "Spock's Brain" is farfetched and silly,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Veteran Asian executive Buddy Marini has been appointed Gm of Warner Bros. Discovery in Japan.
The role covers all operations in Japan including home entertainment, digital & TV licensing, consumer products, anime production, franchise and pay-tv networks, but excluding theatrical and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo: The Making of Harry Potter business.
Marini joins Wbd with 25+ years’ experience in leadership across media and technology companies in Japan, China and the U.S. Most recently, he founded global mobile platform Mangamo, offering one of the largest mobile manga libraries to fans worldwide. Prior to this, Marini was Gm, Japan for gaming company Supercell, and CEO for Hulu Japan, where he successfully oversaw the streaming platform’s development and growth into one of the country’s leading services. He has held additional leadership positions at Avex Group Holdings Inc., Universal Studios and Mitsui-Sumitomo Investment Bank.
Wbd also confirmed the promotion of Nishi Chieko as VP,...
The role covers all operations in Japan including home entertainment, digital & TV licensing, consumer products, anime production, franchise and pay-tv networks, but excluding theatrical and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo: The Making of Harry Potter business.
Marini joins Wbd with 25+ years’ experience in leadership across media and technology companies in Japan, China and the U.S. Most recently, he founded global mobile platform Mangamo, offering one of the largest mobile manga libraries to fans worldwide. Prior to this, Marini was Gm, Japan for gaming company Supercell, and CEO for Hulu Japan, where he successfully oversaw the streaming platform’s development and growth into one of the country’s leading services. He has held additional leadership positions at Avex Group Holdings Inc., Universal Studios and Mitsui-Sumitomo Investment Bank.
Wbd also confirmed the promotion of Nishi Chieko as VP,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety - Film News
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