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S. Craig Zahler‘s first film since 2018’s “Dragged Across Concrete” is still on the way, but with a new co-lead.

Read More: ‘The Bookie & The Bruiser’: Vince Vaughn & Adrien Brody Will Star In S. Craig Zahler’s New Crime Drama

Variety reports that Theo James will replace Adrien Brody alongside Vince Vaughn in “The Bookie & The Bruiser,” the “Bone Tomahawk‘ director’s upcoming gangster period piece.

Continue reading Theo James Joins S. Craig Zahler’s ‘The Bookie & The Bruiser,’ Replacing Adrien Brody at The Playlist.

Big casting news for Vince Vaughn‘s upcoming gangster thriller, The Bookie & the Bruiser, is upon us! Theo James is joining Vince Vaughn for the upcoming feature about living life dangerously in New York City in the 1950s.

The Bookie & the Bruiser finds Vaughn reuniting with S. Craig Zahler, who directed the actor’s Brawl in Cell Block 99 and Dragged Across Concrete. Like the films above, Zahler will write and direct The Bookie & the Bruiser with Academy Award-winner Anthony Katagas producing via Keep Your Head Productions alongside Dave Caplan.

The Bookie & the Bruiser is set in 1959 New York City and features a pensive, Jewish fellow named Rivner (James) and an oversized Italian American tough named Boscolo (Vaughn). Having served in World War II, the two return as changed men, no longer fitting into their old lives. Unwilling to take orders or play by the rules of polite society,...

Theo James's stock continues to rise as the Buckinghamshire-born British actor adds another project to his string of upcoming roles, officially taking over from Adrien Brody in The Bookie and the Bruiser, a new period crime thriller from Bone Tomahawk director S. Craig Zahler. The ever-busy James will step in to take over from the departing Brody, who leaves the project just two months on from his second Best Actor Academy Award win for his portrayal of Holocaust survivor László Tóth in Brady Corbet's The Brutalist.

The upcoming movie will see James star alongside Vince Vaughn in Zahler's fourth feature, with his previous two, 2018's Dragged Across Concrete and 2017's Brawl in Cell Block 99, also starring Vaughn. The movie is set in 1959 New York City and features the thoughtful Jewish Rivner (James) and Vaughn's rough and tough Italian American, Boscolo. After serving in the Second World War,...

Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn joined forces for this criminally overlooked thriller, which has finally found success thanks to free streaming. Released back in 2018, the crime thriller Dragged Across Concrete finds the pair as cops who, in desperate need of money after being suspended over footage of them assaulting a suspect, must descend into the criminal underworld. It’s a dark thriller that will leave you feeling dirty thanks to all the grit and violence, and is well worth checking out. As many clearly now are.

Written and directed by S. Craig Zahler, Dragged Across Concrete features an ensemble cast that includes Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Jennifer Carpenter, Laurie Holden, Fred Melamed, Thomas Kretschmann, and Don Johnson alongside Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn. Dragged Across Concrete is now streaming on Freevee, and has reached #6 in the platform’s top 10. You can check out the official synopsis below.

RelatedJason Statham...

The upcoming addition to the Dexterfranchise, Dexter: Resurrection, has fans eagerly anticipating new info dumps related to the Showtime series. So far, the cast news is shaping up to be exciting, with several original series members confirmed to reprise their roles. Michael C. Hall is returning to play the fan-favorite anti-hero, with David Zayas and James Remar also playing their respective roles as Angel Batista and Harry Morgan. Additionally, New Blood’s Jack Alcott will play Dexter’s son, Harrison. Jennifer Carpenter, who was on Showtime’s spin-off, Dexter: New Blood, has finally spoken up about whether she will be part of the Dexter: Resurrection cast.

Carpenter played the role of Debra Morgan in Dexter. She is the adoptive sister of the main character; a tough and determined Miami Metro Police Department detective who would often rely on Dexter’s expertise to solve complex murder cases because of her own inexperience and insecurities.

Nine years after the biopic Hacksaw Ridge (2016), starring Andrew Garfield as a Seventh-Day Adventist and pacifist who's called to the battlefield, Mel Gibson returns to the director's chair with American Hairlines, I mean, Flight Risk. The film stars Mark Wahlberg as Daryl Booth, a hitman marked by male pattern baldness and a penchant for torture. Joining the gleeful sadist on this bumpy ride, we have Michelle Dockery portraying a beleaguered Deputy U.S. Marshal and Topher Grace as mob accountant-turned-witness. It's a single-location three-hander with a hook, and it couldn't be less of a piece with the rest of Gibson's directorial efforts. His previous credits include the multi-award-winning Braveheart (1995), in which he also starred, the controversial mega-hit The Passion of the Christ (2004), and the controversial yet slightly-less-successful-than-Passion-though-still-a-hit Apocalypto (2006). If one thing is resoundingly clear looking at Gibson's body of work, it's that he favors the pictures with an epic heft.

Despite her twenty-year acting career, Jennifer Carpenter is most recognizable as Debra Morgan from the Showtime series Dexter. The show allowed Carpenter to display her wide range of flexibility from a hard-nosed police officer to a sarcastic and loving sister, all of which carried over to subsequent projects. While the role has been her most acclaimed to date, Carpenter has had success in both film and television since Dexter ended in 2013.

Before receiving the part that would land her a Saturn Award, Jennifer Carpenter starred in both The Exorcism of Emily Rose and White Chicks. Both films went on to achieve cult classic notoriety. Carpenter's dark performance as Emily Rose may have well-prepared her for the dismal content of Dexter, while the comedic lightheartedness of the Wayans Bros' White Chicks could have laid the groundwork for the nuance within Debra Morgan's character.

Related Dexter Cast & Where They Are Now

The...

The release date for 1923 season 2 has been revealed. A prequel to Yellowstone from franchise creator Taylor Sheridan, the Paramount+ series features Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren and serves as a sequel to 1883. The story centers around the Dutton family during the titular year, which included the Western Expansion, Prohibition, and the Great Depression. It quickly broke records for Paramount+, paving the way for a renewal, but 1923 season 2 has been delayed due to the impact of the writers' and actors' strikes.

It has now been confirmed that 1923 season 2 will premiere on Paramount+ on February 23. The news about season 2's release date comes along with the announcement that the first season of the prequel will begin airing on Paramount Network, the original home of Yellowstone, as of December 8.

What This Means For 1923 Season 2 Challenges Face Jacob & Cara

In the upcoming installment of the Paramount+ hit, Jacob (Ford) and Cara (Mirren) face...

Few filmmakers within the last decade have announced themselves quite like S. Craig Zahler, an idiosyncratic artist known for pushing the boundaries of “extreme cinema.” Zahler certainly earned acclaim for his bone-crushing action thriller Brawl in Cell Block 99 and his police drama Dragged Across Concrete, but it was his terrifying debut, Bone Tomahawk, that established him as a filmmaker to watch. Prior to Bone Tomahawk, Zahler was a fairly prominent novelist and initially planned to adapt his Western novel Wraiths of the Broken Land. Although Zahler was unable to put together the finances needed to make his adaptation, Wraiths of the Broken Land was almost turned into a movie directed by Ridley Scott.

Content warning: This article includes references to torture, cannibalism, suicide, incest, sexual assault, and murder.

2015s Western horror Bone Tomahawk features a brutally dark depiction of the Old West, but the movies twists and turns arent clearly explained before the grim ending. Bone Tomahawk is the directorial debut of S. Craig Zahler, who went on to direct Brawl in Cell Block 99 and Dragged Across Concrete. Bone Tomahawk divided critics upon release, earning praise for its unflinching brutality but criticism for its questionable representation. Earning less than $500,000 at the box office on a budget of $1.8 million, Bone Tomahawk is one of many Western box office bombs from the early decades of the 21st century.

While the movies fusion of horror and Western elements may have driven away viewers, Bone Tomahawks cast of characters are still a compelling group. The movies plot sees Kurt Russells taciturn Sheriff Franklin Hunt lead a group...

Armie Hammer’s exile from the film industry appears to be over.

The actor — who hasn’t acted in more than three years following sexual assault allegations that arose in 2021 — has landed a key role in upcoming Western “Frontier Crucible.”

From “Bone Tomahawk” and “Dragged Across Concrete” producer Dallas Sonnier, the film comes from Sonnier’s Bonfire Legend banner and will be directed by Travis Mills (“The Pendragon Cycle”). Thomas Jane (“Boogie Nights”) also stars, alongside Myles Clohessy (“The Pendragon Cycle”), Eli Brown (“Run Hide Fight”), Eddie Spears (“Yellowstone”) and Zane Holtz (“Hunter Killer”), singer-songwriter Jonah Kagen and newcomer Mary Stickley.

“I’ve made a career out of smashing taboos, while always striving for great cinema,” Sonnier said in a statement. “This moment is the perfect mix of my two dedications. I cannot wait to work with Armie Hammer on this incredible western, a genre I adore.”

Hammer shared photos...

Armie Hammer is returning to the big screen after his Hollywood career came crashing down around him amid numerous sexual misconduct allegations.

Hammer is set to star in Frontier Crucible, a period western from director Travis Mills and producer Dallas Sonnier.

“I’ve built a career producing masculine indie movies, such as Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99, Dragged Across Concrete, Muzzle and The Standoff at Sparrow Creek and worked with legendary actors including Kurt Russell, Vince Vaughn, Mel Gibson, Jason Sudeikis, Guy Pearce, Aaron Eckhart, Don Johnson, Stephen Lang, James Badge Dale, Steve Austin, and more. And, now, I’m pumped to work with Armie Hammer on Frontier Crucible,” Sonnier told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday in a statement.

Hammer teased his big screen return on his Instagram page with photos of himself on the Frontier Crucible set and a front page of the movie’s script on the ground.

Armie Hammer’s outlaw days in Hollywood are coming to an end, thanks to indie Western film “Frontier Crucible.”

Hammer will return to acting for the first time since being accused of sexual assault in 2021. After the allegations, which also suggested Hammer had cannibalistic tendencies, the “Call Me by Your Name” star was dropped from roles in Amazon’s “Shotgun Wedding,” Paramount’s “The Offer,” Starz’s “Gaslit,” and Broadway’s “The Minutes.” The accusations were investigated by the LAPD; no charges were filed.

Now, after Hammer has said he was “not welcome” in Hollywood anymore, the “Lone Ranger” actor is playing one of three outlaw criminals for “Frontier Crucible.”

The feature is produced by “Bone Tomahawk” and “Dragged Across Concrete” producer Dallas Sonnier, and is being billed as “Reservoir Dogs” meets “Bone Tomahawk.” The film is set in the Arizona Territory of the 1870s, and follows a former soldier...

Exclusive: Armie Hammer, who hasn’t acted in more than three years following 2021 sexual assault allegations, is set to return to a film set with western Frontier Crucible.

This is the project we revealed yesterday, starring Thomas Jane (The Predator) and produced by Bone Tomahawk and Dragged Across Concrete producer Dallas Sonnier. Filming is due to get underway on the independently-financed film next month in Monument Valley and Prescott, Arizona.

Hammer’s A-list Hollywood career was derailed back in 2021 when multiple women came forward with claims of abuse against him. Hammer denied the allegations but had to abandon several projects and was dropped by his talent agency and publicist. After an investigation into Hammer by the LA County District Attorney and LAPD, they declined to pursue criminal charges against him, citing insufficient evidence. He remains without representation other than his lawyer.

On Monday, The Social Network, Lone Ranger and Call Me By Your Name...

Armie Hammer is going the way of Kevin Spacey and Johnny Depp. Unfortunately, in 2024, that means "Armie Hammer is starring in a movie again" and not "Armie Hammer is leaving us alone." According to a new report from Deadline, the controversial actor has landed his first role in more than three years in Frontier Crucible,...

Exclusive: Thomas Jane (The Predator) is among cast set for western Frontier Crucible, which is due to get underway next month in Monument Valley and Prescott, Arizona.

Also starring in the film will be Myles Clohessy (The Pendragon Cycle), Eli Brown (Run Hide Fight), Eddie Spears (Yellowstone) and Zane Holtz (Hunter Killer), singer/songwriter Jonah Kagen and Australian newcomer Mary Stickley.

Dallas Sonnier’s outfit Bonfire Legend is behind the film which will be directed by Travis Mills (The Pendragon Cycle) and adapted from the 1961 western novel Desert Stake-Out by Harry Whittington. Maxime Alexandre (Shazam!) will be the cinematographer.

Pitched as Reservoir Dogs meets Bone Tomahawk (produced by Sonnier), and set in the Arizona Territory of the 1870s, the film will follow a former soldier (Clohessy) with a tragic past who is thrown into an uneasy alliance with three outlaws (led by Jane), a beautiful woman (Stickley), and her wounded...

Andrew Garfield learned a lot from Mel Gibson on the set of 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge and says the filmmaker should continue making films.

The We Live In Time actor, who is Jewish, feels that everyone deserves opportunities to grow and learn from their past mistakes, including Gibson following his antisemitic comments.

“I learned a lot, actually. I learned that people can heal. I learned that people can change, that people can get help,” Garfield said about working with Gibson. “I learned that everyone deserves respect. And that people deserve second chances, third chances, fourth chances. That none of us are infallible.”

Garfield noted that Gibson has “done a lot of beautiful healing with himself,” adding, “And thank God. Because he’s an amazing filmmaker, and I think he deserves to make films. He deserves to tell stories, because he has a very, very big, compassionate heart.”

“He’s the kind...

Hacksaw Ridge star Andrew Garfield defends controversial director Mel Gibson after having a positive experience on set. Released in 2016, the World War II movie stars Garfield as pacifist Army medic Desmond T. Doss, who became the first soldier to receive a Medal of Honor despite not firing his rifle. Hacksaw Ridge, which was well-received by critics and audiences, features Gibson in the director's chair, years after the movie star was widely criticized for an anti-Semitic rant that was caught on camera during a 2006 arrest.

During a recent interview with People, Garfield, who is Jewish, reflects on his experience with Gibson filming Hacksaw Ridge, arguing that the figure deserves to continue to make movies. Garfield reveals that, prior to accepting the role, he had "deep, important conversations" with Gibson, before praising the director's personal growth and advocating for people to be given second chances. According to Garfield, the controversial director is a "real empathetic guy.

Ridley Scotts long-gestating Western novel adaptation would be the perfect movie follow-up to the Kurt Russell-starring Old West cannibal thriller Bone Tomahawk. Although it wasnt a massive hit on its initial release in 2015, in the decade since, Bone Tomahawk has become a beloved cult classic. It starts off as a typical Western, with a search party riding out into the frontier to find three missing townspeople, but it morphs into a gruesome horror film when they encounter a bloodthirsty tribe of cave-dwelling cannibals.

Bone Tomahawk marked the directorial debut of novelist S. Craig Zahler. Zahler has since gone on to direct similarly gruesome, violent thrillers like Brawl in Cell Block 99 and Dragged Across Concrete, but hes never returned to the Western genre. So, Bone Tomahawk fans hoping to see another grisly, blood-drenched Western from Zahlers twisted mind have had no luck. But there is a Zahler-adjacent Western project...

Exclusive: Jackie Cruz (Orange Is the New Black), Penelope Mitchell (Oh Canada) and Jeff Adler (Greyhound) will round out the cast of Woozy, the forthcoming indie horror pic marking the feature debut of writer-director Joey Bicicchi, on which we were first to report.

Details as to the roles to be played by the trio haven’t been disclosed. Production on the film is currently underway in New Jersey.

Woozy is a film that tells of unhealthy coping mechanisms and the battle against fears, depression, phobias, and delusions. Dusty (Hirsch) has deliberately structured his life, through meditation, yoga, boxing, nutrition, and hygiene, to create a clean and safe environment. But what happens when Dusty’s flawless system fails? Out comes Woozy, a horrifying apparition who torments Dusty.

Pic’s producers include Keith Kjarval for Unified Pictures, Lalit Bhatnagar (One Amazing Thing) for Imagination Infinite Productions,...

Unified Pictures has partnered with ReDefine Animation for The Ark and the Aardvark, the latest animated feature from Kung Fu Panda co-director John Stevenson.

ReDefine Animation is part of the Dneg Group, the London-based visual affects company. The animation division was responsible for the work on last year’s Nimona, which earned an Academy Award nomination for best animated feature, as well as The Garfield Movie. Dneg recently received $200 million in funding from Abu Dhabi-based Vc firm United Al Saqer Group for IP development, a new production studio in Abu Dhabi, and the creation of a new arm centered on AI technology.

The feature is already in production and ReDefine, which was chosen for its artistry, experience and scale, will act as a finishing company, working with Unified’s LA based animation team.

Aardvark explores the famed story of Noah’s Ark from the perspective of the animals and tells the story of an outcast aardvark,...

Vince Vaughn has the support of his family on his big day!

The 54-year-old Wedding Crashers actor was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday (August 12) in Los Angeles.

Vince had the support of his wife Kyla Weber and their two kids, daughter Locklyn, 13, and son Vernon, 11, at the event along with sisters Victoria and Valeri and parents Vernon and Sharon.

During the ceremony, Vince gave his family a special shout-out for being by his side as he received the special honor.

Keep reading to find out more…“My beautiful wife Kyla, I’m so glad that you’re with me on this now, I’m so grateful for you and these beautiful kids and for all the laughter that we share together,” Vince said, via People. “As much as all this means, Vernon and Locklyn, you guys really do need to know that you...

S. Craig Zahler has proven to be one of the boldest, albeit controversial, voices in genre cinema to emerge within the past decade. It often takes a standout directorial debut for filmmakers to identify themselves. Zahler certainly did that with his 2015 horror western Bone Tomahawk, which is regarded as one of the most violent films in recent memory. Any notion that Zahler was going to sand off his edges as he worked on bigger projects evaporated upon the release of his brutal prison movie Brawl in Cell Block 99, which featured an unusually gritty performance from Vince Vaughn as an incarcerated criminal setup on an undercover mission. While pairing up the former star of Fred Claus with an uncompromising voice of exploitation cinema seemed odd at first, Brawl in Cell Block 99 proved to be no fluke. Vaughn reteamed with his Brawl in Cell Block 99 director for the controversial cop thriller Dragged Across Concrete.

Exclusive: The Into the Wild actor is starring in the indie horror movie Woozy which starts shooting this month in New Jersey. Emile Hirsch will star in the Joey Bicicchi directed and written feature, which reps the filmmaker’s feature directorial debut.

Woozy is billed as a movie that tells of unhealthy coping mechanisms and the battle against fears, depression, phobias, and delusions. Hirsch plays Dusty, who has deliberately structured his life, through meditation, yoga, boxing, nutrition, and hygiene, to create a clean and safe environment. What happens when Dusty’s flawless system fails? Woozy appears – a horrifying apparition who torments Dusty.

Keith Kjarval is producing through his Unified Pictures label. Lalit Bhatnagar (One Amazing Thing) through his Imagination Infinite production company and Gary Michael Schultz are also set as producers on the...

Bone Tomahawk, now on Netflix, is an intense Western horror film with a star-studded cast. Director S. Craig Zahler brings tension and slow-burn storytelling, earning positive reviews for the movie. The success of Bone Tomahawk relies on the strong plot and acting, making it a unique and unforgettable experience on screen.

Netflix is now streaming the Western horror movie, Bone Tomahawk, which includes a star-studded cast led by Kurt Russell. The 2015 movie is the directorial debut of S. Craig Zahler, who has since made Brawl in Cell Block 99 and Dragged Across Concrete. Bone Tomahawk tells the story of Sheriff Franklin Hunt as he gathers a team to go save three people who have been kidnapped by a cannibalistic cult of Indigenous people. Upon its release, the movie earned positive reviews, praising the acting and slow-burn storytelling. Bone Tomahawk has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Bone Tomahawk's success is reliant on...

The first trailer for Bad Monkey is released by Apple TV+, showcasing Vince Vaughn's return to the small screen. Vaughn's character must solve a murder mystery to get redemption, with a plot full of twists and comedic moments. Bad Monkey seems to highlight Vaughn's talents well, with a mix of comedy and drama in the upcoming series premiering on August 14.

Apple TV+ has released the first trailer for its upcoming series Bad Monkey. Based on the 2013 novel by Carl Hiaasen of the same name, the series will follow Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn), a former Miami detective who has relocated. After a tourist reels in a dismembered human arm, Andrew is drawn back into the game with hopes of solving the murder mystery and getting his redemption. The rest of the ensemble cast includes L. Scott Caldwell, Rob Delaney, Meredith Hagner, Natalie Martinez, Alex Moffat, Michelle Monaghan, and Roland Peet.

Dexter alum Jennifer Carpenter joins 1923 as U.S. Deputy Marshall Mamie Fossett The series by Taylor Sheridan moves filming to Texas for season two 1923 continues the Yellowstone franchise, with season two expected to premiere in 2025.

The second season of 1923 begins filming in Texas in July, and producers of the series have announced its first major new cast member. Dexter alum Jennifer Carpenter is joining the cast as U.S. Deputy Marshall Mamie Fossett, according to a report by Deadline. She will appear in multiple episodes of season two, alongside stars Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, who play Jacob and Cara Dutton.

Carpenter's Marshall Fossett is described in the report as a "highly capable U.S. Deputy Marshall who serves warrants and makes arrests with confidence ahead of her time." As the start of production nears on the series, more new cast members are expected to be announced.

Related 1923 Cast and...

Exclusive: Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) has been cast in the Paramount+ series 1923 in a recurring role for Season 2. Production is set to begin later this year.

She will portray ‘Mamie Fossett,’ a highly capable U.S. Deputy Marshall who serves warrants and makes arrests with confidence ahead of her time.

1923 introduces a new generation of Duttons and explores the early 20th century when pandemics, historic drought and the end of Prohibition all plague the Mountain West and the Duttons who call it home.

Season 1 starred Helen Mirren, Harrison Ford, Brandon Sklenar, Aminah Nieves, Darren Mann, Brian Geraghty, Sebastian Roche, Jennifer Ehle, Marley Shelton and Robert Patrick, among others.

Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios, the series is executive produced by Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan, David C. Glasser, John Linson, Art Linson, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, Bob Yari, Ben Richardson, Michael Friedman and Keith Cox.

Season 1 is available to stream on Paramount+.

The Cannes Film Festival is bracing for what could be its most disruptive edition in decades, with freelance festival employees threatening strike action that could derail the opening night ceremony, and the entire French industry on tenterhooks ahead of an expected new wave of #MeToo allegations against some of the country’s biggest stars, including a few with films in competition this year.

Well, at least the market looks promising. Judging by the number and quality of projects pitching at the 2024 Cannes film market (May 14-22), this could be a banner year for the Marché du Film.

“The pre-sales market is back in a big way,” notes Janina Vilsmaier, senior vp of sales and distribution at Protagonist Pictures, whose Cannes slate includes Simon Curtis’ best-agers comedy Encore starring Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, Henry Winkler, and Don Johnson, and Jimpa, the upcoming feature from Good Luck to You, Leo Grande director...

A few weeks ago, it looked like S Craig Zahler would be making the noir thriller The Big Stone Grid as his first movie since Dragged Across Concrete back in 2018. Now, it turns out that Zahler will indeed be making a new film, but it will be an all-new project that re-teams him with his frequent star Vince Vaughn. The movie The Bookie and the Bruiser is a period crime flick that teams Vaughn with Adrien Brody, and the film is set to be shot later this year.

According to the release from Anton, the company financing the film, “The Bookie & the Bruiser is set in 1959 New York City and features a pensive, Jewish fellow named Rivner and an oversized Italian-American tough named Boscolo from the Lower East Side, both of whom served overseas in World War II and returned changed men who no longer fit inside the lives they’d left behind.

Bone Tomahawk and Dragged Across Concrete writer-director S Craig Zahler has a new film in the works. The Bookie & The Bruiser will star Vince Vaughn and Adrien Brody.

Ever since he made his eye-catching debut with 2015’s horror western Bone Tomahawk, S Craig Zahler has established himself as a specialist of tense, gritty films about tough men backed into even tougher situations.

Zahler’s latest project, The Bookie & The Bruiser, sounds similarly uncompromising. A period piece set in late 50s New York, it’s about two World War II veterans, one Jewish, one Italian, who team up to create an “illicit gambling operation”. Their new enterprise soon gets them in trouble with Irish gangsters and the Mafia.

According to Variety, Zahler has signed up his regular collaborator Vince Vaughn, who starred in Brawl In Cell Block 99 and Dragged Across Concrete (pictured above), to appear in this latest project. Given his stature,...

It was just a few weeks ago we reported S. Craig Zahler had two potential features lined up, one was of his long-in-the-works script for The Big Stone Grid, which Michael Mann was once attached to. The other was an original project he was hoping to get financed. It looks like the latter one is moving ahead and we have the first details today.

Zahler will next direct the crime thriller The Bookie & the Bruiser, featuring a reteam with his Brawl in Cell Block 99 and Dragged Across Concrete star Vince Vaughn, who will star alongside Adrien Brody. Here’s the synopsis: “The Bookie & the Bruiser is set in 1959 New York City and features a pensive, Jewish fellow named Rivner and an oversized Italian-American tough named Boscolo from the Lower East Side, both of whom served overseas in World War II and returned changed men who no longer fit inside the lives they’d left behind.

Writer-director S. Craig Zahler (“Bone Tomahawk”) is set to reunite with his “Dragged Across Concrete” and “Brawl in Cell Block 99” star Vince Vaughn and Oscar winner Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”) for upcoming crime thriller “The Bookie & the Bruiser.”

Anton will introduce the film to international distributors at the upcoming Marche du Film in Cannes. UTA Independent Film Group and Range Media Partners arranged the financing and will be representing the North American distribution rights.

Set in 1959 New York, “The Bookie & the Bruiser” follows a pensive, Jewish fellow named Rivner and an oversized Italian-American tough named Boscolo from the Lower East Side, both of whom served overseas during WWII and returned changed men who no longer fit inside the lives they’d left behind. Uninterested in taking orders from bosses or playing by the rules of polite society, the two friends partner up as a bookmaker and an enforcer and...

Writer/director S. Craig Zahler made quite the splash with his gnarly genre films “Bone Tomahawk,” “Brawl In Cellblock 99,” cementing himself as an auteur with a very particular point of view. It’s been almost six years since 2018’s cops and robbers thriller “Dragged Across Concrete,” and if you’re curious about what Zahler is up to next, well, he’s delivered an overdue update in trying to clear up some misinformation.

Continue reading S. Craig Zahler Has Two Movies In The Works, & Says Michael Mann Cop Thriller ‘The Big Stone Grid’ Won’t Be Next at The Playlist.

After directing three films in four years with Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99, and Dragged Across Concrete, it’s now been six long years since the latest new feature from S. Craig Zahler. While he’s chimed in on his recent avorite films and beyond, it’s been fairly silent regarding his next potential project. We now finally have an update on what’s on his plate.

“A number of articles have announced The Big Stone Grid as my next picture, which is not quite correct,” Zahler noted on his blog. “I am sending that script around as a possible fifth movie, but I’ve made far more progress with another different original project to direct for my fourth one: I am negotiating deals to see if it will become a reality. I will give more information about this when things are more certain. Continue to look here for my next movie announcement.

Mel Gibson credits Robert Downey Jr. for giving him second chance in Hollywood after facing career-ending backlash in 2006. Downey Jr. defended Gibson at the 2011 American Cinematheque Awards, encouraging industry to forgive and offer clean slate. Both actors have faced troubles in past but have made successful comebacks in Hollywood.

Academy Award winner and controversial Hollywood star Mel Gibson has thanked his friend and Air America co-star Robert Downey Jr. for urging the industry to give him a second chance following his arrest and antisemitic remarks back in 2006. As part of Esquire’s recent cover story on the Iron Man star, Gibson heaped praise on Downey Jr., calling him “bold and generous and kind.”

“One time, I got into a bit of a sticky situation where it kind of ended my career. I was drunk in the back of a police car and I said some stupid s--t, and all of a sudden: blacklisted.

Way back in 2011, Sony Pictures acquired a spec script titled The Big Stone Grid, which was written by S. Craig Zahler – who is best known these days for writing and directing the films Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99, and Dragged Across Concrete. As of early 2012, Michael Mann was in talks to work on script revisions with Zahler and to direct the film. The Mann take on the material didn’t come to fruition, and four years later the project moved over to Lotus Entertainment, with Pierre Morel on board to direct. Morel couldn’t get it into production, either. Eight more years down the line, World of Reel reports that Zahler is now set to direct the film himself.

Part of the reason why Zahler has gone six years without directing a new film is the fact that the project he was pursuing, Hug Chickenpenny (an adaptation of...

European production powerhouse StudioCanal has announced the launch of its first-ever genre label and has appointed former Studiocanal UK exec Jed Benedict to run it.

Benedict held various positions at Studiocanal from 2012 through 2020 including as senior acquisitions manager in the U.K., picking up such titles as David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water, Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan, S. Craig Zahler’s Dragged Across Concrete, and Thomas Vinterberg’s Oscar winner Another Round. In 2020, Benedict shifted to Danny Perkins’ CAA-backed U.K. distributor Elysian Film Group, becoming its head of acquisitions and development.

Benedict will be based in the U.K. and report to StudioCanal’s executive vp, global production Ron Halpern. The new, as-yet-unnamed genre label will encompass film and TV series development, production, and distribution, focusing on exploiting StudioCanal’s catalog of some 9,000 titles across a century of movie history. In a statement, Benedict said...

We recently learned that five years after Dragged Across Concrete, S. Craig Zahler will soon announce his next feature. In the meantime, the director has unveiled his favorite music, books, and––most pertinent to this site––films he watched in the past year.

The 21-movie list includes not only his ten favorites of the year but revival screenings as well, including Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky’s Werckmeister Harmonies, Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri, Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible, Nagisa Ôshima’s The Pleasures of the Flesh, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria, and William Friedkin’s The Exorcist.

When it comes to new releases, amongst the favorites of the Bone Tomahawk director were Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw, Skinamarink, Godzilla Minus One, the Indian action-thriller Jawan, films by Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Glazer, and the latest in the Saw franchise.

Check out the list below.

Godzilla Minus One...

On the heels of a certain Paper of Record’s basically inscrutable insistence that January is actually a good month, it is perhaps tempting to double-down on despair through such a gray (and increasingly soaked) period. Take some small hearth of solace at a slate of moving-image projects being worked into the world. Additional details are scarce but: Production Weekly confirms that Jordan Peele’s next film, recently delayed from its Christmas Day 2024 slot, will begin shooting this summer while Medien Brandenburg-Berlin lists Wes Anderson’s next film––The Phoenician Scheme––as “the story of a family and a family business.” Shooting for Anderson’s film, set to star Michael Cera, Benicio Del Toro, and the recently announced Bill Murray, is slated to begin this April, so expect a 2025 release.

More concrete confirmation comes straight from the filmmaker’s mouth, as Jonathan Glazer tells the Los Angeles Times that his...

S. Craig Zahler is a standout in the crime genre, with three films that offer different perspectives on crime and showcase his gritty, violent storytelling. Zahler's mastery of various art forms, including writing, directing, and scoring, adds to his claim as the best crime director of his generation. While Zahler's penchant for violence is controversial and polarizing, his ability to draw unforgettable performances and his unique take on the genre make him a fascinating and niche talent in the crime genre.

Director S. Craig Zahler has made a name for himself for his gritty crime-driven stories infused with graphic violence, with many going as far as calling him the best crime director of his generation. This is an impressive claim off the back of three films, but each offers a different look into the world of crime. This includes the dark Western Bone Tomahawk, the ultraviolent tale of an incarcerated...

"Dragged Across Concrete" is a divisive neo-noir cop thriller with a shocking ending. Critics praised Mel Gibson's performance but some called the movie racist and misogynistic. It can be streamed on Netflix or rented/bought on major platforms like Apple TV, Google Play, and more.

What did the critics say about the film, Dragged Across Concrete, and where can it be streamed? Directed by S. Craig Zahler, Dragged Across Concrete is a neo-noir cop heist thriller that follows two detectives named Brett Ridgeman (Mel Gibson) and Anthony Lurasetti (Vince Vaughn) who are suspended from the police department due to committing police brutality. In a desperate attempt to earn quick money, the two disgraced detectives team up with a thief named Lorentz Vogelmann (Thomas Kretschmann) and become involved in a bank robbery.

However, while Ridgeman and Lurasetti are the main characters of the film, Dragged Across Concrete also focuses on...

Dragged Across Concrete takes a unique approach to violence in crime films, focusing on brief yet shocking moments that strip away any glorification and instead convey a sense of realism. The film explores the real-life implications of violence, showcasing the unfairness and impact on innocent bystanders. One particularly tragic scene highlights the effects of criminal acts on the innocent. Through the stories of flawed characters, Dragged Across Concrete delves into the cycle of violence and the desperate actions individuals are willing to take for the sake of their family. The inclusion of gore emphasizes their extreme desperation and moral conflicts.

Dragged Across Concrete marked the third film from the crime-thriller standout director S. Craig Zahler, following Bone Tomahawk and Riot in Cellblock 99. It follows two cops, Brett Ridgeman (Mel Gibson) and Anthony Lurasetti (Vince Vaughn), as well as intertwining stories of a killer on a spree and a once incarcerated man returning home,...

Samuel L. Jackson will star as an action hero President under attack in the upcoming movie "The Beast" that will be showcased at TIFF. The film revolves around Jackson's character uncovering the President's state car's classified offensive capabilities to save his life and America. "The Beast" is not the first time Jackson has played the President; he previously portrayed a stranded president in "Big Game."

Rejoice! Hollywood icon Samuel L. Jackson has been elected Potus (President of the United States) in the upcoming action movie, The Beast. The project, which will find Jackson starring as an action hero President who finds himself under attack while in his presidential state car, will go to market at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and comes courtesy of WME Independent.

“When a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup against the U.S., the president (Jackson) uncovers the extent of The Beast’s highly classified offensive capabilities,...

Exclusive: Amid some uncertainty over the level of pre-sales business possible at Toronto and the AFM due to the strikes, a handful of packages are beginning to emerge.

The first significant project to be revealed for the TIFF market is WME Independent package The Beast, which has The Avengers and The Marvels star Samuel L. Jackson in talks alongside Suicide Squad actor Joel Kinnaman.

The project, which is in pre-production and has an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA, was packaged prior to the strikes kicking off, we’re told.

The film’s title refers to its subject: a Presidential limousine nicknamed ‘The Beast’ by the Secret Service. The impenetrable tank is stocked with grenades, shotguns, armor-plating and bullet-and-bomb-proofing.

When a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup against the U.S. presidency, the President (Jackson) uncovers the extent of The Beast’s highly classified offensive capabilities. Separated from his wife, the...

When the clear-cut ethics of western movies turned out to be an idealized myth, the genre took a violent turn with rougher, bloodier visions of life in the Old West. The western genre started out with an optimistic view of justice and a morally black-and-white perspective of good versus evil. However, as time went on and the world became a lot more complicated, filmmakers challenged these tropes and conventions with morally gray antiheroes, real hardship on the frontier, and lots and lots of blood. Directors like Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Corbucci upended the genre’s traditions to deliver darker, grittier, and bloodier western movies.

There are a lot of spaghetti westerns with no good guys and an abundance of bloodshed (such as Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars). There are movies that incorporate gory horror elements in the well-worn western traditions (like Bone Tomahawk). While there are also acid...

The Continental executive producers Basil Iwanyk and Albert Hughes explain why Mel Gibson was cast in the John Wick spinoff show despite his controversial past. After four hit films starring Keanu Reeves, the world of the John Wick franchise is set to expand with prequel The Continental. The upcoming three-part Peacock TV show follows a young Winston in the 1970s as he starts working at the New York location of the titular hotel chain, which is managed by Gibson's Cormac.

Ahead of The Continental's release date later this fall, Iwanyk and Hughes defend their decision to cast Gibson in the show in a recent interview with IGN. When asked if Gibson's past controversies gave him pause when it came to casting, Iwanyk simply says, "No," before elaborating that "there just simply wasn't a consideration about it." Hughes offered a more in-depth explanation. Check out Hughes' comment below:

“No. I think he fit the role,...

Lionsgate has nabbed global distribution for “Flight Risk,” an action-thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and directed by Mel Gibson. This will mark the first film Gibson has directed since his blockbuster ($175 million on a $40 million budget) and Oscar-nominated “Hacksaw Ridge” in 2016. The mini-major will be launching the project, featuring Wahlberg as a pilot transporting a dangerous criminal for trial, at Cannes.

“We love the undeniable electric pairing of Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg,” Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Joe Drake said. “These world-class talents combining for this dynamic, character-driven film will make ‘Flight Risk’ one of the most suspense-filled, must-see events of the year.”

Wahlberg and Gibson have starred in a few projects together, including “Daddy’s Home 2” and last year’s faith-based “Father Stu.” Considering the number of high-concept or true-story action movies Wahlberg has made with director Peter Berg over the last decade, it is a mild surprise that Gibson will be in charge.

While Mel Gibson will reportedly direct Lethal Weapon 5, one recent addition to his filmography could prove bad news for the buddy cop sequel. Richard Donner was originally set to direct Lethal Weapon 5, but the legendary blockbuster veteran passed away in 2021. Donner directed the first four Lethal Weapon movies, as well as Superman and The Omen, making the filmmaker a consistent hit-maker in Hollywood and one of the more critically-celebrated blockbuster directors of the 1980s and 1990s. According to the actor himself, Mel Gibson will now both direct and star in Lethal Weapon 5.

However, Lethal Weapon 5’s new director is not as reliably well-liked as Donner. For one thing, Gibson has a long history of controversial comments, and has faced accusations revolving around homophobic, racist, misogynistic, and anti-Semitic remarks. For another, although his directorial efforts have been critically well-received, Gibson’s acting work has been less celebrated in recent decades.

Stars: William Baldwin, Arie Thompson, Michael Marce, Kennedy Porter, Noel G, Rashod Freelove, Emree Franklin | Written by Conor Dowling | Directed by Maximilian Elfeldt

Originally released in the US at the end of December 2021, with no fanfare, publicity, or (at the time) even an IMDb page, War of the Worlds: Annihilation is the latest film made by The Asylum exclusively for US streaming service Tubi and now making its UK debut via 101 Films. Like their first Tubi original film, Swim, I’ve found their films to be hit or miss, usually miss and the way this was originally dumped quietly in the middle of the holiday season didn’t do anything to make me hopeful about what I was about to watch.

A massive group of meteorites, which for some reason the characters keep calling asteroids, fall from the sky all over the globe releasing a strange toxic smoke. The military,...