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Following the recent passing of Maggie Smith on September 27, the world reflects on the rich legacy she leaves behind—a legacy that will forever be cherished in the hearts of her fans and colleagues. Although the legendary English actress was famously known for her role in the Harry Potter films and Downton Abby, it’s her final film The Miracle Club, released in 2023, that caught our attention.

Maggie Smith in The Miracle Club (2023) | image: Embankment Films

Serving as a beautiful tribute to her remarkable talent and the themes of friendship and love that permeate the narrative, The Miracle Club was apparently in development for nearly two decades. Embodying the relentless spirit of producers, Joshua D. Maurer and Alixandre Witlin, who navigated countless challenges to bring this heartfelt story to life, Maggie Smith’s last movie became a testament to perseverance.

The 18 Year Long Journey of Maggie Smith’s The Miracle Club...

Dame Maggie Smith has left behind a remarkable career with her passing on September 27, 2024, at the age of 89. Known for her versatility and sharp wit, she has appeared in over 70 stage plays and 60 films and television series, including her most famous roles as Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series and Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey. Maggie Smith has also seen critical acclaim throughout her career, earning two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and one Tony Award.

Since her passing, there has already been an absence felt by long-time fans of the actor. While fans can still enjoy The Queen of Sass in the Downton Abbey series on Netflix, Maggie Smith has also appeared in three movies you can watch on the platform.

The Miracle Club (2023)

Lionsgate UK

Set in 1967 Dublin, The Miracle Club follows the adventures...

The Miracle Club, starring Kathy Bates and Maggie Smith, is based on writer Jimmy Smallhorne's Irish upbringing in a quaint town. Smallhorne's passion project took 20 years to come to life, featuring an ensemble cast in a nostalgic 1960s Europe setting. While the characters are fictional, The Miracle Club pays homage to the resilient working-class Irish women of Smallhorne's youth.

Released in July 2023, The Miracle Club is a delightful Irish dramedy that stars Oscar-winners Kathy Bates and Dame Maggie Smith. Directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan, the story concerns a group of blue-collar women from Ballygar who embark on a journey from Dublin to Lourdes, France in 1967 to witness the enchanting market town known for its religious miracles. Along with Elieen (Smith) and Lily (Bates), the women are joined by Chrissie (Laura Linney) and Dolly (Agnes O'Casey) on a pilgrimage of enlightenment.

With The Miracle Club recently added to Netflix, more people...

Assest Sales Disclosure

Rights to the second season of Irish crime drama series “Hidden Assets” have been licensed by Dcd Rights. Buyers include the BBC for the U.K., Sbs and Stan for Australia, TV4 for Sweden and TV2 for Norway.

The 12-part series is produced by Saffron Moon, Facet4Media & Potemkino for Rte, Super Channel & Acorn TV, and was written by Peter McKenna, Morna Regan, Mary Fox and Marthy Thornton. It was co-directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan and leading Belgian director Kadir Ferati Balci (“Cold Courage”). The second season, which had co-funding from Screen Ireland and Creative Europe Media, was first transmitted on Rte Ireland in September this year.

It stars Nora-Jane Noone, Wouter Hendrickx and Simone Kirby. Series One also starred Angeline Ball.

The story picks up from the first season in which Irish investigators probed a series of bombings in Belgium. Personnel changes mean that the Criminal Assets Bureau...

Spanish distributors will present their international titles to exhibitors, broadcasters and platforms st the Merci market.

Seminci, the Valladolid International Film Week, will host an expanded third edition of Spain’s Independent Film Market for the first time from October 25-27.

Known as Merci Valladolid, the market is jointly organised by Seminci and the Association of Independent Film Distributors (Adicine).

The market used to be held at the Seville European Film Festival, which was previously run by Seminici’s new director José Luis Cienfuegos.

Sixteen Spanish independent distributors will present their international titles to exhibitors, television networks and platforms at Merci Valladolid.

As the trailer emerged for this Mumsey pleasing movie, you sit there and think do we really need another film like this? Is it worth Maggie Smith getting out of bed for this one?

The answer isn’t as straight forward. After absorbing this pleasantly heartwarming flick albeit, we can offer this warning: even Professor Mcgonagall can’t magic her way out this sickeningly sweet affair.

Thaddeus O’Sullivan directs The Miracle Club, a touching drama about three generations of women who embark on a spiritual journey of enlightenment and forgiveness. From the get go, this film exudes comfort and charisma as we follow the women of Ballygar from Dublin as they experience a well-earned dose of freedom by winning a pilgrimage to the holy French town of Lourdes. Yet, it becomes quickly apparent, greater strings are being pulled as we discover their local priest has fixed the cards and orchestrated...

Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s comedy-drama film, The Miracle Club, showcases a rather impressive screenplay that’s elevated by the cinematography. Set in 1967 Dublin, the film stars famous actors like Maggie Smith, Laura Linney, and Kathy Bates in the lead roles. The film’s beautiful message of retrieving long-lost bonds looms large throughout its narrative. The plot brings out the urge of some women in Dublin to go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. The unfortunate death of one of the friends in the circle brings her daughter to the town, who also embarks on the journey with the other women, and in the process, the rifts between them get resolved. Some of the most sought-after similar films on the miracles of pilgrimages include Pilgrimage, The Pilgrims, and others. Will the pilgrimage do miracles? Will the bath restore the long-lost health of the people visiting? Let’s find out!

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens In The Film?...

Competition comes from Paramount’s ‘Paw Patrol’ and ‘Sumotherhood’.

Pop icon Taylor Swift is looking to extend her cultural reach to cinemas this weekend, through the event cinema release of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

Opening in 651 UK-Ireland venues through Trafalgar Releasing, the film is a 168-minute recording of three Swift gigs from the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in August 2023, as part of Swift’s ongoing tour playing music from across her career.

It is the latest concert film from UK- and US-based director Sam Wrench, a former competitive slalom skier who has also directed BTS: Permission To Dance...

The Miracle Club, with a dream ensemble cast including Oscar-winning actors Dame Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey) and Kathy Bates (Misery), along with the great Laura Linney (Ozark) and Agnes O’Casey (Dangerous Liaisons), is a story about three generations of friendship set against the backdrop of faith and forgiveness. Together the four women embark on a pilgrimage from Dublin to the French town of Lourdes, where millions travel to annually in search of a miracle.

Set in 1967, the film isn’t necessarily a feminist one, however it drives home the point that women are not only the backbone of their families but, when united in friendship, they become truly powerful, even before it was accepted in society for them to be so.

The Our Lady of Lourdes Sanctuary is in the Pyrenees mountains, located in southwestern France. As a Catholic tradition of faith, the body of water in Lourdes is believed...

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has announced the fall programming, which includes new film series, public events, and education programs.

The museum will screen Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse Trilogy, which includes the world premiere of the 4K restoration of the 1997 film “Nowhere.” Moreover, the museum will host “Joe Alves: Designing Jaws,” a conversation and book signing on Sept. 9 with production designer Joe Alves and author Dennis Prince. Other screenings include newly scanned and restored versions of Fleischer cartoons every weekend of the fall season starting on Sept. 30. There will also be a Home Movie Day on Nov. 5 and programming and workshops focused on Indigenous voices, location and set design, portraiture, animation, and tactile filmmaking.

In advance of the opening of the new exhibit “John Waters: Pope of Trash,” the Academy Museum will show an extremely rare silent screening of his 1968 film “Eat Your Makeup,” featuring in-person live commentary from Waters himself.

The Miracle Club will move back into 200-300 movie theaters nationwide August 18 for the rest of the summer due to an “overwhelmingly positive response” from audiences that the distributor said translated into a demand for additional playdates.

The film by Irish director Thaddeus O’Sullivan with a starry ensemble cast opened July 14, the week before Barbie and Oppenheimer debuted, on 678 screens (to $688k). The screen count was down to 65 last weekend and will dip again this coming, before jumping back up.

The Miracle Club, which world-premiered at Tribeca in June, now has a cume of $1.729 million. It’s 84% Certified Fresh with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes and has strong word of mouth. Deadline’s review called it “a treat in store for older adult audiences.” However, Barbie and Oppenheimer have been unique blockbusters in many ways, including their crossover appeal with arthouse/adult audiences, where distributors were already fighting for screens.

Maggie Smith,...

by Cláudio Alves

Have you seen The Miracle Club yet? Thaddeus O'Sullivan's comedy has been in theaters for a week, and it's bound to bewitch actressexuals, showcasing performances from a cadre of lovely thespians. There's Kathy Bates and Laura Linney in what Matt St Clair described as a work of "unwavering grace and sly tenacity." There's also Maggie Smith, one of my favorite living actresses, delivering another late-career turn to remind viewers they shouldn't take her for granted. Sure, her decade-spanning portrayal of Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey seemed like a congealment of the actress's greatest hits. However, that doesn't mean Smith is a one-trick pony, that her filmography is without risk or variety.

To commemorate, let's make the two-time Oscar winner our subject for list-mania. So, dear reader, will you join me down Maggie Smith's extensive repertoire, searching for the top ten highlights? It's a vast scope of roles,...

[Editor’s note: The following interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike began on July 14, 2023.]

Laura Linney may miss the chaos of playing crime matriarch Wendy Byrde on Netflix’s “Ozark,” but her latest movie finds her yearning for the past in a decidedly less dark direction. In Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s 1960s-set Irish drama “The Miracle Club” (out now in theaters from Sony Pictures Classics), the four-time Emmy winner and three-time Oscar nominee plays Chrissie, an American woman on a prize-won trip to Lourdes with her estranged Irish friends (played by the likes of Kathy Bates and Maggie Smith). It’s a jaunty, frothy, deceptively light comedy about faith and friendship that could not be further from “Ozark”

But, as Linney explained in a relaxed chat with IndieWire over Zoom, the longtime New Yorker saw the script before the pandemic and long before she flew to Ireland to shoot the movie on location. So she wasn’t deliberately setting out to subvert the darkness of “Ozark,...

by Matt St Clair

Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s The Miracle Club is the latest entry in the multiverse involving pictures where elderly, award-winning actress legends unite Avengers-style for an adventure. However, compared to previous entries in the unofficial multiverse like Book Club, 80 for Brady, and Poms, The Miracle Club is a more profound effort. There are moments of humor to be found in this story about friends coming together for a potentially “last” trip to fulfill an unrealized dream or goal but The Miracle Club leans heavily on the dramatic side.

Set in 1960s Ireland, Oscar winners Kathy Bates and Dame Maggie Smith play Eileen and Lily, two close-knit friends from the working-class village of Ballygar...

Searchlight Pictures’ Sundance-winning original comedy Theater Camp will take in an estimated $281,172 or $46.9k per theater at six locations opening weekend — the best limited opening for the distributor since Jojo Rabbit in the fall of 2019 ($349k in five locations). That’s after the A CinemaScore film on Sunday pulled ahead of Searchlight’s The Banshees Of Inisherin four-theater debut last year.

The number’s higher than Searchlight anticipated and the demographic mix a surprise at over 50% 25-34 year-olds,” said SVP Frank Rodriguez. “We didn’t expect that. It was a young audience. We got a lot of the older demos too. It’s a great spot to be in.”

AMC Lincoln Square and Alamo Brooklyn led the way, with Theater Camp at each booking the second-highest weekend gross behind Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning. It took the top spot at the Angelika. LA locations are AMC Century City, the Grove and AMC Burbank.

Expressing solidarity with Hollywood actors on Day 1 of the SAG-AFTRA strike, specialty distributors polled were anxiously juggling opening weekend Q&As and movie premieres without talent. They were trying to clarify which actors on what international productions are SAG-AFTRA, bound by the guild, or neither. And, for those involved in production, trying to pin down the status of interim agreements for independent fare.

“I think we are all quite confused,” said one executive in the distribution space. “I’m trying to get SAG-AFTRA on the phone for a film we are opening in August. I have friends with films opening next Friday.” Individuals preferred not to be quoted given the sensitivity of the situation.

There’s much buzz around waivers, or interim agreements that SAG-AFTRA has said it will grant indie productions with zero studio/AMPTP ties. But there is still a lack of clarity around the application process and...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York (before the SAG-AFTRA strike was called), including red carpets for Barbie, Mission: Impossible and Theater Camp.

Barbie premiere

Greta Gerwig joined stars Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Issa Rae, Simu Liu, Michael Cera and Kate McKinnon, as well as soundtrack artists Billie Eilish, Finneas, Dua Lipa and Nicki Minaj, at the Barbie world premiere in Los Angeles on Sunday.

America Ferrera, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling Greta Gerwig Finneas and Billie Eilish Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Ariana Greenblatt, Issa Rae, Margot Robbie, Greta Gerwig, Simu Liu and Hari Nef

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One premiere

Tom Cruise brought Mission: Impossible 7 to New York on Monday, alongside co-stars Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Cary Elwes, Henry Czerny,...

“The Miracle Club” may not be a faith-based movie in the traditional sense, but this Ireland-set art-house offering is a movie about faith all the same — specifically, about the conviction that drives four women to make the pilgrimage from Ireland all the way to Lourdes, France, where the waters are believed to have holy healing powers. If “The Miracle Club” were an overtly religious film, audiences would know from the outset what to expect from the trip, whereas director Thaddeus O’Sullivan doesn’t presume to play God, focusing more on mending the relationship between his main characters.

And what a cast he’s assembled to explore these women’s spiritual growth. The movie’s nothing special, but it’s worth checking out for the ensemble alone. Maggie Smith plays Lily, who lost her son to the sea decades earlier. Adopting an Irish accent and a frosty overall demeanor, Kathy Bates plays Eileen,...

Agnes O’Casey as Dolly, Kathy Bates as Eileen Dunne and Maggie Smith as Lily Fox sign up for the ‘All Stars Talent Show’ in The Miracle Club. Photo credit: Jonathan Hession. © themiracleclubcopyright 2023. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Maggie Smith and Kathy Bates play longtime friends in ’60s Ballygar, Ireland hoping to win a church talent contest for a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, in Irish director Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s dramedy The Miracle Club. Actually there are three friends, with the third being a young neighbor, played by Agnes O’Casey. The women have differing reason for wanting to make the pilgrimage – two hope for a miracle and one wants a trip of lifetime. There is a fourth woman is on the trip, Chrissie (Laura Linney), the long-absent daughter of a recently deceased friend, who has returned after four decades in America for the funeral of her estranged mother.

The Miracle Club...

When we think of strong women, fear doesn’t usually coincide with that image, but the reality is that even the toughest among them, when battling weakness from overwhelming uncertainties, will at some point turn to faith. Whether that is a trust in a higher power or relying on a set of loyal friends, finding strength through something greater than one’s own footing is an inherent go-to for even the fiercest female.

Set in 1967, The Miracle Club is an uplifting film about three close friends who represent completely different generations who reunite with someone from their past. The powerhouse ensemble cast is dreamy.

Lily is portrayed by Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey), Eileen by Kathy Bates (Misery), and Dolly by Agnes O'Casey (BBC One’s Ridley Road), and they all reside in a densely populated community in Dublin called Ballygar. Separately, and yet together, they are facing life challenges such as a health scare,...

What if you held a red carpet and nobody came?

For organizers of the fall film festivals — and studios planning splashy summer premieres — that nightmare scenario looks likely to come true after contract negotiations between the actors guild SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) ended without a deal Wednesday night.

SAG-AFTRA’s National Board is now almost certain to officially call for a strike at its meeting in L.A. early Thursday morning (update: a strike was called). The guilds haven’t publicly announced protocols for members in the event of a walkout, but on a call on Monday with top PR firms and hundreds of agents, SAG-AFTRA leaders outlined how strike rules may impact promotion and campaigning. A source familiar with the call tells The Hollywood Reporter that the promotion and press of film and TV projects from struck companies would not be allowed,...

After a rather strange weekend where very little went as planned, we come into the middle of July with what should be a sure thing in… Mr. Tom Cruise! Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

Any question about Cruise’s A-list status was clearly put to rest when 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick” became the top-grossing movie of the year with nearly $1.5 billion. Now, Cruise is back as Imf agent Ethan Hunt for “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” the seventh installment of the hit franchise, once again reuniting him with filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie for their third outing in this action-packed world.

It’s been five years since “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” became the highest-grossing movie in the franchise with $220.2 million domestic, $786.6 million worldwide, after a domestic opening of $61.2 million. That opening was also a franchise high, even if it may seem like small potatoes compared to “Top Gun: Maverick.

Anything that brings Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Laura Linney together for a smart and engaging movie that will lift your spirits these days is a miracle all by itself. Indeed, The Miracle Club is a reason to celebrate this summer, if only for the chance to see a sterling and beloved cast get roles worthy of their many talents.

The movie is the brainchild of co-writer Jimmy Smallhorne and based on his memories of his family and growing up in a small Ireland town, but the emphasis is clearly on the women in that family. For years he has tried to bring this to the screen, and finally once director Thaddeus O’Sullivan got involved it was on its way. O’Sullivan brought his two other writers, Joshua Maurer and Timothy Prager, to further develop it, and all the while Oscar-winning actress Bates was attached. Even with Covid delays threatening...

On paper, Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s “The Miracle Club” seems like it should be a backboard-shattering slam-dunk for the sort of people whose favorite movies all share the words “and Maggie Smith” in their opening credits, but this trite Irish trifle about a girls trip to Lourdes is so chalky and underbaked that its all-star cast (Laura Linney! Kathy Bates! Stephen Rea!) is left no choice but to chew on the scenery. That’s a glaring problem in a film whose marquee location is so crudely green-screened behind the actors that the Grotto of the Apparitions feels like a leftover backdrop from “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.”

Occasionally sweet despite its general flavorlessness, “The Miracle Club” may have its heart in the right place, but it beats for nothing in a 1967-set period piece that grows faint at the sight of its own blood, let alone in a film...

As an actress, Maggie Smith can do no wrong. She’s a lot more fallible at choosing projects, as evidenced by this treacly story about Irishwomen of different generations who travel to the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France, praying for a miracle.

Smith is at the center of a powerhouse trio of actresses here, along with Laura Linney and Kathy Bates. And while recent films like Book Club and 80 for Brady have labored the point that older women still like sex, The Miracle Club is set in a tradition-bound 1967 Dublin barely touched by the sexual revolution of the era. That offers no improvement on the often cartoonish roles available for overqualified actresses of a certain age. Directed with pedestrian competence by Thaddeus O’Sullivan, The Miracle Club is about secrets that are all too obvious, and forgiveness you can see coming from the start.

Each of the main...

The idea that time heals old wounds is one people often bring up to provide comfort to their loved ones. The reality for some of us is that time is a luxury afforded to be able to deal with the hurt that follows. In Thaddeus O'Sullivan’s heartwarming and healing feature, The Miracle Club, a group of friends come to the ultimate realization that it takes more than time to repair old wounds. Jimmy Smallhorne, Timothy Prager, and Joshua D. Maurer pen this thoughtful script starring Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, Agnes O’Casey, and Laura Linney. The themes in The Miracle Club may be as old as time, but it beautifully celebrates the idea that friendship and compassion can be healing.

The story follows a group of close friends, Lily (Maggie Smith), Eileen (Kathy Bates), and Dolly (Agnes O'Casey) in the hard-knocks community of Ballygar in Dublin, Ireland. In desperate need of miracles,...

Dramatizing the tough road toward reconciliation that four Irish women embark on during a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, The Miracle Club seeks nothing more than to be easily digestible. Between the vibrantly colored costume pieces and the sweeping aerial shots of the Irish and French countrysides, the film tries quite hard to keep its story in the placid realm of the feel-good. Yet those elements belie an extremely dark and tragic center, which the filmmakers are far too keen to wash their hands of almost as soon as it’s revealed.

Set in 1967, Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s film begins in Ballygar, a working-class seaside neighborhood in the outskirts of Dublin that’s reliant on the guidance of Father Dermot Byrne (Mark O’Halloran), whose church is something of a community center. Chrissie (Laura Linney) is returning to the area for her mother’s funeral, some 40 years after leaving Ballygar for Boston, and...

The full line-up includes 21 world premieres, six European premieres and 60 Irish premieres.

Ireland’s Galway Film Fleadh (July 11-16) returns for its 35th edition with a line-up including opening night film Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s The Miracle Club, following its world premiere at Tribeca, that stars Laura Linney, Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Agnes O’Casey.

The full line-up includes 21 world premieres, six European premieres and 60 Irish premieres from 43 countries, boasting 95 feature films in total.

Closing the festival will be the Irish premiere of Alison Ellwood-directed Cyndi Lauper documentary Let The Canary Sing, with the US ’Girls Just Want To Have Fun...

Lionsgate UK has launched the trailer for the life-affirming movie ‘The Miracle Club.’

Set in 1967, the film follows the story of three generations of close friends, Lily (Maggie Smith), Eileen (Kathy Bates), and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) of Ballygar, a hard-knocks community in Dublin, who have one tantalizing dream: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes, that place of miracles that draws millions of visitors each year.

When the chance to win presents itself, the women seize it. However, just before their trip, their old friend Chrissie (Laura Linney) arrives in Ballygar for her Mother’s funeral, dampening their good mood and well-laid plans. The women secure tickets and set out on the journey that they hope will change their lives, with Chrissie joining in place of her mother.

The glamour and sophistication of Chrissie, who has just returned from a nearly 40-year exile in the United States,...

Fresh off its world premiere in the Spotlight Category of the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, “The Miracle Club” arrives in theaters next month. The latest project from Irish filmmaker Thaddeus O’Sullivan, the period drama follows three generations of female friends from Dublin who embark on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France that changes their lives forever.

Here’s an official synopsis for “The Miracle Club,” courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics:

Set in 1967, The Miracle Club is a heartwarming film that follows the story of three generations of close friends, Lily, Eileen, and Dolly of Ballygar, a hard-knocks community in Dublin, who have one tantalizing dream: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes, that place of miracles that draws millions of visitors each year.

Continue reading ‘The Miracle Club’ Trailer: Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s Period Drama With Laura Linney, Kathy Bates & Maggie Smith Hits Theaters On July 14 at The Playlist.

"What do you want to be going to Lourdes for anyway?" Sony Classics has debuted their full official US trailer for an Irish dramedy titled The Miracle Club, the latest from Irish filmmaker Thaddeus O'Sullivan. This is premiering at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival before it opens in select theaters this July. It looks like good fun! There's just one dream for the women of Ballygar to taste freedom and escape the gauntlet of domestic life: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes (see on Google Maps). Lourdes, a picturesque French town and a place of miracles, a magnet for 6 million visitors each year from across the globe. Have you ever been? With a little benevolent interference from their local priest, close friends Lily, Eileen and Dolly, who are funny, messy, flawed, and vocal, get their ticket to go on the humorous, blissful, and exhilarating journey of a lifetime.

Sony Pictures Classics has unveiled a July 14th release date and trailer for The Miracle Club, their Dublin-shot comedy that Laura Linney, Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Agnes O’Casey lead for Emmy-nominated director Thaddeus O’Sullivan.

The film, which SPC snapped up rights to earlier this year for the U.S., Latin America and assorted territories in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, will the month prior have its world premiere in the Spotlight Narrative section of the Tribeca Festival.

Pic is set in 1967 and follows the story of three generations of close friends, Lily (Smith), Eileen (Bates) and Dolly (O’Casey) of Ballygar, a hard-knocks community in Dublin, who have one tantalizing dream: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes, that place of miracles that draws millions of visitors each year. When the chance to win presents itself, the women seize it. However, just before their trip,...

"Miracles happen there!" Sony Pictures Classics has unveiled a first look teaser trailer for an Irish drama titled The Miracle Club, the latest from Irish filmmaker Thaddeus O'Sullivan. This hasn't played at any festivals, but SPC will be releasing it anyway in the summer movie season in select theaters. It will definitely get some viewers. There's just one dream for the women of Ballygar to taste freedom and escape the gauntlet of domestic life: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes (see Google Maps). Lourdes, a picturesque French town and a place of miracles, a magnet for 6 million visitors each year from across the globe. Have you ever been? With a little benevolent interference from their local priest, close friends Lily, Eileen and Dolly, who are funny, messy, flawed, and vocal, get their ticket to go on the humorous, blissful, and exhilarating journey of a lifetime.

Nick Taussig, Malcolm Neaum, Sophie Harmer and Henry Farrington set to join Embankment Films.

Nick Taussig, Malcolm Neaum, Sophie Harmer and Henry Farrington have joined UK sales and production outfit Embankment Films to lead its unscripted division.

Taussig and Harmer both join from UK production outfit Salon Pictures, producer of the Bafta-nominated documentary McQueen which Embankment handled sales for.

Taussig was managing director for the company while Harmer was head of production. Farrington also consulted at Salon as a development researcher.

Neaum joins the team from Cb Films where he was managing director and produced BBC series Savile Row.

Salon...

Nick Taussig, Malcolm Neaum, Sophie Harmer and Henry Farrington set to join Embankment Films.

Nick Taussig, Malcolm Neaum, Sophie Harmer and Henry Farrington have joined UK sales and production outfit Embankment Films to lead its unscripted division.

All are from UK production outfit company Salon Pictures, which produced the Bafta-nominated documentary McQueen. Taussig was managing director while Neaum was head of unscripted, Harmer head of production and Farrington development researcher.

Neaum was also managing director of Cb Films which produced BBC series Savile Row.

Salon is understood to be closing following the departure of Taussig who founded the company in...

Laura Linney Film Acquired by Sony Pictures Classics — Oscar-nominated actress, Laura Linney‘s latest movie, The Miracle Club, has been purchased for distribution by Sony Pictures Classics. Director Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s new movie, The Miracle Club, has been picked up for release by Sony Pictures Classics, a studio which is known for being on-point in terms of [...]

Continue reading: The Miracle Club: New Laura Linney Film Gets Picked Up By Sony Pictures Classics...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all rights in the U.S., Latin America, and select territories in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe to “The Miracle Club.”

Directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan, the film stars Laura Linney, Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Agnes O’Casey.

The Dublin-shot film centers on four Dublin women who come together on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Lourdes in France, where they discover the solidarity in their friendship and unveil their own personal miracles.

Produced by Chris Curling, Joshua Maurer and Larry Bass, the film was shot throughout 2022 and is currently in post-production. “The Miracle Club” reunites its leading actresses and Sony Pictures Classics, with all three having starred in previous films released by the distributor, including Linney in “Jindabyne” (2006) and “Driving Lessons” (2006), Smith in the titular role of “The Lady in the Van” (2015), and Bates in “Love Liza” (2002) and “Midnight in Paris” (2011).

Said O’Sullivan:...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the film The Miracle Club starring Oscar nom Laura Linney, Oscar winners Maggie Smith and Kathy Bates, and Agnes O’Casey. Specifics as to the release plan haven’t been disclosed. But SPC nabbed rights in the U.S., Latin America, and assorted territories in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe.

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In the film helmed by Emmy nom Thaddeus O’Sullivan, there’s just one tantalizing dream for the women of Ballygar, a village in outer Dublin, to taste freedom and escape the gauntlet of domestic life: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes, that place of miracles that...

Sony Pictures Classics has swooped on Irish drama The Miracle Club, starring Laura Linney, Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Agnes O’Casey, picking up rights for the U.S, Latin America and a number of territories in South East Asia and Eastern Europe.

Directed by Emmy nominee Thaddeus O’Sullivan (Vera, Call the Midwife) and produced by Chris Curling, Joshua Maurer and Larry Bass, the film was shot in Dublin last year and is now in post-production.

In The Miracle Club, there’s just one tantalizing dream for the women of Ballygar, a village in outer Dublin, to taste freedom and escape the gauntlet of domestic life: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes, that place of miracles that is a magnet for millions of visitors every year. With a little benevolent interference from their local priest, close friends Lily, Eileen and Dolly, who are funny, messy, flawed,...

Cast headlined by Laura Linney, Maggie Smith and Kathy Bates.

Sony Pictures Classics has picked up all rights in the US, Latin America and across southeast Asia and eastern Europe to The Miracle Club, directed by Irish filmmaker Thaddeus O’Sullivan, starring Laura Linney, Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Agnes O’Casey.

The UK’s Embankment Films is handling sales.

The feature, shot in Dublin and in post-production, follows the women of Irish village Ballygar, all united in their dream of winning a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes. Thanks to the help of a local priest, three close friends...

Exec joins Irish screen agency after six year spell at Embankment.

Screen Ireland has appointed Greg Martin to the new role of project manager for feature film.

Martin joins the recently expanded production and development team within Screen Ireland and will work across Screen Ireland-supported feature film and documentary projects, throughout production, financing and market exploitation.

Previously Martin spent six years working in acquisitions and distribution for international financing outfit Embankment Films.

While at Embankment, Martin worked on films such as Florian Zeller’s The Son and The Father, Frances O’Connor’s Emily and Guy Nattiv’s Golda.

Recent Irish...

Following the world premiere of “My Neighbor Adolf” on the Piazza Grande in Locarno, Beta Cinema has sold the dark comedy to Vendetta Films, which will bring the Udo Kier and David Hayman starrer to cinemas across Australia and New Zealand in the first quarter of next year.

Prior to Locarno, Beta Cinema sold the film to Hungary (Cinetel) and Switzerland (Praesens Film), while deals for North America (Cohen Media Group), U.K. and Ireland (Signature Entertainment), Italy (I Wonder), South Korea (Lumix Media) and Japan (Tohokushinsha Film) had been revealed before.

The film is set in Colombia in 1960, just a few days after the Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann was caught by Mossad agents in Argentina. Polsky, played by Hayman, is a lonely and grumpy old man, living in the remote Colombian countryside. He is a survivor of the Holocaust. He spends his days playing chess and tending his beloved rosebushes.

Variety can reveal a first look at Maggie Smith and Laura Linney in the new drama “The Miracle Club,” which has wrapped production in Ireland and is now in post.

The Dublin-shot film, which also stars Kathy Bates, centers on four Dublin women who come together on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Lourdes in France, where they discover the solidarity in their friendship and unveil their own personal miracles.

Directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan, “The Miracle Club” wrapped over the summer at Ardmore Studios in Dublin.

The film also features Oscar nominee Stephen Rea and up-and-coming star Agnes O’Casey.

Linney most recently starred in the last season of Netflix’s “Ozark,” while Smith was last in “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” where she plays the salty Dowager Countess. Bates starred in the 2020 film “Home,” directed by German actor Franka Potente.

“The Miracle Club” is an official co-production between Chris Curling...

Mark Lane appointed new head of worldwide sales and distribution.

UK sales agent Embankment Films has appointed HanWay Films’ Mark Lane as its new head of worldwide sales and distribution, taking over from Calum Gray.

Lane has joined after 13 years at UK sales agent HanWay Films, where he was director of sales.

Gray is leaving Embankment to start his own film industry business venture.

In May of this year, Embankment joined forces with Kevin Loader’s London-based production outfit Free Range Films to create a new umbrella company, Free Range Entertainment.

Lane said: “It’s so refreshing that 2.5 years of...

Beta Cinema has sold the English-language tragicomedy “My Neighbor Adolf” to several major territories. The film stars German actor Udo Kier and Scottish actor David Hayman, and is directed by Israel’s Leon Prudovsky.

All rights for North America have gone to Cohen Media Group, Signature Entertainment has acquired the U.K./Ireland rights, I Wonder took Italy, Lumix Media has South Korea and Tohokushinsha Film took Japan.

The film, set in 1960, centers on Polsky, a Holocaust survivor, who lives in the remote Colombian countryside. One day, when a mysterious old German man moves in next door, he suspects that his new neighbor is Adolf Hitler. Since nobody believes him, he embarks on a mission to uncover the evidence. In order to gather it, however, he will need to come closer to his neighbor than he would like — so close that the two could almost become friends.

Prudovsky has co-written and directed three TV series,...

Exclusive: Four-time Emmy winner Laura Linney got behind the camera for the first time on the back half of Ozark‘s final season, directing the 11th episode of its 14.

The acclaimed drama created for Netflix by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams follows financial advisor Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and his wife Wendy (Linney), who have dragged their kids Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) and Jonah (Skyler Gaertner) from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where they must launder money to appease a drug boss. Season 4, which returned for its first of two parts on January 21 and wraps up on April 29, finds tensions further escalating as the Byrdes do everything they can to disentangle their family from the cartel, and to stay alive.

Linney co-exec produces the series, which also stars Alfonso Herrera, Jessica Frances Dukes, Lisa Emery, John Bedford Lloyd, Joseph Sikora and more. Chris Mundy served as showrunner, writer, and exec producer of Season 4, with Bateman,...

Countries the UK will co-produce with include China, South Africa and Chile.

A further nine UK-international co-productions are set to receive a share of £1.32m from the £7m UK Global Screen Fund (Ukgsf), administered by the British Film Institute (BFI).

The £7m fund was launched in April by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms), initially as a one-year pilot initiative to boost international development and distribution opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

The BFI confirmed the scheme’s renewal at the end of November, with a further three years expected.

Maggie Smith (“Downton Abbey”), Kathy Bates (“Richard Jewell”) and Laura Linney (“Ozark”) will headline the cast of “The Miracle Club,” to be directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan (“Silent Witness”).

Based on an original screenplay by Jimmy Smallhorne (“2by4”), Timothy Prager (“Crossing Lines”) and Josh Maurer, the film will follow the journey of a group of riotous working-class women from Dublin, whose pilgrimage to Lourdes in France leads them to discover each other’s friendship and their own personal miracles.

The film is produced by Chris Curling (“Falling”) for Zephyr Films and Josh Maurer (“Papillon”) and Alixandre Witlin (television’s “Howards End”), for City Films Entertainment. James Flynn (“Penny Dreadful”) will serve as executive producer.

Maurer said: “At its heart, this film captures the strength, resilience and love of remarkable woman as they define themselves under their own terms, and by the power of their friendship and faith.”

Embankment raised the film...

Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Laura Linney are teaming up for Irish drama The Miracle Club, from director Thaddeus O’Sullivan.

The film — due to begin shooting in April — is described as a "joyful and hilarious" journey of a group of riotous working-class women from Dublin, whose pilgrimage to Lourdes in France leads them to discover each other’s friendship and their own personal miracles."

O’Sullivan (December Bride, Ordinary Decent Criminal, Into the Storm) will work from an original screenplay by Jimmy Smallhorne (2by4), Timothy Prager (Silent Witness, Two Thousand Acres of Sky) and Josh Maurer.

The film ...

Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Laura Linney are teaming up for Irish drama The Miracle Club, from director Thaddeus O’Sullivan.

The film — due to begin shooting in April — is described as a "joyful and hilarious" journey of a group of riotous working-class women from Dublin, whose pilgrimage to Lourdes in France leads them to discover each other’s friendship and their own personal miracles."

O’Sullivan (December Bride, Ordinary Decent Criminal, Into the Storm) will work from an original screenplay by Jimmy Smallhorne (2by4), Timothy Prager (Silent Witness, Two Thousand Acres of Sky) and Josh Maurer.

The film ...