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If you have never heard about the Luxembourg City Film Festival before, it may surprise you to know that the biggest annual film event in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which is surrounded by France, Germany and Belgium, is turning 15 this year.

Long considered a hidden gem on the global fest circuit, the event has steadily gained in stature, routinely attracting big industry names to a country with a population of only around 670,000. Just take last year as an example, when the fest set an attendance record with a 10 percent increase to 19,962. For its 2024, edition, it attracted the likes of Viggo Mortensen, Chinese director Wang Bing, Mauritanian director Abderrahmane Sissako, French director Gaspar Noé — who hosted a retrospective and a masterclass — and a jury that included Luxembourg star Vicky Krieps, German actor Sebastian Koch, and U.S. director Ira Sachs.

For this year’s 15th edition, which kicks off on Thursday,...

There's nothing movie audiences love more than poking around in a character's brain, especially when said character is, well, not particularly well-adjusted. Since the birth of film, movies have been unpacking what makes people tick, using the psychological thriller genre -- which often verges on horror -- to delve into the inner workings of fascinating yet unsettling characters. Whether it's a serial killer, an abusive husband, or an obsessive housekeeper, these cinematic figures give our protagonists plenty to be dealing with as they unleash chaos on all who surround them. 

Dark, twisted, and often disturbing, the psychological thriller keeps audiences on the edge of their seats and constantly wrongfooted, as they attempt to parse the complexity of what they're seeing. This type of movie isn't the best choice to have playing on in the background while you're absentmindedly folding laundry or making dinner, but for the viewer who's willing to give it their full attention,...

Cannes mayor David Lisnard has published a blistering critique of media coverage of #MeToo in France, suggesting that investigations into cinema figures accused of sexual harassment were not dissimilar to those of East Germany’s secret police into political dissidents.

Lisnard made the comments in an article published in French newspaper L’Opinion over the weekend, written in response to recent speculation in the local media and film industry that a bombshell #MeToo exposé was poised to drop during the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off this Tuesday.

The rumor mill went into overdrive last week following a report in Le Figaro newspaper that the festival had hired a crisis management PR firm to help it navigate the potential impending storm.

“Just a few days ago, a rumor surfaced promising shattering revelations about ten well-known actors, producers and directors accused of sexual assault. That was all that was needed to...

Germany’s Beta Film (“Babylon Berlin”) sets its sights on the Croisette for the world premiere of Dutch Royal drama “Máxima,” selected to screen out-of-competition at Canneseries on April 9. In tow, Delfina Chaves (“The Secret of the Greco Family”), who portrays the titular character in the series that Variety recently likened to Emmy-Award-Winning Netflix Drama “The Crown.”

Teased at last month’s London TV Screenings, the six-part drama series unravels the love story between then Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander (Martijn Lakemeier) and his enigmatic Argentine love interest, Máxima, who goes on to become Queen, at his side.

Her future fraught with whispers of her father’s political connection to Argentina’s brutal dictatorship, she’s tasked with circumventing harsh truths to remain faithful to her destiny in the narrative that follows her through her formative years.

“You don’t have to know Máxima and the Dutch royal family to enjoy the show.

Exclusive: Beta Film’s Crown-esque high-end drama series Maxima has sold to networks in Lat Am, Israel and across Europe.

The series, which is one of the German major’s biggest being shopped at the London TV Screenings, will air on Hot in Israel and on Warner Bros. Discovery networks across Latin America following the deals. Other buyers include Croatia’s Hrt, Austria’s Orf and broadcasters in Latvia and Slovakia.

Millstreet Films’ Maxima tells the story of Dutch queen Máxima Zorreguieta and is one of the few shows about a living royal out there. Dropping on The Netherlands’ Videoland from April 20, it takes up the story the moment the Argentina-born queen appears at the Dutch crown prince’s side. Heated discussions subsequently erupt about her father’s political career in the Argentinian Videla regime – something she never faced in her own circles.

Máxima is portrayed by Argentinian rising star...

Germany’s Beta Film is introducing at the London TV Screenings the first episode of “Maxima,” a six-part drama about the love story between future Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and the then Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. The series is produced by Millstreet Films “The Neighbors”), with Videoland (Rtl Netherlands) holding Dutch broadcasting rights.

“Maxima” is adapted from the biography written by Dutch journalist Marcia Luyten in celebration of the Queen’s 50th birthday and focuses mainly on how the political background of Maxima’s father interfered with her very public engagement to the Crown Prince. Speaking to Variety ahead of the London TV Screenings, Justus Riesenkampff, EVP Nordics & Benelux at Beta Film, said “Maxima” was “especially appealing because royal stories resonate well.”

“It’s the second TV series made about a living royal — we couldn’t think of any other than ‘The Crown.’ And we have a lot of...

"The Defeated" season 2 will not be happening despite its popularity on Netflix. The show was intended to have a limited number of episodes, with a total of 16 split into two parts. The final eight episodes are currently in production and will wrap up minor storylines while providing closure for fans.

The first season of The Defeated premiered on Netflix in 2021 and found an audience, but unfortunately for those viewers, while more episodes are expected, The Defeated season 2 is not happening. The show was originally released in 2020 under the name Shadowplay after being produced by the German-based company Tandem Productions. The Defeated stars Taylor Kitsch as Max McLaughlin, an NYPD detective traveling to Berlin in 1946. As he looks for his brother Moritz (Logan Marshall-Green), Max helps start a new police department in the city.

The cast also features Dexter star Michael C. Hall as Tom Franklin, Tuppence Middleton as Claire Franklin,...

Die Hard series ranked from worst to best(Photo Credit –IMDb)

Hey there, fellow list enthusiasts! Today, we’re diving into the world of Die Hard, the trendsetting classic that breathed new life into the action genre. With Bruce Willis stealing the spotlight as John McClane, the Die Hard franchise has etched its place in history as an unforgettable action movie series. Despite a slew of sequels, none quite capture the magic of the original. It’s a genre-shaping tale that didn’t invent action but spun it into something thrilling and adored by audiences.

So, grab your popcorn as we explore the Die Hard journey, from its roots in Roderick Thorp’s 1979 novel, “Nothing Lasts Forever,” to ranking all five films in the series from least to most favorable. Let’s unravel the excitement and nostalgia of Die Hard’s enduring legacy!

5. A Good Day To Die Hard (2013) A Good Day To Die Hard...

Channel 4 Takes Another JFK Doc

The UK’s Channel 4 has acquired a doc on the late U.S. President John F Kennedy. The network has struck a deal with Espresso Media International for the hour-long doc on the first day of Mipcom. JFK: 24 Hours That Changed The World comes from Coleman Television and follows the final day of Kennedy’s life, before he was assassinated in November 1963. The doc also follows the aftermath, as gunman Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and charged with the murder. Espresso says ten other deals have been struck with buyers in Europe and Asia. Channel 4 previously bought Espresso sold doc Ve Day in Colour: Britain’s Biggest Party and recently pre-bought Sinatra, Kennedy and the Mob from Abacus Media Rights.

Rtl Buys ‘Maxima’

Upcoming Dutch royal doc Maxima has found a home in Germany. Rtl has bought the six-part drama series, which follows the...

Germany’s Rtl has acquired royal drama “Maxima” from Beta Film. The show follows the life of Argentinian born Maxima Zorreguieta, who later became Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.

The first six-hour season of the show has just wrapped shooting. Several additional territories are in negotiations. A sneak preview of “Maxima” will be presented at Mipcom in Cannes. The series is produced by Millstreet Films and was commissioned by Rtl Netherlands’ Ott service Videoland.

Shot in New York, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium over the course of the summer, the series features a stellar cast: Maxima is portrayed by Argentinian actress Delfina Chaves (“The Secret of the Greco Family”), and Crown Prince Willem-Alexander by Martijn Lakemeier (“The East”). German star actor Sebastian Koch takes on the role of Claus von Amsberg, Willem-Alexander’s father, and Elsie de Brauw (“The Death of My Mother”) stars as Queen Beatrix. Valeria Alonso (“Tell Me Who I Am...

Exclusive: The Lives of Others star Sebastian Koch and The Death of My Mother‘s Elsie de Brauw have joined Máxima, Rtl’s upcoming drama about the Argentine-born Queen of the Netherlands. Germany’s Beta Film has also joined the Millstreet Films production.

Principal photography on the six-part drama for Rtl’s streamer Videoland began last month in New York and Madrid in Spain, which subbed in for Buenos Aires, and is set to move to the Netherlands and Belgium with its cast rounded out.

German star Koch joins the cast in the role of Claus van Amsberg, the father of Crown Prince King Willem-Alexander, and Elsie de Brauw will play Queen Beatrix. Koch has appeared in 2007 Academy Award-winning feature The Lives of Others, Tom Hanks starrer Bridge of Spies and Showtime series Homeland.

Queen Máxima is portrayed by Argentinian star Delfina Chaves (The Secret of the Greco Family) and Prince Willem-Alexander,...

Europe has a brand-new media giant.

Vuelta Group, a private-equity fueled company headed by former Canal+ and Goldman Sachs executive Jerome Levy, made a very big launch on the European scene on Thursday, announcing its acquisition of Scandinavian independent film company Scanbox, German distributor/producer SquareOne Entertainment and French international sales company Playtime.

Vuelta (Latin for “to go around”) is planning future acquisitions in France, Italy, Spain and the Benelux region as it looks to build a pan-European television and film studio focusing on the production and distribution of European content across the continent.

The Vuelta launch is a further sign of consolidation in the European indie market, which has already seen several independent producers and distributors subsumed into Pe-backed studios such as Leonine and Mediawan or snatched up by global indie giants like Fremantle and Banijay.

The Veulta setup will see each of its subsidiary companies continue to operate...

Exclusive: SquareOne Entertainment CEO Al Munteanu says new European studio Vuelta Group is about “distributors who morph into producers — that’s our DNA, believing in film as a theatrical proposition, but also in TV production.”

As Deadline revealed this morning, Munich-based SquareOne has become part of Vuelta Group, a union of European film companies also including France’s Playtime and Scandinavia’s Scanbox, with more companies set to join this year.

SquareOne, founded by Munteanu in 2002, is well known as a distributor of movies including The Imitation Game, Book Club and The Wife. Recent Cannes market pre-buys include Breakout starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nic Cage’s sequel to Lords of War, and Daisy Ridley starrer Cleaner.

Munteanu, the former MTV and Rtl presenter, has been growing SquareOne’s TV (and podcasting) production footprint in recent years with the German adaptation of Your Honor, starring Sebastian Koch and Paula Beer, and Italian mafia series L’Ora.

The launch of innovative thrillers like “Glass Onion” and “Bullet Train” has re-ignited the love for this classic genre. These films are a potent concoction of action, suspense, crime, and sci-fi – prepared to keep viewers in an endless loop of anticipation (or fear).

IMDb makes it a breeze for thriller fanatics to find the cream of the crop. From award-winning classics like “Witness for the Prosecution” that form this genre’s identity to worldwide successes such as “Parasite.” It even includes two dark superhero movies from “The Dark Knight” franchise among its top-rated gems.

Ranked Best Thriller Movies [Sortable Table] Rank Title Year IMDb Metascore 18 Witness for the Prosecution 1957 8.4 76 17 The Lives of Others 2006 8.4 89 16 Rear Window 1954 8.5 100 15 Oldboy 2003 8.4 77 14 Psycho 1960 8.5 97 13 Aliens 1986 8.4 84 12 Parasite 2019 8.5 96 11 The Usual Suspects 1995 8.5 77 10 Léon: The Professional 1994 8.5 64 9 Memento 2000 8.4 81 8 Joker 2019 8.4 59 7 The Departed 2006 8.5 85 6 The Prestige 2006 8.5 66 5 The Silence of the Lambs 1991 8.6 85 4 Se7en 1995 8.6 65 3 The Dark Knight Rises 2012 8.4 78 2 Inception 2010 8.8 74 1 The Dark Knight 2008 9 84 More About the Best Thriller Movies List...

In the thriller series “Euer Ehren,” a German-Austrian adaptation of the Israeli series “Your Honor” (“Kvodo”), Sebastian Koch plays Michael Jacobi, a judge caught up in his own web of deception as he struggles to protect his son. The project was brought to Koch by Al Munteanu, producer and founder of SquareOne Entertainment, and the pair worked together to bring the project to screen.

Munteanu and Koch have proved a convincing combo, winning the interest of producer Christoph Pellander at Ard Degeto. “‘Euer Ehren’ is thrilling entertainment at its best,” said Pellander. “The script producer Al Munteanu and leading actor Sebastian Koch have electrified us from the first moment; hence we absolutely wanted to produce the thriller series collectively. In our version, co-produced with Orf and produced by SquareOne Productions and Mona Film, we shifted the story to Austria to bring it closer to our viewers’ environment and thereby managed to produce something truly unique.

"Die Hard" is one of the most beloved action films of all time. Above and beyond the regular "Is it a Christmas movie?" discourse that surrounds the film, "Die Hard" stands as a watershed moment in the action genre. The casting of Bruce Willis as the everyman action hero — as opposed to the Schwarzeneggers and Stallones of the day, muscle-bound demigods whose victories seemed absolutely certain — brought a new level of humanity and an underdog spirit to American action movies that persists today.

On the opposite side of that coin lies the film's antagonist, Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), one of cinema's great villains and a prototype of the dashing, "love to hate them" style of action baddies. Add in the script's bracing wit, John McTiernan's taut direction, and some of the most thrilling stunts in action history, and you have a stone-cold classic.

Inevitably, a franchise grew out of the film,...

Laetitia Eido, the French actress known to fans of Netflix’s Israeli drama Fauda as Dr. Shirin El Abed, has signed on to co-star in Nhiem, a new high-end television series set during the Vietnam War from New Zealand director Roger Donaldson (The World’s Fastest Indian) and German production group Carte Blanche International.

Nhiem tells the true story of a 19-year-old film student in Vietnam who became the cameraman for the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.

Sebastian Koch (The Lives of Others) is attached to play German news photographer Horst Faas. Eido will play Hannah, a journalist also stationed in Vietnam ...

Laetitia Eido, the French actress known to fans of Netflix’s Israeli drama Fauda as Dr. Shirin El Abed, has signed on to co-star in Nhiem, a new high-end television series set during the Vietnam War from New Zealand director Roger Donaldson (The World’s Fastest Indian) and German production group Carte Blanche International.

Nhiem tells the true story of a 19-year-old film student in Vietnam who became the cameraman for the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.

Sebastian Koch (The Lives of Others) is attached to play German news photographer Horst Faas. Eido will play Hannah, a journalist also stationed in Vietnam ...

Leading German actors Sebastian Koch (The Lives Of Others) and Paula Beer (Frantz), co-stars in Oscar-nominated 2018 drama Never Look Away, are set to topline the German adaptation of hit Israeli series Your Honor, we can reveal.

Germany’s SquareOne Productions is behind the update (locally titled Euer Ehren) in co-production with Austria’s Mona Film Produktion.

The six-episode legal thriller, based on Israel’s yes Studios original, will star Koch and Beer alongside a strong cast comprising Tobias Moretti (Bad Banks), Ursula Strauss (Hotel Sacher), Sascha Geršak (Bad Banks), Taddeo Kufus (1917), Lena Kalisch (Unorthodox) and Rainer Bock (Atlas).

Al Munteanu produces for SquareOne Productions, the production arm of the Munich-based distributor, while Thomas Hroch and Gerald Podgornig oversee for Vienna’s Mona Film. German public broadcaster Ard Degeto and Austrian public broadcaster Orf are also aboard.

David Nawarth (Atlas) will direct all six episodes and also serves as the series co-writer alongside David Marian Möhring.

Germany’s Maze Pictures has boarded Moscow-based Metrafilm’s Kgb comedy series “Pawns,” from writers Michael and Lily Idov, who penned the 2018 Cannes competition screener “Leto.”

The company, which has offices in Munich, Berlin and Lucerne, Switzerland, is also developing a miniseries based on “Ghosts of Berlin,” a book of supernatural stories by filmmaker Rudolf Herzog (son of Werner Herzog), and the tentatively titled mystery series “Parallels.”

On the film front, Maze Pictures is co-producing David Sandberg’s upcoming action-comedy “Kung Fury 2,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Fassbender. It also co-produced Abel Ferrara’s “Siberia,” headlining Willem Dafoe, which premiered at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

“Pawns” is a Russian-German co-production between Maze Pictures, Metrafilm and Latvia’s Tasse Film.

The series has already secured development support from German regional funder Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the project is set to shoot primarily in Riga and to a lesser extent in Berlin and Moscow.

Actors Gerard Butler (pictured above with Soho House’s Dominic Hofer and Studio Babelsberg’s Christoph Fisser), Daniel Brühl and Tom Wlaschiha, who played Jaqen H’ghar in “Game of Thrones,” were among the guests at the Studio Babelsberg Night Friday at Berlin’s Soho House.

Other actors at the party included Thomas Kretschmann, Emilia Schuele, Elyas M’Barek, Iris Berben, Max von der Groeben, Sebastian Koch, Sabin Tambrea, Sonja Gerhardt, David Schuetter, and Hannah Herzsprung.

The directors at the event were Tom Tykwer, Ruben Fleischer, Baran bo Odar, Stefan Ruzowitzky, Lars Kraume, Marco Kreuzpaintner, and Jan-Ole Gerster.

Among the politicians and business execs were Michael Mueller, Mayor of Berlin, Monika Gruetters, Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Charles Rivkin, chairman of the Motion Picture Assn., David Goldman, VP, original series at Netflix, Martin Bachmann, managing director at Sony Pictures Releasing in Germany, and Kirsten Niehuus, M.D. at Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.

So many criminals, so little time. The trailer for Netflix's intriguing new series dropped, and it's obvious that Criminal won't be the streaming site's typical crime drama. Set entirely within the confines of a police interrogation room, the four-part anthology takes the standard procedural format to a fascinating new level. "Guilty" or "innocent" won't be so easy to decide, especially when it comes to these "12 unique crime stories."

As shown in the minute-long video above, 12 criminals will enter an interrogation room, and viewers will watch the mental conflict that sparks between the detectives working each case and the suspects they're interviewing. The cases will take place in four different countries, with three episodes devoted to each location. Among the international star-studded cast are David Tennant (Good Omens), Hayley Atwell (Avengers: Endgame), Florence Kasumba (Black Panther), and Sebastian Koch (Bridge of Spies). Keep an eye out for Criminal when it drops on Sept.

American director returns to festival for fifth time.

American director Oliver Stone will attend this year’s Zurich Film Festival (September 26 – October 6) as president of the jury.

He will be joined on the International Competition jury by Colombian director Ciro Guerra, Italian director Laura Bispuri, German actor Sebastian Koch, and Swiss producer Tiziana Soudani.

Zurich’s International Documentary Film Competition will this year be chaired by British producer Simon Chinn. He will be joined by American producer Stephen Nemeth, Swiss director Anja Kofmel, French director Maryam Goormaghtigh, and Swiss documentary filmmaker Christian Frei.

The Focus Competition, which selects first, second or third features from Switzerland,...

Oliver Stone will serve as the jury president of the international competition at this year’s Zurich Film Festival, it was announced Thursday. The Oscar-winning filmmaker will also present his Showtime documentary series “The Putin Interviews” and the restored version of his 1991 film “The Doors” at the festival.

“Oliver Stone is an edgy Hollywood auteur who continues to create epoch-making masterpieces and manages to broach explosive issues with brilliance,” said festival co-directors Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri. “We are delighted that [he] has accepted our invitation.”

The international competition jury also comprises Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra, Italian director Laura Bispuri, German actor Sebastian Koch, and Swiss producer Tiziana Soudani.

Double Oscar-winning documentary producer Simon Chinn has been tapped to chair the festival’s documentary film competition. German producer Thomas Kufus heads the Focus Competition, which is for Swiss, German or Austrian productions from a director making his or her first, second or third feature.

Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone will lead the jury of the upcoming Zurich Film Festival's international competition. 

Stone will also present a restored version of his 1991 biopic The Doors and his documentary series The Putin Interviews at the 15th edition of the Swiss film fest. 

He will preside over a jury that includes Colombian director Ciro Guerra (Waiting for the Barbarians), Italian director Laura Bispuri (Figlia Mia), German actor Sebastian Koch (Werk Ohne Autor) and Swiss producer Tiziana Soudani (Lazzaro Felice).

"Stone has been a friend of our festival for 12 years now. He was recipient of ...

Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone will lead the jury of the upcoming Zurich Film Festival's international competition. 

Stone will also present a restored version of his 1991 biopic The Doors and his documentary series The Putin Interviews at the 15th edition of the Swiss film fest. 

He will preside over a jury that includes Colombian director Ciro Guerra (Waiting for the Barbarians), Italian director Laura Bispuri (Figlia Mia), German actor Sebastian Koch (Werk Ohne Autor) and Swiss producer Tiziana Soudani (Lazzaro Felice).

"Stone has been a friend of our festival for 12 years now. He was recipient of ...

‘Toy Story 4’ (Photo credit: Disney/Pixar).

The fourth installment in the Disney/Pixar Toy Story franchise has smashed the opening weekend record for an animated title worldwide, ending a run of sequels and reboots which audiences showed they did not want or need.

Directed by Josh Cooley, Toy Story 4 grabbed $244.5 million, beating Incredibles 2‘s $235.8 million, although the $120.9 million domestic debut was only the fourth biggest for the genre, trailing Incredibles 2 ($182 million), Finding Dory ($135 million) and Shrek the Third ($121 million).

It was a buoyant weekend in Oz as Toy Story 4 and Universal/Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets sequel drew kids and families and fans of Indian cinema turned out for Kabir Singh and Shadaa.

However Child’s Play, the remake of the 1988 horror movie about a ghastly voodoo doll named Chucky, found few takers for Roadshow. Among the specialty releases, Sony’s Never Look Away...

After making its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and receiving the Leoncino d’Oro Agiscuola Award, the first UK trailer has arrived for Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s ‘Never Look Away’

‘The Lives of Others’ filmmaker, Henckel von Donnersmarck, makes a bold return to German language filmmaking with two nominations at this year’s Academy Awards® for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography.

The film stars Tom Schilling (Oh Boy), Sebastian Koch (Bridge of Spies, The Danish Girl), Paula Beer (Frantz), Saskia Rosendahl (Lore) and Oliver Masucci (Netflix’s Dark).

Also in trailers – Keira Knightley stars in first trailer for ‘Official Secrets’

The film is released in the UK and Ireland on 5 July

Never Look Away Synopsis

Inspired by real events and spanning three eras of German history, the film tells the story of a young art student, Kurt (Tom Schilling) who falls in love with a fellow student,...

Taylor Kitsch and Michael C. Hall have signed on to play lead roles and round out the cast in the new drama series Shadowplay. The series was created by Mans Marlind (Midnight Sun) who is also writing and directing. Shadowplay will be a 16 episode series told in two parts. The first will begin shooting this month in Prague, with the other set to start shooting next year.

The series will tell the story of Max McLaughlin (Kitsch), an American cop who arrives in Berlin in the summer of 1946 to help create a police force in the chaotic aftermath of the war. Max’s goal is to take down “Engelmacher” Gladow, who will be played by Sebastian Koch, the Capone of post-war Berlin. At the same time, Max undertakes a secret crusade to find his missing brother Moritz, who will be played by Logan Marshall-Green, who is killing ex-Nazis in hiding.

Cannes –Taylor Kitsch, Michael C. Hall and Nina Hoss are set to star in period thriller “Shadowplay,” one of the big series – with “War of the Worlds,” “Zero, Zero Zero,” “Years and Years” – on Studiocanal’s upcoming, event-series studded production slate.

Created by Måns Mårlind, co-creator of “The Bridge,” a banner Nordic Noir title, and “Midnight Sun,” one of Studiocanal’s biggest and best-received recent international co-productions, “Shadowplay” is set on a large-scale canvas, the bombed-out 1946 Berlin, one year after World War II, as its former Allies, the U.S, Russia rival for power in the wrecked city, and its survivors dare to hope to rebuild their lives.

Described by lead producers Tandem Productions and Bron Studios as a “gritty dramatic thriller,” and conceived by Mårlind as two “chapters” of eight-episodes, “Shadowplay’s” first chapter will shoot from April 30 in Prague and environs. Kitsch will play Max McLaughlin, an Brooklyn...

Exclusive: Taylor Kitsch and Michael C. Hall are set to lead the cast of Shadowplay, a gritty dramatic thriller series from The Bridge co-creator Måns Mårlind, Studiocanal’s Tandem Productions and Bron Studios in co-production with Zdf. Nina Hoss, Sebastian Koch, Tuppence Middleton, Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus) and Mala Emde round out the cast of the series’ first chapter.

Mårlind has conceived Shadowplay as a 16-episode series, told in two chapters. The initial eight-episode shoot will begin April 29 in Prague, and an additional eight episodes are planned for filming in 2020.

Created and written by Mårlin, Shadowplay is a character-driven thriller set in Berlin. It centers on the story of Max McLaughlin (Kitsch), an American cop who arrives in the city in the summer of 1946 to help create a police force...

Taylor Kitsch, Logan Marshall-Green and Michael C. Hall will star in Shadowplay, a new Berlin-set historical thriller from StudioCanal's Tandem Productions and Bron Studios, in co-production with Germany's Zdf.

The new thriller comes from The Bridge and Midnight Sun creator Mans Marlind, and is set up as a 16-episode story told over two seasons.

The American stars will be joined by a bevy of European talent including SAG-nominated Homeland star Sebastian Koch, alongside German actresses Nina Hoss (A Most Wanted Man) and Mala Emde (Brecht).

British star Tuppence Middleton (War and Peace, Downton Abbey) is also on board.

The story follows Kitsch's ...

AMC Networks announced today the premiere dates for several new and returning original series, including second seasons of AMC’s mystic modern-day fable Lodge 49 and horror-infused anthology The Terror: Infamy, IFC’s new musical variety sketch comedy Sherman’s Showcase and SundanceTV’s Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter, quirky comedy Rosehaven Season 3 and the new true crime thriller No One Saw A Thing.

Premiere date and series information is below (by network):

AMC

The Terror: Infamy

Monday, August 12 at 9:00 p.m. Et/8:00 p.m. Ct

Set during World War II, the haunting and suspenseful, second season of the horror-infused anthology, The Terror: Infamy, centers on a series of bizarre deaths that haunt a Japanese-American community, and a young man’s journey to understand and combat the malevolent entity responsible.

The series stars Derek Mio as Chester Nakayama; Kiki Sukezane (Lost in Space) as Yuko, a...

AMC Networks has set premiere dates for several new and returning series including season 2 of Lodge 49 and The Terror: Infamy, the second installment of the horror anthology series.

The Terror: Infamy will debut Monday, August 12 at at 9 Pm Et/8 Pm Ct, and will be followed by Season 2 of Lodge 49 at 10 Pm Et/ 9 Pm Ct.

Set during World War II, Season 2 of The Terror: Infamy centers on a series of bizarre deaths that haunt a Japanese-American community, and a young man’s journey to understand and combat the malevolent entity responsible.

The Terror: Infamy is an AMC Studios production produced by Scott Free, Emaj Productions and Entertainment 360.

Created by Jim Gavin, Lodge 49 is a modern fable set in Long Beach, CA that centers on likable “Squire” and ex-surfer Sean “Dud” Dudley (Wyatt Russell), whose beloved fraternal order — the Ancient and Benevolent Order of the Lynx — is suffering under...

The new trailer for Paul Weitz’s ‘Bel Canto’ has been released. The film is based on Ann Patchett’s award-winning, best-selling novel.

Based on the Japanese embassy hostage crisis of 1996–1997 in Lima, Peru, the novel followed the relationships among a group of young terrorists and their hostages, who are mostly high-profile executives and politicians, over several months. Many of the characters form unbreakable bonds of friendship, while some fall in love.

Directed by Weitz, Ken Watanabe stars as Julianne Moore’s love interest. Sebastian Koch, Christopher Lambert, Ryo Kase, Tenoch Huerta, and María Mercedes Coroy also star. The world-renowned opera singer Renee Fleming provides Moore’s singing voice.

Also in trailers – New teaser trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ will send shivers down your spine

The film is released in the UK April 26th

Bel Canto Synopsis

Based on the best-selling novel.

With casting seemingly underway for the long-awaited Black Widow solo movie, That Hashtag Show has been offering quite a few reports lately on actors in the running to join the McU.

In the latest such piece, for instance, it’s said that Marvel Studios is on the lookout for a woman of color in the 15-25 age range for a “small, supporting role.” The report adds that the character was only just recently added to the script as part of the rewrites from The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby scribe Ned Benson.

Though the report stresses that Marvel is still “very early in the process,” it’s said that the studio has so far expressed an interest in Storm Reid (A Wrinkle in Time), Isabela Moner, Camila Mendes (Riverdale) and Hannah Quinlivan (Skyscraper), among others.

Hi-Res Screenshots Show Off The New Avengers: Endgame TV Spot 1 of 15

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We’ve got some more potential casting news regarding Marvel Studios’ Black Widow. Just yesterday we learned that Emma Watson (Harry Potter) is wanted for a female led in the film and now today we’ve learned that Marvel has their eye on someone to play the villain.

It was already reported that the studio is looking for “a Black British or African actor” between the ages of 30 and 45 to take on the role. One of the actors they are currently looking at is Castle Rock star Andre Holland.

Holland is one of several actors who are reading for the role, but according to That Hashtag Show, “his audition caught the attention of Marvel Studios who are said to be hoping to find the right mix of a powerful, confident actor who can pull off smart and sexy.”

Holland is a great actor. I really liked his work in Castle Rock,...

Kirsten Howard Mar 7, 2019

Casting rumors aplenty, as Marvel starts gearing up for the McU's Black Widow standalone film...

Kevin Feige and his Marvel team would like to keep any big announcements about Phase 4 of the McU to themselves until after the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home this summer, but if they want to get a movie or two out in 2020, it's going to be near-impossible to keep all their cards close to their chests until then.

Case in point, the proposed Black Widow solo movie looks like it's starting to round up a cast of choice applicants for roles to surround Scarlett Johansson in her first standalone spy adventure as former Russian assassin, Natasha Romanoff, aka Natalie Rushman, Laura Matthers, Mary Farrell, Natalia Alianovna Romanova, Oktober, Yelena Belova, etc. The gal's had a lot of aliases!

The fairly reliable That Hashtag Show has some exclusive details on the casting situation so far,...

Earlier today, That Hashtag Show offered a list of names that are allegedly being considered for a major female role in the upcoming Black Widow solo movie, with the frontrunner of the group said to be Emma Watson. Now, coming on the heels of that report, the site claims to have heard word that one André Holland is in the running to play the lead villain.

With shooting expected to begin in June, the film is reportedly undergoing rewrites from scribe Ned Benson that have allowed casting director Sarah Finn to expand the board of candidates for the role of main antagonist. Among those auditioning for the part is said to be Holland, who you may know from such acclaimed pictures as Moonlight and Selma, as well as the horror anthology series Castle Rock. Though Holland is apparently just one of the actors gunning for the role, it’s said...

Modern Films has snagged U.K. and Ireland rights to “Never Look Away,” the German-language Oscar entry from “The Lives of Others” helmer Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.

The multi-generational story follows a young art student (Tom Schilling), who falls in love with a fellow student (Paula Beer). Her father (Sebastian Koch), a renowned doctor, disapproves of their relationship and vows to destroy it. Set in Germany, it spans three decades of the country’s history from Nazism through to the Cold War. The central character is loosely based on artist Gerhard Richter.

The three-hour picture, which premiered at the Venice Film festival, recently opened via Sony Pictures Classics. Beta Cinema was the sales agent. Distributor Modern Films plans an event-driven release plan similar to what it did with “Manifesto,” starring Cate Blanchett, and with HBO and Rai’s Italian-language miniseries “My Brilliant Friend.”

Thorsten Ritter of Beta Cinema says it...

2018 Venice Competition title is nominated for this year’s foreign-language Oscar.

Modern Films has bought UK rights to Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Never Look Away from Beta Cinema.

The German and Russian- language film premiered in Competition at the Venice Film Festival last year. It is nominated for best foreign-language film and best cinematography at this year’s Academy Awards.

Spanning three decades of 20th century German history, Never Look Away stars Tom Schilling as a young art student who falls in love with a fellow student played by Paula Beer. Her father, portrayed by Sebastian Koch, disapproves of...

Oliver Masucci as Professor Antonius van Verten, in Never Look Away. Photo by Caleb Deschanel, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Art and history meld in the Oscar-nominated Never Look Away, a German-language epic tale that begins in 1937 Nazi Germany, and follows Kurt, an artistically-gifted young German, from his boyhood under the Nazis, to life in communist East Germany, and finally in the West in the 1960s. The personal story is used to explore life in eastern Germany under two repressive regimes, and those regimes shifting views on modern art under those regimes. Naturally, the drama also touches on Nazi war crimes, the war itself and its aftermath under communism but the lens is this child’s experience in wartime and then as a young artist.

Never Look Away is an Oscar nominee in this year’s Foreign Language category and also in the Cinematography category, for Oscar-winner Caleb Deschanel’s stunningly lush work.

Like everyone else, Caleb Deschanel was taken by surprise with his sixth Oscar nomination for German-language nominee, “Never Look Away,” about the horrors of war and the artistic process. The legendary cinematographer, best known for “The Black Stallion, “The Right Stuff,” and “The Natural,” now becomes the sentimental favorite to win his first Academy Award.

“People kept coming up and raving about ‘Cold War’ and ‘Roma’ and I sheepishly told them that I had a foreign-language film and they said they had the DVD somewhere,” Deschanel said.

Clearly, enough branch members (bolstered by the large international bloc) were swayed by Deschanel’s exquisite cinematography to give him the nod. “Never Look Away,” directed by Oscar winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (“The Lives of Others”), fictionalizes the life of experimental abstract German painter Gerhard Richter, who finds his artistic voice in the film after falling in love with a fashion student...

German filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmark made a splash in the foreign language box office over a decade ago with The Lives of Others, which took the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film. He is back again with Sony Pictures Classics for Never Look Away, which is also vying for Oscar this year. Also out in theaters beginning Friday is Greenwich Entertainment’s WWII-era drama, The Invisibles, which was the first pick up for the company back in 2017. And on a decidedly different note, Cinedigm is mixing camp and horror with Dead Ant starring Tom Arnold and Sean Astin.

Also this weekend, Focus Features is taking Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman back to theaters following its six Oscar nominations. The company said the film, which grossed over $48.5M in its initial run in theaters starting last August, will play 168 theaters around the country beginning Friday. Said Focus president Lisa Bunnell, “We...

Just nominated for an Academy Award as Best Foreign-Language Film and for the extraordinary cinematography of Caleb Deschanel, Never Look Away concerns itself with love and war and the limitless reach of art. These are big themes and easy to bungle over the course of this three-hour-plus epic from German writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. In his third film, after the Oscar-winning The Lives of Others and a misbegotten 2010 merging with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie to create The Tourist — a mega-flop for the ages — von Donnersmarck returns triumphantly to form.

How did Caleb Deschanel end up being the cinematographer on “Never Look Away,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s three-hour-plus German-language film?

“I had known Florian for a number of years because we had been on some various committees at the academy,” Deschanel shared at Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts: Cinematographers panel, moderated by this author (watch above). “He had met with Gerhard Richter, the painter, and he had done a lot of interviews with him and he was really fascinated by his life. He then called me and we met and we sat down for about four hours and he sort of told me this story and it was before he had written the script, but I was really fascinated by this character.”

Inspired by Richter’s life, “Never Look Away” tells the fictional story of a painter, Kurt (Tom Schilling), who grew up in Dresden, Germany, during World War II,...

One of the biggest challenges when making a film about a fictitious artist must be coming up with art that doesn’t make audience members question the admiration for the artist. In that sense, writer/director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck covers his bases by using Gerhard Richter’s photorealistic pieces as the inspiration for the work created by Kurt Barnert (Tom Schilling), the protagonist of Never Look Away. So by the time a frustrated Kurt realizes he can turn painful memories into haunting paintings that see beyond the “reality” of a photograph, we are so immersed in his story that unexpected chills are the only possible reaction we can have upon seeing his first completed piece.

The other challenge of a quasi-biopic must certainly be writing a backstory plotty enough to feel novelistic, but subtle enough to feel as random and unplanned as real life, so that the more cynical...

Never Look Away (Werk Ohne Autor) director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck on Martha's (Ina Weisse) marriage to the monstrous Professor Seeband (Sebastian Koch), father to Ellie (Paula Beer): "You can sense she has a different spirit but yet she is so subjugated by everything that she can't even dare to live it."

Elements from Gerhard Richter’s life story inspired the role of Kurt Barnert, played by Generation War and Jan Ole Gerster's Oh Boy (aka A Coffee In Berlin) star, Tom Schilling, in the latest film from the director/screenwriter of the Oscar-winning The Lives Of Others. In Never Look Away (Werk Ohne Autor), Germany's Oscar submission for the 91st Academy Awards, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck sets the bar far higher for himself than he did for his Hollywood misfire The Tourist, starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (with Anne-Katrin Titze) on his...

With “Never Look Away,” Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck wanted to make a film “about human creativity. I was always amazed at how people who do great creative things … can take the trauma of their life and turn it into something so beautiful. It seems to me almost like a kind of alchemy, that you would take the lead of your suffering and turn it into the gold of art.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

See 2019 Oscars: Foreign-language film entries from A (Afghanistan) to Y (Yemen)

This Sony Pictures Classics release follows an art student (Tom Schilling) living in post-war East Germany. He falls in love with a fellow student (Paula Beer) to the chagrin of her father (Sebastian Koch), a famous doctor who participated in the Nazi eugenics program during the war. The film is the official German entry for the Foreign Language Film Oscar, a prize that was...

Never Look Away (Werk ohne Autor) Sony Pictures Classics Reviewed by: Harvey Karten Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Screenwriter: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Cast: Tom Schilling, Sebastian Koch, Paula Beer, Saskia Rosendahl, Cai Cohrs, Oliver Masucci, Ina Weisse, Rainer Bock, Johanna Gastdorf, Jeanette Hain, Hinnerk Schönemann, Florian Bartholomäi,Hans-Uwe Bauer, Jörg Schüttauf, Ben Becker, Lars Eidinger […]

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