Movie News
Yorgos Lanthimos can’t stop (won’t stop!) working with Oscar winner Emma Stone, casting the actress once again as leading lady for his next project “Bugonia.”
The drama will also star Jesse Plemons who, along with Stone, appears in Lanthimos’ forthcoming “Kinds of Kindness.” That three-chapter feature just premiered on Friday at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
“Bugonia” follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. The script is from heat-seeking “Succession” and “The Menu” writer Will Tracy.
Focus Features has won domestic rights to distribute the project. Universal Pictures will roll out the film in global territories, save Korea where “Parasite” producer Cj Enm will release. The latter is financing the film with Fremantle. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent brokered the rights deal.
This package is loaded with pedigree.
The drama will also star Jesse Plemons who, along with Stone, appears in Lanthimos’ forthcoming “Kinds of Kindness.” That three-chapter feature just premiered on Friday at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
“Bugonia” follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. The script is from heat-seeking “Succession” and “The Menu” writer Will Tracy.
Focus Features has won domestic rights to distribute the project. Universal Pictures will roll out the film in global territories, save Korea where “Parasite” producer Cj Enm will release. The latter is financing the film with Fremantle. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent brokered the rights deal.
This package is loaded with pedigree.
- 5/18/2024
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Writer-director John Krasinski‘s original family film IF has started off its box office run with $1.8 million in Thursday previews.
The fantasy pic, headlining Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming alongside an A-list voice cast, explores the world of discarded imaginary friends and what happens when a young girl and her neighbor try to reunite them with their previous human pals.
The live-action/CGI animated Paramount pic is tracking for a domestic debut in the $40 million range from more than 4,000 theaters, but the family marketplace continues to struggle in the post-pandemic era. Nor is original fare an easy proposition. It’s hard to read too much into Thursday previews since families don’t start turning out in earnest until Friday and Saturday, generally speaking, although some exhibitors are worried the movie could have a hard time getting to $40 million based on presales, according to sources.
Reviews aren’t so great — If...
The fantasy pic, headlining Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming alongside an A-list voice cast, explores the world of discarded imaginary friends and what happens when a young girl and her neighbor try to reunite them with their previous human pals.
The live-action/CGI animated Paramount pic is tracking for a domestic debut in the $40 million range from more than 4,000 theaters, but the family marketplace continues to struggle in the post-pandemic era. Nor is original fare an easy proposition. It’s hard to read too much into Thursday previews since families don’t start turning out in earnest until Friday and Saturday, generally speaking, although some exhibitors are worried the movie could have a hard time getting to $40 million based on presales, according to sources.
Reviews aren’t so great — If...
- 5/17/2024
- by Pamela McClintock
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Daniel Baur’s K5 Intl. has sold out most of international on Kevin Costner’s two-part Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga,” with only a few territories left, ahead of its world premiere Sunday in Cannes’ out of competition section.
K5 closed sales to Tobis Film (German-speaking territories), Metropolitan Filmexport (France), Stan Entertainment (Australia), Unicorn (Eastern Europe), Sf Studios/Ab Svensk (Scandinavia), Echo Lake Distribution (Airlines), EnterMode (South Korea), Falcon Films (Middle East), Nos Lusomundo (Portugal), Tanweer (Greece), MadMen (Australia), Parallax Studios/Saga Film (Philippines), Aqua Group (Turkey) and Myndform (Iceland).
Warner Bros./New Line will give the films wide releases in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Spain, Italy and the Netherlands on June 28 and Aug. 16.
Last year, Baur re-launched K5 Intl. with a new focus on high-budgeted elevated genre films and series. When Baur received the call from producer Howard Kaplan of Territory Pictures that he was...
K5 closed sales to Tobis Film (German-speaking territories), Metropolitan Filmexport (France), Stan Entertainment (Australia), Unicorn (Eastern Europe), Sf Studios/Ab Svensk (Scandinavia), Echo Lake Distribution (Airlines), EnterMode (South Korea), Falcon Films (Middle East), Nos Lusomundo (Portugal), Tanweer (Greece), MadMen (Australia), Parallax Studios/Saga Film (Philippines), Aqua Group (Turkey) and Myndform (Iceland).
Warner Bros./New Line will give the films wide releases in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Spain, Italy and the Netherlands on June 28 and Aug. 16.
Last year, Baur re-launched K5 Intl. with a new focus on high-budgeted elevated genre films and series. When Baur received the call from producer Howard Kaplan of Territory Pictures that he was...
- 5/17/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety - Film News
A new entry in the “Insidious” franchise has been set for the theaters. The next installment of the Blumhouse Productions horror property, co-produced by Screen Gems, has been added to Sony’s theatrical slate, with the studio dating the film for an Aug. 29, 2025 release.
No further details on the project were disclosed, including whether series regulars such as Patrick Wilson and Leigh Whannell would be involved. The newly announced feature is different from “Thread: An Insidious Tale,” an in-universe series spin-off that was first reported on by Deadline in May 2023 and is said to star Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani, with Jeremy Slater attached to write and direct.
Barring no other “Insidious” installments releasing before this newly announced one, this would mark the sixth entry in the horror franchise and the first since last year’s “Insidious: The Red Door,” which saw actors Patrick Wilson and Ty Simpkins return to...
No further details on the project were disclosed, including whether series regulars such as Patrick Wilson and Leigh Whannell would be involved. The newly announced feature is different from “Thread: An Insidious Tale,” an in-universe series spin-off that was first reported on by Deadline in May 2023 and is said to star Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani, with Jeremy Slater attached to write and direct.
Barring no other “Insidious” installments releasing before this newly announced one, this would mark the sixth entry in the horror franchise and the first since last year’s “Insidious: The Red Door,” which saw actors Patrick Wilson and Ty Simpkins return to...
- 5/17/2024
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety - Film News
Neon has bought North American rights to “The Unknown” (“L’Inconnue”), the hotly anticipated next movie from “Anatomy of a Fall”’s Oscar-winning co-writer Arthur Harari.
As revealed by Variety earlier this week, the movie will star Léa Seydoux (“Dune 2”) and is being represented in international markets. Harari is rolling off of “Anatomy of a Fall” which he co-wrote with director Justine Triet, abd won an Oscar, two Golden Globes, a BAFTA and the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The deal was negotiated by Neon’s president of acquisitions and production Jeff Deutchman with producer Nicolas Anthomé on behalf of the filmmakers, and marks Neon’s second collaboration with Harari following last year’s “Anatomy of a Fall” which Neon acquired out of Cannes in 2023 before it won the Palme d’Or for that year. This deal further cements Neon’s commitment to bringing top-of-the-line international cinema to U.
As revealed by Variety earlier this week, the movie will star Léa Seydoux (“Dune 2”) and is being represented in international markets. Harari is rolling off of “Anatomy of a Fall” which he co-wrote with director Justine Triet, abd won an Oscar, two Golden Globes, a BAFTA and the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The deal was negotiated by Neon’s president of acquisitions and production Jeff Deutchman with producer Nicolas Anthomé on behalf of the filmmakers, and marks Neon’s second collaboration with Harari following last year’s “Anatomy of a Fall” which Neon acquired out of Cannes in 2023 before it won the Palme d’Or for that year. This deal further cements Neon’s commitment to bringing top-of-the-line international cinema to U.
- 5/17/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety - Film News
Oliver Stone is talking about “Lula,” his new documentary about Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which is premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, when the conversation turns to American politics. The conspiracy-minded director, who’s never seen a grassy knoll without glimpsing a second gunman on it, is drawing an analogy between Lula’s political travails, involving a corruption investigation that led to a 580-day prison stint, and those of Donald Trump. That’s when the film’s publicist interjects and politely tries to steer the topic back to the documentary. But Stone waves him off and plunges ahead.
“The charges on both sides of the Trump-Biden election are pretty wild — that Biden is corrupt and Trump is corrupt,” he says. “It’s a new form of warfare. It’s called lawfare. And that’s what they’re using against Trump. And I think there’s interesting parallels here in America,...
“The charges on both sides of the Trump-Biden election are pretty wild — that Biden is corrupt and Trump is corrupt,” he says. “It’s a new form of warfare. It’s called lawfare. And that’s what they’re using against Trump. And I think there’s interesting parallels here in America,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety - Film News
Samantha Morton is the latest addition to Ruben Ostlund’s The Entertainment System Is Down, with further key cast to be announced in the coming weeks.
Morton will play a significant part, after “she brought something to that role that was very convincing” in the audition process, according to the film’s producer Erik Hemmendorff.
“She’s a genuine person. What she’s going to do is fantastic,” Hemmendorff told Screen.
Morton joins previously announced cast Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Bruhl. The film is set on a long-haul flight where the entertainment system fails and passengers are forced...
Morton will play a significant part, after “she brought something to that role that was very convincing” in the audition process, according to the film’s producer Erik Hemmendorff.
“She’s a genuine person. What she’s going to do is fantastic,” Hemmendorff told Screen.
Morton joins previously announced cast Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Bruhl. The film is set on a long-haul flight where the entertainment system fails and passengers are forced...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Raoul Peck’s life is as fascinating as his films, filled with unexpected twists and turns. From his early stints as a cab driver and journalist, to a minister of culture post in his native Haiti, to teaching, to founding his Velvet Film production shingle to his breakthrough when he earned an Oscar nomination as producer/director with the James Baldwin doc, “I Am Not Your Negro,” the common denominator is Peck’s drive to make life better through his work. “I went into film because there were things I wanted to say, to express or deconstruct,” he explained. “And there is a fight to be had about the state of the world and wherever I’m living.”
On May 20, Peck will have his third Cannes premiere with the Special Screenings doc “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found.” It chronicles the life of a South African photographer — another of Peck’s...
On May 20, Peck will have his third Cannes premiere with the Special Screenings doc “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found.” It chronicles the life of a South African photographer — another of Peck’s...
- 5/19/2024
- by Gregg Goldstein
- Variety - Film News
Thailand’s BrandThink Cinema is handling sales on Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s magical realism thriller Lublae, Khaeng Khoi and Thai boxing documentary 5th Round.
Lublae, Khaeng Khoi is based on the 2009 Southeast Asian Writers Award-winning novel by Uthis Haemamool and follows the story of two brothers. One is sent by his family to a temple, where he starts to reveal a story about his brother. Production is expected to start later this year for delivery in 2025.
Rawee Piriyapongsak’s 5th Round documents the lives of Muay Thai boxers, from a child prodigy to a rising star, to veteran boxer Wanchalong Pk Saenchaimuaythaigym.
Lublae, Khaeng Khoi is based on the 2009 Southeast Asian Writers Award-winning novel by Uthis Haemamool and follows the story of two brothers. One is sent by his family to a temple, where he starts to reveal a story about his brother. Production is expected to start later this year for delivery in 2025.
Rawee Piriyapongsak’s 5th Round documents the lives of Muay Thai boxers, from a child prodigy to a rising star, to veteran boxer Wanchalong Pk Saenchaimuaythaigym.
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Roger Frappier, one of the Bafta-winning producers of Jane Campion’s The Power Of The Dog, is in Cannes talking to potential partners about a feature adaptation of Canadian novel The Orange Grove.
Rising Arab filmmaker Murad Abu Eisheh is set to write and direct, and has joined Frappier in Cannes this week to discuss the project with financiers, actors, distributors and sales agents ahead of a planned shoot in 2025.
The story is based on the 2013 novel by Larry Tremblay and centres on a Middle Eastern theatre understudy whose chance to go on stage triggers memories of his war-torn childhood...
Rising Arab filmmaker Murad Abu Eisheh is set to write and direct, and has joined Frappier in Cannes this week to discuss the project with financiers, actors, distributors and sales agents ahead of a planned shoot in 2025.
The story is based on the 2013 novel by Larry Tremblay and centres on a Middle Eastern theatre understudy whose chance to go on stage triggers memories of his war-torn childhood...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Francesca Archibugi to direct ‘The Italian Chapel’ for Blue Horizon, Greenboo Production (exclusive)
Andrew Bendel’s UK production outfit Blue Horizon Productions has joined forces with Marco Belardi’s Italy-based Greenboo Production to coproduce wartime romance The Italian Chapel.
Italian director Francesca Archibugi is working on her own version of the script, based on an original screenplay by John Wrathall.
Set in Orkney, The Italian Chapel is about a clash between the local community and prisoners of war and how romance springs up between a prisoner and an islander. Inspired by a true story, the film was originally developed by Working Title Films and the BFI.
It is one of a number of...
Italian director Francesca Archibugi is working on her own version of the script, based on an original screenplay by John Wrathall.
Set in Orkney, The Italian Chapel is about a clash between the local community and prisoners of war and how romance springs up between a prisoner and an islander. Inspired by a true story, the film was originally developed by Working Title Films and the BFI.
It is one of a number of...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mariette Rissenbeek, producer and outgoing Berlinale executive director, is advising on a new $5m Luxembourg-based fund to support underrepresented voices in cinema, initially with a Mena orientation.
The Poetry in Motion Fund: Independent voices of Cinema is the brainchild of women’s rights activist Fedra Fateh, instigator of The Woman Life Freedom Project in Cannes and deputy director of the Torino Film Festival.
“We want to do things differently but at a very high level,” she said. ”We want to fill the gaps that are not being met by traditional funders and the film commissions. We want to advance social...
The Poetry in Motion Fund: Independent voices of Cinema is the brainchild of women’s rights activist Fedra Fateh, instigator of The Woman Life Freedom Project in Cannes and deputy director of the Torino Film Festival.
“We want to do things differently but at a very high level,” she said. ”We want to fill the gaps that are not being met by traditional funders and the film commissions. We want to advance social...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Leading European film commissioners and producers discussed the combined creative offer of the UK and mainland Europe for attracting international productions, in a British Film Commission (Bfc) and Screen International roundtable in Cannes (May 17).
The participants were Christiane Krone-Raab, head of Berlin Brandenburg Film Commission; Daphné Lora, head of film France — Cnc; Ildiko Kemeny, CEO of Hungary’s Pioneer Stillking; Libbie McQuillan, deputy CEO of Screen Ireland; Meghan Beaton, chief executive of the Norwegian Film Commission; Juan Manuel Guimerans Rubio, secretary general of Spain Film Commission; and Samantha Perahia, head of production UK at the Bfc.
Adrian Wootton, CEO of Bfc,...
The participants were Christiane Krone-Raab, head of Berlin Brandenburg Film Commission; Daphné Lora, head of film France — Cnc; Ildiko Kemeny, CEO of Hungary’s Pioneer Stillking; Libbie McQuillan, deputy CEO of Screen Ireland; Meghan Beaton, chief executive of the Norwegian Film Commission; Juan Manuel Guimerans Rubio, secretary general of Spain Film Commission; and Samantha Perahia, head of production UK at the Bfc.
Adrian Wootton, CEO of Bfc,...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
The Argentina pavilion may be absent from the Cannes Croisette this year amid an ongoing national funding crisis, yet the head of the country’s film academy remained unbowed, declaring, “We are here for our industry.”
Academy president Hernán Findling said, “The Academy will defend and promote Argentinian cinema. We have a long tradition and we’re doing whatever we can to share how important our national industry is.”
Referring to the suspension of public film body Incaa, Academy vice president Sabrina Farji said, “We’re very worried because we don’t know how many films there will be here next year.
Academy president Hernán Findling said, “The Academy will defend and promote Argentinian cinema. We have a long tradition and we’re doing whatever we can to share how important our national industry is.”
Referring to the suspension of public film body Incaa, Academy vice president Sabrina Farji said, “We’re very worried because we don’t know how many films there will be here next year.
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Storyboard Media has added J.M. Barrie supernatural thriller adaptation The Island Between Tides starring Paloma Kwiatkowski from Riot Girls to its Cannes sales roster.
The story is based on Barrie’s Gothic story Mary Rose, about a young woman who goes missing on a remote island and reappears years later with no memory of what happened to her.
David Mazouz from Gotham, Donal Logue from Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City, and Adam Beach from The Power Of The Dog round out the cast.
Austin Andrews and Andrew Holmes co-wrote and co-directed for Flicker Theory, Famous Red Car, and Mad Samurai Productions.
The story is based on Barrie’s Gothic story Mary Rose, about a young woman who goes missing on a remote island and reappears years later with no memory of what happened to her.
David Mazouz from Gotham, Donal Logue from Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City, and Adam Beach from The Power Of The Dog round out the cast.
Austin Andrews and Andrew Holmes co-wrote and co-directed for Flicker Theory, Famous Red Car, and Mad Samurai Productions.
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Meteore has acquired French distribution rights to Paulo Carneiro’s Savanna and the Mountain which plays in Cannes’ Directors Fortnight.
Set in northern Portugal, the hybrid documentary centres on a local community organising themselves after they discover that a British company plans to build the largest open-pit lithium mine in Europe just few metres from their homes. The Portuguese filmmaker, who is readying his latest feature Ma Terre Ma Force, wrote the project with Uruguayan director Alex Piperno.
Portugal Films is handling international sales. Carneiro’s Bam Bam Cinema and Piperno’s La Pobladora produce. The project won the Rtp...
Set in northern Portugal, the hybrid documentary centres on a local community organising themselves after they discover that a British company plans to build the largest open-pit lithium mine in Europe just few metres from their homes. The Portuguese filmmaker, who is readying his latest feature Ma Terre Ma Force, wrote the project with Uruguayan director Alex Piperno.
Portugal Films is handling international sales. Carneiro’s Bam Bam Cinema and Piperno’s La Pobladora produce. The project won the Rtp...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Hong Kong action thriller Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In, which screened at Cannes this week, is set to become a trilogy, reuniting director Soi Cheang and producers John Chong and Wilson Yip.
Like the first film, the two new instalments will be based on the novel City Of Darkness by Yuyi. Both are expected to go into production around the same time next year on newly built extensive sets, according to Angus Chan of Entertaining Power, who owns the film rights to the novel.
The second instalment, Twilight Of The Warriors: Dragon Throne will be set in the 1950s and 1960s,...
Like the first film, the two new instalments will be based on the novel City Of Darkness by Yuyi. Both are expected to go into production around the same time next year on newly built extensive sets, according to Angus Chan of Entertaining Power, who owns the film rights to the novel.
The second instalment, Twilight Of The Warriors: Dragon Throne will be set in the 1950s and 1960s,...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Polish producer Dariusz Jablonski of Apple Film Production has been elected president of the influential European Producers Club (Epc).
Previously a vice-president of the Epc, Jablonski takes over from Gudny Hummelvoll who has held the post since 2020.
Pandora da Cunha Telles of Portugal’s Ukbar Filmes has been re-elected as a vice-president of the Epc, while Carlotta Calori of Rome based Indigo Film and Mariela Besuievsky of Spain’s Tornasol Films also become vice-presidents.
Speaking to Screen at Cannes, Jablonski stressed that the incoming team would focus on protecting independent producers, big or small “especially in light of more and more illiberal governments taking power.
Previously a vice-president of the Epc, Jablonski takes over from Gudny Hummelvoll who has held the post since 2020.
Pandora da Cunha Telles of Portugal’s Ukbar Filmes has been re-elected as a vice-president of the Epc, while Carlotta Calori of Rome based Indigo Film and Mariela Besuievsky of Spain’s Tornasol Films also become vice-presidents.
Speaking to Screen at Cannes, Jablonski stressed that the incoming team would focus on protecting independent producers, big or small “especially in light of more and more illiberal governments taking power.
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Pimienta has come on board as co-producer on Sujo, the Sundance Dramatic World Cinema grand jury prize winner that Paris-based Alpha Violet continues to sell in Cannes.
The Mexican company will add its weight to the film’s profile as it rolls out across that country and Latin America through Cinepolis.
Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez co-directed and co-wrote the coming-of-age drama about the son of a slain cartel hitman who must decide whether to follow in his father’s footsteps or pursue a different path.
Valadez directed and co-wrote with Rondero the Sundance 2020 selection Identifying Features.
UTA Independent Film Group...
The Mexican company will add its weight to the film’s profile as it rolls out across that country and Latin America through Cinepolis.
Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez co-directed and co-wrote the coming-of-age drama about the son of a slain cartel hitman who must decide whether to follow in his father’s footsteps or pursue a different path.
Valadez directed and co-wrote with Rondero the Sundance 2020 selection Identifying Features.
UTA Independent Film Group...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Neue Vision has snapped up French family comedy Present Perfect (Les Cadeaux) for Germany and Austria.
Ginger & Fed kicked off sales in Cannes for the film about siblings who experience a whirlwind of surprises at a family gathering produced by Karé Productions.
Present Perfect is directed by Raphaele Moussafir with the collaboration of Christophe Offenstein and stars Chantal Lauby, Gerard Darmon, Camille Lellouche, and Melanie Doutey.
Warner Bros will release the film in France and Belgium on Dec. 4. Neue Vision notably released colossal French hit Serial Bad Weddings.
Cannes Film Festival 2024: Screen’s dailies...
Ginger & Fed kicked off sales in Cannes for the film about siblings who experience a whirlwind of surprises at a family gathering produced by Karé Productions.
Present Perfect is directed by Raphaele Moussafir with the collaboration of Christophe Offenstein and stars Chantal Lauby, Gerard Darmon, Camille Lellouche, and Melanie Doutey.
Warner Bros will release the film in France and Belgium on Dec. 4. Neue Vision notably released colossal French hit Serial Bad Weddings.
Cannes Film Festival 2024: Screen’s dailies...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Norwegian actress Pia Tjelta will lead the cast of Nina Knag’s feature debut Don’t Call Me Mama, which is in pre-production ahead of a June 2024 shoot.
REinvent International Sales is handling international sales and launching the film at Cannes, with Scanbox Entertainment holding Nordic distribution rights.
Don’t Call Me Mama follows a high school teacher who falls in love with a young asylum teacher, sparking a forbidden relationship with consequences for them both.
Kristoffer Joner, Tarek Zayat, Kathrine Thorborg Johansen also star alongside Tjelta.
Knag and Kathrine Valen Zeiner wrote the script, with Eleonore Anselme and Ingrid Skagestad...
REinvent International Sales is handling international sales and launching the film at Cannes, with Scanbox Entertainment holding Nordic distribution rights.
Don’t Call Me Mama follows a high school teacher who falls in love with a young asylum teacher, sparking a forbidden relationship with consequences for them both.
Kristoffer Joner, Tarek Zayat, Kathrine Thorborg Johansen also star alongside Tjelta.
Knag and Kathrine Valen Zeiner wrote the script, with Eleonore Anselme and Ingrid Skagestad...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Bankside Films is in development on Everything I Ever Knew, a true-life story to be directed by Mamma Mia! and The Iron Lady filmmaker Phyllida Lloyd.
It explores the story of a woman named Jacqui who discovers, after 25 years, that the father of her eldest son was an undercover police officer. The case is the subject of an ongoing public inquiry that reveals one of the worst cases of state-sanctioned abuse of women in recent British history.
The UK feature is based on a screenplay by Suzie Miller, the writer behind Olivier and Tony-award winning hit one-woman play Prima Facie,...
It explores the story of a woman named Jacqui who discovers, after 25 years, that the father of her eldest son was an undercover police officer. The case is the subject of an ongoing public inquiry that reveals one of the worst cases of state-sanctioned abuse of women in recent British history.
The UK feature is based on a screenplay by Suzie Miller, the writer behind Olivier and Tony-award winning hit one-woman play Prima Facie,...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
UK sales company Wildstar Sales has inked deals on its slate including for romantic comedy F.L.Y..
Rafael Albarran and Trent Kendrick’s film has sold to Breaking Glass Pictures for North America, with the company planning a theatrical release.
F.L.Y. played at US festivals including Outshine Miami and Outfest Film Festival, and plays India’s Kashish Pride Film Festival this month.
Wildstar has sold three films to France’s Optimale - Lucas Santa Ana’s drama Blue Lights, Matias de Leis Correa’s romance Since The Last Time We Met and Marco Berger’s new film The Astronaut Lovers, with...
Rafael Albarran and Trent Kendrick’s film has sold to Breaking Glass Pictures for North America, with the company planning a theatrical release.
F.L.Y. played at US festivals including Outshine Miami and Outfest Film Festival, and plays India’s Kashish Pride Film Festival this month.
Wildstar has sold three films to France’s Optimale - Lucas Santa Ana’s drama Blue Lights, Matias de Leis Correa’s romance Since The Last Time We Met and Marco Berger’s new film The Astronaut Lovers, with...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Midsommar producer Patrik Andersson, Infinity Pool SFX artist Dan Martin and All Quiet On The Western Front sound editor/designer Frank Kruse are among the first wave of contributors to the inaugural UK Next Wave Genre Lab.
The Lab is run by UK sales firm Film Constellation, French production and consultancy company Tatino Films and development and packaging event Maskoon Fantastic Lab.
Hoard producer Andy Starke, Pelican Blood producer Verena Grafe-Hoft and Piggy filmmaker Carlota Pereda are also among the group of international contributors, mentors and tutors, with further participants to be announced soon.
The Lab will be led by...
The Lab is run by UK sales firm Film Constellation, French production and consultancy company Tatino Films and development and packaging event Maskoon Fantastic Lab.
Hoard producer Andy Starke, Pelican Blood producer Verena Grafe-Hoft and Piggy filmmaker Carlota Pereda are also among the group of international contributors, mentors and tutors, with further participants to be announced soon.
The Lab will be led by...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
US revenge thriller Clearmind has closed in a slew of territories for the UK’s Film Seekers, including UK (Tmp), Germany (Spirit), Latin America (Encripta), Airlines (Encore), Cis (New People), Turkey (Mars) and Portugal (Vendetta).
Rebecca Eskreis’s feature follows a grieving woman who uses her virtual reality simulation to crash the weekend getaway of her former friends, which turns into a deadly night of revenge.
Toks Olagundoye, Rebecca Creskoff, Rob Benedict and Matt Peters star, while Kristin T. Higgins and Seana Kofoed produce.
BFI Filmmaking Fund director Mia Bays extends contract by two years (exclusive)...
Rebecca Eskreis’s feature follows a grieving woman who uses her virtual reality simulation to crash the weekend getaway of her former friends, which turns into a deadly night of revenge.
Toks Olagundoye, Rebecca Creskoff, Rob Benedict and Matt Peters star, while Kristin T. Higgins and Seana Kofoed produce.
BFI Filmmaking Fund director Mia Bays extends contract by two years (exclusive)...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Manila-based production outfit Parallax Studio and entertainment company Saga Film Studios have formed a joint venture that will distribute the two-part Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga” in the Philippines. The deal is the first of a number of acquisitions planned by the joint venture.
The “Horizon: An American Saga” films are directed by and star Academy Award winner Kevin Costner. The first film has its world premiere Sunday in Cannes’ out of competition section.
Warner Bros./New Line will give the films wide releases in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Spain, Italy and the Netherlands on June 28 and Aug. 16. Daniel Baur’s K5 Intl. is handling international sales.
“When we heard that these films were being offered, we had to jump at the chance to acquire them,” Wesley Villarica of Parallax Studio said. “It’s not every day that films like these come around. And coming from Kevin Costner,...
The “Horizon: An American Saga” films are directed by and star Academy Award winner Kevin Costner. The first film has its world premiere Sunday in Cannes’ out of competition section.
Warner Bros./New Line will give the films wide releases in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Spain, Italy and the Netherlands on June 28 and Aug. 16. Daniel Baur’s K5 Intl. is handling international sales.
“When we heard that these films were being offered, we had to jump at the chance to acquire them,” Wesley Villarica of Parallax Studio said. “It’s not every day that films like these come around. And coming from Kevin Costner,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety - Film News
There are dream jobs, and then there are dream jobs. Acting seems like one of the more potentially fun dreams, especially when someone gets cast in a major franchise. Who among us hasn't imagined getting to be a part of "Star Wars," "Star Trek," the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or whatever movie or television series makes our hearts beat faster? Talk about living the dream. Heck, sometimes those dreams can even be shared, with friends or family members getting to live vicariously through the actor. In the case of actor Maya Erskine, who recently starred as one half of the spy duo "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" on Prime, one particularly intense "Star Wars" fan in her family even (jokingly) threatened to disown her if she didn't take a role on the Disney+ series "Obi-Wan Kenobi."
On the series, Erskine plays Sully Stark, a pilot who helps rescue and transport Jedi who...
On the series, Erskine plays Sully Stark, a pilot who helps rescue and transport Jedi who...
- 5/19/2024
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
According to the lore of Ishiro Honda's original Godzilla film "Gojira" (1954), the title monster came into being as the direct result of nuclear tests held in out in the Pacific. An unseen ancient sea creature was exposed to radiation from said tests, causing it to mutate into a 130-meter-tall amphibious dinosaur-like behemoth that climbs out of the ocean and lays waste to cities in Japan. It crushed buildings underfoot and can breathe clouds of destructive radiation. Nothing seems to be able to stop it.
"Gojira" was partially inspired by the real-life Daigo Fukuryu Maru disaster, an even in which a Japanese fishing vessel was exposed to nuclear radiation during the United States' Castle Bravo H-bomb tests. One of the sailors died, the rest of the crew was sick, and the Japanese public became concerned that the fish may have been tainted. Nuclear fears were justifiably high in 1954, making Honda's film incredibly timely.
"Gojira" was partially inspired by the real-life Daigo Fukuryu Maru disaster, an even in which a Japanese fishing vessel was exposed to nuclear radiation during the United States' Castle Bravo H-bomb tests. One of the sailors died, the rest of the crew was sick, and the Japanese public became concerned that the fish may have been tainted. Nuclear fears were justifiably high in 1954, making Honda's film incredibly timely.
- 5/19/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Cannes film festival
Noémie Merlant’s first film as a director is relentlessly silly, self-indulgent and unsuited to its themes of misogyny and sexual violence
Here to prove that “actor project” movies are always the ones with the dodgiest acting is the otherwise estimable French star Noémie Merlant who presents her writing-directing debut in Cannes, with herself in a leading role and Céline Sciamma on board as producer and credited as script collaborator. It’s got some funny moments and there’s a great scene in a gynaecologist’s treatment room whose calm, straightforward candour completely annihilates all those other coyly shot gynaecologist scenes you’ve ever seen in any movie or TV drama. And the opening sequence is very dramatic, centring on a woman whose story is sadly neglected for the rest of the film in favour of the younger, prettier people.
But I have to say that the film is relentlessly silly,...
Noémie Merlant’s first film as a director is relentlessly silly, self-indulgent and unsuited to its themes of misogyny and sexual violence
Here to prove that “actor project” movies are always the ones with the dodgiest acting is the otherwise estimable French star Noémie Merlant who presents her writing-directing debut in Cannes, with herself in a leading role and Céline Sciamma on board as producer and credited as script collaborator. It’s got some funny moments and there’s a great scene in a gynaecologist’s treatment room whose calm, straightforward candour completely annihilates all those other coyly shot gynaecologist scenes you’ve ever seen in any movie or TV drama. And the opening sequence is very dramatic, centring on a woman whose story is sadly neglected for the rest of the film in favour of the younger, prettier people.
But I have to say that the film is relentlessly silly,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
A self-portrait and cinematic essay, Leos Carax’s “It’s Not Me” is perhaps the most accurate impression of a late-era Jean-Luc Godard experiment anyone has ever attempted. From Carax’s raspy voiceover to his jaggedly assembled combination of archival footage and absurd original snippets, the 41-minute short probes a variety of personal and political subjects, but it never quite beats with the furious heart and provocative spirit of Godard’s twilight era.
The project was conceived as part of a museum exhibition on Carax for Paris’ Centre Pompidou, but the prompt posed to him in the form of a question — “Where are you at, Leos Carax?” — appears to have led the enigmatic filmmaker on a confounding quest of self-discovery. The exhibit would never come to fruition, but Carax’s inquiry into his work, his lifelong influences and cinema at-large has yielded an occasionally fascinating collage. The film not only ponders Carax’s past,...
The project was conceived as part of a museum exhibition on Carax for Paris’ Centre Pompidou, but the prompt posed to him in the form of a question — “Where are you at, Leos Carax?” — appears to have led the enigmatic filmmaker on a confounding quest of self-discovery. The exhibit would never come to fruition, but Carax’s inquiry into his work, his lifelong influences and cinema at-large has yielded an occasionally fascinating collage. The film not only ponders Carax’s past,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety - Film News
It’s hard to remember the last time a director prominently displayed their own vagina onscreen. Statistically speaking, most of them wouldn’t be able to do it if they tried. But Noémie Merlant has never shied away from an opportunity to redefine how female bodies are depicted on film, and “The Portrait of a Lady on Fire” star’s recent pivot behind the camera has only emboldened her efforts to reject the male gaze by inviting her characters to reclaim its oppressive hyper-sexualization on their own terms.
Needless to say, she’s happy to lead by example in her poisoned but delicious midnight snack of a second feature. Playing Élise, a C-list starlet who’s recently been cast as Marilyn Monroe in a TV movie (only to steal her boyfriend’s car and flee the set in a panic), Merlant crashes into “The Balconettes” dolled up to look like...
Needless to say, she’s happy to lead by example in her poisoned but delicious midnight snack of a second feature. Playing Élise, a C-list starlet who’s recently been cast as Marilyn Monroe in a TV movie (only to steal her boyfriend’s car and flee the set in a panic), Merlant crashes into “The Balconettes” dolled up to look like...
- 5/19/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The story goes thus: it was 1985, and Hong Kong superstar Jackie Chan, having enjoyed nearly two decades of cinematic success in his native country, wanted to extend his reach into the United States. Chan had already tried to infiltrate America in 1980 with Robert Clouse's film "The Big Brawl," but while it was highly respected by martial arts fans, "Brawl" wasn't the massive hit Chan wanted. Chan had already directed four movies by 1985 but still felt that an American director could translate his fightin' sensibilities for a North American audience more accurately. So, he hired genre filmmaker James Glickenhaus to helm the 1985 actioner "The Protector."
Chan and Glickenhaus butted heads throughout production, as Glickenhaus refused to film fight sequences in a way Chan approved of. At the end of production, Chan merely re-edited the film himself and directed new scenes in the hope of salvaging the project.
It was his...
Chan and Glickenhaus butted heads throughout production, as Glickenhaus refused to film fight sequences in a way Chan approved of. At the end of production, Chan merely re-edited the film himself and directed new scenes in the hope of salvaging the project.
It was his...
- 5/19/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
The Furiosa, Mad Max and Happy Feet director talks tap dancing, life as a twin and what he’d tell his younger self
Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email
What is the best thing about being a twin?
The shared experience. We spent the first 20 years of our lives together every day. We both have a similar curiosity about the world, and he practised as a doctor for 50 years. His take on human behaviour was really amusing, funny and very wise. It was always interesting to have conversations with him, so we would just compare notes. It’s why I love collaborating with people because it’s always about the discourse.
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What is the best thing about being a twin?
The shared experience. We spent the first 20 years of our lives together every day. We both have a similar curiosity about the world, and he practised as a doctor for 50 years. His take on human behaviour was really amusing, funny and very wise. It was always interesting to have conversations with him, so we would just compare notes. It’s why I love collaborating with people because it’s always about the discourse.
- 5/19/2024
- by Debbie Zhou
- The Guardian - Film News
The first Charles Addams' strip that might be considered a part of the Addams Family canon was published in the pages of the New Yorker on August 6, 1938. In it, a vacuum cleaner salesman stands just inside a large, creepy, obviously haunted mansion, addressing the denizens, a cadaverous vampire woman and a brutish bearded man. The salesman, unperturbed by his grim surroundings offers his sales pitch, declares that no well-appointed home should be without such an appliance.
58 of Addams' 1,300 cartoon strips would feature his oddball Family, a nameless clan of ghouls who cherished horror and death. Throughout the '40s, a central canon of Family members would solidify, and come to include a squat, beastly patriarch, his skeletal wife, their two murderous children, a witchy grandmother, a fecklessly weird bald uncle, and their Frankensteinian live-in butler. In Addams' strips, the Family would talk about how much they loved destructive storms, how...
58 of Addams' 1,300 cartoon strips would feature his oddball Family, a nameless clan of ghouls who cherished horror and death. Throughout the '40s, a central canon of Family members would solidify, and come to include a squat, beastly patriarch, his skeletal wife, their two murderous children, a witchy grandmother, a fecklessly weird bald uncle, and their Frankensteinian live-in butler. In Addams' strips, the Family would talk about how much they loved destructive storms, how...
- 5/18/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Premiering out of Critics’ Week in Cannes, Alexis Langlois’ debut feature “Queens of Drama” is a musical blast of queer culture euphoria, telling a decades-spanning, impossible love story between a pair of pop idols who begin as fans and then become lovers, who climb the charts and permeate the culture as enemies, and who end up forgotten, as time moves forward and a new generation of teenage fans claim new idols for themselves.
The film’s familiar rise-and-fall rhythms struck a chord with filmmaker Alexis Langlois, who cites Vincente Minnelli and George Cukor as inspiration. “I wanted to offer a great, romantic story,” says Langlois. “Really, to give all these queer characters – and the queer actors who play them — a sense of grand romance by mixing the codes and memories of classic cinema with something much more modern.”
“And I like idea of the wheel of fortune,” they continue. “As...
The film’s familiar rise-and-fall rhythms struck a chord with filmmaker Alexis Langlois, who cites Vincente Minnelli and George Cukor as inspiration. “I wanted to offer a great, romantic story,” says Langlois. “Really, to give all these queer characters – and the queer actors who play them — a sense of grand romance by mixing the codes and memories of classic cinema with something much more modern.”
“And I like idea of the wheel of fortune,” they continue. “As...
- 5/18/2024
- by Ben Croll
- Variety - Film News
One thing that becomes clear, as you make your way through sixteen seasons of "Always Sunny," is that the gang is awfully resilient. Not only are they all severe alcoholics who otherwise don't seem to have any health problems, but they're constantly falling into things and getting the s**t kicked out of them, only to be back to normal by the start of the next episode. When one YouTuber made a compilation of the gang's injuries last year, the video was over 12 minutes long:
For Danny DeVito, who plays the show's wise and dependable father figure Frank, one of his favorite moments from filming "Always Sunny" came in season 11's "Frank Falls Out The Window." In the episode's very first scene, Frank falls out of his and Charlie's apartment and gets a giant gash on the back of his head. We don't see him hitting the ground, but the aftermath doesn't look pretty.
For Danny DeVito, who plays the show's wise and dependable father figure Frank, one of his favorite moments from filming "Always Sunny" came in season 11's "Frank Falls Out The Window." In the episode's very first scene, Frank falls out of his and Charlie's apartment and gets a giant gash on the back of his head. We don't see him hitting the ground, but the aftermath doesn't look pretty.
- 5/18/2024
- by Michael Boyle
- Slash Film
Cate Blanchett blew kisses to the Cannes Film Festival audience as her new film, “Rumours,” earned a four-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night.
The crowd welcomed the film’s dark humor, laughing throughout the entirety of the late-night screening. While some of the auditorium emptied out while the credits rolled, the majority of filmgoers waited patiently to pay their respects to the film’s stars. Blanchett’s “Rumours” co-star Alicia Vikander was notably not in attendance.
The film’s trio of directors — Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson — seemed surprised by Cannes’ relatively new tradition of handing the filmmaker(s) a microphone for post-screening remarks. They made a speech together after the applause wrapped, thanking the audience and quoting their own film by saying “it’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
The dark comedy follows a group of world leaders who meet...
The crowd welcomed the film’s dark humor, laughing throughout the entirety of the late-night screening. While some of the auditorium emptied out while the credits rolled, the majority of filmgoers waited patiently to pay their respects to the film’s stars. Blanchett’s “Rumours” co-star Alicia Vikander was notably not in attendance.
The film’s trio of directors — Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson — seemed surprised by Cannes’ relatively new tradition of handing the filmmaker(s) a microphone for post-screening remarks. They made a speech together after the applause wrapped, thanking the audience and quoting their own film by saying “it’s better to burn out than to fade away.”
The dark comedy follows a group of world leaders who meet...
- 5/18/2024
- by Angelique Jackson and Ellise Shafer
- Variety - Film News
Disparage the Marvel Cinematic Universe all you want, but there's no denying that when it comes to casting, Kevin Feige and the McU's longtime casting director, Sarah Halley Finn, have the magic touch. It's all but impossible now to picture anyone other than Robert Downey Jr. lending his snarky wit to the self-declared "genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" Tony Stark, or to imagine a different actor bringing the same spot-on mix of wholesomeness and New Yorker defiance like Chris Evans did as Steve Rogers. And let's not forget Thor and Loki, two Marvel Comics veterans who could've easily been dismissed as dorky C-listers, only to become the franchise's most long-lasting players thanks to Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston.
For all of its missteps, that hasn't changed in the MCU post-"Avengers: Endgame." Esteemed character actors Oscar Isaac, Hailee Steinfeld, and Florence Pugh all brought the full brunt of their talents to...
For all of its missteps, that hasn't changed in the MCU post-"Avengers: Endgame." Esteemed character actors Oscar Isaac, Hailee Steinfeld, and Florence Pugh all brought the full brunt of their talents to...
- 5/18/2024
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
When Glen Powell was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in Austin May 15, there was one obvious person to give him the honor: The director who discovered Powell, when the actor was just 14 years old, Robert Rodriguez.
Powell grew up in Austin right at the moment that it was starting to become a solid film production hub, thanks in large part to Rodriguez, the auteur behind “El Mariachi” and “From Dusk Till Dawn” and who’d founded Austin’s Troublemaker Studios. When Rodriguez was casting for “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over,” he was looking for a number of “local hires” to round out the cast.
“I remember distinctly how surprised I was [by Powell] because we’d cast a bunch of people from L.A.,” Rodriguez told IndieWire at the red carpet for the induction — which was also the Austin premiere of Netflix’s “Hit Man,” starring Powell and directed by Richard Linklater.
Powell grew up in Austin right at the moment that it was starting to become a solid film production hub, thanks in large part to Rodriguez, the auteur behind “El Mariachi” and “From Dusk Till Dawn” and who’d founded Austin’s Troublemaker Studios. When Rodriguez was casting for “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over,” he was looking for a number of “local hires” to round out the cast.
“I remember distinctly how surprised I was [by Powell] because we’d cast a bunch of people from L.A.,” Rodriguez told IndieWire at the red carpet for the induction — which was also the Austin premiere of Netflix’s “Hit Man,” starring Powell and directed by Richard Linklater.
- 5/18/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Jane Schoenbrun’s “I Saw the TV Glow” is a singular work of cinema, a film that earned rave reviews for committing to its distinct aesthetic and exploration of the ways that our attachments to pop culture that feel disposable to others can be linked to trans identity. But despite many hailing it as a perfect standalone movie, the filmmaker believes there might be even more stories to tell in the world of Owen and “The Pink Opaque.”
In a new interview with USA Today, Schoenbrun refused to rule out the possibility of making a sequel to “I Saw the TV Glow,” explaining that they’d be open to approaching the story again from a different perspective.
“I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while. I always ask myself, ‘Where do the characters go? Is there anywhere else after this?'” Schoenbrun said. “Sometimes there’s not an answer that deserves further exploration,...
In a new interview with USA Today, Schoenbrun refused to rule out the possibility of making a sequel to “I Saw the TV Glow,” explaining that they’d be open to approaching the story again from a different perspective.
“I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while. I always ask myself, ‘Where do the characters go? Is there anywhere else after this?'” Schoenbrun said. “Sometimes there’s not an answer that deserves further exploration,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules” has long been one of unscripted television’s most formally adventurous series, with a cinematic grammar that constantly evolves to express the feelings and ideas at each season’s center. Last season, for example, editor Jesse Friedman explored the “Scandoval” situation in which longtime cast member Tom Sandoval cheated on his girlfriend Ariana Madix by telling the story in reverse — a technique that had more in common with the work of Christopher Nolan and Harold Pinter than with other shows in the world of reality TV, and one that provided the perfect visual corollary for Ariana and her friends’ piecing together of the narrative. For the Season 11 finale, Friedman once again took some audacious stylistic risks that paid off not only emotionally, but indicated how the show as a whole might be coming to the end of an era.
The final moments of the season finale...
The final moments of the season finale...
- 5/18/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
The best thing the MonsterVerse has done is to unite two icons of cinema, Godzilla and Kong. Sure, 2014's "Godzilla" and "Kong Skull Island" may have ranked higher on our list of the best MonsterVerse movies, but it was with "Godzilla vs. Kong" that the franchise found its secret weapon — a big ape and a big lizard begrudgingly teaming up. Since then, the MonsterVerse has given us grand entertainment that only an IP-obsessed Hollywood could provide, while also fitting right in with the weirdness and silliness of the Showa era of monster movies.
Alongside its stakes, the MonsterVerse has also grown in mythology, as it introduced the concept of Hollow Earth, a whole unique world with its own lore, locations, and characters. That being said, these movies aren't exactly what you should watch if you want immediate answers to questions about lore of backstories — especially not about the Titans. After all,...
Alongside its stakes, the MonsterVerse has also grown in mythology, as it introduced the concept of Hollow Earth, a whole unique world with its own lore, locations, and characters. That being said, these movies aren't exactly what you should watch if you want immediate answers to questions about lore of backstories — especially not about the Titans. After all,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
Steven Moffat is one of the most divisive names in the "Doctor Who" fandom. First he was the beloved writer who gave us one amazing story per season. Then he was given the reins of the show in 2010 and the audience's good will started to slip away. By season 7 he'd gotten a reputation as a guy whose storylines were too complicated for their own good, and as a showrunner who was sort of bad at writing realistic, three-dimensional characters who weren't named the Doctor. Particular scrutiny was given to how he wrote women; we loved River Song when she was introduced in season 4, but by the end of Eleven's run it felt like most of his female characters were just River Song variants. Moffat loves himself an aggressively badass woman who never stops flirting, but fans themselves grew tired of it.
The good news is that the Peter Capaldi era...
The good news is that the Peter Capaldi era...
- 5/18/2024
- by Michael Boyle
- Slash Film
Fox hit a home run with "Bones." The procedural crime dramedy feels like the last of a dying breed, with the show running for an amazing 246 episodes across 12 seasons. In the age of Netflix canceling seemingly successful shows after just a few seasons (if we're lucky), that feels like an impossibility. The show's success stems from the relationship between Emily Deschanel's Temperance "Bones" Brennan and David Boreanaz's Seely Booth. But that wasn't always going to be the case, until series creator Hart Hanson realized it needed to be the case.
In a 2014 interview with Give Me My Remote, Hanson was asked to reflect back on the show's pilot, which aired in 2005. Deschanel had already secured her role on "Bones" thanks to a bit of improv. Boreanaz, meanwhile, was set to be part of the show, but not necessarily the co-lead alongside Deschanel. Hanson explained how that all changed thanks to one key scene.
In a 2014 interview with Give Me My Remote, Hanson was asked to reflect back on the show's pilot, which aired in 2005. Deschanel had already secured her role on "Bones" thanks to a bit of improv. Boreanaz, meanwhile, was set to be part of the show, but not necessarily the co-lead alongside Deschanel. Hanson explained how that all changed thanks to one key scene.
- 5/18/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Few filmmakers have ever sacrificed more for their craft than Mohammad Rasoulof, the Iranian director who has faced non-stop legal pressure from his country’s government in recent years over his politically charged films. Rasoulof, who has been arrested and imprisoned on multiple occasions, is bringing his latest film, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” to the Main Competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. But weeks before the film — which follows a judge in Tehran navigating political fallout from protests — was set to debut on the Croisette, Rasoulof was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment and a flogging in Iran.
Many interpreted the sentence as an attempt to force Rasoulof to pull his provocative film from Cannes. But the auteur soon fled the authoritarian country and found shelter in Germany with the hope of attending his film’s premiere this week. In a new interview with The Guardian, conducted from an undisclosed location,...
Many interpreted the sentence as an attempt to force Rasoulof to pull his provocative film from Cannes. But the auteur soon fled the authoritarian country and found shelter in Germany with the hope of attending his film’s premiere this week. In a new interview with The Guardian, conducted from an undisclosed location,...
- 5/18/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Noemie Merlant’s sophomore feature “The Balconettes” plays as a raunchy horror-comedy with a greater social conscience. The film follows three roommates – an actress, played by Merlant, a camgirl played by “Dune: Part Two” breakout Souheila Yacoub and a frustrated writer played Sanda Condreanu – who are initially infatuated and eventually repelled by a lothario neighbor from across the yard. Exploring questions of coercion and consent with a healthy dose of blood and guts, “The Balconettes” wants to entertain and energize in equal measure.
Variety spoke with the filmmaker ahead of her film’s world premiere in Cannes.
How did this film come about?
Four years ago, I found myself escaping from a daily life that was suffocating. I went to live with women, with friends of mine, including Sanda Codreanu, who stars in the film. This was the first time I’d lived with other women, and the first time...
Variety spoke with the filmmaker ahead of her film’s world premiere in Cannes.
How did this film come about?
Four years ago, I found myself escaping from a daily life that was suffocating. I went to live with women, with friends of mine, including Sanda Codreanu, who stars in the film. This was the first time I’d lived with other women, and the first time...
- 5/18/2024
- by Ben Croll
- Variety - Film News
“Emilia Pérez,” a Spanish-language musical drama starring Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón, has earned the biggest standing ovation of this year’s Cannes Film Festival so far.
Gomez wiped away tears as the Palais clapped for a full nine minutes, accompanied by plenty of hooting, whistling and cheering. During the standing ovation, director Jacques Audiard waved his hat at the balcony as stars Saldaña and Édgar Ramírez shared an emotional hug. There was huge applause for Gascón, who stars in the film as a drug cartel leader who seeks gender-affirming surgery.
In the film, from Palme d’Or winner Audiard, Saldaña stars as Rita, an “overqualified and undervalued” lawyer, whose firm is more inclined to help criminals than seek justice. She finds an unexpected way out when a feared drug cartel leader Manitas (Gascón) recruits her to aid him in surreptitiously completing a sex change operation to...
Gomez wiped away tears as the Palais clapped for a full nine minutes, accompanied by plenty of hooting, whistling and cheering. During the standing ovation, director Jacques Audiard waved his hat at the balcony as stars Saldaña and Édgar Ramírez shared an emotional hug. There was huge applause for Gascón, who stars in the film as a drug cartel leader who seeks gender-affirming surgery.
In the film, from Palme d’Or winner Audiard, Saldaña stars as Rita, an “overqualified and undervalued” lawyer, whose firm is more inclined to help criminals than seek justice. She finds an unexpected way out when a feared drug cartel leader Manitas (Gascón) recruits her to aid him in surreptitiously completing a sex change operation to...
- 5/18/2024
- by Ramin Setoodeh and Angelique Jackson
- Variety - Film News
Jim Backus' first major acting gig was playing a snotty millionaire named Dexter Hayes on the 1940 radio serial "Society Girl." This was to kick off a decades-long career in radio, film, and television, wherein Backus invented multiple indelible characters that remain a part of the pop fabric to this very day. He appeared on "The Jack Benny Program" and even briefly had his own TV show, "The Jim Backus Show" in 1957. He famously played the voice of Mr. Magoo from 1949 until his death in 1989, and starred in "Rebel Without a Cause." He was adept at playing clueless weirdos and self-absorbed egotists, although he had a great deal of comedic range. Be sure to listen to his hit comedy single "Delicious!" sometime. He elicits laughter without saying anything. I could list more credits, but we'd be here all day; Backus starred in over 100 films and shorts, and several dozen TV shows.
- 5/18/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Cannes film festival
A thoroughly implausible yarn about a Mexican cartel leader who hires a lawyer to arrange his transition is carried along by its cheesy Broadway energy
Anglo-progressives and US liberals might worry about whether or not certain stories are “theirs to tell”. But that’s not a scruple that worries French auteur Jacques Audiard who, with amazing boldness and sweep, launches into this slightly bizarre yet watchable musical melodrama of crime and gender, set in Mexico. It plays like a thriller by Amat Escalante with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and a touch of Almodovar.
Argentinian trans actor Karla Sofia Gascon plays Juan “Manitas” Del Monte, a terrifyingly powerful and ruthless cartel leader in Mexico, married to Jessi (Selena Gomez), with two young children. Manitas is intrigued by a high-profile murder trial in which an obviously guilty defendant gets off due to his smart and industrious lawyer...
A thoroughly implausible yarn about a Mexican cartel leader who hires a lawyer to arrange his transition is carried along by its cheesy Broadway energy
Anglo-progressives and US liberals might worry about whether or not certain stories are “theirs to tell”. But that’s not a scruple that worries French auteur Jacques Audiard who, with amazing boldness and sweep, launches into this slightly bizarre yet watchable musical melodrama of crime and gender, set in Mexico. It plays like a thriller by Amat Escalante with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and a touch of Almodovar.
Argentinian trans actor Karla Sofia Gascon plays Juan “Manitas” Del Monte, a terrifyingly powerful and ruthless cartel leader in Mexico, married to Jessi (Selena Gomez), with two young children. Manitas is intrigued by a high-profile murder trial in which an obviously guilty defendant gets off due to his smart and industrious lawyer...
- 5/18/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The Hong Kong-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme has selected two Hong Kong-Japan co-productions by seasoned producers Stanley Kwan and Shunsuke Koga as its first winning projects.
All The Things We Have Done Wrong That Led Us To This, produced by Kwan, and 38.83, produced by Koga, will each receive a grant of up to $1.1m (Hk$9m) to support their production. The announcement was made at the Hong Kong Night during the Cannes Film Festival on May 16.
All The Things… is to be directed by Japan’s Daishi Matsunaga, whose LGBTQ+ romance drama Egoist played in competition at Tokyo in 2022 and...
All The Things We Have Done Wrong That Led Us To This, produced by Kwan, and 38.83, produced by Koga, will each receive a grant of up to $1.1m (Hk$9m) to support their production. The announcement was made at the Hong Kong Night during the Cannes Film Festival on May 16.
All The Things… is to be directed by Japan’s Daishi Matsunaga, whose LGBTQ+ romance drama Egoist played in competition at Tokyo in 2022 and...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
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