With his features Johnny Mad Dog and A Prayer Before Dawn — the former a breakneck, road-to-ruin chronicle of child soldiers in war-torn Liberia and the latter a visceral portrait of a British expat, imprisoned in Thailand on a drug charge and conscripted into a violent kickboxing competition — French-born director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire has consistently dropped viewers into extreme, ultra-violent scenarios, employing a mis-en-scene steeped in hyper-graphic realism to compel a one-to-one relationship between his audience and protagonists. His most recent feature, Asphalt City, is no different. Sauvaire’s first film to shoot in the US, where he has lived for over a […]
The post “Sometimes the Cinema is Here To Make You Watch Something You Don’t Want to Watch”: Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire on Asphalt City first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Sometimes the Cinema is Here To Make You Watch Something You Don’t Want to Watch”: Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire on Asphalt City first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/29/2024
- by Evan Louison
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
With his features Johnny Mad Dog and A Prayer Before Dawn — the former a breakneck, road-to-ruin chronicle of child soldiers in war-torn Liberia and the latter a visceral portrait of a British expat, imprisoned in Thailand on a drug charge and conscripted into a violent kickboxing competition — French-born director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire has consistently dropped viewers into extreme, ultra-violent scenarios, employing a mis-en-scene steeped in hyper-graphic realism to compel a one-to-one relationship between his audience and protagonists. His most recent feature, Asphalt City, is no different. Sauvaire’s first film to shoot in the US, where he has lived for over a […]
The post “Sometimes the Cinema is Here To Make You Watch Something You Don’t Want to Watch”: Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire on Asphalt City first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Sometimes the Cinema is Here To Make You Watch Something You Don’t Want to Watch”: Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire on Asphalt City first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/29/2024
- by Evan Louison
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
One of the last two film items added to the competition this year, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire‘s Black Flies makes it three for three on the Croisette for the French filmmaker. Sauvaire was in the Un Certain Regard section with 2008’s child soldier drama Johnny Mad Dog and in 2017 he showcased his prison fight film A Prayer Before Dawn as an out-of-competition showing. This stars Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan, Gbenga Akkinagbe, Raquel Nave, Kali Reis, Michael Carmen Pitt, Katherine Waterston, and Mike Tyson.
Upstart paramedic Ollie Cross (Tye Sheridan) courses through adrenaline-fueled nights in an ambulance for the New York City Fire Department in Brownsville, Brooklyn while spending days studying for med-school exams in a Chinatown hovel.…...
Upstart paramedic Ollie Cross (Tye Sheridan) courses through adrenaline-fueled nights in an ambulance for the New York City Fire Department in Brownsville, Brooklyn while spending days studying for med-school exams in a Chinatown hovel.…...
- 5/19/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
It’s probably instructive to go into “Black Flies” knowing that the title comes from insects that can smell death before we can, and that show up on screen swarming a dead, rotting body in a bathtub.
And it might help to know that the drone that gradually surfaces under the hysterical opening scene resolves itself into the overture to “Das Rheingold,” which returns at the end of the film. “Black Flies” is darkness and chaos on an operatic scale – maybe even a Wagnerian scale, though viewers may feel as if they’ve been assaulted by heavy metal rather than immersed in the warring gods of the Ring cycle.
Screening in the Main Competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, “Black Flies” is visceral and vicious. It is directed by French-born, New York-based Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire with an eye for the worst squalor NYC has to offer, and edited to be the...
And it might help to know that the drone that gradually surfaces under the hysterical opening scene resolves itself into the overture to “Das Rheingold,” which returns at the end of the film. “Black Flies” is darkness and chaos on an operatic scale – maybe even a Wagnerian scale, though viewers may feel as if they’ve been assaulted by heavy metal rather than immersed in the warring gods of the Ring cycle.
Screening in the Main Competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, “Black Flies” is visceral and vicious. It is directed by French-born, New York-based Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire with an eye for the worst squalor NYC has to offer, and edited to be the...
- 5/19/2023
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
Director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire spent more than a year in the back of ambulances, shuttling from one gruesome trauma to the next, as he shadowed EMTs in New York City to prepare for his new movie “Black Flies.”
“This immersive approach is crucial,” Sauvaire tells Variety over Zoom, a week before he travels to the South of France to premiere “Black Flies” in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “If you don’t really know the reality of this job, it’s difficult to recreate it.”
Adapted from Shannon Burke’s 2008 novel, the story follows Tye Sheridan as young paramedic Ollie Cross, who dreams of going to medical school. But he struggles to study as he is thrust into the intense and mentally taxing work of responding to emergency calls in Brooklyn. Sean Penn plays a hardened veteran, who teaches Ollie the ropes as they drive through New York City.
“This immersive approach is crucial,” Sauvaire tells Variety over Zoom, a week before he travels to the South of France to premiere “Black Flies” in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “If you don’t really know the reality of this job, it’s difficult to recreate it.”
Adapted from Shannon Burke’s 2008 novel, the story follows Tye Sheridan as young paramedic Ollie Cross, who dreams of going to medical school. But he struggles to study as he is thrust into the intense and mentally taxing work of responding to emergency calls in Brooklyn. Sean Penn plays a hardened veteran, who teaches Ollie the ropes as they drive through New York City.
- 5/18/2023
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
The stakes at the center of “Mondocane” aren’t without importance or tragedy: two boys search in the rubble of civilization for wealth, safety, and friendship. Owing to the lineage began by “Lord of the Flies,” this dreary and distant tale, backgrounded by glittering seas and abandoned buildings, should follow in the footsteps of Kim Nguyen’s harrowing film “War Witch” or Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s shocking “Johnny Mad Dog” — two movies about wayward children navigating harsh environments rendered harsher due to their age. But
In his narrative debut feature, Celli and co-writer Antonio Leotti have clearly taken all of the notes: The messianic leader who’s far less virtuous than he appears to be is there, as are the common initiations requiring children to lose their humanity and innocence to harden them. There’s even the girl who comes between two friends. Those familiar pieces, however, are shaken up and jumbled,...
In his narrative debut feature, Celli and co-writer Antonio Leotti have clearly taken all of the notes: The messianic leader who’s far less virtuous than he appears to be is there, as are the common initiations requiring children to lose their humanity and innocence to harden them. There’s even the girl who comes between two friends. Those familiar pieces, however, are shaken up and jumbled,...
- 5/19/2022
- by Robert Daniels
- Indiewire
Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan are set to star in a thriller called “Black Flies” that will be directed by filmmaker Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire. Open Road Films has acquired the U.S. rights to the project.
The film is based on Shannon Burke’s novel of the same name and follows two paramedics driving the streets of New York in an ambulance — one a young student who dreams of going to medical school and the other a grizzled veteran and one of the city’s best medics. “Black Flies” is a thriller about the toll that saving lives inflicts on paramedics, and the film aims to give a street-view look at one paramedic’s struggle to feel he’s making a difference.
Ryan King wrote the screenplay, and the film is expected to begin production in New York in Q4 of 2021.
FilmNation Entertainment is handling international sales and will debut the...
The film is based on Shannon Burke’s novel of the same name and follows two paramedics driving the streets of New York in an ambulance — one a young student who dreams of going to medical school and the other a grizzled veteran and one of the city’s best medics. “Black Flies” is a thriller about the toll that saving lives inflicts on paramedics, and the film aims to give a street-view look at one paramedic’s struggle to feel he’s making a difference.
Ryan King wrote the screenplay, and the film is expected to begin production in New York in Q4 of 2021.
FilmNation Entertainment is handling international sales and will debut the...
- 2/25/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Hulu is out with its list of new content coming in July, and highlights include the “Veronica Mars” revival and the series premiere of the new “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” We also have the list of everything that’s being removed from the streaming service at the end of July.
Season 1-3 of the original “Veronica Mars” series will be available starting July 1, so you can brush up on all the background knowledge you’ll need to fully enjoy Season 4 when it drops July 26, with Kristen Bell returning the starring role as the title character after almost 15 years. Here’s everything we know about the revival so far.
The new Mindy Kaling-produced “Four Weddings and a Funeral” series comes July 31, with “Game of Thrones” star Nathalie Emanuel in the lead role. Original star Andie MacDowell will return as a guest star.
Also Read: Summer TV Premiere Dates: Here's...
Season 1-3 of the original “Veronica Mars” series will be available starting July 1, so you can brush up on all the background knowledge you’ll need to fully enjoy Season 4 when it drops July 26, with Kristen Bell returning the starring role as the title character after almost 15 years. Here’s everything we know about the revival so far.
The new Mindy Kaling-produced “Four Weddings and a Funeral” series comes July 31, with “Game of Thrones” star Nathalie Emanuel in the lead role. Original star Andie MacDowell will return as a guest star.
Also Read: Summer TV Premiere Dates: Here's...
- 6/17/2019
- by Margeaux Sippell
- The Wrap
There are boxing movies, there are jailbird dramas and there are hell-and-back memoir adaptations — A Prayer Before Dawn throws all three of these genres into a dingy cell together, forcing them to either make nice or beat each other senseless in a survival-of-the-fittest showdown. Thankfully, filmmaker Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Bosch-like take on Billy Moore’s autobiography of life in a Thai prison allows each of these distinct narrative types to eventually bleed all over each other, sometimes literally. Moore (Joe Cole) was a Liverpudlian ex-pat living in Bangkok, fighting amateur Muay Thai bouts.
- 8/9/2018
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
As he did in his child soldier drama “Johnny Mad Dog,” the French director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire fills out his cast with first-time actors in “A Prayer Before Dawn,” which debuted at Cannes earlier this year. Based on a true story and shot on location in a Thai prison with real inmates, Joe Cole (“Peaky Blinders”) leads this boxing drama with a raw brute strength. The eye can hardly latch onto any image in the newly released first trailer, which promises a visceral and savage drama.
Per the official synopsis: “‘A Prayer Before Dawn’ is the remarkable true story of Billy Moore, a young English boxer incarcerated in two of Thailand’s most notorious prisons. He is quickly thrown into a terrifying world of drugs and gang violence, but when the prison authorities allow him to take part in the Muay Thai boxing tournaments, he realizes this might be his chance to get out.
Per the official synopsis: “‘A Prayer Before Dawn’ is the remarkable true story of Billy Moore, a young English boxer incarcerated in two of Thailand’s most notorious prisons. He is quickly thrown into a terrifying world of drugs and gang violence, but when the prison authorities allow him to take part in the Muay Thai boxing tournaments, he realizes this might be his chance to get out.
- 7/19/2018
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Director Jean-Stephane Sauvaire, whose 2008 debut feature, Johnny Mad Dog, was a thrillingly immersive journey into the world of African child soldiers, makes his long-awaited return to theaters with another picture — A Prayer Before Dawn — set within a violent community: Thai kickboxers in the country’s infamous Bang Kwang Central Prison. Wrote Guy Lodge at Variety upon the film’s Cannes premiere: Competition is stiff for the title of cinema’s most violently harrowing prison drama, and tougher still for the all-time most pummeling boxing movie. Gutsily, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s A Prayer Before Dawn”comes out fighting for both, landing a number of […]...
- 10/30/2017
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Lying just on the cusp between stylized arthouse exoticism and pulpy genre thrill ride, Thai-prison-set boxing movie A Prayer Before Dawn is exactly the sort of film one would expect in a midnight slot at a festival. Lo and behold, that’s exactly where it’s premiering, as a special screening in the official selection at Cannes. French director Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s third feature (his second was the made-for-tv Punk) shares a lot of aesthetic and thematic DNA with his previous work, especially his dazzling, disturbing study of African child soldiers Johnny Mad Dog from 2008. Like Johnny, Prayer dwells with almost swooning rapture on the bodies of young men as they mete out brutal violence on one...
- 5/20/2017
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire set to direct Addicted To Violence.
Wild Bunch is unleashing sales on French director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Addicted To Violence, an English-language project about a young photojournalist who develops a deadly obsession with hardcore situations during an assignment in Central America.
It will be Sauvaire’s third narrative feature after 2008 debut Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered in Un Certain Regard, and kick-boxing thriller A Prayer Before Dawn [pictured], which bows in Midnight Screenings tonight (May 19) after going down a storm in early Cannes screenings.
“He is the hot new director to sign,” commented Wild Bunch head of sales Vincent Maraval.
Wild Bunch is producing and handling world sales in all territories apart from North America, where the project is represented by CAA, which is also financing and casting the film. No actors have been confirmed yet.
Further titles
Wild Bunch is also kicking off sales on Lorenzo Mattotti’s The Bears’ Famous Invasion Of Sicily...
Wild Bunch is unleashing sales on French director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Addicted To Violence, an English-language project about a young photojournalist who develops a deadly obsession with hardcore situations during an assignment in Central America.
It will be Sauvaire’s third narrative feature after 2008 debut Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered in Un Certain Regard, and kick-boxing thriller A Prayer Before Dawn [pictured], which bows in Midnight Screenings tonight (May 19) after going down a storm in early Cannes screenings.
“He is the hot new director to sign,” commented Wild Bunch head of sales Vincent Maraval.
Wild Bunch is producing and handling world sales in all territories apart from North America, where the project is represented by CAA, which is also financing and casting the film. No actors have been confirmed yet.
Further titles
Wild Bunch is also kicking off sales on Lorenzo Mattotti’s The Bears’ Famous Invasion Of Sicily...
- 5/19/2017
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire set to direct Addicted To Violence.
Wild Bunch is unleashing sales on French director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Addicted To Violence, an English-language project about a young photojournalist who develops a deadly obsession with hardcore situations during an assignment in Central America.
It will be Sauvaire’s third narrative feature after 2008 debut Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered in Un Certain Regard, and kick-boxing thriller A Prayer Before Dawn [pictured], which bows in Midnight Screenings tonight (May 19) after going down a storm in early Cannes screenings.
“He is the hot new director to sign,” commented Wild Bunch head of sales Vincent Maraval.
Wild Bunch is producing and handling world sales in all territories apart from North America, where the project is represented by CAA, which is also financing and casting the film. No actors have been confirmed yet.
Further titles
Wild Bunch is also kicking off sales on Lorenzo Mattotti’s The Bears’ Famous Invasion Of Sicily...
Wild Bunch is unleashing sales on French director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Addicted To Violence, an English-language project about a young photojournalist who develops a deadly obsession with hardcore situations during an assignment in Central America.
It will be Sauvaire’s third narrative feature after 2008 debut Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered in Un Certain Regard, and kick-boxing thriller A Prayer Before Dawn [pictured], which bows in Midnight Screenings tonight (May 19) after going down a storm in early Cannes screenings.
“He is the hot new director to sign,” commented Wild Bunch head of sales Vincent Maraval.
Wild Bunch is producing and handling world sales in all territories apart from North America, where the project is represented by CAA, which is also financing and casting the film. No actors have been confirmed yet.
Further titles
Wild Bunch is also kicking off sales on Lorenzo Mattotti’s The Bears’ Famous Invasion Of Sicily...
- 5/19/2017
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire set to direct Addicted To Violence.
Wild Bunch is unleashing sales on French director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Addicted To Violence, an English-language project about a young photojournalist who develops a deadly obsession with hardcore situations during an assignment in Central America.
It will be Sauvaire’s third narrative feature after 2008 debut Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered in Un Certain Regard, and kick-boxing thriller A Prayer Before Dawn [pictured], which bows in Midnight Screenings tonight (May 19) after going down a storm in early Cannes screenings.
“He is the hot new director to sign,” commented Wild Bunch head of sales Vincent Maraval.
Wild Bunch is producing and handling world sales in all territories apart from North America, where the project is represented by CAA, which is also financing and casting the film. No actors have been confirmed yet.
Further titles
Wild Bunch is also kicking off sales on Lorenzo Mattotti’s The Bears’ Famous Invasion Of Sicily...
Wild Bunch is unleashing sales on French director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Addicted To Violence, an English-language project about a young photojournalist who develops a deadly obsession with hardcore situations during an assignment in Central America.
It will be Sauvaire’s third narrative feature after 2008 debut Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered in Un Certain Regard, and kick-boxing thriller A Prayer Before Dawn [pictured], which bows in Midnight Screenings tonight (May 19) after going down a storm in early Cannes screenings.
“He is the hot new director to sign,” commented Wild Bunch head of sales Vincent Maraval.
Wild Bunch is producing and handling world sales in all territories apart from North America, where the project is represented by CAA, which is also financing and casting the film. No actors have been confirmed yet.
Further titles
Wild Bunch is also kicking off sales on Lorenzo Mattotti’s The Bears’ Famous Invasion Of Sicily...
- 5/19/2017
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Cannes Midnight Screenings title gets UK deal.
Altitude Film Distribution has acquired UK distribution rights to A Prayer Before Dawn, Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Muay Thai boxing thriller that stars 2011 Screen Star of Tomorrow Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room).
The film is set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival next month as part of the Midnight Screenings programme.
Screenplay is by Jonathan Hirschbein and Nick Saltrese and is from Billy Moore’s book, which is based on his own experiences.
This is director Sauvaire’s second feature after Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered at Cannes in 2008.
The UK-France co-pro was produced by Rita Dagher’s Senorita Films along with Nicholas Simon, Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter.
Three-time Oscar nominee James Schamus was an executive producer and helped to close finance through his company Symbolic Exchange’s production deal with China’s Meridian Entertainment.
HanWay Films is handling sales on the title. The UK deal...
Altitude Film Distribution has acquired UK distribution rights to A Prayer Before Dawn, Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Muay Thai boxing thriller that stars 2011 Screen Star of Tomorrow Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room).
The film is set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival next month as part of the Midnight Screenings programme.
Screenplay is by Jonathan Hirschbein and Nick Saltrese and is from Billy Moore’s book, which is based on his own experiences.
This is director Sauvaire’s second feature after Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered at Cannes in 2008.
The UK-France co-pro was produced by Rita Dagher’s Senorita Films along with Nicholas Simon, Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter.
Three-time Oscar nominee James Schamus was an executive producer and helped to close finance through his company Symbolic Exchange’s production deal with China’s Meridian Entertainment.
HanWay Films is handling sales on the title. The UK deal...
- 4/27/2017
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Altittude moves for Cannes Midnight Screenings title.
Altitude Film Distribution has acquired UK distribution rights to A Prayer Before Dawn, Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Muay Thai boxing thriller that stars Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room).
The film is set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival next month as part of the Midnight Screenings programme.
Nick Saltrese adapted the screenplay from Bobby Moore’s book, which is based on his own experiences. This is director Sauvaire’s second feature after Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered at Cannes in 2008.
The British-French co-pro was produced by Rita Dagher, Sol Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter and Nicholas Simon. Three-time Oscar nominee James Schamus was an executive producer and helped to close finance through his company Symbolic Exchange’s production deal with China’s Meridian Entertainment.
HanWay Films is handling sales on the title. The UK deal was stuck between Altitude’s Will Clarke and HanWay Films’ Gabrielle Stewart.
A24 previously...
Altitude Film Distribution has acquired UK distribution rights to A Prayer Before Dawn, Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Muay Thai boxing thriller that stars Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room).
The film is set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival next month as part of the Midnight Screenings programme.
Nick Saltrese adapted the screenplay from Bobby Moore’s book, which is based on his own experiences. This is director Sauvaire’s second feature after Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered at Cannes in 2008.
The British-French co-pro was produced by Rita Dagher, Sol Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter and Nicholas Simon. Three-time Oscar nominee James Schamus was an executive producer and helped to close finance through his company Symbolic Exchange’s production deal with China’s Meridian Entertainment.
HanWay Films is handling sales on the title. The UK deal was stuck between Altitude’s Will Clarke and HanWay Films’ Gabrielle Stewart.
A24 previously...
- 4/27/2017
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
Former Focus Features CEO James Schamus also discussed the “bloodbath” of awards season at Sundance Film Festival London.
At a Sundance Film Festival London panel held in association with Screen International, writer, producer and former Focus Features head James Schamus said that Ang Lee’s film about the iconic ‘Thrilla in Manila’ 1975 boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier will push cinematic imagery to new levels.
Speaking to moderator Wendy Mitchell, Schamus stated: “The film will be 3D, shot at 120 frames per second, in 4K. Our actors in the ring will be matched with digital avatars and single-set edited. It will be a whole leap in sensorial [experience].”
However, as is the case with Lee’s upcoming Billy Lynn’s Long Half-Time Walk, cinemas will need to upgrade their venues to show the film as the director intends it to be seen.
“There is no theatre in the world except Ang’s editing room in which you can...
At a Sundance Film Festival London panel held in association with Screen International, writer, producer and former Focus Features head James Schamus said that Ang Lee’s film about the iconic ‘Thrilla in Manila’ 1975 boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier will push cinematic imagery to new levels.
Speaking to moderator Wendy Mitchell, Schamus stated: “The film will be 3D, shot at 120 frames per second, in 4K. Our actors in the ring will be matched with digital avatars and single-set edited. It will be a whole leap in sensorial [experience].”
However, as is the case with Lee’s upcoming Billy Lynn’s Long Half-Time Walk, cinemas will need to upgrade their venues to show the film as the director intends it to be seen.
“There is no theatre in the world except Ang’s editing room in which you can...
- 6/6/2016
- by matt.mueller@screendaily.com (Matt Mueller)
- ScreenDaily
Former Focus Features CEO James Schamus also discussed the “bloodbath” of awards season at Sundance Film Festival London.
At a Sundance Film Festival London panel held in association with Screen International, writer, producer and former Focus Features head James Schamus said that Ang Lee’s film about the iconic ‘Thrilla in Manila’ 1975 boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier will push cinematic imagery to new levels.
Speaking to moderator Wendy Mitchell, Schamus stated: “The film will be 3D, shot at 120 frames per second, in 4K. Our actors in the ring will be matched with digital avatars and single-set edited. It will be a whole leap in sensorial [experience].”
However, as is the case with Lee’s upcoming Billy Lynn’s Long Half-Time Walk, cinemas will need to upgrade their venues to show the film as the director intends it to be seen.
“There is no theatre in the world except Ang’s editing room in which you can...
At a Sundance Film Festival London panel held in association with Screen International, writer, producer and former Focus Features head James Schamus said that Ang Lee’s film about the iconic ‘Thrilla in Manila’ 1975 boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier will push cinematic imagery to new levels.
Speaking to moderator Wendy Mitchell, Schamus stated: “The film will be 3D, shot at 120 frames per second, in 4K. Our actors in the ring will be matched with digital avatars and single-set edited. It will be a whole leap in sensorial [experience].”
However, as is the case with Lee’s upcoming Billy Lynn’s Long Half-Time Walk, cinemas will need to upgrade their venues to show the film as the director intends it to be seen.
“There is no theatre in the world except Ang’s editing room in which you can...
- 6/6/2016
- by matt.mueller@screendaily.com (Matt Mueller)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Finance secured for Thai boxing feature starring Joe Cole; first-look image.
Chinese financier Meridian Entertainment, through its production deal with James Schamus’ Symbolic Exchange, has boarded finance on action film A Prayer Before Dawn, starring rising actor Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room).
Principal photography got underway in Thailand last week on the sophomore feature from director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, whose debut Johnny Mad Dog premiered in Un Certain Regard in 2008.
Former Wild Bunch exec Rita Dagher (Soy Nero), Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter (Sunset Song) and Nicholas Simon are producing. HanWay handles international sales, CAA reps the Us.
Former Focus CEO Schamus (Brokeback Mountain) will executive produce with Meridian’s Jennifer Dong and Woody Mu, along with Hanway’s Thorsten Schmuacher. Writer is Jonathan Hirschbein (Bad Country), based on a prior draft by Nick Saltrese.
Cole will star as Billy Moore, whose autobiography is the basis for the film, which tells the...
Chinese financier Meridian Entertainment, through its production deal with James Schamus’ Symbolic Exchange, has boarded finance on action film A Prayer Before Dawn, starring rising actor Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room).
Principal photography got underway in Thailand last week on the sophomore feature from director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, whose debut Johnny Mad Dog premiered in Un Certain Regard in 2008.
Former Wild Bunch exec Rita Dagher (Soy Nero), Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter (Sunset Song) and Nicholas Simon are producing. HanWay handles international sales, CAA reps the Us.
Former Focus CEO Schamus (Brokeback Mountain) will executive produce with Meridian’s Jennifer Dong and Woody Mu, along with Hanway’s Thorsten Schmuacher. Writer is Jonathan Hirschbein (Bad Country), based on a prior draft by Nick Saltrese.
Cole will star as Billy Moore, whose autobiography is the basis for the film, which tells the...
- 5/11/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: A Quiet Passion producer is working on an Emily Dickinson documentary.
Hurricane Films, the UK production company behind Terence Davies’ Emily Dickinson biopic A Quiet Passion, which is premiering in Berlin today (Feb 14), has revealed details of its forthcoming slate.
To accompany A Quiet Passion, Hurricane is now preparing Phosphorescence, a documentary about Dickinson to be directed by Solon Papadopoulos, the co-owner and founder of Hurricane Films.
Another Hurricane project is The Route, the first feature project from TV writer Joe Ainsworth, which is in advanced development.
The film is about an elderly man who makes an epic journey from John O’Groats, the most northerly point of mainland Britain, to Land’s End, the most westerly point.
The man travels by public buses all the way, using his old age pensioner pass. “It’s a beautifully observed piece about old age but also about the country,” observed Hurricane’s other co-founder Roy Boulter.
The company...
Hurricane Films, the UK production company behind Terence Davies’ Emily Dickinson biopic A Quiet Passion, which is premiering in Berlin today (Feb 14), has revealed details of its forthcoming slate.
To accompany A Quiet Passion, Hurricane is now preparing Phosphorescence, a documentary about Dickinson to be directed by Solon Papadopoulos, the co-owner and founder of Hurricane Films.
Another Hurricane project is The Route, the first feature project from TV writer Joe Ainsworth, which is in advanced development.
The film is about an elderly man who makes an epic journey from John O’Groats, the most northerly point of mainland Britain, to Land’s End, the most westerly point.
The man travels by public buses all the way, using his old age pensioner pass. “It’s a beautifully observed piece about old age but also about the country,” observed Hurricane’s other co-founder Roy Boulter.
The company...
- 2/14/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
HanWay Films to sell A Prayer Before Dawn at Afm; shoot to begin April 2016.
Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole is to replace Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim) in true-life Thai kick-boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn.
Cole is a former Screen Star of Tomorrow and has recently completed filming independent feature Woodshock, alongside Kirsten Dunst. Currently filming season three of Peaky Blinders, Cole will next be seen in Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room and Billy Ray’s The Secret In Their Eyes with Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
A Prayer Before Dawn, produced by the UK’s Hurricane Films, is directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog) and was first announced ahead of last year’s American Film Market (Afm).
HanWay Films will return with the film at this year’s Afm (Nov 4-11) to sell international rights.
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) will co-represent the film’s domestic distribution rights with HanWay.
Sauvaire has found...
Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole is to replace Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim) in true-life Thai kick-boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn.
Cole is a former Screen Star of Tomorrow and has recently completed filming independent feature Woodshock, alongside Kirsten Dunst. Currently filming season three of Peaky Blinders, Cole will next be seen in Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room and Billy Ray’s The Secret In Their Eyes with Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
A Prayer Before Dawn, produced by the UK’s Hurricane Films, is directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog) and was first announced ahead of last year’s American Film Market (Afm).
HanWay Films will return with the film at this year’s Afm (Nov 4-11) to sell international rights.
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) will co-represent the film’s domestic distribution rights with HanWay.
Sauvaire has found...
- 10/30/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Idris Elba is terrifyingly charismatic in this Oscar-tipped tale of a child soldier
Adapted from Uzodinma Iweala’s 2005 novel about an African boy recruited to a rebel militia, this Oscar-tipped production gets a brief UK theatrical outing prior to its high-profile Netflix release on 16 October. Newcomer Abraham Attah is a revelation as Agu, the playful youngster forced into horrifying acts of war after his father and brother are killed. Following in the footsteps of 2009’s extraordinary Johnny Mad Dog and 2012’s Oscar-nominated War Witch, Cary Joji Fukunaga’s uncompromising film leads us through a cycle of violence in which childhood is buried and kids are traumatically reborn as child soldiers.
Idris Elba brings a terrifying charisma to the role of the Commandant, who tells his young charges: “I am your future!”, but nothing is as distressing as the look on Agu’s face as he learns to kill. Fukunaga’s...
Adapted from Uzodinma Iweala’s 2005 novel about an African boy recruited to a rebel militia, this Oscar-tipped production gets a brief UK theatrical outing prior to its high-profile Netflix release on 16 October. Newcomer Abraham Attah is a revelation as Agu, the playful youngster forced into horrifying acts of war after his father and brother are killed. Following in the footsteps of 2009’s extraordinary Johnny Mad Dog and 2012’s Oscar-nominated War Witch, Cary Joji Fukunaga’s uncompromising film leads us through a cycle of violence in which childhood is buried and kids are traumatically reborn as child soldiers.
Idris Elba brings a terrifying charisma to the role of the Commandant, who tells his young charges: “I am your future!”, but nothing is as distressing as the look on Agu’s face as he learns to kill. Fukunaga’s...
- 10/11/2015
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Are you ready for a movie described as a mix of "The Raid" and "Drive"? If the answer is yes, "A Prayer Before Dawn" promises that blend, with Charlie Hunnam signing on for the movie "based on the true-life story of Billy Moore’s incarceration in a barbaric Thai prison, Klong Prem (aka the Bangkok Hilton); he starts to train in the art of Muay Thai Boxing." An adaptation of Moore's book, with Jean-Stephane Sauvaire ("Johnny Mad Dog") directing, filming starts next summer. [Screen Daily] Paz Vega joins Sarah Jessica Parter, the legendary Claudia Cardinale, Rosie Day, and Raoul Bova in the romantic comedy "All Roads Lead To Rome." Currently filming, the story follows "an uptight woman (Parker) and her former Italian lover (Bova) who go on a road trip around Italy to pursue her rebellious daughter (Day)." Ella Lemhagen directs. [Screen Daily] Ricky Gervais and Eric Bana are teaming up for the...
- 10/31/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Exclusive: HanWay to sell Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Thai boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn at Afm.
Charlie Hunnam is attached to star in true-life Thai kick-boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn, directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog).
Hunnam, whose credits include Sons Of Anarchy and Pacific Rim, is in training now for the Muay Thai sequences of the film, set to shoot in summer 2015.
HanWay Films will launch sales on the film at Afm.
The film is described as being crossover genre fare in the vein of Drive and The Raid.
Sauvaire is also casting former prisoners who were Muay Thai champions in Thailand.
Producers are Senorita Films, the new outfit from former Wild Bunch executive Rita Dagher; and Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter’s UK outfit Hurricane Films, which optioned the material. The screenplay is by Nick Saltrese based on the book by Billy Moore.
The film is based on the true-life story of...
Charlie Hunnam is attached to star in true-life Thai kick-boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn, directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog).
Hunnam, whose credits include Sons Of Anarchy and Pacific Rim, is in training now for the Muay Thai sequences of the film, set to shoot in summer 2015.
HanWay Films will launch sales on the film at Afm.
The film is described as being crossover genre fare in the vein of Drive and The Raid.
Sauvaire is also casting former prisoners who were Muay Thai champions in Thailand.
Producers are Senorita Films, the new outfit from former Wild Bunch executive Rita Dagher; and Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter’s UK outfit Hurricane Films, which optioned the material. The screenplay is by Nick Saltrese based on the book by Billy Moore.
The film is based on the true-life story of...
- 10/31/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: HanWay to sell Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Thai boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn at Afm.
Charlie Hunnam is attached to star in true-life Thai kick-boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn, directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog).
Hunnam, whose credits include Sons Of Anarchy and Pacific Rim, is in training now for the Muay Thai sequences of the film, set to shoot in summer 2015.
HanWay Films will launch sales on the film at Afm.
The film is described as being crossover genre fare in the vein of Drive and The Raid.
Sauvaire is also casting former prisoners who were Muay Thai champions in Thailand.
Producers are Senorita Films, the new outfit from former Wild Bunch executive Rita Dagher; and Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter’s UK outfit Hurricane Films, which optioned the material. The screenplay is by Nick Saltrese based on the book by Billy Moore.
The film is based on the true-life story of...
Charlie Hunnam is attached to star in true-life Thai kick-boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn, directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog).
Hunnam, whose credits include Sons Of Anarchy and Pacific Rim, is in training now for the Muay Thai sequences of the film, set to shoot in summer 2015.
HanWay Films will launch sales on the film at Afm.
The film is described as being crossover genre fare in the vein of Drive and The Raid.
Sauvaire is also casting former prisoners who were Muay Thai champions in Thailand.
Producers are Senorita Films, the new outfit from former Wild Bunch executive Rita Dagher; and Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter’s UK outfit Hurricane Films, which optioned the material. The screenplay is by Nick Saltrese based on the book by Billy Moore.
The film is based on the true-life story of...
- 10/31/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
World Bank study recommends 51 films using development as a plot device - sometimes at expense of accuracy and complexity
International development is just about at the bottom of the list of things that the average westerner thinks about each day. News organisations are closing their foreign bureaus. One of the big Us television networks turned down more money for global health reporting after a series, entirely funded by grants, led to a dip in viewers. In other words ratings were so bad that the network turned down millions of dollars. It is that tough.
Aside from advocacy efforts like (the much-criticised) Kony 2012 and Oxfam advertisements, how do people learn about the world around them? The answer could be Hollywood. Reporting on Africa does not get much attention in the Us, but a film staring Leonardo DiCaprio about Sierra Leone does.
A film like Blood Diamond, setting aside its problems, brings...
International development is just about at the bottom of the list of things that the average westerner thinks about each day. News organisations are closing their foreign bureaus. One of the big Us television networks turned down more money for global health reporting after a series, entirely funded by grants, led to a dip in viewers. In other words ratings were so bad that the network turned down millions of dollars. It is that tough.
Aside from advocacy efforts like (the much-criticised) Kony 2012 and Oxfam advertisements, how do people learn about the world around them? The answer could be Hollywood. Reporting on Africa does not get much attention in the Us, but a film staring Leonardo DiCaprio about Sierra Leone does.
A film like Blood Diamond, setting aside its problems, brings...
- 9/5/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Robert Pattinson Mission: Blacklist movie: Filming in August? Mission: Blacklist is not the upcoming fifth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise starring Tom Cruise. For the time being, that’s concisely called Mission: Impossible 5. So, what’s Mission: Blacklist? Well, as every ardent Robert Pattinson fan will tell you, that’s a Pattinson movie project initially announced in early May 2012. Pattinson is attached to this Embankment Films-financed (or to-be-financed) production based on Eric Maddox and Davin Seay’s book Mission: Black List #1 - The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein - As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture. The title of Maddox and Seay’s book says it all. But just in case, here’s the brief Mission: Blacklist synopsis found on the Embankment Films website: Unlike other Interrogators fresh out of training, Eric Maddox (Robert Pattinson) has a brilliant and beautiful mind. He has...
- 5/10/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Mathieu Kassovitz was hailed as the heir to Truffaut after making La Haine in 1995. So why has he renounced French cinema after making his latest film, Rebellion?
Any doubts over Mathieu Kassovitz's feelings towards his national film industry were cleared up last year when he tweeted: "Bugger French cinema. Go fuck yourself with your shitty films." He's done with France. He's moved to Los Angeles. The tweet was in response to the César nominations, France's equivalent of the Oscars. In a field dominated by The Artist and Untouchable, Kassovitz's sober political thriller, Rebellion, received just one nomination, for best adapted screenplay.
"I wasn't hurt because they didn't want to give me a César, I was hurt because they didn't care about that kind of movie any more," says Kassovitz, who has previously won three Césars and never turned up to collect them. "It's a French story. It's craftsmanship. We...
Any doubts over Mathieu Kassovitz's feelings towards his national film industry were cleared up last year when he tweeted: "Bugger French cinema. Go fuck yourself with your shitty films." He's done with France. He's moved to Los Angeles. The tweet was in response to the César nominations, France's equivalent of the Oscars. In a field dominated by The Artist and Untouchable, Kassovitz's sober political thriller, Rebellion, received just one nomination, for best adapted screenplay.
"I wasn't hurt because they didn't want to give me a César, I was hurt because they didn't care about that kind of movie any more," says Kassovitz, who has previously won three Césars and never turned up to collect them. "It's a French story. It's craftsmanship. We...
- 4/18/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Someone once said that we may spin tales, but we don't create stories -- they create us. That is true for Kim Nguyen's War Witch, in which Komona's (Rachel Mwanza) identity is shaped by the war-story she unveils. The fourteen-year old heroine casts her mind back towards the past, recalling herself and someone she does not know anymore. Komona wants her unborn child to understand why, in a moment of weakness, she may hate rather than love him. War Witch is a surreal road movie and coming-of-age story about the bitter end of childhood. If we analyze its layers and look at it from different points of view, Nguyen's film may turn into a peculiar hybrid combining Beasts of the Southern Wild's surreal poetics and the brutal naturalism of Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire's Johnny Mad Dog (2008).
- 12/20/2012
- by Anna Bielak
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Deepak Rauniyar’s Highway, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival 2012, was recently screened at the Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival. Credited with making the first Nepali film to travel to one of the top festivals in the world, Berlinale, Deepak Rauniyar tells us more about Highway:
What was the starting point for the film?
In 2009, I happened to be on a road trip from east Nepal to the capital, Kathmandu. Our journey was obstructed by three different ‘bandhs’, organized by three different groups in three different parts of the country. This was when my colleagues Kedar Sharma, Khagendra Lamichhane and I started talking about the idea for this film, Highway. I felt that by setting a story against the backdrop of this new ‘bandh’ culture, I would not only be able to explore physical ‘bandhs’, but also explore the mental/psychological ‘bandhs’ that many of us seem to be facing these days.
What was the starting point for the film?
In 2009, I happened to be on a road trip from east Nepal to the capital, Kathmandu. Our journey was obstructed by three different ‘bandhs’, organized by three different groups in three different parts of the country. This was when my colleagues Kedar Sharma, Khagendra Lamichhane and I started talking about the idea for this film, Highway. I felt that by setting a story against the backdrop of this new ‘bandh’ culture, I would not only be able to explore physical ‘bandhs’, but also explore the mental/psychological ‘bandhs’ that many of us seem to be facing these days.
- 8/20/2012
- by Nandita Dutta
- DearCinema.com
After it claimed a pair of prizes (Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film Award and World Narrative Competition Award) at the Tribeca Film Festival, Kim Nguyen’s War Witch (Rebelle) will not have traveled far from its North American premiere location as Tribeca Films have grabbed the U.S. rights to the drama. Perhaps the best candidate for Canada’s Foreign Oscar nomination bid, the distributor is eying an early 2013 release.
Gist: Tribeca Film Fest director Frederic Boyer describes this as “a poignant and harrowing portrait of Komona, a 14-year-old girl (Rachel Mwanza) who has been kidnapped from her African village by rebels to become a child soldier. She escapes from the camp with an older albino soldier and experiences for the very first time the joys of a peaceful and loving life, but a fresh tragedy will force her to confront and fight the ghosts haunting her mind.
Gist: Tribeca Film Fest director Frederic Boyer describes this as “a poignant and harrowing portrait of Komona, a 14-year-old girl (Rachel Mwanza) who has been kidnapped from her African village by rebels to become a child soldier. She escapes from the camp with an older albino soldier and experiences for the very first time the joys of a peaceful and loving life, but a fresh tragedy will force her to confront and fight the ghosts haunting her mind.
- 6/13/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Just recently we learned that Robert Pattinson was gearing up for a stint in Iraq. The actor isn't stepping away from acting to join the military (don't worry, ladies), but he will be taking post in Mission: Blacklist, a military thriller based on a book by military interrogator Eric Maddox with Davin Seay which chronicles the inside story of the search for Saddam Hussein from the point of view of Maddox himself who spearheaded his capture. Pattinson is playing Maddox himself, and since the film still needs to be sold at Cannes, a promo poster with Pattinson's dreamy eyes and a list of Iraq's most wanted has just surfaced. Here's the promo poster for Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire's Mission: Blacklist from MTV: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, who had his film Johnny Mad Dog premiere at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and won the Prize of Hope, will direct the adaptation of Mission: Blacklist, which...
- 5/14/2012
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
He’s got Robert Pattinson’s eyes: Mission: Blacklist poster Robert Pattinson was officially cast in Mission: Blacklist, as American military interrogator Eric Maddox, about ten days or so ago. Producing company Embankment Films isn’t wasting any time. The sales poster for Mission: Blacklist, which will be peddled at the Cannes Film Festival, has been making the rounds online for several days. "In a World of Lies Only One Man Could See the Truth." That man was apparently Pattinson’s Maddox, who claimed to have eschewed torture while trying to figure out the whereabouts of fallen Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The brief Mission: Blacklist plot synopsis reads as follows: Unlike other Interrogators fresh out of training, Eric Maddox (Robert Pattinson) has a brilliant and beautiful mind. He has a unique ability to decipher highly complex patterns from seemingly random events. His mission is to trap the world’s most wanted man,...
- 5/12/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Robert Pattinson in Mission: Blacklist, the movie version of Us army interrogator Eric Maddox’s book of military memoirs, Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein — As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture (co-written with Davin Seay). That’s the Robert Pattinson news of yesterday, when it was announced that the Twilight and Cosmopolis actor had signed on to star in the psychological thriller written by Band of Brothers‘ Erik Jendresen. Johnny Mad Dog’s Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire has been assigned to direct the project. (The Robert Pattinson news of today is that he has signed on to star in The Rover. More on that in my follow-up post.) Now, even though we’re dealing with the Us military and prisoners of war, don’t expect torture to play a role in Mission: Blacklist. Maddox claims he never tortured anyone, and has publicly...
- 5/3/2012
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
By now, it seems fairly obvious that this year’s Cannes Film Festival will serve as a coming out party of sorts for Robert Pattinson, at least, a coming out party for the actor’s talents beyond just sucking blood and turning girls into emotion pancakes, as he’s been doing for years with his work in The Twilight Saga. The actor’s performance in David Cronenberg‘s Cosmopolis looks better with every trailer released, and the film’s in-competition premiere at the festival should be a watershed moment for Pattinson. But Pattinson has now added another Cannes-centric project that will help establish him as an actor who is more than capable of breaking out of Edward Cullen’s coffin. Pattinson has signed on to star in Jean-Stephane Sauvaire‘s (Johnny Mad Dog) Mission: Blacklist. The film’s script has been adapted from its source material, military interrogator Eric Maddox’s (written with Davin Seay) novel “Mission:...
- 5/3/2012
- by Kate Erbland
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
The Twilight Saga's Robert Pattinson is steadily making progress at putting distance between himself and the tawny-eyed Edward Cullen. The British heartthrob's newest role is starring in the upcoming military thriller Mission: Blacklist.
The movie will be adapted from the book Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein — As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture. The book was written by military interrogator Eric Maddox and David Seay, and it will be adapted for the screen by Erik Jendersen. Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog) will direct.
Playing a real-life miliary hero should effectively separate Pattinson even further from his image as a teen sensation. In Bel Ami, he put some distance between himself and the patient, generous, and sweet vampire Edward by playing the manipulative and deceitful George Duroy. Furthermore, David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis, which debuts at Cannes later this month, should be...
The movie will be adapted from the book Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein — As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture. The book was written by military interrogator Eric Maddox and David Seay, and it will be adapted for the screen by Erik Jendersen. Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog) will direct.
Playing a real-life miliary hero should effectively separate Pattinson even further from his image as a teen sensation. In Bel Ami, he put some distance between himself and the patient, generous, and sweet vampire Edward by playing the manipulative and deceitful George Duroy. Furthermore, David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis, which debuts at Cannes later this month, should be...
- 5/3/2012
- by Mandy McAdoo
- Reelzchannel.com
"Twilight" star Robert Pattinson's next film puts him about as far from the tween demographic as possible. He's just signed on to the thriller "Mission: Blacklist," where he'll play the military interrogator who helped capture Saddam Hussein. “This movie is a gripping, edge of your seat thriller,” producer Ross M. Dinerstein said in a statement. “I have been inspired by Robert and Jean-Stéphane's dedication to tell this story in the most authentic way possible.” Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire will direct from a screenplay adapted by “Band of Brothers” writer/producer Erik Jendresen. ("Mission: Blacklist" is based on the Eric Maddox book of the same name.) Sauvaire's previous film, "Johnny Mad Dog," about child soldiers in Africa, won the Prize of Hope at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Pattinson's next move, the eagerly anticipated “Cosmopolis” from David Cronenberg, premieres at the Cannes Film Festival later this month. [via Deadline]...
- 5/3/2012
- by Sharon Knolle
- Moviefone
Robert Pattinson will take a further step away from The Twilight Saga - in addition to his much-anticipated turn in Cronenberg’s upcoming Cosmopolis - by appearing in a film inspired by real-life efforts to capture Saddam Hussein. Pattinson will star in Mission: Blacklist as interrogator Eric Maddox, who played a key role in bringing down the notorious Iraqi leader. Helmed by director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (2008’s award-winning Johnny Mad Dog), and with a screenplay by Band Of Brothers scribe Erik Jendresen, producer Ross...
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- 5/3/2012
- by Total Film
- TotalFilm
So, how did they find former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein hiding out in his little spider hole in the first place? I guess we’ll find out when “Mission: Blacklist” arrives onsceen. The Iraqi War film is currently being shopped in Cannes, with Robert Pattinson attached to star as real-life military interrogator Eric Maddox, to be based on the book “Mission: Blacklist #1″ by Maddox and Davin Seay. Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (“Johnny Mad Dog”) will direct. “Mission: Blacklist” is described as a “psychological thriller that details the true, inside story of the search for Saddam Hussein and the interrogator, Eric Maddox, who spearheaded his capture.” More about the book from Amazon: Everyone has seen the footage: a heavily bearded Saddam Hussein blinking under the bright lights of infantry cameras, dazed to find himself in U.S. Army custody. Yet while the breaking news was broadcast around the world, the story of the remarkable...
- 5/3/2012
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
EW has confirmed that Robert Pattinson will star in Mission: Blacklist, a psychological thriller about the search and capture of Saddam Hussein. As first reported by Variety, Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog) is attached to direct and Erik Jendersen will adapt the script from Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein — As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture by Eric Maddox and Davin Seay.
Pattinson’s film with director David Cronenberg, Cosmopolis — adapted from the Don DeLillo novel — will debut later this month at the Cannes Film Festival.
Read more:
‘Cosmopolis’ trailer...
Pattinson’s film with director David Cronenberg, Cosmopolis — adapted from the Don DeLillo novel — will debut later this month at the Cannes Film Festival.
Read more:
‘Cosmopolis’ trailer...
- 5/3/2012
- by Sara Vilkomerson
- EW - Inside Movies
Vampire Interrogator: Can a sparkly vampire be convincing as the real-life military interrogator who led the search for Saddam Hussein? Twilight’s Robert Pattinson is attached to star in Mission: Blacklist, based on the true story of Eric Maddox, who conducted more than 300 interrogations in search of information to locate Hussein. The film version is intended to be a psychological thriller; Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog) is ready to direct. [press release via Deadline] Actor Finds Jobs: Nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor for his outstanding performance in A Better Life, Demián Bichir is lining up work in a couple of diverse projects. First comes what is likely a supporting role in Robert Rodriguez’ Machete Kills, which sounds like a...
Read More...
Read More...
- 5/3/2012
- by Peter Martin
- Movies.com
Now this is a story I'm curious to see. Robert Pattinson will star in an adaptation of Mission: Black List #1 by military interrogator Eric Maddox (with Davin Seay) "that details the true, inside story of the search for Saddam Hussein and the interrogator, Eric Maddox, who spearheaded his capture." Adapted by Erik Jendresen ("Band of Brothers") and to be directed by Frenchman Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog), the project will be sold at Cannes Film...
- 5/3/2012
- by Alejandro Stepenberg
- JoBlo.com
While his starring role in David Cronenberg's thriller Cosmopolis (which Alex will check out at the Cannes Film Festival later this month), will surely help him shed the image of a sparkly vampire, it sounds like Robert Pattinson is looking to blow away the memory of The Twilight Saga's Edward Cullen with his next project. Deadline has a press release that says Pattinson will star in Mission: Blacklist, a military thriller based on a book by military interrogator Eric Maddox with Davin Seay which chronicles the inside story of the search for Saddam Hussein from the point of view of Maddox himself who spearheaded his capture. Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, who had his film Johnny Mad Dog premiere at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival and won the Prize of Hope, will direct the adaptation which is being scripted by "Band of Brothers" writer and producer Eric Jendresen. It sounds like a great...
- 5/3/2012
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
R.Pattz has his sights on Saddam Hussein.
The "Twilight" star will soon transition into the realm of nonfiction as he's signed on to star in the military thriller, "Mission: Blacklist," according to Deadline.
"Mission: Blacklist" is based on "Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein — As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture" (note that Hollywood continues to try to cut as many words as possible from a title as it turns "Black List" into "Blacklist" and cuts, like, two-thirds of the rest of the title). The book, written by real-life military interrogator Eric Maddox, goes into the details of the hunt and capture of Saddam Hussein, a process that involved Maddox's psychologically subtle, non-violent methods of interrogation.
No word yet on what role Robert Pattinson will be playing, but our money's on Maddox himself. R.Pattz is ready for a really juicy,...
The "Twilight" star will soon transition into the realm of nonfiction as he's signed on to star in the military thriller, "Mission: Blacklist," according to Deadline.
"Mission: Blacklist" is based on "Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein — As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture" (note that Hollywood continues to try to cut as many words as possible from a title as it turns "Black List" into "Blacklist" and cuts, like, two-thirds of the rest of the title). The book, written by real-life military interrogator Eric Maddox, goes into the details of the hunt and capture of Saddam Hussein, a process that involved Maddox's psychologically subtle, non-violent methods of interrogation.
No word yet on what role Robert Pattinson will be playing, but our money's on Maddox himself. R.Pattz is ready for a really juicy,...
- 5/3/2012
- by Bryan Enk
- NextMovie
Robert Pattinson is certainly taking some interesting steps in a post-Twilight career. He’s part of the frankly awesome-looking Cosmopolis from David Cronenberg, set for a Cannes bow in a few weeks. Now he’s set for a psychological thriller from Band of Brothers screenwriter Erik Jendresen.
According a press release, the actor is set to star in a film based on Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein—As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture, a book by military interrogator Eric Maddox and Davin Seay. Thankfully shortened to just Mission: Blacklist, the film will be directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire making his Us debut.
The film, which takes an inside look at hunt for Saddam Hussein from the point of view of the interrogator who led his capture, Eric Maddox, will be selling on the Cannes marketplace. I can’t quite picture...
According a press release, the actor is set to star in a film based on Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein—As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture, a book by military interrogator Eric Maddox and Davin Seay. Thankfully shortened to just Mission: Blacklist, the film will be directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire making his Us debut.
The film, which takes an inside look at hunt for Saddam Hussein from the point of view of the interrogator who led his capture, Eric Maddox, will be selling on the Cannes marketplace. I can’t quite picture...
- 5/3/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Los Angeles, CA – May 2, 2012 – Robert Pattinson has come on board to star in the upcomingfilm “Mission: Blacklist” with Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire committed to direct. The screenplay was adapted by “Band of Brothers” writer and producer Erik Jendresen from the Harper Collins novel Mission: Black List #1 written by military interrogator Eric Maddox with Davin Seay. Ross M. Dinerstein, Managing Partner of Preferred Content, is producing alongside Jendresen and Kevin Waller. Embankment Films, the international sales and distribution company recently launched by international sales veterans Tim Haslam and Hugo Grumbar will begin selling the film at the upcoming Cannes Film Market. ”Mission: Blacklist” is a psychological thriller that details the true, inside story of the search for Saddam Hussein and the interrogator, Eric Maddox, who spearheaded his capture. “This movie is a gripping, edge of your seat thriller,” says Dinerstein. “I have been inspired by Robert and Jean-Stéphane’s dedication to tell this...
- 5/3/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
How could anyone dismiss The Silent Army? It's a sensitive film about a deeply troubling real-world issue (child soldiers in East Africa), made by a director who clearly feels very strongly about the subject matter both from a personal perspective (he grew up in the region) and a humanitarian angle (it's the right thing to do).
Well... if anything, perhaps Jean Van De Velde cares a little too much? This should have been a hard-hitting look at the callous savagery of an empty war - two children, one a rural villager kidnapped and press-ganged into fighting for the rebel army, the other a chef's son desperate to save him. Instead it becomes something halfway between Blood Diamond and any random 1980s gung-ho action flick sent straight to video.
Plot points founder under the weight of too much saccharine melodrama, tension ebbs away as the script heads nowhere in particular and...
Well... if anything, perhaps Jean Van De Velde cares a little too much? This should have been a hard-hitting look at the callous savagery of an empty war - two children, one a rural villager kidnapped and press-ganged into fighting for the rebel army, the other a chef's son desperate to save him. Instead it becomes something halfway between Blood Diamond and any random 1980s gung-ho action flick sent straight to video.
Plot points founder under the weight of too much saccharine melodrama, tension ebbs away as the script heads nowhere in particular and...
- 12/21/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The unique selling point (can we call it that?) for John and Howard Ford's The Dead - the zombie apocalypse hits Africa - is both its biggest strength and greatest weakness. It's a gorgeous, visually distinctive, creepy little road movie that pays tribute to any number of classic genre influences with both a feverish, dreamlike mood and a solid, compelling story arc.
You have to admire the brothers, their cast and crew for struggling through a hellish experience to get The Dead out, and for how that ends up reflected in what appears on screen. But the same experience also appears to have weighed the film down, with a lack of depth and a plot that almost trails off into nothing come the final third.
No, it's nothing like the videogame Resident Evil 5. Blood Diamond this ain't, either - rather than the white man solving the black man's problems...
You have to admire the brothers, their cast and crew for struggling through a hellish experience to get The Dead out, and for how that ends up reflected in what appears on screen. But the same experience also appears to have weighed the film down, with a lack of depth and a plot that almost trails off into nothing come the final third.
No, it's nothing like the videogame Resident Evil 5. Blood Diamond this ain't, either - rather than the white man solving the black man's problems...
- 11/29/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Although the holiday season means time off work for most other industries in the U.S., it means it's awards season for the film business, which in turn necessitates plenty of tributes and accolades to be presented on the East and West Coasts at your local repertory theater in advance of the Oscars where movie stars can be seen and Q & As are conducted. Yet in New York and Los Angeles, there will be a wealth of other options as neighborhood theaters flood their screens with contemporary cinema from other parts of the world, classic movies in their full bigscreen glory, and certain-to-be-fun nods to the holidays, whether it's Halloween or Christmas. If you live in one of these areas or see fit to travel, these are the events worth the trouble over the next few months.
by Stephen Saito
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by Stephen Saito
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- 10/21/2010
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
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