Movie News
And the winner is: “Simon of the Mountain.”
The film, directed by Federico Luis – and marking his feature debut – was awarded Cannes’ Critics Week Grand Prix.
Sold by Luxbox, the Argentina-Chile-Uruguay production stars Lorenzo “Toto” Ferro, the lead in breakout “El Angel,” as Simon, 21, a lonely only son who falls in with a group of discapacitated kids, feigning a discapacity. Thanks to their friendship he flowers, discovering love, sex and a sense of belonging.
“I am thinking not only about what it means to us, but also about what it means to the people in Argentina who, over the course of the next four years, will struggle, trying to make local films,” said Luis, accepting the award.
“At home, there are people who still think we make films no one wants to see. I hope this will change it and that Argentinian people – and then the whole world – will watch Argentinian cinema.
The film, directed by Federico Luis – and marking his feature debut – was awarded Cannes’ Critics Week Grand Prix.
Sold by Luxbox, the Argentina-Chile-Uruguay production stars Lorenzo “Toto” Ferro, the lead in breakout “El Angel,” as Simon, 21, a lonely only son who falls in with a group of discapacitated kids, feigning a discapacity. Thanks to their friendship he flowers, discovering love, sex and a sense of belonging.
“I am thinking not only about what it means to us, but also about what it means to the people in Argentina who, over the course of the next four years, will struggle, trying to make local films,” said Luis, accepting the award.
“At home, there are people who still think we make films no one wants to see. I hope this will change it and that Argentinian people – and then the whole world – will watch Argentinian cinema.
- 5/22/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
A remake of Heaven Can Wait is in early development at Paramount with Glen Powell, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Stephen Gaghan, an Oscar winner for his script for Steven Soderbergh’s 2000 crime film Traffic, is writing the project for Powell to star. Based on Harry Segall’s play of the same name, the original 1978 movie Heaven Can Wait starred Warren Beatty and was nominated for nine Oscars including best picture, with the film notching a win for best art direction.
Heaven Can Wait centered on Beatty as an NFL quarterback who dies prematurely due to an antsy angel and returns to Earth in the body of a recently murdered millionaire. Beatty directed the film with Buck Henry and co-wrote the script with Elaine May.
Segall’s play Heaven Can Wait had previously been adapted for the 1941 feature Here Comes Mr. Jordan, with the lead character being a boxer, and...
Stephen Gaghan, an Oscar winner for his script for Steven Soderbergh’s 2000 crime film Traffic, is writing the project for Powell to star. Based on Harry Segall’s play of the same name, the original 1978 movie Heaven Can Wait starred Warren Beatty and was nominated for nine Oscars including best picture, with the film notching a win for best art direction.
Heaven Can Wait centered on Beatty as an NFL quarterback who dies prematurely due to an antsy angel and returns to Earth in the body of a recently murdered millionaire. Beatty directed the film with Buck Henry and co-wrote the script with Elaine May.
Segall’s play Heaven Can Wait had previously been adapted for the 1941 feature Here Comes Mr. Jordan, with the lead character being a boxer, and...
- 5/21/2024
- by Ryan Gajewski and Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A24 has nabbed U.S. rights to “The Death of Robin Hood,” one of the hottest packages at this year’s Cannes. The Sherwood Forest-set film stars Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer and is directed by Michael Sarnoski, the filmmaker behind the critically acclaimed “Pig” and this summer’s “A Quiet Place: Day One.”
According to the official logline, the film will find Robin Hood “grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder.” Instead of the merry outlaw seen in certain previous versions of the story, like the one portrayed by Errol Flynn, this Robin Hood is “a battle-worn loner [who] finds himself gravely injured and in the hands of a mysterious woman, who offers him a chance at salvation.” Production on “The Death of Robin Hood” is set to begin in 2025. A24 will release the film theatrically. Negotiations were highly competitive with several potential buyers circling the film.
According to the official logline, the film will find Robin Hood “grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder.” Instead of the merry outlaw seen in certain previous versions of the story, like the one portrayed by Errol Flynn, this Robin Hood is “a battle-worn loner [who] finds himself gravely injured and in the hands of a mysterious woman, who offers him a chance at salvation.” Production on “The Death of Robin Hood” is set to begin in 2025. A24 will release the film theatrically. Negotiations were highly competitive with several potential buyers circling the film.
- 5/21/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety - Film News
Kodak, which had a momentous 2023 with more than 60 movies shot on film has gotten off to a promising start in 2024 with Luca Guadignino’s “Challengers” and Jane Shoenbrun’s “I Saw the TV Glow, which A24 released wide May 17. Upcoming releases include Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders” and Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu.”
Meanwhile, Kodak premiered 29 movies shot on film at Cannes. These include five features competing for the Palme d’Or: Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” Sean Baker’s “Anora,” Andrea Arnold’s “Bird,” Karim Aïnouz’s “Motel Destino,” and Miguel Gomes’ “Grand Tour.”
Additionally, four movies are featured in Un Certain Regard, and 16 titles across Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week were captured on film. Meanwhile, 16mm film continues to prove its popularity and relevance, with 23 of the on-film titles at the festival choosing it as their capture medium.
This article was first published January 27, 2024. It has been updated.
Cannes 2024 Premieres ‘Kinds...
Meanwhile, Kodak premiered 29 movies shot on film at Cannes. These include five features competing for the Palme d’Or: Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” Sean Baker’s “Anora,” Andrea Arnold’s “Bird,” Karim Aïnouz’s “Motel Destino,” and Miguel Gomes’ “Grand Tour.”
Additionally, four movies are featured in Un Certain Regard, and 16 titles across Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week were captured on film. Meanwhile, 16mm film continues to prove its popularity and relevance, with 23 of the on-film titles at the festival choosing it as their capture medium.
This article was first published January 27, 2024. It has been updated.
Cannes 2024 Premieres ‘Kinds...
- 5/27/2024
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Renny Harlin is closing in on 40 years in the movie business and still committed to his craft. He has worked all over the world on films at the top and bottom of the box office charts, but still gets a twinkle in his eye when discussing how a score can tweak the tension of a scene. He dreamed of being a Hollywood action movie director since childhood, and is best known for his bombastic 1990s blockbusters like Die Hard 2 (1990) and Cliffhanger (1993). But after Hollywood ejected him for younger models, he maintained a furious productivity elsewhere, working […]
The post Renny Harlin on The Strangers: Chapter 1, China and Don Siegel first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Renny Harlin on The Strangers: Chapter 1, China and Don Siegel first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/23/2024
- by R. Emmet Sweeney
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
A giant brain the size of a Volkswagen! Ancient bog people who explode when they masturbate! Self-effacing jokes about Canada’s place in the world! “Rumours” might abandon the silent film aesthetic that has come to define Guy Maddin’s singular brand of absurdism, but not even the complete absence of exclamatory title cards is enough to suggest that this ridiculous comedy of manners could have — or would have — been made by anybody else.
Reuniting with co-directors Evan and Galen Johnson for their first proper feature since “The Forbidden Room” in 2015, the pride of Winnipeg returns to the big screen with a movie that shakes up his style without sacrificing any of its silliness, a feat made all the more impressive by the caliber of the actors that Maddin and co. have wrangled to carry it.
Still, it’s a good thing that people like Cate Blanchett and Charles Dance...
Reuniting with co-directors Evan and Galen Johnson for their first proper feature since “The Forbidden Room” in 2015, the pride of Winnipeg returns to the big screen with a movie that shakes up his style without sacrificing any of its silliness, a feat made all the more impressive by the caliber of the actors that Maddin and co. have wrangled to carry it.
Still, it’s a good thing that people like Cate Blanchett and Charles Dance...
- 5/23/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey have their first “Jurassic World” co-star. THR reports that Rupert Friend is the latest actor cast to star in Gareth Edward‘s upcoming installment. Friend also joins Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, the only other name on the call sheet, as the film inches closer to its mid-June production start.
Read More: Glen Powell Passed On New ‘Jurassic World’ & ‘Bourne’ Films & Says He Won’t Do A Marvel Project
Friend in a big-budget blockbuster? Maybe it was bound to happen. The British actor’s biggest career roles up to this point have been for Wes Anderson, in “The French Dispatch, “Asteroid City,” and “The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar And Three More.” But Friend, typically in supporting roles, has a career that stretches back two decades. Other recent roles include the Disney+ limited series “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and the Apple TV+ series “High Desert.”
Meanwhile, Universal is moving fast...
Read More: Glen Powell Passed On New ‘Jurassic World’ & ‘Bourne’ Films & Says He Won’t Do A Marvel Project
Friend in a big-budget blockbuster? Maybe it was bound to happen. The British actor’s biggest career roles up to this point have been for Wes Anderson, in “The French Dispatch, “Asteroid City,” and “The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar And Three More.” But Friend, typically in supporting roles, has a career that stretches back two decades. Other recent roles include the Disney+ limited series “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and the Apple TV+ series “High Desert.”
Meanwhile, Universal is moving fast...
- 5/23/2024
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
Dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has revealed he had just a two-hour window to decide whether to remain in Iran and face arrest or flee the country to ensure his freedom.
Speaking to Screen from Cannes, where his latest feature The Seed Of The Sacred Fig is set to world premiere in Competition tomorrow (May 24), the Iranian auteur looked relieved to have secured his own safety but was reflective on the society he had left behind and his own future as a filmmaker.
“I was left with no other option,” said Rasoulof, who was sentenced to eight years in prison and...
Speaking to Screen from Cannes, where his latest feature The Seed Of The Sacred Fig is set to world premiere in Competition tomorrow (May 24), the Iranian auteur looked relieved to have secured his own safety but was reflective on the society he had left behind and his own future as a filmmaker.
“I was left with no other option,” said Rasoulof, who was sentenced to eight years in prison and...
- 5/23/2024
- ScreenDaily
Generating robust admissions for UK independent film at the global box office remains a challenge, but the figures do not paint the complete picture of what marks a release as a success, according to Stephan De Potter, CEO at Benelux distributor Cineart.
De Potter was talking about the release of Georgia Oakley’s debut Blue Jean, a feature debut and Venice premiere that was backed by BBC Film and the BFI.
It garnered $357,412 at the box office outside of the UK, and $384,232 within the UK, according to Box Office Mojo.
“It was not great [in terms of admissions], but we were very happy,” said De Potter.
De Potter was talking about the release of Georgia Oakley’s debut Blue Jean, a feature debut and Venice premiere that was backed by BBC Film and the BFI.
It garnered $357,412 at the box office outside of the UK, and $384,232 within the UK, according to Box Office Mojo.
“It was not great [in terms of admissions], but we were very happy,” said De Potter.
- 5/23/2024
- ScreenDaily
Glen Powell may be the next ’80s-style movie star, but the actor admitted to recently turning down one of his childhood dream roles in an iconic franchise: “Jurassic Park.”
Powell told The Hollywood Reporter that he opted to not star in the latest franchise reboot for Universal, tentatively titled “Jurassic City.” Scarlett Johansson is leading the feature, with Jonathan Bailey co-starring. Gareth Edwards is directing and the reboot is slated for a July 2, 2025 release.
“‘Jurassic’ is one of my favorite movies. It’s one of the things I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” Powell said. “I’m not doing that movie because I read the script and I immediately was like, my presence in this movie doesn’t help it. And the script’s great. The movie’s going to fucking kill. It’s not about that. It’s about choosing where you’re going to make an...
Powell told The Hollywood Reporter that he opted to not star in the latest franchise reboot for Universal, tentatively titled “Jurassic City.” Scarlett Johansson is leading the feature, with Jonathan Bailey co-starring. Gareth Edwards is directing and the reboot is slated for a July 2, 2025 release.
“‘Jurassic’ is one of my favorite movies. It’s one of the things I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” Powell said. “I’m not doing that movie because I read the script and I immediately was like, my presence in this movie doesn’t help it. And the script’s great. The movie’s going to fucking kill. It’s not about that. It’s about choosing where you’re going to make an...
- 5/23/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Jennifer Lopez and her “Atlas” co-star Simu Liu shut down a reporter during a press junket in Mexico City for their new Netflix action movie after he asked Lopez if rumors are true she’s getting divorced from Ben Affleck. Rumors circulating online that Lopez and Affleck are ending their marriage have coincided with Lopez’s “Atlas” press tour, which included starry premieres in Los Angeles and Mexico.
“Ok, we’re not doing that,” Liu immediately told the reporter who asked about Affleck (via NBC News). “Thank you so much. We really appreciate it … come on, don’t come in here with that energy.
Lopez was even more blunt, telling the reporter: “You know better than that.”
Liu later heaped praise on Lopez, who both stars in and produced “Atlas.” Directed by “Rampage” and “San Andreas” filmmaker Brad Peyton, “Atlas” stars Lopez as a brilliant data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence.
“Ok, we’re not doing that,” Liu immediately told the reporter who asked about Affleck (via NBC News). “Thank you so much. We really appreciate it … come on, don’t come in here with that energy.
Lopez was even more blunt, telling the reporter: “You know better than that.”
Liu later heaped praise on Lopez, who both stars in and produced “Atlas.” Directed by “Rampage” and “San Andreas” filmmaker Brad Peyton, “Atlas” stars Lopez as a brilliant data analyst with a deep distrust of artificial intelligence.
- 5/23/2024
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety - Film News
Canadian distributor and global sales agent Filmoption International has acquired international sales rights, excluding Canada, for film “We Forgot to Break Up” and has launched sales at the Cannes Film Festival’s market.
Based on Kayt Burgess’s award-winning book “Heidegger Stairwell,” and written by Noel S. Baker, Pat Mills and Zoe Whittall, the film follows a diverse group of musicians who form a band to spark a musical revolution. As their band, “The New Normals,” rises to fame, they navigate personal and romantic complexities, creating a rock sound that transcends gender and orientation. “We Forgot to Break Up” aims to offer an authentic portrayal of music, love, and friendship in the early 2000s indie music scene as the protagonists strive to make their voices heard and forge an unshakable bond that transcends labels.
The film is directed by actor and filmmaker Karen Knox (“The Year of Staring at Noses...
Based on Kayt Burgess’s award-winning book “Heidegger Stairwell,” and written by Noel S. Baker, Pat Mills and Zoe Whittall, the film follows a diverse group of musicians who form a band to spark a musical revolution. As their band, “The New Normals,” rises to fame, they navigate personal and romantic complexities, creating a rock sound that transcends gender and orientation. “We Forgot to Break Up” aims to offer an authentic portrayal of music, love, and friendship in the early 2000s indie music scene as the protagonists strive to make their voices heard and forge an unshakable bond that transcends labels.
The film is directed by actor and filmmaker Karen Knox (“The Year of Staring at Noses...
- 5/23/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety - Film News
Dune: Part Two picks up directly following the events of its predecessor, with young Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) taken in by the Fremen after being marooned in the desert of Arrakis. However, cinematographer Greig Fraser was not content to merely continue where he left off. After winning an Oscar for the first film, Fraser shuffled his tool bag by adding the Alexa 65, an assortment of colorful new glass and an infrared sequence set in a gladiator arena on Giedi Prime. It’s not surprising considering Fraser’s history of experimentation, which includes pioneering virtual production work on The Mandalorian and reintroducing […]
The post “Obviously, We Couldn’t Get Three Sandworms for That Day”: Dp Greig Fraser on Dune: Part Two first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Obviously, We Couldn’t Get Three Sandworms for That Day”: Dp Greig Fraser on Dune: Part Two first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/23/2024
- by Matt Mulcahey
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Set phasers to spoilers. Read no further if you haven't watched the latest episode of "Star Trek: Discovery."
The cramped quarters of the USS Discovery bridge have felt oddly spacious lately, haven't they? As "Star Trek: Discovery" swoops in for a landing with its fifth and final season drawing to a definitive close, viewers may have noticed that several side characters remain missing in action. Essential crew members such as Lieutenant Commanders Detmer (Emily Coutts) and Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo) haven't been seen since episode 4's "Face the Strange," whisked away on a mission to pilot the mirror-universe starship Iss Enterprise to safe harbor. For a series that has drawn so much emotional bandwidth out of its supporting cast over the years, watching Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) deliver orders and offer encouragement to stand-in officers we've never met before can't help but feel ... off.
Yet even more glaringly, the heart...
The cramped quarters of the USS Discovery bridge have felt oddly spacious lately, haven't they? As "Star Trek: Discovery" swoops in for a landing with its fifth and final season drawing to a definitive close, viewers may have noticed that several side characters remain missing in action. Essential crew members such as Lieutenant Commanders Detmer (Emily Coutts) and Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo) haven't been seen since episode 4's "Face the Strange," whisked away on a mission to pilot the mirror-universe starship Iss Enterprise to safe harbor. For a series that has drawn so much emotional bandwidth out of its supporting cast over the years, watching Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) deliver orders and offer encouragement to stand-in officers we've never met before can't help but feel ... off.
Yet even more glaringly, the heart...
- 5/23/2024
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
Earlier this year, researchers for UCLA’S Hollywood Diversity Report found that women and Bipoc audiences drove box office numbers in theaters. But, the impact of those demographics doesn’t stop there. The group’s latest Hollywood Diversity Report found that Bipoc audiences and women also drove viewer ratings for at-home streaming films in 2023.
For nine of the top 10 releases and 17 of the top 20 ranked by household ratings, women represented the majority of viewers for films such as “You People,” “Murder Mystery 2” and “Leave the World Behind.” Similarly, Bipoc households were overrepresented as viewers for nine of the top 10 streaming films and 18 of the top 20 streaming films, like “The Mother” (55.9%) and “You People” (50%).
“Increased diversity in front of and behind the camera continues to draw audiences in,” said Ana-Christina Ramón, co-founder of the report and director of UCLA’s Entertainment and Media Research Initiative. “It reflects the world we...
For nine of the top 10 releases and 17 of the top 20 ranked by household ratings, women represented the majority of viewers for films such as “You People,” “Murder Mystery 2” and “Leave the World Behind.” Similarly, Bipoc households were overrepresented as viewers for nine of the top 10 streaming films and 18 of the top 20 streaming films, like “The Mother” (55.9%) and “You People” (50%).
“Increased diversity in front of and behind the camera continues to draw audiences in,” said Ana-Christina Ramón, co-founder of the report and director of UCLA’s Entertainment and Media Research Initiative. “It reflects the world we...
- 5/23/2024
- by Selena Kuznikov
- Variety - Film News
Gravitas Ventures has acquired US rights to Mother Of All Shows, a dark musical comedy from Canadian multi-hyphenate Melissa D’Agostino.
Gravitas, which made the deal at the Cannes market with sales representative Cut Entertainment Group, will release the film on TVoD on July 16. The company and the filmmakers are also planning a limited US/Canada theatrical release on that date.
D’Agostino directed the film, wrote the script with David James Brock and co-stars as Liza, a woman trying to cope with the impending death of her estranged mother Rosa, played by Wendie Malick. In her mind, Liza retreats into...
Gravitas, which made the deal at the Cannes market with sales representative Cut Entertainment Group, will release the film on TVoD on July 16. The company and the filmmakers are also planning a limited US/Canada theatrical release on that date.
D’Agostino directed the film, wrote the script with David James Brock and co-stars as Liza, a woman trying to cope with the impending death of her estranged mother Rosa, played by Wendie Malick. In her mind, Liza retreats into...
- 5/23/2024
- ScreenDaily
The actor on night terrors, Brideshead Revisited, nearly becoming a doctor and Starbucks in Cobham
If you were going to bake a Jane Asher cake that best summed you up, what would you bake and how would you decorate it? TopTramp
Summing somebody up is a tall order. I do love ginger cake, particularly the dark, Jamaican ginger type. I would make it nice and sticky, then obviously it’s got to be iced and decorated, maybe with little theatre masks and TV screen decorations to sum up the work side of my life. I guess I should put a cake on a cake because cakes are a big part of my life. So: a tiered cake? The cakes that delight me the most are those made by my grandchildren, which come smothered in sprinkles. I have all different kinds of decorations, so whenever my grandchildren are here, they pile it on.
If you were going to bake a Jane Asher cake that best summed you up, what would you bake and how would you decorate it? TopTramp
Summing somebody up is a tall order. I do love ginger cake, particularly the dark, Jamaican ginger type. I would make it nice and sticky, then obviously it’s got to be iced and decorated, maybe with little theatre masks and TV screen decorations to sum up the work side of my life. I guess I should put a cake on a cake because cakes are a big part of my life. So: a tiered cake? The cakes that delight me the most are those made by my grandchildren, which come smothered in sprinkles. I have all different kinds of decorations, so whenever my grandchildren are here, they pile it on.
- 5/23/2024
- by As told to Rich Pelley
- The Guardian - Film News
Last week, Amazon made its first-ever pitch to advertisers at the annual upfronts in New York; for Netflix, it was the first it’s done in person. The streamers also pitched a whole new kind of TV show: movies.
When ad-supported tiers came to platforms like Netflix and Disney+ last year, streamers joined the annual network ritual of presenting their slates to media buyers. However, this was the first time that films entered the spotlight.
Budget-minded streaming subscribers are familar with film and TV pre-rolls as well as the ads that may drop between or during TV episodes. So far, movies and movie lovers have been spared the dreaded mid-roll — the advertisement that shows up during a movie, where it was never meant to be.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be. Brad Adgate, a media consultant and the former research director at Horizon Media, believes advertisers would jump...
When ad-supported tiers came to platforms like Netflix and Disney+ last year, streamers joined the annual network ritual of presenting their slates to media buyers. However, this was the first time that films entered the spotlight.
Budget-minded streaming subscribers are familar with film and TV pre-rolls as well as the ads that may drop between or during TV episodes. So far, movies and movie lovers have been spared the dreaded mid-roll — the advertisement that shows up during a movie, where it was never meant to be.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be. Brad Adgate, a media consultant and the former research director at Horizon Media, believes advertisers would jump...
- 5/23/2024
- by Tony Maglio
- Indiewire
Young Vietnamese director Truong Minh Quy made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival with his Un Certain Regard film “Viet and Nam,” which debuted on Wednesday.
His story, a contemporary-ish romance between two young miners, traces the memories and dreams of a nation. It is sensuous, atmospheric, formal, but humane, and mixes moments of longueur with surprising jolts of humor and joy.
Truong Minh Quy spoke to Variety about the film’s origins, his unusual choice of shooting on Super 16mm film stock, and of swallowing his pride (for now) and accepting that the film cannot be shown in his native Vietnam.
What are the origins of this, your third, film? And how long did it take to come to fruition?
I checked, it started in January of 2020. Just a few months after I moved to France to study. And right after I finished my feature documentary, ‘The Treehouse....
His story, a contemporary-ish romance between two young miners, traces the memories and dreams of a nation. It is sensuous, atmospheric, formal, but humane, and mixes moments of longueur with surprising jolts of humor and joy.
Truong Minh Quy spoke to Variety about the film’s origins, his unusual choice of shooting on Super 16mm film stock, and of swallowing his pride (for now) and accepting that the film cannot be shown in his native Vietnam.
What are the origins of this, your third, film? And how long did it take to come to fruition?
I checked, it started in January of 2020. Just a few months after I moved to France to study. And right after I finished my feature documentary, ‘The Treehouse....
- 5/23/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety - Film News
In the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode "Sanctuary", the station is visited by a previously-unseen species called the Skrreeans, appearing out of the nearby wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. The Skrreeans have trouble communicating at first, as the station's universal translator can't get a handle on their language. Eventually, the translator kicks in, and a woman named Haneek (Deborah May) steps forward to speak for the Skrreeans. She explains that their species was recently conquered by the military force of T-Rogorans and kept under military occupation for years. It wasn't until the T-Rogorans were conquered by an even more powerful military — the Dominion — that they were freed. Now the Skrreeans wander the galaxy, lost and homeless, looking for a new homeworld.
At first Major Kira (Nana Visitor) seems amenable to the idea of the Skrreeans settling on her nearby home planet of Bajor ... until she learns that there are millions of them.
At first Major Kira (Nana Visitor) seems amenable to the idea of the Skrreeans settling on her nearby home planet of Bajor ... until she learns that there are millions of them.
- 5/23/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Eddie Murphy is back with a badge for the fourth franchise installment of his beloved series, with “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.”
The upcoming Netflix film, which teased a first look earlier this year, marks Murphy’s long-rumored reprisal the iconic character Detective Axel Foley. The ’80s-era franchise first began with Foley as a Detroit detective turned temporary L.A. police officer for an uncover mission. Now, after having worked in L.A. sporadically for decades, Foley teams up with his estranged daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) to take down yet another conspiracy.
Along the way, Foley lands a new partner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and police captain (Kevin Bacon), but his old confidantes, including Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton), are still in the mix. Also returning? Franchise co-stars Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot.
“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is directed by Mark Molloy from a script by Will Beall,...
The upcoming Netflix film, which teased a first look earlier this year, marks Murphy’s long-rumored reprisal the iconic character Detective Axel Foley. The ’80s-era franchise first began with Foley as a Detroit detective turned temporary L.A. police officer for an uncover mission. Now, after having worked in L.A. sporadically for decades, Foley teams up with his estranged daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) to take down yet another conspiracy.
Along the way, Foley lands a new partner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and police captain (Kevin Bacon), but his old confidantes, including Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and John Taggart (John Ashton), are still in the mix. Also returning? Franchise co-stars Paul Reiser and Bronson Pinchot.
“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is directed by Mark Molloy from a script by Will Beall,...
- 5/23/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Is Beverly Hills ready for the return of Axel Foley? The iconic character is back in familiar territory for “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.” Netflix’s new film sees Eddie Murphy reprise the role, one that helped define blockbuster action comedies. Times have changed, though — Foley’s daughter is at the center of this story. She’s facing danger and a father determined to help her no matter what it takes.
Continue reading ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ Trailer: Eddie Murphy Returns As His Iconic Cop In July On Netflix at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ Trailer: Eddie Murphy Returns As His Iconic Cop In July On Netflix at The Playlist.
- 5/23/2024
- by Valerie Thompson
- The Playlist
"The Godfather Part III," "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," "Jaws 3-D," "Superman III" ... there are tons of examples of film trilogies that feature a dramatic drop in quality in their third entries. "Beverly Hills Cop III" definitely belongs on that list; the 1994 stinker, directed by John Landis, plopped Eddie Murphy's beloved fish-out-of-water Detroit cop character Axel Foley back in Beverly Hills, but this time, it takes place largely in a ... theme park. Thanks to scripting issues and scheduling problems, the film also broke up the beloved trio of Murphy, John Ashton, and Judge Reinhold, the latter of whom play Taggart and Rosewood, the Beverly Hills police officers who go from being Axel's pesky babysitters in the first movie to lifelong pals and de facto partners in the second. Ashton dodged a bullet by not appearing in the third film at all, and that movie's lousy script didn't do...
- 5/23/2024
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
Everyone knows that comedy can be socially dangerous, but what about when it's actually dangerous to a person's health? Physical comedy can require actors to put their bodies on the line in the name of laughs, and that means sometimes a comedian has to know when to take a step back and let a stunt person take the fall instead. After all, aside from maybe Johnny Knoxville, the most adept comedy stars still aren't trained in stunt work and could really hurt themselves. On the long-running FX sitcom series, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," there have been plenty of opportunities for the stars to show off their physical comedy chops and potentially put themselves in harm's way, but there was at least one stunt that was just way too much for septuagenarian actor Danny DeVito.
In an interview with The New York Times, "It's Always Sunny" stunt coordinator Marc Scizak...
In an interview with The New York Times, "It's Always Sunny" stunt coordinator Marc Scizak...
- 5/23/2024
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
It’s been 30 years since a film from India has been selected in the main competition at Cannes, but that finally changed this year.
Recent editions of Sundance, Tribeca, and Toronto have included riveting and even Oscar-nominated documentaries and features. In fact, Mira Nair’s “Monsoon Wedding” won the Golden Lion at Venice more than two decades ago. Granted, Cannes has recently programmed South Asian gems in other sections, such as the Queer Palm-winning “Joyland” from Pakistan in Un Certain Regard in 2022, or Anurag Kashyap’s “Kennedy” in Midnight last year. But would the South Asian drought in the main competition ever end?
Many were ecstatic last month when “All We Imagine as Light”, Mumbai-based Payal Kapadia’s narrative directorial debut, was announced in the competition lineup alongside legendary Cannes regulars: European heavyweights such as Jacques Audiard and Yorgos Lanthimos, American auteurs David Cronenberg and Paul Schrader, and Asian visionary Jia Zhangke.
Recent editions of Sundance, Tribeca, and Toronto have included riveting and even Oscar-nominated documentaries and features. In fact, Mira Nair’s “Monsoon Wedding” won the Golden Lion at Venice more than two decades ago. Granted, Cannes has recently programmed South Asian gems in other sections, such as the Queer Palm-winning “Joyland” from Pakistan in Un Certain Regard in 2022, or Anurag Kashyap’s “Kennedy” in Midnight last year. But would the South Asian drought in the main competition ever end?
Many were ecstatic last month when “All We Imagine as Light”, Mumbai-based Payal Kapadia’s narrative directorial debut, was announced in the competition lineup alongside legendary Cannes regulars: European heavyweights such as Jacques Audiard and Yorgos Lanthimos, American auteurs David Cronenberg and Paul Schrader, and Asian visionary Jia Zhangke.
- 5/23/2024
- by Ritesh Mehta
- Indiewire
Even though the movie isn't hitting theaters for another two months, "Deadpool & Wolverine" is already breaking box office records. According to AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron, the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has set a new record for ticket sales in a single day for an R-rated movie for the theater chain. Given that AMC is the largest theater chain in the world, that's no small thing. It's a big enough thing to provide some hope after a slow start to the summer with the box office feeling like it's on life support. Marvel to the rescue, it seems.
Many big movies will open in May, June & July. Including Deadpool & Wolverine starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. Opens July 25. Some 200,000 movie fans have bought their AMC tickets already. This is more Day 1 ticket sales at AMC than for any other R-rated movie ever.... pic.twitter.com...
Many big movies will open in May, June & July. Including Deadpool & Wolverine starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. Opens July 25. Some 200,000 movie fans have bought their AMC tickets already. This is more Day 1 ticket sales at AMC than for any other R-rated movie ever.... pic.twitter.com...
- 5/23/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
‘Paintings are still around, people still go to museums,’ the actor has said, trying to sound positive about the future of cinema. But if you crunch the numbers, this isn’t reassuring
Sometimes there is nothing so depressing as reassurance. Seth Rogen is currently making a Larry Sanders-style comedy for Apple TV+ entitled The Studio, in which a bunch of Hollywood executives collectively freak out about the imminent death of cinema as we know it. The good news is that Seth Rogen has used a new episode of Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast to announce how bullish he is about the future of cinema in real life. The bad news is that he had to invoke museums.
“I think if movies were going to go away, they would have a long time ago,” he said. “Paintings are still around. People still go to museums! There’s things flashier or...
Sometimes there is nothing so depressing as reassurance. Seth Rogen is currently making a Larry Sanders-style comedy for Apple TV+ entitled The Studio, in which a bunch of Hollywood executives collectively freak out about the imminent death of cinema as we know it. The good news is that Seth Rogen has used a new episode of Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast to announce how bullish he is about the future of cinema in real life. The bad news is that he had to invoke museums.
“I think if movies were going to go away, they would have a long time ago,” he said. “Paintings are still around. People still go to museums! There’s things flashier or...
- 5/23/2024
- by Stuart Heritage
- The Guardian - Film News
Miguel Gomes’ Grand Tour impressed critics on Screen International’s Cannes jury grid while Karim Aïnouz’s Motel Destino saw mixed results.
Gomes’ first Cannes Competition feature scored an average of three after The Telegraph, Justin Chang (La Times), Kong Rithdee (Bangkok Post) and Screen’s own critic gave it ’four stars’ (excellent). The black-and-white feature also received five ‘three stars’ (good), two ‘two stars’ (average), and one ’one star’ (poor) from Nt Binh at France’s Positif.
Set in 1917, Grand Tour stars Goncalo Waddington as a British Empire official in Burma who runs away on his wedding day, only...
Gomes’ first Cannes Competition feature scored an average of three after The Telegraph, Justin Chang (La Times), Kong Rithdee (Bangkok Post) and Screen’s own critic gave it ’four stars’ (excellent). The black-and-white feature also received five ‘three stars’ (good), two ‘two stars’ (average), and one ’one star’ (poor) from Nt Binh at France’s Positif.
Set in 1917, Grand Tour stars Goncalo Waddington as a British Empire official in Burma who runs away on his wedding day, only...
- 5/23/2024
- ScreenDaily
Screen is running this regularly updated page with the latest film festival and market dates from across the world.
To submit details of or alter your festival dates, please contact us here with the name, dates, country and website for the event. Screen is also running a calendar for UK-Ireland film release dates here.
Ongoing
Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival Part 2, US - May 11-26
Cannes Film Festival, France - May 14-25
Docaviv, Israel - May 23-June 1
IndieLisboa International Film Festival, Portugal - May 23-June 2
May
Inside Out Toronto 2Slgbtq+ Film Festival, Canada - May 24-June 1
Romford Film Festival,...
To submit details of or alter your festival dates, please contact us here with the name, dates, country and website for the event. Screen is also running a calendar for UK-Ireland film release dates here.
Ongoing
Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival Part 2, US - May 11-26
Cannes Film Festival, France - May 14-25
Docaviv, Israel - May 23-June 1
IndieLisboa International Film Festival, Portugal - May 23-June 2
May
Inside Out Toronto 2Slgbtq+ Film Festival, Canada - May 24-June 1
Romford Film Festival,...
- 5/23/2024
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Over 150 women came together in Cannes to celebrate Black women in international film, including producer and former Netflix exec Fiona Lamptey, Rocks producer Ameenah Ayub Allen and founders of distribution and exhibition specialist We Are Parable, Anthony and Teanne Andrews.
“’Do better’ was our message to Cannes Film Festival leadership in May 2022,” said Yolonda Brinkley, founder of grassroots equality movement, Diversity in Cannes, who also launched a new initiative at this year’s festival, Black Women Cannes, to celebrate, support and uplift Black women at the festival, and to start a film fund. ”In [the festival’s] 75-year history, they’d only selected one Black women in competition.
“’Do better’ was our message to Cannes Film Festival leadership in May 2022,” said Yolonda Brinkley, founder of grassroots equality movement, Diversity in Cannes, who also launched a new initiative at this year’s festival, Black Women Cannes, to celebrate, support and uplift Black women at the festival, and to start a film fund. ”In [the festival’s] 75-year history, they’d only selected one Black women in competition.
- 5/23/2024
- ScreenDaily
“Lord of the Rings” owner Embracer Group delivered a mixed bag during its fourth-quarter 2024 earnings Thursday, revealing that while its adjusted operating profit had risen by 56% to 1.4 billion Swedish krona ($132 million), sales in its entertainment and services division – which currently houses its Tolkien and “Tomb Raider” IP – had dropped by 15%.
The Swedish-based gaming conglomerate also revealed CFO and deputy CEO Johan Ekström is set to step down after five years for personal reasons. He will stay with the company until next March although from Sept. 1 he will be focused on splitting Embracer into three companies.
Ekström will be replaced as CFO by current deputy CFO Müge Bouillon while Phil Rogers will take on the role of deputy CEO of Embracer in addition to his current roles as CEO of Crystal Dynamics-Eidos and leader of Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends, one of the three new companies that will emerge out of the shell of Embracer.
The Swedish-based gaming conglomerate also revealed CFO and deputy CEO Johan Ekström is set to step down after five years for personal reasons. He will stay with the company until next March although from Sept. 1 he will be focused on splitting Embracer into three companies.
Ekström will be replaced as CFO by current deputy CFO Müge Bouillon while Phil Rogers will take on the role of deputy CEO of Embracer in addition to his current roles as CEO of Crystal Dynamics-Eidos and leader of Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends, one of the three new companies that will emerge out of the shell of Embracer.
- 5/23/2024
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety - Film News
There’s plenty to still admire in Indy’s second outing but it remains an ungainly and, at times, culturally offensive adventure
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom begins with an action sequence that’s almost exactly 20 minutes long, starting with a show-stopping east-meets-west rendition of Anything Goes at a Shanghai nightclub in 1935 and ending in the whitewater rapids at the foot of the Himalayas. For the director Steven Spielberg, whose Raiders of the Lost Ark had instantly been canonized as an all-time great adventure movie only three years before, the only option was to top himself, to make a sequel so breathlessly paced and technically proficient that audiences would be whisked along relentlessly. At one point, it literally becomes a rollercoaster ride, with runaway cars zipping through a mine shaft like Space Mountain.
But the opening action sequence does end. And while there’s a generous array of...
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom begins with an action sequence that’s almost exactly 20 minutes long, starting with a show-stopping east-meets-west rendition of Anything Goes at a Shanghai nightclub in 1935 and ending in the whitewater rapids at the foot of the Himalayas. For the director Steven Spielberg, whose Raiders of the Lost Ark had instantly been canonized as an all-time great adventure movie only three years before, the only option was to top himself, to make a sequel so breathlessly paced and technically proficient that audiences would be whisked along relentlessly. At one point, it literally becomes a rollercoaster ride, with runaway cars zipping through a mine shaft like Space Mountain.
But the opening action sequence does end. And while there’s a generous array of...
- 5/23/2024
- by Scott Tobias
- The Guardian - Film News
Glen Powell plays a mild-mannered professor posing as a contract killer to catch would-be criminals in this diverting noir comedy loosely based on a true story
For this thoroughly entertaining comedy thriller, Richard Linklater finds the distinctive and weirdly uncomplicated register of sunny geniality that he so often gives us – when he’s not working on more demanding movies like Boyhood or the Before series. And yet the question of criminal violence presented in terms of goofy unreality gives this film the flavour of something by the Coen brothers.
It is loosely based on the true story of Gary Johnson, an undercover law enforcement officer in Houston, Texas. Johnson specialised in posing as a “hitman” in exotic disguises, setting up meets with people who wanted other people offed, secretly taping them while they said so explicitly leading to them being charged with conspiracy to murder, while always at risk of...
For this thoroughly entertaining comedy thriller, Richard Linklater finds the distinctive and weirdly uncomplicated register of sunny geniality that he so often gives us – when he’s not working on more demanding movies like Boyhood or the Before series. And yet the question of criminal violence presented in terms of goofy unreality gives this film the flavour of something by the Coen brothers.
It is loosely based on the true story of Gary Johnson, an undercover law enforcement officer in Houston, Texas. Johnson specialised in posing as a “hitman” in exotic disguises, setting up meets with people who wanted other people offed, secretly taping them while they said so explicitly leading to them being charged with conspiracy to murder, while always at risk of...
- 5/23/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Fresh from its Cannes premiere George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” dashed into the lead at the South Korea cinema box office. In doing so, it deposed “The Roundup: Punishment,” the local crime actioner that has dominated Korean cinemagoing for the past month.
“Furiosa” earned $575,000 from 75,400 ticket sales on Wednesday, giving it a Korean total of $597,000, including a sprinkling of preview showings, according to data from the Kobis tracking service that is operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).
South Korea was not the only territory to enjoy the “Furiosa” release on May 22 – others included France, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines – but by virtue of its geography and reliable, publicly-available data, it becomes the first to report the film’s commercial credentials.
Korea is also an important box office market. It had ranked as the world’s fourth largest in the pre-pandemic era, helped...
“Furiosa” earned $575,000 from 75,400 ticket sales on Wednesday, giving it a Korean total of $597,000, including a sprinkling of preview showings, according to data from the Kobis tracking service that is operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).
South Korea was not the only territory to enjoy the “Furiosa” release on May 22 – others included France, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines – but by virtue of its geography and reliable, publicly-available data, it becomes the first to report the film’s commercial credentials.
Korea is also an important box office market. It had ranked as the world’s fourth largest in the pre-pandemic era, helped...
- 5/23/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety - Film News
Hot Docs, the Toronto-based North American documentary festival and market, is temporarily closing its Ted Rogers Cinema in the city as it seeks to “recalibrate and strategically plan a sustainable future.”
The move comes a few months after the organisation called for more financial support from audiences and the Canadian government and saw a mass exit of programmers in the run-up to its April 25-May 5 thirty-first edition.
The Ted Rogers Cinema, which screens first-run Canadian and international documentary films year-round, will close on June 12 for what Hot Docs said would be approximately three months. The closure will “necessitate temporary layoffs for a portion of staff,...
The move comes a few months after the organisation called for more financial support from audiences and the Canadian government and saw a mass exit of programmers in the run-up to its April 25-May 5 thirty-first edition.
The Ted Rogers Cinema, which screens first-run Canadian and international documentary films year-round, will close on June 12 for what Hot Docs said would be approximately three months. The closure will “necessitate temporary layoffs for a portion of staff,...
- 5/23/2024
- ScreenDaily
You only have to take a quick look at a ranking of the Palme d’Or winners to recognize that the winners circle for the prize represents some of cinema’s greatest accomplishments. “Taxi Driver,” “Apocalypse Now,” “Parasite,” “Paris, Texas,” “The Leopard,” and many more masterpieces were correctly bestowed Cannes’ highest honor, and the swaths of great films to receive the Palme since the festival’s beginning in 1946 have given the prize a prestige that arguably surpasses the Oscar or more widely recognizable trophies.
But the quality of any film is a subjective matter, and every Palme d’Or is ultimately decided not by an exact science, but by a small jury handpicked every year to judge the titles in the festival’s main competition. So, for all the great movies in the Palme pantheon, there are plenty that haven’t aged well in the decades since, or those that...
But the quality of any film is a subjective matter, and every Palme d’Or is ultimately decided not by an exact science, but by a small jury handpicked every year to judge the titles in the festival’s main competition. So, for all the great movies in the Palme pantheon, there are plenty that haven’t aged well in the decades since, or those that...
- 5/23/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Anya Taylor-Joy said an interview with British GQ that she has often fought for her characters to express rage on screen. It turns out there have been several films where in the script her character is supposed to cry, but Taylor-Joy just didn’t think that was the right emotional beat. She decided to speak up for herself and successfully convinced her directors to let her character have more rage.
“I’ve developed a bit of a reputation for fighting for feminine rage, which is a strange thing, because I’m not promoting violence – but I am promoting women being seen as people,” Taylor-Joy told the publication. “We have reactions that are not always dainty or un-messy.”
Taylor-Joy first fought for her character’s rage on her feature acting debut, Robert Eggers’ “The Witch.” It was written that her character, Thomasin, would cry during a scene in which she is...
“I’ve developed a bit of a reputation for fighting for feminine rage, which is a strange thing, because I’m not promoting violence – but I am promoting women being seen as people,” Taylor-Joy told the publication. “We have reactions that are not always dainty or un-messy.”
Taylor-Joy first fought for her character’s rage on her feature acting debut, Robert Eggers’ “The Witch.” It was written that her character, Thomasin, would cry during a scene in which she is...
- 5/22/2024
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety - Film News
Gary Oldman is clarifying what he really regrets about playing Sirius Black in the “Harry Potter” film franchise.
At Cannes, Oldman cleared up any confusion about the time in December 2023 that he called his performance in the movies “mediocre.”
“What I meant by that is, as any artist or any actor or painter, you are always hypercritical of your own work,” Oldman said. “If you’re not, and you’re satisfied with what you’re doing, that would be death to me. If I watched a performance of myself and thought, ‘My God, I’m fantastic in this,’ that would be a sad day.”
Readers can watch the video of the Cannes press conference below.
Oldman added that he was not trying to “disparage anyone out there who are fans of ‘Harry Potter’ and the films and the character, who I think is much beloved.” Yet, according to the actor,...
At Cannes, Oldman cleared up any confusion about the time in December 2023 that he called his performance in the movies “mediocre.”
“What I meant by that is, as any artist or any actor or painter, you are always hypercritical of your own work,” Oldman said. “If you’re not, and you’re satisfied with what you’re doing, that would be death to me. If I watched a performance of myself and thought, ‘My God, I’m fantastic in this,’ that would be a sad day.”
Readers can watch the video of the Cannes press conference below.
Oldman added that he was not trying to “disparage anyone out there who are fans of ‘Harry Potter’ and the films and the character, who I think is much beloved.” Yet, according to the actor,...
- 5/22/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Cannes film festival
A young man on the run from a mob boss lands an unlikely job in a brutally functional love motel and starts a passionate affair with the manager’s wife
As motel names go, it’s certainly more portentous than “Bates”. But destiny of a sort, shaped by class and money and family abuse, is waiting for the hero and heroine of this movie. This is an erotic noir thriller from Karim Aïnouz; a noir lit mostly by bright sunshine, shot with garish glee by Hélène Louvart. It takes place in a brutally functional love motel near the beach in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Ceará; this is a place from which the couple are fated to be expelled naked, like Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
Motel Destino is co-written by Wislan Esmeraldo and Mauricio Zacharias and directed by Aïnouz who had a film...
A young man on the run from a mob boss lands an unlikely job in a brutally functional love motel and starts a passionate affair with the manager’s wife
As motel names go, it’s certainly more portentous than “Bates”. But destiny of a sort, shaped by class and money and family abuse, is waiting for the hero and heroine of this movie. This is an erotic noir thriller from Karim Aïnouz; a noir lit mostly by bright sunshine, shot with garish glee by Hélène Louvart. It takes place in a brutally functional love motel near the beach in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Ceará; this is a place from which the couple are fated to be expelled naked, like Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
Motel Destino is co-written by Wislan Esmeraldo and Mauricio Zacharias and directed by Aïnouz who had a film...
- 5/22/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Welcome to the Motel Destino, which may be some distance from the Hotel California, but is very much programmed to receive — or give, if that’s your preference. With mirrors on the ceiling but definitely no pink champagne on ice, the run-down roadside sex den that houses most of Karim Aïnouz’s Olympically horny new film isn’t so much a palace of pleasure as a this-will-do hideaway for the illicitly amorous couples checking into any of its hastily wiped-down rooms. It’s a dream setting, however, for one of the most sweat-drenched neo-noirs — or neon-noirs, in this case, given its eye-scorching tropical palette — to hit the screen since Kathleen Turner and William Hurt soaked through their shirts in “Body Heat.”
As an erotic thriller, it’s more preoccupied with the first half of that term than the second, and that’s just fine. Slow like honey and heavy with mood — to quote Fiona Apple,...
As an erotic thriller, it’s more preoccupied with the first half of that term than the second, and that’s just fine. Slow like honey and heavy with mood — to quote Fiona Apple,...
- 5/22/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety - Film News
Raimi Productions, the genre-focused company run by Sam Raimi and Zainab Azizi, has signed a first-look film and television deal with Ara Keshishian and Petr Jákl’s development and financing company Zq Entertainment.
The deal extends the long-standing relationship between the two companies, which most recently collaborated on the upcoming thriller “Locked,” directed by David Yaroveksy and starring Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins, and the horror-thriller “Don’t Move,” which was acquired by Netflix earlier this month.
“Don’t Move” follows a seasoned serial killer (Finn Witrock) who injects a grieving woman (Kelsey Asbille) with a paralytic agent while the two of them are isolated deep in the forest. As the agent gradually takes over her body, she must run, hide and fight for her life before her entire nervous system shuts down.
“Sam Raimi is truly one of the pioneers in the genre space, as a filmmaker and producer and we...
The deal extends the long-standing relationship between the two companies, which most recently collaborated on the upcoming thriller “Locked,” directed by David Yaroveksy and starring Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins, and the horror-thriller “Don’t Move,” which was acquired by Netflix earlier this month.
“Don’t Move” follows a seasoned serial killer (Finn Witrock) who injects a grieving woman (Kelsey Asbille) with a paralytic agent while the two of them are isolated deep in the forest. As the agent gradually takes over her body, she must run, hide and fight for her life before her entire nervous system shuts down.
“Sam Raimi is truly one of the pioneers in the genre space, as a filmmaker and producer and we...
- 5/22/2024
- by Katcy Stephan
- Variety - Film News
The MonsterVerse has, somewhat quietly, become one of the most reliable franchises going in Hollywood at the moment. For a full decade dating back to 2014's "Godzilla" right up through this year's "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," these films have built up a loyal audience with no signs of fatigue on the part of the viewers. While Warner Bros. and Legendary are quickly looking to get a new installment going, they will need a new director, as we recently learned that Adam Wingard will not be returning to the helm. So, who should take his place?
Wingard is the only filmmaker to direct two MonsterVerse installments, having helmed 2021's "Godzilla vs. Kong" as well as "The New Empire," which now ranks as the highest-grossing "Godzilla" movie ever. So sure, the studio would probably have liked him to return, but he's busy with other projects. Besides, that just opens the...
Wingard is the only filmmaker to direct two MonsterVerse installments, having helmed 2021's "Godzilla vs. Kong" as well as "The New Empire," which now ranks as the highest-grossing "Godzilla" movie ever. So sure, the studio would probably have liked him to return, but he's busy with other projects. Besides, that just opens the...
- 5/22/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Nihilism and neon-popped lust collide in Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz’s Portuguese-language “Motel Destino,” set in a love motel so sordid that lay tourists should best avoid it, and only criminals and castaways are likely to check in. The “Invisible Life” director’s steamy psychosexual thriller set in the sweatiest armpit of the equator speaks melodrama and noir but with a Brazilian accent, Aïnouz returning to his home state of Ceará to shoot on his own turf for the first time in five years. The writer/director lifts from classics such as Lawrence Kasdan’s “Body Heat” and Billy Wilder’s “Double Indemnity” but also from ‘70s Brazilian sex comedies to tell a perverse yarn of extramarital betrayal turned murderous. But while the pre-“Body Heat” noirs he’s channeling could only suggest rather than spell out sex, Aïnouz goes graphic — and relentlessly — in an arthouse-only erotic genre piece that...
- 5/22/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
It’s not always easy to find out which movies hit theaters each week, especially after the Hollywood strikes led to many release date changes. With the WGA and actors strikes resolved and summer blockbusters starting to roll in, May is filled with both big budget flicks and new indie releases.
Premiering May 24 is George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” which tells the origin story of the wasteland warrior princess before her run-in with Mad Max starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke and Alyla Browne. Also hitting theaters is family film “The Garfield Movie” and Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man,” which follows a straight-edge professor who discovers his calling as a fake assassin starring Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio and Molly Bernard. Two films getting limited releases this week are Disney’s “The Beach Boys,” a documentary about the legendary surf-rock band, and “Solo,” a foreign...
Premiering May 24 is George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” which tells the origin story of the wasteland warrior princess before her run-in with Mad Max starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke and Alyla Browne. Also hitting theaters is family film “The Garfield Movie” and Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man,” which follows a straight-edge professor who discovers his calling as a fake assassin starring Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio and Molly Bernard. Two films getting limited releases this week are Disney’s “The Beach Boys,” a documentary about the legendary surf-rock band, and “Solo,” a foreign...
- 5/22/2024
- by Pat Saperstein and Jack Dunn
- Variety - Film News
A Native American costume designer sued Apple on Wednesday, alleging that her contributions to “Killers of the Flower Moon” were overlooked during the studio’s awards campaign.
Kristi Marie Hoffman, who was credited as an assistant costume designer, also alleges that she was subject to racial discrimination on set.
Hoffman filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which resulted in a confidential settlement in December 2022. Subsequently, Hoffman alleges that the studio retaliated by denying her credit and accolades and “attempting to erase her contributions.”
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hoffman sued Apple, the Costume Designers Guild, and Jacqueline West, the costume designer who hired her.
In the complaint, she states that she was brought on because West needed someone with the cultural competency to handle the project, and West also wanted to make sure that Native Americans were represented among the crew.
Kristi Marie Hoffman, who was credited as an assistant costume designer, also alleges that she was subject to racial discrimination on set.
Hoffman filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which resulted in a confidential settlement in December 2022. Subsequently, Hoffman alleges that the studio retaliated by denying her credit and accolades and “attempting to erase her contributions.”
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hoffman sued Apple, the Costume Designers Guild, and Jacqueline West, the costume designer who hired her.
In the complaint, she states that she was brought on because West needed someone with the cultural competency to handle the project, and West also wanted to make sure that Native Americans were represented among the crew.
- 5/22/2024
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety - Film News
Renny Harlin's "The Strangers: Chapter 1" is the third film in the "Strangers" series, but is intended to be the first film in a new rebooted trilogy sporting a unique continuity. Not that "The Strangers" possessed a complicated mythology; each movie follows a trio of mute, masked killers -- perhaps a family -- who have made a sport of breaking into people's houses and torturing them for kicks. In the credits of "Chapter 1," the killers are credited only as Dollface, Pin-Up Girl, and Scarecrow (previously called The Man in the Mask). This time around, they are played by Olivia Kreutzova, Letizia Fabbri, and Matúš Lajčák, respectively.
The plot of "Chapter 1" is as simple as can be: A young city couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) is driving to Portland, Oregon when they get waylaid in a small town called Venus. Naturally, their car breaks down and they have to...
The plot of "Chapter 1" is as simple as can be: A young city couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) is driving to Portland, Oregon when they get waylaid in a small town called Venus. Naturally, their car breaks down and they have to...
- 5/22/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Life’s a (permanent) beach for Pedro Pascal in a new Corona commercial titled “La Vida Más Fina (The Finest Life),” a play on the beer’s tagline “La Cerveza Más Fina.”
“I, Tonya” filmmaker Craig Gillespie directs the outrageous short film that captures Pascal wandering through bars, restaurants, and town centers as sand, flora, and fauna beckon him back to the beach. It’s very much a fantasy sequence considering the busy actor has no actual time to vacation.
Pascal will appear in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” Ari Aster’s “Eddington,” and soon make his Marvel debut in the new “Fantastic Four.” Plus, he’s back for “The Last of Us” Season 2 — find a first look here. Oh, and did we mention that Pascal also is teaming up with Dakota Johnson for Celine Song’s romance drama “Materialists”?
He’s cheers-ing to that one. Pascal told GQ that...
“I, Tonya” filmmaker Craig Gillespie directs the outrageous short film that captures Pascal wandering through bars, restaurants, and town centers as sand, flora, and fauna beckon him back to the beach. It’s very much a fantasy sequence considering the busy actor has no actual time to vacation.
Pascal will appear in Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” Ari Aster’s “Eddington,” and soon make his Marvel debut in the new “Fantastic Four.” Plus, he’s back for “The Last of Us” Season 2 — find a first look here. Oh, and did we mention that Pascal also is teaming up with Dakota Johnson for Celine Song’s romance drama “Materialists”?
He’s cheers-ing to that one. Pascal told GQ that...
- 5/22/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Richard Linklater sits in awe of Paul Mescal during production on “Merrily We Roll Along.”
Linklater is adapting the Stephen Sondheim musical across two decades, with Mescal playing the composer character Franklin Shepard. Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein are also in the cast.
Linklater told The Times UK that Mescal is “transcendent” in the role, which he took on still as a rising star — in other words, before his Oscar nomination for “Aftersun.”
“He’s just a transcendent talent,” Linklater said of Mescal, “and he can really sing…I’m just so happy we connected right before he went supernova.”
Mescal previously showed off his singing range in the musical “Carmen.” He also presented his stage acting skills during a West End revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
“I just love it,” Mescal told British Vogue of acting on stage. “It’s so gratifying – it’s a very difficult thing...
Linklater is adapting the Stephen Sondheim musical across two decades, with Mescal playing the composer character Franklin Shepard. Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein are also in the cast.
Linklater told The Times UK that Mescal is “transcendent” in the role, which he took on still as a rising star — in other words, before his Oscar nomination for “Aftersun.”
“He’s just a transcendent talent,” Linklater said of Mescal, “and he can really sing…I’m just so happy we connected right before he went supernova.”
Mescal previously showed off his singing range in the musical “Carmen.” He also presented his stage acting skills during a West End revival of “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
“I just love it,” Mescal told British Vogue of acting on stage. “It’s so gratifying – it’s a very difficult thing...
- 5/22/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
In “I Am Not Your Negro” (2016), his profound and lacerating portrait of James Baldwin, the director Raoul Peck traced the haunted connection between two things: Baldwin’s staggering perception of what it was to be Black in America, and the depth of Baldwin’s struggle with melancholy, self-doubt, and his merciless ability to see truth. For Baldwin, the personal and political came together in uniquely despairing and revealing ways.
Peck’s new documentary, “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found,” could be considered a companion piece to that earlier monumental film. No, it isn’t as powerful. But it, too, is the penetrating portrait of a Black artist — the photographer Ernest Cole, who was born in 1940 in Eersterust, South Africa, and who beginning in the late ’50s took his camera into the streets to chronicle the evils and everyday experience of life under apartheid. He escaped the regime and came to New...
Peck’s new documentary, “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found,” could be considered a companion piece to that earlier monumental film. No, it isn’t as powerful. But it, too, is the penetrating portrait of a Black artist — the photographer Ernest Cole, who was born in 1940 in Eersterust, South Africa, and who beginning in the late ’50s took his camera into the streets to chronicle the evils and everyday experience of life under apartheid. He escaped the regime and came to New...
- 5/22/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety - Film News
Sarah Friedland made Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces list last year as her she finished her Movement Exercises trilogy of short films and was completing production on her debut feature, Familiar Touch. Now, as Familiar Touch finishes post, Video Data Bank is streaming Movement Exercises for free on its website until June 11. From my 25 New Face profile: Realized from 2017 to 2022, Friedland’s Movement Exercises Trilogy consists of three short films exploring the ways in which movement contextualized within specific settings encodes personal, social and political meanings. The first of the trilogy, Home Exercises, depicts older adults navigating the […]
The post Trailer Watch: Sarah Friedland’s Movement Exercises Trilogy first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Sarah Friedland’s Movement Exercises Trilogy first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/22/2024
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
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