Timothée Chalamet’s ping pong movie is adding a few more players.
Odessa A’zion has joined the cast of “Marty Supreme,” from A24 and director Josh Safdie. Rounding out the cast are magician Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller), investor and “Shark Tank” personality Kevin O’Leary (aka Mr. Wonderful) and “Bad Lieutenant” filmmaker Abel Ferrara.
Specifics about their roles are kept under wraps, but this motley crew joins previously announced cast members Gwyneth Paltrow and Tyler, the Creator in the film, which is said to be about a professional table tennis player. Plot details are unknown, but A24 posted an image of a ping pong ball with the words “coming soon” after Variety broke news of the project in July.
Safdie and Ronald Bronstein wrote the original screenplay for “Marty Supreme” and produce alongside Eli Bush, Anthony Katagas, Chalamet and A24. Production kicks off in the fall.
A’zion’s...
Odessa A’zion has joined the cast of “Marty Supreme,” from A24 and director Josh Safdie. Rounding out the cast are magician Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller), investor and “Shark Tank” personality Kevin O’Leary (aka Mr. Wonderful) and “Bad Lieutenant” filmmaker Abel Ferrara.
Specifics about their roles are kept under wraps, but this motley crew joins previously announced cast members Gwyneth Paltrow and Tyler, the Creator in the film, which is said to be about a professional table tennis player. Plot details are unknown, but A24 posted an image of a ping pong ball with the words “coming soon” after Variety broke news of the project in July.
Safdie and Ronald Bronstein wrote the original screenplay for “Marty Supreme” and produce alongside Eli Bush, Anthony Katagas, Chalamet and A24. Production kicks off in the fall.
A’zion’s...
- 9/18/2024
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
The chilling psychological horror Children of the Pines, directed by Joshua Morgan, is set to make its global digital debut on 18th October. The film, which has already garnered multiple awards, including Best Feature at Ice CineFest and Best Thriller at the Indo-French Film Festival, promises to offer horror fans an unsettling and atmospheric experience, just in time for the Halloween season.
Produced by Lucas A. Ferrara, Children of the Pines is a haunting tale that explores the emotional and supernatural lengths to which a family will go in order to heal deep-rooted dysfunction. The story follows Riley, a college junior, who returns home over winter break at the urging of her estranged parents, Kathy and John. However, upon her arrival, Riley discovers that her parents have formed an unnerving bond with her high school ex-boyfriend, Gordon. What’s more, a mysterious group of children has taken residence in their home,...
Produced by Lucas A. Ferrara, Children of the Pines is a haunting tale that explores the emotional and supernatural lengths to which a family will go in order to heal deep-rooted dysfunction. The story follows Riley, a college junior, who returns home over winter break at the urging of her estranged parents, Kathy and John. However, upon her arrival, Riley discovers that her parents have formed an unnerving bond with her high school ex-boyfriend, Gordon. What’s more, a mysterious group of children has taken residence in their home,...
- 9/18/2024
- by Emily Bennett
- Love Horror
You used to hear the refrain from horror film fanatics with a lot more frequency – the original was so much scarier.
And while this is still true to some degree (the films of John Carpenter have been remade with an oddly uniform lousiness), there are still plenty of horror films that have been remade well. Sometimes the remakes are just as good as the original. In rare cases, it even surpasses the original.
Here is our definitive list of the very best horror remakes ever.
(United Artists) “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1978)
Don Siegel’s 1956 classic “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is based on Jack Finney’s story “The Body Snatchers,” which was serialized in Collier’s in 1954 and published as a novel shortly after, has been remade several times over the years. But the very best iteration is still the 1978 version, the first since Siegel’s, from director Philip Kaufman and writer W.D. Richter.
And while this is still true to some degree (the films of John Carpenter have been remade with an oddly uniform lousiness), there are still plenty of horror films that have been remade well. Sometimes the remakes are just as good as the original. In rare cases, it even surpasses the original.
Here is our definitive list of the very best horror remakes ever.
(United Artists) “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1978)
Don Siegel’s 1956 classic “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” is based on Jack Finney’s story “The Body Snatchers,” which was serialized in Collier’s in 1954 and published as a novel shortly after, has been remade several times over the years. But the very best iteration is still the 1978 version, the first since Siegel’s, from director Philip Kaufman and writer W.D. Richter.
- 9/14/2024
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Abel Ferrara isn’t scared of AI. In fact, he is embracing how “cool” the technology is, especially when it comes to dubbing.
Ferrara, who recently directed “Padre Pio,” told Deadline while at the Taormina Film Festival that AI made an Italian dub possible for the feature starring Shia Labeouf. “Padre Pio” premiered at Venice 2022 and was later released in 2023. An Italian release is taking place in July 2024.
“It looks like I directed in Italian, it’s very cool,” Ferrara said of utilizing AI for the dub. He added that while all of the actors sans Labeouf were Italian but spoke in English for the feature, the Italian dub is now “the perfect storm” of a cut.
“The kids acted in English, they get to watch it in Venice, they get to see it with an audience, they get the movie, they understand what they have to do then they...
Ferrara, who recently directed “Padre Pio,” told Deadline while at the Taormina Film Festival that AI made an Italian dub possible for the feature starring Shia Labeouf. “Padre Pio” premiered at Venice 2022 and was later released in 2023. An Italian release is taking place in July 2024.
“It looks like I directed in Italian, it’s very cool,” Ferrara said of utilizing AI for the dub. He added that while all of the actors sans Labeouf were Italian but spoke in English for the feature, the Italian dub is now “the perfect storm” of a cut.
“The kids acted in English, they get to watch it in Venice, they get to see it with an audience, they get the movie, they understand what they have to do then they...
- 7/16/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Abel Ferrara is an eccentric director. Conan O’Brien once had Ferrara scheduled as a guest on his former Late Night show and the comedic host claimed that prior to his segment, Ferrara tried to skip out on the show and Conan’s people had to chase him down and convince him to stay. He complied, and the interview would be a funny but slightly awkward talk show moment. Ferrara certainly seems like someone in the business who does not indulge in the madcap fast lane of Hollywood life. However, the director has said to have experienced a lot of crazy things in his profession, which is what he intends to write about in his upcoming book.
Deadline recently sat down with Ferrara, and the director of Bad Lieutenant, Body Snatchers and King of New York said that his book isn’t going to be so much a memoir as it is a tell-all.
Deadline recently sat down with Ferrara, and the director of Bad Lieutenant, Body Snatchers and King of New York said that his book isn’t going to be so much a memoir as it is a tell-all.
- 7/16/2024
- by EJ Tangonan
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: Alongside prepping to shoot his next feature, veteran filmmaker Abel Ferrara is working on a book, he tells Deadline. Entitled Scene, Ferrara doesn’t categorize it exactly as a memoir, saying, “I’m trying to focus it more on the people that I’ve met and all the crazy sh*t in this business and around this business, than on myself. I got some crazy sh*t that’s happened to me for sure.”
Scene is due for release around the middle of next year, in Italy and the U.S. Ferrara wouldn’t be led as to who the American publisher is, but mused, “I can’t believe I actually got a book (deal).”
Ferrara should have plenty of fun material to expound on. Known for his provocative, neo-noir and often controversial content, the versatile indie stalwart has made films including The Driller Killer, King Of New York,...
Scene is due for release around the middle of next year, in Italy and the U.S. Ferrara wouldn’t be led as to who the American publisher is, but mused, “I can’t believe I actually got a book (deal).”
Ferrara should have plenty of fun material to expound on. Known for his provocative, neo-noir and often controversial content, the versatile indie stalwart has made films including The Driller Killer, King Of New York,...
- 7/16/2024
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Ms. 45.Zoë Lund produced a small body of work, died young, and became a saint. Her intensity, beauty, and premature death at 37 have given her a Rimbaudian aura, inspiring tragic adoration. In this she is not unique. But while beauty and tragedy may provide the materials for enduring fame, for Lund, at least, the resulting hagiography risks obscuring the work of a singular mind. The films, documents, and writing she left behind reveal a figure who was at once a dedicated artist and a political militant, a creator of indelible artworks who seldom saw her projects realized. In the years between her screen debut in 1981 and her death in 1999, Lund (née Tamerlis) contributed essential pieces to two widely recognized cinematic classics: her lead performance in Ms .45 (1981) and at least part of the script for Bad Lieutenant (1992), both directed by Abel Ferrara.1 Although her films with Ferrara remain her finest,...
- 7/12/2024
- MUBI
New Rose Hotel.A figure is lodged in the depth of our speech, operating like the matrix of these effects, attacking our words to make forms and images out of them. —Jean-François Lyotard, Discourse, FigureThe body is never in the present, it contains the before and the after, tiredness and waiting. Tiredness and waiting, even despair are the attitudes of the body. —Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 2: The Time-Image“There are three essential propositions underlying Ferrara’s work,” writes Nicole Brenez in her book on Abel Ferrara’s films, first published in English in 2007. The first proposition, Brenez theorizes, is as follows: “Modern cinema exists to come to grips with contemporary evil.” In many ways, this statement—one of many piercing axioms and assertions that populate her writing—crystallizes not only Ferrara’s cinema but also Brenez’s film-critical and curatorial project since the late 1980s. She approaches cinema as a...
- 7/11/2024
- MUBI
Striking the balance between harsh vibes and exceptional cinema, I’m pleased to announce our next program at the Roxy: The Film Stage has teamed with Chapo Trap House‘s Movie Mindset for Fidelio, a one-week, four-film program on the 1%’s malevolent influence, deep-state connections, and sexual corruption (fun edition).
It begins with Saturday, August 3’s double-bill of Abel Ferrara’s Welcome to New York and a 25th-anniversary presentation of Eyes Wide Shut on 35mm; the following week brings prints of Clint Eastwood’s delightfully absurd (or not?) potboiler Absolute Power and Roman Polanski’s late-career triumph The Ghost Writer. Each title has at least one encore, and in a couple cases represents first theatrical showings in recent history. Just remember the password.
The Film Stage readers and Chapo listeners receive a discounted $12 ticket with mention of our program at the Roxy’s box office. (Don’t be shy––their employees are very nice.
It begins with Saturday, August 3’s double-bill of Abel Ferrara’s Welcome to New York and a 25th-anniversary presentation of Eyes Wide Shut on 35mm; the following week brings prints of Clint Eastwood’s delightfully absurd (or not?) potboiler Absolute Power and Roman Polanski’s late-career triumph The Ghost Writer. Each title has at least one encore, and in a couple cases represents first theatrical showings in recent history. Just remember the password.
The Film Stage readers and Chapo listeners receive a discounted $12 ticket with mention of our program at the Roxy’s box office. (Don’t be shy––their employees are very nice.
- 7/9/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Abel Ferrara has made a career out of staring unflinchingly into the abyss, interrogating man’s weakness and depravity and daring his audiences to look away. Faced with the catastrophic violence of the war in Ukraine, however, which he chronicles in the Berlin-premiering documentary “Turn in the Wound,” even the iconoclastic director finds himself at a loss — for words, and for easy answers.
“Why is the violence — that’s what it’s about,” Ferrara tells Variety. “Whether it’s there, whether it’s happening in Gaza and Israel — it’s happening all over the world. It has happened, it is happening, and it’s going to happen, and the question is, Why?”
Ferrara returns to Berlin four years after competing for the Golden Bear with “Siberia,” which starred Willem Dafoe in what Variety’s Guy Lodge described as a “beautiful, unhinged, sometimes hilarious trek into geographical and psychological wilderness.” The...
“Why is the violence — that’s what it’s about,” Ferrara tells Variety. “Whether it’s there, whether it’s happening in Gaza and Israel — it’s happening all over the world. It has happened, it is happening, and it’s going to happen, and the question is, Why?”
Ferrara returns to Berlin four years after competing for the Golden Bear with “Siberia,” which starred Willem Dafoe in what Variety’s Guy Lodge described as a “beautiful, unhinged, sometimes hilarious trek into geographical and psychological wilderness.” The...
- 2/21/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
If there was ever a filmmaker who embodies a Dgaf attitude, it’s undoubtedly Bronx-born filmmaker Abel Ferrara. Having moved to Italy years ago, the filmmaker seems to have totally abandoned Hollywood but keeps on trucking unbowed nonetheless, doing whatever the F he wants. While no one else would touch Shia Labeouf after the allegations of his violent and emotionally toxic behavior against singer/actress and ex-girlfriend FKA Twigs (who launched a lawsuit against him during the tail end of #MeToo for abusive behavior), Ferrara didn’t really care and was happy to cast the actor in his last film, “Padre Pio.” And for his next movie, Ferrara will reunite with Asia Argento and Willem Dafoe, the stars of his 1998 erotic science fiction drama film, “New Rose Hotel,” co-starring Christopher Walken.
Continue reading ‘American Nails’: Willem Dafoe & Asia Argento To Star In Abel Ferrara’s ‘Gangster Movie at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘American Nails’: Willem Dafoe & Asia Argento To Star In Abel Ferrara’s ‘Gangster Movie at The Playlist.
- 2/19/2024
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Perhaps putting his Shia Labeouf-scripted Auschwitz film on hold––how you feel about that prospect is a fantastic Rorschach test––Abel Ferrara has a New Rose Hotel / Go Go Tales reunion in store. As his documentary Turn in the Wound debuts at the Berlinale, he’s well into development on American Nails, a gangster film that will star Willem Dafoe and Asia Argento and roll cameras this summer. [Variety]
Almost needless to say Ferrara wouldn’t, at this wild stage of his career, simply return to classic territory: as written by him and Rossella De Venuto, it retells Euripides’ Hippolytus “in a tale set in the gangster world of primal violence, power and revenge [that] pits Argento against the male-dominated remnants of power and entitlement, in the shadow of the Roman Empire in contemporary Italy.” Ferrara’s last time in Rome, Zeros and Ones, is among the wildest visions of the...
Almost needless to say Ferrara wouldn’t, at this wild stage of his career, simply return to classic territory: as written by him and Rossella De Venuto, it retells Euripides’ Hippolytus “in a tale set in the gangster world of primal violence, power and revenge [that] pits Argento against the male-dominated remnants of power and entitlement, in the shadow of the Roman Empire in contemporary Italy.” Ferrara’s last time in Rome, Zeros and Ones, is among the wildest visions of the...
- 2/17/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Abel Ferrara is set to begin production on his latest feature, “American Nails,” a modern gangster story inspired by ancient tragedy that stars Asia Argento and Willem Dafoe, Variety has learned.
According to the producers, “American Nails” charts “the rise and fall of this modern Phaedra, in a tale set in the gangster world of primal violence, power and revenge. This no-holds-barred retelling of Euripides’ masterpiece pits Argento against the male-dominated remnants of power and entitlement in contemporary Italy.”
Written by Ferrara and Rossella De Venuto, pic is produced by Diana Phillips and Philipp Kreuzer for Rimsky Productions and Maze Pictures. Production is set to begin in Italy this summer.
“American Nails” marks Dafoe’s eighth collaboration with Ferrara, including the 2014 Venice biopic “Pasolini,” 2019 Cannes Film Festival selection “Tommaso” and 2020 Berlinale entry “Siberia.” Coming off his acclaimed performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Oscar hopeful “Poor Things,” Dafoe will again team up...
According to the producers, “American Nails” charts “the rise and fall of this modern Phaedra, in a tale set in the gangster world of primal violence, power and revenge. This no-holds-barred retelling of Euripides’ masterpiece pits Argento against the male-dominated remnants of power and entitlement in contemporary Italy.”
Written by Ferrara and Rossella De Venuto, pic is produced by Diana Phillips and Philipp Kreuzer for Rimsky Productions and Maze Pictures. Production is set to begin in Italy this summer.
“American Nails” marks Dafoe’s eighth collaboration with Ferrara, including the 2014 Venice biopic “Pasolini,” 2019 Cannes Film Festival selection “Tommaso” and 2020 Berlinale entry “Siberia.” Coming off his acclaimed performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Oscar hopeful “Poor Things,” Dafoe will again team up...
- 2/17/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Jimmy Kimmel is ripping the Barbie parody band-aid a full month before the Oscars.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host dropped a five-minute short on Monday night, directed by Jkl‘s Will Burke, hyping his March 10 gig emceeing the Academy Awards — re-creating many Barbie sets and reuniting four of its castmembers in a spoof that finds a hapless Kimmel trying to make his way to the Dolby Theatre. “Since the dawn of time, men have been getting lost,” says a voice-of-God Helen Mirren, spoofing her own narration of the Margot Robbie feature. “This is the story of one such dum-dum.”
With the help of “Weird Barbie” Kate McKinnon, who gives a stellar delivery of the famous Carnegie Hall joke, Kimmel speedily re-creates much of the film’s road trip sequence — swapping in the cartoonish Barbie settings for vistas from best picture nominees — before landing in Hollywood where McKinnon’s “Weird Wagon...
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host dropped a five-minute short on Monday night, directed by Jkl‘s Will Burke, hyping his March 10 gig emceeing the Academy Awards — re-creating many Barbie sets and reuniting four of its castmembers in a spoof that finds a hapless Kimmel trying to make his way to the Dolby Theatre. “Since the dawn of time, men have been getting lost,” says a voice-of-God Helen Mirren, spoofing her own narration of the Margot Robbie feature. “This is the story of one such dum-dum.”
With the help of “Weird Barbie” Kate McKinnon, who gives a stellar delivery of the famous Carnegie Hall joke, Kimmel speedily re-creates much of the film’s road trip sequence — swapping in the cartoonish Barbie settings for vistas from best picture nominees — before landing in Hollywood where McKinnon’s “Weird Wagon...
- 2/13/2024
- by Mikey O'Connell
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
They didn’t show us the food, so we’ll have to settle with the celebs.
The academy held its annual nominees’ luncheon on Monday, and as usual, it climaxes with the starry snap of the season—the class photo. And a few things jump out when you compare it to last year’s pic.
Semi-circles are out and stadium seating is in, for one thing. Also, if they’ve changed the carpeting at the Beverly Hilton, we’ll never know—it’s been cropped.
Now, what does the eye see when we look at the photo? There’s Jon Batiste dead center of it all. The five-time Grammy-winner already has an Oscar for co-composing the Original Score to Disney/Pixar’s “Soul,” so he ought not to feel too bad when he (probably) loses this year’s Best Song award to Billie Eilish (who went full-Steven Van Zant with...
The academy held its annual nominees’ luncheon on Monday, and as usual, it climaxes with the starry snap of the season—the class photo. And a few things jump out when you compare it to last year’s pic.
Semi-circles are out and stadium seating is in, for one thing. Also, if they’ve changed the carpeting at the Beverly Hilton, we’ll never know—it’s been cropped.
Now, what does the eye see when we look at the photo? There’s Jon Batiste dead center of it all. The five-time Grammy-winner already has an Oscar for co-composing the Original Score to Disney/Pixar’s “Soul,” so he ought not to feel too bad when he (probably) loses this year’s Best Song award to Billie Eilish (who went full-Steven Van Zant with...
- 2/13/2024
- by Jordan Hoffman
- Gold Derby
After a rather bumpy start, the winter awards season returned to smoother, more pleasurable sailing at the 29th Critics Choice Awards. Veteran host Chelsea Handler’s opening monologue was sharp and celebratory rather than condescending and snide. While not every single joke packed a comedic wallop, she clearly had the audience on her side and set the tone for an upbeat telecast. The pro didn’t overstay her welcome, either, occasionally returning after a commercial break with sharp, brief introductory quips.
See 2024 Critics Choice Awards: Complete winners list in all 41 categories
Most powerfully, after she observed that 2023 was a bona fide year of women, Handler appropriately used her post to welcome to the spotlight Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, who had won for Best Comedy Film for “Barbie” off-air and therefore didn’t get the chance to deliver a proper acceptance speech. It was a moment that demonstrated how a good host should function,...
See 2024 Critics Choice Awards: Complete winners list in all 41 categories
Most powerfully, after she observed that 2023 was a bona fide year of women, Handler appropriately used her post to welcome to the spotlight Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, who had won for Best Comedy Film for “Barbie” off-air and therefore didn’t get the chance to deliver a proper acceptance speech. It was a moment that demonstrated how a good host should function,...
- 1/15/2024
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
It’s odd, isn’t it? But then again, the shocking effect Padre Pio would have had on you otherwise might’ve been subdued considerably by your predetermined expectation of a film by Ferrara. You likely had the extent of your peripheral vision tested as you strained yourself trying to connect the two frames. Don’t let the film snobs’ shrugged shoulders keep you from concluding that Padre Pio was neither here nor there—and funnily enough, quite literally so.
The oddly revered and apparently stigmata-bearing Italian priest’s disturbed silhouette exists as the unstable backdrop, crumbling under the weight of the abused villagers’ plight in post-World War I Italy. And the threads connecting the saint and the villagers, who, for some reason, were robbed of their patois and were speaking broken English, were so pretentiously subtle that you would have to make it a point to seek them out.
The oddly revered and apparently stigmata-bearing Italian priest’s disturbed silhouette exists as the unstable backdrop, crumbling under the weight of the abused villagers’ plight in post-World War I Italy. And the threads connecting the saint and the villagers, who, for some reason, were robbed of their patois and were speaking broken English, were so pretentiously subtle that you would have to make it a point to seek them out.
- 6/13/2023
- by Lopamudra Mukherjee
- Film Fugitives
Padre Pio, Abel Ferrara’s Shia Labeouf-starring follow-up to 2021’s Zeroes and Ones, finally gets a trailer ahead of its theatrical release next month. The biopic, co-written by Ferrara and Maurizio Braucci, depicts the early life of the titular Catholic saint as he begins his ministry at a monastery in a remote Italian village that becomes rocked by political tension in the wake of WWI. The film premiered last year during the Venice Film Festival in Italy, fitting for the film’s subject matter and the director’s longtime residence in the country. Alongside Labeouf, Padre Pio stars Cristina Chiriac, Marco Leonardi, Asia […]
The post Trailer Watch: Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/10/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Padre Pio, Abel Ferrara’s Shia Labeouf-starring follow-up to 2021’s Zeroes and Ones, finally gets a trailer ahead of its theatrical release next month. The biopic, co-written by Ferrara and Maurizio Braucci, depicts the early life of the titular Catholic saint as he begins his ministry at a monastery in a remote Italian village that becomes rocked by political tension in the wake of WWI. The film premiered last year during the Venice Film Festival in Italy, fitting for the film’s subject matter and the director’s longtime residence in the country. Alongside Labeouf, Padre Pio stars Cristina Chiriac, Marco Leonardi, Asia […]
The post Trailer Watch: Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/10/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Shia Labeouf is washing away his sins in the biopic of real-life monk Padre Pio.
The eponymous film, directed by Abel Ferrara, will be distributed by Gravitas Ventures. “Padre Pio” stars Labeouf as the Italian monk who rose to fame in Catholicism during the two world wars. Padre Pio, born Francesco Forgione, exhibited stigmata, or Christ-like crucifixion wounds. Padre Pio died in 1968 at the age of 81; he was later beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1999 and canonized in 2002.
The film is co-written by Ferrara and Maurizio Braucci. “He’s an iconic figure,” Ferrara told Variety of Padre Pio’s legacy. “He’s on the back of every truck. He’s the saint of every drug dealer in Naples. Pio is like the alternative Jesus, in a way.”
After connecting with Labeouf about the role, Ferrara said the “Transformers” alum was “driving to a monastery in California” moments later...
The eponymous film, directed by Abel Ferrara, will be distributed by Gravitas Ventures. “Padre Pio” stars Labeouf as the Italian monk who rose to fame in Catholicism during the two world wars. Padre Pio, born Francesco Forgione, exhibited stigmata, or Christ-like crucifixion wounds. Padre Pio died in 1968 at the age of 81; he was later beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1999 and canonized in 2002.
The film is co-written by Ferrara and Maurizio Braucci. “He’s an iconic figure,” Ferrara told Variety of Padre Pio’s legacy. “He’s on the back of every truck. He’s the saint of every drug dealer in Naples. Pio is like the alternative Jesus, in a way.”
After connecting with Labeouf about the role, Ferrara said the “Transformers” alum was “driving to a monastery in California” moments later...
- 5/10/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Fittingly premiering at Venice, Italy’s most famous film festival, last fall, Abel Ferrara’s latest film Padre Pio will now arrive in the U.S. in a few weeks. With Shia Labeouf playing the title figure, the story follows him as the young priest who begins his ministry at a remote monastery in Italy right after WWI has ended. As events surrounding the first free election in Italy threaten to tear the village apart, Padre Pio struggles with his own personal demons, ultimately emerging from his spiritual anguish to become one of Catholicism’s most venerated figures. “Padre Pio is a film about the spiritual journey of the great saint in parallel with that of Shia Labeouf who portrays him,” said Ferrara. Ahead of a June 2 release by Gravitas Ventures, the first trailer has arrived.
David Katz said in his review, “The film is grounded in the reality of...
David Katz said in his review, “The film is grounded in the reality of...
- 5/10/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"It feels like a sin to question these things, it feels like a sin to be angry with the Lord." Gravitas Ventures has revealed an official trailer for Padre Pio, a new film from American director Abel Ferrara, who now lives and works in Italy. This premiered at the Venice Days sidebar of the Venice Film Festival last year (did anyone even see it?) and opens in the US this June. This biopic from Ferrara follows Roman Catholic Saint Padre Pio in his early years. At the end of World War I, Padre Pio begins his ministry at a remote monastery in southern Italy. Soon, his charisma and storied visions bring him fame. Shia Labeouf stars alongside Cristina Chiriac, Marco Leonardi, Asia Argento, Vincenzo Crea, Luca Lionello, Brando Pacitto, Stella Mastrantonio, and Salvatore Ruocco. Some may remember that this role "saved" Labeouf's life, as he claimed in an interview last...
- 5/9/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
It’s not all that surprising that the most intriguing aspect of Abel Ferrara’s upcoming drama, “Padre Pio” might not be anything that is actually relevant to the plot of the film. Instead, it’s the curiosity of seeing Shia Labeouf begin his latest career revival after abuse allegations surfaced. And now, audiences will be able to see if Labeouf and Ferrara are able to collaborate on something worth seeing more than just as a novelty.
Continue reading ‘Padre Pio’ Trailer: Shia Labeouf Is An Italian Priest In Abel Ferrara’s Latest Drama at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Padre Pio’ Trailer: Shia Labeouf Is An Italian Priest In Abel Ferrara’s Latest Drama at The Playlist.
- 5/9/2023
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Audiences got to see more of the wacky, pink and fashion-forward world Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” at CinemaCon. The footage reveal was preceded by Gerwig walking on stage alongside Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and American Ferrera.
“Everyone knows Barbie,” declared Robbie, “but she’s never been on the [big] screen.” Gerwig noted that she had never met Gosling prior to making the film. Gosling joked that he previously only knew Ken from {the outside} but now he knew Ken from within. While he initially doubted his Ken-ergy,” Gerwig and Robbie brought it out “like pink scarlet fever.”
Ferrara noted that by the end of the film, she was a Barbie Girl.
“You’ve never seen so many grown men find an excuse to come to the set,” remarked Robbie. “It was like a dopamine hit.” Replied Gosling, “I think I finally know what Dorothy felt like.”
Noting the film’s comic elements,...
“Everyone knows Barbie,” declared Robbie, “but she’s never been on the [big] screen.” Gerwig noted that she had never met Gosling prior to making the film. Gosling joked that he previously only knew Ken from {the outside} but now he knew Ken from within. While he initially doubted his Ken-ergy,” Gerwig and Robbie brought it out “like pink scarlet fever.”
Ferrara noted that by the end of the film, she was a Barbie Girl.
“You’ve never seen so many grown men find an excuse to come to the set,” remarked Robbie. “It was like a dopamine hit.” Replied Gosling, “I think I finally know what Dorothy felt like.”
Noting the film’s comic elements,...
- 4/25/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
In a development that confirms our long-held beliefs (fashion is fake but movies are real), Saint Laurent’s artistic director Anthony Vaccarello has launched Saint Laurent Productions. No surprising turn to those who’ve kept co-productions in their eyes: the last few years have seen a range of projects from capital-a Auteurs supported by the capital-m Major fashion house. Some (Noé’s Lux Æterna) got proper releases; others are nice curious or (like Almodóvar’s Cannes-bound Strange Way of Life) anticipated entirely on their own terms. What we’ve seen wouldn’t suggest corporate stranglehold––I think Charlotte Gainsbourg briefly flashes a Ysl bag in Lux Æterna?––but a resource-fueled place using power for good, or something like it. [Variety]
It’s then encouraging that Saint Laurent Productions, which aims for two or three films per year, already has a who’s-who of big figures on their docket: David Cronenberg’s...
It’s then encouraging that Saint Laurent Productions, which aims for two or three films per year, already has a who’s-who of big figures on their docket: David Cronenberg’s...
- 4/13/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Gravitas Ventures has nabbed North American rights to the Shia Labeouf-led drama Padre Pio from filmmaker Abel Ferrara, slating it for a day-and-date release on June 2nd.
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In the film penned by Maurizio Braucci and Ferrara, which world premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival, it’s the end of World War I and the young Italian soldiers are making their way back to San Giovanni Rotondo, a land of poverty, historic violence and the ironclad rule of the church and its wealthy landowners. Families are desperate; the men are broken, but victorious.
Related Story Neon Acquires Domestic Rights To Anne Hathaway Sundance Movie ‘Eileen’ Related Story Gravitas Ventures Acquires Sophie Lane Curtis Drama 'On Our Way' Starring Micheál Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave And Jordana Brewster Related Story Jennifer A. Goodman Thriller 'The Unseen' Starring 'Breaking Bad's Rj Mitte Acquired By Gravitas Ventures
In the film penned by Maurizio Braucci and Ferrara, which world premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival, it’s the end of World War I and the young Italian soldiers are making their way back to San Giovanni Rotondo, a land of poverty, historic violence and the ironclad rule of the church and its wealthy landowners. Families are desperate; the men are broken, but victorious.
- 3/28/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Harvey Keitel in Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant. Photo: Lionsgate Rosary beads dangle from the rearview mirror of his Crown Victoria. The caterwaul of a call-in radio show ricochets through the parked car. Outside, swarms of children surge into the St. Clare of Assisi School. Abel Ferrara’s 1992 classic Bad Lieutenant,...
- 11/20/2022
- by Matthew Allan
- avclub.com
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