Movie News

Netflix could make Oscars history.

Netflix’s arsenal of content this year could give the streamer the most best picture nominations from any studio in history, a record held by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which scored five nods at the ninth Academy Awards in 1937. It may even net the streaming giant its first best picture win after falling short with the likes of Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma.”

MGM achieved the feat when the Academy was nominating 10 films in the best picture category. “The Great Ziegfeld” was the big winner, taking home three statues. It was joined by other films released in 1936: “Libeled Lady,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “San Francisco” and “A Tale of Two Cities.” At the time, MGM was the undisputed heavyweight in Hollywood as the home to top talents such as Shirley Temple, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn and many more. So

Universal’s domestic release of Simon King’s directorial The 355 is jumping from its MLK 2021 weekend release to MLK weekend Jan. 14, 2022.

While Universal has committed a number of fresh wide releases during the pandemic to exhibition during Q4, i.e. Focus Features’ Come Play, Let Him Go, Blumhouse’s Freaky, Dreamworks Animation’s The Croods: A New Age and Tom Hanks’ News of the World, the studio only has domestic on this title, which they bought at Cannes back in 2018 for a reported $20M. The foreign partners, arranged through FilmNation, have a lot of say on this title and the yearning is for a more full-bodied global launch of what is hoped to be another Bourne like franchise, this one all female starring Jessica Chastain, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o, Penelope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Édgar Ramirez and Sebastian Stan.

On MLK 2022, 355 will face off against Warner Bros./MGM’s Sesame Street movie,

Matthew López, the acclaimed playwright behind “The Inheritance,” will bring the story of legendary dramatist Tennessee Williams to the big screen for Searchlight Pictures.

López will pen a feature film adaptation of the novel “Leading Men,” which centers on the “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” scribe and his longtime partner Frank Merlo. The film is produced by “Call Me By Your Name” team Luca Guadagnino and Peter Spears. There is currently no director attached to the project.

The novel by Christopher Castellani tells the tale of the romantic partnership between Williams and Merlo, touted in a synopsis of the film as “one of the most creatively inspiring love stories of the twentieth century.”

Already famous for penning “The Glass Menagerie,” Williams met Merlo (an occasional actor and a World War II naval veteran) in the late 1940s, embarking on a passionate — and often tumultuous — love affair,

Hong Kong-produced “Caught in Time” gave fresh life to the mainland China box office over its opening weekend.

The fantasy crime thriller about a cop chasing a gang through different eras earned $30.3 million. Produced by Emperor Motion Picture, the film stars the popular Daniel Wu and Wang Qianyuan, and was directed by Lau Ho-leung.

It edged aside patriotic war film “Sacrifice” which had held the top spot for the previous three weekends. “Sacrifice” managed $6.0 million in its fourth weekend, for a cumulative score of $161 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Third place, and a $3.3 million haul, belonged to “Paw Patrol” in its second weekend. That compared with $5.5 million in its opening frame, and extended the film’s 11-day cumulative to $9.6 million.

Disaster action movie “Greenland” opened modestly with $3.2 million for fourth place, despite the presence of Gerard Butler above the title. His previous releases of “Geostorm” and “London Has Fallen

Peggy Jo, the upcoming true-crime love story starring Lily James, has sold out internationally for HanWay Films.

The feature, from award-winning director Phillip Noyce, was acquired by the Universal Pictures Content Group in a deal that included Benelux, German speaking Europe, Italy, Portugal, Scandinavia, Turkey, the U.K., Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavia, Czech & Slovak Republics, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Cis, Baltics, Israel, West Indies, South Africa, Hong Kong, the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, South East Asia Pay TV, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Latin America. HanWay has also closed deals with DeAPlaneta (Spain), Tohokushinsha (Japan), Noori Pictures (South Korea), Shaw (Singapore),...

Body-swap horror comedy “Freaky” repeated as the winner of a seriously subdued U.S. box office with $1.2 million at 2,057 locations in North America during the Friday-Sunday weekend.

The Universal and Blumhouse Productions’ movie stars Vince Vaughn as a serial killer and Kathryn Newton as a low-profile high schooler who inadvertently switch bodies on Friday the 13th. “Freaky” has taken in $5.6 million in its first 10 days amid the reluctance of many moviegoers to return to multiplexes until a Covid-19 vaccine is available.

Universal noted Sunday that the theatrical box office continues to be impaired due to a notable reduction in the number of theaters in North America, as the domestic theatrical footprint has shrunk to roughly 2,800 open locations from 3,400 last weekend.

The performance of “Freaky” contrasts sharply with the same weekend a year ago when Disney launched “Frozen II” with $130 million and overall North American business totaled $206 million, according to Comscore.

The Taiwanese film My Missing Valentine won big Saturday night at the annual Golden Horse Awards, taking five honors, including best feature film.

The romantic comedy, which tells the love story of a bus driver and a post office worker, also won for best director, best visual effects, best film editing and best original screenplay.

Overall, Taiwanese talent enjoyed a big night at the Golden Horse Awards, considered Asia’s equivalent of the Academy Awards for Chinese-language films.

Taiwanese performers took home honors for best actor and best actress. Mo Tzu-yi won best actor for his role in Dear Tenant, while Chen ...

Indie ethos, costume drama and rich fantasy won the day at the world’s top cinematography event, EnergaCamerimage Film Festival, on Saturday, with Joshua James Richards’ naturalistic filming in Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” taking the Golden Frog plus Fipresci jury honors. The chronicle of life on the rough edges of America’s society among retirees living on the road in trailers, based on Jessica Bruder’s nonfiction book “Nomadland: Surviving in the Twenty-First Century,” is considered a strong Oscars contender.

The 28th edition of Camerimage also wrapped with its award to an actor of unique visual sensitivity for Johnny Depp, whose Japan-set war correspondent story “Minamata,” filmed by Benoit Delhomme, screened at the fest. Depp said in a letter to the fest that shooting with the celebrated Dp was “a sort of dance” encouraged by director Andrew Levitas, who “encouraged us to explore.”

Fest president Marek Zydowicz described the fest

It’s been a few years since Angelina Jolie got behind the camera as a director. The last film she helmed was First They Killed My Father in 2017, but soon she’ll be working on another true story in Unreasonable Behaviour, the story of British war photographer Don McCullin. And this time she’ll be getting some […]

The post Angelina Jolie to Direct ‘Unreasonable Behaviour’, the Story of War Photographer Don McCullin appeared first on /Film.

Like many of its counterparts worldwide, the Guadalajara Int’l Film Festival (Ficg), Mexico’s largest film festival, faced the quandary of whether to go online, reschedule or cancel altogether because of the pandemic.

It opted for a rescheduled hybrid 35th edition which would serve those either unable or afraid to travel and those without an internet connection in Mexico.

“We struck a deal with Canal 44 to have them air some of our films,” said festival director Estrella Araiza, who is adamant that despite the challenges and complications, the film community will prevail in the end. “We have to believe in cinema,” she declared. Outdoor screenings and restricted indoor cinema screenings are on the schedule while most of the master classes and conferences are online.

Ficg was pushed from its traditional March dates to the fall, where it’s now been running over Nov. 20-27.

Its inauguration on Friday Nov.

Colombian documentary feature “Alis,” from directors Nicolas van Hemelryck and Clare Weiskopf, has won the Forum Award for best project at IDFA, one of the world’s leading documentary film festivals, which is running as a virtual event until Dec. 6. IDFA’s Forum section is a co-financing and co-production market for “creative” documentaries.

“Alis” follows eight teenage girls living in Bogota, who dream up Alis, a fictional character. “Their soulful narrative reveals an amazing perseverance to break the cycle of violence and embrace a better future,” according to the festival.

The jury, comprising Gitte Hansen, Lisa Kleiner Chanoff and Luis González Zaffaroni, said the filmmakers’ aim was to “facilitate, capture, and show the process of empowerment of young female protagonists coming from the harshest life-conditions on the streets of Bogota.”

They added: “The filmmakers’ artistic vision is organically connected with an original and playful method in documentary filmmaking by using imagination.

Ryan Reynolds is about to meet his maker in a new sci-fi adventure time travel movie called The Adam Project. Shawn Levy, the filmmaker behind Real Steel and the Night at the Museum franchise, has hired Mark Ruffalo (Avengers: Endgame, Zodiac) to play Reynolds’ character’s father, and Catherine Keener as the film’s […]

The post ‘The Adam Project’: Time Travel Movie Adds Mark Ruffalo as Ryan Reynolds’ Dad, Catherine Keener as Villain appeared first on /Film.

Coming-of-age drama set to shoot in Italy with Mark Steven Johnson directing.

International production and distribution company The H Collective is teaming with producer Mark Johnson’s Gran Via on The Vineyard, a coming-of-age story set to shoot in Italy in mid-2021.

Mark Steven Johnson, whose previous projects include Ghost Rider and Daredevil, will direct from a screenplay by Tory Kamen.

The film will follow an American teenager whose life is uprooted when she unexpectedly moves to Italy to live with a grandfather she never knew existed. The project will The H Collective’s second collaboration with Gran Via, after thriller The Parts You Lose.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to get worse in the United States, many states are tightening restrictions on non-essential businesses and gatherings of people. That may not stop the plethora of idiots who are still forcing their Thanksgiving plans into existence despite the irresponsibility of it all, but it did result in the shutdown of […]

The post Nearly 700 Movie Theaters Closed Over the Weekend, Making for a Dispiriting Pre-Thanksgiving Box Office Haul appeared first on /Film.

Indian series Delhi Crime takes best drama prize in New York ceremony.

British programmes Responsible Child and Elizabeth Is Missing and India’s Delhi Crime were among the top honourees in this year’s International Emmy Awards.

Netflix offering Delhi Crime was named best drama series and Responsible Child, aired by BBC Two in the UK, best TV movie/miniseries when the awards were announced by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences during a live ceremony in New York on Monday (November 23). Socially distanced presenters on stage announced the awards while winners accepted their statuettes via remote feeds.

The

South Korea, a hotbed of contemporary cultural fervor, is to get a significant new development and production company headed by veteran studio executives. The new venture, Covenant Pictures starts operations with solid financial backing, a diverse slate, and a first-look deal with the producers of the hit “Along With The Gods” movie franchise.

Covenant sees itself scouring Asia for IP that will be developed and produced as Korean-made films and TV series. Relationships in East Asia could cast the net wider, in future.

Covenant is co-founded by Lee Young Han and Justin Choi, both former GMs of Lotte MediaWorks (previously Lotte Cinema), Korea’s second-largest vertically-integrated movie conglomerate. Lee has production and film finance experience managing over 90 titles while at Lotte, while Choi’s focus was on international affairs, acquisitions and marketing. Choi was also the territory Gm for Paramount Pictures’ sub-distribution relationship in Korea.

“Korea is the most exciting

The erratic world of VOD consumption saw a lift this week with debuts of “The New Mutants” (Disney) and “Unhinged” (Solstice), films that were the first wide releases when theaters began to reopen in August. Ninety days later, normal windows dictate that it’s time for non-premium availability. (They each rent for $5.99.)

Disney’s Marvel spin-off took the top spot at Apple TV and FandangoNow, while Russell Crowe’s stalker thriller is #1 at Google Play. Two items of note: “Mutants” shows its strength by taking the top spot at Fandango, which ranks by revenue, not transactions; that’s impressive for a standard-price title. Unlike “Mutants,” “Unhinged” had a PVOD release and now sees a revival at its lower price.

These two titles were the only ones to place on three charts. (Spectrum’s weekly chart lags behind and will likely show them next week.) “Unhinged” placed #2 and #3 elsewhere, while “Mutants” was #5 on Google.

It might be Thanksgiving week, but The Mandalorian isn’t taking a vacation. There’s a new episode of the Star Wars series coming to Disney+ this Friday, but before that, it’s time for another Mando Monday. As usual, there’s a new haul of collectibles that have been revealed, included a couple action figures for The Vintage […]

The post Cool Stuff: ‘The Mandalorian’ Announces More Action Figures, a Visual Guide, Puzzles, and a Lego Set appeared first on /Film.

Netflix made a gambit that paid off with The Queen’s Gambit, the Anya Taylor-Joy-starring limited series that has set a new viewership record for Netflix. The Queen’s Gambit is officially the most-watched scripted limited series ever for Netflix, with 62 million member accounts worldwide having watched at least two minutes of the show over its first four […]

The post ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ Broke Viewership Records for Netflix, Seemingly Encouraging the Entire World to Learn Chess appeared first on /Film.

Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” continues to generate headlines 52 years after it first opened in theaters. The science-fiction epic is back in the news after crew members from the Utah Department of Public Safety and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources discovered a silver monolith out in the Utah desert. The solid object stood about 10 to 12 feet high. The monolith’s exact location was not given as to prevent people from traveling out into the desert.

Helicopter pilot Bret Hutchings told Salt Lake City broadcaster Ksl-tv the monolith appeared planted by an anonymous person, with wildlife crew guessing the slab was constructed by an artist or fan of Kubrick’s science-fiction landmark. Hutchings quipped, “We were joking around that if one of us suddenly disappears, I guess the rest of us make a run for it…That’s been about the strangest thing that I’ve come across