News

MaryAnn’s quick take… An emotional feast full of humor and pathos about the audacity, the wonder, the horror that is female adolescence. Beautiful, bittersweet, and very generous. I’m “biast” (pro): I am desperate for movies about girls and women; love Ronan and Gerwig

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Herewith the single authentic movie about being a teenaged girl that our male-dominated entertainment sphere has begun to begrudgingly allow us annually. Last year’s was The Edge of Seventeen; 2015’s was The Diary of a Teenage Girl. Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird is like those films, in that it is an emotional feast about the audacity and the wonder and the horror that is female adolescence the likes of which we oh-so rarely get to see onscreen. It is a nightmare and an adventure that will resonant with

Peirce: ScreenSlam/YouTube

Amazon’s abortion drama “This Is Jane” has found its director. “Boys Don’t Cry’s” Kimberly Peirce will helm the film about an underground abortion network in Chicago, which went by the name of “Jane,” Deadline writes.

“This Is Jane” will tell the story of the network’s founder as well as the network itself, a group of self-taught women who provided abortions in Chicago in the pre-Roe v. Wade years. Jane also provided health education and counseling to its patients.

As previously reported, “This Is Jane” is based on Laura Kaplan’s book “The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service.” The film is written by Dan Loflin (“Supernatural”) and is being produced by Peter Heller and John Lesher’s Le Grisbi Productions.

While the current administration is doing everything it can to strip women of their reproductive rights and access to healthcare, there are several projects in the works about the need for safe, legal abortion — and the lengths women will go to when that need isn’t met. Rachel Carey’s “Ask for Jane,” currently in post-production, is also about Chicago’s Jane Collective, as is the Elisabeth Moss-starrer “Call Jane.” And “Harlots” producers Alison Owen and Debra Hayward are developing a film about Roe v. Wade, the historic Supreme Court decision that granted all U.S. women the right to an abortion.

Peirce’s feature directorial debut, “Boys Don’t Cry,” is the true story of Brandon Teena, a young trans man who was murdered in 1993. The film was nominated for an Independent Spirit, won the Satyajit Ray Award and the Fipresci Prize at the 1999 London Film Festival, and earned lead actress Hilary Swank her first Oscar. Features “Stop-Loss” and “Carrie” and episodes of “The L Word,” “Halt and Catch Fire,” and “I Love Dick” are among Peirce’s other credits.

Kimberly Peirce Will Direct Underground Abortion Network Drama “This Is Jane” was originally published in Women and Hollywood on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In today’s film news roundup, “It” exec producer Jon Silk signs with Legendary, “Boys Don’t Cry” director Kimberly Peirce has a new movie project, and Industry Entertainment has a first-look with Bold Films.

Executive Hire

Legendary Entertainment has hired “It” executive producer Jon Silk as executive vice president of production.

Silk will join Legendary’s film division alongside Alex Garcia and Cale Boyter, who will also serve as exec VPs of production as well as Ali Mendes, who is VP of production and creative executive Jay Ashenfelter. He will report to Mary Parent, vice chairman of worldwide production.

Silk was Jeff Robinov’s initial creative hire at Studio 8 and served as exec VP and worked on “Nosferatu” and “White Boy Rick.” Silk also spent six years at the Warner Bros.-based Lin Pictures, where he focused on identifying properties with franchise potential including the recent film adaptation of Stephen King’s “It.”

Legendary currently

Lionsgate and Summit's action-comedy The Hitman's Bodyguard finished ahead of pre-weekend expectations and took the #1 spot at the weekend box office while WB and New Line's Annabelle: Creation scored a second place finish over its sophomore frame. The weekend wasn't too kind, however, to Bleecker's Logan Lucky, which did manage to finish third, but was unable to crack double digits from over 3,000 locations. As for the weekend overall, the top twelve narrowly escaped becoming the worst weekend of 2017 by less than $1 million by combining for $81.5 million. As of right now, this means the month of August is currently pacing 34% behind August last year while the summer season is pacing 12.8% behind last year. With an estimated $21.6 million, Lionsgate's release of The Hitman's Bodyguard finished #1 at the box office. This outperforms Mojo's pre-release forecast and is just a shade below historical averages for a film of this size and genre from Lionsgate.

It’s Friday, so we’re ready to take a load off and celebrate the thwarting of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. And what better way to kick up our heels than to revel in the news that professional charmers Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are going to combine their powers to put on what could possibly be the most personable musical ever? Variety reports the two affable actors, who last worked together on Stop-Loss, will star in a musical film that Gordon-Levitt will also direct. It won’t be much of a departure for Tatum, who recently starred in Hail, Caesar!, or Gordon-Levitt, who did all kinds of musical things for the now-defunct Pivot.

The film has a working title—Wingmen—and a plot that will center on two pilots (Tatum and Gordon-Levitt) who crash-land in Las Vegas, and presumably have to sing their way out of

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is eyeing a return to the director’s chair, tackling a movie musical with Channing Tatum by his side.

Sources tell Variety that Gordon-Levitt is in early negotiations to direct Universal’s R-rated musical comedy with the running title “Wingmen.” He’s already attached to star in the movie alongside Tatum.

Universal landed the pitch that Gordon-Levitt and “21 Jump Street” scribe Michael Bacall hatched last year following a competitive bidding war that saw several studios chasing the project.

Related

Joseph Gordon-Levitt on ‘Snowden’: What He Did Was a Really Positive Thing for the Country

The story follows two pilots who crash-land in Las Vegas. According to sources, the film is in the vein of “Pitch Perfect” meets “Book of Mormon,” with the dup covering Top 100 hits with a touch of adult humor.

The studio courted filmmakers that included Seth Gordon, James Bobin, and “Book of Mormon” director

MaryAnn’s quick take… Thank god this insult of a movie doesn’t try to fool us into believing that the controlling Christian Grey is appealing. That would be even more horrific… I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): appalled by the popularity of this series

I have read the source material (and I loathe it)

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Happy Valentine’s Day! Feels more like Groundhog Day, though, what with demure idiot Ana Steele jumping right back onto the horrific merry-go-round of her “relationship” with Seattle billionaire Christian Grey. It’s more of the same in Fifty Shades Darker that we saw in the first movie, Fifty Shades of Grey: He does something utterly inappropriate to violate her boundaries as a person, she bites her lip and unconvincingly murmurs “Go away,” he gets even more unpleasantly aggressive, and she gives in to him.

 At some point Channing Tatum went from man-candy (what? It's been said) to movie star. His star rose when Step Up stole the hearts of romantic comedy lovers that had waited too long for a new dance film. Seemed like Save The Last Dance had been decades before, despite the fact it actually released only five years prior. But, let's take a look back at Channing's filmography and see exactly where Tatum became something more.

CSI: Miami - Bob Davenport (2004) Never saw it, lets assume he was "okay."Coach Carter - Jason Lyle (2005) Same as CSI: Miami, watching Samuel L. Jackson as a coach just seemed too easy. Yell. Throw Notebook. Win baby, win.War of the Worlds - Boy in Church (uncredited, 2005) Wuh? Did they know he was just in Coach Carter?Havoc - Nick (2005) Is this the Havoc with Anne Hatheway's nude scene? Must go back and pay

We wish we saw more movies from writer-director Kimberly Peirce. One would guess following her excellent directorial debut, the highly acclaimed Boys Don’t Cry, we would’ve seen her direct more features, but it took nine years for us to see her sophomore effort, Stop-Loss. Five years later, she directed the Carrie remake, a movie she had a disagreement or two […]

The post Kimberly Peirce to Direct Holocaust Drama ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ appeared first on /Film.

“Boys Don’t Cry” director Kimberly Peirce has come on board Straight Up Films’ movie version of Viktor Frankl’s memoir “Man’s Search for Meaning.”

Peirce, who also produced and co-wrote “Boys Don’t Cry” is interviewing screenwriters for the project. At the time of Frankl’s death in 1997, “Man’s Search for Meaning” had sold more than 10 million copies in 24 languages.

Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argued that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose.

“When I first read Viktor Frankl’s ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ decades ago, I was touched by Frankl’s remarkable ability to make meaning

Kimberly Peirce has quietly been putting together a remarkably diverse CV, starting with her breakout, heartbreaking true-story drama “Boys Don’t Cry,” which she followed with the story of young soldiers in “Stop-Loss,” and then the remake of the horror classic “Carrie.” And on the TV side, she’s done everything from the period fare of “Turn” to the computing narratives of “Halt And Catch Fire.” But now she’s gearing up for what might be her biggest project yet.

Continue reading Kimberly Peirce To Direct WWII Drama ‘Man’s Search For Meaning’ at The Playlist.

Hopefully you've already come to terms with your sick, twisted crush on Ryan Phillippe's Cruel Intentions character, Sebastian Valmont, because we've rounded up his plus many more of Phillippe's sexiest onscreen moments. There was the time he showed his butt in Cruel Intentions, yes, but his career has also been rife with even more hot shirtless moments, from his roles in 54, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Stop-Loss to his most recent stint on TV in ABC's Secrets and Lies - and thankfully, Phillippe keeps us thirsting for more Irl, too.

The Charming Potato is joining the cast of Kingsman: The Golden Circle! I remember the moment Channing Tatum clicked for me. It certainly wasn’t on first exposure. Sometimes I see an actor and immediately like what they’re doing, and when I saw A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, it was with some early hype about both the director, Dito Montiel, and this amazing new young star, Channing Tatum. Didn’t work for me at all. He was fine in the Step Up films, but that’s because the dancing was front and center. Films like Dear John or Stop-Loss did nothing to change my opinion of Tatum, and in a few cases, like G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra or The Eagle, I thought his presence actually damaged the overall movie. For me, the first sign that he might actually be worth paying attention to was The Dilemma,

Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are re-teaming up for a currently untitled R-rated musical comedy at Universal Pictures from "Wicked" producer Marc Platt.

Both actors are attached to star in the film which Gordon-Levitt came up with the idea for and enlisted Michael Bacall to pen the script. Bacall previously worked with Gordon-Levitt on "Manic" and Tatum on the "21 Jump Street" films, whilst the two actors previously worked together on "Havoc" and "Stop-Loss".

All that's known about the story is that it features two pilots on a misadventure. Platt, Tatum, Gordon-Levitt, Adam Siegel, Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan will produce.

Source: THR

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Channing Tatum have been friends for a long time, and they've wanted to make a musical comedy together for a while now. They once had an idea to star in a remake of the classic Frank Sinatra/Marlon Brando musical Guys and Dolls, but it seems like they've moved away from that notion in recent years and have finally found something similar to scratch that itch.

THR reports that the duo — who have worked together on films like Havoc and Stop-Loss — will unite for an "R-rated musical comedy featuring two pilots on a misadventure." Gordon-Levitt and writer Michael Bacall (21 Jump Street, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) came up with the idea together, and Bacall is going to write the screenplay. Tatum and Gordon-Levitt will produce alongside Marc Platt, who turned Wicked into a smash hit on Broadway, and Universal will distribute the still-untitled project.

Tatum, of course,

Following a heated bidding war, Universal has snatched up rights for a new, as-yet-untitled musical comedy, with The Hollywood Reporter learning that the studio has already cast two prominent stars in Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Hail, Caesar! star Channing Tatum.

Reports indicate that the concept for the new project first came to light under Gordon-Levitt, who will produce via his hitRECord Films banner. Other talent involved at this early stage include producers Marc Platt and Adam Siegel, along with Channing Tatum himself, Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan on behalf of Free Association. Details are scarce as to which direction Universal is steering the untitled project, and whether it’s being eyed as a potential franchise in the vein of the studio’s lucrative Pitch Perfect.

Aside from showcasing their musical (read: miming) talents on Spike’s popular Lip Sync Battle, Gordon-Levitt and Tatum first starred opposite one another in Iraq war drama Stop-Loss in 2008. Since then,

"Hail, Caesar!" opens in theaters today, and I'd venture that by Monday morning, everyone will be talking about Channing Tatum's big musical number. You've gotten a tease of it with the official clip released below, but that's just a slice of the utterly fantastic, unabashedly joyous song-and-dance sequence that arguably steals the entire movie. It's fantastic stuff, and is why this bit of news is particularly exciting. Read More: Coen Brothers' 'Hail, Caesar!' Starring Josh Brolin, Tilda Swinton, Channing Tatum, And More THR reports that Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are teaming up for a musical comedy. Jgl hatched the idea for the movie. While no plot details are being released, it will reportedly center on two pilots, and Universal will back the R-rated movie penned by Michael Bacall ("21 Jump Street"). So, to recap: an R-rated musical comedy starring Tatum and Gordon-Levitt. Damn. Tatum and Jgl have a decent back catalogue together ("Stop-Loss,

"I didn't want to move or act like a rich man. I wanted to dance in a pair of jeans. I wanted to dance like the man in the streets." – Gene Kelly

It's hard to imagine — let alone remember — living in a world where it wasn't a universally acknowledged truth that Channing Tatum used to be a stripper. Today, that particular chapter of his origin story seems as inextricable from the 35-year-old actor's story as Ginger Rogers is from Fred Astaire's career, or Scientology is from that of Tom Cruise,

You may not have seen him in quite some time, but Ryan Phillippe has kept himself pretty busy over the last couple decades. Phillippe rose to fame in the late 1990’s starring in such movies as I Know What You Did Last Summer, Cruel Intentions, 54, and Little Boy Blue. He would continue to act in movies during the 2000’s. Some of his more memorable performances were as Brandon King in 2008’s Stop-Loss, as John Bradley in Flags of Our Fathers, and as Officer Tom Hansen in Crash. After spending twenty years away from the small screen, Ryan Phillippe returned to television in 2012 to portray Channing McClaren in the final season of Damages. He would also make a comedic guest-star appearance on a 2014 episode of Men at Work. Now Phillippe is back on television in the new series Secrets & Lies, which began airing on ABC earlier this month. …

7 Things You Didn

He’s portrayed fictional soldiers in ‘Stop-Loss‘ and ‘Dear John‘, but Channing Tatum‘s support of the military is 100% real, and last weekend he showed his love with a surprise visit to Afghanistan for the Uso!

Chan flew over along with his good friend Nick Zano, ‘Magic Mike‘ costar Adam Rodriguez, Free Association producing partner Reid Carolin, friend and vet Brett Rodriguez, and more. Together, they spent time with more than 1,500 American troops, visiting seven bases and the U.S. Embassy. Click here for more pics and info, and check out his candid slide show below!

What an incredible journey! Thank you for everything you do. Know that we all wish you a safe return home. Till then, keep holding it down. http://bit.ly/1uFg5NT #Uso #USOMoments @theuso

A video posted by Channing Tatum (@channingtatum) on Feb 13, 2015 at 11:26am Pst

The post Channing Tatum Visits Troops in