Movie News
Back in March, Florence Pugh announced that cameras were officially rolling on Thunderbolts by sharing a video from the set to her Instagram page.
The brief clip highlighted Pugh's updated outfit, a first look at Yelena Belova taking aim on one of the monitors, and the movie's official logo on the back of a chair, which appeared to reveal the addition of an asterisk to the title.
Marvel Studios later shared the video, confirming that the supervillain movie will now officially be known as Thunderbolts*.
What does this signify? There are several theories, the most popular of which speculates that Thunderbolts* is actually going to be a Dark Avengers movie. Kevin Feige did address the title change during CinemaCon last month, but said we'd have to wait until the film was in theaters to find out what it means.
Olga Kurylenko - who will reprise her Black Widow role as...
The brief clip highlighted Pugh's updated outfit, a first look at Yelena Belova taking aim on one of the monitors, and the movie's official logo on the back of a chair, which appeared to reveal the addition of an asterisk to the title.
Marvel Studios later shared the video, confirming that the supervillain movie will now officially be known as Thunderbolts*.
What does this signify? There are several theories, the most popular of which speculates that Thunderbolts* is actually going to be a Dark Avengers movie. Kevin Feige did address the title change during CinemaCon last month, but said we'd have to wait until the film was in theaters to find out what it means.
Olga Kurylenko - who will reprise her Black Widow role as...
- 5/2/2024
- ComicBookMovie.com
Universal Pictures has found its director for the high-priority Leonardo da Vinci film. “All of Us Strangers” helmer Andrew Haigh has signed on to direct and adapt Walter Isaacson’s acclaimed biography of the Renaissance man.
Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Isaacson’s book became one of the hottest literary properties when it hit the market in 2017. At the time, Universal was outbid by Paramount, which developed the project with Leonardo DiCaprio for years before putting it in turnaround. Universal quietly picked it up last year. The runaway bestseller connects da Vinci’s transcendent art, which includes the Mona Lisa painting hanging in the Louvre, to his trailblazing science — and shows how his genius was driven by an insatiable curiosity, careful observation and a whimsical imagination. The Italian icon lived from 1452-1519 during the height of the Renaissance,...
Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Isaacson’s book became one of the hottest literary properties when it hit the market in 2017. At the time, Universal was outbid by Paramount, which developed the project with Leonardo DiCaprio for years before putting it in turnaround. Universal quietly picked it up last year. The runaway bestseller connects da Vinci’s transcendent art, which includes the Mona Lisa painting hanging in the Louvre, to his trailblazing science — and shows how his genius was driven by an insatiable curiosity, careful observation and a whimsical imagination. The Italian icon lived from 1452-1519 during the height of the Renaissance,...
- 5/2/2024
- by Tatiana Siegel
- Variety Film + TV
Following the success of “The Curse,” Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder and A24 are teaming up again to take on the cutthroat world of chess.
The studio has won the rights to the hot feature package “Checkmate,” based on a book proposal by author Ben Mezrich, whose works were adapted into “The Social Network” and “Dumb Money.”
The story centers on what has been described as the “biggest scandal in the history of chess,” following the controversial 2022 head-to-head match between Grandmasters Magnus Carlsen, then world champion, and Hans Niemann, during which the latter was accused of cheating.
After a competitive situation in which multiple studios and streamers showed interest in the project, A24 nabbed the rights thanks to a reported seven-figure offer. The deals are still in the works, but Fielder is currently attached to direct, with Stone on board to produce with her husband and partner Dave McCary under their Fruit Tree banner.
The studio has won the rights to the hot feature package “Checkmate,” based on a book proposal by author Ben Mezrich, whose works were adapted into “The Social Network” and “Dumb Money.”
The story centers on what has been described as the “biggest scandal in the history of chess,” following the controversial 2022 head-to-head match between Grandmasters Magnus Carlsen, then world champion, and Hans Niemann, during which the latter was accused of cheating.
After a competitive situation in which multiple studios and streamers showed interest in the project, A24 nabbed the rights thanks to a reported seven-figure offer. The deals are still in the works, but Fielder is currently attached to direct, with Stone on board to produce with her husband and partner Dave McCary under their Fruit Tree banner.
- 5/2/2024
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety - Film News
The long-awaited live-action “Masters of the Universe” movie is one step closer to becoming a reality, with Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Films dating the project for worldwide theatrical release on June 5, 2026.
Travis Knight is on board to direct the film adaptation of the popular franchise, with Chris Butler writing the screenplay, following initial drafts written by David Callaham and Aaron and Adam Nee. Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner, Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch are producing.
According to its official synopsis, “Masters of the Universe” introduces a 10-year-old Prince Adam, who crashed to Earth in a spaceship and was separated from his magical Power Sword — the only link to his home on Eternia.
“After tracking it down almost two decades later,” the synopsis explains, “Prince Adam is whisked back across space to defend his home planet against the evil forces of Skeletor. But to defeat such a powerful villain,...
Travis Knight is on board to direct the film adaptation of the popular franchise, with Chris Butler writing the screenplay, following initial drafts written by David Callaham and Aaron and Adam Nee. Mattel Films’ Robbie Brenner, Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch are producing.
According to its official synopsis, “Masters of the Universe” introduces a 10-year-old Prince Adam, who crashed to Earth in a spaceship and was separated from his magical Power Sword — the only link to his home on Eternia.
“After tracking it down almost two decades later,” the synopsis explains, “Prince Adam is whisked back across space to defend his home planet against the evil forces of Skeletor. But to defeat such a powerful villain,...
- 5/2/2024
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety - Film News
Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four” cast just got more fantastic with the addition of Emmy winner Paul Walter Hauser.
Joining the MCU marks the latest in a string of high-profile projects for Hauser, who is set to play Chris Farley in the upcoming biopic directed by Josh Gad and landed a prime role in “The Naked Gun” reboot, which boasts an ensemble led by Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson.
With “The Fantastic Four,” he’ll appear opposite Marvel’s First Family, the first characters created for Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The superhero quartet will be played by Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (aka the Thing).
Matt Shakman will direct “The Fantastic Four,” from a screenplay by Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer.
Joining the MCU marks the latest in a string of high-profile projects for Hauser, who is set to play Chris Farley in the upcoming biopic directed by Josh Gad and landed a prime role in “The Naked Gun” reboot, which boasts an ensemble led by Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson.
With “The Fantastic Four,” he’ll appear opposite Marvel’s First Family, the first characters created for Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The superhero quartet will be played by Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (aka the Thing).
Matt Shakman will direct “The Fantastic Four,” from a screenplay by Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer.
- 5/2/2024
- by Adam B. Vary and Angelique Jackson
- Variety - Film News
Janelle Monáe is set to join the cast of Universal Pictures’ untitled Pharrell Williams and Michel Gondry musical project.
The singer and actor joins Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar nominee Brian Tyree Henry and Missy Elliott in the film.
The project is described as a coming-of-age musical set during the summer of 1977 in Virginia Beach, inspired by the Atlantis Apartments, Williams’ childhood neighborhood.
Gondry is set to direct the project based on a script by Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson.
Williams and Mimi Valdés will produce through i am Other and Gil Netter will produce through Gil Netter Productions.
Universal’s Senior VP of Production Development Ryan Jones and Director of Production Development Christine Sun will oversee the project for the studio.
Monáe’s film credits include “Moonlight,” “Lady and the Tramp,” “Harriet,” “The Glorias” and “Antebellum.”
For her role in 2017’s “Hidden Figures,...
The singer and actor joins Kelvin Harrison Jr., Halle Bailey, Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar nominee Brian Tyree Henry and Missy Elliott in the film.
The project is described as a coming-of-age musical set during the summer of 1977 in Virginia Beach, inspired by the Atlantis Apartments, Williams’ childhood neighborhood.
Gondry is set to direct the project based on a script by Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson.
Williams and Mimi Valdés will produce through i am Other and Gil Netter will produce through Gil Netter Productions.
Universal’s Senior VP of Production Development Ryan Jones and Director of Production Development Christine Sun will oversee the project for the studio.
Monáe’s film credits include “Moonlight,” “Lady and the Tramp,” “Harriet,” “The Glorias” and “Antebellum.”
For her role in 2017’s “Hidden Figures,...
- 5/2/2024
- by Katcy Stephan
- Variety - Film News
Louis Leterrier (Fast X) will direct and produce 11817, a sci-fi horror film scripted by Matthew Robinson (The Invention of Lying) that is being presented to buyers at Cannes by Rocket Science.
The film watches as inexplicable forces trap a family of four inside their house indefinitely. As both modern luxuries and life or death essentials begin to run out, the family must learn how to be resourceful to survive and outsmart who — or what — is keeping them trapped…
Casting is currently underway on the pic to be produced by Leterrier’s Carrousel Studios, Rocket Science, Thank You Studios, Chernin Entertainment (A North Road Company) and 3 Arts Entertainment. Producers include Leterrier, Thomas Benski and Omar Sy for Carrousel Studios, Lars Sylvest for Thank You Studios, Kori Adelson for Chernin Entertainment, Oly Obst of 3 Arts Entertainment, Thorsten Schumacher for Rocket Science, and Joe Neurauter. Cecile Gaget is exec producing for Carrousel Studios.
The film watches as inexplicable forces trap a family of four inside their house indefinitely. As both modern luxuries and life or death essentials begin to run out, the family must learn how to be resourceful to survive and outsmart who — or what — is keeping them trapped…
Casting is currently underway on the pic to be produced by Leterrier’s Carrousel Studios, Rocket Science, Thank You Studios, Chernin Entertainment (A North Road Company) and 3 Arts Entertainment. Producers include Leterrier, Thomas Benski and Omar Sy for Carrousel Studios, Lars Sylvest for Thank You Studios, Kori Adelson for Chernin Entertainment, Oly Obst of 3 Arts Entertainment, Thorsten Schumacher for Rocket Science, and Joe Neurauter. Cecile Gaget is exec producing for Carrousel Studios.
- 5/2/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Last year, New Line Cinema went all-in on a partnership with Barbarian writer/director Zach Cregger and the film’s producers at BoulderLight Pictures. New Line came out the winner in a bidding war over Cregger’s next film, a mysterious horror project called Weapons… which was, at one point, set to star Pedro Pascal of The Last of Us and Renate Reinsve of The Worst Person in the World. Pascal and Reinsve have both had to drop out of the project (Pascal so he can star in the Fantastic Four instead), but now we know the names of several cast members who will be on set when the film goes into production. We’ve previously heard that Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men), Julia Garner (Ozark), and Alden Ehrenreich (Solo) are in the cast. Now Deadline reveals that they’re joined by Benedict Wong (Doctor...
- 5/2/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
A film adaptation of author Colleen Hoover’s bestselling romantic thriller “Verity” is in development at Amazon MGM Studios.
Hillary Seitz is currently writing the script. Eat the Cat’s Nick Antosca and Alex Hedlund will produce.
“Verity” follows Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling thriller author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series that his wife is unable to finish after a mysterious accident.
Upon arrival at the lavish Crawford estate, Lowen slowly learns that things are not exactly as they seem with the discovery of a secret, unfinished manuscript that may divulge chilling admissions about the family’s past. As Lowen ingratiates herself with Jeremy and his young son Crew, she must discern if Verity’s writings are merely lurid works of...
Hillary Seitz is currently writing the script. Eat the Cat’s Nick Antosca and Alex Hedlund will produce.
“Verity” follows Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling thriller author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series that his wife is unable to finish after a mysterious accident.
Upon arrival at the lavish Crawford estate, Lowen slowly learns that things are not exactly as they seem with the discovery of a secret, unfinished manuscript that may divulge chilling admissions about the family’s past. As Lowen ingratiates herself with Jeremy and his young son Crew, she must discern if Verity’s writings are merely lurid works of...
- 5/1/2024
- by Katcy Stephan
- Variety - Film News
Paul Walter Hauser is ready to fight crime alongside Liam Neeson in the reboot of the Naked Gun franchise.
Hauser is set to play Captain Ed in director Akiva Schaffer’s untitled new Naked Gun film that Paramount Pictures plans to release July 18, 2025. George Kennedy previously played the role in the original film trilogy that kicked off with the 1988 comedy The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Dan Gregor and Doug Mand penned the new movie’s script with Schaffer. The two scribes previously wrote the director’s Emmy-winning Disney+ feature Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins of Fuzzy Door produce the project that is based on the Naked Gun film franchise and the television series Police Squad! from Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker. Daniel M. Stillman serves as executive producer.
Hauser joins the cast that includes Neeson and Pamela Anderson. While plot details are under wraps,...
Hauser is set to play Captain Ed in director Akiva Schaffer’s untitled new Naked Gun film that Paramount Pictures plans to release July 18, 2025. George Kennedy previously played the role in the original film trilogy that kicked off with the 1988 comedy The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Dan Gregor and Doug Mand penned the new movie’s script with Schaffer. The two scribes previously wrote the director’s Emmy-winning Disney+ feature Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Seth MacFarlane and Erica Huggins of Fuzzy Door produce the project that is based on the Naked Gun film franchise and the television series Police Squad! from Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker. Daniel M. Stillman serves as executive producer.
Hauser joins the cast that includes Neeson and Pamela Anderson. While plot details are under wraps,...
- 5/1/2024
- by Ryan Gajewski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Anthony Hopkins is taking on yet another iconic figure, this time from the world of music.
The stage and screen legend — a two-time Academy Award winner — is attached to star as George Frideric Handel in “The King of Covent Garden,” set during the period the famed opera composer worked on his choral masterpiece “Messiah.” Embankment Films has launched global pre-sales on the project, which is scheduled for a late fall 2025 release.
Andrew Levitas (“Minimata”) will direct “The King of Covent Garden” from a script by Tim Slover, with the filmmakers pitching the feature as “a powerfully majestic celebration of genius breaking all the rules to create an anthem inspiring the popular imagination of global audiences.” Dan Lupovitz (“Death Defying Acts,” “Simpatico”) and Kevan Van Thompson (“Ballerina,” “Jojo Rabbit”) will produce.
Global operatic mezzo-soprano star Katherine Jenkins joins Peter Touche (“Military Wives,” “Blinded by the Light”) as executive producer, adding her musical performance,...
The stage and screen legend — a two-time Academy Award winner — is attached to star as George Frideric Handel in “The King of Covent Garden,” set during the period the famed opera composer worked on his choral masterpiece “Messiah.” Embankment Films has launched global pre-sales on the project, which is scheduled for a late fall 2025 release.
Andrew Levitas (“Minimata”) will direct “The King of Covent Garden” from a script by Tim Slover, with the filmmakers pitching the feature as “a powerfully majestic celebration of genius breaking all the rules to create an anthem inspiring the popular imagination of global audiences.” Dan Lupovitz (“Death Defying Acts,” “Simpatico”) and Kevan Van Thompson (“Ballerina,” “Jojo Rabbit”) will produce.
Global operatic mezzo-soprano star Katherine Jenkins joins Peter Touche (“Military Wives,” “Blinded by the Light”) as executive producer, adding her musical performance,...
- 5/2/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
Iranian authorities are exerting heavy pressure on director Mohammad Rasoulof to pull his latest work “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from the Cannes Film Festival by harassing the film’s producers and actors who have been summoned for questioning and banned from leaving the country.
Human rights lawyer Babak Paknia, who is Rasoulof’s lawyer, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that several unspecified actors and producers on “Sacred Fig” were summoned and questioned last week by authorities. He added that Iran’s authorities also pressured them to convince Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival.
Furthermore, “Some of the film’s actors have been banned from leaving, and according to their statements, after several hours of interrogation, they were asked to ask the director to remove the film from the Cannes festival,” Paknia said in the X post on Tuesday.
Rasoulof’s lawyer...
Human rights lawyer Babak Paknia, who is Rasoulof’s lawyer, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that several unspecified actors and producers on “Sacred Fig” were summoned and questioned last week by authorities. He added that Iran’s authorities also pressured them to convince Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival.
Furthermore, “Some of the film’s actors have been banned from leaving, and according to their statements, after several hours of interrogation, they were asked to ask the director to remove the film from the Cannes festival,” Paknia said in the X post on Tuesday.
Rasoulof’s lawyer...
- 5/2/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety - Film News
Simon Curtis has lined up a quartet of stars for upcoming comedy “Encore” from “Twilight” banner Temple Hill Entertainment.
The film — announced by Protagonist Pictures, which is launching worldwide sales ahead of Cannes — will reunite eight-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close with Oscar winner Jeremy Irons 34 years after their critically acclaimed hit “Reversal of Fortune.” Henry Winkler and Don Johnson round out the ensemble cast.
Written by Academy Award nominee Robert Nelson Jacobs (“Chocolat”), “Encore” follows a group of retired actors as they attempt to reignite their passion for life. Former Broadway icons Marie (Close) and Nigel (Irons) are new residents of a retirement home, where they discover a community of forgotten talents. Motivated to revive Nigel’s passion for theater and embrace this new chapter in their life, Marie decides to stage a production with the residents, pulling everyone out of their past and into their present. This production will be their encore.
The film — announced by Protagonist Pictures, which is launching worldwide sales ahead of Cannes — will reunite eight-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close with Oscar winner Jeremy Irons 34 years after their critically acclaimed hit “Reversal of Fortune.” Henry Winkler and Don Johnson round out the ensemble cast.
Written by Academy Award nominee Robert Nelson Jacobs (“Chocolat”), “Encore” follows a group of retired actors as they attempt to reignite their passion for life. Former Broadway icons Marie (Close) and Nigel (Irons) are new residents of a retirement home, where they discover a community of forgotten talents. Motivated to revive Nigel’s passion for theater and embrace this new chapter in their life, Marie decides to stage a production with the residents, pulling everyone out of their past and into their present. This production will be their encore.
- 5/2/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety - Film News
A line of dialogue in The Fall Guy is already causing discourse among some viewers, prior to it opening in theaters.
In the David Leitch-directed action-comedy, starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, Hannah Waddingham’s character, Gail Meyer, at one point makes a reference to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s turbulent relationship.
In the scene, Waddingham, who plays an executive producer in the movie, reportedly walks into a trailer while looking disheveled and tells director Jody Moreno (Blunt), “It’s like Amber and Johnny were just in here.”
Some viewers have since taken to social media to criticize the line, with one user writing on X (formerly Twitter), “‘The Fall Guy’ made a distasteful “joke” about the domestic abuse amber suffered at the hands of johnny. it’s 2024, why are we writing these kinds of lines into movies? nasty work.”
Another social media user wrote that the film...
In the David Leitch-directed action-comedy, starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, Hannah Waddingham’s character, Gail Meyer, at one point makes a reference to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s turbulent relationship.
In the scene, Waddingham, who plays an executive producer in the movie, reportedly walks into a trailer while looking disheveled and tells director Jody Moreno (Blunt), “It’s like Amber and Johnny were just in here.”
Some viewers have since taken to social media to criticize the line, with one user writing on X (formerly Twitter), “‘The Fall Guy’ made a distasteful “joke” about the domestic abuse amber suffered at the hands of johnny. it’s 2024, why are we writing these kinds of lines into movies? nasty work.”
Another social media user wrote that the film...
- 5/2/2024
- by Carly Thomas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When filmmaker Rachel Elizabeth Seed first hears the recorded voice of her late mother Sheila Turner Seed, who died when she was only 18 months old, a long-buried sense of connection is instantly reawakened. Seed, also a photographer, has spent years trying to construct a portrait of Turner from the substantial archival materials she left behind following a career as an adventurous, globe-trotting journalist. Each element — Turner’s journals, the interviews she conducted, the television programs she appeared in, the photographs she took and her family’s home movies dating back to her childhood — adds depth to Seed’s vividly introspective documentary “A Photographic Memory.” But beyond the wealth of resources at her disposal, it’s the consistently meta and thematically relevant formal ingenuity Seed shrewdly deploys that make her debut a sumptuous piece of nonfiction.
Since she can only begin to know herself once she knows who her mother was,...
Since she can only begin to know herself once she knows who her mother was,...
- 5/3/2024
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Variety - Film News
By most standards, "Unfrosted" is not what you'd call a "good" movie. It's visually flat — as a filmmaker, Jerry Seinfeld will never win an award or be thought of as one of the greats (his direction is limited to "point and shoot"). Its screenplay doesn't even attempt to tell a complete narrative — the third act crumbles, as if everyone ran out of ideas and threw up their hands. None of these things are promising. And yet ... I laughed. A lot. I laughed because Seinfeld's movie about the invention of Pop-Tarts is very, very silly, and sometimes you just want to watch something silly. Seinfeld and his co-writers Spike Feresten, Andy Robin, and Barry Marder have cobbled together a gloriously ridiculous feast; a film that doesn't even slightly attempt to take itself seriously. I mean, this is a movie about Pop-Tarts, for crying out loud — how serious can it be?
Brand-based...
Brand-based...
- 5/3/2024
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
The history of how the all-American breakfast snack was created is served up with lashings of goofiness in this comedy caper
Standup veteran Jerry Seinfeld makes his directing debut with this decent family comedy that puts a surreal twist on the history of Pop-Tarts, one of the US’s most beloved snacks: the sheer goofiness and disposable pointlessness are entertaining.
Seinfeld created the film with co-writers Spike Feresten, Andy Robin and Barry Marder, the same writing team that worked on Bee Movie, the animation that Seinfeld starred in, produced and co-wrote in 2007. Unfrosted doesn’t quite have the flair of Bee Movie, but there’s a steady stream of excellent gags, creating a rising crescendo of silliness similar in effect to Seinfeld’s own distinctive falsetto-hysterical declamation at the moment of ultimate joke-awareness. There are also nice supporting roles and cameos, including an extraordinary dual walk-on from Jon Hamm and John Slattery,...
Standup veteran Jerry Seinfeld makes his directing debut with this decent family comedy that puts a surreal twist on the history of Pop-Tarts, one of the US’s most beloved snacks: the sheer goofiness and disposable pointlessness are entertaining.
Seinfeld created the film with co-writers Spike Feresten, Andy Robin and Barry Marder, the same writing team that worked on Bee Movie, the animation that Seinfeld starred in, produced and co-wrote in 2007. Unfrosted doesn’t quite have the flair of Bee Movie, but there’s a steady stream of excellent gags, creating a rising crescendo of silliness similar in effect to Seinfeld’s own distinctive falsetto-hysterical declamation at the moment of ultimate joke-awareness. There are also nice supporting roles and cameos, including an extraordinary dual walk-on from Jon Hamm and John Slattery,...
- 5/3/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
It’s funny that both of Jerry Seinfeld’s movies have been pegged to such high-concept premises, as the sitcom legend famously built his brand with a show about nothing. In fact, that might be the funniest thing about them. First came 2007’s deeply strange “Bee Movie,” in which Seinfeld — who produced, starred in, and co-wrote the project — voiced a honeybee who starts getting hot for a human florist. Now comes Seinfeld’s directorial debut, a sketchy and surreal business parody that re-imagines the rush to invent the Pop-Tart as if the rivalry between Post and Kellogg’s were as crucial to the future of western civilization as the Space Race or the Manhattan Project.
It’s the perfect streaming comedy for anyone who felt that “Oppenheimer” had too many laughs.
Why would an aging billionaire spend two years of his life — and an ungodly amount of Netflix’s money...
It’s the perfect streaming comedy for anyone who felt that “Oppenheimer” had too many laughs.
Why would an aging billionaire spend two years of his life — and an ungodly amount of Netflix’s money...
- 5/3/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
[Editor’s note: this list was originally published in January 2024. It has since been updated with new entries.]
Emily Blunt’s first Oscar nomination was for the type of role the actress doesn’t normally play. Over the course of her career, the London-born actress has played badass action heroes, musical heroines, even delightfully bitchy supporting comic parts. But in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” Blunt goes into a totally different mode to play a embittered and humorless long-suffering wife type. It’s a jarring transformation; but, given her versatility, a predictably excellent one.
Born to a former actress and barrister in London, Blunt studied acting in boarding school and began her professional career at 18, when she debuted on a West End production of the play “The Royal Family.” In 2003 she transitioned to screen acting with the British miniseries “Boudica” and “Henry VIII,” before making her theatrical film debut as a haughty, arrogant rich girl in independent drama “My Summer of Love” in 2004.
2006 was her breakout year; she won...
Emily Blunt’s first Oscar nomination was for the type of role the actress doesn’t normally play. Over the course of her career, the London-born actress has played badass action heroes, musical heroines, even delightfully bitchy supporting comic parts. But in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” Blunt goes into a totally different mode to play a embittered and humorless long-suffering wife type. It’s a jarring transformation; but, given her versatility, a predictably excellent one.
Born to a former actress and barrister in London, Blunt studied acting in boarding school and began her professional career at 18, when she debuted on a West End production of the play “The Royal Family.” In 2003 she transitioned to screen acting with the British miniseries “Boudica” and “Henry VIII,” before making her theatrical film debut as a haughty, arrogant rich girl in independent drama “My Summer of Love” in 2004.
2006 was her breakout year; she won...
- 5/3/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
This article contains massive spoilers for "The Fall Guy."
Stunt work is all about selling an illusion. When the medium of cinema was first invented, it was initially marketed and thought of as something akin to a sideshow attraction, a wondrous magic trick where a series of pictures put next to each other and illuminated in rapid succession gave the illusion of movement. After this initial novelty gave way to artists utilizing the medium to tell stories, the craftspeople making movies realized that the concept of illusion extended to every aspect of filmmaking.
Where theatre was traditionally bound to a stage or perhaps a circus tent, the movies could expand the canvas of what could be done physically — if cameras could capture it, it could be performed. It's no surprise, then, that films saw people like Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and others push the boundaries of physicality and feats of derring-do in the cinema.
Stunt work is all about selling an illusion. When the medium of cinema was first invented, it was initially marketed and thought of as something akin to a sideshow attraction, a wondrous magic trick where a series of pictures put next to each other and illuminated in rapid succession gave the illusion of movement. After this initial novelty gave way to artists utilizing the medium to tell stories, the craftspeople making movies realized that the concept of illusion extended to every aspect of filmmaking.
Where theatre was traditionally bound to a stage or perhaps a circus tent, the movies could expand the canvas of what could be done physically — if cameras could capture it, it could be performed. It's no surprise, then, that films saw people like Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and others push the boundaries of physicality and feats of derring-do in the cinema.
- 5/3/2024
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
The 16 Best Ryan Gosling Movies, from ‘The Fall Guy’ and ‘Drive’ to ‘Barbie’ and ‘Blade Runner 2049’
[Editor’s note: this list was originally published in July 2023, and has since been updated.]
Ryan Gosling has that Ken-ergy. He’s Ken out of Ken. He’s Kendlessly Kentertaining. He’s the Kend all, be all. He’s the Kenvy of other actors. He’s impossible to not Kenjoy. He’s more, much more, than Kenough.
Gosling has had a long, fruitful career, but it’s safe to say that he’s never committed to a role as hard as he’s committed to the bit that was the “Barbie” press tour. Every interview and soundbite the Canadian actor gave in the publicity run for Greta Gerwig’s take on the iconic Mattel toy line has launched meme after meme, as he’s spoken about the importance of telling the tragic story of Barbie’s beau Ken. It’s a commitment that’s only seconded by his performance in the film itself, where he goes for broke with a hilarious, oblivious, and often sweet...
Ryan Gosling has that Ken-ergy. He’s Ken out of Ken. He’s Kendlessly Kentertaining. He’s the Kend all, be all. He’s the Kenvy of other actors. He’s impossible to not Kenjoy. He’s more, much more, than Kenough.
Gosling has had a long, fruitful career, but it’s safe to say that he’s never committed to a role as hard as he’s committed to the bit that was the “Barbie” press tour. Every interview and soundbite the Canadian actor gave in the publicity run for Greta Gerwig’s take on the iconic Mattel toy line has launched meme after meme, as he’s spoken about the importance of telling the tragic story of Barbie’s beau Ken. It’s a commitment that’s only seconded by his performance in the film itself, where he goes for broke with a hilarious, oblivious, and often sweet...
- 5/2/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
“Tarot” has the makings of a classic sleepover horror movie, fine-tuned for an astrology-obsessed Gen Z. When a group of friends accidentally read their horoscopes with the help of a cursed set of Tarot cards, scary symbols like “The Magician” and “The High Priestess” come to life and start haunting the group. Blending elements of classic supernatural slashers and the “Final Destination” movies, the film stars a game group of twentysomethings, including Harriet Slater, Jacob Batalon and Larsen Thompson.
Here, Thompson, who has also appeared in spooky projects such as the 2018 film “Bloodline” and the 2022 series “The Midnight Club,” reveals the tricks of the trade for surviving as an actor on the set of a horror film.
1) How to play dead
A lot of that, of course, is holding your breath. For me, the trick has always been “belly breathing.” Most of my work is leading up to when I need to hold my breath,...
Here, Thompson, who has also appeared in spooky projects such as the 2018 film “Bloodline” and the 2022 series “The Midnight Club,” reveals the tricks of the trade for surviving as an actor on the set of a horror film.
1) How to play dead
A lot of that, of course, is holding your breath. For me, the trick has always been “belly breathing.” Most of my work is leading up to when I need to hold my breath,...
- 5/2/2024
- by William Earl
- Variety - Film News
Blue Fox Entertainment has picked up worldwide rights ahead of Cannes to financial thriller The Panic with Donald Sutherland attached to join Carey Elwes, Malcolm McDowell, Justin Chatwin, and Cristiana Dell’Anna.
Daniel Adams, whose credits include The Walk and The Golden Boys, wrote and will direct the feature, which is based on a true story and takes place in 1907 in New York as real-life bankers J. P. Morgan and Charles Barney grapple with a financial crisis sparked by Barney’s failed attempt to manipulate the copper market.
As Morgan strives to safeguard his empire he becomes entangled in a clandestine struggle involving his brilliant mistress,...
Daniel Adams, whose credits include The Walk and The Golden Boys, wrote and will direct the feature, which is based on a true story and takes place in 1907 in New York as real-life bankers J. P. Morgan and Charles Barney grapple with a financial crisis sparked by Barney’s failed attempt to manipulate the copper market.
As Morgan strives to safeguard his empire he becomes entangled in a clandestine struggle involving his brilliant mistress,...
- 5/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
Blue Fox Entertainment has picked up worldwide rights ahead of Cannes to financial thriller The Panic with Donald Sutherland, Carey Elwes, Malcolm McDowell, Justin Chatwin, and Cristiana Dell’Anna attached to star.
Daniel Adams, whose credits include The Walk and The Golden Boys, wrote and will direct the feature, which is based on a true story and takes place in 1907 in New York as real-life bankers J. P. Morgan and Charles Barney grapple with a financial crisis sparked by Barney’s failed attempt to manipulate the copper market.
As Morgan strives to safeguard his empire he becomes entangled in a clandestine struggle involving his brilliant mistress,...
Daniel Adams, whose credits include The Walk and The Golden Boys, wrote and will direct the feature, which is based on a true story and takes place in 1907 in New York as real-life bankers J. P. Morgan and Charles Barney grapple with a financial crisis sparked by Barney’s failed attempt to manipulate the copper market.
As Morgan strives to safeguard his empire he becomes entangled in a clandestine struggle involving his brilliant mistress,...
- 5/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
Hannah Marks started acting when she was 6 years old, after seeing her mother’s acting reel. And she’s pretty much worked nonstop, from roles in the films “Accepted” and “The Runaways” to the cast of “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.” In fact, just last year she took her first vacation — though she confesses to recording several self-tapes during it.
In recent years, she has also made a (forgive me) mark behind the camera as a filmmaker, beginning with writing and directing “After Everything,” The indie film starred Jeremy Allen White as a young man diagnosed with bone cancer who embarks on a new relationship, premiering at the SXSW Film Festival in 2018.
That same year, she landed the coveted directing job of the film adaptation of John Green’s beloved novel “Turtles All the Way Down.” The story focuses on a teenage girl named Aza (Isabela Merced) struggling with...
In recent years, she has also made a (forgive me) mark behind the camera as a filmmaker, beginning with writing and directing “After Everything,” The indie film starred Jeremy Allen White as a young man diagnosed with bone cancer who embarks on a new relationship, premiering at the SXSW Film Festival in 2018.
That same year, she landed the coveted directing job of the film adaptation of John Green’s beloved novel “Turtles All the Way Down.” The story focuses on a teenage girl named Aza (Isabela Merced) struggling with...
- 5/2/2024
- by Jenelle Riley
- Variety - Film News
Is one renaissance man about to take on another? Apparently so, as IndieWire has confirmed that Andrew Haigh has been tapped to helm a highly anticipated adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s lauded 2017 biography of Leonardo Da Vinci. Paramount had initially won the film rights when the book was first released and even cast the world’s 2nd most famous Leonardo, Di Caprio, in the lead role. Unfortunately, its version eventually went into turnaround allowing Universal to swoop in (perhaps with the use of Da Vinci’s ornithopter) and create a fresh package with Haigh. Initially it was announced that Christopher Hampton would be scripting the piece, but with Haigh now onboard, Universal looks to be giving him full creative oversight, perhaps in an effort to summon the spirit of Da Vinci himself.
Walter Isaacson is the preeminent biographer of the modern era. The former CEO of CNN and editor of Time,...
Walter Isaacson is the preeminent biographer of the modern era. The former CEO of CNN and editor of Time,...
- 5/2/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
This article contains major spoilers for "The Fall Guy."
This weekend, "The Fall Guy" kicks off blockbuster summer with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt starring in an endlessly entertaining blend of incredible action, charming romance, and Hollywood satire that makes for a spectacular time at the movies. The film follows Hollywood stuntman Colt Seavers (Gosling) as he gets recruited to track down A-list star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the actor Colt used to double for before a freak accident took him out of the stunt game. If Ryder can't be found, it could end up derailing the blockbuster movie "Metalstorm" being directed by his estranged ex-girlfriend Jody Moreno (Blunt). Explosions, intrigue, car chases, fights with fists and bullets, and much more ensue while trying to solve the mystery and save the movie.
But did you know "The Fall Guy" is actually based on a classic TV show from the 1980s?...
This weekend, "The Fall Guy" kicks off blockbuster summer with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt starring in an endlessly entertaining blend of incredible action, charming romance, and Hollywood satire that makes for a spectacular time at the movies. The film follows Hollywood stuntman Colt Seavers (Gosling) as he gets recruited to track down A-list star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the actor Colt used to double for before a freak accident took him out of the stunt game. If Ryder can't be found, it could end up derailing the blockbuster movie "Metalstorm" being directed by his estranged ex-girlfriend Jody Moreno (Blunt). Explosions, intrigue, car chases, fights with fists and bullets, and much more ensue while trying to solve the mystery and save the movie.
But did you know "The Fall Guy" is actually based on a classic TV show from the 1980s?...
- 5/2/2024
- by Ethan Anderton
- Slash Film
Elisabeth Moss fully committed to one of her earliest roles in Oscar-winning film “Girl, Interrupted.” So the the prosthetics team.
In her prosthetics, the future “Mad Men” star was so unrecognizable, even the film crew believed she was an actual burn victim, Moss said during the “Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa” podcast. In the 1999 film, a teenage Moss played Polly “Torch” Clark, a girl with schizophrenia who ended up with facial scars after getting caught in a fire.
Moss’s facial prosthetics would take “about three hours every morning,” she said. Due to how long the process took, Moss would wear the prosthetics even when the cameras weren’t rolling.
“I would forget that I had [the prosthetics] on,” she said. “You wouldn’t take it off at lunch or anything. I would go with [co-star] Winona [Ryder], because we became kind of good friends, I would go with her to the store or something.
In her prosthetics, the future “Mad Men” star was so unrecognizable, even the film crew believed she was an actual burn victim, Moss said during the “Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa” podcast. In the 1999 film, a teenage Moss played Polly “Torch” Clark, a girl with schizophrenia who ended up with facial scars after getting caught in a fire.
Moss’s facial prosthetics would take “about three hours every morning,” she said. Due to how long the process took, Moss would wear the prosthetics even when the cameras weren’t rolling.
“I would forget that I had [the prosthetics] on,” she said. “You wouldn’t take it off at lunch or anything. I would go with [co-star] Winona [Ryder], because we became kind of good friends, I would go with her to the store or something.
- 5/2/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Set in a world where every door creaks and there isn’t a single well-lit location, “Tarot” is little more than a clearinghouse of horror clichés.
Co-written, directed and executive produced by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg (the podcast series “Classified”), the supernatural thriller repeatedly leverages the genre’s laziest mood-setting and suspense-building devices to keep its audience on the edge of their seats. But even featuring a moderately charming ensemble led by “Spider-Man: Homecoming” breakout Jacob Batalon, the film’s PG-13 rating — and lack of virtually any characters other than its doomed protagonists — severely limits the efficacy of those techniques and tropes even when they’re deployed skillfully.
Batalon plays Paxton, the wisecracker among a studiously diverse college-age friend group that rents a remote mansion to celebrate the birthday of Elise (Larsen Thompson). Scouring their rental for booze, the group foolishly breaks into a room marked “Keep Out,” where...
Co-written, directed and executive produced by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg (the podcast series “Classified”), the supernatural thriller repeatedly leverages the genre’s laziest mood-setting and suspense-building devices to keep its audience on the edge of their seats. But even featuring a moderately charming ensemble led by “Spider-Man: Homecoming” breakout Jacob Batalon, the film’s PG-13 rating — and lack of virtually any characters other than its doomed protagonists — severely limits the efficacy of those techniques and tropes even when they’re deployed skillfully.
Batalon plays Paxton, the wisecracker among a studiously diverse college-age friend group that rents a remote mansion to celebrate the birthday of Elise (Larsen Thompson). Scouring their rental for booze, the group foolishly breaks into a room marked “Keep Out,” where...
- 5/2/2024
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety - Film News
Coming on the heels of his experimental assassin flick “Aggro Dr1ft”, which made extensive use of infrared technology, and the forming of his new production company/design collective Edglrd, Harmony Korine is adding to its output with a new music video from bladee and Yung Lean called “One Second”.
Featuring a constant bass-pumping beat and visuals that range from hi-def gaming sequences to classic fish-eye lens close-ups on bare bellies and disarming masks, “One Second” plays as a level-up on the kind of chaotic splendor Korine introduced with films like “Spring Breakers” and “Trash Humpers”. Korine is clearly a fan of bladee and Yung Lean, as exhibited by the DJ sets he performs with them at Miami’s Boiler Room Club. The club setting seems to be the perfect environment for Korine’s experimentation, as he recently screened “Aggro Dr1ft” in Los Angeles at a strip club for its first ever immersive experience.
Featuring a constant bass-pumping beat and visuals that range from hi-def gaming sequences to classic fish-eye lens close-ups on bare bellies and disarming masks, “One Second” plays as a level-up on the kind of chaotic splendor Korine introduced with films like “Spring Breakers” and “Trash Humpers”. Korine is clearly a fan of bladee and Yung Lean, as exhibited by the DJ sets he performs with them at Miami’s Boiler Room Club. The club setting seems to be the perfect environment for Korine’s experimentation, as he recently screened “Aggro Dr1ft” in Los Angeles at a strip club for its first ever immersive experience.
- 5/2/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Golden Globe and Emmy winner Rosamund Pike will join the cast of Lionsgate’s “Now You See Me 3,” the third chapter of the magician series. Details of her part are being kept under wraps, but she will have a “pivotal role” in the film according to the press release.
Original cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and Morgan Freeman are expected to reprise their roles. Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa and Ariana Greenblatt have also been cast in new roles.
Pike joins the ensemble as the new film returns audiences to the thieving illusionists known as the Four Horseman and introduces a new generation of magicians.
Pike has recently received accolades for her role in Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn,” for which she was nominated for best actress in a supporting role at the BAFTA Awards and best supporting actress in the motion picture category at the Golden Globes.
Original cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and Morgan Freeman are expected to reprise their roles. Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa and Ariana Greenblatt have also been cast in new roles.
Pike joins the ensemble as the new film returns audiences to the thieving illusionists known as the Four Horseman and introduces a new generation of magicians.
Pike has recently received accolades for her role in Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn,” for which she was nominated for best actress in a supporting role at the BAFTA Awards and best supporting actress in the motion picture category at the Golden Globes.
- 5/2/2024
- by Selena Kuznikov
- Variety - Film News
As the 2024 presidential election inches closer, two nonprofit groups favored by pop icons and Hollywood stars are merging to get out the vote.
I Am a Voter has been absorbed by HeadCount. The latter is a field operation that provides voter registration and education at concerts and music festivals, heavily courting young people.
Both organizations identify as nonpartisan, and will now share resources and expertise ahead of November. Collectively, the groups have been utilized or endorsed by Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, Alicia Keys, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Aniston and Olivia Rodrigo. Brands have also partnered with each, including the NBA, Major League Baseball, Spotify, Mattel and Liquid Death.
“I am a voter formed in 2018 to unify around a central truth: our democracy works best when we all participate,” said Iaav co-founders Mandana Dayani and Natalie Tran. “We truly believe in the power of culture to inspire others and shape narratives. With...
I Am a Voter has been absorbed by HeadCount. The latter is a field operation that provides voter registration and education at concerts and music festivals, heavily courting young people.
Both organizations identify as nonpartisan, and will now share resources and expertise ahead of November. Collectively, the groups have been utilized or endorsed by Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, Alicia Keys, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Aniston and Olivia Rodrigo. Brands have also partnered with each, including the NBA, Major League Baseball, Spotify, Mattel and Liquid Death.
“I am a voter formed in 2018 to unify around a central truth: our democracy works best when we all participate,” said Iaav co-founders Mandana Dayani and Natalie Tran. “We truly believe in the power of culture to inspire others and shape narratives. With...
- 5/2/2024
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety - Film News
Without question, one of the most anticipated movies of the summer is "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." Serving as a prequel to 2015's action masterpiece "Mad Max: Fury Road," director George Miller is finally back nearly a decade later to deliver the long-promised fifth entry in his legendary franchise. This time around, we have a familiar hero in Furiosa, now played by Anya Taylor-Joy ("The Queen's Gambit"), facing off against a new villain in Dementus, played by Chris Hemsworth ("Thor"). For Hemsworth, in particular, playing the villain in the latest "Mad Max" film was a scary prospect.
In a new cover story for Entertainment Weekly, Hemsworth revealed that he felt some trepidation in taking on the role. The actor, who has played Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for nearly 15 years, explained that it "scared the s*** out of me." Why would one of the biggest stars in the world...
In a new cover story for Entertainment Weekly, Hemsworth revealed that he felt some trepidation in taking on the role. The actor, who has played Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for nearly 15 years, explained that it "scared the s*** out of me." Why would one of the biggest stars in the world...
- 5/2/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
[Editor’s note: The following post contains spoilers for the end of “The Idea of You.”]
Ask any fan about their favorite book, and they are probably a little nervous when Hollywood comes calling with that very question. Streamers are littered with book adaptations that can never live up to the world created in one’s own head.
That’s why it’s such a treat, then, that the Anne Hathaway-starring adaptation of “The Idea of You,” which hit Prime Video on May 2, is such a steamy, fun delight that actually improves upon its source material.
It stays loyal to the book’s fantasy-driven plot: Hathaway portrays Solène, a newly-single mom of a teenager who — after meeting backstage at a concert in a pinch-me moment of serendipity — falls into a whirlwind, sex-forward romance with the lead singer of an international boy band, Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine).
But despite the fluffy rom-com premise, in the original 2017 book by Robinne Lee, Solène and...
Ask any fan about their favorite book, and they are probably a little nervous when Hollywood comes calling with that very question. Streamers are littered with book adaptations that can never live up to the world created in one’s own head.
That’s why it’s such a treat, then, that the Anne Hathaway-starring adaptation of “The Idea of You,” which hit Prime Video on May 2, is such a steamy, fun delight that actually improves upon its source material.
It stays loyal to the book’s fantasy-driven plot: Hathaway portrays Solène, a newly-single mom of a teenager who — after meeting backstage at a concert in a pinch-me moment of serendipity — falls into a whirlwind, sex-forward romance with the lead singer of an international boy band, Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine).
But despite the fluffy rom-com premise, in the original 2017 book by Robinne Lee, Solène and...
- 5/2/2024
- by Erin Strecker
- Indiewire
Rosamund Pike has joined the cast of Lionsgate’s Now You See Me 3 in the latest instalment in the adventures of the thieving illusionists known as the Four Horsemen.
While details of Pike’s role remain under wraps the studio said it will be “pivotal”. She joins previously announced Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, and Ariana Greenblatt.
Ruben Fleischer will return to direct and the project is being conceived as the launch pad for the future of the franchise. The logline has not been disclosed.
At time of writing it was expected that original cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson,...
While details of Pike’s role remain under wraps the studio said it will be “pivotal”. She joins previously announced Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, and Ariana Greenblatt.
Ruben Fleischer will return to direct and the project is being conceived as the launch pad for the future of the franchise. The logline has not been disclosed.
At time of writing it was expected that original cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson,...
- 5/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
Heading into the Cannes market Vmi Worldwide has acquired international sales rights to the action title Kill Craft, with sister company Vmi Releasing set to release in North America.
Mark Savage wrote and directed the story starring Sanae Loutsis as a wife and daughter forced to take over the family business after her veteran hitman father is mysteriously killed on the job.
Michael Paré and Bill Oberst Jr. also star in the feature from Stl Productions, Savage Sinema, and Millman Productions.
Savage, Alexi Angelino, and Jeff Miller produced Kill Craft, with Shawn Loutsis and Tamie Loutsis serving as executive producers.
Mark Savage wrote and directed the story starring Sanae Loutsis as a wife and daughter forced to take over the family business after her veteran hitman father is mysteriously killed on the job.
Michael Paré and Bill Oberst Jr. also star in the feature from Stl Productions, Savage Sinema, and Millman Productions.
Savage, Alexi Angelino, and Jeff Miller produced Kill Craft, with Shawn Loutsis and Tamie Loutsis serving as executive producers.
- 5/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
Taking over a family business can be overwhelming, but for Karan Johar, it’s been anything but.
It’s been more than 25 years since Johar took over Dharma Prods. founded by his father, Yash. Back then it was a medium-sized production company producing films to moderate reception. Today, Dharma Prods. is an empire. “Karan has truly carried forward his father’s legacy and created a phenomenon with Dharma Prods. He is a cinematic genius,” says actor Alia Bhatt.
Bhatt has worked with Johar for over a decade, first on the 2012 film “Student of the Year” and most recently on “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani.” “Karan and his entire team at Dharma have been a strong pillar in the evolution of Hindi cinema,” says Bhatt.
This summer, Johar’s film “Kill” will be released domestically by Lionsgate in cinemas on the July 4 weekend, and is set to be released July 5 in India.
It’s been more than 25 years since Johar took over Dharma Prods. founded by his father, Yash. Back then it was a medium-sized production company producing films to moderate reception. Today, Dharma Prods. is an empire. “Karan has truly carried forward his father’s legacy and created a phenomenon with Dharma Prods. He is a cinematic genius,” says actor Alia Bhatt.
Bhatt has worked with Johar for over a decade, first on the 2012 film “Student of the Year” and most recently on “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani.” “Karan and his entire team at Dharma have been a strong pillar in the evolution of Hindi cinema,” says Bhatt.
This summer, Johar’s film “Kill” will be released domestically by Lionsgate in cinemas on the July 4 weekend, and is set to be released July 5 in India.
- 5/2/2024
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety - Film News
“Black-ish” and “Grown-ish” star Yara Shahidi has signed on to executive produce the documentary “Paint Me a Road Out of Here,” which will make its world premiere at the DC/Dox Film Festival next month.
Directed by Catherine Gund, “Paint Me a Road Out of Here” features artists Faith Ringgold and Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter and “uncovers the whitewashed history of Ringgold’s masterpiece ‘For the Women’s House,’ following the painting’s 50-year journey from the Rikers Jail to the Brooklyn Museum in a heartbreaking, funny and true parable for a world without mass incarceration.”
Of the painting Ringgold has said: “The women wanted to be free, they wanted to be out of there of course but it was obvious to me that the reason many of them were there was because they had a lack of freedom in the first place. They were arrested for doing things for other people.
Directed by Catherine Gund, “Paint Me a Road Out of Here” features artists Faith Ringgold and Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter and “uncovers the whitewashed history of Ringgold’s masterpiece ‘For the Women’s House,’ following the painting’s 50-year journey from the Rikers Jail to the Brooklyn Museum in a heartbreaking, funny and true parable for a world without mass incarceration.”
Of the painting Ringgold has said: “The women wanted to be free, they wanted to be out of there of course but it was obvious to me that the reason many of them were there was because they had a lack of freedom in the first place. They were arrested for doing things for other people.
- 5/2/2024
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety - Film News
Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd are set to star in “Power Ballad” a musical comedy from John Carney, who directed “Once” and “Sing Street.” They are currently filming in Dublin.
“Power Ballad” was written by Carney and Peter McDonald. The official logline for the film reads, “An uplifting music-driven story about a wedding singer, a rock star and the song that comes between them.”
Jonas and Rudd are both known for their work on-screen with Jonas’ credits including “Camp Rock,” Scream Queens” and “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and a TV performance of “Jersey Boys Live!” Rudd is known for “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” “Only Murders In The Building,” “Knocked Up” and Marvel’s Ant-Man films.
However, both of them have stacked Broadway credits, too. Jonas started acting on Broadway at seven years old. He’s been in “Les Misérables,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Hairspray,” “Annie Get Your Gun” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying...
“Power Ballad” was written by Carney and Peter McDonald. The official logline for the film reads, “An uplifting music-driven story about a wedding singer, a rock star and the song that comes between them.”
Jonas and Rudd are both known for their work on-screen with Jonas’ credits including “Camp Rock,” Scream Queens” and “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and a TV performance of “Jersey Boys Live!” Rudd is known for “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” “Only Murders In The Building,” “Knocked Up” and Marvel’s Ant-Man films.
However, both of them have stacked Broadway credits, too. Jonas started acting on Broadway at seven years old. He’s been in “Les Misérables,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Hairspray,” “Annie Get Your Gun” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying...
- 5/2/2024
- by Lexi Carson
- Variety - Film News
T.S. Eliot, box office pundit: The wasteland of April was the cruelest month for theaters. To say May will be an improvement damns with faint praise; April was less than $440 million, down 52 percent from 2023. What May really needs is a performance not unlike the one we saw a year ago, when “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” lead the month to just under $800 million total.
To achieve that in 2024, there are five films that must reach their potential. All are positioned to reach $100 million in U.S./Canada, although not necessarily by the end of May.
Perhaps the trickiest one to guess is the “The Fall Guy” (Universal). It has the best start-of-summer date, stars the red-hot Ryan Gosling, and received good reviews, yet the consensus among a range of insiders is it may be only the fourth biggest among May releases.
Films like “The Fall Guy” really need to...
To achieve that in 2024, there are five films that must reach their potential. All are positioned to reach $100 million in U.S./Canada, although not necessarily by the end of May.
Perhaps the trickiest one to guess is the “The Fall Guy” (Universal). It has the best start-of-summer date, stars the red-hot Ryan Gosling, and received good reviews, yet the consensus among a range of insiders is it may be only the fourth biggest among May releases.
Films like “The Fall Guy” really need to...
- 5/2/2024
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Tiffany Haddish revealed to the Los Angeles Times that she sometimes investigates the trolls spamming her social media accounts with hateful comments and finds a way to reach out to them directly. The “Girls Trip” favorite said that online bullying got so negative over the last year that she hired a digital forensics analyst when death threats starting coming her way. The analyst’s research showed that 75% of these threats were “created by robots in Malaysia and Iran.”
Despite her acclaimed comedy career, Haddish has become a polarizing figure due to her run-ins with the law. She was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of driving under the influence, then she got charged with her second DUI last November. The charge was later dismissed. A lawsuit was also filed against Haddish in 2022 that claimed she groomed a fellow comedian. Haddish denied the claim and less than a month later the accuser asked...
Despite her acclaimed comedy career, Haddish has become a polarizing figure due to her run-ins with the law. She was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of driving under the influence, then she got charged with her second DUI last November. The charge was later dismissed. A lawsuit was also filed against Haddish in 2022 that claimed she groomed a fellow comedian. Haddish denied the claim and less than a month later the accuser asked...
- 5/2/2024
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety - Film News
This article contains spoilers for "X-Men '97."
Magneto of "X-Men" has one of the most brilliant backstories in superhero comics — they almost made a movie entirely about it. He was once a young Jewish boy when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Captured and dehumanized, he suffered at concentration camp Auschwitz like so many of his people. He survived but it convinced him that hatred is as natural to men as breathing, and so he fights to ensure the prosperity of mutantkind. This backstory was not part of Magneto's original conception (Chris Claremont added it in 1981's "Uncanny X-Men" #150), but you'll be hard-pressed to find a writer who hasn't embraced it since.
"X-Men '97" certainly has. In episode 2, "Mutant Liberation Begins," when Magneto is tried before the United Nations, he recalls how he was first put on his path when his people were slaughtered because "they called God by a different name.
Magneto of "X-Men" has one of the most brilliant backstories in superhero comics — they almost made a movie entirely about it. He was once a young Jewish boy when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Captured and dehumanized, he suffered at concentration camp Auschwitz like so many of his people. He survived but it convinced him that hatred is as natural to men as breathing, and so he fights to ensure the prosperity of mutantkind. This backstory was not part of Magneto's original conception (Chris Claremont added it in 1981's "Uncanny X-Men" #150), but you'll be hard-pressed to find a writer who hasn't embraced it since.
"X-Men '97" certainly has. In episode 2, "Mutant Liberation Begins," when Magneto is tried before the United Nations, he recalls how he was first put on his path when his people were slaughtered because "they called God by a different name.
- 5/2/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
The 21st century has seen nearly every mechanism of the entertainment industry, from distribution models and revenue streams to the cultural gatekeepers of stardom and prestige, evolve or die. But even as each new generation of artists tries to make its mark on a changing business, the classic dream of leaving everyday life behind for fame and fortune still burns as brightly as ever. The details might have changed — the old archetype of being plucked from obscurity by a record executive who promises to make you into a star has gradually been replaced by fantasies of going viral overnight — but the grandiose ambition in young artists with something to prove isn’t going away anytime soon.
Sol (Sauve Sidle) is a walking embodiment of those dreams when we first meet him in “Lost Soulz.” Katherine Propper’s directorial debut begins with the rainbow-haired rapper staring at himself in the mirror...
Sol (Sauve Sidle) is a walking embodiment of those dreams when we first meet him in “Lost Soulz.” Katherine Propper’s directorial debut begins with the rainbow-haired rapper staring at himself in the mirror...
- 5/2/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Relatively still fresh on his Emmy and Golden Globe-winning performance for his supporting turn in the Apple TV+ series, “Black Bird,” acclaimed actor Paul Walter Hauser is looking to chart his next on-screen appearances for 2025. Having just booked a role in “The Naked Gun” reboot starring Liam Neeson, Hauser has landed a role in Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four.”
No character details are available, but Hauser will be joining a big ensemble that includes Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr.
Continue reading Paul Walter Hauser Joins ‘The Fantastic Four’ & ‘The Naked Gun’ Reboot at The Playlist.
No character details are available, but Hauser will be joining a big ensemble that includes Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr.
Continue reading Paul Walter Hauser Joins ‘The Fantastic Four’ & ‘The Naked Gun’ Reboot at The Playlist.
- 5/2/2024
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
The superhero movie renaissance has had a few absolutely perfect casting choices, and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is one of them. He might be taller than his comic book counterpart, but Jackman's performance as the brawny, growly, metal-clawed mutant was crucial to the success of the original "X-Men" movie trilogy. It's no wonder that his Wolverine has had three solo spin-off movies, including the critically acclaimed final chapter, "Logan." It's equally unsurprising that Jackman has been unable to resist returning, despite saying farewell to the character, for the upcoming threequel "Deadpool & Wolverine."
"For five years, I was really honest when I said, 'I'm never playing that part again, I promise you,'" Jackman has previously insisted. In a new interview with Empire magazine, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige revealed that he once urged Jackman to stick to this conviction:
"I said, 'Let me give you a piece of advice,...
"For five years, I was really honest when I said, 'I'm never playing that part again, I promise you,'" Jackman has previously insisted. In a new interview with Empire magazine, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige revealed that he once urged Jackman to stick to this conviction:
"I said, 'Let me give you a piece of advice,...
- 5/2/2024
- by Hannah Shaw-Williams
- Slash Film
Ryan Gosling said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal Magazine that he is no longer picking roles that are too psychologically twisted in order to maintain his mental health for the sake of his family. The Oscar nominee has two children with partner and fellow actor Eva Mendes. Gosling’s recent movies, the comedy “Barbie” and the action romance “The Fall Guy,” certainly reflect this career choice.
“I don’t really take roles that are going to put me in some kind of dark place,” Gosling told the publication. “This moment is what I feel like trying to read the room at home and feel like what is going to be best for all of us. The decisions I make, I make them with Eva and we make them with our family in mind first.”
“I think ‘La La Land’ was the first,” Gosling added about when he started to shift his career.
“I don’t really take roles that are going to put me in some kind of dark place,” Gosling told the publication. “This moment is what I feel like trying to read the room at home and feel like what is going to be best for all of us. The decisions I make, I make them with Eva and we make them with our family in mind first.”
“I think ‘La La Land’ was the first,” Gosling added about when he started to shift his career.
- 5/2/2024
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety - Film News
His name is Nasubi. He sits alone and naked in a small apartment for months on end, trying to win food and clothing as mail-in sweepstakes prizes. He doesn’t quite know it, but his strange predicament is being broadcast to 17 million people. It sounds like a work of fiction about a torturous psychopath — something out of a “Saw” film — but in 1998, it was the premise of a Japanese reality TV show, and is now now the subject of documentary Clair Titley’s wildly intriguing (if often imbalanced) “The Contestant.”
The British documentary, now available on Hulu, chronicles the inception of this cruel and unusual game through the eyes of not only its subject — wannabe comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, a.k.a. Nasubi — as well as TV super-producer Toshio Tsuchiya, who created the bizarre challenge for comedy/prank reality series “Susunu! Denpa Shōnen.” Starting with six-minute segments of Nasubi’s life,...
The British documentary, now available on Hulu, chronicles the inception of this cruel and unusual game through the eyes of not only its subject — wannabe comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, a.k.a. Nasubi — as well as TV super-producer Toshio Tsuchiya, who created the bizarre challenge for comedy/prank reality series “Susunu! Denpa Shōnen.” Starting with six-minute segments of Nasubi’s life,...
- 5/2/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety - Film News
“We stand at the summit of Mont Blanc, the White Mountain. Highest peak of the Alpine arch and inspiration for the first Montblanc fountain pen, designed over 100 years ago for the adventurous traveler who wants to leave his mark.”
Say what you want of Wes Anderson’s oeuvre, but his gift for ad copy speaks for itself. With a commercial track record that includes collaborations with American Express, SoftBank, Stella Artois, Prada, and H&m, Anderson’s touch seems to translate as well to sales as it does to cinematic ennui. His most recent commission, an advertisement campaign for Montblanc’s 100th Anniversary of its Meisterstück pen, features Anderson himself, sporting a whispy walrus mustache, as well as frequent collaborators Jason Schwartzman and Rupert Friend, all posing as a group of mountain-climbers with a particular affection for the freedom and inspiration offered by Montblanc’s products.
Shot by renowned cinematographer Linus Sandgren...
Say what you want of Wes Anderson’s oeuvre, but his gift for ad copy speaks for itself. With a commercial track record that includes collaborations with American Express, SoftBank, Stella Artois, Prada, and H&m, Anderson’s touch seems to translate as well to sales as it does to cinematic ennui. His most recent commission, an advertisement campaign for Montblanc’s 100th Anniversary of its Meisterstück pen, features Anderson himself, sporting a whispy walrus mustache, as well as frequent collaborators Jason Schwartzman and Rupert Friend, all posing as a group of mountain-climbers with a particular affection for the freedom and inspiration offered by Montblanc’s products.
Shot by renowned cinematographer Linus Sandgren...
- 5/2/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Specialty distributor Ariztical Entertainment has acquired international sales for Cannes on Paul Oremland’s LGBTQ+ drama Mysterious Ways excluding the UK and Germany.
British actor Richard Short from The Tragedy Of Macbeth and New Zealand’s Nick Afoa star in the story of the media storm that ensues when a vicar and his Samoan boyfriend announced plans to get married in a traditional church wedding.
The feature was shot in New Zealand with Ngaire Fuata, founding director of SunPix in Auckland, serving as producer. Executive producers include Taualeo’o Stephen Stehlin, Brian Holland, Tracey Gardiner and Jonathan Unger of Unger Media in Los Angeles.
British actor Richard Short from The Tragedy Of Macbeth and New Zealand’s Nick Afoa star in the story of the media storm that ensues when a vicar and his Samoan boyfriend announced plans to get married in a traditional church wedding.
The feature was shot in New Zealand with Ngaire Fuata, founding director of SunPix in Auckland, serving as producer. Executive producers include Taualeo’o Stephen Stehlin, Brian Holland, Tracey Gardiner and Jonathan Unger of Unger Media in Los Angeles.
- 5/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
It feels like suddenly Nicholas Galitzine is everywhere.
The 29-year-old English actor had a runaway streaming hit last year with “Red, White & Royal Blue,” starring as a prince caught up in a closeted gay romance with an American politico (Taylor Zakhar Perez). He played a dopey quarterback in the “Heathers”-inspired high school comedy “Bottoms,” and this spring starred as a queer George Villiers, aka the First Duke of Buckingham.
Now, he’s a full-blown romantic drama lead in “The Idea of You,” starring as Hayes Campbell, the frontman of a One Direction-inspired pop group who falls for a divorced single mother, Solène, played by Anne Hathaway. Directed by Michael Showalter and written by Jennifer Westfeldt, the film situates us in the moony dazedness of new love that becomes Solène’s fixation. We buy convincingly that Hayes, and therefore Galitzine, is a heartthrob capable of making us drop our...
The 29-year-old English actor had a runaway streaming hit last year with “Red, White & Royal Blue,” starring as a prince caught up in a closeted gay romance with an American politico (Taylor Zakhar Perez). He played a dopey quarterback in the “Heathers”-inspired high school comedy “Bottoms,” and this spring starred as a queer George Villiers, aka the First Duke of Buckingham.
Now, he’s a full-blown romantic drama lead in “The Idea of You,” starring as Hayes Campbell, the frontman of a One Direction-inspired pop group who falls for a divorced single mother, Solène, played by Anne Hathaway. Directed by Michael Showalter and written by Jennifer Westfeldt, the film situates us in the moony dazedness of new love that becomes Solène’s fixation. We buy convincingly that Hayes, and therefore Galitzine, is a heartthrob capable of making us drop our...
- 5/2/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
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