Movie News
Not exactly the opening weekend that dreams are made of.
Director John Krasinski’s “If,” a fantasy-comedy that promises your imaginary friends from childhood are real, fell slightly short of box office expectations with $35 million. Heading into the weekend, “If” was expected to bring in at least $40 million in its first weekend of release. Based on Friday’s turnout, it looked like “If” would open to $30 million but projections were revised up after Saturday’s strong showing. Ticket sales were enough for first place, but it’s a wobbly start for a PG family film that cost $110 million to make and many millions more to market. It collected an additional $20 million overseas for a global total of $55 million.
The good news for Paramount Pictures, which distributed “If,” is that audiences dug the film, giving it an “A” CinemaScore. Ideally, it’ll have staying power like recent original kid-friendly movies, including “Migration” and “Elemental,...
Director John Krasinski’s “If,” a fantasy-comedy that promises your imaginary friends from childhood are real, fell slightly short of box office expectations with $35 million. Heading into the weekend, “If” was expected to bring in at least $40 million in its first weekend of release. Based on Friday’s turnout, it looked like “If” would open to $30 million but projections were revised up after Saturday’s strong showing. Ticket sales were enough for first place, but it’s a wobbly start for a PG family film that cost $110 million to make and many millions more to market. It collected an additional $20 million overseas for a global total of $55 million.
The good news for Paramount Pictures, which distributed “If,” is that audiences dug the film, giving it an “A” CinemaScore. Ideally, it’ll have staying power like recent original kid-friendly movies, including “Migration” and “Elemental,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Yorgos Lanthimos can’t stop (won’t stop!) working with Oscar winner Emma Stone, casting the actress once again as leading lady for his next project “Bugonia.”
The drama will also star Jesse Plemons who, along with Stone, appears in Lanthimos’ forthcoming “Kinds of Kindness.” That three-chapter feature just premiered on Friday at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
“Bugonia” follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. The script is from heat-seeking “Succession” and “The Menu” writer Will Tracy.
Focus Features has won domestic rights to distribute the project. Universal Pictures will roll out the film in global territories, save Korea where “Parasite” producer Cj Enm will release. The latter is financing the film with Fremantle. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent brokered the rights deal.
This package is loaded with pedigree.
The drama will also star Jesse Plemons who, along with Stone, appears in Lanthimos’ forthcoming “Kinds of Kindness.” That three-chapter feature just premiered on Friday at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
“Bugonia” follows two conspiracy-obsessed young men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. The script is from heat-seeking “Succession” and “The Menu” writer Will Tracy.
Focus Features has won domestic rights to distribute the project. Universal Pictures will roll out the film in global territories, save Korea where “Parasite” producer Cj Enm will release. The latter is financing the film with Fremantle. CAA Media Finance and WME Independent brokered the rights deal.
This package is loaded with pedigree.
- 5/18/2024
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Writer-director John Krasinski‘s original family film IF has started off its box office run with $1.8 million in Thursday previews.
The fantasy pic, headlining Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming alongside an A-list voice cast, explores the world of discarded imaginary friends and what happens when a young girl and her neighbor try to reunite them with their previous human pals.
The live-action/CGI animated Paramount pic is tracking for a domestic debut in the $40 million range from more than 4,000 theaters, but the family marketplace continues to struggle in the post-pandemic era. Nor is original fare an easy proposition. It’s hard to read too much into Thursday previews since families don’t start turning out in earnest until Friday and Saturday, generally speaking, although some exhibitors are worried the movie could have a hard time getting to $40 million based on presales, according to sources.
Reviews aren’t so great — If...
The fantasy pic, headlining Ryan Reynolds and Cailey Fleming alongside an A-list voice cast, explores the world of discarded imaginary friends and what happens when a young girl and her neighbor try to reunite them with their previous human pals.
The live-action/CGI animated Paramount pic is tracking for a domestic debut in the $40 million range from more than 4,000 theaters, but the family marketplace continues to struggle in the post-pandemic era. Nor is original fare an easy proposition. It’s hard to read too much into Thursday previews since families don’t start turning out in earnest until Friday and Saturday, generally speaking, although some exhibitors are worried the movie could have a hard time getting to $40 million based on presales, according to sources.
Reviews aren’t so great — If...
- 5/17/2024
- by Pamela McClintock
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Neon has bought North American rights to “The Unknown” (“L’Inconnue”), the hotly anticipated next movie from “Anatomy of a Fall”’s Oscar-winning co-writer Arthur Harari.
As revealed by Variety earlier this week, the movie will star Léa Seydoux (“Dune 2”) and is being represented in international markets. Harari is rolling off of “Anatomy of a Fall” which he co-wrote with director Justine Triet, abd won an Oscar, two Golden Globes, a BAFTA and the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The deal was negotiated by Neon’s president of acquisitions and production Jeff Deutchman with producer Nicolas Anthomé on behalf of the filmmakers, and marks Neon’s second collaboration with Harari following last year’s “Anatomy of a Fall” which Neon acquired out of Cannes in 2023 before it won the Palme d’Or for that year. This deal further cements Neon’s commitment to bringing top-of-the-line international cinema to U.
As revealed by Variety earlier this week, the movie will star Léa Seydoux (“Dune 2”) and is being represented in international markets. Harari is rolling off of “Anatomy of a Fall” which he co-wrote with director Justine Triet, abd won an Oscar, two Golden Globes, a BAFTA and the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The deal was negotiated by Neon’s president of acquisitions and production Jeff Deutchman with producer Nicolas Anthomé on behalf of the filmmakers, and marks Neon’s second collaboration with Harari following last year’s “Anatomy of a Fall” which Neon acquired out of Cannes in 2023 before it won the Palme d’Or for that year. This deal further cements Neon’s commitment to bringing top-of-the-line international cinema to U.
- 5/17/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety - Film News
Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons are hungry, wolfing down sandwiches at the start of our “Kinds of Kindness” interview. They’re in Cannes to promote the singular three-part anthology film, which has been well-received. They laugh a lot. She’s a Yorgos Lanthimos veteran, and just won her second Oscar embodying the free-spirited Bella Baxter in “Poor Things.” After that, it seems, nothing will phase her and she’ll do anything for her soulmate director. Announced at Cannes: Their next movie to be shot this summer, “Bugonia” (Focus Features), a remake of a Korean thriller, co-starring Plemons.
The 36-year-old one-time child actor is the new kid in town, joining such familiar faces as Stone, Margaret Qualley, and Willem Dafoe in the Lanthimos ensemble. When the “Fargo” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” star got the call from his agent, even before he read the “Kinds of Kindness” script, he said,...
The 36-year-old one-time child actor is the new kid in town, joining such familiar faces as Stone, Margaret Qualley, and Willem Dafoe in the Lanthimos ensemble. When the “Fargo” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” star got the call from his agent, even before he read the “Kinds of Kindness” script, he said,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Saturday saw the premiere of the first bona fide competition hit with “Emilia Pérez,” Jacques Audiard’s queer musical fantasia about a Mexican trans woman’s (breakout star Karla Sofía Gascón) empowerment and liberation.
Audiard, who won the 2015 Palme d’Or from a jury led by the Coens for “Dheepan,” is working in a mode not far-flung from the grit of crime dramas like Grand Prix winner “A Prophet” or 2012 Palme contender “Rust and Bone.” But here, he weds those elements to an emotional story spanning Mexico City and trans identity that’s further outside his comfort zone. Selena Gomez co-stars in this wide-swinging musical as the wife of cartel crime lord Manitas, who with the help of a lawyer played by Zoe Saldana, undergoes gender confirmation surgery. Gascón stars as Pérez in a performance already getting best actress buzz. The movie careens from genre thriller to comedy and musical and queer redemption story,...
Audiard, who won the 2015 Palme d’Or from a jury led by the Coens for “Dheepan,” is working in a mode not far-flung from the grit of crime dramas like Grand Prix winner “A Prophet” or 2012 Palme contender “Rust and Bone.” But here, he weds those elements to an emotional story spanning Mexico City and trans identity that’s further outside his comfort zone. Selena Gomez co-stars in this wide-swinging musical as the wife of cartel crime lord Manitas, who with the help of a lawyer played by Zoe Saldana, undergoes gender confirmation surgery. Gascón stars as Pérez in a performance already getting best actress buzz. The movie careens from genre thriller to comedy and musical and queer redemption story,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
French distribution company UFO has secured the rights to American filmmaker Ryan J. Sloan’s New psychological thriller “Gazer,” which will world premiere at this year’s Directors’ Fortnight on May 22.
Set in New Jersey and starring Sloan’s partner Ariella Mastroianni, “Gazer” is the story of a young mother with a rare degenerative brain condition called dyschronometria. The disease causes her to struggle to perceive time, which makes holding down a steady job nearly impossible. So, when a mysterious woman offers her a risky job, she takes it, unaware of the dark consequences of her decision.
According to UFO CEO Stéphane Auclaire, “We loved following the lead character Frankie, played by the hypnotic Ariella Mastroianni, through the twists and turns of this paranoid thriller that reminded us of Cronenberg and the Safdie brothers. The sound and music, framing and lighting cohere in an ‘analog obsession’, through which director Ryan J.
Set in New Jersey and starring Sloan’s partner Ariella Mastroianni, “Gazer” is the story of a young mother with a rare degenerative brain condition called dyschronometria. The disease causes her to struggle to perceive time, which makes holding down a steady job nearly impossible. So, when a mysterious woman offers her a risky job, she takes it, unaware of the dark consequences of her decision.
According to UFO CEO Stéphane Auclaire, “We loved following the lead character Frankie, played by the hypnotic Ariella Mastroianni, through the twists and turns of this paranoid thriller that reminded us of Cronenberg and the Safdie brothers. The sound and music, framing and lighting cohere in an ‘analog obsession’, through which director Ryan J.
- 5/19/2024
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety - Film News
Not exactly the opening weekend that dreams are made of.
Director John Krasinski’s “If,” a fantasy-comedy that promises your imaginary friends from childhood are real, fell slightly short of box office expectations with $35 million. Heading into the weekend, “If” was expected to bring in at least $40 million in its first weekend of release. Based on Friday’s turnout, it looked like “If” would open to $30 million but projections were revised up after Saturday’s strong showing. Ticket sales were enough for first place, but it’s a wobbly start for a PG family film that cost $110 million to make and many millions more to market. It collected an additional $20 million overseas for a global total of $55 million.
The good news for Paramount Pictures, which distributed “If,” is that audiences dug the film, giving it an “A” CinemaScore. Ideally, it’ll have staying power like recent original kid-friendly movies, including “Migration” and “Elemental,...
Director John Krasinski’s “If,” a fantasy-comedy that promises your imaginary friends from childhood are real, fell slightly short of box office expectations with $35 million. Heading into the weekend, “If” was expected to bring in at least $40 million in its first weekend of release. Based on Friday’s turnout, it looked like “If” would open to $30 million but projections were revised up after Saturday’s strong showing. Ticket sales were enough for first place, but it’s a wobbly start for a PG family film that cost $110 million to make and many millions more to market. It collected an additional $20 million overseas for a global total of $55 million.
The good news for Paramount Pictures, which distributed “If,” is that audiences dug the film, giving it an “A” CinemaScore. Ideally, it’ll have staying power like recent original kid-friendly movies, including “Migration” and “Elemental,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety - Film News
That the name Limonov is pronounced Lee-mwah-nov is one of two main things that Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov: The Ballad” teaches us about Eduard Limonov, the Russian radical, poet, dissident, emigré, returnee, detainee, bête noire and cause célèbre who in 1993 co-founded the ultra-nationalist National Bolshevik Party. The second is that, as imagined in this adaptation of Emmanuel Carrère’s 2015 fictionalized biography, for all the shifting identities and attitudes he assumed over the course of his controversial life, his persona as an aggravatingly self-aggrandizing solipsist never wavered.
A sharper film could have excavated his contradictions to illuminating effect — the rise of populist, crypto-fascist political movements and their self-ordained maverick leaders being a not-irrelevant phenomenon these days. But Serebrennikov, in love with the posture of the rebel that Limonov adopted without being terribly interested in what, at any given moment, he claimed to be rebelling against, mistakes the trappings for the substance...
A sharper film could have excavated his contradictions to illuminating effect — the rise of populist, crypto-fascist political movements and their self-ordained maverick leaders being a not-irrelevant phenomenon these days. But Serebrennikov, in love with the posture of the rebel that Limonov adopted without being terribly interested in what, at any given moment, he claimed to be rebelling against, mistakes the trappings for the substance...
- 5/19/2024
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety - Film News
Sex is politics and politics is sex in Kirill Serebrennikov’s recklessly beautiful, wildly entertaining English-language debut “Limonov: The Ballad.” This punk rock epic moves at the pace of a train coming off its tracks across Moscow, New York, Paris, and back to Russia again, starring Ben Whishaw in a career-crowning lead performance as the self-styled alternative poet and political dissident Eduard Limonov (who died in 2020). Based on French writer and journalist Emmanuel Carrère’s biographical novel, “Limonov” spans the 1960s to near present-day Siberia to tell with orgiastic excess the life story of the eventual founder of the National Bolshevik Party, which married a far-left youth movement to far-right fascist ideology. But while Limonov’s politics are inextricable from the libertine hedonist he was, Serebrennikov’s film is more a purely pleasurable romantic odyssey than political deep dive, radiating a countercultural energy that smacks of freewheeling ‘70s cinema more...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Cannes film festival
Eduard Limonov’s bizarre career, from rebel émigré writer in New York to leader of a fascistic, militaristic political group, is told with gusto by Kirill Serebrennikov
Fascism, punk, euphoria and despair … it’s all here, or mostly, in this hilarious biopic of Eduard Limonov, the rock’n’roll émigré Russian writer and patriot-dissident who wound up poverty-stricken in New York at about the same time as Sid Vicious. Limonov became an angry bohemian, a sexual outlaw, a celebrated adulte terrible in French literary circles in the 80s, railing against the prissy liberals and mincing hypocrites. Then he returned to Russia and became the leader of a violent group called the National Bolshevik Party. Tactfully, nobody here points out the similarity to “national socialist party”. It was if someone had given Michel Houellebecq a machine gun.
Ben Whishaw gives a glorious performance as Limonov - funny, dour,...
Eduard Limonov’s bizarre career, from rebel émigré writer in New York to leader of a fascistic, militaristic political group, is told with gusto by Kirill Serebrennikov
Fascism, punk, euphoria and despair … it’s all here, or mostly, in this hilarious biopic of Eduard Limonov, the rock’n’roll émigré Russian writer and patriot-dissident who wound up poverty-stricken in New York at about the same time as Sid Vicious. Limonov became an angry bohemian, a sexual outlaw, a celebrated adulte terrible in French literary circles in the 80s, railing against the prissy liberals and mincing hypocrites. Then he returned to Russia and became the leader of a violent group called the National Bolshevik Party. Tactfully, nobody here points out the similarity to “national socialist party”. It was if someone had given Michel Houellebecq a machine gun.
Ben Whishaw gives a glorious performance as Limonov - funny, dour,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Oscar-, BAFTA-, Golden Globe- and Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman has unveiled music documentary “Headhunting to Beatboxing” at the Cannes Film Festival.
Directed by Rohit Gupta, the documentary follows the Naga tribe in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, once engulfed in the depths of violence and bloodshed, that resurrects itself through the healing power of music and emerges through a musical renaissance.
Rahman was always intrigued by the music of India’s northeast and he visited the region for the first time when he was invited to the annual Hornbill Festival, a cultural celebration of all the ethnic groups of Nagaland.
“I was blown away, the whole story, that we’ve been hearing for years, decades, and suddenly the transformation of young people taking to music and they’re all out in the streets,” Rahman told Variety. “It was like a dreamland for me. I said, ‘Oh, my God, this...
Directed by Rohit Gupta, the documentary follows the Naga tribe in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, once engulfed in the depths of violence and bloodshed, that resurrects itself through the healing power of music and emerges through a musical renaissance.
Rahman was always intrigued by the music of India’s northeast and he visited the region for the first time when he was invited to the annual Hornbill Festival, a cultural celebration of all the ethnic groups of Nagaland.
“I was blown away, the whole story, that we’ve been hearing for years, decades, and suddenly the transformation of young people taking to music and they’re all out in the streets,” Rahman told Variety. “It was like a dreamland for me. I said, ‘Oh, my God, this...
- 5/19/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety - Film News
In the latest instalment of Screen’s Cannes Close-Up interview series, Ed Guiney, Co-CEO and founder of Element Pictures, talks about his best Cannes memory and discovering a brilliant fish restaurant.
Guiney has three films in official selection this year, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness in competition, and Rungano Nyoni’s On Becoming A Guinea Fowl and Ariane Labed’s September Says, both in Un Certain Regard.
In the interview, Guiney discusses his approach to working at Cannes, and why he’s “way happier sitting in a theatre than having a maybe not so fruitful meeting”.
Watch the full interview above.
Guiney has three films in official selection this year, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness in competition, and Rungano Nyoni’s On Becoming A Guinea Fowl and Ariane Labed’s September Says, both in Un Certain Regard.
In the interview, Guiney discusses his approach to working at Cannes, and why he’s “way happier sitting in a theatre than having a maybe not so fruitful meeting”.
Watch the full interview above.
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
The "Star Wars" prequel trilogy kicked off 25 years ago with the release of "The Phantom Menace," aka Episode I. At the time, hype was off the charts for George Lucas' first new movie in a galaxy far, far away in more than a decade. Despite being a massive financial success, the movie's reputation, and the prequel trilogy's reputation for that matter, are complicated. Many people hated the movies in their day. While the narrative has changed a lot, Lucas had people warning him that the story he planned to tell of a young Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader might ruin the franchise. He just didn't care to listen.
In a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone around the time that "Revenge of the Sith" was hitting theaters, Lucas explained that those around him at Lucasfilm were nervous about his plans for the prequels. Darth Vader had a scary mystique around him as...
In a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone around the time that "Revenge of the Sith" was hitting theaters, Lucas explained that those around him at Lucasfilm were nervous about his plans for the prequels. Darth Vader had a scary mystique around him as...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
If you've ever watched any behind-the-scenes footage from "The Shining," you might remember Jack Nicholson working himself up into a frenzy prior to shooting the famous "Here's Johnny" scene. As poor Shelly Duvall quietly finds her way into the bathroom, Jack can be seen seething as he descends into the deranged mental space required for the scene. No wonder "The Shining" changed Shelly Duvall forever.
But while Nicholson's process for journeying to the outer edges of sanity involved jumping in place, repeating the words, "Come on!," and almost accidentally giving the Pa a concussion with a prop axe, not all actors follow that same method. We all know the punishing physical lengths to which Christian Bale goes in order to truly feel like the characters he portrays. As the actor told The Guardian, "I try to get as distant as possible. Otherwise, I can't do it. It's helpful not to look like yourself.
But while Nicholson's process for journeying to the outer edges of sanity involved jumping in place, repeating the words, "Come on!," and almost accidentally giving the Pa a concussion with a prop axe, not all actors follow that same method. We all know the punishing physical lengths to which Christian Bale goes in order to truly feel like the characters he portrays. As the actor told The Guardian, "I try to get as distant as possible. Otherwise, I can't do it. It's helpful not to look like yourself.
- 5/19/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Blue Sun Palace, Constance Tsang’s first feature, is a migrant story that’s vividly attuned to the temporal and emotional dislocation of those stranded far away from home. Set in Flushing, Queens—where the director grew up—the film follows three transplants as they forge new ties in the borough’s Chinese community, which Tsang depicts as a bubble suspended in time and space. Save for the occasional, blink-it-and-you-miss-it glimpses of road signs and billboards, there’d be no way of identifying this as a corner of New York City; Blue Sun Palace unfurls for the most part inside crammed apartments and massage parlors, where […]
The post “It’s Very Important, When You’re Choosing Actors, To Make Sure They Possess Something That Remains Almost Unknown”: Director Constance Tsang on Her Cannes-Premiering Blue Sun Palace first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “It’s Very Important, When You’re Choosing Actors, To Make Sure They Possess Something That Remains Almost Unknown”: Director Constance Tsang on Her Cannes-Premiering Blue Sun Palace first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/19/2024
- by Leonardo Goi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
“Please stop me if any of the terms don’t make sense.” A few days before his feature debut, Eephus, will premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight, Carson Lund is sitting on a rooftop terrace in Cannes and worrying I may not catch all the jargon. Understandably. A chronicle of the last baseball game played at Soldiers Field in Douglas, Ma before the grounds will be paved over and replaced by a middle school, the chat’s testing my—admittedly limited—knowledge of the sport. Yet how you’ll respond to Lund’s wistful film won’t depend on your level of inside baseball. It will depend on […]
The post “I’ve Always Been Interested in Making My Own Version of Goodbye Dragon Inn: Director Carson Lund on His Cannes-Premiering Eephus first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I’ve Always Been Interested in Making My Own Version of Goodbye Dragon Inn: Director Carson Lund on His Cannes-Premiering Eephus first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/19/2024
- by Leonardo Goi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
"Breaking Bad" is one of the great television tragedies of all time, following high school chemistry teacher Walter White (Bryan Cranston) on an incredible downward spiral after he decides to start dealing meth in the wake of a devastating health diagnosis. There are quite a few truly soul-crushing moments throughout the show's five-season run because no one was really safe and major characters could get taken out in an instant — heck, even the show's beating heart, Jesse (Aaron Paul), almost bought the farm back in season 1! But one of the most heart-wrenching scenes of all has nothing to do with death, instead happening when Walt abducts his infant daughter, Holly, in the season 5 scorcher "Ozymandias."
In an oral history of the seminal episode for The Ringer, director Rian Johnson, writer and executive producer Moira Walley-Beckett, and Cranston revealed that the most devastating part of that scene was actually improvised by the child actor playing Holly,...
In an oral history of the seminal episode for The Ringer, director Rian Johnson, writer and executive producer Moira Walley-Beckett, and Cranston revealed that the most devastating part of that scene was actually improvised by the child actor playing Holly,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
Looking over "Star Wars," it's kind of astonishing how well-equipped the Rebels are. Keep in mind, they're called the Rebels; they don't sport a name that indicates what kind of government they represent should their rebellion be successful, nor do they have a provisional government set up anywhere (at least that's not seen in the original 1977 film). I know there's expanded universe lore, sequels, prequels, novels, etc., that explain everything in the "Star Wars" universe from a government perspective, but in the 1977 original, the details are left intentionally vague.
They even have their own symbols emblazoned on their uniforms and helmets. It makes sense for the Empire to have such symbols -- they definitely have the size and the industrial resources to manufacture their own equipment -- but the Rebels? One might think their symbol is merely something scrawled on the walls of Empire buildings and a symbol of defiance.
They even have their own symbols emblazoned on their uniforms and helmets. It makes sense for the Empire to have such symbols -- they definitely have the size and the industrial resources to manufacture their own equipment -- but the Rebels? One might think their symbol is merely something scrawled on the walls of Empire buildings and a symbol of defiance.
- 5/19/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Jia Zhangke’s Caught By The Tides is the new leader on Screen International’s Cannes jury grid with an average score of 2.6.
The Chinese romance epic received one four (excellent) from Justin Chang (LA Times) followed by seven threes (good). On the other end, The Telegraph and Katja Nicodemus of Germany’s Die Zeit gave it just one star.
This is Jia’s sixth time in Competition with highlights including 2015’s Mountains May Depart which scored 2.8 and 2013’s A Touch Of Sin on 3.
Click on the jury grid above for the most up-to-date version.
Caught By The Tides chronicles...
The Chinese romance epic received one four (excellent) from Justin Chang (LA Times) followed by seven threes (good). On the other end, The Telegraph and Katja Nicodemus of Germany’s Die Zeit gave it just one star.
This is Jia’s sixth time in Competition with highlights including 2015’s Mountains May Depart which scored 2.8 and 2013’s A Touch Of Sin on 3.
Click on the jury grid above for the most up-to-date version.
Caught By The Tides chronicles...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Julianne Moore says the film industry has “changed dramatically” since she started out in the early 1990s when it comes to female representation.
Speaking as part of Kering’s Women in Motion program at the Cannes Film Festival, the Oscar winner said one of the most noticeable differences is when it comes to career longevity for actresses.
“Meryl [Streep] said this too the other day [during the festival’s opening ceremony], this idea that when she was 40, she thought it was all going to be over,” she said. “I think we’re now seeing women represented through all stages of their lives, which is very exciting.”
In the conversation, moerated by Variety senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson, Moore noted that she is now seeing not just more female directors, but more women working as camera operators, grips and in the electric department. “Whereas before there were none,” she said. “But we’re still really far from gender parity.
Speaking as part of Kering’s Women in Motion program at the Cannes Film Festival, the Oscar winner said one of the most noticeable differences is when it comes to career longevity for actresses.
“Meryl [Streep] said this too the other day [during the festival’s opening ceremony], this idea that when she was 40, she thought it was all going to be over,” she said. “I think we’re now seeing women represented through all stages of their lives, which is very exciting.”
In the conversation, moerated by Variety senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson, Moore noted that she is now seeing not just more female directors, but more women working as camera operators, grips and in the electric department. “Whereas before there were none,” she said. “But we’re still really far from gender parity.
- 5/19/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety - Film News
Superman may be colloquially known as "The Big Blue Boy Scout," but sometimes, he can be straight up villainous. Sure, he's saved Metropolis (and the world) more times than any individual can count, however, that doesn't excuse his moments of cruelty and authoritarian-brand of justice.
The most interesting aspect of Superman as a character derives from his immortality on Earth. Short of using Kryptonite, our measly human-made weapons never account for much damage against the Man of Steel. The only thing stopping Clark Kent/Superman from taking over the world or causing serious harm is his sense of righteousness.
While Supes, for the most part, doesn't allow his ego or greed to corrupt him, he's certainly made some questionable decisions across his nearly-90 year history. As we prepare for the cinematic return of Superman with James Gunn's "Superman: Legacy," let's remind ourselves that even our most morally straight hero falters.
The most interesting aspect of Superman as a character derives from his immortality on Earth. Short of using Kryptonite, our measly human-made weapons never account for much damage against the Man of Steel. The only thing stopping Clark Kent/Superman from taking over the world or causing serious harm is his sense of righteousness.
While Supes, for the most part, doesn't allow his ego or greed to corrupt him, he's certainly made some questionable decisions across his nearly-90 year history. As we prepare for the cinematic return of Superman with James Gunn's "Superman: Legacy," let's remind ourselves that even our most morally straight hero falters.
- 5/19/2024
- by Rachel Ho
- Slash Film
Spanish animation is experiencing a historic boom. Shorts and features from the country are achieving notable success at festivals and the box office, while Spanish artists are contributing to some of the most influential film and TV productions coming from Hollywood today.
The question now is what steps should be taken to build on recent success.
Spaniard Almu Redondo won an Emmy this year for her work on the Cartoon Saloon-produced “Star Wars: Visions” episode “Screecher’s Reach,” and Pablo Berger’s Spanish feature “Robot Dreams” was nominated for a 2024 animated feature Academy Award. Few artists had as profound an impact on the aesthetic of the “Spider-Verse” films as Alberto Mielgo, who also won the animated short Oscar in 2022 for his film “The Windshield Wiper.”
Spanish artists flourishing abroad is a longstanding tradition, but one that may be waning. Many animation professionals are now staying in Spain, while...
The question now is what steps should be taken to build on recent success.
Spaniard Almu Redondo won an Emmy this year for her work on the Cartoon Saloon-produced “Star Wars: Visions” episode “Screecher’s Reach,” and Pablo Berger’s Spanish feature “Robot Dreams” was nominated for a 2024 animated feature Academy Award. Few artists had as profound an impact on the aesthetic of the “Spider-Verse” films as Alberto Mielgo, who also won the animated short Oscar in 2022 for his film “The Windshield Wiper.”
Spanish artists flourishing abroad is a longstanding tradition, but one that may be waning. Many animation professionals are now staying in Spain, while...
- 5/19/2024
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety - Film News
Cate Blanchett says political satire ‘Rumours’ "isn’t trying to be an important film with a message”
Cate Blanchett says Cannes title Rumours, a political satire surrounding a G7 summit, “isn’t trying to be an important film with a message”.
While speaking at the Cannes Film Festival press conference for the film, which is playing out of competition, the Australian actor said: “I think one feels the most mad in the present day and you try and make sense of what is happening because it is completely bewildering and absurd the situations we as a species have found ourselves in and have willingly put ourselves in.
“And so I think if you try and make too much sense of this movie,...
While speaking at the Cannes Film Festival press conference for the film, which is playing out of competition, the Australian actor said: “I think one feels the most mad in the present day and you try and make sense of what is happening because it is completely bewildering and absurd the situations we as a species have found ourselves in and have willingly put ourselves in.
“And so I think if you try and make too much sense of this movie,...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Legendary producer and director Roger Corman, who died recently at age 98, had an immeasurable impact on American cinema as we know it. The number of actors, writers, and directors who learned their craft on a Corman production is staggering, and he was known for giving people chances to prove themselves on the low-budget pictures he either produced or directed himself. Tons of notable names went through the so-called "Corman school," including James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, and Joe Dante, just to name a few.
Three-time Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson is another significant alumnus of the Corman school of filmmaking — in fact, his very first movie, "The Cry Baby Killer," was a Corman production, and it provided Nicholson the first of many starring roles across his incredible career. The film follows a young man who thinks he's committed murder outside of a local hang-out restaurant,...
Three-time Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson is another significant alumnus of the Corman school of filmmaking — in fact, his very first movie, "The Cry Baby Killer," was a Corman production, and it provided Nicholson the first of many starring roles across his incredible career. The film follows a young man who thinks he's committed murder outside of a local hang-out restaurant,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
Depending on who you talk to, the world is either in crisis, on fire, at war and/or simply lurching toward a frankly deserved final judgment. So what can be done to save it? Why, a carefully worded provisional statement, of course, from the global leaders currently in possession of both the gas canister and the lit match, but not a surfeit of great ideas for the future. The ineffectiveness of rhetorical politics and symbolic diplomacy — best represented by the Group of Seven, the intergovernmental forum keen on expensive meetings that could have been emails — is kookily but ruthlessly skewered in “Rumours,” a wildly entertaining shaggy-dog satire that sees a stuffy G7 summit devolve into a murky, muddy and strangely isolated zombie apocalypse.
As comedy subgenres go, political satire can often veer closer to the wryly clever than the baldly hilarious. But “Rumours” — the third feature collaboration between veteran Canadian...
As comedy subgenres go, political satire can often veer closer to the wryly clever than the baldly hilarious. But “Rumours” — the third feature collaboration between veteran Canadian...
- 5/19/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety - Film News
Cate Blanchett’s new film “Rumours” took its name from the iconic Fleetwood Mac album, it was revealed on Sunday at a Cannes Film Festival press conference.
The dark comedy, directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson, follows a group of world leaders who meet at the G7 — a political and economic meeting of the minds between Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — but get lost in the woods while trying to compose a joint statement. Debauchery ensues, and there are romantic connections between a few of the politicians.
“I did confirm something with Galen last night, and it’s weird that it never came up in rehearsal, which is: ‘Why the hell is this movie called Rumours?'” Blanchett said at the presser. “And my husband had said, ‘Is that after the Fleetwood Mac album?’ And you said, ‘Yes it was.
The dark comedy, directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson, follows a group of world leaders who meet at the G7 — a political and economic meeting of the minds between Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — but get lost in the woods while trying to compose a joint statement. Debauchery ensues, and there are romantic connections between a few of the politicians.
“I did confirm something with Galen last night, and it’s weird that it never came up in rehearsal, which is: ‘Why the hell is this movie called Rumours?'” Blanchett said at the presser. “And my husband had said, ‘Is that after the Fleetwood Mac album?’ And you said, ‘Yes it was.
- 5/19/2024
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety - Film News
In the latest instalment of Screen’s Cannes Close-Up interview series, Daphné Lora, head of Film France by Cnc, details five reasons for international productions to shoot in France and gives her tips for Cannes newcomers.
Lora, whose mission at Film France is to help promote France as a filming location, said the country’s VFX studios, natural locations, highly skilled crew and generous tax credit have made the territory attractive to international producers.
“You can get 30%, up to 40% if you do intensive VFX work and spend €2m on the effects,” explains Lora.
Film France supported competition title The Substance,...
Lora, whose mission at Film France is to help promote France as a filming location, said the country’s VFX studios, natural locations, highly skilled crew and generous tax credit have made the territory attractive to international producers.
“You can get 30%, up to 40% if you do intensive VFX work and spend €2m on the effects,” explains Lora.
Film France supported competition title The Substance,...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Selena Gomez has credited the Emilia Perez script for providing her with a potentially iconic line, speaking at the press conference for Jacques Audiard’s Cannes Competition title.
Gomez was asked by a journalist whether a particular speech of hers in the film would become “iconic erotic dialogue… some of the sexiest dialogue ever heard in Spanish.”
“I don’t know if I’m sexy!” responded Gomez. “That’s the writing, it’s not me.”
“It’s a very powerful moment in the movie and it was very poetic.”
Emilia Perez is written by Audiard, with collaboration from Thomas Bidegain and Lea Mysius.
Gomez was asked by a journalist whether a particular speech of hers in the film would become “iconic erotic dialogue… some of the sexiest dialogue ever heard in Spanish.”
“I don’t know if I’m sexy!” responded Gomez. “That’s the writing, it’s not me.”
“It’s a very powerful moment in the movie and it was very poetic.”
Emilia Perez is written by Audiard, with collaboration from Thomas Bidegain and Lea Mysius.
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
When you think of the very best Alfred Hitchcock movies, you might think of, say, "Psycho" or "Vertigo." You might consider "The Birds" — controversial though it may be — as the director's finest moment, or "Rear Window" might spring to mind. But while these are all excellent examples of Hitch's undeniable directing talent, there's an impressive array of underrated Hitchcock movies worth watching.
Take "Strangers on a Train" for example. This 1951 thriller stars Farley Granger as Guy Haines and Robert Walker as Bruno Antony, who are, believe it or not, two strangers who meet on a train. The thing about Bruno, however, is that he's also a psychopath, and suggests to Guy that they "swap murders" so as to do away with Guy's estranged wife and Bruno's overbearing father. From Bruno's perspective, because both men will essentially be killing strangers, no one will suspect either of them. When Guy laughs off this nefarious plot,...
Take "Strangers on a Train" for example. This 1951 thriller stars Farley Granger as Guy Haines and Robert Walker as Bruno Antony, who are, believe it or not, two strangers who meet on a train. The thing about Bruno, however, is that he's also a psychopath, and suggests to Guy that they "swap murders" so as to do away with Guy's estranged wife and Bruno's overbearing father. From Bruno's perspective, because both men will essentially be killing strangers, no one will suspect either of them. When Guy laughs off this nefarious plot,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
The stars of Cannes sensation “Emilia Perez” got personal about the politics of their genre-bending musical on Sunday.
Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña and Édgar Ramírez fielded questions at a press conference for the Jacques Audiard project about the film’s setting in Mexico — a country torn by cartel violence as it heads for a summer election. A Mexican journalist asked the actors if they could reconcile the beauty of the film with the real world corruption occurring in the nation.
“I’ve been living in LA for 20 years. Mexican culture, that’s something that’s dear to my heart. I have lots of family there. There is injustice and corruption, which is true of all places in the world. But I’m grateful to Jacques because he used a lot of creative library and freedom [in this story],” said Saldaña.
Gomez said she related “so much to what Zoe said. I still have family there and,...
Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña and Édgar Ramírez fielded questions at a press conference for the Jacques Audiard project about the film’s setting in Mexico — a country torn by cartel violence as it heads for a summer election. A Mexican journalist asked the actors if they could reconcile the beauty of the film with the real world corruption occurring in the nation.
“I’ve been living in LA for 20 years. Mexican culture, that’s something that’s dear to my heart. I have lots of family there. There is injustice and corruption, which is true of all places in the world. But I’m grateful to Jacques because he used a lot of creative library and freedom [in this story],” said Saldaña.
Gomez said she related “so much to what Zoe said. I still have family there and,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Matt Donnelly and Ellise Shafer
- Variety - Film News
Mubi has secured a multi-territory deal for Magnus von Horn’s The Girl With The Needle, which premiered in Competition at Cannes earlier this week.
The arthouse distributor, producer and streamer has picked up rights for North America, UK-Ireland, Latin America, Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey and India. International sales of the film are handled by Mubi-owned The Match Factory, which is working on deals for further territories.
It marks Mubi’s third acquisition of titles competing for this year’s Palme d’Or after picking up worldwide rights to Coralie Fargeat’s body horror The Substance and UK rights to Andrea Arnold’s Bird,...
The arthouse distributor, producer and streamer has picked up rights for North America, UK-Ireland, Latin America, Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey and India. International sales of the film are handled by Mubi-owned The Match Factory, which is working on deals for further territories.
It marks Mubi’s third acquisition of titles competing for this year’s Palme d’Or after picking up worldwide rights to Coralie Fargeat’s body horror The Substance and UK rights to Andrea Arnold’s Bird,...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov (“Leto,” “Petrov’s Flu,” “Tchaikovsky’s Wife”) is back in the Cannes competition with “Limonov,” an epic about Russian punk poet Eduard Limonov that the director describes as “probably the most complicated project in my life.”
Based on the best-selling book by Emmanuelle Carrere, “Limonov” delves into the story of its titular character who lived many lives. He was an underground writer in the Soviet Union who escaped to the U.S. where he became a punk-poet and also a butler to a millionaire in Manhattan. “Eddie” then became a literary sensation in Paris before returning to Russia where he morphed into a charismatic dissident party leader with rock star status, only to be incarcerated by Vladimir Putin.
Serebrennikov was shooting “Limonov” in Moscow on Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. The director – who himself has had troubles with Putin – was able to leave the country and eventually complete...
Based on the best-selling book by Emmanuelle Carrere, “Limonov” delves into the story of its titular character who lived many lives. He was an underground writer in the Soviet Union who escaped to the U.S. where he became a punk-poet and also a butler to a millionaire in Manhattan. “Eddie” then became a literary sensation in Paris before returning to Russia where he morphed into a charismatic dissident party leader with rock star status, only to be incarcerated by Vladimir Putin.
Serebrennikov was shooting “Limonov” in Moscow on Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. The director – who himself has had troubles with Putin – was able to leave the country and eventually complete...
- 5/19/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety - Film News
This post contains spoilers for "The Twilight Zone" season 1, episode 5: "Walking Distance."
One of the most beloved episodes of "The Twilight Zone" was also one of its least terrifying. "Walking Distance," a season 1 episode about a man who unwittingly travels back in time and revisits his childhood, is widely praised for its melancholy, nostalgic themes. The show's creator, Rod Serling, also generally looks back at it fondly. As his daughter Anne Serling explained in a 2019 interview:
"There are so many pieces of my father in 'Walking Distance.' When he was in the war, his father had a heart attack, and he wasn't able to get leave to go see him. By the time he got home, his father had died. Those trips to Binghamton were his way of going back in time. He would sit at the park and just remember the idyllic childhood that was cut short by going into the war.
One of the most beloved episodes of "The Twilight Zone" was also one of its least terrifying. "Walking Distance," a season 1 episode about a man who unwittingly travels back in time and revisits his childhood, is widely praised for its melancholy, nostalgic themes. The show's creator, Rod Serling, also generally looks back at it fondly. As his daughter Anne Serling explained in a 2019 interview:
"There are so many pieces of my father in 'Walking Distance.' When he was in the war, his father had a heart attack, and he wasn't able to get leave to go see him. By the time he got home, his father had died. Those trips to Binghamton were his way of going back in time. He would sit at the park and just remember the idyllic childhood that was cut short by going into the war.
- 5/19/2024
- by Michael Boyle
- Slash Film
Brazilian directors Eryk Rocha and Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha’s “The Falling Sky” delves into lives of the Amazonian Yanomami people, who live in the heart of the Amazon rainforest where they are contending with a harsh humanitarian crisis caused by the massive invasion of wildcat miners searching for gold and cassiterite, a mineral used in electronics. This unique doc – which launches in Directors Fortnight – is inspired by the thoughts, expressed in an eponymous book, of Davi Kopenawa, a shaman and spokesman for the Yanomami who performs the reahu ritual, a collective ceremony to hold up the sky and prevent it from falling.
The directors spoke in unison to Variety about why the Yanomami’s struggle against miners transcends the woes of their land and how their cosmology can help heal our planet as a whole.
What drew you to this project?
In the book Davi Kopenawa says that it...
The directors spoke in unison to Variety about why the Yanomami’s struggle against miners transcends the woes of their land and how their cosmology can help heal our planet as a whole.
What drew you to this project?
In the book Davi Kopenawa says that it...
- 5/19/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety - Film News
Paolo Sorrentino is back in Cannes for the seventh time with “Parthenope,” a love letter to his native Naples but also, as he puts it, a film about his “missed youth” that comes as a natural follow-up to his autobiographical “The Hand of God.” Perhaps more significantly, “Parthenope” – an epic spanning several decades – is Sorrentino’s first female-centric film. Why? “In thinking of a modern hero, it came naturally to me that it would be a heroine, not a man,” he tells Variety.
Let’s start with the film’s titular protagonist, Parthenope. Of course, Neapolitans in Italy are also known as “Parthenopeans.” My impression is that, after returning from Rome to Naples to make “The Hand of God,’ your native city drew you further back into its fold.
It’s a bit more complex, actually, not necessarily just linked to Naples. “Parthenope” was born from a series of long-simmering thoughts and emotional changes.
Let’s start with the film’s titular protagonist, Parthenope. Of course, Neapolitans in Italy are also known as “Parthenopeans.” My impression is that, after returning from Rome to Naples to make “The Hand of God,’ your native city drew you further back into its fold.
It’s a bit more complex, actually, not necessarily just linked to Naples. “Parthenope” was born from a series of long-simmering thoughts and emotional changes.
- 5/19/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety - Film News
In front of empty wooden bleachers on a late summer day in Massachusetts, two squads of out-of-shape, middle-aged men show up to play a game of baseball on what they all expect to be one of their saddest afternoons in recent memory. For decades, this recreational league has been the social glue that binds the men in this community together. But it’s all about to disappear when the local field is destroyed after the season, which ends today. So the men load their coolers up with cheap beer, spend copious amounts of time stretching, and prepare to give their summer haven a glorious send-off before they have to find something else to do with their weekends.
Carson Lund’s directorial debut shares its name with a slow-moving pitch that has largely been forgotten by modern baseball players — and it’s a fitting title for a film that embraces the...
Carson Lund’s directorial debut shares its name with a slow-moving pitch that has largely been forgotten by modern baseball players — and it’s a fitting title for a film that embraces the...
- 5/19/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
According to the European Audiovisual Observatory, Switzerland is ranked third in Europe for its yearly output of documentaries, with more than 70 titles in 2023. On May 19, it will unveil four of its most promising features at the Swiss Cannes Docs Showcase.
The event is jointly organized by the national promotional agency Swiss Films, Visions du Réel —the country’s sole non-fiction film festival—and Cannes Docs.
“It’s actually the very first Swiss Showcase of docs-in-progress ever at Cannes Docs!” said Pierre-Alexi Chevit, head of the sought-after doc industry event.
“We’ve been talking about it with Swiss Films for many years, and it’s now finally happening in the framework of Swiss Country of Honour at the Marché du Film this year,” he added.
“It is fabulous to have Visions du Réel as a key collaborator for this Showcase, as it is such a great festival, run by amazing people,...
The event is jointly organized by the national promotional agency Swiss Films, Visions du Réel —the country’s sole non-fiction film festival—and Cannes Docs.
“It’s actually the very first Swiss Showcase of docs-in-progress ever at Cannes Docs!” said Pierre-Alexi Chevit, head of the sought-after doc industry event.
“We’ve been talking about it with Swiss Films for many years, and it’s now finally happening in the framework of Swiss Country of Honour at the Marché du Film this year,” he added.
“It is fabulous to have Visions du Réel as a key collaborator for this Showcase, as it is such a great festival, run by amazing people,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety - Film News
There’s a scene early in the documentary “Nasty,” a rollicking portrait of the ’70s Romanian tennis bad boy Ilie Năstase, where the Grand Slam champion’s mentor and longtime doubles partner Ion Țiriac recalls teaching Năstase how to ski. The young prodigy was a fast study — perhaps too fast.
“He skied down perfectly,” says Țiriac, “except he ran into the fence because I hadn’t taught him to stop.”
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better metaphor for the free-wheeling, fast-living Năstase, a “wild child,” “rock star” and “insolent, elegant, angry, whimsical bon vivant” who makes a fitting subject for the documentary, which was directed by Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu and Tudor D. Popescu. A co-production between HBO Documentaries Europe and Romania’s Libra Films, the film has a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival on May 23 and will drop across Europe on Max the following day.
“He skied down perfectly,” says Țiriac, “except he ran into the fence because I hadn’t taught him to stop.”
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better metaphor for the free-wheeling, fast-living Năstase, a “wild child,” “rock star” and “insolent, elegant, angry, whimsical bon vivant” who makes a fitting subject for the documentary, which was directed by Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu and Tudor D. Popescu. A co-production between HBO Documentaries Europe and Romania’s Libra Films, the film has a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival on May 23 and will drop across Europe on Max the following day.
- 5/19/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety - Film News
Focus Features has bought international rights to “Hamlet,” Aneil Karia’s London-set modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s famed play starring Oscar winner Riz Ahmed.
Morfydd Clark and Joe Alwyn (“Kinds of Kindness”) also star in the film, which wrapped production at the end of last year and was acquired by Focus Features some time ago. WME Independent and CAA are co-repping North American rights, while WME handled international sales.
In this latest interpretation of “Hamlet,” Ahmed plays the titular lead, a man who is haunted by his father’s ghost and moves from elite London to the city’s underground, from Hindu temples to homeless tent cities. He embarks on a violent journey to avenge his father’s murder, ultimately questioning his own role in the family’s corruption.
The film was penned by Michael Lesslie (“Macbeth”). Ahmed produced “Hamlet” on behalf of his production company Left-Handed Films with Allie Moore.
Morfydd Clark and Joe Alwyn (“Kinds of Kindness”) also star in the film, which wrapped production at the end of last year and was acquired by Focus Features some time ago. WME Independent and CAA are co-repping North American rights, while WME handled international sales.
In this latest interpretation of “Hamlet,” Ahmed plays the titular lead, a man who is haunted by his father’s ghost and moves from elite London to the city’s underground, from Hindu temples to homeless tent cities. He embarks on a violent journey to avenge his father’s murder, ultimately questioning his own role in the family’s corruption.
The film was penned by Michael Lesslie (“Macbeth”). Ahmed produced “Hamlet” on behalf of his production company Left-Handed Films with Allie Moore.
- 5/19/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety - Film News
Maisie Williams has joined the cast of Morgan Matthews’ road movie 500 Miles alongside Bill Nighy and Roman Griffin Davis.
The Game Of Thrones, The New Look and Pistol star will play free-spirited street musician Kait who joins sixteen-year-old runaway Finn (Griffin Davis), on a journey across land and sea to reach Finn’s estranged grandfather (Nighy), living off-the-radar on Ireland’s west coast.
Beta Cinema continues to pre-sell 500 Miles at the Marché du Film in Cannes, having sold the project to True Brit Entertainment for UK & Ireland during the EFM with Zygi Kamasa joining as an executive producer.
Beta Cinema...
The Game Of Thrones, The New Look and Pistol star will play free-spirited street musician Kait who joins sixteen-year-old runaway Finn (Griffin Davis), on a journey across land and sea to reach Finn’s estranged grandfather (Nighy), living off-the-radar on Ireland’s west coast.
Beta Cinema continues to pre-sell 500 Miles at the Marché du Film in Cannes, having sold the project to True Brit Entertainment for UK & Ireland during the EFM with Zygi Kamasa joining as an executive producer.
Beta Cinema...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mubi has swooped on its third 2024 Cannes competition title, Variety has learned.
Having acquired worldwide rights to Coralie Fargeat’s buzzy body horror “The Substance” and U.K. rights to Andrea Arnold’s Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski-starring ‘Bird’ before the festival began, the arthouse distributor, production banner and streamer has now picked up Magnus von Horn’s chilling black and white drama “The Girl With the Needle.” Mubi bought the title for North America, U.K./Ireland, Latin America, Germany/Austria, Italy, Turkey and India.
Directed by von Horn (“Sweat”) from a screenplay he wrote with Line Langebek, “The Girl With the Needle” is loosely based on the true story of Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye, who helped impoverished women kill their unwanted children and was first sentenced to death in 1921, but it was later changed into a lifetime in prison.
In von Horn’s pic, set in post WW1 Copenhagen,...
Having acquired worldwide rights to Coralie Fargeat’s buzzy body horror “The Substance” and U.K. rights to Andrea Arnold’s Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski-starring ‘Bird’ before the festival began, the arthouse distributor, production banner and streamer has now picked up Magnus von Horn’s chilling black and white drama “The Girl With the Needle.” Mubi bought the title for North America, U.K./Ireland, Latin America, Germany/Austria, Italy, Turkey and India.
Directed by von Horn (“Sweat”) from a screenplay he wrote with Line Langebek, “The Girl With the Needle” is loosely based on the true story of Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye, who helped impoverished women kill their unwanted children and was first sentenced to death in 1921, but it was later changed into a lifetime in prison.
In von Horn’s pic, set in post WW1 Copenhagen,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy and Alex Ritman
- Variety - Film News
Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed the first international sales for Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” ahead of its world premiere on Friday in the Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival.
The film has been acquired in Italy by BiM Distribuzione and Lucky Red, Benelux by September Film Distribution, Spain by Bteam Pictures, Greece by Ama Films, Hungary by Cirko Film, Norway by Selmer Media, Portugal by Leopardo Filmes, Taiwan by Hooray Films and Turkey by Bir Film. The rights for France were previously taken by Pyramide and for North America by Neon.
Negotiations are underway for the rights in Germany and Austria, Switzerland, Latin America, the Baltics, Denmark, former Yugoslavia, the Indian subcontinent, Poland and Sweden.
It was revealed on Monday that Rasoulof had left Iran and traveled to Europe clandestinely after being sentenced to eight years in prison by the country’s authorities,...
The film has been acquired in Italy by BiM Distribuzione and Lucky Red, Benelux by September Film Distribution, Spain by Bteam Pictures, Greece by Ama Films, Hungary by Cirko Film, Norway by Selmer Media, Portugal by Leopardo Filmes, Taiwan by Hooray Films and Turkey by Bir Film. The rights for France were previously taken by Pyramide and for North America by Neon.
Negotiations are underway for the rights in Germany and Austria, Switzerland, Latin America, the Baltics, Denmark, former Yugoslavia, the Indian subcontinent, Poland and Sweden.
It was revealed on Monday that Rasoulof had left Iran and traveled to Europe clandestinely after being sentenced to eight years in prison by the country’s authorities,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety - Film News
Athens-based sales and production outfit Heretic has sold key territories on the Cannes Film Festival’s Acid sidebar opening film, Greece’s “Kyuka: Before Summer’s End.”
Heretic has sealed distribution deals for France with The Dark, Benelux with Gusto Entertainment and Greece with Cinobo.
Directed by feature debutant Kostis Charamountanis, who previously directed several acclaimed shorts, the film follows a family of three, a single father, Babis, and his twin children on the verge of adulthood, Konstantinos and Elsa, who sail to the island of Poros on the family boat for their holidays. In the midst of swimming, sunbathing and making new friends, Konstantinos and Elsa meet, unbeknownst to them, their birth mother Anna who abandoned them when they were babies. The encounter stirs up long-held feelings of resentment in Babis, resulting in a bittersweet coming-of-age journey.
The film, which had its world premiere last week, opening Cannes Acid (Association...
Heretic has sealed distribution deals for France with The Dark, Benelux with Gusto Entertainment and Greece with Cinobo.
Directed by feature debutant Kostis Charamountanis, who previously directed several acclaimed shorts, the film follows a family of three, a single father, Babis, and his twin children on the verge of adulthood, Konstantinos and Elsa, who sail to the island of Poros on the family boat for their holidays. In the midst of swimming, sunbathing and making new friends, Konstantinos and Elsa meet, unbeknownst to them, their birth mother Anna who abandoned them when they were babies. The encounter stirs up long-held feelings of resentment in Babis, resulting in a bittersweet coming-of-age journey.
The film, which had its world premiere last week, opening Cannes Acid (Association...
- 5/19/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety - Film News
Cast member of Palme d’Or contender shot in Kent says the high number of chaperones and intimacy coordinators on set was over the top
Is Britain leading the way in protecting young people and children from the potential traumas of working on a film set, or has it all gone far too far? Two of the most prominent European stars attending the Cannes film festival, both with high-profile premieres, have very different views.
Franz Rogowski, the acclaimed German actor who plays a key role in Bird, British director Andrea Arnold’s contender for the top Palme d’Or prize, said this weekend that the proliferation of chaperones and intimacy coordinators that had been required on the shoot on location in Kent qualified as well-intended “madness”.
Is Britain leading the way in protecting young people and children from the potential traumas of working on a film set, or has it all gone far too far? Two of the most prominent European stars attending the Cannes film festival, both with high-profile premieres, have very different views.
Franz Rogowski, the acclaimed German actor who plays a key role in Bird, British director Andrea Arnold’s contender for the top Palme d’Or prize, said this weekend that the proliferation of chaperones and intimacy coordinators that had been required on the shoot on location in Kent qualified as well-intended “madness”.
- 5/19/2024
- by Vanessa Thorpe in Cannes
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor-director John Krasinski’s animated tale of an anxious tween and her make-believe buddies is not in Pixar’s league, but it boasts a heartfelt sweetness and an engaging young star
What if imaginary friends didn’t vanish into the murk of forgotten memories as soon as the child who conjured them grew up? What if the invisible bestie lingered on, trying hard not to be wounded by the rejection and waiting in vain to be of use once more? If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The central premise of American actor-director John Krasinski’s If – his first family film after the horror movie double of A Quiet Place and its sequel – is borrowed from several Pixar films.
There’s an obvious parallel with the subplot of Bing Bong in Inside Out. A heartbreakingly cheerful pink cat/elephant/dolphin mashup in a too-small top hat, Bing Bong...
What if imaginary friends didn’t vanish into the murk of forgotten memories as soon as the child who conjured them grew up? What if the invisible bestie lingered on, trying hard not to be wounded by the rejection and waiting in vain to be of use once more? If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The central premise of American actor-director John Krasinski’s If – his first family film after the horror movie double of A Quiet Place and its sequel – is borrowed from several Pixar films.
There’s an obvious parallel with the subplot of Bing Bong in Inside Out. A heartbreakingly cheerful pink cat/elephant/dolphin mashup in a too-small top hat, Bing Bong...
- 5/19/2024
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
The very title of “Everybody Loves Touda” poses a kind of challenge to viewers. If everybody loves Touda, dare you not? Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s forthright musical drama certainly doesn’t permit much room for dissent. From first gilded frame to last, the film is besotted with its eponymous heroine, a fiery small-town singer aspiring to the status of ‘Sheikhat’ — a revered class of diva versed in the poetic traditions of historical Aita music. With scene after scene conceived to emphasize Touda’s strength of character and depth of talent, it’s just as well star Nisrin Erradi is sufficiently magnetic not to buckle under the weight of the film’s devotion to her.
As a dramatic construction, however, Touda is more fabulous than she is intrinsically fascinating, characterized predominantly by determined ambition and glittering, show-must-go-on resolve. Ayouch’s script, written in collaboration with his wife and fellow filmmaker...
As a dramatic construction, however, Touda is more fabulous than she is intrinsically fascinating, characterized predominantly by determined ambition and glittering, show-must-go-on resolve. Ayouch’s script, written in collaboration with his wife and fellow filmmaker...
- 5/19/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety - Film News
From The Office sidekick to standup legend and a serial killer, the multitalented Stephen Merchant is impossible to pin down. He talks about cancel culture, why pubs are more interesting than outer space and hanging out with Christopher Walken
Stephen Merchant has always been obsessed by the idea of the ordinary man “thrust into extraordinary circumstance”. Since he was a kid in Bristol, the son of a plumber and a nursery nurse, those were the kinds of films he sought out and the stories he wrote, about normal people who experience something that “jolts them out of their life and gives them a way of reframing it”. He’s talking to me from his office in Nichols Canyon, LA, in a house once owned by Ellen DeGeneres, where he lives with his partner of seven years, actor Mircea Monroe. It’s early morning there, the white light offering shadows of shifting leaves,...
Stephen Merchant has always been obsessed by the idea of the ordinary man “thrust into extraordinary circumstance”. Since he was a kid in Bristol, the son of a plumber and a nursery nurse, those were the kinds of films he sought out and the stories he wrote, about normal people who experience something that “jolts them out of their life and gives them a way of reframing it”. He’s talking to me from his office in Nichols Canyon, LA, in a house once owned by Ellen DeGeneres, where he lives with his partner of seven years, actor Mircea Monroe. It’s early morning there, the white light offering shadows of shifting leaves,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Eva Wiseman
- The Guardian - Film News
Brazilian production powerhouse Gullane, which is behind Netflix’s “Senna” and Karim Aïnouz’s Cannes competition title “Motel Destino,” has closed international co-production pacts on new projects from Cao Hamburger (”The Year My Parents Went on Vacation”) and Sandra Kogut (“Three Summers”).
France’s Playtime Group and Portugal’s Ukbar Filmes will co-produce Hamburger’s “School Without Walls.” A Playtime Group company will also handle international sales on the true and inspiring story of Braz Nogueira, principal of a public school in Heliopolis, one of Brazil’s biggest slums.
Kogut will direct “New Cancun,” co-created by and starring Sundance actress winner Regina Casé. The film teams Gullane with Kogut’s regular producer in France, Gloria Films. It’s slated to shoot by the first quarter of 2025.
In the film, Casé plays Madá, who has never dwelled on her family’s tragedy in an environmental disaster. When chosen for a Christmas campaign,...
France’s Playtime Group and Portugal’s Ukbar Filmes will co-produce Hamburger’s “School Without Walls.” A Playtime Group company will also handle international sales on the true and inspiring story of Braz Nogueira, principal of a public school in Heliopolis, one of Brazil’s biggest slums.
Kogut will direct “New Cancun,” co-created by and starring Sundance actress winner Regina Casé. The film teams Gullane with Kogut’s regular producer in France, Gloria Films. It’s slated to shoot by the first quarter of 2025.
In the film, Casé plays Madá, who has never dwelled on her family’s tragedy in an environmental disaster. When chosen for a Christmas campaign,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente and John Hopewell
- Variety - Film News
Veteran US independent producer Cassian Elwes and Chinese tech entrepreneur and NextG founder Edward Zeng are launching a $100m fund to invest in five to eight features over the next three years.
The pair are in Cannes to meet with potential partners on their Next Generation Media Fund and are talking to buyers on the first project on the slate, the crime biopic Gambino.
Elwes, whose credits include The Butler, Precious and Mudbound, is lead producer on the story of the Mafia boss who led the Gambino crime family in New York until his death in 1976.
Nick Vallelonga, the Oscar-winning...
The pair are in Cannes to meet with potential partners on their Next Generation Media Fund and are talking to buyers on the first project on the slate, the crime biopic Gambino.
Elwes, whose credits include The Butler, Precious and Mudbound, is lead producer on the story of the Mafia boss who led the Gambino crime family in New York until his death in 1976.
Nick Vallelonga, the Oscar-winning...
- 5/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
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