EXCLUSIVE : Good Deed Entertainment has acquired North American and UK rights to the indie drama Midday Black Midnight Blue , starring 2x Emmy winner Merritt Wever ( Godless ), slating it for a day-and-date release in June. The first feature from writer-directors Samantha Soule and Daniel Talbott, also starring Chris Stack (AMC’s Interview with the Vampire ) and Soule ( Godless ), follows Ian (Stack) as he grapples with his shifting memories of Liv (Soule), a woman he once loved. For Ian, it’s a chance run-in with Liv’s sister (Wever) that sparks a journey in which he has a chance to reconnect to the light and fight his way back to life. The film, which world premiered at last year’s Seattle Film Festival, is produced by Soule, Talbott and Stack, as well as Lovell Holder and Addie Johnson Talbott. Exec producers are Timothy Farrell, Conner Marx and Will Pullen. GDE’s EVP of Acquisitions Erik Donley negotiated Midday Black ‘s deal for the company, with … [Read more...] about Merritt Wever-Led ‘Midday Black Midnight Blue’ Acquired By Good Deed; Coral Peña, Nicole Byer Board ‘Thelma’; More – Film Briefs
Marc rothemund film
French Film & TV Stars Get Behind Petition Decrying Macron Pension Reforms; King Charles State Visit Postponed Due To Unrest
More than 300 leading figures from the French film and TV world have gotten behind a petition decrying controversial pension reforms spearheaded by the government of President Emmanuel Macron . French stars Juliette Binoche , Audrey Fleurot, Camille Cottin , Swann Arlaud, Jeanne Balibar, Bérenice Béjo, Laure Calamy, Camille Cottin, Pierre Deladonchamps and Noémie Merlant; directors Michel Hazanavicius , Alice Diop , Kim Chapiron, Maimouna Doucouré, Robert Guédiguian and Alain Guiraudie, as well as producer Saïd Ben Saïd were among the signatories. “It is high time to make our voices heard, because cinema, theater, culture, even if they sometimes offer dreams and a means of escape, above all speak of our world,” read an open letter to Macron accompanying the petition. The petition was launched under the banner of the Cinema Entertainment Collective on the Liberation newspaper website on Thursday afternoon, as a national strike brought public services to a … [Read more...] about French Film & TV Stars Get Behind Petition Decrying Macron Pension Reforms; King Charles State Visit Postponed Due To Unrest
‘Motherland,’ Belorussian Film That Challenges Country’s Nationalist Push, Takes Top Prize At CPH:DOX; See Full Winners List
Motherland , a “dark and monumental” film about neo-nationalism in Belarus, earned the top prize tonight at the prestigious CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen. Belorussian directors Alexander Mihalkovich and Hanna Badziaka accepted the Dox:Award honor at a ceremony at the Kunsthal Charlottenborg in the Danish capital. Jurors praised Motherland as “a cinematic and meaningful film that took its time unfolding the complexity of living within an oppressive and unjust system. It poses questions about the idea of an individual choice within a cornered society. The title of the film is a way to give back the power to the women who are at the forefront of this fight.” [See the full list of CPH:DOX winners below]. The world premiere of Motherland at CPH:DOX comes at a particularly timely moment, just over a year after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine with key assistance from the Kremlin-allied Belorussian government. Russian forces trained in Belarus in advance of the … [Read more...] about ‘Motherland,’ Belorussian Film That Challenges Country’s Nationalist Push, Takes Top Prize At CPH:DOX; See Full Winners List
Neon Acquires Domestic Rights To Anne Hathaway Sundance Movie ‘Eileen’
Neon has taken the North American rights to the Anne Hathaway -starring Sundance Film Festival premiere Eileen , from director William Oldroyd ( Lady Macbeth ). The distributor is eyeing a fall theatrical release. Oldroyd’s connection to Sundance began in 2013 when his short film Best won the Short Film Competition. Eilee has already notched 87% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with critics since its Park City debut in January. The pic, based on the 2015 debut novel by Otessa Moshfegh, is set during a bitter 1964 Massachusetts winter, when young secretary Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) becomes enchanted by the glamorous new counselor Rebecca (Hathaway) at the prison where she works. Their budding friendship takes a twisted turn when Rebecca reveals a dark secret — throwing Eileen onto a sinister path. Shea Whigham, Marin Ireland and Owen Teague also star in the pic, which was adapted for the screen by Moshfegh with Luke Goebel. The pic was produced by Fifth Season, … [Read more...] about Neon Acquires Domestic Rights To Anne Hathaway Sundance Movie ‘Eileen’
Oscar-Winning Filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin On Love Stories – Their Own, And They One They Tell In ‘Wild Life’ – CPH:DOX
World class climber Jimmy Chin met his future wife, filmmaker Chai Vasarhelyi , over a mountain – of footage. He had been working for a number of years on the documentary that would become Meru , the story of an attempt by Chin and his fellow alpinists and friends Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk to become the first to summit the perilous Shark’s Fin peak in the Himalayas. Perhaps because he was so close to the subject matter, the film wasn’t quite cohering. “I had submitted it to a few film festivals and got turned down,” Chin explained during an Artists & Auteurs conversation at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen. He told moderator Thom Powers, TIFF’s documentary programmer and host of the Pure Nonfiction podcast, that while struggling over the film he crossed paths with Vasarhelyi at a conference. “I knew that she had quite an accomplished career as a filmmaker,” Chin said. “So, I asked her to screen what I had cut so far. She didn’t call me back for three months, but it … [Read more...] about Oscar-Winning Filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin On Love Stories – Their Own, And They One They Tell In ‘Wild Life’ – CPH:DOX
‘Luther: The Fallen Sun’ Arrests 3M UK Viewers, But Struggles To Match Other Netflix Movies
Detective John Luther’s movie debut helped lock up millions of UK viewers for Netflix , but the feature fell well short of other film offerings on Netflix. Luther: The Fallen Sun was watched by 3M people on TV sets, according to Barb, the official audience research group. It has also occupied first place in Netflix’s top-10 movies in the UK for two weeks. Luther was only sixth in the list of Netflix’s most-watched movies since Barb began reporting viewing figures for streamers in November 2021, according to a Deadline analysis. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery spent two weeks in Barb’s list of the top 50 shows and films in the UK, amassing a total of 18.5M viewers in that time. Don’t Look Up also spent two weeks in Barb’s list, meaning it was watched by 15M people. The Adam Project (11.1M), The Gray Man (6.9M), and Enola Holmes 2 (4.6M) also performed well. The figures only include people watching on television sets, meaning that viewing on mobile … [Read more...] about ‘Luther: The Fallen Sun’ Arrests 3M UK Viewers, But Struggles To Match Other Netflix Movies
Philippa Langley On Digging Up ‘The Lost King’ Richard III After 500 Years – Specialty Preview
The much-maligned Richard III finally gets the royal treatment in Stephen Frears’ The Lost King as amateur historian Philippa Langley unearths the monarch’s five-century-old remains in a parking lot in Leicester, England, in 2012. Two books and a documentary later, IFC Films presents the feature film version in 750+ theaters. “It took eight years from starting the search to cutting the tarmac. To see it telescoped into a hundred or so minutes made it really powerful for me,” Langley, who’s played in the film by Sally Hawkins, told Deadline. Richard III (1461-1483) is one of Shakespeare’s most malevolent villains, a deformed hunchback usurper and murderer. But historians have contested the portrayal of the last king of the House of York and Plantagenet dynasty, noting history is often (re)written by the victors, in this case the Tudors. A society of “Ricardians” at work for years to rehabilitate the monarch’s image, and other well-wishers, chipped in to fund a costly … [Read more...] about Philippa Langley On Digging Up ‘The Lost King’ Richard III After 500 Years – Specialty Preview
Tony Shalhoub To Lead Carlos Ghosn Series In The Works From Michael Winterbottom, Fremantle & Anonymous Content
A dramatization of the life of Carlos Ghosn , the former Nissan/Renault CEO who escaped from arrest hidden in a music case, is in the works from Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón and This England’s Michael Winterbottom . The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Monk star Tony Shalhoub is set to play Ghosn in the six-part TV series Fall of the God of Cars , which comes from Fremantle , Anonymous Content , Richard Brown’s Passenger and Winterbottom’s Revolution Films . Ghosn was the wealthy Brazilian-Lebanese CEO of Nissan and Renault whose world came tumbling down when he was arrested in Japan in 2018 on allegations of under-reporting his salary and gross misuse of company assets. One year later, he orchestrated an escape to Beirut, hidden in a music case on a private jet, and, with multiple warrants out for his arrest, he has remained there ever since. The big-budget series was originally developed by Winterbottom, four-time Oscar winner Cuarón and Anonymous Content. … [Read more...] about Tony Shalhoub To Lead Carlos Ghosn Series In The Works From Michael Winterbottom, Fremantle & Anonymous Content
Eugene Levy Set For ‘Summer Camp’ Comedy With Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates & Alfre Woodard
EXCLUSIVE : Schitt’s Creek alum Eugene Levy is heading to Summer Camp . The four-time Emmy winner will play Diane Keaton’s love interest in the comedy also set to star Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard . Castille Landon ( After franchise) is directing the film, which is heading into production next month in North Carolina, from her own script. It tells the story of Nora, Ginny and Mary, who have been best friends since childhood, spending their summers together inseparably at sleepaway camp. As the years have passed, they’ve seen each other less and less, so when the chance for a summer camp reunion arises, they all take it, some begrudgingly and others excitedly. Each of their lives might not be where they’d imagined, but one thing is for sure — Nora, Ginny, and Mary need each other, and summer camp reminds them why. Summer Camp is a Saks Picture Company production, in association with and financed by Taylor & Dodge and Grant S. Johnson’s Project … [Read more...] about Eugene Levy Set For ‘Summer Camp’ Comedy With Diane Keaton, Kathy Bates & Alfre Woodard
‘Full Circle, Three-Day Celebration of the Zack Snyderverse Trilogy’ Will Benefit Suicide Prevention Foundation
Zack Snyder will host a weekend of screenings next month, with proceeds going to support the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in honor of his daughter Autumn Snyder, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 20. The fundraising event, “Full Circle, a Special Three-Day Celebration of the Snyderverse Trilogy,” will present movie screenings at the Ahmanson Auditorium at ArtCenter College of Design on April 28-29, and a third screening April 30 at Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood. The three-day event will consist of director’s cut screenings of Snyder’s films, followed by in-person and livestreamed Q&As featuring the filmmaker and special guests. The movies include Man of Steel, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. “We’re honored to participate in this fundraiser in support of suicide prevention and to help increase awareness of this important issue in our community,” said Karen Hofmann, president, … [Read more...] about ‘Full Circle, Three-Day Celebration of the Zack Snyderverse Trilogy’ Will Benefit Suicide Prevention Foundation