Producing short film

EXCLUSIVE : Avantika ( Senior Year ), Christopher Briney ( The Summer I Turned Pretty ) and Bebe Wood ( Love, Victor ) have landed major roles in Paramount Pictures’ film adaptation of the Tony-nominated Broadway hit, Mean Girls , which is itself based on the classic Paramount comedy of the same name. The actors join an ensemble for the Paramount+-bound feature that also includes Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey, as previously announced. The original film adapted by Tina Fey from the Rosalind Wiseman book Queen Bees and Wannabes follows high school new girl Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) in her attempt to fit in with A-list girl clique, The Plastics. The effort is sabotaged when she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George. Premiering on stage at Washington, D.C.’s National Theatre in 2017 and jumping to Broadway the following year, the Mean Girls musical was also written by Fey, with … [Read more...] about ‘Mean Girls’: Avantika, Christopher Briney & Bebe Wood Board Paramount Film Based On Tony-Nominated Musical Adaptation

EXCLUSIVE : Disney is moving full speed ahead with a re-imagining of Splash , the 1984 sleeper hit film that launched the stars of Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, along with Imagine partners Ron Howard and Brian Grazer , the latter of whom hatched the idea for the fish wish-fulfillment story that Howard directed. They’ve got an intriguing take: It’s being developed for Channing Tatum to take role that Hannah played, with Jillian Bell in the role that Hanks played. I’m told the pitch was hatched by Bell, who worked with Tatum in 22 Jump Street, most recently wrapped Office Christmas Party and next stars in Rock That Body . They’ve hired Marja-Lewis Ryan to write the script. She most recently wrapped the Timur Bekmambetov-produced Liked , which she wrote and directed. The scribe also is writing for HBO and Tatum’s Free Association the college-set Unsupervised , which just hired a writers room and is looking good to go to a pilot. She also adapted the Sheryl … [Read more...] about ‘Splash’ Remake Hooks Disney; Channing Tatum, Jillian Bell Star; Grazer & Howard, Free Association Producing

EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award-winner Alexander Dinelaris ( Birdman , The Revenant ) is teaming up with multihyphenate René Pérez Joglar, known professionally as Residente , to co-write the new film Porto Rico . Porto Rico is a historical drama based on the life of Puerto Rican revolutionary, José Maldonado Román, known as Águila Blanca (White Eagle), set on the island in the late 19th century. Maldonado Román fought against colonialism by leading a gang of ex-convicts to vindicate Puerto Rico as it sought its identity as a country. “It has been amazing to work with Alex,” said Residente in a statement about the screenwriter he was introduced to by Alejandro Gonzalez-Iñarritu. “It took me a while to find a great writer because I was looking for someone who not only is talented but also connects with the subject matter. I found both in Alex, an amazing writer who is highly skilled at dialogues as was evident in Birdman ,” he added. Residente and Dinelaris … [Read more...] about ‘Birdman’s Alexander Dinelaris & Residente Scripting New Film ‘Porto Rico’

EXCLUSIVE : Steve Coogan is set to star in The Penguin Lessons , with The Full Monty ’s Peter Cattaneo to direct the Jeff Pope -scripted adaptation of the Tom Michell nonfiction bestseller. The management/production company 42 partners Rory Aitken and Ben Pugh will produce alongside Robert Walak. Rocket Science is handling international sales and will introduce the film at the European Film Market , with CAA Media Finance repping U.S. distribution rights. The Penguin Lessons is the true story of a disillusioned Englishman who went to work in a school in Argentina in 1976. Expecting an easy ride, he discovered instead a complicated and divided nation – and a class of practically unteachable young boys. When he finds a small penguin washed up on an oil-slicked beach, his life is turned upside down – and the penguin becomes not only a valued friend, but also a teacher of life’s most important lessons, for Tom, the boys and many others. “We were captivated by … [Read more...] about EFM Hot Package: Steve Coogan Stars In Peter Cattaneo-Helmed ‘The Penguin Lessons’

EXCLUSIVE : Kino Lorber has acquired all North American distribution rights to Four Quartets , the film version of the Ralph Fiennes -starring stage adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s seminal poem. Directed by Sophie Fiennes, the film will get its U.S. premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival later this week followed by a theatrical release this spring. One of the giants of modern literature, the poet, playwright, critic, and editor T.S. Eliot is best known as one of the central figures of the Modernist movement in poetry. Consisting of four poems published over a six-year period – Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages , and Little Gidding , each titled after the landscape that inspired their writing – Four Quartets is widely considered Eliot’s masterpiece and the culminating achievement of his career as a poet, offering four interwoven meditations on the nature of time and the quest for spiritual enlightenment. Following the completion of Four Quartets … [Read more...] about Ralph Fiennes’ ‘Four Quartets’ Gets North American Distribution Deal Ahead Of Stateside Bow At Santa Barbara

EXCLUSIVE: The Gotham Group , which most recently produced Disney+’s Stargirl based on the bestselling novel, has made its latest book deal. It has optioned Christina Hammonds Reed’s upcoming debut YA novel The Black Kids , setting Rafiki helmer Wanuri Kahiu to direct and Allison Davis to adapt it. The novel, to be published September 1 via Simon & Schuster, is a coming-of-age story of a wealthy African-American teenager whose family gets caught in the vortex of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Kahiu’s previous film Rafiki was banned in her native Kenya for a time ahead of its world premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it made history as the first Kenyan film selected. It explored LGBTQ issues in a country that criminalizes homosexual acts between consenting adults. The film’s success helped Kahiu land gigs in the U.S. Now managed by Gotham Group, she is also set to direct Millie Bobby Brown in The Thing About Jellyfish for Made Up Stories, … [Read more...] about ‘Rafiki’ Helmer Wanuri Kahiu To Direct Gotham Group’s YA Adaptation ‘The Black Kids’

EXCLUSIVE: WME Independent has unveiled the first image of Haley Bennett in the upcoming 19th Century champagne drama Clicquot ahead of launching sales on the title at the European Film Market . Bennett stars in the titular role of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, who is popularly known in France as the “Grande Dame of Champagne”. This real-life historic figure defied convention to take over her late husband’s fledgling wine business in Reims in 1805 after being widowed at the age of 27. The production, announced on Deadline last year, is based on the 2008 novel The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It by Tilar J. Mazzeo. Filming took place the French regions of Chablis and Reims last fall. Thomas Napper ( Jawbone) directs from a screenplay by Erin Dignam ( Land, Submergence ) and Christopher Monger ( Temple Grandin ). Other previously announced cast members include Tom Sturridge (DC Comics and … [Read more...] about Haley Bennett First Image In Champagne Drama ‘Clicquot’ Revealed As WME Independent Sets EFM Sales Launch

EXCLUSIVE : Cohen Media Group has acquired all North American distribution rights to filmmaker Mark Cousins ’ Alfred Hitchcock doc My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock . The film premiered at Telluride and examines the Psycho and Vertigo director’s vast body of work, exploring his techniques, themes and obsessions. The plan is for a theatrical release later this year. Cousins, who utilizes actor and impressionist Alistair McGowan to portray Hitch in voiceover, connects the stylistic dots running through the director’s 50-plus films, from revered classics like North by Northwest, Psycho and Rear Window to less frequently discussed but intriguing works such as The Paradine Case, Sabotage and more, stretching all the way back to his silent films. The deal, announced by Cohen Media Group Chairman and CEO Charles S. Cohen, was negotiated by CMG Senior Vice President Robert Aaronson and Cleo Veger, Head Sales at London-based film sales company Dogwoof. Among … [Read more...] about Mark Cousins’ Alfred Hitchcock Documentary Gets North American Deal

EXCLUSIVE : Netflix has added four to its action-comedy Back in Action , with Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. The newest actors to sign on are BAFTA winners Andrew Scott (C atherine Called Birdy ) and Jamie Demetriou ( Cruella ), McKenna Roberts ( Euphoria ) and Rylan Jackson ( Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ). Details as to the storyline and characters of Diaz’s first feature since 2014’s Annie are under wraps. But Kyle Chandler and Glenn Close are also aboard for roles, as previously announced. Seth Gordon ( Horrible Bosses ) is directing from his script written with Neighbors ‘ Brendan O’Brien. Producers are Jenno Topping, Peter Chernin and Sharla Sumpter Bridgett ( Ford v Ferrari , Hidden Figures ) for Chernin Entertainment, Beau Bauman ( Central Intelligence ) for Good One Productions, and Gordon for Exhibit A. Foxx, Datari Turner, O’Brien and Tim Lewis are serving as exec producers. Scott won his BAFTA for his work as the … [Read more...] about Andrew Scott & Others Join Netflix’s ‘Back In Action’ With Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz

EXCLUSIVE: We hear that Sarah Rothschild , the writer of the Netflix movie Sleepover, will be writing the latest draft of Disney/Imagine/Free Association’s Splash remake. Deadline first told you about the remake back in 2016 with the 22 Jump Street and Inherent Vice actress attached. The original Splash in 1984 was a huge hit for Disney at a near $70M stateside, the first of its adult-demo features released at the time under its Touchstone label, and the first major hit for director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer which led to the creation of their Imagine in November 1985. The original starred Tom Hanks and Darryl Hanna as a man and a mermaid, respectively, who fall in love after being reunited years after she saved his life as a boy. Marja-Lewis Ryan wrote an earlier draft of the Splash remake. Rothschild, an award-winning screenwriter, recently adapted The Love Hypothesis for MRC and Elizabeth Cantillon and wrote 24/7 – a modern day take … [Read more...] about ‘Splash’ Redo With Jillian Bell Sets ‘Sleepover’s Sarah Rothschild As Scribe