Movies

Adam McKay has signed a first-look feature film deal with Paramount Pictures for his new production company, Hyperobject Industries. It’s the second first-look deal McKay has inked in about a week following a five-year television deal to develop content for both HBO and the streaming service HBO Max. He’s developing a limited series under that deal about

In the age of streaming media, what’s the contemporary answer to the cheap, disposable, direct-to-video Disney sequels that used to clog up VHS shelves in decades of yore? The answer may look something like “Lady and the Tramp,” the latest of many nominal “live-action” remakes of beloved titles from the studio’s animated canon — but

BAFTA Los Angeles announced this year’s prestigious Newcomers Program participants. With 25 participants hailing from Australia, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Nigeria, Poland, South Africa and Turkey, the 2019 cohort is the largest and most international group since the program’s launch in 2007. This year the group is 52% female and includes actors, directors, producers,

When Charlize Theron received word that the American Cinematheque wanted to honor her with its award this year, her response was somewhat unique. “My go-to reply is always: ‘Are you sure?’” Theron says with a laugh. “The human being inside of me still can’t believe all of this is happening.” Theron might be the only

November 8, 2019 9:44AM PT Demian Bichir is set to join George Clooney in Netflix’s adaptation of Lily Brooks-Dalton’s novel “Good Morning, Midnight.” Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo and Kyle Chandler are also on board, with Clooney set to helm the pic — his first feature film directing gig since 2017’s “Suburbicon.” “The Revenant” screenwriter Mark

Simon Beaufoy, who won the adapted screenplay Academy Award for “Slumdog Millionaire,” tells what went into writing See-Saw Film’s “A Special Relationship,” which depicts how Elizabeth Taylor’s close relationship with her assistant inspired her to become an HIV/AIDs activist. Where did the initial idea come from for the script and how did it evolve? From

Like all great documentaries, Netflix’s “Tell Me Who I Am” focuses on a unique situation but makes it universal. The Oscar-potential film centers on twins Alex and Marcus Lewis. The 18-year-old Alex went into a six-week coma after an accident. When he awoke, he didn’t remember anything about his life, and didn’t recognize anyone —

Impossible Dream Entertainment and sales firm The Exchange have introduced “Tiger Mom,” a U.S.-China co-produced comedy, at the American Film Market. On the China side, backers include Huacheng Film, TV and Digital Program Company, a subsidiary of Chinese state broadcaster CCTV6, and Beijing Origin Pictures. The film will star Zhang Jingchu (“Rush Hour 3,” “Mission

Phoebe Waller-Bridge has talked about her writing role on the upcoming James Bond movie, telling the BBC that she came on to add a few of her own ideas and tweaks but not to reinvent Bond, as the producers are already changing the culture of the 007 franchise. Waller-Bridge is red-hot property after the successes

November 8, 2019 12:16AM PT A familiar but effective fact-based Vietnam War drama about an undermanned company of Australian and New Zealand soldiers under attack. By turns viscerally exciting and predictably formulaic — and, quite often, both at once — “Danger Close” is an efficiently crafted and consistently involving old-school war movie propelled by matter-of-fact

Directors Andy Delaney and Monty Whitebloom’s “Love Is Blind” should perhaps be titled “Love Is Arbitrary.” There’s no reasoning to how and why love manifests or dissipates in relationships, in much the same way the film’s character motivations flip and flop as script convenience calls. A hastily-assembled mix of romantic whimsy and offbeat quirk drives

November 7, 2019 10:00PM PT China Lion Film Distribution has acquired North American rights to Only Cloud Knows, from Emperor Motion Pictures. The film is a New Zealand- and China-set romance directed by China’s foremost commercial director Feng Xiaogang (“Youth,” “Assembly”), with rights represented by Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures. The firm will set a

Andes Films has taken the distribution rights in four Latin American countries for Wizart’s animated feature “Sheep and Wolves: Pig Deal,” which is being sold by the Russian company at the American Film Market. Wizart has also signed an agreement with Peppermint for the release of “Fantastic Return to Oz” in Germany. Andes has picked

Horror comedy “Happy Times” is debuting its trailer ahead of its international premiere in the Midnight Shivers section of Tallinn Black Nights Intl. Film Festival. M-appeal is handling world sales. Director Michael Mayer and Guy Ayal co-wrote the script, which won the script award at Haifa Intl. Film Festival, where the film had its world

November 7, 2019 6:23PM PT British film executive Michael Ryan of GFM Films has been re-elected to a two-year term as chair of the Independent Film & Television Alliance. IFTA announced the results from its annual members’ meeting on Thursday, a day after its American Film Market opened for its 40th iteration at the Loews

In today’s film news roundup, Paramount sets a 2021 release for the next “Paranormal Activity,” Roland Emmerich is honored and Vincent D’Onofrio has a new role as Jerry Falwell. RELEASE DATES The seventh “Paranormal Activity” movie has been scheduled for release on March 19, 2021. Paramount chief Jim Gianopulos announced the untitled project in June

November 7, 2019 5:34PM PT In one of the first major deals at the American Film Market, Lionsgate has boarded the Gerard Butler action-thriller “The Plane.” The project re-teams the actor and studio following the release of “Angel Has Fallen” this year. Joe Drake, chairman of the Motion Picture Group for Lionsgate, made the announcement

U.S. distribution deals for German films are of great strategic value for international rollouts, but lucrative prospects largely depend on the type of film on offer. The spectrum of German film continues to broaden, encompassing everything from arthouse, historical drama and family entertainment to animation, action and horror – not to mention English-language German productions.

A loving tribute to Studio Babelsberg, the story of a family’s escape from Nazi Germany, a moving drama about young Palestinians and Israelis working together, and an adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s children’s novel “The Amazing Maurice” are among a wide-ranging selection of German films on offer at AFM this year. Leading sales companies are presenting

While markets such as AFM and the recent Key Buyers Event in Moscow aim to develop the worldwide sales potential of Russian cinema, the Russian branch of Fipresci, the international film critics’ federation, came up with a sure-fire idea to bring media attention to the diversity of Russian production, its varied genres, directions and aesthetics.

This year, 831 Loews is home to the “Created in Moscow” brand, which allies 17 Russian companies. The branding is supported by the Moscow Export Center, which recognizes the contribution made by the creative industries to the Russian economy. The “Created in Moscow” lineup will be featured in a presentation on the Venice stage at

It’s snowing in Budapest, and production designer Fiona Crombie is on a recce — the British term for a reconnaissance mission. She’s looking for the perfect location to recreate the Battle of Agincourt for David Michod’s “The King,” starring Timothée Chalamet as King Henry V of England. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s plays, the film follows

Film Bridge Intl. has come aboard to handle international sales rights for the comedy “Buffaloed,” starring and produced by Zoey Deutch (Netflix’s “The Politician” and “Set It Up,” “Zombieland: Double Tap”). The pic premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. Set in the underworld of debt collecting, the movie follows homegrown hustler, Peg Dahl (Deutch), who will

November 7, 2019 2:51PM PT A Chinese court has named the only son of Dalian Wanda chairman Wang Jianlin – one of China’s richest men – as a debtor owing at least RMB150 million ($21.5 million), Chinese reports said Thursday. The allegations against Wang Sicong were contained in a statement published on the official website

British music and film producer Nik Powell, who was among the Virgin Group co-founders with Richard Branson and became an influential force in U.K. cinema, producing more than 60 titles including Neil Jordan’s Oscar-winning “The Crying Game,” died Thursday at age 69. The cause of death was an unspecified form of cancer, Britain’s National Film

Streaming services may be offering more movies than ever, but that doesn’t necessarily mean audiences will to go to theaters less often.   Netflix, for example, is offering its subscribers plenty of reasons to stay home for their cinema viewing, from new original movies like “The Irishman” and “Marriage Story” that will soon move from limited

Filmgoers don’t know the name Paul Hirsch nearly as well as those of Brian De Palma, George Lucas or John Hughes, but after a five-decade career as a film editor, he’s been an integral part of some of the biggest movies ever.  Hirsch says editing is a creative art despite the mechanical specialization of the pre-digital days, and

Director Kirby Adkins says his greatest fear about “Mosley,” his ambitious animated feature about fantasy creatures called thoriphants, was that too many compromises would have to get made along the way — and that the movie would become “screwed up.” Making “Mosley” as an international production — it is the first film to make use

Sitting out on a cool evening on a headland high above Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour, it is difficult to understand how recent the country’s unpalatable history really is. And the past injustices, combined with the emergence of the New Zealand movie industry onto the world stage at the tail end of the 1990s, means that indigenous

It is no small irony that while New Zealand competes with Canada, the U.K. and Australia for foreign productions, those three English-language territories have historically also been the country’s most frequent partners for co-productions. But the tide is turning. New Zealand has reached out more within the Asian region, and as it has strengthened its