Creative agency Once Upon a Time (OUAT) has acquired film content specialist The Special Treats Production Company for an undisclosed sum. Colin Burrows founded Special Treats more than 30 years ago and served as MD. Special Treats has produced a range of documentaries, TV movies and electronic press kits for the film, TV and music
Movies
Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has closed sales on Berlin Panorama title “Concerned Citizen” – Idan Haguel’s satirical feature on privilege and prejudice set in Tel Aviv – for several additional territories. Distribution in the U.K. and Ireland will be handled by Peccadillo Pictures; Arti Film will be distributing the film in Benelux, with a nationwide
Spare parts of high school comedies from “Peggy Sue Got Married” to “Mean Girls” and beyond have been torn asunder, then sewn back together to create “Senior Year.” In other words, this vehicle for producer-star Rebel Wilson isn’t organic even as a genre homage; its Frankensteinian assemblage always feels more imitative than inspired. Nonetheless, if
In the ’70s and early ’80s, the era that defined him, Stephen King came up with a whole lot of horror-story metaphors for anger. There was Carrie, the angry telekinetic nerd-turned-pranked-prom-demon, and Christine the angry car, and Cujo the angry dog, and the novel that was the greatest of King’s rage mythologies — “The Shining,”
While staring glassy-eyed at interminably long stretches of “The Last Victim,” I was reminded of a ‘60s variety show sketch I viewed during my adolescence. The premise of the skit: Producers of some returning fall shows were told at the last minute that their series had been expanded from 30 to 60 minutes, and they
Leading Japanese indie studio Gaga Corporation is launching suspense thriller “#Manhole” next week at Cannes. Being directed by Kumakiri Kazuyoshi (“My Man,” “Sketches of Kaitan City”), from a screenplay by Okada Michitaka (“Masquerade Hotel”), the film depicts a promising young man, with everything going for him, who falls to the bottom of a deep manhole
Rafael Kapelinski’s drama “Budapest Diaries” wrapped shooting in Budapest this week. The Polish-Hungarian coproduction is set in 1981, when the political and economical crisis worsened in Poland, and many people travelled to Hungary where the repression was less severe, according to Film New Europe. Kapelinski is a London-based writer-director, a graduate of the U.K.’s National
Judd Apatow tried hard to get his “Superbad” cast to return for a sequel, but no one was interested in ruining a great thing. It turns out that’s not an excuse Apatow ever agreed with. From the way Apatow sees it, there’s no reason to think the cast and crew behind one of the most
Eugenio Derbez has been working on getting “The Valet” made for quite some time. “When we started writing this, Barack Obama was the president. Then Trump came in and we decided to change everything, because it was a different country,” the actor told me at the film’s premiere on Wednesday night at The Montalbán in
A new horror film about the terrors of conversion therapy is coming to Peacock. “They/Them,” a horror film produced by venerable production studio Blumhouse and starring Kevin Bacon, will be hitting the streamer Aug. 5. Bacon stars in the film as Owen Whistler, the director of a conversion therapy camp named Whistler Camp, which attempts
The band is getting back together. A sequel is in the works to the 1984 rock mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap,” with director Rob Reiner returning alongside stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer. The movie package will launch sales at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. It will be released on March, 19 2024,
Since Cinecittà Studios was founded in 1937, the sprawling facilities have driven the golden age of Cinema Italiano. The famed city of cinema has also, albeit intermittently, been a magnet for international productions and endured wild fluctuations in the country’s political climate, before recently reemerging as a new frontier for the country’s film and TV
The House Corrino has its ruler. Christopher Walken will join Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya in director Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune Part Two,” as Shaddam IV, the Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe. Walken’s casting fills out the major characters for the second half of Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal science-fiction novel. He joins Florence Pugh
After Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield showed up in “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” most Marvel fans were bracing for even more game-changing cameos in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” One of the biggest rumors ahead of the sequel’s release was that Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool would show up, marking the fan-favorite, foul-mouthed superhero’s long-awaited
Italy’s iconic Cinecittà Studios turn 85 this year and it’s never looked so young. The famed facilities, which in their Hollywood-on-the-Tiber heyday hosted sword-and-sandals epics such as William Wyler’s “Ben-Hur” and were later home to Federico Fellini, are undergoing a major overhaul that now sees Europe’s largest LED wall situated on the lot near Fellini’s
The Cannes Film Festival has announced that the final movie from Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius will be screened during the upcoming 2022 edition. Kvedaravičius was filming an Ukraine-set documentary in the city of Mariupol when he was killed in early April amid Russia’s invasion of the country. The documentary, now titled “Mariupolis 2,” will screen
European producer-financier Anton and global talent management outfit Range Media Partners are teaming up for a development slate of European feature films. The creative strategic alliance comes as Anton expands its U.K. and European production activities and Range Media Partners broadens its own development and production pipeline internationally. The two companies have created an International
Mads Mikkelsen, seen recently in “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” is to headline the action spy thriller “The Black Kaiser,” directed by Jonas Akerlund (“Lords of Chaos,” “Clark”). The movie is written by Jayson Rothwell and Mikkelsen, based on the Dark Horse graphic novel “Polar” by Victor Santos. It is produced by “Resident Evil”
Sir William Sargent, CEO and founding member of Oscar-winning VFX studio Framestore, whose work includes blocbusters such as “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “No Time to Die,” has revealed he is stepping down. Chief operating officer Mel Sullivan will replace him, with a mandate to focus on the company’s strategic direction. Sargant,
Michelle Williams harbors a deep desire to lace up her dancing shoes again. The actress is best known for her intense performances in searing dramas like “Blue Valentine” and “Manchester by the Sea,” but she particularly loved her change-of-pace work in the ebullient musical “The Greatest Showman.” “I would make another one of those in
Brian Tyler, composer of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” was named a BMI Icon at Wednesday night’s 38th annual Broadcast Music Inc. Film, TV and Visual Media Awards in Beverly Hills. Tyler (above, right) is among the top 10 highest-grossing film composers of all time. His
Josh Peck and Kea Ho have joined the cast of “Junction,” an upcoming drama about the opioid crisis. The film is written and directed by Bryan Greenberg, who is best known for his work as an actor on “How to Make It in America” and “One Tree Hill.” “Junction” will be his feature directorial debut.
“Pretty Little Liars” star Lucy Hale is set to reunite with “The Hating Game” director Peter Hutchings for romantic comedy “Which Brings Me to You.” The film is an adaptation of Julianna Baggott and Steve Almond’s novel about a journalist and a photographer who, instead of a one-night stand, spend 24 hours sharing their romantic
Brazilian streaming giant Globoplay is partnering with Lionsgate-backed streaming service Starzplay for a merged offering in Brazil. As of Thursday, Globoplay subscribers and non-subscribers will be able to purchase a Starzplay subscription that combines both services for R$35.80 (approximately $7 per month). The agreement unlocks access to the entire Starzplay catalogue within Globoplay. Existing Globoplay
The world is not the same place it was in 1986, when “Top Gun” ruled the box office. In Ronald Reagan, America had a movie star for a president, and producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson as its honorary ministers of propaganda. The same year that “Platoon” challenged the United States’ militaristic track record, “Top
“Old” star Rufus Sewell and “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’s” Shirley Henderson are set to lead dark comedy “The Trouble With Jessica.” Sewell will also be reunited with his “A Knight’s Tale” co-star Alan Tudyk in the film. Olivia Williams (“The Father”) and Indira Varma (“Obi Wan Kenobi”) round out the cast. Parkland
Studiocanal will launch rights sales at Cannes on “Kangaroo,” the first Australia-New Zealand production from the local arm of the French film and TV group Canal Plus. The film is inspired by the real-life story of The Kangaroo Sanctuary founder Chris ‘Brolga’ Barns, who has been saving and raising baby kangaroos in Central Australia since
Europe’s movie production levels bounced back to pre-pandemic levels in 2021. The continent’s box office, however, lagged way behind, gross revenues coming in at less than half those before COVID-19, according to the 2022 edition of Focus – World Film Market Trends. A reference for much of the film industry in Europe, the annual
If Brad Pitt were a geek, and a gravely serious one — not a more serious actor but a more doleful and pensive presence — he’d be something like Owen Teague. At 23, Teague has been acting since his teens, mostly on television and in occasional movies like “It,” and he resembles Pitt — the
Fans who’ve been clamoring to see Hayden Panettiere return to the “Scream” franchise have gotten their wish. Spyglass Media and Paramount Pictures announced Wednesday that Panettiere will appear in the upcoming sixth movie, reprising her role from 2011’s “Scream 4,” where she played Kirby Reed, a Woodsboro High School student and horror fanatic, who ultimately