By her own admission, Christine Vachon is not a nostalgic person. This would normally make a conversation about the 25th anniversary of her pioneering independent film company Killer Films a challenge but, luckily, recent events have changed her perspective. Vachon attended September’s Venice Intl. Film Festival, for which she served as a juror, an event
Movies
Endeavor Content has set a three-film development deal with producer Heather Rae, committing to movie scripts from Indigenous filmmakers. The new pact was announced on Oct. 12, Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Along with Rae, Crystal EchoHawk of IllumiNative and Bird Runningwater of Sundance Institute are advising on the projects. Research from IllumiNative — a woman-led racial
Sandra Bullock is producing and starring in the romantic action film “The Lost City of D” for Paramount Pictures. The film is centered on a romance author who discovers that a fictional city she had written about is real, prompting her to embark on a risky journey to find the city. The sibling directing team
Gerard Butler’s apocalyptic thriller “Greenland” will premiere directly on premium video-on-demand platforms starting Dec. 18. The movie, from STXfilms, was initially supposed to debut on the big screen, but it’s skipping theaters in the U.S. due to the pandemic. “Greenland” will cost $19.99 to rent for a 48-hour period. The movie, about a family fighting
Michael B. Jordan’s award-winning films “Just Mercy,” and “Fruitvale Station” will serve as opening night screenings for the inaugural Social Justice Now Film Festival (SJNFF). Both films will play on Wednesday, Oct. 21st at Paramount’s Drive-In Theater, sponsored by Amazon Studios. Jordan serves as a co-ambassador for the film festival, which runs Oct. 21-25, alongside
HanWay Films is handling international sales, distribution and marketing for multi-Grammy Award nominee and pop superstar Sia’s feature directorial debut “Music,” starring Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Kate Hudson (“Almost Famous,” “Deepwater Horizon”). The film also stars Tony and Grammy Award winner Leslie Odom Jr. (“Hamilton,” “One Night in Miami”), alongside Sia protégé and
Arthouse platform Kabinett has snagged Argentine filmmaker Alejandro Fadel’s first purely experimental film, “The Enigmatic Element,” available since Oct. 10. The genre is not quite a novelty to Fadel who is best known for his first two fiction films, “Los Salvajes” and “Murder Me, Monster,” both of which had their world premieres in Cannes. “While they
As the Czech Republic claims Europe’s fastest-growing infection rate, with more than 8,000 new daily COVID-19 cases, a two-week shutdown of cinemas is stressing a sector that had been recovering amid easing restrictions. A recent shakeup of the Czech Health Ministry and the appointment of outspoken epidemiologist Roman Prymula as Health Minister is hoped to
Breaking Glass Pictures has picked up North American distribution rights to Chilean producer Omar Zuñiga’s directorial feature debut, “The Strong Ones” (“Los Fuertes”). Meikincine Entertainment handled the sale. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best International Narrative Feature and the Audience Award at OutFest LA as well as Best Narrative Film at Florida’s OutShine Film Festival,
In an unprecedented move, the cream of Bollywood, including Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, has united to sue television news channels Republic TV and Times Now. The stars and studios allege defamation during the channels’ blanket coverage of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and its aftermath. A total of 38 industry bodies
Dreamville Records has announced the formation of Dreamville Ventures, a multi-disciplinary media company, and Dreamville Studios, a content studio that will produce original and co-produced content. Coming aboard to lead the new division is Damien Scott, president of Dreamville, and Candace Rodney, who serves as Dreamville executive vice president and president of Dreamville Studios. J. Cole,
Pulsar Content has closed multiple pre-sales on Arseny Sukhin’s science-fiction horror movie “Superdeep” in the run up to its world premiere at Sitgès. Inspired by true events, the movie stars Milena Radulivic (“The Balkan Line”) and Nikita Duvbanov, and is set in 1984, when inexplicable screams were recorded in Kola Superdeep Borehole, the biggest secret
European cinema operators have said they’re devastated by Disney’s decision to release Pixar’s “Soul” directly on streamer Disney Plus, saying the move has “shocked and dismayed” them and deprived many audiences across the continent from watching the film. A statement from the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), which represents European cinema operators, said: “The vast
No need to introduce Viggo Mortensen, the multi-award winning actor, whose most recent accolade was a career achievement Donostia Award at the San Sebastian Festival last month. But the Lumière classic film festival in Lyon was a chance to get up close and personal with Mortensen, the director, at a masterclass in the intimate Comédie
The beleaguered exhibition sector in the U.K. took a further hit with Vue Cinemas switching to a weekends-only model for around a quarter of its 87 sites. “We remain committed to ensuring that Vue has a long-term future, to protecting the livelihoods of our staff and keeping our doors open to ensure our cinemas continue
Margaret Nolan, an actress and artist known as the gold-painted model in the title sequence for the 1964 James Bond film “Goldfinger,” died Oct. 5, her son, Oscar Deeks, confirmed to Variety. She was 76. Director Edgar Wright first announced the news of Nolan’s death on Twitter. In a touching tribute, Wright wrote: “She was
London-based Noah Media Group is joining forces with Paris-headquartered Federation Entertainment on “Arsène Wenger: Invincible,” a feature documentary portraying the French soccer pioneer who changed the landscape of the English Premier League. “Arsène Wenger: Invincible” is being directed by Gabriel Clarke, the British filmmaker whose BBC docu “Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans” was part
The great French director Eric Rohmer died 10 years ago, but his spirit lives on in other filmmakers. There are artists at work in the Rohmer tradition who, at moments, have evoked his sublime conversational ardor — and if you want to know what I mean, just watch Eugène Green’s “La Sapienza.” Few in the
Gal Gadot will trade her lasso of truth for a golden crown, playing the legendary queen of Egypt in “Cleopatra,” a historical drama that will reunite the actress with her “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins. Paramount Pictures won the rights to the project, reportedly beating out other suitors such as Apple, Universal, Warner Bros. and
20th Century Studios has released the first trailer for “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” in honor of National Coming Out Day. The film stars newcomer Max Harwood in the title role as a teenager with ambitions of being a drag queen. When Jamie announces he’s wearing a dress to his school prom, he faces a battle
“The War With Grandpa,” a Robert De Niro comedy about the battle between a wily septuagenarian and his grandson over a bedroom, was originally supposed to hit theaters in 2018. Plans changed after Harvey Weinstein, the indie film producer whose company The Weinstein Company was set to distribute the “Home Alone” knockoff, was exposed as
“Ouf!” – “Phew!” in French: the sigh of relief was the first word to appear in the inaugural clip at the opening ceremony of Lyon’s Lumière Festival, which kicked off on Saturday night as the city was put on maximum alert amid the coronavirus pandemic. While attendance numbers are limited, cinemas remain open in France
Frances Price married well, if one’s notion of success in that department is defined more by financial comfort than by romance. Her marriage wasn’t so much loveless as moneyful, and that arguably works out better for the wealthy Manhattan wife Michelle Pfeiffer so memorably embodies in Azazel Jacobs’ “French Exit,” a sophisticated closing night choice
George Clooney said he was originally supposed to sing “Man of Constant Sorrow.” After his first studio session, the team decided to have him pretend instead. “They assumed I could sing because my aunt was Rosemary Clooney, and I assumed I could sing. It literally sounds like a cat caught in the wheel well of
The 43rd iteration of the Mill Valley Film Festival may not look as it has in previous years due to COVID-19 with many of its sections navigating online, but that in no way detracts from what the fest, running Oct. 8-18, will and already has accomplished on the artistic front. One of Mill Valley’s most
Filmmaker-friendly platform Mowies.com, founded by Colombian producers Alejo Arango (“Al Final del Espectro”), Santiago Zapata (“Monos”) and their chief technology officer, Sergio Restrepo, has picked up the catalogs of Alebrije, LatAm Films and Morbido, along with some Anima Studios shows. “We’re so pleased to join Mowies with some of our most notable titles like “Amar Te
Shooting black-and-white still photography has long been a passion for “Clemency” cinematographer Eric Branco. So it seemed serendipitous when he received an inbox message that included a script for Radha Blank’s “The-Forty-Year-Old Version” with a title page that read, “A New York tale in black and white.” Blank, a writer-producer on Spike Lee’s Netflix series
John David Washington has joined Christian Bale and Margot Robbie in David O. Russell’s untitled new film at New Regency. Russell will direct from his own script. Plot details are being kept under wraps. Executive are planning to start production in Los Angeles in January. Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki will serve as cinematographer. The film will be distributed via
It took filmmaker Diane Paragas 15 years to bring “Yellow Rose” to the big screen. She kept hearing that no one wanted to see a story about a Filipino immigrant growing up in Texas. Paragas changed her screenplay a few times, and almost gave up until an encounter with filmmaker Mira Nair at the Toronto
Movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse has temporarily closed all six locations in Dallas and two venues in Omaha, citing the lack of new major movies to draw crowds. “Due to a lack of upcoming major studio films, some of our franchise locations have opted to temporarily close until a consistent schedule of new releases resumes.