David Wnendt, the German director behind controversial coming-of-age movie “Wetlands,” Hitler satire “Look Who’s Back” and teen crime drama “Sun and Concrete,” is once again pushing boundaries with his next feature film project.
Backed by distributor-producer Constantin Film and with Seven Elephants lead producing, Wnendt has embarked on the feature film adaptation of the award-winning novel “Athos 2643” by Nils Westerboer.
Wnendt, who will both write the screenplay and direct the theatrical film, promises an “emotional and spectacular experience that will take the audience into the vastness of outer space,” according to a press statement.
“Athos 2643” has been described as “‘The Name of the Rose’ in Space.” In the distant future, a mysterious crime unfolds on the lonely Neptune moon of Athos. An artificial intelligence responsible for life support is suspected of murder. An inquisitor specializing in artificial intelligence is sent to solve the case.
In addition to sci-fi elements, the...
Backed by distributor-producer Constantin Film and with Seven Elephants lead producing, Wnendt has embarked on the feature film adaptation of the award-winning novel “Athos 2643” by Nils Westerboer.
Wnendt, who will both write the screenplay and direct the theatrical film, promises an “emotional and spectacular experience that will take the audience into the vastness of outer space,” according to a press statement.
“Athos 2643” has been described as “‘The Name of the Rose’ in Space.” In the distant future, a mysterious crime unfolds on the lonely Neptune moon of Athos. An artificial intelligence responsible for life support is suspected of murder. An inquisitor specializing in artificial intelligence is sent to solve the case.
In addition to sci-fi elements, the...
- 5/2/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Kentarou Miura is a legendary figure in the anime and manga industry. He created one of the most iconic series ever. Berserk’s popularity can put any top anime to shame. Even though the manga is most likely to remain unfinished due to the mangaka’s untimely death, it does not stop fans from delving into the world of pure chaos and darkness.
The Seinen genre manga has put everyone on the edge of their seats. Guts’ journey became more perilous as the story progressed. Berserk has otherworldly characters, and when asked whether there are any references, Kentarou Miura named a famous film series that is over two decades old. Henry Cavill also acted in one of the movies. The film series that Miura named was Hellraiser, which was first released in 1987.
Kentarou Miura Is A Hellraiser Fan Berserk (Credit: Crunchyroll)
Kentarou Miura’s Berserk has become a generational series.
The Seinen genre manga has put everyone on the edge of their seats. Guts’ journey became more perilous as the story progressed. Berserk has otherworldly characters, and when asked whether there are any references, Kentarou Miura named a famous film series that is over two decades old. Henry Cavill also acted in one of the movies. The film series that Miura named was Hellraiser, which was first released in 1987.
Kentarou Miura Is A Hellraiser Fan Berserk (Credit: Crunchyroll)
Kentarou Miura’s Berserk has become a generational series.
- 4/17/2024
- by Priyanko Chakraborty
- FandomWire
Somewhat mysterious and fearless, Oscar-winning British actor Jeremy Irons has played a host of different characters during his decades-long career, from Adrian Veidt in Damon Lindelof’s TV series “Watchmen,” to Rodolfo Gucci in Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci,” British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in “Munich: The Edge of War” and Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Extended Universe films, including the latest “Justice League.” Reteaming with Palme d’Or winning Bille August for the third time, Irons will next play Abbé Faria, a noble and wise character, in the prestige limited series “The Count of Monte Cristo,” starring opposite fellow British actor Sam Claflin as Edmond Dantès. The premum limited series is distributed worldwide by Mediawan Rights, in cooperation with CAA (for North America).
Currently on the sprawling set of “Monte Cristo” in sun-drenched Malta, a cheerful Irons spoke to Variety about the timeliness of “Monte Cristo’s” story,...
Currently on the sprawling set of “Monte Cristo” in sun-drenched Malta, a cheerful Irons spoke to Variety about the timeliness of “Monte Cristo’s” story,...
- 11/28/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar winner Jeremy Irons has joined the cast of Palme d’Or-winning director Bille August’s prestige limited series “The Count of Monte Cristo,” which also stars Sam Claflin.
A sprawling adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel, the English-language series is produced by Mediawan’s banner Palomar, the leading Italian company behind “That Dirty Black Bag” and “The Name of the Rose,” in collaboration with another Mediawan label, France’s Demd Productions. The series’ five-month shoot will wrap in Malta in December, after having lensed in France and Italy.
The show underscores Mediawan’s strategy to pursue prestige scripted projects with strong international potential under its €100 million co-investment agreement signed earlier this year with private equity film Entourage Ventures.
“The Count of Monte Cristo” marks Irons’ third collaboration with August, who directed him in “Night Train to Lisbon” and “The House of Spirits.” A revered Danish filmmaker, August previously won...
A sprawling adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel, the English-language series is produced by Mediawan’s banner Palomar, the leading Italian company behind “That Dirty Black Bag” and “The Name of the Rose,” in collaboration with another Mediawan label, France’s Demd Productions. The series’ five-month shoot will wrap in Malta in December, after having lensed in France and Italy.
The show underscores Mediawan’s strategy to pursue prestige scripted projects with strong international potential under its €100 million co-investment agreement signed earlier this year with private equity film Entourage Ventures.
“The Count of Monte Cristo” marks Irons’ third collaboration with August, who directed him in “Night Train to Lisbon” and “The House of Spirits.” A revered Danish filmmaker, August previously won...
- 11/20/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
With a career that goes back nearly 50 years, director Jean-Jacques Annaud was bound to run into some troublesome actors. But the French filmmaker has been relatively lucky – and it wasn’t Brad Pitt or Jude Law or Two Brothers’ Kumal and Sangha that gave him headaches, it was F. Murray Abraham.
Speaking at the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France (via Deadline), Jean-Jacques Annaud said that working with F. Murray Abraham on 1986’s The Name of the Rose – a 4K presentation of which was screened at the festival – was a nightmare compared to what he expected from his co-star. “Everybody warned me that Sean Connery was impossible and an extremely difficult character. He was an absolute dream and I got on with him fantastically…My only bad memory of an actor across my whole career, and I’ve directed, I think, thousands of actors, was F. Murray Abraham, who played the inquisitor…...
Speaking at the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France (via Deadline), Jean-Jacques Annaud said that working with F. Murray Abraham on 1986’s The Name of the Rose – a 4K presentation of which was screened at the festival – was a nightmare compared to what he expected from his co-star. “Everybody warned me that Sean Connery was impossible and an extremely difficult character. He was an absolute dream and I got on with him fantastically…My only bad memory of an actor across my whole career, and I’ve directed, I think, thousands of actors, was F. Murray Abraham, who played the inquisitor…...
- 10/23/2023
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
Thierry Frémaux is best known internationally as the long-time head of France’s Cannes Film Festival, which is organized out of its offices in Paris’s trendy Marais neighborhood.
The double-hatted cinema expert is perhaps more in his element in his home city of Lyon, where he is the director of the Institut Lumière, situated on the site of the former mansion and factory of cinema pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumière.
Alongside its late co-founders Bernard Chardère and Bertrand Tavernier, Frémaux has been a driving force behind the expansion of the institute and its activities, including the creation of its classic cinema-focused Lumière Film Festival, which has just wrapped its 15th edition.
Highlights this year included German director Wim Wenders receiving its prestigious Lumière Prize, following in the footsteps of the likes of Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Jane Campion and Francis Ford Coppola. As part of the honor, the Paris,...
The double-hatted cinema expert is perhaps more in his element in his home city of Lyon, where he is the director of the Institut Lumière, situated on the site of the former mansion and factory of cinema pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumière.
Alongside its late co-founders Bernard Chardère and Bertrand Tavernier, Frémaux has been a driving force behind the expansion of the institute and its activities, including the creation of its classic cinema-focused Lumière Film Festival, which has just wrapped its 15th edition.
Highlights this year included German director Wim Wenders receiving its prestigious Lumière Prize, following in the footsteps of the likes of Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Jane Campion and Francis Ford Coppola. As part of the honor, the Paris,...
- 10/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Jean-Jacques Annaud has worked with an impressive roster of actors across his 60-year career including big names such as Sean Connery, Tony Leung and Brad Pitt as well as Christian Slater and Jane Marsh, who were emerging talents when he cast them in The Name Of The Rose and L’Amant respectively.
Talking at a masterclass at the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon on Sunday, the French director revealed how he found the casting process one of the most exhausting stages of making a film.
“I never write with an actor in mind because a character often evolves, someone that starts out as 60-years-old, may end up working better as a 35-year-old… I don’t want to ensnare myself. I wait until my ideas are clear,” said Annaud.
The director – whose varied filmography also spans the 1976 Africa-set Oscar winner Black and White In Color, The Bear, Enemy At The Gates, Wolf Totem...
Talking at a masterclass at the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon on Sunday, the French director revealed how he found the casting process one of the most exhausting stages of making a film.
“I never write with an actor in mind because a character often evolves, someone that starts out as 60-years-old, may end up working better as a 35-year-old… I don’t want to ensnare myself. I wait until my ideas are clear,” said Annaud.
The director – whose varied filmography also spans the 1976 Africa-set Oscar winner Black and White In Color, The Bear, Enemy At The Gates, Wolf Totem...
- 10/22/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Samuel Goldwyn Films has signed a worldwide catalog deal with Concord Originals for rights to three Rodgers & Hammerstein films. The distribution pact involves two classic Hollywood films, 1958’s “South Pacific” and 1955’s “Oklahoma.” It also includes a filmed Royal National Theatre production of “Oklahoma!” that was staged in 1998 and starred a pre-Wolverine Hugh Jackman. The films will be released on VOD and other home entertainment platforms in the fourth quarter of 2023. Goldwyn will also release all three films in new DVD and Blu-Ray anniversary editions.
Samuel Goldwyn Films has been actively acquiring library content, nabbing rights to Christopher Nolan’s “Memento,” as well as “The Name of the Rose” starring Sean Connery and “Wild Target” starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint and Bill Nighy.
“We are delighted to partner with Samuel Goldwyn Films to continue championing the legacy of these iconic films from the Concord library and introduce a new generation...
Samuel Goldwyn Films has been actively acquiring library content, nabbing rights to Christopher Nolan’s “Memento,” as well as “The Name of the Rose” starring Sean Connery and “Wild Target” starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint and Bill Nighy.
“We are delighted to partner with Samuel Goldwyn Films to continue championing the legacy of these iconic films from the Concord library and introduce a new generation...
- 10/17/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Bille August, the two-time Palme d’Or winning director of “Pelle the Conqueror,” is directing a sprawling English language series adapted from Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel “The Count of Monte Cristo” starring an international cast led by Sam Claflin (“Peaky Blinders”).
“The Count of Monte Cristo” marks the first series which is entirely produced within Mediawan and represented by its distribution arm Mediawan Rights. As such, Italy’s Palomar is producing the eight-part series in collaboration with Demd Productions in France, in association with Entourage Ventures, as well as Rai Fiction and France Televisions which are the commissioning broadcasters in Italy and France, respectively.
The show underscores Mediawan’s strategy to pursue prestige scripted projects with strong international potential under its €100 million co-development agreement signed earlier this year with private equity film Entourage Ventures. Another recent Mediawan show in the same vein is the anticipated “Zorro” series reboot directed by...
“The Count of Monte Cristo” marks the first series which is entirely produced within Mediawan and represented by its distribution arm Mediawan Rights. As such, Italy’s Palomar is producing the eight-part series in collaboration with Demd Productions in France, in association with Entourage Ventures, as well as Rai Fiction and France Televisions which are the commissioning broadcasters in Italy and France, respectively.
The show underscores Mediawan’s strategy to pursue prestige scripted projects with strong international potential under its €100 million co-development agreement signed earlier this year with private equity film Entourage Ventures. Another recent Mediawan show in the same vein is the anticipated “Zorro” series reboot directed by...
- 10/11/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Lyon, France — Four-time Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón and “Time Bandits” helmer Terry Gilliam will join a star director-studded lineup at this year’s Lumière Film Festival including Wes Anderson, Alexander Payne and Wim Wenders.
Cuarón is returning to Lyon – where he was a guest of honor in 2018 – to present a selection of films by Swiss filmmaker Alain Tanner.
Gilliam will screen the newly restored version of his 1995 sci-fi thriller “Twelve Monkeys.”
One of Anderson’s latest shorts, “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” part of four Roald Dahl adaptations to be released on Netflix later this month, will screen at Lyon’s plush 2,000-seat Auditorium, where he will give a masterclass.
Like other guests, he will not only be introducing a retrospective of his own films but works by others, as part of an ongoing drive by the festival “to strengthen the link between the past and the present of cinema,...
Cuarón is returning to Lyon – where he was a guest of honor in 2018 – to present a selection of films by Swiss filmmaker Alain Tanner.
Gilliam will screen the newly restored version of his 1995 sci-fi thriller “Twelve Monkeys.”
One of Anderson’s latest shorts, “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” part of four Roald Dahl adaptations to be released on Netflix later this month, will screen at Lyon’s plush 2,000-seat Auditorium, where he will give a masterclass.
Like other guests, he will not only be introducing a retrospective of his own films but works by others, as part of an ongoing drive by the festival “to strengthen the link between the past and the present of cinema,...
- 9/19/2023
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s there was one young actor who personified the burgeoning ennui of Generation X but, you know, made it look cool: Christian Slater. After bursting onto the scene as a teen in films like The Legend of Billie Jean, The Name of the Rose, and the underrated Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Slater was leading a number of films that have left an indelible cultural impact in the decades since. Alongside the Winona Ryders and Ethan Hawkes, Slater quickly came to represent a very specific kind of post-Reagan, aggravated anti-ambition.
Metrograph has curated a new series of films (all on 35mm!) celebrating Slater. Titled “Christian Slater: Outsider,” it starts on August 18. The movies included are Gleaming The Cube, Heathers, Pump Up the Volume, and True Romance. A perfectly selected quartet of pictures that all underwhelmed upon initial release, only to all earn cult-classic status in short order.
Metrograph has curated a new series of films (all on 35mm!) celebrating Slater. Titled “Christian Slater: Outsider,” it starts on August 18. The movies included are Gleaming The Cube, Heathers, Pump Up the Volume, and True Romance. A perfectly selected quartet of pictures that all underwhelmed upon initial release, only to all earn cult-classic status in short order.
- 7/25/2023
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
A trio of docs and a wider-than-usual run for a Vertical thriller populate a specialty weekend with fewer new openings as theaters stick with Asteroid City and devote screens to Indiana Jones and Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. Call it jittery Friday as the indie community like the rest of Hollywood awaits news from SAG-AFTRA as the guild’s contract is set to expire tonight.
Opening: Julie Cohen’s documentary Every Body from Focus Features arrives on 250+ screens. Produced in partnership with NBC Studios, the exploration of the intersex experience through personal stories premiered at Tribeca last month. This film follows three individuals who have moved from childhoods marked by shame, secrecy and non-consensual surgeries to thriving adulthood after each decided to set aside medical advice to keep their bodies a secret and,...
Opening: Julie Cohen’s documentary Every Body from Focus Features arrives on 250+ screens. Produced in partnership with NBC Studios, the exploration of the intersex experience through personal stories premiered at Tribeca last month. This film follows three individuals who have moved from childhoods marked by shame, secrecy and non-consensual surgeries to thriving adulthood after each decided to set aside medical advice to keep their bodies a secret and,...
- 6/30/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Mediawan has been shaking the foundations of the film and TV world in France and Europe since it was launched in 2015 by producer Pierre-Antoine Capton, billionaire entrepreneur Xavier Niel and financier Matthieu Pigasse.
Raising an initial $342 million (300 million euros) by listing shares on the Euronext Paris stock exchange in 2016, the Paris-based group has since gathered some 70 film and TV production labels under its umbrella as well as secured the backing of U.S. investment firms Kkr and Atwater Capitol.
High-profile acquisitions have included the television division of Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp; Lagardère Studios and its 25 labels, including Spain’s Boomerang Group; French production houses Chapter 2, Chi-Fou-Mi, Radar Films and Call My Agent creator Mon Voisin Productions as well as Italian producer Palomar.
Elisabeth d’Arvieu
In 2021, it took a majority stake in the U.K.’s Drama Republic, while on the eve of Cannes, it bought Submarine, the Amsterdam and...
Raising an initial $342 million (300 million euros) by listing shares on the Euronext Paris stock exchange in 2016, the Paris-based group has since gathered some 70 film and TV production labels under its umbrella as well as secured the backing of U.S. investment firms Kkr and Atwater Capitol.
High-profile acquisitions have included the television division of Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp; Lagardère Studios and its 25 labels, including Spain’s Boomerang Group; French production houses Chapter 2, Chi-Fou-Mi, Radar Films and Call My Agent creator Mon Voisin Productions as well as Italian producer Palomar.
Elisabeth d’Arvieu
In 2021, it took a majority stake in the U.K.’s Drama Republic, while on the eve of Cannes, it bought Submarine, the Amsterdam and...
- 5/21/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Swedish-Egyptian film-maker behind The Nile Hilton Incident discusses the rewarding reaction to his spy thriller Cairo Conspiracy – and how being a graffiti artist set him free
When you’re confronted with a truly groundbreaking piece of art, a certain disorientation is sometimes what you experience first. “A lot of journalists ask me: ‘What is real? What is real in this film?’” says the Swedish director Tarik Saleh, suddenly seized by a chuckling fit. “And I think this obsession is because the way the media portrays Muslims is so fictional that when people see a fictional film that portrays al-Azhar [University], they feel like they’ve seen a documentary. And I try to tell them: ‘No, it’s fiction!’”
He is talking about his new film Cairo Conspiracy, so seductive because it appears to give us privileged entry into what has been for most westerners a hitherto invisible world: al-Azhar University in the Egyptian capital,...
When you’re confronted with a truly groundbreaking piece of art, a certain disorientation is sometimes what you experience first. “A lot of journalists ask me: ‘What is real? What is real in this film?’” says the Swedish director Tarik Saleh, suddenly seized by a chuckling fit. “And I think this obsession is because the way the media portrays Muslims is so fictional that when people see a fictional film that portrays al-Azhar [University], they feel like they’ve seen a documentary. And I try to tell them: ‘No, it’s fiction!’”
He is talking about his new film Cairo Conspiracy, so seductive because it appears to give us privileged entry into what has been for most westerners a hitherto invisible world: al-Azhar University in the Egyptian capital,...
- 4/12/2023
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
French president Emmanuel Macron is set to kick off a three-day trip to Beijing this week, a high-stakes diplomatic mission that will be a delicate balancing act between urging Chinese leader Xi Jinping to alter his stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and maintaining France’s trade priorities. The French delegation accompanying Macron will include dozens of people spread across two jetliners touching down in Beijing on Wednesday — and the French film industry will be among the constituencies represented in the group.
Veteran filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud will travel with Macron and attend various official functions, including the China-France state dinner hosted by Xi Jinping in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Thursday evening. During the trip, Annaud will also be promoting his most recent film, the 2022 disaster epic Notre-Dame on Fire, which is getting a nationwide China release on Friday. It will be the first French film...
Veteran filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud will travel with Macron and attend various official functions, including the China-France state dinner hosted by Xi Jinping in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Thursday evening. During the trip, Annaud will also be promoting his most recent film, the 2022 disaster epic Notre-Dame on Fire, which is getting a nationwide China release on Friday. It will be the first French film...
- 4/4/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jean-Jacques Annaud directs Sean Connery in The Name of the Rose (Der Name Der Rose), the film version of the novel by Umberto Eco
The Name of the Rose is a great adaptation of the most important work by Umberto Eco. A mystery story set in an era of supersitions (Fourteenth century) with the Inquisition in the middle.
Orson Welles said that one should adapt lesser literary works. This time, the director and the entire team do a great job by focusing on the detective story part of the literary work.
Story line
Brother William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) and his disciple Adso de Melk (Christian Slater) arrive at an abbey where one of the monks died recently, where the abbot hopes that Brother William will be able to solve the crimes.
Our erudite friend is a man far removed from superstition and he tries to find a logical explanation for everything,...
The Name of the Rose is a great adaptation of the most important work by Umberto Eco. A mystery story set in an era of supersitions (Fourteenth century) with the Inquisition in the middle.
Orson Welles said that one should adapt lesser literary works. This time, the director and the entire team do a great job by focusing on the detective story part of the literary work.
Story line
Brother William of Baskerville (Sean Connery) and his disciple Adso de Melk (Christian Slater) arrive at an abbey where one of the monks died recently, where the abbot hopes that Brother William will be able to solve the crimes.
Our erudite friend is a man far removed from superstition and he tries to find a logical explanation for everything,...
- 1/2/2023
- by Martin Cid
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Zeyad Alhusaini is an award-winning director, both in the U.S. and internationally, with such acclaimed laurels as the 2004 New York Independent Film Festival New York Award, the 2000 New York International Independent Film Festival Audience Award, the 2004 Chicago International Short Film Festival Best Cinematography Award, 1998 Seguaro Film Festival Audience Award, the 2006 Arab Ad Award of the year etc. In 2013 Z’s commercials/campaigns won the Golden Award in three different categories at the Amf Advertising Creativity Awards. In 2005, Z was selected to be part of the New Filmmakers Series at Anthology Film Archives in New York and in 2006, was named one of the “Arab Filmmakers of the Year” by the French Arab Art Institute in Paris. He is also a recipient of Kuwait’s national award for creativity, the highest honor bestowed on artists and filmmakers. In 2013, his feature screenplay of How I Got There was nominated for the prestigious Iwc Award,...
- 12/20/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment is on track to sell a majority stake to Mediawan, the pan-European media conglomerate. The deal is expected to close this weekend, Variety has confirmed.
Plan B Entertainment, which is run by Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner, hired Moelis & Co. to shop for a buyer or potential investors last month. The company was founded in 2001 by Pitt and Jennifer Aniston shortly after the pair married. Pitt eventually took over the banner after the two divorced in 2005. Its credits include “The Departed,” “Moonlight” and “12 Years a Slave,” all of which won the Oscar for best picture. The company recently produced “She Said,” a look at the journalists who broke the Harvey Weinstein story, as well as “Blonde,” an off-beat drama about Marilyn Monroe.
Mediawan was founded in 2015 by Pierre-Antoine Capton, telecom billionaire Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse. The company, which is financially backed by...
Plan B Entertainment, which is run by Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner, hired Moelis & Co. to shop for a buyer or potential investors last month. The company was founded in 2001 by Pitt and Jennifer Aniston shortly after the pair married. Pitt eventually took over the banner after the two divorced in 2005. Its credits include “The Departed,” “Moonlight” and “12 Years a Slave,” all of which won the Oscar for best picture. The company recently produced “She Said,” a look at the journalists who broke the Harvey Weinstein story, as well as “Blonde,” an off-beat drama about Marilyn Monroe.
Mediawan was founded in 2015 by Pierre-Antoine Capton, telecom billionaire Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse. The company, which is financially backed by...
- 12/9/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Composer Bear McCreary discusses a few of his favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Wolf Man (1941) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s Wolf Man movie power rankings
Host (2020)
Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review, Tfh’s 30th anniversary celebration
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Total Recall (1990)
Robot Monster (1953) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary
Cat-Women Of The Moon (1953)
The Man With The Golden Arm (1955) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary
The Ten Commandments (1956) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
The Swarm (1978) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings
Batman (1989)
Dick Tracy (1990)
Looney Tunes: Back In Action (2003) – Mike Schlesinger’s trailer commentary
Chinatown (1974) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary
The Professor And The Madman (2019)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
Do The Right Thing (1989) – Allan Arkush...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Wolf Man (1941) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s Wolf Man movie power rankings
Host (2020)
Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review, Tfh’s 30th anniversary celebration
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Total Recall (1990)
Robot Monster (1953) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary
Cat-Women Of The Moon (1953)
The Man With The Golden Arm (1955) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary
The Ten Commandments (1956) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
The Swarm (1978) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings
Batman (1989)
Dick Tracy (1990)
Looney Tunes: Back In Action (2003) – Mike Schlesinger’s trailer commentary
Chinatown (1974) – Ernest Dickerson’s trailer commentary
The Professor And The Madman (2019)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
Do The Right Thing (1989) – Allan Arkush...
- 12/6/2022
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment is in advanced talks to sell a significant stake to Mediawan, the fast-rising French production and distribution group, Variety has confirmed.
Mediawan, which is financially backed by New York-based private equity firm Kkr, is not the only bidder and negotiations are not exclusive at this point. Bloomberg first reported about the talks.
Founded in 2015 by Pierre-Antoine Capton, telecom billionaire Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, the company has been ramping up its presence within the competitive English-language market through the acquisition (with Leonine Studios) of Drama Republic in the U.K. and recently announced a joint venture with “The Son” filmmaker Florian Zeller and former CAA executive Federica Sainte-Rose to launch an L.A.-based production vehicle called Blue Monday Pictures. Mediawan already boasts a strong presence in Europe with stakes in some of France’s most successful production banners, including Dimitri Rassam’s Chapter...
Mediawan, which is financially backed by New York-based private equity firm Kkr, is not the only bidder and negotiations are not exclusive at this point. Bloomberg first reported about the talks.
Founded in 2015 by Pierre-Antoine Capton, telecom billionaire Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, the company has been ramping up its presence within the competitive English-language market through the acquisition (with Leonine Studios) of Drama Republic in the U.K. and recently announced a joint venture with “The Son” filmmaker Florian Zeller and former CAA executive Federica Sainte-Rose to launch an L.A.-based production vehicle called Blue Monday Pictures. Mediawan already boasts a strong presence in Europe with stakes in some of France’s most successful production banners, including Dimitri Rassam’s Chapter...
- 10/31/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The first season of “Severance,” which originally streamed from February to April on Apple TV+, proved quite popular with Emmy voters this year. The show reaped 14 nominations in the primetime drama categories and blazed a trail as the first Apple program to compete for the top honor of Best Drama Series. Of the three male actors recognized for their work on “Severance,” only former Best Comedy Guest Actor champ John Turturro has won an Emmy before. Four decades into his career, he now holds the distinction of having earned TV academy notices for guest, lead, and supporting performances.
Turturro has submitted the seventh episode of “Severance,” entitled “Defiant Jazz,” for Best Drama Supporting Actor consideration. In the installment, his character, Irving Bailiff, and his Lumon Industries coworkers are met with stricter security measures after they begin learning too many of the nondescript company’s dark secrets. When Irving discovers that...
Turturro has submitted the seventh episode of “Severance,” entitled “Defiant Jazz,” for Best Drama Supporting Actor consideration. In the installment, his character, Irving Bailiff, and his Lumon Industries coworkers are met with stricter security measures after they begin learning too many of the nondescript company’s dark secrets. When Irving discovers that...
- 9/6/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
It’s early days at the Cannes Film Festival, so awards prognostication might seem a little premature, but still, it’s hard to imagine that the phenomenal performance given by Swedish-Lebanese actor Fares Fares in Tarik Saleh’s searing political thriller Boy from Heaven will go entirely unnoticed by this year’s jury. Topping the work he did in Saleh’s 2017 Sundance hit The Nile Hilton Incident, Fares commands the screen from the moment he arrives, playing a character whose disheveled appearance conceals a ruthless efficiency, a laser-focused mind and an entirely pragmatic concept of morality.
It’s funny that Boy from Heaven should premiere after James Gray’s Armageddon Time, another film about a young man’s rude awakening and another film that ruminates on the way fate is shaped — or dictated — by race and class. But Saleh’s film throws religion into that already-volatile mix, and while it...
It’s funny that Boy from Heaven should premiere after James Gray’s Armageddon Time, another film about a young man’s rude awakening and another film that ruminates on the way fate is shaped — or dictated — by race and class. But Saleh’s film throws religion into that already-volatile mix, and while it...
- 5/20/2022
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival is best-known for its lavish parties and stunning red carpets, but the celebration of cinema has also often been colored by political concerns. This year, promises to be an unusually turbulent one.
After all, filmmakers, studio executives and movie lovers are assembling in the South of France as the specter of war in Ukraine and rising autocracies around the world threaten to overshadow the good times. Indeed, the loudest applause on Cannes’ opening night were reserved for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who made a special appearance via video link in which he invoked Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator,” a satire of Nazism, to remind the audience of the powerful role movies can play.
“Hundreds of people die every day,” Zelensky said. “Will cinema stay silent, or will it talk about it? If there is a dictator, if there is a war for freedom, again, it all depends on our unity.
After all, filmmakers, studio executives and movie lovers are assembling in the South of France as the specter of war in Ukraine and rising autocracies around the world threaten to overshadow the good times. Indeed, the loudest applause on Cannes’ opening night were reserved for Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who made a special appearance via video link in which he invoked Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator,” a satire of Nazism, to remind the audience of the powerful role movies can play.
“Hundreds of people die every day,” Zelensky said. “Will cinema stay silent, or will it talk about it? If there is a dictator, if there is a war for freedom, again, it all depends on our unity.
- 5/18/2022
- by Brent Lang and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
In his more than three decades at Constantin Film, Martin Moszkowicz has overseen the production of hundreds of films, including such box office successes as “Downfall,” “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” the hugely popular “Fack Ju Goehte” films and the hit “Resident Evil” franchise.
This year’s CinemaCon is honoring Constantin’s longtime CEO for his work and continuing success at the global box office.
Speaking to Variety, Moszkowicz looks back at his career and discusses Constantin’s current challenges, its diverse lineup, new productions and expanding film and television activities.
Moszkowicz has headed Germany’s most successful production and distribution group since 2014. While Germany remains its main market, Constantin has had a global outlook since its beginnings, and it was due in part to Moszkowicz’s international experience that he landed his first job at the company.
The late Bernd Eichinger, Constantin’s venerated founder and managing director, recruited...
This year’s CinemaCon is honoring Constantin’s longtime CEO for his work and continuing success at the global box office.
Speaking to Variety, Moszkowicz looks back at his career and discusses Constantin’s current challenges, its diverse lineup, new productions and expanding film and television activities.
Moszkowicz has headed Germany’s most successful production and distribution group since 2014. While Germany remains its main market, Constantin has had a global outlook since its beginnings, and it was due in part to Moszkowicz’s international experience that he landed his first job at the company.
The late Bernd Eichinger, Constantin’s venerated founder and managing director, recruited...
- 4/24/2022
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
“Squid Game” director Hwang Dong-hyuk is developing a feature film called “Killing Old People Club,” which he says is inspired by a novel by Umberto Eco (author of "The Name of the Rose").
Speaking during a session at MipTV Dong-hyuk revealed he has already penned a 25-page treatment about the project which will surely be “another controversial film,” he said.
“It will be more violent than ‘Squid Game,'” teased Dong-hyuk, adding that he might have to hide from old people after the film comes out. The project has the working title “K.O. Club.”
The critically acclaimed creator said he will now return home to South Korea to write the second season of “Squid Game&rd...
Speaking during a session at MipTV Dong-hyuk revealed he has already penned a 25-page treatment about the project which will surely be “another controversial film,” he said.
“It will be more violent than ‘Squid Game,'” teased Dong-hyuk, adding that he might have to hide from old people after the film comes out. The project has the working title “K.O. Club.”
The critically acclaimed creator said he will now return home to South Korea to write the second season of “Squid Game&rd...
- 4/4/2022
- QuietEarth.us
If you loved Squid Game and hate old people, director Hwang Dong-hyuk has something in the works that should utterly delight. As reported by Variety, the filmmaker has already written a 25-page treatment for an adaptation of a novel supposedly written by Umberto Eco, who's best known to movie fans for writing The Name of the Rose, the historical mystery that Jean-Jacques Annaud turned into a Sean Connery toplining, featuring a teenage Christian Slater and a very severe haircut. I say "supposedly" only because I know very little about Umberto Eco, and his Wikipedia page doesn't mention it, not that I can see. In any event, per Variety, "Dong-hyuk revealed he has already penned a 25-page treatment about the project which will surely be 'another...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 4/4/2022
- Screen Anarchy
Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives and companies shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re talking to Netflix VP of Italian Originals Eleonora “Tinny” Andreatta. The veteran exec was pivotal in bringing shows such as My Brilliant Friend to audiences during her 25-year career at public service broadcaster Rai and here she speaks to Deadline about the local and global strategy for her newest role.
When Netflix hired former Rai director Eleonora Andreatta in 2020 as vice president of Italian Original series, it was a monumental coup for the mega-streamer and a clear sign that the company was taking its presence in Italy very seriously.
Andreatta was seen as the most influential commissioning editor in Italy. Her distinguished 25-year career at public service broadcaster Rai saw her deliver around 500 hours of TV drama per year across its three main...
When Netflix hired former Rai director Eleonora Andreatta in 2020 as vice president of Italian Original series, it was a monumental coup for the mega-streamer and a clear sign that the company was taking its presence in Italy very seriously.
Andreatta was seen as the most influential commissioning editor in Italy. Her distinguished 25-year career at public service broadcaster Rai saw her deliver around 500 hours of TV drama per year across its three main...
- 3/9/2022
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
I’m beginning to think this Satan character holds a grudge, you know? He tries to take over the world with his kid Damien in The Omen (1976)? A bust. Teenage Damien takes another run at it in Damien Omen II (1978) and survives, but daddy is nowhere to be seen. Deadbeat. So here we are with The Final Conflict (1981), Damien grown up and preparing the throne for pa, but this time, God’s got his own present to deliver. “When does the Devil get a break?” and other burning questions are answered in this low-key yet overall effective finale. (If only temporary.)
Released by 20th Century Fox in North America in late March, The Final Conflict rolled out to the rest of the world shortly thereafter, and made its money back despite less than glowing reviews. And while some of the complaints are valid -- it doesn’t really have that...
Released by 20th Century Fox in North America in late March, The Final Conflict rolled out to the rest of the world shortly thereafter, and made its money back despite less than glowing reviews. And while some of the complaints are valid -- it doesn’t really have that...
- 8/21/2021
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Anna Gross, a film executive and producer who worked on films such as “The NeverEnding Story” and “Tootsie,” died of cancer on July 23. She was 68.
Gross’ cousin, Mikie Heilbrun, confirmed her death to Variety. “Everyone’s life she touched she enriched,” Heilbrun wrote in an email. “She made them better more full beings and forever changed them.”
Gross began her career in film in the 1970s with an 8-year stint working for famed Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, during which she worked on 14 films, including “Death Wish” (1974), “Three Days of the Condor” (1975), “The Shootist” (1976), “King Kong” (1976) and “Ragtime” (1981). Gross then became vice president of production for director Sydney Pollack, working to develop his films “The Electric Horseman” (1979), “Tootsie” (1982) and “Out of Africa” (1985).
Throughout the 1980s, Gross spent time in Germany working with producer Bernd Eichinger, where she oversaw the production on “The NeverEnding Story” (1984), “The Name of the Rose” (1986) and...
Gross’ cousin, Mikie Heilbrun, confirmed her death to Variety. “Everyone’s life she touched she enriched,” Heilbrun wrote in an email. “She made them better more full beings and forever changed them.”
Gross began her career in film in the 1970s with an 8-year stint working for famed Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis, during which she worked on 14 films, including “Death Wish” (1974), “Three Days of the Condor” (1975), “The Shootist” (1976), “King Kong” (1976) and “Ragtime” (1981). Gross then became vice president of production for director Sydney Pollack, working to develop his films “The Electric Horseman” (1979), “Tootsie” (1982) and “Out of Africa” (1985).
Throughout the 1980s, Gross spent time in Germany working with producer Bernd Eichinger, where she oversaw the production on “The NeverEnding Story” (1984), “The Name of the Rose” (1986) and...
- 8/1/2021
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
Anna Gross, the film executive behind such acclaimed titles as Tootsie and The NeverEnding Story, died on July 23 at her home in Twentynine Palms, CA, following a long battle with cancer. She was 68.
Gross was born in New York City on October 25, 1952. She spent the first eight years of her career working alongside famed Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis. In her time with the Oscar winner, she worked in various capacities on 14 films, including Charles Bronson starrer Death Wish (1974), Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor (1975), Western The Shootist (1976), King Kong (1976), starring Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin, and Milos Forman’s Ragtime.
Gross subsequently served as Vice President of Production for Pollack, working on his 1979 film The Electric Horseman and developing two others: 1982’s Tootsie and 1985’s Out of Africa.
Gross spent much of the 1980s working in Germany alongside producer Bernd Eichinger, overseeing production on classic fantasy pic...
Gross was born in New York City on October 25, 1952. She spent the first eight years of her career working alongside famed Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis. In her time with the Oscar winner, she worked in various capacities on 14 films, including Charles Bronson starrer Death Wish (1974), Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor (1975), Western The Shootist (1976), King Kong (1976), starring Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin, and Milos Forman’s Ragtime.
Gross subsequently served as Vice President of Production for Pollack, working on his 1979 film The Electric Horseman and developing two others: 1982’s Tootsie and 1985’s Out of Africa.
Gross spent much of the 1980s working in Germany alongside producer Bernd Eichinger, overseeing production on classic fantasy pic...
- 8/1/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Palomar, the leading Italian production outfit that’s part of Mediawan Group, has optioned the adaptation rights to “Fresh Water for Flowers,” the best-selling novel by French author Valérie Perrin. Palomar will be making an internationally-driven TV series based on the book.
Founded by Carlo Degli Esposti in the 1980’s, the Rome-based Palomar is one of Italy’s oldest production banners and has delivered some of country’s top films and series over the years, including Edoardo Ponti’s Oscar-nominated “The Life Ahead,” “Piranhas” which won the Silver Bear at Berlin in 2019, as well as the series “Inspector Montalbano” and “The Name of the Rose” with John Turturro and Rupert Everett.
“Fresh Water For Flowers,” a global literary success translated into 28 languages with over 1.5 million copies sold in France and Italy, won several awards, including the Maison de la Presse prize.
The book revolves around Violette Toussaint, the beautiful, cheerful...
Founded by Carlo Degli Esposti in the 1980’s, the Rome-based Palomar is one of Italy’s oldest production banners and has delivered some of country’s top films and series over the years, including Edoardo Ponti’s Oscar-nominated “The Life Ahead,” “Piranhas” which won the Silver Bear at Berlin in 2019, as well as the series “Inspector Montalbano” and “The Name of the Rose” with John Turturro and Rupert Everett.
“Fresh Water For Flowers,” a global literary success translated into 28 languages with over 1.5 million copies sold in France and Italy, won several awards, including the Maison de la Presse prize.
The book revolves around Violette Toussaint, the beautiful, cheerful...
- 6/29/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Betty Gabriel (Get Out) has been tapped for a major new series regular role in the upcoming third season of Prime Video’s Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, starring John Krasinski.
Gabriel, who will play Elizabeth Wright, the Chief of Station, replaces Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who was originally tapped for the part last fall. Jean-Baptiste has exited the series over creative differences. Jack Ryan is currently in production on Season 3, and the few scenes Jean-Baptiste had filmed will be reshot with Gabriel.
Also cast as series regulars in Season 3 are James Cosmo (His Dark Materials), Peter Guinness (Cursed), Nina Hoss (Little Sister) and Alexej Manvelov (Before We Die) in the series, a co-production of Amazon Studios, Paramount Television Studios and Skydance Television.
Season 3 of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan finds Jack Ryan (Krasinski) on the run and in a race against time. Jack is wrongly implicated in a larger conspiracy...
Gabriel, who will play Elizabeth Wright, the Chief of Station, replaces Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who was originally tapped for the part last fall. Jean-Baptiste has exited the series over creative differences. Jack Ryan is currently in production on Season 3, and the few scenes Jean-Baptiste had filmed will be reshot with Gabriel.
Also cast as series regulars in Season 3 are James Cosmo (His Dark Materials), Peter Guinness (Cursed), Nina Hoss (Little Sister) and Alexej Manvelov (Before We Die) in the series, a co-production of Amazon Studios, Paramount Television Studios and Skydance Television.
Season 3 of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan finds Jack Ryan (Krasinski) on the run and in a race against time. Jack is wrongly implicated in a larger conspiracy...
- 5/18/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Producers William G. Santor, CEO of Productivity Media, and Nicholas Tabarrok, President of Darius Films have lined up a stellar cast featuring Ron Perlman (Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy), Academy-Award nominee Harvey Keitel, Elias Koteas, Joel David Moore (James Cameron’s Avatar) and new discovery 10 year old Emma Ho, for their new action drama The Baker.
Directed by Jonathan Sobol who’s credits include The Padre starring Nick Nolte and Tim Roth, The Art of the Steal starring Kurt Russell and Matt Dillon and A Beginners Guide to Endings starring Scott Caan, J.K. Simmons and Harvey Keitel, The Baker is written by Paolo Mancini & Thomas Michael, the duo who wrote and starred in the festival favorite Hank and Mike featuring Joe Mantegna. Production is set to commence in the Cayman Islands as part of a sweeping multi-film production deal with the Islands’ Film Commission, the Cayman’s Ministry of International Trade,...
Directed by Jonathan Sobol who’s credits include The Padre starring Nick Nolte and Tim Roth, The Art of the Steal starring Kurt Russell and Matt Dillon and A Beginners Guide to Endings starring Scott Caan, J.K. Simmons and Harvey Keitel, The Baker is written by Paolo Mancini & Thomas Michael, the duo who wrote and starred in the festival favorite Hank and Mike featuring Joe Mantegna. Production is set to commence in the Cayman Islands as part of a sweeping multi-film production deal with the Islands’ Film Commission, the Cayman’s Ministry of International Trade,...
- 4/27/2021
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Exclusive: Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus) and Stéfi Celma (Call My Agent) are among cast joining the modern reimagining of Mozart’s popular opera, The Magic Flute. The film is being executive-produced by Roland Emmerich.
Grand Budapest Hotel and Homeland actor Abraham, who famously played Mozart’s adversary Salieri in Amadeus, will play Dr. Longbow, the headmaster of the boarding school in Austria. Celma will portray the character Papagena.
The screen adaptation, which is now underway, is set in present-day Europe and tells the story of 17-year-old Tim Walker, who is sent from London to the Austrian alps to start his singing scholarship at the legendary Mozart boarding school. There, he discovers a century old forgotten passageway into the magical world of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
As previously announced, starring will be Jack Wolfe (The Witcher) in the dual roles of protagonist Tim Walker and Prince Tamino. Iwan Rheon...
Grand Budapest Hotel and Homeland actor Abraham, who famously played Mozart’s adversary Salieri in Amadeus, will play Dr. Longbow, the headmaster of the boarding school in Austria. Celma will portray the character Papagena.
The screen adaptation, which is now underway, is set in present-day Europe and tells the story of 17-year-old Tim Walker, who is sent from London to the Austrian alps to start his singing scholarship at the legendary Mozart boarding school. There, he discovers a century old forgotten passageway into the magical world of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
As previously announced, starring will be Jack Wolfe (The Witcher) in the dual roles of protagonist Tim Walker and Prince Tamino. Iwan Rheon...
- 3/22/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Italian author Carlo Collodi’s 1883 book “The Adventures of Pinocchio,” as most everyone knows, is about a wooden puppet that yearns to be a real boy. Director Matteo Garrone’s new Italian-language adaptation of the beloved story (starring Federico Ielapi as Pinocchio and Roberto Benigni as Geppetto) faced the exact opposite challenge.
Eschewing digital effects in favor of practical makeup magic, Garrone’s task was how to turn the 8-year-old Ielapi, along with nearly two dozen other human actors, into an elaborate array of storybook creatures, keeping true to Collodi’s original vision. And not only a wooden puppet, but also a cricket, an owl, a dog, a gorilla, a snail — and, yes, even a philosophical tuna fish, who Pinocchio meets in the belly of a giant sea monster.
Garrone turned to the British prosthetics maestro Mark Coulier. An industry veteran for three decades, Coulier began his career creating creatures...
Eschewing digital effects in favor of practical makeup magic, Garrone’s task was how to turn the 8-year-old Ielapi, along with nearly two dozen other human actors, into an elaborate array of storybook creatures, keeping true to Collodi’s original vision. And not only a wooden puppet, but also a cricket, an owl, a dog, a gorilla, a snail — and, yes, even a philosophical tuna fish, who Pinocchio meets in the belly of a giant sea monster.
Garrone turned to the British prosthetics maestro Mark Coulier. An industry veteran for three decades, Coulier began his career creating creatures...
- 3/9/2021
- by Joe McGovern
- The Wrap
European film, TV and media group Wild Bunch is moving to strengthen its involvement in production and co-productions in France, placing longtime in-house execs Adeline Fontan Tessaur and Jerome Rougier in charge of the effort. They will respectively continue as Managing Director of Elle Driver and Director of French Theatrical Distribution, and will spearhead acquisitions with a particular focus on co-productions. The first films will be announced in the coming weeks.
The push in France follows similar developments at Wild Bunch subsidiaries in Germany, Italy and Spain. Recently appointed COO of Wild Bunch, Marc Gabizon, created and developed the Wild Bunch activity in Germany and is continuing the policy to grow production and co-production in Europe.
Wild Bunch has kept busy with internal shifts and new in-roads over the past year. That includes recently setting key promotions at independent sales subsidiary Wild Bunch International, as well as securing a 35M...
The push in France follows similar developments at Wild Bunch subsidiaries in Germany, Italy and Spain. Recently appointed COO of Wild Bunch, Marc Gabizon, created and developed the Wild Bunch activity in Germany and is continuing the policy to grow production and co-production in Europe.
Wild Bunch has kept busy with internal shifts and new in-roads over the past year. That includes recently setting key promotions at independent sales subsidiary Wild Bunch International, as well as securing a 35M...
- 11/30/2020
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Mediawan, one of Europe’s most thriving independent production-distribution groups, is looking to expand its leadership further into Europe with the acquisition of Lagardere Studios and a minority stake in Madrid-based banner Weekend Studio.
Following last month’s clearance by the anti-trust board, Mediawan has finalized its takeover of Lagardere Studios, an expansive French TV producer-distributor comprised of 27 companies, including the Spanish banner Boomerang, whose hit series include “The Time in Between” and “Mum detective;” Atlantique Productions, whose credits include Damien Chazelle’s Netflix series “The Eddy”; and Imagissime, the documentary producers behind hit Netflix documentary series “Who Killed Little Gregory?”
Pierre-Antoine Capton, chairman of Mediawan, said the company is now getting ready to integrate Lagardere Studios’ talent and labels into the org and is preparing to reorganize in order to create more synergies.
“With these new acquisitions we are going to strengthen our footprint in Spain, the Netherlands and Finland,...
Following last month’s clearance by the anti-trust board, Mediawan has finalized its takeover of Lagardere Studios, an expansive French TV producer-distributor comprised of 27 companies, including the Spanish banner Boomerang, whose hit series include “The Time in Between” and “Mum detective;” Atlantique Productions, whose credits include Damien Chazelle’s Netflix series “The Eddy”; and Imagissime, the documentary producers behind hit Netflix documentary series “Who Killed Little Gregory?”
Pierre-Antoine Capton, chairman of Mediawan, said the company is now getting ready to integrate Lagardere Studios’ talent and labels into the org and is preparing to reorganize in order to create more synergies.
“With these new acquisitions we are going to strengthen our footprint in Spain, the Netherlands and Finland,...
- 11/10/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
In the course of his nearly 50-year career on the screen, the late Sean Connery portrayed many famous characters, both fictional and non-fictional. Among those were, of course, Ian Fleming’s suave spy James Bond in seven films; Daniel Druvot in 1975’s The Man Who Would Be King; King Arthur in 1995’s First Knight, Robin Hood in 1976’s Robin and Marian; Dr. Henry Jones Sr. in 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and many more.
One role Connery never got to play was Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective, Sherlock Holmes. But he did come close, playing a character who was based at least in part on Holmes, in the 1986 movie The Name of the Rose.
Based on the best-selling 1980 novel by Italian historian, philosopher and author Umberto Eco, the book and the film are set in 1327, as a Franciscan monk named William of Baskerville (Connery) and his young...
One role Connery never got to play was Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective, Sherlock Holmes. But he did come close, playing a character who was based at least in part on Holmes, in the 1986 movie The Name of the Rose.
Based on the best-selling 1980 novel by Italian historian, philosopher and author Umberto Eco, the book and the film are set in 1327, as a Franciscan monk named William of Baskerville (Connery) and his young...
- 11/3/2020
- by Don Kaye
- Den of Geek
Los Angeles, Nov 3 (Ians) Hollywood star Harrison Ford has paid tribute to late movie icon Sean Connery, who played his father in the all-time blockbuster, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade.
Connery died on Saturday at the age of 90.
"He was my father… not in life… but in ‘Indy 3'," Ford said in a statement to variety.com.
"You don't know pleasure until someone pays you to take Sean Connery for a ride in the side car of a Russian motorcycle bouncing along a bumpy, twisty mountain trail and getting to watch him squirm. God, we had fun -- if he's in heaven, I hope they have golf courses. Rest in peace, dear friend," he added.
Connery played Ford's father in the 1989 action adventure directed by Steven Spielberg.
Filmmaker George Lucas, who created the "Indiana Jones" franchise, also honoured Connery.
"Sir Sean Connery, through his talent and drive, left an indelible mark in cinematic history.
Connery died on Saturday at the age of 90.
"He was my father… not in life… but in ‘Indy 3'," Ford said in a statement to variety.com.
"You don't know pleasure until someone pays you to take Sean Connery for a ride in the side car of a Russian motorcycle bouncing along a bumpy, twisty mountain trail and getting to watch him squirm. God, we had fun -- if he's in heaven, I hope they have golf courses. Rest in peace, dear friend," he added.
Connery played Ford's father in the 1989 action adventure directed by Steven Spielberg.
Filmmaker George Lucas, who created the "Indiana Jones" franchise, also honoured Connery.
"Sir Sean Connery, through his talent and drive, left an indelible mark in cinematic history.
- 11/3/2020
- by Glamsham Editorial
- GlamSham
One of Andrew Birkin’s lasting memories of Sean Connery is of the actor, who died over the weekend at the age of 90, digging a splinter out of Birkin’s foot.
It was the late ’60s. Birkin was working as a location manager in Spain on a Michael Caine World War II movie, Play Dirty. Down the road, they were shooting Shalko, a Western starring Connery, Brigitte Bardot and Stephen Boyd. Birkin knew Boyd and the two crews used to hang out together in the evenings.
“One night, I don’t know how it happened, I got a huge splinter ...
It was the late ’60s. Birkin was working as a location manager in Spain on a Michael Caine World War II movie, Play Dirty. Down the road, they were shooting Shalko, a Western starring Connery, Brigitte Bardot and Stephen Boyd. Birkin knew Boyd and the two crews used to hang out together in the evenings.
“One night, I don’t know how it happened, I got a huge splinter ...
- 11/2/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Chicago – Sean Connery, who began a sensation when he first introduced himself as “Bond, James Bond” in his role as the spy in “Dr No” (1962) – and was able to redefine himself as a character actor after 10 years as Bond – passed away on October 31st, 2020, at his home in the Bahamas.
Born in Scotland to working class parents, Thomas Sean Connery worked his way up the show business ladder to the giddiest of heights, even winning a Best Supporting Oscar for his role in “The Untouchables” (1987). In his choice of roles, especially post-Bond, he was unpredictable and provocative, while staying humble to where he came from … Connery was a lifelong advocate for Scottish independence from England.
Sean Connery in ‘Goldfinger’
Photo credit: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios/Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Connery joined the Royal Navy at age 16, and worked several odd jobs after his discharge, including as an artist’s model,...
Born in Scotland to working class parents, Thomas Sean Connery worked his way up the show business ladder to the giddiest of heights, even winning a Best Supporting Oscar for his role in “The Untouchables” (1987). In his choice of roles, especially post-Bond, he was unpredictable and provocative, while staying humble to where he came from … Connery was a lifelong advocate for Scottish independence from England.
Sean Connery in ‘Goldfinger’
Photo credit: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios/Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Connery joined the Royal Navy at age 16, and worked several odd jobs after his discharge, including as an artist’s model,...
- 11/1/2020
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Sorry, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. While you all tried your best to inhabit Hollywood’s most iconic secret agent, none of you could upstage the masculine allure and suave cool of the first man to take on the role of James Bond.
While Sean Connery, who is dead at age 90 on Saturday, went on to do a wide range of notable films after headlining seven 007 adventures starting with 1962’s “Dr. No” and and ending with 1983’s “Never Say Never Again.” From the first time he said, “The name’s Bond … James Bond,” the charismatic Scotsman would own the role.
SEEJames Bond: Every 007 movie ranked worst to best
Craig, who is about to leave the franchise once the pandemic-delayed “No Time to Die” is eventually released, shared his thoughts in a statement about his predecessor, saying “Sir Sean Connery will be remembered as Bond and much more.
While Sean Connery, who is dead at age 90 on Saturday, went on to do a wide range of notable films after headlining seven 007 adventures starting with 1962’s “Dr. No” and and ending with 1983’s “Never Say Never Again.” From the first time he said, “The name’s Bond … James Bond,” the charismatic Scotsman would own the role.
SEEJames Bond: Every 007 movie ranked worst to best
Craig, who is about to leave the franchise once the pandemic-delayed “No Time to Die” is eventually released, shared his thoughts in a statement about his predecessor, saying “Sir Sean Connery will be remembered as Bond and much more.
- 10/31/2020
- by Susan Wloszczyna
- Gold Derby
Sean Connery, one of the truly iconic actors of Hollywood, died overnight in the Bahamas at the age of 90. No cause of death was announced.
The Scottish actor’s career spanned five-decades in which he played a wide range of unforgettable characters, many of them iconic on their own. But he will always be known as the first, best and most recognizable actor to play the British Spy with the license to kill, James Bond. He played Agent 007 in seven movies, beginning with the first James Bond movie Dr. No in 1962.
But Connery was no mere espionage agent, and he certainly wasn’t secret. Connery starred opposite Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1964 film Marnie. He stood out in a crowded all-star cast in Murder on the Orient Express from 1974. He escaped Alcatraz in The Rock (1996), defected to the United States in The Hunt for Red October, saved the day...
The Scottish actor’s career spanned five-decades in which he played a wide range of unforgettable characters, many of them iconic on their own. But he will always be known as the first, best and most recognizable actor to play the British Spy with the license to kill, James Bond. He played Agent 007 in seven movies, beginning with the first James Bond movie Dr. No in 1962.
But Connery was no mere espionage agent, and he certainly wasn’t secret. Connery starred opposite Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1964 film Marnie. He stood out in a crowded all-star cast in Murder on the Orient Express from 1974. He escaped Alcatraz in The Rock (1996), defected to the United States in The Hunt for Red October, saved the day...
- 10/31/2020
- by Mike Cecchini
- Den of Geek
By Vinayak Chakravorty
New Delhi, Oct 31 (Ians) For a man who redefined the spy as a playboy and an action star with his James Bond roles, Sean Connery had once surprised the world declaring he was no great fan of the British superspy.
"I've only read two Bond books, I found Ian Fleming himself much more interesting than his writing," Connery had stated, in an article that The Guardian ran in December 1971.
That was the era when Connery ruled the mindset of Hollywood fans the world over with his back-to-back hits as Agent 007. It was almost a decade since his first bow, "Dr No", created global impact upon release in 1962. By December 1971 Connery had already starred in four other Bond blockbusters that continue to define the original essence of Bond -- "From Russia With Love" (1963), "Goldfinger" (1964), "Thunderball" (1965), and "You Only Live Twice" (1967). In December 1971 he was gearing up for...
New Delhi, Oct 31 (Ians) For a man who redefined the spy as a playboy and an action star with his James Bond roles, Sean Connery had once surprised the world declaring he was no great fan of the British superspy.
"I've only read two Bond books, I found Ian Fleming himself much more interesting than his writing," Connery had stated, in an article that The Guardian ran in December 1971.
That was the era when Connery ruled the mindset of Hollywood fans the world over with his back-to-back hits as Agent 007. It was almost a decade since his first bow, "Dr No", created global impact upon release in 1962. By December 1971 Connery had already starred in four other Bond blockbusters that continue to define the original essence of Bond -- "From Russia With Love" (1963), "Goldfinger" (1964), "Thunderball" (1965), and "You Only Live Twice" (1967). In December 1971 he was gearing up for...
- 10/31/2020
- by Glamsham Editorial
- GlamSham
Noooooooo not another!! The one-and-only Sean Connery has died at age 90. His family reports that he has been "unwell for some time" (via BBC), and passed away in the Bahamas with much of his family with him. The original James Bond! Indiana Jones' dad! And so many other iconic roles in so many outstanding movies - including The Man Who Would Be King, The Great Train Robbery, Murder on the Orient Express, Zardoz, Time Bandits, The Hunt for Red October, Medicine Man, The Rock, Dragonheart, Entrapment, and Finding Forrester. Connery only won one Academy Award in his lifetime - for Best Supporting Actor in The Untouchables (in 1987) but that's it. He also won one BAFTA Award for Best Actor in The Name of the Rose (in 1986). He proved himself over and over in different roles, and almost always charmed everyone. He has only one child, Jason Connery born in 1963, as...
- 10/31/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Multiple award-winning Scottish actor best known for 007 role in seven spy films
Sean Connery, the Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of James Bond, has died aged 90. His son, Jason, said he had died peacefully in his sleep, having been “unwell for some time”.
He was admired by generations of film fans as the original and best 007, and went on to create a distinguished body of work in films such as The Man Who Would Be King, The Name of the Rose and The Untouchables.
Sean Connery, the Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of James Bond, has died aged 90. His son, Jason, said he had died peacefully in his sleep, having been “unwell for some time”.
He was admired by generations of film fans as the original and best 007, and went on to create a distinguished body of work in films such as The Man Who Would Be King, The Name of the Rose and The Untouchables.
- 10/31/2020
- by Andrew Pulver and Mattha Busby
- The Guardian - Film News
Legendary actor Sir Sean Connery has passed away at the age of 90.
The news of the Scottish star's demise was communicated by his family, according to a report in bbc.com. No official reason has been shared for the death yet.
Connery, who is widely recalled as the original James Bond on Hollywood screen, had an active career as an actor spanning nearly five decades.
He shot to global superstardom as Bond in 1962, with the first film of the 007 series, "Dr. No", and then went on to work in "From Russia with Love" (1963), "Goldfinger" (1964), "Thunderball" (1965), "You Only Live Twice" (1967), "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) and "Never Say Never Again" (1983).
American Film Institute has voted James Bond as portrayed by Connery as the third-greatest hero in cinema history.
Although his avatar as the stylish superspy often defines Connery, he carved a successful Hollywood career with roles in films such as "The Name Of The Rose...
The news of the Scottish star's demise was communicated by his family, according to a report in bbc.com. No official reason has been shared for the death yet.
Connery, who is widely recalled as the original James Bond on Hollywood screen, had an active career as an actor spanning nearly five decades.
He shot to global superstardom as Bond in 1962, with the first film of the 007 series, "Dr. No", and then went on to work in "From Russia with Love" (1963), "Goldfinger" (1964), "Thunderball" (1965), "You Only Live Twice" (1967), "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) and "Never Say Never Again" (1983).
American Film Institute has voted James Bond as portrayed by Connery as the third-greatest hero in cinema history.
Although his avatar as the stylish superspy often defines Connery, he carved a successful Hollywood career with roles in films such as "The Name Of The Rose...
- 10/31/2020
- by Glamsham Editorial
- GlamSham
Sean Connery, the Scottish-born actor who shot to worldwide fame originating the role of James Bond in the long-running movie franchise, has died at age 90.
Connery died overnight in his sleep while in his home in the Bahamas, the BBC reported Saturday.
Connery played the suave British superspy in seven blockbuster films, beginning with 1962’s “Dr. No” all the way through 1983’s “Never Say Never Again.” He also won an Academy Award for his supporting role as an Irish-American cop battling Prohibition-era gangsters in Brian De Palma’s 1987 film “The Untouchables.”
Born Thomas Sean Connery in 1930, he began acting on the U.K. stage in early 1950s after a stint in the Royal Navy. By 1957, the amateur bodybuilder earned the lead role in the BBC’s production of “Requiem for a Heavyweight.” Two years later, Disney cast him as the lead in the 1959 movie “Darby O’Gill and the Little People...
Connery died overnight in his sleep while in his home in the Bahamas, the BBC reported Saturday.
Connery played the suave British superspy in seven blockbuster films, beginning with 1962’s “Dr. No” all the way through 1983’s “Never Say Never Again.” He also won an Academy Award for his supporting role as an Irish-American cop battling Prohibition-era gangsters in Brian De Palma’s 1987 film “The Untouchables.”
Born Thomas Sean Connery in 1930, he began acting on the U.K. stage in early 1950s after a stint in the Royal Navy. By 1957, the amateur bodybuilder earned the lead role in the BBC’s production of “Requiem for a Heavyweight.” Two years later, Disney cast him as the lead in the 1959 movie “Darby O’Gill and the Little People...
- 10/31/2020
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
Connery was first person to play iconic spy in film series.
Scottish actor Sean Connery, the first person to play James Bond in Eon Productions’ long-running spy series, has died. He was 90.
Connery died peacefully in his sleep in Nassau, the Bahamas, having been unwell for some time, according to his son, the British actor Jason Connery.
Connery (full name Thomas Sean Connery) played Bond in 1962’s Dr. No, going on to reprise the role in six films in the franchise: From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, and finally in 1983’s Never Say Never Again,...
Scottish actor Sean Connery, the first person to play James Bond in Eon Productions’ long-running spy series, has died. He was 90.
Connery died peacefully in his sleep in Nassau, the Bahamas, having been unwell for some time, according to his son, the British actor Jason Connery.
Connery (full name Thomas Sean Connery) played Bond in 1962’s Dr. No, going on to reprise the role in six films in the franchise: From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, and finally in 1983’s Never Say Never Again,...
- 10/31/2020
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Sean Connery as James Bond
Sean Connery, one of the biggest stars of his generation, has died at the age of 90.
The Scottish actor, whose iconic performance as James Bond brought him worldwide fame, was also celebrated for his work in The Untouchables, The Name Of The Rose, Highlander, The Hunt For Red October and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, among many other hits.
His career as Ian Fleming's suave and sartorial spy began with Dr No and encompassed From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again.
The son of a factory worker and a cleaning woman, Connery served in the Navy and worked as a milkman, a lorry driver and a lifeguard as well as coming close to a career as a professional footballer before he got into acting, which happened accidentally when he was working backstage in the King's.
Sean Connery, one of the biggest stars of his generation, has died at the age of 90.
The Scottish actor, whose iconic performance as James Bond brought him worldwide fame, was also celebrated for his work in The Untouchables, The Name Of The Rose, Highlander, The Hunt For Red October and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, among many other hits.
His career as Ian Fleming's suave and sartorial spy began with Dr No and encompassed From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again.
The son of a factory worker and a cleaning woman, Connery served in the Navy and worked as a milkman, a lorry driver and a lifeguard as well as coming close to a career as a professional footballer before he got into acting, which happened accidentally when he was working backstage in the King's.
- 10/31/2020
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
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