Nice vistas and a scenery-chewing Famke Janssen aren’t enough to save this absurd scriptural rehash from movie hell
The latest from evangelical Christian producers Pinnacle Peak – formerly Pure Flix, the money behind the surprisingly enduring God’s Not Dead series – is an adaptation of a Francine Rivers novel that remaps the biblical tale of Hosea on to a western goldrush setting. That synopsis suggests a level of creative imagination and ambition, possibly something like Michael Winterbottom hauling The Mayor of Casterbridge further west for 2000’s The Claim. Yet this movie thinly scatters a parable’s worth of plot across 134 minutes and resembles HBO’s Deadwood recut for Sunday-school purposes: pious, puzzling and punitive, with a sternly wagging finger never far from entering the frame.
Let us give Pinnacle Peak this: they’re getting mildly more sophisticated about delivering The Message. DJ Caruso, a studio director of the mid-00s thrillers Taking Lives and Disturbia,...
The latest from evangelical Christian producers Pinnacle Peak – formerly Pure Flix, the money behind the surprisingly enduring God’s Not Dead series – is an adaptation of a Francine Rivers novel that remaps the biblical tale of Hosea on to a western goldrush setting. That synopsis suggests a level of creative imagination and ambition, possibly something like Michael Winterbottom hauling The Mayor of Casterbridge further west for 2000’s The Claim. Yet this movie thinly scatters a parable’s worth of plot across 134 minutes and resembles HBO’s Deadwood recut for Sunday-school purposes: pious, puzzling and punitive, with a sternly wagging finger never far from entering the frame.
Let us give Pinnacle Peak this: they’re getting mildly more sophisticated about delivering The Message. DJ Caruso, a studio director of the mid-00s thrillers Taking Lives and Disturbia,...
- 9/12/2022
- by Mike McCahill
- The Guardian - Film News
A film adaptation of Boom! Studios graphic novel series “Irredeemable” and its spin-off “Incorruptible” are in the works at Netflix, according to an individual with knowledge of the project.
BAFTA Film Award winner Jeymes Samuel is set to direct and produce. Academy Award nominated Kemp Powers will write the script for the adaptation, which will have the protagonists from each series face off – one a villain on a quest to become a superhero, and the other a fallen hero turned villain.
Created by comic-book legend Mark Waid (“Kingdom Come”) and illustrated by Peter Krause, “Irredeemable” ran for 37 issues and sold over 1.5 million copies during its initial run.
The official synopsis for the series is as follows: A deconstructionist remix of the genre, the series dramatizes how the world’s greatest hero — The Plutonian — snapped under the pressure of his responsibilities and charted a dark path to become the world’s greatest supervillain.
BAFTA Film Award winner Jeymes Samuel is set to direct and produce. Academy Award nominated Kemp Powers will write the script for the adaptation, which will have the protagonists from each series face off – one a villain on a quest to become a superhero, and the other a fallen hero turned villain.
Created by comic-book legend Mark Waid (“Kingdom Come”) and illustrated by Peter Krause, “Irredeemable” ran for 37 issues and sold over 1.5 million copies during its initial run.
The official synopsis for the series is as follows: A deconstructionist remix of the genre, the series dramatizes how the world’s greatest hero — The Plutonian — snapped under the pressure of his responsibilities and charted a dark path to become the world’s greatest supervillain.
- 3/17/2022
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Netflix is developing a live-action feature take of the bestselling Boom! Studios comic series Irredeemable and its sister title Incorruptible with BAFTA-winning The Harder They Fall filmmaker Jeymes Samuel directing, Oscar-nominated scribe Kemp Powers writing and producers Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter and James Lassiter on board.
Samuel will also produce. Carter and Lassiter will produce through their overall deal at the streamer with Stephen Christy and Ross Richie from Boom! Studios. Powers and Adam Yoelin will serves as EPs.
In the graphic novel series, when the world’s most powerful and beloved superhero, the god-like Plutonian, inexplicably begins slaughtering everyone on Earth, the only person that can stop him is his former arch-nemesis, the super-powered villain Max Damage. Unwillingly thrust into the role of savior, Max must uncover the Plutonian’s mysterious past in order to discover how to bring him down. But can he discover what made the Plutonian go...
Samuel will also produce. Carter and Lassiter will produce through their overall deal at the streamer with Stephen Christy and Ross Richie from Boom! Studios. Powers and Adam Yoelin will serves as EPs.
In the graphic novel series, when the world’s most powerful and beloved superhero, the god-like Plutonian, inexplicably begins slaughtering everyone on Earth, the only person that can stop him is his former arch-nemesis, the super-powered villain Max Damage. Unwillingly thrust into the role of savior, Max must uncover the Plutonian’s mysterious past in order to discover how to bring him down. But can he discover what made the Plutonian go...
- 3/17/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
(Superhero Bits is a collection of stories, updates, and videos about anything and everything inspired by the comics of Marvel, DC, and more. For comic book movies, TV shows, merchandise, events, and whatever catches our eye, this is the place to find anything that falls through the cracks.)
In this edition of Superhero Bits:
New "Doctor Strange 2" promo art surfaces
"Black Adam" producer Hiram Garcia wants to make a "Kingdom Come" movie
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" is getting a big Oscars push
An "Infinity War" character might return in "Thor: Love and Thunder"
All that and more!
Marvel Comics is...
The post Superhero Bits: Spider-Man Gets An Oscars Push, Spawn Surprises Are Coming & More appeared first on /Film.
In this edition of Superhero Bits:
New "Doctor Strange 2" promo art surfaces
"Black Adam" producer Hiram Garcia wants to make a "Kingdom Come" movie
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" is getting a big Oscars push
An "Infinity War" character might return in "Thor: Love and Thunder"
All that and more!
Marvel Comics is...
The post Superhero Bits: Spider-Man Gets An Oscars Push, Spawn Surprises Are Coming & More appeared first on /Film.
- 1/4/2022
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Ask any DC fan what the best stories are in its realm and they should undoubtedly bring up Kingdom Come. If you want to see a classic Justice League tale mixed with some old-school comic nostalgia and you got yourself one of the best DC stories ever written. But it’s much better than that, since this is one of the very few Justice League comics that has that sense of realism. It really doesn’t feel like a typical DC story in the sense that it focuses far less on the fantasy and cosmic elements that they usually like to show
A Kingdom Come Movie For The Dceu Would Be Awesome...
A Kingdom Come Movie For The Dceu Would Be Awesome...
- 1/4/2022
- by David Martinez
- TVovermind.com
I don’t play video game so I am only peripherally familiar with Injustice, an Imaginary Story featuring the DC Universe. Similarly, I didn’t read the Injustice: Gods Among Us prequel comic book that apparently sold well enough to inspire Warner Animation to invest precious time and resources in adapting it to film. The resulting product, out now from Warner Home Entertainment, is an acquired taste.
Those familiar with the source material will be irked at how much has been trimmed out to fit hundreds of pages into a 75-minute story. Those unfamiliar with the tale will scratch their heads a lot, asking, “How’d that happen?”
Taking a page from Mark Waid and Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come, Superman turns dark with rage and grief after the Joker kills Lois Lane. The twist is that this Lois is pregnant, deepening his pain. He becomes a dictator, instilling his...
Those familiar with the source material will be irked at how much has been trimmed out to fit hundreds of pages into a 75-minute story. Those unfamiliar with the tale will scratch their heads a lot, asking, “How’d that happen?”
Taking a page from Mark Waid and Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come, Superman turns dark with rage and grief after the Joker kills Lois Lane. The twist is that this Lois is pregnant, deepening his pain. He becomes a dictator, instilling his...
- 12/6/2021
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
Exclusive: Four former Troika reps have launched London-based B-Side Management and B-Side Production with an impressive client list including Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Jenna Coleman (Victoria), Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who), Karen Gillan (Avengers: Endgame), Keeley Hawes (Line Of Duty), Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Rafe Spall (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Joe Cole (Gangs Of London) and Barry Keoghan (Eternals).
Also repped by the firm out of the UK are Tom Burke (The Souvenir), Maxine Peake (Shameless), Matt Berry (The It Crowd), Holliday Grainger (Cinderella), Nabhaan Rizwan (Informer), Daisy Haggard (Breeders), Kirby Howell Baptiste (The Good Place), Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) and Franz Rogowski (Undine).
The company has been set up in recent months by partners Kate Morrison, Matimba Kabalika and Sarah Stephenson, with Sam Fox joining as partner more recently. Former BFI exec Kabalika will oversee the production arm with creative exec Amy Wells, formerly of Rooks Nest.
The company will offer personal management for actors,...
Also repped by the firm out of the UK are Tom Burke (The Souvenir), Maxine Peake (Shameless), Matt Berry (The It Crowd), Holliday Grainger (Cinderella), Nabhaan Rizwan (Informer), Daisy Haggard (Breeders), Kirby Howell Baptiste (The Good Place), Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso) and Franz Rogowski (Undine).
The company has been set up in recent months by partners Kate Morrison, Matimba Kabalika and Sarah Stephenson, with Sam Fox joining as partner more recently. Former BFI exec Kabalika will oversee the production arm with creative exec Amy Wells, formerly of Rooks Nest.
The company will offer personal management for actors,...
- 6/9/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman and Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
This article contains Superman & Lois spoilers.
Superman & Lois episode 2 gave us a lot more information on our potential bad guy, and it’s quite a doozy. Superman’s Iron Man-esque foe isn’t Lex Luthor, he’s a Luthor from a parallel Earth, by implication stranded on this one by the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. And while Superman & Lois draws a lot from the comics, is this Captain Luthor like another big multiversal Luthor we know from DC Comics as well? Or is he someone entirely different?
The evidence right now points to someone new. Or at least an amalgamation of a few Luthors. And a Lane.
Is Captain Luthor really Alexander Luthor?
There is no shortage of Lex Luthor variants in the comics. There’s the main Dcu Lex, Superman’s top antagonist who periodically turns good, but always reverts to mean. And there are...
Superman & Lois episode 2 gave us a lot more information on our potential bad guy, and it’s quite a doozy. Superman’s Iron Man-esque foe isn’t Lex Luthor, he’s a Luthor from a parallel Earth, by implication stranded on this one by the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. And while Superman & Lois draws a lot from the comics, is this Captain Luthor like another big multiversal Luthor we know from DC Comics as well? Or is he someone entirely different?
The evidence right now points to someone new. Or at least an amalgamation of a few Luthors. And a Lane.
Is Captain Luthor really Alexander Luthor?
There is no shortage of Lex Luthor variants in the comics. There’s the main Dcu Lex, Superman’s top antagonist who periodically turns good, but always reverts to mean. And there are...
- 3/3/2021
- by Jim Dandy
- Den of Geek
Joshua Williamson has had his hands in just about every big DC story for the last five years. One of the longest-tenured Flash writers ever, Williamson has by necessity been in the middle of every time the DC multiverse tried to burst back into canon over the last five years. After all, you can’t have a Crisis without a Flash beat or three.
But now, Williamson is getting the keys to the bus. Infinite Frontier #0 kicks off the post-Metal, post-Future State new status quo for the DC Universe in March. That status quo builds off of DC’s new multiversal mantra: everything happened and anything is possible. We had a chance to talk with him about what that means on both ends – what the new Dcu is growing out of, and what’s coming in the future.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Den of Geek: Give...
But now, Williamson is getting the keys to the bus. Infinite Frontier #0 kicks off the post-Metal, post-Future State new status quo for the DC Universe in March. That status quo builds off of DC’s new multiversal mantra: everything happened and anything is possible. We had a chance to talk with him about what that means on both ends – what the new Dcu is growing out of, and what’s coming in the future.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Den of Geek: Give...
- 2/18/2021
- by Jim Dandy
- Den of Geek
"We've been waiting for that to happen for decades..." Abramorama has released an official trailer for an acclaimed documentary film titled 'Til Kingdom Come, made by journalist / filmmaker Maya Zinshtein (Forever Pure). This already premiered at a number of film festivals last year, and the film is showing in "virtual cinemas" next month. This frighteningly stark, eye-opening film takes us into the world of American Evangelicals and their (indoctrinated) connection to Israel. Pastors encourage an impoverished Kentucky community, "the forgotten people of America", to donate more to Israel in anticipation of Jesus's impending return. The film exposes the controversial bond between Evangelicals and Jews, in a story of faith, power and money, revealing how Trump’s America is led by an End-Times apocalyptic countdown. There's way too much Trump in this trailer, but it's also a reminder of how vicious religious power controls these countries. Here's the official trailer (+ poster...
- 1/14/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
When “Wonder Woman” costume designer Lindy Hemming heard that the follow-up to the 2017 box-office hit starring Gal Gadot was going to be set in 1984, her first question was would the costumes fall under period or fantasy?
The answer is a simple one, “both,” Hemming says.
Below, Hemming breaks down key looks from “Wonder Woman 84” and creating an ’80s wardrobe for Chris Pine, Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig.
Wonder Woman’s New Armor
In the first film, Diana/Wonder Woman was down and dirty because she was in the trenches. With this, director Patty Jenkins wanted to change the texture and look to give it a glowing ’80s feel.
We changed the material of her bodice and made it from urethane which can be molded. We changed the design a little bit so it’s more translucent because Patty wanted everything to have this slightly hyperreal feel to it, so you...
The answer is a simple one, “both,” Hemming says.
Below, Hemming breaks down key looks from “Wonder Woman 84” and creating an ’80s wardrobe for Chris Pine, Gal Gadot and Kristen Wiig.
Wonder Woman’s New Armor
In the first film, Diana/Wonder Woman was down and dirty because she was in the trenches. With this, director Patty Jenkins wanted to change the texture and look to give it a glowing ’80s feel.
We changed the material of her bodice and made it from urethane which can be molded. We changed the design a little bit so it’s more translucent because Patty wanted everything to have this slightly hyperreal feel to it, so you...
- 1/7/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman seems to make history with every offering. An early diamond in the DC Extended Universe rough, her 2017 solo film was an immensely profitable bellwether genre offering for female-led action movies. Now, she’s about to make yet another mark as sequel Wonder Woman 1984 debuts as a streaming offering on HBO Max (read our advance review right here), making it, by far, the most prominent blockbuster to field a day-and-date distribution. Yet, for Gadot and director Patty Jenkins, its specialness was always apparent.
In this exclusive clip from The Graham Norton Show, which will stateside on BBC America Friday, December 18 at 11 pm Edt, Gadot—in-between comical 2020-esque video chat delay foibles—reinforces a notion that the first film’s $822 million worldwide box office numbers have already established: namely that Wonder Woman is a something “special.” While that might seem like a generic—somewhat self-congratulatory—gesture, the...
In this exclusive clip from The Graham Norton Show, which will stateside on BBC America Friday, December 18 at 11 pm Edt, Gadot—in-between comical 2020-esque video chat delay foibles—reinforces a notion that the first film’s $822 million worldwide box office numbers have already established: namely that Wonder Woman is a something “special.” While that might seem like a generic—somewhat self-congratulatory—gesture, the...
- 12/16/2020
- by Joseph Baxter
- Den of Geek
Former Netflix exec Erik Barmack and Prague-based Warhorse Studios are developing a live-action makeover of “Kingdom Come: Deliverance,” a video game set in the Medieval Holy Roman Empire, which has sold over 3 million copies, making it one of the biggest games in its genre.
Set up at Warhorse and Wild Sheep Content, the L.A.-based company that Barmack launched last year after departing Netflix, the adaptation, which may become a movie or series, is produced by Barmack and Warhorse Studios CEO Martin Frývaldský. They have started to reach out to potential writers and directors.
The Czech Republic deal comes hot on the heels of a development pact between Barmack and Sega for video game franchise “Yakuza.”
Both deals show Barmack, the former Netflix head of international originals, zeroing in on what he calls “amazing, non-u.S. worlds that are locally relevant, but with a regional and global popularity that...
Set up at Warhorse and Wild Sheep Content, the L.A.-based company that Barmack launched last year after departing Netflix, the adaptation, which may become a movie or series, is produced by Barmack and Warhorse Studios CEO Martin Frývaldský. They have started to reach out to potential writers and directors.
The Czech Republic deal comes hot on the heels of a development pact between Barmack and Sega for video game franchise “Yakuza.”
Both deals show Barmack, the former Netflix head of international originals, zeroing in on what he calls “amazing, non-u.S. worlds that are locally relevant, but with a regional and global popularity that...
- 10/8/2020
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Zachary Laoutides, Jaime Zevallos and Alexander James Rodriguez have been cast in Where Sweet Dreams Die, the Ave Fenix Pictures Studios dramatic thriller being directed by Mirza Esho. Production is now set to get underway in November in Chicago and New York with Covid-19 protocols in place.
The pic follows an Italian American on the verge of losing his restaurant and wife to cancer. He becomes obsessed with a Middle Eastern immigrant looking to take over the restaurant on the path to achieve the American Dream. Marius Iliescu and Emmanuel Isaac co-star in the movie, the latest from the Monica Esmeralda Leon-founded Ave Fenix, which is also aiming to start production next year on And They Called Her Paradisa, Fields of Aaru and City of Cathedrals.
Laoutides (Black Ruby) is repped by CAA, Zevallos (Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger) by Buchwald and Untitled Entertainment, and Rodriguez (Missing Link) at Cesd Youth Talent.
The pic follows an Italian American on the verge of losing his restaurant and wife to cancer. He becomes obsessed with a Middle Eastern immigrant looking to take over the restaurant on the path to achieve the American Dream. Marius Iliescu and Emmanuel Isaac co-star in the movie, the latest from the Monica Esmeralda Leon-founded Ave Fenix, which is also aiming to start production next year on And They Called Her Paradisa, Fields of Aaru and City of Cathedrals.
Laoutides (Black Ruby) is repped by CAA, Zevallos (Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger) by Buchwald and Untitled Entertainment, and Rodriguez (Missing Link) at Cesd Youth Talent.
- 9/10/2020
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Since early promotion for Wonder Woman 1984, one look has captured everyone’s attention: Diana’s golden suit of armor, with its fantastical set of wings. The Gal Gadot incarnation of Wonder Woman has broken the grimdark doom-and-gloom black leather superhero look from her very first appearance in Batman v. Supermam: Dawn of Justice, and she’s only become more colorful and bright with each successive movie, including Wonder Woman 1984’s rainbow poster aesthetic that showed off the wing-less version of the armor.
Dubbed her Golden Eagle Armor, this look originated in the comics and it’s exciting to see it come to life on the big screen, especially the way Diana sheds the wings so fluidly. It’s the kind of move we often see depicted on the page but is hard to imagine translated to a grounded live-action depiction, but director Patty Jenkins and her team found a way that’s mysterious,...
Dubbed her Golden Eagle Armor, this look originated in the comics and it’s exciting to see it come to life on the big screen, especially the way Diana sheds the wings so fluidly. It’s the kind of move we often see depicted on the page but is hard to imagine translated to a grounded live-action depiction, but director Patty Jenkins and her team found a way that’s mysterious,...
- 8/23/2020
- by Delia Harrington
- Den of Geek
DC’s new comics solicitations for November, 2020, were full of surprises, but there may not be a bigger shock than the announcement that they would be publishing Alan Moore’s pitch for Twilight of the Superheroes.
DC is releasing DC Through the ’80s: The End of Eras on December 15th. It’s a compilation of several pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths stories, including Moore and Curt Swan’s legendary “What Ever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” Detective Comics #500, The Brave and the Bold #200, and several others. The hardcover will also include essays on this era of comics from Elliot S! Maggin, Andy Kubert, J.M. DeMatteis, and others, alongside Moore’s mega-crossover pitch.
Twilight of the Superheroes was Moore’s attempt, in 1987, to clean up what he saw as the mess that was created by Crisis. It was a mechanism to reintroduce a version of the multiverse, and an effort to...
DC is releasing DC Through the ’80s: The End of Eras on December 15th. It’s a compilation of several pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths stories, including Moore and Curt Swan’s legendary “What Ever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” Detective Comics #500, The Brave and the Bold #200, and several others. The hardcover will also include essays on this era of comics from Elliot S! Maggin, Andy Kubert, J.M. DeMatteis, and others, alongside Moore’s mega-crossover pitch.
Twilight of the Superheroes was Moore’s attempt, in 1987, to clean up what he saw as the mess that was created by Crisis. It was a mechanism to reintroduce a version of the multiverse, and an effort to...
- 8/14/2020
- by Jim Dandy
- Den of Geek
You might think that at some point we’re going to run out of comic book superheroes. Fortunately, you would be super wrong, because there’s a hell of a lot more in the world of comics than the Avengers and Justice League. And just in the last couple of weeks projects based on Rob Leifeld’s “Prophet” and Scott Lodbell’s “Ball and Chain” were announced. So here are 13 heroes we think are long overdue for the live action film treatment, from fan favorites to cult classics. Hollywood, use your Covid-19 free time and get on this now.
1. Richard Rider (Nova)
Rider is the most famous member of Nova Corps, the intergalactic cops seen in 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” — think of them as Marvel’s version of the Green Lanterns. In comics he’s crossed paths with the Guardians, Captain Marvel and Thor over the years — in other...
1. Richard Rider (Nova)
Rider is the most famous member of Nova Corps, the intergalactic cops seen in 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” — think of them as Marvel’s version of the Green Lanterns. In comics he’s crossed paths with the Guardians, Captain Marvel and Thor over the years — in other...
- 5/19/2020
- by Umberto Gonzalez and Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Christian Bale is set to make his McU debut in 2021’s Thor: Love and Thunder, but it seems like he won’t stop at just one cinematic universe. And that’s because sources close to Wgtc – the same ones who said Transformers is being rebooted and Kevin Conroy was playing Kingdom Come Batman in “Crisis,” both of which we now know to be true – have informed us that Warner Bros. is looking to make Bale a feature of the Dceu, too, and one role they have in mind for him is villainous immortal caveman Vandal Savage.
I’ve long been a fan of the character, who’s renowned as one of the most dangerous villains in the DC Universe. His origins begin 50,000 years ago when Savage was a caveman and a chance encounter with a mysterious meteorite granted him super-intelligence and immortality. Since then, he’s wreaked havoc throughout the centuries,...
I’ve long been a fan of the character, who’s renowned as one of the most dangerous villains in the DC Universe. His origins begin 50,000 years ago when Savage was a caveman and a chance encounter with a mysterious meteorite granted him super-intelligence and immortality. Since then, he’s wreaked havoc throughout the centuries,...
- 3/19/2020
- by David James
- We Got This Covered
For more than three decades, Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin helped grow Spanish-language music from regional niche market to global phenomenon. Now, for the first time ever, the Grammy-winning, multi-platinum Latin pop legends will embark on a historic North American arena tour this fall. Grammy-nominated Colombian artist Sebastián Yatra will also appear as the opening act.
Produced by Live Nation, their tour will kick off September 5th in Phoenix and make stops in Houston, Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, Miami and more before wrapping October 30th in Atlanta. Tickets will...
Produced by Live Nation, their tour will kick off September 5th in Phoenix and make stops in Houston, Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, Miami and more before wrapping October 30th in Atlanta. Tickets will...
- 3/4/2020
- by Suzy Exposito
- Rollingstone.com
We’ve finally received an adaptation of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s Locke & Key, courtesy of Netflix, and while nothing’s officially set in stone just yet, we’re now hearing from our sources that the streaming site are happy enough with the initial order of ten episodes to greenlight a second and third season. Given Netflix’s past record of investing in at least a few years of their original series, this shouldn’t come as a particular surprise, but represents excellent news for fans of the comics and the recently released show.
According to our sources – the same ones who told us Bill Murray would return in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Kevin Conroy was playing Kingdom Come Batman in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” – Netflix have already committed to a season 2 and 3 internally, but are just waiting to make an official announcement until they see the initial reaction to the series,...
According to our sources – the same ones who told us Bill Murray would return in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Kevin Conroy was playing Kingdom Come Batman in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” – Netflix have already committed to a season 2 and 3 internally, but are just waiting to make an official announcement until they see the initial reaction to the series,...
- 2/8/2020
- by Jessica James
- We Got This Covered
Puerto Rican–Dominican singer, songwriter, and actor Nicky Jam is one of reggaeton’s most prolific talents. Following his 2019 full-length release, Intimo, he kicked off the year with a feature role alongside Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in their latest blockbuster, Bad Boys for Life. In this edition of “The First Time,” the Latin Grammy–winning artist opens up about his first movie role and the music scene in Puerto Rico, as well as his rocky road to international pop stardom.
Born Nick Rivera Caminero in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the 38-year-old...
Born Nick Rivera Caminero in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the 38-year-old...
- 1/30/2020
- by Suzy Exposito
- Rollingstone.com
Back in late 2018, it was reported that Warner Bros. was developing a solo movie for Zatanna. Since then, however, there’ve been no official announcements about who could helm the film or star in it. We Got This Covered has been keeping you up to date with WB’s plans for the sorceress, though, and we can confirm they’re still moving forward with it. In fact, our last update came in September, when we reported that the studio was eyeing up Emilia Clarke for the role.
According to our sources though – the same ones who said Diana will get her Golden Eagle armor in Wonder Woman 1984 and that Kevin Conroy was playing Kingdom Come Batman in “Crisis” – Clarke is no longer in the picture to play Zatanna as she’s reportedly passed on the part. Given that, they’re now looking in a different direction for the character. And...
According to our sources though – the same ones who said Diana will get her Golden Eagle armor in Wonder Woman 1984 and that Kevin Conroy was playing Kingdom Come Batman in “Crisis” – Clarke is no longer in the picture to play Zatanna as she’s reportedly passed on the part. Given that, they’re now looking in a different direction for the character. And...
- 1/25/2020
- by Christian Bone
- We Got This Covered
Joaquin Phoenix turned in one of the most outstanding performances of 2019 and easily one of the most extraordinary performances in the history of comic book cinema with his portrayal of Arthur Fleck in Todd Phillips’ record-breaking Joker, a story that plants a modern take on the classic Batman villain in the legacies of Martin Scorsese’s movies The King of Comedy and Taxi Driver and Bryan Singer’s film The Usual Suspects. And while Fleck may have persuaded Murray Franklin to introduce him to Gotham City’s viewing audience as the Joker, if you believe that Phoenix’s unstable, unreliable character is the real Joker, then the joke, it seems, is on you.
According to sources close to Wgtc – the same ones who told us that Emperor Palpatine would be revealed to be the grandfather of Jakkuvian orphan Rey and that General Hux would betray the First Order in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,...
According to sources close to Wgtc – the same ones who told us that Emperor Palpatine would be revealed to be the grandfather of Jakkuvian orphan Rey and that General Hux would betray the First Order in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,...
- 1/22/2020
- by Anthony Fuchs
- We Got This Covered
Sony’s forthcoming vampire antihero film Morbius, the second entry in its expanding Universe of Marvel Characters, is still a little more than five months from premiering, but some of the details of the post-credits scenes have already slipped out. These may wind up getting changed somewhere down the line, but what we’re hearing supports information we already have, and provides a tantalizing glimpse into some of Sony’s possible future plans.
According to our sources – the same ones who told us that Kevin Conroy would be playing the “Kingdom Come” version of Batman on The CW’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” Marvel is eyeing Daniel Radcliffe for Moon Knight and that Gal Gadot will don the Golden Eagle armor in Wonder Woman 1984, all of which have since been confirmed – the post-credits scenes attached to Morbius will begin to put the pieces into place for the likely Sinister Six...
According to our sources – the same ones who told us that Kevin Conroy would be playing the “Kingdom Come” version of Batman on The CW’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” Marvel is eyeing Daniel Radcliffe for Moon Knight and that Gal Gadot will don the Golden Eagle armor in Wonder Woman 1984, all of which have since been confirmed – the post-credits scenes attached to Morbius will begin to put the pieces into place for the likely Sinister Six...
- 1/22/2020
- by Anthony Fuchs
- We Got This Covered
Anyone who watched the recent “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event probably agrees that Brandon Routh’s turn as “Kingdom Come” Superman was one of the highlights. Routh, who will be leaving Legends of Tomorrow this season, previously played the Man of Steel in 2006’s Superman Returns, and has admitted that he would always be up for returning to the character.
And while we already know there’s going to be a Superman & Lois show with Tyler Hoechlin, rumors are now circulating that Routh’s Superman may get his own series as well. This news comes from “Itsryanunicomb,” an Instagram user who’s previously delivered information that turned out to be correct. Now, he’s shared what he knows about plans to develop a new show around Routh, and you can see what he has to say below:
View this post on Instagram
[Rumour] I have heard this twice now in too...
And while we already know there’s going to be a Superman & Lois show with Tyler Hoechlin, rumors are now circulating that Routh’s Superman may get his own series as well. This news comes from “Itsryanunicomb,” an Instagram user who’s previously delivered information that turned out to be correct. Now, he’s shared what he knows about plans to develop a new show around Routh, and you can see what he has to say below:
View this post on Instagram
[Rumour] I have heard this twice now in too...
- 1/19/2020
- by Jessica James
- We Got This Covered
The CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover just got a whole lot bigger. The multiverse-spanning crossover event, which was the Arrowverse’s most ambitious enterprise yet, had already pulled off cameos from beloved TV properties like Smallville, Batman: The Animated Series, and had Brandon Routh pulling double duty as a Kingdom Come-inspired Superman. However, last night’s finale brought in […]
The post Ezra Miller’s The Flash Makes a Cameo on The CW’s ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths,’ Connecting the Movie and TV Universes appeared first on /Film.
The post Ezra Miller’s The Flash Makes a Cameo on The CW’s ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths,’ Connecting the Movie and TV Universes appeared first on /Film.
- 1/15/2020
- by Hoai-Tran Bui
- Slash Film
Like the protagonist of his latest film, The Wedding Guest, Michael Winterbottom is a wanderer–cinematically, that is. There are few filmmakers in modern cinema who hop between genres quite like the British helmer. Consider just a few entries from his gobsmackingly lengthy filmography: a Thomas Hardy adaptation (Jude); a war film set in 1990s Sarajevo (Welcome to Sarajevo); a second Hardy adaptation shot in snowy Canada (The Claim); a future-set love story (Code 46); a sexually-explicit anthology centered around songs from the likes of Primal Scream and Franz Ferdinand (9 Songs); a documentary based on the work of Naomi Klein and another featuring Russell Brand (The Shock Doctrine and The Emperor’s New Clothes); and a tremendously violent and unsettling Jim Thompson adaptation (The Killer Inside Me).
That list does not even include his greatest works–24 Hour Party People, A Mighty Heart, The Trip, and its follow-ups. The Wedding Guest is,...
That list does not even include his greatest works–24 Hour Party People, A Mighty Heart, The Trip, and its follow-ups. The Wedding Guest is,...
- 2/26/2019
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
Hollywood has no shortage of talented composers crafting mostly serviceable tunes for the next young adult literary adaptation or prestige awards tearjerker. But for every auteur like Hans Zimmer and John Williams, you have musical yes men pounding out ominous notes in anticipation of the next horror movie jump scare or making ratatat noise to underscore a superhero chase scene. The film world screams for diverse sounds, but is often left wanting when scores become interchangeable to feed the Hollywood machine. The current film decade is no different from any other in terms of talent, mediocrity, and ingenuity, but could always use a boost from professionals who bring specificity to the table. These five forgotten or diminished artists, each among them with varied yet singular skills, are screaming to be brought back into the Hollywood fold to create their signature sounds.
Elliot Goldenthal
One of the most prolific composers from the 90’s,...
Elliot Goldenthal
One of the most prolific composers from the 90’s,...
- 2/13/2015
- by Shane Ramirez
- SoundOnSight
Far From the Madding Crowd
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writer: David Nicholls
Producer(s): Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich
U.S. Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Juno Temple, Michael Sheen, Matthias Schoenaerts
The literature of Thomas Hardy seems to be receiving a sort of cinematic revival, mostly thanks to Michael Winterbottom, who recently re-tooled Tess of the D’ubervilles with 2011’s Trishna (he also directed a version of Jude, 1995, and his 2000 film The Claim was based on The Mayor of Casterbridge). Now we’ll have Danish auteur Thomas Vinterberg revisiting Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, which was famously adapted in 1967 by John Schlesinger, featuring Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Peter Finch, and Terence Stamp. So, there are some huge shoes to fill. We’re curious to see what Vinterberg does with the material, especially with Mulligan (who seems to be attracted to literary adaptations) filling in for Christie.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writer: David Nicholls
Producer(s): Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich
U.S. Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Juno Temple, Michael Sheen, Matthias Schoenaerts
The literature of Thomas Hardy seems to be receiving a sort of cinematic revival, mostly thanks to Michael Winterbottom, who recently re-tooled Tess of the D’ubervilles with 2011’s Trishna (he also directed a version of Jude, 1995, and his 2000 film The Claim was based on The Mayor of Casterbridge). Now we’ll have Danish auteur Thomas Vinterberg revisiting Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, which was famously adapted in 1967 by John Schlesinger, featuring Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Peter Finch, and Terence Stamp. So, there are some huge shoes to fill. We’re curious to see what Vinterberg does with the material, especially with Mulligan (who seems to be attracted to literary adaptations) filling in for Christie.
- 2/14/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The title of this panel was Financing and Packaging: From Indie to Studio, but in fact, the most studio-like film, Rush , by the major director, Ron Howard, and produced by Brit indie production company Revolution (Andrew Eaton) and Hollywood-based Cross Creek (Brian Oliver), is actually quite independent.
Rush (U.S. Universal, International Sales by Exclusive)
Ron Howard and his producing partner Brian Grazer whose imagine Entertainment have had an overall deal at Universal for 27 years, however, this mid-budget range film of some $50,000,000 was considered not "big enough" for the majors.
To read more about this complex and fascinating film and its international film business background, read the following articles which are quoted throughout this article with thanks and acknowledgement to:
· Variety September 13, 2013 (reprinted at the end of this blog) · Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2013 · The Hollywood Reporter September 28, 2011
Aside from major director Ron Howard himself, the second “major” element of the film is that Universal is the North American distributor of the film. This happens through the three year minimum-6-picture distribution deal Brian Oliver’s Cross Creek has with Universal in which Cross Creek produces and finances either its own films or films chosen from Universal’s development slate. Cross Creek is set up to generate up to four films per year, with Universal to distribute at least two of them with a wide-release commitment.
Isa (International Sales Agent) Exclusive Media is also an independent. This too is the result of Oliver’s deal with Exclusive to jointly finance two projects per year.
Cross Creek, putting its own cash into the project, split the cost of the picture with Exclusive who financed it through a bank loan made against pre-sales generated in 2011 at the Afm. With Howard there to promote the project to buyers, Exclusive secured around $33 million in foreign pre-sales. See Cinando’s list of distributors .
Additionally, Oliver and Eaton structured the project as a U.K.- German co-production, enabling them to secure about $12 million in soft money from Germany (Egoli Tossell) in accordance with U.K.’s co-production treaty. As a result, U.K. rights ended up with Studiocanal.
Brian Oliver is a “one of Hollywood’s biggest and more unusual financiers of risky films, with coin coming mostly from oil and real estate investments in Texas”. This major Hollywood financier/ producer takes chances which prove his astute, if askew, view of what makes a “Hollywood” picture an indie at the same time, as shown by his credits, The Ides of March and Black Swan.
Andrew Eaton is a British producer with deep Hollywood connections through the British community here, e.g., Eric Fellner of Working Title, the British production company currently owned by Universal. (Parenthetically, I bought U.S. rights to Working Title’s first film, My Beautiful Laundrette for Lorimar along with Orion Classics and so I was quite thrilled to have a chance to be in touch with the talented Brits once again).
Working Title had worked with Andrew Easton on Frost/Nixon. Eric Fellner loved the script and offered it to Universal for funding. However, as said, Universal passed on it because it was too small.
“It is going to be easy for people to think this is a Hollywood movie, and it just is not,” quotes Variety from the film’s British screenwriter, Peter Morgan, who penned Frost/Nixon which was also directed by Howard. “It is a British independent film directed by a Hollywood director.”
Eaton and Oliver spoke of how they put this film together.
“We must champion the fact that this is basically 80% a British film in terms of the people who worked on it, the way it was structured and the way we ran it,” says Eaton, who was behind such indie films as 24 Hour Party People and the Red Riding TV series.
Can a Song Save Your Life? (U.S. UTA, Isa: Exclusive)
Exclusive has another film here, Can a Song Save Your Life? which is also repped by Rena Ronson, Co-Head of the Independent Film Group of UTA. Directed by John Carney who came to the public’s attention with his micro-budgeted Once which plays on stage here in Toronto at the moment, in New York and elsewhere regularly. The Weinstein Company picked it up in Toronto, reportedly paying around a $7 million minimum guarantee for U.S. rights with a P&A commitment of at least $20 million.
UTA as an agency also packages both large (studio) and smaller indie films. Rena Ronson, the co-head of UTA Indie explained how her own indie roots -- first at indie distributor Fox-Lorber and continuing into international sales before becoming the “indie agent” at Wma, succeeding the “indie” founder, Bobbi Thompson, have taught her to speak the language of the international as well as the independent film business. She knows the major modes of operating as well as she knows the independent style of business. She further explained that the successes of the larger films permit the “smaller”, i.e., “indie” films to be made.
UTA repped films in Toronto are listed below. For a full report of rights sold, before, during and after Toronto, watch SydneysBuzz.com for the Fall 2013 Rights Roundup.
Can A Song Save Your Life?
Writer/Director: John Carney Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, Catherine Keener, Mos Def, Cee-Lo Green Publicity: Falco / Shannon Treusch, Monica Delameter U.S. Producer Rep: UTA / CAA . Isa: Exclusive Media Group
U.S. rights were acquired at Tiff 13 by TWC for a record breaking $7 million.
Since first announcing it in Cannes 2012, Exclusive has made other deals as well for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan (Tanweer), Germany (Studiocanal), Japan (Pony Canyon Inc), Philippines (Solar Entertainment), Russia (A Company), So. Korea ( Pancinema), Switzerland ( Ascot Elite Entertainment Group ), Taiwan ( Serenity Entertainment International ), Turkey (D Productions), the Middle East ( Front Row Filmed Entertainment).
Tiff Special Presentations:
Hateship, Loveship
Director: Liza Johnson Writer: Mark Poirier Writer (Novel): Alice Munro Starring: Kristen Wiig, Guy Pearce, Hailee Steinfeld, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte Publicity: Prodigy PR, Erik Bright
North American Sale: UTA / Cassian Elwes. Isa: The Weinstein Co. Sena has rights for Iceland.
The F Word
Director: Michael Dowse Writer: Elan Mastai Writers (Play): Michael Rinaldi & T.J. Dawe Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Rafe Spall, Adam Driver, Mackenzie Davis, Amanda Crew Publicity: Strategy PR / Cynthia Schwartz, Michael Kupferberg Us Sale: UTA / Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman. Isa: eOne
After UTA sold the The F Word to CBS Films for the U.S. for around $3 million in Toronto, Entertainment One Films International completed other international sales. Besides Canada and the U.K., eOne itself will release the film in Australia/New Zealand, Benelux and Spain feeding its own international distribution pipeline. Other sales include Germany to Senator Entertainment, Middle East to Front Row Entertainment, Nigeria toRed Mist, Russia to Carmen Film Group, Turkey to Mars Entertainment Group
Night Moves
Writer/Director: Kelly Reichart Writer: Jonathan Raymond Starring: Dakota Fanning, Jesse Eisenberg, Peter Sarsgaard, Alia Shawkat Publicity: Ginsberg/Libby, Chris Libby North American Sale: UTA Isa: The Match Factory
Tiff Vanguard
The Sacrament
Writer/Director: Ti West Starring: Joe Swanberg, Aj Bowen, Amy Seimetz, Kate Lyn Sheil, Gene Jones Publicity: Dda, Dana Archer, Alice Zhou North American Sale: UTA / CAA Isa: Im Global sold to Pegasus Motion Pictures Distribution Ltd . For China
As of this writing, rather 1 hour ago, Magnolia Pictures, which lost on an earlier bidding war here for Joe, is finalizing a deal for the picture reportedly for seven figures.
Coincidentallywith the beginning of the Toronto Film Festival, the front page of L.A. Times quoted Rena Ronson in an article called "Making history as cameras roll" (print edition) or "Wadjda' director makes her mark in Saudi cinema" (online edition) about Wadjda , (Isa: The Match Factory) last year’s Venice and Telluride film which Rena had spotted at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, where it won a script award. It was written and directed by a woman which is notable in such a male-dominated part of the world. She met the writer-director, Haifaa Mansour, and that led to working with her for the next two years to finance the film. Its $2.5m budget was backed in part by the Rotana Group, the largest media company in the Middle East, owned primarily by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The German production company Razor Film owned and operated by Gerhard Meixner and Roman Paul whose first coproduction in 2005, Paradise Now brought them into international prominence and who also picked up last year’s Tiff groundbreaking film from Afghanistan,The Patience Stone, and previously coproduced Waltz With Bashir, came on board and brought German broadcast deals and German film funds as well.
Doha and Film Financing
The fourth panelist was Paul Miller, Head of Film Financing, from the Doha Film Institute , Qatar's first international organization dedicated to film financing, production, education and two film festivals. Doha encourages submission for financing film financing opportunities from anywhere in the world. The Dfi Grants program supports first- and second-time filmmakers in producing and developing their own stories. There are two funding rounds per year. Applications are considered from three regions (basically divided into the Middle East, developing nations and the rest of the world – with some exceptions -- each with different eligibility criteria.
Consideration for funding is open to feature-length films in development, production and post-production, as well as short films in production and post-production. Since 2010, Dfi has provided funding to more than 138 filmmakers.
Beyond the regional grants program, Dfi also invests in a diverse slate of international productions to encourage greater collaboration, mentorship and co‑production opportunities between Gulf countries and the rest of the world. Co-financing applications apply to both Middle Eastern and international feature films, television and web series. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.
Four films at Tiff that Doha has helped finance:
Mohammed Malas’s Ladder to Damacus, screening in Tiff’s Contemporary World Cinema section; Jasmila Žbanic’s For Those Who Can Tell No Tales in the Special Presentation section. Both films were co-financed by Dfi. Dfi grant recipients Néjib Belkadhi’s Bastardo and Mais Darwazah’s My Love Awaits Me by the Sea screening in the Contemporary World Cinema and Discovery sections, respectively.
The fifth panelist, Ted Hope, Director of the San Francisco Film Society, a non-profit training, festival, and funding operation is known to everyone from his history with Good Machine (which was acquired by Universal and renamed Focus Features), and from his blog Hope for Film/ Truly Free Film . In his always-inimitable fashion, Ted proposed a new sort of financing, called "staged financing", based on a progressive meeting of certain criterion from development through distribution. This way of financing is similar to the venture capital models of financing. His broad ideas on what has to change with the industry's funding and packaging methods brought the panelists and the audience to heel at attention. I reprint his blog after this because this idea goes against the current grain of financing an entire film which may or may not prove to be the final box office bingo winner it always purports to be when securing full financing.
The Sffs provided some funding to Thomas Oliver's 1982 which is in Tiff this year. Aside from winning Us in Progress’ $60,000 in post-production services at this year’s Champs Elysees Film Festival, 1982 also received Sffs’s $85,000 post production grant and participated in the Sffs’s A2E labs. The film is being represented by Kevin Iwashina’s Preferred Content.
The panel became very animated as Ted Hope and Rena Ronson faced off about whether a film is made for a broad audience or whether, if targeted correctly, it could actually make money with niche audiences. As always, the two of them, both equally astute, brought much to bear on both sides of the argument. And, I, as the panel’s moderator, hereby declare, They are both right.
The broader the audience the more potential for making money.
However, as Ted points out, with crowd sourcing, crowd funding and crowd theatrical exhibition, there are many other ways beyond ticket purchases that filmmakers can offer in order to make money with their targeted audience.
This, as well as the great contributions made by Doha’s Paul Miller and Revolution’s Andrew Eaton could have extended the panel into a full day. Paul Oliver of Cross Creek was the quietest, perhaps most reticent, of the speakers, but he amply demonstrated that he is one who puts his money where his mouth is. His acumen and taste make us all grateful for his existence as he is a pivotal point person in creating works of art that create substantial revenues for a sustainable art house film business.
The audience as well was most enthusiastic with their questions and post panel discussions with panelists who stayed to talk.
Articles Reprinted Here:
Truly Free Film
Staged Financing Must Become Film Biz’s Immediate Goal
Posted: 06 Sep 2013 05:15 Am Pdt
Each day I become more and more convinced that staged financing could be a cure to much of the Film Biz’s ills. Staged financing? What? Is the phrase not exactly center of your conversations right now? Why not?!! Whatsamattawidyou? Don’t you know a good solution when you see one?
Although it already exists in many fields, and even in a few small patches of our own yard, I recognize that a staged financing strategy is not yet the force behind Indieland’s own gardening. I am however growing convinced it could yield a far more fruitful harvest than our current methods. A staged-financing ecosystem can’t be built in a one-off manner though. Although it also does not need to the rule of the realm, it needs a permanent eco-system to support it.
Staged financing is part of a much bigger solution that we urgently need to bring to our industry: a sustainable investor class . We need smart money and need to stop seeking, encouraging, and propagating dumb money. Most film investors get out, win or lose, by their third film (I have been told this and don’t have the stats to back it up now, but if you do, please share — otherwise just trust that is what my experience has shown). The value of most independent money in the film biz is the money itself, and that is not good for anyone.
Staged financing is exactly what it says to be. I know in this world such literalness is a strange thing, but there is it. Staged financing is a funding process that is there for each distinct stage. In comparison, it is the opposite of up-front financing — the type that monopolizes the narrative feature world. I am proposing that we institutionalize the staged-financing process and make it easier to finance your film in drips and drabs. Why am I so bullish on what probably sounds like hell to many? Why do I think it will save indie film? Let’s count the ways.
Staged financing increases the predictability of success. Investors can base their continued commitment on a proof of prinicipal instead of just a pitch. The longer one waits the more they know — of course the longer one waits the lower the chance for their to be the opportunity for investment, so there. The more investors can project or even predict their success, the longer they will stay in the game, and the more that will gather to pay — i.e. more capital at play! Staged financing allows filmmakers and their supporters to pivot based on real world data. The old way had very little it could do when new information hit. Your film (and investment) could be rendered obsolete over night. But that does not have to be a done deal is this new world. This is just one of the many reasons for #1 above of course. Staged financing diversifies the creative class. Wouldn’t it be great if the film biz was actually a meritocracy? Well, if people had to make good movies to complete their financing, wouldn’t that be a bit closer to the case? Staged financing gives all people the opportunity to prove they have a good idea, whether that idea is completed or not. It is not about who you know, but about what you’ve done and can do. Documentary film — compared to the narrative world — already has a great deal of staged financing institutionalized — and benefits from gender proportional representation among directors. Need I say more?Staged financing allows ambitious artistic work to flourish. Instead of just having “commercial elements”, unique and inspiring work can be recognized for the potential it truly has. Instead of being rewarded for being able to earn trust or arrogantly claim to know what one is doing, staged financing allows good work to be rewarded for being good work. Currently, we mistake confidence for capability and those that boast to be able to predict what the end product will be (where there is no way that they will actually know what the 100+ decisions each day will yield), get to play — not the work that delivers something new and wonderful. Staged financing rewards quality over risk mitigation. Staged financing is actually a better form of risk mitigation than the present form that is only based on regurgitating what has already proven successful. When we limit risk by mimicking what has worked in the past, all we are doing is guessing and covering our ass — and this leads to a film culture of movie titles overrun with numerals. We live in an era of abundance, and as comforting as the familiar may be, we have more access to it than ever before. We rarely need the new version of it. We will however need truly original work more and more as time goes on as we will drowning in the repetitive. How will we prove what works? Staged financing, my friend, staged financing. Staged financing creates a better project as it incentivizes the creators every step of the way. Not that you truly need to incentivize those that are in the passion industries for the right reason, but it never hurts to weed out those that are in it for the wrong reason. When your financing is based on your work and not your connections or investors’ fears, you will do all you can to make each stage of financing shine, justify itself, and be truly competitive. Staged financing requires you to walk a series of steps, proving you have earned the right with every advance — and you better do your homework if you don’t want to get left behind. Staged financing requires you choose your initial partners wisely. It’s not just about the terms of the deal that should determine whom your investors are — but that is how we generally act nowadays. Everyone should instead seek value-add investors. You should get more than just money from your investors. You should benefit from their expertise. Filmmakers, agents, lawyers, and managers, often are willing to leap into bed with anyone who offers the most cash — there’s a name for that practice and it should not be film investment. Staged financing means the creators will have “skin in the game”. When it is an up-front finance model, the creators are not working for a payout in success but working just for the upfornt fees (or some semblance thereof); they may have “profit participation” but basically the only anticipated earnings are what is in the budget. It becomes increasingly difficult to motivate the creative team to be engaged in the needed work after the film premieres. Investors have long recognized that this is not the most beneficial arrangement, yet what can they do? The answer my friend, is… yup, you know the song I am singing: everyone loves that staged financing! Staged financing is a time-tested process that has already been adopted by many industries . Staged financing is the modus operandi of Silicon Valley and all the Vc firms. Other industries, from mining onwards, have seen real benefits from the process. Why do we limit our success and not apply proven models to our field? Could it be that somewhere someone is desperately clutching on to what ever paltry power they perceive themselves to possess? Hmmm… If they don’t offer the model you want at the store, build a new model — or maybe even a chain of stores. Staged financing gives producers of quality work more power. The main objection to staged financing is that it gives financiers more power. That is only true if you are making crap. Or mediocre work. If you are making something wonderfully astounding you will never struggle to progress to the next round — and in fact you will be able to improve your terms. And investors won’t complain either, because they now can have to know a good thing when they see one.
So if Staged Financing is this marvelous thing, why have our leaders not yet delivered it to you? Well, they don’t care about you; didn’t you know that?
And if Staged Financing could really save Indie Film, why has the community not constructed this marvelous ecosystem yet? Well, we’ve all been too busy chasing shiny objects and marveling at the reflections fed back of us.
But change is here. We have hope. We can build it better together. And I have already started. The San Francisco Film Society is committed to it. We have others who want to be part of. We are have spots for more to join in. And we are going to help a few select projects really rock this world.
Watch this space. Let’s do it together and truly astonish the world with your awe inspiring work. Just don’t be slack, okay?
Variety, August 21, 2013:
“Rush,” the high-octane car racing film about the public rivalry between legendary Formula One drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt during the 1970s, has all the markings of tinseltown’s latest flashy biopic, withRon Howard at the wheel, Chris Hemsworth as its star, and Universal Pictures releasing the film Sept. 27. But that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth.
“It is going to be easy for people to think this is a Hollywood movie, and it just is not,” says the upcoming film’s British screenwriter, Peter Morgan, who penned “Frost/Nixon,” also directed by Howard. “It is a British independent film directed by a Hollywood director.” Get Weekly Online News and alerts free to your inbox
As the majors focus more on putting their money behind mega-budgeted projects with built-in brand awareness — sequels, reboots, films based on toys, videogames and comicbooks — filmmakers are finding Hollywood’s studio system rapidly shifting under their feet.
“Because studios are less interested in the midbudget area, there is a massive opportunity for independents to step into that (area) at the moment,” says “Rush” producer Andrew Eaton of London-based Revolution Films.
Indeed, it’s getting harder to set up a midbudget range original project at a studio, even for veteran filmmakers like Howard and his producing partner Brian Grazer, whose Imagine Entertainment has had an overall deal at Universal for 27 years (the longest standing deal U has had in its 100-year history with a production company). That’s forced directors to look elsewhere to tackle the kinds of films now considered too risky to make or the ones that won’t fill retail shelves with merchandise.
Another Hollywood vet, producer Marc Platt, who’s had a production deal at Universal since 1998 after stepping down as its production head, similarly had to find indie financing for his film “2 Guns” after Universal said it would not bankroll the picture but simply distribute it.
With “Rush,” Howard found himself in an entirely new role as the director of a $50 million film that was his first to be independently financed — through a series of bonds, contingencies and pre-sales. He also was a director for hire, replacing Paul Greengrass, who was originally set to bring the showy personalities of Hunt (Hemsworth), a British playboy; and the more serious Austrian champion Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) to the big screen.
“We must champion the fact that this is basically 80% a British film in terms of the people who worked on it, the way it was structured and the way we ran it,” says Eaton. The exec, who was behind such indie films as “24 Hour Party People” and the “Red Riding” series, is modest, and like most Brits politely shies away from the spotlight, tending not to grab credit even when its due.
But he believes “Rush” shows off Blighty’s mettle.
“These are the kinds of films we should be making in the U.K. because we can do it, and we can do it for better value of money,” he says.
Morgan began writing the story of Lauda, a friend of his wife’s, on spec some years ago, intrigued by the driver’s courageous comeback just 40 days after a devastating crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix that severely burned his face and saw him lapse into a coma, and how that might play against Hunt’s notorious womanizing and party lifestyle that gained him rock-star status.
Eager to work with Eaton again after Fernando Meirelles’ “360,” Morgan showed the producer the first draft of “Rush,” and Eaton was hooked.
“Andrew was always going to be a great fit for this project,” Morgan says. “If (the) responsibility was to make this at a price, Andrew could do this. He could make a $50 million film feel like a $150 million film.”
With Greengrass, another Brit, attached to direct, Morgan showed the script to close friend Eric Fellner at his Universal-owned British production outfit Working Title. Fellner, who had worked with him on “Frost/Nixon,” loved the new script and offered it to Universal for funding.
But the studio passed, considering it risky subject matter, given the biopic elements and low profile of F1 racing in the U.S. Universal also didn’t believe the film could be made for the right price. Still Fellner stayed onboard, and his contacts in the F1 arena proved invaluable. His relationships with Ferrari and McLaren thanks to his work on documentary “Senna” enabled “Rush” to enlist the brands in the pic without losing editorial control.
“Ron (Howard) jokes that my major contribution was engine noise,” Fellner says. “Maybe I can take credit for a bit of that.”
Soon after Universal passed, Cross Creek Pictures topper Brian Oliver reached out to Eaton to finance the project — so eager that he offered to put up $2 million before he even signed the deal so that Eaton could order replicas of the 1970s cars to be ready in time for the shoot. He also was instrumental in steering Hemsworth toward the project.
“Typically we don’t spend that kind of money without knowing the movie is going and the budget is done,” Oliver says. “But I was passionate about the script, and I really thought it was a film with a lot of heart, not just a race car movie.”
Cross Creek, also behind “The Ides of March” and “Black Swan,” has quickly become one of Hollywood’s biggest and more unusual financiers of risky films, with coin coming mostly from oil and real estate investments in Texas.
“He’s an unusual maverick in Hollywood because he really fought to get the budget to the highest level he could,” says Eaton of Oliver. “There’s no bullshit with him — he gets stuff done.” Adds Fellner: “Without Brian, the film wouldn’t have gotten off of the ground. He put his money where his mouth is.”
Shortly after funding started coming together, Greengrass dropped off the project due, ironically, to his issues with the budget. Within 24 hours, Morgan and Fellner enticed Howard to come onboard. The financing arrangement intrigued him, but what really attracted Howard was the ability to re-create the world of Formula One in the 1970s “when sex was safe and driving was dangerous,” as he has said in past interviews.
“Ron was incredibly gracious in trusting us to deliver,” Eaton says. “He was very smart about knowing we needed to make this film in a different way. He’d never made a film with a bond before, and never made a film with a contingency before, but he rolled up his sleeves and was ready to learn.” Some of that indie spirit has already rubbed off on Howard, who is now sticking with a mostly British crew on his next project, “In the Heart of the Sea,” including “Rush” cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle and costume designer Julian Day. “Heart” lenses in London.
Exclusive Media came in as the final partner on “Rush,” brought in by Oliver under his deal with Exclusive to jointly finance two projects per year.
Cross Creek split the cost of the pic with Exclusive, with the former putting its own cash in to the pic and the latter financing through a bank loan made against pre-sales generated in 2011 at the Afm, where Howard helped shop the project to buyers. The move proved a success, as Exclusive secured $33 million in foreign pre-sales.
Additionally, Oliver and Eaton structured the project as a U.K.-German co-production, enabling them to secure about $12 million in soft money.
As a result, U.K. rights ended up going to Studiocanal. Universal agreed to distribute “Rush” in the U.S. through its output deal with Cross Creek.
Eaton pressed to put all of the money raised on the screen. “Rush” became the highest-budget film he had ever worked with after 2000’s “The Claim,” which cost $18 million to produce.
“(‘Rush’) was financed in exactly the same way we finance every independent film, and we approached shooting in the same way as we do everything — you try to put as much money as you can onscreen,” Eaton says. “It’s about not wasting money on things you don’t need, like private jets and extravagances.”
Hollywood has tried to bring to life the world of Formula One before.
Sylvester Stallone directed “Driven,” which originally was set in the world of F1, before he changed course and based it on rival Cart racing, instead.
The reason? To gain access to F1, filmmakers must first get the greenlight from the often polarizing Bernie Ecclestone, the 82-year-old billionaire who holds a tight grip on the racing league that has long counted the elite as fans, including Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, and celebs including Michael Fassbender, Patrick Dempsey, Gordon Ramsey, George Lucas, and Cirque de Soleil founder Guy Laliberte.
Although Stallone tried to gain Ecclestone’s approval, “I apologize to fans of Formula 1, but there is a certain individual there who runs the sport that has his own agenda,” Stallone said in 2000. “F1 is very formal, and it’s very hard to get to know people.”
David Cronenberg also planned to direct a tentpole around F1 for Paramount, in 1986, with the director scouting the project by attending Grand Prix races in Australia and Mexico. The film, “Red Cars,” would have revolved around American driver Phil Hill winning the world championship for Ferrari in 1961. Plans were shelved when Ecclestone decided not to support the project. Instead, Cronenberg published a limited edition art book based on the screenplay in 2005.
One of the few cinematic standouts so far is Asif Kapadia’s documentary “Senna,” about the charismatic Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, killed in a race in 1994 that’s show in the docu. “Senna” went on to earn $8.2 million, and helped educate viewers of the sport by focusing not on the races but Senna’s iconic presence and his impact on pop culture.
“Rush” is looking to put a spotlight on the personalities behind the wheel and the often riveting rivalries between drivers — what many consider the real draw to the sport. Bruhl has compared them to “modern knights constantly facing death.”
As the film races toward its September release — it will be shown at the Toronto Film Festival out of competition — Howard has screened it for not only racing fans but Formula One, itself.
He recently showed the film to a group of F1 drivers (including Lauda, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa) at Germany’s Grand Prix, calling that audience the toughest test so far, and comparing the experience to screening “Apollo 13” to Nasa’s astronauts and mission controllers in 1995.
In his efforts to promote the film, Howard has called the Hunt-Lauda rivalry one of the greatest in all of sports. “Their story is so remarkable, you (could) only do it if it was true, because people wouldn’t quite believe it. They were willing to risk their lives to attain this elite status. They paid a price for it, but they defined themselves.”
Morgan also has been doing his part to reassure F1 fans that the film is authentic, stressing that it’s about the people in the cars, and not the sport itself.
Any way the wheel’s spun, it’s clear the film’s overall success will largely be driven by how it plays overseas. “Rush” will need to appeal to an international audience that’s more familiar with F1 — a sport second in popularity only to soccer — than to those in the U.S.
But Howard needs to hook moviegoers closer to home — making the American director’s job a much tougher sell.
It’s not really that surprising that there’s nothing all that American about “Rush.”
Formula One is still struggling to find an audience in the U.S. It’s looking to change that through a new $3 million broadcasting deal with NBC Sports that airs 13 races on the cable channel, two on CNBC, and four on NBC. The Monaco Grand Prix was the first of four F1 races to air live on NBC this year, with the final race taking place Nov. 24 from Brazil.
Ratings have averaged a 0.3 rating, although the Monaco race was watched by 1.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched Formula One race on U.S. television in six years, and up 40% over last year’s race when it aired on Speed TV, Nielsen said.
Promos have emphasized the speed of F1’s jetfighter cars, its international appeal and Olympics-like profiles of the drivers.
Formula One also is looking to rev up new fans in the U.S. through the opening of its first permanent track in Austin, Texas, last year, known as the Circuit of the Americas. Howard attended its first race, where Lauda also roamed the track’s garages.
What’s ironic is that Howard isn’t a very good driver. He proved that recently racing around the track of BBC’s hit show “Top Gear” to promote “Rush,” ending up in second to last place on the series’ celebrity leader board — behind Genesis’ Mike Rutherford.
Host Jeremy Clarkson was quick to mock him, saying “We finally found something you can’t do. Good at directing, brilliant in ‘Happy Days,’ a charming human being — but utterly crap at driving.”
Ron Howard's Risky Formula One Movie, 'Rush'
Can this Euro-centric car racing film play in the U.S.?
By Rachel Dodes Conn
Ron Howard's films, like "Apollo 13" and "Frost/Nixon," typically deal with issues very familiar to American audiences. His latest project, Mr. Howard's first independently financed film, is a bit of a departure: "Rush" chronicles the rivalry between Austrian Formula One racer Niki Lauda and his nemesis, the British driver James Hunt, over the course of the historic 1976 season. While competing in Nürburg, Germany during treacherous weather conditions, Mr. Lauda (Daniel Brühl, right) crashed his Ferrari and sustained severe burns to his face and lungs. Yet, fueled by a desire to beat Mr. Hunt (Chris Hemsworth, above), a playboy type whose wife (Olivia Wilde) ran off with Richard Burton, Mr. Lauda was back in his car just six weeks later—still wearing his bandages—to race against him in the Italian Grand Prix.
When Mr. Howard received the script on spec from screenwriter Peter Morgan ("Frost/Nixon," "The Last King of Scotland"), he wasn't a Formula One fan and didn't know who Messrs. Hunt and Lauda were. "I looked them up on Wikipedia," he admits. But as he read about the racers' personalities, he started to see broader themes that would appeal to U.S. moviegoers. "Maybe this is the American in me identifying this," he says, "but both these guys are utterly and entirely individuals—there was no Yoda telling them to seek their higher self."
For Mr. Howard, the process of researching "Rush" was surprisingly similar to learning about space travel for his "Apollo 13," because he found himself having to make arcane automotive engineering terms accessible to viewers. "It was really fun to understand a sport that combines cutting-edge technology with very dangerous competition," he says. "The visceral, cool and sexy element offered a kind of cinematic experience that nowadays exists only with sci-fi."
Formula One isn't nearly as popular in the U.S. as Nascar, and the subject matter is likelier to play well overseas, where the film's financing came from. It premiered Monday, in London, a few weeks before its U.S. opening. The filmmakers say it's more than just a sports picture, and they expect it to appeal to women as well as men.
Saudi Female Filmmaker Succeeds In Making A Movie About A Girl Who Wants A Bicycle
Los Angeles Times
By Rebecca Keegan
Sept. 6, 2013
In a country where women can't freely move around, Haifaa Mansour covertly films the story of a girl's quest for a bicycle.
The production lost two days to sandstorms. The crew faced a last-minute scramble when the nervous owner of a mall changed his mind about allowing filming there. Some days locals chased the cameras away; other days they brought platters of lamb and rice to the set, and asked to be extras.
Meanwhile, the director hid in a van, speaking to her cast via walkie-talkie. In Saudi Arabia, where driving a car is a subversive act for a woman, a 39-year-old mother of two has done something remarkable: written and directed what her distributor believes is the first feature film shot entirely in the ultraconservative kingdom.
Haifaa Mansour is the director of "Wadjda," a drama about a plucky 10-year-old girl who enrolls in a Koran recitation competition in order to win money for a bicycle she's forbidden by law to ride.
Like her young protagonist, Mansour's own story is one of feminine moxie.
In a sly protest of the country's ban on women behind the wheel, she drove herself to her wedding in a golf cart. Because women in Saudi Arabia can't mingle publicly with men outside their families, she shot her movie covertly on the streets of the capital, Riyadh. With movie theaters banned, she screened "Wadjda" in two foreign embassies and a cultural center.
Petite, self-assured, wearing white high-tops and blue nail polish, Mansour is modern in both her fashion and bearing. She speaks English quickly and colloquially, dropping frequent "you knows" into conversation. And she isn't afraid to counter misperceptions about her homeland, as when she gently corrected Bill Maher for calling Mecca the Saudi capital during a recent appearance on his HBO show.
Laced with empathy and humor, "Wadjda" is a quietly provocative portrait of a culture that straddles the centuries, where men wear the ancient white thobe but carry the latest iPads and women hold important jobs as doctors and news anchors but have yet to vote in an election.
"I didn't want to make a movie about women being raped or stoned," Mansour said in an interview in Beverly Hills in June. "For me it is the everyday life, how it's hard. For me, it was hard sometimes to go to work because I cannot find transportation. Things like that build up and break a woman."
The eighth of 12 children of a poet, Mansour grew up in a small town in a home that she describes as nurturing for a little girl.
"My family is very traditional, but my parents are very supportive, very kind," she said. "I never felt I can't do things because I'm a woman."
When Mansour was a teen, her mother removed the light veil she wore while picking her daughter up from school, a gesture that mortified the young woman at the time, but empowers her when she reflects on it now.
Though movie theaters have been shuttered in Saudi Arabia for decades for religious reasons, Mansour said her father, like others, often rented VHS tapes at Blockbuster for the family to watch -- she grew up on Jackie Chan movies, Bollywood productions, Egyptian cinema and Disney animated films. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was a particular favorite.
"In small-town Saudi, there is nothing to do. You don't get to exercise your emotions because nothing much is happening, you know?" she said. "So to see people falling in love and fighting, it's so powerful, you see beyond your small town."
After earning her bachelor's degree in comparative literature at the American University in Cairo, she returned to Saudi Arabia but quickly felt stymied.
"Going back to Saudi as a young woman, trying to assert yourself in the workplace, you have all those ideas … and all of a sudden you realize because you are a woman you are not heard," she said. "It was such a frustrating moment in my life. It was as if you are screaming in a vacuum."
The idea of women holding jobs still unnerves some Saudi men -- writer Abdullah Mohammed Daoud recently encouraged his more than 97,000 Twitter followers to sexually harass female grocery store clerks to intimidate women from working.
Recalling the freedom she found in movies, Mansour decided to make a short film with her siblings serving as cast and crew, a thriller about a male serial killer who hides under the black abaya worn by Muslim women. Her work -- two more shorts, a documentary and a stint hosting a talk show for a Lebanese network -- focused largely on the untold stories of Saudi women.
In 2005, at a U.S. embassy screening of her documentary, "Women Without Shadows," Mansour met her future husband, American diplomat Bradley Neimann. They now have two children, 2 and 5, and live in Bahrain, where Neimann works for the State Department.
When her husband was posted in Australia, Mansour pursued a master's in film studies at the University of Sydney, and wrote the script that became "Wadjda."
The story was inspired by her now teenage niece, who has tamped down her rambunctious personality to fit into Saudi norms.
"I thought, 'Wow, a woman writer from Saudi Arabia won?'" Rena Ronson said. "I had to meet her. She was so open and tenacious and smart."When Mansour's script for "Wadjda" won an award at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, it caught the eye of the co-head of the independent film group at United Talent Agency.
Over the next two years Ronson helped Mansour secure financing for her film, which cost a little less than $2.5 million. The primary obstacle, as far as many potential Middle Eastern producers were concerned, was Mansour's desire to shoot in Saudi Arabia, which she felt lent her story authenticity.
The production finally won the tacit approval of the Saudi government -- one of its backers is Rotana Group, an entertainment company primarily owned by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Another major financier is the German company Razor Film.
Finding actors was another hurdle. Mansour and her producers recruited child performers through small companies that hire folkloric dancers for the Eid holidays. Many of their parents were uncomfortable with a movie about empowering women.
A week before she was scheduled to start shooting, Mansour still hadn't cast her title character when 12-year-old Waad Mohammed entered the room in blue jeans, with headphones clapped over her ears. Singing along to Justin Bieber, she won over Mansour with her sweet singing voice and tomboyish style.
The movie's half-German, half-Saudi crew worked around the rhythms of Saudi life, using cellphone apps that alerted them of the five daily prayer calls. The Germans carried notebooks; the Saudis relied on oral planning.
On the first day of shooting, a start time of 7:20 a.m. came and went. "I don't know what we were thinking," said German producer Roman Paul. "I don't think 7:20 exists in Saudi time. We Germans learned to relax, and the Saudis learned that there is a benefit to doing things at a certain time."
Despite tension on the set -- both from disapproving observers and from the German and Saudi crews learning to work together -- Mansour was buoyant, Paul said.
"She's very fast in overcoming new difficulties, and in an upbeat spirit," Paul said.
Last summer "Wadjda" premiered at the Venice and Telluride film festivals, earning praise for Mansour's subtle direction and a U.S. release from Sony Pictures Classics, which handled the Oscar-winning 2011 Iranian drama "A Separation," about the dissolution of a marriage.
"'A Separation' was such an eye-opener to me in the sense that there were people questioning whether the film went too specific into the Iranian culture," said Michael Barker, co-president and co-founder of the Sony unit. "But if the overall story has a universal appeal, in 'Wadjda' it's about parents and kids and restrictions and freedom, that's something we can all relate to."
Sony Classics has been showing the film to noted feminists -- Gloria Steinem and Queen Noor of Jordan both attended screenings -- and will release it in the U.S. slowly over the fall, starting Sept. 13. (The movie premiered in multiple European countries this summer.)
Mansour said she plans to work in Saudi Arabia again. For her, screening her movie in the kingdom was a high.
"Film is about uplifting, embracing the love of life, it's about moving ahead, it's about victory," she said. "It's not about defeat."
One victory has already been won. This spring, a new law went into effect: With some restrictions, Saudi women are now allowed to ride bicycles.
Rush (U.S. Universal, International Sales by Exclusive)
Ron Howard and his producing partner Brian Grazer whose imagine Entertainment have had an overall deal at Universal for 27 years, however, this mid-budget range film of some $50,000,000 was considered not "big enough" for the majors.
To read more about this complex and fascinating film and its international film business background, read the following articles which are quoted throughout this article with thanks and acknowledgement to:
· Variety September 13, 2013 (reprinted at the end of this blog) · Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2013 · The Hollywood Reporter September 28, 2011
Aside from major director Ron Howard himself, the second “major” element of the film is that Universal is the North American distributor of the film. This happens through the three year minimum-6-picture distribution deal Brian Oliver’s Cross Creek has with Universal in which Cross Creek produces and finances either its own films or films chosen from Universal’s development slate. Cross Creek is set up to generate up to four films per year, with Universal to distribute at least two of them with a wide-release commitment.
Isa (International Sales Agent) Exclusive Media is also an independent. This too is the result of Oliver’s deal with Exclusive to jointly finance two projects per year.
Cross Creek, putting its own cash into the project, split the cost of the picture with Exclusive who financed it through a bank loan made against pre-sales generated in 2011 at the Afm. With Howard there to promote the project to buyers, Exclusive secured around $33 million in foreign pre-sales. See Cinando’s list of distributors .
Additionally, Oliver and Eaton structured the project as a U.K.- German co-production, enabling them to secure about $12 million in soft money from Germany (Egoli Tossell) in accordance with U.K.’s co-production treaty. As a result, U.K. rights ended up with Studiocanal.
Brian Oliver is a “one of Hollywood’s biggest and more unusual financiers of risky films, with coin coming mostly from oil and real estate investments in Texas”. This major Hollywood financier/ producer takes chances which prove his astute, if askew, view of what makes a “Hollywood” picture an indie at the same time, as shown by his credits, The Ides of March and Black Swan.
Andrew Eaton is a British producer with deep Hollywood connections through the British community here, e.g., Eric Fellner of Working Title, the British production company currently owned by Universal. (Parenthetically, I bought U.S. rights to Working Title’s first film, My Beautiful Laundrette for Lorimar along with Orion Classics and so I was quite thrilled to have a chance to be in touch with the talented Brits once again).
Working Title had worked with Andrew Easton on Frost/Nixon. Eric Fellner loved the script and offered it to Universal for funding. However, as said, Universal passed on it because it was too small.
“It is going to be easy for people to think this is a Hollywood movie, and it just is not,” quotes Variety from the film’s British screenwriter, Peter Morgan, who penned Frost/Nixon which was also directed by Howard. “It is a British independent film directed by a Hollywood director.”
Eaton and Oliver spoke of how they put this film together.
“We must champion the fact that this is basically 80% a British film in terms of the people who worked on it, the way it was structured and the way we ran it,” says Eaton, who was behind such indie films as 24 Hour Party People and the Red Riding TV series.
Can a Song Save Your Life? (U.S. UTA, Isa: Exclusive)
Exclusive has another film here, Can a Song Save Your Life? which is also repped by Rena Ronson, Co-Head of the Independent Film Group of UTA. Directed by John Carney who came to the public’s attention with his micro-budgeted Once which plays on stage here in Toronto at the moment, in New York and elsewhere regularly. The Weinstein Company picked it up in Toronto, reportedly paying around a $7 million minimum guarantee for U.S. rights with a P&A commitment of at least $20 million.
UTA as an agency also packages both large (studio) and smaller indie films. Rena Ronson, the co-head of UTA Indie explained how her own indie roots -- first at indie distributor Fox-Lorber and continuing into international sales before becoming the “indie agent” at Wma, succeeding the “indie” founder, Bobbi Thompson, have taught her to speak the language of the international as well as the independent film business. She knows the major modes of operating as well as she knows the independent style of business. She further explained that the successes of the larger films permit the “smaller”, i.e., “indie” films to be made.
UTA repped films in Toronto are listed below. For a full report of rights sold, before, during and after Toronto, watch SydneysBuzz.com for the Fall 2013 Rights Roundup.
Can A Song Save Your Life?
Writer/Director: John Carney Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, Catherine Keener, Mos Def, Cee-Lo Green Publicity: Falco / Shannon Treusch, Monica Delameter U.S. Producer Rep: UTA / CAA . Isa: Exclusive Media Group
U.S. rights were acquired at Tiff 13 by TWC for a record breaking $7 million.
Since first announcing it in Cannes 2012, Exclusive has made other deals as well for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan (Tanweer), Germany (Studiocanal), Japan (Pony Canyon Inc), Philippines (Solar Entertainment), Russia (A Company), So. Korea ( Pancinema), Switzerland ( Ascot Elite Entertainment Group ), Taiwan ( Serenity Entertainment International ), Turkey (D Productions), the Middle East ( Front Row Filmed Entertainment).
Tiff Special Presentations:
Hateship, Loveship
Director: Liza Johnson Writer: Mark Poirier Writer (Novel): Alice Munro Starring: Kristen Wiig, Guy Pearce, Hailee Steinfeld, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte Publicity: Prodigy PR, Erik Bright
North American Sale: UTA / Cassian Elwes. Isa: The Weinstein Co. Sena has rights for Iceland.
The F Word
Director: Michael Dowse Writer: Elan Mastai Writers (Play): Michael Rinaldi & T.J. Dawe Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Rafe Spall, Adam Driver, Mackenzie Davis, Amanda Crew Publicity: Strategy PR / Cynthia Schwartz, Michael Kupferberg Us Sale: UTA / Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman. Isa: eOne
After UTA sold the The F Word to CBS Films for the U.S. for around $3 million in Toronto, Entertainment One Films International completed other international sales. Besides Canada and the U.K., eOne itself will release the film in Australia/New Zealand, Benelux and Spain feeding its own international distribution pipeline. Other sales include Germany to Senator Entertainment, Middle East to Front Row Entertainment, Nigeria toRed Mist, Russia to Carmen Film Group, Turkey to Mars Entertainment Group
Night Moves
Writer/Director: Kelly Reichart Writer: Jonathan Raymond Starring: Dakota Fanning, Jesse Eisenberg, Peter Sarsgaard, Alia Shawkat Publicity: Ginsberg/Libby, Chris Libby North American Sale: UTA Isa: The Match Factory
Tiff Vanguard
The Sacrament
Writer/Director: Ti West Starring: Joe Swanberg, Aj Bowen, Amy Seimetz, Kate Lyn Sheil, Gene Jones Publicity: Dda, Dana Archer, Alice Zhou North American Sale: UTA / CAA Isa: Im Global sold to Pegasus Motion Pictures Distribution Ltd . For China
As of this writing, rather 1 hour ago, Magnolia Pictures, which lost on an earlier bidding war here for Joe, is finalizing a deal for the picture reportedly for seven figures.
Coincidentallywith the beginning of the Toronto Film Festival, the front page of L.A. Times quoted Rena Ronson in an article called "Making history as cameras roll" (print edition) or "Wadjda' director makes her mark in Saudi cinema" (online edition) about Wadjda , (Isa: The Match Factory) last year’s Venice and Telluride film which Rena had spotted at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, where it won a script award. It was written and directed by a woman which is notable in such a male-dominated part of the world. She met the writer-director, Haifaa Mansour, and that led to working with her for the next two years to finance the film. Its $2.5m budget was backed in part by the Rotana Group, the largest media company in the Middle East, owned primarily by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The German production company Razor Film owned and operated by Gerhard Meixner and Roman Paul whose first coproduction in 2005, Paradise Now brought them into international prominence and who also picked up last year’s Tiff groundbreaking film from Afghanistan,The Patience Stone, and previously coproduced Waltz With Bashir, came on board and brought German broadcast deals and German film funds as well.
Doha and Film Financing
The fourth panelist was Paul Miller, Head of Film Financing, from the Doha Film Institute , Qatar's first international organization dedicated to film financing, production, education and two film festivals. Doha encourages submission for financing film financing opportunities from anywhere in the world. The Dfi Grants program supports first- and second-time filmmakers in producing and developing their own stories. There are two funding rounds per year. Applications are considered from three regions (basically divided into the Middle East, developing nations and the rest of the world – with some exceptions -- each with different eligibility criteria.
Consideration for funding is open to feature-length films in development, production and post-production, as well as short films in production and post-production. Since 2010, Dfi has provided funding to more than 138 filmmakers.
Beyond the regional grants program, Dfi also invests in a diverse slate of international productions to encourage greater collaboration, mentorship and co‑production opportunities between Gulf countries and the rest of the world. Co-financing applications apply to both Middle Eastern and international feature films, television and web series. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.
Four films at Tiff that Doha has helped finance:
Mohammed Malas’s Ladder to Damacus, screening in Tiff’s Contemporary World Cinema section; Jasmila Žbanic’s For Those Who Can Tell No Tales in the Special Presentation section. Both films were co-financed by Dfi. Dfi grant recipients Néjib Belkadhi’s Bastardo and Mais Darwazah’s My Love Awaits Me by the Sea screening in the Contemporary World Cinema and Discovery sections, respectively.
The fifth panelist, Ted Hope, Director of the San Francisco Film Society, a non-profit training, festival, and funding operation is known to everyone from his history with Good Machine (which was acquired by Universal and renamed Focus Features), and from his blog Hope for Film/ Truly Free Film . In his always-inimitable fashion, Ted proposed a new sort of financing, called "staged financing", based on a progressive meeting of certain criterion from development through distribution. This way of financing is similar to the venture capital models of financing. His broad ideas on what has to change with the industry's funding and packaging methods brought the panelists and the audience to heel at attention. I reprint his blog after this because this idea goes against the current grain of financing an entire film which may or may not prove to be the final box office bingo winner it always purports to be when securing full financing.
The Sffs provided some funding to Thomas Oliver's 1982 which is in Tiff this year. Aside from winning Us in Progress’ $60,000 in post-production services at this year’s Champs Elysees Film Festival, 1982 also received Sffs’s $85,000 post production grant and participated in the Sffs’s A2E labs. The film is being represented by Kevin Iwashina’s Preferred Content.
The panel became very animated as Ted Hope and Rena Ronson faced off about whether a film is made for a broad audience or whether, if targeted correctly, it could actually make money with niche audiences. As always, the two of them, both equally astute, brought much to bear on both sides of the argument. And, I, as the panel’s moderator, hereby declare, They are both right.
The broader the audience the more potential for making money.
However, as Ted points out, with crowd sourcing, crowd funding and crowd theatrical exhibition, there are many other ways beyond ticket purchases that filmmakers can offer in order to make money with their targeted audience.
This, as well as the great contributions made by Doha’s Paul Miller and Revolution’s Andrew Eaton could have extended the panel into a full day. Paul Oliver of Cross Creek was the quietest, perhaps most reticent, of the speakers, but he amply demonstrated that he is one who puts his money where his mouth is. His acumen and taste make us all grateful for his existence as he is a pivotal point person in creating works of art that create substantial revenues for a sustainable art house film business.
The audience as well was most enthusiastic with their questions and post panel discussions with panelists who stayed to talk.
Articles Reprinted Here:
Truly Free Film
Staged Financing Must Become Film Biz’s Immediate Goal
Posted: 06 Sep 2013 05:15 Am Pdt
Each day I become more and more convinced that staged financing could be a cure to much of the Film Biz’s ills. Staged financing? What? Is the phrase not exactly center of your conversations right now? Why not?!! Whatsamattawidyou? Don’t you know a good solution when you see one?
Although it already exists in many fields, and even in a few small patches of our own yard, I recognize that a staged financing strategy is not yet the force behind Indieland’s own gardening. I am however growing convinced it could yield a far more fruitful harvest than our current methods. A staged-financing ecosystem can’t be built in a one-off manner though. Although it also does not need to the rule of the realm, it needs a permanent eco-system to support it.
Staged financing is part of a much bigger solution that we urgently need to bring to our industry: a sustainable investor class . We need smart money and need to stop seeking, encouraging, and propagating dumb money. Most film investors get out, win or lose, by their third film (I have been told this and don’t have the stats to back it up now, but if you do, please share — otherwise just trust that is what my experience has shown). The value of most independent money in the film biz is the money itself, and that is not good for anyone.
Staged financing is exactly what it says to be. I know in this world such literalness is a strange thing, but there is it. Staged financing is a funding process that is there for each distinct stage. In comparison, it is the opposite of up-front financing — the type that monopolizes the narrative feature world. I am proposing that we institutionalize the staged-financing process and make it easier to finance your film in drips and drabs. Why am I so bullish on what probably sounds like hell to many? Why do I think it will save indie film? Let’s count the ways.
Staged financing increases the predictability of success. Investors can base their continued commitment on a proof of prinicipal instead of just a pitch. The longer one waits the more they know — of course the longer one waits the lower the chance for their to be the opportunity for investment, so there. The more investors can project or even predict their success, the longer they will stay in the game, and the more that will gather to pay — i.e. more capital at play! Staged financing allows filmmakers and their supporters to pivot based on real world data. The old way had very little it could do when new information hit. Your film (and investment) could be rendered obsolete over night. But that does not have to be a done deal is this new world. This is just one of the many reasons for #1 above of course. Staged financing diversifies the creative class. Wouldn’t it be great if the film biz was actually a meritocracy? Well, if people had to make good movies to complete their financing, wouldn’t that be a bit closer to the case? Staged financing gives all people the opportunity to prove they have a good idea, whether that idea is completed or not. It is not about who you know, but about what you’ve done and can do. Documentary film — compared to the narrative world — already has a great deal of staged financing institutionalized — and benefits from gender proportional representation among directors. Need I say more?Staged financing allows ambitious artistic work to flourish. Instead of just having “commercial elements”, unique and inspiring work can be recognized for the potential it truly has. Instead of being rewarded for being able to earn trust or arrogantly claim to know what one is doing, staged financing allows good work to be rewarded for being good work. Currently, we mistake confidence for capability and those that boast to be able to predict what the end product will be (where there is no way that they will actually know what the 100+ decisions each day will yield), get to play — not the work that delivers something new and wonderful. Staged financing rewards quality over risk mitigation. Staged financing is actually a better form of risk mitigation than the present form that is only based on regurgitating what has already proven successful. When we limit risk by mimicking what has worked in the past, all we are doing is guessing and covering our ass — and this leads to a film culture of movie titles overrun with numerals. We live in an era of abundance, and as comforting as the familiar may be, we have more access to it than ever before. We rarely need the new version of it. We will however need truly original work more and more as time goes on as we will drowning in the repetitive. How will we prove what works? Staged financing, my friend, staged financing. Staged financing creates a better project as it incentivizes the creators every step of the way. Not that you truly need to incentivize those that are in the passion industries for the right reason, but it never hurts to weed out those that are in it for the wrong reason. When your financing is based on your work and not your connections or investors’ fears, you will do all you can to make each stage of financing shine, justify itself, and be truly competitive. Staged financing requires you to walk a series of steps, proving you have earned the right with every advance — and you better do your homework if you don’t want to get left behind. Staged financing requires you choose your initial partners wisely. It’s not just about the terms of the deal that should determine whom your investors are — but that is how we generally act nowadays. Everyone should instead seek value-add investors. You should get more than just money from your investors. You should benefit from their expertise. Filmmakers, agents, lawyers, and managers, often are willing to leap into bed with anyone who offers the most cash — there’s a name for that practice and it should not be film investment. Staged financing means the creators will have “skin in the game”. When it is an up-front finance model, the creators are not working for a payout in success but working just for the upfornt fees (or some semblance thereof); they may have “profit participation” but basically the only anticipated earnings are what is in the budget. It becomes increasingly difficult to motivate the creative team to be engaged in the needed work after the film premieres. Investors have long recognized that this is not the most beneficial arrangement, yet what can they do? The answer my friend, is… yup, you know the song I am singing: everyone loves that staged financing! Staged financing is a time-tested process that has already been adopted by many industries . Staged financing is the modus operandi of Silicon Valley and all the Vc firms. Other industries, from mining onwards, have seen real benefits from the process. Why do we limit our success and not apply proven models to our field? Could it be that somewhere someone is desperately clutching on to what ever paltry power they perceive themselves to possess? Hmmm… If they don’t offer the model you want at the store, build a new model — or maybe even a chain of stores. Staged financing gives producers of quality work more power. The main objection to staged financing is that it gives financiers more power. That is only true if you are making crap. Or mediocre work. If you are making something wonderfully astounding you will never struggle to progress to the next round — and in fact you will be able to improve your terms. And investors won’t complain either, because they now can have to know a good thing when they see one.
So if Staged Financing is this marvelous thing, why have our leaders not yet delivered it to you? Well, they don’t care about you; didn’t you know that?
And if Staged Financing could really save Indie Film, why has the community not constructed this marvelous ecosystem yet? Well, we’ve all been too busy chasing shiny objects and marveling at the reflections fed back of us.
But change is here. We have hope. We can build it better together. And I have already started. The San Francisco Film Society is committed to it. We have others who want to be part of. We are have spots for more to join in. And we are going to help a few select projects really rock this world.
Watch this space. Let’s do it together and truly astonish the world with your awe inspiring work. Just don’t be slack, okay?
Variety, August 21, 2013:
“Rush,” the high-octane car racing film about the public rivalry between legendary Formula One drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt during the 1970s, has all the markings of tinseltown’s latest flashy biopic, withRon Howard at the wheel, Chris Hemsworth as its star, and Universal Pictures releasing the film Sept. 27. But that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth.
“It is going to be easy for people to think this is a Hollywood movie, and it just is not,” says the upcoming film’s British screenwriter, Peter Morgan, who penned “Frost/Nixon,” also directed by Howard. “It is a British independent film directed by a Hollywood director.” Get Weekly Online News and alerts free to your inbox
As the majors focus more on putting their money behind mega-budgeted projects with built-in brand awareness — sequels, reboots, films based on toys, videogames and comicbooks — filmmakers are finding Hollywood’s studio system rapidly shifting under their feet.
“Because studios are less interested in the midbudget area, there is a massive opportunity for independents to step into that (area) at the moment,” says “Rush” producer Andrew Eaton of London-based Revolution Films.
Indeed, it’s getting harder to set up a midbudget range original project at a studio, even for veteran filmmakers like Howard and his producing partner Brian Grazer, whose Imagine Entertainment has had an overall deal at Universal for 27 years (the longest standing deal U has had in its 100-year history with a production company). That’s forced directors to look elsewhere to tackle the kinds of films now considered too risky to make or the ones that won’t fill retail shelves with merchandise.
Another Hollywood vet, producer Marc Platt, who’s had a production deal at Universal since 1998 after stepping down as its production head, similarly had to find indie financing for his film “2 Guns” after Universal said it would not bankroll the picture but simply distribute it.
With “Rush,” Howard found himself in an entirely new role as the director of a $50 million film that was his first to be independently financed — through a series of bonds, contingencies and pre-sales. He also was a director for hire, replacing Paul Greengrass, who was originally set to bring the showy personalities of Hunt (Hemsworth), a British playboy; and the more serious Austrian champion Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) to the big screen.
“We must champion the fact that this is basically 80% a British film in terms of the people who worked on it, the way it was structured and the way we ran it,” says Eaton. The exec, who was behind such indie films as “24 Hour Party People” and the “Red Riding” series, is modest, and like most Brits politely shies away from the spotlight, tending not to grab credit even when its due.
But he believes “Rush” shows off Blighty’s mettle.
“These are the kinds of films we should be making in the U.K. because we can do it, and we can do it for better value of money,” he says.
Morgan began writing the story of Lauda, a friend of his wife’s, on spec some years ago, intrigued by the driver’s courageous comeback just 40 days after a devastating crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix that severely burned his face and saw him lapse into a coma, and how that might play against Hunt’s notorious womanizing and party lifestyle that gained him rock-star status.
Eager to work with Eaton again after Fernando Meirelles’ “360,” Morgan showed the producer the first draft of “Rush,” and Eaton was hooked.
“Andrew was always going to be a great fit for this project,” Morgan says. “If (the) responsibility was to make this at a price, Andrew could do this. He could make a $50 million film feel like a $150 million film.”
With Greengrass, another Brit, attached to direct, Morgan showed the script to close friend Eric Fellner at his Universal-owned British production outfit Working Title. Fellner, who had worked with him on “Frost/Nixon,” loved the new script and offered it to Universal for funding.
But the studio passed, considering it risky subject matter, given the biopic elements and low profile of F1 racing in the U.S. Universal also didn’t believe the film could be made for the right price. Still Fellner stayed onboard, and his contacts in the F1 arena proved invaluable. His relationships with Ferrari and McLaren thanks to his work on documentary “Senna” enabled “Rush” to enlist the brands in the pic without losing editorial control.
“Ron (Howard) jokes that my major contribution was engine noise,” Fellner says. “Maybe I can take credit for a bit of that.”
Soon after Universal passed, Cross Creek Pictures topper Brian Oliver reached out to Eaton to finance the project — so eager that he offered to put up $2 million before he even signed the deal so that Eaton could order replicas of the 1970s cars to be ready in time for the shoot. He also was instrumental in steering Hemsworth toward the project.
“Typically we don’t spend that kind of money without knowing the movie is going and the budget is done,” Oliver says. “But I was passionate about the script, and I really thought it was a film with a lot of heart, not just a race car movie.”
Cross Creek, also behind “The Ides of March” and “Black Swan,” has quickly become one of Hollywood’s biggest and more unusual financiers of risky films, with coin coming mostly from oil and real estate investments in Texas.
“He’s an unusual maverick in Hollywood because he really fought to get the budget to the highest level he could,” says Eaton of Oliver. “There’s no bullshit with him — he gets stuff done.” Adds Fellner: “Without Brian, the film wouldn’t have gotten off of the ground. He put his money where his mouth is.”
Shortly after funding started coming together, Greengrass dropped off the project due, ironically, to his issues with the budget. Within 24 hours, Morgan and Fellner enticed Howard to come onboard. The financing arrangement intrigued him, but what really attracted Howard was the ability to re-create the world of Formula One in the 1970s “when sex was safe and driving was dangerous,” as he has said in past interviews.
“Ron was incredibly gracious in trusting us to deliver,” Eaton says. “He was very smart about knowing we needed to make this film in a different way. He’d never made a film with a bond before, and never made a film with a contingency before, but he rolled up his sleeves and was ready to learn.” Some of that indie spirit has already rubbed off on Howard, who is now sticking with a mostly British crew on his next project, “In the Heart of the Sea,” including “Rush” cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle and costume designer Julian Day. “Heart” lenses in London.
Exclusive Media came in as the final partner on “Rush,” brought in by Oliver under his deal with Exclusive to jointly finance two projects per year.
Cross Creek split the cost of the pic with Exclusive, with the former putting its own cash in to the pic and the latter financing through a bank loan made against pre-sales generated in 2011 at the Afm, where Howard helped shop the project to buyers. The move proved a success, as Exclusive secured $33 million in foreign pre-sales.
Additionally, Oliver and Eaton structured the project as a U.K.-German co-production, enabling them to secure about $12 million in soft money.
As a result, U.K. rights ended up going to Studiocanal. Universal agreed to distribute “Rush” in the U.S. through its output deal with Cross Creek.
Eaton pressed to put all of the money raised on the screen. “Rush” became the highest-budget film he had ever worked with after 2000’s “The Claim,” which cost $18 million to produce.
“(‘Rush’) was financed in exactly the same way we finance every independent film, and we approached shooting in the same way as we do everything — you try to put as much money as you can onscreen,” Eaton says. “It’s about not wasting money on things you don’t need, like private jets and extravagances.”
Hollywood has tried to bring to life the world of Formula One before.
Sylvester Stallone directed “Driven,” which originally was set in the world of F1, before he changed course and based it on rival Cart racing, instead.
The reason? To gain access to F1, filmmakers must first get the greenlight from the often polarizing Bernie Ecclestone, the 82-year-old billionaire who holds a tight grip on the racing league that has long counted the elite as fans, including Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, and celebs including Michael Fassbender, Patrick Dempsey, Gordon Ramsey, George Lucas, and Cirque de Soleil founder Guy Laliberte.
Although Stallone tried to gain Ecclestone’s approval, “I apologize to fans of Formula 1, but there is a certain individual there who runs the sport that has his own agenda,” Stallone said in 2000. “F1 is very formal, and it’s very hard to get to know people.”
David Cronenberg also planned to direct a tentpole around F1 for Paramount, in 1986, with the director scouting the project by attending Grand Prix races in Australia and Mexico. The film, “Red Cars,” would have revolved around American driver Phil Hill winning the world championship for Ferrari in 1961. Plans were shelved when Ecclestone decided not to support the project. Instead, Cronenberg published a limited edition art book based on the screenplay in 2005.
One of the few cinematic standouts so far is Asif Kapadia’s documentary “Senna,” about the charismatic Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, killed in a race in 1994 that’s show in the docu. “Senna” went on to earn $8.2 million, and helped educate viewers of the sport by focusing not on the races but Senna’s iconic presence and his impact on pop culture.
“Rush” is looking to put a spotlight on the personalities behind the wheel and the often riveting rivalries between drivers — what many consider the real draw to the sport. Bruhl has compared them to “modern knights constantly facing death.”
As the film races toward its September release — it will be shown at the Toronto Film Festival out of competition — Howard has screened it for not only racing fans but Formula One, itself.
He recently showed the film to a group of F1 drivers (including Lauda, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa) at Germany’s Grand Prix, calling that audience the toughest test so far, and comparing the experience to screening “Apollo 13” to Nasa’s astronauts and mission controllers in 1995.
In his efforts to promote the film, Howard has called the Hunt-Lauda rivalry one of the greatest in all of sports. “Their story is so remarkable, you (could) only do it if it was true, because people wouldn’t quite believe it. They were willing to risk their lives to attain this elite status. They paid a price for it, but they defined themselves.”
Morgan also has been doing his part to reassure F1 fans that the film is authentic, stressing that it’s about the people in the cars, and not the sport itself.
Any way the wheel’s spun, it’s clear the film’s overall success will largely be driven by how it plays overseas. “Rush” will need to appeal to an international audience that’s more familiar with F1 — a sport second in popularity only to soccer — than to those in the U.S.
But Howard needs to hook moviegoers closer to home — making the American director’s job a much tougher sell.
It’s not really that surprising that there’s nothing all that American about “Rush.”
Formula One is still struggling to find an audience in the U.S. It’s looking to change that through a new $3 million broadcasting deal with NBC Sports that airs 13 races on the cable channel, two on CNBC, and four on NBC. The Monaco Grand Prix was the first of four F1 races to air live on NBC this year, with the final race taking place Nov. 24 from Brazil.
Ratings have averaged a 0.3 rating, although the Monaco race was watched by 1.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched Formula One race on U.S. television in six years, and up 40% over last year’s race when it aired on Speed TV, Nielsen said.
Promos have emphasized the speed of F1’s jetfighter cars, its international appeal and Olympics-like profiles of the drivers.
Formula One also is looking to rev up new fans in the U.S. through the opening of its first permanent track in Austin, Texas, last year, known as the Circuit of the Americas. Howard attended its first race, where Lauda also roamed the track’s garages.
What’s ironic is that Howard isn’t a very good driver. He proved that recently racing around the track of BBC’s hit show “Top Gear” to promote “Rush,” ending up in second to last place on the series’ celebrity leader board — behind Genesis’ Mike Rutherford.
Host Jeremy Clarkson was quick to mock him, saying “We finally found something you can’t do. Good at directing, brilliant in ‘Happy Days,’ a charming human being — but utterly crap at driving.”
Ron Howard's Risky Formula One Movie, 'Rush'
Can this Euro-centric car racing film play in the U.S.?
By Rachel Dodes Conn
Ron Howard's films, like "Apollo 13" and "Frost/Nixon," typically deal with issues very familiar to American audiences. His latest project, Mr. Howard's first independently financed film, is a bit of a departure: "Rush" chronicles the rivalry between Austrian Formula One racer Niki Lauda and his nemesis, the British driver James Hunt, over the course of the historic 1976 season. While competing in Nürburg, Germany during treacherous weather conditions, Mr. Lauda (Daniel Brühl, right) crashed his Ferrari and sustained severe burns to his face and lungs. Yet, fueled by a desire to beat Mr. Hunt (Chris Hemsworth, above), a playboy type whose wife (Olivia Wilde) ran off with Richard Burton, Mr. Lauda was back in his car just six weeks later—still wearing his bandages—to race against him in the Italian Grand Prix.
When Mr. Howard received the script on spec from screenwriter Peter Morgan ("Frost/Nixon," "The Last King of Scotland"), he wasn't a Formula One fan and didn't know who Messrs. Hunt and Lauda were. "I looked them up on Wikipedia," he admits. But as he read about the racers' personalities, he started to see broader themes that would appeal to U.S. moviegoers. "Maybe this is the American in me identifying this," he says, "but both these guys are utterly and entirely individuals—there was no Yoda telling them to seek their higher self."
For Mr. Howard, the process of researching "Rush" was surprisingly similar to learning about space travel for his "Apollo 13," because he found himself having to make arcane automotive engineering terms accessible to viewers. "It was really fun to understand a sport that combines cutting-edge technology with very dangerous competition," he says. "The visceral, cool and sexy element offered a kind of cinematic experience that nowadays exists only with sci-fi."
Formula One isn't nearly as popular in the U.S. as Nascar, and the subject matter is likelier to play well overseas, where the film's financing came from. It premiered Monday, in London, a few weeks before its U.S. opening. The filmmakers say it's more than just a sports picture, and they expect it to appeal to women as well as men.
Saudi Female Filmmaker Succeeds In Making A Movie About A Girl Who Wants A Bicycle
Los Angeles Times
By Rebecca Keegan
Sept. 6, 2013
In a country where women can't freely move around, Haifaa Mansour covertly films the story of a girl's quest for a bicycle.
The production lost two days to sandstorms. The crew faced a last-minute scramble when the nervous owner of a mall changed his mind about allowing filming there. Some days locals chased the cameras away; other days they brought platters of lamb and rice to the set, and asked to be extras.
Meanwhile, the director hid in a van, speaking to her cast via walkie-talkie. In Saudi Arabia, where driving a car is a subversive act for a woman, a 39-year-old mother of two has done something remarkable: written and directed what her distributor believes is the first feature film shot entirely in the ultraconservative kingdom.
Haifaa Mansour is the director of "Wadjda," a drama about a plucky 10-year-old girl who enrolls in a Koran recitation competition in order to win money for a bicycle she's forbidden by law to ride.
Like her young protagonist, Mansour's own story is one of feminine moxie.
In a sly protest of the country's ban on women behind the wheel, she drove herself to her wedding in a golf cart. Because women in Saudi Arabia can't mingle publicly with men outside their families, she shot her movie covertly on the streets of the capital, Riyadh. With movie theaters banned, she screened "Wadjda" in two foreign embassies and a cultural center.
Petite, self-assured, wearing white high-tops and blue nail polish, Mansour is modern in both her fashion and bearing. She speaks English quickly and colloquially, dropping frequent "you knows" into conversation. And she isn't afraid to counter misperceptions about her homeland, as when she gently corrected Bill Maher for calling Mecca the Saudi capital during a recent appearance on his HBO show.
Laced with empathy and humor, "Wadjda" is a quietly provocative portrait of a culture that straddles the centuries, where men wear the ancient white thobe but carry the latest iPads and women hold important jobs as doctors and news anchors but have yet to vote in an election.
"I didn't want to make a movie about women being raped or stoned," Mansour said in an interview in Beverly Hills in June. "For me it is the everyday life, how it's hard. For me, it was hard sometimes to go to work because I cannot find transportation. Things like that build up and break a woman."
The eighth of 12 children of a poet, Mansour grew up in a small town in a home that she describes as nurturing for a little girl.
"My family is very traditional, but my parents are very supportive, very kind," she said. "I never felt I can't do things because I'm a woman."
When Mansour was a teen, her mother removed the light veil she wore while picking her daughter up from school, a gesture that mortified the young woman at the time, but empowers her when she reflects on it now.
Though movie theaters have been shuttered in Saudi Arabia for decades for religious reasons, Mansour said her father, like others, often rented VHS tapes at Blockbuster for the family to watch -- she grew up on Jackie Chan movies, Bollywood productions, Egyptian cinema and Disney animated films. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was a particular favorite.
"In small-town Saudi, there is nothing to do. You don't get to exercise your emotions because nothing much is happening, you know?" she said. "So to see people falling in love and fighting, it's so powerful, you see beyond your small town."
After earning her bachelor's degree in comparative literature at the American University in Cairo, she returned to Saudi Arabia but quickly felt stymied.
"Going back to Saudi as a young woman, trying to assert yourself in the workplace, you have all those ideas … and all of a sudden you realize because you are a woman you are not heard," she said. "It was such a frustrating moment in my life. It was as if you are screaming in a vacuum."
The idea of women holding jobs still unnerves some Saudi men -- writer Abdullah Mohammed Daoud recently encouraged his more than 97,000 Twitter followers to sexually harass female grocery store clerks to intimidate women from working.
Recalling the freedom she found in movies, Mansour decided to make a short film with her siblings serving as cast and crew, a thriller about a male serial killer who hides under the black abaya worn by Muslim women. Her work -- two more shorts, a documentary and a stint hosting a talk show for a Lebanese network -- focused largely on the untold stories of Saudi women.
In 2005, at a U.S. embassy screening of her documentary, "Women Without Shadows," Mansour met her future husband, American diplomat Bradley Neimann. They now have two children, 2 and 5, and live in Bahrain, where Neimann works for the State Department.
When her husband was posted in Australia, Mansour pursued a master's in film studies at the University of Sydney, and wrote the script that became "Wadjda."
The story was inspired by her now teenage niece, who has tamped down her rambunctious personality to fit into Saudi norms.
"I thought, 'Wow, a woman writer from Saudi Arabia won?'" Rena Ronson said. "I had to meet her. She was so open and tenacious and smart."When Mansour's script for "Wadjda" won an award at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, it caught the eye of the co-head of the independent film group at United Talent Agency.
Over the next two years Ronson helped Mansour secure financing for her film, which cost a little less than $2.5 million. The primary obstacle, as far as many potential Middle Eastern producers were concerned, was Mansour's desire to shoot in Saudi Arabia, which she felt lent her story authenticity.
The production finally won the tacit approval of the Saudi government -- one of its backers is Rotana Group, an entertainment company primarily owned by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Another major financier is the German company Razor Film.
Finding actors was another hurdle. Mansour and her producers recruited child performers through small companies that hire folkloric dancers for the Eid holidays. Many of their parents were uncomfortable with a movie about empowering women.
A week before she was scheduled to start shooting, Mansour still hadn't cast her title character when 12-year-old Waad Mohammed entered the room in blue jeans, with headphones clapped over her ears. Singing along to Justin Bieber, she won over Mansour with her sweet singing voice and tomboyish style.
The movie's half-German, half-Saudi crew worked around the rhythms of Saudi life, using cellphone apps that alerted them of the five daily prayer calls. The Germans carried notebooks; the Saudis relied on oral planning.
On the first day of shooting, a start time of 7:20 a.m. came and went. "I don't know what we were thinking," said German producer Roman Paul. "I don't think 7:20 exists in Saudi time. We Germans learned to relax, and the Saudis learned that there is a benefit to doing things at a certain time."
Despite tension on the set -- both from disapproving observers and from the German and Saudi crews learning to work together -- Mansour was buoyant, Paul said.
"She's very fast in overcoming new difficulties, and in an upbeat spirit," Paul said.
Last summer "Wadjda" premiered at the Venice and Telluride film festivals, earning praise for Mansour's subtle direction and a U.S. release from Sony Pictures Classics, which handled the Oscar-winning 2011 Iranian drama "A Separation," about the dissolution of a marriage.
"'A Separation' was such an eye-opener to me in the sense that there were people questioning whether the film went too specific into the Iranian culture," said Michael Barker, co-president and co-founder of the Sony unit. "But if the overall story has a universal appeal, in 'Wadjda' it's about parents and kids and restrictions and freedom, that's something we can all relate to."
Sony Classics has been showing the film to noted feminists -- Gloria Steinem and Queen Noor of Jordan both attended screenings -- and will release it in the U.S. slowly over the fall, starting Sept. 13. (The movie premiered in multiple European countries this summer.)
Mansour said she plans to work in Saudi Arabia again. For her, screening her movie in the kingdom was a high.
"Film is about uplifting, embracing the love of life, it's about moving ahead, it's about victory," she said. "It's not about defeat."
One victory has already been won. This spring, a new law went into effect: With some restrictions, Saudi women are now allowed to ride bicycles.
- 9/15/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
One never knows what to expect from director Michael Winterbottom, which is why it’s always so exciting to hear he has a new film. Will it be science fiction, like the marvelous Code 46? Will it be historical drama, like the magnificent The Claim? Will it be a documentary, like the brutal Road to Guantanamo? Will it transcend genres, like the hilarious The Trip or the mind-rattling A Cock and Bull Story? Will it be the rare crushing disappointment, like The Killer Inside Me? Anticipation goes to a whole new delicious level when it comes to Winterbottom’s work, and I didn’t need to know anything about Everyday to know that I could not miss it at the London Film Festival last autumn. (It didn’t hurt, though, to learn that John Simm and Shirley Henderson were starring in it.) So I had no idea what I was...
- 1/23/2013
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
The ultra prolific British helmer Michael Winterbottom has now made twenty films since his debut, “Butterfly Kiss,” in 1995. His eclectic creative appetites and peripatetic energy has seen the restless director take on a disparate array of projects from moody sci-fi ("Code 46"), pulpy noir ("The Killer Inside Me"), a post-modern music-scene saga ("24 Hour Party People") a western ("The Claim") and many, many more genres including documentaries as well. So for his latest trick, it’s perhaps no surprise that Winterbottom has taken on another interesting experiment -- this time a sprawling family drama set over five Christmases in rural Scotland. Commissioned by the BBC’s Channel 4 and shot in two week periods over five years, "Everyday" employs four real-life siblings (Shaun, Katrina, Stephanie, and Robert Kirk) to play the sons of Karen (Shirley Henderson) and Ian (John Simm), her Mia husband, and chronicles...
- 9/3/2012
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
Well, here's a bit of surprise in a fall festival season that seems full of them. With Tiff announcing their final batch of titles today, Michael Winterbottom's long-developing "Everyday" (previously known as "Seven Days") will head to Toronto to make its world premiere, and now we have our first images from the film. Taking a page from Richard Linklater, Winterbottom's film has been shooting for a few weeks over the past five years, and stars John Simm (who worked with the director on "24 Hour Party People" and "Wonderland") and Shirley Henderson (who featured in those aforementioned films as well as "The Claim" and "A Cock And Bull Story"). Here's the official synopsis: Everyday tells the story of four children separated from their father, and a wife separated from her husband. The father, Ian (John Simm), is in prison. The mother, Karen, (Shirley Henderson) has to bring up a family of four.
- 8/21/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Trishna
Written and directed by Michael Winterbottom
UK, 2011
Among contemporary cinema’s more versatile and prolific directors, one of the few sources of inspiration Michael Winterbottom has repeatedly returned to is the work of Thomas Hardy. Jude, his 1996 adaptation of Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, was effectively his breakthrough film; 2000’s The Claim, meanwhile, was loosely based on The Mayor of Casterbridge, applying content from that novel’s Victorian England setting to an American western. Winterbottom’s latest Hardy adaptation, Trishna, has more in common with that latter film in that it transfers the source material of Tess of the d’Urbervilles to a different setting and culture. Set in India, Trishna differs from both of the director’s previous Hardy adaptations in that it tries to apply the source’s themes and narrative to the contemporary version of its setting. The result is not very successful.
While it would...
Written and directed by Michael Winterbottom
UK, 2011
Among contemporary cinema’s more versatile and prolific directors, one of the few sources of inspiration Michael Winterbottom has repeatedly returned to is the work of Thomas Hardy. Jude, his 1996 adaptation of Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, was effectively his breakthrough film; 2000’s The Claim, meanwhile, was loosely based on The Mayor of Casterbridge, applying content from that novel’s Victorian England setting to an American western. Winterbottom’s latest Hardy adaptation, Trishna, has more in common with that latter film in that it transfers the source material of Tess of the d’Urbervilles to a different setting and culture. Set in India, Trishna differs from both of the director’s previous Hardy adaptations in that it tries to apply the source’s themes and narrative to the contemporary version of its setting. The result is not very successful.
While it would...
- 7/22/2012
- by Josh Slater-Williams
- SoundOnSight
Watch clips as well as a red band video from Roadside Attractions' 30 Beats, starring Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Jason Day, Vahina Giocante, Lee Pace, Condola Rashad, Justin Kirk, Thomas Sadoski and Jennifer Tilly. The Alexis Lloyd film opens July 20th, and is produced by Molly Conners, Carol Ford and Lloyd. Ten disparate New Yorkers are connected by a summer heat wave and a series of steamy sexual encounters in 30 Beats, featuring an ensemble cast that includes Lee Pace (The Hobbit), Condola Rashad ("Ruined," "Stick Fly," "Steel Magnolias"), Justin Kirk ("Weeds,") Thomas Sadoski ("Newsroom") and Jennifer Tilly. Written, produced and directed by Alexis Lloyd (The Claim), the film is a light-hearted exploration of seduction, spontaneity and self-discovery that's as sultry and vibrant as the city in which it's set.
- 7/20/2012
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Watch clips as well as a red band video from Roadside Attractions' 30 Beats, starring Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Jason Day, Vahina Giocante, Lee Pace, Condola Rashad, Justin Kirk, Thomas Sadoski and Jennifer Tilly. The Alexis Lloyd film opens July 20th, and is produced by Molly Conners, Carol Ford and Lloyd. Ten disparate New Yorkers are connected by a summer heat wave and a series of steamy sexual encounters in 30 Beats, featuring an ensemble cast that includes Lee Pace (The Hobbit), Condola Rashad ("Ruined," "Stick Fly," "Steel Magnolias"), Justin Kirk ("Weeds,") Thomas Sadoski ("Newsroom") and Jennifer Tilly. Written, produced and directed by Alexis Lloyd (The Claim), the film is a light-hearted exploration of seduction, spontaneity and self-discovery that's as sultry and vibrant as the city in which it's set.
- 7/20/2012
- Upcoming-Movies.com
This is the truth.
The truth love has taught me.
My love, you showed me how the world really is.
(from one of Amit Trivedi’s very fine original songs from Trishna)
Michael Winterbottom’s latest film, Trishna, is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Winterbottom, of course, is no stranger to Hardy’s stories, having previously adapted both Jude the Obscure (Jude) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (The Claim). Whereas Jude was a fairly faithful retelling of the book, at least as far as the setting was concerned, The Claim played with the setting, moving it to California during the 19th century gold rush. And such is the case with Trishna, too. Winterbottom retains the essential theme, that of a young woman whose life is controlled by social constraints and the vagaries of fate, but he takes the brilliant step of moving it...
The truth love has taught me.
My love, you showed me how the world really is.
(from one of Amit Trivedi’s very fine original songs from Trishna)
Michael Winterbottom’s latest film, Trishna, is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Winterbottom, of course, is no stranger to Hardy’s stories, having previously adapted both Jude the Obscure (Jude) and The Mayor of Casterbridge (The Claim). Whereas Jude was a fairly faithful retelling of the book, at least as far as the setting was concerned, The Claim played with the setting, moving it to California during the 19th century gold rush. And such is the case with Trishna, too. Winterbottom retains the essential theme, that of a young woman whose life is controlled by social constraints and the vagaries of fate, but he takes the brilliant step of moving it...
- 7/13/2012
- by Katherine Matthews
- Bollyspice
Here's the good thing about economic inequality -- it sure adds relevance to modern-day adaptations of 19th-century novels. Take the class cruelty of Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the d'Urbervilles." Not only is it alive and well in the new millennium, when you throw India's relatively rigid caste system into the mix, it makes perfect sense for director Michael Winterbottom to set this new version of "Tess" in South Asia. But even though Winterbottom is a seasoned adapter of Hardy ("The Claim" and "Jude" were based on "The Mayor of Casterbridge" and "Jude...
- 7/12/2012
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Over his career, Michael Winterbottom has hopped frequently from genre to genre, from subject matter to subject matter, rarely covering the same territory twice. But one of the few things he has returned to is the work of Thomas Hardy. The late 19th century British author has so far inspired two of the director's films: 1995's "Jude," an adaptation of "Jude the Obscure" with Kate Winslet, and "The Claim," a version of "The Mayor of Casterbridge" moved to a Californian mountain Western setting. Both are very strong, firmly in tune with Hardy's bleak originals, so when it was announced that Winterbottom was going back to the well for "Trishna," a loose adaptation of "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" (a Hardy novel previously done by Roman Polanski in "Tess" and more recently, a BBC miniseries starring Gemma Arterton and Eddie Redmayne) for a version set in contemporary India, hope was high that it'd.
- 7/12/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom is no stranger to a good Thomas Hardy novel. Trishna, his adaptation of Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, is the third time the director has scripted films from the famed British novelist's works. Winterbottom first received widespread attention for Jude, his adaptation of Jude the Obscure, which starred Christopher Eccleston and Kate Winslet as the tragic cousins. He next tackled Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge in The Claim, featured Wes Bentley, Milla Jovovich and Sarah Polley. In Trishna, Winterbottom transplants Hardy's famous story from the sweeping moors of England to modern day Mumbai. Winterbottom's Tess is Trishna (Frieda Pinto), a maid working in a luxury hotel where she meets Jay (Riz Ahmed), an amalgam of two Hardy characters, the pious Angel and the licentious Alec. Brillantly playing off the difference between rural India and the teeming Mumbai, Wintterbottom brings a modern dynamic to Hardy's bleak romantic classic.
- 7/11/2012
- TribecaFilm.com
★★☆☆☆ For the third time, British director Michael Winterbottom once again attempts to breathe cinematic life into the works of 19th century author Thomas Hardy, one of the countries most beloved writers. Having previously adapted Jude The Obscure (given the cut-down title, Jude, in 1996) and transported The Mayor of Casterbridge to 19th century America in 2000 with The Claim, he now turns to Tess of the D'Urbervilles, transplanted to modern day Indian in the form of Trishna (2011).
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- 7/10/2012
- by CineVue
- CineVue
He is a strong adapter, whether he takes a film project from a paper-thin and easily deconstructed source, or from one more profound and multi-layered. He is a master of transposition, revising—shall we say renewing?—for example, foreign, century-old material more compatible with the mores of a later era and its audiences. He would be prolific British filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, one of the few directors inspired by texts and visual arts created by others who can reshape them to fit into credible film universes that feel as if all had originated with him. The themes and ideological positions to which he is regularly drawn form a superstructure upon which he builds the final product.
Among this director’s almost shockingly diverse works are adaptation of two novels by Thomas Hardy: Jude (from Jude the Obscure); and, a looser rendering, The Claim (from The Mayor of Casterbridge). He recently revisited Hardyland,...
Among this director’s almost shockingly diverse works are adaptation of two novels by Thomas Hardy: Jude (from Jude the Obscure); and, a looser rendering, The Claim (from The Mayor of Casterbridge). He recently revisited Hardyland,...
- 7/9/2012
- by Howard Feinstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Finding fame after Danny Boyle picked her for his multiple Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, Indian model Freida Pinto went on star in Hollywood blockbusters Rise of The Planet of the Apes and Immortals.
Freida also headlines the British drama Trishna, released in UK cinemas in March 2012 and heading to DVD and Blu-ray on July 9. It's also getting a limited Us release on July 13.
Trishna is English filmmaker Michael Winterbottom's Bollywood-flavoured, modernised retelling of the Thomas Hardy novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
It's also Winterbottom's third adaptation of a Hardy tale, following Jude (1996) and The Claim (2000).
So what drew Freida to the story and how has the 1891 classic of English literature been given a Bollywood flavour? Here's what the actress had to say.
Q: Take us through the process of how you became involved in the project. What attracted you to it and to the role of Trishna?
Freida Pinto:...
Freida also headlines the British drama Trishna, released in UK cinemas in March 2012 and heading to DVD and Blu-ray on July 9. It's also getting a limited Us release on July 13.
Trishna is English filmmaker Michael Winterbottom's Bollywood-flavoured, modernised retelling of the Thomas Hardy novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
It's also Winterbottom's third adaptation of a Hardy tale, following Jude (1996) and The Claim (2000).
So what drew Freida to the story and how has the 1891 classic of English literature been given a Bollywood flavour? Here's what the actress had to say.
Q: Take us through the process of how you became involved in the project. What attracted you to it and to the role of Trishna?
Freida Pinto:...
- 7/4/2012
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
Does Michael Winterbottom ever stop working? In the 17 years since his debut "Butterfly Kiss," he's helmed twenty feature films, averaging more than one a year, and the director has several more in the works: he's wrapped on "King of Soho," with Steve Coogan, ambitious, multi-year project "Here and There" is nearing completion, and he's got Jack Black vehicle "Bailout" and Beatles flick "The Longest Cocktail Party" on the dance card as well. And his most recent picture isn't even in theaters yet.
But it's not long before it is: "Trishna" is hitting theaters, courtesy of IFC Films, in a couple of months, and we're pleased to exclusively unveil the U.S. poster for the latest film from one of our favorite directors. The picture sees Winterbottom return to the Thomas Hardy well that proved so successful on "Jude" and "The Claim," for a contemporary spin on "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" set in modern-day India.
But it's not long before it is: "Trishna" is hitting theaters, courtesy of IFC Films, in a couple of months, and we're pleased to exclusively unveil the U.S. poster for the latest film from one of our favorite directors. The picture sees Winterbottom return to the Thomas Hardy well that proved so successful on "Jude" and "The Claim," for a contemporary spin on "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" set in modern-day India.
- 5/18/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Thomas Hardy is no stranger to Michael Winterbottom, this is his third stab (pun intended) at this author's novels, the other two being The Claim, an loose adaptation of "The Mayor of Casterbridge" and Jude, an adaptation of "Jude the Obscure." Trishna is a modern retelling of "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", and while I didn't love it (when I caught it at Tiff last year) there is no denying that it is beautifully shot, and features some impressive location shooting in both urban and rural parts of modern India. In a nutshell, this film is drop-dead gorgeous (pun also intended). As the resident Winterbottom geek, I would say that it continues his tradition of exploring storytelling through landscapes (mainly through cities, but here he makes...
- 4/5/2012
- Screen Anarchy
Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto captivates in Michael Winterbottom's bold reading of Hardy's tragedy
"In this life," Sir Thomas Beecham is said to have advised us, "try everything once, except incest and morris dancing" – an admonition that Michael Winterbottom, Britain's most prolific and versatile director, has followed. Indeed after 9 Songs, his venture into unsimulated sex between consenting actors, he may well be contemplating an excursion into cinematic incest. Winterbottom's movies have ranged from the music scene in Manchester to incarceration in Guantánamo, and at regular intervals he has made versions of Thomas Hardy novels on three continents.
In 1996, quite early in his career, he adapted Jude the Obscure with some fidelity to its plot and its Victorian times with Christopher Eccleston as the doomed Wessex stonemason and Kate Winslet as his deranged second wife. In 2000 he transposed The Mayor of Casterbridge to the Californian gold rush of the 1860s as The Claim,...
"In this life," Sir Thomas Beecham is said to have advised us, "try everything once, except incest and morris dancing" – an admonition that Michael Winterbottom, Britain's most prolific and versatile director, has followed. Indeed after 9 Songs, his venture into unsimulated sex between consenting actors, he may well be contemplating an excursion into cinematic incest. Winterbottom's movies have ranged from the music scene in Manchester to incarceration in Guantánamo, and at regular intervals he has made versions of Thomas Hardy novels on three continents.
In 1996, quite early in his career, he adapted Jude the Obscure with some fidelity to its plot and its Victorian times with Christopher Eccleston as the doomed Wessex stonemason and Kate Winslet as his deranged second wife. In 2000 he transposed The Mayor of Casterbridge to the Californian gold rush of the 1860s as The Claim,...
- 3/11/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Classic tragic story is still classic, tragic when moved to the modern world. Director Michael Winterbottom completes a Thomas Hardy trilogy -- after 1996’s Jude and 2000’s The Claim -- with this stunning new adaptation of Tess of the d’Urbervilles, set in contemporary India and highlighting, in a way that is both magnificent and horrifying, how little some of the world has changed from the era of the novel, more than a century ago. Hardy’s tale [Amazon U.S.] [Amazon Canada] [Amazon U.K.] of a naive young peasant woman and the rich city man who takes advantage of her barely needs to be altered to achieve the same devastating impact... though Winterbottom (The Killer Inside Me), who wrote the script, cleverly condenses Hardy’s much more sprawling story in a way that maximizes suspense even for those familiar with the novel. Trishna (Freida Pinto: Immortals) leaps at the chance to take a job in a...
- 3/9/2012
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Michael Winterbottom transplants Hardy perennial Tess of the d'Urbervilles to Jaipur, but she fails to bloom
Michael Winterbottom is such a restlessly, brilliantly prolific and unparochial film-maker, declining to be limited either conceptually or geographically: always keeping us on our toes. This latest movie starts with a bold and intriguing concept, but is bafflingly muted and underpowered, its initial promise fading as it drifts away to a self-conscious conclusion. Trishna is a Thomas Hardy adaptation – Winterbottom's third, in fact, having made Jude in 1996 and The Claim (based on The Mayor of Casterbridge) in 2000. It is a loose reworking of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and the story is transplanted to modern India where Jay (Riz Ahmed), the son of a rich Jaipur hotelier, is travelling with friends. One evening Jay is captivated by the delicate beauty of a young woman he sees at a party: this is Trishna, played by Freida Pinto.
Michael Winterbottom is such a restlessly, brilliantly prolific and unparochial film-maker, declining to be limited either conceptually or geographically: always keeping us on our toes. This latest movie starts with a bold and intriguing concept, but is bafflingly muted and underpowered, its initial promise fading as it drifts away to a self-conscious conclusion. Trishna is a Thomas Hardy adaptation – Winterbottom's third, in fact, having made Jude in 1996 and The Claim (based on The Mayor of Casterbridge) in 2000. It is a loose reworking of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and the story is transplanted to modern India where Jay (Riz Ahmed), the son of a rich Jaipur hotelier, is travelling with friends. One evening Jay is captivated by the delicate beauty of a young woman he sees at a party: this is Trishna, played by Freida Pinto.
- 3/9/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
A new generation of western directors are bringing their outsider perspective to India. But can films such as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel avoid the cliches of poverty and spiritualism, chaos and capitalism?
Making films in India is hard not because of the heat, or the bureaucracy, or the traffic. Not even, says Liz Mermin, the director of Bollywood underworld exposé Shot in Bombay, because its superstar subject Sanjay Dutt grew nervous about the project. "The hardest thing for a film-maker is that you fly there, look around, take out your camera – and everything is a cliche. Poverty, chaos, cows, flowers: I was going around desperately looking for a shot I hadn't seen before."
That difficulty – to say nothing of the challenge of depicting India in more than just western terms – led Louis Malle to name the first section of his six-hour Phantom India (1969) "The Impossible Camera". Yet, even though...
Making films in India is hard not because of the heat, or the bureaucracy, or the traffic. Not even, says Liz Mermin, the director of Bollywood underworld exposé Shot in Bombay, because its superstar subject Sanjay Dutt grew nervous about the project. "The hardest thing for a film-maker is that you fly there, look around, take out your camera – and everything is a cliche. Poverty, chaos, cows, flowers: I was going around desperately looking for a shot I hadn't seen before."
That difficulty – to say nothing of the challenge of depicting India in more than just western terms – led Louis Malle to name the first section of his six-hour Phantom India (1969) "The Impossible Camera". Yet, even though...
- 2/17/2012
- by Sukhdev Sandhu
- The Guardian - Film News
Norwegian film Kompani Orheim (The Orheim Company) was awarded the Dragon Award for the best Nordic film at the 35th Göteborg International Film Festival held from January 27 to February 6,2012. Directed by Arild Andersen as part of a trilogy about a personage named Jarle Kepp,the film is a dark, but warm, humorous, and moving tale of Jarle’s childhood at the hands of an alcoholic and brutal father. Strongly in contention for the award were 10 Timer Til Paradis (Teddy Bear), a Danish feature directed by Mads Mattheisen, about a mature adult trying to escape the imposing presence of his mother, and Pojktanten (She Male Snails), a documentary feature directed by Ester Martin Bergsmark, which won a special mention from the jury as well as the audience award for best Nordic feature.
The Göteborg international film festival held in Sweden’s second largest city is a mecca for films from Norway,...
The Göteborg international film festival held in Sweden’s second largest city is a mecca for films from Norway,...
- 2/7/2012
- by Asha Kasbekar
- DearCinema.com
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