Exclusive: On the eve of the Cannes market, Westbrook Studios and AGC Studios have set Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima, known for directing Without Remorse, Sicario: Day of the Soldado and hit series Gomorrah, to helm big-budget action-thriller Sugar Bandits.
Based on the screenplay and novel Devils In Exile by Chuck Hogan (The Town), Oscar winner Will Smith (Bad Boys) will play a former special forces soldier who runs an elite vigilante squad working to wipe out the drug trade in Boston. Additional casting continues.
AGC International and CAA Media Finance represent the film’s worldwide distribution rights and will continue sales in Cannes, ahead of an anticipated fall production start.
Smith and Jon Mone will produce Sugar Bandits through Westbrook Studios with Ryan Shimazaki overseeing; Stuart Ford will produce for AGC Studios, which is fully financing; and Richard Abate (13 Hours) will produce for 3 Arts Entertainment. Sollima’s producing partners...
Based on the screenplay and novel Devils In Exile by Chuck Hogan (The Town), Oscar winner Will Smith (Bad Boys) will play a former special forces soldier who runs an elite vigilante squad working to wipe out the drug trade in Boston. Additional casting continues.
AGC International and CAA Media Finance represent the film’s worldwide distribution rights and will continue sales in Cannes, ahead of an anticipated fall production start.
Smith and Jon Mone will produce Sugar Bandits through Westbrook Studios with Ryan Shimazaki overseeing; Stuart Ford will produce for AGC Studios, which is fully financing; and Richard Abate (13 Hours) will produce for 3 Arts Entertainment. Sollima’s producing partners...
- 5/13/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
French-Senegalese actor and producer Seydina Baldé has worn many hats across his career including World Karate Champion and stuntman on films such as Brian de Palma’s Femme Fatale and Bond movie Casino Royale, but his dream since childhood has been to be an actor.
After a dozen small parts, Baldé engineered his first starring role with the self-produced, English-language action thriller Covert Operation (aka The Borderland). The North Korean-set movie, about a bounty hunter on a mission to break prisoners out of high-security military compound, sold to Lionsgate for the U.S. and won praise from action movie fans.
A decade later, Baldé is appearing in the most ambitious production of his career, six-part show Lex Africana, which is being billed as the first martial arts-based action thriller to come out of West Africa.
Baldé plays brilliant architect and martial arts expert Gabriel Aliou Thiam who returns after a...
After a dozen small parts, Baldé engineered his first starring role with the self-produced, English-language action thriller Covert Operation (aka The Borderland). The North Korean-set movie, about a bounty hunter on a mission to break prisoners out of high-security military compound, sold to Lionsgate for the U.S. and won praise from action movie fans.
A decade later, Baldé is appearing in the most ambitious production of his career, six-part show Lex Africana, which is being billed as the first martial arts-based action thriller to come out of West Africa.
Baldé plays brilliant architect and martial arts expert Gabriel Aliou Thiam who returns after a...
- 5/7/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Josh Brolin contradicts previous reports that writer-director Christopher McQuarrie is involved in Sicario 3.
The plans for a third Sicario film seem to change with the wind, or at least change with the rather unstable foundations of film production, given how turbulent the last few years have been for the industry.
We first heard back in summer of 2022 that a third entry in the well-regarded series was on the way. One of the series’ stars, Josh Brolin, was out and about promoting his western/sci-fi TV series, Outer Range, and he had this to say: “It’s been written and it’s been rewritten. So it’s out there. We think it deserves a third one if we can make it in the way that we want to make it”.
However, a year later he seemed less optimistic about the film’s chances of happening, saying, “these types of movies...
The plans for a third Sicario film seem to change with the wind, or at least change with the rather unstable foundations of film production, given how turbulent the last few years have been for the industry.
We first heard back in summer of 2022 that a third entry in the well-regarded series was on the way. One of the series’ stars, Josh Brolin, was out and about promoting his western/sci-fi TV series, Outer Range, and he had this to say: “It’s been written and it’s been rewritten. So it’s out there. We think it deserves a third one if we can make it in the way that we want to make it”.
However, a year later he seemed less optimistic about the film’s chances of happening, saying, “these types of movies...
- 4/30/2024
- by Dan Cooper
- Film Stories
Sza will make her acting debut in a new comedy.The 'Snooze' hitmaker is set to team up with 'Nope' actress Keke Palmer for the currently-untitled buddy film for TriStar Pictures, which will be directed by Lawrence Lamont from a script written by his 'Rap Sh!t' showrunner Syreeta SingletonIssa Rae is among the producers for the project, for which plot details are being kept under wraps.Sza and Keke previously teamed up together on 'Saturday Night Live' in December 2022, when the 30-year-old actress was the host and the 'Nobody Gets Me' singer was the musical guest.The news comes just two weeks after it was revealed Keke is in talks for another movie, Stefano Sollima's action thriller 'Gods Unknown.The film takes place in Central Africa as a political-religious movement, spearheaded by a warlord who is rumoured to have supernatural powers, gains momentum.A...
- 4/28/2024
- by Viki Waters
- Bang Showbiz
Exclusive: Keke Palmer (Nope) is in talks to star in Gods Unknown, a new action thriller from director Stefano Sollima (Without Remorse), sources tell Deadline.
Written by Andrew Barrer and Gabe Ferrari (Transformers One), the film is set in Central Africa, where a burgeoning political-religious movement, spearheaded by a warlord rumored to possess supernatural powers, is said to be gaining momentum. Doubtful of these assertions, the CIA dispatches an analyst, accompanied by a squad of elite special ops personnel, to delve into the truth behind the enigmatic leader and their followers.
Palmer will portray Kate Vance, an agent with the CIA’s political action group.
Most recently seen starring in Jordan Peele’s alien invasion pic Nope, Palmer is coming off of production opposite Aziz Ansari, Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen on Good Fortune, the Lionsgate comedy marking Ansari’s feature directorial debut. Other projects on the in-demand actress’s...
Written by Andrew Barrer and Gabe Ferrari (Transformers One), the film is set in Central Africa, where a burgeoning political-religious movement, spearheaded by a warlord rumored to possess supernatural powers, is said to be gaining momentum. Doubtful of these assertions, the CIA dispatches an analyst, accompanied by a squad of elite special ops personnel, to delve into the truth behind the enigmatic leader and their followers.
Palmer will portray Kate Vance, an agent with the CIA’s political action group.
Most recently seen starring in Jordan Peele’s alien invasion pic Nope, Palmer is coming off of production opposite Aziz Ansari, Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen on Good Fortune, the Lionsgate comedy marking Ansari’s feature directorial debut. Other projects on the in-demand actress’s...
- 4/11/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The news about a potential Call of Duty film first surfaced in 2015 when Activision Blizzard launched a production studio called Activision Blizzard Studios. Many sources confirmed at the time that the motion picture production company was working on a live-action movie based on the Call of Duty video game franchise. However, the production was shut down in 2020 as the movie was not the studios’ priority.
Henry Cavill in a still from Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
It’s been four years since the last announcement but many fans on social media are positive that Activision Blizzard will soon announce the movie. Last year, there were many debates over the film’s cast and a petition was filed that demanded that the film features actors from the game itself. The petition faced criticism as there have been rumors about Henry Cavill and Jensen Ackles joining the project.
This Call of Duty movie...
Henry Cavill in a still from Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
It’s been four years since the last announcement but many fans on social media are positive that Activision Blizzard will soon announce the movie. Last year, there were many debates over the film’s cast and a petition was filed that demanded that the film features actors from the game itself. The petition faced criticism as there have been rumors about Henry Cavill and Jensen Ackles joining the project.
This Call of Duty movie...
- 3/14/2024
- by Farhan Asif
- FandomWire
In the world of Italian cinema, one name has been making waves in recent years – Alessandro Borghi. Born on September 19, 1986, in Rome, Italy, Borghi has emerged as a talented and versatile actor, captivating audiences with his powerful performances. With a height of 1.86 meters (6 ft 1 in) and a charismatic presence, Borghi has become a rising star in the Italian film industry. In this article, we will delve into Borghi’s journey, exploring his filmography, accolades, and the impact he has made on the silver screen.
Growing up in the vibrant city of Rome, Alessandro Borghi developed a passion for acting from a young age. After completing his education, he embarked on his professional acting journey in 2006, with his debut film “Cento giorni a Palermo.” Although his role was small, it marked the beginning of a promising career.
Borghi’s breakthrough came in 2015 when he starred in the critically acclaimed film “Suburra,...
Growing up in the vibrant city of Rome, Alessandro Borghi developed a passion for acting from a young age. After completing his education, he embarked on his professional acting journey in 2006, with his debut film “Cento giorni a Palermo.” Although his role was small, it marked the beginning of a promising career.
Borghi’s breakthrough came in 2015 when he starred in the critically acclaimed film “Suburra,...
- 3/5/2024
- by Molly Se-kyung
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Sicario is one of Denis Villeneuve and Taylor Sheridan’s hidden gem of a movie with some of the finest actions and thrilling storylines that cinema has ever witnessed. Although its sequel directed by Stefano Sollima did not fare as well, the movie series has nonetheless remained iconic thanks to its contribution to the contemporary action genre.
Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio Del Toro in Sicario (2015)
Ever since the release of its sequel, Day of the Soldado, there have been rumors that a third film is in development with the possibility of Villeneuve returning to direct. However, in a new interview, the Dune director clarified his involvement and stated that if Sheridan is writing the script, the movie is a given success.
Denis Villeneuve Opens Up On His Involvement With Sicario 3
Denis Villeneuve (Source: The Tonight Show)
Denis Villeneuve is an incredible director and we know it seeing...
Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio Del Toro in Sicario (2015)
Ever since the release of its sequel, Day of the Soldado, there have been rumors that a third film is in development with the possibility of Villeneuve returning to direct. However, in a new interview, the Dune director clarified his involvement and stated that if Sheridan is writing the script, the movie is a given success.
Denis Villeneuve Opens Up On His Involvement With Sicario 3
Denis Villeneuve (Source: The Tonight Show)
Denis Villeneuve is an incredible director and we know it seeing...
- 3/4/2024
- by Maria Sultan
- FandomWire
Fremantle has appointed new heads for its Italian labels The Apartment and Wildside and has agreed a co-production deal with their former CEOs Lorenzo Mieli and Mario Gianani.
Film and TV producer Annamaria Morelli becomes CEO of The Apartment while former Sky Italia exec Sonia Rovai has been named CEO of Wildside.
Their appointments follow the recent departures of The Apartment’s Lorenzo Mieli and Wildside’s Mario Gianani from the Fremantle-owned companies.
Mieli and Gianani are launching a new company together, full details of which will be announced in the near future. Fremantle has signed a co-production agreement with...
Film and TV producer Annamaria Morelli becomes CEO of The Apartment while former Sky Italia exec Sonia Rovai has been named CEO of Wildside.
Their appointments follow the recent departures of The Apartment’s Lorenzo Mieli and Wildside’s Mario Gianani from the Fremantle-owned companies.
Mieli and Gianani are launching a new company together, full details of which will be announced in the near future. Fremantle has signed a co-production agreement with...
- 2/29/2024
- ScreenDaily
Well-established Italian producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli — who left their Fremantle-owned banners, Wildside and The Apartment, respectively, earlier this year — are returning to the growing TV and film powerhouse with their new scripted outfit.
The duo — who co-founded “The Young Pope” and “My Brilliant Friend” production house Wildside in 2009 before Mieli exited to set up The Apartment, which was behind the recent hit “Priscilla” — are yet to reveal details of their new company. But the pair have now signed a co-production deal with Fremantle that will see them collaborate on several projects.
Among those in production and post-production from the two producers are Paolo Sorrentino’s latest film, Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov -The Ballad,” “Queer” by Luca Guadagnino starring Daniel Craig, the new film by Gabriele Mainetti, “Maria” by Pablo Larraín starring Angelina Jolie, plus the TV series “M. The Son of the Century” by Joe Wright and “Il Mostro” by Stefano Sollima.
The duo — who co-founded “The Young Pope” and “My Brilliant Friend” production house Wildside in 2009 before Mieli exited to set up The Apartment, which was behind the recent hit “Priscilla” — are yet to reveal details of their new company. But the pair have now signed a co-production deal with Fremantle that will see them collaborate on several projects.
Among those in production and post-production from the two producers are Paolo Sorrentino’s latest film, Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov -The Ballad,” “Queer” by Luca Guadagnino starring Daniel Craig, the new film by Gabriele Mainetti, “Maria” by Pablo Larraín starring Angelina Jolie, plus the TV series “M. The Son of the Century” by Joe Wright and “Il Mostro” by Stefano Sollima.
- 2/29/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
Following their departures as CEOs of Fremantle’s Wildside and The Apartment, Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli have struck a co-production deal with their old employer Fremantle on several projects as they unveil their new company.
More details about the new company, whose name was not revealed today, will be “announced in the near future.”
Gianani and Mieli departed Fremantle in mid-January.
The Fremantle pact will lead to a new film from Paolo Sorrentino, Limonov – The Ballad, by Kirill Serebrennikov; Queer from Luca Guadagnino and starring Daniel Craig; a new film by Gabriele Mainetti, Maria by Pablo Larraín starring Angelina Jolie; and the TV series M. The Son of the Century by Joe Wright and Il Mostro by Stefano Sollima.
Fremantle continues to operate Wildside and The Apartment with new leadership in place.
Andrea Scrosati, Group COO and CEO, Continental Europe, Fremantle said: “I am really happy to continue collaborating...
More details about the new company, whose name was not revealed today, will be “announced in the near future.”
Gianani and Mieli departed Fremantle in mid-January.
The Fremantle pact will lead to a new film from Paolo Sorrentino, Limonov – The Ballad, by Kirill Serebrennikov; Queer from Luca Guadagnino and starring Daniel Craig; a new film by Gabriele Mainetti, Maria by Pablo Larraín starring Angelina Jolie; and the TV series M. The Son of the Century by Joe Wright and Il Mostro by Stefano Sollima.
Fremantle continues to operate Wildside and The Apartment with new leadership in place.
Andrea Scrosati, Group COO and CEO, Continental Europe, Fremantle said: “I am really happy to continue collaborating...
- 2/29/2024
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
“Very beautiful and very challenging.” Those are the first two words that director Stefano Sollima uses to describe his upcoming, four-part Netflix crime series Il Mostro, which has just finished filming. Created by Leonardo Fasoli and Sollima (who also co-produced with Lorenzo Mieli), and produced by The Apartment — a Fremantle company — and AlterEgo Productions, this is a series that has faced titanic challenges. Sollima is no stranger to the crime genre, having directed the so-called Romanzo Criminale (criminal Rome trilogy) — Acab (All Cops Are Bastards), Suburra and Adagio — as well as Soldado the 2018 sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario, and Senza Rimorso (Without Remorse), the 2021 thriller co-written by Taylor Sheridan and based on the book by Tom Clancy. This is all in addition to being the showrunner on the seminal Italian crime series Gomorra and ZeroZeroZero, his ambitious series based on Roberto Saviano’s book about the international drug trade.
- 2/28/2024
- by Boris Sollazzo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Emily Blunt became a bit of an action star after starring in films like Edge of Tomorrow and The Adjustment Bureau. But there was one action film she was cast in where she was thought to be a major detriment to the movie.
Emily Blunt was asked to be written off ‘Sicario’ so the film could succeed Emily Blunt | Niklas Hallen / Getty Images
Blunt starred in the 2015 feature Sicario directed by Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. She played a young FBI agent in the action thriller, and had as much input in her character as the filmmaker did. Being she was playing a woman surrounded by very masculine characters, it was important for Blunt’s character to maintain her femininity. But at the same time, Blunt still wanted her character to exude the same kind of strength.
“I told him in the beginning, ‘She can’t be in this masculine world...
Emily Blunt was asked to be written off ‘Sicario’ so the film could succeed Emily Blunt | Niklas Hallen / Getty Images
Blunt starred in the 2015 feature Sicario directed by Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. She played a young FBI agent in the action thriller, and had as much input in her character as the filmmaker did. Being she was playing a woman surrounded by very masculine characters, it was important for Blunt’s character to maintain her femininity. But at the same time, Blunt still wanted her character to exude the same kind of strength.
“I told him in the beginning, ‘She can’t be in this masculine world...
- 1/9/2024
- by Antonio Stallings
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The Sicario franchise, which started with the critically acclaimed 2015 film directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Taylor Sheridan, is set to continue with a third installment. However, the details about the plot, the cast, and the director are still unknown. What we do know is that Christopher McQuarrie, the writer and director of the Mission: Impossible series, will be involved in some capacity with Sicario 3.
McQuarrie’s name was revealed by producers Molly Smith and Trent Luckinbill in an interview with Collider1. They said that McQuarrie is a partner on the project, but did not specify what his role will be. McQuarrie has been working with Tom Cruise for over a decade, writing and directing films such as Jack Reacher, Edge of Tomorrow, and three Mission: Impossible movies. He is currently busy with the next Mission: Impossible film, which is expected to resume production in Australia soon.
Smith and...
McQuarrie’s name was revealed by producers Molly Smith and Trent Luckinbill in an interview with Collider1. They said that McQuarrie is a partner on the project, but did not specify what his role will be. McQuarrie has been working with Tom Cruise for over a decade, writing and directing films such as Jack Reacher, Edge of Tomorrow, and three Mission: Impossible movies. He is currently busy with the next Mission: Impossible film, which is expected to resume production in Australia soon.
Smith and...
- 10/30/2023
- by CineArticles Editorial Team
- https://thecinemanews.online/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IMG_4649
The two ‘Sicario’ films are very interesting thrillers to discuss. The first one, directed by Denis Villeneuve, is one of the better action thrillers in recent memory, and it actually cemented screenwriter Taylor Sheridan as a force in Hollywood. The sequel, ‘Day of the Soldado,’ saw the return of Sheridan but included director Stefano Sollima. That film wasn’t as well-received, though I would suggest people rewatch it on its own merits.
Continue reading ‘Sicario 3’ In The Works With Original Cast, Taylor Sheridan & Christopher McQuarrie Said To Be Involved at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Sicario 3’ In The Works With Original Cast, Taylor Sheridan & Christopher McQuarrie Said To Be Involved at The Playlist.
- 10/30/2023
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Culture minister talks cuts after state funding for film soared to €800m in 2022
Italy is to cut the €800m of funding it currently earmarks for film production per year, according to Italian minister of culture Italian Gennaro Sangiuliano.
The move comes at a time when Italy is producing a high number of Italian and international films. However, Italian films are continuing to underperform at the box office compared to the pre-pandemic era.
“It’s time to intervene,” Sangiuliano said, noting that state funding for film soared from €400m in 2019 to €800m in 2022 according to data from the Investments in Cinema and Audiovisual Development Fund.
Italy is to cut the €800m of funding it currently earmarks for film production per year, according to Italian minister of culture Italian Gennaro Sangiuliano.
The move comes at a time when Italy is producing a high number of Italian and international films. However, Italian films are continuing to underperform at the box office compared to the pre-pandemic era.
“It’s time to intervene,” Sangiuliano said, noting that state funding for film soared from €400m in 2019 to €800m in 2022 according to data from the Investments in Cinema and Audiovisual Development Fund.
- 10/23/2023
- by Alina Trabattoni
- ScreenDaily
Italian genre stylist Stefano Sollima returns to his homeland to complete his thematic “Roman Trilogy” that began with his debut Acab - All Cops Are Bastards ( 2012) and continued in Suburra (2015) with the muscular and kinetic crime drama Adagio. Heavyweights Pierfrancesco Favino (The Traitor) and Tony Servillo (The Great Beauty) lead a robust cast in a timeless tale of corrupt cops and honourable crooks, set against a backdrop of political upheaval and natural disaster. The action follows Manuel (Gianmarco Franchini), a young man who lives with his elderly father, Daytona (Servillo), who is steadily losing his grasp on reality. Manuel is being manipulated by a gang of shady cops to go undercover at a secret hedonistic nightclub and take compromising photographs of...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/8/2023
- Screen Anarchy
Exclusive: After being the lead director on acclaimed shows like ZeroZeroZero and Echo 3, Pablo Trapero is getting his first major studio gig. 20th Century has tapped him to direct a film adaptation of The Tourist. Neal H. Moritz and Toby Jaffe are producing.
Based on the series of books by Olen Steinhauer, the first of which debuted in 2009 and became a New York Times bestseller, the story follows Milo Weaver, an agent in the secret branch of the CIA that specializes in black ops with the code name “The Tourists.” Three sequel novels followed, with Hollywood in hot pursuit; George Clooney at one point was circling the rights.
20th Century now sees this as a potential franchise and fits into Trapero’s wheelhouse with ZeroZeroZero and Echo 3 earning rave reviews for their tense action scenes with special ops scenarios front and center.
Trapero’s first feature, Mundo Grua,...
Based on the series of books by Olen Steinhauer, the first of which debuted in 2009 and became a New York Times bestseller, the story follows Milo Weaver, an agent in the secret branch of the CIA that specializes in black ops with the code name “The Tourists.” Three sequel novels followed, with Hollywood in hot pursuit; George Clooney at one point was circling the rights.
20th Century now sees this as a potential franchise and fits into Trapero’s wheelhouse with ZeroZeroZero and Echo 3 earning rave reviews for their tense action scenes with special ops scenarios front and center.
Trapero’s first feature, Mundo Grua,...
- 10/3/2023
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s been five years since the release of Sicario: Day of the Soldado, but fans are still waiting for Sicario 3 to come around and complete the trilogy. While some haven’t been optimistic that it will happen, including franchise star Josh Brolin, others are more hopeful.
In fact, Sicario producers Molly Smith and Trent Luckinbill recently told THR that Sicario 3 is “very close” to happening.
“We’re very close,” Smith said. “As Trent just mentioned, it’s one of the projects where we’re ready to put the train on the tracks as soon as the strike ends and our path is cleared. So we’re very excited to get that whole band back together. Taylor [Sheridan] always envisioned it as a trilogy, so we have to close it out right. There’s no point in making it unless we can do justice to the true fans of Sicario.
In fact, Sicario producers Molly Smith and Trent Luckinbill recently told THR that Sicario 3 is “very close” to happening.
“We’re very close,” Smith said. “As Trent just mentioned, it’s one of the projects where we’re ready to put the train on the tracks as soon as the strike ends and our path is cleared. So we’re very excited to get that whole band back together. Taylor [Sheridan] always envisioned it as a trilogy, so we have to close it out right. There’s no point in making it unless we can do justice to the true fans of Sicario.
- 9/28/2023
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
Black Label Media, consisting of sisters Molly and Rachel Smith and twin brothers Trent and Thad Luckinbill, have returned to the screen with their calling card: a Benicio Del Toro-led crime thriller.
The independent production and finance company, most known for producing the Sicario films and co-financing La La Land, is set to release Grant Singer’s Reptile this Friday on Netflix, and it’s another example of Black Label’s commitment to preserving mid-budget films, as well as genres that are less prioritized now by the major studios.
Knowing how Del Toro works from their previous two Sicario films, Black Label teamed him up early with Reptile co-writer/director Singer and co-writer Benjamin Brewer, so that he didn’t have to present his own rewrites and suggestions during production. And due to the pandemic shutdown, the added collaboration time has now resulted in Del Toro’s first co-writing credit on a feature film.
The independent production and finance company, most known for producing the Sicario films and co-financing La La Land, is set to release Grant Singer’s Reptile this Friday on Netflix, and it’s another example of Black Label’s commitment to preserving mid-budget films, as well as genres that are less prioritized now by the major studios.
Knowing how Del Toro works from their previous two Sicario films, Black Label teamed him up early with Reptile co-writer/director Singer and co-writer Benjamin Brewer, so that he didn’t have to present his own rewrites and suggestions during production. And due to the pandemic shutdown, the added collaboration time has now resulted in Del Toro’s first co-writing credit on a feature film.
- 9/27/2023
- by Brian Davids
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
We came, we saw, we conquered. Our Nicholas Bell was in review overdrive assessing the entire competition and much more. We’ll still have film reviews to populate the site and this page in the near future, but for the time being here is a handy quick link to the wealth of richness (and some rubbish) selections that made up all sections of the Lido this year.
Competition:
Adagio – Stefano Sollima [Review]
La Bête – Bertrand Bonello [Review]
Comandante – Edoardo De Angelis [Review]
Dogman – Luc Besson [Review]
El Conde – Pablo Larraín [Review]
Enea – Pietro Castellitto [Review]
Evil Does Not Exist – Ryusuke Hamaguchi [Review]
Ferrari – Michael Mann [Review]
Finalmente l’alba – Saverio Costanzo [Review]
Green Border – Agnieszka Holland [Review]
Holly – Fien Troch [Review]
Io capitano – Matteo Garrone [Review]
The Killer – David Fincher [Review]
Lubo – Giorgio Diritti [Review]
Maestro – Bradley Cooper [Review]
Memory – Michel Franco [Review]
Origin – Ava DuVernay [Review]
Hors-saison – Stéphane Brizé [Review]
Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos [Review]
Priscilla – Sofia Coppola [Review]
The Promised Land – Nikolaj Arcel [Review]
The Theory of Everything – Timm Kröger [Review]
Woman Of…...
Competition:
Adagio – Stefano Sollima [Review]
La Bête – Bertrand Bonello [Review]
Comandante – Edoardo De Angelis [Review]
Dogman – Luc Besson [Review]
El Conde – Pablo Larraín [Review]
Enea – Pietro Castellitto [Review]
Evil Does Not Exist – Ryusuke Hamaguchi [Review]
Ferrari – Michael Mann [Review]
Finalmente l’alba – Saverio Costanzo [Review]
Green Border – Agnieszka Holland [Review]
Holly – Fien Troch [Review]
Io capitano – Matteo Garrone [Review]
The Killer – David Fincher [Review]
Lubo – Giorgio Diritti [Review]
Maestro – Bradley Cooper [Review]
Memory – Michel Franco [Review]
Origin – Ava DuVernay [Review]
Hors-saison – Stéphane Brizé [Review]
Poor Things – Yorgos Lanthimos [Review]
Priscilla – Sofia Coppola [Review]
The Promised Land – Nikolaj Arcel [Review]
The Theory of Everything – Timm Kröger [Review]
Woman Of…...
- 9/26/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
The Sicario series has been one of the most acclaimed and successful action-thrillers of the past decade, with its gritty and realistic depiction of the drug war at the U.S.-Mexico border. The first film, released in 2015, introduced us to the complex and ruthless characters of Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro), a former Mexican prosecutor turned CIA assassin, Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), a CIA officer who recruits Alejandro for his covert missions, and Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), an FBI agent who gets caught up in their dangerous operation. The sequel, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, released in 2018, followed Alejandro and Matt as they tried to start a war between rival cartels by kidnapping the daughter of a kingpin, only to face betrayal and moral dilemmas along the way.
Fans of the franchise have been eagerly waiting for news about the third film, and now we have some exciting updates...
Fans of the franchise have been eagerly waiting for news about the third film, and now we have some exciting updates...
- 9/25/2023
- by CineArticles Editorial Team
- https://thecinemanews.online/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IMG_4649
It’s been five years since Stefano Sollima‘s “Sicario: Day Of The Soldado,” the sequel to Denis Villeneuve‘s much-heralded 2015 film. But critics didn’t take to the 2018 sequel like they did to Villeneuve’s original, which suggests the franchise won’t continue. Apparently, that’s not the case. The Messenger reports that series producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee confirm that a third “Sicario” movie is in the works.
Continue reading ‘Sicario’ Producers Confirm That A Third Film With Benicio Del Toro Is On The Way at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Sicario’ Producers Confirm That A Third Film With Benicio Del Toro Is On The Way at The Playlist.
- 9/21/2023
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
In just five years, A Haunting in Venice’s Hildur Gudnadóttir has become one of the industry’s most in-demand composers.
In 2018, the Icelandic musician and classically trained cellist scored her first American film, Stefano Sollima’s Sicario: Day of the Soldado, and now, she’s a Tony award away from Egot (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status thanks to Joker (2019) and Chernobyl (2019). Gudnadóttir’s evocative strings and wind instruments return to theaters this Friday in Kenneth Branagh’s third Hercule Poirot film, A Haunting in Venice.
Like Branagh, Gudnadóttir grew up in a household that adored Agatha Christie’s crime fiction, and so she jumped at the chance to compose music for the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s latest murder mystery. Based on Christie’s Hallowe’en Party and adapted by Michael Green, Venice picks up in 1947, post-World War II, as a retired Poirot attends a séance that quickly goes awry.
The...
In 2018, the Icelandic musician and classically trained cellist scored her first American film, Stefano Sollima’s Sicario: Day of the Soldado, and now, she’s a Tony award away from Egot (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status thanks to Joker (2019) and Chernobyl (2019). Gudnadóttir’s evocative strings and wind instruments return to theaters this Friday in Kenneth Branagh’s third Hercule Poirot film, A Haunting in Venice.
Like Branagh, Gudnadóttir grew up in a household that adored Agatha Christie’s crime fiction, and so she jumped at the chance to compose music for the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s latest murder mystery. Based on Christie’s Hallowe’en Party and adapted by Michael Green, Venice picks up in 1947, post-World War II, as a retired Poirot attends a séance that quickly goes awry.
The...
- 9/12/2023
- by Brian Davids
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Updated with latest: The Venice Film Festival began August 30 with opening-night movie Comandante, an Italian World War II drama, kicking off a lineup for the venerable fest’s 80th edition that includes world premieres of Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, David Fincher’s The Killer, Ava DuVernay’s Origins, and new films from lightning-rod directors Roman Polanski, Woody Allen and Luc Besson.
Deadline is on the ground to watch all the key films. Below is a compilation of our reviews from the fest, which last year awarded Laura Poitras’ documentary All The Beauty and the Bloodshed its Golden Lion for best film.
Click on the film titles below to read the reviews in full, and keep checking back as we add more movies throughout the fest, which runs through September 9.
Adagio
Section: Competition
Director: Stefano Sollima
Cast: Pierfrancesco Favino,...
Deadline is on the ground to watch all the key films. Below is a compilation of our reviews from the fest, which last year awarded Laura Poitras’ documentary All The Beauty and the Bloodshed its Golden Lion for best film.
Click on the film titles below to read the reviews in full, and keep checking back as we add more movies throughout the fest, which runs through September 9.
Adagio
Section: Competition
Director: Stefano Sollima
Cast: Pierfrancesco Favino,...
- 9/10/2023
- by Damon Wise, Pete Hammond, Stephanie Bunbury and Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
The company has also unveiled an Israel-based €150m fund for film and scripted TV projects.
With five films playing in competition, European production and distribution group Fremantle is enjoying a strong presence at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
Fremantle’s Ireland-uk label Element Pictures is behind one of the hottest films on the Lido this year, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, while Italian label Wildside produced Saverio Costanzo’s big budget Finally Dawn.
Another Fremantle Italian production label The Apartment, meanwhile, is involved in three films in competition – Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla , Stefano Sollima’s Adagio and Piero Castellito’s Enea.
With five films playing in competition, European production and distribution group Fremantle is enjoying a strong presence at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
Fremantle’s Ireland-uk label Element Pictures is behind one of the hottest films on the Lido this year, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, while Italian label Wildside produced Saverio Costanzo’s big budget Finally Dawn.
Another Fremantle Italian production label The Apartment, meanwhile, is involved in three films in competition – Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla , Stefano Sollima’s Adagio and Piero Castellito’s Enea.
- 9/8/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Italian genre specialist Stefano Sollima – who is known in Hollywood for “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” “Without Remorse” and the TV series “Gomorrah” – is in the Venice competition for the first time with Rome-set crime drama “Adagio.”
This beautifully shot picture features an ensemble cast of Italian A-listers comprising Pierfrancesco Favino (“Nostalgia”), Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”), Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers”) and Adriano Giannini (“The Ties”). It’s the tale of three old – and once mighty – mobsters searching for redemption in a cutthroat contemporary Rome that is literally burning. They find it in the form of a 16 year old named Manuel who is being blackmailed after venturing too deep in a rotting Roman underworld world that he doesn’t understand.
You often work from books such as “Gomorrah” but this is your original idea. How did it germinate?
“Adagio” – this is no secret – is a gift that I made to myself.
This beautifully shot picture features an ensemble cast of Italian A-listers comprising Pierfrancesco Favino (“Nostalgia”), Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”), Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers”) and Adriano Giannini (“The Ties”). It’s the tale of three old – and once mighty – mobsters searching for redemption in a cutthroat contemporary Rome that is literally burning. They find it in the form of a 16 year old named Manuel who is being blackmailed after venturing too deep in a rotting Roman underworld world that he doesn’t understand.
You often work from books such as “Gomorrah” but this is your original idea. How did it germinate?
“Adagio” – this is no secret – is a gift that I made to myself.
- 9/7/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Fremantle kicked off its presence at the Venice Film Festival with a bang this year with the announcement of its new €150M ($162.7M) Scripted Fund forged in partnership with Israel-based Ibi Investment House.
The fund is reserved exclusively for select projects being developed by Fremantle’s stable of scripted drama companies, which include UK’s Dancing Ledge and Element Pictures, Italy’s The Apartment, Wildside and Lux Vide, as well as The Immigrant, specialized in Latin America and Spanish content.
First projects backed by the fund include previously announced feature Maria, the high-profile Maria Callas biopic, starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Pablo Larraín, who is at Venice this year with Augusto Pinochet dark comedy/horror El Conde.
Two newly unveiled series will also benefit: the four-part thriller Generation Loss, written by Bridgerton’s Sarah Dollard, and six-part revenge thriller Shelter, to which Jeremy Webb is attached to direct.
Fremantle is not involved in Larrain’s Netflix-backed El Conde but is present instead with five other Golden Lion contenders, including Yorgos Lanthimos’ buzzed about Poor Things, Stefano Sollima’s well-reviewed Adagio, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Salvatore Costanzo’s 1950s Cinecittà drama Finally Dawn, and Pietro Castellitto’s Enea
In a sign of a growing presence in the film world, the company is basing itself out of a vast beachfront villa just down the road from the festival’s main hub for the first time this year.
Deadline sat down with top Fremantle execs, Group COO and CEO Continental Europe Andrea Scrosati and CEO Global Drama Christian Vesper, in the peace of its lawned garden to discuss the genesis and implications of the new scripted fund.
Deadline: How did Fremantle connect with Ibi Investment House?
Scrosati: It came to us through our CEO in Israel Guy Hameiri, who is also going to be the CEO of the fund. He runs our company there [Abot Hameiri), which we initially invested in and then bought out two years ago.
He came to me around like nine months ago, saying that the leadership in Ibi was interested in finding a way to invest in scripted content. Together, we developed this model that I think is pretty new.
Deadline: What do you mean by new? There are other funds in existence investing in scripted content.
Andrea Scrosati: I think the interesting component here is that it’s a financial institution partnering with a content production company. The projects can only come from Fremantle. So that’s the intriguing component, for us. Then, this fund will fully finance those projects, which is also rare, especially for TV. To have a self-funded studio kind of model on drama is slightly rare. And then Fremantle will go out and sell.
Deadline: What encouraged you to go down this route?
Scrosati: It’s coherent with our strategic positioning. Talent has a lot of opportunity choices… but to super simplify, there are two key potential choices. One, talent signs a deal with a big direct-to-consumer operation. It’s an absolutely a fine choice. But obviously, what happens is that the talent then has to deliver results that are coherent with the platform that needs to sell the subscriptions.
Our approach to talent is different. We say, ‘We’re going to focus on your project, we’re going to support your project, we’re going to potentially finance or risk on your project, and then we’re going to find the right home for your project, because not every project is okay for every place.’ This new device helps us with this strategic positioning.
There is a tactical component because of where the market is today. Big traditional buyers didn’t stop buying but are for sure on a slower kind of pace. We strongly believe that good content has a future. I’m very positive about where the market is going to be in three or four years from today. In every market there’s growth, and then an adjustment.
The problem with where the market is today is that there are great opportunities, sometimes that involve great talent, but they have a time component and you risk not doing those projects if you’re waiting for the green light from Apple, Disney, Netflix, or Amazon.
Deadline: If the commissioning contraction hadn’t happened would you still have gone down this route?
Scrosati: Yes, for the strategic reason I mentioned.
Christian Vesper: Not Maria, because Maria is a film and starts very soon. And that was a different calculation. But for the two TV shows that we discuss in the [press] release, part of the consideration there was we believe in the projects. We know there’s a market for them but the talent attached has a discrete window, and so much of our business model has been based on how we bring in talent. How do we service our talent? Our job is to help them get their shows made and on the air. And this gives us one more powerful tool for doing that.
Deadline: Will the new fund change the way you deal with the broadcasters and streamers ?
Scrosati: The buyers are our partners. These shows will go to a client or a streamer. The fund is simply a way to accelerate the production time schedule. The buyer will be able to access a product when it is actually already in production or is already produced.
Vesper: One of our best clients in the UK is struggling now with some of their bigger shows. Even if they’ve greenlit them, they can’t find the financing for the rest of the budget. This is partly to step into that void. The networks, the linears and the public broadcasters, they’re struggling to fulfill all their programming needs with the resources they have and this provides yet one more avenue to do that.
Deadline: Can the fund be accessed by all the companies producing scripted content under the Fremantle umbrella?
Scrosati: Yes, as you can see with the first three projects. One of them is taking place in Israel, one in in UK, and one is a Chilean-Italian co-production, shot in Hungary. It’s going to be fantastically global.
Deadline: You have set yourselves the target of a €3B turnover by 2025. Do you think that’s realistic? And why have you set yourself this goal?
Scrosati: The goal was set by our shareholders… I’ve worked for a few different shareholders over the course of my career. The thing I’ve found incredibly strong is that Bertelsmann and Rtl have set a goal but have also given us all the support and instruments to reach that goal. It is a very ambitious goal because obviously the company was doing a very different number three years ago, but again they have given us all the support.
One thing, which is really important to say, is that the growth we have done in the last few years has been a been a mix of M&a and organic growth. This growth is not simply because we are acquiring companies, but rather because we are diversifying and creating a business portfolio. An example of this, is that five years ago, we were delivering two movies a year, and last year, we delivered 17, and with the exception of Element, which is an acquisition, all these movies come from companies that were already part of Fremantle.
Vesper: When I joined the company, Wildside was already a crucial part of the company, and I’ve been here six years now and the growth there is all organic and extraordinary.
Scrosati: The M&a we’ve done is all part of strategic plans. It’s been about acquiring companies that were best in class in a sector where we were not present. Element is a fantastic example of that. We did not have an English language, movie production company. Or, best in class in potentially growing regions where we were not present. We invested in Latin American company The Immigrant a few years ago when it was a start-up. It now has three productions on the go and its first movie Adolfo won the Generation 14 Plus prize in Berlin.
Vesper: One of our companies in England, Dancing Ledge, is hitting it out of the park in terms of the number of series they have on BBC and all the platforms. Like The Immigrant, we invested in them when they had done nothing. It’s not like we’re buying revenue. A lot of the M&a is investment in the future.
Deadline: Do you plan to keep up the pace of scripted company acquisitions of the last three years, or is that calming down?
Scrosati: In line with what we were just saying, If there is something that is coherent with our growth, in areas where we’re still not present, or there is a company or creative team that we really think has potential, we will still invest. The other component is the cultural element. We are a big company but we’re very lean. The scripted management team is basically in front of you. The only way it can work is if we see can see an element where it will work intellectually and culturally.
Deadline: Do you have further growth plans for scripted in the U.S.?
Scrosati: It’s our first territory. The company’s core business is still the entertainment and unscripted business and the U.S. is a massive territory for us for that. In addition, Dante di Loreto is leading the scripted team and has a lot going on.
Vesper: We have a show, Fellow Travellers, coming out on Paramount+ at the end of September. It’s a big mini-series with Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey and Allison Williams, that was developed with Showtime and that we produced for them. Six-part, gorgeous, about the gay panic in the CIA in the 50s. We also produced two seasons of Mosquito Coast for Apple.
We have a number of big shows that we’re about to announce. What’s interesting is that we have a couple of projects that the U.S. have set up to shoot here (Europe), and vice versa. We’re trying to make sure that our European producers have the resources in the U.S., and the other way round. We’re constantly strategizing about this, it’s important for us to continue to build that business in the U.S..
The fund is reserved exclusively for select projects being developed by Fremantle’s stable of scripted drama companies, which include UK’s Dancing Ledge and Element Pictures, Italy’s The Apartment, Wildside and Lux Vide, as well as The Immigrant, specialized in Latin America and Spanish content.
First projects backed by the fund include previously announced feature Maria, the high-profile Maria Callas biopic, starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Pablo Larraín, who is at Venice this year with Augusto Pinochet dark comedy/horror El Conde.
Two newly unveiled series will also benefit: the four-part thriller Generation Loss, written by Bridgerton’s Sarah Dollard, and six-part revenge thriller Shelter, to which Jeremy Webb is attached to direct.
Fremantle is not involved in Larrain’s Netflix-backed El Conde but is present instead with five other Golden Lion contenders, including Yorgos Lanthimos’ buzzed about Poor Things, Stefano Sollima’s well-reviewed Adagio, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Salvatore Costanzo’s 1950s Cinecittà drama Finally Dawn, and Pietro Castellitto’s Enea
In a sign of a growing presence in the film world, the company is basing itself out of a vast beachfront villa just down the road from the festival’s main hub for the first time this year.
Deadline sat down with top Fremantle execs, Group COO and CEO Continental Europe Andrea Scrosati and CEO Global Drama Christian Vesper, in the peace of its lawned garden to discuss the genesis and implications of the new scripted fund.
Deadline: How did Fremantle connect with Ibi Investment House?
Scrosati: It came to us through our CEO in Israel Guy Hameiri, who is also going to be the CEO of the fund. He runs our company there [Abot Hameiri), which we initially invested in and then bought out two years ago.
He came to me around like nine months ago, saying that the leadership in Ibi was interested in finding a way to invest in scripted content. Together, we developed this model that I think is pretty new.
Deadline: What do you mean by new? There are other funds in existence investing in scripted content.
Andrea Scrosati: I think the interesting component here is that it’s a financial institution partnering with a content production company. The projects can only come from Fremantle. So that’s the intriguing component, for us. Then, this fund will fully finance those projects, which is also rare, especially for TV. To have a self-funded studio kind of model on drama is slightly rare. And then Fremantle will go out and sell.
Deadline: What encouraged you to go down this route?
Scrosati: It’s coherent with our strategic positioning. Talent has a lot of opportunity choices… but to super simplify, there are two key potential choices. One, talent signs a deal with a big direct-to-consumer operation. It’s an absolutely a fine choice. But obviously, what happens is that the talent then has to deliver results that are coherent with the platform that needs to sell the subscriptions.
Our approach to talent is different. We say, ‘We’re going to focus on your project, we’re going to support your project, we’re going to potentially finance or risk on your project, and then we’re going to find the right home for your project, because not every project is okay for every place.’ This new device helps us with this strategic positioning.
There is a tactical component because of where the market is today. Big traditional buyers didn’t stop buying but are for sure on a slower kind of pace. We strongly believe that good content has a future. I’m very positive about where the market is going to be in three or four years from today. In every market there’s growth, and then an adjustment.
The problem with where the market is today is that there are great opportunities, sometimes that involve great talent, but they have a time component and you risk not doing those projects if you’re waiting for the green light from Apple, Disney, Netflix, or Amazon.
Deadline: If the commissioning contraction hadn’t happened would you still have gone down this route?
Scrosati: Yes, for the strategic reason I mentioned.
Christian Vesper: Not Maria, because Maria is a film and starts very soon. And that was a different calculation. But for the two TV shows that we discuss in the [press] release, part of the consideration there was we believe in the projects. We know there’s a market for them but the talent attached has a discrete window, and so much of our business model has been based on how we bring in talent. How do we service our talent? Our job is to help them get their shows made and on the air. And this gives us one more powerful tool for doing that.
Deadline: Will the new fund change the way you deal with the broadcasters and streamers ?
Scrosati: The buyers are our partners. These shows will go to a client or a streamer. The fund is simply a way to accelerate the production time schedule. The buyer will be able to access a product when it is actually already in production or is already produced.
Vesper: One of our best clients in the UK is struggling now with some of their bigger shows. Even if they’ve greenlit them, they can’t find the financing for the rest of the budget. This is partly to step into that void. The networks, the linears and the public broadcasters, they’re struggling to fulfill all their programming needs with the resources they have and this provides yet one more avenue to do that.
Deadline: Can the fund be accessed by all the companies producing scripted content under the Fremantle umbrella?
Scrosati: Yes, as you can see with the first three projects. One of them is taking place in Israel, one in in UK, and one is a Chilean-Italian co-production, shot in Hungary. It’s going to be fantastically global.
Deadline: You have set yourselves the target of a €3B turnover by 2025. Do you think that’s realistic? And why have you set yourself this goal?
Scrosati: The goal was set by our shareholders… I’ve worked for a few different shareholders over the course of my career. The thing I’ve found incredibly strong is that Bertelsmann and Rtl have set a goal but have also given us all the support and instruments to reach that goal. It is a very ambitious goal because obviously the company was doing a very different number three years ago, but again they have given us all the support.
One thing, which is really important to say, is that the growth we have done in the last few years has been a been a mix of M&a and organic growth. This growth is not simply because we are acquiring companies, but rather because we are diversifying and creating a business portfolio. An example of this, is that five years ago, we were delivering two movies a year, and last year, we delivered 17, and with the exception of Element, which is an acquisition, all these movies come from companies that were already part of Fremantle.
Vesper: When I joined the company, Wildside was already a crucial part of the company, and I’ve been here six years now and the growth there is all organic and extraordinary.
Scrosati: The M&a we’ve done is all part of strategic plans. It’s been about acquiring companies that were best in class in a sector where we were not present. Element is a fantastic example of that. We did not have an English language, movie production company. Or, best in class in potentially growing regions where we were not present. We invested in Latin American company The Immigrant a few years ago when it was a start-up. It now has three productions on the go and its first movie Adolfo won the Generation 14 Plus prize in Berlin.
Vesper: One of our companies in England, Dancing Ledge, is hitting it out of the park in terms of the number of series they have on BBC and all the platforms. Like The Immigrant, we invested in them when they had done nothing. It’s not like we’re buying revenue. A lot of the M&a is investment in the future.
Deadline: Do you plan to keep up the pace of scripted company acquisitions of the last three years, or is that calming down?
Scrosati: In line with what we were just saying, If there is something that is coherent with our growth, in areas where we’re still not present, or there is a company or creative team that we really think has potential, we will still invest. The other component is the cultural element. We are a big company but we’re very lean. The scripted management team is basically in front of you. The only way it can work is if we see can see an element where it will work intellectually and culturally.
Deadline: Do you have further growth plans for scripted in the U.S.?
Scrosati: It’s our first territory. The company’s core business is still the entertainment and unscripted business and the U.S. is a massive territory for us for that. In addition, Dante di Loreto is leading the scripted team and has a lot going on.
Vesper: We have a show, Fellow Travellers, coming out on Paramount+ at the end of September. It’s a big mini-series with Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey and Allison Williams, that was developed with Showtime and that we produced for them. Six-part, gorgeous, about the gay panic in the CIA in the 50s. We also produced two seasons of Mosquito Coast for Apple.
We have a number of big shows that we’re about to announce. What’s interesting is that we have a couple of projects that the U.S. have set up to shoot here (Europe), and vice versa. We’re trying to make sure that our European producers have the resources in the U.S., and the other way round. We’re constantly strategizing about this, it’s important for us to continue to build that business in the U.S..
- 9/4/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
It might be too early to call it, but The Hollywood Reporter Roma may have given the best party of the 80th Venice Film Festival.
THR Roma, the first European edition of The Hollywood Reporter, threw a starry and glam but also surprisingly chill bash Sunday night at their festival villa, a stone’s throw from The Excelsior Hotel on the Lido. THR Roma had its official launch, in Rome, in April but the Venice bash marked its international coming out, and the group used the occasion to present its first stand-alone print edition (more on that later).
There were shades of Pablo Sorrentino’s famed party sequence in The Great Beauty as a who’s who of the Italian film and fashion industries — among them the cast of Venice festival opener Comandante, including Italian superstar Pierfrancesco Favino and director Edoardo De Angelis, Adagio filmmaker Stefano Sollima, and Valentino’s...
THR Roma, the first European edition of The Hollywood Reporter, threw a starry and glam but also surprisingly chill bash Sunday night at their festival villa, a stone’s throw from The Excelsior Hotel on the Lido. THR Roma had its official launch, in Rome, in April but the Venice bash marked its international coming out, and the group used the occasion to present its first stand-alone print edition (more on that later).
There were shades of Pablo Sorrentino’s famed party sequence in The Great Beauty as a who’s who of the Italian film and fashion industries — among them the cast of Venice festival opener Comandante, including Italian superstar Pierfrancesco Favino and director Edoardo De Angelis, Adagio filmmaker Stefano Sollima, and Valentino’s...
- 9/4/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera is adamant about his decision to place six Italian movies in this year’s 23-title festival lineup. “Nobody accused the French of chauvinism because they had seven French films in competition in Cannes this year,” Barbera quipped to a snarky Italian reporter when the Venice lineup was announced in July, though he did concede, “It’s true that in the past I have not done this.” Indeed, Barbera’s previous limit on Italian movies in competition for the Golden Lion was five titles last year, which some local critics considered a stretch.
More importantly, the Venice chief pointed out that he presently sees Cinema Italiano at a particularly favorable juncture largely thanks to the fact that Italians are making movies with bigger budgets, “which means greater quality and the ability to compete in international markets, and to travel beyond our borders,” he said.
More importantly, the Venice chief pointed out that he presently sees Cinema Italiano at a particularly favorable juncture largely thanks to the fact that Italians are making movies with bigger budgets, “which means greater quality and the ability to compete in international markets, and to travel beyond our borders,” he said.
- 9/4/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: It’s a scorching 90 degrees in Rome at the end of July, but producer Lorenzo Mieli isn’t breaking a sweat.
In the course of three days, he’s fully booked, first working into the night with Luca Guadagnino on the filmmaker’s new Daniel Craig movie, Queer, which wrapped shooting in June at Rome’s Cinecittà. Then Mieli’s presence is required in Naples the next day on the set of Paolo Sorrentino’s new untitled movie centering around the character, Parthenope. There’s talk of the production shooting on the water — which is always complicated for any movie. While there were ocean shots in Sorrentino’s Oscar-nominated international film, Hand of God, what’s required here on Parthenope is a whole other level. Then Mieli will make a pitstop on the fourth and final season of the HBO series My Brilliant Friend in Caserta, outside Naples, which he executive produces.
In the course of three days, he’s fully booked, first working into the night with Luca Guadagnino on the filmmaker’s new Daniel Craig movie, Queer, which wrapped shooting in June at Rome’s Cinecittà. Then Mieli’s presence is required in Naples the next day on the set of Paolo Sorrentino’s new untitled movie centering around the character, Parthenope. There’s talk of the production shooting on the water — which is always complicated for any movie. While there were ocean shots in Sorrentino’s Oscar-nominated international film, Hand of God, what’s required here on Parthenope is a whole other level. Then Mieli will make a pitstop on the fourth and final season of the HBO series My Brilliant Friend in Caserta, outside Naples, which he executive produces.
- 9/3/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Seven takes on the hits and misses of the 80th Venice International Film Festival, from the reviewers at THR Roma, The Hollywood Reporter‘s first European-language edition, on the hottest Venice titles so far.
Dogman, by Luc Besson Caleb Landry Jones in ‘Dogman’
“A bizarre and powerful work that has the stigmata of the best Besson, the one that allows us to glimpse the force, total and invincible, behind a helpless, placid and fragile appearance. Dogman is kitschy and moving as that Caleb Landry Jones who tears you apart when he wears, in his playful and necessary disguises, the most difficult mask: himself.
“Dogman is Besson’s cinema reclaiming its space after losing it for 20 years, it is the desire to excel and excel without the excuse and fear of showing itself in all its talent. Because measure and subtraction are sometimes just an alibi.”
— Boris Sollazzo
El Conde, by...
Dogman, by Luc Besson Caleb Landry Jones in ‘Dogman’
“A bizarre and powerful work that has the stigmata of the best Besson, the one that allows us to glimpse the force, total and invincible, behind a helpless, placid and fragile appearance. Dogman is kitschy and moving as that Caleb Landry Jones who tears you apart when he wears, in his playful and necessary disguises, the most difficult mask: himself.
“Dogman is Besson’s cinema reclaiming its space after losing it for 20 years, it is the desire to excel and excel without the excuse and fear of showing itself in all its talent. Because measure and subtraction are sometimes just an alibi.”
— Boris Sollazzo
El Conde, by...
- 9/3/2023
- by Boris Sollazzo, Manuela Santacatterina, Alberto Crespi and Fabio Ferzetti
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Rome, Smoking City: Sollima Languorous Thriller Tiresomely Tests Narrative Cliches
The most apropos element of Stefano Sollima’s Adagio is the title itself, as it’s two-hour-plus running time certainly glides slowly over its intersecting elements in Rome’s underbelly of crooked cops and aging gangsters, desperately converging as wildfires ravage the metropolis. While pacing in a crime thriller doesn’t necessitate high octane frequency, it can be a burden when the narrative is structured on nonsensical motivations and poor character development. Sollima, who is returning to Italy after the meaty sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) and the clunky Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse (2021), snags two of his country’s most prolific contemporary players for his latest, Pierfrancisco Favino and Toni Servillo, both of whom feel underutilized as plot devices in this toothless thriller.…...
The most apropos element of Stefano Sollima’s Adagio is the title itself, as it’s two-hour-plus running time certainly glides slowly over its intersecting elements in Rome’s underbelly of crooked cops and aging gangsters, desperately converging as wildfires ravage the metropolis. While pacing in a crime thriller doesn’t necessitate high octane frequency, it can be a burden when the narrative is structured on nonsensical motivations and poor character development. Sollima, who is returning to Italy after the meaty sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) and the clunky Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse (2021), snags two of his country’s most prolific contemporary players for his latest, Pierfrancisco Favino and Toni Servillo, both of whom feel underutilized as plot devices in this toothless thriller.…...
- 9/2/2023
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Despite its soft-sounding title, Stefano Sollima’s crime drama is a gripping call-back to the heyday of poliziotteschi movies, a peculiarly Italian genre that dealt with inter-gang wars in a country where the police were often more venal than the bad guys. Adagio, though, takes a unique tack, borrowing from Martin Scorsese’s fatalistic masterpiece The Irishman to portray to tell a story in which a trio of gangsters — one blind, one suffering early-onset dementia, and another with terminal cancer — are forced to reunite against a team of bent cops involved in an elaborate blackmail plan.
There are shades of Elio Petri’s classic Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, too, although it takes a while for this to become obvious. Indeed, for some 45 minutes, Sollima keeps us guessing as to which side the villains are actually on, starting with a long sequence in which a young man named Manuel...
There are shades of Elio Petri’s classic Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, too, although it takes a while for this to become obvious. Indeed, for some 45 minutes, Sollima keeps us guessing as to which side the villains are actually on, starting with a long sequence in which a young man named Manuel...
- 9/2/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Night time in Rome. Wildfires rage on the horizon of the vast city. A blackout strikes, and block by block, the urban landscape is plunged suddenly into darkness, illuminated only by traffic and the roaring blaze in the distance. When a city’s infrastructure fails, it feels like the visible, outward sign of dysfunction or rot. What better way to plunge the audience into “Adagio,” Stefano Sollima’s crime drama dealing with cynicism and corruption, and the repercussions of past actions, as they echo through the generations? Premiering in Competition at Venice, this is a solidly assembled yarn about the on-the-ground consequences of a moral breakdown at the heart of the state, about fiddling the books while Rome burns.
The notional protagonist is 16-year old Manuel (newcomer Gianmarco Franchini), in over his head in a world he doesn’t understand. But he’s a protagonist almost entirely moved and motivated...
The notional protagonist is 16-year old Manuel (newcomer Gianmarco Franchini), in over his head in a world he doesn’t understand. But he’s a protagonist almost entirely moved and motivated...
- 9/2/2023
- by Catherine Bray
- Variety Film + TV
Adagio, as many musicians know, means “slowly” in Italian. That seems to be one of the guiding principles in this epic slow-burn crime thriller from director Stefano Sollima, who’s known for helming the lauded TV series Gomorrah and ZeroZeroZero, as well as taking on Hollywood jobs like the actioners Without Remorse and Sicario: Day of the Soldado.
He certainly has style to boot, and this very Heat-like story, which takes place in parts of Rome rarely seen in mainstream movies, is loaded with ambience, as well as brawny performances by a triumvirate of Italy’s best working actors: Pierfrancesco Favino, Toni Servillo and Valerio Mastandrea. What it lacks, however, is a gripping and original plot, as well as enough dazzling set pieces to make all the late exposition worthwhile.
Premiering in competition in Venice, Adagio will likely be a local hit, with Sollima delivering the kind of Michael Mann...
He certainly has style to boot, and this very Heat-like story, which takes place in parts of Rome rarely seen in mainstream movies, is loaded with ambience, as well as brawny performances by a triumvirate of Italy’s best working actors: Pierfrancesco Favino, Toni Servillo and Valerio Mastandrea. What it lacks, however, is a gripping and original plot, as well as enough dazzling set pieces to make all the late exposition worthwhile.
Premiering in competition in Venice, Adagio will likely be a local hit, with Sollima delivering the kind of Michael Mann...
- 9/2/2023
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Production in Italy has boomed in recent years, and so too have budgets and international investment.
Cast an eye over the titles vying for a Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival and one thing stands out – the number of Italian films in the main competition.
Six of the 23 films in the main competition are Italian, an increase from the usual three Italian titles that are programmed in the section. While the step change could be a result of the writers and actors’ strikes leading to fewer US productions making the trip to Venice, each of the selected...
Cast an eye over the titles vying for a Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival and one thing stands out – the number of Italian films in the main competition.
Six of the 23 films in the main competition are Italian, an increase from the usual three Italian titles that are programmed in the section. While the step change could be a result of the writers and actors’ strikes leading to fewer US productions making the trip to Venice, each of the selected...
- 9/1/2023
- by Gabriele Niola
- ScreenDaily
Being an independent producer was never easy. But these days, it’s near impossible. Even before the dual writers and actors strikes, changes in the international film and TV market had made life tough for the indies. Old models of art house moviemaking have been ravaged by a combination of decline in the specialty box office, the collapse of ancillary revenue for home entertainment and TV licensing, and the more recent pullback by streaming companies, who have begun to back fewer, and more mainstream, movies.
But one indie production company has gone from making just a handful of movies a year to dozens, finding a way to turn the turbulent new reality into a business model for making cutting-edge art house cinema that, shockingly, can actually turn a profit. It’s the company behind five of the most hotly anticipated titles at the Venice Film Festival this year: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things,...
But one indie production company has gone from making just a handful of movies a year to dozens, finding a way to turn the turbulent new reality into a business model for making cutting-edge art house cinema that, shockingly, can actually turn a profit. It’s the company behind five of the most hotly anticipated titles at the Venice Film Festival this year: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things,...
- 8/25/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Hollywood Reporter has picked Fremantle as the winner of the inaugural International Producer of the Year award.
The award will be presented annually to an independent producer from outside the U.S. that THR judges to be the most exciting and innovative company of the year.
THR will present the 2023 Producer of the Year award to Andrea Scrosati, Group COO and CEO of Continental Europe, and Christian Vesper, CEO of Global Drama, at a gala event at the Venice Film Festival on September 3.
With a global network of nearly 50 companies — ranging from German giant UFA (Deutschland ’83) and Italian TV group Lux Vide (Netflix’s Medici) to Israel’s Abot Hameiri (Shtisel) and Richard Brown’s Passenger (True Detective) — and revenues of more than $2.5 billion (€2.3 billion) last year, Fremantle is clearly one of the biggest international indies out there.
But what put it over the top as International Producer of...
The award will be presented annually to an independent producer from outside the U.S. that THR judges to be the most exciting and innovative company of the year.
THR will present the 2023 Producer of the Year award to Andrea Scrosati, Group COO and CEO of Continental Europe, and Christian Vesper, CEO of Global Drama, at a gala event at the Venice Film Festival on September 3.
With a global network of nearly 50 companies — ranging from German giant UFA (Deutschland ’83) and Italian TV group Lux Vide (Netflix’s Medici) to Israel’s Abot Hameiri (Shtisel) and Richard Brown’s Passenger (True Detective) — and revenues of more than $2.5 billion (€2.3 billion) last year, Fremantle is clearly one of the biggest international indies out there.
But what put it over the top as International Producer of...
- 8/23/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
La BêteCOMPETITIONComandante (Edoardo De Angelis)The Promised Land (Nikolaj Arcel)Dogman (Luc Besson) La Bête (Bertrand Bonello) Hors-Saison (Stéphane Brizé) Enea (Pietro Castellitto) Maestro (Bradley Cooper)Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)Finalmente L’Alba (Saverio Costanzo)Lubo (Giorgio Diritti) Origin (Ava DuVernay) The Killer (David Fincher)Memory (Michel Franco)Io capitano (Matteo Garrone)Evil Does Not Exist (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)The Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)The Theory of Everything (Timm Kröger)Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)El conde (Pablo Larrain)Ferrari (Michael Mann)Adagio (Stefano Sollima)Woman OfHolly (Fien Troch)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionSociety of the Snow (J.A. Bayona)Coup de Chance (Woody Allen)The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Wes Anderson)The Penitent (Luca Barbareschi)L’Ordine Del Tempo (Liliana Cavani)Vivants (Alix Delaporte)Welcome to Paradise (Leonardo di Constanzo)Daaaaaali! (Quentin Dupieux)The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (William Friedkin)Making of (Cedric Kahn)Aggro Dr1ft (Harmony Korine)Hitman (Richard Linklater)The Palace (Roman Polanski...
- 7/29/2023
- MUBI
The Venice Film Festival sails on in Italy — even with much of Hollywood at a standstill.
The annual cinema celebration hosted by La Biennale di Venezia and directed by Alberto Barbera runs from August 30 through September 9. Despite already having lost Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” from its opening night slot due to its SAG-AFTRA talent including star Zendaya being unable to accompany the world premiere due to strike work stoppage orders, Venice has plenty of movie goodness in store for its 80th edition.
Competition highlights include Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” David Fincher’s “The Killer,” Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things,” Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” Luc Besson’s “Dogman,” Michel Franco’s “Memory,” Pablo Larrain’s “El Conde,” and many more. Out of competition, Venice will screen new films from Harmony Korine, Richard Linklater, Woody Allen, Wes Anderson, Roman Polanski, and William Friedkin.
The annual cinema celebration hosted by La Biennale di Venezia and directed by Alberto Barbera runs from August 30 through September 9. Despite already having lost Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” from its opening night slot due to its SAG-AFTRA talent including star Zendaya being unable to accompany the world premiere due to strike work stoppage orders, Venice has plenty of movie goodness in store for its 80th edition.
Competition highlights include Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” David Fincher’s “The Killer,” Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things,” Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” Luc Besson’s “Dogman,” Michel Franco’s “Memory,” Pablo Larrain’s “El Conde,” and many more. Out of competition, Venice will screen new films from Harmony Korine, Richard Linklater, Woody Allen, Wes Anderson, Roman Polanski, and William Friedkin.
- 7/25/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Two movies whose directors are likely to draw protests, Woody Allen’s French-language “Coup de Chance” and Roman Polanski’s “The Palace,” will make their world premieres at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival, Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera and La Biennale di Venezia president Roberto Cicutto announced at a Tuesday morning press conference.
Both films will screen out of competition, though they’ll likely draw an inordinate amount of attention at a festival that has assembled a robust lineup of major filmmakers even as it struggles with the effects of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
Films booked for the Venice main competition include Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro”; Yorgos Lanthimos’ sci-fi drama “Poor Things”; Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla Presley film “Priscilla”; Michael Mann’s auto-racing film “Ferrari”; Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” with Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Niecy Nash-Betts and Vera Farmiga; and David Fincher’s “The Killer,” with Michael Fassbender.
Both films will screen out of competition, though they’ll likely draw an inordinate amount of attention at a festival that has assembled a robust lineup of major filmmakers even as it struggles with the effects of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes.
Films booked for the Venice main competition include Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro”; Yorgos Lanthimos’ sci-fi drama “Poor Things”; Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla Presley film “Priscilla”; Michael Mann’s auto-racing film “Ferrari”; Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” with Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Niecy Nash-Betts and Vera Farmiga; and David Fincher’s “The Killer,” with Michael Fassbender.
- 7/25/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
On the heels of yesterday’s TIFF announcement, the first major fall festival of the season––Venice International Film Festival––is unveiling its lineup. Taking place August 30-September 9, the competition jury this year is chaired by Damien Chazelle.
Highlights include new films from David Fincher, Michael Mann, Wes Anderson, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Sofia Coppola, Bradley Cooper, Bertrand Bonello, Frederick Wiseman, Roman Polanski, William Friedkin, Ava DuVernay, Harmony Korine, Richard Linklater, Woody Allen, and more.
Competition
Adagio; dir. Stefano Sollima
The Beast; dir. Bertrand Bonello
Io Capitano; dir. Matteo Garrone
Comandante; dir. Edoardo de Angelis
El Conde; dir. Pablo Larraín
Die Theorie von Allem; dir. Timm Kröger
Dogman; dir. Luc Besson
Enea; dir. Pietro Castellitto
Evil Does Not Exist; dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Ferrari; dir. Michael Mann
Finalmente L’Alba; dir. Saverio Costanzo
Green Border; dir. Agnieszka Holland
Holly; dir. Fien Troch
Hors-Saison; dir. Stéphane Brizé
The Killer; dir. David Fincher
Lubo; dir. Giorgio Diritti
The Promised Land; dir.
Highlights include new films from David Fincher, Michael Mann, Wes Anderson, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Sofia Coppola, Bradley Cooper, Bertrand Bonello, Frederick Wiseman, Roman Polanski, William Friedkin, Ava DuVernay, Harmony Korine, Richard Linklater, Woody Allen, and more.
Competition
Adagio; dir. Stefano Sollima
The Beast; dir. Bertrand Bonello
Io Capitano; dir. Matteo Garrone
Comandante; dir. Edoardo de Angelis
El Conde; dir. Pablo Larraín
Die Theorie von Allem; dir. Timm Kröger
Dogman; dir. Luc Besson
Enea; dir. Pietro Castellitto
Evil Does Not Exist; dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Ferrari; dir. Michael Mann
Finalmente L’Alba; dir. Saverio Costanzo
Green Border; dir. Agnieszka Holland
Holly; dir. Fien Troch
Hors-Saison; dir. Stéphane Brizé
The Killer; dir. David Fincher
Lubo; dir. Giorgio Diritti
The Promised Land; dir.
- 7/25/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
New films by top U.S. directors including David Fincher, Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, Michael Mann, Bradley Cooper and Wes Anderson will be launching from the Venice Film Festival alongside a robust roster of European, Latin American and Asian auteurs, in a clear sign that disruption caused by two ongoing labor strikes in Hollywood is less than some expected.
Though Venice was forced a few days ago to pull its originally planned opener, Zendaya-starrer “Challengers,” due to promotional complications from the SAG-AFTRA strike, the fest’s complete lineup, announced on Tuesday, has certainly not suffered a mass exodus of Hollywood titles. On the contrary, the Lido’s firepower as an awards season pistol seems to have outgunned the probable scarcity of stars that will be on the red carpet for U.S. films, though even this aspect remains to be seen.
“This past week has been a bit turbulent...
Though Venice was forced a few days ago to pull its originally planned opener, Zendaya-starrer “Challengers,” due to promotional complications from the SAG-AFTRA strike, the fest’s complete lineup, announced on Tuesday, has certainly not suffered a mass exodus of Hollywood titles. On the contrary, the Lido’s firepower as an awards season pistol seems to have outgunned the probable scarcity of stars that will be on the red carpet for U.S. films, though even this aspect remains to be seen.
“This past week has been a bit turbulent...
- 7/25/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Includes films from David Fincher, Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, Bradley Cooper and Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Venice Film Festival announced the programme for its 80th edition, including a 23-strong Competition with new films from David Fincher, Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, Bradley Cooper and Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Scroll down for full line-up
The selection was announced by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera. The SAG-AFTRA strike in the US has had a “quite modest” impact on the selection according to Barbera, who was forced to pull Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers as the opening film over the weekend due to the strike.
Venice Film Festival announced the programme for its 80th edition, including a 23-strong Competition with new films from David Fincher, Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, Bradley Cooper and Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Scroll down for full line-up
The selection was announced by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera. The SAG-AFTRA strike in the US has had a “quite modest” impact on the selection according to Barbera, who was forced to pull Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers as the opening film over the weekend due to the strike.
- 7/25/2023
- by Ben Dalton¬Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
This year’s selection will be announced at 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST) by Roberto Cicutto and Alberto Barbera.
The line-up for the 80th Venice International Film Festival (August 30-September 9) will be revealed this morning at 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST) by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera
The press conference will be live-streamed below, and this page will be updated with the films as they are announced.
Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers was originally set to open the festival but was pulled by MGM amid the actors’ strike. It was replaced by Edoardo De Angelis’ Comandante.
The closing film...
The line-up for the 80th Venice International Film Festival (August 30-September 9) will be revealed this morning at 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST) by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera
The press conference will be live-streamed below, and this page will be updated with the films as they are announced.
Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers was originally set to open the festival but was pulled by MGM amid the actors’ strike. It was replaced by Edoardo De Angelis’ Comandante.
The closing film...
- 7/25/2023
- by Ben Dalton¬Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
“Sicario” almost had the same location as “Spring Breakers.”
Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 crime drama centered on Mexican drug cartels was almost filmed in Fort Lauderdale, according to cinematographer Roger Deakins. The Oscar winner recalled the filmmakers having to convince producers that it was worth shooting in Mexico City in lieu of Juarez even due to the high cost of insurance.
“We had to convince some producers to go to Mexico City because they didn’t want us to go there for insurance,” Deakins said during a panel discussion moderated by Annette Insdorf at the 92nd Street Y.
Deakins’ wife and collaborator James Deakins added, “They wanted Fort Lauderdale.”
Deakins continued, “I was actually in a production meeting and I said, ‘Has anybody read the script?’ So anyway, they let us go to Mexico City for a few days. I have to say, the cops in Mexico City were fantastic. We...
Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 crime drama centered on Mexican drug cartels was almost filmed in Fort Lauderdale, according to cinematographer Roger Deakins. The Oscar winner recalled the filmmakers having to convince producers that it was worth shooting in Mexico City in lieu of Juarez even due to the high cost of insurance.
“We had to convince some producers to go to Mexico City because they didn’t want us to go there for insurance,” Deakins said during a panel discussion moderated by Annette Insdorf at the 92nd Street Y.
Deakins’ wife and collaborator James Deakins added, “They wanted Fort Lauderdale.”
Deakins continued, “I was actually in a production meeting and I said, ‘Has anybody read the script?’ So anyway, they let us go to Mexico City for a few days. I have to say, the cops in Mexico City were fantastic. We...
- 5/19/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
John Wick‘s Chad Stahelski is locked and loaded for Paramount‘s adaptation of Rainbow Six starring Michael B. Jordan. Details about the plot remain in shadow. Still, we’ve got word Stahelski is directing the film based on Tom Clancy’s extensive military franchise. Paramount Pictures is still determining if Rainbow Six will debut in theaters or on Paramount+. Jordan is reprising his role as the CIA operations officer and former Navy Seal, John Clark, born John Terrance Kelley. Jordan’s Clark was featured in 2021’s Without Remorse, directed by Stefano Sollima.
Jordan and Elizabeth Raposo produce through Outlier Society, with Akiva Goldsman and Greg Lessans for Weed Road Pictures and Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec for The Saw Mill. Finally, Stahelski, Jason Spitz, and Alex Young executive produce via 87Eleven Entertainment.
Stahelski is one of Hollywood’s busiest filmmakers. In addition to launching John Wick: Chapter 4 in March,...
Jordan and Elizabeth Raposo produce through Outlier Society, with Akiva Goldsman and Greg Lessans for Weed Road Pictures and Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec for The Saw Mill. Finally, Stahelski, Jason Spitz, and Alex Young executive produce via 87Eleven Entertainment.
Stahelski is one of Hollywood’s busiest filmmakers. In addition to launching John Wick: Chapter 4 in March,...
- 1/17/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
The next big Tom Clancy adaptation has found its director. Chad Stahleski, director and stunt coordinator best known for helming all three "John Wick" movies plus the upcoming sequel, has signed on to direct "Rainbow Six" according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Rainbow Six" is set to be the second Clancy adaptation starring Michael B. Jordan, after 2021's "Without Remorse."
Action-savvy filmmaker Stahleski's participation should hopefully breathe some life into a franchise that so far hasn't made the impact one might expect from the "Ryanverse," Clancy's extensive literary world that features Jack Ryan along with Jordan's character, John Clark. "Without Remorse" was originally scheduled for a theatrical release, but ended up moving to Prime Video, where it failed to stand out in a sea of political thrillers and action-heavy shows. In /Film's review, Josh Spiegel called the first film "a bland throwback to the late 1980s and early 1990s," with a "uniformly pedestrian script.
Action-savvy filmmaker Stahleski's participation should hopefully breathe some life into a franchise that so far hasn't made the impact one might expect from the "Ryanverse," Clancy's extensive literary world that features Jack Ryan along with Jordan's character, John Clark. "Without Remorse" was originally scheduled for a theatrical release, but ended up moving to Prime Video, where it failed to stand out in a sea of political thrillers and action-heavy shows. In /Film's review, Josh Spiegel called the first film "a bland throwback to the late 1980s and early 1990s," with a "uniformly pedestrian script.
- 1/17/2023
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
Adagio
A quartet of heavyweight Italian actors in Pierfrancesco Favino, Toni Servillo, Valerio Mastandrea, Adriano Giannini were put together for Stefano Sollima‘s next directing gig. Production on Adagio took place last summer and the film actually completes a crime trilogy which began not with a pair of films, but back to back TV series. Written by Stefano Bises, this is a dark story of revenge and redemption shot in Rome. The Apartment’s Lorenzo Mieli (Priscilla) and AlterEgo’s Sollima produce the feature.
Gist: Completing the trilogy that began with “Romanzo Criminale” and “Suburra”, the story idea and screenplay are co-written by Stefano Bises.…...
A quartet of heavyweight Italian actors in Pierfrancesco Favino, Toni Servillo, Valerio Mastandrea, Adriano Giannini were put together for Stefano Sollima‘s next directing gig. Production on Adagio took place last summer and the film actually completes a crime trilogy which began not with a pair of films, but back to back TV series. Written by Stefano Bises, this is a dark story of revenge and redemption shot in Rome. The Apartment’s Lorenzo Mieli (Priscilla) and AlterEgo’s Sollima produce the feature.
Gist: Completing the trilogy that began with “Romanzo Criminale” and “Suburra”, the story idea and screenplay are co-written by Stefano Bises.…...
- 1/11/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
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