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Both House of the Dragon and Fallout immediately became international hits, and they share quite a few similarities between them — they both throw immensely talented but ultimately underrated actors into increasingly dangerous situations in beloved fictional worlds that were once very niche. Speaking of HotD and Fallout’s stars, though, these series brought many of them the recognition they deserved.

And now, they’re ready to tackle their next big challenge: killer squirrels. What?

New Horror Comedy Stars Talents from Iconic Shows

As recently reported by Screen Daily, director Craig Roberts is currently working on a new project: a horror comedy movie with an utterly bizarre premise. In The Scurry, a band of deranged killer squirrels decides to seek revenge on the visitors and staff of a nearby eco-café, leading the mortified and terrified humans to defend themselves.

For his upcoming flick, Roberts booked two stars from the biggest sensations of the past two years.

Ella Purnell gave an amazing performance as Jackie Taylor in the hit horror-thriller series Yellowjackets, and many fans hated to see her character's demise. Luckily, we didn't have to wait too long to see her back on our screens because she ended up taking on the main role of Lucy MacLean in the smash-hit post-apocalyptic drama series Fallout. Now, we've just learned that she's set to star in a new comedy-horror flick titled The Scurry. More on this below.

We learned of this great news from the news site Screen Daily. According to the site, Purnell will be starring in the leading role of a park attendant who must use her "unique skills and strength" to fight off and survive a band of of deranged squirrels who begin wreaking havoc at her job. Joining her in the cast are Rhys Ifans (House of the Dragon), Paapa Essiedu (The Lazarus Project...

Fallout star Ella Purnell has joined the cast of Craig Roberts’ comedy-horror The Scurry, which is now filming in the UK.

Purnell will play a leading role, of a park attendant who must use her unique skills and strength to survive a band of killer squirrels.

True Brit Entertainment is co-producer and UK distributor on the film, which is shooting on location and at Dragon Studios in South Wales.

Previously announced cast members include Rhys Ifans, Screen Star of Tomorrow Paapa Essiedu, and Antonia Thomas. The Mash Report writer Tim Telling penned the script.

Olivia Cooke and Mia McKenna-Bruce are...

Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree film continues to take shape, with Simon Farnaby writing the script. Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy are to star.

The latest family adventure from screenwriter Simon Farnaby has nabbed a pair of proper A-listers for its cast, with Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy joining the film adaptation of Enid Blyton’s beloved children’s novels, The Faraway Tree series.

The plot of the film sees Polly (Foy), Tim (Garfield) and their children move to the English countryside, where they encounter a magical tree which transports them to extraordinary lands. Featuring beloved characters like Moonface, Silky, Dame Washalot and Saucepan Man, the four books in the series have become children’s classics since the first was published in 1939.

This marks the second time Garfield and Foy have played an on-screen couple after 2017’s polio drama, Breathe (pictured).

Farnaby said: “To have two actors of...

Craig Roberts is set to direct killer rodent comedy horror The Scurry, featuring a UK cast of Rhys Ifans, Olivia Cooke, Paapa Essiedu, Mia McKenna-Bruce and Antonia Thomas.

Water & Power Productions, Cliff Edge Pictures, and Circus Studios are producing the UK feature, with Zygi Kamasa’s True Brit Entertainment on board as UK distributor and co-producer for the project. Shooting starts on April 2, making use of the recently announced under £15m Independent Film Tax Credit, with the film’s budget over £10m. Circus Studios will also handle international sales.

Two pest controllers are called to an eco café in...

Guy Pearce has recently wrapped production on “Inside,” an Australian crime thriller and coming of age drama film. The picture is the debut feature of Charles Williams, whose short film “All These Creatures” won the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

The story sees after a young man transferred from juvenile to adult prison, where he is taken under the wing of both Australia’s most despised criminal, and a soon-to-be-a-paroled inmate. A paternal triangle grows between them, suggesting that even the worst of men may have a little bit of good inside them — that will be their eventual undoing.

The cast is headed by Pearce, Cosmo Jarvis and newcomer Vincent Miller. Supporting actors include Toby Wallace, Tara Morice, Chloé Hayden (“Heartbreak High”) and Michael Logo (“Colin From Accounts”).

“Inside” is being produced by Marian Macgowan for Macgowan Films and Kate Glover for Never Sleep Pictures, with Thomas M. Wright...

Exclusive: Sally Hawkins, the Golden Globe-winning British actress best known for roles in Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water and the Paddington franchise, has returned to Creative Artists Agency for representation.

Hawkins had previously been with CAA from January 2015 – December 2019, picking up U.S. representation again just recently after some time away. She will next be seen starring opposite Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant and Timothée Chalamet in Paul King’s Wonka, portraying the mother of the latter’s enigmatic chocolatier in the film out via Warner Bros December 15th.

Taking Hawkins’ accomplished career to new heights in 2017 was the romantic fantasy The Shape of Water, which had her playing Elisa, a custodian who falls in love with the amphibian creature being studied at her government laboratory. The role brought Hawkins her second nominations at both the Academy Awards and the BAFTAs, as well as noms at the Critics’ Choice Awards,...

The story behind the rise of Viagra is getting a TV feature treatment for the BBC.

Written by Matthew Barry (Industry, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and exec produced by Russell T. Davies (Doctor Who, It’s a Sin, Years and Years), Men Up comes from Quay Street Productions (behind Davies recent drama Nolly and founded by Nicola Shindler, who exec produced It’s a Sin) and Boom.

Men Up is inspired by the true story of one of the world’s first medical trials for what would become the now world-famous drug, which were held in Swansea’s Morriston Hospital in Wales in 1994.

The cast includes Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones, Misfits, Riviera), Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk, The Pact), Alexandra Roach (Killing Eve, Sanditon, No Offence), Phaldut Sharma (Sherwood, Romantic Getaway), Paul Rhys (A Discovery of Witches, Rellick), Steffan Rhodri (House of the Dragon, Temple), Mark Lewis Jones (Gangs of London, The Phantom of the Open...

Chatting away to Sally Hawkins, as you do, in the fabled Abbey Road Studios in posh North London neighborhood of St. John’s Wood, she tells me ”I feel fine” when I inquire after her well-being.

Our feet are planted in the very spot where The Beatles recorded the track for “I Feel Fine,” a single that topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic back in 1964. I couldn’t tell whether Hawkins purposefully chose those words to chime with where we were stood.

Related Story Breaking Baz: Hot Star Paul Mescal Heats Up London Theater; BAFTA Talks Gender Neutrality; All About Amy Winehouse When We Were Neighbors Related Story 'Glass Onion' Claims Title Of Most-Viewed Film In A Week On Nielsen U.S. Streaming Charts; 'Yellowstone' Has Its First Billion-Minute Week Related Story Joe Cornish Talks Netflix Ghost Hunter Series 'Lockwood & Co...

Prepare to binge in the new year.

Netflix Canada has revealed its entire slate of new titles dropping on the streaming service in January 2023, from sitcoms, to dramas, to reality, movies and more.

Read More: ‘That ’90s Show’ Triggers #SaveWarriorNun Trend

Among the most anticipated new titles is Netflix’s reboot “That ’90s Show”, which reunites many of the original “That ’70s Show” cast members, including Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Wilmer Valderrama, Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith

Other big shows include “Ginny & Georgia” season 2, the Christian Bale-starring thriller “The Pale Blue Eye”, the reality series “Bling Empire: New York” and more.

Earlier this month, Netflix Canada also released a lengthy promo for its January offerings on YouTube.

Read More: ‘That ’90s Show’ Sparks Nostalgia And Love From Twitter Fans: ‘So Good To See Og Cast’

Check out the full list of shows and...

Keep track of when films are coming out in the territory.

Screen is listing the release dates for films in the UK and Ireland in the calendar below.

For distributors who wish to add/amend a date on the calendar, please get in touch with Screen here.

Screen also has an awards season calendar for 2022, here.

December

December 30

Peter Von Kant (Curzon), Where Are You, Adam? (Primal Screen)

December 31

Berliner Philharmoniker Live: New Year’s Eve Concert 2022 (Trafalgar, event cinema)

Previous releases January

January 1

Licorice Pizza (Universal), The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain (Studiocanal), Cinderella - Met Opera 2022 (Trafalgar, event...

It was an historic night for female filmmakers at the British Independent Film Awards, with 10 of the night’s biggest awards going to women or films directed by them. The biggest winner of the night was “Aftersun,” which won Best British Independent Film, as well as Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Debut Director for Charlotte Wells. The film also took home prizes for cinematography, editing, and music supervision.

Georgia Oakley’s “Blue Jean” also had a strong showing, with Rosy McEwen winning Best Lead Performance and Kerrie Hayes winning Best Supporting Performance and Oakley winning Best Debut Screenwriter. Shaheen Baig also won Best Casting for the film.

Despite facing stiff competition from the likes of “Decision to Leave” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” won Best International Independent Film.

Keep reading for the complete list of nominees from the 2022 British Independent Film Awards,...

Plot: A young woman falls in love with an enigmatic stranger. He is someone who shares her taste for human flesh. Together, they struggle to survive in a world that doesn’t understand them.

Review: Bones and All is just your typical, flesh-eating cannibals fall-in-love type of romance. You know, the kind where a girl meets a boy, and then they eat people. Not too familiar, perhaps, but nothing filmmaker Luca Guadagnino does, is. His latest is a strange and dreamy romantic drama, yet one that slips in and out of horror in intriguing ways. Thoughtful, quirky, and unconventional, the film features excellent performances from its leads, Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet. And then there is Mark Rylance, who brings on the weird as a fellow named Sully. Let’s dig into the meat of this one, shall we?

When we meet Maren (Russell), we find she is a shy...

“Bridgerton” star Phoebe Dynevor and “Aftersun” writer-director Charlotte Wells are among the emerging talents recognized at the British Independent Film Awards’ (BIFA) New Talent categories.

Dynevor has been longlisted in the Breakthrough Performance category for Sky film “The Colour Room” and Wells twice, in the Debut Director and Debut Screenwriter categories.

In all, 28 fiction and 14 documentary features have been longlisted, including in a new category for BIFA’s 25th year, Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary. Eleven first-time fiction feature directors, 16 first-time documentary feature directors, 14 first-time writers, 20 breakthrough producers and 15 new performers have been recognized by BIFA voters for their achievements.

BIFA’s Springboard scheme will provide a tailored program of continuing professional development, with seven of this year’s longlisted filmmakers joining the cohort of 30 filmmakers on the Film4 supported initiative.

The final five nominations in each category will be announced on Nov. 4 and winners will be revealed at the...

This enjoyably quirky drama from Stephen Frears recounts how the bones of the king made famous for being an evil hunchback by Shakespeare were discovered beneath a Leicester car park.

Like so many British lightly comic films before, including the recent The Duke and The Phantom Of The Open, its story rests on one of those British never-say-die eccentrics coming up against some form of establishment that we love so much.

This time out it's Sally Hawkins' Philippa Langley, an amateur historian with chronic fatigue syndrome, who became dogged in her pursuit of the truth about Richard. Hawkins, who has a knack for portraying vulnerable but determined characters (see also The Shape Of Water), is perfectly cast as Langley as she finds herself up against, not just the weight of history but a cadre of men who at first won't believe her before becoming intent on stealing all the...

A simple listing, duplicated from the dvd/blu/vod US and Canada page, of new releases and other stuff currently available, for the benefit of those playing along by RSS or keeping up via the Weekly Digest emails (sign up here).

The most up-to-date version of this listing is always here.

new from Aug 30–Sep 02

Brian and Charles Elvis (premium VOD/HBO Max)

I’m planning to watch…

American Carnage Blind Ambition (premium VOD) Burial Minions: The Rise of Gru (DVD/premium VOD) The Phantom of the Open

(films on regular VOD and/or DVD unless otherwise noted)

Stop endlessly scrolling Netflix, Amazon, and other VOD services! Get the Weekend Watchlist newsletter in your in-box every Friday with the best new films and hidden gems to stream. Only for paid Patreon and Substack subscribers.

recent releases

Ali & Ava The Bad Guys The Batman Belfast (VOD/HBO Max) Benedetta The Book...

Click here to read the full article.

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight and Peaky Blinders star Stephen Graham, two of the biggest and most respected names in British TV, are reuniting for a Disney+ U.K. original series set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.

With the working title A Thousand Blows, the 12-part series will premiere on Disney+ globally, Star+ in Latin America and Hulu in the U.S., and is being produced by The Story Collective in a co-production with Matriarch Productions and Water & Power Productions.

Based on real-life figures and stories, the series will follows Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving boxing scene, Hezekiah meets Mary Carr,...

Here’s the latest episode of the The Filmmakers Podcast, part of the ever-growing podcast roster here on Nerdly. If you haven’t heard the show yet, you can check out previous episodes on the official podcast site, whilst we’ll be featuring each and every new episode as it premieres.

For those unfamiliar with the series, The Filmmakers Podcast is a podcast about how to make films from micro budget indie films to bigger budget studio films and everything in-between. Our hosts Giles Alderson, Dan Richardson, Andrew Rodger and Cristian James talk how to get films made, how to actually make them and how to try not to f… it up in their very humble opinion. Guests will come on and chat about their film making experiences from directors, writers, producers, screenwriters, actors, cinematographers and distributors.

The Filmmaker’s Podcast #290: Craig Roberts talks The Phantom of the Open, Acting,...

A simple listing, duplicated from the dvd/blu/vod US and Canada page, of new releases and other stuff currently available, for the benefit of those playing along by RSS or keeping up via the Weekly Digest emails (sign up here).

The most up-to-date version of this listing is always here.

new from Aug 16–19

Eiffel (cable VOD) Orphan: First Kill (premium VOD/Paramount+) Radium Girls The Immaculate Room Jurassic World Dominion (DVD/premium VOD) Spin Me Round (VOD/AMC+)

I’m planning to watch…

The Black Phone (DVD/premium VOD) Paris, 13th District The Phantom of the Open (premium VOD)

(films on regular VOD and/or DVD unless otherwise noted)

Stop endlessly scrolling Netflix, Amazon, and other VOD services! Get the Weekend Watchlist newsletter in your in-box every Friday with the best new films and hidden gems to stream. Only for paid Patreon and Substack subscribers.

recent releases

The Bad...

New Release Wall

David Cronenberg plays the hits in “Crimes of the Future” (Neon), but there’s no other filmmaker today with hits like his. Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux are a pair of surgery-based performance artists whose interests intersect with a sect of plastic-eaters, while bureaucrats Kristen Stewart (giving the screen’s most divisive performance since Jared Leto in “House of Gucci”) and Don McKellar look on in fannish amazement. If you enjoy the auteur’s brand of surgical implements that look like insect exoskeletons and furniture that looks like tumors, this is your kind of movie.

Also available:

“Charm City Kings” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment): Denied a proper release during the pandemic lockdown, this saga of a young Baltimorean getting involved in the city’s motorbike culture is a powerful drama not to be missed.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (Marvel Studios): Audiences differed...

A simple listing, duplicated from the dvd/blu/vod UK and Ireland page, of new releases and other stuff currently available, for the benefit of those playing along by RSS or keeping up via the Weekly Digest emails (sign up here).

The most up-to-date version of this listing is always here.

new from Jul 25

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Everything Everywhere All at Once The Quiet Girl (An Cailin Ciuin) Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore Jurassic World Dominion (premium VOD)

I’m planning to watch…

Between Two Worlds The Phantom of the Open

(films on regular VOD and/or DVD unless otherwise noted)

Stop endlessly scrolling Netflix, Amazon, and other VOD services! Get the Weekend Watchlist newsletter in your in-box every Friday with the best new films and hidden gems to stream. Only for paid Patreon and Substack subscribers.

recent releases

Ali & Ava (Netflix; also regular VOD...

Mark Rylance’s pitch-perfect turn as the worst golfer in the Open’s history follows in the slipstream of valiant loser dramas, from Rocky and Slap Shot to Cool Runnings

The underdog sports drama is an inspirational but essentially results-oriented film genre. No matter how hopeless the aspiring athlete(s) at the outset of proceedings, the story brings them, at the very least, to the brink of victory: talent is prized and rewarded. The Phantom of the Open (out now on multiple VOD platforms), however, is a pleasing exception to the formula – a sporting biopic in which the improbable hero’s outright crapness at his inexplicably chosen game is not just frankly stated but actively celebrated.

A middle-aged shipyard worker who blagged his way into golf’s 1976 Open Championship and proceeded to shoot the worst score on record, Maurice Flitcroft entered history mostly as a tabloid amusement. Buoyed up by...

As of June 30, we’re at the halfway point for 2022 — and for the Oscar eligibility year. There are dozens of possibilities coming up and many familiar elements — plenty of biopics, a reliance on fall film festivals, a heavy dose of streamers — but this could be an unusual year.

In the first six months of the year, A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” seem likely. They would have been Oscar longshots a decade ago, but both should do well since voters’ tastes are changing.

Also notable this year: The roster of directors is far more inclusive, in terms of gender and race, than in the past.

While the upcoming crop includes past winners like James Cameron, Damien Chazelle, Alejandro Inarritu, Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg, there are new hopefuls, including Chinonye Chukwu, Andrew Dominik, Sebastian Lelio, Sarah Polley and Gina Prince-Bythewood, to name a few.

The Phantom of the Open Review — The Phantom of the Open (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Craig Roberts, written by Simon Farnaby and Scott Murray and starring Mark Rylance, Sally Hawkins, Ian Porter, Tommy Fallon, Jake Davies, Christian Lees, Jonah Lees, Mark Lewis Jones, Johann Myers, Nigel Betts, Afsaneh Dehrouyeh, Tim [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: The Phantom Of The Open (2021): Mark Rylance is Perfect in a Comedy About Golf that Has a Lot of Heart...

In this episode of CinemaNerdz: The Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Mike Tyrkus reports that The Phantom of the Open is an engaging and heart-warming piece of entertainment that shines its beacon of hope over its entire running time.

Check out the full CinemaNerdz review of The Phantom of the Open here!

Subscribe to CinemaNerdz: The Podcast here!

The post Podcast Episode 15: “The Phantom of the Open” first appeared on CinemaNerdz.

Mark Rylance as Maurice Flitcroft in The Phantom Of The Open. Photo credit Nick Wall. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

In the charming true-story comedy Phantom Of The Open, Mark Rylance plays the worst golfer in British Open history, Maurice Flitcroft, a middle-aged working class bloke who accidentally got into the storied competition, and then became a folk hero for trying to do it again and again, haunting the tournament. Mark Rylance (Bridge Of Spies) and Sally Hawkins (The Shape Of Water), as Flitcroft’s supportive wife Jean, are both absolute charmers in this very funny yet uplifting British comedy about a very British eccentric who believed anything was possible. Although Flitcroft’s performance in the British Open earned him the moniker “worst golfer in the world,” it actually was the first round of golf Flitcroft had ever played, having just taken up the sport after being laid off from...

Every once in a while, a film comes along that simply makes you feel good. It may not be a superlative piece of cinema, nor may it feature virtuoso performances from all involved, but it has something that well, just works and it makes the whole thing that much more enjoyable. The Phantom of the Open is precisely such a film. It is an engaging and heart-warming piece of entertainment that shines its beacon of hope over its entire running time.

The film tells the stirring true tale of one Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance), a crane operator in Barrow-in-Furness who, in 1976, through a series of befuddling events, earned a place in the qualifying round of the British Open Golf Championship, even though he had never actually played the game before. Consequently, he produced the worst round in the history of the Open, incurring the wrath of the golfing establishment, while...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to the documentary Turn Every Page – The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb, on the heels of its June 12th world premiere in the Spotlight Documentary section of the Tribeca Film Festival.

The film’s subjects are Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Robert Caro and legendary editor Robert Gottlieb, who have worked and fought together for 50 years, forging one of publishing’s most iconic and productive partnerships. Now 86, Caro is working to complete the final volume of his masterwork, The Years of Lyndon Johnson; Gottlieb, 91, waits to edit it. The task of finishing their life’s work looms before them.

Directed by Gottlieb’s daughter, Lizzie Gottlieb, Turn Every Page explores Caro and Robert Gottlieb’s remarkable creative collaboration, including the behind-the-scenes drama of the making of Caro’s The Power Broker and the Lbj series. With humor and insight, the unique double portrait reveals the work habits,...

Following its Venice Film Festival bow and seven César Awards including for Best Film, Lost Illusions was the top weekend title at two core NYC arthouses — taking 10,850 of its estimated 13,579 three-day gross from Film Forum and Film at Lincoln Center.

The period piece based on the Honoré de Balzac novel about greed and hypocrisy in the art world of 1800s Paris was also the top film at the Laemmle Royal in LA. It opened on six screens for a PSA 2,263. Distributor Music Box Films is giving Lost Illusions (Illusions Perdues), from director Xavier Giannoli, a traditional platform rollout with a 60-day theatrical window, expanding to San Francisco, Miami, Denver, Minneapolis and Atlanta next Friday and additional markets including Boston and Seattle on June 24.

“We’re happy with New York. New York has come back,” said Music Box theatrical distribution chief Kyle Westphal.

The most decorated film at the French equivalent...

Led by the better-than-expected 143 million opening gross for “Jurassic Park: Dominion” (Universal) and 50 million for “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount) in its third week. All told, they accounted for 93 percent of the 208 million weekend total. That’s not great news for the long term, but at least the theaters’ theatrical distribution models seems to be working.

Through 12 days of June, grosses are just about the same as for the same period in 2019, the last normal year. Including estimates for this weekend, the month so far has totaled 432 million, down only 3 million from 2019. That doesn’t guarantee the rest of the month will follow, but it’s a breakthrough result.

Our four-week rolling comparison to the same period three years ago now stands at 85 percent. That’s a record high since we began this gauge and a major step in the right direction. However, while this weekend is the year’s second best,...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on “The Phantom of the Open,” a new film about an unlikely entrant (Mark Rylance) into golf’s prestigious British Open. in the groovy 1970s. It “opens” in select theaters on June 10th, 2022, see local listings.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The “phantom” in the story is Maurice Flitcroft (Rylance) and the “open” is the British Open. In 1976, through a twist of fate that could only happen in those halcyon 1970s, Flitcroft – a crane operator for a factory – was able to slip through the bureaucracy of golf and enter the tournament, shooting a record setting high score of 121 for 18 holes in the qualifying round. Despite his horrible golf, he became a folk hero to the Brits, the world and most importantly his sons and wife Jean (Sally Hawkins).

”The Phantom of the Open” is in select theaters beginning June 10th, see local listings. Featuring Mark Rylance,...

If there's one thing the British can't get enough of, it's our own eccentricity and The Duke stems from a fine lineage that also includes the likes of Calendar Girls, Kinky Boots and The Phantom Of The Open. Roger Michell's final fiction feature before his death, at 65, last year, is a gentle charmer that centres on the true and bizarre story of the 1961 theft of Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from London's National Gallery.

Kempton Bunton (Jim Broadbent), is more likely lad than likely thief. An ageing radical, with playwrighting aspirations, he lives with his wife Dorothy in Benwell, near the banks of the River Tyne. In the sort of move that perfectly encapsulated his character, he has removed the BBC coil from his telly while refusing to pay the licence fee as part of a...

It’s astounding: “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount), then everything else.

Most box-office reporting this weekend focuses on the unquestionably stunning results for Tom Cruise’s sequel. Through 10 days of domestic play, it’s grossed 190 million (357 million worldwide). A second-weekend drop of only 32 percent portends that it will go much, much higher and has the potential to become the highest-grossing 2022 release.

Its performance deserves all the accolades — but without the misleading reporting. “Maverick” will likely be Cruise’s biggest hit, and among Paramount’s 10 top performers. But unless one thinks ticket prices remained unchanged for the last 40 years — or ever — it’s getting undue credit for box-office records.

Its second-weekend fall is indeed very small, but not the smallest; “Avatar” (which would have grossed 100 million adjusted in its second weekend) fell less than two percent.

“Maverick” has an advantage that made this more likely. Most films that open over 100 million are sequels,...

Mark Rylance is back in theaters this weekend with “The Phantom of the Open,” a new comedy that sees the Oscar winner play famously bad amateur golfer Maurice Flitcroft. It’s Rylance’s first time portraying a real person since he played lawyer William Kunstler in “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” But the actor appears to be having a lot more fun with this movie than he did with Aaron Sorkin’s 2020 historical drama.

In a new interview with the New York Times, Rylance opened up about the difficult experience of playing Kunstler, and said he received malicious feedback from real people who were involved with the trial. Those comments, and the toll they took on his mental health, have made him more hesitant to take roles based on real people.

“I’m wary of playing very famous people,” Rylance said. “Even William Kunstler is a bit on the...

Chloe Okuno’s feature debut Watcher recorded the biggest opening weekend grosses ever for IFC Films and its IFC Midnight/Shudder label on 764 U.S. screens — also one of the distributor’s widest ever releases.

The genre thriller that world premiered at Sundance then SXSW reported an estimated weekend gross of 815,000 and a PSA of 1,067.

“Watcher is one of the best feature debuts we have ever screened out of Sundance and with it, Chloe Okuno has proven without a doubt that she is a leading new voice in horror,” said IFC Film president Arianna Bocco. “We are thrilled to have been her partner on the release of Watcher and remain committed to finding the best new voices working in film today.”

Witten by Zack Ford and Okuno, Watcher stars Maika Monroe as Julia, a young American actress who moves with her half-Romanian husband (played by Karl Glusman) from the States...

A light and lyrical feel-good tale about Mancunian golf legend Maurice G. Flitcroft — the shipyard crane operator who improbably managed to enter himself into the 1976 British Open and then, even more improbably, became an international folk hero for his resilience in the face of humiliating scores — (and based on the book that he and Scott Murray published about Flintcroft in 2010). It’s charming as hell, it has precious little patience for English classism, and it hinges on a child-like outsider whose supernatural guilelessness has a tendency to steamroll over the cynics and gits who get in his way. It even co-stars Sally Hawkins, as all “Paddington” movies have, and all other movies should.

If “The Phantom of the Open” lacks the same magic that Farnaby helped sprinkle over the masterful comedies he co-wrote about the world’s sweetest bear, well, what doesn’t? It’s enough that this heartfelt delight...

Indie distributors, grabbing a frame between Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion, are out with a handful of decently wide releases for the specialty space including Neon’s Cannes title Crimes of the Future (127 screes), IFC Midnight thriller Watcher (764) and Roadside Attractions’ WWI period piece Benediction (87). Sony Pictures Classics launches Phantom of the Open in four theaters in NY and LA.

Netflix is taking Hustle to 275 screens as the industry looks for signs that big streamers are warming to theatrical.

Yash Raj Films opens historical Bollywood epic Prithviraj in over 400 theaters as the steady flow of Indian fare remains a bulwark for U.S. cinemas.

The David Cronenberg written and directed dystopian sci-fi body-parts drama Crimes of the Future with Léa Seydoux, Viggo Mortensen and Kristen Stewart debuts fresh off a six-minute standing ovation in Cannes, As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, bodies undergoes transformations and mutation.

The formula for many sports movies is classically simple yet satisfying. Step one: introduce an underdog. Step two: training montage. Step three: win the trophy. It’s a successful formula that has been used for decades. For “The Phantom of the Open” director Craig Roberts and screenwriter Simon Farnaby, though, they’re not interested in following that pattern.

“As a sports movie, it doesn’t work,” Farnaby told Variety. “Because usually you’re getting an underdog and then they’re good at the end. But the trophy Maurice gets is very different. He didn’t win the British Open, but he won the hearts and minds of people all over the world.”

“The Phantom of the Open,” which premieres June 3 in the U.S., follows the true story of Maurice Flitcroft, a shipyard worker in England turned golf folk hero. Flitcroft, who had never played a round of golf in his life,...

At what point does self-awareness turn inside out, to become the very thing it’s observing? “The Phantom of the Open” tries so hard to be a winking commentary on British heartwarmers about lovable outsiders. And its efforts are, as often as not, entertaining. But after a while, it becomes clear that what it wants more than anything is to be embraced as a crowd-pleasing comedy itself.

After noting that his film is based on a true story, director Craig Roberts begins at the end, with an aged Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance) reminiscing about his rather extraordinary golfing career. Why was it so extraordinary? Because, we learn in flashback, it was the epitome of ordinary.

Back in 1976, Flitcroft is just an unassuming shipyard worker, raising three unassuming boys with his unassuming wife Jean (Sally Hawkins). His teen twins (Jonah and Christian Lees) want to be disco dancers, and his older...

There is no doubt that the box office is flying high after a stratospheric 127 million three-day and 161 million four-day holiday opening for Top Gun: Maverick, which was the biggest non-superhero debut since 2019 and nearly double the previous best Tom Cruise opening. The three-and-a-half decade in the waiting sequel also delivered a new record for Memorial Day weekend, beating Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Despite these highs, the lack of new releases is still holding back the box office, which is why May, despite being the second highest grossing month since the pandemic began with an overall box office of 786 million, was the lowest grossing May since 2006.

The month of May had two blockbusters with openings over 100 million (the other being Doctor Strange 2), but other than that it just had two films open in the teens, and nothing else to even open above 5 million. Compare this to May 2019, following...

“I see nothing happening on a major scale to try to get the older audiences back to theaters,” griped Sony Pictures Classics’ co-president Tom Bernard.

Ideally, Bernard wants NATO to trumpet cinema safety in a big public campaign. (A NATO rep says not in the cards.) He’d like that campaign alongside a creative marketing push by independent movie chains, combined with a steadier flow of specialty films with wider appeal. That could include SPC’s upcoming The Duke, Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story and The Phantom of the Open.

Focus Features’ bellwether Downton Abby: A New Era is the big test. If the Crawley family can’t rout lingering Covid jitters and force of habit to nudge older demos off home screens, then nothing can.

Hoping to prime the pump for this potential spring rebound, SPC and the Angelika Film Center this week unveiled “Bring A Friend Back To The Movies,...

Festival titles ‘The Outfit’, ‘Murina’, ‘Compartment No. 6’ all debut.

Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore will try to invoke some of the Harry Potter franchise’s past magic as the major title opening at UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend.

The Secrets Of Dumbledore – the third film in the Fantastic Beasts spin-off series – will open in 716 locations, the widest-ever opening for Warner Bros, topping the 709 of The Batman from last month.

It is the eighth-widest opening of all time, just behind the 718 sites of Disney’s Death On The Nile from February.

The previous two Fantastic Beasts films opened in...

Speakers at Ukca conference also called for more theatrical family films.

The UK cinema industry should resume its pre-pandemic target of 200 million yearly admissions, according to UK Cinema Association (Ukca) CEO Phil Clapp.

“[Prior to the pandemic] the ambition was to get to 200 million admissions a year – the ambition should be to get back there within five to 10 years,” said Clapp in his closing remarks at the trade organisation’s annual conference.

UK cinema admissions dropped to 44 million in 2020, with cinemas closed from mid-March until July then again for much of November and December. They rose to 74 million in 2021.

Prior to the pandemic, they...

Mubi’s ‘The Worst Person In The World’ scored a 7 increase on its opening weekend.

Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Apr 1-3) Total gross to date Week 1. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Paramount) £4.98m £4.98m 1 2. Morbius (Sony) £2.5m £3.3m 1 3. The Bad Guys (Universal) £1.6m £2.3m 1 4. The Batman (Warner Bros) £1.2m £37.9m 5 5. Ambulance (Universal) £273,015 £1.2m 2

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.31

Paramount’s Sonic The Hedgehog 2 brought a welcome boost to UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend with a strong £5m opening that dominated the box office chart.

Playing in 651 locations, Sonic The Hedgehog 2 took £4.98m, at an average of £7,650.

This figure is...

The scheme is closing despite lobbying from the independent sector.

The UK government has confirmed today (April 1) that its £500m Film and TV Production Restart Scheme will halt as planned at the end of this month.

In spite of lobbying from the independent sector for the scheme to be extended, a government spokesperson has confirmed that there is now no chance of this happening.

The Department For Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms) said in a statement: “Thanks to the government’s Living with Covid plan and the success of the vaccination programme, the risk to productions posed by coronavirus...

The U.K. government has halted its insurance scheme for film and television.

Known as the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme, the £500 million (657 million) plan was first unveiled in July 2020, was and extended for a further six months in Oct. 2021.

The scheme supported 95,000 jobs and led to a record £5.6 billion production spend, according to the U.K. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms). “Peaky Blinders,” “Killing Eve,” “Gangs of London” and new film “The Phantom of the Open” were among productions supported by the scheme.

“Insurance trade bodies have stepped up work with commercial firms to provide cover to the U.K.’s booming screen industries as the government’s successful Film & TV Production Restart Scheme comes towards its planned closure,” said a Dcms statement. “As the sector emerges from the pandemic, brokers and insurers will now work with the film and TV industry to manage risk...

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that its golf film The Phantom of the Open, starring Academy Award winner Mark Rylance, Academy Award nominee Sally Hawkins and BAFTA Award nominee Rhys Ifans, will open in New York and Los Angeles on June 3, with a wider release in additional markets set for the following weeks.

The film from director Craig Roberts will open against IFC Films’ horror-thriller Watcher, starring Maika Monroe, an Untitled WB Event Film, Fabrication Films’ crime thriller Frank and Penelope, Blue Fox Entertainment’s Eiffel and a title called Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story.

The Phantom of the Open is based on the book of the same name by Simon Farnaby and Scott Murray. It follows Maurice Flitcroft (Rylance), a dreamer and unrelenting optimist who managed to gain entry to The British Open Golf Championship Qualifying in 1976 and subsequently shot the worst round in Open history,...

Simon Farnaby adapted screenplay from his book of same name co-authored by Scott Murray.

Sony Pictures Classics will release Craig Roberts’ sports underdog tale The Phantom Of The Open in New York and Los Angeles on June 3 with a wider release to follow in additional markets.

’The Phantom Of The Open’: London Review

Mark Rylance, Hawkins and Rhys Ifans star in the Water & Power Productions and Baby Cow Productions co-production about Maurice Flitcroft (Rylance), a relentless optimist who became a folk hero when he shot the worst round in British Open Golf Championship history.

Simon Farnaby adapted the...

Warner Bros.’ “The Batman” dominated the U.K. and Ireland box office for the fourth weekend in a row with £1.66 million ($2.1 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The film now has a total of £35.6 million.

Dreamz Entertainment release “Rrr,” directed by S.S. Rajamouli and starring Ntr Jr, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt, released wide in the Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi languages, and debuted in second position with £650,204.

Universal release, Michael Bay’s “Ambulance,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza González, debuted in third place with £521,049.

In fourth position, Sony’s “Uncharted” collected £349,457 and now has a total of £23.2 million after seven weekends.

Rounding off the top five was Warner Bros.’ “The Nan Movie” with £289,731 and now has £1.1 million after two weekends.

EOne’s “The Phantom of the Open” took £218,626 in sixth place in its second weekend and has a total of £1.06 million.

Mubi release,...

Warner Bros.’ “The Batman” continued atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the third weekend in a row with £3.3 million ($4.4 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The film, starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz now has a total of £32.6 million.

Sony’s Japanese animated film “Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie,” a prequel to the “Jujutsu Kaisen” manga series, debuted in second place with £825,529.

Another Sony title, “Uncharted,” collected £605,723 in third position and now has £22.7 million after six weekends.

Warner Bros.’ British comedy “The Nan Movie,” written, directed by and starring Catherine Tate, debuted in fourth place with £565,340. Another British comedy, eOne’s “The Phantom of the Open,” starring Mark Rylance, debuted in fifth position with £456,829.

Universal’s animated sequel “Sing 2” took £421,651 in sixth place and now has £31.8 million after eight weekends.

Continuing a fine weekend for debutants, Entertainment Film Distributors’ horror “X” bowed in seventh position...