Category: News

(official logo of the festival. Photograph credit: SSIFF)

As already been reported by filmiere.com. Woody Allen’s new movie “Rifkin’s Festival” is the opening film of Spain’s most prestigious film festival San Sebastian. That’s not it though; many other auteurs will have their films screened. Including Sharunas Bartas, Naomi Kawase, François Ozon, and Thomas Vinterberg. The festival will also screen the work of new directors such as Dea Kulumbegashvili and Takuma Sato.

Bartas’ new film In The Dusk will deal with the partisan movement of Lithuania during WWII. Kawase is here for Asa Ga Kuru / True Mothers. A new exploration of the family microcosm through the confrontation between two mothers: one biological and the other adoptive.  Ozon’s new film Summer of 85 is seemingly semi-autobiographical work and Thomas Vinterberg has Druk / Another Round. A new collaboration with his frequent actor Mads Mikkelsen. Without a doubt, a lot of exciting titles that attendees will enjoy.

Credit-Mensur Zeinal

(photograph credit: Warner Bros.)

Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s recent film earned him an Oscar and now he was supposed to back again with a new adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham’s novel “Nightmare Alley”. With an all-star cast including Bradley Cooper, Toni Collette, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, and Rooney Mara. Principal photography began on January 21, 2020.

But on March 13, Disney halted production on the film due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent interview, Del Toro says they hope to back on filming in fall: “We reacted super fast, we proposed the studio to stop as opposed to being asked to stop. Nobody to my knowledge in the cast or the crew got coronavirus. We were roughly 45% in. We were literally in the middle of a great scene.

We went to lunch and talked to the studio and when we came back we said, ‘Everybody leaves your tools and leaves now.’” Of course, them getting back on the set or not is bit depends on how the surge in COVID-19 cases is handled over the next couple of months. Del Toro didn’t waste any time though, he was editing what he already filmed during all this time.

So it seems there’s already a strong candidate for Palme d’Or for next year’s Cannes edition.

(Photograph credit: Matt Baron/Shutterstock)

Aaron Sorkin’s new directorial effort “The Trial of the Chicago 7” is on the news recently because Paramount just sold it to Netflix for around $56M. Netflix believes in the success and awards chances of the film and Paramount is probably a bit uncertain of how well it can do at the box office given the current climate, so maybe it all makes sense.

The movie is about what was intended to be a peaceful protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention turned into a violent clash with police and the National Guard. Sorkin also gathered a very large ensemble cast including  Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Alex Sharp, Mark Rylance, Michael Keaton, Frank Langella, and John Carroll Lynch.

Netflix also just dated Charlie Kaufman’s new film “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”. The film, based on an acclaimed Iain Reid novel, involves a young man taking his new girlfriend to visit his parents on an isolated farm. The movie is supposed to be premiered on September 4. It also has a starry cast: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, David Thewlis, and Toni Collette.

(Photograph credit: Warner Bros)

If you’re a comedy fan, you probably had seen some of the early legendary comedies starred and written by Steve Martin including “The Jerk”, “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”, “The Man with Two Brains” and “All of Me”. All those films were directed by comedic genius Carl Reiner, whose film credits also include “Oh, God!” and “Where’s Poppa?”. He was also probably best known for creating “The Dick Van Dyke Show”. Reiner died at his home in Beverly Hills, on June 29, 2020, aged 98, in the company of his family. Even though he was very old, that didn’t stop him from being active. Just last year he was an Emmy nominee, which made him the oldest nominee ever. Throughout his career, Reiner won many awards and honors including nine Emmy Awards, one Grammy Award, and The Mark Twain Prize. He was also the father of accomplished director Rob Reiner.

(Photograph credit:101 Studios and Brookdale Studios)

101 Studios will release the family comedy “The War With Grandpa” on Sept. 18 wide in conjunction with financier Brookdale Studios, starring Robert De Niro and “Pete’s Dragon” breakout Oakes Fegley. The movie was scheduled to be released on February 23, 2018, by The Weinstein Company’s Dimension Films. However, just a month before its release, it was pulled from the schedule and was later pushed back to October 20, due to principal photography location changes.

For the obvious Weinstein-related news, the film was pulled back from them and sold to the producers. Now the film is finally expected to hit theatres in September. Tim Hill-directed family comedy follows a young boy who devises a series of outrageous pranks in an attempt to make his grandfather move out after he was forced to give up his room for him. The movie co-stars Cheech Marin, Uma Thurman, Eugene Levy, and most notably, Christopher Walken.

If Walken and De Niro share a scene, this will be the first time they do since “The Deer Hunter” (1978). De Niro is fresh from two Best Picture Oscar-nominated films with “Joker” and “The Irishman” and is now expected to work with Scorsese and David O. Russell again, also collaborating for the first time with James Gray for a new project. With his career back on acclaimed films on track, hopefully, “War with Grandpa” won’t earn him any mixed reviews considering his recent “Grandpa” role in “Dirty Grandpa” wasn’t so beloved.

(Photograph credit: Paramount Pictures)

Jim Carrey previewed his new book in a new interview with The New York Times ahead of its July publication. The book which is titled “Memoirs and Misinformation” tells the story of a fictionalized Jim Carrey searching for meaning in Hollywood. Years after acting success and is billed as “semi-autobiographical novel”.

In the book, Carrey is in an existential crisis and trying to find meaning in Hollywood’s self-obsessed culture. He also deals with movie offers like Mao Zeoding and something else about eco-terrorism and so on. Several actors like Nicolas Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Anthony Hopkins will also have their fictionalized versions.

“It’s satire and parody but also done with reverence.

Most of the people in this book are people whom I admire greatly,” says Carrey. Tom Cruise also appears here under the name “Laser Jack Lightning” for legal reasons. Carrey says “That’s just us poking fun at the litigiousness of Hollywood. I know Tom Cruise He may sock me, but hey, I’ll take the beating for a piece of art.

I think he’s going to love it.” The actor’s novel, co-written with Dana Vachon is available to purchase from 7 July.

(Photograph credit: Deadline)

Pablo Larrain has achieved great success with “Jackie”. Now he’s back to a biopic about a celebrated woman of the political world again. This time his film “Spencer” will be about Princess Diana’s life and she’s going to be portrayed by Kristen Stewart. Stewart had been on a hot streak between 2014 and 2017.

Recently she seems to slow down, some of her recent film choices didn’t work but critics still love her performances and praised her accent work on her recent biographical takes in “Lizzie” and “Seberg”. So probably she’ll pull this off successfully as well. Another hot news of the week was that Neon, the slowly rising studio has now bought the US rights to the film.

This is good for its awards chances considering “Parasite” just won the Best Picture this year, also distributed by NEON. Chilean filmmaker was also supposed to end filming “Lisey’s Story” with Julianne Moore for AppleTV+ then coronavirus happened. “We were [shooting] for six months in a row and we had a few weeks left, and we had to stop.

So I guess we’re wondering and seeing how we restart, how are those conditions. I don’t have clarity today,” Larraín said. As for “Spencer”, it’s expected to start filming early next year. Pablo certainly keeps himself busy.

(Photograph credit: Variety)

Margot Robbie and her “Birds of Prey” writer Christina Hodson are teaming up again. This time for a new “Pirates of the Caribbean” film but to make things clear. While the plot details are unknown, it’s safe to say that it is separate from the already announced reboot that is going to be handled by Ted Elliott and Craig Mazin.

“Pirates” producer Jerry Bruckheimer is expected to produce both films. It is said to be a wholly original story with new characters under the “Pirates” moniker. The franchise itself had always been commercially successful. The critics hadn’t been too kind to the sequels & they started to get tired of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow. Who is not expected to be in any of those two films (but who knows, maybe he’ll surprise).

Robbie is going strong in general, she’s fresh from two Oscar-nominated films; “Bombshell” (for which she was nominated as well) and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. She’s next to be seen in James Gunn’s “Suicide Squad” and also supposed to collaborate with Greta Gerwig-Noah Baumbach duo for a “Barbie” film.

(Photograph credit: Warner Bros)

Christopher Nolan’s much anticipated new film “Tenet” is now delayed again. As the theatres are not expected to open in July not just in LA & NY but around the many parts of the globe as well. Even earlier this year, when most films were announcing their postponement, it was widely reported that Christopher Nolan is very insistent on the July release date and has convinced Warner Bros to release the film at that time.

The movie was initially slated to arrive in theaters on July 17 but was later postponed until July 31. Now it’s delayed again and it will be released on Aug. 12. However, it may still seem too early because the pandemic has not been slowing down around the world. Since the movie costs 200$ million dollars, theatres opening in the US alone may not be enough even and that’s not the sole reason.

Nolan is well-known for trying to avoid spoilers as much as possible. So having long gaps between release dates in the world may be a problem for the usual marketing strategy. Nolan’s films are also often considered to be great theatrical experiences by his fans and these are all among the many reasons why there’s no way “Tenet” getting a VOD release instead of theatrical one.

The question is when will we get to experience it since further delays are possible given the current climate. Of course, cinema lovers are hoping it’ll be experienced in theatres but when there’s enough of a safe environment. Soon later, news came up that Disney has also moved “Mulan” to August 21, and just like “Tenet”, it’s possible to move on again.

MGM has also moved “Bill & Ted Face the Music” back two weeks to Aug. 28 to avoid opening against “Tenet.”

(Photograph credit: The Wrap)

There had been a lot of Will Smith-related news recently, some good and some bad. The good news is Warner Bros, Apple, MGM, Lionsgate & Universal have all made offers to buy his new project with Antoine Fuqua. Smith is supposed to play a runaway slave. Who escaped to the Union Army during the Civil War and outwitted bounty hunters over 10 days through the Louisiana swamps, masking his scent with onions.

The production is expected to start in early 2021. As for the bad news, his other new project “King Richard” is now being sued. The movie that will tell the story of Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena Williams, is now a subject to controversy as Richard is being sued, along with Warned Bros and Will Smith’s production company.

According to TW3 Entertainment & Power Move Multi-Media, Richard Williams sold the rights to his life story to them first, well before Warner Bros. came on the scene. Smith will probably handle the situation and the film itself seems to be another baity role for him. Smith most recently starred in “Bad Boys for Life”, the third installment in his famous “Bad Boys” series. Currently the highest-grossing film of the year. It is also the highest-grossing installment of the series and the biggest January release of all time.