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Exclusive: Before filming got underway last month on action film The Beast, Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger) came aboard as director, taking over from the previously announced James Madigan (The Meg second unit director).

The team is halfway through an eight-week shoot in Madrid and Spain’s Canary Islands. As we previously revealed, Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad) and Guy Burnet (Oppenheimer) are starring.

The project had been due to start in early September but was pushed back a little due to LED stages needing further tech prep, we’re told. No reason was given for Madigan’s exit.

The film’s title refers to a presidential limousine nicknamed “The Beast” by the Secret Service. In the movie, when a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup against the U.S., the president (Jackson) uncovers the extent of The Beast’s highly classified offensive capabilities.

Keith Kjarval (Tin Soldier...

Exclusive: Filming is due to get underway in Spain on September 4 on Samuel L. Jackson and Joel Kinnaman action film The Beast.

The film’s title refers to a presidential limousine nicknamed ‘The Beast’ by the Secret Service. In the movie, when a militia of unidentified hostiles coordinates a coup against the U.S., the President (Jackson) uncovers the extent of The Beast’s highly classified offensive capabilities.

Guy Burnet (Oppenheimer) is joining the cast as the main adversary to Jackson’s President. Filming is due to take place in the Canary Islands and Madrid.

James Madigan (The Meg second unit director) is directing off a script by Umair Aleems (Kate).

Keith Kjarval (upcoming Tin Soldier) is producing through his Unified Pictures banner alongside Wayne Marc Godfrey (Wind River) and Nicki Cortese (Ricky Stanicky) for Bright White Light who are also financing the film. Fifth Season (Ambulance), John Logan Pierson...

All Rights Entertainment, the Paris, Hong Kong and Los Angeles-based international film agency has picked up international sales duties on animated children and family feature “Out of the Nest.” The film had its world premiere this week at the Annecy International Animation Festival.

In the Kingdom of Castilia, days from the coronation of the new Emperor and Empress, their seven royal fledglings are taken and it’s up to one hero to return them safely; a teenage delivery boy, Arthur the Goat. His dreams of becoming a world-class barber are put on hold when he becomes the unwitting guardian of the royal heirs. If he’s going to keep the rambunctious toddlers safe on their journey, he must first grow up, discover his own past, and along the way, awaken forgotten champions. Can Arthur return the heirs and ultimately save the kingdom?

The film is the debut feature of Pixar...

Remington Chase, a former film producer who was accused of swindling investors out of at least $234 million, has been reported dead in the United Kingdom.

Chase, 65, died of liver failure on July 31 at Victoria Hospital in Blackpool, according to a death certificate provided to Variety by the Blackpool Registration Service.

His death was also confirmed by his wife, Linda Biron of Marina del Rey, Calif., who said he was a “good person.”

“He got mixed up with some wrong people,” she said in an interview. “He was not out to hurt anybody. He was out to make good movies.”

Chase’s death leaves a long trail of litigation, with numerous parties accusing him of defrauding them out of investment funds, real estate and loan proceeds.

Base Media, a China-based animation and VFX studio, sued Chase and an associate, Kevin Robl, in 2022, accusing them of a massive fraud against the company’s investors.

Earlier this year, a Chinese VFX and animation studio revealed that it had been victimized by two American swindlers who had used the company’s name to defraud investors out of 234 million.

In a filing on Thursday, the company alleged that the two men — Remington Chase and Kevin Robl — are still trying to lure investors, even after the scam was exposed. The company, Base, filed for an injunction that would block the men from using its name to solicit further investments.

The whereabouts of Robl and Chase remain uncertain. They could not be reached for comment, and they have yet to respond to the federal lawsuit that Base filed against them in March. In the suit, CEO Chris Bremble alleged that he had been the victim of a con stretching back nine years, in which Robl and Chase gradually gained his trust and then used the relationship to scam investors.

A Chinese visual effects and animation studio filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that it is the victim of two American swindlers who forged documents, impersonated the CEO, and conned investors out of $234 million.

Base FX, headquartered in Beijing, states that it was duped into trusting the two men — Remington Chase and Kevin Robl — over the course of several years, in which they engaged in several financing arrangements and a joint venture in Malaysia.

However, over the last year and a half, the company has discovered that the men were using the relationship as a lure for investors, who were deceived into signing over $234 million, in what they thought were loans and investments in the company and its projects. Base FX alleges that Chase and Robl forged the signature of the company’s CEO on investment documents, created fake entities and bank accounts, had someone pretend to be the CEO in calls with investors,...

When visual development artist Chris Appelhans (“Coraline”) realized that “Aladdin” was originally a Chinese folk tale while visiting Shanghai 20 years ago, he had an aha moment about writing and directing an animated genie-in-a-bottle retelling set in modern Shanghai. The result is “Wish Dragon” (streaming Friday on Netflix), an American-Chinese co-production with Sony Pictures Animation, in which working-class college student, Din (Jimmy Wong), teams up with pink, fluffy, snarky genie, Long (John Cho), to reunite with his long-lost childhood friend, Lina (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), now a famous model.

As Appelhans watched a friend in Shanghai “struggling with family and class and concepts of success, it seemed like that timeless [‘Aladdin’] story… about a peasant boy who lives with his mother, meets a wish-granting genie, falls in love with a princess, loses himself, and finds himself again, could have newfound relevance today,” he said. “It made me think a lot about the world.

John Cho, Constance Wu and Jimmy Wong voice characters in the new animated fantasy film, Wish Dragon. As Entertainment Weekly reports, the movie was released theatrically in China earlier this year. It makes its Netflix debut on June 11th.

The Chris Appelhans-directed film follows a similar arc to Aladdin, where a mythical figure grants three wishes to the person who has unleashed it from its confines.

In the new Wish Dragon trailer, Wong voices Din, a college student of meager means who is in search of his long-lost friend,...

VFX work on the two productions was carried out by Kuala Lumpur-based Base Digital Production.

Two Disney productions, Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (Episode IX) and The Mandalorian, have been approved for the 30% incentive under Malaysia’s Film In Malaysia Incentive (Fimi) for VFX work.

The work was completed by Base Digital Production, the Kuala Lumpur-based subsidiary of Base Media, which also has offices in Los Angeles and Beijing. Base also accessed the incentive for it work on Michael Bay’s Netflix action thriller Underground 6.

Fimi, which is operated by the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas), offers the...

6 Underground qualified through using Base Digital Production, a Malaysian subsidiary of Beijing-based Base Media.

Michael Bay’s Netflix action thriller 6 Underground has become the first movie to receive a 30% rebate from the Film In Malaysia Incentive (Fimi) for visual effects.

Malaysia has operated a locations incentive programme for film and TV production since 2013, but according to a statement, this is the first time that an international production has tapped the subsidy for post-production visual effects.

Fimi, which is operated by the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas), offers the 30% rebate on a total qualifying Malaysian production expenditure of...

Michael Bay’s Netflix action thriller “6 Underground” has received a financial rebate from the Malaysian authorities as recompense for the visual effects work it purchased in the country.

While the country has operated a location incentive program for film and TV production in the country since 2013, this is the first time that a film has qualified for the less well-known post-production visual effects subsidy.

The Film In Malaysia Incentive (Fimi) is operated by The National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas), and offers a 30% rebate for both film production services and for post-work. The total qualifying Malaysian production expenditure is Myr 5 million ($1.2 million) for production (inclusive of post-production), or Myr 1.5 million for post-production activity in Malaysia.

“6 Underground” qualified having used Base Digital Production, an offshoot of Beijing-based Base Media, for some 90 visual effects shots. Base has a long-standing relationship with Ilm, which lead the VFX and animation effort.

“The...

Editors’ Note: With full acknowledgment of the big-picture implications of a pandemic that already has claimed thousands of lives, cratered global economies and closed international borders, Deadline’s Coping With Covid-19 Crisis series is a forum for those in the entertainment space grappling with myriad consequences of seeing a great industry screech to a halt. The hope is for an exchange of ideas and experiences, and suggestions on how businesses and individuals can best ride out a crisis that doesn’t look like it will abate any time soon. If you have a story, email mike@deadline.com.

Oscar-winning Base FX, formed in 2003 by filmmaker and visual effects expert Chris Bremble, has grown into one of the leading VFX and animation companies in Asia, with recent credits including The Mandalorian and Aquaman.

More from DeadlineChina Moving To Spark Moviegoing With 'Avengers' Pics, 'Inception' & More As Cinemas...

Production is now under way on “Wish Dragon,” a major animated feature being made in China for Sony’s Columbia Pictures Film Production.

The film is a first feature for Base Animation, the new animation studio that is part of Beijing-based VFX firm BaseFX, and for Chinese super star Jackie Chan. Chan’s Sparkle Roll Media is a producer and co-investor, and Chan will voice characters in both the Chinese- and English-language versions of the finished picture.

The family-oriented film is being directed by Chris Appelhans (illustrator on “Coraline”) from his own original screenplay. The modern-day fairy tale picks up the moral challenges that emerge from the encounter between a boy and a dragon who is able to make wishes come true. Production is focused at Base’s new animation studio in Xiamen, southern China. The movie is targeting a 2019 theatrical release in China.

The U.S. voice cast includes...

Jackie Chan and Constance Wu will voice-star in Sony Pictures Animation's Wish Dragon, a contemporary retelling of the classic genie-in-a-bottle tale from One Thousand and One Nights.

Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jimmy Wong and Bobby Lee will also voice-star, with John Cho and Jimmy O. Yang in talks to join the cast.

The feature, which is aiming for a 2019 theatrical release in China, is a Chinese co-production with Chan's Beijing-based Sparkle Roll Media Corporation and Base Animation. A U.S. and international release are also planned. 

Chris Appelhans will direct, with Aron Warner (the Shrek franchise) and Chris Bremble producing. Ian Sugarman will...

Exclusive: Jackie Chan, Fresh Off the Boat star Constance Wu, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Will Yun Lee (The Good Doctor), Nico Santos (Superstore), Jimmy Wong, and Bobby Lee are set as the U.S. voice cast of Wish Dragon, an animated film from Sony Pictures Animation, Beijing Sparkle Roll Media Corporation, and Base Animation. John Cho and Silicon Valley‘s Jimmy O. Yang are also in talks to join the feature which is begin directed by Chris Appelhans.

The pic is a modern re-telling of the classic Genie in a bottle tale from 1001 Nights. The core of the story reminds us that the most important things in life – hard work, honesty, friends, and family – cannot be wished for.

Shrek franchise and The Book of Life producer Aron Warner is producing the film with Chris Bremble, while Ian Sugarman will serve as exec producer.

The studio is aiming for a 2019 theatrical...

Jackie Chan and Constance Wu will voice-star in Sony Pictures Animation's <em>Wish Dragon,</em> a contemporary retelling of the classic genie-in-a-bottle tale from <em>One Thousand and One Nights.</em>

Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jimmy Wong and Bobby Lee will also voice-star, with John Cho and Jimmy O. Yang in talks to join the cast.

The feature, which is aiming for a 2019 theatrical release in China, is a Chinese co-production with Chan's Beijing-based Sparkle Roll Media Corporation and Base Animation. A U.S. and international release are also planned. 

Chris Appelhans will direct, with Aron Warner (the<em> Shrek</em> franchise) and Chris Bremble ...