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Netflix just released the official trailer for My Oxford Year, starring Queen Charlotte‘s Corey Mylchreest and Carry-On‘s Sofia Carson. If you haven’t read Julia Whelan’s novel, based on a story by Allison Burnett, the two-minute trailer reveals a lot (maybe too much?) about the couple at the heart of the film.

The film also stars Dougray Scott (Ever After), Catherine McCormack (Temple), Harry Trevaldwyn (How to Train Your Dragon), Esmé Kingdom (Fallen), Nikhil Parmar (Gran Turismo), and Poppy Gilbert (The Catch). Romina Cocca (The Penguin Lessons), Yadier Fernández (The Gold), Nia Anisah (Magpie Murders), and Hugh Coles (Baby Reindeer) fill out the cast.

My Oxford Year premieres on August 1, 2025.

Corey Mylchreest as Jamie and Sofia Carson as Anna in ‘My Oxford Year’ (Photo Cr. Chris Baker/Netflix © 2024)

“When Anna (Carson), an ambitious young American woman, sets out for Oxford University to fulfill a childhood dream, she...

Netflix has released the trailer for My Oxford Year, based on the book by Julia Whelan.

Ambitious American student Anna (Sofia Carson) has one year at Oxford University for a study abroad program before she returns to the states for a job at Goldman Sachs waiting for her.

“We have a student all the way from…” Corey Mylchreest’s (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgeton Story) Jamie Davenport prompts Anna after viewers see the school’s headmaster encourage students to “seize” their “precious time” at the historic school.

“New York,” Anna answers.

Anna’s life is completely on track until this detour. With the aim to fulfill a childhood dream, she soon finds herself completely charmed by her poetry professor, and they assert that they’ll just have fun romantically.

“Flirting with the hot teacher on the first day?” Harry Trevaldwyn’s (How To Train Your Dragon) character Charlie Butler asks Anna following this encounter,...

Netflix has revealed the trailer and poster for My Oxford Year, the upcoming adaptation starring Sofia Carson and Corey Mylchreest. The film will begin streaming on August 1, 2025.

When Anna (Sofia Carson), an ambitious young American woman, sets out for Oxford University to fulfill a childhood dream, she has her life completely on track until she meets a charming and clever local (Corey Mylchreest) who profoundly alters both of their lives.

Directed by Iain Morris, the film is based on the 2018 novel by Julia Whelan. The screenplay is by Allison Burnett and Melissa Osborne.

The cast includes Sofia Carson (The Life List), Corey Mylchreest, Dougray Scott (Vigil), Catherine McCormack (Lockerbie: A Search for Truth), Harry Trevaldwyn, Esmé Kingdom, Nikhil Parmar, Poppy Gilbert, Romina Cocca, Yadier Fernández, Nia Anisah, and Hugh Coles.

The executive producers include Caroline Levy, Sofia Carson, Laura Char Carson, Christopher Simon, Maggie Monteith, and Pete Harris. Marty Bowen,...

Sofia Carson and Corey Mylchreest are giving Netflix viewers a new love story for the (Oxford) books.

The streaming service unveiled the trailer Monday for its upcoming film My Oxford Year, based on a novel of the same name by Julia Whelan.

The story centers on Anna (Carson), a young American woman who sets out for the U.K. and the University of Oxford to fulfill a childhood dream. But things change when she meets “a charming and clever local” (Mylchreest) who “alters both of their lives,” according to the Netflix synopsis.

Throughout the trailer, Anna and Jamie have an attraction that builds to them having a “fun” fling. The two may share a love of poetry, but when feelings seemingly grow, obstacles begin to put a stop to their relationship.

“Don’t waste the short time you have left in Oxford on me,” Mylchreest’s Jamie tells Carson’s Anna.

Netflix is no stranger to adapting iconic novels into popular movies and TV shows, and one of the latest creations from the streamer just got an exciting update. Netflix has officially debuted the first trailer for My Oxford Year, the coming-of-age drama starring Sofia Carson and Corey Mylchreest. The film will be released on the streamer on August 1, and it’s based on the novel of the same name by Julia Whelan, with Allison Burnett and Melissa Osborne writing the screenplay and Iain Morris directing. My Oxford Year will also star Dougray Scott, Catherine McCormack, Harry Trevaldwyn, Esmé Kingdom, Nikhil Parmar, Poppy Gilbert, Romina Cocca, Yadier Fernández, Nia Anisah, and Hugh Coles. Caroline Levy, Sofia Carson, Laura Char Carson, Christopher Simon, Maggie Monteith, and Pete Harris will produce.

My Oxford Year follows Anna (Sofia Carson), an ambitious young American woman who sets out to fulfil her lifelong dream: attending Oxford University.

Exclusive: Miss You Already producer Christopher Simon has boarded low-budget Brit pic Yamas!.

The film, which is being produced for under £500,000, is the debut title of Harry Richards and Rufus Love’s production house, Headrush Films, and is billed as a chaotic comedy-drama satire. Richards and Love are co-directing from a script Love adapted from his theater script of the same name.

New Sparta Productions CEO Simon will executive-produce the film, alongside Disauthority CEO Marcus Hundsnes, who put some of the production finance. Ex-Anton, Head Gear and HanWay Films financier exec Orlando Figg is also supporting the project.

The 90-minute comedy-drama is billed as a “sizzling satire that sees a liberal British family’s boozy holiday plunged into chaos by the discovery of a refugee living in the villa’s outhouse.”

Development finance of £40,000 has been raised and a shoot will take place in Greece this fall. The film has only six roles,...

Netflix has unveiled a premiere date and a series of first-look photos for My Oxford Year, its new romance starring Sofia Carson (The Life List) and Corey Mylchreest (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story), which adapts the novel by Julia Whelan.

The film begins streaming on August 1. Check out the stills above and below.

Hailing from The Inbetweeners director Iain Morris, the film’s logline is as follows: When Anna, an ambitious young American woman, sets out for Oxford University to fulfill a childhood dream, she has her life completely on track until she meets a charming and clever local who profoundly alters both of their lives.

Adapted for the screen by Allison Burnett and Melissa Osborne, from a story by Burnett, pic’s cast also includes Dougray Scott, Catherine McCormack, Harry Trevaldwyn, Esmé Kingdom, Nikhil Parmar, and Poppy Gilbert. Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, Laura Quicksilver, and Isaac Klausner are the film’s producers.

Upcoming directing and producing projects are expanding Toni Collette’s creative horizons, according to the Australian actress speaking at Qumra this weekend.

She will soon star in A French Pursuit, a comedy feature directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Collette will produce the film through her Vocab Films company, alongside UK producer Christopher Simon’s New Sparta Films.

“Meeting the production team we’re working with in France, casting people – it’s stuff you don’t get to do as an actor, it’s incredibly satisfying,” said Collette, speaking in Doha where she gave a masterclass to emerging filmmakers and attending industry...

Actress Toni Collette discussed her journey from a working-class neighborhood in northwest Sydney to Hollywood star in a masterclass at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra talent and project development event on Friday.

The Oscar-nominated Muriel’s Wedding, Little Miss Sunshine, Knives Out and Unbelievable acting star is among six top cinema professionals attending Qumra, alongside directors Leos Carax, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan and Jim Sheridan as well as sound editor and designer Martin Hernández.

Colette said she had been drawn to performance from an early age, firstly through musical theatre and tap dance.

“My father said I came out of the womb with jazz hands towards the light,” she joked.

Looking back on her early career, Collette recalled how she had dropped out of Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art Nida after being offered the part of Sonya in a 1992 stage production of Uncle Vanya by Neil Armfield.

This...

Australian Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor and producer Toni Collette (Knives Out) has been announced as a Master at the 10th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra talent incubator, running from March 1 to 6.

She joins Leos Carax, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Martín Hernández, and Jim Sheridan who were previously announced as Masters for the 2024 edition of the meeting dedicated to supporting new voices from Arab and world cinema.

They join a long list of top professionals to have participated in Qumra since its launch in 2014, which has included James Schamus, Naomi Kawase, Asghar Farhadi, Gael Garcia Bernal and Tilda Swinton.

Additionally, the Dfi has also announced the 40 projects by emerging filmmakers from more than 20 countries, that will participate in the event. (scroll down for full details).

Under the Qumra format, the Masters give a masterclass and provide one-on-one mentorship the talents attached to the projects, alongside a...

Naomie Harris, Jameela Jamil, Joel Fry and Olivia Lee have joined the cast of the British romantic comedy ‘Lola and Freddie.’

Described as a reimaging of 2012’s ‘Celeste and Jesse Forever,’ the story follows a couple who were once inseparable and totally in love but now, in their 40s and having grown in different directions, are getting a divorce. Lola is thriving in her career while Freddie continues to chase his dream of becoming a screenwriter. When a big studio hires Freddie and rekindles a relationship with an old flame, he matures and aligns more with what Lola desires in their marriage.

With Freddie’s change in fortune, Lola starts to miss a life she thought she no longer wanted. With newly separate worlds colliding again, Lola and Freddie are forced to confront the uncomfortable truth that they might still be in love with each other. But a major development...

Naomie Harris, Joel Fry, Jameela Jamil and Olivia Lee are set to star in upcoming romantic comedy “Lola and Freddie,” billed as a British reimagining of 2012’s “Celeste and Jesse Forever.”

The feature comes from writer/director Dean Craig, whose recent film credits include Netflix hit “Love, Wedding, Repeat,” plus “The Honeymoon” and “The Estate.”

Bankside Films is handling worldwide sales and will be launching the film — due to shoot on location in London — at the European Film Market in Berlin.

“Lola and Freddie” follows a couple who were once inseparable and totally in love but now, in their 40s and having grown in different directions, are getting a divorce. Lola is thriving in her career while Freddie continues to chase his dream of becoming a screenwriter. When Freddie is hired by a big studio and rekindles a relationship with an old flame, he matures and aligns more with what Lola desired in their marriage.

Toni Collette has been set as the lead for the upcoming comedy from ‘Twilight’ helmer Catherine Hardwicke, ‘A French Pursuit.’

Based on the French box office hit ‘Antoinette Dans Les Cévennes‘, the project is a heartwarming tale of a free-spirited woman on a journey of self-discovery as she pursues love.

The synopsis reads; “Zoe thus embarks on a daring pursuit of Jean-Louis in the picturesque Cévennes deep in the South of France. Accompanied by the determined donkey Napoleon, Zoe grapples with the absurdities and challenges of their journey. Along the way, they encounter new friends and perils that draw them closer, prompting Zoe to reevaluate her priorities, confront her life choices, and rediscover her joie de vivre.”

Also in news – Callum Turner & Alia Shawkat join Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Atropia’

Collette will take on the role of Zoe Turner, an unconventional and lively British art teacher who is head over heels for fellow rebel spirit Jean-Louis.

UK sales outfit HanWay Films has taken worldwide rights to Catherine Hardwicke’s A French Pursuit, a re-imagining of France’s box office hit Antoinette Dans Les Cévennes, and starring Toni Colette.

The comedy is due to start shooting late spring, and marks the third creative alliance between Collette, Hardwicke and producer Christopher Simon. Simon will produce via New Sparta Productions alongside Collette with her outfit Vocab Films.

The trio previously worked together on Miss You Already and most recently on Mafia Mamma, while Hardwicke’s further directorial credits include Twilight and Thirteen.

The film is about a British art...

HanWay Films has boarded sales on Catherine Hardwicke’s upcoming comedy drama A French Pursuit starring Toni Collette, ahead of the EFM.

The movie, which is due to start shooting later this spring, is described as “a reimagining” of Caroline Vignal’s 2020 French hit My Donkey, My Lover & I (Antoinette Dans Les Cévennes), starring Laura Calamy.

A French Pursuit marks the third creative collaboration between Oscar nominee and Emmy Award winning actress Toni Collette, Hardwicke and producer Christopher Simon.

In the new version, Collette plays unconventional and lively British art teacher Zoe who falls head over heels for fellow rebel spirit, Jean-Louis.

Their plans for a romantic getaway are dashed when he has to join his family on a donkey trek in the remote and picturesque region of the Cévennes in the south of France, leaving Zoe heartbroken.

Zoe is encouraged by her mother to seize the opportunity for...

Toni Collette is set to star in “A French Pursuit,” a comedy based on the French box office hit “Antoinette Dans Les Cévennes,” from “Twilight” filmmaker Catherine Hardwicke. HanWay Films is selling worldwide distribution rights and will be taking the project to the European Film Market in Berlin.

The film, due to start shooting in late spring, will mark the third creative alliance between Collette, Hardwicke and Christopher Simon, who produces via New Sparta Productions alongside Collette with her Vocab Films production shingle. The three previously worked together on “Miss You Already” and, most recently, “Mafia Mamma.”

“A French Pursuit” is described as a heartwarming and whimsical tale about a free-spirited woman pursuing love, only to go on a surprising journey of self-discovery. Collette will play Zoe Turner, an unconventional and lively British art teacher who is head over heels for fellow rebel spirit Jean-Louis. But when their plans for a romantic getaway are dashed,...

13 titles have received funding in the latest round from the £7m per year UK Global Screen Fund.

A raft of UK Cannes titles are among the 13 features to receive awards given out by the British Film Institute (BFI) in the latest round of funding from the £7m per year UK Global Screen Fund (Ukgsf), supporting international opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector.

These include Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero, on which Good Chaos’ Mike Goodridge is the UK producer and will receive the award; Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex, with the funding going to Emily Leo...

Exclusive: We can confirm that Neither Confirm Nor Deny has been acquired for North American distribution by Greenwich Entertainment. The company plans a theatrical release later this year for the documentary about a dramatic incident from the Cold War, which involved an attempt to capture an alluring prize on the ocean floor.

Philip Carter makes his directorial debut with the film, which premiered at Doc NYC last November.

“At the height of the Cold War, the CIA is tasked with an audacious covert mission: recovering a sunken Soviet nuclear submarine from the bottom of the ocean,” notes a description of the documentary. “The mission hangs in the balance as the agency and its activities are caught in a power play between the press and the White House. With firsthand accounts from the principal players, Neither Confirm Nor Deny is a timely look into America’s clandestine underbelly with a long history of questionable tactics.

Mafia Mamma coulda been a contender, a sharp idea to throw an unsuspecting wife, mother and frustrated businesswoman into a new life as the head of an Italian crime family. Instead, though blessed to have the wonderful Toni Collette in the title role, it becomes a pasta with too many ingredients. This is not to say general audiences won’t be pleased, but this is a movie that feels like we have seen it too many times before. You certainly will have a few laughs, admire the Roman scenery and root for Collette’s success, but it is pretty mild when it should have been wickedly smart with this kind of premise. Married to the Mob it is not.

Collette plays Kristin Balbano Jordan, an American in the midst of a life crisis. Her only son Domenick (Tommy Rodger) is going off to college, she catches her deadbeat husband Paul...

The director of Twilight (2008) and the executive producer of Don’t Worry Darling, Catherine Hardwicke is set to crack you up with her latest action-comedy film, Mafia Mamma (2023). The movie is written by Michael J. Feldman and Debbie Jhoon, based on a story by French novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, Amanda Sthers, and features Knives Out star Toni Collette as the titular “mamma.” Both Sthers and Collette also serve as the producers of the film, along with Christopher Simon. Mafia Mamma marks the reunion of director Hardwicke and Collette, who had earlier teamed up for the 2015 British romantic comedy-drama film Miss You Already, also starring Drew Barrymore. Collette plays the protagonist, Kristin Balbano, an American suburban mom who inherits her grandfather’s mafia empire after his death and is expected to lead the family, much to her own and everyone’s surprise.

With “Cocaine Bear” notching another win in Universal’s recent run of “silly cinema” hits alongside “Violent Night” and “M3gan,” Bleecker Street is offering up its own escapist high concept pitch. “Mafia Mamma” stars Toni Collette as an American who inherits her grandfather’s business in Italy only to discover that the family business is the mafia.

With help from the firm’s consigliere (Monica Bellucci), she is placed in the position of having to acclimate to her new role as the head of a crime family while avoiding war with a rival family. This trailer — which you can see below — focuses on its protagonist and fish-out-of-water scenario, including Collette admitting she’s never seen “The Godfather” and giving momentary thought to using her newfound crime powers to whack her cheating husband.

Also Read:

Toni Collette’s ‘Mafia Mamma’ Lands at Bleecker Street for Domestic Distribution

The film is being...

“Under the Tuscan Sun” meets “The Godfather” in the latest comedy from multi-hyphenate Toni Collette.

The “Hereditary” star plays an insecure American who inherits her grandfather’s mafia empire in Italy in “Mafia Mamma,” directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Guided by the firm’s trusted consigliere (Monica Bellucci), Collette hilariously defies everyone’s expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business.

Giulio Corso, Francesco Mastroianni, Alfonso Perugini, Sophia Nomvete, Eduardo Scarpetta, Tim Daish, and Tommy Rodger also star.

Hardwicke directs from a script by Michael J. Feldman and Debbie Jhoon. Lead star Collette produces along with Christopher Simon and Amanda Sthers.

Hardwicke previously told IndieWire’s Kate Erbland that she strives to emphasize “complex female characters” onscreen.

“I think now, as women, we want to see somebody that takes charge of their life and does the very best they can in their power to escape, fight back,...

Bleecker Street has dropped the first teaser trailer for Mafia Mamma, an action-comedy starring the great Toni Collette as an unlikely mob boss.

Mafia Mamma follows an insecure American woman who inherits her grandfather’s mafia empire in Italy. Guided by the firm’s trusted consigliere (Monica Bellucci), she hilariously defies everyone’s expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business. The film is directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) and written by Michael J. Feldman & Debbie Jhoon. Toni Collette also serves as a producer on Mafia Mamma alongside Christopher Simon and Amanda Sthers. The concept might not have worked as well with another actor leading the movie, but we’ve Toni Collette rarely steers us wrong.

Related Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net: Knives Out, Namor, She-Ra, Spirited Away, 300

When Mafia Mamma was first announced, Catherine Hardwicke said: “Toni is one of the most...

Paramount Global is shaking up the way it communicates with Madison Avenue.

Karen Phillips, Chris Simon and David Lawenda were given new duties under a team that is now being directed by John Halley, who was named president of the operation in September. The moves effectively merge ad-sales teams that had been devoted separately to sales related to assets that had in the past been assigned to either the former CBS Corp. or Viacom Inc., the two companies that merged in late 2019 to form Paramount Global.

The new ad-sales team is being structured to that specific executives are assigned to work with individual media-buying agencies. Phillips, for example, will now overseeing Paramount’s relationships with Omnicom Media Group, GroupM, and Horizon Media, as well as the development of new business. Simon will supervise Paramount’s relationships with Interpublic Group, Dentsu and Publicis. Lawenda will serve as chief digital advertising officer,...

Amanda Sthers, the critically acclaimed French author, filmmaker and producer, who’s at the Venice Film Festival with the feature documentary “Bonnie,” will produce “Love Birds,” an animated film with an inclusive message, aimed at family audiences.

Sthers will produce the big-budget feature through her recently launched L.A.-based outfit Idea(L) and has teamed up with one of France’s leading animation studios, Tat, whose credits include “The Jungle Bunch” franchise.

Based on Sthers’ idea, the English-language “Love Birds” is written by Debbie Jhoon and J. Michael Feldman, the writing duo behind “Mafia Mamma,” Catherine Hardwicke’s crime comedy with Toni Collette, which Sthers also created and is producing.

“Love Birds” revolves around a female lovebird who travels the country to find her crush. She travels with an annoying but amusing pigeon, and will discover that all forms of love exists in nature, from gay couples to single moms or stepfamilies,...

Exclusive: UK sales firm Cornerstone has sold out international territories on Catherine Hardwicke package Mafia Mamma starring Toni Collette.

The movie will follow a suburban American woman who inherits her grandfather’s Mafia empire, and guided by the Firm’s trusted consigliere defies everyone’s expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business. Twilight filmmaker Hardwicke is directing.

Monica Bellucci and Rob Huebel are also starring with production due to begin in Italy in late spring, 2022. Gomorrah producer Cattleya has newly boarded as an executive producer. Additional casting is in process.

Cornerstone has cut deals with Signature (UK), Square 1, Dea Planeta / Tripictures (Spain), Scanbox (Scandi), and Bf Distribution (Lat Am).

Pre-sales have also closed with Unicorn Media (Cis), Vertical (Eastern Europe), Monolith (Poland), Blitz (Former Yugoslavia), Belga (Benelux) and Tanweer (Greece and Turkey).

Sales to remaining territories including Australia and New Zealand, France,...

Toni Collette (Knives Out) and Monica Bellucci (Spectre) will star in Catherine Hardwicke’s comedy (Twilight) Mafia Mamma.

Hardwicke has also tapped Rob Huebel (The Descendants) to star alongside Collette and Bellucci.

Pic is a comedy about a suburban American woman who inherits her grandfather’s Mafia empire, and guided by the Firm’s trusted consigliere defies everyone’s expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business.

Cornerstone will handle international sales and begin deal-making at next month’s virtual American Film Market. CAA Media Finance is overseeing the U.S. sale.

The film is a Vocab Films, Idea(L) and New Sparta Production based on an original idea by French novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker Amanda Sthers. Producers are Collette (United States of Tara) under her Vocab Films banner together with Sthers (Madame) through Idea(L) and New Sparta’s Christopher Simon (The Killing of a Sacred Deer...

Toni Collette has been cast in “Mafia Mamma,” an action comedy about a suburban mom who unexpectedly inherits her grandfather’s Mafia empire.

Catherine Hardwicke, the filmmaker of “Twilight” and “Thirteen,” is directing the movie, which is expected to begin production in Italy in late spring 2022. Debbie Jhoon and J. Michael Feldman wrote the screenplay. The cast also includes Monica Bellucci and Rob Huebel.

Collette is best known for her Academy Award-nominated turn in “The Sixth Sense,” as well as “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Hereditary” and “Knives Out.” In “Mafia Mamma,” she channels her comedic roots as Kristen, a mom who unwittingly finds herself as the new boss of the fiercest Mafia family in Southern Italy.

The logline reads: “Kristin is facing a slew of challenges. Her only son is desperate to leave for college, her boss is a sexist pig, and she just caught her unsuccessful, musician husband (Huebel) cheating with a groupie.

Action-adventure feature stars Luke MacFarlane and D.J. “Shangela” Pierce.

Altitude Film Sales has boarded upcoming action-adventure film Lone Star Bull, which marks the feature debut of UK director David Stoddart and stars Luke MacFarlane and D.J. “Shangela” Pierce.

The London-based sales agent will handle worldwide rights to the film and is expected to launch sales later this year at the American Film Market (AFM).

A two-month shoot wraps in Savannah, Georgia today (July 9) on the feature, which is produced by Maggie Monteith through her US banner Southern Stories alongside Christopher Simon for the UK’s New Sparta Films and Seth Michaels.

“I got annoyed by Spike Lee. That’s all.”

Source: Wiki Commons

Charlotte Rampling

Charlotte Rampling was at the international Film Festival Rotterdam this week for the screening of Andrea Pallor’s Hannah.

In an interview with Screen International, she reflected on her work with Luchino Visconti and Woody Allen; spoke of her continuing pride in The Night Porter, expressed regret over her controversial remarks about the lack of black nominees in the 2016 Oscars, and explained why she didn’t want to discuss the #MeToo Movement.

Rampling again expressed her regret over “racist to whites” comments two years ago on an early morning radio show during the promotion campaign for 45 Years, for which she was nominated for an Oscar. “It was very early in the morning and everyone was asking questions about that. It was not a very sensible thing to say but I was very tired. My husband died two months before,” Rampling said on stage...

Head of production Chris Simon will lead the production-finance outfit.

The managing director of London-based production outfit New Sparta Films, Nicki Hattingh, has resigned from the company as of Feb 1 2017.

Hattingh co-founded the company with Dr Jerome Booth in 2013 as part of Booth’s umbrella investment organisation New Sparta Group.

During her tenure, the company’s production and financing credits included Matteo Garrone’s Tale Of Tales, Catherine Hardwicke’s Miss You Already, Martin Koolhoven’s Brimstone, Juan Carlos Medina’s The Limehouse Golem and Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing Of A Sacred Deer.

In a statement to Screen, New Sparta said that Hattingh had handed in her resignation in October and had left the company to pursue opportunities elsewhere.

Head of production Chris Simon, appointed to the role in 2015, has stepped into the position of managing director. There are no immediate plans to replace Hattingh at this time.

Chris Simon

Simon commented: “I am incredibly grateful...

Magnet Releasing announced that they have acquired Us rights to Ben Wheatley's High-Rise—the big screen adaptation of J.G. Ballard's thought-provoking 1975 novel of the same name. Starring Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, and Luke Evans, High-Rise is slated for a 2016 theatrical release:

Press Release: New York, NY – December 7, 2015 – Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, announced today that they have acquired U.S. rights to High-rise, the highly-anticipated new film from acclaimed British genre-bending director Ben Wheatley (A Field In England, Sightseers, Kill List). The film, starring Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers, Crimson Peak), Jeremy Irons (Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice), Sienna Miller (American Sniper), Luke Evans (Dracula Untold) and Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men), chronicles the savage breakdown of social order inside a giant residential apartment block. Written by Amy Jump based on J.G. Ballard's seminal 1975 sci-fi novel, High-rise world-premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

High-rise stars Hiddleston as Dr.

The genre distributor has acquired Us rights to Ben Wheatley’s latest film and plans a 2016 release.

High-Rise premiered in Toronto and stars Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans and Elizabeth Moss.

Amy Jump adapted the screenplay from Jg Ballard’s 1975 satirical novel about class and wealth that centres on the deadly internecine warfare that engulfs an apartment block.

Jeremy Thomas produced and Peter Watson, Thorsten Schumacher, Lizzie Francke, Sam Lavender, Anna Higgs, Gabriella Martinelli, Christopher Simon and Genevieve Lemal served as executive producers.

“I’m very excited about working with Magnet again,” said Wheatley. “They have the brains and the balls to handle the crazy beast that is High-Rise.” Magnet distributed Wheatley’s first film, Down Terrace.

Magnolia svp of acquisitions Dori Begley and Magnolia vp of acquisitions John Von Thaden brokered the deal with HanWay Films.

Our home grown talented Actor, Mem Ferda, attended the London premiere of Catherine Hardwicke’s emotive and rousing drama Miss You Already, alongside Hollywood greats Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette.

Directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight, Thirteen), "Miss You Already" portrays the relationship between Jess (Drew Barrymore) and Milly (Toni Collette), two childhood best friends. Both happily married, when suddenly their lives are transformed when one becomes pregnant and the other is diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. Milly, with her supportive husband in Kit (Dominic Cooper) and two charming young children, is undertaking a course of chemotherapy, struggling with the nausea that transpires, and the losing of her hair. In the meantime, Jess is wanting to celebrate the news that her IVF treatment has proven successful, and she’s to have her first child with her partner Jago (Paddy Considine) – though any such celebrations may well have to be put on hold,...

Exclusive: UK financier New Sparta Films appoints former Embargo exec to new role as it eyes growth.

New Sparta Films (Nsf), backer of Miss You Already and Brimstone, has appointed former Embargo Films producer Christopher Simon to the newly formed position of head of production.

Simon was main producer on Catherine Hardwicke’s comedy-drama Miss You Already, which gets its world premiere at Toronto today [Sept 12], and previously produced features including Still Life, The Sweeney and I, Anna.

Simon will work alongside Nsf founder and managing director Nicki Hattingh and look to boost the growing financier’s in-house production push.

The London-based company has recently appointed a head of development and will also bring in a business affairs executive.

Currently on the development slate for New Sparta Films, a subsidiary of Jerome Booth’s investment firm New Sparta, are Julia Taylor Stanley-produced drama Rough Diamonds, written by Mark C Marshall and Gary Martin; First World War drama...

Felix Vossen, producer of The Sweeney and I, Anna, has been missing since March.

Fears are growing over the whereabouts of UK film producer Felix Vossen, 41, who disappeared three months ago.

Vossen, whose credits for London-based production firm Embargo Films, include Berlin entry I, Anna, crime-thriller Pusher and cop drama reboot The Sweeney, last made contact with colleagues on March 5 and has subsequently been registered as a missing person with authorities in London and Zurich, where he also lived.

A Facebook page named ‘Find Felix Vossen’ states that the former asset management executive travelled from London to Zurich on March 3 and that “one of his telephones was found in his Zurich apartment”.

“We got a cryptic email on March 5 and that was the last we heard from him,” said director Barnaby Southcombe, one of Vossen’s partners at Embargo alongside Christopher Simon.

“His phone rang through for about a month and now it doesn’t. As far as...

Exclusive: Salt secures deal for Toni Colette, Drew Barrymore comedy-drama in Germany, France, Japan.

Following the Cannes market screening of Catherine Hardwicke’s (Twilight) romantic comedy-drama Miss You Already, starring Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore, UK sales outfit Salt has closed deals in Germany (Telepool), France (Ocean Films), Japan (Showgate), South Korea (Dreamwest Pictures) and Hong Kong (Panorama Entertainment).

In Miss You Already, produced by Christopher Simon and backed by New Sparta Films, the friendship between two life-long girlfriends is put to the test when one starts a family and the other falls ill.

Dominic Cooper, Paddy Considine and Jaqueline Bisset also star.

The film has already sold in UK and Australia (eOne) among other markets.

Uberto Pasolini’s Still Life won four awards when it world premiered at the 2013 Venice Film Festival – the Orizzonti Award for Best Director, the Pasinetti Award for Best Film, Cinema D’Arte e d’Essai award, and the Civitas Vitae prossima for Best Film. Now Tribeca Film has acquired North American rights for the pic, which it plans to release theatrically on January 16. It will begin rolling out on cable/telco, satellite VOD and digital platforms beginning January 13.

Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky) and Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey) star in the movie about a UK council worker (Marsan) whose job is to notify the next of kin when someone dies. Profoundly dedicated to his work, he believes that everyone deserves a dignified exit, and writes eulogies and organizes funerals for those who wouldn’t have them otherwise. But when a new case – an elderly alcoholic in a flat directly opposite his own – hits him harder than usual,...

Exclusive: Musician and up-and-coming thesp Tyson Ritter is cozying up to Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette for friendship comedy/drama Miss You Already. The All-American Rejects frontman and Parenthood actor is joining the shoot this weekend in London and will play the young love interest to one of the ladies.

Barrymore and Collette star as Milly and Jess, best friends who have shared everything since they were kids. Now, Milly has a high-flying job and lives in a beautiful townhouse with husband Kit (Dominic Cooper) and their two kids. Jess is a town planner and she and her boyfriend Jago (Paddy Considine) live on a bohemian houseboat on a London canal. Their friendship is tested when Jess struggles to have a baby and Milly finds out she has breast cancer. Jacqueline Bisset also stars as Milly’s mother.

Ritter says he’s “thrilled and humbled to be a part of this compelling project.

Even the subject of the slight, likable doc This Ain't No Mouse Music would admit that he's not the most fascinating person in the picture. Chris Strachwitz has dedicated his life to recording, preserving, and releasing the deepest of roots musics, tracking down performers connected to the oldest of folk ways and bringing them to the world via Arhoolie Records, the label Strachwitz founded a half-century ago with Mance Lipscomb's Texas Sharecropper and Songster. If it had been titled like Strachwitz titles LPs, Chris Simon and Maureen Gosling's loose-limbed film could be named California Archivist, Music-Lover, and Record-Store Proprietor, which makes him an interesting guy, but once the people he documents turn up, This Ain't No Mouse Music b...

Reverse Shot, one of the best film criticism publications online or off for over a decade now, has not only relaunched with a new design, it's now also the official publication of the Museum of the Moving Image. With the relaunch comes a new symposium—on Martin Scorsese, no less. Also in today's roundup: John Sayles and Greil Marcus on Maureen Gosling and Chris Simon's This Ain’t No Mouse Music, the Quietus on Akira Kurosawa and Jim Jarmusch, Farran Nehme on Lauren Bacall and more. » - David Hudson...

Reverse Shot, one of the best film criticism publications online or off for over a decade now, has not only relaunched with a new design, it's now also the official publication of the Museum of the Moving Image. With the relaunch comes a new symposium—on Martin Scorsese, no less. Also in today's roundup: John Sayles and Greil Marcus on Maureen Gosling and Chris Simon's This Ain’t No Mouse Music, the Quietus on Akira Kurosawa and Jim Jarmusch, Farran Nehme on Lauren Bacall and more. » - David Hudson...

This year’s European Film Awards are officially out of the gates with a not so lean 50 film submissions to select from. The 27th edition collects titles that date back to last year’s Venice and Toronto Int. Film Festivals moving into Sundance-Rotterdam-Berlin and finally Cannes of ’14. Among the 31 European countries represented, we’ve got likes of the Palme d’Or winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan leading the huge pack of contenders including Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin and Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida. Here’s the complete list of 50!:

Alienation

ОТЧУЖДЕНИЕ (Otchujdenie)

Bulgaria

Directed By: Milko Lazarov

Written By: Milko Lazarov, Kitodar Todorov & Georgi Tenev

Produced By: Veselka Kiryakova

Amour Fou

Austria/Luxembourg/Germany

Written & Directed By: Jessica Hausner

Produced By: Martin Gschlacht, Antonin Svoboda, Bruno Wagner, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu & Philippe Bober

Beautiful Youth

Hermosa Juventud

Spain/France

Directed By: Jaime Rosales

Written By: Jaime Rosales & Enric Rufas

Produced By: Jaime Rosales,...

Exclusive: Deals for Miss You Already, from Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, which starts shooting on Sunday.

The Salt Company has closed deals on comedy drama Miss You Already, which gets underway in London on Sunday [Sept 7].

Drew Barrymore, Dominic Cooper, Paddy Considine and Jacqueline Bisset have newly joined Toni Collette on the Catherine Hardwicke-directed film, written by Morwenna Banks, about two life-long girlfriends whose friendship is put to the test when one starts a family and the other falls ill.

Salt has sold the film to Dutch FilmWorks in Benelux; Filmcoopi in Switzerland; Odeon in Greece; Tanweer Films in India and Turkey; Front Row Filmed Entertainment in the Middle East; Sena in Iceland; Forum Film in Israel; and Nos Lusomundo in Portugal. 

eOne has UK rights.

All deals were negotiated by Salt partner and head of international James Norrie. Salt and CAA rep Us.

Producers are Christopher Simon and Felix Vossen of Embargo Films. Executive producers...

Exclusive: Deals for Miss You Already, which starts shooting on Sunday.

The Salt Company has closed deals on comedy drama Miss You Already, which gets underway in London on Sunday [Sept 7].

Drew Barrymore, Dominic Cooper, Paddy Considine and Jacqueline Bisset have newly joined Toni Collette on the Catherine Hardwicke-directed film, written by Morwenna Banks, about two life-long girlfriends whose friendship is put to the test when one starts a family and the other falls ill.

Salt has sold the film to Dutch FilmWorks in Benelux; Filmcoopi in Switzerland; Odeon in Greece; Tanweer Films in India and Turkey; Front Row Filmed Entertainment in the Middle East; Sena in Iceland; Forum Film in Israel; and Nos Lusomundo in Portugal. 

eOne has UK rights.

All deals were negotiated by Salt partner and head of international James Norrie. Salt and CAA rep Us.

Producers are Christopher Simon and Felix Vossen of Embargo. Executive producers are Morwenna Banks, Catherine Hardwicke, [link...

Drew Barrymore has signed on to star alongside Toni Collette in the upcoming drama Miss You Already. Drew Barrymore replaces Rachel Weisz, who was attached to star back in April, but has since dropped out.

The story follows two longtime best friends (Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette), whose friendship is put to the test as Drew Barrymore's character tries to have the baby she's always wanted, while Toni Collette's character learns she has breast cancer. Dominic Cooper and Paddy Considine are also starring as the friends' husbands, with Jacqueline Bisset playing Toni Collette's mother.

Here's what director Catherine Hardwicke had to say about the story in a statement.

"Miss You Already explores the ups and down of an intense friendship. With our fearless actors, we're taking this very personal story on a wild ride."

British actor/writer Morwenna Banks wrote the screenplay, with Christopher Simon and Felix Vossen producing for Embargo Films.

Rachel Weisz and Toni Collette have signed on to star in the drama Miss You Already, which Catherine Hardwicke is directing. We first reported on this project back in February 2012, when Jennifer Aniston was attached to star and Paul Andrew Williams was set to direct.

The story follows two lifelong friends (Rachel Weisz and Toni Collette) in London whose relationship becomes fractured when one becomes pregnant and the other suddenly falls ill.

Morwenna Banks wrote the screenplay, with Embargo Films' Christopher Simon and Felix Vossen producing. Production is scheduled to begin this September in the U.K.

Here's what Catherine Hardwicke had to say about Morwenna Banks' script.

"When I met Morwenna Banks and read her script, I really felt her passion for this story - this is something she lived through. She managed to take real life and turn it into a powerful, laugh-and-cry-out-loud screenplay."

Rachel Weisz...

Rachel Weisz and Toni Collette are set to headline an upcoming comedy drama titled Miss You Already with Variety reporting that Twilight and Red Riding Hood helmer Catherine Hardwicke will direct. Scripted by Morwenna Banks, Miss You Already follows two London-based best friends whose relationship falls apart when one becomes pregnant and the other becomes ill. Hardwicke most recently directed Plush , starring Emily Browning and Cam Gigandet. Weisz, meanwhile, last appeared in Sam Raimi's Oz The Great and Powerful while Colette can soon be seen starring opposite Thomas Haden Church in director Megan Griffiths' Lucky Them . Embargo Films' Christopher Simon and Felix Vossen will produce. (Photo Credit: DC5 / Joe Kan / WENN.com)...

Exclusive: UK comedy-drama also starring Toni Collette readies for September 2014 shoot.

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke and Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz have newly boarded UK comedy-drama Miss You Already from writer Morwenna Banks.

Weisz will star alongside previously announced Toni Collette as vivacious best friends, inseparable since childhood, whose relationship is tested when one becomes pregnant and the other sick.

The UK production, due to shoot in September 2014, is produced by Christopher Simon and Felix Vossen of Embargo Films, producers of I, Anna, The Sweeney and Still Life.

The Salt Company is selling the film internationally with CAA co-repping North America. Salt, Exponential Media and Maven Pictures are co-producing.

Director Hardwicke said of Banks’ script: “When I met Morwenna Banks, and read her script, I really felt her passion for this story - this is something she lived through. She managed to take real life and turn it into a powerful, laugh- and cry-out-loud...

Exclusive: UK comedy-drama also starring Toni Collette readies for September 2014 shoot.

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke and Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz have newly boarded UK comedy-drama Miss You Already from writer Morwenna Banks.

Weisz will star alongside previously announced Toni Collette as vivacious best friends, inseparable since childhood, whose relationship is tested when one becomes pregnant and the other sick.

The UK production, due to shoot in September 2014, is produced by Christopher Simon and Felix Vossen of Embargo Films, producers of I, Anna, The Sweeney and Still Life.

The Salt Company is selling the film internationally with CAA co-repping North America. Salt, Exponential Media and Maven Pictures are co-producing.

Director Hardwicke said of Banks’ script: “When I met Morwenna Banks, and read her script, I really felt her passion for this story - this is something she lived through. She managed to take real life and turn it into a powerful, laugh- and cry-out-loud...