News

Exclusive: Screamfest Horror Film Festival has unveiled the first-wave lineup for its 23rd edition, taking place at the Tcl Chinese Theatre from October 10-19, announcing that it will kick off with a screening of Eddie Alcazar’s much-discussed Sundance 2023 mind-bender Divinity.

Tickets to the fest go on sale soon.

Set in an otherworldly human existence, Divinity follows scientist Sterling Pierce (Scott Bakula), who has dedicated his life to the quest for immortality, as he slowly creates the building blocks of a groundbreaking serum named Divinity. Jaxxon Pierce (Stephen Dorff), his son, then comes to control and manufacture his father’s once-benevolent dream. When two mysterious brothers (Moises Arias and Jason Genao) arrive with a plan to abduct the mogul, with the help of a seductive woman named Nikita (Karrueche Tran), they will be set on a path hurtling toward true immortality. Also starring Bella Thorne, Michael O’Hearn and Emily Willis,...

Rama (Pavel Tabakov) is a vampire.

In writer/director Victor Ginzburg’s adaptation of Russian novelist Viktor Pelevin’s Empire V, however, the term takes on a whole new meaning.

Mixing the action of Nightwatch with the philosophical underpinnings of The Matrix sequels, Empire V is an unconventional entry in the vampire subgenre. Working as both an introduction to a sprawling new mythology, as well as a satirical critique of (Russian) capitalism, the film has already been banned in its home country where it was due to premiere last year.

The film’s politics aren’t exclusive to Russia, though co-star Oxxxymiron (aka Miron Fedorov) and lead actor Vladimir Epifantsev have both been critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the former very publicly denouncing the invasion of Ukraine. For the most part, however, Empire V isn’t only commenting on Russia; its political commentary is broadly critiquing how the...

"A vampire employs the same mental constructs as a human but his thoughts follow a different path." An official trailer is available for a Russian film called Empire V, a vampire thriller from filmmaker Victor Ginzburg. Empire V is a social parody of modern Russian society being controlled by vampires. The film was originally set to be released by Sony in Russia in 2022. After the start of the Ukrainian war and one week prior to the film's release, it was pulled from theaters by the Kremlin and banned, making it a film without a country. It stars popular Russian rapper Oxxymiron, whose anti-war stance has recently led to him to be labeled a "foreign agent". Empire V follows a 19-year-old Moscow nobody who receives an invitation to join an elite and powerful echelon of society, only to discover the bloody secrets of a vampiric dictatorship who has controlled humanity since time immemorial.

Exclusive: Paris-based genre specialist Reel Suspects has acquired world sales for Victor Ginzburg’s Russia-set, sci-fi horror film Empire V ahead of its world premiere in Montreal’s Fantasia Fest in July.

Based on the 2006 satirical novel by Victor Pelevin, the feature unfolds in contemporary Russia ruled by a vampire elite.

Russian rapper Oxxymiron, whose anti-war stance led to him being declared a “foreign agent”, features in the cast alongside Pavel Tabakov, Taya Radchenko, Miron Fedorov and Vera Alentova.

Tabakov plays a 19-year-old Moscow nobody who is turned into a vampire, propelling him into an elite and powerful echelon of society that has controlled humanity since time immemorial.

The film is produced by America’s Heartland Films and Russia Kvadrat Film Company and Andrey Trubitsyn, Maria Kapralova, Alexei Tylevich and James Steele.

“For me, Empire V was an opportunity to experiment in the vampire genre but within a uniquely challenging...

Not since Tobe Hooper directed Life Force has someone made such an audacious vampire thriller as Empire V. And today, we have a first look at all the fantasy horror with three new photos direct from the movie to stare at, eyes gap in awe and wonder. 'What is this?'

Director Victor Ginzburg's widely-anticipated second film, Empire V, produced by the Kvadrat Film Company, will be available to distributors at this year's Afm with international sales handled by executive producer Jim Steele. The film has completed production and will be targeted for release at the end of 2019. It is the follow-up to Ginzburg's art-house sensation, Generation P.

The film has been financed largely through the recently launched crypto-currency Bablos and crowdfunding. Empire V is an independent film that will prove that there are new ways to make movies. The initial crowdfunding on platform Planeta.ru collected a record...

In today’s film news roundup, Ben Foster is playing a boxer, Corbin Bernsen will portray a real estate developer and vampire fantasy “Empire V” is selling at Afm.

Castings

Ben Foster has signed on to star in boxing drama “Harry Haft” with Barry Levinson directing. Bron Studios and New Mandate Films are producing in association with Creative Wealth Media, which is financing the film.

Levinson is directing and producing from a screenplay by Justine Juel Gillmer, based on the novel “Harry Haft: Survivor of Auschwitz, Challenger of Rocky Marciano” by Alan Scott Haft. The film is set post-World War II and will star Foster as Harry Haft, a boxer who fought fellow prisoners in the concentration camps to survive. Haunted by the memories and his guilt, he attempts to use high-profile fights against boxing legends like Rocky Marciano as a way to find his first love again.

Besides Levinson,...

The Russian distribution sector is gaining a new player with the launch of Dreamteam.

Mark Lolo, who exited his post as president of the distributor-producer Central Partnership a year ago to pursue his “own projects”, is joined at the head of the new venture by another seasoned professional, Andrei Tereshok, formerly CEO of the Kronverk chain of cinemas which has screens in Russia and Ukraine.

With one release planned a month from next January, Dreamteam’s first title will be on Jan 1: Dmitri Dyachenko’s comedy Faster Than Rabbits (Bystree, chem kroliki), featuring the comedy troupe Kvartet I who also appeared in Dyachenko’s 2010 film What Men Talk About (O chyom govoryat muzhchiny), a Russian, male answer to Sex And The City.

This will be followed on Feb 13 by the world premiere of Armen Gevorgyan’s romantic comedy Unreal Love (Nerealnaya Lyubov) with Gosha Kutsenko and Marina Alexandrovna.

Amonth later it will release Gazgolder, described as “a musical...