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Exclusive: Dda has expanded its Los Angeles operations with two new executive hires: Greg Longstreet who joins as a Director of Personal Representation, and Gina Sorial who joins as a Director of Corporate Communications.

Longstreet will be part of a new division in LA for Dda, where he will focus on representing filmmakers including longtime clients Edgar Wright, Shane Black, Joe Cornish, and Greg Mottola. In addition to filmmakers, Longstreet works with comedic talent including Iliza Shlesinger, who is prepping her sixth Netflix special as well as the new book All Things Aside, and Steve-o who recently appeared in Jackass Forever and is selling out theatres across the country on The Bucket List Tour.

Sorial will work on Dda’s existing roster of clients which includes Neon, 30West, Black Bear Pictures, Bleecker Street, Academy Award winning Coda producers Vendôme Pictures, CNN Films, Castle Rock Entertainment, and more.

Longstreet and Sorial...

Filmmaker Luca Guadagnino isn’t too concerned about the supposed death of movie theaters. With two exciting new projects in the works (plus a slew of others in the offing) coming down the pipeline, he just may be the one to save it himself. The Italian director is preparing to entice and surprise audiences with his new cannibalism romance “Bones and All,” which reunites him with his “Call Me by Your Name” star Timothee Chalamet. Chalamet stars opposite Taylor Russell in the love story, and the film is expected to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September.

Before he can celebrate, however, he has one more week of shooting for “Challengers,” a love triangle set in the world of professional tennis that pairs Guadagnino with an enticing trio of up-and-comers: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and “West Side Story” breakout Mike Faist.

“I think audiences will come back for the right movies,...

Deborah McIntosh and Alex Walton will lead WME Independent, a new division of WME that will handle domestic and international film sales and film financing consulting services. Both were most recently at Endeavor Content, which WME’s parent company Endeavor Holdings is selling a majority stake in as part of a settlement agreement with the Writers Guild of America that limits major agencies’ ability to package material.

The new group will bring film sales and film financing consulting services back inside the agency and will offer both domestic and international film sales services.

“WME Independent will serve as a critical vehicle to fuel our clients’ projects while providing the global perspective necessary to navigate today’s content marketplace,” said Dan Limerick, WME’s chief operating officer, in a statement. “Deb, Alex and their team have an undeniable track record of bringing many successful artist-driven projects to fruition, and we look...

WME on Monday launched WME Independent, a division to broker domestic and international film sales and film financing consulting services. It will be headed by Deborah McIntosh and Alex Walton, both of whom were most recently at Endeavor Content.

Those deals had for years been steered under Endeavor Content, but that entity is in the process of being sold off as a freestanding production entity. McIntosh and Walton will bring film sales and film financing consulting services back inside the agency and will differentiate itself in the marketplace by offering domestic and international film sales services.

“WME Independent will serve as a critical vehicle to fuel our clients’ projects while providing the global perspective necessary to navigate today’s content marketplace,” WME chief operating officer Dan Limerick said. “Deb, Alex and their team have an undeniable track record of bringing many successful artist-driven projects to fruition, and we look forward...

Agents Will Maxfield, Gerren Crochet, Zach Glueck, Katie Irwin, Nelson Mok, Abraham Bengio, Laurel Charnetsky on board.

Alex Walton and Deborah McIntosh will lead the newly formed WME Independent after the sales team completed its split from Endeavor Content.

The agency division will handle US / North American and international film sales – the current sales slate includes recent Toronto world premiere The Survivor starring Ben Foster and all-star noir package Sniff in a co-rep with CAA – and offer film financing consultancy services. Walton and McIntosh lead a team that comprises agents Will Maxfield, Gerren Crochet, Zach Glueck, Katie Irwin, Nelson Mok,...

Photo: ‘Beckett’ Have you ever visited another country and thought, “What if I was stuck here?” Imagine being trapped in a place foreign to you with no way to access your friends and family. It’s a scary thought, being forced to navigate and figure things out mostly on your own. Personally, I’ve barely left the United States, but one of my greatest fears is the idea of being trapped somewhere unfamiliar. And with ‘Beckett’, those fears come to life. ‘Beckett’, directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino, is a film about a vacation where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. This high-octane thriller stars John David Washington in the titular role as he runs, sneaks, and fights his way through Greece just to try and get back to the United States. It’s an enjoyable action-drama that highlights the complicated nature of being stuck in a world foreign...

Have you ever accidentally stumbled or — in the case of the titular hero of Netflix’s Beckett — careened downhill, by way of a fatal car accident, into an international political scandal? Some things only happen to people in movies. What’s curious and invigorating, but also somewhat flawed, about Beckett is the way it maneuvers its path through the fate and psychological tumult of its central character, a man thrown into a whirlwind of grief that coincides with his accidental involvement in a scandal he knows nothing about, set in...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Beckett (Ferdinando Cito Filomarino)

The title Beckett evokes the very mystery its plot presents. Former Luca Guadagnino understudy Ferdinando Cito Filomarino teams with versatile and bonafide action star John David Washington to create a throwback of a picture: at times a conspiracy thriller, character study, and man-on-the-run tale à la The Fugitive, Beckett presents an atmosphere unique to these genre conventions. – Erik N. (full review)

Where to Stream: Netflix

The Cloud in Her Room (Zheng Lu Xinyaun)

The Hangzhou of Zheng Lu Xinyaun’s The Cloud in Her Room is a funereal city, a protean place rife with cranes and construction sites, where new buildings mushroom overnight and craters devour the earth beneath. People do not belong in that 10-million people’s...

John David Washington becomes an unwitting fugitive in a painfully sluggish and illogical thriller. Beckett has a dream vacation in Greece turning into a tragic nightmare for a besotted young couple. The film attempts to incorporate political elements into a standard chase storyline. It might have worked if the pacing, action, and characters were more developed. Everything is one-note with little exposition and multiple chance encounters. The background scenery of the Greek countryside becomes more interesting to see than the narrative.

The film begins with Beckett (John David Washington) and his longtime girlfriend, April (Alicia Vikander), exploring historical ruins in rural Greece. They decided to leave Athens because of political unrest. A left-wing politician, Karras (Yorgos Pirpassopoulos), has ignited a populist uprising against austerity measures and the conservative government. Beckett and April want to enjoy each other's company in an idyllic setting. They are deeply in love.

A late night...

The title Beckett evokes the very mystery its plot presents. Former Luca Guadagnino understudy Ferdinando Cito Filomarino teams with versatile and bonafide action star John David Washington to create a throwback of a picture: at times a conspiracy thriller, character study, and man-on-the-run tale à la The Fugitive, Beckett presents an atmosphere unique to these genre conventions.

Filomarino does well in the film’s first moments, establishing Beckett as a regular guy on vacation with his wife, April (Alicia Vikander). The two are in Greece, eating at local spots, visiting the touristy monuments, and people-watching. It’s late on a road trip through the countryside when Beckett falls asleep at the wheel, crashes into a house, and starts a path he never should’ve taken. He awakens, bloodied, seeing a small child carried by a woman through the shadows, and awakens a few days later to learn April has died.

Gale Anne Hurd is arguably the most successful, and influential, female producer of her generation, if not of all time.

With credits that include The Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Armageddon, not to mention the television juggernaut that is The Walking Dead — Hurd can lay claim to having shaped popular culture for nearly four decades.

Along the way, she’s broken new ground for the depiction of women on screen: think of Linda Hamilton and Sigourney Weaver’s kick-ass heroines in the Terminator and Aliens franchises.

The 2021 Locarno Film Festival recognized Hurd’s contribution on August 7 when it presented her with its Best Producer Award, honoring her life’s work. In addition to the award, Locarno is holding special screenings of two of Hurd’s productions: The Terminator and the 1999 political satire Dick.

The Hollywood Reporter‘s European Bureau Chief Scott Roxborough caught up with Hurd in Locarno...

New Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, who is the former head of the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, is starting to put his stamp on the Swiss fest dedicated to indie cinema with a lineup comprising comedies and genre films alongside more straightforward auteur cinema, driven by a desire to make the selection “more audience friendly,” as he puts it. Nazzaro spoke to Variety about some of the choices that reflect this new course. Excerpts.

Since taking the reins you’ve repeatedly talked about taking the fest in different directions. How is that reflected, now that the lineup is out?

My idea is that a festival can be quite highbrow and entertaining at the same time. That is why in this year’s lineup we have three comedies –– or sort of, it depends on your idea of humor –– we also have some “genre” films, and also some straightforward auteur films.

The opening night of the Locarno Film Festival was led by a pair of rousing call to arms for the theatrical experience.

Early on it was rain, rather than Covid-19, which threatened to put a dampener on proceedings, as sodden conditions in the famous Piazza Grande forced the world premiere of “Beckett” indoors. However, ironically, the comments made by the Netflix film’s lead John David Washington felt even more powerful in front of a vast, crowded indoor theatre.

Asked how he found playing the film’s central character, an American tourist who gets caught up in a deadly manhunt, Washington had a blunt, yet thoughtful response.

“Stressful,” Washington began, to a titter from the crowd. “I just connected with the story. When I think about Beckett, I think of survival and that’s very personal to me. Part of the reason we’re all here tonight is survival of the theatrical experience,...

When the pandemic first started raging across the globe last year, it was natural to appreciate the movies that allowed us to travel the world from the relative safety of our own homes; now that this crap been making life miserable for a full 18 months, it’s become even more natural to appreciate the movies that make us never want to go anywhere ever again. Enter: Netflix’s tense and prescient “Beckett,” which — despite being shot during the summer before Covid — follows the recent likes of M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old” and HBO’s “The White Lotus” with another welcome reminder that vacation is actually a total nightmare that will kill you a lot faster than sitting on your couch.

In a certain light, “Beckett” might even be the most nightmarish of the lot, as this paranoid thriller from Luca Guadagnino protégé and frequent second unit director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino...

John David Washington shot “Beckett” before last summer’s “Tenet” put the actor on a short list of potential action figures. But when it comes to this considerably more modest, Greece-set manhunt movie — which kicks off the Locarno Film Festival before releasing via Netflix on Aug. 13 — it helps to look at Washington (son of Oscar winner Denzel) as a different kind of character: not your conventional Hollywood hero so much as an average guy caught up in a deadly conspiracy.

Washington plays the eponymous American tourist, who’s roughly the kind of out-of-his-league everyman that Alfred Hitchcock gravitated toward in classics such as “The Man Who Knew Too Much” and “North by Northwest.” But director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino isn’t operating by that playbook as much as audiences might think, which might disappoint those who find the movie on Netflix and expect a straightforward thriller. The suspense is much subtler,...

Admiration for the 1970s conspiracy thrillers of Alan J. Pakula, John Frankenheimer and Sydney Pollack is baked into Beckett, though little of the craftsmanship that made the best of those movies thrum with danger and tension. Directed with a workmanlike lack of style by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino and written by Kevin A. Rice without the required ambiguities to feed the protagonist’s paranoia, this pedestrian wrong-place-wrong-time manhunt through Greece never really sparks. And the jury that’s still out over whether John David Washington is movie-star material gets shaky evidence to support that case.

Filomarino has served regularly as second unit director on the ...

Admiration for the 1970s conspiracy thrillers of Alan J. Pakula, John Frankenheimer and Sydney Pollack is baked into Beckett, though little of the craftsmanship that made the best of those movies thrum with danger and tension. Directed with a workmanlike lack of style by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino and written by Kevin A. Rice without the required ambiguities to feed the protagonist’s paranoia, this pedestrian wrong-place-wrong-time manhunt through Greece never really sparks. And the jury that’s still out over whether John David Washington is movie-star material gets shaky evidence to support that case.

Filomarino has served regularly as second unit director on the ...

Italian director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino first made a splash in Locarno in 2010 when his atmospheric short “Diarchia,” starring Louis Garrel, Riccardo Scamarcio and Alba Rohrwacher, scooped the Leopard of Tomorrow prize and went on to earn an honorable mention at Sundance. His feature debut, “Antonia,” was an intimate portrait of Italian poet Antonia Pozzi who, like the director, grew up in upper crust Milanese society. He’s back with “Beckett,” the English-language thriller that will open the Swiss fest toplining John David Washington as an “American tourist hunted by unknown people” amid political turbulence in Greece. It’s a Netflix Original that will drop globally on the platform on Aug. 13. Cito Filomarino spoke to Variety about his transition into directing genre fare for a global audience

It doesn’t happen often that an Italian director goes from making an art movie about a poet to a manhunt thriller with a Hollywood star.

The Locarno Film Festival, long known as a safe haven for indie cinema, is taking a turn into genre territory while remaining true to

its origins.

“People know what the mission is for Locarno,” says the fest’s new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, referring to the prestige of the event — the 74th edition runs Aug. 4-14 — that is known worldwide as a festival of discovery.

But Nazzaro, an Italian film critic and former chief of the Venice Critics’ Week, now intends “to broaden the moral imagination of this mission,” as he puts it, by digging deeper into genre cinema, and “also into the [festival’s] relationship with the U.S. studios and what people would consider as [pure] entertainment.”

Significantly, this year’s Locarno opener is Netflix Original “Beckett,” a thriller toplining John David Washington as an American tourist who becomes the target of a political assassination while vacationing in Greece, and...

Netflix has released a new trailer for Beckett. The upcoming action/thriller is led by John David Washington, who is coming fresh off of last year's Tenet. Now, he's returning to the action world in a movie produced by Call Me By Your Name director, Luca Guadangnino, with Ferdinando Cito Filomarino making his feature directorial debut. This time around, Washington is playing an American tourist in Europe who unwittingly ends up at the center of a dangerous conspiracy and on the run for his life.

The trailer opens with a seemingly happy couple on vacation. Doing some sightseeing and a bit of romance. It all seems fine and well until their car goes off the road. John David Washington's character then finds himself on the wrong side of a suspicious situation. His girlfriend is missing. His account of the events doesn't line up with what authorities have discovered. He then...

August on Netflix tends to be a lot like August at the movies: A sweaty grab bag of fluff, comfort food, leftovers, and “that could be interesting” question marks. Netflix Original “He’s All That” certainly falls into the first category, though we’re crossing our fingers that Mark Waters’ dubious sequel to a teen movie classic is more than just another example of a streamer exhuming whatever IP it can. Also waiting in the wings is the Jason Momoa action vehicle “Sweet Girl,” which stars the once and future Aquaman as a big daddy hell-bent on punishing the pharma execs he holds responsible for his wife’s death.

So far as still-unseen Netflix Originals go, August’s most promising new title is Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s “Beckett,” which stars John David Washington as an American tourist who’s framed for a crime while on vacation in Greece. That will premiere...

Exclusive: With their action thriller Beckett set to land on Netflix on August 13, Deadline sat down with star John David Washington and director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino to chat about putting together the story of an American on the run amidst political unrest in Greece.

Washington has had a remarkable 12 months, finding himself at the center of the streaming versus theatrical debate that exploded during the pandemic. Last summer, he was the lead in Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s time-bending action pic that was dubbed as cinema’s savior when it was released as theaters tentatively emerged from the first wave of lockdown closures. Later in the year, he starred opposite Zendaya in Malcolm & Marie, the entirely lockdown-shot feature that released on Netflix in January.

Below, we discuss how those experiences contrasted, and we also dig into his wider career, which saw him play pro football before transitioning into acting. His...

Since being appointed head of the Locarno Film Festival’s Locarno Pro industry program last December, Markus Duffner has been working to pull off what will be a mostly in-person edition of the Swiss fest’s formidable space for international indie industry operators, just as the fest is increasingly embracing streamers. Netflix Original film “Beckett,” by Italian director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino, is the Aug. 4-14 event’s opener this year. Duffner, who had been with Locarno Pro since 2014, prior to taking the reins, last year launched Locarno Pro’s Heritage Online, a first-of-its-kind platform that serves as a database and business facilitator with streaming platforms of films that premiered prior to 2005. He is also founder of VOD platform Spamflix dedicated to cult films. Duffner spoke to Variety about embracing streamers and this year’s challenges. Excerpts.

How is Locarno Pro changing?

Nadia Dresti [Duffner’s predecessor, still on board as a consultant] over the years set up a great...

Beckett Trailer — Ferdinando Cito Filomarino‘s Beckett (2021) movie trailer has been released by Netflix. The Beckett trailer stars John David Washington, Alicia Vikander, Boyd Holbrook, Vicky Krieps, Daphne Alexander, Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, Olga Spyraki, Panos Koronis, Isabella Margara, Lena Kitsopoulou, Marc Marder, Leonardo Thimo, and Andreas Marianos. Crew Kevin A. Rice wrote [...]

Continue reading: Beckett (2021) Movie Trailer: John David Washington is on the Run in a Political Conspiracy Film...

The 74th Locarno Film Festival will take place in person from August 4 to August 14 in Locarno, Switzerland, and the festival’s film lineup has been announced via The Hollywood Reporter. The Swiss event was founded back in 1946 and is one of the longest-running film festivals in the world.

Read More: ‘Halloween Kills’ To Premiere At Venice Film Festival As Jamie Lee Curtis Honored With Lifetime Achievement Award

Studio pics at the Piazza Grande lineup will include Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s thriller “Beckett” that features performances from John David Washington and Alicia Vikander, Shawn Levy‘s video game adventure film “Free Guy” led by Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer, John Swab’s actioner “Ida Red” starring Melissa Leo, and Liesl Tommy’s biopic “Respect” starring Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson.

Continue reading Locarno Film Festival Lineup Includes ‘Beckett,’ ‘Ida Red,’ Abel Ferrara’s ‘Zeros & Ones,’ Gaspar Noé’s ‘Vortex’ & More at The Playlist.

Netflix has debuted a new trailer for the conspiracy thriller ‘Beckett’ starring John David Washington and Alicia Vikander.

While vacationing in Greece, American tourist Beckett (John David Washington) becomes the target of a manhunt after a devastating accident. Forced to run for his life and desperate to get across the country to the American embassy to clear his name, tensions escalate as the authorities close in, political unrest mounts, and Beckett falls even deeper into a dangerous web of conspiracy.

Directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino, the film also stars Vicky Krieps.

Also in trailers – Revenge is the order of the day in trailer for sequel ‘Don’t Breathe 2’

The film premieres on August 13th.

The post John David Washington gets caught up in a conspiracy in trailer for ‘Beckett’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Netflix has released the trailer for Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s upcoming political thriller “Beckett,” starring John David Washington and Alicia Vikander. The movie is set to open the Locarno Film Festival’s 74th edition in Switzerland on August 4, before premiering on Netflix August 13. Watch the trailer below.

Here’s the official synopsis, courtesy of Netflix: “While vacationing in Greece, American tourist Beckett (John David Washington) becomes the target of a manhunt after a devastating accident. Forced to run for his life and desperate to get across the country to the American embassy to clear his name, tensions escalate as the authorities close in, political unrest mounts, and Beckett falls even deeper into a dangerous web of conspiracy.”

“Beckett” is produced by Cito Filomarino’s colleague Luca Guadagnino. The pair worked previously together on the Oscar-winning “Call Me by Your Name,” directed by Guadagnino. Cito Filomarino previously directed the feature “Antonia...

An American tourist in Greece finds himself the target of a manhunt in Beckett, a new thriller film from Netflix and director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino that released its first trailer on Thursday. The film premieres on August 13th only on the streaming platform.

John David Washington stars as the tourist, Beckett, who becomes the victim of a car accident with his girlfriend while on vacation. When he comes to, Beckett finds that his girlfriend is missing and that he’s the target of an international manhunt. Caught up in a race against time,...

"I know you're scared, I get it... But you don't have the whole picture." "Then who's after me?" Netflix has unveiled the first official trailer for a gritty thriller set in Greece titled Beckett, which stars John David Washington, and is made by Italian filmmaker Ferdinando Cito Filomarino. It's also produced by fellow Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino. Following a car crash in Greece, Beckett, an American tourist, finds himself at the center of a dangerous political conspiracy and on the run for his life. As tensions escalate as the authorities close in, political unrest mounts, and Beckett falls even deeper into a dangerous web of conspiracy. The film stars Jdw, along with Boyd Holbrook, Vicky Krieps, Alicia Vikander, and Giorgos Pyrpasopoulos. It looks extra intense, in a good way this time, as things start to get freakier as the story goes on. I'm interested to find out exactly what's going...

Year after year a site par excellence for the most innovative premieres—in that respect an antithesis to the ensuing fall circuit—the Locarno Film Festival returns triumphant next month. Their 2021 lineup, per usual, mixes iconic names with complete unknowns and, admittedly, a head-scratcher or two. Abel Ferrara’s much-anticipated Zeros and Ones, sure. Gaspar Noé’s Vortex—makes sense. A new film from The Wild Boys director Bertrand Mandico? Great! But Shawn Levy and a Jennifer Hudson Aretha Franklin biopic?

However, new festival head Giona A. Nazzaro sees it as part of a steady influx, telling Variety “A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time. That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films.” By that metric it’s more inclusive than almost any other major competition on the European circuit.

After Blue (Paradis sale)The lineup for the 2021 festival has been revealed, including new films by Bertrand Mandico, Axelle Ropert, Abel Ferrara and others, alongside retrospectives and tributes, and much more.Piazza GRANDEBeckett (Ferdinando Cito Filomarino)Free Guy (Shawn Levy)Heat (Michael Mann)Hinterland (Stefan Ruzowitzky)Ida Red (John Swab)Monte Verità (Stefan Jäger)National Lampoon's Animal House (John Landis)Respect (Liesl Tommy)Rose (Aurélie Saada)Sinkhole (Kim Ji-hoon)The Alleys (Bassel Ghandour)The Terminator (James Cameron)Vortex (Gaspar Noé)Yaya e Lennie — The Walking Liberty (Alessandro Rak)Tomorrow My Love (Gitanjali Rao)Lynx (Laurent Geslin)Zeros and OnesCONCORSO INTERNAZIONALEAfter Blue (Paradis sale) (Bertrand Mandico)Al Naher (The River) (Ghassan Salhab)Espíritu sagrado (The Sacred Spirit) (Chema García Ibarra)Gerda (Natalya Kudryashova)I giganti (The Giants) (Bonifacio Angius)Jiao ma teng hui (A New Old Play) (Jiongjiong Qiu)Juju StoriesLa Place d'une autre (Secret Name) (Aurélia Georges)Leynilögga (Cop Secret...

With Cannes right around the corner, two more prominent European film festivals announced their official lineups for 2021 this week. The 2021 Locarno Film Festival (the 74th edition of the event) is taking place August 4-14 and will feature the world premiere of Abel Ferrara’s “Zeroes and Ones,” plus the Melissa Leo-Frank Grillo starring thriller “Ida Red” from director John Swab. Perhaps the most prominent U.S. title in the Locarno lineup is “Respect,” the Jennifer Hudson-starring Aretha Franklin biopic that has already caught the eye of Oscar pundits here in the states. The film will screen out of competition, as will Ryan Reynolds’ long-delayed Disney-Fox tentpole “Free Guy.”

“A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time,” Nazzaro told Variety in a statement. “That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films.

Abel Ferrara’s contemporary thriller ’Zeros And Ones’ stars Ethan Hawke.

Abel Ferrara’s contemporary thriller Zeros And Ones and Srdjan Dragojević’s dark comedy Heavens Above are among 17 films from 12 countries having their world premiere in the international competition at the 74th Locarno Film Festival (August 4-14) under the new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro.

Scroll down for full line-up

In his first collaboration with Ferrara, Zeros And Ones sees Ethan Hawke plays an American soldier stationed in Rome who pursues an unknown enemy threatening the entire world after the Vatican gets blown up.

Ahead of shooting in Italy...

Switzerland’s Locarno Film festival has unveiled its line-up ahead of a physical 2021 edition running August 4-14. Scroll down for a list of titles.

As previously announced, Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s Beckett, starring John David Washington and Alicia Vikander, will open the festival with its world premiere on August 4.

Joining the movie for a screening at the fest’s main venue, the Piazza Grande, will be titles including John Swab’s Ida Red starring Frank Grillo, which will world premiere, Shawn Levy’s Free Guy starring Ryan Reynolds, and several U.S. classics including Michael Mann’s Heat and James Cameron’s The Terminator.

Back in November last year, Deadline interviewed new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, who told us about his love for popular cinema and American movies. This will mark his debut edition at the helm.

Screening in the Concorso Internazionale strand, which features international works from around the world,...

The Locarno Film Festival has unveiled a promising lineup combining edgy new works by established auteurs such as Abel Ferrara alongside plenty of potential discoveries by emerging helmers and global newcomers for its upcoming 74th edition.

It will be the first one under new Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro, the former Venice Critics’ Week chief who is steering the Swiss fest known as an international incubator and indie cinema temple on a more audience-friendly course.

“A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time” Nazzaro told Variety. “That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films,” he added.

As usual the bulk of Locarno’s crowdpleasers will launch from the Swiss lakeside town’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande square which is Europe’s largest outdoor venue and this year has been approved...

The Locarno International Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 2021 edition, to be held in person from Aug. 4 through Aug. 14.

Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s Italian-set thriller Beckett, starring John David Washington, Alicia Vikander and Vicky Krieps, will have its world premiere on Locarno’s legendary open-air Piazza Grande, as will John Swab’s actioner Ida Red, starring Melissa Leo, Frank Grillo and Josh Hartnett. Netflix is releasing Beckett [/link]worldwide, with Universal handling Ida Red[/link].

Other studio titles in the Locarno’s Piazza Grande lineup include Disney’s Free Guy, the Shawn Levy-directed action-comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer; and Liesl Tommy’s Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, starring ...

The Locarno International Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 2021 edition, to be held in person from Aug. 4 through Aug. 14.

Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s Italian-set thriller Beckett, starring John David Washington, Alicia Vikander and Vicky Krieps, will have its world premiere on Locarno’s legendary open-air Piazza Grande, as will John Swab’s actioner Ida Red, starring Melissa Leo, Frank Grillo and Josh Hartnett. Netflix is releasing Beckett worldwide, with Universal handling Ida Red.

Other studio titles in the Locarno’s Piazza Grande lineup include Disney’s Free Guy, the Shawn Levy-directed action-comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer; and Liesl Tommy’s Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, starring ...

Locarno Sets ‘Beckett’ As Opening Film

Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s Beckett, starring John David Washington, Boyd Holbrook, Vicky Krieps and Alicia Vikander, will open the 74th edition of Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival on August 4. Produced by Luca Guadagnino, the film follows an American tourist vacationing in Greece who becomes the target of a manhunt after a devastating accident. The pic will screen at the iconic Piazza Grande before debuting on Netflix from August 13. “There’s a piece of Locarno in the success story of Ferdinando Cito Filomarino. From the Pardi di domani to the Piazza Grande. The Locarno Film Festival as an incubator for talent, a training ground and finally as a launch pad for the most exciting filmmakers of the future,” said Locarno Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro. “Beckett is a thriller that gives an original and contemporary reboot to the lessons learned from directors such as Sydney Pollack and Alan J. Pakula.

The Locarno Film Festival will open this year’s 74th edition on Aug. 4 with the world premiere of Italian director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s latest thriller “Beckett,” starring John David Washington, Boyd Holbrook, Vicky Krieps and Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander.

After the film’s Locarno premiere, Netflix will launch the film worldwide on Aug. 13.

“Beckett’s” presence marks a return to the Swiss festival for Cito Filomarino, whose 2010 feature “Diarchia” played in the Pardi di domani section.

It also stands out as the festival’s long-awaited return to the iconic Piazza Grande, Locarno’s central square which is home to screenings of its biggest and most audience-friendly movies.

The Piazza Grande is also the festival’s largest competition space, as each day after each screening — exceptions being short films and features in the Histoire(s) du cinéma and Retrospettiva sections — audiences vote for their favorite film using the dedicated festival app.

Feature will open festival with Piazza Grande screening on August 4.

Italian director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s Greece-set thriller Beckett starring John David Washington, Boyd Holbrook, Vicky Krieps and Alicia Vikander will open the 74th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, which is running from August 4 to 14 as a physical event in Switzerland.

Produced by Luca Guardagnino under the banner of his Frenesy Film, it is Cito Filomarino’s first feature following his short film Diarchia which screened in the Leopards of Tomorrow section in 2010.

Following its premiere at the festival, Beckett will screen on Netflix from August 13.

Washington plays a...

‘Tenet’ star John David Washington seems to have got the taste for a bit of sci-fi action as he has joined Gareth Edwards feature ‘True Love’.

The plot is being kept top-secret but it is said to be set in the near future and is from an original idea from Edwards, who will write and direct.

Kiri Hart, who worked alongside Edwards on ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’, will produce along with Edwards.

Also in news – ‘Gangs of London’ Season 2 sets its directors

Washington has recently been on set filming the David O. Russell film ‘Canterbury Glass’ at New Regency, and will next be seen alongside Alicia Vikander, Boyd Holbrook and Vicky Krieps in the Ferdinando Cito Filomarino-directed thriller ‘Beckett’ which premieres on Netflix in August.

Edwards made his debut with the 2010 indie ‘Monsters,’ and went on to helm 2014’s ‘Godzilla’ for Warner Bros. and Legendary before heading...

Netflix have a lot of intriguing projects on the slate this year, and we now have our first look at one such outing thanks to a newly released image of Tenet star John David Washington in the streaming platform's upcoming thriller, Beckett. The popular streaming giant has promised a new movie every week throughout 2021, with Beckett due for release in the summer.

Beckett. On the run. This summer.

John David Washington

Alicia Vikander

Boyd Holbrook

& Vicky Krieps

star in the dramatic thriller from director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino & producer Luca Guadagnino, following a man ensnared in a violent conspiracy while vacationing in Greece. pic.twitter.com/bUjHrhXt5w

— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) April 27, 2021

John David Washington is looking battered, bloody and overall pretty terrified in this first look image, as he looks to be on the run from some unknown force, causing him to literally have to resort to looking over his shoulder.

After starting the year off strong with a trailer for all of 2021, Netflix has come out with its new summer slate as well as a sizzle trailer to go along with it.

While highlighting some films with previously announced release dates like Zack Snyder’s Army Of The Dead and Woman In The Window starring Amy Adams, the slate also features release dates and footage for some highly-anticipated films like Fatherhood starring Kevin Hart, which bows Father’s Day Weekend, and He’s All That, the She’s All That remake starring Cobra Kai‘s Tanner Buchanan.

The updated release slate also includes Good On Paper, which was just acquired by Netflix and stars Margaret Cho. The streamer is also announcing the new documentary Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal and Greed, which tells the fascinating life story about the legendary TV painter.

Here are some of the other highlights of the films...

Film lovers roll up. Here’s our annual list of movies that could have festivals drooling in 2021.

In the age of Covid-19, could has never felt more operative. With Sundance and Berlin reimagining their events next year, traditional festival paths are already diminishing, but here’s to hoping that the pandemic eases, and we get to see at least some of these anticipated movies in theaters and at marquee film events in the next 12 months. There is a bumper crop to choose from with so many having been held back or delayed from 2020.

The Power Of The Dog

Could Jane Campion, the first woman to ever win the Palme d’Or, be back in Cannes this year with her new drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst and Thomasin McKenzie? That will of course depend on whether Netflix and the French fest can bury the hatchet on their disagreement...

Alicia Vikander certainly appears to have murder on the mind as of late. After recently completing work on Ferdinando Cito Filomarino's Born to Be Murdered it's been announced the Oscar-winning actress is developing a Dial M For Murder anthology series at MGM/UA Television. In addition to serving as an executive producer on the project via her Vikarious…...

This summer a new board of directors took the reins at the Greek Film Center (Gfc), the body that oversees all aspects of the country’s film policy, from bolstering the development and production of local cinema to luring international film and television shoots to the Mediterranean nation. Despite recent years in which the Gfc has often appeared adrift, industry veterans have thus far been cautiously optimistic that the shake-up will bring much-needed stability and continuity to the organization.

Markos Holevas, who was recently named president of the Gfc’s board, told Variety that the center would waste little time in ensuring that the Greek industry hits the ground running in 2021. “We want to change many things before the end of the year, to begin the new year with a new profile,” he said.

As the Thessaloniki Film Festival winds down, Holevas said the new board was now determined “to...

With a second lockdown looming amid a spike in coronavirus cases across Greece, Giorgos Karnavas, of production outfit Heretic, knew it was a race against time to wrap shooting on “Triangle of Sadness,” a satire directed by Oscar nominee and Palme d’Or winner Ruben Östlund.

Production on the Woody Harrelson-starring feature was postponed for three months earlier this year due to Covid-19, and principal photography was underway on the island of Evia and on a yacht in the Ionian sea when bars, restaurants, cinemas, and non-essential stores across this Mediterranean nation were shuttered on Nov. 7 for at least three weeks. (Harrelson, who has already filmed his scenes in Sweden, did not travel to Greece.)

The production team nevertheless received a special permit from the government to continue the shoot, which wraps Nov. 13. “We had the support of multiple Greek authorities during the whole way through,” said Karnavas, who...

Netflix has picked up Born to be Murdered, an upcoming thriller directed by Ferdinando Cito Filomarino and starring John David Washington and Alicia Vikander. The film is set to be released in 2021, and not much is known about it yet, aside from the very basic premise. One of the few confirmed details is that […]

The post Netflix Buys ‘Born To Be Murdered’ Starring John David Washington & Alicia Vikander appeared first on uInterview.

Six weeks after acquiring his upcoming romantic drama Malcolm & Marie, Netflix has picked up the John David Washington thriller Born to Be Murdered for release in 2021, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Washington and Oscar winner Alicia Vikander play a couple on vacation in Greece who fall prey to a violent conspiracy with tragic consequences. Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) and Boyd Holbrook (Logan) co-star in the film, which was shot on location in Greece last year. Ferdinando Cito Filomarino directed from a script by Kevin Rice, and the film marks the English-language directorial debut of Filomarino, who …...

Netflix has acquired the worldwide rights to the thriller “Born to Be Murdered,” starring John David Washington and Alicia Vikander, and will release the film in 2021.

“Born to Be Murdered” is set in Athens and the Epirus region of Greece where a vacationing couple, played by Washington and Vikander, fall trap to a violent conspiracy with tragic consequences. Boyd Holbrook and Vicky Krieps also star in the film.

Ferdinando Cito Filomarino directed the film from a script he co-wrote with Kevin Rice. Producers include Luca Guadagnino and Marco Morabito for their Frenesy Films along with Francesco Melzi d’Eril and Gabriele Moratti for MeMo with Raicinema.

Cito Filomarino was second unit director on Guadagnino’s “Suspiria,” “Call Me My Your Name” and “A Bigger Splash.” He made his feature debut on 2015 biopic “Antonia,” centered on Italian poet Antonia Pozzi, which played at film festivals including Karlovy Vary, Torino, Seattle and Gothenburg.