News

Selma Blair is back.

The “Cruel Intentions” star is returning with three new movies, including the Israel-Hamas war drama “Stay Forte” with Judd Hirsch and the brothers Mark and Michael Polish’s “There There.” She will also star in supernatural thriller “Silent” from filmmaking duo Doron and Yoaz Paz.

Blair, who went public with her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2018, hinted she had projects in the works when I spoke with her at the Elle Women in Hollywood dinner in November: “I started feeling really better this last year and I’m back at work and doing things so I will have things to announce.

“Stay Forte,” directed by Israeli filmmaker Doron Eran, tells the story of Alon Shamiriz, Yotam Haim and Samer Tallaka, three Israelis taken hostage by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel.

“This film is not just a narrative; it’s a testament to the resilience...

The Script2Comic Contest is going international. The competition that turns screenplays into comic books has a new sponsor: the Japanese publisher Kodansha, which is behind titles such as Attack on Titan, Akira and Ghost and the Shell.

It’s a noteworthy move for Script2Comic, as its winners now could have their work being turned into a Manga that Kodansha could develop into an animated series, in addition to being published as comics in the United States by boutique publisher Amp Comics.

“This partnership embodies our enduring commitment to discovering new talents in the world of manga and graphic novels. We believe that this contest offers a unique platform for storytellers to bring their visions to life and potentially reach a global audience,” said Yohei Takami, director of the rights media business division of Kodansha.

Script2Comic founder Don Handfield, known for producing the Michael Keaton feature The Founder and History’s Knightfall,...

Stars: Julian Rhind-Tutt, Sally Phillips, Adrian Edmondson, Carol Cleveland, Stephen Marcus, Sarine Sofair, Omri Rose, Harriet Madly, Laura Swift, Kevin Leslie, Laurence Kennedy, Connor Williams, Sophie MIller-Sheen, Michael Fatogun | Written and Directed by Matt Mitchell

Despite the nondescript title, The Facility is actually a sequel to 2017’s British zombie horror The Rizen, and originally debuted in 2019 on the festival circuit as The Rizen: Possession… a title which clearly marks out where the film is headed and what we should expect. So why the title change? Maybe because the sequel has been released by a different distributor who, selfishly, didn’t want to give the first films release any publicity as they didn’t release it or – and I want to say this is the more logical reason – The Rizen wasn’t actually that well received on its release and the distributor wanted to distance this film from the original. Plus,...

Stars: Ivanna Sakhno, Alex Hafner, Tinatin Dalakishvili | Written by Stanislav Kapralov, Omri Rose | Directed by Stanislav Kapralov

Mia and Max are young couple who love nothing more than snowboarding. Max has brought Mia to a resort that has an infamous slope with the intentions of proposing to his love. Upon arriving they are warned off going to the slope by the creepy eyebrow-less receptionist. Unfazed by the lack of eyebrows and over abundance of creepiness our couple head to the slopes and because “movies” it’s all about to go horribly wrong. After being seemingly attacked by a leather clad jet ski rider, Mia finds herself separated from Max and must now battle the elements and her attacker if she is to survive.

Don’t let the title of this movie fool you, we are not in Christmas territory here, there is no Santa Claus and don’t expect to see any snowmen…...

North American release set for later this month.

After a busy summer of sales on survival thriller Let It Snow, Arclight Films has locked in another key deal for the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Signature Entertainment will handle Stanislav Kapralov’s feature film debut in the territories.

The latest piece of business follows summer deals for Japan (Hark & Company), Middle East (Falcon Films) and Africa (Black Sheep Films), Greece (Spentzos), and McF Megacom (former Yugoslavia).

Grindstone has set a September 22 North American VoD release on Let It Snow, which stars Ivanna Sakhno as a snowboarder who gets separated...

The snowbound thriller was recently picked up for on-demand release in North America.

Arclight Films has secured new international distribution deals for thriller Let it Snow, starring Ivanna Sakhno and directed by Stanislav Kapralov.

The film, about a free-riding snowboarder struggling to survive against nature and a masked masked snowmobile rider, goes to Hark & Company for Japan, Spentzos Films for Greece, McF Megacom for the former Yugoslavia, Falcon Films for the Middle East and Black Sheep Films for Africa.

North American rights to the film were recently picked up by Lionsgate’s Grindstone Entertainment Group, with an on-demand release...

Solar Media produces snowboarding chiller.

Arclight Films has closed a North American distribution deal for the thriller Let It Snow with Grindstone Entertainment Group.

The film will be released on demand on September 22 and centres on Mia, a snowboarder who is separated from her fiancé after sneaking onto a restricted slope and must survive nature and a masked snowmobile rider out for blood

Ivanna Sakhno stars alongside Alex Hafner, and Tinatin Dalakishvili (Abigail).

Stanislav Kapralov makes his feature directorial debut and wrote the screenplay with Omri Rose.

Solar Media’s Serge Lavrenyuk served as producer, and executive producers are FishCorb...

In today’s film news roundup, “Three Christs” finds a home, Participant chief David Linde will be honored and “Let It Snow” is set for sale at Afm.

Acquisition

IFC Films is acquiring U.S. rights to “Three Christs,” starring Peter Dinklage, Richard Gere, Walton Goggins and Bradley Whitford.

The film is directed by Jon Avnet and co-written by Avnet and Eric Nazarian, based on Milton Rokeach’s book, “The Three Christs of Ypsilanti.” The film was produced by Daniel Levin, Molly Hassel, Avnet and Dr. Aaron Stern. IFC Films will be releasing the film theatrically in January.

The story is based on a 1959 experiment at Michigan’s Ypsilanti State Hospital, with Gere portraying a doctor whose paranoid schizophrenic patient (Dinklage) believes he is Jesus Christ. Unwilling to use electroshock therapy, he begins a risky, unprecedented experiment by transferring his patient to live together with two other paranoid schizophrenics (portrayed...

Gary Hamilton sets debut market screenings.

Arclight Films has boarded as worldwide sales agent on the thriller Let It Snow starring Ivanna Sakhno, Alex Hafner, and Tinatin Dalakishvili (Abigail).

Chairman and CEO Gary Hamilton and his team will launch sales at Afm next week and has set debut market screenings for the feature directorial debut by Stanislav Kapralov from a screenplay he wrote with Omri Rose.

Let It Snow follows Mia, a free-spirited snowboarder who gets separated from her fiancé after sneaking onto a restricted slope and must not only survive against nature, but a masked snowmobile rider in black out for blood.