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Following Nitram and The Order, Justin Kurzel goes from strength to strength with his riveting first detour into episodic television, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. While a current of unflinching violence runs through the director’s work, seldom if ever has the blunt shock of bloodletting played in such haunting counterpart to the pathos of brutalized humanity as it does in this adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s 2014 Booker Prize-winning novel. There’s a lingering soulfulness here that feels new to Kurzel’s work, distilled in an intensely moving lead performance from Jacob Elordi.

Big, bold and strikingly cinematic, the limited series’ first two of five 45-minute episodes were presented as a special gala at the Berlin Film Festival ahead of its Australian premiere on Prime Video in April. Most other major markets will follow, though Sony has not yet closed a deal for U.S. rights. With Elordi’s star on the rise,...

One Fast Move is a sports action drama film written and directed by Kelly Blatz. The Prime Video film follows the story of Wes Neal, a destitute young man as he reconnects with his estranged professional motorcycle racer father to try and train with him. As he begins his training Wes starts to break all the walls he had built in himself to really move on and forgive his father for being absent. One Fast Move stars Kj Apa in the lead role with Eric Dane, Maia Reficco, Edward James Olmos, Austin North, and Gary Weeks starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the speed, sports, and bonds in Prime Video’s One Fast Move here are some similar films you could watch next.

Gran Turismo (Netflix & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Sony Pictures

Gran Turismo is a biographical sports drama film directed by Neill Blomkamp from a screenplay...

Amazon has revealed further casting details of Curio Pictures’ 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North' as filming on the five-part drama wraps in Nsw, with Essie Davis, William Lodder, Eduard Geyl, and Christian Byers to feature alongside Jacob Elordi and Odessa Young.

The post Essie Davis, William Lodder part of Australian cast for ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ appeared first on If Magazine.

Prime Video has unveiled first-look images of its The Narrow Road to The Deep North adaptation starring Jacob Elordi, which has wrapped production in Australia.

Set against the shadows of World War II, Sony Pictures Television’s series tells the epic story of Lieutenant-Colonel Dorrigo Evans (Elordi) and how his all-too-brief love affair with Amy Mulvaney (Odessa Young) shaped his life. The story is told over multiple time periods, providing a love story to sustain audiences through the darkest of times, an intimate character study illustrating the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity, and an investigation into a marriage and an unforgettable love affair.

A set of new castings have also been announced including Essie Davis (Lynette), William Lodder(Rabbit), Eduard Geyl (Jimmy), Christian Byers (Rainbow), Sam Parsonson (Rooster), Reagan Mannix (Bonox), Fabian McCallum (Sheephead), Caelan McCarthy (Chum), David Howell (Tiny), Taki Abe (Colonel Kota), Masa Yamaguchi...

It’s a wrap for Jacob Elordi down under. The in-demand actor’s upcoming Amazon Prime Video miniseries The Narrow Road to the Deep North, in which he stars opposite Odessa Young in a sweeping love story spanning decades, has just completed production in New South Wales, Australia.

Produced by Prime Video, Curio Pictures, and Sony Pictures Television, the upcoming five-part drama series is based on Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel and has been adapted for the screen by writer Shaun Grant and directed by Justin Kurzel (Nitram, Assassin’s Creed, Macbeth).

Set against the shadows of World War II, the series tells the epic story of Lieutenant-Colonel Dorrigo Evans (Elordi), and how his all-too-brief love affair with Amy Mulvaney (Young) shaped his life. The story is told over multiple time periods, journeying from Evans’ childhood to his experience as a prisoner-of-war on the Thailand-Burma Railway as a young man,...

Five months of production has been completed on Jacob Elordi-starring drama series “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” which is set in the “Euphoria” and “Saltburn” star’s native Australia.

An adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanaghan, the five-part series is a love story set against the backdrop of World War II. Elordi portrays Lieutenant-Colonel Dorrigo Evans and co-stars with Odessa Young. Ciaran Hinds (“Belfast”) plays the older version of Evans.

The adapted screenplay was penned by Shaun Grant and the show is directed by Justin Kurzel.

Production is by Curio Pictures with Prime Video releasing the title in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In other territories, it distributed by Sony Pictures Television.

Flanaghan’s novel, published in 2013, chronicles a century dominated by war, with forced labor on the Thai-Burma Railway and a brief love affair as its dramatic heart.

The story is told over...

My At Meihodo

Michelle Yeoh, star of the globally acclaimed Oscar-winning film “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” will serve as guest of honor and advisor at the fifth Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival, a platform for young visual artists and one of the largest short film festivals in the world. The festival takes place in Fukuoka, Japan.

Other new guests include Maggie Q, film editor Gabriella Cristiani and Stephen Castor (“Spider-Man”), co-ceo of It’s Just Us Productions, Rocket Science 3D and Rocket Science Motion Capture Studios, franchise.

Returning guests include special advisor and composer Tan Dun and honorary chairwoman Yue-Sai Kan, an Emmy-winning television producer.

Since launching in 2018, Meihodo has become one of the largest and most popular short film festivals in the world. This year, the festival received a record 3,533 submissions from 122 countries and regions around the world.

“We’re so excited to welcome the incredible Michelle Yeoh,...

Singapore Bans ‘#Lookatme’

Singapore has banned the release of “#LookAtMe,” a feature film by local director Ken Kwek. The InfoComm Media Development Authority said that the film exceeds film classification guidelines because it denigrates a religious community. Supposedly based in true events, the film depicts a man who is offended by a pastor who preaches against homosexuality, but whose behavior contradicts his teachings. The protagonist’s viral video about the aberrant priest lands him in jail, causing the man’s gay identical twin to fight for justice.

“#LookAtMe,” premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival and local media report that the film has been selected for next month’s Singapore International Film Festival. But the Imda ruling means that it cannot now be shown in any form in Singapore unless Kwek is successful with an appeal.

Singapore recently banned Indian film “The Kashmir Files” on religious grounds. It is...

BBC Studios Partners With ‘Repair Shop’ Star Jay Blades & Hungry Bear

BBC Studios has struck a first-look development deal with Hungry Jay Media, the Jv between Repair Shop breakout Jay Blades and Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel producer Hungry Bear. The one-year deal will give BBC Studios priority access to Hungry Jay’s slate, focusing on factual entertainment formats for the UK market that can travel. Hungry Jay launched in 2020 and has since been behind BBC One doc Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51 and Paramount-owned Channel 5’s Jay Blades: There’s No Place Like Home. Blades broke out helming BBC One’s hugely-popular The Repair Shop, which started life as a small daytime format before graduating to primetime and amassing millions of viewers each week. Hungry Bear, meanwhile, has produced some of the UK’s biggest entertainment hits of the past years including Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel...

Competition

Universal Pictures‘ “Jurassic World Dominion” stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard have launched a competition for young U.K. fans of the dino franchise to design a British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) black card. The black card is the card that has the film’s rating and BBFC approval for cinematic screenings.

“This is your moment to put your mark on a piece of film history 65 million years in the making,” Pratt says in a short video released to accompany the competition launch while Howard suggests: “Get as creative as you want.”

As well as seeing their design on the big screen, the winner will also get a goody bag, a framed copy of the black card and the chance to take three people to a special screening of their film. The winning design will be shown before all screenings of “Jurassic World Dominion” which opens in the U.

Continuing its strong relationship with top-notch Australian drama series, London-based Dcd Rights has acquired for international distribution the anticipated high-end series “Love Me,” starring Hugo Weaving.

The first drama series to enter production for Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia, “Love Me” also marks its first project for Australian SVOD service Binge, launched in May last year by the Foxtel Group.

News of the “Love Me” acquisition comes as Dcd Rights has pre-sold has season two of the “The Secrets She Keeps” to AMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now in the U.S. and Canada and BBC One and iPlayer in the U.K. The series is produced by Sydney-based Lingo Pictures Production for Paramount Plus.

Enjoying major production investment from Screen Australia and financed with support from Film Victoria, “Love Me” is now in production.

The six-hour romantic drama turns on how love can appear at the most inconvenient of times,...

Foxtel has made its first commission specifically for streaming service Binge: six-part drama Love Me from Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia.

Currently shooting across Melbourne and regional Victoria, the adaptation of Swedish series Älska mig looks at modern love experienced by different family members at three distinct times of life.

Leading the cast is Hugo Weaving, acting alongside his co-star in The Tourist, Shalom Brune-Franklin, as well as Bojana Novakovic, Bob Morley, Heather Mitchell, Sarah Peirse, Celia Pacquola, William Lodder, and Mitzi Ruhlmann.

The series marks Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia’s first TV drama production, to be made in association with Aquarius Films. Emma Freeman will direct, while Alison Bell is the lead writer with Leon Ford, Adele Vuko and Blake Ayshford.

Aquarius’ Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford produce, with WB’s Michael Brooks and Hamish Lewis executive producing. Foxtel Group EPs are Brian Walsh, Alison Hurbert-Burns and Lana Greenhalgh.

Hugo Weaving heads the diverse cast of “Love Me,” a romantic drama series that is now in production in Melbourne, Australia.

The show explores modern love as experienced by different family members at different stages of life. It is adapted from the Swedish series “Älska Mig,” created by Josephine Bornebusch.

To be presented as a six-part series with 43-minute episodes, the show is directed by celebrated Australian director Emma Freeman with lead writer Alison Bell, and writers Leon Ford, Adele Vuko and Blake Ayshford.

“Love Me” is a Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia production in association with Aquarius Films for the Foxtel Group’s streaming service Binge. Major production investment came from Screen Australia in association with Film Victoria.

Binge is an SVOD service launched in May last year by Foxtel, the News Corp. Australia and Telstra-owned pay-tv service in Australia. It offers on-demand and live entertainment across the lifestyle,...

"You've got a lot of work to do before you're ready to race." Netflix has unveiled a new official trailer for the Australian coming-of-age racing movie originally known as Go!. They have since retitled it to the more generic Go Karts, even though it's the exact same film. The feel-good family coming-of-age film is about a wild young man named Jack who moves to a small town in Western Australia with his mother. He takes up competitive go-kart racing, but must work with an eccentric team to help overcome his own problems and win the championship. Starring William Lodder as Jack, and a cast with Frances O'Connor, Anastasia Bampos, Darius Amarfio-Jefferson, Richard Roxburgh, Cooper Van Grootel, and Dan Wyllie. This actually looks much better than it sounds, might be be a fun one to watch sometime. Go karts are cool. Here's the official Us trailer (+ Australian poster) for Owen Trevor's Go Karts,...

‘Bad Boys for Life’ (Photo: Sony Pictures).

Seventeen years after the Bad Boys sequel the third edition in the franchise has put Will Smith back in the winners’ circle after he starred in Ang Lee’s 2019 flop Gemini Man.

Sony Pictures’ Bad Boys for Life opened in top spot in a buoyant weekend as exhibitors and distributors donated two dollars of every ticket sold on Sunday at participating cinemas to three charities involved in bushfire relief.

Sunday takings totaled $6 million, so based on an average ticket price of about $14.50 that would mean 420,000 admissions and a total donation of around $840,000.

“I really take my hat off to the distributors, exhibitors and representative bodies that were able to swiftly come together and create such a powerful and unified industry initiative,” Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Gm Alex Temesvari tells If. “It really gave cinemas a chance to contribute in a meaningful way.”

Majestic...

Go! (Photo credit: See Pictures).

Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Owen Trevor’s debut feature Go!, excluding Australia and New Zealand where Roadshow Films will launch the See Pictures production on more than 240 screens on Thursday.

The streamer will release the action-packed family film scripted by Paper Planes’ Steve Worland under its original title Go Karts.

Worland has written a novelisation of the film in Australia which will be published in the Us later this year.

Canada-based Aqute Media negotiated the Netflix deal, which also excludes China, on behalf of the producers Jamie Hilton and Sonia Borella.

William Lodder stars as 15-year-old Jack, a charismatic larrikin who discovers go kart racing after he moves to a new town with his mother (Frances O’Connor) and dedicates himself to the sport.

Richard Roxburgh plays Patrick, an old race-car driver with a secret past who along with Jack’s new friends helps...

Exclusive: Netflix has taken global rights, excluding China, Australia and New Zealand, to Aussie family feature Go Karts.

Pic comes from director Owen Trevor, most noted for helming multiple episodes of UK series Top Gear, and production outfit See Pictures, which has credits including the Guy Pearce and Kylie Minogue comedy Swinging Safari and Simon Baker’s Breath.

Go Karts follows 15-year-old Jack who, after his mother moves them to a new town, discovers go kart racing and dedicates himself to the sport. With the support of an old race-car driver with a secret past, Jack must learn to control his recklessness to win the national title.

William Lodder leads the cast with Richard Roxburgh, Anastasia Bampos, Darius Amarfio-Jefferson, Frances O’Connor, Dan Wyllie, Cooper van Grootel, and Damian de Montemas.

Roadshow Films is releasing the film theatrically in non-Netflix territories on January 16 under the title Go!; the streaming release has...

"You'll drive when I say so!" Roadshow Films has debuted an official trailer for an Australian movie titled simply Go!, about go-kart racing. The feel-good family movie is about a wild young man named Jack who moves to a small town in Western Australia with his single mother. He takes up competitive go-kart racing, but must work with an eccentric team to help him overcome his own problems and win the championship. Starring William Lodder as Jack, and a full cast with Frances O'Connor, Anastasia Bampos, Darius Amarfio-Jefferson, Richard Roxburgh, Cooper Van Grootel, and Dan Wyllie. This looks as cheesy and as predictable as anything from Hollywood, with all the usual "talented but problematic" sports movie tropes. At least the helmet-cam Pov looks like fun. "Go! is a high-octane Australian family film with heart." Here's the first official trailer for Owen Trevor's Go! movie, direct from Roadshow's YouTube...

Owen Trevor’s Go!, John Sheedy’s H is for Happiness, Ben Lawrence’s Hearts and Bones, Mirrah Foulkes’ Judy & Punch and Paul Ireland’s Measure for Measure will compete for Australia’s biggest film prize.

Those are the finalists for the $100,000 prize at CinefestOZ, which will run from August 28 to September 1 in Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret River and surrounds.

CinefestOZ festival chair Helen Shervington said it had been another stellar year for the film prize entries and this year’s finalists are the cream of the crop.

The prize was established in 2014 to recognise excellence in Australian filmmaking and is awarded on the gala night by a five-member industry jury, this year chaired by director/writer Rachel Ward.

Scripted by Paper Planes‘ Steve Worland and produced by See Pictures’ Jamie Hilton and Sonia Borella, Go! stars William Lodder, Anastasia Bampos, Darius Amarfio-Jefferson, Dan Wyllie, Cooper Van Grootel, Damian De Montemas,...