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Netflix's original comedy movies offer a wide variety of genres and themes, from off-beat anthologies to romantic comedies to family-friendly films. There is something for everyone. The streaming service has successfully mixed smaller low budget movies with high-budget films, providing a range of options for viewers. While not all comedies will appeal to every subscriber, Netflix's original comedy movies showcase both little-known actors and big-name stars, making for a diverse and impressive lineup.

The best Netflix original comedy movies run the gamut from off-beat anthologies to romantic comedies to those aimed at children. Movies like The Ballad of Buster Scruggs show that Netflix is willing to splurge on independent comedies just as they are moderately budgeted rom-coms. Some of the movies feature little-known working actors while others feature box office heavyweights like Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson. In other words, Netflix's variety of original comedy films is impressive.

While...

Exclusive: Amy Adams (Arrival), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man franchise) and Tessa Thompson (Creed franchise) have closed deals to star in The Invite, a comedy based on Cesc Gay’s Goya-winning 2020 Spanish film Sentimental, to be directed for FilmNation Entertainment and Permut Presentations by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, multiple sources tell Deadline.

FilmNation had no comment.

The film tells the story of Joe (Rudd) and Angela (Adams), who after 15 years of marriage, find that their relationship is in a rut. Desperate to have a conversation that isn’t focused on their marital woes, Angela invites their boisterous neighbors, Kayla (Thompson) and Shane, over for cocktails. Joe, irritated at having to engage with this disruptive couple, plans to use the occasion to confront them; however, both he and Angela get far more than they bargained for as sparks fly and they discover Shane and...

Exclusive: Terrence Howard (Empire), Jb. Smoove (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Rebecca De Mornay (Jessica Jones) are set to star in Giving Thanks, a coming-of-age comedy set in Inglewood, California that will go into production in June.

The story revolves around Marcus and Roddy, two best friends who work at a dead-end retail job and dream about jump-starting their dream of living on their own while seeking fame and fortune. The pair come up with an ingenious plan to kidnap the pet iguana of football star Achilles Cooper for ransom, while also forcing the famous player to headline the birthday party of Marcus’s father.

Howard plays Calvin Turner, a hard-working father who wants to see his son, Marcus, take advantage of the opportunities life affords him. Smoove will portray Marcus’s arch-nemesis Dexter, an ambitious hustler who manages the retail box store where he works. And De Mornay is set...

Exclusive: Jenny Slate (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On) is set to join Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni and Brandon Sklenar in the Baldoni-directed film adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel It Ends With Us, which is currently in development with Wayfarer Studios and Sony Pictures.

The film, for which Christy Hall completed the current screenplay, follows Lily Bloom (Lively), who despite coming from a complicated past, has always known the life she wants. While living in Boston, she meets neurosurgeon Ryle Kincaid (Baldoni) and believes she may very well have found her soul mate. Soon, however, questions arise about their relationship, and to complicate matters her high school love interest, Atlas Corrigan (Sklenar), comes back into the picture, putting her relationship with Ryle in jeopardy.

Slate will play the role of Ryle’s sister, Allysa.

Alex Saks will produce for Saks Picture Company, along with Jamey Heath on behalf of Wayfarer Studios,...

Exclusive: Jason Schwartzman, the award-winning actor, writer, director, producer and musician who will next be seen as the lead in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City opposite Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Liev Schreiber, Tom Hanks, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Margot Robbie and many more, has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.

Schwartzman has featured in almost all of Anderson’s films, including Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel and his recently-released anthology, The French Dispatch. He co-wrote 2007’s The Darjeeling Limited with Anderson and Roman Coppola and shared “Story By” credit on The French Dispatch with Anderson, Coppola and Hugo Guinness, sharing that credit on Isle of Dogs with Anderson, Coppola and Kunichi Nomura.

Schwartzman has also worked with such notable filmmakers as Judd Apatow, David O. Russell, Amy Poehler, Tim Burton, Sofia Coppola and Alex Ross Perry, among others. His film credits also include Sing 2,...

Emmy- and DGA award-winning actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller has signed with UTA for representation in all areas. Stiller was represented by the agency earlier in his career and returns from WME.

The multi-hyphenate entertainer has earned nearly $3 billion at the box office thanks to major feature franchises such as “Meet the Parents” and “Night at the Museum,” the animated “Madagascar” films, plus hit comedies like “Zoolander,” “There’s Something About Mary” and “Tropic Thunder,” which he starred in, directed, co-wrote, and produced under his production company, Red Hour. Stiller has also starred in critically acclaimed arthouse hits such as “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Flirting With Disaster,” Noah Baumbach’s “Greenberg,” “While We’re Young” and “The Meyerowitz Stories.”

UTA will also rep Stiller’s Red Hour production banner, which he launched in 1998. The company has produced a wide range of film and television projects with major studios and networks including Netflix, Disney,...

In “The Good House,” Sigourney Weaver plays Hildy, a prickly, well-born Realtor in a wealthy New England town. Hildy is a mother and grandmother, and her family has become concerned with her drinking. When they stage an intervention, the beginning of which you can see in this exclusive clip, Weaver’s Hildy breaks the fourth wall, and tells the audience about the players.

“Let me introduce everyone first,” Hildy says to the camera. And then she does, peppering her comments with asides: “This is my ex-husband, Scott, to whom I pay alimony. Even though he left me for a man after 22 years of marriage.”

“The Good House,” an acquisition title produced by Amblin Partners, will premiere as a Gala Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 15. Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky co-directed the film, and also adapted Ann Leary’s 2013 novel of the same name with Thomas Bezucha.

Andrea Martin (Great News), Robert Ri’chard (Empire), Juani Feliz (Blue Bloods), Kate Rockwell (Mean Girls: The Musical) and Sullivan Jones (The Surrogate) are set for recurring roles on Amazon’s Harlem, the comedy series from Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip), Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite Productions and Universal TV. They’ll join previously announced Whoopi Goldberg and Jasmine Guy, who also recur.

Created, written and executive produced by Oliver, Harlem, formerly the Untitled Tracy Oliver Project, is a single-camera comedy following the lives of four black women, friends from their college days at NYU, as they navigate sex, relationships and chasing their dreams.

Martin will play Robin, Camille’s passionate feminist mentor at Columbia University. Ri’chard portrays Shawn, Quinn’s sexy, stripper one-night stand who sticks around much longer than she planned. Feliz is Isabela, a local politician on track to beating AOCs record as the youngest member of Congress...

Exclusive: We can tell you first that Oscar- and Emmy-nominated producer David Permut has picked up the rights to produce a narrative adaptation of Netflix’s acclaimed docuseries The Pharmacist which premiered earlier this year.

Permut is producing the film through his Permut Presentations banner alongside Jenner Furst, Julia Willoughby Nason and Mike Gasparro at The Cinemart, the team that directed and produced the docuseries. Brandon Riley and Keenan Porterfield will serve as EPs.

The docuseries tells the story of Dan Schneider, a small-town pharmacist in Louisiana who took it upon himself in 1999 to seek justice after the mysterious murder of his teenage son. Through his own detective work, Dan discovers that his only son was addicted to opioids and was murdered while on a desperate attempt to buy oxycontin. His obsession with convicting his son’s murderer leads him to uncover a string of highly illegal pill-mills, and ultimately...

Stuart Cornfeld, the producing partner with Ben Stiller on Zoolander, Dodgeball and Tropic Thunder, died Friday of cancer. He was 67.

His friend, actress Liliana Greenfield-Sanders confirmed the news on Twitter.

Very sad to let you know that our dear friend Stuart Cornfeld died today from cancer. He was the funniest person on the planet. I will miss him terribly. Do yourself a favor and watch one of the many amazing films he produced. He was truly one of the greats. pic.twitter.com/ONcuOl56Hk

— Greenfield-Sanders (@Liliana) June 26, 2020

Cornfeld was born in Tarzana in 1952, and graduated from the American Film Institute in 1975. While working with Anne Bancroft on two Directing Workshop for Women projects, she introduced him to husband Mel Brooks. That led to Cornfeld becoming the assistant on 1977’s High Anxiety.

He worked on several other Bancroft and Brooks projects, becoming the executive producer on the Brooks-produced The Elephant Man.

Stuart Cornfeld, who worked with Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Films to produce movies including “Tropic Thunder,” “Dodgeball” and “Zoolander,” has died of cancer.

Several of his friends posted about his death on social media.

At Red Hour, which he founded with Stiller in 1999, he also produced “Duplex” starring Stiller and Drew Barrymore, “Starsky & Hutch,” “Blades of Glory” and “The Ruins.” One of the last films he produced was “The Polka King,” starring Jack Black. Stiller said on Twitter, “Stuart Cornfeld was as funny, smart, talented & cool as a person gets.”

A really great person left the planet today. Stuart Cornfeld was as funny, smart, talented & cool as a person gets. He was my friend, producing partner, and creative confidant. He knew movies, made movies and loved movies. World=less better without him. IMDb him. He was the best. pic.twitter.com/sOx85UvxC4

— Ben Stiller (@RedHourBen) June 27, 2020

Earlier in his career,...

Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline are set to star in an adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel “The Good House” at Amblin Partners, the studio announced Monday.

Production will begin this week in Canada on the film based on Ann Leary’s novel of the same name. Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky, who also co-wrote the script, are set to direct.

“The Good House” follows Hildy Good (Weaver), a wry New England realtor and descendant of the Salem witches, who loves her wine and loves her secrets. Her compartmentalized life starts to unravel as she rekindles an old romance and becomes dangerously entwined in one person’s reckless behavior.

Also Read: Watch Sigourney Weaver Exhort Samantha Bee to Cheer on Journalists at 'Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner' (Video)

Jane Rosenthal, Berry Welsh and Aaron Ryder are producing on behalf of FilmNation Entertainment. The executive producers are Erika Hampson,...

Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver, who appeared together in the Oscar-nominated comedy Dave and The Ice Storm, will star in the adaptation of the New York Times best-seller The Good House.

Amblin Partners is behind the project, which is beginning production this week in Canada and will be directed by Maya Forbes (The Polka King) and Emmy winner Wally Wolodarsky (Seeing Other People). 

The Good House follows Hildy Good (Weaver), a wry New England realtor and descendant of the Salem witches who loves her wine and loves her secrets. Her compartmentalized life starts to unravel as she rekindles an old romance and becomes dangerously ...

Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver, who appeared together in the Oscar-nominated comedy Dave and The Ice Storm, will star in the adaptation of the New York Times best-seller The Good House.

Amblin Partners is behind the project, which is beginning production this week in Canada and will be directed by Maya Forbes (The Polka King) and Emmy winner Wally Wolodarsky (Seeing Other People). 

The Good House follows Hildy Good (Weaver), a wry New England realtor and descendant of the Salem witches who loves her wine and loves her secrets. Her compartmentalized life starts to unravel as she rekindles an old romance and becomes dangerously ...

Exclusive: After bringing the story of World War II conscientious objector Desmond T. Doss to the big screen with Hacksaw Ridge, the Oscar-nominated producer of that film, David Permut, is in development on another feature project about a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient — that of Civil War Union Army surgeon Dr. Mary Edwards Walker. Permut is teaming with Walden Media on the feature, which is being adapted by Rosalind Ross.

The project follows Walker’s journey during the Civil War as she struggled to be accepted and compensated in the same manner as her male counterparts in the medical field and ultimately became the first and only female recipient to receive the Congressional Medal Of Honor. Even after receiving her medical degree at Syracuse Medical College, Walker was considered unfit for the Union Army Examining Board and initially was only allowed to serve voluntarily as a surgeon.

While serving in the war,...

Exclusive: Fresh off the heels of selling their films Where’s My Roy Cohn? and Knock Down the House at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Wavelength Productions announces their involvement as producers of the feature documentary Chippendales, directed by award-winning documentarians Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce (HBO’s Believer).

Chippendales tells the true story of the first strip club for women whose rise during the drug, sex and rock-and-roll fueled world of 1980’s Los Angeles left a trail of greed, extortion, jealousy, mob infiltration, and murder. The nightclub arose at the epicenter for the women’s liberation movement and was in part responsible for changing the culture. Playboy centerfold Dorothy Stratton, her pimp husband Paul Snider, a newly arrived immigrant from Calcutta named Somen “Steve” Banerjee, and a flamboyant New York choreographer named Nick DeNoia would all play a part in the founding of the nightclub.

The documentary...

Famed New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast is taking her sardonic wit to a television screen near you. Her best-selling graphic memoir “Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” is being adapted into a half-hour television series by Shivani Rawat’s ShivHans Pictures and Ken Kwapis’ In Cahoots, Variety has learned.

Emmy-winning writer Sheila R. Lawrence will serve as the showrunner. The pilot, which Lawrence wrote, will be directed by veteran helmer Kwapis.

Kwapis will executive produce with Alexandra Beattie, his partner at the shingle In Cahoots; Rawat; and Monica Levinson.

Chast’s critically acclaimed memoir — a finalist for the National Book Award for non-fiction — traces her experiences caring for her parents in their final years.

“Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?” is the first TV series for ShivHans Pictures, which has backed such acclaimed recent films as “Trumbo,” “Captain Fantastic,” “The Polka King,” and “Beirut.” And the...

ReFrame — a coalition of industry leaders founded by Women in Film and the Sundance Institute — and IMDbPro announced on Tuesday nearly two dozen films to be certified for their gender-balanced productions.

Reframe launched the data initiative in an effort to recognize and promote gender-balanced films and television shows. The collaboration relies on data from IMDbPro to analyze films and television series to see how many women were involved in the production, and how much screen time female characters had. To earn the ReFrame Stamp, a film or TV show must meet a handful of requirements that call for women in key roles like starring, directing, producing, and writing. Additional points are awarded for having racial diversity. (The full criteria can be found here.)

The ReFrame Stamp program launched on June 8 with the announcement of 12 films that earned the stamp out of 100 films surveyed. The group then expanded the program by...

Also: Jack Black's serio-comic The Polka King and must-see Irish thriller Bad Day for the Cut. Is it just me, or do January's new offerings on streaming services feel ... er, kinda non-essential? Expectations may play a bigger role this month than I had anticipated, but there are pleasures to be enjoyed. From the trailer I saw, I fully expected Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (aka Godzilla: Monster Planet) to be a dead-serious animated affair with a new take on Godzilla. Released this past weekend on Netflix as a 90-minute movie, the first third of the story is set in outer space on a ship that has been traveling for 20 years and is rapidly running out of resources. The premise is that Godzilla and...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Netflix announced late last year that they have no less than 80 new projects in the pipeline for release this year, and a huge amount of those will be original movies. It's hard enough keeping up with everything at the multiplex, but now it's getting even harder to discover which, of the many movies, we need to watch on Netflix streaming. Don't worry. We have you covered.

Love Netflix? Hate Netflix? You can't argue that they are an entertainment juggernaut. It would be enough if they were simply the company who made streaming viable. However, what they have become as a production/distribution powerhouse just about thwarts all of that. Making this even more impressive is the litany of content that Netflix continues to produce. Whether it is the animal conscious Okja, or the Training Day meets Alienation mash-up Bright, or the litany of documentary or TV shows (Orange Is the New Black,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Blame (Quinn Shephard)

Written, directed, edited, and starring 22-year-old Quinn Shephard, Blame premiered at Tribeca Film Festival last spring. We said in our review, “It’s an impressive debut feature that’s confident and assured, yet feels less like a feature film and more like an effective television drama with a few well-drawn characters and a multi-episode arc. Its asymmetric narrative doesn’t always work as it withholds information...

Jack Black appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Wednesday — or, to be precise, Jan Lewan appeared, with the actor in character for his new comedy “The Polka King”. In the fact-based Netflix movie, the “Shallow Hal” star plays the titular performer, a popular star on the polka circuit until he was...

As you make your way through the best films of 2017, January not only brings wide releases of two of our top picks–Phantom Thread and Call Me by Your Name—but a handful of worthwhile 2018 titles as well. The month is also defined by Sundance Film Festival 2018, where an early look at some of the year’s finest films will debut, and we’ll be there once again to cover.

Matinees to See: Django (1/5), The Insult (1/12), Vazante (1/12), The Polka King (1/12), The Final Year (1/19), Mom & Dad (1/19)

10. Blame (Quinn Shephard; Jan. 5)

Synopsis: A substitute drama teacher at a suburban high school develops a taboo relationship with an unstable student, sparking a trail of jealous sabotage from the student’s peers.

Trailer

Why You Should See It: Written, directed, edited, and starring 22-year-old Quinn Shephard, Blame premiered at Tribeca Film Festival last spring. We said in our review, “It’s an impressive debut...

Netflix has released the first trailer and poster for one of their first original movies in 2018, Step Sisters, which debuts January 19 on the streaming service. It will actually be the second Netflix original movie to be released this year, followed by The Polka King starring Jack Black on January 12, then followed by A Futile and Stupid Gesture starring Will Forte on January 26. This new comedy takes viewers inside the world of collegiate step dancing, with one ambitious young woman asked to help out a rival sorority.

Jamilah Bishop (Megalyn Echikunwoke) seems to excel at everything: She's president of her sorority, captain of the step dance crew, liaison to the college dean and a star student who is on her way to to Harvard Law School. But when Jamilah is asked to teach a misbehaving, mostly white sorority how to step, success seems impossible. Without telling her own sorority sisters, Jamilah...

Sneak Peek new footage from the upcoming comedy feature "The Polka King", written and directed by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky, starring Jack Black, Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman and Jacki Weaver, based on the book "The Man Who Would Be Polka King" by Joshua Brown and John Mikulak, airing on Netflix January 12, 2018:

"...a Pennsylvania polka sensation (Black) seduces his fans into investing in a 'Ponzi' scheme, swindling them out of millions..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Polka King"...

Regardless of the quality of the final project, Jack Black and his boundless energy is often the best part of any film he’s a part of. This can be said of the upcoming Jumanji sequel as well as a film he brought to last year’s Sundance Film Festival, The Polka King. Written and directed by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky (also responsible for Infinitely Polar Bear), the film tells the true story of Jan Lewan, famed Polish polka singer and Ponzi scheme scammer in Pennsylvania. Based out of a novelty store in Hazleton, Jan wraps himself up in the American Dream. Playing everything from weddings to county fairs and other senior citizen-heavy venues, his polka fanbase grows as he continues to expand the number of band members, much to the chagrin of friend and band clarinetist Mickey (Jason Schwartzman).

Ahead of a Netflix release in January, the first...

Author: Zehra Phelan

Netflix has released a trailer for The Polka King, which stars Jack Black as Jan Lewan, the Pennsylvania entertainer who “inadvertently” pulled a Ponzi scheme on his fans.

After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, Netflix picked up The Polka King to bring to the streaming service in January.

Based on a real-life story of Jan Lewan who moves from Poland to America Jan Lewan, he fast becomes the “King of Pennsylvania Polka,” as he becomes more popular, along with his beauty queen wife (Jenny Slate), he starts accepting donations from his fans who want to invest in his company, which has no way of making them money as Jan promises.

Jason Schwartzman, Jb Smoove, Oscar nominee Jackie Weaver and Willie Garson join Black, who will next be seen in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle this week, and Slate on the cast. Black also produced the film alongside David Permut,...

"I heard that people are investing money in you." Netflix has finally unveiled the official trailer for The Polka King, a film which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year (back in January) and will be released on Netflix just before the Sundance Film Festival next year (in early 2018). Jack Black stars as Jan Lewan, a Polish immigrant who became the "King of Pennsylvania Polka" and started a Polka Ponzi scheme. This is based on a true story and it almost seems too crazy to be real, but it is. The cast includes Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, Jacki Weaver, J.B. Smoove, and Willie Garson. This reminds me of Jack Black's other good dramatic role, in Linklater's Bernie, but it's an entirely different story. I heard some solid buzz on this at Sundance, but it seems to have been forgotten until its return now. Take a look. Here's...

The first trailer has been released for Jack Black's upcoming Netflix film The Polka King. I had a chance to see this film at Sundance earlier this year and it was a wildly entertaining dark comedy! Jack Black also delivers one of the best performances of his career.

The movie is actually based on a true story that is just so insane! People can't make this shit up. Black plays a character named Jan Lewan, the beloved "Polka King" who conned an entire town with a Ponzi scheme. I loved this film and I think a lot of you will enjoy the hell out of it! Here's the synopsis:

In The Polka King, Jack Black stars as Jan Lewan, a Polish immigrant who became the “King of Pennsylvania Polka.” A believer in the American Dream, Jan worked hard and dreamed bigger, but with big dreams come big mistakes.

Netflix just released the first trailer for its Jack Black-starring comedy The Polka King, which it picked up in June at Sundance for high seven figures. The film is based on the the documentary film The Man Who Would Be Polka King from directors John Mikulak and Joshua Von Brown. The film version was directed by Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky who also scripted. The film follows Lewan (Black), who developed a Ponzi-like scheme, taking hordes of cash from senior citizens…...

Life truly can be stranger than fiction. In The Polka King, based on a true story, Jack Black plays Jan Lewan, a real-life polka dancer who fell from grace after he conned an entire town with a Ponzi scheme. The Polka King, a black comedy that Netflix bought after it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, has released a […]

The post ‘The Polka King’ Trailer: Netflix Film Stars Jack Black as a Dancing Con Man appeared first on /Film.

Netflix has unveiled the brand new trailer and poster for “The Polka King” ahead of its eagerly anticipated release next month. The movie sees Jack Black take on the role of Jan Lewan, a Polish immigrant who became the “King of Pennsylvania Polka”. In the newly released clip, the character tries to rip people off […]...

Jack Black is set to make his big screen return this Christmas in the long-awaited sequel Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. But the iconic comedic force is trying something new for his next project. He is starring in his first ever Netflix original movie. And it premieres this January.

In The Polka King, Jack Black stars as Jan Lewan, a Polish immigrant who became the "King of Pennsylvania Polka." A believer in the American Dream, Jan worked hard and dreamed bigger, but with big dreams come big mistakes. Based on a true story, the film, co-written and directed by Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky, mixes comedy and tragedy showing the world's only known Polka Ponzi scheme. The Polka King co-stars Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, Jacki Weaver, J.B. Smoove and Willie Garson.

The Polka King is the official selection of the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Netflix will debut The Polka King,...

With two “Star Wars” blockbusters under his belt, John Boyega knows a thing or two about protecting spoilers during interviews and making sure nothing top secret slips from his mouth when he’s answering questions. But what happens when the interviewer just goes ahead and lets loose a massive spoiler? During an appearance on the UK’s “This Morning,” Boyega was left speechless by co-host Holly Willoughby after she revealed something huge about “The Last Jedi.”

Read More:‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Review: Here’s the Most Satisfying Star Wars Movie in Decades

Boyega reprises his role as former Stormtrooper and current Resistance fighter Finn in “The Last Jedi.” The Rian Johnson-directed sequel finds the character teaming up with friend Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and new character Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) to thwart a new threat from The First Order.

We won’t reveal what the huge spoiler is,...

Jack Black is not one to shy away from laying down some sick tunes in his movies, but it's usually not the kind of music that makes you think of lederhosen, finely cooked sausages and windmills. In The Polka King Black will star as infamous polka musician, Jan Lewan, who on top of shredding on the accordion was caught having people invest people’s money in a Ponzi scheme, with his wife Marla (Jenny Slate) by his side trying to reclaim her beauty queen glory. The first... Read More...

Jack Black is looking to kick off 2018 with something of a career resurgence. The comedian is one of the leads in the Christmas family tentpole “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” and just a few weeks later his indie comedy “The Polka King” will debut on Netflix.

Read More:‘The Godfather’ Trilogy Makes Netflix an Offer It Can’t Refuse Next Month; ‘Marie Antoinette’ and ‘Midnight in Paris,’ Too

Directed by “Infinitely Polar Bear” filmmaker Maya Forbes, “The Polka King” tells the stranger-than-fiction true story Jan Lewan, a Polish hustler known for being the “King of Pennsylvania Polka” in the early ’90s and for running a Ponzi scheme to fund his aspiring music career. Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, Jacki Weaver, and J.B. Smoove co-star.

“The Polka King” premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. The film will be available to stream on Netflix starting January 12. Watch the trailer below.

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Netflix has released The Polka King trailer. The film premiered at Sundance earlier this year and tells the true story of Jan Lewan (Jack Black), a polka performer in Pennsylvania who set up a Ponzi scheme that defrauded local residents by promising them a 12% return on their investment. In my review, I pointed out that despite a strong performance from Black, the film gets too wrapped up in Lewan’s personality so they fail to note what his scheme says about the American Dream and the lengths people will go to fulfill it. Surprisingly, this trailer is pretty spot-…...

Parsing the schedule at any film festival is never easy, because you don’t want to overlook a movie that could be a breakout hit. However, last year at the Sundance Film Festival, we felt “The Polka King” told us everything we need to know just from the movie title. True to form, the movie left Park City with zero buzz and middling reviews, however, the folks at Netflix crunched their data and determined this will find an audience on their platform.

Continue reading ‘The Polka King’ Trailer: Jack Black’s Schemes Comes True at The Playlist.

SNL alum Jenny Slate is in talks to join Tom Hardy in Sony Pictures' Venom movie. If cast, she will also join the previously cast Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed. According to Variety, if she ends up joining the movie, she'll play a scientist. They don't specify who this scientist will be, though.

Jenny Slate is a surprising addition to the cast, but it's pretty awesome! Seems like the kind of casting decision Marvel would make. Looks like Sony is learning a thing or two. She is a great character actress that has been in a lot of films and TV shows over the years such as Bored to Death, Parks and Recreation, Zootopia, The Polka King, Gifted, Bob's Burgers and more.

There are no details on the story of the film, but I'm loving this cast. And we've heard rumors that Carnage will be the main villain. Besides that,...

Netflix seems to be taking a more proactive stance these days in terms of cutting original shows, but it has no qualms about continuing to throw money at original movies. Earlier today, we reported that the streaming service had bought the rights to the art world drama from the team behind Nightcrawler, and now Variety says that Netflix has also picked up the Jack Black-starring comedy The Polka King. As we noted when the project was originally announced last year, The Polka King is based on Joshua Brown and John Mikulak’s documentary The Man Who Would be Polka King, which centered around a Grammy-nominated artist named Jan Lewan who scammed millions of dollars out of his fans in an elaborate, Poland-themed Ponzi scheme.

Black is playing Lewan, and The Polka King will also star Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, Jacki Weaver, J.B. Smoove, and Vanessa Bayer. The film was...

Netflix has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the Jack Black-starrer The Polka King, which first debuted at Sundance.

The feature is based on the documentary The Man Who Would Be Polka King from directors Joshua Brown and John Mikulak, which follows Grammy-nominated polka sensation Jan Lewan, who ended up running a Soviet souvenir-based Ponzi scheme that landed him in jail.

Black stars as Lewan and also acted as a producer under his Electric Dynamite banner. David Permut, Stuart Cornfeld, Shivani Rawat, Monica Levinson, Wally Wolodarsky and Priyanka Mattoo also produced.

Infinitely Polar Bear helmer Maya Forbes and former Simpsons writer...

Netflix has taken global rights to Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky’s comedy biopic The Polka King starring Jack Black as local Pennsylvania polka legend Jan Lewan. Deadline hears that Netflix paid seven figures for the movie, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January. A deal has been in the works since the movie premiered at Sundance. A streaming date has not been determined yet, but Polka King will hit Netflix before the end of this year. No word on…...

Amblin Entertainment has acquired the rights to the 1973 John Bellairs children's book The House With a Clock in Its Walls, with Eli Roth coming aboard to direct this adaptation and Jack Black signing on to star. Eric Kripke, who is best known for creating the hit CW series Supernatural, wrote the adapted screenplay. The writer has been on board this project since 2011, but now this children's book adaptation is finally moving in the right direction.

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Eric Kripke will serve as a producer alongside Brad Fischer and James Vanderbilt. It was Brad Fischer and James Vanderbilt's company Mythology Entertainment, which they formed with Laeta Kalogridis, that set Eric Kripke to write the script back in 2011. It remains unclear how faithful this adaptation will be to the original source material. This new report reveals that Jack Black will play the uncle to a young boy, who owns a terrifying Victorian mansion.

Chris Mangano is a young producer in the independent film world who has already made significant contributions to the scene in just a few years. His most recent project, The Polka King starring Jack Black debuted at Sundance this past year to widespread critical and audience acclaim. I had a chance to catch up with Chris about the project, his career, and what big things are shaping up at Mangano Movies & Media, his production company. What inspired you to want to work in entertainment? As far back as I can remember my favorite thing in the world to do was going to the video rental store. I’d walk up and down each aisle looking at all the one sheets printed gloriously on the front of the VHS...

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Welcome to the first, hopefully annual, Weekend Warrior Sundance Awards, where I go through the couple dozen movies I had a chance to see over the course of the past week and pick some of my favorite things.

I ended up seeing roughly thirty movies in total, only walking out of a couple (that won’t be mentioned), and overall, it was a generally decent Sundance, although only a few movies really stood out and will be remembered later in the year when we start talking about next year’s Oscars.

Oddly, I missed many of the movies that won actual awards at Sundance, so I’ve decided to give a few of my own.

Salma Hayek as Beatriz in Beatriz At Dinner

Most Literal Use of a Movie Title

1. Beatriz at Dinner (starring Salma Hayek as a Mexican healer named Beatriz who is invited to stay for dinner at...

Kudos to Jack Black for trying new things. The actor seems to be on a mission to expand his comedic (and dramatic) palette with interesting turns in smaller fare like Bernie, The D Train and now The Polka King. Written and directed by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky (also responsible for recent Sundance flick Infinitely Polar Bear), the film tells the true story of Jan Lewan, famed Polish polka singer and Ponzi scheme scammer in Pennsylvania (try saying that five times fast). Based out of a novelty store in Hazleton, Jan wraps himself up in the American Dream. Playing everything from weddings to county fairs and other senior citizen-heavy venues, his polka fanbase grows as he continues to expand the number of band members, much to the chagrin of friend and band clarinetist Mickey (Jason Schwartzman).

Jan is a untenable ball of ambition, determined to become rich and famous while remaining well-loved by all.

The Horizon Award Co-Founders — Christine Vachon, Lynette Howell Tayler, Cassian Elwes, and CEO of ShivHans Pictures — Shivani Rawat

(Photo by: Dan Campbell / Horizon Award)The Horizon Award heads back to Sundance Film Festival for its third year and cofounders Cassien Elwes, Lynette Howell Taylor and Christine Vachon bring new and returning sponsors.

The Wme Lounge in Park City, Utah during the 2017 Sundance Film Festival hosted the crowded celebratory event where everyone freely mixed and met each other.

Six directors judged the final 53 films to select the two winners. Catherine Hardwicke (“Thirteen”, “Twilight”), Kimberly Peirce (“Boys Don’t Cry”, “Carrie”), Jamie Babbit (“But I’m a Cheerleader”, “Addicted to Fresno”), Karyn Kusama (“Jennifer’s Body”, “Æon Flux”), Tina Mabry (“Mississippi Damned”, “Queen Sugar”), and Vicky Jenson (“Shrek”, “Shark Tale”) chose. Brittany “B Monét” Fennell and Andy Villanueva whose self-directed short films of two minutes or less were submitted through the website (www.

Plot: The true story of Jan Lewan (Jack Black), a Pennsylvania Polka sensation who ran a $5 million ponzi scheme, to the complete ignorance of his wife (Jenny Slate) and best friend/ band-mate (Jason Schwartzman. Review: The Polka King is so strange a tale, it could only be based on fact. Were it not, people would have written-off Maya Forbes (Infinitely Polar Bear) and Wallace... Read More...

I have a love-hate relationship with Jack Black. I love it when he acts in smaller independent films because he always plays interesting and fun characters and ends up giving great performances. But when he stars in these big silly studio films, I just don't have any interest in them. He just comes off as being fake Jake Black in those studio movies and it seems like wasted talent, but he makes the big bucks off them, so... ya know...

At least he does go out of his way to make these small great indie films! That says something about him. I had the chance to be his new film at Sundance called The Polka King, and no joke, this is a role he was born to play! He gave a wonderfully fun performance as he played a real-life person named Jan Lewan, a famous Polish polka musician from Pennsylvania.

Based on the life of disgraced polka sensation Jan Lewan, Jacki Weaver, Jason Schwartzman and Jenny Slate round out a wacky comedy that’s full of heart

There are three things you can always count on: death, taxes and that any movie with Jason Schwartzman playing a clarinet can’t be all bad.

The Polka King, a return to Sundance for Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky after Infinitely Polar Bear, is definitely wacky, perhaps even a little zany, but as the pre-title card and closing credits photos remind us, this is based on a true story. That fact serves as a considerable engagement engine, as this is the type of story where, if someone told it to you, you might say, “Man, they ought to make a movie about that!”

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