News

Three years have gone by since we heard that Olivia Scott Welch of Shudder’s The Sacrifice Game and Netflix’s Fear Street trilogy would be starring in writer/director George Baron’s feature debut The Blue Rose, which is described as a surreal, genre-bending noir film… and now we finally know when we’re going to have a chance to see The Blue Rose. Dark Sky Films has announced that they will be giving the film a digital/VOD and limited theatrical release on July 12th! Along with that announcement comes the unveiling of a trailer, which you can check out in the embed above.

Set in the 1950s, The Blue Rose follows the one-night journey of two rookie detectives as they set out to solve a seemingly clear-cut homicide, only to find themselves in an alternate reality of their worst nightmares.

Welch takes on the role of Detective Lilly,...

Kate Upton rose to fame with her appearances in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issues and her acting debut in Tower Heist. Upton had a successful modeling career, appearing on multiple Sports Illustrated covers and Vanity Fair's 100th anniversary issue. After a hiatus from acting, Upton will soon star in the upcoming comedy Sweet Dreams.

At one point in time, it seemed like Kate Upton was everywhere, but the model/actress has practically disappeared from the limelight over the past couple of years. Upton first received widespread attention for her appearances in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issues. She was first featured in the 2011 issue, in which she was named Rookie of the Year. That same year, she made her acting debut in Brett Ratner's Tower Heist alongside Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, and Matthew Broderick. The following year, Upton starred in the 2012 film The Three Stooges.

Upton went on...

“Schitt’s Creek” actor Sarah Levy is social-distancing to her next gig.

Levy has been cast in “Distancing Socially,” a Covid-inspired indie film about relationships and the challenges of virtual communication during lockdown. Director Chris Blake, who also wrote the screenplay, is shooting in New York, Los Angeles and Vancouver using remote technology.

Levy is best known for her role as waitress Twyla Sands on “Schitt’s Creek,” the Emmy-winning series created by and starring her brother Dan Levy and dad Eugene Levy.

The cast also includes Blythe Howard (“Mindhunter”), Alan Tudyk (“Resident Alien”), Melanie Chandra (“Code Black”), Jessika Van (“Seoul Searching”), Sierra Katow (“Last Comic Standing”), Ted Welch (“Adult Interference”), Dawan Owens (“6 Balloons”), Jay Larson (“Wine Country”), Kim Shaw (“She’s Out Of My League”), Rory Scovel (“I Feel Pretty”), Connor Paolo (“Stake Land”), Andy Buckley (“Avenue 5”), Jim O’Heir (“Parks and Recreation”), Emma Fitzpatrick (“The Collector”), Karissa Lee Staples (“Necessary Roughness...

Goodbye Pork Pie director helped put his country on the cinematic map in the early 80s before moving to Hollywood

Geoff Murphy, the film-maker who was a key pioneer in the development of the modern New Zealand film industry, has died aged 80, the New Zealand film commission has confirmed. With hits such as Goodbye Pork Pie and The Quiet Earth, Murphy stood alongside Roger Donaldson as a central figure in the creation of a homegrown industry.

Born in Wellington in 1938, Murphy made his mark playing the trumpet in travelling performance co-op Blerta in the 70s, performing at festivals and living as part of a commune. Having made TV shorts in the early 70s, Murphy’s first feature, Wild Man (1977), grew out of his friendship with Blerta founder Bruno Lawrence – who would go on to act in a number of Murphy’s films as well as Donaldson’s 1981 hit Smash Palace.

Iconic New Zealand film maker, Geoff Murphy, known for “The Quiet Earth” and work on “Dante’s Peak,” has died. He was 80.

Murphy’s death on Monday was confirmed by the New Zealand Film Commission. The organization called him “one of the leading figures in New Zealand cinema’s renaissance of the late 1970s and 1980s.”

A writer, director and producer, Murphy directed three films in that period – “Goodbye Pork Pie,” “Utu,” and “The Quiet Earth” – that were timely and locally-rooted. They are now considered as Kiwi classics.

Murphy’s creative career kicked off as a founding member of musical, theatrical troupe Blerta. His first film, “Wild Man” was largely developed and improvised by Blerta regulars. Murphy’s road movie “Never Say Die,” gave Temuera Morrison his first starring role.

“At the end of the 1980s, Geoff worked mainly in the U.S., directing films like ‘Young Guns II,’ and...

Geoff Murphy.

Producer, director and screenwriter Geoff Murphy, a leading figure in New Zealand cinema’s renaissance of the late 1970s and early 1980s, died in Wellington on Monday. He was 80.

Murphy was best known as the director of Goodbye Pork Pie, Utu and The Quiet Earth. Action-comedy Goodbye Pork Pie, a road movie starring Kelly Johnson, Tony Barry and Claire Oberman, became the first local film to gain blockbuster status at the box office in 1981, according to the New Zealand Film Commission.

“He deserves every ounce of credit for the brilliant things he did with The Quiet Earth,” writer-director Sam Pillsbury told Stuff Nz. “He was a genius and one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever worked with and I learned a lot from him.”

He was was a founding member of Blerta, the musical and theatrical co-operative that toured New Zealand in the early 1970s. His first feature,...

In today’s film news roundup, Molly Shannon’s “Wild Nights with Emily” and Motke Dapp’s “Other Versions of You” get distribution, Robert Patrick is up for a role as an FBI agent and “Nutcracker” writer Ashleigh Powell signs with CAA.

Acquisitions

Greenwich Entertainment has bought “Wild Nights with Emily,’ a dramatic comedy about Emily Dickinson starring Molly Shannon.

The film, which had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, was written and directed by Madeleine Olnek. Greenwich will release the film theatrically early next year.

Shannon’s role captures the vivacious, irreverent side of the poet that was covered up for years — most notably Emily’s lifelong romantic relationship with another woman, using Dickinson’s own words.

“Madeleine’s witty, madcap yet poignant and absolutely necessary version of Emily’s life is an Emily we’ve never seen before, but one that has been hiding in plain sight all along,...

In today’s film news roundup, the comedy “Wild Man” gets a deal, Vinnie Jones will play a villain, and Jack Klugman’s son Adam has directed a short film for the 9/11 anniversary.

Acquisition

Ted Welch’s comedy “Wild Man” has been acquired for global distribution by North of Two for a winter theatrical release, Variety has learned exclusively.

Jacquie Phillips and Stefanie Black directed from a script by Black and Welch about a man who drinks his way into a 90-day house arrest while home for his high school reunion. He forms an odd friendship with an awkward former classmate who lives across the street.

“It’s the perfect mix of charm and nostalgia. Jacquie and Stefanie have knocked this out of the park,” says North of Two CEO Mark Cartier.

“Wild Man” also stars George Dalton, Christine Woods, Mike Vogel, Kate Upton, Stefanie Black, Joe Mullen, Brandon Hirsch,...

Exclusive: Londonderry Entertertainment, the finance and management company co-founded by Patrick Millsaps, has just come aboard to executive produce Wild Man which stars Kate Upton, Mike Vogel and Christine Woods. The company was established to help women filmmakers. Wild Man is being co-directed by two women — Jacquie Phillips and Stefanie Black. Londonderry is putting up about a third of the film’s small indie budget. Wild Man is almost completed and will finish…...