News

Monument Releasing has acquired Eugene Kotlyarenko’s “The Code,” and is planning a theatrical release in the English-speaking world. The film premiered at the Fantasia Intl. Film Festival in Montreal and has gone on to have a strong festival run.

“The Code” will be opening at the Roxy Cinema in New York on April 23, and will be followed by a theatrical run at the Lumiere Cinema May 9 in Los Angeles. Key additional cities include Miami, Montreal, Toronto and San Francisco, with more to be added.

“The Code” is an absurd, high-concept comedy, following a sexless couple, paranoid about the status of their relationship, who embrace surveillance, spying and performance as a means to fall in love again.

The film stars Dasha Nekrasova, Peter Vack, Ivy Wolk (“Anora”) and Vish Velandy (“Wobble Palace”).

It was produced by Spacemaker Productions and lensed by Bart Cortright.

Kotlyarenko’s debut features, “0s & 1s” and “Skydiver,...

Celine Song’s “Materialists” has rounded out its cast with Zoë Winters (“Succession”), Dasha Nekrasova, Louisa Jacobson (“The Gilded Age”) and Marin Ireland (“Eileen”).

The A24 feature starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal is described as a New York-set rom-com following a high-end matchmaker who gets involved with a wealthy man. Further details on the plot and the roles of Johnson, Evans and Pascal have not been disclosed.

Winters is best known for her role as Logan Roy’s calculating and confident assistant (and paramour) Kerry on the HBO’s Emmy-winner “Succession.” She and the cast received a 2022 and 2024 SAG Award for best drama ensemble.

Winters’ other film and television credits include “Flatbush Misdemeanors,” “Hunters” and Marc Turtletaub’s feature “Jules,” in which she stars opposite Ben Kingsley. A longtime New York stage actor, Winters appeared in “Heroes of the Fourth Turning” at Playwrights Horizons, for which she...

Dasha Nekrasova, Chloe Cherry and Betsey Brown have been cast in “www.RachelOrmont.com,” a sci-fi drama currently in production.

The film, the second feature from writer and director Peter Vack, is described as a “psychedelic technosatire about growing up in captivity.” The project is produced by The Ion Pack in association with Gummy Films, Simone Films and Fast Rainbow Films. Previously, Vack helmed “Assholes” in 2017.

Vack is also known for his work as an actor on shows such as “The Bold Type,” — where he memorably played web editor Patrick, who managed “The Dot Com” of the show’s fictional magazine — “Love Life,” “I Just Want My Pants Back” and “Mozart in the Jungle.”

Nekrasova made her film debut with “Wobble Palace” in 2018, which she co-wrote with director Eugene Kotlyarenko, and also appeared in “The Ghost Who Walks” and “Pvt Chat,” the latter of which also featured Vack. Last year...

Exclusive: Jack Kilmer, known for his breakout role in Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto and for his performance in the acclaimed 2019 Sundance film Hala, among others, has signed with Gersh for representation.

Kilmer’s star has been rising since his 2013 feature film debut in Palo Alto, based on James Franco’s short story collection of the same name. He portrayed Teddy alongside Franco, Emma Roberts, Nat Wolff and Zoe Levin. Kilmer, son of Val, also stars opposite Odessa Young and Ben Schnetzer in indie feature The Giant.

Kilmer also can be seen in Vice Films’ Lords of Chaos, opposite Emory Cohen and Rory Culkin which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and Woodshock, directed by Rodarte designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy. He will next be seen in Eugene Kotlyarenko’s Wobble Palace, as well as Becca Gleason’s Summer 03 opposite Joey King and Andrea Savage, both of which premiered at SXSW.

Joe Keery, best known for his role as Steve Harrington in Stranger Things, appeared on Rolling Stone’s The First Time to discuss his latest project, Spree.

In the black comedy satire directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko and executive-produced by Drake, Keery plays a psychotic, murderous ride-hail driver and influencer named Kurt Kunkle who attempts to go viral by killing various passengers.

When asked what his first impression of the script was, Keery said: “I was disturbed and laughing and kind of shocked, and interested to meet Eugene. I remember being like,...

Actor/Producer David Arquette joins Joe & Josh to discuss the movies that made him.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Scream (1996)

Never Been Kissed (1999)

3,000 Miles To Graceland (2001)

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

Spree (2020)

Gremlins (1984)

Muppets From Space (1999)

It’s A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)

Unforgiven (1992)

The World According To Garp (1982)

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)

Slap Shot (1977)

The World of Henry Orient (1964)

Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961)

Insomnia (2002)

One Hour Photo (2002)

The Long Goodbye (1973)

A History Of Violence (2005)

Last House On the Left (1972)

The Tripper (2006)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910)

The Wizard of Oz (1925)

Funny Bones (1995)

There’s Something About Mary (1998)

The Gold Rush (1925)

The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981)

Wild Style (1982)

The Shining (1980)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)

Dreamscape (1984)

Brainstorm (1983)

The Dead Zone (1983)

The Warriors (1979)

Commando (1985)

Somewhere In Time (1980)

Escape From New York (1981)

Being There (1979)

The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980)

Targets (1968)

Pleasantville (1998)

Hidden Agenda...

Actor Joe Keery is currently best known for his fan-favorite performance as Steve Harrington on Netflix’s “Stranger Things”—and for good reason. In the hit series, he went from the obnoxious, if not amusing, jock to the much more heroic character that we have come to know and love. In “Spree,” directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko (“Wobble Palace”), Keery gets to flex completely different acting muscles with the role of Kurt, a self-obsessed would-be influencer and rideshare driver who goes to deadly measures to build a following.

Continue reading Joe Keery Talks Shedding His ‘Stranger Things’ Persona For The Sinister ‘Spree’ [Interview] at The Playlist.

Everything about the United States’ gig economy sucks but “Stranger Things” star Joe Keery has the perfect solution: Just broadcast yourself murdering all of your passengers until you become a social media celebrity.

That’s the gist of “Spree,” an upcoming Keery-led indie horror film that is slated to premiere in theaters and on demand on August 14. Dreamcrew Entertainment has unveiled the trailer for the upcoming feature, which boasts “the ride of your life” that will satirize influencer culture, social media madness, and America’s violent society.

Keery, who portrays Steve Harrington in Netflix’s wildly popular “Stranger Things,” stars in “Spree” as Kurt Kunkle, a rideshare driver and wannabe social media influencer whose goofy name is only matched by his ridiculous haircut. Keery will star alongside Sasheer Zamata, Mischa Barton, John DeLuca, Josh Ovalle, Lala Kent, Frankie Grande, Kyle Mooney, and David Arquette. The film is directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko,...

Rlje Films has released the first trailer for Joe Keery’s social media satire “Spree,” six months after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

Music giant Drake, Adel “Future” Nur, Anthony Gonzales, Matte Babel and Alex Hughes are executive producers through Dreamcrew Entertainment. Eugene Kotlyarenko directed “Spree” with “Stranger Things” star Keery playing amoral rideshare driver Kurt Kunkle who becomes a murderer in pursuit of becoming a social media star by equipping his car with cameras for a live stream. Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Sasheer Zamata and David Arquette also star and Kyle Mooney, Mischa Barton and Frankie Grande feature as characters in the film.

“Throughout his career, Drake has always made a point to support young creatives as well as provide opportunities and Dreamcrew Entertainment is an extension of this — embracing young, up and coming story tellers like Eugene who are given the backing so they can tell their stories uninhibited,...

It didn’t seem like there was a large portion of the movie-going population who felt that Todd Phillips’ “Joker” was too subtle, in either its commentary on the modern era of those who are involuntarily celibate, or its homage-like appropriation of classic Martin Scorsese movies. But maybe writer-director-producer Eugene Kotlyarenko has other information, since that’s the audience most squarely served by his noisily nihilist “Spree,” about a young rideshare driver who turns vacuously murderous in the pursuit of social media celebrity. It’s a concept that could handily be described as “Tik Tok Taxi Driver” meets “The Gig Economy King of Comedy.”

Joe Keery (“Stranger Things”) is as close to a redeeming feature as the film has, in the role of the irredeemable Kurt Kunkle. Kurt, known to his very, very few followers as @kurtsworld96, grins and pops peace signs while urging viewers to hit him up during...

In today’s film news roundup, “Summertime Dropouts” starts shooing and “Tawaii — A Voice from the Forrest” and “Wobble Palace” get distribution.

Production Start

Shooting has started on the music drama “Summertime Dropouts,” centered on three best friends who are inspired to form a pop-punk band to play at the Vans Warped Tour.

Rock band Simple Plan is aboard to appear in the film and recently wrapped their work on location in Minnesota. The band played at the 2010 Winter Olympics closing ceremony and performed at the Vans Warped Tour every year from 1999 to 2005, and again in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018.

Cast of “Summertime Dropouts” consists of up-and-coming performers Nicholas Podany, Crystal Lake Evans, Caleb Donahoe, Melanie Brook, Takaya Abdou Lloyd, and Serena Laurel. Jhene Chase is directing from a script she co-wrote with Wesley Johnson, Hannah Maslinski and Hamid Torabpour. The story focuses on the band members discovering that the road to fame...

Breaking Glass Pictures has acquired North American rights to writer-director Eugene Kotlyarenko’s millennial romance “Wobble Palace.”

Breaking Glass made the deal at the Cannes Film Festival in a negotiation between Breaking Glass CEO Rich Wolf, Visit Films CEO Ryan Kampe, and Kotlyarenko, on behalf of Nice Boy Pictures. The film will open theatrically in New York, Los Angeles and other markets in the third quarter, with a DVD and VOD release to follow.

“Wobble Palace” held its world premiere at SXSW and went on to play the Maryland Film Festival, and will hold its international premiere later this year. Alongside Kotlyarenko, the film stars Dasha Nekrasova (“Softness of Bodies”) and Jack Kilmer (“Palo Alto) with cinematography by Sean Price Williams (“Good Time”).

“I’m really pumped about the opportunity to unleash ‘Wobble Palace’ upon audiences,” Kotlyarenko said. “Breaking Glass came to us with an unbridled enthusiasm for the film,...

If there’s one thing millennials are more obsessed with than social media, selfies and irreverent art, it’s ourselves. Occasionally we find an excuse to bring all four together, as Molly Soda does in her performance artwork, Matt Spicer managed with “Ingrid Goes West,” and now Eugene Kotlyarenko has succeeded in his latest directorial effort “Wobble Palace.” The feature follows a disintegrating relationship on Halloween weekend 2016, right before the most traumatic Presidential election of all time.

Exclusive: Here’s the first look at Eugene Kotlyarenko’s millennial romance Wobble Palace, which has its world premiere in a couple of hours in the Visions section at SXSW. The film, which stars Dasha Nekrasova, Jack Kilmer and Kotlyarenko, follows a couple on the verge of a nervous break-up a week before the 2016 election. Desperate to make new connections, Jane (Nekrasova) and Eugene (Kotlyarenko) find themselves in a series of unpredictable misadventures, sexual…...