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Banijay Entertainment is set to impress at the upcoming London TV Screenings with one of the most extensive and diverse lineups in global TV in terms of both quality and quantity. This year’s showcase, Banijay @ BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, open exclusively to buyers, will spotlight 13 scripted titles, 15 factual series, nine new unscripted formats, and six third-party shows featuring some of the most anticipated new programming on the market.

The event will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 26, across three sessions and is expected to attract a record number of global buyers eager to explore Banijay’s diverse offerings.

Leading the charge for Banijay is “Maigret,” the first contemporary TV adaptation of the iconic detective novels by Georges Simenon, heading for PBS Masterpiece. Written by Patrick Harbinson, the market debut – produced by Playground, behind “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light” – introduces a fresh take on the legendary Parisian Chief Inspector Jules Maigret.

Long before “True Blood” or “Twilight” brought vampires to small-town America, horror writer Stephen King imagined the creatures invading his backyard in rural Maine. Until then, bloodsucking bat-men were something only Europeans had to worry about, as Dracula and his castle-dwelling kin preyed on hapless villagers half a world away. Then came “’Salem’s Lot,” King’s second novel, in which the man who’d made witches a modern-day concern with “Carrie” asked American readers: What if an outbreak of vampirism struck your community?

A tepid new feature version returns to that question a half-century later, offering flashes of style and a more satisfying finale in an otherwise weak take on its dated source material. Whereas King seemed to be kicking another stuffy old genre into the present, writer-director Gary Dauberman’s retro-minded adaptation goes in the opposite direction, embracing the pageboy haircuts, polyester-blend duds and don’t-trust-anyone paranoia of that era.

Ruby Rose has been cast in 'The Drowning Pool'.The 38-year-old actress is set to star in the dark thriller from director David Hackl.The picture centres on the mysterious disappearance of American surfer Isabelle Gray in the seas of the Canary Islands.Isabelle is presumed drowned but her distraught sister Katherine refuses to leave the islands until she gets answers and soon finds out that her sibling wasn't the only woman to vanish without trace into the ocean.A stubborn Katherine defies a lack of help from the local authorities to uncover a string of increasingly frightening clues, which lead her into the jaws of an ancient ritualistic evil.Pre-production on the film – which Colin McNeil and Daniel Minsky have written the script for - has started in the Canary Islands while The Exchange is introducing the movie to buyers at the Toronto Film Festival.Nat McCormick, The Exchange...

Exclusive: Ruby Rose (Orange Is the New Black) is attached to star in The Drowning Pool, a dark thriller from director David Hackl (Saw V), Deadline can reveal.

The Exchange is handling worldwide sales and will introduce the project to buyers at the Toronto Film Festival.

Set on location in the exotic Canary Islands, the film centers on the mysterious disappearance of American surfer Isabelle Gray. Although Isabelle is presumed drowned, her grief-stricken sister Katherine refuses to leave the country without answers, soon discovering that her sibling wasn’t the only woman to vanish into the ocean without a trace. With little help from local authorities, a stubborn and resourceful Katherine uncovers a string of progressively frightening clues, eventually leading her right into the jaws of an ancient ritualistic evil.

Colin McNeil and Daniel Minsky wrote the script. Joel Shapiro of magiCity Studios is producing along with Dimitri Logothetis of Acme Rocket Fuel, with Lee Broda serving as executive producer. Pre-production in the Canary Islands is underway.

Stated Nat McCormick, The Exchange’s President of Worldwide Sales & Distribution, “The Drowning Pool is a fresh and thrilling adventure story set in a dreamy vacation location, with a renowned international cast. We look forward to taking the plunge with our distribution partners around the world!”

An Australian actress who broke out stateside with a role in Netflix’s Emmy-winning series Orange Is the New Black, Rose has since then been seen starring in the first season of The CW’s Batwoman, also appearing on shows like Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Notable feature credits include Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, John Wick: Chapter 2, Pitch Perfect 3 and The Meg, to name just a few.

Best known for helming the fifth installment in the Saw horror franchise, Hackl also directed the action thriller Dangerous starring Scott Eastwood; the Gina Carano-led Daughter of the Wolf; Life on the Line, starring John Travolta, Kate Bosworth and Devon Sawa; and genre-bender Into the Grizzly Maze.

The Exchange’s TIFF lineup this year includes Special Presentation title The Cut, a thriller starring Orlando Bloom and John Turturro, as well as Pierce Brosnan’s Wolf Land, Dafne Keen’s Night Comes, and Jennifer Garner’s Fruitcake.

Rose is represented by Atlas Artists and Jackoway, Austen, Tyerman; Hackl by Independent Artist Group; and McNeil by Housefire Management and attorney Marios Rush.

Screenwriter, director and producer Walter Hill will receive the 2024 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement from the Writers Guild of America West.

Per the guild, the award is bestowed upon members who have “advanced the literature of motion pictures and made outstanding contributions to the profession of the screenwriter.” A few of Hill’s writing and co-writing credits include “The Getaway,” “48 Hrs.,” “Last Man Standing” and “Dead For A Dollar.”

“Walter Hill’s impact on our industry is undeniable,” said Wgaw president Meredith Stiehm. “His unique style influenced and educated generations of screenwriters who followed. He has had an enduring, renowned career, and the Guild is honored to present him with the Screen Laurel Award.”

In the early 1970s, Hill kicked off his writing career with “Hickey and Boggs,” “The Getaway,” “The Mackintosh” and “The Drowning Pool.” He stepped in the director’s chair for the first time with the 1975 Depression-era film “Hard Times.

The Writers Guild of America West announced on Tuesday that writer, producer and director Walter Hill has been named the recipient of the guild’s 2024 Laurel Award for screenwriting achievement.

The Guild’s lifetime achievement award is presented to members who have “advanced the literature of motion pictures and made outstanding contributions to the profession of the screenwriter.”

“Walter Hill’s impact on our industry is undeniable,” said Wgaw President Meredith Stiehm in a statement. “His unique style influenced and educated generations of screenwriters who followed. He has had an enduring, renowned career, and the Guild is honored to present him with the Screen Laurel Award.”

As a writer, Hill’s credits include Hickey and Boggs, The Getaway, The Drowning Pool, Aliens and Alien 3. Hill made his directorial debut in 1975 with Hard Times, which he also wrote, following that film up with the 1979 cult hit The Warriors. He also wrote and directed Southern Comfort,...

Los Angeles, Aug 13 (Ians) Linda Haynes who is best remembered for her role in films such as ‘Rolling Thunder’, ‘Brubaker’, and ‘Human Experiments’, has died at the age of 75, in her sleep.

As reported by People magazine, Haynes’ son Greg Sylvander shared the news in a statement and said: “It is with great sadness that I report that my mother, Linda Haynes Sylvander, has passed away, peacefully at home. My mom moved up to South Carolina to live with us over three years ago, and it was some of our very best times together.”

He added: “As an only child, I have dreaded these times my entire life. I find peace in knowing that my mother was at peace and had the most beautiful life these final years together with her grandchildren, Courtney Sylvander and I. We are going to miss my mom immensely.”

Born Linda Lee Sylvander on November 4, 1947, in Miami,...

Linda Haynes, an actress in films including Rolling Thunder and Brubaker, has died. She was 75.

She died “peacefully, with her family by her side” on July 17 in Summerville, South Carolina, it was announced. No cause of death was revealed.

“As an only child, I have dreaded these times my entire life,” her son, Greg Sylvander, wrote Friday on Facebook. “I find peace in the knowing that my mother was at peace and had the most beautiful life these final years together with her grandchildren, [my wife] Courtney Sylvander and I. We are going to miss my mom immensely.”

Born Linda Lee Sylvander on Nov. 4, 1947, in Miami, Haynes made her acting debut as Dr. Anne Barton in Latitude Zero (1969). She played barmaid Linda Forchet in the psychological thriller Rolling Thunder (1977) opposite William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones and Carol in Brubaker (1980), starring Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman.

Quentin Tarantino is a big fan of Rolling Thunder and Haynes.

Linda Haynes, who notably appeared in films including “Coffy,” “Rolling Thunder,” “The Drowning Pool” and “Brubaker,” died July 17 in South Carolina — the news had not spread widely until Friday. She was 75.

“It is with great sadness that I report that my mother, Linda Haynes Sylvander has passed away, peacefully at home,” her son Greg Sylvander wrote on Facebook on Friday. She had moved to South Carolina three years ago to live with Greg. “As an only child, I have dreaded these times my entire life. I find peace in the knowing that my mother was at peace and had the most beautiful life these final years together with her grandchildren, Courtney Sylvander and I. We are going to miss my mom immensely.”

Haynes’ first film was 1969’s “Latitude Zero,” an international co-production directed by legendary Japanese filmmaker Ishirō Honda. The movie co-starred Joseph Cotton and Cesar Romero, among others. It was in the 1970s,...

Linda Haynes, who appeared in films including “Rolling Thunder,” “Drowning Pool” and “Brubaker,” died July 17 in South Carolina. She was 75.

Her son Greg Sylvander reported her death on Facebook.

“As an only child, I have dreaded these times my entire life. I find peace in the knowing that my mother was at peace and had the most beautiful life these final years together with her grandchildren, Courtney Sylvander and I. We are going to miss my mom immensely,” he wrote.

In 1977, Haynes co-starred in John Flynn’s psychological thriller “Rolling Thunder,” written by Paul Schrader and starring William Devane, Tommy Lee Jones and James Best. The film follows former Vietnam prisoner of war Charles Rane who, after surviving a violent home invasion and losing a hand, sets out on a crusade to get revenge with help from a friend. Haynes played Linda Forchet, a Southern belle who welcomes Rane back...

Oscar-nominated producer Lawrence Turman died Saturday at the Motion Picture and Television Country Home and Hospital. He was 96. He had a stellar career not only as a producer of such seminal films as The Graduate (1967), The Great White Hope (1970), American History X (1998) and many more in a producing career that lasted six decades, but he also took a significant turn when he left his partnership with producer David Foster to head the prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program at USC in 1991, an association that continued until his retirement just two years ago.

His son, John Turman, confirmed the death to Deadline. “Our father Lawrence Turman passed away late yesterday,” he said. “It’s sad, but he had a long and storied life, and it’s the passing of an era.” He added that the MPTF is planning a memorial service as well as USC at a later date.

Related: Hollywood & Media...

Lawrence Turman, producer of films including Oscar winner “The Graduate,” and longtime chair of the Peter Stark Producing program at USC, died Saturday at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills. He was 96.

Turman’s producing career spanned 50 years, and he served as director of USC’s Peter Stark Producing program from 1991 until he retired in 2021 at age 94.

Born in Los Angeles in 1926, Turman graduated from UCLA and broke into the industry after answering an ad in Variety to work at the Kurt Frings agency. He represented actors, and after getting a meeting with Alfred Hitchcock through their friend Ernest Lehman, he was able to book four of his agency’s clients in “North By Northwest.”

Turman moved into producing, working on films including Judy Garland’s last film “I Could Go On Singing,” “The Best Man,” “The Great White Hope” and “Pretty Poison.”

After finding Charles Webb’s book “The Graduate,...

Lawrence Turman, the principled Oscar-nominated producer of The Graduate who was behind other films including The Great White Hope, Pretty Poison, American History X and the last movie Judy Garland ever made, has died. He was 96.

Turman died Saturday at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his family announced.

A former agent, he and producer David Foster began a 20-year partnership in 1974, and the first film to come out of the Turman Foster Co. was Stuart Rosenberg’s The Drowning Pool (1975), starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.

They went their separate ways in 1991 when Turman left to begin an association heading the esteemed Peter Stark Producing Program at USC that lasted until his retirement in 2021.

However, Turman wasn’t done producing, and in 1996 he and John Morrissey launched the Turman-Morrissey Co., which made the Jamie Foxx-starring Booty Call (1997); Tony Kaye’s American History X...

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between.

Today, we’ve got a great guest on to talk about a great maker of salad dressings, Paul Newman! Conor and I are blessed to have the wonderful Roxana Hadadi (TV Critic for Vulture) on to talk through the impossibly handsome actor’s accomplished, interesting career. We focus on: The Left Handed Gun, Pocket Money, The Drowning Pool, and Harry & Son.

We discuss the incarnation of Newman amongst media-set rivals Marlon Brando and James Dean, his breakout in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, those photos of him from the Venice Film Festival, his refreshingly honest interviews, and his iconic marriage to Joanne Woodward

There’s also talk of Newman’s directorial career, Stephen Dorff (obviously) and that Titanic offer/casting,...

Almost a decade after Paul Newman won universal praise for the 1966 detective film "Harper" (UK title: "The Moving Target"), he returned as wiseguy private eye Lew Harper in the 1975 sequel "The Drowning Pool". Critics and audiences were relatively unimpressed this time around, but the film has many delights and showcases Newman at his most charismatic. The movie also has a helluva suspenseful and exciting final scene in the titular location. Enjoy the original trailer and click here to order the film from the Cinema Retro movie store.

Producer Joel Silver continues developing an adaptation of author Ross Macdonald's 1959 crime thriller "The Galton Case", following private detective 'Lew Archer', aka 'Lew Harper':

"...almost twenty years have passed since 'Anthony Galton' disappeared, along with a streetwise bride and thousands of dollars of his family's fortune. Now Anthony's mother wants him back..."

Macdonald's 1949 novel, "The Moving Target" was adapted into the feature "Harper" (1966)  starring actor Paul Newman.

Newman starred again as Harper in "The Drowning Pool".

Click the images to enlarge...

Prolific movie producer David Foster, who collaborated with Steve McQueen on “The Getaway” and shepherded Robert Altman’s “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 90.

Foster started in the business as a publicist representing McQueen along with Peter Sellers, Richard Attenborough, Shirley MacLaine, Andy Williams and Sonny and Cher.

He left publicity and partnered with Mitchell Brower, where their first production was acclaimed 1971 Western “McCabe and Mrs. Miller.” Warren Beatty and Julie Christie starred, with Christie netting an Oscar nom.

In 1972, he produced Sam Peckinpah’s “The Getaway” in collaboration with McQueen and Ali McGraw. It became one of Peckinpah’s most financially successful films.

Foster partnered with “The Graduate” producer Larry Turman in 1974. The Turman Foster Company started out with “The Drowning Pool,” starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, and continued with “Heroes,” John Carpenter’s “The Thing,” “Running Scared,” 1994’s reboot of “The Getaway” and “The River Wild.

Veteran Hollywood producer David Foster died Monday. He was 90 years old.

Foster’s career spanned 60 years and he produced such films as McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Getaway, and John Carpenters’ The Thing. Foster began his career as a publicist representing such talent as Steve McQueen, Peter Sellers, Richard Attenborough, Shirley McClain, Andy Williams, James Coburn, Sonny and Cher and many others. He worked first at Rogers and Cowan, and then as a partner at Allan, Foster Ingersoll and Weber from 1960 to 1968.

In 1968, at the urging of many of his clients, he became a film producer. He partnered with Mitchell Brower and right out the gate they produced Robert Altman’s classic McCabe And Mrs. Miller, starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. He partnered with his close friend, Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw to produce the Sam Peckinpah-directed hit The Getaway.

In 1974, he formed a company with The Graduate producer Larry Turman.

Producer Joel Silver continues developing an adaptation of author Ross Macdonald's 1959 crime thriller "The Galton Case", following private detective 'Lew Archer', aka 'Lew Harper':

"...almost twenty years have passed since 'Anthony Galton' disappeared, along with a streetwise bride and thousands of dollars of his family's fortune. Now Anthony's mother wants him back..."

Macdonald's 1949 novel, "The Moving Target" was adapted into the feature "Harper" (1966)  starring actor Paul Newman.

Newman starred again as Harper in "The Drowning Pool".

Click the images to enlarge...

Producer Joel Silver continues developing an adaptation of author Ross Macdonald's 1959 crime thriller "The Galton Case", following private detective 'Lew Archer', aka 'Lew Harper':

"...almost twenty years have passed since 'Anthony Galton' disappeared, along with a streetwise bride and thousands of dollars of his family's fortune. Now Anthony's mother wants him back..."

Macdonald's 1949 novel, "The Moving Target" was adapted into the feature "Harper" (1966)  starring actor Paul Newman.

Newman starred again as Harper in "The Drowning Pool".

Click the images to enlarge...

Veteran character actor Paul Koslo, known for his work in films such as The Omega Man and Vanishing Point, has died. Koslo died January 9 of pancreatic cancer surrounded by family at his home in Lake Hughes, California, his family said in a statement. He was 74.

Koslo, born in Germany and raised in Canada, began his career in his early 20s with a role in Little White Crimes, a short, in 1966. In the 1970s, he established a foothold as an actor in cult films such as Nam’s Angels aka The Losers, referenced in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, along with Vanishing Point and The Stone Killer. While he became known for more villainous roles, he appeared in an unusually

sympathetic co-starring role opposite Charlton Heston in sci-fi cult classic The Omega Man.

His more villainous roles included films Joe Kidd in 1972, opposite Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson-starrer Mr. Majestyk in...

Let’s say you come across gritty desperadoes-on-the-run thriller “Galveston,” maybe flipping channels or because you decided to take a gamble and buy the Ben Foster-Elle Fanning drama on-demand. Watching the tough, Gulf of Mexico road movie unfold — burning slow and even from Louisiana to its title Texas destination like a lit cigarette in a dead man’s hand — you’d never guess who directed it.

Adapted from a novel by “True Detective” creator Nic Pizzolatto, the movie is a muscular slice of Southern noir, fashioned in the mode of such downbeat ’70s crime classics as “Night Moves” and “The Drowning Pool,” where characters you like wind up dead, and evil isn’t necessarily punished in the end. That’s a style that has appealed to the manliest of male directors over the years, and one whose regional authenticity tends to rely on native-born filmmakers, so it may...

A sequel that arrived nine years after the original, The Drowning Pool follows Los Angeles private detective Lew Harper on a case that made me sweat from Louisiana languor. Paul Newman is sterling in the lead role, stepping easily back into a role that helped make him a marquee star in 1966. Harper allowed Newman's easygoing, eagle-eyed charm to leap from the screen, leading to his bad-boy triumph in Cool Hand Luke and his populist outlaw in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Ten years before, Newman became a star in Somebody Up There Likes Me, though it was a long five years to The Hustler, and then another half-decade to Harper. The latter film featured Newman in practically every shot, and he was mesmerizing...

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

‘Harper Days Are Here Again,’ reads the advertising tag line for this worthy follow-up to Paul Newman’s first outing as Ross Macdonald’s jaded private eye. The movie is certainly worthy, but how did the producers let the terrific song Killing Me Softly with His Song get away?

The Drowning Pool

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date February 27, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Murray Hamilton, Gail Strickland, Melanie Griffith, Linda Haynes, Richard Jaeckel.

Cinematography: Gordon Willis

Film Editor: John C. Howard

Production Design: Paul Sylbert

Original Music: Michael Small

Written by Tracy Keenan Wynn, Lorenzo Semple Jr., Walter Hill from the novel by Ross Macdonald

Produced by David Foster, Lawrence Turman

Directed by Stuart Rosenberg

Looking to make lightning strike twice, Paul Newman returned to his Lew Harper character in another adaptation of a Ross Macdonald tale. The star handles it very well,...

A movie starring two famous actors who happen to be married in real-life: On paper, it sounds like it should be a sure-fire win. In reality? It’s not that simple.

It’s no wonder that famous couples might be hesitant to collaborate in a movie, even if it was guaranteed to smash the box office: Working with your spouse is hard, and it wouldn’t make it any easier to know that throngs of people would be examining the final product, looking for all possible glimpses into your personal life.

Occasionally, some famous couples have considered that possibility and decided,...

By Lee Pfeiffer 

Sony has released Walter Hill's 1975 directorial debut, Hard Times, on on DVD through their Sony Choice Collection. Hill was an up-and-coming screenwriter with Peckinpah's The Getaway to his credit as well as solid thrillers like The Drowning Pool, The Mackintosh Man and Hickey and Boggs. There is no evidence in Hard Times that Hill was a novice behind the camera, either. This is one of my favorite films of the period, though many retro movie fans probably haven't seen it. The story is set in 1933. Chaney (Charles Bronson) is a middle-aged drifter who ends up crossing paths with Speed (James Coburn), a fast-talking promoter of "street fights" (no holds barred matches between local tough guys with no rules or regulations). Needing some quick cash, the soft-spoken, low-key Chaney forms a partnership with the mercurial Speed. In his first match, they win big when Chaney knocks the...

From a pop culture perspective, private detectives stand for all that’s memorable about film noir. The indifference, the wittiness, and the moral ambiguity that define each urban knight has since become the stuff of parodied legend. We’re talking about the mediators between the crooks and the cops, the embodiment of back alley grayness that’s so tough to pin down. P.I.’s could cooperate with the law if needed, but they could just as soon do business with the bad guys for the right price. To a certain extent, that is – shamus work has always attracted the ignored and the ethical. The Wild West has mythical men with no name, The Asphalt Jungle has names with investigating licenses attached to them. Instead of a poncho and a ten gallon hat, they’re provided a fedora and trench coat.

The archetype has undergone many faces throughout Hollywood’s history,...

Perhaps you've been wondering what the Coen Brothers have been doing since “Inside Llewyn Davis”? Rather a lot! They’ve got a movie in the can coming out in February of 2016, the Hollywood comedy “Hail, Caesar!” starring George Clooney, Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson. They’ve also been doing a lot of writing, penning Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken” screenplay and Steven Spielberg’s upcoming “Bridge of Spies” (they also wrote the “Gambit” remake in 2012). One more writing assignment is coming down the pipeline, and they also could direct the project. Los Bros Coen are going to write an adaptation of Ross MacDonald’s crime novel “Black Money.” If that sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because a movie was already adapted from the book: the same lead character was played by Paul Newman in the very underrated crime thrillers “Harper” (1966) and “The Drowning Pool” (1975). Both look terrific, since they were shot...

The Tom Cruise movie that immediately came to mind in the opening scenes of Edge of Tomorrow, the entertaining Groundhog Day-meets-Starship Troopers movie that opened Friday, wasn’t one of his previous science-fiction blockbusters. It was A Few Good Men.

In the new film, directed by Doug Liman, Cruise plays Major William Cage, a charming, TV-ready spokesperson for the global military who’s successfully recruited millions of volunteers for the war against invading aliens. But he’s hardly a soldier — he coasted through Rotc and then ran an advertising agency — and the commander in charge (Brendan Gleeson) of...

Gordon Willis, the acclaimed cinematographer behind the Godfather trilogy and such Woody Allen films as Annie Hall, Manhattan, Broadway Danny Rose and Zelig, died Sunday of complications from cancer at his home in North Falmouth, Mass., his son Gordon Willis Jr. said. He was 82. Willis' credits also include six features with director Alan J. Pakula -- including Klute (1971), The Parallax View (1974), All the President's Men (1976) and Comes a Horseman (1978)  --  as well as The Paper Chase (1973) and The Drowning Pool (1975) and Allen's Interiors (1978), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and Stardust Memories (1980). Willis received Academy Award nominations for Zelig and The Godfather: Part

read more...

Washington, March 29: Lorenzo Semple Jr., who wrote the screenplays of 'The Parallax View', 'Three Days of the Condor, and 'Never Say Never Again', has passed away. He was 91.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Lorenzo Semple Jr.'s daughter - Emmy-nominated comedy writer Maria - revealed that the American screenwriter died of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles.

Semple's name is associated with classics like 'Papillon', 'The Drowning Pool' and 'King Kong'.

Semple, who was hired by 'Batman' producer William Dozier to create the superhero show for 20th Century Fox Television and ABC, wrote only the.

By Lee Pfeiffer 

Twilight Time has released Walter Hill's 1975 directorial debut, Hard Times, on Blu-ray as a limited edition (3,000 units). Hill was an up-and-coming screenwriter with Peckinpah's The Getaway to his credit as well as solid thrillers like The Drowning Pool, The Mackintosh Man and Hickey and Boggs. There is no evidence in Hard Times that Hill was a novice behind the camera, either. This is one of my favorite films of the period, though many retro movie fans probably haven't seen it. The story is set in 1933. Chaney (Charles Bronson) is a middle-aged drifter who ends up crossing paths with Speed (James Coburn), a fast-talking promoter of "street fights" (no holds barred matches between local tough guys with no rules or regulations). Needing some quick cash, the soft-spoken, low-key Chaney forms a partnership with the mercurial Speed. In his first match, they win big when Chaney knocks the...

American actress' experience of felines comes in handy as she co-stars with her mother Tippi Hedren and 150 wild animals in the film Roar

They are calling Roar the animal film to end all animal films and after watching it, you feel you should be interviewing a tiger. It stars Tippi Hedren (of Marnie and The Birds fame) and her husband Noel Marshall, her daughter Melanie Griffith and two of his sons - and the 150 "wild" animals who share their ranch home in California. Only the human branch of the family made it over here to launch the film, while the cats keep house back home.

Melanie Griffith grew up with big cats. "I was 13 when Noel got his first lion. I've raised ten myself." But even she had some qualms about the making of Roar; a variant-of-life story in which a scientist shares his house in Africa with a pride of lions,...

Walter Hill needs no introduction. He’s written and directed some of the iconic and legendary films of the ‘80s and ‘90s — The Warriors, The Driver, 48 Hrs, Hard Times., Brewster’s Millions, The Drowning Pool. His fingerprints are on Alien and Aliens. He injected some fresh blood into the Western genre. You name it, he’s done it, and he’s inspired dozens of filmmakers and screenwriters, all of whom aim to use his hardboiled, gritty, and lean style.

Despite his successes – and films that are so beloved and recognized that they’re always on the verge of being remade – Hill’s output has slowed down. It’s a shame, as his films are exactly the kind of character driven, mature, and efficient action that moviegoers are craving. “A Bullet to the Head” is Hill’s first big screen production since 2002, and hopefully is a sign of a career resurgence...

Jack Reacher? Who's Jack Reacher? Hi. Are you Jack Reacher? Oh... Jack Reacher... Jack Reacher is not at all what I expected. It's a tonal hodgepodge of genre films from the murder-mysteries of the '40s, the whodunnits of the '70s and thrillers of the '90s. Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie (The Way of the Gun), the character development is on-the-nose, with little subtlety and very little is hidden from the audience as most of the pieces come together rather easily and we're left waiting for the characters on screen -- primarily Rosamund Pike -- to give their wide-eyed, open-mouth look of astonishment once they catch up with the audience. There's something of a tongue-in-cheek nature to the way it all plays out, playful flirtation and hard-nosed street brawling to boot. But the narrative never quite gets into gear to the point it's moving of its own...

Here at Dread Central we pride ourselves on our staff. It is comprised of a group of truly talented individuals who do some pretty incredible things. Next on tap from the Dread Central staff canon: author Scott A. Johnson and his new book Droplets.

From the Press Release

Every day we live in the normal world. But when the normal world gives up its secrets, when people get a glimpse of what exists in the periphery, the world can be a frightening place. The monster in the closet becomes real, creatures come out at night in search of blood, and the only thing that can save you is warm daylight.

Contained herein are twenty-three stories from acclaimed horror novelist Scott A. Johnson. Included are his first published works as well as stories never before available to the public.

Chained to the Pel Childhood Fears Closet Boy Death Around the Corner...

In October, we reported that Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver had acquired the rights to Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer mystery novels with the hopes of turning the series into a film franchise. The first film would be based on the eighth Archer book, 1959's The Galton Case. Today, Deadline reports that the studio has hired Peter Landesman to write the screenplay. In The Galton Case, "Archer is hired to track down the lost heir to the Galton fortune. His path leads him through a trail of murder, deception and a tangle of secrets." The Galton Case wouldn't be Archer's first trip to the big screen. The character was previously by Paul Newman in 1966′s Harper and 1975′s The Drowning Pool. Hit the jump for more on Landesman. Landesman is a former New York Times foreign correspondent who's expose on sex trafficking was used as the basis for the 2007 Kevin Kline drama Trade.

Peter Landesman has been hired to adapt the script for a film adaptation of Ross Macdonald's 1959 novel "The Galton Case" for Warner Bros. Pictures and Silver Pictures reports Deadline.

The plan is to launch a potential film noir franchise from the property starting with this eighth book in the series following private detective Lew Archer. Joel Silver will produce.

Archer is a P.I. who cracks dangerous cases in Southern California in the 1950s and 60s. In 'Galton' he's hired to track down the lost heir to a family fortune - a job that leads to a trail of murder, deception and secrets.

Paul Newman played the character twice - in 1966's "Harper" and 1975's "The Drowning Pool". Landesman most recently scripted "The Mission" for Warners and a film about former FBI man Mark Felt (the famed 'Deep Throat' in the Watergate scandal).

Exclusive: Warner Bros and Silver Pictures have set Peter Landesman to adapt The Galton Case, one of the titles in the Ross Macdonald mystery series about private detective Lew Archer. Landesman will look to reinvent the mystery series as Silver Pictures tries to launch a franchise. The series was previously turned into two movies; Paul Newman played Archer in the 1966 Warner Bros film Harper and 1975 film The Drowning Pool. The 1959 novel The Galton Case was the eighth book in the series. Landesman, a New York Times Magazine foreign correspondent, most recently scripted The Mission for Warner Bros. That film is about Operation Jaque, a daring rescue of 15 captives that included former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt from Farc militants who moved the hostages around in the Colombian jungles some of them being held as long as 15 years. That film has David O Russell circling as director, with Brad Pitt being courted to star.

Fans of hard-boiled detective novels – and the movies they’re made into – worship at the altar of Raymond Chandler (The Long Goodbye, The Big Sleep) and Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man), but unless you’re seriously into noir, the name Ross MacDonald is often skipped. MacDonald wrote a series of highly praised private eye yarns featuring a SoCal detective named Lew Archer.

Two of Archer’s eight adventures were filmed (with Archer’s name changed to Lew Harper, for whatever reason) as Harper in 1966 and The Drowning Pool in 1975, both starring Paul Newman as the gumshoe. Now, Deadline reports that The Matrix and Sherlock Holmes super-producer Joel Silver is reviving the series with Warner Bros., staring with the eighth novel of the series, The Galton Case.

Silver Pictures and Random House Films will team on the film, with Rhf head exec Peter Gethers joining the holder of the series’ rights,...

According to reports, Warner Bros. plans to adapt the 1959 novel "The Galton Case", by author Ross Macdonald, with the character of private detective 'Lew Archer', (renamed 'Lew Harper'), returning to the big screen for producer Joel Silver :

"...almost twenty years have passed since 'Anthony Galton' disappeared, along with a streetwise bride and thousands of dollars of his family's fortune. Now Anthony's mother wants him back..."

Macdonald's 1949 novel, "The Moving Target" was adapted into the 1966 feature "Harper" starring actor Paul Newman.

Newman starred again starred as the private detective character in the 1975 feature "The Drowning Pool".

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Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to Ross Macdonald's novel The Galton Case for a feature adaptation. The Galton Case, first published in 1959, is Ross Macdonald's eighth novel in his series centering on private detective Lew Archer.

The story centers on Archer, who is hired to find the mysterious heir to the Galton family fortune. Along the way, Archer discovers a number of secrets about the family. The studio is currently seeking a screenwriter to adapt The Galton Case, which they believe has the potential for a franchise.

Joel Silver will produce for Silver Pictures and the studio, with Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman executive producing. No production schedule was given for The Galton Case.

Ross Macdonald's character Lew Archer has been featured on the silver screen before. Paul Newman portrayed Archer in the 1966 movie Harper, and again in 1975's The Drowning Pool.

The Galton Case comes...

Lew Archer will be adapted to the big screen again. Warner Brothers Pictures acquired the rights to Ross Macdonald’s detective novels on Lew Archer. Deadline also reported the first film of the franchise will be based on the 1959 novel “The Galton Case,” which is the eighth book of the series. Here is a brief synopsis of the book: Rich boy Anthony Galton had dropped out of sight more than twenty years ago. To Lew Archer that meant the man was either dead or didn’t want to be found. But Tony’s nice old mother had a dream that her son would still come home before she died. So Archer took on the case hoping that Tony and Mom could live happily ever after…until he discovered that once upon a time there was a clever swindle, a scared blonde, and a very nasty murder. Eighteen Lew Archer novels...

Ross Macdonald's mystery series about private detective Lew Archer is being turned into a feature film franchise. Deadline reports that Warner Bros has bought film rights to the series, and will develop 1959's The Galton Case, the eighth novel in the series. The character has been given a new life thanks to Silver Pictures’ Joel Silver who will produce.

Archer is "a private eye who cracked dangerous cases in Southern California in the 1950s and 60s." In The Galton Case, Archer is "hired to track down the lost heir to the Galton fortune. His path leads him through a trail of murder, deception and a tangle of secrets." The studio will hire a writer soon to script what they see as an elevated noir franchise. Paul Newman played the character of Archer in the 1966 Warner Bros film Harper and 1975 film The Drowning Pool.

I think that this story sounds...

You gotta love a good detective story. Hollywood certainly does, and over the years some of the best fictional detectives have made their way onto TV and movie screens, played by actors ranging from Humphrey Bogart to James Garner. We've seen Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe, and the troubled, broken men of James Ellroy's worlds. One classic gumshoe of the printed page who hasn't gotten his due in a while is Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer, star of over a dozen novels, including The Drowning Pool and The Way Some People Die. Now Deadline reports that Archer will be returning to the big screen in The Galton Case, courtesy of Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver. Lew Archer is an old-school Southern Californian private dick in the vein of Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade. The Galton Case is actually the eighth book in the Archer series,...

The late Paul Newman played private detective Lew Archer in Harper and The Drowning Pool from 1966 and 1975 respectively, and now Deadline reports Warner Bros. is looking to revive the character with a new franchise kicking off with an adaptation of Ross Macdonald's novel The Galton Case, the eighth book featuring Archer. Throughout the book series, Archer deals with dangerous cases in Southern California in the 50's and 60's, but it's not yet clear if the potential film series will keep the period locations from when the books were actually written, or if the "elevated noir" story will be updated for contemporary times. In The Galton Case, Archer investigates the case of Anthony Galton, a man who has been missing for 20 years after disappearing with a suspiciously streetwise bride and several thousand dollars of his family's fortune. What turns up is a headless skeleton, a boy who claims to ...

Warner Bros. Pictures and Random House Films have acquired the film rights to Ross Macdonald's mystery novel series following private detective Lew Archer says Deadline.

The plan is to launch a potential film noir franchise from the property starting with the eighth book in the series, 1959's "The Galton Case". Joel Silver will produce.

Archer is a P.I. who cracks dangerous cases in Southern California in the 1950s and 60s. In 'Galton' he's hired to track down the lost heir to a family fortune - a job that leads to a trail of murder, deception and secrets.

A writer will soon be hired to adapt the script. Paul Newman played the character twice - in 1966's "Harper" and 1975's "The Drowning Pool".

Warner Bros. and Joel Silver have picked up the rights to Ross Macdonald's series of Lew Archer mystery novels.  The studio hopes to turn the series into a franchise beginning with an adaptation of the eighth Lew Archer book, 1959's The Galton Case.  Per Deadline, "Archer is a private eye who cracked dangerous cases in Southern California in the 1950s and 60s. In The Galton Case, Archer is hired to track down the lost heir to the Galton fortune. His path leads him through a trail of murder, deception and a tangle of secrets."  The character was previously by Paul Newman in 1966's Harper and 1975's The Drowning Pool. Warner Bros. is in the process of hiring a writer and hopes to turn Macdonalds books into "an elevated noir franchise."  Regular readers of the site know I love me some good noir so hopefully this franchise works out.  Of course,...

Exclusive: Warner Bros acquired rights to the Ross Macdonald mystery series about private detective Lew Archer. The studio will launch a franchise, starting with the 1959 novel The Galton Case, which was the eighth book in the series. Paul Newman played Archer in the 1966 Warner Bros film Harper and 1975 film The Drowning Pool. Silver Pictures’ Joel Silver will produce and Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman will be executive producers. Silver will partner with Random House Films on the movie, and Rhf head Peter Gethers exec producing with series rights holder Stephen White. Archer is a private eye who cracked dangerous cases in Southern California in the 1950s and 60s. In The Galton Case, Archer is hired to track down the lost heir to the Galton fortune. His path leads him through a trail of murder, deception and a tangle of secrets. The studio will hire a writer soon to script what...

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