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Supernatural has shown many versions of Sam Winchesters over the years, with 15 seasons providing ample time to develop character arcs in more than one continuity. There is a Supernatural multiverse, which is one of the reasons there is more than one version of Sam in the show's lore. Supernatural first aired in 2005 and ran for 15 successful seasons before ending in 2020. Both Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki started the show when they were in their 20s and essentially grew up on-screen, so it would make sense for Supernatural to implement a few changes as time went on.

One of the biggest changes in Supernatural is arguably Sam Winchesters personality over the years, as he morphed from a law student searching for his father to a world-saving God killer alongside his brother in season 15. With multiple deaths, visits to Hell, and countless possessions, the Winchester brothers have been through the wringer throughout Supernatural.

The iconic horror film Poltergeist is set to return as a television series on Amazon, promising to deliver supernatural thrills once more. The announcement has sparked a mix of excitement and concern among fans of the genre. Taking the reins as showrunner is Robbie Thompson, a figure who might evoke mixed reactions among Supernatural aficionados.

A still from Swan Song (Season 5 Episode 22) || credits: Kripke Enterprises

Thompson, known for his work on the beloved Supernatural series and its spin-off, The Winchesters, has a reputation that could stir both anticipation and skepticism. Despite his involvement, The Winchesters struggled to recapture the magic of the original, leaving many fans disappointed.

As Thompson steps into the role for the Poltergeist series, questions are already arising about the new direction and its potential impact on the classic horror legacy.

Poltergeist TV Series: Kalinda Vazquez and Robbie Thompson to Lead as Showrunners

Amazon MGM Studios is...

Disney blockbuster Alien: Romulus crawls into 676 cinemas at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, as the first title in the franchise since 2017’s Alien: Covenant.

Directed by Fede Alvarez, Alien: Romulus is set between the events of 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens, and sees a group of young space colonists scavenging a derelict space station and coming face-to-face with a xenomorph alien.

Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues wrote the script, based on characters by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. Civil War and Priscilla star Cailee Spaeny leads the cast, alongside Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced and Screen Stars of Tomorrow David Jonsson and Spike Fearn.

Sony’s “It Ends With Us” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office, with £4.5 million ($5.7 million), according to numbers from Comscore.

However, the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni drama-romance faced stiff competition from Disney’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which held onto second place in its third week with £4 million, bringing its cumulative total to £42.9 million.

Universal’s “Despicable Me 4” continues to draw audiences in its fifth week, securing third place with £1.5 million and pushing its total to £35.5 million. Warner Bros. saw success with its new release “Trap,” which opened at No. 4, pulling in £1.1 million.

Lionsgate U.K.’s “Borderlands” rounded out the top five in its opening weekend, earning £843,159. Warner Bros.’ “Twisters” maintained its appeal in sixth place during its fourth week, adding £619,801 to surpass the £12 million mark.

Disney’s “Inside Out 2” demonstrated remarkable staying power, holding the seventh position in its ninth week with £618,055, bringing its total to £54.1 million.

Eric Kripke’s Supernatural is one of the shows you just cannot get tired of. I mean, it went on for well over a decade yet the fanbase remained as strong as ever. We loved dividing ourselves into Sam or Dean’s teams with, of course, the occasional appreciation of our favorite angel, Castiel. There was just so much happening in the show that it was difficult to lose interest.

Erik Kripke’s Supernatural | Credits: Kripke Enterprises

So used to fighting the world of the unseen together, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki’s Dean and Sam Winchester might never have guessed that one day they would be pitted against each other. However, the show’s creator knew from the start that this was where the show would take the brothers eventually.

Sam vs. Dean Was Always Going to Happen in Supernatural

Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki in the finale of...

The Academy’s decision to give the Live Action Short Oscar to a star-laden Wes Anderson film has raised eyebrows…

On Sunday, Wes Anderson picked up his first Academy Awards for The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar. It won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film, a category that’s traditionally rewarded independent films, rather than Netflix-backed Roald Dahl adaptation with a major film director behind it.

The Live Action Short film category is attracting more and more high profile names to it, and there’s a real risk that’s squeezing out independent filmmakers from a genuine shot at Oscar gold.

None of this is a slight on Wes Anderson, and genuine congratulations to him on his long-overdue first Oscar.

Still, we’ve been contacted by a few independent filmmakers about the message it sounds out. The following words have been penned by Dan Turner, a British...

Exclusive: Netflix is developing a limited series adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic novel East of Eden, with Zoe Kazan writing and exec producing and Florence Pugh attached to star and co-produce.

Sources told Deadline that the streamer landed the package following a competitive bidding war. Anonymous Content and Endeavor Content are co-producing the series as part of a partnership unveiled in March.

Netflix had no comment and insiders said the series is still in early development.

The novel was previously adapted as a film in 1955 with Zoe’s grandfather, Elia Kazan, directing for Warner Bros. The film was also notable for being James Dean’s first major screen role.

The limited series adaptation will explore the novel’s themes of trauma and repair; love and betrayal; duty and free will. The series will sketch an intimate portrait of the Trask family against the backdrop of huge historical forces — or,...

Swan Song Trailer — Benjamin Cleary‘s Swan Song (2021) movie trailer has been released by Apple TV+. The Swan Song trailer stars Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Glenn Close, Awkwafina, Adam Beach, JayR Tinaco, Nyasha Hatendi, Dax Rey, Lee Shorten, Luke Camilleri, and Jessica Hayles. Crew Benjamin Cleary wrote the screenplay for [...]

Continue reading: Swan Song (2021) Movie Trailer: Terminally-ill Mahershala Ali clones himself with Glenn Close’s Help...

Concordia Studio has named industry veteran Lori Rovner, formerly of Imagine Entertainment and Skydance Media, as its COO and general counsel, overseeing all operational, business, financial and legal aspects of the company, as well as serving as key liaison with Emerson Collective, one of its founders.

She reports to Davis Guggenheim and Jonathan King, who launched Concordia in partnership with Laurene Powell Jobs and Emerson Collective, an organization Jobs founded to focused on issues from education, immigration reform and the environment to media, journalism and health.

Rovner most recently served as EVP and head of Business & Legal Affairs for Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment. Previously, she worked at Skydance Media’s SVP and Deputy General Counsel. She has also held posts at Fox 21 Television Studios and Lionsgate Entertainment, and began her career as a litigator.

“We are a small but growing company, so Lori’s breadth...

"So he has everything?" "Even the memories you store deep in your subconscious." Apple TV has unveiled a trailer for an intriguing upcoming film titled Swan Song, the feature directorial debut of Irish filmmaker Benjamin Cleary already acclaimed for his short films. Not to be confused with the excellent Udo Kier film also titled Swan Song released earlier this year (why do they have to have the same title!). Set in the near future, Cameron Turner is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Presented with an experimental solution to shield his wife and son from grief, he grapples with altering their fate in this exploration of love, loss, and sacrifice. It seems to involve creating a clone, sans disease, with all his memories copied over. Mahershala Ali stars as Cameron, with Naomie Harris as his wife Poppy, plus Glenn Close, Awkwafina, Adam Beach, Lee Shorten, Dax Rey, Nyasha Hatendi, and JayR Tinaco.

Apple released the first full trailer for Swan Song on Thursday, its emotional sci-fi epic starring Mahershala Ali.

Set in the near future, where human cloning is accessible, Ali stars as Cameron, a husband and father diagnosed with a terminal illness who finds himself deciding whether he wants to live or die in the minds and eyes of his family.

The more than two-minute trailer shows Cameron struggling with a worsening condition while his health status remains a secret from his loved ones, including his wife, who is played by Naomie Harris. While he says he “can’t lie to my family ...

Apple released the first full trailer for Swan Song on Thursday, its emotional sci-fi epic starring Mahershala Ali.

Set in the near future, where human cloning is accessible, Ali stars as Cameron, a husband and father diagnosed with a terminal illness who finds himself deciding whether he wants to live or die in the minds and eyes of his family.

The more than two-minute trailer shows Cameron struggling with a worsening condition while his health status remains a secret from his loved ones, including his wife, who is played by Naomie Harris. While he says he “can’t lie to my family ...

It’s two Mahershala Ali performances for the price of one in the upcoming Apple original film “Swan Song.” The science-fiction drama marks the feature directorial debut of Benjamin Cleary, who won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film with his acclaimed 2015 drama “Stutterer.” Ali plays a dying man who is presented with a cloning opportunity that would help his family avoid the grieving process. Starring opposite Ali is a supporting cast that includes Naomie Harris, Glenn Close, Awkwafina, and Adam Beach.

The official synopsis for the film reads: “Set in the near future, ‘Swan Song’ is a powerful, emotional journey told through the eyes of Cameron (Ali), a loving husband and father diagnosed with a terminal illness who is presented with an alternative solution by his doctor (Close) to shield his family from grief. As Cam grapples with whether or not to alter his family’s fate, he...

Exclusive: Sophie von Haselberg (Halston), Colton Haynes (Arrow), Javier Muñoz (Broadway’s Hamilton), Jill Kargman (Odd Mom Out) and Marisa Ryan (Wet Hot American Summer) have signed on to star in Love…Reconsidered, an indie comedy, which is currently in production in New York.

The film directed by Full Frontal with Samantha Bee‘s managing digital producer Carol Hartsell centers on Ruby (Von Haselberg), a 30-year-old New Yorker whose life is suddenly transplanted to the Hamptons after a chance meeting with a wealthy consignment store owner.

Rick Younger, Judy Gold, Elaine Bromka, Luke Gulbranson, Jon Lemmon, Anthony Norman, and Amy Pham round out the cast of the film, scripted by Arielle Haller-Silverstone.

Ian Stone and El Ride Productions are exec producing, with Haller-Silverstone and casting director Sj Allocco serving as co-producers.

Von Haselberg is repped by APA and Artists First; Haynes by UTA and Untitled Entertainment; Muñoz by APA and...

After going strictly virtual in 2020 due to the pandemic, Deadline’s The Contenders Film: Los Angeles is returning in-person next month at the DGA Theater.

The Sunday, November 14 event, like the recent Contenders London, will be a hybrid event, running live in-person from 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Pt as well as stream live from 8:50 a.m.-4:40 p.m. Pt.

A total as of now of 30 films will be highlighted and feature some of the season’s top Oscar and awards contenders including Being the Ricardos, The Tender Bar, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Coda, Belfast, Sing 2, House of Gucci, Licorice Pizza, Spencer, Respect, The Power of the Dog, Don’t Look Up, tick,tick…Boom!, The Lost Daughter, Parallel Mothers, King Richard, Mass, I’m Your Man, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, A Hero, Swan Song, Leave No Traces, The Boss Baby: Family Business, Spirit Untamed,...

After attending the Middleburg Film Festival in Virginia this past weekend, five-time Oscar nominee Kenneth Branagh earned a souvenir. His film “Belfast” won the coveted Audience Award for Best Narrative Film. He is the director-writer-producer behind a very personal nostalgic coming-of-age tale that’s being released by Focus Features on November 12. It stars Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Judi Dench, Ciaran Hinds and newcomer Jude Hill.

The festival itself also bestowed him with a Director Spotlight Award during the four-day event. Previously, the ‘60s-era look back at the ongoing troubles in Northern Ireland that besieged his hometown also claimed Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award. Consider that all the nine previous winners made the cut for a Best Picture slot on the Oscar ballot..

Gold Derby chatted with Branagh at Middleburg as he talked about casting, making a movie during a pandemic and how he gently tweaked the story of his own childhood.

Whether you’re on the “Belfast” train or believe another film will steal the Oscars’ attention, being the front-runner too early can affect a movie’s awards chances. But playing catch-up can be even more challenging.

Films dropping into the Oscar conversation late have proven effective for past best picture winners like “Million Dollar Baby” (2004). Still, since that time, Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” (2017) has been the only December release that has taken the top prize, with most others releasing within an October time frame.

With the official phase one awards period less than a month away, several unseen and unknown entities have yet to screen. At the top of the list is del Toro’s remake of the 1947 classic, “Nightmare Alley.” This dark adaptation of the novel, which differs from the original, has a sprawling ensemble led by Bradley Cooper, and there are high hopes for it.

On the eve of his 77th birthday, Udo Kier was on the phone at his home in Palm Springs, wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with orange lettering that reads, “Don’t act.”

He received the shirt as a gift, and it bears a maxim he gleaned from Lars von Trier, with whom he began a three-plus-decade partnership on “Medea” in 1988.

“He means don’t act so people can feel and see that you’re acting. That’s the difference,” said the Cologne-born actor, the star of more than 200 movies from directors including Von Trier, Fassbinder, and Werner Herzog.

Over the years, Kier’s steely cobalt eyes and sinisterly soothing German accent have enabled him to play low lives, decadents, and villains. But he takes a break from all that in Todd Stephens’ “Swan Song,” released this past summer. In a perfect world, it would catapult the iconic performer into the awards conversation.

Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures’ Sing 2 will make its world premiere at AFI Fest, screening in-person at the Tcl Chinese Theatre on November 14, the American Film Institute announced today.

The film hitting theaters on December 22 is a sequel to animated musical comedy Sing, which grossed $634 million worldwide, following its release in 2016.

It picks up with theater-owning koala Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) and his all-star cast of performers, at a point when they have have turned their New Moon venue into a local hit. But Buster has his eyes on a much bigger prize: Debuting his new show at the the Crystal Tower Theater in glamorous Redshore City.

In order to make that happen, he’ll have to get a sign-off from Crystal Entertainment’s ruthless mogul wolf, Jimmy Crystal (Bobby Cannavale). In a desperate attempt to do so, Buster tells Crystal that the show will feature a performance by a rock legend,...

Illumination’s “Sing 2,” the animated film written and directed by Garth Jennings, will world premiere at AFI Fest on Nov. 14 at the Tcl Chinese Theatre.

The movie, a sequel to 2016’s “Sing,” follows a koala named Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) as he and his cast of performing animals prepare for their biggest concert yet in Redshore City, and must convince a reclusive rockstar (Bono) to join them. The film will feature more than 40 covers of classic and contemporary hit songs.

Returning stars, along with McConaughey, include Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Nick Kroll and Jennings. They are joined by new cast members Pharrell Williams, Halsey, Bobby Cannavale, Letitia Wright, Eric André and Chelsea Peretti.

“Sing 2” is produced by Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri, along with Janet Healy. After the AFI Fest premiere, the pic will hit theaters on Dec. 22.

AFI Fest takes place from Nov.

Updated on October 19, 2021 with new additions.

The American Film Institute announced today the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, which includes Sony Pictures Classics’ “Parallel Mothers,” written and directed by Academy Award winner Pedro Almodóvar and starring the beloved Spanish auteur’s longtime muse Penélope Cruz. The film will receive a red carpet premiere at the historic Tcl Chinese Theatre on Saturday, November 13. Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” has also been added, and will screen at the Tcl Chinese Theatre on Thursday, November 11.

Other additions to the lineup include buzzy festival titles such as Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket,” Nadav Lapid’s “Ahed’s Knee,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” and Apichatpong Weerakethakul’s Tilda Swinton starrer “Memoria.”

The full lineup joins the previously announced world premiere of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s feature directorial debut, “Tick Tick Boom”. The Netflix feature is based on the autobiographical...

Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner’s Magnolia Pictures has hired investment bank Stephens to explore selling the company.

Content is currently in high demand and Magnolia, a leading independent film distributor for two decades, has a substantial library of about 500 titles.

“We went through this process 8-10 years ago and did not sell it then, and we may not sell this time. But the climate this time is strong and we have done extraordinarily well,” president and co-founder Eamonn Bowles tells Deadline — including during the pandemic, with the library throwing off more cash than ever. “We have these ten year old films making more than in their third year,” he said.

A deal would follow hookups between Amazon-MGM (still pending) and the acquisition of Reese Witherspoon’s media company Hello Sunshine by a new Blackstone-backed group led by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs for a sum said to be about $900 million.

Apple TV Plus will not be moving ahead with a second season of “Mr. Corman,” A24’s schoolteacher drama starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the streamer has confirmed.

The final episode “The Big Picture” was released Friday. Gordon-Levitt created, wrote, directed and executive produced the series about a fifth grade teacher and former musician working in the San Fernando Valley.

Apple TV Plus is continuing to work with Gordon-Levitt on the new animated series “Wolfboy and the Everything Factory,” for which he voices a lead character and serves as executive producer.

After premiering Aug. 6, “Mr. Corman” garnered a respectable 70% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It co-stars Debra Winger, Juno Temple, Arturo Castro, Bobby Hall (aka Logic), Alexander Jo, Jamie Chung, Shannon Woodward and Hector Hernandez.

“Wolfboy and the Everything Factor” follows Wolfboy, voiced by Kassian Akhtar, an imaginative oddball who discovers a strange realm at the center of the Earth where fantastical Sprytes create clouds,...

Exclusive: Apple TV+ has opted not to order a second season of Mr. Corman, A24’s half-hour schoolteacher comedy-drama created, written, directed, executive produced and headlined by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The series’ final episode, “The Big Picture”, was released earlier today.

Mr. Corman premiered Aug. 6 to mostly solid reviews (70% on Rotten Tomatoes) but did not draw a wide audience on the platform the way other Apple TV+ comedy series have done this past summer, including flagship Ted Lasso, Schmigadoon!, Physical, Mythic Quest and Trying, which have either been renewed or looking good for renewal.

Apple TV+ remains in business with Gordon-Levitt who is executive producing and voicing a lead character in the streamer’s new animated children’s series Wolfboy and the Everything Factory, which dropped all 10 episodes of its first season Sept. 24.

In his return to TV, Gordon-Levitt starred as Mr. Corman, a fifth-grade teacher who ponders the bigger questions...

The streaming service is available from today (September 29).

Amazon’s advertising-funded streaming platform IMDb TV has launched in the UK from today (September 29), with thousands of licenced TV shows and films as well as three IMDb TV originals – music docuseries Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary, sports true crime documentary Moment Of Truth and basketball docuseries Top Class: The Life And Times Of The Sierra Canyon Trailblazers. New titles will be added every month.

Both Amazon UK Prime and non-Prime customers can access the content via the Prime Video app. A standalone app will be available on Fire TV in the coming weeks.

The American Film Institute said Tuesday that it has added the world premieres of Apple Original Films’ Swan Song, starring two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, and Halle Berry’s directorial debut Bruised from Netflix to this year’s AFI Fest lineup.

When Netflix picked up Bruised at the Toronto Film Festival last year, the pic was in its unfinished form, and its debut in November will be the first time it’s being shown to moviegoers in polished form.

Swan Song and Bruised will screen in-person at the Tcl Chinese Theatre on Friday, November 12, and Saturday, November 13, respectively.

Swan Song reps Oscar winner Benjamin Cleary’s (Stutterer) feature directorial debut and follows Ali as a man diagnosed with a terminal illness who is presented with an alternative solution by his doctor (Glenn Close) to shield his family from grief. The pic also stars Naomie Harris, Awkwafina and Adam Beach. Cleary wrote the screenplay.

Fest runs November 10-14 in Los Angeles.

Updated: Halle Berry’s feature directing debut Bruised and Mahershala Ali and Awkwafina drama Swan Song will receive premieres at AFI Fest in November.

Netflix’s Bruised plays on November 13 and stars Berry as a washed-up Mma fighter struggling for redemption as an athlete and a mother. The film premiered at TIFF 2020 and gets its US premiere at AFI Fest.

Apple Orginal Films’ Swang Song from feature directing debutant Benjamin Cleary gets its world premiere on November 12 and stars Ali as man diagnosed with a terminal illness who is presented with an alternative...

Fest runs November 10-14 in Los Angeles.

Halle Berry’s feature directing debut Bruised and Mahershala Ali and Awkwafina drama Swan Song will receive their world premieres at AFI Fest in November.

Netflix’s Bruised plays on November 13 and stars Berry as a washed-up Mma fighter struggling for redemption as an athlete and a mother.

Apple Orginal Films’ Swang Song from feature directing debutant Benjamin Cleary plays on November 12 and stars Ali as man diagnosed with a terminal illness who is presented with an alternative solution by his doctor (Glenn Close) to shield his family from grief. The film also stars Naomie Harris,...

There are two movies named "Swan Song" coming to us in the second half of 2021: one of them sees Mahershala Ali leading a top-shelf cast that includes Glenn Close, Naomie Harris, Awkwafina, and Adam Beach. The other one stars Udo Kier and is a Magnolia Pictures release, which already hit VOD in August.

With all due respect to Kier, it's the Ali-led "Swan Song" that merits attention here. Not only because of its stacked ensemble cast but because it marks another get for Apple, which continues to attract top talent and expand its line of original movies.

Collider reports that "Swan...

The post Mahershala Ali Sci-fi Drama Swan Song Will Premiere in Theaters and on Apple TV on the Same Day appeared first on /Film.

Exclusive: With his upcoming Blade pic finding a director and his Apple Studios pic Swan Song setting a release date, Mahershala Ali doesn’t shows signs of slowing down. He now has found another exciting role to add to his dance card, as sources tell Deadline that the Oscar winner is set to join Julia Roberts in the Netflix thriller Leave the World Behind, with Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail on board to direct and adapt Rumaan Alam’s novel of the same name.

Deadline first broke news last year that Netflix had landed the hot package when Denzel Washington was circling the role opposite Roberts; that’s now the role Ali will play. The film will be produced by Roberts through her Red Om Films banner and Esmail and Chad Hamilton through Esmail Corp. Alam will exec produce, with Red Om’s Lisa Gillan and Marisa Yeres Gill also...

Apple Original Films today revealed that the highly anticipated, star-studded film “Swan Song” will debut in theaters and globally on Apple TV+ on Friday, December 17. “Swan Song” stars two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali, who also serves as producer; eight-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close; and Academy Award nominee Naomie Harris. Golden Globe Award […]

The post ‘Swan Song’ Starring Academy Award Winner Mahershala Ali To Open In Theaters & Stream on Apple TV+ December 17 appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Exclusive: The fall festivals are fleshing out the awards season picture, but Apple Studios wasn’t ready to unveil Swan Song. Deadline can reveal it has staked out December 17 as release date in limited theatrical and Apple TV+ for the futuristic drama that stars Mahershala Ali as husband and father who is presented with the risky chance of surviving a terminal illness. Naomie Harris, Glenn Close, Awkwafina and Adam Beach star with him in a drama written and directed by Benjamin Cleary, the Irish filmmaker whose 2015 short film Stutterer won the Oscar. Swan Song is his first feature.

It also marks the producing debut of Ali, the two time Oscar winner. Apple shared some exclusive images with Deadline from a film which, for Cleary, presented a dream opportunity to team with the star of Moonlight and Green Book.

Cleary told Deadline: “This started as a premise I had ten years...

One is likely to have many thoughts flit through their head while watching Marvel’s latest epic origin story Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings. “Wow, Tony Leung really is handsome.” “I didn’t realize [Redacted] was going to be in this!” But chief among those thoughts is sure to be: “Am I crazy, or does this soundtrack slap?”

Well dear, reader, you are not crazy. The soundtrack for Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings does, in fact, slap. Marvel apparently agrees as it was sure to release the 18-track album the moment the film premiered in theaters on September 3. The soundtrack is available now. You can check out the full tracklist via Spotify below.

Marvel is fairly conservative about which soundtracks of its films it chooses to hype up. While just about every Marvel film receives one, it’s really only James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy...

Participant is yet to announce US distribution plans.

Magnolia Pictures International has acquired Yaara Bou Melhem’s documentary Unseen Skies from Participant and will commence sales during Toronto next week.

The film follows contemporary artist Trevor Paglen during the final stretch of his decade-long journey to put a work of art into space.

Paglen, who served as a cinematographer on Participant’s Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour, is known for his work that focuses on the impact of largely unseen monolithic power structures of technology and surveillance and documents black ops sites that gather government surveillance and data collection.

Participant has not...

Apple Original Films project centres on two men who get chance to reinvent themselves at father’s funeral.

Apple Studios will produce Raymond And Ray starring Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke with Alfonso Cuarón, Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lyn on board to produce.

Rodrigo García will direct for Apple Original Films from his screenplay about two men who get the chance to reinvent themselves at the funeral of the terrible father who cast a shadow over their lives. The ceremony presents an opportunity to vent anger and pain, with folly, possibly love, and grave-digging.

García reunites with his Albert Nobbs producers Curtis and Lynn,...

Producers aiming for autumn 2022 shoot at convent on west coast of Denmark.

Jeppe Ronde’s next film Acts Of Love has won the best project award in the Nordic Co-Production Market at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films.

Inspired by his own family history, Ronde will tell the story of a young woman living in a religious community whose life is interrupted when her brother visits, forcing them to confront their childhood trauma. Ronde co-writes the script with Christopher Grøndahl.

The industry audience – 300 people both onsite and online – voted on the winner.

Julie Walenciak and Maria Møller Christoffersen will produce Acts Of Love for Paloma Pictures.

I have always been a fan of Udo Kier. From his films with Andy Warhol/Paul Morrissey to Gus Van Sant and everything in between, Kier has always been a scene stealer. And in his new movie “Swan Song,” Kier is given a leading actor role and he commands the screen from start to finish.

The post Udo Kier in “Swan Song” appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.

“The Man Who Sold His Skin” and “Coda” stood out among films which picked up awards at the closing ceremony of the 49th Norwegian International Film Festival Haugesund.

For the festival’s grand reopening to the international market, after a restricted 2020 edition due to the Covid-19 pandemic, attendance surpassed pre-pandemic levels with an all-time-high number of industry accreditations for the event which ran Aug. 21-27.

The strong selection of films at this year’s on-site festival and in the virtual confab New Nordic Films was undoubtedly one reason for this strong attendance, as major films shone at the closing ceremony where six awards were doled out.

“The Man Who Sold His Skin,” the Oscar-nominated film from Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, won the ecumenical film prize and the Andreas Award, a collaboration between The Norwegian Film Festival, Film&Kino and the newspaper Vårt Land. The film is a satire of...

Documentaries about a da Vinci and a dictator, a Pablo Larraín drama with Gael Garcia Bernal, a Donnie Yen martial arts thriller by the late Benny Chan, and Coda — Apple’s record-busting Sundance acquisition — make specialty bows this weekend as the arthouse sector fights through a slow reopening.

“The market is still finding a balance right now,” said Kyle Westphal, theatrical sales manager for Music Box Films (and programming associate for Chicago’s Music Box Theatre). The distributor debuts Larraín’s Ema in 11 theaters in nine markets with plans to expand thereafter — to maybe another 20, but it’s hard to say. “The normal [criteria] like what’s your opening per-screen average right now, those are all upside down,” Westphal tells Deadline.

He said a strong perf by Anthony Bourdain doc Roadrunner (Focus Features) and The Green Knight (A24) “doing as well as it has over the past few weeks, are good signs.

There’s something really exciting when a familiar actor wades into new territory and takes on a role that is entirely different from the things they are known for. Bruce Campbell in Bubba Ho-Tep, Arnold Schwarzenegger in Maggie, and Nicolas Cage reminds us every few years of his profound range (see the newly opened Pig. It’s incredible).

In Swan Song, we get a new turn from Udo Kier in a role that leaves the audience breathless. No question, he has had an incredible career. From dramatic turns to horror to shlock entertainment, he really has done it all, but here, he still manages to go in a new direction. We see him challenge himself in a new and exciting way, delivering a powerful performance that will not soon be forgotten. And while Swan Song isn’t really a genre film, it features an amazing performance by a genre legend,...

Apple Original Films announced today that the highly anticipated film “Finch” will debut on Apple TV+ on Friday, November 5. “Finch” stars Tom Hanks and Screen Actors Guild Award winner Caleb Landry Jones, who recently won best actor at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

Hanks’ follow up to the blockbuster Apple Original Film “Greyhound” comes from cutting-edge filmmaker Miguel Sapochnik, with an original screenplay by Craig Luck, making his feature-film writing debut, and Ivor Powell (associate producer of “Blade Runner” and “Alien”).

The film is produced by Kevin Misher, Jack Rapke, Jacqueline Levine, and Ivor Powell. The executive producers are Academy Award winner Robert Zemeckis, Luck, Sapochnik, Andy Berman, Adam Merims and Jeb Brody. Apple Original Films’ “Finch” is an Amblin Entertainment and Reliance Entertainment presentation, in association with Walden Media. “Finch” is an Imagemovers and Misher Films production.

In “Finch,” a man, a robot and a dog form an unlikely family...

Tom Hanks starrer Finch will debut on Apple TV+ on November 5, Apple Original Films said Thursdayt. Check out the first-look image below.

In the film directed by Miguel Sapochnik, the Oscar-winning Hanks plays a robotics engineer who is among the few survivors of a cataclysmic solar event. While that event left the world a wasteland, Finch has built a world of his own in the time since, which he shares with his beloved dog, Goodyear. Also living with Finch in his underground bunker is a robot (played by Caleb Landry Jones) that he’s built to watch over Goodyear when he no longer can.

Ultimately, the trio embarks on a road trip into a desolate American West, and while on this journey, Finch looks to show his creation — who has named himself Jeff — the joy and wonder that come with being alive.

Ivor Powell wrote the script with Craig Luck,...

Udo Kier is the kind of actor who defies notions of great screen acting as chameleonic or transformative: you don’t cast him in a role, you cast the role as Udo Kier, and let his curious, transfixing presence do the rest. Over a globe-trotting, seven-decade career that has cheerfully run the grindhouse-to-arthouse gamut, the German star’s million-yard gaze — through distinctively double-glazed, powder-blue eyes — has left a lingering impression in any number of films that have not, and helped a handful of great ones haunt us a little deeper.

After performing in internationals film for five decades, the German-born character actor Udo Kier is getting rave reviews for a rare Hollywood leading role in “Swan Song.” And at age 76, Kier says he’s hoping the role is no swan song for him: it’s just the beginning of a new phase of his career.

“I am really, really, a little bit surprised but pleasantly surprise that I made 50 years of movies, and now everybody writes: ‘After 50 years, finally Udo Kier is a leading man!’” Kier told Variety on Thursday night at the Los Angeles premiere of the film at iPic Theaters in Westwood. “Which is very nice of you all, the press. But for me, it’s going to be difficult because now in the future, I only want to do leading roles – unless it’s David Lynch or some great director. That’s a different story. I’m very,...

Pat Pitsenbarger, the flamboyant retired hairdresser played by Udo Kier in Todd Stephens’ “Swan Song,” is based on an actual man who lived in the writer-director’s hometown of Sandusky, Ohio, where this movie is set. Kier’s Pitsenbarger is first seen on a stage in a white fur jacket and white pants, but this is just a dream from which he soon awakens.

Pat is actually in a nursing home, yet he remains valiantly fabulous in this most un-fabulous place, crossing his legs with real style and glamour as he sits down in a wheelchair in a dreary hallway while wearing dreary grey sweatpants.

Only a real star can make a gesture like that land, and Kier has always been a star, no matter the size of his role; over the course of a storied career, he has worked all over the world for directors like Paul Morrissey, Rainer Werner Fassbinder,...

Vaughn describes source material upcoming novel by Ellie Conway as “the most compelling spy thriller I’ve ever read”.

In another massive commitment by a streamer Apple Original Films is reportedly paying in the region of $200m for Matthew Vaughn’s spy film Argylle.

Vaughn, whose Marv is working with Apple on Tetris: The Movie starring Taron Egerton, has lined up a buzzy cast that includes Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena and Samuel L. Jackson.

Argylle is being conceived as a franchise and is based on the debut novel of the same name by Ellie Conway.

The UK and Ireland-based distributor acquires Cannes’ titles.

UK and Ireland-based distributor Peccadillo Pictures has acquired the rights to French director Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s Anaïs In Love, Brazilian director Anita Rocha da Silveira’s Medusa, and Clara Sola by Costa Rican and Swedish director Nathalie Álvarez Mesen.

The deals were done with sales outfits BeFor Films, Best Friend Forever and Luxbox respectively.

Bourgeois-Tacquet’s Cannes Critics’ Week selection and Camera d’Or nominated debut film Anaïs In Love, follows a woman as she leaves Paris to move to Brittany for a fast-evolving friendship.

It is produced by Igor Auzépy, Stéphane Demoustier,...

Exclusive: Anonymous Content is partnering with Robert Baer to develop a Cold War series, based on research by the author and former CIA case officer.

AC Studios will serve as the studio on the project, with Mark Johnson, Scott Frank, and T-Bone Burnett exec producing.

Kevin Cotter, David Levine and Zack Hayden will oversee the project on behalf of AC Studios.

Baer is known for penning See No Evil, the 2002 book which was later adapted into Syriana. The geopolitical thriller from director Stephen Gaghan starred George Clooney, Matt Damon and more, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor (Clooney), among other accolades.

On the TV side, Baer has been involved with such series as JFK Declassified: Tracking Oswald and Hunting Hitler, hosting the latter for History.

Anonymous Content is a media company that produces...

Exclusive: Tommy Martinez (Good Trouble), Emily Rudd (Fear Street) and Udo Kier (The Painted Bird) are set for recurring roles in Season 2 of Amazon Prime Video’s conspiracy thriller drama series Hunters, created by David Weil and executive produced by Jordan Peele.

The plot for Season 2 is being kept under wraps as are Martinez, Rudd and Kier’s characters. The first season of Hunters followed a diverse band of Nazi hunters living in 1977 New York City. The Hunters, as they’re known, have discovered that hundreds of high-ranking Nazi officials are living among us and conspiring to create a Fourth Reich in the United States.

Season 2 of Hunters, produced by Amazon Studios, Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Sonar Entertainment, is executive produced by Weil who serves as showrunner, Peele and Win Rosenfeld from Monkeypaw Productions, Phil Abraham, David Rosen, Jerry Kupfer and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon as well as David Ellender and Matt Loze from Sonar.

Swan Song, Mayday, Queen Of Glory, A Glitch In The Matrix galvanise buyers.

Magnolia Pictures International head Lorna Lee Torres has reported brisk sales in Cannes on Udo Kier drama and SXSW selection Swan Song, Sundance action fantasy Mayday, Tribeca winner Queen Of Glory, and Sundance Midnight entry A Glitch In The Matrix.

Torres and Magnolia international sales director Marie Zeniter attended Cannes for what proved to be a productive trip.

Rights to Swan Song have gone in the UK (Peccadillo), Germany and Austria (Koch Media), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Australia and New Zealand (Icon), Scandinavia, Baltics, Iceland (NonStop), Canada (Mongrel...