News

‘Hunted’ Finds Homes In Sweden, Belgium & Botswana

Civilians and celebrities will go on the run in Sweden, French-speaking Belgium and Botswana. Banijay Entertainment has struck deals placing adrenaline-fuelled reality series Hunted in the countries, taking the UK format’s total global rollout to 12 territories. In Sweden, Banijay-owned Meter/Jorowskij will produce a version for Kanal 5 and Max, while Banijay Belgium is producing the Belgian version for Rtl-tvi. In Botswana, Banijay Rights’ local partner Botswana Ignite. The series sees contestants become fugitives attempting to evade elite trackers to win a cash prize.

Toonz Media Group Strikes Anime Deal With 1st Place

Indian animation giant Toonz Media Group has struck a deal with Japanese IP developer 1st Place to create anime projects at cost-effective prices and combat an emerging talent drought. The pair will work together to attract global entertainment companies searching for production solutions for their anime and 3D CGI projects.

Robert Harris’ novel “Conclave,” a political papal thriller set in the Vatican as cardinals jostle and conspire to elect a new Pope, was released in September 2016, coincidentally just weeks after House Productions, which would produce the film adaptation, had been officially launched by Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell.

Some eight years later, and “Conclave” — directed by Edward Berger and with Ralph Fiennes in the lead role — is now one of the titles to beat in awards season, going into the Oscars with eight nominations (including best film) and the BAFTAs with leading haul of 12, and with a box office already approaching $90 million.

For House, which worked on several noted film and TV projects in the meantime, producing the Zac Efron-fronted wrestling drama “The Iron Claw,” exec producing last year’s Oscar winner “The Zone of Interest” (considered by many to be one of the top films of 2023) and being...

If, like the rest of us, you can't get over Eddie Redmayne's chameleon-like portrayal of a masterful assassin juggling an ice-cold killer's touch with the sensibility of a devoted family man, then we've got good news. There's an underrated show that you need to watch while waiting for the next season of The Day of the Jackal. Written by Abi Morgan and directed by Philip Martin, Birdsong is a historical drama that was released in 2012 and features Redmayne, Clémence Poésy, Richard Madden, Joseph Mawle, and Matthew Goode. Adapted from Sebastian Faulks's novel of the same name, the two-part series is the story of Stephen Wraysford, a WWI soldier struggling to survive the unpredictable nature of trench warfare as he looks back on the unfulfilled promise of a romance that went awry.

Quick Links The Day of the Jackal Is a Peacock Standout The Day of the Jackal Is Critically Renowned Why The Day of the Jackal Works So Well Will There Be a Season 2?

As the streaming race continues, nearly every platform is looking to develop standout content that can draw viewers in droves. Apple TV+ embraced the Monsterverse, Netflix has struck gold with Wednesday and Stranger Things, and Disney+ began developing a large variety of Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars content to fill its roster of shows. All of these services are carving their own individual niches to drive audiences directly to their product.

Generally, Peacock has been relying on Yellowstone and sports broadcasting to bring in subscribers. With so much competition on the market, however, it can be difficult for those shows to stand out against the Star Wars: Skeleton Crews and Ted Lassos of the world. Much like the other streaming platforms,...

Eddie Redmayne's spy thriller with an 84% Rotten Tomatoes score has received a season 2 renewal. Beginning his career in the West End theatre, Redmayne's first leading film role came in 2006's Like Minds, followed by his big breakthroughs in My Week with Marilyn and Les Misrables. Soon after, he starred as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything and won an Academy Award for Best Actor. The following year, he played a transgender artist in The Danish Girl and earned a second nomination in the same category.

Since his Oscar win and nomination, Redmayne has been best known for playing Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts movies. Meanwhile, he starred in Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 and The Good Nurse, both for Netflix. Though Redmayne has mostly focused on movies throughout his career, both prestige pictures and potential blockbusters like Fantastic Beasts, he has also starred in a few television series,...

Florence + The Machine have announced a new live album titled Symphony of Lungs (BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall), recorded during the band’s recent performance with Jules Buckley and his Orchestra to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their debut effort. It will be out digitally on October 25th ahead of its physical release on March 14th, 2025.

The concert itself took place on September 11th at London’s Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms classical music festival and is set to be aired in full on BBC Two and iPlayer on Saturday, October 19th. Pre-orders for Symphony of Lungs are ongoing.

“I always thought maybe I would give my first album a long title. Under Heaven Over Hell (‘uh oh’ for short) was one idea,” Florence Welch said in a statement. “But, when I thought of Lungs, I knew it had to be that. This album...

Florence and the Machine is remembering its first album — but backed by an orchestra! Last night, Florence Welch was joined by the BBC Orchestra for a symphonic reimagining of the group’s debut album, Lungs.

The show, called “Symphony of Lungs,” was part of BBC Proms and saw Welch sing the 2009 album in its entirety from Royal Albert Hall for her only full concert of the year.

“This was an album created with so much feeling,” she told the crowd. “I never thought anyone could add more feeling to it.

The Las Vegas Strip has been transformed into a massive Shakedown Street thanks to Dead & Company, who officially opened their “Dead Forever” residency at The Sphere on Thursday night.

Taking the stage of Las Vegas’ hottest new venue for the first of 24 shows, Dead & Company played a jam-packed, 19-song set delivered in two parts. After opening with “Feel Like a Stranger,” the group performed fan favorites like “Jack Straw,” “Bird Song,” and “Brown-Eyed Woman.”

Get Dead & Company Tickets Here

Following a half-hour break, Dead & Company picked up with “Uncle John’s Band” and ran through classics like “Help on the Way,” “Slipknot!,” and “Franklin’s Tower.” They closed the evening with back-to-back covers of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and The Crickets’ “Not Fade Away.”

Check out photos, video, and the full setlist below.

Coming up on their 10th year as a band, Dead & Company’s residency at...

The long, strange trip just got a lot trippier.

Dead & Company opened their much-anticipated Sphere residency in Las Vegas on Thursday night, making good on the potential of the world’s most high-tech concert venue and delivering what has to be the most dazzling visual show in Grateful Dead history.

The group took the stage just past 7:30 p.m., opening with modest visuals — by Sphere standards, at least — for “Feel Like a Stranger,” as large live shots of Bob Weir and John Mayer were projected above the stage. It...

Blur took the stage at Coachella on Saturday, and to close out their portion of the night, they brought out performers from the Torres Martinez Cahuilla Bird Singers.

It was Blur’s first time at Coachella since 2013 (though Damon Albarn has made a few surprise appearances in recent years), and the band delivered renditions of some of their most beloved songs, like “Song 2,” “Girls & Boys,” “Beetlebum,” and more.

The Britpop legends first brought out a group of Bird Singers to perform a traditional piece titled “Bird Song,” honoring the culture and history of the indigenous tribes of the Coachella region. From there, the Bird Singers loaned their voices to Blur’s “Death of a Party,” and then returned at the end of the night to close out the set with “Tender.”

Elsewhere in Blur’s set, Albarn made an appeal for mutual understanding in a time of political polarization,...

Noah Jupe, who is starring opposite Michael Douglas in the Apple TV+ Benjamin Franklin biopic, is leading a TV drama adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ cult classic Engleby.

Jupe will play the titular character, an enigmatic outsider who graduates from 1970s campus life to 1980s Fleet Street and beyond – haunted all the while by an unsolved mystery involving a friend and fellow student during their university days. The six-part drama is described as a “quintessential British murder mystery meets acute psychological character study, with a healthy dose of dark wit.”

Michael Keillor, who is directing the upcoming BBC/Netflix drama on the Lockerbie disaster, is directing, and Channel 4-backed production outfit Freedom Scripted is producing. No network is attached as of yet. Stage and screenwriters Ryan Craig and Jess Ruston are penning the series, with Freedom Scripted’s MD Mike Ellen executive producing.

Prior to making headlines the next day after a short-lived health scare that required a brief stay in hospital, Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins arrived at Dublin’s Complex arts center last Wednesday to present the Dublin film festival’s highest honor to Steve McQueen. Introduced in 2007 and named the Volta Award, after the first commercial cinema set up in Dublin in 1909 by writer James Joyce, its previous recipients include Daniel Day Lewis, Claudia Cardinale and Al Pacino. The famously serious director was in high spirits, enthusing that “festivals are about passion, a passion for film.” “There’s always a buzz, isn’t there?” he continued. “[As you] go to the next picture, the next film, you tend to give people tips and say, ‘Oh, you’ve got to see this, you’ve got to see that…’”

McQueen was in and out of the festival, flying home the same night, fueling...

The world premere of Irish director Ross Killeen’s Don’t Forget To Remember scooped the audience award as the 22nd Dublin International Film Festival (Diff) drew to a close on Saturday (March 2).

The Irish documentary is a collaboration with artist Asbestos, and explores the lived experience of Alzheimer’s, and the fragility and fortitude of memory.

Scroll down for the full list of Diff winners

“Although it’s a very personal film, Don’t Forget To Remember holds universal themes of love and loss, but most importantly, it’s about how we remember and shows how fragile those memories can be,...

The International Documentary Association announced the 17 feature-length and 25 short documentaries included on the shortlists for the 39th IDA Documentary Awards, which will be held during the week of Dec. 11in Los Angeles.

The nominees will be announced on Nov. 21, and IDA members will vote for Best Feature Documentary and Best Short Documentary until Dec. 5.

“The 39th IDA Documentary Awards continues the tradition of celebrating the best of international nonfiction media of the year,” said Ken Ikeda, IDA’s Interim Executive Director. “This year’s Best Feature Documentary and Best Short Documentary shortlists reflect important work from twenty-one countries. We are excited to celebrate the work of our community and present winners this December in Los Angeles.”

The 2023 shortlists and nominees are selected by independent committees of 280 documentary makers, curators, critics and industry experts from 40 countries. IDA received 669 total submissions in all categories from 48 countries.

Best Feature Documentary Shortlist

Against the Tide...

The International Documentary Association has unveiled their shortlist for their 39th annual award ceremony, celebrating the best in documentary filmmaking.

17 feature-length documentaries — including “Bobi Wine: The People’s President,” “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project,” and “Anonymous Sister” — were selected for the shortlist, as were 25 short films. The films hail from over 20 countries, including Canada, India, Cambodia, Denmark, Uganda, France, and South Africa.

From the shortlist, up to 10 nominees in both the Best Feature Documentary and Best Short Documentary categories will be selected by IDA members. In addition, awards will be given to additional films in the following categories: Best Curated Series, Best Episodic Series, Best Multi-Part Documentary, Best TV Feature Documentary or Mini-Series, Best Short Form Series, Best Stand-Alone Audio Documentary, Best Multi-Part Audio Documentary or Series, David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award, Best Music Documentary, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Writing, Best Music Score, ABC News VideoSource Award,...

“The Old Young Crow,” an American/Japanese short film directed by Liam LoPinto, took top honors at the Palm Springs International ShortFest, winning the Best of the Festival Award along with a cash prize of $5,000, the festival announced Sunday.

The win makes LoPinto’s film one of five at the festival that now qualify for the 2024 Academy Awards.

Other Oscars-qualifying short films from the Palm Springs ShortFest include: Lithuania’s “Way Better,” the Best Animated Short winner from director Skirmanta Jakaitė; China’s “Will You Look at Me,” director Shuli Huang’s Best Documentary Short winner; the French entry “Sèt Lam,” directed by Vincent Fontano, won Best Live Action Short over 15 minutes; and Spain’s “Mystic Tiger,” winner of Best Live Action Short under 15 minutes by director Marc Martínez.

The winners received a total of $25,000 in prizes in categories judged by industry luminaries, festival organizers and journalists. Read on for the complete list of winners.

Exclusive: Ricky Gervais has directed his first BBC project for a decade as the corporation’s Comedy Director Jon Petrie unveils his debut batch of 11 Short Films since taking on the role last year.

Deadline can reveal that The Office and After Life creator Gervais has directed 7 Minutes, a show about two people awkwardly contemplating suicide from his own Derek Productions.

Penned by Harry Carlile and Jonathan Parramint and starring Joe Wilkinson and Seroca Davis, 7 Minutes’ logline reads: “A desolate train track seems the perfect spot to end it all, until someone else turns up with the same idea. Awkward.”

Gervais’ last BBC project was the Warwick Davis-starring Life’s Too Short, which ran from 2011 to 2013 and was co-written with long-time writing partner Stephen Merchant. Since then, he has mostly made shows for Netflix such as global smash After Life.

Petrie’s Comedy Shorts are comprised of 10-15 minute one-offs,...

Michael Stipe, Chvrches, and Coldplay are just a few of over 60 artists who’ve contributed to the 2023 iteration of EarthPercent’s annual Earth Day compilation album. Proceeds will benefit the Brian Eno-founded charity’s grant giving program, which directly benefits organizations fighting the ongoing climate crisis.

Stipe — a frequent eco-advocate — contributes the track “Give Me a Hand,” a moody art-pop number featuring guest vocals from folk singer and disability advocate Gaelynn Lea. Meanwhile, Chvrches reunite with their pal Robert Smith of The Cure for a rendition of their song “How Not to Drown,” recorded live at the Brixton Academy. Coldplay tap H.E.R. for another live track, this one being their ballad “Let Somebody Go” at the River Plate.

Also featured on the compilation are Eno, Dry Cleaning, dodie, Bring Me the Horizon, Julia Holter, Mystery Jets, and many more. Stream the album via Bandcamp below.

Eno and Stipe also...

Pacifiction is what Albert Serra might describe as an unfuckable movie. “Unfuckable is, you take the whole thing or you don’t take it but you cannot apply a critical judgment in an easy way,” he explained to us in 2019, “because it is what it is and it doesn’t look like any other film.” Pacifiction does not look like any other film. It doesn’t taste or smell like other films, either, even Serra’s own distinctive body of work. It premiered in a Cannes competition that has been high on wattage but low on power, crying out for a sensation. Pacifiction is that sensation: a film unlike any other this year, appearing near the end of proceedings, with the festival’s final furlongs already in sight; it is the closest the selection has come to delivering a masterpiece.

For the best part of the last 20 years, the Catalan filmmaker has made radical,...

Exclusive: A new stage play adaption of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is being developed with an eye toward the West End and Broadway. The Tony- and Olivier Award-winning Rob Ashford is set to direct.

The announcement was made today by producer Antonio Marion. Current plans are for the play to be developed in London prior to West End and Broadway stagings.

Written by British writing team Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel, the new Sherlock Holmes play is described as an original tale offering a “deeply theatrical exploration of the mind of the famous detective,” while remaining faithful to the world created by Conan Doyle. Akram Khan will serve as choreographer/movement director.

Staged as “a mystery within a mystery,” the new play is described by producers as involving a case presented to Holmes that forces him to confront his own murky past: “But is the unravelling of...

Above: Honor of the KnightsDespite his infamous reputation as an iconoclastic provocateur, the films of Catalan director Albert Serra always seem to come from a place of sincere allurement. The big-wigged canonical figures that have spearheaded his endeavors since his breakthrough in 2006’s Honor of the Knights are, without exception, stripped of their mythical flare and reduced to their most primordial essence. Shown decadent, aimless, and impotent, Serra’s camera lurks behind the characters in an invasive manner that favors framing corporeality and minutiae over traditional characterization. The most basic elements of these iconic on-screen presences are more than enough to showcase a deeper and underlying existential turmoil. Such thematic through lines can be traced all the way back to the filmmaker’s aforementioned riff on Cervantes. Surprisingly in tune with what is generally considered “the first modern novel,” Serra’s deconstruction of The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La...

Berlin’s new seven-member selection committee — four women and three men — comprises the core of new director Carlo Chatrian’s programming staff, which is led Canadian critic Mark Peranson. Peranson was the Locarno Film Festival’s chief of programming when Chatrian headed that Swiss festival. This year, Berlin is opening with “My Salinger Year,” starring Sigourney Weaver (above).

But Chatrian is quick to point out that his Berlin team is not a Locarno redux. Of the Berlin official selection gatekeepers, “four are people I worked with in Locarno and three are new,” he says. “On the one hand it was important for me to have people who know my tastes, and whom I know,” Chatrian notes. “On the other, it was just as important not to duplicate, not to copy, the Locarno model.”

That’s why the new Berlin programmers Chatrian is working with, former Panorama chief Pat Lazzaro, Verena Von Stackelberg,...

It’s a misty morning in the North of Greece and Albert Serra is nursing a cold. The enfant terrible filmmaker behind Birdsong, The Story of My Death, and The Death of Louis Xiv has arrived at the Thessaloniki film festival as a guest of honor, here to present his 5 features to date–a growing oeuvre of uniquely provocative films that owe about as much to cruising flicks, perhaps, as they do to the Marquis De Sade.

Born in the small Catalonian city of Banyoles in Northern Spain, Serra directed his first feature in 2003 at the age of 23. More often than not set in the 17th & 18th centuries, with an eye for the hedonism of the time and painstakingly presented to look as if they were somehow candidly shot then, his work has both the punch of contemporary subversion and the feel of something that’s been around forever.

His latest,...

Regina Spektor took the stage at Late Night to offer an emotional rendition of her track “Loveology.” The singer, accompanied by a strings section, sang the tune as she played a grand piano, giving the track a moody vibe.

The late night appearance comes ahead of Spektor’s Broadway debut this month. The singer will perform a career-spanning live residency over five days, playing June 20th, 21st, 22nd, 25th and 26th at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York. Tickets are currently on sale.

In a statement Spektor said, “I am...

Selection committee appointed / New heads for Panorama and Berlinale Shorts / Outlook onto 70th anniversary February 20–29, 2020Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek

Carlo Chatrian as Artistic Director and Mariette Rissenbeek as Executive Director will officially take office on June 1, 2019. The future director duo have already been in contact with festival sections, initiatives and departments for some time now, learning about workflows and structures, and had the opportunity to gain further insights on location at the festival in February. They started working in their offices at Potsdamer Platz in March and can now present a first look onto the 2020 Berlinale.

“We have different tasks, but the same goal: to successfully lead the festival into the future! We inherit a festival which is not only recognized as one of the biggest in the world but also plays a significant role in the international film industry; we are aware of the huge task we have...

Regina Spektor will make her Broadway debut with a career-spanning live residency. The five-date run is scheduled for June 20th, 21st, 22nd, 25th and 26th at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York, New York.

A ticket pre-sale runs Tuesday, March 26th from 10 a.m. through Thursday, March 28th at 10 p.m. Et. A general on-sale begins Friday, March 29th at 10 a.m. Et.

The singer-songwriter detailed her creative vision for the performances in a statement. “I am so inspired as I plan these five nights on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne,...

Personalien

The multifaceted and indefatigable Catalonian director Albert Serra turns to more contemporary climes with his latest project Personalien, a portrait of an episode from the life of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Starring Lluis Serrat and Xavier Grataos, the film is being produced by Montse Triola, and Fabrizio Ferraro through Andergraun Films. Serra is a well-known auteur on the festival circuit, a director of instant note following the premiere of Quixotic/Honor de Cavelleria in the Directors’ Fortnight, where he returned in 2008 with Birdsong. Notably, Serra won the Golden Leopard in Locarno with 2013’s Story of My Death and screened out-of-competition with his superb The Death of Louis Xiv, which starred Jean-Pierre Leaud.…...

Regina Spektor sings about quietude on new song “Birdsong,” which appears in the latest episode of Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner’s new Amazon series, The Romanoffs.

“Out of the quiet, out of the sunrise, I hear the birdsong give way to silence,” the singer-songwriter coos over a sparse acoustic guitar pattern. “I hear the voices give way to silence/ It looks like fire, but it’s just sunshine/ Waters are rising, forests are burning, hearts always hurt more while they are learning/ Saying goodbye to the ones they have come from,...

Production company launches with investment from BBC Worldwide and Access Entertainment.

Former Film4 head Tessa Ross and ex-Working Title TV chief Juliette Howell have joined forces to launch TV and film production company, House Productions.

The independent outfit launches in partnership with international distributor BBC Worldwide and Access Entertainment – a division of Access Industries, the media, industrial and technology group owned by Us industrialist Len Blavatnik.

House Productions will be based in London with Ross and Howell as joint CEOs, and will collaborate with talent with whom they have previously worked as well as striking up new relationships.

Announcing the new company, Ross said: “Juliette and I are truly excited about what we can achieve together, and with our partners at BBC Worldwide and Access Entertainment.

“We’re going to build a creative and supportive home at House Productions and look forward to growing something unique and long lasting with both new and old collaborators.

Howell added:...

Prince William, Princess Kate and Prince Harry attended a somber memorial to honor the fallen on Friday morning - 100 years after the bloodiest day in British history. The trio traveled to northern France to pay tribute to the 60,000 British soldiers who died in the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916. Red, white and blue confetti fluttered down from a vast war memorial on a hill above a former battlefield and schoolchildren each placed a posy at 600 white gravestones during the moving remembrance ceremony. The reflections on the sacrifices made 100 years ago had begun for the royal trio earlier in the...

Want to go to Hell and back without the, you know, going to Hell part? Daily Dead's Hell and Back DVD contest details are after the jump. Also in this round-up: a teaser trailer for The Harvesters, details on the Netflix series Gypsy, and an update on the release of The Abandoned.

Hell and Back DVD Contest: Prize Details: (5) Winners will receive (1) DVD copy of Hell and Back.

How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Hell and Back Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01 am Est on January 12th. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years of age or older that live in the United States. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

Press Release: "Los Angeles, CA (December 3, 2015) – Freestyle Digital Media announced today that...

Edinburgh: Scottish actor gives talk about 22-year acting career including new role as Jesus in Last Days In The Desert.

Ewan McGregor revealed to an audience at the Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) on Sunday that he would be willing to reprise the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi to tell the story of Stars Wars between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back should Disney ever wish to do so.

The comments came during an on-stage interview in which the Scottish star looked back over the highlights of his career thus far and chose his words carefully on the subject of the forthcoming Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

The actor seemed not to be the most rabid of fanboys and declared: “I’m not a fanatical person.”

Still, he said he was impressed by the trailer - “It looks like [Jj Abrams] he absolutely nailed it” - except for the lightsaber’s updated design.

“I’m excited...

I am sooo proud of our Palm Springs International Film Festival and equally happy that it's happening right in our own backyard! Just this morning, we heard that Eddie Redmayne, who is sweet and fabulous and a great actor to boot, is getting the Desert Palm Achievement Award for the 26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff). He's being honored for his excellent portrayal of Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything."

Redmayne will be joining previous Desert Palm Achievement Award recipients such as Jeff Bridges, Daniel Day-Lewis, Matthew McConaughey, and Sean Penn. And according to the press release, "in the years they were honored, Bridges, Day-Lewis, McConaughey, and Penn went on to win the Academy Award® for Best Actor."

Hhhmmmm, good karma? Premonition? Happenstance? I sure hope so!

Here's the complete press release:

Palm Springs, CA (November 07, 2014) . The 26th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff) will...

This weekend is shaping up to mirror early fall, when specialty distributors packed theaters with new titles. Many of those disappeared quickly, and this weekend could be similar as companies usher in about a dozen limited-release theatrical newcomers. Focus Features’ The Theory Of Everything, however, has amassed a good amount of attention. Directed by Oscar winner James Marsh (Man On Wire), the Stephen Hawking biopic is opening two months after its Toronto debut. Two notable nonfiction titles also join the fray this weekend: Cinema Guild’s Actress, from director Robert Greene, and Zipporah Films’ National Gallery by nonfiction maverick Frederick Wiseman. Both deserve attention as the awards-race heats up. Two years after the theatrical bow of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, the 16th U.S. President is the focus of Amplify’s The Better Angels — though it focuses a very different phase of his life. Distrib Films is opening Italian political...

Eddie Redmayne did such a convincing job of portraying Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything," the astrophysicist said he thought he was watching himself at some moments in the biopic, which opens Friday. The actor, whose previous films include "Les Miserables" and "My Week With Marilyn," worked with a movement coach to be able to endure long periods of time emulating Hawking's hunched-over posture, a result of his crippling motor neuron disease.

Redmayne also explained why he was "a big ball of tension" on set and why he's never seen good pal (and likely Oscar competition) Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Hawking from 2004.

Moviefone: You did so much research for this, you carried around a sort of Bible on set.

Redmayne: I did all the reading I could so I could throw myself into all this: I watched every video of Stephen Hawking I could find. I read...

Sebastian Faulks is to write a new drama for the BBC.

Based on his 2001 novel On Green Dolphin Street, the 90-minute screenplay will be Faulks's first for television.

The plot is described as an "epic love story" set in Washington, DC in the 1960s amidst the backdrop of the Kennedy / Nixon campaign trail.

Broadcast reports that the novelist is working with Rachel Wagstaff on the project from Eleventh Hour Films. The two previously collaborated on the stage version of Birdsong.

Faulks said: "[Screenplays are] a very different form from the novel and a very challenging one.

"Eleventh Hour Films have the right mixture of experience and enthusiasm to bring this project to a happy conclusion."...

New sales exec was most recently at French broadcaster TF1.

Sara May has joined Embankment Films to steer activities in European sales, co-productions and acquisitions.

She was most recently evp of acquisitions and co-productions at TF1, where she spent nearly 10 years and acquired distribution rights for France as well as sourcing, developing and packaging for the international sales division.

Prior to TF1, Sara held positions at Europacorp as head of acquisitions and M6 as program supervisor for English-language TV series.

Founding partner Tim Haslam said: “Based in Paris and Los Angeles, Sara is a focal point for Embankment.

“Sara extends our reach throughout the business primarily in the Us and Europe, further developing producer, agent and talent relationships, working closely with London-based acquisition and marketing executive Max Pirkis.

“Sara’s appointment completes a dynamic international and multi-lingual acquisitions and sales team including Barcelona-born Maite Villarino (Hispanic territories) and Hong-Kong born Sharon Lee (Asian territories).

“Like my partner...

London – Working Title Films' 10-year veteran Kate Fasulo is exiting to join British production banner Good Films as head of production. Fasulo will oversee a six-feature slate, reporting directly to Good Films founder Miriam Segal. In her previous role with Working Title, Fasulo was actively involved in the production of films like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Anna Karenina, Birdsong and Les Miserables. Story: Working Title's Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner to Be Honored at Hamptons Fest She joins Good Films having most recently completed work on Edgar Wright's The World's End, Richard Curtis' rom-com About Time and Hossein

read more...

Good Films has appointed Working Title executive Kate Fasulo as head of production.

Fasulo, who had worked at Working Title for ten years, will oversee Good Films’ six-feature slate, reporting to company founder and managing director Miriam Segal.

Fasulo was a production supervisor on a string of Working Title hits including Senna, Paul, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Anna Karenina and Les Miserables and was production executive on BBC miniseries Birdsong.

Segal said: “Having expertly overseen a number of first-class projects throughout the last few years, Kate’s experience, vision, and ability make her the perfect person to entrust with the responsibility of managing production as we take the crucial next steps in the Good Films journey.”

Good Films’ slate of properties includes James Patterson and Liza Markland’s The Postcard Killers, Peter Godwin’s When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, Tena Stivicic’s Invisible, Robert Mazur’s The Infiltrator, Siri Hustvedt’s What I Loved and [link...

Good Films has appointed Working Title executive Kate Fasulo as head of production.

Fasulo, who had worked at Working Title for ten years, will oversee Good Films’ six-feature slate, reporting to company founder and managing director Miriam Segal.

Fasulo was a production supervisor on a string of Working Title hits including Senna, Paul, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Anna Karenina and Les Miserables and was production executive on BBC miniseries Birdsong.

Segal said: “Having expertly overseen a number of first-class projects throughout the last few years, Kate’s experience, vision, and ability make her the perfect person to entrust with the responsibility of managing production as we take the crucial next steps in the Good Films journey.”

Good Films’ slate of properties includes James Patterson and Liza Markland’s The Postcard Killers, Peter Godwin’s When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, Tena Stivicic’s Invisible, Robert Mazur’s The Infiltrator, Siri Hustvedt’s What I Loved and [link...

Handsome, soulful and sensitive, George MacKay – one of the stars of the Proclaimers musical Sunshine on Leith – has all the makings of a leading man. And he's only 21

Every actor knows the perils of overexposure. Flavour of the month is fine; a glut is not so good. At the 2005 Oscars, Chris Rock ribbed Jude Law about his roles "in every movie I have seen in the last four years". Last year, Jessica Chastain pre-empted the backlash, calling herself "the unknown everyone's already sick of". George MacKay is not yet in danger of wearing out his welcome. But it would take a dedicated enthusiast indeed to catch all of his movies that open in the UK today.

In two of them, the soft-spoken Londoner offers two distinct Scottish accents: as a former squaddie in the Proclaimers musical Sunshine on Leith, and as the tortured survivor of a fishing accident in low-budget drama For Those in Peril.

New Tricks

Kieran Kinsella

Costume drama lovers are in for a treat as Acorn Media are set to release the 2007 multi-national production of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace on DVD on 24 September. Originally broadcast in France and Belguim, the production has never aired in the U.S. although it was available on Acorn’s streaming service earlier this summer. While there have been many adaptations of this Russian classic, few if any can boast a cast that includes such luminaries as Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange), Clemence Poesy (Birdsong) and Brenda Blethyn (Vera). The director, Austrian film-maker Robert Dornhelm is no slouch either, having been been behind the lens for hits including the Oscar nominated The Children of Theatre Street.

War and Peace is so long and so impressive that it makes “epics” such as Dr Zhivago look like short children’s stories. It features a colorful cast of...

Burbank, Calif. (September 23, 2013)—Walt Disney Pictures announced today that principal photography has begun at Pinewood Studios in London, on Cinderella, Disney’s first-ever live action feature inspired by the classic fairy tale.

Directed by Academy Award®-nominee Kenneth Branagh (Jack Ryan, Thor), the film stars Lily James (Downton Abbey, Wrath of the Titans) in the title role, Richard Madden (Game of Thrones, Birdsong) as the Prince, Oscar®-winner Cate Blanchett (The Aviator) as the infamous stepmother Lady Tremaine, and Academy Award-nominee Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech, Alice in Wonderland) as the Fairy Godmother. Holliday Grainger (Great Expectations, Anna Karenina) and Sophie McShera (Downton Abbey, Waterloo Road) play Ella’s stepsisters Anastasia and Drisella, respectively. Stellan Skarsgård (The Avengers, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Nonso Anozie (Game of Thrones, The Grey) play the Arch Grand Duke and the Prince’s loyal friend, the Captain. Tony® Award-winner Derek Jacobi portrays the King.

With Malificent and Saving Mr. Banks, Disney are returning to the well, bringing new versions of their classics to a new audience. While those two are offering a new spin on their respective stories, director Kenneth Branagh seems to going a bit more traditional with Cinderrella, Disney's first-live action version of the classic fairy tale. Filming has become on the movie, with Lily James, subject of the first image from the film, in the lead role, and also starring Cate Blanchett, Derek Jacobi, Stellan Skarsgard, and Helena Bonham Carter. Full press release below: Walt Disney Pictures announced today that principal photography has begun at Pinewood Studios in London, on “Cinderella,” Disney’s first-ever live action feature inspired by the classic fairy tale. Directed by Academy Award®-nominee Kenneth Branagh (“Jack Ryan,” “Thor”), the film stars Lily James (“Downton Abbey,” “Wrath of the Titans”) in the title role, Richard Madden (“Game of Thrones,...

Meh. Pass. Not my cup of tea but it’s still news. Walt Disney Pictures announced today that principal photography has begun at Pinewood Studios in London, on Cinderella, Disney’s first-ever live action feature inspired by the classic fairy tale. Check out the still below. Aw. How “Disney.” Bendito.

Disney’S Live Action “Cinderella”

Begins Principal Photography In London

Starring Lily James, Richard Madden, Academy Award®-winner Cate Blanchett and Oscar®-nominee Helena Bonham Carter and Directed by Academy Award®-nominee Kenneth Branagh

Burbank, Calif. (September 23, 2013)—Walt Disney Pictures announced today that principal photography has begun at Pinewood Studios in London, on “Cinderella,” Disney’s first-ever live action feature inspired by the classic fairy tale.

Directed by Academy Award®-nominee Kenneth Branagh (“Jack Ryan,” “Thor”), the film stars Lily James (“Downton Abbey,” “Wrath of the Titans”) in the title role, Richard Madden (“Game of Thrones,” “Birdsong”) as the Prince,...

Disney announced today that production on their live action version of Cinderella has officially begun in London, and have dropped this first look image from the film to boot. Come inside to check out the full press release with the current, and updated, cast list!

Walt Disney Pictures announced today that principal photography has begun at Pinewood Studios in London, on “Cinderella,” Disney’s first-ever live action feature inspired by the classic fairy tale.

Directed by Academy Award®-nominee Kenneth Branagh (“Jack Ryan,” “Thor”), the film stars Lily James (“Downton Abbey,” “Wrath of the Titans”) in the title role, Richard Madden (“Game of Thrones,” “Birdsong”) as the Prince, Oscar®-winner Cate Blanchett (“The Aviator”) as the infamous stepmother Lady Tremaine, and Academy Award-nominee Helena Bonham Carter (“The King’s Speech,” “Alice in Wonderland”) as the Fairy Godmother. Holliday Grainger (“Great Expectations,” “Anna Karenina”) and Sophie McShera (“Downton Abbey,” “Waterloo Road...

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Walt Disney Pictures has announced that principal photography has begun at Pinewood Studios in London, on Cinderella, Disney’s first-ever live action feature inspired by the classic fairy tale. The timeless story of Cinderella dates back to 1697 when first created by Charles Perrault, although it truly came to life for millions all over the world in 1950 with Walt Disney’s celebrated animated feature.

Directed by Academy Award-nominee Kenneth Branagh (“Jack Ryan,” “Thor”), the film stars Lily James (“Downton Abbey,” “Wrath of the Titans”) in the title role, Richard Madden (“Game of Thrones,” “Birdsong”) as the Prince, Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett (“The Aviator”) as the infamous stepmother Lady Tremaine, and Academy Award-nominee Helena Bonham Carter (“The King’s Speech,” “Alice in Wonderland”) as the Fairy Godmother.

Director Kenneth Branagh says: “It is impossible to think of Cinderella without thinking of Disney and the timeless images we’ve all grown up watching.

Walt Disney Pictures has announced that director Kenneth Branagh has begun shooting their live-action adaptation of Cinderella at Pinewood Studios in London. They've also released the first image from the film featuring Lily James (Downton Abbey) in the title role. There's no doubt that Branagh is going to do some great things with this film. This is the official synopsis:

The story of Cinderella follows the fortunes of young Ella whose merchant father remarries following the tragic death of her mother. Keen to support her loving father, Ella welcomes her new stepmother Lady Tremaine and her daughters Anastasia and Drisella into the family home. But, when Ella's father suddenly and unexpectedly passes away, she finds herself at the mercy of a jealous and cruel new family. Finally relegated to nothing more than a servant girl covered in ashes, and spitefully renamed Cinderella, Ella could easily begin to lose hope. Yet,...

Principal photography has begun on Kenneth Branagh's live-action version of Cinderella, and Disney has provided a press release containing the first image and official synopsis. For the most part, it's the story we all know: nice girl, treated badly by step-mothers and step-sisters, eventually gets to a happily ever after with the prince. Looking at the synopsis, there are two big changes: she meets the prince in the woods one day without knowing he's the prince, and "a kindly beggar woman" is probably the fairy godmother considering she's "armed with a pumpkin and a few mice." Because if a beggar woman comes to you with a pumpkin and some mice, she's clearly going to make your dreams come true. Hit the jump for the image and the press release. The film stars Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Richard Madden, Sophie McShera, Holliday Granger, Nonso Anozie, Derek Jacobi,...

Directed by Academy Award-nominee Kenneth Branagh (Jack Ryan, Thor), the film stars Lily James ("Downton Abbey," Wrath of the Titans) in the title role, Richard Madden ("Game of Thrones," Birdsong) as the Prince, Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett (The Aviator) as the infamous stepmother Lady Tremaine, and Academy Award-nominee Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech, Alice in Wonderland) as the Fairy Godmother. Holliday Grainger (Great Expectations, Anna Karenina) and Sophie McShera ("Downton Abbey," "Waterloo Road") play Ella's stepsisters Anastasia and Drisella, respectively. Stellan Skarsgård (The Avengers, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Nonso Anozie ("Game of Thrones," The Grey) play the Arch Grand Duke and the Prince's loyal friend, the Captain. Tony® Award-winner Derek Jacobi portrays the King. Cinderella is produced by Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class, Elysium), Allison Shearmur (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), David Barron (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Jack Ryan), from a screenplay by Chris Weitz...