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Steve Buscemi has joined the high-flying cast of Wild Horse Nine, a Searchlight feature being directed by Martin McDonagh. It is the filmmaker’s first feature since his acclaimed The Banshees of Inisherin.

Sam Rockwell, who starred in McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, as well as John Malkovich and Parker Posey are already in the saddle for the dark comedic drama that begins shooting later this month in Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island.

Plot and character details are being kept under wraps, but it is extremely rare that a production, let alone an American or British one, shoots on the island, which lies 3,700 kilometers off the coast of Chile and is one of the most remote, inhabited islands on Earth. It is also one of the rare areas not overrun by modern conveniences, as it is run by the Rapa Nui National Park.

Buscemi is stepping...

"Can we push back this deadline that you've set?" Dark Sky Films has revealed an official trailer for indie thriller Lifeline, from director Feras Alfuqaha. Yet another hotline thriller focusing on a person answering a phone - this night he receives an odd, paranormal call. There have been a few of these recently - including The Guilty with Jake Gyllenhaal or Tessa Thompson's The Listener. In Lifeline, a suicide hotline operator gets a late-night call from someone who claims to be him, knowing private details only he would know, and threatening to end his life in an hour. The operator must race against time to stop "himself" from suicide. Josh Stewart stars as Steven Thomas, along with August Maturo, Charlene Amoia, Jocelyn Ayanna, Nicole Santiago, Jill Awbrey, & Brecken Merrill. This also reminds me of the film Frequency (2000) about a father and son connecting across time through the phone. Lifeline...

The Beauty, Ryan Murphy's next project at FX, has further fleshed out its cast with another notable name added to the call sheet. BAFTA-nominated actress Rebecca Hall, who's currently playing the role of Claire in the BBC TV series, The Listener, is the latest high-profile talent to be added to the project. Hall's role in the series is not known as much about the series is still shrouded in secrecy. However, Variety reveals that production has begun on the series, so character and plot details should make it to the fore soon enough. Hall joins a stacked cast list that currently includes Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher, Anthony Ramos, and Jeremy Pope.

Back in September, it was announced that Evan Peters (Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story), Anthony Ramos (Twisters), Ashton Kutcher (That ’70s Show), and Jeremy Pope (Hollywood) are on board to star in The Beauty, the latest show that American Horror Story and Monster co-creator Ryan Murphy has in the works at FX. Now, Variety has broken the news that Rebecca Hall of Godzilla x Kong: New Empire has also joined the cast.

Filming on The Beauty is already underway. FX has given the show an 11 episode order. While the series is based on the Image Comics series of the same name by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley, plot and character details are being kept under wraps. So for now, we can only go by the description of the comic book series to get an idea of what the show is going to be like: Modern society is obsessed with outward beauty.

"The hum is not your enemy!" Or is it? BBC has revealed the trailer for a mystery thriller series called The Listeners, which will be streaking in the UK later this month. No US date is set yet - hopefully soon. Not to be confused with the mystery thriller movie called The Watchers from this summer or Steve Buscemi's film The Listener. The Listeners tells the story of Claire, a teacher, who begins to hear a low humming sound and finds support from others who can hear it. What is this sound? Where is it coming from? Even doctors have no idea. BBC describes it as "enigmatic, provocative, and haunting" and says it will explore "the seduction of the wild & unknowable, the human search for the transcendent, the rise of conspiracy culture in the West, and the desire for community & connection in our increasingly polarised times." Starring Rebecca Hall as Claire,...

Exclusive: Daveed Diggs (Nickel Boys), Mason Gooding (Scream), Chase Sui Wonders (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Johnny Knoxville (Jackass), and stand-up comedian and actress Margaret Cho (All That We Love) will round out the cast of I Want Your Sex, Gregg Araki’s Black Bear thriller starring Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman and Charli Xcx, which has wrapped production in Los Angeles.

Details as to the roles to be played by the quintet are under wraps. A provocative film blithely exploring desire, domination, and fantasy, I Want Your Sex asks, how far is too far? When fresh-faced Elliot (Hoffman) lands an exciting job for renowned artist, icon and provocateur Erika Tracy (Wilde), his fantasies come true as Erika taps him to become her sexual muse. But Elliot soon finds himself out of his depth as Erika takes him on a journey more profound than he ever could have imagined, into a world of sex,...

People don’t always like to share their emotional issues because they are misjudged as weak or even made fun of by their peers. Being vulnerable around others is so hard, right? I see this in the film The Listener. Beth, a helpline counselor, takes calls throughout the night from people who are scared, lonely, humiliated, or even on the brink of suicide. They just want someone to validate their feelings and stop them. They just need to know someone is there for them, listening. That can feel like such a relief, right? But we also see Beth’s own pain. She hides so many feelings from the world. Can Beth help them all, or even herself? She’s there to listen to their pain, but she can’t save everyone, right? Humans are hard to understand, and sometimes being misunderstood can influence them to make some bad decisions in life.

It’s always fascinating when a movie with a top star, and directed by another star, goes as far under the radar as Steve Buscemi‘s “The Listener,” starring Tessa Thompson, has.

But in the case of this particularly gentle movie — available on VOD now for $6.99 — maybe that’s part of its DNA. Like the mental health helpline operator Thompson plays, this is a movie that’s there if you need it: Quiet, thoughtful, and totally shunning the kind of splashiness that most movies are thought to require these days to stand out.

“The Listener” premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2022, where it was the closing night film of the Venice Days sidebar. On April 13, it was the closing night film of the Sarasota Film Festival, out of competition — in this over 18-month festival journey, it’s also made stops at the festivals in Vienna, Thessaloniki, Stockholm, The Hague,...

We’ll be seeing a new face in Season 2 of Netflix’s Wednesday. Steve Buscemi has joined the cast of the Jenna Ortega-led series in an undisclosed role, sources confirm to Deadline.

The coming-of-age comedy is from Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar and directed/EPed by Tim Burton. Other EPs are Steve Stark (Toluca Pictures), Andrew Mittman (1.21 Entertainment), Kevin Miserocchi (Tee and Charles Addams Foundation), Kayla Alpert, Jonathan Glickman (Glickmania), Gail Berman, Tommy Harper, and Kevin Lafferty.

The Addams Family spinoff is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ (Ortega) years as a student at Nevermore Academy. That’s where she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.

Season 2 details are being kept under wraps.

“Goodnight, sweet prince.”

Every fan of “The Big Lebowski” knows that line: The final eulogy for Steve Buscemi’s character, Donny, who loved bowling and exploring the beaches of Southern California as a surfer from La Jolla to Leo Carillo, and on up to Pismo.

But Donny is just one of the many dead characters in Buscemi’s filmography. In a wide-ranging Q&a with Rolling Stone film critic David Fear at the Sarasota Film Festival, Buscemi talked about the particularly high body count in his filmography.

“I learned to try to get parts where your character doesn’t get killed off too early in the film, and to get parts where your character is actually important to the story. Because it’s so easy to get cut out of films. I was cut out of three films in the space of a year. One by Stephen Frears, one by Gus Van Sant,...

The new Hulu series Under the Bridge is infuriating. That’s not to say the series is not well done or crafted—in fact, far from it. This is bold storytelling that challenges the viewer to rethink their misconceptions. The result is appointment-viewing television that, by the end of the series, showcases some uncommonly powerful performances.

No, it’s infuriating because of what transpires from “actual” events. It’s tragic and horrific, and words cannot adequately describe the atrocities that occurred in the small, picturesque seaside town in British Columbia, Alberta, Canada. Under the Bridge is where the key players wish the story stayed, never seeing the light of day.

Under the Bridge follows the heartbreaking story of Reena Virk (newcomer Vritika Gupta), a 14-year-old high school student in Saanich. Born in a proud East Indian and devout Jehovah’s Witness family, Reena is rebelling against her tight-knit community. Reena...

Emily Kassie and Julian Brave NoiseCat’s documentary “Sugarcane” garnered the top nonfiction honor at the 26th annual Sarasota Film Festival. About the abuse and death of Indigenous children at a Canadian-based Indian Residential School, the docu premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival (Sff), where it picked up the U.S. documentary directing kudo. In February, National Geographic Documentary Films acquired the film.

The doc feature jury made up of producer Wren Arthur, Indiewire’s Christian Blauvelt, NPR’s Eric Deggans, and Doc NYC artistic director Jaie Laplante said in a joint statement that they selected the film for “bravely tackling the legacy of trauma from the abuse of First Nations students at the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in British Columbia. The Catholic Church-run school closed decades ago, but the horrors there are still deeply felt by generations across an entire community. The filmmakers do not lose sight...

Following a gala closing night celebration featuring Steve Buscemi and his film “The Listener,” the 2024 Sarasota Film Festival has announced its awards — with several prominent indies taking the top prizes. This 26th edition of the Florida festival celebrating independent film gave the Narrative Feature Jury Prize to Josh Margolin’s Sundance breakout “Thelma,” starring June Squibb and the late Richard Roundtree. “Sugarcane” won the Documentary Feature Jury Prize.

Speaking for the narrative feature jury, filmmaker Alex Hedison, in awarding the prize to “Thelma,” said the group found the movie to celebrate “what Hollywood cinema so infrequently does: age. The extraordinary performances by June Squib and Richard Roundtree are at the center of ‘Thelma,’ surrounded by an excellent supporting cast who serve as a surrogate for the audience in reminding them of the significance of living their best lives with the kind of action and adventure life affords us if we...

The Listener has had a long and winding journey to its late March 2024 release. The movie, opening in theaters and available on video-on-demand tomorrow, is genuinely moving. Much of that credit should go to the director and actor, who seem in sync in tone and highlight an exploration of compassion and empathy.

Tessa Thompson delivers a terrific performance in The Listener, taking the viewer on a journey that’s fulfilling. Director Steve Buscemi coaxes out a cinematic experience that seems to aim to build a therapeutic rapport with its audience. This results in a “bottle” film with only one cast member, whom you can’t pull your eyes away from.

Tessa Thompson in The Listener (2022) | Image via Vertical Entertainment

Also Read: Thor’s Tessa Thompson Reacts To Potential Captain Marvel & Valkyrie Romance

The Listener’s Synopsis and Review

Tessa Thompson stars as Beth, a woman who works the night shift...

Elliot Page came to the Junos Awards on Sunday night to denounce a rollback of LGBTQ2+ rights after the Umbrella Academy star came out as transgender and nonbinary at the end of 2020.

“We are at a time in history where the rights of LGBTQ2+ people are being revoked, restricted and eliminated throughout the world, and the effects are devastating,” Page said when citing the work by the Tegan and Sara Foundation to support and build social change for trans and queer youth at the Junos in his hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“If the world was not so hostile to LGBTQ2+ people, we would see ourselves purely as musicians,” Sara Quin, one half of the Canadian indie pop musicians Tegan and Sara, told the Juno audience. She called out the province of Alberta for recently proposing to restrict health care for transgender youth, including halting access to hormone therapy for children aged 15 and under.

The BBC has unveiled its biggest drama slate in years featuring a TV version of James Graham play Dear England starring Joseph Fiennes from The Crown producer Left Bank, Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood’s debut writing project and a Rebecca Hall-starrer from Poor Things maker Element.

Unveiled at a glitz London do for press and producers, the 12-strong roster, which features some of Britain’s best and brightest talents, is the first from new Drama Director Lindsay Salt, who took over from A24’s Piers Wenger 18 months ago.

Scroll down for the full slate below, which features an adaptation of Sherwood creator Graham’s Dear England about the England soccer manager Gareth Southgate – the play of which has taken London by storm and recently transferred to the West End. Fiennes (The Handmaid’s Tale) will reprise his role as Southgate and Graham will pen the TV version, which...

The Wheel of Time is leaping to feature film terrain with a trilogy of films exploring the origins of Robert Jordan’s bestselling book series. Getting behind the camera for the first chapter is Kari Skogland, who directed Marvel Studios’ Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Solider. Skogland directs the fantasy film from a script by Zack Stentz.

According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, the first film in The Wheel of Time trilogy is “set several millennia before the timeline of the books; the Age of Legends will chart the emergence of “the Dark One.” when the world descended into darkness and war. The film will delve into the corrosive nature of power and pride, as seen through the tragic tales of the Forsaken – once honored leaders who fell victim to the Dark One’s seduction, each personifying distinct elements of human weakness and ambition. The story will also...

The upcoming Woodstock Film Festival will kick off with Chloe Domont’s “Fair Play” and present a lifetime achievement award to James Ivory.

The 24th edition of the fest, which runs from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1 in New York’s Hudson Valley, about 100 miles north of Manhattan, features a lineup of world, U.S. and New York premieres of feature films directed by filmmakers ranging from Steve Buscemi (“The Listener”) and Wim Wenders (“Anselm”) to Roger Ross Williams (“Stamped From the Beginning”).

Opening night “Fair Play,” an erotic thriller about a power-hungry couple contending for power at a cutthroat financial firm, was acquired by Netflix for $20 million after debuting at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Wff will be held at venues in Woodstock, Rosendale and Saugerties, all of which are Hudson Valley towns where many Academy members own homes, making the fest an award season campaign hotspot.

Additional narrative feature...

Where to Watch Powered by Captain Marie Batel has a busy schedule as captain of the USS Cayuga but manages to find time for her on-again-off-again relationship with Captain Christopher Pike. She serves in the Judge Advocate's Office for Starfleet and was involved in arresting Number One and serving as the prosecutor during her trial. Unfortunately, Captain Pike's future has already been laid out, indicating that his relationship with Captain Batel is destined to be short-lived due to his tragic fate revealed in "The Menagerie."

Melanie Scrofano's Captain Marie Batel has become a welcome presence whenever she pops up in an episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Since her introduction in Strange New Worlds' pilot episode, Captain Batel has been involved in an on-again-off-again relationship with Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). When Pike took a break from Starfleet after the events of Star Trek: Discovery season 2, he...

One of the most important aspects of good mental health is being able to understand yourself and the things that would contribute to your well-being. Some people find difficulty in self-soothing when it comes to things like anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Others find it challenging to speak up even to those close to them because that means there’s a recognition of a problem, and perhaps more frightening, a realization that they can’t face it alone. For those that fall into the latter category, hotlines often serve as a means to release their problems because they can talk through them with a stranger. It’s often unheard of to understand what those on the other end of the call go through, which is why Steve Buscemi’s feature, The Listener, is an interesting watch.

Tessa Thompson stars as Beth, the helpline volunteer, who fields phone calls every night from...

Life is, thankfully for us, full of second chances. Humans are forever figuring out how to get it right, but there’s no denying that the universe finds a way to be on our side when our hearts are in the right place. There lies the emotional core of Jeff Malmberg and Morgan Neville’s new Netflix documentary “The Saint of Second Chances.”

The film is a mirror for those of us who have ever had to pick up the pieces after massive failure, and with life being the way it is, it isn’t going to be very hard for this film to find people who develop a cathartic connection to it. “The Saint of Second Chances” is a once-in-a-lifetime documentary for sports that meshes the ordinary with the extraordinary in a way that only the messy hands of time can. And the best part about it? You don...

Ambition intrigues us. Since ancient Greek and Roman times we have watched eagerly as men have been ensnared—and later ruined—by it. People are now perhaps closer to ambition than ever before in the age of capitalism’s do-or-die pact with humanity, but that also means we’re arguably more intimately familiar with the subsequent downfall.

In Roxane Helberg’s directorial debut “Cold Copy,” we’re introduced to that undoing through the lens of hard-hitting journalism, a field where ambition is practically mounted on every desk name-plate. The film’s take on the tensions that lie in launching a career in journalism and doing whatever you can to keep it is a worthy one, if only off the back of the film’s strong leads, Bel Powley and Tracee Ellis Ross.

“Cold Copy” follows Powley’s Mia, a journalism student who will do whatever it takes to curry the...

Looking over actor-director Steve Buscemi’s film directorial work, the theme of loneliness and the hunger for connection jumps out of nearly all of them. His latest feature, “The Listener,” feels closer to his 2005 feature “Lonesome Jim,” itself a story about a depressed man trying to imbue meaning in his life by connecting with someone else.

In the case of “The Listener,” though, that connection is more anonymous, reminding us of the bad early days of the pandemic when we were so afraid that we might never interact with another human that any type of communication, even through the phone, felt like a lifeline.

But what happens when your job is to take on everyone else’s emotional energy? Where does that leave you when you need an outlet but you can only project positivity and reassurance? These are the questions at the center of “The Listener.”

Also Read:

Tessa Thompson...

The Tribeca Festival brings its unusual brand of film, music, TV, games, reunions and talks, audio and immersive storytelling to New York City this week, a festival for the city and the latest stop for the film community after a short post-Cannes break. Today’s opening may face unexpected headwinds as New York suffers a sudden, sharp deterioration of air quality due to wildfires in Canada.

The fest, which runs June 7-18, kicks off Wednesday with Kiss the Future, a documentary by Nenad Cicin-Sain produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Sarah Anthony. It closes with a 30th anniversary screening of A Bronx Tale, produced by and starring, respectively, Tribeca co-founders Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro. Just before the fest kickoff, NYC Mayor Eric Adams — who is attending opening night — will make an arts- and culture-related announcement with the actor.

The festival yanked the word “Film” from its title...

For more than 20 years, the Tribeca Festival has given up-and-coming directors a star-studded New York City showcase. This year, though, the fest is offering well-known actors a chance to show up as directors. Michael Shannon, David Duchovny, Chelsea Peretti, Jennifer Esposito, John Slattery, and partners Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater all directed movies that will world premiere there, with Rabe and Linklater, Shannon, Peretti and Esposito making their feature directorial debuts.

In addition to those selections, Tribeca will feature the North American and New York premieres, respectively, of Steve Buscemi’s The Listener, which had its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, and Randall Park’s Shortcomings, which debuted at Sundance. And the festival will close with a 30th anniversary screening of A Bronx Tale, the directorial debut of Tribeca co-founder Robert De Niro.

While Tribeca didn’t set out to showcase all these actor-directed films, festival director and...

Steve Buscemi's latest directorial feature, The Listener, will make its North American premiere at this month's Tribeca Film Festival. The Listener follows Beth (Tessa Thompson), a helpline volunteer, through one night of work in her Los Angeles apartment where she takes phone calls from callers struggling with different problems and anxieties. While Thompson is the only actress shown on-screen through the film's 96 minutes run, audiences will hear her interactions with several callers, voiced by actors including Rebecca Hall, Jamie Hector, Margaret Cho, and Alia Shawkat.

In a first-look clip, which you can watch below, Beth is questioned by a caller (voiced by Hall) about the difficulties she faces as a helpline volunteer. Beth shares that the most challenging part is after the caller hangs up when she is left to wonder if she upset or failed them.

The Listener is penned by Alessandro Camon, who earned an Academy Award...

Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer with Anne-Katrin Titze: “There’s a first film from Germany, which I think is brilliant.”

In the first instalment with Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer we discuss Christian Petzold’s Afire; Frédéric Tcheng’s Invisible Beauty (on Bethann Hardison); Ethan Berger’s The Line (on the recommendation of Robert Eggers’ The Witch producer Jay Van Hoy); Michael Shannon’s Eric Larue; David Duchovny’s Bucky F*cking Dent; John Slattery’s Maggie Moore(s); Steve Buscemi’s The Listener; Anna Roller’s Dead Girls Dancing; Maria Fredriksson’s The Gullspáng Miracle; Michael Selditch’s Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Fields, and Stephen Kijak’s Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed.

Christian Petzold’s Afire, starring Paula Beer, Enno Trebs, Langston Uibel, and Thomas Schubert

The 21st edition of...

Location scouting and filming on service productions were already cooling down in Canada over the past few weeks in anticipation of the WGA strike on May 1. And while those projects with completed scripts are trudging forward, one “substantial” unnamed series being shot in Toronto has already shut down, according to the city.

It’s just the start of what could be a big financial loss for the Ontario industry, where Ontario Creates reveals 419 productions in 2022 — including TV series like “The Boys” and films like “Women Talking” — contributed a record-breaking $3.15 billion to the economy.

In B.C., where many service productions have wrapped for the season and writers’ rooms would typically begin assembling over the next few weeks, people are preparing for unforeseen delays. A prolonged strike will inevitably not only affect those who have been steadily employed for years, but also the provincial economy, which drew $3.6 billion from the film industry last year,...

The 2023 Tribeca Festival feature film lineup has been unveiled.

This year’s festival takes place June 7 — 18 and includes a range of feature narrative, documentary, and animated films. The 2023 Tribeca Festival launches 109 feature films from 127 filmmakers across 36 countries, with 93 world premieres, one international premiere, eight North American premieres, one U.S. premiere, and six New York premieres.

There are 43 first-time directors and 29 directors returning to Tribeca with their latest projects. A total of 41 percent of all feature films are directed by women and, for the first time, more than half of competition feature films are directed by women at 68 percent. Additionally, 36 percent of feature films are directed by Bipoc filmmakers, including two Indigenous filmmakers.

This season, it’s all about the actor-director, with films from a slew of A-list stars behind the camera. Highlights include the world premieres of Chelsea Peretti’s meta-comedy “First Time Female Director” and John Slattery’s...

The 2023 Tribeca Festival has revealed its feature narrative, documentary and animated film lineups.

The selection consists of a number of actor-directed titles, including the world premieres of David Duchovny’s Bucky F*cking Dent, Michael Shannon’s Eric Larue, Chelsea Peretti’s First Time Female Director, John Slattery’s Maggie Moore(s), Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater’s Downtown Owl and Jennifer Esposito’s First Kill; the North American premiere of Steve Buscemi’s The Listener; and New York premiere of Randall Park’s Shortcomings.

The documentary lineup features films about Stan Lee, Biz Markie and Dan Rather, with a conversation with Rather and director Frank Marshall following the world premiere of the Rather documentary. The Rather talk is just one of the live events set to take place following screenings, which also include a performance from Gloria Gaynor after the world premiere of Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive, a...

The 22nd edition of the Tribeca Festival unveiled a 2023 lineup with a record number of female helmers and heavy on films directed by actors like Chelsea Peretti’s First Time Female Director, John Slattery thriller Maggie Moore(s) with Tina Fey and Jon Hamm, David Duchovny’s Bucky F*cking Dent and Steve Buscemi’s The Listener.

Marvel also screens its first original documentary, Stan Lee by David Gelb, as the fest unspools June 7-18 in New York City. Also making an appearance: Downtown Owl by Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater, and Eric Larue by Michael Shannon.

In all, 109 feature, narrative, documentary and animated films from 127 directors across 36 countries will showcase emerging and household names.

Tribeca is expanding its Midnight offering this year, and will also present its second annual Human/Nature award for environmental storytelling to world-premiering Common Ground by Rebecca and Josh Tickell.

Related music and live events...

If Hollywood writers go on strike — a possibility as we close in on the May 1 deadline without a new deal between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — the impact will be felt far beyond New York and Los Angeles. Around the world, producers and distribution companies, not to mention non-wga affiliated writers, are closely watching the ongoing negotiations, with an expectation that a WGA walkout could mean a boost in demand for new international content.

“As with previous WGA strikes, we’d expect there will be an increased demand for content from outside the U.S., particularly from English-speaking countries like the U.K. and Australia,” says Martin Moszkowicz and Oliver Berben of German mini-major Constantin Film, producers of the English-language Resident Evil horror franchise as well as German films and series including We Children From Bahnhof Zoo, which streams on Amazon,...

When “Creed” star Michael B. Jordan signed on to make his feature directorial debut with the third film in the successful franchise, the actor-turned-director already had one major supporter in his corner: long-time co-star Tessa Thompson. As the film arrives in theaters this week, Thompson has nothing but praise for Jordan, and her admiration for his directing style just might hint at what she hopes to bring behind the camera, as she readies to add “director” to her resume as well.

“He did it well!,” Thompson said in a recent interview with IndieWire when asked what it was like to see Jordan directing.

And Thompson, who has starred in films of every stripe — from massive Marvel Cinematic Universe features to smaller indies like “Passing” and “Little Woods” — knows the difference between a good director and a bad one, a happy set and a stressed one. “I know that this is a business where,...

Exclusive: UTA has signed award-winning actor, director, writer and producer Steve Buscemi and his Olive Productions banner for representation in all areas.

Buscemi currently co-stars opposite Daniel Radcliffe in the TBS anthology comedy series Miracle Workers that’s executive produced by Lorne Michaels. He starred in the HBO drama, Boardwalk Empire, which earned him a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy nominations.

He was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy for his role as Tony Blundetto in season five of The Sopranos and was nominated for Guest Actor Emmy nominations for his appearances on NBC’s 30 Rock and IFC’s Portlandia.

Some of his film credits include Martin Scorsese’s New York Stories; Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train for which he received an IFP Spirit Award Nomination; Alexandre Rockwell’s Sundance Film Festival Jury Award-winner In the Soup; Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island...

Alessandro Camon is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter ( The Messenger), playwright (Time Alone) and former Head of Production at Pressman Films. His production credits with Pressman include American Psycho, Thank You For Smoking, The Cooler, Bad Lieutenant: New Orleans and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. He recently wrote the Steve Buscemi-directed Tessa Thompson-starrer The Listener, and the play Scintilla, which opens in Los Angeles in April.

Ed Pressman was sui generis.

He was a rebel with a bowtie. He was a shy, soft-spoken man with a bold vision and relentless drive.

He was an original thinker, even an eccentric, sometimes a contrarian, always a dreamer.

He was always unafraid to embrace a new idea, a difficult project, an untested filmmaker with great ambition and little experience.

Related Story Edward R. Pressman Dies: Prolific ‘Wall Street’, ‘American Psycho’ & ‘Badlands’ Producer Was 79 Related Story Ben Kingsley To Play Salvador Dali In...

Click here to read the full article.

Canadian singer-songwriter Fefe Dobson and Inigo Pascual are set to star in Danzig (working title), an indie film drama inspired by a real-life 2012 gang shooting in inner-city Toronto.

The film sees director Ron Dias and screenwriter Joanne Jansen combine to portray two people whose worlds collide on Danzig Street in Scarborough. Pascual will play the role of Joshua Yasay, based on a real person who was caught up in the deadly shooting incident, while Dobson will perform the fictional role of his love interest.

No word on additional casting. Danzig will take place amid a turf war between rival gangs in Scarborough, where the characters of Nipsey and his brother Breeze do whatever it takes to keep other gangs out of their neighborhood.

Nipsey’s longtime girlfriend, Shanice, kicks him out of their home for cheating and afterwards finds a blood-marked gun in her car,...

Exclusive: After successfully relaunching the franchise with 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Sony Pictures is ramping up pre-production on the sequel with the film’s writer and exec producer Gil Kenan set to take over directing reins. Sources tell Deadline that Jason Reitman, who directed the pervious pic, will move into the writer-producer role alongside co-scribe Kenan and Jason Blumenfeld. Insiders add that the Ghostbusters: Afterlife ensemble that includes Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon is on board to return.

Related Story Kymberly Herrin Dies: 'Ghostbusters' Actress Who Starred In Popular Zz Top Video Was 65 Related Story TIFF Industry Selects Section Includes Steve Buscemi's 'The Listener', Bill Pohlad's 'Dreamin' Wild'; Jason Reitman's Live Read Returns Related Story Sony Dates 'Ghostbusters' Sequel For 2023

“It’s an absolute honor to pick up the proton pack and step behind the camera for the next chapter of the Spengler family saga,...

Exclusive: Bankside Films has boarded international sales for Steve Buscemi-directed Venice Film Festival drama The Listener, starring Tessa Thompson (Creed).

Written by Alessandro Camon, the film follows a helpline volunteer who is part of a small army that gets on the phone every night, fielding calls from all kinds of people feeling lonely, broken or hopeless. Above is a first clip for the movie, which will world premiere next week as the closing film in the Venice Days section before being screened in Toronto.

Creed and Passing star Thompson plays protagonist Beth and is the sole onscreen performer, supported by voice-only cast, comprising Logan Marshall-Green, Derek Cecil, Margaret Cho, Blu Del Barrio, Ricky Velez, Alia Shawkat, Jamie Hector, Casey Wilson, Bobby Soto and Rebecca Hall.

Bankside Films will be introducing the feature to buyers at both the Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival, and will be handling foreign sales,...

In a world where politicians use mental health as mere talking points when discussing gun violence and suicide rates, Steve Buscemi’s “The Listener” addresses the crisis head-on. Written by Alessandro Camon, the Oscar-nominated scribe of “The Messenger” (2009), the film follows a helpline volunteer named Beth, played by Tessa Thompson, who is an integral part of the small army of counselors who field calls from all kinds of people who feel lonely and broken. The film unspools at the Venice Festival’s Giornate degli Autori and is the closing film of Venice Days on Sept. 9.

Buscemi can sympathize with anyone who feels lost and broken, especially as he is still reeling from losing his wife Jo Andres in January 2019; they had been married for over 30 years. While in pre-production, the director and producer called a helpline number. “At first, it was in the name of research,” Buscemi told Variety. “I...

Th 47th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival has selected its Industry Selects, a section of ten audience friendly films up for global acquisition. In addition it was announced that Jason Reitman’s Live Read is returning to the Festival for an all-star event featuring a surprise cast; the filmmaker presenting a surprise screenplay in honor of his late father, Ivan Reitman.

“We’ve worked to build a selection that will appeal to buyers as well as audiences,’’ said Norm Wilner, Programmer, Digital Releasing and Industry Selects. “We aim to celebrate new voices and showcase international talent, in line with the Festival’s global spirit.”

“We’re delighted to present these director-driven and audience-engaging sales titles from around the world to international buyers who rely on our festival to strengthen their upcoming film slate,” added Geoff Macnaughton, Senior Director, Industry and Theatrical. “Fostering sales at the Festival is a key part of our mandate,...

The 10 “audience friendly” films will be screened in-person to accredited buyers and industry professionals

Neil Maskell’s comedy Klokkenluider and Bill Pohlad’s musical biopic Dreamin’ Wild are among the line-up for the Toronto International Film Festival Industry Selects programme.

The 10 ”audience friendly” films will be screened in-person to accredited buyers and industry professionals during the festival and are available for worldwide acquisition.

Klokkenluider is the feature directing debut of UK filmmaker and actor Neil Maskell, best known for roles in Kill List and TV series Utopia. Tom Burke and Jenna Coleman star as a whistleblower and his wife who...

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The Toronto International Film Festival is set to test whether the indie cinema business has rebounded amid the pandemic by screening 10 movies, including Steve Buscemi’s The Listener and Bill Pohlad’s Dreamin’ Wild, for buyers outside of its official selection.

International buyers will get an exclusive look via the new TIFF Industry Selects program at Buscemi’s latest film that stars Tessa Thompson as a young helpline volunteer amid the Covid-19 crisis, supporting people during their darkest hours.

Toronto is also teeing up Focus Features’ Dreamin’ Wild, which stars Casey Affleck and Zooey Deschanel in a musical biopic about the real-life story of musical duo Donnie and Joe Emerson, whose family leveraged their farm in the 1970s to produce the brothers’ record Dreamin’ Wild.

Other acquisition titles for industry eyes only at TIFF include Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean, which stars Rosy McEwen...

One Un Certain Regard selected film (Lotfy Nathan‘s Harka), four films headed to Venice, one San Sebastián comp title in Laura Mora‘s highly anticipated Kings of the World, and four market premieres in Hilmar Oddsson‘s Driving Mum, Avan Jogia‘s Door Mouse, Neil Maskell‘s Klokkenluider and Kasia Rosłaniec‘s Salt Lake are the ten films selected for TIFF 2022 Industry Selects – a pandemic solution that will indeed carry over into “normal” times.…...

Shia Labeouf has resurfaced on the big screen for the first time in two years since he was accused of misconduct.

He can next be seen starring as a Catholic saint in Abel Ferrara’s upcoming “Padre Pio,” which will make its premiere as part of the Venice Days film festival. It’s unclear if Labeouf will attend the festival.

Venice Days – or the Giornati Degli Autori – is an independent side bar to the Venice Film Festival in the vein of Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight section and is not directly associated with the larger La Biennale. But Ferrara’s “Padre Pio” will make its premiere at the fest as part of a larger lineup that was announced Thursday.

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Venice Film Festival Lineup to Include Timothée Chalamet in ‘Bones and All,’ Ana de Armas in ‘Blonde’

Labeouf in the film plays the title character Padre Pio, also known as...

Abel Ferrara, Shia Labeouf And Steve Buscemi Head To Venice Sidebar Giornate Degli Autori

Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio, starring Shia Labeouf as the controversial 20th-Century monk, will be among the 10 films world premiering in competition in parallel Venice sidebar Giornate degli Autori (August 31 to September 10). Other contenders include Canadian filmmaker Graham Foy’s teen tragedy The Maiden, U.K.-Moroccan director Fyzal Boulifa’s mother and son tale The Damned Don’t Cry; Algerian costume drama The Last Queen by Adila Bendimerad and Damien Ounouri and opening film Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous, a Beirut-set love story involving a Syrian refugee and Eritrean careworker tale by French-Lebanese director Wissam Charaf. The films will compete for the GdA Director’s Award, which is decided by a jury of 27 young European cinephiles, presided over this year by French director Céline Sciamma, under the coordination of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) director Karel Och.

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Shia Labeouf’s latest performance, a turn as an Italian monk in Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio, will get its world premiere in Venice as part of the Venice Days lineup, the independently-run sidebar to the Venice International Film Festival.

Labeouf, who co-starred in 2020 Venice Festival competition title Pieces of a Woman, took a well-publicized break from acting two years ago after his ex-girlfriend, Tahliah Debrett Barnett, sued him for assault, sexual battery and emotional distress.

Padre Pio sees Labeouf play a real-life Italian monk who became a superstar among the Catholic faithful, who believe he bore the holy stigmata, the wounds of Christ’s crucifixion. Padre Pio, who died in 1968 was canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II in 1999.

It is not yet clear whether Labeouf will attend Venice to promote the movie.

The 2022 Venice Days program opens with Dirty,...

Wissam Charaf’s Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous will open the Venice sidebar.

Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio, Steve Buscemi’s The Listener and rising UK director Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean are among the world premieres in this year’s Giornate degli Autori (GdA) , the independent sidebar of the Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10).

Lebanese director Wissam Charaf’s Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous will open the programme in competition. The film entwines multiple love stories against the backdrop of Lebanon’s near collapse.

UK director Fyzal Boulifa’s The Damned Don’t Cry is also playing in competition. The film is a...

White NoiseCOMPETITIONWhite Noise (Noah Baumbach)Il Signore Delle Formiche (Gianni Amelio)The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)L’Immensita (Emanuele Crialese)Saint Omer (Alice Diop)Blonde (Andrew Dominik)Tár (Todd Field)Love Life (Koji Fukada)Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths (Alejandro G. Inarritu)Athena (Romain Gavras)Bones & All (Luca Guadagnino)The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)Beyond The Wall (Vahid Jalilvand)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre)Chiara (Susanna Nicchiarelli)Monica (Andrea Pallaoro)No Bears (Jafar Panahi)All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)The Son (Florian Zeller)Our Ties (Roschdy Zem)Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionThe Hanging Sun (Francesco Carrozzini)When The Waves Are Gone (Lav Diaz)Living (Oliver Hermanus)Dead For A Dollar (Walter Hill)Call Of God (Kim Ki-duk)Dreamin’ Wild (Bill Pohlad)Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)Siccità (Paolo Virzi)Pearl (Ti West)Don’t Worry Darling...

Abel Ferrara’s “Padre Pio,” starring Shia Labeouf as an Italian monk who gained rock-star status among the Catholic faithful, is among the titles set to launch from the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Giornate Degli Autori.

The section, also known as Venice Days, will see Labeouf back on the big screen after the actor — best known for his roles in the Transformers and Indiana Jones franchises — took a break from acting in 2020 following allegations made by his ex-girlfriend Tahliah Debrett Barnett. The singer, known as FKA twigs, sued the actor for sexual battery, assault and emotional distress.

It is not yet known whether Labeouf will be on the Lido to promote “Padre Pio.”

In the latest film by Ferrara, who is known for cult classics such as “Bad Lieutenant,” Labeouf puts in what Giornate chief Gaia Furrer called an “extraordinary” performance as the “mystic and feverish” Capuchin monk...

Exclusive: Utkarsh Ambudkar, who stars as Jay on CBS’ breakout comedy Ghosts, has boarded the Tribeca-bound indie Four Samosas as an executive producer, with Verve Ventures coming aboard to handle sales.

The comedy from writer-director Ravi Kapoor (Miss India America) centers on a wannabe rapper in L.A.’s Little India, who concocts a backwards plan to disrupt his ex-girlfriend’s wedding by stealing her wedding diamonds. It will be one of just 10 feature films in US Narrative Competition at Tribeca in June—premiering in New York on June 10th, with several other screenings to follow throughout the festival week. Venk Potula leads the cast, which also includes Karan Soni, Sonal Shah, Sharmita Bhattacharya, Nirvan Patnaik, Summer Bishil, Meera Simhan, Sujata Day, Samrat Chakrabarti and Tony Mirrcandani.

Kapoor produced Four Samosas alongside Potula for Khrisp Entertainment, and Rajiv Maikhuri and Craig Stovel for Creative Rebel Productions. Additional executive producers on...