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The Producers Guild of America will honor Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner of Plan B with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award.

They will accept the honor at the 31st Annual Producers Guild Awards on Jan. 18 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. Previous recipients include Steven Spielberg, Barbara Broccoli, Saul Zaentz, Gale Anne Hurd, Brian Grazer, Jerry Bruckheimer, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, David Heyman and Kevin Feige.

“For nearly two decades, Plan B has been at the forefront of bringing unique and compelling stories that inspire, motivate and connect to diverse audiences,” said Producers Guild of America presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher. “Their devotion to tackling some of America’s most timely topics with a fresh perspective and distinct voice in their storytelling is vital to raising the bar of the art and craft of filmmaking.”

The Plan B producers won the best picture Academy Award...

The Producers Guild said Thursday that Plan B principals Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner will receive the 2020 David O. Selznick Achievement Award, the PGA’s honor for producers’ outstanding body of work in motion pictures. The award will be presented January 18 at the 31st annual PGA Awards at the Hollywood Palladium.

Plan B has two Best Picture Oscars — 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight — among its 18 years of credits in film and TV. Other Oscar-nommed pics include Vice, The Big Short, Selma and The Tree of Life. On the TV side, the company won a Primetime Emmy Award for HBO’s limited series The Normal Heart and landed Emmy nominations for Feud: Bette and Joan, documentary Big Men and TV movie Nightingale. Its other credits include If Beale Street Could Talk, World War Z and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The trio received the PGA’s America’s Visionary...

Brad Pitt is everywhere these days, from revealing interviews in the New York Times Magazine to Oscar parties to support “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” But he’s also a top producer, a partner with Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner in Plan B. The respected trio will accept the coveted David O. Selznick Achievement Award — recognizing an outstanding body of work in motion pictures — at the 2020 Producers Guild Awards on Saturday, January 18, 2020 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

Plan B is behind a raft of distinctive film and television projects; Pitt, Kleiner and Gardner place a premium on developing emerging talent and ignoring commercial concerns. This unconventional strategy has yielded Best Picture winners “12 Years a Slave” and “Moonlight,” and Oscar-winners “If Beale Street Could Talk,” starring Regina King, and “The Big Short,” as well as Oscar-nominated “Vice,” “Selma” and “The Tree of Life.” Other films include Pitt-starrers...

Brad Pitt is everywhere these days, from revealing interviews in the New York Times Magazine to Oscar parties to support “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” But he’s also a top producer, a partner with Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner in Plan B. The respected trio will accept the coveted David O. Selznick Achievement Award — recognizing an outstanding body of work in motion pictures — at the 2020 Producers Guild Awards on Saturday, January 18, 2020 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

Plan B is behind a raft of distinctive film and television projects; Pitt, Kleiner and Gardner place a premium on developing emerging talent and ignoring commercial concerns. This unconventional strategy has yielded Best Picture winners “12 Years a Slave” and “Moonlight,” and Oscar-winners “If Beale Street Could Talk,” starring Regina King, and “The Big Short,” as well as Oscar-nominated “Vice,” “Selma” and “The Tree of Life.” Other films include Pitt-starrers...

Plan B’s Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner will receive the 2020 David O. Selznick Achievement Award at the 31st annual Producers Guild Awards on Jan. 18, the Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced Thursday.

The Selznick award recognizes producers for their work in the motion picture realm. Past recipients include Steven Spielberg, Barbara Broccoli, Brian Grazer, Jerry Bruckheimer, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and last year’s recipient, Kevin Feige.

“For nearly two decades, Plan B has been at the forefront of bringing unique and compelling stories that inspire, motivate and connect to diverse audiences,” Producers Guild of America Presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher said in a statement. “Their devotion to tackling some of America’s most timely topics with a fresh perspective and distinct voice in their storytelling is vital to raising the bar of the art and craft of filmmaking.”

Also Read: 'Bombshell' to Receive...

The Producers Guild of America will give the David O. Selznick Achievement Award to Plan B's Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner at the 2020 Producers Guild Awards.

The award, named after the Oscar-winning producer of Gone With the Wind and Rebecca, is given to producers for their "outstanding body of work in motion pictures." Past recipients have included Barbara Broccoli, Jerry Bruckheimer, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg and last year’s recipient Kevin Feige.

Plan B has produced a number of Academy Award-winning films over its 18-year run, including best picture winners 12 Years a Slave and ...

The Producers Guild of America will give the David O. Selznick Achievement Award to Plan B's Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner at the 2020 Producers Guild Awards.

The award, named after the Oscar-winning producer of Gone With the Wind and Rebecca, is given to producers for their "outstanding body of work in motion pictures." Past recipients have included Barbara Broccoli, Jerry Bruckheimer, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg and last year’s recipient Kevin Feige.

Plan B has produced a number of Academy Award-winning films over its 18-year run, including best picture winners 12 Years a Slave and ...

Exclusive: Will Arnett is to host an irreverent comedy series for Quibi from Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj writer Scott Vrooman.

The short-form platform has ordered Memory Hole, which will be fronted by the Arrested Development star. Created by Vrooman, the show will explore the archives of the most cringe-worthy events in pop culture. The first season will be laser focused on Canada with Canadian Arnett skewering a myriad of topics most people forgot or never even knew existed.

The series will be produced by Shout! Studios, Vrooman’s Do Things! Inc and Arnett’s Electric Avenue in association with Quibi.

Tim Fornara, who produced TruTV’s Comedy Knockout, will serve as executive producer and showrunner. Arnett, Vrooman, Brent Haynes, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos also exec produce with Amy Kim and Jaime Burke as producers.

It is Arnett’s second project with the short-form platform; last month he signed up...

Will Arnett has been tapped to host Lego Masters, Fox’s new Lego-building competition series.

Based on the hit British reality-competition series of the same name, Lego Masters, from Endemol Shine North America, Tuesday’s Child and Brad Pitt’s Plan B, will feature pairs of Lego enthusiasts facing off in brick-building challenges. Throughout the competition, Arnett, alongside expert judges, will encourage the builders, introduce challenges and put the creations to the test until one duo is crowned Lego Masters. No stranger to Lego, Arnett, who voices Lego Batman in The Lego Movie franchise, will also serve as an executive producer on the series. It’s set to premiere Wednesday, February 5 at 9 Pm on Fox.

“This show is an hour of fun for the whole family and Will is the ideal host. He’s already a member of the Lego family and his passion for this show is infectious,...

Rebecca Lenkiewicz has been hired to write the screenplay for a planned movie about Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s quest to break the Harvey Weinstein scandal. The film will follow the New York Times reporters as they track down information on the powerful mogul’s alleged sexual harassment and abuse — a blockbuster expose that helped trigger the entertainment industry’s #MeToo reckoning.

Annapurna and Plan B are backing the film. Lenkiewicz’s credits include the Oscar-winning Polish-language film “Ida,” as well as the critically acclaimed indies “Disobedience,” the story of a lesbian romance in the Orthodox Jewish community, and “Colette,” a biopic about the French novelist. She is also a prolific playwright, whose credits include “Her Naked Skin” and “The Painter.”

Kantor and Twohey won Pulitzer Prizes for their work on the story. They subsequently published “She Said,” a non-fiction account of their reporting process that debuted to strong reviews this fall.

Huey Lewis and the News have returned with their first new song in over 10 years, “Her Love Is Killin’ Me,” a snappy rocker that will appear on the band’s forthcoming album, which is expected to arrive in 2020.

The track is delightfully reminiscent of Huey Lewis and the News’ Eighties heyday, with crisp drums and bass buoying organ, guitar and a punchy horn section. Lewis’ voice sits a little lower in his register, but he still packs his vocals with plenty of spirit as he sings, “My head hurts, my...

“Americanah” is finally coming to life — as a limited series. Friday afternoon HBO Max announced a straight-to-series order for a 10-episode adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novel, with Danai Gurira attached to write the pilot and serve as showrunner. Lupita Nyong’o, who starred with Gurira in “Black Panther,” will play the lead, Ifemelu.

“Through ‘Americanah,’ Chimamanda brought the African female voice into mainstream consciousness in an unprecedented way,” Gurira said in a statement. “It is intellectually incisive, indicting, yet full of humor, and riddled with humanity. She makes unheard voices familiar, universal and yet palpably specific. I am honored to bring her incredible novel to life on the screen. I’m thrilled to collaborate once again with Lupita, who brings her astounding ability as a performer and producer shepherding this project, along with HBO Max’s unbridled enthusiasm to bring this groundbreaking narrative to the TV audience.”

“‘Americanah...

Fox is ready to get its Lego on.

The network has handed out a series order for reality competition series Lego Masters, based on the successful format of the same name.

The series, produced by Endemol Shine North America and Brad Pitt's Plan B, sees 12 teams of two go head-to-head in ambitious brick-building challenges. Each episode will see one pair progress to the next round until the finale, during which the three top teams will square off for the ultimate Lego trophy. A specific episode count has not yet been determined. 

"Lego Masters has everything you ...

Sarah Esberg, a longtime producer and executive with Brad Pitt’s Plan B, has been tapped as president of Drew Goddard’s newly formed Goddard Textiles production company as part of a significant deal with 20th Century Fox TV.

Former Daredevil and The Defenders executive producer Goddard inked a major multi-year overall deal with Tcftv in March, the first to be announced by the studio following Disney’s $71.3B acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets, including 20th TV.

“We’ve admired Sarah Esberg’s work for years,” said Jonnie Davis, President of Creative Affairs, 20th Century Fox TV. “She’s a brilliant executive with impeccable taste and creative instinct, who is relentless in her pursuit of developing distinct and thought-provoking projects, and who has an incredible ability to unearth fascinating source material. We’re thrilled to have her heading Drew Goddard’s new production company at Tcftv under the Disney Television Studios umbrella.

Lena Waithe has a bone to pick with major black movie stars like Denzel Washington and Will Smith. In an interview with The New York Times about the current state of Hollywood, Waithe says one of the biggest roadblacks facing young black filmmakers and storytellers is the lack of black financiers in Hollywood. Waithe, the creator of the Showtime drama series “The Chi” and the screenwriter behind Warner Bros.’ fall drama “Queen & Slim,” makes note that no major studio has ever been run by a black man. But even in the indie space young black talent is struggling to get projects made and a lot of big-name black talent are not helping.

“Don’t get me started on black financiers!” Waithe said. “How many of those do we have? I’m not [going to name] names because I know better, but there are some very big black movie stars out there, and...

Exclusive: Blade Runner 2049 actress Mackenzie Davis has been added to the cast of Irresistible, the sophomore directorial feature from Jon Stewart. Davis joins Steve Carell, Chris Cooper and Rose Byrne in the political comedy which is set at Focus Features.

Written by Stewart, the pic will follow a Democrat political consultant (Carell) who helps a retired ex-Marine colonel (Cooper) run for mayor in a small Wisconsin town. Byrne will play Carell’s Republican counterpart campaigning on behalf of the incumbent mayor.

Stewart is producing with Moonlight producer Plan B, whole Focus president of production Josh McLaughlin, overseeing the project for the studio. Focus and Universal Pictures International will distribute the film worldwide.

Up next, Davis can be seen starring in the Tim Miller-directed and James Cameron-produced Terminator: Dark Fate, which hits theaters in November via Paramount and Skydance. Other credits include AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire series,...

Jane Root’s Nutopia (One Strange Rock) and Plan B Entertainment are teaming to bring the Atlas Obscura phenomenon to television in a new premium docuseries. The project marks the first co-production for Nutopia and Plan B, and one of Plan B’s first forays into unscripted TV.

Titled Atlas Obscura, the docuseries, which is currently in development, will draw inspiration from Atlas Obscura’s overall mission of drawing out the incredible stories of the people, food, and culture behind the world’s most unusual places.

Atlas Obscura is a media and experiences company dedicated to exploring the world’s hidden wonders through thoughtful editorial stories, unique events and unusual trips around the world. Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders, the #1 New York Times bestselling and critically praised book, has been translated into 17 languages.

Founded in 2009 by Dylan Thuras and Joshua Foer, Atlas Obscura...

Hot off their Indie Spirit Award win for best feature for “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Annapurna and Plan B have set their next film project with an adaptation of Alex Michaelides’ best-selling novel “The Silent Patient.”

As part of their three-year production pact, the companies have optioned the rights to the novel published under Celadon Books, a division of Macmillan.

“The Silent Patient” follows Alicia Berenson, a celebrated painter married to a fashion photographer who enjoys life a the top of London society. Without explanation, Alicia shoots her husband Gabriel in the face five times when he returns late from work one evening, sparking an international scandal and subsequently sending the value of her art through the roof.

Sequestered in a North London police forensic unit, Alicia refuses to speak a word about the crime and her potential motives. When a criminal psychotherapist named Theo takes on her case,...

The Magicians somehow weaves together a heist, a gambling caper, a prison escape, and moral dilemmas galore into a cohesive story.

TV

This The Magicians review contains spoilers.

The Magicians Season 4 Episode 3

It’s becoming difficult to quantify the brilliance of The Magicians these days. In each episode this season, every little detail has either served to pull disparate story elements together, heighten the drama of the moment, or bring just the right amount of humor to balance things out. Small elements like Alice’s ingenuity or Josh’s legendary culinary skills or Quentin’s card expertise were put into play in ways that were both perfectly implemented and consistent with what we know about each character. We’ve reached a point where this series is so comfortable in its own skin that it can pretty much accomplish anything.

Let’s start with Margo’s quick thinking. Yes, the sacrifice...

The sequel to the half-billion-plus grossing 2013 zombie pic is off again. Due to budget issues, the David Fincher-directed, Plan B produced sequel to World War Z is not moving forward. Cameras were to roll this summer in Atlanta. It’s unclear at this point in time whether it will go back into development or be shelved indefinitely.

The sequel has been through different hands; J.A. Bayona at one point kicked the tires of the sequel in late 2013.

The first movie based on the Max Brooks had budget complications, skyrocketing to $220M with Damon Lindelof coming in for rewrites during production on that Marc Forster-directed pic. With combined marketing and production costs of $430M, World War Z barely broke even.

Exclusive: Fleabag producer Two Brothers Pictures is developing a comedy drama based on British author Matt Haig’s memoir Reasons To Stay Alive for UKTV.

It marks a major scripted play for the Discovery and BBC-backed UK broadcaster, which has recently ramped up its activity in the genre with series such as Anna Paquin-fronted Pop co-production Flack.

The memoir tells the story of how Haig’s world caved in aged 24. He could see no way to go on living and the book tells the true story of how he came through crisis, triumphed over an illness that almost destroyed him and learned to live again.

Haig was a partier in his youth and was first blindsided by depression on the party island of Ibiza, suggesting it was “as though a butterfly was trapped”. The book, however, is funny with a number of lists including “things you think during...

Huey Lewis & The News have inked a deal with BMG to record their first album of original songs since 2001’s Plan B. “We’re very excited about our new album, and honestly feel that it’s among our best work – we cannot wait to get it out to fans!” Lewis said in a statement. “We’re equally excited to be with BMG, whose reputation as a ‘music-first’ label precedes them admirably.”

Less than a year ago, Lewis was forced to cancel a 40-date tour after experiencing sudden hearing loss. “I...

Lego Masters is heading to the U.S. Endemol Shine North America and UK-based independent production company Tuesday’s Child are teaming with Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment to jointly produce a U.S. version of the hit British series. Talks with potential American-based platforms are set to start later this month.

Originally created by Tuesday’s Child, Lego Masters first launched on Channel 4 in the UK in 2017, quickly becoming the network’s highest-rated new series, nearly doubling its primetime average with young adults. Last year, Endemol Shine announced Lego Masters landed its first international deals, in Australia on Nine Network and Germany’s Rtl. Channel 4’s second season in the UK launched in November to strong ratings.

The official description: Lego Masters pits enthusiasts in a competition that starts with a single Lego brick and infinite possibilities and concludes with mind-blowing builds that will surely both inspire...

James Gray has been carving his own idiosyncratic path through Hollywood and beyond for more than two decades. At 25 he was the toast of Venice, picking up the Silver Lion for his debut feature Little Odessa, a triumph that would lead him–for better and worse–to Harvey Weinstein, Miramax, and a rocky relationship with Cannes. His latest film, The Lost City of Z, was a critical hit but came up short at the box office. However, it was enough to convince Brad Pitt–whose Plan B studio produced Lost City–to star in Gray’s next project: Ad Astra, a science fiction film arriving this May that Gray has compared it to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

The busy director took a break from post-production on Ad Astra to act as Jury President at the Marrakech Film Festival. We found him in the city’s Medina, seated in...

Beautiful Boy and Cold War, the films Amazon Studios brought to Deadline’s The Contenders La on Saturday at the DGA Theater, both dig deep into troubled and tortured relationships.

Based on not one but two memoirs – those of father and son David and Nic Sheff – Beautiful Boy looks at the impact of addiction and its toll on family connection.

“I saw a very epic story about a father and son trying to come to terms with addiction,” said writer-director Felix Van Groeningen (Broken Circle Breakdown). “It’s an eye-opener about how we as a society still look upon addiction as a moral failure. It was unique and had never been done before, and I just felt like it was worth taking on.”

Steve Carell was the first to come on board, as the father, David. “We had been talking for years about who the right person could be,” Van Groeningen said.

Exclusive: Thora Birch is attached to star in Kindred Spirits, an indie thriller from genre director Lucky McKee. Macon Blair and Caitlin Stasey also co-star in the film, which will shoot in Austin, Texas.

Birch, who just celebrated 25 years since the release of Disney’s Hocus Pocus, will play Chloe, a single mother in a relationship with Alex (Blair). Chloe’s life is turned upside down when her sister, Sadie (Stasey) comes home after a long unexplained absence.

Ash Christian is producing. Long-time friends, Christian and Birch previously worked together on the 2012 indie Petunia, which Christian directed and Birch produced and starred opposite Christine Lahti and Brittany Snow.

Birch’s upcoming film slate includes Plan B and A24’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco from writer-director Joe Talbot, and Above Suspicion with Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston, and Johnny Knoxville.

Birch is repped by Berwick & Kovacik.

Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi has come on to direct “Tiger” for Focus, sources tell Variety.

Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa and Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner’s Plan B are producing.

The pic, based on the 2010 non-fiction book by John Vaillant, takes place on the Siberian plain, where human development is encroaching on the tigers’ habitat — and one tiger turns on the intruders. With townspeople being tracked and hunted with an almost supernatural power, a conservationist game warden must face down the tiger. It is a fight that only one of them can win.

Focus acquired the book in 2010 and at one point the project was eyed as a potential acting vehicle for Pitt and directing job for Aronofsky. In the end the two have decided to stay on as producers and allow Slaboshpystskyi step in to direct.

The film had been in development limbo, but a recent presentation got the studio and...

Amazon stopped by Deadline’s Contenders London conference today with not one, but three pics in potential contention: Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria, and Felix Van Groeningen’s Beautiful Boy.

And if there’s a thruline running throughout the trio, it’s how human pain becomes poetic, though all through different prisms. Both Cold War and Suspiria share post-War backlashes that in some way work their way into the psyche of their tormented protagonists while Beautiful Boy is about addiction and how it takes its toll on a family.

Pawlikowski won best director at the Cannes film festival for Cold War and the pic is Poland’s submission in the foreign film category at the Oscars. The film, shot in black and white, tells the story of a couple from different backgrounds, who are mismatched, their romance set against the backdrop of Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris of the 1950s.

In the last year, Megan Ellison has moved from respected producer of multiple Oscar contenders to another deep-pocketed Hollywood player who failed to appreciate the hazards of building a distribution company. On Tuesday, a series of news flashes telegraphed a company in trouble.

First, Jay Roach’s untitled movie starring John Lithgow as Fox News chairman and sexual harasser Roger Ailes, which was set to start shooting in just two weeks, is being shopped to other distributors. Canadian financier Bron Studios was set to co-finance the reported $35-million production written by Oscar-winner Charles Randolph (“The Big Short”). Focus Features is reportedly in talks to acquire the film. Annapurna had just announced casting of Malcolm McDowell as Rupert Murdoch; he joins a strong ensemble including Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Kate McKinnon, and Margot Robbie as Megyn Kelly.

Second, it was revealed that, some months ago, Annapurna dropped Lorene Scafaria’s Jennifer Lopez exotic dance movie.

In the last year, Megan Ellison has moved from respected producer of multiple Oscar contenders to another deep-pocketed Hollywood player who failed to appreciate the hazards of building a distribution company. On Tuesday, a series of news flashes telegraphed a company in trouble.

First, Jay Roach’s untitled movie starring John Lithgow as Fox News chairman and sexual harasser Roger Ailes, which was set to start shooting in just two weeks, is being shopped to other distributors. Canadian financier Bron Studios was set to co-finance the reported $35-million production written by Oscar-winner Charles Randolph (“The Big Short”). Focus Features is reportedly in talks to acquire the film. Annapurna had just announced casting of Malcolm McDowell as Rupert Murdoch; he joins a strong ensemble including Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Kate McKinnon, and Margot Robbie as Megyn Kelly.

Second, it was revealed that, some months ago, Annapurna dropped Lorene Scafaria’s Jennifer Lopez exotic dance movie.

As expected, Poland submitted Oscar-winner Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” for Best Foreign Language Feature. Pawlikowski won that Oscar in 2015 with “Ida,” and now the Cannes 2018 Best Director-winner will go up against Best Director Oscar-winner Alfonso Cuaron (“Gravity”), whose Mexican submission, “Roma”, also wowed audiences and critics at Telluride and Toronto, after taking home the Golden Lion in Venice.

Both films play the upcoming New York Film Festival. Both films are shot on Alexas in black and white, and both are their distributors’ best hopes for Oscar glory.

In August 2017, Amazon acquired “Cold War” via France’s MK2 Films and U.K’s Protagonist Pictures. The star-crossed romance (inspired by Pawlikowski’s parents) follows a Stalin-era Polish musician and pianist (Tomasz Kot) and headstrong singer-dancer Zula (Joanna Kulig) on tour with their folk-dance troupe. The lovers separate and reunite in France, Yugoslavia, and Poland as they try to find their authentic selves,...

Exclusive: CAA has signed multi-hyphenate Jonathan Tropper whose work spans bestselling novels, films and television.

Tropper co-created and executive produced the Cinemax television show Banshee, which ran for four seasons and his latest TV drama, Warrior, executive produced by Justin Lin, will premiere on the pay-cable network in 2019. Warrior is a period crime drama inspired by the writings and work of martial arts icon Bruce Lee that is set during the brutal Tong Wars in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late 1800s.

Banshee followed an ex-con who assumed the identity of a slain sheriff in Banshee, a small Pennsylvania town in Amish country. He’s on the lam from a powerful crime lord, but while he’s the top brass in town, he imposes his own brand of justice and practices crime. Tropper directed the Banshee episode “Only One Way a Dogfight Ends”.

As an international bestselling novelist, Tropper...

Brillante Mendoza’s “Alpha, the Right to Kill,” Felix Van Groeningen’s Brad Pitt-produced “Beautiful Boy,” Louis Garrel’s “A Faithful Man” and Peter Strickland’s “In Fabric” will compete for San Sebastian’s Golden Seashell, the Basque festival announced Friday.

Further new main competition titles unveiled take in Liu Jie’s “Baby” and Tuva Novotny’s debut “Blind Spot.”

The six titles join 12 already-announced competition contenders. San Sebastian has yet to unveil its closing film.

Festival’s official selection – which takes in competition and out-of-competition titles – opens Sept. 21 with Ricardo Darín and Mercedes Morán-starrer “An Unexpected Love.” Playing in competition, the film represents the directorial debut by Juan Vera, Argentine producer of titles by Pablo Trapero and Lucrecia Martel.

Felix Van Groeningen won the Panorama audience award at the 2013 Berlinale with “Alabama Monroe,” Oscar-nominated for best foreign language film. In “Beautiful Boy,” his English language debut, toplining Steve Carell and Timothée Chamalet,...

Exclusive: Paramount Pictures has set Gary Sanchez Productions and sister label Gloria Sanchez into a new three-year first look feature deal. Gary Sanchez Productions is led by principals Will Ferrell and Adam McKay with producer Jessica Elbaum heading Gloria Sanchez.

This comes as Paramount percolates the Demetri Martin scripted Will, and the English language remake of the German comedy Toni Erdmann, with Lisa Cholodenko to direct a vehicle for Kristen Wiig.

Ferrell and McKay once had a deal under the prior regime at Paramount but left the studio. Bringing them back is a coup for chairman Jim Gianopulos and Paramount Motion Picture Group president Wyck Godfrey. Gary Sanchez Productions films have grossed almost $1 billion worldwide for Paramount. That includes Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters ($226M), Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues ($173M), the Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg Daddy’s Home ($242M) and Daddy’s Home 2 ($180M) and The Big Short, the...

Though showrunner Chris Chibnall and his team are trying their best to keep as much about Doctor Who‘s upcoming eleventh season a secret as possible, the show’s unfortunately been hit by some significant leaks. Back in June, for instance, the first full scene of Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor surfaced online before the BBC got a hold of it.

As previously reported, the corporation’s not happy with the leak in their operation and is taking the matter to court. And now, a new development in the case has come to light thanks to TorrentFreak, who’ve got hold of legal documents which reveal what the BBC’s next big move is.

Apparently, the broadcaster has filed a Dmca subpoena at a federal court in Washington aimed at Microsoft. The leaked footage was stored and shared via OneDrive, so the BBC’s requesting that the international conglomerate...

Starz has renewed “Sweetbitter” for a second season.

The half-hour drama series is based on the book of the same name by Stephanie Danler. The series follows a 22-year-old woman (Ella Purnell) who, shortly after arriving in New York, lands a job at a celebrated downtown restaurant.

“Season one gave audiences a taste of the characters and backstory of an upscale New York restaurant, leaving them wanting more – which we will deliver with a second helping of ‘Sweetbitter,’” said Starz president and CEO Chris Albrecht. “The immersion of the audience into the world in and around the restaurant will deepen as the series looks further into the complexities of Tess’ awakening and the lives of her new friends and colleagues in the second season.”

Season 1 stars Purnell, Tom Sturridge, Caitlin FitzGerald, Evan Jonigkeit, Eden Epstein, Jasmine Mathews, Daniyar, and Paul Sparks. Danler serves as creator, executive producer and writer on the series.

After a stellar breakthrough year with Call Me by Your Name, Lady Bird, and Hostiles, culminating in an Oscar nomination, Timothée Chalamet is back this fall with Beautiful Boy, the English-language debut from Felix Van Groeningen, who also earned an Academy Award nod, for The Broken Circle Breakdown. Ahead of a fall release, Amazon Studios has now released the first trailer for the drug addiction drama.

Based on David Sheff’s biographical book “Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction,” the film tells the story of a son (Chalamet) struggling with methamphetamine addiction as his father (Steve Carell) watches over him. Produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B, behind some of the greatest films of the last few years with Moonlight, The Lost City of Z, and more, this one will likely make a debut at Tiff. Also starring Maura Tierney and Amy Ryan, see the heart-stirring trailer below.

As the 2018 awards race hits the halfway mark, there is one solid best-picture bet so far: “Black Panther.” As usual, the year is bottom-heavy and impartial execs who have seen the upcoming films say it could be one of the most fun awards years in memory.

Disney-Marvel’s “Black Panther,” directed by Ryan Coogler, has enough originality and goodwill to overcome any “superhero” resistance from Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters. The film’s artists (above and below the line) deserve Oscar attention — and TV viewers would love the adrenaline jolt to the Oscarcast.

The July-December period offers an adventurous lineup. That includes new works from recent Oscar winners: the Damien Chazelle-directed “First Man” about Neil Armstrong (Universal), Alfonso Cuaron’s 1970s-set “Roma” (Netflix), Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk”, “Backseat”; and Steve McQueen’s “Widows” starring Viola Davis (Fox).

Also getting enthusiasm are...

Universal Music Group and multi-platform content company All Def Media have announced an expansion in their partnership that will include the development of long- and short-form video content, live events and social media content. In addition, Umg artists, both on the recorded and publishing side, will be able to participate in opportunities in film, television and digital media.

The companies are set to partner on three projects initially: “Crossroads 24,” which will feature Def Jam artists Yg and Pusha T in a day-in-the-life formatted series; All Def’s “Live Leaks,” a performance show that will feature Interscope’s Rae Sremmurd and Smino; and “Plan B,” a program that promises to give “artists a chance to experiment with a second career choice.”

All Def harnesses the cultural impact of hip-hop in its entertainment offerings and generates more than 300 million monthly views on YouTube and Facebook for its programs, according to the announcement.

Greenlit means a project is officially a go, so all you have to do is follow these leads to stay up to date. You never know where you’ll find an opportunity to land an audition! Harvey Weinstein movie The event that launched the #MeToo movement into everyday conversation, the revelations that mega movie producer Harvey Weinstein had engaged in decades of sexual assault and harassment shook the film industry and the world as a whole. It’s a story ripe for the big screen, and Weinstein’s history in Hollywood does not prevent the events of 2017 from being fair game for a screen treatment. In the same vein as “Spotlight,” Plan B and Annapurna Pictures have acquired the rights to a major motion picture that will detail the New York Times’s reporting, lead by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, as confirmed by the Times last week. The film...

The investigation into Harvey Weinstein‘s sexual misconduct is getting a Spotlight-style feature film courtesy of Annapurna and Plan B. The film will focus on New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, who broke the Weinstein story last year. It was only a matter of time before the film industry decided to tackle the Harvey Weinstein story head-on. Deadline […]

The post A ‘Spotlight’-Style Harvey Weinstein Investigation Movie is in the Works appeared first on /Film.

Annapurna and Plan B are moving forward with a “Spotlight”-esque movie that documents Harvey Weinstein’s downfall as the result of the New York Times’ reporting. According to Deadline, the producers have acquired the rights to the story of how newspaper staffers Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey worked with editor Rebecca Corbett to bring to light a number of Weinstein’s alleged scandals — from actresses accusing the disgraced mogul of sexual assault, to hush money payments made.

The stories, alongside reports from Ronan Farrow, left Weinstein’s empire in shambles and started the #MeToo movement, which disgraced alleged sexual predators ranging from Kevin Spacey to James Toback. The reporting was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize for public service.

According to Deadline, the film won’t focus on Weinstein himself, but rather the investigative journalism behind the piece, reminiscent of films like “Spotlight” and “All The President’s Men.” Plan B...

Miranda July is set to start production on her latest film in late May.

The film follows the story of Old Dolio and how her world is turned upside down when her criminal parents invite an outsider to join their biggest heist yet.

The project will be July’s third film and first she will not star in. Her feature, Me And You And Everyone We Know, which July wrote, directed and starred in, won the Camera d’Or at Cannes and a Special Jury Prize at Sundance.

Miranda July is a filmmaker, artist, and writer. Her most recent book is The First Bad Man, a novel. July’s collection of stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You, won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award and has been published in twenty-three countries. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Harper’s, and The New Yorker; It...

Rick Famuyiwa, best known for directing the celebrated coming-of-age movie Dope, has signed on to write and direct Black Hole, New Regency and Plan B’s adaptation of the graphic novel by Charles Burns.

Plan B and New Regency’s Arnon Milchan are set to produce the film. New Regency will finance the project.

The move kickstarts a project that has been in development on and off since 2005, when it was to have been adapted by horror director Alexandre Aja. Neil Gaiman and Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avery developed it for a time and the project was for years set up...

Dope director Rick Famuyiwa has signed on to write and direct the new film adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel Black Hole. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Plan B and New Regency’s Arnon Milchan will produce the project, with New Regency financing.

The book, written and drawn by Charles Burns, was published by Fantagraphics and ran for 10 issues from 1995 to 2005.

Fresh off the heels of critical acclaim for his latest film Call Me by Your Name at the Sundance Film Festival, rising star Timothee Chalamet is in negotiations to star opposite Steve Carell in Beautiful Boy.

Felix van Groeningen (The Broken Circle Breakdown) is attached to direct the project, which is based on the memoir Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff.

The story reflects on methamphetamine addiction and recovery through the eyes of a father whose son suffers from the disease. Amazon Studios will finance and distribute the pic, with Plan B producing.

Carell ...

Fresh off the heels of critical acclaim for his latest film Call Me by Your Name at the Sundance Film Festival, rising star Timothee Chalamet is in negotiations to star opposite Steve Carell in Beautiful Boy.

Felix van Groeningen (The Broken Circle Breakdown) is attached to direct the project, which is based on the memoir Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff.

The story reflects on methamphetamine addiction and recovery through the eyes of a father whose son suffers from the disease. Amazon Studios will finance and distribute the pic, with Plan B producing.

Carell ...

After what feels like an eternity, the “Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey” trailer is finally here. Empire posted the video for writer-director Terrence Malick’s decades-in-the-making documentary Friday, and the movie looks every bit as stunning as fans of Malick would expect. The film hits theaters on October 7.

Read More: Will Terrence Malick’s ‘Voyage of Time’ Really Come Out This Fall?

“Voyage of Time” is a history of the cosmos that covers the whole of time, from the Big Bang to the birth of human life to the collapse of the universe (whenever that happens). Malick’s first documentary was rumored to be headed to Cannes this year before being notably absent from the lineup.

Distributor Broad Green is releasing it in two formats: A 40-minute IMAX version narrated by Brad Pitt, whose Plan B helped produce the movie, and a feature-length version narrated by Cate Blanchett. Described...

Tony Sokol Simon Brew Aug 11, 2016

Brad Pitt is pinning his hopes on David Fincher to steer World War Z 2 to the big screen...

World War Z is getting ready for its second undeadly assault on cinemas, and now star and producer and Brad Pitt thinks there is only one man who can command the aftermath.

David Fincher (who directed Pitt in Fight Club, Seven, and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button) is in talks with Brad Pitt’s Plan B, Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions to take over from departing director Juan Antonio Bayona for the World War Z sequel. Bayona left the project to direct the next installment of the Jurassic World franchise.

Pitt will produce and star again in World War Z 2. Fincher was reportedly “lukewarm” to the idea at their initial meeting two weeks ago, but “negotiations are much further down the road” now and...

Jackson and Abe need to stop keeping secrets.

It's becoming clear on Zoo Season 2 Episode 8 that all of our favorite characters are becoming victims of that nagging plot line that often runs through so many soap operas. Nobody wants to communicate with any meaning.

If we just keep secrets, everything will be Ok! As the biggest communication procrastinator on the planet, I'm here to assure all of the Zoo Crew nothing good will come of it.

Remember when Jamie left that awful woman Drew outside the bus at the worst refuge ever so she could be killed by a polar bear or two?

Jamie is going mad psycho killer in general. Logan wasn't the best guy to have around. He sort of fed the Zoo Crew to the wolves, so to speak. But he also came in handy and worked with Jamie when they were trying to stay alive.

In...