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The The Passenger episode of Revisited was Written by Vannah Taylor, Narrated by Lance Vlcek, Edited by Paul Bookstaber, Produced by Tyler Nichols and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

Do you ever have one of those days that can be perfectly summed up by the lyrics of Limp Bizkit’s Break Stuff? Most of us have, especially anyone who’s dragged themselves to a shift at a dingy fast food joint. That is exactly the kind of day that Benson and Randy are having in the 2023 thriller, The Passenger, because anyone who interacts with this duo will have their life on contract.

Directed by Carter Smith, who horror fans might recognize from films like The Ruins, Jamie Marks is Dead, and Swallowed, The Passenger is a neat little character driven thriller that turns every service worker’s worst nightmare into a grim journey of self-discovery. Randy Bradley,...

2023 was a solid year for horror films, and even still, there were plenty of gems that went criminally underseen. Fortunately, because horror fans are some of the most rabid (see: passionate) fans around, even movies denied multi-million dollar ad campaigns can still find their people through word-of-mouth praise, fan art, and obsessive gushing. "The Ruins," "Jamie Marks is Dead," "Swallowed," and "Midnight Kiss" director Carter Smith's latest feature film is also his best, which is why it's such a shame that "The Passenger" (read our review here) is only now picking up mainstream attention. A thrilling two-hander starring horror fan favorite Kyle Gallner and relative newcomer Johnny Berchtold, "The Passenger" is the spiritual successor to Robert Harmon's "The Hitcher," and just as brutal.

Berchtold's Randy is not just your average fast food worker, he might as well be invisible. He's passive to the point of enduring exploitation from everyone around him,...

Directed by provocative filmmaker Carter Smith, The Passenger stars Johnny Berchtold as Randy, a meek fast-food worker who becomes the unwilling passenger of his co-worker Benson (Kyle Gallner). After Benson commits an unspeakable act at work, he drives around the streets of their small town with Randy by his side. During their journey, Benson attempts to "save" Randy's life by having the young man meet with several people from his past. What ensues is a dark and oddly endearing story of violence, redemption, and friendship.

Smith is responsible for helming the subversive horror films The Ruins, Jamie Marks Is Dead, and Swallowed. With The Passenger, Smith provides a new thriller that makes the audience question the fabric of society. Smith recently sat down for an exclusive interview with Cbr, where he discussed the relationships in his films and The Passenger's surprise happy ending (of sorts).

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Cbr: What initially drew...

There’s more than one way to be a passenger in life, not all of which involve vehicles. That’s certainly the case when it comes to the protagonist in Carter Smith’s propulsive new thriller, which functions like a therapy session on wheels between a murderous shrink and an unwilling patient. If the two of them don’t exactly paint the town red during their would-be getaway, it’s only because their journey was precipitated by a shocking act of violence in their place of business and they now have to keep a low profile. “The Passenger” does as well, and proves sneakily effective with its low-key approach to several kinds of violence.

Before anything overt occurs, the film unsettles us via the color scheme of the grimy fast-food joint where Bradley (Johnny Berchtold) works: a mix of unappetizing yellow, orange, and brown that looks to have been designed...

Blumhouse Television will be hosting a Los Angeles special screening of their upcoming horror-thriller, The Passenger, and you could win the chance to see it earlier than everyone else. Several lucky fans in the Los Angeles area have the chance to win, as Blumhouse Television is giving away five free tickets, with each contest winner being able to bring a plus one. Read on to find out how to email us for tickets.

Update: This giveaway is now closed, but thank you for participating and watch out for our next giveaway!

The screening is all set to take place on Monday, July 31, 2023, with the screening due to start at 7:30pm and will be followed by a Q&a with The Passenger director Carter Smith and reception. The event will take place at Vidiots, with those wishing to enter required to be 18 years of age or older. All hopeful horror...

"If I'm gonna help you, then I can't have you getting in my way. Because it forces me to hurt you. I need you to work with me, not against me." Paramount and MGM+ have revealed an official trailer for an action thriller horror crossover called The Passenger, the latest from the genre filmmaker Carter Smith. Not to be confused with Jack Nicholson's 1975 film also called The Passenger. This is a Blumhouse production, produced by Jason Blum, that will be dropping on VOD directly in August. A man is forced to face his fears and confront his troubled past. He must find a way to survive when his co-worker snaps and goes on a violent killing spree, taking him along for the ride. This one stars Kyle Gallner, Johnny Berchtold, Liza Weil, with Merah Benoit and Morgana Shaw. An unsettling trailer that gets uncomfortable by the end, but that's the point of this film.

Blumhouse Television and MGM+ have a deal to produce eight original films together. A House on the Bayou, American Refugee, Torn Hearts, Unhuman, The Visitor, There’s Something Wrong the Children, and Unseen were part of this deal. The eighth film in the series is The Passenger, which Paramount Home Entertainment will be giving a digital and VOD release on August 4th, with an MGM+ release to follow later in the year. With the release date swifty approaching, a trailer for The Passenger has arrived online and can be seen in the embed above.

Directed by Carter Smith (The Ruins) from a screenplay by Jack Stanley, who has had multiple scripts featured on the Black List, The Passenger follows the journey two flawed, complex characters embark on after a sudden life altering event leads them to confront the troubles in their past to right the wrongs in their lives before time runs out.

About fifteen months ago, we heard that genre regular Kyle Gallner – whose credits include Red, The Haunting in Connecticut, Jennifer’s Body, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Red State, The Walking Dead, The Cleanse, Alien Code, Ghosts of War, Scream, and Smile, among others – had signed on to star in the dramatic thriller The Passenger for Blumhouse Television and MGM+. Now it has been announced that Paramount Home Entertainment is planning to give the film a digital and VOD release on August 4th, with an MGM+ release to follow later in the year.

The film is part of the Blumhouse Television and MGM+ deal to produce eight original films together. A House on the Bayou, American Refugee, Torn Hearts, Unhuman, The Visitor, There’s Something Wrong the Children, and Unseen were also part of this deal.

Directed by Carter Smith (The Ruins) from a screenplay by Jack Stanley, who has had...

It’s hard to believe that filmmaker Carter Smith is only three feature films into his filmography and hasn’t made a feature film in almost a decade. That all changed this summer. After delivering one of Sundance’s best short films in its forty year history in 2006’s Bugcrush (he followed that with the simmering Yearbook), Smith moved onto a studio horror film item in The Ruins in 2008 and Jamie Marks Is Dead in 2014. Using a backdrop he knows all so well in Maine, this past summer he reteamed with Jena Malone for the micro indie Swallowed – which was recently invited to the US in Progress in Wroclaw.…...

Yesterday, Nicholas Bell and I issued our Top 10 New Voices, and now we launch into our New Faces. They range in age, amount of screen time, and in this year’s batch of New Faces made memorable turns in supporting or principle character roles. Narrowly breaking into our top ten list we have names such as Sand Storm‘s Lammis Ammar and Spa Night‘s Haerry Kim. Here is our top ten countdown.

#10. Royalty Hightower – The Fits.

Move over Creed. The youngest featured actress to be profiled in our ten set was embraced in Park City as the next “it” personality and for good reason. In Anna Rose Holmer’s debut, Royalty Hightower’s Toni has a lot of volume – she physically inhabits a character who is at odds with her burgeoning teenagehood (a transition that is not always welcomed) in a performance that empathically comes across as non-actingly natural.

Exclusive: Bella Thorne, Rupert Grint, Jerry Ferrara titles among deal.

UK distribution outfits Icon Film Distribution (Ifd) and Alarm Pictures have struck a deal for Ifd to represent all future Alarm Pictures titles for digital, TV and other home entertainment exploitation.

The first titles scheduled for a Q1, 2016 release through Ifd’s digital partners include SXSW comedy Moonwalkers, starring Rupert Grint, Ron Perlman and Robert Sheehan, thriller Big Sky with Bella Thorne, and drama Club Life, featuring Jerry Ferrara, Jessica Szohr and Busta Rhymes.

Also on the slate are Dead Within, The Nymphets, Jamie Marks Is Dead, After The Fall and Enter The Dangerous Mind.

Alex Mandell, former Paramount and Wrekin Hill executive, and founder of Alarm Pictures, said: “I am incredibly excited to being working with the Icon team on my growing and rapidly expanding slate of content. 2016 is due to be a very busy year for Alarm and I am delighted that Icon are my...

While the issue of gender disparity in the film industry remains a hot topic issue, when it comes to the approach of Sundance Film Fest programmers, I’d argue that its equal opportunity friendly when servicing original newbie filmmaker voices. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the likes of Elizabeth Wood being harnessed into a Park City chairlift seat. With a docu feature and three short films under her belt, Wood managed to find executive producers in Killer Films and Catfish’s Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman service her biographical debut. The filmmaker named the Christine Vachon produced Kids as a life altering film and from the sounds of it — this might be a shit disturbing title as well. With Jamie Marks Is Dead‘s Morgan Saylor in the lead, White Girls went into production in late 2014 and is currently in the mixing stages. Michael Simmonds (The Lunchbox) was...

Receiving wall-to-wall support from the Sundance Institute participating in a fivesome of labs all in 2014 (the January Screenwriters Lab, Directors Lab, Music and Sound Design Lab at Skywalker Sound, Creative Producing Summit and finally, the June Screenwriters Lab), music-video director (Foster the People and the Shins) tandem Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert made ’14 a true year to connect with the Sundance folk by submitting Possibilia (a 16 parallel universe world with Zoe Jarman and Alex Karpovsky playing tumultuous lovers) in the New Frontier section. Featured in Filmmaker Magazine Top 25 Faces, production on Swiss Army Man took place this past July and surely got submitted in rough form. While their trio noteworthy topliners in Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Paul Dano suggest a certain clout, it’s the equal promise of visual cleverness (see this hypnotic award-winning video) and wide-ranging possibilities for where they might take the genre (it may draw comparisons...

Having flirted with the Sundance festivities with his 2009 selected short film Asshole, and in the sister Next Weekend event back in 2013 with his sophomore film, Chadd Harbold, who so far has several shorts and two features under his belt in Revenge for Jolly! (2012) and How to Be a Man (2013) has had his third film lined-up for a couple of years now. Shiloh Fernandez toplines Long Nights Short Mornings, a drama that some might compare to Steve McQueen’s Shame as it focalizes on one man’s desires in our social app hook up age. Production began in Brooklyn this past June, so this has had a little time to congeal.

Gist: An examination of the romantic life of a young man in New York City and his sometimes fleeting, sometimes profound experiences with the women he encounters.

Production Co./Producers: Dan Berk (Body), Michael W. Gray (Jamie Marks Is Dead), Robert Olsen,...

Each month, Amazon Prime adds new movies and TV shows to its streaming ranks (some exclusively). See what's new to the service this month, and have fun watching.Airplane II: The SequelBatmanBatman ReturnsThe Brothers BloomGimme ShelterHitchInto the Blue 2: The ReefJoeLars and the Real GirlLove StoryMulberry StreetMusic From Another RoomThe Object of BeautyThe Other End of the LineUlee's Gold The Way We Were February 5Air Force OneSteel MagnoliasTootsie February 9Mood Indigo (exclusive) February 12Sense & Sensibility February 15Soul of a Banquet (exclusive) February 1620,000 Days on Earth (exclusive) February 21Robocop (2014) February 22Finding Neverland February 23Orphan Black season two (exclusive) February 25Alpha & Omega February 26Believe Me (exclusive) February 27Clerks II February 28Hannibal season two (exclusive)Jamie Marks Is Dead (exclusive) ...

Fury (David Ayer)

[via the BFI]

The programme for the 58th BFI London Film Festival launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. The lineup includes highly anticipated fall titles including David Ayer’s Fury, Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher, the Sundance smash Whiplash, Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language 3D, The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, Jason Reitman’s Men, Women and Children and Jean-Marc Vallee’s Wild.

As Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals, it introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience, offering a compelling combination of red carpet glamour, engaged audiences and vibrant exchange. The Festival provides an essential profiling opportunity for films seeking global success at the start of the Awards season, promotes the careers of British and...

If paranormal horror movies have taught me anything, it’s that the dead never actually stay buried. Whether they become roaming zombies, lost souls or scorned ghosties, some “people” will do anything to avoid their eternal afterlife – and that’s the story of Jamie Marks Is Dead.

The Ruins helmer Carter Smith returns to direct his own personal story of life and death, the unfortunately premature ending of a young boy’s life, but Jamie’s story also plays directly into our own fears of wandering helplessly into a dark unknown. Man’s most common paranoia dreads whatever comes next, after our mortal souls have passed into some spiritual realm (let’s not even debate religion here), and young Jamie Marks helps confirm that even in death we’ll have those same, anxious fears – except we’re one step closer to uncovering life’s greatest mystery.

It all starts when...

At the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, we sat down with director Carter Smith to discuss his new film, Jamie Marks is Dead, which played in competition. Known for his well received 2006 short film Bugcrush and his 2008 feature debut, The Ruins, the director touches upon how he wanted to make a film that transcends simple definition by not adhering specifically to any particular rules of genre or theme. A coming of age story about loneliness and identity, it’s a story about friendships that shape convictions and values. Part ghost story, part coming out drama, part teenage angst, Smith also discusses how Jamie Marks isn’t a simple film to classify or justify as intended for one audience in particular. We also touch on casting (worth noting is the impressive group of young players in Cameron Monaghan, Noah Silver, Morgan Saylor, Madisen Beaty), inspirations, and the difficulties of getting projects made, and...

Exclusive: Judy Greer and 2014 Orange is the New Black Emmy nominee Natasha Lyonne are set for sisterly shenanigans in Fresno, the latest feature from director Jamie Babbit (But I’m A Cheerleader, Itty Bitty Titty Committee). The comedy follows lonely but stoic lesbian Martha (Lyonne), whose sister Shannon (Greer), a sex addict with no impulse control and a long history of poor decisions, winds up back in Fresno cleaning hotel rooms with her. When they accidentally kill a guest, the sisters are forced to confront their unpleasant co-dependent relationship.

Related: Emmys Q&A: ‘Orange Is The New Black’s Natasha Lyonne

Fresno is scripted by Community and Portlandia writer Karey Dornetto and is produced by Babbit’s longtime producer Andrea Sperling. Filming is set to begin next month. The film reunites Babbit with Lyonne, who starred in the helmer’s 1999 debut But I’m A Cheerleader. Babbit garnered SXSW and...

I've been looking forward to Jamie Marks is Dead for a while now, and only because Carter Smith's 2008 survival horror flick The Ruins is all kinds of excellent. Thankfully, we don't have to wait much longer, as Gravitas Ventures will debut this on on VOD and in limited threatens on August 29th. For now, we've got a clip.

It's not much, but it'll have to do.

The film stars Liv Tyler, Judy Greer, Noah Silver, Cameron Monaghan, Madisen Beaty, and Morgan Saylor.

Synopsis

Adam McCormick had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever.

Jamie Marks was a boy a lot like Adam, a boy no one paid much attention to—a boy almost no one would truly miss. And for the first time, Adam feels he has a purpose. Now, more than ever,...

The Deauville Film Festival heads have unveiled the make-up of the 40th edition of the fest, and naturally this coming September, we’ve got a Sundance-infused edition being readied for the North West coastal town. Celebrating several new American indie auteurs, noteworthy filmmakers from Park City include Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night), A.J. Edwards (The Better Angels), Mark Jackson (War Story) and Damien Chazelle’s much acclaimed Whiplash. Also found in the 14 In Comp slate we find Nathan Silver’s Uncertain Terms — which our Nicholas Bell called “uneasy, uncomfortable, and certainly uncertain”. Also on tap: the French premieres of Before I Go to Sleep and director Chris Messina’s Alex of Venice. Here is the full selection and you can make a detour here to see who is being celebrated at the fest.

In Competition:

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Ana Lily Amirpour

I Origins,...

Just prior to its theatrical release (this atmospherically unclenched young adult ensemble piece drops August 29th), the Gravitas Ventures folks have given us an exclusive clip to Carter Smith’s Jamie Marks is Dead. In a high-school yard backdrop, the sequence below features Morgan Saylor and Cameron Monaghan (among our Sundance 2014′s Top 10 New Faces list) wrestling with the gymnastics of firstly, confronting problems head on and, in this case, managing the situation of the not so dearly departed.

If horror has taught us anything, it’s that you should proceed with caution when interacting with the spirits of the dead. However, that doesn’t seem to be of Cameron Monaghan‘s concern, as evident by the first trailer for Carter Smith‘s “Jamie Marks Is Dead.” Based on the novel “One for Sorrow” by Christopher Barzak, the film centers on the events that follow after the corpse of Jamie Marks (played by round spectacle-wearing Noah Silver, who may I say looks distractingly like “Order of the Phoenix” era Daniel Radcliffe), a high school student who was often bullied if not ignored, is [...]

The post Watch: Cameron Monaghan and Morgan Saylor in First ‘Jamie Marks Is Dead’ Trailer appeared first on Up and Comers.

The horror feature Jamie Marks is Dead had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Now, the film is slated to release through video-on-demand and in a few UK theatres in late August. This moody film stars Cameron Monaghan ("Shameless"), Noah Silver, Liv Tyler and Judy Greer. The film's first trailer is below. The clip shows Jamie Marks (Silver) haunting a moor. Adam (Monaghan) and his girlfriend, Gracie, investigate Mark's apparition and this spectre has a story to tell. Now, Marks will not rest until revenge is taken against those who have wronged him. The trailer is very atmospheric. The ghost appears in the night and in gloom. This spectre looks almost colourless as he moves about. Fans of horror, or ghost stories are encouraged to take a look at the spook below. Release Date: August 29th, 2014 (Limited Theatrical). Director: Carter Smith. Writers: Christopher Barzak and Carter Smith.

August 29th is too damn far away. And yet well be forced to wait the next sixplus weeks before we can actually watch one of the most buzzed about indie flicks of the year Carter Smiths (The Ruins) insanely promising ghost story Jamie Marks is Dead. The flick debuted to mixed emotions at this years Sundance Film Festival but Im not convinced the few negative reviews that surfaced have done the film justice especially when considering the escalating hype the pic is taking on.

Gravitas Ventures has released a trailer for Jamie Marks is Dead, opening in select theaters on August 29th. Shameless co-star Cameron Monaghan leads the cast which also includes Noah Silver, Live Tyler (The Leftovers) and Judy Greer (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes). The film is an adaptation of Christopher Barzak’s “One for the Sorrow.” Carter Smith of The Ruins directs.

The post Jamie Marks is Dead Gets a Trailer… appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Hot on the heels of the one-sheet premiere for director Carter Smith's follow-up to his 2008 release The Ruins, entitled Jamie Marks Is Dead, we now have the film's trailer courtesy of Gravitas Ventures, who will open it on VOD and in limited theaters August 29th.

The film stars Liv Tyler, Judy Greer, Noah Silver, Cameron Monaghan, Madisen Beaty, and Morgan Saylor.

Synopsis

Adam McCormick had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever.

Jamie Marks was a boy a lot like Adam, a boy no one paid much attention to—a boy almost no one would truly miss. And for the first time, Adam feels he has a purpose. Now, more than ever, Jamie needs a friend. But the longer Adam holds on to Jamie’s ghost, the longer he keeps his friend...

"Who did it?" Today's indie trailer is for the murder mystery thriller Jamie Marks Is Dead, from writer / director Carter Smith, which first premiered at Sundance 2014 earlier this year. The film stars Cameron Monaghan as a high school student who meets the ghost of a murdered teenager and attempts to help him put together the crime. There are some odd appearances by Liv Tyler and Judy Greer in funky supporting roles, along with Noah Silver as Jamie Marks. While this starts out like a new take on a murder concept like Rian Johnson's Brick, it spins into the ghost territory and seems to turn into too much of a paranormal horror for my own tastes. I'm curious about it, but not sure if it'll be any good. Give this a look for yourself. Watch the official Us theatrical trailer for Carter Smith's Jamie Marks Is Dead, in high...

Director Carter Smith's follow-up to his 2008 release The Ruins, entitled Jamie Marks Is Dead, has gotten itself a brand spanking new one-sheet via Gravitas Ventures, who will open it on VOD and in limited theaters August 29th.

The film stars Liv Tyler, Judy Greer, Noah Silver, Cameron Monaghan, Madisen Beaty, and Morgan Saylor.

Synopsis

Adam McCormick had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever.

Jamie Marks was a boy a lot like Adam, a boy no one paid much attention to—a boy almost no one would truly miss. And for the first time, Adam feels he has a purpose. Now, more than ever, Jamie needs a friend. But the longer Adam holds on to Jamie’s ghost, the longer he keeps his friend tethered to a world where he no longer belongs.

Carter Smith is back on the genre scene with Jamie Marks is Dead, his first feature film since directing the under appreciated nature-run-amok film The Ruins. This effort is decidedly less graphic, and perhaps more personal, than The Ruins. But it's a haunting bit of work with a few well-timed scares. Gravitas Ventures is bringing Jamie Marks is Dead to select theaters and VOD on August 29th, we're learning today.

The post ‘The Ruins’ Director Returns With ‘Jamie Marks is Dead’ This August appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

The 26th edition of New York’s Lgbt festival NewFest will run from July 24-29 and features 16 narrative and five documentary features.

The New York City premiere of Karim Aïnouz’s Futuro Beach opens NewFest, which is being staged in partnership with Outfest and the Film Society Of Lincoln Center, while Bruce Labruce’s Gerontophila is the closing night selection.

The roster includes Stephan Haupt’s 2014 Berlinale Teddy Award winner The Circle, Patrik-Ian Polk’s Blackbird, Carter Smith’s Sundance entry Jamie Marks Is Dead and the world premiere of Kate Kunath’s We Came To Sweat: The Legend Of Starlite, a documentary about Brooklyn’s oldest gay bar.

“This marks the fourth year of having NewFest at the Film Society and we couldn’t be happier to continue our collaboration with Outfest,” said Film Society Of Lincoln Center’s executive director Lesli Klainberg.

“Lgbt films and filmmakers are a vital part of cinema worldwide, and we are...

Sure, erratic CIA agent Carrie Mathison and charming traitor Nicholas Brody were the main focus of Homeland's first three seasons — but many viewers also had a secondary fascination with Brody’s teenage daughter, Dana, who became something of a lightning rod for critics and fans distracted by her sullen, erratic, and, dare we say, teenage behavior. Morgan Saylor, the actress who played Dana Brody, says she was largely able to avoid the hype and the haters, managing to live a relatively normal life as a high-school student in the Atlanta suburbs when she wasn’t shooting. “I was more focused on my math tests” than on being a TV star, she tells Vulture, adding that she went to football games and prom like everyone else.After graduation, Saylor moved to New York to pursue a full-time acting career, and later this year, she’ll co-star in Sundance entry Jamie Marks Is Dead...

Some Sundance titles take their sweet time making a deal — just this week we’ve had two other 2014 Sundance title announcements. Unlike, say Michael Tully’s Ping Pong Summer, which Gravitas Ventures picked up when there was still snow in Park City, it is now Carter Smith’s long-awaited sophomore pic that has been snapped up by the day & date label. Indiewire reports that Jamie Marks Is Dead will receive a theatrical/VOD release on August 29th.

Gist: Based on the novel One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak, in a wintry small town, the body of a teenager named Jamie Marks is found by the river. Adam, the star of his cross-country team, becomes fascinated with Jamie—a boy nobody really knew or interacted with, except occasionally to bully him.

Worth Noting: Judy Greer and Liv Tyler are among the supporting cast.

Do We Care?: A hard sell for...

Some quick news is coming in regarding director Carter Smith's follow-up to his 2008 release The Ruins, entitled Jamie Marks Is Dead. Gravitas Ventures has acquired the rights to the flick and will open it on VOD and in limited theaters August 29.

The film stars Liv Tyler, Judy Greer, Noah Silver, Cameron Monaghan, Madisen Beaty, and Morgan Saylor.

Synopsis

Adam McCormick had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever.

Jamie Marks was a boy a lot like Adam, a boy no one paid much attention to—a boy almost no one would truly miss. And for the first time, Adam feels he has a purpose. Now, more than ever, Jamie needs a friend. But the longer Adam holds on to Jamie’s ghost, the longer he keeps his friend tethered to a world where he no longer belongs.

Sundance entry and Outfest 2014 competitor "Jamie Marks Is Dead," a teen horror thriller written and directed by famed fashion photographer and filmmaker Carter Smith ("Bugcrush," "The Ruins"), has been picked up by Gravitas Ventures for U.S. distribution. Read More: Sundance Review: 'Jamie Marks is Dead' is a Poetic but Flawed Meditation on Human Connection In the film, a tragic death forges a supernatural bond among three small town teenagers, played by TV-kid-veterans Cameron Monaghan ("Shameless"), Morgan Saylor ("Homeland"), and Noah Silver ("The Borgias"). Fifteen year old Adam McCormick's (Monaghan) life hasn't been the same since classmate Gracie Highsmith (Saylor) found Jamie Marks' (Silver) dead body at the edge of the river. The town is shocked by the news, but as speculation swirls, it becomes clear that they knew as little about Jamie as they do about the circumstances surrounding his death. Adam becomes fixated on Jamie's death and gradually a deep bond.

The company has picked up North American rights from ICM Partners to Stephen Belber’s drama starring Patrick Stewart, Carla Gugino and Matthew Lillard.

The story, based on Belber’s Tony-nominated stage play, premiered at Tribeca and follows a couple who visit a renowned dance instructor ostensibly to interview him about his past.

David Permut, Matt Ratner and Rick Rosenthal produced while David Beitchman, Adam Brawer, Chris Mangano, Nick Morton and Lawrence Kopeikin are the executive producers.

Gravitas Ventures has picked up Us rights from UTA to fashion photographer and filmmaker Carter Smith’s Jamie Marks Is Dead. The teen horror thriller is based on Christopher Barzak’s novel One For Sorrow and premiered at Sundance. The cast includes Cameron Monaghan, Morgan Saylor and Liv Tyler. Verisimilitude’s Alexander Orlovsky and Hunter Gray produced with Jacob Jaffke, Omri Bezalel and Smith. Gravitas has set an August 29 theatrical and digital release.McN The Orchard...

Just a warning, the trailer for Jamie Marks Is Dead opens with a group of teen boys peeing on another teen boy, so if that’s not your thing… Look, this movie looks creepy as hell. There is a ghost who only wears tighty whities. There are pedophiles? Maybe? And other ghosts who kill their families a lot? I don’t know, it seems like there is a lot going on in this movie, but it has a good cast led by Cameron Monaghan, who is pretty great in Shameless, and it is written and directed by Carter Smith, who made killer plants scary in The Ruins.

Here is the synopsis:

In a wintry small town, the body of a teenager named Jamie Marks is found by the river. Adam, the star of his cross-country team, becomes fascinated with Jamie-a boy nobody really knew or interacted with, except occasionally to bully him.

Coming off The Ruins, director Carter Smith returned with the smaller-scale effort Jamie Marks is Dead, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Based on the novel One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak, the story follows ghost of a deceased teenager as he influences the lives of those he left behind. Although it hasn’t picked up U.S. [...]...

The story of a teenage boy who sees the ghost of a fellow classmate doesn't exactly inspire excitement but the fact that said story is directed by Carter Smith, a relative newcomer who managed to take the ridiculous premise of killer plants and managed to deliver an impressive horror movie in The Ruins, definitely gets my attention.

Six years after the release of The Ruins, Smith returns this year with Jamie Marks Is Dead. Adapted by Smith from Christopher Barzak's acclaimed coming-of-age novel "One for Sorrow," it's the story of Jamie Marks (Noah Silver), a quiet, shy boy who turns up dead. Adam (Cameron Monaghan) and Gracie (Morgan Saylor) both see Jamie's ghost but whereas Gracie wants nothing to do with it, Adam finds himself drawn to the ghost and slowly beings [Continued ...]...

Newt Gingrich calls gays fascists, Benedict Cumberbatch is Richard III, segregation returns to the South

Debbie Harry has confirmed that she likes men and women. The blond legend says that while most of her lasting relationships have been with men, the rumors of her liking women is true. “Yeah. Let’s say women are more sensual.”

Vitaly Milonov, who wrote St. Petersburg’s original gay propaganda law, is now calling for the formation of a “morality police” that would regulate homosexuality, gambling and other violations of “traditional values.” Which sounds a lot like what they have in nations like Saudi Arabia.

Captain American: The Winter Soldier broke all April box office records, pulling in $96.2 million. Counting the overseas haul for two weeks, the film has grossed $303 million since opening.

Writing about Brendan Eich, Frank Bruni says that equality is now the default in the world. “No, I’m referring to...

Director Carter Smith follows up his 2008 release The Ruins with Jamie Marks Is Dead, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival; and right now we have your first look at the trailer.

The film stars Liv Tyler, Judy Greer, Noah Silver, Cameron Monaghan, Madisen Beaty, and Morgan Saylor.

Synopsis

Adam McCormick had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever.

Jamie Marks was a boy a lot like Adam, a boy no one paid much attention to—a boy almost no one would truly miss. And for the first time, Adam feels he has a purpose. Now, more than ever, Jamie needs a friend. But the longer Adam holds on to Jamie’s ghost, the longer he keeps his friend tethered to a world where he no longer belongs... and the weaker Adam’s...

​Franck Khalfoun is getting ready to shoot Amityville, a new film in the "Amityville Horror" series that he penned for Dimension Films and Blumhouse Productions. The Wrap is reporting today that Cameron Monaghan of Shameless and the upcoming Jamie Marks is Dead is set to co-star alongside Jennifer Jason Leight and Bella Thorne.

The post Amityville Seizes Cameron Monaghan of Shameless appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Exclusive: France’s Celluloid Dreams has picked up international rights to Sundance competitor Jamie Marks Is Dead and is launching sales at Filmart.

Carter Smith’s follow-up to The Ruins is a supernatural drama adapted from Christopher Barzak novel One For Sorrow.

The film centres on teenagers Adam and Gracie, played by Cameron Monaghan and Morgan Saylor, who are visited by the ghost of their recently deceased classmate, Jamie Marks (Noah Silver). Co-stars include Judy Greer and Liv Tyler.

Celluloid Dreams president Hengameh Panahi said: “We are delighted to welcome Carter Smith under our Directors’ Label.

“This is a perfect acquisition where all the elements are miraculously aligned; an amazingly singular talented director to promote worldwide, plus the immensely creative and dedicated producers Alex Orlovsky and Hunter Gray of Verisimilitude.”

Other producers include Jacob Jaffke, Omri Bezalel and Carter Smith from Verisimilitude Production, which made the film in association with Mountaintop Productions, Kings County...

Jamie Marks Is Dead

Director: Carter Smith

Writer: Carter Smith

Producers: Alex Orlovsky, Hunter Gray, Jacob Jaffke, Omri Bezalel, Carter Smith

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Cameron Monaghan, Noah Silver, Morgan Saylor, Madisen Beaty, Judy Greer, Liv Tyler

Much like the fate of those featured in his feature debut (The Ruins) the adults fall by the wayside and the teens in this long-awaited sophomore film are left to their own devices. Tonally speaking, Jamie Marks Is Dead is compelling because it works from some oddball premise material, but atmospherically with generous amounts of creepiness and with plenty of subtext — perhaps not Bugcrush sophistication, we find a Carter Smith in master-mode.

Gist: Based on Christopher Barzak’s novel (One for Sorrow), Adam McCormick (Monaghan) had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever. Jamie...

I’m Here

Director: Anders Morgenthaler

Writer: Anders Morgenthaler

Producers: Marie Gade Denessen, Julie Lind-Holm

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Kim Basinger, Jordan Prentice, Peter Stormare

While his 2006 film, Princess, starring Thure Lindhardt, received a great deal of attention after premiering in the Director’s Fortnight sidebar at Cannes, Anders Morgenthaler’s 2007 sophomore feature, Echo (with Kim Bodnia) never received theatrical release outside of Denmark. After working in television since then, he’s completed his third film feature, dealing with infant prostitution in Eastern Europe. And starring Kim Basinger. Come now, that sounds absolutely delectable. While the original title, Petit was preferable to the generic sounding I’m Here, this sounds like an excellent offbeat showcase for the beautiful Basinger, and we see Peter Stormare is once again part of Morgenthaler’s cast. This could go either way, but it’s definitely a project high on our radar.

Gist:...

Director Carter Smith follows up his 2008 release The Ruins with Jamie Marks Is Dead, which premiered last month at the Sundance Film Festival. While we wait for release details, check out a creepy clip and the festival poster for the paranormal flick!

The film stars Liv Tyler, Judy Greer, Noah Silver, Cameron Monaghan, Madisen Beaty, and Morgan Saylor.

Synopsis

Adam McCormick had just turned fifteen when the body was found in the woods. It is the beginning of an autumn that will change his life forever.

Jamie Marks was a boy a lot like Adam, a boy no one paid much attention to—a boy almost no one would truly miss. And for the first time, Adam feels he has a purpose. Now, more than ever, Jamie needs a friend. But the longer Adam holds on to Jamie’s ghost, the longer he keeps his friend tethered to a world where he no longer belongs…...

They range in age, amount of screen time, supporting or principle characters, and have previous (television work, stage and or bit parts in Hollywood/Indiewood productions or next to no film experience at all. In essence these folks have a special gift and have essentially broken out. I had the fortune of having a team of four journalists (Caitlin Coder, Jordan M. Smith, Nicholas Bell and myself) covering the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and when you got a small army covering a major fest it ensures that fine performances from a new crop of acting talents don’t go undetected. Michael B. Jordan, Robin Weigert and Miles Teller (who follows up The Speculator Now with a dramatically and physically charged perf in the marvelous Whiplash) were just some of the new faces included on our top list last year.Worthy mnetions that did not break into our Top 10 include Fishing Without Nets‘ Abdikani Muktar,...

2014 Sundance Film Festival Coverage: El: Eric Lavallee. Nb: Nicholas Bell. Cc: Caitlin Coder. Js: Jordan M. Smith

Special Screening (1)

Nympho Vol. I – (El: ✮✮✮✮)

U.S. Dramatic Competition (16)

Camp X-Ray – (Nb: ✮✮✮)

Cold in July – (Nb: ✮✮✮ 1/2)

Dear White People – (Nb: ✮✮✮)

Fishing Without Nets – (El: ✮✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮✮) + (Nb: ✮✮✮)

God’s Pocket – (Cc: ✮✮ 1/2)

Happy Christmas – (Cc: ✮✮✮ 1/2) + (Js: ✮✮✮ 1/2) + (Nb: ✮✮ 1/2)

Hellion – (El: ✮✮) + (Jm: ✮✮✮1/2)

Infinitely Polar Bear – (El: ✮✮✮)

Jamie Marks Is Dead – (El: ✮✮✮) + (Js: ✮1/2) + (Nb: ✮✮ 1/2)

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter – (Js: ✮✮✮ 1/2)

Life After Beth – (El: ✮ 1/2) + (Nb: ✮ )

Low Down – (Cc: ✮✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮✮)

The Skeleton Twins - (Nb: ✮✮✮1/2) + (El: ✮✮✮1/2) + (Cc: ✮✮✮1/2) (Review)

The Sleepwalker – (El: ✮✮✮ 1/2) + (Js: ✮✮✮1/2) + (Cc: ✮✮✮✮) + (Nb: ✮✮✮)

Song One – (El: ✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮1/2)

Wish I Was Here – (Cc: ✮✮)

U.S. Docu Competition (16)

Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory (Js: ✮✮✮)

All the Beautiful Things

Captivated The Trials of Pamela Smart: (El: ✮✮✮)

The Case Against 8

Cesar’s Last Fast

Dinosaur 13 – (El: ✮✮) + (Js: ✮✮) (Review)

E-team (Js: ✮✮✮)

Fed Up

The Internet’s Own Boy:...

With writer / director Carter Smith’s supernatural horror/love story Jamie Marks Is Dead having just played the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, we thought it time to chat with the filmmaker regarding the feature, as well as to bring you three exclusive stills and a clip.

Based on the Christopher Barzak novel One for Sorrow, Jamie Marks Is Dead documents the discovery of the body of the titular character (portrayed by Noah Silver) in a small wintry town. Adam (Cameron Monaghan), the star of his cross-country team, becomes fascinated with Jamie, a boy nobody really knew or interacted with, except occasionally to bully him. When Jamie’s ghost begins to appear both to Adam and Gracie (Morgan Saylor), the classmate who discovered the body, Adam is caught between two worlds. He has a budding romance with Gracie, but he also feels a deep connection to Jamie, who...

0:00-6:10 – Introduction, we’re at Sundance, the weather was great, etc.

6:10-1:19:00 – Sundance mini-reviews (plus signs are the ones we suggest you remember for later):

“Cold in July” “Dear White People” “Infinitely Polar Bear” “Jamie Marks Is Dead” “Life After Beth” “The Skeleton Twins” + “The Sleepwalker” “Whiplash” + “No No: A Dockumentary” “God Help the Girl” “Calvary” + “Hits” + “Laggies” “The Raid 2″ + “The Trip to Italy” + “The Voices” + “Wish I Was Here” “Boyhood” + “The Double” “Locke” + “Land Ho!” “Listen Up Philip” + “Obvious Child” + “Ping Pong Summer” “The Babadook” + “Cooties” “The Guest” “What We Do in the Shadows” +

1:19:00-1:20:30 – Wrap-up and goodbyes

Qotw: What day-to-day activity could be the plot of an action movie?

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