News

The era of the aged action hero continues, with Léon: The Professional star and genre icon Jean Reno the latest star to add his name to the ever-growing roster. Following in the footsteps of Taken star Liam Neeson and The Old Man’s Jeff Bridges, Reno will lead the upcoming revenge thriller, The Butler, which finds the French-Spanish actor starring as a man with a violent past who has turned his life around in the name of service. Of course, his quiet life could never last, and he is soon forced to once again call upon his particular set of skills when his life, and the lives of the family he now buttles for, are threatened. Which sounds very unlike 2013's The Butler starring Forest Whitaker...

The project is all set to be directed by Tom Edmunds (Dead in a Week: Or Your Money Back), working from a script written by Craig McInnes,...

Léon: The Professional and Ronin actor Jean Reno is ready to take out the trash in The Butler, an upcoming action thriller from Dead in a Week: Or Your Money Back director Tom Edmunds. According to Variety, the project finds Reno dusting off a twisty revenge tale with over-the-top action and “upstairs/downstairs family drama.” Expect more casting announcements as the feature-length endeavor develops.

The Butler could become a hot ticket at Berlin’s EFM (European Film Market) festival next week, with principal photography arranged in Ireland for the early summer. As an esteemed member of the action genre’s old guard, Jean Reno is always ready to throw down in the face of danger. In The Butler, Reno plays a retired World War I commando who surrendered his fatigues for a quiet and orderly life as a family butler. Still, when mobsters disrupt his tranquil life to collect an unpaid debt,...

Jean Reno is attached to headline the action-thriller “The Butler,” directed by Tom Edmunds (“Dead in a Week: Or Your Money Back”). The stylish period film will deliver a fresh twist on the revenge thriller genre, combining high-octane action with upstairs/downstairs family drama.

Additional casting will be announced shortly.

Daniel Baur’s K5 Intl., whose recent films include Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga,” has boarded “The Butler” as its international sales agent and will commence sales at Berlinale’s European Film Market. Principal photography is anticipated to commence in Ireland early summer 2025.

In “The Butler,” Reno takes on the role of a retired World War I commando who has traded a life of violence for the serene routine of a family butler. When mobsters arrive to collect on an unpaid debt, his tranquil world is torn apart, forcing him to confront his past in a pulse-pounding showdown.

Exclusive: Christopher Eccleston (The Leftovers) has signed on to star alongside Daisy Ridley, Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Stephen Graham in Disney+’s upcoming film Young Woman and the Sea, from Kon-Tiki director Joachim Rønning, which is currently in production.

The film based on the book by Glenn Stout chronicles the daring journey of Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle (Ridley), who in 1926 became the first woman ever to swim across the English Channel. The daughter of a German butcher from Manhattan, Ederle was a competitive swimmer who won gold in the 1924 Olympics. She attempted to cross The Channel after first swimming 22 miles from Battery Park in New York to Sandy Hook, NJ, setting a record that stood for 81 years.

Jeff Nathanson adapted the screenplay for the drama, which Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman are producing.

Eccleston is a BAFTA Award nominee who has previously been seen in films including Legend, Dead in a Week Or Your Money Back,...

Zak Brilliant’s Republic Film Distribution to release title in Feb 2019.

Republic Film Distribution has picked up UK rights to James Gardner’s festival hit Jellyfish from Bankside Films.

The film will have a platform release in UK cinemas from February 8.

Republic is the UK label run by Zak Brilliant, former head of distribution at the now-defunct Icon Film Distribution. Republic also recently handled the UK release of Tom Edmunds’ Dead In A Week: Or Your Money Back.

Bankside has also sealed a UK home entertainment deal for the film with Signature Films. Vertical Entertainment previously bought Us rights.

Jellyfish...