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Haley Bennett as the Widow Clicquot

From Jawbone, the story of a down on his luck former youth boxing champion struggling with addiction, director Thomas Napper abruptly shifts his focus to 19th century France. Widow Clicquot, based on Tilar J Mazzeo's book of the same name, tells the story of the 'Grande Dame of Champagne,' Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, played by Haley Bennett.

Her arranged marriage to François (Tom Sturridge) a young member of a winemaking family, is a union blessed by love. In the wake of his untimely death, the Widow Clicquot defies tradition and continues to run the fledgling wine business. Despite hostility from the other champagne makers, all men, she revolutionises the champagne business and becomes one of the great entrepreneurial women behind the Veuve Clicquot champagne brand.

Love at first sight

In conversation with Eye For Film, Napper and Bennett discussed plucking, ironically, an iconic woman...

Amid the glut of corporate biopics we’ve had on our screens of late — “Air,” “BlackBerry,” “Flamin’ Hot” and so on — one for leading French champagne house Veuve Clicquot is more appealing than most. Champagne itself is sexier than a running shoe or a smartphone, for one thing, while the sinuous vineyards of 19th-century Reims are a more seductive setting for a brand-building story than a squat office block in Beaverton. “Widow Clicquot” certainly makes a virtue of its milieu and rolling landscape, richly shot throughout in dusky earth tones, and more substantively, of the rather romantic lore surrounding the widow in question.

Aged just 27 when her husband died, leaving her his ailing winery, Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot resisted buyout offers from male competitors, instead transforming it into a thriving international champagne business — the first of its kind to be run by a woman. All that, and she allegedly invented rosé champagne,...

Many of cinema’s hard men are notorious softies in real life. Ray Winstone may well be one of those, even if he admits to not looking particularly approachable.

“My wife always says to me, ‘Why do you look like you’re going to kill someone when you walk into a room?'” he tells Variety. “But I don’t mean to!”

Winstone’s long-standing status as the go-to man to depict violent approach-with-caution individuals or British mob bosses continues to serve him, however, as “The Gentleman” — Guy Ritchie’s eight-part Netflix spinoff of his 2019 gangster comedy feature of the same name — proves. In the series, awash in the classic Ritchie mix of guns, drugs, violence, aristocrats, boxing and tweed, Winstone stars as a gangland patriarch and head of a massive weed-growing empire. Because of course he does — who else would you cast as an elder statesman than the actor...

Vertigo Releasing is delighted to share the new trailer and artwork for thriller American Star, which is out now in UK Cinemas & on Digital Platforms. Directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego, the film, as its name suggests, boasts an all-star cast of Golden Globe Award-Winning actor Ian McShane, Fanny Ardent, Nora Arnezeder and Thomas Kretschmann. American Star is written by Nacho Faerna who wrote the screen play for The Ugliest Woman in the World (Méliès d’Argent 2000 at Fantasporto Festival, “Best Film” at Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival 2000). The film is produced by Michael Elliott, known for Catch Me Daddy (2014) and BAFTA-nominated Jawbone (2017). An assassin on final assignment arrives in Fuerteventura to kill a man he has never met. But the target is delayed. Instead of following protocol he stays, drawn to the island, the people, and a ghostly shipwreck. When the target returns, the world has shifted. Before everything was simple,...

Golden Globe winner Ian McShane stars in American Star, a character drama mixed with a tense hitman thriller. McShane and director Gonzalo López-Gallego enjoyed creative freedom throughout the making of the film. The movie was shot on location in the Canary Islands, providing a beautiful setting that plays a significant role in the story.

Ian McShane returns to the world of assassins in a different fashion with American Star. The Golden Globe winner stars in the thriller as Wilson, a hitman sent to the island of Fuerteventura to take down an unknown target, though after meeting a local who opens his eyes to the tranquility of the area, he finds himself contemplating his next steps.

Alongside McShane, the ensemble American Star cast includes Army of the Dead's Nora Arnezeder, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny's Thomas Kretschmann, The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon's Adam Dagaitis and Fanny Ardant.

Robbie Robertson, the founding guitarist for The Band, has passed away. According to Robertson’s longtime manager Jared Levine, the world-famous musician passed away on Wednesday. He was 80.

Born Jaime Robbie Robertson on July 5, 1974, in Toronto, the Hall of Famer played on The Band’s classic hits like “The Weight,” “Rag Mama Rag,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Atlantic City,” “Jawbone,” and more. Nominated for five Grammy awards, Robertson arrived on the music scene at the influential age of 16, when he played for Ronnie Hawkins’ The Hawks. He helped found the Americana genre and was Bob Dylan’s guitarist on the “electric” world tour in 1966.

The Hall of Fame released an official statement about Robertson’s passing, which you can read below:

The architect and primary songwriter of The Band, 1994 inductee Robbie Robertson changed the course of popular music in the late 1960s. Though born and raised in Canada,...

Exclusive: Haley Bennett is set to star as the titular role in Clicquot from writers Erin Dignam (Land, Submergence) and Christopher Monger (Temple Grandin).

Directed by Thomas Napper (Jawbone), the pic chronicles the gritty journey in the early years of the Veuve Clicquot vineyard in 19th century France and brings to life the fascinating young woman behind the iconic orange label. The feature is based on the novel The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It by Tilar J. Mazzeo. Production began in the French regions of Chablis and Reims on October 24.

As Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, Bennett will be joined by cast members Tom Sturridge (DC Comics and Netflix’s The Sandman, Irma Vep), Sam Riley (upcoming Firebrand, Maleficent), Leo Suter (Netflix’s Vikings: Valhalla), and Anson Boon (Pistol, 1917).

Christina Weiss Lurie (Persuasion) will produce alongside Bennett, with Joe Wright and John Bernard as EPs.

Boxing has always transferred well to the screen because it is an individual sport with individual stories. Boxers may have family, friends, managers, and a training corner, but aside from ringside yells of "cover-up!" and "go to the body!" these fighters are on their own. This isn't tennis or golf, and the stakes are higher than returning your opponent's serve or knocking a small white ball into a hole. This is boxing, a game of rules-based violence that sanitizes aggression into a test of speed, power, tactics, and strategy.

It is not just the ring that's fertile dramatic ground, either. Much of the intensity comes from these fighters' lives, which are often marked by crime, poverty, and hardship. It is no wonder that cinema has seen so many boxing films in its 120+ year history, producing a great deal of wheat but also a fair amount of chaff. To help you navigate this broad oeuvre,...

Exclusive: Blade star Wesley Snipes and his Maandi House Studios have partnered with Gifted Rebels and Pcb Entertainment on a new graphic novel, titled The Exiled.

The comic will follow Detective Niles “Roach” Washington as he pursues a serial killer in the aftermath of a deadly gas attack. As the killer rips the spines from his victims, using tools over 5,000 years old, the world outcasts Roach for his theories. But his instincts keep pushing him forward. With enemies on all sides, and within, he wades into the darkness to find the killer and uncovers Earth’s darkest secret.

Gifted Rebels’ Adam Lawson is adapting the comic book script from a story he created with Snipes and Pcb Entertainment’s President Keith Arem, with Gabriel “Eskivo” Santos (Knightwraith) doing the art and Valentina Bianconi handling the colors. Among The Exiled‘s unique features are hidden codes, which...

AMC has picked up hit BBC One drama “The Salisbury Poisonings,” based on the true story of the 2018 Novichok poisonings in the U.K.

The Fremantle-distributed drama stars Anne-Marie Duff (“His Dark Materials”), Rafe Spall (“Trying”), MyAnna Buring (“The Witcher”) and Jonny Harris (“Jawbone”). It tells the story of the British city of Salisbury, which became the epicentre of one of the country’s biggest political events of the century when former double agent and spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned via a lethal nerve agent called Novichok, which can kill 20,000 people with just half a teaspoon.

Within four days, hundreds of traces were found across the city, and, when things were thought to be under control, a perfume bottle containing the nerve agent was discovered, throwing the investigation into disarray.

The four-part series, which enjoyed the biggest overnight launch of a new drama in the U.

The speakers are Elizabeth Karlsen of Number 9 Films, Mike Elliott of Emu Films and Andrew Lowe of Element Pictures.

This Screen Talk webinar is taking place on Thursday May 7 at 15.00 BST. Three leading independent producers will share experiences and debate ways the UK can restart production as it moves out of lockdown. How can insurance issues be surmounted? Will actors, crew and directors still be available? What might a ‘Covid-safe’ shoot look like?

Click here to register

The speakers are Elizabeth Karlsen of Number 9 Films, Mike Elliott of Emu Films and Andrew Lowe of Element Pictures.

The 30-minute discussion...

Siegfried Sassoon biopic to begin shooting next month.

Bankside Films has taken worldwide sales rights to Terence Davies’ upcoming biopic Benediction, which will see Jack Lowden star as First World War poet Siegfried Sassoon.

The London-based sales agent will be introducing the project to buyers for the first time at the European Film Market (Efm) in Berlin this week.

Shooting is set to begin in March in the West Midlands on the film, which will explore the turbulent life of Sassoon – a war poet who survived the horrors of the Western Front and was decorated for his bravery but who...

Anne-Marie Duff and Rafe Spall will star in “Salisbury,” the fact-based BBC drama about the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the southwestern English city.

Duff (“Shameless”) and Spall (“The War of the Worlds”) will star alongside Mark Addy (“Game of Thrones”), Annabel Scholey (“Britannia”), Johnny Harris (“Jawbone”) and MyAnna Buring (“Ripper Street”).

The alleged assassination attempt on the Skripals, using the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, caused an international uproar. Britain accused Russia of being behind the attack, which the Skripals survived, but the Kremlin denied involvement. The incident led to the pullout of diplomats from Russia by several Western countries in solidarity with Britain.

The three-part TV drama will focus on the impact the incident had on the local community and recount the story of how ordinary people and public services reacted to the crisis on their doorstep.

“It’s a privilege...

The War of the Worlds star Rafe Spall and His Dark Materials actress Anne-Marie Duff have been cast in BBC Two’s dramatization of the Novichok poisonings in the historic British city of Salisbury in March 2018.

Also joining the cast of Dancing Ledge Productions’ Salisbury are Game Of Thrones actor Mark Addy and Ripper Street‘s MyAnna Buring, as well as Annabel Scholey and Johnny Harris.

Filming has begun on the three-part miniseries, which is written by McMafia writers Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn. It will tell the story of how ordinary people reacted to the crisis as their city became the focus of an unprecedented national emergency when Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned by Russian operatives.

Salisbury is executive produced by Les Miserables producer Chris Carey and Dancing Ledge CEO Laurence Bowen along with Patterson and Lawn and the BBC’s Lucy Richer.

The report was by Creative England and the Good Economy Consultancy.

Growth and job creation in the UK film industry is being held back by a lack of understanding about the potential of creative business, according to a report by Creative England.

Put together with the Good Economy Consultancy, the report examined the impact of Creative England’s five-year specialist investment programme across the UK creative industries.

The report highlights the barriers to finance creative businesses still often face and suggests most are “excluded from accessing the money they need in order to scale because of a lack of clarity...

Director of ‘Zurich’ and ‘Hemel’ has street cast a survivor of a similar assault as her lead.

Screen has an exclusive first look image from Dirty God, a drama about a young woman in South London rebuilding her life after an acid attack leaves her with severe facial burns.

It is directed and co-written by Sacha Polak, who has previously won the Cicae Award and the Fipresci Prize at Berlin Film Festival for her features Zurich and Hemel respectively. In what is Polak’s English language debut, she has cast newcomer Vicky Knight in the lead role; Knight has facial scarring as a burns survivor herself.

The supporting cast has both established and rising names, including Katherine Kelly (The Night Manager, Mr Selfridge), Rebecca Stone (Prank Me), Bluey Robinson (EastEnders, Doctors), and Dana Marineci (Toni Erdmann, Scarred Hearts).

The film comes at a time when acid attacks are significantly on the rise in the UK; a recent...

Director of ‘Zurich’ and ‘Hemel’ has street cast a survivor of a similar assault as her lead.

Screen has an exclusive first look image from Dirty God, a drama about a young woman in South London rebuilding her life after an acid attack leaves her with severe facial burns.

It is directed and co-written by Sacha Polak, who has previously won the Cicae Award and the Fipresci Prize at Berlin Film Festival for her features Zurich and Hemel respectively. In what is Polak’s English language debut, she has cast newcomer Vicky Knight in the lead role; Knight has facial scarring as a burns survivor herself.

The supporting cast has both established and rising names, including Katherine Kelly (The Night Manager, Mr Selfridge), Rebecca Stone (Prank Me), Bluey Robinson (EastEnders, Doctors), and Dana Marineci (Toni Erdmann, Scarred Hearts).

The film comes at a time when acid attacks are significantly on the rise in the UK; a recent...

The actor-director’s forceful but flawed story of a fighter facing a bruising crisis also stars Jodie Whittaker, outstanding as his devoted wife

Paddy Considine now presents his second feature as writer-director, and it’s a powerful and sincerely intended personal project about a championship boxer who must confront a terrible personal crisis. The performances are strong and committed – it reminded me a little of Johnny Harris’s boxing film Jawbone – and Considine’s instincts as actor and director are towards self-scrutiny without narcissism. Yet the audience’s buttons are not just pushed, they get hammered with uppercuts and there is a mile-wide streak of Hollywood emotion here, together with a lenient and even celebratory tone about boxing itself, which you may not entirely share. Yet this all gives the film force, and the quality of the acting is absolutely plain.

Matty Burton (Considine) is a boxer who is approaching the end of his career,...

Exclusive: Grindstone nabs UK drama with Johnny Harris, Ray Winstone, Michael Smiley and Ian McShane.

Sales outfit Independent and Us buyer Grindstone Entertainment Group have closed a deal for all North American rights on Johnny Harris and Thomas Napper’s UK boxing drama Jawbone.

The film will be distributed through Lionsgate Home Entertainment in the territory.

The deal was negotiated by Grindstone’s head of acquisitions Stan Wertlieb and Independent’s head of sales Nada Cirjanic.

Jawbone marks the writing debut of Snow White And The Huntsman and This Is England actor Johnny Harris, who also stars in the film alongside Ray Winstone, Michael Smiley and Ian McShane, with Thomas Napper making his feature directional debut.

In the movie, a former youth boxing champion (Harris) returns to his childhood boxing club in the hope of rekindling past glory after hitting rock bottom.

Music comes from Paul Weller, former frontman of The Jam. Former boxers...

Author: Competitions

To mark the release of Jawbone on 5th June, we’ve been given the perfect gift for fathers day to give away: a Blu-ray copy of the film and a copy of the Paul Weller soundtrack on vinyl.

A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe (Johnny Harris), is a man in search of hope but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill corner man Eddie and promoter Joe. Back in training, years after anyone thought he was a contender, he risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.

Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only

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The Small Print

Open to UK residents only The competition will close 15th June 2017 at 23.59 GMT The winner...

Author: Lily Taylor

With the resurgence in boxing films over the last couple of years, sparked by the return of the Rocky franchise with Creed, we’ve also seen Southpaw, Hands of Stone and Bleed For This. By now we are familiar with the redemption arcs and comeback stories, so much so it’s become a breeze predicting the plot points and action beats when watching a boxing flick. However director Thomas Napper certainly makes an attempt for originality with his debut feature Jawbone. Written by and starring Johnny Harris, Jawbone is a contemporary, gritty, British boxing drama, and whilst you’d be right not to feel blown away by this film; it should in no way be overlooked.

Jawbone follows the story of Jimmy McCabe (Harris), who has hit rock bottom after the death of his mother, struggling with alcoholism and homelessness. Unable to regain control of his life...

Johnny Harris packs a powerful punch as the star and writer of this heartfelt drama inspired by his experiences as a teenage champion in the ring

Related: Johnny Harris on Jawbone: ‘The film was always going to be about boxing and addiction’

Johnny Harris is the tough, charismatic London actor who made an indelible impression in Paul Andrew Williams’s 2006 crime drama London to Brighton and in successive series of Shane Meadows’s TV version of This Is England. Now he has written, produced and starred in a boxing film, inspired by his experiences as an Aba teenage champion.

Continue reading...

Author: Stefan Pape

It’s hard to believe that Ian McShane is 74 years old – not just his presence and energy on screen, but how he carries himself off it, which we learnt when interviewing the screen legend to mark the release of British boxing movie Jawbone.

McShane – who plays Joe Padgett, explains how his character fits into the narrative, and how taken aback he was by the indelible aesthetic. He also discusses the appeal in shooting an indie flick having been such a regular force in Hollywood blockbusters, and whether he has contemplated writing a screenplay himself, given Jawbone was penned by the leading star Johnny Harris.

Finally he speaks about the lure of the boxing sub-genre, which tends to breed such consistently compelling results, and whether he’d be keen to get involved in a third entry into the John Wick franchise, as well as speaking about his role...

Author: Jon Lyus

Last night the boxing drama Jawbone held its Premiere at the BFI Southbank with cast members Michael Smiley, Ian McShane, Ray Winstone and the director Thomas Napper. They were joined by the writer and star of the film Johnny Harris.

Also attending the premiere were Line of Duty star Vicky McClure, the wonderful bearded Nick Frost as well as Paul Weller, who contributed to the film’s soundtrack. Boxing consultants Barry and Shane McGuigan walked the red carpet too.

Scott Davis and Collin Hart were on the red carpet – here’s how they got on.

Jawbone Premiere Interviews

Jawbone will be released in UK cinemas on 12 May.

A brutal, poignant, and authentic movie inspired by the world of amateur boxing, with a lost soul fighting for his life at its bloody beating heart.

A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe (Johnny Harris), is a man desperately in search of hope,...

Exclusive: Independent boards doc about the life and career of acting legend Ian McKellen.

London-based sales and production outfit Independent has boarded feature documentary McKellen: Playing The Part and will introduce the title to buyers at Cannes.

Watch an exclusive first clip below, or click here to watch on mobile.

Joe Stephenson (Chicken) is directing the feature about the life of revered English actor Ian McKellen, whose career has spanned nearly 50 years and has seen him Oscar nominated for roles in Gods And Monsters and The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring.

The film, which is based around an exclusive 14-hour interview with McKellen, will also feature archive material of the actor’s early work, and never-before-seen photography from McKellen’s private collection.

English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel has written music for the film, which also features the likes of Luke Evans, Frances Barber, Adam Brown, Scott Chambers, Milo Parker and [link...

Check out the trailer for 'Jawbone,' directed by Thomas Q. Napper and written by Johnny Harris. The film stars Johnny Harris, Ray Winstone, Ian McShane, Michael Smiley, Luke J.I. Smith and Anna Wilson-Hall. T.  The film also marks the soundtrack debut of musical legend Paul Weller, a sample and track from the film are below along with the trailer.

A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe (Johnny Harris), is a man desperately in search of hope, but looking in all the wrong places. When he hits rock bottom he turns to his childhood boxing club and the only family he has left: gym owner Bill (Ray Winstone) cornerman Eddie (Michael Smiley) and promoter Joe (Ian McShane). In a battle between fear and faith, Jimmy risks his life, as he tries to stand tall and regain his place in the world.

The film has a 17 March 2017 date for Ireland and the UK.

After some lackluster boxing moves coming out of the U.S. the last few years, save Creed, it’s time for the U.K. to enter the ring. Before Paddy Considine’s Journeyman later this year, the first trailer has arrived for Jawbone, the new sports drama that features across the pond favorites Ian McShane, Ray Winstone, and Michael Smiley with Johnny Harris, who also penned the script.

Helmed by Thomas Q. Napper in his directorial debut (though he’s done second unit work on pictures like Atonement, Into the Woods, and the upcoming Beauty and the Beast), Jawbone follows Jimmy (Harris), a former youth boxer who returns to his original gym to train once again after hitting rock bottom. What’s unclear is whether Jimmy is back to fight with a purpose, or just because he wants to get punched.

Harris looks to give a strong performance, supported by...

Inspired by the world of amateur boxing, Jawbone tells the story of a former youth champion attempting to fight his way up from rock bottom. The directorial debut of Thomas Napper (who worked as Second Unit Director on the likes of Pan, Into the Woods, and the upcoming Beauty and the Beast), the film stars Johnny Harris alongside grizzled hard-men Ray Winstone and Ian McShane. Further behind the scenes talent comes in the shape of former World Champion Barry McGuigan and Shane McGuigan, acting as Boxing Consultants, and a soundtrack from the legendary Paul Weller. Check out the synopsis and trailer below. A former youth boxing champion, Jimmy McCabe (Johnny Harris), is a man desperately in search of hope, but looking in all the wrong...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Author: Zehra Phelan

Boxing and the movies are no strangers to each other; not too far away on the horizon is Jawbone – which stars Jimmy Harris in its lead and Ray Winstone as a big-hearted boxing gym owner – a British boxing story that may have you feeling a little punch drunk with its gloomy and heartfelt first trailer.

We all know audiences are a bit of a sucker for the storyline of the down and out boxer who makes a passionate fighting comeback against the odds. Our last venture into this world was with Bleed For This starring Miles Teller towards the tail end of last year but nothing can quite live up to the high standards the Rocky spin-off Creed achieved recently. Will Jawbone with its Great British grit and determination pack an almighty punch for lovers of the genre? Time will tell.

Related: Ray Winstone Interview on The Gunman...

Gff opening film Handsome Devil

2017 is off to an incendiary start with the launch of the Glasgow Film Festival, as Joe Aitken of Glasgow City Marketing, Jen Armitage of Creative Scotland and Eva Wright of Events Scotland team up with co-directors Allison Gardner and Allan Hunter to introduce us to a host of scintillating premières, one off screenings, and festival circuit gems.

Before the teasers are underway, the team are quick to remind us that the Glasgow Film Festival maintained its record high of 40,000 attendees from 2015 to 2016, a far cry from the original 6000. Despite the troubled political and economic atmosphere at present, it’s fantastic to see such a stalwart event bring the Glasgow community together in a celebration of cinema.

This year the audience award is front and centre, with Hope Dickson Eache’s family tragedy The Levelling, and Thomas Napper’s boxing film Jawbone, being tipped for success,...

Festival to host 65 UK Premieres, including Terrence Malick’s Voyage Of Time and Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro.

The full programme for the 2017 Glasgow Film Festival (Feb 15-26) has been revealed.

The festival will host 65 UK premieres, 67 Scottish premieres and nine world and international premieres.

As previously reported, Glasgow will kick off with the European premiere of Handsome Devil, a coming-of-age drama starring Andrew Scott and directed by John Butler (The Stag).

The world premiere of Mad To Be Normal, starring David Tennant as renowned Scottish psychiatrist R.D. Laing, closes the festival. Tennant is expected to attend.

Premieres

Other highlights include UK Premieres of Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro, Terrence Malick’s Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey [pictured], Cate Shortland’s Berlin Syndrome and Aki Kaurismäki’s The Other Side of Hope.

There will also be first Scottish screenings of Paul Verhoeven’s Golden Globe-winning Elle, Ben Wheatley’s [link...

The Time Of Their Lives is written and directed by Roger Goldby.

Independent has boarded Bright Pictures and Daryl Prince Productions’ The Time Of Their Lives ahead of the Afm.

The company will represent available territories on the comedy written and directed by Roger Goldby and starring Dame Joan Collins, Pauline Collins and Franco Nero.

It follows former Hollywood siren Helen (Joan Collins) who, determined to gate-crash her ex-lover’s funeral, escapes her London retirement home with the help of repressed English housewife Priscilla (Pauline Collins). In a race to get to the funeral on time, they become involved in a romantic triangle with a reclusive Italian painter (Nero).

Produced by Sarah Sulick and Azim Bolkiah, the film is executive produced by Sir Tim Rice, who will also be writing a song for the film. Stephen Warbeck will be composing the music for the film.

Independent will be holding a screening to show first footage of the...

A Brilliant Mind director Morgan Matthews [pictured] will direct Gypsy Boy, James Graham’s adaptation of Mikey Walsh’s bestselling memoir.

Born into a gypsy family famed for its boxing prowess, Walsh faced a difficult decision after realising he was gay – stay within a community that cannot accept him, or walk away from the only life that he knows.

BAFTA-winning Matthews, known for his acclaimed documentary work, previously directed 2014’s X+Y (also known as A Brilliant Mind), also from a James Graham screenplay, which starred Asa Butterfield.

BBC Films revealed Matthews’ attachment here in Cannes.

Industry attending a BBC Films lineup event saw clips from forthcoming productions including Ricky Gervais’ Life On The Road and Mandie Fletcher’s Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie as well as Holocaust drama Denial, starring Rachel Weisz.

Also on the BBC Films Cannes slate are:

Ken Loach’s Competition...

Screen can reveal the first image of actor Johnny Harris (This Is England ’86) in upcoming boxing drama Jawbone.

As previously revealed by Screen, Thomas Napper’s feature debut stars Harris (who also wrote the screenplay), Ray Winstone, Michael Smiley and Ian McShane in the story of a former youth boxing champion who, after hitting rock bottom, returns to his childhood boxing club in a bid at redemption.

Music comes from rock icon Paul Weller while boxer Barry McGuigan and trainer Shane McGuigan prepared Harris for the role as consultants on the film.

Mike Elliott produces for Emu Films with executive producers Andrew Eaton (for Revolution Film), Christine Langan and Nichola Martin (for BBC) who have developed the project with Creative England and are financing with LipSync Productions Llp.

Vertigo Releasing will distribute the film in the UK and Independent are selling the film internationally.

Jawbone is currently in post-production.

Boxing dramas seem to be big at the moment, what with Southpaw, Creed, Hands Of Stone and Bleed For This in the mix. The UK is not being left out, as Ray Winstone, Johnny Harris, Michael Smiley and even Paul Weller are on board for a new, untitled drama that was once called The Ballad Of Jimmy McCabe. Thomas Napper is stepping up from usual second unit duties (he worked on Anna Karenina and Into The Woods, among others) to make his feature directing debut with the film, which Harris himself wrote loosely based on his own youthful pugilism experiences. He’s starring as Jimmy, a man in search of hope who has been looking in all the wrong places. When he hits the mat of life, he goes looking for some help to his childhood boxing club, where he seeks out owner Bill (Winstone) and cornerman Eddie (Smiley).Getting...