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Kiefer Sutherland announced the passing of his legendary father, Donald Sutherland, with a heartfelt tribute on social media. Director Edgar Wright and co-star Helen Mirren also shared their admiration for Donald Sutherland's intelligence and talent. Tributes continued to pour in from Hollywood stars like Ron Howard, Rob Lowe, and Nancy Sinatra, honoring Sutherland's remarkable legacy.

Widely considered one of the most prolific and talented performers of his generation, Canadian actor Donald Sutherland accumulated quite a number of noteworthy entries to his filmography. And, now that he's passed, there are just as many tributes from fellow well-respected celebrities as there were films well-worth watching.

As reported earlier, Sutherland's son Keifer, with whom he starred in 1983's Max Dugan Returns, 1996's A Time to Kill, and 2015's Forsaken, broke the news of his father's passing. The younger Sutherland released the following lovely statement via his X (formerly Twitter) account:

With a heavy heart,...

Legendary Canadian actor Donald Sutherland, who died on Thursday after a long illness and a celebrated Hollywood film and TV career, revealed why he never sought dual Canadian and U.S. citizenship by acquiring an American passport.

“Because we don’t have the same sense of humor. It’s true. We don’t. I’m a Canadian through and through,” Sutherland told the CBC radio show Q with Tom Power in March during one of his last media interviews.

Sutherland, who had been living in recent years in Quebec, around 12 miles from the U.S. border, recalled giving that answer to an American border guard who asked why the Canadian actor, who already had a green card to work stateside, didn’t get an American passport to more quickly cross the border to complete errands.

“Anyway, I love the country. I’m very, very proud that they gave me a stamp,...

Donald Sutherland, the Canadian actor who delivered memorable turns in films like Don’t Look Now, Klute, and The Hunger Games, has died. He was 88.

Sutherland’s son, the actor Kiefer Sutherland, announced the death on social media. ”I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film,” Sutherland wrote. ”Never daunted by a role, good, bad, or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that. A life well lived.”

Sutherland passed away in Miami after a long, unspecified illness and leaves an indelible impression on the arts.

We're very sad to report that Donald Sutherland has passed away at the age of 88 after a long illness.

Sutherland appeared in countless movies and TV shows over the course of his six-decade career, taking on a wide range of roles. Early standouts include Pvt. Vernon Pinkley in The Dirty Dozen (1967), Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce in M*A*S*H (1970), hippie tank commander Sgt. Oddball in Kelly’s Heroes (1970), and the titular private eye in Alan J. Pakula’s Klute (1971).

Though he often played heroic characters, Sutherland also brought life to his share of villains, including a ruthless Nazi spy in Eye of the Needle (1981), and President Snow in the Hunger Games movies. He is also known for his devastating turn as a grieving father in Nicholas Roeg's sinister horror/thriller Don't Look Now (1973), which featured an infamously graphic (for its time) sex scene with Julie Christie.

The prolific actor's résumé also includes:...

Tributes from all parts of Hollywood poured in for “Mash,” “Klute” and “The Hunger Games” star Donald Sutherland, who died at age 88 on Thursday. The honorary Oscar recipient died in Miami after a long illness.

Sutherland garnered over 200 film and TV credits over 60 years starring in films like “Ordinary People” and “Don’t Look Now.”

Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada on July 17, 1935, Sutherland landed his first big role in 1967’s “The Dirty Dozen,” which later earned him a spot as surgeon Capt. “Hawkeye” Pierce in “Mash.”

His son Kiefer Sutherland called him “one of the most important actors in the history of film.”

President Joe Biden took to X to honor Sutherland, who he described as “a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and one-of-a-kind actor who inspired and entertained the world for decades.”

Donald Sutherland was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and one-of-a-kind actor who inspired and entertained the world for decades.

New York Film Festival Artistic Director Dennis Lim with Ferrari director Michael Mann and stars Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz and Gabriel Leone Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Michael Mann’s Ferrari, starring Adam Driver (as Enzo Ferrari) and Penélope Cruz (his wife Laura) with Gabriel Leone (Alfonso De Portago), Shailene Woodley (Lina Lardi), Patrick Dempsey (Piero Taruffi), and Jack O’Connell (Peter Collins) was the Closing Night Gala selection of the 61st New York Film Festival.

Michael Mann on the costumes: “You want to put on that period wardrobe. So that’s terribly important. The true richness to me is in being.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini is the go-to person when it comes to clothing characters of folktale or legend. Enzo Ferrari definitely fits into the larger-than-life category and his conservative tweed suits, pale yellow sweater vests and suspenders hide a maniac addicted...

A genius South Korean lawyer with very poor social skills, Wonder Woman star Connie Nielsen as Danish writer Karen Blixen, Martin Freeman as a cop on the edge, and those foul-mouthed Derry Girls are among the nominees for this year’s International Emmy awards, which were announced today by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The 56 nominees span 20 countries and six continents.

Best drama contenders include South Korea’s Extraordinary Attorney Woo, featuring Park Eun-bin as an autistic rookie female lawyer with a genius Iq; the German period drama The Empress, British thriller The Devil’s Hour starring Peter Capaldi; and Yosi, the Regretful Spy, a historic thriller from Argentina, another Amazon production. On the comedy side, Netflix’s Northern Irish hit Derry Girls is up against Argentine series The Boss from Star+, season 2 of the French reality show send-up Le Flambeau, and Vir Das: Landing, a Netflix stand-up special from the Indian comedy star.

Recently launched European distribution and production studio Vuelta Group has added to its stable with Italy’s Indiana Production and France’s Pan.

Film and TV company Indiana is known for film collaborations with director Paolo Virzi on movies such as The First Beautiful Thing, Human Capital and The Leisure Seeker, as well as recent TV series such as the upcoming drama adaptation of Italian classic The Leopard, and mafia series L’Ora.

French producer Pan-Européenne relaunched its distribution business in 2022 and has an animation arm. It was well known in the past for releasing movies including The Usual Suspects, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert and Sin City. It recently co-produced Michel Hazanavicius’ Cannes zombie pic Final Cut.

Vuelta has been in talks this year with Benelux distributor Cinéart but a deal has not been closed to date. It has also been taking meetings in Spain about a potential Spanish partner.

by Cláudio Alves

It's hard to believe Helen Mirren hasn't been nominated for an Oscar since The Last Station, way back in 2009. The shock comes not from her fate's unfairness, mind you. Instead, it stems from how Mirren seems to be actively chasing gold, nabbing essential precursor support for projects like Hitchcock, The Hundred-Foot Journey, Woman in Gold, Trumbo, and The Leisure Seeker. This year, the actress may be going down the same road with Golda, the recently released biopic about Golda Meier, "the Iron Lady of Israel.". To mark the occasion, let's look away from the failed Oscar buzz and consider the peak of Helen Mirren's work as a big-screen legend.

As with Angela Bassett, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sigourney Weaver, Marilyn Monroe, and Maggie Smith, TV performances will be set aside for another day, and so will her Academy-anointed turns. Caveats out of the way, this is my Mirren top ten…...

The White Bird: A Wonder Story cast has the opportunity to tell a new story in the world of the 2017 movie Wonder, and features an equally impressive lineup as the original. In 2017's Wonder, Auggie Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) was a young boy with a rare facial deformity whose fellow students bully and ostracize him when he tries to start going to a private middle school rather than continue homeschooling. One of these students is a boy named Julian, who torments and bullies Auggie and his own mother even helps persecute Auggie by Photoshopping him out of a class photo because she felt he didn't belong. White Bird: A Wonder Story focuses on Julian after his parents pull him out of school, and he goes to visit his grandmother.

While it seems strange to see a heartless bully as the focus of the story, he is not the main character in...

Francesca Archibugi on Paolo Virzì: “We actually were students together. We studied with Furio Scarpelli, who was a great screenwriter. I think we both loved him very much.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

As a screenwriter, Francesca Archibugi has worked with director/screenwriter Paolo Virzì on his films Magical Nights (Notti Magiche) and The Leisure Seeker (starring Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland) with Francesco Piccolo. Dry (Siccità) starring Monica Bellucci, Silvio Orlando, Valerio Mastandrea, Vinicio Marchioni, Claudia Pandolfi, Sara Serraiocco, and Tommaso Ragno is Archibugi’s third collaboration with Paolo Virzì, this time also with screenwriters Paolo Giordano and Francesco Piccolo.

Dry star Tommaso Ragno inside the Walter Reade Theater, Lincoln Center Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Piccolo is also the co-writer with Laura Paolucci on Archibugi’s The Hummingbird which was the opening night selection of Cinecittà and Film at Lincoln Center’s...

Exclusive: Stephanie Paige,, Tyshon Freeman,, and Yoel Kanchelov,, will star in Kareem Davis directorial debut film The First Classic.

This thriller follows Travis, as he investigates the origins of a mysterious woman who saved him from impending doom. As he gets closer to finding out who she is and what she’s capable of, he begins to lose to his sanity.

Davis also wrote the screenplay for The First Classic which is the first of four slated for production under Cherry Blossom Studios. The MD Group will serve as executive producer of the project, with William Clevinger (Cut Throat City), of The Big Picture Collective serving as producer and will represent Imperium Features’ films in the global marketplace.

Paige, Freeman, and Kanchelov are each repped by Michelle Davis of BrightRed Talent Agency.

Dcp Vartika Chaturvedi and her trusted team are back in another thrilling season of Netflix’s highly acclaimed crime-drama series Delhi Crime. This time around, in season 2, the Delhi Police will be seen investigating a multiple murder case involving senior citizens, led by their very own ‘Madam Sir’. While all the evidence points squarely towards the return of the gruesome Kacha-Baniyan gang escalating public fear, Madam Sir and her team will be seen delving deeper to solve the case and uncover the truth. Delhi Crime Season 2 releases on August 26 on Netflix.

Ahead of the release, the team of Delhi Crime Season 2 – Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, Rajesh Tailang along with director Tanuj Chopra visited Delhi to engage with the fans of the show. The team also unveiled an exclusive video ‘Do Dilli’ amidst huge fanfare.

Talking about the returning season, Shefali Shah who brought the character of Dcp Vartika Chaturvedi alive shared,...

With the new month come new arrivals to all TV and movie streamers, including Hulu. The August 2022 slate contains many classic re-watch options as well as new seasons of original shows and new movies as well.

For those who couldn’t get enough of Keke Palmer in Jordan Peele’s latest movie “Nope” (2022), one of her breakout films “Akeelah and the Bee” (2006) has landed on Hulu. Tom Hanks’ “Cast Away” (2000), Natalie Portman’s “Black Swan,” the first two “Despicable Me” films and Tobey Maguire’s “Spider-Man” trilogy also arrive this month.

FX’s “Reservation Dogs” Season 2 arrives exclusively on Hulu Aug. 3. The Hulu Original film “Prey” arrives Aug. 5. “Legacy: The True Story of the L.A. Lakers” premieres on Hulu Aug. 15. Another exclusive heading to Hulu later in August is Steve Carell’s limited series “The Patient,” available to stream Aug. 30.

Here’s what’s new on Hulu in August 2022.

Also...

You ever notice how HBO’s releases tend to do the heavy lifting in HBO Max’s content library? That makes plenty of sense given that HBO has a track record of producing hits well before the streaming era even began. Well, a similar concept is now playing out over on Hulu. Like many monthly releases before it, Hulu’s list of new releases for August 2022 is highlighted by a whole bunch of FX TV shows.

The initiative once known as “FX on Hulu” is no more but that’s not stopping the cable network-turned quality TV brand from churning out some intriguing titles for the streaming world this month. It all starts early on with season 2 of the delightful comedy Reservation Dogs on Aug. 3. That is followed up by the docuseries Children of the Underground on Aug. 13, Little Demon on Aug. 26, and The Patient of Aug. 30. The most interesting of the bunch,...

Italian director Paolo Virzì has begun shooting in Rome on apocalyptic drama “Siccità,” set amid a protracted drought in the Italian capital and featuring an A-list local cast comprising Monica Bellucci, Sara Serraiocco (“Counterpart”) and Silvio Orlando (“The Young Pope”).

Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Gangarossa are producing for Wildside, the Fremantle-owned company behind “The Young Pope,” “My Brilliant Friend” and “We Are Who We Are.” Vision Distribution, which is jointly operated by Comcast’s Sky Italia and five prominent Italian production companies, will distribute in Italy with plans for a theatrical release.

The film follows a group of characters from all walks of life who are tied by a single tragic, mocking thread as each one seeks their redemption.

The story treatment was penned by Paolo Giordano (“We Are Who We Are”) in tandem with Virzì, whose English-language “The Leisure Seeker,” with Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren, was released in the U.

Nine years after directing Meryl Streep to an Oscar for “The Iron Lady,” director Phyllida Lloyd has returned with her new Amazon film “Herself.” It stars Clare Dunne, who also co-wrote the film, as a single mother whose struggles with the housing system emboldens her to build her own house. Things become complicated when her abusive ex-husband returns to attain custody of their children. Critics have made “Herself” the best-reviewed film of Lloyd’s career, with special praise for Dunne’s revelatory performance.

“Herself” is already making a splash ahead of its Dec. 30 release, with Dunne picking up a British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actress and the film earning recognition from multiple festivals. If the momentum continues, one awards show that could take special notice is the Golden Globes. The group has been very kind to Lloyd’s past films, giving two nominations to “Mamma Mia!” and a...

Supernova

Actor cum director Harry Macqueen scores a heavyweight cast and crew for his sophomore film Supernova, produced by Emily Morgan and Tristan Goligher. Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci headline the cast with Oscar nominated Dp Dick Pope serving as cinematographer. Macqueen, whose onscreen debut was as a supporting player in Richard Linklater’s Me and Orson Welles (2008) first directed the 2014 drama Hinterland.

Gist: In a conceit familiar to The Leisure Seeker (2017), long-term couple Tusker (Tucci) and Sam (Firth) take a Rv road trip across England to visit friends and family in the second year of Tusker’s dementia diagnosis.…...

The 70th Berlin International Film Festival will honor Oscar-winner Helen Mirren with an honorary Golden Bear and homage.

The award ceremony on Thursday, February 27, 2020 at the Berlinale Palast will include a screening of Mirren-starrer The Queen.

“Helen Mirren is a strong personality whose powerful portrayals are always impressive. She surprises us time and again with her interpretation of complex characters – whether it’s Chris in Calendar Girls or Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen, her portrayals are a paradigm of strong women, and it is our great pleasure to award her the Honorary Golden Bear for her lifetime achievement,” said Mariette Rissenbeek, Executive Director of the Berlinale.

Among Mirren’s many accolades are the 2007 Academy Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe for her performance in The Queen, while her stage work has garnered prizes including the Olivier Award, Tony Award and Drama Desk Awards.

After working mainly in theater,...

Bac Films, the Paris-based film group behind the Venice Horizons title “My Days of Glory,” has bolstered its international sales division with a new team topped by Marine Goulois and Andrea Dos Santos.

Goulois previously worked at Snd, the sales arm of the commercial network M6, and Les Films du Losange, while Dos Santos worked at Orange Studio and Alfama Films. They will head the international sales division together.

Goulois, who has a track record handling both prestige auteur movies such as Michael Haneke’s films at Les Films du Losange, and high-concept genre or comedy movies at Snd, will also be in charge of international acquisitions.

The new team will be completed by Juliette Béchu, who will work on sales, and Marine Dorville, who will be the festival manager.

“Our ambition is to continue to develop an international lineup of independent European cinema, high-profile English-language projects and animated feature,...

French film industry veterans Gilles Sousa and Marie Garrett, the duo behind Bac Films’ thriving international sales division, are teaming up with Logical Pictures to launch the Paris-based sales outfit Pulsar Content. The banner has also announced a partnership with Nicolas Winding Refn.

The production and financing outfit Logical Pictures was launched in Cannes 2016 and has so far invested in more than 20 projects, including “Farming,” which premiered at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival last year and will be released by Lionsgate in the U.K. next month, as well as Coralie Fargeat’s thriller “Revenge.”

Logical Pictures has invested in Refn’s new streaming service, Nwr, and will be working with Pulsar Content on the filmmaker’s diverse projects, including his next feature film.

“Refn and I both share a similar vision of the industry’s evolution in terms of new opportunities,” Logical Pictures president Frederic Fiore said. “Since Refn...

We’ve had “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” and “Fortinbras Gets Drunk,” and now there’s “Ophelia,” an intelligent and gorgeous spin on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” from the point of view of the melancholy prince’s beloved.

“Hamlet” of course has its share of memorable characters — recall the bit player who claimed that the play was about a grave digger who meets a prince — but this provocative adaptation of Lisa Klein’s novel gives an oft-maligned character purpose and agency. It is not betrayal and madness that bewitches this Ophelia but toxic masculinity.

Director Claire McCarthy (“The Waiting City”) and adapter Semi Chellas (“Mad Men”) give us an Elsinore Castle and its court that’s as handsomely mounted as any number of straightforward Shakespearean adaptations, but they cleverly tweak the proceedings to make us reexamine key moments from an entirely different angle.

Also Read: 'Straight Up' Film Review:...

German actress Franka Potente will be making her directorial debut with “Home,” a California-set redemption drama starring Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates, Jake McLaughlin and Lil Rel Howery.

Jonas Katzenstein and Maximilian Leo at leading German film production company Augenschein Filmproduktion developed the story and will produce together with Bac Films Prods.’ David Grumbach, Leontine Petit and Erik Glijnis at the Dutch banner Lemming Films, and Christine Günther and Chevy Chen at German outfit Fireglory.

Bac Films has picked up international sales rights to “Home” and will distribute the film in France.

“Home” tells the story of Marvin Hacks (McLaughlin), who comes home after more than 20 years in prison and finds out that, even after two decades, his small American hometown has not forgotten the atrocity he committed. Despite the confrontation and hostility from the locals, Marvin will do what it takes to reclaim his place in society.

“‘Home’ is a...

Netflix’s drama On My Skin also won three key awards.

Matteo Garrone’s Dogman won nine prizes from 15 nominations at Italy’s David di Donatello awards in Rome last night (March 27).

The drama, which first premiered at Cannes, won best picture, best supporting actor, best cinematography and best original screenplay.

Despite winning the prize at Cannes, its star Marcello Fonte missed out in the best actor category to Alessandro Borghi for his performance in Netflix’s drama On My Skin, which was eligible for the awards after it was briefly distributed in theatres. Alessio Cremonini’s drama based on...

Donald Sutherland has signed on to star opposite Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant in The Undoing, HBO’s high-profile six-episode limited series, written by David E. Kelley and directed by Susanne Bier.

An adaptation of Jean Hanff Korelitz’s book You Should Have Known, The Undoing centers on Grace Sachs (Kidman), who is living the only life she ever wanted for herself. She’s a successful therapist, has a devoted husband (Grant) and young son who attends an elite private school in New York City. Overnight a chasm opens in her life: a violent death, a missing husband, and, in the place of a man Grace thought she knew, only a chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster, and horrified by the ways in which she has failed to heed her own advice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and herself.

Georgina Campbell (“Black Mirror”) and Faye Dunaway are set to star in “Visceral,” a female-driven action thriller that will mark the English-language debut of Frederic Jardin (“Sleepless Night”). Bac Films has come on board to handle international sales and distribution in France.

Marco Cherqui at Cpb Films (“A Prophet”) is producing the thriller with Frida Torresblanco at Braven Films (“Disobedience”) and Bac Films which is co-producing. Jeff Elliott, David Grumbach (“The Leisure Seeker”), Eric Laufer and Giovanna Randall will serve as executive producers.

The movie reunites Jardin, Cherqui and Grumbach, who had worked together on “Sleepless Night.” Jeff Elliott at Brickell and Broadbridge is financing.

“Visceral” marks Jardin’s follow-up to “Sleepless Night,” which sold to more than 30 territories and was remade in the U.S. with Jamie Foxx and Michelle Monaghan. Jardin also successfully leaped into TV and directed Canal Plus’s critically acclaimed series “Spiral” and “Braquo.”

“Visceral” stars Campbell as Julie,...

Other titles include Bad Times At El Royale and Park Chan-Wook series The Little Drummer Girl;

The 13th Rome Film Fest (18-28 October) has unveiled its line-up. It will feature in its non-competitive official selection 38 films, including the world premieres of Fede Alvarez’s The Girl In The Spider’s Web with Claire Foy and Gilles De Maistre’s Mia Et Le Lion Blanc, featuring Melanie Laurent.

Scroll down for the full line-up

Opening with Drew Goddard’s Bad Times At El Royale, Antonio Monda’s fourth edition confirms itself as a “fest” and not a “festival” as the director specifies.

Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores is set to shoot a road movie with the working title “Don’t Be Afraid If I Hug You,” which involves a father and his autistic son on the run. Pic stars Italian A-listers Claudio Santamaria (“They Call Me Jeeg”) and Valeria Golino.

Rai Com has boarded and will kick off world sales in Toronto. Salvatores’ new pic will start shooting this month.

Based on a widely translated bestseller by Italy’s Fulvio Ervas — which was inspired by a true story — “Don’t Be Afraid” is penned by Umberto Contarello (“The Great Beauty”). Santamaria will play a boozing lounge singer who accidentally intersects with his teen autistic son, whom he has never met before. He has an epiphany and decides to hit the road with him in an attempt to fight his son’s autism. They are chased by the boy’s mother (Golino) and her husband.

Remember Me is Spanish filmmaker Rosete’s second feature after his 2016 English-language thriller Money.

Bac Films has jumped on international sales of Martin Rosete’s romantic drama Remember Me, starring Bruce Dern as a retired widower who comes to the rescue of an old flame struggling to cope with Alzheimer’s by herself.

Dern’s character, the larger-than-life septuagenarian figure of Claude, pretends he too is suffering from the disease so that he can join the love of his life Lilian, played by French actress Caroline Silhol, in the senior residential community where she resides.

“We think that this production...

Donald Sutherland will be honored with the Zurich Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award at its upcoming 14th edition. There will also be a retrospective of the veteran film and TV star’s work.

Sutherland will be in Zurich and present his recent movie, Paolo Virzi’s “The Leisure Seeker.” His recent work also includes roles in “The Hunger Games” and TV series “Trust.” His son, Kiefer, has previously been honored at Zurich, receiving its Golden Eye award in 2015.

The Canada-born actor won Emmy and Golden Globe awards as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the HBO film “Citizen X,” and he won a Golden Globe for his performance in the HBO historical drama “Path to War.” He has also received an honorary Oscar and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Zurich retrospective will show classic Sutherland movies including “The Dirty Dozen,” “Kelly’s Heroes,...

Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren and two-time Golden Globe-winner Donald Sutherland star in the adventurous drama The Leisure Seeker, debuting on DVD and digital July 10 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Adapted from the bestselling novel by Michael Zadoorian, Italian director Paolo Virzì’s (Like Crazy) first English language film tells the story of John (Sutherland) and Ella Spencer (Mirren) as they embark on one last road trip from Boston to the Hemingway House in the Florida Keys in their trusty recreational vehicle. The Leisure Seeker also stars Christian McKay (Florence Foster Jenkins) and Janel Moloney (“The West Wing”).

The DVD release of The Leisure Seeker includes two exclusive featurettes. Fans will spend an evening with acting icons Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland as they reflect on their craft, their complex roles and their on-screen collaboration in a lively and candid Q&A “In Conversation with Helen Mirren & Donald Sutherland.” “The Making...

Our resident VOD expert tells you what's new to rent and/or own this week via various Digital HD providers such as cable Movies On Demand, FandangoNOW, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play and, of course, Netflix. Cable Movies On Demand: Same-day-as-disc releases, older titles and pretheatrical Chappaquiddick Shock and Awe The Leisure Seeker (romantic comedy; Helen Mirren, Donald Sutherland, Christian McKay, Janel Moloney, Dana Ivey, Dick Gregory, Kirsty Mitchell...

Exclusive: Production is under way in Turin, Italy on comedy feature Dolcissime, produced and written by Marco D’Amore, star of hit Italian crime series Gomorrah.

D’Amore produces under his La Piccola Societa banner with Italian stalwart Indiana Production, producers of Helen Mirren-Donald Sutherland comedy The Leisure Seeker. Sky Italia-backed Vision Distribution will release the feature next year.

Script comes from D’Amore and Francesco Ghiaccio with the latter directing. D’Amore, Ghiaccio and Indiana previously collaborated on the director’s 2015 feature debut Un Posto Sicuro.

Pic, whose title translates literally as ‘the sweetest’, follows three overweight girls who decide to tackle their insecurities by teaming up with a former enemy, the leader of the synchronized swimming team, who will train them to take part in a competition.

Starring are established Italian actors Valeria Solarino (Angel Of Evil) — who also has a starring role in Indiana’s...

Exclusive: Israeli box office hit Maktub is being lined up for French and Italian movie remakes with the producers of Ariel Vroman’s upcoming Netflix thriller The Angel and Donald Sutherland-Helen Mirren starrer The Leisure Seeker.

Paiva Films and Adama Pictures have taken remake rights to the film for France while veteran outfit Indiana Production has taken rights for Italy, respectively. As we previously reported, a U.S. remake is already in the works.

The well-received original, which won awards at Palm Springs and Chicago Film Festival, is currently streaming on Netflix worldwide and is one of the most successful local films at the Israeli local box office in recent years, pulling in more than 650,000 admissions.

The politically incorrect caper, directed by Oded Raz, sees two small-time enforcers for a Jerusalem mob protection racket attempt to change their ways when they survive a suicide bombing and set out...

Martin Scorsese, Sigourney Weaver, Giuseppe Tornatore and French multi-hyphenate Pierre Bismuth will hold onstage conversations at the upcoming Rome Film Festival, which Monday announced the world premiere of Italian director Paolo Virzi’s new comedy, “Notti Magiche,” as its first title.

Scorsese, as previously announced, is being honored with a lifetime achievement award by the fest and will hold forth Oct. 22 with artistic director Antonio Monda on the Italian films he considers most influential, one of which is Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “Accattone,” Monda said. Scorsese is scheduled to see Pope Francis the following day, Monda said, then reappear on the Rome fest stage Oct. 24 to present the freshly restored version of a still undisclosed Italian classic. There is a possibility that Scorsese may show footage from his long-gestating gangster pic “The Irishman.”

The Oscar-winning director will receive his achievement award from Paolo Taviani, the surviving member of venerable directorial duo the Taviani brothers.

Yet another strong documentary tops new releases this weekend: Elvis Presley biodoc “The King” (Oscilloscope) from veteran documentarian Eugene Jarecki shows future interest. That said, it won’t register the massive numbers for “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (Focus) and the continued success of “RBG” (Magnolia), two documentaries on iconic contemporary personalities that are both building continued response from audiences.

Other openings include a decent result for the Brazilian “Araby” in one theater. “Boundaries” (Sony Pictures Classics) fared less well despite some star presence in its initial two city openings.

Opening

The King (Oscilloscope) – Metacritic: 73; Festivals include: Cannes 2017, Sundance 2018

$29,050 in 2 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $14,525

The first theatrical feature since 2012 from acclaimed documentary director Eugene Jarecki opened to respectable results in two Manhattan theaters. A shorter version of last year’s Sundance premiere “Promised Land,” “The King” uses a cross-country trip in Elvis Presley’s Rolls Royce to...

Updated at 10:55Am Pt with more numbers and analysis. Magnolia and Participant’s Sundance documentary Rbg opened in 34 locations Friday with momentum behind it and it delivered a solid start.

Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West, the feature spotlighting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg grossed 560,000, or $16,471 per location, making it one of the top non-fiction releases of the year. The headway was all the more impressive given the long shadow of The Avengers.

Music Box Films opened The Guardians in a single location, grossing $7,199 over the weekend, while French-Dutch crime-drama Racer And the Jailbird bowed in two theaters, taking in $2,222. Bleecker Street’s Disobedience by Sebastián Lelio continued to lure audiences in a second-week expansion, grossing $310,272 from 31 runs, averaging $10K. Sundance Selects’ Let The Sunshine In by Claire Denis also flexed muscle in its second weekend, taking in $66,754 in seven locations.

Sony Classics added runs...

On the surface, France’s film industry is living la vie en rose. The country recorded its third-largest box office haul in 50 years in 2017, following an even stronger performance in 2016. More than 60 French productions or co-productions have been selected for the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. French sales agents represent more than two-thirds of the films in the festival’s official competition.

But look a little closer, and the cracks start to appear. Although France is continental Europe’s biggest film market, many distributors are in dire straits. Major companies like Wild Bunch and EuropaCorp are seeking white knights. Some banners have consolidated, including Mars Films, which sold a 30% stake in the company to Vivendi. Others — such as MK2, which is focusing more on exhibition and international sales — have shut down their distribution businesses or, like La Belle Co., called it quits entirely.

The distribution sector’s woes stem from an ultracompetitive environment,...

Helen Mirren and Danny DeVito have joined the voice cast of Disney’s live-action “The One and Only Ivan,” the studio announced Tuesday.

Production has begun on the adaptation of the children’s book by Katherine Applegate, which will be directed by Thea Sharrock (“Me Before You”). Mike White wrote the screenplay. Angelina Jolie, the late Allison Shearmur (who died in January) and Brigham Taylor are producers.

Bryan Cranston, Ramon Rodriguez, Arianna Greenblatt, Indira Varma and Eleanor Matsuura star in the film, while Jolie, Sam Rockwell and Brooklynn Prince have also signed on to voice characters in the film.

Also Read: 'Winchester' Film Review: Helen Mirren Looks Bored, and With Good Reason

The film follows the true story of a gorilla and the other animals who share a communal habitat at a suburban shopping mall. Applegate’s book is a #1 New York Times’ bestseller and has won numerous awards include the Newberry Medal.

Mirren recently starred in “Winchester” for CBS Films and will next star in “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” and “Berlin, I Love You.”

Also Read: 'The Leisure Seeker' Film Review: Helen Mirren, Donald Sutherland Highlight Touching Road Movie

DeVito most recently appeared on “It’s Always Sunny Philadelphia” and “The Comedian,” and will next star in “Smallfoot” and “Dumbo.”

Both actors are represented by CAA and Stan Rosenfield Associates.

Read original story Helen Mirren, Danny DeVito to Voice Characters in Disney’s ‘The One and Only Ivan’ At TheWrap...

Substantial drops across the top 10 recorded as good weather hits the UK.

Rank Film / Distributor Weekend Gross (Fri-Sun) Running Total Week 1 Rampage (Warner Bros) £1.4m £6.5m 2 2 A Quiet Place (Paramount) £1m £8.3m 3 3 The Guernsey Literary And… (Studiocanal) £824,847 £824,847 1 4 Ready Player One (Warner Bros) £502,000 £15.4m 4 5 Peter Rabbit (Sony) £486,000 £38.9m 6

Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate - 1.40

Warner Bros

The UK basked in the country’s first spell of warm weather of 2018 and it wasn’t good news for the box office this weekend.

Rampage stayed top despite falling a substantial 55%, a drop that was consistent across the majority of titles on releases this weekend.

Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland do their best with this turgid terminal-illness road movie

It’s fair to say that Hollywood doesn’t have the healthiest relationship with the concept of ageing. This, after all, is the place where everything, from the eyelids to the armpits to the genitals, can be surgically “rejuvenated”. So it’s perhaps not surprising that the majority of films that deal with the elderly take the Hollywood anti-ageing mantra – denial, denial, denial, death – as their narrative structure. And even if death is avoided, you can bet that terminal disease will get a substantial supporting role.

This is the case with The Leisure Seeker. Southern belle Ella and her husband, John (Donald Sutherland), take their trusty Winnebago on a road trip. But she is bunking off from a hospital appointment and he is suffering from a conveniently intermittent form of dementia. It’s immediately clear that...

Action film starring Dwayne Johnson dethrones Peter Rabbit with £3.1m debut.

Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate - 1.43

RankFilm / DistributorWeekend Gross (Fri-Sun)Running TotalWeek 1 Rampage (Warner Bros) £3.1m £4.1m 1 2 Peter Rabbit (Sony) £2m £38.1m 5 3 A Quiet Place (Paramount) £1.9m £6.4m 2 4 Ready Player One (Warner Bros) £1.2m £14.5m 3 5 Truth Or Dare (Universal) £922,664 £922,664 1 Warner Bros

Rampage, the latest Dwayne Johnson star vehicle, stormed to the top of the UK box office this weekend with a three-day debut of £3.1m from 559 sites, an average of £5,617. The video-game adaptation has grossed £4.1m, including previews on Wednesday and Thursday.

That figure is roughly equitable...

Helen Mirren would probably pick team Cannes if she had to choose a side in the current war of words between the film festival and Netflix. The Oscar-winning actress is making headlines for telling The i newspaper that Netflix is “devastating” for filmmakers and cinema at large. Mirren says the streaming platform is robbing cinema of the “communal” experience that is so essential.

“It’s devastating for people like my husband [“Ray” director Taylor Hackford], film directors, because they want their movies to be watched in a cinema with a group of people,” Mirren said. “So it’s a communal thing.”

Ironically, Mirren admits she loves watching movies on her iPad (she must be using Amazon Prime). The actress has been touring the world in promotion of her film “The Leisure Seeker,” in which she stars opposite Donald Sutherland, and she went viral earlier this month for campaigning for stunt actors to receive their own Oscar category.

Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here” continues the welcome trend of limited crossovers that includes “Isle of Dogs” and “The Death of Stalin.” This tough New York-set crime film is the best initial performer in the acclaimed Scottish director’s career, with a Joaquin Phoenix performance that’s viewed as some of his best work.

“Lean on Pete” from Andrew Haigh, another established British director working in an American setting, had a more modest but credible opening. The business needs a consistent supply of films like these, which can fill top specialized theaters.

Opening

You Were Never Really Here (Amazon) – Metacritic: 87; Festivals include: Cannes 2017, Sundance 2018

$129,911 in 3 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $43,304

Ramsay’s acclaimed drama stars Phoenix as a tortured soul rescuing young girls from sex slavery. Similar to her earlier “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” this is tough material, told in unflinching form centered on stark,...

Love After Love made a showing in its debut, outpacing other reporting openers in a weekend that was all about Isle of Dogs among the specialties.

Russell Harbaugh’s Tribeca ’17 debut Love After Love landed atop the weekend’s specialties when looking at per theater averages, though it was just in one New York location. The feature, starring Andie MacDowell and Chris O’Dowd, grossed $11,263, which gave it the second-highest PTA of the weekend as of Sunday morning, behind Searchlight’s Isle Of Dogs. IFC Films’ current star, however, continues to be comedy The Death of Stalin, which quadrupled its runs in its fourth weekend, grossing over $1.45M over the Easter/Passover weekend, averaging $3,004 (-60%). Last weekend, the feature grossed $1.06M in 141 locations. IFC said there was a 20% drop “or less” in holds with some screens “totally flat.”

Added the company Sunday: “We continue to be very happy with Stalin...

Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs” (Fox Searchlight) showed crossover strength as it widened on its second weekend to more major markets. And “Death of Stalin” (IFC) continues strong on the arthouse circuit.

Both added a much-needed boost to the anemic specialty market. Only three holdovers after their third week grossed over $50,000, including the final dates for Oscar-winner “The Shape of Water.” This marks the lowest numbers in years, and exposes the feast-or-famine nature of the current specialized box office.

The widest new opener, Roadside Attraction’s British senior romance “Finding Your Feet,” drew a mixed response in multiple initial cities.

Of the three new U.S. indies arriving with past festival branding, only Gemini (Neon) has a chance at real theatrical legs; “Love After Love” (IFC) is already streaming, and “Outside In” (The Orchard) hits Svod on April 3 before Netflix availability on June 1. The theatrical business is shifting: only...

Nothing can stop him! Donald Sutherland's shooting schedule on the new FX drama Trust would bring a man half his age to his knees, but in an interview with Closer Weekly, the 82-year-old says "it didn't feel like work" to him. "It was 12 hours a day on the set, with half an hour for lunch, six days a week, and we were shooting at least an hour away from where I was living," he tells Closer. "I didn't even get time to have a nap, and when you're 82, you need a nap." Donald and his co-stars on Trust. (Photo Credit: Getty Images) Still, he says, playing J. Paul Getty, the billionaire whose grandson was abducted in 1973, was an honor. "It was quite exhausting, but it doesn't have anything to do with work. It's a fulfillment of passion." With roles opposite Helen Mirren in the recently released film The Leisure Seeker...

Updated at 12:10Pm Pt with more numbers and analysis. The Orchard sprouted a hit over the weekend, opening teen comedy Flower, starring Zoey Deutch, in just three theaters and grossing a rousing $57,851.

That tally yielded the highest per-theater average of the weekend, though right behind it was IFC Films’ The Death of Stalin, which came in with $18,143 per situation in its second frame even while expanding to 32 runs.

Focus Features’ 7 Days in Entebbe went out to over 800 theaters on Friday with a so-so $1.63M start, while Good Deed Entertainment’s Journey’s End debuted in two locations, grossing $12,700.

Classical music doc Itzhak expanded to 19 runs in its second weekend, conducting $37,500, while SPC’s The Leisure Seeker with Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland camped in 49 theaters in its second outing, taking in $149K. Also in Week Two was Focus’ Thoroughbreds, which collected $470K. Best Foreign Language winner A Fantastic Woman...

Directed by Paolo Virzì, winner of the 2017 David di Donatello Best Director Award, The Leisure Seeker stars Academy Award-winner® Helen Mirren and two-time Golden Globe- winner® Donald Sutherland as a runaway couple on an unforgettable journey in the faithful old Rv they call the Leisure Seeker. The couple travels from Boston to The Ernest Hemingway Home in Key West, recapturing their passion for life and their love for each other on a road trip that provides revelation and surprise right up to the very end.

The Leisure Seeker opens in St. Louis on March 23.

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A Fantastic Woman, The Shape Of Water capitalise on Oscar successes.

March 12 Update: Marvel Studios’ Black Panther used a confirmed $40.8m weekend session to leap to $561.7m and seventh in the all-time North American pantheon, as Disney’s A Wrinkle In Time disappointed, and A Fantastic Woman and The Shape Of Water capitalised on Oscar successes.

Buena Vista opened Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle In Time fantasy adaptation based on Madeleine L’Engle’s novel starring Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling at number two on a lacklustre $33.1m from 3,980 sites.

DuVernay becomes the first black woman to direct...