News

Shudder has announced today that they’ve acquired the lo-fi ’80s Midwest horror thriller Dead Mail from directors Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy. The news comes with a Spring release date as part of Shudder’s Halfway-to-Halloween celebrations.

Dead Mail is set to premiere on Shudder on April 18, 2025.

In the film, “On a desolate, Midwestern county road, a bound man crawls towards a remote postal box, managing to slide a blood-stained plea-for-help message into the slot before a panicking figure closes in behind him. The note makes its way to the desk of Jasper, a seasoned ‘dead letter’ investigator at a 1980s midwestern post office. As he begins to piece together the letter’s origins, it leads him down a violent, unforeseen path to a kidnapped keyboard engineer and his eccentric business associate.”

Sterling Macer Jr., John Fleck, Susan Piver, Micki Jackson, Tomas Boykin, and Nick Heyman star.

DeBoer and McConaghy said,...

Exclusive: Dead Mail, an acclaimed ’80s Midwest horror thriller from writer-directors Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy, is set to make its exclusive streaming debut on Shudder as part of the streamer’s annual Halfway to Halloween celebration on April 18.

The film hits streaming following a successful festival run that began with its world premiere at SXSW 2024, also featuring stops at the Sitges Film Festival, Brooklyn Horror Fest and others. Its plot is thrust into motion on a desolate, Midwestern county road, as a bound man crawls towards a remote postal box, managing to slide a blood-stained plea-for-help message into the slot before a panicking figure closes in behind him. The note makes its way to the desk of Jasper, a seasoned ‘dead letter’ investigator at a 1980s midwestern post office. And as Jasper begins to piece together the letter’s origins, it leads him down a violent, unforeseen path to...

Yellow Veil Pictures has come on board to represent international sales on the horror Dead Mail and will kick off talks at EFM in Berlin next week.

Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy’s film premiered at 2024 SXSW and went on to screen at Frightfest and TIFF Midnight Madness.

Set in the 1980s Midwest, Dead Mail centres on an ominous, bloody help note that finds its way to the desk of a seasoned dead letter investigator at a post office.

As he begins to piece together the letter’s origins, it leads him down a violent path where he encounters a...

Exclusive: Academy Award nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (King Richard) and Rachelle Lefevre (Twilight franchise) have wrapped on Liz Here Now, a new indie drama from director Sterling Macer Jr.

Shot in Lexington, Ky, the film is based on the novel of the same name by Todd Connor. The story follows Liz Baxter (Ellis-Taylor), who works as a nanny for a prominent, white family in Oakland, California during the rise of the Black Panther Party in 1967. When Liz discovers that the Connor children are suffering under the hand of their mother, Jane (Lefevre), and attempts to step in to protect the children, she’s accused of participating in a Black Panther conspiracy.

In a statement on the project, Macer Jr. told Deadline, “Our approach to Liz Here Now is a kind of deconstruction of the black maid’s story, and to a degree, bends the genre of the civil rights era domestic drama,...

The dark and atmospheric thriller Dead Mail is set to make its Northern UK debut at Grimmfest, Manchester’s renowned festival for genre cinema. Directed by Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy, the 1980s-set film takes viewers on a gripping journey through a Midwest post office where a simple blood-stained note triggers a chain of violent and unexpected events. The screening will take place at the Odeon Great Northern on 3rd October, as part of Grimmfest’s 2024 line-up, showcasing the best in new horror and thriller films from around the world.

Dead Mail follows Jasper, a seasoned dead letter investigator, whose job involves tracing and returning lost mail to its sender. When a cryptic and bloody plea for help lands on his desk, Jasper is drawn into a chilling mystery that takes him to Trent, an unassuming yet strange resident of the men’s home where Jasper lives. What begins as...

The 25th edition of the Pigeon Shrine FrightFest promises to be an unforgettable celebration of horror cinema, taking place between 22 August to 26 August 2024.

It’s hard to comprehend just how many films will be on offer to see at this fantastic event, so we have broken down each of the screens into articles for you to digest. And we may have saved the best (this one) until last!

We have already detailed what will be on offer in Discovery Screen 1, Discovery Screen 2 and Discovery Screen 3 across the long weekend.

Now it’s time to read about the final list of films on offer, detailed below. Read on for the film programme for the Main Screen, at the Cineworld, Leicester Square.

Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024 – Main Screen Thursday, 22 August 2024

5:30 Pm – Opening Film: Broken Bird (World Premiere) Directed by Joanne Mitchell and starring Rebecca Calder, James Fleet, Jay Taylor, and Sacharissa Claxton,...

Blending found footage and what appears to be grainy 16mm (they shot the film on an early Dv as a matter of fact), Kyle McConaghy and Joe DeBoer’s Dead Mail embraces the creepiness of its concept. Like Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow or Kyle Edward Ball’s Skinamarink, this is the stuff of subconscious nightmares, though Dead Mail falls slightly more into the slasher camp. The film is effectively creepy from the feeling that––à la Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers––it’s a relic of the past. Also, like Schoenbrun’s film, it suggests a story that could have been imagined from a 20/20 segment or a late-night documentary that a child should not have watched after their bedtime but nevertheless did.

Dead Mail delivers something original, playing its horror down the line, no doubt influenced by lesser slasher movies. Yet the picture is grounded in...

The Overlook Film Fest 2024 edition, taking place April 4 – April 7 in New Orleans, Louisiana, just announced even more additions to their already packed lineup, including the Nicolas Cage-starring creature feature Arcadian.

“With the full scope of this year’s lineup, we’re thrilled to be able to recognize all of the many forms horror can take,” said Lisa Carbonari, festival director of The Overlook Film Festival. “We’re diving headfirst into the dark and twisted, through the films, immersive presentations, interactive exhibits, themed parties and even sensory experiences. We can’t wait to get together with our fellow horror-lovers and celebrate all of the different ways we enjoy being scared.”

The new additions to the lineup bring the festival total to 52 films (28 features and 24 shorts) from 11 countries, as well as four live presentations, six immersive experiences and six special events.

While you can read up on the previously announced lineup here,...

Writers/Directors Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy’s lo-fi ’80s psychological thriller, Dead Mail, anchors its offbeat story, characters, and retro style around profound loneliness. Bloody Disgusting spoke with the filmmakers along with stars Sterling Macer Jr. and John Fleck at SXSW, where the film made its world premiere, about their unique approach to the genre-bender.

Dead Mail leans heavily into the ’80s analog aesthetic, delivering a unique crime thriller unafraid to get weird with its dark narrative.

In the film, “On a desolate, Midwestern county road, a bound man crawls towards a remote postal box, managing to slide a blood-stained plea-for-help message into the slot before a panicking figure closes in behind him. The note makes its way to the county post office and onto the desk of Jasper, a seasoned and skilled ‘dead letter’ investigator, responsible for investigating lost mail and returning it to its sender. As he investigates further,...

Obsession and profound loneliness drive writers/directors Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy’s lo-fi psychological thriller, Dead Mail. On paper, the premise reads like a familiar crime tale, yet the filmmakers’ execution quickly proves Dead Mail to be anything but conventional. A reinvention of the ‘80s aesthetic, a deft genre blend, and intimate empathy afforded to all of its unique characters make this retro form experiment a fascinating watch.

A bound and bloody man, Josh (Sterling Macer Jr.), manages to crawl out of a house on an empty Illinois street and shove a bloodied letter into the mailbox before his captor drags him kicking and screaming back inside. That letter finds its way to the desk of post office worker Jasper (Tomas Boykin), a skilled investigator of “dead mail.” Jasper’s investigation of the letter coincides with the arrival of Trent (John Fleck) at the men’s center where he resides,...

"The one to strike fear is the man who is alone." An early festival promo teaser has debuted for the indie horror thriller film titled Dead Mail, the second feature from indie genre filmmakers Joe DeBoer & Kyle McConaghy (also of Bab in 2020). This is premiering at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival soon and this trailer will give genre fans an early look at what's going down in this. Though all of this footage just makes me even more confused - who is this guy and why is he chained up in this room?! An ominous help note finds its way to a 1980s post office, connecting a dead letter investigator to a kidnapped keyboard technician. As Jasper investigates further, he meets Trent, a strange yet unassuming man who has taken up residence at the men’s home where Jasper lives and has an interest in this letter. The indie film stars Sterling Macer, Jr.,...

One of the genre films we’re looking forward to checking out at SXSW this year is Dead Mail, written and directed by Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy and premiering on March 9.

A new teaser and key art has debuted ahead of the fest, giving a closer look at the ’80s analog aesthetic.

In the SXSW 2024 horror film…

“On a desolate, Midwestern county road, a bound man crawls towards a remote postal box, managing to slide a blood-stained plea-for-help message into the slot before a panicking figure closes in behind him. The note makes its way to the county post office and onto the desk of Jasper, a seasoned and skilled “dead letter” investigator, responsible for investigating lost mail and returning it to its sender. As he investigates further, Jasper meets Trent, a strange yet unassuming man who has taken up residence at the men’s home where Jasper lives.

One of the genre films we’re looking forward to checking out at SXSW this year is Dead Mail, written and directed by Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy and premiering on March 9.

Meagan Navarro will be reviewing Dead Mail for Bloody Disgusting as part of her SXSW coverage, and she writes in her preview for the upcoming fest: “Dead Mail leans heavily into the ’80s analog aesthetic, delivering a unique crime thriller unafraid to get offbeat with its dark narrative. Expect its characters to be as atypical as Dead Mail‘s sense of style.”

In the SXSW 2024 horror film…

“On a desolate, Midwestern county road, a bound man crawls towards a remote postal box, managing to slide a blood-stained plea-for-help message into the slot before a panicking figure closes in behind him. The note makes its way to the county post office and onto the desk of Jasper, a seasoned and skilled “dead letter” investigator,...

The latest edition of the SXSW Film Festival kicks off later this week in Austin, Texas, unleashing an expansive slate of film programming an experiences- emphasis on expansive. For the horror fan, the fest offers so much more beyond the Midnighter programming section, and this SXSW 2024 preview guide should help.

The 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival’s Opening Night TV Premiere is the highly anticipated Netflix series 3 Body Problem created, executive produced and written by Emmy Award winners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss and Emmy Award nominee Alexander Woo. The Midnighter category includes buzzy titles like Samara Weaving-starring Azrael and Sundance favorite It’s What’s Inside. The fest’s Headliner section comes packed with highly anticipated titles like Immaculate, Cuckoo, and Arcadian. But all of this only scratches the surface of titles to get excited about.

Whether you’re heading to Austin this week or keeping track...

Justina Machado stars in comedy about stressed mother who regresses to college student persona.

Myriad Pictures has added comedy The Throwback starring Justina Machado to its TIFF sales and commences talks this week.

CEO Kirk D’Amico represents worldwide rights to writer-director Mario Garcia’s story about a stressed “supermom” with two energetic kids and a lethargic husband whose lives are upended when she experiences a life-threatening situation at work.

Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder the woman regresses to her college student, party-going persona but eventually learns the party life will never replace the love for her family.

The Throwback hails...

Olivia Newman’s mystery film Where the Crawdads Sing has arrived on Netflix in the US and immediately jumped to No 1 on the site’s most popular movies ranking.

The film, which follows the story of a girl named Kya, features Daisy-Edgar Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, and David Strathairn.

Set in the 1950s and 1960s in rural North Carolina, the narrative blends elements of murder mystery, romance, and nature writing with a coming-of-age story about Kya, who grew up alone in the marshes.

The film is based on the bestselling book of the same name which sold more than 12m copies since its publication in 2018. It was featured as part of Reese Witherspoon’s book club, and the actor now serves as the film’s executive producer.

While audiences on Netflix are clearly loving the movie adaptation, critics were not so convinced.

Find a roundup of Where the Crawdads Sing reviews below.

Olivia Newman’s mystery film Where the Crawdad’s Sing has arrived in cinemas and the reviews aren’t so positive.

The film, which follows the story of a girl named Kya, features Daisy-Edgar Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, and David Strathairn.

Set in the 1950s and 1960s in rural North Carolina, the narrative blends elements of murder mystery, romance, and nature writing with a coming-of-age story about Kya, who grew up alone in the marshes.

The film is based on the bestselling book of the same name which sold more than 12m copies since its publication in 2018. It was featured as part of Reese Witherspoon’s book club, and the actor now serves as the film’s executive producer.

Time will tell how the film does at the box office, but it hasn’t been received extremely well by the critics.

Find a roundup of Where the Crawdad’s Sing reviews below.

Daisy Edgar-Jones starrer “Where the Crawdads Sing” is set to get a theatrical release in China, Sony Pictures revealed today.

The film, which is based on the coming-of-age novel by Delia Owens, will hit Chinese theaters on Nov. 25.

It was released in the U.S. in July, where it made 2.3 million in Thursday previews. According to Sony, the film has generated 140.2 million worldwide, of which 50 million came from international markets.

“Where the Crawdads Sing” stars Edgar-Jones as Kya, who raises herself in the marshlands of North Carolina after being abandoned by her family. Isolated and viewed with suspicion by prejudiced locals, Kya keeps to herself until she one day befriends two young men. But when one of them unexpectedly dies, she becomes the center of suspicion.

Taylor John Smith (“Sharp Objects”), Harris Dickinson (“The King’s Man”), Michael Hyatt (“Snowfall”), Sterling Macer, Jr. (“Double Down”) and David Strathairn (“Nomadland”) also star.

Sony Pictures’ Where the Crawdads Sing has crossed the 90 million mark at the domestic box office, showing proof that it’s not just tentpoles that rule the roost on the big screen. The pic hit the mark on its 82nd day of release, Tuesday, after opening on July 15.

The movie based on the Delia Owens YA mystery novel opened to 17.2M and has a current leg-out factor of 5.2x, which is amazing for any wide title in this wonky marketplace. And it wasn’t even the Christmas season. Sony has pulled off great box office sleepers before, one of the more notable titles pre-pandemic being Little Women, which posted a 5-day start of 29.2M and legged out to 108.1M domestic and six Oscar noms and a win.

Also, it’s an amazing feat considering that Where the Crawdads Sing didn’t boast a major cast, just a star in its producer,...

“Where the Crawdads Sing” has gathered quite a list of names associated with the film adaptation of Delia Owens’ bestselling novel, which was published in 2018. Reese Witherspoon spotlighted the book as one of the earliest picks in her book club, and then her production company Hello Sunshine signed on to adapt the book for the big screen through Lucy Alibar’s screenplay.

Directed by Olivia Newman, the story weaves together several complex themes, including coming of age, survival and a murder mystery. Taylor Swift even wrote a song for the film after reading Owens’ novel because she was so inspired by the story: “Carolina,” which released June 23, echoes Owens’ naturalistic writing with a haunting melody.

Fans of the book, Reese Witherspoon, Taylor Swift and/or actress Daisy Edgar Jones may be wondering how to watch the upcoming film adaptation. We have all the details below.

Also Read:

Everything We Know...

Given the immense popularity of the novel, there’s been a lot of hype and expectations concerning the adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing, which is finally upon us. To mark the film’s cinema release this weekend, we had the pleasure in speaking to the talented cast, such as leading star Daisy Edgar-Jones, as well as Taylor John Smith, Sterling Macer, Jr. and Michael Hyatt. We then rounded up by speaking to the affable filmmaker Olivia Newman.

We run through a wide range of topics, speaking to Edger-Jones and Smith about their characters all the way through to the Glastonbury music festival, while with Macer Jr. and Hyatt, they talk about bringing complexity and nuance to good people on screen. Newman talks about the adaptation process and confirms she will be helming the forthcoming Roe v Wade production. Be sure to watch all interviews in their entirety below.

Daisy...

Stars: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer Jr | Written by Lucy Alibar | Directed by Olivia Newman

Abandoned as a girl, Catherine “Kya” Clark (Daisy Edgar-Jones) raised herself in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. For years, rumours of the marsh girl haunted Barkley Cove, isolating the sharp and resilient Kya from her community. Drawn to two young men from town, she opens herself to a new and startling world.

“I wasn’t aware that words could hold so much. I didn’t know a sentence could be so full,” Kya says to her love interest Tate in Olivia Newman‘s film adaptation of Delia Owens’ novel Where the Crawdads Sing, the type of movie they simply don’t make anymore. To tell you the truth, it’s a wonder that this movie even exists in the first place.

Film adaptations of books like this don’t come around too often.

Disney’s “Thor: Love And Thunder” topped the U.K. and Ireland box office for the second consecutive weekend with £4.06 million (4.8 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now has a total of £20.8 million.

Universal’s “Minions: The Rise Of Gru” had another strong showing with £2.66 million in second place and has a total of £23.1 million after three weekends. In third position, Warner Bros.’ “Elvis” collected £1 million for a total of £16.1 million after four weekends.

Placing fourth was Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick.” Already the highest grossing film of the year in the territory, the Tom Cruise vehicle took a further £810,638 in its eighth weekend for a mighty total of £72.2 million.

Rounding off the top five was Universal’s “Jurassic World: Dominion,” which collected £383,502 in its sixth weekend for a total of £32.4 million.

Studiocanal’s “The Railway Children Return,” a new adventure following the 1970 classic,...

A CGI blue heron takes flight at the beginning of “Where the Crawdads Sing,” giving viewers a glimpse of the vast wetlands in which the film adaptation of Delia Owens’ novel is set.

“We worked with a fantastic company,” director Olivia Newman told TheWrap in a recent interview about the film. “They just gave so much attention to detail to get the blue heron right, and we had a very specific idea in mind for how we wanted to lead the viewer into the swamp and first introduce them to the world of the marsh.”

The bird eventually weaves past the coastline and then down into the swamps to land near where two young boys discover the dead body of Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson) in the marsh.

Also Read:

How to Watch ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’: Is the Adaptation Streaming?

“We worked with a drone company to get those...

“Where the Crawdads Sing,” Sony’s adaptation of the hit novel by Delia Owens and produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, earned 2.3 million in its Thursday preview screenings that began at 3 p.m. The film played at 3,150 locations on Thursday and will open in approximately 3,625 locations this weekend.

“Crawdads” opens new this week against Paramount’s animated family film “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank,” which also had previews on Thursday starting at 3 p.m. It made 505,000 from 2,650 locations; it’s scheduled to open on approximately 3,400 screens this weekend. Both films are expected to fall behind “Thor: Love and Thunder” as it moves into its second weekend.

Sony is projecting a 9-10 million three-day opening weekend against a 24 million budget. And while “Crawdads” is aimed at a younger crowd, prominently featuring a new Taylor Swift song “Carolina” as a means of attracting those audiences, the film is also...

Exclusive: Deadline has an exclusive track from Mychael Danna’s score for 3000 Pictures’ dramatic thriller Where the Crawdads Sing, which is slated for release by Decca Records tomorrow, as the film hits theaters in the U.S.

Olivia Newman’s film based on the bestseller by Delia Owens tells the story of Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones), an abandoned girl who raised herself to adulthood in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, isolating the sharp and resilient Kya from her community. Drawn to two young men from town, she opens herself to a new and startling world; but when one of them is found dead, she is immediately cast by the community as the main suspect. As the case unfolds, the verdict as to what actually happened becomes increasingly unclear, threatening to reveal the many secrets that lay within the marsh.

Naturally,...

Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on “Where the Crawdads Sing,” the highly anticipated adaptation of the huge best selling novel by Della Owens, and featuring Daisy Edgar-Jones, in theater everywhere beginning July 15th.

Rating: 1.0/5.0

Jones portrays Catherine “Kya” Clark, an orphaned girl who learned to raise herself in the marshes of North Carolina in the 1950s and ‘60s, earning her the nickname “Marsh Girl.” For reasons never fully explained she is rejected by the townsfolk around the Marsh, except for a kindly black couple named Jumpin’ (Sterling Macer Jr.) and Mabel (Michael Hyatt). As she grows into a clean and desirable woman, a boy named Tate (Taylor John Smith) and the high school star quarterback Chase (Harris Dickinson) vie for her attention. When Chase ends up murdered, the Marsh Girl becomes the prime suspect and is put on trial.

”Where the Crawdads Sing” is in theaters beginning July 15th.

Where the Crawdads Sing Review — Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Olivia Newman, written by Lucy Alibar and Delia Owens and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, David Strathairn, Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer Jr., Logan Macrae, Bill Kelly, Ahna O’Reilly, Garret Dillahunt, Jojo Regina, Luke David [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Where The Crawdads Sing (2022): Delia Owens’ Book is Brought to Life but the Film Feels Like Cliff’s Notes...

The big-screen treatment of a bestseller, a well-scrubbed Southern Gothic, a next-gen star’s showcase, a romance-murder-mystery-courtroom-drama-dessert-topping-floor-wax, The Movie That Would Be The Notebook — these are some of the ways to describe Where the Crawdads Sing, the adaptation of Delia Shannon’s book-club staple about love and death among the marshlands. (The nicer ways, at least.) If you’re among the gajillions who’ve read the novel, you know the premise: In 1969, a body is found near an observation tower in Barkley Cove, North Carolina. The victim either fell or was pushed.

We may never know the full truth behind Delia Owens’ checkered past as a conservationist — which almost certainly seem to include a militant, white savior-minded approach to policing Zambian wildlife preserves, and may also extend to being a “co-conspirator and accessory” to murder — but the secret to the “Where the Crawdads Sing” author’s success is now as obvious as her plotting, even to those of us who had never heard of the runaway bestseller until Taylor Swift invented it a few short weeks ago. Olivia Newman’s (“First Match”) slick and glossy beach read of a movie adaptation brings it all right to the surface. Which is just as well, because .

Yes, this is an expertly contrived melodrama about defiance in the face of abandonment, and sure, it’s also a faintly self-exonerating caricature of a natural woman unspoiled by Western society. But underneath the story’s humid romance with Carolina marshland,...

Sometimes a movie will turn softer than you thought it would — more sunny and upbeat and romantic, with a happier ending. Then there’s the kind of movie that turns darker than you expect, with an ominous undertow and an ending that kicks you in the shins. “Where the Crawdads Sing” is the rare movie that conforms to both those dynamics at once.

Adapted from Delia Owens’ debut novel, which has sold 12 million copies since it was published in 2018, the movie is about a young woman whose identity is mired in physical and spiritual harshness. Kya Clark (Daisy Edgar-Jones) has grown up all by herself in a shack on a marshy bayou outside Barkley Cove, N.C. When we meet her, it’s 1969 and she’s being put on trial for murder. A young man who Kya was involved with has fallen to his death from a six-story fire tower.

Click here to read the full article.

Where the Crawdads Sing is the kind of tedious moral fantasy that fuels America’s misguided idealism. It’s an attempt at a complex tale about rejection, difference and survival. But the film, like the novel it’s based on, skirts the issues — of race, gender and class — that would texture its narrative and strengthen its broad thesis, resulting in a story that says more about how whiteness operates in a society allergic to interdependence than it does about how communities fail young people.

Directed by Olivia Newman (First Match), the film adaptation of Delia Owens’ popular and controversial novel of the same name tells the remarkable tale of a shy, reclusive girl raised in the marshes of North Carolina who finds herself embroiled in a grisly police investigation. Her name is Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones of Normal People, Fresh and Under the Banner...

Submerged in the muggy waters of the North Carolina marsh – which per the voiceover, is not a swamp – British actress Daisy Edgar-Jones tries to save “Where the Crawdads Sing,” the film adaption of Delia Owens’ best-selling novel, from drowning in its own bland mediocrity.

Edgar-Jones, who not long ago dazzled as one of the leads in the Irish drama series “Normal People,” is condemned to a one-note performance of exasperated suffering and unconvincing innocence as Kya, otherwise known as “The Marsh Girl,” a young woman abandoned by her entire family as a child and undeservingly judged by the surrounding community.

Enamored with nature, she can’t read or write, but she can draw every life form around her. Alone, she fishes and fends for herself with a little help from a Black couple, Jumpin’ (Sterling Macer Jr.) and Mabel (Michael Hyatt), who own a local store. Their condition of oppression...

Check out Variety’s Must Attend calendar listings.

July 7, Thursday

“Moulin Rouge! The Musical” opens followed by an opening night reception at The Highlight Room at the Dream Hotel.

Hollywood Pantages, Hollywood

July 8, Friday

Lana Condor and Christina Ricci are honored at the Maui Film Festival.

Stardust Cinema, Maui

Hilary Clinton hosts BroadwayCon’s Here’s to the Ladies panel, featuring Vanessa Williams, Julie White and Lachanze.

Manhattan Center, New York

July 9, Saturday

Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly and Chandler Kinney attend the “Zombies 3” premiere.

Barker Hangar, Santa Monica

Karl Urban attends the premiere of “The Sea Beast.”

Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles

July 10, Sunday

“Into the Woods” stars Sara Bareilles, Brian D’Arcy James, Patina Miller, Phillipa Soo and Gavin Creel celebrate the revival’s opening night.

St. James Theatre, New York

“Jeopardy” champion Amy Schneider is the Grand Marshal of the Long Beach Pride parade. Paulina Rubio...

With the help of Reese Witherspoon and her book club, Delia Owens’ novel “Where the Crawdads Sing” has been adapted into a film. Reese’s Book Club designated the novel as a selection back when it was first published in 2018, rocketing it up the NY Times Bestseller list.

The movie will bring to life the story of a young girl, abandoned by her family, who learns to live on her own in her family’s old shack in the marsh in 1960s North Carolina. The girl grows into a clever young woman who knows how to fend for herself and love off the land. Her life becomes a bit more complicated when romance enters the picture, and the story takes a sharp turn.

Here’s everything we know about the “Where the Crawdads Sing” movie so far:

It’s the story of a girl who raises herself

Published in August...

As Swifties patiently wait for Taylor Swift to release the next installment of her Taylor’s Version album re-records, the singer-songwriter is keeping fans satiated with the release of “Carolina,” a new song written for forthcoming movie, Where the Crawdads Sing. The film, out July 15, is an adaption of American author Delia Owens’ 2018 novel of the same name.

Alluding to the film’s backwoods setting, the track evokes the elegiac tone of Appalachian folk ballads as Swift’s voice, otherworldly and siren-like, is accentuated by sweeping string arrangements and the gentle strum of a guitar.

Exclusive: Bobby Lee (And Just Like That…) has signed on to star alongside Justina Machado, Will Sasso, Gregg Sulkin and Michelle Randolph in Mario Garcia’s feature directorial debut, The Throwback, which is currently in production in the Tampa Bay area.

The indie comedy follows Kate (Machado) and Matt (Sasso), a married couple in full-blown midlife crisis who are thrown into further turmoil when the former, an underappreciated and stressed ‘supermom,’ suffers a post-traumatic breakdown during the holiday season, causing her to regress to her 19-year-old college party-girl self. Lee will play an ad agency art director and longtime colleague of Sasso’s character Matt, who fancies himself a ladies’ man. Garcia penned the script and is producing via his company Garcia Interactive, alongside Michael A. Alfieri of Miantri Films and Doug Fox. Danielle Del is exec producing alongside Machado and Sterling Macer Jr.

Lee is an actor, comedian and...

Exclusive: Fernanda Andrade (Let the Right One In) has signed on for a role in Paramount+’s crime thriller, Finestkind. She joins an ensemble that also includes Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Jenna Ortega, Aaron Stanford, Scotty Tovar, Tim Daly, Lolita Davidovich, Clayne Crawford, Meghan Leathers and Ismael Cruz Cordova, as previously announced.

Set in America’s biggest commercial fishing port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, Finestkind tells the story of two brothers (Foster and Wallace) from opposite sides of the tracks, who are reunited as adults over one fateful summer. When desperate circumstances force them to strike a deal with a dangerous Boston crime syndicate, a young woman (Ortega) finds herself caught in the middle. Along the way, sacrifices must be made, and bonds between brothers, friends, and a father (Jones) and his son are put to the test. Andrade plays Anne Marie, a great mom and loving wife to Cordova’s fisherman,...

Exclusive: Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education) has signed on for a role in Sony Pictures’ live-action adaptation of Harold and the Purple Crayon. She’s set to star alongside previously announced cast members including Zachary Levi, Zooey Deschanel, Lil Rel Howery, Ravi Patel and Camille Guaty.

The upcoming film from Oscar-nominated director Carlos Saldanha is based on the 1955 children’s book by Crockett Johnson, which follows Harold—a curious four-year-old who, with his purple crayon, has the power to create a world of his own. David Guion and Michael Handelman handled the screenplay adaptation, with John Davis (Dolemite Is My Name) producing through Davis Entertainment. The film is currently in post-production, and is slated for release in theaters on January 27, 2023.

Reynolds is known for her role as Lily on Netflix’s Sex Education. The actress most recently completed...

Exclusive: Justina Machado (One Day at a Time) and Will Sasso (Loudermilk) have signed on to star in The Throwback, an indie comedy marking the feature directorial debut of Mario Garcia, which is heading into production in Tampa next month.

The film follows a married couple (Machado and Sasso) in full-blown midlife crisis who are thrown into further turmoil when the wife (Machado), an underappreciated and stressed ‘supermom,’ suffers a post-traumatic breakdown during the holiday season, causing her to regress to her 19-year-old college party-girl self.

Garcia wrote the script and will produce via his company Garcia Interactive, alongside Michael A. Alfieri of Miantri Films and Doug Fox. Machado and Sasso’s longtime manager, Danielle Del, will exec produce alongside Machado and Sterling Macer Jr.

Machado recently starred as Penelope on Sony Picture Television’s revival of One Day at a Time, and will next be seen in the Blumhouse-produced Amazon series,...

Taylor Swift’s new song, “Carolina,” features prominently in the trailer for the upcoming film, Where the Crawdads Sing, set to arrive in theaters this July.

Based on Delia Owens’ 2018 novel of the same name, Where the Crawdads Sing tells the story of Kya, the abandoned, so-called “Marsh Girl” who raises herself in the marshlands near the fictional North Carolina town, Barkley Cove. When Kya gets older, she finds herself drawn to two men, but after one of them turns up dead, she’s immediately pegged as the main suspect,...

Exclusive: Garret Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead), Michael Hyatt (Snowfall), Ahna O’Reilly (The Morning Show), Sterling Macer Jr. (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story), and newcomer Jojo Regina have been added to the cast of Where The Crawdads Sing, the film adaptation based on Delia Owens’ Nyt best-selling novel from 3000 Pictures, Hello Sunshine, and Sony. Olivia Newman is attached to direct the pic from a screenplay written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Lucy Alibar.

Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter are producing for Hello Sunshine with Elizabeth Gabler, Erin Siminoff and Aislinn Dunster are overseeing the project for 3000 Pictures.

Set against the backdrop of the mid-20th century South, the story centers on a young woman named Kya who, abandoned by her family, raises herself all alone in the marshes outside of her small town. However, when her former boyfriend is found dead, Kya is thrust into the spotlight, instantly branded by the...

Recently, CBS delivered the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "NCIS" episode 12 of season 12. The episode is entitled, "The Enemy Within," and it turns out that we'll see the NCIS crew try to hunt down an American terrorist. Tony's new,weird behavior gets called into question, and more. In the new, 12th episode press release: The NCIS team is going to search for a home-grown terrorist after evidence reveals his role in the capture of a social worker in Syria. Press release number 2: The NCIS team will search for a home-grown terrorist after a rescue mission in Syria reveals an American was involved in the capture of a social worker. In the meantime, McGee and Bishop are going to question Dinozzo’s unusual behavior. Joe Spano guest stars as Senior FBI Agent T.C. Fornell and Marisol Nichols guest stars as Atf Special Agent Zoë Keates. Other Guest...

Recently, Fox released the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Bones" episode 2 of season 10. The episode is entitled, "The Lance to the Heart," and it turns out that we'll see the Jeffersonian team still heavy in search for who framed Booth,and more. In the new, 2nd episode press release: The team is going to dig deeper into the Federal Government's cover-up. Press release number 2: To find out who framed Booth for murder, the Jeffersonian team, with the help Special Agent James Aubrey (guest star John Boyd), are going to continue to investigate who is behind a conspiracy within the Federal Government that dates all the way back to J. Edgar Hoover. Then, when foreign DNA is found in a previous victim linked to the scandal, the team will be able to narrow down the number of suspects, leading them closer to cracking the case. Guest stars will...

Recently, Fox released the new,official,synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Bones" season finale episode 24 of season 9. The episode is entitled, "The Recluse in the Recliner," and it sounds like things will get pretty intriguing as Booth's future with the FBI could get put in jeopardy, and more. In the new, 24th episode press release: Booth is going to become a target in an ongoing investigation. Press release number 2: the Jeffersonian team is going to investigate the death of Wesley Foster, a conspiracy blog writer who had arranged to meet up with Booth to discuss a previous case before his untimely death. Realizing that whoever killed Foster, did not want him talking to Booth, the team will have to try to figure out who is behind the death and how the previous case is relevant. As Booth and the Jeffersonian team dig deeper into the burgeoning conspiracy surrounding the man's death,...

Recently, Fox served up the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Bones" episode 22 of season 9. The episode is entitled, "The Nail in the Coffin," and it sounds like things will get pretty interesting as the team gets closer to closing in on the mysterious Ghost Killer, and more. In the new,22nd episode press release: The team will get closer to discovering the identity of the ghost killer. Press release number 2: The Jeffersonian team will investigate the death of Stephanie McNamara, who is the daughter of a wealthy family whose remains were found in a national park. When the team digs deeper into the circumstances surrounding her death, clues from the case are going to lead them to believe she may be the Ghost Killer's latest victim, with a surprising connection to a previous victim. In the meantime, the FBI Deputy Director is going to take a special...