News

Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut already made a big splash with its Sundance Film Festival premiere — and the film is set to make even bigger noise, as Netflix is nearing a $16 million deal for worldwide distribution rights on the film, an individual with knowledge of the deal tells Variety.

Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga star in the project, based on the 1929 novella by Nella Larsen and adapted by Hall, about racial passing in 1920s New York.

“Passing” was one of the buzziest titles heading into the festival, with Endeavor Content handling sales for the picture. The film boasts a starry cast and, after its well-reviewed premiere, a sizable acquisition deal was to be expected.

Set amid the Harlem Renaissance, Irene (Thompson) and Clare (Negga) are two mixed race women, and childhood friends, who reunite in their adulthood, discovering that they now live on two different sides of the color line,...

Exclusive: Netflix is nearing a deal to acquire worldwide rights to Passing, the Rebecca Hall-directed and -scripted drama that stars Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, Andre Holland and Alexander Skarsgard. Sources said the deal will land at around a $15.75 million.

The drama is about two African-American women who can “pass” as white, and who choose to live on opposite sides of the color line in 1929 New York. The drama is a compelling exploration of racial and gender identity, performance, obsession and repression. Passing competed in the U.S. Drama Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

Along with Coda, it was the most eagerly awaited acquisition title to hit Sundance, and with this deal, it does not disappoint. The film is a real statement of female empowerment, with Hall making her helming debut on the Nella Larsen novella, and Thompson and Negga turning in powerhouse performances. Netflix competed in a field of five bidders,...

IFC Films has acquired U.S. rights to Black 47, director Lance Daly’s Irish historical thriller making its North American premiere at next month’s Toronto Film Festival.

Black 47, starring James Frecheville as an Irish ex-soldier waging a bloody crusade against the British in 1847, made its debut at the Berlin Film Festival. IFC will be released theatrically in the U.S. on September 28.

A premiere in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is set for Sept. 5 through Wildcard Distribution. Altitude Film Distribution will release the film in mainland Britain on Sept. 28.

Said director Daly, “I’m really looking forward to collaborating with IFC, in reaching out to both Irish-American audiences who will find so much personal relevance in the story behind the Irish exodus to north America, and to their wider audience (who can also claim part-Irishness after seeing this movie!).”

Daly said Black 47 marks the “the first...

The Irish famine drama also stars Stephen Rea, Freddie Fox.

Production has commenced on Irish famine drama Black 47 starring Hugo Weaving (Hacksaw Ridge) and Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent (Iris).

The eight-week shoot will take place in Connemara, Kildara and Wicklow.

Black 47 is directed by Lance Daly, whose previous films include Life’s A Breeze and Kisses. Daly teamed with Pj Dillon (Rewind), Pierce Ryan (Standby) and Eugene O’Brien (The Flag) to write the screenplay.

Set in Ireland during the Great Famine, the drama follows an Irish Ranger named Feeney, who has been fighting for the British Army abroad, as he abandons his post to reunite with his family. Despite experiencing the horrors of war, Feeney is shocked by the famine’s destruction of his homeland and the brutalisation of his people and his family.

When Feeney sets on a destructive path to avenge his kin, an ageing British soldier is sent to stop him before...

A Hologram for a King

Director: Tom Tykwer

Writer: Tom Tykwer

Primarily known for his famed 1998 title Run, Lola Run, which shot actress Franka Potente into international stardom, German director Tom Tykwer’s been involved with a variety of international co-productions since, each seeming to find a minor cult following, such as Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), The International (2009), and most infamously, Cloud Atlas (2012), which he co-directed with Andy and Lana Wachowski (however, we were most impressed with his less discussed return to Germany with 2010’s well performed Three). Now, Tykwer’s adapated David Eggar’s (screenwriter for Away We Go and Where the Wild Things Are) novel, A Hologram for a King, a political allegory set in an up-and-coming Saudi Arabian city. The comedy-drama tells the story of an American businessman who makes a last-ditch attempt to stave off bankruptcy and finally accomplish something big. He wants to...

A Hologram for the King

Director: Tom Tykwer// Writer: Tom Tykwer

Primarily known for his famed 1998 title Run, Lola Run, which shot actress Franka Potente into international stardom, German director Tom Tykwer’s been involved with a variety of international co-productions since, each seeming to find a minor cult following, such as Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006), The International (2009), and most infamously, Cloud Atlas (2012), which he co-directed with Andy and Lana Wachowski (however, we were most impressed with his less discussed return to Germany with 2010’s well performed Three). Now, Tykwer’s adapated David Eggar’s (screenwriter for Away We Go and Where the Wild Things Are) novel, A Hologram for a King, a political allegory set in an up-and-coming Saudi Arabian city. The comedy-drama tells the story of an American businessman who makes a last-ditch attempt to stave off bankruptcy and finally accomplish something big. He wants to...

Exclusive: Lotus Entertainment has reported a strong response from buyers to Tom Tykwer’s A Hologram For The King starring Tom Hanks.

Bill Johnson, Jim Seibel and the sales team have closed deals in Scandinavia (Mis.Label); Latin America excluding Mexico (Swen); Benelux (A-Film Benelux Rechten); Poland (Monolith); Portugal (Pris Audiovisuais); and the former Yugoslavia (Blitz Film).

Lotus has also licensed rights in Hong Kong (Golden Scene); Singapore (Shaw Renters); Taiwan (Caichang Int’l); Thailand (Mono Film); and China (Hgc Entertainment).

Further deals closed in Greece, Cypress, Turkey, Middle East, India and Pakistan (Italia Film); Iceland (Myndform); Israel (United King); Bulgaria and Romania (Programs4 Media); South Africa (MNet.) and airlines (Cinesky).

X Filme Creative Pool co-produced the feature and retains rights for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, while executive producer Fábrica de Cine controls Mexico and Spain.

A previously announced Icon Film Distribution holds UK rights to the tale of a man teetering on the brink of insolvency...

As we look in the rearview mirror of the summer blockbusters, September heralds the start of the fall movie season. Filled with Hollywood heavyweights and A-listers, here’s our Big list of the most anticipated movies coming to cinemas this autumn and during the holidays.

Our exhaustive list includes films that are playing at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival as well the ones that already have a theatrical release date. With the awards season on the horizon, we also added a few bonus films at the end to keep your eye out for in the months ahead.

Pull up a chair, grab a pen and paper and get ready for Wamg’s Guide to the 100+ Films This Fall And Holiday Season.

We kick it off with what’s showing in Toronto at the film festival that runs September 4 – 14.

Maps To The Stars – September 2014 – Toronto International Film Festival; UK & Ireland September...

Icon Film Distribution acquires UK rights for Tom Tykwer’s A Hologram For The King starring Tom Hanks.

A Hologram for the King, a comedic drama starring Tom Hanks and directed by Tom Tykwer, has been acquired by Icon Film Distribution for the UK.

Tykwer, the German filmmaker behind Run Lola Run and Cloud Atlas, also adapted the script from the eponymous novel by Dave Eggers.

Hanks co-stars with Sarita Choudhury (Homeland), Omar Elba (Intelligence), Tracey Fairaway (Enough Said), David Menkin (Zero Dark Thirty) and Tom Skerritt (Ted, Top Gun).

Hanks plays Alan Clay, an American salesmen who finds himself in Saudi Arabia making a desperate bid to save his ailing career after the construction of a huge new complex in the middle of the desert.

The film is currently in post-production, following shooting in Morocco, Germany, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The film is produced by Uwe Schott and Stefan Arndt of X Filme Creative Pool, Arcadiy Golubovich...

Shooting started in Morocco today on the comedic drama A Hologram For The King, which is being directed by Tom Tykwer (“Cloud Atlas”, “Perfume”), who also adapted the script from the eponymous novel by Dave Eggers.

The independently-financed production stars Tom Hanks. A Hologram For The King reunites Hanks, Tykwer, Schott, and Arndt after working together on Cloud Atlas, which has grossed over $130 million globally.

The picture takes place far away from the recession-weary USA, as an up-and-coming Saudi Arabian city provides the backdrop for foundering American businessman Alan Clay’s (Tom Hanks) last-ditch effort to stave off bankruptcy, pay his daughter’s college fees, and finally accomplish something big. A Hologram For The King is a gentle, crazy, wistful ballad recounting the journey of a man, who has lost almost everything, to a country that requires him to rise to completely unknown challenges – and that answers old questions in new and unexpected ways.

Tom Tykwer’s upcoming adaptation of Dave Eggers’ A Hologram For The King – first published in 2012 – has finalized its cast list as the film begins production in Morocco.

The commitment of Tom Hanks to the lead role had previously been announced, but it is now confirmed that he will be joined by Sarita Choudhury (Homeland), Omar Elba (Intelligence), Tracey Fairaway (Enough Said), David Menkin (Zero Dark Thirty), and Tom Skerritt (Ted).

Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas) adapted the bestselling novel himself, which is a comedy-drama set within an up-and-coming Saudi Arabian city. In the film, American businessman Alan Clay (Tom Hanks) mounts a final attempt to ward off bankruptcy, while simultaneously trying to finance his daughter’s college education and finally achieve something significant with his life. His desperate plan involves recouping his losses by travelling to Saudi Arabia and selling an idea to a wealthy and influential royal figure.

Principal photography has commenced in Morocco on Tom Tykwer’s A Hologram For The King starring Tom Hanks.

Sarita Choudhury, Omar Elba, Tracey Fairaway, David Menkin and Tom Skerritt have joined the cast and the shooting is scheduled to take place in Morocco and Germany until June.

Uwe Schott and Stefan Arndt of X Filme Creative Pool produce with Arcadiy Golubovich and Tim O’Hair of Primeridian and Hanks and Gary Goetzman of Playtone in Association with Silver Reel Entertainment and Fábrica de Cine.

Eggers, Steven Shareshian of Playtone, Claudia Bluemhuber of Silver Reel, Gaston Pavlovich of Fabrica de Cine and Bill Johnson and Jim Seibel of Lotus International are the executive producers.

Lotus introduced the picture at Afm in November and handles international sales while CAA represents Us rights. X Verleih will distribute the film in Germany.

Tykwer adapted the screenplay from Dave Eggers’ novel about a desperate businessman who flees to an ambitious Saudi Arabian...

Saudi-born Hollywood producer Mohammed Al Turki is setting up a film fund, Rav Raw Artist Vision, with Russian producer Arcadiy Golubovich.

To be launched mid-2014, the fund will support five Us productions a year for five years, including one each year that will shoot in the Middle East region.

“It could be a love story, comedy or drama; it doesn’t have to deal with politics or religion. We will try to shoot the film in Dubai or Abu Dhabi availing of the rebates and incentives they offer. We would like to show more of the Arab landscape and culture in Hollywood films,” Al Turki told Screen.

Al Turki has executive produced films such as Arbitrage, starring Richard Gere, and Richard Raymond’s upcoming Desert Dancer starring Freida Pinto. Golubovich’s producer credits include Paul Haggis’ Third Person. The producing duo haven’t specified the size of the fund but said they will approach institutional investors.

Primeridian Entertainment announced yesterday that the company’s principal Arcadiy Golubovich and partner Tim O’Hair will produce and finance a television project about the postwar rocket and space race between the United States and the Ussr. The company has hired acclaimed screenwriter Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II: Wrath Of Khan) to write the pilot and series treatment for the show, which will span from the collapse of Nazi Germany through the 1960s.

Primeridian has in conjunction optioned the rights to Matthew Brzezinski’s award-winning account of the early space race, Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries That Ignited the Space Age. Numerous well-known experts from both countries are in discussions to consult on the project, including Sergei Khrushchev, the son of the Soviet Premier who led the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, Nikita Khrushchev.

The untitled series will examine the tense competition between...

Primeridian Entertainment has tapped Star Trek vet Nicholas Meyer to script the pilot and treatment for an untitled TV series about the space race between the U.S. and Ussr, spanning the end of WWII through the 1960s. The neophyte banner has optioned the rights to Matthew Brzezinski’s Red Moon Rising: Sputnik And The Hidden Rivalries That Ignited the Space Age for the project and is also in talks to enlist Cold War experts like Sergei Khrushchev, son of Nikita Khrushchev, to consult. Series will focus on the competition between superpowers as both countries attempt to build on the Nazis’ V-2 designs to grow their own space programs. Primeridian is led by Arcadiy Golubovich and Tim O’Hair, who at Cannes launched a feature project based on the life of Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn. They’ll produce and finance the untitled space project themselves. The shingle has also tapped...

Oscar-nominated screenwriter Roger L. Simon will pen the script for The Future of Now, the second feature from newly launched Primeridian Entertainment. Arcadiy Golubovich, a principal of Primeridian, will make his directorial debut with the dystopian drama. His Primeridian partner, Tim O'Hair, will produce. Primeridian is fully financing the Washington, D.C.-set pic, with casting slated for June and shooting aiming for fall. Photos: 'The Bling Ring' Steals the Spotlight at Cannes Premiere The author of 10 novels, Simon was nominated for an Academy Award for best screenplay for 1989’s Enemies: A Love Story. He also received

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New film production and financing entity Primeridian Entertainment has set Cyrus Nowrasteh to direct a bipoic of famed Soviet dissident and Nobel Prize-winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Russian film producer, actor and director Arcadiy Golubovich and producer Tim O'Hair are launching their venture in Cannes, with an eye to investing in and producing two to four films a year. Primeridian is represented by CAA. Photos: 'The Bling Ring' Steals the Spotlight at Cannes Premiere A Solzhenitsyn biopic is a natural fit for Primeridian, considering Golubovich's roots. Primeridian has optioned the rights to D.M. Thomas' acclaimed biography Alexander Solzhenitsyn: A

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Primeridian Entertainment has hired Cyrus Nowrasteh to write and direct a film on Soviet dissident and Nobel Prize-winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Producing will be Primeridian’s Arcadiy Golubovich and Tim O’Hair, who’ll provide equity financing for their first feature under the banner. They’ve optioned D.M. Thomas’ Orwell Prize-winning biography Alexander Solzhenitsyn: A Century In His Life. Nowrasteh, who last helmed The Stoning Of Soriah M and whose TV work includes The Day Reagan Was Shot and the controversial Path to 9/11, will write the script with wife Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh. They just adapted Anne Rice’s Christ The Lord. “It’s a privilege to tell the courageous story of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,” said the director. “Millions suffered and died in the Soviet labor camps. As a survivor, he resolved to tell the world about it. The power of his pen, despite the suppression of his work and...

Halle Berry has joined the ensemble comedy "Shoe Addicts Anonymous" for Galgos Entertainment and Parallel Media reports Deadline.

An adaptation of Beth Harbison's bestselling novel, the story looks at the lives of four Chicago women from different ethnic backgrounds, bonded by their shoe addiction and the fact they wear the same size.

The quartet form a support group, a bond that eventually goes beyond footwear. Berry will play an agoraphobe who feeds her addiction with online footwear purchases.

Paul Weiland ("Made of Honor," "Mr. Bean") directs from a script by Kristen Buckley & Brian Regan ("How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days"). Russell Nuce, Mark Bozek, Raymond Markovich and Arcadiy Golubovich will produce.

We've seen the TV spots, the teaser stuff, and even the Epk for The Black Waters of Echo's Pond, and now Finally the theatrical trailer has reared its twisted head!

Directed by Gabriel Bologna, Black Waters features a host of horror talent including Robert Patrick (Terminator 2), James Duval (Donnie Darko), Arcadiy Golubovich, Electra Avellan (Grindhouse), Elise Avellan (Grindhouse), Danielle Harris (Hatchet 2), and Nick Mennell (Halloween).

The Black Waters of Echo's Pond will have a limited theatrical release on April 9th. For more information visit the official The Black Waters of Echo's Pond website.

Check out the trailer below, and head on over to Apple to see it in high definition!

Synopsis

"While on holiday, nine close friends discover a long—hidden, archaic board game in a stately Victorian home on a remote island in Maine. By playing the game, they unleash an ancient evil that brings out the worst in each of them.

Arriving in limited theaters on April 9th is Gabriel Bologna's Jumanji-esque horror flick The Black Waters Of Echo's Pond, which features the genre heavy cast of Robert Patrick (Terminator 2), James Duval (Donnie Darko), Arcadiy Golubovich, Electra Avellan (Grindhouse), Elise Avellan (Grindhouse), Danielle Harris (Halloween) and Nick Mennell (Halloween). While a few TV Spots have already leaked, below you'll now find the official theatrical trailer. While on holiday, nine close friends discover a longhidden, archaic board game in a stately Victorian home on a remote island in Maine. By playing the game, they unleash an ancient evil that brings out the worst in each of them. Rage, jealousy, greed, hatred, and lust boil over and, over the course of one terrifying night, the friends start to turn on each other in a deadly way.

"I wanted to make a film called Abel Cain which was the Son of El Topo but I could not raise the money. Too expensive. You know, I am a poor poet trying to make artistic, individual pictures. I am not a multinational." -- Alejandro Jodorowsky

The above quote appeared in an old interview from 2007 when things were looking grim for any new Jodorowsky project. Now, I'm not sure if it's because of Jodorowsky's new connection with David Lynch and their work on King Shot or if it's just because people still care about making seriously wacked out art cinema, but we're happy to report that Jodorowsky's dream project, Abel Cain, has found it's money and is in the early stages of pre-production.

Producers Arcadiy Golubovich and Olga Mirimskaya, along with the help of Parallel Films, are making it all happen.

Synopsis:

Upon the death of their mother, Abel and...