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Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s London-set, neo-noir thriller Femme, starring George MacKay and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, world premieres in the Berlinale’s Panorama section this year.

Paul Verhoeven’s Elle meets the Safdie Brothers’s Good Time in this revenge tale pushing the boundaries of cinematic gender stereotypes.

Misfits breakout Stewart-Jarrett, whose more recent credits include Candyman and Mope, plays successful drag queen Jules, whose life and career are destroyed by a violent homophobic attack.

When his path crosses that of lead perpetrator Preston (MacKay) in a gay sauna, the outwardly macho young man does not recognize his victim without his wig and make-up, allowing Jules to infiltrate his life and seek revenge.

Femme marks the debut feature of screenwriter Freeman and theatre director Ng, who have described themselves in the past as “queer creators breaking into a straight space.

David Arquette and Scott Foley are joining Kunal Nayyar, Lucy Hale and Christina Hendricks in the film “The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.” The charming and comical story of redemption, adapted by author Gabrielle Zevin from her own New York Times best-selling novel, begins shooting this month in the U.S. in Cape Cod.

Hans Canosa is directing from Zevin’s novel, which has sold over five million copies and been translated into 38 languages. Bcdf Pictures’ Claude Dal Farra and Brian Keady are producing alongside Kelsey Law, Canosa and Zevin. Bcdf’s Brice Dal Farra, Nayyar, Hale and Hendricks are executive producers. Mister Smith Entertainment is handling sales on the film.

The life of A.J. Fikry (Nayyar) is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare edition of Poe poems,...

Exclusive: David Arquette has been cast in Amazon Studios’ coming-of-age pilot Hot Pink, created by Elisabeth Holm.

The You Cannot Kill David Arquette subject joins in a recurring role, alongside lead Sarah Michelle Gellar and series regulars Nina Bloomgarden, David Iacono, Mimi Davila, Dana Donnelly and Myra Molloy. No character details have been revealed.

Hot Pink, from Amazon Studios in association with Annapurna Pictures, is loosely inspired by Elana K. Arnold’s National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of. Series creator Holm is executive producing with director Desiree Akhavan and executive producers Rebecca Green and Sue Naegle and Ali Krug for Annapurna.

Arnold’s 2017 novel What Girls Are Made Of is described as exploring “the real, knotted, messy, thriving heartbeat of young womanhood” through the eyes of a 16-year-old girl.

If ordered to series, Hot Pink would join Amazon Studios’ growing YA series slate, which includes The Wilds and the upcoming show,...

Mope is directed by Lucas Heyne and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It was planning a limited theatrical release, but will now make a wide digital release. Look for a review soon here at We Are Movie Geeks, but for now check out the trailer:

In the multibillion-dollar world of pornography, the term mope refers to a low-level, wannabe porn actor. They’re the lowest of the low, hanging around sets and taking on menial jobs with aspirations of becoming huge stars. In this tragic true story, Stephen Clancy Hill and Herbert Wong, respectively known by their porn alter egos Steve Driver and Tom Dong, were two such mopes—real-life best friends attempting to live the impossible dream, but the blurred line between reality and delusion ultimately sent them both tumbling down a path of horrific destruction.

Mope stars David Arquette, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Max Adler, and Kelly Sry...

"You'll do anything I ask?" Quiver has debuted an official trailer for an indie comedy titled Mope, which first premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival. It also played at the Cinepocalypse, Bucheon Fantastic Film Festival, and Fantasy Filmfest in Germany last year. Based on a true crime story by Michael Louis Albo, the film is a dark comedy about the multibillion-dollar world of pornography, the term "mope" refers to a low-level, wannabe porn actor. In this tragic true story, Stephen and Herbert, respectively known by their porn alter egos Steve Driver and Tom Dong, were two such mopes—real-life best friends attempting to live the impossible dream. This all looks as crazy and twisted and wacky as it sounds. Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Steve and Kelly Sry as Tom, with David Arquette, Max Adler, Tonya Cornelisse, Clayton Rohner, Brian Huskey, and Peggy Dunne. This seems totally ridiculous, but ridiculous in a good way.

Vanishing Angle has boarded Sundance selection “Mope” by Lucas Heyne, which had its European premiere at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain this week. L.A.-based producer, distributor, and sales outfit Vanishing Angle will sell “Mope” internationally. Xyz is handling North America.

The movie played in the Midnight section at Sundance. Set in the porn industry, it is based on real life events. It follows a pair of mopes – slang for low-ranking male actors in the adult film business – played by Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (“Misfits”) and Kelly Sry (“Awkward”). The duo are best friends, but when one of them is fired, he goes on a deadly rampage.

The film covers the true-crime angle but also deals with the emotional toll the porn business takes on its workers. David Arquette stars as Rocket, a leading porn director whom the two aspiring actors idolize.

The pic was made with the support of...

The Steve Driver story is one of the strangest true-crime tales of the past couple decades. Taking place in the world of low-rent fetish porn, it concerns a wannabe porn actor who, after trying and failing to make a name for himself, became increasingly unhinged, murdering his best friend with a sword before killing himself […]

The post ‘Mope’ is the Funniest Feel-Bad Movie of the Year [Cinepocalypse 2019] appeared first on /Film.

WWE legend Mick Foley has joined the cast of David Arquette’s new project, “12 Hour Shift,” alongside Angela Bettis, Chloe Farnworth, Kit Williamson, Tara Perry and Nikea Gamby-Turner, TheWrap has learned exclusively.

Brea Grant is writing and directing the horror comedy that will follow a group of nurses stealing organs and selling them on the black market.

Emmy award-winning duo Jordan Wayne Long and Matt Glass of Hct Media are producing, as is Arquette and his wife, Christina McLarty.

Also Read: Mick Foley Gives 4 Reasons Why Former Rival Big Van Vader Should Be in WWE Hall of Fame

The project is currently in production in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and is receiving a tax credit for doing so. Arkansas offers a 20% incentive on goods and services, as well as an additional 10% for Arkansas workforce.

“We’re excited to see the continued growth of the film industry in Arkansas, along with the first-rate...

Tony Sokol Mar 6, 2019

Hail Satan? will be the sinister centerpiece at the 21st Annual Boston Underground Film Festival, not too far from Salem.

Hail Satan? will screeen at the 21st Annual Boston Underground Film Festival, which unleashes five days of cinemadness on Cambridge from March 20 through March 24. The panel dug deep into the nether regions to present titles like Mope, Tone-Deaf, Knife+Heart, The Unthinkable, and director Penny Lane’s provocative Sundance-sensation Hail Satan?, which "crowns this year’s festivities with its inspirational and entertaining chronicle of the extraordinary rise of one of America’s most colorful and controversial religious movements," according to the festival's press.

"With unprecedented access, Hail Satan? traces the rise of The Satanic Temple: only six years old and already one of the most controversial religious movements in American history," reads the festival's synopsis. "The Temple and its enigmatic leader Lucien Greaves are calling for a Satanic...

While Sundance’s genre offerings kept me plenty busy throughout this year’s festival, this writer still had the opportunity to check out a few films that don’t quite fall directly under the umbrella of horror, but I still thought they were definitely worth discussing and were of interest to our readers. Here’s a look at my thoughts on Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale, Corporate Animals from Patrick Brice, and Mope, which was helmed by first-time feature director Lucas Heyne.

The Nightingale: With her work on The Babadook, Jennifer Kent quickly established herself as one of the most intriguing filmmakers out there, and so many fans have been patiently waiting to see what she’d do next as a director. Her follow-up, The Nightingale, isn’t technically a horror movie per say, but it is what I like to call “genre adjacent,” as it’s just as...

One of the more provocative films that screened as part of the Midnight lineup at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was Lucas Heyne’s Mope, which is centered around the real-life experiences of two low-level porn stars (generally referred to as “Mopes”) who are chasing fame and women, but their dreams and lives are both tragically cut short. While in Park City last week, Daily Dead had the opportunity to speak with Heyne and several of the cast members from Mope, including David Arquette, Brian Huskey, Kelly Sry, Max Adler, and Tonya Cornelisse, and they chatted about the parallels between the film’s two main characters and their own struggles in Hollywood, the weight of creating a film based on true events, helping erase the stigma surrounding pornography and sex workers, and more.

Lucas, I'd love to start with you and talk a little bit about how this came together,...

Lucas Heyne’s feature debut Mope is based on the lurid case of aspirant porn star Stephen Hill (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) and his best friend, whose porn name was Tom Dong (Kelly Sry). In 2010, Hill went on a rampage with a machete, a story is told in this La Weekly story from 2011, forming the basis for this porn-milieu drama. Via email, Dp Bryan Koss discussed taking visual inspiration from The Wrestler, shooting 99% of the film handheld and working with a complete set of all 12 Cooke Speed Panchro primes. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were […]...

Lucas Heyne’s feature debut Mope is based on the lurid case of aspirant porn star Stephen Hill (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) and his best friend, whose porn name was Tom Dong (Kelly Sry). In 2010, Hill went on a rampage with a machete, a story is told in this La Weekly story from 2011, forming the basis for this porn-milieu drama. Via email, Dp Bryan Koss discussed taking visual inspiration from The Wrestler, shooting 99% of the film handheld and working with a complete set of all 12 Cooke Speed Panchro primes. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were […]...

Lucas Heyne’s feature debut Mope is based on the lurid case of aspirant porn star Stephen Hill (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) and his best friend, whose porn name was Tom Dong (Kelly Sry). In 2010, Hill went on a rampage with a machete, a story is told in this La Weekly story from 2011, forming the basis for this porn-milieu drama. Heyne called on his friend Kern Saxton to edit. Via email, Saxton described the challenges of cutting down two and a half hours, filmed in an improvisatory style, into a tight 105 minutes. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of […]...

Lucas Heyne’s feature debut Mope is based on the lurid case of aspirant porn star Stephen Hill (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) and his best friend, whose porn name was Tom Dong (Kelly Sry). In 2010, Hill went on a rampage with a machete, a story is told in this La Weekly story from 2011, forming the basis for this porn-milieu drama. Heyne called on his friend Kern Saxton to edit. Via email, Saxton described the challenges of cutting down two and a half hours, filmed in an improvisatory style, into a tight 105 minutes. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of […]...