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According to Variety, Signature Entertainment has secured the rights to the much-anticipated thriller ‘The Absence of Eden,’ starring Zoe Saldaña and produced by Martin Scorsese.

This deal includes territories in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. The film also features actors Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona.

Directed by Marco Perego in his feature debut, ‘The Absence of Eden’ tells the gripping story of an Ice Agent and an undocumented woman’s intense battle against a ruthless cartel.

Hedlund plays the conflicted agent, while Saldaña portrays the woman striving to evade cartel clutches.

The script, co-written by Perego and Rick Rapoza, has been recognized by the AMPAS Library for its inclusion in their permanent core collection.

The project is a collaboration of notable producers including Oscar nominee Julie Yorn and Alexandra Milchan, alongside a team of experienced producers under Pioneer Pictures.

Scorsese, alongside others including Cisely, Mariel, and Zoe Saldaña’s Cinestar Pictures,...

The upcoming Zoe Saldaña-starring and Martin Scorsese-exec produced thriller “The Absence of Eden” has been snapped up by Signature Entertainment in a multi-territory deal.

Signature bought U.K. and Irish, Australian and New Zealand and African rights to the feature, being sold by The Exchange.

“The Absence of Eden” — also starring Garrett Hedlund (“Tron,” “Mudbound”) and Adria Arjona (“Hitman,” “Father of the Bride”) —.is directed by first-time feature director Marco Perego from a script he co-wrote with Rick Rapoza (“Cactuses”). The screenplay was recently acquired by the AMPAS Library as part of their permanent core inclusion.

The thriller pivots around the dueling narratives of an Ice Agent (Hedlund) struggling with the moral dilemmas of border security and an undocumented woman (Saldaña) fighting to escape a ruthless cartel.

Producers include Oscar nominee Julie Yorn (“Hell or High Water”), Perego, Robert Kravis (“Lucky Number Slevin”), and Karl Herrmann (“Dinner in America...

In case there was any doubt that 2024 is Zoe Saldaña’s year, poignant short film “Dovecote” has cemented the multi-hyphenate talent’s place at the top of Hollywood.

Saldaña produces and stars in the short film from visual artist and filmmaker Marco Perego, who is also her partner in real-life. The visually stunning “Dovecote” centers on a women’s prison where Saldaña’s character spends her final hours before being released. “Dovecote” was filmed at a prison in Giudecca on an island in the Venetian lagoon. Saldaña co-starred alongside 20 real inmates who are serving time.

“If you’re going to tell a story or create a concept around this institution, it could not have happened for us if it wasn’t collaborating with the women [who lived there],” Saldaña told IndieWire about taking a verité approach to the project. “Once we received their permission, then it was about having conversations with them about...

In Dovecote, an atmospheric drama short film byItalian director and co-writer Marco Perego turns the camera on society’s often unseen citizens: the women confined to a seaside prison in Venice. Making its debut at the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, Dovecote, filmed inside Giudecca’s working women’s prison on an island in the Venetian lagoon, centers around a woman (Zoë Saldaña) during her final moments before being released. The film was also exhibited at the 60th Venice Biennale as part of the Vatican Pavilion.

Here, Perego speaks to Deadline about the inspiration behind the short film, what it was like to film in the women’s prison and wanting to encourage audiences to think about the cost of freedom.

Deadline: What inspired this short film? Did you start with the idea of what the short was going to be about, or did the title come to you first?

Marco Perego: No,...

The cast of Ed Brubaker’s graphic novel series Criminal is coming together with the addition of Adria Arjona in a series regular role. She joins previously announced, Richard Jenkins.

Criminal is an interlocking universe of crime stories based on the multi-Eisner Award-winning graphic novel series created by Brubaker and Sean Phillips.

Arjona will bring to life Greta, a sharp-tongued top-level car thief and driver and the widowed mother of Angie. Ever since her husband died in a bank job gone bad, Greta has been battling with herself about how to escape the only life she’s ever known – and the only place she’s ever thrived. The problem is, she’s good at this. She’s looking for a big score, a lump of money she can use like a gun to shoot her and Angie out of this life and into another one.

As Deadline previously revealed exclusively,...

Exclusive: Chris Coy (Lawmen: Bass Reeves) has been tapped for a series regular role on Netflix’s drama Black Rabbit, as well as a supporting role in David Robert Mitchell’s Warner Bros film Flowervale Street.

In the former project, Coy will play Babbitt, a low-level bookie. Details as to his Flowervale part and the film’s plot remain under wraps.

Starring Jason Bateman and Jude Law, Black Rabbit is a limited series centering on some serious sibling drama: When the owner of a New York City hotspot (Law) allows his turbulent brother (Bateman) back in his life, he opens the door to escalating dangers that threaten to bring down everything he’s built. As previously announced, Cleopatra Coleman, Amaka Okafor, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù and Dagmara Dominczyk will also star in the one-hour drama created and written by Zach Baylin and Kate Susman, which is based on an original idea.

In...

It’s no secret that Zoe Saldana usually wears black dresses, and I couldn’t blame her—black is a classic and versatile color that can effortlessly create a stylish and sophisticated appearance.

After showcasing a series of black ensembles during the promotion of “The Absence of Eden” last month, Zoe Saldana made a striking return to the red carpet. Remarkably, she appeared in two identical black dresses at events only a few days apart.

Embracing Quiet Luxury: Zoe Saldana in Maison Margiela Midi Dress

Zoe Saldana and her husband of 11 years, Marco Perego, flew to Venice, Italy, recently to attend a gala dinner hosted by business magnate Francois Pinault, Salma Hayek’s husband, in celebration of the 60th Biennale Art 2024.

Arriving arm-in-arm at the Giorgio Cini Foundation, the lovebirds wore coordinating black outfits, with Marco in a classic suit and Zoe in a black midi dress.

Sporting his signature mustache and long blond hair,...

If Italian artist Marco Perego-Saldaña’s transition to film comes as a surprise, it is only to those outside his own household. “I always wanted to make a film. I’m a little obsessed. I watch one film Monday to Friday,” he says. “Sunday, actually,” corrects his wife Zoe Saldaña, with a laugh.

With the intensely dark drama The Absence of Eden starring Saldaña and Garrett Hedlund as individuals on each side of the U.S. border crisis, Perego-Saldana has put decades of artistry and independent study to use, creating a film that juxtaposes beauty with brutality. “The idea was to approach it from a sculpture perspective,” he says. “There are so many mysteries inside the picture to discover, if people pay attention.”

Deadline: Why was this a subject matter that you wanted to explore with your first feature film?

Marco Perego-SALDAÑA: I’m an artist. I do installation and sculpture for a living,...

Sasquatch Sunset directors Nathan and David Zellner always wondered what these hairy giants do when they’re not walking – the only Bigfoot footage available has been a minute of a supposed Sasquatch wandering in the northern California woods. They decided to flesh that out in unique dialogue-free comedic imagining of the creatures’ daily life – eating, fighting, etc. Stars Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, Christophe Zajac-Denek and Nathan Zellner are unrecognizable as the hairy tribe of four that entranced Sundance (see Deadline review). Bleecker Street is opening the film, written by David Zellner, executive produced by Ari Aster, in 9 theaters in New York, LA, San Francisco and Austin, ahead of a big jump to about 800 screens next week.

IFC Films opens Nicolas Cage-starring Arcadian on 1,100 screens. Premiered at SXSW, see Deadline review. Eying a low single-digits start. The Benjamin Brewer directed movie follows a father and his...

Two parallel but inevitably intersecting stories make up Italian-born director Marco Perego’s debut feature “The Absence of Eden,” a strikingly shot and superbly acted immigration drama. But for all its commendable on-screen elements, it’s the screenplay that Perego co-wrote with Rick Rapoza that falls short, traversing overly familiar and rather sordid tropes related to a divisive political issue. While the actors — led by Zoe Saldaña, who is also married to the director — give powerful portrayals that challenge the country’s anti-immigrant climate, but there’s little in the way of thematic novelty here.

New Ice Agent Shipp (Garrett Hedlund), whose estranged father often leaves voice messages he never hears, has just moved to an unnamed border town. Though Shipp’s decision to join this line of work doesn’t stem from a strong ideological stance, his partner and friend Dobbins (Chris Coy) tries to instill in him a dehumanizing “us against them” mentality.

The Absence of Eden: Who is Adria Arjona and Where Have You Seen Her Before? - Main Image

Who is Adria Arjona in The Absence of Eden? The actress seems so familiar, where have you seen her before? Let's find out more about her here.

Who is Adria Arjona? Why the Actress Looks Similar

Adria Arjona is a Puerto Rico-born actress who was raised in Mexico City.

She studied to become an actor at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute while working as a hostess and waitress at multiple New York restaurants to pay her bills.

Arjona has been shown on-screen since playing the role of Suzy Houchen in the 2014 series Unforgettable.

Since then, she has played more prominent characters such as Emily in the True Detective series, and even lent her voice to Fortnite's Ramirez in 2017.

The actress is best known for portraying Martine Bancroft in the 2022 flick Morbius,...

Former Venice Film Festival head Marco Müller has been named Artistic Director of Italy’s Taormina Film Fest.

The announcement was made today by the special commissioner of the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation/ Fondazione Taormina Arte Sicilia, Sergio Bonomo, who said: “Maestro Müller’s professional contribution will be a driving force of success for the prestigious film event”.

The festival’s 70th edition runs this year from July 12 to 19.

“I am happy to work in Sicily to rediscover my roots – I was born and raised in Rome, but my only quarter of Italian blood is from Palermo,” Müller said.

“I thank all the people, in the institutions and among friends of cinema, who have built for me this opportunity to experiment in Taormina the moving thought of how a useful popular festival can still be built. We will use the extraordinary Teatro Antico – which was always a source of jealousy...

“The Absence of Eden” is a new crime thriller, directed by Marco Perego and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, starring Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund, Adria Arjona and Tom Waits opening April 12, 2024 in theaters:

“…when ‘Esmee’ (Saldaña), a young woman working as a dancer in Mexico, is forced to commit a violent act of self-defense that results in the death of a drug cartel member, she flees her homeland for sanctuary in the US.

“Guided by a ruthless and degenerate ‘Coyote’ she befriends a young mother and her daughter along the way…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Immigration has often been a topic that sparks strong emotions around the globe, and it is an especially hot topic this election season, particularly when you have a U.S. presidential candidate characterizing undocumented immigrants not as “human” but rather as “animals” and using phrases such as “they are poisoning the blood of our country” at campaign rallies. Now seems to be a perfect time for a powerful new film, The Absence of Eden, to perhaps help lower the temperature and show the human side of those trying to cross the border into a new and hopefully better life.

None other than Martin Scorsese has lent his name to this film by signing on as an executive producer, and it represents the first feature for artist and producer Marco Perego who also happens to be the husband of the film’s star Zoe Saldaña. Perego says it was all inspired...

Fine performances and powerful visuals only partially compensate for the inevitable air of familiarity that accompanies Marco Perego’s debut feature. Although the filmmaker provides his real-life spouse Zoe Saldaña with one of her best roles in a long while — it’s nice to see her get a respite from the numerous sci-fi and fantasy blockbuster franchises (Star Trek, Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy) to which she’s attached, not to mention free of alien make-up — The Absence of Eden spins a by-now sadly familiar story of the human suffering engendered by the border crisis.

Saldaña plays Esmee, a Mexican private dancer who is forced to flee her country after she shoots and kills a client who attempts to assault her while she’s performing a lap dance. After discovering that he was a member of a cartel, she says a tearful goodbye to her abuela and enlists the services...

In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo crosses into unfamiliar territory to discuss “The Absence of Eden” with star Zoe Saldana and her husband and first-time director Marco Perego-Saldana. The film follows multiple characters from both sides of the U.S./Mexico border and revolves around the dilemmas faced in dealing with the many hardships brought on by immigration laws and the enforcement of those laws.

Continue reading ‘The Absence Of Eden’: Zoe Saldana & Marco Perego-Saldana On Their Immigration Drama, ‘Lioness,’ ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy,’ & More [The Discourse Podcast] at The Playlist.

As we mentioned yesterday, Zoe Saldana’s next movie is the gripping immigration drama, “The Absence of Eden,” Directed by Marco Perego, in the film, Garrett Hedlund plays an Ice Agent struggling with the moral dilemmas of border security, and Saldana stars as an undocumented woman fighting to escape a ruthless cartel (Adria Arjona co-stars). In the film, the two characters eventually cross paths and work together to save an innocent girl’s life (see the trailer below).

Continue reading Zoe Saldana Says ‘Lioness’ Is In Talks For Season 2 & Says She Was Grateful For Critics Who “Reevaluated” The Show at The Playlist.

Zoe Saldaña, the actress from Avatar and Avengers: Infinity War, is getting ready for her next movie, The Absence of Eden, to hit theaters. In this thought-provoking drama, the Hollywood star plays a woman who’s living in a country without proper paperwork. The movie dives into the complexities she goes through because of her immigrant status.

Zoe Saldaña in The Absence of Eden

The actress who portrayed Gamora in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies has confirmed that she won’t be returning to the role. However, Saldaña is still a big fan of the Guardians and thinks the superhero team should carry on, even if director James Gunn isn’t involved.

Zoe Saldaña’s Time as Gamora Ends, But the Character Might Live On

Zoe Saldaña as Gamora in the MCU

Zoe Saldaña’s latest film, The Absence of Eden, hits theaters on April 12th. But fans...

Zoe Saldaña was asked on an upcoming episode of The Playlist’s “Discourse” podcast if she was “done” playing Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe now that James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy has ended. Gunn has moved on to DC, and some of Saldaña’s co-stars like Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer) have vowed that “Vol. 3” was their last “Guardians” movie.

“I mean, so far, I think that she is [gone for good] for me, but I don’t think Gamora has gone for good,” Saldaña answered, suggesting she is not interested in playing Gamora again at this time but certainly the character still exists within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its sprawling multiverse.

“I would think it would be a huge loss for Marvel if they didn’t find a way to bring back the Guardians of the Galaxy,” Saldaña said. “It’s just such a fan-favorite group of misfits,...

Due in theaters April 12, Zoe Saldana’s next movie is the harrowing immigration drama, “The Absence of Eden,” directed by Marco Perego and starring opposite Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona. In the film, Hedlund plays an Ice Agent struggling with the moral dilemmas of border security, and Saldana stars as an undocumented woman fighting to escape a ruthless cartel. In the drama, they eventually cross paths and work together to save an innocent girl’s life (see the trailer below)

Saldana will appear in an upcoming episode of our The Discourse podcast, and we’ll have more from that interview about “The Absence Of Eden” soon.

Continue reading Zoe Saldana Says She’s Still Done With Gamora But Would Love To See The ‘Guardians’ Return To The MCU at The Playlist.

The ever-controversial ladies on The View interviewed Marco Perego and Zoë Saldaña this week on the show about their upcoming flick, The Absence of Eden.

During the segment, Joy Behar seemingly let the cat out of the bag when it came to a new and major film role for her co-host, Whoopi Goldberg.

“The View’s” – Joy Behar Makes A Mistake

While Perego and Saldaña were on The View to promote their new movie, which is about migrants in America, fellow co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin mentioned the buzz around a Star Trek fourth installment reboot.

Since Zoë participated in the last three of the franchise’s editions, Alyssa asked the actress what she could tell their viewers about the project. Saldaña turned to Goldberg and the two started a bit of a giggle-fest.

Whoopi said, “Maybe,” and Saldaña laughed and noted, “Just a little bit”, which prompted Behar to say,...

Zoe Saldana and her husband of 11 years, Marco Perego, are in New York City, embarking on a press tour for their upcoming thriller film, The Absence of Eden, which is slated for release on April 12.

The pair, often modestly but elegantly dressed in black, were spotted looking all loved up as they made their way to the press circuit.

Comfy in Baggy Jeans and Black Tee

I truly adore Zoe Saldana’s relatable yet classy sense of style. Take, for example, the black tee and baggy jeans combo she wore on Wednesday when she arrived at their Greenwich hotel.

Zoe Saldana dressed casually in a black tee, baggy jeans, white sneakers, and a camel bomber jacket as she arrives at her Greenwich hotel on March 27, 2024 (Credit: Roger Wong / INSTARimages)

I suppose many of you like dressing comfortably, just like Zoe does. She teamed a black V-neck tee with baggy, light-washed...

On The View this week, Joy Behar seemed to drop a spoiler about a huge movie role for Whoopi Goldberg. It came when the team interviewed Zoë Saldaña and Marco Perego about their movie, The Absence of Eden.

Joy Behar Makes A Mistake On The Talk Show?

When the co-host talked about Whoopi, she might have been wrong to do that. Perhaps, as fans suspect, she should think about retiring and focusing on her writing and comedy show. While that sounds a bit harsh, there are plenty of retirement rumors. Talk shows can be time-consuming and exhausting, especially when the hosts have other commitments.

Zoë Saldaña and Marco Perego – The View – YouTube

Joy Behar was all in for it though, and this week, she didn’t look tired or ready to clean out her top drawer. Additionally, if she has spoiled a big role for Whoopi Goldberg, it was co-host...

Zoë Saldaña, known for her acting chops, is focusing the spotlight on her husband, Marco Perego. He’s venturing into the director’s seat for the first time with the film The Absence of Eden. The 45-year-old stars in Perego’s film and recently gushed about his abilities, praising his vision and hard work.

Zoë Saldaña in Guardians of the Galaxy 3

This collaborative effort denotes a new part of their relationship, highlighting their creative teamwork and mutual encouragement. Fans are eagerly awaiting the release, and the actress’s help adds additional buzz to this thrilling artistic journey.

Zoë Saldaña Lauds Husband Marco Perego’s Directorial Debut With Praise

Zoë Saldaña is giving significant props to her husband Marco Perego for the first time at the helm of The Absence of Eden. The film is about an undocumented immigrant’s dangerous journey looking for a safe sanctuary.

SUGGESTEDZoë Saldaña Had No...

This week on “The View,” hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro welcome guests Mel B, Cristiana Dell’Anna and Zoe Saldaña, among others.

Check out our breakdown below to find out who else will appear on the daytime talk show during the week of March 25-29, 2024.

TV Listings Featured GUESTSEPISODEMarch 25, 2024

– Melanie “Mel B” BrownMondayMarch 26, 2024

– Kathy Griffin

– Cristiana Dell’Anna (“Cabrini”)TuesdayMarch 27, 2024

– Coleman HughesWednesdayMarch 28, 2024

– Zoe Saldaña and director Marco Perego (“The Absence of Eden”)ThursdayMarch 29, 2024

– “The Political View” with Vice President Kamala Harris live in studio (encore broadcast; Oad: 01/17/2024)Friday

Note: Guest attendance is subject to change.

Recent Guests

Broadcast from New York City, “The View” is produced by ABC News and airs weekdays at 11:00 a.m. Et/10:00 a.m. Pt on ABC. The show is also available to stream Live and On Demand on Hulu.

Brian Teta serves as...

"Your crops, your children, your future. We make it all grow. And what do you do...?" Roadside Attractions has revealed an official trailer for an indie border drama titled The Absence of Eden, made by filmmaker Marco Perego. This premiered at a few festivals last year including the Newport Beach Film Festival and is now set for a US release in limited theaters this April. The Absence of Eden traces the sprawling romance of a man and a woman whose love for each other struggles to prevail amid the divisiveness of life on America’s southern border. The film explores the humanity of immigration and the fragility of life as an immigration agent unknowingly dooms a former lover and a woman struggles to escape her past. Zoe Saldana stars as a woman who flees across the border, and helps protect a young girl. The cast includes Garrett Hedlund, Adria Arjona,...

“The Absence of Eden” is a new crime thriller, directed by Marco Perego and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, starring Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund, Adria Arjona and Tom Waits opening April 12, 2024 in theaters:

“…when ‘Esmee’ (Saldaña), a young woman working as a dancer in Mexico, is forced to commit a violent act of self-defense that results in the death of a drug cartel member, she flees her homeland for sanctuary in the US.

“Guided by a ruthless and degenerate ‘Coyote’ she befriends a young mother and her daughter along the way…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Exclusive: Lisa Steen’s debut feature Late Bloomers, starring Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy franchise), is the latest starry festival indie to have secured North American distribution through Vertical.

Other recent pickups for Vertical include the Sundance genre-bender Your Monster starring Melissa Barrera, true crime doc The Speedway Murders, Brittany Snow’s SXSW-premiering directorial debut Parachute, and the Zoe Saldaña thriller The Absence of Eden co-acquired with Roadside Attractions, to name just a few.

Specifics as to the release plan for Late Bloomers haven’t been disclosed.

World premiering at SXSW 2023, the film centers on Louise (Gillan), an aimless and recently single 28-year-old Brooklynite, who drunkenly falls while stalking her ex and breaks her hip. This lands her in a physical therapy ward full of people twice her age. There, she meets Antonina (Margaret Sophie Stein), a cranky elderly Polish woman, who speaks no English. Through circumstances beyond her control,...

Exclusive: Priyanka Chopra Jonas is set to star in The Bluff, the Agbo Studios and Amazon MGM Studios movie being directed by Frank E. Flowers. Prime Video’s The Boys Karl Urban is in talks to star.

Flowers, who also co-wrote The Bluff, is hot off writing this past two weeks’ No. 1 hit Bob Marley: One Love, which shot past $120 million worldwide.

Set in the 19th century Caribbean, The Bluff follows a former female pirate (Chopra Jonas) who must protect her family when the mysterious sins of her past catch up to her.

The film, which is targeting a spring production start in Australia and will be available to stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide, will further solidify the relationships among Amazon MGM Studios, Agbo and Chopra Jonas following last year’s debut of the global franchise Citadel. Following its April 28 release, the spy thriller...

Exclusive: Roadside Attractions and Vertical have acquired U.S. to the Zoe Saldaña thriller The Absence of Eden from first-time feature filmmaker Marco Perego. An April 12 theatrical release has been set.

Pic follows an undocumented immigrant who finds herself working with a morally conflicted Ice agent to try to save the life of an innocent young girl. Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona co-star. Perego and Rick Rapoza wrote the script.

The Absence of Eden takes place at the border between the United States and Mexico – a hellish landscape inhabited by coyotes, armed officers, desperate immigrants, and refugees. When Esmee (Saldana), a young woman working as a private dancer in Mexico, is forced to commit a violent act of self-defense that results in the death of a cartel member, she flees her homeland for sanctuary in the United States. Guided by a ruthless...

The Exchange has acquired international sales to thriller Crescent City, adding the title to its slate for next week’s European Film Market (EFM).

The crime mystery, currently in post-production, stars Terrence Howard, Esai Morales, Alec Baldwin and Nicky Whelan. Rj Collins directs from a screenplay by Rich Ronat. Producers are Eduard Osipov of Beno Films, Vince Jolivette of Filmopoly, David Lipper, Denise Loren and Robert A Daly Jr of Latigo Films, and Maurice Compte.

Crescent City is the story of a twisted murder that sends three detectives on a whirlwind investigation.

The Exchange reports that a US distribution deal...

The Exchange has acquired the worldwide sales rights of romantic comedy feature “Worth the Wait,” which stars Lana Condor and Andrew Koji.

The Exchange will introduce the title to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin, which runs Feb. 15-21.

Set in Seattle and Kuala Lumpur, “Worth the Wait” is a story about the intertwining lives of Asian-American strangers over the course of a year as they find new loves, mend their relationships, and create new connections.

The film, which is in post-production, is directed by Tom Shu-Yu Lin, whose credits include “The Garden of Evening Mists” and “Winds of September.”

“A modern approach to ‘Love Actually’ with a star-studded Asian American cast, Tom made a heartwarming rom-com that is truly worth the wait,” said Nat McCormick, The Exchange’s worldwide sales and distribution president.

Other members of the cast include Ross Butler, Sung Kang, Elodie Yung, Karena Lam...

Luke Evans and Milla Jovovich are attached to lead the sci-fi action thriller “World Breaker,” which will be directed by Brad Anderson. The Exchange is handling international sales and will introduce the cast to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin.

Evans, whose credits include “Beauty and the Beast,” is coming off a starring role in “Backstairs Billy” in the West End. He and Jovovich, best known for the “Resident Evil” franchise, previously starred together in “The Three Musketeers.” Anderson’s credits include “The Call,” “Beirut” and “The Silent Hour.”

The film centers on a father and his daughter. Five years previously, a tear in the fabric of reality brought creatures to our world from an alternate dimension bent on our destruction. The father hides his daughter on an island to keep her safe, while he prepares her for survival and the battles to come. But no place is safe.

Smith and Paltrow will give individual in-conversation events about their lives and careers.

US stars Will Smith, Gwyneth Paltrow and Johnny Depp are among the A-list talent set to attend Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff), which gets underway in Jeddah today (November 30).

Smith, Depp and Manchester By The Sea actress Michelle Williams will all attend this evening’s opening ceremony, alongside Indian star Ranveer Singh, where the world premiere of Saudi fantasy feature Hwjn will screen as the opening film.

Smith is set to reflect on his career to date in front of a public audience...

Kristian Mercado (Nuevo Rico) directed from a screenplay by Angela Bourassa (A Little Distracted).

The Exchange has boarded international sales rights to the romantic comedy If You Were The Last starring Anthony Mackie and Zoe Chao and will launch AFM sales this week.

Kristian Mercado (Nuevo Rico) directed from a screenplay by Angela Bourassa (A Little Distracted) about a male and female astronaut stranded in their broken-down spaceship who argue over whether they should spend their remaining days as friends or something more.

The film just debuted in the US on the Peacock streaming platform and is produced by The Promise,...

Gritty drama premiered at Tribeca Festival.

The Exchange has boarded international sales to Jennifer Esposito’s debut feature Fresh Kills and will launch sales at AFM on the female-driven family story set in the world of organised crime.

The gritty drama, also written by, starring and co-produced by Esposito, premiered at 2023 Tribeca Festival and has had a strong run on the US festival circuit since.

It won the audience award for best narrative feature and an honorary prize for Excellence in Directing a Narrative Film from NY Women in Film & Television at Hamptons International Festival, in addition to the Best...

The Newport Beach Film Festival has added a screening of “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” to its Fashion Island main stage line-up. The screening on Sunday, Oct. 15 will include a Q&a with author Judy Blume, writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig and producers James L. Brooks and Julie Ansell.

This year’s festival will also feature conversations with Rainn Wilson and music producer and songwriter Mark Ronson. The events are free of charge.

The screening of “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” will take place at The Lot. The Lionsgate film stars Abby Ryder as 11-year old Margaret, who is uprooted from her life in New York City to move to New Jersey, where she deals with the challenges of puberty with new friends in a new school. Margaret’s mother, played by Rachel McAdams and her grandmother, played by Kathy Bates, help her cope with her new life.

The Newport Beach Film Festival, which will run from Oct. 12-19 this year, has announced their opening and closing night films.

Marco Perego’s “The Absence of Eden,” which stars Zoë Saldaña, will open the festival on Oct. 12 at the Edwards Big Newport. Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” starring Paul Giamatti, will close the festival on Oct. 19. The 24th festival will take place in person and feature 91 films from around the world.

Filmmakers will be present for a moderated interview before “The Absence of Eden” screens. The film follows an Ice agent (Garrett Hedlund) grappling with the moral conflict of border security and an undocumented woman (Saldaña) fighting to get away from a merciless cartel; the paths of these two individuals intersect as they join together to save an innocent girl’s life.

Payne’s newest comedy “The Holdovers” follows a grouchy teacher (Giamatti) at a New England prep school...

Actress Zoe Saldana, who is best known for her roles in films such as “Avatar”, “Guardians Of The Galaxy”, and the “Star Trek” franchise, is set to act in her new political-thriller film “The Absence of Eden”, directed by her husband Marco Perego. She will essay the character of an illegal immigrant in the film, reports ‘Variety’.

The movie takes place in the southern borders of the United States, “a dangerous area inhabited by Coyotes, Ice officers, and filled with desperate immigrants and refugees”.

Speaking to ‘Variety’ about the film, she said: “My family’s from the Caribbean. So our wave of immigration was from the east side of the States, from the Atlantic. It was a different experience. The conversation of immigration has always been a universal conversation in my life.”

Saldana added: “I’m a proud Latina, I’m proud Afro-Caribbean. And it pains me to know my...

When Variety talks to Zoe Saldaña and her husband, the artist and film director, Marco Perego, they’ve only just arrived at the Taormina Film Festival, and are in the process of unpacking. Room service arrives and Zoe apologizes about having to tuck into the salad straightaway. They’re here attending the world premiere of Perego’s debut film as a director, “The Absence of Eden,” a drama that takes place in the murky world of the U.S.’s southern border, a hellish landscape inhabited by Coyotes, Ice officers, desperate immigrants and refugees.

It’s a universe away from the Pandora of the “Avatar” pictures or the science fiction blockbusters “Star Trek” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” Saldaña is more usually associated with. “When I was picked for those films, I had no idea they were going to become franchises. I thought it was going to be a one and done kind of thing.

Zoe Saldaña turned up the romance on a night out with her husband Marco Perego on June 30. Dressed to the nines, the couple hit the red carpet at the Taormina Film Festival in Italy to celebrate the premiere of their new film, "The Absence of Eden," which Perego directed and Saldaña stars in. "Proud to have our movie debuting at the Taormina Film Festival," she wrote on Instagram on June 20. "Let's go Marco!"

The couple, who secretly married in the summer of 2013, hardly left each other's sides as they posed for the cameras, showing off their coordinated all-black ensembles. As they walked, Saldaña and Perego couldn't take their eyes off one another. Saldaña even paused to fix Perego's hair at one point, smiling and cupping his face after she'd moved the rogue locks of hair back into place. Later in the evening, she also leaned over to give her husband a deep kiss.

Updated with latest photos: The Taormina Film Festival kicked off its 2023 edition on June 23 with a lineup that included the Italian premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny which brought out stars Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen, and the Amber Heard-starring In the Fire directed by Conor Allyn. (Read about Heard’s exclusive interview with Deadline here.) It also features a short-film program curated by Bella Thorne, who is premiering her own short film Paint Her Red.

Other European premieres on tap at Taormina include Eva Vik’s Serpentine, starring supermodel Barbara Palvin. Another supermodel, Adriana Lima, is in town with FIFA: A Love Letter to Rwanda by Craig Goodwill, in which she appears and also executive produced. Later in the festival, Italian artist Marco Perego’s debut feature The Absence of Eden will world premiere with co-stars Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona joining Perego.

The 69th edition of the Taormina Film Festival has kicked off in Italy at the Teatro Antico amphitheater. Pavarotti Forever kicked off the festival in benefit of the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation with Placido Domingo and Vittorio Grigolo headlining the event.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will hold its Italian premiere during the festival with director James Mangold scheduled to appear alongside his cast including Harrison Ford, Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas and Boyd Holbrook.

U.S. indie shorts and features will also premiere during the week with Conor Allyn’s In the Fire landing at Taormina alongside stars Amber Heard, Eduardo Noriega and Luca Calvani.

Marco Perego’s The Absence of Eden will have Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona at the festival premiering their film.

Disney Channel alum Bella Thorne is curating the Influential Shorts event at Teatro Antico.

Supermodel Adriana Lima will make an...

The newly rebooted Taormina Film Festival kicked off on Friday night in the Sicilian city’s landmark Teatro Antico amphitheatre in an unusual but magnificent style with benefit event “Pavarotti Forever”.

Placido Domingo, who was part of the famed The Three Tenors trio with Pavarotti and José Carreras, was among those celebrating the memory of the super-tenor in an event mixing filmed archive material and live performances.

The 82-year-old Spanish star was joined on stage by Italian opera singer Vittorio Grigolo, long tipped as Pavarotti’s successor, and a host of other top classical music stars including Marcelo Àlvarez, Aida Garifullina and Andrea Griminelli.

Talking to Deadline after the concert, Domingo admitted it was emotional singing and then looking up at the big screen to see interviews and performances from the former maestro.

“We have so many amazing memories of our friend and it’s very sad that he can...

Italy’s Taormina Film Festival kicks off its 69th edition Friday evening against the backdrop of its landmark Teatro Antico amphitheatre with a “Pavarotti Forever” benefit event headlined by Placido Domingo and Vittorio Grigolo.

It’s not the typical opening for a film festival, but it is in keeping with the eclectic programming of incoming artistic director Barrett Wissman, whose interview with Deadline on his plans for the festival can be read here.

Much is riding on the edition, with Wissman being brought in to raise its local and international profile after a turbulent decade, which was compounded by the Covid pandemic.

Topping the bill over the first weekend is the Italian premiere of Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny in the presence of Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen. It’s the first time a major Disney production has touched down at the festival since Inside Out in 2015. Indiana Jones,...

Barrett Wissman is gearing up for his inaugural edition of the Taormina Film Festival as the newly appointed Executive and co-Artistic Director of the Sicily-set event, running from June 23 to July 1.

Unfolding in the hilltop town of Taormina, famed for its Teatro Antico amphitheatre, views on Mount Etna, and more recently, its appearance in The White Lotus, the event is one of Italy’s oldest and most prestigious film festivals.

Wissman signed up for the role just two-and-a-half months ahead of its 69th edition and is the 15th person to take up the challenge in the last decade, with the festival going through a raft of solo artistic directors and co-artistic director teams.

It’s not quite a baptism of fire for Wissman, however, who has decades of experience in performing arts, social media, festival and events management as the founding chairman of London-based agency Img Artists.

The Texan arts...

Italian artist Marco Perego’s debut feature The Absence of Eden has set a picturesque world premiere at the upcoming edition of Italy’s 69th Taormina Film Festival, running from June 23 to July 1.

The festival will unveil the film in a screening at its landmark Ancient Greek amphitheatre with co-stars Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona in attendance.

Hedlund plays an Ice Agent struggling with the moral dilemmas of his job who unites with an undocumented woman fighting to escape a ruthless cartel, played by Guardians of the Galaxy star and Perego’s wife Saldaña, to save the life of an innocent girl.

Perego, who co-wrote the original screenplay with Rick Rapoza, previously produced the short film Me + Her and also directed the short film Burn To Shine, alongside his career as an artist.

“I am so excited to be screening The Absence of Eden in the Teatro Antico,...

The 69th Taormina Film Festival boasts an impressive lineup of Italian and world premieres as it seeks to reboot and re-establish its status as a date to watch on the festival circuit. Located in the historical Sicilian town – its visibility recently getting an unlooked for boost with the second season of HBO’s ”The White Lotus” – will be hosting a series of screenings. The outdoor Teatro Antico will provide a suitably antique background for the Italian premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” with Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, and Mads Mikkelsen in attendance.

The directorial debut of Italian artist Marco Perego, “The Absence of Eden,” will receive its world premiere. The film stars Perego’s wife Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona. The thriller tells the story of an undocumented immigrant fleeing a drug cartel whose path crosses with a U.S. Immigration...

The Leader, the upcoming biopic about the Heaven’s Gate cult set to star Tim Blake Nelson and Vera Farmiga, has lured another big-name follower.

The Hollywood Reporter can reveal that Simon Rex has joined the real-life crime drama, unveiled earlier this week at the European Film Market in Berlin, where The Exchange is introducing the project to buyers.

Farmiga and Nelson are set to play Ti and Do, the founders of the UFO cult that in 1997 committed the largest mass suicide to ever take place on American soil. THR understands that Rex — who received critical acclaim for the Cannes-bowing Red Rocket and recently wrapped production on Zoe Kravitz’s directorial debut Pussy Island, one of several upcoming roles — will play a key devotee of the religion who faces devastating consequences when he falls in love with a fellow cult member.

“Simon Rex is the perfect actor to inhabit this humorous,...

AnnaSophia Robb has joined Kathy Bates, John Malkovich, Tim Blake Nelson, Stephen Root and Lewis Pullman in the cast of “Thelma.” The Exchange is selling the film at Berlin’s European Film Market.

Robb starred in Hulu’s Emmy-winning series “The Act,” Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere” and HBO Max’s “The Carrie Diaries,” and is toplining Netflix’s upcoming “Rebel Ridge.”

“Thelma” tells the true story of the 11-year battle by the mother of John Kennedy Toole, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “A Confederacy of Dunces,” to get his novel published after his suicide.

“Thelma” was written by Black List screenwriter Andrew Farotte, and is to be directed by Ken Kwapis, who was Emmy-nominated for “The Office” and “Malcolm in the Middle.” Kwapis’ film credits include “A Walk in the Woods” with Robert Redford, “He’s Just Not That into You” with Jennifer Aniston and “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.