News

Exclusive: David O. Sacks Productions, Mark Goffman and Getaway Entertainment are teaming to produce a feature-length film about Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic founder of Bitcoin, with Sophia Banks set to direct. The movie, based on Andrew O’Hagan’s longform article “The Satoshi Affair,” will delve into the mystery surrounding the elusive creator of the world’s most revolutionary digital currency, blending investigative journalism with captivating storytelling.

“This film will be akin to watching The Social Network without knowing who the Mark Zuckerberg character might actually be,” Sacks remarked. “I’m delighted that we have the correct team in place to bring O’Hagan’s investigation, and the events since that period, to life.”

Producers David Sacks and Daniel Brunt optioned the article and took it to longtime collaborator Mark Goffman, who is adapting the screenplay and producing with Sacks and Brunt. Producing for Getaway Entertainment are Damiano Tucci, Banks and Arwen Elys Dayton.

Stars: David Dastmalchian, Michael Ironside, Georgina Haig, Fayssal Bazzi, Ian Bliss, Rhys Auteri, Laura Gordon, Ingrid Torelli | Written and Directed by Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes

Late Night With the Devil, the latest film from Cameron and Colin Cairnes, the team who made 100 Bloody Acres and Scare Campaign, opens with scenes of violence caught in the lens of the TV camera. As we watch, Michael Ironside tells us about America in the 1970s, and then segues into the career of radio man turned late night TV host Jack Delroy.

His show, the syndicated Night Owls, has run a close second to Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show, but never managed to catch up to it in the ratings wars. And since the death of Jack’s wife Madeline his life and his ratings, seem to be in free fall. With sweeps week kicking off on Halloween Eve and his career on the line,...

Stars: Milo Ventimiglia, Luke Hemsworth, Ricky Whittle, Liam Hemsworth, Russell Crowe, Chika Ikogwe, Robert Rabiah | Written by William Eubank, David Frigerio | Directed by William Eubank

The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, and as the opening crawl of Land of Bad tells us, home to some of the most violent extremists in Asia. It’s also where Master Sergeant John “Sugar” Sweet and his team, Sergeant Abell and Sergeant Bishop are being deployed.

Joining them is Air Force Sergeant J.J. Kinney a rookie Jtac. He’s not qualified to go out with these guys, but he was the only one available to act as their link with drone operators Reaper and Nia back in the US.

Director William Eubank and co-writer David Frigerio take Land of Bad’s familiar scenario of a tightly-knit team of seasoned veterans sent into battle with...

Project Market Awards Winners

The QCinema Project Market, the industry initiative that accompanies The Philippines’ QCinema International Film Festival, revealed its winners list on Tuesday delivering almost $500,000 of grants and in-kind support.

The prizes followed a two-day networking and pitching event on Nov. 18 and 19 for 19 feature-length fiction film projects from Southeast Asia.

Two projects received the QCinema Project Market – Philippines Co-production Grant, with both collecting $55,000 (PHP3 million). They were: “The Remotes” from director-producer John Torres; and “Filipiñana,” by director Rafael Manuel. “Filipinana,” a black comedy set on a golf course, won a second prize on the night worth another $18,000. At the recent Asian Project Market in Busan it had also been a multiple prize winner.

Two film projects also received the QCinema Project Market – Philippines Co-production Grant worth $27,000 (PHP1.5 million) each: “The Boy and the Fight of Spiders (Diwalwal)” by director Jarell Serencio and “Ella Arcangel: Ballad of Tooth and...

As you might have guessed, Call of Duty: Warzone 2 continues to serve as one of the internet’s most popular battle royales, thanks in no small part to a steady release schedule that continuously adds new features and game modes to the experience. Season 3 will continue that trend very soon.

Season 3 will drop Wednesday, April 12 at 10 am Pdt/1 pm Est. Unfortunately, according to an Activision blog post, Season 3 and the update will launch simultaneously, so players won’t get to pre-load the patch. Here’s hoping your internet speeds are fast enough to download all the necessary data quickly so you can get in the game. There’s certainly a lot incoming.

In terms of Warzone 2, the new Battle Pass, which is themed after BlackCell, will add over 100 rewards to the 22 Sectors of the game, plus add a brand-new Sector. You’ll also get access to new BlackCell Operator. Valeria...

Stars: John Jarratt, Simone Buchanan, Lincoln Lewis, Lauren Grimson | Written and Directed by Chris Sun

Australian director Chris Sun is known for his violent, frequently quite viciously so, genre films such as Charlie’s Farm and Boar. The Possessed however marks his first attempt at a supernatural film, and it’s based on the allegedly true exploits of Mark Gardener who claims to be able to perform exorcisms, he calls them “clearings”, and free people from demonic possession. Of course, I don’t believe Gardener’s claims, but hopefully, it’s at least an entertaining bit of bullshit.

The Possessed certainly opens on a promising note, with a man dragging a woman from a bathtub full of blood. This is Jacob and the woman is his wife Carissa and she’s just tried to kill herself again while possessed. Jacob casts the demon out, but it appears and whispers something...

At this point, Mark Wahlberg‘s Hollywood persona has as much variety as Dwayne Johnson‘s. Wahlberg effectively plays himself in every movie, whether it’s a thriller, an action comedy, or a drama of some kind. Is it boring? More than a little; the days of Wahlberg taking on more challenging roles like Dirk Diggler or Sgt. Dignam looks to be over.

Read More: ‘Black Site’ Trailer: Michelle Monaghan, Jason Clarke & Jai Courtney Star In New Action Thriller For Redbox

But maybe the upcoming “The Family Plan” will give the actor something a little different, or perhaps his new co-star will.

Continue reading ‘The Family Plan’: Michelle Monaghan Joins Mark Wahlberg For Apple & SkyDance’s Upcoming Action Comedy at The Playlist.

For his latest video review, Kev sits down to review Black Site (not the Tom Paton one). An Aussie-made government black site movie directed by Sophia Banks and starring Jai Courtney, Michelle Monaghan and Jason Clarke.

A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far-reaching and dire consequences.

You can also check out our written review of Black Site right here.

The conventional wisdom these days is movie stars don’t matter, franchises and brands do. And with all apologies to Marvel, etc., that’s not exactly true. Look at original programming on premium cable channels, Netflix, Apple TV+, and every streaming service there is. If you don’t have a recognizable brand to work with, the next best thing you have to get audiences to subscribe to your streaming service is stars and talent.

Continue reading ‘Black Site’ Review: Michelle Monaghan, Jai Courtney & Jason Clarke Star In A Painfully Generic CIA Thriller at The Playlist.

“Black Site” director Sophia Banks is hoping her new 10 million action thriller “Black Site” is the little movie that could.

“We’re not trying to be an 80 million action movie but we want to make this genre accessible for people,” Banks tells me. “It Ok to shoot an indie action movie. As long as you take people on a good ride, then that’s all we want. We just want people to have fun and go on a journey.”

In “Black Site,” Michelle Monaghan stars as Abby Trent, a CIA agent based at a top-secret black site who must hunt one of their most notorious detainees (Jason Clarke) after he escapes from his cell and goes on a killing spree.

I recently caught up with Banks and Monaghan over Zoom.

How did it all come about?

Banks: I did a couple of shorts. One premiered at Tribeca called “Proxy” that got sold to Anonymous Content.

Stars: Michelle Monaghan, Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke, Uli Latukefu, Pallavi Sharda, Phoenix Raei, Lucy Barrett, Todd Lasance, Logan Huffman, Lincoln Lewis, Joey Vieira, Simon Elrahi, Robert Zenca | Written by John Collee, Jinder Ho | Directed by Sophia Banks

A throwback to another era of filmmaking, Black Site (not to be confused with the 2018 Tom Paton film of the same name) follows a group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret location called the Citadel, who must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far-reaching and dire consequences…

There’s a reason I said this film was a throwback at the start of this review, you see Black Site feels very much like a product of a different time, well at least the script does. There are quips thrown into people’s dialogue that hark back to the...

Exclusive: Cutting Edge Media Music has inked a slate partnership deal with Asbury Park Pictures, which will see it fund five of the company’s films, in exchange for the corresponding original music publishing rights. Cutting Edge’s latest deal comes on the heels of its successful, multi-year slate partnership deal with Thunder Road, of which Asbury Park is an expansion launched by Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee.

The first films under Cemm’s new deal with Asbury Park Pictures are Sophia Banks’ action-thriller Black Site, starring Jason Clarke, Michelle Monaghan and Jai Courtney, which will be released via Redbox Entertainment on April 29, and the Nelms Brothers’ action-thriller Red Right Hand, starring Orlando Bloom and Andie McDowell, which is currently in production and will also be distributed by Redbox.

“We at Cutting Edge continue to invest with standout creatives and producers in Hollywood,” said Cutting Edge Group CEO, Philip Moross.

Exclusive: Jonathan Fuhrman has joined Castle Rock Entertainment as EVP and Head of Business Affairs.

The Shawshank Redemption and Seinfeld producer Castle Rock relaunched its film division in October with a 175Mm film fund and multiple hires. Fuhrman will report to Castle Rock CEO Rob Reiner, and Co-Presidents Michele Reiner and Matthew George.

Fuhrman last year departed his post at Thunder Road Films, home of the John Wick and Sicario franchises, where he spent the last eight years and most recently served as the Co-President of Production of its boutique action label, Asbury Park Pictures, and also as EVP of Business Affairs for Thunder Road.

Fuhrman’s past credits as an executive producer include action-thriller Greenland starring Gerard Butler; crime-thriller Wind River, starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen; Halle Berry’s directorial debut Bruised; and Dev Patel starrer Hotel Mumbai.

Upcoming projects he worked on include Asbury Park’s debut feature,...