News

Exclusive: Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu) and Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things) are set to star in Dead Man’s Wire, a hostage thriller to mark the next film from Oscar nominee Gus Van Sant.

Based on a true story, the film follows a former real estate developer who takes the mortgage banker who did him wrong hostage, demanding $5 million and a personal apology. Script is by Austin Kolodney.

Producers include Cassian Elwes, Joel David Moore (upcoming Bride Hard, The Immaculate Room), Tom Culliver, Sam Pressman, Mark Amin, Remi and Noor Alfallah, Andrea Bucko, Matt Murphie, and Paula Paizes. Exec producers are Jon Gosier, Emily Salveson, Rishi Bajaj, Cami Winikoff, Michael Merlob, Divya Shahani, Jordan Claire Robbins, Robert MacLean, Svetlana Dali, Vlad Lapidus, Oliver Trevena, Lee Broda, Jeff Rice, John Pitts, Alan Helene, Nini Le Huynh, and Veronica Radaelli. WME Independent is handling worldwide rights.

Stated producer Elwes, “It’s...

Rachel McAdams is in talks to star in Sam Raimi’s Send Help, the horror-thriller from 20th Century Studios, which he is producing and directing.

Sources tell us that these negotiations are in early stages, and nothing is definite at this point. The news follows Deadline’s exclusive earlier in July, which broke the news that Raimi had boarded the project not officially greenlit by the studio.

Billed as a two-hander horror-thriller set on an island, the story is somewhere between Rob Reiner’s Stephen King adaptation Misery and Robert Zemeckis’ classic Castaway. Send Help is based on an original script by Baywatch scribes Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. Zainab Azizi will also produce under the Raimi Productions banner, and the film is expected to nab a theatrical release.

Disney did not respond to requests for comment.

A preeminent multi-hyphenate, Raimi is known as an influential genre producer and filmmaker,...

Perhaps he should have taken some lessons when the time was right. There’s a new report that suggests Donald Trump can’t help but feel locked out, or rather, shut out by his own wife, Melania Trump and their son, Barron Trump.

Donald Trump – Locked Out By Melania And Barron Trump

That’s because they often speak Slovenian to one another and unfortunately, Donald does not understand a word of his wife’s native language. Barron, however, is fluent as he’s grown up speaking Slovenian to his mother and grandparents.

In fact, Donald himself even said that it bothered him a lot when he couldn’t figure out what his wife and son were saying during their conversations.

One source close to the situation even put it this way, “There’s a unit within the family unit, and it’s Melania, her mother, her father, and Barron. And they all speak Slovenian.

Universal Pictures has picked up the rights to adapt Reikon’s video game Ruiner with Wes Ball attached to direct of Michael Arlen Ross’ screenplay.

Kelly McCormick and David Leitch, producers of The Fall Guy, Bullet Train, and Nobody, will produce through 87North’s first look-deal with Universal Pictures.

The team behind Tomb Raider (Amazon MGM Studios and Netflix) as well as Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog, will also be producing via Story Kitchen’s Dmitri M. Johnson and Mike Goldberg, with Timothy I. Stevenson and Dan Jevons serving as EPs. Ball and Joe Hartwick Jr. will produce through Oddball. Marek Roefler, Magdalena Tomkowicz, and Jakub Stylinski will executive produce through Reikon.

Ruiner counts north of 4 million players and 90% positive reviews on Steam. The videogame is an action shooter set in the year 2091 in the cyber metropolis Rengkok. The game follows a wired psychopath who fights against a corrupt system...

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” director Wes Ball is set to adapt the hit video game “Ruiner” for Universal Pictures, with David Leitch producing through the studio’s first-look deal with his action film company 87North.

Developed by Reikon Games and published by Devolver Digital in 2017, “Ruiner” is an isometric shooter set in the year 2091 in the cyberpunk metropolis Rengkok. The game follows a wired psychopath who fights against a corrupt system to uncover the truth and retrieve his kidnapped brother. Under the guidance of a mysterious hacker, he battles through a world of brutal violence and cutting-edge technology, inching closer to the dark secrets hidden within the city’s neon-lit streets.

Michael Arlen Ross (“Locked”) will write the screenplay. Leitch and Kelly McCormick, who previously produced “The Fall Guy,” “Bullet Train” and “Nobody,” among other films, will produce through 87North.

Dmitri M. Johnson and Mike Goldberg, producers...

Universal Pictures has acquired the rights to adapt Reikon’s hit video game “Ruiner,” with Wes Ball attached to direct.

Michael Arlen Ross (“Locked”) will adapt the screenplay for the film, produced by 87North, Story Kitchen and Oddball.

With over 4 million players and 90% positive reviews on Steam, “Ruiner” is an action shooter set in the year 2091 in the cyber metropolis Rengkok. As its official synopsis explains, “the game follows a wired psychopath who fights against a corrupt system to uncover the truth and retrieve his kidnapped brother. Under the guidance of a mysterious hacker, he battles through a world of brutal violence and cutting-edge technology, inching closer to the dark secrets hidden within the city’s neon-lit streets.”

Kelly McCormick and David Leitch, will produce through 87North’s first look-deal with Universal Pictures. Also producing are the team behind “Tomb Raider” (for Amazon MGM Studios and Netflix) and Paramount’s...

Bigg Boss 18: Bigg Boss Ott 3 Star Kritika Malik & First 3 Contestants ( Photo Credit – ColorsTv )

Anil Kapoor’s Bigg Boss Ott 3 is over and it will be soon time for Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss 18. As soon as Bigg Boss Ott 3 was over, expected names for the television version of the reality show started popping up. In fact the very first name is coming from the Ott season only and it is none other than Kritika Malik who might play solo in the house.

Bigg Boss 18: When & Where To Watch

The last season of Salman Khan’s reality show was won by Munawar Faruqui, and the new season is expected to arrive in the last week of September or the first week of October. Salman might simultaneously shoot for his upcoming film Sikandar as well.

Bigg Boss 18 will replace Khatron Ke Khiladi 14 on Colors TV and will also stream on Jio Cinema.

Locked On Podcast Network, the leader in local sports podcasts, is launching two sports specific Fast TV channels on August 1 – Locked On NFL and Locked On College Sports, which will both stream on Amazon Fire TV, YouTube, NewsON and Zeam.

Locked On NFL’s lineup will feature Locked On Podcast Network’s national NFL programs, including “Locked On NFL Scouting,” “Locked On NFL Draft,” “Locked On Fantasy Football,” “Locked On Dynasty Football,” “Peacock and Williams,” the “NFL Show” and “Locked On NFL.” Additionally, Locked On’s local NFL team shows will be spotlighted when Locked On’s local experts cover the biggest stories in the NFL.

Locked On NFL is also debuting “The NFL Big 6 in 60,” a new show specifically made for Fast TV. “The NFL Big 6 in 60” will cover the six biggest stories in the NFL each day from the perspective of Locked On’s local experts – all in an hour.

Exclusive: Sam Raimi, architect of the Evil Dead franchise, has closed a deal to direct and produce Send Help, a new horror thriller for 20th Century Studios.

Not yet officially greenlighted by the studio, according to our sources, the film is described as a two-hander horror thriller set on an island. The story is said to fall somewhere between Rob Reiner’s Stephen King adaptation Misery and Robert Zemeckis’ classic Castaway.

Pic is based on an original script by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (Baywatch). Raimi will produce alongside Zainab Azizi under Raimi Productions, and we’re told the film is expected to get a theatrical release.

One of the most influential genre filmmakers still working, Raimi is responsible for the Evil Dead franchise, whose most recent installment, Evil Dead Rise, grossed over $147 million worldwide last spring. As we were first to report, two new, untitled installments from directors Francis Galluppi...

Exclusive: Patrick Burleigh, the screenwriter/playwright whose credits include the Marvel movies The Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, has turned in a scripted adaptation of the award winning children’s book The Last Bear by Hannah Gold. The producers are now going out to directors.

Producers are Ara Keshishian of Zq Entertainment (upcoming Locked with Anthony Hopkins and Bill Skarsgard), Adrian Askarieh of Prime Universe Films (Hitman), and Matt Wexler of WexWorks media (Paw Patrol). Zq financed the development of the script.

Published by Harper Collins in 2021, the novel won the BBC’s Blue Peter Award, and has become a fixture in schools libraries and has been translate in over 27 languages. Its sequel, Finding Bear, was also a bestseller when published last year.

The story focuses on the unlikely friendship of the 11-year old April and a lost Polar Bear in the Arctic. As April grows further apart from her widower father,...

The man behind Pennywise’s makeup could once again reprise the role. According to Deadline and various other media outlets, Bill Skarsgard could return to the town of Derry to terrorize more innocent victims. “Welcome to Derry” has been in various stages of production since the writer and actor struck last year.

“Welcome to Derry” is set in the world of King’s It universe. The series expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the feature films, which amassed a combined $1.17 billion worldwide. The series stems from a story by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs based on King’s infamous 1980’s novel It. Andy Muschietti will direct four episodes of the nine-episode series.

“Welcome to Derry” will see the return of Skarsgård’s return to King’s streaming TV universe and a reunion with Wbtv after he starred in the studio’s Hulu series Castle Rock.

Raimi Productions, the genre-focused company run by Sam Raimi and Zainab Azizi, has signed a first-look film and television deal with Ara Keshishian and Petr Jákl’s development and financing company Zq Entertainment.

The deal extends the long-standing relationship between the two companies, which most recently collaborated on the upcoming thriller “Locked,” directed by David Yaroveksy and starring Bill Skarsgård and Anthony Hopkins, and the horror-thriller “Don’t Move,” which was acquired by Netflix earlier this month.

“Don’t Move” follows a seasoned serial killer (Finn Witrock) who injects a grieving woman (Kelsey Asbille) with a paralytic agent while the two of them are isolated deep in the forest. As the agent gradually takes over her body, she must run, hide and fight for her life before her entire nervous system shuts down.

“Sam Raimi is truly one of the pioneers in the genre space, as a filmmaker and producer and we...

Mia Bays, director of the BFI Filmmaking Fund, is extending her contract to October 2026, after initially taking up the post for three years.

“Change takes time, film is slow to evolve,” said Bays. “The more I thought about it at the midpoint [of the contract], the more I felt there was more for me to do. The team has changed, it’s all quite recent. You need longer to do the finessing of the evolution. I can still see some gaps. It felt like the right thing, so I proposed it, and the upper echelons of the BFI agreed.”

She does not plan...

Locked On Podcast Network, Inc. (“Locked On”) and AdsWizz Inc. (“AdsWizz”), the technology engine powering the monetization of audio content around the world and a subsidiary of SiriusXM, today announced a new agreement for AdsWizz to sell Locked On’s podcast advertising inventory in North America. Through 2026, AdsWizz will serve as the exclusive seller of programmatic network sales for advertisers seeking to reach Locked On’s passionate local sports fans, in addition to Locked On’s own direct sales with unique integration and activation capabilities.

SiriusXM Media, the advertising arm of SiriusXM, will sell Locked On inventory through its new sports collection—inclusive of SiriusXM sports content (the official representative of six leagues), NBC Sports, and select sports podcasts in the SiriusXM Podcast Network. Through SiriusXM Media’s sports collection, advertisers can seamlessly align with sports content or specific leagues through SiriusXM Media’s contextual targeting data and programmatic capabilities.

Exclusive: The Hideaway Entertainment has snapped up rights to Level Up, a high concept spec script from screenwriters David Matalon (Totally Killer) and Matthew Altman (Feed the Devil).

A sci-fi action comedy, Level Up is about a man who wakes up bound and blindfolded in a top-secret facility deep beneath Area 51, soon discovering that he has amazing but inexplicable new abilities. His only hope to escape is the alien he’s imprisoned with… and she hates humans. But as they navigate their way out, their unconventional alliance becomes the key to saving the world from an impending global catastrophe.

Jonathan Gray and Matthew Rhodes will produce on behalf of The Hideaway Entertainment, alongside Navid McIllhargey of Vandal Entertainment and Erik Olsen of Apocalyptic Entertainment. The Hideaway’s Ryan Cassells will serve as executive producer. The team is currently meeting with directors and plans to shoot next year.

“As writers,” Matalon and Altman said,...

Locked In Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Famke Janssen, Rose Williams, Alex Hassell, Finn Cole, Anna Friel

Director: Nour Wazzi

Locked In Movie Review ( Photo Credit – IMDb )

What’s Good: The film’s initial allure is undeniably captivating, immersing audiences in a gothic melodrama enriched by Nour Wazzi’s direction and the opulent setting. The clever twist of Katherine’s locked-in syndrome adds a unique layer to the mystery, initially promising an engaging plot.

What’s Bad: As the story progresses, “Locked In” disappoints with a lackluster execution of its promising elements. The detective game loses its charm, giving way to a predictably stretched conclusion. Famke Janssen’s performance, though promising, falls short under Rowan Joffe’s direction. The film’s reliance on a frustrating trope and a limited cast further hampers its impact.

Loo Break: Feel free to take a break during the prolonged flashbacks and contemplative scenes. You...

Gaumont UK Lands Latest Channel 5 Thriller

Locked In producer Gaumont UK is making The Wives for Paramount UK network Channel 5, a six-part mystery drama about the unravelling of a family. The Wives follows four sisters-in-law and their families who escape to their Maltese holiday apartments, as they’ve done every summer for 15 years, but things go awry. Cast will be revealed shortly and show is filming in Malta early next year, airing later in 2024. Gaumont UK is producing in association with Banijay Rights, which is selling around the world. Run by Alison Jackson, Gaumont UK has already produced For Her Sins for Channel 5 along with Netflix double Locked In and Obsession. “The Wives is set to bring layers of mystery and intrigue which is guaranteed to keep the Channel 5 audience guessing,” said Sebastian Cardwell, Deputy Chief Content Officer for Paramount UK.

Juno Dawson Developing Eliza Clark Adaptation

Juno Dawson...

Not every TV and film production will stop amid dual strikes by SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America. A host of projects stopped work after writers went on strike against media companies for better pay, streaming data transparency and protections against artificial intelligence (among other issues), and many more have paused since actors walked out on July 14.

There are exceptions, however. SAG-AFTRA’s strike rules allow for work on productions covered under different agreements, and the union can grant waivers or sign interim agreements with independent productions. Below is a list of TV shows and films that fall under those designations; this story will be updated as more productions earn waivers.

Interim Agreements

SAG-AFTRA has reached interim agreements with numerous independent productions, including movies from A24 (Death of a Unicorn, starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega, and Mother Mary with Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel) — which is not part...

Exclusive: FilmNation Entertainment and Zq Entertainment have finalized a multi-year feature film development fund deal.

The first project to be developed under the initiative is Josephine Decker’s feature adaptation of Karen Russell’s 2011 Pulitzer Prize-nominated bestselling novel Swamplandia!

Decker is best known for her Berlinale- and Sundance-selected features Madeleine’s Madeleine (2013) and Shirley (2020) as well as the recently released The Sky Is Everywhere Else for Apple TV+ and A24.

Russell’s Southwest Florida-set tale follows the story of 13-year-old Ava Bigtree who, after an illness befalls her mother, embarks out of her family’s Everglades theme park to piece her family back together.

Development on the feature is ongoing.

The new fund is the first collaboration between the two like-minded companies and is intended to pay for the development of feature films and create project co-financing opportunities.

The partnership will allow Glen Basner’s FilmNation to further expand its strategy of acquiring early-stage,...