‘A Man Called Otto’ Joins ‘Broker’, ‘Turn Every Page’ And ‘Alice, Darling’ Qualifying Run – Specialty Preview

Michael Porseryd is stepping down as the CEO of SF Studios, the Nordic production and distribution powerhouse behind the recent Tom Hanks-starring drama A Man Called Otto.

In an age of streaming and Covid concerns when many older skewing dramatic films find their way safely into homes, Sony rolled the dice on the Tom Hanks drama A Man Called Otto with the title out-performing its MLK 4-day $8M third weekend wide expansion projections with $15.3M.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a free, 24/7 confidential service that can provide people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress, or those around them, with support, information and local resources. Simply dial 9-8-8.

Shudder and IFC Midnight are launching microbudget Skinamarink on a not-so-micro 629 screens, giving the viral horror pic a major push after a well-received premiere back at Fantasia-fest that just kept snowballing with strong reviews and social media love.

On a winter Thursday still ruled by James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, Sony’s Tom Hanks drama A Man Called Otto and Lionsgate’s Gerard Butler action pic, Plane, sought to get an early start with respectively $635K and $625K each.

Editor’s note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films that will factor in this year’s movie awards races.

With “Wakanda Forever” and “The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special” in the rearview mirror, Marvel has officially closed the books on their Phase 4 slate. And so, Phase 5, the new chapter that will lead into the next big Avengers film and what’s known as The Infinity Saga, kicks off with February’s “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.” READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2023 The film stars Paul Rudd as Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne alongside Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathryn Newton (as Scott Lang’s daughter, who looks like she’ll be her own new hero in the movie), David Dastmalchian, and Randall Park (Bill Murray has a role too, it’s undisclosed, but the rumor is the Marvel villain M.O.D.O.K.

Sony’s Tom Hanks-starrer A Man Called Otto banked $4.2 million in a lively second frame as it moved to 637 locations nationwide from four in NY and LA. Strong word of mouth propelled moviegoers into seats with particular strength in the heartland and momentum looks good as the adult drama/comedy heads into next week’s wide expansion for the holiday weekend. It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day next Monday.   

Alcarràs, winner of the Golden Bear in Berlin, opens on five screens in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, presented by Mubi; Quiver Distribution releases Candy Land in nine theaters; and Sony’s Tom Hanks-starring A Man Called Otto, UAR’s Women Talking and IFC Films’ Corsage move into moderate expansions as the broader specialty market barrels into Oscar nominations and a new year of reckoning with adult audiences.

An unexpected snub? Prince Harry got candid about his brother Prince William‘s changing appearance, pointing out the royal’s progressing baldness.

Just when you think Prince Harry and Prince William’s feud couldn’t get any worse, it does!

EXCLUSIVE: Jillian Bell (Brittany Runs a Marathon) has been tapped to star alongside Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross in the holiday comedy Candy Cane Lane, which Reginald Hudlin is directing for Amazon.

Sony’s A Man Called Otto began the first phase of a three-step rollout this weekend in an exclusive run at four LA and NY theaters, grossing $60k, for a $15k per screen average, over the three-day weekend. The four-day estimated gross is $75K, or an $18.7k PSA.

When you have an international best seller that was on the NYT list for 42 weeks and then made into a multi-Oscar nominated Swedish film that became the third most successful in the history of that country Ingmar Bergman called home, you might wonder what the need was for an American english language remake? The answer is a chance to give Tom Hanks a role he can run with, and most importantly to bring a very human, often funny, character-driven story back to light in a time that needs it more than ever.

At first glance, Tom Hanks’ new film, “A Man Called Otto,” comes off a bit too morbid for most. After all, not many people are going to want to dive headfirst into a film that tackles suicide.

Patti Smith hosted a New York screening of Corsage last week, one of many showings since the Oscar-shortlisted Best International Feature contender premiered to a warm welcome in Cannes, where it won Best Performance, Un Certain Regard, for star Vicky Krieps as the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Sisi for short. It’s fitting that Smith, royalty of the avant-garde, came out to support a film about an iconoclastic princess.