Alan Ritchson & Kevin James To Lead Action-Comedy ‘Playdate’, Filming To Begin March 11 In Canada

Seoul-based sales company Finecut has boarded international sales on the action-comedy Boss and will launch sales at this week’s Filmart in Hong Kong. 

UPDATED with news that Ranjit will attend the Oscars as director Nisha Pahuja‘s guest. It’s a momentous weekend for To Kill a Tiger, the award-winning documentary directed by Nisha Pahuja.

Universal Television’s top comedy development executives said business is thriving with EVP Jim Donnelly calling the moment “oddly busy.”  

EXCLUSIVE: Filming is due to begin this month in LA on neo-noir thriller Lips Like Sugar, which will star Oscar-nominees Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson.

“He’s the most idolized comedian ever,” Jerry Seinfeld says in the new trailer for “Steve!” a new documentary from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville Neville (“20 Feet from Stardom,” “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”) about the beloved American national treasure Steve Martin. “He reinvented stand up,” another off-screen talking head says, and you know you’re in store for a doc that sounds and looks like it’ll be as entertaining as it is ebullient in its praise of the “Only Murders in The Buildings” star.

EXCLUSIVE: At 94 years old, June Squibb may not be the most conventional of action heroes. But by gum, she’s the one we need. The Nebraska Oscar nominee is poised to save the summer with Thelma, the nonagenarian action comedy marking the first feature of writer-director Josh Margolin, which Magnolia Pictures has set for a wide release in North America on June 21.

EXCLUSIVE: Scottie Thompson (Hellfire), David Koechner (Anchorman), Gillian White (Trouble Man!) and Isaiah Washington (Grey’s Anatomy) are currently starring in Christmas action-comedy Dashing Through The Snow.

Over the last few decades, we've seen many Coronation Street stars go on to dominate Hollywood - and now Sam Retford is the latest to do exactly that.The actor, who is best known for playing Curtis Delamere in the soap, is playing a starring role in Outlander prequel Blood of My Blood.The 24-year-old will play a young Dougal MacKenzie - who was portrayed by Graham McTavish in the original series - in the spin-off, which has begun filming in Glasgow. Sam is one of four new actors joining the prequel, which tells the story of the parents of Sam Heughan's character Jamie as well as Caitriona Balfe's character Claire's parents.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Following its world premiere in the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival, Beta Cinema has revealed first sales across Europe and to Australia and New Zealand for Andreas Dresen’s “From Hilde, With Love.” The drama about anti-Nazi activists in Berlin, which is led by “Babylon Berlin’s” Liv Lisa Fries and introduces Johannes Hegemann in his first big screen appearance, will be released in France by Haut et Court, in Italy by Teodora and throughout Scandinavia by Angel Films. Beta Cinema also closed deals for Benelux (September Film), Portugal (Outsider), former Yugoslavia (Discovery), Hungary (Cirko) and Czech Republic (Film Europe). Palace Film picked up the film for Australia and New Zealand.

Alan Ritchson is opening up about why he lost two major roles in Thor and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Thanks to the growing popularity of his Amazon Prime Video action thriller series “Reacher,” based on the Jack Reacher books by Lee Child, Alan Ritchson’s is starting to really take off. It’s only been on for two seasons but seemingly taken off in the last year and is quickly turning the 6 ft 2 actor into a star.

Alan Ritchson is opening up about his life, his body and his mind.

Emiliano De Pablos U.K.-based distributor DCD Rights has pre-sold the fourth season of New Zealand’s mystery drama “My Life Is Murder” to a raft of territories ahead of its Feb. 27 official launch at the London Screenings. Starring Lucy Lawless (“Top of the Lake,” “Spartacus,” “Xena: Warrior Princess”), the series’ brand new season rights have been secured by YLE Finland, TV2 Denmark, Quebecor Content Canada and Yes DBS Israel.

Cult college football series Blue Mountain State is making a comeback. A sequel to the 2010 comedy recently hit the TV marketplace, with Reacher’s Alan Ritchson set to reprise his role as Kevin “Thad” Castle. The original series’ co-leads Darin Brooks and Chris Romano also are expected to be back for the followup, from Lionsgate Television, I hear.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Black Bear has hired Courtney L. Cunniff as senior vice president of film.

Since 2019, a production company by the name of Kingdom Story has set about establishing itself as something of a player in the crowded field of faith-based entertainment, having dipped its toe into the world of film by adapting a handful of true-life narratives and soon-to-be-released original content, all of which have seen unexpectedly wide release thanks mainly to a partnership with media giant Lionsgate. Covering a range of topics from Christian music biopics to the life of former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, “Ordinary Angels” easily finds a spot on the list, with a premise inspired by actual events that appear perfect for the Kingdom Story family tree but without the tendency to drift into the realm of heavy-handed messages one might be expecting.

After a very long gestation period and extensive reshoots, Lionsgate’s “Borderlands,” an adaptation of the space Western science fantasy video game, finally arrives in theaters this summer. Directed by Eli Roth (“Thanksgiving”), the star-studded cast includes Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Édgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon, Jamie Lee Curtis and Bobby Lee.

Alan Ritchson and Hilary Swank pose for photos together at the premiere of Ordinary Angels held at the SVA Theater on Monday evening (February 19) in New York City.

Courtney Howard With a true story centered on everyday people pulling off extraordinary feats, “Ordinary Angels” can’t help but embrace the sentimentality at its core. It’s baked into its DNA, and is the reason why this compelling, heartstring-pulling drama made it to the big screen 30 years after taking place — in a time when we too are searching for light in a bleak world. Yet what lifts the picture beyond average inspirational fluff is the way director Jon Gunn and company control the slow release of its sweetness so as not to overpower.

told the outlet. “We should have prepped the ground and buried a pad, but we were in a rush to get the shot done in the fading light.”The Academy Award winner remembered becoming concerned about the setup of the stunt moments ahead of jumping.“With hundreds of extras around, arrows flying and burn pots setting the castle on fire, there was no pulling out,” Crowe said.