Archstone Entertainment Nabs Worldwide Rights To Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Futra Day’ Starring Tania Raymonde, Brandon Sklenar & Rosanna Arquette — AFM

EXCLUSIVE: Echo Lake Entertainment has signed actress Alisa Wainwright (Raising Dion) for management in all areas.

Former Amazon Studios and Fox Network Group executive Sharon Tal Yguado has launched Astrid Entertainment, a gaming company focused on developing fantastical living worlds that inspire positive, community play and can cross over into different mediums, including film and TV.

EXCLUSIVE: Grindstone Entertainment Group, a Lionsgate company, has picked up world distribution rights to the romantic comedy Christmas in Paradise from MSR Media International. Lionsgate will release the film in North America on November 15.

EXCLUSIVE: Mario Van Peebles (Power Book III: Raising Kanan) has wrapped production in Montana on Outlaws, a new Western that he wrote, directed and stars in for Quiver. Others joining Van Peebles in major roles include Whoopi Goldberg (Till), Cedric the Entertainer (The Neighborhood), Edward James Olmos (Mayans M.C.), John Carroll Lynch (Big Sky), William Mapother (Son of Monarchs) and M. Emmet Walsh (The Immaculate Room). 

This year’s Venice Film Festival featured several draws, new films by Noah Baumbach, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and more, but perhaps no return was as anticipated as Hollywood legend Brendan Fraser, who stars in Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming psychological drama “The Whale.” ‘The Whale’ Review: Brendan Fraser And Sadie Sink Are A Heartbreaking Duo In Darren Aronofsky’s Best Film Since ‘The Wrestler’ [Venice] Fraser has been out of the limelight for a number of years now, battling with health issues, divorce, depression, and the fierce backlash he received in 2018 after accusing Philip Berk (then-president of the HFPA) of sexually assaulting him in 2003.

With Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” earning rave reviews and a ton of money at the box office, another rock star biopic, the TIFF-premiering “Chevalier,” is hoping to find similar success—only the star of this historical drama predates rock and roll by nearly two hundred years. READ MORE: ‘Chevalier’ Review: An Electric Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Derek Haas, co-creator of NBC’s Chicago Fire and who also helped develop Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med, is stepping away from the One Chicago Franchise and Wolf Entertainment, Deadline has confirmed. He will exit next year when the current TV season concludes.

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate just landed a solid thriller for its slate. In competition with other distributors, the company has acquired U.S., Canada and India distribution rights to Retribution, an action thriller from Studiocanal and The Picture Company that stars Liam Neeson. The Nimród Antal-directed film is a remake of the Spanish movie El Desconocido, which received eight Goya Award noms when it was released in Spain in 2015.

EXCLUSIVE: BBC Studios Productions is pushing further into the ad-funded programing (AFP) space by hiring a dedicated Head of Branded Entertainment.

EXCLUSIVE: Other Angle Pictures is launching sales on the crime thriller Double Down South, starring Sons of Anarchy actor Kim Coates. Other Angle will present the completed film to buyers at AFM next month. 

The new trailer for The People We Hate At The Wedding is finally here!

“CSI” showrunner and executive producer Carol Mendelsohn and producing partner Julie Weitz have struck a multi-year first-look broadcast direct deal with Fox Entertainment, president of entertainment Michael Thorn announced at MIPCOM Cannes. The duo’s previous deal with Universal Television is now over.Under the terms, Mendelsohn and Weitz will develop scripted dramas for the Fox.

New Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade has talked up the potential for TMZ to become a “huge entertainment studio,” setting out his stall at Mipcom Cannes for the first time since he replaced Charlie Collier.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks Int’l has snapped up worldwide rights to Portugal’s first stop motion animated feature “My Grandfather’s Demons,” the debut animated pic by Nuno Beato. According to FilmSharks CEO Guido Rud, it was able to outbid other contenders for the toon, which had its world premiere at Annecy. “One of the hardest tasks for my acquisition team, run by Santiago Migdal, is to find a true animation gem, not only aesthetically but narratively where the use of different animation techniques makes the story fly even higher,” said Rud. 

EXCLUSIVE: Alexandra Diddario is set to star in ACE Entertainment’s I Wish You All The Best with Tommy Dorfman making her directorial debut. The project is based on Mason Deaver’s bestselling novel of the same name which Dorfman optioned in 2019. Dorfman is writing the screenplay and will also produce the feature.

EXCLUSIVE: After 15 years at Charles Roven’s Atlas Entertainment, where he served as Executive Vice President, producer Andy Horwitz has moved on to launch Big Swell Entertainment, a producing collective that aims to be a home for the next generation of young, hands-on producers and storytellers.

In 2014, Russell Crowe made his directorial debut with “The Water Diviner,” about an Australian farmer who travels to Turkey after World War II to find his three sons who never returned. Critics weren’t high on the movie, but it fared well with audiences; at least with those who saw it.

The Mosquito Coast,” a drama series adapted from the novel of the same title, starring Justin Theroux, Melissa George, Logan Polish and Gabriel Bateman. Based on Paul Theroux’s best-selling novel, “The Mosquito Coast” Season 2 picks up on the family after barely escaping Mexico with their lives, venturing deep into the Guatemalan jungle to meet up with an old friend and her community of refugees. This creates trouble when they become entangled in a conflict between a local drug lord and his family. The show is executive produced by Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer, Stefan Schwartz, Evan Katz, Rupert Wyatt, author Theroux and series star Theroux. Bob Bookman, Alan Gasmer and Peter Jaysen serve as executive producers for Veritas Entertainment Group. The series is created for television and executive produced by Neil Cross. Developed by Cross & Tom Bissell, the series is a Fremantle Production for Apple TV+.