Looks like a good old fashion cash grab celebrity endorsement has become a bit more fraught when it comes to the digital marketplace nowadays.
05.12.2022 - 17:53 / deadline.com
It was two days after director Adil El Arbi’s wedding in Morocco when he and his co-director Bilall Fallah got the call that their recently wrapped $70M film Batgirl would be shelved as part of a cost-saving move for Warner Bros Discovery under David Zaslav’s new regime.
“It was a traumatic experience,” Bilall told Deadline at the Red Sea International Film Festival on Monday, adding he and El Arbi went through “all the emotions.”
“At that time, it was pretty unprecedented, so it was like movie history, but in a crazy way,” said El Arbi at Deadline’s Red Sea Studio.
The Belgian directing duo, who were both born in Morocco, were at the festival this week with their feature Rebel, a story that follows two brothers from Belgium who join ISIS.
While the Leslie Grace starrer had finished shooting, it was “not done yet – far from it,” said El Arbi, who said they had just edited one version of the film.
“There was still a lot of work to be done but they just said it was financial decisions and so that’s that and the movie can never be released,” El Arbi said.
Fallah said that they felt “really bad” for all of the actors such as Grace, JK Simmons, Michael Keaton and Brendan Fraser as well as the crew, the writers and the fans. “But we got so much support from the whole industry from directors to screenwriters to studio people that really supported us through this really difficult time and that we felt that we were not alone, and that’s positive.”
Asked whether there might be any way audiences might be able to see the film at any point in the future, El Arbi said “no, not at all.”
“There’s nothing that we can do to influence them but you know when you see Brendan Fraser, who’s maybe going to win an Oscar for The Whale,
Looks like a good old fashion cash grab celebrity endorsement has become a bit more fraught when it comes to the digital marketplace nowadays.
Iraqi filmmaker Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji picked up the Golden Yusr for Best Feature Film at the Red Sea Film Festival with his debut feature Hanging Gardens.
Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Development Fund is poised to launch a new $233m ($879m Saudi Riyal) film industry financing program in the first quarter of 2023, which will be open to both local and international entities.
Jackie Chan made a rare on-stage appearance at the Red Sea Film Festival Thursday, where he told fans that he is currently in talks to make a fourth Rush Hour movie.
Antonio Banderas’s latest film, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, screened at the Red Sea Film Festival this week, and the actor told the festival audience that he believes his animated feline is likely to return to the big screen in a fifth Shrek movie.
An unwieldy crowd rushed the stage and frequently broke out in song as Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor discussed his life and career during one of the final ‘In Conversation’ sessions at the Red Sea Film Festival Wednesday.
Over the last decade, we’ve seen so many DC Comics projects come and go, from the big screen to the small screen, various reasons contributed to their demise. It’s sometimes hard to keep track of all the ones that were announced for development given that so many haven’t crossed the finish line as Warner Bros.
Writer and stand-up comedian Mo Amer was the latest Hollywood name to pass through Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea film festival Wednesday where he discussed his varied career as part of the festival’s ‘In Conversation’ series and the potential of a second season of his well-received Netflix comedy Mo.
Director, screenwriter and producer Fatih Akin passed through the Red Sea film festival Monday where he discussed his career and what he described as the unique experience of straddling Turkish and German culture in his films.
All eyes are on Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning film industry as the second edition of its Red Sea International Film Festival continues to unfold this week in the port city of Jeddah, running from December 1 to 10.
Andrew Dominik shared his thoughts on the unexpected backlash against his Marylin Monroe drama Blonde during an In-Conversation event at the Red Sea International Film Festival on Sunday.
Spike Lee is at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival in the port city of Jeddah this weekend to present a screening of his Oscar-nominated 1992 epic biopic Malcolm X and participate in an In-Conversation event.
Saudi Arabia’s emerging fashion design labels have been making their red carpet world premiere over the past few days at the Red Sea International Film Festival, running December 1-10 in the port city of Jeddah.
walked the red carpet for the Women in Cinema event at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dressed in head-to-toe red, Hale wore a pant set with cutouts down the arms and legs with sweet bow details.
Bollywood megastar Akshay Kumar revealed that he is making a feature on the theme of sex education that he hopes to release next spring during an In-Conversation event at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival on Saturday.