Bestseller ‘Out of My Mind’ Being Adapted as a Disney+ Film

EXCLUSIVE: The Rookie‘s Alexi Hawley has signed a rich new deal with eOne. The two-year pact extends Hawley’s previous exclusive deal for television and new media content at the studio. It also includes a first look deal for feature films. As part of the agreement, Hawley will launch a production company.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticWhen a documentary gets made, as an off-ramp passion project, by a noted filmmaker who normally directs fiction films, there’s a special curiosity and excitement to seeing the angle — and the kind of craft — he’s going to bring to it. “Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind” is the first movie directed by Ethan Coen all by himself.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticWhen a documentary gets made, as an off-ramp passion project, by a noted filmmaker who normally directs fiction films, there’s a special curiosity and excitement to seeing the angle — and the kind of craft — he’s going to bring to it. “Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind” is the first movie directed by Ethan Coen all by himself.

Naman Ramachandran New York-based Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells’ feature debut “Aftersun,” premiering at Cannes Critics’ Week, aims to achieve a balance of joy and melancholia in equal measure.Framed as a look back at a father-daughter holiday at a Turkish resort in the late 1990s, with occasional mini DV footage adding to the period texture, the film is an ode to nostalgia with hints of something far darker.Wells’ first short, “Tuesday” (2015), was about the loss of her father, which happened when she was a teenager. “I wanted to explore a different period in that relationship, like a young father and his daughter on holiday.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaBlue Fox Entertainment has acquired worldwide rights to “Unexpected,” an offbeat comedy starring Anna Camp, Joseph Mazzello, Neil Flynn and Ryann Shane. The movie is currently in post-production.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorErotic love story “99 Moons,” which has its world premiere in Cannes’ ACID sidebar today, has kicked off international sales. Berlin-based M-Appeal is handling the rights to the film, which is directed by Jan Gassmann.Arthouse VOD platform Filmin has taken the rights in Spain, and arthouse distributor StraDa Films has taken the films for Greece. France and Latin America are in negotiation.

Lise Pedersen Paris-based international sales company The Party Film Sales has nabbed the rights for Antongiulio Panizzi’s hybrid documentary “The Girl in the Fountain,” a double portrait of icons Anita Ekberg and Monica Bellucci, which opened at the Torino Film Festival last November.The story of an actress devoured by her own icon, the film alternates between archive footage of Ekberg and reenacted scenes by Bellucci, who retraces Ekberg’s weaknesses and choices, inviting the viewer to reflect on what it is like to be an icon, providing a fresh look at femininity, fame and media exposure.The famous scene in Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” in which Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg take a midnight dip in the Trevi Fountain, hides a much more chaotic life – that of an actress consumed by her own iconic image, says Panizzi. Speaking to Variety ahead of the Torino premiere, Panizzi said that the iconic scene turned out to be a burden for the actress, who got to experience what Rita Hayworth meant when she said that “they go to bed with Gilda; they wake up with me.”It was the director’s wish to have Bellucci tell the Swedish icon’s story, as he believed she would be the perfect match.

Tim McGraw stopped by “The Tonight Show” to talk about the time his wife and co-star Faith Hill had to slap him in a scene for “1883”, the prequel western series to “Yellowstone”.

EXCLUSIVE: Berenice Bejo (The Artist) agreed that making Cannes opening-night film  Final Cut (Coupez!) with filmmaker husband Michel Hazanavicius (The Players) had been a family affair.

Naman Ramachandran Nicholas Pinnock (“For Life”) will play world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali in “A God Amongst Men.” The film, co-written and to be directed by James Newton (“2:Hrs”), also stars Christopher Eccleston (“Dodger”), and is based on the true story of Ali’s visit to Tyneside, U.K., in 1977. The film is co-written by Ian Skelton (“Hey Duggee”). Newton said: ” ‘A God Amongst Men’ is based upon the true story of how one man, Johnny Walker, outrageously claimed that he would bring Muhammad Ali to Tyneside in 1977 to save a boxing club from closure.

Carole Horst John Woo’s “Silent Night” recently wrapped principal photography in Mexico City. The film is the first U.S.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe “Daria” spinoff “Jodie” is taking shape, but will now be an animated film rather than a series as originally announced. In addition, Variety has learned exclusively that the spinoff has set its main cast.It was previously announced that Tracee Ellis Ross will voice the title role of Jodie, Daria’s friend from high school.

The Cherokee Nation Film Office recently partnered with Green Pastures Studio and SeriesFest to present the Season 8 Storytellers Initiative, specifically aimed at increasing Native representation within the television industry.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentPresiding over the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, director Thierry Frémaux has assembled some serious Hollywood star power, world cinema auteurs amid indications that despite COVID, the film world is buzzing with anticipation for the films, the deals and most of all the glamour the fest brings.While Frémaux has been credited with expanding the horizons of the Cannes Film Festival since taking over the reins of its Official Selection in 2001, he’s also been praised for building relationships with American studios and filmmakers.This year, he’s lured them back in spite of the ongoing pandemic, with a lineup including James Gray’s “Armageddon Time,” David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future,” Joseph Kosinski’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up,” George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” and Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis.” “My first red carpet was for ‘Moulin Rouge!’ with Baz Luhrmann and Nicole Kidman in 2001 and it will be engraved in my memory forever,” says Fremaux. “I’m happy to reunite with Baz this year.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe upcoming Apple limited series “Manhunt,” which details the hunt for presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth, has added seven new cast members.Brandon Flynn, Betty Gabriel, Will Harrison, Hamish Linklater, Damian O’Hare, Patton Oswalt and Lili Taylor have all joined the cast of the show. They join previously announced cast members Tobias Menzies, Anthony Boyle, Lovie Simone, and Matt Walsh.“Manhunt” is a true crime series based on the events of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and the book “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer” by James Swanson.

creativity and imagination, with a movie that ups the ante on story, song and dance to entertain youngviewers, their families, and the global fan base that grew up with the aspirational story of‘Descendants,’ said Ayo Davis, president, Disney Branded Television.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorCannes Critics’ Week film “The Woodcutter Story” has debuted its trailer. It’s the feature film directorial debut from Mikko Myllylahti, the writer of Cannes Un Certain Regard winner “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Makki.” The film is being sold by French sales outfit Totem Films.“The Woodcutter Story” centers on Pepe, a woodcutter in an idyllic small town in Finland.