‘Dungeons and Dragons’ Documentary Brewing at XTR

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterA juicy new documentary about the life and public battles of late real estate mogul Leona Helmsley is currently in production, Variety has learned exclusively.  The film will contain never-before-heard tapes of Helmsley and her archrival Donald Trump, as well as “smoking gun” evidence that will question the tax evasion case brought on her by Rudy Giuliani in 1988.Helmsley was an icon of the “greed is good” era, an owner of luxury hotels and condominiums who left behind a $5 billion estate (which famously included a $12 million trust fund for her dog, a Maltese). Branded the “Queen of Mean” by the New York tabloids for her acid tongue and regal air, she was a bitter rival of Trump — who once called her “a disgrace to the industry and a disgrace to humanity in general.” Of Trump, Helmsley once reportedly said: “I wouldn’t trust him if his tongue was notarized.” Trump notoriously tried to snatch the crown jewel of Helmsley’s property portfolio, the Empire State building.Indie studio Gunpowder & Sky has boarded the project from Filmbank’s Keith Robert Patterson (HBO’s “All About Ann”), who will direct and produce.

‘superfans: screaming. crying.

Moonage Daydream, a new documentary featuring the late David Bowie‘s personal archives and unseen performance footage, has been released.Helmed by Brett Morgen (Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, Jane), the docufilm promises to take viewers on an “immersive” journey through via “sublime, kaleidoscopic imagery, personal archived footage, unseen performances” that are anchored by Bowie’s music and words.In the teaser, Bowie speaks off-camera about the importance of life. “It’s what you do in life that’s important, not how much time you have,” he says as a montage of performance clips spanning his 50-year career and other behind-the-scenes imagery plays out.Moonage Daydream is the first film to be supported by the David Bowie Estate, which granted Morgen unprecedented access to its collection.

Manori Ravindran International EditorHBO Documentary Films has bought worldwide television rights for Cannes Special Screenings title “All That Breathes.”The film is the only Sundance movie to screen as part of Cannes’ Official Selection this year — a feat all the more impressive given Cannes is not known for its documentary programming. In Park City, the film picked up the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.Directed by Shaunak Sen (“Cities of Sleep”), “All That Breathes” follows two brothers who run a bird hospital dedicated to rescuing injured black kites, which are a staple in the skies of New Delhi, India.In one of the world’s most populated cities, where cows, rats, monkeys, frogs and hogs jostle cheek-by-jowl with people, the “kite brothers” care for thousands of these creatures, which fall daily from New Delhi’s smog-choked skies.

Look At Me: XXXTentacion – you can watch it below.The documentary charts the late rapper’s ascent on SoundCloud, his struggles with mental health and his history of domestic abuse charges. In 2018, he confessed to a series of violent crimes in a secret recording.XXXTentacion, real name Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy, was killed in a shooting aged 20 as he left a car dealership in Miami, Florida in June 2018.Directed by Sabaah Folyan, Look At Me: XXXTentacion features interviews with Onfroy’s mother Cleopatra Bernard, his ex-girlfriend Geneva Ayala and other close friends.Speaking in the trailer, Onfroy’s mother says: “My son would not sleep at night.

Jennifer Lopez is seen in tears after realising she wasn’t nominated for an Oscar in 2020 for her role in Hustlers. Lopez was highly commended for her turn as a strip club hostess in the film and her omission from the Academy Awards that year was seen as one of the biggest snubs of the season. In a new trailer for her upcoming Netflix documentary Halftime, the actor is hownstruggling after not getting the nomination.

Jennifer Lopez's new Netflix documentary, Halftime, is set to give fans an intimate look into her life, including the shattering moment when she realised that she hadn't been nominated for an Oscar. MORE: Jennifer Lopez flashes first engagement ring from Ben Affleck in resurfaced videoThe star was hoping to be nominated for her acclaimed role in 2019 crime drama Hustlers but was left off the ballot. WATCH: The trailer for Jennifer Lopez' new documentary, Halftime"It was hard. I just had very low self-esteem," the popstar says in a voiceover as viewers are shown a clip of her crying while looking at her phone in bed."I had to really figure out who I was and believe in that and not believe in anything else," she adds.Speaking about the snub in an interview with Allure in 2021, Jennifer said: "When it came to the Oscars, it was so obviously absent.

Amazon Prime has unveiled a tennis drama from Line of Duty producer World Productions as part of its UK Showcase event, along with two fresh documentaries and casting news, as the streamer reveals £1BN ($1.2BN) spend since 2018.

Elton John‘s ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour and his early years has been announced.Co-directed by R.J. Cutler and the filmmaker and John’s husband, David Furnish, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances And The Years That Made His Legend will include an array of unseen concert footage from the past 50 years, as well as John’s handwritten journals and present-day footage of the musician and his family.A release date for the film has yet to be announced, but it is expected to get a limited cinema release before it comes to Disney+.“What a thrill and an honour it is that David Furnish and I get to create this intimate and unique look at one of the world’s most celebrated artists,” Cutler said in a statement via Rolling Stone.

EXCLUSIVE: In a deal announced today in Cannes, IMAX Corporation and Dolphin Entertainment signed a multi-year agreement to co-finance development and production of a slate of feature-length documentaries for global release.

Rio Ferdinand has reportedly signed a deal with Amazon to make documentaries surrounding his football career. The 43 year old dad-of-four would be following in the footsteps of Wayne Rooney, whose Rooney documentary recently debuted on Prime Video to huge success. Instead of delving into his personal life with 30 year old wife Kate Ferdinand, who recently said that having their son Cree has brought the family "closer together", the three-programme series will explore issues such as sexuality and race in the world of football.There will also be a focus on mental health within the sport in the programmes fronted by Ferdy.

XTR has launched production on Role Players, which is billed as the definitive documentary on the seminal fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons.

Strange Scaffold – creator of El Paso, Everywhere and Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator – has announced that it will begin publishing games, starting with a roguelite RPG called Purgatory Dungeoneer.Created by indie developer Damien Crawford, Strange Scaffold says that Purgatory Dungeoneer‘s full title – My Grandpa Died And All He Left Me Was This 1 Dungeon In Purgatory Filled With Nihilistic Adventurers – will continue the studio’s “monopoly on dangerously long game names.”Purgatory Dungeoneer is a town-building roguelite RPG which tasks the player with “plundering a psychic hellmaw for personal closure”. Set to launch on Steam and itch.io in the third quarter of 2022, players will take control of a supernatural medieval village and form parties of retired adventurers to raid the “hellmaw” for resources.The game will feature over 400 possible residents that players can recruit, as well as more than 100 classes and over 1000 skills for adventurers to utilise.You can watch a trailer for Purgatory Dungeoneer below:On the decision to move into publishing, Strange Scaffold director Xalavier Nelson Jr.

Queen Elizabeth II's personal archive — including footage capturing the monarch as a young mother and her beaming at her engagement ring — will be shown in a new documentary, the BBC said Sunday.The queen granted the broadcaster unprecedented access to hundreds of home movies shot by her, her parents and her late husband Prince Philip, as part of celebrations for her upcoming Platinum Jubilee, honoring her 70 years on the throne.The videos record the queen's life from when she was a baby in a pram to her coronation in 1953.One clip captured the first extended visit of Philip to Balmoral Castle in Scotland in 1946, before his engagement to Elizabeth was made public. The footage depicts a beaming Princess Elizabeth showing off her engagement ring to the camera.Philip and Elizabeth wed in November 1947 and were married for 73 years, until Philip's death last April just a few months before his 100th birthday.Simon Young, the BBC’s commissioning editor for history, said the broadcaster was honored to have access to the queen's personal film collection.“This documentary is an extraordinary glimpse into a deeply personal side of the royal family that is rarely seen, and it’s wonderful to be able to share it with the nation as we mark her Platinum Jubilee," he said.“Elizabeth: The Unseen Queen” will air in the U.K.

Wilson Chapman editorIn celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s 70 years of reign, a new documentary featuring never-before-seen footage of the royal is set to premiere May 29.Titled “Elizabeth: the Unseen Queen,” the 75-minute BBC television documentary will focus on the early years of Queen Elizabeth’s life, from her birth to her coronation at the age of 27 in 1953. The film features several home recordings from the Royal Family, which have until this point been privately held in the British Film Institute vaults.Queen Elizabeth gave BBC Studios permission to access footage and the producers and editors viewed over 400 reels of film.