Beijing-based sales agent Rediance has revealed first look stills for Anthony Chen’s The Breaking Ice, which has been selected for the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
24.03.2023 - 21:23 / deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American VOD rights to the documentary Grandpa Was An Emperor from director Constance Marks, whose last feature, Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance.
The new film, which premiered to rave reviews at the DOC NYC Festival in 2021, is set for theatrical engagement in Los Angeles from April 7-13 at Laemmles Town Center in Encino, with evening showings on the 7th and 8th to be followed by Q&As with Marks, as well as her fellow producers and talent. It’s set for release on digital on May 30.
Exec produced by 2x Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo, Grandpa Was An Emperor follows Yeshi Kassa, great-granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, as she embarks on a personal quest to discover what happened to her closest relatives during the coup of 1974. While Yeshi and her older sister were thousands of miles away in a British boarding school, her great-grandfather was deposed by a revolution, setting off a harrowing chain of events that would put her parents and siblings in grave danger. For the very first time, the royal family examines the events that led to the collapse of a 3,000-year-old dynasty and reflects on how, against all odds, they were able to survive this turbulent time in Ethiopian history.
Marks produced the pic under her Constance Marks Productions banner, along with Corinne LaPook and Erivo’s Edith’s Daughter Productions, with Erivo being joined as an exec producer by Solome Williams.
Marks said in a statement to Deadline that the timing in her making of the doc “was fortunate because Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie’s family asked me to help them share their story just before losing many first-hand witnesses to
Beijing-based sales agent Rediance has revealed first look stills for Anthony Chen’s The Breaking Ice, which has been selected for the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The thunder is hitting HBO Max. “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is arriving on the streamer, which will soon be renamed to Max, on May 23.
Mel Gibson and Colin Woodell lead the cast for the three-part prequel series, , which will premiere in September on Peacock, it was announced Wednesday. The upcoming series explores the origins behind the hotel for assassins at the center of the franchise and is told through the eyes of young Winston Scott (Woodell) as he's dragged into the hell-scape of 1970s New York City to face a past he thought he left behind. Winston charts a deadly course through the hotel's mysterious underworld in a harrowing attempt to seize the hotel where he will eventually take his future throne.Woodell plays a younger version of the character portrayed by Ian McShane in the movies, and he's not the only cast member taking on a familiar role to fans of the franchise.
Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. If you missed “Cocaine Bear” in theaters, worry not: the absolutely preposterous slasher comedy about, yes, a coked-up bear, is coming to Peacock on April 14. The Elizabeth Banks-directed film hits the streamer nearly two months after it premiered in theaters, where it beat box office expectations and earned an impressive $24 million during its opening weekend. The wild R-rated movie, inspired by a stranger-than-fiction story about a drug runner’s plane crash, imagines the events that would have transpired if the American black bear that ingested a duffle bag full of blow had lived to tell the tale. It was budgeted at roughly $35 million, which was mostly dedicated to the CGI used to bring to life the coked-out beast alongside the human cast of Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Brooklynn Prince. Its box office success marks another win for Universal following its killer-doll movie “M3GAN,” which collected $170 million globally and, like “Cocaine Bear,” also became available to stream on Peacock only seven weeks after its release.
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Wicked,” the untold story of everything that happened before Dorothy dropped down in Oz, is poised to make Broadway history. When the hit musical plays its 7,486th performance on Tuesday, April 11, it’ll surpass Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” to become the fourth-longest running production on the Great White Way. “Phantom of the Opera,” which is closing in April, remains the longest-running show on Broadway with 13,965 performances, followed by “Chicago” with 10,321 performances and “The Lion King” with 9,936 performances. “Wicked” will also celebrate its 20th anniversary this October. The show opened in 2003, led by Idina Menzel as Elphaba, Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda and Joel Grey as the Wizard. It won three Tony Awards, including best musical.
Naman Ramachandran Argonon Group, the parent company behind “The Masked Singer U.K.,” has appointed former Jupiter Entertainment executive VP Steve McGovern as COO of its U.S. business with a remit across Leopard USA, Rose Rock Entertainment and future U.S. operations including acquisitions. Argonon, a global production group headquartered in the U.K. and U.S., owns Scottish indie production company Bandicoot, which makes the U.K. version of “The Masked Singer” as well as “The Masked Dancer.” As part of the group’s strategic shift to the West Coast and upscaled focus on streamers, networks and platforms, McGovern’s role will be based in Los Angeles. Shirley Escott, currently Leopard USA’s COO, relocates to London to pursue other projects after five years in the post. McGovern will report into Argonon CEO James Burstall and Laura Bessell, Argonon’s global COO.
Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer A new documentary about the invisible struggles of Lyme disease will arrive on May 30, in time to mark the end of an annual awareness month around the condition. “I’m Not Crazy, I’m Sick” will release to paid video-on-demand, from director Ellen Brooks-Tao and cinematographer Clair Popkin (who shot the Oscar winning “Free Solo”). Sypher Studios and Fieldhouse Productions are producing. Sypher Studios and Fieldhouse Productions are producing in association with Global Lyme Alliance. Variety has an exclusive first look at the trailer below. The project follows three families, as well as WNBA star Elena Delle Donne, battling the disease and the eye-popping costs that treatment and diagnoses impose on patients. The doc was inspired by executive producer Kim Cleworth (“Exposure”) and her family’s journey.
A release date has been set for Martin Scorsese’s highly-anticipated “Killers of the Flower Moon”.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are showing support for their Wicked co-star Michelle Yeoh!
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are getting ready to make their wickedly debut in the highly-anticipated film adaptation of the Wicked Broadway musical.
After snapping up the critically acclaimed Jonathan Majors movie Magazine Dreams out of Sundance, Searchlight has set a Dec. 8 theatrical release for the Elijah Bynum directed title; a date that’s right in line with the classics’ label previous awards season launches.
Angelique Jackson Tony, Emmy and Grammy-winner and Oscar-nominee Cynthia Erivo has joined the producing team of “Fat Ham” as the Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy heads to Broadway. “Fat Ham” will begin performances on Tues., March 21, and officially open on Wed., April 12, at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway for a strictly limited 14-week engagement through Sun., June 25. “Almost 10 years ago, I was introduced to the Broadway community in a musical that shook my world and changed my life irrevocably,” Erivo said in a statement to Variety. “I have been waiting for the right opportunity to return to the theater community and am thrilled to be back, this time as a first-time producer with ‘Fat Ham.’”
Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Peacock continues to expand its growing library of films with “Knock at the Cabin,” which will stream exclusively on the NBC platform starting March 24. The M. Night Shyamalan thriller, starring Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge and Rupert Grint, follows three family members who are camping in the woods and are suddenly interrupted by four strangers with visions of an impending apocalypse. The only way to prevent the end of the world, they claim, is to have the family willingly kill one of their own. The movie collected $14.2 million in its opening weekend in February, enough to top box office charts and dethrone “Avatar: The Way of Water.” It also landed a promising “A-” CinemaScore from ticket buyers.
EXCLUSIVE: Bat in the Sun Productions and Bascule Productions Ltd. have set a North American theatrical release for the late Power Rangers star Jason David Frank’s final film, Legend of the White Dragon.
EXCLUSIVE: Nine years after joining UTA as a partner and talent agent, Brian Swardstrom is leaving to form new ventures. That will include producing several projects with his husband, Oscar-winning producer Peter Spears, whose credits include Nomadland, Bones and All, and Call Me by Your Name.
Naman Ramachandran London-based Spring Films, producers of Oscar nominated and BAFTA-winning 2012 documentary “The Act of Killing,” has signed a joint venture and partnership agreement with U.S.-Europe media fund APX Group. The new venture, via which APX and Spring will invest in new productions over the next five years, will be based in London and owned equally. It will look to develop and produce new and breakthrough content. The parties also see this agreement as an opportunity to curate a library of content that will have the potential for global distribution. The board of directors of the joint venture will include two members each from APX Group and Spring Films.
BreAnna Bell Joe Goldberg has climbed back to No. 1 on the Netflix Top 10 English TV chart with big twists, Easter eggs, and a climactic “Anti-Hero” moment as “You” Season 4, Part 2 opened on the list following its March 9 release date. The murder mystery had 75.8 million hours viewed during the March 6-12 viewing window and was in the Top 10 in 86 countries. On the English Films side, Idris Elba returned as detective John Luther in “Luther: The Fallen Sun.” The thriller, featuring Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis and Dermot Crowley debuted at No. 1 with 65.9 million hours viewed. Chris Rock’s live standup special “Selective Outrage” made its first appearance on Netflix’s Global Top 10 chart at No. 8 on the English titles list with 17.79 million hours viewed. Live from Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, Rock’s first standup show following the infamous 2022 Oscar’s slap was one of several live offerings on Saturday as Netflix accompanied it with pre- and post-show coverage featuring appearances from Ronnie Chieng, Leslie Jones, Deon Cole and Arsenio Hall, among others, as well as appearances and commentary from Amy Schumer, Cedric the Entertainer, Ice-T, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, Paul McCartney, Sarah Silverman and Wanda Sykes. The special first debuted in the US on March 4 and was previously not counted in the previous week’s global count as it wasn’t available in other countries.
movie? What is this feeling?Director Jon. M. Chu announced on Tuesday that the production timeline for his adaptation of the smash Broadway musical has shifted, and the first movie of the two-part adaptation will now be released on Thanksgiving weekend.«WICKED NEWS: We are deep into production on WICKED and everyday we get more and more excited to share with u the mischief we’ve been up to,» Chu shared on social media.
Audiences were eager to wrap up Season 4 of Netflix‘s You. The second half of the season debuted on the streamer on March 9, catapulting the latest installment back to the top of the English-language TV charts for the week.
The first Wicked movie has changed release dates.