Greenwich Entertainment Acquires N.A. Rights To ‘Uncropped,’ Documentary About Extraordinary Photographer James Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton, who suffered a poor performance during the Australian Grand Prix qualifying round, has pointed to wind conditions as a reason for his underperformance.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Jason Arrow will reprise the role of Alexander Hamilton as the hit stage musical “Hamilton” returns to Australia later this year. The production will play a limited engagement at the Sydney Lyric Theatre from July 30 through to the end of October, 2024. Sydney is the only city the production will play before leaving Australia. The original Australian “Hamilton” premiered at the Sydney Lyric Theatre in March, 2021, before touring to Melbourne, Brisbane and New Zealand, concluding in June. “We know we have so much unfinished business left with Sydney and we can’t wait to get back to “Hamilton’s” original Australian home.

EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment has acquired rights to the narrative-doc hybrid Starring Jerry As Himself, which won both the Audience and Jury Award at Slamdance 2023, from Visit Films, slating it for release in select theaters and on home entertainment platforms beginning in late summer.

Siddhant Adlakha The nature documentary is inherently preservationist, but Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan’s “Nocturnes” offers environmental persuasions not through verbal arguments, or even an aesthetic appreciation. Rather, its meditative, hyper-fixated approach to process — as seen through the eyes of seasoned lepidopterists — proves so hypnotic that any appeals or augments the movie makes are deeply felt before they’re intellectually understood.

EXCLUSIVE: Actress Kat Graham (The Vampire Diaries) has signed with Untitled Entertainment for management, with partner Evan Hainey to run point on her behalf.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “Plastic People” is one of those essential state-of-our-world documentaries. If and when it gets a release (it premiered this week at SXSW), I urge you to see it, to ponder its message, to consider what it’s saying about how microplastics — plastic particles that are less than 5mm in length, though the key ones may be microscopic — have invaded our food, our water, our air, and, quite specifically, our bodies. For decades, it’s been a trope of environmental filmmaking to showcase the ugliness of landfills, and to ask where all the plastic we throw out is ultimately going to go.

EXCLUSIVE: Gina Carano (The Mandalorian, Deadpool) has signed with Straightwire Entertainment Group for management.

William Earl administrator It’d be easy enough for The Black Keys — singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney — to remain in rock star mode at this point in their career. After all, they’ve reached the top of their craft: radio hits, arena tours, festival headlining slots, and twelve albums.

UK distributor-producer Signature Entertainment has set plans to acquire Latin American production and distribution company Particular Crowd. 

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “Where’s the outrage?” That’s the theme that underlies just about every news report on Donald Trump, and nearly every documentary that spins around him. That would include “Stormy,” a reasonably absorbing film that presents the Stormy Daniels saga from Daniels’ point-of-view, revealing her to be a compelling and highly conflicted figure.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Paris-based Cat&Docs has acquired world sales rights for “Grand Me” by Iranian filmmaker Atiye Zare Arandi. The documentary, about an Iranian girl in the middle of a custody battle, is set to world premiere in the NEXT:WAVE strand at CPH:DOX on March 18. Set in Esfahan, Iran, “Grand Me” follows Melina, who has lived with her grandparents since her parents’ divorce.

Christopher Vourlias Paris-based sales outfit Cat&Docs has acquired “Unclickable,” Greek director Babis Makridis’ investigation into the murky world of digital ad fraud, ahead of its world premiere March 10 at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Variety has been given exclusive access to the film’s trailer (see below).

EXCLUSIVE: Sundance documentary Never Look Away, the directorial debut of actress Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess), has been sold by XYZ to Greenwich Entertainment for all rights in North America, and to Kaleidoscope for all rights in UK.

One of America’s most famous unsolved murders, the 1996 killing of JonBenét Ramsey, is getting the true-crime limited scripted series treatment.

Christopher Vourlias Grasshopper Film has acquired North American distribution rights to “Holding Back the Tide,” Emily Packer’s meditation on New York’s oysters and their transformations in the face of an uncertain future. The film, which world premiered at DOC NYC last fall, plays this week at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given exclusive access to a first-look clip (below) from Simon Ennis’ documentary “The Hobby,” which world premieres at SXSW on Friday. International sales are being handled by Vortex Media. “The Hobby” is an affectionate, character-driven portrait of the subculture of board games, covering the World Series of Board Games in Las Vegas and reaching back to Ancient Mesopotamia.

Jim Reeve, the British film and TV financier, has died aged 64.

The F1 season is among us!

Charles D. King made history tonight, becoming the first African American producer to accept the PGA Milestone Award.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Eva Longoria has joined “Only Murders in the Building” Season 4 at Hulu in a recurring role, Variety has learned. Longoria is the latest new cast member announced for the new season of the popular comedy series, with Molly Shannon also set to appear alongside series leads Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. Meryl Streep is also set to reprise her role from Season 3.