Hot Docs Premiere ‘Atomic Hope’ About Pro-Nuclear Movement Drops Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: Rivulet Films has picked up John Wick writer Derek Kolstad’s original screenplay Acolyte and will finance and produce the project alongside Swiss distributor-producer Ascot Elite Entertainment.

Naman Ramachandran Australian film “The Laugh of Lakshmi,” by renowned theater director turned filmmaker S. Shakthidharan, will be one of the first films to make use of the newly announced Indian filming incentives.The film, a dance drama, is the story of a mother and a son separated by war.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefOdin’s Eye Entertainment has boarded “In Vitro,” an elevated sci-fi thriller starring “Succession” star Ashley Zukerman (“The Lost Symbol,” “Fear Street”) and Talia Zucker (“Lake Mungo”). It is co-directed by Tom McKeith and Will Howarth whose debut feature “Beast” was nominated for best first feature at the Toronto Film Festival in 2015.

Back in April 2022, Greenwich Entertainment announced the acquisition of North American distribution rights to Stay Prayed Up. Now, Greenwich has released an official trailer for the film.

EXCLUSIVE: Galway Film Festival winners Andy & Ryan Tohill (The Dig) are set to direct up and comers Levi Miller (Kraven the Hunter), Solly McLeod (star of upcoming ITV series Tom Jones), Isabella Pappas (Finding Alice), Lou Llobell (Foundation), and Izuka Hoyle (Mary Queen of Scots) in Beach Boys. Scripted by Malachi Smyth, the film will be repped at the Cannes Market by Hyde Park International.

The Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum-led comedy The Lost City is set to premiere on May 10 via Paramount+ in the United States and Canada. It’ll be available in Australia, the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy later this year.

EXCLUSIVE: Saban Films has set a multi-picture deal with Premiere Entertainment for domestic distribution and select foreign rights for the action thrillers Black Warrant, Shrapnel, and Blowback starring Twilight and The OC actorCam Gigandet.

Christopher Vourlias “Million Dollar Pigeons,” which had its world premiere this week at Hot Docs, follows a colorful cast of pigeon masters from far and wide who compete in the most lucrative pigeon races on the planet. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer, and speaks to the director, Irish filmmaker Gavin Fitzgerald.The third documentary feature from Fitzgerald, the film enters the world of the passionate “pigeon fanciers” who put their reputations and livelihoods at stake in pursuit of ever-growing prize purses.

After Netflix viewers’ positive response to “Love on the Spectrum”, the Australian reality show chronicling the difficult dating adventures of a variety of people on the autism spectrum, a U.S. version is poised to arrive.

Christopher Vourlias Artists and filmmakers Anna Fitch (“Survivors”) and Banker White (“Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-Stars”) are preparing a multidisciplinary documentary project that they’re pitching this week at the Hot Docs Forum, describing it as a testament to the enduring power of friendship and what we learn from each other in life and after death.“Heaven Through the Backdoor” explores the mystery of death through the unconventional friendship of Fitch and Yolanda Shea – affectionately dubbed “Yo” – two kindred spirits born 49 years apart. Directed by Fitch and White, the film is produced by Heidi Fleisher (“Wake Up on Mars”) and Sara Dosa (“Fire of Love”) for Mirabel Pictures.

Christopher Vourlias London-based documentary specialist Dogwoof has closed a host of sales for Daniel Roher’s “Navalny” and Jono McLeod’s “My Old School,” both of which premiered at Sundance and are screening this week at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.Roher’s riveting documentary thriller (pictured above) won the Festival Favorite Award and the U.S. Documentary Audience Award at Sundance.

Dennis Harvey Film CriticAmong the many social movements that arose in the 1960s and ’70s, one just about everyone on the liberal spectrum could agree on was anti-“nuke.” Hiroshima and Nagasaki left behind a lingering horror at the ways technological advancement might be turned to mass destruction. Power plant accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl seemed to confirm fears that this energy source’s risks outweighed its benefits.

Pachinko is here!

Wolf Like Me is an early favorite at Peacock!

Naman Ramachandran London-based sales agent MetFilm Sales has boarded feature documentary “Exposing Muybridge,” featuring Gary Oldman, about revolutionary photographer Eadweard Muybridge.Muybridge (1830–1904) was an English photographer known for his groundbreaking work in photographic studies of motion who played a seminal role in motion picture history. His images of running horses transformed the camera into a machine of unmatched powers of perception and persuasion, and set the course for the birth of cinema.

Paramount+ today unveiled first-look photos for its upcoming film Jerry and Marge Go Large, starring Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening, also announcing that it will premiere exclusively on the platform in the U.S. on June 17. The film will roll out on Paramount+ in Australia, Canada and Latin America and in additional markets, when the service becomes available there later this year. It will be distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution in remaining international markets.

EXCLUSIVE: Meghan Leathers (Don’t Look Up) has signed on for a role in Paramount+’s crime thriller Finestkind, from Academy Award-winning writer-director Brian Helgeland. She joins an ensemble that also includes Tommy Lee Jones, Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Jenna Ortega, Aaron Stanford, Scotty Tovar, Tim Daly, Lolita Davidovich and Clayne Crawford, as previously announced.