‘Liberation’: VMI Worldwide Boards WWII Pic Starring Stephen Lang And Elsie Fisher — Toronto

Writer-director Eddie Alcazar’s dystopian sci-fi thriller Divinity, starring Stephen Dorff, Bella Thorne, and Scott Bakula, has landed a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement. The pact will allow cast members to get out and promote the theatrical release of the film, which hits Regal Union Square in New York on October 13th and LA on the 20th, ahead of a wide expansion on November 3rd.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America resumed bargaining with the major studios on Wednesday, as the 142-day writers strike closed in on a record duration. In a break from previous sessions, several top CEOs joined in the talks on Wednesday in Sherman Oaks. They were Bob Iger of Disney, Ted Sarandos of Netflix, Donna Langley of NBCUniversal and David Zaslav of Warner Bros.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix closed a $20 million deal on Hit Man, making the biggest deal at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and of the year for that matter. After the Richard Linklater-directed noir comic thriller debuted to raves at Venice, the film was expected to fetch the biggest deal of the fall festivals so far. Hit Man did not disappoint. Hit Man stars Top Gun Maverick’s Glen Powell and Adria Arjona (Andor) playing the most unlikely romantic partners, in performances that will boost each of their careers. Especially Powell, who co-wrote with Linklater what will be a major star turn for him. Netflix got US, UK, Australia/New Zealand, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, and Iceland. There is also a theatrical component to the deal, I’ve heard.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Bosnian director and screenwriter Danis Tanović, whose “No Man’s Land” won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, has been selected as the president of the Official Competition Jury at the 45th edition of the Cairo Film Festival. As well as the Oscar, “No Man’s Land” won best screenplay at Cannes in 2001.

When I was in college cinema courses I made a Super 8 film called Movie Girl. It was a Hollywood-set love letter to movies centered on a Musso & Franks waitress who put herself dreamily into the plots of classic films. It won an award there but was the highlight of the directing career I never had. However I have always been partial to filmmakers who put their own early film going experience and passion into their careers now. You may have heard of them. Kenneth Branagh won an Oscar for doing just that in Belfast. Steven Spielberg got several nominations last year for his very personal The Fabelmans . Woody Allen had his own charming take in The Purple Rose Of Cairo. Peter Bogdanovich made a lasting impression with 1971’s The Last Picture Show, as did Giuseppe Tornatore with his Oscar winner, Cinema Paradiso. It is a combination of the latter two especially that might describe the feel of the latest movie about the love of movies, The Movie Teller (La Contadora de Peliculas) which had its World Premiere tonight at the Toronto Film Festival. And just in sheer numbers of classic film clips incorporated into its near two hour running time, this one sets a record in the little sub-genre. For movie lovers everywhere The Movie Teller is a must see.

The passing pleasures of watching the fine young actors Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed and Jeremy Allen White can’t make up for the increasing distaste that develops from contact with Fingernails, an irritating and, finally, ridiculous examination of relationship matchmaking carried far too far. Greek director Christos Nikou won unanimous critical plaudits for his compellingly eerie debut feature Apples, which dealt with amnesia patients, and here again he appears drawn to troubled and mysterious states of mind that develop in the quest for love, commitment and some sense of security in modern life. The film debuted at the Telluride Film Festival and screened at the Toronto Film Festival.

EXCLUSIVE: VMI Worldwide has acquired world rights to the action pic The Ballad of Davy Crockett from producer-director Derek Estlin Purvis, starring William Moseley (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Colm Meaney (Con Air)

Gogglebox star Stephen and Daniel Webb have revealed a huge career move, following their announcement that they would be quitting the show after a decade on screen.The married couple, who work as hairdressers while not filming the popular Channel 4 show, have revealed that they will be opening a second salon in Storrington. Stephen, 50, and Daniel, 43, already own the Lustig and Webb salon in the Sussex village of Hurstpierpoint.

Soap lovebirds Amy Walsh and Toby-Alexander Smith have revealed they have tied the knot in a breathtaking ceremony surrounded by the stunning mountainous views of Montenegro.

EXCLUSIVE: Primetime Emmy nominee Kate Mara has joined Laurence Fishburne in the sci-fi thriller, The Astronaut. Terminator: Dark Fate actor Gabriel Luna has also joined the cast.

Naman Ramachandran Anand Patwardhan, the doyen of Indian documentary filmmaking, will premiere his new film, “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (“The World Is Family”) at the Toronto Film Festival. The film focuses on Patwardhan’s parents and close family members and juxtaposes Mahatma Gandhi and the history of India’s independence movement with contemporary times. “As my parents began to age, I began filming to preserve their memory for myself but had no intention to make a film as such.

Jennie Punter Indigenous filmmakers continue to make strides in Canada, building industry capacity on their own terms and telling stories that both honor their communities and reach out to global audiences. Toronto’s 2023 slate offers audiences and buyers vital, provocative, and — because we need it — hilarious world-premiering work from established creators and up-and-comers. “Tautuktavuk (What We See)” is the latest from Isuma, the collective of Inuit-owned media companies best-known for Camera d’Or-winning “Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner” (2001).

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Fran Drescher has been elected to a second term as president of SAG-AFTRA, as the union’s first studio strike in 43 years nears the two-month mark. Drescher was elected with 81.4% of the vote, defeating Maya Gilbert-Dunbar, who took 18.6%. Joely Fisher took 70.3% in her race for a second term as secretary-treasurer.

Did Brittany Snow’s ex-husband Tyler Stanaland have a fling with Selling The OC co-star Polly Brindle?!

Carole Horst Minhal Baig’s “We Grown Now,” which bowed Sept. 8 at TIFF, follows Malik (Blake Cameron James) and Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez), two 12-year-old boys living in Chicago’s Cabrini Green housing project. It’s 1992 and the boys have loving homes overzealous and racist police, crime and an unthinkable tragedy burst through their childhood bubble.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor MPM Premium has acquired world sales rights to Ali Kalthami’s dark comedic crime thriller “Mandoob,” which will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in the Discovery section, one of three Saudi films selected by the event. Set in Riyadh, the film centers on Fahad Algadaani, a mentally fragile man racing against time to pay for his ailing father’s medical treatment.

Brent Lang Executive Editor The Toronto International Film Festival kicked off its 48th edition with the North American premiere of “The Boy and the Heron,” the first feature from animation icon Hayao Miyazaki in a decade and the picture that is likely to serve as his cinematic swan song. The 82-year-old filmmaker isn’t doing any promotion for the film, so he wasn’t on hand at the Princess of Wales Theater on Thursday to look out at the adoring crowd of film lovers, who cheered every time his name or that of Studio Ghibli, his creative home, was invoked.

Scottish acting and comedy legends Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson will reunite for their first TV interview in 17-years. Appearing on a special edition of STV's Scotland Tonight, the interview will catch up with the pair who shot to fame in the 1980s as double act Victor & Barry.

Sophia Scorziello editor Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn’s 1992 Oscar-winning classic “Death Becomes Her” is heading to the stage. Broadway actor and “Smash” legend Megan Hilty is set to take on Streep’s Madeline Ashton, a vanity-obsessed actor looking to revive the beauty of her youth at any cost. Meanwhile Jennifer Simard (of “Company” and “Disaster!” fame will fill Hawn’s role as Helen Sharp, Madeline’s long-time friend with whom she has a love-hate relationship.

Comedian Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross star in holiday comedy Candy Cane Lane. In addition to Murphy and Ross, the film also stars Jillian Bell, Ken Marino, Nick Offerman, Robin Thede, Chris Redd, D.C. Young Fly, and Anjelah Johnson-Reyes.