Melissa Leo Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

EXCLUSIVE: Jordan Yale Levine and Jordan Beckerman of Yale Entertainment (Stowaway, Separation) have formed international film sales and distribution company, Great Escape.

EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter, I Know This Much I True), Aja Naomi King (Sylvie’s Love, How to Get Away with Murder), Manny Jacinto (Nine Perfect Strangers, The Good Place) and newcomers Amari Price and Aiden Price will star alongside Nnamdi Asomugha in his feature directorial debut, The Knife, which recently completed production in Los Angeles.

Paramount Pictures has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Little Dixie, an action thriller from writer-director John Swab (Ida Red, Body Brokers), which stars Frank Grillo (Captain America and The Purge films, Kingdom). Deadline hears that the studio will look to release the film in the second half of this year.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and We’re The Millers star Emma Roberts are in final negotiations to lead thriller Returns, we can reveal.

Variety Staff Follow Us on TwitterVariety highlights up-and-comers who will be feted during a brunch Oct. 24 at the Newport Beach Film Festival.Since 1998, Variety has been selecting its 10 Actors to Watch. Past honorees include over 35 now Oscar winners and nominees, such as Mahershala Ali, Timothée Chalamet, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Brie Larson, Lupita Nyong’o and Melissa Leo.

The “one last job” trope has been used in crime films for decades. But sometimes, a film can rise above its routine premise and deliver something special.

John Swab‘s fourth feature film as writer-director-producer, “Ida Red,” (and if it’s your first of his, don’t feel too bad; it well may also be your last) starts with a police stop that turns out to be a heist. On a deserted stretch of highway late at night, a nicely spoken cop, played by Josh Hartnett, asks politely to see a trucker’s manifest.

EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award-winning Actress Melissa Leo has signed with ICM Partners.

Riverdale‘s Madelaine Petsch is set to produce and star in Jane, the debut feature from next-generation content studio and distribution platform, Creator+.

Creator+, a new content studio and distribution platform making its first feature-length film. Production aims to begin at the end of July in Albuquerque.

Saban Films has acquired the North American and UK rights to “Ida Red” starring Frank Grillo, Melissa Leo and Josh Hartnett, the distributor announced on Thursday. John Swab wrote and directed the action thriller, and the supporting cast includes Sofia Hublitz, William Forsythe, Deborah Ann Woll and George “Slaine” Carroll.

EXCLUSIVE:  Katie Holmes has launched her new production label, Lafayette Pictures, in partnership with Jordan Yale Levine, Jordan Beckerman and Jesse Korman of Yale Productions.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe untitled “Goonies” reenactment pilot and “Blood Relative” are no longer moving ahead at Fox, Variety has learned.The two projects were holdovers from Fox’s 2020 pilot season that were delayed in shooting due to the pandemic. The decision to ax “Blood Relative” comes as something of a surprise, given that it starred Oscar winner Melissa Leo in the lead role.

EXCLUSIVE: Batman Begins and Thank You for Smoking actress Katie Holmes has completed shooting on her second feature directorial, untitled romance in Connecticut. This is the first news we’re hearing about the project.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticLess than a week after Anthony Hopkins won his second Academy Award for “The Father,” a dud called “The Virtuoso” arrives to make you wonder if they gave it to the wrong guy.

The word “Miscreants” is uttered nearly a dozen times within the first fifteen minutes of “Thunder Force,” Netflix’s new superhero comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer. It’s an absurd word to say repeatedly and an even more absurd way for writer-director Ben Falcone to drive home the point that his superhero world is filled with only super-powered “bad guys” (yes, known as Miscreants) and they’re terrible.

We haven’t had a good superhero lampooning in quite some time, and that’s exactly what we’re hoping to get in “Thunder Force,” an upcoming action-comedy movie featuring Melissa McCarthy.

We haven’t had a good superhero lampooning in quite some time, and that’s exactly what we’re hoping to get in “Thunder Force,” an upcoming action-comedy movie featuring Melissa McCarthy.

Vertical Entertainment has released the official trailer for their upcoming crime thriller, “Body Brokers.” The film stars Jack Kilmer (“The Nice Guys,” “Hala”) as Utah, a young junkie who finds himself roaming the rustic highways of Ohio alongside his partner Opal, played by Alice Englert (recently seen in Netflix’s “Ratched”). Continue reading ‘Body Brokers’ Trailer: Addicts Are Exploited By Drug Rehabs Feat.

EXCLUSIVE: Dawnn Lewis (This is Us) and Jude Elizabeth Mayer (Crime That Pays) are set as series regulars opposite Tate Donovan and Melissa Leo in Fox drama pilot Blood Relative in recastings. The forensic genealogy-themed crime drama hails from writer-producer Chris Levinson and producer Liza Chasin.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards, Features EditorVariety has selected its 10 Actors to Watch for 2020, an honor the publication has bestowed since 1998.Past honorees include over 35 now Oscar winners and nominees, such as Mahershala Ali, Timothée Chalamet, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Brie Larson, Lupita Nyong’o and Melissa Leo.

Josh Hartnett is working on a new action-thriller flock.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorEXCLUSIVE: Frank Grillo (Captain America), Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down), and William Forsythe (The Rock) lead cast in crime action-thriller Ida Red, which has been filming in Oklahoma during the pandemic.Also starring are Sofia Hublitz (Ozark), Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood), Mark Boone Junior (Sons of Anarchy), Beau Knapp (The Nice Guys), Slaine (The Town) and Nicholas Cirillo (Outer Banks).Written and directed by John Swab (Body

Andreas Wiseman International EditorEXCLUSIVE: UK distributor Signature has picked up five movies including recent Frank Grillo crime-thriller Body Brokers and noughties Brit comedy Scenes Of A Sexual Nature.Also new to the slate are Korean crime caper Lucky Grandma, Julie Delpy tear-jerker My Zoe and true-story drama Miss Virginia.Body Brokers, starring Grillo, Melissa Leo and Michael K Williams, charts the true story of a multi-billion-dollar drug and alcohol treatment scheme where former drug

Nellie Andreeva, Denise Petski EXCLUSIVE: Orange is the New Black alumna Dascha Polanco is set as a lead opposite Tate Donovan and Melissa Leo in the Fox pilot Blood Relative.

Peter White Television EditorFox is planning to produce all six of its pilot orders for this year’s development season and will continue to ramp up its off-cycle pilot orders.Your Complete Guide to Pilots and Straight-to-Series ordersThe network has made the decision after its traditional pilot season was impacted by the COVID-19 production shutdown.

“I Know This Much Is True” is that rare TV series that resonates deeply and viscerally — thanks to its emotional, thought-provoking themes and a bravura performance from star Mark Ruffalo.

Tyrone Marshall Brown, who most will know from his starring role on OWN’s “Love Is ___” and his recent turn in the sixth and final season of “Power,” has boarded a Fox pilot.

By Denise Petski