Michel Franco Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Jessica Chastain is attending the Venice International Film Festival to promote “Memory”, her new indie film directed by Michel Franco.

Naman Ramachandran Paramount’s “Bob Marley: One Love” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £6.9 million ($8.7 million), according to numbers from Comscore. Universal’s animation “Migration” dropped a spot to second place with £2.7 million in its third weekend and now has a total of £13.5 million.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed acclaimed actor Rupert Friend for representation in all areas.

The prospect of working with Jessica Chastain under the direction of Michel Franco was enough to pique Peter Sarsgaard’s interest in Memory, but what really sealed the deal was how Franco had written his character, Saul. Since Franco rarely defines the character on the page, Sarsgaard was given the freedom to create a personal portrait of a man just beginning to struggle with a debilitating illness. Here, he explains how was influenced by a family member with early onset dementia, and why he chose to focus on the joy and humor in the character’s life, rather than the disease.

Naman Ramachandran Bohemia Media will release “Memory” across U.K. and Ireland cinemas from Feb. 9, 2024.

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Michel Franco’s Memory, the thoughtful drama that won Peter Sarsgaard the Best Actor Volpi Cup in Venice earlier this year. Franco directs and wrote the movie that also stars Jessica Chastain.

Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard are stepping out for a special screening of their new movie.

EXCLUSIVE: Plan B Entertainment has started a new micro budget film finance initiative to produce and finance lower cost films which will be led by newly hired Caddy Vanasirikul. The veteran film producer and acquisition and production executive will manage Plan B’s forthcoming slate in this sector.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Match Factory has announced sales to key territories for Michel Franco’s latest feature “Memory,” which stars Jessica Chastain. The Academy Award winning actor is serving as jury president at this week’s Marrakech Film Festival, where she spoke about the film (see here). “Memory” premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was awarded with the Coppa Volpi for best actor to Peter Saarsgard.

The Match Factory has posted a raft of deals for Michel Franco’s drama Memory, starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Saarsgard, who won the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor in Venice following its world premiere there in September.

As the year comes to a close, studios are getting into the mix, still releasing some last-minute titles into the fray (see Michel Franco’s “Memory” with Jessica Chastain). Another late entry in the 2023 films sweepstakes is “The End From Where We Start,” a new ecological disaster drama starring Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”) and the directorial debut from director Mahalia Belo, a BAFTA TV Award winner for the 2017 TV film, “Ellen” and a 2019 BAFTA TV Award nominee for 2019’s mini-series “The Long Song.” READ MORE: ‘The End We Start From’ Review: Jodie Comer Stars In A Refreshingly Grounded Disaster Drama [TIFF] “The End From Where We Start” is based on the best-selling novel by Megan Hunter and adapted for screen by “Succession” writer Alice Birch.

The emotional first trailer for Jessica Chastain and Peter Sargaard‘s new movie has been released.

Following acclaimed dramas like “New Order,” “Chronic” and “Sundown,” Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco has been gaining more and more international praise. While he’s worked with globally recognized names like Tim Roth (“Chronic,” “Sundown”), Hollywood has finally come knocking in a big way with his latest film, “Memory” which stars Academy Award winner Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard, who won the Best Actor Volpi Cup at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winning actress Jessica Chastain has given her seal of approval to the tentative agreement reached by SAG-AFTRA with the studios to end the near four-month actors’ strike.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor Though he plays a man dealing with dementia in the upcoming film “Memory,” Peter Sarsgaard found the experience immensely joyful. “I loved playing him,” the actor reveals on this week’s episode of Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast. “I told my wife when I was playing him – I mean, it sounds arrogant, but it was true – I said, I’ don’t feel like I can miss.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Tessa Ía, who broke out heading “After Lucía,” Michel Franco’s Cannes winning first feature, is set to star in “Hyperballad,” which offers what is proving one of the most potent mixtures in cutting-edge Latin American film: Genre, ambition, and a first-feature young woman director. Directed by Alejandra Villalba García, “Hyperballad” (“Hiperbalada”) is lead produced by Hiperbalada, a production house lead by Villalba Garcñia and pic producer Carlos Paz.

The 20th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival has announced its selection, opening with Richard Linklater’s comedy Hit Man. (scroll down for full list of films)

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Richard Linklater’s action comedy “Hit Man” is set to open the Marrakech International Film Festival, which has announced its lineup of more than 70 films mixing known titles and fresh fare. The fest is forging ahead with its 20th edition, which will run Nov.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard have both officially entered the Oscar race for their extraordinary performances in Michel Franco’s “Memory.” However, the awards campaign has announced that Sarsgaard’s riveting turn as a man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease will be submitted for supporting actor consideration at the major ceremonies, including the Golden Globes, SAG and Academy Awards. His Oscar-winning co-star Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) will vie for lead actress.

EXCLUSIVE: Darío Yazbek Bernal, star of the hit Netflix series La Casa De Las Flores, has signed with Gersh.

UPDATED with lineup additions, 11:01 AM: The American Film Institute today added some films to its 2023 lineup. The five films selected by Guest Artistic Director Greta Gerwig are All That Jazz, An American in Paris, Wings of Desire A Matter of Life and Death and Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. She will introduce the latter two.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jessica Chastain is set to preside over the jury of the Marrakech Film Festival which will take place Nov. 24-Dec. 2.

Jessica Chastain is being honored!

The American Film Institute on Thursday revealed the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, taking place in Los Angeles from October 25-29. It joins the previously announced fest opener, Sam Esmail’s Leave the World Behind, and closer in Bradley Cooper’s Maestro. Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story is the Centerpiece film.

Jessica Chastain is making a glamorous arrival at the 2023 San Sebastian Film Festival.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent SAN SEBASTIAN — Paris-based Luxbox has clinched major territory pre-sales on anticipated San Sebastian competition title “Puan,” an original attempt by its writer-directors, María Alche (“A Family Submerged”) and Benjamín Naishtat (“Rojo”) to deliver a state of the nation take on Argentina – and any country in thrall of European ideas – but in a notably lighter tone than most Latin American arthouse fare. Key first major territory buyers take in Condor for France, whose release lineup has featured major auteurs such as Kelly Reichardt, Casey Affleck, Agnieszka Holland, Paul Schrader, Denis Villeneuve, Michel Franco and Ira Sachs.

Guy Lodge Film Critic That perky exclamation point sets the tone for “Coup!,” a story of murder, class struggle, One Percent entitlement and a global pandemic that nonetheless unfolds with all the eager, scrappy energy of an off-Broadway musical, minus most of the songs. The pandemic in question is not the one you’re thinking of — Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman’s puckish comic thriller unfolds against the dire backdrop of the 1918 Spanish Flu — but it also sort of is, as its study of wealthy exceptionalism in a time of national crisis is clearly intended to chime with more recent memories of regimented distancing and mixed safety messages from on high.

Jessica Chastain is an A-list actress, but she is anything but a diva.

Jessica Chastain is shutting down rumours about her personality on set.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jessica Chastain earned stellar reviews out of the Venice and Toronto film festivals for her performance in Michel Franco’s “Memory,” but the role might have never materialized for the actor had Franco listened to some wrongful advice. Speaking to IndieWire, Chastain and Franco revealed that he was warned she’d be “a nightmare and a diva” to work with after winning the Oscar for best actress. Chastain went to film “Memory” shortly after winning the Academy Award for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” “Because I have been doing bigger things sometimes and have gotten a lot of attention as of late, [there’s been the idea] that I would not be interested in being on a set without a trailer,” Chastain said.

Jessica Chastain stars in Michel Franco’s Memory and some people had been putting thoughts in his head that this collaboration would not happen after she won at the Oscars.

After earning rave reviews after its recent Venice premiere, “Memory” (read our review here) has become one of the most buzzed-about films of the festival season. And it made people anxious to see whether or not Jessica Chastain would reteam with director Michel Franco in the future.

Naman Ramachandran Jessica Chastain will receive the Zurich Film Festival’s Golden Icon Award. Chastain will present her latest film “Memory” at the festival alongside director Michel Franco and co-star Peter Sarsgaard on Oct. 1.

Jessica Chastain is continuing the press tour for new movie!

EXCLUSIVE: After showing her strong support for interim agreements while promoting her film Memory on the festival circuit, Jessica Chastain is backing that up with Dreams, which has received a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement last month. The Teorema pic reunites her with her Memory director Michel Franco and recently finished filming in San Francisco, where some 60 actors and 50 below-the-line crew members were employed for the shoot. Rupert Friend among those featured in the cast.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor It’s time for Peter Sarsgaard to finally shatter the Oscar glass. Once upon a time, actor Peter Sarsgaard won the most precursors prizes during the 2003-2004 awards season for his supporting turn in Billy Ray’s “Shattered Glass.” In the film, he plays Charles Lane, a newly promoted editor who suspects one of his revered writers (played by Hayden Christensen) could have fabricated some of his stories. It was a breakout performance in the early days of online Oscar punditry that had everyone buzzing.

The Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion has been given to a winner!