Paul Schrader Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Paul Schrader is one of the best filmmakers working today. Over the decades, he’s proven to be a risk-taking artist who isn’t afraid to push buttons or challenge the viewer.

Paul Schrader hit Cannes this weekend with Competition title Oh, Canada, reuniting him with American Gigolo star Richard Gere in the role of a terminally ill documentarian who reveals secrets as his life nears its end.

Diaries are written in secrecy, free-flowing thoughts anchored to the page as if the ink could stop memories from vanishing through the hands of time. Filmmaker Paul Schrader understands the lingering, often quiet desperation of journaling like few filmmakers do.

Paul Schrader revealed first details about his next feature project entitled Non Compos Mentis, at the press conference for his Cannes Competition title Oh, Canada on Saturday.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer The unstoppable Paul Schrader, the 77-year-old auteur who just brought his latest movie “Oh, Canada” to Cannes, has announced his next project. The director revealed he intends to start production this fall on “Non Compos Mentis,” a noir film he is currently writing.

Paul Schrader had a special job on the set of his latest film, “Oh, Canada”: drawing on the jockstrap that Jacob Elordi wears in one of the Vietnam War drama’s pivotal scenes. There’s a choice at the heart of “Oh, Canada,” when the fictional filmmaker Leonard Fife (played as a young man by Elordi, and older man as Richard Gere) dodges the Vietnam draft and escapes to Canada. The script leaves breadcrumbs as to what exactly happens until very late in the film, but finally Elordi is seen reporting for an Army physical.

Paul Schrader shed tears as his new film “Oh, Canada” earned a four-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival on Friday night. Jacob Elordi was notably absent from the premiere, possibly because he is filming Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” in which he stars as The Monster. After the ovation finished, Schrader addressed Elordi not being there, saying: “I’m very happy with Richard, Uma, Jake — not here with us –and it all worked out.

Richard Gere poses for a family photo while attending the 2024 Cannes Film Festival premiere of his upcoming film Oh, Canada held at Palais des Festivals on Friday (May 17) in Cannes, France.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Straying from the hotheaded “Taxi Driver” style that has dominated much of his career, Paul Schrader pays ruminative and respectful tribute to his late friend, novelist Russell Banks, who gave the writer-director the raw material for one of his best films, “Affliction” — and now, for one of his best films in years. Adapted from Banks’ “Foregone” (and given the title the author told Schrader he wanted for the book), “Oh, Canada” presents a dying artist’s final testimony as a multifaceted film-within-a-film, honoring Banks while also revealing so many of Schrader’s own thoughts on mortality.

Angelique Jackson Richard Gere and Jacob Elordi star in Paul Schrader‘s latest, highly anticipated film ‘Oh Canada,’ which premieres at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday. Based on the late Russell Banks’ 2021 novel “Foregone,” the film centers on Gere’s Leonard Fife, an acclaimed filmmaker and “one of sixty thousand draft evaders and deserters who fled to Canada to avoid serving in Vietnam, shares all his secrets to de-mythologize his mythologized life.” Elordi plays the younger version of Leonard. In this first-look clip, Gere’s Leonard speeds up to someone’s home, gets out of a car and walks toward the gate.

Uma Thurman has been to Cannes more times than she can remember, either to pledge support for the glamorous annual charity event amfAR or with films as diverse as the genteel Merchant-Ivory period film The Golden Bowl (2000) and Quentin Tarantino’s ultraviolent Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), in which she reprised her badass role as The Bride. The film that propelled her to stardom, Pulp Fiction, won the Palme d’Or there, and Thurman hasn’t forgotten what it did for her. This year, she’s back with Paul Schrader‘s Oh, Canada, the kind of smart, character-based indie on which she earned her spurs.

Gregg Goldstein These auteurs are ready for their close-up. When Quentin Dupieux’s comedy about an ill-fated film set, “The Second Act,” opened the Cannes Film Festival May 14, it will be just one of several movies about filmmaking and filmmakers to touch down on the Croisette. After all, directors Christophe Honoré, Paul Schrader and Josh Mond are among the other prominent filmmakers who are ready to premiere semi-autobiographical stories.

Paul Schrader was about to start shooting “Oh, Canada,” his adaptation of Russell Banks’ novel about a troubled artist taking stock of his life, when the major actors union went on strike. For a second, it looked like all that hard work, passion and planning might be for nothing — with performers on the picket lines and major studios holding out on their contract demands, it was hard to see how cameras would ever roll on the low-budget indie. “Everything shut down,” said Brian Beckmann, the CFO and COO of Arclight Films, which is selling international rights to the film.

Gregg Goldstein These auteurs are ready for their close-up. When Quentin Dupieux’s comedy about an ill-fated film set, “The Second Act,” opened the Cannes Film Festival May 14, it will be just one of several movies about filmmaking and filmmakers to touch down on the Croisette. After all, directors Christophe Honoré, Paul Schrader and Josh Mond are among the other prominent filmmakers who are ready to premiere semi-autobiographical stories.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent New Italian media company Be Water – which is in Cannes for the first time – has announced its full roster of partners and scope of business activities comprising film, documentary and scripted TV production as well as theatrical film distribution, podcasts and live events. The Rome-based potential powerhouse is operating with what is being described as a holistic approach to content production that is congenial to the digital age, which is certainly a novelty for Italy.

Martin Scorsese’s dog bit off part of his thumb and ate it.The screenwriter has worked with Scorsese several times over the decades, including on the classic films Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Temptation of Christ, and is also known for his own directorial career, which in recent years has included First Reformed and The Card Counter.In a new interview with Variety, it has been reported that Schrader showed up with “a massive, bloody bandage” wrapped around his hand.“So on Tuesday night, I had dinner with Marty at his place,” Schrader explained when asked about his injury.“He has these dogs. They were very cute.

Paul Schrader absentmindedly builds installation art out of seven prescription bottles, two inhalers and an empty martini glass, as we sit in a restaurant for seniors in a Manhattan high-rise. Outside, lights twinkle on the Hudson. In 1975, Schrader went to bed with a pistol under his pillow while writing “Taxi Driver.” “Having the option to end things is the only way I could sleep,” Schrader says.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Meryl Streep will receive the honorary Palme d’Or on the opening night of the 77th edition of Cannes Film Festival, Variety has learned. Luring the Oscar winner is yet another feat for this Cannes edition, which will bring together a flurry Hollywood legends. Notably, George Lucas will receive the honorary Palme d’Or during the closing ceremony; Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” and Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” are playing in competition; and George Miller‘s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and Kevin Costner’s Western epic “Horizon, an American Saga” are playing out of competition.

Paris-based distributor ARP Selection has acquired French rights for Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada ahead of its world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Ellise Shafer The full Cannes Film Festival competition jury has been revealed. Joining president Greta Gerwig to award this year’s Palme d’Or will be “Killers of the Flower Moon” Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone; “The Three Musketeers” star Eva Green; “Lupin” lead Omar Sy; Ebru Ceylan, who co-wrote the 2014 Palme d’Or winner “Winter Sleep”; director Nadine Labaki, whose “Capernaum” won the Cannes jury prize in 2018; director Juan Antonio Bayona, whose latest film “Society of the Snow” was Oscar-nominated for best international feature; Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino, who will next appear in Pablo Larraìn’s “Maria” alongside Angelina Jolie; and director Kore-eda Hirokazu, director of the 2018 Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters.” The competition lineup for the upcoming festival includes “All We Imagine as Light” by Payal Kapadia; Sean Baker’s “Anora”; Donald Trump biopic “The Apprentice” from Ali Abbasi; Andrea Arnold’s “Bird,” starring Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski; “Caught by the Tides” by Jia Zhang-Ke; Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez” with Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez; “The Girl With the Needle” by Magnus von Horn; Miguel Gomes’ “Grand Tour,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” starring “Poor Things” actors Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe; “Beating Hearts” by Gilles Lellouche; “Limonov: The Ballad” by Kirill Serebrennikov; “Marcello Mio” by Christophe Honoré; Francis Ford Coppola’s epic passion project “Megalopolis,” starring Adam Driver; “Motel Destino” by Karim Aïnouz; Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada,” led by Richard Gere and Jacob Elordi; Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope” with Gary Oldman; David Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds”; Coralie Fargeat’s body horror “The Substance”; and “Wild Diamond” from Agathe Riedinger.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic There’s no rule that says that when the son or daughter of a famous filmmaker becomes a director too, he or she has to follow in their parent’s artistic footsteps. But the children of director David Cronenberg have turned out to be chips off the old shock-theater block. In movies like “Possessor” and “Infinity Pool,” the 44-year-old Brandon Cronenberg has proved himself to be a skillful purveyor of body horror and I-dare-you-not-to-look-away extremity.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic A great many people appear to have come out of “Civil War,” Alex Garland’s a-house-divided-against-itself-can-kick-highly-equipped-military-ass dystopian combat thriller, feeling all shook up. They’re disturbed by it, unsettled by it. They experience the movie as if it were holding a violent mirror up to the simmering rage of America’s current political/spiritual/ ideological divide.

Good afternoon Insiders, thanks for always sticking with us. Max Goldbart here talking you through a packed week in the global entertainment world. Read on, and sign up here.

Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov returns to Cannes once again this year with Limonov: The Ballad starring Ben Whishaw, for which we can share a first-look image from above. 

American Cinematographer Ed Lachman will be the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Camerimage Film Festival.

Hairspray director John Waters is set to begin production on his first film in 20 years, according to reports.As per World of Reel, Aubrey Plaza will take the lead in Liarmouth – an adaptation of Waters’ book of the same name that was released in 2022.The book was described by publishers on its release as a “hilariously filthy tale of sex, crime, and family dysfunction” and was subtitled, “A Feel-Bad Romance.”Liarmouth focuses on a compulsive liar and scammer Marsha Sprinkle who splits from her partner Daryl and steals from both her daughter and her mother.The project was first announced in 2022 via Deadline, but appears to have been delayed due to last year’s writers’ and actors’ strikes.Waters’ last film in the director’s chair was 2004’s A Dirty Shame, which starred Tracey Ullman, Johnny Knoxville and Selma Blair.Waters broke through with cult films like Pink Flamingos and Polyester before films like Hairspray, Cry-Baby and Serial Mom made him a household name.Last year, Waters named Ari Aster’s dark comedy Beau Is Afraid as the best film of 2023.The director shared his annual list of favorite movies of the year with Vulture, placing the A24 film at the very top.“A superlong, super-crazy, super-funny movie about one man’s mental breakdown with a cast better than Around the World in 80 Days: Joaquin Phoenix, Patti LuPone, Parker Posey, Nathan Lane, and Amy Ryan,” Waters wrote.

Paul Schrader‘s follow-up to “Master Gardener,” “Oh, Canada,” will be at the EFM at the Berlinale, but the auteur already has his eyes set on another picture. IndieWire reports that Schrader teased his next project at the Q&A at Roxy Cinema in NYC.

As the Berlinale gets underway, so does the annual European Film Market and its sales, with several buzzy titles at this year’s trade fair. Among them? Paul Schrader‘s next pic, “Oh, Canada!,” the director’s long-gestating adaptation of Russell Banks‘ 2021 novel “Foregone.” But “Oh, Canada!” had buzz going back to early 2023, when it became clear the film would reunite Schrader and “American Gigolo” star Richard Gere for the first time in over forty years.

Over the past several years, Paul Schrader has experienced a massive resurgence. No longer just a legendary screenwriter from decades past, he has become one of the most interesting and relevant filmmakers working today, even though many at his age are either retired or lesser versions of themselves, creatively.

At 77 years young, Paul Schrader is really in a considerable renaissance period. He was undoubtedly in the wild and lost in the woods there for a few years, but he returned to his “Taxi Driver” roots and a style of minimalism he always professed to love but never actually attempted with “First Reformed” (2017), which paid off with huge dividends.

Let’s get to the new and then get to the semi-old, something we missed back in the day. Indiewire recently invited over 35 filmmakers to participate in a list of their favorite films of 2023.

At 77 years old, you know by now that filmmaker Paul Schrader (“Taxi Driver,” “First Reformed”) has long entered his DGAF era. His Facebook posts are always controversial (he still wants to hire the disgraced Kevin Spacey, for example), and you could essentially dedicate an entire blog to what he says on social media every day, including all the politically incorrect things he says.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Paul Schrader wrote Martin Scorsese‘s “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull,” and it appears he would’ve handled things differently had he been the one to pen “Killers of the Flower Moon.” In a recent interview with France’s Le Monde, Schrader called “Flower Moon” a “good movie” but one that could’ve been better had DiCaprio been playing the FBI agent investigating the Osage murders. “Marty compares me to a Flemish miniaturist.

Paul Schrader’s Facebook feed is pure gold. The man just loves to give hot takes left and right about new and old films.

Michael Imperioli (The White Lotus) is confirmed for a role in Academy Award nominee Paul Schrader’s new film, Oh, Canada, Deadline has learned.

John Waters has named Ari Aster’s dark comedy Beau Is Afraid as the best film of 2023.The Pink Flamingos director shared his annual list of favorite movies of the year with Vulture, placing the A24 film at the very top.“A superlong, super-crazy, super-funny movie about one man’s mental breakdown with a cast better than Around the World in 80 Days: Joaquin Phoenix, Patti LuPone, Parker Posey, Nathan Lane, and Amy Ryan,” Waters wrote. “It’s a laugh riot from hell you’ll never forget, even if you want to.”Also making Waters’ top 10 were Pierre Croton’s A Prince, Paul Schrader’s Master Gardener, Fallen Leaves, Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World, Last Summer, and the short film Strange Way of Life.The director also included Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which Waters argued “deserves the Oscar for being a big-budget, star-studded, intelligent action movie about talking.”You can find Waters’ top 10 films of the year below:Recently, Beau Is Afraid writer-director Aster told Vanity Fair that he was “disappointed” by the film’s reception, describing the movie as a social “experiment” for audiences.“I always knew the film was going to be polarizing and it’s designed to be divisive.

EXCLUSIVE: Kristine Froseth (The Buccaneers) has been set to star alongside Richard Gere and Jacob Elordi in Oh, Canada, the newest feature written and directed by Academy Award nominee Paul Schrader (First Reformed).