Richard Linklater Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Casino Royale” Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen and Moroccan actor-director Faouzi Bensaïdi will be celebrated with career achievement awards at the upcoming 20th Marrakech International Film Festival that will run Nov. 24- Dec.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “This Time,” a romantic drama reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise” trilogy, but not officially based on it, has been picked up for global distribution by fast-moving sales company EST N8. The story follows two high school sweethearts who unexpectedly reunite in Los Angeles 23 years after they were separated in Jakarta and must decide if they’re still in love. The film, directed by Sebastien Tobler, stars Ken Kirby (“Good Trouble,” “Dynasty”), Leila Perry (“Filthy Animals”) and was produced by Theresa Chiu. It had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in May. The rights deal was brokered by Tenten Wei and Sophie Shi of EST N8.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic One sign of a terrific actor is that he can hold you even when he’s not doing anything. Pierce Brosnan is like that. I wouldn’t call him a minimalist, though he never wastes a word or a movement; he has the precision of an expensive watch.

One of the most intriguing films of the fall is a new genre-bending film from Greek filmmaker Christos Nikou. Nikou started as an assistant director and second unit director on films like Richard Linklater’s “Before Midnight,” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Dogtooth.” He then made shorts and then graduated to feature-length filmmaking with his acclaimed 2020 film, “Apples,” which Cate Blanchett loved so much she came on as an executive producer.

By his own admission, Austin-based filmmaker Richard Linklater is always working on something. In fact, in his own words in a new Interview piece, he says, “I’m always working on a few things, so I don’t really know.

Jaden Thompson In a conversation with fellow auteur Gregg Araki for Interview Magazine, Richard Linklater revealed that he hopes to shoot a movie in French, shot on location in Paris. Araki said to the director, “I saw Ruby Rich last night. She did the Q&A for our‘Nowhere’ screening at IFC Center.

Jack Black channeled his inner-Dewey Finn for a recent performance during Tom Morello‘s mother’s 100th birthday party, teaming up with a band of pre-teens to cover an Ozzy Osbourne song.Tom Morello took to Instagram last night (October 3) to share a video taken from his mother’s 100th birthday party. The video sees Black – the actor and Tenacious D frontman – pay a short tribute to his mother before he and the band perform a stirring rendition of Ozzy’s ‘Mr.

EXCLUSIVE: In its fourth deal for films that played last month’s Toronto Film Festival, Netflix has acquired His Three Daughters for just under $7 million, sources said. Scripted, directed and edited by Azazel Jacobs, the film stars Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen and Carrie Coon. Deal lands .

School Of Rock have revealed they were bullied following the film’s success.Directed by Richard Linklater, the comedy film starred Jack Black as struggling guitarist Dewey Finn who pretends to be substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. After it was released in 2003, the film grossed over $130million worldwide on a $35million budget.The film’s young cast, who were high-schoolers and middle-schoolers at the time, explained that they were bullied at school following the film’s release in an interview with Rolling Stone.Joey Gaydos Jr., who played Zack Mooneyham, said he was looked at like “a three-headed freak” when he returned to his hometown in Detroit.“I was looked at like a complete weirdo, and that was hard,” Gaydos Jr.

“A lot of very impressive people have led this festival and what connects them is a love for movies and culture and what that can achieve,” Kristy Matheson told Deadline of her new job as Director of the British Film Institute’s London Film Festival.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Rolling Stone magazine celebrated the 20th anniversary of “School of Rock” with a new oral history in which many of the child actors from the Richard Linklater hit film opened up on the tough years they faced after the film’s blockbuster release. The Jack Black-led comedy was a box office hit in 2003 with $131 million worldwide, and it’s widely considered a bonafide comedy classic. Imagine going from Hollywood sensation back to high school or middle school teen.

Plenty of comedy and coming-of-age films are set in a classroom, some with troublesome students and others with reluctant teachers. These types of movies, especially in the early 2000s, were commonplace; however, few have stood the test of time, still hold their own, and have been enjoyed by the younger generations two decades later like “School of Rock” does.  Ranked: The Best Characters In Richard Linklater’s Movies “School of Rock” hit theatres on October 3, 2003, a full year before Aaron Samuels asked Cady Heron what day it was, opening at number one at the box office, leading Jack Black to skyrocket into stardom and inspiring an entire generation to “stick it” to “the man.”  The film sees Black as Dewey Finn, an eccentric guitarist with delusions of fame who is kicked out of his band and desperate for work.

How’s this for a big pick-up in an otherwise quiet sale season on the Fall film festival circuit? Variety reports that Netflix bought the rights to Richard Linklater‘s latest film “Hit Man” after it screened at the Venice Film Festival and TIFF to rave reviews. It’s Netflix’s second significant purchase out of TIFF, the other being Anna Kendrick‘s directorial debut “Woman Of The Hours.” READ MORE: ‘Hit Man’ New Look: Richard Linklater Says His New Genre-Bending Movie Is “All About Identity” Based on a true story (but taking liberties with the source material) “Hit Man” stars Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, a part-time teacher who moonlights as a fake hitman for the local Texas police department.

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.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Netflix shelled out $20 million for global rights to “Hit Man,” a (sort of) true crime comedy from director Richard Linklater and star Glen Powell. The movie, which played to enthusiastic audiences at Telluride and Toronto film festivals, follows Powell as Gary Johnson, a mysterious gun man for hire.

Jaden Thompson Director Richard Linklater expressed his admiration for Greta Gerwig’s record-breaking “Barbie” in a recent interview with NME. He specifically praised the musical numbers in the fantasy comedy, which include “I’m Just Ken,” performed by Ryan Gosling. “I liked the musical numbers,” Linklater said.

School Of Rock, saying it “didn’t feel like a hit” when he first approached the project.Starring Jack Black as a struggling guitarist who poses as a substitute teacher, the comedy film grossed over $130million worldwide on a $35million budget when it released in 2003. It’s since spawned a stage adaptation and a TV spin-off on Nickelodeon.Speaking to NME about the film, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, director Linklater said: “I loved working on that movie and I loved Jack, and the whole process.

UPDATED with latest: The Toronto Film Festival began September 7 in Ontario with opening-night movie The Boy and the Heron, from Oscar-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. It kicks off a lineup for the fest’s 48th edition that includes world premieres of GameStop pic Dumb Money, Netflix’s Pain Hustlers, Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, Kristin Scott Thomas’ Scarlett Johansson pic North Star, Chris Pine’s Poolman, Michael Keaton-directed Knox Goes Away, Anna Kendrick’s Woman of the Hour, Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils, Michael Winterbottom’s Shoshana, Grant Singer’s Reptile, Viggo Mortensen’s The Dead Don’t Hurt, Lee Tamahori’s The Convert and Alex Gibney’s doc In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.

Richard Linklater brought his Hit Man to the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday, world premiering the comedy thriller out of competition to a six-minute ovation inside the Sala Grande.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Is it something in the air? At this year’s Venice Film Festival, the unofficial theme appears to be hit men. David Fincher’s “The Killer” is all about an icy methodical professional executioner. Woody Allen’s “Coup de Chance” turns on an act of murder-for-hire.

That Glen Powell is a gem of an actor is nothing new, but twenty years into his career, and after stealing the show in a bunch of films and series, we can all finally stop praying for him to get a leading role worthy of his talents. In “Hit Man,” Powell reunites with his “Everybody Wants Some!!” director Richard Linklater for a part that allows him to be by turns nerdy, sexy, and funny, but at all times almost unbearably charming.

It was 22 years ago that Skip Hollandsworth wrote a Texas Monthly article about Gary Johnson, a school teacher who moonlights as a hit man who doesn’t kill people. Now if that doesn’t sound like the formula for a hit movie, you may understand why it has taken so long for Gary’s story to make it to the silver screen, so long in fact that its subject passed away before he could hit the red carpet of the Venice Film Festival where the film is having its World Premiere tonight. Nevertheless Glen Powell never forgot the story and has teamed with Richard Linklater to finally tell it, but it is only “loosely” based on the article. Certain details in the screenplay co-written by Linklater and Powell are made up, and those are the details that actually help make this a hilarious winner, as well as perhaps Linklater’s most commercial movie since School Of Rock. Its quirky true crime element also has a bit in common with Linklater’s Bernie which starred Jack Black. The director seems drawn to this kind of offbeat tale, with some level of truth to it.

On its surface, a comedy about a college professor who becomes a phony hitman for the police department to catch criminals hoping to whack a stubborn spouse or bothersome business associate might seem an odd fit for a European festival noted for heavy dramas and extended runtimes. It helps, of course, that Hit Man, which premieres at Venice Film Festival this evening, is directed by Richard Linklater, a noted master of independent filmmaking for more than 30 years, and that initial reactions to it have been universally effusive.

It’s officially September. Summer is winding down, school is starting, and the Fall film festival circuit has kicked off.

Ellise Shafer Richard Linklater said production on his musical comedy “Merrily We Roll Along” is set to resume soon — pending that the ongoing Hollywood strikes are resolved. During the Venice Film Festival press conference for his upcoming movie “Hit Man,” Linklater briefly discussed “Merrily,” which will be filmed periodically over the course of 20 years. Principal photography began in 2019 with a target release date in 2039, and the film stars Paul Mescal, Beanie Feldstein and Ben Platt.

In Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man,” truth proves stranger than fiction. Based on Skip Hollandsworth’s Texas Monthly piece of the same name from 2001, Linklater’s newest film follows Glen Powell as Gary Johnson, a man so good at pretending to be someone else he could convince clients he was a cold-blooded contract killer.

Jeymes Samuel’s sophomore feature The Book of Clarence, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki are among the titles that have been announced within the full lineup of the British Film Institute’s (BFI) 67th London Film Festival. Scroll down for the full list.

Naman Ramachandran The 67th BFI London Film Festival has unveiled its full lineup, which includes galas and special presentations of films by contemporary masters. As previously announced, Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” will open the festival and Kibwe Tavares and Daniel Kaluuya’s “The Kitchen” will close it.

EXCLUSIVE: LA-based Brit Stuart Ford has operated at the sharp end of international film sales and movie financing for more than two decades.

Michaela Zee Bell Canada is ending its long-standing sponsorship of the Toronto International Film Festival, Variety has confirmed. The telecommunications company, a lead sponsor since 1995, will not continue its partnership with TIFF after the festival’s 48th edition this year. “Bell has had a terrific partnership with TIFF for the past 28 years,” the company said in a statement shared with Variety on Saturday.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter New York Film Festival will serve as the world premiere of Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie’s genre-defying series “The Curse,” led by Emma Stone; and Garth Davis’s science-fiction drama “Foe,” starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal. They will screen as part of Spotlight, which Film at Lincoln Center describes as a selection of “significant and surprising films, one-of-a-kind presentations including adventurous portraits of creative minds, one-night only events with live musical accompaniment, bold short films by acclaimed directors, and probing documentaries.” As previously announced, Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” will hold its North American premiere on Oct.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Two labor strikes may be upending Hollywood’s awards season and the film festivals that serve as launching pads for many Oscar contenders, but the Toronto International Film Festival signaled Monday that it still plans to showcase the best in cinema, unveiling its 2023 slate of movies. Alexander Payne, Richard Linklater, Kore-eda Hirokazu and Justine Triet are among the auteurs who will be screening their latest works at the festival. Payne will be on hand with “The Holdovers,” a comedy set in a boarding school that reunites him with “Sideways” star PaulGiamatti, while Linklater is showing “Hitman,” an action-comedy with Glen Powell and Adria Arjona. Kore-eda and Triet will screen “Monster” and “Anatomy of a Fall,” both of which premiered at Cannes, where the latter won the Palme d’Or.

Marta Balaga At this week’s Frontières Market with buzzy project “Worm,” Montreal-based Type One Films will produce the sequel to 2022’s “The Diabetic,” with director Mitchell Stafiej back at helm. Playing Fantasia last year, “The Diabetic” was well reviewed by most critics who caught it.  “It was one of the few Canadian films about disability made in recent memory. It not only explores disability thematically, but looks and feels ‘disabled’ as well: Shot with Hi8 cameras and transferred to 16mm,” Stafiej said. “I realized, after watching it a little while ago, that I am not quite finished with these characters. I’m very curious about where they might end up if they see each other again. I also think that Matt [played by Travis Cannon] deserves some more attention and development. The first film is all about what Alek wants. But what about Matt?” 

“Birds” was selected as a finalist in this year’s ShortList Film Festival, presented by TheWrap. You can watch the films and vote for your favorite here.Austin, Texas has proven the cinematic groundswell for filmmakers from Richard Linklater, to Robert Rodriguez and Terrence Malick (more on him in just a sec).