Shudder Buys Supernatural Horror Pic ‘Elevator Game’

I have just spent a week at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. I saw no sunlight from Monday around noon to Thursday. But I did see some movies, or at least part of them. It was of course CinemaCon week, or as I like to call it, ‘the unofficial start to Oscar season’. Many pundits might rather give the upcoming Cannes Film Festival with that kind of distinction, but in recent times this smoke-filled exhibitors extravaganza looks to be the starting gun, if you go by what the studios are dropping footage of between all the popcorn movies entertainment theatre owners really care about.

Monica Barbaro has flown in the skies with Tom Cruise‘s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. Now she’ll sing alongside Timothée Chalamet‘s Bob Dylan.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to Pedro Almodóvar’s short Western “Strange Way of Life,” excluding the territories of the U.K., France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Latin America. Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal star in the short that will premiere in official selection at the Cannes Film Festival. The short is now in pre-production and Sony Pictures Classics will release this fall. It’s Almodóvar’s second English-language project after “The Human Voice,” which was also distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. “Strange Way of Life” is produced by Almodóvar’s El Deseo and presented by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. It also stars Pedro Casablanc, Manu Ríos, George Steane, José Condessa, Jason Fernández and Sara Sálamo. It’s produced by Agustín Almodóvar, with Esther García as executive producer and Bárbara Peiró, Diego Pajuelo, and Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello as associate producers.

Alana «Honey Boo Boo» Thompson was pretty in pink for prom! On Sunday, the former star attended her prom in Georgia, and the pre-prom moment was a family affair. The 17-year-old proudly posed with her mother, Mama June Shannon and her husband, Justin Stroud, giving the camera a full look at her pink dress adorned with sparkling crystals. In another picture, Alana posed with her 21-year-old boyfriend, Dralin Carswell. For the moment, the couple was positioned in front of a white horse-drawn carriage with pink accents to match the theme of the prom princess' look. Following the photo op, the reality TV star and her boyfriend made a grand entrance at the event in the carriage.For her prom, Alana wore a custom pink gown by Miesha.

For the second year in a row, CinemaCon is in full swing. And, unlike last year when there were hopes the post-pandemic box office would turn around, the last six months have seen a slew of big hits and increased optimism that the movies are truly “back.” One studio that has had a somewhat slow start to 2023 is Sony Pictures, and the Culver City staple kicked off the convention touting a number of its upcoming tentpoles including “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” “Kraven the Hunter,” “Dumb Money” and, in partnership with Apple Original Films, Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon.” READ MORE: ‘Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse’ Trailer: Miles Morales wants to change his destiny in the new ‘Spider-Verse’ sequel Sony also brought some in-person star power to the event with Jennifer Lawrence (“No Hard Feelings”); David Harbour and Orlando Bloom (“Gran Turismo”); Issa Rae, Haliee Steinfeld and Shameik Moore (“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”); Glenn Powell and Sydney Sweeny (“Anyone But You”); and Dakota Fanning and Denzel Washington (“Equalizer 3”).

Reliance Industries’ Indian content arm Jio Studios is teaming with Indian filmmaker Nagraj Manjule to make a Marathi-language film about India’s first Olympic medallist, freestyle wrestler Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (a.k.a. Khashaba). 

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.Since its opening on April 5, it has earned over $400 million nationwide, the second-fastest animated film to reach those numbers after “The Incredibles 2,” according to Deadline. The supernatural horror movie “Evil Dead Rise,” the fifth installment of the “Evil Dead” series, came in second, with a $10.3-million take on its opening day.The Post called the film “gory-as-hell” and said it is “as campy and fun as any chapter in producer Sam Raimi’s four-decade-old horror series.”“The Covenant,” the story of an army sergeant in Afghanistan, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, and an Afghani interpreter, played by Danish actor Dar Salim, landed in third, with $2.25 million in sales.

The members of One Direction have grown up in front of our eyes.

Tom Hanks has expertly re-invented himself over the years, moving from rom-com star (Big) to war hero (Saving Private Ryan) to character actor (Elvis), and as a writer-director with That Thing You Do! and Larry Crowne. His newest chapter: novelist.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in “The Last Generation,” the series finale of “Star Trek: Picard,” currently streaming on Paramount+. When Patrick Stewart first met with producers Alex Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman in 2017 to discuss the possibility of returning to play Jean-Luc Picard again on a new “Star Trek” series, Stewart famously did so as a courtesy to explain that he had absolutely no interest in revisiting the world of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” “I explained to them all those elements of ‘Next Generation’ which belong in ‘Next Generation,’ and why I didn’t want to go near them again,” Stewart told Variety in a January 2020 cover story. When the producers noted that the show could show a much different Picard, one who’d changed over the two decades since the events of the final “TNG” movie, 2002’s “Star Trek: Nemesis,” Stewart became intrigued, and signed on to do three seasons of “Star Trek: Picard” — but without the rest of the “TNG” cast.

Patrick Stewart is saying farewell to his “Star Trek: Picard” character, Jean-Luc Picard, almost four decades after he took on the role in 1987 for “Star Trek: The Next Generation”.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Warner Bros. Intl. Television Prod. (WBITVP) has appointed former Fremantle exec Harry Gamsu as new VP, creative, for format, development and sales. He will report to Andrew Zein, SVP creative, for format development and sales and oversee relations between WBITVP’s international division and the WB’s U.S. TV production units Warner Horizon, Telepictures and Shed. Gamsu will also evaluate formats in WB’s catalogue for international exploitation and format sales to Canada. He succeeds Adam Steinman, who ankled WBITVP earlier this year. In his previous role as VP of non-scripted content acquisitions at Fremantle, Gamsu managed the U.S. content acquisition team and working on factual and entertainment series.

EXCLUSIVE: UK-based sales and distribution outfit Blue Finch Films has boarded international sales, excluding Australia and New Zealand, to the Australian horror flick You’ll Never Find Me, the feature debut from Indianna Bell and Josiah Allen.

Patrick Stewart can still remember the feedback he got in 1987 when he was offered the chance to first play Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Season 3, Episode 9 of “Star Trek: Picard,” currently streaming on Paramount+. Gates McFadden didn’t know what to expect when she first got on a Zoom call with “Star Trek: Picard” executive producers Terry Matalas and Akiva Goldsman. A few years earlier, Patrick Stewart had taken the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” — Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, Brent Spiner and McFadden — to dinner to announce that he was going to star on the spinoff series without them. But for the show’s third and final season, Matalas wanted to bring the full cast back together. 

Last week, news broke that Morena Baccarin wasn’t sure she’d be returning for “Deadpool 3.” “I’d like to be in it,” Baccarin said on a recent episode of the “Inside Of You” podcast. “They have called me about being in it.

Ryan Reynolds as the Merc With a Mouth and Hugh Jackman, who will be making his tenth film appearance as Wolverine. Karan Soni and Leslie Uggam will also reprise their roles as Dopinder and Blind Al. Shawn Levy, who recently worked with Reynolds on “Free Guy” and “The Adam Project,” will direct the film from a script from returning “Deadpool” writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick alongside Zeb Wells.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) today announced the nominees for the 44th Annual Sports Emmy Awards. Leading the list are NFL Network’s NFL: 360 and NBC’s coverage of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games with ten nominations each. The ceremony will take place live and in-person at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall on Monday, May 22.

The Wyoming game warden will soon be back on patrol: Paramount+ announced the neo-western Joe Pickett will return with two episodes on Sunday, June 4 in the U.S. and Canada.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large NFL Network’s “NFL 360” and NBC’s coverage of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games led the nomination pack, at ten each, for this year’s 44th annual Sports Emmy Awards. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the ceremony, which takes place at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall on Monday, May 22. Previously announced: Bryant Gumbel will receive the lifetime achievement award for his role in sports journalism.  “Today we honor these esteemed nominees and celebrate those who bring the thrill of competitive sports into our lives on a daily basis,” said Adam Sharp, president & CEO, NATAS. “We are excited by the extraordinary quality of this year’s submissions and equally excited by the opportunity to honor this year’s Lifetime Achievement honoree, Bryant Gumbel, celebrating his more than five decades of sports broadcasting excellence.”