Sundance Deals On Verge Of Virtual Consummation? Searchlight In Lead For Emma Thompson Sexy Sundance Starrer ‘Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’

Emma Thompson is having some fun on the red carpet!

Zendaya, “The Crown” star Josh O’Connor and “West Side Story” actor Mike Faist have been tapped to star in a new film from Luca Guadagnino called “Challengers” at MGM, according to a report first in Puck. “Challengers” is a romantic, sports-themed romance set in the world of pro tennis and stars Zendaya as a player turned coach who has managed to transform her husband (Faist) into a Grand Slam champion. But when he gets stuck on a recent losing streak, she makes him enter a “Challenger” event on the lowest rung of the pro circuit, only to discover he has to face an opponent (O’Connor) who is also his former best friend and his wife’s former boyfriend.

Ellise Shafer Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and “West Side Story” star Mike Faist are set to star in Luca Guadagnino’s new romantic drama “Challengers” at MGM.“Spider-Man: No Way Home” producer Amy Pascal is producing the film via her Pascal Pictures alongside Zendaya and Guadagnino. Playwright Justin Kuritzkes is penning the script.The film centers on the competitive world of tennis, in which player-turned-coach Tashi (Zendaya) has transformed her husband Art (Faist) into a grand-slam champion.

Hugh Laurie is stepping behind the camera to bring a new adaptation of the 1934 Agatha Christie novel,, to BritBox. The limited-run series, written and directed by the former star, tells the story of two amateur detectives who get in over their heads investigating a murder. It also features an all-star cast, which ET has an exclusive sneak peek of in the video above.

Bleecker Street has acquired U.S. rights to the dramatic thriller 892, starring John Boyega (Star Wars franchise) and the late Michael Kenneth Williams (The Wire), which recently made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in U.S. Dramatic Competition and won its Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast. The independently-financed distributor is planning a late summer release in theaters nationwide.

Eight episode series Pam and Tommy is ready to take screens by storm as it lands on 2 February. The series looks at Pamela’s relationship with musician Tommy Lee, and the aftermath of their honeymoon sex tape being leaked after it was stolen from their home and sold on the internet in 1995. And the stars of the show are most certainly Lily James, who plays Pamela, and Sebastian Stan, who stars as Tommy.The series isn't without its raunchy scenes, as you might expect, and Lily and Sebastian certainly captivate with their acting abilities in the intriguing Disney+ series.

The deals keep coming at the 2022 Virtual Sundance Film Festival. MUBI closed the docu Free Chol Soo Lee, including North America, and Warner Bros is negotiating a near $7 million WW rights deal for the Tig Notaro/Stephanie Allynne film Am I Ok? to place the film on HBO Max. The Lauren Pomerantz-scripted film stars Dakota Johnson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jermaine Fowler, Molly Gordon, June Diane Raphael, and Sean Hayes.

The Sundance Film Festival is revealing award winners for its 2022 edition on Friday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m. PT. Like the rest of this year’s festival, which was forced to go all-virtual because of the recent Omicron surge, the awards ceremony is playing out on Twitter.

Utama (Our Home) is precisely the sort of discovery that justifies film festivals and makes them useful: a small, hitherto unheard-of work from an out-of-the-way country that grabs you from the opening minutes and afterwards makes you want to tell your friends they’ve got a real treat to look forward to. A rare Bolivian entry in a major festival, this Sundance World Dramatic Competition title and feature debut by Alejandro Loayza Grisi is gorgeously made and brings to life a backwater existence in a distant land with skill and assurance.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaSearchlight Studios has nabbed U.S. rights to “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” a comedy about a widow who hires a sex worker that premiered at this year’s virtual edition of Sundance.

reportedly sold in a competitive situation in the range of $7.5 million. Thompson in “Leo Grande” plays Nancy Stokes, a retired school teacher yearning for some adventure, but most importantly, some good sex.

EXCLUSIVE: Searchlight Pictures has closed a deal around $7.5 million for U.S. rights to Good Luck To You, Leo Grande. the Sophie Hyde-directed film that stars Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack (The Wheel of Time & Peaky Blinders). Deadline reported yesterday  that Searchlight was poised to win the film that was bid on by several distributors, and the plan is to wage an awards season campaign for Thompson in a standout turn. Searchlight will release through Hulu, in a deal similar to the preemptive one it made for another Sundance film, Fresh. Hyde directed 52 Tuesdays and Animals. The film is scripted by Katy Brand, whose credits include Nanny McPhee Returns, which starred Thompson, and Walking On Sunshine.

Emma Thompson finds the fad around cosmetic surgery in Hollywood very odd.

$25 million Apple paid for “CODA,” the $15 million Netflix paid for “Passing” or documentary-record $15 million Searchlight/Hulu paid for “Summer of Soul.”  There’s still plenty of time for dealmaking, but not much time for new films to grab the spotlight: All of the festival’s movies were programmed to launch in the first five days, with Monday’s lineup – which included “Emily the Criminal,” “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” “Dos Estaciones,” “The Janes” and “Am I OK?” – scheduled as the last of this year’s premieres.

Emma Thompson is baring it all in her new film, . Thompson spoke about going nude for her role in the film at the movie's Sundance Film Festival premiere on Saturday.«It's very challenging to be nude at 62,» Thompson said during a Cinema Café discussion, before revealing that her character completely disrobes in one scene.

Stripping down in her sixties. Emma Thompson got real about embracing nude scenes for her new movie, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. 

told Entertainment Weekly.“I don’t think I could’ve done it before the age that I am,” Thompson said of a scene that sees her drop her bath robe in front of a mirror to reveal her full form. “And yet, of course, the age that I am makes it extremely challenging because we aren’t used to seeing untreated bodies on the screen.”“Nothing has changed in the dreadful demands made upon women in the real world but also in acting,” she added.