‘The Starling Girl’: Bleecker Street Acquires Laurel Parmet’s Feature Directorial Debut – Sundance

Callum McLennan Bendita Film Sales has grown its slate acquiring Itsaso Arana’s directorial debut “The Girls Are Alright,” (“Las chicas están bien”).  The acquisition marks the latest pick up by the Tenerife based-outfit following recent announcements on Juan Sebastián Torales’ “Almamula,” and Lois Patiño’s “Samsara,” both featuring at the Berlinale. The film has already secured domestic distribution in Spain with Elástica Films.   “Itsaso gave us the chance to read one of the first versions of the script for ‘The Girls Are Alright.’ We immediately fell in love and realized that we were dealing with a singular talent, with a unique vision,” said Luis Renart, head of Bendita Film Sales. “It has been a pleasure to follow the evolution of this project and to finally discover this beautiful, festive and unique film, which we are thrilled to bring to audiences around the world,” he added.

Alexander Stewart is a name you're going to want to get used to.

Richard Belzer’s “Law & Order: SVU” co-stars are paying tribute to the late actor and comedian following his death Sunday. Belzer, who famously played Detective John Munch on the long-running series, died early Sunday at his home in Bozouls in southwest France. He was 78. A cause of death for the actor is not yet known.

Richard Belzer, an acclaimed comedian known for his role as Detective John Munch in Law & Order: SVU, has sadly passed away. He was 78 years old.

EO, the Sideshow/Janus films release told from the point of view of a donkey, is set to pass the $1 million mark in week 14. The Cannes-premiering film by Jerzy Skolimowski, Academy Award nominated for Best International Feature, will gross an estimated $27.6k for the four-day President’s weekend on 37 screens for a cume of just over $1M.

Kristen Stewart joined Iranian filmmakers in a demonstration showing solidarity for Iran’s Women Life Freedom protests on the red carpet of the Berlin Film Festival on Saturday.

Michael Cera is at the Berlin International Film Festival for the world premiere this weekend of Dustin Guy Defa‘s “The Adults.” In the film, Cera stars as a man who returns to his hometown as he struggles to reconnect with his two sisters (Hannah Gross and Sophie Lillis) and bridge the gap between his childhood and adult life.

Police in Bulgaria have reportedly discovered an abandoned truck which contained the bodies of 18 people believed to be migrants.

Catherine Bray “A Radiant Girl” is set in Paris in 1942, but you’d hardly know it from spending time with the film’s 19-year-old protagonist, Irene (Rebecca Marder) — at least not to begin with. Irene is, as the title suggests, a lovely young woman, practically vibrating with joie de vivre. An aspiring actor, she spends her days rehearsing for the entrance exam to the prestigious Paris Conservatory, which leaves her just about enough time to argue charmingly but lovingly with her tight-knit French-Jewish family, and tentatively pursue romance with a dishy young doctor (in one amusing scene, she attempts to fail an eye test in order to have an excuse to see him again). In a nutshell, Irene is somebody thoroughly determined to live every moment to its fullest.

Sir Rod Stewart says he is "delighted" after one of his songs have been chosen to feature on the King's Coronation playlist.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International New sales agent and financier Architect has come on board to represent international sales on writer-director Laurel Parmet’s Sundance-premiering “The Starling Girl.” The film was acquired for North America by Bleecker Street in a deal negotiated by UTA and WME, and will release in cinemas later this year. Architect will launch international sales at this week’s European Film Market, which runs alongside the Berlin Film Festival. “The Starling Girl” premiered at Sundance to strong reviews, and will screen in the Festival Favourites section at SXSW next month. It stars Eliza Scanlen (“Sharp Objects”), Lewis Pullman (“Top Gun: Maverick”), Jimmi Simpson (“Westworld”), Wrenn Schmidt (“Nope)” and Austin Abrams (“Paper Towns|). The film is produced by Kevin Rowe and Kara Durrett.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Bleecker Street continues its acquisition spree with the pick-up of historical epic “The Return,” which reunites Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche. The project, which will be based on Homer’s ancient classic “The Odyssey,” is directed by Academy Award nominee Uberto Pasolini and written by Edward Bond, John Collee and Pasolini. The project, announced last year, reunited “The English Patient” co-stars Fiennes and Binoche after 25 years. The pic will also star Venice Film Festival Best Young Actor Award winner Charlie Plummer, with production beginning in Greece this spring in the regions of Corfu and the Peloponnese, before continuing in Italy. Bleecker Street will release the film in theaters in 2024.

Bleecker Street has picked up North American distribution rights to Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche historical epic The Return on the eve of the European Film Market. The project, which is directed by Uberto Pasolini, is based on Homer’s ancient classic The Odyssey. 

Ishana Night Shyamalan is following in her dad’s footsteps.

EXCLUSIVE: We hear that New Line has landed The Watchers, a project from Ishana Night Shyamalan which will mark her feature directorial debut and which she adapted from the A.M. Shine novel of the same name. There’s a lot of excitement around the thriller which is being fast-tracked for a June 7, 2024 global theatrical release; cameras rolling later this year. New Line beat out other studios with a competitive bid.

Lionsgate and South by Southwest Conference and Festivals announced today that the world premiere of “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Raya and the Last Dragon” screenwriter Adele Lim’s directorial debut “Joy Ride” will premiere at SXSW on March 17. The movie follows four friends as they take a wild trip through Asia.“Joy Ride” stars “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu, “Emily in Paris” star Ashley Park, Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu as four friends who, according to the official plot synopsis, “embark on a once-in-a-lifetime international adventure.” When Park’s business trip in Asia goes awry, she calls on her friends to salvage the trip and it turns into a much wilder excursion than they could have ever imagined.

Scotland is home to many unique and historic castles, but few are as visually striking as Castle Stalker.

EXCLUSIVE: Misha Green will reteam with her Underground and Lovecraft Country star Jurnee Smollett for the Lionsgate thriller Sunflower. Green will direct off a script she wrote and produce with Craig J. Flores and his Bread and Circuses Entertainment banner.

EXCLUSIVE: Hercules Film Fund and Rhea Films have closed a deal to finance and produce a feature-length version of Power Signal — the sci-fi short from Oscar Boyson that had its world premiere in Sundance’s Midnight Shorts section last Friday.

In writer/director A.V. Rockwell’s feature directorial debut, “A Thousand and One,” Inez (a deeply felt Teyana Talyor) has returned to Harlem after spending a year in Rikers Prison.