Zoe Saldana provided a pop of color in the audience while attending the Fendi Couture Fall/Winter 2023/2024 show during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday (July 6) in Paris, France.
20.06.2023 - 11:49 / deadline.com
Italian artist Marco Perego’s debut feature The Absence of Eden has set a picturesque world premiere at the upcoming edition of Italy’s 69th Taormina Film Festival, running from June 23 to July 1.
The festival will unveil the film in a screening at its landmark Ancient Greek amphitheatre with co-stars with Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona in attendance.
Hedlund plays an ICE Agent struggling with the moral dilemmas of his job who unites with an undocumented woman fighting to escape a ruthless cartel, played by Guardians of the Galaxy star and Perego’s wife Saldaña, to save the life of an innocent girl.
Perego, who co-wrote the original screenplay with Rick Rapoza, previously produced the short film Me + Her and also directed the short film Burn To Shine, alongside his career as an artist.
“I am so excited to be screening The Absence of Eden in the Teatro Antico,” said Barrett Wissman, who is pulling together his inaugural edition of the festival in his new role of Executive and Co-Artistic Director.
“Marco Perego’s direction is a work of beauty and the performances by the trio of actors Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona are without exception wonderful.”
The film is produced by Academy Award-nominated producer Julie Yorn and Perego, along with Robert Kravis and Karl Herrmann under their banner of Pioneer Pictures, and Academy Award-nominated producer Alexandra Milchan.
Academy Award-winning director and producer Martin Scorsese, and Rick Yorn serve as executive producers, alongside Zoe Saldaña’s Cinestar Pictures, Ingenious Media, Ashland Hill, and Sycuan Tribal.
The Exchange is handling international sales rights; CAA Media Finance is handling US rights.
Other highlights of this year’s edition
Zoe Saldana provided a pop of color in the audience while attending the Fendi Couture Fall/Winter 2023/2024 show during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday (July 6) in Paris, France.
The official trailer for “Killers of the Flower Moon” has arrived.
Killers of the Flower Moon is coming!
Sophia Scorziello editor Paramount and Apple have released the second trailer for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone in one of the year’s buzziest films. “Killers of the Flower Moon” marks Scorsese’s first narrative feature since the 2019 film “The Irishman.” The Apple Original film has set its wide theatrical release for October 20, and will subsequently stream on Apple TV+. “Killers of the Flower Moon” is based on David Grann’s non-fiction novel of the same name, which investigates the dozens of harrowing murders of Osage people in Oklahoma throughout the 1920s. Scorsese’s film and Grann’s book follow romance of Enerest Burkhart (DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Gladstone) and the immense wealth of one Native American nation.
Will Tizard Contributor Alicia Vikander, the Swedish actor who won an Oscar for her role in “The Danish Girl” in 2015, has taken on a remarkable range of characters in recent years – but is still stretching her boundaries, she says. Speaking at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where she presented the historical drama “Firebrand” on opening night, Vikander says she’s now prepping for films that offer distinctly different challenges than her turn as Catherine Parr, the only one of Henry VIII’s six wives to outlive the marriage. One character she admits she’s still deciphering is the central figure in the upcoming sci-fi feature “The Assessment,” a feature project with Paris-based writer/director Fleur Fortuné.
John Bleasdale Guest Contributor When Variety talks to Zoe Saldana and her husband, the artist and film director, Marco Perego, they’ve only just arrived in Taormina and are in the process of unpacking. Room service arrives and Zoe apologizes about having to tuck into the salad straightaway. They’re here attending the world premiere of Perego’s debut film as a director, “The Absence of Eden,” a drama that takes place in the murky world of the U.S.’s southern border, a hellish landscape inhabited by Coyotes, ICE officers, desperate immigrants and refugees. It’s a universe away from the Pandora of the “Avatar” pictures or the science fiction blockbusters “Star Trek” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” Saldana is more usually associated with. “When I was picked for those films, I had no idea they were going to become franchises. I thought it was going to be a one and done kind of thing. I hold all of those films responsible for any kind of global notoriety I may have. However, it’s time consuming. Between ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Guardians’ and ‘Avatar,’ I had solid work for over 10 years. As I became an asset that had a certain value in this industry, I could turn that to films like this.”
EXCLUSIVE: CreativeChaos, the production company behind Paramount+’s The Murder of God’s Banker, and Above the Clouds, which produced Harvey Keitel and Sam Worthington feature film Lansky, have teamed up for a feature documentary about a group of youth climate activists.
EXCLUSIVE: Swept Away, the Broadway-aimed musical with music and lyrics by roots rock band The Avett Brothers, has announced principal cast for its fall-winter 2023 production at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., with John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening), Stark Sands (& Juliet), Adrian Blake Enscoe (TV’s Dickinson), and Wayne Duvall (the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?) will play the four survivors of a whaling ship disaster.
Italy’s Taormina Film Festival kicks off its 69th edition this evening against the backdrop of its landmark Teatro Antico amphitheatre with a Pavarotti Forever benefit event headlined by Placido Domingo and Vittorio Grigolo.
While the premiere “Andor” Season 2 remains just over a year away, it’s safe to say it’s easily the most hyped series in the “Star Wars” Disney+ upcoming lineup. Yup, more so than “Ahsoka” or “The Acolyte,” or more episodes of “The Mandalorian.” And fans already know a little about what they should expect in new episodes of “Andor.” For one, Season 2 runs twelve episodes, with a time jump in the narrative every three episodes.
John Bleasdale Guest Contributor The 69th Taormina Film Festival boasts an impressive lineup of Italian and world premieres as it seeks to reboot and re-establish its status as a date to watch on the festival circuit. Located in the historical Sicilian town – its visibility recently getting an unlooked for boost with the second season of HBO’s ”The White Lotus” – will be hosting a series of screenings. The outdoor Teatro Antico will provide a suitably antique background for the Italian premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” with Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, and Mads Mikkelsen in attendance. The directorial debut of Italian artist Marco Perego, “The Absence of Eden,” will receive its world premiere. The film stars Perego’s wife Zoe Saldaña, Garrett Hedlund and Adria Arjona. The thriller tells the story of an undocumented immigrant fleeing a drug cartel whose path crosses with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in a crisis over the moral dilemmas of his job. An unlikely alliance forms as the two endeavor to save the life of a young girl.
Emma Roberts had a special set visitor on the set of American Horror Story: Delicate.
Zoe Saldaña knows what time it is.
Zoe Saldana is reacting to the big Avatar news.
Zack Sharf Digital News Director When James Cameron’s fifth “Avatar” movie opens in theaters in 2031, Zoe Saldaña will end a whopping 26-year journey playing the Na’vi warrior and devoted mother Neytiri. How’s that for character longevity? Disney announced June 13 that Cameron’s three upcoming “Avatar” sequels have been pushed back on the release calendar yet again, extending the franchise into 2031. “Great! I’m gonna be 53 when the last ‘Avatar’ comes out,” Saldaña humorously posted on her Instagram alongside a shocked face emoji. “I was 27 when I shot the very first ‘Avatar.'” Saldaña’s co-star Sam Worthington, who stars as Jake Sully in the franchise, will be 55 years old when the final “Avatar” movie hits theaters. Cameron will be 77 years old.
Zoe Saldaña has had an amusing moment of realisation following the news that Avatar 5 has been delayed until 2031.Per a report from Variety, Disney has pushed back the third Avatar film by a full year from December 2024 to December 2025. As a result, the two following films in the sci-fi franchise have also been delayed by three years to 2029 and 2031 respectively.“Great! I’m gonna be 53 when the last Avatar comes out,” Saldaña humorously posted on her Instagram alongside a shocked face emoji.
Rege-Jean Page, Zoe Saldana, and Sydney Sweeney were among the stars who stepped out to celebrate the unveiling of RH England, The Gallery at the Historic Aynho Park.
The exciting first trailer for Paramount+’s new spy drama “Special Ops: Lioness” has been out and it features megastar Zoe Saldana prominently.
Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldaña are leading an elite group of operatives in the new Paramount+ drama from creator Taylor Sheridan. inspired by a real-life U.S. military program, centers on CIA missions to place undercover operatives close to high-value targets in order to gain their trust and eliminate them swiftly and quietly.
EXCLUSIVE: Leo Leigh’s directorial debut Sweet Sue and Vincent Perez’s fencing film The Edge Of The Blade are among six international films set to get their world premiere at the upcoming Filmfest München (June 23 – July 1), which this year celebrates its 40th edition. Scroll down for full list and details.