Zurich Flexes Muscles With Premieres, Stars

AMC has gone all in on Anne Rice. Since its 2020 acquisition of the author’s iconic catalog – including both “The Lives of the Mayfair Witches” series and the more famous “The Vampire Chronicles” series – the network has already renewed “Interview with the Vampire” for a second season on the heels of its acclaimed October 2 debut.

The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till is one of the lesser-known turning points in U.S. history; but the details of his case, along with the pictures of his disfigured body, haunted the nation’s consciousness back in 1955.

EXCLUSIVE: Brookyln-based arthouse distributor KimStim has acquired all U.S. rights for French director Mikhaël Hers’ fourth feature The Passengers Of The Night, starring Charlotte Gainsbourg as a recently divorced mother battling to keep her family afloat.

Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver are stepping out to promote their new movie.

Marta Balaga “Dalíland” star Ben Kingsley felt the presence of the famous painter when making his latest film, directed by Mary Harron. “Some days [Salvador Dalí] would come, saying: ‘I will just sit here for a while. Put your brush on the canvas and good luck.’ Later on, I really felt he allowed me to make an attempt at portraying him,” he told Variety during an online press conference at Zurich Film Festival. “He was mercurial, deliberately tried to wrong-foot people and quite difficult to pin down apart from the voice, the moustache, the eyes. We actually looked at several versions of his famous moustache. One could think: ‘It’s just a moustache!’ But it was his vigor, his eccentricity. His signature.”

Ed Meza @edmezavar Fatih Akin has teamed up with Berlin-based UFA Fiction on his miniseries about German star Marlene Dietrich, starring Diane Kruger. Based on the biography “My Mother Marlene,” by Dietrich’s daughter, Maria Riva, the five-part series, tentatively titled “Marlene,” is produced by UFA Fiction and Akin’s Bombero International in Hamburg. Currently in production, the miniseries chronicles Dietrich’s life as an artist, lover, German emigrant and mother as well as a woman who created her own rules and lived by them, whatever the cost. “‘Marlene’ will be not only the first series I have written and directed but also the greatest challenge in my film career,” said Akin, the series’ creator.

Over the past several years, few working filmmakers have been as busy as Michael Showalter. The writer, director, and actor, once known primarily for his involvement in the cultish “Wet Hot American Summer” franchise, has seen a precipitous rise in both the movies and TV.

“Normal People” heartthrob Paul Mescal has quickly parlayed his breakout popularity on TV into a burgeoning film career. After appearing in last year’s “The Lost Daughter” from first-time director Maggie Gyllenhall, he’s now the star of another feature debut from a female filmmaker on the rise.

Eddie Redmayne chills out with some fans at the premiere of The Good Nurse during the 2022 Zurich Film Festival at Kongresshaus on Sunday (September 25) in Zurich, Switzerland.

Diane Kruger sneaks in a kiss from fiance Norman Reedus at the premiere of her movie, Marlowe, during the 2022 San Sebastian International Film Festival at Kursaal on Saturday (September 24) in San Sebastian, Spain.

Ed Meza @edmezavar “Becoming an Astronaut,” an ambitious documentary that will focus on four new astronauts who will be announced by the European Space Agency (ESA) this November, has won the Focal Audience & Market Strategies pitching event at the Zurich Film Festival. Organized by Focal, the Lausanne-based foundation for film and audiovisual media training, Audience & Market Strategies is a three-part training program that helps producers promote their projects at an early stage. This year’s event showcased eight Swiss projects in various states of development. The program culminated with the pitching event, in which the producers presented their projects to sales company representatives, industry experts and an international jury comprising Stephen Kelliher of Bankside Films, Netflix’s Lars Wiebe, Olivier Tournaud of Cinephil, Sven Wälti, head of film at Swiss pubcaster SRG SSR, and Deadline’s Diana Lodderhose.

Sony Pictures Classics co-chiefs Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, who are being feted by the Zurich Film Festival with the event’s GameChanger Award, took part today in a Zurich Summit panel about their careers and the state of the specialty business.

Liza Foreman Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger turned out at the San Sebastian Film Festival on Saturday to support the world premiere of Neil Jordan’s “Marlowe,” which closes the festival tonight. Jordan and William Monahan’s adaptation of John Banville’s novel “The Black-Eyed Blonde” centers Raymond Chandler’s famous detective Philip Marlowe, and – like Chandler’s books – is set in 1930s Los Angeles. Jordan said it was confusing to call it a film noir. “First of all, it’s shot in color,” he said. Even though it is set in the past, it’s a futuristic film that provided his reference point for the look of this one.

Can the Golden Globes return to its once lofty perch among Hollywood’s favorite awards shows? That placement on the winner’s mantlepiece was always shakey, but up until 2021 the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s annual shindig was, at its worst, a beloved post-New Year’s industry party. Now, after being dressed down for its business practices and a lack of specific POC inclusion in its ranks (that lead to a non-televised ceremony earlier this year), the HFPA is hoping after a membership overall that all can be forgiven.

Who knows what happens in Stephen King’s mind, the author of such horror classics as “IT” and “The Shining.” It’s a mystery as to how King can conjure up such horrific tales, whether that be a lengthy novel or a short story. King’s latest big-screen adaptation comes from John Lee Hancock’s “Mr.

Whitney Houston is getting the biopic treatment with “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.” The highly anticipated film — from director Kasi Lemmons — covers the musical icon’s legendary life and her tragic death at age 48. It also promises to feature songs that built her career, while ensuring her status among beloved artists.

EXCLUSIVE: IFC Films has acquired North American rights to The Almond and the Seahorse, prior to the film making its World Premiere at the Zurich Film Festival. The film stars Rebel Wilson in her first dramatic role. Directed by BAFTA winner Celyn Jones (Six Minutes To Midnight) and BAFTA nominee Tom Stern, the film also stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Trine Dyrholm, Meera Syal and Celyn Jones. Script is by Jones and playwright Kaite O’Reilly, based on the play by the latter.

TORONTO – There is something overly familiar about Michael Grandage‘s “My Policeman.” Considering the lack of LGBTQ+ representation in media over the decades, tales of closeted gay men and their troubles are not exactly new. And stories about gay men who marry women to protect themselves from public persecution? Well, that’s a tale as old as time.