Im Vorfeld der abschließenden Beratungen des Kulturausschusses zum Ffg haben Produktionsallianz, Produzent*innenverband und Deutsche Filmakademie im Rahmen einer gemeinsamen Aktion einen dringenden Aufruf in Sachen Förderreform übergeben. Die große Sorge: „Gesetzesentwürfe für Investitionsverpflichtung und Steueranreizmodell drohen in den Amtsstuben des Regierungsviertels oder im Streit zwischen Bund und Ländern unterzugehen.“

Es kann immer noch der (ganz) große Wurf werden – doch die massiven Unsicherheiten und der immense Zeitdruck bei der Förderreform treiben Branche um. (Credit: Imago/Pond5 Images)

Ein wenig später als ursprünglich anvisiert, aber durchaus im Zeitrahmen, geht das neue Filmförderungsgesetz nun auf die Zielgerade, am heutigen 6. November mit den abschließenden Beratungen des Kulturausschusses (zur Zusammenfassung des vorab eingereichten Änderungsantrags der Koalitionsparteien), denen kommende Woche die Zweite und Dritte Lesung im Bundestag folgen soll. Die pünktliche Verabschiedung eines neuen Filmförderungsgesetzes war ohnehin quasi alternativlos, schließlich endet die Erhebung der Filmabgabe nach dem alten Ffg am 31. Dezember dieses Jahres.

(Viel zu...

Jella Haase spricht die Babyente Tupac und Fatoni alias Anton Schneider spielt die Hauptrolle in der Netflix-Comedy-Serie „Kacken an der Havel“, die Dimitrij und Alex Schaad gemeinsam entwickelten.

Dimitrij Schaad, Sky Arndt, Anton Schneider in „Kacken an der Havel“ (Credit: Netflix)

Kristina Löbbert ist bekanntlich als Nachfolgerin von Bernd von Fehrn nun Director of Fiction bei Wbitvp Germany. Aber noch gemeinsam schoben die beiden die Netflix-Comedy-Serie „Kacken an der Havel“ von den Schaad-Brüdern an. Die Geschichte über einen Rapper, eine Ente und ein Dorf kommt von den Creators Dimitrij Schaad und Alex Schaad. Alex führt auch gemeinsam mit Jano Ben Chaabane Regie, während Dimitrij ebenso eine tragende Rolle vor der Kamera spielt.

Zur Handlung: Seit Toni (Anton Schneider aka Fatoni) denken konnte, wollte er nichts anderes, als sein Heimatdorf Kacken (an der Havel) zu verlassen und großer Rapper werden. Aber auch nach 18 Jahren Berlin lässt die Karriere auf sich warten,...

Industry insiders couldn’t hide their excitement about the English-language series “El Turco,” which bowed a first-look trailer at Mipcom. Neither could its protagonist Can Yaman.

“I can’t wait for people to meet him,” said the Turkish star.

In a show based on a true story, Yaman plays an Ottoman Janissary who finds refuge in an Italian village of Moena after the battle of Vienna in 1683. Nursed back to health by a local witch, he slowly convinces the villagers to fight for their rights.

“I first went to Italy to do ‘Sandokan’ but it had to be pushed back, also because of the pandemic,” he revealed, opening up about his unusual acting trajectory. In that show, he’ll be joined by Ed Westwick and John Hannah. In the meantime, Yaman also acted in “Viola Come il Mare.”

“It was a great chance for me because I actually studied Italian in my childhood.

Das 20. Zurich Film Festival meldet für die Jubiläumsausgabe einen Rekord bei den Besucher:innen: Insgesamt zog das Festival unter der Künstlerischen Leitung von Christian Jungen und unter neuer Präsidentschaft von Roger Crotti 140.000 Filmfans an. So viele, wie nie zuvor.

Rekord beim 20. Zff (Credit: Joshua Sammer (Getty) for Zurich Film Festival)

Mit 140.000 Besucher:innen erreichte das Zurich Film Festival im Jahr seines 20. Jubiläums einen neuen Rekord.

Wie das Festival unter der Künstlerischen Leitung von Christian Jungen und unter neuer Präsidentschaft von Roger Crotti mitteilt, habe man dieses gute Ergebnis dank einer Mischung aus hochkarätigen Filmvorführungen, erstklassigen Gästen und prestigeträchtigen Events wie dem Zurich Summit erreicht. Alles in allem konnte man auch mit dem neuen, sehr ansprechend gestalteten Festivalzentrum punkten. Roger Crotti beschreibt diese erfreuliche Bilanz mit den Worten: „Unsere zahlreichen Partner und Gäste aus der Stadt und dem Kanton Zürich oder aus dem Ausland, die ich persönlich durch das neue Zentrum geführt habe,...

Heute feiert der Western „The Unholy Trinity“ Weltpremiere beim 20. Zurich Film Festival. Wir haben mit Veronica Ferres, die neben Pierce Brosnan und Samuel L. Jackson die Hauptrolle spielt, über die Dreharbeiten, das Arbeiten in den USA und den Status quo bei ihrer Construction Film gesprochen.

Veronica Ferres (Credit: Manfred Baumann)

„The Unholy Trinity“ von Richard Gray ist ein waschechter Western um Ehre und Rache, in dem aber letztendlich die Frauen die Hosen anhaben. Was hat Ihnen am Drehbuch gefallen?

Veronica Ferres: Ich war fasziniert, dass das Buch eine Zeit in Amerika erzählt, in der Menschen aus aller Welt Geflüchtete waren, Emigranten, und dort in der der Rauheit der Natur aufeinander angewiesen waren. Da sehe ich eine deutliche Parallele zum Hier und Jetzt. Wir haben heute mehr Flüchtlingsströme denn je, und ich sehe, wie viel Missverständnisse es gibt. Wo Menschlichkeit an erster Stelle stehen sollte, geht es oft um Habgier und andere Motive,...

Turkish megastar Can Yaman is set to attend the upcoming Mipcom TV market in Cannes to promote English-language drama “El Turco,” in which he plays a legendary historical figure that bridges Turkey with the Western world.

The groundbreaking six-episode “El Turco” series — featuring a starry cast of actors from nine different countries and combining history, action-adventure and romance — will be unveiled in Cannes by Turkish distributor Madd Entertainment, which is planning for the show to get a global release in February 2025.

In “El Turco,” which is produced by Turkey’s Ay Yapim, Yaman plays 17th Ottoman soldier Hasan Balaban, who was wounded during the Turkish army’s campaign to conquer Vienna in 1683 and ended up some 200 kilometers away in the Italian Alpine village of Moena. Nicknamed “El Turco” by the villagers, he led the locals to a clamorous revolt against unfair taxes that made him a local hero.

In a statement for Variety,...

Warner Bros. und Moonlake produzieren die neue Rtl-Krimi-Reihe „Alpentod“, die mit Veronica Ferres, Salka Weber und Tim Oliver Schultz prominent besetzt ist. Ein Ausstrahlungszeitraum steht auch schon fest.

V.l.: Salka Weber, Veronica Ferres und Tim Oliver Schultz (Credit: Rtl / Raymond Roemke)

Schon im Juni berichtete Spot media & film exklusiv auf dem Screenforce Festival von der neuen Rtl-Krimi-Reihe mit Veronica Ferres. Jetzt gab es den Drehstart von „Alpentod – Ein Bayern-Krimi“. Als Ausstrahlungszeitraum ist das Frühjahr 2025 geplant, wenn es generell wieder mit neuen Folgen des „Tödlichen Dienst-Tag“ auf dem Privatsender weitergeht.

Superstar Veronica Ferres erhält Verstärkung bei den Ermittlungen in den Alpen von Salka Weber, die größere Bekanntheit mit der ZDFneo-Serie „Deadlines“ erlangte, in „Oh Hell“ zu sehen war und in diesem Jahr in der Ndr-Serie „Festmachen“ brillierte. Auch am Start ist der Schauspieler Tim Oliver Schultz.

Zur Handlung: Birgit Reincke (Veronica Ferres) ist eine resolute und...

“Red Sonja” is the upcoming live-action ‘sword and sorcery’ feature, directed by M. J. Bassett, rebooting the original 1985 feature, starring Matilda Lutz, Wallis Day, Robert Sheehan, Michael Bisping, Martyn Ford, Eliza Matengu, Rhona Mitra, and Veronica Ferres, releasing theatrically in 2024:

“…enslaved by an evil tyrant who wishes to destroy her people…

“…barbarian huntress ‘Red Sonja’…

“…must unite a group of unlikely warriors …

“…to face off against ‘Dragan The Magnificent’ and his deadly bride, ‘Dark Annisia’…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Samuel L. Jackson must be one of Hollywood’s most well-known and coolest people. The seventy-five-year-old actor has worked more than half of his life in films, even more if we count his theatre career. He has been in some of the most memorable and game-changing Hollywood movies, including Quentin Tarantino‘s Pulp Fiction and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, if you are also a fan of his swearing style, cool demeanour, and great performances, here are all of Samuel L. Jackson’s upcoming films and TV shows that you should mark your calendars for.

Movies The Piano Lesson (2024) Credit – Netflix

The Piano Lesson is an upcoming drama film directed by Malcolm Washington from a screenplay co-written by Virgil Williams and Malcolm Washington. Based on the 1987 play of the same name by playwright August Wilson, the Netflix film will be set during the aftermath of the Great Depression in 1936 in Pittsburgh,...

Vor zwei Wochen meldete Spot exklusiv, dass Veronica Ferres neue Rtl-Ermittlerin am Krimi-Dienstag wird. Aber auch Paula Kalenberg und Salka Weber sowie zwei junge Ermittler gehören neu zum Team.

Salka Weber (l.) und Paula Kalenberg

Schon am 13. Juni meldete Spot exklusiv aus dem heißen Screenforce-Festival-Zelt, dass Veronica Ferres eine Ermittlerin in einer der beiden neuen Krimi-Reihen von Rtl wird, dabei eine Reihe an der Nordsee spielt und auch drei neue 90-Minüter von „Alarm für Cobra 11“ entstehen. Nun hat Rtl die beiden frischen Krimi-Projekte weiter vor und hinter der Kamera konkretisiert.

„Alpentod – Ein Bayern-Krimi“ ist der geplante Titel des Veronica-Ferres-Formats, in dem sie zusammen mit Tim Oliver Schultz und Salka Weber (gerade ganz fantastisch in der Ndr-Serie „Festmachen“) ermittelt. Das Ganze ist als deutsch-österreichische Koproduktion mit Warner und Servus TV angelegt. Regisseurin ist Katrin Weber nach Drehbüchern von Stefan Rogall.

Die zweite neue Krimi-Reihe, die an der Nordsee spielt, trägt...

Rtl Deutschland hat sich am Donnerstag auf dem Screenforce Festival als souveräner Marktführer bei den Privatsendern präsentiert. Neue Krimi-Reihen und viele brandneue Reality- und Show-Formate und Fortsetzungen wurden angekündigt.

Cco Rtl Deutschland: Inga Leschek (Credit: Rtl/Marina Rosa Weigl)

Mit visuellem Bombast und Selbstbewusstsein hat sich Rtl Deutschland auf dem Screenforce Festival am Donnerstag in Düsseldorf mit Footballern und „Let’s Dance“-Teilnehmern auf der Bühne präsentiert. Neu angekündigt wurde ein Halloween-Special zu „Die Verräter“, zum ersten Mal der „Golden Bachelor“ und das neue Vox-Format „Das Piano“.

Fiktional brachte die Vorschau die schon auf dem Seriencamp umfeierte Rtl+-Serie „Ich bin Dagobert“ und die vierte „Sisi“-Staffel in den Mittelpunkt. Dazu kommen mit „Mord im Revier“ und zwei weiteren neuen Krimi-Reihen frisches Krimi-Futter für den Dienstag. Veronica Ferres wird eine der neuen Ermittlerinnen, eine Reihe führt die Polizei wiederum an die Nordsee. Außerdem kommen dieses Jahr noch drei neue „Alarm für Cobra 11“-90-Minüter.

Swedish director Ruben Östlund, who won Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or for “The Square” and “Triangle of Sadness,” was among the guests at the German Films and Medienboard Reception on May 18 in the garden of the Mondrian Hotel in Cannes.

Östlund, who is in the Riviera resort to promote his latest production, “The Entertainment System Is Down,” was accompanied by Philippe Bober of Coproduction Office, one of the film’s producers, and Erik Hemmendorf of Plattform Produktion, Östlund’s Swedish producer. (They are pictured above.)

German Films, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, was represented at the event by managing director Simone Baumann, and Medienboard, which is a film fund for the Berlin-Brandenburg region, was represented by its CEO Kirsten Niehuus. Variety was the media partner for the reception.

Among the other guests attending were Karim Aïnouz, director of “Motel Destino,” which plays in this year’s Competition section at Cannes.

Matthias Glasner’s Dying was the winner of the top prize at this year’s German Film Awards, clinching the Golden Lola in the best film category along with a cash prize of €500,000 for the producers to invest in a future project.

The production by Port au Prince Film & Kultur Produktion, Schwarzweiß Filmproduktion and Senator Film Produktion, which had its world premiere in competition at this year’s Berlinale where it won the best screenplay Silver Bear, also garnered another three statuettes: Corinna Harfouch (best lead actress), Hans-Uwe Bauer (best supporting actor), and Lorenz Dangel (best film score).

Glasner’s family drama,...

When a former CIA asset goes on a killing spree to blackmail the agency, an ex-agent who swore to never return is brought back into the fold. Based on the book of the same name, the 2023 action thriller The Bricklayer stars Aaron Eckhart, Nina Dobrev, and Clifton Collins Jr. The film, from director Renny Harlin (The Misfits), was written by Matt Johnson (Into the Blue) and Hanna Weg (The Garden of Last Days).

Stream it now.

Check it out at the top of this page.

German journalist Greta Becker (Veronica Ferres) was just found dead in her hotel in Greece. It’s the third murder of a journalist in a month, and the public blames the CIA. (Becker’s reporting was highly critical of US intelligence.) Suspecting a plot to blackmail the CIA, the agency brings back to the fold grizzled former agent Steve Vail (Eckhart), who nowadays works as...

Lebanese designers have been dressing glamorous women all over the world for a long time. This awards season, fashion talents from the tiny Levantine nation have been exceptionally prominent on awards season red carpets as well, from the Golden Globes to the Academy Awards and everything in between.

Tony Ward, whose atelier is located in Beirut, dressed Da’Vine Joy Randolph for the Governor’s Awards and Hannah Waddingham for the SAG Awards. Lebanese designer Elie Saab, with headquarters in Paris, has been worn by Mandy Moore (Critics Choice), Reese Witherspoon (SAG Awards), Emily Blunt (BAFTAs) and Hailee Steinfeld (Oscars) in recent weeks.

Beirut-based duo Azzi & Osta dressed Veronica Ferres for The Golden Globes, while Zuhair Murad, also based in Beirut, has been seen on Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (at the Oscars), Allison Williams (Critics Choice), Zawe Ashton (Emmys) and Jennifer Lopez (for her This is Me… Now: A Love Story L.A.

“Red Sonja” is the upcoming live-action ‘sword and sorcery’ feature, directed by M. J. Bassett, rebooting the original 1985 feature, starring Matilda Lutz, Wallis Day, Robert Sheehan, Michael Bisping, Martyn Ford, Eliza Matengu, Rhona Mitra, and Veronica Ferres, releasing theatrically in 2024:

“…enslaved by an evil tyrant who wishes to destroy her people…

“…barbarian huntress ‘Red Sonja’ must unite a group of unlikely warriors …

“…to face off against ‘Dragan The Magnificent’ and his deadly bride, ‘Dark Annisia’…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Sebastian Stan, whose “A Different Man” screens in the Berlin Film Festival, Christoph Waltz and Tom Wlaschiha, the “Faceless Man” in “Game of Thrones,” were among the guests at Studio Babelsberg Night, the historic Berlin film studios’ party at Soho House Berlin held to celebrate the 74th edition of the festival. The event was supported by Mexican tequila brand Don Julio, the Motion Picture Assn. and Little Moons. Variety was the media partner.

Among the leading filmmakers welcomed by Babelsberg were Fatih Akin, who won Berlin’s Golden Bear in 2004, Julia von Heinz, whose film “Treasure,” starring Lena Dunham, plays at the Berlinale, and Tom Tykwer, who shot series “Babylon Berlin” at Babelsberg and recently shot feature film “The Light” there.

Christoph Waltz

Other directors and writers at the party included “Dark” creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, who shot Netflix’s “1899” at Babelsberg, Lars Kraume, Detlev Buck and David Wnendt.

Pope Francis, Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Un chief Ban Ki-Moon will be honored at the upcoming Cinema for Peace gala in Berlin on February 19.

The long-running gala run by the Cinema for Peace Foundation will be accompanied by the inaugural World Forum on the Future Of Democracy, Tech and Humankind.

The latter event will run from February 18 to 19 at the Allianz Forum next to the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin with the aim of promoting the renewal of democracy and freedom at a time when both are under threat.

The Cinema for Peace Foundation was created in 2008 as an international non-profit organization with the goal to foster change through film. Over the years it has worked with a host of stars including Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney.

Clinton and Ban will attend the February 19 gala in person while Pope Francis will be shown receiving his award in a recorded video.

Exclusive: Tim Daly (Wings) and Veronica Ferres (Hector and the Search for Happiness) have been tapped for roles in Unholy Trinity, rounding out the ensemble for the Western helmed by Robert the Bruce‘s Richard Gray. The actors join an ensemble that also includes Pierce Brosnan, Samuel L. Jackson, Brandon Lessard, and Q’orianka Kilcher, as previously announced.

Currently shooting under an Interim Agreement, the film written by Lee Zachariah is set against the turbulent backdrop of 1870s Montana. It picks up in the moments before the execution of Isaac Broadway, as he gives his estranged son, Henry (Lessard), an impossible task: murder the man who framed him for a crime he didn’t commit. Intent on fulfilling his promise, Henry travels to the remote town of Trinity, where an unexpected turn of events traps him in town and leaves him caught between Gabriel Dove (Brosnan), the town’s upstanding new sheriff,...

The plot line for Passenger C reads like an “only in Hollywood” inspirational tale. Big-time Hollywood agent and producer Cassian is on a red-eye flight back to Los Angeles when he agrees to take the seat next to Marco, an ex-Marine with Ptsd. When Marco begins to flip out, physically assaulting Cassian and threatening the other passengers, Cassian tries to calm him down. After landing, when Marco is handed over to the police, Cassian promises he “won’t forget him.”

He never did. Cassian is the producer and big-time Hollywood agent Cassian Elwes, and the incident on the red-eye, more than a decade ago, changed his life. It altered the course of Elwes’ career, pushed him to back a project nobody in Hollywood believed in — a little Oscar winner called Dallas Buyers Club — and to set up programs like the Horizon program to help female filmmakers and, most importantly, to...

The Munich-based fund has also made awards to Christophe Gans’ ‘Return To Silent Hill’ and Marvel series ‘Ironheart’.

Justin Kurzel’s UK-Germany sci-fi thriller Morning, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Laura Dern, Noah Jupe and Naomi Ackie, is set to shoot in Germany after receiving €2m from Fff Bayern’s funding programme for international theatrical features and series.

The project is based on a screenplay by Screen Star of Tomorrow Sam Steiner and is produced by Cumberbatch and his partners Leah Clarke and Adam Ackland through their UK company SunnyMarch with Maximilian Leo and Jonas Katzenstein of Cologne-based augenschein Filmproduktion and actress-producer...

The Munich-based fund has also made awards to Christophe Gans’ ‘Return To Silent Hill’ and Marvel series ‘Ironheart’.

Justin Kürzel’s UK-Germany sci-fi thriller Morning, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Laura Dern, Noah Jupe and Naomi Ackie, is set to shoot in Germany after receiving €2m from Fff Bayern’s funding programme for international theatrical features and series.

The project is based on a screenplay by Screen Star of Tomorrow Sam Steiner and is produced by Cumberbatch and his partners Leah Clarke and Adam Ackland through their UK company SunnyMarch with Maximilian Leo and Jonas Katzenstein of Cologne-based augenschein Filmproduktion and actress-producer...

The 73rd Berlin International Film Festival kicked off with a four-hour celebration of cinema – one that got increasingly political as the hours ticked by.

The German festival has always mixed politics with art, and that intersection could not be avoided in 2023 as Russia’s war on Ukraine rages on and the citizens of Iran are imprisoned and executed by an extremist government over human rights. In between, veteran indie director Rebecca Miller offered up her latest, the marital dramedy ‘She Came to Me’, reports Variety.

Berlin jury president Kristen Stewart spoke of the inherent political nature of film early on, addressing the crowd at the Berlinale Palast theatre at Thursday’s opening ceremony.

“There are a lot of oppressions against our physical selves. I’m a girl, but I’m probably the least marginal version of a woman I can be,” Stewart said.

Golshifteh Farahani, another juror, noted some women are not as fortunate.

While Anne Hathaway and Kristen Stewart delivered a dose of major red carpet glamour as the Berlin Film Festival returned to a full-scale, in-person operation for the first time since 2020, the event’s role as a political platform was also revived as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the star of Sean Penn’s Berlin-premiering documentary “Superpower,” stole the show.

Hollywood stars were greeted on Thursday by packed crowds outside the Berlinale Palast and by festival co-heads Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian. In addition to unseasonably mild weather, the onlookers were treated to glimpses of the cast and crew of Rebecca Miller’s opening night film “She Came to Me,” including stars Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Joanna Kulig and Evan Ellison. Hathaway, sporting a see-through tangle of a dress and arm-length gloves, is the film’s producer and star.

Stewart, who was decked out in Chanel, is this year’s international jury president and,...

Paul Lindsay was a former FBI agent and Vietnam veteran who sought to utilize his investigative and military expertise in creating a series of espionage novels, published under the pseudonym Noah Boyd. Unfortunately, that effort only got as far as a second volume before Lindsay died of leukemia in 2011. The first one has been in feature development since that year, initially as a vehicle for Gerard Butler. It’s Aaron Eckhart instead who assumes the mantle of Jack Reacher-like hero Steve Vail in “The Bricklayer,” a screen translation that appears to take considerable liberties with the source material, likely to take advantage of locations and resources afforded by its multinational funding.

The result, largely set in Greece, is an entertaining thriller that constitutes one of globe-trotting director Renny Harlin’s better recent joints, alongside Chinese productions “Bodies at Rest” and “Skiptrace.” Handled in his best slick, colorful, fast-paced fashion, it...

(Superhero Bits is a collection of stories, updates, and videos about anything and everything inspired by the comics of Marvel, DC, and more. For comic book movies, TV shows, merchandise, events, and whatever catches our eye, this is the place to find anything that falls through the cracks.)

In this edition of Superhero Bits:

The Russo brothers probably aren't coming back to Marvel.

"Smallville" stars Tom Welling and Erica Durance are game for a return.

An unencouraging update on the Wakanda series for Disney+.

The "Red Sonja" movie adds a cast member.

All that and more!

Is That Stargirl/Titans Crossover Happening?

As we noted in this column a while back, some evidence from social media suggested that "Stargirl" may be crossing over with "Titans" over on HBO Max. TVLine caught up with "Titans" showrunner Greg Walker to ask him about it directly, who said the following:

"I would love to do a Stargirl crossover.

Click here to read the full article.

German star Veronica Ferres (Rossini, Crisis, Salt & Fire) has joined the cast of sword and sorcery reboot Red Sonja.

Ferres will play the mother of Red Sonja and the Goddess Ashera in the new film, which is being pitched as more an adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s original Marvel comic than a reboot of the 1985 feature starring Brigitte Nielsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The 80s film was a notorious flop. Producers Millennium Media are also handling international sales.

Italian-American actress Matilda Lutz (Revenge) is playing Red Sonja. Wallis Day, Robert Sheehan, Michael Bisping, Martyn Ford, Eliza Matengu, Manal El-Feitury and Katrina Durden co-star.

M.J. Bassett (Rouge, Silent Hill: Revelation) is directing, taking over from Joey Soloway, who is still attached as an executive producer on the project. Red Sonja is currently shooting at Millennium’s Nu Boyana studios in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Ferres is...

Paradise Highway Review — Paradise Highway (2022) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Anna Gutto and starring Juliette Binoche, Morgan Freeman, Frank Grillo, Hala Finley, Cameron Monaghan, Christiane Seidel, Veronica Ferres, Jackie Dallas, Walker Babington, Tommie Earl Jenkins, Susan McPhail, Diva Tyler, Jwaundace Candece, Tracy Pfau, Raymond McAnally, Jim Dougherty, Jayden Hamilton [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Paradise Highway (2022): Solid Performers Can’t Get Problematic but Well Meaning Film on the Right Road...

Some movies transport you from your dreary, everyday existence into a fascinating world of excitement and wonder. And then there are films like “Zero Contact,” which make you wish you were taking out the cat litter or regrouting the bathroom tiles instead of watching it.

“Zero Contact” stars Sir Anthony Hopkins as Finley Hart, a billionaire technology guru who, at the start of the film, has already died and left his mysterious final project, “The Quantinuum Initiative,” unfinished.

After his death, a group of people directly connected to Finley are summoned to a mysterious video chat, where they are told to input their secret codes and activate the Quantinuum Initiative. It’s a process that should take all of 45 seconds, but they have an hour to do it, because first they have to dump a metric ton of exposition, debate each other’s motives and get picked off by a...

The mild initial curiosity stirred by Zoom-shot movies died quickly, because so few of them were watchable, and because filmmakers quickly found workarounds to create more fluid entertainments while still observing Covid precautionary measures. Thus “Zero Contact” arrives as a novelty that’s already more than worn out its welcome, aiming for dubious additional distinction as “the world’s first star-powered feature film Nft.” (It was released in that form last September — whether anyone actually purchased it as such is unknown.)

We’ll just gingerly step around that factoid, as the aptly named “Zero Contact” has plenty of more tangible ways in which it is a steaming pile of nada. Producer turned first-time director Rick Dugdale and screenwriter Cam Cannon’s would-be thriller has five globally-scattered protagonists yelling at their screens during a conference call in which the fate of all humanity supposedly hangs in the balance from some murky high-tech threat.

Zero Contact Trailer — Rick Dugdale‘s Zero Contact (2022) movie trailer has been released by Lionsgate. The Zero Contact trailer stars Anthony Hopkins, Aleks Paunovic, Tuva Novotny, Rukiya Bernard, Veronica Ferres, Adrian Holmes, Lilly Krug, and Martin Stenmarck. Crew Cam Cannon wrote the screenplay for Zero Contact. Anders Niska and Klas Wahl created the [...]

Continue reading: Zero Contact (2022) Movie Trailer: Five Strangers try to stop Tech Titan Anthony Hopkins’ Mysterious Machine...

"I always expected great things of this world..." Lionsgate has debuted another new trailer for the mystery thriller, wacky sci-fi project called Zero Contact, described as one of the very first Nft movies. We already wrote about this film last year, as they tried to release it on an Nft viewing platform (I don't think anyone watched it). Zero Contact follows five characters all over the world, connected only by their devotion to the late founder and tech titan Finley Hart, played by Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins. Upon his death, five remote agents — including his son — are contacted by a mysterious A.I. entity to reactivate the initiative, which may enable time travel. As sinister events transpire at each of their homes, they must decide whether entering their passwords will save the world... or destroy it. The film stars Hopkins, Aleks Paunovic, Tuva Novotny, Rukiya Bernard, Veronica Ferres, Adrian Holmes, Lilly Krug,...

Sandra Bullock boils down the essence of her newest film The Unforgivable to one word: “Family.”

“I wanted to make a movie about someone who never gets movies made about them, but yet they sacrifice every single day without a pat on the back, without someone saying ‘good job,’ without someone seeing them and recognizing them,” Bullock told The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s Sunset Boulevard premiere on Tuesday evening.

In addition to starring in the Netflix film, Bullock, known on set as simply “Sandy,” also serves as a producer, alongside Veronica Ferres and Graham King....

Sandra Bullock boils down the essence of her newest film The Unforgivable to one word: “Family.”

“I wanted to make a movie about someone who never gets movies made about them, but yet they sacrifice every single day without a pat on the back, without someone saying ‘good job,’ without someone seeing them and recognizing them,” Bullock told The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s Sunset Boulevard premiere on Tuesday evening.

In addition to starring in the Netflix film, Bullock, known on set as simply “Sandy,” also serves as a producer, alongside Veronica Ferres and Graham King....

Exclusive: Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American VOD rights to Slater Brothers Entertainment’s horror-thriller, The Darker The Lake, with plans to release it across internet, cable, and satellite platforms on March 1, 2022.

The Australian AFM entry directed by Lok Kwan Woo tells the story of what happens when strange, supernatural murders suddenly become the talk of a peaceful, small town. As two local detectives struggle to solve a deadly game, the myth of this game begin to reveal secrets too close to home.

Lok, Z Zoccolante and Yang Yang penned the film, which stars stars Elyse Levesque, Veronica Ferres (The Unforgivable), Gina Stiebitz (Dark), Vladimir Burlakov (Kleo) and Wei-Ning Hsu (The Victim’s Game).

Lok also produced, with Udum Media’s Anni Hsu exec producing alongside Todd and Grant Slater of Slater Brothers Entertainment.

“I am thrilled to have partnered up with Entertainment Studios,...

Exclusive: Producer and award-winning actress Veronica Ferres has signed with CAA and Fourward. Both entities will also represent Ferres’ film and TV production company, Construction Film, which she founded in 2013 as a female led label, and is dually based in Munich and Los Angeles.

The German-born Ferres can currently be seen opposite Anthony Hopkins in Zero Contact, the first feature film Nft, and has completed filming Paradise Highway opposite Morgan Freeman and Juliette Binoche for Lionsgate. Through her Construction Film banner, Ferres produced, alongside Sandra Bullock and Graham King, The Unforgivable, which stars Bullock and Viola Davis and premieres with a theatrical release in the US on November 24 and internationally on Netflix December 10.

She also recently produced Shattered for Lionsgate with John Malkovich, Lilly Krug and Frank Grillo, which will be released January 14, 2022.

Ferres began her career in the Academy Award and Golden-Globe nominated film Schtonk!, and went on to...

Exclusive: Lionsgate has boarded Paradise Highway, a Silver Reel and Zdf thriller starring Oscar winners Juliette Binoche and Morgan Freeman, and Captain America actor Frank Grillo.

Lionsgate has taken North America distribution rights and will handle international sales. Zdf boards as co-producer and German distributor. Both deals were secured by Silver Reel’s Claudia Bluemhuber.

In Paradise Highway, written and directed by Anna Gutto, Sally (Binoche), a truck driver, has been forced to smuggle illicit cargo to save her brother Dennis (Grillo) from a deadly prison gang. With FBI operative Gerick (Freeman) hot on her trail, Sally’s motivations and conscience are challenged when the final package turns out to be a teenage girl (Hala Finley).

Cameron Monaghan, Veronica Ferres, Christiane Seidel and Walker Babington also star in the feature.

Gutto (Netflix’s Home for Christmas) wrote her screenplay off of years of research and immersion in the trucking community.

Best Sellers Review — Best Sellers (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Lina Roessler and starring Michael Caine, Aubrey Plaza, Scott Speedman, Ellen Wong, Cary Elwes, Luc Morissette, Veronica Ferres, Frank Schorpion, Florence Situ, Linda Joyce Nourse, Sebree Laurie, Charli Birdgenaw and Philip Le Maistre. Oscar winner for Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Best Sellers (2021): Michael Caine And Aubrey Plaza Make Comedic Drama A Real Winner...

Updated with trailer and launch date. The trailer for Zero Contact, a film starring Anthony Hopkins that will premiere via a new non-fungible token platform Vuele.

In addition to the trailer (watch it above), Vuele said it will premiere the film, which follows Hopkins’ Oscar win last spring for The Father, via several Nft “drops” beginning September 24. The tagline of the trailer describes Zero Contact as “the world’s first feature film Nft event,” though the space has drawn a crush of interest from a range of film and entertainment players lately.

Chris Brochu has also been announced as part of the film’s cast.

Previously:

Enderby Entertainment’s pandemic pic Zero Contact (formerly called 92) with Anthony Hopkins will premiere on new Nft platform Vuele later this summer, possibly the first time a feature-length film — versus, say, a basketball highlight clip — is offered for sale as a so-called non-fungible token.

"You vanquished my fears - and for that, I am forever grateful." Screen Media Films has released the first official trailer for an indie dramedy titled Best Sellers, marking the feature directorial debut of Canadian actress Lina Roessler. This film first premiered at the 2021 Berlin Film Festival earlier this year (but did not screen online initially), and is also playing at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival and Melbourne Film Festival. When Lucy inherits her father's publishing house, and realizes it's in trouble, she discovers a cranky, retired author still owes them a book. So she convinces him to reluctantly embark on a final book tour to help them out. Michael Caine co-stars with Aubrey Plaza, and a cast including Cary Elwes, Scott Speedman, Ellen Wong, and Veronica Ferres. This looks like some good indie fun, with two performances that seem to have some offbeat chemistry and charm. It also reminds...

Screen Media has acquired “Best Sellers,” a comedy with Michael Caine and Aubrey Plaza about a pair of misfits that has a literary twist. The deal is for all U.S. rights, and the company plans to release the film theatrically and on-demand in September.

Directed by Lina Roessler (“Little Whispers: The Vow”), “Best Sellers” centers on an ambitious young editor (Plaza) who decides to try to save the flailing publishing house her father left her by going on a book tour with the bitter, hard-drinking author (Caine) who helped establish the company several decades and an ocean of booze ago.

Cary Elwes, Scott Speedman, Ellen Wong and Veronica Ferres co-star in the film. The screenplay, written by Anthony Grieco, won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting award.

“Not since ‘As Good as it Gets’ have we seen such a mismatched pair take to the road,” said Screen Media in a statement.

John Malkovich and Lilly Krug will star in upcoming action-thriller “Shattered,” directed by Luis Prieto (“White Lines”).

Krug (“Swing”) plays a con-artist, Cameron Monaghan (“Shameless”) as the millionaire who falls in love with her and Malkovich (“The New Pope”) a creepy landlord whose curiosity overwhelms him. Frank Grillo (“The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard”) plays Krug’s character’s violent, manipulative stepfather. The cast also includes Sasha Luss (“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”), Ash Santos (“Joe Bell”) and Ridley Bateman (“Shelter In Place”).

The film, written by David Loughery (“The Intruder”) and produced by Silver Reel and Construction Film, has just wrapped in Montana, with much of the action taking place in the luxury surrounds of a mansion in the exclusive Big Sky ski resort. The project is now in post-production, with expected completion in fall 2021.

Claudia Bluemhuber (“The Wife”) is producing alongside Veronica Ferres of Construction Film, with Malkovich and Prieto also producing.

Silver Reel, Construction Film have wrapped production in Montana.

Lilly Krug, Cameron Monaghan, John Malkovich, and Frank Grillo will star in action thriller Shattered, which Capstone Group division Blue Box International has introduced to buyers at the virtual Cannes market.

Grindstone Entertainment Group has acquired North American rights on the film from Silver Reel and Construction Film about a boy-meets-girl romance that turns into a nightmare. Production just wrapped in Montana ahead of anticipated completion in autumn.

Luis Prieto directs from a screenplay by David Loughery, and the cast includes Sasha Luss, Ash Santos, and Ridley Bateman.

Monaghan will play wealthy divorcee Chris Decker,...

Every Breath You Take Review — Every Breath You Take (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Vaughn Stein, and starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Sam Claflin, India Eisley, Veronica Ferres, and Emily Alyn Lind. Oscar Winner Casey Affleck (Manchester By the Sea) stars in the gripping new psychological thriller Every Breath You Take, [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Every Breath You Take (2021): An Edge of Your Seat Thrill Ride...

Writer-director Emma Seligman brings her feature Shiva Baby to theaters and Tvod starting today — and it is quite a comedic ride.

Released by Utopia, Shiva Baby follows a young woman who is trying to keep the different versions of herself in order when she runs into her sugar daddy and her ex-girlfriend at a shiva with her parents.

Let’s elaborate on all of that.

Danielle (Rachel Sennott) is a college student on the verge of graduation. She has a sugar daddy Max (Danny Deferrari) that pays her on a regular basis. One day, after rushing from her sugar daddy to her neurotic parents’ family shiva, she is given the third degree by various estranged relatives about her appearance and lack of post-grad plans. Meanwhile, her ex-girlfriend, Maya (Molly Gordon) is getting all the praise because she got into law school.

Things take even more of a turn when her...

Distributed By: Vertical Entertainment Every Breath You Take In Select Theaters & Premium VOD April 2, 2021 Starring: Casey Affleck, Sam Claflin, Michelle Monaghan, Veronica Ferres, India Eisley Every Breath You Take is a searing psychological thriller about a psychiatrist (Casey Affleck), whose career is thrown into jeopardy when his patient takes her own life. …

The post *Official Trailer & Poster* Every Breath You Take – Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Sam Claflin, India Eisley appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

"My husband and I have a very different way of dealing with things." Vertical Ent. has released an official trailer for a dramatic thriller called Every Breath You Take, the latest film made by British filmmaker Vaughn Stein (of Terminal and Inheritance). A psychiatrist, whose client commits suicide, finds his family life disrupted after introducing her surviving brother to his wife and daughter. This intense psychological thriller seems to have some tricks up its sleeve, and there seems to be more secrets hiding behind everyone involved in this. Every Breath You Take features Casey Affleck, Sam Claflin, Michelle Monaghan, Veronica Ferres, and India Eisley. This looks quite slick and I enjoy every one of these actors, I'm very intrigued by this even though it all seems a bit cliche. I might still give this a look when it's out. Who else...? Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Vaughn Stein's Every Breath You Take,...

Casey Affleck, Sam Claflin, Michelle Monaghan, Veronica Ferres and India Eisley star in the thriller Every Breath You Take, which has been acquired by Vertical Entertainment. Vertical will release the film, directed by Vaughn Stein, in both North American theaters and at-home via Premium VOD on April 2nd, 2021. You’ll find the official trailer down below. “Every Breath You Take centers on a […]...

Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment said Monday that it has acquired North American rights to Every Breath You Take, a psychological thriller directed by Vaughn Stein that stars Casey Affleck, Sam Claflin, Michelle Monaghan, Veronica Ferres and India Eisley. The pic will now get a U.S. theatrical release and Premium VOD bow on April 2.

Every Breath You Take centers on a psychiatrist (Affleck) whose career is thrown into jeopardy when his patient takes her own life. When he invites his patient’s surviving brother (Claflin) into his home to meet his wife (Monaghan) and daughter (Eisley), his family life is suddenly torn apart.

The deal marks a reunion of sorts for Vertical, Stein and producer Richard Barton Lewis of Southpaw Entertainment. Vertical last year acquired the Stein-directed and Lewis-produced Inheritance, the thriller that starred Lily Collins and Simon Pegg.

“With its genuinely gripping plot that unfolds masterfully as each twist is revealed,...

Quiver distribution has debuted a new trailer for Nicholas Jarecki’s ‘Crisis’ starring Gary Oldman and Evangeline Lilly.

A drug trafficker arranges a multi-cartel Fentanyl smuggling operation. An architect recovering from an Oxycodone addiction tracks down the truth behind her son’s disappearance. A university professor battles unexpected revelations about his employer, a pharmaceutical company bringing a new “non-addictive” painkiller to market. Set against the backdrop of the opioid epidemic, their stories collide in this dramatic thriller from writer/director Nicholas Jarecki (Arbitrage).

Written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki, the film stars Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer, Evangeline Lilly, Greg Kinnear, Michelle Rodriguez, Luke Evans, Lily-Rose Depp, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, Duke Nicholson, Veronica Ferres, and Martin Donovan.

Also in trailers – Benedict Cumberbatch stars in trailer for ‘The Courier’

The film has a US cinema release of February 26th and on Digital and On Demand March 5th.

The post Gary Oldman...