News

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,...

Civil War is a fictional war drama film written and directed by Alex Garland. The A24 film is set in the near future in a dystopian future suffering from a civil war. We follow the story of a group of journalists racing against time to get to Washington D.C. so that they can interview the President before the rebel factions take over the White House and kill the President. Civil War stars Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Nick Offernman, Sonoya Mizuno, Jefferson White, Nelson Lee, Evan Lai, Jesse Plemmons, Karl Glusman, Jin Ha, and Juani Feliz starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the war drama and a story about journalists in Civil War here are some similar movies you could watch next.

Madras Cafe (Netflix & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Viacom 18 Motion Pictures

Madras Cafe is a political action thriller film directed by Shoojit Sircar.

Anthony Hopkins, who has embodied a cast of real-life characters in his long career, ranging from Richard Nixon (in Nixon) and Sigmund Freund (Freud’s Last Session) to Alfred Hitchcock (Hitchcock), and Adolf Hitler (1981 TV movie The Bunker), is set to play composer George Frideric Handel in the upcoming feature The King of Covent Garden.

Minamata filmmaker Andrew Levitas is attached to direct the biopic focused on how the German-British Baroque composer created his 1741 masterpiece Messiah. Tim Slover wrote the screenplay. Dan Lupovitz and Kevan Van Thompson will produce.

Opera star Katherine Jenkins is attached as an executive producer on the project and will be involved as a musical advisor on the project as well as helping with future marketing efforts. Peter Touche (Military Wives, The Son) is also executive producing.

Embankment Films is handling global pre-sales on The King of Covent Garden and will be pitching it to buyers at...

Anthony Hopkins is taking on yet another iconic figure, this time from the world of music.

The stage and screen legend — a two-time Academy Award winner — is attached to star as George Frideric Handel in “The King of Covent Garden,” set during the period the famed opera composer worked on his choral masterpiece “Messiah.” Embankment Films has launched global pre-sales on the project, which is scheduled for a late fall 2025 release.

Andrew Levitas (“Minimata”) will direct “The King of Covent Garden” from a script by Tim Slover, with the filmmakers pitching the feature as “a powerfully majestic celebration of genius breaking all the rules to create an anthem inspiring the popular imagination of global audiences.” Dan Lupovitz (“Death Defying Acts,” “Simpatico”) and Kevan Van Thompson (“Ballerina,” “Jojo Rabbit”) will produce.

Global operatic mezzo-soprano star Katherine Jenkins joins Peter Touche (“Military Wives,” “Blinded by the Light”) as executive producer, adding her musical performance,...

The UK’s Embankment Films has launched global pre-sales on The King Of Covent Garden starring Anthony Hopkins as composer George Frideric Handel.

The film is billed as a celebration of the genius of the Baroque composer, who was born in what is modern-day Germany before moving to London in 1712. While living in the UK he composed his masterpiece Messiah in 1741, taking inspiration from a singer named Susannah, who is yet to be cast.

US filmmaker Andrew Levitas directs from a script by Tim Slover. US-based Dan Lupovitz and Kevan Van Thompson produce.

“The storytelling is hinged upon an unlikely pair,...

Fluff your powdered wig and fill your snuffbox because a trailer for French filmmaker Maïwenn’s Jeanne Du Barry is here to give you a front-row seat to one of history’s most notorious scandals. The lavish footage depicts Johnny Depp as Louis Xv and Maïwenn Besco as Jeanne Vaubernier, a woman willing to give a gloved middle finger to tradition to rise through society’s ranks. Decadent, scandalous, and filled with more drama than a season of Bridgerton, today’s Jeanne Du Barry trailer highlights Depp’s first significant feature since his public court battle with his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Here’s the official synopsis for Jeanne Du Barry:

“Jeanne du Barry follows Jeanne Vaubernier (Maïwenn), a working-class woman determined to climb the social ladder, using her charms to escape her impoverished life. Her lover, the Comte du Barry (Melvil Poupaud), wishes to present her to King Louis Xv...

While the horror genre touched on queerness well before Hellbent was ever released, Paul Etheredge-Ouzts’ 2004 film is considered to be the first of its kind: an openly queer slasher. Without question, there is no ambiguity about the characters’ sexualities as they partake in the annual Halloween festivities in West Hollywood. The only real mystery about these men is the masked killer following them, hoping to add their names to his growing list of headless victims.

Art director Etheredge-Ouzts was first approached by producers Michael Roth, Joseph Wolf and Karen Lee Wolf in 2000 about making a gay horror film. By then, the trend of slashers hard on the heels of Scream had already reached its expiration date, but even so, what eventually became Hellbent remains a unique entry in the first major revival of slashers. And what was once coded in both past and contemporary films was now glaring and unapologetic in this one.

After receiving significant cheers at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Maïwenn’s Jeanne Du Barry is heading stateside. Vertical brings the film to North America. At the same time, Johnny Depp’s loyal supporters are eager to experience the actor’s first acting project since his lengthy court battle with ex-wife Amber Heard. The film received a seven-minute standing ovation at Cannes, with many praising Maïwenn’s period drama as an elegant look at a controversial figure in our history.

Depp plays a supporting role in the film as King Louis Xv. Maïwenn directs the feature in addition to co-starring as Louis Xv’s courtesan lover. Filming began in July last year in locations ranging from Versailles and other chateaux in Paris to France’s Why Not Productions. Jeanne du Barry is Depp’s first production in three years. Depp won his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard last...

Exclusive: Django Unchained and Captain Marvel star Samuel L. Jackson has been set to star in death-row drama Last Meals, joining the previously announced Boyd Holbrook.

Jackson will play Walter, a disgraced White House chef who finds himself many years later working in a maximum-security prison cooking last meals for inmates on death row. Holbrook will play Reed, the inmate who embarks on a hunger strike on Walter’s watch. The two men form an unlikely bond which gives Walter a look into the soul of a man who is willing to forgo his last pleasurable experience in order to protest his innocence.

This is a package whose script garnered good feedback in the last couple of years but was initially impacted by the pandemic and it has now been refashioned.

The film will now be helmed by New Yorker Andrew Levitas,...

Get your torches and canisters of snuff ready because Maïwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, a period piece starring Johnny Depp as King Louis Xv, is opening the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Maïwenn directs the feature in addition to co-starring as Louis Xv’s courtesan lover. Filming began in July last year in locations ranging from Versailles and other chateaux in Paris to France’s Why Not studio. Jeanne du Barry is Depp’s first production in three years and is bound to cause quite a stir upon release. Depp won his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard last year and is rebuilding his Hollywood reputation. While some filmmakers continue to see Depp as box office poison, Maïwenn is confident he will deliver a top-tier performance in the upcoming film.

During his time, Louis Xv reigned for 59 years, the longest in the history of France after that of Louis Xiv. Though nicknamed “the beloved,...

Japan’s Hiroyuki Sanada has become one of Hollywood’s most familiar Asian actors, with action roles in franchises like “Mortal Kombat,” “Avengers: Endgame” and now “John Wick 4,” as well as nuanced character turns in “Minamata” and “The Railway Man.”

“John Wick” star Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski created a role especially for Sanada so that he could join the action-packed universe. But it is the upcoming “Shogun” series for FX and Hulu that has given the Hollywood-based Sanada a new calling.

What do you like most about your part in ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’?

There’s a scene between John Wick and my character Shimazu Koji, up on the roof top where the two old friends are drinking whiskey. Just talking. Talking, not fighting. That’s a very rare thing in this movie. It created atmosphere and established their chemistry.

As an action franchise, “John Wick” is pretty intense.

On Friday, August 19, 2022 Amy and Gary Green are hosting an evening fundraiser at their home in Bridgehampton, New York to support the philanthropic and conservation efforts of the African Community & Conservation Fund (Accf) and Tusk, a UK-based charity headed up by Royal Patron, Prince William.

The “Karibu Africa” soireé will raise money to help Accf’s and Tusk’s many community outreach programs, wildlife protection and anti-poaching efforts, including initiatives to improve livelihoods and combat rising food poverty in East & Southern Africa, particularly Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Covid-19 devastated jobs and livelihoods across the African continent, and with few economic recovery resources, decades of conservation and community upliftment success has been put at risk. Moreover, Russia’s war in Ukraine has collaterally created a global food crisis, as wheat and other grain shipments to Africa have been cut off or dangerously delayed.

“I’m proud to be coming back...

Johnny Depp’s upcoming King Louis Xv film will stream on Netflix in France after the film’s French theatrical release, according to an individual with knowledge of the project.

“La Favorite” from director Maïwenn is set to film this summer and premiere in 2023.

Bloomberg first reported Netflix was connected to the film. However, the streamer is not co-financing the film, according to the individual who spoke to TheWrap. The film will begin streaming 15 months after its theatrical release.

Also Read:

Johnny Depp to Star as King Louis Xv in Film From French Director Maïwenn

Depp will begin shooting across France later this summer for about three months. The film is being produced by Pascal Caucheteux and Gregoire Sorlat’s Paris-based Why Not Productions. Wild Bunch International will handle international sales.

No plot or title for the film have been revealed. But King Louis Xv was known as Louis the...

Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video have both pre-bought “Puffins Impossible,” a spinoff of the animated short form series “Puffins” voiced by Johnny Depp, who is reprising his role as Johnny Puff.

The 18-episode show, which is currently in production in Serbia, is being made by Andrea Iervolino and Monica Bacardi’s Ilbe outfit via their Iervolino Studios and Serbia-based company Archangel Digital Studios.

The “Puffins Impossible” showrunner is Peter Nalli, who also made “Puffins” and “Arctic Friends.” These five-minute short form series originated from feature film “Arctic Dogs,” which was released theatrically in 2019 and became popular on Netflix. Iervolino and Bacardi acquired all spin-off rights of the animated characters from the pic.

“Puffins Impossible” is being described as the action-adventure version of “Puffins,” which is about the adventures of a group of cute arctic birds with the protagonist, Johnny Puff, voiced by Depp. In the new spinoff, Johnny Puff...

On its face, celebrating the year’s most popular films during the Academy Awards makes perfect sense — movies are a popular art, after all. But when the Academy announced that it would celebrate the Fan Favorite movies of 2021 with a Twitter poll, anyone who has spent roughly 15 minutes on Twitter could have predicted things would get weird.

Narrator: “They got weird.”

On Monday, the Academy announced 10 movies that made the cut for the #OscarsFanFavorite Leaderboard, selected via hashtags and submissions on an Academy website. “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” of course, made the list — the $1.8 billion-grossing blockbuster’s lack of Oscars nominations beyond visual effects was seen by many as the catalyst for this Fan Favorite initiative in the first place.

Presenting your #OscarsFanFavorite leaderboard. Continue casting your vote by:

1. Tweeting your favorite film from 2021 with the hashtag #OscarsFanFavorite

2. Or by voting on https://t.co/dadD2i7Cy0

Voting closes on Thursday,...

A column chronicling events and conversations on the awards circuit.

This week, Oscar’s quest to be cool with fanboys and girls continues with the introduction of a “fan favorite” Twitter initiative for Best Picture, plus bad news for Oscar voters who want to be at the Dolby. There’s also big news for the Critics Choice Awards heading to London, and I have a retro look at Ann-Margret at the Oscars including a famous pre-La La Land envelope scandal involving her 1963 film Bye Bye Birdie.

Oscar Not Holding Lottery For Members Due To Covid

Limitations on attendance for the 94th annual Academy Awards, where only 2,500 of the Dolby Theatre’s 3,300 seats will be used in order to make it more Covid-friendly, means that for a second year in a row there will be no traditional lottery, whereby AMPAS’ 10,000+ members can vie to buy seats to see the show in person.

Minami and Johnny Depp in Minamata

A celebrated artist known across Europe for his Metalwork Installations®, Andrew Levitas has worked in photography, sculpture and painting, creating his own pigments and exhibiting in numerous prestigious venues, but in recent years he has also taken an interest in film. His second feature, Minamata, takes a coruscating look at the man-made tragedy which struck a small Japanese community in the mid-Fifties, and shows how Life magazine’s war photographer, W Eugene Smith, brought it to international attention. Smith is played by Johnny Depp as you’ve never seen him before, in one of his career best performances, but the soul of the film belongs to its Japanese characters, with equally impressive work from Hiroyuki Sanada.

"He's an avatar for us, right?"

When we meet, Andrew’s passion for the subject is immediately obvious. To him it’s not just a historical story but...

Minamata, the Andrew Levitas film starring Johnny Depp, is getting a U.S. theatrical release this weekend with 27 runs, a full year after it was first skedded for U.S. screens.

Depp plays Eugene Smith, a famed photojournalist who has disconnected from the world but takes a final assignment from his Life magazine editor (Bill Nighy) in 1971 to travel to Japan and expose decades of horrific corporate malfeasance by a big chemical company. It’s an important issue movie propelled by a big star whose image took a tumble amid the ugly shrapnel of his “wife-beater” libel suit, dooming the film to a much delayed release and small opening run.

It’s playing New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Tampa, Miami, Denver, Cleveland, Orlando, Sacramento, Portland, Raleigh, Charlotte, Knoxville, Austin, Albuquerque and Cincinnati. Distributor Samuel Goldwyn Films said expansion is to be determined.

Even if you don’t know the story of heralded photographer W. Eugene Smith or the Japanese fishing village of Minamata, you are likely familiar with the photograph Tomoko and Mother in the Bath. The 1971 black-and-white photo captures Ryoko Kamimura cradling her severely deformed daughter Tomoko, a victim of Minamata disease, in a Japanese bath. The photograph was one of many featured in a 1972 issue of Life magazine depicting the horrors of the disease, a form of Mercury poisoning that was caused by industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation’s chemical factory. Smith and his wife, Aileen Mioko Smith, lived in the town from 1971 to 1973 to document the effects of Minamata disease.

Now the story of the Smiths and Minamata has been brought to the big screen by filmmaker Andrew Levitas, starring Johnny Depp as Smith, Minami as Aileen and Bill Nighy as Smith’s editor Robert Hayes. Smith is portrayed as a challenging artist,...

Johnny Depp will star as French king Louis Xv in the next film directed by French helmer Maiwenn whose shoot will begin this summer, Variety has confirmed.

The movie, whose title and exact plot are kept under wraps, is being produced by Pascal Caucheteux and Gregoire Sorlat’s Paris-based Why Not Productions (“A Prophet”), with Wild Bunch International (“Titane”) handling world sales.

Filming will take place for three months on location across Parisian landmarks, mainly at the Versailles Palace.

Maiwenn will star as Jeanne du Barry, a countess who was Louis Xv’s last mistress.

Louis Xv, who was nicknamed “the beloved” and reigned for 59 years, the longest in the history of France after that of Louis Xiv. Paradoxically, Louis Xv died as an unpopular king after being accused of corruption and debauchery. The project was first reported by the French website Satellifax.

The American actor, who has been accused...

Man with a Movie Camera: Levitas Aims for Noble Rendering of Horrific Toxic Waste Contamination

You’ve heard it before—corporate greed and government corruption colluding to cover up or continue the poisoning its local population for capital gain. In fact, it’s still going on right now in Flint, Michigan (to name one of several prominent contemporary examples). But director Andrew Levitas scores a major acquisition in star Johnny Depp to headline his sophomore directorial outing, Minamata, which recounts the travails of WWII photographer W. Eugene Smith, whose career was shortly revived in 1971 when he traveled to Minamata, Japan, commissioned by Life magazine to document the considerable effects of mercury poisoning on the local population due to the willful negligence of Chisso Corporation.…...

Minamata Trailer — Andrew Levitas‘ Minamata (2020) movie trailer has been released by Samuel Goldwyn Films. The Minamata trailer stars Johnny Depp, Bill Nighy, Hiroyuki Sanada, Jun Kunimura, Ryo Kase, Minami, Tadanobu Asano, Katherine Jenkins, and Akiko Iwase. Crew David Kessler, Stephen Deuters, Andrew Levitas, and Jason Forman wrote the screenplay for Minamata. Ryuichi Sakamoto [...]

Continue reading: Minamata (2020) U.S. Movie Trailer: War Photographer Johnny Depp documents the Mercury Poisoning of a Japanese Town...

"We need global attention." "With you, we have a better chance." Goldwyn Films has released an official US trailer for the film Minamata, made by filmmaker / artist Andrew Levitas. This originally premiered at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival last year, and has taken all this time to get released. The film tells the story of the final days and final work of famed war photographer W. Eugene Smith, played by Johnny Depp. Smith travels to Japan in the 70s where he embeds himself in a small town and documents the devastating effects of mercury poisoning in communities due to a greedy corporation dumping toxic chemicals and denying it. A powerful story about the impact of photojournalism. Also with Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Katherine Jenkins, Jun Kunimura, Lily Robinson, Ryo Kase, Akiko Iwase, Minami, plus Bill Nighy. I watched this at Berlinale and loved it, writing in my review: "there's something wondrous and yet compellingly authentic.

Exclusive: Johnny Depp movie Minamata is finally getting a U.S. release, we can reveal, but not from MGM which had previously acquired the film.

Iervolino and Lady Bacardi Entertainment (Ilbe) are now teaming up with Samuel Goldwyn Films to give the movie a North American release in theaters beginning December 15. The platformed release is due to extend across U.S. and Canada into 2022 and the team are looking to position it for awards consideration.

This update comes after the film’s director, Andrew Levitas, complained earlier this year that MGM was “burying” Minamata due to Depp’s well publicized off-screen issues. You can read the filmmaker’s impassioned letter to the studio here. Depp also decried the non-release in an interview in August in which he said the film deserved to be seen but was shelved because he was being “boycotted” by Hollywood.

Minamata charts the true story of...

Italy’s Lux Vide, which has been pushing into the U.S. and international markets with high-end shows such as “Medici” and “Leonardo,” recently appointed former Warner Bros. Italy senior exec Barbara Pavone as its chief marketing and sales officer.

As part of her job Pavone, who is attending Mipcom, is dealing with Lux’s international co-productions and partnerships. Not surprisingly, one of her biggest challenges is retaining IP when she negotiates with streamers such as Netflix.

“It’s a privilege to work with global streaming platforms,” says Pavone who recently helped seal Lux’s first deal with a major streamer, details of which are being kept under wraps.

“For Lux it’s a priority to really act as a media company and retain as much as possible [of] the rights,” she notes.

But “with the streamers it’s a constant negotiation: they want them [the rights] all” Pavone adds, proudly pointing out...

Andy Serkis is having a big week in the comic book space. His new directorial effort, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, hits Friday, and now he’s announcing another dive into the comic book world, this time as the co-creator of a new series released by Scout Comics.

The seven-issue Eternus, co-created with director Andrew Levitas, is inspired by myth and takes place in 360 Ad, 30 years after the murder of Zeus in his own temples. Zeus’ son, Heracles, is now a depressed drunk, while the old gods struggle to stay alive after decades of Christian disruption. When Athena’s Temple is sacked ...

Andy Serkis is having a big week in the comic book space. His new directorial effort, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, hits Friday, and now he’s announcing another dive into the comic book world, this time as the co-creator of a new series released by Scout Comics.

The seven-issue Eternus, co-created with director Andrew Levitas, is inspired by myth and takes place in 360 Ad, 30 years after the murder of Zeus in his own temples. Zeus’ son, Heracles, is now a depressed drunk, while the old gods struggle to stay alive after decades of Christian disruption. When Athena’s Temple is sacked ...

Johnny Depp appeared at the San Sebastian Film Festival this week to receive the event’s honorary Donostia Award, and he used the corresponding press conference to rail against cancel culture (via Deadline). The actor told attendees that “no one is safe” from cancel culture and that people must “stand up” for people facing “injustice.”

“It can be seen as an event in history that lasted for however long it lasted, this cancel culture, this instant rush to judgement based on what essentially amounts to polluted air,” Depp said. “It’s so far out of hand now that I can promise you that no one is safe. Not one of you. No one out that door. No one is safe.”

Depp continued, “It takes one sentence and there’s no more ground, the carpet has been pulled. It’s not just me that this has happened to, it’s happened to a lot of people.

Stars: Shea Whigham, Olivia Munn, Taryn Manning, Frank Grillo, Bruce Dern, Keith David, Mark Boone Junior, Zach Avery, Alexander Wraith, Jay Hieron, Taegen Burns, Nick Daly, Richard Strauss, Shannon Adawn | Written by Michele Civetta, Andrew Levitas, Alex Felix Bendaña | Directed by Michele Civetta

I have been known from time to time watch a flick based solely on its cast. Take Sam Rockwell for instance, the trailer could be awful but I’m still going to watch it because it’s Sam ‘freaking’ Rockwell. Recently Frank Grillo has made his way onto this list after a string of spot on supporting roles and the odd leading man performance… So you can imagine my giddy glee to see the man teaming up with The Newsroom‘s Olivia Munn for an “action thriller” romp. The movie is called The Gateway and I’m about to get into it for you all right now!

Despite an apparent last-minute sense of concern by Karlovy Vary fest organizers over international press coverage of Johnny Depp and his ongoing legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard over domestic abuse allegations, the rocker/actor/producer made his appearances without much fuss and introduced the docu he co-produced, “Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan” to welcoming crowds on Friday.

Depp’s other project at the Czech fest, the Japan-set thriller “Minamata,” filmed largely in Serbia in 2020, directed by Andrew Levitas and starring Depp as an alcoholic photojournalist, screens at Karlovy Vary’s Municipal Theater on Saturday, a historic 18th-century venue midway along the spa town’s ornate Promenade.

Taking the stage with Karlovy Vary artistic director Karel Och, the “Crock of Gold” director Julien Temple, producer Stephen Deuters and MacGowan’s wife Victoria Clarke, Depp described the filming of the 2020 rockumentary as something akin to catching and...

Today we’re pleased to bring you interviews with Johnny Depp, director Andrew Levitas and Hiroyuki Sanada and living legend Bill Nighy for Minamata. The film stars Johnny Depp as celebrated war photographer W. Eugene Smith, alongside Minami, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ryo Kase, Jun Kunimura, Bill Nighy and Katherine Jenkins.

Plot: New York, 1971. Following his celebrated days as one of the most revered photojournalists of World War II, W. Eugene Smith (Johnny Depp) has become a recluse, disconnected from society and his career. But a secret commission from Life magazine editor Robert Hayes (Bill Nighy) sends him to the Japanese coastal city of Minamata, which has been ravaged by mercury poisoning; the result of decades of gross industrial negligence by the country’s Chisso Corporation.

There, Smith immerses himself in the community, documenting their efforts to live with Minamata Disease and their passionate campaign to achieve recognition from Chisso and the Japanese government.

Johnny Depp told The Sunday Times in a new interview that he is being boycotted by Hollywood.

Depp notably lost a libel case last year against The Sun, which referred to Depp as a “wife beater” while covering his divorce from Amber Heard. Depp exited Warner Bros.’ “Fantastic Beasts” franchise after the verdict and was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen. The actor’s latest film, the Andrew Levitas-directed drama “Minimata,” has not been dated for release. Levitas alleged MGM was “burying” the movie because it “was concerned about the possibility that the personal issues of an actor in the film could reflect negatively upon them.”

“Minamata” was picked up by MGM’s American International Pictures last fall. The film world premiered in February 2020 at the Berlin International Film Festival. Depp stars in the film as photojournalist Eugene Smith, and he also produced the movie. Smith traveled to Minamata, Japan in...

Johnny Depp said he feels he is being boycotted by Hollywood, as his latest film “Minamata” has yet to score a U.S. release.

In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Depp — whose ex-wife Amber Heard accused him of domestic violence — called his fall from Hollywood’s good graces an “absurdity of media mathematics.”

Directed by Andrew Levitas, “Minamata” stars Depp as W Eugene Smith, an American photojournalist who helped expose the tragic effects of mercury poisoning on Japanese coastal communities in the 1970s.

Last year, Depp lost a libel case against British tabloid The Sun, which referred to the actor as a “wife beater” in an article about him and Heard. The court ruled that the paper proved the content of its article to be “substantially true,” and the judge found that 12 of the 14 alleged incidents of domestic violence had occurred.

MGM then reportedly switched the U.S.

A Sunday Times interview with Johnny Depp featured a claim by the 58-year-old actor that he is being “boycotted by Hollywood.”

In the interview, published on Saturday in the UK, Depp spoke out about where he stands with the industry and his film, Minamata, which is just being released in the UK. Depp stars in the drama as the photojournalist Eugene Smith. The film is directed by Andrew Levitas.

Smith was known for his “photographic essays” in Life magazine, but had become something of a recluse. Yet he was convinced to visit the town of Minamata in Japan to photograph and document the effects of mercury poisoning wrought by industrial pollution and corporate greed. He faced reprisals for his activities from the polluters, but still brought forth a compelling photographic essay.

Depp’s film has yet to be released in the US. Director Lewis has claimed MGM is “burying” the...

Johnny Depp’s ‘Minamata’ and horror sequel ‘Don’t Breathe 2’ are also out.

The Ryan Reynolds-led Free Guy looks to be the likeliest contender this weekend to break into a UK-Ireland box office top five that has been static for the past two sessions, with The Suicide Squad in the number one spot, followed by Jungle Cruise in second place.

Disney is releasing Free Guy, directed by Shawn Levy and also starring Jodie Comer and Taika Waititi, in 625 locations. Reynolds plays a background character in a video game he does not even realise he is living in, who finally...

San Sebastian Film Festival has hit back at its critics after taking some flak this week for deciding to give its honorary Donostia Award to Johnny Depp.

Last year, Depp lost a high-profile libel case with UK tabloid The Sun over its description of him as a “wife beater” in regards to his relationship with ex-wife Amber Heard. The UK court declared that the allegation was “substantially true”, essentially tarring the actor with that damming label.

Shortly after the verdict, Depp was axed from the Fantastic Beasts franchise by Warner Bros, and more recently Minimata director Andrew Levitas claimed that MGM had shelved his film because it starred Depp.

Today, San Sebastian director José Luis Rebordinos came out firing in his response to those who had criticized the event for its decision. In a lengthy statement, he reaffirmed the fest’s commitment to “fighting inequality”. He also said Depp had “not been arrested,...

Johnny Depp is to receive the San Sebastian Film Festival’s (Sept 17-25) Donostia Award, its highest accolade.

The festival today described Depp as “one of contemporary cinema’s most talented and versatile actors”. The ceremony feting the U.S. star will take place on September 22 at the festival’s Kursaal Auditorium.

Depp was at the European festival last year to present Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane McGowan. He also made a fleeting appearance at the Spanish fest in 1998 with Terry Gilliam.

Recent recipients of the Donostia Award include Ethan Hawke, Sigourney Weaver, Judy Dench, Penelope Cruz and Viggo Mortensen.

The award for Depp is likely to raise some eyebrows given the high-profile and ongoing legal entanglements for the Pirates Of The Caribbean star. But San Sebastian has not been afraid to zig when others have zagged in recent years. Last year the event opened with Woody Allen’s latest film,...

“Minamata” director Andrew Levitas has sent a letter to MGM (via Deadline) condemning the studio for allegedly burying his historical drama because it stars Johnny Depp. The film was picked up by MGM’s relaunched American International Pictures last fall after world premiering in February 2020 at the Berlin International Film Festival. MGM told Deadline the film is not buried and is just waiting for a release date. Deadline reports the film initially had a day-and-date push set for February 2021 but did not get released.

Johnny Depp stars in “Minamata” as photojournalist Eugene Smith, who takes an assignment from Life magazine to expose “decades of gross negligence by the Chisso Corporation.” Bill Nighy and Hiroyuki Sanada co-star in the movie alongside Ryo Kase, Tadanobu Asano, and Akiko Iwase. Depp’s star has fallen in recent months after he lost a libel case against The Sun, which referred to Depp as a...

Exclusive: Director Andrew Levitas has sent a letter of complaint to MGM and others to protest what he claims is a decision to “bury” the film Minamata because of the personal baggage of its star, Johnny Depp. The film lays bare the scandalous neglect that the Chisso Corporation displayed in the Japanese coastal city where locals were ravaged by mercury poisoning from chemicals dumped into the waters by a factory, which spread to local population through the ingestion of fish. It was exposed in the 1950s.

In the film, Depp plays Eugene Smith, a famed photojournalist who has disconnected from the world but takes a final assignment from his Life magazine editor (Bill Nighy). He is accompanied by a Japanese translator (Minami) and encouraged by a local villager (Hiroyuki Sanada) as he helps expose decades of gross negligence by the Chisso Corporation. Minamata also stars Jun Kunimura, Ryo Kase, Tadanobu Asano and Akiko Iwase.

Exclusive: Grindstone Entertainment Group has picked up North American rights to The Gateway, the crime thriller starring Shea Whigham, Olivia Munn, Frank Grillo, Bruce Dern, Taryn Manning, Keith David and Mark Boone Junior.

Michele Civetta directs the feature about a social worker who intervenes when a family is led towards a life of crime by a patriarch newly out of prison. We can reveal some first-look images from the movie.

Grindstone will distribute in September and international sales firm WTFilms is screening the movie for the first time during the Cannes virtual market this week. The movie has already pre-sold in 15 territories including Signature Entertainment for UK and Aus/Nz, and Splendid for Germany.

Pic was written by Alix Felix, Civetta and Andrew Levitas. Producers are Levitas and Stephen Israel. Levitas recently wrote, directed and produced MGM’s upcoming Minamata starring Johnny Depp, Bill Nighy and Hiroyuki Sanada.

“The phenomenal...

Exclusive: The Shield exec producer Scott Rosenbaum is developing an adaptation of Italian drama series Sandokan with Devils producer Lux Vide.

Rosenbaum, who was also an EP on NBC’s Chuck, is set as showrunner for the project, which will refocus the popular European pirate story with a female focus.

It is part of a push into the U.S. and international markets for Luca and Matilde Bernabei’s Italian production company, which has also set Andrew Levitas to develop series about Caravaggio and Michelangelo.

Eight-part series Sandokan is a fresh take on the 1970s series from public broadcaster Rai. It was developed by Italian writers Alessandro Sermoneta and Davide Lantieri and will lean heavily into a female perspective, as told by our heroine, Lady Marianna – a noble woman who has been kidnapped by Sandokan and his band of pirates, eventually, willingly joining their crusade and becoming one of the...

Thanks in no small part to the presence in of its lead actor in Potsdamer Platz, Minamata was among the starrier titles premiering at the 2020 Berlinale (which was, incredibly, an in-person event just a year ago). The drama, directed by Andrew Levitas, featured Johnny Depp as noted American photographer Eugene Smith, who in the 1970s would document the devastating effects of mercury poisoning in coastal Japan.

12 months on and — with the world, cinema industry and Depp’s career having experienced something of a nosedive — the film is yet to hit cinemas, with U.S. distributor MGM having held back the ...

Thanks in no small part to the presence in of its lead actor in Potsdamer Platz, Minamata was among the starrier titles premiering at the 2020 Berlinale (which was, incredibly, an in-person event just a year ago). The drama, directed by Andrew Levitas, featured Johnny Depp as noted American photographer Eugene Smith, who in the 1970s would document the devastating effects of mercury poisoning in coastal Japan.

12 months on and — with the world, cinema industry and Depp’s career having experienced something of a nosedive — the film is yet to hit cinemas, with U.S. distributor MGM having held back the ...

Chloé Zhao’s drama, shot by Joshua James Richards, also picked up the Fipresci Award.

Nomadland cinematographer Joshua James Richards was awarded the Golden Frog at Poland’s EnergaCamerimage International Film Festival on Saturday (November 21).

The US drama, starring Frances McDormand and directed by Chloé Zhao, also won the Fipresi award. Nomadland is a strong awards season contender and previously won the Golden Lion at Venice and People’s Choice audience award at Toronto.

The 28th edition of the cinematography festival, which took place entirely online this year, closed with Andrew Levitas’ Minamata and an honorary award for the film’s star,...

Indie ethos, costume drama and rich fantasy won the day at the world’s top cinematography event, EnergaCamerimage Film Festival, on Saturday, with Joshua James Richards’ naturalistic filming in Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” taking the Golden Frog plus Fipresci jury honors. The chronicle of life on the rough edges of America’s society among retirees living on the road in trailers, based on Jessica Bruder’s nonfiction book “Nomadland: Surviving in the Twenty-First Century,” is considered a strong Oscars contender.

The 28th edition of Camerimage also wrapped with its award to an actor of unique visual sensitivity for Johnny Depp, whose Japan-set war correspondent story “Minamata,” filmed by Benoit Delhomme, screened at the fest. Depp said in a letter to the fest that shooting with the celebrated Dp was “a sort of dance” encouraged by director Andrew Levitas, who “encouraged us to explore.”

Fest president Marek Zydowicz described the fest...

MGM has bought the Johnny Depp drama “Minamata” and has set an awards-season release of Feb. 5, 2021, through its revived American International Pictures label.

MGM also acquired all rights to “Minamata” in Canada, Germany and Switzerland. The film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February.

Set in 1971, Depp portrays photojournalist Eugene Smith, who’s become a recluse and disconnected from the world he once shot. After receiving one final assignment from Life Magazine editor Robert Hayes (played by Bill Nighy), he must travel to the Japanese coastal city of Minamata, which has been ravaged by mercury poisoning. Assisted by an impassioned Japanese translator and encouraged by local villagers, his powerful images expose decades of gross negligence by the country’s Chisso Corporation.

“Minamata” also stars Jun Kunimura, Ryo Kase, Tadanobu Asano and Akiko Iwase. Andrew Levitas directed the film from a screenplay by Levitas, David K. Kessler, Stephen Deuters and Jason Forman.

MGM has acquired “Minamata” starring Johnny Depp that will be released by MGM’s American International Pictures (Aip) label on Feb. 5, 2021, according to an individual with knowledge of the project. Additionally, MGM also acquired all rights to “Minamata” in Canada, Germany and Switzerland

The film received its World Premiere as a Berlinale Special Gala as part of the Berlin International Film Festival 2020. Depp received some of the best reviews of his career for portraying photojournalist Eugene Smith.

Per the film’s description, inspired by a true story, Depp plays W. Eugene Smith, a war photographer from World War II, who in 1971, goes up against a powerful corporation responsible for poisoning the people of Minamata, Japan. With the glory days of World War II far behind him, Smith has become a recluse, disconnected from society and his career. But an old friend and a commission from “Life Magazine” editor Ralph Graves...

Exclusive: MGM has acquired the Johnny Depp-starrer Minamata, through its American International Pictures label. The Andrew Levitas-directed drama has been set for a February 5 release, dropping into the extended awards season as a theatrical and day and date PVOD release. The film made its world premiere during the Berlin International Film Festival last February. In addition to U.S. rights, MGM acquired Canada, Germany and Switzerland.

While the recent focus on Depp has come for all the wrong reasons in a libel case he pressed against the Rupert Murdoch British tabloid The Sun for calling him a “wife beater” (a court ruling is expected Monday), this is a chance for the focus to swing back to his chameleonic screen work.

In a drama inspired by a true story, Depp plays Eugene Smith, a famed photojournalist who has disconnected from the world but takes a final assignment from his...

Johnny Depp will be awarded the Camerimage Award for “an actor with unique visual sensitivity” at the EnergaCamerimage Film Festival. “Minamata,” starring Depp, will be the closing film of the 28th edition of the event, which focuses on cinematography.

Due to the pandemic, Depp will be unable to accept the award in person, but will connect to the ceremony remotely from the U.S. Depp has appeared in person at other fall festivals, including Zurich and San Sebastian, but Covid-19 levels have now risen across Europe.

The screening of “Minamata,” which was directed by Andrew Levitas and shot by cinematographer Benoît Delhomme, will take place on Nov. 21 in Toruń’s Jordanki Festival Center, following the closing gala and awards ceremony. The festival announced its competition lineup at the weekend, which includes critics’ favorites “Ammonite” and “Nomadland.”

“Minamata,” Levitas’ sophomore feature, tells the story of how war photographer W. Eugene Smith...

European Film Awards Head Online

The 33rd European Film Awards have pivoted to a virtual ceremony as the pandemic continues to disrupt international travel plans. Scheduled to take place on December 12 in Reykjavik, the event will now go fully digital for this year, before returning to the Icelandic capital in 2021. Organizers of the European Film Academy said they are working on a concept for a week of additional online-events to involve its partners and members. Nominations for the awards will be announced online on November 10. “The decision was not easy but it was made with responsibility and out of care for our guests. No one is more disappointed than our Icelandic friends and we, at Efa, that we will not be able to come together in Reykjavik this year,” said Efa Chairman Mike Downey.

Jude & Raff Law Short

Jude Law and son Raff Law are starring in short film The Hat.