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Exclusive: Jackie Cruz (Orange Is the New Black), Penelope Mitchell (Oh Canada) and Jeff Adler (Greyhound) will round out the cast of Woozy, the forthcoming indie horror pic marking the feature debut of writer-director Joey Bicicchi, on which we were first to report.

Details as to the roles to be played by the trio haven’t been disclosed. Production on the film is currently underway in New Jersey.

Woozy is a film that tells of unhealthy coping mechanisms and the battle against fears, depression, phobias, and delusions. Dusty (Hirsch) has deliberately structured his life, through meditation, yoga, boxing, nutrition, and hygiene, to create a clean and safe environment. But what happens when Dusty’s flawless system fails? Out comes Woozy, a horrifying apparition who torments Dusty.

Pic’s producers include Keith Kjarval for Unified Pictures, Lalit Bhatnagar (One Amazing Thing) for Imagination Infinite Productions,...

Chicago – Michael Shannon is also a film director. The distinctive actor, who has wowed cinema fans with his performances over the years, showcased his directorial debut at the 59th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) with “Eric Larue.” Shannon did a master class on directing, walked the Red Carpet and appeared at the film screening.

Janice Larue is (Judy Greer) a middle-aged mother coming to terms with a shooting spree perpetrated by her son. Adapted from Brett Neveu’s 2002 play — which debuted at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago — the film follows the shell-shocked Janice as she attempts to navigate the tragedy in her small town. While a local pastor tries to reconcile Janice with the victims’ mothers, Janice’s feeble husband (Alexander Skarsgård) finds refuge in an upstart church led by a motivational preacher (Tracy Letts). But Janice must find her own way. The film was a Special Presentation of the 59th Ciff.

Taissa Farmiga, an American actress, was born on August 17, 1994. She hails from Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, and is the younger sister of actress Vera Farmiga. Known for her appearances in numerous horror films, she has gained recognition as a prominent scream queen.

Encouraged by her sister, Farmiga embarked on her acting career by making her debut in Vera Farmiga’s film, Higher Ground (2011). Subsequently, she gained prominence for her work on the anthology series American Horror Story, where she starred in the seasons Murder House (2011), Coven (2013–2014), Roanoke (2016), and Apocalypse (2018). In her early film roles, she appeared in the romantic comedy At Middleton (2013), the crime drama The Bling Ring (2013), and the psychological thriller Mindscape (2013), which marked her first leading role.

Farmiga received praise for her performances in the comedy slasher film The Final Girls (2015) and the drama films 6 Years (2015) and Share (2015), all of which premiered at South by Southwest. These...

There’s a scene in Bullet Train that perfectly illustrates what a misfire this supposed action comedy is. A bunch of rival assassins with overlapping and clashing objectives are all on the same overnight high-speed train from Tokyo to Kyoto. Two of them — Brad Pitt’s “Ladybug” and Brian Tyree Henry’s “Lemon” — find themselves in a face-to-face encounter in the quiet car. Naturally, the confrontation turns violent. In a movie that actual took action comedy seriously, this might have been hilarious: How do you beat someone up, maybe even kill them, without making any noise? But here, after the barest nod to the need for silence, rowdy fisticuffs commence, and the only concession to comedy — allegedly — is Pitt snapping at the civilian who shushes them to “eat a bag of dicks”… and then apologizing, because, you see, he’s on a journey to be a better person.

My god,...

Exclusive: Kirby Howell-Baptiste (The Sandman), Darrell Britt-Gibson (We Own This City) and Taissa Farmiga (The Gilded Age) will star in the upcoming romance She Taught Love, which music video helmer Nate Edwards is directing for Marginal Mediaworks, in his feature debut.

The film written by Britt-Gibson—in his feature screenwriting debut—is billed as the love story of this generation, between a guy on a self-destructive path and a girl with an expiration date. What a perfect time to meet and fall in love…

Marginal MediaWorks’ founder Sanjay Sharma and Head of Film Milan Chakraborty will produce alongside Hadley Klein and Pete Van Auker, with Britt-Gibson and Howell-Baptiste serving as executive producers.

“Making a film like She Taught Love feels like a revolutionary act, but it shouldn’t. Hollywood loves to turn out stories of Black trauma, but we’re so much more than that. In fact, we are everything,...

Exclusive: Two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) and Reacher breakout Alan Ritchson have signed on to star in the film Ordinary Angels from Kingdom Story Company, which Lionsgate will distribute.

Set against the backdrop of the worst snowstorm in Kentucky history, pic is inspired by the incredible true story of a struggling hairdresser (Swank) who single-handedly rallies an entire community to help a widowed father (Ritchson) save the life of his critically ill young daughter.

Jon Gunn (The Unbreakable Boy) is directing, having written the most recent draft of the script with Jon Erwin. Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig penned an earlier draft. Kingdom Story Company’s Kevin Downes, Jon Erwin and Andrew Erwin are producing alongside Stampede Ventures’ Jon Berg, Vertigo Entertainment’s Roy Lee, Stolen Sky Productions’ Dave Matthews and Johnathan Dorfman, and Green Hummingbird Entertainment’s David Beal and Sarah Johnson. Chelsea Kujawa...

Exclusive: Aimee Garcia and Freddie Prinze Jr. have signed on to star in an untitled holiday rom-com that Gabriela Tagliavini (Despite Everything) is directing for Netflix.

Pic centers on Angelina, a pop star feeling career burnout, who escapes to grant a young fan’s wish in small town New York. There, she not only finds the inspiration to revitalize her career, but also a shot at true love.

Jennifer C. Stetson and Paco Farias wrote the original screenplay, with Michael Varrati handling revisions.

German Michael Torres is producing for GMT Films, alongside Lucas Jarach, with Eric Brenner serving as the film’s executive producer.

Garcia is a SAG Award nominee known for her series regular role as Ella Lopez in Netflix’s Lucifer. The actress will next be seen in the second season of Hulu’s Woke and in Richard Gray’s Western...

Exclusive: Emma Roberts, John Gallagher Jr. and two-time Oscar nominee Michael Shannon will topline Spencer Squire’s first feature, Abandoned, which is also the first to be fully financed through the partnership between Vertical Entertainment and Three Point Capital.

The recently wrapped thriller written by Squire, Jessica Scott, and Erik Patterson follows a mother, father, and infant son as they move into a remote farmhouse, which harbors a dark, tragic history. As their home’s past is revealed, the mother’s fragility escalates to a state of psychosis that jeopardizes her own safety and that of her newborn son.

Roberts is producing with Robert Ogden Barnum, Eric Binns, and Byron Wetzel, with Neal Dodson, Andrew Gans, David Gendron, Neil Gobioff, Rich Goldberg, Peter Jarowey, Ali Jazayeri, Shawn Paonessa, Oliver Ridge, Zachary Quinto, Viviana Zarragoitia, Michael Reiser, Delos Chang,...

Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Luke Grimes (Yellowstone), Nico Santos (Crazy Rich Asians) and Blythe Danner (I’ll See You in My Dreams) have signed on to star in Happiness for Beginners, a Netflix romantic comedy from writer-director Vicky Wight.

The film is based on Katherine Center’s novel of the same name and centers on Helen (Kemper), who signs up for a wilderness survival course a year after getting divorced. She discovers through this experience that in getting she has found herself.

Wight is producing the film with Geoff Linville and Berry Meyerowitz. Jeff Sackman and Larry Greenburg are its executive producers. Information on the roles to be played by Grimes, Santos and Danner has not yet been disclosed.

Kemper is a two-time Emmy nominee perhaps best known for her starring turn in Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and for her portrayal of Erin Hannon...

The summer movie season may be winding down, but HBO Max is keeping the movie ball rolling in September 2021. HBO Max’s list of new releases this month is heavy on the film side of things – both in library and original offerings.

Two Warner Bros. films of note arrive this month. The James Wan-directed horror tale Malignant premieres on Sept. 10 and is followed by Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho on Sept. 17. The next installment in Adventure Time: Distant Lands (which is kind of like a film series!) is titled Wizard City and opens the month on Sept. 2

Of course, it wouldn’t be a new month of HBO Max releases without some interesting evergreen Warner movie titles. Sept. 1 finds all eight Harry Potter movies returning to WarnerMedia’s streaming service. They will be accompanied by The Goonies, The Evil Dead, Cloverfield, and more. Later on in the month, Mortal Kombat (Sept.

Exclusive: Aimee Garcia has joined the cast of Woke.

The Hulu series, co-created by Keith Knight and Marshall Todd, centers on Keef Knight (Lamorne Morris), an African-American cartoonist who finds himself on the verge of mainstream success when an unexpected incident changes his life. With a newfound consciousness, Keef must navigate the new voices and ideas challenging him, all without setting fire to everything he’s already built.

In the comedy’s second season, Garcia will play Laura Salgado, a likable but formidable self-made Silicon Valley venture capitalist who is interested in working with Knight.

Knight and Todd exec produce Woke, alongside Maurice “Mo” Marable, Richie Schwartz, John Will, Will Gluck and Eric Christian Olsen. Anthony King is also on board as an exec producer for Season 2.

Garcia is known for her turn as Ella Lopez on Netflix’s Lucifer and recently...

In a competitive deal, Sight Unseen has acquired the film rights to Bess Kalb’s wildly imaginative memoir, “Nobody Will Tell You This But Me,” which was published by Knopf on March 17. Elizabeth Chomko will direct from a script adapted by Kalb.

Sight Unseen’s Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, and Oren Moverman will produce. Chomko will also produce alongside Justin Grey Stone for Entertainment 360, who brought her the source material, with Kalb exec producing. Rachel Jacobs will oversee for Sight Unseen.

The story is told by Kalb, who saved every voicemail her grandmother Bobby Bell ever left her before she died at 90.

Chomko most recently wrote and directed the family drama and her feature debut “What They Had,” starring Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon and Robert Forster. The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and was later released in theaters by Bleecker Street. Her script for the film earned...

Sight Unseen Pictures, the production company behind Justin Simien’s Sundance thriller, Bad Hair, has nabbed the film rights to Bess Kalb’s memoir, Nobody Will Tell You This But Me. Elizabeth Chomko, who made her directorial debut with What They Had, starring Hilary Swank and Michael Shannon, will direct the feature adaptation.

Kalb, an Emmy-nominated and Writers Guild award-winning writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, will pen the screenplay. Kalb has also written for the Oscars and Emmys and is a regular contributor to The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts.

More from DeadlineElizabeth Chomko Explored Loss & Found Everything To Gain In Directorial Debut, 'What They Had'Hilary Swank & Robert Forster Take A Personal Journey With Elizabeth Chomko In 'What They Had' - The Contenders La'What They Had' Director & Cast Speak On The Film's Multi-Generational Coming-Of-Age Story - Toronto Studio

The novel, published by Knopf on March 17, centers on Kalb...

With 2019 now ending, Gold Derby celebrates over 40 celebrities who died in the past 12 months. Tour our photo gallery above as we feature tributes to these actors, actresses, musicians, producers and entertainers from this past year.

Just a few of the people honored in our special photo gallery:

Iconic singer and actress Diahann Carroll died at age 84 on October 4. She was the first African-American woman to star on her own TV show. She also starred in “Dynasty” and was inducted into the TV Hall of Fame in 2011. She was an Oscar nominee for “Claudine” in 1974.

Tim Conway died on May 14 at age 85. The comedy legend won six Emmy Awards during his lengthy career, including four for “The Carol Burnett Show,” one for “Coach” and one for “30 Rock.” He was inducted into the TV Academy Hall of Fame in 2002.

SEEDoris Day movies: 20 greatest films ranked worst to best

Legendary singer and...

Vince Vaughn and “Catastrophe” star Sharon Horgan are set to star in a romantic dramedy called “The Last Drop” from the producer of “Eighth Grade” and a director on the series “Ramy,” Christopher Storer. Endeavor Content will introduce the film to buyers at the American Film Market.

Storer will direct the film from a script by Brandon and Phillip Murphy and Elizabeth Chomko (“What They Had”).

“The Last Drop” is the story of a culinary show host named Clay Mason (Vaughn) who is the life of a never-ending party. Charming his way through endless meals and long nights of drinking has finally brought his career to the tipping point of ultimate success. But just as his debilitating lifestyle begins to unwind his career, he crosses paths with a spirited woman named Holly (Horgan) who specializes in reclaiming lost, undervalued items for her antique shop. As Holly peers past Clay’s...

Vince Vaughn and Sharon Horgan are set to star in Christopher Storer’s romantic dramedy “The Last Drop.” The pic is being produced by 21 Laps’ Shawn Levy and Dan Levine, both Oscar-nominated for “Arrival,” and their 21 Laps partner Dan Cohen, Emmy-nominated alongside Levy for “Stranger Things,” and Jen Dana of 3311, which is co-financing with Endeavor Content.

Endeavor Content is representing worldwide sales and will introduce the film to buyers at Afm.

“The Last Drop,” written by Brandon Murphy, Phillip Murphy, and Elizabeth Chomko (“What They Had”), follows culinary show host Clay Mason (Vaughn), a charming bon vivant whose endless meals and long nights of drinking have brought his career to a tipping point. Just as his debilitating lifestyle begins to unwind his career, he crosses paths with Holly (Horgan), a spirited antiques dealer who sees through Clay’s bravado and helps him find the strength to pull out of his tailspin.

It is no surprise how many people are expressing grief at the death of Robert Forster from brain cancer at age 78. It was far too soon. He’s actually on screen now, in Vince Gilligan’s “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie,” which hit both theaters and Netflix this weekend.

Anyone who met Forster knows what a kindly man he was, often handing out elegant silver letter openers to set visitors and new acquaintances; he gave me my second at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, where he was promoting the intimate family drama “What They Had.” He steals the movie and provides its emotional center as the tough but vulnerable patriarch doggedly hanging onto his wife (Blythe Danner) as she slips into Alzheimer’s.

Bryan Cranston described his “Alligator,” “Breaking Bad,” and “El Camino” costar Forster as a “lovely man and a consummate actor,” he tweeted. “I never...

It is no surprise how many people are expressing grief at the death of Robert Forster from brain cancer at age 78. It was far too soon. He’s actually on screen now, in Vince Gilligan’s “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie,” which hit both theaters and Netflix this weekend.

Anyone who met Forster knows what a kindly man he was, often handing out elegant silver letter openers to set visitors and new acquaintances; he gave me my second at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, where he was promoting the intimate family drama “What They Had.” He steals the movie and provides its emotional center as the tough but vulnerable patriarch doggedly hanging onto his wife (Blythe Danner) as she slips into Alzheimer’s.

Bryan Cranston described his “Alligator,” “Breaking Bad,” and “El Camino” costar Forster as a “lovely man and a consummate actor,” he tweeted. “I never...

Los Angeles – The unforgettable actor Robert Forster had one of the most celebrated of “second acts” in show biz history, but he would humbly characterize himself as a “working actor,” performing in film and TV for over 50 years. Forster passed away on October 11th, 2019, in Los Angeles. He was 78 years old.

Robert Wallace Forster Jr. was born in Rochester, New York, and graduated from the University of Rochester in the mid-1960s. His father had done time as an elephant trainer for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circuses, so the show business coursing through his blood changed his ambitions from the legal profession to acting. After making his Broadway debut in 1965 with “Mrs. Dolly,” the rave reviews got him a screen test at 20th Century Fox, and he was one of the last put under contract by old school studio chief Darryl Zanuck.

Robert Forster at the 54th Chicago...

Robert Forster, a prolific character actor who was nominated for an Oscar for Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown” and appeared in more than 100 films, died Friday in Los Angeles of brain cancer. He was 78.

Tarantino created the bail bondsman character Max Cherry with Forster in mind, and the role netted him his first Academy Award nomination.

Most recently Forster reprised his “Breaking Bad” role as Ed in “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie,” which was released Friday, and appeared in Steven Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories” and in “Werewolf.”

David Lynch cast the actor with a distinctive weathered look in “Mulholland Dr.” and in the rebooted “Twin Peaks” as Sheriff Frank Truman.

“I’ve done a lot of genre pictures in my career…I’ve always liked them,” Forster told the Bleecker Street blog upon the release of 2018’s indie drama “What They Had.”

Forster played Tim Allen’s father in “Last Man Standing,...

Robert Forster, an Academy Award nominee for his work as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, died at his Los Angeles home today following a brief battle with brain cancer. His death was confirmed by his family and representatives.

Forster appeared in more than 100 films, including his latest, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, released today via Netflix.

Born in Rochester, New York, Forster, a member of Triple Nine Society, graduated from the University of Rochester and then moved to New York City, where he was quickly cast in the Broadway production Mrs. Dally Has a Lover, opposite Arlene Francis.

Forster’s performance caught the eye of director John Huston, who cast him in his first film, Reflections in a Golden Eye, with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando. He then worked with renowned director Haskell Wexler on Medium Cool, which became a classic due to its filming during...

Exclusive: The starry Cannes market packages keep coming. Shia Labeouf and Mel Gibson have been set to star in dark satire Rothchild about New York’s super rich.

Stan & Ollie director Jon S. Baird is on board to direct the feature, which HanWay will launch this week on the Riviera. CAA Media Finance is handling North American rights.

The project, whose title puns on the wealthy Rothschild group, charts how charismatic outcast Becket Rothchild (Labeouf) plots his way back into his family’s riches, setting himself on a collision course with patriarch Whitelaw Rothchild (Gibson). On the way, he must infiltrate the weird and twisted lives of his super-rich kin including frat boys, hipster artists and reality TV stars.

The project was a 2014 Blacklist script by John Patton Ford and is being produced by Los Angeles-based production company Unified Pictures. Keith Kjarval (Dragged Across Concrete) and Tyler Jackson (What They Had...

Universal Pictures has released a new trailer for drama ‘What They Had’ featuring Michael Shannon and Hilary Swank.

Directed by first-time writer/director Elizabeth Chomko the film stars Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Blythe Danner, and Robert Forster.

Also in trailers – Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway star in first trailer for ‘The Hustle’

The film is released in UK cinemas March 1st.

What They Had Synopsis

The film centres on a family in crisis. Bridget (Hilary Swank) returns home to Chicago at her brother’s (Michael Shannon) urging to deal with her mother’s (Blythe Danner) Alzheimer’s and her father’s (Robert Forster) reluctance to let go of their life together.

The post Michael Shannon and Hilary Swank learn how to deal with Alzheimer’s in trailer for ‘What They Had’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Seasoned actors were the toast of the evening at Aarp’s 18th annual Movies for Grownups Awards. (Or as host Martin Short referred to the event — “The Olden Globes.”)

The intimate ceremony, which was taped Monday night at the Beverly Wilshire and will air on PBS’ “Great Performances” Feb. 15, featured an array of stars from the past year’s most acclaimed films.

Richard E. Grant, who is Oscar-nominated for “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” reflected on some of his personal favorites. “I know that Olivia Colman is over 40 and Rachel Weisz is over 40,” he told Variety, referring to the Oscar-nominated stars of “The Favourite.” “There’s Viggo Mortensen [from “Green Book”] — he is, too. So there’s a fair number of people who are not in their early 20s, and it’s to be celebrated.”

Added “Blackkklansman’s” Topher Grace: “I know that ‘Movies For Grown Ups’ is kind of like a fun title,...

Trophies for the 18th Annual Aarp Movies For Grownups Awards were handed out this evening with Green Book and Can You Ever Forgive Me? walking away with from the ceremony as the top winners. Hosted by Martin Short, the ceremony took place Monday night at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills.

The Peter Farrelly-directed Green Book won Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups while the film’s star Viggo Mortensen won for Best Actor. The Can You Ever Forgive Me? screenwriters Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty won for their script while Richard E. Grant won for Best Supporting Actor.

Other winners of the evening included Glenn Close winning Best Actress for The Wife, BlacKkKlansman director Spike Lee as well as Roma for Best Foreign Film. Academy Award-winning actress Shirley MacLaine was honored with the 2018 Career Achievement Award honoree.

The ceremony will air on PBS Feb. 15. Read the complete list of winners below.

Exclusive: Taissa Farmiga (The Mule), Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul), Luke Kirby (The Deuce) and Ike Barinholtz (The Oath) are set to star in an upcoming episode of CBS All Access’ reboot, The Twilight Zone, that will also feature Percy Hynes-White. They join previously announced host and narrator Jordan Peele, as well as John Cho, Greg Kinnear, Sanaa Lathan, Kumail Nanjiani, Adam Scott, Alison Tolman, Jacob Tremblay, Jessica Williams, DeWanda Wise and Steven Yeun.

Character details are not being revealed.

The CBS All Access series will be a modern reimagining of the original, which premiered in 1959 and continued through 1964.

CBS announced in 2017 that it would revive The Twilight Zone for streaming service CBS All Access with Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Simon Kinberg’s Genre Films.

The Twilight Zone is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Simon Kinberg’s Genre Films. Jordan...

Aarp has announced its Movies for Grownups Awards nominations, with everything from “A Star Is Born” to “First Reformed” picking up nods. The group (whose name used to stand for the American Association of Retired Persons before it switched to just the initials) doesn’t have a firm set of criteria for what constitutes a grownup movie, which helps explain how “Black Panther” — which, as a superhero movie, is exactly the kind of fare that usually gets dismissed by older audiences — picked up two nominations.

“2018 was a banner year for a sensational collection of movies that resonated with the powerful 50-plus audience,” said Aarp’s Myrna Blyth. The winners will be announced on February 4, and the ceremony will air on February 15. Here’s the full list of nominees:

Best Picture/Best Movie for Grown-ups

“A Star Is Born”

“BlacKkKlansman”

“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

“Green Book”

“Roma”

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock...

On the road to making her feature debut with What They Had, Elizabeth Chomko faced two crises. On one hand, there was the existentential—the potency of loss, and the inevitability of decline, experienced firsthand. On the other, a crisis of identity, in her work as an artist.

A Bleecker Street release starring Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Robert Forster, Blythe Danner and Taissa Farmiga, the drama could hardly be more personal. Out of five acclaimed actors, it forged a family, a version of the director’s own. As dysfunctional as it is loving, this is a family that threatens to fall apart, as its matriarch succumbs to Alzheimer’s disease.

Writing from her personal experiences, Chomko meditated on memory, and what it means to lose it. Guiding the pedigreed Danner through a “challenging” and “scary” part, she found the entire filmmaking process to be one of letting go—of a person,...

Michael B Jordan

The actor is in serious awards contention for his role in “Black Panther,” but also most recently starred in “Creed II,” “Fahrenheit 451” and “Kin.”

Josh Brolin

We all know Josh Brolin played the villain in both “Deadpool 2” And “Avengers: Infinity War” (which is a feat in itself), but he also starred in “Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado” and “The Legacy of a Whitetail Deer Hunter.”

Tessa Thompson

Thompson seems to have been in every movie this year, and that’s for good reason: She starred in “Annihilation” alongside Natalie Portman, as well as “Sorry to Bother You,” “Little Woods,” “Furlough” and “Creed II.”

Patrick Wilson

Wilson is now just making the rounds as King Orm in James Wan’s “Aquaman,” but the actor also starred in “Insidious: The Last Key,” “”The Commuter,” “The Nun,” “Nightmare Cinema” and he is currently filming the Untitled “Annabelle” film.

Producer Sounwave is used to “throwing paint on the wall” when he works with Kendrick Lamar. However, both he and Lamar were presented with an immense challenge and opportunity when they were asked to write original songs for Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther.”

Knowing that the movie could easily be the biggest film of the year (they were right), they had to find a way to make their songs fit the flow of individual moments, but also consider how their song might sound on the radio.

“When you have a movie like ‘Black Panther’ and you have a lot riding on it and you know how big the movie can be, and they give you scenes and you have to match the intensity of each scene, we’ve never done anything like this,” Sounwave told TheWrap’s Steve Pond. “He kind of left it up to me. He was like,...

Last year’s Premieres section gave us offerings such as the Zellner Bros.’ Damsel, Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace and Elizabeth Chomko’s What They Had. Usually the section with higher profile items up for grabs, we have the modified title trio of Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s The Mustang, Scott Z. Burns’ debut The Report and Jacob Estes’ Relive, plus highly anticipated items from Joe Berlinger’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, David Wnendt’s The Sunlit Night and Dan Gilroy’s Velvet Buzzsaw. Here are all the premiere section titles.

After The Wedding / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Bart Freundlich, Producers: Joel B.…...

Amazon Studios is a fairly new player in feature films having released its first title, “Chi-Raq,”in 2015. This year it is touting five films to Academy Awards voters, including the heartbreaking family drama “Beautiful Boy” starring Oscar nominees Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet; the red-hot love story “Cold War” by Oscar winner Paweł Pawlikowski (“Ida”); and Luca Guadagnino‘s remake of the horror classic “Suspiria.” All three of these Oscar contenders have been sent to academy members in time to watch over Thanksgiving.

And voters will get a chance to see Joaquin Phoenix in two very different films. In Gus Van Sant‘s “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot,” he portrays John Callahan, a recently paralyzed alcoholic who finds fame drawing newspaper cartoons. And in Lynne Ramsay‘s psychological thriller “You Were Never Really Here,” he plays a traumatized hired gun who rescues trafficked girls. Phoenix...

AFI Fest closes this week, marking the end of the Fall Festival season that began with a bang with the August/September triple-feature that is Venice, Telluride and Toronto, at which the vast majority of major Oscar hopefuls were unveiled. Which is not to say there weren’t a few films from the first eight months of the year still in the mix; like the box office and critical smashes Black Panther and A Quiet Place, or at Cannes, where Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman looked built to last. But let’s face it: the fall is when studios and distributors strut the stuff they hope will go all the way to the Dolby Theatre on February 24th. And while there are a handful of films waiting to be seen—Mary Poppins Returns, Vice and The Mule chief among them—the AFI world premieres of Mary Queen of Scots (this Thursday...

Variety celebrated the 2018 class of 10 Actors to Watch on Sunday with a brunch and panel discussion in partnership with Newport Beach Film Festival at the Resort at Pelican Hill.

Nbff also presented honors to several artists, including Topher Grace, Colman Domingo, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who were all recognized with artist of distinction awards. Robert Forster received the icon award.

Domingo, star of “Fear the Walking Dead” and soon to be see in “If Beale Street Could Talk,” dedicated his award to his mother, who passed in 2006. He recalled how she would tell him, “I wrote to Oprah!” to help her son. He noted when his mother passed away, “I was so distraught and destroyed, I said, ‘I don’t know what to do with all this love.’” His friend told him, “You’re going to put it all into your work.” He then noted he has since worked with...

“Aquaman” writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick is looking forward to the superhero movie’s opening because of his three children.

“This is my first movie that my kids can watch and I want to take them,” he said at Wednesday night’s “Behind the Screen” event, held by the Writers Guild of America West at Beauty & Essex in Hollywood.

“They’re dying to see ‘The Conjuring 2,’ but they’re also eight, nine, and 10, so that’s not happening,” he said.

Johnson-McGoldrick co-wrote the “Aquaman” script with Will Beall from a story by Beall, Geoff Johns, and James Wan, who directed “Aquaman” and both “Conjuring” movies. He has every confidence in “Aquaman,” which he began working on three years ago and recalls reading “Aquaman” comic books while on the set of “The Conjuring 2.”

“James Wan knows how to connect with the audience instinctively,” he said. “In horror movies, you’re sometimes rooting for the monster,...

Variety has announced this year’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch.

For the seventh year in a row, the Whistler Film Festival will host the 10 Screenwriters to Watch event in Whistler, B.C. The screenwriters to be honored will share their stories and discuss the challenges of succeeding in today’s film industry during a conversation on Dec. 1 as part of Wff’s Signature Series, followed by the awards ceremony at Wff’s Awards Celebration on Dec. 2.

Canadian media personality George Stroumboulopoulos will host the evening as industry veterans discuss tips and tricks for navigating the film landscape in 2018, as well as sharing a few sneak peaks at current and upcoming projects.

Variety’s class of 2018 screenwriters and notable credits include:

Joe Robert Cole, “Black Panther” Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, “A Quiet Place” Ashleigh Powell, “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” Jay Longino, “Uncle Drew” Elizabeth Chomko, “What They Had” Sofia Alvarez,...

This year, Variety will honor its 10 Actors to Watch with the Newport Beach Film Festival at a brunch taking place on Nov. 11 at the Resort at Pelican Hill. Nbff will also present honors to several artists, including the Icon Award to Robert Forster (now on screens in “What They Had”) and Artist of Distinction Awards to Topher Grace (“BlacKkKlansman”), Colman Domingo and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (“All About Nina”).

Variety has been bestowing 10 Actors to Watch honors since 1998. Past honorees include many future Oscar winners and nominees, such as Mahershala Ali, Timothée Chalamet, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Brie Larson and Lupita Nyong’o.

Icon Award

Robert Forster

Being honored with an Icon Award is great, but Forster has a lot left in the tank. “I don’t know what an icon is,” Forster says. “And I don’t feel like one, and I certainly don’t feel like I’m 77, either!

A new release from a Nineties kingpin, a nod to the traditional from a rising star and some retro-pop from a Lumineer make up the songs you need to hear this week.

Joe Diffie, “Quit You”

Joe Diffie has fallen off the love wagon, unable to resist the pull of an addictive relationship. “I can crush it out, pour it down the drain, give up my vices, curse your name,” he sings, rattling off a number of defenses that, in the end, can’t convince him to quit the one he loves.

“It was a personal story that I felt compelled to write,” reveals Elizabeth Chomko about “What They Had,” which is her feature film debut as a writer and director. This story about a family coming to grips with an ailing matriarch (Blythe Danner) was inspired by Chomko’s own experiences with her grandmother, who died from Alzheimer’s disease after a 17-year battle. “It came from a place of grief and not wanting to let go of things, people and places that I wasn’t ready to let go of.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Chomko above.

See ‘What They Had’: Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon and Robert Forster on ‘the job of life,’ to care for loved ones in need

This Bleecker Street release stars Hilary Swank and Michael Shannon as siblings trying to convince their father (Robert Forster) to commit their mother to a nursing home before her condition further deteriorates.

Hilary Swank has been acting since she was a teenager, but it’s only been recently when she’s taken on the role of mother with a degree of regularity. In her latest film, What They Had, she plays mother to a troubled college student, played by Taissa Farmiga. But her real trial comes when Swank’s Bridget returns […]

The post Hilary Swank on Trusting Her Director and Playing Fake Siblings With Michael Shannon [Interview] appeared first on /Film.

Luca Guadagnino had last year’s best opening per theater average with Call Me By Your Name, and he’s followed it up in 2018. Amazon Studios’ Suspiria, starring Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson, Mia Goth and Chloë Moretz, grossed an impressive $179,806 in its initial two runs this weekend, eclipsing the competition.

Well Go USA opened Korean mystery-drama Burning to a solid start, taking in $28,650, averaging $14,325. Scandinavian thriller Border ushered into seven locations, grossing $71,565 for a $10,224 average.

Searchlight took Can You Ever Forgive Me? with Melissa McCarthy to 25 theaters in its second frame, grossing $380K. Jonah Hill’s Mid90s went to over twelve hundred theaters in its second outing for $3M. Beautiful Boy expanded to 192 theaters in its third weekend with almost $593K. And Free Solo widened to 394 locations, climbing above $1M.

Suspiria took in the year’s best per theater average to date with a bow in two theaters over the weekend.

Chicago – Families dealing with the effects of aging parents – which include dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease – can experience a new film which explores these topics through the family dynamic. “What They Had” is writer/director Elizabeth Chomko’s debut, and features Robert Forster, Blythe Danner, Hilary Swank and Michael Shannon.

Blythe Danner and Robert Forster in ‘What They Had’

Photo credit: Bleecker Street Media

Forster and Danner portray an elder couple from Chicago, who are being pressured by their children (Michael Shannon and Hilary Swank) to provide dementia care for Danner’s character, who is mentally slipping away. Taut and emotional, it features fine performances from all the principal players, including Forster as a man of his generation who isn’t used to ultimately not taking care of his castle and family. The film recently had a Red Carpet screening at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff), and is currently in release nationwide.

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl talk new films in theaters.

Index (52½ minutes)

00:01 NYC plays itself in Can You Ever Forgive Me?

02:30 Melissa McCarthy's best performance ever

16:10 Jonah Hill's Mid 90s

19:02 Denmark's Submission The Guilty

22:00 Hilary Swank and Robert Forster in What They Had?

29:00 Split opinions on Timothée Chalamet & Steve Carell in Beautiful Boy

40:30 Green Book Sneak Peak

47:15 Best Actress discussion and Glenn Close on stage in NYC currently

52:00 Wrap up

Referenced

• Murtada's Beautiful Boy Tweet

• Chris's Can You Ever Forgive Me? Review

• Denmark & Oscar

• Best Supporting Actor

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you?...

“Green Book” won the Audience Award for Best Narrative at the Middleburg Film Festival on Monday, putting it in good standing for Oscar glory.

Even though the showcase, based in suburban Washington, D.C., is only in its sixth year, the winner of this honor has factored into the Oscar race in a major way. The first four years of the festival saw the winner of this prize receive Best Picture nominations: “Philomena” (2013), “The Imitation Game” (2014), “Spotlight” (2015), which won the Oscar, and “Lion” (2016). Last year’s winner, “Mudbound,” missed out in Oscar’s top category but still managed to get four nominations, including Best Supporting Actress (Mary J. Blige) and Best Adapted Screenplay. “Green Book” is currently in sixth place to claim the Best Picture Oscar, according our combined odds.

See 2018 Toronto International Film Festival People’s Choice Awards: ‘Green Book’ wins on way to Oscars

Directed by Peter Farrelly,...

Chicago – He’s a legendary character actor that began his career in 1967. She’s a first time director interpreting her own script, which that legend called “the best he’s ever been in.” Robert Forster portrays Burt in writer/director Elizabeth Chomko’s “What They Had,” also featuring Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Blythe Danner and Taissa Farmiga. Forster and Chomko walked the Red Carpet representing the film at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival on Monday, October 15th, 2018.

Robert Forster of ‘What They Had’ at the 54th Chicago International Film Festival

Photo credit: Joe Arce for Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

“What They Had” features an elder Chicago couple, portrayed by Blythe Danner and Robert Forster, who are being pressured by their children (Michael Shannon and Hilary Swank) to provide dementia care for Danner’s character, who is mentally slipping away. Taut and emotional, it features fine performances from all the principal players,...

In a year when once-standard specialized two-city platform openings over $20,000 have become increasingly rare, three films pulled that feat this weekend. “Mid90s” (A24) lead the way, followed by “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (Fox Searchlight) and “Wildlife” (IFC).

This is particularly notable in a weekend where the top two nostalgic wide releases, “Halloween” and “A Star Is Born,” pulled older adults. And at the same time, three recent limited releases — “The Hate U Give” (20th Century Fox), “The Old Man and the Gun” (Fox Searchlight), and “Free Solo” (Greenwich/National Geographic) –all grossed over $1 million in their wider breaks, with the first two breaking into the Top Ten.

Opening

Mid90s (A24) – Metacritic: 68; Festivals include: Toronto, New York 2018

$249,500 in 4 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $62,375

This impressive opening falls a little below recent top-dog “Free Solo.” Set in 90s Los Angeles, Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, which follows a...

The opening weekend of Jonah Hill’s feature directorial debut Mid90s has given distributor A24 two of the year’s three best opening-frame per-theater averages to date. Fresh off premiere screenings at the Toronto and New York film festivals, the coming-of-age pic grossed $249,500 during the weekend for a robust $62,375 per-screen average to lead a full slate of specialty fare.

Also debuting this weekend was Fox Searchlight’s Can You Ever Forgive Me?, starring Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant, which started its box office run by taking in $150,000 in five locations. Wildlife, from director and co-writer Paul Dano and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan, opened $105,614 in four locations, averaging $26,403.

A24 said Mid90s, starring Sunny Suljic, Lucas Hedges and Katherine Waterston in Hill’s homage to his growing up in 1990s Los Angeles, will add more runs next weekend after the strong opening. It was 2018’s third-best per-screen...

With a staggering, $77.5 million debut, Universal and Blumhouse's Halloween topped the weekend with the second largest October opening weekend of all-time. The horror film headlined a massive weekend overall weekend, that saw the top twelve combine for over $160 million, making this the second largest October weekend ever. As already mentioned, Halloween's $77.5 million three-day debut was the second largest October opening weekend of all-time, coming less than $3 million shy of the record set by Venom earlier this month. That said, Halloween did deliver the largest October opening day of all-time, topping Venom's $32.5 million. The film's opening is also the second largest ever for an R-rated horror, topping the $53.8 million opening for The Nun a month ago and behind It's $123.4 million debut last September. The film, which carries a tiny, $10 million production budget, features Jamie Lee Curtis in her iconic role of Laurie Strode and beyond landing well with critics in advance of release,...

“Halloween” will not only take home the box office crown in its debut weekend, but may also break “Venom’s” recently-set record for best October opening of all time.

Universal’s reboot, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, is heading for an estimated $80 million from 3,928 North American locations in its first weekend. It’ll have to outpace “Venom’s” $80.255 million opening three weeks ago to beat the October record.

Following a nearly ten-year journey, Can You Ever Forgive Me? hits theaters this weekend via Fox Searchlight. Starring Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant, and based on the true story of celebrity biographer Lee Israel, the film will have a platform start this weekend en route to several hundred runs.

The feature is one of several Specialty titles heading into release with name casts and possible awards hopes. Paul Dano makes his directorial debut with Wildlife, which he co-wrote. The film, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan, opens via IFC Films after playing recent festivals.

Bleecker Street is opening What They Had with Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Robert Forster and Blythe Danner. Launching in several locations, the film is the first-time directorial by actor Elizabeth Chomko. And on the doc side, Menemsha Films is giving a New York launch for Austria’s Foreign Language contender, The Waldheim Waltz.

Also one...