Finally, Cannes Dealing! Radius-TWC Nabs Director’s Fortnight Film ‘Blue Ruin’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 3:24pm PDTTags: Blue Ruin, Cannes Film Festival, Directors' Fortnight, Radius-TWC
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Hours after it made its World Premiere in Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, the Jeremy Saulnier-directed Blue Ruin was acquired by Radius-TWC. Radius co-presidents Tom Quinn and Jason Janego bought North American rights, and plan to release the film theatrically this fall. (Watch a clip from the film here.) Saulnier, whose film is one of the few American offerings in Directors’ Fortnight sidebar, here directs a story of a man who finds his quiet life upended by unwelcome news and subsequently sets off for his childhood home to carry out an act of revenge. Proving an improbable assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family. Blue Ruin was produced by Anish Savjani, Richard Peete and Vincent Savino.

Saulnier first directed Murder Party, which Radius co-presidents Tom Quinn and Jason Janego released at Magnolia. They called his followup Blue Ruin “a masterpiece and a future cult classic. It is one of the most exceptional discoveries of the last few years thanks to Jeremy’s deft hand. We couldn’t be more excited for our second collaboration.”

Said Saulnier: “Tom and I go way back when he championed my first film…I’m thrilled that my new film has found a home with him. Radius is absolutely the perfect fit for Blue Ruin.” Quinn and Janego negotiated the deal with Memento’s Ram Murali, Emilie Georges and Tanja Meissner.

This gives Radius two films playing here at Cannes; the label is also releasing the Nicolas Winding Refn-directed Only God Forgives, which premieres next week and stars Ryan Gosling and Kristen Scott Thomas. Footage on that film was shown at a TWC slate sampling, and is was shocking, in Refn’s signature stylized way. READ MORE »

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‘World War Z’ To Open 35th Moscow International Film Festival

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 2:25pm PDTTags: Russia International Film Festival, World War Z

Paramount‘s zombie tentpole World War Z will open the Moscow International Film Festival held June 20-29, the fest’s Leonid Vereshchagin announced today at Cannes. The Marc Forster pic opens stateside … Read More »

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Hammond On Cannes: Wet Fest’s Official Competition Finally Heats Up With Coen Brothers’ ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’

By PETE HAMMOND | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 2:10pm PDTTags: Benicio Del Toro, Cannes Film Festival, Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis, Joel Coen, The Past
Pete Hammond

The first purely American entry in the 2013 Cannes Film Festival competition (opening nighter The Great Gatsby was Out of Competition), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen‘s terrific Inside Llewyn Davis had its first press screening Saturday night to strong response and big buzz on the very rainy Croisette. This tale of a talented folk singer unable to balance art and commerce, and  who never quite hits the big time in the late 50′s/early 60′s emerging folk scene, is pure Coen Brothers with a winning mixture of brilliantly observed comedy and darker moments that give it an edge most reminiscent of Coen movies like Barton Fink, which won the Palme d’Or on their first try at Cannes in 1991. Joel Coen also took the Director award that year and again for The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) among the seven previous times they have been in the Cannes competition. 1994′s The Hudsucker Proxy, 1996′s Fargo, 2000′s O Brother Where Art Thou, 2004′s The Ladykillers and 2007′s No Country For Old Men represent their other numerous chances to reap a second Palme d’Or since Barton Fink but none of them did the trick. 

Judging from initial reaction, at least among the press, Inside Llewyn Davis probably makes them an early front-runner for that second Palme. We say early since the film doesn’t have its official black tie premiere at the Palais until Sunday night, only the fourth day of the competition. But with its superb acting including leading man Oscar Issac, as the morose but oddly engaging Llewyn and a great supporting cast including Carey Mulligan, John Goodman (just great), Justin Timberlake, Stark Sands and a scene stealing cat (or cats? – you’ll see) among others, plus the Coens’ knack for catching this era in all its glory, I suspect this will remain a contender for the entire week of debuts to come. Read More »

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IFC Midnight Takes N.A. Rights To ‘Raze’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 12:46pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, IFC Midnight, Raze
Mike Fleming

IFC Midnight acquired North American rights to Cinipix’s action/thriller Raze, directed by Josh Waller. The film, written by Robert Beaucage, stars Zoe Bell, Rachel Nichols, Tracie Thoms and Sherilyn Fenn, and made its world premiere at last month’s Tribeca Film Festival. Cinipix financed Raze. The film was produced by Kenny Gage and Andy Pagana. Raze follows Sabrina, a woman who is mysteriously abducted and held captive in an underground lair, where she is forced to do battle with other innocents for the amusement of unseen spectators. Each of these reluctant warriors has something to lose, but only one will remain when the game is done.

Jonathan Sehring, President of Sundance Selects/IFC Films, said: “Josh Waller has crafted the most intense and unique action film that we have seen in a longtime. With the magnificent Zoe Bell leading a strong female cast, Raze delivers and then some. We can’t wait to unleash it upon audiences.”
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Cannes: Phase 4 And XLrator Acquire ‘Jamesy Boy’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 12:40pm PDTTags: Jamesy Boy, Phase 4, XLrator Media

Phase 4 and XLrator Media have teamed up on North American rights to Jamesy Boy, starring Mary-Louise Parker, James Woods, Ving Rhames, Taissa Farmiga, and newcomer Spencer Lofranco. Trevor White directed and co-wrote the … Read More »

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‘Vampire Academy’ Adds ‘Modern Family’s’ Sarah Hyland, Gabriel Byrne & More To Cast

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 11:32am PDTTags: Gabriel Byrne, Modern Family, Sarah Hyland, The Weinstein Company, Vampire Academy, Vikings

EXCLUSIVE: The Weinstein Company‘s Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters has added the final pieces to its casting puzzle. … Read More »

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Adopt Films Picks Jacques Doillon’s ‘Love Battles’ For U.S. Release

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 11:27am PDTTags: Adopt Films, Berlin Film Festival

EXCLUSIVE: New York-based distributor Adopt Films has acquired all U.S. rights to French director Jacques Doillon’s Love Battles (aka Mes Séances De Lutte). The movie debuted in the Panorama section of Berlin earlier … Read More »

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Cannes: Shannyn Sossamon, Vincent Perez, Alanis Morissette Weigh ‘The Price Of Desire’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 10:29am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival

Shannyn Sossamon is to play architect and designer Eileen Gray in biopic The Price Of Desire with Alanis Morissette in to play her lover. Swiss actor Vincent Perez, well … Read More »

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Hot Teaser Trailer: ‘Anchorman 2′

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 10:25am PDTTags: Anchorman 2, Paramount

Ron Burgundy & Co. are back December 20 in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Paramount’s unleashed another teaser for the currently-filming sequel with more in-character riffing but no actual footage, in what plays like outtakes from last year’s first peek:

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Cannes Briefs: ‘Space Dogs 2′; Franco’s ‘Tar’; ‘The Surprise’; ‘Rudderless’; Gosling’s ‘Monster’; ‘Starry Eyes’; Wentworth Media & Arts; ‘Lilting’; ‘Third Person’; Doha Fests

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 9:00am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, How To Catch A Monster, Paul Haggis

Refresh for latest…

Epic Pictures is launching sales on animated action-adventure Space Dogs 2, the sequel to 2010′s canine astronaut pic Space Dogs 3D. Vadim Sotskov of Kinoatis and Sergei Sernov are producing alongside exec producers Patrick Ewald and Shaked Berenson of Epic Pictures Group. The US-Russian project is currently in production in stereoscopic 3D. Epic is also repping global sales on action-thriller The Patrol: Operation Herrick, written and directed by Tom Petch, who is producing with Tom Stuart for AFG Film Ltd. The story of a British Army patrol battling the Taliban in Afghanistan stars Owain Arthur, Nicholas Beveney, Daniel Fraser, Alex Mcnally, Oliver Mott, Ben Righton, and Nav Sidhu.

Spotlight Pictures has come aboard to sell Tar, the biopic of Pulitzer-winner poet CK Williams that stars James Franco, Mila Kunis, Jessica Chastain, Zach Braff, Henry Hopper and Bruce Campbell. The pic follows the life of Williams (Franco) as he recalls the experiences that shaped the man he became and the writer he was destined to be. It was directed by 12 NYU film students and premiered last year at the Rome Film Festival.  The sales deal was negotiated by Vince Jolivette for Rabbit Bandini Productions with Carlos Rincon at Spotlight. Read More »

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Open Road To Bring Gregg Allman Biopic To U.S. Theaters

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 8:41am PDTTags: Greg Allman Biopic, My Cross To Bear, Open Road Films

Open Road Films and Unclaimed Freight Productions’ Randall Miller and Jody Savin are partnering to bring Gregg Allman biopic My Cross To Bear to U.S. theaters. Miller and Savin penned the screenplay based on the New York Times … Read More »

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Friday Box Office: ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ $22M Friday For Lower $62.2M Weekend And $75.5M Domestic Cume; Overseas Cume Already $47M

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 8:30am PDTTags: Box Office, J.J. Abrams, Star Trek Into Darkness

Box OfficeSATURDAY 8:30 AM, 5TH UPDATE: Friday domestic numbers for for Star Trek Into Darkness from Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions, and director J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot diverged wildly last night as did estimates for the 3-day weekend and 4 1/2-day cume. Heck, they’re still over the place. One thing I can say for sure: despite the passage of 4 years and the addition of 3D and IMAX for ticket premiums, Star Trek Into Darkness even though its release began Wednesday night will not beat 2009′s Star Trek opening 3-day weekend. The new film’s 4 1/2 day number may not even gross bigger than 2009′s $75.2M. Paramount obviously wants to put the best face on an underperforming situation and is still telling me that “when opening day isn’t Friday you get a higher multiple vs Friday”. But the numbers are the numbers, and rival studios have estimates for STID that are dramatically lower. Don’t get me wrong: the movie is still making a lot of money. Just not the $100M cume predicted all week by the studio which is now claiming $22M for Friday, $70M for the 3-day weekend, and $83M for the 4 1/2-day total. Rival studios have numbers of $21.6-$22.0M for Friday, $56.2M-$66.2M for the 3-day weekend, and $69.7M-$75.5M for the 4 1/2-day total. Paramount says moviegoers “are definitely choosing IMAX as it is 14% of the gross” helped by director/producer J.J. Abrams filming 30 minutes of the new sequel using high-resolution cameras to increase the IMAX audience. MORE

FRIDAY 1 PM, 3RD UPDATE: My sources say early matinees are very strong for Star Trek Into Darkness from Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions, and director J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot. It continued its domestic run today in 3,762 theaters with a refined number of $13.4 million from Wednesday’s 336 IMAX late shows and Thursday’s midnights and then yesterday’s wide release. Today’s grosses are almost double Thursday’s and an early read of noon averages is ranging from $25M to $27M Friday and $80M to $88M for the 3-day weekend - with a prediction of $100M for the first four days. Abrams’ first 2009 installment of the long-running film franchise opened to $30.1M Friday (without a Thursday start) and $79M for the first weekend. Fandango reports the new pic’s ticket sales are outpacing the first movie at the same point in the cycle and 55% of surveyed filmgoers plan to see it more than once. Over 80% of MovieTickets sales are for Star Trek Into Darkness and that’s led to some 430 sold out screenings this weekend. Overseas, the iconic 3D space tentpole’s cume is now $47M through Thursday. More later…

THURSDAY 11:30 PM, 2ND UPDATE: Still more good news at the start of the Summer 2013 box office as May continues to sizzle. My sources say Star Trek Into Darkness from Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions, and director J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot began its domestic run in 3,762 theaters with at least $14 million including $3.5M in Thursday midnights and Wednesday 336 IMAX late shows. The iconic space tentpole in 3D received a coveted “A” CinemaScore to help word of mouth and 87% positive Rotten Tomatoes score setting it up for a strong weekend. Over 400 screenings offered by MovieTickets.com are sold out for this upcoming weekend. The budget was a costly $190M, but the studio is still predicting a 3-day weekend domestic estimate of $80M and 4-day estimate of $100M. Right now Star Trek Into Darkness is running around 80% of Fandango’s ticket sales today while 75% of yesterday’s sales on MovieTickets.com came from STID. Star Trek Into Darkness is expected to easily beat the director’s first installment in North America and do much better overseas, where the franchise has long underperformed. To do that, Abrams filmed 30 minutes of the new sequel using high-resolution cameras to increase the IMAX audience, while Paramount dispatched his Bad Robot partner Bryan Burk to share 20 minutes of footage with media and distributors abroad earlier this year. The international grosses continue to surprise: My sources say the film’s opening day in Russia looks like $1.4 million, or nearly 4x the starting gross of 2009′s Star Trek. The sequel opened in 7 international markets this past weekend, earning $40M thru Wednesday. The combined figures from these territories are almost 70% greater than 2000′s Star Trek from the same UK, Australia, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. New markets, led by Russia, will open this weekend representing just over 15% of the overseas potential. Total now is just over 50% with 40 markets playing the pic through Sunday. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto reprise their roles as Kirk and Spock in this sequel to Abrams’ 2009 reboot of the franchise, which began as a 1960s TV series.

Read More »

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Cannes: 108 Media, Paladin Acquire North America On Sundance Thriller ‘Metro Manila’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 8:00am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Metro Manila, Paladin

Sean Ellis’ Philippines-set Metro Manila is bound for a remake courtesy of Fox International Productions which acquired rights earlier this week. The Sundance World Cinema Audience … Read More »

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Yahoo In Talks To Acquire Tumblr: Reports

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 7:36am PDTTags: Marissa Mayer, Tumblr, Yahoo

Yahoo has set a Monday news conference in NY to announce “something special”, and CBNC says that CEO Marissa Mayer will be there. Could the news be that it is acquiring the social network Tumblr? … Read More »

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Cannes: Morgan Freeman And Diane Keaton To Star In Comedy ‘Life Itself’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 7:01am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Diane Keaton, Life Itself, Morgan Freeman, Myriad Pictures

Myriad Pictures has tapped Richard Loncraine to direct Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton in Life Itself, a comedy based on the Jill Ciment novel Heroic Measures. Charlie Peters wrote the screenplay, about a long-married NY couple who find themselves swept into an emotional and comical real estate bidding war when they put their beloved downtown apartment on the market — and must come to terms with the possibility of moving from the home where they have spent most of their adult lives. Freeman and Lori McCreary’s Revelations Entertainment will produce with Latitude Productions. McCreary, Curtis Burch, Peters and Tracy Mercer are producing, and Freeman will executive produce. Myriad’s Kirk D’Amico and David Ducar negotiated international sales rights to the film and the company is introducing the project at Cannes. Its slate here includes Emanuel And The Truth About Fishes starring Kaya Scodelario and Jessica Biel; The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby: Him And Her with Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy; Life Partners with Leighton Meester, Adam Brody, and Gillian Jacobs; and the Derek Martini-directed The Curse Of Downers Grove with Bella Heathcote, Lucas Till and Kevin Zegers. CAA and WME Global co-rep North American rights to Life Itself. Read More »

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Cannes: Phase 4 Acquires Lucy Walker’s Sundance Docu ‘The Crash Reel’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 6:33am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Lucy Walker, Phase 4 Films, The Crash Reel

Phase 4 Films has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to The Crash Reel, which follows the different paths taken by childhood friends and rivals Shaun White and Kevin Pearce. The latter suffered a serious brain injury while training … Read More »

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Cannes: Worldview Options Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe Biopic ‘Blonde’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 4:07am PDTTags: Andrew Dominik, Blonde, Cannes Film Festival, Worldview Entertainment

This is a project that stirred a lot of excitement when it was initially announced in 2010. Writer-director Andrew Dominik was coming off of The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford at the time and then went on to make Killing Them Softly. He is still aboard to direct Blonde, which Worldview Entertainment has now optioned. The fictional biopic of Marilyn Monroe is based on a 700-page imagined memoir written by Joyce Carol Oates. Fans of the book are legion. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 2001, and the prolific Oates has said she thinks it may be the book for which she will be most remembered. Dominik wrote the adaptation. The filmmakers are currently casting (Naomi Watts was originally attached to play Monroe). CAA arranged financing and is packaging. The agency reps Dominik and will handle domestic rights. Wild Bunch is selling internationally. Read More »

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‘Fast & Furious 6′ Breaks Records In UK-Ireland Before Begins Global Rollout May 24

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday May 17, 2013 @ 7:27pm PDTTags: Box Office, Fast & Furious 6

UPDATE 7 PM: The sixth installment of the Universal Pictures franchise is looking to successfully transition from street racing to heist action to terrorist plot and kicked off this weekend in the United Kingdom and Ireland today. Fast & Furious 6 is opposite Warner Bros’ The Great Gatsby (including Thursday previews) and the second week of Paramount’s Star Trek In Darkness. But F&F6 is set in London and had its world premiere there. The UK and Ireland scored the biggest opening day for the franchise and Universal’s biggest opening day of all time in those markets, grossing $4.4M (£2.9M) at 462 dates.  It was the 2nd biggest opening there of 2013, behind Iron Man 3‘s $4.7M (£3M) and #1 in the market with 54% market share. F&F6 opens in North America and 59 international markets day and date on May 24th. Universal did what no studio has ever dared to do: change the genre of a successful franchise.  Read More »

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Jason Reitman Pic ‘Labor Day’ Gets Christmas Release

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday May 17, 2013 @ 4:47pm PDTTags: Jason Reitman, Labor Day, Paramount Pictures

Another Jason Reitman movie is getting prime awards-season placement. Paramount said the Juno and Up In The Air director’s latest, Labor Day, will open in limited release December 25 this year before expanding January 10 and going wide … Read More »

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