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Cannes: Radius-TWC Buys Keanu Reeves’ Helming Debut ‘Man Of Tai Chi’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday May 22, 2013 @ 12:02am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Keanu Reeves, Man Of Tai Chi, Radius-TWC
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: In its second significant deal at Cannes, Radius-TWC acquired North American rights to Keanu Reeves‘ directorial debut Man Of Tai Chi in a low seven-figure minimum guarantee. The film is set in modern Beijing and follows the spiritual journey of a young martial artist (Tiger Hu Chen) whose unparalleled tai chi skills land him in a highly lucrative underworld fight club. As the fights grow tougher, he must compromise his own beliefs in order to survive. This is the second deal for Radius, which on Saturday acquired the Directors Fornight film Blue Ruin. TWC-Radius also has the Nicolas Winding Refn-directed Only God Forgives playing here at Cannes, with Ryan Gosling and Kristin Scott Thomas starring.

Related: Hammond: A New Day As HBO and VOD Movies Compete For Palme d’Or

Reeves, who also stars in the film, met Chen during The Matrix, where Chen was a stuntman and a trainer for Reeves. It’s Chen’s first lead role, and the film also stars international action fixtures like The Raid’s Iko Uwais and Jeremy Marinas. Michael G. Cooney wrote the script and Man Of Tai Chi is a co-production between China Film Group, Wanda Media, Village Roadshow Pictures Asia and Universal Pictures. Lemore Syvan is the producer. Radius will release the film in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Related: Cannes: Reeves Presents ‘Man Of Tai Chi’ READ MORE »

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Deadline Festivals & Markets Watch Podcast – Cannes 2013

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Tuesday May 21, 2013 @ 2:41pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Keanu Reeves, Sean Penn

Listen to (and share) the latest episode from the Cannes Film Festival of our audio podcast Deadline Festivals & Markets Watch, featuring Deadline International Editor Nancy Tartaglione. She talks with host David Bloom about which distributors and projects are making a splash so far; whether Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut, with considerable Chinese backing, can move beyond China to a worldwide hit; how a film starring Sean Penn managed to sell its international rights even before it has been shot; and the crime wave hitting the Croisette.

Deadline Festivals & Markets Watch, Cannes 2013, (MP3 format)
Deadline Festivals & Markets Watch, Cannes 2013, (MP4a format) Read More »

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Cannes: Weinstein Co Acquires Keanu-Reese Sci-Fi Pic ‘Passengers’ In Splashy Deal

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday May 21, 2013 @ 9:23am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Keanu Reeves, Passengers, Reese Witherspoon, The Weinstein Company
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: The Weinstein Company has won the bidding for the Keanu Reeves-Reese Witherspoon sci-fi romance movie Passengers. I’m hearing the distributor has committed to a multi-million dollar minimum guarantee and a P&A commitment in the $25 million range for a wide release in 2014. I understand FilmDistrict and Open Road were in the mix here in Cannes for the project, which was written by Prometheus scribe Jon Spaihts and will be directed by Game Of Thrones and Reese Witherspoon ArrestBoardwalk Empire helmer Brian Kirk in his major feature film debut. Wayfare Entertainment is financing and producing the pic. The plot: A spacecraft transporting thousands of people to a distant colony planet has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, a single passenger (Reeves) is awakened 90 years before anyone else. Faced with the prospect of growing old and dying alone, he eventually decides to wake up a second passenger (Witherspoon), marking the beginning of what becomes a unique love story. The script was developed by Stephen Hamel and Reeves at their production shingle Company Films. Hamel is producing with Wayfare CEO Ben Browning. Start Media’s Michael Maher and Lynwood Spinks are executive producing. CAA repped domestic sales rights; Exclusive Media has international rights.

Related: Hammond: Weinstein Shows Off 2013 Oscar Contenders

The Weinsteins have been major players at Cannes, having already won the first big bidding battle of the festival by acquiring the Judi Dench movie Philomena — directed by Stephen Frears and co-starring Steve Coogan — based on seven minutes of footage shown to buyers. In addition, TWC landed U.S. and other territories for Suite Française, based on Irene Nemirovsky’s novel about a young woman who lives with her controlling mother-in-law in Nazi-occupied France and ends up falling for a German officer. Michelle Williams, Matthias Schoenaerts and Kristin Scott Thomas star. The company’s alt-distribution label Radius-TWC meanwhile picked up North American rights to Blue Ruin, one of the few U.S. titles screening in the Directors’ Fortnight section. Read More »

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Cannes: Keanu Reeves Presents Directorial Debut & China Co-Production ‘Man Of Tai Chi’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday May 20, 2013 @ 7:46am PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, China Film Group, Keanu Reeves, Man Of Tai Chi

A representative of China Film Group today called Keanu Reeves’ upcoming Man Of Tai Chi “the most important co-production” for the company this year. Reeves makes his directorial debut with the kung-fu film that is a co-production from CFG, Wanda Media, Village Roadshow Pictures Asia and Universal Pictures. At a gathering to introduce clips from the film, Reeves said he shot for more than 105 days in Beijing and Hong Kong, where the crew was at one point locked on a set because of a severe typhoon. He chose this movie to make his helming debut because it was “the story I felt I could tell and wanted to tell and didn’t want anybody else to tell.”

Man Of Tai Chi focuses on a young, innocent martial artist who struggles to maintain his values amid the pressures of contemporary society. Tiger Chen plays the man who is lured into the underground boxing world where Reeves plays the man out to manipulate him. Reeves and Chen worked together on the Matrix movies where Chen taught Reeves about “wires and kicks and punches.” The pair became friends and over five years developed the story. Reeves says it was just about “four or five years ago that I started to think about directing. But I always said I would only direct if I had a story to tell.”

Giving himself an extra challenge, the story is told in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. Reeves says, “I had to listen. The process was very collaborative. I had great support in terms of translators, casting or working on a scene… As an actor, you’re part of telling a story and as a director you’re responsible for it, but you can’t do it yourself so the collaboration was the gift.” Read More »

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Cannes: Latest Theft Affects China Film Group VP

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Sunday May 19, 2013 @ 1:52pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, China Film Group, Keanu Reeves

The latest tale of thievery to surface here in Cannes after last week’s $1M jewelry heist, involves China Film Group vice-president Zhang Qiang whose luggage was reportedly stolen from his hotel room. … Read More »

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Cannes: Exclusive Media Acquires Sales Rights To ‘Passengers’ With Keanu Reeves And Reese Witherspoon Starring

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 7, 2013 @ 11:27am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Exclusive Media, Keanu Reeves, Passngers, Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon ArrestEXCLUSIVE: Exclusive Media has picked up international rights to Passengers, the sci-fi romance starring Keanu Reeves and now Reese Witherspoon that Game Of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire director Brian Kirk is directing in his major feature film debut. Wayfare Entertainment is financing and producing the pic from a script by Prometheus scribe Jon Spaihts. The story follows a spacecraft transporting thousands of people to a distant colony planet that has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, a single passenger (Reeves) is awakened 90 years before anyone else. Faced with the prospect of growing old and dying alone, he eventually decides to wake up a second passenger (Witherspoon), marking the beginning of what becomes a unique love story. The script was developed by Stephen Hamel and Reeves at their production shingle Company Films. Hamel will produce the pic with Wayfare CEO Ben Browning. Start Media’s Michael Maher and Lynwood Spinks will executive produce. CAA is repping domestic rights to the pic.

Related: ‘Passengers’ To Star Keanu Reeves, With Brian Kirk Directing Read More »

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Sci-Fi Pic ‘Passengers’ To Star Keanu Reeves, With Brian Kirk Directing And Wayfare Entertainment Producing

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday April 18, 2013 @ 11:13am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Brian Kirk, Jon Spaihts, Keanu Reeves, Passengers, Wayfare Entertainment
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Game Of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire director Brian Kirk has just been set to helm Passengers in his major feature film debut. Wayfare Entertainment has come aboard to finance and produce the sci-fi pic that will star Keanu Reeves in a script by Prometheus scribe Jon Spaihts. The story follows a spacecraft transporting thousands of people to a distant colony planet that has a malfunction in one of its sleep chambers. As a result, a single passenger (Reeves) is awakened 90 years before anyone else. Faced with the prospect of growing old and dying alone, he eventually decides to wake up a second passenger, marking the beginning of what becomes a unique love story. That second passenger, a female, has yet to be cast. Read More »

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Alcon Sets Ericson Core To Helm ‘Point Break’ Remake

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday April 10, 2013 @ 6:18pm PDTTags: Alcon Entertainment, Ericson Core, Kathryn Bigelow, Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Point Break
Mike Fleming

Patrick SwayzeEXCLUSIVE: Ericson Core, the cinematographer who made his feature directorial debut on Invincible, has been set by Alcon Entertainment partners Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove to direct Point Break, the remake of the 1991 action thriller that … Read More »

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Global Showbiz Briefs: Keanu Reeves, India At Cannes ’13, Asia Pacific Screen Awards

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday November 23, 2012 @ 6:45pm PSTTags: Global Showbiz Briefs, India, Keanu Reeves, Side By Side

‘Life Of Pi’, Keanu Reeves’ Doc At Plus CameraImage
Plus CameraImage, the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography, kicks off its 20th anniversary edition this weekend in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Fest opener is Keanu Reeves’ filmmakers documentary Side by Side, followed by the Polish premiere of Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. Reeves and Life of Pi cinematographer Claudio Miranda are scheduled to attend the opening gala. Fest runs November 24 through December 1st. Other attendees include directors David Lynch, director Steven Okazaki, Michael Lindsay-Hogg and film editor Alan Heim. As preveiously reported, Gus Van Sant will accept the Director Duo Award on behalf of his late friend and collaborator Harris Savides.
Read More »

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Keanu Reeves And Longtime Manager Erwin Stoff Hit Bumpy Road: Actor Almost Left 3 Arts But Instead Others There Repping Him

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday October 25, 2012 @ 10:43am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Erwin Stoff, Hollywood managers, Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves Erwin Stoff ManagerEXCLUSIVE: This is a cautionary tale for every Hollywood manager who’s spending a lot of time producing. Such is the case with Erwin Stoff. The 3 Arts Entertainment president has repped Keanu Reeves for something like 32 years (ever since the actor was 16 years old). The Stoff-Reeves relationship has long been considered one of Hollywood’s most enduring. Until recently. I’ve learned it’s now very much on the rocks. ”Keanu Reeves very quietly left 3 Arts. Then he was recently convinced to stay at 3 Arts but with different reps,” says one of my sources. “Handling him now are Tom Lasally, Nick Frenkel, and David Miner. It’s an attempt to save the client.” I’ve confirmed this with several other insiders, too, even though Stoff denied any rift to me. I am told independently that ”there’s no rancor”.

Stoff of course has been a producer or executive producer on many of Reeves’ films dating back to 1991 — including Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Feeling Minnesota, The Devil’s Advocate, The Matrix, The Replacements, Sweet November, Constantine, A Scanner Darkly, The Lake House, Street Kings, The Day The Earth Stood Still, and most recently as exec producer of Universal’s troubled 47 Ronin. That Keanu starrer from first-time feature director Carl Rinsch has been plagued by a swelling budget, a reshoot, two release date delays, and bad publicity — prompting the studio to work side by side with Rinsch in the editing room which is highly unusual these days.

Related: Despite Reports, Carl Rinsch Is Still Working On ’47 Ronin’

But increasingly Stoff is producing a lot of films not starring Reeves – credits and paychecks Stoff probably never would have enjoyed without Keanu as leverage over the years. Right now, for instance, he’s in London producing All You Need Is Kill and that’s where I reached the manager. I’m told that Reeves’ principal problem stemmed from Stoff’s producing time commitments. “Keanu for 20 years was so used to talking to Erwin all the time. But Erwin is very busy producing now,” one insider explains. But another source also tells me, “Keanu has been frustrated with Erwin for a while, with the massive 47 Ronin problems and lack of material for him. Also Reeves’ sister is now in the actor’s life in a big way, and she did not like Stoff.”

The result is that, according to one insider, Read More »

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Phase 4 Acquires North American Rights To Keanu Reeves Pic ‘Generation Um…’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday September 28, 2012 @ 10:31am PDTTags: Keanu Reeves, Phase 4
Mike Fleming

Phase 4 Films acquired all U.S. and Canadian rights to director Mark L Mann’s generation Um… Mann also wrote the screenplay for the film, with Alison Palmer, Caroline Kaplan, and Lemore Syvan producing. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Bojana Novakovic, and Adelaide Clemens and was executive produced by Nicolas Chartier, … Read More »

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Despite Reports, Carl Rinsch Is Still Working On ’47 Ronin’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday September 27, 2012 @ 11:23am PDTTags: 47 Ronin, Carl Rinsch, Keanu Reeves, Universal Pictures
Mike Fleming

Despite reports that 47 Ronin was taken away from first-time feature director Carl Rinsch because of a budget that swelled to $225 million, I can tell you that Rinsch has been in the editing room all week, working side by side with the studio on the challenged Universal picture. And studio sources swear the budget will not cross the $200 million mark, despite a reshoot (that Rinsch himself directed) and despite the fact Universal has twice moved the release date of this Keanu Reeves-starrer.

At the risk of seeming like a studio apologist, I hate how difficulties in the process of putting together big-budget movies has been turned into bloodsport reporting, particularly when it is sort of accurate but exaggerated. Look, we all know that when stories crop up about films that do reshoots or extra shooting, it is not a good sign.

Sometimes, as was the case on Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, a rumored tough shoot and post-production process manifests itself into a remarkable film. Exaggerating the situation on a movie, when it is in production or in the editing room, seems unfair, almost like criticizing an artist’s painting before it is finished. I think that it encourages reviewers and audiences to discount the movie, even subliminally, and they evaluate it at least a little bit on the basis of perceived troubles.

Universal was not commenting but here’s what’s going on now: The studio has taken a more active hand in the editing process on the Universal lot, which is unusual for that particular studio but hardly unheard of with a first-time director who doesn’t have final cut. Rinsch, a respected commercials and short film helmer who had the job of directing the Alien prequel until Ridley Scott took it and turned it into Prometheus, has opinions as strong as his visual sense. That doesn’t endear one to the crew, which is probably how these rumors get started. He’s new to the game of mounting a huge film and the studio has every right to protect an investment that is at least a $175 million 3D film. But the reports he has been removed from the editing room and that he had 47 Ronin taken away from him are wrong, as far as I can see. And the studio is hardly trying to hide a bomb, not when it chose December 25, 2013 as the new release date. Read More »

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Hot Clip: Keanu Reeves, James Cameron Discuss Babies And 3D In ‘Side By Side’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday August 20, 2012 @ 3:17pm PDTTags: James Cameron, Keanu Reeves, Side By Side
Mike Fleming

Here is a clip from a pretty heady discussion between Keanu Reeves and James Cameron on the science behind 3D. It’s from Side By Side, a documentary narrated and produced by Reeves of the past and the … Read More »

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Universal Moving ’47 Ronin’ Release To February 8, 2013

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday April 25, 2012 @ 10:35am PDTTags: 47 Ronin, Carl Rinsch, Keanu Reeves, Universal Pictures
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: Universal Pictures has switched the Keanu Reeves-starrer 47 Ronin from its November 21 date to February 8, 2013. We’ve heard rumblings the film would move, and that the big-ticket film was undergoing reshoots. Studio insiders deny this, saying they … Read More »

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Tribeca Acquires Keanu Reeves Documentary ‘Side By Side’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday February 13, 2012 @ 5:31am PSTTags: Keanu Reeves, Tribeca Film
Mike Fleming

Berlin/New York, NY – February 13, 2012 – Tribeca Film announced today that it has acquired North American rights to Side by Side, a provocative and illuminating journey through the technical and aesthetic implications of the transition from traditional

… Read More »

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Berlin Fest Adds Special Screenings Of Jason Reitman’s ‘Young Adult,’ Keanu Reeves’ ‘Side By Side’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Tuesday January 17, 2012 @ 6:52am PSTTags: Berlin Film Festival, Jason Reitman, Keanu Reeves, Young Adult

The upcoming Berlin Film Festival has added titles to its Berlinale Special 2012 program including Jason Reitman’s Young Adult and Barnaby Southcombe’s I, Anna. Restored versions of classics like Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1943 The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp will also screen. According to the festival, discussions will be held following some Special screenings including Werner Herzog’s documentary series Death Row and Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut In The Land Of Blood And Honey, which were previously announced as Special titles. A talk will also be held after the screening of the Keanu Reeves-produced documentary Side By Side that includes interviews with Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, the Wachowskis and Lars von Trier among others. In a European premiere, Mark Cousins will show his 900-minute-long documentary The Story Of Film: An Odyssey. Berlin runs Feb 9-19. A full list of the just-added titles follows:

Berlinale Special Gala screenings at the Friedrichstadt-Palast:
Young Adult
USA
By Jason Reitman
With Charlize Theron, Patton Oswalt, Patrick Wilson, Elisabeth Reaser
German premiere

Berlinale Special screenings at the Kino International:
Glück (Bliss)
Germany
By Doris Dörrie
With Alba Rohrwacher, Vinzenz Kiefer, Matthias Brandt, Oliver Nägele
World premiere
Read More »

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Village Roadshow Asia, Universal Among Backers For Keanu Reeves’ China-Set Directorial Debut ‘Man Of Tai Chi’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday December 14, 2011 @ 2:29pm PSTTags: Keanu Reeves, Universal, Village Roadshow

Village Roadshow Asia, China Film Group and Wanda Media Group are teaming to co-produce Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut, Man Of Tai Chi, which will be co-financed and distributed by the partners and Universal Studios. The action drama is set in … Read More »

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Lana And Andy Wachowski Return To Sci-Fi Action Arena With ‘Jupiter Ascending’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday October 20, 2011 @ 8:43am PDTTags: Keanu Reeves, Warner Bros
Mike Fleming

From the studio’s ongoing efforts to cast up big-ticket films like Akira, All You Need Is Kill, Arthur & Lancelot, Man From UNCLE, Xerxes, Imitation Game and The Twilight Zone, Warner Bros continues to be a go-to place for actors looking for star-making parts in big commercial films. A new Warner Bros project now has the attention of actor reps: Jupiter Ascending, which I’m told will be the next film by Lana and Andy Wachowski, and their first major science fiction action franchise play since The Matrix. Like that trilogy, Jupiter Ascending is an original creation by the duo, and it’s on track to start production by the spring. The studio is now discussing which A-list star to lead the cast while keeping the script and logline under tight wraps. Read More »

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‘Fast 5′s Chris Morgan Masterminds ‘Crime Of The Century’ At Universal

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday October 13, 2011 @ 6:15pm PDTTags: Chris Morgan, Keanu Reeves
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures has preemptively acquired Crime of the Century, a pitch that marks the first sale for Fast 5 scribe Chris Morgan since he signed a two-year first look deal at the studio. Dan Kunka will write the script and Dan Trachtenberg is attached to direct, with Morgan producing … Read More »

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