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Berlin Festival Additions: Robert Pattinson Starrer ‘Bel Ami’, Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Haywire’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Friday January 20, 2012 @ 4:35am PSTTags: Berlin Film Festival, Robert Pattinson, Steven Soderbergh

The Berlin International Film Festival is coming on fast and furious with seven more titles added to the Competition program including the Robert Pattinson starrer Bel Ami, Tsui Hark’s hit 3D actioner Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate and James Marsh’s Shadow Dancer. Although, in a bit of a misnomer, those films are screening out of competition. Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire will also receive a special screening in its local premiere. Overall, the Competition section now boasts 22 titles, with more still to be announced. At the moment there are 17 films in the running for Golden and Silver Bears with 18 world premieres. Festival director Dieter Kosslick said in a statement today: “We are very pleased that a large number of this year’s Competition films are screening in Berlin as world premieres. Many entries in the Competition 2012 revolve around radical changes and departures. They shift perspectives, presenting history and stories from the point of view of those involved.” The latest additions to the lineup:

À Moi Seule (Coming Home)
By Frédéric Videau, France
With Agathe Bonitzer, Reda Kateb
World premiere

Bel Ami
By Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, Great Britain
With Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci
World Premiere/Out of Competition

En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair)
By Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark/Czech Republic/Germany/Sweden
With Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander, Trine Dyrholm, David Dencik, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
World Premiere

Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate
By Tsui Hark, Hong Kong, China
With Jet Li, Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, Kwai Lun Mei
European Premiere /Out of Competition

Rebelle
By Kim Nguyen, Canada
With Rachel Mwanza, Alain Bastien, Serge Kanyinda
World Premiere

Shadow Dancer
By James Marsh, Great Britain/Ireland
With Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson
European Premiere /Out of Competition

Special screening in the Berlinale Palast:
Haywire
By Steven Soderbergh, USA
With Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum
German Premiere

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Summit Nearing Green Light On Steven Soderbergh’s Film ‘The Bitter Pill’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday December 6, 2011 @ 5:44pm PSTTags: Scott Z. Burns, Steven Soderbergh, Summit Entertainment
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Summit Entertainment is in final negotiations to make a green light commitment on The Bitter Pill, the Scott Z. Burns script that Steven Soderbergh will direct as his next film. Production will start in April on a thriller … Read More »

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Summit, Lava Bear In Mix For Steven Soderbergh Film ‘Bitter Pill’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday December 1, 2011 @ 11:54am PSTTags: David Linde, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Scott Z. Burns, Steven Soderbergh, The Side Effect
Mike Fleming

Summit Entertainment and David Linde’s Lava Bear are the top two contenders for Bitter Pill, the Scott Z. Burns script that is being shopped as Steven Soderbergh’s likely next film. I’d say Summit is the frontrunner for a script that … Read More »

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HAMMOND: Less Restrictive Rules, Food And Filmmakers Drawing More Academy Members To Screenings

By PETE HAMMOND | Tuesday November 22, 2011 @ 7:41pm PSTTags: Benicio Del Toro, Berenice Bejo, Contagion, Hugo, J.J. Abrams, Martin Scorsese, Michael Douglas, Steven Soderbergh, Super 8, The Artist
Pete Hammond

Throw them a party and they will come.  Or at least a reception with good food and drink. That seems to be the case with the increasingly strong turnouts of Academy members at screenings this season. As with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and other groups studios are discovering a shrimp … Read More »

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Steven Soderbergh Says Uncle On Movie Transfer Of TV Spy Series

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday November 18, 2011 @ 11:56am PSTTags: George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, The Man From UNCLE
Mike Fleming

You could practically feel Steven Soderbergh’s The Man From UNCLE losing its mojo after his former partner George Clooney bowed out in August because the actor’s getting surgery and wasn’t up for the stunts. Sure enough, Soderbergh has dropped … Read More »

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R Rating Upheld For Soderbergh’s ‘Haywire’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday November 15, 2011 @ 4:06pm PSTTags: CARA, Haywire, MPAA, Ratings, Relativity Media, Steven Soderbergh

The Classification and Rating Appeals Board today upheld the R rating given to the movie Haywire. The Classification and Rating Administration (CARA) had assigned the movie the R rating for “some violence.” In the appeal brought by Five Continents, the Appeals

… Read More »

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Channing Tatum For ‘Man From U.N.C.L.E.?

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday November 14, 2011 @ 4:53pm PSTTags: Channing Tatum, George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, The Man From UNCLE
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Steven Soderbergh, who just directed Channing Tatum in Magic Mike, is eyeing him for the lead in The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I’m told. Both of those films are at Warner Bros. Soderbergh has been looking for an actor to … Read More »

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TOLDJA! Warner Bros Acquires Stripper Pic ‘Magic Mike,’ Bares June 29 Release Date

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday October 27, 2011 @ 11:53am PDTTags: Adam Rodriguez, Alex Pettyfer, Channing Tatum, Film Release Date, Gregory Jacobs, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Magic Mike, Matt Bomer, Matthew McConaughey, Nick Wechsler, Reid Carolin, Steven Soderbergh
Mike Fleming

As predicted here, Warner Bros completed its acquisition of domestic rights on the Steven Soderbergh-directed Magic Mike, which stars Alex Pettyfer and Channing Tatum in a Saturday Night Fever-type coming-of-age drama about a young exotic dancer who … Read More »

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Steven Soderbergh’s Stripper Movie ‘Magic Mike’ Gyrating Toward Warner Bros?

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday October 19, 2011 @ 11:39am PDTTags: Alex Pettyfer, Channing Tatum, Glen Basner, Gregory Jacobs, Joe Manganiello, Magic Mike, Matt Bomer, Matthew McConaughey, Nick Wechsler, Reid Carolin, Steven Soderbergh, Warner Bros
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: While several studios are in the mix on the Steven Soderbergh-directed Magic Mike, I’m told that Warner Bros has emerged as the frontrunner to acquire domestic distribution rights and that a deal could be done by next week. The … Read More »

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Stephen Gaghan Focuses On Smuggling Of Cocaine And Humans For Next Two Films

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday October 19, 2011 @ 11:20am PDTTags: Emma Stone, Jerry Bruckheimer, Josh Brolin, Kevin McCormick, Ruben Fleischer, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Stephen Gaghan, Steven Soderbergh, Warner Bros
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Stephen Gaghan has set up his next two directing projects, one covering the smuggling of cocaine from Mexico, the other human cargo from China. Gaghan, who last directed Syriana, has made a deal with Warner Bros for an untitled … Read More »

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HBO Picks Up Steven Soderbergh’s Liberace Film Starring Michael Douglas & Matt Damon

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 10:06am PDTTags: HBO, HBO Films, Jerry Weintraub, Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, Steven Soderbergh
Nellie Andreeva

UPDATED: Steven Soderbergh’s long-gestating Liberace feature is headed to HBO. HBO Films has greenlighted for production Behind The Candelabra, which will be directed by Soderbergh. It takes a behind-the-scenes … Read More »

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Disney Eyes Early 2012 Start For ‘Lone Ranger’; Announcement Expected Next Week

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday September 23, 2011 @ 10:36am PDTTags: Armie Hammer, Bennett Miller, Disney, Gore Verbinski, James Franco, Jerry Bruckheimer, Johnny Depp, Rich Ross, Ruth Wilson, Sam Raimi, Sean Bailey, Steven Soderbergh, Taylor Kitsch, The Lone Ranger
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline told you a week ago that things were looking up for The Lone Ranger for the first time since we broke the shocking news on Aug. 12 that Disney had pulled the plug over budget. I’m hearing that the studio is likely to have everything resolved by next week, and can start rehiring crew so that the picture will be ready to begin production in January or February. How that late start impacts the Dec. 21, 2012 release date remains to be seen, but Johnny Depp will get to play Tonto (Disney wouldn’t make the movie without him), and Armie Hammer will be back in as the title character. Ruth Wilson, the scene-stealing killer from Idris Elba’s British cop series Luther, is also expected back as the female lead.

Disney has gotten to this point after a painful overhaul of the movie by producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski to bring to $215 million a budget the studio feared could reach $250 or more. Verbinski’s struggle has been to reach that number while retaining enough of the spectacle that made them say yes in the first place. The cutting process has included the reworking of deals for Depp, Verbinski and Bruckheimer, and trimming the production budget and the long shoot. That would enable Depp, Gore and Bruckheimer to re-team after making the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films together. The Lone Ranger is one of several huge-budget films that Disney’s Rich Ross and Sean Bailey are managing. The others include John Carter, the Andrew Stanton-directed adaptation of John Carter of Mars with Friday Night Lights‘ Taylor Kitsch in the lead role, which has a budget around $250 million; and The Great and Powerful Oz, the Sam Raimi-directed James Franco-starrer, which is hovering around $200 million. Read More »

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Wrestler Kevin Nash Cast In ‘Magic Mike’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday September 22, 2011 @ 11:40am PDTTags: Film Casting, Kevin Nash, Magic Mike, Steven Soderbergh

WWE wrestler Kevin Nash has been cast as part of the male-stripper troupe in Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike, the semi-autobiographical film based on Channing Tatum’s experiences as a male dancer. Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Matt Bomer and Joe Mangianello … Read More »

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Toronto: As Magnolia Turns 10, Owner Todd Wagner Says It’s Not For Sale And That VOD Strategy Is Thriving

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday September 15, 2011 @ 9:42am PDTTags: Casey Affleck, Eamonn Bowles, Elijah Wood, Harvey Weinstein, James Gray, Jason Janego, Joaquin Phoenix, Kirsten Dunst, Lars von Trier, Mark Cuban, Ryan Gosling, Seann William Scott, Steven Soderbergh, Todd Wagner, Tom Quinn
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Along with everything else about the 2001 Toronto Film Festival, the launch of Magnolia Pictures was quickly forgotten on September 11, as co-founder Eamonn Bowles and other indie film execs scrambled to find ways to get home. Magnolia marked its 10th anniversary at 2011 Toronto. While the company still doesn’t carry the profile of some other indie distributors, Bowles and co-owner Todd Wagner said their model — mixing traditional indie theatrical distribution with emerging digital technology — has made them distinctive and profitable. VOD revenues now often outpace theatrical for Magnolia films, and they return profit to filmmakers because of low P&A spends. Bowles and Wagner have been honing the VOD model since they were branded charlatans by theater chains in 2005 when Steven Soderbergh’s micro-budget film Bubble was released simultaneously on movie screens, VOD and DVD. Wagner and partner Mark Cuban put Magnolia and other film assets under the 2929 Entertainment banner on the selling block earlier this year, but pulled them back when they didn’t get a high price. Wagner said he’s staying.

Magnolia releases 35-40 films each year now, with upcoming releases that include the 2011 Toronto title Melancholia (which got Lars von Trier banned by Cannes for making dumb pro-Nazi comments). Some Magnolia efforts follow a theatrical release cycle, others go direct to DVD. But VOD has increasingly become the distributor’s calling card and Wagner said proof of its viability came when Harvey Weinstein poached Magnolia execs Tom Quinn and Jason Janego to start a VOD venture for The Weinstein Company.

“Harvey’s been in the industry forever, and he thought it was a good enough model to hire some of our folks away,” Wagner told me. “I’m flattered. There are other people doing this now, from IFC to John Sloss. To me, it’s validation that we’ve hit on something. But we’ve got an advantage, a unique collection of assets in the Landmark Theater chain, a home video division, and HDNet. The big theater chains still absolutely won’t play Ultra VOD titles, so having a theater chain is helpful. As is having the television network for the relationships it has made us with all the MSO’s. These synergies allow us to be freewheeling in how we license content. And producers are coming back to us with films because we are cutting them checks. That rarely happens elsewhere because of all the P&A that stands in front of them.” Read More »

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Participant Media Can Boast ‘Contagion’ #1 & ‘The Help’ #2; ‘Warrior’ #3 Disappoints; ‘Bucky Larson’ Bombs; Kevin Hart Still #10?

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday September 10, 2011 @ 9:45pm PDTTags: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Participant Media, Steven Soderbergh, Warrior

SATURDAY PM: This is shaping up as 2011′s lousiest box office weekend in North America with only $70M total grosses. Yes, even worse than Hurricane Irene’s. A lot of surprises in this weekend’s numbers and a fuller analysis is coming. But no surprise which new North American movie is No. 1:

1. With $8M Friday and +20% for $9.7M Saturday, it’s a $24M weekend for Warner Bros’ Contagion playing in 42% more theaters — 3,222 — than its nearest newcomer. This Participant Media-backed disease movie looked like yet another yikes-you’re-all-going-to-die formula pic. But I’m surprised it didn’t generate more appeal what with Oscar-winning Steven Soderbergh directing 6 Academy Award winners or nominees: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, and Laurence Fishburne. (Readers are urging me to include Oscar-honored John Hawke and Elliott Gould as well…) That added oomph to credited screenplay writer Scott Burns’ material. “Yes, it was important to be provocative and to scare people,” a Warner Bros exec tells me about the $60M-budget pic. “But both the print and trailer and TV campaign present a more well-rounded view of the mystery. We did sell the visceral experience — a smart and thrilling look at a  killer virus, the science behind it, and the aftermath.” Warner Bros took the film to Venice to solid reviews and conducted an aggressive consumer campaign. Besides, adult movies are working at the box office.

2. Entering its 5th weekend in release, DreamWorks/Disney’s hit dramedy The Help which is also backed by Participant Media made $2.7M Friday and $4M Saturday going to $9.4M from 2,935 locations for the weekend. It’s estimated new cume of $137.8M by Monday.

3. This seemingly anticipated mixed martial arts drama Warrior starring Tom Hardy (Bane in the next Batman) and Joel Edgerton was only released for 1,869 runs. It opened with $1.8M Friday and $2.1M Saturday for what was just a dismal $4.8M weekend. Another very disappointing opening for Lionsgate which was very high on this actioner. Did last weekend’s sneaks let some wannasee steam escape? Will this hurt Hardy whom Hollywood execs consider a hot soon-to-be-star?

4. Focus Features’ adult holdover The Debt earned $1.4M Friday (-45% from a week ago) from 1,874 theaters and a projected $4.5M weekend for an estimated $21.6M cume by Monday.

5. Sony Pictures’ holdover Colombiana made $1.1M Friday and $1.9M Saturday from 2,354 runs for a $4M weekend and $29.8M cume.

But I have it on good authority that Sony execs were hiding out at the Toronto Film Festival (where better-than-expected Moneyball officially premiered Friday night) rather than get tagged by its Columbia Pictures’ R-rated Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star which had one of the most annoying TV ad campaigns I’ve ever been assaulted by. Mercifully, its box office take was miniscule: $540K Friday and $570K Saturday for only a $1.2M weekend. That wasn’t even enough to make it into the Top 10 much less Sony’s hoped-for $4M. Fortunately the budget is purportedly just $10M. Usually Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production banner gives Sony box office gold: stupid pics popular with audiences. But this was fool’s gold.

Before I give you the rest of the Top 10, you should know that Kevin Hart’s Laugh At My Pain was No. 10 Friday despite Hartbeat Productions and Codeblack Entertainment releasing it into only 99 theaters. It opened to $758K Friday and an estimated weekend of $2M. But it may ultimately be beaten by The Weinstein Co’s Spy Kids 4D. (I’ll know Sunday AM.) Hart’s fans turned out for this profanity-filled film version of his recent stand-up tour. It offers less than an hour of Hart onstage but also includes such bonus footage as Hart touring his old neighborhood in Philadelphia and faking a bank heist. Directed by Leslie Small, this 1-hour, 28-minute pic and its entry into the Top 10 now establishes Hart as a bonafide star beyond just his YouTube videos which have drawn tens of millions of views. Look for the major studios to take notice.

Read More »

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Olivia Munn Joins ‘Magic Mike’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday August 31, 2011 @ 8:57am PDTTags: Aaron Sorkin, Alex Pettyfer, Channing Tatum, Magic Mike, Matt Bomer, Matthew McConaughey, Olivia Munn, Paul Schneider, Sarah Jessica Parker, Steven Soderbergh
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Steven Soderbergh’s hunkfest Magic Mike is finally getting something that has so far been missing: actresses. Olivia Munn is negotiating to play the role of Amber, the love interest to Channing Tatum, who plays Magic Mike. She’ll join Tatum, … Read More »

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Soderbergh’s ‘Contagion’ To Open Zurich

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday August 30, 2011 @ 12:27am PDTTags: Contagion, Steven Soderbergh, Zurich Film Festival

Zurich, Switzerland (August 30, 2011) – The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) announced today the members of the two juries that will preside over the international competition categories at the 7th edition of the Festival, which takes place September 22 – October 2, 2011. Academy Award® nominee Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix” trilogy, “Mystic River,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It”) will serve as Jury President for the ZFF’s international section. The Festival will also be honoring Fishburne with a special achievement award.

Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion,” which stars Fishburne, Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Bryan Cranston, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law has been selected as the Festival’s opening night film and will screen at the Corso Cinema on the evening of Thursday, September 22nd. “Contagion” is an action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak. The film is a Warner Bros. Pictures release, directed by Academy Award® winner Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh also produced the film with Gregory Jacobs, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher. Scott Z. Burns wrote the screenplay.

Multiple Academy Award® winner and humanitarian Sean Penn will be in Zurich this year to accept the Festival’s coveted Golden Icon Award.

The 2011 Zurich Film Festival jury members are:

Read More »

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George Clooney Dropping Out Of Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday August 29, 2011 @ 1:23pm PDTTags: George Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, Warner Bros
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: I’m hearing that George Clooney is in the process of withdrawing as the star of Steven Soderbergh’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Still trying to get a clear sense of the reason … Read More »

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‘White Collar’s Matt Bomer Joins Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Magic Mike’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday August 17, 2011 @ 4:01pm PDTTags: Alex Pettyfer, Andrew Niccol, Channing Tatum, Gregory Jacobs, Justin Timberlake, Magic Mike, Matt Bomer, Matthew McConaughey, Nick Wechsler, Reid Carolin, Steven Soderbergh
Mike Fleming

Matt Bomer, star of the USA series White Collar, has joined the ab-worthy cast of hunks who’ll play male strippers in Magic Mike, Steven Soderbergh’s next film. So far, Soderbergh has cast Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer and Matthew McConaughey. Magic Mike is a Saturday Night Fever-style coming of age story. … Read More »

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