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Eddie Murphy in Talks to Join Richard Pryor Biopic
21 hours ago | The Hollywood Reporter | See recent The Hollywood Reporter news »
Eddie Murphy is in talks to join the Richard Pryor biopic that Lee Daniels is directing for The Weinstein Co., The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Mike Epps is starring as the comedian who pushed the boundaries of race and mined his own gritty experiences, becoming one of the most influential acts of all time. See more Hollywood's 100 Favorite Films Pryor was raised by his grandmother, a hard woman who ran a brothel, and by his father, an alcoholic who beat him on the days his grandmother didn’t. Stories of both were frequently told as part of his routine. Murphy
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- Borys Kit
Russell Brand Tried to Block Premiere of Documentary at SXSW
18 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
At the SXSW premiere of the Russell Brand documentary—“Brand: A Second Coming”—on Friday night, director Ondi Timoner shed light on why its subject suddenly cancelled his appearances in Austin earlier in the day.
At a Q&A session after the film, Timoner said that Brand struggled with a rough cut of the film he saw. She said that in January, Brand became so uncomfortable with the idea of the film opening SXSW, he tried to block its release at the festival.
Timoner said she turned for help to Janet Pierson, the head of SXSW film, who told her that the festival was founded on the idea of freedom of speech, and reassured her they would show the film.
“Working with Russell Brand was difficult,” Timoner said. “He tried to control every situation … I really wanted to work with Russell and make him happy, but I also needed to protect the film. »
- Ramin Setoodeh
Sony’s ‘Popeye’ Loses Director Genndy Tartakovsky
41 minutes ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
It looks like Genndy Tartakovsky won’t be directing Sony’s adaptation of “Popeye,” after all.
The director told Moviefone that he’s “off that project” essentially over a difference of opinion in the direction the movie was headed. However, the film is still in active development, according to Sony Pictures Animation.
“I was in love with what we were doing, but I think the studio is going through changes and I don’t know if they want to make the ‘Popeye’ that I want to make,” he told Moviefone. “So they’ve got to make a decision.”
Those changes include Tom Rothman stepping in as chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment following Amy Pascal’s ousting. Sony Pictures Digital president Bob Osher was fired soon after and DreamWorks Animation producer Kristine Belson was hired for the newly created post of president of Sony Pictures Animation in two other shakeups following the Sony hacking attack. »
- Maane Khatchatourian
SXSW Review: 'Angie Tribeca' Delivers Crazy Gags and Great Guest Stars -- Who Needs Depth?
46 minutes ago | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
Read More: Indiewire's 17 Most Anticipated New TV Shows of 2015 "It's really, really stupid," is one of the first things comedy icon Steve Carell said today about "Angie Tribeca," the series he co-created with wife Nancy Walls Carell. But for everyone involved with the TBS comedy, which world-premiered at SXSW and will air this fall, that's seen as a good thing. "Angie Tribeca" stars Rashida Jones as a hard-as-nails Lapd detective assigned yet another partner (Hayes MacArthur) to help her with her beat. In the first two episodes screened today at the Vimeo Theater, Angie and Jay Geils work together to stop a blackmailer and bust up a drug ring -- all while keeping a straight face during the most absurd of situations, from strapping on a crossbow to greet the day to performing some truly unnecessary parkour to capture a suspect. In the current age of relatively grounded comedies, "Angie Tribeca »
- Liz Shannon Miller
‘Ixcanul,’ ‘600 Miles’ Triumph at Mexico’s Guadalajara Fest
1 hour ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Repeating triumphs at Berlin, Jayro Bustamante’s “Ixcanul” – a traditions-versus-women’s-rights piece set in Guatemala – and Gabriel Ripstein’s Tim Roth starrer “600 Miles” topped the 30th Guadalajara Festival Saturday, “Ixcanul” scooping best picture and director in its Ibero-America Competition and “600 Miles” the Mezcal Prize for best Mexican fiction feature. Celso Garcia’s road movie “The Thin Yellow Line” took a Special Jury Prize in the Ibero-American competish.
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- James Young
SXSW Film Review: ‘6 Years’
1 hour ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Having explored an illicit affair between a high-school instructor and student in “A Teacher,” writer-director Hannah Fidell focuses on a doomed relationship of a rather more banal (if age-appropriate) sort in “6 Years.” Although shot and performed in a determinedly raw, naturalistic register, this emotionally roiling portrait of two twentysomething Texas sweethearts too often veers toward melodramatic overstatement, inspiring little empathy or understanding despite the committed performances of promising young leads Taissa Farmiga and Ben Rosenfield. The backing of exec producers Mark and Jay Duplass will draw a measure of attention, but not enough to distinguish this low-budget effort in the indie marketplace.
Staggering home drunk one night from a party, Mel (Farmiga) awakens her boyfriend, Dan (Rosenfield), their groggy banter suddenly exploding into an argument; the scuffle that ensues leaves Dan with a bump on the head, and Mel aghast and apologetic. They’re quick to make up, but the »
- Justin Chang
New 'Jurassic World' Pictures Let the Raptors Out
1 hour ago | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
A couple new pictures from Jurassic World have been released along with a couple others the official Jurassic World Twitter account has released over the past couple of months. Just above is a piece of promotional artwork featuring the trained raptors Chris Pratt's character will be dealing with in the upcoming sequel and below is a look at Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson caught at their Isla Nublar arrival along with pics of Irrfan Khan, Bryce Dallas Howard and Pratt. Jurassic World is set 22 years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. The film hits theaters on June 12. Check out the pictures as well as a previously released trailer below. sb id="1419719" height="360" width="640" »
- Brad Brevet
SXSW Review: Taissa Farmiga and Ben Rosenfield Anchor Hannah Fidell's Dramatic '6 Years'
1 hour ago | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
Writer-director Hannah Fidell's 2013 debut "A Teacher" captured the intimacy of a forbidden romance — between a high school instructor and one of her students — with an impressive degree of precision. The movie pared down the premise to its bare essence. Her follow-up, "6 Years," similarly provides a basic snapshot of a troubled relationship, albeit a far more conventional one: The movie follows a young couple facing the titular anniversary as their future prospects are challenged by various spats and infidelities. To this end, "6 Years" offers little in the way of new material. Yet Fidell, working with executive producers Mark and Jay Duplass, effectively broadens her range by borrowing the sibling directors' improvisatory style and ceding control to her two leads, whose heartbreaking performances imbue this familiar Austin-set narrative with a fiery edge. Read More: The 2015 Indiewire SXSW Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During Run »
- Eric Kohn
Kevin Smith Confirms 'Mallrats 2' is In the Works
2 hours ago | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
A couple days ago Kevin Smith announced he would begin shooting Clerks III in May, followed by his long-gestating hockey comedy Hit Somebody from September to Christmas, next would be his Tusk follow-up Moose Jaws and then he hinted at the possibility of a sequel to his 1995 comedy Mallrats in a tweet that ended with: "But after thatc I smell a rat..." Now, Smith has confirmed the news in an interview with Tucson's Rock 102 Kfma saying, "Mallrats 2 is half scripted right now and we're pulling our loot together... We've got up until the beginning of 2016. By the time we get to May 2016, we're going to be shooting." As for how the film came about, Smith added: "It kind of came out of nowhere... Lately I've been doing this thing where I'm like 'Do you want to do what's good for your career or do you just want to have func' »
- Brad Brevet
‘Big Hero 6′: No. 1 Animated Movie Worldwide 2014
2 hours ago | Deadline | See recent Deadline news »
Walt Disney Animation Studios is feeling all puffed up as Big Hero 6 today became the No. 1 animated movie of 2014 with more than $621 million worldwide. Winner of the Oscar for Best Animated Film earned $221 million domestically plus more than $400 million at the international box office this weekend, the studio announced. Global box office runners-up included No. 2 How To Train Your Dragon 2 (DreamWorks Animation/Fox) with $618.9 million and No. 3 The Lego Movie with… »
‘Mallrats 2′ Is in the Works, Kevin Smith Says
2 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
On the heels of announcing that he’ll shoot the third and final film in his “Clerks” trilogy this May, Kevin Smith has confirmed that “Mallrats 2″ is also in the works.
“We shoot Clerks III in May. Hit Somebody shoots September to Christmas. Then in Feb 2016, we do Moose Jaws. But after that? I smell a rat…” he tweeted on Thursday.
We shoot Clerks III in May. Hit Somebody shoots September to Christmas. Then in Feb 2016, we do Moose Jaws. But after that? I smell a rat…
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) March 12, 2015
The writer-director then confirmed that the “rat” he teased is indeed a sequel to 1995’s “Mallrats,” which he wrapped filming 20 years ago this month. The comedy starred Smith, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Shannen Doherty and Jeremy London.
“It’s half scripted right now and we’re pulling our loot together,” he told Tucson’s Rock 102 Kfma on Friday. “We’ve »
- Maane Khatchatourian
Russell Brand Tried To Block The Release Of His New Film
2 hours ago | cinemablend.com | See recent Cinema Blend news »
P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { } When one thinks of Russell Brand they likely think of someone very comfortable being in front of the camera, not a person so insecure about appearing on film that he'd try to block his documentary from seeing the light of day. But that's what sources are saying he attempted to do with a documentary of which he was the subject... a complicated film on the controversial comedian that reportedly took over seven years to make. Director Ondi Timoner recently fielded questions about her documentary, Brand: A Second Coming during Q&A segment following the film's SXSW premiere Friday night. Among the many topics discussed was the absence of Brand, the film's subject and the man scheduled to make the keynote speech at this year's festival. Also up for discussion was his apparent attempts to block the film's release at the festival, which according to Variety, »
SXSW Springboard: The Promising Newcomer Behind Gay Muslim Drama 'Naz and Maalik'
2 hours ago | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
[Indiewire's Springboard column profiles up-and-comers who are deserving of your attention.] For his directorial debut, writer-director Jay Dockendorf tackles explosive material sure to draw attention when it premieres in the Visions section today at this year's SXSW Film Festival. Set during a single hectic day in Brooklyn, "Naz and Maalik" centers on two closeted Muslim teens (newcomer Kerwin Johnson, Jr. and Curtis Cook, Jr.) being surveilled by the FBI due to their religion, while engaging in two-bit schemes around town. Dockendorf, who won Tribeca Film Institute's Iwc Filmmaker Award for the project, was inspired to make his debut feature after hearing about (and being appalled by) the FBI's program of secret spying on mosques in Brooklyn. His story emerged from interviewing Muslims about their real-life experiences with surveillance, including some closeted men. A former Project of the Week winner on Indiewire, "Naz and Maalik" strikes a timely note and »
- Nigel M Smith
'Life in Color' (2015) Movie Review
2 hours ago | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
There has been a lot of debate lately on what makes an independent film. Can an independent film be truly independent if there is a major movie star in it or has a several million dollar budgetc Some say yes. Some say no. Then there are those movies no one would doubt as an independent film. The crew is extremely small, the technical equipment they are working with is not the highest quality, etc. These are the productions that rose up in a post-mumblecore world where people realized they did not necessarily need these things in order to tell the story he or she wanted to tell. So, now we get to Life in Color, which is a seriously independent movie stemming from the mind of writer-director-producer-star-editor Katharine Emmer, which capitalizes on everything this kind of approach to filmmaking can illicit. The thing I look for most in a production like this is authenticity. »
- Mike Shutt
‘Selma’s’ Ava DuVernay: ‘Studios Aren’t Lining Up for Black Protagonists’
3 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Ava DuVernay had an epiphany while attending this year’s Oscars ceremony, where “Selma” received two nominations including best picture, but was snubbed in categories like acting and directing.
“It was a room in L.A.,” DuVernay said in her keynote speech at SXSW on Saturday morning. “It’s not anything but a big room with very nice people dressed up. It’s very cool. But my work’s worth is not about what happens in, around or for that room.”
DuVernay delivered a passionate, at times emotional, speech in Austin about her journey making “Selma,” revealing she was Paramount’s seventh choice to direct the drama about the 1965 civil rights marches.
A member of the audience asked DuVernay why it took so long for Hollywood to tell King’s story.
“The studios aren’t lining up to make films about black protagonists,” DuVernay said. “Black people being autonomous and independent. »
- Ramin Setoodeh
The Final Girls Is An Exciting And Hilarious Must-See Horror Comedy
4 hours ago | cinemablend.com | See recent Cinema Blend news »
Though terror and laughter really exist on opposite sides of the emotional spectrum, there is a storied and wonderful history between the two in the world of cinema. From Evil Dead II to Dead Alive to Shaun of the Dead, there is a long legacy of horror and comedy working together at the movies, and while it.s a tricky mash-up to master, history as shown that when done well, it can be insanely entertaining. With his new film The Final Girls, director Todd Strauss-Schulson is the latest to try and tackle a mix of the two desperate genres, and while it may not necessarily a movie that can be dubbed an instant classic, it is a fantastically entertaining bit of meta fun. Centering on a teenage girl named Max (Taissa Farmiga), the story picks up three years after the death of her mother (Malin Ackerman), an actress who famously »
'Cinderella' Mops Up Friday Box Office, Liam Neeson's 'Run All Night' a Weak Second
4 hours ago | Thompson on Hollywood | See recent Thompson on Hollywood news »
The Disney juggernaut scores again, with its latest iteration of a childhood classic singlehandedly reversing the recent box office slump as the live-action "Cinderella" grossed $23 million its initial day (including strong Thursday night shows). This is how dominant it was — the rest of the Top Ten combined only totaled $16 million. The result is a $39 million take that outdid the same Friday last year (which featured openers "Need for Speed" and "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" and holdover "300: Rise of an Empire) by $9 million. This is a very encouraging result that marks an early start to a highly touted slate of tentpole releases, starting ever earlier leading into the summer. ("Insurgent," "Get Hard" and "Furious 7" over the next three weeks, should they keep up this pace, could provide strong evidence that a real surge is happening). What makes "Cinderella" particularly encouraging is that its gross is only a »
- Tom Brueggemann
SXSW Review: 'Creative Control' is a Fresh and Exciting Sci-Fi Cautionary Tale
4 hours ago | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
With its crisp black-and-white photography and snazzy effects, Benjamin Dickinson's mesmerizing science fiction thriller "Creative Control" cleverly envisions a technology-dominated society that's right around the corner. But the particulars of the plot, in which the Brooklyn-based developer of new augmented reality glasses loses touch with the world around him, imbues the target of its critique with a sharp contemporary edge. It's at once otherworldly and familiar. Read More: The 2015 Indiewire SXSW Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During Run of Festival The actual product overseen by intense workaholic David (Dickinson), a pair of augmented reality glasses called Augmenta, contains features only a few degrees removed from the devices being imagined today (and already in limited circulation thanks to Google Glass). Dickinson populates the movie with a number of similar recognizable ingredients: In need of "a creative genius" to test out their »
- Eric Kohn
SXSW Film Review: ‘Creative Control’
4 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Well timed in light of the unveiling of the Apple Watch, “Creative Control” reps a big step forward for its co-writer/director, Benjamin Dickinson, following his promising 2012 debut, “First Winter.” The story of an ad exec who finds his priorities rewired while testing a pair of eyeglasses that constitute “the first actually convincing augmented-reality system” doesn’t exactly have new things to say about technology and alienation. But a contemplative tone, a zigzagging narrative, superb widescreen black-and-white cinematography and an infusion of dry humor make it feel genuinely fresh. Critical nurturing could help this moody, offbeat indie find its audience.
Dickinson’s “First Winter,” set at a yoga farm, was a survivalist picture that hinged on a reversal of expectations; its characters approached the abyss and stared back. In some ways, “Creative Control” tells a similar tale in the tech realm. David (played by Dickinson) has taken charge of a dream account, »
- Ben Kenigsberg
Box Office: ‘Big Hero 6’ Becomes 2014’s Top Animated Film Worldwide
4 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
“Big Hero 6″ has reached yet another milestone. The Disney toon has become 2014’s biggest animated release worldwide.
The Oscar-winning movie has earned $221 million in the U.S. It will pass the $400 million mark at the international box office this weekend, raising its worldwide cume to $620 million and thereby surpassing “Fox’s “How to Train Your Dragon 2’s” global haul.
“Big Hero 6″ opened to $56.2 million in the U.S. on November 7 and has taken off internationally.
Last weekend, it overtook “Tangled” as the third biggest Walt Disney Animation Studios release ever globally, behind only “Frozen” and “The Lion King.” It’s also the studio’s third largest domestic release of all time.
“Big Hero 6″ continues doing strong business in China, where it opened just two weeks ago. After reeling in over $51 million, it’s already surpassed “Frozen” to become the highest-grossing Disney or Pixar animated release in the country. »
- Maane Khatchatourian
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