Movie News

Channing Tatum is attached to headline and produce Disney’s musical comedy “Bob the Musical,” an individual with knowledge of the project tells TheWrap.

Tatum will produce with his company, Free Association, along with partners Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan. Tripp Vinson and Chris Bender are also attached to produce. There are no other attachments at this time and the studio will be looking to find a director. Jessica Virtue and Allison Erlikhman are overseeing for the studio.

“Bob the Musical” centers on a regular guy whose worst nightmare comes to life after he receives a blow to the head and wakes up to finds that he’s trapped in a musical. The project initially was set in 2004 and is one of the longest projects in development at Disney this century. Tom Cruise previously circled the project.

Also Read: Todd Strauss-Schulson to Direct Channing Tatum's 'Zombie Brother' at STXfilms

Tatum

Focus Features will release the latest film from director Jon Stewart called “Irresistible” on May 29, 2020, the distributor announced Wednesday.

Steve Carell, Chris Cooper and Rose Byrne star in the political comedy that the former “Daily Show” host both wrote and directed.

“Irresistible” is a satire about what happens when a small Wisconsin town becomes the main attraction of our political circus. After the Democrat’s top strategist Gary (Steve Carell) sees a video of a retired Marine Colonel (Chris Cooper) standing up for the rights of his town’s undocumented workers, Gary believes he has found the key to winning back the Heartland. However, when the Republicans counter him by sending in his brilliant nemesis Faith (Rose Byrne), what started out as a local race quickly becomes an out-of-control and hilarious fight for the soul of America.

South African filmmaker Richard Stanley is currently enjoying a years-later career revival thanks to The Color Out of Space, a new film based on H.P. Lovecraft’s classic short story. Stanley’s adaptation stars Nicolas Cage as an eccentric, alpaca-raising patriarch whose family’s members all lose their minds after they’re exposed to an alien meteorite.

Both Stanley’s Color and ongoing comeback would not have been possible without the success of Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau, writer-director David Gregory’s detailed and unsparing 2014 documentary about the catastrophic production of 1996's ...

Remember Fanboys? It was a comedy released in 2009 following a group of friends in 1999 who decide to break into Skywalker Ranch in an attempt to steal a rough cut of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. But it’s not just because they want to see it early. The group learns that one among them […]

The post ‘Fanboys’ Writer Wants to Make a Sequel Focused on The Snyder Cut of ‘Justice League’ appeared first on /Film.

Lineup and Pre-Festival Announcements and News

Sundance 2020 Announces Features Lineup: Films From Rees, Zeitlin, Plus Surprise Taylor Swift Doc

An Inconvenient Truth’ Director Davis Guggenheim Launches Concordia, a Documentary and Nonfiction Studio

Sundance 2020 Reveals New Frontier Slate, Including Films and Vr Experiences

Sundance 2020 Sets TV and Shorts Lineups with Sarah Polley, Steve James, and Lin-Manuel Miranda

Sundance Film Festival Announces Travel Stipend for Minority Journalists

Sundance 2020 Juries Include Ethan Hawke, Dee Rees, Nanfu Wang, Isabella Rossellini, and More

Pre-Festival Analysis

Sundance 2020: 20 Must-See Films and Series At This Year’s Festival, From ‘Zola’ to ‘Kajillionaire’

Sundance 2020: The Lgbtq Films We Can’t Wait to See in Park City

Sundance Wish List: 60 Films We Hope Will Head to Park City in 2020

Sundance 2020: 23 Films Poised to Break Out, With a Few Hidden Gems

Sundance 2020 Oscar Preview: Keep Your Eye on the Documentaries

Film and Television Reviews Interviews

Sundance 2020: How

The Tokyo Olympics, to be held from July 24 to Aug. 9, and Paralympics, scheduled for Aug. 25 to Sept. 9, are affecting Japan’s big summer events. Everything from fireworks displays to music festivals have chosen to shift dates or even cancel altogether.

The only film festival so far to announce a change in dates is the Skip City International D-Cinema Festival. Held every July in the Tokyo suburb of Kawaguchi since its start in 2004, the festival Thursday revealed that its 17th edition will unspool Sept. 26 to Oct. 4 instead. “The regular festival dates overlap with the Olympics,” organizers explained in a statement.

Big music festivals are another matter, being concentrated in the summer months. The biggest, Fuji Rock Festival, which has been held in July at the Naeba Ski Resort in Niigata Prefecture since 1999, has shifted its dates to Aug. 21-23.

Another major music festival, Summer Sonic, which presented its 20th edition in Osaka and Tokyo Aug.

Seven major blockbusters were set for release during the holiday.

All films set for release during the Chinese Lunar New Year period have been pulled due to concerns over the spread of coronavirus in what is a major blow to the Chinese film industry.

At least seven major blockbusters were due to open during the holiday, which kicks off this weekend and is the most lucrative time of the year at the Chinese box office.

The titles are Lost In Russia, Leap, Vanguard, Detective Chinatown 3, Boonie Bears: The Wild Life, The Rescue, and Legend Of Deification, from the studio behind smash-hit animation Ne Zha.

Actor and filmmaker to receive honour at the 2020 Baftas.

Actor and filmmaker Andy Serkis is to receive the outstanding British contribution to cinema award at the 2020 Bafta film awards.

Serkis is best known for his pioneering performance capture work, portraying Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit films as well as the lead role of Caesar in the Planet of the Apes franchise.

But he has more recently moved into directing with Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle and Breathe. He is currently directing Venom 2, starring Tom Hardy.

In 2011, Serkis founded performance capture company The Imaginarium, with producer Jonathan Cavendish,

The overseas release of Chinese films in the next weeks is certain to be affected by the cancellation of theatrical outings in mainland China as a response to the rampant spread of the coronavirus.

On Thursday, movie companies in China announced they would not go ahead with the release of seven major films at Chinese New Year, normally the busiest period in the cinema calendar.

Chinese regulations prevent a Chinese-produced film from being released outside mainland China in advance of a release within the country. There can be exceptions, such as those for major film festivals, but these need government approval.

Chinese rights holders also like to avoid international releases preceding their film’s outings in China. The chance of pirated recordings from the smaller overseas markets leaking back into massively larger mainland Chinese market is too great a risk.

Cancelled domestic outings will now have a domino effect on overseas releases of certain films.

The world premiere of João Nuno Pinto’s Mosquito opened the festival.

The International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) opened last night (Wednesday January 22) with a speech from outgoing artistic director Bero Beyer championing sustainability and the enduring power of film.

A smiling Beyer was visibly emotional throughout his speech, at one point digressing from his prepared script and receiving multiple interruptions of applause from the audience.

Rather than looking back at his tenure, he spoke of the “distinctive feature of humanity” that is “this urge to communicate” through cinema.

“Through film we pose profound questions in an attempt to find

This year’s festival is Bero Beyer’s fifth and final as director.

Bero Beyer, outgoing director of International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), got his final edition of the festival underway on Wednesday, January 22 with a speech championing sustainability and the enduring power of film.

A smiling Beyer was visibly emotional throughout his speech, at one stage digressing from his prepared script and receiving multiple interruptions of applause from the audience.

Rather than looking back at his tenure, he spoke of the “distinctive feature of humanity” that is “this urge to communicate” through cinema.

“Through film we pose profound questions

The U.K. Parliament on Wednesday evening passed legislation paving the way for the country to leave the European Union on Jan. 31, 2020.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the U.K. had “crossed the Brexit finish line” following passage of the Withdrawal Agreement, which will officially become law when it receives royal assent from Queen Elizabeth II, which could happen as early as Thursday. The European Parliament is expected to approve the EU Bill next week.

“At times it felt like we would never cross the Brexit finish line, but we’ve done it,” Johnson said in a statement.

The bill cleared its final hurdle after the government overturned five House of Lords amendments to it, including one that would have restored the right of unaccompanied child refugees to be reunited with their families in the U.K.

The approved bill covers the country’s exit from the EU, the

The releases of all new movies this week in China have been cancelled as a response to the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. The move is a massive blow for the Chinese film industry.

Seven major films were expected to have been released over the coming weekend, with the likelihood that together they would have earned more than $1 billion, in just a few days. All seven have been cancelled, though holdover titles may continue to be available.

The new strain of coronavirus emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan a few weeks ago, apparently from a fresh food market. Initially it was thought to have involved animal to human infections. But in recent days, it has become clear that human-to-human transmission has occurred.

That development has caused huge worry within China, especially at a time of year when more than 600 million people are expected to travel for the Chinese

What’s to say about “Picard” that a) can be said, given this review is a spoiler-free zone, and b) needs to be said, given CBS All Access is ostensibly reviving one of the “Star Trek” franchise’s most-utilized captains, and thus rebooting one of the fandom’s favorite shows? Of course, the question can apply directly to the man himself: What’s left to say about Picard that hasn’t been said in seven seasons of great television, four films of vastly disparate quality, and innumerable appearances in “Star Trek”-related stories?

Saddling the pure-of-heart, bald-of-head leader with fresh baggage and renewed purpose should motivate most prospective viewers to say “engage” each week of this 10-episode ride, but there’s a lingering feeling of missed opportunity hovering over our initial re-entry. “Star Trek: Picard” may represent a new chapter for Patrick Stewart’s beloved Jean-Luc, but it’s not

New films about Taylor Swift, Hillary Clinton and Russell Simmons join Oscar-buzzed dramas starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Keaton

A host of buzzy star-led documentaries and a some major A-list actors will be headlining this year’s Sundance film festival, which kicks off in Park City in Utah this week.

The 36th edition of the festival will kick off with the world premiere of Taylor Swift: Miss Americana, a “raw and honest” look at the star that will land on Netflix in February. Film-maker Lana Wilson, whose previous films have covered suicide in Japan and late-term abortions in the Us, has covered the singer’s rise as an activist.

Despite some dazzling, nail-biting chopper stunts, there’s an excess of pointless rushing around in this hymn to China’s emergency services

This goofy event movie is vying for the attentions of the Chinese lunar new year audience: a frenetic, exhausting mix of soap and spectacle. It’s overseen by Dante Lam, a sometime cult director confirming the transition into commercial respectability he made with the state-sanctioned seat-filler Operation Red Sea (2018). The pitch was presumably Top Gun with air-rescue workers.

Heroic winchman Gao (Eddie Peng) is introduced swinging through a collapsing oil rig and winds up in fraught navigation of a stricken ship. Yet, once back on dry land, Lam proves just as preoccupied with Gao’s curly-haired moppet Congcong (Zhang Jingyi) and his progress through toilet training.

Director Floria Sigismondi’s “The Turning” is like the alt-rock cousin of author Henry James’ novella “The Turn of the Screw.” From its grunge-infused soundtrack and period setting to its fiery feminist overtones, this is an ambitious contemporary take on the iconic, claustrophobic thriller. Concerning two young orphans who psychologically torment their caretaker in a spooky, sprawling mansion, it comes across as a fuzzy, frayed adaptation courtesy of a gimmicky, ambiguous climax that undermines the journey. Lacking spine-tingling dread, taut tension, and the deservingly provocative ending needed to make its modern sentiments land, this re-imagining is less than a classic.

Bubbly teacher Kate (Mackenzie Davis) has taken a position at Bly Manor as governess for 7-year-old Flora (Brooklynn Prince), who’s suffering from trauma associated with the death of her parents outside the gates of the palatial estate. The family’s former live-in nanny, Miss Jessel (Denna Thomsen), abruptly left

Quebec Christmas hit Thanks For Everything among roster.

Montreal-based WaZabi Films is launching four titles at Efm including Generation 14plus selection Goddess Of The Fireflies and Frankel starring Berlinale international jury president Jeremy Irons.

Anick Poirier and Lorne Price’s team will be in Berlin introducing buyers to three other titles, having boarded Quebec Christmas hit Thanks For Everything (Merci Pour Tout), which is approaching $1m (C$1.3m), youth drama Flashwood, and Pascal Plante’s Nadia Butterfly, about a professional swimmer in her 20s facing retirement.

Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s Goddess Of The Fireflies (La Déesse Des Mouches À Feu) is

Quebec Christmas hit Thanks For Everything among roster.

Montreal-based WaZabi Films is launching four titles at Efm including Generations 14+ selection Goddess Of The Fireflies and Frankel starring Berlinale international jury president Jeremy Irons.

Anick Poirier and Lorne Price’s team will be in Berlin introducing buyers to three other titles, having boarded Quebec Christmas hit Thanks For Everything (Merci Pour Tout), which is approaching $1m (C$1.3m), youth drama Flashwood, and Pascal Plante’s Nadia Butterfly, about a professional swimmer in her 20s facing retirement.

Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette’s Goddess Of The Fireflies (La Déesse Des Mouches À Feu) is based

In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv, Warner Bros. claims the top spot in spending with “Birds of Prey.”

Ads placed for the superhero film had an estimated media value of $6.94 million through Sunday for 431 national ad airings on 23 networks. (Spend figures are based on estimates generated from Jan. 13-19. Estimates may be updated after the chart is posted as new information becomes available.) Warner Bros. prioritized spend across networks including Fox, CBS and ESPN, and during programming such as NFL Football, College Football and This Is Us.

Just behind “Birds of Prey” in second place: Disney Pixar’s “Onward,” which saw 221 national ad airings across eight networks, with an estimated media value of $5.95 million.

TV ad placements for Twentieth Century Fox’s “The Call of the Wild” (Emv: $5.8 million), Universal Pictures’ “Dolittle” ($5.72 million