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"I could feel him missing Walter in the same way I did." Bleecker Street has revealed an official trailer for The Friend, one of the best dog movies ever made, based on the book. Directed by Scott McGehee & David Siegel, The Friend first premiered at the 2024 TIFF & NYFF festivals last fall to mostly positive reviews (I loved it). Adapted from the bestselling novel also titled "The Friend" by Sigrid Nunez, it's a story about love, friendship, grief and healing, following a writer who adopts a Great Dane that belonged to a late friend and mentor. Naomi Watts stars as Iris, who takes in this massive, 150lbs Great Dane named Apollo (played by a real doggie named Bing). He immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones, his looming presence constantly reminding her of her friend's problematic choices in both life and death.

The Friend received strong reviews out of its Telluride Film Festival debut last year, further building its reputation at TIFF. It was here that word grew enough that it seemed a sure thing it would get a respectable release. And after Bleecker Street nabbed the rights, it was on its way to 2025. It flew a bit under the radar there for a while but now, ahead of its debut in a couple of months, we have the first trailer.

Here is the official synopsis, as per Bleecker Street, who will be distributing the drama: “In The Friend, adapted from the bestselling novel, Iris (Naomi Watts) finds her comfortable New York life upended when her friend and mentor Walter (Bill Murray) bequeaths her his Great Dane, Apollo. The regal yet intractable beast is a constant reminder of Walter and causes various problems— yet as Iris bonds with Apollo, she begins to cope with her past,...

Naomi Watts grapples with grief and becomes a dog caretaker in the first trailer for The Friend. On Tuesday, Bleecker Street released the clip for the upcoming film, which poignantly captures Watts dealing with the loss of a good friend, played by Bill Murray, as she adopts his pet Great Dane.

The trailer opens with Murray asking: “What’s going to happen to the dog?” The trailer devolves into Watts’ character having to take in the Great Dane following Walter’s death, since it was what he wanted when he died.

In the trailer for The Friend, the emotional support animal comes in a large package.

Based on the Sigrid Nunez novel, The Friend follows Iris (Naomi Watts), a writer and teacher, who is grieving the loss of her friend and mentor Walter (Bill Murray) when she learns that he has left her his dog, a Great Dane named Apollo.

“What’s going to happen to the dog,” Murray’s Walter asks in the trailer. After taking in the dog, Watts’ Iris has to contend with the realities of having a new massive companion in a New York City, where Apollo destroys her apartment, takes over her bed and drags her down city sidewalks. All the while, she continues to work through the loss of her friend.

Scott McGhee and David Siegel directed and adapted the book for the screen. Constance Wu, Carla Gugino and Ann Dowd star alongside Watts and Murray.

The Room Next Door wasn’t the only Sigrid Nunez adaptation to premiere at fall festivals last year. David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s Montana Story follow-up The Friend finds Naomi Watts as a woman in NYC who looks after the dog of her friend (Bill Murray) after he passes away. The Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF selection was picked up by Bleecker Street who have now released the trailer ahead of a March 28 release in NYC and a wide release on April 4.

Here’s the synopsis: “In The Friend, adapted from the bestselling novel, Iris (Naomi Watts) finds her comfortable New York life upended when her friend and mentor Walter (Bill Murray) bequeaths her his Great Dane, Apollo. The regal yet intractable beast is a constant reminder of Walter and causes various problems—yet as Iris bonds with Apollo, she begins to cope with her past, her lost friend, and her own creative inner life.

“The Friend” is almost here.

The drama from directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel opens exclusively in New York on March 28 before its wide release on April 4. And you can watch a brand-new trailer for the Naomi Watts-led film below.

“The Friend,” based on Sigrid Nunez’s 2018 book of the same name, stars Bill Murray as a man who leaves his beloved Great Dane to his friend (Watts). Wouldn’t you know it, she learns more from the dog than the dog could ever learn from her? Sarah Pidgeon, Constance Wu, Ann Dowd, Noma Dumezweni, Owen Teague and Carla Gugino also star.

The movie premiered at last year’s Telluride Film Festival and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival. Bleecker Street acquired the North American rights to the film, which tentatively planned an early 2025 release. Now we know the release isn’t quite...

“The Friend,” an upcoming comedy-drama that follows the relationship between a New York writer and a Great Dane dog passed on to her by a deceased friend, marks the second collaboration between Naomi Watts and Bill Murray. After co-starring in the 2014 critically acclaimed comedy “St. Vincent.” While Murray is notorious for being difficult to track down in the casting process, filmmakers Scott McGehee and David Siegel had the advantage of Watts already on board, a friend of Murray’s who was willing and able to reach out to the comedy legend, as she explained in a recent Collider interview:

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025

“I thought I’d take a shot at it.

Continue reading ‘The Friend’ Trailer: Naomi Watts & Bill Murray-Starring Grief Dramedy Arrives March 28 at The Playlist.

Bill Murray (Ghostbusters) and Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids) have been set to co-star in odd couple comedy Epiphany from Palm Springs helmer Max Barbakow. Rocket Science, CAA Media Finance, and Range Media Partners are launching the feature at the European Film Market in Berlin this week.

Epiphany follows Favorite Ives (Wiig), an heiress and fashionista whose fortune evaporates overnight, as she embarks on a two-week search for a rich husband in a bid to fight creditors and keep a roof over her head. She meets eccentric math savant billionaire Oz Bell (Murray), who needs Ives’ spirit and spontaneity as much as she needs his money.

Scooged writer Mitch Glazer has penned the film and will produce. The Gotham Group’s Lee Stollman and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein (Deliver Me From Nowhere) are also producers. Wiig and Murray serve as executive producers alongside Jillian Apfelbaum (The Mule) and Margot Hand (Passing). CAA Media Finance...

“The Friend,” an upcoming comedy-drama that follows the relationship between a New York writer and a Great Dane dog passed on to her by a deceased friend, marks the second collaboration between Naomi Watts and Bill Murray. After co-starring in the 2014 critically acclaimed comedy “St. Vincent.” While Murray is notorious for being difficult to track down in the casting process, filmmakers Scott McGehee and David Siegel had the advantage of Watts already on board, a friend of Murray’s who was willing and able to reach out to the comedy legend, as she explained in a recent Collider interview:

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025

“I thought I’d take a shot at it.

Continue reading ‘The Friend’ Trailer: Naomi Watts & Bill Murray-Starring Grief Dramedy Arrives March 21 at The Playlist.

The ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ trailer promises more gore and thrill than ever before (Photo Credit – YouTube)

The Final Destination franchise is back with its sixth installment, ‘Bloodlines,’ and the newly released trailer promises more of the grisly, improbable deaths that made the series a cult favorite. Fans who’ve been eagerly awaiting this new chapter won’t have to wait too much longer asit hits theaters on May 16.

Final Destination: Bloodlines Trailer – A Gruesome Start to the Chaos

The two-minute-17-second-long trailer doesn’t hold back, kicking things off with a tattoo artist played by Richard Harmon, who becomes the latest victim of the franchise’s signature blend of shocking, twisted fate.

In a truly bizarre sequence, the tattoo artist’s nose ring becomes entangled with a hanging chain from a ceiling fan, setting off a series of events that leads to his fiery demise. It’s an absurdly tragic end,...

The newest chapter in New Line Cinema’s bloody successful franchise takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death’s twisted sense of justice – Final Destination Bloodlines.

Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.

Final Destination Bloodlines stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Rya Kihlstedt, Anna Lore, with Brec Bassinger, and Tony Todd.

The franchise has grossed over $666 million worldwide, proving to be a consistently popular horror series. Final Destination 5 (2011) and its clever twist ending, has received the best Rotten Tomatoes score with 63%, while the Bus Hit from Final Destination (2000) is considered to be one of the best jump scares ever.

Final Destination Bloodlines is directed by Adam Stein & Zach Lipovsky. The...

Believe it or not, it was 2011 when the last Final Destination movie was released. However, the franchise returns this summer with Final Destination Bloodlines, a movie we've previously heard will be part prequel, part sequel.

According to Warner Bros. and New Line, this sixth instalment "takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death's twisted sense of justice." In today's newly released teaser trailer (via FearHQ.com), we find a tattoo artist surrounded by a series of chain reactions, all of which culminate with his grisly demise. That involves fire, a ceiling fan, and a pretty horrific use of his piercings.

While this is more like an extended clip than a traditional trailer, it promises the sort of death and gore fans of these movies have loved since the series launched in 2000 (feel old yet?).

Whether Final Destination Bloodlines can successfully relaunch the long-running horror property remains to be seen,...

From tanning beds and logging trucks to elevators and escalators, the Final Destination franchise has always had a chilling method of making you look at everyday objects with a newfound sense of dread, and that terrifying tradition will continue this spring when Final Destination Bloodlines hits theaters.

Reigniting Death's sinisterly creative streak of catching up with those who managed to evade the Grim Reaper, Final Destination Bloodlines will haunt theaters and IMAX on May 16th via Warner Bros., and the official teaser trailer has arrived with a vengeance... and a very violent ceiling fan.

The newest chapter in New Line Cinema’s bloody successful franchise takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death’s twisted sense of justice—“Final Destination Bloodlines.”

Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save...

Warner Bros. Pictures has revealed the teaser trailer and poster for Final Destination Bloodlines, the anticipated new installment in the franchise opening in theaters and IMAX on May 16.

The newest chapter in New Line Cinema’s bloody successful franchise takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death’s twisted sense of justice.

Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.

Final Destination Bloodlines stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Rya Kihlstedt and Anna Lore, with Brec Bassinger and Tony Todd.

The film is directed by Adam Stein & Zach Lipovsky. The screenplay is by Guy Busick & Lori Evans Taylor, and the story is by Jon Watts and Guy Busick & Lori Evans Taylor. It is based...

Get ready for a captivating cinematic experience that delves deep into the complexities of grief, friendship, and unexpected bonds. The Friend is shaping up to be one of 2025’s most anticipated independent films, bringing together a powerhouse ensemble cast led by the incomparable Naomi Watts and the legendary Bill Murray.

Bill Murray and Naomi Watts in The Friend | Credits: Bleecker Street

Based on Sigrid Nunez’s acclaimed 2018 novel, this thought-provoking drama explores the transformative power of unexpected connections and the lasting impact of friendship. As audiences eagerly await its release, we’ve gathered all the essential details about this intimate character study that’s already generating significant buzz in the film industry.

Who’s who? Meet the star-studded cast Naomi Watts and Bing in The Friend | Credits: Bleecker Street

The casting directors have assembled an extraordinary group of talented actors for The Friend, ensuring that every character brings depth and authenticity to the story.

Exclusive: Bleecker Street has dated their Sundance premiere title The Wedding Banquet starring Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone for April 18 while their Telluride acquisition, the Bill Murray and Naomi Watts movie The Friend will start its limited rollout on March 21.

They’re both part of a 2025 theatrical release slate which includes Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths which is getting a wide release on Jan. 10, the Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun movie Love Me on Jan. 31; the Riz Ahmed, Sam Worthington and Lily James movie Relay in Q2 and the Damian Lewis and Thomasin McKenzie Feckham Hall later in the year.

“We are excited to unveil our 2025 theatrical lineup, which truly embodies the diverse, bold, and original storytelling that we are passionate about championing at Bleecker Street,” said Bleecker Street CEO Andrew Karpen and President Kent Sanderson. “With a star-studded roster of filmmakers and talent, across a wide array of genres,...

Barry Manilow is not leaving Las Vegas for the rest of his career!

The 81-year-old singer has announced an extension to his residency at Westgate Resort & Casino’s International Theater, making it a lifetime residency where he’ll perform until he’s done with his career.

“It’s been an incredible journey performing at the International Theater,” he shared in a statement, via in People. “David Siegel and the Westgate team have been like family to me, and I am deeply grateful to have the opportunity to call Westgate home for the rest of my career.”

Keep reading to find out more…

Barry will hit the stage starting this week through next for a series of holiday shows, then, the venue has released tickets for shows for the next year!

“Barry Manilow is a generational artist and a dear friend,” Westgate founder and executive chairman David Siegel said in a statement.

Bing as Apollo with Naomi Watts as Iris in David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s wondrous and sage adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award winning novel The Friend

In the first instalment with novelist Sigrid Nunez, we start out discussing the costume design (by Bina Daigeler) for Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore's outfits in Pedro Almodóvar’s enlightened The Room Next Door and the clothes (by Stacey Battat) for Naomi Watts in David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s wondrous and sage adaptation of her National Book Award winning novel The Friend (a highlight in the Spotlight programme of New York Film Festival).

Sigrid Nunez with Anne-Katrin Titze on Jean Cocteau’s Beauty And The Beast: “You know there's something about a man-sized cat.”

Bing, the Harlequin Great Dane who steals the show...

Bleecker Street has acquired U.S. rights to “Relay” following the twisty thriller’s debut at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

The film was directed by David MacKenzie, who oversaw the Oscar-nominated “Hell or High Water,” and stars Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Lily James (“Pam & Tommy”) and Sam Worthington (“Avatar”). Bleecker Street is planning to release the film in theaters next year.

“Relay” puts a new spin on the kind of paranoid loner films like “The Conversation” and “The Parallax View” that populated ’70s cinema. In it, Ahmed plays a “fixer” who specializes in brokering payoffs between businesses and employees who have secrets about corporate malfeasance that could ruin companies. Because of the nature of his work, he keeps his identity a secret through meticulous planning, but his guard drops ever so slightly when he takes on a new client (Lily James) who needs his protection to stay alive.

Bleecker Street has swooped on Relay, acquiring U.S. rights to the high-concept contemporary thriller, starring Riz Ahmed, Lily James and Sam Worthington, which impressed in its world premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.

Written by Justin Piasecki and directed by David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water), the film will be released in theaters sometime next year.

In Relay, Ahmed plays a world class “fixer” who specializes in brokering lucrative payoffs between corrupt corporations and the individuals who threaten their ruin. He keeps his identity a secret through meticulous planning and always follows an exacting set of rules. But when a message arrives one day from a potential client (James), needing his protection just to stay alive, the rules quickly start to change.

Black Bear fully financed the project and produced alongside Thunder Road Pictures and Sigma Films. Producers include Basil Iwanyk for Thunder Road, Gillian Berrie for Sigma,...

The fall festivals may be in the rearview, but there is still plenty of wheeling and dealing to be done. The latest: Bleecker Street announced Monday it has picked up the U.S. rights for David Mackenzie’s sharp and very entertaining TIFF premiere, “Relay.”

Starring Riz Ahmed, Lily James, and Sam Worthington, the “high-concept contemporary thriller” is a throwback to clever, classy films of yore. Even better: the distributor is planning a 2025 theatrical release for the film. Bleecker has purchased two fall premieres that did well on the fest circuit and beyond, with “Relay” joining Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s “The Friend” as a recent purchase.

Per Bleecker, the film follows Riz Ahmed as “a world class ‘fixer’ who specializes in brokering lucrative payoffs between corrupt corporations and the individuals who threaten their ruin. He keeps his identity a secret through meticulous planning and always follows an exacting set of rules.

Memento International has boarded “Atropia,” the directorial feature of “Uncut Gems” actor Hailey Gates which is produced by “Queer” director Luca Guadagnino. The war comedy stars Alia Shawkat (“Blink Twice”), Callum Turner (“Masters of the Air”), Chloë Sevigny (“Bonjour Tristesse”) and Tim Heidecker (“Tim & Eric”).

Guadagnino is producing at Frenesy Films, along with Naima Abed and Emilie Georges at Paradise City and Lana Kim and Jett Steiger for Ways & Means. Executive producers include director Hailey Gates and actress Alia Shawkat, along with David Siegel, Scott McGehee and Mike Spreter for Big Creek Projects and Kc Wallace for Mary of Exeter.

The feature is based on Gates’ 2019 short “Shako Mako” which she originally produced for fashion brand Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales series. UTA and WME Independent are handling North American sales.

Set against the backdrop of the Mojave Desert at the Fort Irwin National Training Center, “Atropia” tells the story of Fayruz,...

One of the only bad things about attending a festival like TIFF is that so many great-looking movies play that it’s too easy to miss more than a few. One of the movies I tried hardest to fit into my schedule – to no avail – was The Friend, starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray. Directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, the film is an adaptation of a book by Sigrid Nunez that focuses on a woman trying to come to terms with the death of her friend and mentor. Complicating matters is that the woman’s also been left custody of her deceased friend’s beloved Great Dane, an unwieldy pet for her tiny New York apartment.

While it earned very solid reviews at TIFF, it wasn’t one of the films that got snapped up right away for distribution. However, Bleecker Street has now stepped in to acquire The Friend,...

The fall festival season has wrapped up! Each year, dozens of movies premiere at festivals with distributors looking to launch them before they’re released in theaters or on streaming services. But dozens more are independent films without distribution that came to the festivals looking to be discovered. This year, over 200 movies made their world premieres across the Venice Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival, and we’ve seen some big name movie sales across all four.

Right as Venice got underway, we saw U.S. deals for two of the biggest competition titles on the slate, Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” to Netflix and Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” to A24. A24 also picked up the rights to Venice Silver Lion winner “The Brutalist” in a competitive situation. And some of the hottest discoveries like “Nutcrackers,” “September 5,” and TIFF Audience...

Bleecker Street has acquired North American rights to Telluride Film Festival world premiere The Friend starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, and Bing the Great Dane.

Scott McGehee and David Siegel co-wrote and co-directed the drama, which also played Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and New York Film Festival.

Watts plays writer and teacher Iris, whose comfortable, solitary New York life is thrown into disarray when her closest friend and mentor (Murray) dies suddenly and bequeaths her his beloved Great Dane. Iris eventually bonds with the beast and reconciles with the past and her creative inner life.

The ensemble cast includes Sarah Pidgeon,...

Bleecker Street has taken North American rights to the Scott McGehee and David Siegel directed and written feature, The Friend, starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray and a Great Dane named Bing. A 2025 theatrical release is planned.

The film marks Bleecker Street’s second collaboration with Siegel & McGehee, having handled the US release of their 2021 neo-Western drama Montana Story, starring Haley Lu Richardson and Owen Teague.

In The Friend, writer and teacher Iris (Watts) finds her comfortable, solitary New York life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor (Murray) dies suddenly and bequeaths her his beloved 150 lb. Great Dane. The regal yet intractable beast, named Apollo, immediately creates practical problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones, his looming presence constantly reminding her of her friend’s problematic choices in both life and death. Yet as Iris finds herself unexpectedly bonding with the animal,...

Naomi Watts and a very big dog are heading to cinemas.

“The Friend,” a touching drama about a writer and editor whose literary mentor commits suicide and leaves her with his Great Dane to care for, has been acquired by Bleecker Street. The indie studio has nabbed North American distribution rights for an undisclosed sum — the sale took some time, which is something of a surprise given that “The Friend” received strong reviews when it showed at fall film festivals like Telluride and Toronto. It’s another reminder that studios are being more cautious when it comes to buying projects post-covid. The indie and arthouse theatrical market is still struggling to fully rebound from pandemic disruptions.

“The Friend” was written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, the team behind “The Deep End” and “What Maisie Knew,” and co-stars Bill Murray, Sarah Pidgeon, Carla Gugino, Constance Wu, Noma Dumezweni and Ann Dowd.

The Friend, a grief drama from writer/directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel about a writer mourning her late pal while dealing with the Great Dane dog he left behind, and starring Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, has been picked up by Bleecker Street.

Having taken the North American rights to the pic, Bleecker plans an early 2025 theatrical release for the adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s novel. Watts plays Iris, a writer and teacher grieving over the sudden loss of her best friend, Walter (Bill Murray), only to learn he has left her Apollo, a giant dog who almost comes up to her waist.

As Iris unexpectedly bonds with the dog, she begins to come to terms with her past, her lost friend and her own creative inner life. The ensemble cast for the film about life, death and friendship includes Sarah Pidgeon, Carla Gugino, Constance Wu, Noma Dumezweni and Ann Dowd.

The Lincoln Lawyer showrunners Ted Humphrey and Dailyn Rodriguez share their thoughts on the future of the show beyond season 3. The second screen adaptation of the Mickey Haller novels by Michael Connelly - following the successful 2011 feature film of the same name starring Matthew McConaughey - The Lincoln Lawyer debuted on Netflix in May 2022 with a 10-episode first season, and in June 2022, the show was renewed for season 2 (also 10 episodes), which premiered in July 2023, before The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 renewal came in August 2023, and will debut on October 17, 2024.

During an interview with TV Insider, Humphrey and Rodriguez discuss their hopes for the future of the show, and how it could run beyond season 3. The duo reveals that the end of the upcoming season could set up a new case to explore in season 4, similar to how the end of season 2 set up the key storyline for the third outing. They...

Writer-director duo Scott McGehee and David Siegel have been working together for 30 years, since their debut thrilled Suture in 1994. Since then, they’ve only made seven films, with their latest being The Friend, a comedy-drama adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s award-winning novel. Starring Naomi Watts and a Great Dane named Bing, the film follows a woman grieving the suicide of her friend, mentor, and lover, spending the immediate aftermath with his dog who is now in her care. It’s a light film, deriving much of its emotional core from Bing, a dog with great big eyes to match his great big size. The film hinges on moments between Watts and her new pet, silences in which the two share a special bond of mourning.

McGehee and Siegel have been living in New York for decades. Siegel himself is from Brooklyn. The two attempt to capture the hectic nature of the city,...

Independent filmmaking duo Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s The Friend, their newest in a 30-year collaboration, is a dog movie. Or, more aptly, it’s a film about a dog and Iris (Naomi Watts), a woman who hates dogs. Iris inherits a Great Dane, Apollo, from her late friend, mentor, and lover Walter (Bill Murray). The movie, adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s National Book Award-winning novel of the same name, is light to the touch, despite its themes of grief, suicide, and depression. It’s the type of film my parents would love––something shown on a cable network on a Sunday afternoon, easy to watch with just enough substance to make the audience feel something reminiscent of sadness. That’s a compliment, though: The Friend reminds us of the immeasurable role that dogs, and pets, play in our lives.

The film wouldn’t work without the dog, this...

Naomi Watts had a special date to the premiere of her movie The Friend – her 17-year-old son Sasha!

The Oscar-nominated actress walked the carpet with her eldest child at the 2024 New York Film Festival event on Thursday (October 3) at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York City.

Also in attendance at the premiere were Naomi‘s co-stars Constance Wu, Carla Gugino, Noma Dumezweni, Owen Teague, Felix Solis, and Josh Pais, as well as co-directors and co-writers Scott McGehee and David Siegel.

Here is the synopsis: “Novelist and creative writing teacher Iris (Watts) finds her comfortable, solitary New York life thrown into disarray after her closest friend and mentor (Bill Murray) commits suicide and bequeaths his beloved Great Dane to her. The regal yet intractable beast, named Apollo, immediately creates problems for Iris, from furniture destruction to eviction notices, as well as more existential ones, his looming presence constantly...

After the death of her friend Walter, Iris is thrust into caring for Apollo, a Great Dane of considerable size. Walter had been a beloved friend, mentor, and perhaps even something more to Iris during their time together. Now gone, Walter leaves behind a complicated legacy along with one final request: for Iris to take in Apollo, unable to care for the dog himself.

While Iris lives alone in New York and considers herself more of a cat person, she feels compelled to honor Walter’s wishes at least temporarily. What begins as an inconvenience soon reveals deeper layers as Iris comes to understand the bond between her and Apollo goes beyond any formal arrangement. Both are processing their feelings of loss and emptiness left from Walter’s absence in parallel ways.

Director Scott McGehee and David Siegel craft their adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s novel into an insightful exploration...

New York film festival: an adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s bestselling 2018 novel about a woman dealing with her friend’s suicide is tender and well-acted, if a little messy

It takes a certain type of person to have a dog in New York City, let alone a 180lb, questionably behaved one. Iris, played with a natural grace by Naomi Watts in The Friend, is not that type of person. She is a mostly solitary writer in a small – at least, to the eyes of her more accomplished peers – apartment in the West Village, whose schedule is at the whims of her teaching work and sputtering attempts at a novel. She has settled into an independent rhythm of middle-aged singledom in the city. Also, she prefers cats. Nevertheless, she finds herself caring for Apollo, her late best friend Walter’s (Bill Murray) beloved great dane, after his suicide.

The Friend, a...

Apocalypse in the Tropics

Venice, Telluride

Brazilian documentarian Petra Costa chronicles the dire state of democracy with this eye-opening exposé, delving into the troubling ties linking Christian evangelism and politics. Getting up close and personal with some powerful people amid a wave of social and political unrest, she shifts between the epic and the intimate, history and the present, to shed light on a phenomenon not only in her home nation, but around the world. — Jordan Mintzer

April

Venice, Toronto

Dea Kulumbegashvili’s miraculous feature centers on an Ob-gyn (a marvelous Ia Sukhitashvili) who performs secret abortions for desperate women in deepest rural Georgia. Like Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, the drama emphasizes the risks of backstreet terminations as well as the shame and expense that prevent access. Offsetting the grimness of it all are bouts of transcendent beauty. — Leslie Felperin

Babygirl

Venice, Toronto

A spectacular Nicole Kidman...

Bill Murray is quite the gentleman!

The 73-year-old comedy legend escorted Naomi Watts on the red carpet at the premiere of their new movie The Friend held during the 2024 Toronto Film Festival at the Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Canada.

Also in attendance were fellow costars Carla Gugino and Sarah Pidgeon along with Scott McGehee and David Siegel, who co-wrote and co-directed the movie. Fellow star of the movie, a Great Dane named Bing, also walked the red carpet!

Keep reading to find out more…Here’s the movie’s synopsis from TIFF: “Iris (Watts) has had a long, complex friendship with Walter (Murray). Walter is an irresistible charmer, a brilliant author, a lover of many women, and a master at letting down loved ones. When he dies suddenly, Iris is left to deal with all he left behind — three ex-wives with unfinished business, his interrupted literary legacy, and his...

Deadline launched its TIFF portrait studio at the Bisha Hotel on Friday, hosting talent from the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, including actors and filmmakers from the weekend’s lineup.

Opening day guests included The Last Showgirl cast Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kiernan Shipka, Dave Bautista and Brenda Song; The Cut stars Orlando Bloom and Catriona Balfe; and Went Up the Hill’s Vicky Krieps, Dacre Montgomery and director Samuel Van Grinsven. Chloe Sevigny, Aliocha Schneider, Claes Bang and Nailia Harzoune of Bonjour Tristesse also stopped by, as did Ben Foster and Cobie Smulders of Sharp Corner.

Day 2 featured visits from Unstoppable stars Jennifer Lopez, Don Cheadle, Bobby Cannavale and Jharrel Jerome, as well as the movie’s real-life inspiration Anthony Robles. Naomi Watts stopped by with The Friend writer-director duo Scott McGehee and David Siegel, plus her Great Dane co-star Bing. Amy Adams also posed for a photo with...

American author Sigrid Nunez is having quite the showing at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Not only is “The Room Next Door,” Pedro Almodóvar’s adaptation of her 2020 novel “What You’re Going Through,” dazzling audiences (and just won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival), but “The Friend,” an adaptation of her National Book Award-winning novel from 2018, is also premiering at TIFF. Directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, the film stars Naomi Watts as Iris, a woman who is grieving the suicide of her mentor, author Walter (Bill Murray). When Walter dies he leaves Iris to clean up the various aspects of his life – and to take care of Apollo (Bing), a Great Dane with an even greater personality.

For McGehee and Siegel it had been an almost six-year journey to get the movie made, as they told TheWrap editor in chief Sharon Waxman at TheWrap’s...

By Sunday morning US acquisitions activity at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was starting to grind through the gears.

Buyers were understood to be circling Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation The Life Of Chuck and David Gordon Green’s festive festival opener Nutcrackers, while A24 announced at the start of the day its US buy on Brady Corbet’s Venice Silver Lion winner The Brutalist.

The Life Of Chuck stars Tom Hiddleston and is a drama, despite the heavyweight horror credentials of King and Flanagan. It premiered on Friday and played again as a P&i and public screening on Saturday,...

While the just-ended Venice Film Festival exploded out of the gate with two high-profile acquisition annoucements in its first 24 hours for Maria and Queer, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was staying true to form as the first major on-site deals were yet to materialise heading into Sunday.

Anticipated heavyweights like Ron Howard’s Eden, Daniel Minahan’s 1950s drama On Swift Horses, and Anderson .Paak’s K-Pops received their world premieres on Saturday, while Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl first screened on Friday and has sparked admiring talk of a possible awards play for Pamela Anderson’s lead...

The crowds of film sellers and buyers are still rolling into Toronto from Venice and Telluride, but the puck dropped Thursday night on the acquisitions marketplace with the premiere of Nutcrackers.

David Gordon Green has taken a detour from genre to serve up a Ben Stiller-starrer that proved a crowdpleaser in two opening-night showings.

That kind of movie — with promising premises with stars and directors with proven track records — is all over the schedule. There is a lot to like in this 2024 TIFF acquisitions market. But I’ve just come from an L.A. visit and cannot recall as bleak a black cloud hangover from the twin strikes of last year. It will take time for the business to recover, and this caution could factor into the dealmaking. Also on the minds of distributors is how elusive box office has become. Comparable films to the ones on sale here...

As the Toronto International Film Festival gets underway, The Hollywood Reporter’s critics weigh in on this year’s crop of titles, from biopics to documentaries, sweeping epics to intimate character studies, tear-jerking dramas to laugh-out-loud comedies.

Several of this year’s slate have already debuted at other festivals throughout the year. For those curious about the very best the TIFF calendar has to offer, a few — but not nearly all — of the highlights include the Steven Soderbergh ghost story Presence, which David Rooney hailed as “masterfully done” out of Sundance; the Icelandic grief drama When the Light Breaks, which Lovia Gyarkye described as “impossible to shake” at Cannes; and the literary adaptation Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, which Caryn James praised at Telluride for the “astonishing” child performance at its center.

In addition, the lineup includes a number of highly anticipated world premieres — we’re curious about David Gordon Green’s Nutcracker,...

Exclusive: Netflix has won an auction for the Stephen Chbosky-directed comedy Nonnas in a deal Deadline hears is $20 million-plus for worldwide rights. Several bidders were in the mix on a film that had been invited to be part of the Toronto International Film Festival slate. That has changed and the film won’t make the trip. Netflix will release the film globally in 2025.

Scripted by Liz Maccie, and based on a true story, Nonnas stars Vince Vaughn, Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro, Linda Cardellini, Drea De Matteo, Joe Manganiello, Michael Rispoli, and Campbell Scott.

Vaughn plays Joe, a single man in a dead-end job whose mother has spoiled him with her cooking. When she dies, he tries to pull himself out of grief mode by risking everything to open an Italian restaurants and honor his mother. He enlists a group of Italian grandmothers, who feed his love for home cooking, and they become surrogate moms. Chbosky has a knack for this kind of material, directing Wonder and The Perks of Being a Wallflower among others.

Nonnas is produced by Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane for Madison Wells, and Jack Turner for Matador Content. The exec producers are Alexis Garcia, Scott Budnick and Ameet Shukla for 1Community, Vince Vaughn, Jay Peterson and Todd Lubin for Matador Content, Amanda Morgan Palmer and Stacy Calabrese for Madison Wells.

Related: The 7 Best Vince Vaughn Movies To Stream From ‘The Break-Up’ To ‘Swingers’

Netflix confirmed the deal, and offered reaction from Nonnas‘ filmmaking team:

Gigi Pritzker, whose Madison Wells originated the film, said she was “delighted that Nonnas has found a great home at Netflix, where it will be widely seen and enjoyed. The film focuses on family, food and community, and in this turbulent time those are things we can all celebrate.”

Said Fifth Season Head of Film Christopher Slager: “Once again Stephen Chbosky has brought magic to the screen in this heartfelt and joyous film. We cannot wait for audiences everywhere to sit down at the table with us and share this fantastic film thanks to our partners at Netflix.”

Scott Budnick, 1Community Executive Producer added that “Nonnas is a celebration of family – the ones you’re born into and the ones you create. We are thrilled to bring this family to Netflix.”

Related: Jimmy Tatro Joins Vince Vaughn In 20th Century’s ‘Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice’

The deal was brokered by WME Independent and Fifth Season, latter of which was the studio on the film. It marks the third deal in the run-up to a Toronto Festival that is chock full of acquisition titles, including some titles that played Telluride. This after the Dito Montiel-directed Riff Raff was acquired for US by Roadside Attractions, and Sony Pictures Classics acquired Jane Austen Wrecked My Life before its TIFF premiere.

The available titles that buyers saw at Telluride include September 5, about how ABC Sports team broadcasting the 1972 Olympics in Munich, German rose to the moment and covered the kidnap and massacre of 11 members of the Israeli team in real time. The twists and turns and split-second decisions they made under Roone Arledge make for a harrowing thriller. Also in that mix is The Friend. In that film, Bill Murray plays an acclaimed writer whose companion is a Great Dane named Apollo. When he dies, the dog is adopted by one of the writer’s protegees (Naomi Watts) who tries to stash the oversized high-maintenance pooch in her Manhattan rent-controlled apartment, which has a firm no dogs allowed policy. Scott McGehee and David Siegel direct a film that was one of the buzz titles of Tellurides.

While recent TIFF deal making has been slow going each year since the pandemic, the abundance of plum titles with strong casts, and an expected buyer appetite could portend a strong atmosphere for deals. TIFF begins tomorrow night.

Related: ‘Dodgeball’ Sequel In Works At 20th With Vince Vaughn Returning; Jordan VanDina To Write The Script...

US buyers have not been in an adventurous mood as the last few markets will attest. However hope springs eternal and acquisitions teams will be on the hunt at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to bulk up pipelines following the Hollywood strikes of 2023.

How theatrical buyers fare against streamers remains to be seen. Financiers and sales agents, many of whom are avowed fans of the theatrical experience, must recoup.

The lure of a worldwide deal with a platform can be hard to resist, and while the North American summer box office rallied well and there are lucrative opportunities for the right theatrical releases,...

Editor’s Note: This review was originally published during the 2024 Venice Film Festival. Sony Pictures Classics releases “The Room Next Door” in select theaters on December 20.

Elegant and confounding in equivalent measure, Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature could’ve used a finishing touch from an American script supervisor. Adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s novel “What Are You Going Through” — and the second mounting of a Nunez book this fall season alongside David Siegel and Scott McGehee’s “The Friend” — “The Room Next Door” is mannered in a way that doesn’t feel purposeful, stilted and stiff where it should be sumptuous, and aches of the feeling that the Spanish auteur passed his sensibility, and his script, through a direct-to-English transferal that lacks the nuances that, say, a bilingual literary translator would bring to a text brought from Europe to the United States. Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, playing longtime...

Telluride – How does a dog deal with death? How does a pet deal with the death of any of its human companions for that matter? That is the tantalizing question a character asks toward the beginning of Scott McGehee and David Siegel‘s “The Friend,” a world premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival. A drama about a writer (Naomi Watts) coping with the suicide of her longtime friend (Bill Murray) and how she comes to terms with his death after the responsibility of watching over his Great Dane is thrust upon her.

Continue reading ‘The Friend’ Review: Naomi Watts Shelters A Great Dane In This Bloated Drama [Telluride] at The Playlist.

The 2024 Telluride Film Festival kicked off August 30 and runs through September 2 in the Colorado mountains. Deadline is on the ground to watch all the key films.

Among the films appearing in the mountains for the first time anywhere are director Saturday Night, Jason Reitman’s tale of the 1975 first episode of SNL; the film version of August Wilson’s acclaimed stage play The Piano Lesson, a Washington family affair with producer Denzel, director Malcolm and star John David; Oscar winner Edward Berger’s papal thriller The Conclave; Scott Magehee and David Siegel’s heartwarming The Friend, starring Naomi Watts, Bill Murray and a scene-stealing Great Dane Bing; and MGM, Orion and Plan B’s Nickel Boys, an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel.

Below is a compilation of our reviews from the fest. Click on the movie’s title to read our full take.

The Friend ‘The Friend’

Directors:...

Although Naomi Watts wrangles a huge Great Dane, The Friend is far from your average doggie movie. There are no slapstick scenes of the dog running away with her, and no mawkishness even though the film is about grief. This is a fresh, unsentimental yet touching story about Iris (Watts), a writer and teacher, adjusting to life without her best friend, Walter (Bill Murray), a famous, womanizing author. His suicide was a shock. But another shoe drops when she learns that he has left her Apollo, a Great Dane who almost comes up to her waist.

The drama is based on Sigrid Nunez’s novel, which, while much loved and admired, seems unadaptable on the page: It is told in the first person and Iris frequently addresses Walter directly, dropping in comments about writing and books as well as recalling the details of their past relationship. But directors Scott McGehee...

“What happens to the dog?”

That is a line that pops up throughout the new dramedy The Friend, which asks that question in different ways and plays with our own experiences in watching movies centered on man’s best friend where whether the dog lives — or dies — is front of mind. And indeed (partly) the title star of this movie is a majestic and huge Great Dane named Apollo (Bing), but “The Friend” is also a woman named Iris (Naomi Watts), a New York City professor and writer who was the best friend to Walter (Bill Murray), a celebrated author and womanizer, married three times among other relationships, but devoted to the 5-year-old Apollo and vice versa. That is until the unthinkable happens and Walter unexpectedly dies, a suicide that sends his circle into a tailspin and Apollo into unending grief and lack of understanding of what happened to his master.

A balancing act that seems to enjoy feeling as if it’s about to lose its balance, “The Friend” is a lot of different things at once. It’s a dog-and-human bonding movie, which means it’s unavoidably sentimental. It’s a Bill Murray movie, which means it’s funny in a snarky way, but it’s also a character drama in which Murray is an unseen presence most of the time. It’s a movie about grief and a movie about creativity.

And mostly, the new film from writer-directors David Siegel and Scott McGehee is all of those things at once, sliding between tones, defaulting to lightness most of the time but always ready to veer in another direction.

The film, which premiered on Friday at the Telluride Film Festival, is full of feints: a little bit of comedy, a hefty helping of loss, a touch of melodrama and a whole lot of dog,...