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Last month, we learned that Brotherhood of the Wolf and Silent Hill director Christophe Gans’ new Silent Hill movie Return to Silent Hill, which is said to be “totally independent from the two previous movies,” had secured a U.S. distribution deal with entertainment studio Cineverse. About three months ago, that company, which is also behind the Terrifier franchise, went into production on a remake of the classic Christmas slasher movie Silent Night, Deadly Night, with writer/director Mike P. Nelson (the Wrong Turn reboot) at the helm. Now, Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting, its horror division, have announced that they’re teaming with Iconic Events Releasing to bring the Silent Night, Deadly Night remake to theatres on December 12th, with Return to Silent Hill following on January 23rd.

Directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr. from a screenplay by Michael Hickey (with Paul Caimi receiving story credit), the original Silent Night,...

There was a private screening of Brotherhood of the Wolf and Silent Hill director Christophe Gans’ new Silent Hill movie Return to Silent Hill, which is said to be “totally independent from the two previous movies,” for potential distributors during the Cannes Film Festival last year, but we never heard any reports about distribution deals. Until now. A press release has announced that entertainment studio Cineverse has picked up the U.S. distribution rights to Return to Silent Hill. This release also mentions that the film’s extensive visual effects were recently completed and a date for a wide theatrical release will be announced soon.

Gans directed the 2006 version of Silent Hill from a screenplay he wrote with Roger Avary and Nicolas Boukhrief, and directed this new film from a screenplay he wrote with Sandra Vo-Anh and Will Schneider. Based on the video game Silent Hill 2, Return to Silent Hill follows James,...

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Havoc is an action crime thriller film written and directed by Gareth Evans. The Netflix film follows Walker, a corrupt Homicide Detective who is hired by a powerful politician to rescue his estranged son, who’s being hunted by a ruthless crime syndicate and corrupt cops. Havoc stars Tom Hardy, Jessie Mei Li, Justin Cornwell, Quelin Sepulveda, Luis Guzman, Yeo Yann Yann, Timothy Olyphant, and Forest Whitaker. So, if you loved the brutal action, thrilling story, and compelling characters in Havoc, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

The Night Comes for Us (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

The Night Comes for Us is an Indonesian action thriller film written and directed by Timo Tjahjanto. The 2018 film follows Ito, a former crime enforcer on a deadly mission to rescue a young girl from a ruthless crime syndicate.

One of the highest rated action thrillers in the repertoire of Jason Statham is now available to stream for free. The actor has become well-known for his particular set of skills, expertly throwing his fists and feet at anyone who dares cross his path, but his movies are often divisive among critics and audiences. Well, this movie finds the two groups (mostly) in agreement.

Titled Wrath of Man, the 2021 action outing boasts a score of 68% on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the best in Stathams back catalog. Achieving a hugely impressive 90% from audiences on the Popcornmeter, Wrath of Man is now available to stream for free on Tubi. Directed by Guy Ritchie in his fourth collaboration with Jason Statham, and co-written by Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, and Marn Davies, the rest of the cast includes Holt McCallany, Jeffrey Donovan, Chris Reilly, Josh Hartnett, Laz Alonso, Ral Castillo, DeObia Oparei, Eddie Marsan and Scott Eastwood.

Rebel Ridge is a crime action thriller film written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier. The Netflix film is set in the town of Shelby Springs and it follows the story of Terry Richmond, a former marine as he comes to town to post bail for his cousin but when his savings are unlawfully taken by corrupt local police officers led by Chief Sandy Burnne, he decides to fight against the ones spreading corruption. Rebel Ridge stars Aaron Pierre in the lead role with Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Steve Zissis, Dana Lee, and James Cromwell starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the brutal action, thrilling story, and compelling characters in Netflix’s Rebel Ridge here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Wrath of Man (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – MGM

Wrath of Man is an action thriller drama film directed by Guy Ritchie from a screenplay co-written by Ritchie,...

The Instigators is a heist action comedy film directed by Doug Liman from a screenplay co-written by Chuck Maclean and Casey Affleck. The Apple TV+ film follows the story of a former marine and an ex-con as they team up for a heist. When their plan goes awry they have to run and they drag one of their therapist in the process. The Instigators stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck in the lead roles with Hong Chau, Paul Walter Stuhlbarg, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, Toby Jones, Jack Harlow, and Ron Perlman starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the action, comedic banter, and heist drama in The Instigators here are some similar movies you could watch next.

Logan Lucky (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Bleecker Street

Logan Lucky is a heist comedy-drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh from a screenplay by Rebecca Blunt. The 2017 film follows the story of Jimmy Logan,...

There was talk that Brotherhood of the Wolf and Silent Hill director Christophe Gans’ new Silent Hill movie Return to Silent Hill, which is said to be “totally independent from the two previous movies,” would be having its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, but that’s not exactly what happened. What actually happened was that there was a private screening of the film for potential distributors. We don’t know how that went, but we are benefiting from the film’s search for distributors. The first image made its way online a couple weeks ago (that can be seen above), and now a teaser trailer has made its way online. You can check that out right here:

Take a look at the gripping new trailer of #Returntosilenthill directed and produced by Christophe Gans with music composer @AkiraYamaoka.

Coming soon. pic.twitter.com/1gTcSAapnc

— Konami (@Konami) May...

Brotherhood of the Wolf and Silent Hill director Christophe Gans’ new Silent Hill movie Return to Silent Hill, which is said to be “totally independent from the two previous movies,” is set to make its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this month – and in anticipation of that premiere, Variety has gotten their hands on the first image from the movie, which features the iconic character Pyramid Head from the video game series! You can check it out at the bottom of this article.

Gans directed the 2006 version of Silent Hill from a screenplay he wrote with Roger Avary and Nicolas Boukhrief, and directed this new film from a screenplay he wrote with Sandra Vo-Anh and Will Schneider. Based on the video game Silent Hill 2, Return to Silent Hill follows James, a man broken after being separated from his one true love. When a mysterious letter calls him back...

A new image has been revealed for the upcoming sequel Return to Silent Hill. The photo showcases the return of Pyramid Head, the famous monster from the franchise.

Per Variety, the photo unveiling comes as Return to Silent Hill is previewing at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is the third live-action movie based on the hit video game series, though it's not directly connected to the prior films. Starring Jeremy Irvine as James Sunderland, Return to Silent Hill is based on one of the most popular installments of the video game series, Silent Hill 2, which follows a widower driven to the mysterious town after getting a letter from his deceased wife asking him to come. He'll most likely be bumping into Pyramid Head, and to get an idea of what that'd be like, check out the new photo of the character below.

Related The Silent Hill 2 Remake...

The French sales outfit has the first image of Tomer Sisley in The Price Of Money: A Largo Winch Adventure.

Goodfellas has boarded Claire Burger’s anticipated coming-of-age drama Langue Etrangère, starring Chiara Mastroianni and Nina Hoss, ahead of this week’s Rendez-Vous with France Cinema this week in Paris.

Langue Etrangère is about teenage pen pals in France and Germany and is produced by Anatomy of a Fall producer Marie-Ange Luciani’s Les Films de Pierre with Belgium’s Les Films du Fleuve and Germany’s Razor Film Produktion. Burger wrote the film in collaboration with The Five Devils’ Léa Mysius.

Other titles include Dea Kulumbegashvili’s new film and ’Like A Son’ starring Vincent Lindon.

Goodfellas, the Paris-based sales company formerly known as Wild Bunch International, has unveiled a lively slate of titles ahead of Cannes, including starry period drama The Flood, Dea Kulumbegashvili’s Those Who Find Me, French social drama Like A Son, prison drama Inside, football documentary Napoli 1990, Napoli 2023 and Spanish thriller When The Party’s Over, along with several titles in Cannes’ Official Selection.

The Flood is the second feature from Italian director Gianluca Jodice following The Bad Poet and stars Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet as...

A couple weeks ago, we shared a report that Brotherhood of the Wolf and Silent Hill director Christophe Gans’ new Silent Hill movie Return to Silent Hill, which is said to be “totally independent from the two previous movies”, would star Jeremy Irvine (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) as a man who ventures into the town of Silent Hill to find his lost love. Now an official press release has arrived to confirm the plot and the involvement of Irvine, and to announce that Hannah Emily Anderson (Jigsaw) is also in the cast!

Gans directed the 2006 version of Silent Hill from a screenplay he wrote with Roger Avary and Nicolas Boukhrief, and will be directing this new film from a screenplay he has written with Sandra Vo-Anh and Will Schneider. Based on the video game Silent Hill 2, Return to Silent Hill will follow James, a man broken after...

A couple weeks ago, we learned that Brotherhood of the Wolf and Silent Hill director Christophe Gans’ new Silent Hill movie, which is said to be “totally independent from the two previous movies”, had secured funding and would begin filming soon. Now the German website Filmportal has revealed a plot synopsis for Gans’ Return to Silent Hill, and where filming is going to take place!

According to the website, Return to Silent Hill has the following synopsis (using an online German to English translator): Driven by the shadows of his past, James Sunderland returns to Silent Hill to find his lost love, Mary Crane. But the dark, depressing small town is no longer the place from his memories. He meets characters who seem all too familiar and who try to divert him from his search for Mary. The longer he searches for Mary, the more he begins to wonder...

We’ve been hearing for a few years now that Brotherhood of the Wolf and Silent Hill director Christophe Gans has been working with producer Victor Hadida to develop a new Silent Hill movie that would be “totally independent from the two previous movies”. Gans directed the 2006 version of Silent Hill from a screenplay he wrote with Roger Avary and Nicolas Boukhrief, and will be directing this new film – which is titled Return to Silent Hill – from a screenplay he has written with Sandra Vo-Anh and Will Schneider… and now Deadline has reported that the project has secured funding! Filming is expected to begin soon.

The Return to Silent Hill news was included in a report that Ashland Hill Media Finance has agreed to co-finance a slate of four films at various stages of production. Return to Silent Hill is one of those films. The others are an action movie...

We’re wrapping this week up with a new episode of the Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? video series, and with this one we’re looking back at the 2006 horror video game adaptation Silent Hill (watch it Here). To find out what went into bringing Silent Hill to the big screen, check out the video embedded above!

Directed by Christophe Gans, who also crafted the screenplay with Roger Avary and Nicolas Boukhrief, Silent Hill has the following synopsis:

Unable to accept the fact that her daughter is dying, Rose decides to take the girl to a faith healer. On the way, the pair drive through a portal in reality, leading to an eerie town called Silent Hill. The town is surrounded by a potent darkness, and the human survivors fight a losing battle against it.

The film stars Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger, Kim Coates,...

Money for Nothin’: Ritchie Wreaks Havoc in Violent L.A. Neo-Noir

At long last, Guy Ritchie returns to his roots with Wrath of Man, a violent odyssey lodged in the aggressive, machismo realm the director navigated so persuasively in his early days with titles like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000). A high-profile celebrity relationship with Madonna assisted in transporting him into the Hollywood studio system, where Ritchie has spent the last decade transfiguring nostalgic properties into mediocre contemporizations.

Reuniting with Jason Statham, who appeared in Ritchie’s first two films and his only other US set endeavor, 2005’s Revolver, Ritchie is again reconstituting previous material in this remake of Nicolas Boukhrief’s 2004 film Cash Truck, but it’s an unexpectedly grim heist/revenge film which vibrates with the energy most of Ritchie’s studio output has lacked.…...

Top international market for Wrath Of Man is Russia/Cis, with confirmed $10.2m after three weekends of play.

Jason Statham actioner ‘Wrath Of Man’ strong in Russia, Australia

Updated: With Guy Ritchie’s Wrath Of Man now playing in nine international territories, Miramax has started to release figures for the title: $17.5m so far. The Jason Statham actioner gtossed $4.4m internationally over the weekend and also opened in North America at the weekend via United Artists Releasing, topping the box office with $8.1m, taking the global tally to $25.8m including $794,000 in previews in China, where the film opened wide on...

Top international market for Wrath Of Man is Russia/Cis, with an estimated $10m after three weekends of play.

Jason Statham actioner ‘Wrath Of Man’ strong in Russia, Australia

With Guy Ritchie’s Wrath Of Man now playing in nine international territories, Miramax has started to release figures for the title: $17.6m so far. The Jason Statham actioner also opened in North America at the weekend via United Artists Releasing, topping the box office with an estimated $8.1m, taking the global tally to $25.7m.

Top international market for Wrath Of Man is Russia/Cis, with an estimated $10m. Russia was...

Jason Statham and Guy Ritchie's Wrath of Man debuted at the top of the box office this weekend with an impressive $7.3 million haul. Globally, the action movie was able to bring in $25.6 million, which is teasing some positive numbers for the summer 2021 box office season. Ritchie co-wrote the script with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, and the story is based on the 2004 French movie Cash Truck by Nicolas Boukhrief. Wrath of Man is the director's fourth collaboration with Statham, and the first time back together since 2005's Revolver.

Movie theaters are starting to welcome smaller crowds, which has slowly started to bring the box office back to life. While nobody is expecting a return to the box office numbers of 2018 and 2019, things are starting to look up, thanks to the success of recent movies like Wrath of Man, Mortal Kombat, Nobody, and Godzilla vs. Kong. With Fast and Furious 9,...

When H shows up for work in Guy Ritchie’s “Wrath of Man,” no one at Fortico Security has much reason to suspect he might have any motive other than protecting the cash for the armored-truck outfit. The new guy — who looks an awful lot like the bald bloke from the “Crank” and “Transporter” movies — doesn’t waste words. His backstory checks out, as do his references. He’s a decent shot, but not so good that it would attract attention. Just another guard on an experienced team that recently lost two of its own in a bloody heist.

His first day on the job, however, some jokers try to rob H’s truck, and he can’t help showing them he means business. What could have been a $2.5 million robbery winds up with his co-workers safe, the money secure and half a dozen would-be crooks dead. Not just dead,...

With his new picture, Guy Ritchie continues down a familiar, albeit entertaining, road. Following a decade-plus of big budget tentpoles, the gangster genre auteur settled back into the pocket with last year’s The Gentlemen. Wrath of Man brings back yet another element from Ritchie’s early success: Jason Statham.

Reuniting after Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and Revolver, Statham plays a man named “H.” He gets a job at a Los Angeles-based armored cash truck company, earning the trust of long-time employee Bullet (Holt McCallany) and the suspicious eye of Boy Sweat Dave (Josh Hartnett). The company is still recovering from a recent robbery gone way wrong. Two guards were killed, and one civilian. Early on we learn that that one civilian was H’s teenage son. Vengeance, as ever, ensues. Based on the 2004 French film Le Convoyeur with a screenplay credited to no less than five people,...

We’ll say this with cautious optimism: the summer movie season is…back? After the coronavirus pandemic upended the 2020 release calendar, pushing back some of the year’s most hyped films and inspiring new avenues of distribution for others, the summer of 2021 is shaping up as platform for blockbusters (from the latest “Fast and Furious” to the post-apocalyptic survival of the “A Quiet Place” installment all the way through a seventh “Conjuring” film) and rife with discoveries (including some festival hits that date all the way back to 2019).

Of course, the distribution landscape has changed radically over the past year, and not every anticipated summer movie will simply head to the multiplex. This season’s lineup includes a wide variety of viewing options that go beyond the brick and mortar theater. It’s a summer defined by options — not only in terms of what you see, but how you choose to see it.

Man In Love becomes Taiwan’s sixth highest-grossing local language film of all time via Sony.

‘Mortal Kombat’ drops in fourth international session

Updated: A lack of major new openings for New Line/Warner Bros’ Mortal Kombat saw the franchise reboot slide to a confirmed $3m weekend takings in international markets for its fourth session, a fall of 54%. International total is $32.8m.

Top international territory remained Australia, with estimated takings of $1.3m. Next best markets Russia and Spain were far behind.

In North America, the videogame spin-off was toppled from the top of the box office by Japanese anime Demon Slayer: Mugen Train,...

In a clash of the actioners, Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man narrowly defeated Mortal Kombat at the box office last weekend, with the two titles driving almost half of all ticket sales.

Distributed by Studiocanal, Ritchie’s latest Jason Statham-starrer opened on $1.7 million from 389 screens, an average of $4,444. With previews, it sits on $1.8 million.

Co-written by Ritchie with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, the film is based on the 2004 French feature Cash Truck by Nicolas Boukhrief.

Statham plays H, hired by a cash truck company. During one job, the truck gets held up at gunpoint and he single-handedly deals with the robbers. Secretly, H is hunting for the people who murdered his son during a similar robbery, and plans to use his new position to set traps for every would-be robber in the city until he finds his son’s killers.

The film is yet to be released in the US and UK,...

Guy Ritchie’s “Wrath of Man” will debut in China on May 10, three days after its U.S. release. The film’s star, Jason Statham, will also hit screens in “Fast & Furious 9” less than two weeks later on May 21.

The unusual Monday release may help the battalion of 19 local blockbusters, opening over the prior Labor Day holiday weekend, keep up their box office momentum.

Produced by MGM, the film is a remake of the 2004 French movie “Cash Truck” from director Nicolas Boukhrief. It will mark Ritchie’s fourth collaboration with Statham, after “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “Snatch” and “Revolver.” Statham plays H, a cash truck security guard who seeks to foil an attempted robbery and also hunt down the bad guys who murdered his son.

Statham has a huge following in the world’s largest film market, where he is the country’s 22nd-highest grossing star of all time,...

Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham’s reunion crime flick Wrath of Man is headed to China. The MGM-produced movie will open in the world’s largest theatrical market on May 10, three days after its North American opening.

Wrath of Man is a remake of the 2004 French film Cash Truck by Nicolas Boukhrief. The film follows Statham’s H, a “mysterious and wild-eyed new cash truck security guard” who just so happens to have professional-level cash-defending skills when an attempted robbery transpires. Filled with vengeance, H also is on the hunt for the people behind his son’s murder.

It’s been a ...

Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham’s reunion crime flick Wrath of Man is headed to China. The MGM-produced movie will open in the world’s largest theatrical market on May 10, three days after its North American opening.

Wrath of Man is a remake of the 2004 French film Cash Truck by Nicolas Boukhrief. The film follows Statham’s H, a “mysterious and wild-eyed new cash truck security guard” who just so happens to have professional-level cash-defending skills when an attempted robbery transpires. Filled with vengeance, H also is on the hunt for the people behind his son’s murder.

It’s been a ...

Theaters are opening, vaccine distribution is pouring in, and distributors are starting to reshuffle and ready their release slates for 2021 — and that includes the glut of titles bottlenecked last year, and even earlier this year, by the pandemic. One such film is director Guy Ritchie’s “Wrath of Man,” produced by MGM and Miramax, and releasing from United Artists on May 7. It’s the latest, and fourth, collaboration between the English filmmaker and action icon Jason Statham.

“Wrath of Man” is written by Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, and Marn Davies and is a reimagining of Nicolas Boukhrief’s 2004 French heist thriller “Le Convoyeur.” The new film follows a mysterious and wild-eyed cash truck security guard (Statham), known only as H, who surprises his co-workers during a heist in which he unexpectedly unleashes precision skills. The crew is left wondering who he is and where he came from. Soon, the marksman’s...

Several titles looking to follow in the wake of ‘Tenet’.

France, opening Wednesday September 2

The biggest opener in France this week is Anne Fontaine’s Police, first seen at the Berlinale in February. Released by Studiocanal, the drama (also known as Night Shift) centres on three Parisian police officers – played by Omar Sy, Virginie Efira and Grégory Gadebois – who debate whether to deport an illegal immigrant (Payman Maadi) while transporting him to the airport.

Sophie Letourneur’s Enormous will also receive a wide release through Memento Films Distribution. First screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) in January, the...

French filmmaker Christophe Gans has revealed his plans to develop two new horror movies based on video games, including another Silent Hill sequel and a Fatal Frame adaptation. Though Gans wrote and directed the original Silent Hill movie from 2006, he had no part in the 2012 sequel, passing the torch to new writer and director Michael J. Bassett.

Now, speaking with the French publication Allocine, Gans teases his return to the horror franchise by claiming he's already begun developing Silent Hill 3. Translated, here are Gans' comments from the interview.

"I have two horror film projects with Victor Hadida. I am working on the adaptation of the video game Project Zero (Fatal Frame). The film will take place in Japan. I certainly don't want to uproot the game from its Japanese haunted house setting. And we're also working on a new Silent Hill. The project will always be anchored in this atmosphere of a small American town,...

The 23rd annual Colcoa French Film Festival in Los Angeles, taking place September 23-28 at the Directors Guild of America, has landed the U.S. premiere of Amazon Studios’ Oscar contender “Les Misérables” for its opening night. The film directed by Ladj Ly, which won the Jury Prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, will kick off a week of new and classic French-language films for La audiences.

The event will offer a splashy La bow for Amazon’s Oscar hopeful in a city packed with Academy voters. France has yet to submit a film for the 2020 Best International Film Oscar, but “Les Misérables” is among the top contenders. Inspired by the riots of 2005 in the suburbs of Paris, Ly’s film revolves around three members of an anti-crime brigade who are overrun while trying to make an arrest.

“This high-profile program includes several films from Cannes and Venice programmed for...

Former TF1 Studio boss Tristan du Laz and French industry veterans Gaspard de Chavagnac, the former boss of Zodiak France, and Edouard Duprey, the popular producer-creative, are joining forces to launch Originals Factory, a co-production and distribution company dedicated to delivering movies to platforms.

During his tenure at TF1 Studio, du Laz started distributing some of the movies he acquired across diverse platforms in France and saw the large potential of some high-concept films, either such genre titles as Nicolas Boukhrief’s terrorism-themed “Made in France,” thrillers including “Kidnap” with Hally Berry, romantic comedies like “Adaline” with Blake Lively, and other niche movies that performed much better on pay VOD services than they would in theaters.

The idea behind Originals Factory is to co-produce or acquire eight to 12 films per year and give them an exclusive premium rollout on transactional VOD services, first in France and eventually across Europe for six to eight weeks,...

Colcoa is keeping up with the times. Now in its twenty-first year, the lauded French film festival, sponsored by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, has added a pair of forward-thinking new categories for its newest edition. This year will include a virtual reality program and a web series competition, in addition to its Cinema, Television and Shorts competitions.

“These two new popular formats offer more opportunities to showcase the creativity of French producers and filmmakers as well as the diversity of French production,” said François Truffart, Colcoa Executive Producer and Artistic Director. “While entertainment is still the key word for the program, with a balanced mix of comedies and dramas, several topical issues will cover the program this year, including the environment, discrimination, racism, terrorism, and the role of the artist in society. More than ever, Colcoa will offer a unique opportunity to see these universal topics from different angles.”

Read...

A classically made two-hander that revisits the source material of another classic, Nicolas Boukhrief’s The Confession (La Confession) offers up a fresh take on the Beatrix Beck novel Leon Morin, Pretre, which was adapted by film noir master Jean-Pierre Melville in a 1961 version starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and the late Emmanuelle Riva. Not unlike Melville, Boukhrief is also known as a director of gritty urban thrillers (Cash Truck, Made in France), and here he shifts to a moody period drama about a priest and atheist butting heads, then coming together, toward the end of World War II.

Featuring impressive performances...

Anne Fontaine’s drama claimed the Colcoa Audience Award as the nine-day celebration of French cinema came to a close in Los Angeles.

Music Box holds Us rights to the film (pictured) about wartime atrocities committed by the Nazis at a Polish convent.

Christian Carion’s Come What May earned the Colcoa Lafca Critics Award and will open in the Us through Cohen Media Group.

Made In France by Nicolas Boukhrief won the Audience Special Prize while the Critics Special Prize went to Bouli Lanners’ The First, The Last.

The Best Documentary Award went to Tomorrow co-directed by Cyril Dion and Mélanie Laurent, while The First Feature Awards went to Film Movement’s Neither Heaven Nor Earth by Clément Cogitore.

It’s Caviar by Sarah Lelouch won the audience award in the Short Competition category, while Mother(s) from Maïmouna Doucouré won the jury award.

Natalie Beder’s Millions Of Tears won both the juried award and the...

The Franco-American Cultural Fund, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has announced the program for the 20th Colcoa French Film Festival that will run April 18-26 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. The festival will showcase a record 70 films and television series - among them 64 in competition for Colcoa Awards - including four World Premieres, seven International Premieres, 19 North American or U.S. Premieres, 17 West Coast Premieres - and 21 new shorts. Colcoa, is now the world's largest event dedicated to French films and television.

"This 20th anniversary deserves a spectacular, strong program that reflects the diversity of French production, as well as the creativity and dynamism of French filmmakers and producers," stated François Truffart, Colcoa Executive Producer and Artistic Director. "More than ever, we are about to involve audiences in a journey that will stir them, make them laugh, cry, tickle their curiosity, and help them remain optimistic, while recognizing the urgent world zeitgeist."

 "20 years is an achievement for any film festival in Hollywood. This would not have been possible without the commitment of the Franco-American Cultural Fund - a unique partnership of the DGA, the Mpa, la Sacem and the WGA West - creator of the festival in 1996 and supporter of its subsequent development. We also salute French sales companies, official supporters, sponsors, and U.S. distributors, whose loyalty and trust have given the festival its continuing excellence," he added.

Colcoa will open Monday, April 18th with the North American Premiere of "Monsieur Chocolat," a biopic about the first French black clown, co-written by Cyril Gely, Olivier Gorce, Gérard Noiriel, Roschdy Zem, directed by Roschdy Zem, and starring Omar Sy and James Thiérrée. The film will be presented in association with Gaumont, which celebrates its 120th anniversary.

The festival will close its competition on Monday, April 25th with the World Premiere of "Up For Love," the new romantic comedy written and directed by Laurent Tirard, starring Academy Award winner Jean Dujardin and Virginie Efira. "Call My Agent" (Season 1), the most popular French TV series of the year, about a talent agency with actors playing their own roles, will close the Colcoa TV Competition.

Two other TV series, shown for the first time in North America, will be part of the program, presented in association with TV France International and Titrafilm: "The Disappearance," a drama co-written by Marie Deshaires and Catherine Touzet and directed by Charlotte Brändström; and "The Secret of Elise," a supernatural drama written by lsa Marpeau, Marie Vinoy, Marie Deshaires, and Catherine Touzet and directed by Alexandre Laurent, Samir Boitard, Mathieu Simonet, and Mehdi Meskar. The first two episodes of each series will be shown to the Colcoa audience.

To complete the competition, five TV movies will premiere at Colcoa: the North American Premiere of "Borderline," a thriller co-written and directed by Olivier Marchal, the International Premiere of "Carpets and Chaos," a comedy co-written and directed by Nader Takmil Homayoun, the International Premiere of "Stolen Babies," a drama written by Julie Jézéquel and directed by Golden Globe winner Alain Berliner; the International Premiere of "The Wall-Crosser," a fantasy written and directed by Dante Desarthes, based on Marcel Aymé's book; and the North American Premiere of "Woman Under the Influence," a drama written and directed by Claude-Michel Rome. 

The feature film selection (40 features and documentaries and 21 shorts), will feature exclusive presentations. "Fanny's Journey," an epic drama written and directed by Lola Doillon, starring Cecile de France, is also a World Premiere. The U.S. Premiere of the thriller "Made in France," written and directed by Nicolas Boukhrief, is a film which did not have theatrical release in France because of sensitivity following the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.  Colcoa also will present the U.S. Premiere of Robert Guédiguian's provocative film about the Armenian genocide, "Don't Tell Me the Boy Was Mad." The U.S. Premiere of Oscar ® winner Claude Lelouch's new film "Un plus Une," starring Jean Dujardin and Elsa Zylberstein, will screen, in addition to another U.S. Premiere of "All Gone South," the comedy sequel co-written and co-directed by Nicolas Benamou and Philippe Lacheau, two years after the success of Babysitting at Colcoa in 2014.

Several established writers/directors return and other known artists have been selected: Academy Award nominee Christian Carion ("Come What May"- with Cohen Media Group), Anne Fontaine ("The Innocents" - with Music Box Films), Vincent Garencq ("Kalinka"), Academy Award nominee Jean-Paul Rappeneau ("Families"), Christian Vincent ("Courted"), Maïwenn ("My King" - with Film Movement)

Every year, the Colcoa program is dedicated to a new generation of talent, many of whose films are included in Colcoa's French NeWave 2.0 Series: Samuel Collardey ("Land Legs"), Clément Cogitor ("Neither Heaven Nor Earth" - with Film Movement), Philippe Faucon - the writer/director of the 2016 César Best film winner ("Fatima" - with Kino Lorber), Emmanuel Finkiel ("A Decent Man"), Eva Husson ("Bang Gang" - with Samuel Goldwyn), Laurent Larivière ("I am a Soldier"), and Orelsan and Christophe Offenstein ("Uncompleted Song").

The After 10 Series at Colcoa invites audiences to explore new frontiers with an exclusive program, including the French-Belgian co-production from writer/director Bouli Lanners ("The First, the Last"), the new dark comedy from Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern, starring Gérard Depardieu ("Saint Amour"), and Frédéric Schoendoerffer ("Past Convoy").

Two anticipated films about women in Muslim countries will be part of theWord Cinema Produced by France Series: the Franco-Moroccan co-production, "Much Loved," written and directed by Nabil Ayouch, premiered at the Director's Fortnight in 2015, and remains banned in Morocco; and, "As I Open My Eyes," a Franco-Tunisian film from female writer/director Leyla Bouzid (with Kino Lorber). The Argentine film, "Eva Doesn't Sleep," written and directed by Pablo Agüero will complete the series.

Two documentaries focusing on significant environmental issues will premiere at Colcoa: the closing film of the last Cannes Film Festival, "Ice and the Sky" (with Music Box Films) from Academy Award winner Luc Jacquet (March of the Penguins), and a special presentation following the United Nations screening of the 2016 Cesar winner for Best Documentary, "Tomorrow," written and directed by Cédric Dion and Mélanie Laurent. "The Frankenstein Complex," a tribute to the creators of big screen creatures, written and directed by Gilles Penso and Alexandre Poncet, will complete this high profile documentary series.

All other Colcoa series are back in 2016: the Colcoa Classics Series with an exclusive program of digitally restored premieres (see February 19th press release); the Happy Hour Talks PanelSeriesin association withVariety (April 19-25); the Short Film Competition (Sunday, April 24 -  March press release); the Focus on a Filmmaker, this year with writer/director Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Thursday, April 21); and the Focus on a Producer will be with Dominique Besnehard (Saturday, April 23).

Animation, an important part of the French film industry, will be shown at Colcoa with the premiere of Rémi Chayé's new film: "Long Way North" (with Shout Factory).

 As is Colcoa tradition, comedieswill join the program almost every day, including the romantic comedy "Love at First Child," co-written and directed by Anne Giaffieri, starring Patrick Bruel and Isabelle Carré, Benoît's Graffin's "Hopefully," with Sandrine Kiberlain and Edouard Baer, Jean-Francois Richet's "One Wild Moment," starring Francois Cluzet and Vincent Cassel, and the new French hit "One Man and His Cow," written and directed by Mohamed Hamidi.

This last film will also be shown to the 3,000 students and teachers who will attend the now five High School Screenings (April 19-25) as part of the Colcoa Educational Program presented in association with Elma (European Languages and Movies in America). Two master classes for college and university students will complete the program.

For the ninth year, Lafca will partner with Colcoa Cinema for the Critics' Awards. The complete recipients list of the 2015 Awards - including the U.S. distributor winner of the Colcoa Coming Soon Award, presented in association with Kpcc, will be announced on Wednesday, April 27. Colcoa Awards are presented in association with Titrafilm, TV5 Monde USA, and Air Tahiti Nui.

With France still reeling from two major, tragic terror attacks in 2015, it has also seen the upcoming film "Made In France" come under great scrutiny. Originally slated to be released in the country by Snd Films, they dropped the thriller following the Ile-De-France attacks in January 2015. Then, four days away from release, with the now eerie poster (see below) plastered everywhere, Paris suffered another series of horrific attacks on November 13th, prompting distributor Pretty Pictures to push back the release, and eventually go VOD with the film earlier this year. Now set to hit UK VOD outlets, a new trailer has landed for the movie by director Nicolas Boukhrief, that follows a journalist who becomes embedded in a terror group in Paris made up of seemingly ordinary Parisian youth, who then plot a vicious attack on the Champs-Elysées. "People say the film was prophetic but I’d rather have been wrong.

The Franco-American Cultural Fund on Tuesday announced the line-up for the 20th anniversary edition of the French film festival set to run in Hollywood from April 18-26.

The North American premiere of Roschdy Zem’s Monsieur Chocolat (pictured) presented in association with Gaumont will open the festival, and the world premiere of Laurent Tirard’s rom-com Up For Love starring Jean Dujardin and Virginie Efira will close the event. Season 1 of Call My Agent will close the TV competition.

Overall Colcoa will screen a record 70 films and TV series. The programme includes four world, seven international and 19 North American or Us premieres.

Closing the festival is the

The feature film competition includes the world premiere of Fanny’s Journey by Lola Doillon starring Cecile de France, the Us premiere of Robert Guédiguian’s Armenian genocide drama Don’t Tell Me The Boy Was Mad, and the Us premiere of Nicolas Boukhrief’s thriller Made In France, which...

The Franco-American Cultural Fund on Tuesday announced the line-up for the 20th anniversary edition of the French film festival set to run in Hollywood from April 18-26.

The North American premiere of Roschdy Zem’s Monsieur Chocolat (pictured) presented in association with Gaumont will open the festival, and the world premiere of Laurent Tirard’s rom-com Up For Love starring Jean Dujardin and Virginie Efira will close the event. Season 1 of Call My Agent will close the TV competition.

Overall Colcoa will screen a record 70 films and TV series. The programme includes four world, seven international and 19 North American or Us premieres.

The feature film competition includes the world premiere of Fanny’s Journey by Lola Doillon starring Cecile de France, the Us premiere of Robert Guédiguian’s Armenian genocide drama Don’t Tell Me The Boy Was Mad, and the Us premiere of Nicolas Boukhrief’s thriller Made In France, which did not...

Exclusive: Companies plan to release the film in UK in April.

UK distributor Soda Pictures and Paris-based Pretty Pictures have co-acquired UK and Ireland rights to French director Nicolas Boukhrief’s thriller Made In France, revolving around a young, undercover journalist who uncovers a terror plot when he infiltrates a Muslim fundamentalist group on the outskirts of Paris.

The film hit the headlines last November after its imminent French theatrical release was hastily cancelled following deadly terror attacks on Paris, in which 130 people lost their lives, because the storyline was chillingly close to the events that had rocked the capital.

“We are delighted to be working with our friends at Soda Pictures. We often have the same films for our own territory and I’m delighted that we now have a film we can distribute together in the UK,” said Velaise, who is also handling distribution in France.

The deal was brokered with Paris-based WTFilms which is handling...

Jean Reno stars in Family Heist as master thief who teams up with long-lost daughters.

French outfit Snd has boarded international sales and local distribution rights to art theft comedy caper Family Heist and romantic drama The Confession ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris next week (Jan 14-18).

Pascal Bourdiaux’s Family Heist stars Jean Reno as a master thief who enlists the support of his long-lost daughters on an ambitious robbery aimed at exacting revenge on a double-crossing, former partner.

French stand-up and big screen comedy actresses Camille Chamoux and Reem Kherici play the two contrasting half-sisters who have inherited their father’s con artist skills.

Reno is set for a high-profile year. He will hit screens at home and abroad in French comedy The Visitors: Bastille Day this spring and also has roles in Sean Penn’s upcoming The Last Face and the historical drama The Promise.

The two-month...

Pretty Pictures CEO James Velaise explains why he pulled “brilliant picture” after Paris attacks.

French terror plot thriller Made in France will not be released before the beginning of 2016, following Islamic State attacks in Paris over the weekend.

“We need to re-evaluate the best time to bring the film out,” said James Velaise, president of Paris-based Pretty Pictures, who decided to halt a scheduled release on 100 copies this Wednesday (Nov 18) following the carnage in the French capital on Friday night that saw at least 132 people killed and left 350 injured.

“No-one put any pressure on us to pull the film,” he added. “The cinemas didn’t suddenly say we’re not going to give you the screens. We just decided the subject matter was too close to home to what happened on Friday.

“I can’t see it coming out for at least another six, or even eight weeks. We have to see how events unfold.”

The sixth feature...

Pretty Pictures CEO James Velaise explains why he pulled “brilliant picture” after Paris attacks.

French terror plot thriller Made in France will not be released before the beginning of 2016, following Islamic State attacks in Paris over the weekend.

“We need to re-evaluate the best time to bring the film out,” said James Velaise, president of Paris-based Pretty Pictures, who decided to halt a scheduled release on 100 copies this Wednesday (Nov 18) following the carnage in the French capital on Friday night that saw at least 132 people killed and left 350 injured, 99 severely.

“No-one put any pressure on us to pull the film,” he added. “The cinemas didn’t suddenly say we’re not going to give you the screens. We just decided the subject matter was too close to home to what happened on Friday.

“I can’t see it coming out for at least another six, or even eight weeks. We have to see how events unfold.”

The...

The 44th edition of the Festival du Nouveau Cinema has just announced their entire lineup and it’s pretty insane! The festival which takes place in Montreal from October 7 to 18 is screening nearly 400 films and events in only 11 days. This includes 151 feature films and 203 short films from 68 countries – 49 world premieres, 38 North American premieres and 60 Canadian premieres. Give credit to the team of programmers: Claude Chamberlan, Dimitri Eipides Julien Fonfrède, Philippe Gajan, Karolewicz Daniel, Marie-Hélène Brousseau, Katayoun Dibamehr and Gabrielle Tougas-Frechette.

Below is the lineup. There’s a lot to process so take your sweet time!

Opening and closing

The whole New Testament directed by Jaco Van Dormael (Toto the Hero, Mr Nobody, The Eighth Day), will kick off this 44th edition.

After its world premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes last May, the new opus unconventional Belgian director, starring Benoît Poelvoorde (Three Hearts, Ransom of Glory), Yolande Moreau (Mammuth,...

The number of films dealing with age is rising as older people take up more of the cinema-going audience

The world's population is ageing. Today, there are about 600 million older people around the world, three times more than 50 years ago – and by 2050 there should be three times more again. The effect of that is already apparent in almost every sector, including culture, which of course includes the cinema. In the early 20th century, the brand-new film industry symbolised glamour and eternal youth before being relegated to a largely teenage audience, and then being caught up by age in the following century: the age of its audience, its creators, its characters and its subject matter.

The cinema has always found ways of dealing with the subject. For many years it simply skirted the issue in two ways. One was by using farce, with truculent old rogues, as in Frank Capra's...

Another roundup of reviews from Montreal's Cinemania Film Festival. Check out out past installments here and here. "Sphinx" ("Gardiens de l'ordre") This Gallic police procedural might the worst example of the genre we've seen in eons. Directed by Nicolas Boukhrief and written by Boukhrief and Dan Sasson it would appear the two have never watched a halfway decent cop drama in their lives. We would rather sit through yet another spinoff of the rancid "CSI" series than come near this one again. The film centers on two cops, Julie (Cécile de France) and Simon (Fred Testot) who decide to take…...

"Gardiens de l'ordre", a Nicolas Boukhrief film with Cécile De France and Julien Boisselier will air in TV5Monde this Sunday, October 10. Premise During a night patrol that goes wrong, Simon and Julie, two ordinary police officers, injure a young executive who has shot dead one of their team members for no reason. Wrongly accused of a mistake and dismissed by their superiors, they decide to prove their innocence by carrying out an investigation into the drug responsible for their attacker's mad outburst. Tune in this Sunday, Oct. 10 at 8:30 pm Est to catch award-winning, Cécile de France only on TV5MONDE USA. TV5MONDE USA is available in all major markets via Dish and Cable. TV5MONDE USA aims...

Dear French readers, on April 7, Nicolas Boukhrief's next film, Gardiens de l'ordre, will hit theatres in France. For North Americans who don't know, Boukhrief is also the director Le convoyeur, which was remade by Hollywood under the title Armored.

Synopsis:

During a patrol, Julie (Cécile De France) and Simon (Fred Testot), two police constables, injure a wealthy man who pointlessly killed their partner. This wealthy man in question turns out to be the son of a politician. This is why the two police constables are accused of brutality by the brass. Abandoned by their superiors, the two leading characters will lead an investigation on the drug that caused the politician's son to be out of his mind.

So you might be wondering what a picture of Eric Bana swigging a beer in a Hulk t-shirt has to do with the remake of a French thriller. Well, the answer I'm afraid is nothing, its just one of my favorite pictures of the Aussie actor -- but back to the business at hand. Variety reports that Millennium Films is currently in talks with Bana to star in their remake of the French thriller, Le Convoyeur (now titled, Armored).

The original film was written and directed by Nicolas Boukhrief, but Millennium have their eye on F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job) to take over the remake. The script was also given a re-working by David Ayer (Training Day) and Andrew Kevin Walker. The story centers on a man (presumably to be played by Bana) working for an armored car company who manages to ingratiate himself into a heist planned by his co-workers.

Even though he probably should have gone into hiding after his portrayal of Henry VIII in The Other Boleyn Girl, Eric Bana is back on the scene with a bunch of new movies in production and some in the can. Most recently, Millennium Films announced that he will star in the remake of the French heist movie, Le Convoyeur, which starts shooting on April 1. F. Gary Gray, who must be familiar with the heist genre after directing The Italian Job, will direct the re-make. The movie was titled "Armored," but will have to be re-named, since Screen Gems is producing another movie with that very title. Originally written by Frenchies Eric Besnard (Babylon A.D.) and Nicolas Boukhrief, the new script will be penned by David Ayer and Andrew Kevin Walker. The film concerns an armored car company that has been suffering robberies in which the drivers have been killed. ...