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Directed by Justin Chadwick, Fear is a thought-provoking series that leaves you thinking about how you perceive everything in your life. I have always believed that life is not entirely black and white; people are not just straight up right or wrong. What we perceive as wrong or unacceptable might be totally justified to another individual. That’s how the human mind functions. Yes, we do have certain morals and codes of conduct that we use as a yardstick to judge a person, but sometimes moral nihilism prevails. So, let’s find out what happened in the 3-part series and if the protagonists were able to overcome the challenges that came their way.

Spoiler Alert

What happened between Jan and the Berwicks?

Martyn and Rebecca Berwick wanted to make a fresh start, and so they moved to Glasgow with their kids, Fay and Paul. Martyn was an architect, and he...

Highland Film Group has unveiled the first image from Muzzle: City Of Wolves starring Aaron Eckhart, and announced key territory deals and additional casting as it continues sales at EFM this week.

Rights to the thriller about a retired police dog handler who gets pulled back into action to protect his family have closed with Vertigo Releasing for the UK, Australia, and New Zealand; Capelight Pictures for Germany; YouPlanet Pictures for Spain; and Italian International Film (Iif) for Italy.

Deals have also closed in Benelux (Three Lines Pictures), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Greece (Spentzos Film), Scandinavia (Mis. Label), Eastern Europe (Daro Film Distribution...

The Glasgow Film Festival has unveiled the full lineup for its 21st edition this year and will host Glasgow-born Hollywood star James McAvoy to look back on his career during an “In Conversation” event.

“Across 12 packed days, Scotland’s largest annual celebration of cinema will showcase 92 world, U.K. and Scottish premieres from 39 countries,” including 12 world premieres, organizers said on Tuesday.

The gala world premiere of survival thriller Tornado, the sophomore feature from Scottish director John Maclean (Slow West), will open the fest on Feb. 26. “Set in the rugged landscape of 1790s Britain, Tornado (played by model-songwriter Kōki,) finds herself caught in a perilous situation when she and her father’s traveling puppet show crosses paths with a ruthless criminal gang led by Sugarman (Pulp Fiction star Tim Roth) and his ambitious son Little Sugar (Slow Horses’ Jack Lowden),” says a plot summary. “In an attempt to create a new life,...

The world premiere of John Maclean’sTornado, starring Tim Roth and Jack Lowden. will open the 21st edition of theGlasgow Film Festival (Gff).

The survival thriller, which shot on location in Scotland, is set in 1790s Britain. A woman named Tornado, played by Japanese model and songwriter Kōki, finds herself caught in peril when she and her father’s travelling puppet show cross paths with a ruthless criminal gang.Lionsgate UK will release the film theatrically in the UK and Ireland from May.

Maclean’s previous film was 2015 western Slow West starringMichael Fassbender.

Gff closes with the world premiere of...

The third annual Sony Future Filmmaker Awards has announced the jury members for its 2025 kudos.

Four-time Oscar nominee Jason Reitman, filmmaker Minhal Baig, President of 3000 Pictures Elizabeth Gabler, and director Justin Chadwick make up this year’s panel. Reitman is currently in the Oscar discussion for directing, writing, and producing the feature film “Saturday Night.”

Mark your calendars for April 29, 2025, as that’s when this year’s group of 30 shortlisted filmmakers will be announced. The 2025 Sony Future Filmmaker Awards will include a five-day program at the legendary Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif., from June 2 to June 6.

The special event includes hands-on workshops for the aspiring filmmakers, plus industry intuition from top professionals, backstage access, keynotes by major cinematographers, screenings, Q&a sessions, talent agency resources, and more.

The awards ceremony will take place on June 5, 2025, which is when the winners of the four major categories will be...

The 2025 Sony Future Filmmaker Awards, which is returning for its third edition next June, has announced the filmmakers who will work to select budding filmmaking talent to participate in workshops, screenings, and networking events that will help launch their careers.

Creo, the not-for-profit group that organizes the awards, along with Sony announced that director Minhal Baig (“We Grown Now“), president of 3000 Pictures Elizabeth Gabler (“Where the Crawdads Sing“), and Oscar-nominee Jason Reitman (“Saturday Night“) will serve on the jury to select the 2025 recipients. Returning to the awards for the third year as jury chair is filmmaker Justin Chadwick (“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”).

The panel will work to shortlist a group of aspiring filmmakers from around the globe, and the selected filmmakers will then get the chance to fly to Los Angeles and participate in a five-day program on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City between June...

Kiefer Sutherland returns his action roots in a new Sierra Madre image as hopes remain high he'll return for a 24 movie. Directed by Justin Chadwick, Sierra Madre stars Sutherland as Captain Jordan Wright, the leader of an elite squadron who finds himself in a battle with violent cartels after he and his men take leave for a wedding in Mexico. Delbert Hancock and Ian Mackenzie Jeffers penned the script for the film, which also stars Ashton Sanders, Laura Osma, Solly McLeod, and Omar Chaparro, among others.

Screen Daily now provides a first look at Sutherland in Sierra Madre, which they say is currently filming in Colombia. The image features Sutherland, sporting a beard and wearing a black jacket in a jungle-like environment, holding a submachine gun and looking worriedly at something off-screen. No other cast members are present in the image, unfortunately, but the star certainly looks right at home back in the action genre.

Resident Evil star Milla Jovovich is set to headline Protector, a Taken-esque action thriller that Highland Film is pitching to buyers at this year’s American Film Market. Adrian Grünberg (Rambo: Last Blood, Get the Gringo) is set to direct from a screenplay by Bong-Seob Mun. Production is slated to begin this winter in New Mexico.

The film’s log line has Jovovich playing Nikki, a former war hero who believed she had left her violent past behind to raise her daughter, Chloe, in peace. When she wakes up in an abandoned factory and learns that Chloe has been kidnapped, Nikki has navigate the city’s criminal underworld, pursued by both the cops and the military, to get her daughter back.

Protector is one of a slew of action projects heading to AFM this week as producers double down on a return to shoot-’em-up thrillers.

Kenneth Kim, Bang-Ok Joo...

Screen has obtained the first-look image from Justin Chadwick’s action thriller Sierra Madre starring Kiefer Sutherland, which has begun production in Colombia with a host of new cast additions. Highland Film Group continues worldwide sales at the AFM this week.

Mexican actor and producer Omar Chaparro, whose credits include Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and Netflix original series Thursday’s Widows, joins alongside rising Colombian actress Laura Osma from Prime Video’s recent Toronto premiere Pimpinero: Blood And Oil and Sky Original’s Blocco 181, and Ashton Sanders from Moonlight and Equalizer 2.

Additional new cast include Tommy Martinez (ABC’s Good Trouble...

Highland Film Group has bulked up its AFM slate and acquired international sales rights to Fantasia entry Witchboard from The Mask director Chuck Russell.

The reimagining of the 1986 horror film follows Emily and her fiancé Christian, who are preparing to open a café business in New Orleans when Emily discovers an ancient artifact once used to summon spirits.

When Emily becomes obsessed with the witchboard’s power, Christian seeks the help of an occult expert who lures the couple deeper into the occult. They find themselves in a race against time to break the board’s deadly curse before Emily becomes its next victim.

Exclusive: English actress, activist, entrepreneur, musician and style icon Cara Delevingne has signed with Anonymous Content in all areas, we can tell you.

Delevingne continues to be repped by Shemarya Artists, The Lede Company and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.

Most recently, Delevingne completed her run as Sally Bowles in Rebecca Frecknall’s rendition of Cabaret in the West End. She can also be seen in the recently completed 12th season of FX’s American Horror Story anthology, American Horror Story: Delicate, which this year won a Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. She also has a guest-starring role on the 12th season of the animated sci-fi series Futurama.

Delevingne made her acting debut in 2012 in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina opposite Keira Knightley, Jude Law and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Her TV credits include starring in and executive producing the Amazon Prime series Carnival Row; developing,...

Sasha Calle, Mamoudou Athie and Jeffrey Donovan join Dane DeHaan in crime thriller “Wardriver,” directed by Rebecca Thomas and written by Daniel. The film is produced by Tim and Trevor White’s Star Thrower Entertainment alongside David M. Wulf, Daniel Casey, DeHaan and Highland Film Group, which is repping international at TIFF. CAA Media Finance has domestic.

Production recently wrapped in Utah.

In the film, tech-savvy thief Cole (DeHaan) exploits his highly specialized skills to commit high-tech robberies from his laptop. When criminal Oscar (Athie) uncovers Cole’s abilities, he forces him to hack the account of the beautiful Sarah (Calle), draining nearly a million dollars. But Cole soon discovers that a powerful, mob-connected lawyer (Donovan) has been using Sarah to hide his money. As Cole falls hard for Sarah, he initiates a plan to replace the stolen money, while protecting her. Ignoring warning signs that something greater is at play,...

Over 8,400 short films were submitted for the 2nd annual Sony Future Filmmaker Awards in Los Angeles, but only six filmmakers walked away with a win Thursday night.

148 countries were represented at the event held at the Cary Grant Theatre on the Sony Pictures Studios lot, with films competing in six categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Environment, Animation, Student and Future Format.

Created by Creo and sponsored by Sony, the black tie affair hosted by “Entertainment Tonight” correspondent Denny Directo was preceded by a week-long industry immersion program and workshops with established Hollywood executives.

Winners were selected by a group of industry experts — including Sony Pictures Classics cofounders/co-presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, and cinematographers Rob Hardy and Kate Reid, with Unjoo Moon and Robert

Primes selecting the initial longlist. Director Justin Chadwick chaired both selection processes.

2nd Annual Sony Future Filmmaker Awards, winners

Ultimately, the winners were Katie Blair, Olawunmi Hassan & Adaobi Samson,...

Amid a generally positive market the familiar gripe of high asking prices has sent a clear message that buyers and sellers are finding it increasingly tough to reconcile their respective financial models.

The tension remains particularly acute on A-list market packages, where independent producers have fought (and paid) to attract and hold on to talent in a post-strike world where hefty offers from studios and streamers, driven by talent agents, have been hard to resist.

The ripple effect has forced sales agents to push up their asks in order to recoup financiers’ investments. Sales estimates set more than a year ago,...

Kiefer Sutherland will star in action thriller 'Sierra Madre'.The 57-year-old actor will take on the leading role in the upcoming movie from director Justin Chadwick.According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film tells the story of Captain Jordan Wright (Sutherland) and his team "who are granted leave from their mission to attend a crewmate’s wedding in Mexico. While there, festivities are interrupted by a murderous cartel, and, as Jordan attempts to lead his remaining men to safety, war breaks out between his squad and the cartel. Jordan has to engage in a full-scale battle to save his men".Kiefer said: "I’m thrilled to be joining the team on Sierra Madre, led by director Justin Chadwick. I feel it is a compelling thriller with great emotional and dramatic opportunities. Or more simply put, a d*** good story."Highland Film Group CEO Arianne Fraser said: "[Sutherland] will capture the intensity...

Kiefer Sutherland is set to star in action thriller Sierra Madre.

The story centers on Sutherland’s Captain Jordan Wright and his squadron, who are granted leave from their mission to attend a crewmate’s wedding in Mexico. While there, festivities are interrupted by a murderous cartel, and, as Jordan attempts to lead his remaining men to safety, war breaks out between his squad and the cartel. Jordan has to engage in a full-scale battle to save his men.

The project, which is being sold out of the Cannes film market by Highland Film Group, is set to be directed by Justin Chadwick from a script by and Delbert Hancock and The Grey writer Ian Mackenzie Jeffers. Production is due to start this fall in Colombia, with Robert Stein (The Call), James Keach (Walk the Line) and Griff Furst (Devil’s Peak) producing.

Highland Film Group is co-financing the action thriller and handling worldwide rights,...

The star of Disney+’s Shardlake has addressed having a different disability to the character he portrays in the C.J. Sansom adaptation, which launches today.

Arthur Hughes, who was the first person with a disability to portray Richard III for the Royal Shakespeare Company, stressed that Shardlake was always going to have a disabled lead – whether him or another actor – coming as debate rages over authentic representation in TV and film.

Hughes has radial dysplasia in his right arm, while the titular Matthew Shardlake is a crime-solving barrister with scoliosis.

Hughes said at a London screening: “I was aware that Shardlake has a disability that is not my own, and I wanted to find a level of truth in what I was doing and not necessarily affecting something that was not my own experience. We look at hunchbacks in film, and they’re often mad, kind of grotesque caricature kind of things,...

Out of battery. Out of signal. Stamped underfoot. Dropped into drains. Crime writers have found inventive ways to remove suspense-killing mobile phones from their stories, but no solution is as thorough as Cj Sansom’s. By setting his murder mysteries in Tudor times, Sansom’s 16th century lawyer Matthew Shardlake has to investigate without mobiles, forensics or DNA databases, armed with only his mind and principles. Or rather: his mind, principles, and the fearful reputation of his boss Thomas Cromwell whose name Shardlake draws “like a sword”.

This four-part historical crime drama is adapted from the first of Sansom’s seven Shardlake novels by Stephen Butchard, the writer who so successfully translated Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories to the screen in The Last Kingdom. If it lands well with an audience, there’s hope of many more series, each one a self-contained mystery for ‘the Tudor Morse’ to solve against...

In Hulu’s Shardlake, as in Arthurian legend, a hand emerges from a body of water bearing a sword. Though lacking Excalibur’s magical touch, this blade’s discovery does serve the ambitions of a monarch. After splitting England from the Catholic Church in 1534, King Henry VIII and his chief minister, Thomas Cromwell (Sean Bean), have begun dissolving monasteries across the realm and seizing their wealth. The decapitation of Cromwell’s representative (Michael Rivers) at an abbey near the remote, boggy town of Scarnsea presents an opportunity to advance that crusade, with Cromwell sending an odd couple of agents to investigate the incident, commanding them to find sufficient reason to shutter the order.

In the third episode, the monks watch in horror as endearingly determined lawyer Matthew Shardlake (Arthur Hughes) and Jack Barak (Anthony Boyle), the cocksure enforcer assigned to accompany him, find the submerged murder weapon on their grounds.

“Shardlake” is a new live-action ‘Tudor England’ era, 4-part drama series, directed by Justin Chadwick, following the adventures of the hunchbacked lawyer/detective ‘Matthew Shardlake’ (Arthur Hughes) co-starring Sean Bean as ‘Thomas Cromwell’, streaming May 1, 1023 on Hulu:

“…drenched in mystery, suspense, and deception, this four-part drama is an eerie whodunnit adventure set in 16th century England during the dissolution of the monasteries.

“The sheltered life of ‘Shardlake’ (Hughes) as a lawyer is turned upside down when Cromwell (Bean) instructs him to investigate the murder of one of his commissioners at a monastery in the remote town of Scarnsea.

“The commissioner was gathering evidence to close the monastery, and it is now imperative for Cromwell’s own political survival that Shardlake solve the murder and closes the monastery.

“As failure is not an option, Cromwell insists Shardlake be accompanied by ‘Jack Barak’ (Anthony Boyle) to Scarnsea, where the duo are met with hostility,...

Hulu has shared the trailer and key art for Shardlake, the new series based on the popular Tudor murder mystery novels by C.J. Sansom. The series premieres on Wednesday, May 1, on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America, and Disney+ in select territories.

Drenched in mystery, suspense, and deception, this four-part drama, based on the first novel in C.J. Sansom’s book series, is an eerie whodunnit adventure set in 16th-century England during the dissolution of the monasteries.

Shardlake’s sheltered life as a lawyer is turned upside down when Cromwell instructs him to investigate the murder of one of his commissioners at a monastery in the remote town of Scarnsea. The commissioner was gathering evidence to close the monastery, and it is now imperative for Cromwell’s own political survival that Shardlake both solves the murder and closes the monastery.

He leaves Shardlake in no doubt...

Creo has announced the jury for the 2024 Sony Future Filmmaker Awards.

Director Justin Chadwick serves as chair for the second year in a row. He is joined on the jury by Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, co-founders and co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics; cinematographer Rob Hardy ASC, Bsc; cinematographer Kate Reid Bsc; cinematographer Robert Primes ASC; and Australian filmmaker Unjoo Moon.

Chadwick said, “It is such a pleasure to return as Chair of this new prestigious panel of decorated creatives. Last year, we brought to the forefront 30 exceptionally talented filmmakers from across the world, each of whom had the unique chance to access the inner workings of the industry in Los Angeles, opening doors to career-launching opportunities. From my own experience, the art of the short film is by no means one to be underestimated, and I look forward to discovering more brilliant, talented individuals through this upcoming selection.”

In...

The second series of Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers, starring Nicole Kidman, has accessed the maximum amounts possible in production funding from incentive schemes in Germany and Austria. Production is now underway in Bavaria and Austria as well as in sound stages at Penzing Studios west of Munich this year.

Nine Perfect Strangers was awarded €10m by the German Motion Picture Fund (Gmpf), almost a quarter of the total of €44.8m funds paid out by the Berlin-based fund in 2023.

The production has also received the maximum amount of €7.5m from Austria’s Fisa+ scheme, designed to attract international productions to the country.

The second series of Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers, starring Nicole Kidman, has accessed the maximum amounts possible in production funding from incentive schemes in Germany and Austria. Production is now underway in Bavaria and Austria as well as in sound stages at Penzing Studios west of Munich this year.

Nine Perfect Strangers was awarded €10m by the German Motion Picture Fund (Gmpf), almost a quarter of the total of €44.8m funds paid out by the Berlin-based fund in 2023.

The production has also received the maximum amount of €7.5m from Austria’s Fisa+ scheme, designed to attract international productions to the country.

In Kenneth Branagh's 2011 fantasy clunker "Thor," Chris Hemsworth plays an extraterrestrial once worshiped on Earth as the Norse God of Thunder. Thor and his retinue traverse the galaxy using a carefully protected device called the Bifröst, a.k.a. the Rainbow Bridge, which can zap travelers anywhere in the galaxy instantaneously within a massive laser beam. The Bifröst is protected and controlled by a powerful armored guard/engineer named Heimdall, a hulking hunk decked out in gold and leather and sporting eerie golden eyes. Those golden eyes allow Heimdall to see great distances and into other realms. 

Heimdall was played by actor Idris Elba, who would go on to play the character in five additional Marvel Cinematic Universe pictures. 

Elba, as many know, first broke into the public eye for his role on the hit HBO series "The Wire" in 2002. Since then, Elba has become a proper movie and TV star,...

Exclusive: South Africa’s Videovision Entertainment is heading to next week’s Mip Africa event with a new TV sales division.

The unit will bring a significant number of titles from South Africa, comprising over 100 feature films and more than 10,000 hours of television programs. Videovision is one the country’s oldest and most successful production houses.

Videovision’s CEO Anant Singh has secured a deal to represent e.tv’s daily soap House of Zwide, which the company produces. Other Videovision titles produced over the past four decades will also be included on the slate, with notable features include Sarafina!, starring Leleti Khumalo, Whoopi Goldberg and Miriam Makeba; Cry, the Beloved Country starring James Earl Jones, Richard Harris and Vusi Kunene; Red Dust starring Hilary Swank and Chiwetel Ejiofor and directed by Tom Hooper; and Yesterday, which received South Africa’s first Academy Award nomination.

See a trailer for the slate here.

Nata­lie Port­man will be honored at the 49th edition of Deauville Amer­i­can Film Fes­ti­val, which will bestow her with its Deau­ville Talent Award. She will attend a screening of her new film, Todd Haynes’ sex scandal drama “May Decem­ber,” at the festival, which runs from Sept. 1 to 10.

Among her career highlights, the festival singles out her performance in Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” for which she won an Oscar in 2011. She was also an Oscar nominee for Mike Nichols’ “Closer” in 2005 and Pablo Larraín’s “Jackie” in 2017.

Other standout roles the festival pointed to were her performances in “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” in 1999, Anthony Minghella’s “Cold Mountain” in 2003, and Kar-Wai Wong’s “My Blueberry Nights” in 2007.

“All of these roles are marked by her ambivalent presence, a blend of strength and fragility,” the festival commented.

Other performances...

Benedict Cumberbatch has proven himself one of the most versatile actors working, but how do his films rank from worst to best? This Academy Award-nominated actor may have hit some snags in his career, but overall, he boasts a filmography as varied and versatile as his talents. Benedict began his career on the British stage before transitioning into television, breaking out in a big way with 2010's Sherlock, a show for which he's been nominated for four Emmy Awards, finally winning one in 2014. That show's popularity gave rise to a Cumberbatch fandom, and soon the actor found himself a fixture in multiple franchises, eventually donning the cloak of Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Cumberbatch seems to have had little trouble transitioning from franchise fare to serial television to prestige cinema. Whether playing Star Trek's wrathful Khan or The Hobbit's dragon Smaug, he's an actor who radiates both intelligence and warmth,...

Disney+ is set to take viewers on a journey through Tudor England with its latest series, “Shardlake.”

Based on the internationally acclaimed Tudor murder mystery novels by C.J. Sansom, the four-part drama is set in 16th century England during the dissolution of the monasteries.

The series will follow the story of Matthew Shardlake, played by Arthur Hughes, a lawyer with an acute sense of justice and one of the few honest men in a world beset with scheming and plots. Shardlake works for Thomas Cromwell, played by Sean Bean, the dangerous and all-powerful right-hand man to Henry VIII.

Despite Shardlake’s unwavering loyalty to Cromwell and the Crown, his position in society is unfavored due to his appearance, as a person living with scoliosis during the Tudor period, suffering the indignity of being abused as a “crookback” wherever he turns. As he investigates the murder of one of Cromwell...

An array of on-the-rise filmmakers were honored at the first edition of the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards on Wednesday at the Sony Pictures Studio lot in Culver City, California.

The event was organized by Creo and awarded prizes in six categories, which followed 30 filmmakers getting shortlisted for the ceremony last month. The shortlisted individuals received a flight to Los Angeles and a two-day industry immersion experience courtesy of Sony execs. Additionally, the winners received cash prizes and gifts from Sony Digital Imaging.

Winning the fiction category was U.K.-based Dan Thorburn for the film Salt Water Town, telling the story of a father-son dynamic amid the impending closure of a caravan park. Daniela Lucato from Italy was awarded the top prize for the non-fiction category for The Things You Don’t Know About Me, Mom, centering on a survivor of Chile’s Pinochet regime imagining tough conversations with her mother.

Rising filmmakers were honored Wednesday night at the inaugural Sony Future Filmmaker Awards. The award show, created by Creo and Sony, celebrates creators and independent filmmakers across the globe. The filmmakers received a cash prize, a trip to Los Angeles and an industry immersion experience led by Sony Pictures execs.

Thirty filmmakers were honored across six categories, with six individuals winning the awards. Director Justin Chadwick chaired the panel that created the shortlist and chose the winners. Also serving on the jury was Nicole Brown, president of TriStar Pictures, Jeremy Barber, a partner at UTA for motion picture literary and talent, and Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger A. Deakins.

“I was so impressed by the breadth and diversity of the submissions from such an incredibly talented generation of new filmmakers,” Brown said. “The amount of passion and creativity was astounding and made the task of narrowing it down no small feat! I...

The shortlist for the first edition of the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards, sponsored by Creo, has been announced. The awards aim to elevate original voices from around the globe with a fresh perspective on storytelling.

The awards ceremony will take place Feb. 22 on the Sony Pictures Studio lot in Culver City, Calif. After the awards, the 30 shortlisted filmmakers will then take part in a three-day workshop program.

The jury included filmmaker Justin Chadwick, president of TriStar Pictures Nicole Brown, UTA Partner Jeremy Barber, and cinematographer Roger Deakins.

Chadwick said, “The global response has been truly exhilarating. New voices from all over the world have sent in films in all categories in huge numbers. Films that are original, diverse and fresh, filled with passion and originality.”

Creo organizes events and programming related to photography, film and contemporary art.

More than 4,000 films from 3,000 filmmakers in 140 countries were submitted.

The shortlisted films are...

Exclusive: Disney+ is ready to give the greenlight to an adaptation of Cj Sansom’s bestselling Shardlake novels, depicting an unlikely detective working under Henry VIII’s reign.

The streaming service will bolster its UK originals slate with the series, which will be made by The Forge, the All3Media-backed production company behind Starz’s Becoming Elizabeth.

Disney and The Forge have lined up Justin Chadwick to direct the Shardlake series. Chadwick was the lead director on Becoming Elizabeth and has form when it comes to Tudor storytelling, having directed The Other Boleyn Girl, starring Eric Bana, Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson.

Working titled Shardlake, the series will shoot in the UK this year and sources said it could comprise four episodes. Should it be successful, there is plenty of material for The Forge to mine, with Sansom having written seven novels in the Shardlake series.

The first book, Dissolution,...

The ninth annual Miami Film Festival Gems will present Iranian filimmaker Jafar Panahi with the Precious Gem Award. The award will be presented virtually before Friday’s screening of “No Bears.”

The festival, sponsored by Miami Dade College, runs Nov. 3-10 at Mdc’s Tower Theater.

“I thank all the people involved in the Miami Film Festival, who considered me worthy of receiving this award.” Panahi stated in an audio message relayed from prison. ”But… I have dreams that go beyond all the awards in the world. I dream and have always dreamed that in the current situation my country is facing, I could be with my people and portray their struggle for freedom. I also wish that I could make films instead of receiving awards, because a filmmaker lives to make films. Anyway, I hope a day will come when I can make a film, and attend your festival with it.

Selections include new projects from directors Farkhat Sharipov and Ash Mayfair.

The 3rd Tokyo Gap-Financing Market (Tgfm) has unveiled 20 projects selected for financing and development at Tiffcom, the affiliated content market of Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

Selections include new projects by known directors such as recent Berlinale Generation 14plus prize-winner Farkhat Sharipov (Scheme), Ash Mayfair (The Third Wife) and Tom Waller (The Cave).

Hong Kong’s Toe Yuen, known for Annecy prize-winner My Life As McDull (2001), also has a new animation in the lineup.

Organised by UniJapan, Tgfm will run as part of Tiffcom online October 25-27. The 35th...

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It’s not that Elizabeth Tudor (Alicia von Rittberg) can’t see the board. “It’s a great game of keep or kill to them all,” she remarks with no small amount of bitterness when she’s sent without say to live with Catherine Parr (Jessica Raine), widow of her father King Henry VIII. At the point we meet her in Starz’s Becoming Elizabeth, however, she’s not yet learned to play the game for herself.

Her evolution from pawn to key player comprises the narrative spine of the series, and it’s no spoiler to acknowledge here that she’ll eventually go on to win the whole thing, ruling over England for nearly half a century. But creator Anya Reiss brings to Elizabeth I’s saga an intimate perspective that prioritizes personal experience over the epic sweep of history. The result...

Amsterdam-based Fortissimo Films has acquired international rights to UK-China co-production Untamed and is showing early footage to buyers in Cannes.

The drama will revolve around the true story of Zhu Shenghao, the first person to translate nearly all of Shakespeare’s works into Chinese in the 1930s, who died aged just 32 from tuberculosis.

It will be set in three time frames: the 1930s; 16th century England as a young playwright struggles to stage his play; and modern-day China where a rising director struggles for funding for his film about Shenghao and Shakespeare. Angus Yellowlees will play Shakespeare.

The UK section...

Emmy-nominated director Justin Chadwick is set to co-direct the fantasy/drama/biopic Untamed, a U.K.-China co-production about the remarkable, improbable life of Zhu Shenghao, who famously translated the complete works of Shakespeare into Chinese singlehandedly.

The innovative project, which will be told in both English and Chinese and shot between London and Shanghai, will actually feature two filmmakers at the helm. Chadwick will handle the English components, while a Chinese director, to be announced at a later date, will handle the Chinese shooting. The filmmakers will then come together to collaborate on the final edit.

The film will begin production in ...

Emmy-nominated director Justin Chadwick is set to co-direct the fantasy/drama/biopic Untamed, a U.K.-China co-production about the remarkable, improbable life of Zhu Shenghao, who famously translated the complete works of Shakespeare into Chinese singlehandedly.

The innovative project, which will be told in both English and Chinese and shot between London and Shanghai, will actually feature two filmmakers at the helm. Chadwick will handle the English components, while a Chinese director, to be announced at a later date, will handle the Chinese shooting. The filmmakers will then come together to collaborate on the final edit.

The film will begin production in ...

When Paul Cantelon was tapped by first-time feature director Harry Mavromichalis to score “Olympia,” the documentary on Academy Award-winning actress, Olympia Dukakis, he was more than prepared to craft music that underscored her Greek heritage.

When Cantelon’s preacher father met his first-chair trumpeter mother, their family life becomes one of traveling evangelical tent meetings with Cantelon growing up on couches in different people’s homes. A number of these homes belonged to Greek families where he heard Greek music that became part of his musical lexicon. Over 30 years ago, when Cantelon met his wife, vocalist Angela McCluskey, she had a great love for Greece and took him to that country, where Cantelon was immersed in the music.

“[Mavromichalis] has a lyrical sense for picture,” says Cantelon from his Nichols Canyon home studio in Los Angeles. “He was a dancer and he has a musical, rhythmic sense to the way he shoots and edits.

White Boy Rick also among new openers.

It is a weekend of scant new releases at the UK box office, with holdovers including Ralph Breaks The Internet and Creed II likely to dominate the chart.

Universal’s Sorry To Bother You is a new opener this weekend. The film, a satire on race and greed, premiered at Sundance this year to strong write-ups. Writer-director Boots Riley, making his feature debut, is a bigger name in the Us (where the film grossed $17.5m) than the UK, which could temper its box office prospects.

20th Century Fox’s The Old Man & The Gun,...

Since making it onto the silver screen in “Leon: The Professional,” Natalie Portman has continued to impress and succeed under the spotlight, and then some with directing and producer creds. Before “Vox Lux” hits theaters soon, let’s reflect on the actress’s iconic career trajectory.

Leon (1994)

The Israel-born model turned actress first broke onto the film scene at 13 as the Mathilda in “Leon: The Professional.” Delivering a strong performance as a vengeful apprentice for Jean Reno’s skilled Leon, Portman snagged her first major acting credit – and an impressive one at that.

Beautiful Girls (1996)

Portman showcased her ability to work alongside Hollywood bigwigs like Matt Dillon, Rosie O’Donnell and Uma Thurman. As the smart-talking, teenage Marty, Portman charmed people both on and off screen. This was one of the last roles Portman took on before venturing exploring the Broadway stage as the titular character in “The Diary of Anne Frank.

Sneak Peek footage, images and synopsis from the dramatic romance, "Tulip Fever", directed by Justin Chadwick from a screenplay by Sir Tom Stoppard, adapting the novel by author Deborah Moggach, starring Alicia Vikander ("Tomb Raider"), Dane DeHaan, Zach Galifianakis, Judi Dench, Christoph Waltz, Jack O'Connell, Holliday Grainger, Matthew Morrison and Cara Delevingne ("Suicide Squad"), opening in a limited release December 7, 2018:

"...set in the Netherlands, in the early 17th century, during the period of the 'tulip mania'...

"...an artist (DeHaan) falls for a married young woman (Vikander) while he's commissioned to paint her portrait...

...by her husband (Waltz).

"Then the two invest in the risky tulip market in hopes to build a future together..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Tulip Fever"...

Me+You Productions, the producer of Sky comedy Sick of It, has teamed with director Justin Chadwick, who helmed the Idris Elba-fronted Nelson Mandela biopic Long Walk To Freedom, on the story of a young British boy diagnosed with a severe brain tumor.

The indie, which recently struck a U.S. representation deal with Wme, has secured exclusive access to the family of Ashya King and is now developing a three-part, fact-based drama that explores their story,

Saving Ashya is the story of a young British boy who was diagnosed with a severe brain tumor in 2014. Against medical advice, his parents ‘abducted’ him from his NHS hospital bed and fled to Europe for alternative proton therapy. The resulting international manhunt sparked a huge media frenzy. Ashya’s parents were publicly criticized and incarcerated, causing the UK’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, to personally intervene. Now free of cancer, Ashya...

The life of iconic activist and South African president Nelson Mandela is the subject of multiple features, including “Invictus,” “Mandela,” and Idris Elba’s criminally underrated turn in Justin Chadwick’s “Long Walk to Freedom.” However, when these narratives detailed the trial that convicted him of treason, the nine other defendants hardly rated a footnote. A nonfiction feature, “The State Against Mandela and the Others,” bridges that gap.

While Mandela led South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement here his lesser-known co-defendants take center stage. Directors Nicolas Champeaux and Gilles Porte’s documentary is the most in-depth examination of the Mandela’s trial, rolling back the veil of secrecy to reveal the day-to-day courtroom testimony.

Based on 280 hours of sound archives from Mandela’s trial with nine other men between 1963 and 1964, “The State Against Mandela” utilizes fresh techniques and technology to chronicle everything from the arrest to the indictment and eventual sentencing.

Exclusive: British director Justin Chadwick, who directed Alicia Vikander and Judi Dench in Tulip Fever, has been tapped to direct the mystery thriller Dead House, slated to being production later this year. Shannon Pestock penned the script, which is being produced by Daniel Wagner’s BiFrost Pictures, Jay Taylor of Electric Shadow, and Nate Adams for Grey Mountain Entertainment.

Set in 1885 Pennsylvania, the pic follows Annaliese Kruger who, after witnessing the brutal slaughter of her husband and children, finds employment in the confines of the town’s dead house, a morbid dwelling where bodies are kept for 48 hours to make certain they have passed. But any semblance of normalcy is shattered when Annaliese sleuths out the psychopath who killed her family. Driven to save other families from her fate, she will have to catch the killer herself… if she can stay alive.

The script, which was...

Ralph Fiennes and Matthew Goode are joining Keira Knightley and Matt Smith in Gavin Hood’s next thriller Official Secrets. Hood directed the edge-of-your-seat political/drone thriller Eye in the Sky which was one of the best movies of 2015. The new film is expected to roll before the cameras on March 12 in Yorkshire, England. A previous version had been set up back in January 2016 with Natalie Dormer and Paul Bettany starring and Justin Chadwick directing, but the project…...

Greenlit means a project is officially a go, so all you have to do is follow these leads to stay up to date. You never know where you’ll find an opportunity to land an audition! “Official Secrets”After halting production in 2016 for unknown reasons, Raindog Films is again lining up to shoot their feature “Official Secrets.” The spy thriller is set in 2003 and centered on Katherine Gun, an officer at Gchq who leaked a crucial email in the lead-up to the Un’s vote on the Iraq war. The film previously had big names on board, including Anthony Hopkins, Paul Bettany, Harrison Ford, Martin Freeman, and Natalie Dormer as Gun. It was originally to be directed by Justin Chadwick, best known for “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” and “Tulip Fever” but has now switched to South African filmmaker Gavin Hood. Not much is known about any changes or additions cast,...

This weekend saw the premiere of Justin Chadwick's long-awaited period drama Tulip Fever, a film with a cast worth at least several boxes of black bulbs. In it we see Dane DeHaan, Alicia Vikander, Christoph Waltz, Judy Dench, Kevin McKidd, Zach Galifianakis... and Cara Delevingne's appearance even makes you briefly wonder if this is meant to be a Valerian prequel. Plenty of choice this week for the "Our Favorite Faces" article, as you'll agree, and out of that group I'm choosing Alicia Vikander. Just reading her short bio makes me gasp in wonder: a Swedish dancer who turned actress a few years ago, she's not even 29 but has won over 60 acting awards already, including the Academy award for Best Actress in a Supporting...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Labor Day weekend is the calm before the specialized storm. “Wind River” (Weinstein) went wide quickly, and managed the #3 spot it an weak period for most theaters. The company also released its long-blooming “Tulip Fever,” which flopped as expected with just over $1 million. Meanwhile, Lionsgate/Pantelion’s “Do It Like An Hombre,” a low-budget Mexican comedy, did twice as well in half the theaters.

Read More:‘Tulip Fever’ Review: This Bizarre, Long-Delayed Historical Romance Was Not Worth the Wait

IFC’s two-city initial release of historical drama “Viceroy’s House” showed some interest, despite pay- per-view access. “Dolores,” an upcoming PBS documentary, had a strong initial New York exclusive gross to stand out in an otherwise slow market.

Opening

Tulip Fever (Weinstein) – Metacritic: 38

$1,215,000 in 765 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $1,588

Justin Chadwick’s long-languishing period romantic drama finally hit theaters with a thud. Despite a clear playing field and a lot of (often peculiar) publicity,...