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Exclusive: Brad Anderson (The Call) is attached to direct horror Book Of Leaves, which The Exchange will be launching in Cannes next week.

The original screenplay by Jonathan Hirschbein (The Fix) centers on a single mother and former nun who has lost her faith. When she is hired by the Vatican’s General Council to appraise a 17th century monastery in ruins with a dark and violent past she discovers a deadly ancient manuscript called The Book of Leaves. Casting is under way by John Papsidera (Dunkirk).

Producers are Lee Clay from First Point Entertainment (No Good Deed) and Chad Hamilton (Mr Robot) of Anonymous Content. The Machinist and The Call director Anderson most recently made Jon Hamm-Rosamund Pike thriller Beirut.

“It is clear from his previous body of work that Brad Anderson is exactly the filmmaker you want for this type of commercial high concept horror movie,...

Three years in the making, Joe Cole starrer A Prayer Before Dawn will start its theatrical release this weekend. The A24 title, which debuted at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, is based on a non-fiction book written by Billy Moore, played by Cole in the feature, which opens in select cities Friday. The Wolfpack filmmaker Crystal Moselle returns with her narrative feature debut, Skate Kitchen, which premiered at Sundance where Magnolia Pictures caught the film in January. The film follows a group of young women who she met on the subway in a story that has some parallel to their real lives. And Oscilloscope is opening Madeline’s Madeline with newcomer Helena Howard along with Molly Parker and Miranda July. Also a Sundance debut, the company said it has been championed by critics, which it hopes will overcome skepticism by some exhibitors. The company said its trailer, however, has reached ‘cult’ status.

Stars: Joe Cole, Pornchanok Mabklang, Panya Yimmumphai, Nicolas Shake, Billy Moore, Somlock Kamsing, Sakda Niamhom, Sura Sirmalai, Chaloemporn Sawatsuk, Komsan Polsan | Written by Jonathan Hirschbein, Nick Saltrese | Directed by Jean- Stephane Sauvaire

Jean- Stephane Sauvaire’s A Prayer Before Dawn is a vortex of nihilistic self-sabotage, orchestrated in a prism of oppressive human behaviour. It is fundamentally flawless in its production. Cinematographer David Ungaro utilises a form of a documentarian approach that subjects the audience to an unflinching atmospheric and quite frankly, a torturous horror of psychological and physical deterioration. The story of Billy Moore is primal. It is desolate. It is utterly compelling to even fortify and comprehend a belief that this is non-fiction let alone a true story that Moore survived to tell the tale.

The fractured psyche of broken and corrupted individuals is not a strikingly new or original cinematic concept, most notably and widely acknowledged as...

After experimenting with his form of boundary-pushing, cinema-as-memory films to great, succesful lengths with his last three narrative features–not to mention Voyage of Time, which we’re still awaiting an actual U.S. release for–Terrence Malick will return to more of a traditional script with his WWII drama Radegund, hopefully releasing later this year. But first, after splicing in avant-garde and experiential touches with his last few films, he’s making the natural step into virtual reality.

Premiering at South by Southwest Festival–where he gave a rare public talk last year–on March 13 is the Vr experience Together, which is directed by Malick and shot by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (Silence, The Wolf of Wall Street, Brokeback Mountain). Clocking in at 5 minutes and 46 seconds and featuring music by Simon Franglen, see the synopsis below, as well as the first look above.

“Together” is a Vr experience about the power of human connection.

Following the announcement that John Krasinski's A Quiet Place will be the opening night movie at SXSW, the anticipated Midnighters genre slate has now been revealed, including the buzzed-about Hereditary (read Heather Wixson's Sundance review here), Leigh Whannell's Upgrade, Jenn Wexler's The Ranger, and Field Guide to Evil.

You can check out the full list of Midnighters below, and visit the official SXSW website for more information on the festival's schedule.

From SXSW: "The SXSW Midnighters section is a perennial favorite for SXSW audiences thrilled by the weird, electric, and sometimes terrifying selections. Featuring 10 genre films, including 6 World Premieres, the slate includes dark comedies, thrillers, Sci-Fi, mystery and slasher horror from a mix of established and first-time filmmakers. The Midnighters, as well as 12 additional films, which are included in the 132 total features now to be screened at the SXSW 2018 Film Festival.

Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative...

Exclusive: Cannes Midnight Screenings title gets UK deal.

Altitude Film Distribution has acquired UK distribution rights to A Prayer Before Dawn, Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Muay Thai boxing thriller that stars 2011 Screen Star of Tomorrow Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room).

The film is set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival next month as part of the Midnight Screenings programme.

Screenplay is by Jonathan Hirschbein and Nick Saltrese and is from Billy Moore’s book, which is based on his own experiences.

This is director Sauvaire’s second feature after Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered at Cannes in 2008.

The UK-France co-pro was produced by Rita Dagher’s Senorita Films along with Nicholas Simon, Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter.

Three-time Oscar nominee James Schamus was an executive producer and helped to close finance through his company Symbolic Exchange’s production deal with China’s Meridian Entertainment.

HanWay Films is handling sales on the title. The UK deal...

Exclusive: Finance secured for Thai boxing feature starring Joe Cole; first-look image.

Chinese financier Meridian Entertainment, through its production deal with James Schamus’ Symbolic Exchange, has boarded finance on action film A Prayer Before Dawn, starring rising actor Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room).

Principal photography got underway in Thailand last week on the sophomore feature from director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, whose debut Johnny Mad Dog premiered in Un Certain Regard in 2008.

Former Wild Bunch exec Rita Dagher (Soy Nero), Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter (Sunset Song) and Nicholas Simon are producing. HanWay handles international sales, CAA reps the Us.

Former Focus CEO Schamus (Brokeback Mountain) will executive produce with Meridian’s Jennifer Dong and Woody Mu, along with Hanway’s Thorsten Schmuacher. Writer is Jonathan Hirschbein (Bad Country), based on a prior draft by Nick Saltrese.

Cole will star as Billy Moore, whose autobiography is the basis for the film, which tells the...

Supernatural thrillers are often hit or miss for me, but the combination of cast and crew for a film called Solace has me more interested than I otherwise might be. The film stars Anthony Hopkins as a psychic who works with FBI agents (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Abbie Cornish) to hunt down a serial killer, played by Colin Farrell. Newcomer Alfonso Poyart directs from a screenplay pieced together by a handful of names, including Sean Bailey, Peter Morgan (Rush), Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven), James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) and Jonathan Hirschbein. Obviously there is a lot going on there, and the fact so many writers have contributed to the script could certainly be a sign of trouble, but the names do add to the intrigue a bit. A little Google searching adds even more intrigue, as the film's Wikipedia page notes Solace was originally written as a sequel to David Fincher's Se7en...

What frustrates me the most about Bad Country, a self-proclaimed “gritty action thriller” set in 1980s Louisiana, is how much it wants to be taken seriously. There’s hardly any light in the whole picture, actors growl every line and the dialogue pushes far past the point of believability in hopes of being as gruff and brooding as possible. And yet, no amount of posturing can mask the fact that Bad Country more than lives up to its name – this is one bad, bad movie, from laughable writing and lousy editing to performances that are utterly eclipsed by terrible accents and even worse mustaches.

It’s a shame that Bad Country is such a chore to watch; the cast, on paper, should be perfect for an ’80s-set shoot-em-up. Willem Dafoe, Matt Dillon and Tom Berenger, all known for playing rough-and-tumble sorts in thrillers from that decade, take on lead roles...

WWE Studios and Anchor Bay Films have set Road To Paloma for a release in L.A. on July 11, before coming out on-demand and on DVD July 15. The film marks the directing debut of Jason Momoa, who starred in the first season of HBO’s Game Of Thrones and played the slave-turned-king in Conan The Barbarian. He stars as Wolf, a Native American on the run after avenging his mother’s murder. As he flees across the desolate American West on his motorcycle, he’ll discover that justice has a cost – Wolf’s search for redemption will reveal secrets and take him on a journey where the roads have some very unexpected turns. His wife, Lisa Bonet, also stars in a cast that also includes Wes Studi. Momoa wrote it with Robert Homer Mollohan and Jonathan Hirschbein, and Momoa co-produced with Brian Andrew Mendoza. I met Momoa at a dinner...

In Game of Thrones Jason Momoa won the devotion of fanboys and fangirls as the merciless horse lord Khal Drogo, but his next adventure has him playing a wolf. Not a Stark, but Robert Wolf, a Native American who gets entangled in a modern Western tale of revenge and redemption. Deadline reports Momoa not only stars in this crime-drama called Road to Paloma, but also makes his feature directorial debut here. Though best-known for his roles on television, Momoa broke into directing in 2010 with a 15-minute short called Brown Bag Diaries: Ridin. the Blinds in B Minor. For Road to Paloma, he co-wrote the screenplay with Jonathan Hirschbein, and Robert Homer Mollohan, the latter of whom will co-star in the dark tale. After his mother is raped and murdered on a Native American reservation, Wolf (Momoa) decides to take the law into his own hands and avenge her. This quest...

WWE Studios and Anchor Bay Films announced today that they have jointly acquired distribution rights in North America, the United Kingdom and Australia/New Zealand to Boss-Media’s Road To Paloma, Jason Momoa’s directorial debut.

The film, which is set to release in the United States later this year, is produced by Momoa and Brian Andrew Mendoza’s Pride of Gypsies with Jamey Pryde serving as executive producer. Robert Homer Mollohan co-wrote the film with Jonathan Hirschbein and Momoa. Momoa is currently working on the latest, original scripted series by the Sundance Channel, The Red Road, in which he has been cast to play the lead role.

In Road To Paloma, Momoa (Game of Thrones, Conan the Barbarian) stars as Robert Wolf, a Native American, who is being hotly pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands after a brutal injustice occurs when his...

Exclusive: WWE Studios and Anchor Bay Films has acquired distribution rights in North America, the United Kingdom and Australia/New Zealand to Road To Paloma, the directorial debut of Jason Momoa. Momoa played the title role in Conan The Barbarian, and was last seen playing Khal Drogo in HBO’s Game Of Thrones. Road To Paloma will be released in the U.S. later this year. It was financed and produced by Boss-Media’s Eric Gores and Frank Mancuso Jr., who are exec producers. Pic is produced by Momoa and Brian Andrew Mendoza’s Pride of Gypsies with Jamey Pryde serving as executive producer. Robert Homer Mollohan co-wrote the film with Jonathan Hirschbein and Momoa. In Road To Paloma, Momoa stars as Robert Wolf, a Native American, who is being hotly pursued by the FBI for taking the law into his own hands after thugs rape and kill his mother on their reservation.

I was happy enough to see Willem Dafoe and Matt Dillon come together on The Whiskey Bay, yet the crime thriller is still managing to cohere rather nicely. According to Deadline, Tom Berenger, Neal McDonoguh, Amy Smart, Frederick Weller (In Plain Sight), and Christopher Marquette (Kilimanjaro, Life During Wartime) will also star for debut director Chris Brinker.

We had previously been told that his debut, penned by Jonny Hirschbein, would follow “a veteran cop (Dafoe)” who uses “estranged white supremacist and ex-con, Jesse Wheeler (Dillon)” as an undercover agent against the man’s former Aryan Brotherhood brethren; this is reflected in the casting, as Berenger is coming on to appear as the group’s “amoral architect,” as Amy Smart has been signed for the role of Jesse‘s wife.

Should things work out, Whiskey Bay will end up being, in Brinker‘s words, “a movie which is reminiscent of my...

Matt Dillon and Willem Dafoe will both star in Chris Brinker's indie drama "Whiskey Bay" which will shoot shortly in Louisiana says Deadline.

Dafoe plays a veteran cop who busts an estranged former Aryan Brotherhood member and ex-con (Dillon) trying to start over. Instead, he ends up going undercover to expose the illegal activities of the organization.

Jonny Hirschbein penned the script while Scott Einbinder, Matt Rhodes, Jim Crabbe, Nancy Green-Keyes and Kevin Chapman are producing.

Willem Dafoe and Matt Dillon are in line to star in Whiskey Bay. The pair will join Chris Brinker for his directorial debut, reports Deadline. Jonny Hirschbein's screenplay centres around a veteran cop (Dafoe) who brings in former white supremacist Jesse Wheeler (Dillon). The latter is trying to start his life over, but had agreed to go undercover to (more)...

When you hear the title Whiskey Bay, we’re betting your mind flicks to crowd-pleasing comedies like Waking Ned. But for this one, you’d be wrong: it’s a tough tale of white supremacy and undercover work that has attracted Willem Dafoe and Matt Dillon to star.Jonny Hirschbein is responsible for the script, which has veteran police officer Dafoe arresting estranged former Aryan Brotherhood member Jesse Wheeler (Dillon). Wheeler is trying to start anew in his life, but is recruited to go back into it as an undercover operative to expose illegal activities. So more American History X than Whisky Galore! then…Chris Brinker is calling the shots and will head to Louisiana to make the film. Dafoe will next be seen in Tomorrow You’re Gone and Odd Thomas, and is set for Lars Von Trier’s The Nymphomaniac. He appeared recently in The Hunter and webchatted to us about it here.

Any forthcoming specifics notwithstanding, Willem Dafoe is my two-word code for “count me in.” Anybody who’s seen the man at work — this would have to go past the Spider-Man trilogy, I’m afraid, despite his work there being unabashed fun — knows why that is; they get why he’s one of the best out there right now.

Anyway, Deadline reports that he and Matt Dillon are both signed to headline an independent crime thriller, Whiskey Bay, which Boondock Saints producer Chris Brinker will cut his directorial teeth on. Penned by Jonny Hirschbein, the picture revolves around “a veteran cop (Dafoe)” who uses “estranged white supremacist and ex-con, Jesse Wheeler (Dillon)” as an undercover agent against the man’s former Aryan Brotherhood brethren.

All that Dafoe love can only propel Whiskey Bay even further in my mind, though Dillon‘s not such a slouch, either. So long as the script’s “right,...

Exclusive: Matt Dillon and Willem Dafoe are set to star in Whiskey Bay, an independent drama directed by Chris Brinker. The Jonny Hirschbein-scripted film stars Dafoe as a veteran cop who busts estranged white supremacist and ex-con, Jesse Wheeler. Dillon plays Wheeler, a notorious former member of the Aryan Brotherhood who’s trying to start his life over but gets enlisted to go undercover to expose illegal activities in the organization. Scott Einbinder, Matt Rhodes, Jim Crabbe, Nancy Green-Keyes and Kevin Chapman are producing and the film will shoot in Louisiana. Dillon stars with Kristen Wiig and Annette Bening in Imogene, which premieres at Toronto, and completed Sunlight Jr with Naomi Watts and Pawn Shop Chronicles with Elijah Wood, Paul Walker and Brendan Fraser. He’s repped by CAA and Untitled while Dafoe is repped by ICM Partners and D/F Management.

Willem Dafoe and Matt Dillon are lined up to headline the independent crime thriller Whiskey Bay , Deadline reports. Producer Chris Brinker will make his directing debut with the script being supplied by Jonny Hirschbein. Dafoe will play a police officer who has to work alongside a white supremacist (Dillon) that he arrested to bring down a hate group from the inside. Dafoe appeared earlier this year in John Carter and can soon be seen in Odd Thomas . Dillon, meanwhile, last starred in 2010's Takers and will star opposite Kristen Wiig in Imogene . (Photo Credit: Joseph Marzullo / Wenn.com)...