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Lee Daniels horror movie The Deliverance has jumped to the number one spot on Netflix, with the films popularity serving as a great reminder to watch an underrated Western movie he produced back in 2020. Taking the acclaimed The Butler director into paranormal horror territory, The Deliverance is loosely inspired by the true story of the Ammons family haunting case. The family claimed to be possessed by demons and to be haunted by spirits in their Indiana home, leading to a series of terrifying events that culminated in exorcisms in 2011.

While The Deliverances reviews havent fared as well as the movies viewership popularity, as it currently holds a 30% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the 2024 horror movie gives Daniels a big streaming hit for the first time since 2021s The United States vs. Billie Holiday. However, The Deliverance isnt Daniels first big genre project for Netflix, as he previously produced a...

Jordan Peele is dusting off his ten-gallon hat and sharpening his spurs for a potentially powerful docuseries about Black cowboys of the Wild West. Peele’s goal with his new project is to change the public perception of the Old West and the people who contributed to its identity. The docuseries is getting set up at Peacock, with Peele executive producing. Reports say the project aims to “dismantle the whitewashed mythology of the cowboy” and elaborate on themes featured in Peele’s 2022 invasion thriller Nope.

Peele is teaming up with By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem’s Keith McQuirter, who joins the untitled Black cowboy docuseries as showrunner and executive producer.

Here’s the official description for Jordan Peele’s Black cowboy docuseries:

“The untitled Black cowboy docuseries will rewrite a foundational piece of American history, unmasking the forces that erased the identity of the Black...

Sam Mercer, producer on several M. Night Shyamalan movies and former head of Ilm, died Feb. 12 of younger onset Alzheimer’s in South Pasadena. He was 69.

Raised in Weston, Mass., he attended Occidental College and then started working as a location manager on 1980s classics including “Stripes,” “The Escape Artist,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure,” “Swing Shift,” “Peggy Sue Got Married” and “The Witches of Eastwick.”

He joined the Walt Disney Company as a production executive, supervising films including “Good Morning Vietnam,” “Three Fugitives” and “Dead Poets Society.” He then became VP of motion picture production at Hollywood Pictures, where he oversaw releases including “Quiz Show,” “The Joy Luck Club,” “Born Yesterday,” “Swing Kids,” “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” and “Arachnophobia.”

Mercer then worked as an independent producer, starting with “Congo,” “The Relic” and “Mission to Mars.” After working with Shyamalan on “The Sixth Sense,” then went on...

Sam Mercer, who produced eight M. Night Shyamalan films starting with the spooky blockbuster The Sixth Sense, has died. He was 69.

Mercer died Feb. 12 at his home in South Pasadena after a battle with younger-onset Alzheimer’s, his wife, Tegan Jones, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Mercer was seen as an out-of-the-box hire when he joined Industrial Light & Magic in September 2015 to oversee and coordinate activities of the VFX giant’s studios in San Francisco, Vancouver, London and Singapore. However, he left the next year after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Mercer began his career as a location manager on films including Stripes (1981), National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and The Witches of Eastwick (1987).

He joined Disney and was a production executive on such features as Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and Dead Poets Society (1989), and as a production vp at Hollywood Pictures, he oversaw the release of films...

Sam Mercer, who produced seven M. Night Shyamalan films including The Sixth Sense, headed Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic and was location manager on several classic 1980s pics, has died. He was 69.

His wife Tegan Jones told Deadline that Mercer died February 12 of younger-onset Alzheimer’s.

“He was the best big brother I could have hoped for,” Shyamalan said in a statement. “He made every movie a family, and I’ve tried to emulate that in every film since.”

Mercer moved to Los Angeles from Weston, Ma, to work in the movie industry. He began his career as a location manager on such 1980s gems as Stripes, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Peggy Sue Got Married and The Witches of Eastwick before moving to Walt Disney Studios.

Paul Reubens in ‘Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure’ (1985)

There he worked as a production executive, supervising movies including Good Morning Vietnam and Dead Poets Society,...

Bert Marcus, founder and CEO of Bert Marcus Productions, has signed with Range Media Partners. Marcus will be represented by a core team consisting of Matt Graham, Cj Cook, Tyler Henry, Ben Grayson and Rich Cook.

“Bert is a creative engine, his mind works at a million miles an hour,” Graham, Range Media Partners’ co-founder and managing partner, said announcing the signing. “He is always finding the most interesting way into a world as a storyteller which is what has made his films so sticky. We believe his creativity, experience and resources are a force multiplier for us on the unscripted side of our business. We are beyond thrilled to collaborate with such a talent.”

Bert Marcus Productions creates and oversees unscripted feature film and television content, while Bert Marcus Film is the company’s scripted feature film and television arm, working toward the company’s overall mission to “craft distinctive,...

As we enter the second half of 2021, the shortened awards period from March 1 until June 30 doesn’t necessarily suggest we have many movies that can be deemed “Oscar-worthy.” In a denser calendar year, every studio will be angling and fighting for their probable contenders to stand out from the pack. The difference is that the Academy is back to a guaranteed 10 nominees for best picture and has left the days of fluctuating numbers behind them. An Academy voter can select 10 movies on their ballot, which the last time it was the case, in the 2009 and 2010 awards seasons, offered up eclectic choices such as Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi thriller “District 9” and John Lee Hancock’s box office smash, “The Blind Side.”

Interestingly, the first four months of the eligibility period have been dominated by animated features, a category which has not seen a nomination in best picture for its genre...

Dead Till Death Premieres on Digital Music on July 11 Available on Amazon Prime Summer 2021 Presented by Liquid Death in association with Neighborhood Film Company Directed By l Will Carsola Written By l Rachel Courtney, Jonathan Applebaum, Will Carsola Cast l Sean Conway, Buddy Caine, Amanda Pinto, Zachery Byrd, Danielle Dallacco, Caroline Anderson, Haniq …

The post New Film Release: Dead Till Death from Liquid Death & Ricky Staub appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Concrete Cowboy Review — Concrete Cowboy (2020) Film Review, a movie directed by Ricky Staub, and starring Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Lorraine Toussaint, Jharrel Jerome, Clifford “Method Man” Smith, Byron Bowers, Ivannah-Mercedes, Swen Temmel, Patrick McDade, Michael Ta’Bon, Jamil Prattis, Jennifer Butler, Continue reading: Film Review: Concrete Cowboy (2020): A Fascinating Blend of Aesthetics, Drama, and Perspective in Service of the Urban Cowboy...

Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin discusses his new role in Netflix’s Concrete Cowboy in the latest episode of Rolling Stone’s The Breakdown.

In the film, McLaughlin plays Cole, a teenage boy living in Detroit who is taken by his mother to live in Philadelphia with his estranged father, Harp (Idris Elba), after getting expelled from his high school for fighting. Reluctant at first, Cole eventually integrates with the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club — the same club that his father, whom he initially holds in disdain, is a part of.

Idris Elba’s urban horseman in his new Netflix film is a welcome addition to the all-American anti-western

“The only home I’ve ever known is on the back of a horse.” It’s the kind of line, a bit cool and a bit corny all at once, that you might expect to hear from a grizzled John Wayne type in a vintage B-western, perhaps while staring up at a vast, starry sky in the Texas desert. In Concrete Cowboy, however, it’s said by a bearded, squinting Idris Elba, with nary a tumbleweed in sight. We’re in the hard-up streets of present-day north Philadelphia, where his character, gruff ex-convict Harp, works at the famous Fletcher Street Stables – a nonprofit riding club where the city’s black urban horsemen gather, and underprivileged youths learn another way of life.

That unique real-life setting is what makes this Netflix original immediately compelling.

Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” may have been the biggest sensation to come out of 2020’s fall festival season, but it’s wasn’t the only film about a largely ignored community. In “Concrete Cowboy,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and comes to Netflix on April 2, the community is a stable in North Philadelphia where Black men and women have been keeping and riding horses for more than 100 years.

Here, too, professional actors are surrounded by non-pros from the actual community being depicted, and here, too, the filmmaker — in this case Ricky Staub — finds uncommon empathy in the depiction of the world in which its characters live.

The film is partly a father-and-son story and partly a coming-of-age saga, but it expands to be more than that, using the real-life Fletcher Street Stables to explore a subculture that has been largely ignored outside of Philadelphia for generations.

Yes, there really have been cowboys in the streets of Philly. Netflix is riding on in with the Hollywood take in director Ricky Staub's Concrete Cowboy, which stars Stranger Things' Caleb McLaughlin and the one-and-only Idris Elba. While the coming-of-age film itself is a fictionalized drama, it's actually based on a real organization called the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club, which has historically been an urban-based community of Black cowboys in north Philadelphia.

The film is based on Greg Neri's Ghetto Cowboy, a 2011 young adult (slash middle grade) novel about a 12-year-old boy named Cole who moves in with his father. Cole soon learns that his dad is part of a Philly Black riding community that steers kids away from drugs and gangs by teaching them how to care for horses. Before penning his book, Neri himself became inspired by Philadelphia's urban cowboys after reading a profile about them in Life Magazine.

In North Philadelphia, you are likely to see horses. More than likely, in fact: Go by the Fletcher Street stables, located in the middle of a string of residential houses and lots, during the daytime and you’ll catch those magnificent animals milling about near street corners and being trotted along the small patch of grass on the other side of the block. Head down there just after dusk and you’ll see cowboys. Real, honest-to-God cowboys, all black men and women, sitting around a version of a campfire. Some are drinking beer,...

Writer-director Emma Seligman brings her feature Shiva Baby to theaters and Tvod starting today — and it is quite a comedic ride.

Released by Utopia, Shiva Baby follows a young woman who is trying to keep the different versions of herself in order when she runs into her sugar daddy and her ex-girlfriend at a shiva with her parents.

Let’s elaborate on all of that.

Danielle (Rachel Sennott) is a college student on the verge of graduation. She has a sugar daddy Max (Danny Deferrari) that pays her on a regular basis. One day, after rushing from her sugar daddy to her neurotic parents’ family shiva, she is given the third degree by various estranged relatives about her appearance and lack of post-grad plans. Meanwhile, her ex-girlfriend, Maya (Molly Gordon) is getting all the praise because she got into law school.

Things take even more of a turn when her...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

2021 Oscar-Nominated Short Films

Check out Jared Mobarak’s reviews of all of this Oscar-nominated short films, including Animation, Live-Action, and Documentary.

Where to Stream: Virtual Cinemas

Concrete Cowboy (Ricky Staub)

There is a moment of surreal wonder near the start of Concrete Cowboy, the TIFF premiere co-starring Idris Elba, that is never equaled again, a sequence of unexpected radiance conjuring a sense of astonishment. A troubled teenager has been sent from Detroit to Philadelphia to spend the summer with his long-absent father. He arrives at night to a nearly empty, rather foreboding street. Eventually he finds his (seemingly) menacing father and is led into a ramshackle, messy home. Suddenly...

Spring has sprung. The weather is warming, and the days are lasting longer. For cinephiles it’s bittersweet since April usually marks a period when studios and independent distributors begin showing a steady stream of their new wares for the rest of the year. However, 2021 has seen yet more delays and frustrations.

Nevertheless, April 2021 has more than a handful of promising cinematic experiences, some of which will be available on demand or a subscription service, and some of which will do the rare thing of opening in a theater near you. Here’s what to look out for.

French Exit

April 2 (U.S. Only)

After a limited debut in February, Azazel Jacobs’ delightfully dry French Exit is rolling out into wide theatrical release. One of the more acerbic films we’ve seen in a while, French Exit sparkles thanks to Michelle Pfeiffer’s eviscerating turn as Frances Price, the widowed...

Concrete Cowboy Trailer — Ricky Staub‘s Concrete Cowboy (2020) movie trailer has been released. The Concrete Cowboy trailer stars Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome, Byron Bowers, Lorraine Toussaint, Clifford “Method Man” Smith, Jennifer Butler, Terez Land, Jasmine Leilani Kyle, Liz Priestley, Charles W Harris III, Seyler Fox, and Aedan Jayce. Crew Ricky Staub [...]

Continue reading: Concrete Cowboy Trailer: Idris Elba trains Caleb McLaughlin to be an Urban Cowboy in Ricky Staub’s 2020 Movie...

Netflix has launched a new trailer for the coming-of-age drama ‘Concrete Cowboy’ with Idris Elba playing Cowboy.

While spending the summer in North Philadelphia, a troubled teen (Caleb McLaughlin) is caught between a life of crime and his estranged father’s (Idris Elba) vibrant urban-cowboy subculture.

(L-r) Ivannah-Mercedes as Esha, Lorraine Toussaint as Nessi, Idris Elba as Harp, Caleb McLaughlin as Cole, Jamil “Mil” Prattis as Paris and Cliff “Method Man” Smith as Leroy. Cr: Jessica Kourkounis / Netflix © 2021

Adapted from Greg Neri’s ‘Ghetto Cowboy’ and directed by Ricky Staub, the film stars Caleb McLaughlin, Idris Elba, Lorraine Toussaint, Byron Bowers, and Method Man.

Also in trailers – Full trailer drops for Netflix series ‘The Irregulars’

The film hits Netflix April 2nd.

The post Idris Elba tackles his wayward son in trailer for ‘Concrete Cowboy’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Netflix has released the trailer for Concrete Cowboy. The upcoming drama stars Idris Elba in the lead role in filmmaker Ricky Staub's feature directorial debut. The drama sees Elba getting up on horseback living the cowboy life while trying to deal with his estranged and troubled teenage son, played by Caleb McLaughlin. As we can see from the trailer, this is both a father/son tale and a modern cowboy tale, making for a unique story.

The trailer kicks off with Caleb McLaughlin's character Cole getting acquainted with his new home, living with his estranged father. His dad, played by Idris Elba, lives an unconventional lifestyle, with horses in the house and few amenities. Despite Cole's protests about his new life, his father remains calm and collected. Their lifestyles clash and the two have a difficult time finding common ground. Tensions ease and Cole comes to respect the unique way of life he's encountering.

Netflix has released the official trailer for the upcoming father-son drama “Concrete Cowboy,” which will begin streaming on April 2.

Inspired by the novel “Ghetto Cowboy” by G. Neri and the real-life Fletcher Street cowboys, the film follows a troubled teen (Caleb McLaughlin) who is caught between a life of crime and his estranged father’s (Idris Elba) vibrant urban-cowboy subculture in North Philadelphia. Jharrel Jerome, Byron Bowers, Lorraine Toussaint, Clifford “Method Man” Smith and members of the Fletcher Street Stables also co-star in the film.

The film first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. In an interview during the festival, Elba told Variety that the history around Black cowboys has been misconstrued for a long time.

“It feels really apt to be able to tell a part history that’s been definitely buried, and in the case of ‘Concrete Cowboy,’ that history is right now,” Elba said.

Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, Ricky Staub’s Concrete Cowboy follows fifteen-year-old Cole (Caleb McLaughlin), who gets expelled from school in Detroit and is sent to North Philadelphia to live with Harp (Idris Elba), his estranged father. Together, they spend time rehabilitating horses for inner-city cowboys at the Fletcher Street Stables, a real-life black urban horsemanship community. Inspired by the novel “Ghetto Cowboy” by G. Neri, Netflix picked up the film and ahead of an April 2 debut, the first trailer and poster have arrived.

Christopher Schobert said in his review, “Staub proves he is capable of creating moments of real visual splendor—a shot of Elba and his cohorts galloping down city streets is stunning. And Staub draws a powerful lead performance from McLaughlin as Cole, the aforementioned troubled teen. His father is well-played by Elba, but it is a poorly written role and this is McLaughlin’s show,...

"Only way you can realize its true spirit is through love." Netflix has unveiled an official trailer for an indie drama titled Concrete Cowboy, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year. Inspired by the novel "Ghetto Cowboy" by G. Neri, Concrete Cowboy is directed by first-time feature filmmaker Ricky Staub; and produced by Tucker Tooley, Lee Daniels, Idris Elba, Dan Walser, Jeff Waxman, Jennifer Madeloff. A teen discovers a world of urban horseback riding when he moves in with his estranged father in North Philly. Starring Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome, Byron Bowers, Lorraine Toussaint, and Clifford "Method Man" Smith. Along with members of the Fletcher Street Stables. It's a "moving father-son drama about a teen caught between a life of crime and his estranged father’s vibrant urban-cowboy subculture." This is a fantastic trailer, with an exceptional performance from McLaughlin as the young Cole. Here's the...

Ricky Staub’s stirring father-son drama “Concrete Drama,” in which Idris Elba plays a father struggling to reconnect with his estranged son, first premiered way back at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The movie also would’ve played Telluride in 2020 had that festival not been canceled. It’s finally coming to Netflix on April 2, and the streaming giant has debuted the official trailer ahead of its debut.

Netflix’s official synopsis for “Concrete Cowboy” reads: “When 15-year-old Cole (‘Stranger Things’ actor Caleb McLaughlin) is expelled from school in Detroit, he is sent to North Philadelphia to live with Harp (Idris Elba), his estranged father. Harp finds solace in rehabilitating horses for inner city cowboys at the Fletcher Street Stables, a real-life black urban horsemanship community that has provided a safe haven for the neighborhood residents for more than 100 years. Torn between his growing respect for his father’s...

At first glance, the term “urban cowboy” may come across as a contradiction in terms. Those familiar with North Philadelphia, however, know that inner-city horseback riding is a real thing. Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club is one of the city’s most prized subcultures. It’s also proof that horsemanship transcends both the town/country dichotomy and racially-based assumptions of masculine identity. Ricky Staub uses Fletcher Street’s stables as the foundation for his directorial debut “Concrete Cowboy.”

Read More: ‘Concrete Cowboy’ Is A Lyrical Genre-Bending Western, But It Doesn’t Always Coalesce [TIFF Review]

The film follows Cole, a troubled Detroit teenager sent to Philadelphia to live with his estranged father for the summer and stumbles upon the cowboy lifestyle.

Continue reading ‘Concrete Cowboy’ Trailer: Idris Elba Helps His Wayward Son As An Urban Cowboy In Family Drama at The Playlist.

Usually held in person at the Palm Springs Film Festival, Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch and the Creative Impact Awards were hosted virtually this year.

The panel, moderated by chief film critic Peter DeBruge, included directors Prano Bailey-Bond (“Censor”), Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. (“Wild Indian”), Nia DaCosta (“Candyman”), Siân Heder (“Coda”), Philippe Lacôte (“Night of the Kings”), Roseanne Liang (“Shadow in the Cloud”), Pascual Sisto (“John and the Hole”), Ricky Staub (“Concrete Cowboy”) and Robin Wright (“Land”). Regina King (“One Night in Miami”) also made the list but was unable to participate in the conversation. The panelists discussed how they cast their lead roles, their genres of interest, future projects and telling stories about underrepresented communities with nuance.

Corbine, the Native American filmmaker from the Ojibwe tribe behind thriller “Wild Indian,” opened up about the personal aspects of his background that informed the movie, as well as his casting of Chaske Spencer.

“Concrete Cowboy” director Ricky Staub is not a faith-based filmmaker per se, but he’s not afraid to admit that faith played a part in steering him toward his debut feature, or in his decision to create Neighborhood Film Co., the production company that made it possible.

Staub wrote his first script when he was 10 years old, and learned the ropes by volunteering to work on any set that would take him. After moving to Los Angeles, he was hired as an assistant to Sam Mercer, following the producer to Philadelphia on M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender.”

“In my mid-20s, I started asking pretty heavy questions like, ‘Why am I alive? … If there is a God, what does that mean to my life?’” recalls Staub, whose lightbulb moment came after meeting a homeless man who’d been formerly incarcerated. “Literally, like in a movie, I was lying...

Variety will host a virtual 10 Directors to Watch and Creative Impact Awards event with the Palm Springs International Film Society on Feb. 26 at 10:00 a.m. Pt.

The event will consist of a virtual panel with the 10 Directors to Watch plus honor director Steve McQueen with its annual Creative Impact in Directing Award for his work on Amazon Studios’ collection of films “Small Axe.” McQueen directed all five films in the anthology that includes “Mangrove,” “Lovers Rock” and “Red, White and Blue.”

McQueen will participate in an awards presentation as part of the 10 Directors to Watch brunch as well as a Q&a about his work creating and directing the project.

“After the creative and commercial triumph of ’12 Years a Slave’ filmmaker Steve McQueen took his place in the international pantheon of great directors,” said Variety Executive Vice President of Global Content, Steven Gaydos. “With the arrival of his new ‘Small Axe’ series,...

At the risk of sounding presumptuous, Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch list has never mattered more than it does in a year where festivals and co-production showcases have been canceled and the film industry is hungry for any sign of where tomorrow’s talents might be hiding.

Emerging filmmakers have been pushed to the sidelines by a global pandemic — which makes it quite a privilege for Variety’s editors to have had an early look at dozens of upcoming movies in preparation for this list. (Full profiles will run in 2021.)

Each of the directors was selected on the strength of their most recent feature, some of which screened as works in progress. The overall impression is undeniably encouraging: Superhuman obstacles aside, there’s a very exciting new generation of voices waiting for their chance to shine.

Some will premiere their films at festivals in 2021, including a steamlined, streaming Sundance, while...

Range Media Partners, a new management firm staffed with veteran Hollywood agents, has announced a slew of filmmaker signings.

Tim Van Patten, the Emmy Award-winning director, writer and creator behind shows like “The Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire” and the recent HBO hit “Perry Mason,” has joined the firm.

Van Patten is joined by Swedish-born Niclas Larsson, an award-winning commercial director and writer who also helmed the whimsical two-part Vogue series “The Magic Diner,” featuring Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and Anna Wintour.

Ricky Staub and Dan Walser, the creative team behind “Concrete Cowboy,” are also on board. The official TIFF selection stars Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin, and was purchased by Netflix following its festival premiere. The pair operate through their production company Neighborhood Films, which counts an apprenticeship program that recruits the formerly incarcerated to help them develop a versatile skill set that they can parlay into future opportunities.

Also on deck is Corin Hardy,...

Range Media Partners has strengthened its filmmaker roster, signing Tim Van Patten, Niclas Larsson, Ricky Staub & Dan Walser, Corin Hardy and Cédric Jimenez.

Van Patten is the Emmy-winning director, creator/writer whose credits include Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos and most recently Perry Mason.

Larsson is an award winning commercial director/writer; Staub and Walser are the creative duo behind Concrete Cowboy, which they wrote and Staub directed. Pic premiered at virtual Toronto and stars Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin.

Hardy is a filmmaker, illustrator, sculptor and writer whose credits include The Hallow, The Nun, and Gangs Of London. Jimenez is the French producer, director and writer behind The Connection, The Man With The Iron Heart, and Stronghold, which makes its debut on Netflix this Christmas.

The filmmakers stay with their agencies: Van Patten is repped by CAA; Larsson is UTA, attorney Warren Dern and commercial agent Mjz; Hardy is WME...

Upstart management firm Range Media Partners has added several notable filmmakers to its roster.

Tim Van Patten, Niclas Larsson, Ricky Staub & Dan Walser, Corin Hardy and Cédric Jimenez have joined the company that was launched by a group of agents formerly of CAA, UTA and WME.

Van Patten is a key HBO director, having helmed episodes of The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire and most recently, Perry Mason.

Staub and Walser are the creative duo behind Toronto Film Festival sensation Concrete Cowboy, which starred Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin. Staub directed and co-wrote the drama with Walser. Their production company, Neighborhood Films,...

Upstart management firm Range Media Partners has added several notable filmmakers to its roster.

Tim Van Patten, Niclas Larsson, Ricky Staub & Dan Walser, Corin Hardy and Cédric Jimenez have joined the company that was launched by a group of agents formerly of CAA, UTA and WME.

Van Patten is a key HBO director, having helmed episodes of The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire and most recently, Perry Mason.

Staub and Walser are the creative duo behind Toronto Film Festival sensation Concrete Cowboy, which starred Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin. Staub directed and co-wrote the drama with Walser. Their production company, Neighborhood Films,...

The Western used to be the single most popular genre in Hollywood, and while the glory days are well in the past, there are still more than a few minor modern classics available for those willing to seek them out. Netflix seem to have warmly embraced the genre, too, and their library is full of both longtime favorites and new additions that all put their own twist on the established tropes and archetypes.

Adam Sandler’s The Ridiculous 6 placed a comedic spin on the Western to bring in huge viewership numbers, while Scott Frank’s limited series Godless drew widespread critical acclaim and Ti West’s In a Valley of Violence quickly shot into the Top 10 most-watched list after being added to the streaming service.

Netflix have now acquired the exclusive distribution rights to another Western, and this one comes with an added dose of star power. Idris Elba...

Netflix has just acquired the global rights to Concrete Cowboy, a modern-day western starring Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas from Stranger Things). As reported by Deadline, there’s no release date yet for the film, but it’s likely we can expect it sometime next year. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait a few months before we can see Elba as a smoldering cowboy. [caption id="attachment_941894" align="alignright" width="360"] Image via STX Films/caption] The film, directed by Ricky Staub and screened at TIFF earlier this year, is about a teenager named Cole (McLaughlin) who has …...

Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to “Concrete Cowboy,” which stars Idris Elba, according to an individual with knowledge of the project. The film, based on the novel “Ghetto Cowboy” by G. Neri, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF) in September. The streamer is eyeing a 2021 release date.

“Concrete Cowboy” also stars “Stranger Things” actor Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome, Byron Bowers, Lorraine Toussaint, and Clifford “Method Man” Smith.

“Concrete Cowboy” is directed by Ricky Staub, from a script written by Staub and Dan Walser. The film follows a 15-year-old boy (McLaughlin) who is sent to live with his estranged father in Philadelphia, where he learns about the local urban cowboy community. Jerome plays Smush, who used to be a rider but became involved in the drug trade.

In his TIFF review of the film, TheWrap’s Steve Pond said, “Concrete Cowboy” is an urban drama, but it’s also a...

Film set to debut on platform in 2021.

In a deal understood to be in the reigon of $10m, Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Concrete Cowboy, the father-son drama starring Idris Elba that premiered at Toronto in September.

The streamer will launch the feature on its platform in 2021.

Caleb McLaughlin also stars in story of a troubled teen who is sent by his mother to spend time with his estranged father, who belongs to a vibrant urban black cowboy community in contemporary north Philadelphia.

Ricky Staub directed Concrete Cowboy and adapted the screenplay with Dan Walser from the novel Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri.

Idris Elba’s urban western “Concrete Cowboy” will be riding its way onto Netflix.

The streamer has picked up the cowboy tale after it debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Netflix will release the film in 2021.

“Concrete Cowboy” follows 15-year-old Cole (Caleb McLaughlin), who discovers the world of urban horseback riding when his mother sends him to live with his estranged father, Harp (Elba) in North Philadelphia. Jharrel Jerome, Lorraine Toussaint, Byron Bowers and Clifford “Method Man” Smith also star in the film, which is based on the real-life horsemen of the Pennsylvania area and the novel “Ghetto Cowboy” from G. Neri. Filmmaker Ricky Staub makes his feature-length debut with the project, written with Dan Walser. Elba and Philly native Lee Daniels are among the producers of the film.

“For a long time, there’s been a real sort of mistelling of history around Black people and horses and cowboys and whatnot,...

Deadline has confirmed that Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Ricky Staub’s feature directorial debut Concrete Cowboy starring Idris Elba and Stranger Things breakout Caleb McLaughlin. A release date has not been set, but it’s looking like 2021.

The father-son drama made its world premiere at TIFF last month, is set amongst the North Philadelphia urban cowboy subculture, inspired by the real-life Fletcher Street Stables – a black urban horsemanship community – and by the novel Ghetto Cowboy by Greg Neri.

The story follows 15 year-old Cole (McLaughlin) who is taken to live with his estranged father Harp (Elba). Torn between his growing respect for his father’s community at the stables and his re-emerging friendship with his troubled cousin, Cole begins to re-prioritize his life as the stables themselves are threatened by encroaching gentrification.

Lee Daniels, Tucker Tooley, Jeff G. Waxman, Jennifer Madeloff produced the feature with Elba and Walser.

Greg Renker,...

Netflix has picked up worldwide rights to Concrete Cowboy, the Idris Elba-Caleb McLaughlin drama that generated acclaim when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September.

While no release date has been set, the streamer is penciling in a debut in 2021.

Endeavor Content made the deal on behalf of the film and filmmakers. No figures were available.

Adapting the novel Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri and directed by Ricky Staub, the movie centers on a troubled teen (McLaughlin of Stranger Things) who, while spending a summer in North Philadelphia, is torn between a life of crime and his estranged father’s ...

Netflix has picked up worldwide rights to Concrete Cowboy, the Idris Elba-Caleb McLaughlin drama that generated acclaim when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September.

While no release date has been set, the streamer is penciling in a debut in 2021.

Endeavor Content made the deal on behalf of the film and filmmakers. No figures were available.

Adapting the novel Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri and directed by Ricky Staub, the movie centers on a troubled teen (McLaughlin of Stranger Things) who, while spending a summer in North Philadelphia, is torn between a life of crime and his estranged father’s ...

The common ground between American film consumers and critics is when the two get to converge at a film festival. Equally measured in their “first look” at a film that has yet to open in a theater near you, the two get to take in the spectacle of a movie, sharing in those experiences and reacting to it on Film Twitter or with one another outside a theater. With the Covid-19 pandemic, that loss has yet to be quantified. It’s hard to execute a plan of “word of mouth” when no mouths are present. The Toronto, Telluride and New York film festivals all did their best with their combined effort to go virtual.

The regional festival circuit doesn’t usually get the glitz of world premieres for awards season kickoffs, and has tried to navigate the pandemic with the new virtual screenings setting. While this opens their market up...

Since its inception in 2013, the Middleburg Film Festival has become a major fixture on the crowded festival circuit, offering four days of films in Northern Virginia’s historic wine country, one hour from Washington, D.C. The festival will run Oct. 15-18 with most films screening virtually while a select number of films will be programmed as outdoor and drive-in screenings. This eighth edition, a hybrid version of in-person and virtual screenings, conversations and events, follows in the footsteps of numerous other recent fests that have also had to reinvent themselves and radically reshape crowd logistics in order to deal with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Curated Contenders

Despite the pandemic, Mff promises a carefully curated selection of narrative and documentary films, followed by Q&As with world-renowned filmmakers and actors. Variety editors Clayton Davis and Jazz Tangcay will return to host their popular Coffee and Contenders discussion with the Film Experience’s Nathaniel Rogers.

Nomadland, the Chloe Zhao-directed frontrunner for the best picture Oscar after winning the top prizes at the Venice and Toronto film festivals, will open the eighth annual Middleburg Film Festival on Oct. 15, the northern Virginia-based fest announced Friday.

This year’s fest, which will be “a hybrid of in-person and virtual screenings, conversations and events to accommodate for the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,” will run Oct. 15-18. There will be some drive-in screenings.

Ricky Staub’s feature directorial debut Concrete Cowboy will screen Oct. 16; Regina King’s feature directorial debut One Night in Miami will screen Oct. 17

Lee Isaac Chung’...

Nomadland, the Chloe Zhao-directed frontrunner for the best picture Oscar after winning the top prizes at the Venice and Toronto film festivals, will open the eighth annual Middleburg Film Festival on Oct. 15, the northern Virginia-based fest announced Friday.

This year’s fest, which will be “a hybrid of in-person and virtual screenings, conversations and events to accommodate for the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,” will run Oct. 15-18. There will be some drive-in screenings.

Ricky Staub’s feature directorial debut Concrete Cowboy will screen Oct. 16; Regina King’s feature directorial debut One Night in Miami will screen Oct. 17

Lee Isaac Chung’...

Even in a pandemic, film festival buzz can drive sales: This year’s fall season has included high-profile buys from Netflix (for Halle Berry’s Toronto-premiering “Bruised” and Venice winner “Pieces of a Woman”) and Solstice Studios (the Mark Wahlberg tearjerker “Good Joe Bell”), as well as intriguing moves from Neon (sleeper hit “The Night of Kings”) and IFC (Sam Pollard’s searing documentary “MLK/FBI”). Yet in the midst of this slimmed-down, mostly-virtual year, many of the smaller titles that generated strong responses continue to drift around the marketplace in search of homes. And yes, it’s never been harder to buy movies than in a year when the very future of distribution is an open question. But as companies continue to search for quality product, these cinematic highlights are worthy of consideration. Here are nine premieres from Venice and TIFF that ought to get out there. Distributors, take note.

There is a moment of surreal wonder near the start of Concrete Cowboy, the TIFF premiere co-starring Idris Elba, that is never equaled again, a sequence of unexpected radiance conjuring a sense of astonishment. A troubled teenager has been sent from Detroit to Philadelphia to spend the summer with his long-absent father. He arrives at night to a nearly empty, rather foreboding street. Eventually he finds his (seemingly) menacing father and is led into a ramshackle, messy home. Suddenly he sees a large horse and responds appropriately: “There’s a horse… in your house.”

It’s a surreal, beautifully shot scene. If only Concrete Cowboy had more moments like it. This is not to say Cowboy is a poor film—it is, in fact, watchable, well-acted, occasionally moving. It’s also overly predictable and never transcends the tropes of the standard coming-of-age drama, making for a forgettable disappointment.

While the...

It really is a festival like no other. That’s something critics and journalists probably write every year about the Toronto International Film Festival. After all, TIFF (along with Venice) is considered the kickoff of awards season. Studios and independent distributors alike bringing their biggest hopes and brightest dreams to Canada, where a positive reception can make or break early Oscar buzz. However, in the case of TIFF 2020, there really has not been a film festival like this.

In the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the entire press component, including our attendance to the festival, was virtual; the red carpet was permanently rolled up; and even the stars and filmmakers stayed away, giving rare publicity one press conference on zoom at a time.

In this environment, and with studios keeping their traditional highly marketed end of year wares in indefinite stasis, some worried that the show couldn’t go on.

As we try to squint our way to see what the next seven months hold, TIFF and Venice unveiled the first crop of awards contenders for the 2020-2021 year. At the top of that list is Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” which took the Golden Lion on Saturday evening. Poised to do wonders for distributor Searchlight Pictures on the circuit, Zhao has four possibilities at awards attention, which could tie her with Warren Beatty who achieved four nominations, in one year, on two separate occasions (“Heaven Can Wait” in 1978 and “Reds” in 1981). Depending on how the rest of the film year shakes out, “Nomadland” is at the top of the heap in several categories.

Another big hit was Regina King’s directorial debut, “One Night in Miami” from Amazon Studios. With a robust ensemble, the film received outstanding notices but the streamer is still discussing the category placements for its four stars Kingsley Ben-Adir,...

The urban cowboys of North Philadelphia are a real thing. While American history has whitewashed the image of the cowboy into a white man, these Black riders have taken care of horses for generations and continue to do so into the modern day even as the world radically changes around them. The intersection of their personal identity and American iconography is fascinating, but unfortunately Concrete Cowboy director Ricky Staub forces it to reside in a fairly predictable coming-of-age story. Despite strong performances from the cast, Concrete Cowboy undermines its unique world by trying to tell a broad bildungsroman …...