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Michael Jackman, the Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning producer of “Conclave” has signed on to produce “Black Tuesday,” a 100-minute, real-time disaster thriller about the biggest stock market crash in world history.

“Black Tuesday” is based on the true story behind the stock market crash of 1929, which plunged the country and the world into the Great Depression. The film follows Dick Whitney, the newly appointed acting president of the NYSE, as he attempts to arrange a financial rescue package to avert the crash and save the world economy. But Whitney’s own ruinous investments and personal demons set him on a collision course with his brother George, the gatekeeper to J.P. Morgan, who is the key to preventing the crash.

“Black Tuesday” will mark the return of director Daniel Ragussis, who previously directed “Imperium,” starring Daniel Radcliffe and Toni Collette. The script was co-written by Ragussis and R.F.I. Porto. Susan Shopmaker will...

The story of the individual who births a world-altering technology only to be hunted by its corporate parent is a foundational myth of our digital age. It’s the modern Prometheus story, except Zeus is a CEO with a venture capital fund and the eagle is a team of heavily armed mercenaries. Off the Grid wades directly into this narrative stream with a kind of gritty, unvarnished sincerity.

Our reluctant titan is Guy (a suitably grizzled Josh Duhamel), an engineer of apparently transcendent genius who has created… something revolutionary. He now lives a life of enforced techno-primitivism in the Tennessee backwoods, a man who built the future and then promptly ran screaming from it.

His former employer, the ominously named Belcor Industries, wants its paradigm-shifting intellectual property back, and Guy along with it. The company dispatches its hounds, believing no one can truly unplug from a world they are so intent on wiring.

There is no excuse for “Off the Grid.” Director Johnny Martin’s hackneyed action-thriller is woefully short on action and thrills, and generic enough to suggest it was scripted by AI. Indeed, this half-baked potboiler leaves one with the nagging suspicion that it was produced simply to meet some sort of quota, and cast with actors who came on board only because they lost bets.

Josh Duhamel does his best to get his Rambo on as Guy, a research scientist who skedaddles from his lab at the San Francisco-based Belcor Enterprises after he discovers his corporate overlord intends to weaponize his current project, a palm-sized energy-producing reactor. He goes to ground and reinvents himself as a survivalist in a wilderness area of Tennessee, where he resides in a reconverted Quonset hut, maintains an elaborate array of boobytraps and warning signals to ward off unwelcome visitors, and generally stays (as the title says) off the grid.

Johnny Martin’s Off the Grid could be about any Big Tech company nowadays. Josh Duhamel’s Guy, a super-smart scientist, develops a new type of technology that harbors the potential to change the world. However, the company he works for only sees dollars, choosing a route of weaponizing the tech. So, Guy grabs the goods and goes on the run – off the grid to be exact. The evil company locates him and decides it wants the tech back – by any means necessary. The script, written by James Agnew, chooses simplicity over swerves. There aren’t many surprises hidden in this tale, as it’s exactly as described above: Guy is on the run and the company tries to catch him. That’s it. Of course, there are auxiliary characters who assist Guy, such as María Elisa Camargo’s Josey and Michael Zapesotsky’s Chase, but Off the Grid comes...

There have been countless scandals involving game shows over the years. The most famous adaptation of such an event was Robert Redford’s acclaimed Quiz Show, starring Ralph Fiennes and John Turturro. Still, there have been more recent instances, including a bizarre one in 1984 involving a man who figured out how to beat one of the most popular game shows on American television, Press Your Luck. The Luckiest Man in America dramatizes that event with a fantastic cast led by Paul Walter Hauser.

The film tells the story of ice cream truck driver Michael Larson (Paul Walter Hauser), an unemployed ice cream truck driver from Ohio who cons his way onto Press Your Luck. As he begins to win record-breaking prizes, those behind the scenes figure out he may be doing more than just playing the game. As the truth becomes apparent, Michael’s true motivations become evident, revealing a...

Plot: Based on a true story, the film is set in May 1984, when an unemployed ice cream truck driver from Ohio steps onto the game show Press Your Luck, harboring a big secret: the key to endless amounts of money. His winning streak is threatened when the bewildered executives in the control room start to uncover his real motivations.

Review: As someone who has been trying to get on Jeopardy! for a while, I have always been fascinated with the contestants’ backstories who have made their way onto shows watched by millions. While few controversies have compared to the one chronicled in Robert Redford’s Quiz Show, the circumstances surrounding Michael Larson’s then-record-breaking appearance on Press Your Luck is a bizarre chapter in pop culture history. The Luckiest Man in America dramatizes the events of Larson’s run on the popular game show with the great Paul Walter Hauser in another fantastic performance.

Kids these days may never understand the decades-old tradition of cozying up with your family and tuning into any number of game shows on your local cable channels. Sure, Wheel of Fortune is still cooking with host Ryan Seacrest, while Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik took the hosting reins of Jeopardy. But millennials may have been the last generational pit stop for that lived-in notion of gathering around your ridiculously heavy 4x3 television and shouting the answers to certain trivia questions before the televised contestants can blurt them out first. If you missed the boat, a new true-story drama from co-writer/director Samir Oliveros may help fill the lost void: the retro-styled The Luckiest Man in America, starring a never-better Paul Walter Hauser.

Perhaps the filmmaker took a page out of similarly styled efforts like HBO's Winning Time, but that's not to discredit the overall feel and appeal of this small-scale stunner,...

Exclusive: Prison Break and Fargo star Peter Stormare is among cast to have joined action-thriller Off The Grid.

Also joining Josh Duhamel, Greg Kinnear and María Elisa Camargo are Talia Asseraf (Kill ‘Em All 2) and Ricky Russert.

In the film, a scientist (Duhamel) steals an experiment and hides off the grid in Europe to prevent it from becoming weaponized. His former research partner (Kinnear), along with an extraction team, is sent in to find him and locate the missing experiment.

Stormare plays Belcor, the evil corporate genius who sends Kinnear’s character and his team of mercenaries led by Mia (played by Asseraf) and Marcus (played by Russert) after Duhamel’s character who is hiding off the grid.

Directed by Johnny Martin (Hangman), pic is being produced by Richard Salvatore for March On Productions, David Lipper and Bobby Daly Jr. for Lipper/Daly Productions (aka Latigo Films...

Qed International has acquired global sales rights to Latinx and LGBTQ+ thriller The Low End Theory featuring Sidney Flanigan, the award-winning star of acclaimed independent drama Never Rarely Sometimes Always.

Francisco Ordoñez’s film stars Sofia Yepes as a military veteran and aspiring hip-hop producer who launders money for a dangerous drug dealer and falls for a singer portrayed by Flanigan, who won the New York Film Critics Circle best actress and National Board of Review breakthrough performance awards in 2021.

Ser Anzoategui, Rene Rosado, Eddie Martinez, Scotty Tovar, and Ricky Russert also star in the English- and Spanish-language film, which...

Paul Walter Hauser has added another project to a packed upcoming slate.

The Emmy and Golden Globe winner, who in the last few weeks alone has been tapped to play Chris Farley in Josh Gad’s biopic and has joined the cast of both “Fantastic Four” and the “Naked Gun” reboot, is to lead “Press Your Luck,” a drama-thriller based on the true story of Michael Larson. Protagonist Pictures has unveiled the drama-thriller — from Plenty Good in co-production with Fabula — alongside a first look image and will handle international sales, while CAA Media Finance represents North American rights.

Set in 1984, “Press Your Luck” follows Larson, an unemployed truck driver from Ohio who stepped onto the game show “Press Your Luck” harbouring a secret: the key to endless amounts of money. But his winning streak gets threatened when the executives in the control room start to uncover his real motivations.

The...

"Queen Bees" is a romantic comedy film set in a retirement community, starring James Caan as Dan Simpson. The movie follows the story of Helen, played by Ellen Burstyn, who finds companionship and love with Dan. "Queen Bees" was James Caan's final film before he died in 2022.

Queen Bees chronicles the lives of senior citizens living in the Pine Grove retirement community, and one of its residents is Dan Simpson, played by James Caan. The 2021 romantic comedy film, directed by Michael Lembeck and written by Donald Martin, revolves around Helen Wilson, an older woman whose daughter wants her to move into a retirement home despite Helen's desire to stay at the home she has lived at for years. However, when Helen locks herself out of the house (again), resulting in a fire that destroys the kitchen, she is forced to move into Pine Grove while it is being repaired.

Aside from Caan,...

Exclusive: Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) has signed on to star opposite Sofia Yepes in The Low End Theory, an indie thriller based on Yepes’ story, which she co-wrote with director Francisco Ordoñez.

Others new to the pic announced early last year, which has now wrapped production, include Ser Anzoategui (Vida), Jackie Quinones (Miles Away), J.R. Villareal (Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion) and Da’Vone McDonald (Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Previously announced cast includes Rene Rosado (The Connors), Eddie Martinez (The Sinner), Ricky Russert, and Scotty Tovar (Empire). Also starring is rapper and cannabis mogul Berner, creator of the billion-dollar Cookies brand, who will additionally compose the film’s original soundtrack.

Billed as a film noir set in the Latinx and LGBTQ+ world of Los Angeles, The Low End Theory centers on Raquel (Yepes), an aspiring beats producer in the low-budget hip-hop world moonlighting as a drug money launderer,...

Exclusive: Rene Rosado, Eddie Martinez, Ricky Russert, and actor/rapper Scotty Tovar have joined the cast of the indie thriller The Low End Theory from Atomic Features Production.

They join previously announced lead Sofia Yepes who is also a co-writer and producer on the film. The Low End Theory—based on a story by Yepes—centers around Raquel (Yepes), an aspiring beats producer in the low-budget hip-hop world moonlighting as a drug money launderer, who ends up stealing from her crime-lord boss to pay off debts owed by the woman with whom she is having an obsessive affair.

The project reunites Yepes with Francisco Ordoñez, who wrote the screenplay for The Low End Theory and will also serve as the films’ director in his debut. Yepes’ first on-screen role was in Ordoñez’s short film st. paul, winner of the Imagen Foundation award.

The key sequence in I, Tonya, when Shane Stant, a thug for hire played by Ricky Russert, whacks Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver) is a stylistic departure from most of the rest of the movie, which stars Margot Robbie as disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding. Director Craig Gillespie mostly plays fast and loose, using documentary-style interviews with the principal characters and lots of voiceover, plus moments that break the fourth wall — but for the attack itself, he wanted a suspenseful sequence that plays out in real time.

"We take the time to walk with him through the arena past everyone,...

Of all the movies to debut at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, none helped raise their stock more than I, Tonya. Initially thought of as little more than a question mark in the awards race, enthusiastic reviews have shot it into the stratosphere. Now, it’s a true contender, along with being one of the year’s best films. This week, I, Tonya opens and hopes to establish distributor Neon as the next A24, striking gold almost immediately. Not only could this prove to be a crossover hit, it seems very likely to be a legitimate Oscar player. Especially in Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, the picture is looking for a gold medal. The film is a biopic of controversial figure skater Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie), who briefly capturing America’s attention in the 1990’s. Shot using occasional talking head interviews by the chief characters, we see Tonya rise...

The star of Holy Motors and The Lovers On The Bridge will be the subject of a retrospective at the 57th edition of the Colombian event.

Top brass at the Cartagena Film Festival will screen seven Lavant films. Besides the aforementioned pair, the tribute will include Beau Travail, Tuvalu, Mister Lonely, Journey To The West and Eva Doesn’t Sleep.

The tribute is part of the France-Colombia year supported by the Institute Français and the French embassy.

Rickey Russert has joined I, Tonya and will play Shane Stant, the man who attacked Tonya Harding’s skating rival Nancy Kerrigan and smashed her knee. Russert joins previously announced Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney and Julianne Nicholson on the project. Production began in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier this month. Miramax holds Us rights and Sierra/Affinity handles international sales.

Recently, Cinemax released the new,official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Banshee" episode 3 of season 3. The episode is entitled, "A Fixer of Sorts," and it turns out that we're going to see some intense action go down when both Lucas and FBI Agent, Robert Phillips, end up at the mercy of a deadly mobster, and more! In the new, 3rd episode press release: Lucas' secret is going to be threatened when he's arrested by FBI Special Agent ,Robert Phillips (Denis O'Hare), but both men are going to end up at the mercy of Raymond Brantley (Shuler Hensley), a mob kingpin with a deadly mobile agenda. Against Chayton's orders, Tommy Littlestone (Ricky Russert) is going to spearhead a second strike against Proctor at a local gentlemen's club. A revenge-minded Nola Longshadow (Odette Annable) will mix it up with Burton (Matthew Rauch) at Proctor's mansion. The episode was written by Justin Britt-Gibson,...