News

In today’s film news roundup, Joaquin Phoenix is honored for “Joker”; Legion M backs Joe Manganiello’s “Archenemy”; sales have launched on “Lev Yashin: The Dream Goalkeeper”; Warner Bros. shuffles execs and Universal launches a first-of-its-kind animation writing program.

Honor

Joaquin Phoenix has been selected as the recipient of the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s chairman’s award for his performance in “Joker.”

The award will be presented by “Joker” co-writer/director/producer Todd Phillips on Jan. 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

“Joaquin Phoenix mesmerizes audiences in ‘Joker’ with a performance that elicits empathy and reminds society on the whole that we can be better,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner.

Financing

Legion M has joined SpectreVision as executive producer and financier in the upcoming feature “Archenemy,” starring Joe Manganiello.

Adam Egypt Mortimer is directing from his own script about Max Fist, who claims to be a hero...

"Have no fear!" Signature Entertainment in the UK has debuted an official trailer for a Russian historical action epic titled Furious, which originally opened in Russia in late 2017 but is only now arriving in the UK. Formerly titled Legend of Kolovrat (or Легенда о Коловрате), the visually stunning film is based on the extraordinary real-life events surrounding the Mongol capture of the Russian city of Ryazan in the 13th century. An amnesiac soldier by the name of Evpatii Kolovrat vows to get his revenge on the Mongol army that ransacked his village. This stars Ilya Malakov as Kolovrat, along with Aleksey Serebryakov, Aleksandr Ilin, Yuliya Khlynina, Andrey Burkovskiy, Igor Savochkin, Polina Chernyshova, Timofey Tribuntsev, and Aleksandr Tsoy. This looks heavily inspired by the visuals of Zhang Yimou, with very vibrant colors in the midst of epic landscapes and massive battles. I'll admit I'm curious about it. Here's the official UK...

In the 13th century, Mongol warrior hordes control most of the known world. Terrified by the ruthless invaders, most of the Russian princes surrender their lands on enemy terms, until a knight leads the charge to avenge his love and his homeland in Furious, available on digital, Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD June 19 from Well Go USA Entertainment. Directed by Ivan Shurkhovetskiy in his feature debut, the action-fantasy film stars newcomer Ilya Malakov, along with Alexander Ilyin Jr. (Spacewalk), Yuliya Khlynina (The Duelist), Alexey Serebryakov (Leviathan), Timofey Tribuntsev (The Monk and the Demon), Polina Chernyshova (in her feature film debut), Alexander Tsoi (Superplokhie), Igor Savochkin (The Irony of Fate 2), Andrey Burkovskiy (Kvnshchiki) and Vladimir Proskurin (Forgotten by God).

A story of a legendary battle, where seventeen fearless warriors defend their land against an army of thousands of well-trained soldiers. In the 13th-century, Mongol warrior hordes and their leader, Batu Khan,...

The wrapping suggests something more prestigious: a period drama that examines class and the violent lengths people would go to to preserve honor in the 19th century, perhaps. Set in amongst the gold-encrusted ballrooms and mud-slopped streets of Tsarist St. Petersburg, Alexey Mizgirev’s The Duelist is the tale of Yakovlev (Pyotr Fyodorov), a loner nobleman and former soldier who duels other high society-dwellers for cash. Yakovlev isn’t quite who he claims to be, however, a fact that brings the power-hungry Count Beklemishev (played by sometime Hollywood baddie-for-hire Vladimir Mashkov) and young debutante Princess Marfa (Yuliya Khlynina) into his orbit.

It could be the synopsis for an old-fashioned epic, but in reality, The Duelist is a handsomely-mounted Russian soap in period clothing, complete with dubious plotting, thin characterization and beautiful cardboard stars. The film is also strangely juvenile for one so carefully sculpted. From the first scene, wherein Yakovlev...