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Getting a movie made in Hollywood is hard enough, but trying to make an independent feature is becoming all but impossible, even for the likes of proven entity Todd Solondz. After a career consisting of off-beat, but beloved films like “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” “Happiness,” and “Wiener-Dog,” Solondz is now struggling to get financing for his latest effort, “Love Child,” despite the commitments of Elizabeth Olsen and Charles Melton who signed on to star back in February of this year. Speaking in a recent interview with Vulture, Olsen admitted that getting the film made is proving more challenging than she initially thought.

“I’m not a producer on it, but I’ve never hustled more for a movie that’s having a hard time getting made,” Olsen said. “There’s so many things I could say about that in private. It really comes down to having really responsible budgets. But...

Exclusive: Searchlight has set five more for major roles in its Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet: Boyd Holbrook (The Bikeriders), Scoot McNairy (Argo), Dan Fogler (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Will Harrison (Daisy Jones & The Six) and Charlie Tahan (Ozark).

Character details are under wraps. Pic is now in production in New Jersey.

Other new additions include P.J. Byrne (Babylon), Eli Brown (Gossip Girl), Nick Pupo (Halt and Catch Fire), Big Bill Morganfield, Laura Kariuki, Eric Berryman (Atlanta), David Alan Basche (Egg), Joe Tippett (Monarch) and James Austin Johnson (Saturday Night Live).

Set in the influential New York music scene of the early ’60s, A Complete Unknown follows 19-year-old Minnesota musician Bob Dylan’s (Chalamet) meteoric rise as a folk singer to concert halls and the top of the charts — his songs and mystique becoming a worldwide sensation...

Exclusive: Sugar23 has signed Charlie Tahan, the actor, writer, and director best known for his breakout starring role on Netflix’s Ozark, for management.

For a refresher, the Emmy-winning Ozark follows the seemingly ordinary financial planner, Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman), who becomes entangled in a dangerous world of money laundering and drug cartels. When a scheme goes awry, he’s forced to relocate his family from Chicago to the remote Ozarks in Missouri to launder money for a cartel, working to outmaneuver local criminals, corrupt officials, and his own fractured family dynamics.

Tahan’s character is Wyatt Langmore — cousin of Julia Garner’s Ruth — a member of a local crime family who proves an intelligent and introspective fan favorite, in spite of his troubled upbringing. His work as part of the ensemble earned him three SAG Award nominations between 2019 and 2023.

Most recently seen starring alongside Christian Bale in Scott Cooper...

Elizabeth Olsen (Love & Death) and Charles Melton (May December) are set to star in Love Child, the first new movie from Todd Solondz in eight years.

Love Child follows Misty, a woman stuck in a loveless marriage to a brutish husband. “Junior, her precocious 11-year-old is her only consolation,” reads the description. “When Easy, a handsome vagabond stranger, appears, Junior hatches a plan to get rid of his father so that his mother can marry him instead. But things end up backfiring, so Junior comes up with yet another plan, this one even more devious, and with more disastrous—and unexpected—consequences.” The film has been in the works for some time, with Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell once attached to the project back in 2021.

Related Awesome Artist We’ve Found Around The Net: Victor Barreto

Todd Solondz is best known for Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness, and his last film,...

“May December” breakout Charles Melton has lined up another major feature and is set to star alongside Elizabeth Olsen in Todd Solondz’s next film, the darkly comic “Love Child.”

Killer Films, 2Am (“Past Lives”) Volition Media and Gramercy Park Media are teaming with Rocket Science to bring the project to this week’s European Film Market.

“Love Child” follows Misty, who is stuck in a loveless marriage to a brutish husband. Junior, her precocious 11-year-old is her only consolation. When Easy, a handsome vagabond stranger, appears, Junior hatches a plan to get rid of his father so that his mother can marry him instead. But things end up backfiring, so Junior comes up with yet another plan, this one even more devious, and with more disastrous—and unexpected—consequences.

Cindy Bru of Volition Media, Christine Vachon of Killer Films, David Hinojosa of 2Am and Ford Corbett of Gramercy Park Media will produce.

Elizabeth Olsen and May December star Charles Melton will star in Todd Solondz’s next film, the darkly comic Love Child.

Rocket Science will launch sales on the project at this week’s European Film Market.

Love Child is produced by Cindy Bru of Volition Media, Christine Vachon of Killer Films and David Hinojosa of 2Am. Executive producers are Michael Jefferson, Adam Beasley, Atilla Yucer, Joshua Harris and Steven Farneth.

The film is fully financed by Volition Media and Gramercy Park Media. Rocket Science is handling international sales at EFM; Cinetic Media and WME co-represent US rights.

The story follows...

Since 2016’s Wiener-Dog, Todd Solondz has been attempting to get his next feature Love Child off the ground, with the likes of Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Penélope Cruz, and Édgar Ramírez all attached at various points. At long last, it finally looks to be heading into production this spring with a new lead.

Elizabeth Olsen will now be leading the project, according to a new casting notice. The story follows 11-year-old Junior, a delusional aspiring Broadway star with an inappropriate obsession with his mother (Olsen). After orchestrating an accident that nearly kills his abusive father, he encourages the handsome man living in the family’s guesthouse to court his mother and become his new dad. But when the two fall in love, Junior becomes so jealous that he is no longer the subject of his mother’s attention that he hatches a plan to frame the man for his father’s murder.

Exclusive: Madison Iseman (Jumanji franchise), Aaron Dominguez (Only Murders in the Building), Antonia Desplat (Shantaram) and Charlie Tahan (Ozark) have signed on to star alongside Stranger Things‘ Jamie Campbell Bower in Chuck Russell’s remake of the ’80s supernatural horror Witchboard, which is now in production in Montreal.

The new film watches as recovering drug addict Emily (Iseman), her fiancé Christian (Dominguez) and a group of their friends open an organic café, refurbishing an old carriage house in New Orleans’ French Quarter. A darkness descends over Emily when she discovers an ancient pendulum board, once used to summon spirits, with Christian then seeking help for Emily from occult expert Alexander Babtiste. Babtiste, however, has secrets of his own, knowing the fateful bloodlines that binds them all to the Witchboard. A modern coven of White Witches, a masked ball at Babtiste’s mansion, and the legacy of Naga Soth, the Queen of Witches,...

When Succession debuted on HBO in 2018, the show didn’t take long to get the attention of viewers and critics. The series follows the family owners of a media conglomerate, and perhaps it’s most notable for its stellar ensemble cast. Over the years, fans have learned a lot about what it was like making the show, including how Kieran Culkin managed co-star Brian Cox’s on-set “outbursts.”

Kieran Culkin landed a main role on ‘Succession’ in 2018 Kieran Culkin attends the HBO’s “Succession” Season 4 Premiere I Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Prior to Succession, Culkin’s only main role on television was the short-lived sitcom Go Fish in 2001. But the actor has worked extensively on film, starting with a supporting role opposite his big brother Macaulay in 1990’s Home Alone. That led to other supporting roles in films like 1991’s Father of the Bride (and its 1995 sequel), She’s All That,...

Succession features a stunning ensemble cast led by Brian Cox. The actor plays billionaire Logan Roy opposite Alan Ruck, Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong, and Sarah Snook. Much of the cast has received praise and accolades for their performances. And for Culkin, it marks the most lauded role of his career. Yet, even now, the actor refuses to speak with a notable pair of media outlets.

Kieran Culkin | Theo Wargo/Getty Images ‘Succession’ star Kieran Culkin has been acting since the 1990s

Even though he’s only 40 years old, Culkin has been working in the business for more than 30 years. The actor made his big-screen debut opposite big brother Macaulay in 1990’s Home Alone. In the years that followed, Culkin popped up in films like Father of the Bride, She’s All That, Music of the Heart, Igby Goes Down, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Wiener-Dog.

But Succession marks his first...

Since it premiered on HBO in 2018, Succession has gotten a lot of attention for its performances, intricate storytelling, and high-stakes drama. But the show could inadvertently take one of its stars into a completely different genre going forward. Here’s how Succession just might lead actor Kieran Culkin down the road toward becoming an action movie star.

Kieran Culkin | Theo Wargo/Getty Images Kieran Culkin has been acting since 1990’s ‘Home Alone’

Culkin might have gained an entirely new fan base with his role as Roman Roy on Succession. But the actor has been working in Hollywood for more than 30 years. Culkin made his film debut opposite big brother Macaulay in 1990’s Home Alone and continued to work as a child actor throughout the decade, including films such as Father of the Bride, Nowhere to Run, and She’s All That.

Beyond that, Culkin has stretched his acting muscles in a variety of other projects.

NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.

Film at Lincoln Center

Claire Denis’ masterful first feature Chocolat has been restored in 4K and begins a run.

Anthology Film Archives

“Working Girl(s)” highlights the working woman, spanning Lizzie Borden’s Born in Flames to Mike Nichols’ Working Girl, while a series curated by Borden gets underway.

Paris Theater

After Hours screens on Sunday with a Griffin Dunne Q&a to follow.

Film Forum

The Sorrow and the Pity begins a run; Lou Ye’s Suzhou River continues showing in a 4K restoration while Song of the Sea plays this Sunday.

Roxy Cinema

The Todd Solondz retro continues with 35mm showings of Palindromes and Life During Wartime, while Wiener-Dog also shows; a puppet program plays on 16mm this Sunday.

Museum of the Moving Image

Miyazaki’s Ponyo plays Saturday and Sunday; Argento’s Deep Red plays Saturday.

IFC Center

House,...

Now that Sundance has answered the question looming over the 2022 festival by going all-virtual for the second year in a row, it’s full-steam ahead. And today the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the members of its six juries, including Marielle Heller (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”), Andrew Haigh (“Weekend”), Joey Soloway (“Transparent”), and Payman Maadi (“A Separation”). The 16 jurors will bestow awards upon the festival’s winners January 28, with award-winning movies available for extended online viewing during the festival’s closing weekend.

“These exceptional individuals will come together to offer a collaborative lens on our program,” said Sundance’s Director of Programming Kim Yutani in an official statement. “Their diverse personal perspectives can elevate work above the sum of its parts.” As previously announced, the jury for Alfred P. Sloan jury deliberated in advance of the festival and awarded the prize to “After Yang,” directed by Kogonada.

And audiences will...

Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Garrett Bradley (Time), Joey Soloway (Transparent), Andrew Haigh (Lean on Pete) and Dawn Porter (The Me You Can’t See) have been named as jurors for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, taking place virtually from January 20-30.

Heller, who brought her first feature The Diary of a Teenage Girl to the festival in 2015, will preside over the U.S. Dramatic Competition with C’mon C’mon producer and former Annapurna Pictures exec Chelsea Barnard, and A Separation actor Payman Maadi.

Bradley, whose Sundance-premiering doc Time earned an Oscar nomination in 2021, will oversee the U.S. Documentary Competition with Peter Nicks, the director behind 2021 Sundance title Homeroom, and director-cinematographer Joan Churchill.

Soloway, the Transparent and I Love Dick creator who brought their first feature, Afternoon Delight, to Sundance in 2013, will serve as this year’s sole juror of the Next section, with Reservation Dogs director...

Russian cinematographer Mikhail Krichman, renowned for his collaborations with Andrey Zvyagintsev on films like Oscar nominees “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” shared some of his secrets during the Imago masterclass at EnergaCamerimage Film Festival, all the while engaging in a friendly dialogue with two-time Oscar nominee Ed Lachman. They both won Golden Frogs at the Polish festival, for “Leviathan” and “Carol” respectively.

Unable to be in Toruń in person, Krichman opened up about his upcoming project, Joshua Oppenheimer’s musical “The End,” starring Tilda Swinton.

“I haven’t done musicals before, with all these dance numbers. This is Joshua’s first fiction film and his approach is very interesting,” he said, admitting he was “amazed and frightened” by Oppenheimer’s documentaries “The Look of Silence” and “The Act of Killing.”

Music is also on Lachman’s mind, working on Todd Haynes’ film about singer Peggy Lee. “It’s a drama, but seen through music.

Dwayne Johnson will star in “Red One” for Amazon Studios, the streaming service announced Monday. The film will reunite Johnson with “Fast and Furious” scribe Chris Morgan — the pair recently collaborated on the hit spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw.”

The deal for the film treatment, which comes after a highly competitive bidding situation, is another sign that Amazon is focused on creating more populist fare. Its interest in fielding more broadly entertaining films comes as the streaming wars continue to heat up, with new entrants like HBO Max, Paramount Plus, and Disney Plus elbowing into the space.

The deal is a statement-making moment for Amazon Studios and its chief Jennifer Salke, who has made a big push to acquire splashier properties. Amazon initially focused on awards contenders such as “Manchester by the Sea” and indie fare like “Brad’s Status” and “Wiener-Dog.” After Salke came on board in 2018, the company has augmented those...

While the Cannes market runs concurrent with the festival July 6 – 15, a virtual effort begins this week with an embarrassment of riches: There’s Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz reunited by provocateur Todd Solondz, Alexander Payne directing Paul Giamatti two decades after “Sideways,” and Julianne Moore, starring opposite Natalie Portman, in her sixth collaboration with Todd Haynes.

There’s simply no room for filler in a market dominated by auteur passion projects and compelling genre packages. The unusually robust pool of offerings is the strongest vote of confidence yet that the business has moved past production-insurance roadblocks and theatrical despair and is ready to turn up the taps of creativity and cash.

“We’re coming out of a period of companies putting their heads down, focusing on development, and now bringing forth really strong material,” said Cinetic Media’s Steven Farneth. “I’m heartened by what seems to be a fairly...

“The Lobster” stars Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz are reuniting to lead the cast for the new film from “Welcome to the Dollhouse” and “Happiness” writer-director Todd Solondz. The project is titled “Love Child” and will be produced by Christine Vachon through her Killer Films banner and David Hinojosa on behalf of 2Am. Madriver International is overseeing international sales and bringing the title to the Cannes Virtual Market, while Cinetic Media and CAA Media Finance are handling financing and domestic rights along with WME.

“Love Child” is a dark comedy that is being billed by the sales team as “a dark and hilarious twist on the classical Oedipal story.” The official logline for the project reads: “‘Love Child’ follows a precocious kid who schemes to rid himself of his brutish dad so he can have his mom all to himself. Things go awry when a handsome stranger appears.”

“This is...

Rachel Weisz will reteam with “The Lobster” co-star Colin Farrell in writer-director Todd Solondz’s new comedy, “Love Child.”

Killer Films’ Christine Vachon will produce with David Hinojosa on behalf of 2Am.

In a dark twist on the classical Oedipal story, “Love Child” follows a precocious kid in Texas who schemes to rid himself of his brutish dad so he can have his mom all to himself. Things go awry when a handsome stranger appears.

Cinetic Media and CAA Media Finance are arranging the financing and representing the domestic rights along with WME. Madriver International is overseeing international sales and bringing the title to the Cannes Virtual Market.

“This is my first movie with a plot and my first movie taking place in Texas,” Solondz said in a statement. “It’s fun and it’s sexy and it’s shaped by the Hollywood movies that made me want to become a filmmaker.

Cinetic Media, CAA Media Finance arranging financing, represent North America with WME.

Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell will reunite in Todd Solondz’s comedy Love Child for Killer Films and 2Am, with Madriver International set to introduce the project to international buyers at the Pre-Cannes Screenings next week.

Solondz, whose credits include Welcome To The Dollhouse and Happiness, will direct from his own script. Killer Films’ Christine Vachon will produce with David Hinojosa on behalf of 2Am.

Cinetic Media and CAA Media Finance are arranging financing and represent North American rights along with WME.

Love Child is styled as a...

Amazon Studios has swept in and is poised to land “The Tomorrow War,” a science-fiction action film with Chris Pratt that Skydance developed and produced. The price for the film is rumored to be roughly $200 million, but insiders stress the sale has not been finalized and financial terms have yet to be determined.

The film was being shopped to streamers and drew interest from companies due in part to its star power. Every major service, including Netflix and Apple, viewed the movie. Several were impressed by the film and thought it had commercial potential.

Amazon has been aggressive in landing splashy content, buying the likes of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” “Coming 2 America,” and the Michael B. Jordan thriller “Without Remorse” in recent months as the coronavirus pandemic has upended the theatrical landscape. It’s also a sign that Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon Studios, is continuing to push the streamer to back bigger,...

Talk about box-office drama. As the July 4 weekend unwinds, IFC’s The Truth might be slugging it out with Homewrecker from Dark Star and The Outpost from Fathom for the honor of ranking somewhere in the 300s, near IFC’s own Wiener-Dog, among all-time Independence Day performers.

Meanwhile, a handful of drive-ins are packing them in for catalog films like Zootopia and Jurassic Park. With luck, Zootopia might beat its own past performance, four months after its original release, over the July 4 holiday in 2016.

As for overall ticket sales, they are approaching $1.8 billion, down from last year’s level of—oh, what’s the difference? Racked by virus and unrest, the movie industry has largely abandoned its favorite past-time, keeping score. There are barely enough ticket sales to bother counting.

Cunningham director Alla Kovgan on Merce Cunningham, Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage: 'In a way they are timeless' Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze In the second half of my conversation with Alla Kovgan on Cunningham (read the first half here), we discussed her appreciation for the significant role Derrick Tseng played in getting the film made, Director of Choreography Jennifer Goggans and Supervising Director of Choreography Robert Swinston and Notes on Choreography, storyboarding for locations in New York and shooting in Germany with Mko Malkhasyan.

Also: The timelessness of the collaborations by Robert Rauschenberg, John Cage and Merce Cunningham and the transcendence of time that Karl Ove Knausgård in My Struggle assigns to works of art as compared to science.

Merce Cunningham, Carolyn Brown, Viola Farber, Cynthia Stone, Marilyn Wood, and Remy Charlip in Summerspace Photo: Robert Rutledge Cunningham has a flawless score by Hauschka aka Volker Bertelmann (BAFTA and Oscar-nominated...

This story first appeared in TheWrap’s magazine’s Cannes issue.

Not even a shot of Botox under the arm will curb a certain kind of nervous sweat for buyers and sellers headed to this year’s Marché du Film. A continued pattern of caution will reign when it comes to deals at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, numerous industry insiders told TheWrap.

Festival titles have been selling at a snail’s pace since last September’s Toronto International Film Festival, despite the widely held industry line that we live in an aggressive buyers market. And while the Marché always brings a smattering of diverse international fare and typically produces an awards player or two, the impulse-buying phenomenon that one top studio executive called “festival fever” has cooled considerably.

“There are challenges in the independent marketplace that are well-documented in terms of the economic model and the pipeline of films,” said Stuart Ford, former head of Im Global, who returns to France with his new content and sales engine, Agc Studios.

Also Read: 'Everybody Knows' Stars Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem CannesWrap Portraits (Exclusive Photos)

“I don’t expect Cannes to signal any great deviation from the trajectory we’ve been on, but true premium projects will be more in demand … the appetite and the volume of business for smaller indies is just changing.”

One studio executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, added, “A few years ago, people were really overspending and then taking a bath when they released the films.” Another notable dealmaker who declined to be named said that interest in finished films at Cannes, even competition titles, is unusually low.

“People are so apprehensive,” said Alex Walton of Bloom, an international sales, production and financing company (“The Nice Guys,” “Suburbicon”). But Walton cautioned against sounding any death knells, thinking back to his time at Paramount’s defunct indie label, Vantage.

Also Read: Cannes Adds Terry Gilliam's 'Don Quixote,' Lars von Trier's 'The House That Jack Built'

“I think our top movie one year made $12 million at the box office,” he said. “Compared to now? This is a heyday. The market will liven up with continued success stories, like ‘Hostiles’ making $30 million or ‘Chappaquiddick’ getting to around $12 million. Or look at ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘The Shape of Water.'” (“Lady Bird” grossed $49 million, while Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar winner hit nearly $64 million.)

Here’s what we’ll be watching for as the market unfolds on the Croisette:

1. Interrupted Streams

It’s been two years since streaming giants Netflix and Amazon stormed the indie market at Sundance, acquiring titles by the bucket and inflating price tags by millions. The companies both launched fireworks displays to announce their arrival and drove a money train that almost immediately stalled. Both companies pivoted to original productions, which the services could own outright as library titles and use to keep their global pipelines full of content. At the Marché this year, expect both to pack light.

Netflix has already given us the first beef of Cannes by refusing to submit its films to any section of the festival. The move was in direct response to a rule change that all eligible competition films must have a theatrical run in France, a move that found festival boss Thierry Frémaux placating France’s domestic exhibition business, which was in full revolt over Netflix’s day-and-date theatrical release strategy.

Also Read: Netflix Bails on Cannes Over Theatrical Release Mandate

But if Netflix won’t send films, it will send acquisitions reps to the festival for some window shopping. “Netflix is more likely than anyone to be prolific,” said Bloom. “They need more foreign product than anyone else.”

Amazon is in a different situation. Jeff Bezos’ studio is still “in flux” after installing former NBC chief Jen Salke to replace the disgraced Roy Price, one studio executive said. “They’re not looking to be major players–their strategy has moved to bigger films. They might be looking for awards but they’re after the next ‘Big Sick,’ not a Todd Solondz movie.”

Both “The Big Sick” and Solondz’s last film, “Weiner-Dog,” were released by Amazon Studios. “The Big Sick” earned an Academy Award nomination and $43 million domestic. “Wiener-Dog” took in less than $500,000 in limited release.

2. Le Paquet

One pocket of the sales market sure to see movement are content packages with movie stars attached — deals where agencies will bring scripts and big names to market and raise millions in domestic and international sales to finance production.

Long before distributor Neon and content sales company 30West bought “I, Tonya” for $6 million out of Toronto, for example, the Margot Robbie-starring, Oscar-nominated film raised millions in France to get it onto the ice. (The film grossed $30 million domestically.) And last year, the stop-motion film “Bubbles,” about Michael Jackson’s beloved chimp, kicked off a heated bidding war eventually won by Netflix for what was reported to be a staggering $20 million. Action fare like Chris Evans’ “Red Sea Diving Resort” also fetched big money.

“We’re taking two behemoth projects with big names,” Ford said. Though he couldn’t disclose attachments, he targeted the budgets at around $100 million each. “There’s a certain tier of films that even a couple of years ago would have seen studio production,” he added. “It reflects the reality that studios are making fewer movies.”

3. Mini-majors And Major Prizes

One thing our insiders unanimously agreed on was the plum position of the mini-major–specialty labels at the big studios who get to flex creative muscle without having to perform big for the C-suite executives. Sony Pictures Classics, Focus Features and Disney’s soon-to-be-acquired gem Fox Searchlight are all coming with money to spend, numerous individuals familiar with their plans told TheWrap.

There are also decisive and well-financed operations like A24, The Orchard and Magnolia, which will be on the prowl for awards season entries across features and documentaries. Last year, The Orchard took Robin Campillo’s “Bpm,” which won the César (France’s Oscar) though it fell short of an Oscar Best Foreign Language Film nomination. Spc took Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Loveless,” which made the Oscar cut but didn’t win.

For the record, a previous version of this story had an incorrect purchase price for theatrical rights to “I, Tonya.”

Read original story Why Cannes Film Market May Move at an Escargot’s Pace This Year At TheWrap...

Look who’s back and begging for our attention! Benji, the adorable pooch who starred in a series of unlikely hit movies in the 1970s and ’80s, returns next month in a new feature film from Netflix. Writer-director Brandon Camp’s reboot debuted a teaser before Sunday’s Super Bowl — complete with an adorable new liquid-eyed canine star (and not a human in sight). Also Read: 'Wiener-Dog' Review: Greta Gerwig and a Put-Upon Hound Explore the Sweet Miseries of Life Blumhouse’s Jason Blum produces along with Camp. The human cast includes Gabriel Bateman, Darby Camp and Jerod Haynes. Netflix is set to roll out the new film...

Emmanuelle Bercot will preside over the Revelation jury.

Michel Hazanavicius, director of The Artist, will preside over the jury at the 43rd Deauville American Film Festival.

The jury will hand out the grand prize and jury prize at the event, which is based in the Normandy seaside resort.

“I’m extremely moved and honoured to preside over this year’s Jury of the Deauville American Film Festival,” said Hazanavicius.

“Like half the planet, I was in part raised on American cinema and I am looking forward to spending these 10 days of binge-watching the latest output. In cinema we trust!”

Hazanavicius’ latest film Redoubtable was in official competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Actress, writer and director Emmanuelle Bercot, whose 2015 film Standing Tall opened the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, will preside over the Revelation jury which honours an up-and-coming director.

She said: “As a great lover of all things American, I am delighted...

Buyers return to Cannes like swallows to the Capistranos, but this year they’ll find a hostile landscape. Too many buyers, too few titles, and streaming-service disruptors are driving up prices all the while, making North American prebuys increasingly necessary.

That’s hazardous terrain: Witness the Weinstein Company’s $6 million bid for transgender drama “3 Generations” (aka “After Ray”). Two years later, after a title change and poor reviews on and off the festival circuit, the drama starring Elle Fanning and Susan Sarandon finally received a May 5 release. Total domestic gross to date: $46,421.

That was in 2015, the last year that TWC held its then-annual dog-and-pony show for buyers and press at the Majestic Hotel. This year, like the last, they’ll hold court on their yacht, which also serves as their offices — still tony, but on a budget; it’s a lot less expensive than that prime Croissette real estate. Meanwhile,...

Buyers return to Cannes like swallows to the Capistranos, but this year they’ll find a hostile landscape. Too many buyers, too few titles, and streaming-service disruptors are driving up prices all the while, making North American prebuys increasingly necessary.

That’s hazardous terrain: Witness the Weinstein Company’s $6 million bid for transgender drama “3 Generations” (aka “After Ray”). Two years later, after a title change and poor reviews on and off the festival circuit, the drama starring Elle Fanning and Susan Sarandon finally received a May 5 release. Total domestic gross to date: $46,421.

That was in 2015, the last year that TWC held its then-annual dog-and-pony show for buyers and press at the Majestic Hotel. This year, like the last, they’ll hold court on their yacht, which also serves as their offices — still tony, but on a budget; it’s a lot less expensive than that prime Croissette real estate. Meanwhile,...

Altitude has taken international sales and U.K. distribution on the Tribeca title.

Altitude Film Distribution has acquired UK distribution rights to The Boy Downstairs, starring Girls actress Zosia Mamet.

Altitude Film Sales will also present the title - which played at Tribeca - to international buyers at Cannes.

The film co-stars Matthew Shear and is helmed by first-time writer-director Sophie Brooks.

The Boy Downstairs is produced by Cliffbrook Films’ Dan Clifton (The Belko Experiment), David Brooks (Atm) and Motion Picture Capital (Hampstead, Sense8), with executive producer Paul Brooks (Pitch Perfect).

The UK distribution deal was struck by Altitude’s co-ceo Andy Mayson with Motion Picture Capital, the major financier of the film.

In the film Mamet plays a woman who moves back to New York City after a few years in London and finds what seems to be the perfect Brooklyn apartment. However, on the first night in her new home she discovers her ex-boyfriend Ben, played...

Production companies sign two-year deals with streaming giant.

In a move that further bolsters its commitment to art house cinema, Amazon Studios announced on Tuesday it had struck first-look producer deals with Bona Fide Productions, Killer Films, and Le Grisbi Productions.

Bona Fide, run by Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, and Killer Films, run by Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, will each get an exclusive first-look deal in film and television.

John Lesher’s Le Grisbi has partnered on what Amazon called “indie-sized” films for two years.

Amazon Studios teamed up with Killer on Todd Haynes’s imminent Cannes competition entry Wonderstruck starring Julianne Moore.

The digital platform is collaborating with Bona Fide on Marc Webb’s The Only Living Boy In New York starring Jeff Bridges, Callum Turner, and Kate Beckinsale. Like Wonderstruck, that film will debut later this year.

“Bona Fide Productions, Killer Films and Le Grisbi Productions each have a long history of making...

Annapurna Pictures has released the first trailer for the upcoming film Detroit.

From the Academy Award winning director of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, Detroit tells the gripping story of one of the darkest moments during the civil unrest that rocked Detroit in the summer of ’67.

The huge cast features John Boyega, Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Jacob Latimore, Jason Mitchell, Hannah Murray, Kaitlyn Dever, Jack Reynor, Ben O’Toole, Joseph David Jones, Ephraim Sykes, Leon Thomas III, Nathan Davis Jr., Peyton Alex Smith, Malcolm David Kelley, Gbenga Akinnabve, Chris Chalk, Jeremy Strong, Laz Alonzo, Austin Hebert, Miguel Pimentel, Kris Davis, with John Krasinski and Anthony Mackie.

Annapurna Pictures, founded by Megan Ellison, has garnered a total of 32 Academy Award nominations for their projects, including Zero Dark Thirty, Joy, The Master, Foxcatcher, and The Grandmaster. Ellison is also one of only four honorees ever to receive two Best Picture nominations in the same year,...

Annapurna Pictures has named Adriene Bowles its new president of publicity. Bowles, a marketing and PR executive whose tenure at Focus Features stretches all the way back to its inception as USA Films, will work with Annapurna president Marc Weinstock and marketing president David Kaminow. In her new role, she’ll spearhead awards campaigns as part of Megan Ellison’s new marketing and distribution wing in addition to serving as Annapurna’s head of communications.

Bowles, who leaves her post as Focus’ president of worldwide publicity and executive VP marketing, worked on campaigns that included “Nocturnal Animals,” “The Theory of Everything,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Milk,” “Lost in Translation,” and “Brokeback Mountain.”

Her hire is a significant move for Annapurna as it prepares to make a stance in specialty distribution. Annapurna is expected to be a significant player on the festival circuit, and was aggressively bidding for titles at the most recent Sundance Film Festival.

Although it was one my favorite films of last year, Todd Solondz‘s peculiar, touching Wiener-Dog sadly went overlooked. Thankfully, the director looks to be back in record time as his latest project has already been announced and he’s secured two unexpected, talented stars, which also doubles as The Counselor re-team we’ve been waiting for. Penélope Cruz and Edgar Ramírez are set to lead this new film, titled Love Child, according to Deadline.

The Welcome to the Dollhouse director’s own spin on the Oedipus complex will follow “11 year-old Junior, a delusional aspiring Broadway star with an inappropriate obsession with his mother Immaculada (Crus). After orchestrating an accident that nearly kills his abusive father, he encourages Nacho (Ramírez), the handsome man living in the family’s guesthouse to court his mother and become his new dad. But when the two fall in love, Junior becomes so jealous that...

Babak Anvari’s Tehran terror is the star attraction in a week marked by so-so sequels and Sundance sundries

Its Netflix premiere may have beaten its DVD release by a couple of weeks, but now that Under the Shadow (Signature, 15) is available in either format, you have no excuse not to catch it. Pristinely controlled and darkly suggestive, Bafta-nominated neophyte Babak Anvari’s slow creep of a horror film eschews frantic scares. Rather, it gradually drains air and heat from the room until paralysing panic sets in. Set in post-revolutionary 1980s Tehran, it tightly circles a mother and daughter tormented by an unknown, insidious domestic presence; the political allusions are at once heady, astutely unforced and wholly frightening.

Wiener-Dog culminates in a creosote-dark vignette with Ellen Burstyn that ranks among Todd Solondz’s greatest moments

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On Friday in Park City, the bidding wars opened for business. Fox Searchlight co-president Nancy Utley began and ended her day at the Eccles Theatre, where the Sundance premieres culminated with the big acquisition title, “The Big Sick,” directed by Michael Showalter and produced by Judd Apatow. Appetites remain high for Sundance titles, but last year proved to be a teachable moment for indie distribution: There’s a big difference between being able to compete for a title, and successfully gauging what will work in the marketplace.

“The marketplace is always changing, but now it is changing more rapidly, both on the production and consumer side,” said Searchlight co-president Stephen Gilula. “The bar for theatrical viability keeps going up. While we are talking about other models, Searchlight is still a global, theatrically driven company, trying to make money on each individual title. We haven’t changed our acquisition calculus, but...

On Friday in Park City, the bidding wars opened for business. Fox Searchlight co-president Nancy Utley began and ended her day at the Eccles Theatre, where the Sundance premieres culminated with the big acquisition title, “The Big Sick,” directed by Michael Showalter and produced by Judd Apatow. Appetites remain high for Sundance titles, but last year proved to be a teachable moment for indie distribution: There’s a big difference between being able to compete for a title, and successfully gauging what will work in the marketplace.

“The marketplace is always changing, but now it is changing more rapidly, both on the production and consumer side,” said Searchlight co-president Stephen Gilula. “The bar for theatrical viability keeps going up. While we are talking about other models, Searchlight is still a global, theatrically driven company, trying to make money on each individual title. We haven’t changed our acquisition calculus, but...

Many pet owners don’t quite understand the consequences of what they feed their dogs and how the commercial pet food industry is pumping their products full of unhealthy chemicals. The new documentary “Pet Fooled” investigates the inner-workings of the pet food industry and their multi-conglomerate owners. With the help of high profile veterinarians Dr. Barbara Royal and Dr. Karen Becker, the film explores all facets of an industry that has largely gone unchallenged. Watch an exclusive clip from the film below which explores how dog food went from being packed in metal cans to paper bags because of WWII and the modern processing of kibble.

Read More: Sundance Review: ‘Wiener-Dog’ is Todd Solondz’s Angriest Movie

The film is directed by Kohl Harrington. He previously directed the documentary “A Broken System,” about capital punishment in America and the various actors behind the scenes of the death penalty system. He...

Author: Competitions

To mark the release of Wiener-Dog on 23rd January, we’ve been given 5 copies to give away on DVD along with a Wiener-Dog poster for each winner.

In this deliciously melancholy and offbeat indie comedy, iconic director Todd Solondz resurrects Dawn Wiener, the awkward lead from his 1995 breakout hit Welcome To The Dollhouse, to deliver one of his funniest films to date. Here played beautifully by Greta Gerwig, Dawn appears in just one of four interlinked stories of American life that connect an affluent suburban family, a frustrated screenwriting teacher, an elderly depressive and Dawn herself. A bracingly funny, often moving film, Wiener-Dog sees Solondz tackle typically bold and tricky themes with caustic wit and shrewd observation – and better yet, he does so with the generosity and optimism to ultimately let the dog steal the show.

Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only

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Sundance 2016 will always be remembered for the record-breaking $17.5 million sale of Nate Parker’s “The Birth of a Nation” to Fox Searchlight, on the heels of the #oscarsowhite backlash — and for the massive marketing fallout that followed in light of Parker’s rape-trial acquittal. With a domestic gross under $16 million, it led to one of the bigger failures among Sundance sales relative to expense.

Netflix outbid Searchlight for “The Birth of a Nation,” but the producers favored the theatrical route (including that company’s proven awards expertise and commercial success) and accepted less money. One wonders if it had been a high-profile Netflix film if the post-Sundance controversy about Nate Parker’s college days would have had the same impact or effect. It will be curious to see if any producer this year is as quick to turn down a high offer from Netflix or similar non-theatrical buyer.

Those memories could temper bidding wars,...

There’s a restlessness associated with Greta Gerwig’s characters that’s nowhere to be found in Abbie, the young cancer survivor she plays in Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women. Rather than having Abbie show her unique worldview through kinetic expression, Gerwig allows her introspective moments to do the talking. Through her obsession with photography and art, we see Abbie trying to create a legacy, and a self-portrait: she’s angry about being sick, but realizing this means there’s no time left to waste. Even though at first Abbie doesn’t seem to speak much, Gerwig uses her face to communicate what’s going on inside her. It’s a strangely delightful contrast to the whimsy Gerwig usually infuses her characters with. Even though Abbie couldn’t seem to be further from Frances, Violet Wister, and Brooke Cardinas, she’s bound to them by the magic of Gerwig.

The...

Greta Gerwig is something of a millennial indie darling, known for her string of mumblecore films -- low-budget movies with an emphasis on naturalistic acting and dialogue -- that have become popular over the past decade. But it’s her work with director and boyfriend Noah Baumbach that’s pushed her to the front of the pack, thanks to a Golden Globe-nominated role in 2013’s Frances Ha and the well-received Mistress America in 2015.

“I really choose movies based on filmmakers more than anything else,” Gerwig tells Et about working with Baumbach. That’s also how she ended up starring in the charming Maggie’s Plan by Rebecca Miller and Todd Solondz’s Welcome to the Dollhouse spin-off Wiener-Dog, as well as appearing opposite Annette Bening in Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women, which is in theaters on Dec. 28.

When it came to 20th Century Women, about Dorothea (Bening), a single mother who turns to two younger women to help...

Production company Annapurna Pictures announced on Thursday, December 1, that it is expanding its operations with the addition of the division Annapurna Interactive, which will be devoted to producing and publishing video games.

“I’ve had a great passion for video games for as long as I can remember. Growing up, ‘The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’ was one of my all-time favorites. My brother and I ran up quite a bill calling the 1-900 numbers for tips on those games, before the internet provided game-guides,” said Megan Ellison, Annapurna’s founder and CEO, in a statement. “The artistry and diversity of interactive storytelling is exciting and we look forward to exploring the limitless possibilities in gaming. We want to empower artists across this medium to make Annapurna Interactive their home and I believe we’ve assembled the perfect team to make that happen.”

Read More: Wong Kar-wai...

It's that time again! With the end of the year approaching, everyone begins revealing their own Top 10 best of the year lists. One of our favorite lists that kicks off this time is from filmmaker John Waters' - his Top 10 favorite films from this year. For 2016, Waters has chosen yet another (expected) eclectic mix of films, including Paul Verhoven's controversial Elle, Todd Solondz's divisive Wiener-Dog, as well as David Farrier & Dylan Reeve's outstandingly creepy documentary Tickled, among some other oddball picks. A few years back his top film was Spring Breakers, and last year it was a film titled Helmut Berger, Actor. I always like hearing about Waters' favorites because he has such unique taste and his quick comments are fun to read. Waters includes a short one/two-sentence explanation with each pick, so head to ArtForum to read all of his thoughts on his Top...

In the flurry of year-end lists and awards that greet us every December, one always stands out: John Waters’, which appears annually in Artforum. The cult filmmaker has once again shared his top-10 list, which is led this year by “Krisha,” a “hilariously harrowing portrait of a family reunion ruined by an alcoholic relative and too many dogs” that the “Pink Flamingos” director says is “told with verve and lunacy.”

Read More: John Waters Talks Trump and the Election Results With Colbert on ‘The Late Show’

ALso making the cut: an “exceptional piece of investigative reporting” (“Tickled”), “the best accidentally gay movie ever made by a known heterosexual director” (“Everybody Wants Some!!”) and two featuring “the best actress in the whole wide world” (“Elle” and “Valley of Love”). Find the full list below, and read all of Waters’ comments at Artforum.

Read More: John Waters on ‘Multiple Maniacs,’ His Favorite...

The best of 2016 lists keep on coming and today we have what is certainly the most eclectic. As he does every year, John Waters has named his favorite films of the last 12 months. Ranging from the ultra-obscure to the arthouse to one studio feature, it’s another varied batch of movies to either put on your radar or revisit. Topping the list is one of the year’s most overlooked films, Trey Edward Shults‘ debut Krisha, which he calls, “hilariously harrowing.”

Also on the list is Richard Linklater‘s Everybody Wants Some!! (“the best accidentally gay movie ever made by a known heterosexual director”), Todd Solondz‘s Wiener Dog (“nasty, blunt, rude, and full of hideous surprises”), Paul Verhoeven‘s Elle, Pedro Almodóvar‘s Julieta (“If Hitchcock had actually understood women, might he not have made this serious and absolutely stunning hellodrama about female longing and loneliness?”), and more.

Check out...

The festival is retaining its June slot and will return to Picturehouse Central.

Sundance Institute and Picturehouse have revealed the dates for the 2017 edition of Sundance Film Festival: London.

The UK offshoot of the Sundance Film Festival, which puts a spotlight on American independent cinema, will retain a June berth in 2017 (June 1-4) following last year’s shift from its previous April slot and it will also return to London’s Picturehouse Central.

This year’s Sundance London hosted UK or international premieres of 11 features including Todd Solondz’s Wiener-Dog, Jim Hosking’s gross-out comedy The Greasy Strangler, and political documentary Weiner.

Following the cancellation of the 2015 edition, the event now seems to have found a steady venue in the form of Picturehouse Central, which is located near London’s Leicester Square and was voted cinema of the year (25 screens or over) at the recent Screen Awards.

The dates of June 1-4 - last year’s festival...

While “Girls” is set to air its final season sometime next year, main cast member Zosia Mamet has spent the past year appearing in films like Todd Solondz’s “Wiener-Dog” and Steve Bernstein’s “Dominion.” Now, she’s set to appear in the new film “Goldbricks in Bloom,” a social satire that explores what it means to be an artist today by interweaving the story of a self-obsessed group of disenchanted young creatives with the mythic rise and fall of a New York painter. Watch a brief trailer for the film below featuring Mamet talking about the actors in the film.

Read More: Watch: Sisters Jessica Biel and Zosia Mamet Argue Who “Counts” in Intimate ‘Bleeding Heart’ Clip

The film is the first feature film by Danny Sangra, who has previously directed a series of short films and has worked with brands like Hugo Boss, Nike, Verizon and more. Along with Mamet,...

As 2016 winds down, like most cinephiles, we’re looking to get our hands on the titles that may have slipped under the radar or simply gone unseen. With the proliferation of streaming options, it’s thankfully easier than ever to play catch-up, and to assist with the process, we’re bringing you a rundown of the best titles of the year available to watch.

Curated from the Best Films of 2016 So Far list we published for the first half of the year, it also includes films we’ve enjoyed the past few months and some we’ve recently caught up on. This is far from a be-all, end-all year-end feature (that will come at the end of the year), but rather something that will hopefully be a helpful tool for readers to have a chance to seek out notable, perhaps underseen, titles from the year.

Note that we’re going by U.

Daniel Radcliffe stars as Nate Foster, an FBI analyst who goes undercover to take down a radical right-wing terrorist group, in Imperium, arriving on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) and Digital HD November 1 from Lionsgate. Inspired by real events, this edgy and exciting thriller also stars Toni Collette, with Nestor Carbonell and Sam Trammell. The Imperium Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $24.99 and $19.98, respectively.

nspired by real events. When extremists steal devastatingly toxic materials in order to build a dirty bomb, FBI Agent Nate Foster (Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter franchise), with help from Agent Zamparo (Toni Collette, The Sixth Sense), goes undercover in order to infiltrate their shadowy underworld. But can Nate find the group’s leader — and the bomb — before his cover is blown?

Blu-ray/DVD Special Features

Commentary with Writer/Director Daniel Ragussis and Writer Michael German “Living Undercover” Featurette...

Welcome, one and all, to the newest episode of The Film Stage Show! This week, I am joined by Bill Graham and Michael Snydel to discuss Todd Solondz‘s latest dark comedy Wiener-Dog, which is now streaming on Amazon Prime.

Subscribe on iTunes or see below to stream download (right-click and save as…).

M4A: The Film Stage Show Ep. 205 – Wiener-Dog

00:00 – 05:13 – Introductions

05:14 – 37:39 – Wiener-Dog Discussion

37:40 – 59:46 – Wiener-Dog Spoilers

The Film Stage is supported by Mubi, a curated online cinema streaming a selection of exceptional independent, classic, and award-winning films from around the world. Each day, Mubi hand-picks a new gem and you have one month to watch it. Try it for free here.

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