News

Exclusive: Don McKellar, co-creator of HBO’s Emmy-nominated miniseries The Sympathizer, has signed with Gersh for representation.

McKellar co-wrote and co-showran The Sympathizer miniseries, which aired earlier this year on HBO. The series stars Robert Downey Jr., who received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in which he played five different roles.

On the feature side, McKellar wrote and directed Last Night, which won the Prix de la Jeunesse at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. He also co-wrote Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, co-wrote and starred in Blindness and co-wrote and starred alongside Samuel L. Jackson in the Oscar-winning film The Red Violin.

Also a playwright, McKelley created the musical The Drowsy Chaperone, for which he won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.

McKellar continues to be represented by Great North Artists Management and attorney Erik Hyman at Paul Hastings.

Don McKellar tackles a new project with The Sympathizer, bringing his creative talents to the TV sphere with renowned director Park Chan-wook. The Sympathizer delves deep into a complex narrative, capturing the essence of the source material's Hollywood satire and war drama. McKellar navigates challenges in adapting the novel, particularly in capturing the voice of the Captain through a unique narrative device.

Multihyphenate Don McKellar is tackling his biggest project to date with The Sympathizer. The Canadian creative first found success as an actor in everything from the David Cronenberg-helmed eXistenZ to the Samuel L. Jackson-starring The Red Violin, which he also penned. McKellar went on to find further acclaim behind the camera with the 1998 apocalyptic black dramedy Last Night, which he wrote and directed and won him the Cannes "Award of the Youth" trophy.

With The Sympathizer, McKellar makes his return as a creator/showrunner in the TV sphere,...

Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Sympathizer episode 1.

Robert Downey Jr. stars in The Sympathizer, a historical fiction based on the Vietnam War novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen. The Sympathizer follows The Captain, a communist mole working for North Vietnam during the Fall of Saigon. The series explores espionage, loyalty, and betrayal in the final days of the Vietnam War through a captivating narrative.

The new A24 original series The Sympathizer premiered on HBO and Max on April 14, 2024. The highly anticipated miniseries began with episode 1 "Death Wish" which quickly dives into a retelling of the Vietnam War months before the Fall of Saigon, a historical landmark during that pivotal event. The Sympathizer's cast is led by recent Academy Award winner Robert Downey Jr. as Claude, an eccentric yet incredibly resourceful CIA operative. Set in the 1975, The Sympathizer is a work of historical fiction that is based on the novel of the...

This article contains spoilers for season 2 of Marvel’s What If…?

Season 2 of Marvel’s What If…? is full of great episodes, from Nebula’s film noir mystery on Xandar to Hela’s well-earned redemption arc. But there’s one episode that stands above the rest and introduces a new powerful hero into the MCU.

What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World? tells the story of Kahhori (Devery Jacobs) and her tribe, who live in a world where the Tesseract crash-landed on Earth in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The Tesseract resides in a lake, which transports those who enter its waters to another realm full of harmony and unimaginable power. Kahhori is transported there while running from the Spanish colonizers who seek to take her homeland. Kahhori convinces the now-immortal members of this realm to travel back home with her to stop the invasion and protect their people.

It’s an emotional...

Before the iPhone, there was the mighty BlackBerry — the world’s first smartphone, which enjoyed a meteoric rise in the early 2000s only to meet a catastrophic demise.

A new movie from “The Dirties” and “Operation Avalanche” director Matt Johnson, simply entitled “BlackBerry,” will detail the rise and fall of the once-ubiquitous device as its Canadian parent company Research in Motion floundered in legal disputes and eventually lost its market advantage to competitors such as Apple and Samsung. At the heart of the story is the business relationship between co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.

The film’s cast is led by Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton. Though it’s not yet confirmed, it’s likely they will play the firm’s founders.

Other cast members include Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, Rich Sommer, Martin Donovan, Michael Ironside and Johnson.

Johnson and Miller adapted the screenplay from the bestselling 2015 book “Losing...

Samuel L. Jackson has well over 150 acting credits to his name, from major franchises such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and “Star Wars” to family blockbusters such as “The Incredibles” and a handful of Quentin Tarantino movies. Many of Jackson’s most famous roles have come courtesy of Tarantino, including “Pulp Fiction,” “Django Unchained,” “Jackie Brown,” and “The Hateful Eight.” But only one Tarantino movie appears on Jackson’s personal list of five favorite Samuel L. Jackson movies.

During a visit this week to Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show,” Jackson provided the five Samuel L. Jackson movies he loves most: Renny Harlin’s “The Long Kiss Goodnight” (1996), Joel Schumacher’s “A Time To Kill” (1996), Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown” (1997), François Girard’s “The Red Violin” (1998), and Kevin Reynolds’ “One Eight Seven” (1997). Interestingly enough, all of Jackson’s favorite Jackson movies were released in the 1990s. Some might expect “Pulp Fiction” to be a favorite,...

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won their second Oscar on Sunday night, a little over a decade after their first win for “The Social Network.” Along with Jon Batiste, the longtime musical partners took home statues for Best Original Score for their collective work on the Pixar film “Soul.”

“Soul” is one of the only films with a music-related protagonist to win this category since 1999’s “The Red Violin,” joining (arguably) only “La La Land” over that span. It’s fitting, then, that the team behind it has the impressive musical pedigree to match. Batiste has been the bandleader for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” since its premiere in 2015. Over that time, he’s also released multiple studio and live albums, including last month’s “We Are.” He was also nominated in a pair of categories at last month’s Grammy Awards.

Ross has worked on a number of TV projects in recent years,...

The Handmaiden director is working with A24 on the series.

Korean director Park Chan-wook is set to direct a TV adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Sympathizer.

Screendaily has confirmed with Park’s production house Moho Film that The Handmaiden director is working with A24 on the project. He previously directed the 2018 TV adaptation of John Le Carre’s The Little Drummer Girl for BBC and AMC.

The news was revealed by Vietnamese-American author Nguyen on Twitter today (April 7), who tweeted “A24 has optioned The Sympathizer for TV, with director Park Chan-wook” and also mentioned that...

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars and filmmakers and not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between.

Today we dive into the highest-grossing actor in the history of cinema: Samuel L. Jackson. The man of many franchises, he’s one bad mother––Shut Your Mouth!

Our B-Sides include Sphere, The Red Violin, Rules of Engagement, and Formula 51 (a.k.a. The 51st State a.k.a. woof). We talk about what the “L” in Samuel L. Jackson stands for, we marvel at the legend’s insane activist past, and his late-breaking career.

There’s also a deep dive into the historical origins of The Red Violin (inspired by a violin currently played by the great Elizabeth Pitcairn), the downfall of Sphere’s plot, and the troubled politics of Rules of Engagement.

People today (well always but more so now) really enjoying having lots of choices, be it food (as in buffets and food courts) or in entertainment. And with the latter, we’re talking the multiplex which often presents several types of films, or genres if you want to sound “fancy-schmancy’, from comedies to family flicks, to, well, this week’s unique mix. That’s because this new film is tough to “pin down”, so it may be a multiplex in itself. It’s a musical (in a way), an historical drama, a mystery, a look at faith and religion, and a “coming of age” buddy film. Somehow all those themes and elements come together in the film strangely named The Song Of Names.

It all begins with a flashback to 1951. It’s moments before the big debut of 21-year-old violin virtuoso David Rapoport at a London concert hall. But the concert producer,...

“1917” (Universal) is the standout new limited release, placing it among the best of the year and boosting its upcoming dates and awards chances. “Just Mercy” (Warner Bros.) and “Clemency” (Neon), both serious dramas focusing on the death penalty, weren’t as strong but each performed at the levels expected.

“Uncut Gems” (A24), hardly typical wide-release holiday fare, also stood out, with $20 million so far with five days of wide release added to its initial strong limited start.

Of note: “The Irishman,” “Marriage Story,” and “The Two Popes” — Netflix’s three awards contenders — are all down to minimal theater play (though New York and Los Angeles full-page newspaper ads convey otherwise). Spot-checking grosses, it appears all are now getting all their viewing via streaming. By comparison, “Roma” was adding theaters at this point (with a slightly later debut).

Opening

1917 (Universal) – Metacritic: 80

$570,000 in 11 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $51,818; Cumulative: $1,008,000

Universal...

“The Song of Names” is the kind of mediocre Holocaust drama that used to be taken more seriously in the 1990s, partly thanks to the Weinstein brothers and Miramax.

Director Francois Girard (“The Red Violin”) and screenwriter Jeffrey Caine’s adaptation of Norman Lebrecht’s novel is full of empty gestures and banal observations about remembrance and family, most of which flop because of wooden performances and trite dialogue.

Girard’s direction, as well as some star charisma from co-leads Tim Roth and Clive Owen, both give the movie enough emotional resonance to keep afloat its bland narrative — about the 35-year-long search for a missing Jewish violinist prodigy — but there’s no urgency or mystery to the movie, nor any compelling reason to care about its characters beyond a general hope that they’ll ultimately discover something true and/or moving about Judaism, music, and genocide. They do not, though...

The Song Of Names star Clive Owen with producer Robert Lantos and director François Girard at Sony in New York Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

François Girard’s The Song Of Names, based on the novel by Norman Lebrecht, screenplay by Jefferey Caine with a score by Howard Shore is produced by Robert Lantos, Lyse Lafontaine and Nick Hirschkorn, and stars Tim Roth and Clive Owen with Catherine McCormack, Jonah Hauer-King (Prince Eric in Rob Marshall’s upcoming The Little Mermaid), Luke Doyle, Gerran Howell, Misha Handley, and Eddie Izzard.

Martin (Gerran Howell) with Dovidl (Jonah Hauer-King) in The Song Of Names Photo: Sabrina Lantos

From what Ed Bahlman calls the 'fantastic' documentary Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould to The Red Violin (Oscar to John Corigliano for Best Original Score), starring Samuel L Jackson, Greta Scacchi, Jason Flemyng, Carlo Cecchi and Sylvia Chang, François Girard is no stranger to films centered around music.

Whenever Thomas Newman reunites with director Sam Mendes, it often results in an Oscar nomination for the renowned music composer. Newman has received a whopping 14 Oscar bids throughout his career, of which three were for scoring Mendes films: “American Beauty” (1999), “Road to Perdition” (2002) and “Skyfall” (2012). (Click through our photo gallery above highlighting all of Newman’s noms.) Now a potential 15th Oscar nomination is on the horizon for Newman thanks to “1917,” Universal’s impressive World War I epic directed and co-written by Mendes. Can Newman finally take home the golden statue?

See‘1917’: Sam Mendes, Roger Deakins and company on how it takes ‘a lot of praying’ to make a one-shot war movie [Watch]

“1917,” which takes place in northern France during the first World War, tells the story of two young soldiers (played by George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) who are tasked with sending a message that would stop their...

The Song of Names directed by François Girard, is an instant classic about World War II, a Jewish child violin prodigy who disappears on the eve of his debut as a violinist and his “brother” who tracks him down.

We are entranced by the period on the eve of war in London when an Orthodox Jewish man leaves his son with a British family whose father recognizes the great talent of the child. We watch with interest as he fights and bonds with the son of the music publisher who has taken the boy in as his father leaves to return to Poland in the late 1930s.

You can see this at AFI Fest For Free!

November 17, 3:00 p.m., Tcl Chinese Theatre

November 19, 1:00 p.m., Chinese 1

Director François Girard takes Norman Lebrecht’s acclaimed novel and orchestrates a stellar ensemble as its players in this story about two Jewish boys,...

In the Jewish faith, the Kaddish is known as the “mourner’s prayer,” intended to memorialize the deceased and affirm their place in their families and within their communities. But among the horrors of the Holocaust emerged some devastating practical problems: The names of the dead were too numerous to remember easily, and whole families were lost, leaving survivors with the difficult task of remembering them. François Girard’s “The Song of Names” is constructed around a musical solution to this dilemma, but it’s . Sony Pictures Classics will appeal to older audiences for a rollout starting Christmas Day, but the film may have trouble standing out among an especially crowded awards-season slate.

Much of the anticipation surrounding “The Song of Names” is Girard’s return to the classical-music mystery of his 1998 hit “The Red Violin,” which followed a single instrument through four centuries, five countries and an assortment of linked narratives.

Eager as ever to attend Tiff, a festival I have missed only once in the last 29 years, because a cat bite sent me to the hospital, I am looking forward to discoveries and have booked my calendar tight with films!

I am lucky to have seen three films already, two in Cannes, both wonderful, memorable funny and absurd films, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, So. Korea’s submission for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, and a likely winner, as well as So. Korea’s first-ever Palm d’Or winner in Cannes this year; and Elia Suleiman’s This Must Be Heaven, sweetly surreal, as funny as a Jacques Tati film, wryly observing our human race and with a funny little cameo with Gael Garcia Bernal introducing Suleiman to his agent. The third, Synonyms, won this year’s Berlinale Golden Bear. A coproduction of France, Israel and Germany, it...

Starring Clive Owen and Tim Roth, Canadian François Girard’s historical drama “The Song of Names” will close the 67th San Sebastian Festival on Sept. 28.

World premiering at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival as a Gala Presentation, “The Song of Names” will play out of competition at what will be its international premiere.

Hanway Films is selling worldwide the film, which was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for the U.S.. Elevation Pictures will distribute in Canada; Filmax in Spain.

“The Song of Names” is based on a novel by British award-winning novelist and cultural commentator Norman Lebrecht, which Jeffrey Caine (“The Constant Gardener”) adapted.

Described as an “emotional detective story,” the film unfolds at the start of World War II, focusing on Dovidl, a 9-year-old violin prodigy who is a Polish-Jewish refugee in London. His brother Martin, of the same age, is devoted to him.

Hours before Dovidl’s...

The San Sebastian International Film Festival will close this year's 67th edition with the international premiere of The Song of Names, starring Tim Roth, Catherine McCormack and Clive Owen.

The film will screen in an out-of-competition slot on the Spanish event's closing night on Sept. 28.

Canadian François Girard (The Red Violin, Silk, Boychoir) directed the drama, based on the novel of the same name by Norman Lebrecht. The story focuses on a 9-year-old boy in London at the start of World War II who befriends a violin prodigy who is also a Polish-Jewish refugee, only to have him disappear ...

The San Sebastian International Film Festival will close this year's 67th edition with the international premiere of The Song of Names, starring Tim Roth, Catherine McCormack and Clive Owen.

The film will screen in an out-of-competition slot on the Spanish event's closing night on Sept. 28.

Canadian François Girard (The Red Violin, Silk, Boychoir) directed the drama, based on the novel of the same name by Norman Lebrecht. The story focuses on a 9-year-old boy in London at the start of World War II who befriends a violin prodigy who is also a Polish-Jewish refugee, only to have him disappear ...

In today’s film news roundup, buyers take rights to “The Song of Names” and “Chain of Death” while and Shaquille O’Neal becomes an executive producer for legal thriller “Foster Boy.”

Acqusitions

Sony Pictures Classics has bought U.S. rights to the music drama “The Song of Names,” starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen.

The film is directed by “The Red Violin” helmer François Girard and is produced by Robert Lantos, Lyse Lafontaine and Nick Hirschkorn. Jeffrey Caine wrote the screenplay, based on the novel by Norman Lebrecht. The original score is by Howard Shore.

The film unfolds at the start of World War II and centers on 9-year-old violin prodigy who is a Polish-Jewish refugee in London. The prodigy’s brother is devoted to him. Hours before his debut concert performance at the age of 21, he vanishes without a trace. Years later, the prodigy’s brother recognizes a...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the U.S. rights to Tim Roth and Clive Owen’s “The Song of Names,” directed François Girard.

Oscar nominee Jeffrey Caine wrote the screenplay, based on the award-winning novel by music scholar Norman Lebrecht with an original score by Oscar winner Howard Shore (“The Lord of the Rings”).

Robert Lantos, Lyse Lafontaine and Nick Hirschkorn are producing.

Also Read: Clive Owen in Talks to Join Will Smith in Ang Lee's 'Gemini Man'

“The Song of Names” is about friendship, betrayal and reconciliation. It shows that sometimes, only music has the power to highlight the truth and heal the people involved.

“‘The Song of Names’ is one of those emotionally rich stories that defies description. Filial love surviving the jaws of history by way of the spiritual magic of music,” Spc said in a statement. “François Girard is the perfect director here,...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired U.S. rights to The Song of Names, the François Girard-directed movie that stars Tim Roth and Clive Owen. Jeffrey Caine (The Constant Gardner) adapted the screenplay from Norman Lebrecht’s novel and the pic features an original score by Oscar winner Howard Shore. A 2019 theatrical release is in the works.

The pic is an an emotional detective story spread over two continents and half a century, culminating in the titular song. It shows that within the darkest of mysteries sometimes only music has the power to illuminate the truth, heal and redeem.

Serendipity Point Films’ Robert Lantos (Eastern Promises), Lyse Lafontaine (Mommy) and Nick Hirschkorn (Five Children and It) are producers. HanWay Films is handling worldwide sales, and Elevation Pictures will distribute the pic in Canada.

“The Song of Names is one of those emotionally rich stories that defies description,” Spc said in...

Serendipity Point Films reunites with Spc on sixth film.

Spc has picked up Us rights from worldwide sales agent HanWay Films to The Song Of Names starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen.

François Girard (The Red Violin) directed from a screenplay by Oscar nominee Jeffrey Caine (The Constant Gardener) based on the novel by music scholar Norman Lebrecht.

The Song Of Names is described as “an emotional detective story spread over two continents and half a century, culminating in the titular Song. The film shows that within the darkest of mysteries sometimes only music has the power to illuminate the truth,...

Catherine Walker, newcomer Jessica Reynolds star in story of mother-daughter suspected of witchcraft.

Epic Pictures and Canadian producer Gianna Isabella of Gate 67 Films have completed principal photography on The Ballad Of Audrey Earnshaw, which Epic will launch to international buyers in Cannes next month.

Catherine Walker (A Dark Song), Sean McGinley (Braveheart), Jared Abrahamson (American Animals), Hannah Emily Anderson (Jigsaw), and newcomer Jessica Reynolds star in the tale of a young woman and her domineeting mother who live as pagans on the fringes of a Protestant settlement.

Hysteria and the increasing threat of violence mounts within the community when a...

The DC Extended Universe beat the Marvel Cinematic Universe to an Oscar win, when “Suicide Squad” (2016) nabbed Best Makeup and Hairstyling. But the McU finally collected its first three Oscars — Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Original Score — on Sunday, and two of them made Oscar history.

“Black Panther” costume designer Ruth E. Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler became the first black winners of their respective categories. Carter, who was second in our odds behind Sandy Powell (“The Favourite”), was already the first black Best Costume Design nominee, having first made the cut for “Malcolm X” (1992). She was also nominated for “Amistad” (1998).

See Oscars: See the full list of winners

Beachler was the first black nominee in Best Production Design for her vibrant, futuristic looks that brought Wakanda to life. Like Carter, she was also in second in our odds behind “The Favourite.” She gave an emotional speech,...

The following remembrance was written by Deborah Davis, Mark Urman’s wife.

From Anatole Litvak’s “Anastasia,” the first movie he saw as a child at a picture palace in the Bronx, to Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born” (his choice for this year’s Best Picture), Mark Urman was a man with a boundless passion for cinema. In the course of his nearly 50 years in film, Mark felt blessed to work with some of the greatest luminaries in the business, from Joseph Losey, David Lean, and Bernardo Bertolucci to Roman Polanski, Sydney Lumet, and Julian Schnabel.

He also delighted in encouraging talents as they emerged, including Ryan Gosling, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Lynette Howell, Jamie Patricof, Christian Bale, Liv Tyler, Marc Forster, Natasha Richardson, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Kevin Smith, Cary Fukunaga, Lee Daniels, and Bill Condon.

Mark was born in the Bronx on November 24, 1952, the...

Amazon Prime Video has confirmed that several of its original series will be debuting new episodes on the streaming service in November, including the first season of the Julia Roberts drama “Homecoming” and the sophomore edition of “Patriot.”

Likewise, there will be plenty of movies making their first appearances on Amazon Prime Video including those featuring Oscar-winning turns by Nicolas Cage (“Leaving Las Vegas”), Tilda Swinton (“Michael Clayton) and Shirley Maclaine (“Terms of Endearment”).

Unlike Netflix, Amazon does not disclose the shows and movies leaving the service in any given month. We’ve done some digging and unearthed a few titles that will be exiting Amazon Prime Video in the first week of November. News of these is detailed at the bottom of this post.

See Netflix schedule: Here’s what is coming and leaving in November

Available November 1

21

2001 Maniacs

Alice

Assault on Precinct 13

Candyman: Day of the Dead

Child...

Hulu’s slate of new titles arriving on the platform in November is here.

“Wonder,” starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay, will arrive on Hulu Nov. 2. The movie, based on the novel of the same name, tells the story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences who enters the fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.

The complete series of “Married with Children” will arrive on the platform on Nov. 9, and the Season 1 premiere of “The Bisexual” will drop on Nov. 16. The “Oceans” trilogy will also become available, beginning Nov. 1.

Also Read: Hulu in Talks to Create a Smaller, More Affordable TV Bundle

Here’s the complete list of titles coming to and leaving Hulu below.

Available Nov. 1

K: Complete Season 2 (Dubbed) (Viz)

Sailor Moon: Complete Season 3 (Dubbed) (Viz)

Six: Complete Season 2 (History)

10 to Midnight (1983)

28 Days Later (2002)

2001 Maniacs (2005)

The Accused (1988)

The Adventures of Priscilla,...

HanWay Films handles world sales on Holocaust mystery.

Principal photography will begin on September 27 in London on Holocaust mystery The Song Of Names starring Tim Roth and Clive Owen.

HanWay Films handles world sales on the drama, which François Girard (The Red Violin) directs from a screenplay by Jeffrey Caine based on Norman Lebrecht’s novel about a man who discovers a musical clue that sheds light on the disappearance of his friend when they were boys in wartime London.

Catherine McCormack, Jonah Hauer King and Gerran Howell also star. Production will take place in London, Budapest, Treblinka, Montreal and New York.

Exclusive: Tim Roth and Clive Owen will star alongside Catherine McCormack (Braveheart), Jonah Hauer King (Little Women) and Gerran Howell (Genius) in The Song Of Names, the drama that The Red Violin director Francois Girard begins shooting tomorrow in London. Based on the Whitbread-winning novel by classical music scholar Norman Lebrecht, the screenplay is by Jeffrey Caine (The Constant Gardener), and the musical score is by Oscar Winner Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings).

The film is produced by Robert Lantos, Lyse Lafontaine and Nick Hirschkorn, with Viktoria Petranyi co-producing. Mark Musselman, Peter Touche and Stephen Spence are exec producers. Pic will also shoot in Budapest, Treblinka, Montreal and New York.

The Song Of Names is an emotional detective story spread over two continents and half a century. Beneath the film’s stunning and emotional musical revelation burn the horror of a war and the lost souls extinguished from history.

Here’s a novel way to sell a soundtrack album: the score for “Deadpool 2” is being ballyhooed as the first score album ever to receive a parental advisory warning.

It is certainly a first for Sony Classical, the label that saw huge success with such Oscar-winning soundtracks as “Titanic,” “The Red Violin,” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” The “Deadpool 2” album was released last Friday; the film starring the irreverent superhero opens this Friday.

The offending phrases appear as choral passages in composer Tyler Bates’ massive and muscular score. In classic Deadpool fashion, they range from “you can’t stop this motherf—er” to “holy s— balls!” — sung with deadly seriousness by a 38-voice Hollywood ensemble.

Bates is no stranger to high-profile comic-book movies. He scored “Watchmen” and both “Guardians of the Galaxy” installments. This marks his third film for director David Leitch (after “John Wick” and “Atomic Blonde...

In 1988, director Francois Girard saw his drama The Red Violin earn composer John Corigliano the Academy Award for best original score. Now the Quebec director wants his latest movie, Hochelaga, Land of Souls — about a fictional Montreal archaeological dig — to secure a nomination after being chosen by Canada as its best foreign-language film Oscar contender.

"It's always a tough race, but we've done a film that's deeply rooted in our culture, and it speaks honestly about who we are," says Girard, an Academy member himself, of the movie's Oscar chances.

The indie drama, which stars Vincent Perez...

Montreal is celebrating its 375th anniversary this year. And to mark the occasion, the celebration committee turned to François Girard, the art house director of “Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould” and “The Red Violin,” to tell the story of Hochelaga, the 16th century city that resided in modern day Montreal. Though Girard has worked in film, opera and with Cirque du Soleil, he said at TheWrap’s Awards and Foreign Screening Series of his film “Hochelaga: Land of Souls” that he’s never truly captured his home in his artwork. “For my own sake, I needed to dig into my own roots,...

Canada has chosen director Francois Girard's Hochelaga, Land of Souls as its contender for consideration in the best foreign-language film Oscar category.

The Canadian French-language drama, which stars Samian, Vincent Perez and Raoul Trujillo, portrays Canadian history through the finds at a fictional Montreal archaeological dig.

Girard, one of Canada's most accomplished filmmakers, has tackled histories and epic narratives before in Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, The Red Violin and Silk.

Canada's national Oscar selection committee, led by Telefilm Canada, unveiled its pick Monday at a press conference in Montreal.

Canada in recent years has had nominations in the...

One of Canada’s most revered filmmakers, known for The Red Violin and Silk, François Girard stopped by Deadline’s Toronto Studio to discuss his latest epic project, Hochelaga, Land of Souls, alongside actor Vincent Perez. Spanning 750 years of Montreal’s history, the film pays tribute to the filmmaker’s homeland, which he had somehow shot little of on prior projects. “I do have a tremendous affection for Montreal. I lived most of my life in Montreal, that's my hometown…...

Exclusive: Canadian sales outfit is representing the project at the Efm.

Seville International arrives at the European Film Market (Efm) with international rights to a feel-good documentary about competitive poultry shows.

Slavko Martinov’s Pecking Order follows members of the Christchurch Poultry, Pigeon and Bantam Club as they strive to overcome internecine warfare and triumph at the New Zealand National Poultry Show.

The New Zealand Film Commission supported the film, which Martinov produced alongside Mike Kelland and David Brechin-Smith.

“This out-of-the-box, hilarious project is pure fun for me and the team at Seville,” said Seville International senior vice-president of international Sales Anick Poirier.

“We are so excited to work with Slavko to bring this creative ‘flockumentary’ to the world and show audiences just how to ruffle some feathers. Buyers will flock.”

Seville’s Berlin sales slate includes the historical epic Hochelaga, Land Of Souls starring Vincent Perez and French-Canadian rapper Samian from The Red Violin director [link=nm...

Shooting underway in Montreal on historical drama features Vincent Perez and French-Canadian rapper Samian.

Anick Poirier and her team will launch sales in Berlin next week on the story that François Girard (The Red Violin) directs from his own screenplay.

Roger Frappier, whose credits include Two Lovers And A Bear and Jesus Of Montreal, produces through his Max Films.

Hochelaga spans 750 years and five stories set on the site of Montreal that link an Iroquoian massacre in 1267, Jacques Cartier’s first voyage in 1535, the purple fever epidemic in 1687, the Patriots uprising in 1837 and brain surgery at the Montreal Neurological Institute in 1944.

Perez and Samian are among an ensemble that includes Naiade Aoun, Raoul Trujillo, Emmanuel Schwartz, David La Haye, Karelle Tremblay, Caroline Dhavernas, Linus Roache, and Sian Phillips.

Seville International senior vice-president of international sales Poirier described the project as “a sweeping, beautiful and unique story that we’re excited to launch in Berlin and bring to audiences...

[Happy Monday, readers! With the 2017 Sundance Film Festival beginning later this week, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the great midnight movies that have come out of the fest over the years. Be sure to check back each day this week for more Midnight Memories from Daily Dead!]

The Sundance Film Festival has hosted the premieres of many a great genre offering; from Lucky McKee’s May in 2002 to Tommy Wirkola’s Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead in 2014, the festival spotlights genre work by turns impactful, thoughtful, or just delightful. And many of the films’ backstories are often as inspired as the work itself. Case in point: Jason Eisener’s Hobo with a Shotgun, which premiered January 21st, 2011 at Sundance, and is still as fun to watch as its journey to the screen is fascinating.

Back in 2007, when Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino were set to release Grindhouse (their double feature love letter to exploitation cinema), they announced a contest for fake exploitation trailers to go along with ones already filmed by established filmmakers such as Edgar Wright and Rob Zombie.

Canadian filmmaking aspirant Eisener (who has gone on to helm segments for The ABCs of Death...

It's our new Production Design series, "The Furniture." Daniel Walber kicked things off last week with the bedroom in The Exorcist. Now a different era and public spaces - Editor

Thanks to Brooklyn and Carol, 2015 was a banner year for the 1950s department store. Both Eilis and Therese spend a fair amount of time as New York City shopgirls, selling to housewives and dealing with stern floor managers. Yet, despite the ostensibly common setting, Brooklyn's Bartocci's and Carol's Frankenberg's could not be more different.

The staff areas are a good place to start. Bartocci’s has a simple enough space for its employees, with open coat lockers to keep their belongings. It’s not beautiful, but the wood lends it a cozy quality. Production designer François Séguin (The Red Violin) and art directors Irene O’Brien (This Must Be the Place) and Robert Parle (Riddick) have a subtle, but assured touch.

Glenn here bringing you some more trivia from this year’s best original song category. Obviously, I could be mistaken about some of these, but, well, in which case la la la, not listening, move along.

Trivia #1 – 2016 marks the first time in Oscar history that two documentaries have ever been nominated in a category outside of the non-fiction categories. While documentaries have been nominated in the original song category in the past – Mondo Cane in ’62 being the first, I believe – and Hoop Dreams scored a best editing nomination in 1995, this year both The Hunting Ground’s “Til It Happens to You” and Racing Extinction’s “Manta Ray” make for a first that two have been cited.

Trivia #2 – This year’s nomination for “Manta Ray” is the third nomination for an enviro-doc in this category in the last decade. While Melissa Etheridge’s “I Need to Wake Up” from An Inconvenient Truth...

Visionary director Julie Taymorcurates and hoststhe first National Sawdust concert tonight, November 6 at 730pm. Made In Brooklyn, an evening inspired by that artistically fertile corner of New York City, will feature music by Brooklyn-born composers including the great George Gershwin and Oscar-winners Aaron Copland, John Corigliano and Elliot Goldenthal. The concert will feature the world concert premiere of Goldenthal's String Quartet No. 1 'The Stone Cutters' performed by Flux Quartet, the 'Chaconne' from Corigliano's Academy Award-winning score for The Red Violin, performed by Tim Fain amp Stephen Gosling, and much more.

Visionary director Julie Taymor will curate and host the first National Sawdust concert on Friday, November 6 at 730pm. Made In Brooklyn, an evening inspired by that artistically fertile corner of New York City, will feature music by Brooklyn-born composers including the great George Gershwin and Oscar-winners Aaron Copland, John Corigliano and Elliot Goldenthal. The concert will feature the world concert premiere of Goldenthal's String Quartet No. 1 'The Stone Cutters' performed by Flux Quartet, the 'Chaconne' from Corigliano's Academy Award-winning score for The Red Violin, performed by Tim Fain amp Stephen Gosling, and much more.

Academy invitee Eddie Redmayne in 'The Theory of Everything.' Academy invites 322 new members: 'More diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before' The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has offered membership to 322 individuals "who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures." According to the Academy's press release, "those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2015." In case all 322 potential new members say an enthusiastic Yes, that means an injection of new blood representing about 5 percent of the Academy's current membership. In the words of Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs (as quoted in the press release), in 2015 "our branches have recognized a more diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before, and we look forward to adding their creativity, ideas and experience to our organization." In recent years, the Academy membership has...

©Renzo Piano Building Workshop/©Studio Pali Fekete architects/©A.M.P.A.S.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this week that the Los Angeles City Council, in a unanimous vote, approved plans for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Construction will begin this summer, and ceremonial groundbreaking festivities will occur this fall.

“I am thrilled that Los Angeles is gaining another architectural and cultural icon,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “My office of economic development has worked directly with the museum’s development team to ensure that the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will create jobs, support tourism, and pay homage to the industry that helped define our identity as the creative capital of the world.”

“We are grateful to our incredible community of supporters who have helped make this museum a reality,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “Building this museum has been an Academy...

Strangely dropping a press release on a historic day where the nation's attention is elsewhere, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed their annual list of new member invitees this morning. For those who criticize the makeup of the Academy there was some good news and the stark realization the organization still has a long way to go. The Academy has spent the last eight to 10 years attempting to diversify its membership and this year's class mostly reflects that. There are significantly more invitees of Asian and African-American descent, but the male to female disparity is still depressing. Out of the 25 potential new members of the Actor's Branch only seven are women. And, no, there isn't really an acceptable way for the Academy to spin that sad fact. Additionally, It's important to realize the 322 people noted in the release have only been invited to join Hollywood's most exclusive club.

Fortissimo Films has acquired international rights to Canadian filmmaker Stephen Dunn’s directorial debut Closet Monster.

Currently in post-production, the English-language coming-of-age drama follows a creative and imaginative teenager who has spent years destabilised by his dysfunctional parents, unsure of his sexuality and haunted by horrific images of a childhood trauma.

Connor Jessup (Falling Skies, Blackbird) plays the teenager. The film also features a talking hamster voiced by Isabella Rossellini.

The film was produced by Rhombus Media (The Red Violin, Blindness) and Best Boy Entertainment with the participation of Telefilm Canada, Newfoundland & Labrador Film Development Corporation and The Harold Greenberg Fund and Rogers Telefund. Canadian distribution will be handled by Elevation Pictures.

Dunn’s short films have won awards at festivals including Toronto and Tribeca. In 2015, his short film series Pop-Up Porno created a sensation at Sundance.

The deal for international rights was finalised by Fortissimo Films’ chairman Michael J. Werner and producers Fraser Ash and Kevin Krikst...

All week long our writers will debate: Which was the greatest film year of the past half century. Check here for a complete list of our essays. Just one glance at the Oscar nominees for 1998 might make it seem less a questionable choice for “best year in film” — and more an insane one. Instead of a 1974 – The Godfather II, The Conversation, Chinatown, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, etc – or even a 1994, where Shawshank, Quiz Show, and Pulp Fiction lost to Gump – you choose a year where the Oscars would allow Roberto Benigni to climb atop both the figurative and literal chairs of the Shrine? Fine, step away from the Oscars. Would you still celebrate a year that saw not one, but two movies about asteroids threatening the Earth? A year that saw such scars carved across cinematic history as Patch Adams, My Giant, Stepmom, and Krippendorf’s Tribe? It bears repeating: Krippendorf’S Tribe?...

Some critics derided Avengers: Age of Ultron as bloated, bombastic and nonsensical, but Australian moviegoers clearly dismissed or didn.t read the reviews

The Marvel blockbuster directed by Joss Whedon captured $15.7 million last weekend and $17.1 million including Wednesday night previews.

That.s the third biggest 4-day opening of all time behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

The superhero adventure starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo eclipsed the 2012 debut of The Avengers, which raked in $13.3 million.

To be fair, the original opened on a Wednesday, Anzac Day, making $6 million on that day, and finished up with a towering $53.2 million.

The Disney release accounted for a whopping 71% of the entire market as nationwide receipts shot up by 34% to $22.1 million, according to Rentrak.s estimates. The four-day tally was up 18.5% on last year.

Universal.s Fast & Furious 7...

The Angels’ Share: Girard’s Musical Drama a Conventional Return

Quebecois filmmaker Francois Girard returns from a near decade long hiatus with Boychoir, his first cinematic venture since 2007’s Silk. The absence may not be much for Girard, who never seems to be in a much of a hurry when it comes to filmed endeavors, considering he last received breakout notices in that realm for 1998’s The Red Violin. Returning once more to his favored subject matter, the connective tissue of music, his latest feels a bit too familiar, a commonplace underdog tale that never quite feels invested in itself. True, Girard bypasses the general sense of staunch melodrama that saddles these diamond in the rough tales where troubled yet talented youth meets grizzled mentor (Finding Forrester, for instance), but there’s an air of nonchalant convenience to its rudimentary structure that tends to undermine some potential powerful elements, such...