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Content agencies from Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines presented their incentives and co-production initiatives at Taiwan Creative Content Fest (Tccf) on Thursday.

Malaysia’s National Film Development Corp (Finas) revealed that it plans to join the regional trend to launch a scheme designed to stimulate co-production with its domestic filmmakers.

“We’re moving towards gap financing and matching funds, which we’ll be announcing officially next year,” said Finas CEO Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib.

“We’re exploring how to get into gap financing and best match with our rebate systems. Moving forward, we want to encourage more private investors to enter the picture.”

Malaysia already has a location incentive for both local and international productions, Film In Malaysia Incentive (Fimi), which offers a 30% cash rebate on all qualifying Malaysian production expenditure, with an additional 5% rebate subject to a cultural test.

Fimi has so far supported 61 foreign titles, with combined cash payouts of $90M,...

Michael Mann's 2015 cyber-thriller "Blackhat," with its steely visuals and ultra-serious tone, clearly sought to update computer-based espionage movies for a new generation. A lot of time had passed since the days of "Hackers" and "The Net," and cyber-warriors — and their corresponding computer tools — now looked and behaved a lot differently. The film follows a computer engineer named Chen Lien (Tang Wei) and her cop brother Dawai (Leehom Wang) as they investigate a series of dangerous computer security breaches throughout China. They eventually find that the top-secret code used to hack their systems was written by hotshot hacker Nicholas Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth), who was Dawai's old MIT roommate. Hathaway, however, is not the man responsible. As such, Hathaway is released from prison (he was serving time for hacking bank systems) and enlisted to help the Feds find the real hacker.

The film is ploddingly paced, poorly photographed, and difficult to follow,...

Michael Mann Archives is a new website that includes mini documentaries, annotated scripts and other materials – at a cost.

Update 19th July 2024: Since this piece was published, we’ve had a response from the PR agency involved in the website; we’ve updated the post with their reply below.

Our original story follows…

Eminent filmmaker Michael Mann has just launched a new website – and we’re not talking some hastily thrown-together Geocities affair set in Comic Sans, either. Called Michael Mann Archives, the project “offers an unprecedented exploration of the creative process within Mann’s films.”

The first batch of materials published on the website all comes from, logically enough, Ferrari – the motor racing biopic released to widespread praise (and disappointing box-office) in December 2023. Among those materials you’ll find 20 mini making-of documentaries, scripts – one of them covered in Mann’s notes and scribbles – pre-viz footage, and lots more besides.

When it comes to epic new character challenges for Chris Hemsworth, the question isn’t “Can he do it?” The question is “Does he have it in him… to make it epic?”

From “The Avengers” and “Blackhat” to more Avengers and “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” Hemsworth has been chewing through action roles since he was first cast as Captain Kirk’s dad in the 2009 “Star Trek” reboot that launched a thousand IMDb pages. He’s known across the world and throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Thor: an ancient god dedicated to protecting Earth and the “Guardians of the Galaxy” IP with a heart of gold and a hammer the size of Rocket Raccoon. Sometimes he’s brave. Sometimes he’s goofy. And shaggy or shaven, the man sure can make a cape and eyepatch sexy.

Although the Thor role may have made Hemsworth a household name, he...

After his star-studded roles in other superhero and action franchises, including his long-term work as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the latest addition as Dr. Dementus in the Mad Max lore, Chris Hemsworth, seems to be all set to jump into his next big project. What’s more, his next role may reportedly be in a collision movie of two of the biggest action franchises of all time.

Chris Hemsworth. | Credit: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons.

According to exclusive reports, Hemsworth is being eyed to star in a crossover movie of multi-billionaire G.I. Joe and Transformers franchises. But as much as this is a piece of fantastic news for all of his fans out there, Peter Cullen fans don’t seem to be all too happy about it. And, if anything, their anger just may be over nothing if these reports turn out to be true.

Chris Hemsworth is...

Los Angeles, California – May 01: Barbara Crampton attends the Film Independent special screening of “The Last Stop in Yuma County” at Harmony Gold on May 01, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Umbrelic Entertainment’s Brian Katz and Thomas Zambeck are proud to announce that filming has commenced for the horror film, The Possession At Gladstone Manor. Starring Caylee Cowan (Hypnotic), Jesse Metcalf (John Tucker Must Die), Charlotte Kirk (The Reckoning), Darren Weiss (Inside Man), Barbara Crampton, William Mapother (Blackhat), and Lin Shaye (Insidious Franchise), production is underway in Kansas City, utilizing the new Missouri state tax incentives.

Amp’s Anthony Buckner will be handling international sales at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival.

“As die-hard fans of the horror genre, this project feels like a dream come true,” says Zambeck. “We’re thrilled to bring this dark vision to life, and scare audiences with this...

Umbrelic Entertainment has unveiled the cast of its upcoming horror film, “The Possession at Gladstone Manor,” which includes Caylee Cowan (“Hypnotic”), Jesse Metcalfe (“John Tucker Must Die”), Charlotte Kirk (“The Reckoning”), Darren Weiss (“Inside Man”), Barbara Crampton (“You’re Next”), William Mapother (“Blackhat”) and Lin Shaye (“Insidious” franchise).

Production is currently underway in Kansas City, and Amp’s Anthony Buckner is handling international sales at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

According to an official logline, “The Possession at Gladstone Manor” picks up “when Jamie Black discovers her mother has gone missing [and] resolves to investigate by applying for the same job her mother held at Gladstone Manor. Jamie soon finds evidence that her mother isn’t the only missing person, and that she may be dealing with sinister forces beyond this world.”

“As die-hard fans of the horror genre, this project feels like a dream come true,” said producer Thomas Zambeck.

Reminiscing the past once in a while is something everyone does. That’s what Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth has been up to, and has been generous enough to let his fans have an insight into it.

Chris Hemsworth in a still from Extraction 2

The Extraction II star took a trip down memory lane, quite literally, when he visited his childhood home in the Northern Territory of Australia. Hemsworth’s carousel post on Instagram was a mosaic of heartwarming moments of the present, an echo of what had been, and what is now; thirty-five years apart.

Chris Hemsworth Visited His Roots Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder

On Sunday, April 7, Chris Hemsworth posted a carousel on Instagram from his visit to Gulin Gulin, Bulman; a place where the star spent his “earliest and happiest memories”. The community members welcomed the star warmly, all dressed in red, and...

With the film industry focusing more on remaking and retelling the stories from past times, Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be jumping on this bandwagon as he prepares to star in a reimagined version of the 1989 dark comedy The War of the Roses, which is newly titled The Roses.

Along with the MCU star, we will also witness Academy Award-winning actress Olivia Colman playing the role of the female lead in the upcoming film.

Benedict Cumberbatch in and as Sherlock

With this reimagination being made for modern times, the themes and elements of this classic film might be changed to a certain extent, which will be interesting to see. But at the same time, this news has not been taken too joyfully by audiences who loved the original and are calling it out for being non-creative and unnecessary.

Remake Of 1989’s The War Of The Roses Is Set To Star Benedict...

The legendary Jean-Claude Van Damme is back in action in the upcoming thriller Darkness of Man, which is set to receive a digital release on May 21st. With that date just a couple months away, a trailer for the film has arrived online, and you can check it out in the embed above!

Directed by James Cullen Bressack, who crafted the story with Jcvd and wrote the screenplay with Alethea Hnatko-Cho, Darkness of Man has the following synopsis: Russell Hatch (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a washed-up, former Interpol operative who vowed to protect the son of an informant killed years earlier in a raid gone wrong. When merciless street gangs start an all-out turf war and the kid is caught in the middle, Hatch will stop at nothing to keep him safe and fight anyone who gets in his way.

Van Damme is joined in the cast by Emerson Min...

When it was released back in 1995, Michael Mann’s film Heat became a global hit. This action thriller starring acting legends Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, as well as then-upcoming actor Val Kilmer, was one of the biggest films of the decade and has become a pillar of the genre. Although Mann had already been an established director by then, Heat further cemented his place in the history of cinema, making him one of the most important creators in the history.

Mann had a relatively long “dry streak” after 2009’s Public Enemies (Blackhat is basically a forgotten movie), to use this term, before last year’s Ferrari was released to solid reviews, with praise directed at Driver’s performance. His return to the spotlight also reignited rumors about a possible sequel to Heat, something that Hollywood has been gossiping about for some time, with Heat 2 becoming a more palpable possibility at the time.

Talk To Me breakout star Sophie Wilde is set to appear in Watch Dogs, a long-in-gestation adaptation of Ubisoft’s hacking-based videogame series.

As such Hollywood films as Blackhat and Hackers have taught us, only the coolest and most photogenic people engage in cybercrime. The cool-and-trendy-hacker theme was continued in Watch Dogs, a series of sandbox action adventure videogames first published by Ubisoft in 2014.

Spawning a hit franchise comprising two sequels and counting, Watch Dogs sees high-tech outlaws cause all kinds of digital mischief in cities around the world, with each game taking in stealth, driving, fisticuffs, shooting and tinkering with electronic devices.

A film adaptation based on the series was first floated by Ubisoft Motion Pictures back in 2013, before the original game was even released. The division’s plans for a multitude of movies based on its games took something of a body blow, however, when 2016’s Assassin’s Creed,...

Ferrari has bypassed theaters and will be racing out online only in Germany.

Amazon, which picked up rights in Germany and Austria for Michael Mann’s race car biopic, will release the Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz starrer directly online. The film, which premiered in Venice last year and was released theatrically in the U.S. by Neon, will bow on Amazon’s Prime Video service in the two territories on March 1. Amazon took the same track in France, where Ferrari will go out on exclusively on Amazon Prime on March 8. Ferrari was pre-sold to Amazon in the territories (as well in India and the Nordic territories). The producers of the film noted that after the Amazon deal was done there were no plans to release the movie theatrically in those territories.

While generally well-received by U.S. critics, Ferrari got trashed by many Euro reviewers, who took issue with...

Holt McCallany is enjoying a career renaissance right now thanks to “The Iron Claw,” but let’s not pretend this hasn’t been going on for a while now. McCallany’s recognition is well-deserved, with top-notch performances over the past decade in “Blackhat,” “Nightmare Alley,” and “Wrath Of Man,” among others. But his most memorable and accalimed role may be in David Fincher‘s shortlived but much beloved Netflix series “Mindhunter” as FBI agent Bill Tench.

Continue reading Holt McCallany Remains “Hopeful” For Another Season Of ‘Mindhunter’: “If It Comes Back, I’m Coming Back With It” at The Playlist.

The Christmas and New Year's box office capped off 2023 with a hefty unexpected bounty. Despite not having a single outright mega-blockbuster hit like "Spider-Man: No Way Home" or "Avatar: The Way of Water" like 2021 and 2022 had, the overall final frame of the year was big enough to push the final domestic tally for the year past the $9 billion mark. A unique aspect of the most recent week was that we had a slew of movies -- "Wonka," "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," "The Color Purple," and "Migration," among others -- carrying the load. The love was spread around, which was very nice to see. Unfortunately, that love did not extend to Michael Mann's "Ferrari," which now finds itself in a precarious situation financially.

Released in theaters on Christmas Day, Mann's first movie since 2015's "Blackhat" did not find much of an audience. The film, a biopic about legendary car-maker...

Stars: Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Giuseppe Festinese, Derek Hill, Leonardo Caimi, Gabriel Leone, Michele Savoia | Written by Troy Kennedy Martin, Brock Yates | Directed by Michael Mann

It has been 8 years since Michael Mann last had a film in cinemas, the hugely underrated Blackhat. Now he is back, and we can only hope he doesn’t have another 8-year gap between movies. Now he is telling the story of Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the iconic car brand. The film takes aim and focuses on the summer of 1957 when Ferrari’s passion in his personal life, and passion for his work, head towards crisis.

Adam Driver is Enzo Ferrari, and as he has many times before, he becomes the man himself. Only a few moments into the film, the image of Driver fades away and we are only left with the presence of Enzo Ferrari. A deeply complicated man throughout,...

Content warning: This article discusses the death of a child and contains spoilers for "Ferrari."

Director Michael Mann is back with his first feature film since 2015's "Blackhat." This time, the acclaimed filmmaker is bringing a long-gestating passion project to the big screen in the form of "Ferrari," a biopic about famed car maker Enzo Ferrari, played by Adam Driver. Specifically, it chronicles a very tumultuous period for the historical figure that takes place in the summer of 1957. It all leads up to one of the most horrific accidents in the history of racing — one that Mann captured on screen in gruesome detail.

Anyone who has seen the movie knows the scene: Alfonso de Portago (portrayed by Gabriel Leone in the film) is racing in the Mille Miglia during the film's climax. After his tire is punctured, the car is flung into the air and smashes into a group of onlookers,...

Something interesting happened the other day. I reached out to Arrow Video to get a review copy of their upcoming Conan the Barbarian 4k release, The Conan Chronicles (which also features Conan the Destroyer). I was told their retail stock of the much-anticipated title had already sold out (don’t worry – more is on the way). To me, this is a very promising sign, with interesting companies like Arrow, Scream/Shout Factory, and Kino Lorber making really thoughtful, beautifully assembled 4K collector’s editions of cult hits on physical media that, despite being more niche than they were twenty or so years ago, are actually selling really well.

Studios have all but abandoned physical media, at least as far as library titles go. Some studios, like Paramount, still re-release their classics through labels like Paramount Presents, but for many companies, these titles are an afterthought, even for their biggest movies.

Clockwise from top right: Robert De Niro in Heat, Colin Farrell in Miami Vice, Chris Hemsworth in Blackhat, James Caan in Thief, Tom Cruise in Collateral, Will Smith in Ali. Screenshot: YouTube There have been several reasons for cinephiles to rejoice in 2023, but few are more exciting than the return of Michael Mann.

Clockwise from top right: Robert De Niro in Heat, Colin Farrell in Miami Vice, Chris Hemsworth in Blackhat, James Caan in Thief, Tom Cruise in Collateral, Will Smith in Ali.Screenshot: YouTube

There have been several reasons for cinephiles to rejoice in 2023, but few are more exciting than the return of Michael Mann.

Michael Mann is one of the top directors in Hollywood, long used to calling his own shots. When Joe Roth was running Disney Motion Pictures, he asked Mann if his “60 Minutes” expose “The Insider” with Russell Crowe and Al Pacino (1999) would make money. “Probably not,” Mann said. Roth made it anyway. It wasn’t a hit ($60 million worldwide), but it scored seven Oscar nominations, including Picture, Director, Actor, and Adapted Screenplay. Like many of Mann’s movies, it also gained stature over time.

But for all of Mann’s classic films, there are as many movies that didn’t get made in his oeuvre. It takes a lot for him to decide that he should expend the time and energy to go forward with a project, partly because his standards of performance are so high. For example, after directing four movies with high degrees of difficulty in a row Mann...

Nearly nine years since Blackhat with one hour-long TV pilot and big novel in-between doesn’t mean Michael Mann’s spent the much-better part of a decade lying dormant. The man(n) develops, develops, and develops, which is plenty effort for a noted perfectionist whose projects of late haven’t been so financially viable. Fingers crossed Ferrari––a solid, expressive bit of work––does business: he’s holding on to some long-stewing projects and hinting at ones we haven’t even heard word of yet.

In a recent interview with Uproxx, Mann reaffirms interest in a Vietnam-set project––likely his semi-recent attempts to adapt Mark Bowden’s Hue 1968, about the war’s turning-point Tet Offensive, though the outlet (I’m guessing incorrectly) refer to it as the “Battle of Wai.” In 2017 it was sketched as a 10-part FX series on which Mann would serve as a multi-episode director, but no...

Arrow Video is proud to announce the release of Michael Mann’s contemporary espionage thriller Blackhat starring Chris Hemsworth – available now on 4K Uhd and Blu-ray – which includes the rarely-seen Director’s Cut, never before released on home video!

“Back in February, when we announced our release of Blackhat (FCD2373 / AV502) some of our customers expressed disappointment that it did not include the Director’s Cut of the film. Arrow Video has heard your pleas…

After an extensive search, we have managed to track down the rarely-seen Director’s Cut, never before released on home video. The original digital files have been retrieved and we are very pleased to confirm that it will now be included as a second Blu-ray Disc.

To allow time for disc authoring and quality control, we have had to push the release date back to 27th November 2023 in the UK and 28th November 2023 in the US and Canada.

On Christmas Day, Ferrari will roar into theaters. The first film from acclaimed director Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider) since 2015’s Blackhat.

Set in 1957, the drama sees Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) on the brink of professional and personal ruin. His Italian car company is about to face bankruptcy, his wife Laura (Penélope Cruz) has had it with his affairs — particularly his second family with Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley) — and he and Laura are still spiraling after the tragic death of his son Dino. So, Enzo and Laura are at each other’s throats.

The holidays are upon us, so whether you looking for film-related gifts or simply want to pick up some of the finest the year had to offer in the category for yourself, we have a gift guide for you. Including must-have books on filmmaking, the best from the Criterion Collection and more home-video picks, subscriptions, magazines, music, and more, dive in below.

Giveaways

In celebration of our holiday gift guide, we’ll be doing a number of giveaways! First up, we’re giving away My First Movie Vol. 2, a three-part ‘lil cinephile series by Cory Everett and illustrator Julie Olivi, featuring My First Spaghetti Western, My First Yakuza Movie, and My First Hollywood Musical.

Enter on Instagram (for My First Yakuza Movie), Twitter (for My First Hollywood Musical), and/or Facebook (for My First Spaghetti Western) by Sunday, November 26 at 11:59pm Et. Those that enter on all three platforms...

Update, November 13: Camerimage Film Festival director Marek Żydowicz has released the following statement about Driver’s exchange with a fan.

“As the founder and director of the EnergaCAMERIMAGE film festival, I was very honored to have Adam Driver as our guest at the festival. We prepared a very demanding festival schedule for him, one that Adam embraced with great openness and commitment. Despite the very tight program of his visit to Toruń related to his honorary Golden Frog award and promotion of the film Ferrari as part of the Main Competition at our festival, he participated in meetings and discussions about EnergaCAMERIMAGE film festival and the art of cinematography, met with the admirers of his talent as well as cinema aficionados, and asked for the conversation following the screening to be open to the public to have that direct dialogue with people who came to see the film. He...

The first notable images in Blackhat are of a synchronized series of white lights, flashing rapidly as digital poison courses through the inner workings of a computer mainframe, the camera trailing along on this tumbling journey through the darkness. This is a scarcely graceful bit of eye-catching CG spectacle, seemingly injected to enliven the usually drab proceedings of the hacker movie, a subgenre of thrillers in which fleet-fingered desperadoes are prone to squaring off against one another across the bland conduit of static computer prompts. Yet despite a fair share of clunky elements, director Michael Mann’s elegant work ultimately elevates the film above the level of the material, turning that initial image—of light and dark contrasted within a seemingly all-encompassing grid, its rigidity offset by a sinuous flow of wordless movement—into a gracefully expanding visual motif.

Utilizing a variety of flourishes stemming from agile, expressive camerawork courtesy of Stuart Dryburgh,...

Michael Mann is back at it. The director is making a triumphant return to the film world after a less-than-stellar reception to his 2015 tech thriller, Blackhat, which starred Chris Hemsworth. This year marks the release of Ferrari, his biopic of Enzo Ferrari starring Adam Driver, which is already generating positive word-of-mouth, including talk of a Best Supporting Actress nod for Driver’s co-star Penelope Cruz. Mann also has said that he will be moving on to a film adaptation of his crime novel sequel to his prolific 1995 drama, Heat. That project is also rumored to star Adam Driver.

According to Variety, Michael Mann is already at work on another project as he is now developing a remake of the Korean action-thriller-comedyVeteran from Ryoo Seung-wan. It is not yet known if Mann plans to direct the film or only be attached as a writer and producer. He is currently working with the U.

With Michael Mann finally returning to feature filmmaking this fall with Ferrari, which is enjoying a festival run ahead of its Christmas debut, the filmmaker is eying what to do next. It seems like an Adam Driver-led Heat 2 is very much in the cards––though one wonders if WB’s greenlit status will be dependent on the success of Ferrari. In the meantime, the director is also developing another project.

Variety reports the Miami Vice helmer is working on an adaptation of Ryoo Seung-wan’s 2015 crime thriller Veteran, a massive hit in South Korea as it is currently the 5th-highest-grossing film in the country. The crowd-pleaser follows a detective who is tracking down a young, wealthy, and privileged business owner who is running his own crime syndicate.

Currently in the development stage, it’s not decided yet if Mann will just produce and script or direct the project himself.

“Ferrari” director Michael Mann is planning to make a U.S. adaptation of South Korean crime thriller “Veteran.”

The project is at development stage, and Mann is working with the U.S. and Korean wings of Cj Enm, Korea’s leading film and TV conglomerate. It is currently undecided whether Mann himself will direct or just take production and writing credits.

“We are developing a script with Michael Mann, but his role and our schedule are not fixed yet,” a source close to Cj Enm told Variety.

Work halted on the project during the Hollywood screenwriters’ strike and it is unclear when development will pick up in earnest.

Mann is currently focusing on the development of “Heat 2,” which he recently confirmed as his next directing outing. The project, which is set up at Warner Bros., is the sequel to his genre-defining 1995 noir “Heat.”

“Veteran” has some similarities with “Heat...

Adam Driver in Ferrari Screenshot: Neon Michael Mann’s long-gestating passion project, Ferrari, is almost here. Ferrari stars Adam Driver, who, with his refined House Of Gucci accent, plays the automotive legend Enzo Ferrari. Opposite his wife (Penelope Cruz) and his lover (Shailene Woodley), Ferrari is struggling to save his collapsing racecar factory,...

Adam Driver in FerrariScreenshot: Neon

Michael Mann’s long-gestating passion project, Ferrari, is almost here.

Ferrari stars Adam Driver, who, with his refined House Of Gucci accent, plays the automotive legend Enzo Ferrari. Opposite his wife (Penelope Cruz) and his lover (Shailene Woodley), Ferrari is struggling to save his collapsing racecar factory,...

Where to start with Michael Mann‘s “Ferrari“? It’s a passion project long in the making, with Mann developing it for over two decades. It’s also Mann’s first film with Adam Driver, and with rumors of Mann wanting to cast the actor in “Heat 2,” it may not be the last. And it’s the director’s first film since 2015’s “Blackhat,” an excellent and underrated film maligned by most audiences but with a devoted following.

Continue reading New ‘Ferrari’ Trailer: Michael Mann’s New Biopic With Adam Driver & Penélope Cruz Arrives In Theaters This Christmas at The Playlist.

Michael Mann’s Ferrari is racing to the finish line, with Neon dropping the first full trailer for the director’s first movie since Blackhat in 2015. A long-time passion project for the director, Ferrari stars Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, opposite Penelope Cruz as his wife Laura, while Shailene Woodley plays his mistress, Lina Lardi.

Here’s the official synopsis:

It is the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle of Formula 1, ex-racer Enzo Ferrari is in crisis. Bankruptcy threatens the factory he and his wife, Laura built from nothing ten years earlier. Their volatile marriage has been battered by the loss of their son, Dino a year earlier. Ferrari struggles to acknowledge his son Piero with Lina Lardi. Meanwhile, his drivers’ passion to win pushes them to the edge as they launch into the treacherous 1,000-mile race across

Italy, the Mille Miglia.

Ferrari made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSGasoline Rainbow.London Film Festival have announced the films in their competitive sections, with new work by Zhang Mengqi, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Bill and Turner Ross included in the Official Competition, plus films by Ehsan Khoshbakht, Cyril Aris, and Chloe Abrahams up for the Documentary award.Meanwhile, the Alliance of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently returned to the bargaining table with the Writers Guild of America, with CEOs like Bob Iger, David Zaslav, and Ted Sarandos in tow. "On the 113th day of the strike—and while SAG-AFTRA is walking the picket lines by our side—we were met with a lecture about how good their single and only counteroffer was,” wrote the WGA in a statement circulated to members, followed two days later by a thorough explanation of why this proposal was inadequate.

In Modena, everyone is losing––the football club, the women, the Ferraris. It’s the spring of 1957, and ex-racer-turned-entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver), aka Il Commendatore, carries the weight of the city on his shoulders. And much more: the future of his 10-year-old company, his marriage, his affair, his bank account, his unrecognized son, and his dignity––to name the important things.

Maserati, Jaguar, and the rest have left Ferrari in the dust in recent competition. His staff badmouths him in the local paper like he won’t read it the next morning and fire their ass the second he walks into the factory. His drivers are dropping like flies, Enzo’s breakneck ethic of racing a death warrant for anyone crazy enough to drive for him. In short, Il Commendatore is a catalyst for disaster.

Michael Mann’s first feature since 2015’s Blackhat offers a late-career challenge: a time and place the iconic writer,...

The first reviews are in from Thursday night’s Venice Film Festival world premiere of the Michael Mann-directed major Oscar contender “Ferrari,” the action-packed Neon study of the Italian racer and sports car entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari starring Adam Driver as Ferrari, Penelope Cruz as his wife Laura and Shailene Woodley as his mistress Lina Lardi. It focuses on three pivotal months in the life of Ferrari back in 1957, casting its focus on that year’s grueling Mille Miglia endurance race and the love triangle between Enzo and his women. While the early critiques are mixed with some lukewarm ones, the majority are uniformly positive and include a few outright raves.

Here is a sampling:

Owen Gleiberman of Variety raves, “In Michael Mann’s heady, intricately dark, raptly absorbing ‘Ferrari,’ it isn’t just the action that’s fraught with thrilling danger. Every moment of the drama moves with a sense of high-stakes dread,...

Among all working U.S. filmmakers, few have built as faithful and fervent a following of critics and cinephiles as Michael Mann. Mann’s acolytes have secured such sleekly hard-boiled genre works as “Thief” and “Heat” a permanent place in the American canon, while staunchly advocating for the merits of more divisive titles like “Blackhat” and “Miami Vice” — the latter, released to mixed reviews and moderate box office in 2006, today attracts reverent crowds at repertory screenings. Such is the power of Mann’s men (and women): At 80, Mann has made just 12 films in a career spanning five decades, but his legacy is wholly secure.

The Academy, however, has never quite joined the cult. Only once has a Mann film connected with a wide swath of Oscar voters: That would be 1999’s scorching Big Tobacco takedown “The Insider,” a box-office disappointment that nonetheless boasted enough artistry and gravitas to land seven nominations,...

Oscar voters, start your engines.

On Thursday night at the Venice Film Festival, Adam Driver and Michael Mann officially kicked off awards season with the world premiere of their racing drama “Ferrari,” which debuted in competition.

The packed house at the Sala Grande Theatre showered Driver and Mann with a six-minute-standing ovation. Driver fought back tears at the tragic conclusion of the film. As he stayed in his seat, Mann helped him up to receive the applause for the Italian-set film.

“Ferrari” has been the big ticket of Venice, and the premiere didn’t disappoint, finally bringing some star power to the Lido. Driver, who plays racecar driver Enzo Ferrari in the film, approached crowds of screaming fans, scribbling out a few autographs. These groupies lined up for hours in the Italian sun to catch a glimpse of the actor best known for playing Kylo Ren in “Star Wars.”

Patrick Dempsey also attended the premiere,...

The first big-deal flick at this year’s Venice Film Festival, and thus this year’s awards season race, is Michael Mann’s “Ferrari.”

The picture marks the four-time Academy Award nominee’s return to theatrical features, more than eight years after the Chris Hemsworth-starring hacker actioner “Blackhat.”

Even with rave reviews and copious awards nominations, Mann’s pictures have often been more celebrated by the critical community than embraced by general audiences.

Speaking of the critical community, at least those lucky enough to get the first glance at this newest offering, what is the word?

The Wrap’s Ben Croll in his review wrote: “Premiering at the Venice Film Festival and heralding a welcome return to the big screen after eight long years away, Mann’s high-verve biopic also marks a formal shift towards a more classical compositional style. The film forgoing the digital experimentation that colored Mann...

Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Venice Film Festival. Neon releases the film in theaters on Monday, December 25.

For Enzo Ferrari, racing was a deadly passion, a terrible joy.

For director Michael Mann, the automaker and his life’s obsession make for briskly entertaining melodrama in a moment-in-time portrait focused around Ferrari and the Mille Miglia race of 1957. Adam Driver, again playing an Italian historical figure after taking on Maurizio Gucci for another major American auteur in Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci,” stars as a grief-driven Enzo Ferrari, working to save his near-bankrupt company while trying to appease his business partner and wife, Laura. She’s played with jilted, internalized rage by Penélope Cruz in her best performance since winning an Oscar for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” In fact, you could argue that Laura, worn in as an old shoe and run dry by her husband’s dalliances and impulsive decision-making,...

Thanks to a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement, Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” is among the indie, AMPTP-less productions able to bring its director, cast, and crew to the Venice Film Festival.

The moment-in-time biography about ex-racer and automaker Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) as he prepares his financially bleeding company for the 1,000-mile Mille Miglia race across Italy screened Tuesday morning in the Sala Darsena before tonight’s world premiere. Mann and Driver were joined by actor Patrick Dempsey (who plays racer Piero Taruffi), cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, and more at the post-screening press conference.

“His story is so profoundly human and when you encounter a character as dynamic as he is, as operatic as he is, the more specifically you get into the man, the deeper you dive, the more universal it becomes, and I found that the way so many parts of him were in opposition to each other, his life resonated with,...

One day before its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Neon has started the promotional engine for Michael Mann’s “Ferrari.” The drama, the first feature Mann has directed since “Blackhat” in 2015, stars Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, the Italian racer and founder of the famed car brand.

Along with the first trailer for the film (see it below), Neon also released the official synopsis:

It is the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle of Formula 1, ex-racer Enzo Ferrari is in crisis. Bankruptcy threatens the factory he and his wife, Laura built from nothing ten years earlier. Their volatile marriage has been battered by the loss of their son, Dino a year earlier. Ferrari struggles to acknowledge his son Piero with Lina Lardi. Meanwhile, his drivers’ passion to win pushes them to the edge as they launch into the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, the Mille Miglia.

In addition to Driver,...

Michael Mann’s last outing as a feature film director was eight years ago with the cyber crime film Blackhat, starring Chris Hemsworth. Now, the director of such classic films as The Last of the Mohicans and Heat returns with the story of Enzo Ferrari. Ironically, Mann had executive produced James Mangold’s 2019 racing film, Ford v Ferrari, in which the Italian brand was the main competition for the film’s protagonists. Mann’s Ferrari is naturally the story from the other side (albeit at a different time) as the film shows the auto giant navigating the issues of his personal life with the looming obstacles of an upcoming, dangerous 1,000-mile race.

The official synopsis from Neon reads,

“It is the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle of Formula 1, ex-racer Enzo Ferrari is in crisis. Bankruptcy threatens the factory he and his wife, Laura built from nothing ten years earlier.

Ahead of the film’s debut at the Venice Film Festival, Neon has dropped the first trailer for “Heat” and “The Insider” filmmaker Michael Mann’s new movie “Ferrari.” Not quite a biopic, the film chronicles Enzo Ferrari (played by Adam Driver) through the lens of one fateful summer.

Set in 1957, the film follows ex-racer Ferrari (Adam Driver) as he faces multiple crises: his factory and family are under threat of bankruptcy, his marriage is in shambles due to the loss of their son Dino, his relationship with his other son outside his marriage is strained and his drivers are pushed to the edge as they launch into the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, the Mille Miglia.

You’ll only get flashes of that in the first trailer, which is dialogue-free and instead opts for evocative imagery as a roaring race car revs over the footage. Mann worked for the...

You asked for it, and Michael Mann has delivered. Only a scant few years after Ridley Scott cast Adam Driver in the role of a lifetime as the ineffectual and very stereotypically Italian Maurizio Gucci in "House of Gucci," yet another legendary filmmaker has decided to pick up that baton and run with it. Mann fans have been all but chomping at the bit to catch a glimpse of the "Heat" and "The Last of the Mohicans" director's take on "Ferrari," the long in the works production (dating back more than two decades!) detailing the life of Enzo Ferrari and his most daring feat yet in bringing his prestigious car company to the next level. The story behind the world-famous automotive figurehead and entrepreneur might not seem to lend itself to a tone as garish and over-the-top as Driver channeled as the head of the Gucci family, but we have...

While many intriguing films will vie for the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival, Michael Mann‘s “Ferrari” may be at the top of the list. It’s Mann’s first film since 2015’s “Blackhat,” the first outright flop of Mann’s career since 1983’s “The Keep.” That’s a strange lapse for a director among today’s most esteemed American filmmakers.

Continue reading Michael Mann On ‘Blackhat’ Flop: “The Script Wasn’t Ready To Shoot” But “The Subject May Have Been Ahead Of The Curve” at The Playlist.

Michael Mann is revisiting the disaster that was “Blackhat.”

Mann, whose upcoming “Ferrari” is his first film in eight years since 2015’s “Blackhat,” admitted to Variety that the feature was not ready to go into production.

“It’s my responsibility,” Mann said. The script was not ready to shoot.”

“Blackhat” starred Chris Hemsworth as a hacker, with Viola Davis and Tang Wei co-starring. The film made only $19.7 million at the global box office against a budget of $70 million, and became a critical flop.

However, Mann stands by the themes of the film, saying, “The subject may have been ahead of the curve, because there were a number of people who thought this was all fantasy. Wrong. Everything is stone-cold accurate.”

The writer-director spent three years in research for the “Blackhat” script, telling IndieWire that the film was a hard sell to executives.

“When we came back to L.A. to pitch it,...

Over eight years after the commercial failure of “Blackhat,” director Michael Mann is putting the blame where he feels it belongs: Michael Mann.

While promoting the upcoming Adam Driver vehicle “Ferrari” in an interview with Variety, the filmmaker briefly fell on his sword concerning the $70 million R-rated actioner. In January of 2015, it earned mixed-to-negative reviews and just $20 million at the global box office.

“It’s my responsibility,” Mann told the publication. “The script was not ready to shoot.” Like many of Mann’s pictures, “Blackhat” has gained a cult audience since its theatrical release, as well as a restructured director’s cut. While Mann blames himself, it also ran into the newfangled notion of audiences not wanting to see a big new movie star outside of his marquee character role.

Moviegoers didn’t care about Chris Hemsworth — talent and charisma notwithstanding — when he wasn’t playing Thor in the MCU.

At 80 years old, Michael Mann has achieved more in his lifetime than most people can dream. He’s a father of four, has developed top-tier television programming, and wrote a bestseller in his novel expanding the Heat Universe. He’s one of Hollywood’s most prolific creators, goal-oriented, and not about to stop entertaining the masses anytime soon if he has his way. Speaking with Variety, Mann opened up the hood for his upcoming film Ferarri, a biographical drama starring Adam Driver, Shailene Woodley, Penélope Cruz, Sarah Gadon, and more about the life story of Italian sports car entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari.

Speaking with the outlet, Mann detailed his 30-year Ferrari journey, saying it’s been a personal labor of love since 1967, when he was a draft-dodging film student in London, living off a meager sum as he forged ahead. Mann says the inspiration for Ferarri first hit when he emerged...