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After teaming up for 2018’s Stan & Ollie, a biographical comedy focusing on the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan are reuniting for The Players, an upcoming comedy about competing Shakespearian actors.

The Full Monty’s Peter Cattaneo directs The Players from a script by Jeff Pope. The Players is an 1800s period comedy revolving around two thespians, Edwin Forrest and William MacCready. According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, The Players “is set in 1847 New York, where Edwin Forrest (Reilly) holds the undisputed title as the country’s top Shakespearian actor. Playing magnificently to a sold out, raucous crowd every night, Edwin is “The Star”. But when critically celebrated English thespian William MacCready (Coogan) arrives from London to perform his sophisticated Hamlet, Edwin’s title is thrown into jeopardy. Each man wants what the other has, and the rivalry between them starts a hilarious and unforgettable battle of egos.

Paramount’s Republic Pictures has acquired global rights to Jason Biggs’ directorial debut feature, the tentatively titled action-comedy “Getaway.”

“Getaway,” in which the “American Pie” actor also stars, centers on a hapless husband who stages a home invasion during a romantic getaway weekend in a desperate attempt to save his marriage, only for plan to go very wrong.

The cast includes Meaghan Rath (“Hawaii Five-0”), Arturo Castro (“Broad City”), Justin H. Min (“The Umbrella Academy”) and Anna Konkle (“Pen15”).

Currently in post production, “Getaway” was written by Jamie Napoli and Joshua Paul Johnson and produced by Motion Picture Corporation of America CEO Brad Krevoy, Charles Cohen, Jimmy Philémond-Montout, David Anselmo and executive produced by Mpca’s Amy Krell.

The latest acquisition is among a slew of new titles the label has acquired in recent months.

‘September 5’

Republic Pictures’ “September 5,” Tim Fehlbaum’s news crew thriller revolving around the 1972 Olympics hostage crisis,...

Juliette Lewis has boarded Alex Prager’s alternative reality debut feature DreamQuil alongside the previously announced Elizabeth Banks and John C Reilly. Also confirmed as joining the project are Kathryn Newton and Sofia Boutella. The futuristic psychological thriller commenced principal photography in Los Angeles this week.

Republic Pictures has already acquired North American rights, with HanWay Films having sold a number of international territories. HanWay will share new material with buyers in Cannes.

Set in the not so distant future, DreamQuil centers on Carol (Banks), a dissatisfied career mother, who is struggling to find real connection within her marriage to Gary (Reilly) and to her child.

Worried that she could be heading towards divorce, Carol leaps at the chance to get her life back on track by signing up for DreamQuil’s unconventional digital wellness retreat. However, things take a sinister turn upon Carol’s homecoming.

Lewis will play Nurse Chapman – the religious,...

Elizabeth Banks and John C. Reilly team up for a psychological thriller, titled DreamQuil. The movie will be the debut of U.S. filmmaker and contemporary artist Alex Prager. Deadline has reported that Paramount’s Republic Pictures has just purchased the North American rights to the film in pre-sales. In addition, HanWay has also closed deals at international markets, which include companies like The Jokers (France), Tfg (Greece), Mars (Turkey), McF (Former Yugoslavia), Arthouse Traffic (Ukraine), Front Row (Middle East), Cinesky (Airlines) and Shaw (Singapore).

The movie has currently commenced filming in LA. And the synopsis, per Deadline, reads, “Set in the not so distant future, pic charts the story of Carol (Banks), a dissatisfied career mother, who is struggling to find real connection within her marriage to Gary (Reilly) and to her child. Worried that she could be heading towards divorce, Carol leaps at the chance to get her...

Remember when Beanie Babies broke the Internet? Well, the iconic toy is now landing its own biopic for audiences to see what it truly takes to build a plush stuffed animal from scratch.

Apple’s “The Beanie Bubble” charts the rise and fall of the ingenious collectible stuffed animals, with Elizabeth Banks and Zach Galifianakis playing the real-life toy titans who invented the craze. In a twist of nostalgic toy-driven fate, “The Beanie Bubble” opens in select theaters the same weekend as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”

Per the official synopsis, why did the world suddenly treat stuffed animals like gold? Ty Warner (Galifianakis) was a frustrated toy salesman until his collaboration with three women grew his masterstroke of an idea into the biggest toy craze in history.

“Succession” star Sarah Snook portrays Warner’s wife (and one third of the love triangle alongside Banks) while “Blockers” breakout Geraldine Viswanathan is a...

The 2023 Cannes market runs May 16-24.

Screen is rounding up the key packages launched before and during the 2023 Cannes market (which runs May 16-24).

Refresh the page for latest updates.

May 16 ’The Salt Path’

The feature debut of acclaimed theatre director Marianne Elliott stars Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs portraying the real-life couple who trekked 630 miles of UK coastline after being kicked out of their home. Black Bear are distributing in the UK.

World sales: Rocket Science

’The Rule Of Jenny Pen’

Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow star in James Ashcroft’s thriller as a conceited judging and a psychopath...

Amid all the noise here at the Cannes Film Festival about sexual predators, Johnny Depp’s return in Jeanne du Barry tonight and the admitted assaulting history of that movie’s director Maïwenn; the WGA strike is not forgotten.

Fielding questions Tuesday about striking writers back in Hollywood who’ve been beaten down by streaming, the big-screen Cannes Film Festival jurors had something to say at their opening press conference.

In a response winning him applause from the journalists in the room, Paul Dano said, “My wife is currently picketing with my 6-month-old, strapped to her chest,” said the actor. “I will be there on the picket line when I get back home.”

Dano is also a director and writer, having helmed and co-wrote Wildlife which played Cannes Critics Week back in 2018. The SAG-AFTRA contract expires at the end of June, together the DGA contract.

Cannes Jury boss...

Exclusive: Cocaine Bear filmmaker Elizabeth Banks has urged industry professionals to “hold the line” and support striking writers, particularly around issues such as the use of AI as her thriller Dreamquil, which explores the dangers of artificial intelligence, launches at the Cannes Market.

Speaking with Deadline shortly before the market kicked into gear, Banks said she was “heartbroken” that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the body representing the studios, was unable to “agree that AI should not be used for creative purposes.”

“As an artist in Hollywood, we export and create culture. And I think we’ve made incredible strides in breaking down the gatekeeping of our industry and presenting underrepresented voices and new ideas. We’ve made so much progress,” Banks said.

“The idea that we would essentially use AI to create that culture based on all the biases of the cultures that have come before...

The ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike casts a cloud over what otherwise promises to be a solid Cannes film market. Most buyers and sellers came out of Berlin this year “cautiously optimistic” as the (partial) resurgence of the theatrical market alongside a slowly but steadily growing digital ancillary business offers reason to believe reports of the death of the indie industry — widespread in the wake of the Covid theater shutdowns — have been greatly exaggerated.

“I see the investment by Amazon and Apple TV in the theatrical business as a real positive,” says David Garrett of Mister Smith Entertainment, “because it shows they recognize the real value of the theatrical experience.” Amazon’s success with Ben Affleck’s sports-marketing biopic Air, which grossed upwards of $80 million worldwide in theaters before going out online, bodes well for the upcoming rollout of Apple’s Cannes title Killers of the Flower Moon from Martin Scorsese,...

Another day, another intriguing thriller hits the Cannes market. Deadline reports that HanWay Films has a thriller about the dangers of AI on the Croisette with Elizabeth Banks and John C. Reilly in the leads. Its title? “DreamQuil,” and, no, that isn’t also the title for a new sleep medication.

Read More: Brie Larson & Paul Dano Join Ruben Ostlünd On The 2023 Cannes Jury

Instead, in the upcoming film, DreamQuil is a company that provides avant-garde A.I.-led mental wellness retreats.

Continue reading ‘DreamQuil’: Elizabeth Banks & John C. Reilly To Star In A.I. Thriller, HanWay Film Shopping It At Cannes Market at The Playlist.

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here, and with Cannes just a few days away we’ve got plenty for you to digest in this week’s newsletter. You can subscribe here.

Cannes You Feel It

Final weekend arrives: Film execs are frantically packing suitcases, polishing pitches and tying down meetings, in between squeezing in haircuts or getting their nails done, as the countdown for the 76th Cannes Film Festival and its Marché du Film enters its final weekend. More than 12,500 cinema professionals will descend on the Croisette this year, with the Marché du Film head Guillaume Esmiol telling Deadline this week that the event will likely break its attendance record of 2019 – in a sign the pandemic is well and truly over. One of the biggest returning territories will be China, with more than 250 professionals registered to attend against just 55 in 2022. Liz expertly explores what this might mean for business in this analysis piece.

Writers these days are starting to fear that they’re going to lose their livelihoods to script-writing A.I. programs, and in the upcoming thriller Dreamquil, Elizabeth Banks – director of Cocaine Bear and star of Call Jane – is going to be facing off with an A.I. that’s trying to take over her life! Deadline reports that John C. Reilly (Boogie Nights) has signed on to star in Dreamquil with Banks, and filming is expected to begin in the third quarter of the year.

Set to mark the feature directing debut of Alex Prager, who was nominated for the SXSW Grand Jury Prize in 2023 for her short film Run, Dreamquil will be set in the not-too-distant future and is described as being “a cautionary tale about what happens when Artificial Intelligence and automation are integrated into our daily lives“. The story takes place at a time when poor air...

Exclusive: Emmy nominee Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games) and Oscar nominee John C. Reilly (Chicago) are set to lead timely Cannes market package Dreamquil, an AI thriller which HanWay Films is launching.

Set in the not so distant future, the movie — which comes amid heightened industry attention on the role of AI — is being positioned as a cautionary tale about what happens when Artificial Intelligence and automation are integrated into our daily lives. UTA Independent Film Group and CAA Media Finance co-repping the film in North America.

The film will mark the debut of American filmmaker and contemporary artist Alex Prager, who was nominated for the SXSW Grand Jury Prize in 2023 for her short film Run. Production is being lined up for Q3, 2023.

Oscar nominee Vincent Landay (Her) will produce alongside Elizabeth Banks, Max Handelman and Alison Small for Brownstone Productions (Pitch Perfect).

HODs attached include Prager’s long-time collaborators:...