This article appears in the new issue of Den Of Geek magazine. You can read all of our magazine stories here.
For Jeff Nichols, The Bikeriders’ long road trip began with a handful of photographs. Among them in grainy black and white was a lone figure, captured in blurred motion and with his head turned away as he zoomed across the Ohio River. The only clear details were the leathered texture of his jacket and the gleam flashing off his Harley’s steel. When discovering this image and many like it in 2003, Nichols was in no way a motorcycle connoisseur. To this day, big bikes terrify him. But he instantly knew how the pictures—taken by New Journalism legend Danny Lyon between 1963 and 1967—made him feel. And he needed to express that sensation onscreen.
“Photographs can lie to us,” Nichols says 21 years later on a sunny Texan morning. “They’re very romantic,...
For Jeff Nichols, The Bikeriders’ long road trip began with a handful of photographs. Among them in grainy black and white was a lone figure, captured in blurred motion and with his head turned away as he zoomed across the Ohio River. The only clear details were the leathered texture of his jacket and the gleam flashing off his Harley’s steel. When discovering this image and many like it in 2003, Nichols was in no way a motorcycle connoisseur. To this day, big bikes terrify him. But he instantly knew how the pictures—taken by New Journalism legend Danny Lyon between 1963 and 1967—made him feel. And he needed to express that sensation onscreen.
“Photographs can lie to us,” Nichols says 21 years later on a sunny Texan morning. “They’re very romantic,...
- 5/22/2024
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep revealed her admiration for actresses who move into production having achieved fame on the big screen in an onstage conversation Wednesday at the Cannes Film Festival.
“There are so many women are producing for themselves and I’m so in awe of the ones who have done that. Reese [Witherspoon] and Nicole [Kidman], Natalie Portman. Everybody has their own production company,” she said.
“I have a production company of babies and that’s what I’ve produced, but I didn’t ever want to get phone calls after seven o’clock at night. So, I never did that. I’m in awe of people who do that. There are only so many hours in the day,”’ said Streep, who had highlighted earlier that she was a mother of four, and grandmother of five.
Streep was speaking to a packed Debussy Theatre in Cannes, where she was the...
“There are so many women are producing for themselves and I’m so in awe of the ones who have done that. Reese [Witherspoon] and Nicole [Kidman], Natalie Portman. Everybody has their own production company,” she said.
“I have a production company of babies and that’s what I’ve produced, but I didn’t ever want to get phone calls after seven o’clock at night. So, I never did that. I’m in awe of people who do that. There are only so many hours in the day,”’ said Streep, who had highlighted earlier that she was a mother of four, and grandmother of five.
Streep was speaking to a packed Debussy Theatre in Cannes, where she was the...
- 5/15/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins (Freud’s Last Session) has signed on to star in Bruno Penguin and the Staten Island Princess, the latest film from director Nick Cassavetes. Billed as the first-ever major Hollywood production to shoot in Antarctica, the film also has Shia Labeouf (Padre Pio) in talks to star and will enter production in November.
Scripted by Daniel Barnz and Ned Zeman, Bruno Penguin is based on a Vanity Fair article from the latter which tells the true story of adventurous Swiss photographer Bruno Zehnder, a superb artist who spent the last 20 years of his life in Antarctica photographing Emperor penguins. He was obsessed by them – their kindness, the way they lived, their deep levels of affection for one another. Bruno spent his life trying to learn how to communicate with them and over time, the colonies grew to know him and return his fondness.
Scripted by Daniel Barnz and Ned Zeman, Bruno Penguin is based on a Vanity Fair article from the latter which tells the true story of adventurous Swiss photographer Bruno Zehnder, a superb artist who spent the last 20 years of his life in Antarctica photographing Emperor penguins. He was obsessed by them – their kindness, the way they lived, their deep levels of affection for one another. Bruno spent his life trying to learn how to communicate with them and over time, the colonies grew to know him and return his fondness.
- 5/14/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Former White House adviser Steve Bannon’s bid to avoid prison time over his defiance of a congressional subpoena has been rejected by D.C.’s Circuit Court of Appeals.
On Friday, the court ruled that Bannon’s conviction stands, and rejected arguments from the far-right media personality that he did not “willfully” flout the subpoena and instead acted on the advice of lawyers.
“This court, however, has squarely held that ‘willfully’ … means only that the defendant deliberately and intentionally refused to comply with a congressional subpoena, and that this exact...
On Friday, the court ruled that Bannon’s conviction stands, and rejected arguments from the far-right media personality that he did not “willfully” flout the subpoena and instead acted on the advice of lawyers.
“This court, however, has squarely held that ‘willfully’ … means only that the defendant deliberately and intentionally refused to comply with a congressional subpoena, and that this exact...
- 5/10/2024
- by Nikki McCann Ramirez
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: 20th Century Studios has rounded out the cast of its heist thriller Eenie Meanie, from writer-director Shawn Simmons. Newcomers include Andy Garcia (Pain Hustlers), Jermaine Fowler (Ricky Stanicky), Marshawn Lynch (Bottoms), Chris Bauer (Fellow Travelers), Steve Zahn (Wildcat), and Mike O’Malley (Heels).
As previously announced, Samara Weaving, Karl Glusman, Kyanna Simone and Randall Park will also star.
The film centers on Edie (Weaving), a former teenage getaway driver who is dragged back into her unsavory past when a former employer (Garcia) offers her a chance to save the life of her chronically unreliable ex-boyfriend (Glusman). Produced by the Deadpool franchise’s Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the project is likely to premiere on Hulu, according to multiple sources. Production is currently underway in Cleveland, Ohio.
Most recently seen in Netflix’s Pain Hustlers and The Expendables 4, Garcia will next be seen in the rom-com Under the Stars and...
As previously announced, Samara Weaving, Karl Glusman, Kyanna Simone and Randall Park will also star.
The film centers on Edie (Weaving), a former teenage getaway driver who is dragged back into her unsavory past when a former employer (Garcia) offers her a chance to save the life of her chronically unreliable ex-boyfriend (Glusman). Produced by the Deadpool franchise’s Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the project is likely to premiere on Hulu, according to multiple sources. Production is currently underway in Cleveland, Ohio.
Most recently seen in Netflix’s Pain Hustlers and The Expendables 4, Garcia will next be seen in the rom-com Under the Stars and...
- 5/9/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Jana Kramer and Austin Nichols will share the screen once again in the upcoming Lifetime movie Gaslit By My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story, premiering June 9. Kramer also serves as an executive producer. Based on a true story, the movie follows Morgan (Kramer) and Rodney Metzer (Nichols), who were childhood sweethearts and married by the time Morgan was just 21 years old. The couple loses their first child shortly after birth but are overjoyed when they have twins a year later. Tensions start to rise when Rodney loses his job and goes into debt. Rodney blames their fights on Morgan’s drinking – even if she’d only had one beverage – and convinces Morgan that she pushed him down the stairs in a blackout rage. The couple finally separates, and Morgan’s life begins to turn around, until Rodney gets diagnosed with cancer. Not long after, a masked intruder breaks into Morgan’s home and assaults her.
- 5/7/2024
- TV Insider
On-set photographer Kyle Bono Kaplan and art photographer Bryan Schutmaat have collaborated to showcase their work taken during the shooting of Jeff Nichols’ film “The Bikeriders” in a new coffee table book titled “Vandals: The Photography of The Bikeriders.”
“The Bikeriders” is a drama directed by Nichols and stars Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy. It is adapted from Danny Lyon’s book, and follows the rise and fall of a fictional 1960s motorcycle club in the Midwest. Michael Shannon, Mike Faist and Norman Reedus round out the ensemble.
The book is out May 8, published by Insight Editions in partnership with New Regency and the film is out June 21. Here Kaplan and Schutmaat share stories behind the rare on-set moments.
Vandals: The Photography of The Bikeriders
Buy Now On Amazon $40.49
Kaplan captured Hardy who plays Johnny in between takes as the actor was riding back to set. Kaplan noticed...
“The Bikeriders” is a drama directed by Nichols and stars Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy. It is adapted from Danny Lyon’s book, and follows the rise and fall of a fictional 1960s motorcycle club in the Midwest. Michael Shannon, Mike Faist and Norman Reedus round out the ensemble.
The book is out May 8, published by Insight Editions in partnership with New Regency and the film is out June 21. Here Kaplan and Schutmaat share stories behind the rare on-set moments.
Vandals: The Photography of The Bikeriders
Buy Now On Amazon $40.49
Kaplan captured Hardy who plays Johnny in between takes as the actor was riding back to set. Kaplan noticed...
- 5/7/2024
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Hey, "Blue Bloods" fans. It is time, once again, for us to jump back on here and give you guys some more new spoiler scoops for Blue Bloods. In this spoiler session, we've got the skinny on a few scenes that are taking place in the next, new episode 8 of this current season 14. We were able to round up a couple of new, official teaser scoops for this new episode 8, thanks to CBS and their official episode 8 press release synopsis. So, we're going to break it down right now. Let's go. For starters, there's an official title attached to this new episode 8 of Blue Bloods season 14. The writers decided to name it, "Wicked Games." It sounds like episode 8 will feature some more scandalous, intense, dramatic, interesting, possible action-filled, suspenseful and emotional scenes as a dangerous serial killer is released. Jamie and Anthony team up. Eddie clashes with Captain Nichols. Frank gets upset again and more.
- 5/3/2024
- by Andre Braddox
- OnTheFlix
Conspiracy buffs rejoice. Netflix has got you covered. Photojournalist Christian Hansen and director Zachary Treitz’s American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders is a paranoia mother lode. Investigative reporter Danny Casolaro probed irregularities in government dealings with criminal surveillance software designer Inslaw. His 1991 death, in a Virginia hotel room with multiple slash wounds to the wrist, including some which improbably tore tendons, was ruled a suicide.
The story Casolaro was chasing involved a cabal of important people tied in with branches of the Justice Department. The claims behind the four-part documentary series reach beyond the initial crime. The chase runs into almost every suspicion held against government agencies, and the shadow power they hold, by journalists and the public at large. Included inside American Conspiracy is the Holy Grail of every scholar of the John F. Kennedy assassination.
The Legend of the “Real Zapruder Film”
“Oh, the Zapruder film,” Cheri Seymour,...
The story Casolaro was chasing involved a cabal of important people tied in with branches of the Justice Department. The claims behind the four-part documentary series reach beyond the initial crime. The chase runs into almost every suspicion held against government agencies, and the shadow power they hold, by journalists and the public at large. Included inside American Conspiracy is the Holy Grail of every scholar of the John F. Kennedy assassination.
The Legend of the “Real Zapruder Film”
“Oh, the Zapruder film,” Cheri Seymour,...
- 3/4/2024
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Stellan Skarsgård is almost unrecognizable in his role as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Dune and its recently release sequel, Dune: Part Two. Skarsgård has undergone an impeccable transformation in the makeup room to turn into the overarching villain of these movies.
The hours spent in makeup is nothing new for the actor as he chose to do the same for his character, Bootstrap Bill Turner, in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two
Skarsgård’s Dune 2 co-star Austin Butler earlier revealed that he took almost 3 hours to transform into the sociopathic bald villain, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. However, this time appears insignificant compared to Skarsgård’s 6-hour process for Pirates of the Caribbean and 8-hour process for Dune.
Stellan Skarsgård Underwent Hours Of Painful Makeup For Dune & Pirates of the Caribbean Stellan Skarsgård as Bootstrap Bill Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean...
The hours spent in makeup is nothing new for the actor as he chose to do the same for his character, Bootstrap Bill Turner, in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Dune: Part Two
Skarsgård’s Dune 2 co-star Austin Butler earlier revealed that he took almost 3 hours to transform into the sociopathic bald villain, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen. However, this time appears insignificant compared to Skarsgård’s 6-hour process for Pirates of the Caribbean and 8-hour process for Dune.
Stellan Skarsgård Underwent Hours Of Painful Makeup For Dune & Pirates of the Caribbean Stellan Skarsgård as Bootstrap Bill Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean...
- 3/2/2024
- by Hashim Asraff
- FandomWire
Exuding casual mid-century mid-western cool, freedom and wide open space, the key art for Jeff Nichols' biker saga, spanning the 1950s and 1960s rise of The Vandals, wears its iconography with ease. No credit block for this bad boy, just the above the line stars in block-font, off-white and off-teal. The design exudes and undiluted confidence, the same as the independent, rebellious characters within. The R-rating insignia and studio logo are subtly tucked away in the shadow of the bike. The rest is glorious negative space, like the good lord intended. For your viewing pleasure, the trailer is...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 3/1/2024
- Screen Anarchy
Debuting at True/False (followed by First Look), Elizabeth Nichols’s Flying Lessons is a beautiful ode to a New York City Lower East Side artist as well as to the larger “dying breed” that once roamed the streets of Alphabet City, performing in its now extinct clubs. Importantly, it’s also a call to end rampant gentrification and a love story between director and character all rolled into one. The drama began, rather unhappily, with an eviction notice after NYC real estate owner/convicted fraudster Steve Croman bought the building Nichols was living in as a rent-stabilized tenant. Within months the “Bernie Madoff of landlords” had unleashed […]
The post “A Film Can Be a Spark, and What Comes After It Is Where the Magic Is”: Elizabeth Nichols on Her True/False-Debuting Flying Lessons first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “A Film Can Be a Spark, and What Comes After It Is Where the Magic Is”: Elizabeth Nichols on Her True/False-Debuting Flying Lessons first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/1/2024
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Debuting at True/False (followed by First Look), Elizabeth Nichols’s Flying Lessons is a beautiful ode to a New York City Lower East Side artist as well as to the larger “dying breed” that once roamed the streets of Alphabet City, performing in its now extinct clubs. Importantly, it’s also a call to end rampant gentrification and a love story between director and character all rolled into one. The drama began, rather unhappily, with an eviction notice after NYC real estate owner/convicted fraudster Steve Croman bought the building Nichols was living in as a rent-stabilized tenant. Within months the “Bernie Madoff of landlords” had unleashed […]
The post “A Film Can Be a Spark, and What Comes After It Is Where the Magic Is”: Elizabeth Nichols on Her True/False-Debuting Flying Lessons first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “A Film Can Be a Spark, and What Comes After It Is Where the Magic Is”: Elizabeth Nichols on Her True/False-Debuting Flying Lessons first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/1/2024
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
“I despise auditions,” Marlon Brando barked as he launched into the audition for his role in The Godfather. It was his idea, I reminded him, so he himself had caused his actors angst, not the studio.
Actors’ angst was much in evidence yet again last weekend at the SAG Awards. Brilliant performances were being honored, formidable talent was on display, and Barbra Streisand clearly owned the room.
But the evening had a problematic subtext: The anticipated turnaround in job opportunities hadn’t happened across Hollywood. The epoch of “peak TV” seems to be drifting away, with words like “contraction” echoing in the trade.
To be sure, none of this inhibited SAG honorees from thanking their casting directors for their good picks and even endorsing the Academy’s decision to create a new entity: a casting branch.
Related: Casting Society Sets Its Artios Awards...
Actors’ angst was much in evidence yet again last weekend at the SAG Awards. Brilliant performances were being honored, formidable talent was on display, and Barbra Streisand clearly owned the room.
But the evening had a problematic subtext: The anticipated turnaround in job opportunities hadn’t happened across Hollywood. The epoch of “peak TV” seems to be drifting away, with words like “contraction” echoing in the trade.
To be sure, none of this inhibited SAG honorees from thanking their casting directors for their good picks and even endorsing the Academy’s decision to create a new entity: a casting branch.
Related: Casting Society Sets Its Artios Awards...
- 2/29/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
After seven long years following the one-two, varied punch of Midnight Special and Loving, director Jeff Nichols is finally back. The Bikeriders––bringing together the stellar cast of Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook, Norman Reedus, and Mike Faist––is set in the 1960s and follows a decade in the lives of a motorcycle club. Following its Telluride premiere, the film was dropped by 20th Century Studios who sold it off Focus Features, who moved it to a prime summer release date. As Butler’s latest performance hits theaters this weekend, a new trailer has now arrived.
Caleb Hammond said in his Telluride review, “Using photographer Danny Lyon’s iconic The Bikeriders’ imagery as a jumping-off point, Jeff Nichols’ latest feature imagines a fictionalized Chicago motorcycle club, the Vandals. Motorcycle club culture might be a distinctly American phenomenon, but Nichols casts two Brits in the lead,...
Caleb Hammond said in his Telluride review, “Using photographer Danny Lyon’s iconic The Bikeriders’ imagery as a jumping-off point, Jeff Nichols’ latest feature imagines a fictionalized Chicago motorcycle club, the Vandals. Motorcycle club culture might be a distinctly American phenomenon, but Nichols casts two Brits in the lead,...
- 2/29/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
While it was revving up for award season late last year, Midnight Special writer/director Jeff Nichols' new offering The Bikeriders was parked by Disney's 20th Century Studios in the midst of the actors' strike. Universal and Focus Features offered the film a spot on the back of its seat, and what better time to relaunch the promotional campaign for a film starring Austin Butler than ahead of his much-buzzed-about role as Feyd-Rautha in Dune: Part Two? Check out the new trailer below:
With Nichols drawing inspiration from a book of photographs by Danny Lyons, The Bikeriders is also anchored by Tom Hardy and Jodie Comer in the story of the brooding Benny (Butler), who joins a rough-and-ready motorcycle gang called The Vandals.
Led by Hardy's scruffy, hard-driving Johnny, we'll see how the gang rose to prominence, dishing out vengeance and rough justice to those who get in their way,...
With Nichols drawing inspiration from a book of photographs by Danny Lyons, The Bikeriders is also anchored by Tom Hardy and Jodie Comer in the story of the brooding Benny (Butler), who joins a rough-and-ready motorcycle gang called The Vandals.
Led by Hardy's scruffy, hard-driving Johnny, we'll see how the gang rose to prominence, dishing out vengeance and rough justice to those who get in their way,...
- 2/29/2024
- by James White
- Empire - Movies
Check out the brand new trailer for director Jeff Nichols’s The Bikeriders, in theaters June 21.
The film stars Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist with Norman Reedus.
The Bikeriders follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.
Nichols and Shannon worked together on the terrific, but overlooked sci-fi film Midnight Special. Read the review here and check out our list of the 5 reasons we thought the 2016 film was one of the best of the year.
For his new film, the director has once again assembled what has come to be known as his “film family” for the shoot, a core group of behind-the-scenes talent, many...
The film stars Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist with Norman Reedus.
The Bikeriders follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.
Nichols and Shannon worked together on the terrific, but overlooked sci-fi film Midnight Special. Read the review here and check out our list of the 5 reasons we thought the 2016 film was one of the best of the year.
For his new film, the director has once again assembled what has come to be known as his “film family” for the shoot, a core group of behind-the-scenes talent, many...
- 2/29/2024
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Fredrik Backman’s bestselling novel “Anxious People” is set to be adapted into a feature film by “The Little Mermaid” screenwriter David Magee.
Fredrik Wikström Nicastro’s Hope Studios is producing the project.
“’Anxious People’ is a heartwarming and uplifting comedy about a group of strangers that get caught up in an unusual hostage situation on Thanksgiving,” reads the logline. “A story about compassion, connection, second chances, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.”
The book, published by Atria Books/S&s, is a number one New York Times bestseller.
Magee and Nicastro previously collaborated on a screen adaptation of another Backman novel, “A Man Called Ove,” which was turned into the feature “A Man Called Otto” starring Tom Hanks.
Backman and Neda Backman will executive produce “Anxious People” alongside Magee.
“Fredrik Backman has a gift for deeply human stories that are poignant,...
Fredrik Wikström Nicastro’s Hope Studios is producing the project.
“’Anxious People’ is a heartwarming and uplifting comedy about a group of strangers that get caught up in an unusual hostage situation on Thanksgiving,” reads the logline. “A story about compassion, connection, second chances, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.”
The book, published by Atria Books/S&s, is a number one New York Times bestseller.
Magee and Nicastro previously collaborated on a screen adaptation of another Backman novel, “A Man Called Ove,” which was turned into the feature “A Man Called Otto” starring Tom Hanks.
Backman and Neda Backman will executive produce “Anxious People” alongside Magee.
“Fredrik Backman has a gift for deeply human stories that are poignant,...
- 2/29/2024
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Today should be a national holiday. No, not because it's Leap Day or anything, which we all know is nothing more than an arbitrary construct in our fruitless attempts to put labels on the chaos of time and space. Instead, we ought to have the day off because Focus Features decided to bless us with another trailer for "The Bikeriders" that puts yet another oddball performance from Tom Hardy at the very front and center of the action. I mean, when you begin with an off-screen Hardy in an outrageously Chicagoan accent talking about how he wants to start a riding club instead of the actual star of the show, Austin Butler, that says it all, don't it?
Granted, the movie is about much more than Hardy's character starting a fun new hobby with his friends. Mike Shutt reviewed "The Bikeriders" for /Film out of the Austin Film Festival in...
Granted, the movie is about much more than Hardy's character starting a fun new hobby with his friends. Mike Shutt reviewed "The Bikeriders" for /Film out of the Austin Film Festival in...
- 2/29/2024
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
It’s not every day you see a studio head riding a Harley.
But that’s precisely where you could find Focus Features’ chairman Peter Kujawski on Wednesday night in Downtown Los Angeles at the trailer re-launch for “The Bikeriders.”
Technically, Kujawski was revving the engine of the Harley-Davidson Jumpstart, a ride simulator. But Focus is doing the real work of reviving the awareness campaign for Jeff Nichols’ period drama about a Midwestern motorcycle club, starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy.
After a strong debut at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival, the film was poised to make a splash during this year’s Oscar season. But last December, Focus swooped in to acquire the rights for “The Bikeriders” after Disney’s 20th Century Studios removed it from its release schedule amid the SAG-AFTRA strike and New Regency decided to shop the picture elsewhere.
Now, with a June 21 theatrical release date fast approaching,...
But that’s precisely where you could find Focus Features’ chairman Peter Kujawski on Wednesday night in Downtown Los Angeles at the trailer re-launch for “The Bikeriders.”
Technically, Kujawski was revving the engine of the Harley-Davidson Jumpstart, a ride simulator. But Focus is doing the real work of reviving the awareness campaign for Jeff Nichols’ period drama about a Midwestern motorcycle club, starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy.
After a strong debut at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival, the film was poised to make a splash during this year’s Oscar season. But last December, Focus swooped in to acquire the rights for “The Bikeriders” after Disney’s 20th Century Studios removed it from its release schedule amid the SAG-AFTRA strike and New Regency decided to shop the picture elsewhere.
Now, with a June 21 theatrical release date fast approaching,...
- 2/29/2024
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Austin Butler and Jodie Comer are ready to drive off into the sunset together — that is, unless Butler’s biker gang boss, played by Tom Hardy, gets in the way first.
The core trio behind Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders” drive the motorcycle-centric drama set in the 1960s. Inspired by Danny Lyon’s iconic book of photography, “The Bikeriders” centers on the subculture of the era’s motorcycle riders. Comer plays Kathy, a strong-willed member of the Vandals gang who’s married to a wild, reckless bikerider named Benny (Butler). Kathy recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders led by Johnny (Hardy) and later turning into a dangerous crime-driven gang.
Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook, and Norman Reedus also star.
“The Bikeriders” marks Nichols’ first film in eight years since 2016’s “Loving.” The feature kicked off the Telluride Film Festival when it...
The core trio behind Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders” drive the motorcycle-centric drama set in the 1960s. Inspired by Danny Lyon’s iconic book of photography, “The Bikeriders” centers on the subculture of the era’s motorcycle riders. Comer plays Kathy, a strong-willed member of the Vandals gang who’s married to a wild, reckless bikerider named Benny (Butler). Kathy recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders led by Johnny (Hardy) and later turning into a dangerous crime-driven gang.
Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook, and Norman Reedus also star.
“The Bikeriders” marks Nichols’ first film in eight years since 2016’s “Loving.” The feature kicked off the Telluride Film Festival when it...
- 2/29/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Netflix has locked down rights to an untitled adult thriller spec from Michael Werwie, with Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan set to produce for Aggregate Films, sources tell Deadline.
Plot details are under wraps. Falling under Aggregate’s first-look deal with Netflix across film and TV, the sale comes at a busy time for the company, which most recently set up comedy The Chaperone at the streamer, as a potential star vehicle for Bateman. Recently bringing in Amblin vet John Buderwitz to serve as VP of Film, the company also last summer teamed with Netflix in a bidding war over David Gauvey Herbert’s 2021 Esquire magazine article “Daddy Ball,” which is being developed as a limited series for Bateman to direct, star in, and co-ep alongside Costigan and Roxie Rodriguez.
The project comes to Netflix following Werwie’s scripting and exec producing and...
Plot details are under wraps. Falling under Aggregate’s first-look deal with Netflix across film and TV, the sale comes at a busy time for the company, which most recently set up comedy The Chaperone at the streamer, as a potential star vehicle for Bateman. Recently bringing in Amblin vet John Buderwitz to serve as VP of Film, the company also last summer teamed with Netflix in a bidding war over David Gauvey Herbert’s 2021 Esquire magazine article “Daddy Ball,” which is being developed as a limited series for Bateman to direct, star in, and co-ep alongside Costigan and Roxie Rodriguez.
The project comes to Netflix following Werwie’s scripting and exec producing and...
- 2/23/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
In the annals of famous movie monsters, it's arguable that the creatures from 2018's "A Quiet Place" rank fairly low. After all, following the release of the first film and 2021's "A Quiet Place Part II," we still don't have an official name for the extraterrestrial beasties that decide to come to Earth one fine day and start mowing down everything that makes a peep. At least the creatures' most recent cinematic progenitor, the Cloverfield monster, has a name by virtue of his film's offbeat title. The "Quiet Place" aliens have to settle for being unofficially dubbed "Death Angels," a term taken from a newspaper headline clipping seen posted on a board in the first movie.
That said, us monster kids' loss is cinema's gain, because it is the very unknowability of the Death Angels which lend the "A Quiet Place" films such spooky, tense power. Put simply, the franchise...
That said, us monster kids' loss is cinema's gain, because it is the very unknowability of the Death Angels which lend the "A Quiet Place" films such spooky, tense power. Put simply, the franchise...
- 2/23/2024
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos have a sense of comic timing that rivals Nichols and May.
Case in point: When I ask Lanthimos how he became aware of Stone, the 50-year-old Greek director hesitates for a moment before addressing his 35-year-old muse.
“I was aware of her work,” he says. “I thought of her for ‘The Lobster,’ but didn’t use her.”
“Do you want to say why?” Stone asks.
“Do you want me to say?” Yorgos responds.
“Tell him why it didn’t work out,” Stone says. “I’m not embarrassed.”
“The reason I didn’t actually go to her,” Yorgos says, “is because there’s a lisping character in ‘The Lobster,’ and I didn’t want her to be that character. But Emma has a lisp of her own, so I was like, ‘That’s going to be confusing. If someone who’s not the lisping woman in the script has a lisp,...
Case in point: When I ask Lanthimos how he became aware of Stone, the 50-year-old Greek director hesitates for a moment before addressing his 35-year-old muse.
“I was aware of her work,” he says. “I thought of her for ‘The Lobster,’ but didn’t use her.”
“Do you want to say why?” Stone asks.
“Do you want me to say?” Yorgos responds.
“Tell him why it didn’t work out,” Stone says. “I’m not embarrassed.”
“The reason I didn’t actually go to her,” Yorgos says, “is because there’s a lisping character in ‘The Lobster,’ and I didn’t want her to be that character. But Emma has a lisp of her own, so I was like, ‘That’s going to be confusing. If someone who’s not the lisping woman in the script has a lisp,...
- 2/21/2024
- by Stephen Rodrick
- Variety Film + TV
Zoey Deutch (Not Okay), Jonah Hauer-King (The Little Mermaid) and Ruby Cruz (Bottoms) will star alongside Jaboukie Young-White (Rap Sh!t) and Josh Segarra (Scream IV) in the high-concept romantic comedy The Threesome from Star Thrower Entertainment (King Richard), Filmopoly and Jupiter Peak, which has wrapped production in Arkansas.
Directed by Chad Hartigan (Morris from America) from a script by Ethan Ogilby, The Threesome explores the aftermath of one impulsive, seemingly innocuous decision. When a young man’s perennial crush leads him into an unexpected threesome, he thinks it’s his ultimate fantasy come true. But when the fantasy ends, all three are left with sobering real-world consequences, forcing them to take responsibility for their actions — even if it means compromising the lives they’ve always envisioned.
The film is produced by Tim White and Trevor White for Star Thrower Entertainment, Vince Jolivette for Filmopoly, and Steven Shapiro for Jupiter Peak.
Directed by Chad Hartigan (Morris from America) from a script by Ethan Ogilby, The Threesome explores the aftermath of one impulsive, seemingly innocuous decision. When a young man’s perennial crush leads him into an unexpected threesome, he thinks it’s his ultimate fantasy come true. But when the fantasy ends, all three are left with sobering real-world consequences, forcing them to take responsibility for their actions — even if it means compromising the lives they’ve always envisioned.
The film is produced by Tim White and Trevor White for Star Thrower Entertainment, Vince Jolivette for Filmopoly, and Steven Shapiro for Jupiter Peak.
- 2/20/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Audiences have not forgotten the great Gene Roddenberry, the man who introduced them to the world of Star Trek. Roddenberry was the creator of the original Star Trek series along with Star Trek: The Animated Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
A still from the original Star Trek series
While no one can deny Roddenberry’s stamp on creating one of pop culture’s most iconic franchises, he is also reportedly known to be a womanizer. Roddenberry had a secret affair with Star Trek star Nichelle Nichols when he was already married to Eileen-Anita Rexroat.
Nichelle Nichols Reflected on Her Secret Affair With Gene Roddenberry
Star Trek‘s Nichelle Nichols had an affair with series creator Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry had a solid reputation in Hollywood and his contribution to the Star Trek world has been celebrated over the years and various filmmakers are still trying to recreate the...
A still from the original Star Trek series
While no one can deny Roddenberry’s stamp on creating one of pop culture’s most iconic franchises, he is also reportedly known to be a womanizer. Roddenberry had a secret affair with Star Trek star Nichelle Nichols when he was already married to Eileen-Anita Rexroat.
Nichelle Nichols Reflected on Her Secret Affair With Gene Roddenberry
Star Trek‘s Nichelle Nichols had an affair with series creator Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry had a solid reputation in Hollywood and his contribution to the Star Trek world has been celebrated over the years and various filmmakers are still trying to recreate the...
- 2/15/2024
- by Rahul Thokchom
- FandomWire
Criminal Minds star Paget Brewster was looking like a mainstay on the series before her departure in season seven. The actor once set the record straight on the real reason she left the series.
How Paget Brewster came back to ‘Criminal’ Minds’ Paget Brewster | Neil Jacobs/Getty Images
At the time, many were surprised by Brewster’s exit from Criminal Minds. She was brought on board the team during the show’s second season as agent Emily Prentiss. Brewster seemed poised to become as much of a constant presence on the show as Shemar Moore and some of the other co-stars. But she, along with her Criminal Minds co-star A.J. Cook, were let go from the show.
Speaking with Assignment X, Brewster confided that those behind the series simply wanted to shake up the show. They felt reducing Brewster’s role would’ve added some spontaneity, which Brewster felt was a mistake.
How Paget Brewster came back to ‘Criminal’ Minds’ Paget Brewster | Neil Jacobs/Getty Images
At the time, many were surprised by Brewster’s exit from Criminal Minds. She was brought on board the team during the show’s second season as agent Emily Prentiss. Brewster seemed poised to become as much of a constant presence on the show as Shemar Moore and some of the other co-stars. But she, along with her Criminal Minds co-star A.J. Cook, were let go from the show.
Speaking with Assignment X, Brewster confided that those behind the series simply wanted to shake up the show. They felt reducing Brewster’s role would’ve added some spontaneity, which Brewster felt was a mistake.
- 2/14/2024
- by Antonio Stallings
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Exclusive: Amazon MGM Studios has acquired Burn Night, a package from Safehouse Pictures’ Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell and writer Chris Sparling.
The project’s blurb: Seven years of the annual incident known as “Burn Night” have hardened the Lockhart family, but nothing’s prepared them for tonight. Wings blot out the stars, fire rains from the sky, and something monstrous circles above. Trapped in their lakeside community, they hold fast to one another during their desperate fight to survive until sunrise.
The feature project falls under Safehouse Pictures’ first-look film deal with Amazon MGM Studios. Austin Bowman serves as director of development for the production company and brought the project in Amazon MGM.
Harold received his first Primetime Emmy nomination last year in the limited series category for Disney+/Lucasfilm’s Obi-Wan Kenobi on which he wrote and served as EP. Harold wrote two summer event films last year,...
The project’s blurb: Seven years of the annual incident known as “Burn Night” have hardened the Lockhart family, but nothing’s prepared them for tonight. Wings blot out the stars, fire rains from the sky, and something monstrous circles above. Trapped in their lakeside community, they hold fast to one another during their desperate fight to survive until sunrise.
The feature project falls under Safehouse Pictures’ first-look film deal with Amazon MGM Studios. Austin Bowman serves as director of development for the production company and brought the project in Amazon MGM.
Harold received his first Primetime Emmy nomination last year in the limited series category for Disney+/Lucasfilm’s Obi-Wan Kenobi on which he wrote and served as EP. Harold wrote two summer event films last year,...
- 2/13/2024
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Mike Nichols Made His Movie Directorial Debut with ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ — and Got Fired
Everyone involved with the film adaptation of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” had a lot riding on its success. For star Elizabeth Taylor, this was perhaps her first chance to prove that she could act (certainly the middle-aged Martha was the most demanding role she had ever had). For first-time producer Ernest Lehman, the movie could make or break him as he moved away from writing classics like “North by Northwest” and “Sweet Smell of Success.” And for director Mike Nichols, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” his feature film directorial debut, would either burnish his growing reputation as a boy genius after several smash Broadway hits or prove that he was out of his depth.
The impetus to play things safe must have been strong, and yet none of the film’s major players shied away from choosing the riskier paths. Filming in black-and-white in 1966 was not the indicator of...
The impetus to play things safe must have been strong, and yet none of the film’s major players shied away from choosing the riskier paths. Filming in black-and-white in 1966 was not the indicator of...
- 2/13/2024
- by Mark Peikert
- Indiewire
J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" reboot shook up the classic characters it depicts, and one of the biggest changes was turning Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana) into lovers. In the first movie, this is a bit of a bait and switch; there's some early sexual tension between Uhura and Kirk (Chris Pine), and she's even the first of the future Enterprise crew he meets when they flirt at a bar. Nyota, though, only has eyes for the Vulcan (like plenty of Trekkie fangirls) and the relationship endures in the two sequels, "Into Darkness" and "Beyond."
Now, this isn't a totally unprecedented pairing. There are a few suggestive moments between Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) in early episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series." In "The Man Trap," Uhura tries to strike up a conversation with Spock, and in "Charlie X," she sings while Spock plays his lute.
Now, this isn't a totally unprecedented pairing. There are a few suggestive moments between Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) in early episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series." In "The Man Trap," Uhura tries to strike up a conversation with Spock, and in "Charlie X," she sings while Spock plays his lute.
- 2/4/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Ari Graynor (Winning Time) has joined Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, the second installment of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s true-crime anthology series for Netflix.
Graynor will play Leslie Abramson, one of the most prominent Los Angeles defense attorneys in the 1980s and 90s who became lead counsel for Erik Menendez.
On Monsters, Graynor joins Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch, who play Lyle and Erik, respectively, as well as Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny, who portray their parents. Nathan Lane also stars as Dominick Dunne.
Murphy and Brennan executive produce with Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, David McMillan, Louise Shore and Carl Franklin.
It was in 1989 that Lyle and Erik Menendez murdered parents Jose and Kitty in their L.A.-area home. Although not initially looked at as prime suspects, they came under investigation in the months following and eventually confessed to parricide, at the same...
Graynor will play Leslie Abramson, one of the most prominent Los Angeles defense attorneys in the 1980s and 90s who became lead counsel for Erik Menendez.
On Monsters, Graynor joins Nicholas Chavez and Cooper Koch, who play Lyle and Erik, respectively, as well as Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny, who portray their parents. Nathan Lane also stars as Dominick Dunne.
Murphy and Brennan executive produce with Alexis Martin Woodall, Eric Kovtun, David McMillan, Louise Shore and Carl Franklin.
It was in 1989 that Lyle and Erik Menendez murdered parents Jose and Kitty in their L.A.-area home. Although not initially looked at as prime suspects, they came under investigation in the months following and eventually confessed to parricide, at the same...
- 2/1/2024
- by Denise Petski and Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was the onscreen reunion of the Enterprise crew, premiering in 1979, a decade after "Star Trek" was canceled. What more casual Trekkies may not know is that (most of) the cast had already come together again in that interim (and I don't mean just for "Trek" conventions).
That reunion would be "Star Trek: The Animated Series," which aired for 22 episodes from 1973 to 1974. The series was made in the style of the original, but there were a few changes in the medium shift. Stories were told in a breezy 20+ minutes, not the hour-long packaging the live-action show had used. Since animation doesn't have to worry about makeup expenses, "The Animated Series" featured much more (and much weirder) aliens than "Star Trek" had.
The animation was done by Filmation, nowadays mostly remembered for their stiff animation on programs like "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe." The cast...
That reunion would be "Star Trek: The Animated Series," which aired for 22 episodes from 1973 to 1974. The series was made in the style of the original, but there were a few changes in the medium shift. Stories were told in a breezy 20+ minutes, not the hour-long packaging the live-action show had used. Since animation doesn't have to worry about makeup expenses, "The Animated Series" featured much more (and much weirder) aliens than "Star Trek" had.
The animation was done by Filmation, nowadays mostly remembered for their stiff animation on programs like "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe." The cast...
- 2/1/2024
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Lamorne Morris, Dylan O’Brien, Cory Michael Smith and Matt Wood have joined the cast of Sony Pictures’ SNL 1975 that will be directed by Jason Reitman and based on the real-life behind the scenes accounts of the opening night of Saturday Night Live. Morris will play Garrett Morris, O’Brien will play Dan Aykroyd, Smith will play Chevy Chase, and Wood will play Belushi. The original screenplay is written by Reitman and Gil Kenan.
On October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. SNL 1975 is the true story of what happened behind the scenes that night in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of NBC’s SNL. It depicts the chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
The screenplay is...
On October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. SNL 1975 is the true story of what happened behind the scenes that night in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of NBC’s SNL. It depicts the chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
The screenplay is...
- 1/30/2024
- by Justin Kroll and Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
On the morning of January 23, 2024, actor Gary Graham, star of the "Alien Nation" TV series, the cult classic "Robot Jox," and multiple-time "Star Trek" supporting player, passed away at the age of 74. Graham had a prolific acting career, appearing in single episodes of many of the hottest TV shows of his day, including "Starsky & Hutch," "The Incredible Hulk," Knots Landing," "CHiPs," "T.J. Hooker," "Hunter," "M.A.N.T.I.S.," "Diagnosis Murder," "Ally McBeal," "Jag," and "Nip/Tuck." He had an easy demeanor, allowing him to play comedic affable characters just as well as intense, serious ones.
Trekkies likely know Graham best for playing Soval on "Star Trek: Enterprise." Soval was the snippy Vulcan ambassador who oversaw Earth's very, very slow transition from post-war ruin to a thriving society ready for space exploration. In the timeline of "Star Trek," humanity discovers warp-speed flight while the world is recovering from nuclear devastation. On the very first Earth warp flight,...
Trekkies likely know Graham best for playing Soval on "Star Trek: Enterprise." Soval was the snippy Vulcan ambassador who oversaw Earth's very, very slow transition from post-war ruin to a thriving society ready for space exploration. In the timeline of "Star Trek," humanity discovers warp-speed flight while the world is recovering from nuclear devastation. On the very first Earth warp flight,...
- 1/23/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Numbers have begun rolling in for the weekend and seem to be pretty much in line with our predictions from Thursday as the remake/ Broadway adaptation Mean Girls is looking at a lucrative weekend of around $30 million with its 4-day gross in the $33 million range (as Monday is the holiday Martin Luther King Jr Day in the United States). Despite some moderate love from critics, the film is seeing a just okay B cinemascore and an audience score of 71% which still is positive, but not as high as new releases tend to be when audiences genuinely enjoy a film.
Our own Tyler Nichols said this 2024 version improved on the original in several ways in his 7/10 review. This is one review where Mr. Nichols and I are in total disagreement. I found this new Mean Girls to be a pale shot for shot remake of the original, recycling all of the...
Our own Tyler Nichols said this 2024 version improved on the original in several ways in his 7/10 review. This is one review where Mr. Nichols and I are in total disagreement. I found this new Mean Girls to be a pale shot for shot remake of the original, recycling all of the...
- 1/13/2024
- by Brad Hamerly
- JoBlo.com
Jason Statham knows a thing or two about action movies, having starred in more than a few of them throughout his career, and he even schooled The Beekeeper director David Ayer when it comes to the genre.
“He schooled me,” David Ayer told /Film. “I mean, let’s be real: He’s an action icon, and he’s probably forgotten more about action than I know. He really raised my game. He really helped me get under the hood of, what is action? How does it work? And he has this encyclopedic knowledge of, like, literally every punch ever thrown on film. So when you present him with choreography, [he’ll say], ‘No, I did that in this movie, I saw that in this, I saw that in that.’ And then his sense of self and how he presents on camera is impeccable, and you have to support that and then build around that.
“He schooled me,” David Ayer told /Film. “I mean, let’s be real: He’s an action icon, and he’s probably forgotten more about action than I know. He really raised my game. He really helped me get under the hood of, what is action? How does it work? And he has this encyclopedic knowledge of, like, literally every punch ever thrown on film. So when you present him with choreography, [he’ll say], ‘No, I did that in this movie, I saw that in this, I saw that in that.’ And then his sense of self and how he presents on camera is impeccable, and you have to support that and then build around that.
- 1/13/2024
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
David Ayer’s The Beekeeper buzzes into theaters today, and to celebrate the occasion, the Suicide Squad director shared a new poster for the action film starring Jason Statham online. If you have Melissophobia, I recommend you click away from this article now because the new poster features Statham’s clenched fist and forearm crawling with winged honey generators. Statham grips a set of golden brass knuckles in his fist while a bee delicately walks along the metal guard.
#TheBeekeeper pic.twitter.com/mRygxmq1l6
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) January 12, 2024
In The Beekeeper, one man’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as “Beekeepers.” Ayer directs from a script by Kurt Wimmer. While Statham is the star of the show, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, and Jeremy Irons complete the primary cast.
#TheBeekeeper pic.twitter.com/mRygxmq1l6
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) January 12, 2024
In The Beekeeper, one man’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as “Beekeepers.” Ayer directs from a script by Kurt Wimmer. While Statham is the star of the show, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Josh Hutcherson, Bobby Naderi, Minnie Driver, Phylicia Rashad, and Jeremy Irons complete the primary cast.
- 1/12/2024
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: Bill Murray (The French Dispatch), Michael Cera (Life & Beth) and Benicio Del Toro (The French Dispatch) have been set to star in the newest feature from seven-time Academy Award nominee Wes Anderson, which is set to go into production this year, Deadline has confirmed.
Anderson wrote the film with Roman Coppola, his regular collaborator going back to The Life Aquatic. Details as to the plot are under wraps. Anderson hinted at the project in a September 2023 interview with Deadline, noting that he and Coppola had just finished the script for a Del Toro-led feature before the start of the writers strike. Further cast is also under wraps at this point, but given Anderson’s tendency to pursue huge ensembles, expect many more names to emerge in the coming weeks to months.
Anderson is coming off of Asteroid City, a quirky alien invasion dramedy that follows a writer going about penning a world-famous fictional play.
Anderson wrote the film with Roman Coppola, his regular collaborator going back to The Life Aquatic. Details as to the plot are under wraps. Anderson hinted at the project in a September 2023 interview with Deadline, noting that he and Coppola had just finished the script for a Del Toro-led feature before the start of the writers strike. Further cast is also under wraps at this point, but given Anderson’s tendency to pursue huge ensembles, expect many more names to emerge in the coming weeks to months.
Anderson is coming off of Asteroid City, a quirky alien invasion dramedy that follows a writer going about penning a world-famous fictional play.
- 1/11/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Zachary Levi (Shazam!) is set to topline Hotel Tehran, a new action thriller marking the fourth feature from writer-director Guy Moshe (Bunraku).
In the film heading into production in May, Levi plays Tucker, who leads a unit of disgraced, war-torn ex-CIA operators into the heart of Tehran to take down a life-changing score.
Moshe wrote the script with Mark Bacci (Prisoner’s Daughter), from an original idea by Bazzel Baz (The Blacklist), a former CIA special operations group officer. Oakhurst Entertainment is financing. Oakhurst’s Marina Grasic is producing alongside Matthew G. Zamias (Boxing Day), co-founder of the new financing and production company Astral Future, as well as Wendy Sweetmore of Dreamtime Films. Astral Future’s Harel Kodesh and Arbel Kodesh are exec producing alongside Moshe, Baz, Justin C. Oberman, and William Doyle (The Killer). Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee (Spotlight) are handling casting.
In a statement to Deadline,...
In the film heading into production in May, Levi plays Tucker, who leads a unit of disgraced, war-torn ex-CIA operators into the heart of Tehran to take down a life-changing score.
Moshe wrote the script with Mark Bacci (Prisoner’s Daughter), from an original idea by Bazzel Baz (The Blacklist), a former CIA special operations group officer. Oakhurst Entertainment is financing. Oakhurst’s Marina Grasic is producing alongside Matthew G. Zamias (Boxing Day), co-founder of the new financing and production company Astral Future, as well as Wendy Sweetmore of Dreamtime Films. Astral Future’s Harel Kodesh and Arbel Kodesh are exec producing alongside Moshe, Baz, Justin C. Oberman, and William Doyle (The Killer). Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee (Spotlight) are handling casting.
In a statement to Deadline,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), the U.S.S. Enterprise's communications officer on "Star Trek," rarely got episodes of her own. Audiences learned about Uhura through her interactions with the other members of the crew, remaining professional on the bridge, and keeping her personal life personal. It wouldn't be until the "Star Trek: The Animated Series" episode "The Lorelei Signal" that Uhura would take command of the Enterprise and solve the crisis of the week. Uhura remained the communications officer on the Enterprise through the events of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" in 1991. On "Star Trek: Picard," it was mentioned that Uhura had become the captain of a ship called the U.S.S. Leondegrance and made first contact with hundreds of new species.
Fun trivia: King Leondegrance was Guinivere's father in Arthurian myth. In John Boorman's 1981 Arthurian film "Excalibur," King Leondegrance was played by future "Star Trek" luminary and Picard himself,...
Fun trivia: King Leondegrance was Guinivere's father in Arthurian myth. In John Boorman's 1981 Arthurian film "Excalibur," King Leondegrance was played by future "Star Trek" luminary and Picard himself,...
- 1/2/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Michael Blakemore, the only director in Tony Award history to win twice in one year, died Sunday, Dec. 10, following a short illness. He was 95.
His death was announced by the London-based United Agents literary and talent agency.
An acclaimed director of both West End and Broadway productions – his formidable credits include A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1968), Noises Off (1983), City of Angels (1989), Lettice & Lovage (1990) and The Life (1997), among many others – secured his place in the Tony Award record books by becoming the first, and to date only, director to win twice in one year: In 2000, he won the award for Best Director of a Play for Copenhagen and Best Director of a Musical for the revival of Kiss Me Kate.
Born June 18, 1928, in Sydney, Australia, Blakemore made his directing debut in 1966 at the Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre, where he served as Artistic Director. His international breakthrough came in 1967 when...
His death was announced by the London-based United Agents literary and talent agency.
An acclaimed director of both West End and Broadway productions – his formidable credits include A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1968), Noises Off (1983), City of Angels (1989), Lettice & Lovage (1990) and The Life (1997), among many others – secured his place in the Tony Award record books by becoming the first, and to date only, director to win twice in one year: In 2000, he won the award for Best Director of a Play for Copenhagen and Best Director of a Musical for the revival of Kiss Me Kate.
Born June 18, 1928, in Sydney, Australia, Blakemore made his directing debut in 1966 at the Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre, where he served as Artistic Director. His international breakthrough came in 1967 when...
- 12/13/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Jodie Comer is no stranger to rave reviews, but The End We Start From is the first time she’s received them for the unfamiliar role of a mother. The Emmy winner has briefly played mothers in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and The Last Duel, but Comer considers Mahalia Belo’s survival drama to be her first proper exploration of motherhood and all its nuances. Based on Megan Hunter’s book and Alice Birch’s adapted screenplay, Comer plays a character simply credited as “Woman,” and at the start of the film, her water breaks around the same time that London is hit by a devastating environmental crisis, resulting in mass flooding.
With a new baby in tow, Comer’s character and Joel Fry’s husband/father character retreat to the countryside like the rest of the city, but food shortages and civil unrest soon cause their young family to separate,...
With a new baby in tow, Comer’s character and Joel Fry’s husband/father character retreat to the countryside like the rest of the city, but food shortages and civil unrest soon cause their young family to separate,...
- 12/8/2023
- by Brian Davids
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, Norman Reedus star.
Focus Features will release New Regency’s crime drama The Bikeriders from Jeff Nichols on June 21 2024 in the US.
Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, and Norman Reedus star in the story of The Vandals, a midwestern motorcycle club which turns into a sinister gang over the course of a decade.
The film premiered in Telluride and is inspired by Danny Lyon’s book of photography.
Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones are producing through Tri-State, the company they run with Nichols, alongside New Regency. Fred Berger serves as executive producer.
The...
Focus Features will release New Regency’s crime drama The Bikeriders from Jeff Nichols on June 21 2024 in the US.
Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, and Norman Reedus star in the story of The Vandals, a midwestern motorcycle club which turns into a sinister gang over the course of a decade.
The film premiered in Telluride and is inspired by Danny Lyon’s book of photography.
Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones are producing through Tri-State, the company they run with Nichols, alongside New Regency. Fred Berger serves as executive producer.
The...
- 12/8/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Focus Features has set a release date for Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders, a crime epic about a motorcycle club in the 1950s that stars Austin Butler, Jodie Comer and Tom Hardy.
The New Regency film set in Chicago will hit theaters on June 21, 2024, after first bowing at Telluride. The movie was earlier set up at Disney’s 20th Century Studios while on the festival circuit, but was taken off the release schedule amid the Hollywood actors strike, with New Regency eventually taking the film to Focus Features.
Universal Pictures International will handle international distribution of the film, also written by Nichols.
The Bikeriders follows the evolution of a Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals, from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, with the testosterone-fueled culture of the club threatening the original group’s unique way of life.
The Bikeriders is inspired by Danny Lyon’s 1968 book of the same name,...
The New Regency film set in Chicago will hit theaters on June 21, 2024, after first bowing at Telluride. The movie was earlier set up at Disney’s 20th Century Studios while on the festival circuit, but was taken off the release schedule amid the Hollywood actors strike, with New Regency eventually taking the film to Focus Features.
Universal Pictures International will handle international distribution of the film, also written by Nichols.
The Bikeriders follows the evolution of a Midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals, from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, with the testosterone-fueled culture of the club threatening the original group’s unique way of life.
The Bikeriders is inspired by Danny Lyon’s 1968 book of the same name,...
- 12/8/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“The Bikeriders” officially has a new release date.
After New Regency shopped the film to other studios and streamers for distribution, Focus Features picked up the Jeff Nichols crime drama. Disney/20th Century Studios was originally supposed to release the film December 1. “The Bikeriders” premiered at Telluride but was taken off the Disney release calendar due to the then-ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
Focus Features will release “The Bikeriders” in theaters June 21, 2024, with Universal Pictures International handling international distribution.
Nichols wrote and directed the film, which follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life. Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, and Norman Reedus star.
“The Bikeriders” is produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones through Tri-State,...
After New Regency shopped the film to other studios and streamers for distribution, Focus Features picked up the Jeff Nichols crime drama. Disney/20th Century Studios was originally supposed to release the film December 1. “The Bikeriders” premiered at Telluride but was taken off the Disney release calendar due to the then-ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
Focus Features will release “The Bikeriders” in theaters June 21, 2024, with Universal Pictures International handling international distribution.
Nichols wrote and directed the film, which follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life. Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, and Norman Reedus star.
“The Bikeriders” is produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones through Tri-State,...
- 12/8/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
New Regency’s Jeff Nichols movie The Bikeriders, which we were told Focus Features took over from Disney, has set a release date of June 21, 2024.
The only other title currently scheduled on that weekend is an untitled movie from Universal.
The movie starring Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy and Norman Reedus, follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.
Bikeriders made its world premiere at Telluride and notched 85% fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
20th Century Studios was originally set to release the crime drama last weekend, Dec. 1-3, however, the actors strike this past fall got in the way of the movie raising its profile further.
Focus Features previously...
The only other title currently scheduled on that weekend is an untitled movie from Universal.
The movie starring Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy and Norman Reedus, follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.
Bikeriders made its world premiere at Telluride and notched 85% fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
20th Century Studios was originally set to release the crime drama last weekend, Dec. 1-3, however, the actors strike this past fall got in the way of the movie raising its profile further.
Focus Features previously...
- 12/8/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
John Nichols, who wrote more than a dozen novels including The Milagro Beanfield War and The Sterile Cuckoo — both of which were turned into films by top directors — died Wednesday in Taos, Nm. He was 83.
Nichols, whose works often told stories of small-town New Mexico and social injustice, also co-wrote the screenplay for Milagro Beanfield War. Focused on a battle between mostly Latino farmers and local politicians and real estate developers, it became a 1988 film produced and directed by Robert Redford. The pic starring Ruben Blades, Richard Bradford and Sonia Braga won an Oscar for Dave Grusin’s jazzy score. Watch a trailer below.
Nichols’ 1965 debut novel The Sterile Cuckoo was adapted four years later into a film by Alan J. Pakula. It starred Liza Minnelli in her Oscar-nominated role as Pookie, a zany but honest woman who falls for a young man (Wendell Burton) just before he leaves for college.
Nichols, whose works often told stories of small-town New Mexico and social injustice, also co-wrote the screenplay for Milagro Beanfield War. Focused on a battle between mostly Latino farmers and local politicians and real estate developers, it became a 1988 film produced and directed by Robert Redford. The pic starring Ruben Blades, Richard Bradford and Sonia Braga won an Oscar for Dave Grusin’s jazzy score. Watch a trailer below.
Nichols’ 1965 debut novel The Sterile Cuckoo was adapted four years later into a film by Alan J. Pakula. It starred Liza Minnelli in her Oscar-nominated role as Pookie, a zany but honest woman who falls for a young man (Wendell Burton) just before he leaves for college.
- 12/2/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Universal Pictures International will handle distribution outside North America.
Focus Features has taken worldwide rights to New Regency’s The Bikeriders starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy and will release in North America in 2024.
‘The Bikeriders’: London Review
Jeff Nichols’ crime drama premiered in Telluride and had been set up at 20th Century Studios where it was scheduled for a December 1 release.
It was removed from the calendar in mid-October amid the ban preventing actors from promoting studio films during the now-ended SAG-AFTRA strike.
Additionally the move would have avoided a clash with AMC Distribution’s...
Focus Features has taken worldwide rights to New Regency’s The Bikeriders starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy and will release in North America in 2024.
‘The Bikeriders’: London Review
Jeff Nichols’ crime drama premiered in Telluride and had been set up at 20th Century Studios where it was scheduled for a December 1 release.
It was removed from the calendar in mid-October amid the ban preventing actors from promoting studio films during the now-ended SAG-AFTRA strike.
Additionally the move would have avoided a clash with AMC Distribution’s...
- 11/22/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
That was fast. “The Bikeriders,” Jeff Nichols’ motorcycle gang drama starring Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, and Austin Butler, has sold to Focus Features after it was revealed on November 21 the film was shopping for a new home.
New Regency produced and financed the film that was meant to be released this year via its deal with 20th Century Studios, but Focus will now release it in North America theatrically in 2024, IndieWire has confirmed. Universal Pictures International has the remainder of the globe.
“We are delighted to add such a riveting project to next year’s strong slate of films. We look forward to once again working alongside New Regency and reuniting with the multi-talented Jeff Nichols on another one of his visionary projects,” Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski said in a statement. This film exemplifies our commitment to collaborate with the industry’s best filmmakers and production partners, and we...
New Regency produced and financed the film that was meant to be released this year via its deal with 20th Century Studios, but Focus will now release it in North America theatrically in 2024, IndieWire has confirmed. Universal Pictures International has the remainder of the globe.
“We are delighted to add such a riveting project to next year’s strong slate of films. We look forward to once again working alongside New Regency and reuniting with the multi-talented Jeff Nichols on another one of his visionary projects,” Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski said in a statement. This film exemplifies our commitment to collaborate with the industry’s best filmmakers and production partners, and we...
- 11/22/2023
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
Tom Hardy, Austin Butler & Jodie Comer New Regency Pic ‘The Bikeriders’ Zooms Over To Focus Features
Exclusive: New Regency’s Jeff Nichols directed crime drama The Bikeriders, which was at 20th Century Studios, is getting acquired by Focus Features. Focus is taking global rights to the pic, reteaming them with New Regency who they partnered with on 2022’s The Northman. A 2024 theatrical release is planned. Universal will distribute the movie overseas.
The movie was previously dated on Dec. 1 via 20th Century Studios/Disney. However, New Regency made the choice to pull the movie back, I hear, due to the ongoing actors strike and the cast unable to promote. The Bikeriders is currently 85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with critics.
The Bikeriders, from left: Austin Butler, Tom Hardy,
Focus Features Chairman Peter Kujawski tells Deadline, “We are delighted to add such a riveting project to next year’s strong slate of films. We look forward to once again working alongside New Regency and reuniting with the multi-talented Jeff...
The movie was previously dated on Dec. 1 via 20th Century Studios/Disney. However, New Regency made the choice to pull the movie back, I hear, due to the ongoing actors strike and the cast unable to promote. The Bikeriders is currently 85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with critics.
The Bikeriders, from left: Austin Butler, Tom Hardy,
Focus Features Chairman Peter Kujawski tells Deadline, “We are delighted to add such a riveting project to next year’s strong slate of films. We look forward to once again working alongside New Regency and reuniting with the multi-talented Jeff...
- 11/22/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
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