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Hollywood is now mourning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 63, who passed away in February this year. The actor, who won two Oscars, was a big movie star with over 100 acting credits.

The news of his death came as a shock despite his age, especially with the deaths initially labeled as suspicious. Their causes of death have since been revealed, with Awakawa reportedly dying as a result of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and the actor passing away of heart disease and complications from Alzheimer's. The interest in his films has since surged. According toTudum, one of his last films, 2003's Runaway Jury, has become a hit on Netflix.

Runaway Jury premiered on Netflix in early March and has already entered the Top 10 in its first week. In the global charts, the legal thriller is in sixth place with 4.5 million views and 9.7 million hours viewed. It entered the Top 10 in six countries,...

One of the last movies of the late Gene Hackman has entered the Netflix Top 10 Global Movies chart 22 years after its initial release. Hackman was one of the most revered and successful actors in movie history, and enjoyed a strong filmography, which included a diverse mix of both blockbusters and character-driven dramas. He shot to prominence with early roles in movies like Bonnie and Clyde and I Never Sang For My Father before achieving global recognition and leading man status with the role of Popeye Doyle in William Friedkin's crime thriller The French Connection.

Hackman won an Oscar for his performance and reprised his role in the follow-up The French Connection II. He then went on to star in a number of successful and critically acclaimed box office hits, including Superman, Superman II, Mississippi Burning, and Unforgiven, for which he won his second Oscar. The '90s brought less critical acclaim,...

The recent death of Gene Hackman has prompted many cinephiles to revisit their favorite films featuring the two-time Academy Award-winning actor -- though, really, regardless of what's going on in the world, any movie lover worth their weight in celluloid is never far removed from watching a Hackman flick because the man made so many classic, rewatchable pictures. The most valuable thing we can do as film buffs right now is to turn younger cinephiles on to the man's multitude of brilliant performers, because some of these kids were born after his 2004 retirement from acting.

For those just becoming acquainted with Hackman, it's important to understand that there's no ideal way to watch his movies. You can throw a dart at Hackman's filmography, and even if you hit a lousy movie like "Loose Cannons" or "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace," you're at least going to get Hackman being an...

Runaway Jury, one of the best legal thrillers based on a John Grisham novel, has entered Netflix's top 10. The film features an incredible cast, which includes John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and Rachel Weisz, and was directed by Reacher's Gary Fleder. Runaway Jury currently sits at number seven in the United States and in the Netflix top 10 worldwide.

The movie is about a lawyer named Wendell Rohr (Hoffman), who is up against Rankin Fitch (Hackman), a shady jury consultant who is able to stack juries in the favor of the defense. In a high-stakes trial against a gun manufacturer following a workplace shooting in New Orleans, one juror (Cusack) and his girlfriend (Weisz) appear able to manipulate the jury to deliver the verdict they wish.

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Picture: Lionsgate Films

Welcome to a slightly belated weekly roundup of all the new titles added to Netflix in the United States as we awaited the first-of-the-month arrivals, which included 30 new additions. Below, we’ll walk you through the 42 new movies that touched down and the 18 new series that arrived over the past seven days, in addition to looking at what shows and movies picked up the most points in the US top 10s.

While this list covers the first-of-the-month arrivals, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with all the other March additions here.

What to Watch on Netflix This Weekend Runaway Jury (2003)

Rating: PG-13

Language: English

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Director: Gary Fleder

Cast: John Cusack, Rachel Weisz, Gene Hackman

Writer: John Grisham, Brian Koppelman, David Levien

Runtime: 127 min / 2h 7m

This week, we lost the legendary Gene Hackman, who died at the age of 95. As is the case with most celebrity deaths,...

After more than 60 years in Hollywood, Gene Hackman has left an indelible mark on his fans and peers alike.

Dustin Hoffman, who starred with Hackman in the 2003 feature adaptation of John Grisham’s Runaway Jury, paid tribute to his longtime friend in a heartfelt statement after the 2x Oscar winner died at age 95.

“I met Gene in acting school, at the Pasadena Playhouse, when he was 27 and I was 19. We used to play congas together on the roof, trying to be like our hero Marlon Brando,” he said.

“And Gene was like Brando, in that he brought something unprecedented to our craft, something people didn’t immediately understand as genius,” added Hoffman. “He was expelled from our school after three months for ‘not having talent.’ It was the first time they ever did that. He was that good. Powerful, subtle, brilliant. A giant among actors. I miss him already.”

On Thursday,...

I hope Jamie Campbell Bower and Eddie Marsan have enough room in their bellies for a second-breakfast because they’re joining the cast of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3. Bower, who plays the Freddy Krueger-like villain Henry Creel/Vecna in Netflix’s Stranger Things, boards the show as a series regular, while Marsan will recur in new episodes of the big-budget fantasy series.

Details about their respective roles are scarce. However, the scoopers at Deadline hear that Bower plays a significant role in upcoming events as a “handsome high-born knight (code name Arlen). He may play a new love interest for Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), who, after the events of Season 2, continues to grapple with the fact that her previous love, Hallbrand (Charlie Vickers), is Sauron. Woof.

Speaking about his Stranger Things role, Bower said he’s looking to give villainy a...

Quick LinksReacher Season 3 Involves Zachary Beck's Drug-Tied Rug BusinessReacher's Dominique Kohl Died to Traumatize the Hero

The following contains spoilers for the three-episode premiere of Reacher Season 3, now streaming on Prime Video.

Reacher Season 3 takes the titular hero to Maine, which initially seems like a coincidence when he stumbles on his newest mission. The former military operative appears to be lucking into an arc of fate when he rescues a young man named Richard Beck from being snatched. It leads to Alan Ritchson's Reacher bonding with him and becoming part of his father Zachary's criminal empire.

This all turns out to be by design. Reacher is a spy who infiltrates this criminal organization in a way that fans of the Fast & Furious movies and The Departed would love. However, as his quest unfolds in the three-episode premiere, it turns out to be part of his most dangerous...

Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone have collaborated on multiple projects over the years, and we’re not just talking about the four Expendables movies they made together. Stallone also wrote the screenplay for the 2013 Statham action film Homefront, which was directed by Gary Fleder and based on a novel by Chuck Logan. Now, Statham and Stallone are continuing their working relationship with the action thriller A Working Man, which also reunites Statham with his The Beekeeper director David Ayer – and looks to be very much along the same lines as that film. A Working Man is set to reach theatres on March 28th, and in anticipation of its release, we decided to put together a list of everything we know about the movie. Here we go:

Source Material

A Working Man is based on the novel Levon’s Trade, written by Chuck Dixon and originally published in 2014. Dixon is best known...

Blu-ray.com has reported a new special edition 30th anniversary physical media release of Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead. The new Blu-ray will have a 4K restoration of the film along with a smattering of goodies for fans of the gangster drama. The 1995 movie stars Andy Garcia, Christopher Lloyd, Christopher Walken, William Forsythe, and Bill Nunn. Both a regular Blu-ray and Ultra-hd 4K Blu-ray come from the boutique label Kino Lorber and are scheduled to hit retailers on April 29.

The description reads,

“Ex-crook Jimmy ‘The Saint’ Tosnia (Andy Garcia) is trying his best to go legitimate until he’s dragged back into the world of crime for one last, seemingly simple mission. All Jimmy and his eccentric cronies have to do is intimidate their target. But they make a disastrous series of mistakes that result in the death of a woman connected to a powerful gangster.

A classic Alex Cross thriller is headed to a new streaming home for the new year.

Per Paramount+, 1997's Kiss the Girls will be joining the streaming platform's library on January 1. The neo-noir thriller stars Morgan Freeman in the role of Alex Cross, kicking off a tense, short-lived series of films that still stand out as some of the earliest adaptations starring author James Patterson's iconic character.

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Directed by Gary Fleder from a screenplay by David Klass, Kiss the Girls saw Freeman's Alex Cross investigating the disappearance of his niece alongside Detectives Nick Ruskin and Davey Sikes, portrayed by Cary Elwes and Alex McArthur, respectively. The story takes a terrifying...

Quentin Tarantino's influence on modern-day filmmaking is undeniable, but unlike most artists, his impact was felt almost immediately upon his emergence as a director, especially following Pulp Fiction. Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, and in the aftermath of the release of that movie, which Roger Ebert once prophetically said would be "the most influential film of the next five years," the market was flooded with a host of imitators.

In short, Pulp Fiction became a formula. Take one helping of eccentric (if not sympathetic) criminals, combine it with a cast of either rising stars or reclamation projects, a script that avoids chronological convention, a soundtrack composed of underappreciated hits, and, most importantly of all, copious amounts of dialogue sprinkled lovingly with numerous pop-culture references. Quentin Tarantino didn't invent any of these ideas; he simply synthesized them in such a way that inspired others to try themselves.

James Patterson’s Alex Cross book series is heading to the screen once again, and here’s the trailer for Cross.

Thus far, James Patterson’s Alex Cross action thriller novels have only been seen on the big screen. Morgan Freeman first took on the role of the detective for 1997’s Kiss the Girls, directed by Gary Fleder, and 2001’s Along Came A Spider, directed by Lee Tamahori. Both were well received and feature strong casts, including Ashley Judd, Carey Elwes and Michael Wincott.

A reboot landed in 2012, directed by Rob Cohen and starring Tyler Perry. However, Alex Cross was a critical and commercial failure, and plans for a sequel were dropped.

That brings us to Cross, a television series coming to Amazon Prime Video which follows Reacher's template of using the protagonist’s surname as the title.

The synopsis reads as follows:

Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) is a detective and forensic psychologist,...

September marks Marcello Mastroianni’s centennial, and the Criterion Channel pays respect with a retrospective that puts the expected alongside some lesser-knowns: Monicelli’s The Organizer, Jacques Demy’s A Slightly Pregnant Man, and two by Ettore Scola. There’s also the welcome return of “Adventures In Moviegoing” with Rachel Kushner’s formidable selections, among them Fassbinder’s Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven, Pialat’s L’enfance nue, and Jean Eustache’s Le cochon. In the lead-up to His Three Daughters, a four-film Azazel Jacobs program arrives.

Theme-wise, a set of courtroom dramas runs from 12 Angry Men and Anatomy of a Murder to My Cousin Vinny and Philadelphia; a look at ’30s female screenwriters includes Fritz Lang’s You and Me, McCarey’s Make Way for Tomorrow, and Cukor’s What Price Hollywood? There’s also a giallo series if you want to watch an Argento movie and ask yourself,...

If you're a big fan of trashy, popular airport mystery paperbacks, you probably know who James Patterson and Alex Cross are. Patterson is a highly successful author (he's the first person to ever sell one million e-books), and while these days he seems to let other people write for him and then just slaps his name on the cover and cashes a check, his early books were authored solo. And when he wrote those early books, he created Alex Cross, a character who has appeared in several books now. Cross is a brilliant Metropolitan Police Department detective who often hunts down twisted serial killers. He's the type of ready-for-the-screen character that people love to watch, so it makes sense that there have been multiple Alex Cross movies — and there's a new Alex Cross TV series on the way, too, headed to Prime Video.

For now, we're just going to focus on the movies.

The Morgan Freeman movie Kiss the Girls is finding new life on Netflix. This comes as Aldis Hodge will take over Freeman's role as Alex Cross in the film for a new take on the character.

Per ScreenRant, the 1997 movie Kiss the Girls is ranking at No. 3 on Netflix's Global Top 10 list, garnering 7.1 million views and 13.7 million viewing hours. The 27-year-old film is notably not streaming on Netflix in the United States, but has garnered high viewership with its availability in international territories. Fortunately, those in the U.S. can still otherwise revisit the film for free, as it's currently streaming on Pluto TV. It's also available in the U.S. for Paramount+ subscribers for those who want to stream the movie free of ads.

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Kiss the...

Morgan Freeman's psychological thriller, Kiss the Girls, gains popularity on Netflix 27 years after its release. The movie, based on James Patterson's novel, follows forensic psychologist Alex Cross in his pursuit of a serial kidnapper. Despite mixed reviews, the movie's success led to a sequel and a reboot, with the character of Alex Cross maintaining appeal over the years.

Morgan Freeman's mixed-reviewed psychological thriller, Kiss the Girls, finds new life on Netflix's global chart 27 years later. Based on James Patterson's best-selling novel of the same name, the 1997 psychological thriller follows the forensic psychologist Alex Cross who teams up with an escaped kidnap victim to catch the killer known as Casanova who has abducted his niece and many other women. Other than Freeman in the lead role, the cast includes Ashley Judd and Cary Elwes.

Now, 27 years later, Freeman's psychological thriller has found new life on Netflix. For the week...

Kiss the Girls gains new audience on Netflix after its initial 1997 release. Despite poor critical reviews, the film resonated with audiences and performed well at the box office. Prime Video's new series Cross starring Aldis Hodge may capitalize on the Netflix success and Reacher's popularity.

Kiss the Girls is storming the Netflix chart almost three decades after bringing James Pattersons Alex Cross to the big screen for the first time in 1997. Although the film was critically panned at the time of its release, like many older movies, the films arrival on Netflix has given second life to a movie that would otherwise be languishing on DVD shelves and relying on occasional airings on network television to reach new audiences.

Directed by Gary Fleder and adapted from James Patterson's best-selling novel of the same name, the film stars Morgan Freeman as forensic psychologist Alex Cross and Ashley Judd as Dr.

Jessica Alba is back in action after her break of nearly four years. Directed by Mouly Surya from a screenplay co-written by John Brancato, Josh Olson, and Halley Gross, the Netflix film titled Trigger Warning follows the story of Parker, a Special Forces commando, as she returns to her hometown to take ownership of her family’s bar after her father suddenly dies. But soon, she finds herself fighting against a dangerous, violent gang terrorizing her hometown. So, if you like the action and thrills of Trigger Warning, here are some similar action films you should check out next.

The Equalizer (Netflix & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Sony Pictures

The Equalizer is an action thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua from a screenplay by Richard Wenk. Based on a 1980s series of the same name created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim, the 2014 film follows the story of Robert McCall,...

Showtown American Pictures and Cannon Fire Productions announce Candyman (2021) actor Michael Hargrove will join actress Avaryana Rose in a Tale of Murder, Resurrection and Revenge in Bitter Souls. Directed by Tom Ryan of ‘Return To The Theatre Of Terror.’

Some of Michael Hargrove’s notable work includes the role of Sherman Fields in the hit MonkeyPaw Production’s Candyman feature. Michael has also been honored with the Black Theatre Alliance’s Sidney Poitier Award in 2002 as Best Leading Actor in a Play for his role in “Will He Bop, Will He Drop” at Chicago’s National Pastime Theater.

Michael has also appeared in such National Pastime Theater productions as “Red Dog Moon,” David Rabe’s “The Orphan,” “Yuba City,” Kafka’s “The Trial,” “Servant of the People!! The Rise and Fall of Huey P. Newton and the Black Panther Party,” “Possessed,” Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Shakespeare...

After working together on the surprisingly good old school action movie The Beekeeper, director David Ayer and actor Jason Statham are set to reteam on another action project, Levon’s Trade. And this time they’ll be working from a screenplay that was written by Sylvester Stallone! (With some revisions by Ayer.) Levon’s Trade was announced a few months ago, and Deadline reports that it has just secured distribution through Amazon MGM. Amazon MGM will be giving the film a wide theatrical release in the U.S., while Prime Video takes streaming rights in a slew of major international territories. “Outside of the Prime Video international territories (where the film may go online only), producers Black Bear have sold the film independently to theatrical distributors in multiple overseas markets.”

Based on a novel by prolific comic book writer Chuck Dixon, Levon’s Trade will show us that Levon Cade (Statham) left his...

Thankfully recovering after a brutal bout with Covid-19, Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev will return with Jupiter. Variety reports the “politically-minded movie” tells the story of “a Russian oligarch’s reckoning with the harsh reality of his family’s future,” with a shoot set in Spain and France this spring. “The nature of absolute power is a universal theme, and through this prism we can look at any cultural landscape or historical era,” the director said.

Following Summer 1993 and Alcarràs, Carla Simon is prepping a summer shoot for the final entry in her trilogy with the flamenco musical Romería. Speaking to Variety, the director said, “Since I discovered that my biological mother was passionate about flamenco, a great curiosity began to grow in me for this genre, because of its history and its exceptional capacity to connect directly with emotion.” She added “This time music and dance will become the challenge...

Sam Rockwell is no stranger to dark comedy, thanks to his work with Martin McDonaugh. But he’ll get a new screen partner in his next one, as Deadline reports Rockwell will star opposite Kumail Nanjiani in “A Guy Walks Into A Bar,” which just wrangled an Interim Agreement from SAG-AFTRA to start shooting before the year closes.

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Gary Fleder will direct a script by “Venom” scribe Scott Rosenberg about Nanjiani’s new father who befriends Rockwell’s charismatic man at a bar, but soon grows suspicious that his new friend might have a troubling secret.

Continue reading ‘A Guy Walks Into A Bar’: Sam Rockwell & Kumail Nanjiani To Star In Dark Comedy From ‘Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead’ Team at The Playlist.

Sam Rockwell and Kumail Nanjiani have joined the cast of the upcoming dark comedy from Gary Fleder, ‘A Guy Walks into a Bar.’ The project has secured an Interim Agreement from SAG-AFTRA.

The movie follows a mild-mannered new father (Nanjiani) as he befriends a charismatic yet mysterious man (Rockwell) at a bar, and soon suspects him of concealing a troubling secret.

Scott Rosenberg, who has previously worked on movies such as Jumanji: The Next Level and Venom, has written the screenplay for this film. The movie is being produced by Gary Fleder, Scott Rosenberg and Sam Rockwell, along with Mark Fasano from Nickel City Pictures, Nadine de Barros from Fortitude International, and Jina Panebianco from Caliwood Pictures. Kumail Nanjiani will be serving as an executive producer on the project, alongside Erica Steinberg and Nickel City’s Matthew Goldberg. The film will also have R. Wesley Sierk, III, John D. Straley...

Exclusive: Sam Rockwell and Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick) have closed deals to star in A Guy Walks Into a Bar, a dark comedy from director Gary Fleder (Runaway Jury) that has secured an Interim Agreement from SAG-AFTRA and will go into production by year’s end.

Written by Scott Rosenberg, the film to be shot in New Jersey watches as a mild-mannered new father (Nanjiani) befriends a charismatic yet mysterious man (Rockwell) at a bar, and soon suspects him of concealing a troubling secret.

The project marks a reteam for Fleder and Rosenberg, who previously collaborated on their debut feature, the dark comedy Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead. Fleder, Rosenberg, and Rockwell are also producing with Mark Fasano of Nickel City Pictures, Nadine de Barros of Fortitude International, and Jina Panebianco of Caliwood Pictures. Nanjiani...

Exclusive: George A. Romero’s “final zombie movie” Twilight Of The Dead has got fresh impetus with producer-financier Roundtable Entertainment and a planned late 2023 start date in Puerto Rico.

The George A. Romero estate is teaming up with LA-based financier-producer Roundtable on the “seventh and final installment” of the seminal Living Dead franchise.

Horror icon Romero had written a treatment for the movie before he passed in 2017 and regarded Twilight Of The Dead as the conclusion to his epic saga, which comprised six movies and various spinoffs and remakes. The project was first revealed in 2021 but things have been quiet since then.

The script is now finished, having been taken on by Joe Knetter, Robert Lucas, and Paolo Zelati, who also worked on the treatment with Romero.

Set on a tropical island, we’re told Twilight Of The Dead will “delve into the dark nature of humanity from the perspective...

Update: Sony is changing-up its platform of the Tom Hanks movie A Man Called Otto. The pic will now go exclusive in LA and NY on Dec. 30 followed by limited break on Jan. 6, and a further wide on Jan. 13, the latter point always part of the plan. The studio is pivoting their release plan over three phases given the great word of mouth they received on the title. The Marc Forster directed movie made its premiere to LA audiences last night at the Academy Museum.

In addition, they’re pulling their Screen Gems horror film True Haunting off the schedule for the time being. That pic most recently planned to go on Jan. 6, 2023. The Gary Fleder directed title follows the terrifying story of the first televised exorcism on NBC in 1971. The NBC news segment was a success, the exorcism was not. Instead, it made things worse for the Becker family who lived there.

Russell Crowe is telling the behind-the-scenes story about his new film.

The actor took over directing duties for “Poker Face” under the condition that he could do “whatever the f**k I want.”

“It tested my f***ing patience like you wouldn’t believe but art is never made in a perfect environment,” the 58-year-old told The Courier Mail.

Gary Fleder was originally slated to direct the film with a script by Stephen M. Coates, but has since been replaced by the actor.

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“If you’re sitting around waiting for a perfect environment to make your art in, you’re just going to be sitting by yourself for a long, long f***ing time,” continued Crowe.

The decision was fueled by his decision to make the movie...

Exclusive: The multi-platform content production, finance and distribution company Roundtable Entertainment has entered into a strategic partnership with Slated, through which the online film packaging, financing and distribution marketplace will supply a curated selection of independent films to be produced via Roundtable.

The partnership marks a major milestone for Slated, as it becomes the first online film marketplace to have secured an output deal for its projects. It will allow Slated to benefit from Roundtable’s financing and distribution expertise, with Roundtable at the same time taking advantage of Slated’s content pipeline and A.I.-driven scoring system for projects. The deal was brokered by Roundtable’s Griffin Gmelich as part of a larger distribution play.

The first feature set for production under the partnership is the dark thriller Shallow End, starring Reid Miller (Joe Bell). Pic is a survival tale centered on Bo (Reid), a teen who gets...

Earlier this year, it was announced that Erin Moriarty (best known for playing Starlight on The Boys) and Jamie Campbell Bower (now best known for playing Vecna on Stranger Things) had signed on to star in director Gary Fleder‘s film True Haunting, based on a novel by Edwin F. Becker (pick up a copy Here) – a novel that was based on the story of an actual haunting and exorcism, “the first ever filmed and televised by NBC in 1971.” True Haunting may not end up being released under that title (the project is now known as the “untitled True Haunting movie”), but Deadline reports that Sony is planning to get it into theatres on January 6, 2023.

As of right now, True Haunting is the only studio movie scheduled to open on January 6th, but Paramount will be expanding its release of Damien Chazelle’s film Babylon on that date. Deadline notes...

Click here to read the full article.

The Karate Kid franchise is getting new life in theaters. Sony’s Columbia Pictures has set a date for a Karate Kid film slated to open June 7, 2024. No filmmakers or other details were revealed, but it is described as “the return to the original Karate Kid franchise.”

The series launched in 1984 and spawned three sequels, as well as a 2010 reboot starring Jaden Smith. The franchise found new relevancy thanks to Cobra Kai, the TV series currently streaming on Netflix and featuring original stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka alongside younger actors. It is produced by Sony Pictures Television.

The studio also set a date for an untitled True Haunting film, said to be inspired by true events and directed by Gary Fleder. The Screen Gems horror film, about a couple moving into a haunted home, arrives Jan. 6, 2023. Meanwhile, Missing, the Screen Gems continuation of the Searching franchise,...

On a recent visit to Serbia, actor John Malkovich announced plans to team up with fellow leading men D.W. Moffett and Matt Dillon to build a state-of-the-art film, music and media production facility in neighboring North Macedonia, a small, mountainous country of just two million inhabitants.

It might seem a risky gambit for a country with a modest domestic film industry that services few foreign shoots. But Malkovich – a self-described “son of the Balkans” whose father is of Croatian descent – insisted that the studios have the potential to transform film and television production in the region. Dubbed Stonebridge Studios, the project now awaits approval from the government of the ex-Yugoslavian republic, which according to the studio’s backers stands to gain €1.6 billion (1.6 billion) in Gdp as international productions flock to the country.

While the backing of an A-list celeb ensured the announcement would raise hopes – and eyebrows – across the region,...

Initiative includes 10-strong thriller slate.

Dominic Ianno’s new Hollywood content creator Roundtable Entertainment and Cinedigm have struck a multi-film financing, producing, distribution and streaming channel partnership.

Cinedigm takes a minority shareholder position in Roundtable and will distribute original content from the partnership on its Ott networks and third-party platforms.

Early activity includes a $15m slate of 10 thriller features led by All My Friends Are Dead. Kevin Greutert of the Saw franchise will direct the story about friends who start to die one by one during a weekend music festival in a series of killings linked to the Seven Deadly Sins.

Initiative includes 10-strong thriller slate.

Dominic Ianno’s new Hollywood content creator Roundtable Entertainment and Cinedigm have struck a multi-film financing, producing, distribution and streaming channel partnership.

Cinedigm takes a minority shareholder position in Roundtable and will distribute original content from the partnership on its Ott networks and third-party platforms.

Early activity includes a $15m slate of 10 thriller features led by All My Friends Are Dead. Kevin Greutert of the Saw franchise will direct the story about friends who start to die one by one during a weekend music festival in a series of killings linked to the Seven Deadly Sins.

Palmer screenwriter Cheryl Guerriero has adapted the life story of Colonel Sanders into a new feature film project that she will produce along with Eric Paquette and his Meridian Pictures.

Guerriero adapted Margaret Sanders’ book The Colonel’s Secret: Eleven Herbs and a Spicy Daughter into the screenplay for the project, A Finger Lickin’ Good Story: The Life of Colonel Sanders.

In a statement, Guerriero said, “I knew Sanders was a real man but I had no idea how many jobs he had, how many failures, how many challenges, but the biggest surprise was that he was around 65 years old when he set out to franchise his chicken. It is an incredible story of perseverance and faith.”

Margaret Sanders’ 1996 book is laced with humor but also tells of a sometimes complicated relationship she had with her father. It’s a first-hand account of how Harland Sanders built Kentucky Fried Chicken,...

Exclusive: Erin Moriarty and Jamie Campbell Bower have signed on to star in Screen Gems’ film True Haunting, based on Edwin F. Becker’s book of the same name, which will be directed by Gary Fleder.

As per its title, True Haunting is based on true events. When Ed and Marsha Becker purchased their first home, they soon discovered the dwelling was haunted by ghosts. Specifically, the sinister family who lived and died there before. Desperate for help, the Beckers sought out an exorcism. The first ever televised. Millions around the country tuned in. Although the broadcast was a success, the exorcism was not. Instead, it made things worse. Much worse…

Richard D’Ovidio adapted the screenplay, with Blair Butler handling revisions. Cindy Cowan is producing.

Moriarty can currently be seen as Annie January (aka the superhero Starlight) on the hit series The Boys,...

Exclusive: Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale is to host intimate conversation series E.A.T. With Gavin Rossdale, which will see the musician invite celebrities to his home in the Hollywood Hills where he will design, prepare and serve them a three course meal.

Rossdale and his guests will eat, discuss their careers and what makes them tick, and may even jam, we’re told, depending on the guest. Shooting is underway and guests so far include iconic singer Tom Jones and 30 Rock and Late Night With Conan O’Brien star Jack McBrayer.

The show is being produced by recently launched Roundtable Entertainment as their first unscripted project. A network has yet to be assigned.

Executive producers are Rossdale, Lainie Strouse, Dominic Ianno and Alex Dundas.

As we reported last week, film and TV firm Roundtable has been launched by industry vets Ianno, Dundas, John Baldecchi and Griffin Gmelich. Early projects...

Industry vets Dominic Ianno, John Baldecchi, Alex Dundas and Griffin Gmelich have partnered to launch Los Angeles-based Roundtable Entertainment, we can reveal. The film and TV company will produce scripted and non-scripted content across film, episodic and podcasts, and will also distribute.

Ingenious Media is backing the outfit’s debut movie slate, which includes Sacrament, directed by Gary Fleder (Homefront) and written by P.G. Cuschieri (Cut Throat City). The pic tracks an ex-military father who travels to Mexico to exact revenge on the drug cartel which brutally murdered his son.

On the TV side, Roundtable will produce Fame & Misfortune, a comedy starring Jane Seymour. Written by Jane’s son, Sean Flynn, and based on his real-life experiences, the show tells the tale of a young artist who falls for a rising influencer and who must reluctantly embrace his celebrity roots in order to win her affections. Instantly regretting it, he...

Ingenious Media backs initial film slate.

Industry veterans Dominic Ianno, John Baldecchi, Alex Dundas and Griffin Gmelich have launched Roundtable Entertainment, a multi-genre content creator and multi-platform production company.

Klingenstein Fields Advisors leads the first round of investment and Ingenious Media is backing the company’s initial film slate which includes Sacrament directed by Gary Fleder froma script by P.G. Cuschieri about a former operative who travels to Mexico to exact revenge on the drug cartel which murdered his son.

Ianno, a former head or partner at Team Whistle, Indomitable Entertainment and Outlaw Productions who has served as executive producer...

Eric Paquette, former senior VP at Sony Pictures and MGM, has launched a new company, Meridian Pictures, with a focus on film and TV projects. Paquette said that he’ll be working with direct to consumer platforms, financiers and studios to fill their pipelines with “compelling stories for their specific audiences.” The projects in development include Papa Alpha Heavy, from writer Michael Walker, an action thriller set on a commercial airline. Gary Fleder is set to direct, and Chrisitain Mercuri’s Capstone is financing. Other projects Paquette is packaging include Meltdown, from screenwriter Jessica Postigo, based on the life of Bonnie Klea, the former Rocketdyne employee whose advocacy for worker victims of nuclear radiation exposure at the contaminated Santa Susana Field Laboratory led to a massive restitution program. Paquette will produce.

Kinetic, from Chris Dennis, is an action thriller where a truck drive has to deliver dangerous cargo to save his pregnant wife.

Russell Crowe wants to hold 'em as they do in Texas after agreeing to lead Poker Face, a Gary Fleder-directed thriller. I'm doing my best not to summon Lady Gaga at this moment, so let's move onto the plot, shall we? Written by Stephen M. Coates, Crowe plays Jake, a tech billionaire who gathers his childhood friends to his Miami estate for…...

Exclusive: Russell Crowe has committed to next star in Poker Face, a Gary Fleder-directed thriller that is set to begin shooting late next month in Sydney, Australia.

The film is scripted by Stephen M. Coates, and Crowe plays Jake, a tech billionaire who gathers his childhood friends to his Miami estate for what turns into a high stakes game of poker. Those friends have a love hate relationship with the host, a master game-player/planner, and he has concocted an elaborate scheme designed to bring a certain justice to all of them. However, Jake finds himself re-thinking his strategy when his Miami mansion is overtaken by a dangerous home invader whose previous jobs have all ended in murder and arson.

Arclight Films is financing and producing. The producers are Gary Hamilton, Addam Bramich, Ryan Hamilton, Jeanette Volturno, Jason Clark and Keith Rodger.

Crowe, who last starred in the Solstice road rage thriller Unhinged,...

Thanks to his involvement in box office hits like the Expendables franchise, the most recent Fast and Furious movies and giant shark blockbuster The Meg, Jason Statham‘s star has never been higher than it is right now.

The 53 year-old’s been a regular presence on our screens for over two decades at this point and can always be relied on to deliver exactly what’s expected of him. In fact, the Jason Statham Action Thriller has almost become a subgenre unto itself, and fans of action cinema have always enjoyed seeing the former competitive high diver deliver a series of gruffly charismatic performances in B-level efforts where he barrels his way through an army of disposable henchmen in star vehicles that score decent reviews and perform acceptably at the box office, without ever capturing the headlines or ascending to smash hit status.

Following in the footsteps of Chaos, Crank,...

Exclusive: Brickell & Broadbridge International (Bbi) have signed on to handle international sales of Margate House Films’ Rajah, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors), Josie Ho (Dream Home) and Dominic Monaghan (Lord of the Rings).

Rob Allyn penned the script and produced the period adventure film alongside sons and partners Conor and Jake Allyn via their production company, Margate House Films, alongside Ho and Conroy Chan for 852 Films.

Helmed by Sundance and Venice alum Michael Haussman, Rajah is the real-life story of Sir James Brooke, the swashbuckling English adventurer who in part inspired The Man Who Would Be King, Lord Jim and Apocalypse Now.

Brooke fought pirates and slavery to rule a kingdom larger than England in the jungles of Borneo, where the period epic was filmed with support from the Sarawak Tourism Board and Malaysia’s federal Fimi film rebate.

Bbi’s Jason Burke Sutter, previously director of international distribution for 20th Century Fox,...

Gary Fleder has signed on to direct the espionage thriller “Line of Control” with Brickell & Broadbridge Intl. on board to finance and sell the project at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival.

Fleder, whose credits include “Runaway Jury,” “Homefront” and “Kiss the Girls,” will direct from a Ben Dubash script. “Line of Control” will explore the intense subculture of “K&r” as an American kidnap and ransom specialist fights to rescue the daughter of a U.S. senator.

Bbi’s Jeff Elliott and Joel Shapiro are producing, along with Cindy Cowan. Casting is under way and expected to be announced shortly, with production eyeing a mid-2021 shoot.

Fleder is currently in pre-production on “True Haunting” for Sony Screen Gems, which is also being produced by Cowan.

Bbi’s Jason Burke Sutter will handle international sales. Sutter, who was recently tapped for the position when Bbi expanded its operations, previously worked as...

Liz Tigelaar’s “Little Fires Everywhere” writers’ room was on the Paramount lot, a central point between herself and many of her Eastside writers. But when the show wrapped, she wanted to move her space closer to home in Venice Beach. Her new location, into which she moved in January, is now only blocks from the beach, as well as her son’s school. The second-floor space includes a balcony where she, her writers and her dog Frites can collaborate. “I’ve been all over for so many years of my career, but now I just feel like I get to work at home,” she says.

Artist of Another Kind

Tigelaar doesn’t just write and produce, she also likes to paint, and back in 2005 she was starting to play with texture and using different materials in her pieces. That was also when “American Dreams,” a period drama on which she was a writer,...

ID Networks Nine at Nine continues this week, culminating with a Joe Exotic related piece.

Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story premieres on USA Network starring Amanda Peet and Christian Slater, and 13 Reasons Why premieres on Netflix on Friday.

Something extra fun for fans of the canceled too soon gem Life Unexpected. There is a virtual table read via the Atx festival. All of the details of these shows and more can be found below!

Saturday, May 30

9/8c ID Investigated: My Father Btk (ID)

Kerri Rawson had an idyllic life growing up in Wichita, Kansas, with her father, mother, and brother. During her childhood, a serial killer going by the name “Btk” was terrorizing the Wichita community.

The moniker came from the way the killer would murder his victims. He broke into their homes where he would bind, torture and kill his victims. Kerri remembers her father assuring her that...

Westmonte High Class of 2012, it’s time for your reunion.

Atx Television Festival is bringing the cast and creative team of “Life Unexpected” back together for a virtual script reading and panel, Variety has learned exclusively.

The live event, which Variety will also moderate, will reunite creator and showrunner Liz Tigelaar with cast members Britt Robertson, Shiri Appleby, Kristoffer Polaha, Kerr Smith, Austin Basis, Reggie Austin, Erin Karpluk, Cynthia Stevenson and Ksenia Solo, as well as producer Mary Beth Basile and executive producer/director Gary Fleder.

It all begins Sunday, May 31 at 8 p.m. Et / 5 p.m. Pt on Atx Television Festival’s YouTube page to benefit Off Their Plate, a volunteer-led organization has expanded into nine cities and provides economic support to restaurant workers while also delivering free meals to folks on the frontlines of fighting the pandemic. Tigelaar will start the show by chatting about “Life Unexpected’s” legacy,...

From TorontoFilm.Net here is the Toronto Film Production Update for December 2019 including "Nightmare Alley", "Salt N Pepa", "The Expanse" and a whole lot more:

Endlings Season 2

Episodic Series – TV

Sinking Ship Entertainment Inc.

Sep 30/19 - Jan 31/20

Ginny & Georgia

Season 1

Episodic Series – Streaming

Netflix / Blue Ice Pictures

Prod.: Claire Welland

Dir.: various

Aug 14 - Dec 10/19

Green Harvest Season 3

Episodic Series - TV

CBS Studios Inc.

Prod.: Thom Pretak

Dir.: various

Jul/19 - Feb/20

Hardy Boys Season 1

Episodic Series TV

Hb One Productions Inc.

Prod.: Jim Corston, Joan Lambur, Suzanne Wilson

Dir.: Jason Stone, others Tbd

Aug 26/19 - Jan 8/20

Headcase

Feature Films – Theatrical

Gunfight Productions Inc.

Prod.: Tom Butterfield

Nov 13 - Dec 13/19

In The Dark Season 2

Episodic Series – Streaming

Prod.: JJ Authors

Dir.: Various

Aug.19/19 – Jan. 31/20

Letterkenny Season 5

Episodic Series – Streaming

Get'er Done Productions 5 Inc.

Prod.: Kara Haflidson

Dir.: Jacob Tierney...

From TorontoFilm.Net here is the Toronto Film Production Update for November 2019 including "The Boys", "The Expanse", "Jupiter's Legacy" and a whole lot more:

Coroner Season 2

Episodic Series – TV

Coroner 2 Productions (Ontario) Inc.

Prod.: Suzanne Colvin-Golding

Dir.: Adrienne Mitchell, Winne Jong, Charles Officer

Aug 19 – Nov 6/19

Cosmic Dawn

Feature Films – Theatrical

CosmicDawn Entertainment Inc.

Prod.: Joseph Raso, Mark Raso, Brian Robertson

Sept 30 - Nov 1/19

Daughter Dearest

Movies for Television

Reel One Entertainment

Prod.: Gilles Laplante, Neil Bregman

Dir: Michelle Ouellet

Oct 28 - Nov 12/19

Dodge And Miles Season 1

Episodic Series – Streaming

Sagia Productions Inc./

CBS Studios

Prod.: John Weber

Dir: Phil Abraham

Sep 23 - Nov 22/19

Endlings Season 2

Episodic Series – TV

Sinking Ship Entertainment Inc.

Co-Prod.: Alexis Grieve

Line Prod.: Eric Beldowski

Dir.: Various

Sep 30/19 - Jan 31/20

Ginny & Georgia

Season 1

Episodic Series – Streaming

Netflix / Blue Ice Pictures

Prod.: Claire Welland

Dir.: various

Aug...