The Weinstein Co. has added a British horror thriller to their upcoming slate of releases. According to indieWIRE, all North American rights to James Watkins' Eden Lake have been acquired by the Weinsteins at Cannes. Evidently, it's been months in the making: Fangorianoted in November 2007 that the Weinsteins were "reportedly finalizing" a deal.
Putting business aside, it sounds like writer/director Watkins, who also co-wrote My Little Eye, knows how to appeal to horror fans, telling Fangoria: "We show people's heads on fire, neck-stabbing with glass, stomach-slashing revealing intestines and kidneys and metal spikes through feet. Gritty realism in moments of ramped-up tension." (!!!!) The story follows a couple "on a romantic weekend getaway being terrorized by dysfunctional teenagers with no ethical boundaries."
Lest you think that this picture might appeal solely to horror fans, the actors who play the romantic couple have bona fide credentials. Michael Fassbender (300) has already received kudos this week for his performance as the hunger-striking IRA leader Bobby Sands in director Steve McQueen's Hunger, and is in advanced talks to play the coveted role of Heathcliff in a new version of Wuthering Heights, as Elisabeth Rappe told us earlier this week. Fassbender's better half in Eden Lake is played by Kelly Reilly (pictured), who has become even more gorgeous in the six years since she appeared in The Spanish Apartment. Explicit carnage, a hot heartthrob, and a lovely lady? Count me in.
Uwe Boll's latest "masterpiece" Postal was scheduled to open next weekend in 1500 theaters, deliberately going up against Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But, according to a story at Cinema Blend, Boll's people issued a release this morning claiming that U.S. distributors have dropped the film and that it will only be released on four screens. An additional source says the film will open in five cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver and Tucson. Boll claims that he has even tried to rent additional screens, but to no avail.
Typically, the outspoken, outrageous director is calling it a conspiracy, the latest example of everyone being out to get him. He also says, "Theatrical distributors are boycotting 'Postal' because of its political content. We were prepared to open on 1500 screens all across America on May 23rd. Any multiplex in the U.S. should have space for us, but they're afraid."
Frankly, that's highly unlikely, just as it's unlikely that the film is being canceled because it's bad. The most likely reason is that none of Boll's films have ever turned a profit, unlike films by bad directors like Michael Bay, Eli Roth and Brett Ratner, who are moneymaking machines, despite their ineptitude. Postal stars Zack Ward as "Dude," who teams up with his cult leader uncle (Dave Foley) to heist an amusement park. Unfortunately, the Taliban(!) has the same idea at the same time. Of course, George W. Bush (Brent Mendenhall) and Osama bin Laden (Larry Thomas) also appear. Like Boll's other films, it's based on a video game.
While David Lynch prepares to team up with Werner Herzog to make a guerilla-style murder drama, his daughter is doing quite well on her own, thank you very much. indieWIRE reports that Surveillance, the first film by Jennifer Chambers Lynch in 15 years, has been picked up by Magnet Releasing for distribution in the US. The thriller will be playing out of competition at Cannes next week in one of the three Midnight screening slots.
Surveillance is set in the Santa Fe desert, where a blood-curdling killing spree has been unleashed, according to the official synopsis. The FBI arrives and listens to three eyewitnesses, including an eight-year-old girl whose family was brutally murdered. It becomes clear that the little girl knows something about the FBI agents ... and then two more bodies are found.
Creepy, eh? But not nearly as creepy as Lynch's first film, Boxing Helena, in which a surgeon held a woman captive and started amputating her limbs, all in the name of love. Based on the premise, Surveillance sounds much more straightforward, but perhaps the younger Lynch has some surprises up her sleeve.
The film stars Julia Ormond and Bill Pullman (David Lynch's Lost Highway) as the FBI agents, Pell James, Ryan Simpkins, and Kent Harper as the witnesses, and Michael Ironside as the local police chief. French Stewart and Cheri Oteri are also featured. Harper co-wrote the script with Lynch. Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, plans a fall theatrical roll-out.
The deals are already flying fast and furious in Cannes. As befits an international marketplace, most of the action involves far-flung territories, but we're keeping an eye out for US distribution deals too. indieWIRE has a great round-up of the first day's activity, which includes the news that IFC Films has acquired distribution rights to two films.
Good buzz about 24-year-old Joshua Safdie's feature debut The Pleasure of Being Robbedbegan when it world premiered at SXSW in March. Somehow, the Cinematical crew missed seeing it (hey, we're only human, we miss things sometimes), but David Lowery at Spoutraved: "It's pure cinema, and as such it's one of the best films I've seen this year." The comedy revolves around a kleptomaniac, played by co-writer Eleonore Hendricks, with a philanthropic streak. Pleasure is the only US title in the Director's Fortnight this year.
In 2005, Tom Hall declared: "There is not a more important filmmaker working today than Arnaud Desplechin." He previously made Kings & Queen and Esther Kahn, among other critically-acclaimed work. The French filmmaker's latest, A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël), features Catherine Deneuve, Jean-Paul Roussillon and Mathieu Amalric "in a contemporary family drama set in France." The film plays in Official Competition and has its first screening on Friday night before opening theatrically in France next week.
We'll have to wait to hear about IFC's specific plans for distribution.
I know I'm not the first person to come to this conclusion, but Matthew McConaughey really does seem to have a charmed existence. Sure, he makes some crappy movies, but they keep paying him to star and we keep paying to see them in theaters. Coming Soon reports that the perpetually shirtless actor (I'm not complaining, mind you) has struck a deal with Anchor Bay Entertainment to release Surfer Dude, a comedy that he produced.
McConaughey stars as Steve Addington, a surf bum who returns home to Malibu after a world tour. The good times don't last long, and when the waves disappear for the whole season, Addington starts to go off the rails. In true stoner fashion, producer Mark Gustawes was quoted as saying, "Matthew plays a character who's a throwback to the '70s: Peace, love, and a righteous wave is what 'Surfer, Dude' is all about. Anchor Bay dug it -- and we decided to surf it, together." Classic, brah. McConaughey scored some (kinda) big names for the film including Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson -- I can only imagine the dust clouds of smoke coming out of those trailers.
Anchor Bay will release the film in theaters this summer, but they're also planning to release the film onto DVD shortly after. Back in the old days, when a studio jumped on the home video release it meant the movie was no good. Luckily, these days a studio can spin it into a bright shining example of the new face of film distribution.
Surfer Dude will coast into theaters in late summer.
Well, for a tempest in a teapot the controversy over Mike Myers' comedy The Love Guruseems to be heating up by the day. CJ Report confirmed that the British Film Institute has responded to Hindu protests, and has issued a statement that the prestigious institution will "not be screening this title nor will be involved with a possible release of it." Now this doesn't mean the film will not be shown in the UK, but the BFI's refusal to support the film must come as a blow to Myers, a committed anglophile.
Guru is the story of an American-born guru who returns home to help coach a lovelorn hockey player with a struggling marriage. Sure, it looks silly, and a little stereotypical, but so did The Party and a lot of people seem to like that movie. According to CJ Report, "Hindu groups have recently been approaching film distributors associations, exhibitors groups, regulatory bodies, government ministries, theater owners, etc., in various parts of the world urging them not to distribute/screen The Love Guru till Paramount Pictures makes necessary changes to it." Paramount still maintains that they will screen the film for Hindu audiences, but they have not agreed to make any significant changes to the film.
Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 was pretty good as far as anti-Bush jeremiads go, but it ended with a cliffhanger. Would George W. Bush be reelected in 2004 despite all the reasons Moore laid out for his dismissal? Or would he overcome the odds, focus the campaign on silly non-issues, and get lucky by having a weak, boring opponent?
We know what wound up happening, and now Varietyreports that Moore is making a sequel, as yet untitled but scheduled for release around this time next year. (There's a chance it'll premiere at Cannes, like Fahrenheit and Sicko did.) Moore is working with Paramount Vantage and Overture Films this time around, splitting from the Weinstein Company, which distributed his last two films. We're guessing he wasn't happy with the way Sicko underperformed and has struck out for new territory.
So what will the Fahrenheit sequel cover? Everything that's happening since the last film, apparently. It's interesting how much things have changed in four years. In 2004, Bush and the Iraq War were not terribly popular, but they both had enough supporters to get him reelected. Now, Bush's approval rating is at a record low -- and I mean it's a record not just for him but for all presidents since the polling began -- and a majority of Americans feel the war was a mistake and should be ended ASAP. All of which means Moore's new film will probably find a larger, more receptive audience than the last one did.
Finally! I know there's a ton of you waiting patiently for release dates on Street Fighterand Alvin and the Chipmunks II-- and after spending all night making phone calls, while watching the wire, Cinematical can confirm that the new live-action Street Fighter flick will debut on February 27, 2009. But that's not all! (I know, it was a busy night at headquarters; the boss had us all working double shifts.) 20th Century Fox has also scheduled Alvin and the Chipmunks II for release on March 19, 2010. There's no script yet, and Jason Lee is not signed on to star, but the first one took in a ridiculous $358.4 million worldwide -- so, I mean, they could have these little guys talking Yiddish for a couple hours in part two and the thing would still make over $100 million.
Other announcements in Release Date Land include Madagascar: Escape 2 Africagoing day-and-date on November 7, and Universal has taken Wild Child off its calendar. That film, starring Emma Roberts as a rebellious Malibu teenager who gets shipped off to a British boarding school and learns that afternoon tea is the answer to all of life's problems, was originally scheduled for August 22. No word on why it was yanked, but I'm sure you folks could come up with several positive reasons. To make up for the removal, however, Universal has moved Paul W.S. Anderson's Death Race up from September 26 to August 22. Good thing, too, because I like my death races at the end of summer and not at the beginning of fall.
Steven Soderbergh's two-part Che Guevara biopic has been shrouded in mystery and controversy for so long, it's hard to believe the world is finally going to see it. It's like pulling teeth to get some biopics to the theatre, isn't it? In case you were beginning to doubt its existence again, two new photos of Benicio del Toro have surfaced online. Once again, the likeness is downright eerie.
At this point, as Eric Kohn reported, it is still set to screen at Cannes. However, only one half (The Argentine) has a U.S. distributor in Focus Features. Guerilla does not. Neither have release dates. (I'm going on basis of IMDB; quite possibly no one has updated info on Guerilla, or they are being combined and no one said anything.) That could all change after Cannes, and I hope it does. I want to see the whole thing, controversy or not. Don't you?
Now that you know what Josh Brolin's George W. Bush will look like, you should know that you'll get to see him in action real soon -- probably sooner than you thought. The ever-courageous Lionsgate has picked upOliver Stone's W, and plans to release it on October 17th. Of this year. That's 2008. Before the election. Notably, the movie hasn't even started shooting yet -- it goes into production on May 12th in Louisiana.
I never really thought the film would fail to find distribution, though early buzz on the screenplay has been fairly toxic. I did think there was going to be a race between when W would be finished and when Dubya would be finished -- that is, out of office. But apparently Stone is not messing around and plans to deliver the film in a few months, with Lionsgate hoping to capitalize on the furor that will surround the election.
Jeez -- maybe it's because I read too many blogs (or because I live in Pennsylvania, suddenly a battleground state), but it's barely May and I'm already tired of the election. Is W really how people will want to spend their leisure time in late October? I can't imagine, but I respect the folks at Lionsgate enough to think they know what they're doing. Incidentally: Dick Cheney remains uncast. Any suggestions?
Man, this news truly bums me out. Variety reports that Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures are shutting down. It's not like this is shocking news; ever since New Line folded, it was all pretty much a given that both Picturehouse and Warner Independent would either close or merge in some way -- but it still stings for those who, like me, were big fans. In a statement, Warner Bros. president and COO Alan Horn claims this move won't stop the studio from taking more chances on young, indie voices. He says, "After much painstaking analysis, this was a difficult decision to make, but it reflects the reality of a changing marketplace and our need to prudently run our businesses with increased efficiencies. We're confident that the spirit of independent filmmaking and the opportunity to find and give a voice to new talent will continue to have a presence at Warner Bros."
On a personal note, Cinematical has worked with folks from both Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures, and have always found them to be wonderful people who truly care about spreading these little indie films as far and wide as they can. Here's hoping that love, that heart and that passion will not disappear. We wish all those involved good luck in their future endeavors.
With five nominations, it looks like Superbad will be the star of the 2008 MTV Movie Awards, and its three jubilant male leads -- Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse -- deserve the kudos. But one major talent behind the whole affair has stayed relatively anonymous while these young up-and-comers bathe in the spotlight: Director Greg Mottola. The erstwhile independent filmmaker, responsible for some of the best installments of Arrested Developed and Undeclared, launched his career a solid decade before the rise of Judd Apatow with a charming little low budget comedy called The Daytrippers. Starring Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis, Liev Schreiber,Parker Posey and a host of other fantastic character actors, the film follows a wildly dysfunctional family over the course of a single day, as Davis, playing a worrisome housewife, tries to track down her unfaithful husband (Tucci).
Mixing warm humanity with pitch-perfect screwball timing, Daytrippers marked the sort of debut that told you a filmmaker had a big career ahead of him. After a modest premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival, it landed at Cannes, barely got a theatrical release and promptly vanished thereafter. Mottola turned to TV work, and slipped out of the film scene for a good ten years. These days, it's no easy task to track down Daytrippers on DVD -- you can nab second-hand copies on Amazon for decent rates, but not a single retail outlet carries it. Aside from the occasionally airings on cable, the movie has vanished.
After presenting The Spirit at last month's New York Comic-Con, Lionsgate feels good enough about Frank Miller's solo directorial debut to move it from its January 16th dead zone of a release date to Christmas Day, 2008. So instead of going up against Mall Cop, starring Kevin James as a wacky security guard, and the Notorious B.I.G. biopic, The Spirit will face off against Adam Sandler's Bedtime Stories, the supposedly ultra-heartwarming Marley & Me, The Tale of Despereaux, and the aftershocks of Twilight and The Day the Earth Stood Still.
"Adult" Christmas counterprogramming has not traditionally fared too well. Last year's Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem actually did okay, but remember Black Christmas? No? What about Darkness? The move is indeed a vote of confidence, but it might up throwing the film to the wolves. The key is to position it as a prestige picture rather than a throwaway. There's been enough fanfare around the promotional materials released thus far to make that look like a possibility. If Lionsgate can put it on people's radar in advance as a Christmas Movie to See, rather than have it randomly show up to compete against the holiday heavy-hitters, it could work.
Near the end of last week, Defamerspread the rumor that Picturehouse, once the indie arm of New Line Cinema and currently dangling from the edge of the hulking entity known as Warner Bros., has its days numbered. Now that New Line is history and Warners, like many studios, has faced increasing cutbacks, it may give short shrift to the shingles responsible for handling artier fare. Along with Picturehouse, this also includes Warner Independent Pictures, whose recent release slate includes David Gordon Green's magnificent Snow Angels.
Defamer suggested that Picturehouse president Bob Berney might wind up at WIP or head up a new, currently anonymous company. On Friday, Variety's Anne Thompson put it in more coherent terms: It appears quite likely that WIP and Picturehouse will merge together as a single company, with current WIP president Polly Cohen working alongside Berney. Whatever happens, let's just hope that the final result still leaves room for the sharp selection of independent and foreign titles that Picturehouse has handled since its birth three years ago. Defamer points out that Marion Cotillard's unexpected Oscar win for La Vie en Rose matters less than the flop of Run, Fatboy, Run, while the John Simpson-directed horror film Amusement might get dumped on DVD. It was just last year, however, that the company helped edgy fare like The Orphanage and Rocket Science get the sort of release most studios would never try. Let's hope that bravery lives on, somewhere.
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's Sugar, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed Half Nelson, has finally been picked up for distribution. Variety's Mike Jones reports the film has been acquired for theatrical distribution by Sony Pictures Classics, which seems like a good fit for the film. HBO Films, which financed the film, retains television rights.
Sugar, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year, felt at the time like a tough sell after Half Nelson; it still does. The film, which is subtitled, tells the tale of a young baseball star from the Dominican Republic who crashes after getting moved up to the big leagues. It's really very much a coming-of-age kind of tale about this young boy who grew up poor but talented, always believing baseball to be his one ticket out.
The Weinstein Co. has added a British horror thriller to their upcoming slate of releases. According to indieWIRE, all North American rights to James Watkins' Eden Lake have been acquired by the Weinsteins at Cannes. Evidently, it's been months in the making: Fangoria noted in November 2007 that the Weinsteins were "reportedly finalizing" a deal. 
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SCOOP: Spider-Man 4 and 5 Might be Shot at the Same Time!
Cinematical Seven: Disney's Awesome Live-Action Kid Adventures
