Also in Tuesday morning’s round-up of news briefs, G.I. Joe 2 director looks to new project based on Mattel toys; Iran may boycott the Venice Film Festival over sanctions; and Emmet/Furla Films and Envision Entertainment set significant funds for future projects. Emmet/Furla Films & Envision Entertainment Up Film Fund by $275M Last September, the two groups established a $250 million revolving equity and debt fund to finance a slate of “high-end, star-driven commercial feature films in collaboration with a variety of production & distribution partners.” The result have been 8 films in production including the upcoming End of Watch , Lay the Favorite , Alex Cross and Broken City . Around the ‘net… Cameron Crowe to Direct Emma Stone in Romantic Drama Scott Rudin will produce the still untitled romantic drama, which will be Cameron Crowe’s next project. The leading man is still pending and Crowe will direct from an original script he wrote. Shooting is slated for the fall, THR reports . Steve Pink to Direct Bad Santa Sequel Pink is in talks to write and direct Bad Santa 2 , the sequel of the 2003 comedy that is being spearheaded by Dimension Films, Deadline reports . G.I. Joe 2 Director Eyes Masters of the Universe Director Jon M. Chu is in negotiations to direct Sony’s Masters of the Universe , a adaptation of the ’80s era Mattel toys. This would be a follow-up to another toy adaptation Chu is working on, G.I. Joe: Retaliation , Deadline reports . Iran May Boycott Venice Film Festival Oil sanctions imposed by the European Union on Iran is cited by the country’s Cultural Ministry for the move. Kianoosh Ayari’s The Paternal House was set to screen in the festival’s Horizons sidebar. The film includes depictions of every day challenges faced by Iranian women and the ministry demanded cuts be made before he could obtain a screening visa, Deadline reports .
Judging from the staying power of the Kristen Stewart-Rupert Sanders scandale , Robert Pattinson probably feels like he’s on a Dante-esque limo ride through Hollywood hell right this very minute. Which means it’s a perfect time to look at photos from his upcoming movie, Cosmopolis ! Joblo.com has posted exclusive pictures from the David Cronenberg-directed adaptation of Don DeLillo’s, um, extreme 2003 novel about a billionaire asset manager whose chauffeured ride across Midtown Manhattan to get a haircut turns into a sex-and-death-punctuated journey of self-destruction. Pattinson and his hypnotically vacant stare play Eric Parker, the 28-year-old rich dude who takes that ride. Reviews of the film were mixed after it screened at the Cannes Film Festival, but Pattinson got some really good notices for his performance. For instance, Robbie Collin of London’s The Telegraph wroted that, at the movie’s heart is a “sensational central performance from Robert Pattinson — yes, that Robert Pattinson.” It will be interesting to see whether Twi-hards will check out R-Patz in what, if we know our Cronenberg, will be a much deeper and darker story. One thing is for sure: the press junket will be well attended. Head to Joblo for more images. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Also in Friday morning’s round-up of news briefs, the San Sebastian Film Festival unveils its roster of Spanish-language films for its September event. Sex and Sunsets production rounds out its cast; and a look at the coming weekend’s new specialty releases including Killer Joe , Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry , Ruby Sparks and more. Museum of Modern Art to Fete Quentin Tarantino New York’s MoMA will honor the writer/director at its 5th annual Film Benefit December 3rd. Tarantino’s latest film, Django Unchained will be released by The Weinstein Company December 25th. “As a celebrated auteur director, Tarantino has leveraged his deep knowledge of cinema history to engage, entertain, and inform a new generation of movie fans,” said Rajendra Roy, Chief Curator of Film at MoMA. “Honoring him is a small way to pay homage to the important service he has done to propel and promote the art form.” Sara Canning and Catherine O’Hara Join Sex and Sunsets Canning ( Vampire Diaries ) and O’Hara ( Frankenweenie ) will join Ryan Kwanten in in the Serendipity Point Films production. Sex and Sunsets revolves around Leo Palamino (Kwanten), a failed writer-cum-dishwasher made famous for his many flaws and shortcomings in a blog called “Why You Suck,” written by his ex wife. He meets Colette, the girl of his dreams on the day she is marrying the perfect man. And so the ultimate underdog love story begins. Around the ‘net… Harvey Weinstein Wants Summit on Violent Movies The TWC chief told the Huffington Post that Hollywood “can’t shirk our responsibilities” for depicting violence. “I think, as filmmakers, we should sit down – the Marty Scorseses, the Quentin Tarantinos, and hopefully all of us who deal in violence in movies – and discuss our role in that,” he said, Deadline reports . San Sebastian Film Festival Reveals Spanish Film Lineup Among the highlights is new work from Oscar-winner Fernando Trueba with The Artist and the Model , Antonio Bayona’s Thailand-set The Orphanage with Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts based on the 2004 tsunami and Sergio Castellitto’s Twice Born with Penelope Cruz who escapes war-torn Sarajevo with her newborn, but returns to rediscover the father of her child, THR reports . A Preview of New Specialty Releases this Weekend… Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry , Killer Joe , Ruby Sparks , Big Boys Gone Bananas!* will roll out this weekend. LD Entertainment is attempting to make proverbial lemonade out of its NC-17 rating for Killer Joe , which has had audiences clamoring for tickets at festivals and other events, more at Deadline .
Juno Temple (recently, Selina Kyle’s special friend in The Dark Knight Rises ) and Riley Keough (the granddaughter of Elvis seen briefly in Magic Mike ) star in Bradley Rust Gray’s Jack and Diane , a dark romance about two young ladies experiencing puppy love and the peculiar transformations that ensue. After the jump watch the first official trailer, which sets up their sweet sapphic connection but shies away from major spoilers. Jack and Diane burst onto the collective radar a while back with its horror-tinged setup (which I won’t ruin here) and once was set to star Juno BFFs Ellen Page and Olivia Thirlby in the title roles. As the first trailer highlights, Temple and Keough promise to bring a different dynamic to the tale — theirs is a naive, elemental chemistry, glimpsed in snatches, made ominous by animated sequences by the Brothers Quay. Cara Seymour and Kylie Minogue also co-star. Who can resist? Still, Jack and Diane floundered with critics upon its Tribeca Film Festival debut . But between Magic Mike , TDKR , and this week’s Killer Joe (which features Temple as the object of Joe’s affections), there’s no better time for Magnolia to capitalize on their stars’ rising cache. Verdict: Looks cute. But will it come together? Jack and Diane debuts on VOD on September 28 and is in theaters November 2.
Also in Wednesday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs, Amy Adams re-teams with David O. Russell on a pic; the Academy ups exec in newly-created post; Sundance Institute adds 10 titles to new initiative; And Bollywood’s first superstar dies. Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones Set for Malavita The film revolves around mafia family, the Manzonis, who are re-located to Normandy, France under the witness protection program. They try to fit in, but they soon find themselves falling back into familiar ways. Also joining the EuropaCorp/Relativity Media production are Dianna Agron ( Glee ) and John D’Leo ( Wanderlust ). The film begins production this summer. Luc Besson will direct from a script he is adapting from author Tonino Benacquista’s book Badfellas . Academy Appoints Andy Horn CFO The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science promoted Andy Horn to its newly created post of Chief Financial Officer. He will report to the organization’s CEO Dawn Hudson. Horn has served as the Academy’s Controller since joining the staff in 2001. During that time, he has managed the year-round, day-to-day financial activities of the organization. For the annual Academy Awards, Horn participates in devising the budget and reviews expenditures, and has been involved in contract negotiations with the ABC Television Network and the CIM Group, owners of the Hollywood & Highland Center. James McAvoy’s Welcome to the Punch Headed to U.S. IFC Films will release director Eran Creevy’s action-thriller Welcome to the Punch , starring James McAvoy, Mark Strong and Andrea Riseborough. I the film, former criminal Jacob Sternwood (Strong) is forced to return to London from his Icelandic hideaway when his son is involved in a heist gone wrong. This gives detective Max Lewinsky (McAvoy) one last chance to catch the man he has always been after. Sundance Institute to Host 10 Indies for Digital Platforms Release The organization, which organizes the annual Sundance Film Festival, will be released on a variety of online digital platforms via its Artist Services initiative, which supports Sundance alumni in locking down distribution. Films that are immediately available to rent, download and stream include Brother to Brother (starring Anthony Mackie), Children Underground (nominated for an Academy Award), Enemies of the People (current News and Documentary Emmy Award nominee) and Dirty Work (executive produced by Edward Norton). The films will be available through various portals including iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Microsoft Xbox, Sony Entertainment Network, SundanceNOW, VUDU and YouTube. For more information and additional titles, visit the Sundance Institute’s website . Around the ‘net… California Fire and Life Headed for the Big Screen Savages author Don Winslow’s 2007 thriller will be developed by Hutch Parker Entertainment. The story revolves around rising star cop Jack Wade who takes a career fall and becomes an arson investigator. But he happens upon the charred corpse of a young woman and becomes obsessed with finding her killer, Deadline reports . Amy Adams Re-teaming with David O. Russell The actress is boarding Sony Pictures’ drama formerly known as American Bullshit . The true story centers on con-man Mel Weinberg who worked with the FBI in a complex corruption case. Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner are also on board, THR reports . Bollywood’s First Superstar Dead at 69 Rajesh Khanna, who played the romantic lead in a number of Indian films, making him Bollywood’s first huge star, died Wednesday in Mumbai. He began his career in the mid ’60s, taking the lead role in 120 of the 170 movies he appeared in. He was the first to have screaming fans show up consistently when he appeared in public. Women married his photograph and wrote him letters in their blood, The Guardian reports .
Also in Wednesday morning’s round-up of news briefs, Kino Lorber Films picks up a Tribeca Film Festival doc that spotlights the culture wars in the Texas school system. Juliette Lewis is in talks to star opposite Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in an upcoming pic, while Diane Kruger is set for a role of a 19th century Kentucky stepmom to a U.S. president. Tribeca’s The Revisionaries Picked Up for North America Kino Lorber Films acquired the documentary for the U.S. and Canada. The Revisionaries spotlights how public education has become the latest battleground in a new wave of cultural, religious and ideological clashes, with local Texas education board members advancing agendas of Creationism and other religious issues in public schools. The film exposes how their tactics have had the effect of rewriting key aspects of U.S. democracy and are affecting educational policies at the national level. The New York-based distributor will open the feature nationwide in October and PBS’ Independent Lens will broadcast the feature in early 2013. Around the ‘net… Rush Limbaugh: Batman Villain Named ‘Bane’ to Hurt Mitt Romney The right-wing radio host said that the group behind Warner Bros’ The Dark Knight Rises are trying to brainwash audiences by naming the pic’s villain “Bane.” Bain Capital is Romney’s former employer, which has been criticized for outsourcing American jobs overseas, Deadline reports . Producer Jerry Weintraub Developing Hugh Hefner Biopic Peter Morgan is in negotiations to write the Hefner story that Weintraub is developing with Warner Bros. The Oscar-nominated screenwriter met with Hefner Tuesday, THR reports . Juliette Lewis Eyes August: Osage County Lewis is in negotiations to join the cast of the film. She’d play Karen, the self-deluding youngest daughter in the dark family comedy being financed and released by The Weinstein Company. She would join Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, Deadline reports . Diane Kruger Set for Lincoln’s Stepmother in Green Blade Rising Terrence Malick is producing Green Blade Rising , about the 16th U.S. president’s youth in Kentucky. Kruger will play his stepmother, the woman who encouraged him to read,” Movie Nation reports .
Although Emily Blunt came close to being cast in two different Marvel superhero movies, it’s not until later this year that she gets her first action-type role in Rian Johnson’s time travel thriller Looper . But her turn as a gun-toting farm girl is just the beginning for Blunt: She’s currently in intense training to play a lethal soldier in Doug Liman ’s futuristic sci-fi All You Need Is Kill , opposite Tom Cruise . Set against the backdrop of an alien war, All You Need Is Kill (based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka and Yoshitoshi Abe’s Japanese graphic novel) revolves around a soldier who dies in battle only to wake up to re-live the same day over and over again – think Groundhog Day with aliens and Tom Cruise. Blunt will play Valkryie One, a highly-decorated special forces fighter who Cruise encounters while trapped in his time loop. Blunt is currently training stateside before going to London to learn fight choreography for a month ahead of an October filming date. Speaking with Movieline over the weekend at Comic-Con, where she, Johnson, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt presented footage from Looper , Blunt described her regimen for what she describes as “the most ass-kicking role I’ll probably do.” “I basically do ten workouts a week,” she said. “Two a day, five days a week – it’s hell! And I’ve cut out drinking wine, which is really sad! That’s the thing I miss most.” “But I’m going to build these guns out,” she added, flexing her biceps. “They’re coming, right? I’m like that in the mirror. I’m just flexing over and over, and John [Krasinski]’s like, ‘Holy shit!’” Why action, and why now? “Really, it’s about timing and about the right part, the right moment and the right crew of people. It’s never been that I’ve turned my nose up at doing that. This really felt like the right time to do it, and you can’t ask for a better team than Tom and Doug – Doug is such a visionary and Tom is the most accomplished action guy you can find. We sat down a few times, we had a table read and character development talks, and he’s really fantastic in the room with that stuff; he’s very collaborative and very, very professional. And he’s fun.” Audiences who are used to seeing Blunt in films like The Devil Wears Prada and The Young Victoria might not expect to see her tear through battlefields and mow down aliens alongside Cruise – and that might make the shift all the more impressive. “Doug Liman said to me, ‘I wanted to cast you because I don’t think people expect it, and there’s something a bit more lethal about that,’” Blunt recalled. Will we get to see Blunt use her newfound lethal skills Cruise at least once or twice during their time looped adventure? “I can’t say! Maybe there’s a little bit of that… maybe,” she hinted with a smile. “I’m learning martial arts now, so hopefully I have a few scenes where I can take him out.” Read more from Comic-Con 2012 and stay tuned for our Looper chat with Blunt. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
In Monday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs, Sundance Institute, the group behind the annual Sundance Film Festival, announced details about its summer producing labs; Anthony Mackie may join the Captain America sequel; And, superhero comedy Alter Egos is set for Kevin Smith series. Sundance Institute Names 11 Projects for its Creative Producing Labs Eleven projects have been selected to participate in the Labs (July 30 – August 3) and receive ongoing creative and strategic support throughout the year, as well as direct granting for further development and production. The Fellows represent five projects from the Feature Film Program and six from the Documentary Film Program and Fund. Following the Creative Producing Labs, the Creative Producing Summit (August 3 – 5) begins, which is an invitation-only gathering connecting 40 producers and directors, including the Producing Fellows, with over 30 top independent film industry leaders for three days of case study sessions, panels, roundtable discussions, one-on-one meetings and pitching sessions. Further details are available at the Sundance Institute’s website . Around the ‘net… Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson Pick Up Graphic Novels The Amory Wars The Boardwalk Empire and Entourage producers have picked up the series to develop into a live action feature. The sic-fi saga is an epic fantasy set in a futuristic universe, centering on superhuman dictator Wilhelm Ryan, Variety reports . Anthony Mackie in Talks to Join Captain America Details on the Captain America sequel set for spring 2014 release are being kept quiet, but it is believed Mackie would play the Falcon, THR reports . Alter Egos Picked Up for Kevin Smith Presents Series The superhero comedy will be released via the “Kevin Smith’s SModcast Pictures Presents” banner the filmmaker has with distributor Phase 4 Films. After losing all government funding for super heroes, one particular super hero jeopardizes a dangerous mission with his own emotional crisis and the girl who comes to his rescue. Deadline reports . Sleeping Beauty Comedy in the Works Producer Neal Moritz is looking to do a comic re-tell of the fairy tale in which the slumbering character morphs into a pesky stalker. The 21 Jump Street producer will develop a modern-day version of the story wherein a male awakens her and cannot get rid of her, THR reports .
Lady Gaga showed her support for labelmate Kendrick Lamar on Twitter and at the Pitchfork Music Festival this weekend. By Rob Markman Lady Gaga Photo: Getty Images
Also in Thursday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs, Strand Releasing and Cinema Guild pick up films for U.S. release. Ashely Judd and Robert Forster take on roles in an upcoming action-thriller and Universal sets a release for The Man with the Iron Fists . Nancy Schafer Departs Tribeca Film Festival Schafer has served in various posts with the festival since its beginning in 2002, including the post of executive director of the Tribeca Film Festival which she assumed in 2009. She will continue in a consultation capacity going forward while she pursues other interests. “Nancy has been a key part of Tribeca since the festival was founded in 2002,” Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal said. “She helped grow the festival into the international showcase it is today and was instrumental in the formation of Tribeca Enterprises, the festival’s parent company. We will miss her immensely–she will always be considered family.” Strand Takes Rights to Dreams of a Life The doc centers on the death of 38 year-old Joyce Vincent who passed away in North London in 2003. Her skeleton was discovered three years later with her heating and television still on. Newspaper reports knew little about her and director Carol Morley seeks to find out who she is and how someone can be so forgotten today. Strand plans to open the film it picked up from Entertainment One August 3rd. Cinema Guild Picks Up The Law in These Parts The distributor nabbed U.S. distribution rights to Ra’anan Alexandrowicz’s Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize winner The Law in These Parts , which it will open in November. The film explores the four-decade-old Israeli military legal system in the Occupied Territories. Around the ‘net… Big Movie Musicals are Coming Universal is moving forward to adapt the hit musical Wicked while Jon Favreau is in negotiations to direct Jersey Boys , Deadline reports . Ashley Judd, Robert Forster Board Olympus Has Fallen They join the White House-set action thriller starring Gerard Butler, which is being directed by Antoine Fuqua. Judd plays the first lady, while Butler will play a Secret Service agent trying to stop Korean terrorists who have taken over the White House, THR reports . Universal Sets Date for The Man with the Iron Fists The action-adventure, produced by Quentin Tarantino will be released by Universal on November 2nd. Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA is directing the project starring Russell Crowe and Lucy Liu, Deadline reports .
