Author: Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis, the singers of Canadian alt-rock band July Talk, have been set to star in indie feature Middle Life from writer-director Pavan Moondi (Sundowners). Joining them are Luke Lalonde, lead singer of the band Born Ruffians and who also starred in Moondi’s movie Sundowners, Norah Sadava (Mouthpiece), and actor-comedian Colin Burgess (Dad and Step Dad). Middle Life follows a new mom who unexpectedly saves a stranger from a roadside accident. Over the next 18 months, the two form an unlikely friendship that shifts their perspectives and adds a spark of spontaneity to their everyday…

EXCLUSIVE: Magnolia Pictures is taking North American rights to Kevin Macdonald’s documentary One to One: John & Yoko, which after making its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and a play at Telluride, is making a pit stop in the Spotlight section at Sundance this week. One to One: John & Yoko is getting an April 11 release exclusively in Imax. Pic will air on HBO and stream on Max in late 2025. The docu is a revelatory look at the 18 months John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent living in Greenwich Village in the early 1970 with never-before-seen…

Prime Video Japan has a new Country Manager in the shape of Keisuke Oishi. Effective today, the former Sony Corp exec will take on the post after rising through the ranks over ten years at Amazon. Oishi will report to Gaurav Gandhi, Vice President of Prime Video for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. He replaces Takashi Kodama, who left Prime Video late last year to lead Amutus Corporation, the parent of Japanese digital manga publisher Mecha Comic, according to Kodama’s LinkedIn posts. We’ve reached out to Amazon for clarity. Media Partners Asia last year pegged Prime Video as Japan’s…

El 47 (“the 47”) triumphed at the Catalan Film Awards Saturday evening, taking eight prizes including one for Best Picture. The film previously won two Forqué Awards and has 14 nominations for the Goya Awards. It also took home Catalan Film Awards for Best Leading Actor (Eduard Fernandez) and Best Supporting Actress (Clara Segura) as well as the Audience Award. Other wins included Best Production Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Bests Special Effects. The 47 debuted in September 2024 and has become the highest-grossing Catalan language film in history, with a box office to date of…

UPDATED, 5:41 p.m.: This year’s AFI Awards luncheon will now take place on Thursday, February 6, AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale announced on Friday evening. Like many award shows around town, they’d been delayed by the L.A. wildfires, which continue to approach containment. The luncheon had previously been dated for Friday, January 10. “With the encouragement of the community, we will gather our honorees at the AFI AWARDS luncheon on Thursday, February 6,” said Gazzale. “The spirit of this private event has always been one of camaraderie – not competition – and a moment to celebrate the power of…

EXCLUSIVE: Bunny Levine (Thelma), Dree Hemingway (Starlet), and Connie Shi (Law & Order) lead cast of Omi, a Jewish body possession comedy, which has wrapped filming in Los Angeles.  Making her feature directorial debut is Emily Lerer (Shameless), from a script by Adam Lebowitz-Lockard (The Shrink Next Door), who also stars as Matt, an impulsive millennial mensch who gets possessed by the spirit of his dead Yiddish grandma, Omi (Levine), after popping the question to his shiksa girlfriend, Christina (Hemingway). In order to pull off the Jewish exorcism of the century, Matt and Christina enlist the help of Rabbi Louise (Connie Shi) and friends (played…

Turkey’s Kanal D Internatioanal Adds To Sales Team Turkish distributor Kanal D International has beefed up its international team with a new hire and a promotion. Duda Rodrigues joins to cover sales to the U.S. and Canada as well as Latin America  and Portuguese-speaking territories. With Turkish drama continuing to sell well internationally, Kanal D has also upped one of its existing sales execs. Selahattin Tosun has been made Head of Drama, Digital Partnerships, and Africa for the Turkish outfit. The outfit sells the likes of Secret of Pearls, which was a Deadline Hot One at MIPCOM. UK’s Film &…

The BAFTA Film Awards nominations were revealed this afternoon in London, with a mix of titles from studios (and their specialty labels), indies and streamers spread out across the field again this year. All nominations are led by Edward Berger’s Conclave which scored 12 total. In the UK, the papal election thriller is released by Black Bear which nabbed a total 15 nods (including three for Sing Sing). Conclave is a Focus title in North America. (Scroll down for scorecards by film and distributor.) Combined, Focus and parent studio Universal landed a leading 32 nominations as distributor for such movies…

Tony Slattery, the comedian and actor best known for his improvizations on hit comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, died today following a heart attack two days’ ago. He was 65. Slattery’s family confirmed his death to the BBC. A statement on behalf of his partner Mark Michael Hutchinson said: “It is with great sadness we must announce actor and comedian Tony Slattery, aged 65, has passed away today, Tuesday morning, following a heart attack on Sunday evening.” Slattery was perhaps best known as regular on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the Channel 4 improv show that he appeared…

Matthew Rankin’s second feature is something of an anomaly on this year’s Oscar shortlist for International Feature Film. For one thing, it takes place in a world that doesn’t actually exist, positing a surreal fusion of east and west that transplants the earnest rustic dramas of the Middle East to the bland, snow-covered industrial estates of Winnipeg, Canada. The plot is even harder to describe, involving a spectacle-snatching turkey, a desperately dull tour guide, and an office worker who quits his job to visit his mother, all linked by the story of two young children who find a bank note…