Author: Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Tulsa-based genre specialist Firebook Entertainment has announced the official launch of its production division as its first original feature Every Heavy Thing heads to the Sitges Film Festival this month. The company has previously focused on the acquisition, sale, and theatrical distribution of elevated genre movies, although its CEO and co-founder John Moss has several EP credits on film such as Párvulos, The Ghost (An Taibhse), Dirty Boy, In the Flesh, Deathstalker, Junction Row, and The Muglur. Written and directed by Mickey Reece (Climate of the Hunter, Mickey Reece’s Alien), Every Heavy Thing stars Josh Fadem (Twin Peaks, Better Call Saul, 30 Rock) as…

EXCLUSIVE: Kat Steppe’s drama Sunday Ninth, about brothers who reconnect when one of them develops Alzheimer’s, was announced as a contender in Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival on Tuesday and Deadline can unveil the trailer. It is a first fiction feature for Steppe whose previous credits include the documentary series Food for Thought, Taboo and The Vatican. Josse De Pauw (The Passion of the Darkly Noon, Kursk) and Peter Van den Begin (King of the Belgians, The Barefoot Emperor and Adoration) play brothers Horst and Franz, who reunite after years apart. Horst is dealing with Alzheimer’s, while Franz is in debt, and sees his…

Amazon Prime Video has quietly removed artwork of James Bond after fans of the franchise noticed that 007 had been stripped of his firearm in all of the images. Deadline has confirmed that the original artwork was replaced by stills from the Ian Fleming spy movies over the weekend, following a social media backlash that coincided with James Bond Day on October 5. Prime Video declined to comment on the matter. On Friday, a number of Bond fans in the UK noticed that special Prime Video artwork had airbrushed out his gun. This included posters of Sean Connery’s Dr. No…

While discussing her Hamptons International Film Festival opener Eternity earlier today, Elizabeth Olsen acknowledged she “always” wants to return to the MCU “It is something that I love, and it’s something I always want to return to,” she said at a panel conversation, per People. “I think the thing that’s been so special about the last five years is I’ve gotten to do so much with the character that I never thought I would. There are still character through lines that have happened in the comics that I’d love to do that I think fans also want to.” Olsen continued,…

Taylor Swift’s preface of her new theatrical release — “The Fate of Ophelia” music video followed by lyric videos to each of her already record-breaking The Life of a Showgirl’s 12 songs interspersed with brief descriptions of her inspiration behind each song and brainstorming behind the music video — welcomes viewers to her next era, which she hopes will surprise them. For an intense fandom that received first news of a somewhat unexpected new album so close to the end of a behemoth concert tour followed by the singer’s engagement to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, conjuring surprises…

EXCLUSIVE: It’s remembered as one of boxing’s most controversial title fights, and now a documentary feature will relive that fateful night. All-time great Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather Jr.’s victory over WBC Welterweight champ Victor ‘Vicious’ Ortiz on September 17, 2011 will be told in Re-Match, a doc from director Dexton Deboree (Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1, Best Shape of My Life with Will Smith). Frank Ariza’s production house, AF Films, and Spanish-British actress-producer Itziar Fay are producing. In the fourth round of a spiky fight, Mayweather knocked out reigning WBC champ Ortiz in controversial fashion. Ortiz appeared to be apologizing to…

Prime Video is going even deeper into the YA genre. The Amazon streamer made a host of announcements around young adult films and TV shows today at an event in Ibiza, with Culpa Tuya star Nicole Wallace and its writer Mercedes Ron among those in the spotlight. As we reported here, Wallace has signed a talent deal with Prime Video, while Amazon outlined details of its fruitful relationship with Ron, who is currently in the process of having her Dímelo Bajito and Marfil book sagas turned into movie trilogies. Ron was onstage at the event showcasing a pact with Prime…

EXCLUSIVE: France’s Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival, also known as Cinemed, and Beirut-based Arab cinema platform Aflamuna have unveiled the seven projects selected for its 4th project incubator event supporting independent filmmakers from across the Middle East and Africa. They include Palestinian West Bank director’s Bilal Alkhatib documentary My Name Is Khalil, a portrait of a young actor and filmmaker’s search for identity, having been named after a brother who died in the first Intifada. Syria also features strongly in the selection with Jalal Maghout’s animation Recordanza, about a young Syrian writer seeking a fresh start in Berlin, and Hanna Karim’s…

Celine Dion and Omar Sy have been announced alongside Benjamin Lavernhe, Antoine de Caunes, Clémence Poésy, Pom Klementieff and Alain Chabat for the French-language voice cast of High in the Clouds. Adapted from McCartney’s eponymous 2005 children’s book, the 3D animated family film follows the adventures of a teenager squirrel called Wirral who accidentally sparks a revolution against Gretsch, the bossy diva-owl who has banned all music from his town. Dion, Poésy, Klementieff and Chabat were also previously announced for the animation‘s English-language voice cast, led by Himesh Patel as Wirral and Hannah Waddington as Gretsch as well as featuring…

The creator of AI actress Tilly Norwood has put out a statement following a fierce backlash in response to news over the weekend that talent agents were looking to sign the AI-generated character. Tilly Norwood is the creation of actress, comedian and technologist Eline Van der Velden, CEO of AI-focused production company Particle 6, who has also just launched AI talent studio Xicoia. “To those who have expressed anger over the creation of my AI character, Tilly Norwood, she is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work – a piece of art. Like many forms of…