Author: Deadline

Samuel L. Jackson wants to dispel a myth about the Academy Awards — namely the humility of creatives who say they are honored just by the reception of a nod. In a recent interview with the Associated Press promoting Netflix’s August Wilson adaptation The Piano Lesson, the MCU actor joked that he’s been in the business long enough to de-center the Oscars race, and any potential buzz or hype about a project or role, from his work. “Folks will go, ‘Well it’s just an honor to be nominated.’ No it ain’t,” Jackson said, eliciting chuckles from co-star Michael Potts and…

EXCLUSIVE: Xavier Samuel and Sonal Sehgal have been cast to lead The Great Departure. The film, from producer Arvind Reddy’s KVR Productions and directed by the Camera d’Or-nominated Pierre Filmon, is currently in post-production having shot entirely in India. Sehgal wrote the script during lockdown, with the film originally titled Travellers. Plot explores patriarchy in society through the prism of a man and woman who accidentally meet in Varanasi, and have very different experiences while on the same road trip as they fall in love. Samuel (Twiling: Eclipse) and Sehgal (Aashayein) star. “Growing up in a patriarchal society and yet with…

Silvia Pinal, an actress in Mexico’s Golden Age of cinema, has died. She was 93. Pinal had been hospitalized earlier this month for a urinary tract infection. Mexico’s Secretary of Culture confirmed Pinal’s death. “The Ministry of Culture of the Government of Mexico regrets the passing of leading actress Silvia Pinal,” read the statement posted on X. “With a career spanning more than six decades, she participated in more than 60 films and plays. Her legacy lives on as a fundamental pillar of cinema, theater and television in Mexico. May she rest in peace.” Pinal was born in Guaymas, Sonora,…

Mary McGee, the motor racing legend profiled in the Oscar-contending documentary Motorcyle Mary, died Wednesday in Gardnerville, Nev., according to her family. She was 87. “Mary embodied resilience, grace, and optimism,” McGee’s family wrote on Facebook. The post did not disclose a cause of death. “She was a historic athlete and a motorsports pioneer who embraced life’s challenges, cared deeply for others, and made time to brighten the lives of those around her. While we are deeply saddened by this loss, we are comforted knowing that her light will continue to shine in everyone she touched.” Motorcycle Mary, which held…

APC, Hat Trick & DCD Joins Forces For London Screenings A trio of distributors will join forces to showcase their latest wares at next year’s London TV Screenings. About Premium Content (APC), Hat Trick International (HTI) and DCD Rights will combine to introduce buyers to content at an event on Tuesday, February 25 at the Vue West End in Leicester Square from 4.30pm-7.30pm local time. APC co-founders Emmanuelle Guilbart and Laurent Boisse and HTI chief Sarah Tong noted how combing efforts would allow time-stretched acquisitions execs access to more programming during an increasingly busy week of international screenings. DCD Rights…

Having been in the limelight since she was 17 with the Pirates of the Caribbean films, two-time Oscar nominee Keira Knightley said she has since ruled out returning to the franchise world. “It’s a funny thing when you have something that was making and breaking you at the same time,” Knightley — whose fame was cemented at the height of the noughties with the initial trilogy and other fare like Atonement and Pride & Prejudice later on — told The Times of London in a new profile. “I was seen as sh– because of them, and yet because they did…

There are Glen Powells everywhere for those with the eyes to see — at least according to the lookalike contest held earlier today in the Top Gun: Maverick star’s hometown of Austin, Texas. According to Fox 7 Austin, hundreds of people gathered at Auditorium Shores in Town Lake Park on Sunday, including Powell’s mother and aunt, who helped select the winner from a pool of several contestants (featuring Powell iterations from Hit Man to Twisters, as well as Austin-founded chain Torchy’s Tacos’ red devil mascot and a dog that resembled Powell’s famed rescue pooch Brisket). While Powell didn’t make an…

It is 30 years since The Shawshank Redemption debuted, but it remains as beloved as ever, and its star Tim Robbins credits one man for its survival – Ted Turner. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Robbins rails against algorithms dictating our viewing habits and cites his 1994 film about the fates of prison inmates as one that wouldn’t have made it in this era. Robbins said: “We’re at 30 years now [on from] Shawshank Redemption. When it came out it got good reviews, it got nominated for Academy awards, but nobody saw it. It was VHS and [Ted]…

EXCLUSIVE: Pamela Anderson says she has “danced between shame and beating myself up” — and she’s still here. She has opened so many eyes with her stunning breakthrough performance, at age 57, playing Shelly, a veteran hoofer forced to hang up her heels in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl. I think it’s one of the best screen performances of the year. The breakthrough has been a long time coming. Even though Anderson cares not to dwell too much on her past, she embraces it for her art and has poured it into the role of Shelly. “I wouldn’t change one thing about my life or I…

As this year’s Alternativa Film Project kicks off, the second edition will see the event land in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, moving from last year’s location in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where it hosted its Alternativa Film Awards. Founded by technology company InDrive, the global non-profit film initiative is looking to grow into one of Asia’s premiere film events, with a mission to give international visibility to filmmakers whose work has potential to bring social change.  Describing itself as a “nomadic project,” the event will look to set up camp each year in a different location.  “From the very beginning, the concept of the…