Author: Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: Temple Hill Entertainment, the producers behind box office horror hits Smile and Smile 2, and UK sales outfit Protagonist Pictures, are teaming up on horror Monitor. Written and directed by Ryan Polly and Matt Black (I Bet You’re Wondering How I Got Here) for their feature debut, the film is based on their short of the same name. Monitor is produced by Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey and John Fischer for Temple Hill (Smile, The Twilight Saga, The Maze Runner Trilogy), Nostromo Pictures (The Night Manager Season 2 ) is co-producing. Protagonist’s Dave Bishop and George Hamilton serve as executive…

Fox streamer Tubi has hired one of the architects behind ITVX as its first General Manager in the UK. Ross Appleton takes on the newly-created role shortly after Tubi launched in the nation. He will be responsible for setting commercial and content strategy, scaling the company’s UK team, and continuing to grow Tubi across the nation. Appleton joins after spending 12 years at ITV, where he was a launch director for fledgling free streamer ITVX and most recently served as Director of Operations for Streaming. Tubi launched in the UK earlier this year with more than 20,000 movies and TV…

EXCLUSIVE: Thomas Jane (The Predator) is among cast set for western Frontier Crucible, which is due to get underway next month in Monument Valley and Prescott, Arizona. Also starring in the film will be Myles Clohessy (The Pendragon Cycle), Eli Brown (Run Hide Fight), Eddie Spears (Yellowstone) and Zane Holtz (Hunter Killer), singer/songwriter Jonah Kagen and Australian newcomer Mary Stickley. Dallas Sonnier’s outfit Bonfire Legend is behind the film which will be directed by Travis Mills (The Pendragon Cycle) and adapted from the 1961 western novel Desert Stake-Out by Harry Whittington. Maxime Alexandre (Shazam!) will be the cinematographer. Pitched as…

The first time I meet Karla Sofía Gascón is on a London stage. I’m wrapping up a group interview in front of a live audience for Jacques Audiard’s film Emilia Pérez, and as the director, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz all file off into the wings to boisterous applause, I notice that Gascón, the titular actress, has stopped. She turns 180 degrees and heads back across the stage. The clapping becomes uncertain. They don’t really know her. They haven’t seen the film yet. What is happening? Up close to me, she says softly, “This was a small interview.”…

EXCLUSIVE: A decade after the last major overhaul of California’s film and TV tax credits program, Gov. Gavin Newsom today will unveil a massive increase in the incentives to jump start work and production in the home of Hollywood. In an announcement this afternoon at Raleigh Studios, the Governor will reveal that he aims to boost the state’s tax credits from their present level of $330 million a year to around $750 million annually, I’ve learned The whooping increase will not take place immediately, and is subject to approval by the Democratic majority legislature in the Golden State’s 2025-2026 budget.…

SATURDAY UPDATE, Refresh for latest…: Demonstrating continued strength at the international box office, Sony’s Venom: The Last Dance has chomped on $50.8M from 64 overseas markets through Friday. As noted yesterday (see below), and despite domestic’s underperformance, the full global weekend bow is looking to come in at $180M. That would bring the franchise total to $1.5B. The China gross through Friday was $22M, with Saturday (not reflected in the overseas cume above) pushing that to an estimated $36.8M across four days; and now expected to reach a $45M through Sunday. This is despite a 6.8 critical score from Douban,…

EXCLUSIVE: LA’s Micheaux Film Festival will honor Lil Rel Howery, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Dianne Houston during its 6th edition, which runs October 21 – 27 at The Culver Theater.  Lil Rel Howery, a Chicago native and veteran performer now best known for his scene-stealing turn in Jordan Peele’s Get Out, will receive the festival’s Oscar Micheaux Trailblazer of Excellence Award. The festival said the award honors “Howery’s significant contributions to the entertainment industry as a comedian, actor, writer, and director, celebrating his roots and the influence he continues to have on the Chicago arts scene.” McLendon-Covey will be recognized with…

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy winner Nick Offerman (The Last Of Us), Emmy nominee Amy Sedaris (BoJack Horseman), AACTA winner Nina Oyama (Utopia), Grammy nominee and American Idle winner Jordin Sparks (Sparkle), SAG winner Miranda Otto (The Lord Of The Rings), and AACTA nominee Remy Hii (Spider-Man: Far from Home) have been set to voice animated film The Pout-Pout Fish. The film adaptation of Deborah Diesen’s popular preschool book franchise has been boarded for sales by German outfit Sola Media, which will be looking to reel in buyers at the upcoming American Film Market in Las Vegas. The Pout-Pout Fish is the story…

EXCLUSIVE: Filming is underway in Los Angeles on under-the-radar feature drama The Red Mask, starring Inanna Sarkis (After) and Helena Howard (The Wilds). The film marks the feature debut of Ritesh Gupta who has previously made commercials for brands including Budweiser and Beats. Writers are Samantha Gurash and Patrick Robert Young. Jake Abell (Malignant) also stars. The synopsis reads: “When outspoken queer screenwriter Allina Green (Howard) is chosen to pen the final installment of legendary slasher franchise The Red Mask, anger, outrage and online death threats from die-hard fans causes a rift in her relationship with reticent fiancé Deetz (Sarkis). Desperate for…

J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow is one of Netflix‘s most-watched movies of this year so far yet the director revealed today it was mainly intended for an older audience. Speaking at MIPCOM, the Oscar-nominee said his creative team were “surprised” when the movie about the Uruguayan rugby team’s survival experience after their plane crashed in the Andes proved to be a “phenomenon” with younger audiences. “Society of the Snow was meant to be for a more mature audience,” said Bayona. “When I look back it makes sense because it had young actors going through a difficult situation and the…