Leto to Star in the Action Thriller “The Outsider”

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Jared Leto is a Hollywood outsider…

The 44-year-old part-Spanish American actor/rock star will star in the action thriller The Outsider for director Martin Zandvliet.

Written by Andrew Baldwin, the project set in post-World War II Japan is aiming to go before the cameras this fall.

The Outsider centers on an imprisoned American soldier (Leto) who is released with the help of his yakuza cellmate. Now free, he sets out to earn their respect and repay his debt while navigating the dangerous criminal underworld.

The Outsider will mark Zandvliet’s English-language debut following the success of his film Land of Mine, which was lauded at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and acquired by Sony Pictures as a potential awards film this year.

For Leto, this will be only the second film he’s worked on since his Oscar-winning turn in 2013’s Dallas Buyers Club.

He’ll next be seen as the Joker in Suicide Squad, which Warner Bros. will release on August 5.

Momentum Pictures to Release Hayek’s “Septembers of Shiraz” in June

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Salma Hayek will celebrate September in June…

Momentum Pictures has acquired the rights to the thriller Septembers of Shiraz, starring the 49-year-old actress.

The film, which also stars Oscar winner Adrien Brody, follows a secular Jewish family in Iran as they fight for their lives following the 1979 revolution.

The Wayne Blair-directed drama was adapted from Dalia Sofer‘s best-selling novel by screenwriter Hanna Weg.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be released in New York, Los Angeles and additional cities on June 24.

FilmRise Acquires Worldwide Rights to Perez’s “Five Nights in Maine”

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Rosie Perez is ready for the Maine event…

FilmRise has acquired the exclusive worldwide distribution rights to Maris Curran’s Five Nights in Maine, starring the 51-year-old actress.

The Toronto International Film Festival indie drama centers on a man who goes to rural Maine after his wife’s tragic death to seek answers from his estranged, cancer-stricken mother-in-law.

In addition to Perez, the film also stars David Oyelowo and Dianne Wiest.

Cuarón to Write and Direct a New Take on “Zorro”

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Jonás Cuarón is bringing a fictional Latino hero back to life…

The 34-year-old Mexican filmmaker and screenwriter and son of Alfonso Cuarón has been tapped to write and direct a new take on Zorro.

The film, titled Z, will be produced by Lantica Media and Sobini Films, and principal photography is set to start in the summer at Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios.

Cuarón co-penned Gravity with his father. He recently wrote directed the Toronto International Film Festival film Desierto, which won the Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) for Special Presentations.

Lantica will finance, and Pantelion Films will handle international sales. The title will be up for grabs European Film Market in Berlin this month.

Screen Media Acquires U.S. Rights to Garcia Bernal’s Sci-Fi Comedy “Zoom”

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Gael Garcia Bernal will zoom into American theaters next year…

Screen Media has acquired the U.S. rights to the Pedre Morelli-directed dimension-hopping sci-fi comedy Zoom, starring the 37-year-old Mexican actor.

Screen Media plans to release the film sometime during the third quarter of 2016.

Starring Garcia Bernal, Alison Pill, Jason Priestley and Tyler Labine, the partly animated, partly live action film sees three creative spirits — a comic book artist, a novelist, and a film director — who live in different realities but end up each writing a story about one of the others.

The Rhombus Media and 02 Filmes Canada/Brazil co-production was written by Matt Hansen and produced by Niv Fichman and Andrea Barata Ribeiro.

Zoom saw its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

The deal was negotiated by Needle for Screen Media, with Gregory Chambet of WTFilms on behalf of the filmmakers.

Cuaron’s Spanish-Language Drama “Desierto” Lands at STX Entertainment

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like Jonás Cuarón latest film will make its way north of the U.S.-Mexico border…

The 34-year-old Mexican film director and screenwriter’s latest project Desierto has landed at STX Entertainment.

The Spanish-language film centers on a group of immigrants trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States when they encounter a man who has taken up border patrol duties in his own racist hands.

Desierto, which stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, won the Prize of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) for Special Presentations at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Cuarón, the son of Academy Award-winning film director and screenwriter Alfonso Cuarón, co-wrote his father’s Oscar-winning film Gravity.

STX Entertainment’s deal is for Desierto’s North American rights.

Argentina Submits Trapero’s “The Clan” as Its Foreign Language Oscar Entry

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Pablo Trapero’s latest project is representin’…

The 43-year-old Argentine filmmaker’s The Clan, which won the Best Director Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival after its world premiere there, has been selected as Argentina‘s entry in this year’s Foreign Language Oscar race.

The film about Argentina’s notorious Puccio crime family is produced by Spain’s Agustín Almodóvar and Pedro Almodóvar and their El Deseo production company.

It’s already a box office hit at home as El Clan, beating the record set by Argentina’s last Academy Award-winning film, 2009’s The Secret In Their Eyes.

And it played well in its North American premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform sidebar earlier this month.

Days after Trapero’s Venice win, he was signed by CAA; Trapero has had two films nominated for Best Foreign Language Film Oscars, Lion’s Den and Carancho.

The film was released by 20th Century Fox with Fox International Pictures in Latin America, and Fox will release it in the U.S.

Kino Lorber Acquires North American Rights to Mascaro’s “Neon Bull”

Posted on September 19, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Gabriel Mascaro’s latest project is headed north…

Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Neon Bull, The 31-year-old writer-director’s film that won a Special Jury Prize this month at the Venice Film Festival and played the Platform section at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mascaro’s second film centers on a son of a motley, makeshift traveling rodeo family in the northeast of Brazil who dreams of becoming a fashion designer along their journey through one of the country’s most culturally rich and yet, economically forsaken areas.

Juliano Cazarré plays the young man, and Carlos Pessoa and Maeve Jinkings co-star.

The foreign-film distribution specialist is a theatrical run in the first half of 2016, with a VOD and home media release toward the end of next year after more festival runs.

“Neon Bull is a stunning work by an up-and-coming filmmaker we’ve been tracking for a while now,” Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber said. “We believe Gabriel Mascaro has not only made a film that will continue to impress critics worldwide, but will also become an audience favorite in the upcoming months, as we take it to cinema screens all over North America. This is just terrific filmmaking that demands to be seen on the big screen, and that’s exactly our plan for the film.”

Kino Lorber Acquires Rights to Bustamante’s Drama “Ixcanul”

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Jayro Bustamante’s critically acclaimed project is headed north of the border…

Kino Lober has picked up the North American rights to the Guatemalan director’s drama Ixcanul from Film Factory Entertainment, who are selling the title worldwide.

The feature debut from Bustamente, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where it won the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer prize. It screens in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Discovery sidebar on Wednesday, September 16.

The dream-like drama focuses on two Mayan lovers living on a coffee plantation on the foothills of an active volcano who flee their homes for the United States.

Ixcanul is Guatemala’s official entry for the 2016 best foreign-language film Oscar, the first-ever submission from the country.

Kino Lober plans a limited theatrical release for Ixcanul in 2016 followed by a video on demand and DVD roll-out.

Brühl Becomes Producing Partner in Amusement Park Film

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Daniel Brühl is ready to produce…

The 37-year-old half Spanish actor and Golden Globe nominee has become a partner at Amusement Park Film, a Berlin-based production company.

Brühl, the star of Rush and Inglourious Basterds, will join Amusement Park’s Malte Grunert and Klaus Dohle to develop and produce film and television projects, with a focus on English-language productions.

Brühl, who appears in Marvel‘s upcoming Captain America: Civil War, first worked with Grunert on A Most Wanted Man, Anton Corbijn‘s adaptation of the John Le Carre novel of the same name, which Amusement Park co-produced.

“For a few years now I have had the wish to involve myself in the creative and commercial process of filmmaking beyond my usual role as an actor,” said Brühl, who began his work at a young age in a German soap opera called Forbidden Love. “It was always clear that I wanted to do this in a partnership with people that shared the same taste and values. Being based in Berlin but working mostly internationally it took a while, but I am convinced I have now found the perfect partnership, both structurally as well as creatively.”

Added Grunert: “I always knew Daniel as a great actor, but as we got to know each other following the filming of A Most Wanted Man, we felt we shared the same taste and passion for working with talented filmmakers, at home in Germany as well as internationally. I think our networks of partners complement each other very well, as do our past experiences and approaches to the industry.”

Brühl will be an equal partner in Amusement Park with Grunert and Dohle, with Grunert running the day-to-day business as managing director. Dohle, who also produces under his Erfttal banner, has been an active investor in the German film business for many years.

Founded by Grunert in 2009, Amusement Park has produced or co-produced 11 feature films to date, including A Most Wanted Man and David Mackenzie’s Perfect Sense. Titles in the pipeline include Remainder, Omer Fast‘s adaptation of the Tom McCarthy bestseller, which is in post; new projects by Mackenzie, Lone Scherfig (An Education) and a new project by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, screenwriters on James Bond films Skyfall and the upcoming Spectre.

Grunert will attend the Toronto International Film Festival this week with Amusement Park’s Land of Mine, a Danish/German co-production set in the wake of World War II, which opens TIFF’s Platform section on Thursday, September 10.

Brühl will celebrate the world premiere of his latest film, Colonia, co-starring Emma Watson and directed by Florian Gallenberger, which bows in Toronto on September 13.

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