Film Journal October 2018

FILM CO. NEWS
A24
A24 acquired U.S. rights
to Gloria Bell, Sebastián Lelio’s
remake of his own 2013 film
Gloria. Stepping in for Paulina
García, who starred in the
earlier film, is Julianne Moore
as the titular divorcée who embarks
on a whirlwind relationship
with a man (John Turturro)
she meets whilst out clubbing.
Leilo’s 2017 drama A Fantastic
Woman scored a Best Foreign
Language Film Award at this
year’s Oscars. A24 plans a 2019
release for the director’s latest.
AMAZON STUDIOS
Principal photography is
underway on The Aeronauts, an
historical drama from “War &
Peace” and “Peaky Blinders” director
Tom Harper. The Theory
of Everything co-stars Felicity
Jones and Eddie Redmayne play
a pair of 19th-century explorers
who take to a hot-air balloon
in an attempt to fly higher
than anyone else in history.
The Amazon Studios release
also stars Brit veteran Tom
Courtenay and was written by
Wonder’s Jack Thorne.
ANNAPURNA
PICTURES
Annapurna is producing an
adaptation of Jessica Pressler’s
New York story “Hustlers at
Scores,” about former strip
club employees who take their
Wall Street fat-cat patrons for
tens of thousands of dollars in
the aftermath of the 2008 financial
crisis. Jennifer Lopez will
star in the film, with Lorene
Scafaria (Seeking a Friend for the
End of the World) both directing
and adapting Pressler’s article.
CBS FILMS
Actors Michael Garza,
Austin Abrams, Gabriel Rush,
Austin Zajur and Natalie
Ganghorn have joined the
ensemble cast of CBS Films
and eOne’s Scary Stories to Tell
in the Dark. Guillermo del Toro
is co-producing the film, which
is based on Alvin Schwartz’s
popular children’s horror
anthology. André Øvredal (The
Autopsy of Jane Doe) directs a
script from a handful of writers:
Kevin and Dan Hageman
(The LEGO Movie), Patrick
Melton and Marcus Dunstan
(Saw IV, V, VI and 3D) and del
Toro himself.
DISNEY
Matt Smith has joined
the cast of Star Wars: Episode
IX in an unspecified role.
Most recently known for
his work on Netflix’s “The
Crown,” Smith made a name
for himself starring in the
classic British show “Doctor
Who” for three seasons.
Directed by J.J. Abrams and
out Dec. 20, 2019, Episode IX
stars franchise regulars Daisy
Ridley, Adam Driver, John
Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly
Marie Tran and Mark Hamill
in addition to Smith’s fellow
newcomers Naomi Ackie,
Richard E. Grant, Keri Russell
and Dominic Monaghan.
KINO LORBER
Kino Lorber acquired
North American rights to
Touch Me Not, slated for theatrical
release in January of
next year. Adina Pintilie directs
and stars in the documentary/
narrative hybrid, about a filmmaker
(Pintilie) who works
with several characters to
explore issues of sexuality and
emotional intimacy. The film
won the Golden Bear for best
film at this year’s Berlin International
Film Festival.
MGM
There’s a bump in the road
for the James Bond franchise:
Danny Boyle has officially
stepped down as director
of the yet-untitled Bond 25
due to creative differences.
Production is set to begin in
December for a November
2019 U.S. release. This is expected
to be Daniel Craig’s
final turn as 007, though his
departure—and the identity of
his replacement—has yet to
be made official.
MUSIC BOX FILMS
U.S. rights to Transit, the
latest from director Christian
Petzold (Phoenix), have gone
to Music Box Films. Franz
Rogowski and Paula Beer
(Frantz) star in the World War
II drama about a concentration
camp escapee who assumes
the identity of a dead
writer…after which he meets
the dead writer’s grieving
widow. Awkward. The film had
its debut at the Berlin International
Film Festival and will
receive its theatrical release in
early 2019.
NETFLIX
According to reports,
Netflix is considering an
exclusive theatrical run for
Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma
before debuting it on their
streaming platform. The film,
which debuted to raves at the
Venice Film Festival, is a semiautobiographical
drama about
a middle-class Mexico City
family in the 1970s. Netflix’s
potential shift away from its
typical day-and-date strategy
suggests its desire for Roma
to be part of the awards conversation.
For a similar reason,
director Paul Greengrass is
reportedly pushing for an
exclusive theatrical run for his
Netflix release 22 July, about a
2011 terrorist attack in Norway,
which also had its world
premiere at Venice. That film
debuts on Oct. 19 and Roma
on Dec. 14—though just how
those releases will shake out
remains to be seen.
PARAMOUNT
Ben Schwartz (“Parks and
Recreation”) will voice the
title role in Paramount’s Sonic
the Hedgehog. Based on the
classic videogame, the film
will be directed by first-time
feature director Jeff Fowler,
an Oscar nominee for his
2004 short Gopher Broke, and
will blend live-action and CGI
elements. James Marsden, Tika
Sumpter and Jim Carrey also
star. Paramount has set a release
date of Nov. 15, 2019.
SABAN FILMS
Val Kilmer stars in the
thriller The Super, helmed by
German director Stephan
Rick from a screenplay by
Black Swan co-writer John J.
McLaughlin. Kilmer plays the
offbeat maintenance man of
s swanky NYC apartment
building whose tenants have
mysteriously begun disappearing.
Patrick John Fleuger
(“Chicago P.D.”) plays the
building’s super, who, luckily
enough, used to be a police
officer, giving him the skills
to investigate the case. Saban
Films has acquired U.S. rights.
SONY PICTURES
CLASSICS
Sony Pictures Classics acquired
North American rights
to the psychological thriller
Never Look Away, from writerdirector
Florian Henckel von
Donnersmarck (Oscar winner
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