New Films in Production, v.2

[domino harvey]

Eric Roth is writing an adaptation of a NoSleep story from Reddit for WB with Sydney Sweeney starring

[beamish14]

Eric Roth is writing an adaptation of a NoSleep story from Reddit for WB with Sydney Sweeney starring

This is at least the second Reddit story to get optioned, no? I thought someone created something about Ancient Rome that led to a development deal with a studio

[Never Cursed]

Jeremy Allen White and Austin Butler might team up for spy thriller Enemies directed by Henry Dunham, to shoot this June. Barely anyone saw Dunham's first and only feature The Standoff at Sparrow Creek, which is a shame. It's a solid microbudget thriller about a splintering far-right militia group with a cast full of "those guys." If as the rumor says this movie has the same focus on a fascist, Dunham is an excellent choice.

While reading about what the cast of Sparrow Creek had been up to, I learned that Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir has made what sounds to be a large-scale historical drama about the 1936 Arab revolt entitled Palestine 36. Jeremy Irons, Hiam Abbass, and Liam Cunningham are in it. Apparently their intention was to shoot in the West Bank before 10/7 forced them to partially film in Jordan, though they were still able to get some of it shot in Palestine. Is anyone here familiar with any of Jacir's work? Apparently one of her earlier films played in Un Certain Regard (right next to auteur superstar Thomas Clay's Soi Cowboy) - anyone have any opinions?

[domino harvey]

Incredible A-List French cast for Asghar Farhadi’s next film includes Vincent Cassel, Virginie Efira, Pierre Niney, Catherine Deneuve, and Isabelle Huppert

[Walter Kurtz]

I would watch Efira in almost anything. I have no idea if she is a tremendous actress. Some things you just can't explain. I loved Revoir Paris. I don't even know if it is a guilty pleasure. (Magimel was great, also.) Maybe I knew her in a former life. I don't know. It's utterly inexplicable.

[Never Cursed]

Martin McDonagh's next film is called Wild Horse Nine, with Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi (replacing Mark Ruffalo), Parker Posey, Tom Waits, and Mariana di Girolamo (who played the title character in Ema). It recently finished a month of filming on Easter Island and is now continuing production in and around Santiago, Chile.

[swo17]

I don't even know what this means but foreign-made films will now be 100% tariffed in the U.S.

[beamish14]

I don't even know what this means but foreign-made films will now be 100% tariffed in the U.S.

It legitimately means nothing. It’s an attempt to scare the industry, but they won’t take the bait.

Dementia, Long Covid, untreated syphilis…what else has addled this man’s cognitive functioning?

[tenia]

What about American movies filmed, say, in Toronto ?
Instead of making shooting in the US cheaper, is the idea to make these more expensive to shoot ?

[MichaelB]

As far as I can see, yes.

What isn't clear is whether these tariffs apply just to American productions shooting abroad, or to non-American films being imported to the US, to newly-made productions or to back-catalogue releases.

Obviously, I very much hope that he doesn't mean a 100% tariff on all non-American films (including back-catalogue titles being licensed post-April 2025), because that would have a pretty seismic impact not only on this forum but also a great many friends of mine who work for US boutique labels (and no small impact on UK boutiques too, especially those with US arms), but where Trump's concerned, who knows? And he probably would think that that's a good idea.

[soundchaser]

You can't tariff a service - and I don't mean that in the sense of "oh, the courts will stop this," I mean "this is totally impossible." Where would this tariff even be levied, and on whom? CBP isn't checking IP packets to see if someone's transmitting a film shot partly abroad.

[Big Ben]

I asked my old man who is an attorney and he essentially told me our "Dear Leader" is being a clown and nothing more. He emphasized that simply writing things down doesn't make something a law, it has to be enforceable, and at least somewhat, you know, cohesive intellectually. While I think my father was being generous in assigning a clear motive for Trump's actions, he tried his best to explain that Trump thinks this will bring production to the US, without knowing a God damn thing about any of this.

[willoneill]

You can't tariff a service - and I don't mean that in the sense of "oh, the courts will stop this," I mean "this is totally impossible." Where would this tariff even be levied, and on whom? CBP isn't checking IP packets to see if someone's transmitting a film shot partly abroad.

Ok, this is a really stupid idea, but to play devil's advocate, would it not be possible to apply tariffs to either a) the purchase of US exhibition rights by a domestic distributor (e.g. Neon or Janus) to a foreign film; and/or b) the distribution fees charged by a studio and/or distributor to an exhibitor (e.g. AMC) for a film produced outside the U.S.? Though I suppose the latter is definitely stretching the traditional definition of tariff since it's a financial transaction between two U.S. companies.

To reiterate, this is really stupid, but it seems like it is somewhat possible.

[soundchaser]

A tariff is levied on physical goods at the time of customs clearance. A distributor purchasing U.S. rights for the latest Godzilla or whatever isn't shipping anything; nor is a theater showing a film. Where would the tariff be enforced, and how?

[willoneill]

That's not universally true - there are tariffs on energy (such as electricity from Quebec to New York state) that never passes through customs.

[soundchaser]

Fair — but the infrastructure for energy transfer is designed solely for that activity. AFAIK, you can’t tariff digital materials.

[therewillbeblus]

David O. Russell’s next will be Shutout, about pool hustlers starring Robert De Niro and Jenna Ortega

[therewillbeblus]

David Wain to direct Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, and John Slattery in new comedy

[domino harvey]

Mikey Madison turns down Star Wars money and instead signs on for an indie about mermaids and the Florida animal trade, Reptilia, as her Oscar follow-up

[Matt]

Mikey Madison turns down Star Wars money and instead signs on for an indie about mermaids and the Florida animal trade, Reptilia, as her Oscar follow-up

Seriously, good for her. I see the Star Wars movie she turned down stars Ryan Gosling. Remember when he was the hot former child actor to watch? Now it's one franchise IP project after another. Upcoming, he's got an Ocean's Eleven reboot, this Star Wars movie, and what is essentially The Martian 2.

[swo17]

Gosling has said he's now only doing safe family-oriented fare that he's comfortable with his kids watching

[Never Cursed]

Interesting story about Kung Fury 2, a deeply stupid-looking retrowave action comedy starring Michael Fassbender (sporting an unbelievable mullet), Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alexandra Shipp, David Hasselhoff, and writer-director David Sandberg (not to be confused with David Sandberg of the Shazam movies). Filmed in 2019 as a sequel to Sandberg's runaway success YouTube short film (if and when you click that link, remember that what you see premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in Director's Fortnight right next to films by Arnaud Desplechin and Philippe Garrel), it has been in post-production limbo ever since, owing to a lawsuit between the film's American producers and Chinese financiers. Somebody involved with the film's production has now leaked a sizzle reel running ten or so minutes (an act which I never thought I would see a trade publication praise, and yet), itself timed to coincide with the start of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Abdellatif Kechiche should take notes, especially if the leak eventually subjects Fassbender, Shipp, and the investors to the hypothetical indignity of the movie's public release.

[domino harvey]

Gosling has said he's now only doing safe family-oriented fare that he's comfortable with his kids watching

I’m still workshopping a Baby Driver joke, I’ll let you all know when it’s ready

[brundlefly]

Gosling has said he's now only doing safe family-oriented fare that he's comfortable with his kids watching

I’m still workshopping a Baby Driver joke, I’ll let you all know when it’s ready

All I was thinking is that the Shane Black follow-up would have to be The Much Nicer Guys.

[Never Cursed]

Not sure if this is specifically where this belongs, but found today a great interview with an indie film producer about the industry. It's full of insight from this guy, who seems jaded and pessimistic about the future prospects of American independent film, about how studio and non-studio films alike are put together and why they fall apart, touching upon, among other things, Sinners, the MCU, the mini-majors, the geezer teasers/Russell-Crowe-in-a-foreign-country-ers, and so on.

You’re always sort of building the plane as it takes off. I think you need to manufacture that kind of urgency to get anything financed. But it’s also a very scary thing about indie film. Maybe you have a crew assembled and production ready to go in July, but now you have a financing gap and you have a limited window to fill that. And maybe that urgency ends up working in your favor. But it’s why you see so many movies announced in Deadline at international sales markets that never end up coming to fruition, because they’re putting out into the universe, like, “We have Matt Dillon and Maika Monroe. We’re going to make this movie this fall. It’s called The Kitchen Killer or whatever.” And it’s like, if you don’t sell X territories at the Toronto market or wherever you’re shopping it, you’re out of runway.