Cineverse Acquires Survival Drama ‘On Fire’ From Filmmakers Peter Facinelli & Nick Lyon

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Pan-Arab distributor MAD Solutions has acquired worldwide sales and distribution rights for Palestinian director Laila Abbas’ upcoming female empowerment drama “Thank You for Banking With Us!” and boarded the buzzed-about project as a co-producer. The multi-pronged company that is active in marketing and talent representation – and has become a leading local distributor of Arabic-language films – recently branched out into international sales with Sudan’s Cannes title “Goodbye Julia.” The Cairo-based outfit, headed by Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, is also becoming more involved in packaging Arabic projects with international market prospects.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent TrustNordisk has closed a U.K. deal on “Before It Ends,” a WW2-set drama with “Games of Thrones” star Pilou Asbæk, unfolding during the final stages of Nazi Occupation in Denmark. Signature Entertainment has bought U.K. rights to the movie. “Before It Ends,” whose trailer has just been unveiled (see below), was written and directed by Anders Walter, known for his Oscar-winning short film “Helium” and “I Kill Giants” which played at Toronto in 2017. The feature was produced by Nordisk Film Production in collaboration with Growing Studios. Asbæk stars alongside Danish talent Katrine Greis-Rosenthal (“A Taste of Hunger,” Ulrich Thomsen (“The Marco Effect”) and Morten Hee Andersen (“A Matter of Trust”), and German actor Peter Kurth (“Inventing Anna”).

EXCLUSIVE: Cineverse announced today that the Company has acquired all U.S. rights to the star-studded, modern-day bayou western The Dirty South. Cineverse is planning a Fall release, day and date in theaters and on VOD.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Tyler Perry is directing the movie “Black, White & Blue,” a police brutality drama that will be released by Amazon. It’s the first film at Amazon Studios under the filmmaker’s four-picture deal that was forged back in November. In addition to directing, Perry will write and produce “Black, White & Blue,” which is set to star Kat Graham (“The Vampire Diaries”), Tyler Lepley (“Harlem”), Meagan Tandy (“Batwoman”), Josh Adeyeye (“Ruthless”), RonReaco Lee (“First Wives Club”), Jimi Stanton (“Your Honor”), Shannon LaNier (“God’s Not Dead 3”) and Nick Barrotta (“The Oval”). The story follows a woman named Fela Blackburn (Tandy), whose life is shattered when she loses her husband, Rodney Blackburn (Adeyeye), at the hands of a police officer.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical has picked up rights to the crime thriller Mother’s Milk, directed by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte (As You Are), with plans to distribute it in North America, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. The film in which two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) stars opposite Olivia Cooke (House of the Dragon) and Jack Reynor (Midsommar) will hit theaters across North America beginning September 1, debuting in the other territories shortly thereafter.

NFL player took to Instagram Tuesday to share a video of his Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, which had caught fire while he was driving, burning so badly that the front of the car and the hood were destroyed. «Man it was one of those days today, but I would like thank God, my car caught on fire while I was driving, But I'am still blessed

EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts (Babylon) has been set to star opposite Hutch Dano and Christopher Livingston in Down Below, a psychological horror film from director Spyder Dobrofsky that is currently in production.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Welsh actor Alexander Vlahos, known for his roles in TV series such as “Merlin,” “Outlander” and “Versailles,” is set to play a British ornithologist who, during a field trip to Sicily, gets involved in more than mere birdwatching. Shooting is underway in Sicily on the indie drama “Hearts of Salt,” the first feature by London-based line producer Rosa Russo. The passion project is structured as a three-way co-production between Italy, the U.K. and Tunisia, with shooting also planned in the North African country. Tunisia will serve as a second location besides the Italian island. Though plot details are scarce, “Hearts of Salt” will see Vlahos — who will soon be seen opposite Lindsay Lohan in the Netflix rom-com “Irish Wish” — arrive in Sicily on a mission to study the effects of climate change on bird migrations. However, the ornithologist will soon have to abandon his role as a detached observer of flight patterns in the Sicilian skies after witnessing a series of dramatic events on the ground comprising cultural and generational clashes, a growing disconnect in family and human ties, and the broader ecological crisis which is the overall backdrop against which “Hearts of Salt” is set.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Prince Aden,” a new drama by Italian directing duo Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio, known internationally for their immigration-themed “Seven Acts of Mercy,” is among projects selected by Locarno’s Alliance for Development initiative. The platform, now in its 8th year, is geared towards fostering co-productions between France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Inspired by the book “Partigiani d’Oltremare,” by Italian historian Matteo Petracci, the De Serio twins’ new colonial-era film follows the vicissitudes of a 16-year-old Somali named Aden Sicré who in 1935 becomes a soldier in the Italian army that invaded Ethiopia on Mussolini’s orders. In an unexpected turn, he becomes hailed as a war hero by the Fascist regime. Then a few years later Aden and other African fighters play a pivotal role in the partisan struggle against fascism in Europe.

This story about director Peter Hoar and “The Last of Us” first ran in the Drama Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.For pure emotional punch this past TV season, one need look no further than “Long, Long Time,” the third episode of HBO’s “The Last of Us.” Detouring from the main journey of a lone man and the fungus-resistant young woman under his care (Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey) navigating zombie-strewn roads, the series settled down for a decades-spanning romance between two older men, Bill and Frank (played unforgettably by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett), that resonated with its universality and refusal to reduce the duo to dreary stereotypes. If your heart didn’t break watching these men make peace with their life decisions through the unsteady ages, you simply do not and never did have one beating in your chest.“I would have said yes to an episode full of zombies being shot in the head and probably would have been very excited,” director Peter Hoar said.

​DJ Jumpin Jack Frost will be the special guest when High Rollaz return to Embe in Peterborough city centre next month with Soul Food Part 3. There will be deep soulful liquid funk, jungle and drum n bass on the menu across both floors at the soul food restaurant in Cowgate from 10pm – 3am on July 7. Alongside the likes of Fabio, Grooverider, and Bryan Gee, in the late 80s Frost was a founder of the Rave, Drum n Bass and Jungle scene.

While the onscreen travails of Joel and Ellie take center stage in The Last of Us, as they did in the videogame, for Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, the translation to television afforded an opportunity to delve deeper into the larger struggle of survivors of the pandemic. The show’s third episode “Long, Long Time” expands the game’s story of survivalist Bill (Nick Offerman), who turns his hometown into an infected-proof compound, and who seems content to survive on his own. That is, until Frank (Murray Bartlett) gets stuck in one of Bill’s traps, and the pair fall delicately, and movingly, in love with one another.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Josh Duhamel will join the ensemble of the survival thriller “Not Without Hope,” an adaptation of Nick Schuyler and Jere Longman’s best-selling book that will be written and directed by Joe Carnahan. Also joining the cast are JoBeth Williams, Quentin Plair, Terrence Terrell and Marshall Cook.  As previously announced, Zachary Levi (“Shazam!”) is starring in the film, which tells the real-life story of a tragic 2009 boating accident involving Schuyler, his friends Will Bleakley (Cook) and NFL players  Marquis Cooper (Plair) and Corey Smith (Terrell). Levi will play Schuyler. The search-and rescue-operation captivated national attention. Duhamel will portray U.S. Coast Guard Captain Timothy Close, who oversaw a crew that cut through the ocean to try to find the friends who went missing. Carnahan has some experience orchestrating survival tales, having previously directed “The Grey,” which found Liam Neeson battling very hungry wolves after a plane crash stranded his character in a snowy mountain range. This time the foes are a raging sea, dehydration, severe hypothermia and various marine predators. At one point, “Not Without Hope” was slated to be made as a film starring Miles Teller, but production delays due to COVID scrambled those plans.

It is always an occasion for celebration when Jon Hamm and Tina Fey are back together on screen — big or small — having shared credits on various 30 Rock and SNL episodes (and the upcoming film version of Fey’s Mean Girls). But their latest collaboration is a clear departure, as well as a rare chance to see Fey out of her comedic zone.

K.J. Yossman “One Day” producers Drama Republic have restructured their C-suite, Variety can reveal, upping chief creative officer Jude Liknaitzky to co-CEO alongside Roanna Benn. Benn’s former co-CEO, Greg Brenman, will take on a co-founder role. Brenman will continue to stay involved in the growth and development of the company with a focus on his own slate of projects. Brenman, Benn and Liknaitzky founded London-based Drama Republic, which specializes in high-end drama, in 2013 after the trio left Tiger Aspect. Drama Republic is part of the Mediawan group, with the French conglomerate taking a majority stake in 2021.

William Earl Art the Clown is ready to cause more mayhem. Cineverse Corp. announced that it has secured North American rights to slasher sequel “Terrifier 3,” from series writer and director Damien Leone and producer Phil Falcone. The film is scheduled to have a wide theatrical release next year in North America, followed by its exclusive debut on Cineverse’s streaming service Screambox. Produced for less than $250,000, “Terrifier 2” went on to make $15 million at the worldwide box office. It also became a much-discussed viral sensation, as fans took to social media to share the parts that disgusted them most.

K.J. Yossman Michael Flatley, best known as the creator and star of Irish stage show “Lord of the Dance,” is set to be immortalized on screen with a biographical drama series about his life. Produced by StoryFirst and tentatively titled “Dancelord,” the series is billed as a “no holds barred biopic” which will chronicle the highs and lows of Flatley’s colorful life. It has been written by Micho Rutare (“Z Nation”) with casting set to begin imminently. Jessica Sherman (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) is on-board as casting director. “For every transcendent moment onstage, Flatley endures grueling hours of pain and the loneliness of the road,” reads the synopsis. “Taunted by the media and, at times, doubted by everyone but his fans, Flatley bounces back time and again, dancing from his heart well into middle age and transforming Irish dance forever.”

EXCLUSIVE: A documentary maker involved in a car accident in Ukraine with presenter Clive Myrie has commenced legal action against the BBC and warned that the UK broadcaster is not doing enough to protect freelancers in warzones.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran TV executive and producer Michael McDonald (American Crime) is finalizing a deal to join Amazon Studios’ executive ranks as Head of the Comedy and Drama Development team in the US SVOD TV Development and Series – Wholly Owned division led by Nick Pepper, I hear. He will oversee development of all wholly owned comedy and drama series. Amazon Studios declined comment.

Demi Moore‘s daughter is telling it like it is!