Diane Kruger & Suzanne Clément Join Richard Gere In ‘Longing’

Legendary’s ‘Dune” franchise is steadily growing. Denis Villeneuve is returning to helm “Dune: Part Two,” the second half of the first Frank Herbert novel, with tentative plans to potentially adapt the second book “Dune Messiah” to round out a trilogy.

EXCLUSIVE: As HBO Max’s Dune: The Sisterhood (wt) moves into production, series creator and writer Diane Ademu-John is stepping down as co-showrunner. She will remain creatively involved in the prequel as executive producer but will focus on other commitments. Veteran TV writer-producer Alison Schapker, who has served as co-showrunner with Ademu-John, will now be the sole showrunner for the series.

John Dartigue, a 22-year Warner Bros executive who rose to VP Publicity and supervised campaigns for such hits as The Fugitive and The Dark Knight and after starting his career at United Artists and working on the first 10 James Bonds pics, has died. He was 82.

EXCLUSIVE: Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories and Fifth Season have optioned the rights to Hayley Krischer’s young adult novel The Falling Girls for television. Chloe Stearns and John Wynn are set to write the series. 

Luca Guadagnino’s Timothée Chalamet-starring, edgy cannibal road trip romance Bones And All pulled in young demos (79% in the 18-34 rage) and women (54%-46% female) for an opening weekend gross of $120k, or $23.9k per screen average in five theaters. That’s respectable and in line with distributor UAR expectations although below recent debuts including Banshees of Inisherin and Tár last month and The Fabelmans last week, where PSAs all cracked $40k.

“Bones and All” sees Guadagnino reunite with his “Call Me By Your Name” star Timothee Chalamet, who stars alongside newcomer Taylor Russell as a pair of cannibals who fall in love and embark on a tragic road trip across America. The film won Best Director and Best Newcomer honors at Venice and has received praise from critics with an 86% Rotten Tomatoes score, though its likely to remain a niche title as one would expect for a film with such a grisly taboo topic.

is bankable. Female is bankable.

The 13th Annual Governors Awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on Saturday night came in with a vengeance, perhaps the biggest crowd of industry notables, Oscar contenders, and others I can ever remember at one of these events where AMPAS hands out honorary Academy Awards. It is a non-televised event which means the recipients can go on as long as they like with their acceptance speeches, and so for that matter can the presenters. The good news is this particular foursome of honorary winners, Peter Weir, Euzhan Palcy, Diane Warren, and Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award recipient Michael J. Fox each made some of the most heartfelt and compelling speeches ever heard at the Governors Awards. It was an evening to remember.

Iranian director Emad Aleebrahim-Dehkordi’s feature directorial debut A Tale Of Shemroon won the top Étoile d’Or—the Festival Grand Prize – at the Marrakech International Film Festival on Saturday.

Three rite-of-passage movies are vying for attention this week at a moment when the rewards of maturity seem to be offering more gratification than the agonies of youth.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has secured North American rights to the horror feature Lullaby, directed by Annabelle‘s John R. Leonetti, from its financier Alcon Entertainment, slating it for release in select theaters and on VOD on December 16. (Watch Lullaby‘s new trailer, unveiled this morning, by clicking above.)

That’s My Jam UK and Made in Chelsea producer Monkey has hired Lime Pictures Head of Production Helen Kruger Bratt as its Managing Director. The company has also hired Amy Woolf as Head of Development.

EXCLUSIVE: Jennifer Grey is the latest actress to don the big hair to play cult-like figure Gwen Shamblin on television.

Suzanne Somers became a household name thanks to the hijinks of Three’s Company, but her real-life weekends at home are much more relaxed.

Indian acting star Ranveer Singh took centre stage at the opening night of the Marrakech International Film Festival on Friday evening, treating spectators to dancing and an impromptu rap session as he received a tribute award.