Michael Shannon-Starring Joseph McCarthy Drama Sells Widely For HanWay – EFM

EXCLUSIVE: The Deuce and Sopranos alum Michael Rispoli and Paloma Guzman (Roswell, New Mexico, The Deuce) are set for heavily recurring roles in Starz/Lionsgate’s Power prequel series, Power Book III: Raising Kanan.

Alissa Simon Film CriticUzbekistan-born Michael Borodin makes a searing feature debut with the Russia-Turkey-Slovenia co-production “Convenience Store,” a story of modern slavery in Moscow, taking places under the noses of thousands of indifferent witnesses. Demonstrating his interest in pressing social issues, Borodin’s Berlinale Panorama selection was inspired by his personal experience as an illegal immigrant to Russia and the 2012 case of the “Golyanovo slaves,” which is now making its way to the European Court of Human Rights.Developed through the Next Step program of Cannes’ Critics’ Week and other co-production markets, the film, like the case of the Golyanovo slaves, centers on citizens of the former Soviet Republics, who are illegal migrants to Moscow and forced to work long hours, unpaid, in 24/7 convenience shops, without being able to leave the premises.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCritically-acclaimed Australian series “The Newsreader” is set to air in 80 additional territories, following a string of rights sales deals organized by Entertainment One. The six-part show was licensed to the BBC (U.K.), Arte (France and Germany), RTE (Ireland), Viaplay (the Nordic and Baltic regions, Poland and The Netherlands), Cosmo (Spain), Filmin (Portugal and 2nd window in Spain), Now TV (Hong Kong), Telus (Canada) and NBCUniversal International Networks & Direct-To-Consumer (Latin America).Starring Anna Torv and Sam Reid, “The Newsreader” centers around the frantic, busy heart of a commercial TV newsroom set in the 1980s, while following the relationship between an ambitious young TV reporter and the star female news anchor.

Michelle Dockery and Michael Fox have gone from the sets of  “Downton Abbey” to a recording studio.

The first look at HBO Max’s The Staircase eight-episode series just debuted online!

Following Deadline’s story about Michael Mann’s forthcoming prequel/sequel novel to his landmark film Heat — he cowrote the book with Edgar winner-Meg Gardiner — has quickly sold rights in major markets around the world. The novel, which hits bookstores August 9, has already sold in 13 major territories including Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Hungary, Mexico, Poland, Brazil, Sweden, Czech Republic and the UK. The international rollout of Heat 2 is mirroring Harper Collins’ launch of Quentin Tarantino’s #1 bestselling novelization of his film Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentRAI Com is launching sales at the online EFM on Giuseppe Piccioni’s Fascist-era drama ‘L’Ombra del giorno,” starring Italian A-lister Riccardo Scamarcio (“Three Floors”) and Benedetta Porcaroli (“Baby,” “The Catholic School”).Pic, which Scamarcio produced, is a love story with a thriller twist set in 1938, two years before Italy entered World War II. It unfolds entirely in the central Italian town of Ascoli Piceno, a hidden gem with gorgeous medieval monuments, churches and piazzas.The film’s title translates as “The Shadow of the Day,” a reference to the darkness of Fascism.Luciano (Scamarcio), a wounded World War I veteran and a sympathizer of Fascism like most Italians at the time, runs a classy restaurant overlooking the town’s ancient square.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNordic streamer Viaplay is partnering with filmmaker Mikael Håfström to produce the ambitious period film “Stockholm Bloodbath.” The female-led epic adventure movie will mark the service’s second English-language film original, following Oscar-nominated helmer Lasse Hallström’s biopic “Hilma,” which will premiere later this year.Set in 1520, “Stockholm Bloodbath” explores a dark chapter in Sweden’s history, which saw the infamous massacre of nearly 100 nobles and civilians in the Swedish capital. The story is told through the eyes of Anne and her foster sister Freja as they seek revenge on the men who murdered their family at Anne’s wedding.

EXCLUSIVE: Abbey Lee (The Neon Demon, Lovecraft Country) and Christopher Abbott (Black Bear, Catch-22) are attached to lead Fear is the Rider, a chase thriller from BAFTA-nominated director John Michael McDonagh (The Guard, Calvary, The Forgiven) that The Exchange is introducing to international buyers at the 2022 virtual EFM.

Angelique Jackson Bleecker Street has secured North American rights to Catherine Hardwicke’s new action-comedy, “Mafia Mamma,” starring Toni Collette, Monica Bellucci and Rob Huebel.Collette stars in the film as a suburban American woman, who inherits her grandfather’s mafia empire and must learn navigate her new role as the head of the family business, defying everyone’s expectations.Based on an original idea by acclaimed French novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker Amanda Sthers, Hardwicke directs from a screenplay written by Debbie Jhoon and Michael J. Feldman (Peacock’s “AP Bio,” Hulu’s”Deadbeat”).

Bleecker Street has acquired North American rights to Catherine Hardwicke’s action-comedy Mafia Mamma, starring Toni Collette (The Staircase, Nightmare Alley), Monica Bellucci (The Matrix franchise, The Man Who Sold His Skin) and Rob Huebel (The Descendants, The Goldbergs), which is heading into production in Italy in May.

Bleecker Street has acquired domestic rights to Catherine Hardwicke’s new action comedy “Mafia Mamma” starring Toni Collette, the company announced on Wednesday.The film also stars Monica Bellucci and Rob Huebel. The film is set to go into production this May in Italy.“Mafia Mamma” centers on a suburban American woman who inherits her grandfather’s Mafia empire, and guided by the Firm’s trusted consigliere defies everyone’s expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business.“Mafia Mamma” is a Vocab Films, IDEA(L) and New Sparta Production based on an original idea by French novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker Amanda Sthers.

Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker will be joined in Broadway’s upcoming revival of Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite by Danny Bolero (In The Heights), Molly Ranson (Prayer for the French Republic) and, in his Broadway debut, Eric Wiegand, producers announced today.

Christopher Vourlias Heretic, the Athens-based boutique production company and sales agent, has acquired world sales rights for “Convenience Store,” by director Michael Borodin, which will have its premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama strand.Borodin’s feature debut follows an Uzbek immigrant working at a convenience store on the outskirts of Moscow. As with the rest of the immigrants at the store, she’s forced to work without pay and to endure mental and physical abuse, until the day she overcomes her fear and takes her fate into her own hands.Based on real-life events and the active legal cases of immigrants in Russia, “Convenience Store” captures the horrors of modern slavery in a visceral blend of realism, documentary-style filmmaking and grand-scale cinema.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterAmazon Studios has officially started production on “Foe,” a sci-fi thriller package it acquired out of the Cannes Film Festival.Led by Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal and Aaron Pierre, the story comes from director and co-writer Garth Davis (“Top of the Lake,” the Oscar-nominated “Lion”). Davis and Iain Reid adapt the latter’s best-selling 2018 novel.