Paul Dano, Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Zach Galifianakis, Tom Sturridge Team Up in Olivier Assayas’ ‘The Wizard of the Kremlin’ for Gaumont (EXCLUSIVE)

K.J. Yossman Baz Luhrmann is no longer attached to the long-awaited English-language adaptation of Russian novel “The Master and Margarita,” Variety has learned. A seminal 20th century novel, Bulgakov first wrote “The Master and Margarita” in the Soviet Union in the 1930s but it was not published until some decades after the author’s death.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic When you sit down to watch a documentary about the Beach Boys, you know what you want: to be immersed in the California dreamin’ of the group’s early surfin’-hit days, in the jaunty beauty of songs like “I Get Around” and “Help Me Rhonda,” and in the story of how Brian Wilson began to figure out a way to turn pop songs into miniature symphonies. You want to be immersed in the recording of “Pet Sounds,” in the Beach Boys’ rivalry with the Beatles, in the derailed masterpiece that was “Smile,” and in how Brian’s mental and emotional problems began to tear himself and the group apart.

Sienna Miller is looking back on her relationship with Jude Law and reflecting on the “chaos” that was caused by all of the media attention.

Following HBO’s “Los Espookys” comedy and his surreal A24 fantasy comedy “Problemista,” comedian Julio Torres is back at it and back with a new series, again for his former HBO partners. Created, directed by, and starring Torres, his latest series in the show “Fantasmas” debuts Friday, June 7 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Laura Linney, Ben Semanoff and Justin Kurzel have all signed on to direct multiple episodes of the upcoming Netflix limited series “Black Rabbit.” The trio will each direct two episodes of the series, which was picked up at Netflix in March. It will mark a reunion for Linney and “Black Rabbit” co-lead Jason Bateman, who previously starred as Wendy and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama “Ozark” for four seasons.

The Splendour of Life” (“Une splendeur de vivre”) is set to start principal photography at locations across Canada and the Philippines, the producers revealed at the Cannes Film Festival. The ensemble cast includes Camille Rutherford (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Garance Marillier (“Raw”), Sue Prado (“Your Mother’s Son”), Kyrie Samodio (“Hito”) and Amaryllis Tremblay (“Genesis”). Set against a lush countryside backdrop, Marie (Rutherford) questions her relationship, while Noée (Marillier) grieves her father.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Wake up, fans of “The Sandman,” we’ve got some Season 2 news for you: The Netflix adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s epic graphic novel series has cast the final three siblings in the “Endless Family” of Tom Sturridge’s Dream — Esmé Creed-Miles as Delirium, Adrian Lester as Destiny and Barry Sloane as “The Prodigal.” In “The Sandman” comic book series, The Prodigal is the estranged Endless sibling named Destruction, but Netflix has taken care to label Sloane’s role as “The Prodigal,” which is the way the character is referred to throughout the first volumes of the story. The three new castings point to “The Sandman” Season 2 covering the graphic novel’s iconic installment, “Season of Mists.” The trio of new “The Sandman” Season 2 actors will join the Endless siblings returning from Season 1: Death (Kirby), Desire (Mason Alexander Park), Despair (Donna Preston) and Dream, The Sandman himself.

Nadya Tolokonnikova, co-founder of the feminist protest art collective Pussy Riot, was in Berlin when news broke on February 16 of the sudden death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic penal colony.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Atoms & Void, the Netherlands-based production and sales company run by Sergei Loznitsa and Maria Choustova, has closed a French sale on Loznitsa’s most recent feature documentary “The Invasion,” which premiered on Thursday as a Special Screening in Cannes. Potemkine Films has taken all rights for France, while the film’s French co-producer ARTE France maintains its exclusive TV/VOD window.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov (“Leto,” “Petrov’s Flu,” “Tchaikovsky’s Wife”) is back in the Cannes competition with “Limonov,” an epic about Russian punk poet Eduard Limonov that the director describes as “probably the most complicated project in my life.” Based on the best-selling book by Emmanuelle Carrere, “Limonov” delves into the story of its titular character who lived many lives. He was an underground writer in the Soviet Union who escaped to the U.S. where he became a punk-poet and also a butler to a millionaire in Manhattan.

Earlier this week, comedy writer/director Judd Apatow ended his 30-year relationship with his agency UTA, Deadline describing it as a “magical run” (lol). Trades run lip service-y pieces like this all the time: actors, filmmakers, and talent-changing agencies as a way to generate press for these companies and as tacit understanding for staying in good favor with agents who are the ones often feeding them leaks, exclusives, and scoops.

Olivier Assayas is back on the Croisette of the Cannes Film Festival, albeit at the Cannes Market. And the French auteur’s next project is easily one of the buzziest packages at the festival so far.

After “Nitram” wowed critics at the Cannes Film Festival three years ago, with Caleb Landry Jones winning Best Actor for his role, many expected Justin Kurzel‘s would return to the Croisette with his next film, “The Order.”  But Deadline reports that Kurzel’s upcoming true crime movie won’t hit the festival circuit yet, if it even is at all.   Continue reading ‘The Order’ First Look: Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult & Tye Sheridan Star In Justin Kurzel’s Upcoming True Crime Thriller at The Playlist.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical has acquired U.S. rights from AGC Studios to The Order, a dramatic thriller directed by Australia’s Justin Kurzel (Macbeth), on which we were first to report. Starring Jude Law (Firebrand), Nicholas Hoult (X-Men franchise), Tye Sheridan (The Card Counter), Jurnee Smollett (Birds of Prey) and more, the film will will have an exclusive release in theaters nationwide later this year.

The Beach Boys have discussed their new Disney+ documentary, the support they had from The Beatles, and the health of songwriter Brian Wilson.Interviewed by Mariella Frostrup alongside The Beach Boys’ documentary director Frank Marshall at Abbey Road Studios last night (May 13), the pair revealed that the 81-year-old Wilson – who has recently been placed under conservatorship for what his doctors call a “major neurocognitive disorder” – was still able to perform with the band for the film.“Brian remembered things that I had forgotten from high school at times,” said Love. “His long-term memory is right there.

EXCLUSIVE: We can tell you that James Franco and Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones are leading the action thriller The Razor’s Edge from producer Corey Large (Paradise City, It Follows, The November Man) and filmmaker Demian Lichtenstein (3000 Miles to Graceland).

K.J. Yossman The Ukrainian edition of “The Bachelor” is set to return with 28-year-old war veteran Oleksandr Budko as the lead. Produced by Starlight Media (an STB channel) and Warner Bros.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has taken international sales rights to Icelandic comedy “Divine Remedy,” which is shooting in Iceland and Rioja, Spain.

The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson should be placed under a court conservatorship due to a “major neurocognitive disorder”.The initial court documents seeking the conservatorship were filed in February, citing the belief that the 81-year-old was no longer able to care for himself.Now, the Los Angeles superior court judge Gus T. May approved the petition, which had been submitted by Wilson’s family and close friends.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical has acquired North American rights to Susanna Fogel‘s Winner, a political dramedy based on the true story of NSA whistleblower Reality Winner (Emilia Jones), which world premiered at Sundance 2024. Also starring Connie Britton (Nashville), Zach Galifianakis (A Wrinkle in Time), Kathryn Newton (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) and Danny Ramirez (Top Gun: Maverick), the film is slated to hit theaters later this year.