David Garrett Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

EXCLUSIVE: Signature Entertainment has picked up UK and Irish rights to Bookworm, the latest film from Kiwi filmmaker Ant Timpson (Come to Daddy) starring Elijah Wood.

Sam Claflin and Rupert Friend will star in Thunder Road Pictures’ World War II action-thriller Perdition. Written and directed by Henry Dunham, principal photography is set for the fall.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Hassie Harrison (“Yellowstone”), Jai Courtney (“Terminator Genisys”) and “Heartbreak High’s” Josh Heuston, soon to be seen in “Dune: Prophecy,” will star in the horror thriller “Dangerous Animals.” Adding edge to the package, Australia’s genre auteur Sean Byrne (“The Loved Ones,” “The Devil’s Candy”), one of the highest rated horror directors of all time on Rotten Tomatoes, is directing “Dangerous Animals” which will be brought onto the Cannes market by David Garrett’s Mister Smith Entertainment. Starting principal photography on Australia Gold Coast on May 7, “Dangerous Animals” is produced by London and Sydney-based Brouhaha Entertainment, behind Karim Aïnouz’s “Firebrand” and Guy Pearce-led “The Convert,” sold by Mister Smith, in conjunction with LD Entertainment (“Jackie,” “Ben Is Back”), Oddfellows Entertainment and management-production firm Range Media Partners.

EXCLUSIVE: Arden Myrin (Insatiable) has been set to star alongside Zoey Deutch, Jonah Hauer-King, Ruby Cruz and more in director Chad Hartigan’s high-concept rom-com The Threesome for Star Thrower Entertainment, Filmopoly and Jupiter Peak.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Decal Releasing has acquired “Which Brings Me to You,” a romantic comedy starring Lucy Hale and Nat Wolff. The movie is based on a novel by Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott. It is directed by Peter Hutchings, who previously helmed “The Hating Game.”  Keith Bunin (“Onward”) wrote the script.

Ventana Sur Blood Window Screenings. Both are sold, and Cardozo’s “Do Not Enter” produced by Guido Rud’s FilmSharks as sales agents, as this week’s American Film Market attests, are driving ever more into horror genre. Unlike action thrillers and romantic comedies, the other go-to movie types in a market ever more attuned to streamer tastes, that could be that horror doesn’t need name actors.

Emma Roberts is set to star in comedy Hot Mess, which David Garrett’s Mister Smith Entertainment is launching at the Cannes Market next week. 

The European Film Market kicking off this week in Berlin could mark a return to a familiar, old-fashioned balance of power between buyers and sellers. And as the impact of the pandemic retreats, there is cautious optimism that activity levels may now be more sustainable and fairer. Certainly, leading film sales companies and local distributors have over the past week once again been engaging in a long-established pre-market routine. The former sent out a volley of scripts for new film projects, while the latter fielded the incoming pitches, attempted to read them quickly at home or on airplanes, and positioned themselves to take on-site meetings.

Bridgerton actress Phoebe Dynevor will star in the Kansas-set thriller Witchita Libra as a woman trying to solve a dark historic crime that tore apart her family and rural hometown.

“Dope” star Kiersey Clemons, “Euphoria” actress Barbie Ferreira and Oscar nominee Michael Shannon will star in a comedy-drama set among the drag king scene of 1990s Las Vegas for a film called, “The Young King.” Larin Sullivan wrote the script for the film and will make her directorial debut on “The Young King,” which Mister Smith Entertainment is presenting to international buyers at the upcoming American Film Market. WME Independent is handling North American rights.

EXCLUSIVE: Signature Entertainment has acquired UK and Irish rights to Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne and Robert De Niro road-trip comedy Inappropriate Behavior from Mister Smith Entertainment.

Thania Garcia Universal Music Group has been awarded the Ukraine Peace Prize, a recognition bestowed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for the music company’s wartime support and humanitarian relief efforts in the region. At a ceremony at UMG’s Belgium headquarters in Brussels, Olha Stefanishyna (pictured at left), Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, presented the award to Frank Briegmann, UMG’s chairman and CEO of Central Europe (pictured at right). “[UMG] was one of the first to support Ukraine and join the sanctions against Russia,” said Stefanishyna. “UMG is the first music company in the world to receive such an award. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Universal Music has proven that they are true friends of Ukraine and entertainment/culture sphere shouldn’t stand aside the war.”

, Spiridakis, Howard Rosenman and actress Lois Robbins are producing “Inappropriate Behavior.” Principal photography will begin this August in the U.S. Mister Smith Entertainment is launching international sales on the film this week at Cannes, with CAA Media Finance is representing North America.“The development of this film has been a deeply personal journey.

Angus Finney As the Cannes Film Festival celebrates its 75th anniversary, the concurrent Marché marches into its 63rd year (there were always deals done during the festival, but the powers that be made it official in 1959). The wilder, oft-times disreputable sister of the more sedate, ergo, more esteemed, official festival, there’s no shortage of tales when it comes to the Cannes Market.There’s no better place to start than Cannon’s “go-go” boys: Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus.

Angus Finney Penning a premature obituary is an occupational hazard that goes with the territory of film industry analysis, and there are few topics that attract such hand wringing as the alleged “death of the pre-sale.”While the execs headed to the Cannes Market have seen major disruptions in the past decade from technology and pandemics, industry insiders say it’s a little too early to play “Taps” on this market mainstay.Legend has it that the concept of indie movie “pre-sales” was invented in the early 1970s by the financial wizard John Heyman, a man no doubt worthy of a role in one of his award-winning son’s “Harry Potter” productions. Bankrolling upfront distribution commitments for indie titles — or “turning paper into gold” as one veteran puts it — was a magician’s trick not lost on a hot sellers’ market in those heady times.

Tom Hanks, Gerard Butler, Evan Rachel Wood and Rosamund Pike headline projects being brought onto Berlin’s virtual European Film Market.Just how large its top-tier offers may be is, and the volume of deals, are still open for debate.“Very compact,” Constantin’s Martin Moszkowicz said mid-last week of the EFM, which swelled somewhat thanks to a flurry of title announcements on Feb. 4, followed by a steady trickle of big unveils.“The EFM does not look like it will have the comparable volume of the AFM,” Mister Smith’s David Garrett said.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentIdina Menzel (“Frozen,” “Uncut Gems”) and Jae Suh Park (“The Big Short”) have joined Golden Globe nominee Elsie Fisher (“Eighth Grade”) and Alan S. Kim (“Minari”) for “Latchkey Kids,” which David Garrett’s Mister Smith Entertainment has boarded as its sales agent.Starlings Entertainment is also now on board to co-produce and finance the feature, which Mister Smith is launching at this week’s European Film Market in Berlin where it bids fair to become one of the market standouts.Directed by John J.

Kunal Nayyar, Lucy Hale and Christina Hendricks are set to star in The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, an adaptation of the New York Times best-selling novel by Gabrielle Zevin. Hans Canosa will direct from Zevin’s adaptation of her own novel and David Garrett’s Mister Smith Entertainment will be shopping the project to buyers at the upcoming Cannes Virtual Market next week. 

Dave McNary Film ReporterThe 41st American Film Market was the first AFM to take place online, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the the world of independent film has kept its chin up amid daunting challenges.“I would say it’s a comfortable mixture of cautious but buoyant,” said David Garrett, CEO of Mister Smith Entertainment.AFM opened on the morning of Nov.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentAustin Stowell (“Battle of the Sexes,” “Bridge of Spies,” “Whiplash”) will star opposite Lucy Hale in romantic comedy “The Hating Game,” based on the runaway hit novel by Sally Thorne.Presented at the American Film Market by David Garrett’s Mister Smith Entertainment, which is co-financing and handles world sales, “The Hating Game” will commence principal photography on Nov.