Gus Van-Sant Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Locarno Film Festival will be honoring Matt Dillon with a lifetime achievement award, a mini-retro of his films, and an onstage chat.Dillon’s career as an actor and director will be celebrated by the Swiss fest dedicated to indie cinema during a ceremony on Aug. 4  in the 8,000-seat Piazza Grande outdoor screening venue, followed by an onstage conversation the next day.Tribute screenings will comprise  Gus Van Sant’s “Drugstore Cowboy” (1989) featuring Dillon’s powerful performance as a “dope fiend,” as he calls himself, who steals pharmaceuticals in Portland drugstores, and “City of Ghosts” (2003) which Dillon co-wrote, directed, and starred in alongside James Caan, Gerard Depardieu, and Stellan Skarsgård.

Malina Saval Associate Editor, FeaturesIt was the late 1990s and future Oscar-winning “CODA” filmmaker Siân Heder was ambling across Harvard Square, close to the home in which she grew up in Cambridge, Mass. There, near the Au Bon Pain sandwich shop on Brattle Street, Heder spotted two buddies from Cambridge Ringe and Latin School, then-unknowns Ben and Casey Affleck, shooting a scene for “Good Will Hunting,” the 1997 film that would score two Academy Awards, help usher in the era of Big Screen Boston and turn the Affleck brothers and Matt Damon, all actors in the movie and Massachusetts natives (“Massholes” in the local vernacular), into giant Hollywood stars.“I knew Ben and Casey from high school — their mom was my teacher in third and fifth grade,” Heder says.

EXCLUSIVE: Boardwalk Empire actor Michael Pitt has joined Open Road and Sculptor Media’s drama-thriller Black Flies opposite Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan and Katherine Waterston.

Zack Sharf Minnie Driver was only 26 years old when she auditioned for the role of Skylar in Gus Van Sant’s “Good Will Hunting.” It’s a performance that would earn Driver an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress, but it’s one she recently told The Telegraph almost never happened because producer Harvey Weinstein believed “nobody would want to fuck her.” Driver said Weinstein sent this sexist note along to the film’s casting director.“I remember feeling so devastated until I realized, ‘Hold on, just consider the source for a minute. That is an unutterable pig – why on earth are you worried about this fuck saying that you are not sexy?’” Driver said.

EXCLUSIVE: Anonymous Content has promoted Joe Bello, Austin Hegedus, Julia Mok and Ali Lefkowitz—four assistants and coordinators working across its Media Rights and Talent divisions—to Manager. Bello, Hegedus and Mok will be working within the Talent division, with Lefkowitz joining the previously promoted Ryan Wilson as a Manager in Media Rights. In their new roles, Bello, Hegedus, Mok and Lefkowitz will continue to work with and expand Anonymous’ client roster.

Minnie Driver takes a trip down memory lane in her new book, Managing Expectations: A Memoir in Essays. ET's Rachel Smith spoke with the British actress about the collection of essays, which details everything from her late mother's death to the making of  and her relationship with her co-star, Matt Damon.«The filmmaker, Gus Van Sant, and Matt and Ben [Affleck], I think they were really left alone to make the film that they wanted to make,» Driver said of why she thinks the Oscar-winning film has such lasting power 25 years later.Having the studio's attention elsewhere didn't hurt either.«It was an interesting moment.

EXCLUSIVE: Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting), Lenny Kravitz (Lee Daniels’ The Butler), Beverly D’Angelo (Violent Night), Colleen Camp (Back on the Strip) and Gavin Rossdale (The Bling Ring) have signed on to star alongside Vito Schnabel in the dark comedy The Trainer, which Tony Kaye (American History X) is directing from Schnabel and Jeff Solomon’s script.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are reteaming for a Nike drama that Affleck will direct for Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports and Mandalay Pictures, Deadline can confirm.

Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s final days are being turned into an opera by the Royal Opera House in London.The production, called Last Days, will be a production adapted from Gus Van Sant’s 2005 film of the same name.The film, which was centred on a young musician called Blake, was loosely based on Cobain’s last days. Cobain died by suicide in 1994 aged 27.A description from the Royal Opera House says that the opera “plunges into the torment that created a modern myth” and that “Blake” is “haunted by objects, visitors and memories distracting him from his true purpose – self-destruction”.The opera has been composed by Oliver Leith, the Royal Opera House’s composer-in-residence.

Naomi Watts has just joined the next season of Feud!

Ryan Murphy’s anthology series,, is reportedly returning to FX with an all-new installment starring Naomi Watts, ET has confirmed. The second season, which follows 2017’s , will be called and focus on the falling out between author Truman Capote and several of his female friends. The eight-part season will be adapted from Laurence Leamer’s  by showrunner Joan Robin Baitz and directed by Gus Van Sant. Watts, who most recently portrayed Gretchen Carlson in Showtime’s, will star as Babe Paley, a New York City socialite who kept a circle of high-society friends that included Slim Keith.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterNaomi Watts has signed on to star in the long-gestating second season of “Feud” at FX, Variety has confirmed with sources.The second season of the Ryan Murphy anthology series will be based on the book “Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era” by Laurence Leamer. Watts will play famed socialite Barbara “Babe” Paley.

EXCLUSIVE: Ryan Murphy and Plan B have set a second installment of their FX anthology series Feud. Titled Capote’s Women, the project will star two-time Oscar nominee Naomi Watts as Babe Paley who ruled the glamorous world of New York society in the 1960s and 70s. Two-time Oscar nominee Gus Van Sant is set to direct all eight episodes, with Tony and Pulitzer-nominated Jon Robin Baitz, who put together the high-profile package, writing all episodes and serving as showrunner.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBruce Tuchmann-backed Rialto International has launched a branded on-demand streaming service in Japan, focused on independent film, and housed on Amazon’s Prime Video Channels platform.Rialto Channel launched in 1999 in New Zealand, where it was initially branded as The Sundance Channel. It established itself as an award-winning and industry-leading indie film destination for over twenty years.In Japan, the Rialto-branded venue will feature current and iconic independent films.

EXCLUSIVE: Vito Schnabel (Before Night Falls), Julia Fox (Uncut Gems) and Steven Van Zandt (The Sopranos) have signed on to star in the dark comedy The Trainer, which Tony Kaye (American History X) is directing from a script by Schnabel and Jeff Solomon.

Ed Meza @edmezavarInternational feature film and commercial content group Iconoclast and Berlin-based StickUp Films have established a new joint venture to produce feature films and series for the domestic and international markets.Represented by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the new shingle, Iconoclast Films Germany, is aiming to produce a minimum of three film or series projects annually within a five-year ramp-up period.The company is headed by Luis Singer and Dennis Schanz of StickUp Films – the creators and co-producers of Netflix’s award-winning series “Skylines” — as well as Iconoclast executive producer Swantje Rummel.Iconoclast sees the new venture as part of its international content strategy and a logical extension of its brand. In addition to producing recent works by the likes of Gus Van Sant (“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot”), Julian Schnabel (“At Eternity’s Gate”), Harmony Korine (“The Beach Bum”) and Romain Gavras (“The World Is Yours”) through its companies in the U.S.

Nirvana’s ‘Something In The Way’ have surged following its inclusion in The Batman.The deep cut from Nirvana’s classic 1991 album ‘Nevermind’ has surged on steaming platforms according to initial reports from MRC Data (via Billboard).The song appears twice in the film and also appeared in trailers leading up to the film’s release.According to the figures from MRC, ‘Something In The Way’ earned 3.1million on-demand official US streams in the first four days following the film’s release on March 4, an increase of 372,000 from the previous four days – or a 734 per cent increase.Between March 6-7, the song racked up 880,000 streams and then rose to 1.5million the following day. By March 8, the song had tallied 1.6million streams.The Batman director and writer Matt Reeves has explained how Robert Pattinson’s character was inspired by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain last year.Speaking about the inclusion of the song to Empire back in December, Reeves said: “That’s when it came to me that, rather than make Bruce Wayne the playboy version we’ve seen before, there’s another version who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse.“So I started making this connection to Gus Van Sant’s Last Days, and the idea of this fictionalised version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor.” He then discussed how he believed Robert Pattinson was perfect for the part after witnessing his performance in 2017 film Good Time.He said: “In that movie you could really feel his vulnerability and desperation, but you could also feel his power.

John Frusciante has spoken about the circumstances around his 2009 departure from Red Hot Chili Peppers, revealing that he was “deep into the occult” at the time.The guitarist has been in and out of the band since the late ’80s and last appeared on 2006’s ‘Stadium Arcadium’. Former tour understudy Josh Klinghoffer replaced Frusciante in 2009, appearing on 2011’s ‘I’m With You’ and 2016’s ‘The Getaway’.Frusciante has been writing and recording with the band for their new album ‘Unlimited Love’, and he’s now spoken to Classic Rock about why he left the band over a decade ago.“I became quite off-balance mentally those last couple of years we toured,” he said. “As the tour went on, I got deep into the occult, which became a way of escaping the mindset of tour life.”He added: “The occult tends to magnify whatever you are, and I was an imbalanced mess.”Speaking to NME in an exclusive interview photographed by Oscar-winning director Gus Van Sant earlier this year, the band spoke about their new album (due out April 1 via Warner) and how reuniting with Frusciante “pushed each other in a positive way”.“The biggest event, honestly, was John returning to the band.

first trailer for Warner Bros.’ highly anticipated reboot “The Batman” was downright chilling as it introduced Robert Pattinson’s take on the Caped Crusader with a gloomy, detective-infused story. But the teaser also featured something no other Batman film had showcased before: a Nirvana song.Indeed, if you’re wondering what the song in “The Batman” is, it’s Nirvana’s “Something in the Way,” but there’s a deeper reasoning for why this particular song appears in the film.The song, written by Kurt Cobain, appears on Nirvana’s second album “Nevermind” which was released in 1991.

Red Hot Chili Peppers have discussed their founding guitarist Hillel Slovak, who died in 1988 at the age of just 26, saying his energy has “never truly faded”.Speaking to NME in an exclusive cover interview, featuring photographs by Oscar-winning director Gus Van Sant, the band spoke about their new album ‘Unlimited Love’, reuniting with former guitarist John Frusciante and more.Discussing Slovak’s impact on the band ahead of what would have been his 60th birthday, frontman Anthony Kiedis said: “The energy of Hillel Slovak has never truly faded.“I wish Hillel hadn’t missed out on that first recording [self-titled debut ‘The Red Hot Chili Peppers’] in the first year,” he added. “We did some TV shows in 1984 and I look at them now and think: ‘Damn, I wish Hillel would have been there for that.

John Frusciante‘s return to Red Hot Chili Peppers, ahead of the band’s forthcoming album ‘Unlimited Love’.Speaking to NME in an exclusive interview photographed by Oscar-winning director Gus Van Sant, the band spoke about the new album and how reuniting with Frusciante “pushed each other in a positive way”.“The biggest event, honestly, was John returning to the band. That was the most monumental change in our lives.

The Batman was inspired by Kurt Cobain, directly pointing to the late Nirvana frontman’s struggles with drug addiction.In a new interview with Esquire, Reeves – who wrote, directed and produced the forthcoming superhero film – explained that he was first drawn to Nirvana in the early stages of the film’s development, citing ‘Nevermind’ cut ‘Something In The Way’ (which appears in the first trailer for The Batman) as a particular source of inspiration.He said the track’s thematic basis was “part of the voice of [Batman’s] character”, musing: “When I considered, ‘How do you do Bruce Wayne in a way that hasn’t been seen before?’ I started thinking, ‘What if some tragedy happened [ie: Wayne sees his parents murdered] and this guy becomes so reclusive, we don’t know what he’s doing? Is this guy some kind of wayward, reckless, drug addict?’“And the truth is that he is a kind of drug addict. His drug is his addiction to this drive for revenge.

While it’s not a sub-genre, there’s been a handful of “active shooter” films made in the post-Columbine era. Some of them, like Gus Van Sant‘s 2003 film “Elephant,” or Brady Corbet‘s “Vox Lux,” from 2018, offer an arthouse take on these incidents.

One of the most memorable parts of the trailers for “The Batman” is the use of Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” to underscore the darkness and the vibe of the film. This isn’t comic book Batman.

Brokeback Mountain was a smash-hit film back when it was released in theaters in 2005.

Film fans are notoriously hard to shop for: hoarders by nature, obnoxiously opinionated, and weirdly unpredictable in our tastes. But the good news is, there are so many options for the movie lover on your gift list – so many must-have box sets, 4K discs, deep-dive books, and other essentials – that only the rich ones (and seriously, how many rich movie nerds do you know) could possibly have them all, already.

Legendary German actor Udo Kier is an international, hell, global treasure. He’s worked with auteurs like Gus van Sant, Werner Herzog, Lars von Trier, Dario Argento, Guy Maddin, Paul Morrissey, and lately, up-and-coming would-be auteurs like Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho have been tapping his exotic skills (also have you ever looked up how many acting film credits Kier has? Cause holy sh*t).

Antonio Ferme editorThe Portland Art Museum and the Northwest Film Center announced the annual Cinema Unbound Awards honorees on Thursday. This year’s honorees include Steve McQueen, Garrett Bradley, Gus Van Sant, Mollye Asher and Alex Bulkley.

Nellie Andreeva Co-Editor-in-Chief, TVEXCLUSIVE: NBC is developing Finding Forrester, a drama series based on the 2000 Gus Van Sant movie, which starred the late Sean Connery.