Warwick Thornton Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Warwick Thornton is a master maker of images. The first frames of The New Boy – a sweep of dusty ground; a flash of a small boy on a policeman’s back, strangling him; a pre-war telegraph pole, all drenched in the searing white midday light of the desert – create a collage of inland Australia, a world of open spaces. The boy is duly pulled off of the policeman, put in a sack and delivered in the dark to a mission; a nun opens the door to receive the delivery. At that point, the gallery of Thornton’s frame becomes a series of golden brown interiors that could have come from Rembrandt, except that they are peopled with Indigenous boys – Lost Boys, as Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett) describes them to God – and the trio of adults who look after them. 

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part II” continued its reign at the U.K. and Ireland box office for the second weekend in a row with £5.9 million ($7.5 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. Denis Villeneuve’s anticipated sequel has an all-star cast including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling and Javier Bardem reprising their roles from the first film, with Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Léa Seydoux joining them.

Refresh for latest: Oppenheimer continued its romp through awards season by winning the top film prize at the American Society of Cinematographers‘ 38th annual ASC Awards, which were handed out Sunday night at the Beverly Hilton.

Will Tizard Contributor With enough passion and grit, powerful, personal stories made one-man-band style can stand up against the best work of top Hollywood talent with far greater budgets. Warwick Thornton’s “The New Boy,” inspired by his own experiences of being packed off to a Christian boarding school in Australia as a youngster, was in development for 18 years, finally coming together when Cate Blanchett read the script and suggested taking it on through her company Dirty Films. After working with him to adapt the lead role into the character of a nun who fills in for a priest whose death has been kept secret, the project began to come together, with newcomer actor Aswan Reid as the titular boy who begins to work wonders.

This year’s winners at Camerimage Film Festival in Toruń, Poland were unveiled Saturday, with The New Boy, Warwick Thornton’s drama about an indigenous boy taken in at a mysterious remote monastery, taking the top prize.

Production expenditure on scripted screen production in Australia in 2022/23 was the second highest on record at $1.49BN (A$2.34BN) across 213 titles, according to Screen Australia’s annual drama report, but spend on Australian theatrical features declined by 54% from last year. 

Naman Ramachandran Signature Entertainment has acquired U.K. and Ireland rights to writer-director Warwick Thornton’s Australian drama “The New Boy” from The Veterans. The film follows a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy who arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery run by a renegade nun, disturbing the delicately balanced world.

Addie Morfoot Contributor The upcoming Woodstock Film Festival will kick off with Chloe Domont’s “Fair Play” and present a lifetime achievement award to James Ivory. The 24th edition of the fest, which runs from Sept.

The Toronto International Film Festival is back for another big year.

Warwick Thornton, the First Nations Australian director, after the screening of his film “The New Boy,” a story of spirituality and survival set in 1940s, that was the opening night title of the Sydney Film Festival. “The energy you give back to these children…,” he said before tailing off. It was a churning, heartfelt moment that contrasted with Thornton’s bouncy earlier appearance on stage, when he joshed about having told the eight untrained school-age kids in his cast never to look directly at the camera while on set. And how he had to reverse that advice for when they, along with producer Kath Shelper, dominated the red carpet at Sydney’s grand State Theatre. Smile and wave for the paparazzi.

Guy Lodge Film Critic One night before the winners in the Cannes Film Festival’s main Competition are announced, the festival’s second-most prestigious awards ceremony is currently under way, with Un Certain Regard jury president John C. Reilly and his fellow jurors Paula Beer, Davy Chou, Alice Winocour and Émilie Dequenne announcing their picks from a lineup that includes such breakout titles as Rodrigo Moreno’s “The Delinquents,” Molly Manning Walker’s “How to Have Sex” and Warwick Thornton’s Cate Blanchett starrer “The New Boy.” Updating list of winners below: Best Director: “The Mother of All Lies,” Asmae El Moudir Freedom Prize: “Goodbye Julia,” Mohamed Kordofani Ensemble Prize: “The Buriti Flower,” João Salaviza, Renée Nader Messora, cast and crew

Warwick Thornton is no stranger to La Croisette. His debut feature, “Samson and Delilah,” won the Camera d’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where his latest feature, “The New Boy,” just had its premiere.  READ MORE: 2023 Cannes Film Festival: 21 Must-See Movies To Watch “The New Boy” never gives its protagonist, the titular New Boy, a name.

Aussie filmmaker Warwick Thornton joked that Cate Blanchett “elbowed” her way into his crafty sixth feature, The New Boy, as he introduced the pic at Deadline’s Cannes Studio shortly before its festival premiere.

For about half an hour or so, Warwick Thornton’s “The New Boy” could almost fool you into thinking that it’ll be a gentle, evocative and beautifully atmospheric movie about a small group of people who mean well. But then things change, and an understated film that might have quietly dealt with Australia’s original sin – the decades-long removal of indigenous children from their parents – turns complex, spiritual and surpassingly unsettling, a mixture of religion and magic that doesn’t really trust in either.It’s still beautifully composed, but it cuts that beauty with some thorny ideas and puzzling turns; it starts out beguiling, but it may end up getting under your skin.Best known for “Samson and Delilah,” which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009, Warwick has largely been working in television since then, with the notable exception of 2017’s “Sweet Country,” which looked at the conflict between white settlers and Aboriginal people.

Cate Blanchett is keeping busy while attending the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Alissa Simon Film Critic Australian helmer-screenwriter-cinematographer Warwick Thornton won Cannes’ Camera d’Or with “Samson and Delilah” in 2009. Now he’s back with his third feature, “The New Boy,” competing in Un Certain Regard. The film turns on the story of an Aboriginal child, who arrives at a remote monastery run by a renegade nun. The new boy’s presence disturbs a delicately balanced world in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival. The film stars Cate Blanchett, Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair, and is produced by Kath Shelper, Andrew Upton, Blanchett and Lorenzo de Maio. Veterans is selling in Cannes.  How did the Cannes Golden Camera influence your career?

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warwick Thornton’s “The New Boy” has been set as the opening title of next month’s Sydney Film Festival, which will celebrate its 70th edition, June 7-18. The film, a tale of sprituality and survival in 1940s Australia, starring Cate Blanchett, Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair and Aswan Reid, will also play in the festival’s competition section.

Here’s your first look at Cate Blanchett in The New Boy, the latest film from Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” will screen out-of-competition on May 20, while James Mangold’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the final installment in the franchise begun in 1982 by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, will also screen in an out-of-competition slot.French director and actress Maïwenn will have the opening-night film with “Jeanne du Barry,” which stars Johnny Depp in his first film since his court battle with Amber Heard. And Pedro Almodovar’s short film “Strange Way of Life,” which stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, was also confirmed in advance of Thursday’s announcement.Other films screening out of competition include “The Idol,” directed by Sam Levinson and starring The Weeknd, and “Occupied City,” a film about Amsterdam from British director Steve McQueen.The Un Certain Regard section, which is typically devoted to films from less established directors, includes Australian director Warwick Thornton’s “The New Boy,” starring Cate Blanchett.Additional films are typically added to the Cannes lineup in the weeks leading up to the festival.

EXCLUSIVE: Anonymous Content has hired longtime literary agent and former UTA partner Bec Smith as a partner and manager in their LA-based lit team.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA partner Bec Smith, a company vet of 16 years, is leaving the agency, we can reveal.

EXCLUSIVE: Sony has added Michelle Hurd (Star Trek: Picard), Bryan Brown (Australia), Darren Barnet (Gran Turismo) and Hadley Robinson (Moxie) to the cast of their as-yet-untitled rom-com from director Will Gluck (Easy A). Sydney Sweeney and Glenn Powell will lead the ensemble, as previously announced, with Alexandra Shipp also featuring.

The Toronto International Film Festival announced its second big wave of programming for the 47th edition, a 54 feature title lineup across its Discovery, Midnight Madness and Wavelengths sections.

Gregg Goldstein Australian native Thomas M. Wright is no stranger to dark material.

Cate Blanchett is set to star in and produce a film called “The New Boy” that will be set in 1940s Australia and follow the journey of a 9-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy.Indigenous Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton (“Sweet Country”) will write and direct the drama, and filming is set to begin in October of this year in South Australia. Blanchett will star in “The New Boy” as a renegade nun running a remote monastery who takes in the child after he arrives in the dead of the night.

Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films and Scarlett Pictures are partnering to co-produce The New Boy with Blanchett attached to star and Warwick Thornton writing and directing. Deborah Mailman and Wayne Blair join Blanchett in the ensemble, which is set to begin filming in October of this year in South Australia. Roadshow Films will be distributing for Australia and New Zealand, CAA Media Finance and UTA will be handling sales for North America, and The Veterans is on board to manage sales for the remainder of the globe. Blanchett, Andrew Upton and Georgie Pym will be producing for Dirty Films; and Kath Shelper will produce for Scarlett Pictures.

A24 has become a studio synonymous with originality and experimentation. And for the most part, with films like “Moonlight,” “The Lighthouse,” “Lady Bird,” and “Hereditary,” among many more, the mission statement has really worked out well.

EXCLUSIVE: Warwick Thornton, one of Australia’s most celebrated filmmakers with features including Samson and Delilah and Sweet Country, self-isolated in a beach shack on the north-west coast of Australia in 2019.