| | | | | | What's news: WB's Final Destination Bloodlines opened to a stellar $51m. Richard Linklater's Nouvelle Vague received a 10-minute standing ovation in Cannes. Ralph Fiennes will play President Snow in the next Hunger Games movie. Netflix has stepped in to save Sesame Street. Amazon has canceled Kevin Bacon's The Bondsman. — Abid Rahman
Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at tips@thr.com. |
Strong Festival, Soft Market at Cannes Enters Final Stretch ►Not great. THR's Scott Roxborough reports that politics continues to trump business at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, with little in the way of deals out of the Marché, but lots of activist agitation on the red carpet and beyond. Cannes’ first weekend, traditionally the period when the bidding wars begin and the first big buys are announced, has been almost frighteningly quiet. There was a single big deal — Mubi’s $24m multi-territory deal, including North America, the U.K., Latin America and other countries — for the Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love . It was a major deal for a finished film but also threw into sharp relief the lack of major pre-sales at Cannes so far, despite a market featuring jam-packed with hot packages. The story.
—Comeback continues. Kevin Spacey touched down in Cannes, where he’s due to pick up an award this week amid an ongoing comeback bid. The Better World Fund will present the scandal-plagued Oscar winner with an award for excellence in film and television at the fund’s milestone 10th anniversary gala dinner on Tuesday at the Carlton Hotel. The story.
—On to the next. Wes Anderson's next film project will be a collaboration with co-writer Roman Coppola and U.K. comedian and actor Richard Ayoade, who stars in the director’s The Phoenician Scheme, which premiered in the competition of the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday night. Anderson teased his collaborators during a Cannes press conference on Monday without disclosing further details about his latest movie. The story. |
Cannes Clap Count ►ICYMI. THR's Gary Baum wrote a piece on Cannes' increasingly standardized custom of drawn-out standing ovations in recent years. Gary delves into the signal behind all the noise, and how the unrelenting, excessive applause isn’t just joyous and really underneath, it’s desperate, and a revealing indicator of the decline of what’s ostensibly being celebrated. The story.
—4.5-minutes! Kristen Stewart’s long-awaited directorial debut The Chronology of Water received a warm reception at its world premiere in Cannes Friday night, with the crowd inside the Palais des Festivals greeting the film with a four-and-a-half-minute standing ovation. An emotional Stewart embraced her actors with hugs and high-fives as the ovation carried on. She later bounded across the auditorium to give Cannes head Thierry Frémaux a long hug. The story.
—5-minutes! The credits have rolled on Eddington, Ari Aster’s latest A24 movie that came into Cannes as one of the most anticipated films of the fest. While some in the balcony section of the audience departed the screening during the credits, Aster and his starry cast embraced during its somewhat muted 5 minute standing ovation, with Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Clifton Collins Jr. all embracing. A tearful Joaquin Phoenix earned big applause from the Lumiere theater crowd. The story.
—6-minutes! Die, My Love, one of the most hotly anticipated sales titles in competition at Cannes, had its world premiere at the Grand Théâtre Lumière on Saturday night, and garnered a six-minute standing ovation. The film, an adaptation of Ariana Harwicz’s 2017 novel of the same name — with the action relocated from France to Montana — was co-written and directed by art-house darling Lynne Ramsay and was co-produced by and stars Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence in her most ambitious performance in years. The story.
—6-minutes! Wes Anderson has yet again entertained Cannes. This time, the auteur debuted his hotly-anticipated The Phoenician Scheme at the fest’s Lumière Theatre, arriving by bus — yes, bus — with stars Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera and Riz Ahmed on Sunday night. Receptions at this year’s festival, in particular for the competition titles, have generally been a little tepid. Anderson was the recipient of a polite six-minute ovation. The story.
—7-minutes! Alexander Skarsgård felt the love during an electric seven-minute standing ovation for his Cannes film Pilion, and returned it two-fold with a warm embrace and by planting a wet kiss on the cheek of a smiling Pedro Pascal, who was on his feet. The directorial debut of Harry Lighton had its world premiere Sunday morning inside Salle Debussy, and the crowd — filled with guests like Pascal, The Substance filmmaker Coralie Fargeat and Babygirl's David Hinojosa — lapped up the sexy, BDSM-themed dramedy. The story.
—10-minutes plus! Richard Linklater's Nouvelle Vague, the maverick director’s black-and-white love letter to the French New Wave, premiered to a rapturous response Saturday night inside Cannes’ Palais des Festivals, drawing a 10-minute-plus standing ovation from the black-tie crowd. The story. |
Homeland Security Considering Pitch for Citizenship Reality Show ►Grim. The Department of Homeland Security is considering a reality television show pitch from a Duck Dynasty producer that would focus on U.S. citizenship. The show, called The American, would put immigrants through a series of challenges as they compete for U.S. citizenship. It’s being pitched by reality TV veteran Rob Worsoff, as he confirmed on his Facebook page on Friday. “It’s not mean-spirited. Instead, The American is a celebration of what it means to be… well… American – At a time when our morale is at an all-time low,” Worsoff said. In a statement to THR, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin confirmed that the show was being reviewed. The story.
—Elordi enters the chat. THR's Scott Feinberg has the scoop that The Narrow Road Into the Deep North , a hugely acclaimed Australian limited series that was directed by Justin Kurzel and stars Jacob Elordi, was submitted for Primetime — as opposed to International — Emmys consideration just ahead of the TV Academy’s May 8 entry deadline. The show, which Sony Pictures Television licensed to Amazon’s Prime Video, and which dropped on that streaming service on April 18, will be on the ballot in a handful of categories: best limited or anthology series, actor in a limited or anthology series or a TV movie (Elordi), directing for a limited or anthology series or a TV movie (Kurzel) and writing for a limited or anthology series or a TV movie (Shaun Grant, who penned all five episodes). The story.
—More Moore. Sony Pictures Television has greenlit a spinoff of the crime procedural SWAT, titled SWAT Exiles. Like the recently ended CBS series, Exiles will star Shemar Moore, reprising his role as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson as he works with a team of young recruits. Sony will also distribute the series worldwide and will shop it to potential buyers in the near future. The studio made the announcement Sunday evening at its annual L.A. Screenings event. Jason Ning will be the showrunner on the spinoff as part of a recently renewed overall deal with Sony (Ning is also working on the studio’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon series, which is in development for Amazon’s Prime Video, with Ron Moore). The story.
—Rejoice! Netflix is stepping in to save Sesame Street. The streamer has inked a deal with Sesame Workshop for new episodes of the long-running children’s show, just months after Warner Bros. Discovery opted not to renew its output deal for the program in a strategic shift at its streaming service Max (which will soon return to being HBO Max). In a notable change from the HBO deal, new episodes of Sesame Street will also run day and date on PBS and the PBS Kids app, ensuring that they are easily accessible. Sesame Street has been available on PBS for more than 50 years, though during the HBO deal, the episodes debuted on PBS months after their HBO premieres. The story.
—One and done. The Bondsman, Amazon Prime Video’s horror series starring Kevin Bacon, has been canceled. The show debuted its first and only season via Prime Video on April 3 with eight episodes. During its first week, Bondsman landed at No. 9 Nielsen’s streaming charts for March 31-April 6 with 563m minutes watched. However, it swiftly exited the charts and did not land in the Top 10 again. Bacon stars as a former country music star and murdered bounty hunter, Hub Halloran, who gets a second shot at life when the Devil resurrects him to catch demons who have escaped from Hell. Jennifer Nettles, Damon Herriman, Beth Grant and Maxwell Jenkins also starred in the series. The story.
—There can only be one. On Sunday night, American Idol crowned a new winner. Host Ryan Seacrest said there were 26m votes cast in the season 23 finale, which broke a record and was twice as many as for last year's finale. The winner. |
'Final Destination' Opens to Record-Shattering $51M in U.S. ►Pam and Mike have done it again! In a third consecutive win, Warner Bros. is doing scary great business at the box office thanks to New Line’s critically acclaimed Final Destination Bloodlines. The supernatural horror-thriller pic topped the weekend with a franchise-best domestic opening of $51m, ahead of expectations. Overseas, it likewise earned $51m for a global start of $102m. That’s more than enough to successfully revive a long-dormant franchise that was first introduced to audiences a quarter of a century ago. The last installment, Final Destination 5, was released in 2011 and opened to $18m, not adjusted for inflation.
THR's Pamela McClintock writes that WB is dominating the upper reaches of the box office chart beyond just Bloodlines. Ryan Coogler's water-cooler sensation Sinners, now in its fifth weekend, isn’t far behind Disney and Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, which placed second in its third weekend with $16.5m. That put the superhero pic’s domestic total north of $155m through Sunday, as it cleared the $300m mark globally with $325.7m in worldwide ticket sales. Sinners earned $15.4m for an eye-popping North American tally of $240m as it too raced past the $300m mark to finish the weekend with a global haul of $316.8m.
WB's A Minecraft Movie also enjoyed an enviable hold and claimed a fourth-place finish with $5.9m in its seventh weekend. The video game adaptation is the top-grossing pic of the year to date, with more than $928m in global ticket sales, including $416.6m domestically. The box office report. |
Ralph Fiennes to Play Snow in 'Sunrise on the Reaping' ►🎭 White smoke spotted. 🎭 Lionsgate's The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has found its President Snow. Conclave star Ralph Fiennes will play the ruthless Panem dictator in director Francis Lawrence's forthcoming film in the franchise. Joseph Zada, Whitney Peak, Mckenna Grace, Jesse Plemons, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Maya Hawke, Lili Taylor and Ben Wang have been previously announced as castmembers in the movie that adapts Suzanne Collins' best-selling novel. Fiennes follows in the footsteps of the late Donald Sutherland, who portrayed Coriolanus Snow in the series’ first four films of The Hunger Games franchise. Tom Blyth starred as a younger version of the character opposite Rachel Zegler in 2023’s prequel feature The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Deliver Me From Nowhere, starring Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen, is ready to run into theaters this fall. Writer-director Scott Cooper's biopic focusing on the legendary musician known as the Boss is set for theatrical release Oct. 24 from 20th Century Studios, giving it a prime slot amid awards season. Jeremy Strong co-stars as Jon Landau, Springsteen’s manager and record producer. Also set for release on Oct. 24 are the adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel Regretting You, Mortal Kombat 2 and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Bugonia starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. The story.
—📅 On the move. 📅 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans will have to wait a bit longer for party time to begin. Paramount announced several changes to its release calendar on Friday, with the animated sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem 2 now set for wide theatrical release Sept. 17, 2027, after having previously been slated for Oct. 9, 2026. In a twinned move, The Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender is now set for wide theatrical release Oct. 9, 2026, after having previously been scheduled for Jan. 30, 2026. The shifts for Mutant Mayhem 2 and Legend of Aang stem from delays in animation physical production. The story. |
Film Review: 'Nouvelle Vague' ►"May not leave you breathless, but will leave you charmed." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Richard Linklater's Cannes competition entry, Nouvelle Vague. Zoey Deutch stars as Jean Seberg alongside a cast of French unknowns in a behind-the-scenes look at the French auteur Jean-Luc Godard directing his New Wave masterpiece, Breathless. The review.
—"A gripping and distinctive sports flick." Jordan reviews Valéry Carnoy's Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selection, Wild Foxes. The Belgian writer-director's first feature is set in an elite French sports academy where teenage boxers compete for the top rank. The review.
—"Not better than the real thing, but close." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Andrew Dominik's Bono: Stories of Surrender. Premiering at Cannes before its May 30 Apple TV+ streaming bow, the film chronicles the U2 frontman's stage show inspired by his memoir. The review.
—"An exceptionally flavorful slice of life." THR's Sheri Linden reviews Hasan Hadi's Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selection, The President’s Cake. Set in 1990s Iraq, Hadi’s debut feature revolves around a third-grader on a mission to complete a dreaded school assignment. The review.
—"Poignant and galvanizing." Sheri reviews Raoul Peck's Orwell: 2+2=5. A documentary by the director of films on James Baldwin and Karl Marx explores the life of George Orwell and the enduring significance of his most famous work, 1984. The review.
—"Like its central figure, sometimes wearying but mostly riveting." Sheri reviews Leo Lewis O’Neil's Slauson Rec. As video archivist for Shia LaBeouf's L.A. stage troupe, first-time filmmaker O’Neil had full access to rehearsals that were increasingly fraught. The review. |
Film Review: ' The Chronology of Water' ►"A radical pathway to wholeness." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Kristen Stewart's Cannes Un Certain Regard selection, The Chronology of Water. Adapted from Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir about surviving childhood sexual abuse and finding an outlet for her pain in writing, the drama features Imogen Poots, Thora Birch, Jim Belushi and Earl Cave. The review.
—"A town to be bypassed." David reviews Ari Aster's Cannes competition entry, Eddington. Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone and Austin Butler feature in this A24 neo-western epic portrait of a country torn apart by paranoid conspiracy theories, divisive politics and pandemic insanity. The review.
—"Surges with vitality." David reviews Kleber Mendonça Filho's Cannes competition entry, The Secret Agent. A technology expert goes back to his hometown in 1977 Brazil to reunite with his young son and flee the country while hitmen hired by a corrupt federal official close in on him. Starring Wagner Moura, Maria Fernanda Candido, Gabriel Leone, Carlos Francisco and Alice Carvalho. The review.
—"Shut up and take it." David reviews Harry Lighton's Cannes Un Certain Regard selection, Pillion. A nice suburban London boy gets his sub/dom kink on and likes it in writer-director Lighton’s provocative debut. Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Harry Melling, Douglas Hodge, Lesley Sharp, Jake Shears and Anthony Welsh. The review.
—"A punishing watch that pays off in the end." David reviews Lynne Ramsay's Cannes competition entry, Die My Love. Jennifer Lawrence, Robert Pattinson, Sissy Spacek, Nick Nolte and LaKeith Stanfield appear in the Scottish director’s adaptation of Ariana Marwicz’s novel about love, lust and madness. The review.
—"Absorbing but slender." David reviews Christian Petzold Cannes Directors' Fortnight selection, Miroirs No. 3. The German writer-director follows Afire with another Paula Beer-starring chamber piece set in seemingly tranquil countryside that proves to be just the opposite. The review.
—"A convincing claim for multihyphenate status." David reviews Harris Dickinson's Cannes Un Certain Regard selection, Urchin. The Babygirl actor’s first feature behind the camera follows an unhoused Londoner (Frank Dillane) trying to get clean while stuck on a treadmill of addiction. The review.
—"Diverting enough, as far as bastard Jaws spawn go." David reviews Sean Byrne's Cannes Directors Fortnight selection, Dangerous Animals. Jai Courtney, Hassie Harrison and Josh Heuston star in Byrne’s thriller about an Australian boatman who gets his kicks abducting female tourists for ritualistic slaughter. The review. |
Film Review: 'The Phoenician Scheme' ►"A Wes Anderson for those who've been feeling alienated by Wes Anderson." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Wes Anderson's Cannes competition entry, The Phoenician Scheme. Benicio del Toro plays an industrialist who tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Mia Threapleton). Also starring Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Jeffrey Wright. The review.
—"Risk-averse to a fault." Lovia reviews Kei Ishikawa's Cannes Un Certain Regard selection, A Pale View of Hills. A woman recounts her life in post-war Nagasaki to her youngest daughter in Ishikawa's take on Nobel prize-winning writer Kazuo Ishiguro's 1982 debut. The review.
—"An elegiac excavation of a girl's emotional life." Lovia reviews Chie Hayakawa's Cannes competition entry, Renoir. In her second film, the Japanese director behind Plan 75 tells a deeply personal story about a crucial summer in the life of an observant 11-year-old. The review.
—"Hopeful and sweet." Lovia reviews Ugo Bienvenu's Arco. In this Natalie Portman-produced French animated film, illustrator Bienvenu's debut feature tells a story of unexpected friendship and the fate of a world impacted by climate change. The review.
—"An instant queer classic." THR's Jon Frosch reviews Hafsia Herzi's Cannes competition entry, The Little Sister. In the French filmmaker's coming-of-age drama, newcomer Nadia Melliti plays a Muslim teenager struggling to reconcile her religious convictions with her burgeoning sexuality. The review.
In other news...
—Second Mountainhead trailer suggests AI and billionaires are the villains
—Richard Linklater’s Cannes film Nouvelle Vague gets new teaser trailer
What else we're reading...
—Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett look at the reasons why Apple still hasn't been able to crack AI [Bloomberg]
—James Fanelli writes that the key to Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs' defense seems to be is admitting that he was a terrible boyfriend [WSJ]
—Kim Velsey digs into the baffling return of WeWork founder Adam Neumann, who is pitching another vibes-based multibillion-dollar IPO [Curbed]
—Rory Carroll talks to actor Tim Roth about losing his son Cormac after making Poison, a film about bereavement [Guardian]
—Max Tani reports that Bill Maher’s heterodox podcast studio Club Random has shut down [Semafor]
Today...
...in 1999, George Lucas unveiled his long-awaited prequel to his Star Wars trilogy, Episode I — The Phantom Menace, in theaters. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Grace Jones (77), Danielle Macdonald (34), Thomas Vinterberg (56), JoJo Siwa (22), Morten Tyldum (58), Michael Che (42), Eleanor Tomlinson (33), Polly Walker (59), Lainey Wilson (33), Bérénice Marlohe (46), James Fox (86), Nancy Kwan (86), Sean Whalen (61), Jason Gray-Stanford (55), Nawazuddin Siddiqui (51), Drew Fuller (45), Claudia Karvan (53), Sarah Grey (29), Gregory Zarian (60), Eamon Farren (40), Steven Piet (41), Michela Luci (19), Jayne Wisener (38), Catherine Haena Kim (41), Eric Lloyd (39), Zack Pearlman (37) |
| | | |
