Powerhouse Voice Cast For Laika’s “Most Ambitious Film To Date” Revealed

Posted on August 25, 2022 by admin

Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, Tom Waits and Richard E. Grant Among Voice Cast

LAIKA President & CEO Travis Knight today announced the voice cast for Wildwood, the Oscar®, BAFTA® and Golden Globe® winning animation studio’s next feature film.

The cast includes: Oscar® nominee Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman), Oscar® winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Peyton Elizabeth Lee (Andi Mack), Jacob Tremblay (Room), Awkwafina (Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Oscar® nominee Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got to Do With It), Jake Johnson (Jurassic World), Charlie Day (Horrible Bosses), Amandla Stenberg (The Hate You Give), Emmy® nominee Jemaine Clement (The Flight of the Conchords), Maya Erskine (Pen15), Tantoo Cardinal (Wind River), Grammy® winner Tom Waits and Oscar® nominee Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?).

Wildwood, based on the series of novels by Colin Meloy, lead singer for The Decemberists, and illustrator Carson Ellis is currently in production at LAIKA Studios outside Portland, Oregon.

Knight, who won the BAFTA for directing LAIKA’s Kubo and the Two Strings and also directed Paramount’s hit movie Bumblebee, directs from a script by Chris Butler (ParaNorman, Missing Link). Six-time Oscar® nominee Caleb Deschanel (The Passion of the Christ) is the cinematographer with Arianne Sutner, LAIKA’s Head of Production and Oscar®-nominated producer of Kubo and Missing Link, producing alongside Knight.

“That is one helluva cast,” said Knight. “Collaborating with these exceptional actors has been a humbling and inspiring experience. Their committed performances elevate Wildwood, and are a remarkable gift for LAIKA’s animators. I’m in awe of them all.”

JINJER Announces 2022 USA Headline Tour with Direct Support from Special Guests P.O.D.

Posted on August 23, 2022 by admin

Progressive groove metal juggernauts JINJER recently announced that with the support of the Ukrainian Ministry Of Culture, they were granted a special exemption to exit Ukraine in order to help their countrymen the best way they can – through music – and since hit the road on their just-wrapped European tour.

But JINJER‘s reign of the road has only just begun The band is thrilled to announce their upcoming 2022 USA headline tour, produced by Live Nation, with direct support from hard rock icons P.O.D.– beginning October 31 in San Diego, CA and ending on December 22 in Los Angeles, CA.

Additional support on select dates will come from rising American metal stars Vended(October 31-November 23), English groove/metalcore force Malevolence, (December 7-December 22), and fellow Ukrainian modern metalcore unit Space of Variations (full tour). Tickets go on sale this Friday, August 26 at 10:00 AM local time. Additionally, Citi is the official card of JINJER‘s USA tour, and Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday, August 23 at 11:00 AM ET until Thursday, August 25 at 10:00 PM local time through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.

“House of the Dragon” Premiere Nabs 10 Million Viewers

Posted on August 22, 2022 by admin

from left: Fabien Frankel, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, Matt Smith

HBO’s “House of the Dragon” premiered with massive numbers on Sunday night, with 9.99 million viewers tuning in across HBO and HBO Max. This makes the “Game of Thrones” spinoff HBO’s most-watched series premiere in the network’s history.

This success didn’t come without a slight glitch: more than 3,700 were reported across HBO Max on Sunday night, taking place just before the show started airing at 9 pm.ET. “‘House of the Dragon’ is being successfully viewed by millions of HBO Max subscribers this evening. We’re aware of a small portion of users attempting to connect via Fire TV devices that are having issues and are in the process of resolving for those impacted users,” the HBO statement said.

That said, the premiere numbers are massive. The company said that the Sunday night numbers typically represents around 20% to 40% of the show’s total audience. “It was wonderful to see millions of ‘Game of Thrones’ fans return with us to Westeros last night,” said Casey Bloys, chief content officer for HBO and HBO Max.

“House of the Dragon” tells the story of the Targaryen civil war, which took place around 200 years before the events in “Game of Thrones.” It is based on Fire & Blood novel by George R.R. Martin which tells the story of the House of Targaryen. The 10-episode series will be released weekly.

“Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche” Doc Sets Release Date

Posted on August 19, 2022 by admin

Greenwich Entertainment has acquired of U.S. and Canadian distribution rights to “Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche”. The documentary premiered at the Telluride’s Mountainfilm festival where it won the Audience Award, the first of several subsequent festival awards.

The film, which tells the gripping account of the deadliest avalanche in US ski resort history, opens in New York City, San Francisco, and Northern California theaters on September 23rd and expands to subsequent markets the following weeks during a 45 day exclusive theatrical window. TVOD/EST and DVD begin on November 8, 2022.

“Buried” was produced by Jared Drake and Steven Siig and executive produced by Academy Award-winning producer Evan Hayes (Free Solo) of Ace Content, Oscar winner Michael Sugar (Spotlight) and eight-time Emmy nominee David Hillman (The Tipping Point) of Sugar23, Mark Gogolewski and Shannon Houchins. Greenwich’s co-president Edward Arentz negotiated the acquisition with the filmmakers. Rocket Science is handling international sales.

“Essential viewing for skiers but all audiences – skiers and non-skiers alike – will find Buried a riveting account of a natural disaster, not only in the details of the avalanche itself and subsequent rescue efforts, but on how the disaster effected people in the years following and became a dividing line in time for the survivors and their community” says Greenwich’s Arentz.

Here’s the film’s official synopsis:
In the early 1980’s, the ski patrol at the Alpine Meadows ski resort were the undisputed gods of winter in the mountain hamlet of Lake Tahoe, California. Their esprit de corps was centered around keeping the skiing public safe, primarily through avalanche control and largely through triggering slides with explosives. For this group and the others caught up in these events, the innocent era of seemingly endless sun drenched powder and apres-ski parties would come to a sudden and harrowing close on March 31st, 1982.
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Yellow Veil Pictures Acquires World Sales Rights For Kyra Elise Gardner’s Debut Documentary “Living With Chucky”

Posted on August 15, 2022 by admin

Yellow Veil Pictures have acquired world sales rights to Kyra Elise Gardner’s debut documentary feature Living With Chucky. The documentary screened last weekend at Popcorn Frights and this will be followed by key festival premieres at Frightfest in the UK, and more to be announced throughout the fall.

Living With Chucky explores the iconic Child’s Play franchise through a personal and social perspective. Directed and conceived by Kyra Gardner — daughter to chief puppeteer for the majority of the franchise Tony Gardner — Living With Chucky utilizes new and archival interview footage to expose the series cultural impact over the years, with principal cast, crew members including Don Mancini, Brad Dourif, Jennifer Tilly, Tony Gardner, and David Kirshner, alongside fans of the franchise like Marlon Wayans, John Waters, and Abigail Breslin.

Joe Yanick, Co-Founder from YVP said: “Living With Chucky is an essential look at the impact and longevity of the Child’s Play series, imbued with so much heart and soul. It’s a family effort that will appeal to a diverse and sprawling fan base around the world.”

The deal was negotiated by Yellow Veil Pictures Co-Founders Hugues Barbier, Justin Timms, and Joe Yanick, with Kyra Elise Gardner.

New Details On Blumhouse’s Upcoming Insidious Sequel Revealed

Posted on August 13, 2022 by admin

By Mandy

Patrick Wilson to direct Insidious sequel

Three new cast members were added to the ensemble of the upcoming Insidious 5 film: Hiam Abbas, Sinclair Daniel, and Peter Dager have all joined the cast.

After staying dormant for many years, and with some occasional development about the film also being released over the past few year, the film finally secured a summer 2023 release date last month.

The latest installment to the hugely successful supernatural horror franchise is set to be directed by Patrick Wilson in his directorial debut. Wilson, who starred on the first two installments of the franchise,
is also set to star in the upcoming sequel. Rose Byrne and Ty Simpkins are also set to reprise their roles as Renai Lambert and Dalton Lambert respectively.

Despite the death of her character in the first movie, Lin Shaye could also return as psychic Elise Rainier given her omni-presence in the series, possibly in a ghost form, along with her colleagues Specs and Tucker played by Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson.

Last month, it was announced that the Untitled Insidious sequel from Blumhouse Productions is currently set for theatrical release on July 7, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing.

Insidious 5’s script is written by Scott Teems (Halloween Kills) and is based on a story from Leigh Whannell and Jason Blum. This will be the first time in the Insidious franchise that Whannell will not be writing the script.

Wilson was last seen in the science fiction disaster film Moonfall earlier this year.

Here’s the first synopsis as provided by Sony Pictures Releasing:
Set ten years after the end of previous first two films, Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) heads east to drop his son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) off at an idyllic, ivy-covered university. However, Dalton’s college dream becomes a nightmare when the repressed demons of his past suddenly return to haunt them both.

MTV Documentary Films Sets Release Of “Art & Krimes By Krimes”

Posted on August 12, 2022 by admin

MTV Documentary Films has set the release of “Art & Krimes By Krimes”, a documentary featuring visual artists Jesse Krimes, Russell Craig, Jared Owens, Gilberto Rivera.

The film is set for release on theaters starting Friday, September 30 in New York at Quad Cinema, and Los Angeles at Laemmle Monica Film Center.

While locked up for six years in federal prison, artist Jesse Krimes secretly creates monumental works of art—including an astonishing 30-foot mural made with prison bed sheets, hair gel, and newspaper. He smuggles out each panel piece-by-piece with the help of fellow artists, only seeing the mural in totality upon coming home.

As Jesse’s work captures the art world’s attention, he struggles to adjust to life outside, living with the threat that any misstep will trigger a life sentence.

The film is directed by Alysa Nahmias and produced by Alysa Nahmias, Amanda Spain, Benjamin Murray and executive produced by Sheila Nevins.

New Trailer Release For Genre Doc “The Horror Crowd

Posted on August 11, 2022 by admin

Buffalo 8 has announced a release date of September 2 on digital and video on demand for The Horror Crowd. The documentary also marks the feature directorial debut for Ruben Pla.

The film has played to film festivals such as FrightFest and Grimmfest and has earned several festival honors including Santa Fe Film Festival’s “Best Director,” “Best Horror Feature” from London Independent Film Festival and “Best Documentary” at Seattle Film Festival.

The film features an all-star cast of actors and filmmakers to discuss the Hollywood horror community, covering such wide-ranging topics as women in horror, race relations, “being the weird kid,” and film festivals, as well as the unique community and support that exists in the space.

Among the near-40 people who appear are Lin Shaye (Insidious), Director Russell Mulcahy (Highlander, Resident Evil: Extinction), Producer/Director Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Brea Grant (“Dexter”), Director Ernest R. Dickerson (“The Walking Dead”), Director Adam Robitel (Escape Room), Clare Kramer (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Blumhouse’s Director of Development Ryan Turek, Greg Grunberg (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker), Director Chelsea Stardust (Satanic Panic), Director Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw franchise) and many, many more.

Michelle Yeoh To Receive SBIFF’s 15th Annual Kirk Douglas Award For Excellence In Film

Posted on August 10, 2022 by admin

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is honored to announce global icon Michelle Yeoh will be receiving the 15th annual Kirk Douglas Award For Excellence In Film. This marks the first time since the passing of screen legend Kirk Douglas that the honor will be awarded. The award, which benefits Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s year-round educational programs, will be presented on Friday, December 9 at a Black-Tie dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara.

“A well-deserved honor for the legendary and multi-talented Michelle Yeoh. She has been entertaining and thrilling us in films since the 1980s …… AND she does her own stunts!! Bravo Michelle!” says Michael Douglas.

Michelle Yeoh is an internationally recognized Malaysian-born actress who rose to fame in 1990s Hong Kong action films before going on to shatter convention and star in a myriad of globally acclaimed blockbusters. In March 2022, she starred in Daniels’ mind-bending, critically acclaimed Everything Everywhere All At Once, which has since become A24’s highest grossing film worldwide.

She has appeared in more than 70 features and television series, with her filmography showcasing a collection of iconic roles, including Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon 1 & 2, Rob Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha, Roger Spottiswoode’s James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, and Jon Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians, the highest-grossing romantic comedy in the U.S. in the past 10 years. After appearing in James Gunn’s second installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Yeoh returned to the Marvel universe in Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

In television, Yeoh was most recently seen as Emperor Philippa Georgiou in CBS’ Star Trek: Discovery. Next, she will be reuniting with Destin Daniel Cretton in the Disney+ series American Born Chinese and starring in Netflix’s upcoming limited series, The Witcher: Blood Origin. Other upcoming credits include James Cameron’s Avatar sequels and Paul Feig’s The School for Good and Evil.
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Greg Pak Returns To Sakaar In Planet Hulk: Worldbreaker

Posted on August 9, 2022 by admin

In 2006, writer Greg Pak along with artists Carlo Pagulayan and Aaron Lopresti crafted PLANET HULK, one of the most iconic stories to ever grace the pages of Incredible Hulk, and this November, Pak will return to this storyline in Planet Hulk: Worldbreaker.

This five-issue limited series will take place a thousand years into the future and present a shocking expansion and culmination of the mythos of Sakaar. Pak will be joined by visionary Devil’s Reign artist Manuel Garcia.

Considered a modern Marvel masterpiece, Planet Hulk told the rousing story of Hulk’s time on the alien planet Sakaar after being exiled from Earth by the Illuminati. The epic story arc had a defining impact on Hulk that’s still felt today and went on to inspire spinoffs and media adaptations. Now, the saga continues…

A thousand years from now on the planet Sakaar, a young woman with green skin searches for the legendary Green Scar to help save her brother from a group of apocalyptic cultists. But which Hulk will she find? And after all these years, is he truly the Sakaarson, who will save us all — or the Worldbreaker, who will destroy us?

“Working on Planet Hulk remains one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had in storytelling,” Pak said. “So it was a huge thrill to get the call from editor Mark Paniccia inviting me to dive back in. What makes this story feel so special is that we’re going back to Sakaar a thousand years in the future. That’s opened up doors to do some spectacular worldbuilding with mindblowing art from Manuel Garcia, Cam Smith, and Chris Sotomayor. And we’re exploring big emotional stories that pay off the huge themes of the Hulk and the Green Scar that I’ve built over many years through all my Hulk stories. In a time of change and crisis, what do we do with the power we have, and how do we handle the terrifying repercussions? A thousand years from now, who knows where those questions will take us?”