Indie News

The Orchard has acquired worldwide rights to director William Friedkin’s real-life exorcism documentary “The Devil & Father Amorth,” the company announced Wednesday.

The company plans an April 20 theatrical release for the doc, which records an actual exorcism performed by the Vatican’s Father Gabriele Amorth as he fights to expel Satan from an Italian woman.

The film, produced by LD Entertainment’s Mickey Liddell and Pete Shilaimon, arrives 45 years after Friedkin directed the blockbuster, “The Exorcist.” Friedkin had received permission to travel to Rome and meet with 91-year-old Father Gabriele Amorth, the “Vatican Exorcist,” to film a real-life exorcism.

Studio executives flock to Park City hoping to find the next big thing in indie film. It’s a chance to get their hands on the newest “The Big Sick,” the kind of powerful movie that has what it takes to break out into the mainstream. A number of films heading to the festival are already generating heat, sight unseen. Variety runs down the movies that are most likely to spark all-night bidding wars.

Damsel

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Forster

Directors: David Zellner & Nathan Zellner

Sales agent: ICM

Why Buyers Are Circling:

Pattinson may have hung up the fangs, but the “Twilight” star still commands crowds (particularly overseas). This offbeat western sounds like a change of pace for the recovering tween idol.

IndieWire is proud to announce the inaugural IndieWire Studio at Sundance, presented by Dropbox, on Park City’s Main Street. With daily video interviews at its exclusive studio, it will serve as a destination for scores of actors, directors, producers, screenwriters, composers and documentary subjects.

From from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, January 19 through Monday, January 22, IndieWire will sit down with approximately 100 entertainment luminaries at 625 Main Street. Among those scheduled are Aubrey Plaza (“An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn”),Chloë Grace Moretz (“The Miseducation Of Cameron Post”), Chloë Sevigny (“Lizzie”), Chris O’Dowd and Rose Byrne (“Juliet, Naked”), Daveed Diggs (“Blindspotting”), Elle Fanning, Peter Dinklage, and Reed Morano (“I Think We’re Alone Now”), Ethan Hawke (“Blaze” and “Juliet, Naked”), Idris Elba (“Yardie”), Gus Van Sant (“Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot”), Maggie Gyllenhaal (“The Kindergarten Teacher”), Joan Jett (“Bad Reputation”), Keira Knightley (“Colette

Miami Dade College’s (Mdc) Miami Film Festival (Mff) is importing film artists Jean-Marc Barr and Mateo Gil to accompany two Marquee events at the international festival’s upcoming 35th anniversary edition (March 9 – 18). The Miami Film Festival, under director Jaie Laplante, showcases Ibero-American cinema — and rising talent –and provides a North American launch pad for new international and documentary films.

In the last five years, the Festival has screened films from more than 60 countries, including 300 World, International, North American, U.S. and East Coast Premieres, and attracted more than 60,000 attendees, including 400 filmmakers and industry professionals.

The Festival’s Marquee series features screenings along with in-depth conversations with contemporary film personalities. Spanish filmmaker Mateo Gil will present the World premiere of his latest film, “The Laws of Thermodynamics” (“Las leyes de la termodinámica”), a romantic comedy starring Vito Sanz (“Maria (and the Others)”) as a Sciences graduate student who blames his disastrous

There’s a tradition of young directors looking for inspiration in the bygone eras of their adolescence. For George Lucas in American Graffiti, it was the California car culture of the early ’60s. For Richard Linklater in Dazed and Confused, it was the Texas high school rituals of the ’70s. And for Greta Gerwig in Lady Bird, it’s Catholic school and the suburban doldrums of early-aughts Sacramento. Written and directed by Gerwig, Lady Bird follows the titular character (Saoirse Ronan) through her senior year of high school as she fights with her mom (Laurie Metcalf), pines for a philosophical dilettante from the […]

For most of its running time, “Forever My Girl” is surprisingly inoffensive, the type of movie that you’d watch on a plane and not feel too embarrassed by – at least until it made you cry. (Pro tip: this is why you pick the window seat.) However, the country-fried romance written and directed by Bethany Ashton Wolf becomes a victim of self sabotage as it nears its (predictable) conclusion, removing any good will it created in its first half.

Continue reading ‘Forever My Girl’ Is Mostly Perfect, Predictable Plane Viewing [Review] at The Playlist.

My first feature film, Kids Go Free to Fun Fun Time, is a drama/romance that takes place in three different countries, showing how a couple’s relationship evolves over the course of a decade. I have been working on this film for longer than I’d like to admit. I had little luck getting the funding or support needed to get the film done, but then I got accepted into the Ifp Narrative Lab, and my world completely changed. To talk about everything I learned during the Ifp Narrative Lab would take about 40 pages, so I’m going to try and boil it […]

As a family drama, “The Path” is very good. As an appraisal of belief, it’s extraordinary.

Jessica Goldberg’s Hulu drama — the streaming company’s inaugural hourlong series — has already been delivering nuanced relationship narratives for two seasons, primarily focusing on the central love triangle between Eddie Lane (Aaron Paul), Sarah Lane (Michelle Monaghan), and Cal Roberts (Hugh Dancy). In this realm alone, “The Path” has been consistently compelling. Dancy may not be getting the buzz he did for “Hannibal,” but he’s doing work of equal magnitude. Paul is so strong as an exasperated father, husband, and leader, while Monaghan confidently pushes Sarah from moments of the utmost fragility to places of fierce conviction.

How far Goldberg and her writing staff has taken each character is impressive (not to mention the rest of the cast), but the scope of “The Path” keeps widening beyond family, and in the

**Spoilers Ahead**

Disappointed fans have been crying out “That’s not how the Force works!” in their various complaints about “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” Certainly, one of the most contentious moments comes when Leia gets sucked into outer space, after First Order pilots shoot up the Resistance ship. As she slowly freezes to death, Leia summons herself back to her ship where’s she’s rescued in a sequence that’s fairly jaw-dropping.

Continue reading Rian Johnson Talks Leia’s Big Moment & Key Ending Scenes Of ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ at The Playlist.

Jane Fonda is still in awe of what happened last week at the Golden Globe Awards, as Hollywood focused on something more than just handing out kudos.

“I thought it was the best Golden Globes ever,” Fonda said of the focus on the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements. “It was glorious. One of the great things is all of the actresses involved have been conscious to the fact that we’ve got to reach out our arms to women in other sectors. Restaurant workers, hotel workers, farm workers. It’s really moving.”

Fonda spoke to Variety’s Cynthia Littleton on Wednesday at the Natpe convention about “Grace and Frankie,” aging in Hollywood and her busy schedule as an activist. The actress is no stranger to the issue of women’s equality and pay inequality — having even dealt with the issue as recent as 2015 with “Grace and Frankie,” when she

Joaquin Phoenix’s latest role in Gus Van Sant’s “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot” finds him stepping into the real-life shoes of paraplegic cartoonist John Callahan, but not everyone is happy the director cast an able-bodied actor to play a disabled character. The Ruderman Family Foundation, a national leader in disability inclusion, has criticized the movie for the casting decision, saying it is “offensive to the disability community” and “overlooks the opportunity to cast actors with disabilities to play characters with disabilities.”

Read More:‘Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot’ First Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix and Gus Van Sant Reunite After 23 Years

“It was a mistake for director Gus Van Sant to cast Joaquin Phoenix in his upcoming biopic about disabled cartoonist John Callahan,” Jay Ruderman, President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, said in an official statement. “The time has come

There’s going to be over 500 scripted TV shows on the dial this year, but we tried to whittle it down just just 50 for our Most Anticipated TV Shows Of 2018 feature. “Brittania” made the cut, and since “Game Of Thrones” is skipping a year before its final season in 2019, this could help fill the void.

David Morrissey, Kelly Reilly, Zoe Wanamaker, Ian McDiarmid and Mackenzie Crook star in the series that takes place in 43 Ad (very olden tymes), and centers on the Romans quest for power over the Celtics.

Continue reading ‘Britannia’ Trailer: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Goes Rock ‘n Roll at The Playlist.

Despite the devastating mudslides that overwhelmed the Santa Barbara, California community of Montecito last week — resulting in at least 20 deaths and the destruction of 100-plus homes — the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Sbiff) will go on as usual. A reason to celebrate is “needed now more than ever,” wrote Sbiff director Roger Durling in a letter soon to be shared with festival-goers. He continued, “It is an opportunity for people to gather – reflect – experience – feel – and process,” noting that cinema attendance was strong during the Great Depression.

Launched in 1986, this year’s Sbiff will include films from 58 countries. Numbered among its 45 world premieres is opening night film “the public,” the first feature written and directed by Emilio Estevez since 2010’s “The Way.” Set at a Cincinnati public library, the film follows its homeless and marginalized patrons during a dangerous cold spell. The cast includes Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone (“Neon Demon

If the first time you ever heard the name “Versace” was in “Showgirls,” know that you might have missed a key layer of meaning behind the joke.

In the 1995 Paul Verhoeven film, young stripper Nomi (Elizabeth Berkeley) finds herself with some extra cash, so she buys a tight short dress from a Versace shop on the Las Vegas strip. You might think that the point of the bit is that Nomi reveals her trashy roots when she pronounces the name of the brand as “Ver-sase,” as opposed to its proper pronunciation of “Ver-sa-che.”

But according to “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” showrunner Tom Rob Smith, it goes far deeper than that. “It’s not that someone classy doesn’t know it’s ‘Ver-sa-che,'” he told IndieWire. “Because that person wouldn’t be wearing Versace.”

Read More:‘American Crime Story: Versace’ Trailer: Ryan Murphy’s FX Series

Daniel Radcliffe‘s last few films have, to put it politely, flown under the radar. You’ve probably already forgotten about the survival tale “Jungle” and the white supremacy drama “Imperium” (and you probably want to forget about “Now You See Me 2“). Well, here comes another pic that will likely zip in and out of your brain.

“Beast Of Burden” co-stars Pablo Schreiber and Grace Gummer, and tells the story of a man who makes a deal to smuggle drugs to pay for his wife’s surgery.

Continue reading ‘Beast Of Burden’ Trailer: Daniel Radcliffe Is A Drug Smuggler at The Playlist.

“Lady Bird” lovers are well aware that Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan are a match made in heaven. What else could explain the movie’s particular magic, full of lively female characters who defy categorization and laugh in the face of clichés? Ronan’s husky voice and indefatigable spirit enlivens “Lady Bird” with a naturalism and charm rarely seen in coming-of-age films; it’s a performance shaped and encouraged by Gerwig’s air-tight script and supportive direction. The fated partnership has crowned them both Oscar favorites, a symbiotic relationship not lost on either woman, who thank the other profusely any chance they get.

Read More:‘Lady Bird’: Why Greta Gerwig Deserves a Nomination, and Our Masculine Conception of Good Directing

In an interview for IndieWire’s Awards Spotlight series, the dynamic duo were eager to show off their matching ladybug sneakers. The shoes were a gift from Ronan to Gerwig,

Donald Trump tried to stop the publication of Michael Wolff‘s incendiary “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” only to wind up giving the book free publicity on the way its best-seller status (700,000 hardcover copies have shipped, with 1.4 million more on order). The non-fiction account of what’s really going in Trump’s administration paints the President as an unqualified, temperamental child, who loves cola, fast-food, and television, with everyone around him trying to manage his ever-shifting moods.

Continue reading Michael Wolff’s ‘Fire And Fury: Inside The Trump White House’ Headed To TV at The Playlist.

There are of a bounty of riches coming to the Sundance Film Festival, and while there are plenty of high profile movies to get excited, we’re always just as thrilled to seek out the less starry corners of the schedule. One film that could make waves on opening day in Park City is the World Drama entry “Loveling.”

Co-written and directed by Gustavo Pizzi, and starring Karine Teles, Otávio Müller, Adriana Esteves, Konstantinos Sarris, and César Troncoso, the story follows a woman whose lively family is upended when her teenage son is drafted to play professional handball in Germany.

Continue reading ‘Loveling’ Clip & Poster: Bonds Of Family Are The Hardest To Break [Sundance Exclusive] at The Playlist.

In an attempt to expose Donald Trump’s continuous pattern of fabricating the truth, “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn is offering to donate $10,000 to Trump’s favorite charity if and when the President steps on a scale and reveals his accurate weight. The filmmaker made the offer on Twitter.

Read More:James Gunn Doesn’t Care If Bashing Donald Trump Loses Him Fans, Compares the President to Hitler and Putin

Gunn notes that Trump’s medical advisor has said his weight is 239 pounds and height is six feet and three inches, which would make our President the exact same weight and height as professional baseball player Albert Pujols. The director put photos of Trump and Pujols side by side to show this can’t be the case.

I will give 100 thousand dollars to Trump’s favorite charity if he will step on an accurate scale with an impartial medical professional,

The 2017 Sundance Film Festival provided one of the strongest markets on record. The box-office results, however, tell another story. While big buy “The Big Sick” was a big hit, second only to “Lady Bird” in the specialty marketplace, many smaller Sundance films remained just that: small, often earning less than their acquisition costs.

For some movies, small is a victory. Kogonada’s “Columbus,” which screened in the 2017 Next section, received the Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Fellowship grant to fund its inaugural self-distribution partnership. “Columbus” grossed more than $1 million — more than Fox Searchlight’s “Patti Cake$” ($9.5 million buy, less than $1 million domestic), and more than one might expect for a meditative romance set among the architecture of Columbus, Ind.

Three Sundance 2107 films — “Get Out” (Universal), “The Big Sick” (Amazon/Lionsgate) and “Wind River” (Weinstein) grossed over $250 million combined in domestic theaters. However, only “The Big Sick” came to Sundance without a distributor.