Sierra/Affinity has sold 20 international markets for Ryan Gosling’s directorial debut, fantasy drama “How to Catch a Monster.” Christina Hendricks, Iain De Caestecker, Saoirse Ronan, Ben Mendelsohn, Eva Mendes, Matt Smith and Rob Zabrecky are starring in the project, which recently began shooting in Detroit. The project is selling at Cannes. Warner Bros acquired U.S.... Read more »

A film whose measured pace and minimal conflict seem better suited to pastoral living than arthouse viewing.

Phase 4 Films has acquired North American rights to docu “The Crash Reel” from “Waste Land” helmer Lucy Walker. HBO, which helped finance the pic, will keep U.S. television broadcast rights. Pedro Kos and Walker penned the script, which Julian Cautherley and Walker produced. Sheila Nevins exec produced. Phase 4 has an early winter theatrical... Read more »

Just hours before Lionsgate’s much-anticipated “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” party at Baoli Beach, photographers crammed into the lobby of the Majestic Hotel on Saturday to snap pictures of the film’s stars. Jennifer Lawrence and company were set to arrive at 2 P.M. at the hotel, where they’d pose on the ground floor for the... Read more »

Audiences are likely to feel impatient with this leaden Russian black comedy.

Two days before prestige pic “Blood Ties” screens at Cannes, Worldview Entertainment has picked up rights to Marilyn Monroe biopic “Blonde” with “Killing Them Softly” helmer Andrew Dominik set to helm. Dominik also penned the script, an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ fictionalized bio about the late star. Wild Bunch is handling international sales on... Read more »

Morgan Freeman and  Diane Keaton will star together for the first time in the comedy “Life Itself” with Richard Loncraine directing. Project was introduced at Cannes, where Myriad Pictures is selling international rights. CAA and WME Global co-rep North American rights. Freeman’s Revelations Entertainment will produce “Life Itself” in association with Latitude Prods. Producers are... Read more »

Hirokazu Kore-eda's reverberant drama is a characteristically low-key treatment of familial bonds, expectations and responsibilities.

The current byword in Southern Europe’s debt-ridden economies is “export or die,” and Spanish producers have taken heed, in order to counteract uncertainty over public subsidies and plummeting TV investment.

Once the Cinderella of film production, Spain’s animation output is now knocking on global market doors, boosted by the growing commitment of private broadcasters.

A lean and suspenseful genre piece that follows a bloody trail of vengeance to its cruel, absurd and logical conclusion.

A visually arresting poetic reverie that should strike a chord with adventurous audiences who don't mind mood over matter.

Koch Media has nabbed German rights to Mukunda Michael Dewil’s action thriller “Drop” from K5 Intl. Pic follows a special ops officer as he attempts to free the U.S. Vice President, who is being held hostage by terrorists in a cable car. Pic is set on Cape Town’s Table Mountain in South Africa. Pic is... Read more »

This demanding but highly absorbing two-hander showcases Benicio Del Toro and Mathieu Amalric at the top of their craft.

Phase 4 Films and XLrator Media have jointly acquired North American rights to crime thriller “Jamesy Boy,”  starring Mary-Louise Parker, James Woods, Ving Rhames, Taissa Farmiga and Spencer Lofranco. Deal was announced Saturday at Cannes, where Atlas International is handling international sales. “Jamesy Boy” is produced by Synergics Films and Star Thrower Entertainment. Producers are... Read more »

The jury of the CineMasters section of the 31st Munich film festival will consist of Steven Gaydos, VP and executive editor of Variety, German thesp-helmer Maria Schrader and New York publicist Peggy Siegal. The winner of the section, which is devoted to international films, will receive the ARRI/OSRAM award, which is worth E50,000 ($64,500). Last... Read more »

Spaniards David and Alex Pastor, who wrote Ryan Reynolds-starrer “Selfless,” are prepping a directorial outing, “Phoenix”. Budgeted at $15 million-$20 million, and set up at Spain’s Morena Films, “Phoenix” is an English-language action-thriller with sci-fi elements, said Pedro Uriol, who heads Morena with fellow producers Juan Gordon and Alvaro Longoria. The Pastor brothers also wrote... Read more »

“Every day is A.C. Lyles Day,” asserted Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge to a well-attended 95th birthday lunch Friday for the Paramount exec at Musso and Frank’s in Hollywood. LaBonge, who reps the Hollywood area, presented Lyles with a City Council proclamation, adding, “It’s the only thing we did unanimously all week.” The event... Read more »

Now that Warner Bros.’ television and home entertainment divisions have been re-aligned,  all eyes are focused on whether newly installed CEO Kevin Tsujihara will implement a similar management shakeup at the studio’s motion picture operation. The fate of the movie group’s top executive, Jeff Robinov, is on the minds of those both inside and outside... Read more »

After presenting clips from his upcoming 2013 slate, Harvey Weinstein pointed out the absence of at least one of his films’ notable producers. “I was going to bring George Clooney … but I’m still pissed off about losing,” Weinstein said of the thesp, who produced “August: Osage County” and “Argo,” the latter of which won... Read more »