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First Look: Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch & Chiwetel Ejiofor In '12 Years A Slave'

  • By Edward Davis
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  • June 18, 2013 8:43 PM
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  • 23 Comments
12 Years A Slave
News
A movie by U.K. helmer Steve McQueen is always cause for celebration, but this one sounds like it's going to be his most brutal. And it's not like "Hunger" or "Shame" were easy walks in the park either. Based in a true story,  McQueen's latest, "12 Years A Slave," is just what it sounds like, a harsh slave drama set in the South. In fact, someone on Twitter the other day says a friend saw it and described it as "Django Unchained" without the comedy. Sounds like a bundle of laughs, right? Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, the actor plays Solomon Northup, a free man tricked, captured and sold into slavery in the film based off of Northup's autobiography. The rest of the cast is rather stellar too and features Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Sarah Paulson and Alfre Woodard.
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More: 12 Years A Slave, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Steve McQueen

BRAAAM? Hans Zimmer Scoring Steve McQueen's 'Twelve Years A Slave'

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • May 3, 2013 10:15 AM
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  • 6 Comments
News
Eight time Oscar nominee -- winning for "The Lion King" in 1995 -- recent years have seen Hans Zimmer mostly in blockbuster mode. For Christopher Nolan, he's tuned up "Inception," "The Dark Knight" trilogy and the forthcoming "Man Of Steel," he's given Captain Jack Sparrow some bounce in three of the four "Pirates Of The Caribbean" movies, and this year alone he's already delivered music for hit mini-series "The Bible" with work on "Rush" and "The Lone Ranger" around the corner. But a slavery drama? We didn't see this coming.
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More: Hans Zimmer, 12 Years A Slave, Steve McQueen

Cannes Lineup: Woody Allen & Pedro Almodovar Skipping Festival, 'Twelve Years A Slave' Not Expected, 'Nebraska' Courted & More

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • April 2, 2013 10:00 AM
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  • 4 Comments
News
A few weeks ago, we took out our crystal ball and speculated on what movies might be appearing at the Cannes Film Festival when it kicks off in about six weeks or so. We made some educated guesses, ruled some other movies out and tossed some ideas around as we wait for the official announcement from organizers later this month. Well, it appears a bit of a clearer picture is emerging -- sort of -- as a handful of titles have been ruled out.
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More: Cannes Film Festival, Blue Jasmine, Pedro Almodovar, Woody Allen, I'm So Excited, Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave, Spike Jonze, Her, Nebraska, Alexander Payne, All Is Lost

Adjust Oscar Picks Accordingly: Steve McQueen's 'Twelve Years A Slave' Arrives On December 27th

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • March 28, 2013 4:40 PM
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  • 5 Comments
News
A film we're already predicting to be a player in the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor races in the upcoming Oscar season, and pretty much a shoo-in for the Cannes Film Festival in May, Fox Searchlight are showing they're expecting big things from the "Twelve Years A Slave" as well.
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More: 12 Years A Slave, Steve McQueen, Fox Searchlight

Read New All-Time Top 10 Lists From Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino & More

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • August 3, 2012 8:53 AM
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  • 69 Comments
Features
The big talk of the week has been Sight & Sound's once-every-decade greatest films of all time list as determined by critics from around the world. However, the publication also take the temperature from film directors, asking for greatest lists from 358 filmmakers around the world, and collating the votes into a separate top 10. As we reported previously, "Tokyo Story" topped the list, with "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Citizen Kane" just behind (read the full top 10 here).
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More: Features, Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Edgar Wright, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Mann, Bela Tarr, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, David O. Russell, Steve McQueen, Jeff Nichols, Mike Leigh, Guillermo del Toro, Sight & Sound - Greatest Of All Time Poll

Young 'Beasts Of The Southern Wild' Star Quvenzhané Wallis Joins Steve McQueen's 'Twelve Years A Slave'

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • August 1, 2012 11:18 AM
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  • 6 Comments
News
Given the quality of "Hunger" and "Shame," it's no surprise that there's a long queue to work with director Steve McQueen, but even considering that, the cast he's put together for period epic "Twelve Years A Slave" is quite extraordinary. The film's led by one of the most exciting actors working today, Chiwetel Ejifor, who plays Solomon Northrup, a free man in the 1840s who was kidnapped and kept for the titular dozen years as a slave before escaping.
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More: Quvenzhané Wallis, Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave, Steve McQueen

The Wait Grows Shorter For 'Twelve Years a Slave' As Steve McQueen Project Negotiates Final Financier

  • By Charlie Schmidlin
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  • April 10, 2012 11:42 AM
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  • 8 Comments
News
Two distinguished directors have both been hard at work putting together their Louisiana-based period films about slavery, and now the one least likely to have an Ennio Morricone sample, Steve McQueen's “Twelve Years a Slave,” appears to finally be ready to roll.
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More: 12 Years A Slave, Michael Fassbender, Steve McQueen, Brad Pitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor

'Shame' Director Steve McQueen Hoping To Do Project With BBC About 1981 Brixton Riots

  • By Simon Dang
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  • January 17, 2012 10:00 AM
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  • 1 Comment
News
During the press rounds for his remarkable directorial debut "Hunger," director Steve McQueen had noted that his own ambitions in the film industry centered around the year 1981 where three major events shaped his childhood: Bobby Sands, the IRA member who led the hunger strike explored in "Hunger"; his favourite football team Tottenham Hotspur winning the F.A. Cup; and the Brixton riots, spurred by rising tensions between police and the African-Caribbean community, which resulted in 82 arrests, 280 injuries to police, 45 to members of the public and extensive damage to buildings and cars.
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More: Steve McQueen

Michael Fassbender Says '12 Years A Slave' Is His Next Film, Shoots Summer 2012; Developing A Project With An Ex-Beta Band Member

  • By Edward Davis
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  • December 21, 2011 4:23 PM
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  • 2 Comments
News
To say Michael Fassbender has had a big and busy 2011 is like saying Herman Cain had an unsuccessful campaign run. It’s a massive understatement. In 20 months he shot six films – “Jane Eyre,” “X-Men: First Class,” “A Dangerous Method,” “Shame,” “Prometheus” and Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming action thriller “Haywire," the film for which he’s currently doing press rounds.
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More: Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave, Steve McQueen, Noah, Darren Aronofsky

2011's Potential Oscar Nominees For Acting, Directing & Writing Get Together To Talk At THR's Awards Roundtable

  • By Ryan Sartor
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  • December 9, 2011 2:33 PM
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  • 9 Comments
News
One of the necessities for any Oscar candidate is to do a lot of smiling, gladhanding interviews where they answer the same questions over and over again. An antidote to this madness is the annual Hollywood Reporter Roundtable Interviews. They’re awesome. You take six leading Oscar potentials in the categories of writers, directors, actresses and actors, put them in a room for an hour and see how they interact.
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More: Glenn Close, Charlize Theron, Carey Mulligan, Michelle Williams, Viola Davis, George Clooney, Albert Brooks, Gary Oldman, Christopher Plummer, Christoph Waltz, Nick Nolte, Alexander Payne, Mike Mills, Jason Reitman, Steve McQueen, Bennett Miller, Michel Hazanavicius, Aaron Sorkin, Steve Zaillian, Pedro Almodovar, Dustin Lance Black, Oren Moverman, Eric Roth

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