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Cannes 2013: Surprises & Notable Absence ...

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Harmony Korine May Direct A Southern Crime Family Tale Next; Is Developing Projects With Annapurna Pictures

By Rodrigo Perez
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March 18, 2013 8:09 PM
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1 Comment

News

Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers" is a hit in limited release. In fact, the girls gone wild meets Korine's enfante terrible aesthetics flick, posted the biggest limited release of 2013 thus far — a per-theater average $90,000 making it the the 10th-highest average ever for a live-action film in limited release. Not too shabby. And while 'Breakers' opens in wide release this weekend via A24 pictures, Korine is already shoring up his next project.

By Ken Guidry
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February 26, 2013 9:17 AM
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6 Comments

News

With the Oscars over, it looks like we are finally ready to stop talking about last year’s movies and keep our focus entirely on this year’s crop of films. Well, most of us are ready to do that. Annapurna Pictures has posted a nifty little sizzle reel on their site showcasing the collection of challenging adult dramas that they’ve released and/or have been involved with over the past year. This includes clips from "Lawless," "The Master," "Zero Dark Thirty," "Killing Them Softly," "Spring Breakers" (premiered in Venice last summer) and "The Grandmaster" (premiered in Berlin a few weeks ago), with the latter two set to be released theatrically this year. The reel is a must watch for fans of any or all of these films.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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February 7, 2013 12:31 PM
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0 Comments

News

In Vanity Fair's recent and pretty juicy profile of up-and-coming movie producer Megan Ellison, they made it clear that she fell out with Harvey Weinstein over the lower-than-expected returns for Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master." The veteran head of The Weinstein Company reportedly “brought Megan to tears four or five times,” and they also clashed over "Killing Them Softly," and their relationship became so acrimonious, Ellison "vowed not to work with Weinstein again." Even David O. Russell, whose next film is being produced by Ellison but has his "Silver Linings Playbook" distributed by Weinstein, tried to broker some peace, but those attempts failed. “We did ask her to consider [working with Harvey] in the future, and from there, that’s about her relationship with Harvey,” he said. But it looks like business heals all wounds.

By Edward Davis
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February 1, 2013 10:00 AM
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33 Comments

News

Vanity Fair’s 2013 Hollywood issue is kind of the gift that keeps on giving. It not only has an awesome oral history of “Pulp Fiction” (highlights of which you can read here), but it also has some pretty in-depth and juicy profiles. But, the most tantalizing is about Megan Ellison, the 27-year old daughter of the third richest man in the U.S. She’s rumored to have been given a bankroll as large as $2 billion from her Dad on her 25th birthday (though her reps deny the figure), with the movie buff using the amount to help bankroll her slate of films.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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November 28, 2012 3:12 PM
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11 Comments

News

If this sounds vaguely familiar, well, it's because this remake has been brewing for a while. Way back in 2009, Charlize Theron was already putting together a remake of Park Chan-wook's excellent "Sympathy For Lady Vengeance," a film that was part of a loose trilogy that started with "Sympathy For Mr.Vengeance" and continued by "Oldboy," which is currently getting the Hollywood treatment by Spike Lee. Danny Boyle was rumored to direct but nothing was formal, but it now seems she's found the talent to help put it together.

By Edward Davis
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October 31, 2012 12:05 PM
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5 Comments

News

Annapurna Pictures is having an interesting year. While they’ve backed some of the most exciting films of 2012 from some of our best auteurs (with tremendous casts to boot) -- Paul Thomas Anderson’s "The Master," Andrew Dominik’s "Killing Them Softly," John Hillcoat’s "Lawless" and coming up, Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty” -- as suggested in a somewhat alarmist piece by the Wrap recently, Annapurna Pictures could use a hit.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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September 4, 2012 3:29 PM
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6 Comments

News

John Hillcoat, Wong Kar-Wai, Kathryn Bigelow, Paul Thomas Anderson, David O. Russell, Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman. To say that Megan Ellison and her Annapurna Pictures have impeccable taste in filmmakers would be an understatement, and the shingle is now adding another acclaimed name under the banner.

By Edward Davis
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May 21, 2012 5:05 PM
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4 Comments

News

Twenty fours months and a hot new producer can change everything. It had names like Shia Labeouf, Ryan Gosling, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johnasson and Michael Shannon attached, but circa January 2010, John Hillcoat's "Lawless," then known as "The Wettest County" or "The Promised Land" had fallen apart.

By Edward Davis
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February 6, 2012 1:39 PM
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4 Comments

News

Last week, one of our eagle-eyed writers noticed that the generally secretive Annapurna Pictures website had listed Spike Jonze’s latest film as “in production.” Intrigued, we immediately shot off emails to Annapurna reps (the company itself does not answer questions about its production by phone). We heard nothing back until the next day when Deadline reported that Spike Jonze’s latest project, an self-penned, untitled quirky romance picture, was looking to cast Joaquin Phoenix, Carey Mulligan, Amy Adams and Samantha Morton. Coincidence? Possibly, but we’re not sitting around waiting for this one to slip through either.