Thompson on Hollywood

Cannes 2012: Tarantino's 'Django Unchained' Looks Like a Hard-Ass Sergio Leone Western [Updated]

Festivals

The Majestic Salon Diane was packed with the top movie press in Cannes, notebooks poised, as the King of Cannes, Harvey Weinstein, introed and unveiled footage from three upcoming Oscar hopefuls that weren't ready for the Croisette this year: Paul Thomas Anderson's $35 million "The Master" (here's how the footage played; it's set for an October 12 release, which TWC is releasing globally, financed by Megan Ellison's Annapurna), David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook" (TWC, November 21) and Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," a global partnership with Sony (slates for December 25, we'll see if it happens).

By Anne Thompson
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May 21, 2012 3:41 PM
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Malaysian International Film Festival Launches with Hong Kong's Lorna Tee and New York Critic Dennis Lim At Helm

Festivals

A new film festival is launching in Asia, reports Screen. Malaysia National Film Development Corp (FINAS) is launching a film festival and market which will be held in Kuala Lumpur in November.

By Anne Thompson
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May 21, 2012 11:44 AM
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EXCLUSIVE: Paul Schrader Talks Biopic of Legendary Tiny Dancer Kschessinska

News

While he didn't make the schlep to Cannes this year, writer-director Paul Schrader has some skin in the Cannes game. He's announced that he's writing an English-language biopic of Kschessinska, the legendary prima ballerina and mistress to the last Russian Tsar, for a film financed by the Kremlin-backed Culture & Arts Fund. Never before has an A-list American screenwriter written a Russian film about an iconic figure from Russian history. The film will star a mixed Russian and American cast. A director has not been signed.

By Anne Thompson
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May 20, 2012 2:32 PM
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Swarovski Launches Film Company: First Project is 'Romeo and Juliet,' Starring Hailee Steinfeld

Festivals

Swarovski is a name fairly well linked to the twin bastions of cinema and glamour; over the years the crystal company has collaborated on costume and jewelry design for everything from "The Wizard Of Oz" to the recent "Mirror Mirror."

By Matt Mueller
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May 20, 2012 2:04 PM
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Megan Ellison Emerges as Cannes Producer to Know

Festivals

So far Megan Ellison, the 26-year-old daughter of billionaire Silicon Valley master of the universe Larry Ellison, has invested some $100 million in four projects via Annapurna. They are selling well in Cannes through her foreign sales company Panorama. Many wouldn't have gotten made without her.

By Anne Thompson
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May 19, 2012 9:14 AM
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Weekly Wrap: Interviews, In the Works, Trailer Watch, and Everything Cannes

News

Weekend Preview this week highlights "Dictator," "Polisse," pregnant movie stars and vibrators. Everything Cannes: Wes Anderson goes camping with his 1960s-era Cannes opener, "Moonrise Kingdom." Our TOH interview with the director is here; he talks "Moonrise Kingdom" and joining the Cannes auteur pantheon.

By TOH!
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May 19, 2012 7:33 AM
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Cannes Photo Call Round-Up: 'Moonrise Kingdom' Hams It Up, Animating 'Madagascar' and 'Rise of the Guardians,' Sacha Baron Cohen Falls Off a Camel (Almost)

Festivals

Photo calls at Cannes give all manner of talent an opportunity to grin, gloat, mug, and pose to promo their upcoming feature. Some are adorable: See "Moonrise Kingdom." Some are pranksters: See Sacha Baron Cohen. His strutting in 2006 in a dayglow green mankini to promote "Borat" outshined this year's camel stunt for "The Dictator." (Below.)

By Maggie Lange
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May 19, 2012 6:30 AM
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Cannes Virgin Diary #1: Berkeley Grad Hits Critics Week

Festivals

Cannes is a crazy place for a first-timer. There's the dicey wi-fi to contend with. The 7 AM queues of pushy cinephiles waiting outside the Grand Theatre. The possibility of not getting into a screening because you don't have the clout. The nagging urge to nod off during a film at the behest of jet-lag.

By Ryan Lattanzio
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May 18, 2012 7:12 PM
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James Toback Shoots Movie Starring Alec Baldwin in Cannes

Festivals

In case you're tired of that old Cannes "Entourage" episode, director James Toback, who went to Cannes in 2008 for "Tyson," and Cannes rookie Alec Baldwin ("30 Rock") are shooting "Seduced and Abandoned" during this year's Cannes Fest. It's a fiction drama (not mockumentary) about producers trying to raise financing for a political drama. They've already shot at the Carlton and have interviews lined up with Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski, Bernardo Bertolucci, Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling, some of whom will be in Cannes, and gained permission to shoot at many glam events. ICM is selling North American rights.

By Anne Thompson
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May 18, 2012 11:32 AM
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Cannes Market: The Weinstein Co. Continues Its Torrid Buying Pace

Festivals

The Weinstein Company acquired the U.S. rights to a political documentary on the fall of Gaddafi: 'The Oath of Tobruk.' Directed by French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, the film covers the eight-month conflict that put an end to Muammar Gaddafi's reign in LIbya.