FEATURE FOCUS n AFM BUZZ n EQUITY FINANCE n INTERVIEW: SONY’S STEVEBERSCH
Ron Howard on the set of Formula 1 story Rush, sold by Exclusive AFM 2011: buzz titles
Screen previews some of the big market titles, at all stages of production, that will be stirring the most buyer interest here at the 2011 American Film Market
US SELLERS
Hot projects from US sellers include Ron Howard’s Formula 1 film Rush from Exclusive; Woody Allen’s next film from Focus Features International; Hyde Park’s Iraq-set action thriller Thunder Run; and many more. Jeremy Kay reports
Summit International is handling Twelve Years A Slave, arguably the leading prestige title in the market. Red-hot UK film-maker Steve McQueen will reunite with his Shame star Michael Fassbender alongside Brad Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor. An outstanding potential showcase for the talented Ejiofor, the story is based on Solomon Northup’s novel about an educated man kidnapped from New York
n 10 Screen International at the AFM November 2, 2011
and sold into slavery in 1850s Louisiana. River Road is financing and will produce alongside Pitt’s Plan B, which developed the drama. Focus Features International sales chief Alison
Thompson should have no trouble enticing buyers with the all-star ensemble Nero Fiddled from the prolific Woody Allen, currently enjoy- ing his biggest US hit with Midnight In Paris. The Gravier Productions film is the first Allen project to be financed by Italy’s Medusa; it wrapped production in Rome this summer. Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penelope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page and Allen himself star. Allen switched the title from The Bop Decameron last month because he felt audi- ences would not understand the reference to The Decameron by the Medieval Italian writer Boccaccio. Exclusive Films International brings Rush to mar-
ket. The drama about the 1970s rivalry between Formula 1 titans James Hunt and Niki Lauda
marks director Ron Howard’s first foray into independent film-making in more than a quar- ter of a century. Howard has already begun shooting action footage and expects to start principal production in early 2012 in the UK and Germany. Thor’s Chris Hemsworth will play Hunt, the easygoing playboy and antithesis to the uber-intense but brilliant Lauda, who will be played by Daniel Brühl. Olivia Wilde also stars and Peter Morgan wrote the screenplay. For Lionsgate, Spike Lee has cast Josh Brolin in
Chiwetel Ejiofor will star in Summit International’s Twelve Years A Slave
the lead for his eagerly awaited English-language remake of Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy, the acclaimed South Korea tale of revenge. Roy Lee and Doug Davison will produce and Mandate president Nathan Kahane will handle executive producer duties. The Vertigo Entertainment/40 Acres & A Mule joint production is based on Mark Protosevich’s adapted screenplay about a man who seeks revenge after he was kidnapped and held captive for 15 years. Lionsgate’s slate also includes wartime thriller The Railway Man
»
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52