Tag: A24

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Death Stranding’: Live-Action Movie Based On Hideo Kojima Video Game In Development At A24

Hollywood is starting to learn how to properly adapt video game properties for both the small screen like with the acclaimed show “The Last of Us” on HBO/Max and for the big screen as the animated “Super Mario Bros.” movie was able to dominate the 2023 box office by earning over a billion dollars globally when other pics where struggling. Another hot property has been gobbled up and it was announced by video game guru Hideo Kojima of Kojima Productions that A24 Films would be developing a live-action film based on his original game, “Death Stranding.”

The thing about “Death Stranding” is that it already had known actors in key roles such as Norman Reedus (“The Walking Dead”) as protagonist Sam Porter Bridges, Mads Mikkelsen, Lea Seydoux, Troy Baker, Margaret Qualley, and Lindsay Wagner. It also featured the likenesses of fellow directors Guillermo del Toro and Nicholas Winding Refn. A second game is currently in development as well that could be source material for a potential sequel and has added American actress Elle Fanning to the cast.

It remains to be seen if established cast members will reprise those roles, but the likelihood would be good. Neither a director nor a screenwriter was named in the announcement.

Sam Bridges must brave a world utterly transformed by the Death Stranding. Carrying the disconnected remnants of our future in his hands, he embarks on a journey to reconnect the shattered world one step at a time. The film promises to delve into the mysteries surrounding the apocalyptic event called the ‘Death Stranding,’ which blurred the lines between life and death, and brought forth nightmarish creatures into a world on the brink of collapse.

This comes after Sony Pictures and producer Avi Arad have been trying to put together another film based on a popular Kojima video game with a live-action feature incarnation of “Metal Gear Solid” that had “Star Wars” actor Oscar Isaac attached to play Snake and Jordan Vogt-Roberts (“Kong: Skull Island”) set to direct from a scripted penned by Derek Connolly (“Kong: Skull Island,” “Legend of Zelda”). We’re still waiting for an official update on the status of “Metal Gear Solid” and if the military-action pic will be moving forward into production anytime soon.

SOURCE: A24 & HIDEO KOJIMA

Posted on in Television News

Robert Downey Jr. Joins HBO’s Vietnam War Spy Series ‘The Sympathizer’ From ‘Oldboy’ Director Park Chan Wook

HBO has secured the rights to an upcoming spy series from Oldboy director Park Chan Wook and A24, an adaptation of Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer. It focuses on the tail-end of the Vietnam War with a French-Vietnamese communist spy and should be a thriller show. The project has landed a heavy-hitting western actor as the rest of the cast will be led by a majority of Viennese actors.

Thanh Nguyen’s novel is an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his resulting exile in the United States. A worldwide search is currently underway for the lead role and the rest of the predominantly Vietnamese ensemble.

Deadline reveals that Robert Downey Jr. had nabbed a supporting role as various American antagonists in the show, a likely nod to the idea that American interventionism is executed and exploited by faceless cogs.

According to insiders, Downey Jr., is set to play multiple supporting roles as the main antagonists, all of whom represent a different arm of the American establishment — including an up-and-coming Orange County Congressman, a CIA agent and a Hollywood film director, among others.

Park Chan Wook has dabbled with the genre before with John Le Carre series adaptation The Little Drummer Girl that starred Michael Shannon, Florence Pugh, and Alexander Skarsgard. He’ll direct episodes alongside being the show’s co-showrunner with Don McKellar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFvKF2LH0oo

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Ari Aster’s ‘Disappointment Blvd’ Starring Joaquin Phoenix Adds ‘The Favourite’ & ‘Cruella’ Production Designer Fiona Crombie

Filmmaker Ari Aster is looking to follow-up Midsommar with Disappointment Blvd starring Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix (Joker, Her, The Master), which is set to begin production sometime next week in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and wrap in October.

Details are scarce about Aster’s third film outside of Phoenix playing a successful entrepreneur.

An intimate, decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.

The Ronin can confirm that Aster has brought on Oscar nominated production designer Fiona Crombie to Disappointment Blvd’s production team, who worked on the Oscar-winning period comedy The Favourite and Disney’s well-received Cruella (already getting a sequel) that both starred Emma Stone.

There is also an expectation that he’ll, yet again, reunite with his cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski after working him on Hereditary and Midsommar. The director of photography just happens to hail from Montreal and was behind the camera on the Bob Odenkirk action flick Nobody.

A24 is said to be bringing the film to the Cannes Film Market seeking distribution partners, according to Screen Daily. Having Joaquin Phoenix attached after winning a Best Actor Oscar for the billion-dollar hit Joker, likely means they’ll be fielding multiple offers.

Phoenix is set to star in Ridley Scott’s Napoleon epic Kitbag for Apple with Jodie Comer as his co-star and is newly attached to co-star with Rooney Mara in director Lynne Ramsey’s next project Polaris.

Posted on in Features

David Lowery & A24 Should Consider Developing A Mature Fantasy Franchise After ‘The Green Knight’

A24 will be releasing the visually stunning fantasy film The Green Knight from filmmaker David Lowery that is loosely based on the Arthurian poem Sir Gawain & The Green Knight. Dev Patel’s Sir Gawain is a member of King Arthur’s Knights of The Round Table, being part of the public domain allows the studio not to worry about rights issues and gives them creative freedom to tinker with the mythology.

THE GREEN KNIGHT – An epic fantasy adventure based on the timeless Arthurian legend, The Green Knight tells the story of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), King Arthur’s reckless and headstrong nephew, who embarks on a daring quest to confront the eponymous Green Knight, a gigantic emerald-skinned stranger and tester of men. Gawain contends with ghosts, giants, thieves, and schemers in what becomes a deeper journey to define his character and prove his worth in the eyes of his family and kingdom by facing the ultimate challenger. From visionary filmmaker David Lowery comes a fresh and bold spin on a classic tale from the knights of the round table.

The film releases in July 30 and has some extremely impressive visual effects shots from the wonderful Weta Digital, the high-profile effects house has some experience world-building with Peter Jackson’s Lord of The Rings and Hobbit trilogies.

I believe that A24 and David Lowery have an opportunity here to do something special with The Green Knight by slowly developing their own fantasy franchise with reasonably budgeted standalone R-rated films tackling various points of ancient myths. It’s also fiscally responsible to spend money on one movie at a time instead of pouring in a huge amount of money on a trilogy upfront. There are plenty of other characters worth exploring in solo films such as Merlin and Sir Lancelot among other stories linked to the Arthurian legends alone.

With the popularity of Game of Thrones, it was apparent that adult audiences are very much interested in fantasy genre material and hopefully The Green Knight can scratch that itch for the time being. I think the studio would be smart to at least consider having Lowery produce or direct some follow-ups of The Green Knight before branching off to other legends.

Once they’ve explored enough Arthurian tales they could move on to other myths such as Beowulf, Greek epic The Odyssey, the adventures of demigods like Perseus or Hercules, and Sigurd & The Dragon alongside the other tales in the massive world of Norse mythology. Unlike other studios perusing public domain material, they could assemble a great group of filmmakers to really bring life to these ancient stories by putting some real effort into developing them as real feature films, not sequel bait.

Lowery is currently busy shooting the Disney movie Peter Pan & Wendy in Vancouver.

Posted on in Film News

Ari Aster’s ‘Disappointment Blv.’ Starring Joaquin Phoenix Confirmed To Shoot In Montreal This Summer

The Ronin has confirmed that Ari Aster’s next feature film Disappoint Blv. will shoot in Montreal, Quebec, Canada as the filmmaker has already assembled it’s crew and is planning on a summer shoot in the Canadian province. Filming is said to begin in late June and continue into October, this all depends if there aren’t production hiccups due to the COVID-19 virus. Canada’s COVID-19 numbers increasing there could end up being delays if Quebec decides to also issue similar stay-at-home orders that Ontario has recently implemented.

Director Ari Aster is best known for his recent horror efforts Hereditary and Midsommar.

Deadline previously reported that Aster has landed Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix for the lead role and that A24 is involved with the project. Phoenix is also attached to reunite with Gladiator director Ridley Scott on the Napoleon film Kitbag for Apple, Scott is currently busy with his crime thriller House of Gucci starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver.

The Canadian location has been previously used for studio films such as The Fountain, Life of Pi, Arrival, John Wick: Chapter 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix, Chaos Walking, Midway, White House Down, Riddick, Warm Bodies, 300, Source Code, Punisher War Zone, Immortals, Disney’s new Home Alone movie, and the upcoming sci-fi flick Moonfall.

We can also confirm that Paramount is gearing up to use Montreal as a filming location for their next Transformers movie directed by Steven Capble Jr. as they’re assembling a crew there as well.

Posted on in Film News

Oscar-Winner Joaquin Phoenix Confirmed For Ari Aster’s Next Film ‘Disappointment Blvd’

Back in November, Discussing Film was the first to reveal that Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix was planning on joining Ari Aster’s next feature film, referred to as a surliest horror film. Aster being the filmmaker behind horror films Hereditary and Midsommar.

Deadline now supports that report without citing the original outlet adding that the new title is Disappointment Blvd and that A24 will finance the project.

An intimate, decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.

Phoenix is also involved with Ridley Scott’s Napoleon film Kitbag at Apple, that was said to begin shooting in early 2022. Ridley and Joaquin previously working together on the Oscar-winner Gladiator.

The film is an original and personal look at Napoleon’s origins and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor, viewed through the prism of his addictive and often volatile relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine. The intention of the film is to capture Napoleon’s famous battles, relentless ambition and astounding strategic mind as an extraordinary military leader and war visionary.

There is an expectation that Disappointment Blvd will shoot before Kitbag as Scott is expected to begin shooting his crime thriller Gucci soon in Italy.

Posted on in Film News

Darren Aronofsky’s Upcoming Drama ‘The Whale’ Lands At A24 – Brendan Fraser To Play Lead Role

Deadline is reporting that Darren Aronofsky has picked his next feature film which will be a drama titled The Whale starring Brendan Fraser as an obese gay man named Charlie. The project has been picked-up by A24 and playwright Samuel D. Hunter will be adapting his own play for the big screen.

Variety also provides a bit more insight into the project than the original report with a synopsis.

It’s the story of a 600-pound middle-aged man named Charlie and his attempts to reconnect with his 17-year-old daughter. The two became estranged after Charlie abandoned his family for his gay lover, who later died. Charlie then turned to compulsive eating out of grief.

Aronofsky is best known for his dramas such as Requiem For A Dream, The Wrestler, and Black Swan, films that often highlight deeply flawed characters in unsettling environments.

Fraser best known for starring in studio comedies and action films for the better part of two decades fell off the map but recently had got some success with the television series Doom Patrol.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Alex Garland’s Next Film ‘Men’ Heads To A24 With Jessie Buckley & Rory Kinnear Tapped To Star

Deadline is reporting that Alex Garland is moving forward with his next writing/directing effort titled Men at A24. Irish actress Jessie Buckley (Fargo, Wild Rose) and Bond franchise actor Rory Kinnear are being in the mix for the lead roles.

Scott Rudin and DNA Films will produce.

The film follows a young woman who goes on a solo vacation to the English countryside after the death of her ex-husband. A24 will finance and distribute.

While the synopsis doesn’t really give us much in the way of plot details, Garland is known for genre projects and likely has a little more to it than a straight drama. Speaking with Empire Magazine a few months ago, Alex Garland gave the impression his next movie would be a low-budget horror movie filming in the United Kingdom sometime during the spring/summer of 2021.

GARLAND: “I wrote a low-budget horror movie, set in the UK… I don’t know if it’s unrealistic or not. Always at this particular moment, a film always feels unrealistic, but then somehow it works out.”

Garland is best known for his work on films such as Ex Machina, Annihilation, his recent limited series DEVS, and is said to ultimately directed Dredd uncredited according to star Karl Urban.

Buckley recently worked with Charlie Kaufman on his drama I’m Thinking of Ending Things and Kinnear will be seen next in Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond for No Time To Die.

We’ll be hopeful that more casting and plot details will be revealed in the coming weeks or months.

SOURCE: DEADLINE