AWARDS HEADLINES
Awards 2016: How the Film Team’s Mission for Native American Authenticity Created the Stunning Look of ‘The Revenant’
It’s been 25 years since Dances With Wolves hit movie screens, perhaps the greatest film ever made about Native American culture in the 19th century. Now, a quarter century after Kevin Costner’s epic tale, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárittu brings The Revenant to theaters. While on the surface, the film is a story of survival and revenge, it’s a film that stresses historical authenticity, providing an insight into a native culture that eventually vanished. (SSN)
Awards 2016: Legendary DP Roger Deakins Takes Us Behind the Art of Designing “Natural Light” on ‘Sicario’
If there is a list out there somewhere of people who are comfortably in their 60s and not only in their prime, but actually still doing some of the best work they have ever done, there are two things about it which we can absolutely consider to be certainties. The first is, that list is exceptionally short, and the second is that Roger Deakins’ name is on it. (SSN)
American Film Institute Picks Its Top Tens for 2015, Including ‘The Big Short’ and ‘Straight Outta Compton’
The two AFI film and television juries who vote on the top ten American films and television shows for the year boast an unusual mix of industry players, including some Academy members, critics and academics. They pushed back this year’s voting to accommodate the late-breaking Star Wars: The Force Awakens which didn’t screen until Monday and did indeed make the cut, as did The Martian and Mad Max: Fury Road. (TOH)
Critics, Globes Add Fuel to Campaign Fires With Industry Groups on the Horizon
Even before there was zero overlap among the major categories awarded by the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angles Film Critics Assn., the awards season felt very wide open. Now, with nominations for the SAG Awards, the Golden Globes and the Broadcast Film Critics Assn.’s Critics’ Choice Awards in the bank, that seems even more to be the case. (IC)
OTHER HEADLINES
Film & TV Deals For 12/16/15: Trio of China Giants Join Forces, Ashley Tisdale Inks Deal with Warner Horizon TV, and More
Also included in this week’s deals, Lionsgate UK’s big purchase, Vertigo Entertainment’s new deal with Warner Bros. TV, and Noah Hawley’s big new contract with FX Productions and FX Networks. Click on the link to read all about it. (SSN)
It’s Official: Spielberg, DreamWorks, Participant, eOne, Others Pact For Amblin Partners
Steven Spielberg, Jeff Skoll of Participant Media, Anil Ambani of Reliance Group and Darren Throop of Entertainment One announced the formation of the new film, television and digital content company. Universal Pictures will handle the marketing and distribution for the new entity in what is being described as a mutli-year pact covering four to seven films, beginning with The Girl on the Train, which is based on the best-selling novel of the same name. (DH)
Chadwick Boseman Nails Down Yet Another Great Part, Will Play Thurgood Marshall In Courtroom Thriller Biopic
Marshall focuses on a provocative case in the early career of one of America’s greatest legal minds, when he was a young lawyer, long before his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the late 1930s, a nearly bankrupt NAACP sends Marshall to conservative Connecticut to defend a black chauffeur against his wealthy socialite employer in a sexual assault and attempted murder trial that quickly becomes tabloid fodder. Reginald Hudlin is directing. (CS)
The Chloe Grace Moretz Live-Action ‘Little Mermaid’ Remake Finds Itself a Director
Filmmaker Rebecca Thomas is in talks to land the coveted gig after a meeting with the star proved fruitful. Thomas is an up and coming director with the 2012 indie Electrick Children under her belt, and is also attached to the John Green adaptation Looking For Alaska. Love Actually scribe Richard Curtis is penning the screenplay for The Little Mermaid. (COL)
Quentin Tarantino Courts Controversy, Accuses Disney Of Coercion Over ‘Star Wars’ Booking
Despite much hype and excitement around Star Wars: The Force Awakens opening Friday, there’s at least one person who isn’t too happy with Disney — the Oscar-winning writer-director of the upcoming The Hateful Eight. He claimed on today’s Howard Stern SiriusXM radio show that Disney is “going out of their way to f— me,” among other choice words. The dispute is over the booking of the famed Arclight Cinerama Dome. (VAR)
Hollywood’s Last Survivors: 70 Years Ago, the Holocaust Ended. Only 11 People Who Lived Through It Remain From the World Of Entertainment
Now, in gripping video testimonials, Oscar winners, actors, Dr. Ruth and even Judy Garland’s hairstylist tell their personal stories, filled with hope and horror, one last time as their themes of genocide, displacement and discrimination continue to resonate today. (THR)