AWARDS HEADLINES
Awards 2016: Nature Calls — How ‘The Revenant’ Filmmakers Made an Immersive Experience For Moviegoers
There aren’t a lot of mainstream movies that engulf the viewer in nature to such a degree that you’ll feel like you should have brought camping gear to the theater. Wild and Into the Wild come to mind. Jeremiah Johnson, for sure. But when a movie is so deeply committed to portraying frigid temperatures that you feel the need to put on a sweater part way through the film, it enters a whole new level of interactive moviegoing. (SSN)
Awards 2016: How Oscar-Winning Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim Broke the Traditional Doc Mold to Craft ‘He Named Me Malala’
The incredible story of Malala Yousafzai, a teenager targeted and shot by the Taliban on her school bus in Pakistan, is the subject of the documentary. The film is among 15 documentary feature films shortlisted for the 88th Academy Awards. (SSN)
‘The Force Awakens’ Could Invade Critics’ Choice Noms After The Fact
The Broadcast Film Critics Association might be Forced to make an unprecedented move. The group sent an email to its members this morning saying it will poll them next week “to determine whether we should add Star Wars: The Force Awakens to our list of Critics’ Choice Award nominees for Best Picture.” (AL)
OTHER HEADLINES
SSN Box Office Trending Report for 12/18/15: What Slice of the Pie Will Films Other Than ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Grab This Weekend?
In our latest weekly series, SSN Insider will take a deep dive into the film ticket sales of the week leveraging data from the powerhouse ticketing website, MovieTickets.com. Not only will the infographic pinpoint which movies are claiming the largest piece of the pie from day to day in terms of sales but also which film had the biggest uptick in terms of a percentage variance surge and which had the biggest downtick or steepest dive between any two points. (SSN)
On the Set for 12/18/15: Chadwick Boseman Stars on ‘Marshall’, ‘Fantastic Beasts’ and ‘Bridget Jones’ Baby’ Wrap Up Production
While the year might be ending, movie productions are still beginning, including a new film starring Bel Powley and Eddie Izzard, and a new project co-written by John Singleton, while Assassin’s Creed, Colossal and the 70s London period piece How To Talk To Girls At Parties wrap up principal photography. Check out the link for more. (SSN)
Perfect Casting? Sean Penn Signs On To Play Andrew Jackson In New HBO Miniseries
American Lion will be the actor’s first major TV part. The six-hour series hails from first-time producer Matt Jacobson. Penn will have an executive producing credit as well as the starring role. The series is based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography by historian Jon Meacham, entitled American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Meacham will serve as consultant. (CB)
Universal Hires a New Writer To Re-Work a Script It Spent Seven Figures To Acquire
Dan Mazeau has been tapped to work on Section 6, the origin story of Britain’s spy agency MI6. Universal won a heated bidding war for the script, written by Aaron Berg, in October 2013, paying $1.2 million against $2 million with a progress to production set in motion after a rewrite step. The project quickly got its lead in Jack O’Connell, who starred in the studio’s Angelina Jolie-directed drama Unbroken, and it became a passion project for director Joe Cornish. (HV)
Busy Day For Amazon, Which Gives a Second Season To ‘Man In the High Castle’ …
The renewal came four weeks after the show’s release. Based on Philip K. Dick’s award-winning novel and penned by Frank Spotnitz, the drama asks what would have happened if the Allied Powers had lost World War II, picking up the action 20 years afterward. The cast includes Alexa Davalos, Luke Kleintank, Rupert Evans, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Joel De La Fuente, Rufus Sewell and DJ Qualls. (TVL)
And Also Picks Up Five New Series While Renewing ‘Hand Of God’ and ‘Red Oaks’ as Well
Company’s Prime Network picked up two dramas — the 1969 newsroom-set Good Girls Revolt, and political thriller Patriot, and three comedies: Tig Notaro’s dark comedy One Mississippi, Bob Nelson’s Highston, and Z, starring Christina Ricci as Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. A sixth, Shane Black and Fred Dekker’s Western Edge starring Max Martini, is getting its option extended. (DH)
Trailer Buzz: ’11.22.63’
Hulu has released the latest trailer from its highly anticipated eight-hour adaptation of the Stephen King bestseller. Starring James Franco, Chris Cooper, Cherry Jones and Sarah Gadon, and executive produced by J.J. Abrams, it drops on February 15th, 2016. (SF)