AWARDS HEADLINES
Awards 2016: Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárittu, Emmanuel Lubezki and the Team Take SSN Behind One of the Year’s Most Ambitious Projects – ‘The Revenant’
It’s not often that a filmmaker brings home a trio of Oscars, sweeping the categories in which he is nominated, then follows up with an even more challenging project, but it’s probably safe to say that Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárittu is not your standard filmmaker. Last year’s triumph for writing, directing and producing Birdman was not his first trip to the Oscars, and now he has an excellent chance of returning this year. (SSN)
Sarah Silverman on Getting Past “What If” & Getting in Touch with Her Own “Bones of Depression” for ‘I Smile Back’
The actress has long been associated with comedy, thanks to her work as a stand-up comedienne, a former Saturday Night Live writer and creator of her own Comedy Central television show among other accomplishments. But it’s been her vocal discussions of loneliness and depression in interviews that made author Amy Koppelman think of her for the lead role in the indie film adaptation of her novel I Smile Back. (SSN)
With the BAFTA Nominations Out, It’s Time To Take a Look At What They Really Mean For the Oscars
Everyone thinks everything “means” something vis a vis the Oscars, when in fact, precious few things really do. One thing that absolutely does mean something, though, is the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ annual nominations announcement, though admittedly, that didn’t used to be the case. (IC)
OTHER HEADLINES
SSN Box Office Trending Report for 1/8/16: The Force is Still Strong with ‘Star Wars’ While ‘The Revenant’ Gains Traction
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 1/8/16: Robert Pattinson Starts on the Feature, ‘Good Time’ While Michael Fassbender & Marion Cotillard Wrap ‘Assassin’s Creed’
A couple of other projects get rolling this week, including a new film from producer Pierre Morel, while a handful of projects wrap principal photography. Among them are a biopic of Jacques Cousteau, and a new thriller from Jason Blum starring Lee Pace and Carrie Coon. (SSN)
On the Verge Of an Almost Certain Oscar Nod, ‘Martian’ Director Ridley Scott Keeps Filling His Schedule
Legendary director is in early negotiations to direct The Prisoner, the screen version of the 1968 Patrick McGoohan British TV series. This has been a plum project at Universal for some time with numerous A-list scribes including Christopher McQuarrie and William Monahan writing drafts. Film is being produced by Bluegrass Films Scott Stuber and Dylan Clark. Scott’s Scott Free team will likely become part of it as they get the script that makes the director happy. (DH)
It Looks Like HBO Is Finally Going To Give Fans the ‘Deadwood’ Movie They Have Long Craved
David Milch’s western series was abruptly cancelled after three seasons in 2006, meaning it never got to conclude its story. In the aftermath, there was some talk of a couple of TV-movies to wrap up the threads of the tale left to tell. They never materialized … until now. Following a brief flurry of rumors last year, the cable net has confirmed that a Deadwood movie has been green-lit. (EMP)
Vin Diesel Moves Full Speed Ahead On ‘xXx 3’, Adds Trio Of Tough Women To the Cast
Vampire Diaries star Nina Dobrev, Bollywood star Deepika Padukone and Orange Is the New Black breakout Ruby Rose are in negotiations to join the cast of xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, the film project that seeks to reboot the Vin Diesel action spy franchise. Samuel L. Jackson is attached to the film that is in the throes of casting as it heads to a production start later this month with a script by F. Scott Frazier and D.J. Caruso in the director’s chair. (HV)
Curious About All the Great Tech From CES 2016? Well, Look No Further
CES is the tech world’s big coming-out party for the New Year — a supersize circus of gadgetry that both follows major trends in tech and creates them. It’s never the same year to year, but it’s always a showcase of what’s to come in consumer technology. (MB)
Trailer Buzz: ‘Elvis & Nixon’
Amazon Studios and Bleecker Street Pictures has released the first look at the upcoming fact-based drama about the 1970 White House meeting between the two title characters, played respectively by Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey. Colin Hanks, Johnny Knoxville, Sky Ferreira, Tracy Letts, Evan Peters, and Alex Pettyfer also star in the film, which will be released in April. (TP)