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SSN AWARDS ORIGINALS
PHASE TWO WRAP-UP
We’ve almost made it. The Oscars, the main event is on Sunday, ending the awards season in a brilliance of gold at the Dolby Theater. During the course of SSN’s Phase 2 of coverage, we’ve interviewed countless nominees. Throughout the road to Oscar we learned about their challenges (you can read that article here) and also things that surprised us and the nominees during development, production, post and release.
(SSN)
It’s always interesting to find out what someone’s biggest challenge was on a particular film or in his or her career as a whole. Some of their answers are relatable to any filmmaker, some are humorous, and some are enlightening and instructive. What was it like getting into character, editing a harrowing scene, or getting a passion project onto the page? Find out all that and more in this sampling from SSN’s Phase 2 Spotlight interviews.
(SSN)
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Making it to the A-List is a feat unto itself, that needs the luck of a lottery winning ticket combined with talent and a powerful supporting team. But making it to the top rung doesn’t guarantee that an actor will stay there. Some actors are still making blockbusters by drinking from the fountain of youth, like Tom Cruise, while retire from acting like Rick Moranis, and still others suffer misstep after misstep with no hope of returning to former glory.
(SSN)
A whole host of upcoming blockbusters announce big casting news, along with a passel of new projects, including a couple from Jeff Robinov’s Studio 8 and the confirmation that Neill Blomkamp is, in fact, doing another
Aliens movie.
(SSN)
The film, starring Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts and Dakota Johnson, is directed by Luca Guadagnino from a script by David Kajganich, centers on a high-profile couple, a famous rock star and a filmmaker (Schoenaerts and Swinton), whose vacation on the remote Italian island of Pantelleria is interrupted by the unexpected visit of an old friend and his daughter (Fiennes and Johnson). Searchlight is planning a release later this year.
(THR)
Scottish writer Irvine Welsh (
Trainspotting) and director Jon S. Baird (
Filth) are re-teaming for a bold new adaptation of the classic Walter Scott adventure tale. Very much the standard bearer for the knight in shining armor genre,
Ivanhoe follows the story of a worthy and noble knight who returns to England after the third Crusades. He fights to restore the good King Richard, believed to be held captive in an Austrian prison, and depose Richard’s wicked brother John.
(DH)
Gail Katz, whose producing credits include
Pawn Sacrifice,
Air Force One and
The Perfect Storm, has acquired feature film and TV rights to the popular boardgame. Created by Klaus Teuber, the multiplayer game, first published in Germany in 1995, has sold more than 22 million copies in 30 languages. The goal of the game is to create the dominant community on the ever-changing fictional island of Catan amid scarce resources.
(VAR)
Kristen Bell has joined the cast of
Michelle Darnell, a comedy written by McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone, who is directing. Kathy Bates and Peter Dinklage also star in the story, which follows McCarthy, a titan of industry sent to prison after being caught for insider trading. Upon release, she is ready to rebrand herself as America’s latest sweetheart with the help of former assistant, now single mother trying to start her own cupcake business, played by Bell.
(CB)
Jill Marie Jones has booked the female lead role of Amanda Fisher in
Ash vs Evil Dead, the long-awaited serial follow-up to the classic horror film franchise
The Evil Dead, which will follow disgraced Michigan State Trooper Fisher (played by Jones), after the grisly murder of her partner, as she sets out to find anti-hero Ash and prove his responsibility for the crime. Bruce Campbell returns as Ash. Show will premiere towards the end of this year.
(SAA)
A new teaser for the second part of "Mad Men"'s seventh and final season is here, and it looks like Don Draper and co. are in for plenty of hookups and hangovers in the final stretch of episodes. It premieres April 5th.
(MF)
