Jesse Eisenberg has applied for Polish citizenship. In a recent interview with the Polish publication “Głos Wielkopolski,” he said he applied for it nine months ago and is now “waiting for the final signature.”
“My family is from the southeast, from Krasnystaw, my wife’s [Anna Strout] family is from Łódź. We wanted to have a greater connection to Poland. I would like to work here more,” he said.
“Growing up, I’ve heard stories of the Polish relationship with my Jewish family and all the stories were great: we were best friends with the Poles. My family lived in Krasnystaw up until the war, one person survived the war and moved to Szczecin. Unfortunately, she passed away from Covid, so it was quite recent.”
Variety has reached out to Eisenberg’s representatives for comment.
The “Social Network” star was in Poland as a guest of Impact’24 congress. Previously, he...
“My family is from the southeast, from Krasnystaw, my wife’s [Anna Strout] family is from Łódź. We wanted to have a greater connection to Poland. I would like to work here more,” he said.
“Growing up, I’ve heard stories of the Polish relationship with my Jewish family and all the stories were great: we were best friends with the Poles. My family lived in Krasnystaw up until the war, one person survived the war and moved to Szczecin. Unfortunately, she passed away from Covid, so it was quite recent.”
Variety has reached out to Eisenberg’s representatives for comment.
The “Social Network” star was in Poland as a guest of Impact’24 congress. Previously, he...
- 5/26/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Following “The Zone of Interest,” Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” and Berlinale offering “Treasure,” about a Holocaust survivor, the latter starring Stephen Fry and Lena Dunham, Poland might be welcoming more foreign shoots in the future.
“I would always be willing to return and shoot in Poland,” says “Treasure” director Julia von Heinz.
“Our co-producer Mariusz Włodarski from Lava Films realized that during the tenure of the Law and Justice [PiS] government, there was no chance of obtaining public funding for a story where Polish people are portrayed not just as victims and heroes, but as complex human beings. Now, our film is embraced there.”
General director of the Polish Film Institute, Radosław Śmigulski, was dismissed in April, after parliamentary elections ended the domination of the right-wing party. Kamila Dorbach will be temporarily taking over his duties.
“This restriction limited us to eight days in Poland, but we were...
“I would always be willing to return and shoot in Poland,” says “Treasure” director Julia von Heinz.
“Our co-producer Mariusz Włodarski from Lava Films realized that during the tenure of the Law and Justice [PiS] government, there was no chance of obtaining public funding for a story where Polish people are portrayed not just as victims and heroes, but as complex human beings. Now, our film is embraced there.”
General director of the Polish Film Institute, Radosław Śmigulski, was dismissed in April, after parliamentary elections ended the domination of the right-wing party. Kamila Dorbach will be temporarily taking over his duties.
“This restriction limited us to eight days in Poland, but we were...
- 5/16/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Like one of those fiendish knots that tighten the more you squirm, director Magnus von Horn’s Cannes competitor The Girl With the Needle builds to a devastating climax, taut as piano wire.
Danish actress Vic Carmen Sonne (Holiday, Godland) offers an understated but multi-layered performance as Karoline, a vulnerable but resilient seamstress living in post-World War I/early-1920s Copenhagen, who is left high and dry when her wealthy lover (Joachim Fjelstrup) gets her knocked up but won’t marry her. That leaves Karoline with only two options: give herself a bathtub abortion with a knitting needle or have the baby and hand it over to Dagmar (Trine Dyrholm), a sinister candy-store owner who runs a backstreet adoption agency.
Shot digitally, in black and white and using a claustrophobic 3:2 ratio by rising cinematographer Michal Dymek (A Real Pain, Eo), the film has the haunted, eerily still poise of antique photographs,...
Danish actress Vic Carmen Sonne (Holiday, Godland) offers an understated but multi-layered performance as Karoline, a vulnerable but resilient seamstress living in post-World War I/early-1920s Copenhagen, who is left high and dry when her wealthy lover (Joachim Fjelstrup) gets her knocked up but won’t marry her. That leaves Karoline with only two options: give herself a bathtub abortion with a knitting needle or have the baby and hand it over to Dagmar (Trine Dyrholm), a sinister candy-store owner who runs a backstreet adoption agency.
Shot digitally, in black and white and using a claustrophobic 3:2 ratio by rising cinematographer Michal Dymek (A Real Pain, Eo), the film has the haunted, eerily still poise of antique photographs,...
- 5/15/2024
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Searchlight Pictures has announced that its drama The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, starring Uzo Aduba, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Sanaa Lathan, will be available to stream exclusively on Hulu on August 23.
Based on the 2013 New York Times bestselling novel by Edward Kelsey Moore, the film directed by Tina Mabry tells the story of three best friends dubbed “The Supremes” who have weathered life’s storms together for two generations, through marriage and children, happiness and the blues, watching as they find themselves at a crossroad that tests their lifelong bond.
Pic also stars Russell Hornsby and Mekhi Phifer, as well as Kyanna Simone, Tati Gabrielle, Abigail Achiri, Julian McMahon, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Tony Winters, Dijon Means, Xavier Mills, Cleveland Berto and Ryan Paynter. Cee Marcellus adapted the screenplay, with revisions by Mabry, with Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen’s Temple Hill Entertainment producing.
Most recently, Searchlight released Laura Chinn’s Sundance drama Suncoast,...
Based on the 2013 New York Times bestselling novel by Edward Kelsey Moore, the film directed by Tina Mabry tells the story of three best friends dubbed “The Supremes” who have weathered life’s storms together for two generations, through marriage and children, happiness and the blues, watching as they find themselves at a crossroad that tests their lifelong bond.
Pic also stars Russell Hornsby and Mekhi Phifer, as well as Kyanna Simone, Tati Gabrielle, Abigail Achiri, Julian McMahon, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Tony Winters, Dijon Means, Xavier Mills, Cleveland Berto and Ryan Paynter. Cee Marcellus adapted the screenplay, with revisions by Mabry, with Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen’s Temple Hill Entertainment producing.
Most recently, Searchlight released Laura Chinn’s Sundance drama Suncoast,...
- 5/13/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Jesse Eisenberg is well known among cinema lovers for his roles in films like The Social Network, Zombieland, and the Now You See Me franchise. Besides acting, the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice actor is also renowned for his writing and directing skills. According to the actor, the Breaking Bad fame Bob Odenkirk played a crucial part in his writing career.
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Jesse Eisenberg admitted that he gave a script to Bob Odenkirk during his 20s and got a brutally honest reply. At that time he used to write movie scripts and some of them were even bought by movie companies before the Saul Goodman fame directed him on the right path.
How did Bob Odenkirk bring Jesse Eisenberg’s writing career to the correct track?
Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul
Earlier this year, Jesse Eisenberg raised headlines when his written and directed...
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Jesse Eisenberg admitted that he gave a script to Bob Odenkirk during his 20s and got a brutally honest reply. At that time he used to write movie scripts and some of them were even bought by movie companies before the Saul Goodman fame directed him on the right path.
How did Bob Odenkirk bring Jesse Eisenberg’s writing career to the correct track?
Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul
Earlier this year, Jesse Eisenberg raised headlines when his written and directed...
- 5/11/2024
- by Subham Mandal
- FandomWire
"What Jew goes to Poland as a tourist?" Bleecker Street has unveiled their official trailer for a film titled Treasure, based on a true story and adapted from the novel of the same written by Lily Brett. This initially premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival a few months ago (here's our review), and will also play at the Tribeca Film Festival soon. It's now set for a theatrical US release in June coming soon this summer. Set in the 1990s, an American journalist named Ruth travels to Poland with her father Edek to visit his childhood places and the home where he grew up. But Edek, who's a Holocaust survivor, resists reliving his trauma & sabotages the trip creating unintentionally funny situations & taking her to strange places, befriending a taxi driver. Starring Lena Dunham as Ruth & Stephen Fry as Edek, along with Zbigniew Zamachowski, Tomasz Wlosok, Wenanty Nosul, Iwona Bielska, and Maria Mamona.
- 5/7/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Emma Stone is proving two Oscars and being an Emmy hopeful isn’t a curse by any means.
The “Poor Things” Academy Award winner is already starring in Yorgos Lanthimos’ follow-up “Kinds of Kindness,” which will debut at Cannes 2024, and she’s also attached to Lanthimos’ upcoming satirical film “Save the Green Planet,” a remake of the Korean comedy of the same name. But Stone has yet another project in the works too: leading an untitled Universal feature directed by her real-life husband.
Stone is in talks to star in the movie that would be directed by Dave McCary, who is also in talks, an individual with knowledge of the project told IndieWire. The two most recently worked together as executive producers on the Showtime series “The Curse.” Stone and McCary together work under their production banner Fruit Tree.
The Universal film originated as a spec script penned by Patrick Kang...
The “Poor Things” Academy Award winner is already starring in Yorgos Lanthimos’ follow-up “Kinds of Kindness,” which will debut at Cannes 2024, and she’s also attached to Lanthimos’ upcoming satirical film “Save the Green Planet,” a remake of the Korean comedy of the same name. But Stone has yet another project in the works too: leading an untitled Universal feature directed by her real-life husband.
Stone is in talks to star in the movie that would be directed by Dave McCary, who is also in talks, an individual with knowledge of the project told IndieWire. The two most recently worked together as executive producers on the Showtime series “The Curse.” Stone and McCary together work under their production banner Fruit Tree.
The Universal film originated as a spec script penned by Patrick Kang...
- 4/12/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Emma Stone is in talks to star in an untitled film for Universal Pictures with her husband Dave McCary in talks to direct.
Patrick Kang and Michael Levin, supervising producers of NBC and Utv’s “Young Rock,” wrote the original spec screenplay for the film.
Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, and Dan Levine will produce through 21 Laps. Michael H. Weber (“The Disaster Artist”) will produce. Stone, McCary, and Ali Herting are in talks to produce through Fruit Tree.
Stone is a two-time Academy Award winning actress and producer known for such titles as “Poor Things,” “La La Land,” “The Favourite,” “Easy A,” “Birdman,” “Cruella” and most recently “The Curse,” for which she also serves as executive producer. Stone is repped by WME, Anonymous Content, The Lede Company and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
McCary is recently produced “A Real Pain” with Stone, “Problemista” and executive produced “The Curse.” Previously he directed...
Patrick Kang and Michael Levin, supervising producers of NBC and Utv’s “Young Rock,” wrote the original spec screenplay for the film.
Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, and Dan Levine will produce through 21 Laps. Michael H. Weber (“The Disaster Artist”) will produce. Stone, McCary, and Ali Herting are in talks to produce through Fruit Tree.
Stone is a two-time Academy Award winning actress and producer known for such titles as “Poor Things,” “La La Land,” “The Favourite,” “Easy A,” “Birdman,” “Cruella” and most recently “The Curse,” for which she also serves as executive producer. Stone is repped by WME, Anonymous Content, The Lede Company and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
McCary is recently produced “A Real Pain” with Stone, “Problemista” and executive produced “The Curse.” Previously he directed...
- 4/12/2024
- by Katcy Stephan
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Fresh off a second Oscar win for her performance in Poor Things, Emma Stone is starting to put together her future slate. She is now in talks for an untitled film at Universal Pictures with Dave McCary, her husband, in talks to direct.
Patrick Kang and Michael Levin, supervising producers of NBC and Utv’s Young Rock, wrote the original spec screenplay for the film. Details on the plot are under wraps.
Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Dan Levine will produce through 21 Laps. Michael H. Weber will produce. Stone, McCary and Ali Herting are also in talks to produce through Fruit Tree.
Universal’s Senior EVP Production Development Erik Baiers and Creative Executive Jacqueline Garell will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.
Stone had a busy with not only her Oscar-winning performance in Poor Things but also her acclaimed performance the Showtime series The Curse (she also...
Patrick Kang and Michael Levin, supervising producers of NBC and Utv’s Young Rock, wrote the original spec screenplay for the film. Details on the plot are under wraps.
Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Dan Levine will produce through 21 Laps. Michael H. Weber will produce. Stone, McCary and Ali Herting are also in talks to produce through Fruit Tree.
Universal’s Senior EVP Production Development Erik Baiers and Creative Executive Jacqueline Garell will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.
Stone had a busy with not only her Oscar-winning performance in Poor Things but also her acclaimed performance the Showtime series The Curse (she also...
- 4/12/2024
- by Justin Kroll and Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Disney entertained the CinemaCon crowd in Las Vegas on Thursday with 75 minutes of footage including big crowd-pleasers Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2, and Alien: Romulus, and an appearance by Dwayne Johnson to promote Moana 2.
Fresh from a victorious boardroom battle for CEO Bob Iger and on the back of a year when Disney ceded its box office throne to Universal, the pressure was on the studio to bring the goods at its presentation – and it delivered with a rousing roster of peeks at 2024 tentpoles and one from the 2025 pipeline.
Barry Jenkins also appeared on stage at The Colosseum...
Fresh from a victorious boardroom battle for CEO Bob Iger and on the back of a year when Disney ceded its box office throne to Universal, the pressure was on the studio to bring the goods at its presentation – and it delivered with a rousing roster of peeks at 2024 tentpoles and one from the 2025 pipeline.
Barry Jenkins also appeared on stage at The Colosseum...
- 4/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
Searchlight Pictures announced on Friday that its darkly comedic horror film Nightbitch, starring six-time Academy Award nominee Amy Adams (Arrival), has been slated for release in theaters on December 6.
An adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s acclaimed debut novel, from writer-director Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) Nightbitch tells the story of a woman thrown into the stay-at-home routine of raising a toddler in the suburbs, who slowly embraces the feral power deeply rooted in motherhood, as she becomes increasingly aware of the bizarre and undeniable signs that she may be turning into a canine.
Marking a reemergence of Megan Ellison’s reconfigured Annapurna in the marketplace, the project came together when Bond Group and Annapurna acquired film rights to Yoder’s book and developed the script alongside Heller. In May 2022, Searchlight acquired worldwide rights to the project, in a deal valued at over $25M.
Adams and Stacy O’Neil (Dead...
An adaptation of Rachel Yoder’s acclaimed debut novel, from writer-director Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) Nightbitch tells the story of a woman thrown into the stay-at-home routine of raising a toddler in the suburbs, who slowly embraces the feral power deeply rooted in motherhood, as she becomes increasingly aware of the bizarre and undeniable signs that she may be turning into a canine.
Marking a reemergence of Megan Ellison’s reconfigured Annapurna in the marketplace, the project came together when Bond Group and Annapurna acquired film rights to Yoder’s book and developed the script alongside Heller. In May 2022, Searchlight acquired worldwide rights to the project, in a deal valued at over $25M.
Adams and Stacy O’Neil (Dead...
- 4/5/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams will find herself back in the awards conversation again in 2024. The actress, whose most recent Academy Award nomination came in 2019 for the film “Vice,” stars in the new movie “Nightbitch” from writer-director Marielle Heller (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”). On Friday, Searchlight set “Nightbitch” on its release calendar for December 6.
Based on the book by Rachel Yoder, “Nightbitch” is about a woman who “pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but soon her domesticity takes a surreal turn.” Amazon provides a more detailed description of Yoder’s novel, for those who are interested:
An ambitious mother puts her art career on hold to stay at home with her newborn son, but the experience does not match her imagination. Two years later, she steps into the bathroom for a break from her toddler’s demands, only to discover...
Based on the book by Rachel Yoder, “Nightbitch” is about a woman who “pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but soon her domesticity takes a surreal turn.” Amazon provides a more detailed description of Yoder’s novel, for those who are interested:
An ambitious mother puts her art career on hold to stay at home with her newborn son, but the experience does not match her imagination. Two years later, she steps into the bathroom for a break from her toddler’s demands, only to discover...
- 4/5/2024
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
Searchlight Pictures’ 2024 theatrical schedule is coming into…focus. The Disney division already has Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness” set for June 21. The distributor’s Sundance acquisition, Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” will hit limited release on Oct. 18. Now, the long-awaited Marielle Heller dramedy “Nightbitch,” with Amy Adams, has hit the release schedule for Dec. 6.
Read More: Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” With Kieran Culkin Sets Oct.
Continue reading ‘Nightbitch’: Amy Adams & Marielle Heller’s Surreal Dramedy Sets Dec. 6 Release Date at The Playlist.
Read More: Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” With Kieran Culkin Sets Oct.
Continue reading ‘Nightbitch’: Amy Adams & Marielle Heller’s Surreal Dramedy Sets Dec. 6 Release Date at The Playlist.
- 4/5/2024
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
Searchlight Pictures has announced a release date for A Real Pain, the new film written, directed, and starring Jesse Eisenberg. The film, which was the winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, will be in theaters on October 18, 2024!
Synopsis: Mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in “A Real Pain.”
About The Film
Genre: Comedy, Drama Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, Daniel Oreskes Director: Jesse Eisenberg Screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg Producer: Dave McCary, Ali Herting, Emma Stone, Jennifer Semler, Ewa Puszczyńska
A Real Pain is only in theaters on October 18, 2024!
The post Release Date for A Real Pain Announced first appeared on CinemaNerdz.
Synopsis: Mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in “A Real Pain.”
About The Film
Genre: Comedy, Drama Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin, Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, Daniel Oreskes Director: Jesse Eisenberg Screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg Producer: Dave McCary, Ali Herting, Emma Stone, Jennifer Semler, Ewa Puszczyńska
A Real Pain is only in theaters on October 18, 2024!
The post Release Date for A Real Pain Announced first appeared on CinemaNerdz.
- 4/3/2024
- by Editor
- CinemaNerdz
A Real Pain – written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg – proved to be one of the biggest hits of the Sundance Film Festival and has now been slated for release.
Coming out of the Sundance Film Festival this year, perhaps the most buzz was focused on Jesse Eisenberg's directorial folllow-up to 2022’s When You Finish Saving The World.
His second directorial outing is called A Real Pain and follows cousins who travel to their grandmother’s native Poland to partake in a Holocaust tour. Succession's Kieran Culkin stars alongside Eisenberg in the film which proved to be the first major acquisition of the festival when Searchlight stepped in to acquire the movie for $10m.
While it certainly doesn’t grab as many headlines as the woes faced by other Disney-owned subsidiaries, Searchlight has proved to be one of the House of Mouse’s successes of the past few years, exhibiting excellent...
Coming out of the Sundance Film Festival this year, perhaps the most buzz was focused on Jesse Eisenberg's directorial folllow-up to 2022’s When You Finish Saving The World.
His second directorial outing is called A Real Pain and follows cousins who travel to their grandmother’s native Poland to partake in a Holocaust tour. Succession's Kieran Culkin stars alongside Eisenberg in the film which proved to be the first major acquisition of the festival when Searchlight stepped in to acquire the movie for $10m.
While it certainly doesn’t grab as many headlines as the woes faced by other Disney-owned subsidiaries, Searchlight has proved to be one of the House of Mouse’s successes of the past few years, exhibiting excellent...
- 4/3/2024
- by Dan Cooper
- Film Stories
Searchlight Pictures has scheduled an awards corridor date for Sundance hit A Real Pain and will open Jesse Eisenberg’s film in limited release on October 18.
‘A Real Pain’: Sundance Review
Eisenberg’s second outing as feature director sees the filmmaker play opposite Succession star Kieran Culkin as cousins who embark on a poignant and at times hilarious pilgrimage to their grandmother’s birthplace in Poland.
A Real Pain premiered in Park City in January and also stars Jennifer Grey, Will Sharpe, Daniel Oreskes, and Lisa Sadovy.
The film complements a Searchlight pipeline that includes Emma Stone reuniting with...
‘A Real Pain’: Sundance Review
Eisenberg’s second outing as feature director sees the filmmaker play opposite Succession star Kieran Culkin as cousins who embark on a poignant and at times hilarious pilgrimage to their grandmother’s birthplace in Poland.
A Real Pain premiered in Park City in January and also stars Jennifer Grey, Will Sharpe, Daniel Oreskes, and Lisa Sadovy.
The film complements a Searchlight pipeline that includes Emma Stone reuniting with...
- 4/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
Searchlight Pictures announced on Tuesday that its dramedy A Real Pain, marking the sophomore feature of actor-turned-filmmaker Jesse Eisenberg, will hit theaters in the thick of awards season, on October 18.
Eisenberg stars opposite Succession Emmy winner Kieran Culkin in the buzz title, which Searchlight snapped up for $10 million in the first major deal out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, as we were first to report. In the film, also scripted by Eisenberg, the pair play David and Benji, cousins who reunite for a tour of Poland to honor their grandmother, but see older tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family’s history.
Hailing from Topic and Fruit Tree, the film also stars Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing), Will Sharpe (The White Lotus), Kurt Egyiawan (Beasts of No Nation), Liza Sadovy (A Small Light) and Daniel Oreskes (Only Murders in the Building). Producers on the project included Ali Herting,...
Eisenberg stars opposite Succession Emmy winner Kieran Culkin in the buzz title, which Searchlight snapped up for $10 million in the first major deal out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, as we were first to report. In the film, also scripted by Eisenberg, the pair play David and Benji, cousins who reunite for a tour of Poland to honor their grandmother, but see older tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family’s history.
Hailing from Topic and Fruit Tree, the film also stars Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing), Will Sharpe (The White Lotus), Kurt Egyiawan (Beasts of No Nation), Liza Sadovy (A Small Light) and Daniel Oreskes (Only Murders in the Building). Producers on the project included Ali Herting,...
- 4/2/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Searchlight Pictures has set an October 18, 2024, theatrical release date for A Real Pain, the heartfelt comedy written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, who drew the film from his own personal history.
A Real Pain, which premiered to standing ovations at the Sundance Film Festival, follows mismatched cousins David and Benji, who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
“We are blown away by Jesse’s vision and craft in telling this hilarious and profound film,” said Searchlight Presidents Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum when the film was acquired. “He tells a deeply personal story and makes it universal. We can’t wait to bring it to audiences around the world.”
Jesse Eisenberg also stars alongside Kieran Culkin (Succession), Will Sharpe (The White Lotus), Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing...
A Real Pain, which premiered to standing ovations at the Sundance Film Festival, follows mismatched cousins David and Benji, who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
“We are blown away by Jesse’s vision and craft in telling this hilarious and profound film,” said Searchlight Presidents Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum when the film was acquired. “He tells a deeply personal story and makes it universal. We can’t wait to bring it to audiences around the world.”
Jesse Eisenberg also stars alongside Kieran Culkin (Succession), Will Sharpe (The White Lotus), Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing...
- 4/2/2024
- by Mirko Parlevliet
- Vital Thrills
A Real Pain, the new film starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin, has unveiled a new first-look image as well as announced its release date. In the Sundance review from our own Chris Bumbray, he glows about the film, saying, “A Real Pain is Jesse Eisenberg’s second film as a director and marks a substantial leap in quality since his pleasant – but minor – first effort, When You Finish Saving the World. With a tight running time, evocative location shooting, and two terrific performances at its heart, it’s no wonder this scored one of Sundance’s biggest deals, with Searchlight shelling out a cool $10 million for it.”
The plot synopsis reads,
“Mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
The plot synopsis reads,
“Mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
- 4/2/2024
- by EJ Tangonan
- JoBlo.com
Get ready for the Kieran Culkin Oscar campaign.
On Tuesday, Searchlight Pictures announced “A Real Pain” with Culkin and writer-director Jesse Eisenberg will debut on October 18. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and earned raves for the “Succession” star as well as the festival’s Waldo Salt screenwriting award for Eisenberg.
Here’s the logline for the feature, provided by Searchlight:
Mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
Culkin has already been on an epic awards run this year, earning his first-ever Emmy Award in January for the final season of “Succession.” He was also awarded top honors at the Golden Globe Awards and Critics Choice Awards for playing Roman Roy on the HBO drama.
On Tuesday, Searchlight Pictures announced “A Real Pain” with Culkin and writer-director Jesse Eisenberg will debut on October 18. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and earned raves for the “Succession” star as well as the festival’s Waldo Salt screenwriting award for Eisenberg.
Here’s the logline for the feature, provided by Searchlight:
Mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple’s old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
Culkin has already been on an epic awards run this year, earning his first-ever Emmy Award in January for the final season of “Succession.” He was also awarded top honors at the Golden Globe Awards and Critics Choice Awards for playing Roman Roy on the HBO drama.
- 4/2/2024
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
If it’s April, that means many of Hollywood’s studios and distributors are figuring out their fall release plans. It also means many awards season movies are about to plant a flag on one opening day or another. This morning, Searchlight Pictures revealed that their acclaimed Sundance Film Festival acquisition, “A Real Pain,” will open in limited release on October 10.
Read More: “A Real Pain” Review: Kieran Culkin is Superb iI Jesse Eisenberg’s Funny and Moving Dramedy [Sundance]
Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, “A Real Pain” centers on two semi-estranged cousins, David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin), who travel to Poland following the death of their beloved grandmother.
Continue reading ‘A Real Pain’: Jesse Eisenberg Dramedy Sets October 18 Release Date at The Playlist.
Read More: “A Real Pain” Review: Kieran Culkin is Superb iI Jesse Eisenberg’s Funny and Moving Dramedy [Sundance]
Written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, “A Real Pain” centers on two semi-estranged cousins, David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin), who travel to Poland following the death of their beloved grandmother.
Continue reading ‘A Real Pain’: Jesse Eisenberg Dramedy Sets October 18 Release Date at The Playlist.
- 4/2/2024
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
Prepare to feast. Or dance. This week’s streaming debuts include two visually sumptuous films that will whet your Easter-weekend appetite.
The contender to watch this week: “The Taste of Things“
France lost out on an Oscar nomination when the country’s selection committee chose Trần Anh Hùng‘s savory romance about a venerable chef (Benoît Magimel) and a gifted cook (Juliette Binoche) instead of eventual Best Picture nominee “Anatomy of a Fall.” But even if the movie didn’t make the Best International Feature Film category, it earned an immediate spot in the culinary canon. Like the documentary “Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros,” last year’s other great food movie, “The Taste of Things” is kitchen porn. In the warmly lit countryside, the gourmands prepare veal loins, roasted vegetables, baked Alaska, and the creamiest omelet you’ve ever seen. Select theaters are still showing the film, but it’s newly available on VOD.
The contender to watch this week: “The Taste of Things“
France lost out on an Oscar nomination when the country’s selection committee chose Trần Anh Hùng‘s savory romance about a venerable chef (Benoît Magimel) and a gifted cook (Juliette Binoche) instead of eventual Best Picture nominee “Anatomy of a Fall.” But even if the movie didn’t make the Best International Feature Film category, it earned an immediate spot in the culinary canon. Like the documentary “Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros,” last year’s other great food movie, “The Taste of Things” is kitchen porn. In the warmly lit countryside, the gourmands prepare veal loins, roasted vegetables, baked Alaska, and the creamiest omelet you’ve ever seen. Select theaters are still showing the film, but it’s newly available on VOD.
- 3/30/2024
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
Searchlight Pictures has signed a first-look deal with Olivia Colman and Ed Sinclair’s South of the River Pictures. Under the new pact, the specialty studio, which has worked with Colman on “The Favourite” and “Empire of Light,” will develop and produce feature-length motion pictures with the production company.
South of the River Pictures was founded by Colman, Sinclair and their long-time partner in crime, Tom Carver, to develop and produce original scripted comedies and dramas with “an authored sensibility.” Colman and Sinclair have been married since 2001.
South of the River Pictures has a slate of projects that include feature films and TV series. Its first production was Sinclair’s multi-Bafta-winning TV series “Landscapers,” which was produced with Sister for Sky Atlantic and HBO, and starred Olivia Colman and David Thewlis as a murderous couple. It was nominated for best miniseries at the 2022 BAFTA TV Awards. “Wicked Little Letters,” the company’s first feature film,...
South of the River Pictures was founded by Colman, Sinclair and their long-time partner in crime, Tom Carver, to develop and produce original scripted comedies and dramas with “an authored sensibility.” Colman and Sinclair have been married since 2001.
South of the River Pictures has a slate of projects that include feature films and TV series. Its first production was Sinclair’s multi-Bafta-winning TV series “Landscapers,” which was produced with Sister for Sky Atlantic and HBO, and starred Olivia Colman and David Thewlis as a murderous couple. It was nominated for best miniseries at the 2022 BAFTA TV Awards. “Wicked Little Letters,” the company’s first feature film,...
- 3/29/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Last year’s edition of Critics’ Week featured the likes of Ama Gloria, Tiger Stripes and Iris Kaltenbäck’s Le Ravissement — which would become the section’s identifier for the 63rd edition with actress Hafsia Herzi giving us the side-eye. Currently in year three of her mandate, Critics’ Week topper Ava Cahen will likely once again select first-time features only for the competition and will give extra visibility to French cinema with Special Screenings selections to popular industry figures (and France co-productions) perhaps a Céline Sallette’s Niki or a revisit of Jesse Eisenberg with A Real Pain. We don’t know when they’ll unveil the selections but it should be more or less around the second week of April.…...
- 3/25/2024
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Sundance Institute announced on Tuesday that the next Sundance Film Festival will run January 23-February 2, 2025, in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah.
This year’s festival marked the first official edition for Eugene Hernandez, director, Sundance Film Festival and public programming, whose appointment was announced in September 2022.
Hernandez, who most recently served as director of New York Film Festival, is pictured atop Park City landmark the Egyptian Theatre.
Further details about the upcoming 2025 Sundance Film Festival will be shared over the coming months.
Mstyslav Chernov’s 2023 World Cinema Documentary selection 20 Days In Mariupol won the best documentary feature...
This year’s festival marked the first official edition for Eugene Hernandez, director, Sundance Film Festival and public programming, whose appointment was announced in September 2022.
Hernandez, who most recently served as director of New York Film Festival, is pictured atop Park City landmark the Egyptian Theatre.
Further details about the upcoming 2025 Sundance Film Festival will be shared over the coming months.
Mstyslav Chernov’s 2023 World Cinema Documentary selection 20 Days In Mariupol won the best documentary feature...
- 3/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
With the 2024 Oscars in the rearview mirror, it’s time to start looking toward 2025. It’s early, but not too early to start making predictions about what movies might contend for the Oscars next year.
The 97th Academy Awards may wind up dominated by an unusual number of blockbuster sequels to films that won big previously. There are also some period pieces, some comeback vehicles, and some movies that were featured on last year’s list that got held back for this year.
Here are 20 films to know for the 2025 Oscars. Some of them are locks, some of them are long shots, and all of them are worth keeping an eye on throughout 2024 as their Academy Awards chances rise and fall.
“A Real Pain”
One of three films on this list that have screened publicly as of publication time, road dramedy “A Real Pain” was the buzziest title out of Sundance this year.
The 97th Academy Awards may wind up dominated by an unusual number of blockbuster sequels to films that won big previously. There are also some period pieces, some comeback vehicles, and some movies that were featured on last year’s list that got held back for this year.
Here are 20 films to know for the 2025 Oscars. Some of them are locks, some of them are long shots, and all of them are worth keeping an eye on throughout 2024 as their Academy Awards chances rise and fall.
“A Real Pain”
One of three films on this list that have screened publicly as of publication time, road dramedy “A Real Pain” was the buzziest title out of Sundance this year.
- 3/12/2024
- by Liam Mathews
- Gold Derby
It isn’t every week that two of the biggest jobs in film are filled within a matter of days, but that was the case last week. On February 26, Disney’s live-action president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production Sean Bailey exited, making way for Searchlight’s David Greenbaum to take the top job. Two days later on Feb. 28, Rideback’s Dan Lin was tapped to take Scott Stuber’s open seat atop Netflix’s film division.
Greenbaum made his bones on prestige indie films and original, auteur-driven stories. He’s now taking the job at a company that has spent the last 15 years mining IP and playing the hits. Lin is a franchise builder now stepping into an environment known for chasing big prestige swings.
It appears Disney and Netflix are heading in opposite directions. One agent who spoke with IndieWire called it a role-reversal between Disney and Netflix; at one point,...
Greenbaum made his bones on prestige indie films and original, auteur-driven stories. He’s now taking the job at a company that has spent the last 15 years mining IP and playing the hits. Lin is a franchise builder now stepping into an environment known for chasing big prestige swings.
It appears Disney and Netflix are heading in opposite directions. One agent who spoke with IndieWire called it a role-reversal between Disney and Netflix; at one point,...
- 3/8/2024
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actress Julia Stiles has wrapped production on her directorial debut, Wish You Were Here, based on the bestseller by Renee Carlino. The cast includes Isabelle Fuhrman (The Novice), Mena Massoud (Aladdin), Jimmie Fails (The Last Black Man in San Francisco), Gabby Kono (Magic Carpet Rides), Jennifer Grey (A Real Pain) and Kelsey Grammer (Frasier).
Adapted for the screen by Stiles, the film tells the story of Charlotte, a woman who finds herself in a rut, searching for a spark that seems just out of reach. After she has a whirlwind night of romance and imagining a future with a man named Adam, he ghosts her. But when Charlotte finally discovers that Adam is terminally ill, she helps him spend his last days living life to the fullest.
In a statement to Deadline, Stiles shared that she’s “been looking for years for the right story to tell” as director,...
Adapted for the screen by Stiles, the film tells the story of Charlotte, a woman who finds herself in a rut, searching for a spark that seems just out of reach. After she has a whirlwind night of romance and imagining a future with a man named Adam, he ghosts her. But when Charlotte finally discovers that Adam is terminally ill, she helps him spend his last days living life to the fullest.
In a statement to Deadline, Stiles shared that she’s “been looking for years for the right story to tell” as director,...
- 2/23/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
As always, the 2024 Sundance Film Festival gave us several likely Oscar nominees. Keiran Culkin for “A Real Pain,” documentaries “Union” or “Daughters“,” and, potentially, Sebastian Stan for “A Different Man.” But there was no Best Picture player in the vein of “Past Lives” or “Coda” in Park City last month, at least, there didn’t seem to be.
Continue reading Yes, ‘Dune: Part Two’ Is The First Major Best Picture Player Of 2025 at The Playlist.
Continue reading Yes, ‘Dune: Part Two’ Is The First Major Best Picture Player Of 2025 at The Playlist.
- 2/21/2024
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
After a quiet period following his international breakout in “The White Lotus” season two, Will Sharpe‘s dance card is beginning to fill up. The actor and playwright has a key role in Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” which debuted to raves at Sundance; he recently banked Audrey Diwan‘s feature “Emmanuelle” opposite Naomi Watts; and is still expected to star opposite Meg Statler in Netflix’s limited series “Too Much.” Now, the Brit has landed the title role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in a television adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play “Amadeus.”
Read More: “A Real Pain” Review: Kieran Culkin is superb in Jesse Eisenberg’s moving dramedy
According to a release from Sky, the project will reunite Sharpe with “Giri/Haji” writer and producer Joe Barton who has been a very busy bee on both sides of the Atlantic these days.
Continue reading Will Sharpe Will Play Mozart...
Read More: “A Real Pain” Review: Kieran Culkin is superb in Jesse Eisenberg’s moving dramedy
According to a release from Sky, the project will reunite Sharpe with “Giri/Haji” writer and producer Joe Barton who has been a very busy bee on both sides of the Atlantic these days.
Continue reading Will Sharpe Will Play Mozart...
- 2/20/2024
- by The Playlist Staff
- The Playlist
There's yet another interesting set of twin films in 2024 - two films that are remarkably similar in so many ways even though they're entirely independent, unrelated productions. The first film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in January titled A Real Pain, written, directed by, and starring Jesse Eisenberg, and it won the Screenwriting Award at that festival (here's my full review). The second film is premiering now at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival in February titled Treasure, directed by German filmmaker Julia von Heinz, and starring actors Stephen Fry & Lena Dunham as father & daughter. Both films involve Americans traveling to Poland, flying into Warsaw, from where they embark upon a "heritage" road trip tour around Poland to find an old home where someone they know once lived in many years ago before fleeing Poland. Both also feature annoying characters, jokes about tourists visiting Poland, and trips to a Jewish graveyard...
- 2/18/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
After several years working in German TV and locally-oriented film projects, Julia von Heinz had a significant breakthrough with “And Tomorrow the Entire World” — a taut, punchy political thriller with a youthful spirit of anti-fascist revolt, vigorous enough to land a Venice competition slot. Its success evidently raised the status of the director’s long-held passion project, an adaptation of Australian novelist Lily Brett’s semi-autobiographical 2001 title “Too Many Men,” which reckoned thoughtfully with her parents’ experience as Auschwitz survivors, and the hereditary nature of trauma. It emerges here, in somewhat simplified form, as “Treasure,” a watchably meandering vehicle for Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry to wrestle out father-daughter conflicts both trivially universal and hauntingly specific to history. The urgency and dynamism that marked von Heinz’s last feature are largely absent; for a story of such particular and searing sorrow, it feels rather mild.
Premiering in an out-of-competition Berlinale slot,...
Premiering in an out-of-competition Berlinale slot,...
- 2/17/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Following the October parliamentary election that saw the defeat of the right-wing Law and Justice party and appointment of leader of the opposition party Donald Tusk as prime minister, Polish filmmakers are cautiously readying for change.
“So far, our cinema authorities have not changed. It remains to be seen whether they will change their approach to funding more topical or controversial projects. Recent years have been very difficult in this regard,” says acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland.
Holland’s latest film, refugee drama “Green Border,” had been attacked by the right-wing government last year. Her next film, “Franz,” about Franz Kafka, is a Czech-German-Polish co-production to be sold at EFM by Films Boutique.
“We know everything and nothing about Kafka. There are dozens of detailed biographies and the reasons for his growing importance remain a mystery. I am trying to put this film together like a scattered jigsaw puzzle,” she adds.
“So far, our cinema authorities have not changed. It remains to be seen whether they will change their approach to funding more topical or controversial projects. Recent years have been very difficult in this regard,” says acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland.
Holland’s latest film, refugee drama “Green Border,” had been attacked by the right-wing government last year. Her next film, “Franz,” about Franz Kafka, is a Czech-German-Polish co-production to be sold at EFM by Films Boutique.
“We know everything and nothing about Kafka. There are dozens of detailed biographies and the reasons for his growing importance remain a mystery. I am trying to put this film together like a scattered jigsaw puzzle,” she adds.
- 2/17/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
The Academy’s tendency to award trophies to Holocaust movies has long been whispered about — and even occasionally joked about by cheeky comedians.
In 2009, shortly after Kate Winslet won a Golden Globe for her performance as a former Auschwitz guard in “The Reader,” presenter Ricky Gervais pointed to her in the audience and deadpanned, “I told ya, do a Holocaust movie; the awards come.”
Winslet, who would go on to receive an Academy Award for her part in Stephen Daldry’s film, had several years earlier appeared on Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s HBO comedy “Extras” as an actor who stars in a film about the Holocaust in the hopes that it will earn her an Oscar.
The night of the Globes, Winslet laughed at Gervais’ ribbing, as did many in the crowd. It was a much a jab at the industry as much as it was at her.
“The spoof wasn’t entirely wrong,...
In 2009, shortly after Kate Winslet won a Golden Globe for her performance as a former Auschwitz guard in “The Reader,” presenter Ricky Gervais pointed to her in the audience and deadpanned, “I told ya, do a Holocaust movie; the awards come.”
Winslet, who would go on to receive an Academy Award for her part in Stephen Daldry’s film, had several years earlier appeared on Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s HBO comedy “Extras” as an actor who stars in a film about the Holocaust in the hopes that it will earn her an Oscar.
The night of the Globes, Winslet laughed at Gervais’ ribbing, as did many in the crowd. It was a much a jab at the industry as much as it was at her.
“The spoof wasn’t entirely wrong,...
- 2/16/2024
- by Whitney Friedlander
- Variety Film + TV
With Covid lockdowns and shuttered cinemas and the dual wallop of the writers’ and actors’ strikes, it’s been a rough few years for independent movies. But the end of strike action last November has triggered a rebound in the indie market. After a strong showing in Sundance, buyers and sellers are looking to Berlin’s European Film Market to provide proof this recovery has legs.
Early signs are promising, with a flood of new projects across all budgets and genres. CAA Media Finance alone has half a dozen finished films on sale and around 20 big packages, including sci-fi actioner Afterburn with Dave Bautista and Samuel L. Jackson attached, selling together with Black Bear; the drama A Big Bold Beautiful Journey from After Yang and Pachinko director Kogonada, featuring Colin Farrell and a post-Barbie Margot Robbie, that 30West and Neon International are jointly handling, and the Michelle Yeoh action thriller The Mother alongside AGC International.
Early signs are promising, with a flood of new projects across all budgets and genres. CAA Media Finance alone has half a dozen finished films on sale and around 20 big packages, including sci-fi actioner Afterburn with Dave Bautista and Samuel L. Jackson attached, selling together with Black Bear; the drama A Big Bold Beautiful Journey from After Yang and Pachinko director Kogonada, featuring Colin Farrell and a post-Barbie Margot Robbie, that 30West and Neon International are jointly handling, and the Michelle Yeoh action thriller The Mother alongside AGC International.
- 2/16/2024
- by Scott Roxborough and Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in ‘A Real Pain’ (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
Writer/director Jesse Eisenberg explores his family’s history in A Real Pain, a poignant and heartfelt dramedy that follows two cousins on a journey of self-discovery and healing. Eisenberg stars opposite Kieran Culkin, with the filmmaker taking the less showy, more grounded role while Culkin portrays the complex, conflicted, and damaged cousin.
Benji (Culkin) and David (Eisenberg), just three weeks apart in age but vastly different in maturity levels, embark on a Heritage Tour in Poland in honor of their recently departed grandmother Dory. Dory, who was born in Poland and survived the Holocaust, left the cousins money to take the tour to learn more about their family history.
David’s personality is established in the opening minutes when he repeatedly calls Benji to give him updates on the traffic, always ending his messages with, “Ring me when you get this.
Writer/director Jesse Eisenberg explores his family’s history in A Real Pain, a poignant and heartfelt dramedy that follows two cousins on a journey of self-discovery and healing. Eisenberg stars opposite Kieran Culkin, with the filmmaker taking the less showy, more grounded role while Culkin portrays the complex, conflicted, and damaged cousin.
Benji (Culkin) and David (Eisenberg), just three weeks apart in age but vastly different in maturity levels, embark on a Heritage Tour in Poland in honor of their recently departed grandmother Dory. Dory, who was born in Poland and survived the Holocaust, left the cousins money to take the tour to learn more about their family history.
David’s personality is established in the opening minutes when he repeatedly calls Benji to give him updates on the traffic, always ending his messages with, “Ring me when you get this.
- 2/6/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
As quickly as it came, Sundance 2024 is in the books, with it another excellent showcase of the hottest titles in independent cinema. This marked my fifteenth year attending the festival in Park City, Utah, and I ended up reviewing twenty-one movies as part of my coverage. Here are a few takeaways from the festival:
Horror is king at Sundance
The midnight section at Sundance has always been extensive, but in the last few years, thanks to the box office success of breakout acquisitions like Hereditary, The Babadook, and last year’s Talk to Me, it’s become the premiere section for big deals. A24 showed up with one of the most buzzed-about titles of the festival, I Saw the TV Glow (which I disliked – but I was in the minority), while Netflix spent $17 million on It’s What’s Inside, which could be a big horror breakout for them. The section is...
Horror is king at Sundance
The midnight section at Sundance has always been extensive, but in the last few years, thanks to the box office success of breakout acquisitions like Hereditary, The Babadook, and last year’s Talk to Me, it’s become the premiere section for big deals. A24 showed up with one of the most buzzed-about titles of the festival, I Saw the TV Glow (which I disliked – but I was in the minority), while Netflix spent $17 million on It’s What’s Inside, which could be a big horror breakout for them. The section is...
- 2/2/2024
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
It’s true: We’re finally putting a bow on our Sundance 2024 coverage. But while the annual festival has now wrapped, that doesn’t mean our work has quite concluded just yet. If nothing else, a review of our top stories from the annual event feel like a road map for the cinematic year to come, a quick trip into the obsessions and interests that guided 11 days in snowy Park City, Utah and seem destined to carry over throughout the rest of 2024.
Check out our full critics survey to see which films over 160 (!!) critics deemed the best of the fest, watch our full run of in-studio interviews with some of the biggest names of festival, and check out every piece of key Sundance news (from reviews to interviews and so much more) right here. Until next year!
As is often the case with IndieWire’s readership, first-look reviews were our hottest tickets.
Check out our full critics survey to see which films over 160 (!!) critics deemed the best of the fest, watch our full run of in-studio interviews with some of the biggest names of festival, and check out every piece of key Sundance news (from reviews to interviews and so much more) right here. Until next year!
As is often the case with IndieWire’s readership, first-look reviews were our hottest tickets.
- 2/1/2024
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Last year may have been the official return of the Sundance Film Festival to an in-person experience, but the just-concluded 2024 edition felt even more lively: This wasn’t just back to business, this was a full-on coming-out party, with A-list talent on-hand even beyond what you could have expected from the festival in its last couple pre-covid years.
The best movies of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, as determined by IndieWire’s annual critics survey, are an eclectic mix, full of starpower and starmaking turns. And undoubtedly, having all the competition titles screen virtually in the last five days of the fest buoyed the visibility of some — if the celebrities all descended on Park City, Utah, this year, some journalists who used to be in-person regulars opted instead for just the online experience.
If the journalists who responded to IndieWire’s survey, 166 in total, are fewer in number than the past,...
The best movies of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, as determined by IndieWire’s annual critics survey, are an eclectic mix, full of starpower and starmaking turns. And undoubtedly, having all the competition titles screen virtually in the last five days of the fest buoyed the visibility of some — if the celebrities all descended on Park City, Utah, this year, some journalists who used to be in-person regulars opted instead for just the online experience.
If the journalists who responded to IndieWire’s survey, 166 in total, are fewer in number than the past,...
- 1/31/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
El éxito del terror indie en Sundance: “Talk to Me” pasa el testigo a “I Saw the TV Glow” en su 40ª edición.
El Festival de Cine de Sundance ha terminado y por ello os traemos nuestro análisis del festival. Un festival en el que anteriormente se estrenaron mundialmente películas muy aclamadas como “Brooklyn”, “Hereditary”, “Manchester By The Sea”, “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Get Out” o “Whiplash”. Y es que, esta temporada de premios aún no ha terminado y ya estamos con los ojos puestos en las películas de Sundance para ver cuál ha destacado y si alguna de ellas podría unirse a esta lista de películas aclamadas que tuvieron su estreno en el festival. Así que, pasemos al análisis.
Como siempre, para obtener una visión más clara acerca de las reacciones del festival, hemos optado por realizar un análisis utilizando como fuente los datos de Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic y Letterboxd.
El Festival de Cine de Sundance ha terminado y por ello os traemos nuestro análisis del festival. Un festival en el que anteriormente se estrenaron mundialmente películas muy aclamadas como “Brooklyn”, “Hereditary”, “Manchester By The Sea”, “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Get Out” o “Whiplash”. Y es que, esta temporada de premios aún no ha terminado y ya estamos con los ojos puestos en las películas de Sundance para ver cuál ha destacado y si alguna de ellas podría unirse a esta lista de películas aclamadas que tuvieron su estreno en el festival. Así que, pasemos al análisis.
Como siempre, para obtener una visión más clara acerca de las reacciones del festival, hemos optado por realizar un análisis utilizando como fuente los datos de Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic y Letterboxd.
- 1/31/2024
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
Back at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, Celine Song’s debut feature, “Past Lives,” premiered to rave reviews and early speculation about its awards chances. That turned out to be prescient. One year later, “Past Lives” is a 2024 Oscars Best Picture nominee, while Song is a nominee for Best Original Screenplay. So with the 2024 Sundance Film Festival at its end, what better time than now to speculate about what next year’s “Past Lives” will be? Whether anything on 2024’s Sundance roster can scale those heights is up for debate, but plenty of promising titles could compete for acting and screenplay prizes. The documentary lineup was robust this year, which makes sense: Six of the last 10 Best Documentary Feature Film winners got their start at Sundance.
Below is a sample of Sundance highlights that could be award contenders this time next year.
Narrative features
“Between the Temples”: It’s hard to fathom,...
Below is a sample of Sundance highlights that could be award contenders this time next year.
Narrative features
“Between the Temples”: It’s hard to fathom,...
- 1/29/2024
- by Matthew Jacobs
- Gold Derby
Updated throughout with new buys. Despite some initial trepidation, big sales were not in short supply at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, with Netflix spending big on everything from “It’s What’s Inside” to “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” Searchlight Pictures going for “A Real Pain,” Amazon MGM getting in on the “My Old Ass” action, Neon wisely snapping up “Presence,” and Sony Pictures Classics getting down with “Kneecap”, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of superior films still looking for homes.
Of the still-for-sale titles that premiered at this year’s festival, there’s plenty to intrigue all sorts of buyers, from those looking for films with excellent performances that could inspire major awards pushes (like Saoirse Ronan in “The Outrun”), those in search of the next big director, or documentary lovers looking for films with incredible real world impact and fascinating true stories.
And while it’s still early days,...
Of the still-for-sale titles that premiered at this year’s festival, there’s plenty to intrigue all sorts of buyers, from those looking for films with excellent performances that could inspire major awards pushes (like Saoirse Ronan in “The Outrun”), those in search of the next big director, or documentary lovers looking for films with incredible real world impact and fascinating true stories.
And while it’s still early days,...
- 1/29/2024
- by Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The Sundance Film Festival returned to Park City this year, bringing with it a cavalcade of new films, many of which we'll probably be talking about throughout the rest of 2024. We've rounded up looks at every film we watched at Sundance this year, bringing you insight into the best, the worst, and everything in between. As always, we urge you to seek out these films for yourself. Movies live and die by their audience, and many of the films at Sundance are small affairs that need to find viewers in order to thrive. So don't just take our word for it — give yourself over to a new movie, one you might not even have noticed. There are more than big studio blockbusters in the film world, and they need your help. Our list below is merely a guide, it's up to you to take the journey.
Read more: These Are...
Read more: These Are...
- 1/29/2024
- by SlashFilm Staff
- Slash Film
There are a few silver linings of covering Sundance remotely, which — as a critic with two young children and a marriage that I would still like to have at the end of the month — I elected to do for the fourth consecutive year. You don’t have to wait in lines, sit through the same ads about “the power of storytelling” before every screening, or stare longingly at nearby ski slopes as you take a deep breath and head into a high school auditorium to watch a documentary that will be on Netflix three days later.
More significantly, “doing Sundance” from the relative comforts of Eric Adams’ New York City has a way of unburdening the films you watch from the pressure forced upon them in Park City, where each premiere is attended by some of the most generous audiences on the planet…and also the unreasonable expectation that what...
More significantly, “doing Sundance” from the relative comforts of Eric Adams’ New York City has a way of unburdening the films you watch from the pressure forced upon them in Park City, where each premiere is attended by some of the most generous audiences on the planet…and also the unreasonable expectation that what...
- 1/29/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The Sundance Film Festival has wrapped in snowy Park City, and Deadline was on the ground to watch all of the key films. Here is a compilation of our reviews from the fest, which include festival award winners like Daughters, the documentary that took the Festival Favorite Award, and A Real Pain, which won the Waldo Salt Screenwriter Award for its writer-director-star Jesse Eisenberg.
Other pics include several that were scooped up by distributors, led by Steven Soderbergh’s ghost story Presence selling to Neon, A Real Pain going to Searchlight, Ghostlight to IFC Films, and Netflix’s smash $17 million deal for It’s What’s Inside.
Check out the reviews below, click on the titles to read them in full, and keep checking back as we add more.
The American Society of Magical Negroes (L-r) Justice Smith and David Alan Grier in ‘The American Society of Magical Negroes’
Section: Premieres
Director-screenwriter: Kobi Libii
Cast: Justice Smith,...
Other pics include several that were scooped up by distributors, led by Steven Soderbergh’s ghost story Presence selling to Neon, A Real Pain going to Searchlight, Ghostlight to IFC Films, and Netflix’s smash $17 million deal for It’s What’s Inside.
Check out the reviews below, click on the titles to read them in full, and keep checking back as we add more.
The American Society of Magical Negroes (L-r) Justice Smith and David Alan Grier in ‘The American Society of Magical Negroes’
Section: Premieres
Director-screenwriter: Kobi Libii
Cast: Justice Smith,...
- 1/29/2024
- by Damon Wise, Valerie Complex and Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18-28 and, after a sluggish start, there were deals (click here for the latest), celebrity sightings, and a protest.
Christopher Nolan turned up to collect an honourary award at the festival’s opening night gala fundraiser and called the occasion a “full circle moment” 23 years after premeiring his breakout thriller Memento there back in 2001.
Kristen Stewart also attended the gala and starred in two films this year, while celebrity guests included Robert Downey Jr., Will Ferrell, and Malia Obama, who managed to attend somewhat under the radar with her short film The Heart credited to Malia Ann.
Christopher Nolan turned up to collect an honourary award at the festival’s opening night gala fundraiser and called the occasion a “full circle moment” 23 years after premeiring his breakout thriller Memento there back in 2001.
Kristen Stewart also attended the gala and starred in two films this year, while celebrity guests included Robert Downey Jr., Will Ferrell, and Malia Obama, who managed to attend somewhat under the radar with her short film The Heart credited to Malia Ann.
- 1/29/2024
- ScreenDaily
Kieran Culkin is opening up about what was happening with Jesse Eisenberg at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival!
The event took place on January 20 in Park City, Utah, and the actors were there to attend the premiere of their comedy-drama film, A Real Pain.
While on the red carpet, Jesse got extremely nervous, and Kieran could feel him shaking. The Succession actor opened up to E! about the moment.
Keep reading to find out more…
“He’s just an anxious person,” Kieran explained. “I had my arm around him and he was shaking.”
When he asked Jesse if he was alright, the Social Network star replied, “Everything when I go outside makes me nervous…Are you anxious about any part of this? Nervous?”
He was surprised when Kieran said that he was very comfortable.
Kieran told E!, “He’s like, ‘Did you think when we started this that you would be like me?...
The event took place on January 20 in Park City, Utah, and the actors were there to attend the premiere of their comedy-drama film, A Real Pain.
While on the red carpet, Jesse got extremely nervous, and Kieran could feel him shaking. The Succession actor opened up to E! about the moment.
Keep reading to find out more…
“He’s just an anxious person,” Kieran explained. “I had my arm around him and he was shaking.”
When he asked Jesse if he was alright, the Social Network star replied, “Everything when I go outside makes me nervous…Are you anxious about any part of this? Nervous?”
He was surprised when Kieran said that he was very comfortable.
Kieran told E!, “He’s like, ‘Did you think when we started this that you would be like me?...
- 1/27/2024
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
This year, Sundance saw big deals go down for “A Real Pain”, “It’s What’s Inside”, “Presence” (Neon), and “My Old Ass” as well as smaller acquisitions for “Kneecap” (Sony Pictures Classics), “Ghostlight” (IFC Films), and “Ibelin”(Netflix).
It’s not the same bull market as the old days, but we’ll take it. And while streamers made their presence felt with the two largest acquisitions to date, it’s clear that for most of these films theatrical will be part of their lifecycles. But is that a smart move?
Based on last year’s results, the answer is: Could be. Domestic box office from all Sundance 2023 films was the best for any year since Covid. At around $100 million, it quadrupled the take from 2022 Festival titles (around $25 million). All told, about two thirds of the 2023 films have some sort of domestic distribution, including streaming outlets. Of these, about a dozen films have yet to open.
It’s not the same bull market as the old days, but we’ll take it. And while streamers made their presence felt with the two largest acquisitions to date, it’s clear that for most of these films theatrical will be part of their lifecycles. But is that a smart move?
Based on last year’s results, the answer is: Could be. Domestic box office from all Sundance 2023 films was the best for any year since Covid. At around $100 million, it quadrupled the take from 2022 Festival titles (around $25 million). All told, about two thirds of the 2023 films have some sort of domestic distribution, including streaming outlets. Of these, about a dozen films have yet to open.
- 1/27/2024
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
On a busy Saturday for two of the biggest Sundance documentaries Netflix confirmed it had picked up worldwide rights to Skywalkers: A Love Story, while Warner Bros was in exclusive negotiations for Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.
Jeff Zimbalist’s Skywalkers tells of a pair of Russian “rooftoppers” who attempt to perform an acrobatic stunt atop the Merdeka 118 super skyscraper under construction in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in a bid to save their relationship and their careers.
The US Documentary Competition selection took seven years to make and Zimablist and his team accompanied Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus on their mission for much of the ride,...
Jeff Zimbalist’s Skywalkers tells of a pair of Russian “rooftoppers” who attempt to perform an acrobatic stunt atop the Merdeka 118 super skyscraper under construction in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in a bid to save their relationship and their careers.
The US Documentary Competition selection took seven years to make and Zimablist and his team accompanied Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus on their mission for much of the ride,...
- 1/27/2024
- ScreenDaily
Netflix has picked up worldwide rights for Sundance documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story from XYZ Films.
On a busy Saturday morning it also emerged that Warner Bros is in exclusive negotiations with no deal in place yet to acquire worldwide rights for around $15m to Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story which Cinetic is selling after fielding intense interest since the January 21 premiere.
Sources had not confirmed the stated $15m deal amount, at time of writing, which would be a huge number for a Sundance documentary sale.
The studio makes sense for Super/Man,...
On a busy Saturday morning it also emerged that Warner Bros is in exclusive negotiations with no deal in place yet to acquire worldwide rights for around $15m to Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story which Cinetic is selling after fielding intense interest since the January 21 premiere.
Sources had not confirmed the stated $15m deal amount, at time of writing, which would be a huge number for a Sundance documentary sale.
The studio makes sense for Super/Man,...
- 1/27/2024
- ScreenDaily
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