The Weekly Report

All news contained herein corresponds to the world of film. The Weekly Report will seek to cover general film news that has emerged over the last seven days.

• Berlinale 2016
  • As you should all be aware by now, thanks to a deluge of reviews courtesy of yours truly, One Room With a View were an active presence at Berlinale 2016. The 66th iteration of the Berlin-based film festival produced a host of films to keep your eyes on over the course of the next year. Among these include Jeff Nichols’ Midnight Special, Mia Hansen-Love’s Things to Come, Terence Davies’ A Quiet Passion, Alex Gibney’s Zero Days, and many more. The major awards were quite evenly distributed among the major competition films with no film collecting more than one. Gianfranco Rosi’s Fire At Sea was awarded the Golden Bear, the festival’s highest prize, while Danis Tanovic’s Death in Sarajevo took home the Silver Bear, with Lav Diaz’s 485 minute epic A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery also being awarded the Alfred Bauer prize (another Silver Bear award). Things to Come was given a directing award for Mia Hansen-Love’s exquisite work, while best actress was given to Trine Dyrholm for The Commune and best actor to Majd Mastoura for Hedi. Tomasz Wasilewski was also awarded best script for United States of Love. It was a fantastic festival that boasted a tremendous amount of talent from all in attendance.

• Deadpool and the triumph of the R-rated blockbuster
  • The critical reception to Deadpool has generally been pretty positive, if far from ecstatic. Commercially speaking, however, the film has been a resounding success; as the film edges past the $500million mark it’s safe to say Fox’s gamble can be marked with a lovely big tick. As a result, it is at least partially satisfying to see that other studios have responded quickly to the Deadpool phenomenon with Warner announcing an R-rated cut of Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice to be available on home release. While many fans will find the prospect of an R-rated film including Superman perverse, it at least shows a step in the right direction for a genre that for a long time hasn’t seen seen the potential of the market beyond their target teen male demographic. Here’s hoping that the minds behind Suicide Squad will also take note. 

Courtesy of: Fox

• We Do It Together seeks to address Hollywood’s gender gap
  • It is no secret that women are criminally underrepresented in Hollywood. We Do It Together is a non-profit production company that aims to invest in female-driven filmmaking in a bid to close the gender gap that has blighted Hollywood since its origins and Jessica Chastain, Juliette Binoche, and Catherine Hardwicke have all thrown their weight behind the movement by joining the advisory board. Not only will the company seek to produce films made by women, it also seeks to address the institutional sexism that governs gender representations in the industry. Expect to hear more when the group speaks on February 29 at the United Nations’ Third Annual Power of Collaboration Global Summit.

– EF

What’s Hot

Dealing with those projects in production, this is where to come to find out what has been greenlit, what major casting decisions have been announced, what century we can expect Avatar 2 in, and any other related film news.

• Woody Allen
  • Fresh from getting the guy to create a TV series he seemingly ain’t so hyped about, Amazon Studios have now acquired Woody Allen’s next film with a bid that could be in excess of $15million – sight unseen. Allen, who The Hollywood Reporter’s sources say had to put his own money into his next project after going over budget, has accepted the offer (well, duh) which could rise to more than $20million after prints-and-advertising costs are factored into the equation. Allen’s last film, Irrational Man, was shifted to Sony Pictures Corporation for just $1million upfront. Currently in development, Allen’s untitled project stars Steve Carell, Jesse Eisenberg, Blake Lively and Kristen Stewart but it isn’t yet known which of them will play that nervous fella who the plot usually revolves around.
    

• Captain America: Civil War
  • We may finally be nearing the end of the 2016 Oscar race but, barring a last-minute write-in campaign, the ceremony will cease to be relevant come Monday morning. Never forget, Vin Diesel confidently predicted last year that Furious 7 would “probably win best picture at the Oscars unless the Oscars don’t want to be relevant ever”. But, should the Oscars fail to heed Vin’s decree, maybe the Academy will listen to Anthony Mackie, soon to be seen as Falcon in Captain America: Civil War. Mackie has admitted to BBC Radio 1 that with the upcoming adventures of Cap ‘n Flap we could finally be seeing “the first superhero movie that might be up for best picture”. Of course, Mackie is forgetting such superheroes as Elephant Man, Rain Man and freakin’ Gandhi but the excitement is appreciated. Civil War opens in the UK on April 29th.

Courtesy of: Walt Disney Studios

• Ava Du Vernay
  • After what Deadline describes as “months of courtship” Disney finally have their director for the studio’s adaptation of A Wrinkle In Time – Ava DuVernay. DuVernay has been circling a number of projects since directing Selma, but has ultimately opted to sign onto the adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s best-selling novel, penned by Frozen writer and co-director, Jennifer Lee. A Wrinkle in Time follows a young girl who hunts for her father after he goes missing during work on a top-secret project known as the tesseract. There is no word on whether Disney will try and find a way to link this to the Marvel universe and their cosmic cube but, really, the props are just lying there so peg the chances at 50/50.

• Tye Sheridan
  • After months of umming and ahhing, Tye Sheridan has apparently inserted enough coins to get started with Ready Player One (via The Hollywood Reporter). Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ernest Cline’s novel about a teenager exploring a virtual world in the hunt of a grand prize, Sheridan was apparently at the top of the list of favourites for the main role for a good few months but Spielberg continued auditioning actors, even resorting to an open casting call. After everything, Sheridan still remained the number one choice and signed a holding deal in early February, seemingly content that Spielberg’s globally wandering eye won’t come between them. He’ll join up with Ben Mendelsohn and Olivia Cooke, who play RPO’s villain and love interest, respectively when shooting begins in July. Probably.

• Pacific Rim 2
  • Much like a robotic, clanking, ungainly metaphor, it looks like the stop-start Pacific Rim 2 will finally be lumbering its way into production without the its creator, Guillermo Del Toro. Deadline is reporting that Legendary Pictures has instead tapped Steven S. DeKnight to direct the sequel to the 2013’s action-adventure-smash ‘em up, with Del Toro in the production chair. De Knight is currently serving as head writer for Daredevil on Netflix and was also the creator of Spartacus for Showtime so at least there’s a chance he knows a thing or two about fighting a seemingly impossible war that turns on its head when one plucky kaiju stands up and emits a laser cannon from its armpits (warning: knowledge of Roman history is spotty at best).

– SON

In Memory Of…

Hopefully this won’t be necessary each week, but on those sad occasions that the film world loses a treasured talent, you can stop here to read the final word on their legacy.

Courtesy of: Lucasfilm

• Douglas Slocombe
  • A veteran of almost 80 features, the legendary British cinematographer Douglas Slocombe passed away Monday 22 February, just under a fortnight after his 103rd birthday. Starting out in the industry as a photojournalist documenting the Nazi invasion of Poland, Slocombe’s work during the war persuaded Ealing Studios to hire him, and in their employ he worked on such lauded works as Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Lavender Hill Mob. After Ealing’s closure in 1955, Slocombe and his fastidious, no nonsense style (he famously slept on the set of Coronets to ensure the camera wasn’t moved) worked on films as diverse as The Italian Job, Jesus Christ Superstar, Never Say Never Again and The Great Gatsby, earning a BAFTA for the latter – one of three he would win. However, Slocombe is perhaps best known for his work on the Indiana Jones franchise, beginning with Raiders of The Lost Ark, and continuing through to the The Last Crusade, his final film. He is survived by his daughter, Georgina.

– SON

Trailers of the Week

Want to know what you should be excited about this week? This is the place to come to check out the week’s best trailers and related items including clips, TV spots, and teasers.

• Over the last week two rather contrasting but equally interesting trailers have appeared. First up, the first trailer for Disney’s remake of Pete’s Dragon. For many, the decision to remake a half-remembered, hardly loved film like Pete’s Dragon was, at best, a bizarre choice, but it seems that the House of Mouse is preparing to deliver something special. The film is being directed by indie hotshot David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) and stars Bryce Dallas Howard alongside Wes Bentley, Karl Urban, Robert Redford, and relative newcomer Oakes Fegley as Pete. The film boats an epic canvas and brings to mind Spike Jonze’s experimental take on Where the Wild Things Are. 

• Next up is the first trailer for Derek Cianfrance’s delayed new feature The Light Between Oceans. After the brilliance of Blue Valentine and the ambition of The Place Beyond the Pines, Cianfrance’s latest seems as though it is propelling itself towards next year’s award race. The film will star Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Rachel Weisz.

– EF

Thanks for reading. Be sure to come back next week for your weekly film news with One Room With a View.