German-born laywer acquired hundreds of film and TV projects as pre-buys from US producers.
International media consultant and producer Thomas Augsberger has passed away suddenly at his home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 60 years old.
The German-born lawyer was founder of Eden Rock Media, a film and television production company and media consulting business.
Augsberger advised a number of high-profile media clients over the years, most prominently Germany’s Leonine Studios. Before Leonine, Augsberger spent 23 years as an advisor to Dr. Herbert Kloiber’s Tele Muenchen Group as Tmg’s exclusive North American representative in the US.
Augsberger’s...
International media consultant and producer Thomas Augsberger has passed away suddenly at his home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 60 years old.
The German-born lawyer was founder of Eden Rock Media, a film and television production company and media consulting business.
Augsberger advised a number of high-profile media clients over the years, most prominently Germany’s Leonine Studios. Before Leonine, Augsberger spent 23 years as an advisor to Dr. Herbert Kloiber’s Tele Muenchen Group as Tmg’s exclusive North American representative in the US.
Augsberger’s...
- 11/29/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Thomas Augsberger, the producer, international film consultant, former Lionsgate board member and founder of Eden Rock Media, has died. He was 60.
Augsberger died suddenly on Monday, November 27, at his home in the Hollywood Hills, members of his family told The Hollywood Reporter.
The German-born and trained attorney was best known as the longtime consultant and North American representative for Herbert Kloiber‘s German mini-major Tele Muenchen Group (Tmg). After Leonine acquired Tmg in 2019, Augsberger continued to advise the company on film projects and acquisitions.
Over more than two decades, Augsberger acquired hundreds of film and TV projects for the German market from producers, sales agents and studios, making him one of the most important figures on the independent scene. He helped secure prebuys of Marvel’s Iron Man, Summit Entertainment’s Twilight and Lionsgate’s John Wick and Hunger Games franchises, including the recent prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,...
Augsberger died suddenly on Monday, November 27, at his home in the Hollywood Hills, members of his family told The Hollywood Reporter.
The German-born and trained attorney was best known as the longtime consultant and North American representative for Herbert Kloiber‘s German mini-major Tele Muenchen Group (Tmg). After Leonine acquired Tmg in 2019, Augsberger continued to advise the company on film projects and acquisitions.
Over more than two decades, Augsberger acquired hundreds of film and TV projects for the German market from producers, sales agents and studios, making him one of the most important figures on the independent scene. He helped secure prebuys of Marvel’s Iron Man, Summit Entertainment’s Twilight and Lionsgate’s John Wick and Hunger Games franchises, including the recent prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,...
- 11/29/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
International media consultant and producer Thomas Augsberger died suddenly on Tuesday at his home in the Hollywood Hills, his publicist informed Variety. He was 60.
The German-born and trained attorney was founder of film and television production company and media consulting business Eden Rock Media. Augsberger’s high profile media clients included Germany’s Leonine Studios. Prior to Leonine, Augsberger served for more than two decades as an advisor to the Tele Muenchen Group (Tmg) as their exclusive North American representative in the U.S. During this time he oversaw Tmg investments in the U.S., including a preferred equity investment in Lionsgate Entertainment in 1999 and the acquisition of the Mutual Film Library in 2006.
Over his 26-year consulting career, Augsberger acquired hundreds of projects as pre-buys including Marvel’s Iron Man franchise, Voltage’s Oscar winner “The Hurt Locker,” Paramount’s “Shutter Island,” Summit’s Twilight franchise, Lionsgate’s John Wick franchise,...
The German-born and trained attorney was founder of film and television production company and media consulting business Eden Rock Media. Augsberger’s high profile media clients included Germany’s Leonine Studios. Prior to Leonine, Augsberger served for more than two decades as an advisor to the Tele Muenchen Group (Tmg) as their exclusive North American representative in the U.S. During this time he oversaw Tmg investments in the U.S., including a preferred equity investment in Lionsgate Entertainment in 1999 and the acquisition of the Mutual Film Library in 2006.
Over his 26-year consulting career, Augsberger acquired hundreds of projects as pre-buys including Marvel’s Iron Man franchise, Voltage’s Oscar winner “The Hurt Locker,” Paramount’s “Shutter Island,” Summit’s Twilight franchise, Lionsgate’s John Wick franchise,...
- 11/29/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Deadline has learned that Thomas Augsberger, Eden Rock Media founder, producer and international media consultant died suddenly today at his Hollywood Hills home. He was 60 years old.
The German-born and trained attorney advised a number of high-profile media clients over the years, most prominently Germany’s Leonine Studios. Prior to Leonine, Augsberger served 23 years as an advisor to Dr. Herbert Kloiber‘s Tele Muenchen Group as Tmg’s exclusive North American representative in the US.
In 2002, he founded Eden Rock Media, a film and television production company and media consulting business.
Augsberger was widely respected for his deep experience in the production and acquisition of feature films, television series, and content libraries; investments in US distributors and production companies; the co-financing, co-production, and distribution of film, television, and digital projects; and the negotiation of German output deals with studios for theatrical, home entertainment, and television. Over the course of his 26-year consulting career,...
The German-born and trained attorney advised a number of high-profile media clients over the years, most prominently Germany’s Leonine Studios. Prior to Leonine, Augsberger served 23 years as an advisor to Dr. Herbert Kloiber‘s Tele Muenchen Group as Tmg’s exclusive North American representative in the US.
In 2002, he founded Eden Rock Media, a film and television production company and media consulting business.
Augsberger was widely respected for his deep experience in the production and acquisition of feature films, television series, and content libraries; investments in US distributors and production companies; the co-financing, co-production, and distribution of film, television, and digital projects; and the negotiation of German output deals with studios for theatrical, home entertainment, and television. Over the course of his 26-year consulting career,...
- 11/29/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Canal+Docs has acquired French rights to Reinventing Mirazur, the feature documentary that explores the life of renowned Argentinian chef Mauro Colagreco and the dramatic transformation of his high-end restaurant Mirazur in Menton, France.
The deal, which is for TV and SVOD, comes before the film’s June 13 North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Rainmaker Content is handling worldwide sales. The film debuted at last year’s San Sebastian Film Festival.
Reinventing Mirazur takes a deep dive into the life of Colagreco, who finds himself changing everything about his flagship restaurant after the Covid-19 pandemic halted his worldwide rise to prominence. The chef’s cuisine, rooted in both the traditions of French gastronomy and deep connection to the natural world, has garnered him worldwide acclaim.
The film began production in 2019 soon after Colagreco and his team won ”World’s Best Restaurant”, from ’50 Best’s’ panel of 1,080 chefs,...
The deal, which is for TV and SVOD, comes before the film’s June 13 North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Rainmaker Content is handling worldwide sales. The film debuted at last year’s San Sebastian Film Festival.
Reinventing Mirazur takes a deep dive into the life of Colagreco, who finds himself changing everything about his flagship restaurant after the Covid-19 pandemic halted his worldwide rise to prominence. The chef’s cuisine, rooted in both the traditions of French gastronomy and deep connection to the natural world, has garnered him worldwide acclaim.
The film began production in 2019 soon after Colagreco and his team won ”World’s Best Restaurant”, from ’50 Best’s’ panel of 1,080 chefs,...
- 6/10/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Chef Mauro Colagreco of the three-Michelin star restaurant Mirazur will be attending the June 13 North American premiere of the documentary “Reinventing Mirazur” at the Tribeca Film Festival. In a clip released ahead of its premiere in Variety, Colagreco explains the new philosophy behind the restaurant’s menus, borne out of the pandemic.
As described, the doc takes “a deep dive into the life of Chef Mauro, who finds himself changing everything about his flagship restaurant after the Covid-19 pandemic halted his worldwide rise to prominence.”
Forced to go into hiatus not long after his Menton, France-based restaurant was awarded the coveted three Michelin stars and the No.1 spot in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2019, Colagreco spent more time in his estate’s vast vegetable and flower garden and came up with the idea to introduce menus pegged to the cycles of the moon. Since he sourced all the...
As described, the doc takes “a deep dive into the life of Chef Mauro, who finds himself changing everything about his flagship restaurant after the Covid-19 pandemic halted his worldwide rise to prominence.”
Forced to go into hiatus not long after his Menton, France-based restaurant was awarded the coveted three Michelin stars and the No.1 spot in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2019, Colagreco spent more time in his estate’s vast vegetable and flower garden and came up with the idea to introduce menus pegged to the cycles of the moon. Since he sourced all the...
- 6/6/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen) has breathed new life into Don’t Look Deeper, a short-form series created for the defunct streaming platform Quibi, which has now been reconfigured as a feature. The Veterans will screen the fully shot and completed picture to global buyers during the Cannes Film Market, with Thomas Augsberger’s Eden Rock Media handling U.S. sales.
Don’t Look Deeper is a sci-fi thriller originally conceived as a 14-episode series, with a 12 million budget. The film follows Aisha (Helena Howard), a high school senior who can’t seem to shake the feeling that something about her is just not right. In fact, it isn’t—she’s not human. The revelation of who she really is, where she comes from and who has started looking for her sets in motion a series of events that suddenly puts her life in jeopardy. Oscar nominee Don Cheadle (Black Monday) and...
Don’t Look Deeper is a sci-fi thriller originally conceived as a 14-episode series, with a 12 million budget. The film follows Aisha (Helena Howard), a high school senior who can’t seem to shake the feeling that something about her is just not right. In fact, it isn’t—she’s not human. The revelation of who she really is, where she comes from and who has started looking for her sets in motion a series of events that suddenly puts her life in jeopardy. Oscar nominee Don Cheadle (Black Monday) and...
- 5/17/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Kusser joins from Fremantle where she was EVP, co-production and distribution.
French media company Mediawan and German production group Leonine Studios have snapped up Fremantle’s Caroline Kusser to oversee all international and European TV co-production activities at joint venture, Mediawan & Leonine Studios.
She joined as executive vice president international co-production at Mediawan & Leonine Studios, as well as executive vice president of world sales at Leonine Studios, on January 1.
Kusser manages and co-ordinates fiction co-productions across the more than 60 production companies belonging to Mediawan & Leonine Studios, which includes a majority stake in the UK’s Drama Republic. Kusser is also...
French media company Mediawan and German production group Leonine Studios have snapped up Fremantle’s Caroline Kusser to oversee all international and European TV co-production activities at joint venture, Mediawan & Leonine Studios.
She joined as executive vice president international co-production at Mediawan & Leonine Studios, as well as executive vice president of world sales at Leonine Studios, on January 1.
Kusser manages and co-ordinates fiction co-productions across the more than 60 production companies belonging to Mediawan & Leonine Studios, which includes a majority stake in the UK’s Drama Republic. Kusser is also...
- 1/20/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The idea for the documentary “Reinventing Mirazur,” which follows Argentine Chef Mauro Colagreco and the profound transformation he and his three-Michelin star restaurant Mirazur undergo, began in faraway Japan where French filmmakers Franck Ribière and Vérane Frediani met him while he participated in the Cook Japan event organized by restaurateur Yuji Shimoyama.
Colagreco was among the 32 chefs invited from all over the world by Shimoyama to display their cooking expertise to Japan, under one condition, to use only Japanese produce. The idea was to make a short film but it expanded to a feature-length format when Colagreco invited them to his restaurant in France to continue shooting him. Shimoyama, who appears in the documentary, is also one of the producers. “This was a one-time event, it was very difficult to organize,” he asserts.
Ribière and Frediani began filming Colagreco at Mirazur then the pandemic hit and as in life, the documentary twisted in a new,...
Colagreco was among the 32 chefs invited from all over the world by Shimoyama to display their cooking expertise to Japan, under one condition, to use only Japanese produce. The idea was to make a short film but it expanded to a feature-length format when Colagreco invited them to his restaurant in France to continue shooting him. Shimoyama, who appears in the documentary, is also one of the producers. “This was a one-time event, it was very difficult to organize,” he asserts.
Ribière and Frediani began filming Colagreco at Mirazur then the pandemic hit and as in life, the documentary twisted in a new,...
- 9/24/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Los Angeles-based producer Thomas Augsberger is launching Erm Docs, a new documentary division at his Eden Rock Music label whose first title, “Reinventing Mirazur,” will world premiere at the San Sebastian Festival.
A portrait of the extraordinary daring of Argentine-born chef Mauro Colagreco whose three Michelin star restaurant, Mirazur, on France’s Mediterranean coast, was awarded Best Restaurant in the World, “Reinventing Miramar” marks the latest title from French filmmakers Frank Ribière and Vérane Frediani. Prominent producers on France and Spain’s genre scene, they have opened up a parallel second career as director-writers of high-quality culinary doc-features of substance with titles such as Netflix’s “Steak Revolution” and “A la Récherche des femmes chefs.”
Also in the pipeline at Erm Docs is “Bonnie,” a portrait of famed casting agent Bonnie Timmermann directed by Simon Wallon and produced with Amanda Sthers; and “Form Doc,” about the Form Arcosanti Film & Arts...
A portrait of the extraordinary daring of Argentine-born chef Mauro Colagreco whose three Michelin star restaurant, Mirazur, on France’s Mediterranean coast, was awarded Best Restaurant in the World, “Reinventing Miramar” marks the latest title from French filmmakers Frank Ribière and Vérane Frediani. Prominent producers on France and Spain’s genre scene, they have opened up a parallel second career as director-writers of high-quality culinary doc-features of substance with titles such as Netflix’s “Steak Revolution” and “A la Récherche des femmes chefs.”
Also in the pipeline at Erm Docs is “Bonnie,” a portrait of famed casting agent Bonnie Timmermann directed by Simon Wallon and produced with Amanda Sthers; and “Form Doc,” about the Form Arcosanti Film & Arts...
- 9/17/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
The CW has acquired the US rights to the action series “Professionals” starring Tom Welling, Brendan Fraser, and Elena Anaya.
The premiere date for the show’s U.S. broadcast debut will be announced at a later date.
“Professionals” follows Vincent Corbo (Welling), a top-tier security operative, who is paid to protect the interests of rich and powerful clients by any means necessary – legal or not. After a next-gen medical satellite explodes on launch, Corbo is hired by the rocket’s designer – billionaire futurist Peter Swann (Fraser) – who suspects sabotage. Complicating Corbo’s new gig is his former paramour and now Swann’s fiancée, medical visionary Dr. Grace Davila (Anaya), who is racing to help stave off a global catastrophe.
As Corbo and his team of veteran security professionals investigate the rocket disaster, they expose a lethal conspiracy of Swann’s corporate rivals, corrupt government officials, and a shadowy crime...
The premiere date for the show’s U.S. broadcast debut will be announced at a later date.
“Professionals” follows Vincent Corbo (Welling), a top-tier security operative, who is paid to protect the interests of rich and powerful clients by any means necessary – legal or not. After a next-gen medical satellite explodes on launch, Corbo is hired by the rocket’s designer – billionaire futurist Peter Swann (Fraser) – who suspects sabotage. Complicating Corbo’s new gig is his former paramour and now Swann’s fiancée, medical visionary Dr. Grace Davila (Anaya), who is racing to help stave off a global catastrophe.
As Corbo and his team of veteran security professionals investigate the rocket disaster, they expose a lethal conspiracy of Swann’s corporate rivals, corrupt government officials, and a shadowy crime...
- 9/14/2021
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
The CW is continuing its interest in international series. The youth-skewing network has acquired Professionals, a loose remake of the Christian Slater-fronted action movie Soldiers of Fortune for Scandinavian SVOD service Viaplay.
The series, which was first revealed by Deadline in 2019, stars Smallville’s Welling as Vincent Corbo, a top-tier security operative, who is paid to protect the interests of rich and powerful clients by any means necessary – legal or not.
After a next-gen medical satellite explodes on launch, Corbo is hired by the rocket’s designer – billionaire futurist Peter Swann, played by Fraser, who suspects sabotage. Complicating Corbo’s new gig is his former paramour and now Swann’s fiancée, medical visionary Dr. Grace Davila, played by Wonder Woman’s Elena Anaya, who is racing to help stave off a global catastrophe. As Corbo and his team of veteran security professionals investigate the rocket disaster, they expose a...
The series, which was first revealed by Deadline in 2019, stars Smallville’s Welling as Vincent Corbo, a top-tier security operative, who is paid to protect the interests of rich and powerful clients by any means necessary – legal or not.
After a next-gen medical satellite explodes on launch, Corbo is hired by the rocket’s designer – billionaire futurist Peter Swann, played by Fraser, who suspects sabotage. Complicating Corbo’s new gig is his former paramour and now Swann’s fiancée, medical visionary Dr. Grace Davila, played by Wonder Woman’s Elena Anaya, who is racing to help stave off a global catastrophe. As Corbo and his team of veteran security professionals investigate the rocket disaster, they expose a...
- 9/14/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Leonine Confirms U.S. Date For Spy City
Leonine has confirmed that Odeon Fiction and Miramax’s high-end spy thriller series Spy City has sold to AMC Networks and will launch on AMC+ in the United States on April 15, 2021. The six-part series from UK writer William Boyd was produced by Leonine Studios’ production banner Odeon Fiction. Co-financed and executive-produced by Miramax and distributed through ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group, the series stars Dominic Cooper (Preacher) in the lead role of Fielding Scott, an English spy who is sent to Berlin in 1961 to sift out a traitor in the UK Embassy or among the Allies, shortly before the construction of the Berlin Wall. Producers are Odeon Fiction’s Britta Meyermann, Mischa Hofmann and Ann-Kathrin Eicher. Dominic Cooper, William Boyd, Thomas Augsberger and Bill Block are executive producers, alongside with Magenta TV’s Michael Schuld, Sven Philipp and Zdf’s Wolfgang Feindt and Annika Schmidt.
Leonine has confirmed that Odeon Fiction and Miramax’s high-end spy thriller series Spy City has sold to AMC Networks and will launch on AMC+ in the United States on April 15, 2021. The six-part series from UK writer William Boyd was produced by Leonine Studios’ production banner Odeon Fiction. Co-financed and executive-produced by Miramax and distributed through ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group, the series stars Dominic Cooper (Preacher) in the lead role of Fielding Scott, an English spy who is sent to Berlin in 1961 to sift out a traitor in the UK Embassy or among the Allies, shortly before the construction of the Berlin Wall. Producers are Odeon Fiction’s Britta Meyermann, Mischa Hofmann and Ann-Kathrin Eicher. Dominic Cooper, William Boyd, Thomas Augsberger and Bill Block are executive producers, alongside with Magenta TV’s Michael Schuld, Sven Philipp and Zdf’s Wolfgang Feindt and Annika Schmidt.
- 4/12/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
FX released a trailer for the third and final season of “Pose,” which will debut on May 2.
Nearly two years after Blanca Evangelista’s (Mj Rodriguez) triumphant return to the ballroom, she gets a new job working at a hospital, while newly-engaged Angel (Indya Moore) and Papi (Angel Bismark Curiel) seem happy as ever. Following a health scare last season, Pray Tell’s (Billy Porter) fate is up in the air. “I knew this disease was gonna eat me alive, but I’m not going out without a fight,” he says in the trailer. Watch it in full below.
Also in today’s TV news roundup, Showtime announced a virtual farewell event featuring the cast of “Shameless,” taking place April 11 at 7 p.m. Pt., immediately following the series finale. Showrunner John Wells will join cast members William H. Macy, Jeremy Allen White, Ethan Cutkosky, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Emma Kenney,...
Nearly two years after Blanca Evangelista’s (Mj Rodriguez) triumphant return to the ballroom, she gets a new job working at a hospital, while newly-engaged Angel (Indya Moore) and Papi (Angel Bismark Curiel) seem happy as ever. Following a health scare last season, Pray Tell’s (Billy Porter) fate is up in the air. “I knew this disease was gonna eat me alive, but I’m not going out without a fight,” he says in the trailer. Watch it in full below.
Also in today’s TV news roundup, Showtime announced a virtual farewell event featuring the cast of “Shameless,” taking place April 11 at 7 p.m. Pt., immediately following the series finale. Showrunner John Wells will join cast members William H. Macy, Jeremy Allen White, Ethan Cutkosky, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Emma Kenney,...
- 4/6/2021
- by Haley Bosselman and Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Brendan Fraser Actioner ‘Professionals’ Finds Global Distribution With Rainmaker Content (Exclusive)
Rainmaker Content has picked up worldwide distribution rights from German studio Leonine for Brendan Fraser-starring action series “Professionals.” The project, which was completed during the global pandemic, will be shopped to buyers at next month’s virtual Mipcom market.
Commissioned by Nordic Entertainment Group (Nent Group) for streamer Viaplay, the cast includes Fraser (“Trust”), Tom Welling (“Smallville”), Elena Anaya (“Wonder Woman”), Saïd Taghmaoui (“John Wick 3”), Ken Duken (“Inglorious Basterd”), Lisa Loven Kongsli (“Force Majeure”) and August Wittgenstein (“The Crown”).
The 10-part series stars Welling as hardened former counterintelligence officer Captain Vincent Corbo, who is hired by billionaire futurist Peter Swann (Fraser) and his fiancée, medical visionary Dr. Graciela “Grace” Davila (Anaya), to investigate the explosion of an advanced medical satellite. What Corbo and his team discover, however, is that a combination of Swann’s business rivals, corrupt government officials and a shadowy crime syndicate could be behind the attack.
Commissioned by Nordic Entertainment Group (Nent Group) for streamer Viaplay, the cast includes Fraser (“Trust”), Tom Welling (“Smallville”), Elena Anaya (“Wonder Woman”), Saïd Taghmaoui (“John Wick 3”), Ken Duken (“Inglorious Basterd”), Lisa Loven Kongsli (“Force Majeure”) and August Wittgenstein (“The Crown”).
The 10-part series stars Welling as hardened former counterintelligence officer Captain Vincent Corbo, who is hired by billionaire futurist Peter Swann (Fraser) and his fiancée, medical visionary Dr. Graciela “Grace” Davila (Anaya), to investigate the explosion of an advanced medical satellite. What Corbo and his team discover, however, is that a combination of Swann’s business rivals, corrupt government officials and a shadowy crime syndicate could be behind the attack.
- 9/29/2020
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: In a competitive situation, German major Leonine has won rights to recently announced Jason Statham-Guy Ritchie spy thriller Five Eyes, marking the first major deal to go down during Toronto’s virtual market.
The splashy pre-sale, in the high seven figures, marks one of Leonine’s most lucrative acquisitions to date. There are a number of other territory deals on the table for the movie, which we hear is being budgeted in the $60M+ range, making it one of the biggest packages on sale this week. The high demand is good news for an independent sector which is still trying to get back on its feet after being hit hard by coronavirus.
STX is selling international and producing and financing with Bill Block for Miramax. The former will also release in U.S., UK and Ireland.
In the spy thriller, Statham will play an MI6 guns-and-steel agent recruited by...
The splashy pre-sale, in the high seven figures, marks one of Leonine’s most lucrative acquisitions to date. There are a number of other territory deals on the table for the movie, which we hear is being budgeted in the $60M+ range, making it one of the biggest packages on sale this week. The high demand is good news for an independent sector which is still trying to get back on its feet after being hit hard by coronavirus.
STX is selling international and producing and financing with Bill Block for Miramax. The former will also release in U.S., UK and Ireland.
In the spy thriller, Statham will play an MI6 guns-and-steel agent recruited by...
- 9/11/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: German major Leonine is extending its long-term partnership with Los Angeles-based industry vet Thomas Augsberger and his Eden Rock Media banner via a multi-year consulting deal.
Eden Rock Media will continue to advise Leonine on licensing U.S.-produced features and series for German-speaking territories and continue to work on third-party TV acquisitions for Leonine’s English-language international sales division.
The new agreement is the latest iteration of Augsberger’s 22-year partnership with the media company that initially began with Tmg, which was acquired by Kkr-backed Leonine two years ago.
Starting in Cannes 2019, Augsberger worked with Leonine’s CEO Fred Kogel, COO Dr. Markus Frerker and SVP Acquisitions Alexander Janssen to establish the distributor as a major European buyer. Augsberger consulted on high-profile all-rights acquisitions for German-speaking Europe such as Roland Emmerich’s and AGC Studios‘ Moonfall, which was later acquired for the U.S. by Lionsgate; Solstice Studios...
Eden Rock Media will continue to advise Leonine on licensing U.S.-produced features and series for German-speaking territories and continue to work on third-party TV acquisitions for Leonine’s English-language international sales division.
The new agreement is the latest iteration of Augsberger’s 22-year partnership with the media company that initially began with Tmg, which was acquired by Kkr-backed Leonine two years ago.
Starting in Cannes 2019, Augsberger worked with Leonine’s CEO Fred Kogel, COO Dr. Markus Frerker and SVP Acquisitions Alexander Janssen to establish the distributor as a major European buyer. Augsberger consulted on high-profile all-rights acquisitions for German-speaking Europe such as Roland Emmerich’s and AGC Studios‘ Moonfall, which was later acquired for the U.S. by Lionsgate; Solstice Studios...
- 9/9/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Joseph Baxter Aug 8, 2019
Suicide Squad director David Ayer is in talks to direct WWII thriller El-Alamein, named after the crucial battle in Egypt.
David Ayer, perhaps best known as the director of 2016 DC movie Suicide Squad, is returning to the genre of World War II tank battle epics, which he famously fielded as writer/director of the 2014 Brad Pitt-headlined Fury. With that WWII tank movie covering the War’s European Theater, he’s now eyeing an adaptation of a key skirmish in the Mediterranean, African and Middle East Theater, with a film titled El-Alamein.
Lionsgate is in talks with Ayer to direct El-Alamein, reports Deadline. The war drama will center on the 1942 WWII tanks-teeming battle in the Egyptian coastal town, just 150 miles west of Cairo. The script has already undergone rewrites, with the first draft, by David Self, recently getting turned over to James Coyne. With Ayer’s tendency...
Suicide Squad director David Ayer is in talks to direct WWII thriller El-Alamein, named after the crucial battle in Egypt.
David Ayer, perhaps best known as the director of 2016 DC movie Suicide Squad, is returning to the genre of World War II tank battle epics, which he famously fielded as writer/director of the 2014 Brad Pitt-headlined Fury. With that WWII tank movie covering the War’s European Theater, he’s now eyeing an adaptation of a key skirmish in the Mediterranean, African and Middle East Theater, with a film titled El-Alamein.
Lionsgate is in talks with Ayer to direct El-Alamein, reports Deadline. The war drama will center on the 1942 WWII tanks-teeming battle in the Egyptian coastal town, just 150 miles west of Cairo. The script has already undergone rewrites, with the first draft, by David Self, recently getting turned over to James Coyne. With Ayer’s tendency...
- 8/8/2019
- Den of Geek
Exclusive: David Ayer is negotiating to direct El-Alamein, the true story of a series of epic, bloody battles in the desert that pitted German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel against Britain’s Eighth Army in North Africa, led by Bernard Montgomery.
The script originally was written by David Self, and the most recent draft is by James Coyne. Di Bonaventura Pictures’ Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are producing with Thomas Augsberger. The plan is to begin production in early 2020.
This is a big swing for Lionsgate, under Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane. Ayer previously directed the WWII tank battle film Fury, which starred Brad Pitt. He most recently completed the gritty urban street crime drama The Tax Collector, which he wrote. Before that, Ayer directed the Netflix film Bright and Warner Bros’ Suicide Squad.
After British forces defeated Italian forces in North Africa, Germany tapped Gen. Rommel to drive eastward...
The script originally was written by David Self, and the most recent draft is by James Coyne. Di Bonaventura Pictures’ Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are producing with Thomas Augsberger. The plan is to begin production in early 2020.
This is a big swing for Lionsgate, under Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane. Ayer previously directed the WWII tank battle film Fury, which starred Brad Pitt. He most recently completed the gritty urban street crime drama The Tax Collector, which he wrote. Before that, Ayer directed the Netflix film Bright and Warner Bros’ Suicide Squad.
After British forces defeated Italian forces in North Africa, Germany tapped Gen. Rommel to drive eastward...
- 8/8/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
In this week’s International TV Newswire, new German studio to be formed by Tele MünchenGroup (Tmg), Universum Film, i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film share licensing division details; soccer leagues jointly condemn a Saudi pirate broadcaster; Franco-Belgian comic superstar “Marsupilami” gets a 3D reboot and Spain’s Atresmedia steps up its on demand game.
German Merger Details Licensing Strategy
Announced earlier this year, the new German studio merging giant Tele MünchenGroup (Tmg), Universum Film, i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film, announced management structures at its new licensing division on Friday.
The main takeaways: the unit will be headed by CEO Fred Kogel, who will handle acquisitions with previous head of international acquisitions at Universum Film Alexander Janssen. L.A.-based Eden Rock Media’s Thomas Augsberger, who has been advising Tmg in its acquisitions of feature films as well as the development of films and series, will...
German Merger Details Licensing Strategy
Announced earlier this year, the new German studio merging giant Tele MünchenGroup (Tmg), Universum Film, i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film, announced management structures at its new licensing division on Friday.
The main takeaways: the unit will be headed by CEO Fred Kogel, who will handle acquisitions with previous head of international acquisitions at Universum Film Alexander Janssen. L.A.-based Eden Rock Media’s Thomas Augsberger, who has been advising Tmg in its acquisitions of feature films as well as the development of films and series, will...
- 8/2/2019
- by Jamie Lang and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: With AMC’s Preacher coming to a close this summer, Dominic Cooper is set to star in the six-part espionage Cold War series Spy City from Miramax and Germany’s H&v Entertainment and Zdf.
Novelist and screenwriter William Boyd is currently writing Spy City. German-Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Alexandre will direct, and Johanna Wokalek and Leonie Benesch (The Crown, Babylon Berlin) also star.
Cooper will play an English spy who is sent to Berlin in 1961 to sift out a traitor in the UK Embassy or among the Allies, shortly before the construction of the Berlin Wall. The city, declared by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev as “the most dangerous place on earth,” is teeming with spies and double agents. One wrong move could trigger the looming threat of nuclear war as American,...
Novelist and screenwriter William Boyd is currently writing Spy City. German-Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Alexandre will direct, and Johanna Wokalek and Leonie Benesch (The Crown, Babylon Berlin) also star.
Cooper will play an English spy who is sent to Berlin in 1961 to sift out a traitor in the UK Embassy or among the Allies, shortly before the construction of the Berlin Wall. The city, declared by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev as “the most dangerous place on earth,” is teeming with spies and double agents. One wrong move could trigger the looming threat of nuclear war as American,...
- 7/11/2019
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Brendan Fraser is to star in The Professionals, a loose remake of the Christian Slater-fronted action movie Soldiers of Fortune for Scandinavian Svod service Viaplay.
The Mummy and Trust star is to front The Professionals, based on the Jeff Most-produced film, alongside Smallville’s Tom Welling, Wonder Woman’s Elena Anaya, John Wick 3’s Saïd Taghmaoui, Inglourious Basterds’ Ken Duken, Force Majeure’s Lisa Loven Kongsli and Das Boot’s August Wittgenstein.
The ten-part English-language series, which has just begun filming in South Africa and Ireland, was commissioned by Viaplay with German broadcaster Rtl II pre-buying the free-tv rights.
The Professionals is set against a backdrop of international espionage and corporate sabotage in the 21st century’s privately-funded space race and follow Welling as a hardened former counterintelligence officer Captain Vincent Corbo. After their advanced medical satellite explodes on deployment, billionaire futurist Peter Swann, played by Fraser,...
The Mummy and Trust star is to front The Professionals, based on the Jeff Most-produced film, alongside Smallville’s Tom Welling, Wonder Woman’s Elena Anaya, John Wick 3’s Saïd Taghmaoui, Inglourious Basterds’ Ken Duken, Force Majeure’s Lisa Loven Kongsli and Das Boot’s August Wittgenstein.
The ten-part English-language series, which has just begun filming in South Africa and Ireland, was commissioned by Viaplay with German broadcaster Rtl II pre-buying the free-tv rights.
The Professionals is set against a backdrop of international espionage and corporate sabotage in the 21st century’s privately-funded space race and follow Welling as a hardened former counterintelligence officer Captain Vincent Corbo. After their advanced medical satellite explodes on deployment, billionaire futurist Peter Swann, played by Fraser,...
- 5/31/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Anthony Hopkins may be busy building Western-themed amusement parks in “Westworld,” but before he became Dr. Ford he was helping an FBI agent solve a a series of homicides in “Solace.” Lionsgate Premiere released the latest trailer for the psychological drama, which features Hopkins trying to get inside the killer’s mind.
Directed by Afonso Poyart, the thriller follows FBI Special Agent Joe Merriwether (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) after he enlists his former colleague Dr. John Clancy (Hopkins), a retired physician with physic powers, to help him track down a murderer. At first Clancy, who left his old life behind after the death of his daughter and subsequent break-up of his marriage, wants nothing to do with the case. He then changes his mind after seeing a disturbingly violent vision, which leads him to suspect Charles Ambrose (Colin Farrell). Though he soon realizes is that his abilities are no match against the killer.
Directed by Afonso Poyart, the thriller follows FBI Special Agent Joe Merriwether (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) after he enlists his former colleague Dr. John Clancy (Hopkins), a retired physician with physic powers, to help him track down a murderer. At first Clancy, who left his old life behind after the death of his daughter and subsequent break-up of his marriage, wants nothing to do with the case. He then changes his mind after seeing a disturbingly violent vision, which leads him to suspect Charles Ambrose (Colin Farrell). Though he soon realizes is that his abilities are no match against the killer.
- 11/10/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
The increasing popularity of VOD models is causing a shift in the release paradigm, and the culprits are not only Netflix and Amazon Studios.
Multi-platform distribution is wreaking havoc on international buyers who have seen the value of their rights dwindle as Us independent distributors turn their backs on wide theatrical releases in favour of VOD and streaming models.
The concern is one thread in a tapestry of gripes voiced by an international industry battling with change.
Pockets of monetary and economic woe in Asia and Latin America, plus consolidation in the sales agency business as companies struggle to find scarce commercial product continue to create challenges.
The changing release paradigm is causing plenty of headaches and the culprits are not just deep-pocketed Netflix and Amazon Studios.
Thomas Augsberger of Eden Rock Media, who buys for Telemunchen / Concorde, said that films that go out on VOD in the Us can affect the value chain for international buyers...
Multi-platform distribution is wreaking havoc on international buyers who have seen the value of their rights dwindle as Us independent distributors turn their backs on wide theatrical releases in favour of VOD and streaming models.
The concern is one thread in a tapestry of gripes voiced by an international industry battling with change.
Pockets of monetary and economic woe in Asia and Latin America, plus consolidation in the sales agency business as companies struggle to find scarce commercial product continue to create challenges.
The changing release paradigm is causing plenty of headaches and the culprits are not just deep-pocketed Netflix and Amazon Studios.
Thomas Augsberger of Eden Rock Media, who buys for Telemunchen / Concorde, said that films that go out on VOD in the Us can affect the value chain for international buyers...
- 2/12/2016
- ScreenDaily
Afonso Poyart's Solace adds Abbie Cornish to Colin Farrell, Anthony Hopkins cast Cornish will join her Seven Psychopaths co-star Farrell after landing the female lead in the thriller which is set to start shooting in May this year. In the film, a doctor who has psychic abilities, teams with an FBI agent to hunt down a serial killer. At this time, it's unknown what part Cornish will have in Solace. Jeffrey Dean Morgan also stars in the film produced by Beau Flynn, Tripp Vinson and Thomas Augsberger, Peter Morgan, James Vanderbilt and Ted Griffin. Cornish is in post-production phase on the RoboCop...
- 4/11/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Afonso Poyart's Solace adds Abbie Cornish to Colin Farrell, Anthony Hopkins cast Cornish will join her Seven Psychopaths co-star Farrell after landing the female lead in the thriller which is set to start shooting in May this year. In the film, a doctor who has psychic abilities, teams with an FBI agent to hunt down a serial killer. At this time, it's unknown what part Cornish will have in Solace. Jeffrey Dean Morgan also stars in the film produced by Beau Flynn, Tripp Vinson and Thomas Augsberger, Peter Morgan, James Vanderbilt and Ted Griffin. Cornish is in post-production phase on the RoboCop...
- 4/11/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Abbie Cornish has joined the cast of Afonso Poyart's Solace , Variety reports. She joins Anthony Hopkins, Colin Farrell and Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the thriller. The New Line Cinema project deals with a clairvoyant doctor, John Clancy (Hopkins), who is enlisted by the police to help catch a serial killer. Cornish recently starred opposite Farrell in Seven Psychopaths . She can be seen coming up in Jose Padilha's RoboCop . Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm are producing alongside Matthias Emcke and Thomas Augsberger from a script by Sean Bailey, Ted Griffin, James Vanderbilt and Peter Morgan. (Photo Credit: Mr. Blue / WENN.com)...
- 4/11/2013
- Comingsoon.net
Jeffrey Dean Morgan is the latest name to join the cast of Afonso Poyart's Solace , says a story at The Hollywood Reporter . He joins Anthony Hopkins and Colin Farrell in the supernatural thriller. The New Line Cinema project deals with a clairvoyant doctor, John Clancy (Hopkins), who is enlisted by the police to help catch a serial killer. Morgan would play an FBI Agent that winds up working alongside Clancy. Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm are producing alongside Matthias Emcke and Thomas Augsberger from a script by Sean Bailey, Ted Griffin, James Vanderbilt and Peter Morgan. Morgan, best known for roles in films like Watchmen and The Losers , is currently the lead on Starz's "Magic City." (Photo Credit: Apega / WENN.com)...
- 3/4/2013
- Comingsoon.net
Exclusive: Colin Farrell is closing a deal to star with Anthony Hopkins in Solace, the supernatural thriller that Afonso Poyart (Two Rabbits) will direct with production to begin in May. The film will be sold at Berlin by FilmNation’s Glen Basner, and domestic distribution rights are also up for grabs and are being repped by UTA. The film’s scripted by Sean Bailey, Ted Griffin, James Vanderbilt and Peter Morgan. It has percolating long enough that the film’s first credited writer, Bailey, is currently president of production at Disney. The film originated at New Line but never came together quite right, and producers Beau Flynn of FlynnPictureCo, Tripp Vinson and Thomas Augsberger. Flynn finally got it back and got the financing through Claudia Bluemhuber’s Silver Reel. Matthias Emcke is exec producer with Bluemhuber, Gerd Scheppers and Jacob Pechenik. An FBI detective seeks the help of a retired and reclusive doctor,...
- 2/4/2013
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
Colin Farrell has signed on to star opposite the previously announced Anthony Hopkins in the upcoming thriller Solace , Deadline reports. Originally announced for development in 2008 with Mark Pellington ( The Mothman Prophecies , Arlington Road ) directing, the New Line Cinema project deals with a clairvoyant doctor who is enlisted by the police to help catch a serial killer. Hopkins would play the doctor, John Clancy. Pellington is no longer attached, but Afonso Poyart will take over as director. Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm are still producing alongside Matthias Emcke and Thomas Augsberger. When the project was originally announced, the script had been written by Sean Bailey and Ted Griffin with rewrites by James Vanderbilt. It has since been rewritten...
- 2/4/2013
- Comingsoon.net
Universal Pictures has attached their favorite Fast Five filmmaker Justin Lin to produce a sci-fi comedy Subdivision from writers Morgan Jurgenson and Alex Ankeles.
Lin who continues to helm The Fast and the Furious series will develop the Subdivision project as a potential directing vehicle.
Hot off of the success of Fast Five, Lin has already put together a directing and producing program that includes the action-adventure/spy flick Leading Man; an untitled project about a WWII Japanese American battalion that is the most decorated unit in American history; an untitled sci-fi/crime thriller project to be directed by Robert Glickert; and of course Fast & Furious 6, which is currently filming and already has a release date of May 24th, 2013.
He has inked a two-year first-look deal with the Universal studio for his newly created Barnstorm Pictures banner attached to Subdivision project as well.
Up-and-coming writers Jurgenson and Ankeles sold another sci-fi script,...
Lin who continues to helm The Fast and the Furious series will develop the Subdivision project as a potential directing vehicle.
Hot off of the success of Fast Five, Lin has already put together a directing and producing program that includes the action-adventure/spy flick Leading Man; an untitled project about a WWII Japanese American battalion that is the most decorated unit in American history; an untitled sci-fi/crime thriller project to be directed by Robert Glickert; and of course Fast & Furious 6, which is currently filming and already has a release date of May 24th, 2013.
He has inked a two-year first-look deal with the Universal studio for his newly created Barnstorm Pictures banner attached to Subdivision project as well.
Up-and-coming writers Jurgenson and Ankeles sold another sci-fi script,...
- 10/30/2012
- by Nick Martin
- Filmofilia
New Line Cinema is moving foward with the supernatural tale Solace , featuring Anthony Hopkins in the lead. Today, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Brazilian director Afonso Poyart is in talks to direct. Originally announced for development in 2008 with Mark Pellington ( The Mothman Prophecies , Arlington Road ) directing, the project deals with a clairvoyant doctor who is enlisted by the police to help catch a serial killer. Hopkins will play the doctor, John Clancy. Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm are producing alongside Matthias Emcke and Thomas Augsberger. When the project was originally announced, the script had been written by Sean Bailey and Ted Griffin with rewrites by James Vanderbilt. It has since been rewritten by Peter Morgan. Poyart is best...
- 5/10/2012
- Comingsoon.net
When it comes to being awesome, Anthony Hopkins has got it down. Whether he’s playing the unsettling Hannibal in The Silence Of The Lambs, the all-powerful Odin in Thor, or the honorable Don Diego de la Vega in The Mask Of Zorro, Hopkins usually doesn’t disappoint, which is why it’s a pleasure to relay to you that he is currently in negotiations to star in New Line’s new serial killer film, Solace.
According to Variety, Hopkins’ character – John Clancy – is a former doctor with psychic abilities which he uses to help the FBI track down some sort of unique serial killer.
The project doesn’t have a director attached as of yet, but former Contrafilm partners Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson are producing, while Matthias Emcke and Thomas Augsberger will exec produce.
The original screenplay was written by Sean Bailey and Ted Griffen, but has since...
According to Variety, Hopkins’ character – John Clancy – is a former doctor with psychic abilities which he uses to help the FBI track down some sort of unique serial killer.
The project doesn’t have a director attached as of yet, but former Contrafilm partners Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson are producing, while Matthias Emcke and Thomas Augsberger will exec produce.
The original screenplay was written by Sean Bailey and Ted Griffen, but has since...
- 9/7/2011
- by Barrett
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
For decades Anthony Hopkins has played some truly delicious villains, and now he's jumping to the other side of the fence to try and catch one. Read on for the info!
According to Variety, Hopkins is in final negotiations to star in New Line's serial killer film Solace.
Hopkins will play John Clancy, a former doctor with psychic abilities who works for the FBI and is drawn into a unique serial killer case that pits him against a formidable foe.
Though there's no director attached yet, former Contrafilm partners Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson are producing the elevated genre pic, while Matthias Emcke and Thomas Augsberger (Mr. Brooks) will exec produce.
Sean Bailey and Ted Griffin wrote the original draft of the script, which was then rewritten by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac). Peter Morgan wrote the most recent draft, and production is slated to start early next year.
Look for more soon!
According to Variety, Hopkins is in final negotiations to star in New Line's serial killer film Solace.
Hopkins will play John Clancy, a former doctor with psychic abilities who works for the FBI and is drawn into a unique serial killer case that pits him against a formidable foe.
Though there's no director attached yet, former Contrafilm partners Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson are producing the elevated genre pic, while Matthias Emcke and Thomas Augsberger (Mr. Brooks) will exec produce.
Sean Bailey and Ted Griffin wrote the original draft of the script, which was then rewritten by James Vanderbilt (Zodiac). Peter Morgan wrote the most recent draft, and production is slated to start early next year.
Look for more soon!
- 9/7/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Anthony Hopkins is in final negotiations to headline New Line Cinema's Solace , Variety reports. Originally announced for development in 2008 with Mark Pellington ( The Mothman Prophecies , Arlington Road ) directing, the project deals with a clairvoyant doctor who is enlisted by the police to help catch a serial killer. Hopkins would play the doctor, John Clancy. Pellington is no longer attached, but Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm are still producing alongside Matthias Emcke and Thomas Augsberger. When the project was originally announced, the script had been written by Sean Bailey and Ted Griffin with rewrites by James Vanderbilt. It has since been rewritten by Peter Morgan. Hopkins most recently starred in Thor and is likely to reprise his role in some...
- 9/6/2011
- Comingsoon.net
Maple Pictures, a Canadian film distribution company, has unveiled a newer, bloodier movie poster for Tucker & Dale vs Evil. This title will release on video-on-demand August 26th, before reaching theatres September 30th. This film is really a send up of the whole slasher-in-the-woods genre, with two rednecks acting as the unwilling killers. But dumb is the real murderer. Check out the latest film poster for Tucker & Dale vs Evil, which is very over-the-top like the film itself. A recently released film still is also below.
A short synopsis for Tucker & Dale vs Evil:
"Two awesome hillbillies, Tucker & Dale (Alan Tudyk, Tyler Labine) are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are attacked by a group of preppy, elitist college kids" (Tucker).
Release Date: August 26th, 2011 (Video-on-demand), September 30th, 2011 (Theatrical).
Director: Eli Craig.
Writers: Eli Craig, and Morgan Jurgenson.
Producers: Thomas Augsberger, Deepak Nayar, and Rosanne Miliken.
Cast: Tyler Labine,...
A short synopsis for Tucker & Dale vs Evil:
"Two awesome hillbillies, Tucker & Dale (Alan Tudyk, Tyler Labine) are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are attacked by a group of preppy, elitist college kids" (Tucker).
Release Date: August 26th, 2011 (Video-on-demand), September 30th, 2011 (Theatrical).
Director: Eli Craig.
Writers: Eli Craig, and Morgan Jurgenson.
Producers: Thomas Augsberger, Deepak Nayar, and Rosanne Miliken.
Cast: Tyler Labine,...
- 7/5/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (Michael Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil was one of my favorite films up at the Sundance Film Festival back when I saw it in 2010. I'm shocked that it took this long to get distribution, because the film is hilariously awesome! I've been looking forward to seeing it again, and finally I will be able to enjoy it for a second time, and many of you will be able to enjoy it for a first. The horror comedy was written and directed by Eli Craig, and it stars Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine who were freakin' awesome. you can read my review for the film here.
Magnet has announced that they will distribute the film at the end of this summer, it will be released on VOD on August 26 and get a limited theatrical release on September 30th. This is a movie you definitley want to see.
Here's the plot summary:
Tucker and...
Magnet has announced that they will distribute the film at the end of this summer, it will be released on VOD on August 26 and get a limited theatrical release on September 30th. This is a movie you definitley want to see.
Here's the plot summary:
Tucker and...
- 6/9/2011
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
One of our favourite films of 2011 was Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil, Eli Craig’s twisted throwback to backwoods horror that put everything in reverse. I wrote a raving review and we all said great things about it in episode 219 of the Sound On Sight podcast. Simon also had a chance to interview with Craig and the film’s two lead star Alan Tudyk (Serenity) and Tyler Labine (Reaper). Now almost a year later, Magnet Releasing has announced they have acquired the Us Rights to the film. I posted the trailer below but I strongly recommend you don’t watch it since it is extremely spoiler heavy. Here is the full press release.
Magnet Releasing Acquires Us Rights to Horror Comedy Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil
New York, NY – June 8, 2011 – The Wagner/Cuban Company’s Magnet Releasing, genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, announced today they have acquired Us rights to Tucker & Dale Vs Evil,...
Magnet Releasing Acquires Us Rights to Horror Comedy Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil
New York, NY – June 8, 2011 – The Wagner/Cuban Company’s Magnet Releasing, genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, announced today they have acquired Us rights to Tucker & Dale Vs Evil,...
- 6/8/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Tucker & Dale Vs Evil premiered at Sundance 2010, and despite earning a lot of fans with the performances of Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine and the comedy and horror mix that writer/director Eli Craig offered up, the film has been in distribution limbo ever since. That changes now, as Magnet has announced that it will distribute the film at the end of this summer, with an August 26 VOD bow and a September 30 theatrical opening. Full plot info (via the press release) is after the break along with an early trailer. We'll give you whatever trailer Magnet concocts as soon as it is available. Here's the trailer, but be warned that it is more of a sales trailer than anything else. As such, it gives a lot away. Some viewers will likely consider it very spoilerish. Magnet Releasing Acquires Us Rights to Horror Comedy Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil New York, NY...
- 6/8/2011
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
You may remember when Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil played at Sundance and SXSW in 2010. A Workprint leaked out onto the web and then it showed at HorrorHound this past March, where our own Chris Sandrin reviewed it. Some of you may have forgotten about it, but I sure haven’t. Luckily for those that are still waiting, the film has been picked up by a Stateside distributor. Find out who after the break.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil stars Alan Tudyk & Tyler Labine, a couple of vacationing friends mistaken for hillbilly killers.
Director Eli Craig co-wrote the script with Morgan Jurgenson. Producing team includes Deepak Nayar and exec producer Thomas Augsberger.
Magnet Releasing, the genre label for Magnolia Pictures, has picked up the film for an August 26th VOD date while the theatrical date should be September 30th.
Source: Variety...
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil stars Alan Tudyk & Tyler Labine, a couple of vacationing friends mistaken for hillbilly killers.
Director Eli Craig co-wrote the script with Morgan Jurgenson. Producing team includes Deepak Nayar and exec producer Thomas Augsberger.
Magnet Releasing, the genre label for Magnolia Pictures, has picked up the film for an August 26th VOD date while the theatrical date should be September 30th.
Source: Variety...
- 6/8/2011
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
Comedy Central has handed out a pilot order to Waiting…, a half-hour project based on the 2005 indie comedy of the same name which starred Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris and Justin Long. Written by the film’s writer-director Rob McKittrick, the project follows the young and not so young employees at Shenaniganz restaurant as they gossip, make fun of customers, and avert boredom and adulthood with their antics. Each of the employees projects their own issues into the restaurant as they grapple with sex, booze, and whether they are temporary or permanent fixtures in the restaurant world. McKittrick is executive producing with Thomas Augsberger and Jeff Balis. Waiting... was featured on Comedy Central's 2010-11 Development slate announced in May.
- 10/25/2010
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
When you got to any film festival you almost expect to be inundated with a slew of independent films that, while very good, might never see a proper wide release. However, I was lucky enough to see a small film called Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil that is both hilariously funny and has serious mainstream potential. I sat down with Director Eli Craig and Producer Thomas Augsberger to discuss the potential distribution of the film, the casting of Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk, as well as Craig’s inspiration for writing the script.
Read more on SXSW 2010 Interview: Director Eli Craig and Producer Thomas Augsberger (Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil)…...
Read more on SXSW 2010 Interview: Director Eli Craig and Producer Thomas Augsberger (Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil)…...
- 3/23/2010
- by Will Schiffelbein
- GordonandtheWhale
Toronto -- Canadian distributor Maple Pictures has acquired all domestic rights to U.S. director Eli Craig's horror pic "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil" after a world premiere at Sundance.
Craig's debut feature, financed and shot in Canada, portrays two hillbillies mistaken for serial killers as they head to a familiar cabin in the woods and stars Alan Tudyk, Tyler Labine, Jesse Moss and Katrina Bowden.
Craig, based of out Los Angeles and Vancouver, co-wrote "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil" with fellow USC alumni Morgan Jurgenson. The producer credits are shared by Thomas Augsberger, Deepak Nayar, Rosanne Milliken and Albert Klychak, with Mark Ryan executive producing.
...
Craig's debut feature, financed and shot in Canada, portrays two hillbillies mistaken for serial killers as they head to a familiar cabin in the woods and stars Alan Tudyk, Tyler Labine, Jesse Moss and Katrina Bowden.
Craig, based of out Los Angeles and Vancouver, co-wrote "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil" with fellow USC alumni Morgan Jurgenson. The producer credits are shared by Thomas Augsberger, Deepak Nayar, Rosanne Milliken and Albert Klychak, with Mark Ryan executive producing.
...
- 1/26/2010
- by By Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cologne, Germany -- CBS Films has inked an all-rights output deal with Herbert Kloiber's Tele-Munchen Group (TMG) which will give Tmg all rights in German-speaking Europe to up to seven CBS Films' titles a year budgeted between $20 million - $75 million.
The first CBS titles to come under the agreement are the Tom Vaughan-directed drama "Extraordinary Measures," starring Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser and Keri Russel; Alan Poul's romantic comedy "The Back-Up Plan" starring Jennifer Lopez and teen romance "Beastly" directed by Danile Barnz and starring Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens.
"Extraordinary Measures" is set for a Jan. 22 domestic bow, "The Back-Up Plan" will be released April 16 and "Beastly" goes out in North American July 30, 2010. CBS Films will handle distribution in the U.S. via its new marketing/distribution division, headed by ex-Sony Pictures exec Amy Baer.
The Tmg deal marks the only territorial agreement outside of North...
The first CBS titles to come under the agreement are the Tom Vaughan-directed drama "Extraordinary Measures," starring Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser and Keri Russel; Alan Poul's romantic comedy "The Back-Up Plan" starring Jennifer Lopez and teen romance "Beastly" directed by Danile Barnz and starring Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens.
"Extraordinary Measures" is set for a Jan. 22 domestic bow, "The Back-Up Plan" will be released April 16 and "Beastly" goes out in North American July 30, 2010. CBS Films will handle distribution in the U.S. via its new marketing/distribution division, headed by ex-Sony Pictures exec Amy Baer.
The Tmg deal marks the only territorial agreement outside of North...
- 11/24/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Martin Freeman and Mandy Moore, who appeared in the 2007 feature "Dedication," are reteaming for the romantic comedy "Swinging With the Finkels," which began production Wednesday in the U.K.
The pair will play husband and wife in the film, which also features Jonathan Silverman and Melissa George, playing another married couple, and Jerry Stiller.
Writer-director Jonathan Newman developed the feature from his short film "Sex With the Finkels," which debuted on the Web site Filmaka.
"Finkels" is being produced by Kintop Pictures/Reliance and Starlight Films in association with Urban Island and Filmaka. Filmaka co-founder Deepak Nayar and Rosanne Milliken are producing. Thomas Augsberger, Philip von Alvensleben, Albert Klychak and David Mutch are exec producing.
Foreign sales will be handled by Simon Crowe's Sc Films International.
Freeman, repped by UTA and Creative Artists Management, next appears in the British feature "Nativity." Moore, who released the album "Amanda Leigh" this year,...
The pair will play husband and wife in the film, which also features Jonathan Silverman and Melissa George, playing another married couple, and Jerry Stiller.
Writer-director Jonathan Newman developed the feature from his short film "Sex With the Finkels," which debuted on the Web site Filmaka.
"Finkels" is being produced by Kintop Pictures/Reliance and Starlight Films in association with Urban Island and Filmaka. Filmaka co-founder Deepak Nayar and Rosanne Milliken are producing. Thomas Augsberger, Philip von Alvensleben, Albert Klychak and David Mutch are exec producing.
Foreign sales will be handled by Simon Crowe's Sc Films International.
Freeman, repped by UTA and Creative Artists Management, next appears in the British feature "Nativity." Moore, who released the album "Amanda Leigh" this year,...
- 8/26/2009
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
I’m just not sure the horror genre needs another "hip" comedy that calls out all the clichés and contrivances. It’s not every day you get a film like Leslie Vernon that actually understands the genre well enough to send it up with a straight face. The jury’s still out on the upcoming Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, but we’ve got a bit of casting news to report on while we wait and see how this horror comedy measures up.
The film will star Alan Tudyk (Serenity) and Tyler Labine (TV’s "Reaper") as a redneck duo mistaken for a pair of psychotic killers by a group of hapless teens partying on the lake where our titular characters have inherited a dilapidated cabin. Wackiness and mayhem ensue.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is directed by Eli Craig from a screenplay acknowledged as one of the industry’s...
The film will star Alan Tudyk (Serenity) and Tyler Labine (TV’s "Reaper") as a redneck duo mistaken for a pair of psychotic killers by a group of hapless teens partying on the lake where our titular characters have inherited a dilapidated cabin. Wackiness and mayhem ensue.
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is directed by Eli Craig from a screenplay acknowledged as one of the industry’s...
- 7/9/2009
- by Masked Slasher
- DreadCentral.com
Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk are starring in "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil," a genre-bending indie horror comedy being directed by Eli Craig.
Labine stars as Dale alongside Tudyk as Tucker, two good-natured hillbillies mistakenly accused of being psycho killers by a group of college kids camping at the same lake where the hillbillies have just acquired a dilapidated cabin as their "summer home." Katrina Bowen of "30 Rock" also stars.
The movie is shooting in Calgary, Alberta.
Eden Rock Media, Kintop/Reliance, Urban Island and Looby Lou are the companies behind the flick, which is being produced by Deepak Nayar, Morgan Jurgenson, Albert Klychak and Rosanne Milliken.
Executive producing are Thomas Augsberger ("Mr. Brooks") and Mark Ryan, who was involved in the financing of "Layer Cake."
Nicolas Chartier's Voltage Pictures is handling foreign sales, with Sony U.K. prebuying U.K. rights and Andre Boissier's Revolutionary Media acquiring rights for Eastern Europe.
Labine stars as Dale alongside Tudyk as Tucker, two good-natured hillbillies mistakenly accused of being psycho killers by a group of college kids camping at the same lake where the hillbillies have just acquired a dilapidated cabin as their "summer home." Katrina Bowen of "30 Rock" also stars.
The movie is shooting in Calgary, Alberta.
Eden Rock Media, Kintop/Reliance, Urban Island and Looby Lou are the companies behind the flick, which is being produced by Deepak Nayar, Morgan Jurgenson, Albert Klychak and Rosanne Milliken.
Executive producing are Thomas Augsberger ("Mr. Brooks") and Mark Ryan, who was involved in the financing of "Layer Cake."
Nicolas Chartier's Voltage Pictures is handling foreign sales, with Sony U.K. prebuying U.K. rights and Andre Boissier's Revolutionary Media acquiring rights for Eastern Europe.
- 7/8/2009
- by By Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- It’s funny how the movie industry works. One minute you can’t pay someone to hire you for a project, the next you can’t stop the offers from rolling in. Such is the reality of a hit-driven industry where “what have you done for me lately” isn’t just a saying but a credo. There’s no better example than that of Paul Verhoeven. The filmmaker went from arthouse acclaim for his lurid Dutch productions (Turkish Delight, Soldier of Orange) and brainy Hollywood blockbusters (Robocop, Basic Instinct), to career suicide with the reviled Showgirls, and back again with the universally acclaimed WW2 epic Black Book. An industry outcast for six years following Hollow Man, he’s now the Dutch Scorsese attaching himself to projects like he's trying to make up for lost time. The director is adding yet another to the pile with The Forgotten Soldier, based
- 7/21/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
Consider the ellipsis in the title a warning. Between a couple of funny scenes and a bunch of unfunny gags, there's not much going on in "Waiting ... ". The comedy uses gross-out "humor" with little inventiveness to ply the familiar territory of twentysomething limbo and workplace hell. Despite a solid ensemble, this would-be "Kitchen Confidential" for the chain-steakhouse set, which boasts as many producers as cast members, doesn't serve up enough laughs to build a theatrical following but could find life on video as a takeout item.
There comes a moment for many thinking people when job security takes on life-threatening proportions: a clear-eyed look at unhappy co-workers and the inept boss signals something's gotta give. For 22-year-old Dean (Justin Long), that moment of truth occurs four years into his job waiting tables at ShenaniganZ. Obsessed with the apparent success of a former classmate -- helpfully brought to his attention by his mother -- Dean feels himself languishing at work and at the community college where he and best friend Monty (Ryan Reynolds) are on-again, off-again students.
Dangling benies and "power" before him, clueless manager Dan (David Koechner), who conducts dispiriting staff meetings by the Dumpster, offers the hard-working but directionless Dean a promotion to assistant manager. He is shocked when Dean asks for time to think it over. Where this is headed is as predictable as the dinner-hour rush.
The ShenaniganZ staff spend most nights partying together after long days slinging baked potatoes, and co-worker couplings are inevitable. Dean avoids commitment to earnest waitress Amy (Kaitlin Doubleday), while Dan and Monty eye the underage hostess (Vanessa Lengies). Monty, whose snarkiness is his identity (a cameo by Wendie Malick as his mother makes clear where he gets it), also spends time being humiliated by his feisty ex, waitress Serena (Anna Faris), and showing the ropes to wide-eyed new guy Mitch (John Francis Daley).
Mainly the ropes consist of learning how to play a behind-the-scenes time-waster that Serena rightly calls "an exercise in retarded homophobia." Sleazeball cook Raddimus (Luis Guzman), the mastermind of the Penis-Showing Game, provides demos for Mitch using raw chicken parts. Besides workplace dystopia, this exhibitionist stupidity is the script's central thread.
First-time writer-director Rob McKittrick demonstrates a feel for the systematic hysteria of restaurant dynamics, but his observations lack the absurdist edge of "Clerks" and the truly idiosyncratic detail that would make his characters three-dimensional. Within limited roles, the cast does what it can. Chi McBride, an actor capable of sublime understatement, plays the sage philosopher-king dishwasher, dispensing wisdom to a crew that includes two gangsta-wannabe pothead busboys (Andy Milonakis and Max Kasch), the angriest waitress in the world (Alanna Ubach) and a spineless virgin Robert Patrick Benedict). Is it any wonder that -- in the film's funniest gag -- their birthday serenade to a young boy makes him cry?
Filmed in New Orleans but with no sense of the place, "Waiting ..". unfolds mainly within appropriately generic restaurant interiors. Refreshingly, McKittrick doesn't lean on canned pop tracks as mortar, but neither does he craft enough of a story to hold together the shtick.
WAITING ...
Lions Gate Films
An Element Films and Eden Rock Media production in association with Wisenheimer Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Rob McKittrick
Producers: Adam Rosenfelt, Stavros Merjos, Jay Rifkin, Jeff Balis, Rob Green
Executive producers: Chris Moore, Jon Shestack, Sam Nazarian, Malcolm Petal, Marc Schaberg, Thomas Augsberger, Paul Fiore
Director of photography: Matthew Irving
Production designer: Devorah Herbert
Music: Adam Gorgoni
Co-producers: Chris Fenton, Dean Shull, Randy Winograd
Costume designer: Jillian Kreiner
Editors: David Finfer, Andy Blumenthal
Cast:
Monty: Ryan Reynolds
Serena: Anna Faris
Dean: Justin Long
Dan: David Koechner
Mitch: John Francis Daley
Tyla: Emmanuelle Chriqui
Amy: Kaitlin Doubleday
Nick: Andy Milonakis
T-Dog: Max Kasch
Naomi: Alanna Ubach
Calvin: Robert Patrick Benedict
Natasha: Vanessa Lengies
Bishop: Chi McBride
Raddimus: Luis Guzman
Monty's Mom: Wendie Malick
MPAA rating: R
Running time -- 93 minutes...
There comes a moment for many thinking people when job security takes on life-threatening proportions: a clear-eyed look at unhappy co-workers and the inept boss signals something's gotta give. For 22-year-old Dean (Justin Long), that moment of truth occurs four years into his job waiting tables at ShenaniganZ. Obsessed with the apparent success of a former classmate -- helpfully brought to his attention by his mother -- Dean feels himself languishing at work and at the community college where he and best friend Monty (Ryan Reynolds) are on-again, off-again students.
Dangling benies and "power" before him, clueless manager Dan (David Koechner), who conducts dispiriting staff meetings by the Dumpster, offers the hard-working but directionless Dean a promotion to assistant manager. He is shocked when Dean asks for time to think it over. Where this is headed is as predictable as the dinner-hour rush.
The ShenaniganZ staff spend most nights partying together after long days slinging baked potatoes, and co-worker couplings are inevitable. Dean avoids commitment to earnest waitress Amy (Kaitlin Doubleday), while Dan and Monty eye the underage hostess (Vanessa Lengies). Monty, whose snarkiness is his identity (a cameo by Wendie Malick as his mother makes clear where he gets it), also spends time being humiliated by his feisty ex, waitress Serena (Anna Faris), and showing the ropes to wide-eyed new guy Mitch (John Francis Daley).
Mainly the ropes consist of learning how to play a behind-the-scenes time-waster that Serena rightly calls "an exercise in retarded homophobia." Sleazeball cook Raddimus (Luis Guzman), the mastermind of the Penis-Showing Game, provides demos for Mitch using raw chicken parts. Besides workplace dystopia, this exhibitionist stupidity is the script's central thread.
First-time writer-director Rob McKittrick demonstrates a feel for the systematic hysteria of restaurant dynamics, but his observations lack the absurdist edge of "Clerks" and the truly idiosyncratic detail that would make his characters three-dimensional. Within limited roles, the cast does what it can. Chi McBride, an actor capable of sublime understatement, plays the sage philosopher-king dishwasher, dispensing wisdom to a crew that includes two gangsta-wannabe pothead busboys (Andy Milonakis and Max Kasch), the angriest waitress in the world (Alanna Ubach) and a spineless virgin Robert Patrick Benedict). Is it any wonder that -- in the film's funniest gag -- their birthday serenade to a young boy makes him cry?
Filmed in New Orleans but with no sense of the place, "Waiting ..". unfolds mainly within appropriately generic restaurant interiors. Refreshingly, McKittrick doesn't lean on canned pop tracks as mortar, but neither does he craft enough of a story to hold together the shtick.
WAITING ...
Lions Gate Films
An Element Films and Eden Rock Media production in association with Wisenheimer Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Rob McKittrick
Producers: Adam Rosenfelt, Stavros Merjos, Jay Rifkin, Jeff Balis, Rob Green
Executive producers: Chris Moore, Jon Shestack, Sam Nazarian, Malcolm Petal, Marc Schaberg, Thomas Augsberger, Paul Fiore
Director of photography: Matthew Irving
Production designer: Devorah Herbert
Music: Adam Gorgoni
Co-producers: Chris Fenton, Dean Shull, Randy Winograd
Costume designer: Jillian Kreiner
Editors: David Finfer, Andy Blumenthal
Cast:
Monty: Ryan Reynolds
Serena: Anna Faris
Dean: Justin Long
Dan: David Koechner
Mitch: John Francis Daley
Tyla: Emmanuelle Chriqui
Amy: Kaitlin Doubleday
Nick: Andy Milonakis
T-Dog: Max Kasch
Naomi: Alanna Ubach
Calvin: Robert Patrick Benedict
Natasha: Vanessa Lengies
Bishop: Chi McBride
Raddimus: Luis Guzman
Monty's Mom: Wendie Malick
MPAA rating: R
Running time -- 93 minutes...
- 10/13/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It's quite apparent -- right down to the hot pink lettering in the advertising -- that the distributor of "Slap Her ... She's French" would very much like it to be mistaken for another "Legally Blonde".
The only problem is, the Reese Witherspoon picture wasn't a gratingly unfunny groaner littered with zero-dimensional, unlikable characters and hackneyed, threadbare comic setups.
Fortunately, few -- aside from those who might mistake this German-financed production for a breezy foreign-language art house import -- will take the bait, ensuring that "Slap Her" beats a hasty retreat to the video store.
Wasting a potentially workable "All About Eve" premise, the film concerns the seemingly charmed life of one Starla Grady (Jane McGregor), the most popular student at Splendona High School, located somewhere deep in the heart of Texas.
That is, until one fateful day when, needing to amp up a little audience sympathy during another beauty pageant (Sending up pageants? How novel!), she announces her family will be taking in an exchange student from Paris in yet another gesture of her unfailing goodwill.
Enter the mousy, bespectacled Genevieve LePlouff (Piper Perabo), who seemingly worships the ground Starla struts upon. The beret and really bad French accent might fool some people, but it's clear from the get-go that Genevieve, or whatever her name really is, has major plans to dethrone her not-so-gracious hostess.
Naturally, Starla doesn't take kindly to people attempting to appropriate her life, and with a little detecting assistance from her bookish kid brother (Jesse James) and the nice-guy school photographer (Trent Ford), she exposes Genevieve as a vengeance-crazed wannabe.
But Genevieve isn't the real culprit here -- it's writers Lamar Damon and Robert Lee King and director Melanie Mayron who are truly deserving of a group smack.
Rather than striving for anything resembling sharply observed satire, the filmmakers have instead opted to mine lazy laughs from tired targets, and the bottom-feeding results leave behind an irritating, slimy residue.
While King, who directed the appropriately campy "Psycho Beach Party", and Damon seem to be biding their time until the next cat fight, actress-turned-director Mayron allows all the squandered comic opportunities to fall with an awkward thud, as if anticipating a laugh track to bail her out.
The cast, which also includes Julie White, Brandon Smith and Michael McKean as an improbable French teacher (maybe that's where Perabo learned the lame accent), doesn't fare much better, while the technical aspects, including the work of production design team Anne Stuhler and Roswell Hamrick ("Boiler Room", "Made"), are more proficient than the picture deserves.
SLAP HER ... SHE'S FRENCH
The Premiere Group
The Premiere Marketing & Distribution Group and Constantin Film present in association with Bandeira and Key Entertainment a Beau Flynn, Emcke/Augsberger and IMF 2 production
Credits:
Director: Melanie Mayron
Screenwriters: Lamar Damon, Robert Lee King
Producers: Beau Flynn, Jonathan King, Matthias Emcke
Executive producers: Bernd Eichinger, Thomas Augsberger, Stefan Simchowitz, Matthias Deyle, Volker Schauz
Director of photography: Charles Minsky
Production designers: Anne Stuhler, Roswell Hamrick
Editor: Marshall Harvey
Costume designer: Julia Caston
Music: David Michael Frank
Cast:
Genevieve LePlouff: Piper Perabo
Starla Grady: Jane McGregor
Ed Mitchell: Trent Ford
Monsieur Duke: Michael McKean
Bootsie Grady: Julie White
Arnie Grady: Brandon Smith
Randolph Grady: Jesse James
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
The only problem is, the Reese Witherspoon picture wasn't a gratingly unfunny groaner littered with zero-dimensional, unlikable characters and hackneyed, threadbare comic setups.
Fortunately, few -- aside from those who might mistake this German-financed production for a breezy foreign-language art house import -- will take the bait, ensuring that "Slap Her" beats a hasty retreat to the video store.
Wasting a potentially workable "All About Eve" premise, the film concerns the seemingly charmed life of one Starla Grady (Jane McGregor), the most popular student at Splendona High School, located somewhere deep in the heart of Texas.
That is, until one fateful day when, needing to amp up a little audience sympathy during another beauty pageant (Sending up pageants? How novel!), she announces her family will be taking in an exchange student from Paris in yet another gesture of her unfailing goodwill.
Enter the mousy, bespectacled Genevieve LePlouff (Piper Perabo), who seemingly worships the ground Starla struts upon. The beret and really bad French accent might fool some people, but it's clear from the get-go that Genevieve, or whatever her name really is, has major plans to dethrone her not-so-gracious hostess.
Naturally, Starla doesn't take kindly to people attempting to appropriate her life, and with a little detecting assistance from her bookish kid brother (Jesse James) and the nice-guy school photographer (Trent Ford), she exposes Genevieve as a vengeance-crazed wannabe.
But Genevieve isn't the real culprit here -- it's writers Lamar Damon and Robert Lee King and director Melanie Mayron who are truly deserving of a group smack.
Rather than striving for anything resembling sharply observed satire, the filmmakers have instead opted to mine lazy laughs from tired targets, and the bottom-feeding results leave behind an irritating, slimy residue.
While King, who directed the appropriately campy "Psycho Beach Party", and Damon seem to be biding their time until the next cat fight, actress-turned-director Mayron allows all the squandered comic opportunities to fall with an awkward thud, as if anticipating a laugh track to bail her out.
The cast, which also includes Julie White, Brandon Smith and Michael McKean as an improbable French teacher (maybe that's where Perabo learned the lame accent), doesn't fare much better, while the technical aspects, including the work of production design team Anne Stuhler and Roswell Hamrick ("Boiler Room", "Made"), are more proficient than the picture deserves.
SLAP HER ... SHE'S FRENCH
The Premiere Group
The Premiere Marketing & Distribution Group and Constantin Film present in association with Bandeira and Key Entertainment a Beau Flynn, Emcke/Augsberger and IMF 2 production
Credits:
Director: Melanie Mayron
Screenwriters: Lamar Damon, Robert Lee King
Producers: Beau Flynn, Jonathan King, Matthias Emcke
Executive producers: Bernd Eichinger, Thomas Augsberger, Stefan Simchowitz, Matthias Deyle, Volker Schauz
Director of photography: Charles Minsky
Production designers: Anne Stuhler, Roswell Hamrick
Editor: Marshall Harvey
Costume designer: Julia Caston
Music: David Michael Frank
Cast:
Genevieve LePlouff: Piper Perabo
Starla Grady: Jane McGregor
Ed Mitchell: Trent Ford
Monsieur Duke: Michael McKean
Bootsie Grady: Julie White
Arnie Grady: Brandon Smith
Randolph Grady: Jesse James
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 8/22/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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