Tony Leung in The Grandmaster
Weinstein picks up Wong Kar-Wai’s The Grandmaster
The Weinstein Company picked up North American rights to director Wong Kar-Wai’s highly anticipated, grievously delayed The Grandmaster after its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival yesterday.
The Grandmaster digs deep into the life of martial arts master Ip Man through contextualizing and visualizing something beyond grand. The film reunites Wong with actors Tony Leung (In the Mood for Love) and Zhang Ziyi (2046). TWC also purchased distribution rights for Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
Mike Mendez's Big Ass Spider.
SXSW announces Midnighters and Short Films
Check out the full list of funny, fantastic and downright frightening Midnighters at the year's South By Southwest festival. A few faves include: Vincenzo "Cube" Natali's Haunter, a Groundhog Day-esque horror adventure where a family repeats their fateful final day over and over and over; the U.S. Premiere of Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem; and Mike Mendez’s Big Ass Spider, about, well, a big ass spider wreaking havoc on Los Angeles.
SXSW will also put 106 short films on our radar, covering stories of taxidermy, hedge funds, hurricanes, hip hop, and a black man in the rodeo. Check out the full list at SXSW.com.
Stephen Dorff and Abdallah El Akal in Zaytoun
Strand Releasing picks up Eran Riklis’ Zaytoun
Runnes-Up prize winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, director Eran Riklis’ Zaytoun has been picked up for U.S. distribution by Strand Releasing. Stephen Dorff (Somewhere) plays an Israeli fighter pilot who is shot down over Beirut in 1982 and forms a bond with a 12-year-old Palestinian refugee.
"We're thrilled to work with Riklis,” Jon Gerrans of Strand Releasing said, “his previous features are indicative of a filmmaker whose work is definitely in-tune with our tastes." Strand aims for a Fall 2013 release.
Trailers, Trailers, Trailers
Cinema Guild crashes to shore with the first official Leviathan (NYFF50) trailer:
Coming to the Film Society in March, Studio Ghibli's latest animated flick From Up on Poppy Hill now has a trailer:
After checking out Kiarostami's works in A Close-up of Abbas Kiarostami, don't miss his latest, Like Someone in Love (NYFF50), coming to the Film Society later this month. Watch the trailer here:
Antonio Campos' Simon Killer plays at the Film Society later this month as part of Film Comment Selects. Check out the latest trailer: