Film News Roundup: Liam Neeson’s Comedy ‘Made in Italy’ Sells to IFC
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In today’s film news roundup, IFC buys a Liam Neeson comedy and STX takes territories on Karen Gillan and Lena Headey’s “Gunpowder Milkshake.”
ACQUISITIONS
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IFC Films is acquiring U.S. rights to James D’Arcy’s feature directorial debut, “Made In Italy,” starring Liam Neeson and Micheál Richardson.
“Made In Italy” will receive a traditional theatrical release in the U.S. during the summer of 2020. The film is set in Tuscany and follows a bohemian London artist who returns to Italy with his estranged son to make a quick sale of the house they inherited from his late wife. Neither expects to find the once beautiful villa in such a state of disrepair, and the renovations go badly.
The film also stars Lindsay Duncan and Valeria Bilello. It is produced by Pippa Cross and Sam Tipper-Hale for CrossDay Productions in collaboration with Indiana Production S.P.A. The film was fully funded by Ingenious Media with the support of the Tuscan Film Commission.
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STXfilms has bought North American, Latin American and Chinese distribution rights to the action thriller “Gunpowder Milkshake.”
The cast includes Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh, Carla Gugino, Paul Giamatti and Chloe Coleman. Gillan and Headey play a daughter and mother who are both assassins joining forces to take down a male-dominated crime syndicate.
Navot Papushado directed from a script that he wrote with Ehud Lavski. “Gunpowder Milkshake” was financed by Studiocanal and produced by Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman’s The Picture Company.
The deal was closed at the Berlin Film Festival. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
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Music Box Films has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to “Beats” from director Brian Welsh.
Set in the early 1990s and shot in black and white, “Beats” follows two Scottish teens who risk everything to attend an illegal rave. Welsh directed the film from a script he wrote with Kieran Hurley (based on Hurley’s play of the same name).
“Beats” had its world premiere at the 2019 International Film Festival Rotterdam, and received accolades from BAFTA and the British Independent Film Awards. Music Box Films plans a theatrical release later this year followed by a release on home entertainment.
“It is hard to live outside of the system,” said Welsh. “There is no free space. Every area of our lives and land has been privatized, commercialized or policed. This is a story about two best friends discovering a subcultural moment that actively resisted this development. It’s a celebration of youth, freedom, rebellion and pounding party music; an illegal rave fairytale.”
CASTINGS
Brittany Underwood, Taylor Frey, Kabby Borders and Jim Klock (“Green Book”) are starring in the psychological thriller feature “Off the Grid,” Variety has learned exclusively.
Sara Lohman (“Good Satan”) is directing the project from producing duo Autumn Federici and Jake Helgren under their The Ninth House banner. Executive producers are Fernando Szew and Mike Moran.
Underwood and Frey play a couple who spend a weekend at a home that’s completely off the grid — no roads, no internet, nothing. The project is currently shooting in Los Angeles with plans for a theatrical release in 2021.
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