
M. Night Shyamalan to film ‘supernatural romantic thriller' in R.I. this summer with Jake Gyllenhaal
'Night is a visionary who always attracts top-notch talent in front of and behind the camera,' Steven Feinberg, executive director of the state Film & Television Office, said in a statement. 'Rhode Island is a special location steeped in history, beauty and great mystery. With all of these amazing ingredients in the hands of a master filmmaker, we can expect M. Night Shyamalan and his outstanding team to tantalize our senses and make a movie we can all be proud of!'
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Further details about the film have not yet been reported. But in announcing the partnership with Shyamalan
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'I'm teaming up with the brilliant Academy Award-nominated director M. Night Shyamalan to create a film adaptation that will blend the heartfelt, timeless romance you know and love with his signature touch of mystery and suspense,' Sparks said.
In separate statements on Thursday, Rhode Island House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio touted the production is slated to bring jobs and help boost the state economy.
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Rhode Island most recently served as a backdrop for 'Ella McCay,' a movie starring Emma Mackey, Woody Harrelson, and Jamie Lee Curtis
'With our unique landscape and talented local artists, Rhode Island is an ideal location to film a motion picture or television series,' Governor Dan McKee said in a statement on Thursday. 'Every time a production shoots here we see a positive impact on our local businesses. This is the type of energy that keeps moving our economy forward.'
Christopher Gavin can be reached at
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Buzz Feed
39 minutes ago
- Buzz Feed
Take On Me Singer Morten Harket Said He Has Parkinson's Disease
Morten Harket, who for more than 40 years has been the frontman of the Grammy-nominated Norwegian pop trio a-ha, confirmed this week that he has Parkinson's disease. Harket, 65, made the announcement Wednesday by sharing an article written by music journalist and author Jan Omdahl on a-ha's official website. In it, the singer-songwriter said he'd been experiencing vocal issues as a result of his condition, and admitted he was unsure about a return to the concert stage. 'The problems with my voice are one of many grounds for uncertainty about my creative future,' he said. Though Harket said he had 'no problem accepting the diagnosis,' he added, 'I'm trying the best I can to prevent my entire system from going into decline. It's a difficult balancing act between taking the medication and managing its side effects. There's so much to weigh up when you're emulating the masterful way the body handles every complex movement, or social matters and invitations, or day-to-day life in general.' A native of Kongsberg, Norway, Harket formed a-ha with keyboardist Magne Furuholmen and guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy in 1982. Three years later, the band catapulted to international fame with their breakout smash, ' Take On Me.' The song's success was buoyed by its now-iconic music video, which combined live-action performance footage with pencil-sketch animation. Though a-ha never replicated the success of 'Take On Me' on a global scale, the band continued to release music throughout the '80s and '90s. In 1991, they broke the world record for paid attendance at a rock concert when they performed before more than 198,000 fans at Brazil's Rock in Rio festival. Their 11th studio album, True North, was unveiled in 2022. There is no cure for Parkinson's, a neurodegenerative disease that can cause muscle stiffness, impaired speech and uncontrolled movement. The disease can be revealed by a mere tremor of the hand, according to the Mayo Clinic. Furuholmen reacted to Harket's announcement with a heartfelt post on Instagram. Acknowledging he'd known about his bandmate's diagnosis 'for some time,' he said the news 'brings sadness,' but stressed 'there is also a lot of gratitude: for all the amazing memories, for how our combined creative efforts as a band have been so generously embraced by the world, and for how lucky we are that people continue to find meaning, hope and joy in our shared musical legacy.' In his chat with Omdahl, Harket said he didn't expect to regain 'full technical control' over his vocals, but had nonetheless been working on new songs 'that I've got great belief in, and I feel the lyrics, especially, have something of a different aspect of me in them.' United Archives / United Archives via Getty Images 'I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish them for release,' he continued. 'Time will tell if they make it. I really like the idea of just going for it, as a Parkinson's patient and an artist, with something completely outside the box. It's all up to me, I just have to get this out of the way first.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Magnolia Pictures Acquires U.S. Rights To ‘It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley,' Amy Berg's Documentary On Late Ethereal-Voiced Musician
EXCLUSIVE: Magnolia Pictures has landed U.S. rights to It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg's portrait of the late musician who developed an adoring fan base before his untimely death at the age of 30. Magnolia plans to release the film theatrically (available in Dolby Atmos) on August 8. The documentary, which enjoys a 100 percent critics approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, will premiere on HBO and stream on HBO Max this winter, as part of the Music Box series created by Bill Simmons. More from Deadline Director Amy Berg On Her Jeff Buckley Documentary: Late Singer-Songwriter 'Brought So Much Love And Authenticity To His Music' – Sundance Studio 'The Case Against Adnan Syed' Director Amy Berg Strikes First-Look Deal With Fremantle New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Docu 'Prime Minister' Acquired By Magnolia, HBO Docu Films & CNN Films After Prize-Winning Sundance Bow 'Told through never-before-seen footage from Buckley's archives and intimate accounts from his mother Mary Guibert, former partners Rebecca Moore and Joan Wasser, Jeff's former bandmates, including Michael Tighe and Parker Kindred, and luminaries like Ben Harper and Aimee Mann, It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley illuminates one of modern music's most influential and enigmatic figures,' notes a release. 'His only studio album, Grace, was released to astounding reviews and challenged conventional ideas of genre and gender. His intimate and influential cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' further catapulted him to fame. Still, under pressure to produce his second album, he retreated to Memphis to escape the spotlight and the ever-growing glare of the public eye. In a tragic accident, Buckley drowned in the Wolf River in Memphis in 1997, leaving behind an unfinished second album and a legion of devastated family, friends and fans.' Magnolia Pictures co-CEOs Eamonn Bowles and Dori Begley said in a statement, 'With only one studio album, Jeff Buckley became a legend. Amy Berg has captured his brilliance and complexity in this incandescent film that no true fan can miss.' Berg's credits include the Academy Award-nominated Deliver Us From Evil (2006); West of Memphis (2012); Prophet's Prey (2015); the Emmy-nominated docuseries The Case Against Adnan Syed (2019), and Janis: Little Girl Blue, her 2015 documentary about iconic singer Janis Joplin. 'I've spent practically my entire career trying to make this film which takes a very intimate look at one of the greatest singers and songwriters of all time,' Berg commented. 'I'm so excited Magnolia and HBO have come onboard to share this film with the world and give old fans and new audiences a chance to experience Jeff from this unique vantage point. I couldn't imagine a better team to roll this into the world!' A Topic Studios and Fremantle Film, It's Never Over: Jeff Buckley is produced by Ryan Heller (A Real Pain), Christine Connor (Nuclear Family), Mandy Chang (The Mona Lisa Curse), Matthew Roozen (A Mouthful Of Air), Jennie Bedusa (The Space Within) and Amy Berg. Executive producers are Mary Guibert, Alison Raykovich, Brian A. Kates, Michael Bloom, Jennifer Westin, Maria Zuckerman, Brad Pitt, and Ian Stratford. 'Working with Amy on this labor of love has been a gift,' said Topic Studios' Ryan Heller and Christine Connor. 'And we are delighted that our friends at Magnolia and HBO are joining us to help ensure that Jeff's remarkable story reaches the widest possible audience.' Mark Reynolds, Global Head of Documentaries & Factual, Fremantle, noted, 'We are delighted to have partnered with Amy Berg and Topic Studios on this deeply human and beautifully made film – with such intimate recollections of an artist who continues to inspire – honoring Jeff's legacy with the care and reverence it deserves. We're equally excited to be collaborating with Magnolia as our North American distributor to help share this powerful story with audiences.' The acquisition deal was negotiated by Magnolia Pictures SVP of Acquisitions John Von Thaden, with Submarine's Josh Braun, Dan Braun and Matt Burke on behalf of the filmmakers. It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to screen at festivals around the world including CPH:DOX in Copenhagen, the Sydney Film Festival in Australia, the Provincetown International Film Festival and Nantucket Film Festival – both in Massachusetts. Musician Ben Harper, who as noted above appears in the documentary, became friends with Buckley after they met at a rock festival in France. In an interview with Deadline at Sundance, he told us about the power of Buckley's voice. 'You just hadn't heard anything like it until he came along. It was as singular an instrument as has existed in the world of sound. As powerful and raw, it was equally as vulnerable and fragile. And to have those two counterpoints all within the same instrument was just something unheard of… To be that raw, but that elegant at the same time, and to be that powerful yet that fragile at the same time was just shocking.' At Sundance, Berg shared more about her long effort to make the Buckley documentary. 'I finally met up with Mary [Guibert, Jeff Buckley's mom] in 2010, but she didn't give me the rights for another nine years,' she told Deadline. 'But every time I finished a film, I would reach out to Mary. She did share the archive with me back then, and I was blown away by the voicemail messages and the DAT recordings and his candor, and I just kept at it. I always wanted to tell a love story about Jeff because he brought so much love and authenticity to his music. So, I chose people that had a real deep connection with him to be in the film. It's a love story that simply transcends time. ' Best of Deadline List Of Hollywood & Media Layoffs From Paramount To Warner Bros Discovery To CNN & More 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More


Gizmodo
an hour ago
- Gizmodo
Kevin Smith Is Very Excited About His Idea for ‘Dogma 2'
The 'Clerks,' 'Mallrats,' and 'Red State' director has cracked the idea for the long-awaited sequel. If it feels like you've been hearing about Kevin Smith's Dogma a lot in recent weeks, that's by design. Though the film's 25th anniversary was last year, writer and director Kevin Smith took his time with it, prepping a massive national tour of the film that's been happening for a few months now. It's also being re-released into select theaters starting today. The jewel of that celebration, though, was a screening at the Cannes Film Festival last month and there, Smith spoke about how he's finally got an idea to go back to the world of Mooby's and the Buddy Christ for Dogma 2. 'I cracked the story,' Smith told Deadline. 'I absolutely love it. I feel like when people see it, they'll be like, 'Oh, I get it,' like 'that makes sense' kind of thing. Hopefully they'll be like, 'that's clever' and not be like, 'Well shit, I would have done that.'' Smith, of course, didn't say what his idea was, but did hint that it has a place in it for everyone in the original movie. That, presumably, includes stars Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, and others. 'I will set a place at the table for everyone who was in the first movie who is still alive,' Smith said. 'Sadly, Alan [Rickman] and George [Carlin] won't be able to join us, but I'll set a place at the table for all of them. If they want to come back, they'll have a role to play, but if not, no harm, no foul. The story I'm telling can definitely make use of everybody who is in Dogma, but I can also tell it without. So, that makes me pretty excited to go forward. It's its own unique tale.' Though Smith's career has shifted in recent years, with a focus on smaller, weirder movies like Tusk, Yoga Hosers, and The 4:30 Movie, he knows that if he does decide to make a Dogma sequel, he can't do so lightly. 'It's like one of the last fucking movies I ever made that's beloved across the boards and shit like that,' he said. 'I would never step up to the plate unless I was like, 'Oh, this will fucking work nicely as a companion piece.' So, I feel pretty great about it, man. But of course during the whimsy stage one always feels great about it. It's when you make it and everyone sees it and they're like, 'Well, that fucking sucks. You should have left well enough alone.' You just hope it doesn't come to that.' Finally, Smith's ultimate ambition with Dogma 2 would be to debut it at Cannes, where he debuted the original in 1999 and where he screened it again in 2025 to a very enthusiastic crowd. ''Why is it that you assume that the Cannes-worthy portion of your life is over?'' Smith asked himself. ''You never even expected it to begin in the first place. It was never part of the aim. It just came along with the journey. Maybe if you really try, you could.' So, it was the 78th edition this year and so I was like, 'You know what? I wanna come back on the 80th, or the 81st at the latest with the Dogma sequel, like that's a Cannes-worthy movie.' And so, I said that on stage when I was intro-ing and everybody applauded, and [festival director] Thierry Frémaux was on stage with me, and he adds, 'If it is good,' and I was like, 'Fair enough, if it's good, yes.'' Can Smith turn that idea into a script and get it funded? He's done it in recent years with Jay and Silent Bob as well as Clerks. So, as the stars of Dogma might say, you've just got to have faith. Head over to Deadline to read much, much more from Smith about Dogma, Cannes, and more. And check out Dogma in theaters now.