Latest news with #FocusFeatures'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
I Know Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Is Going To Be Emotional, But The First Footage Had A Surprise Moment I Didn't Expect
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. There are some sequels fans just want to dive into as soon as possible, but I don't think Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is one of them. At least, that's my subjective opinion about this upcoming 2025 movie schedule entry, because it's going to bring creator Julian Fellowes' iconic British drama to a resounding close. Now the first footage has finally released to the public, I'm doubling down on my feelings, as it features an emotional scene with a typically stoic member of the Crawley family that feels sure to bring the house down. So what is the scene in Focus Features' upcoming drama? It's one where Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) plants a kiss on one of those very recognizable front walls. After all of the ups, downs, and everything in-between experienced in that stately manor, the teaser continues to sum it all up in a phrase we've seen since Downton Abbey 3's title reveal: 'It's time to say goodbye.' I just don't want to, despite knowing better going into this trailer. I let myself get caught up in beautiful little glimpses of Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) showing up to an event dressed in her finest, the return of Julian Levinson (Paul Giamatti) being marked by his trademark ebullience, and a bunch of the family showing up to a horse racing event. But then came that moment where the Paddington franchise star bid farewell to his familial home. A scene that may have been in the works for longer than we thought. Before doing the required deep dive to revisit Downton Abbey's previous adventures through my Peacock subscription, the vague recollection that the Crawley's beautiful home has always been on the verge of bankruptcy has always been on my mind. And for a while, one year in particular on the calendar has stuck out as a potential stumbling block to the family fortune - 1929. Seeing as that's when the American financial system suffered its first major crisis, and part of the money that's kept Downton afloat is from Cora's side of the family. Elizabeth McGovern's Cora, the American fixture in the ITV hit, has been the connection to various lifelines, for better or worse. With this movie being announced as taking place in 1930, the moment has passed, and consequences will start to take shape - with plenty of Downton Abbey 3 cast members still waiting to take their places. Which now introduces the possibility that Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale may see her brother Julius coming to collect in some manner or another. Let's not forget Paul Giamatti's cryptic Downton 3 tease where he said he does 'something of real significance.' Peacock TV: from $7.99 a month/$79.99 a yearFor a little as $7.99 a month, Peacock TV is your streaming gateway to almost all of the Downton Abbey legacy. All six seasons, plus the previous sequel film A New Era, are snuggly housed in its library - waiting for you to enjoy! Of course, if you want to watch like the Crawley's modern descendants would, you can sign up for the ad-free Peacock Premium tier, and skip the commercials! View Deal Though now that I think about it, could the return of Guy Dexter (Dominic West) be an indication that he may want to secure the location as his own? You have to admit, that possibility would not only keep Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier) in the house he rose through the ranks serving, it'd also be a way to keep the household staff on board after the transition. I think even Barrows' former foe Mr. Carson (Jim Carter) would begrudgingly admit that this is making the best of a sad situation. In either of these scenarios, the Crawley era of Downton Abbey looks to be at its end. The real questions left to answer are where will its inhabitants go, who will be the new owner, and is it really for the best that Matthew Goode won't be appearing in The Grand Finale? Save your energy, and your tears, as we've got until September 12th to think of what to say about the end of this pop culture favorite.
Buzz Feed
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Initially Against Casting Lily-Rose Depp In "Nosferatu," This Casting Director Got Real About Why She Owed The Actor An Apology
Renowned casting director Kharmel Cochrane is opening up about some of her casting decisions, including one she was strongly against and another she fully supports. If there was a popular project out in the last few years, Kharmel might have had something to do with it. She casts for film, TV, commercials, music videos, and shorts. Some of her most popular work includes Nosferatu, Saltburn, A Quiet Place: Day One, Bob Marley: One Love, The End of the F***ing World, Rye Lane, The VVitch, The Lighthouse, John Wick: Chapter 4, and more. Over the weekend, Kharmel participated in a Q&A session at Scotland's Sands Film Festival where she explained why she needed to apologize to Lily-Rose Depp after initially dismissing her as a serious contender for the leading role of Ellen Hutter in the 2024 American horror gothic film Nosferatu. 'I had to text Lily-Rose Depp and say I'm sorry,' Kharmel said per Deadline, before shedding light on the casting process. "I had said absolutely no way to Lily-Rose Depp. I didn't think she could act." "I hadn't seen anything that I thought showed she could act. And I'm not even bothered by the nepotism thing. I think that's a whole other conversation. And then she auditioned. I was wrong. And I've got no shame in saying if I'm not right.' The 25-year-old actor went on to prove a lot of the naysayers wrong with this film. She starred alongside Bill Skarsgård, Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nicholas Hoult, and Willem Dafoe. The film raked in over $100 million worldwide, becoming Focus Features' second highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office, behind Brokeback Mountain.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kharmel Cochrane Talks Casting Lily-Rose Depp In ‘Nosferatu' & Teases Emerald Fennell's ‘Wuthering Heights': 'Some English Lit Fans Are Not Going To Be Happy' — Sands Film Festival
'I had to text Lily-Rose Depp and say I'm sorry,' casting director Kharmel Cochrane explained this afternoon during a Q&A session at Scotland's Sands Film Festival. The apology was on account of Cochrane dismissing Lily-Rose Depp as a serious contender for a leading role in Robert Eggers's Nosferatu. The vampire remake is one of the many buzzy titles Cochrane has cast in recent years. Her other credits include Saltburn, Rye Lane, and Bob Marley: One Love. More from Deadline Sands International Film Festival Opens With Raucous Homecoming Screening Of Carey Mulligan Comedy 'The Ballad Of Wallis Island' Sands Film Festival To Close With John Maclean Survival Thriller 'Tornado' Starring Tim Roth, Jack Lowden & Kōki Sands Film Festival To Open With Carey Mulligan Flick 'The Ballad of Wallis Island'; Speakers Include Joanna Lumley & Kharmel Cochrane 'I had said absolutely no way to Lily-Rose Depp,' Cochrane continued, breaking down the Nosferatu casting process. 'I didn't think she could act. I hadn't seen anything that I thought showed she could act. And I'm not even bothered by the nepotism thing. I think that's a whole other conversation. And then she auditioned. I was wrong. And I've got no shame in saying if I'm not right.' Cochrane ultimately cast Depp alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Nicholas Hoult, and Willem Dafoe. The film went on to become a surprise box office hit, crossing the $100 million mark and becoming Focus Features' second highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office, surpassing Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain. During this afternoon's session, Cochrane described Eggers as one of her staple directors with whom she feels most comfortable collaborating. 'It's Emerald Fennell, Alex Garland, Robert [Eggers], and Lena Dunham,' Cochrane said of her favorite directors. 'We've just got a really good thing going. And I genuinely feel safe in my workplace with them. I feel like I can say to them, 'Oh, look what if we do this,' and I'm not worried about getting fired, because that is a real fear, especially when you're on some of the studio stuff. I got fired recently. I don't want to work like that. I can't do my best work if I'm scared to offer an opinion.' Cochrane also gave the audience at Sands an insight into her unique casting process, which has often been praised as dynamic and diverse. The casting vet said she never lets her work be entirely dictated by a film's script or a director's casting brief. She used the idea of a character's race to illustrate her process. 'If something is clearly written as white, for example, a script reads 'she tied her blonde hair back,' but there's no specific reason for it, I will just put people on tape,' Cochrane said. 'And then it's almost like I dare someone to question why I've done it, and they don't. So then it just becomes normal. Years ago, I would get people saying, 'did you read the brief?' And I'd say yeah, and this is my interpretation of it, just like when you can read a book.' The casting vet said she is currently catching a lot of heat for her work on Fennell's forthcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation. Aussie-natives Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi have been cast in the film's central roles. 'There was one Instagram comment that said the casting director should be shot,' Cochrane said. 'But just wait till you see it, and then you can decide whether you want to shoot me or not. But you really don't need to be accurate. It's just a book. That is not based on real life. It's all art.' Further teasing Fennell's Wuthering Heights, Cochrane said, 'there's definitely going to be some English Lit fans that are not going to be happy' in reference to the film's artistic interpretation of the source material. 'Wait until you see the set design because that is even more shocking,' Cochrane said. 'And there may or may not be a dog collar in it.' Sands Film Festival runs until April 27. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far Everything We Know About Netflix's 'The Thursday Murder Club' So Far TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cinema United CEO Argues for Longer Theatrical Windows in CinemaCon Speech: ‘There Must Be a Baseline'
Cinema United CEO Michael O'Leary called on movie theaters and studios alike to build a new future together for their shared industry in his keynote speech at CinemaCon on Tuesday, and that includes finding common ground on the constantly thorny issue of theatrical windowing. 'Clinging to the norms of a pre-pandemic world or to the temporary adjustments made during that time, threatens the overall health of this great industry,' O'Leary said to the attendees in Las Vegas. 'We need a system that recognizes our common goals and does not pit one sector against another in a short-sighted quest for immediate financial return at the cost of long- term success.' O'Leary tackled a wide range of issues facing theaters as they fight to get the box office back to the consistency it once had before the pandemic, from marketing to showtime scheduling to the ongoing push for refurbishment of auditoriums and concessions. His remarks repeatedly received applause from the exhibitors in attendance. But windows were first and foremost on his list, noting that while the pre-pandemic standard of a 90-day window was never coming back, the COVID-era experiment of releasing films on premium video on-demand as early as 17 days after theatrical release was creating the presumption among many moviegoers that they could just wait a couple weeks to see a film at home, hurting efforts to rebuild theatrical grosses. 'The perception, or more importantly, the reality at times, that everything will be available on other platforms in a matter of weeks, undercuts the sustainability of the entire industry by negatively impacting the frequency of movie fans going to the theatre,' he said. 'Box office success and consumer demand cannot be effectively determined short of a 45-day window.' O'Leary also pointed to box office data for 2024 that showed that while the combined grosses for the top 20 films dropped by 10% compared to pre-pandemic times, the grosses for the next 80 films dropped by 32%. Such a drop shows how movie theaters are trending towards a dangerous new normal where audiences only show up for films perceived as having big enough spectacle for the big screen, leaving non-franchise/blockbuster films to fizzle out. That has played a factor in overall grosses for Q1 of 2025 dropping 11% year-over-year to just $1.44 billion, and has led to films like Focus Features' 'Black Bag' to struggle despite strong reviews. 'Shorter windows reduce the number of people that head to the theatre in the opening weeks of a release. It hits the bottom-line, and in many cases, undermines the ability of medium or smaller-budget movies to build an audience or even get off the ground,' he said. 'If we continue to shorten windows, and crowd out the small and medium sized movies, creating the impression that the only reason to go to the theatre are the big blockbusters, then eventually, the very network needed to make those blockbusters successful, will atrophy,' O'Leary also warned. Outside of windowing, O'Leary also called on new approaches to marketing films, reemphasizing the phrase 'only in theaters' and not promoting home platform availability during the theatrical run. He pointed to a recent NRG survey showing a a 38% decline in the number of movies that reached a audience awareness level over 50% by opening weekend as a sign that marketing needs to change. 'We live in a time of pervasive and relentless communication, and there is noexcuse not to attain this target if exhibition and distribution work together. If fewer than half of movie-goers are aware of a new movie, can we sincerely say we are working to build a robust theatrical business?' he said. For the exhibitors' part, O'Leary called on attendees to continue their work to refurbish their theaters and to make them into places that people want to come back to. Cinema United released a report last week outlining the efforts that theaters from the biggest chains to independent theaters are doing to improve the quality of their theaters. The trade org chief's comments echoed those of Sony Pictures film executives during their CinemaCon presentation on Monday night, as film chairman Tom Rothman vowed to work with theaters on windowing while Sony Pictures Releasing president Adam Bergerman pledged to help reverse the trend of moviegoers waiting for what they expect to be an imminent home platform release with longer windowing. But calls from O'Leary and others in exhibition for an industry-wide standard on windowing come at a time when studios' approach to the topic has become more splintered than ever, even on a film-to-film basis. Disney is one notable exception as the studio has fulfilled the exhibitor wish list of not putting their films on streaming for at least 100 days after theatrical release or even advertising such a release ahead of time. On the flip side of Disney and Sony, there are studios like Universal, which have long stuck to their 2020 agreement with top theater chains that allows them to keep the exclusive window at 17 days if the film opens below $50 million. Studio execs, including NBCU Chairman Donna Langley, have argued that the approach appeals to audiences who have put off moviegoing for good and and allows them to cater to the moviegoing habits of a wider variety of customers. With each studio taking a very different approach to windowing and release strategies both for theaters and home platforms amidst a time of deep uncertainty for the film industry's future, it will take a lot of talks from exhibitors to get all of Hollywood on the same page. The post Cinema United CEO Argues for Longer Theatrical Windows in CinemaCon Speech: 'There Must Be a Baseline' appeared first on TheWrap.
CNN
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
‘Snow White' box office more sleepy than happy
Disney's 'Snow White,' a big-budget live-action retelling of the classic fairytale, opened to a sleepy $43 million at the domestic box office this weekend amid a slew of controversies. Early industry estimates predicted 'Snow White,' which cost around $270 million to make, would take in $48-$58 million in its first weekend. Despite falling short of expectations, 'Snow White' surpassed Focus Features' 'Black Bag' ($4.4 million) and Disney's 'Captain America: Brave New World' ($4.1 million), and could see steady growth in the weeks ahead, according to industry analysts. 'It's a Disney film. It settles in, there's not going to be a lot of family competition,' said David A. Gross, who runs movie consultancy FranchiseRe. 'This weekend is the locomotive that pulls the train.' Though the remake of Disney's 1937 classic topped the box office, it fell well short in comparison to Disney's 'Cinderella,' which was released about a decade ago on March 13, 2015. The controversy-free 'Cinderella' grossed $91.8 million in its opening weekend against a $138.3 million budget, both figures adjusted for inflation. But the Disney princess genre has had varying levels of success, said Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian, in part because of shifting box office interest and the over-saturation of remakes. 'There may be a bit of fatigue on these live-action remakes of classic animated films,' he said. It also didn't help that 'Snow White' garnered attention for all of the wrong reasons ahead of its release. The musical and children's movie somehow found itself in the crosshairs of a culture war over the titular casting of Rachel Zegler, an American actor of Colombian descent, as well as the Israel-Hamas war with the casting of Gal Gadot, who had a mandated service in the Israeli army, as the 'Evil Queen.' Then there was the reimagining of the Seven Dwarfs as magical creatures, drawing criticism from 'Game of Thrones' actor Peter Dinklage. It's likely that Zegler's casting hurt 'Snow White' and caused a distraction, said Gross. He said some audiences prefer new and original stories highlighting diverse characters, rather than changing characters for remakes. However, it's unlikely the controversies reached the film's core audiences: families and young girls, said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder and owner of Box Office Theory. 'The casual movie-going crowd sees a preview for a trailer or they hear about a movie, and they decide whether they want to go see it based on how they feel about it,' he said. Moviegoers frequented theaters less over the last three weeks, leaving the box office down nearly 7% year-over-year, according to Comscore data. That's a shift from a stronger start to the year, when the box office was up 22% from 2024. It's not surprising, Robbins told CNN, since the movies slated for late February and March of 2025 paled in comparison to March 2024's 'Dune: Part Two' and 'Kung Fu Panda 4.' 'It's part of the ebb and flow of the box office,' he said. 'I definitely see that flipping back into 2025's favor sooner rather than later.' The box office could change at any point in time, especially as the release of summer blockbusters grows closer. Dergarabedian expects earnings to look very different in just a few weeks, in particular with the April 4 release of Warner Bros. Pictures' 'A Minecraft Movie.' Warner Brothers Discovery is the parent company of CNN. 'Minecraft' will attract families and children, tapping into the reliability of the genre that's boosted the box office, according to Dergarabedian. 'This is the story of the box office — it's always the ups and downs, the peaks and valleys,' he said.
