Latest news with #JesseEisenberg
News.com.au
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Kieran Culkin joins star-studded cast of The Hunger Games prequel film
He will play the younger version of Stanley Tucci's character Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. The Succession star has found his first film role since he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Jesse Eisenberg's A Real Pain in March. Culkin will play Caesar Flickerman, the eccentric host of The Hunger Games TV broadcast who interviews all of the tributes before they fight to the death in the arena. Tucci previously played an older version of the character in the original Hunger Games franchise between 2012 and 2015.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Topic Studios' Ryan Heller Returns to Cannes with Open Marriage Comedy ‘Splitsville' starring Dakota Johnson
It's not the first time Topic Studios' EVP of film & documentary Ryan Heller has taken a film he produced to Cannes. In fact, it's not even his first time with a film directed by Michael Covino: their previous collaboration, 'The Climb,' won the Heart Prize in Un Certain Regard at the fest in 2019. But when Topic debuts its new film – the open marriage comedy 'Splitsville,' starring Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Nicholas Braun, Covino and the film's co-writer Kyle Marvin – in Cannes' Premiere section on May 19, it will mark yet another high point in what has been a remarkable year for Heller, who began his showbiz career as a guitarist with the indie rock band Aberdeen City. More from Variety Nicole Kidman Pushes Back on Industry Ageism at Kering Women in Motion Gala in Cannes: 'Invest in Us and Believe in Us Because Our Voices Are So Important' Marie Kreutzer's 'Gentle Monster' Wins ArteKino Prize at Cannes Investors Circle Director of Julian Assange Film 'The Six Billion Dollar Man' Wins Golden Globe Prize for Documentary In January, two documentaries Heller produced ('It's Never Over: Jeff Buckley' and 'Folktales') received rapturous receptions when they premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and, two months later, Kieran Culkin won a support actor Oscar for a film Heller executive produced, writer/director/star Jesse Eisenberg's 'A Real Pain.' While Heller is having a good year, he's not immune to the uncertainty wracking the industry, which has been exacerbated by President Trump, who on the eve of Heller's conversation with Variety announced that he was going to put a 100% tariff on all foreign-made films. It's really impossible to generalize. The cost of making movies is high, and I think everybody is looking all over the world for all sorts of opportunities to get money up on screen. We're shooting Jesse Eisenberg's new [untitled musical comedy] movie in New Jersey. We made 'Theater Camp' and 'Shortcomings' in New York. So we certainly don't actively try to [shoot outside the U.S.]. But the independent film business is quite a complex web of international relationships and incentives, and shooting locations are a small part of that. Coming out of the pandemic, the independent films sector was a little slower to come back than others and certainly slower than we all would have liked. Casual moviegoing shifted. It was clear that audiences would still come out for something that was special or felt like an event to them or it really needed to be seen in a communal way. It's probably just sharpened our focus on how we're looking at our own movies and making sure we can really stand by those as communal experiences or sort of mini events. We had a first-look deal with Mike and Kyle and their company, Watch This Ready. We developed a handful of scripts together, including 'Splitsville,' and that script just came together in a moment where we felt like we had an opportunity to get the movie made before the end of 2024. It will be released less than a year from when we started shooting it last September, which is quite exciting. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Best of Variety 'Blue Velvet,' 'Chinatown' and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' Arrive on 4K in June All the Godzilla Movies Ranked 'House of the Dragon': Every Character and What You Need to Know About the 'Game of Thrones' Prequel
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Topic Studios' Ryan Heller Returns to Cannes with Open Marriage Comedy ‘Splitsville' starring Dakota Johnson
It's not the first time Topic Studios' EVP of film & documentary Ryan Heller has taken a film he produced to Cannes. In fact, it's not even his first time with a film directed by Michael Covino: their previous collaboration, 'The Climb,' won the Heart Prize in Un Certain Regard at the fest in 2019. But when Topic debuts its new film – the open marriage comedy 'Splitsville,' starring Dakota Johnson, Adria Arjona, Nicholas Braun, Covino and the film's co-writer Kyle Marvin – in Cannes' Premiere section on May 19, it will mark yet another high point in what has been a remarkable year for Heller, who began his showbiz career as a guitarist with the indie rock band Aberdeen City. More from Variety Nicole Kidman Pushes Back on Industry Ageism at Kering Women in Motion Gala in Cannes: 'Invest in Us and Believe in Us Because Our Voices Are So Important' Marie Kreutzer's 'Gentle Monster' Wins ArteKino Prize at Cannes Investors Circle Director of Julian Assange Film 'The Six Billion Dollar Man' Wins Golden Globe Prize for Documentary In January, two documentaries Heller produced ('It's Never Over: Jeff Buckley' and 'Folktales') received rapturous receptions when they premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and, two months later, Kieran Culkin won a support actor Oscar for a film Heller executive produced, writer/director/star Jesse Eisenberg's 'A Real Pain.' While Heller is having a good year, he's not immune to the uncertainty wracking the industry, which has been exacerbated by President Trump, who on the eve of Heller's conversation with Variety announced that he was going to put a 100% tariff on all foreign-made films. It's really impossible to generalize. The cost of making movies is high, and I think everybody is looking all over the world for all sorts of opportunities to get money up on screen. We're shooting Jesse Eisenberg's new [untitled musical comedy] movie in New Jersey. We made 'Theater Camp' and 'Shortcomings' in New York. So we certainly don't actively try to [shoot outside the U.S.]. But the independent film business is quite a complex web of international relationships and incentives, and shooting locations are a small part of that. Coming out of the pandemic, the independent films sector was a little slower to come back than others and certainly slower than we all would have liked. Casual moviegoing shifted. It was clear that audiences would still come out for something that was special or felt like an event to them or it really needed to be seen in a communal way. It's probably just sharpened our focus on how we're looking at our own movies and making sure we can really stand by those as communal experiences or sort of mini events. We had a first-look deal with Mike and Kyle and their company, Watch This Ready. We developed a handful of scripts together, including 'Splitsville,' and that script just came together in a moment where we felt like we had an opportunity to get the movie made before the end of 2024. It will be released less than a year from when we started shooting it last September, which is quite exciting. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Best of Variety 'Blue Velvet,' 'Chinatown' and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' Arrive on 4K in June All the Godzilla Movies Ranked 'House of the Dragon': Every Character and What You Need to Know About the 'Game of Thrones' Prequel
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Meet the 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' Cast (and Find Out Where You've Seen Them Before!)
Now You See Me: Now You Don't will feature both new and old magicians. The third installment of the beloved Now You See Me franchise stars original cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco as the witty group of magicians called the Four Horsemen. Meanwhile, three younger magicians — played by Ariana Greenblatt, Justice Smith and Dominic Sessa — will join in on the fun, as well. In the teaser, released April 29, Eisenberg reprises his role as J. Daniel Atlas but needs to enlist the help of the three new magicians because his fellow Four Horsemen are "dead" to him. The younger and resident magicians will join forces and work alongside Morgan Freeman's character, Thaddeus Bradley, as they try to take down a group of criminals run by Rosamund Pike's character. Here's everything to know about the new and returning actors starring in Now You See Me: Now You Don't. Jesse Eisenberg will reprise his role as J. Daniel Atlas, an illusionist and street magician. In the first film, Atlas helped create the Four Horsemen and remained their leader for the second film. However, the group had a falling out, so in Now You See Me: Now You Don't, Atlas decides to forge ahead with three new magicians. Luckily for the new crew, the rest of the three Horsemen end up saving Atlas and his new magicians after they find themselves in trouble while trying to steal the "most valuable jewel in history." Related: Who Is Jesse Eisenberg's Wife? All About Anna Strout Eisenberg hasn't spoken too much about the third film, but he told GamesRader+ in October 2024, "Every day we walk onto set and pinch ourselves because the set pieces, the magic, the ensemble, it's really, truly miraculous." Off-screen, Eisenberg has been with his wife, Anna Strout, since 2001 and the couple share one child. Dave Franco returns to the franchise, once again, as Jack Wilder. He is the youngest member of the Four Horsemen and was a simple street magician and pickpocket before joining the group. Despite having a falling out with Atlas, Wilder surprises him when he suddenly appears in the midst of a theft gone wrong and candidly tells Atlas in the trailer, "[I'm] saving your a--." Related: Dave Franco and Alison Brie's Relationship Timeline When he's not on set, Franco spends time with his wife, actress Alison Brie, whom he married in 2017. Isla Fisher returns to the cast as Henley Reeves, the only female in the Four Horsemen. Reeves, who was once Atlas' assistant and ex, is a clever escape artist and stage magician. Related: Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher's Relationship Timeline Now You See Me: Now You Don't marks Fisher's return to the franchise as she was unable to star in the second film, Now You See Me 2, because she was pregnant at the time. Lizzy Caplan, who played Lula May, was added to the cast as a fill-in for the Four Horsemen. Off-screen, Fisher was married to Sacha Baron Cohen from 2010 to 2024. The former couple share three children. Woody Harrelson reprises his role as Merritt McKinney, a mentalist and hypnotist. Despite being the oldest member of the Four Horsemen, McKinney often enjoys being unhelpful and playing with people's minds any chance he can get. Related: Who Is Woody Harrelson's Wife? All About Laura Louie When he isn't acting, Harrelson spends time with his wife of over 15 years, Laura Louie, and their three children. Mark Ruffalo, who starred as Dylan Rhodes in the first two films, was not shown in the trailer for Now You See Me: Now You Don't, but he has been confirmed as a part of the cast. In April 2025, Variety noted that Ruffalo would be returning to the film in some capacity. His character, Rhodes, is an FBI agent who was trying to capture the Four Horsemen, but changed his motive after his history with magicians was revealed in the second film. Related: Who Is Mark Ruffalo's Wife? All About Sunrise Coigney Off-screen, Ruffalo is married to Sunrise Coigney. The pair married in 2000 and have since welcomed three children. Morgan Freeman is the last returning cast member who is confirmed to appear in Now You See Me: Now You Don't and was shown in the April 2025 trailer. Freeman plays Thaddeus Bradley, a former magician who worked behind-the-scenes to expose magicians' secrets and profit from solving their mysteries. Bradley is often one step ahead of both the Four Horsemen and the authorities. Related: All About Morgan Freeman's Children and Grandchildren "My Horsemen, you were brought together for a reason — to bring down two generations of criminals with a single sleight of hand," he tells the group in the Now You See Me 3 trailer. While he acts as a father figure in a lot of his roles, Freeman also has four children of his own off-screen. Rosamund Pike is in her villain era. Pike will make her Now You See Me debut as the wealthy leader of the Vanderberg crime family. "For decades, the Vanderbergs have been selling diamonds to warlords, arms dealers, traffickers to help launder their money," Atlas tells his fellow magicians in the Now You See Me: Now You Don't trailer. Vanderberg immediately goes to war with the Four Horsemen after they try and steal her beloved "heart jewel" in the upcoming film. She's seen meeting with fellow criminals and loading a gun in the teaser. Related: Who Is Rosamund Pike's Boyfriend? All About Robie Uniacke Off-screen, Pike has been dating Robie Uniacke since around 2009 and the pair share two children. Dominic Sessa stars in the Now You See Me franchise for the first time as Bosco, the leader of the new group of magicians. In the trailer, he pretends to be Atlas in front of an audience and even tells his fellow magicians, "My Atlas was spot on." Sessa became a breakout star when he made his acting debut in the 2023 film The Holdovers. He won a Critics' Choice Movie Award for the role and was nominated for a BAFTA Award. Sessa's acting career seems to just be getting started, as he was also cast as the late chef Anthony Bourdain in the biopic Tony. Ariana Greenblatt will make her Now You See Me debut as June, the only woman in the new group of three magicians. Greenblatt took the new role seriously and told Nylon prior to filming in August 2024 that she had enrolled at the Magic Castle — an academy for magic enthusiasts. 'I've been at the Magic Castle every other day, learning magic,' she told the outlet. 'My magic teacher is so awesome; he is one of the best ones. So I get to know all the magician tea.' Greenblatt got her acting start in the Disney Channel TV show Stuck in the Middle in 2016, but she rose to fame in 2023 when she played America Ferrera's daughter in the blockbuster film Barbie. Greenblatt has also had prominent roles in 65, In The Heights and Ahsoka. Justice Smith rounds out the new group of magicians and plays Charlie. Smith landed his first acting gig in 2014 when he appeared on the Nickelodeon comedy series, The Thundermans. He went on to act in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), Detective Pikachu (2019) and All The Bright Places (2020) alongside Elle Fanning. Read the original article on People
Broadcast Pro
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Broadcast Pro
Lionsgate's ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don't' releases first look images
'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' is part of a growing list of major Hollywood productions filmed in Abu Dhabi. The first footage from Now You See Me: Now You Don't, the third installment in Lionsgate's magic-heist franchise, has been released, offering audiences an early glimpse at high-octane action scenes filmed in Abu Dhabi. The upcoming thriller, set to premiere in theatres this November, features a star-studded cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, Rosamund Pike and Morgan Freeman. Collaboration between Abu Dhabi's Creative Media Authority, Abu Dhabi Film Commission and Miral, seamlessly facilitating and wrapping yet another international Hollywood production in just 13 days across multiple iconic locations, from leisure and thrills across Yas Island, including scenes of the iconic W Abu Dhabi – Yas Island, Yas Marina Circuit and Formula 1 car chasing action on the streets of Yas Island and Sheikh Zayed Bridge, to the artistic grandeur of the Louvre Abu Dhabi in Saadiyat Island. Supported by the Abu Dhabi Film Commission, the production benefited from the Emirate's incentives, including a substantial cashback rebate and streamlined logistical support. The production employed 175 skilled local crew members, further showcasing the capabilities of Abu Dhabi's growing film industry. Additionally, six young UAE-based filmmakers were given hands-on internship opportunities on set through the CMA's creative lab initiative, allowing them to apply their training and gain valuable industry experience alongside an international crew. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, the film is written by Seth Grahame-Smith, Michael Lesslie, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, with a story by Eric Warren Singer. Producers Bobby Cohen, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci bring the project to life, building on characters originally created by Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt. Now You See Me: Now You Don't is part of a growing list of major Hollywood productions filmed in Abu Dhabi. With over 180 international projects having taken advantage of the emirate's versatile landscapes, professional crews, state-of-the-art facilities, and competitive financial incentives, the region has hosted blockbusters including Dune, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mission: Impossible, Fast and Furious and Star Wars, among others.
