Latest news with #LateNightwiththeDevil
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
David Dastmalchian, Georgina Campbell Teaming for Horror ‘The Shepherd,' Anton Launching Sales in Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)
The stars of horror hits 'Late Night With the Devil' and 'Barbarian' are uniting to take another potentially hair-raising step into the genre world. 'The Shepherd' is set to team David Dastmalchian ('Oppenheimer,' 'The Dark Knight,' 'Dune') and Georgina Campbell ('The Watchers,' 'Black Mirror'). The horror-thriller comes from Spooky Pictures — Image Nation (also behind 'Late Night With the Devil'), with Anton launching sales in Cannes. More from Variety Leslie Grace to Play Diver Swallowed by Giant Sperm Whale in Survival Thriller 'Propel,' Altitude Launching Sales in Cannes (EXCLUSIVE) Cynthia Erivo-Led 'Prima Facie' Film Adaptation Heading to Cannes Market, With Embankment Launching Sales Andrew Karpen Remembered: Bleecker Street Media Founder Was a Force in Indie Film, Beloved for Integrity and Kindness The film is being directed by John Hyams ('Sick,' 'Alone,' HBO's documentary 'The Smashing Machine') and written by Alexander Gustaveson. Anton is handling worldwide rights and co-repping North American rights with UTA Independent Film Group and Cinetic. Set in the desolate Nevada night, 'The Shepherd' follows a young woman in labor fleeing an abusive past who has her escape hijacked by a mysterious stranger hiding an ominous threat in the back of her car. Reuniting the producers behind the box-office hit 'Late Night with the Devil,' 'The Shepherd' is produced under the Spooky Pictures – Image Nation partnership with Steven Schneider ('Paranormal Activity,'' Insidious,' 'Split') and Roy Lee ('It' franchise, 'Barbarian,' 'A Minecraft Movie') for Spooky Pictures ('Strange Darling,' Chloe Okuno's 'Watcher'); Ben Cornwell, Jordan Foley and Nick Smith for Paperclip Ltd. ('Alone,' 'Snack Shack') along with Jonathan Rosenthal ('Alone,' 'The Abandon'); and Sébastien Raybaud ('Fuze,' 'Greenland: Migration,' 'Greenland,' 'The Night House') for Anton. The film is executive produced by Dastmalchian under his Good Fiend Films banner, Campbell, Ben Ross and Derek Dauchy for Image Nation, Rami Yasin for Spooky Pictures, and Yeardley Smith for Paperclip Ltd. Anton and Image Nation are financing the film, with production set to start on 'The Shepherd' in the fall, 2025. 'Once I turned the first few pages of 'The Shepherd' I was hooked,' said Dastmalchian. 'I immediately wanted to see this high-octane, horrifying world brought to life and John is the perfect person to make it happen. After collaborating with Roy and Steven on 'Late Night with the Devil,' I have been looking forward to getting back in the sandbox with them and I can't wait to bring the genre force of Good Fiend Films into the equation.' 'Following the success of 'Late Night with the Devil,' we're excited to be working with David Dastmalchian once again on 'The Shepherd,'' added Image Nation CEO Ben Ross. 'David brings a distinctive energy and depth to every project he's part of, and this film marks another strong collaboration in our ongoing partnership with Spooky Pictures.' 'The Shepherd' is part of a slate of upcoming projects from Spooky Pictures and Image Nation including Charlie Polinger's 'The Plague' starring Joel Edgerton, which will premiere in Cannes' prestigious Un Certain Regard competition, Randall Okita's 'Menace' starring Isabel May, and Damian McCarthy's 'Hokum' starring Adam Scott. Dastmalchian is repped by Atlas Artists. Campbell is repped by UTA, Entertainment 360, Independent Talent Group and Felker Toczek Suddleson McGinnis Ryan LLC. Best of Variety Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Was 2024 the tipping point for AI and Hollywood?
2024 saw cinematic controversies as multiple films were revealed to have used AI in various stages of their productions. 2023 saw Hollywood writers go on strike to fight for fair pay and job protection against the growing use of AI. Settlements with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) saw new contracts featuring guards on how the technology can be used in production processes. Despite this, multiple films released in 2024 have been revealed to have experimented with AI at various stages of their production processes. Early on in 2024, independent horror film Late Night with the Devil was released to critical and commercial success. During its release it was struck with controversy when it was revealed that images punctuating the 1970s late night TV setting of the film were generated using AI software. Public response had this use of AI met with concern. Many highlighted the slippery slope of using AI in replacement of graphic designers. The directors of the film, brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes, responded that AI was used 'in conjunction' with graphic and production designers. Late Night with the Devil was made in 2022, before the WGA strike and when AI image generation was first entering the public sphere. Despite the controversy, the film still became a critical and independent box office hit, but was one of the first notable AI related controversies of this year. Respeecher is a Ukrainian-based AI voice modulation tool. The software has been used in the dialogue editing process of multiple, high-profile films across the industry in 2024. Robbie William's biopic Better Man used Respeecher for the dialogue and singing throughout the film. Respeecher has also made its way to the Oscars. Two of the big players in this years Oscar race, the staggering The Brutalist, and the continually controversial Emilia Perez, both used AI and the Respeecher software in their dialogue editing. Emilia Perez has been hit with controversy over its subject matter and an onslaught of resurfaced racist tweets from its lead, Karla Sofía Gascón have completely blinded any controversy surrounding the use of Respeecher. The Brutalist has arguably faced more controversy over its use of the tool than Emilia Perez. Hungarian dialogue performed by Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones were modulated to sound like perfect Hungarian vowel sounds. Rumours also hit The Brutalist over AI image generation being used for architectural drawings, but director Brady Corbet has denied these claims. Regarding The Brutalist, many film fans hitting back at the use of AI have misunderstood the use of the software in the post-production editing process. Outrage over lead actor Adrien Brody's accent being doctored and completely AI have been circling social media. Only one scene of Hungarian dialogue was fine-tuned and edited. Many films in post-production edit their dialogue mostly with additional dialogue recording. The use of AI here could be taken two ways. On the one hand you could just see this as just an extension of editing software, the same sound engineers are performing their job in just a fraction of the time. On the other hand, having AI be so present in changing vocals could lead to completely generated performances. Respeecher has already been used to create Darth Vader performances using the voice of James Earl Jones in recent Star Wars projects like the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Editing Hungarian vowels is one step, creating a full performance is another. Whilst some in the industry are ready to adopt AI into their filmmaking, others are taking a stand and vocalising their distaste towards the tool. The directors behind horror hit The Heretic put a disclaimer in the credits of their film stating no generative AI was used in the production. Recently, Nicolas Cage has spoken out against AI in an acceptance speech stating the tool will never replicate human emotion and dream like sensibility and that 'AI is interfering with your authentic and honest expression'. "Was 2024 the tipping point for AI and Hollywood?" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
