Aaron Eckhart Pic ‘Butcher’s War’: Samuel Goldwyn Takes U.S., Voltage Pictures Acquires International Rights – TIFF
EXCLUSIVE: Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired North American rights and Voltage Pictures has picked up international rights to the Aaron Eckhart action thriller Butcher’s War.
Voltage Pictures will introduce the film to international buyers at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film also stars Jason Behr (Roswell, The Grudge, Skinwalkers), Danielle Vasinova (1923, The Madison, The Leader) and Glenn Morshower (Transformers franchise, 24, The Little Things). Kyle Kauwika Harris (Out of Exile, The Huntsman, Reverence) directs from a screenplay by Don Roff, Harris and Dawn Bursteen.
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Tiffany Haddish, Devon Sawa’s Thriller ‘The Girl in the River’ Gets Late Summer Release and Trailer (Exclusive)
A crime feature starring Tiffany Haddish is set to make a splash in theaters.
Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired The Girl in the River and will release the thriller in theaters and on digital platforms Sept. 4, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Maggie Grace, Devon Sawa and Ralph Macchio round out the cast for writer-director Brando Benetton’s movie.
The Girl in the River centers on an experienced criminologist and a young psychologist who head to a small Mississippi town after a girl is murdered and her twin sister goes missing.
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Guy Pearce Conspiracy Thriller ‘The Marshal’ to Lead Epic Pictures’ Cannes Slate as First Look Revealed (EXCLUSIVE)
Epic Pictures Group has taken international sales right for upcoming feature “The Marshal,” starring Oscar nominee Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”), and will launch the film at this year’s Marche du Film in Cannes.
From director Andrew Baird (“Zone 414,” “One Way,” “Sunrise”) and written by Jay Thames, “The Marshal” — which recently wrapped production — is described as a “taut, modern conspiracy thriller rooted in moral ambiguity and high-stakes action.” It also marks the third collaboration between Pearce and director Baird, following “Zone 414” (2021) and “Sunrise” (2024).
Emile Hirsch, Kate Beckinsale, Terrence Howard, Evan Ross, Cara Delevingne & Famke Janssen Set For Action Dramedy ‘Turnbuckle’ From Sean McEwen
EXCLUSIVE: Writer-director Sean McEwen has wrapped production on Turnbuckle, an indie dramedy with action elements starring Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), Kate Beckinsale (Underworld), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Evan Ross (The Hunger Games), Cara Delevingne (Suicide Squad), Famke Janssen (Boy Kills World) and more.
Shot in Arkansas, the film’s logline is being kept under wraps. It’s billed as a darkly comic Southern story about redemption, survival, and small-town chaos.
Ross (The Hunger Games) and Greg Carney (Material Girls) led the producing team under their newly formed banner, Film Mafia Entertainment, joined by Daemon Hillin (Into the Deep) Hillin Entertainment, Ryan R. Johnson (12 Mighty Orphans), Sprockefellar Pictures, and Mia Chang (Ick) Tunnel Post. Mira Pak Howard (Showdown at the Grand), Terrence Howard (Pride), and Alexander Foard (Same Kind of Different as Me) served as exec producers, with Freedom United taking point on casting.
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‘Hunting Season’ Review: A Magnetic Mel Gibson Makes This Formulaic Actioner Watchable
“It takes an awful lot to kill a person,” observes Bowdrie, the central character in RJ Collins’ thriller Hunting Season. As played by Mel Gibson, Bowdrie is the strong, silent type, only speaking when he must. He lives in a cabin in the woods with his teenage daughter Tag (an excellent Sofia Hublitz, Ozark) and only goes into town when he has to pick up supplies. It’s clear that he just wants to be left alone — but since that wouldn’t make for much of a movie, you can rest assured he’ll soon have to demonstrate that he’s developed some serious fighting skills somewhere along the way.
The film’s plot is set in motion when Tag discovers a severely injured young woman washed up from the river near their cabin. She’s suffered bullet wounds, so Bowdrie, who also apparently possesses medical skills, sets out to remove the bullets from her body. He advises Tag to leave the room, informing her, “It’s gonna get pretty screamy in here.”
David Mamet To Direct Anthony Mackie, Ben Mendelsohn, Emily Alyn Lind & Sharon Stone In Film Version Of His Hollywood Satire ‘Speed The Plow’ – EFM
EXCLUSIVE: Pulitzer winner David Mamet is set to direct Anthony Mackie (Captain America: Brave New World), Ben Mendelsohn (Dark Knight Rises), Emily Alyn Lind (We Were Liars) and Oscar nominee Sharon Stone (Casino) in the feature version of his Tony-winning play Speed The Plow
Mamet has been trying to make the movie version of his Hollywood satire for the best part of a decade and now gets to do so with a strong cast and a production start date of February 18, 2026, in Atlanta.
Mamet’s 1988 play starred Joe Mantegna, Ron Silver in a Tony-winning performance, and Madonna.
The new film, which will diverge to an extent from the play, will be set at the fictional American Prestige Studios, where junior executive Bob Grant (Mackie) is appointed to a head of production role.
Grant is emotionally and philosophically unsuited to a job overseeing the production of schlock, but is aided, or impeded, by a studio time server, Charlie Fox (Mendelsohn); an office temp, Karen (Lind); and crazed movie star Gemma Speed (Stone).
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‘Obsession’ & ‘Superman & Lois’ Star Inde Navarrette Set For Rollercoaster Thriller ‘Invertigo’ From ‘Fall’ Producers — EFM
EXCLUSIVE: Inde Navarrette, hot off a breakout movie performance in TIFF horror hit Obsession as well as The CW’s Superman & Lois, has been set to star in Invertigo, the latest thriller from Fall and Obsession producers Capstone and Tea Shop.
Filming is due to begin this month on the fun-sounding movie about “a group of reckless teens who convince a young park worker to sneak them onto a rollercoaster before its debut opening. However a system failure traps them hundreds of feet in the air, forcing them to fight for survival as buried traumas and hidden tensions erupt into chaos”.
Written by Kathy Charles (Love Bomb) and Billy O’Brien (I Am Not a Serial Killer), and directed by Matthias Hoene (Cockneys vs Zombies), producers are James Harris and Mark Lane of Tea Shop, alongside Christian
Mercuri of Capstone Pictures, with cinematography by Peter Matjasko (Boy Kills World). Filming is set to take place across Thailand, the U.S., and the UK.
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OSCAR SHAW: Michael Jai White Delivers a Dish Best Served Cold in the Trailer for His Upcoming Vengeance Fused Actioner!
Happy New Year a few weeks early as we have confirmation that besides Jason Statham, who is bringing the action with Shelter next month, fellow action icon Michael Jai White (Spawn, Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing) will be ushering in 2026 with a brand-new action-thriller! Titled Oscar Shaw (Yep! That’s the name), White is undoubtedly about to bring the fisticuffs and firepower in a savage tale of revenger and retribution. Samuel Goldwyn Films has recently launched the trailer and poster for the flick, and you can now scroll below for all the latest hard hitting Michael Jai White action you can handle!
Indie action auteur R. Ellis Frazer (Rumble, Repeater) and Justin Nesbitt co-direct from a script penned by Don Roff. Michael Jai White headlines along with a solid action cinema cast including The Fast and the Furious franchise alum Tyrese Gibson and Isaiah Washington. Producers include Vince Jolivette, Richie Hil, Jiarui Guo, Ojan Missaghi and David Wachs
Maggie Grace, Devon Sawa, Tiffany Haddish & Ralph Macchio To Star In Crime Thriller ‘The Girl In The River’
In the film, which entered production in Mississippi this week, a seasoned criminologist and a young female psychologist are lured to a remote Mississippi town to investigate the murder of a little girl and the disappearance of her twin sister.
The project marks the feature debut of Brando Benetton, an Italian writer-director whose previous credits include the action-thriller short Nightfire starring Emmy nominee Dylan Baker.
The film is being produced by Andrew Stevens’ Andrew Stevens Entertainment banner (The Ritual, The Deputy) and Joe Lemmon under his Black Diamond Films banner (The Ritual Killer)
Julie Benz, Busy Philipps, Ron Perlman & Jim Rash To Star In Horror-Comedy ‘Horrified’ About A Down-On-Her-Luck Scream Queen
‘Horrified’ Adds Jason Behr, Allison Dunbar, Doug Jones & Aimeé Teegarden As Filming Gets Underway In Tulsa
Nicolas Cage, Heather Graham, Stephen Dorff Saddle Up for Western ‘The Gunslingers,’ Brilliant Pictures Launching in Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)
Having starred in only his first Western films in the last few years with “The Old Way” and “Butcher’s Crossing,” Nicolas Cage is doubling down on the genre, having teamed up with Heather Graham (“The Hangover”) and Stephen Dorff (“True Detective”) for “The Gunslingers.”
Costas Mandylor (“Saw”), Scarlet Stallone (“Tulsa King”), Tzi Ma (“The Farewell”), and Randall Batinkoff (“Dead Man’s Hand”) also star in the film, which is being launched in Cannes with Brilliant Pictures handling international sales. Grindstone has U.S. rights to the film.
NICOLAS CAGE IS A WACKY GENIUS READY TO BRAWL IN WESTERN “GUNSLINGERS”
WATCH TRAILER
Nicolas Cage is unleashing his meme-able rage as a gun-toting “mad genius” for his latest Western, “Gunslingers”
Cage, who previously starred in fellow genre films “The Old Way” and “Butcher’s Crossing,” plays Ben, an unhinged reformed outlaw who has a spiritual awakening on the road of revenge. Stephen Dorff and Heather Graham also star in “Gunslingers,” along with Scarlet Stallone, Costas Mandylor, Tzi Ma, and Randall Batinkoff.
The official synopsis reads: “Reformed gunslinger Thomas Keller (Dorff) and mad genius Ben (Cage) are guided by spiritual leader Jericho (Mandylor) as they strive for vindication
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HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM
ALAN AND DAWN BURSTEEN LAUNCH
MILESTONE STUDIOS
Husband and wife Alan B. and Dawn Bursteen are launching a new LA-based production company, Milestone Studios
They plan to create original content and develop film adaptations from fiction and non-fiction novels, articles, autobiographical works, and other source materials to produce up to 12 films over the next two years through private equity financing with budgets ranging from $5M – $15M per title across genres.
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Grindstone Entertainment Group Acquires Western ‘Dead Man’s Hand’ Starring Stephen Dorff, Jack Kilmer & Cole Hauser
EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate’s Grindstone Entertainment Group has acquired North American rights to Dead Man’s Hand — a Western starring Stephen Dorff (True Detective), Jack Kilmer (The Nice Guys) and Cole Hauser (Yellowstone), which just recently wrapped production in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In the film from Milestone Studios, the retired gunslinger Reno (Kilmer) joins forces with a new marshal (Hauser) to take on the cruel cattle baron, Mayor Clarence Bishop (Dorff).
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MORGAN FREEMAN, COLE HAUSER & JAIMIE ALEXANDER SET FOR THRILLER
‘THE MINUTE YOU WAKE UP DEAD’
EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby), Yellowstone star Cole Hauser and Blindspot and Thor actress Jaimie Alexander have been set to star in under-the-radar thriller The Minute You Wake Up Dead, which is now underway in Mississippi.
Milestone Studios is producing the film, which follows a stockbroker (Hauser) in a small southern town who gets embroiled in an insurance scam with a next-door neighbor (Alexander)
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‘LAST SHOOT OUT’ REVIEW: BRUCE DERN’S TURN AS A MEAN GALOOT SETS INDIE WESTERN APART
Milestone Studios obviously studied some classic Westerns and picked up a few lessons before saddling up.
There is a distinct flavor of the brawnily austere Westerns that comprise Budd Boetticher’s cult-favorite Ranown Cycle — and more than a hint of another showcase for the great Randolph Scott, Sam Peckinpah’s “Ride the High Country” — in director Michael Feifer’s “Last Shoot Out,” a small-budget indie that aims to please the currently underserved niche audience for oaters.
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ALL THE MOVIES YOU’LL WANT TO WATCH IN 2022
“Pursuit” (Feb. 18, theaters and on demand): John Cusack stars in the action thriller as the crime-boss dad of a hacker who not only is on the lam from a pair of cops but also dealing with the fact his wife has been kidnapped by a drug cartel.
Milestone Studios
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‘CATCH THE BULLET’ TRAILER: FIRST LOOK AT WESTERN DEDICATED TO MEMORY OF ACTOR JAY PICKETT
EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has your first look at Catch the Bullet, a Western dedicated to the memory of the late actor Jay Pickett, which Grindstone will release in select theaters, on digital and VOD September 10.