See what else is happening in film & TV industries around the world.
Steve McQueen’s ’Twelve Years a Slave’ could be heading to Cannes
After reports indicated that Steve McQueen’s highly anticipated ‘Twelve Years a Slave’ will not be finished in time for this year’s Cannes festival, the film has been given an ‘R’ rating by the MPAA six months before its release date in the U.S., which suggests that it might just make its debut at the upcoming festival. It’s unusual for a film to get a rating this far in advance of its release date and with six weeks left until the festival kicks off, it seems that the film is finished and ready to be screened. This is McQueen’s third film after ‘Hunger’ and ‘Shame’, both of which starred Michael Fassbender as the protagonist. ‘Twelve Years a Slave’ follows the story of Solomon Northup, a man living in New York in the 1800s who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in America’s deep south. The film has an all-star cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Scoot McNairy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Garrett Dillahunt, and Irish actress Ruth Negga. The film is set to be released in Ireland early next year.
Paul Verhoeven’s user-generated ‘Tricked’ heads for America
New York-based distribution company D Street Releasing has acquired the American distribution rights to the Paul Verhoeven film, ‘Tricked’. Verhoeven (Total Recall, Robocop) took a step back from the traditional mode of filmmaking with his latest film by writing the first four minutes of the film and then posting it on the Entertainment Experience crowd-sourcing platform, inviting users to submit their own ideas as regards to the script and who should be cast. He then collected material from over 35,000 participants over 39 weeks and the film opens with a behind-the-scenes look at Verhoeven gathering all the material and constructing a narrative from many different voices. The narrative feature itself then follows this in-depth look at alternative filmmaking.
‘Avengers’ sequel heads to the UK
Following the news that the latest Transformers instalment will not be filmed in America, another Hollywood blockbuster is set for an international shoot. The next instalment in the ‘Avengers’ franchise will be filmed in the UK. It seems that the UK has proven to be quite popular for Marvel Superhero movies as ‘Thor: The Dark World’ was recently filmed there and the upcoming ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ will also be filmed there later this year. It’s thought the original cast will return for the sequel, including director Joss Whedon. Multi-award winning Irish cinematographer Seamus McGarvey has also hinted that he might be returning to shoot the big-budget blockbuster. Pre-production is scheduled to begin later this year and the film itself is set to be released in 2015.
