Sky to release Blithe Spirit in cinemas and on Sky Cinema from 15 January
Sky today [Nov 20th] announces the acquisition of Blithe Spirit from STUDIOCANAL UK. The film will be released in cinemas and on Sky Cinema on 15 January across the UK and Ireland.
Blithe Spirit, based on the play by Noël Coward, stars Academy Award® and BAFTA winner Judi Dench (Skyfall, Victoria & Abdul) alongside Dan Stevens (Beauty & The Beast, Legion), Leslie Mann (Blockers, The Comedian), and Isla Fisher (Greed, Nocturnal Animals).
Sarah Wright, Director of Sky Cinema and Acquisitions at Sky UK & Ireland, commented: “2021 is going to be a big year for original film at Sky and what better way to kick it off than with Blithe Spirit? Based on the Noël Coward production, this sparkling comedy is full of fun, frolics and an all-star cast. A great way to banish the January blues!”
Blithe Spirit is a riotous reimagining of Noël Coward’s classic comedy, about love that just won’t die… Best-selling crime novelist Charles (Dan Stevens) is struggling with catastrophic writer’s block and a stressful deadline for his first screenplay. His picture-perfect second wife Ruth (Isla Fisher) is doing her best to keep him focussed in the hope of fulfilling her dream of heading to Hollywood. Charles’ desperate search for inspiration leads him to invite Madame Arcati (Judi Dench), a medium recently exposed as a fraud, to perform a séance in their home. They all get more than they bargained for when Arcati accidentally summons the spirit of his deceased first wife: the fiery and jealous Elvira (Leslie Mann) who embarks on a mission to kill Charles so she can spend eternity with him which leads to an increasingly comical and deadly love triangle.
Directed by Edward Hall (Downton Abbey, Spooks) and adapted by Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard (Finding Your Feet, Fisherman’s Friends) and Piers Ashworth (Fisherman’s Friends).
Blithe Spirit, a Sky Original will be released in cinemas and on Sky Cinema from 15 January. The film will also be available on streaming service NOW TV via the Sky Cinema Pass.
(Sky)
Category: Projects
First “Godmothered” trailer
The first trailer for Godmothered was released a couple of days ago, and it looks like a fun movie! It will be streaming on Disney+ from December 4th.
“Godmothered” release date and first still
This week Disney+ announced that Godmothered will premiere on the streaming service on December 4th! We have also an official synopsis and the first still of Isla in the film:
Set at Christmas time, “Godmothered” is a comedy about Eleanor, a young, inexperienced fairy godmother-in-training (Jillian Bell), who upon hearing that her chosen profession is facing extinction, decides to show the world that people still need fairy godmothers. Finding a mislaid letter from a 10-year-old girl in distress, Eleanor tracks her down and discovers that the girl, Mackenzie, is now a 40-year-old single mom (Isla Fisher) working at a news station in Boston. Having lost her husband several years earlier, Mackenzie has all but given up on the idea of “happily ever after,” but Eleanor is bound and determined to give Mackenzie a happiness makeover, whether she likes it or not.
The cast also includes Santiago Cabrera, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Jane Curtin, June Squibb, Jillian Shea Spaeder, Willa Skye, Artemis Pebdani, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Stephnie Weir. Sharon Maguire (Bridget Jones’s Diary) directs with a script from Kari Granlund and Melissa Stack. Justin Springer (Dumbo, TRON: Legacy) produced the TV movie, with executive producers including Diane L. Sabatini (Lady and the Tramp), Tom Pollock (Ghostbusters: Afterlife), Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), and Amie Karp (Ghostbusters: Afterlife).
The Godmothered original soundtrack, from Walt Disney Records, featuring the score by Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman (Emma, A Dog’s Purpose), plus the end credit songs “Rise Up (Joy to the World)” and “Hero” performed by Jillian Shea Spaeder, will be available on all digital formats on Dec. 4. The score was produced by Portman and was recorded with the Chamber Orchestra of London at AIR Lyndhurst and Abbey Road Studios.
Mill Valley Film Festival “Blithe Spirit” Q&A
Blithe Spirit received its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival on October 8th, and although there could be no red carpet due to the pandemic, Isla and the director Ed Parker took part in a virtual Q&A to promote the film – our first official sighting of Isla since the start of the year! Isla talked about what she liked about the film, bringing some “modern fun” to the story, how she understood her character, spiritualism and seance’s, and “otherworldly things” happening on set. Have a watch below, and find screencaptures in our Gallery:
Eva Longoria replaces Isla Fisher in “Unplugging”
Isla has dropped out of Unplugging, reportedly due to scheduling conflicts:
Eva Longoria, Lea Thompson & Nicole Byer Join ‘Veep’s Matt Walsh In ‘Unplugging’ Comedy
Eva Longoria has signed on to star opposite Matt Walsh in the comedy Unplugging, replacing previously attached actress Isla Fisher. Lea Thompson, Keith David, Nicole Byer and Al Madrigal have also been added to the cast of the film, which will mark the feature directorial debut of film editor Debra Neil-Fisher.
Walsh and Brad Morris co-wrote the film, which is currently shooting in Oklahoma. The plot: After the death of a friend, Dan (Walsh) is inspired to whisk his wife Jeanine (Longoria) away to a remote town for a “digital detox.” Their romantic weekend quickly turns disastrous with unearthly encounters, strong edibles and bizarre locals. With no cell or Internet service, they’re lost, but end up reconnecting with each other along the way home.
Producers are Debbie Liebling, Kevin Matusow and Carissa Buffel for The Traveling Picture Show Company, with Morris and Walsh. William G. Santor’s Productivity Media Inc. is financing, with Three Point Capital providing tax-credit financing. Radiant Films International is handling foreign sales.
Longoria will next be seen in Amazon’s Sylvie’s Love opposite Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha, and soon she begins production on Universal’s untitled sci-fi film opposite Ice Cube. Repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Jackoway Austen, Longoria is set to make her feature directorial debut with the biopic Flamin’ Hot for Searchlight.
Thompson, best known for her roles in the Back to the Future trilogy and ABC’s Switched at Birth, is repped by Innovative Artists and Gilbertson Entertainment. Byer, the Emmy-nominated host of the Netflix competition show Nailed It!, is repped by WME and Artists First. Artists & Representatives and Silver J Management rep David, who is the star of OWN’s hit megachurch drama Greenleaf. Madrigal, whose credits include The Daily Show and Warner Bros’ The Way Back with Ben Affleck, is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
(Deadline)
Isla starring in Tim Robbins’ Trump Satire Podcast ‘Bobbo Supreme’
Tim Robbins to Launch Trump Satire and Podcast ‘Bobbo Supreme’
Tim Robbins thought he’d come up with a timely idea for a new comedy.
The subject of his new satire would be an unhinged billionaire-turned-president who uses the Oval Office to sow racism and division. Robbins’ film would focus on his struggles to maintain his grip on power during a tumultuous year in which he faces an uphill climb to re-election. Parallels to Donald J. Trump are obvious and intended, Robbins says.
“It’s definitely Trump,” he told Variety. “But it’s the Trump behind the scenes — the one from the unsourced reports of him belittling aides and behaving in an even more narcissistic fashion.”
Initially, Robbins reached out to “The Big Short” writer and director Adam McKay about lining up financing for the feature film. But the pandemic upended those plans, making it nearly impossible to secure backing and complete the film by Election Day on Nov. 4. That sent Robbins back to the drawing board. His creative solution has enabled him to deliver an October surprise of his own. “Bobbo Supreme,” his incisive look at power and politics, has been re-conceived as a five-episode podcast.
Robbins said he gradually became convinced that the best way to respond to Trump and the country’s rightward lurch was with humor.
“It’s what autocrats fear most,” said Robbins. “Satire and humor gives us a deeper understanding of what’s going on in our world. It’s also important as a great release for people who are trapped in a cycle of news that is despairing and hard to listen to. It’s a welcome relief from the reality we are dealing with every day.”
The actor also tapped his rolodex of friends and past co-stars to assemble an A-list cast. In addition to Robbins, who plays Bobbo, the voice cast includes Jack Black, Isla Fisher, Alfre Woodard, Ray Wise, Ted Levine, Patton Oswalt, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Tom Lennon, Rita Brent, Haley Joel Osment, Riki Lindhome, Maribeth Monroe and Sasheer Zamata. The group, most of whom were quarantining in their homes during the shutdown, assembled from 35 different locations for four days of recording. Robbins felt it was important that everyone record their parts at the same time in order to better capture comic timing and so the performers could feed off of each other.
Continue reading Isla starring in Tim Robbins’ Trump Satire Podcast ‘Bobbo Supreme’
“Blithe Spirit” screening at two more film festivals
Blithe Spirit will screen at a couple of upcoming film festival in America. The film will receive its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival later this week.
Isla also took part in a press day for the film yesterday so we should be getting new interviews released in the coming weeks.
Montclair Film Festival
Montclair Film has announced its full slate of films and events for the 9th annual Montclair Film Festival (MFF), presented by Investors Bank, taking place October 16-25, in Montclair, NJ. The program features over 100 films, conversations, and special events, from drive-in screenings at Montclair Film’s Carpool Cinema to screenings on Montclair Film’s new Virtual Cinema platform, powered by Eventive. Programs in today’s announcement join the previously announced Opening, Closing, and Centerpiece films, as well as the Storyteller Series, presented by Audible. Passes and individual tickets are available beginning October 5 for Montclair Film Members, and October 8 for the public. To become a member or purchase tickets, please visit montclairfilm.org.
Each film in the MFF’s Virtual Cinema will have a unique set of screening availabilities, with some being available only to residents of New Jersey, others to the entire United States, some scheduled for a certain date and time, others available on demand throughout the festival. Patrons will find a full set of information for each film at montclairfilm.org and are urged to check their availability and viewing location prior to purchasing tickets.
Carpool Theater
Including the previously announced Opening Night (NOMADLAND), Closing Night (ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI…), Fiction Centerpiece (AMMONITE), and Documentary Centerpiece (IN & OF ITSELF), the full schedule of MFF’s Carpool Theater drive-in screenings, located at 3 Cherry Lane in West Orange, NJ, is:BLITHE SPIRIT
Director: Edward Hall
Producers: James Spring, Meg Leonard, Nick Moorcroft, Hilary Bevan Jones, Peter Snell, Tuni Pinnous
Cast: Dan Stevens, Judi Dench, Isla Fisher, Leslie Mann, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Emilia Fox
UK/95 minIn this light-hearted comedy, best-selling crime novelist Charles (Dan Stevens) suffers from terrible writer’s block and is struggling to finish his first screenplay. His picture-perfect new wife Ruth (Isla Fisher) is doing her best to keep him focused, so they can fulfill her dream of leaving London for Hollywood. Charles’s quest for inspiration leads him to invite the eccentric mystic Madame Acarti (Judi Dench) to perform a séance in his home. He gets more than he bargained for when Madame Acarti inadvertently summons the spirit of his first wife: the brilliant and fiery Elvira (Leslie Mann).
Friday, October 23, 6:30 PM
Continue reading “Blithe Spirit” screening at two more film festivals
“Blithe Spirit” drive-in screening opens 2020 Mill Valley Film Festival
‘Blithe Spirit’ drive-in screening opens 2020 Mill Valley Film Festival
When’s the last time a big film made it’s world premiere at a drive-in?
“Blithe Spirit,” a new adaptation of Noel Coward’s 1941 play starring Judi Dench, Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher and Dan Stevens, is slated to open the 43rd Mill Valley Film Festival, which is ready to roll despite the coronavirus pandemic.
“Blithe Spirit,” an IFC Films release, kicks off 10 nights of drive-in screenings at a specially constructed, studio-grade facility at the Lagoon Park-Marin Center in San Rafael, the California Film Institute announced Thursday, Sept. 10.
The event runs through Oct. 8-18, and opening night includes five films screening virtually. MVFF43 will run in tandem with CFI’s DocLands Documentary Film Festival, which was postponed from May because of the pandemic.
“Although MVFF43 will not look the same as in previous years, what initially seemed like a challenge now feels like an opportunity to bring us together in an unexpected way, during an unprecedented time,” Mark Fishkin, Mill Valley Film Festival director and founder said in a statement. “We will continue to boast the year’s best films from all corners of the globe.”
Films screening virtually on opening night are “Sweet Thing,” the latest from longtime American indie director Alexandre Rockwell (“In the Soup”); “The Heist of the Century (El Robo Del Siglo),” about one of the most notorious bank heists in Argentina; “Veins of the World,” in which a young Mongolian boy turns grief into a source of power after the death of his father; Bay Area filmmaker Judith Erlich’s documentary of anti-Vietnam War activism, “The Boys Who Said No!”; and “Public Trust,” the DocLands opening night film about conflict over public lands in the United States.
The full schedule will be announced at a later date.
Tickets can be purchased online only starting at noon Sept. 23, for California Film Institute members, and noon Sept. 27 for the general public.
The 43rd annual Mill Valley Film Festival: Oct.8-18. Virtual screening tickets are $10 general admission, $8.50 California Film Institute members. Drive-in tickets are $40 per vehicle, $35 members. www.mvff.com