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Hulu is ready with an entertainment-packed December this year. The upcoming month will see the release of the brilliant action thriller series Paris Has Fallen and also horror thriller movies like Cuckoo. Just like every month, Hulu is ready to overload you with great content. So, we’re here to tell you about the 8 new movies and TV shows coming to Hulu in December 2024.

Paris Has Fallen Season 1 (December 6) Credit – StudioCanal

Paris Has Fallen is a French and English-language action thriller series created by Howard Overman. Based on the Has Fallen film franchise, the Canal+ series follows a French protection officer and an MI6 operative who must team up after a terrorist organization attacks Paris. Paris Has Fallen stars Tewfik Jallab, Ritu Arya, Sean Harris, Ana Ularu, Camille Rutherford, Jérémie Covillault, and Emmanuelle Bercot.

Summer Camp (December 6) Credit...

European Film Promotion, which gives a boost to films and talent from Europe, has revealed the jury for the 28th edition of European Shooting Stars, which showcases actors from the continent.

The jury is comprised of five film professionals who will select 10 actors. They will then take part in a program at the Berlin Film Festival, which runs Feb. 13 – 23. The jury will select the actors from candidates who have been nominated by their national film promotion institutes and film centers.

The jury includes former European Shooting Star Ludivine Sagnier, an actor best known for her roles in films by François Ozon. She starred in, among others, “Water Drops on Burning Rocks” (2000), “8 Women” (2002) and “Swimming Pool” (2003), and she will also appear in Ozon’s latest film, “Quand vient l’automne” (2024). Sagnier has also worked with directors such as P.J. Hogan, Lee Tamahori, Paolo Sorrentino, Hirokazu Koreeda and Ridley Scott.

Also on...

Plot: When a preacher arrives at a British settlement in 1830s New Zealand his violent past is drawn into question and his faith put to the test as he finds himself caught in the middle of a bloody war between Māori tribes.

Review: When many of us picture Maori culture, the first film that comes to mind is usually Once Were Warriors. Director Lee Tamahori’s contemporary 1994 drama looked at the modern legacy of the Maori people. After four decades of Hollywood fare, including Mulholland Falls, The Edge, XXX: State of the Union, and the James Bond film Die Another Day, Tamahori returns to the subject of his feature debut but through a very different lens. The Convert is an epic yet intimate look at Maori culture in the early 19th Century, just as the British Empire expanded its colonialization. Told through the experiences of a preacher welcomed into tribal society,...

The Dinard film festival (2-6 October), traditionally a celebration of all things British, brought its 35th iteration to the seaside city’s screens with a soft relaunch this year, after retitling itself to include Irish films and co-productions. The result was suitably eclectic, with just six films competing for the Hitchcock d’Or, which was voted on by an eight-strong jury of actors and directors. Including The Quiet Girl director Colm Bairéad and House of the Dragon star Phoebe Campbell, the judging panel was headed up by French actress-director-model-singer Arielle Dombasle, a favorite of Claude Lelouch, Éric Rohmer and Alain Robbe-Grillet but more recently seen this summer singing her song “Olympics” to herald the arrival of the Olympic torch in Paris, ahead of the recent games.

Opening with Alice Lowe’s horror-comedy Timestalker and ending with Matt Brown’s psychological drama Freud’s Last Session, the festival — curated by Dominique Green...

James Patterson’s Alex Cross book series is heading to the screen once again, and here’s the trailer for Cross.

Thus far, James Patterson’s Alex Cross action thriller novels have only been seen on the big screen. Morgan Freeman first took on the role of the detective for 1997’s Kiss the Girls, directed by Gary Fleder, and 2001’s Along Came A Spider, directed by Lee Tamahori. Both were well received and feature strong casts, including Ashley Judd, Carey Elwes and Michael Wincott.

A reboot landed in 2012, directed by Rob Cohen and starring Tyler Perry. However, Alex Cross was a critical and commercial failure, and plans for a sequel were dropped.

That brings us to Cross, a television series coming to Amazon Prime Video which follows Reacher's template of using the protagonist’s surname as the title.

The synopsis reads as follows:

Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) is a detective and forensic psychologist,...

Festival favourites from throughout 2024 will screen at France’s Dinard Festival of British & Irish Film, including two films starring Barry Keoghan, Andrea Arnold’s Cannes premiere Bird and Chris Andrews’ Toronto title Bring Them Down.

Bring Them Down, a rural Ireland-set revenge story partly filmed in the Irish language and co-starring Christopher Abbott, will play in the main festival competition, alongside Ariane Labed’s Cannes premiere and directorial debut September Says.

Another Irish-language title in the 53-strong line-up is Rich Peppiatt’s Sundance breakout hip-hop biopic Kneecap. While Irish titles have previously been included in the festival’s programme, this...

France’s Dinard Festival of British & Irish Film has unveiled the line-up of its 34th edition, including two films starring Barry Keoghan, Andrea Arnold’s Cannes premiere Bird and Chris Andrews’ Toronto title Bring Them Down.

Bring Them Down, a rural Ireland-set revenge story that’s also partly in the Irish language and stars Poor Things’ Christopher Abbott, will play in the main festival competition, competing for the Golden Hitchcock award for best film award, alongside Ariane Labed’s Cannes premiere and directorial debut September Says.

Another Irish-language title in the 53-strong line-up is Rich Peppiatt’s Sundance breakout hip-hop biopic Kneecap.

Halle Berry says her James Bond is Pierce Brosnan, her Die Another Day co-star.

In a new interview, Berry revealed why Brosnan is her favorite 007 agent.

“He will always be my Bond, always. I’m a Pierce Brosnan fan,” Berry said in an interview with Wired. “He restored my faith in men on that movie. There couldn’t be a human who is more of a gentleman than Pierce Brosnan.”

Berry starred in the 2002 spy film Die Another Day in the role of Giacinta “Jinx” Johnson, an Nsa agent. The film, directed by Lee Tamahori, was Brosnan’s last film as the MI6 agent after having starred in 1995’s GoldenEye, 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies and 1999’s The World Is Not Enough.

“Bond wasn’t on my wishlist, no, to be in one but I loved the movies always,” Berry also said. “But having been in one, I feel like I...

The James Bond franchise has featured many great actresses since its inception. Termed ‘Bond Girls’ many of them have left an indelible mark on the franchise, gaining widespread appeal for their roles. Yet, amongst all of them, Michelle Yeoh stands apart as an integral part of the 007 franchise, particularly because she wasn’t just a typical Bond girl but instead helped enhance the narrative with her role.

Michelle Yeoh [Credit: American Born Chinese (2023) | Disney+]Making her debut as Bond girl in Pierce Brosnan’s Tomorrow Never Dies, the actress was given the chance to reprise her role in Brosnan’s swansong, Die Another Day. While she declined to come back, one cannot help but wonder if her role might have saved the film from failure.

Despite Her Iconic Portrayal, Michelle Yeoh Refused to Return as Bond Girl

Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies | Universal PicturesThe Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh is...

If you're a big fan of trashy, popular airport mystery paperbacks, you probably know who James Patterson and Alex Cross are. Patterson is a highly successful author (he's the first person to ever sell one million e-books), and while these days he seems to let other people write for him and then just slaps his name on the cover and cashes a check, his early books were authored solo. And when he wrote those early books, he created Alex Cross, a character who has appeared in several books now. Cross is a brilliant Metropolitan Police Department detective who often hunts down twisted serial killers. He's the type of ready-for-the-screen character that people love to watch, so it makes sense that there have been multiple Alex Cross movies — and there's a new Alex Cross TV series on the way, too, headed to Prime Video.

For now, we're just going to focus on the movies.

A lot of good decisions went into the making of something as near-perfect and biting as Lee Tamahori’s The Convert. Tamahori, coming from a mix of Maori and British ancestry, transcends the thematic stagnancy of movies about the evils of Great Britain’s abusive and exploitative colonies in his Guy Pearce-starrer. And the most significant decision that’s led to such an affecting war drama is the film’s refusal to see the natives from an overly victimizing perspective. There’s less need for a white knight in such a case and more need for an empathetic ally.

Spoiler Alert

What happens in the film?

The storm-hugged Tasman Sea foreshadows what’s ahead for Munro, a lay minister shipped by the King of Britain to spread the word of God in the Epworth colony in New Zealand. Munro comes bearing an intense love for God, a gnawing curiosity about the Maori people,...

“The Convert” is a new historical action thriller, directed by Lee Tamahori, starring Guy Pearce, Tioreore Ngatai-Melborne, Antonio Te Maioha, Jacqueline Mckenzie, Lawrence Makoare, Dean O’Gorman, Ariki Turner and Duane Evans, now playing in theaters:

“…’Thomas Munro’, a newly arrived preacher in a colonial town in early 19th-century New Zealand finds himself…

“…at the center of a long-standing battle between two ‘Māori’ native tribes…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Few stock characters in contemporary film and literary discourse come with more baked-in connotations than the white missionary who sails to a remote island with the hopes of convincing its Indigenous people to abandon their own religions. Years of colonization and violence have understandably prompted many to view missionary work as ill-advised at best and fundamentally evil at worst. So when Thomas Munro (Guy Pearce) lands on the shores of 19th century New Zealand to preach to the native Māori tribes, it’s a given that viewers will approach him with their own baggage and preconceived notions. “The Convert” director Lee Tamahori certainly knows that, and revels in gradually subverting expectations about his protagonist as he asks larger questions about humanity’s ability to transcend violence and prejudice.

Unlike many religious zealots who find themselves whisked off to far away lands by their faith, Thomas isn’t quite convinced that...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The Animal Kingdom (Thomas Cailley)

In The Animal Kingdom, an Un Certain Regard-selected science-fiction romp from France, human-animal mutations are the new norm. Director Thomas Cailley begins things in media res with a familiar disaster-movie scene: François (Romain Duris) and Émile (Paul Kircher)––father and son, respectively––are stuck in traffic, making chit-chat, when something slowly begins capturing the attention of other drivers. An ambulance across the way begins to rumble. Then a man with a large winged arm bursts out, causing some damage before scurrying down a tunnel. Only mildly ruffled, François exchanges a jaded aphorism with another driver over: “Strange times.” – Rory O. (full review)

Where to Stream: Hulu

The Bikeriders (Jeff Nichols)

Using photographer Danny Lyon’s iconic The...

Working in his native country seems to enliven New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori, whose best film remains his 1994 debut feature Once Were Warriors. His Hollywood career has been a mixed bag, including such clunkers as the Nicolas Cage starrer Next and the ill-fated xXx: State of the Union, not to mention Die Another Day, one of the most forgettable of recent James Bond films. Tamahori demonstrates something of a return to form with The Convert, a 19th century-set historical drama starring Guy Pearce, about an English minister who travels to New Zealand to preach at a British settlement only to get caught up in the violence between warring Maori tribes.

Like Tamahori’s 2016 feature, The Patriarch, The Convert is uneven and doesn’t fully live up to its thematic ambitions. But it’s handsomely made and thankfully avoids falling victim to white savior syndrome.

Set in 1830, the story begins with...

In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo finds redemption in “The Convert.” The film follows a preacher sent to British-occupied New Zealand in the 1830s and caught up in the middle of a Maori tribal war. The Lee Tamahori (“Mulholland Falls,” “Along Came a Spider,” “The Devil’s Double”) film stars Guy Pearce, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Jacqueline McKenzie, Lawrence Makoare, Antonio Te Maioha, and more.

Continue reading ‘The Convert’: Guy Pearce Talks About His Latest Film, ‘Memento,’ ‘The Proposition’ & More [The Discourse Podcast] at The Playlist.

While the 1830s-set The Convert is a work of historical fiction, the filmmakers are passionate about honoring the customs and traditions of the Māori and presenting them in a historically authentic manner. Great care is taken in the costume and set design, and there are several sequences that focus intently on Māori’s war dances and grieving rituals, as well as the nuances of their language and weaponry. This makes it all the more baffling, then, that Lee Tamahori’s film chooses to center the perspective and experiences of a white British preacher, Thomas Munro (Guy Pearce), who arrives on the shores of what would become Auckland to lead a congregation of British colonists in a newly established church.

The Convert could have delved into the causes of the animosity between two embattled Māori tribes or the myriad consequences that British imperialism had on the Māori during this time period,...

Lee Tamahori captures the might and majesty of Aotearoa in this stately film, with Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne giving an electric performance

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Lee Tamahori’s stately period drama is based around a British settlement in New Zealand circa the 1830s, where Guy Pearce’s preacher protagonist attempts to keep the peace – or at least minimise hostilities – between white settlers and Māori tribes, and between the tribes themselves. Spreading the gospel alone would have been tough for his character, Thomas Munro, who is told upon arrival that “if you’ve come to win souls for Jesus, you’re going to be busy”. But reinforcing the sixth commandment in this neck of the woods, during this violent time, was surely doomed from the start, no matter how many finely worded monologues the silver-tongued sermoniser delivers.

This generally well made and intelligently staged film opens with images of lush wilderness and misty mountains,...

The 71st edition of Australia’s Sydney Film Festival (Sff) closed on Sunday June 16 amid a wave of optimisim with a wealth of prizes, a likely rise in ticket sales, and an influx of young cinemagoers.

Ticket sales were estimated to be more than 10% up on last year, making 2024 the second biggest year on record after 2019.

“It’s been quite phenomenal and we feel very optimistic about the future,” said festival director Nashen Moodley. “We can’t tell with precision, but judging by which films sold, the younger demographic is increasing.”

Paola Cortellesi’s post-Second World War Italian melodrama There’s Still Tomorrow,...

“The Convert” is a new historical action thriller, directed by Lee Tamahori, starring Guy Pearce, Tioreore Ngatai-Melborne, Antonio Te Maioha, Jacqueline Mckenzie, Lawrence Makoare, Dean O’Gorman, Ariki Turner and Duane Evans, opening July 12, 2024 in theaters:

“…’Thomas Munro’, a newly arrived preacher in a colonial town in early 19th-century New Zealand finds himself…

“…at the center of a long-standing battle between two ‘Māori’ native tribes…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

The recently released trailer for “The Convert,” starring Guy Pearce, has captured the attention of cinema enthusiasts and historical drama fans alike. Directed by renowned filmmaker Lee Tamahori, the film promises to be a compelling journey into the turbulent times of early 19th century New Zealand.

A Tale of Transformation and Conflict

“The Convert” is set in the early 1830s, a period marked by cultural upheaval and the clash between indigenous Maori traditions and European colonial influences. The story revolves around Thomas Munro, portrayed by Guy Pearce, a deeply troubled former soldier who seeks redemption by becoming a Christian missionary. Munro’s quest for salvation leads him to New Zealand, where he encounters a world vastly different from his own.

As the trailer unfolds, viewers are introduced to the stark beauty of New Zealand’s landscapes, juxtaposed with the brutal realities of colonial expansion. Munro’s journey is fraught with moral dilemmas and violent confrontations,...

"Only blood redeems blood. Magnolia Pictures has debuted the US trailer for a film called The Convert from New Zealand, made by Kiwi filmmaker Lee Tamahori. He used to make big Hollywood action movies for years, then went back to New Zealand to make more intimate dramas about his homeland - I loved his last one The Patriarch from 2016. Tamahori’s new action-filled historical epic stars Guy Pearce as Thomas Munro, a newly arrived preacher in a colonial town in early 19th-century New Zealand who finds himself at the center of a long-standing battle between two Māori tribes. A lay preacher arrives at a British settlement in 1830s. His violent past is soon drawn into question and his faith put to the test, as he finds himself caught in the middle of a bloody war between Maori tribes. In addition to Pearce, this also stars Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne as Rangimai, Antonio Te Maioha,...

Magnet is bringing an intense trailer for Lee Tamahori’s action drama The Convert to theaters and on-demand on July 12, 2024, but not before footage from the film spills blood online. The gripping tale of survival stars Guy Pearce as Thomas Munro, a newly arrived preacher in a colonial town in early 19th-century New Zealand who finds himself at the center of a long-standing battle between two Māori tribes. The Convert trailer is ambitious and brutal, displaying a power clash for control over land and loyalty.

Lee Tamahori’s The Convert premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023 as part of a special presentation. Before the screening, festival organizers released the following description of the film:

As the tall ship carrying preacher Thomas Monro (Guy Pearce) arrives on the shores of the settler town of Epworth, he enters a world he could scarcely have imagined. Despite the growing colonial British...

As part of Variety‘s Global Conversations Summit at the Cannes 2024 Film Festival, Variety executive editor Tatiana Siegel sat down with New Zealand Film Commission CEO Annie Murray and Philippa Mossman, head of International Screen Attraction at New Zealand Film Commission, to talk about the country’s thriving film industry.

Murray’s most recent project is a pop-up intensive film school by writer and director Jane Campion. Campion has hand-picked a class of ten filmmakers from 300 applicants and is taking them through a two-year program where they will develop and shoot original short films.

“What’s really important to [Campion] is that all the participants are paid to attend,” Murray explained. “So that removes barriers. It’s a super diverse group and they have spent a year with Dame Jane, who is not taking a fee and so very generously giving her time. And now the next year is making their short films.

Sydney Film Festival (June 5-16) has unveiled the 12 titles that will play in competition at its 71st edition, including six features that are set to premiere at Cannes this month.

Fresh from playing in Competition at Cannes will be Kinds of Kindness, starring Emma Stone and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who won the Sydney Film Prize in 2012 with Alps. Further Palme d’Or contenders selected for Sydney include Grand Tour from Portugal’s Miguel Gomes, whose Arabian Nights won the Sydney Film Prize in 2015; Christophe Honoré’s French-Italian comedy Marcello Mio; and Payal Kapadia’s Indian romantic drama All We Imagine As Light.

Rosamund Pike has joined the cast of Lionsgate’s Now You See Me 3 in the latest instalment in the adventures of the thieving illusionists known as the Four Horsemen.

While details of Pike’s role remain under wraps the studio said it will be “pivotal”. She joins previously announced Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, and Ariana Greenblatt.

Ruben Fleischer will return to direct and the project is being conceived as the launch pad for the future of the franchise. The logline has not been disclosed.

At time of writing it was expected that original cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson,...

Rocket Science announced today that it will fully finance and launch international sales in Cannes on the sci-fi horror 11817 to be directed and produced by Louis Leterrier.

The French filmmaker’s Carrousel Studios, Rocket Science, Thank You Studios, Chernin Entertainment, and 3 Arts Entertainment are producing.

Matthew Robinson, whose credits include The Invention Of Lying, wrote the screenplay about a family of four trapped inside their house by inexplicable forces.

As modern luxuries and essential supplies start to run out, the family must adapt to survive and outsmart whoever or whatever is imprisoning them.

Casting is currently underway. CAA Media Finance represents North American rights.

Lee Tamahori’s historical action epic The Convert has been acquired for distribution in multiple territories, including Magnolia Pictures in North America for a July 12 release date.

The film world premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, and stars Guy Pearce, Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne, Antonio Te Maioha, Jacqueline McKenzie and Lawrence Makoare.

UK sales outfit Mister Smith Entertainment has also closed deals with Germany’s Capelight Pictures, Spain’s Divisa Red, WW for Benelux, Front Row Entertainment in the Middle East, Monolith Films for Poland, Arna Media for Cis and the Baltic States, Blitz for Ex-Yugoslavia, Ascot Elite for Switzerland, The Film Group for Greece and Cyprus,...

Dark Winds and Blood Quantum actor Kiowa Gordon and Sera-Lys McArthur (Café Daughter, Outlander) have joined the cast of Many Wounds, a contemporary re-imagining of Lee Tamahori’s ground-breaking 1994 Maori film Once Were Warriors, set among indigenous communities in Canada.

Skye Pelletier (Prey) stars in Many Wounds as Mashka, a young teenager on the cusp of being swallowed up by a colonial system meant to further the goals of assimilation who becomes a warrior to protect his family.

Ojibway filmmaker Jeremy Torrie, who wrote and is directing Many Wounds, and producing the film together with Métis producer Tanya Brunel, said he drew on his own personal, painful experiences growing up indigenous in Winnipeg for the script.

“Our intention with this film is to reveal some uncomfortable truths about the effects of generations of forced assimilation and genocide by the Canadian government toward our peoples for a society largely unaware of how deep the wounds go,...

James Bond movie Die Another Day used CG for a key effect in the movie – and director Lee Tamahori has been reflecting on it.

Die Another Day, released in 2002, was the 20th James Bond film, the final outing in the tuxedo for Pierce Brosnan, and a massive hit at the time. A rare 007 outing directed by a non-British filmmaker, Lee Tamahori, its opening in particular strongly hinted at the darker direction that James Bond would take in the years ahead.

But also, the movie is known for some of its less realistic-feeling moments. There’s the invisible car of course, which is explained in the film and has its basis in actual technology, but still feels daft. And then there’s the moment where Bond goes very CG.

Lee Tamahori joined the SpyHards podcast just before Christmas, and I’ve just caught up with the episode now. It’s a really interesting chat too,...

Since his breakthrough 1994 feature Once Were Warriors, a troubling and fiery coming-of-age story indie set in New Zealand’s Maōri community, Lee Tamahori has almost exclusively resided in the realm of pulpy B-grade action cinema. From directing Pierce Brosnan’s final Bond in Die Another Day to Ice Cube in XXX: State of the Union to making a Guy Ritchie-lite actioner about Saddam Hussein’s son (The Devil’s Double), Tamahori has a strong familiarity with cheesy espionage plotlines and passable entertainment. Both sides of Tamahori’s filmography come together in his latest historical epic The Convert––results are expectedly mixed.

Presented in a decidedly prestige manner with sweeping camerawork and a plotline that decides to burn slow in building the relationships of its characters, The Convert tells of John Munro (Guy Pearce), a British preacher who is brought to the settlement of Epworth to help serve the community of settlers there.

Exclusive: Classic New Zealand novel Once Were Warriors, memorably adapted for film by Lee Tamahori in 1994, is getting a TV adaptation from Wheel Of Time exec Rick Selvage and the novel’s author Alan Duff.

A companion novel penned by Duff called Once Were Warriors: Generations is also being lined up.

Duff is teaming with Onphaya’s Selvage and the latter’s producing partner, Peta Johnson, who will both serve as executive producers.

In the original novel and film a family descended from Māori warriors is bedeviled by a violent father and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts.

Once Were Warriors: Generations will bring the Heke family forward 30 years to the present day with a new generation of characters and stories.

According to producers, “political aspirations, financial schemes, cultural clashes, and a search for redemption are at the core of this series filtered through the distinctive Māori culture...

Updated with latest: The Toronto Film Festival began September 7 in Ontario with opening-night movie The Boy and the Heron, from Oscar-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. It kicked off a lineup for the fest’s 48th edition that included world premieres of GameStop pic Dumb Money, Netflix’s Pain Hustlers, Taika Waititi’s Next Goal Wins, Kristin Scott Thomas’ Scarlett Johansson pic North Star, Chris Pine’s Poolman, Michael Keaton-directed Knox Goes Away, Anna Kendrick’s Woman of the Hour, Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils, Michael Winterbottom’s Shoshana, Grant Singer’s Reptile, Viggo Mortensen’s The Dead Don’t Hurt, Lee Tamahori’s The Convert and Alex Gibney’s doc In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.

It ended Sunday when Cord Jefferson’s satire American Fiction won TIFF’s People’s Choice Award for best film, usually a steppingstone to a strong awards season to come.

The fest also...

New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori has dabbled in big-budget Hollywood film-making as well as more intimately-scaled films exploring his Māori heritage. So he brings both skills to bear in his sweeping, early 19th-century period drama about Māori conflict— ostensibly crafting a founding myth for New Zealand.

Continue reading ‘The Convert’ Review: Guy Pearce Stars In Lee Tamahori’s Stunning, Sweeping & Action-Packed Historical Epic [TIFF] at The Playlist.

When lay minister Thomas Munro (Guy Pearce) first reaches the shores of New Zealand in 1830, he does so on a white horse. A religious British man riding into a far-off land on his milky stallion is the picture of a white savior if there ever was one. But director Lee Tamahori has other plans for this well-spoken man of God in his blood-soaked period drama “The Convert,” his first feature film outing since 2016’s soapy “The Patriarch.”

From the onset, the stunning vistas, handsomely photographed by Gin Loane, signal the underlying theme of the narrative: Survival belongs to the strongest, a precept that grows in significance as the plot progresses. The fierce introduction to this unforgiving environment is a shot of a large bird making a smaller one its prey in one swift motion. Through such imagery, Tamahori aims to imbue the violence that permeates with a primal quality, obeying...

It was a joke that kickstarted Tioreore Ngatai-Melbourne’s film career and, as she freely admits, not a good one.

After a casting call went out around schools in her region of New Zealand for Taika Waititi’s beloved comedy-drama Hunt for the Wilderpeople, her parents forced her to audition. “They made me do it — I didn’t even want to do it,” she says. 15 at the time, she was asked to sing a song and tell a joke. So in the ‘Marae’ — the traditional Maori meeting house (Ngatai-Melbourne is Maori, of Ngāti Porou and Ngai Tūhoe descent) — they recorded a video of her singing and telling her grandfather’s favourite one-liner.

“Ok, I’m just gonna say it,” she says, speaking to THR from Auckland. “What’s the difference between a bird and a fly? A bird can fly, but a fly can’t bird.”

Poor joke though it may have been,...

Domestic distributor Bleecker Street is in negotiations to acquire rights to “Fackham Hall,” a British spoof of “Downton Abbey” and other costume dramas. Sales outfit The Veterans is pre-selling international territories. And as international buyers face a potential drought of Hollywood product due to strikes, the market is offering other promising presale titles.

WME Independent is pre-selling James Madigan’s “The Beast,” with Samuel L. Jackson in negotiations to star. He’ll play a U.S. president who fights a coup in his battle-ready, bomb-proof limousine with grenades and shotguns. As he rides through a violent wasteland of chaos and unrelenting carnage, he must learn to control The Beast — and the monster inside himself — to save his life, the life of a Secret Service agent (Joel Kinnaman of “Suicide Squad” fame) and his country. Unified Pictures’ Keith Kjarval, Fifth Season, Film 44’s John Logan Pierson and Peter Berg are producing...

Next Goal Wins (Taika Waititi, 2023).The lineup is being unveiled for the 2023 edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, starting with 60 selections from the Gala and Special Presentations programs. The festival takes place from September 7–17, 2023.Gala PRESENTATIONSConcrete Utopia (Um Tae-Hwa)Dumb Money (Craig Gillespie)Fair Play (Chloe Domont)Flora and Son (John Carney)Hate to Love: Nickelback (Leigh Brooks)Lee (Ellen Kuras)Next Goal Wins (Taika Waititi)Nyad (Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin)Punjab ’95 (Honey Trehan)Solo (Sophie Dupuis)The End We Start From (Mahalia Belo)The Movie Emperor (Ning Hao)The New Boy (Warwick Thornton) The Royal Hotel (Kitty Green)The Holdovers.Special Presentationsa Difficult Year (Éric Toledano, Olivier Nakache)A Normal Family (Hur Jin-ho)American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)Close to You (Dominic Savage)Days of Happiness (Chloé Robichaud)The Rescue (Daniela Goggi)Ezra (Tony Goldwyn)Fingernails (Christos Nikou)Four Daughters (Kaouther Ben Hania...

The James Bond franchise was led by actor Pierce Brosnan in the 90s and early 2000s. After his departure from the series, however, Brosnan felt his Bond films might have left a lot to be desired.

One area Brosnan would’ve liked to see his movies improve upon had been his sex scenes.

Pierce Brosnan called his sex scenes in the James Bond franchise pathetic Pierce Brosnan | Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

Brosnan had a few complaints about his incarnation of the 007 agent. During his tenure as the character, Brosnan wasn’t sure if his movies ever went far enough with Bond. In a 2014 interview with The Telegraph, the actor asserted that his Bond felt watered down.

“I felt I was caught in a time warp between Roger and Sean,” he said. “It was a very hard one to grasp the meaning of, for me. The violence was never real,...

With over 100 acting credits to his name, many of which are bonafide legendary performances, Anthony Hopkins has proven himself time and again as one of the best actors of his generation, and possibly of all time. After graduating from London's famed Royal Academy of Dramatic in 1963, Hopkins began his career on the stage, tackling the bard, as well as classic and modern plays at the Royal Court Theatre and The Old Vic. He also regularly appeared on British television, taking on episodic guest roles in shows like "The Man in Room 17" and "Department S."

In 1968's "The Lion in Winter, " Hopkins had his cinematic breakout role as Richard the Lionheart. Often remembered for the best actress tie between Katharine Hepburn (as Eleanor of Aquitaine) and Barbra Streisand (for "Funny Girl") at the Academy Awards, "The Lion in Winter" saw Hopkins more than hold his own against stalwarts Hepburn and Peter O'Toole.

They say “sex sells” in Hollywood, right? But what about drugs? After all, once the production code was lifted, successful counterculture drug movies like Easy Rider gave way to the indie auteur movement in American cinema in the 1960s and 70s, where Hollywood renegades like Brian De Palma and Martin Scorsese picked up the mantle and went on to make all-time classics like Scarface and Goodfellas decades later. In the interim, there has been no shortage of critical and commercial drug movie successes, be they Blow, Sicario, Traffic, The Wolf of Wall Street, you name it.

So then, Wtf Happened to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? Seriously. How does such an authentic movie from the altered mindstate of Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, one directed by the venerated filmmaker Terry Gilliam and featuring unforgettable performances by Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro… how does a movie like that stumble...

The James Bond franchise is known for including over-the-top action sequences with effects to match 007’s epic displays of derring-do. Still, there’s a chance for mediocrity in all things, even when the world’s most famous fictional spy is a part of the equation. Speaking with Yahoo! Movies, Bond film director Lee Tamahori says he regrets decisions made about filming the infamous kitesurfing sequence for Die Another Day. According to Tamahori, he wishes he didn’t use CGI for the scene. CGI is standard in film today, but Die Another Day hit theaters in 2002 when VFX methods were still rough around the edges. Watching the clip online, I can see why Tamahori cringes at the sight of Bond’s all-too-fake tsunami surfing.

“The only thing I’d do differently [with Die Another Day] would be the kitesurfing sequence,” Tamahori told Yahoo! Movies. “I don’t know how you’d do it differently.

Diamonds might be forever, but James Bond isn’t. At least not naturally. While the character has survived 60 years, the changing mores and attitudes of several generations, and multiple recastings, it is never a foregone conclusion that 007 will soldier on into the next decade. And in 1995, things looked particularly perilous for the character just as Pierce Brosnan slipped into the tuxedo.

Brosnan was, of course, famously cast as Bond before that moment, having been slated to appear nearly a decade earlier in The Living Daylights (1987). But due to a television contract, he was forced to drop out of a role that millions of television viewers thought he was perfect for. In the interim, the world changed. The Cold War that defined Ian Fleming’s early spate of Bond novels, and certainly 007’s post-World War II persona, had ended. The early ‘90s were an era of good feelings and dubious optimism,...

Poor Michael Madsen. Ever since cutting off that cop's ear in "Reservoir Dogs," the veteran actor has had to be content with playing the villain. Even a role in family favorite "Free Willy" couldn't change the perception of the actor as a bad guy following his turn as Mr. Blonde in Quentin Tarantino's classic. That's despite his apparent desire to play the good guy. Madsen is (almost) always the villain — which is why he must have been pretty relieved to appear as a James Bond ally in "Die Another Day"... even if it was in "Die Another Day."

While the movie itself is remembered for its campy tone and generally ending Pierce Brosnan's tenure as Bond on a low note, it isn't without its highlights. And Madsen as Nsa agent Damian Falco just happens to be one of them. Between the ice palaces and truly abject CGI, Madsen's...

“Lord of the Rings” star Elijah Wood is to return to New Zealand in the leading role of “Bookworm,” a family adventure-comedy to be directed by Ant Timpson. The project is being launched next week at the American Film Market by sales agent Mister Smith Entertainment.

The film’s story sees 12-year-old Mildred’s life turned upside down when her mother lands in hospital and estranged, American magician father, Strawn Wise (Wood), comes to look after her. Hoping to entertain the bookish tween, Strawn takes Mildred camping in the notoriously rugged New Zealand wilderness. There the pair embark on the ultimate test of family bonding – a quest to find the mythological beast known as the Canterbury Panther.

Considering that Mildred has read every book on camping, but never been into the wilds, and that Strawn is more at home on the Las Vegas strip than in the Southern Alps, the potential for mishap is significant.

Emma Mason is joining from Dda.

Emma Mason has joined UK sales outfit Mister Smith Entertainment in the newly-created role of head of marketing and publicity.

Mason is working on multiple Cannes titles for Mister Smith including Lee Tamahori’s The Convert, Tony Goldwyn’s Inappropriate Behavior starring Bobby Cannavale and Robert De Niro, and Martha Stephens’ Big Rig with Vanessa Hudgens.

She is joining from Dda where she worked for five years.

Cannes 2022: Screen’s dailies...

Emma Mason is joining from Dda.

Emma Mason has joined UK sales outfit Mister Smith Entertainment in the newly-created role of head of marketing and publicity.

Mason is working on multiple Cannes titles for Mister Smith including Lee Tamahori’s The Convert, Tony Goldwyn’s Inappropriate Behavior starring Bobby Cannavale and Robert De Niro, and Martha Stephens’ Big Rig with Vanessa Hudgens.

She is joining from Dda where she worked for five years.

Cannes 2022: Screen’s dailies...

Mister Smith Entertainment has tapped Emma Mason as head of marketing and publicity, the company revealed on Friday.

Mason has been overseeing marketing and publicity for Mister Smith Entertainment’s Cannes slate, including features “The Convert” from Lee Tamahori starring Guy Pearce, an action movie about a preacher in 1830s New Zealand, and “Inappropriate Behavior” from Tony Goldwyn starring Bobby Cannavale, about a man’s relationship with his neurodiverse child (and which features Robert De Niro in a major supporting role).

She has also been working on Cannes offerings such as Martha Stephens’ “Big Rig,” which will see “High School Musical” star Vanessa Hudgens play a trucker, and Lucy Hale rom-com “Which Brings Me To You,” about a woman who sets out to have a one night stand at a wedding which doesn’t go according to plan.

Mason comes from Dda, where she spent 5 years as a producers’ rep...

Guy Pearce and Te Kohe Tuhaka lead the cast of “The Convert,” an epic New Zealand-set action drama film being directed by Lee Tamahori. Mister Smith Entertainment is representing sales rights and will launch the project at the Cannes film market.

The story sees Pearce portray a lay preacher who arrives at a British settlement in 1830s New Zealand. His violent past is soon drawn into question and his faith put to the test, as he finds himself caught in the middle of a bloody war between Maori tribes. The script was written by Shane Danielsen (“Errors of the Human Body”) and Tamahori, after originating from a screen story by Michael Bennet (“Matariki”).

The producers on the film are Robin Scholes, Te Kohe Tuhaka, Andrew Mason and Troy Lum.

“The Convert” is an official New Zealand Australia co-production, between Auckland based Jump Film & Television and Sydney based Brouhaha Entertainment. Film...

Guy Pearce is to play the lead in epic action feature The Convert from Die Another Day director Lee Tamahori.

Mister Smith Entertainment will launch global sales at Cannes later this month on the feature, which is set in early 19th century New Zealand and kicks off principal photography in September.

The King’s Speech and Mare of Easttown star Pearce will play Thomas Munro, a lay preacher who arrives at a British settlement in 1830s New Zealand. His violent past is soon drawn into question and his faith put to the test, as he finds himself caught in the middle of a bloody war between Māori tribes.

Tamahori said it has been “20 years since Guy Pearce and I talked about working together.”

He added: “Guy is a brilliant actor and to have him onboard will allow me to sleep easy at night, for I know he will inhabit the...