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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.

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When Maeve (Charlotte MacInnes) gets suspended from school after a political demonstration backfires, her mother (Susan Prior), who also happens to be the institution’s principal, sends the Sydney teenager to live with her cousin Taylah (Natalie Abbott) in the Australian outback.

Dunburn, the fictional locale in which Rebel Wilson’s uneven directorial debut The Deb is set, is a small town recovering from a years-long drought and dereliction of duty by national ministries. The local government desperately needs money to maintain their water supply and have resorted, in one of the film’s more humorous gags, to making a viral video to bring attention to their plight. Of course, none of these issues concern Maeve, who arrives in Dunburn already plotting her escape.

Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, The Deb chronicles Maeve’s fish-out-of-water adventures in Dunburn. Upon arrival, the cosmopolitan teen loudly rejects the town’s regressive traditions.

Who says 1994 was a classic year for cinema? Netflix begins today to make that argument, curating a release of 17 films that turned 30 this year. The streamer has its list below. I have mine, and with the exception of the seminal Farrelly Brothers-directed Dumb & Dumber with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, and Luc Besson’s Leon: The Professional, the film that stars Jean Reno and a sinister Gary Oldman and introduced the world to the outsized talent Natalie Portman, and maybe Ron Howard’s The Paper, there’s a lot missing. How about Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Clear and Present Danger, Sicario, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Interview With the Vampire, Speed, Ed Wood, and the other two films in a starmaking year for Jim Carrey, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask. Speed, Once Were Warriors, and Ang Lee...

Dermot Mulroney said he knows what’s to blame for not landing another acting role for a year following 1997’s My Best Friend’s Wedding.

The actor, who starred alongside Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz and Rupert Everett in the Oscar-nominated rom-com, recently told The New York Times that he had few acting opportunities following its release, despite it being a successful film.

“I was sitting there ready for the gift with purchase that was supposed to come along with being in a popular movie, and instead, I probably didn’t work for a year,” Mulroney explained. “I chalked it up to me being so tiny on the poster, the little guy on the cake. I thought, gosh, you guys, if you’d made me a little bigger, maybe I could have gotten a job.”

My Best Friend’s Wedding, directed by P.J. Hogan, follows a woman who realizes she’s in love...

Dermot Mulroney didn’t have a Bff in any casting departments after starring in 1997 rom-com “My Best Friend’s Wedding.”

Mulroney shared with the New York Times that despite starring in the hit film alongside Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz, he “probably didn’t work for a year” after its release. “My Best Friend’s Wedding” grossed almost $300 million at the global box office against its $35 million budget, and while Mulroney went on to continue his rom-com reign with “The Wedding Date” and more, there was not exactly a slew of immediately available roles with Dermot’s name on them.

“I was sitting there ready for the gift with purchase that was supposed to come along with being in a popular movie, and instead, I probably didn’t work for a year,” Mulroney said. “I chalked it up to me being so tiny on the poster, the little guy on the cake.

Sophie Kinsella is an English author, best known for writing the Shopaholic series. Her real name is Madeleine Sophie Wickham, but she prefers to sell her books under her pen name.

Kinsella is a beloved author too, and her books have always been well-received. The first two installments of the Shopaholic series were even adapted into a film, starring Isla Fisher. Unfortunately, the author shared a saddening update about her health, opening up about her fight with glioblastoma.

Fisher was the star of the film that Kinsella wrote (Source: Confessions of a Shopaholic)

What is glioblastoma, the medical condition that has affected Sophie Kinsella?

Sophie Kinsella is a renowned author who rose to prominence quite early on in her life. She released her first book, The Tennis Party, when she was only 26. The book went on to become a best-seller, and it brought numerous accolades Kinsella’s way. The Tennis...

New Zealand’s funniest export Jackie Van Beek returns to SXSW atop the cast of “Audrey,” an Australian dark comedy that is headed to SXSW.

Van Beek, whose 2018 “The Breaker Upperers,” was a previous SXSW hit, portrays a forgotten former soap star whose career and life have been derailed by motherhood and suburban boredom. But when an accident puts her 18-year-old child in a coma, the woman takes on her daughter’s identity and gets a second chance at the life she actually wanted.

Other cast also include: Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (“Puberty Blues,” “The Diplomat”), Josephine Blazier (“True History of the Kelly Gang”) and disability advocate and actress Hannah Diviney (“Latecomers”).

“What begins as a light, sex-fuelled comedy about family soon takes a twisted journey into horror as, like a classic Greek tragedy, our protagonists decide that the only way to find happiness is to destroy their firstborn,” says director Natalie Bailey.

Upcoming directing and producing projects are expanding Toni Collette’s creative horizons, according to the Australian actress speaking at Qumra this weekend.

She will soon star in A French Pursuit, a comedy feature directed by Catherine Hardwicke. Collette will produce the film through her Vocab Films company, alongside UK producer Christopher Simon’s New Sparta Films.

“Meeting the production team we’re working with in France, casting people – it’s stuff you don’t get to do as an actor, it’s incredibly satisfying,” said Collette, speaking in Doha where she gave a masterclass to emerging filmmakers and attending industry...

Actress Toni Collette discussed her journey from a working-class neighborhood in northwest Sydney to Hollywood star in a masterclass at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra talent and project development event on Friday.

The Oscar-nominated Muriel’s Wedding, Little Miss Sunshine, Knives Out and Unbelievable acting star is among six top cinema professionals attending Qumra, alongside directors Leos Carax, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan and Jim Sheridan as well as sound editor and designer Martin Hernández.

Colette said she had been drawn to performance from an early age, firstly through musical theatre and tap dance.

“My father said I came out of the womb with jazz hands towards the light,” she joked.

Looking back on her early career, Collette recalled how she had dropped out of Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art Nida after being offered the part of Sonya in a 1992 stage production of Uncle Vanya by Neil Armfield.

This...

Dermot Mulroney said he is down for a My Best Friend’s Wedding sequel with Julia Roberts.

While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter at Monday’s Anyone But You premiere in New York, the actor said he was “thrilled” to hear his former co-star was also open to reprising her role from the 1997 rom-com.

Roberts recently said on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen that My Best Friend’s Wedding was one of the films from her career that she would like to see receive a potential sequel, “because there’s so many people in it, and to see what they’re doing and how Kimmy (Cameron Diaz) and Michael’s (Mulroney) marriage is going.”

Though Mulroney admitted that he hadn’t “touched base with Julia yet to get to the bottom of it,” he has “always said yes” to a follow-up movie.

“Maybe it’s time. I sure hope so,...

Garth Craven, the British-born sound and film editor and second-unit director whose credits included six Sam Peckinpah features, as well as Turner and Hooch, My Best Friend’s Wedding and Legally Blonde, has died. He was 84.

A resident of Malibu, Craven died May 20 after he suffered a medical emergency while flying back to Los Angeles from a safari in Namibia, his daughter, Willow Kalatchi, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Craven collaborated with the maverick director Peckinpah on Straw Dogs (1971), The Getaway (1972), Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), The Killer Elite (1975) and Convoy (1978).

He worked with fellow editor Roger Spottiswoode on the first three of those films, and when Spottiswoode graduated to director, they partnered on the features Shoot to Kill (1988), Turner and Hooch (1989) and Air America (1990) and on two HBO telefilms: 1989’s Third Degree Burn and 1993’s And the Band Played On.

Craven also cut Gaby: A True Story...

The actor’s full-throated performance as Captain Hook is the most distinctive thing in a passable but unnecessary Disney live-action remake

The increasingly rotten trend of turning classic Disney animations into wretched live-action, or photorealistic, remakes looks set to reach its nadir with next month’s release of The Little Mermaid, already a viral nightmare for its horrifying confirmation that adding lips to both a crab and a fish is indeed a crime against humanity. Its looming ugliness does at least help to make this month’s far more hushed release of the inoffensively fine Peter Pan & Wendy seem dreamy in comparison.

It almost seems foolish at this stage to question the necessity of such a thing, given the crushing commercial inevitability of it, but it’s impossible to watch yet another take on Jm Barrie’s impish hero without wondering why we’re here once again. Unlike so many of Disney’s other remakes,...

Summer movie season is upon us and with it, the biggest movies of the year are about to compete for your hard-earned money. Will you go see the latest superhero movie? The latest installment in a big franchise like "Fast and Furious" or "Mission: Impossible?" Or perhaps you're more excited about Pixar finally making a return to theaters with a wholly original movie like their ambitious romantic comedy "Elemental."

Granted, not everyone is comfortable going to theaters while there's still a global pandemic, but the world of streaming is not being left behind; there are just as many big shows and movies available at the click of a button as there are movies in theaters. Netflix is entering the month of May prepared, following the release of the second season hit "Sweet Tooth," and right before the return of "The Witcher." Nevertheless, they are betting big on comedy this month,...

David Lowery's "Peter Pan & Wendy" has been a long time coming. Principal photography wrapped in 2021, while reshoots were completed in early 2022. The Covid-19 pandemic obviously played a role in delaying the film's production, but Disney has been a tad skittish about its release. The movie was greenlit as a Disney+ exclusive, but, unsurprisingly, the studio saw theatrical potential in the "Pete's Dragon" director's second remake of a Mouse House classic.

Alas, Disney reverted to a streaming release for "Peter Pan & Wendy," and, given the film's considerable budget, this is one of those moves that makes you wonder if the studio isn't completely on board with the tone Lowrey has struck. "Pete's Dragon" was an earthy redo of a slightly dated live-action/animated family flick, and it managed to connect with its simple tale of a lonely boy and his fantastical friend. Lowrey imbued his movie with a cloudy,...

One can almost set their watch to film adaptations of J.M. Barrie's celebrated 1904 play "Peter and Wendy." 

The story of the flying elf boy from Neverland and his friendship with a human girl from Earth was such a massive success and left such a strong cultural impact, that sequels and cross-media adaptations began cropping up only a few years after its debut. Barrie himself would turn the play into a novel in 1911, but that wasn't before he had already written two Peter Pan sequels in 1906 and 1908. The first filmed version of "Peter Pan" would be made by Herbert Brenon in 1924.

Perhaps the best-known adaptation, however, came to cinemas in 1953 when Walt Disney Studios released their animated version directed by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wilfred Jackson. The iconography from the Disney "Peter Pan" remains entrenched most firmly in the pop consciousness, and it continues to be one of the...

Though we've known that David Lowery – he of A Ghost Story, The Green Knight and, let's not forget previous Disney live-action adaptation Pete's Dragon – has been at work on another Mouse House in the shape of Peter Pan & Wendy for a while, it feels like we haven't heard much. Disney is changing that, starting the promotional campaign with a first teaser and poster. Take a look…

Lowery, working as usual with co-writer Toby Halbrooks, has adapted Jm Barrie's novel (and the 1953 Disney animation) for this new version, which from the looks of this, follows many of the familiar beats of the story, but with Lowery sprinkling his typical magic over it. Check out, for example, the Lost Boys (and girls) made up of authentically native cast members.

Jude Law, meanwhile, is taking on the villain role as Captain Hook, and he certainly looks the part.

With their well-used narrative,...

The Berlin Film Festival has revealed a raft of titles across strands and also 33 film projects vying for coin at the coproduction market.

Selections for the topical Perspektive Deutsches Kino strand from emerging German talent include “Seven Winters in Tehran” by Steffi Niederzoll, “Elaha” by Milena Aboyan, “Ararat” by Engin Kundag, “The Kidnapping of the Bride” by Sophia Mocorrea, Fabian Stumm’s “Bones and Names,” “Long Long Kiss” by Lukas Röder, Tanja Egen’s “On Mothers and Daughters,” “Ash Wednesday,” by João Pedro Prado and Bárbara Santos, “Nuclear Nomads” by Kilian Armando Friedrich and Tizian Stromp Zargari and “Lonely Oaks” by Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl and Jens Mühlhoff.

All the selected films in the strand will compete for the Heiner Carow Prize and the Compass-Perspektive-Award, both of which are endowed with €5,000.

A 4K restoration of David Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” will open the Berlinale Classics section, which also includes Oliver Schmitz’ “Mapantsula,...

Joe Wright's 2015 film, "Pan," an anachronistic and colorful origin story for Peter Pan, sounded like a good idea on paper. Reimagined origin stories were very much in vogue then throughout popular culture, and the tale of how an immortal elven boy came to Neverland only to become rivals with a one-handed pirate is certainly ripe for exploration. Also, Wright was a hot commodity, having directed a Best Picture Oscar nominee ("Atonement"), a strange action film ("Hanna"), and a high-profile literary adaptation ("Anna Karenina"). Additionally, Wright managed to secure an impressive cast that included Rooney Mara, Cara Delevigne, and Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard the Pirate. Levi Miller played Peter Pan, and Garrett Hedlund played an ally to Pan in the form of the young, sexy, two-handed James Hook, a ship's captain destined to live up to his name.

"Pan" was made for a hefty 150 million. On its opening weekend, it made a rather dinky 15 million.

Russell Crowe is hitting back at the rumors he once had a dreadful table read with Julia Roberts for My Best Friend’s Wedding, calling the entire scenario “pure imagination.”

The story stems from the movie’s director, P.J. Hogan, who was quoted in a book published earlier this year called “From Hollywood with Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy.” In the passage, Hogan said, “He gripped that script, and he stared at that script, and he didn’t look at her once. He read every line in a monotone. At one point, Julia was literally leaning over the table, staring, like, inches from Russell’s face, trying to make eye contact. And he wouldn’t look at her. At the end of the reading, Russell came up to me and said, ‘I thought that went pretty well.’”

The table read couldn’t have gone...

Russell Crowe is denying a claim that his audition to star in My Best Friend’s Wedding went terribly. In fact, he is denying that the audition ever happened at all.

The 1997 romantic comedy starred Julia Roberts as a woman who realises she is in love with her best friend when he gets engaged to somebody else. While the best friend in question was ultimately played by Dermot Mulroney, Crowe was one of the actors who auditioned for the role.

In an excerpt of the book From Hollywood With Love, published in February, the film’s director Pj Hogan said of Crowe’s audition: “I don’t know what went wrong. It was one of the worst table reads I’ve ever experienced. Russell was seated opposite Julia. He gripped that script, and he stared at that script, and he didn’t look at her once.

“He read every line in a monotone.

Russell Crowe is responding to a book excerpt published earlier this year, which he most likely didn’t come across until now.

In February, the excerpt from Scott Meslow’s From Hollywood With Love, was shared online by Vulture, claiming that “My Best Friend’s Wedding” director P.J. Hogan had originally tried to cast Crowe as the best friend- portrayed by Dermot Mulroney- opposite Julia Roberts’ character in the 1997 rom-com. However, the director first noted that Crowe needed Roberts’ approval before he could be cast in the film, so Hogan allegedly organized a table read.

The “Unhinged” actor reacted to the news by tweeting a link to an article published by US Time Today headlining the actor’s “failed audition”. The publication reflects on Crowe’s “awkward audition” despite Hogan supposedly calling Crowe his “first choice for the role” and “the greatest actor I’ve ever met”.

Read More: Russell...

Click here to read the full article.

Russell Crowe is disputing a claim that he had a rough audition to star opposite Julia Roberts in the 1997 hit romantic comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding.

Crowe took to Twitter on Friday to address the film’s director, P.J. Hogan, having told author Scott Meslow in the book From Hollywood With Love that Crowe sat down for a table read with Roberts during the casting process. Hogan referred to it as “one of the worst table reads I’ve ever experienced” and said it became clear that Crowe, whom Hogan felt was a rising star, was not right for the film.

In his tweet, Crowe said that the audition never happened and that he has never read with Roberts. “Pure imagination on behalf of this director,” the Oscar winner wrote. “I did not audition for this film. I have never done a table read with the actress mentioned.

Russell Crowe wants you to know he did not bomb his audition for “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” In fact, the actor claims it never even happened.

Crowe’s name ended up in the headlines earlier this year when an excerpt from Scott Meslow’s book “From Hollywood with Love” was published in Vulture. The passage featured “My Best Friend’s Wedding” director P.J. Hogan describing his attempt to cast Crowe in the 1997 romantic comedy. Crowe was apparently the director’s first choice, but star Julia Roberts had veto power over casting decisions. So, per the excerpt, Crowe was brought in for a table read with Roberts, and Hogan claims it went so poorly that the role ultimately went to Dermot Mulroney.

“It was one of the worst table reads I’ve ever experienced,” Hogan wrote. “Russell was seated opposite Julia. He gripped that script, and he stared at that script, and...

“Pure imagination,” wrote Russell Crowe this morning in response to a book excerpt published months ago which had likely just come to the Oscar-winner’s attention.

In the excerpt from Scott Meslow’s From Hollywood With Love, which was posted online by Vulture in February, My Best Friend’s Wedding director P.J. Hogan says he originally tried to cast Crowe as the film’s titular best friend opposite soon-to-be-Oscar winner Julia Roberts. But first, said the director, Crowe had to be ok’d by Roberts, who had casting approval. So he allegedly set up a table read.

Hogan said, according to From Hollywood With Love:

It was one of the worst table reads I’ve ever experienced. Russell was seated opposite Julia. He gripped that script, and he stared at that script, and he didn’t look at her once. He read every line in a monotone. At one point, Julia...

In the summer of 1989, Touchstone Pictures — a subsidiary of Disney — began filming what would go on to become the biggest romantic comedy hit of all-time (at least by total number of tickets sold). It was also the third-highest grossing film of 1990 and catapulted eventual Oscar nominee Julia Roberts to global fame.

The film was, of course, “Pretty Woman,” a formerly dark and gritty tale about a down-and-out sex worker and the rich businessman who hires her for a week.

More than thirty years later, the film remains a high point of both ’90s-era studio filmmaking in general (it’s difficult to picture Disney taking a Sundance Labs script and turning it into a broadly-appealing story about “a hooker with a heart of gold” ever again) and the romantic comedy in particular. It not only established Roberts as a star, but the very concept that — even in a story that hinges on two people mixing,...

“We need more Dollys in the world,” is the message of this raucous but hugely enjoyable comedy, which, at the same time, reminds us that there is—and can only be—one Dolly Parton. The 76-year-old country legend is having quite a moment at SXSW this year, arriving at the festival with a concert to promote her new album (and novel) Run, Rose, Run and her online Nft project Dollyverse, while riding a wave of public goodwill after her philanthropic support of the Covid vaccine with a $1 million donation.

Surprisingly, despite its subject’s bona fides as an all-time American icon, Seriously Red hails from Australia, the country that gave us Strictly Ballroom (1992) and The Sapphires (2012). The residual influence of both films can be felt here, but the template has to be P.J. Hogan’s seminal Muriel’s Wedding, which made a star of Toni Collette in 1994. Directed by Gracie Otto,...

Ah, the heartbreak when two good-looking people don’t have chemistry!

According to “My Best Friend’s Wedding” director P.J. Hogan, the 1997 rom-com would have looked very different had Julia Roberts and Russell Crowe connected during the audition process.

“I don’t know what went wrong,” Hogan said in an excerpt of Scott Meslow’s book “From Hollywood With Love,” as reported by Vulture. “It was one of the worst table reads I’ve ever experienced.”

Hogan, who had been pushing for Crowe to play Roberts’ love interest, added that megastar Roberts had casting approval.

“No one was getting in this movie if Julia didn’t approve,” Hogan said. “[But] Russell was, I thought, probably the most amazing actor I had ever encountered. I kind of knew Russell was going to be a really big star.”

Yet their table read didn’t quite go as planned: “Russell was seated opposite Julia. He gripped that script,...

Pj Hogan, the director of the 1997 romantic comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding, has reflected on Russell Crowe’s awkward audition for the film.

The movie starred Julia Roberts as a woman who realises she is in love with her best friend when he gets engaged to somebody else. While the best friend in question was ultimately played by Dermot Mulroney, Crowe was one of the actors who auditioned for the role.

In an excerpt from the book From Hollywood With Love, published in Vulture, the filmmaker said his first choice for the part had been Crowe, who he thought was “probably the most amazing actor I had ever encountered”.

To cast Crowe in the film, Hogan explained, he needed Roberts’s approval. He invited Crowe to a table read opposite Roberts and hoped there would be great chemistry between the pair.

“I don’t know what went wrong,” Hogan said.

Robert C. Jones, an Oscar-winning writer and editor whose credits include It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, Coming Home and Love Story, has died. He was 84.

“It is with deep sadness that I am writing to tell you the passing of Robert C. Jones, who was a celebrated editor and screenwriter, and a beloved professor at our School,” said Elizabeth Daley of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, where Jones served as a professor for 15 years.

Jones was born on March 30, 1936 in Los Angeles. His foray into film work began upon his drafting into the U.S. Army, when he joined the Army Pictorial Center from 1958 to 1960 as a film editor. At the Pictorial Center he edited Army training films, documentaries and several segments of the television program The Big Picture.

After his Army stint, Jones further developed his editing skills for A Child Is Waiting...

Australian filmmaker P.J. Hogan has come full circle with his award-winning international hit comedy “Muriel’s Wedding.”

Not only is Hogan observing the 25th anniversary of the release in the U.S. this March, he was in New York in prepping pre-production on “Muriel’s Wedding: The Musical” before the coronavirus restrictions hit. The stage version scored a warm response from critics and audiences when it opened in Australia in 2017.

“It’s still very relevant — even more so,” said Hogan in a recent phone interview. “It’s all about self-esteem.”

Written and directed by Hogan and produced by his wife, filmmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse, “Muriel’s Wedding” was like a breath of fresh air. It not only launched Hogan’s career and fortified Moorhouse’s, “Muriel’s Wedding” also changed the careers of its stars Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths.

Collette played the zaftig, socially awkward Muriel Heslop, who lives in the quiet Gold Coast town of Porpoise Spit.

Jocelyn Moorhouse with Dop Martin McGrath on the ‘Wakefield’ set.

Jocelyn Moorhouse was shooting the ABC’s Stateless when Jungle Entertainment offered her the gig of set-up director of the ABC drama Wakefield.

The concept was unlike anything she’d ever heard of, centering on the interaction between staff and patients at a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, leavened with musical numbers and tap dancing, so she was hooked.

Brit Rudi Dharmalingam plays Nik, a gifted psych nurse in the eight-episode show created by Kristen Dunphy, who is the showrunner with Sam Meikle, produced by Shay Spencer and Ally Henville for Jungle Entertainment and BBC Studios.

The sanest person in a pretty crazy place, Nik is confronted by a dark secret from his past when a song gets stuck in his head.

Reuniting with the director after collaborating on the Seven Network’s Wanted, Geraldine Hakewill plays a psychiatrist, with Mandy McElhinney as the head nurse.

Rupert Penry-Jones and Daniel Lapaine.

When Daniel Lapaine and Essie Davis were fellow students at Nida in the early 1990s, one less arduous element of the course was fencing lessons.

Neither could have imagined, all these years later, they would be jousting again in Every Cloud Productions’ Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears.

Lapaine plays rich aristocrat Lord “Lofty” Lofthouse, an old friend of Essie’s Phyrne Fisher, in the Tony Tilse-directed murder-mystery/adventure/romance, which opens on Thursday.

Phyrne and Shirin Abbas (2016 Vca graduate Isabella Yella), a young Bedouin girl whom she rescued from prison in Jerusalem, go to the UK to stay at the manor owned by Lord and Lady Lofthouse (Jacqueline McKenzie) and Lofty’s younger brother Jonathon (Rupert Penry-Jones).

“It was great fun to play a character who has a high opinion of himself, a good-time boy who likes a drink, which can get him into trouble,...

Damien Sato and Kathy Luu.

Actor, writer and producer Joy Hopwood is directing her second feature, Rhapsody of Love, a rom-com starring Asian-Australians Damien Sato and Kathy Luu.

Further reflecting the project’s diversity, producers Hopwood and Ana Tiwary have hired women in key creative roles.

Now shooting in Sydney, the plot follows four couples at different stages of their relationships and examines how love sometimes develops when it is least expected.

The ensemble cast includes Lily Stewart, Khan Chittenden, Benjamin Hanly, Jessica Niven, Tom Jackson, Hopwood, Amanda Benson, Sam Wang, Erica Long, Michael Giglio and Andrew Wang.

Among the heads of department are Aftrs graduate Goldie Soetianto as Dop, sound recordist Lara Cross, set designer Jessie Singh and editor Jon Cohen.

Asked on Facebook if Rhapsody of Love would be more relatable than Crazy Rich Asians, Luu, whose credits include The Good Place, Fighting Season and The Unlisted, said:...

Netflix is adapting Jeff Smith’s comic book series “Bone” as an animated kids show, the streaming service announced on Wednesday.

“I’ve waited a long time for this,” Smith said in a statement. “Netflix is the perfect home for ‘Bone.’ Fans of the books know that the story develops chapter by chapter and book by book. An animated series is exactly the way to do this! The team at Netflix understands ‘Bone’ and is committed to doing something special – this is good news for kids and cartoon lovers all over the world.”

According to Netflix, the series follows “the iconic Bone cousins on an adventure through a vast, uncharted desert and into a mysterious valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures.”

Also Read: Rob Lowe, Vanessa Hudgens Headline Netflix's Holiday Movie and TV Slate (Video)

Originally an independently published series, “Bone” ran from 1991 to 2004 across 55 issues. It has since been published in over 30 countries,...

Rachel Griffiths. (Photo: Lisa Tomasetti)

Actor, director and producer Rachel Griffiths will deliver this year’s Hector Crawford Memorial Lecture at Screen Producers Australia’s (Spa) Screen Forever conference.

An Academy and Emmy Award nominated and Golden Globe winning actress, Griffiths’ feature directorial debut, Michelle Payne biopic Ride Like A Girl, is due in cinemas later this month. She also stars in and co-created ABC/Blackfella Films’ Black Bitch, the first two episodes of which will premiere today at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Griffiths got her big break in 1994 with P.J. Hogan’s Muriel’s Wedding, after which she headed to the Us and became well-known for roles in long-running series Six Feet Under and Brothers & Sisters. Her role in Hilary & Jackie earned her an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actress.

In film her credits include My Best Friend’s Wedding, Hacksaw Ridge,The Hard Word, Blow, Step Up,...

Released in the summer of 1997, My Best Friend's Wedding made its mark on romantic comedies for years to come. The film ranked among the top 10 highest-grossing movies of the year, having racked up a worldwide gross of nearly $300 million at the box office. Julia Roberts stars as the fillm's heroine alongside Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett and more.

My Best Friend's Wedding puts a different spin on the genre with its not-so-happily-ever-after ending. Directed by P.J. Hogan, the film follows Julianne Potter (Roberts) as she attempts to win over her best friend (Mulroney) ...

Released in the summer of 1997, My Best Friend's Wedding made its mark on romantic comedies for years to come. The film ranked among the top 10 highest-grossing movies of the year, having racked up a worldwide gross of nearly $300 million at the box office. Julia Roberts stars as the fillm's heroine alongside Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett and more.

My Best Friend's Wedding puts a different spin on the genre with its not-so-happily-ever-after ending. Directed by P.J. Hogan, the film follows Julianne Potter (Roberts) as she attempts to win over her best friend (Mulroney) ...

The Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures' production of Muriel's Wedding The Musical opened this weekend in Sydney. The production, a theatrical version of Pj Hogan's iconic hit film, updated to today by the writer himself, features original music by Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall alongside those beloved Abba numbers. The musical is exclusive to Sydney, playing at Roslyn Packer Theatre with previews from 6 November, opening on Saturday 18 November 2017. Let's see what the critics had to say...

The ABC and Screen Australia will fund documentary Making Muriel, following P.J. Hogan as he adapts his 1994 film Muriel.s Wedding into a musical produced by the Sydney Theatre Company and Global Creatures (Strictly Ballroom The Musical).

Directed by Nel Minchin (Matilda and Me), produced by Minchin and Ivan O.Mahoney (Hitting Home, Caged), and executive produced by Nial Fulton (Hitting Home, Matilda and Me) from In Films, Making Muriel will take viewers all the way to the musical's world premiere at Sydney's Roslyn Packer Theatre in November 2017.

The rehearsal process will be weaved together with archival footage and interviews with Hogan, the film.s producers Jocelyn Moorhouse (The Dressmaker) and Lynda House, as well as the musical's cast.

.We are following up Nel Minchin.s wonderful documentary debut, Matilda and Me, with another musical theatre documentary about the making of a musical based on the hit film, Muriel.s Wedding,...

Julia Roberts proudly reflects on her successful movie career.

The 49-year-old actress chatted with Good Morning America's Michael Strahan on Wednesday about her upcoming role in Smurfs 3, but also revealed what other films she's excited to share with her three children, daughter Hazel, 12, and sons Phinnaeus, 12, and Henry, 9.

"There's nothing more thrilling than creating a piece of work and feeling like you have some triumph to bring home and lay at the feet of your family," the Oscar winner noted. "In a few years, there are some [movies] that I'm looking forward to [showing my kids]."

Watch: The 7 Best Weddings Movies of All Time

Roberts has one romantic comedy in mind that she's wants Hazel to watch. "I can't wait for my daughter to see My Best Friend's Wedding," she said, calling out her 1997 movie, where she stars alongside Cameron Diaz, Dermot Mulroney and Rupert Everett. "I mean, that will be sweet."

TriStar Pictures

She added, "I think they'll...

With a box-office take of nearly $300 million, “My Best Friend’s Wedding” is one of Julia Roberts’ biggest hits, yet that may not have been the case had the director kept the film’s original ending — because test audiences hated it with a passion. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, P.J. Hogan — who directed the […]...

Jason from Mnpp here for another round of "Beauty vs Beast." I was doing my umpteenth (literally, my umpteenth) post on Muriel's Wedding over at my own site this past week when I realized that I really do not give enough attention and affection to director Pj Hogan's masterful follow-up film, 1997's deliciously cold-blooded Julia Roberts rom-com My Best Friend's Wedding. Which turns 20 in June! That's nuts!

On the page the character that Julia plays is a selfish and manipulative monster, but Roberts pushes the star wattage to full-tilt (has her hair ever been bigger and bouncier?) and charms us even as she's being despicable. (God do I understand and empathize with Jules, much to my horror.) Meanwhile Cameron Diaz, one year before There's Something About Mary, gave her own off-the-charts effervescence to the woman we were supposed to, but it was impossible to, hate. Take your corners...

Previously...

CEO Zareh Nalbandian at Animal Logic HQ in Sydney. (Photo: James Horan).

Animal Logic has two big releases coming up, with 'The Lego Batman Movie' arriving in March to Aussie cinemas, followed by 'The Lego Ninjago Movie' in September..

Al is also gearing up to shoot hybrid live-action/animation feature 'Peter Rabbit' in Sydney, the first step in its bid to become a fully-fledged studio — .a creative enterprise. rather than a .service provider,. as CEO Zareh Nalbandian puts it..

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Is Animal Logic Entertainment, your development arm, based in La?

It.s here as well. Felicity Staunton is a creative executive here, and I have three execs in La. We all travel. They travel here, we travel there. We work as one unit. We.re repped out of CAA, [and] our lawyers are there. But our creative hub is here,...

Mel Gibson on the set of Hacksaw Ridge.. . Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge cleaned up at the 6th Aacta Awards ceremony last night, taking home five awards, including Best Film and Best Original Screenplay. . Gibson was honoured for Best Direction, while Andrew Garfield won Best Lead Actor and Hugo Weaving nabbed Best Supporting Actor. . .I need to thank Australia for making this film,. said Gibson in his acceptance speech. . He praised the "homegrown" film.s cast and crew, .the calibre of which is as good or better than anywhere in the world.. . .I.m not the only one who wants to make films here all the time, Ridley Scott said the same thing,. Gibson said. .I.m honoured to receive this.. . . The five awards add to the four Hacksaw Ridge already picked up earlier this week at the Aacta Industry Luncheon. The film was nominated in 13 categories overall. . Odessa Young...

Mel Gibson on the set of Hacksaw Ridge.. . Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge cleaned up at the 6th Aacta Awards ceremony last night, taking home five awards, including Best Film and Best Original Screenplay. . Gibson was honoured for Best Direction, while Andrew Garfield won Best Lead Actor and Hugo Weaving nabbed Best Supporting Actor. . .I need to thank Australia for making this film,. said Gibson in his acceptance speech. . He praised the "homegrown" film.s cast and crew, .the calibre of which is as good or better than anywhere in the world.. . .I.m not the only one who wants to make films here all the time, Ridley Scott said the same thing,. Gibson said. .I.m honoured to receive this.. . . The five awards add to the four Hacksaw Ridge already picked up earlier this week at the Aacta Industry Luncheon. The film was nominated in 13 categories overall. . Odessa Young...

Female film-makers donned sausage costumes to protest gender disparity in the Australian industry.Scroll down for full list of winners:

Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge was named best film of the year at the 2016 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) awards, with the wartime drama taking nine of its 13 nominated awards, at an event that was also marked by activism on and off the stage.

Hacksaw Ridge was produced in New South Wales and financed through the Producer Offset and other state and federal government subsidies.

The film’s star Andrew Garfield was named best actor for his portrayal of conscientious objector Desmond Dawes, and Hugo Weaving won best supporting actor (again, after winning in 2015 for The Dressmaker) for his role as Dawes’ battle-scarred father.

Garfield accepted his award via video message from Los Angeles, and expressed “pure joy” at the win. He also singled out “Mel’s brilliant ability to make everyone feel valuable...

Mike Cecchini Nov 17, 2016

The director of Kung Fu Panda and The Little Prince will try his hand at adapting Jeff Smith's Bone to the screen.

From the 'what took them so long?' department, Jeff Smith's epic fantasy comic Bone is finally getting the big screen treatment courtesy of Warner Bros. Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda, The Little Prince) will direct, and he'll co-write the script with Adam Kline. There had been rumblings that this was in development before (with director Pj Hogan), but this sounds like it has a shot to actually happen now.

Jeff Smith's Bone is kind of tough to describe here, but it's probably the finest all-ages comic book story of my lifetime. Smith wrote and drew the story, which is about these bizarre, cartoony Bone cousins who leave their home of Boneville and end up on an adventure that spans, well, over a thousand pages of comics.

Blue Murder: Killer Cop..

The Seven Network has revealed its programming slate for the coming 18 months. Among it are a number of new Australia dramas, including: Olivia Newton-John, Warnie, Hoges: The Paul Hogan Story and the anticipated Blue Murder: Killer Cop, which sees Richard Roxburgh reprise his role as Roger Rogerson.

The network has also confirmed that The Secret Daughter, Wanted and 800 Words will return in 2017.

Also new for Seven are Million Dollar Cold Case, Yummy Mummies, The Aussie Property Flippers and Murder Uncovered. The network has also touted a controversial new show.—..now being filmed under a veil of secrecy..—.which it claims will be the most talked about program of 2017.

Seven has confirmed reality mainstays.My Kitchen Rules, House Rules, First Dates and Seven Year Switch for new seasons.

New international titles secured by the network include Trial and Error and Training Day.

Seven.s...

Kate Winslet can do anything ... except save this movie from quirky overkill. The Dressmaker, based on a 2000 novel by Rosalie Ham, gives the actress a hell of a role. She's Tilly Dunnage, a 1950's fashionista who's decided to return home to dusty Dungatar (an apt name), the small Aussie town that spawned her. Tilly got run out of Dungatar 20 years ago, when she was just a 10 year-old, for allegedly murdering her schoolmate Stewart Pettyman. Everyone believes she bashed the kid's skull in – including her snaggle-toothed old mum, Molly (Judy Davis,...

The Dressmaker director Jocelyn Moorhouse on Sophie Theallet: "I met her because we are both good friends with Rupert Everett." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Loving Billy Wilder, watching Sunset Boulevard, an Audrey Hepburn Sabrina remodeling, Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Visit and Jack Nicholson in Sean Penn's The Pledge, Sergio Leone, Alice B Toklas in Paris, South Pacific, David and Albert Maysles' Grey Gardens, consulting with Sophie Theallet about Madeleine Vionnet and Cristóbal Balenciaga - Jocelyn Moorhouse and producer Sue Maslin revealed the underpinnings of The Dressmaker.

Kate Winslet as Tilly Dunnage: "We're entering a fable. Although the story, of course, is very truthful and universal."

Based on the novel by Rosalie Ham, screenplay Pj Hogan and Moorhouse, starring Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth, and Hugo Weaving with Sarah Snook, Kerry Fox (Alison Maclean's The Rehearsal), Gyton Grantley, Alison Whyte, Shane Bourne, and Barry Otto (Gracie Otto and...