HJ to Play Enzo Ferrari

[jo]

How will film offers ( completed and still-to-be-filmed) be received at Cannes (Film Festival)?


www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/virtual-cannes-market-kicks-optimism-uncertainty-1299495


These are 25 projects that expect to get attention at Cannes --


www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/blacksmith-enfant-terrible-cannes-hottest-films-1298725

[jo]

Remember when he was a guest driver for the UK show TOP GEAR ?

That was in 2013!

[jo]

Will Hugh visit the FERRARI Headquarters and Museum? This is in Maranello, Italy.

Here, former world champion Nico Rosberg ( whose father Keke was also a world champion) takes a tour of the place. Of course he tries on the road cars ( not the racing cars). He shows the famous model ENZO which he says costs about 2 million ( not sure if he meant GBP or US$)...and the famous Museum... and then drives another model (MONZA)




PS: This is the place where they hold the inaugural of the year's racing cars. It's more modern now, compared with when I got that invitation to visit... but the memories just build on.

Somewhere around is the old house where Enzo Ferrari lived many years of his life.


Jo

[jo]

It really seems the interest is very widespread in Europe - I have just translated tweets or articles from Belgium, Greece, Brazil and even from the Arab world - where Ferrari has its own theme park. Of course Aussie sites are posting all over the place ( some saying this could be Hugh's next major blockbuster after Greatest Showman and Logan)...Hope this eventually translates to strong box office $$$ - although I am not sure how that will fall into place. If Amazon is the major investor -- will it take the path of limited theatrical release/streaming in the USA...whereas overseas where it is difficult to tie up streaming -- will we get a longer theatrical release?

Lol - the project has not yet been fully packaged!

Jo

[jo]

I've sort of found a softcover copy of the book on which the film project will be based at Amazon.co.UK. Close to $10 only.

The book is actually sold out -- but I have already ordered it and will be informed on its availability. They accepted my order so maybe they are awaiting reprint.

The cost of the hardcopy is astronomically priced!


Jo

[jo]

For a while back, it seemed like the competing Ferrari films — Mann’s Ferrari biopic and James Mangold’s drama Ford v Ferrari — were neck and neck in the race to theaters, but Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari would make it first, hitting theaters last year and earning a few Oscar nods (and two technical trophies). While it’s a little ironic that Bale would end up getting acclaim for another Ferrari movie, the combination of Mann and Jackman behind the wheel for Ferrari will be more than enough to set the film apart from Ford v Ferrari. The film will be highly anticipated regardless, as it is Mann’s first film in more than five years.

[jo]

This is exciting!


The reaction from most major media outlet in Italy which is the usual source of Formula One news and Ferrari, Gazzeta --

I know of them because they are usually the source of rumors and speculations on Ferrari- and oftentimes coming true.



www.gazzetta.it/Formula-1/22-06-2020/hugh-jackman-interpretare-enzo-ferrari-film-mann-3702026545040.shtml

Google translation --

Hugh Jackman will play the Drake in the Michael Mann film


The director has chosen the Wolverine actor for the role of Enzo Ferrari in a film set in the 1950s: shooting should begin in spring 2021

Drake is ready to live again on the big screens with an exceptional protagonist. Indeed, Hugh Jackman will play the role of Enzo Ferrari in Michael Mann's film. The director, who has resumed working on a film already announced in 2015, is expected to start shooting in the spring of 2021, with the actor, famous for playing Wolverine in X-Men, in the role of the main protagonist.

MODENA IN ALERT— Mann has already started to discuss the project with Jackman and in the coming days he will also present it to the Cannes Film Festival managers in a meeting that will take place online. The city of Modena, already pre-alerted in 2015, could be involved again for this great story that cinema is ready to offer, to tell the story of one of the most important men in the racing world.

This seems to indicate that the Italians and Ferrari welcome the casting of Hugh Jackman as one of their most beloved icons! Supposedly second only to the POPE n the hearts of Italians


Jo

[jo]

Hugh and the younger Enzo are beginning to look alike

Except Hugh will be playing a much older Enzo Ferrari ( nearing 60 at that time).


Jo

[jo]

One of the most publicized " in talks" news in Hugh Jackman's film career!

Comparable to Valjean in Les Miserables?

Not Wolverine -- no one knew who he was then?

[jo]

Maybe a gesture of support and acknowledgement of Hugh's versatility?


But it seems from the article on GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT ( main Italian media reporting on F1 racing and Ferrari) - that it is Hugh's Wolverine screen persona which has impressed them as to the casting. Hugh as a symbol of "incredible masculinity" ( in the words of James Mangold)! F1 and racing are sports which appeal more to the male fans than most other sports. Enzo Ferrari is a very much respected and loved Italian icon - maybe not a faultless man but they loved how he built the car dynasty called FERRARI ( called by an investment advisor as " the aristocrat of the automotive industry").

www.gazzetta.it/Formula-1/22-06-2020/hugh-jackman-interpretare-enzo-ferrari-film-mann-3702026545040.shtml

[jo]

After a Grand Prix at Monza ( the Italian temple of racing, known for the speediest track on the F1 circuit) --



Enzo Ferrari rarely attended the races at other tracks but Monza had a special place in his heart!

Jo

[jo]

[jo]

Translated comments worth a giggle --

A SEXY DRAKE? To surprise are the indiscretions, reported by Variety, according to which the actor chosen to play Ferrari will be Hugh Jackman. The Australian is known for his physical prowess, thanks to which he played the role of Wolverine, for example, becoming a world-famous sex symbol. Previously, the role of Drake had been played by a completely different kind of actors: we remember Sergio Castellitto in the Ferrari TV miniseries of 2003, Augusto Dallara in Rush of 2013 or Remo Girone in Le Mans '66.

Enzo Ferrari had many titles/nicknames, one of which is "Il Drake"


Jo

[jo]

From another Italian site - already translated to English on the site itself.

Taxidrivers.it

Hugh Jackman to be Enzo Ferrari in Michael Mann's new film

Filming is expected to begin in the spring of 2021

Publicized 3 hours ago
The June 23, 2020
Written by Luke Biscontini


Enzo Ferrari is ready to relive on the big screens with an exceptional protagonist. Hugh Jackman will play him in Michael Mann's new film. The director, who resumed work on a film already announced in 2015, is expected to begin filming in the spring of 2021, with the actor, famous for playing Wolverine in X-Men, as the main protagonist.

Mann, executive producer of the recent Land Mans '66 – Ford vs Ferrari, would then call Jackman, with the idea, for his film, to take inspiration from the book written by Brock Yates Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races. The film is expected to be set in the 1950s, with a story intertwined between Ferrari's private life and that of racing, in a narrative involving the terrible Mille Miglia of 1957, with the tragic accident of Alfonso De Portago, the risk of failure of his business and even the disappearance of his son Dino.

Enzo Ferrari was an Italian entrepreneur, sports executive and car driver, founder of the eponymous car manufacturer, whose sports section, the Scuderia Ferrari, won in Formula 1, with him still alive, 9 drivers' world championships and 8 constructors' world championships. He liked to call himself not a technician or an engineer, but an "agitator of ideas and men". It was always him who put the last word on a car, whether it was racing or standard. And, despite not having the necessary technical skills, he knew how to create them, surrounding himself with the "right" people.

Enigmatic, very reserved and gruff but at the bottom of his probably tender heart, Enzo Ferrari died 30 years ago in an empty Modena for August, surrounded by a few loyal collaborators. Giving us the image of a man who is fundamentally alone, who has dedicated his entire life to Ferrari, without ever sparing himself. And he knew (for this too) to create a myth, becoming a legend.

This is not supposed to be a full biopic - as it will focus on particular time in Enzo's later life. It is going to be a fairly tall order for Hugh Jackman to deliver a portrayal that is part legend and part human! But...in Hugh's acting strengths, we hope and trust!


Jo

[jo]

Don't miss this one!



I just found an old Deadline interview with Michael Mann in 2015 on his past film successes and when he was first putting together plans to film it ( with Christian Bale then). It captures why it has been a very longtime creative idea for him, his relationship with the Ferrari family... mostly his enthusiasm about the film project.

Of course we know that the script has now been further revised -- but the essence seems to still be in the heart of this discussion. We can also picture now how Hugh Jackman as an acting talent can figure into this scenario.

Let's hope the presentation at Cannes this Thursday will be very successful because the project seems to be very exciting!


deadline.com/2015/09/michael-mann-heat-al-pacino-robert-de-niro-ferrari-christian-bale-toronto-film-festival-1201529118/

Michael Mann On The Long Odysseys of ‘Heat’ And ‘Ferrari’ – Toronto Q&A

By Mike Fleming Jr

Mike Fleming Jr
Co-Editor-in-Chief, Film


September 16, 2015 8:54am


EXCLUSIVE: “So you write a story about a movie I’m not doing, and you make the first time Al Pacino and Robert De Niro share the screen together an afterthought?” That’s my recollection of the first words that Michael Mann ever said to me, after I wrote a Weekly Variety column about how he and Leonardo DiCaprio were scrapping their James Dean movie, and oh yeah, Mann would instead direct this crime drama called Heat. Boy, was Mann right. Last night in Toronto, he and cast members Pacino, De Niro, Val Kilmer and Ashley Judd celebrated the 20th anniversary of his seminal Los Angeles crime thriller, one that took about 20 years to go from script to screen.

To honor the occasion, he took a trip down memory lane with Deadline, and filled us in on his next film, the one in which Christian Bale will play Italian automobile magnate Enzo Ferrari. That project is similar to Heat, each an epic-sized drama that took forever to solve the creative challenges. Re-watching Heat to get ready for the TIFF event, Mann sounded more than pleased by how it holds up, two decades later. “It’s been awhile since I saw it on film, and you know, it doubles the world, makes it so much more real,” he said. “It’s convincing me that maybe I need to shoot Ferrari on film.”





DEADLINE: Why wasn’t that enough?

MANN:... There was always something wrong, and it was in the ending. So I worked the screenplay and worked the screenplay and 

Ferrari is the same thing. There’s something really golden that Troy Kennedy Martin captured. The difference is that I wrote Heat as an original, but not Ferrari. Troy captured something golden and spectacular in terms of the warmth, heart, and the real fabric of people’s lives in 1957 in tumultuous times in Modena, Italy. But there was something wrong in the storytelling that stopped [Ferrari]. When I finally discovered what it was, early this year, the whole thing clicked. All I achieved in the revisions I did was to liberate the gold that Troy put there originally, and made it all work. It’s a structural thing about how the movie really should end, and a decision about what is the critical relationship, which is between Ferrari, his wife Laura and Piero, who is his second son. His first son, Dino, had died a-year-and-a-half earlier. He’s married to Laura, he had a son Dino who had muscular dystrophy and died in 1955.



DEADLINE: What does the Ferrari story have that sustained your passion for so long?

MANN: The simple answer, which is useless, is everything. It’s one year in his life, 1957. That’s the year that, fortuitously, the parts of his life that I most care about in making a human story, all collide. It’s an opera, it’s a family drama, a tragedy, filled with wry humor. It’s a racing film, but it’s not a movie about car racing. It’s a movie about this guy’s life and his passion. He started as a race car driver and then became a racing team manager for Alfa Romeo. His passion was to make the racing team win, so he’s kind of an impresario, conductor or film director, of a race team. He’s an instigator of men, many of whom tragically die young. He’s very close to death and death is very close to him. His father died young, his brother died young. In the year of 1957, of the seven Ferrari drivers, only two were left alive at the end. He is passionate, plenty of libido. There’s part of him that’s like a metronome. As an engineer, he’s precise, like a master draftsman. At the same time, he has passion. There are other women in his life. Sex, food, death. There is a contradiction between chaos on one hand and the precision with which you determine the diameter of an exhaust valve, on the other. Someone in London who really knew the heart of this, who’s Italian, said it sounds like what you’re doing is making something so intensely local that it’s universal. And that’s it. The film is about life, danger, passion, racing with volcanic temperament throughout.



DEADLINE: You worked with Christian Bale in Public Enemies, when his Melvin Purvis character chased Johnny Depp’s bank robber character John Dillinger. What makes Bale right for this?

MANN: His courage, his humor, the way Christian makes himself into a character. You think of him in American Hustle and then as Purvis in Public Enemies; the range is extraordinary. He understands who this man Ferrari is, his irrepressible force and how he’s always on the attack. There’s nothing generically Italian about this, it’s a local story. Modena had two opera companies, two football teams and two race car companies. The people who ran all these went to the same barber shop to get a shave every single morning. The Orsi brothers are sitting there with Ferrari, who’s sitting there reading the newspaper and says to one of the guys who runs the football team, “If your team doesn’t win Saturday, I’m thinking of moving my car company to Bologna because my drivers are being demoralized by this constant series of losses.” And the guy who runs the opera company says something, and then someone asks him, “When are you going to get a decent tenor?” That’s the nature of it. Troy Kennedy Martin captured something golden in the heart of this that hooked myself and Sydney Pollack in 1997. It’s such a great story that it has sustained itself in my ambitions ever since and did so for Sydney, until he tragically passed away. There was something unresolved about it that made it not complete. Sydney felt the same. When I figured out what it was, I did a rewrite, which did nothing but deliver in full power what Troy Kennedy Martin had put there in the first place. Suddenly, the whole thing clicked in. That’s why I’m doing it now and why the screenplay really works now and has gotten the reaction it has.



DEADLINE: Can you distill what Pollack brought to this?

MANN: Great sophistication about men and women, and emotions that are authentic and more interesting because they are atypical. Life is asymmetrical, it doesn’t fall into convenient binaries we normally impose on fiction. Sydney has an insatiable appetite for passion, emotion in real people and the way it really works. That includes tragic loss, and there’s nothing as tragic as the loss of a child. That’s something Ferrari experienced, one year before this happened. His son Dino died in 1955 of muscular dystrophy. Ferrari was certain, as the great engineer he was, that he could save his son. He could monitor the output and input of this human body and given all the skill sets he had, he could organize the best medical care and he would save his son. He told that to his wife and it didn’t happen. As he said, I misled myself, I deluded myself. That’s part of what’s going on in the script, which occurs a year and a half after Dino died.

>
>
>
>
[Discussions about HEAT movie and other Mann movies like The Last of the Mohicans]

I wonder how he further revised the script, which is now the subject of interest at the Cannes film market, together with Mann's plans for the movie, including the casting of Hugh Jackman.


If you are interested in the work of Michael Mann, considered by many as a very fine director, do read the rest. It also puts into better context the discussions of the FERRARI Project. Amazing that this interview was 5 years ago -- and that Mann is "revving" up again for a more exciting film!

Jo

[jo]

There are conflicting news re the rescheduling of The Music Man which may or not impact on the FERRARI project.

If you are a ticket holder, it seems Telecharge may have decided to reassign new dates to your original purchases ( only seen in the My Telecharge Account) but not on the Event Page of The Music Man ( which says that tickets are not currently available/no announcement re change of dates ) as well as on Prices/Schedule Date. I find it unusual that no official announcement has been made. Based on the unexplained changes, it is supposed to start performances in early April 2021.

But what is even more conflicting is that an interview with Michael Mann re the oncoming FERRARI film project has been released thru DEADLINE ( as reputable as Variety or The Hollywood Reporter) where it was mentioned that a spring 2021 is being shopped to film rights distributors. You cannot make such a part of the offer unless it has more or less been worked out.

Which is which?

I hope Scott Rudin will make an official announcement soon.

I also hope that after the Cannes presentation on Thursday that there will be more concrete news on the FERRARI project.

Jo

[jo]

Jun 23, 2020 21:22:13 GMT -5 jo said:

There are conflicting news re the rescheduling of The Music Man which may or not impact on the FERRARI project.

If you are a ticket holder, it seems Telecharge may have decided to reassign new dates to your original purchases ( only seen in the My Telecharge Account) but not on the Event Page of The Music Man ( which says that tickets are not currently available/no announcement re change of dates ) as well as on Prices/Schedule Date. I find it unusual that no official announcement has been made. Based on the unexplained changes, it is supposed to start performances in early April 2021.

But what is even more conflicting is that an interview with Michael Mann re the oncoming FERRARI film project has been released thru DEADLINE ( as reputable as Variety or The Hollywood Reporter) where it was mentioned that a spring 2021 is being shopped to film rights distributors. You cannot make such a part of the offer unless it has more or less been worked out.

Which is which?

I hope Scott Rudin will make an official announcement soon.

I also hope that after the Cannes presentation on Thursday that there will be more concrete news on the FERRARI project.

Jo

Sorry - the presentation date is TUESDAY at the Cannes film market.

The big-canvas racing drama instantly becomes one of the hottest projects at the Cannes virtual market. Four-time Oscar-nominee Mann will give a virtual presentation for buyers on Tuesday and the new script is hitting key distributors today.

Hopefully, we will hear about the results within tonight(over there)/today(over here)! Unless the offers are not accepted or rejected until a few days or even weeks ( like Bad Education at TIFF)?


Jo

[jo]

Written on June 22 ( start of Cannes virtual film market activities) --

www.indiewire.com/2020/06/buzz-films-for-sale-cannes-virtual-market-1202238342/

12 Buzzy Films for Sale at the Cannes Virtual Markets, from Michael Mann to Elisabeth Moss

There's no physical Cannes this year, but the festival's markets — in virtual form — are more important than ever.

Chris Lindahl

Jun 22, 2020 2:30 pm

The Marche Du Film at Cannes will be held virtually this year.

Michael Buckner/Variety/Shutterstock


No splashy premieres at the Palais. No Croisette-apartment dealmaking. While there won’t be a physical Cannes Film Festival this year, this just might be the most important Cannes ever for getting business done.

As much of the industry’s work has been restricted to development amid the pandemic, agents and buyers are counting on two concurrent virtual markets that start this week to help move those projects forward. And with the fate of fall festivals up in the air, the Cannes markets could be the only opportunity to conduct business en masse for the entirety of 2020.

The markets — one spearheaded by American sales agencies and the other run by the official Marché du Film — represent the first major virtual markets to go live since the pandemic roiled the world. Agents say the two are complimentary, rather than competitive: The delineation points to the way business has always been done at Cannes.

Think of the agencies’ market as a virtual representation of the private offices, screenings, and meetings agencies would set up on the ground, while the online Marche is meant to replicate the activity inside the basement of the Palais. Just like the agencies’ would at Cannes, their virtual market is focused on North American sales, while the Marche is more internationally focused.

While uncertainty continues to surround exactly how the film industry will emerge from the pandemic, buyers are still hungry to add films to their pipelines for the next and subsequent years. Packages of in-development titles will feed that need, while some finished movies are available, even as uncertainty surrounds festival programming for later this year. “I think the easiest way for buyers to be confident about it is to look for well-priced material that’s more genre facing,” one sales agent said.

Even as theaters slowly begin to open in the US and Europe, buyers recognize that the promise of audiences quickly returning to theaters in droves is shaky at best. Genre films and lower-priced titles could both work well in a scenario where theatrical releases are not an option or offer a less-than-expected return-on-investment. But there are still plenty of films with big names and big commercial potential. Buyers will be less skittish about these, especially when they come with delivery dates of a year or more in advance.

Regardless of their approach, buyers are expected to be attentive in their perusal of packages and finished films given the global confluence of industry players all under one virtual roof. “Business hasn’t stopped because of the virus. We’re still looking to slate our 2021 schedule,” said Arianna Bocco, IFC Films’ EVP of acquisitions. “It looks like for the remainder of 2020 there will be very modified festivals. This is really what we have to work with, so we are definitely taking it very seriously and are very, very engaged with it because we don’t really have other opportunities to have a better picture of what’s available from the worldwide sales agents.”


Here are 12 of the buzziest films and packages, with a focus on English-language titles.


“Ferrari”
CAA Media Finance/STXinternational

Michael Mann is on board to direct this biopic on racing icon Enzo Ferrari, with a script written by Troy Kennedy Martin (“The Italian Job”) based on Brock Yates’ book “Enzo Ferrari — The Man and the Machine.” Hugh Jackman is in talks to star as the titular character. The film focuses on summer 1957, when the forces in Ferrari’s life collide. The high level of talent on this project gives it obvious commercial potential.

[jo]

I saw a tweet of Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney, who usually handles all exclusive interviews with Scott Rudin for The Hollywood Reporter and wrote the exclusive for the announcement of The Music Man and now for the rescheduling of the show. I took a chance and asked him a question re the Ferrari Project because he presumably might have some info on it, given that he said Hugh is committed to a year's run for The Music Man.

I've also thought of the second possibility -- that is, to film the movie in the fall to early winter of 2020.  The script has been rewritten. Ferrari and the town of Modena are ready. This has been a long gestating dream project of Michael Mann ( who is about 77 years old) and I assume that since it is classified under " Pre-Production" on IMDB that some of the creative, technical and other filmmaking aspects are already being prepared.  Also, since Hugh's name was one of the come-ons for the project when it was being shopped to film/theatrical distributors, it might not sit well if he simply left the project just like that? 

Crossing my fingers that this will still happen! It could be Hugh's real chance for an Oscar!

F-1 is resuming racing ( not sure if there will be spectators) in July... but in September, Italy will likely be very much alive for one of racing's most iconic tracks - that of Monza( nicknamed the temple of speed and a favorite of many fans! That was the only racetrack that Enzo regularly attended ( and another one in Italy which is no longer functioning)...it  might be good to absorb the atmosphere of that time of year!

Jo

[jo]

CAA is actively offering projects at the Cannes virtual film market ... and the slate includes FERRARI. So the project is still a GO and looking for film distributors, despite the announcement of the schedule for The Music Man.

Also, very interesting article on the future of independent films, of film content, and the active participants, both sellers and buyers. CAA Media comes from a group related to CAA ( the other large talent agency in Hollywood). They co-sold the rights to BAD EDUCATION, together with ENDEAVOR ( related to WME).


variety.com/2020/film/news/cannes-caa-media-finances-roeg-sutherland-benjamin-kramer-1234686292/

CAA Media Finance’s Roeg Sutherland, Benjamin Kramer on Protecting the Independent Film Business

By Leo Barraclough


Roeg Sutherland and Benjamin Kramer, who co-lead CAA Media Finance, have been working on the agency-led virtual market in Cannes, and spoke to Variety about the prospects for the independent film scene.

CAA Media Finance’s projects in the market include Antoine Fuqua’s “Emancipation,” starring Will Smith; Dan Gilroy’s “Faster, Better, Cheaper”; Ric Roman Waugh’s “Kandahar,” starring Gerard Butler; “Rebel,” directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah; and Michael Mann’s “Ferrari.”





What was the thinking behind having a uniform, united market rather than every company just doing their own thing?

Roeg Sutherland: In a time where everything seems a little decentralized and complicated, it was important to have the agencies and foreign sales agents band together to present product in an organized manner and not have buyers being pulled in 15 different directions.

The best part about what has happened is that you’ve seen buyers and agencies come together to create a system that allows foreign distributors to participate in an organized manner without stepping on each other’s toes.


Was there any reluctance on the part of the buyers or the producers to go ahead with the market now or did some of them want to wait until the autumn to see if things will have changed?

Roeg Sutherland: No, no one wanted to wait until the autumn. It is so important that we stay connected. And it’s easy for people that are in the U.S. to do so; it’s very easy for local businesses to stay connected amongst themselves. It demands work to be able to stay connected to the rest of the world.

We felt that sooner rather than later, we had to figure out ways to get everybody to connect and talk about what they want and what the future of their territories is; what they’re going to be looking for in the next couple of years.

We had to do something this summer, because the next real market will be AFM, and we’ll try to do something in Toronto, and Toronto will be innovative about it, as might others.

We are all working at the same hospital and trying to work together to keep the business alive and thriving.

The good news is that there’s never been more of a need for content. Consumption has gone up. In terms of money to be able to finance films, and distributors wanting to acquire films, it’s been a seller’s market for us, which has been great.


Two things have been enigmas: Distribution is one and the other is insurance. Insurance has been complicated and is on a film-by-film basis. We have to collectively figure out how to make it work. Hopefully, the federal government, in the next few weeks, will back an insurance bill to address the situation.

Production is starting up. We have movies that are going to be shooting in Australia, Ireland, France, Italy, and Germany.

Travel continues to be a challenge so we are continuing to address ways to keep the independent film industry connected through Toronto and, likely, into AFM. Throughout all of this, there is one constant – audiences around the world have an endless appetite for content.

Benjamin Kramer: The industry is figuring out ways to be able to create content and a system that allows theatrical to still exist, but not to rely entirely on box office. Innovative thinking like Sony’s move to make “Greyhound” and sell it to Apple for a profit is a win for the industry.







Is there going to be a further shift toward streaming on a long-term basis?

Roeg Sutherland: People miss human contact and the minute that they feel safe going out again, people are going to group up. I mean, that is what human nature is.

I saw one comparison with the 1920s when there was a surge in people wanting to go out and party. So, it doesn’t necessarily need to be a negative story…

Roeg Sutherland: In a world where people need to be entertained, they want to be entertained even more. And we’re human beings, we figure out ways to adapt and how to make things better and safer. And we’ll figure this out. We see so many people being creative. Artists are going to continue to create and we will continue to support their work. As we are seeing these past few weeks, there’s never been a bigger appetite for buying films.

Filmmakers are going out to the desert and they’re going to go and film a movie in a house or they’re going to go and film a movie that involves car chases. They are going to create content. Looking at the trades, you see how much movies are selling for. There’s never been a bigger appetite for buying films.





Has there been a sudden shift in terms of the type of content that is popular. I mean, whether it’s comedies or…

Roeg Sutherland: No, there’s no shift since the coronavirus. I mean, no one really wants to watch a movie about someone whose cat was run over. That hasn’t changed. Is there an appeal in the streaming world for movies that are commercial or romantic comedies or things that are uplifting that people need in moments of darkness? Yes. I think that plays better. But there’s no radical change.


Benjamin Kramer: Given the last several weeks, we anticipate a continued interest in stories about justice in all forms, and of heroes overcoming long odds.

We are trying to be innovative and use our position in the industry to help our clients create, and help audiences around the world feel connected and entertained.





In terms of CAA’s business, are you looking to invest in more distribution companies?

Roeg Sutherland: We have long been focused on the international marketplace and have extensive experience in architecting financing and distribution entities [e.g., Elysian Film Group Distribution in the U.K., RT TV in Brazil, etc.] as part of an overall effort to support creators around the world.

[jo]

Filmmakers are going out to the desert and they’re going to go and film a movie in a house or they’re going to go and film a movie that involves car chases. They are going to create content.

I like that phrase about car chases....maybe it also applies to car racing

It seems the market is starved for new content!

Maybe the same thing is true for Broadway -- It looks like the announcement about the new schedule of THE MUSIC MAN for a spring opening has been met positively, judging from mass media coverage, social media responses, and theatre message boards posts.


Jo

[jo]

variety.com/2020/film/global/cannes-delivers-big-titles-sales-hope-questions-market-models-1234691594/

HOME
FILM
GLOBAL
Jun 26, 2020 1:44pm PT
Cannes Delivers Big Titles, Sales & Hope but Questions Market Models
By John Hopewell, Elsa Keslassy


“The Blacksmith,” “Ferrari,” “Armageddon Time” and “The Card Counter” look like market highlights of an extraordinary Cannes market, which saw its two virtual platforms delivering for a select number of big U.S. projects, amid large market caution and even fear of a second COVID-19 spike.

In the art film sector, Cannes Official Selection label titles made much of the running, with distributors lamenting that they would have loved to have seen more screened at Cannes. “Without the festival, the market was weak in terms of arthouse, because we lacked the buzz, hype and the experience of being all together in a screening room,” said Stefano Massenzi, head of acquisitions and business affairs at Italy’s distribution banner Lucky Red.

Equally, more mainstream distributors looked for greater depth in the pre-sales market. Most everyone, however, was delighted and some even surprised that the markets functioned at all, giving hope of an eventual reestablishment of the industry, however impacted it may be from COVID-19.


The main downside, some sales agents and buyers said, were technical glitches limiting trailer transmission on the Cannes Marché Online website.


“The top line is that everybody’s been working very hard to make the best of a difficult situation. There’s product, some big movies, deals being closed, said Martin Moszkowicz, Constantin Film chairman of the executive board.

There were “lots of good projects, good quality and a range for everyone. There’s an efficiency to the market once you got organized and settled. But you still can’t replace the physical buzz of the market!” agreed Arianna Bocco, executive VP of acquisitions at IFC Films.

Jakob Abrahamsson, managing director of Non-Stop Entertainment, agreed, noting “a flurry of strong projects, even surprising many.” Non-Stop bought some titles and is bidding for a couple more, he reported.

However, the bottom line, Moszkowicz cautioned, was that product simply didn’t reach the levels of big titles traditionally trotted out for Cannes. “It’s an ersatz experience.”



Of the buzzy U.S. titles, AGC Studios announced on Thursday sales to more than half the world on the Nick Jonas and Laurence Fishburne action thriller “The Blacksmith.” More deals on “The Blacksmith” — with Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and China — will close today or over the weekend, said AGC Studios chairman-CEO Stuart Ford.

A Michael Mann passion project, with Hugh Jackman reportedly in advanced talks to star, “Ferrari” — catching Enzo Ferrari, the Italian Formula One magnate, at crunch point in his career and life — was mentioned by multiple buyers as one of the key big movie projects on the market.



Also notable were Hanway’s “The Card Counter,” starring Oscar Isaac as a gambler and former serviceman who sets out to help a young man seek revenge, and “Armageddon Time,” from Wild Bunch International/CAA Media Finance, marking a personal movie from Jamie Gray that explores friendship via a stellar cast including, again, Isaac, Robert De Niro, Donald Sutherland, Anne Hathaway and Cate Blanchett.

Some big movies are still in the bidding process, such as Will Smith starrer “Emancipation,” with Apple and Warner Bros. surviving contenders for a title prompting bids of around $110 million net, according to Deadline Hollywood.

Cohen Media Group and Curzon snapped up just before the market Fernando Trueba’s Film Factory Ent.-sold “Forgotten We’ll Be,” a heartfelt tribute to a Colombian social activist, and then on Thursday French social-issue drama “Gagarine,” from Totem Films. TrustNordisk mopped up further major territories on Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round,” while Playtime also closed additional deals on another Cannes label title, Francois Ozon’s “Summer of 85.”

According to Deadline, Neon has also snapped up U.S. rights to Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer,” which stars Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana.


Films were still being brought onto the market as late as Thursday, led by the Rocket Science-sold U.K. period drama “Mothering Sunday,” co-starring Olivia Colman (“The Favorite”) and Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”).

That is one sign of a detected market demand for bigger titles and coupled with the online mechanisms in place, the market could go on for days.

“Sales were slightly better than expected. But one thing is true: the online market does not end Friday. This is the beginning of a 365-day market,” said Antonio Saura at Spain’s Latido Films.

Through Friday, there was a steady, if slowish stream of U.S. deals on usually smaller titles. That may change. The most active distribution markets were Benelux, Russia, Switzerland, Spain and even the U.S., said Fionnuala Jamison, head of international sales at MK2 Films. “It’s a small pool of U.S. buyers but they are very competitive,” Jamison added.

Carole Baraton, co-founder of Charades, also had a busy market with five pics that screened. “We launched movies tailored for a film market, a mix of comedy (“The Speech”), genre (“Psycho Goreman”), animation and family (“Bigfoot Family,” “The Rosemaker”), and did well with both distributors and streaming services… overall a well-balanced and good market,” said Baraton.



It is logical, in retrospect, that if sales companies managed to bring big films onto the market, business would take place. Said Moszkowicz: “Cannes is by far the one market of the year that has always had the majority of the business of any given year. Everyone is working towards Cannes to get their movies financed, sold and then start shooting in summer.”


“The general feeling among distributors is that the market will come back at some point so they have to continue buying, and nobody wants to miss out on a market where everyone’s selling new projects,” added Maya Amsellem, managing director at WestEnd Films.

The London-based company held screenings on the A Demain Platform for both Emma Holly Jones’ period romantic comedy “Mr. Malcolm’s List,” starring Freida Pinto and Constance Wu, and Marc Forster’s “The Cow,” both of which have clinched major territory sales, she said.


If distributors pass on Cannes, they could be giving up on much of a year’s business.

“Toronto is not going to be a big marketplace this year. The AFM is a long way down the road and from a pre-sales perspective will focus on largely movies that probably will not deliver until 2022,” AGC Studios’ Ford said. “Factor in the recent production shut-down that has created gaps in most distributors’ 2021 slates and I think a lot of the buyers this week thought: ‘If we don’t buy now, when are we going to buy?’”


There’s consensus, however, that the virtual Cannes 2020 format is certainly not a model for Cannes itself. “It’s not fun. I’d prefer to be on the Croisette, eating good food and looking sellers in the eye as they overcharge for their movies,” Moszkowicz joked.


But it could well be a model for other festivals. Toronto has already announced it will be a hybrid on site/online event — if COVID-19 resists into 2021.

“Now we’re going to have an interesting dialog about how we officially retain and replicate this online format and build it into the calendar,“ Ford said.

“The international business has been at a pivotal moment for the past year or so,” said Nicolas Brigaud-Robert, a partner at France’s Playtime.


“There’s a shift in the business models for producers, sales agents and distributors,” he added. “The COVID-19 crisis seems to me to have only accelerated structural changes that were in the making.”

As the pandemic fails to disappear in key markets, the industry is now asking whether Cannes 2021, not Berlin, may be the first market with a real on-site world industry presence. Down the line, the virtual market did manage to create some optimism, something that most industry executives have been craving during months of lockdown.

“What struck me is the hopefulness among producers,” said Dylan Leiner at Sony Pictures Classics. “There is a combined sense of uncertainty and anxiety, and a sense of imagination and innovation. People are creating relationships and relying on each other in this environment.

Leo Barraclough contributed to this story.

Hopefully, the FERRARI project is now the subject of biddings ... or maybe already in negotiations?

Re the Cannes atmosphere --

I once had the great chance to be in Cannes for the film festival as part of a trip -- and spent some time walking on the famous Promenade/Boulevard de la Croisette...and having something in one of the cafes the avenue is dotted with. No we didn't see stars or starlets -- but there was one very handsome hopeful ( to be noticed) next to our table, having coffee by himself... Nah - the place was dotted with businessman-looking people huddling and negotiating film deals! That is what Cannes is all about -- the glamour of film premieres and top stars ( or starlets showing off on the beach amid a bevy of photographers) in attendance is simply advance publicity! It is the persuading and the haggling in the film market that Cannes is really all about - hence its schedule in May always ( but not this year)... Besides that is always scheduled a week or so before the Monaco Grand Prix takes place ( maybe that was why we were there?) - with movie stars occasionally in attendance.

The Cote d'Azur is beautiful any time of the year -- but the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix are its glittering attractions!

Hugh was in Cannes once, to promote X-MEN 3 ( but not In Competition) and he was very excited about it!


Jo

[jo]

Hope this really happens!
Crossing my fingers and toes
And hoping it is an untroubled production, given the health crisis.

[jo]

Holding my breath until this is officially announced!

But can you believe how excited I am if this happens?

It is an Oscar-bait role and focuses less on the racing, but more on the drama behind the scenes when Enzo was already in his 50's and a racing tragedy started " a steady rain" of further tragic and difficult events in his life!

Forza Ferrari


Jo

[jo]

This has come up again --

but the post came from a Brazilian.

Google translation --

To finish our short list:

At the end of the month, April 30 in Italy, Hugh Jackman will play Enzo Ferrari in the summer of 1957 when everything he built collided.

The film 'Ferrari' to be directed by Michael Mann is based on the book 'Enzo Ferrari' by Brock Yates.

He is quoting from a Production report list ( he is probably a subscriber) -- before the Ferrari item are other film projects that are due to start filming in April.

This Friday we separated a short list with news about the beginning of the recording of some productions that come strong for the awards of 2022.

Follow the thread!