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Daisy Edgar-Jones starrer “Where the Crawdads Sing” is set to get a theatrical release in China, Sony Pictures revealed today.

The film, which is based on the coming-of-age novel by Delia Owens, will hit Chinese theaters on Nov. 25.

It was released in the U.S. in July, where it made 2.3 million in Thursday previews. According to Sony, the film has generated 140.2 million worldwide, of which 50 million came from international markets.

“Where the Crawdads Sing” stars Edgar-Jones as Kya, who raises herself in the marshlands of North Carolina after being abandoned by her family. Isolated and viewed with suspicion by prejudiced locals, Kya keeps to herself until she one day befriends two young men. But when one of them unexpectedly dies, she becomes the center of suspicion.

Taylor John Smith (“Sharp Objects”), Harris Dickinson (“The King’s Man”), Michael Hyatt (“Snowfall”), Sterling Macer, Jr. (“Double Down”) and David Strathairn (“Nomadland”) also star.

Sony Pictures’ Where the Crawdads Sing has crossed the 90 million mark at the domestic box office, showing proof that it’s not just tentpoles that rule the roost on the big screen. The pic hit the mark on its 82nd day of release, Tuesday, after opening on July 15.

The movie based on the Delia Owens YA mystery novel opened to 17.2M and has a current leg-out factor of 5.2x, which is amazing for any wide title in this wonky marketplace. And it wasn’t even the Christmas season. Sony has pulled off great box office sleepers before, one of the more notable titles pre-pandemic being Little Women, which posted a 5-day start of 29.2M and legged out to 108.1M domestic and six Oscar noms and a win.

Also, it’s an amazing feat considering that Where the Crawdads Sing didn’t boast a major cast, just a star in its producer,...

“Where the Crawdads Sing,” Sony’s adaptation of the hit novel by Delia Owens and produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, earned 2.3 million in its Thursday preview screenings that began at 3 p.m. The film played at 3,150 locations on Thursday and will open in approximately 3,625 locations this weekend.

“Crawdads” opens new this week against Paramount’s animated family film “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank,” which also had previews on Thursday starting at 3 p.m. It made 505,000 from 2,650 locations; it’s scheduled to open on approximately 3,400 screens this weekend. Both films are expected to fall behind “Thor: Love and Thunder” as it moves into its second weekend.

Sony is projecting a 9-10 million three-day opening weekend against a 24 million budget. And while “Crawdads” is aimed at a younger crowd, prominently featuring a new Taylor Swift song “Carolina” as a means of attracting those audiences, the film is also...

Exclusive: Deadline has an exclusive track from Mychael Danna’s score for 3000 Pictures’ dramatic thriller Where the Crawdads Sing, which is slated for release by Decca Records tomorrow, as the film hits theaters in the U.S.

Olivia Newman’s film based on the bestseller by Delia Owens tells the story of Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones), an abandoned girl who raised herself to adulthood in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, isolating the sharp and resilient Kya from her community. Drawn to two young men from town, she opens herself to a new and startling world; but when one of them is found dead, she is immediately cast by the community as the main suspect. As the case unfolds, the verdict as to what actually happened becomes increasingly unclear, threatening to reveal the many secrets that lay within the marsh.

Naturally,...

Kevin Hart drama “Fatherhood” hit No.1 on Netflix in 82 countries after releasing June 18, according to the streamer. Netflix also projects that 61 million households will have seen the movie — or some portion of it — within its first four weeks.

Timed to Father’s Day weekend, “Fatherhood” drew in viewers with a story about a dad learning to navigate fatherhood while coping with the death of his wife. Notably, the number of viewers reported by Netflix does not adhere to the conventional audience measurement tools used by traditional networks. Instead, the number of viewers is based on the amount of subscribers who watch at least two minutes of a piece of content. For “Fatherhood,” that would translate to watching just under 2% of the movie.

“Fatherhood” is adapted from “Two Kisses For Maddy: A Memoir of Loss and Love,” the best-selling novel by Matthew Logelin. Originally set up for an April 16 theatrical release by Sony Pictures,...

Exclusive: The Walking Dead: World Beyond star Annet Mahendru has joined the Mark Wahlberg-Mel Gibson faith-based movie Stu, we hear. She recently wrapped season 2 on the AMC series. She’s also starring in Manifest West, a gritty drama from directors Louie Gibson and Joe Dietsch. Stu is directed and written by Rosalind Ross with Wahlberg producing alongside his partner and manager Stephen Levinson along with Jordan Foss. Miky Lee and Colleen Camp are EPs. Storyline is underwraps. Mahendru, who is repped by Paradigm, Bohemia Group and Nelson Davis, has starred in Amazon’s The Romanoffs, FX’s Tyrant, 2 Broke Girls, The Blacklist, Entourage and the indie move Escape From Tomorrow.

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Eric Ladin (The Right Stuff) is set to play Eric Chastain in Sony’s upcoming film Where the Crawdads Sing. He joins Garrett Dillahunt, David Strathairn, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson, Michael Hyatt, Sterling Macer, Jr., Jayson Warner Smith...

Sony Pictures Classics Updates Release Information for Summer Slate

Sony Pictures Classics has updated its summer release plans for “I Carry You With Me,” “12 Mighty Orphans” and “The Lost Leonardo.” All three films are set to screen at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival both in person and virtually.

The world premiere of the art documentary “The Lost Leonardo” will screen at Tribeca on June 13 at The Battery. Set to open in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, the film will expand to other markets shortly after. “The Lost Leonardo” tells the story behind the Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold at $450 million. Produced by Andreas Dalsgaard for Copenhagen-based Elk Film and Christoph Jörg for Paris-based Pumpernickel Film, the documentary was directed by Andreas Koefoed. Sony Pictures acquired the rights to the film back in March.

“12 Mighty Orphans,” which stars Luke Wilson, Martin Sheen, Vinessa Shaw,...

Sony Pictures announced on Thursday that Where the Crawdads Sing will hit theaters on June 24, 2022.

For the moment, the anticipated drama has little box office competition. The only other film currently scheduled for that weekend is Paramount Pictures’ Untitled Transformers Project starring Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback.

Directed by Olivia Newman, Where the Crawdads Sing is set in the mid-20th century South, following a young woman named Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones) who raises herself in the marshes outside of her small town, after being abandoned by her family. When Kya’s former boyfriend is found dead, she is thrust into the spotlight, and is immediately assumed by local townspeople and law enforcement to have been behind the murder. Equal parts haunting crime thriller and moving coming-of-age story, Where the Crawdads Sing explores our universal yearning for connection, formative first loves, and ultimately, how strong and resilient each of us is,...

Kevin Hart’s upcoming drama “Fatherhood” will fittingly premiere on Netflix on Father’s Day weekend.

The film, directed by Paul Weitz, was originally set up at Sony Pictures and slated to release theatrically on April 16. However, the studio has negotiated a licensing deal with Netflix (excluding China) as nearly 50% of U.S. cinemas remain shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic. “Fatherhood” will now debut on the streaming platform on June 18.

With the move to Netflix, Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground have boarded the movie. Dana Stevens wrote the script with Weitz.

Sony has offloaded a few films during the pandemic, including Seth Rogen’s “An American Pickle” to HBO Max and the Kristen Stewart-led romantic comedy “Happiest Season” to Hulu. At the same time, Netflix has been an active buyer, acquiring titles like Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” romantic comedy...

Kevin Hart’s “Fatherhood” will hit Netflix on Father’s Day weekend after the streamer licensed the worldwide rights to the film from Sony Pictures.

Higher Ground Productions, Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, will present the film alongside Netflix and Sony.

The film is an adaptation of author Matt Logelin’s memoir “Two Kisses For Maddy: A Memoir Of Loss & Love.” Hart stars as a dad who is forced to raise his baby girl on his own after his wife’s unexpected death. The film also stars Alfre Woodard, Lil Rel Howery, DeWanda Wise, Anthony Carrigan, Melody Hurd and Paul Reiser.

Paul Weitz (“About A Boy”) is directing, based on a script he co-wrote with Dana Stevens. Marty Bowen, Hart, David Beaubaire and Peter Kiernan are producing, while Betsy Danbury, Aaron L. Gilbert, Jason Cloth, Bryan Smiley, Jaclyn Huntling Swatt, Isaac Klausner, Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin are executive producing.

Sony and Higher Ground Productions will have its Kevin Hart drama Fatherhood released on Netflix on Friday June 18, just before Father’s Day.

Note this is a licensing deal, not a full on acquisition of the movie by Netflix. It’s a similar deal that Sony has cut with Hulu on Happiest Season and AppleTV+ on Greyhound. Essentially, Netflix has licensed worldwide rights, except China which Sony will keep. Meanwhile, Sony will keep the IP and all transactional home entertainment windows outside of Netflix.

Fatherhood, directed by Paul Weitz, is based on the book Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Loss & Love by Matthew Logelin. Based on a true story, the pic follows Hart as a single dad who brings up his baby girl after the unexpected death of his wife a day after their daughter’s birth.

The pic’s most recent theatrical release date was set for...

After an aggressive bidding war with multiple major studios, North American rights for Channing Tatum’s film “Dog” have sold to MGM.

Tatum will star in and co-direct “Dog” with his longtime creative partner Reid Carolin. Carolin also wrote the script, based upon a story by Carolin and Brett Rodriguez.

The film is a road-trip comedy that tracks two hard-charging former Army Rangers paired against their will — Briggs (Tatum), and a Belgian Malinois named Lulu — as they race down the Pacific Coast in hopes of making it to a fellow soldier’s funeral on time. Along the way, they’ll drive each other completely crazy, confront the possibility that pet psychics are real, and begin to reckon with the one thing they were trained never to do: surrender.

Sale of its domestic rights comes following the film selling on international territories at Afm, where Tatum and Carolin delivered their presentation...

In the first deal by newly minted MGM Motion Picture Group chairman Michael De Luca, MGM has acquired North American rights to distribute Dog. Deadline readers might recall this is the film that showed as much bite as bark when it was introduced last fall at Afm. Pic stars Channing Tatum, who will co-direct the film with his longtime creative partner, Reid Carolin. Latter wrote the script based upon a story he hatched with Brett Rodriguez. Pic will shoot in May for U.S. release on Valentine’s Day weekend 2021 via MGM’s joint distribution and marketing entity United Artists Releasing.

Gregory Jacobs will produce along with Peter Kiernan and Rodriguez for Free Association. Executive Producers are Ken Meyer and Betsy Danbury.

The plot is much the same as when Tatum and Carolin pitched their vision of the film as FilmNation sold out international territories at Afm. Tatum will play Army Ranger Briggs who,...

“Something truly goddamn strange in going on” in Netflix’s first trailer for Velvet Buzzsaw, the art horror film which reteams its stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo with Nightcrawler writer-director Dan Gilroy. Its features an all-star cast including Toni Collette, Zawe Ashton, Tom Sturridge, Natalia Dyer, Daveed Diggs, Billy Magnussen, and John Malkovich.

Written and directed by Gilroy, the satirical thriller is set in the contemporary art world scene of Los Angeles, where big money artists and mega-collectors pay a high price when art collides with commerce.

Jennifer Fox produced the pic while Betsy Danbury served as executive producer.

As Deadline reported back in 2017, Scott Stuber’s feature film division at Netflix had outbid multiple buyers for this title. This marks the third directorial outing for the accomplished screenwriter and former reporter, following 2017’s Denzel Washington-starring legal drama Roman J. Israel, Esq.

The pic is slated to premiere...

In today’s film news roundup, “On the Basis of Sex” will raise funds for the Aclu, Jon M. Chu has a USC scholarship fund named after him, and “The Amityville Murders” gets a release date.

Fundraiser

Gathr Films, Focus Features, and Participant Media have set Jan. 9 screenings for “On the Basis of Sex” at 500 theaters with the opportunity for ticket buyers to contribute to the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project.

The movie stars Felicity Jones as a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Armie Hammer as her husband, Martin Ginsburg. It opens in limited release on Dec. 25 and goes wide on Jan. 11.

Ginsburg helped co-found the Women’s Rights Project in 1972. She successfully argued before the Supreme Court in 1975 that a widower denied his wife’s survivor benefits under Social Security violated the right to equal protection secured by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth...

Others to take part in on-stage discussions include Susanne Bier, Frederick Wiseman Michael Ballhaus and Ulrich Seidl. Also, Nightcrawler will receive its European premiere at Zurich.

Movie music maestro Hans Zimmer is to take part in the Zff Masters series at the 10th Zurich Film Festival (Sept 25 – Oct 5).

The composer of scores for films including Rain Man, The Lion King, Gladiator and Inception will offer insight into his creative process in the chaired discussion that will include a public Q&A at the Filmpodium.

Others signed up for the Zff Masters include documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman and Danish screenwriter and director Susanne Bier, who won the Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film in 2010 with In A Better World and is currently touring festivals with A Second Chance and Serena.

Zurich audiences will also be invited to attend masterclasses with veteran cinematographer Michael Ballhaus (The Departed, Goodfellas) and Ulrich Seidl, the Austrian filmmaker behind the recent Paradise trilogy and documentary...

Universal Pictures has set a 2015 date for horror comedy Krampus, the Christmas-set flick to be directed by Trick ‘R Treat‘s Michael Dougherty. The yuletide frightener co-written by Dougherty, Todd Casey and Zach Shields is based on the ancient legend of a pagan demon who punishes wicked children – a really bad Santa. Producers are Legendary’s Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and Alex Garcia. Krampus will hit theaters Wednesday, November 25, 2015 just in time to go up against Disney’s The Good Dinosaur, Fox’s The Martian, and WB’s Midnight Special for the Thanksgiving crowd.

Universal and Legendary have additionally set an August 12, 2016 date for the 3D thriller Spectral, about an elite Special Ops team on the trail of a phantom threat that can’t be explained. Nic Mathieu is directing James Badge Dale, Emily Mortimer, Max Martini and Bruce Greenwood in the pic scripted by Ian Fried, George Nolfi and John Gatins.

Open Road Films has acquired all U.S. rights to "Nightcrawlers," starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo, from Bold Films, the companies announced today.The film was written and directed by veteran screenwriter Dan Gilroy ("The Bourne Legacy") in his directorial debut. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Weinstein Co., Focus Features, A24 Films and Fox Searchlight were also interested in the film.Read More: Cannes Bible with Every Review, Interview and News Story from the FestivalThe film tells the story of a driven young man (Gyllenhaal) who finds a home in the nocturnal world of freelance crime journalism in Los Angeles.  Along with Gyllenhaal and Russo, Bill Paxton and Riz Ahmed also star in the film.Producers are Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bold Films' ChairmanMichel Litvak and David Lancaster. The film was financed by Bold Films, with Walters and Betsy Danbury serving as executive producers."We are thrilled to re-team.

Screened at South by Southwest

AUSTIN -- Shouldn't an overwrought drama about the life-shattering effects of gambling addiction make some effort, before delivering its moral, to show why people gamble in the first place? Even back in the days when Hollywood demanded that vice must always end in tears, audiences usually had some vicarious fun before the other shoe dropped.

Not so in "Even Money", where the first scene offers an unconvincing Kim Basinger, mumbling anxiously to herself, pulling a slot machine's lever and despairing at the outcome. The film's main stab at capturing gambling's allure is a few candy-colored shots of casino action. Because many less glamorous scenes also are drenched in barely justified colored lights, one assumes that this is less a narrative device than a predilection of the cinematographer. With so little fun and such unconvincing pathos on hand, it's hard to imagine much boxoffice potential.

Like Basinger, most of the protagonists in this ensemble cast are up to their necks in something, but the script has little notion how to generate an appropriate level of drama. Forest Whitaker is in hock to his bookies so badly that he's willing to beg his beloved kid brother (a basketball star in the making) to shave points and throw games so he can win some dough back. Grant Sullivan plays one of the bookmakers in question, doing fine financially but about to lose his new girlfriend because, as bookies tend to do, he hurts people who owe him. Ray Liotta suffers indirectly, as his wife Basinger neglects him in favor of the slots.

Circling among these losers are outsiders: Kelsey Grammer, who wears a prosthetic chin the size of Nevada and has been told he's the lead gumshoe in a film noir, and Tim Roth, a gambling entrepreneur who may or may not be the elusive kingpin "Ivan". Roth chews the scenery, or rather nibbles it and licks his fingertips, in a Eurosleaze performance that is the film's most entertaining ingredient. Somewhere in there is Danny DeVito, a washed-up magician who does sleight-of-hand for tips from retirees and might just inspire Basinger to write the novel she's been pretending to work on for months.

With Dave Grusin's maple-syrup jazz chords doing their best to build tension, director Mark Rydell shows each protagonist trying to fix his or her predicament. We have a hard time identifying with their problems, as we weren't along for the fun part of the ride and it's clear from the start that their solutions will fail.

Overlong and overstuffed with cliches -- ever heard the one about the bookie who swills Pepto for his ulcer? -- the movie doesn't seem to realize how close it comes to comedy. First-time screenwriter Robert Tannen evidently has big ambitions here, hoping to wrap his Big Issue up in a "Crash"-style tapestry of interwoven plots. Suffice to say that "Crash" producer Bob Yari, whose logo also adorns "Even Money", won't be suing anybody for credit come Oscar time next year.

EVEN MONEY

Jumpshot Films

Bob Yari Prods./ApolloMedia/Three Wolves Production

Credits:

Director: Mark Rydell

Screenwriter: Robert Tannen

Producers: David S. Greathouse, Mark Rydell

Executive producers: Jorg Westerkamp, Bob Yari, Michael Zaltstein

Director of photography: Robbie Greenberg

Production designer: Robert Pearson

Music: Dave Grusin

Co-producers: Henry Boger, Rita Branch, Betsy Danbury, Robert Katz, Johnny Sanchez, Roger Zamudio

Costumes: Wendy Chuck

Editor: Hughes Winborne

Cast:

Carol Carver: Kim Basinger

Walter: Danny DeVito

Detective Brunner: Kelsey Grammer

Godfrey Snow: Nick Cannon

Tom Carver: Ray Liotta

Clyde Snow: Forest Whitaker

Veronica: Carla Gugino

Murph: Grant Sullivan

Augie: Jay Mohr

Victor: Tim Roth.

MPAA rating R

Running time -- 116 minutes...