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The Thousand Miles

Director: Sylvain Chomet

Writer: Sylvain Chomet, Demian Gregory

It’s been four years since we last saw anything from Sylvain Chomet, when he delivered his first live action film Attila Marcel in 2013.

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Like him or lump him, James Franco continues to be one of the busiest bees in Hollywood – not just in front of the camera, but also on the other side of the lens, where he’s developed a repertoire of producing and filmmaking skills. That streak will continue via Zeroville and The Masterpiece, a feature film primed to recount the story behind the cinematic car crash known as The Room.

No word yet on a release date for that one, but the latest development to arise from the Franco camp involves a new four-picture deal with Demian Gregory which will, according to Deadline, kick into gear with The Game.

Not to be confused with David Fincher’s unnerving thriller of the same name, The Game is to be based on Neil Strauss’ New York Times bestseller, The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists, which has simmered on the...

Plus: Production begins on Myriad’s Holiday Joy; Focus sets Victoria And Abdul date; and more…

Sanaa Lathan and Shiva Negar have joined Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton and Taylor Kitsch on CBS Films and Lionsgate’s American Assassin.

Michael Cuesta will direct the thriller from a screenplay by Stephen Schiff. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Nick Wechsler produce.

American Assassin centres on a CIA black ops recruit who teams up with his handler to investigate a wave of random attacks.

Production has begun in Toronto on Holiday Joy (formerly Different Folks), a comedy in the vein of Freaky Friday directed by Myriad Pictures chief Kirk D’Amico. Bailee Madison stars and new cast mambers include French Stewart, Scott Thompson, Sandy Jobin-Bevans and Jennifer Robertson. Freeform has acquired television rights and will air later this year. Myriad handles worldwide sales.Focus Features will release Stephen Frears’ Queen Victoria drama Victoria And Abdul starring Judi Dench, Ali Fazal and [link...

While she has the documentary The 13th arriving this fall, Selma director Ava DuVernay‘s next narrative feature will be Disney’s big-budget remake of A Wrinkle in Time. THR reports that, following Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling are now in talks to star in the adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s book. The film follows a young girl whose father has gone missing while he was away working on a project curiously known as the tesseract. She’s added by Mrs. Whatsit (Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Kaling) and Mrs. Which (Winfrey). Production kicks off in November.

Stranger Than Fiction director Zach Helm has found his next project, led by Daniel Radcliffe and Zachary Quinto, Deadline reports. We Do Not Forget follows the true story of the battle between the infamous hacking group Anonymous and the Mexican drug cartel, which seems like a bit of an uneven fight. The...

James Franco is typically attracted to adaptations from literary giants like Faulkner and Steinbeck, but his newest lead role is in a film based on Neil Strauss’s controversial but best-selling memoir/ how-to guide, “The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists,” about Strauss’s experience under the tutelage of professional seducers.

Strauss, a journalist, stumbled across the pick-up-artist community while working on an article, and ended up attending a boot camp that taught “uber-geeky” men how to pick up women. It was there that Strauss met his wing-man and guru, Mystery, who Franco will be portraying in the film.

Read More: James Franco To Star In Film Adaptation Of Stephen King’s ‘Drunken Fireworks’

As Strauss says, “Nearly every person I meet has a strong opinion on The Game, whether they’ve read it or not,” and it will be interesting to see how the film portrays and deals with its polarizing content.

James Franco and Demian Gregory have entered into a new agreement to produce four feature films together, with the first film they will produce being an adaptation of “The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists” by Neil Strauss. Strauss’ book chronicles his real-life experiences in the world of pick up artists, most notably with the Pua known as Mystery. The book is part-memoir and part-how-to-guide for those who wish to learn how to get better at meeting women. Franco will star as Mystery, as well as executive produce alongside his partner Vince Jolivette. Gregory will also serve as an executive.

Exclusive: Demian Gregory and James Franco have partnered to produce four feature films with budgets in the $15 million-$20 million range. The first title under the deal is The Game, based on the bestselling book — part memoir, part how-to guide — by Neil Strauss about how to become a successful pick-up artist. Franco will star as Mystery, a man who serves as Strauss' "wingman" in the book. The New York Times bestseller is enjoying its 11th year in print this…...

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The Last King Of Scotland producer Andrea Calderwood will deliver the opening keynote at the Strategic Partners market in Halifax, Canada, next month.

Calderwood, of Potboiler Productions, most recently produced Trespass Against Us starring Michael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson, set to screen in Toronto and Strategic Partners’ sister event the Atlantic Film Festival.

Other keynote speakers include Marc Hustvedt, the founder and CEO of Peter Chernin-backed Supergravity Pictures, as well as Scandinavian TV producers Liselott Forsman and Lars Hermann.

“The programme this year is dynamic, progressive, and mindful of the issues and opportunities facing producers across the globe,” said programme manager Laura Mackenzie.

“Our speakers are able to provide a unique perspective because of their background and experience, but they are living and breathing the very same challenges facing producers daily.”

Strategic Partners runs from September 15-17. For the full line-up of panels and events click here.

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Exclusive: Film financier and producer Demian Gregory, who earlier this year acquired the rights to the classic Italian novel The Leopard, is starting up a new film production company called Aristocracy Group, which is said to be a consortium of media companies specializing in production and financing of filmed entertainment. The company will maintain offices in London and Los Angeles with plans to produce up to six commercially driven films a year in the $6M to $30M…...

Exclusive: On the eve of the Efm, Ambi Distribution led by Julie Sultan has secured worldwide rights to the coming-of-age adventure starring Maria Bello.

The film is based on a screenplay by Nancy Cartwright, who famously voices Bart Simpson in The Simpsons, and Peter Kjenaas.

Taron Lexton directs In Search Of Fellini, about a sheltered 20-year-old who becomes obsessed with meeting Federico Fellini after she watches his 1954 classic La Strada at a film festival while on a job interview in Ohio.

Ksenia Solo from Orphan Black plays the lead in the Spotted Cow Studio production. Bello is cast as her mother, who hides a terminal illness, and Mary Lynn Rajskub (24, Julie & Julia) is the no-nonsense neighbour who urges Bello’s character to reveal her condition.

Kjenaas and Lexton produce alongside Nathan Lorch, Milena Ferreira, Monica Padro, and Michael Doven of United Pictures Group.

Executive producers are Cartwright, Kevin Burke, and Ambi Group co-founders Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi...

The Triplets of Belleville and "The Illusionist" director Sylvain Chomet has announced that he's begun production on "The Thousand Miles" at Savoy & Gregory. The project marks the multi-talented French filmmaker's long-awaited return to the animated genre which he previously tackled in 2003 and 2010.

Effectively the helmer's English-language debut, dialogue plays a large part in 'Miles' unlike his previous two animated films. Newcomer James Lipsius along with two iconic American actors with Italian roots will voice the lead characters in a film said to be primarily inspired by the dream journals of iconic Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini.

Set in an early 1980s Italy, the story follows two ageing brothers who, separated by life, reunite through their shared life-dream to compete in Italy's Mille Miglia vintage car rally - the world's most beautiful road race. What follows is a metaphysical journey filled with love, laughter and sorrow.

Though entirely in 2D hand-drawn animation, the...