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Husband-and-wife team Celine Held and Logan George wrote, directed feature debut.

Endeavor Content will handle worldwide sales on the New York-set drama Topside, produced by Likely Story, K Period Media, Level Forward and Red Crown Productions.

Husband-and-wife team Celine Held and Logan George wrote and directed the feature debut, about a five year-old girl and her mother who live under the streets of New York City and are forced to go above ground when they are evicted by police.

Topside shot recently in New York City and Rochester, New York, and is being produced by Anthony Bregman and Peter Cron of Likely Story,...

ZEE5, India’s largest and most comprehensive digital entertainment platform for language content, today launched Lockdown – a path-breaking concept in collaboration with renowned rapper and composer Badshah. The show marks Badshah’s debut as a producer under his banner Afterhours, co-produced by One Digital Entertainment, for ZEE5.

Watch the trailer here:

Premiering 17th August, Lockdown launches with two episodes followed by an episode every week featuring two artists – a Bollywood sensation and a digital superstar. Over a 10-episode series, the show will feature Badshah – Jonita Gandhi; Kailash Kher – Raja Kumari; Harrdy Sandhu – Neha Bhasin; Raftaar – Thaikkudam Bridge; Monali Thakur – Mickey Singh; Benny Dayal – Bryden & Parth; Shirley Setia – Sachin & Jigar amongst others.

Each duo is locked together in one location for 24 hours to recreate two songs, record them and shoot music videos. Lockdown has been shot across scenic locations in India and promises a rendezvous with your favourite musicians – one that has never been seen before.

A new play by Beth Henley and residencies for playwrights J.T. Rogers and Sarah DeLappe are all on the docket at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2018 National Playwrights Conference.

The longrunning, annual developmental program, which has helped launch the careers of notable playwrights including August Wilson, Wendy Wasserstein and John Guare, has selected a total of eight new scripts to be showcased this summer in public readings that cap off a week of development for each play. “Lightning,” the latest by “Crimes of the Heart” playwright Henley, is on a list that also includes Jeremy O. Harris’ “Slave Play,” already set for a fall run at Off Broadway’s New York Theatre Workshop, and Cori Thomas’ “Lockdown,” scheduled to bow at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in spring 2019.

The conference’s two writers-in-residence, meanwhile, are tapped to spend time at the O’Neill campus in Waterford, Conn., developing their own new works.

The first trailer for the new remake (yes, a new one) of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is now online. No, go ahead and watch it before I give you my opinion:

This marvelous little bit of random crap, directed by John Luessenhop, is going to be in 3-D, believe it or not. That's very important.

Actually, I googled the director and he looks like a really nice guy, so I feel mean taking a shit all over his movie trailer. He really looks nice. His previous films have not been huge — 2010's Takers with Anakin Skywalker and something called Lockdown from 2000. This may be his first "big" movie. I wish him luck.

The title of the film leaves out the word "massacre" — not sure why — and stars Alexandra Daddario, Scott Eastwood, Tania Raymonde and Bill Moseley. Yay! Bill Moseley is pretty much amazing. But will this film be amazing? Only...

Today Deadline reported that Tania Raymonde (Lost) has been cast in a lead role of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D. Tania Raymonde will play the character Niki, a small town girl with attitude and is Heather’s best friend. She will join Bill Moseley cast as Drayton, Alexandra Daddario cast as Heather and Sue Rock cast as Arlene. The film is said to follow Heather, Niki and a group of friends traveling to Texas to collect Heather’s inheritance. During their trip they find out that Leatherface is Heathers cousin. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D is directed by John Luessenhop (Takers, Lockdown) the screenplay was is written by Adam Marcus (Jason Goes to Hell).

Sue Rock (Varsity Blues) will be playing the role of Arlene in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D according to IMDb. She will join Bill Moseley (Devil’s Rejects) cast as Drayton and Alexandra Daddario (Hall Pass) whom was cast as Heather. The film will be in theaters October 5, 2012. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D is directed by John Luessenhop (Takers, Lockdown) the screenplay was is written by Adam Marcus (Jason Goes to Hell). The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D will be a direct sequel to the classic 1974 film by Tobe Hooper. The film is said to follow Heather and a group of...

Leatherface is back from the dead again! Variety is reporting that Lionsgate has schedule a release date of October 5th, 2012 for the upcoming horror remake/reboot The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D. The project has been around for a little while and production is already underway. The film is basically a direct sequel to Tobe Hooper's classic 1974 film, but of course will be in 3D and, as producer Carl Mazzocone explains, they're trying to make it "as horrifying as the original, in 3D." John Luessenhop (of Lockdown, Takers) is directing and the only cast so far is Bill Moseley, a fan fave from Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. According to some recent updates, this Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D will follow the character, Heather, who along with her friends, travels to Texas in order to collect an inheritance, but apparently finds out she's related to Leatherface. Lionsgate just picked up distribution rights...

Some early production details are coming in on another Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, titled Leatherface 3D. Early crew details state that John Luessenhop (Takers) will direct (Horror) and actor Bill Moseley has been cast to play the part of Drayton, a member of the notorious cannibal family the Sawyers. A distributor has already been found for this title - Lionsgate and Leatherface 3D will begin with vigilante or mob justice. Those around the Sawyer home find the source of several murders around their hometown and they decide to string the culprits up for a hanging That might be a bad idea, when you are dealing with a chainsaw wielding psychopath! Have a look at an early synopsis for the film, courtesy of Horror-Movies.ca.

The synopsis for Leatherface 3D:

"The new film, set today, will see the authorities and some angry townspeople ambushing the Sawyer home -- where Jeb Stuart...

Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Tuesday, May 15th, 2011

This special Sunday addendum features a handful of new double feature releases…

Children Of The Corn V: Fields Of Terror / Children Of The Corn 666: Isaac’S Return From Dusk Till Dawn / From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers / Halloween: H2O Hellraiser: Bloodline / Hellraiser IV: Inferno My Bosses Daughter / Duplex Supercop / Twin Dragons The Yards / The Lookout Tuesday, May 17th, 2011 Eddie Murphy stars in the cop comedy Beverly Hills Cop (1984) Will Canon directs the intense frat drama Brotherhood (2010) John Wayne stars in The Comancheros: 50th Anniversary Edition (1961) Kat Dennings stars in Daydream Nation (2010) Dario Argento directs Deep Red (1975) Henri-Georges Clouzot’s suspenseful masterpiece Diabolique: Criterion Collection (1954) Kevin Bacon & Djimon Hounsou star in Elephant White (2011) Dragon Dynasty presents The Five Deadly Venoms (1978) Paul Newman & Jackie Gleason star in...

The first Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, released in 1974, is regarded as a classic of the horror genre. The remake, released in 2003 by Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes studio, has a 36% Rotten Tomatoes rating; the sequel, released in 2006, sits at 12%. Since they were apparently never told to leave well enough alone, though, Platinum Dunes is planning another sequel, and may have found a director bold enough to take it on. According to Bloody Disgusting, John Luessenhop is in talks to direct Leatherface 3D, which would in fact be another sequel to the 2003 remake, but would pick up immediately where the original 70s film left off. Confused yet? Yeah, me too. Luessenhop last made 2010's heist drama Takers, and his last directorial credit before that was 2000's Lockdown; I can't be the only one now very curious about how he spent the intervening 10 years. According to another story at Bloody Disgusting Kirsten Elms...

Bloody-Disgusting has learned that John Luessenhop is in talks with Lionsgate to direct "Leatherface 3D," a sequel to the 2003 "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake. Debra Sullivan (Conspiracy) and Adam Marcus (Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday) have recently turned in their rewrites of Stephen Susco's (Red, The Grudge) script. The story will pick up immediately where Tobe Hooper's original left off before flashing forward 35 years. Luessenhop doesn't have the biggest resume. His only films have been "Takers," starring Matt Dillon and Hayden Christensen, and "Lockdown," starring Master P.

This is a featurette from Takers. Directed by John Luessenhop (Lockdown), Takers stars Matt Dillon (Crash, There’s Something About Mary), Paul Walker (The Fast and the Furious, The Death and Life of Bobby Z), Idris Elba (“The Wire,” RocknRolla, Obsessed), Jay Hernandez (Lakeview Terrace, Nothing Like the Holidays), Michael Ealy (Miracle at St. Anna, Seven Pounds), Tip “T.I.” Harris (American Gangster, Atl), with Chris Brown (Stomp The Yard, This Christmas), and Hayden Christensen (Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith). A group of high-living young criminals bankroll their extravagant lifestyle with a series of painstakingly planned bank robberies while a dedicated police officer makes it his personal mission to stop them in the taut, edge-of your seat crime thriller Takers.

Summer's last couple box office sessions often produce solid results for niche pics, and the latest frame has proven to be a textbook case.

Lionsgate's horror pic "The Last Exorcism" bowed at No. 1 in the domestic rankings with more than half of its estimated $21.3 million collected from Latino patrons, while closely behind, Sony Screen Gems' crime thriller "Takers" took the weekend silver medal with a $21 million debut built on core urban support. But the niche riches at the top of the season's penultimate session contrasted sharply with a lackluster tally by winter blockbuster "Avatar," which Fox and James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment returned to theaters for a delayed victory lap.

A 171-minute, 3D-only "special edition" of "Avatar" offered in 812 locations rung up $4 million, including $1.6 million from Imax auditoriums, to push the scifi epic's record cumulative boxoffice to $753.8 million domestically. Though its weekend results were less than eye-popping, the...

Takers

Directed by: John Luessenhop

Cast: Matt Dillon, Hayden Christensen, Idris Elba, Paul Walker, T.I., Chris Brown, Zoe Saldana

Running Time: 1 hr 47 mins

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: August 27, 2010

Plot: A group of bank robbers decide to rush their next job for a potential $20 million pay out, but a detective (Dillon) is hot on their trail.

Who’S It For? You must love at least two of the actors in this film in order to get attached to it. That’s the requirement. It’s a typical cops, robbers and “one big job” story.

Expectations: Luessenhop directed Lockdown in 2000. Remember that movie? No, not Rundown with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson … Lockdown. I’m not sure what Luessenhop has been doing since then, but it didn’t instill a lot of faith going into this one.

Scorecard (0-10)

Actors:

Matt Dillon as Jack Welles: Something is fishy, and it’s up to...

Summer's penultimate boxoffice session features an eclectic mix of wide openers big and small.

Sony/Screen Gems' heist thriller "Takers" should fetch well into the teen millions in its debut and thus is a candidate to top the domestic rankings if it can build on core urban support for cast members Chris Brown, Idris Elba and Zoe Saldana. Young girls should carry Lionsgate's horror pic "The Last Exorcism" into a similar range through Sunday.

But there's also a $2 billion-plus gorilla in the room this weekend: a 3D-only special edition of James Cameron's all-time boxoffice champ "Avatar." (Hello again, Ms. Saldana.)

Fox's rerelease of the winter blockbuster -- in about 810 3D locations, including 125 Imax specialty venues -- should fetch at least high-single-digit millions during its first frame. Most of the Imax venues handling the special edition will play the pic for two weeks only.

"Exhibition has embraced this release,...

A new trailer has been released for writer-director John Luessenhop's (Lockdown) new movie, Takers (formerly Bone Deep). The "Takers" are a highly-skilled team of criminals (played by Idris Elba, Paul Walker, Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen and Michael Ealy) who specialize in precision bank robberies, employing a combination of brute force, fire power and high-tech know-how to get the job done quickly and efficiently. When their former leader (Clifford "T.I." J. Harris) gets out of prison, the crew immediately goes to work on one very special job, trying desperately to stay one step ahead of a determined detective (Matt Dillon).

Next Showing: Takers opens August 27

Link | Posted 8/11/2010 by BrentJS

Takers...

Screen Gems has released two new clips from its upcoming heist movie, Takers (formerly Bone Deep). Written and directed by John Luessenhop (Lockdown), the movie follows a highly organized team of bank robbers (Idris Elba, Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen, Chris Brown, T.I. and Michael Ealy) as they attempt to pull off one final score and evade the determined detective (Matt Dillon) who is hot on their trail.

Next Showing: Takers opens August 27

Link | Posted 8/6/2010 by BrentJS

Takers...

A new trailer for the upcoming heist film Takers has hit the web this week, and although this is the second or third trailer to be released for the film, it's the first one I've gotten around to posting. Why? Because I have absolutely no interest in this film. I'm not sure what it is, but something about Takers just seems to sum up the entire crop of bland blockbusters coming out this summer. It feels like the kind of thing that would normally get released in January or February, but with so little competition it has managed to become a major August release. It's hard to shake The Losers vibe that the trailers are giving off since it stars Idris Elba and Zoe Saldana, but this also looks like a lot less fun. Other cast members include Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Jay Hernandez, Tip "T.I." Harris and Chris Brown of all people.

Screen Gems has released new international trailer for crime thriller “Takers“

The plot finds a bunch of notorious criminals who continue to baffle police by pulling off perfectly executed bank robberies. However, when they attempt to pull off “one last job” with more money at stake than ever before, the crew may find their plans interrupted by a hardened detective (Dillon) who is hell-bent on solving the case.

The film, directed by John Luessenhop (Lockdown), stars Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Jay Hernandez, Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris, Michael Ealy, Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen, Steve Harris, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Zoe Saldana, Johnathon Schaech and Gideon Emery.

“Takers” is scheduled to hit U.S. cinemas on May 14, 2010.

Take a look at the trailer below and don’t forget to give us your thoughts in the comments section…...

St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold

Opens: 2010

Cast: Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, David Tennant, Gemma Arterton, Talulah Riley

Director: Oliver Parker, Barnaby Thompson

Summary: A rollercoaster-style treasure hunt for the legendary Fritton’s Gold ensues as the feisty and ever-resourceful schoolgirls of St Trinian’s face their most fearsome establishment rivals yet - the villainous Pomfrey and his sidekicks from the women-hating secret society known as AD1.

Analysis: While it didn't travel much beyond the UK, 2007's reboot of the "St Trinian's" franchise nearly doubled its £7 million production budget in sales in the UK alone - making it one of the top grossing independent British films of the past decade. Reviews were decidedly mixed but generally pretty weak at the time, so the greenlighting of a sequel surprised quite a few.

Despite a critical drubbing, the core audience of young British teenage girls seemed to be satisfied by...

Shanghai

Opens: 2010

Cast: John Cusack, Gong Li, Ken Watanabe, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chow Yun-Fat

Director: Mikael Hafstrom

Summary: In the months leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, an American man arrives in Shanghai to find his friend recently murdered. In investigating his friend's death, he stumbles upon a secret the United States government has been keeping and falls in love in the process.

Analysis: After being granted permission to shoot in the Chinese city, the $10 million production found its permit quickly being revoked by the Government who expressed concerns about the script. The result is Bangkok and the United Kingdom standing in for the real Shanghai which seems kind of against the entire point.

Cusack himself has emphatically endorsed the project in interviews, calling it a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity", but being stuck at the cash-strapped Weinstein Company means that its release plans are unsure beyond a vague promise of a limited bow around Easter.

Looks like fans of dudes running around, robbing banks, and not having necks (if we’re taking the film’s poster literally) will just have to wait to get their fix. Takers, the latest from director John Luessenhop (Lockdown), has just been moved from a February 26, 2010 release date to a May 14, 2010 date, according to the fine PR people over at Moroch Entertainment.

Read more on Takers release date change…...

The first trailer, poster and pics for the upcoming crime thriller “Takers” have appeared online.

” Takers” synopsis: Notorious group of criminals continue to baffle police by pulling off perfectly executed bank robberies. They are in and out like clockwork, leaving no evidence behind and laying low in between heists. But when they attempt to pull off one last job with more money at stake than ever before, the crew may find their plans interrupted by a hardened detective (Matt Dillon) who is hell-bent on solving the case.

The film, directed by John Luessenhop (Lockdown), stars Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Jay Hernandez, Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris, Michael Ealy, Chris Brown, Hayden Christensen, Steve Harris, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Zoe Saldana, Johnathon Schaech and Gideon Emery.

Takers poster

“Takers” is scheduled to hit U.S. cinemas on February 19, 2010. [source: Coming Soon]...

The official trailer for the upcoming heist film "Takers," starring Idris Elba, Paul Walker, Ti, Hayden Christensen, Michael Ealy, Matt Dillon and Chris Brown, has appeared online. Check it out below. Plot: A notorious group of criminals continue to baffle police by pulling off perfectly executed bank robberies. They are in and out like clockwork, leaving no evidence behind and laying low in between heists. But when they attempt to pull off one last job with more money at stake than ever before, the crew may find their plans interrupted by a hardened detective who is hell-bent on solving the case. "Takers" is directed by John Luessenhop (Lockdown) and is scheduled to hit theaters on February 19th, 2010. Trailer: If you cannot see the player, click here.

The first trailer for the upcoming crime flick Takers has been released online. Directed by John Luessenhop (Lockdown), Takers stars Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Jay Hernandez, Tip "T.I." Harris, Michael Ealy, Chris Brown and Hayden Christensen. The folks over at Coming Soon also have the new poster and you can check it out here. The film opens February 19 and revolves around a group of criminals who find their $20 million plan interrupted by a hard-boiled detective. Luessenhop wrote the film with Peter Allen, Gabriel Casseus and Avery Duff.

The poster for the upcoming heist film "Takers," starring Idris Elba, Paul Walker, Ti, Hayden Christensen, Michael Ealy, Matt Dillon and tough-guy Chris Brown, has appeared online. Check it out below. Plot: A notorious group of criminals continue to baffle police by pulling off perfectly executed bank robberies. They are in and out like clockwork, leaving no evidence behind and laying low in between heists. But when they attempt to pull off one last job with more money at stake than ever before, the crew may find their plans interrupted by a hardened detective who is hell-bent on solving the case. "Takers" is directed by John Luessenhop (Lockdown) and is scheduled to hit theaters on February 19th, 2010. Poster: (click to enlarge)...

Just call him the Music Man. Award-winning music video director Bryan Barber, who is in preproduction on a musical feature with OutKast's Andre 3000 and Big Boi for HBO, is pacting with Regency Enterprises to develop and direct another musical for the big screen. This one will find him helming a hip-hop musical inspired by what's described as a classic story, though the exact story and the details of the updated take for the multicultural project are being kept under wraps. It is known that Barber will team with music multihyphenate Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds on the soundtrack, while Edmonds' wife, Tracey, and her Edmonds Entertainment will produce. Scribe Preston Whitmore (Civil Brand, Lockdown) has been tapped to handle writing duties. At Regency, the project was brought together by Peter Cramer for production topper Sanford Panitch. The project is the first of its kind for Regency, which hasn't delved into the musical genre, sticking mostly to drama (Man on Fire), action (Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Elektra) and comedy (The Onion Movie).