Hearts and wallets opened on Day 4 of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, as the anticipated Amy Winehouse documentary elicited big emotions and a flurry of films saw their international rights snatched up.
“Amy,” from filmmaker Asif Kapadia, is exactly the perils-of-drugs-and-fame documentary you’d expect about the British singer who burned hot and faded fast. What’s unique, as reaction would have it, is the artful presentation of her demise — and how no enabler, user or onlooker gets away without being held accountable.
About her now-doting father and keeper of her estate, TheWrap’s awards editor Steve Pond wrote, “to be sure, Mitch Winehouse comes across badly in the film – but then, so do many of the people in Winehouse’s life… few people emerge from the film unscathed.”
“That’s it. I’m calling it: I hereby declare Asif Kapadia to be this year’s King of #Cannes,” said Peter Bradshaw, film critic for UK’s Guardian newspaper.
“Amy Winehouse being played on the Lumiere red carpet PA and now I’m getting all choked up again. #Cannes,” one producer tweeted.
“Grab a tissue – your eyeliner will be running from the new Amy Winehouse documentary,” wrote i-D magazine.
That’s it. I’m calling it: I hereby declare Asif Kapadia to be this year’s King of #Cannes http://t.co/OzPMohNSEY
— Peter Bradshaw (@PeterBradshaw1) May 16, 2015
Amy Winehouse being played on the Lumiere red carpet PA and now I’m getting all choked up again. #Cannes — Ryland Aldrich (@RylandAldrich) May 16, 2015
Other buzzworthy Cannes Day 4 action includes:
From ‘Hunger Games’ Panem to the Wild West
Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson’s post-“Hunger Games” western “By Way of Helena” is headed to Lionsgate, an individual close to the talks told TheWrap.
The film, which is already complete, follows a ranger investigating strange deaths in a small town. Directed by Kieran-Darcy Smith, no release date has been set.
Emma Stone Shows for Woody Allen, Standing Ovations Ensue
While Woody Allen amused the media at a press conference for “Irrational Man” on Friday, it took his latest muse to inspire audiences to their feet. Emma Stone landed in Cannes to promote Allen’s latest, in which she stars with Joaquin Phoenix.
Walking the Grand Palais’ red carpet with her director — and Parker Posey, who rocked a turban and a cut-out dress like a boss — the duo got a standing ovation the lasted over two minutes following the film’s screening. The audience was clearly moved. So was Twitter.
“If you’d told me when I woke up that Gus would get booed and Woody would get 2 min. standing ovation, I’d have slapped you, gone back to bed,” wrote @thefilmgoer.
If you’d told me when I woke up that Gus would get booed and Woody would get 2 min. standing ovation, I’d have slapped you, gone back to bed
— Matt Brennan (@thefilmgoer) May 15, 2015
Cannes Notable Deals
Lasse Hallstrom has tapped Will Ferrell as his next leading man. The duo are bringing “Tom’s Dad” to the Cannes Film Market from producers Joni Levin and Keith Clark of Point Blank Productions and Infinitum Nihil, which counts Johnny Depp as a co-founder.
Ferrell will portray a Nevada nightclub performer, hoping to make it big with an animal-centered act. His estranged 12-year-old son is dropped into his lap while mom takes a three-week vacation, and the pair rekindle their bond. UTA is handling the North American distribution rights. “Terminator Salvation”‘s Peter D. Graves will executive produce.
The Weinstein Company has acquired a transgender drama starring Elle Fanning, “Three Generations,” at the Cannes Film Festival. The film, directed by Gaby Dellal, stars Fanning as a young woman transitioning to male. Naomi Watts plays her mother, and Susan Sarandon plays her grandmother, who will play a lesbian.
Jamie Foxx has joined the cast of “Blink,’ from director Noam Murro of “300: Rise Of An Empire.” Atlas Entertainment will shoot the Black List script, written by Hernany Perla, this fall. Foxx will play a hospital caregiver nursing a mysterious victim. As the two become closer, the caregiver reveals ulterior motives of his own.
Atlas’ William Green and Aaron Ginsburg will produce, with Jake Kurily serving on board as executive producer. Highland Film Group is handling international sales at the Cannes Film Festival.
Alchemy is zeroing in on Argentinian director Gaspar Noe’s “Love,” a steamy Cannes pick for the Midnight Screening series, TheWrap has learned. A deal is coming together, an individual close to the talks said. Following the relationship of two girls and a boy per the vague synopsis, “Love” is generating buzz on the Croisette for its sexual content — suggested not-so-subtly by the film’s posters. One features three tongues enthusiastically exploring each other, while the other is an extreme close up of a young woman’s underwear from behind.
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