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Sony Pictures Classics
The SPC presentation started with I Swear about a young British man suffering Tourette’s. From Saudi Arabia comes Haifaa al-Mansour’s Unidentified, a mystery about a woman who wants to investigate the death of a young women when the authorities seem to have no interest.
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass might have the wackiest premise the whole of CinemaCon. A young woman has to sleep with actor Jon Hamm to save her relationship. Bedford Park is a love story about Audrey struggling between Korean family traditions and her American identity. In the trailer, she is laying in bed with a young man and tells a story about her parents that revealed almost nothing about the story.
The trailer for Pedro Almodovar’s Bitter Christmas also revealed little about story and simply showed characters in different setting. Jon Turturro stars in The Only Living Pickpocket in New York. The clip was compelling as an aging pickpocket offers advice to a young man he sees stealing on the subway. Set in Tokyo’s ballroom dance scene, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! tells of a young woman attracted to her dance instructor.
SPC also announced they would be re-releasing director-approved new prints of both Trainspotting and Piano, and Tom McCarthy is in production on a new film, although no title given. Based on Nathaniel Rich’s book Losing Earth, the cast includes Paul Rudd, Amy Ryan, Paul Giamatti, John Turturro, and Tatiana Maslany.
Studiocanal
After a brief mention of Pressure, a D-Day thriller starring Brendan Fraser as General Dwight D. Eisenhower out May 29, the presentation focused on family films. It was revealed that Paddington 4 is in development and there are plans for a new animated feature to expand the franchise. There is going to be a Pippi Longstocking reboot, a film based on the Mr. Men books, and the audience got to see a funny clip of Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom where the farm animals barricade themselves in house as the beast, a very hair fella, approaches and enters. Looks like a story where the creature is misunderstood.
The company is going to re-release Terminator 2 for its 35th anniversary, reinvent Cliffhanger starring Lilly James, and re-imagine Escape from NY, The Howling, and Les Miserables, the last of which is set to hit theaters in the autumn.
There were teasers for Eli Roth’s Ice Cream Man (Aug. 7), a creepy tale where kids start murdering people after having ice cream from a mysterious new truck; Everybody Wants to F*ck Me, the working title of a dark comedy thriller about online dating starring Taron Egerton as a man who appears irresistible to every woman; and Elsinore, a touching true story about actor (Andrew Scott) set to play Hamlet after being diagnosed with AIDS.
Announcements were made for The Mannequin starring Melissa Leo, Violette based on Fresh Water for Flowers, The Custom of the Country based on Edith Wharton’s novel stars Sydney Sweeny. Justine Triet’s next film is called Fonda, and The Midnight Library based on Matt Haig’s novel is in development
Danny Boyle introduced a clip from Ink 2027 about the formation of British tabloid The Sun by journalist Larry Lamb and Australian businessman Rupert Murdoch (Guy Pearce) in 1969 and how they changed the world. The clip showed their first meeting in a restaurant.
