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Sing Sing, the powerful, poignant prison drama starring Colman Domingo, opens NY/LA, with indie love stories Dandelion and Touch debuting on hundreds of screens as distributors continue to tinker with release patterns. Martin Scorsese, eloquent as always, narrates (and executive produced) Made In England: The Films of Powell And Pressburger. Sorry/Not Sorry takes on comedian Louis C.K.
It’s a mixed specialty market still below pre-Covid levels but buoyed recently by hits like Thelma and hopeful that cinema goers are starting to sort out what to see, when and where.
“I think you’re starting to see who’s really theatrical and who isn’t. The lines are becoming clearer. Like, ‘Okay, I’m going to see this, Inside Out 2, in a theater, and I’m going to see that at the Angelika, or wherever, it might be. But I’m going to see it in a theater,” says one distribution chief. “I think it’s becoming a lot clearer that movies are theatrical movies. And I think it took a little time for people to figure that out.”
There are a lot of good films out there, which is something to celebrate.
Sing Sing from A24 is seeing sold out Q&A’s with cast and crew hosted by John Legend and Radha Blank. The film by Greg Kwedar is based on the true story of John “Divine G” Whitfield (Domingo). Imprisoned at Sing Sing Correctional Facility for a crime he didn’t commit, he finds purpose through acting in a theater group with other incarcerated men, including a wary newcomer (Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin).
The program, Rehabilition Through the Arts, was launched at Sing Sing in 1996 and is now a comprehensive arts program in multiple prisons in New York State and a world leader in arts-in-prison programming. A24 held a series of screenings at the prison.
Sing Sing premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, see Deadline’s review, and SXSW where it won the Audience Award. Penned by screenwriters Kwedar and Clint Bentley. With Paul Raci, Maclin, Sean San Jose. It’s at a 96% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Black Bear fully financed and executive produced
IFC Films opens SXSW-premiering indie music drama Dandelion, written-directed by Nicole Riegel and starring KiKi Layne as struggling Cincinnati singer-songwriter in a downward spiral. On 446 screens. Layne as Dandelion tries a last-ditch gig at a motorcycle rally in South Dakota where she meets Casey (Thomas Doherty), a guitarist who walked away from his dream long ago. Their whirlwind romance gives her a deeper appreciation of the artistic journey and discovering her authentic voice.
With Melanie Nicholls-King, Brady Stablein, Jack Stablein, Grace Kaiser. Music by Bryce Dessner and Aaron Dessner of the National.
From Focus Features, Touch, by acclaimed Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur (101 Reykjavík, The Sea, A Little Trip to Heaven, Contraband, 2 Guns, Everest, Beast) debuts in 315 locations nationwide. The R-rated romantic drama in the vein of Past Lives is told in multiple languages including Japanese, English, and Icelandic and based on the 2022 best-selling Icelandic novel of the same name by Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson.
Written by Kormákur and Ólafsson. Stars Egill Olafsson as an Icelandic widower on the edge of dementia — and with the world on the brink of Covid – who sets out to find his first love who disappeared 50 years ago in London, before his time runs out. It’s opened in some European markets via Universal with about $500k so far. At a critics 93% on RT.
Martin Scorsese narrates Made In England: The Films of Powell And Pressburger from Cohen Media Group, opening Friday at the Quad in NYC, adding LA’s Landmark Nuart July 26 with national rollout to follow. This is EP Scorsese’s personal journey through the films of the late Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, the visionary British filmmakers behind classics like The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus, Matter of Life and Death and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, offering an exploration of their genius and enduring influence on cinema. Directed by Emmy winner David Hinton. Premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, see Deadline review.
Greenwich Entertainment documentary Sorry/Not Sorry gives voice to women who were negatively impacted by Louis C.K.’s sexual misconduct. Directed by Caroline Suh and Cara Mones, it’s produced by the New York Times, which first detailed allegations against the comedian — which he subsequently acknowledged — in a 2017 article. In 2021, the comedian released a comedy film on his website entitled Sorry. Premiered at TIFF and opens NY/LA at the IFC Center and Laemmle Glendale.
Variance Films and LD Entertainment open Western coming-of-age National Anthem in LA, New York, San Francisco and Austin, expanding next week. The feature directorial debut of Luke Gilford played SXSW and TIFF last year and stars Charlie Plummer as Dylan, a soft-spoken 21-year-old construction worker who gets a job on a ranch and vibrant community of rodeo performers who openly explore their identities and sexuality. With Eve Lindley, Rene Rosado, Mason Alexander Park and Robyn Lively.
Sundance-premiering doc Skywalkers: A Love Story opens on 18 Imax screens from XYZ Films before hitting Netflix July 19. Co-directors Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina follow two daredevils Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus who have made a career out of scaling and performing death-defying acrobatics atop some of the world’s tallest buildings – all the while their passion for climbing quickly evolved into a passion for each other.
Magnolia Pictures presents historical action adventure The Convert by Lee Tamahori day and date on about 20 screens. Stars Guy Pearce as Thomas Munro, a newly arrived preacher in a colonial town in early 19th-century New Zealand who finds himself at the center of a long-standing battle between two Māori tribes. Written by Shane Danielsen and Tamahori. Premiered at TIFF, see Deadline Studio.
Protocol 7 from YowMedia and Abramorama adds LA with a weekend opening event at the Laemmle Royal. The film by Andy Wakefield (director of controversial doc Vaxxed: From Cover-up to Catastrophe) is the story of a small-town lawyer confronted with the reality of corporate fraud who joins a company whistleblower to hold a large pharmaceutical firm accountable for fraudulent test results behind a failing mumps vaccine. Stars Rachel Whittle, Matthew Marsden and Eric Roberts. Written by Wakefield and Terry Rossio.