Jerzy Skolimowski: Last News

Manori Ravindran International EditorChristoph Waltz will play Hollywood legend Billy Wilder in a new project from producer Jeremy Thomas.“Billy Wilder & Me” will be adapted by Christopher Hampton from Jonathan Coe’s book, with Stephen Frears directing. Billed as part coming-of-age story and part true-life portrait of Wilder, the film looks to capture “a heroic icon of Hollywood’s golden era for all cinema lovers.”Wilder’s directing credits include “Sunset Blvd.,” “The Apartment” and “The Seven Year Itch.”Here’s an official synopsis for the pic: In the summer of 1977, an innocent young woman begins working for famed director Billy Wilder and his screenwriter Iz Diamond on a Greek island during the filming of “Fedora.” When she follows Wilder to Germany to continue the shoot, she finds herself joining him on a journey of memory into the heart of his family history.

Christoph Waltz is to lead Stephen Frears and Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Billy Wilder & Me. 

Manori Ravindran International EditorCannes sensation “EO,” which tells the story of a donkey’s life, has been acquired for North America by Sideshow and Janus Films. The film is the latest collaboration for the U.S.

Reteaming after last year’s collaboration on Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Oscar-winning Drive My Car, Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights to veteran auteur Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO, which won the Jury Prize in Cannes this past weekend. A fall theatrical release is planned.

There’s always at least one. Just a few nights deep into this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the competition has thrown up its first wild, batshit, and occasionally beautiful curiosity.

It may be impossible for a human to truly imagine the mindset of a donkey, but veteran Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski for the most part does a very engaging job of imagining how a beast of burden sees and senses the world in EO.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticGive an animal a name, and it becomes a lot more difficult to send it to the glue factory. But people don’t stop using paste simply because they’ve made an equine friend. Named for the animal it follows from owner to owner, through various hardships and across national borders, “EO” is a damning polemic on our relationship to other intelligent species — as free labor, food and companions — as seen through the dewy, wide eyes of a donkey whom we come to adore.“EO’s” inspiration is obvious.

EXCLUSIVE: French distributor ARP Selection has just acquired Cannes Competition movie EO by Polish veteran Jerzy Skolimowski.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentGerman actor Oliver Masucci and French star Fanny Ardant have joined the cast of Roman Polanski’s new movie “The Palace,” which will surely be a subject of controversy at the Cannes Film Festival where distribution rights are being sold.The ensemble drama, which had already cast Mickey Rourke, will be headlined by Masucci, the German actor who appeared in “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” and the Netflix series “Dark,” and Ardant, the esteemed French star of “La Belle Epoque” and “8 Women.” Budgeted at €13 million ($13.9 million), the movie is currently shooting on location in Gstaad, Switzerland, and is being sold by Wild Bunch International, the powerhouse behind several movies competing at Cannes, notably Arnaud Desplechin’s “Brother and Sister,” Claire Denis’s “Stars at Noon” and the opening night film “Final Cut” from Michel Hazanavicius. The key crew includes Oscar-winning music composer Alexandre Desplat, along with Polanski’s regular cinematographer Pawel Edelman, who previously worked with Polanski on “An Officer and a Spy,” “The Pianist,” “Oliver Twist” and “The Ghost Writer,” as well as set designer Monica Sironi (“Volare”).“The Palace” is produced by Luca Barbareschi at Eliseo Entertainment company, and co-produced by CAB Productions in Switzerland and Lucky Bob in Poland.Penned by Polanski and Jerzy Skolimowski, the movie takes place at a palace in Gstaad on New Year’s Eve in 1999.

Roman Polanski is in production on new movie The Palace in Switzerland.

Crimes Of The Future, starring Lea Seydoux, Kristen Stewart and Viggo Mortensen. It takes place in the not-so-distant future where humankind has evolved and is “learning to adapt to its synthetic surroundings”.Other films in the running for the festival’s top prize include new outings from filmmakers Claire Denis, Kelly Reichardt, Arnaud Desplechin, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, James Gray and Hirokazu Kore-eda.Top Gun: Maverick and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic were previously announced for the festival, although they’ll be played out of competition.

Cult and controversial actor-director Vincent Gallo is returning to acting after a near decade-long absence from features.

Controversial filmmaker Roman Polanski is set to get behind the camera again on The Palace, a drama set on New Year’s Eve 1999 in a luxurious Swiss hotel where the lives of various guests intertwine. The project was revealed today by Paolo Del Brocco, the CEO of Italian outfit Rai Cinema, which will produce alongside Luca Barbareschi’s Eliseo Entertainment.