Ralph Fiennes: Last News

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Assemble Media, a literary incubator which concurrently develops its book projects for film and TV adaptation, has sold five new titles to major publishers. Founded by by director and producer Jack Heller, the round of sales includes “Eat Post Like” (to Avon, division of HarperCollins), “Promposal” (to Joy Revolution, an imprint of Delacorte at Penguin Random House), “The Wayside,” “The Light Between Sirens,” and “The Girls From Hush Cabin” (to Blackstone Publishing).  All of Assemble’s intellectual property and book concepts are developed in-house then packaged with writers and shopped to publishers. Heller’s team includes Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen and Steven Salpeter, president of literary and IP development.“The original concepts that come to life from the collaboration of our Assemble team and brilliant writers truly showcase the ingenuity and boldness of those behind the scenes,” said Heller. “We have been extremely lucky to work alongside inspiring individuals and  love watching these projects develop.”The company has served as producers on films like Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain. They also recently sold “Instafamous” to MGM and Orion TV, an original Assemble Media concept written by Alexis Nedd. It was included in the first issue of their Blackstone-published short story publication Assemble Artifacts. Read a brief synopsis of each project: “Eat Post Like” by Emily Arden Wells: Pitched as “Emily in Paris” meets “Eat Pray Love,” the story follows a woman who discovers her newly deceased-boyfriend is behind one of the most popular food critic social media accounts. She decides to take his place on a tour around the world to discover great meals and herself.

Ashlee Simpson was on hand to support her husband Evan Ross at the Los Angeles premiere of his new zombie comedy on WednesdayThe Loneliest Boy In The World was screened at the 2022 Screamfest LA Film Festival two days before its release this Friday.And Ashlee, the 38-year-old little sister of singing star Jessica Simpson, was on hand at the event to help her husband celebrate his new release. Date night: Ashlee Simpson was on hand to support her husband Evan Ross at the Los Angeles premiere of his new zombie comedy on WednesdayShe cut a stylish figure in a fashionably oversized black blazer thrown over a top that plunged to betray just a trace of cleavage.Ashlee brought back the 1970s by rocking a saucy pair of black leather trousers that flared out below the knee in an added retro flourish.

The late Alan Rickman worried 'Harry Potter' fans would "burn" his apartment building "to the ground". The screen legend portrayed Death Eater Severus Snape - who was revealed in the final movies to have been secretly working to defend the boy wizard - in the movie series and was convinced avid fans would be out for revenge if they found out he had a New York flat in the same building as his friend and co-star Ralph Fiennes, who played the evil Lord Voldemort. Alan's 'Dogma' director, Kevin Smith, revealed to The Guardian newspaper: "One of my favourite memories is when he came to one of my shows at the O2 in London and we drove back to town together.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The 17th annual Rome Film Festival will fete James Ivory with a career honor, a mini retrospective and the Italian launch of the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s personal new documentary “A Cooler Climate.” Ivory is expected in Rome to receive the award and present the doc about his life as a traveler that takes its cue from boxes of film the director shot during a life-changing trip to Afghanistan in 1960. The film premieres beforehand at the New York Film Festival. Rome’s Ivory mini-retrospective will comprise his films “Maurice”; “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge,” starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward; “The Remains of the Day”; and “A Room With a View.”

EXCLUSIVE: HBO’s hit comedy-drama series The White Lotus recently finished filming its second season at Italy’s Lumina Studios to the north of Rome.

died in 2021 eight months after she was diagnosed with lung cancer. The couple had been together for 38 years and shared one daughter, Olivia Grant, as well as Washington’s son, Tom Washington, from a previous relationship. Washington was a respected voice coach and worked with the likes of Cate Blanchett and Ralph Fiennes in her career, being described by Liv Tyler as ‘just the best, hands down’.

Richard E Grant has said that his friends have been trying to set him up with new women, but he is not ready after the death of his wife last year. Washington, a respected vocal coach, died from lung cancer in September 2021. The couple had been together for 38 years.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic If you’re someone who considers themself a foodie (and I totally am), chances are there was a moment in the last few years when you had The Awakening. It may have been when the waiter was describing the veal marrow with beat foam served with baby lettuces from New Zealand. It may have been when you were eating the red snapper that was cooked halfway through, like a rare steak, and you thought, “I love sushi, I love cooked fish, but I’m not sure this is really the best of both worlds.” It may have been when you saw the bill. Whatever the trigger, that was the moment you looked up from your plate and realized that high-end foodie culture has become a serious annoyance. It’s gotten too fussy, too pricey, too full of itself, too not filling (of yourself), too avant-garde and conceptual, too tied to The Salvation of the Planet, too much of an ordeal. Did I mention too pricey? It used to be that if you wanted to ridicule culinary mania, you mocked someone like Guy Fieri. But he has risen from the ashes of infamy to a kind of born-again respectability (and yes, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” was always a great show). Now, if you want to ridicule culinary mania, the most natural targets are restaurants like The French Laundry in Napa Valley or Bros’ in Southern Italy, places where the 12-course “tasting menu” can inspire you to think, as one blogger put it, that “there was nothing even close to an actual meal served.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The ongoing overhaul of Rome’s Cinecittà Studios is getting traction thanks to booming demand from international productions just as the number of sound stages increase, prompting realistic prospects of turning a profit by end of 2022, which is a year earlier than planned. Cinecittà has been undergoing a radical revamp devised by managing director Nicola Maccanico since June 2021, when European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Italian premier Mario Draghi (pictured above at Cinecittà) jointly visited the iconic studio lot and held a press conference in its vast Studio 5 — known as the late, great filmmaker Federico Fellini’s second home — to announce a €300 million ($300 million) investment to meet the growing international demand for studio space,

Ed Meza @edmezavar Director Edward Berger and producer Malte Grunert are set to follow up their new adaption of Erich Maria Remarque’s harrowing war novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” with a much more upbeat work, a remake of the rollicking 1967 French-Italian pic “The Last Adventure,” which starred Alain Delon, Lino Ventura and Joanna Shimkus. Grunert and Berger had been working on the remake and were already in development when “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which makes its world premiere at the Toronto fest Sept. 12, came along. They are now planning to return to the project after Berger finishes his next pic, the Vatican-set thriller “Conclave,” based on the Robert Harris novel and set to star Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini. Berger goes into prep on “Conclave” in October in Rome, with production scheduled to start in January.

Ralph Fiennes and Judith Light are stepping out for the premiere of their new movie.

A group of wealthy people arrive on a mysterious island and receive the meal of a lifetime in Mark Mylod’s psychological thriller The Menu. Written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, the film stars Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor Joy. 

A group of wealthy people arrive on a mysterious island and receive the meal of a lifetime in Mark Maylod’s psychological thriller The Menu. Written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, the film stars Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor Joy. 

William Earl One of the biggest crowdpleasers of the Toronto International Film Festival has arrived. “The Menu,” a high-class horror comedy written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy and directed by Mark Mylod, held its rollicking world premiere at the Royal Alexandra Theatre on Saturday. Mylod, the in-demand TV director who has helmed key episodes of “Game of Thrones,” “Shameless” and “Succession,” leaned on the satirical world of the latter series in this black comedy lampooning fine dining, foodie culture and the ultra-rich. Anya Taylor-Joy continues her scene-stealing career as Margot, a cuisine novice who agrees to join obnoxious Tyler (Nicholas Hoult, as infuriating and pathetic as he is on “The Great”) at a hyper-expensive, once-in-a-lifetime meal prepared by the intimidating and legendary Chef Slowik (a devilish Ralph Fiennes) at his private island restaurant. Although the menu is rumored to be legendary, there is, of course, more in store for the diners than meets the eye.

Wilson Chapman editor In his Toronto International Film Festival premiere “The Menu,” Ralph Fiennes plays Slowik, a celebrity chef who runs an exclusive restaurant that caters to the ultra-rich. And while the darkly comic horror film eventually reveals some macabre twists regarding what’s on Slowik’s menu, Fiennes says he got into the character via more mundane inspirations. “One of the great pleasures was watching ‘Chef’s Table’ on Netflix” Fiennes said at the Variety Studio presented by King’s Hawaiian at TIFF, referring to the documentary series about international chefs. “I love that series, every single character, every single chef is so brilliantly portrayed. They’re all so different. So that was very rewarding.”

Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast opposite Jodie Comer in upcoming survival thriller film The End We Start From.Directed by Mahalia Belo (Requiem, The Long Song) and based on the novel by Megan Hunter, The End We Start From follows a young family who are torn apart by devastating floods in the city of London.A synopsis reads: “When an environmental crisis sees London submerged by flood waters, a young family is torn apart in the chaos. As a woman and her newborn try to find their way home, the profound novelty of motherhood is brought into sharp focus in this dystopian portrayal of family survival and hope.”Alongside Cumberbatch and Comer, the film stars Mark Strong, Katherine Waterston, Joel Fry, Gina McKee and Nina Sosanya.The Killing Eve actor also shared a first look at the project on Instagram.

K.J. Yossman Banijay Rights has set a new returning drama series titled “Runners” with writer John Preston (pictured above, left) and exec producer Ellie Wood (pictured above, right) of Clearwood Films, the team behind “Stonehouse” and “The Dig.” “Runners” tells the story of the world’s first police force, the Bow Street Runners, who were formed in the 1740s in London, which at the time was facing a colossal crime wave. The Chief Magistrate of London at the time, Heny Fielding (who also happened to be a celebrated novelist), decided to take on this criminal underworld by assembling a group of police.“This extraordinary story will tell of how a group of just six police officers, none with any training or experience, set about imposing law and order on a completely lawless society and embarked on solving one of the strangest cases of its time – one with momentous political and social ramifications,” reads the logline.

EXCLUSIVE: Filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name) hopes to revive his dream project to make a mammoth 10-episode television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited.

Variety Staff Follow Us on Twitter Variety will return to the Toronto Film Festival this year with its annual interview studio, in partnership with King’s Hawaiian. Running from Sept. 9 to Sept. 12, the Variety Studio presented by King’s Hawaiian will include interviews with cast members and directors from the top movies premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. Talent includes Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton (“The Son”); Mark Mylod, Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Menu”); Gina Prince-Bythewood, Viola Davis, John Boyega, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim and Cathy Schulman (“The Woman King”); Rian Johnson, Daniel Craig, Janelle Monáe, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr. and Madelyn Cline (“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”); Darren Aronofsky, Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins and Sam Hunter (“The Whale”); Peter Farrelly, Zac Efron and Ruby Serkis (“The Greatest Beer Run Ever”); Tyler Perry, Solea Pfeiffer and Joshua Boone (“A Jazzman’s Blues”); and Lila Neugebauer, Jennifer Lawrence and Justine Polsky (“Causeway”). Talent and creators from the following projects will also participate in the studio: “Inspection,” “The Fabelmans,” “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” “Bros,” “On the Come Up,” “The Good Nurse,” “The Eternal Daughter,” “Sanctuary,” “Empire of Light,” “Devotion” and “Catherine Called Birdy.”

Manori Ravindran International Editor Cohen Media Group has acquired producer Jeremy Thomas’ prestigious international sales company HanWay Films in a major deal. Cohen Media Group owns Landmark Theatres in the U.S. and British distributor-exhibitor Curzon. HanWay Films was founded by “The Last Emperor” producer Thomas and is co-owned with his partner Peter Watson. Under the deal, HanWay Films will continue to be branded as an independent label selling theatrical titles to its distribution partners worldwide. It’s still unclear how much an exclusive tie-in there will be to parent company-owned Curzon.

Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One), Nicholas Hoult (The Menu), Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) and Cecily Strong (Saturday Night Live) have signed on to star alongside Chris Pratt and Samuel L. Jackson in Alcon Entertainment’s animated feature adaptation of Garfield.