Sara Murphy: Last News

Matt Minton mminton@variety.com Following last week’s 20-second teaser that gave a brief look at Paul Thomas Anderson‘s highly anticipated new project, “One Battle After Another” now has an official trailer. This marks the first time that Leonardo DiCaprio has starred in an Anderson film. Alongside DiCaprio, the cast includes Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Sean Penn, Alana Haim, Benicio del Toro, Wood Harris, Shayna McHayle and Chase Infiniti.

Mubi is continuing its acquisition streak, picking up “The History of Sound,” the anticipated gay romance drama starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor. Focus Features and Universal Pictures International, meanwhile, have acquired international rights for the film. Directed by Oliver Hermanus (“Living,” “Moffie”), the feature finished production earlier this year.

Oscar-nominated producer Adam Somner, who was among the most in-demand first assistant directors in the business during the past few decades, died November 27 from anaplastic thyroid cancer. He was 57.

Haim singer, who previously made her acting debut in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2021 film Licorice Pizza, has started production on The Mastermind, an art heist drama starring Josh O’Connor and The Drama, which also stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.The former is set during the Vietnam War and the beginning of the women’s liberation movement in America, according to The Hollywood Reporter.The latter meanwhile, focuses on a couple, played by Zendaya and Pattinson, who in the days leading up to their wedding, end up in a crisis when unexpected revelations derail what one of them thought they knew of the other.Haim’s latest roles come after it was confirmed earlier this year that she is set reunite with Paul Thomas Anderson on his next movie alongside lead stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Regina Hall.Anderson has written the script and will produce with Sara Murphy and Adam Somner, both of whom worked with the director on Licorice Pizza.Reviewing Licorice Pizza, NME awarded the 2021 movie four stars and wrote: “Casting two people who’ve never been in a movie before – let alone ever acted professionally – as your leads is a pretty spicy move, but Paul Thomas Anderson has been making spicy moves for decades now.“Even younger than Licorice Pizza’s downright radiant Alana Haim (yes, that Alana Haim), when he broke through with his 1997 rollicking porno-comedy Boogie Nights, the somewhat more wholesome Licorice Pizza sees PTA and his reels of vintage 35mm film freewheeling through the very same glowing San Fernando Valley streets as stalked by Dirk Diggler and making fully-fledged stars out of both Haim and her dazzling co-star, Cooper Hoffman.”

Matt Reeves‘ The Batman 2 is no longer opening on Oct. 3, 2025 –a new launchpad for Comic Book movies– rather Oct. 2, 2026. We hear the new date is due to the aftermath of the dual strikes.

EXCLUSIVE: Fat City, the nascent production company set up by Licorice Pizza producer Sara Murphy and War Pony producer Ryan Zacarias, has a new director of development.

Licorice Pizza and If Beale Street Could Talk producer Sara Murphy arrives at TIFF this week with the intimate yet ambitious feature Mother, Couch, the first project produced under Fat City, the production label she launched last year alongside War Pony producer Ryan Zacarias. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Charades and UTA Independent Film Group have boarded “Mother, Couch,” the high-profile feature debut of Niclas Larsson, which has just dropped its first-look image, shared in exclusivity with Variety. An all-star cast is led by Taylor Russell, Ewan McGregor, Ellen Burstyn, Rhys Ifans, Lara Flynn Boyle and F. Murray Abraham and now Lake Bell.

This is news that has come as a shock to many. Begho Ukueberuwa, an executive and former agent, died May 9. He was just 27. His exact cause of death has not been confirmed, but he apparently collapsed while trying to run a half-marathon.

EXCLUSIVE: Licorice Pizza and If Beale Street Could Talk producer Sara Murphy and War Pony producer Ryan Zacarias have launched their own TV and film production company and have struck a deal with Anonymous Content.

“We were waiting for another script, and then suddenly before the pandemic, he said, ‘Read this’,” Oscar-nominated Licorice Pizza producer Adam Somner says about how Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest project came to fruition. “It came out of the blue. It was definitely a surprise.”

William Earl PGA-nominated producers will gather on Feb. 23 for Variety FYC Fest: The Producers, for exclusive conversations about the top films and television shows of the year.

Nominations for the 2022 BAFTA Film Awards have been unveiled. Scroll down for the full list.