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Katerina
James Frey (Gallery/Scout Press)
Set in 1992 Paris and 2018 Los Angeles, a love story between a young writer and a young model, both on the verge of fame. Twenty-five years later, the writer receives an anonymous message that draws him back to that relationship and all the magic of that earlier time.
Entertainment One
A Million Little Pieces is as raw, bloody and messy as James Frey wrote it. With the startling intensity he shocked Toronto with in Nocturnal Animals two years ago, Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Frey through his evolution from a hopeless, cornered animal descending down a drug-induced death spiral to someone who pulls out of the nosedive after reluctantly embracing help from a group of fellow addicts to create distance from the seduction of crack cocaine and hard liquor ravaging his body.
The right filmmaker came along when the Taylor-Johnsons came knocking. Sam and Aaron Taylor-Johnson had been an inseparable couple since she cast him in her directorial debut, 2009’s Nowhere Boy, as a young John Lennon. They liked the idea of pulling something more modest together, after the miserable time Sam had directing the first Fifty Shades of Grey movie. She’d been expecting to make a trilogy out of E.L. James’s erotic fiction series, but even though her first chapter grossed $571 million, she withdrew. Speculation was that the unprecedented level of creative control Universal offered James, a first-time novelist, in order to beat out the offers pouring in from other studios, caused issues.
Sam had been captivated by Frey’s memoir since she read it shortly after its publication, when she was known for her eye as a still photographer, and before she ever made her feature debut. “I loved the way it was told,” she remembers. “90 miles an hour is a good way to describe the ferocity and pace of his writing. I remember feeling exhausted and elated at the end, thinking it would make an amazing movie. Later, I’d hear or read that some other filmmaker signed on and I’d feel a twinge of jealousy.”
After they met, she gave it to Aaron, who devoured it. He says: “The journey of redemption, the light at the end of the tunnel, and the rhythm James put into his writing which provides such energy, it made us want to try and translate that into a character on screen.”
The adaptation of James Frey’s book—debuting at the Toronto Film Festival on Sunday—is the couple’s first collaboration since Nowhere Boy.
by JULIE MILLER
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Jeff Gros
Since making 2009’s brilliant John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, director Sam Taylor-Johnson and actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson had been looking for an excuse to work together again.
But their personal collaborations complicated reunion possibilities for several years. Sam and Aaron fell in love after making the movie, got married, and had two daughters. (Sam also has two older daughters from her first marriage.) Rather than leave the kids in the care of strangers, husband and wife took turns making movies—with Sam adapting E.L. James’s bodice-ripping best-seller Fifty Shades of Grey into an artful blockbuster; and Aaron cycling through genres in Anna Karenina,Godzilla, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Nocturnal Animals.
Last year, though, the stars finally re-aligned for the Taylor-Johnsons. Sam signed on to direct an adaptation of James Frey’s 2003 book, A Million Little Pieces. And Aaron coincidentally had a gap in his schedule.
“The minute I knew he was available, it was clear that Aaron would be James. Absolutely, without question,” Sam said in an interview ahead of A Million Little Pieces’ premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. “I think it was serendipitous timing that he was available, the book rights were available, and the timing was perfect. . . . This was the dream since we first worked together. After [Nowhere Boy], we would both go to work on different projects, and I’d say, in my mind, ‘I’m leaving the best actor at home.’”
Get your to-read list ready: 2018 is already a good year for reading.
We may live in challenging times, and there’s no better escape than through a good book. From new novels from beloved writers to compelling non-fiction examinations of our modern world, 2018 has already delivered some excellent reads.
Would you respond to a cryptic Facebook message from an unrecognized user? Forty-two-year-old novelist-turned-screenwriter Jay does. He’s ambivalent about the messages at first, but their familiar tone piques his interest and reminds him of someone important from his past. Thus, begins this sexy and electric novel that flips between modern-day Los Angeles and Paris in 1992—back when Jay was 21 and burning with the desire to make art that was going to change the world. Frey, perhaps best known for his controversial book A Million Little Pieces, has penned a compulsive novel that speaks directly to the scandal that blew up his own life.
CLICK TO BUY KATERINA on Amazon
[ click to read the rest of the Best 2018 Books at Esquire ]
Sam Taylor Johnson with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton (Photo: Instagram/samtaylorjohnson)
Even if they are from another part of the world and in another language, drama films moveus. Why? Because as humans, we share many of the same emotions and desires. The TIFF 2018 drama section is full of movies based on riveting stories about people caught up in harsh and even tragic circumstances beyond their control. We bring you five TIFF Festival films that will tug at your heart strings and leave a mark on your memory.
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2018 is just around the corner, and the buzz is spreading fast that it’s going to be an exciting event. While films of all genres will be screened at the festival, people are eager to know which films will be shown in the “drama” section.
This year, there are fantastic films from all over the world that have entered the drama section and festival-goers will be hard pressed to choose which ones to watch in the limited time they have.
Director – Sam Taylor-Johnson
Country – USA
James Frey’s controversial bestseller A Million Little Pieces gets the big screen treatment by director Sam Taylor-Johnson.
The film tells the story of an alcoholic crack addict (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who finds some peace in the company of a former crime lord (Billy Bob Thornton) and a former sex worker (Odessa Young).
It is a harrowing ride into the deepest darkest corners of a drug addict’s psyche and the devastation caused by drug addiction.
It’s a tale about the loss of one’s self-esteem and character but also of hope and the journey towards renewal. The protagonist finds his calling as a writer but only after he picks up the pieces of his shattered self.
My first tour in awhile – looking forward to seeing you all again….
Click here to pick up a copy of KATERINA – bring it to a reading and I’ll sign it for you.
Photos courtesy of Persona PR/ICM Partners
David Dastmalchian (MacGyver, Twin Peaks) and Rhys Wakefield (True Detective, The Purge) are set as series regulars opposite Abigail Spencer and Mena Massoud in Hulu drama pilot Reprisal, from Warren Littlefield and A+E Studios.
Dastmalchian recently wrapped production on the upcoming film adaptation of James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, and Netflix’s Bird Box opposite Sandra Bullock and Sarah Paulson. He has also been cast for a key role in upcoming feature Die in a Gunfight, opposite Josh Hutcherson, Helen Hunt, Olivia Munn, and Kaya Scodelario, as well as psycho-thriller The Killing Kind,alongside Aaron Paul and Jane Lynch. His recent credits include Ant-Man and the Wasp, Blade Runner 2049 and recurring roles on MacGyver and Twin Peaks among others. Dastmalchian is represented by Hansen, Jacobson Teller Hoberman.
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Get Out and Black Panther actor Daniel Kaluuya has been tabbed to take the lead role of Slim, in an upcoming film, Queen & Slim, a romance drama written by Emmy award-winning writer Lena Waithe.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the script is being described as the black version of Bonnie and Clyde’s love story. The film will focus on a black couple out and about enjoying their first date together when things take a turn for the worse. The couple ends up killing a police officer in self-defense and have no other option but to head to Cuba.
“Queen & Slim is an exploration of America’s social and political climate through the lens of a genre-defying love story,” according to Variety.
The movie is said to be based on an idea and treatment from best-selling author James Frey (A Million Little Pieces) and story created by Waithe and Frey. Melina Matsoukas is also set to join the star-studded team as director, making this her directorial debut for a featured film. Matsoukas is known for her work on HBO’s Insecure and has directed a number of music videos, including Beyonce’s “Formation.”
by Katherine Cowdrey
James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces (John Murray), is publishing a new novel with John Murray called Katerina.
Katerina, pitched as a sweeping love story that alternates between 1992 Paris and 2017 Los Angeles, will be published in September this year. John Murray acquired UK and Commonwealth rights through Jenny Meyer of Jenny Meyer Literary Agency on behalf of Eric Simonoff at WME.
At the centre of the novel is protagonist Jay, who is 21 when he moves to Paris to live the artist’s life, and falls in love for the first time. Cut to 25 years later: he is a middle-age family man living in California when he receives an anonymous message that draws him back to the life, and possibly the love, he abandoned years before.
North American rights have sold to Scout Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, while the film rights to the book have been pre-emptively acquired by Makeready, the new production outfit launched in 2017 by former New Regency c.e.o Brad Weston. Frey will write the script and be executive producer. Guymon Casady is producing through Entertainment 360, the production arm of Management 360. WME negotiated the sale.
By Justin Kroll
CREDIT: STEPHEN LOVEKIN/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
After a breakout role in the Sundance hit “Assassination Nation,” Odessa Young is boarding Sam Taylor-Johnson’s “A Million Little Pieces.”
Young will be joining the previously announced cast of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Charlie Hunnam, and Giovanni Ribisi.
The story follows a young man who awakens on an airplane to Chicago with no recollection of his injuries or of how he ended up on the plane. He then heads to a rehab and begins his journey to sobriety. Young will play Lilly, a crack and heroin addict who falls in love with the man.
REX/Shutterstock
EXCLUSIVE: Ant-Man And The Wasp actor David Dastmalchian has landed two back-to-back projects. He’s set for A Million Little Pieces, the Sam Taylor-Johnson directed film adaptation of the James Frey book, which is currently in production. The pic stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Juri, Charlie Hunnam, and Giovanni Ribisi.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Sam Taylor-Johnson adapted the book, loosely based on Frey’s life. It follows a young drug-addled writer, who enters a treatment center in Minnesota. Makeready’s Pam Abdy is producing with The Picture Company partners Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman. Makeready is also fully finance the film with eOne distributing Sierra/Affinity is handling international sales.
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Juliette Lewis front row at Acne Studios / Stephane Feugere/WWD
Juliette Lewis was busy capturing the scene at the first Acne Studios women’s show to be held during couture week in Paris on Wednesday, before sitting in the front row alongside Sara Forestier, Isabelle Huppert, Stephen Jones and Michel Gaubert.
The actress caught Casey Spooner jumping up on a bench to shake things up. Earlier in the week, he and partner-in-crime Violet Chakchi had joked about wanting to have their own reality TV crew.
“I’m doing the Instagram takeover for Acne Studios,” said Lewis, known for such films as “Cape Fear” and “From Dusk Till Dawn.”
Lewis hinted at further projects with Acne, and then clammed up. In the meantime, she is flying back to Los Angeles to start filming on Monday a screen adaptation of “A Million Little Pieces,” the infamous James Frey book, with Billy Bob Thornton.
REX/Shutterstock/Nan A. Talese
EXCLUSIVE: A Million Little Pieces, the screen adaptation of the James Frey book, is fast assembling for a January 25 production start. Billy Bob Thornton has joined Aaron Taylor-Johnson and director Sam Taylor-Johnson for the first film to go into production for Brad Weston’s producing/financing company Makeready. Thornton will be joined by Carla Juri, who emerges from Blade Runner 2049 to play the female lead, and Charlie Hunnam. Giovanni Ribisi was already set. Makeready’s Pam Abdy is producing with The Picture Company partners Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman.
Thornton plays the role of Leonard, whom fans of Frey’s book will recall as a mysterious tough guy who became the guardian angel at a rehab facility for the protagonist, who tried to end his addiction problems before they killed him. Frey later wrote Leonard’s life story in a followup book.
Rex/Shutterstockby
Mike Pont/WireImage/Sam Taylor-Johnson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
CAA has been negotiating the release of the rights of James Frey’s 2003 book from Warners, and the package is expected to be launched at the upcoming American Film Market.
The big-screen adaptation of James Frey’s best-seller A Million Little Pieces is being reassembled, this time as a team-up between husband-and-wife duo Aaron Johnson and Sam Taylor-Johnson.
The 2003 book was once one of the hottest properties in town but became radioactive after Frey was exposed for inventing or embellishing parts of the story that was originally dubbed a memoir. Warner Bros. won the book in a bidding war in 2003 and set it up with producer Brad Pitt and his then-Plan B partners Jennifer Aniston and Brad Grey. Frey wrote the first version of the screenplay.
CBS Studios International announced today a multi-title content licensing agreement with Japan’s leading premium pay TV provider, WOWOW. The agreement includes the first-window broadcast rights to the highly anticipated new TWIN PEAKS; the #1 new U.S. drama BULL, starring Michael Weatherly; and the murder-mystery series AMERICAN GOTHIC.
BULL, TWIN PEAKS and AMERICAN GOTHIC will be shown on WOWOW’s Prime channel, joining other Showtime and CBS programming, including the critically-acclaimed THE AFFAIR, the event series ZOO and the modern-day SHERLOCK Holmes drama, ELEMENTARY.
“The series in this agreement represent the strength and variety of CBS and Showtime programming available to broadcasters around the world,” said Barry Chamberlain, President of Sales, CBS Studios International. “We are thrilled to have expanded our portfolio of programming with WOWOW, bringing more of our compelling and creative storytelling to audiences across Japan.”
AMERICAN GOTHIC centers on a prominent Boston family reeling in the wake of the chilling discovery that someone in their midst is linked to an infamous string of murders. As shocking secrets from the past and present are revealed, their mounting SUSPICION and paranoia that one of them is a killer threatens to tear THE FAMILY apart.
AMERICAN GOTHIC is executive produced by Corinne Brinkerhoff, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, James Frey and Todd Cohen, produced by CBS Television Studios and distributed internationally by CBS Studios International.
COURTESY OF STYLEHAUL
“Relationship Status,” the millennial social-media drama starring and executive produced by Milo Ventimiglia, is returning for two more seasons on Verizon’s Go90 mobile video service.
The show was created by Céline Geiger (“Vampire Diaries,” “The Lying Game”). It’s executive produced by Ventimiglia — who currently stars in NBC’s primetime hit drama “This Is Us” — and Russ Cundiff of DiVide Pictures; James Frey and Todd Cohen of Full Fathom Five; and StyleHaul.
Go90 has picked up two 12-episode seasons of “Relationship Status,” which will feature a traditional film and TV talent alongside digital creators. Season 2 is slated to hit the free, ad-supported service in the fall of 2017; the producers expect to announce cast details soon. As with the first run of the show, the ensemble dramedy will weave through the complexities of relationships while exploring the intertwining lives and connections of dating in the digital age.
“We could not be happier to continue ‘Relationship Status’ into season two and three,” Ventimiglia said in a statement. “The landscape of online dating and social media is ever-changing and we are looking forward to bringing more compelling stories about love, life and loss to Go90.”
Sprout, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment’s 24-hour preschool network, is expanding its original programming slate with the greenlight of new series Remy and Boo created by Industrial Brothers’ Matt Fernandes and produced by Industrial Brothers and Boat Rocker Studios. The network also has given Season 2 renewals to its popular original series Floogals and Nina’s World and set several new projects in development, including an original series executive produced by Shaquille O’Neal.
Among the new projects on Sprout’s development slate are Little Shaq, executive produced by Shaquille O’Neal. Inspired by the former NBA superstar’s real life childhood, the series follows an outsized boy’s funny and often awkward adventures in his urban American neighborhood. From Universal Cable Productions, the series is also executive produced by Full Fathom Five’s James Frey and Todd Cohen.
by Dani Levy
CASTING
Three new cast members will join Syfy‘s “The Haunted” as series regulars. Steve Kazee and David Alpay will play two of the four siblings in the Bradley family reunited after their parent’s death, slowly fixing their relationships with each other and navigating between the all too real ghosts from their pasts. DeVaughn Nixon will play a detective, investigating the mysterious circumstances around the deaths. Full Fathom Five’s James Frey and Todd Cohen will executive produce. Pilot writer Noga Landau, of “Tau” and “The Magicians,” will also co-executive produce.
Courtesy of Syfy
Former Nikita star Lyndsy Fonseca and up-and-comer Elizabeth Cappuccino (Jessica Jones) have been cast as two of the leads of Syfy’s supernatural horror drama pilot The Haunted.
Written by Noga Landau (Tau, The Magicians), The Haunted centers on four siblings – Juno (Fonseca), Virgil, Eliis and Hester (Cappuccino) — who reunite following their parents’ deaths. As they try to overcome their fractured personal relationships they find that they must also face the literal ghosts from their past in order to survive.
James Frey and Todd Cohen of Full Fathom Five executive produce and Landau co-executive produces for Universal Cable Productions.
Babel Films
USA Network has put in development Elements, a high-concept drama from writer James Frey and his Full Fathom Five, Amblin TV, Intrigue and Universal Cable Prods.
Written by Frey, Elements is based on Babel Films’ French-language Canadian film/web series Time Out (Temps Mort). It follows the aftermath of an extreme environmental shift across the world. On a beautiful day in Miami, it starts to snow, and doesn’t stop — leaving the world frozen as one man searches for his fiancée before the world falls into complete stasis.
This would mark the TV writing debut of Frey, who started off as a feature scribe with 1998’s Kissing a Fool before embarking on book writing, including his controversial debut novel A Million Little Pieces. He then launched the YA publishing company Full Fathom Five, which has been leveraging its IP into producing TV series and movies.
Elements reunites Full Fathom Five and Amblin TV, who recently collaborated on the TNT pilot Lumen.
American Gothic is produced by CBS Television Studios
AMC Networks International Iberia has picked up CBS drama American Gothic after striking a deal with distributor CBS Studios International.
The 13-part show, which will air on the AMC-owned network in Spain and Portugal from October, centres on a prominent Boston family reeling in the wake of the chilling discovery that someone in their midst is linked to an infamous string of murders.
It is produced by CBS Television Studios, with Corinne Brinkerhoff, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, James Frey and Todd Cohen attached as executive producers. Juliet Rylance and Virginia Madsen star.
Syfy is stepping up its development efforts with three pilot orders to artificial intelligence drama The Machine, based on the 2013 cult hit film; supernatural horror-drama Haunted; and Happy! based on Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson’s graphic novel. All three hail from sibling Universal Cable Prods.
After several straight-to-series orders, Syfy returned to pilot development this year with the pilot greenlights of Prototype in February and Superman prequel Krypton in May. The former was filmed and not going forward, while the latter is currently casting. Today’s pickups mark the largest batch of pilot orders for Syfy in a while as the network had been going through a creative revamp.
The Haunted is a supernatural horror-drama about four siblings who reunite following their parents’ deaths. As they try to overcome their fractured personal relationships they find that they must also face the literal ghosts from their past in order to survive. Noga Landau (Tau, The Magicians) wrote the pilot and is also a co-executive producer. Author James Frey and Todd Cohen of Full Fathom Five will executive produce.
The soccer-themed live-action series, based on books written by U.S. Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan, will make its Amazon debut on Aug. 26.
Brand-new Amazon original kids live-actioner The Kicks is set to launch Aug. 26 on Prime Video in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Austria. The show is based on a book series by U.S. Olympic gold medalist and current U.S. Women’s National Team soccer player Alex Morgan.
Aimed at kids ages six to 11 years, the series follows young female soccer star Devin Burke (Sixx Orange), who, after moving to California with her family in the middle of the school year, must cope with turning around her struggling new team.
The series’ pilot episode is available to stream from today and nine additional episodes will debut exclusively for Prime members via the Amazon Video app for TVs, and internet-connected devices including Fire TV, mobile devices and online on Aug. 26.
Full Fathom Five novelist James Frey (I Am Number Four), Todd Cohen (Lumen), David Babcock (Twisted) and Andrew Orenstein (Malcolm in the Middle) are the series’ executive producers.
The Kicks is co-executive produced by Nastaran Dibai (According to Jim) and written by Orenstein, David Steinberg (Space Racers), Taylor Cox (King Julien Stand Up) and Jacquie Walters (Building Wild).
The soccer-themed live-action series, based on books written by U.S. Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan, will make its Amazon debut on Aug. 26.
Brand-new Amazon original kids live-actioner The Kicks is set to launch Aug. 26 on Prime Video in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Austria. The show is based on a book series by U.S. Olympic gold medalist and current U.S. Women’s National Team soccer player Alex Morgan.
Aimed at kids ages six to 11 years, the series follows young female soccer star Devin Burke (Sixx Orange), who, after moving to California with her family in the middle of the school year, must cope with turning around her struggling new team.
The series’ pilot episode is available to stream from today and nine additional episodes will debut exclusively for Prime members via the Amazon Video app for TVs, and internet-connected devices including Fire TV, mobile devices and online on Aug. 26.
Full Fathom Five novelist James Frey (I Am Number Four), Todd Cohen (Lumen), David Babcock (Twisted) and Andrew Orenstein (Malcolm in the Middle) are the series’ executive producers.
The Kicks is co-executive produced by Nastaran Dibai (According to Jim) and written by Orenstein, David Steinberg (Space Racers), Taylor Cox (King Julien Stand Up) and Jacquie Walters (Building Wild).
As CBS’ summer murder mystery thriller American Gothic heats up, the cast was on hand at Comic-Con on Thursday to tease the identity of the killer.
On the series, the wealthy Hawthorne family discovers that not only was their now-deceased patriarch (Jamey Sheridan) possibly a serial killer, but he could’ve been aided by one of their own. Was it the steely matriarch (Virginia Madsen), the black sheep prodigal son Garrett (Antony Starr), the ambitious eldest daughter Alison (Juliet Rylance), the innocent younger school teacher Tessa (Megan Ketch), or the former junkie cartoonist Cam (Justin Chatwin)?
During Wednesday’s episode, Cam was seemingly cleared since his DNA didn’t match the blood found on the Silver Bells Killer belt, but there was a familial match, which means one of the Hawthornes was definitely the killer. So who is it? Chatwin, Starr, and Ketch stayed mum during the panel, though they have finally discovered the answer since American Gothic is currently shooting the finale in which fans will discover the truth.
Stream with Prime 8/26 on Amazon Video: http://amzn.to/29Bnlam
Based on a book series by US Olympic Gold Medalist and current US Women’s National Team soccer player Alex Morgan
by
Christos Kalohoridis/CBS
American Gothic is more than meets the eye.
The new CBS drama centers on a prominent Boston family and their secrets, and to hear showrunner Corinne Brinkerhoff tell it, features a nod to classical pieces of art in each episode.
The artistic gems should come as no surprise as the series itself shares its name with a famous painting — American Gothic by Grant Wood, which features a pitchfork-toting farmer with a female companion standing in front of a gothic-style ranch home. It’s perhaps one of the most recognizable 20th century American works.
“One of my favorite elements of the show is off of the fact it’s called American Gothic and the family is collectors of fine art,” Brinkerhoff tells The Hollywood Reporter. “We have artists in the family and it is sort of in the fabric of the show already.”
The artists in the Hawthorne family include Cam (Justin Chatwin), a cartoonist, and his possible serial-killer-in-the-making offspring Jack (Gabriel Bateman), who has a passion for drawing dead animals.
Each episode of the drama series is titled after and shows admiration for a famous painting. “We chose a painting that had some thematic resonance with that chapter of our story,” Brinkerhoff explains. “We also looked for a moment that within the frame we could put an homage to the actual painting itself. Those kinds of things distinguish us in a way where it’s not high concept, but there’s details if you’re paying close attention add another layer to the show.”
By Liam Martin
Home from “American Gothic” (CBS)
TORONTO (CBS) — If the house and the neighborhood at the center of the new CBS thriller “American Gothic” looks like they could be found on Chestnut Hill, that’s by design.
“Well, that’s encouraging to hear,” Tim Owen told WBZ’s Liam Martin with a laugh.
Owen is the location manager of the murder mystery, and he was speaking to Liam in Toronto, not Boston — despite the fact the show is set in the Hub.
“We all kind of develop a kind of checklist of what makes Boston what it is when we see it visually,” Owen said.
He has had to turn to that checklist for this project, finding the parts of Toronto that can fit.
