Exclusive: Dylan Gelula (Dream Scenario) has joined Paramount Pictures’ untitled sequel to Smile, the 2022 horror thriller from Parker Finn, which went on to outsized success in theaters after initially being set to debut on Paramount+.
The actress joins an ensemble that also includes Naomi Scott, Lukas Gage, Kyle Gallner and Rosemarie DeWitt, as previously announced.
Details as to the plot and cast members’ roles are under wraps. But Finn has returned to direct from his own script, with Temple Hill producing. The sequel is slated for release on October 18, 2024, when it will go up against an unnamed title from Universal Pictures.
Grossing over $217M at the worldwide box office, Smile was one of the great, unexpected box office successes of 2022. One of a number of original studio horror films of late to expand into a franchise, pic tells the story of Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), a psychiatrist who becomes...
The actress joins an ensemble that also includes Naomi Scott, Lukas Gage, Kyle Gallner and Rosemarie DeWitt, as previously announced.
Details as to the plot and cast members’ roles are under wraps. But Finn has returned to direct from his own script, with Temple Hill producing. The sequel is slated for release on October 18, 2024, when it will go up against an unnamed title from Universal Pictures.
Grossing over $217M at the worldwide box office, Smile was one of the great, unexpected box office successes of 2022. One of a number of original studio horror films of late to expand into a franchise, pic tells the story of Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), a psychiatrist who becomes...
- 2/12/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Mubi has unveiled their February 2024 lineup, featuring Roy Andersson’s little-seen 1991 short World of Glory, Nicole Holofcener’s Lovely & Amazing starring Catherine Keener with an early Jake Gyllenhaal performance, and special Black History Month selections: Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer, Kasi Lemmon’s Eve’s Bayou, Carl Franklin’s One False Move, and more.
Check out the lineup below, including recently added January titles, and get 30 days free here.
Just-Added
American Movie, directed by Christopher Smith | Festival Focus: Sundance
Pieces of April, directed by Peter Hedges | Festival Focus: Sundance
The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez | Festival Focus: Sundance
But I’m a Cheerleader, directed by Jamie Babbit | Festival Focus: Sundance
Secretary, directed by Steven Shainberg | Festival Focus: Sundance
Medicine for Melancholy directed by Barry Jenkins | First Films First
Antiviral, directed by Brandon Cronenberg | First Films First
Shithouse, directed by Cooper Raiff | First Films First
Age of Panic,...
Check out the lineup below, including recently added January titles, and get 30 days free here.
Just-Added
American Movie, directed by Christopher Smith | Festival Focus: Sundance
Pieces of April, directed by Peter Hedges | Festival Focus: Sundance
The Blair Witch Project, directed by Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez | Festival Focus: Sundance
But I’m a Cheerleader, directed by Jamie Babbit | Festival Focus: Sundance
Secretary, directed by Steven Shainberg | Festival Focus: Sundance
Medicine for Melancholy directed by Barry Jenkins | First Films First
Antiviral, directed by Brandon Cronenberg | First Films First
Shithouse, directed by Cooper Raiff | First Films First
Age of Panic,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"All ya'll are suspects!!" Screen Media has unveiled an official trailer for Helen's Dead, a strange murder mystery whodunit comedy directed by the producer K. Asher Levin. This looks like something everyone will avoid before even looking at the footage. Red Box trash. Helen's Dead follows the story of Addie, played by Dylan Gelula. After a terrible breakup with her boyfriend, Addie goes to confront her friend about cheating allegations and accidentally steps into a murder scene. For some random reason, now it's up to Addie to find Helen's killer before it's too late. Too late for what? They'll kill again? Get away with it? Who knows. It also stars Emile Hirsch, Tyrese Gibson, Dylan Gelula, Oliver Cooper, Matilda Lutz (as dead Helen), & Annabelle Dexter-Jones. Reminds me of the series "The Afterparty", but with junk characters and no actual humor. // Continue Reading ›...
- 10/3/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: Lili Reinhart, Cooper Raiff and Mark Ruffalo are set to headline Hal & Harper, an independent television series from Cha Cha Real Smooth filmmaker and star Raiff, Deadline has learned.
(L-r) Addison Timlin and Havana Rose Liu
According to sources, Addison Timlin (Blackout) and Havana Rose Liu (No Exit) also have been cast in the show, written and directed by Raiff, which landed a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement a couple of weeks ago. The came before the guild on Monday modified its interim agreement policy to exclude WGA-covered projects shot in the U.S. Reps for everyone involved declined comment.
On SAG-AFTRA’s official list of films and TV series granted interim agreements, Hal & Harper is listed as being produced by Bad Bangs LLC.
There are no official details about the series, which is said to be a comedic family drama. Raiff has spoken about Hal & Harper, which has been a...
(L-r) Addison Timlin and Havana Rose Liu
According to sources, Addison Timlin (Blackout) and Havana Rose Liu (No Exit) also have been cast in the show, written and directed by Raiff, which landed a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement a couple of weeks ago. The came before the guild on Monday modified its interim agreement policy to exclude WGA-covered projects shot in the U.S. Reps for everyone involved declined comment.
On SAG-AFTRA’s official list of films and TV series granted interim agreements, Hal & Harper is listed as being produced by Bad Bangs LLC.
There are no official details about the series, which is said to be a comedic family drama. Raiff has spoken about Hal & Harper, which has been a...
- 8/16/2023
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Joy Sunday (Wednesday) has signed with Gersh for representation in all areas.
Sunday made a splash in the Netflix hit series Wednesday in the role of Bianca Barclay, a siren and queen bee of Nevermore Academy who is set up early on as the titular character’s (Jenna Ortega) arch nemesis.
“When Bianca came into my life, I was honestly so happy to play her because, in a lot of ways, it was an opportunity to get to soften and to expand on a character like her,” Sunday told Deadline in a December interview. “I was just elated to be able to put my own spin on it and to really provide a nuanced take on the mean girl, the strong girl. I feel lucky to have been able to play her.”
Although the role of Bianca is her breakout, Sunday has appeared in Jim Cumming’s & Pj McCabe...
Sunday made a splash in the Netflix hit series Wednesday in the role of Bianca Barclay, a siren and queen bee of Nevermore Academy who is set up early on as the titular character’s (Jenna Ortega) arch nemesis.
“When Bianca came into my life, I was honestly so happy to play her because, in a lot of ways, it was an opportunity to get to soften and to expand on a character like her,” Sunday told Deadline in a December interview. “I was just elated to be able to put my own spin on it and to really provide a nuanced take on the mean girl, the strong girl. I feel lucky to have been able to play her.”
Although the role of Bianca is her breakout, Sunday has appeared in Jim Cumming’s & Pj McCabe...
- 7/11/2023
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Logan Miller (Escape Room franchise) has signed on to star alongside Barbarian breakout Georgina Campbell in Psycho Killer, a new horror-thriller from New Regency, which is heading into production in early spring.
Related Story Megan Thee Stallion Circling Josh & Benny Safdie’s Netflix Film With Adam Sandler Related Story 'Amsterdam': Read The Screenplay For David O. Russell's Wild Comic Mystery Related Story 'Amsterdam' Stands To Lose Nearly $100 Million: What This Means For Upscale Movies
The film penned by Andrew Kevin Walker reportedly follows Jane Thorne (Campbell), a police officer who makes it her mission to take down a serial killer referred to on the news as the ‘Satanic Slasher,’ following the murder of her state trooper husband. Miller will play Marvin, a goth-type nebbish who works for the mysterious Pendleton in his massive mansion.
Directing Psycho Killer is Gavin Polone,...
Related Story Megan Thee Stallion Circling Josh & Benny Safdie’s Netflix Film With Adam Sandler Related Story 'Amsterdam': Read The Screenplay For David O. Russell's Wild Comic Mystery Related Story 'Amsterdam' Stands To Lose Nearly $100 Million: What This Means For Upscale Movies
The film penned by Andrew Kevin Walker reportedly follows Jane Thorne (Campbell), a police officer who makes it her mission to take down a serial killer referred to on the news as the ‘Satanic Slasher,’ following the murder of her state trooper husband. Miller will play Marvin, a goth-type nebbish who works for the mysterious Pendleton in his massive mansion.
Directing Psycho Killer is Gavin Polone,...
- 3/31/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The South by Southwest film festival, launched in Austin, Texas in 1994, is one of the buzziest film festivals on the calendar for independent filmmakers from around the world to showcase their movies.
SXSW was born as a music festival in March 1987 and has grown from 700 registrants to more than 161,000 attendees in 2018 making it one of the most successful festivals in the United States.
The fest handed out its first award for the Narrative Feature Competition in 1999 to director David Riker’s film La Cuidad (The City) featuring Anthony Rivera, Joseph Rigano and Miguel Maldonado. Since then it has showcased quirky films that have gone on to win the coveted award. Winners include The Fallout (2021); Shithouse (2020); Thunder Road (2018); Krisha (2015) and Tiny Furniture (2010).
Scroll through the photo gallery for all the SXSW Narrative Feature Competition Grand Jury Award winners.
SXSW was born as a music festival in March 1987 and has grown from 700 registrants to more than 161,000 attendees in 2018 making it one of the most successful festivals in the United States.
The fest handed out its first award for the Narrative Feature Competition in 1999 to director David Riker’s film La Cuidad (The City) featuring Anthony Rivera, Joseph Rigano and Miguel Maldonado. Since then it has showcased quirky films that have gone on to win the coveted award. Winners include The Fallout (2021); Shithouse (2020); Thunder Road (2018); Krisha (2015) and Tiny Furniture (2010).
Scroll through the photo gallery for all the SXSW Narrative Feature Competition Grand Jury Award winners.
- 3/8/2023
- by Robert Lang
- Deadline Film + TV
Joy Sunday, who stars as Bianca Barclay in the Netflix series Wednesday, has an unattainable crush. Though the actor’s character has enough of a woeful time winning the affections of Wednesday’s Xavier (Percy Hynes White), even Bianca’s siren song isn’t going to win her the heart of this literary hero.
Wednesday star Joy Sunday | Presley Ann/Getty Images for Netflix Joy Sunday stars as Bianca Barclay in the Netflix series ‘Wednesday’
Undoubtedly, fans know Sunday best for her role as the silver-eyed siren in the Netflix series Wednesday. Introduced in the show as “the closest thing to Nevermore royalty,” Bianca is the coolest girl in school.
As the idea of popularity is mainly based upon the opinion of those who think about things like popularity, Bianca isn’t much of a fan of the socially disinterested Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega). Bianca’s dislike for Wednesday only...
Wednesday star Joy Sunday | Presley Ann/Getty Images for Netflix Joy Sunday stars as Bianca Barclay in the Netflix series ‘Wednesday’
Undoubtedly, fans know Sunday best for her role as the silver-eyed siren in the Netflix series Wednesday. Introduced in the show as “the closest thing to Nevermore royalty,” Bianca is the coolest girl in school.
As the idea of popularity is mainly based upon the opinion of those who think about things like popularity, Bianca isn’t much of a fan of the socially disinterested Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega). Bianca’s dislike for Wednesday only...
- 1/28/2023
- by Lindsay Kusiak
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Twenty-five-year-old filmmaker Cooper Raiff is on the up. In 2022 alone, his sophomore film “Cha Cha Real Smooth” was scooped out of the Sundance Film Festival by Apple TV+ for a cool 15 million and released this summer, and he announced a new film, “The Trashers,” starring David Harbour and Cooper Hoffmann. Now, the “Shithouse” director and Sundance Audience Award winner is launching a production company, called Small Ideas, with former Black Bear Pictures executive Clementine Quittner.
The outfit will aim to develop and produce independent film and television projects from emerging filmmakers and creators, as well as writer/director Raiff’s own work. The first project at Small Ideas will be an undisclosed TV series written, directed, and produced by Raiff, with Quittner also producing.
“Clem and I are very protective of passion. We want the artists we work with to know we believe in their stories and ideas as much as they do.
The outfit will aim to develop and produce independent film and television projects from emerging filmmakers and creators, as well as writer/director Raiff’s own work. The first project at Small Ideas will be an undisclosed TV series written, directed, and produced by Raiff, with Quittner also producing.
“Clem and I are very protective of passion. We want the artists we work with to know we believe in their stories and ideas as much as they do.
- 8/2/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Sundance prize winner Cooper Raiff (Cha Cha Real Smooth) has partnered with former Black Bear Pictures development executive Clementine Quittner to launch Small Ideas—a new production company that will develop and produce indie projects across film and television.
Raiff hinted at the move, and even cited the name of his new shingle in a recent chat with Deadline, which had him discussing the viability of small, carefully crafted projects in the ever-evolving entertainment marketplace.
“I feel really confident about small things. I’m going to start a company and probably call it Small Ideas,” the filmmaker said in the interview published back in June. “There’s a very good, lucrative market for making small things and flipping them, and if you’re okay with them being maybe like a streamer-theatrical duo, I think everyone should be really feeling great and confident about getting their stuff made that they want to make.
Raiff hinted at the move, and even cited the name of his new shingle in a recent chat with Deadline, which had him discussing the viability of small, carefully crafted projects in the ever-evolving entertainment marketplace.
“I feel really confident about small things. I’m going to start a company and probably call it Small Ideas,” the filmmaker said in the interview published back in June. “There’s a very good, lucrative market for making small things and flipping them, and if you’re okay with them being maybe like a streamer-theatrical duo, I think everyone should be really feeling great and confident about getting their stuff made that they want to make.
- 8/2/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Olivia DeJonge has joined the cast of Cooper Raiff’s “The Trashers.”
The deal comes on the heels of DeJonge’s breakout performance in “Elvis,” in which she played Priscilla Presley, the wife of the King of Rock. The film crossed 200 million globally this past weekend, becoming one of the rare movies geared towards older audiences to be a commercial success. The performance also earned DeJonge some superlatives from critics and awards watchers, with USA Today praising her as “spot-on” and Gold Derby’s Edward Douglas singling out her “emotional scenes with [co-star Austin] Butler” and describing her work as “head-turning.”
In “The Trashers,” DeJonge will join an ensemble that includes Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”) and David Harbour of “Stranger Things” fame. Details are being kept under wraps, but the film reportedly follows the rise and fall of Jimmy Galante, a garbage tycoon with ties to the Genovese crime family. It’s...
The deal comes on the heels of DeJonge’s breakout performance in “Elvis,” in which she played Priscilla Presley, the wife of the King of Rock. The film crossed 200 million globally this past weekend, becoming one of the rare movies geared towards older audiences to be a commercial success. The performance also earned DeJonge some superlatives from critics and awards watchers, with USA Today praising her as “spot-on” and Gold Derby’s Edward Douglas singling out her “emotional scenes with [co-star Austin] Butler” and describing her work as “head-turning.”
In “The Trashers,” DeJonge will join an ensemble that includes Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”) and David Harbour of “Stranger Things” fame. Details are being kept under wraps, but the film reportedly follows the rise and fall of Jimmy Galante, a garbage tycoon with ties to the Genovese crime family. It’s...
- 7/28/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Cooper Hoffman has found his next role in Cooper Raiff’s “The Trashers,” playing son to David Harbour’s father.
The “Cha Cha Real Smooth” writer-director’s third film takes a page from the real story of Jimmy Galante (Harbour), a Connecticut trash tycoon and member of the Genovese crime family who purportedly inspired the character Tony Soprano. In 2004, Galante took over his city’s minor-league hockey team and put his teenage son A.J. (Hoffman) in charge of running it. Under A.J.’s command, the team quickly gains notoriety for its violent but effective playing style, racking up one win after another. However, it all comes crashing down when Galante is arrested on 72 criminal charges.
“The Trashers” will mark Raiff’s first time solely behind the camera, as he wrote, directed and starred in his first two projects. Adam R. Perlman will make his feature film writing debut,...
The “Cha Cha Real Smooth” writer-director’s third film takes a page from the real story of Jimmy Galante (Harbour), a Connecticut trash tycoon and member of the Genovese crime family who purportedly inspired the character Tony Soprano. In 2004, Galante took over his city’s minor-league hockey team and put his teenage son A.J. (Hoffman) in charge of running it. Under A.J.’s command, the team quickly gains notoriety for its violent but effective playing style, racking up one win after another. However, it all comes crashing down when Galante is arrested on 72 criminal charges.
“The Trashers” will mark Raiff’s first time solely behind the camera, as he wrote, directed and starred in his first two projects. Adam R. Perlman will make his feature film writing debut,...
- 7/22/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
Charlie Cox is reprising his role as Daredevil in the MCU in more ways than one. The actor – who played the Marvel hero in the Netflix series “Daredevil” and made an appearance in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” – will wear the suit once more in the upcoming Marvel Studios-produced animated Disney+ series “Spider-Man: Freshman Year,” it was announced at Comic-Con on Friday.
The series has also been renewed for a second season – titled “Spider-Man: Sophomore Year” – already, with “Freshman Year” dropping in 2024.
“We went back to the roots, Ditko-inspired glasses and the color scheme and had him redrawn into an Alex Toth animated style from the ’60s,” said Ryan Meiderding, VP and Creative Director of Visual Development at Marvel Studios.
Also Read:
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Spin-Off Series ‘I Am Groot’ Debuts Trailer (Video)
“This is before ‘Civil War’,’ the show’s head writer and executive producer Jeff Trammel added.
The series has also been renewed for a second season – titled “Spider-Man: Sophomore Year” – already, with “Freshman Year” dropping in 2024.
“We went back to the roots, Ditko-inspired glasses and the color scheme and had him redrawn into an Alex Toth animated style from the ’60s,” said Ryan Meiderding, VP and Creative Director of Visual Development at Marvel Studios.
Also Read:
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Spin-Off Series ‘I Am Groot’ Debuts Trailer (Video)
“This is before ‘Civil War’,’ the show’s head writer and executive producer Jeff Trammel added.
- 7/22/2022
- by Drew Taylor and Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
Este Haim is most famously known as a sister. In addition to shredding bass and serving face at Haim shows around the world, she played a version of herself opposite sisters Danielle and Alana (and their parents) in last year’s “Licorice Pizza.” But somewhere between selling out Madison Square Garden and attending the Oscars, the eldest member of the trio has quietly been carving out her own path as a composer.
In 2021, she and fellow musician Christopher Stracey made their compositional debut with “Maid,” the Netflix limited series starring Margaret Qualley. Early into the process, a second opportunity rolled around by coincidence or perhaps fate. During a late-night coffee break, the duo overheard some producer friends talking about “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” indie wunderkind Cooper Raiff’s new film about a college graduate who works as a “party starter” at bar and bat mitzvahs.
“A movie about a bar mitzvah?...
In 2021, she and fellow musician Christopher Stracey made their compositional debut with “Maid,” the Netflix limited series starring Margaret Qualley. Early into the process, a second opportunity rolled around by coincidence or perhaps fate. During a late-night coffee break, the duo overheard some producer friends talking about “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” indie wunderkind Cooper Raiff’s new film about a college graduate who works as a “party starter” at bar and bat mitzvahs.
“A movie about a bar mitzvah?...
- 7/7/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
After the success of 2020’s Shithouse, 25-year-old filmmaker Cooper Raiff had expectations for a follow-up. His sophomore feature, Cha Cha Real Smooth, finds the young writer-director once again casting himself in the main role, this time as Andrew, a recent college graduate without much direction. Combining a larger budget, a more recognizable supporting cast, and a Sundance premiere, the indie dramedy won the festival’s Audience Award and the hearts of the folks at Apple with a 15 million distribution sale.
Raiff’s second film features many of the same flourishes as his first. Millennial needle drops fill the silences between bars rather than college parties, but the genuine tone remains the same. There’s an earnestness embedded within each character, an honesty that Raiff hopes to capture, along with tidbits of insight into the messiness of being in your early 20s. Not all of it works, but how can it?...
Raiff’s second film features many of the same flourishes as his first. Millennial needle drops fill the silences between bars rather than college parties, but the genuine tone remains the same. There’s an earnestness embedded within each character, an honesty that Raiff hopes to capture, along with tidbits of insight into the messiness of being in your early 20s. Not all of it works, but how can it?...
- 6/22/2022
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
Cooper Raiff has been embracing a nomadic lifestyle, crashing with friends in Los Angeles and traveling to national parks while he’s in between jobs. But the lack of a permanent residence does have its drawbacks. He moved into a new sublet in Queens — where he’s preparing to shoot a movie — late last week and opened the door to a disaster zone, the kind of mess that compels one to immediately wash the bed sheets.
“If I’m going be put up by this movie for a year, I don’t want to pay for something during that,” he says, noting that producers of his upcoming film will soon supply housing. “That’s not smart.”
The temporary living situation is not an atypical experience for a 25-year-old living in New York City, save for the fact that the move coincided with the release of Raiff’s second feature film,...
“If I’m going be put up by this movie for a year, I don’t want to pay for something during that,” he says, noting that producers of his upcoming film will soon supply housing. “That’s not smart.”
The temporary living situation is not an atypical experience for a 25-year-old living in New York City, save for the fact that the move coincided with the release of Raiff’s second feature film,...
- 6/22/2022
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
There’s something about an elongated smile that sends chills up the spine. When said Joker-ish smile is a returned gaze from a character on the screen, a stranger, we have the makings of uncanny horror. And this is what we’re getting from the trailer for Parker Finn’s forthcoming horror film “Smile.” The new trailer features plenty of creepy smiles and that hint at something deeply sinister.
Read More: “Shithouse” Leads The Winners Of This Year’s SXSW Film Festival Awards
“Smile” is being adapted from a 2020 short film by Parker Finn titled “Laura Hasn’t Slept.” The film garnered critical acclaim upon release and won the SXSW Film Festival’s special jury recognition Midnight Award.
Continue reading ‘Smile’ Trailer: Creepy Smiles Will Haunt Your Nightmares Starting In September at The Playlist.
Read More: “Shithouse” Leads The Winners Of This Year’s SXSW Film Festival Awards
“Smile” is being adapted from a 2020 short film by Parker Finn titled “Laura Hasn’t Slept.” The film garnered critical acclaim upon release and won the SXSW Film Festival’s special jury recognition Midnight Award.
Continue reading ‘Smile’ Trailer: Creepy Smiles Will Haunt Your Nightmares Starting In September at The Playlist.
- 6/22/2022
- by Rosa Martinez
- The Playlist
When Cooper Raiff pitched Dakota Johnson on a film about a college grad who’s great at starting bar and bat mitzvah parties but clueless about starting his adult life, she was immediately in.
There was just one problem: he didn’t have a script.
Still, the idea of “Cha Cha Real Smooth” – inspired by something his mom once told him about how raising his disabled sister had shaped her life – was strong enough for him to bluff his way through.
“I think I do the best work when I’m just entirely focused on writing one thing and telling people, ‘I can’t talk for two weeks because Dakota Johnson thinks I have a script I don’t have,’” Raiff joked in an interview with TheWrap.
In “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” which takes its name from the classic b’nei mitzvah bop, Andrew (Raiff) finds a kindred spirit in...
There was just one problem: he didn’t have a script.
Still, the idea of “Cha Cha Real Smooth” – inspired by something his mom once told him about how raising his disabled sister had shaped her life – was strong enough for him to bluff his way through.
“I think I do the best work when I’m just entirely focused on writing one thing and telling people, ‘I can’t talk for two weeks because Dakota Johnson thinks I have a script I don’t have,’” Raiff joked in an interview with TheWrap.
In “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” which takes its name from the classic b’nei mitzvah bop, Andrew (Raiff) finds a kindred spirit in...
- 6/21/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
Stars: Abby Quinn, Alexxis Lemire, Shiloh Fernandez, Katey Sagal, Joshua Leonard, Alon McKlveen | Written by Rachel Koller Croft | Directed by Brea Grant
Torn Hearts is actress Brea Grant’s follow-up to her directorial debut, 12 Hour Shift. Here she’s turned her attention to the music industry. And while genre films about the price of fame stretch from The Phantom of the Opera to The Phantom of the Paradise and The 27 Club most of them are set in the world of rock, and frequently heavy metal. The closest I can think to a county-themed one is the Faustian Southern Rock tale Dark Roads 79.
Torn Hearts is both the title of the film and the name of the musical act led by Jordan and Leigh. They’re desperate to go from popular in Nashville to the big time and it looks like they’re about to get their chance as an...
Torn Hearts is actress Brea Grant’s follow-up to her directorial debut, 12 Hour Shift. Here she’s turned her attention to the music industry. And while genre films about the price of fame stretch from The Phantom of the Opera to The Phantom of the Paradise and The 27 Club most of them are set in the world of rock, and frequently heavy metal. The closest I can think to a county-themed one is the Faustian Southern Rock tale Dark Roads 79.
Torn Hearts is both the title of the film and the name of the musical act led by Jordan and Leigh. They’re desperate to go from popular in Nashville to the big time and it looks like they’re about to get their chance as an...
- 5/25/2022
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Sundance winner “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” the sophomore project from indie writer-director Cooper Raiff, has unveiled its official trailer. The film stars Raiff and Dakota Johnson in an unconventional love story between a college graduate and a single mom.
The movie follows 22-year-old Andrew (played by Raiff), who’s fresh out of college and stuck at home with his family in New Jersey, with no clear life path. Andrew has no ambition and no real skills, except for one: he knows how to get a party started. This skill lands him the perfect job of motivational dancing at the bar and bat mitzvahs for his younger brother’s classmates. Things change for Andrew when he meets a local mother named Domino, played by Johnson. He befriends the mom and her daughter, Lola, and finally discovers a future he wants.
The cast is rounded out by Brad Garrett, Leslie Mann, Raúl Castillo,...
The movie follows 22-year-old Andrew (played by Raiff), who’s fresh out of college and stuck at home with his family in New Jersey, with no clear life path. Andrew has no ambition and no real skills, except for one: he knows how to get a party started. This skill lands him the perfect job of motivational dancing at the bar and bat mitzvahs for his younger brother’s classmates. Things change for Andrew when he meets a local mother named Domino, played by Johnson. He befriends the mom and her daughter, Lola, and finally discovers a future he wants.
The cast is rounded out by Brad Garrett, Leslie Mann, Raúl Castillo,...
- 5/12/2022
- by Angelique Jackson, Wilson Chapman and Carson Burton
- Variety Film + TV
You look up one day and realize that college is over, you've settled for a truly bad job, and you're going nowhere fast. Who among us can't relate to that exact sort of young adult ennui! Writer, director, and actor Cooper Raiff takes direct aim at this profound sense of listlessness with "Cha Cha Real Smooth," fresh off of receiving critical acclaim with his feature debut "Shithouse" in 2020.
"Cha Cha Real Smooth" already made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where /Film's Ben Pearson reviewed it in extremely positive terms:
"Cha Cha Real Smooth" might feel formulaic to those who have...
The post Cha Cha Real Smooth Trailer: Dakota Johnson Stars In Cooper Raiff's Rom-Com Sundance Darling appeared first on /Film.
"Cha Cha Real Smooth" already made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where /Film's Ben Pearson reviewed it in extremely positive terms:
"Cha Cha Real Smooth" might feel formulaic to those who have...
The post Cha Cha Real Smooth Trailer: Dakota Johnson Stars In Cooper Raiff's Rom-Com Sundance Darling appeared first on /Film.
- 5/12/2022
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
"I'm having more fun now than I did the whole night." Apple has revealed the official trailer for Cha Cha Real Smooth, the third feature from talented young filmmaker Cooper Raiff, following his breakout hit Shithouse from a few years ago. This indie dramedy premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it earned rave reviews from many critics and ended up winning the coveted Audience Award prize. A young man who works as a Bar Mitzvah party host strikes up a friendship with a mother and her autistic daughter. As he gets closer to her, he learns everything doesn't always go as hoped. Cooper Raiff writes, directs & stars with Dakota Johnson, Brad Garrett, Leslie Mann, and newcomers Vanessa Burghardt and Evan Assante in this tale of unconventional love that brims with emotional honesty. Not my favorite film from Sundance but it's really sweet and brutally honest in a very moving way.
- 5/12/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
In 2021, Apple acquired a crowd-pleasing indie film at Sundance with “Coda,” released it during the summer, and mounted an Oscar campaign that ultimately delivered it the trophy for Best Picture. Could the tech giant be looking to repeat that cycle with its latest buzzy acquisition? Based on the festival response and summer release date for “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” whose first trailer dropped today, this film could have similar appeal on Apple TV+.
The film stars Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann, Cooper Raiff, Brad Garrett, Evan Assante, Vanessa Burghardt, Raul Castillo, and Colton Osorio. “Cha Cha” tells the story of a young bar mitzvah party starter (Raiff) who falls in love with a single mother (Dakota Johnson) of a disabled child.
“Cha Cha Real Smooth” was written and directed by wunderkind filmmaker Raiff, his second effort behind the camera following his 2020 SXSW breakout “Shithouse.” His first film made enough of an...
The film stars Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann, Cooper Raiff, Brad Garrett, Evan Assante, Vanessa Burghardt, Raul Castillo, and Colton Osorio. “Cha Cha” tells the story of a young bar mitzvah party starter (Raiff) who falls in love with a single mother (Dakota Johnson) of a disabled child.
“Cha Cha Real Smooth” was written and directed by wunderkind filmmaker Raiff, his second effort behind the camera following his 2020 SXSW breakout “Shithouse.” His first film made enough of an...
- 5/12/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Is Cooper Raiff the Millenial Richard Linklater? It’s a little too early to tell (and no one is anyone’s anything when it comes to those kinds of comparisons), but Raiff is without a doubt a filmmaker to watch. If his debut “Shithouse” winning the Best Narrative Feature prize at SXSW 2020 didn’t get people’s attention, his latest film’s Audience Award at Sundance this year certainly did.
Read More: ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Review: Cooper Raiff Gets The Party Started In His Super-Charming, Bittersweet Sophomore Drama [Sundance]
Now, it’s time for that film to hit the public, courtesy of Apple TV+.
Continue reading ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Trailer: Cooper Raiff’s Charming Sophomore Dramedy With Dakota Johnson Hits Apple TV+ On June 17 at The Playlist.
Read More: ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Review: Cooper Raiff Gets The Party Started In His Super-Charming, Bittersweet Sophomore Drama [Sundance]
Now, it’s time for that film to hit the public, courtesy of Apple TV+.
Continue reading ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Trailer: Cooper Raiff’s Charming Sophomore Dramedy With Dakota Johnson Hits Apple TV+ On June 17 at The Playlist.
- 5/12/2022
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
On the May 10, 2022 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editor Ben Pearson is joined by editor Brad Oman to gather around the virtual water cooler and talk about what they've been up to.
Opening Banter:
At The Water Cooler:
What we've been Doing: What we've been Reading:
Brad has been reading That's All Folks: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation
What we've been Watching:
Brad watched Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Ambulance, Shithouse, I Love You Philip Morris, Paddington and Paddington 2
Ben saw Doctor Strange 2, and has been watching Atlanta, Stanley...
The post Daily Podcast: Mini-Water Cooler: Ambulance, Doctor Strange 2, Flight of the Conchords, and More appeared first on /Film.
Opening Banter:
At The Water Cooler:
What we've been Doing: What we've been Reading:
Brad has been reading That's All Folks: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation
What we've been Watching:
Brad watched Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Ambulance, Shithouse, I Love You Philip Morris, Paddington and Paddington 2
Ben saw Doctor Strange 2, and has been watching Atlanta, Stanley...
The post Daily Podcast: Mini-Water Cooler: Ambulance, Doctor Strange 2, Flight of the Conchords, and More appeared first on /Film.
- 5/10/2022
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
Following his SXSW winner Shithouse and Sundance winner Cha Cha Real Smooth, the latter of which was picked up for a June release by Apple TV+ to the tune of 15 million, director Cooper Raiff has now found his next project.
The director, who turns 25 this year, will helm The Trashers, a new drama scripted by Adam R. Perlman (Billions) set to star David Harbour. The film will tell the rise and fall of Jimmy Galante (Harbour), a Danbury, Connecticut trash magnate and the purported inspiration for the character of Tony Soprano. In 2004, Galante bought the city’s minor league hockey team and assigned his teenage son to run it. The team gained notoriety for their rough and violent style of play, but also developed a wide fan base as they started to win more and more games. The team’s success and fame all came to an abrupt end with...
The director, who turns 25 this year, will helm The Trashers, a new drama scripted by Adam R. Perlman (Billions) set to star David Harbour. The film will tell the rise and fall of Jimmy Galante (Harbour), a Danbury, Connecticut trash magnate and the purported inspiration for the character of Tony Soprano. In 2004, Galante bought the city’s minor league hockey team and assigned his teenage son to run it. The team gained notoriety for their rough and violent style of play, but also developed a wide fan base as they started to win more and more games. The team’s success and fame all came to an abrupt end with...
- 4/26/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Two years removed from his debut film Shithouse winning the top prize at SXSW the year that fest became the first one canceled by the Covid pandemic, writer-director Cooper Raiff finally will get his moment to take a bow in Austin.
Apple, which acquired Raiff’s Sundance Audience Award-winning follow-up Cha Cha Real Smooth for $15 million, has set that film as one of five titles that the streamer will send to SXSW. Cha Cha Real Smooth will get a SXSW screening Friday, March 18, followed by a conversation with the cast and filmmakers. The cast didn’t have the ability to do that in January when Sundance went virtual because of the Omicron spike.
Sundance Review: Dakota Johnson And Writer/Director/Star Cooper Raiff In ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’
“It’s so exciting to be able to add two wonderful new titles to the lineup for the 2022 Film Festival as...
Apple, which acquired Raiff’s Sundance Audience Award-winning follow-up Cha Cha Real Smooth for $15 million, has set that film as one of five titles that the streamer will send to SXSW. Cha Cha Real Smooth will get a SXSW screening Friday, March 18, followed by a conversation with the cast and filmmakers. The cast didn’t have the ability to do that in January when Sundance went virtual because of the Omicron spike.
Sundance Review: Dakota Johnson And Writer/Director/Star Cooper Raiff In ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’
“It’s so exciting to be able to add two wonderful new titles to the lineup for the 2022 Film Festival as...
- 2/16/2022
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
If you like your cinema to come with positive energy, you'll feel as charged as a Duracell bunny after spending time in the company of Cooper Raiff's Cha Cha Real Smooth, although some may find the writer/director's "it's nice to be nice" screenwriting mantra gets into overkill (or should that be overcuddle?) territory in places.
Raiff - who still hasn't quite got the hang of titles after his debut Shithouse (renamed as the rather more anodyne Freshman Year) - also stars as Andrew, a recent graduate who, like so many before him, has entered the move-back-home-dead-end-job limbo between schooling and whatever comes next. The unlikeliest of prospects springs up on the night he takes his younger bro David (Evan Assante) to a bat mitzvah, where his charm with the youngsters and ability to get them on the dancefloor makes him an instant hit with the parents and gets him hired as.
Raiff - who still hasn't quite got the hang of titles after his debut Shithouse (renamed as the rather more anodyne Freshman Year) - also stars as Andrew, a recent graduate who, like so many before him, has entered the move-back-home-dead-end-job limbo between schooling and whatever comes next. The unlikeliest of prospects springs up on the night he takes his younger bro David (Evan Assante) to a bat mitzvah, where his charm with the youngsters and ability to get them on the dancefloor makes him an instant hit with the parents and gets him hired as.
- 2/10/2022
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
With Sundance going virtual for the second year in a row, audiences could once again explore the lineup from around the world, including accredited critics and journalists. This year, 135 of them participated in IndieWire’s annual Sundance critics survey of the best films at the festival, and the results speak to the range of movies that stood out in this year’s lineup.
While several films from the festival have yet to secure distribution, the ones with the most support in our survey found it over the past two weeks, suggesting that buyers and critics saw eye to eye this year. “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” the sophomore effort from 24-year-old filmmaker Cooper Raiff, dominated the survey in the categories of Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. The movie marks Raiff’s second in two years, following his 2020 debut “Shithouse,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW.
In “Cha Cha Real Smooth,...
While several films from the festival have yet to secure distribution, the ones with the most support in our survey found it over the past two weeks, suggesting that buyers and critics saw eye to eye this year. “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” the sophomore effort from 24-year-old filmmaker Cooper Raiff, dominated the survey in the categories of Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. The movie marks Raiff’s second in two years, following his 2020 debut “Shithouse,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW.
In “Cha Cha Real Smooth,...
- 2/1/2022
- by Eric Kohn and Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
In today’s streaming-first landscape, every acquisitions deal demanded an answer to the same question: How will your movie cut through the noise for audiences faced with an endless number of all-you-can-eat content buffets?
From Netflix and Apple to IFC Films and Sony Pictures Classics, each of the 19 acquisitions out of the festival revealed much about how distributors will chart their paths in an industry that’s never felt more upside down. Here’s a look at how some of the biggest deals out of Sundance illuminate the murky path in the future of entertainment.
Apple looks for love with “Cha Cha Real Smooth”
Apple has long fancied itself as the socially responsible, creative face of consumerism. With nearly $200 billion in cash on hand, opportunistic festival acquisitions have become a favorite way to show it. This year, it was Cooper Raiff’s sophomore feature “Cha Cha Real Smooth.” The $15 million...
From Netflix and Apple to IFC Films and Sony Pictures Classics, each of the 19 acquisitions out of the festival revealed much about how distributors will chart their paths in an industry that’s never felt more upside down. Here’s a look at how some of the biggest deals out of Sundance illuminate the murky path in the future of entertainment.
Apple looks for love with “Cha Cha Real Smooth”
Apple has long fancied itself as the socially responsible, creative face of consumerism. With nearly $200 billion in cash on hand, opportunistic festival acquisitions have become a favorite way to show it. This year, it was Cooper Raiff’s sophomore feature “Cha Cha Real Smooth.” The $15 million...
- 2/1/2022
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
As this year’s Sundance Film Festival comes to a close, the mostly virtual event introduced a hefty number of films worth getting excited about beyond the festival. The hope was this year would have marked a return to an in-person Sundance, but this year’s festival still played home to a wide variety of wonderful films.
From new works from some of our favorite filmmakers to rising stars making their debuts, our favorites include the latest from SXSW winner Cooper Raiff (the charming “Cha Cha Real Smooth”), Aubrey Plaza’s latest leading-lady evolution (“Emily the Criminal”), a pair of character-centric dramedies starring some of our greatest living actors, provocative documentaries, the inevitable Kanye West deep dive (“jeen-yuhs”), and at least one movie about a very big egg and the girl that loves it.
At publication, a number of these films have already been picked up for distribution; some even have release dates ready.
From new works from some of our favorite filmmakers to rising stars making their debuts, our favorites include the latest from SXSW winner Cooper Raiff (the charming “Cha Cha Real Smooth”), Aubrey Plaza’s latest leading-lady evolution (“Emily the Criminal”), a pair of character-centric dramedies starring some of our greatest living actors, provocative documentaries, the inevitable Kanye West deep dive (“jeen-yuhs”), and at least one movie about a very big egg and the girl that loves it.
At publication, a number of these films have already been picked up for distribution; some even have release dates ready.
- 1/29/2022
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Apple TV+ has picked up the worldwide rights to one of the titles from the Sundance Film Festival that you've likely at least heard the name of: "Cha Cha Real Smooth." Our own Ben Pearson gave the film a smashing review at the festival. This one comes to us from writer/director/producer/star (whew!) Cooper Raiff whose first feature, "Shithouse," was the Grand Jury Prize Winner at the SXSW Film Festival in 2020. This is only his second film.
"Cha Cha Real Smooth" stars Raiff, Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann, Brad Garrett, Evan Assante, and Vanessa Burghardt. "Cha Cha Real Smooth" is the story of a young...
The post Sundance Hit Cha Cha Real Smooth, Starring Dakota Johnson, Acquired by Apple TV+ appeared first on /Film.
"Cha Cha Real Smooth" stars Raiff, Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann, Brad Garrett, Evan Assante, and Vanessa Burghardt. "Cha Cha Real Smooth" is the story of a young...
The post Sundance Hit Cha Cha Real Smooth, Starring Dakota Johnson, Acquired by Apple TV+ appeared first on /Film.
- 1/29/2022
- by Jenna Busch
- Slash Film
The virtual Sundance Film Festival concluded with a virtual awards show — no host this year, just a series of statements and videos parceled out across two hours by Twitter. It was a strangely anti-climactic way of wrapping a low-key festival, while giving winners a chance to prep polite, crew-inclusive acceptance speeches.
Among the audience prizes, U.S. Dramatic winner “Cha Cha Real Smooth” represents the biggest sale of the festival so far, scooped up by Apple for $15 million — 1,000 times the budget of writer-director-star Cooper Raiff’s shoestring-budgeted debut, “Shithouse.”
The Festival Favorite award went to “Navalny.” This prize, selected by audiences from across all sections of the festival, recognizes a late addition to the lineup (“Navalny” was not announced until this past Monday), protected on account of its political sensitivity, as the documentary tracks Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny while he was recovering from an assassination attempt in Berlin. Accepting the honor,...
Among the audience prizes, U.S. Dramatic winner “Cha Cha Real Smooth” represents the biggest sale of the festival so far, scooped up by Apple for $15 million — 1,000 times the budget of writer-director-star Cooper Raiff’s shoestring-budgeted debut, “Shithouse.”
The Festival Favorite award went to “Navalny.” This prize, selected by audiences from across all sections of the festival, recognizes a late addition to the lineup (“Navalny” was not announced until this past Monday), protected on account of its political sensitivity, as the documentary tracks Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny while he was recovering from an assassination attempt in Berlin. Accepting the honor,...
- 1/28/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
The big sale — to Apple for a reported $15 million — of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, Cha Cha Real Smooth is writer, director and lead actor Cooper Raiff’s follow-up to his 2020 debut, Shithouse. Again essaying a twentysomething young man navigating the indeterminate period before real life and real romance takes hold, Cha Cha Real Smooth finds Raiff’s character, Andrew, working a dead-end fast-food job while working side gigs as a bar mitzvah party starter and babysitter. When he demonstrates a rapport with a 12-year-old autistic girl (Vanessa Burghardt), her mother, Domino (played by Dakota Johnson, also a […]
The post “I Do Take Pride in the Fact that All of the Parties Feel Authentic and Accurate”: Jessica Switch on Producing the Sundance Comedy/Drama, Cha Cha Real Smooth first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Do Take Pride in the Fact that All of the Parties Feel Authentic and Accurate”: Jessica Switch on Producing the Sundance Comedy/Drama, Cha Cha Real Smooth first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/28/2022
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The big sale — to Apple for a reported $15 million — of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, Cha Cha Real Smooth is writer, director and lead actor Cooper Raiff’s follow-up to his 2020 debut, Shithouse. Again essaying a twentysomething young man navigating the indeterminate period before real life and real romance takes hold, Cha Cha Real Smooth finds Raiff’s character, Andrew, working a dead-end fast-food job while working side gigs as a bar mitzvah party starter and babysitter. When he demonstrates a rapport with a 12-year-old autistic girl (Vanessa Burghardt), her mother, Domino (played by Dakota Johnson, also a […]
The post “I Do Take Pride in the Fact that All of the Parties Feel Authentic and Accurate”: Jessica Switch on Producing the Sundance Comedy/Drama, Cha Cha Real Smooth first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Do Take Pride in the Fact that All of the Parties Feel Authentic and Accurate”: Jessica Switch on Producing the Sundance Comedy/Drama, Cha Cha Real Smooth first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/28/2022
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The film is directed by Cooper Raiff, who also stars alongside Dakota Johnson.
Apple has acquired worldwide rights to Cooper Raiff’s Sundance title Cha Cha Real Smooth, in a deal worth a reported $15m, making it the bigges so far at this year’s virtual festival.
The film premiered in the US dramatic competition and stars Raiff as an aimless college student who befriends a young mother played by Dakota Johnson. The cast also includes Leslie Mann, Vanessa Burghardt, Evan Assante, Brad Garett, Raúl Castillo, and Odeya Rush.
Raiff wrote the script and produced alongside Johnson, Ro Donnelly, Erik Feig and Jessica Switch.
Apple has acquired worldwide rights to Cooper Raiff’s Sundance title Cha Cha Real Smooth, in a deal worth a reported $15m, making it the bigges so far at this year’s virtual festival.
The film premiered in the US dramatic competition and stars Raiff as an aimless college student who befriends a young mother played by Dakota Johnson. The cast also includes Leslie Mann, Vanessa Burghardt, Evan Assante, Brad Garett, Raúl Castillo, and Odeya Rush.
Raiff wrote the script and produced alongside Johnson, Ro Donnelly, Erik Feig and Jessica Switch.
- 1/27/2022
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Apple has closed the biggest deal of the 2022 Virtual Sundance Film Festival, securing worldwide rights to the Cooper Raiff-directed Cha Cha Real Smooth for around $15 million. The streamer has been the front runner for the picture since it premiered January 23 in the US Dramatic Competition category.
Pic is Raiff’s followup to his 2020 SXSW Grand Jury Prize–winning debut feature Shithouse. He plays a directionless college graduate in New Jersey who gets over his head in a relationship with a young mom and her autistic teenage daughter, as he works a job party-starting bar and bat mitzvahs of his younger brother’s classmates. Co-financed by Picturestart and Endeavor Content, the pic is a real crowd pleaser. It stars Raiff, Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann, Brad Garrett, Vanessa Burghardt, Raul Castillo and Evan Assante.
Raiff wrote the script and he produced with Johnson, Ro Donnelly, Erik Feig and Jessica Switch. The exec producers are Jeff Valeri,...
Pic is Raiff’s followup to his 2020 SXSW Grand Jury Prize–winning debut feature Shithouse. He plays a directionless college graduate in New Jersey who gets over his head in a relationship with a young mom and her autistic teenage daughter, as he works a job party-starting bar and bat mitzvahs of his younger brother’s classmates. Co-financed by Picturestart and Endeavor Content, the pic is a real crowd pleaser. It stars Raiff, Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann, Brad Garrett, Vanessa Burghardt, Raul Castillo and Evan Assante.
Raiff wrote the script and he produced with Johnson, Ro Donnelly, Erik Feig and Jessica Switch. The exec producers are Jeff Valeri,...
- 1/27/2022
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Cooper Raiff’s “Cha Cha Real Smooth” is officially dancing to Apple TV Plus. The tech giant has nabbed the second feature from the heat-seeking director out of this year’s virtual edition of the Sundance Film Festival.
Apple emerged victorious from a competitive bidding situation that attracted Netflix, Amazon and Sony Pictures as potential buyers.
The deal was brokered by ICM Partners, WME and Endeavor Content. It closed close to $15 million, an individual familiar with the talks stated.
“Cha Cha Real Smooth” stars Raiff as a recent graduate working as a bar mitzvah hype man. While on the job, he strikes up a unique friendship with a young mother (Dakota Johnson) and her teenage daughter (Vanessa Burghardt). Leslie Mann, Evan Assante, Raúl Castillo and Odeya Rush fill out the ensemble.
Erik Feig’s PictureStart and Johnson and Ro Donnelly’s TeaTime Pictures produced the film alongside Endeavor Content. The...
Apple emerged victorious from a competitive bidding situation that attracted Netflix, Amazon and Sony Pictures as potential buyers.
The deal was brokered by ICM Partners, WME and Endeavor Content. It closed close to $15 million, an individual familiar with the talks stated.
“Cha Cha Real Smooth” stars Raiff as a recent graduate working as a bar mitzvah hype man. While on the job, he strikes up a unique friendship with a young mother (Dakota Johnson) and her teenage daughter (Vanessa Burghardt). Leslie Mann, Evan Assante, Raúl Castillo and Odeya Rush fill out the ensemble.
Erik Feig’s PictureStart and Johnson and Ro Donnelly’s TeaTime Pictures produced the film alongside Endeavor Content. The...
- 1/27/2022
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Inspired by indie stalwarts like the Duplass Brothers, writer/director/producer/star Cooper Raiff crafts a low-key, personality-driven hit with "Cha Cha Real Smooth," a fun, largely playful romantic-comedy which also uses melancholy to great effect. Raiff's first feature, "Shithouse," won the top prize at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival, and his sophomore effort is another crowd-pleaser which establishes him as a welcome voice on the indie scene.
Fresh out of college, 22-year-old Andrew (Raiff) is back in his hometown, working a dead-end job at a fast food joint and living with his family — his bipolar mom (Leslie...
The post Cha Cha Real Smooth Review: Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson Star in This Ultra-Charming Modern Rom-Com [Sundance 2022] appeared first on /Film.
Fresh out of college, 22-year-old Andrew (Raiff) is back in his hometown, working a dead-end job at a fast food joint and living with his family — his bipolar mom (Leslie...
The post Cha Cha Real Smooth Review: Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson Star in This Ultra-Charming Modern Rom-Com [Sundance 2022] appeared first on /Film.
- 1/24/2022
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
It’s not exactly cool to be the nice guy these days, but Cooper Raiff is making a good case for them again. In each of the 24-year-old’s first two movies, his sensible zoomer characters have the gift of being goofy, innocent, and naive. They wear their kind and confident hearts on their sleeves, even if they often breach the comfortable boundaries of social norms. Mostly they are empathetic, rid of the toxicity that makes vulnerable young men—and the movies they star in—sour and one-dimensional. That this young and perceptive writer-director is so emotionally honest only elevates the entirety of his humble, charming, crowd-pleasing work.
Raiff established this reputation in his breakout debut Shithouse, a college rom-com that won the top award at SXSW in 2020. Its Richard Linklater-inspired, walk-and-talk ethos supplemented Raiff’s authenticity and anxieties about the transition from home to college and struggles of...
Raiff established this reputation in his breakout debut Shithouse, a college rom-com that won the top award at SXSW in 2020. Its Richard Linklater-inspired, walk-and-talk ethos supplemented Raiff’s authenticity and anxieties about the transition from home to college and struggles of...
- 1/24/2022
- by Jake Kring-Schreifels
- The Film Stage
In 2020, the SXSW Film Festival was taken by storm by 23-year-old wunderkind filmmaker Cooper Raiff, who starred in, wrote, and directed “S#!%house,” a disarmingly funny and tender coming-of-age story about the connection that develops between a sensitive, lonely freshman, homesick and struggling at college, and a slightly-older sophomore that attends his school (that film bore shades of Richard Linklater indie-flavored meet-cutes). Having won the top prize at SXSW that year, Raiff now returns with “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” an endlessly charming, equally sensitive, bittersweet follow-up that proves he’s no one-hit-wonder.
Continue reading ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Review: Cooper Raiff Gets The Party Started In His Super-Charming, Bittersweet Sophomore Drama [Sundance] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Review: Cooper Raiff Gets The Party Started In His Super-Charming, Bittersweet Sophomore Drama [Sundance] at The Playlist.
- 1/24/2022
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
Interest swirling on ’Nothing Compares’, ’Good Luck To You, Leo Grande’, ’Cha Cha Real Smooth’, ’Honk For Jesus’.
National Geographic Documentary Films has made the first two acquisition plays of Sundance 2022 and swooped on much-fancied Fire Of Love and The Territory as interest continued to coalesce around a number of other opening weekend premieres.
Sources said the worldwide deal for Fire Of Love fell in the mid-seven-figure range. Sara Dosa’s U.S. Documentary Competition entry premiered on Day One (20) and streamers, studios and speciality distributors were in swift pursuit before it was confirmed on Sunday morning that Submarine had...
National Geographic Documentary Films has made the first two acquisition plays of Sundance 2022 and swooped on much-fancied Fire Of Love and The Territory as interest continued to coalesce around a number of other opening weekend premieres.
Sources said the worldwide deal for Fire Of Love fell in the mid-seven-figure range. Sara Dosa’s U.S. Documentary Competition entry premiered on Day One (20) and streamers, studios and speciality distributors were in swift pursuit before it was confirmed on Sunday morning that Submarine had...
- 1/24/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
With a promising start with his first film Shithouse for which he starred, directed and wrote and won the Grand Jury Narrative Prize at SXSW, Cooper Raiff looms now also to be one of the breakouts of this year’s Sundance Film Festival where Cha Cha Real Smooth, his small but splendid second film for which he performs the same triple threat duties debuted Sunday as part of the Dramatic Competition lineup. I can only imagine if the festival had managed to be in person as originally planned rather than virtual in this Omicron-stricken year it would be met with a massive standing ovation. Raiff is bound to become an indie darling as if further proof was needed, but Cha Cha Real Smooth cements him as the real deal both in front of and behind the camera.
In the wake of Ted Lasso hitting the zeitgeist by centering on a...
In the wake of Ted Lasso hitting the zeitgeist by centering on a...
- 1/23/2022
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
He’s a cha cha real smooth talker. He’s 22, tall and handsome with a beard, but not a scruffy hipster beard — more like a post-millennial, post-ironic traditional beard, which sets off features that are finely chiseled in a Middle American corporate way. He’s just out of college but has no idea what he wants to do. He’s a Zoomer spinning his wheels, part of a tradition of aimless rebel slackers that stretches back to “The Graduate.” He’s sincere but a bit smarmy, a “nice guy” who knows how to use his sincerity. He is, of course, good with the ladies, maybe a little too good, which is why he attracts the amorous attentions of a mother he meets at a bat mitzvah, played by Dakota Johnson. And he’s got problems, but they’re sort of white people problems. You could call them old-school indie-film problems.
- 1/23/2022
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
I suppose there are some people who might have an allergic reaction to the comfortably uncool movies of Cooper Raiff — some people who might stiffen up whenever his low-key indie charmers offer a supportive hug and remind you that we’re all just doing our best — but every life-sized beat of the 24-year-old’s first two features has struck me as wry and true in a way that makes the stories around them feel all the more honest for their empathy. If that would be a promising start under any circumstances, it’s an especially nifty magic trick at a time when the world is fucked to a degree that anything nice seems like it must be lying to you somehow.
Drawing from Richard Linklater and mentored by Jay Duplass, Raiff’s SXSW-winning “Shithouse” is the softest rom-com you’ll ever see about a homesick college freshman who can’t...
Drawing from Richard Linklater and mentored by Jay Duplass, Raiff’s SXSW-winning “Shithouse” is the softest rom-com you’ll ever see about a homesick college freshman who can’t...
- 1/23/2022
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Cooper Raiff can’t seem to catch a break from Covid. A hyphenate who comes into Sundance with one of the buzziest acquisitions titles in Cha Cha Real Smooth, Raiff is coming off the debut Shithouse — it’s more thoughtful than it sounds — that won the Grand Jury Prize at 2020 SXSW. Unfortunately, it was also the first major festival forced to cancel in-person events by Austin when Covid exploded. Raiff has made another charming confused young man comes of age film that he wrote, directed, produced and starred in. And now has run smack into Covid Delta’s sequel, Omicron. Which means he’ll keep intact his festival streak of being unable to experience his film playing in a crowded theater, a disadvantage since he makes crowd-pleasing films. The film, which stars Raiff, Dakota Johnson, Leslie Mann, Brad Garrett, Vanessa Burghardt and Evan Assante, makes its virtual Sundance debut tomorrow.
- 1/22/2022
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
For their 2022 edition, the Sundance Film Festival has once again adapted to the ever-shifting pandemic landscape. Having recently scrapping their in-person plans, they’ve shifted to a virtual-only lineup that will begin this Thursday and last through January 30, offering the first glimpse at the year in cinema.
We’ll have extensive coverage from the festival (which one can follow here or on Twitter). Before reviews arrive, we’re highlighting the premieres that should be on your radar. If you’re interested in experiencing Sundance from home, one can see available tickets here.
2nd Chance (Ramin Bahrani)
As his early films exuded a documentary-like approach to riveting character studies, it’s not surprising that Ramin Bahrani’s first fully fledged non-fiction feature is a wildly entertaining look at a complicated figure. 2nd Chance explores the life and career ambitions of Richard Davis, a pizzeria owner who built a bulletproof-vest empire. Full of twists,...
We’ll have extensive coverage from the festival (which one can follow here or on Twitter). Before reviews arrive, we’re highlighting the premieres that should be on your radar. If you’re interested in experiencing Sundance from home, one can see available tickets here.
2nd Chance (Ramin Bahrani)
As his early films exuded a documentary-like approach to riveting character studies, it’s not surprising that Ramin Bahrani’s first fully fledged non-fiction feature is a wildly entertaining look at a complicated figure. 2nd Chance explores the life and career ambitions of Richard Davis, a pizzeria owner who built a bulletproof-vest empire. Full of twists,...
- 1/18/2022
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Variety recognized “No Time to Die” maestro Cary Joji Fukunaga’s potential on the strength of his debut, “Sin Nombre.” Wes Anderson caught our eye with “Bottle Rocket.” And “Red Rocket” director Sean Baker made the cut the year “Tangerine” took Sundance by storm. Other distinguished alumni of Variety’s annual 10 Directors to Watch program include “The Green Knight” helmer David Lowery, Palme d’Or winner Julia Ducournau (“Titane”) and “Bergman Island” auteur Mia Hansen-Løve.
And now, on the strength of that track record, Variety announces 10 more helmers with sterling futures ahead: the class of 2022, to be profiled in full with the first print edition of the new year.
It’s a decidedly forward-looking — and female-driven — group of visionaries this time around, spanning genres, languages and a wide variety of backgrounds.
Just two of the 10 directors are men. Only four of the films have already premiered to the world at...
And now, on the strength of that track record, Variety announces 10 more helmers with sterling futures ahead: the class of 2022, to be profiled in full with the first print edition of the new year.
It’s a decidedly forward-looking — and female-driven — group of visionaries this time around, spanning genres, languages and a wide variety of backgrounds.
Just two of the 10 directors are men. Only four of the films have already premiered to the world at...
- 11/22/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Pandemic year could have been a disaster for Cooper Raiff as his debut was to premiere during SXSW but then got kiboshed due to the Wuhan stuff. Well, his debut Shithouse would go onto win the Grand Jury Prize with the jury still in their peejays, and it would play especially well when IFC Films released the film in October ’20. Critics took notice, but so did the industry and it parlayed into a second outing titled Cha Cha Real Smooth which went into production this summer. Raiff once again plays multi roles – moving in front and behind the camera with Dakota Johnson in the co-lead and Leslie Mann and Raúl Castillo playing supporting players.…...
- 11/22/2021
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Exclusive: Cooper Raiff is set to direct, and 30West to finance The Trashers, a drama based on the true story of a Connecticut-based businessman who bought the city’s minor-league hockey team in 2004 and assigned his teenage son to run it. The team’s unexpected rise ended when the teen’s father, Jimmy Galante, was arrested on 72 criminal charges. The hockey saga is profiled in an episode of Netflix’s new docuseries Untold.
Raiff, whose directorial debut Shithouse won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature (it’s much better than the title indicates), will direct from a script by Adam R. Perlman (Billions), with current revisions by Raiff. They’ll drop the puck on this one and start production in the first half of 2022.
Raiff is currently in production on PictureStart’s Cha Cha Real Smooth which he wrote, directs, and co-stars in alongside Dakota Johnson and Leslie Mann.
Raiff, whose directorial debut Shithouse won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature (it’s much better than the title indicates), will direct from a script by Adam R. Perlman (Billions), with current revisions by Raiff. They’ll drop the puck on this one and start production in the first half of 2022.
Raiff is currently in production on PictureStart’s Cha Cha Real Smooth which he wrote, directs, and co-stars in alongside Dakota Johnson and Leslie Mann.
- 8/25/2021
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
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