Disney made several announcements today at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival about upcoming releases, STRANGE WORLD, BAYMAX! and ZOOTOPIA+!

STRANGE WORLD

The studio revealed key members of the voice cast joining previously announced actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal lends his voice to Searcher Clade, a farmer who finds himself thrust into an adventure in a strange world. He is joined by an all-star cast, including: 

• Dennis Quaid as Jaeger Clade, Searcher’s larger-than-life explorer father 
• Jaboukie Young-White as Ethan Clade, Searcher’s 16 year-old son who longs for adventure beyond his father’s farm while also navigating a school crush
• Gabrielle Union as Meridian Clade, a pilot and natural leader, mom to Ethan, and wife of Searcher 
• Lucy Liu as Callisto Mal, the head of the land of Avalonia and the leader of the exploration into the strange world 

Within the Disney Animation presentation, Oscar-winning filmmaker and Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee received the Festival’s Honorary Cristal Award, from Annecy Festival Artistic Director Marcel Jean. In her remarks to the audience, Lee thanked the festival and all of those at Disney Animation. “We look ahead, together,” she said. “The ‘we’ is more important than ever as our studio can only truly shine when everyone feels welcome, feels the pride and responsibility of our legacy, and feels inspired to create, together.” 

Lastly, two-time Academy Award® winner and President of Disney Animation, Clark Spencer, surprised the audience with world premieres of episodes from Disney Animation’s first-ever series, “Baymax!” which releases June 29 on Disney+, and “Zootopia+,” which Spencer announced would debut on Disney+ November 9, 2022. 

“Baymax!” returns to the fantastical city of San Fransokyo where the affable, inflatable, inimitable healthcare companion, Baymax (voice of Scott Adsit), sets out to do what he was programmed to do: help others. Zootopia+ heads back to the fast-paced mammal metropolis of Zootopia in a short-form series that dives deeper into the lives of some of the feature film’s most intriguing characters, including Fru Fru, the newly married arctic shrew; Gazelle’s talented tiger dancers; and the sloth full of surprises, Flash. 

(Photo credit: Disney)

Prime Video have just announced today that THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER will have its own Panel at San Diego Comic Con this Summer! For the first time, the world will meet the international team of Actors who will bring J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Second Age to life!

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is led by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay and stars a celebrated cast led by Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.

Joining Payne & McKay are executive producers Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, J.A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond, and Sharon Tal Yguado, as well as producers Ron Ames and Christopher Newman. Wayne Che Yip is co-executive producer and directs, along with J.A. Bayona and Charlotte Brändström.

The multi-season drama will premiere in multiple languages and in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide on Friday, September 2, 2022 exclusively on Prime Video, with new episodes available weekly.

(Photo credit: Prime Video Canada)

IMMERSIVE KING TUT: MAGIC JOURNEY TO THE LIGHT arrives in Toronto August 10, 2022! This is the latest from Lighthouse Immersive who brought us the Van Gogh, Kahlo and Klimt exhibits at One Yonge Street.

The Exhibit uses stunning visuals to tell the story of the Amduat, animportant ancient Egyptian funerary text, thought to be the oldest known illustrated story, that was depicted on the tombs of pharaohs. State-of-the-art video mapping and ground-breaking animation bring to life the story of King Tut’s passage into the afterlife as he escorts the sun through the underworld each night to rise again victoriously each morning. Mexico City-based Cocolab created the fantastical animations integrating breathtaking images acquired by UEG and IFFDA through their 30-year history of presenting spectacular touring exhibitions including those honoring King Tut and ancient Egyptian civilization. 

MMERSIVE KING TUT: MAGIC JOURNEY TO THE LIGHT was designed by the acclaimed creative team at Cocolab in Mexico City.  The project is headed by César Moheno-Pla, with original music by Edi Kistler and art direction by Renata Galindo.

After its Toronto run, the Exhibit is confirmed for five other North American cities in 2022, with more to be announced soon. Tickets, which start at $29.99, are available beginning today at immersive-kingtut.com.

Ana de Armas stars as Marilyn Monroe in BLONDE! See the stunning new Teaser Trailer.

Synopsis:
Based on the bestselling novel by Joyce Carol Oates, Blonde boldly reimagines the life of one of Hollywood’s most enduring icons, Marilyn Monroe. From her volatile childhood as Norma Jeane, through her rise to stardom and romantic entanglements, Blonde blurs the lines of fact and fiction to explore the widening split between her public and private selves. Written and directed by Andrew Dominik, the film boasts a cast led by Ana de Armas and featuring Bobby Cannavale, Adrien Brody, Julianne Nicholson, Xavier Samuel and Evan Williams.

 Netflix release BLONDE September 23, 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)

We miss Jean-Marc Vallée so much and it helps that a Documentary is in development by Marie-Julie Dallaire, to help us remember his incredible talent and body of work.

Details:

ITEM 7 is pleased to announce that a feature-length documentary on the life and career of Jean-Marc Vallée is in the works. Produced by Pierre Even and directed by Marie-Julie Dallaire, the film will benefit from the support and participation of the family of the late Canadian filmmaker, his sons Alex and Émile Vallée and their mother Chantal Cadieux. Made up of archives and original footage, this film will allow the audience to spend time with Jean-Marc Vallée, this sensitive filmmaker whose intensity left no one indifferent.  

“Jean-Marc and I became friends at the release of C.R.A.Z.Y.. His sudden departure leaves me without words. Yet I feel the need to express my love and gratitude to him loud and clear. CUT PRINT THANK YOU BYE will be my way of paying tribute to Jean-Marc, of keeping him alive, of mourning him, using our common language: cinema,” said director Marie-Julie Dallaire.

Pierre Even said, “Jean-Marc’s departure left a gaping hole in our lives. This great emptiness has brought together all those who knew him. CUT PRINT THANK YOU BYE is a work of sharing and memory, so that everyone has access to this great man of cinema, our friend Jean-Marc Vallée.”

“Cinema is a ribbon of dreams, inspired by the desire to share the human experience of loving and being loved. Jean-Marc understood this… Why make a film about JMV? Because we must not forget that we must dream, that we must love, that we must share. For those who follow us.” added Yves Bélanger, director of photography and initiator of this project.

For this film, an intimate portrait as well as a last opportunity to spend time with the extraordinary artist that was Jean-Marc Vallée, Pierre Even (producer of C.R.A.Z.Y. and Café de Flore) and Marie-Julie Dallaire (director of Comme une vague, Iris 2022 for Best Documentary with Jean-Marc Vallée as executive producer), long-time collaborators of the filmmaker, join forces with cinematographer Yves Bélanger (Dallas Buyers Club, Wild, Demolition, Sharp Objects, Big Little Lies), another frequent collaborator of the director.

(Photo credit: Searchlight Pictures)

Primetime EMMY and Critics’ Choice Award-winning Actress Uzo Aduba returned to Toronto to promote Disney and Pixar’s LIGHTYEAR! The Animated Feature is the origins story behind the hero who inspired the Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear.

Aduba, who is known best for her award-winning work on Orange is the New Black as “Crazy Eyes” and also MRS. AMERICA, filmed right here in Toronto, has visited the City for those titles and also TIFF for the Film American Pastoral. She plays the supportive Alisha Hawthorne in Lightyear.

Aduba was out and about doing the Morning Show circuit with appearances on Breakfast Television and The Morning Show, looking stunning in a neon dress and gorgeous Bob. She was so sweet!

See our Snap:

LIGHTYEAR already is winning raves. See our thoughts on it here.

Walt Disney Studios Canada release LIGHTYEAR Friday, June 17, 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Walt Disney Studios Canada/Mr. Will Wong)

He’s accomplished so much on a larger stage, we sometimes forget he’s Canadian! Vancouver’s Devon Sawa is back in Toronto to work on the second season of CHUCKY. The Series has him playing dual roles of Logan and Luke Wheeler on the successful SYFY revival Series.

Sawa is known best for his work on FINAL DESTINATION, Toronto-filmed Series NIKITA and despite only a quick appearance in Season Two of HBO Max’s HACKS, he already is getting lots of buzz for his performance as Jason, a live interest of Jean Smart‘s Deborah Vance. It was just confirmed today the Series has been renewed a third season and we hope to see more of him!

We’ve heard how amazing Sawa is to fans and he was everything, stopping for Selfies and Autographs after a quick trip home before he was needed back on-set.

CHUCKY continues to film around Toronto till end of Summer.

See our Snap!

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Sylvester Stallone makes his television debut in TULSA KING, coming this Fall to Paramount+. See the new Teaser Trailer.

Synopsis:

TULSA KING follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone), just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a “crew” from a group of unlikely characters, to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet. The series also stars Andrea Savage (“I’m Sorry”), Martin Starr (“Silicon Valley”), Max Casella (“The Tender Bar”), Domenick Lombardozzi (“The Irishman”), Vincent Piazza (“Boardwalk Empire”), Jay Will (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), A.C. Peterson (“Superman & Lois”) and Garrett Hedlund (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”). The series is executive produced by Sheridan, Winter, Stallone, David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, David Hutkin, Allen Coulter and Braden Aftergood.  

Paramount Network to Air Special Simulcast Event of the Debut Episode Immediately Following the Nov. 13, 2022 Season 5 Premiere of “Yellowstone”.

(Photo/video credit: Paramount)

TIFF will be celebrating Korean Cinema this Summer with their Summer of Seoul, launching July 8, 2022 with an Opening Night Celebration! The Screenings and Special Events all take place at TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX.

Films & Special Events

July 8, 7pm
Opening Night: Free live performance by Korea Town Acid and mural art by Jieun Kim (a.k.a. June)

Summer of Seoul jumps beyond the screen through free public art activations in the TIFF Bell Lightbox Atrium. Gather at 7pm for an improvisational set by electronic musician and DJ Korea Town Acid. Born in Seoul and currently based in Toronto, Korea Town Acid layers hardware, drum machines, samplers, and synths to create cinematic and genre-bending soundscapes with moody textures. Her song “Sobriety,” from her latest album Cosmos, was nominated for Underground Dance Single of the Year at the 2022 Juno Awards.

Then, witness the unveiling of mural art by muralist, tattoo artist, and art producer Jieun Kim (a.k.a. June), on display in the TIFF Bell Lightbox Atrium throughout Summer of Seoul. Born in Korea, June’s work explores the immigrant experience and questions notions of location and “home.” As an expansion of her studio work, June is interested in creating safe spaces through street art.

July 8, 8pm
Opening Night: Special Screening of Winter Sonata (Episodes 1 & 2)
The Opening Night event will be hosted by ETALK and THE SOCIAL’s Lainey Lui.
The K-drama that helped start the Korean Wave, 2002’s Winter Sonata is necessary education for fans of the genre. The journey of talented musical student Joon-sang (Bae Yong-joon) and the innocent Yoo-jin (Choi Ji-woo) from friendship to first love, beset by familial obstacles and tragedy along the way, propelled Bae to superstardom and earned him the regal honorific of “Yonsama” from his Japanese fans. The series, so popular that it was credited with boosting South Korea’s “soft power” and facilitating geopolitical relationships, also spawned fashion trends, an anime, an industry of film-location tours, murals, and a musical.

July 9, 5pm
Peppermint Candy – North American premiere of the new 4K restoration
This screening will be introduced by Robyn Citizen, TIFF’s Director Festival Programming & Cinematheque.
This end-of-the-millenium opus by writer-director Lee Chang-dong (Secret Sunshine, Burning) traverses 20 years (1979–1999) of defining events in Korean history through the story of Kim Yong-ho (Sol Kyung-gu), a middle-aged everyman seen rushing in despair towards a train as the film opens. A series of episodic flashbacks in reverse chronology trace how Yong-ho was shaped by, and sometimes actively complicit in, socio-political forces — the authoritarian period, the Democratization protests, and the IMF crisis of the late ’90s — as well as personal failures that hurt others and slowly unravelled his sense of self. A film that seamlessly blends social realism, melodrama, and Lee’s singular ability to depict human complexity, Peppermint Candy was produced during a pivotal transitional period for the South Korean film industry and helped to define New Korean Cinema as a distinct cinematic movement, making it essential viewing.

July 9, 8pm
Joint Security Area
The blockbuster thriller that put Park Chan-wook on the map as an auteur of New Korean Cinema, Joint Security Area broke box-office records when it was released in 2000, and firmly established Song Kang-ho as a leading actor. One night, an injured South Korean army sergeant, Lee Soo-hyeok (Lee Byung-hun), is rescued as he tries to cross from the north side of the Demilitarized Zone. He is fleeing an altercation that has left two North Korean soldiers dead and raised a number of questions as to why and how Sgt. Lee ended up on the other side of the border. The film offers a rare, fully fleshed-out North Korean character (Song, in a commanding and charismatic performance) who is neither a spy nor a mere mouthpiece for political propaganda.

July 10, 2pm
The World of Us
This screening will feature an introduction by series programmer Hanbin Kim.
Yoon Ga-eun’s moving, true-to-life film tackles the realities of bullying, classroom pecking orders, and the importance of loyalty. Written and directed by Yoon — whose short film Sprout won the Crystal Bear in the 2014 Berlin Film Festival’s Kplus competition — The World of Us explores the profound impact of the ostracization experienced by many young students.

July 15, 6:15pm
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance – Presented on 35mm!
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance explores the lengths to which honest people will go when circumstances push them into tight places. Deaf and individualistic, Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun) works at a factory and spends his spare time with his beloved sister (Im Ji-eun) and his offbeat girlfriend, Yeong-mi (Bae Doona). When he loses his job, Ryu takes desperate measures and becomes entangled in dangerous underworld activities. He soon winds up on the wrong side of his former employer, Park Dong-jin (Song Kang-ho), a dark force to be reckoned with. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a brilliantly constructed film and a brutal tale that director Park Chan-wook imbues with a visceral atmosphere of overwhelming claustrophobia and desperation. Park’s exceptional film draws upon his own sympathy — not for vengeance itself, but for the pain that spawns it.

July 16, 7:30pm & July 21, 8pm
Oldboy
Winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004, Park Chan-wook’s revenge masterpiece is credited with bringing Korean cinema to mainstream attention in North America. The film begins on a dark and stormy night when an ordinary man, Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), is kidnapped and inexplicably imprisoned in a tiny room for 15 years. Finally freed by his unseen, anonymous captor, the revenge-hungry Dae-su finds himself enmeshed in an even larger and more sadistic web.

July 22, 9pm & July 24, 4pm
Lady Vengeance – Presented on 35mm!
The apotheosis of revenge wears red eyeshadow and an intense, angelic look in Park Chan-wook’s last entry in his dazzling Vengeance Trilogy. Lady Vengeance is a perilous venture into the psychology of a woman pursuing her personal sense of justice — without ever finding salvation. Lee Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae) has been imprisoned for 13 years for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a six-year-old boy. With her fascinating mixture of evil wisdom and naïveté, she wastes no time in winning over her cellmates’ sympathies; all the prisoners become instrumental in the scheme Geum-ja has meticulously drafted for her future as a free woman.

July 23, 7:30pm
Tale of Cinema with Dennis Lim
The screening will be preceded by an extended introduction from Dennis Lim, Artistic Director of the New York Film Festival, and followed by a book signing of Lim’s most recent publication, Tale of Cinema.
Having premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Hong Sang-soo’s sixth feature film remains — amid a vertiginously prolific filmography that has yielded 21 films since — one of the filmmaker’s major touchstones, not least because it introduces his use of zooms and voiceover. In the first story, depressive student Sang-won (Lee Ki-woo) runs into an old flame, Young-shil (Uhm Ji-won). After a night of copious drinking and fumbling foreplay in a hotel room, they engage in a suicide pact. The second story focuses on Dong-soo (Kim Sang-kyung), a recent film-school graduate who, while exiting a cinema, sees a woman he believes to be the actress (also named Young-shil) from the film he has just watched — which, incredibly, may have been inspired by his life.

July 24, 7:30pm
House of Hummingbird
This screening will feature an introduction by series programmer Hanbin Kim.
Amid middle-school heartbreak, complications at cram school, and a complicated family life, a South Korean teenager faces the trials of growing up and finding her identity, in Bora Kim’s sincere coming-of-age tale.

July 29, 6:15pm
Thirst
Park Chan-wook’s cheeky take on Émile Zola’s scandalous serialized 19th-century novel Thérèse Raquin puts a modern, globalized spin on vampire mythology. The filmmaker’s frequent collaborator Song Kang-ho plays Sang-hyun, hot priest to Tae-ju, the repressed wife of his childhood friend. The two men reunite after news of Sang-hyun’s miraculous recovery from the fatal Emmanuel Virus — contracted through a failed vaccine experiment — spreads beyond his awed parishioners and into the wider community. However, the blood transfusion that cured Sang-hyun of the deadly virus has infected him with an undeadly one that intensifies all of his appetites. 

July 31, 1:30pm
K-Mania: The Popularity of Korean Film and Culture
We are thrilled to host a panel of experts — University of Toronto professor Dr. Michelle Cho; film critic, journalist, and podcaster Carolyn Hinds; and PhD student Grayson Lee — to discuss the films, music, dramas, and fandom that make up the cultural phenomenon of the Korean Wave. Moderated by Robyn Citizen, Director of Festival Programming and Cinematheque at TIFF.

July 31, 7:30pm
Chunhyang – 4K Digital Presentation!
This screening will include an in-person introduction by University of Toronto professor Dr. Michelle Cho.
The great Im Kwon-taek is one of South Korea’s most important and prolific filmmakers. His work is distinguished by its spectacular, epic cinematography depicting the varied and beautiful landscape of his homeland. Im is also the finest living chronicler of Korean culture, centring his much-loved nation and its arts. Radiant, exuberant, and passion-filled, Chunhyang is Im’s most accessible work by far. The film’s ingenious structure sees a traditional Pansori singer recounting a complex 18th-century epic before a large contemporary audience. 

August 7, 1:30pm
Microhabitat
This screening will feature an introduction by series programmer Hanbin Kim.
Set in contemporary Seoul, Microhabitat follows Miso (Esom), a housemaid with three mandatory indulgences: cigarettes, a glass of whisky at the end of the day, and emotional intimacy with her boyfriend. Jeon Go-woon’s debut film examines the conflicts between personal happiness and universal values, and the weight of contradictions a person has to endure. 

August 20, 6pm
Mother – Presented on 35mm!
This screening will feature a pre-recorded introduction by Karen Han, author of Bong Joon Ho: Dissident Cinema.
Bong Joon-ho followed the smash success of The Host with this darkly stylish thriller. The magnificent Kim Hye-ja stars as the doting mother of a grown son with an intellectual disability. When a young female student is brutally murdered and her son is blamed as the culprit, the middle-aged matriarch swings into action to prove his innocence by any means necessary. As he did in Memories of Murder, Bong balances humour and horror to stunning effect, while Kim — one of South Korea’s most legendary actresses — creates an indelible portrait of motherly devotion taken to its most ruthless extreme.

August 20, 9:15pm & August 26, 9:30pm
The Host – Presented on 35mm!
Inspired by a boyhood fantasy, Bong Joon-ho brought his producer a picture of Seoul’s Han River with an image of the Loch Ness monster Photoshopped in — and thus The Host was born. In this truly original and audacious creature feature, a lazy afternoon alongside the Han is shattered when a large, unidentified mass hanging from a bridge reveals itself to be a slobbering monstrosity that snatches away the young daughter of dimwitted snack vendor, Gang-du (Song Kang-ho, a recurring star in Bong’s films). With the city shut down by the government and their American “advisors,” Gang-du and his family go on the lam to try and retrieve the girl from the monster’s slimy clutches.

August 21, 7:30pm
Gull
Provocative emerging director Kim Mijo’s debut feature follows Obok (Jung Ae-hwa), a mother and wife in Seoul who holds a stall in a food market that is threatened by impending gentrification. Days before her eldest daughter’s wedding, Obok is sexually assaulted by a fellow stallholder, who is also the chairman of the redevelopment committee. She attempts to repress her trauma, but her anger continues to grow until she finally reveals the truth to her eldest daughter and contacts the police. Justice seems hopeless due to a lack of concern from the authorities or support from her family and community — but against all odds, she speaks up to protect her dignity.

August 26, 6:15pm & August 28, 4pm
Burning
These screenings will be introduced by Robyn Citizen, TIFF’s Director Festival Programming & Cinematheque.
A profoundly enigmatic take on Haruki Murakami’s short story “Barn Burning,” Lee Chang-dong’s exploration of a vexed ménage à trois in contemporary Seoul begins as working-class would-be writer Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in) encounters Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo), a young woman who used to go to his school, and agrees to take care of her cat while she travels to Africa. She returns with a new “friend” in tow: a handsome, refined, and wealthy man whose name, Ben (Steven Yeun), seems to signal his international aspirations but whose vocation remains mysterious. As the men fall into an uneasy relationship — the obsessed Jong-su is both fascinated by Ben’s upscale lifestyle and jealous of his suave hold on Hae-mi — the fate of the drifty young woman in the middle seems increasingly imperilled.

 Tickets go on-sale at http://tiff.net June 22, 2022 at 10 am and to the public on June 29, 2022.

A new re-imagining of Roald Dahl‘s beloved MATILDA is on the way. Here’s a glance at the new Teaser Trailer!

Synopsis:
Matilda Wormwood (Alisha Weir) is a little girl with big curiosity, a sharp mind and a vivid imagination — and the worst parents in the world. While her parents (Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough) content themselves with trashy TV and dodgy money-making schemes, she loves to lose herself in the pages of her beloved books. Where they are loud, selfish and unkind she is a quiet observer, thinking up small and cheeky acts of rebellion and revenge.

On meeting her inspirational teacher, Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch), Matilda is encouraged and begins conjuring her own fantastical tales. Excited to attend Crunchem Hall, Matilda is surprised to find the school is an ominous and oppressive place led by the huge and villainous Miss Trunchbull (Emma Thompson).

As well as kind Miss Honey, the bright lights among the meanness are story-loving librarian, Mrs. Phelps (Sindhu Vee), and Matilda’s newfound school friends. Filled with an overwhelming sense of justice, Matilda dares to take a stand for what is right and teach Trunchbull a lesson she won’t forget.

Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical is an inspirational musical tale of an extraordinary girl who discovers her superpower and summons the remarkable courage, against all odds, to help others change their stories, whilst also taking charge of her own destiny. Standing up for what’s right, she’s met with miraculous results.

Directed by Tony Award-winning director Matthew Warchus (Matilda The Musical), the film is produced by Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan for Working Title, Jon Finn (Billy Elliot), and Luke Kelly of The Roald Dahl Story Company. Screenwriter Dennis Kelly adapts the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production for the big screen, with original music and lyrics by Tim Minchin.

Netflix will release the film across the world [excluding the UK and Ireland] this Holiday Season. Sony Pictures U.K. and Tristar Pictures will release the film in UK and Ireland exclusively in cinemas on December 2, 2022.

(Photo/video credit: Netflix)