In Development

 

Discovery: Director Damien Chazelle's latest film for LRF, the sci-fi film Discovery, has completed its casting with the additions of Scott McNairy (The Mars Room, Revelations), Renate Reinsve (Nick Fury and His Howling Commandos, Sentimental Value), and Colman Domingo (The Final Will, Luke Cage: Power Man).  Jimmy Ellis and Chad Taylor penned the story.

Blood and Glory: The historical epic from director Tarsem Singh and writer Jack Brown, which details the war between Persia and Macedonia, has added Fares Fares (The Contractor, Rogue One) as Mazaeus, Richard Coyle (Excalibur, Heads of State) as Antigonus, Alexander Siddig (The Stranger, "Shantaram") as Artabazus, and fashion model Anok Yai as the Oracle of Amun.

Running from the Spotlight: Peter Krause (Saint Judy, "9-1-1"), Priah Ferguson (The Curse of Bridge Hollow, "Stranger Things"), and Orli Gottesman (Leave the World Behind, Adeline) have joined the teen drama Running from the Spotlight. Krause will play a burnt-out drama teacher, while Ferguson and Gottesman will play drama students. Michael Fimognari is directing, while Jacob Jones penned the script.

Unreasonable Doubt: Heidi Gardner (Hustle, "Saturday Night Live"), Aya Cash (Social Animals, We Broke Up), Paul Scheer (The Gutter, Family Switch), and Stephen Root (Mises, The Passenger) have been added to the cast of the crime rom-com Unreasonable Doubt, led by Cristin Milioti and Channing Tatum. Andrew Fleming is directing as his LRF debut. Walter McKnight wrote the story.

Vultures: Rob Zombie's latest grindhouse horror film, Vultures, has added Chloe Cherry (The Napa Boys, "Euphoria"), Naturi Naughton ("Queens", "Power"), Scout Taylor-Compton (Into the Deep, Bury the Bride), and Jeff Daniel Phillips (Bigfoot, Five Boroughs) to its cast. Clive Steinbeck penned the script.

The Friend Zone: Chris Pratt (Kill Zone, Knight Rider) and Anna Kendrick (Golden Girl, The Invincible Iron Man) are set to headline the fantasy-comedy The Friend Zone, about two people trapped in a world where there love interest will never love them back. Michel Gondry (War of the Currents, Hair) directs from a script by Joshua Collins (ThunderCats, Tethered).

PREMIERE MAGAZINE #343

 

The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (Season 35 Round 3)

 

 

Moving on through Round 3 now. Here's The Roundup.... 

3. Man of God

I enjoyed the slow-burn storytelling in Man of God. Josh Brolin, Michael Shannon, and Robert Aramayo were all especially great in their roles.

2. The Tick

What a fantastic adaptation for the whole family - it covers all its bases. Plenty of callbacks and references for longtime Tick fans, fast pace humor and action for the young crowd, and some pretty clever satire for the grown-ups.

1. Josh Brolin

Brolin is on an impressive run for the studio managing to give fantastic performances while also drawing in enough people for his last two starring roles to turn a profit even if the subject matter's a hard sell.

3. Big Budget Films

While I'm sure there are some bigger productions on the way, but this season has had an alarming lack of big budget films - which is where the studio makes a lot of its profits.

2. Dust Saint

Dust Saint was by no means a bad film, but I did have a hard time getting into it. I struggled to feel for any of the characters. I also feel like it was marketed under the wrong genre - never once did Dust Saint give me a thriller vibe.

1. Box Office

Still only slightly in the green, which is not a great sign 30% into the season.

On Location (Season 35 Round 3)

 

Man of God

- Marfa, Texas, USA

Dust Saint

- Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Box Office Breakdown (Season 35 Round 3)

 

The Tick

Budget: $70,000,000

Total Box Office: $166,896,092

Total Profit: $27,550,750

Man of God

Budget: $30,000,000

Total Box Office: $63,494,668

Total Profit: $2,017,490

Dust Saint

Budget: $20,000,000

Total Box Office: $26,796,972

Total Profit: -$15,142,454

Box Office Facts

The Tick

Lon Charles has now written three animated films for the studio - The Big Top, The Flintstones (co-written with Joshua Collins), and now The Tick. The three films have combined to gross $827 million at the box office.

Man of God

Josh Brolin has quietly developed a strong track record at the box office. He's now appeared in eight films for the studio, six of which have earned profits for the studio.

Dust Saint

On the flipside, director Rose Glass has now helmed two films for the studio that have combined to lose just a tad under $50 million for the studio.

Genre Rankings

The Tick

Comedy: #31

Animation: #17

Superhero: #123

Man of God

Drama: #189

Thriller: #101

Dust Saint

Drama: #323

Thriller: #132

Season 35 Round 3

Total Box Office: $257,187,732

Total Profit: $14,425,786

Season 35 Totals

Total Box Office: $1,223,454,426

Total Profit: $137,148,744

Season 34 Summary

1. ThunderCats : $372,054,861

2. The Punisher: Purgatory : $231,004,586

3. Zorro : $215,997,717

4. The Tick : $166,896,092

5. Tara's Wrath : $73,090,751

6. Man of God : $63,494,668

7. The Writer and the Film Star : $39,529,721

8. Thus Dreamed Zarathustra : $34,589,058

9. Dust Saint : $26,796,972

LRF TRIVIA TIDBITS (Season 35 Round 3)

 

Welcome back for more LRF Trivia Tidbits! Round 3 of Season 35 swings wildly in tone and scale—an animated superhero satire finding its final voice, a prestige thriller anchored by heavyweight performances, and a slow-burn psychological drama steeped in religious unease. Each project reveals how close LRF came to taking very different creative paths.

The Tick

This animated take on Ben Edlund’s cult-favorite hero pulls equally from the original comic books and the beloved 1994 animated series, striking a balance between satire and accessibility. Early in development, however, the creative team explored a darker, PG-13 or even R-rated approach closer to the comics’ sharper edge - at one point considering characters like Chainsaw Vigilante - before ultimately committing to an all-ages tone that broadened the film’s reach.

Man of God

Michael Shannon’s role in Man of God is brief, limited largely to a death row appearance, but it proved irresistible to the actor. Drawn to the material and the opportunity to work opposite Josh Brolin, Shannon accepted a part far smaller than he typically would at this stage of his career, lending the film added gravitas in just a handful of scenes.

Dust Saint

Though only his second LRF screenplay, writer Holden Abbott has already carved out a thematic niche centered on morally suspect religious figures. Dust Saint casts Paul Dano as a traveling preacher drifting through a fractured desert landscape, echoing - but not repeating - last season’s Exodus, which featured Brad Pitt as a megachurch leader presiding over a collapsing empire.

Release: Dust Saint

 

Dust Saint

Genre: Drama/Thriller

Director: Rose Glass

Writer: Holden Abbott

Cast: Paul Dano, Jessie Buckley, Nell Fisher, John Hawkes

Budget: $20,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $14,100,200

Foreign Box Office: $12,696,772

Total Profit: -$15,142,454

Reaction: Writer Holden Abbott's LRF career is off to a strong critical start, but unfortunately not as strong of a stop at the box office with his first two films.

"In Dust Saint, Rose Glass expertly applies her knack for creating disturbing atmospheres to the vast, isolating western landscapes. However, I came away most impressed with writer Holden Abbott's sparse approach to telling this story, crafting dread through absence. The accidental false prophet narrative felt fresh and the script itself felt like something we've never seen in LRF before - an increasingly rare feat 35+ seasons in." - Cal Crowe, Washington Globe

"Rose Glass's Dust Saint is anchored by a career-best performance from Paul Dano who delivers an early GRA-contending performance in what turns out to be a stark, punishing drama. The film's ambiguity and final act refuse to comfort the audience, instead leaving things justifiably bleak." - Evan Kane, Buffalo News

"Dust Saint is the kind of slow-burn nightmare that lives more in mood than plot, and Rose Glass clearly knows how to make belief feel suffocating. Paul Dano is excellent at projecting a man collapsing under the weight of accidental myth-making, while Jessie Buckley’s calm, weaponized devotion is the film’s quiet engine of dread. It occasionally mistakes solemnity for depth and leans hard on ambiguity as a catch-all, but when it works, Dust Saint taps into something genuinely unsettling." - Mark Rawls, Seattle Times

Rated R for violence and thematic material