Kristen Stewart is EPing Sundance doc Barbara Forever. It is an exploration of the life, work, and cultural impact of filmmaker Barbara Hammer. Strand Releasing just acquired North American rights. Christine Vachon EPs. Wide release Sept 4.
Magenta Light Studios (California Schemin) picks up Lice starring Emile Hirsch, Justin Long, and Kevin Connolly, about a parasitic lice outbreak that sends a high school into military lockdown. First look: frying oil. Releasing Q1 2027.
Uri Singer’s Passage Pictures (White Noise) has secured the film rights to In the Blue with writing-directing duo Delilah Napier and Lucy Powers (Floating Carousel) attached. The film follows a struggling actress hired to tutor a wealthy student abroad on his family’s luxury yacht trip, yet the glamorous gig quickly turns into a dangerous nightmare.
Country singer Jana Kramer (One Tree Hill) is making her directorial debut with the music drama Love Song for My Texas Ranger, in which she will also star. The film will follow a struggling singer (Kramer) returning to her Texas hometown and falling in love with a Texas Ranger (Ryan Rottman).
Some of Europe’s biggest names are speaking out. Francis Ford Coppola, Joachim Trier (dir. Sentimental Value), Sandra Hüller (Project Hail Mary), and almost 5,000 more make up an open letter urging the EU to reconsider proposed funding changes that would consolidate all media spending into a single umbrella, which could have negative effects on the European indie film industry.