EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winning producer Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor) is relocating his revered Recorded Picture Company and HanWay Films labels from Soho to a new west London home. The Hanway Street office has served as the HQ for RPC and HanWay for more than 25 years, during which time Thomas has produced movies…

Alamode Film has acquired German and Austrian rights from HanWay Films to Lone Scherfig's drama The Kindness of Strangers, which will open the Berlin International Film Festival next month. Zoe Kazan, Andrea Riseborough, Tahar Rahim, Caleb Landry Jones, Jay Baruchel and Bill Nighy star. The deal was negotiated by…

Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock and Laura Linney lead an impressive cast for The Party and Orlando writer-director Sally Potter’s latest film. Production is underway in Spain on the untitled feature, which is being repped worldwide by HanWay and Bleecker Street. The pic will chart a wild day in…

EXCLUSIVE: Ron Howard’s AFM buyer presentation for documentary Pavarotti, about iconic opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, was one of the hot tickets at last month’s market. Distributors have responded well to the project with a string of key deals inked by White Horse Pictures and HanWay Films. Deals have closed for…

Oscar winner Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful) has been set to star as Geppetto in Gomorrah and Dogman director Matteo Garrone’s live action version of Pinocchio. Garrone will direct his own screenplay, an adaptation of Carlo Collodi's classic about a living puppet who with the help of a cricket as his conscience…

After a storm of deals hit Sundance last month with Netflix and Amazon leading the charge, foreign buyers are descending upon the European Film Market — and into uncharted waters — as the independent sector becomes more competitive than ever. There are some hot packages here in Berlin where the mercury is below…

EXCLUSIVE: Jessica Plummer has joined the cast of John Cameron Mitchell’s How To Talk To Girls At Parties, opposite Ruth Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Matt Lucas. Indie distrib A24 is releasing the picture domestically, which is based on a short story by Neil Gaiman and also stars Alex Sharp — a recent Tony…

EXCLUSIVE– Curzon Artificial Eye has acquired Charlie Kaufman’s buzzy stop-motion Anomalisa for the UK. While Paramount’s Toronto deal for the buzzy pic was one of the few deal highlights of what has proven to be a very slow domestic market, the Curzon deal gives the well-respected distrib-exhib an awards contender…

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has moved quickly to snap up UK rights to Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest Hour And A Half. Gemma Arterton (Quantum Of Solace), Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay) and Bill Nighy (The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) star in a screwball comedy battle of the sexes that follows the…

Refresh for latest…Pacific Mercantile Bank announced today that it has provided Mike and Marty Productions with financing for Anthony Hopkins-Al Pacino legal thriller Beyond Deceit. Pacific Mercantile's production financing package consists of gap financing and cash-flowed pre-sales. The film tells the story of an…

EXCLUSIVE: Gemma Arterton (Quantum Of Solace), Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay) and Bill Nighy (The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) are set to star in Their Finest Hour And A Half, with Lone Scherfig (An Education) directing. BBC Films developed and co-finances the film, which is being produced by…