Sony Pictures Classics’ founders and presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard have a longstanding reputation for making smart buys at key festivals, pick-ups that pay off both at the B.O. and during awards season. Two years ago they acquired Whiplash for an estimated $2.5M, a title that yielded $13.1M at the domestic…

After winning the Best Actress Oscar for Blue Jasmine less than two years ago, Cate Blanchett got busy. She had been spending much of her time doing theater projects in her native Australia or appearing in smaller parts in such blockbusters as The Hobbit trilogy and How To Train Your Dragon 2. But this year has been a…

James Vanderbilt, writer and director of Truth, came to The Contenders Presented By Deadline last month and discussed the film dealing with how a 60 Minutes story on then-President George W. Bush and his controversial National Guard Service led to the firing of veteran news producer Mary Mapes (played by Cate…

Back in mid-October, CBS turned down a multi-million dollar ad buy from Sony Classics to run spots for their Rathergate film Truth, which follows the 60 Minutes II blowout over the story on President George W. Bush's military service. At today’s Deadline Contenders awards season event, the film’s director says he wasn…

Room brought down the house in a crowded weekend for specialty movies. The A24 release opened in 4 New York and L.A. theaters grossing $120K for an average of $30K, weekend’s highest any picture in release.  Sony Pictures Classics’ Truth and Well Go USA’s The Assassin each bowed with less than half that average in…

A new pack of titles boasting heavy-hitter casts and awards ambitions hits theaters Friday. A24 is opening the simply titled Room with Brie Larson, Sean Bridges, William H. Macy and newcomer Jacob Tremblay in NYC and L.A., hoping the film will catch awards buzz with its acclaimed performances. Also vying for attention…

CBS has turned down a portion of a multimillion-dollar ad buy by Sony Pictures Classics for Truth, the Sony specialty label’s drama about the 60 Minutes II scandal involving an eventually discredited story about President George W. Bush’s military service. A CBS investigation resulted in the firing of producer Mary…

It was a momentous time in journalism when a 2004 60 Minutes II piece questioning the military record of then-President George W. Bush blew up in everyone’s face and caused a mini-earthquake at CBS. And now the whole affair has been turned into a feature film based on 60 Minutes producer Mary Mapes’ bestseller, Truth…

A new weekly column talking up the season with bits and pieces from the awards circuit. On Monday night, Sony Pictures Classics hosted a “special screening” of its October 16 critically acclaimed drama Truth at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to very good response from an Oscar-voter-heavy crowd who…

The new trailer for Sony Pictures Classics’ Truth teases out a great intro for the tragic journalist tale of legacy CBS newsman Dan Rather. 60 Minutes freelance researcher Mike Smith, (Topher Grace) asks senior journo Rather (Robert Redford): “Why did you get into journalism?” “Curiosity,” Rather responds, then…

Peter Bart and Mike Fleming Jr. worked together for two decades at Daily Variety. In this occasional column, two old friends get together and grind their axes, mostly on the movie business. FLEMING: I'm back from the Toronto Film Festival, a messy affair where deals took forever, and two films — the Aretha Franklin…

The Weinstein Company has made it official, as if there was really any doubt who is a lead and who is supporting in its November 20 release, and Oscar hopeful, Carol. No sooner had my flight back from the Toronto Film Festival landed at LAX than I received a call from TWC clarifying that it definitely will be…