CRITICS ARE CALLING NEWS OF THE WORLD “A TOWERING PIECE OF MOVIEMAKING.” “TOM HANKS IS MAGNIFICENT!” FROM DIRECTOR PAUL GREENGRASS, UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS TOM HANKS IN NEWS OF THE WORLD.
RATED PG-13. ON DEMAND TODAY, JANUARY 15TH. IN THEATERS NOW
Universal Pictures is proud to present Tom Hanks starring in News of the World, a moving story written and directed by Paul Greengrass, reuniting for the first time with his star from their 2013 Best Picture nominee Captain Phillips.
Five years after the end of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks), a widower and veteran of three wars, now moves from town to town as a non-fiction storyteller, sharing the news of presidents and queens, glorious feuds, devastating catastrophes, and gripping adventures from the far reaches of the globe.
In the plains of Texas, he crosses paths with Johanna (Helena Zengel, System Crasher), a 10-year-old taken in by the Kiowa people six years earlier and raised as one of their own. Johanna, hostile to a world she’s never experienced, is being returned to her biological aunt and uncle against her will.
Kidd agrees to deliver the child where the law says she belongs. As they travel hundreds of miles into the unforgiving wilderness, the two will face tremendous challenges of both human and natural forces as they search for a place that either can call home.
News of the World is directed by Greengrass (the Bourne films, United 93) from his screenplay with Luke Davies (Lion), based on the National Book Award finalist and best-selling novel by Paulette Jiles. The film is produced by Gary Goetzman (Mamma Mia! franchise, Greyhound), Gail Mutrux (The Danish Girl, Donnie Brasco) and Gregory Goodman (22 July, 8 Mile). The executive producers are Steven Shareshian and Tore Schmidt. The film’s music is by eight-time Academy Award® nominee James Newton Howard.
As this endless year of 2020 mercifully nears its last days, does it feel like you’ve been cooped up for an eternity (save for those quick supply runs)? Are you aching to travel to those “wide open spaces”? Well, then you may want to take a virtual “vacay” via your local multiplex (if it’s not shuttered). This big flick opening on the holiday will whisk you away to such a spot, but you’ll also do a bit of backward time-travelin’, say 150 years or so. No need for concern about the trek, since a familiar film face is your guide, none other than our ole’ “movie buddy” Tom Hanks, who is entering somewhat (for him) uncharted territory. Although he’s voiced a famous animated “old-timey” sheriff (ya’ know, Woody…” You’re ma’ favorite deputy!”), he’s never starred in an “honest-to-gosh” Western. So, let’s saddle up as Mr. H spreads the NEWS OF THE WORLD.
As the story starts, it is 1870, just a few years after the Civil War. A former soldier of the North, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks) now makes his living traveling from one desolate town to the next, unrolling his prized newspapers from the Eastern cities (and one or two from England), and reading the current events to the gathered townsfolk (who drop a few coins into his hat). For most of these tiny villages without news offices, on the edge of hostile Indian Territory, he’s their only contact with the outside world. Leaving Wichita Springs, working his way back to his Texas home, Kidd comes upon the bloody aftermath of an Indian attack. He’s stunned to discover one survivor hiding in the brush. It’s a young blonde girl around ten years of age whose birth name is Johanna (Helena Zengel). She was being returned to relatives in Castroville, Texas after being taken from the Kiowa tribe, who had slaughtered her family and kidnapped her as a toddler. Kidd learns this from a slain official’s papers as she speaks no English. Somehow she trusts him and he takes her to the nearest town with an army base. The officers there inform Kidd that the regional “Indian agent” is gone for months, and they cannot hold her. Kidd then takes her to a relative that runs a makeshift school, but Johanna tries to run away and rejoin her tribe. Kidd then makes a momentous decision. He buys a wagon for his horse, and will personally take her to her only family. The long journey involves many dangers, from former rebels wanting to buy (or just take) the girl, to sandstorms, and an isolated “buffalo-skinning” town run by a vicious despot. Facing these challenges strengthens a bond between the weary captain and the traumatized child, but what will happen at the end of the winding trail?
Captain Kidd (not the pirate) proves to be another showcase role for the dependable and often surprising Mr. Hanks. Yes, he’s the hero again, but a haunted one with lowered half-lidded eyes reflecting the horrors he saw first-hand only a few years earlier. Although the story owes a great deal to the iconic Ford film THE SEARCHERS, Kidd is really the opposite of Wayne’s Ethan, as he believes fervently that Johanna can return to her family roots. He truly thinks that she is worth fighting for, despite his trepidation at the odds (in the film’s best sequence he’s almost hopelessly outnumbered). Although we’re not sure of the home Kidd journeys too, Hanks shows us the sorrow that he tries to mask. It’s a wonder that Hanks hasn’t tackled the Western genre before. Here’s hoping he keeps those boots handy for another ride. But it’s not just his story. The film also benefits from the smart casting of Zengel as the conflicted youngster. Johanna begins as a wild, almost feral child who has no use for Kidd’s world. We hear the anguish in her cries as she pleads for a wandering group of Kiowas to take her back, right after Kidd thinks he is done with her. Slowly and with great subtlety we see her accept Kidd, particularly in her body language as she starts to let her “guard down”. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this exceptional talent. Several familiar faces interact with the wandering duo. Ray McKinnon and Mare Winningham are superb as the couple that just can’t handle the angry girl. Elizabeth Marvel is a tough but passionate hotel owner while her husband Bill Camp is Kidd’s former boss and a caring concerned friend. Of course, the trail has to include some cactus in the former of two formidable villains. Christopher Hagan is a snarling dangerous egomaniac as the sinister town leader Durand and Michael Angelo Covino is a leering stubborn menace (think of Dern’s Duke-killer in THE COWBOYS) as the single-minded Almay.
Though best known for his contemporary thrillers (most of the Bourne flicks) director Paul Greengrass proves to be quite the cinematic spawn of Ford and Hawks. He sets aside his tough, tight hand-held camera for sweeping shots of the near-endless New Mexico (the main location site) vistas (no doubt putting those drones to good use). But he can still zero in on the principals as in the harrowing dust storm scene. Then Greengrass will use his action flick skill set for the film’s best set-piece, the nail-biting attack on Kidd and Johanna by Almay and his men on the perilous rocky terrain. Even a wagon ride can turn into a fight for life as Kidd loses control of the horses (guessing the steeds had CGI doubles). The film benefits from Greengrass collaborating on the screen adaptation of Paulette Giles’ novel with Luke Davies. They form a top-notch team along with cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and score composer James Newton Howard. It’s a worthy reteaming of Greengrass and Hanks after 2013’s CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (the end physical exam should’ve earned Hanks his third Oscar). NEWS OF THE WORLD is indeed good news for fans of both men, and film (especially Westerns) lovers everywhere.
3.5 Out of 4
NEWS OF THE WORLD opens in theatres everywhere on Christmas Day
Universal Pictures is proud to present Tom Hanks starring in News of the World, a moving story written and directed by Paul Greengrass, reuniting for the first time with his star from their 2013 Best Picture nominee Captain Phillips.
Here’s your first look at the brand new trailer. The film will open this Christmas.
Five years after the end of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks), a veteran of three wars, now moves from town to town as a non-fiction storyteller, sharing the news of presidents and queens, glorious feuds, devastating catastrophes, and gripping adventures from the far reaches of the globe.
In the plains of Texas, he crosses paths with Johanna (Helena Zengel, System Crasher), a 10-year-old taken in by the Kiowa people six years earlier and raised as one of their own. Johanna, hostile to a world she’s never experienced, is being returned to her biological aunt and uncle against her will.
Kidd agrees to deliver the child where the law says she belongs. As they travel hundreds of miles into the unforgiving wilderness, the two will face tremendous challenges of both human and natural forces as they search for a place that either can call home.
News of the World is directed by Greengrass (the Bourne films, United 93) from his screenplay with Luke Davies (Lion), based on the National Book Award finalist and best-selling novel by Paulette Jiles. The film is produced by Gary Goetzman (Mamma Mia! franchise, Greyhound), Gail Mutrux (The Danish Girl, Donnie Brasco) and Gregory Goodman (22 July, 8 Mile). The executive producers are Steven Shareshian and Tore Schmidt.
The film’s music is by eight-time Academy Award® nominee James Newton Howard.
The director and actor had some thoughts about their latest film –
Paul Greengrass on NEWS OF THE WORLD:
NEWS OF THE WORLD is set in a bitterly divided, dangerous world and it is a journey of discovery for both Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Tom Hanks) and the girl, Johanna (Helena Zengel). Both characters are lost in different ways and are searching for belonging. That is what gives the journey tremendous emotional power. Kidd and Johanna have great adventures whilst overcoming great dangers, and ultimately, the film is about a journey towards redemption.
Tom Hanks on his character ‘Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd’ in NEWS OF THE WORLD:
I love listening to a great story as much as I like telling one, and that’s why I was so excited about playing Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd. He is a storyteller, he is driven, emotional, he is noble, and he is moved by the pursuit of the truth. Kidd wanted to communicate an authentic worldview to his audiences because he knew that, along with education and entertainment, the powers of enlightenment could be exchanged in the news readings that he gave.
Tom Hanks on twelve year-old Helena Zengel who plays ‘Johanna’ in NEWS OF THE WORLD:
I cannot stress enough the incredible power of young Helena Zengel. I believe actors are born. You can’t learn how to be an actor, you just are. Her silences, her eyes, her instincts—she may have no sense of what the rules of acting are, yet she already knows them implicitly.
July 22, 2011 is the date of the horrific terrorist attack in Norway when 77 people, mostly children, were massacred by a right-wing extremist. 22 JULY is director Paul Greengrass’ powerful, tense docu-drama about that tragedy, but the film is more about Norway and the people attacked than about home-grown right-wing terrorist Anders Behring Breivik and his attack.
Paul Greengrass has built a reputation for gripping and strikingly realistic films about actual events with CAPTAIN PHILLIPS and UNITED 93, but has built a reputation for taut thrillers with the Bourne movies. Greengrass brings both skills to bear in 22 JULY, crafting a tension-filled film, but focuses less on the attack and more on its aftermath. Greengrass also wrote the script, based on journalist Asne Seierstad’s book “One of Us.” The attack took place in Norway but the film is in English.
Although this 2011 terror attack shocked peaceful Norway, it was less like America’s 9/11 attack than the Oklahoma bombing. This was a home-grown terrorist with right-wing extremist views, not an attack from outside the country.
Breivik gunned down teenagers at an island summer camp after setting off a bomb at the government center in Oslo. His intention with his truck bomb was to kill the Prime Minister, as well as other leaders of the Norwegian government. He did kill 8 people but not the prime minister. Breivik dressed as a policeman for his attack, and after lighting the bomb’s fuse, drove to remote, scenic Utoya Island, took a ferry to the island and systematically shot the teenagers at the camp for children of Norway’s labor party.
Like CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, 22 JULY shows an emotional restraint and favors a just the facts approach that allows the dramatic feeling to evolve organically out of the human interactions. Greengrass handles to attack with particular skill, shifting attention away from the blood to focus on the fear felt by the campers as they fled and hid from the attacker. Breivik is shown coldly and ruthlessly hunting down the teens, only once with a burst of rage as he shoots campers huddled in a building, calling them “Marxists and liberals.” Before and after the attack, Breivik rails against “forced multiculturalism” and spouts neo-Nazi views.
The real focus of Breivik’s attack was Norwegian society and the film strives for some balance, giving both Breivik and those attacked a chance to speak, although that is done largely through personal conversations. The film moves back and forth between Breivik and those he attacked, primarily one teen survivor wounded in the attack, Viljar.
The gifted Anders Danielsen Lie plays terrorist Anders Behring Breivik with chilling power. Although others share Breivik’s right-wing viewpoints on immigration and multiculturalism, Breivik seems to have acted alone in the attack, although he claimed to be the leader of an anti-immigrant organization. He starts out defiant and seemingly having the upper hand as he speaks to authorities but is soon exposed as a loner with a troubled childhood.
As teen survivor Viljar Hanssen, Jonas Strand Gravli is outstanding. His expressive face conveys haunting and complex feelings, as he first tries to protect his younger brother Torje (Isak Bakli Aglen) during the attack, and then as he struggles to recover from his injuries, wounded leg and hand, the loss of a eye and bullet fragments left in his brain from a gunshot to the face. Ola G. Furuseth plays the role of Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who is stunned by the attack and struggles before finding the right response, while Jon Oigarden is cast as Geir Lippestad, the liberal lawyer Breivik requests for his defense. Seda Witt plays Lara, who arrived in Norway as a child, who is one of Viljar’s friends at the camp, who speaks for the immigrants’ view.
22 JULY hits all the right marks for this kind of true story, focusing on a society that responses to the chaos of attack with the rule of law to bring about justice and the recovery of survivors rather than glorifying the violence or the terrorist. At the same time, it is a gripping, nail-biting thriller that delivers all the drama needed to keep audiences riveted, while giving a final glimmer of hope for good to beat out evil.
22 JULY opens Wednesday, Oct. 10, at the Tivoli Theater and on-demand on Netflix.
Launching on Netflix on Wednesday, October 10 is 22 JULY. Here’s your first look at the trailer.
In 22 July, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips, United 93) tells the true story of the aftermath of Norway’s deadliest terrorist attack. On 22 July 2011, 77 people were killed when a far-right extremist detonated a car bomb in Oslo before carrying out a mass shooting at a leadership camp for teens. 22 July uses the lens of one survivor’s physical and emotional journey to portray the country’s path to healing and reconciliation.
Written and directed by Paul Greengrass, 22 July is based upon the book “One of Us: The Story of an Attack in Norway – and Its Aftermath” by Åsne Seierstad. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, P.G.A., Paul Greengrass, P.G.A., Gregory Goodman, P.G.A., and Eli Bush, P.G.A., and stars Anders Danielsen Lie, Jon Øigarden, Jonas Strand Gravli, Maria Bock, Thorbjørn Harr, Ola G. Furuseth, Seda Witt, Isak Bakli Aglen.
22 JULY will debut Wednesday, October 10th on Netflix.
Matt Damon returns to his most iconic role in JASON BOURNE. Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, once again joins Damon for the next chapter of Universal Pictures’ Bourne franchise, which finds the CIA’s most lethal former operative drawn out of the shadows.
For JASON BOURNE, Damon is joined by Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel and Tommy Lee Jones, while Julia Stiles reprises her role in the series. Frank Marshall again produces alongside Jeffrey Weiner for Captivate Entertainment, and Greengrass, Damon, Gregory Goodman and Ben Smith also produce. Based on characters created by Robert Ludlum, the film is written by Greengrass and Christopher Rouse.
JASON BOURNE opens in theaters everywhere on July 29.
WAMG invites you to enter for the chance to win TWO (2) seats to the advance screening of JASON BOURNEon July 26 at 7PM in the St. Louis area.
Answer the following:
What is the title of Robert Ludlum’s second novel where the plot has to do with a conspiracy called Omega?
TO ENTER, ADD YOUR NAME, ANSWER AND EMAIL IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. No purchase necessary. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house. The theater is not responsible for overbooking.
The film is rated PG 13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and brief strong language.
Hitting theaters on July 29th is the upcoming film JASON BOURNE.
In this brand new featurette, Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass discuss the next chapter of Universal Pictures’ Bourne franchise.
Matt Damon returns to his most iconic role in JASON BOURNE. Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, once again joins Damon, which finds the CIA’s most lethal former operative drawn out of the shadows.
For Jason Bourne, Damon is joined by Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel and Tommy Lee Jones, while Julia Stiles reprises her role in the series.
The first movie debuted to $27.1 million, followed by $52.5 million for The Bourne Supremacy and $69.3 million for The Bourne Ultimatum, and the totals increased each time as well. (Box Office Mojo)
Frank Marshall again produces alongside Jeffrey Weiner for Captivate Entertainment, and Greengrass, Damon, Gregory Goodman and Ben Smith also produce. Based on characters created by Robert Ludlum, the film is written by Greengrass and Christopher Rouse.
Check out the explosive new trailer for Universal Pictures’ must-see film of the summer, JASON BOURNE.
Matt Damon returns to his most iconic role in Jason Bourne.
Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, once again joins Damon for the next chapter of Universal Pictures’ Bourne franchise, which finds the CIA’s most lethal former operative drawn out of the shadows.
For JASON BOURNE, Damon is joined by Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel and Tommy Lee Jones, while Julia Stiles reprises her role in the series. Frank Marshall again produces alongside Jeffrey Weiner for Captivate Entertainment, and Greengrass, Damon, Gregory Goodman and Ben Smith also produce. Based on characters created by Robert Ludlum, the film is written by Greengrass and Christopher Rouse.
Here’s your first look at JASON BOURNE starring Matt Damon.
The film opens in theaters on July 29th.
Matt Damon returns to his most iconic role in Jason Bourne. Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, once again joins Damon for the next chapter of Universal Pictures’ Bourne franchise, which finds the CIA’s most lethal former operative drawn out of the shadows.
For JASON BOURNE, Damon is joined by Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel and Tommy Lee Jones, while Julia Stiles reprises her role in the series. Frank Marshall again produces alongside Jeffrey Weiner for Captivate Entertainment, and Greengrass, Damon, Gregory Goodman and Ben Smith also produce. Based on characters created by Robert Ludlum, the film is written by Greengrass and Christopher Rouse.
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Paul Greengrass has been selected by the Board of Directors of the American Cinema Editors (ACE) to be honored with the organization’s prestigious ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award.
The award will be presented at the 64th Annual ACE Eddie Awards ceremony on Friday, February 7, 2014 in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, it was announced today by the ACE Board of Directors.
“Paul Greengrass is one of the most exciting filmmakers working in cinema today,” stated the ACE Board of Directors. “A Greengrass film simply has its own signature – from the magnificent hand-held camera work, to his ability to engage audiences with riveting storytelling, his canon of work is bold and iconic. His latest film, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, is a masterwork yielding some of the finest filmmaking of the year that has already been honored with four Golden Globe® nominations including Best Director, nine Golden Globe® nominations including Best Director and a Directors Guild of America nomination for Best Director. He maintains one of the foremost director-editor partnerships in the industry with Christopher Rouse, A.C.E., who has edited all of his features since 2002. It is our pleasure to recognize him with the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year honor for his ongoing contribution to filmmaking at its finest.”
Greengrass joins a prestigious group of past ACE Golden Eddie honorees including Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Norman Jewison, Alexander Payne, James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Saul Zaentz and Stanley Donen, among others.
Paul Greengrass earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and a Best Original Screenplay nomination from the Writers Guild of America for his work on United 93. He also won BAFTA’s David Lean Award for Direction and Best Director awards from the London Film Critics’ Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the National Society of Film Critics, among others. He was also nominated for a BAFTA for Best Director, and won Best Director honors at the London Film Critics’ Awards for his work on The Bourne Ultimatum; the film received three Academy Awards and two BAFTAs.
Greengrass has also directed the feature films Green Zone, The Bourne Supremacy, and Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday was honored with the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and the World Cinema Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and Greengrass was named Best Director at the British Independent Film Awards. Greengrass has had a long and distinguished career in British television: he has written and directed TV films concerned with social and political issues, including “The Murder of Stephen Lawrence” (winner of BAFTA’s Best Single Drama Award in 2000 and the Special Jury Prize at the BANFF World Television Festival), as well as “The Fix,” “The One That Got Away,” and “Open Fire.” He produced and co-wrote the 2004 television film “Omagh,” set in the aftermath of a real IRA car-bombing that killed 29 people in Omagh, Northern Ireland. “Omagh” won BAFTA’s Best Single Drama Award in 2005 and was named Best Irish Film at the Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTA) in 2004.
Greengrass’s newest film, Captain Phillips, is a multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. It is — through director Paul Greengrass’s distinctive lens — simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller, and a complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization. The film focuses on the relationship between the Alabama’s commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (two time Academy Award®-winner Tom Hanks), and the Somali pirate captain, Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who takes him hostage. Phillips and Muse are set on an unstoppable collision course when Muse and his crew target Phillips’ unarmed ship; in the ensuing standoff, 145 miles off the Somali coast, both men find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control. The screenplay was written by Billy Ray and was based upon the book, A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea, by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty. The film is produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, and Michael De Luca.
