André Holland is on a roll with three new films, ‘The Last Supper‘ tests the faith-based market, hot Vietnamese director Tran Thanh is back, and documentary October 8 examines the explosion of antisemitism after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
A handful of big indies are out with wide releases from Focus Features (Black Bag) to A24 (Opus) to Falling Forward Films and Ketchup Entertainment (Looney Tunes: The Day The Earth Blew Up).
Neon, the indie distributor of the moment, is out with mystery-thriller The Actor, André Holland’s third leading role this year after Sundance premiering Love, Brooklyn by Rachael Abigail Holder, which Holland also produced, and The Dutchman, by Andre Gaines, which just debuted at SXSW. The Actor opens in NYC at the Angelika, Holland doing Q&As, at The Grove in LA and top 10 markets – 20+ screens in all.
Based on the novel Memory by Donald E. Westlake, the film directed by Duke Johnson finds Paul Cole (Holland) stranded in a mysterious small town with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Without a sense of identity or purpose, he starts from scratch and begins courting a local costume designer Edna (Gemma Chan). As bits and pieces of his past slowly emerge, he attempts to find his way home, but time is slippery, appearances can’t be trusted, and it’s unclear which of his identities is real. Screenplay by Duke Johnson, Steve Cooney.
The Last Supper, Grammy-winning Christian music artist Chris Tomlin’s first foray into theatrical filmmaking is as executive producer of the film, which debuts today on 1,600 hundred screens.
From director Mauro Borelli, Pinnacle Peak Pictures and producer Michael Scott, The Last Supper features new single No Greater Love by Tomlin, who has sold over 12 million albums, won a Grammy, three Billboard Music Awards, and 30 Dove Awards—including his most recent Song of the Year win for Holy Forever. Tomlin is a two-time BMI Songwriter of the Year honoree and an ASCAP Songwriter of the Year with 21 number-one radio singles, 30 top-ten hits (the most of any Christian artist) and over 7 billion streams. In 2016, he joined an elite group four artists — alongside Justin Timberlake, Pitbull and Garth Brooks — to receive the Sound Exchange Digital Radio Award for surpassing 1 billion digital radio streams. He also holds the distinction of being the first Christian artist to reach 1 billion streams on Pandora.
As per the producers, the film depicts “the ultimate act of divine love and sacrifice, told through the eyes of those who walked alongside Jesus Christ. This deeply intimate film unveils untold perspectives, shedding new light on the profound Biblical truths that shaped salvation history. More than a retelling, it is an invitation to experience redemption, grace, and the eternal promise of hope like never before.”
There’s been no lagging of interest in faith-based films, which have the potential to hit big. (Angel Studios Sound Of Freedom grossed $120 million globally.) The Last Supper, as per the logline, is set in the days leading to betrayal, where a gathering of disciples unravels into a web of secrets and hidden motives. Borelli co-write the screenplay with John Collins.
In just a few weeks after release, the film’s teaser trailer garnered over 35 million views.
The cast includes Jaime Ward as Jesus, James Faulkner as Caiaphas, and Robert Knepper (Prison Break) as Judas. The ensemble also includes Henry Garrett (Silo) as Nicodemus, James Oliver Wheatley (The Lost Pirate Kingdom) as Peter, Daniel Fathers (House of the Dragon) as Joseph of Arimathea, Nathalie Rapti Gomez (Love on the Rock) as Mary Magdalene, and Ben Dilloway (Masters of the Air) as Malchus.
Pinnacle Peak Pictures (God’s Not Dead, The Case for Christ, Do You Believe? and forthcoming God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust) is a faith and family-friendly film production and distribution studio created in 2005 by Scott and David A. R. White.
The 4 Rascals (Bo Tu Bao Thu), Vietnam’s top box office hit of the year, is out on 300 screens courtesy of 3388 Films — the widest North American release ever for a Vietnamese film.
The romantic dramedy is director Tran Thanh’s fourth film in the top 5 highest grossing movies of all time at the Vietnam box office. He is the only director to have a film (in his case all four) cross 300 billion VND ($12 million) at the Vietnam box office. His last, MAI, Vietnam’s top box office hit of all time, pulled in more than $2 million from North America and Europe.
The 4 Rascals hits universal themes of relationships and family as the titular group try to solve a love triangle. It stars an ensemble cast of Tran Thanh, Le Duong Bao Lam, Le Giang, Uyen An, Quoc Anh, Tieu Vi and Ky Duyen.
Briarcliff Entertainment’s opens documentary October 8 at 127 locations in North America. The searing examination of antisemitism that erupted after the Hamas terror attack on Israel of October 7, 2023 (originally titled October H8TE) is directed by Wendy Sachs with Emmy-winning actress and activist Debra Messing serving as executive producer. Messing appears on camera in the documentary, along with actor-comedian Michael Rapaport, author Noa Tishby, Mosab Hassan Yousef (son of Hamas’s founder Mosab Hassan Yousef), former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, Congressman Ritchie Torres, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, U.S. Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, college students Tessa Veksler, Noa Fay and Talia Khan, and others.
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