Film News Roundup: Ansel Elgort to Star in ‘The Great High School Imposter’
In today’s film news roundup, Ansel Elgort is going to high school, “Rockaway” gets a release, and “Suspiria” producer Bradley Fischer is honored.
CASTING
Ansel Elgort has come aboard to star in the drama “The Great High School Imposter” for Participant Media and Condé Nast Entertainment.
The project is based on a Daniel Riley GQ Magazine article published this year about Artur Samarin, a young Ukranian man who posed as a teenager so he could be adopted by a childless couple in a small Pennsylvania town and became the top student in his high school. Saramin was five years older than he claimed. His adopted parents turned him into the authorities.
Mike Makowsky is adapting the script. Jeremy Steckler of Condé Nast Entertainment is producing. Makowsky, Elgort, and Emily Gerson Saines will be executive producers. Robert Kessel and Jonathan King are overseeing for Participant.
Elgort starred in “The Fault in Our Stars” and “Baby Driver” and is attached to play the lead role of Tony in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” remake. Makowsky wrote “Bad Education,” starring Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, and Ray Romano. The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.
ACQUISITION
Gravitas and Palladin have acquired distribution for coming-of-age story “Rockaway,” starring Keidrich Sellati and Maxwell Apple.
James DiGiacomo, Tanner Flood, and Colin Critchley also star. “Rockaway” will receive an on-demand release Jan. 8 and a limited theatrical release, including New York, beginning Jan. 11. Inspired by true events from his childhood, first-time director and Long Island native John J. Budion also wrote the script for the film.
The movie centers on two brothers who have high hopes of a New York Knicks championship. The cast also includes Wass Stevens and Frankie J. Alvarez.
HONOR
Bradley J. Fischer, whose credits include “Black Swan,” “Zodiac,” and “Shutter Island,” has been selected by the Capri Hollywood International Film Festival to receive its 2018 Producer of the Year Award.
Prior honorees include Jim Gianopulos, Bill Mechanic, Thomas Langmann, Lawrence Bender, Mark Canton, and Andrea and Raffaella Leone.
Fischer’s 2018 releases include “Suspiria,” “The House with a Clock in its Walls,” and the feature documentary “American Dream/American Knightmare,” directed by Antoine Fuqua, which Showtime premieres on Dec. 21.
As previously announced, Annapurna Pictures’ “Vice,” starring Christian Bale, will be officially opening the festival on Dec. 26. Lee Daniels is chairing the festival, which runs to Jan. 2.
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