SXSW to Premiere ‘Pee-wee’s Big Holiday,’ Seth Rogen’s ‘Preacher’
South by Southwest will host the world premieres of Paul Reubens’ “Pee-wee’s Big Holiday,” “Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru,” “Beware the Slenderman” and “Preacher.”
SXSW also announced Thursday that it will hold the North American premiere of sci-fi drama “Midnight Special,” starring Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton and Kirsten Dunst. It will screen Athina Rachel Tsangari’s comedy “Chevalier,” which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival.
SXSW had already announced that the world premiere of Richard Linklater’s dramedy “Everybody Wants Some” would open the 23rd edition of the festival on March 11 in Austin, Tx. The feature film lineup will be unveiled on Feb. 2 and the rest of the lineup will be announced on Feb. 9.
“Though we are still in the thick of programming, each year we release a handful of films to provide an early peek into the festival,” said Janet Pierson, head of SXSW Film. “These smart, stylish and diverse offerings from some of the most exciting talent working today reflect what the SXSW audiences have come to expect: great stories, well told.”
“Pee-wee’s Big Holiday” is being released through Netflix.
Here are the full descriptions of the new additions:
“Beware the Slenderman” (World Premiere)
Director: Irene Taylor Brodsky
In this horrifyingly modern fairytale lurks an online Boogeyman and two 12-year-old girls who would kill for him. The entrance to the internet quickly leads to its darkest basement. How responsible are our children for what they find there?
“Chevalier”
Director: Athina Rachel Tsangari, Screenwriters: Efthimis Filippou, Athina Rachel Tsangari
Six men on a fishing trip on a luxury yacht decide to play a game to compete. Things will be compared. Things will be measured. Songs will be butchered, blood will be tested. Friends will become rivals and rivals will become hungry. (Greece)
Cast: Yorgos Kentros, Panos Koronis, Vangelis Mourikis, Makis Papadimitriou, Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, Sakis Rouvas
“Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru” (World Premiere)
Director: Joe Berlinger
Granted unprecedented access, Berlinger captures renowned life and business strategist Tony Robbins behind the scenes of his mega seminar Date with Destiny, pulling back the curtain on this life-altering and controversial event, the zealous participants and the man himself.
“Midnight Special” (North American Premiere)
Director/Screenwriter: Jeff Nichols
A father goes on the run to protect his young son and uncover the truth behind the boy’s special powers in the sci-fi thriller Midnight Special, a film as supernatural as it is intimately human.
Cast: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Jaeden Lieberher, Sam Shepard
“Pee-wee’s Big Holiday” (World Premiere)
Director: John Lee, Screenwriters: Paul Reubens, Paul Rust
In Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, a fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger inspires Pee-wee Herman to take his first-ever holiday in this epic story of friendship and destiny.
Cast: Paul Reubens, Joe Manganiello, Jessica Pohly, Alia Shawkat, Stephanie Beatriz
“Preacher” (World Premiere)
Directors: Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Screenwriter: Sam Catlin
Preacher is a supernatural, twisted and darkly comedic drama that follows a West Texas preacher named Jesse Custer, who – along with his ex-girlfriend Tulip and an Irish vagabond named Cassidy – is thrust into a crazy world, much bigger than he is.
Cast: Dominic Cooper, Ruth Negga, Joseph Gilgun, Ian Colletti, W. Earl Brown, Lucy Griffiths
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