Amanda Seyfried Honored By Santa Barbara Film Festival — Film News in Brief

Jazz Tangcay
·4 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Tues. Feb. 9

Amanda Seyfried Honored By Santa Barbara Film Festival

Amanda Seyfried will be honored for her career and her performance in David Fincher’s “Mank” at the 36th Santa Barbara Film Festival. Seyfried, who recently received a supporting actress Golden Globe nomination, will be recognized with the Montecito Award at an April 9 ceremony.

“Amanda gives one of the best performances of 2020 in “Mank,” and makes us do a double take about her whole career. This is a defining moment for her, and a rediscovery for us,” said SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling.

More from Variety

Past recipients of the award include Lupita Nyong’o, Melissa McCarthy, Saoirse Ronan, Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Daniel Day-Lewis, Geoffrey Rush, Julianne Moore, Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, Bill Condon, and Naomi Watts.

The festival takes place March 31 to April 10. The format has not yet been announced.

Mon. Feb 8.

Universal Pictures Moves Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Marry Me’ to 2022

Universal Pictures has announced Jennifer Lopez’s “Marry Me” is moving from May 14, 2021 to Feb. 11, 2022.

Lopez stars as musical superstar Kat Valdez and Owen Wilson as Charlie Gilbert, a math teacher—total strangers who agree to marry and then get to know each other. The film is an unlikely romance about two people searching for something real in a world where value is based on likes and followers and will feature original songs by Lopez and Latin music star Maluma.

The film also stars John Bradley (HBO’s “Game of Thrones”), Michelle Buteau (Netflix’s “Michelle Buteau: Welcome to Buteaupia”) and Utkarsh Ambudkar (“Mulan”).

Kat Coiro (“Dead to Me”) will direct the film. Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Lopez’s producing partner and Benny Medina will both serve as producers on “Marry Me.”

Shout! Factory and Animation Studio LAIKA Announce New Entertainment Distribution Alliance

Shout! Factory, and the Oscar-nominated animation studio LAIKA have announced a new entertainment distribution alliance. The partnership will bring the studio’s first four award-winning films to the home entertainment marketplace in the U.S.

The announcement was made today by Melissa Boag, Shout’s SVP of family entertainment, and David Burke, LAIKA’s chief marketing officer and SVP of operations.

“We’ve been huge fans of LAIKA, Travis Knight, and his extraordinary team. Their legendary ingenuity, independent spirit, and compelling storytelling have inspired us and continue to entertain audiences worldwide,” Boag said in a statement. “We’re incredibly excited about this new opportunity with LAIKA and look forward to presenting these beloved films with enlightening extras and lavish packaging to fans and collectors everywhere.”

“We’re delighted to launch our partnership with Shout! Factory,” said Burke. “Their ability to maximize value for legacy titles by bringing films to entirely new audiences well after their theatrical release cycle is unparalleled in the industry. We look forward to a long and impactful relationship with these industry leaders.”

The content deal was negotiated by Jordan Fields, VP of acquisitions, and Steven Katz, VP of business affairs for Shout! Factory, and LAIKA’s head of business development Michael Waghalter and Colin Geiger, general counsel and head of business affairs.

‘Minari’ Leads the Seattle Film Critics Society Nominations

Lee Issac Chung’s “Minari” led the Seattle Film Critics Society nominations with eight nods including best picture, best director, best actor (Steven Yeun), best supporting actress (Yuh-jung Youn), best ensemble cast, best original score and best youth performance (Alan Kim). The film also scored a nomination for best film not in an English language.

Behind that, Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” landed six nominations, including best picture, best director, best actress (Frances McDormand), best screenplay, best cinematography and best film editing.

Also receiving six nominations was “First Cow” for best picture, best director (Kelly Reichardt), best screenplay, best cinematography, best costume design and best production design.

David Fincher’s “Mank,” Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” and Leigh Whannell’s “The Invisible Man” follow with five nods apiece. “Promising Young Woman” received four nominations.

Winners will be announced on Feb. 15 starting at 9 a.m. PT via the Seattle Film Critics Society’s Twitter handle – @seattlecritics.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.