In today’s film news roundup, Will Arnett and Kristen Bell join “Teen Titans Go!,” Ivanhoe Pictures hires industry vet Winnie Lau, and “18 to Party” starts production in New York.
CASTING
Warner Bros. Pictures has tapped Will Arnett and Kristen Bell for voice roles in the big-screen version of DC Entertainment’s animated TV series “Teen Titans Go!”
The movie, whose full title is “Teen Titans Go! to the Movies,” will also star Greg Cipes, Scott Menville, Khary Payton, Tara Strong, and Hynden Walch, reprising their roles from the Cartoon Network series. The film will be directed by Aaron Horvath and Peter Rida Michail, from a screenplay by Michael Jelenic and Horvath, based on characters from DC.
Michail, Arnett, and Peggy Regan are producing, with Sam Register, Jelenic, and Horvath as executive producers. Apart from Arnett, all are “Teen Titans Go!” series contributors.
The roles for Arnett and Bell have not been revealed. “Teen Titans Go!” has been set for a July 27, 2018, release.
EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENT
Ivanhoe Pictures, the international division of SK Global, has hired industry veteran Winnie Lau for the newly created post of head of Asia production and distribution.
SK Global president John Penotti made the announcement Monday. Lau will remain based in Beijing and report directly to Penotti and Michael Hogan, president of production at Ivanhoe Pictures. She will oversee and continue to grow Ivanhoe’s film slate in Asia while broadening its business of content creation, distribution and ownership.
Lau served as head of international production and distribution at Wong Kar Wai’s Jet Tone Films for the past three years. During her tenure, Lau worked on projects including “Mr. Long,” which was in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, and the upcoming action comedy “Europe Raiders” from Jingle Ma.
Before joining Jet Tone Films, Lau worked for 13 years as exec at Fortissimo Films together with Michael J. Werner and the late Wouter Barendrecht. She oversaw the international licensing of “Shine a Light,” “Winter’s Bone,” “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” and “Super Size Me.”
Lau said, “I have admired Ivanhoe for their diverse and consistent support of unique and talented filmmakers from around the world. John and Michael presented me with a tremendous opportunity to work with them and their team at SK Global and to build upon the great production experiences and training I received at Jet Tone. There is much to do at Ivanhoe as we expand upon their commitment to work with talented filmmakers throughout Asia.”
Katherine Lee, Ivanhoe’s Hong Kong-based executive, will transition to a producing deal with the company as she launches her own production shingle, named My Favorite Films. She has developed three projects at Ivanhoe which she is shepherding into production in 2018.
PRODUCTION START
Production is underway in and around New York City on Asterion Pictures’ first feature, “18 to Party,” with Jeff Roda directing from his own script, Variety has learned exclusviely.
The year-old company is headed by Nikola Duravcevic and Emily Ziff Griffin, who was an associate producer on “Capote.” The duo is producing along with Stephanie Marin (“Fallen Stars”) and Andrew Cahill of Cahill Bros., who also developed “18 to Party.”
Set in 1984 in an outer suburb of upstate New York, the story takes place over a single evening as a group of eighth graders wait outside an all-ages nightclub with the desperate hope of getting in.
The ensemble cast includes Alivia Clark, Tanner Flood, James Freedson-Jackson, Oliver Gifford, Nolan Lyons, Sam McCarthy, Ivy Miller, Taylor Richardson, and Erich Thomas Schuett.
Asterion is also developing the first English-language feature to be directed by Chilean filmmaker Francisca Alegria along with a feature about notorious short-seller Jesse Livermore and the 1929 market crash from a script by Stefan Forbes. Asterion is represented by Jonathan Gray of Gray Krauss Sandler Des Rochers.
