The Amazon is flowing, or rather the money, it would seem.
MGM, long suffering from a lack of cash, seems suddenly flush and giddy. They just announced that they bought Sean Penn’s film “Flag Day” and will release it on August 13th.
That’s the same day they have scheduled for Jennifer Hudson playing Aretha Franklin in the biopic, “Respect.”
That’s two big releases on the same day after a long time of nothing– and also waiting to release the James Bond movie “No Time to Die” until November after a year or more of postponements. That’s very courageous!
“Flag Day” will first premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in early July. As Amazon now owns MGM, that’s the second Cannes film for the new company, and the second one with a quick opening in the US. Amazon has set August 6th for a screening of Leos Carax’s “Annette” at Lincoln Center’s Film Society. I like this! No waiting!
“Flag Day” stars Penn with his daughter, Dylan Penn, and even has a role for her brother, Hopper Penn. It’s a family affair. Josh Brolin is also featured.
Superstar screenwriters Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth have adapted the film from Jennifer Vogel’s memoir, “Flim-Flam Man: The True Story of My Father’s Counterfeit Life.” Dylan Penn plays Vogel across two decades as she comes of age while navigating a fraught relationship with her beloved, career criminal father John Vogel, played by Sean Penn.
