Yearly Archives: 2025

M. Night Shyamalan to film ‘supernatural romantic thriller’ in R.I. this summer with Jake Gyllenhaal

PROVIDENCE – M. Night Shyamalan is bringing his eye for the bizarre, unusual, and unnerving to Rhode Island.The “Sixth Sense” director will film an upcoming “supernatural romantic thriller” starring Jake Gyllenhaal in the Ocean State this summer, the Rhode Island Film & Television Office announced on Thursday.For the project, Shyamalan is collaborating with best-selling author Nicholas Sparks (“The Notebook”). Sparks will write a book and Shyamalan will write a screenplay, separately, based on the same original story.“Night is a visionary who always attracts top-notch talent in front of and behind the camera,” Steven Feinberg, executive director of the state Film & Television Office, said in a statement. “Rhode Island is a special location steeped in history, beauty and great mystery. With all of these amazing ingredients in the hands of a master filmmaker, we can expect M. Night Shyamalan and his outstanding team to tantalize our senses and make a movie we can all be proud of!”Further details about the film have not yet been reported. But in announcing the partnership with Shyamalan on social media in January, Sparks said the project is “unlike anything we’ve done before.”“I’m teaming up with the brilliant Academy Award-nominated director M. Night Shyamalan to create a film adaptation that will blend the heartfelt, timeless romance you know and love with his signature touch of mystery and suspense,” Sparks said.In separate statements on Thursday, Rhode Island House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio touted the production is slated to bring jobs and help boost the state economy.Rhode Island most recently served as a backdrop for “Ella McCay,” a movie starring Emma Mackey, Woody Harrelson, and Jamie Lee Curtis filmed in the state last year now set for a September release. Portions of an upcoming documentary on the life of “Twilight Zone” creator and mastermind Rod Serling were also filmed in East Greenwich, Providence, and South Kingstown, R.I.“With our unique landscape and talented local artists, Rhode Island is an ideal location to film a motion picture or television series,” Governor Dan McKee said in a statement on Thursday. “Every time a production shoots here we see a positive impact on our local businesses. This is the type of energy that keeps moving our economy forward.”Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.

“Sixth Sense” director, “The Notebook” author, filming movie in…

PROVIDENCE – Notable director, M. Night Shyamalan, and best-selling author, Nicholas Sparks, are teaming up on a movie that is set to be filmed in the Ocean State, the R.I Film & TV Office announced Thursday. The movie, characterized as a “supernatural romantic thriller” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, will begin filming this summer.  The story will

Star Wars Print From A Long Time Ago To Headline BFI Film Festival

It’s not often than minor miracles happen, but the BFI in London seems to have conjured one, with the news that an original print of Star Wars, sans its “Episode IV” title intro, is to be shown on the opening night of its BFI Film On Film Festival on the 12th of June 2025.

According to the BFI, the print, sourced from its own archive, is an “original, unfaded dye transfer IB Technicolor British release print, with dye transfer being the gold standard for film prints, offering the highest level of color and contrast. I first saw Star Wars on the big screen in a double bill of the first two movies in 1982, and by then, the Episode IV tag had already been added, so this truly is a special opportunity.

The received wisdom is that since the release of the special editions in 1997, George Lucas has refused to let the original versions of his first trilogy see the light of day, with Disney seemingly maintaining that stance.

However, there are exceptions. The original unaltered versions of all three movies were officially released by Lucasfilm in 2006 as part of a DVD box set (albeit in widescreen non-anamorphic format), while a 70mm print of the original, unaltered version was shown at an Academy Awards event in 2019 — reportedly with George Lucas’s approval. However, this was a very exclusive, one-off event, so the BFI’s claim that this is the first screening of the unaltered original in decades is accurate.

In my opinion, most of the “special” additions to A New Hope are acceptable. Still, the one that has always really bugged me the most isn’t the infamous “Greedo shot first” incident in the Cantina, but the scene that closely follows where Han talks to Jabba the Hutt with Boba Fett lurking in the background. As the scene was originally unfinished, most of Jabba’s dialogue was given to Greedo in the earlier scene. By adding it back in, we hear almost the same lines again, rendering its inclusion narratively pointless. And while the CGI Jabba faced criticism (requiring it to be redone for the 2004 DVD release), for me, what’s worse is that his presence in this first film lessens the impact of finally seeing him in Return of the Jedi.
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Returning to the BFI film festival, things will close on a high with Kyle MacLachlan presenting the 1990 TV pilot episode of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, a television show considered to be far ahead of its time.

Other highlights include an IMAX 70mm presentation of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a print created under the supervision of Christopher Nolan. I saw this print at the London Science Museum’s Ronson Theatre in 2023, but, somewhat surprisingly, this is the first time that it has been presented on the BFI’s flagship IMAX screen. Kubrick fans can also see a film print of his 1956 film The Killing and his first short, The Day Of The Fight (1951).

There’s also a chance to see classics such as Local Hero (1983) and 70mm prints of Amadeus (1984) and Empire Of The Sun (1988).
The festival weekend will also include workshops, talks, and free events, with the chance to hear from expert voices from the BFI’s conservation, curatorial and projection teams.
Tickets for the BFI Film on Film Festival are on sale from the following times and dates:
BFI Patrons – Tuesday 6 May (from 12:00)
BFI Members – Wednesday 7 May (from 12:00)
General sale – Friday 9 May (from 12:00)