Bleecker Street has unveiled the first teaser for its action-comedy Mafia Mamma, reteaming Toni Collette with director Catherine Hardwicke. The film written by Michael J. Feldman & Debbie Jhoon is slated for release in theaters on April 14, 2023. Mafia Mamma follows an insecure American woman (Toni Collette) who inherits her grandfather’s mafia empire in Italy. Guided by the firm’s trusted consigliere (Monica Bellucci), she hilariously defies everyone’s expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business. Christopher Simon, Amanda Sthers, and Collette served as producers on the Vocab Films, IDEA(L) and New Sparta production. Mafia Mamma comes on the heels of Hardwicke, Collette and Simon’s collaboration on the 2015 dramedy Miss You Already, in which Collette starred opposite Drew Barrymore. Its cast also includes Giulio Corso, Francesco Mastroianni, Alfonso Perugini, Sophia Nomvete, Eduardo Scarpetta, Tim Daish, and Tommy Rodger.

The best thing coming out of the virtual press junket tour for “The Estate” (currently in US theaters, just skip the reviews) is Yahoo! Entertainment’s Roll Call interviw with Toni Collette, in which she not only talks about her iconic roles in “Muriel’s Wedding”, “The Sixth Sense” and “Hereditary”, but also about the roles she wanted to play or declined, including Martin Scorcese’s “Bringing Out The Dead” and “Bridget Jones’s Diary”. The video can be watched above and in the video archive. Here are the best takeaways:

On losing out “Bringing Out The Dead” while being offered “The Sixth Sense”:

I was actually in New York meeting Martin Scorsese for a film called Bringing Out the Dead. And I was so enamored by Marty and obviously wanted to [work with him]. I knew about him. I didn’t know who Night was. So I was kind of focused on trying to work with Scorsese. Who wouldn’t be? I still wanna work with him. … [Finally I called my agent back] and my agent said, “You’ve been offered…” and I screamed before he got it out. I thought he was saying “You’ve been offered Bringing Out the Dead,” and he said, “You’ve been offered The Sixth Sense.” And I was like, [disappointedly], “Aw.”

On turning down “Bridget Jones’s Diary”:

I really couldn’t make the decision. I was busy doing a musical on Broadway called The Wild Party and I wasn’t available. But sometimes I think about that and I think, ‘I don’t know, that character’s so similar to Muriel.’ It might have been too close. And I try not to repeat myself.

On her infamous last scene in “Hereditary”:

Well, the story to me is just a really sad story about a family grieving. And so when it came to doing that, which is an overtly horrific moment, it felt ridiculous. I was hanging up in the attic, and Ari Aster, the brilliant writer-director, had a very specific idea of the rhythm of how I use the piano string to saw my own head off. So I literally was watching him and he was moving how he wanted me to move until it got faster and faster. So it was kind of technical in terms of just pleasing him in the rhythm of how that movement was. And it was fun, actually. It was fun putting all the prosthetics on and getting all the blood lined up. But it just felt like a complete departure from what the film actually meant to me.

Australian actor Toni Collette is perhaps best known in recent years for her dark roles in Hereditary, Nightmare Alley, and The Staircase. But her upcoming movie The Estate, written and directed by Dean Craig, is something slightly different: a laugh-out-loud comedy. “I thought it was so outrageous, so much of it is so wrong and I love it,” she told RadioTimes.com on her initial reaction to the script. “I laughed my arse off and couldn’t stop, I wanted to do it immediately. “I read it in the middle of COVID and it just brought me so much joy,” she continued. “I laughed out loud repeatedly and I thought ‘I need that’ and I feel the world might need that, too.” The Estate features an incredible ensemble cast made up of Anna Faris, David Duchovny, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ron Livingston and the legendary Kathleen Turner – whom Faris described working with as “terrifying and wonderful”. The complete article and interview can be read over at RadioTimes.com.

It was a really short shoot and I don’t know if we magicked it up or it came naturally but we did become a very tight unit very quickly. I think we both loved the idea that this is a film about a love between sisters and they are just so desperate that they would do absolutely anything and we did kind of cling to each other. They really rely on each other, they are different but they very much need each other and we very much needed each other too. (Toni Collette, Radio Times, October 31, 2022)

“The Estate” is receiving quite some buzz this week for its November 4 release. Anna Faris and Toni Collette have both participated in a virtual press junket for the film. So far, E! Insider and Entertainment Tonight have aired their segments in which the actresses talk about bonding on set to play sisters without any rehearsal time, if they would let their children watch their work. Toni also talked about this year’s 20th anniversary of “About a Boy” and if she keeps up with her co-stars Hugh Grant, Rachel Weisz and Nicholas Hoult. Screencaptures from both videos have been added, too. Edit: A 10-minute b-roll has been added as well.

“The Estate” is gearing up promotion for its November 4 release with new television spots, on-set interviews with the cast and two clips from the scene, showing Toni Collette, Anna Faris, Kathleen Turner, David Duchovny, Rosemarie DeWitt and Ron Livingston in action. For a complete overview, have a look at the list below.

A first batch of official production stills for “The Estate” have been added to the photo gallery. The comedy, directed by Dean Craig, will be released theatrically in the US on November 4. It had its world-premiere at the BFI London Film Festival earlier this month, no reviews have been published yet.