As expected due to the coronavirus pandemic, Bleecker Street’s “Dream Horse”, which was supposed to release theaters on April 17, has been moved to a September 04, 2020 release date in the United Kingdom. Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” has also suspended production indefinitely. The decision was made on behalf of Disney, which is putting a hold on nearly all of its live-action productions at the moment, including 20th Century and Searchlight projects. Del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” is adapted by the filmmaker and film critic Kim Morgan from the 1946 William Lindsay Gresham novel of the same name. The project is Del Toro’s first since “The Shape of Water,” which took home top Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. The ensemble cast includes Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Rooney Mara, and David Strathairn. Del Toro kicked off production at the end of January and had been shooting the film in Toronto. “Nightmare Alley” casts Cooper as an ambitious carnival worker with a talent for manipulating people with his words. Cooper’s character uses his gift to carry out con jobs, but his life is thrown into disarray after he falls for a mysterious psychiatrist (Blanchett) who proves far more dangerous than he could ever image. The carnival cast includes carnival worker Molly (Mara), head barker Clem (Willem Dafoe), and del Toro’s “Hellboy” actor Perlman as Bruno the Strongman. Jenkins, an Oscar nominee for “Shape of Water,” stars in the part of the high society crowd as wealthy industrialist Ezra Grindle.” Disney and Searchlight never assigned a release date for “Nightmare Alley,” but many were hoping the movie would turn up on the fall festival circuit and be ready for the upcoming awards season. Those release wishes are now in jeopardy now that production is on hold indefinitely.

Over the past weeks I’ve worked extensively on Toni Collette’s press library, adding the most recent interviews to promote “Knives Out” and “Unbelievable” and also posting lots of older articles from the early 1990s and 2000s. Included are some fantastic vintage cover stories from around the world, which you can now all find in the improved press library, hosting over 200 articles. If you have any articles or cover stories in your collection that you would like to share, please drop me a line. Enjoy reading!

According to Deadline, Bella Heathcote (Strange Angel, The Man in the High Castle) is set to headline Pieces of Her, Netflix’s dramatic thriller series based on the 2018 book by bestselling crime author Karin Slaughter. Heathcote will star opposite Toni Collette in the eight-episode series, which comes from an all-female creative team led by Charlotte Stoudt, Bruna Papandrea, Lesli Linka Glatter and Minkie Spiro. Written by Stoudt, who serves as showrunner, Pieces of Her is set in a sleepy Georgia town where a random act of violence sets off an unexpected chain of events for 30-year-old Andy Oliver (Heathcote) and her mother Laura (Collette). Desperate for answers, Andy embarks on a dangerous journey across America, drawing her toward the dark, hidden heart of her family. Stoudt executive produces with Papandrea, Steve Hutensky and Casey Haver from Made Up Stories, and Karin Slaughter, Janice Williams, Spiro and Glatter.

A self-saboteur, Andy (Bella Heathcote) is a college dropout living in her mother’s garage apartment. Aimless and struggling for direction, she is the complete opposite of her mother, Laura, (Toni Collette) who is a poised and well-respected speech pathologist. When a life-changing incident takes place at a small-town diner, Andy is forced to fend for herself as she is plunged into a world where nothing is as it seems.

Warner Bros has debuted a new trailer and poster for the upcoming feel-good story ‘Dream Horse’ featuring Toni Collette with a welsh accent. The story follows Jan Vokes, a cleaner and bartender, who recruits her initially reluctant husband Brian and local accountant Howard Davies to help her bring together a syndicate of local people to breed a foal – which they name Dream Alliance. On the racetrack, he proves himself to be more than a match for the multi-million-pound racehorses he comes up against – a true working-class champion, taking on the establishment at their own game. But much more than this, Dream begins to alter the lives of everyone in the syndicate, not least Jan’s. He is everything to her: friend, confidant and an escape from a life of always putting other people’s needs first. Directed by Euros Lyn the film also stars Damian Lewis, Owen Teale, Joanna Page, Karl Johnson, with Nicholas Farrell and Siân Phillips alongside Collette. The film has a UK release of April 17th. Screencaptures from the trailer as well as the US and UK poster have been added as well.

As previously reported, “Knives Out” has been released on-demand last week and will bow on home-video next week. In a noteworthy feat for an original title, Rian Johnson’s whodunnit Knives Out has reached the $300 million mark at the worldwide box office. Knives Out’s domestic total through Monday stands at $159.1 million, with an international tally of $140.9 million. From Lionsgate and MRC, Knives Out has shown remarkable staying power since bowing in North America on Nov. 21, the beginning of the lucrative Thanksgiving corridor. When it concludes its theatrical run, the pic will be among the 10 top-grossing films ever released over Thanksgiving, according to Lionsgate. Overseas, top-performing territories to date include China ($28.4 million), followed by the U.K. ($16.8 million), Germany ($9.7 million), Australia ($9.3 million) and France ($8.2 million and counting). Screencaptures from the film, as well as its making of, on-set interview and deleted scenes, have been added to the photo gallery.

Better late than never, I have managed to add all promotional videos and photoshoots from last week’s Sundance Film Festival to the archives. It’s a lot! Euros Lyn, the director of “Dream Horse”, and Toni Collette have visited all the relevant studio sites for interviews on the film, the Oscars and working in Wales. The film has received very positive and well-meaning reviews so far (The Hollywood Reporter gave the film “every chance of sprinting to victory at the box office finish line […] crowned by the reliably excellent Toni Collette”, which is a great barometer ahead of its April release in the United Kingdom. For a complete list of all added material, have a look at the list below.