Film News Roundup: William Sadler to Star in Thriller ‘Alice Fades Away’

In today’s film news roundup, William Sadler is starring in the thriller “Alice Fades Away,” Janos Szasz will direct a “Black Friday” movie, and “Superman Vs. The Ku Klux Klan” is in the works as a movie.

CASTINGS

William Sadler, Ashley Shelton, Blanche Baker, and Paxton Singleton are starring in the independent thriller “Alice Fades Away” with Ryan Bliss directing from his own screenplay.

Bliss is also producing with Anthony Ambrosino, Andrew James, and Janine Moore. The story centers on a troubled woman in 1950’s New England stumbling upon an isolated farmhouse and being taken in by its idealistic residents — until a murderous figure from her past arrives.

The film is Bliss’ feature directorial debut. The production recently shot scenes at the Great House on Castle Hill in Massachusetts, which was the site featured in “The Witches of Eastwick.” Other cast members include Joanna Pickering, Nick Yiakoumatos, and Jay Potter.

Sadler is best known for his roles in “The Shawshank Redemption” and the TV series “Roswell,” “The Pacific,” and “Hawaii Five-O.” He’s in the upcoming “Grudge” with Andrea Riseborough, Demián Bichir, John Cho, Lin Shaye, and Jacki Weaver.

DIRECTOR ATTACHMENT

Hungarian filmmaker Janos Szasz will make his English-language feature debut on Yale Productions’ “Black Friday,” Variety has learned exclusively.

The script by Mickey Solis follows a child protective service officer working to save an immigrant child from a dangerous criminal who has trapped them and other hostages inside a super store on Black Friday. Yale Productions’ Jordan Yale Levine and Jordan Beckerman will produce, with FilmMode Entertainment’s Clay Epstein serving as an executive producer. FilmMode will also handle worldwide sales on the title.

Szasz is best known for his 2013 film “The Notebook,” which was distributed by Sony Pictures Classics and shortlisted for the Academy Award for best foreign-language film, as well as his documentary “Eyes of the Holocaust,” which was executive produced by Steven Spielberg. Additional titles directed by Szasz include “Opium: Diary of A Madwoman.”

Yale Productions recently wrapped production on “Crypto,” starring Beau Knapp, Kurt Russell, and Alexis Bledel, and “Burn,” starring Josh Hutchinson and Suki Waterhouse.  The company is currently in production on William Brent Bell’s “Separation,” starring Rupert Friend, Mamie Gummer, and Madeline Brewer. It produced “After Everything,” starring Maika Monroe, Jeremy Allen White, and Marisa Tomei.

PROJECT LAUNCHED

Adi Shankar, producer of Netflix’s “Castlevania,” is joining with PaperChase Films and Marc Rosen for a feature film version of the Rick Bowers book “Superman Vs. The Ku Klux Klan.”

This story follows Stetson Kennedy, a man who went undercover to infiltrate the KKK in 1946 and joined with the Anti-Defamation League and the producers of the Superman Radio Show to thwart the Klan.

“Superheroes operate outside the scope of law and offer us hope that someone will rise up and protect us when government and other institutions cannot or will not,” Shankar said. “This story shows the power of the superhero mythology and its tangible impact on the physical world.”