Premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was director Michael Winterbottom’s The Look of Love.   Starring Steve Coogan, the film is based on the true story of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond who went on to become one of the richest men in Britain.  The film also stars Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, and Tamsin Egerton.  For more on the film, here’s all our previous coverage.  In addition, IFC Films has picked up the rights, so it’ll be in theaters at some point down the road.

Shortly after the premiere I got to speak with Winterbottom backstage at the Eccles theater in Park City.  We talked about the experience of being at Sundance, how the project came together, how they came up with which aspects of Raymond’s life they should focus on, the editing process, what he learned from his friends and family screenings, film versus digital, future projects, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Real estate magnate, nudie show producer, and smut publisher Paul Raymond cared more about success than people.  It’s an obvious conclusion from a man who treated women as objects, put his own desires first, and didn’t mind doing cocaine with his daughter.  Perhaps it’s fitting that Michael Winterbottom‘s The Look of Love never bothers to look any deeper at its protagonist since Raymond never took a deeper look at the people in his life.  Nevertheless, it still makes for a deeply uninteresting biopic, and a surprisingly bland picture considering the lengths its subject went to in order to titillate his audience.

Steve attended the American Film Market (AFM) a few weeks back, and he was able to bring back a few promo images, posters, and synopses for some upcoming films.  Today we’ve got the first image and synopsis for the comedy The Look of Love and the first synopsis for the psychological horror film In Fear.  Directed by Michael Winterbottom (The Trip), Steve Coogan stars in The Look of Love as a legendary gentleman’s club owner and erotic publisher in London.  The cast also includes Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies), Tamsin Egerton (Huge), and Imogen Poots (Jane Eyre).

Additionally, we’ve got the first synopsis for the horror film In Fear.  Directed by Jeremy Lovering, the film stars Alice Englert (Beautiful Creatures) and is described as a home invasion film in a car.  The story plays out in real time as we follow a couple trapped in a maze of country roads with only their vehicle for protection.  Hit the jump for the image and synopses.

We’ve got some new posters for you today with all sorts of genre confusion.  Here are the movies in brief:

• The Possession, a horror-thriller from director Ole Bornedal that stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick and Natasha Calis.  The film opens August 31st.
• Trishna, from director Michael Winterbottom, stars Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed in an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles.”
• Grassroots, a policitcal comedy/drama from director Stephen Gyllenhaal, stars Cobie Smulders, Jason Biggs and Joel David Moore.

Hit the jump to check out the new posters.

Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies), Tamsin Egerton (Camelot), and Imogen Poots (Fright Night) have joined Steve Coogan in Michael Winterbottom‘s King of Soho.  Coogan will play real-life club proprietor, real estate developer, and porn publisher Paul Raymond and the comedy drama will focus on his business and personal life.  Per Variety, Raymond earned the name “King of Soho” because his business ventures earned him billions of pounds.  The movie will be Winterbottom and Coogan’s fourth collaboration after 24 Hour Party People, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, and The Trip.  Winterbottom’s latest film, Trishna, opens in limited release on May 18th.

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher announced in May 2010 his company In 1 Productions is developing a feature about The Beatles’ multimedia corporation Apple Corps based on the Richard DiLello book The Longest Cocktail Party.  It may take another year or so for all the pieces to come together, but the way the project is shaping up, it will be worth the wait.  Co-producer Andrew Eaton recently revealed that Jesse Armstrong—one of the sharpest writers on the British comedy scene as evidenced by credits on Peep Show, In the Loop, and Four Lions among others—will adapt the screenplay.  Eaton also disclosed plans for Michael Winterbottom—who worked with Eaton on The Trip—to direct when there’s a space in his schedule.

Set in 1968-1969, the story centers on DiLello’s time as a student at Apple Corps with Apple Press Officer Derek Taylor.  Gallagher likes the idea of his friend Johnny Depp playing Taylor.  Eaton would love to have Depp on board in some capacity, though not necessarily as Taylor.  Hit the jump for his explanation.

A teaser trailer for director Michael Winterbottom’s (The Killer Inside Me) drama Trishna has landed online. Starring Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed, the film is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles set against a contemporary Indian backdrop. For those unfamiliar, Trishna centers on the relationship between a rickshaw driver’s daughter (Pinto) and the son of a wealthy property developer (Ahmed). As you can probably guess, their vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds do not make a happy, healthy relationship all that easy to come by.

The film features original songs from Indian musician Amit Trivedi as well as an original score by Shigeru Umebayashi (House of Flying Daggers). If this cut is any indication, the contributions of each of these musicians are at the forefront of the film. Check out the teaser trailer for yourself after the jump. Trishna will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9th.

I don’t remember the last time I posted this many image articles in a single day.  This is number five and it’s got new images from Roman Polanski’s Carnage and Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna.  The Carnage images are just stars Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Christoph Waltz, and Kate Winslet doing dramatic stare downs at each other and even at the camera.  Carnage—which only runs 79 minutes since it plays out in real time—focuses on two sets of parents who come together to settle a schoolyard fight between their kids.  As for Trishna, the movie is based on Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles but set against an Indian backdrop.  I’m sure star Freida Pinto will have more to work with than she did in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  Carnage opens this December and will play at the Venice and New York Film Festivals.  Trishna will play at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Jack Black has signed on to star in the Michael Winterbottom comedy Bailout.  The film is based on Jess Walter’s novel, The Financial Lives of The Poets. THR reports that the script (which Walter also wrote) “details the story of one man’s attempt to come back from the brink of financial ruin after meeting a couple of losers in a late night supermarket.”  Black will play the man on the brink of financial ruin although it’s amusing to think that a little over a decade ago, he probably would have played one of the two losers.

Winterbottom, who swings wildly between light comedy (The Trip, Tristam Shandy) and intense drama (A Mighty Heart, The Killer Inside Me) said Walter’s script accomplishes the “rare feat of being funny and true at the same time.”  Filming is set to begin in the US this August.  Black is currently promoting Kung Fu Panda 2 and he’ll next be seen in non-animated-panda-form in Richard Linklater’s Bernie.

Director Michael Winterbottom (The Killer Inside Me) and Colin Firth are developing a feature film based on the recent murder case involving American student Amanda Knox.  Last December, Knox was convicted by an Italian court for the murder of her roommate and sentenced to 26 years in prison.  A representative for Winterbottom told Variety that the project is in its “early days”, and Winterbottom told the Guardian that he was not planning to take sides.  Said Winterbottom, “I have no view on whether they did it, the film will not be about that. There is unlikely to be a character playing Knox.  I talked to Firth about the idea of playing a journalist or a writer.”  However, Variety adds that Winterbottom and Firth have been spending time with Rome-based American journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau, author of Angel Face: The True Story of Student Killer Amanda Knox whose book suggests Knox is guilty.

An Amanda Knox telefilm for Lifetime is already underway with Hayden Panettiere playing the Seattle-based student.  Knox’s appeal trial begins November 24th.

The madness of The Killer Inside Me has been unleashed online.  Casey Affleck stars as Lou Ford, a duplicitous rage filled Texas Sheriff’s deputy who finds himself twisted up in a bloody caper. Director Michael Winterbottom’s film is based on a 1952 novel of the same name written by Jim Thompson. The late great Stanley Kubrick worked with Thompson on the 1956 heist noir movie The Killing, and touted The Killer Inside Me as “the most chilling and believable first–person story of a criminally warped mind I have ever encountered.” Personally, I’ve always found stories set between the 1940’s and late 1960’s that examine the true grimy nature of humanity to be intriguing. That time frame always seemed to be presented with a false veneer of purity. Though there always lurked some vague destructive beast underneath the innocence of that era. Films like Shutter Island and Revolutionary Road have been remarkable ruminations of the hyperbole and hypocrisy of humanity in those years, and The Killer Inside Me appears to follow the trend. The Killer Inside Me stars Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson.

Check out the trailer and the poster after the jump.

Icon Pictures has released the UK teaser trailer for Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me.  It’s one of the best trailers you’ll see this year as it makes the film look mean, nasty, and utterly compelling.  Casey Affleck looks amazing as the lead character, a sheriff who pretends he’s a charming rube when in actuality he’s murderous sociopath.  Unlike the promo trailer that showed up last November, you don’t have to worry about being spoiled.

The film played at this year’s Sundance Film Festival to widespread controversy, particularly relating to questions about whether or not the film was misogynistic due to its portrayal of brutal violence against women.  UK audiences can judge for themselves when the film hits theaters on June 4th.  US audiences will have to wait until June 18th for the flick’s limited release.  The film co-stars Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Bill Pullman, Ned Beatty, Simon Baker, and Elias Koteas.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer from The Guardian [via The Playlist] along with the official plot synopsis.

The Killer Inside Me took its place among the most debated films on Tribeca’s slate at its star-studded screening, Tuesday night.  Cast members Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson defended the film’s explicit violence during a Q&A session following the NY festival premiere (it debuted at Sundance in January).

The 2nd film adaptation of Jim Thompson’s 1952 novel (Stacy Keach starred in the 1976 version) follows Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford (Affleck) who spends most of his time on the other side of the law.  It’s sparked controversy with two scenes of extreme violence toward women, including one where Ford repeatedly pummels a female (Alba) in the face.   The provocative film has set off another exploration vs. exploitation argument over the work of director Michael Winterbottom (Nine Songs, The Road To Guantanamo).  Hit the jump to hear the full discussion, including why Alba wanted the original scene to be even more raw & how Affleck thinks it compares to the Saw franchise.

Cary Fukanaga’s adaptation of Jane Eyre and Michael Winterbottom’s The Promised Land loaded up their casts today with some very talented actors.  First up, THR reports that Jamie Bell (Defiance), Judi Dench (Nine), Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky) and Imogen Poots (Me and Orson Wells) are all in negotiations to join Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender (Hunger) in the adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.

Here’s The Hollywood Reporter’s rundown of the story and casting: The Gothic tale follows young governess Jane Eyre (Wasikowska), who falls in love with her employer, Edward Rochester (Fassbender), but discovers he harbors a dark secret.  Bell will play St. John, a clergyman who turns out to be Eyre’s cousin. Dench will play Mrs. Fairfax, the housekeeper of Thornfield Manor, who disapproves of Eyre’s engagement with Rochester.  Hawkins is Mrs. Reed, Eyre’s aunt, who adopts her but abuses and neglects her until death.

Hit the jump to learn about the casting and plot for Michael Winterbottom’s (24 Hour Party People) next film, The Promised Land.

Michael Winterbottom’s controversially violent and gratuitous film, The Killer Inside Me, was picked up early this morning by IFC Films for approximately $1.5 million for U.S. distribution. The film, based on a Jim Thompson novel and a remake of the 1976 film of the same name, stars Casey Affleck as a deputy sheriff in Texas that is revealed to have a twisted and murderous tendency. Flick also stars Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Simon Baker, Elias Koteas, and Bill Pullman.

The Killer Inside Me recently screened at Sundance, and as the article notes, marks the second movie that IFC Films has picked up recently that has a controversial reputation. Last year, they purchase distribution rights for Lar Von Trier’s Antichrist. IFC Films plans for a summer release of the Winterbottom film in theaters and on their VOD service.

UPDATE: We’ve been sent over a press release about the purchase from IFC.  Hit the jump to read it: