Winnipeg | Manitoba| Film Production

[pspeid]

SO great to see so many good productions coming out of Manitoba, though once in a while I'd like to see a feature set in beautiful, warm sunny locations openly identify itself as being in this province. It seems like most of the "frozen wasteland" features trumpet Winnipeg or Manitoba as it's setting. It always seems to be equating one with the other. Oh well, if it gets features made here, I guess we'll be the "frozen wasteland".

[Wpg_Guy]

American Hostage first look: Jon Hamm reprises podcast role in The Night Agent creator's new thriller (exclusive)
The "Your Friends & Neighbors" star appears as Fred Heckman, a beloved radio reporter who interviews a hostage-taker in the 1970s.
By Nick Romano May 5, 2026


Jon Hamm as Fred Heckman in 'American Hostage' first look.
Credit: Steven Ackerman/MGM+/Sony Pictures Television

Still reeling from word of The Night Agent ending with season 4? Here's an exclusive first look at what creator Shawn Ryan has coming next.

Ryan teamed up with Eileen Myers (Big Love, Mad Dogs) for the 1970s-set American Hostage, which returns Jon Hamm to a role he previously performed for the scripted podcast of the same name — this time in live-action.

Based on the first season of that 2022 audio series, the new psychological thriller sees the Mad Men and Your Friends & Neighbors star as Fred Heckman, a beloved Indianapolis radio reporter who finds himself at the center of a crisis when a hostage-taker demands to be interviewed for his popular news program.

Ryan describes Fred as "a man of strong morals, with deep integrity" that are challenged through the hostage crisis. "Fred believes in the mission of journalism, speaking truth to power and is a strong family man," the co-showrunner and executive producer writes to Entertainment Weekly over email. "In many ways, I think this is the most moral man I've seen Jon Hamm play. The trouble for Fred comes when his personal life intersects with this crisis."

Similar to the podcast, the series dramatizes a real-world incident. In 1977, a man named Tony Kiritsis held his mortgage broker, Richard "Dick" Hall, hostage with a shotgun strapped to the back of his head. Dick earlier refused Tony an extension after falling behind on his mortgage payments. The kidnapper made frequent calls to Fred at radio station WIBC in demanding justice.

Giovanni Ribisi and Kristoffer Polaha star as Tony and Dick, respectively, while Mireille Enos plays Barbara, Fred's wife who becomes the liaison to Ibby (Kat Cunning), Dick's wife. "I think one of the strongest moments of the series is when Fred feels compelled to publicly reveal a family secret to earn Tony's trust and avert a deadly end to the crisis, but causes a rupture in his marriage as a result," Ryan writes to EW.

The podcast became a jumping-off point for the new series, as Myers describes expanding the world of Indianapolis and creating new characters. "One of the pros was having Jon Hamm’s voice in our heads as we were writing," the other co-showrunner relays of the adaptation process. "I didn’t feel like there were cons, just that we needed to rethink and reinvent."

American Hostage, also executive produced by Hamm, further deviates from the source material by digging into Fred's past with his father "and how some painful experiences there inform his current dilemma," Myers explains. "Fred is pushed to his limit over these three days — he wants to do the right thing but it’s at a great personal cost — Shawn mentioned the tension it creates in his marriage. It also puts his job and legacy at risk and jeopardizes his deep friendship with his colleague Ben Hairston [William Jackson Harper]."

The main cast of the series, from Sony Pictures Television, also features Jonathan Tucker (Kingdom) in the recurring role of FBI Special Agent Cormac McNally.

It was Ryan and Myers' personal connections to the original podcast that made the material feel cinematic. The former writes about living through the '70s and growing up in Illinois. For Myers, her father used to work for ABC News. She wanted to depict "the energy and excitement of a news station contrasted with the hushed tension of the dimly lit control rooms with all the switches and lights."

Ryan adds how he "started conjuring what these conversations between Tony and Fred on live radio might look like," saying, "I got very excited by the intimate Playhouse 90 vibe of the whole thing. Tony leading Dick Hall by the end of a shotgun through wintery Indianapolis as police officers stood idly by, starkly contrasted by the intimate radio conversations between Fred and Tony all felt delicious to me."

Shot in Winnipeg, Canada, the eight-episode American Hostage will air on MGM+ this fall.


Mireille Enos and Jon Hamm as Barbara and Fred Heckman in 'American Hostage' first look.
Credit: Steven Ackerman/MGM+/Sony Pictures Television

Entertainment Weekly

[Wpg_Guy]

Stephen King’s ‘phenomenal’ The Long Walk now streaming on Amazon Prime (UK)
Story by Andrew Gaudion



Adaptations of Stephen King’s works can vary from the stone-cold masterpieces – think Carrie, The Shining and Misery – to the best left forgotten (sorry, Dreamcatcher).

The legendary horror writer has had over 100 film and TV adaptations of his work, with four of them coming in 2025 alone.

We had the more fantastical The Life of Chuck, the gruesome torment of The Monkey, and the sci-fi action remake The Running Man.

But the best of them? That title comfortably belongs to The Long Walk – and it is making big steps up the Amazon Prime Video charts.

Based on King’s 1979 novella, The Long Walk, stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, and Ben Wang, alongside Mark Hamill and Judy Greer, and depicts a grim vision of the future.

It follows 100 teenage boys who are forced to participate in a gruelling walking contest where falling below a set pace means death.

As the relentless journey unfolds, the competitors face both physical torment and psychological collapse as they battle to survive.

The eerie flick is directed by someone who knows his way around a teenage dystopian, that being Francis Lawrence, who helmed four of The Hunger Games movies (he is also directing this year’s Sunrise on the Reaping).

What did critics make of The Long Walk?
Released last September, The Long Walk gained a great deal of praise from several film critics, earning an impressive 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.

It’s Better in the Dark’s Anthony Morris penned: ‘Powerful, gut-wrenching and relentless, The Long Walk is a straightforward idea taken to a brutally logical conclusion. This walk will stay with you long after the end credits.’

Leo Brady of AMovieGuy.com agreed: ‘The Long Walk is a bleak and haunting film, heartbreaking and, at times, strangely inspiring.’

Nikki Baughan from Screen International penned: ‘Unrelentingly bleak and utterly brutal, it’s one of the most powerful King features for some time.’

‘Bleak, unflinching, and unexpectedly moving, The Long Walk is both a faithful King adaptation and one of the most harrowing cinematic experiences in years,’ Linda Marric of HeyUGuys posted.

‘Not for the faint of heart – but easily one of the best films of 2025 so far.’

Collider’s Jeff Ewing commented: ‘The Long Walk’s steadfast focus on the lives and emotions of the walkers themselves is an exceptional choice, allowing the film to be tense, moving, and complex.

‘It’s one of the best horror movies of the year.’

‘Francis Lawrence brilliantly adapts Stephen King’s The Long Walk into a harrowing cinematic journey with profound philosophical depth,’ Julian Roman, from MovieWeb, added.


Mark Hamill is on sinister duties in the cast as the Major (Picture: Lionsgate)


The flick has received a huge Rotten Tomatoes score (Picture: Lionsgate)

The Long Walk: Key details

Director
Francis Lawrence

Writer
JT Mollner, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King

Cast
Mark Hamill, Judy Greer, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Ben Wang, Jordan Gonzalez, Garrett Wareing

Age rating
15

Runtime
1 hour and 48 minutes

Rotten Tomatoes score
Critics score: 88% – Audience score: 85%

Box office
$63,225,140

Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video

What about the fans?
Many King fans have echoed the positive critical reception as well, with the movie rocking an 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes – as well as earning a ‘B’ Cinemascore grade upon its release in the US (a rare high score for the genre).

User Luis F @Luis98 on Rotten Tomatoes wrote that the acting and script were ‘phenomenal, and the chemistry between the actors felt real and raw.’

‘Absolutely astonishing’ wrote Gracie C @RT66502137. ‘Beautiful cinematic work and characters. Had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.’

Over on Reddit, MrArmageddon12 named it as ‘one of my favourite films of the year.’

‘I was genuinely surprised by it’ wrote user ItsGageW. ‘Not only at how solid the acting, pacing and story itself were but also how much it stuck with me. My only problem with it was the ending, it didn’t quite do it for me, but overall really enjoyed it!’

Elsewhere on Letterboxd, user Lil Bo Deek described it as a ‘harrowing, patiently devised descent into a capitalist nightmare.

‘In a year that hasn’t been all that inspired, this was a great surprise.’

As for myself, I echo the sentiments that speak to the surprising depth of the performances, with David Jonsson in particular proving why he is one of the most exciting British talents working in Hollywood today.

It’s a dark but intriguing high concept, one that is well executed with a great sense of momentum and a strong focus on character that makes everything click.

The Long Walk can be pretty harrowing, but it makes for a thoroughly compelling and resonant tale that leaves its mark and stands tall as a worthwhile King adaptation.

What has Stephen King said about it?
Speaking to Movieweb last summer, director Lawrence shared King’s initial reaction to the movie, and it sounds like the author was a fan himself.

‘He had to approve me and JT, all of that, which was fine. We had to share the script, which was probably the scariest moment, because we had made some tweaks to certain things.

‘He luckily liked it and approved it, which was great. Then we went and made the movie and when we felt like we were really pretty damn close to being at the finished product after some test screenings and things like that, we sent it to him, and he had a really nice call with me and seemed to enjoy the movie very much.’

Ever the active tweeter, King was regularly posting on X during the time of the film’s release to encourage audiences to seek it out.

During an AMA (ask me anything) session on Reddit last year, he shed light on how the project came to be.

He authored The Long Walk in the 70s under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman, and recently shared that the book actually gave him ‘sleepless nights’ while working on it.

SoFlyInTheSky asked him: ‘Hey Stephen. Long time fan. My question is this: when you’re writing a book like “The Longest Walk” are there ever times when you’re writing a scene that even you have to put the pen down because it gets too dark?’

‘There was a scene in the book where Gary Barkovich ripped out his own throat,’ he replied. ‘That gave me a few sleepless nights.’

When questioned about his process was for adapting the book to the big screen, he added: ‘I heard Francis Lawrence was on board to direct, with JT Mollner to do the screenplay, and I said, “Go for it.”

‘Love how it turned out.’

The Long Walk is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Metro.co.uk


Note: In Canada The Long Walk is available to steam on Crave or Amazon Prime with a Starz subscription.

[Wpg_Guy]

'Little House on the Prairie' Netflix reboot first-look photos unveiled
Story by USA TODAY

[Wpg_Guy]

• Video Link

[Wpg_Guy]

Great plains
Manitoba-shot Netflix series sets beloved Ingalls clan in the actual Prairies
By: Randall King
Friday, Jul. 3, 2026

Perhaps it should not have been a significant surprise that Manitoba was chosen as the location for a new iteration of the much-beloved TV series Little House on the Prairie.

Much of the southern part of the province is, after all, authentic Prairie, visually unspoiled by power lines and paved roads.

And there is enough of it to portray a frontier wilderness that matches the source material: a series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, set in and around Independence, Kan., in the 1860s. (Manitoba also famously doubled for Kansas in the movie Capote, the Oscar-winning story of Truman Capote’s investigation of a 1959 quadruple homicide on a Kansas farm, culminating in the publication of his book In Cold Blood.)

Perhaps it was more of a surprise that the material would inspire a new interpretation landing on the streaming service Netflix.

Credit showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine. Though Little House may be best known from the original series starring Michael Landon, which ran from 1974 to ’83, she was mostly inspired by Ingalls Wilder’s semi-autobiographical novels when she took up the task of adapting them anew for television.

“I fell in love with the books as a kid,” Sonnenshine says in a Zoom interview. “I read them until they fell apart. I still have the books. I can’t really open them because they’re so fragile at this point.

“I love the spirit of them. I love the family in them, I saw myself in Laura, and I think that the world right now is a place where we want to remember those incredible moments from our childhood. And I just wanted to be able to share it with a new generation of kids.”

Manitoba’s locations synced up nicely with Sonnenshine’s vision for the show, which stars Alice Halsey (Lessons in Chemistry) as Laura and Australian actor Luke Bracey as Charles (Pa) Ingalls, the role made famous by Landon.

“We came to Winnipeg and we saw the landscape and it really was incredible, all this Prairie, such wonderful skies, such wonderful light and very long days. And also these incredible golden hours,” she says, referring to the last hour of sunlight in a day, which gives a glowing golden hue to the atmosphere.


Eric Zachanowich / Netflix

Alice Halsey as Laura Ingalls in Netflix’s new treatment of Little House on the Prairie, which wa shot in Manitoba.

“That is so valuable for shooting and making it feel cinematic and beautiful. We just love it. And we love the people and we love the crew that we get to work with. It’s an incredible place.”

Even so, Little House on the Prairie shares something in common with other notable shows Sonnenshine has produced, including supernatural teen drama The Vampire Diaries and violent superhero series The Boys.

“I love world-building. I kind of come from a genre world. And the most important thing about working in genre is the emotional resonance of the characters, but also the immersive world-building,” she says.

That’s why the show may feel grittier than the original series, in which the frontier life had an overlay of Hollywood gloss. This version takes advantage of the real-life location to focus on the details of production design and period costuming, as well as shooting in the actual Prairies.

“It’s dirty. There’s wind, there’s weather, there are bugs, and it makes it feel very authentic. It feels, for us, immersive, and I think that translates for the audience that it feels immersive as well,” she says.

The resulting show looked good enough to Netflix that a second season has already been ordered, well in advance of the series première next week.

“They believe in the show and we were able to come back to Winnipeg,” Sonnenshine says. (Production of the second season has begun and will proceed until the end of October.)

In taking on the role of frontier family man Charles Ingalls, Sydney-born actor Bracey says he considers himself lucky he didn’t come with the baggage of familiarity with the character that Landon built decades earlier.

“I was kind of a little bit blissfully ignorant of the Little House world before I came into it,” says Bracey over a Zoom call from Los Angeles to Winnipeg, where he spent months filming the first season last year.


Eric Zachanowich / Netflix

Luke Bracey (with Alice Halsey, left) enjoyed shooting in the elements in Manitoba.

The actor, 37, says he neither grew up with the show, nor was really aware of the worldwide scale of its appeal, which he thinks actually helped him.

“I didn’t feel the burden of it in that way,” he says. “I felt the normal burden that you want to do a good job and you want to be true to these beloved stories. And as I’ve grown to learn all about the books and the show and the stories and how much people love it, it’s less of a burden and more of a privilege, you know, to get this chance to create just a nice, good man.”

The character endures some significant hardships over the course of the series, and for his part, Bracey says shooting in the Prairie environment helps his performance; the majority of the show is shot outside in what he calls “that beautiful nature.”

“And it was such a joy,” Bracey says. “Selfishly, as an actor, it makes acting a bit easier when you’re actually outside feeling the breeze, feeling the heat, experiencing all the beautiful flora and fauna that Winnipeg and Manitoba has. It was one of the most enjoyable five months I’ve had working. And on top of that, Winnipeg is a lovely city and a really lovely community.”

Little House on the Prairie premières Thursday on Netflix.

Winnipeg Free Press