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Fede Álvarez subverts expectations and form with his unnerving apocalyptic audio drama TV series that mixes psychedelia with the supernatural.

“We’re getting a lot of strange calls. The kind that makes no sense.”

Fede Álvarez has been a genre force to be reckoned with ever since his short film about a robot rampage in Montevideo, Panic Attack!, got him the gig for 2013’s Evil Dead. Álvarez is constantly pushing boundaries as a filmmaker and horror storyteller and he’s become someone who the film industry trusts to breathe new life into beloved classics, whether it’s Evil Dead, Alien, or even The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus has already become one of 2024’s most talked about movies – horror or otherwise. However, one of Álvarez’s most impressive genre accomplishments is Calls, an experimental streaming horror series from 2021 that reinvents the audio drama with ambition and ingenuity.

Have you ever met somebody who has overwhelmed you? Somebody whose personality seemed so much bigger than your own that you ended up going along with them even though you didn’t really want to, not sure how to say ‘No,’ not sure that they’d notice if you did? Sometimes it can be fun to be around somebody like that. It can feel flattering or liberating, like an adventure. The reason most people are wary of it, however, is that they recognise how difficult it could be to get away if it all went horribly wrong.

Tim (Bastien Garcia) and Stéphane meet on a film set – Tim’s film set. Stéphane is there as a special effects supervisor, to create an explosion. It’s not clear if he has any particular expertise or if he just likes explosives and is keen to give it...

Lucas Pastor as Stéphane

Have you ever met somebody for the first time, gone along with them for a little while, and suddenly realised that you’re completely out of your depth? That’s what happens to young filmmaker Tim (Bastien Garcia) when he meets Stéphane (Lucas Pastor). One moment the overenthusiastic stranger is praising his work and offering him dinner; the next he’s inviting him to stay on his boat, and taking him away to an island where they decide to make a film together. Along the way, it gradually dawns on Tim that Stéphane, who is behaving more and more oddly, might very possibly be dangerous. The film, written and directed by Lucas and his friend Timothée Hochet, screened at this year’s Beyond Fest and, though it was far from the biggest title there, it will probably prove to be the hardest to forget. I was...

Blue Finch Films has boarded international sales on European genre titles, Scandinavian thriller “Good Boy” and found footage film “Stéphane,” ahead of their world premieres at Beyond Fest.

“Good Boy,” which delves into the perils of the modern dating world, follows Sigrid who thinks she’s met the perfect match in Christian until she comes to find out that he lives with a man who acts like his pet dog.

French thriller “Stéphane,” a new take on the found footage genre, follows Timothée, as he documents his time with the larger-than-life, and almost unbelievable character that he meets whilst shooting a short film. As time goes on their jovial and eccentric talks become something far more sinister.

“Stéphane” directors, Timothée Hochet and Lucas Pastor, said: “Our movie is an homage to all of the Stéphane’s in the world. We all know a guy like him, in all of his weirdness and authenticity.

Apple TV+ recently released their new genre-bending thriller “Calls”, directed by Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe‘s Fede Álvarez. Based on the buzzy Canal+ French series of the same name created by Timothée Hochet, “Calls” is said to be “a groundbreaking, immersive television experience that masterfully uses audio and minimal abstract visuals to tell nine bone-chilling, short-form stories.” Each episode […]...

The biggest trick in audio drama is vagueness. Try to overcompensate for the sensory information the audience isn’t getting and it can get pedantic really quick. Underdeliver and the telling of the story can quickly become too sparse for its own good. That middle ground is where the best parts of “Calls” reside.

The nine-part Apple TV+ project, created by director Fede Alvarez as an adaptation of Timothée Hochet’s French language series, also exists in another significant gray area. Each episode plays out like a part in an anthology, a group of collected imagined phone calls, each culminating in some terrible bout with the unexplained. These calls are represented in audio form, with onscreen transcripts of each side of the conversation. Those words, in turn, are set against an abstract visualizer-like background that develops with the changes in the call.

While not 100% essential to comprehending what exactly is going on,...

In today’s TV news roundup, Paramount Plus set the release date for the seventh and final season of “Younger,” and Mindy Kaling has joined the cast of “Monsters At Work.”

Dates

Paramount Plus announced that the seventh and final season of “Younger” will premiere on April 15. The first four episodes will be available to stream at premiere, while the remaining eight episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays. Additionally, the full season will air on TV Land later this year. “Younger” follows Liza Miller (Sutton Foster), a talented editor navigating the highly competitive world of publishing — while juggling the complications of mixing business with pleasure and facing the lie she created about her age to land her dream job. In the final season, Liza’s personal life is on shaky ground as she tries to stay true to herself. After a setback at work, Kelsey (Hillary Duff) doubts her career...

Apple TV+ has launched a new trailer for the immersive nine episode series ‘Calls’ featuring an all-star cast.

Directed by Fede Álvarez (“Don’t Breathe”), each episode follows a darkly dramatic mystery that unfolds through a series of seemingly average, unconnected phone calls that quickly become surreal as the characters face growingly unsettling experiences.

Based on the buzzy Canal+ French series of the same name created by Timothée Hochet, the series is a groundbreaking, immersive television experience that masterfully uses audio and minimal abstract visuals to tell nine bone-chilling, short-form stories.

The stellar cast assembled to bring this Apple Original series of eerie conversations to life includes Nicholas Braun, Clancy Brown, Lily Collins, Rosario Dawson, Mark Duplass, Karen Gillan, Judy Greer, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, Nick Jonas, Riley Keough, Joey King, Stephen Lang, Jaeden Martell, Paola Nuñez, Pedro Pascal, Edi Patterson, Aubrey Plaza, Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jennifer Tilly.

Apple TV+ has shared a trailer and revealed the full cast for the short-form audio series “Calls.”

Based on the popular French series of the same name, “Calls” is described as an “immersive television experience” which “uses audio and minimal abstract visuals to tell nine bone-chilling, short-form stories.”

The original series, created by Timothée Hochet, took the format of audio recordings from sources like airplane black boxes, phone calls and cassette tapes to tell the story of a series of tragic events, all connected in one way or another to an impending apocalypse.

Here is the full list of stars who will lend their voices to the series, some of which appear in the trailer above.

Nicholas Braun (“Succession”), Clancy Brown (“The Shawshank Redemption”), Lily Collins (“Emily in Paris”), Rosario Dawson (“Jane the Virgin”), Mark Duplass (“The Morning Show”), Karen Gillan (“Avengers: Endgame”), Judy Greer (“Halloween”), Laura Harrier (“Hollywood”), Paul Walter Hauser...

Apple TV+ has set a top tier voice cast for its mystery auditory thriller Calls.

Nick Jonas, Pedro Pascal, Rosario Dawson, Lily Collins, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Aubrey Plaza are among the stars featuring in the first season of the nine-part drama. Watch the trailer for the series below.

Launching on Friday, March 19, the show uses audio and minimal abstract visuals to tell nine short-form stories. Each episode follows a dark mystery that unfolds through a series of seemingly average, unconnected phone calls that quickly become surreal as the characters face growingly unsettling experiences.

Based on a French series created by Timothée Hochet, it is directed by Fede Álvarez, who directed 2013’s Evil Dead feature and 2016’s horror film Don’t Breathe.

Nicholas Braun, Clancy Brown, Mark Duplass, Karen Gillan, Judy Greer, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, Riley Keough, Joey King, Stephen Lang, Jaeden Martell, Paola Nuñez, Edi Patterson, Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz...

Apple TV Plus announced the cast and set the premiere date for its genre-bending auditory adaptation of Canal Plus’ “Calls.”

Nicholas Braun, Clancy Brown, Lily Collins, Rosario Dawson, Mark Duplass, Karen Gillan, Judy Greer, Laura Harrier, Paul Walter Hauser, Danny Huston, Nick Jonas, Riley Keough, Joey King, Stephen Lang, Jaeden Martell, Paola Nuñez, Pedro Pascal, Edi Patterson, Aubrey Plaza, Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jennifer Tilly all lent their voices to the project, which will launch with all nine episodes streaming on March 19.

“Calls” is designed to be an immersive television experience that uses audio combined with minimal abstract visuals to tell nine individual short-form stories through nine calls. The show is directed by Fede Álvarez, and each episode will follow a dark and dramatic mystery that unfolds through a series of seemingly average and at times unconnected phone calls. As time goes on in the episodes, characters...

Nicholas Hope in an episode of ‘Deadhouse Dark’ (Photo: Lauren Orrell).

Enzo Tedeschi’s horror anthology Deadhouse Dark will have its world premiere in the short form competition at Canneseries, the only Australian entry in the event which runs alongside the Miptv market in Cannes.

The other nine contenders are Broder (Argentina), Dog Days (Canada), Christmas on Blood Mountain (Norway), Cryptid (Sweden), First Person (Canada), Replay (France), The Writers. A Short Series (Poland), Tony (Argentina) and Zero Day (Us).

Jamie Bamber is the president of the short form competition jury, serving with Erin Moriarty and French actor/filmmaker Timothée Hochet.

The award of Best Short Form Series will be presented during the festival’s closing ceremony on April 1.

Screen Australia and Screen Queensland funded the series of six short horror films for YouTube and Tedeschi’s deadhouse.tv, anchored by a woman who orders a ‘mystery box’ from the dark web,...

Apple has acquired English-language remake rights to the French short-form series “Calls” which was commissioned by Canal Plus in France.

Created by Timothée Hochet, “Calls” is an innovative and suspenseful series allowing audiences to experience short stories through real-life audio sources and minimal visuals. Each 10-minute episode features audio recording found after mysterious tragic events.

On top of the remake rights, Apple has also acquired the first season of the French original which showcases voices of well-known actors including Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!), Marina Foïs (“L’Atelier”), Mathieu Kassovitz (“The Bureau”), Kyan Khojandi (“Bref”), Jérémie Rénier (“My Way”), Gaspard Ulliel (“Saint Laurent”).

“Calls” was produced by Lorenzo Benedetti’s Studio Bagel for Canal Plus which co-developed and co-produced the series through its new label Creation Decalée. The series won the Mipformat prize at MipTV in April.

Apple will be partnering up with Canal Plus on the remake version of “Calls.

Apple continues to fill out its series programming pipeline.

The tech giant’s entertainment arm has given a series order to “Calls,” an English-language adaptation of the French short-form series Canal+. The new English-language series will be a co-production with Canal+.

Created by Timothée Hochet, the original “Calls” allows audiences to experience short stories through real-life audio sources and minimal visuals. As part of the deal, Apple has also acquired the rights to the first season of the French original .

“Calls” was developed and produced under the Canal+ Creation Originale label. Maxime Saada is group chairman and CEO of the French programmer.

The straight to series order comes as Apple continues to load up on content for a yet-to-be-revealed original programming platform. On Wednesday, Apple set a deal for multiple new series from children’s programmer Sesame Workshop. A day earlier, the company ordered “Little America,” an anthology series from...

Apple has given a 10-episode straight-to-series order to an English adaptation of the popular French short-form series Calls, which will be co-produced by Canal+. It marks Apple’s first greenlighted international series and its first international co-production.

Created by Timothée Hochet, Calls takes storytelling innovation to the next level, allowing audiences to experience short stories through real-life audio sources and minimal visuals.

As part of the deal, Apple also has acquired the rights to the existing season of the original French series, which aired last year.

Calls is a Canal+ original series developed and produced under the network’s award-winning Creation Originale label. Canal+ Group Chairman and CEO is Maxime Saada.

A trailer of the French series is below:...