Latest news with #AngelStudios
Hans India
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hans India
First look unveiled: SJ Suryah's ‘Killer'
SJ Suryah is making his comeback to direction with a new film, 'Killer', where he will also be playing the lead role. He has also written the story, screenplay, and dialogues himself for the movie. 'Killer' is being made on a big scale by Suryah's own production house, Angel Studios, and Sree Gokulam Movies, led by experienced producer Gokulam Gopalan. The film is co-produced by V C Praveen and Baiju Gopalan, with Krishnamoorthy serving as Executive Producer. Preethi Asrani plays the leading lady in the movie. The first look poster showcases SJ Suryah in a fierce, stylish avatar, holding a gun in one hand and the film's leading lady, Preethi Asrani, in the other. Dressed in a red saree and holding a bouquet of roses, Preethi exudes charm and elegance. The chemistry between the lead pair instantly grabs attention. Academy Award-winning music director A R Rahman joins the project to score the music, and his inclusion underscores the importance of the film's soundtrack. 'Killer' is planned as a large-scale film and will be released in five languages, aiming to connect with audiences across India. Shooting is currently in progress, and more details on the cast and crew will be revealed soon.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
SJ Suryah returns to direction with ‘Killer', first look unveiled
SJ Suryah is set to return to the director's chair with Killer, a new action film in which he also plays the lead. The project marks his first directorial venture in several years and is being produced on a large scale by Angel Studios in association with Sree Gokulam Movies. The first look poster of Killer was unveiled on Saturday, featuring Suryah in a stylised appearance. The film also stars Preethi Asrani, known for her performance in Ayothi, as the female lead. EN ANBUM AARUYIRUMAANA Fans & Friends 🥰🥰🥰💐💐💐Presenting U the #KillerFirstLook as My Birthday gift to all of U 🥰🥰🥰, Tomorrow Morning all of U keep me in your prayers🙏🙏🙏and I will keep U all in my prayers as always 😍😍😍🙏🙏🙏🥰sjs @arrahman@GokulamGopalan… — S J Suryah (@iam_SJSuryah) July 19, 2025 Killer also features music by Academy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman. Following latest news of his collaboration with fellow Oscar-winner, Hans Zimmer, for Nitesh Tiwari's upcoming Ramayana, Rahman's collaboration adds significant weight to the project, which is being positioned as a high-budget, pan-India release. SJ Suryah, who is writing and directing the film in addition to playing the lead, described Killer as a 'James Bond-style' action entertainer with romantic elements reminiscent of his earlier hit Kushi. The film will be released in five languages — Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi. Production on Killer is currently underway, with further casting and release details expected soon. According to the makers, the story, screenplay, and dialogues are all handled by Suryah himself.
Miami Herald
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
‘Sound of Freedom' Studio Releases New Films Taking on Woke Culture
Angel Studios, the distributor behind the surprise 2023 summer hit Sound of Freedom, has released a new documentary series that argues the impact of woke culture on parts of the West amounts to a "soft totalitarianism" which is comparable to, but distinct from, the "hard totalitarianism" of the Soviet Union. The film Live Not By Lies! is based on the 2020 New York Times bestselling book of the same name written by conservative commentator Rod Dreher, who described himself as an "old friend" of Vice President JD Vance. Split into four parts, it had its U.K. premiere in London's swanky Belgravia district on June 30, where Dreher told Newsweek he believes Vance "could be the new Reagan." Live Not By Lies! fleshes out the argument made by Vance at the Munich Security Conference in February, when he shocked European audiences by arguing Western European nations face a bigger threat from "within," including perceived attacks on free speech, than from traditional rivals like Russia and China. This shows a powerful current within American conservative thinking which believes political freedoms are being weakened in Western Europe, and in particular the United Kingdom, in an attempt to accommodate "woke" ideology and multiculturalism. Live Not By Lies! was released by Angel Studios on its streaming platform on a weekly basis over April in four parts. The first episode, which was played at the London premiere on June 30, focused on dissidents who opposed what Dreher calls the "hard totalitarianism" of the Soviet Union from behind the Iron Curtain. A number of prominent British conservatives attended the event, including Mark Francois, a Tory MP and former minister, and ex-Mumford & Sons guitarist Winston Marshall, along with Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster, who co-host the popular Triggernometry YouTube channel which has 1.4 million subscribers. The U.S. premier took place in Washington and was addressed by Vance. Subsequent episodes argue parts of the West are now in the grip of a "soft totalitarianism," which has seen restrictions placed on free speech to avoid causing offense. Speaking to Newsweek, Dreher said: "The main message of the film is that we're living now in Western civilization in a time of soft totalitarianism which is to say it's not like the Soviet version which has a police state, nevertheless people are very oppressed by speech codes, by fear of saying what they really think, against the left frankly. "The message of the film is that it is important to find the courage to speak up to it for the sake of liberty and of the values that have been at the core of what it means to be a man or woman of the west for a very long time." The U.K. is held up as an "extreme example" of this, with Dreher saying: "As an American we look to Britain as our mother country, as the founding place of democracy and that this is happening in Britain is of course a horror to us but it should not happen." A promotional poster for Live Not By Lies! provocatively features CCTV cameras and communist flags emblazoned over British landmarks like Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament. U.K.-based cases featured in the series include that of Adam Smith-Connor, a former British soldier who in 2024 was criminally convicted after silently praying within a council designated "safe zone" outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, on England's south coast, and refusing requests to move. Smith-Conner was ordered to pay more than £9,000 in costs and handed a two-year conditional discharge, which he is appealing. Speaking to Newsweek at the premiere, Smith-Connor said: "I think our soft totalitarianism is a very comfortable one, but I think as more and more lies seep into our society and this culture of death with abortion up to birth and assisted suicide coming in, I think it's going to start encroaching into more and more fields of our life." In 2023 Angel Studios, a Christian film distributing company based in Utah, released Sound of Freedom, an action movie telling the story of Tim Ballard, who launched missions to rescue children from sex trafficking in Columbia. The film became widely popular, particularly with conservative audiences, bringing in more than $250 million worldwide against a budget of just $14.5 million. Speaking to Newsweek, Smallman said that "no mainstream elements" would touch his proposal for Live Not By Lies! "with a 10-foot poll," but that Angel Studios expressed interest. The company submitted the documentary series to what it calls its "Guild," made up of its customers, who green-lit the project and allowed him to raise "about $1.5 million from 3,000 people online who sent us money because they believed in the project." Dreher told Newsweek he is an "old friend" of Vance, whom he described as "a serious intellectual Christian and a man of great stability." The writer went on to predict Vance "could be the new Reagan" adding: "I think if everything goes generally well with the rest of the Trump administration, we will have a President Vance because JD Vance has proved himself loyal to President Trump and his agenda." Referring to Vance's speech at the Munich Security Conference, Dreher said: "When JD gave that speech in Munich, my smartphone lit up with texts from conservative friends from Bucharest, across Europe to London, saying, 'thank God somebody finally said it.' "Europeans who love their country, who love their culture and who love freedom of speech are looking to the American vice president as their defender. It's an incredible moment in history." Live Not By Lies! is available for streaming on the Angel Studios website. Related Articles Supreme Court to Hear JD Vance CaseJD Vance Is Being Proven Right About Europe's Free Speech ProblemSupreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Quotes Himself in New OpinionBen Cohen: I Was Arrested at Senate Hearing Because I Protested for Justice | Opinion 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Newsweek
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
'Sound of Freedom' Studio Releases New Films Taking on Woke Culture
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Angel Studios, the distributor behind the surprise 2023 summer hit Sound of Freedom, has released a new documentary series that argues the impact of woke culture on parts of the West amounts to a "soft totalitarianism" which is comparable to, but distinct from, the "hard totalitarianism" of the Soviet Union. The film Live Not By Lies! is based on the 2020 New York Times bestselling book of the same name written by conservative commentator Rod Dreher, who described himself as an "old friend" of Vice President JD Vance. Split into four parts, it had its U.K. premiere in London's swanky Belgravia district on June 30, where Dreher told Newsweek he believes Vance "could be the new Reagan." Why It Matters Live Not By Lies! fleshes out the argument made by Vance at the Munich Security Conference in February, when he shocked European audiences by arguing Western European nations face a bigger threat from "within," including perceived attacks on free speech, than from traditional rivals like Russia and China. This shows a powerful current within American conservative thinking which believes political freedoms are being weakened in Western Europe, and in particular the United Kingdom, in an attempt to accommodate "woke" ideology and multiculturalism. What To Know Live Not By Lies! was released by Angel Studios on its streaming platform on a weekly basis over April in four parts. The first episode, which was played at the London premiere on June 30, focused on dissidents who opposed what Dreher calls the "hard totalitarianism" of the Soviet Union from behind the Iron Curtain. A number of prominent British conservatives attended the event, including Mark Francois, a Tory MP and former minister, and ex-Mumford & Sons guitarist Winston Marshall, along with Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster, who co-host the popular Triggernometry YouTube channel which has 1.4 million subscribers. The U.S. premier took place in Washington and was addressed by Vance. A promotional poster for Angel Studios' documentary series "Live Not By Lies!" A promotional poster for Angel Studios' documentary series "Live Not By Lies!" Angel Studios Subsequent episodes argue parts of the West are now in the grip of a "soft totalitarianism," which has seen restrictions placed on free speech to avoid causing offense. Speaking to Newsweek, Dreher said: "The main message of the film is that we're living now in Western civilization in a time of soft totalitarianism which is to say it's not like the Soviet version which has a police state, nevertheless people are very oppressed by speech codes, by fear of saying what they really think, against the left frankly. "The message of the film is that it is important to find the courage to speak up to it for the sake of liberty and of the values that have been at the core of what it means to be a man or woman of the west for a very long time." The U.K. is held up as an "extreme example" of this, with Dreher saying: "As an American we look to Britain as our mother country, as the founding place of democracy and that this is happening in Britain is of course a horror to us but it should not happen." A promotional poster for Live Not By Lies! provocatively features CCTV cameras and communist flags emblazoned over British landmarks like Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament. Comedian Konstantin Kisin speaking at the London premier of "Live Not By Lies!" Comedian Konstantin Kisin speaking at the London premier of "Live Not By Lies!" James Bickerton/Newsweek U.K.-based cases featured in the series include that of Adam Smith-Connor, a former British soldier who in 2024 was criminally convicted after silently praying within a council designated "safe zone" outside an abortion clinic in Bournemouth, on England's south coast, and refusing requests to move. Smith-Conner was ordered to pay more than £9,000 in costs and handed a two-year conditional discharge, which he is appealing. Speaking to Newsweek at the premiere, Smith-Connor said: "I think our soft totalitarianism is a very comfortable one, but I think as more and more lies seep into our society and this culture of death with abortion up to birth and assisted suicide coming in, I think it's going to start encroaching into more and more fields of our life." Angel Studios In 2023 Angel Studios, a Christian film distributing company based in Utah, released Sound of Freedom, an action movie telling the story of Tim Ballard, who launched missions to rescue children from sex trafficking in Columbia. The film became widely popular, particularly with conservative audiences, bringing in more than $250 million worldwide against a budget of just $14.5 million. Speaking to Newsweek, Smallman said that "no mainstream elements" would touch his proposal for Live Not By Lies! "with a 10-foot poll," but that Angel Studios expressed interest. The company submitted the documentary series to what it calls its "Guild," made up of its customers, who green-lit the project and allowed him to raise "about $1.5 million from 3,000 people online who sent us money because they believed in the project." Vice President Vance Dreher told Newsweek he is an "old friend" of Vance, whom he described as "a serious intellectual Christian and a man of great stability." The writer went on to predict Vance "could be the new Reagan" adding: "I think if everything goes generally well with the rest of the Trump administration, we will have a President Vance because JD Vance has proved himself loyal to President Trump and his agenda." Referring to Vance's speech at the Munich Security Conference, Dreher said: "When JD gave that speech in Munich, my smartphone lit up with texts from conservative friends from Bucharest, across Europe to London, saying, 'thank God somebody finally said it.' "Europeans who love their country, who love their culture and who love freedom of speech are looking to the American vice president as their defender. It's an incredible moment in history." What Happens Next Live Not By Lies! is available for streaming on the Angel Studios website.
Hans India
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hans India
AR Rahman comes on board for SJ Suryah's directorial ‘Killer'
After a decade-long break from direction, SJ Suryah is making a grand comeback with his upcoming film Killer. Known for his distinct storytelling and impactful screen presence, Suryah will don multiple hats—director, lead actor, writer, and screenwriter—for this ambitious project. Killer is being mounted on a large scale under the joint banner of Angel Studios and Sree Gokulam Movies, with veteran producer Gokulam Gopalan backing the venture. The film is co-produced by V.C. Praveen and Baiju Gopalan, with Krishnamoorthy serving as Executive Producer. Adding to the excitement, Academy Award-winning composer AR Rahman has been roped in to handle the music. This marks the fifth collaboration between Suryah and Rahman, following successful outings in Naani, New, Anbe Aaruyire, and Puli. Rahman's presence hints at a powerful musical score that will be integral to the film. Planned as a pan-India release, Killer will hit screens in five languages, aiming to reach a diverse audience across the country. The remaining cast and crew details are expected to be announced shortly, building further anticipation.
