Month: October 2023

Back in 2019, “Iron Man 3” production executive Chris Fenton filed an explosive lawsuit against former employer DMG Entertainment, a once-highflying company that bridged Hollywood movies and Chinese distribution. After a legal back and forth that included a DMG countersuit that was later tossed, Fenton’s case is finally headed to trial next week and is
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Pierre-Antoine Capton, the co-founder and CEO of Mediawan, was named Knight of the Legion of Honor by French President Emmanuel Macron during a ceremony held at the Elysée Palace in Paris. Capton was honored alongside other French figures who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s cultural landscape, including the filmmaker Costa Gavras, actor and novelist
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“Sweet Magnolias” has been renewed for a fourth season, Netflix announced on Thursday. Based on the popular series of novels by author Sherryl Woods, the series “follows lifelong best friends Maddie (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), Dana Sue (Brooke Elliott), and Helen (Heather Headley) as they juggle relationships, family, and careers in the charming small town of
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Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” an epic look at the French emperor and military leader’s rise to power, is one of the final potential awards hopefuls awaiting its first reactions from critics and pundits. As awards season approaches, Variety has learned exclusively which Oscar categories the film will be submitted for. Most notably, Vanessa Kirby will vie
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When Nora Helmer slammed the door on her husband, leaving her marriage with a bang in A Doll’s House, it was the sound heard round the world. And it continues to be: Look at Jessica Chastain’s Tony-nominated turn in the Broadway revival this year. The distance between an 1879 Henrik Ibsen play and a fashion
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Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for Una Gunjak’s debut feature “Excursion,” which is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entry for the Oscars’ international feature film category. Salaud Morisset is handling international sales. HBO Europe has just picked up the SVOD and pay TV rights to the movie in 15 countries in Central and
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Super-indie Argonon has appointed Joe Weinstock to the newly created role of chief executive, Argonon USA, reporting into global CEO James Burstall. Argonon, a global production group headquartered in the U.K. and U.S., owns Scottish indie production company Bandicoot, which makes the U.K. version of “The Masked Singer” as well as “The Masked Dancer.” Weinstock co-founded
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The Sundance Institute has added four new additions to the Board of Trustees. Tessa Thompson, Pete Nicks, Nina Fialkow, and Kimberly Steward will help steer the organization and act in an advisory capacity. The new trustees will work closely with board chair Ebs Burnough and CEO Joana Vicente. “As Sundance Institute continues to respond to
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Although the SAG-AFTRA strike rages on, there is one project Emmy-nominated actress Camila Morrone can talk about: her newly minted partnership with fine jewelry brand Brilliant Earth. The announcement comes just as Brilliant Earth launches its latest collection, Sol. In its 18 years, Brilliant Earth has never had a brand ambassador before—nor has Morrone ever
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Kino Lorber has hired Rebecca Winter to be its vice president of partnerships and platform management. In her new role, Winter will oversee strategic distribution partnerships and new business development across all Kino Lorber brands and streaming services, including MHz Choice and Topic. She will develop and expand partnerships and manage existing relationships. In addition,
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“Kingsman” and “X-Men: First Class” director Matthew Vaughn appeared on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast and was surprisingly open when asked about his relationship to a handful of major Hollywood franchises, from James Bond to “Star Wars” and the DC Universe. As a whole, he said the major Hollywood studios have been suffering by prioritizing
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Inter Medya is launching sales on the brutal revenge saga “Sayara,” directed by Turkish horror genre specialist Can Evrenol, whose film “Baskin” premiered in TIFF’s Midnight Madness section. The Istanbul-based sales company has dropped a teaser for “Sayara,” which is being packaged as both a four-episode miniseries and a dark 90-minute horror thriller. Variety has
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Arvin Chen (“Love in Taipei,” “Mama Boy”, episodes of “Pachinko”) is to direct “Coolie,” a limited series featuring enslaved Chinese workers in 19th century Cuba. The eight-part series is the first to emerge from Cathay Film Company, a recent production venture launched by Singapore-based industry veteran Meileen Choo. In the mid-1800s, when the African slave
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Late on a July evening in the Faroe Islands — a small enclave of around 50,000 people located in the North Atlantic between England, Iceland and Norway — the G! Fest, one of Europe’s more unusual music festivals, is well underway. The three-day event’s lineup consists primarily of Faroese and Scandinavian acts, but there are a few
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The City of Hope organization held its annual Spirit of Life gala in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, honoring legendary music executive Lyor Cohen and featuring a rich assortment of performances as part of DJ Cassidy’s “Pass the Mic Live!” Industry executives, hip-hop veterans and featured performers descended on West Hollywood’s Pacific Design Center on
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Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell showcase their much-discussed chemistry in the first trailer for Sony Pictures’ romantic comedy “Anyone but You,” premiering in theaters on Dec. 22. Directed by Will Gluck (“Easy A”), “Anyone but You” has been touted as a loose modernization of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” The film’s official logline reads, “When
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Youth bolsters a certain amount of invincibility. For young people, there’s almost an embedded assurance that their dreams are bound to come true. Netflix‘s latest series “Neon,” created by Shea Serrano and Max Searle, follows a trio of best friends in their early 20s who leave their hometown of Ft. Myers, Florida, for Miami’s lush
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James Franco will play a U.S. Navy sailor stationed in post-World War II Naples, where he fathers a child, in gritty Italian drama “Hey Joe.” Directed by Claudio Giovannesi (“Gomorrah” TV series, “Piranhas”), the film is now shooting in the southern port city. Franco, who has recently been taking roles outside the U.S. following a
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German media giant ProSiebenSat.1 is continuing its period of realignment with a host of changes in its management structure. Last year, ProSiebenSat.1 acquired German streaming service Joyn from Warner Bros. Discovery. The same year, the company bundled its production companies in Germany, the U.K., Denmark and Israel, under the newly established banner Seven.One Studios. In July this year, ProSiebenSat.1
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Europe’s major players in TV and film attending Mipcom Cannes sensed a wave of opportunity coming at them from across the Atlantic, as Hollywood muddles through a period of strategic uncertainty and steep losses from the transition to streaming platforms. The extended labor strife in the U.S. this year, with the Writers Guild of America
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ALL AT SEA TOGETHER The inaugural edition of the Cinema at Sea – Okinawa Pan-Pacific International Film Festival will be held next month (Nov. 23-29) on the Japanese island of Okinawa. With a 40-title lineup, a competition and a robust international selection, the festival says its mission is to explore the ocean and Pacific regions
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