Month: October 2023

Acclaimed Romanian animator Anca Damian has lined up her next live-action feature. The filmmaker behind Annecy top prizewinner “Crulic: The Path to Beyond” and “Marona’s Fantastic Tale” will write and direct “First People on Earth,” a tragicomic family saga about a biracial woman re-experiencing her native Namibia after decades in Europe. Returning to her birth
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Dana Walden sent a staff-wide memo to all of Disney Entertainment on Friday, reflecting on the past week since Hamas struck Israel in a deadly and devastating war. “Tomorrow marks one week since the world changed forever with the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Walden wrote in a memo, exclusively obtained
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A romantic comedy about an Israeli-Palestinian couple based on the real life story of creators Nayef Hammoud and Gal Rosenbluth, the development series “Non-Issue” won the Paramount+ drama prize at this year’s MIA Market, which wrapped its ninth edition on an optimistic note. Of course, well before Friday’s closing award ceremony, the heartbreaking crisis in
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“Deadpool 3” and “Stranger Things” director Shawn Levy is showering praise on this weekend’s box office ruler, Taylor Swift, calling her a “generational voice and creative force” and likening her directorial vision to that of Steven Spielberg. Swift, whose cinematic rendering of the blockbuster Eras Tour is poised to rake in north of $100 million this
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Mexican actor/director/writer/ producer Eugenio Derbez “can do anything.” That’s what Ben Odell, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Derbez’s production company, 3Pas, believes. “The roles he’s been offered to date are the comedy relief guy,” Odell tells Variety. “The best of Hollywood is the big spectacle movies. Anyone who comes here wants to play
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Investment in original content production continues to grow in Italy where resources across all genres reached a total of €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion) thanks to increased investments from U.S. streamers. But linear TV remains the Italian industry’s main driver. That’s the main takeaway from the annual report on local production presented on Friday by Italy’s
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Illustration: Variety; Images: Courtesy of Disney During its first 100 years, the Walt Disney Co. has brought to life many of cinema’s iconic and revered fantasy figures — from a plucky mouse with a signature chuckle to princesses, rakish pirates and even walking-and-talking skeletons — and birthed a host of stars through its small-screen programming.
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Following her Oscar-nominated turn in Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” Michelle Williams will next embody the voice of Britney Spears by narrating her upcoming memoir, “The Woman in Me.” Variety has confirmed that Spears will record an introduction to the audiobook and Williams will narrate the rest. Out Oct. 24 via Gallery Books, an imprint of
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The American buffalo, or bison, is a massive animal. It can weigh more than a ton and span over 10 feet wide, excluding its tail. As fascinating as the mammal is, a four-hour series centering on its origins, decline and revitalization wouldn’t exactly be riveting for a general audience. However, as he’s done with countless
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It’s been a year since Katie Gregson-MacLeod went viral on TikTok with “Complex,” a devastating piano ballad about unrequited love that poised the 22-year-old for singer-songwriter stardom — and she’s still processing it all. “When your life changes that drastically, that quickly, I don’t think there’s ever any way of processing it,” MacLeod tells Variety
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From “Halloween” to “The Prince of Darkness,” after nearly five decades in the industry, legendary director John Carpenter has earned his title as a master of the horror genre. With his terrifying jump cuts and ominous musical scores, Carpenter has always had the ability to thread a sense of terror and foreboding throughout his films,
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Up until Thursday night, New York Film Festival had never once featured a TV show on its annual premiere lineup, so when Benny Safdie approached NYFF artistic director Dennis Lim with a new series he created alongside Nathan Fielder, the likelihood that it would get a big-screen premiere was low. But Lim gave it a
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“Sidonie in Japan” will travel far and wide, as international agent Indie Sales has posted a raft of new sales out of Rome’s MIA Market. Starring Isabelle Huppert and directed by Elise Girard, the wistful romance world premiered out of Venice’s independent, auteur-oriented sidebar Venice Days last month. The Paris-based sales company has altogether secured
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Finland’s industry is ready to appeal to the government as the future of a film and TV production incentive is under threat, with a 25% cash rebate levied on spend on foreign and Finnish shoots in the country conspicuously absent from a provisional budget for 2024, announced Monday.  “People have been hopeful, so they didn’t
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Best Buy is checking out of the DVD business. The consumer-electronics retailer will phase out sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs both in-store and online in early 2024, according to industry sources familiar with the company’s plans. Best Buy made the initial decision to end DVD sales nine months ago, according to one source. Best
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French sales powerhouse Charades Films, which is attending MIA Market in Rome this week, has acquired international rights to Emma Dante’s third feature “Misericordia.” The film will premiere in competition at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival on Nov. 11, and will hit theaters via Teodora on Nov. 16 in Italy. Charades also handled Dante’s
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 “Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light” continues to ward off the darkness.  LevelK’s Czech stop-motion animation has sold to over 40 territories, including Germany (Eksystent Distribution), France (Eurozoom /Panoranime), Spain (MODIband Projectes Culturals), Italy (Just Wanted), Portugal (Film4you), Israel (New Cinema), Slovenia (Demiurg), MENA (Empire Networks), Switzerland (Out-side the Box), Estonia (Estin Film) Sweden (Njutafilms)
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