Nicely Entertainment has hired NENT Studios U.K. executive Scott Kirkpatrick as executive VP of distribution and co-productions. Kirkpatrick joins the Los Angeles-based Nicely following his departure from the Scandinavian NENT Group-backed distributor and producer, which was previously known as DRG. Kirkpatrick was senior VP of North American sales, co-production and global digital strategy for the
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Shout! Studios has acquired North American rights to the platonic love story “Language Lessons” from Duplass Brothers Productions, following a competitive bidding situation. The news comes on the heels of the movie’s world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival and its Audience Award win at the SXSW Film Festival. “Language Lessons” marks the feature directorial
In today’s Global Bulletin, Ang Lee will be honored with this year’s BAFTA Fellowship; Locarno Pro opens the call for its Alliance 4 Development project platform; and Dandelooo’s “The Upside Down River” gets a PR boost as its creator wins the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. AWARDS The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
Abramorama has acquired worldwide theatrical and digital distribution rights to “Upheaval,” a documentary about former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The indie studio plans to premiere the film in early June 2021. Directed by Jonathan Gruber (“Follow Me”), the film follows Begin, a proud yet scarred leader haunted by the Holocaust and decades of war,
Guns N’ Roses have rescheduled their upcoming UK and European tour dates to 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic, which is in a third spike in several countries on the European continent. The dates, originally scheduled for 2020, will now take place in June and July 2022, the band announced on social media Tuesday morning. “Hey Gunners, unfortunately
After last year’s E3 was completely canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trade group that runs the video-game convention confirmed there will be one in 2021 — although it will be online-only. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) announced plans for a “reimagined” all-virtual E3 2021, set to take place June 12-15, 2021, featuring news
Morgan Radford will join Aaron Gilchrist as a co-anchor at live-streaming outlet NBC News Now, the latest example of NBC News adding resources to its streaming-video operations. Radford and Gilchrist will co-anchor the service between noon to 2 p.m. Her first appearance as co-anchor on the outlet came on Monday. Radford will continue her duties
Apple TV Plus announced “The Line,” its first combination podcast-TV original production — a bid to exploit the tech giant’s podcast footprint to seed signups for its TV subscription service. “The Line,” from Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, comprises two non-fiction series: a six-part narrative non-fiction audio series that debuted Monday (April 6) on Apple Podcasts
Universal Music Group has announced the launch of Universal Arabic Music (UAM), a newly created label dedicated to discovering, introducing and championing the artists, sounds and rich musical culture of the Middle East & North Africa region to audiences around the world. Republic Records and its parent company UMG founded the new label in partnership
British actor Paul Ritter, whose credits include HBO/Sky drama “Chernobyl” and Channel 4 comedy “Friday Night Dinner,” has died of a brain tumor. He was 54. “It is with great sadness we can confirm that Paul Ritter passed away last night,” Ritter’s agent said. “He died peacefully at home with his wife Polly and sons
British actor Paul Ritter, whose credits include HBO/Sky drama “Chernobyl” and Channel 4 comedy “Friday Night Dinner,” has died of a brain tumor. He was 54. “It is with great sadness we can confirm that Paul Ritter passed away last night,” Ritter’s agent said. “He died peacefully at home with his wife Polly and sons
Global streaming service Netflix has acquired multi-territory streaming rights to upcoming Chinese fantasy film “Super Me.” The story is an aspirational tale, combining lucid dreaming and a rags to riches plot about a struggling screenwriter. It was directed by Chong Zhang (“Fourth Wall”) and has a cast that is headed by Taiwan’s Darren Wang, along
Major Japanese film producer and distributor Toei has announced new three entries for its “Kamen Rider 50th Anniversary” project. The biggest is “Shin Kamen Rider,” a sci-fi actioner being scripted and directed by Anno Hideaki, the creator of the “Evangelion” sci-fi/fantasy franchise and the co-director of the 2016 box office smash “Shin Godzilla.” The live-action film is
Veteran distribution and exhibition executive Kurt Rieder has been appointed as head of Asia-Pacific theatrical releasing for Warner Bros. Pictures. Asia is the world’s largest theatrical region, dwarfing North America and including three of the top five theatrical territories. Singapore-based Rieder joins from Disney, where he had been head of studio distribution and marketing in
“The Neighborhood” creator, producer and showrunner Jim Reynolds has exited the show amid concerns over his leadership style. According to a source familiar with the situation, CBS Studios had received negative feedback about Reynolds’ abilities as a leader and manager, some of which related to cultural issues, including from two Black writers who recently left
“Godzilla vs. Kong” had a record-breaking premiere weekend with the best showing since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic threw the standard theatrical rollout into a tailspin. Despite HBO Max subscribers having access to the film, the MonsterVerse movie made $48.5 million in its first five days in theaters. Over the last six years, Legendary
The story of criminal mastermind Charles Sobhraj has captivated true crime followers for more than 40 years. The serial killer left a trail of bodies — mostly young European and North American backpackers — across Asia in the 1970s, then stunned everyone when he escaped from prison not once but at least four times. (Caution:
For anyone who’s been to a shiva, a Jewish mourning ritual, the anxiety-laced comedy “Shiva Baby” feels instantly recognizable: the lox, bagels and rugelach are as plentiful as the overly inquisitive relatives. “Shiva Baby” takes the mishegas up a notch. The film follows Danielle (Rachel Sennott), a college senior accompanying her parents to a shiva.
The box office success of “Godzilla vs. Kong” lifted exhibition industry stocks on Monday, reinvigorating the share prices of leading theater companies such as AMC, Imax and Cinemark. The monster mano a mano grossed a mighty $48.5 million in its first five days in theaters, setting a record for the pandemic era and signaling that
Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, has acquired U.S rights to “Yakuza Princess,” an action thriller starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Japanese American singer Masumi. The film is directed by Vicente Amorim (“Motorrad”) and is adapted from Danilo Beyruth’s graphic novel “Shiro. Magnet will release “Yakuza Princess” later this year. The film unfolds
Veteran artist manager Adam Leber has announced the launch of his new management and media company Rebel (Leber’s name spelled backwards) in partnership with LiveNation. Under this banner, he will continue to represent longtime clients Miley Cyrus, Lil Nas X and Labrinth, among others, for management worldwide. He remains based in Los Angeles Most recently, Leber has operated as a partner of Maverick, which he co-founded
Hip-hop artist Rod Wave took over the top spot on the album chart from Justin Bieber, debuting with 122,000 album units to be an easy No. 1 finisher. The premiere for his sophomore effort marks the first time the rapper has made it to the top, even in a week where he announced having collected
MRC Film has launched Landline Pictures, a new label targeting audiences over 50. Veteran producer Amy Baer has been tapped to lead the new venture. According to a release announcing the news, Landline Pictures “will focus on uplifting and entertaining stories that are about and targeting the over 50 demographic, yet commercial and conceptual enough
Wong Kar-Wai’s production firm Jet Tone Films has released the documentary short “One-Tenth of a Millimeter Apart,” which gathers together new behind-the-scenes footage and deleted scenes that narrowly missed the auteur’s final cuts. Wong narrates the 30-minute film, which premiered at the Hong Kong International Film Festival Friday after a screening of a 4K-restored version
The Supreme Court has vacated a ruling that held that former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account was a public forum, and that therefore under the First Amendment he could not block people from responding to his tweets. The court held that the dispute — involving a former president’s now-banned social media account — is moot,
HBO Max has given a series order to the half-hour comedy “Minx.” The streamer has given the show a 10-episode order. Set in 1970s Los Angeles, “Minx” on around an earnest young feminist (Ophelia Lovibond) who joins forces with a low-rent publisher (Jake Johnson) to create the first erotic magazine for women. In addition to
Lauren Kisilevsky, most recently vice president of original movies at Disney Channel, has been promoted to senior vice president of original movies at Disney Branded Television, where she will develop and oversee production of Disney Channel and Disney Plus’ growing slate of films. The exec has already overseen a wide range of Disney Channel and
Paramount Plus revealed a teaser trailer for the upcoming second season of “Star Trek: Picard,” which will premiere in 2022. The teaser trailer was introduced by Sir Patrick Stewart, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard for seven seasons on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” at the top of Paramount Plus’ slew of First Contact Day virtual
Edgar Ramirez has been cast in “Borderlands,” a big-screen adaptation of the popular video game. He joins an A-list ensemble that includes Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis and Jack Black. Ramirez will portray a character named Atlas, a business titan and arms manufacturer who is considered the most powerful person in the universe.
Showtime has named both Danielle De Jesus and Dave Binegar as vice presidents of scripted programming. De Jesus joins the premium cabler from Courtney Kemp’s End of Episode production company, while Binegar was most recently director of original programming at Showtime. In their new positions, they will develop original scripted programming for Showtime and report