Ever since France revised its tax rebate for international productions in 2016, local authorities have embarked on a full-court push to attract Chinese projects. In 2019, that campaign saw its most successful expression to date with the arrival of Middle Kingdom mega-production, “The Hunting.” “In recent years, we’ve welcomed more and more Chinese projects, especially
Movies
Cate Blanchett will preside over the main competition jury at the Venice Film Festival in September, marking the third woman in four years to hold that role at the fest which in recent years has come under fire for scarce representation of female filmmakers. Last year’s Venice jury president was Lucrecia Martel, while Annette Bening
Fox Searchlight Pictures and Celluloid Dreams have joined forces to co-distribute Benh Zeitlin’s “Wendy” which is set to world premiere at Sundance. The movie, which will be released in the U.S. on Feb. 28 by Fox Searchlight Pictures, tells wildly reimagined story of Peter Pan through the eyes of Wendy, who finds herself lost on
When Séréna Zouaghi was named deputy mayor in charge of cinema for the French city Marseille in 2014, the local official knew she would have to pack her bags and hit the road. Though the coastal metropolis had always benefited from a healthy production infrastructure, and was second only to Paris as an industry hub,
January 16, 2020 12:40AM PT New York-based sales agent Cargo Film & Releasing has snapped up U.S. rights to feature documentary “Once Upon a Time in Venezuela” ahead of its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Rise and Shine holds international rights to the doc, which bows in the World Cinema Documentary Competition in Park
Warner Bros. Pictures has confirmed details of its wide specialty release of “Detective Chinatown 3” in North America. The film will reach American theaters on Jan. 24, coinciding with a huge outing handled by Wanda Pictures in China at the beginning of Chinese New Year (aka Spring Festival). The mainland Chinese-produced franchise movie is pitched
January 15, 2020 7:59PM PT “Buoyancy,” the Australian-made story that has gathered momentum as a powerhouse depiction of human trafficking, is set to be released in North American theaters. Rights were acquired by specialty distributor Kino Lorber, which will give it a cinema opening in Spring 2020 ahead of video on demand and home video
In today’s film news roundup, “Bombshell” writer Charles Randolph and production designers William J. Creber and Roland Anderson are set for honors and Abrams Agency opens a London office. AWARD WINNERS Charles Randolph has been named the recipient of the Writers Guild of America West’s 2020 Paul Selvin Award in recognition of his script for
Makoto Shinkai’s “Weathering With You,” which tells the tale of a young boy who falls for a girl with the power to stop ceaseless rainstorms pounding Tokyo, marks the first time an anime has been chosen as Japan’s foreign-language Oscar entry. The GKIDS release echoes an element of Shinkai’s previous anime, “Your Name,” a body-swapping story that was
The sun never sets on the British entertainment empire. Whether it’s the BBC’s “Blue Planet II” wowing TV viewers in Beijing or Paddington Bear’s new movie making kids squeal in Bulgaria or the latest West End hit thrilling theater buffs on Broadway, Britain’s cultural offerings have conquered consumers the world over. Like the U.K.’s diplomatic prowess
Lana Condor reprises her starring role as Lara Jean Song Covey in “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You,” one of two sequels to Netflix’s hit teen rom-com “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” which debuted in 2018. But despite her top billing in the series, based on books by Jenny Han,
The Harvey Weinstein trial has already seen its share of pyrotechnics. The defense asked last week for a new judge — denied — and for more time to question the prospective jurors, which included, of all people, model Gigi Hadid. But despite the distractions, opening arguments are still on course to begin next week, Variety has
Live from Austin, Texas, it’s Pete Davidson. The “Saturday Night Live” comedian will be opening this year’s SXSW Film Festival. The annual gathering in Austin will kick off this year with “King of Staten Island,” the much-anticipated autobiographical comedy based on Davidson’s upbringing in the New York borough. Judd Apatow, who is no stranger to
The 27th edition of the SXSW Film Festival will feature a romantic caper starring Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani, a documentary about the Beastie Boys directed by Spike Jonze, a “hidden camera” comedy headlined by Tiffany Haddish and an autobiographical studio vehicle from Pete Davidson. Thousands of moviegoers will flock to Austin, Texas, starting on
A new documentary association for Europe is looking to serve as a political lobby group and support network for the next generation of filmmakers and non-fiction communities across the continent. Based out of Berlin, the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE) hopes to complement the work of the L.A.-based International Documentary Association (IDA), which recently filed
After skipping “Independence Day 2” and the latest reboot of “Men in Black,” returning to the “Bad Boys” franchise — which began 25 years ago — was a simple decision for Will Smith. “Of all the movies I’ve done, when people walk up on you on the street and say, ‘Hey man, when are you
January 15, 2020 11:00AM PT Sony Pictures has renewed its first-look deal with “Peter Rabbit” producer Will Gluck through his Olive Bridge production company. Gluck’s history at Sony includes directing the Emma Stone comedy “Easy A” ($75 million worldwide), “Friends With Benefits” ($150 million worldwide), the 2014 musical “Annie” ($134 million worldwide) and “Peter Rabbit”
STXfilms and Amazon Prime Video have signed a multi-year, multi-territory output deal that gives the streaming service exclusive rights to STX movies in France. The pact marks the first time a global streamer has entered a multi-year, all-rights slate agreement in France. Under the deal, Amazon Prime Video will also have exclusive first pay SVOD
Above all the titles screening at the 35th Santa Barbara Intl. Film Festival, a 13-minute world premiere short stands as perhaps the ultimate example of the event’s goal of presenting films that balance local interests and global perspectives. Titled “Santa Barbara,” the short is about director Diana Markosian’s mother, who came to the coastal California
Apple TV Plus has nabbed rights to “Beastie Boys Story,” a documentary about the legendary rap trio produced by Spike Jonze. The movie features Beastie Boys Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond discussing the group’s 40-year friendship and rise to fame as hip-hop exploded in the late 1980s. The movie billed as a “live” documentary was
Can artificial intelligence and tech industry project management techniques help the film and TV industry to create more hits? Tech entrepreneur Simon David Miller thinks so, and is in the process of raising between £1 million-£3 million ($1.3 million-$3.91 million) for his production company New Forest Film Co. to recruit a team, and to develop
Paris-based company Indie Sales will head to the Paris-set industry showcase UniFrance Rendez-Vous With French Cinema with five anticipated French movies, including “Welcome to the Jungle” with Catherine Deneuve. The other titles are the comedies “Enormous” and “Man Up!,” as well as the ecological tale “Fishlove” and the drama “Under the Concrete.” All five films
When I created # in 2015, the Academy membership was 92% white and 75% male. The Academy has improved those numbers a bit, and now its membership is 84% white and 68% male. So yesterday did not come as a surprise. When I saw the nominations, I was disappointed that there were so many talented
“Bad Boys for Life” is the sort of thing I suspect we’re going to be seeing more and more of: the sequel to a long-done franchise that may now be an all-too-obvious cash grab and infusion of movie-star brand enhancement, but doesn’t play like one. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence bring their A game; they
For nearly 60 years on the silver screen, James Bond, the rakish secret agent who jets from one exotic port of call to another, romancing women and besting bad guys in the name of queen and country, has answered to one person. M, the no-nonsense intelligence chief, is the only one who can revoke the
Charades, the sales company behind the Oscar-nominated animated film “I Lost My Body,” has boarded three new French films, “Madeleine Collins” with Virginie Efira, as well as the comedies “Felicita” and “The Speech.” Charades will be introducing the three titles at the UniFrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, an industry showcase of local movies kicking off
There are now around 100 incentive offers at country, state, and province level around the world, looking to attract an “unprecedented deluge” of production globally in 2020, according to creative industries strategy consultants Olsberg SPI. Many markets are focusing on strategies to expand their production capability in 2020, and an attractive incentive offer is a
Dotted by hilltop views and an historic city-center, Angouleme in the Southwest of France has, in recent years, developed into a minor production hub for the Gallic industry. Benefiting from its status as France’s cartoonist and graphic arts capital, the city has become renowned for its animation and post-production infrastructure, boasting more than 30 animation
Former agent George Monkland and producer Rowena Wallace have united to launch Peach House, a London-based talent management and production outfit that has the backing of fledgling management collective Tricycle Talent. Peach House will represent a wide variety of emerging and established U.K. and international actors, musicians, writers and directors across film, TV and theatre.
January 14, 2020 6:27PM PT A new director has been hired on the flagship feature film at Skydance Animation, a division of David Ellison’s company run by former Pixar chief John Lasseter. Peggy Holmes, a name in the animation space who has directed and choreographed for years at Disney, has replaced Alessandro Carloni. Skydance and