Entertainment News Boom

The “Doctor” is still in, as Marvel’s newest film continues to lead the box office against some very proper competition. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” added another $8.5 million to its box office total on Friday, bumping its cumulative gross up to $318 million. Meanwhile, “Downton Abbey: A New Era” is estimated to

European Film Academy president Agnieszka Holland has criticized the Cannes Film Festival for welcoming a Russian movie to the main competition. The Polish-born director – who fled to France in 1981 when Communist authorities imposed martial law – said now was the time to stand up to Russian aggression in Ukraine. That demanded a total

If Larry Clark had ever found his way onto the Pine Ridge Reservation, he probably would have come away with a film like “War Pony,” which observes its young Native American characters hustling, skating and stealing drugs from otherwise distracted adults. Presenting such behavior without judgment, first-time directors Gina Gammell and Riley Keough developed this

Harry Styles just released his third studio album “Harry’s House,” but it’s his acting that everyone will be talking about this fall. The singer has two movies set for release, Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling” and Michael Grandage’s “My Policeman.” He has sex scenes in both movies, but it’s only in “My Policeman” where the

Gaumont has locked major territory deals on “Father & Soldier,” Mathieu Vadepied’s WWI action-drama about headlined by “Lupin” star Omar Sy. The movie world premiered on opening night of Cannes’ Un Certain Regard. “Father & Soldier” has sold to Latin America (Sofa Digitale), Germany and Austria (Weltkino), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Spain (A Contracorriente), Italy (Minerva),

It’s quite the Cannes Film Festival for first-time director Riley Keough. Not only is she debuting her first movie as a filmmaker (“War Pony,” which she co-directed with her producing partner Gina Gammell), but her family history is the subject of Baz Luhrmann’s starry film, “Elvis,” which will make its world premiere next week at

The U.K. production boom, while good news for crews (and audiences), has not necessarily proved a boon for independent filmmakers. Largely generated by the streamer wars, film and high-end television production spend in the U.K. hit $7.6 billion in 2021. A closer look at the figures, however, revealed that the majority of that spend was

Despite the cuts to federal tax incentives in recent years, Brazil remains a good source of production mechanisms. “The major platforms led by Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video have production service agreements with Brazilian production companies to take advantage of these funding possibilities,” says FestCampos Talks producer-curator Fernanda Martins. Jose Mauricio Fittipaldi, a partner

Long established as a venue for festivals devoted to music and the performing arts, Brazil’s alpine city of Campos do Jordão has also hosted audiovisual industry events, led by the annual showcase of upcoming releases, the Winter Show. Now on its 13th year, it was paused for two years because of the pandemic. With the launch

Taking place over May 13-22 in Brazil’s highest city, the verdant mountain resort town of Campos do Jordão, more akin to a northern European city thanks to its architecture and pine tree forests, the maiden FestCampos Cultural has launched this year in tandem with the 13th Winter Show, an annual Brazilian audiovisual industry event not unlike

REinvent Intl. Sales has scored sales across its slate, including Alex Herron’s horror film “Leave” and Sanna Lenken’s “Comedy Queen.” “Comedy Queen,” which world-premiered at Berlin and won the Crystal Bear in the Generation section, has sold to Benelux (In the Air), France (Les Films Du Preau), Spain (Yoda Films), Poland (Vivarto), Hungary (ADS Service),

Busy Australian production company Aquarius Films has partnered with Irish production company Port Pictures to produce the feature film, “The Good People.” The film is based on the award-winning novel by Hannah Kent, who also wrote the adapted screenplay. “The Good People” is set in 19th century Ireland at a time when the Catholic church was waging war

Riding the high of a production-servicing boom, Estonia’s domestic industry has likewise shown no signs of slowing down. Here’s a roundup of top local productions in the pipeline, from producers who are searching for international partners in Cannes: The Invisible FightDirector: Rainer SarnetProducers: Katrin Kissa, Homeless Bob Production (Estonia), Alise Gelze, White Picture (Latvia), Amanda

On the outskirts of Budapest, a big-budget period drama is recreating the fateful day that sparked the Hungarian war of independence in 1848. Construction is underway at the state-owned Mafilm studio complex on a massive set that will stand in for the Hungarian capital in the 19th century. With 100-plus shooting days planned through September,

The Hungarian film industry is booming, with a record 241 domestic productions — including feature films, shorts, documentaries and TV series — produced in 2021. Here’s a selection of top projects in the pipeline or being sold during the Cannes Market: As Long as the Grass GrowsDirector: Áron GauderProducer: Réka Temple (Cinemon Entertainment)Annecy main prize

Brazilian writer-director Caru Alves de Souza, whose second feature, “My Name Is Baghdad,” won the Crystal Bear for best film at Berlin’s 2020 Generation 14plus sidebar, has been selected for the Pop Up Film Residency 2022 program. Alves de Souza will use the Residency to develop “Lonely Hearts,” her new fiction feature. The award was

Estonia received a splashy introduction to the limelight in 2019, when it played host to Christopher Nolan’s time-bending sci-fi drama “Tenet.” The biggest production to shoot in the Baltic nation to date, Warner Bros.’ $200 million blockbuster landed Estonia squarely on the map for international film and television productions. Though the coronavirus pandemic arrived not

Saudi Arabian filmmaker, actress and activist Fatima Al-Banawi (“Barakah Meets Barakah”) is set to make her feature film directorial debut with “Basma,” a bold drama that will tackle the theme of mental illness in her country. The pic, which she also wrote, is set to start shooting in Jeddah in October. Besides writing and directing

Surprising as it may sound, the Korean film industry has had a rough time over the past couple of years. Get ready for a comeback. Just at a moment when Korean film producers might have expected to capitalize on the unprecedented multi-Oscar success of “Parasite” (and the previous year’s Korean-language “Minari,” COVID closed down Korean

Guadalajara’s Agavia Studios, the Film Commission of the State of Jalisco and market Ventana Sur’s Blood Window are launching Oscura Tinta, a screenplay competition for fantasy/horror features carrying a $25,000 cash prize. Agavia will give the award in exchange for copyright to the work. Agavia will produce the winning screenplay, moving into production this year

Following Doc10 Film Festival’s opening night screening of “The Janes” on May 19, several original members The Jane Collective — an underground abortion clinic led by women in the pre-Roe v. Wade era — urged audience members to take to the streets and get focused on protecting women’s reproductive rights, now believed to be at

Whatever other flaws “Brother and Sister” may have, you absolutely cannot accuse it of being slow to build. Within its first 10 minutes, two estranged siblings bawl each other out at a dead child’s wake, one declaring the other “an indecent monster”; a screechingly staged single-vehicle car crash imperils an elderly couple and paralyzes a

In the brain-tickling eyesore that is “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” Tilda Swinton plays a narratologist, which is to say, someone who studies stories. Her character, Dr. Alithea Binnie, thinks she’s heard them all, so she’s ahead of the game when she suddenly finds herself at the center of a whopper, a modern-day fairy tale