Entertainment News Boom

International and indie film distributor Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired North American rights to western heist film “The Last Stop in Yuma County.”  The debut feature from writer-director Francis Galluppi bowed at Austin’s Fantastic Fest before heading to Sitges.  XYZ Films and UTA are co-representing North American sales. The acquisition was negotiated by Brennan Lane on behalf of Well

Robbie Downey Jr. joined his fellow best supporting actor SAG Award nominees Sterling K. Brown (“American Fiction”) and Willem Dafoe (“Poor Things”) for an hour-long discussion in which he shouted out “Barbie” leading lady Margot Robbie as one actor who just isn’t getting the credit she deserves this season. The trio were talking about how

Matthew Vaughn’s globe-trotting spy comedy “Argylle” is targeting $15 million to $20 million in its opening weekend. Those uninspired ticket sales will be enough to top box office charts and dethrone the “Mean Girls” movie musical, which has spent three weeks at No. 1. Universal Pictures is distributing “Argylle,” which was produced and financed by

“Dìdi,” a coming-of-age drama that won the U.S. dramatic audience award at Sundance, has sold to Focus Features. The semi-autobiographical film was written, produced and directed by Sean Wang in his feature debut. The film follows a 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy in the throes of an awkward adolescence, as he enjoys the last month of

Ewan McGregor was “very reluctant” to play Obi Wan-Kenobi in “Star Wars,” he admitted.  “It wasn’t a done deal for me. I didn’t think it was at all who I was. I believed, at that point, I was a Danny Boyle actor. ‘The Beach’ was more important and I meant it, it wasn’t flippant. I

“Julia” star Sarah Lancashire has a message for the whole industry: Be kind. “They say the two happiest days of when you have a boat are the days you buy it and the day you sell it. My favorite moments are getting the job and the final wrap, but as long as we have each

“Copa 71,” the Serena Williams-produced documentary that aims to shed light on the 1971 controversially unsanctioned Women’s World Cup, will have its New York premiere at the 14th annual Athena Film Festival, which will return on Feb. 29 and run through March 3.  The festival, hosted by Columbia University’s Barnard College, will feature a lineup

Swiss film startup FinFilm, an innovative platform that finances European and African film projects, has boarded the Sky Original family adventure film “Robin and the Hoods.” The Zurich-based company is actively involved in co-financing the film as a gap lender. Produced by Silver Reel and Future Artists Entertainment and directed by Phil Hawkins, the modern-day

What have we, what have we, what have we done to deserve this? This week, Pet Shop Boys are infiltrating more than 1,400 theaters across 50 countries worldwide, with Trafalgar Releasing giving the beloved British duo two-night-only event screenings — on Wednesday, Jan. 31 and Sunday, Feb. 4 — of their new concert film “Pet

Lana Parrilla (“Once Upon a Time,” “The Lincoln Lawyer”) and Branko Tomovic (“24: Live Another Day,” “The Bourne Ultimatum”) have joined the cast of Action Xtreme’s POV action thriller “Bad Day at the Office” from writer-director Chee Keong Cheung. The two join the previously announced cast of John Hannah (“The Mummy,” “Sliding Doors”), Radha Mitchell

Paris-based company Indie Sales has closed a raft of major deals on ‘‘Maria Montessori,” a film starring Italian actress Jasmine Trinca (“Fortunata”) as the famed Italian physician and educator who invented a teaching method that is still being used in many schools bearing her name all over the world. The film, which marks Léa Todorov’s

The 21st edition of CPH:DOX will open with the world premiere of Danish documentary “Life and Other Problems” on March 12 at the Conservatory’s Concert Hall, Copenhagen, where director Max Kestner and a number of the film’s participants will be present. The film will compete for the festival’s main prize, DOX:AWARD. The festival runs until

BLACKBIRD LANDS IN OSAKA The Osaka Asian Film Festival (March 1-10, 2024) has added eight more titles to its line-up, including the award-winning Georgian drama “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry,” which will play in competition.Elene Naveriani’s “Blackbird,” about a middle-aged woman’s relationship decision, has had wide festival play in Europe (Gijon, Cottbus, Sarajevo, New Horizons) and earned

It’s altogether likely that many non-Indigenous people knew nothing about the abuse and disappearances of Native American children that occurred over decades in residential Indian schools throughout North America until those outages inspired a wrenchingly potent subplot last year for the Taylor Sheridan-produced TV series “1923.” But the truth behind that fact-based fiction is even

Newen Connect has signed a pact with international sales company The Yellow Affair to have the company handle global distribution for independent films produced by Newen Studios. Newen Studios and Yellow Affair are already related though Anagram, which is label of Newen and a shareholder Yellow Affair, along with Visiorex, Helsinki-filmi and Marianna Films. Newen, meanwhile, is

Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market delegates are being introduced this week to the compelling boxing drama “Team Havnaa” from leading Norwegian prodco Maipo Film (“Sonja”, “State of Happiness”).  Toplining the cast as the boxing brothers are Tobias Santelmann (“The Last Kingdom,” “Kon-Tiki,” “Out Stealing Horses”), and rising talent Odin Vaage (“Rod Knock”), making his feature film

An industry transition from its golden era of unfettered growth to a more intricate chapter of market saturation was analyzed in depth by Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson on Tuesday, during the first day of the Göteborg Film Festival’s TV Drama Vision forum.  His drill-down, rich in detail and foresight, highlighted the strategic pivot to online

Byron Allen has entered the fray for Paramount Global, submitting a bid valued at $30 billion to buy out the company’s outstanding stock and existing debt. The offer, first reported by Bloomberg News, comes from Allen Media Group and unnamed “strategic partners,” according to a statement from Allen Media Group. “Mr. Byron Allen did submit

Matthew Vaughn isn’t directing “Deadpool 3” (that task falls to Shawn Levy), but he apparently knows enough information about the upcoming Marvel tentpole that he’s ready to proclaim it will “save the whole” Marvel Cinematic Universe. Speaking on BroBible’s “Post Credit” podcast, Vaughn said he’s hoping for nothing but the best for the sequel. Vaughn,

The Hollywood Creative Alliance (formerly known as Hollywood Critics Association) is suing the Critics Choice Association for defamation in response to the org’s recent call for members to resign from the HCA in order to stay members of the CCA. According to court documents, the HCA claims the CCA has defamed the organization in an

“The Outrun,” the story of a 29-year-old Scottish woman in the throes of, and recovery from (though not necessarily in that order), an increasingly desperate alcoholism, is a drama with a lot of things going for it. It stars Saoirse Ronan, a great actor who, no one will be surprised to hear, lives inside this

Stories of Australia’s “Stolen Generations” — Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families by a white government — fuel the central metaphor in “The Moogai,” Jon Bell’s Sundance horror movie based on his 2020 short film. Unfortunately, this well-meaning metaphorical approach defines the strict boundaries of Bell’s feature debut, a brief but languid thriller rife