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The four founding members of The Jackson 5 not named Michael are coming together for their own documentary for the first time. Workerbee (part of Banijay UK) and Paper Route Studios have secured exclusive access to Jackie, Jermaine, Tito and Marlon Jackson for a 90’ feature-length film, also available as a three-part doc series, set […]
Fred Kogel, chief executive of Leonine Studios, Germany’s leading independent distribution and production company, is upbeat about the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery, now part of Skydance. Variety spoke to him about how the merger is likely to affect the film and TV landscape in German-language territories. One of the commitments made by […]
Chile’s Quijote Films, behind Cannes Un Certain Regard prizewinners “The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo” and “The Settlers,” is venturing into scripted series with the launch of a new in-house series development arm. Based out of Chile and Los Angeles, the company has already invested up to $250,000 in development ahead of Mipcom, which Quijote […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Ella Rumpf (“Raw,” “Couture”), Júlio Andrade (“Under Pressure”) and Ana Flávia Cavalcanti (“Baby”) are set to star in Andrea Štaka’s “Ibicaba: O Paraíso Prometido.” The new film by the Golden Leopard-winning director will be produced under Brazil’s MyMama Entertainment banner in co-production with Switzerland’s Cinédokké Sagl and Brazil’s MMM Carioca. […]
Amazon MGM Studios exec Philip Pratt has jumped ship to Disney+ where he will oversee original production for Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Currently head of original productions at Amazon, he is set to join the Mouse House early next year as a VP, reporting to EMEA content boss Angela Jain. “As we grow our local […]
LYON, France — Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark paid an emotional tribute to Nansun Shi, his former wife and longtime producing partner, at the Lumière Film Festival on Sunday, saying he deeply missed the pioneering producer, who died in July. “I miss my partner, Nansun, who helped me on so many projects over so many […]
José María Cabral, a three-time Oscar hopeful for the Dominican Republic and the first Dominican filmmaker selected for Sundance, with 2017’s “Woodpeckers,” is set to deliver with the Tallinn competition entry “Sh*t Happens” his first dark comedy. An Almodovaresque tale of social divide and powerplay in a Dominican household where – literally – shit happens, […]
Isabelle Huppert has yet to be pushed aside by AI, the French star said at the Busan International Film Festival, though she has heard she may soon be speaking Korean and Japanese. “I didn’t know I spoke Korean. I just know how to say ‘annyeonghaseyo’ [hello],” Huppert said at a press conference for Marc Fitoussi’s […]
Russell Brand has arrived to London’s Southwark Crown Court for the start of his criminal trial. The former actor and comedian has been charged with three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault. The charges were brought by the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service (similar to a D.A.) in […]
“Heart of a Killer,” a hit medical thriller starring Niv Sultan (Apple TV’s “Tehran”) has been renewed for a second season, Variety can confirm. The show’s first season, comprised of seven episodes, became one of the most-watched shows on Israeli platform Hot when it debuted earlier this year. Federation International, the distribution arm of Federation […]
Banijay Entertainment will debut “Cooking Grandmas,” a feel-good cooking competition format from Banijay Italia, its Italian production arm, at content showcase Mipcom in Cannes. “Cooking Grandmas,” commissioned by Sky Italia’s TV8, is an original new primetime format that sees grandmothers compete in an uplifting culinary contest. While traditional family recipes and regional specialities are at […]
Studiocanal has boarded “kiDnap Game,” a survival thriller series created and directed by Japan’s Yusuke Kato (“Last Friends”) which unfolds across seven cities in Asia. Produced by Kato for Fuji Television, Hong Kong’s MakerVille and South Korea’s Simstory, the 11-part series will be presented to buyers at Mipcom in Cannes this week. Canal+ has also […]
London-based Cineflix Rights, shopper of the Int’l Emmy-winner “Tehran” and BBC hit series “The Walsh Sisters,” has inked a raft of major sales on the Nordic blue crime “Hildur,” based on Finnish author Satu Rämö’s literary phenomenon. Rights on the six-part series in English and Scandinavian were snagged by Canal+ in France, NPO in the […]
TF1 is bringing hit British comedy format “Taskmaster” to France as part of its big push into premium unscripted entertainment. “Taskmaster,” created by British comedian Alex Horne and originally launched in the U.K. in 2015, pits five celebrities against one another in a series of increasingly absurd challenges. Camille Combal, a popular French TV personality […]
Audiovisual from Spain, ICEX Spain Trade & Investment’s umbrella brand, will bring some 50 companies and institutions to Mipcom this year, showcasing the breadth of the country’s film, TV, animation and production industries. Taken together, the companies heading to Cannes highlight where much of the Spanish business is moving: toward multiplatform IP, remake-ready formats, producers […]
Beta Film has closed major deals for two of its female-led highlights: royal drama “Queen Silvia” and upcoming series “La Vida Barcelona.” Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT has acquired the Swedish second window rights after Prime Video to “Queen Silvia” ahead of its world premiere in Cannes, while German public broadcaster ZDF has joined “La Vida […]
Constantin Film and Sony Pictures’ horror reboot “Resident Evil” took the crown at the mainland China box office during the Oct. 9–11 weekend, pulling in RMB81.2 million ($12.1 million) across the three-day frame, according to data from Artisan Gateway. Following its rollout on Monday, Oct. 5 in the latter stretch of the Golden Week holiday, […]
Japanese animated fantasy “Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island” climbed to the top of the South Korean box office over the weekend of Oct. 9–11, winning a razor-thin admissions contest against local political thriller “The Assassin(s).” According to data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the Toho-distributed […]
“Artificial” isn’t hitting theaters until December, but Andrew Garfield is already sparking Oscar buzz for his performance as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Luca Guadagnino’s tech tale, which follows the five-day period in 2023 when Altman was fired and then rehired, earned rave reviews after its world premiere at New York Film Festival last week. Both […]
A young bride who sees ghosts joins a polygamous Muslim household and forms a bond with one of her husband’s other wives in “The Wife Who Can See Dead People (Or Jinn),” the new project from Indonesian director Mouly Surya (“Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts”). The project is part of the Asian Project Market, […]
