AFM: ‘Consent,’ France’s Buzzy Adaptation of Vanessa Springora’s #MeToo Bestseller, Lures Major Distributors Around the World (EXCLUSIVE)

Stephen Graham To Receive Richard Harris Award At BIFAs

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Despite being plagued by harsh reviews from French critics and a derisive retaliation by director Ridley Scott, “Napoleon” had a strong opening in France on Wednesday, grossing an estimated €868,000 ($946,000) from approximately 120,000 admissions. The figure, unveiled by Comscore France, includes about 8,000 tickets sold at preview screenings across France, notably in Paris where Sony Pictures held a lavish world premiere of the historical epic on Nov.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Less than three months after being tapped CEO of Banijay France, Alexia Laroche-Joubert, a well-known industry figure, has enlisted Authentic Media, a leading French premium scripted banner that will join the “Peaky Blinders” production-distribution powerhouse. The acquisition of Authentic Media, who produced hit French adaptations of series such as “Rita” and “This is Us,” will further bolster Banijay France’s portfolio of scripted labels.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After being convincingly portrayed by Marion Cotillard in the 2007 film “La Vie en Rose,” legendary French singer Edith Piaf will come to life in an animated biopic “Edith” that looks to break new ground by using AI to recreate her voice and image. When Warner Music, which is producing the feature-length movie with Paris-based company Seriously Happy, broke news of the project last week, it stirred an avalanche of reactions — many of them skeptical — across social media. To clear up some concerns and shed light on the decisions behind the creative endeavor, Variety spoke to Julie Veille, who came up with the original idea, and Gilles Marliac who are co-producing through their banner Seriously Happy and co-wrote the script.

Showtime Sports has given a greenlight to The World According to Football, a five-part documentary series narrated and executive produced by Trevor Noah, from Gotham Chopra’s Religion of Sports, Day Zero Productions and Mainstay Entertainment. The series’ first episode will premiere December 1 at 8 PM on Showtime, with episodes debuting weekly for five weeks. The entire series will be available for streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime subscribers on the day of premiere.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Oscar winner Jeremy Irons has joined the cast of Palme d’Or-winning director Bille August‘s prestige limited series “The Count of Monte Cristo,” which also stars Sam Claflin. A sprawling adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel, the English-language series is produced by Mediawan’s banner Palomar, the leading Italian company behind “Inspector Montalbano” and “The Name of the Rose,” in collaboration with another Mediawan label, France’s DEMD Productions.

Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard and Jacques Audiard are among 500 French cinema professionals to have signed an open letter in support of a silent march for peace in Paris this Sunday.

Novak Djokovic has plenty to celebrate about. The Serbian tennis player concluded his 2023 tennis season in the number one spot in tennis, marking his eight time reaching this milestone. He shared a video of himself dancing and in a good mood, tagging all of his collaborators in recognition.Vanessa Bryant praises Djokovic’s Kobe Bryant tribute after he won his 24th Grand SlamRafa Nadal explains how he ‘disconnected’ from everything this past yearA post shared by Novak Djokovic (@djokernole)The clip shows Djokovic recording himself with the front facing camera as he dances along to “Guantanamera,” a Cuban song that’s been popular for decades, with its first release dating back to 1929.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pathe U.K., the London-based division of the venerable French film and TV company, is folding its theatrical division to focus on premium scripted television content. Cameron McCracken, the celebrated head of film at Pathe UK who exec produced movies such as Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionnaire,” Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” and Stephen Frears’ “The Queen,” will step down and retire at the end of the year. Three key executives working for the division — Lee Bye, Lloyd Vanson and Michael Guerrero — will depart the company.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Red Bull Studios and London-based Featuristic Films have partnered on “Art of the Jump,” a feature documentary about the life and career of Sébastien Foucan, a well-known French athlete. Directed by James Kermack (“Knuckledust,” “Hi-Lo Joe”), the documentary follows Foucan’s humble upbringing in the French suburb of Lisses to sports stardom.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent More than 180,000 people across France, including approximately 105,000 in Paris, took part in a civic march against antisemitism on Sunday, according to figures released by the interior ministry and police prefecture. Major political figures such as former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, as well as prime minister Elisabeth Borne and culture minister Rima Abdul Malak attended the march.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jasmina Kuhnke, a German-born writer, actor, author and activist, has signed with CAA for representation, Variety has learned exclusively. Kuhnke’s debut novel, “Black Heart,” is a bestseller. The semi-autobiographical book recounts her experience growing up on the outskirts of the Ruhr region in Germany in the ’90s, and how she grappled with racism.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Hengameh Panahi, the celebrated French-Iranian producer who founded Celluloid Dreams and forged long-standing bonds with auteurs around the world, has died. She was 67.

A teen decided to ditch going to university - and now gets paid £1k a month to travel the world on millionaire superyachts.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Paris-based company 2425 Films, recently acquired by Mediawan, is working with a pool of rising filmmakers on timely movies, including Charly Delwart’s “1,5 degré,” Ilan Duran Cohen’s “Le coup d’apres” and Thomas Kruithof’s “Les Braises.” 2425 Films, founded by Thibault Gast and Matthias Weber, has been thriving with smart, high-concept commercial movies, such as Yann Gozlan’s “La boite noire” and “An Ideal Man,” as well as the thriller “Burn Out.” The company also presented Gozlan’s latest film, “Visions,” a thriller starring Diane Kruger (co-produced by Eagle Team Entetainment) at this year’s Angouleme Film Festival. Duran Cohen’s “Le coup d’apres” is a film set in the world of French politics, with a duo of French stars, Marina Fois and Laurent Laffite, who previously co-starred in “Papa ou Maman,” a French hit comedy franchise.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Aria Mia Loberti, the breakout star of Shawn Levy‘s Netflix limited series “All the Light We Cannot See,” has narrated a new audio edition of Jules Verne’s classic novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” Loberti, a writer, human rights advocate and Fulbright Scholarship recipient, made her acting debut in “All the Light We Cannot See,” an adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel which will premiere on Netflix Thursday. In the show, Loberti plays Marie-Laure, a courageous blind teenager living in Nazi-occupied France during WWII.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Gaumont is launching “Night Call,” a high-concept thriller set over the course of a night, directed by rising filmmaker Michiel Blanchart. Blanchart, who is repped by WME and Itaka Media, previously directed the short film “You’re Dead Hélène,” which was a festival standout and played at Clermont-Ferrand and Sitges, among other festivals. It also made the live action Oscar shortlist last year.

EXCLUSIVE: Black Bear has closed a raft of international deals on Guy Ritchie’s next project, the as yet untitled action film which wrapped principal photography in Spain this week.

A teenager who decided to skip university now earns £1,000 a month travelling the world on millionaire's superyachts - and people think her life is just like Below Deck. Brooke Ransome, 19, gave up her plans for uni and worked in bars and dance schools so she could save up £3,000 for a three-week deck steward training course.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Bhutan’s official Oscar entry “The Monk And The Gun,” Pawo Choyning Dorji‘s follow-up to “Lunana: A Yak in The Classroom,” has been bought by a raft of well-established international theatrical distributors. Following its festival premieres at Telluride, Toronto, Rome and Busan, “The Monk and the Gun” has been sold by Films Boutique to Pyramide Distribution (France), September Films (Benelux), Rialto Distribution (Australia), Future Films (Scandinavia), A Contracorriente (Spain), Lev Films (Israel), Aurora Films (Poland), Trigon (Switzerland), Alambique Films (Portugal) and Impact Films (India and Indian Subcontinent). Earlier this week, the crowdpleaser was also acquired by Roadside Attraction for the U.S.