Ashim Ahluwalia On Portraying The Extremes Of India’s Wealth Gap In Netflix Young Adult Drama ‘Class’

The Good Mothers, Disney+’s hard-hitting mafia drama series, has won the first ever Berlinale Series Award.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “A Man Called Otto,” a heartfelt drama starring Tom Hanks as a cranky widower, has notched an important box office milestone, crossing $100 million globally. The film’s tally stands at $100.4 million, including $61.2 million in North America and $39.2 million internationally. Overseas, the top-selling markets are the United Kingdom ($6.28 million), Australia ($5.17 million), Mexico ($5.06 million), Spain ($2.6 million) and Germany ($2.5 million). In pandemic times, the $100 million benchmark is notable because only a few movies aimed at older audiences, such as Baz Luhrmann’s kaleidoscopic biopic “Elvis,” Tom Cruise’s sequel “Top Gun: Maverick,” Brad Pitt’s action-comedy “Bullet Train,” have managed to connect the box office since COVID.

Naman Ramachandran A galaxy of A-list talent will participate in SXSW’s inaugural South Asian House initiative. Panel discussion Creating South Asian Content for a Global Audience, will feature actor Rizwan Manji (“Schitt’s Creek”), Emmy-winning producer/writer for Vice, Falguni Adams (“Dateline NBC”) and Apoorva Bakshi, producer of International Emmy-winning series “Delhi Crime,” moderated by CEO of Jingo Media and producer of South Asian House Jitin Hingorani. Another panel, Investing in the Future of Our South Asian Stories, will feature CEO and co-founder of URL Media S. Mitra Kalita and actor Kausar Mohammed (“The Flash”), moderated by co-founder of Box Office Guru Media Gitesh Pandya.

Guy Lodge Film Critic In time, stories like “20,000 Species of Bees” will come to feel as commonplace within the coming-of-age genre as tales of first love or heartbreak: a young girl, unhappy in her skin and at odds with her family, finally recognizes her gender over the course of one pivotal summer, and persuades others to recognize it too. For now, Spanish writer-director Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s mellow, softly piercing debut feature joins the likes of Céline Sciamma’s “Tomboy” and Emanuele Crialese’s “L’Immensità” in a select but growing canon of trans or nonbinary childhood studies. Unassuming and meanderingly character-oriented, the film doesn’t assert itself as an issue drama — in large part because, as Solaguren presents her eight-year-old protagonist’s gradual steps toward self-realization, her film doesn’t see much of an issue to begin with.

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. So we’re going to do the hard work for you.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema has unveiled its 85-title lineup for the edition that starts later this month (February 28 to March 7, 2023). Elements include a 10-film competition section, a 10-film documentary film section, a tribute to the Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu; a thematic section “Asian Diaspora Cinema” offering a panorama of works by directors from Asian countries living in exile; and a Philippines cinema sidebar. Fiction films in competition include: Azerbaijan’s “Cold as Marble,” by Asif Rustamov; China’s “In Our Prime,” by Liu Yulin; Korea’s “A Letter from Kyoto,” by Kim Min-ju; India’s: “Behind Veils,” by Praveen Morshhale; Iran’s “No End,” by Nader Saievar; Mongolia’s “The Sales Girl,” by Sengedorj Janchivdorj; The Philippines’s “Feast,” by Brillante Mendoza; Singapore’s “#LookAtMe,” by Ken Kwek; and Vietnam’s “Memento Mori: Earth,” by Marcus Vu Manh Cuong. The president of the jury is Lee Yong-kwan, president of the Busan film festival.

Emiliano De Pablos Madrid-based Aquí y Allí Films, one of Spain’s most successful auteur movie production houses, is joining forces with popular Spanish actor turned writer-director Daniel Guzmán (“Nothing in Return,” “Canallas”) to produce drama thriller “La deuda.” Backed by Spain’s pay TV giant Movistar+ and public broadcaster RTVE, “La deuda” will be produced by Aquí y Allí’s Pedro Hernández and Guzmán at El Niño Producciones. The film is scheduled to roll in Madrid by the fall. Written by Guzmán, “La deuda” tells the story of Lucas, a 37-year-old man and the 86 year-old woman Antonia, who live together in a city too big to be alone. Lucas is looking for a job but the job seems not to be looking for him.

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount has quietly struck a deal for completed action-thriller Assassin Club, starring Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), Noomi Rapace (Prometheus), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park) and Suicide Squad breakout Daniela Melchior.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos revealed a continued investment push in the Indian market on Saturday. In a freewheeling chat with Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Mumbai to promote the latter’s upcoming Netflix series “Heeramandi,” Sarandos was bullish about India, repeating what he said on Friday to local media about the market’s growth. “India is the fastest growing Netflix market in the world this year and because of that, we’re able to continue to invest in great storytelling. And I think when you see ‘Heeramandi,’ you’re gonna see why it has been such the honor of a lifetime to work with Sanjay and to be able to bring this to screen. And you ain’t seen nothing yet,” Sarandos said.

Netflix’s Co-CEO Ted Sarandos has told an audience of Indian filmmakers that they “ain’t seen nothing yet” in terms of the streamer’s ambitions in the country.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Within a week of its publication on Jan.

Netflix is working with Spain’s top soccer division, LaLiga, on a doc series in the vein of Formula 1: Drive to Survive.

Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo were recently photographed running errands in London, and in true Made in Chelsea style the pair could be seen clutching champagne and their new puppy as they made their way down the street. Jamie, 33, and Sophie, 29, were spotted in Notting Hill on Wednesday alongside their adorable new pet pooch Bobbie, who they welcomed into their family in December.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Paris-based Haut et Court has closed French distribution rights with sales agent Film Factory Entertainment on Victor Erice’s ”Close Your Eyes” (“Cerrar los ojos”), the legendary Spanish director’s return to feature film direction 30 years after Cannes Jury Prize winner “Dream of Light” and a half century on from his milestone debut, “The Spirit of the Beehive.” “Beehive” is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest Spanish films ever made. “Light” was chosen by the world’s cinematheques as the best film of the 1990s. “Close Your Eyes” reunites Erice with Ana Torrent, a wide-eyed mite in “Beehive.” 

Ozempic has become a hot topic when it comes to weight loss — with some stars confirming they have used the drug while others denied it.

“Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” is coming to Netflix on May 4.

Almost a decade ago, a passenger plane went missing mid-flight with more than 200 people on board. Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 suddenly disappeared from radar around 40 minutes after takeoff on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to Beijing Capital International Airport in China.

teaser released by Netflix on Tuesday.“Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story,” which consists of six episodes following Queen Charlotte’s journey to becoming the most powerful figure in the Bridgerton-verse, will premiere May 4, 2023. Unlike “Bridgerton” which she only executive produces, Shonda Rhimes serves as the showrunner for “Queen Charlotte.”The teaser picks up from the first look clip shared this fall in which young Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio) unknowingly encounters the mysterious and elusive young King George (Corey Mylchreest) in a thorny meet-cute, introducing the queen to her soon-to-be husband.What comes next is both a whirlwind romance and an exercise in high-stakes pressure as voices echo “your marriage is the business of this country; this cannot go wrong.”The trailer also teases the systemic obstacles Queen Charlotte faces as she enters England’s royal circle, as her confidants remind her, “You are the first of your kind, you must secure your position.” Despite Queen Charlotte’s adversity, she cements her status as stating, “This is my home, I am the queen.”The trailer, premiere date and additional imagery were unveiled at a virtual event Tuesday, in which Netflix revealed that the Queen’s Ball Experience will take place in New York City.

Málaga Work in Progress, an Málaga Festival industry centerpiece where productions such as “The Platform” first saw the light of day. Playing in Malaga WIP, “The Platform” was acquired by Latido Film which sold the title to Netflix at Toronto. It has gone on to rank as the third most-watched non-English movie ever on Netflix.    At least three titles – Spanish road movie “Devil Dog Road,” horror pic “The Hidden City,” the neo-noir “Foremost by Night” – boast genre gristle. Some titles turn on gender oppression (“As Neves”), female self-discovery (“Mara’s Vacation”) or sexual diversity (“I Trust You”). Many, especially from Spain, have social-issue overtones.  

EXCLUSIVE: Indian director Dibakar Banerjee’s Tees has been shelved by Netflix and the auteur is now seeking a new home for the feature.