Deadline’s Doc Talk Podcast: A Great Shakespearean Actor No One Heard Of And ‘Much Ado About Dying’, The Hilarious Film His Nephew Made About Him

Annika Pham On the heels of its successful world launch at IDFA, the critically-acclaimed anti-colonial pic “Our Land, Our Freedom,” sold by First Hand Films, has landed a deal with BBC Africa Eye. “Our Land, Our Freedom,” a Kenyan/U.S./Portuguese co-production, and the upcoming India-set “Kalari,” to be pitched in Visions du Réel docu festival’s Swiss Preview showcase, epitomize what First Hand Films stands for.

Naman Ramachandran For veteran Bollywood filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, his latest film “12th Fail” is the gift that keeps on giving. Based on the 2019 book of the same name by Anurag Pathak, the film tells the true story of Manoj Kumar Sharma who conquered extreme familial poverty to pass one of the world’s toughest examination processes and become an Indian Police Service officer. Distributed by Zee Studios, the modestly budgeted “12th Fail” released theatrically in October 2023 in a Bollywood market where only big-budget action spectacles were working and many smaller films were taking the easier route to bowing directly on a streamer.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Kurt Sutter‘s upcoming western series “The Abandons” is rounding out its cast. Variety has learned exclusively that Ryan Hurst, Michael Greyeyes, Michiel Huisman, and Toby Hemingway have all joined the Netflix series in recurring roles. Exact character details are being kept under wraps.

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Dev Patel refused to let the slew of injuries he suffered while filming his elaborate fight scenes in “Monkey Man” get in the way of him completing the movie. Patel not only directed and co-wrote the action movie, but he also stars as Kid, a young man who seeks to avenge his mother’s death at the hands of India’s corrupt law enforcement officials, political figures and spiritual leaders. He earns money by competing in a brutally violent underground fight club.

Naman Ramachandran U.K.-based sales agent Reason8 Films has sold 2023 Venice title “The Red Suitcase” to HBO for Europe and Suraya Filem for Malaysia and Brunei. The 15 territories covered under the HBO deal include Albania, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Moldova, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Bulgaria. Reason8 Films said that advanced negotiations are on for North America and Latin America.

Naman Ramachandran Honors were even atop the U.K. and Ireland box office as Universal’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” and Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” battled for top spot during the Easter holiday weekend. While “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” won the three-day weekend, “Kung Fu Panda 4” had the higher gross including previews.

Police Scotland will not take further action against JK Rowling after the force received complaints over her blistering attack on Scotland's new hate crime laws.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dev Patel makes his feature directorial debut with the upcoming action movie “Monkey Man,” which blew the roof off SXSW earlier this month and earned strong reviews, but getting the film made was no walk in the park. During a Reddit AMA ahead of the film’s April theatrical release, Patel told fans that directing, acting in and producing “Monkey Man” was “the most demanding thing I’ve ever done in my life” because “everyday we faced absolute catastrophe.” “I begged our financier not to shut us down a few weeks before principal photography,” Patel wrote.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple’s Invasion is rounding out its Season 3 cast with Ashton Sanders (Moonlight, Wu-Tang: An American Saga) and Eric Lange (Perry Mason, Escape at Dannemora) who will tackle major recurring roles.

Health authorities have warned British holidaymakers about the risk of coming down with serious conditions after visiting various destinations.

Times have changed, and standards of humor have evolved. Thus, Saturday Night Live alum Dana Carvey has apologized to Sharon Stone for an “offensive” sketch when she hosted the show in 1992.

Dana Carvey, 68, has apologized to Sharon Stone for a 1992 “Saturday Night Live” skit in which she took her clothes off.Stone, 66, was a guest on the podcast “Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade” when Carvey brought up the sketch, which occurred when Stone hosted “SNL” in the wake of her hit movie “Basic Instinct.” Carvey said Stone “was such a good sport” because “the comedy we did in 1992 with Sharon Stone, we would literally be arrested now.”The skit in question was called the “Airport Security Sketch,” in which male airport security officers, including Carvey playing an Indian security guard, had Stone remove one item of clothing at a time — to see if she was carrying anything dangerous on her person.“I want to apologize publicly for the security check sketch where I played an Indian man and we’re convincing Sharon, her character, or whatever, to take her clothes off to go through the security thing,” Carvey told Stone — as Spade added that it was “so offensive.”Carvey cited the year of the sketch, 1992, as being “from another era,” while the “Sliver” actress chimed in that it didn’t really bother her at the time.“I know the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony,” she said. “And I think that we were all committing misdemeanors [back then] because we didn’t think there was something wrong then.

EXCLUSIVE: The CW has rounded out the series regular cast of The Librarians: The Next Chapter. Callum McGowan, Olivia Morris, Bluey Robinson and Caroline Loncq join previously announced Jessica Green and guest star Christian Kane, who reprises his role as Jacob Stone, in the spinoff series.

is having a moment—and what better poster girl for the viral haircut than Zendaya, the queen of looking excellent in everything she does? The star has been flying the flag for the bouncy, glamorous bob since the end of 2022. While many other celebrities were sporting blunt, short bobs at the time, hers was a breath of polished and old Hollywood-inspired fresh air.Iga Swiatek of Poland meets Zendaya after defeating Maria Sakkari of Greece in the women's singles final of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 17, 2024.Fast forward to March 2024 and she’s not said goodbye to the haircut that suits her so well.

Freed serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who allegedly murdered 20 backpackers in Asia, has been spotted amongst tourists in London.The 79-year-old French man was released from a Nepalese prison in 2022 after spending nearly two decades behind bars. Sobhraj, who inspired the hit BBC drama The Serpent in 2021, is suspected of killing at least 20 Western tourists who were travelling through Asia's "hippy trail" in the 1970s and 1980s. Now pictures show him visiting the UK wearing a false beard and wig, while he his being filmed for a documentary.

Emmerdale's Paige Sandhu has left fans gobsmacked with her body transformation after leaving the ITV soap.The 27 year old, who played Meena Jutla on Emmerdale from 2020 to 2022, is set to appear as a princess in the upcoming British-Indian film Lioness. But it's not just her new role that's got fans talking - they've also noticed how fab she looks off-screen.This week, Paige took to social media to share that she's been following a tough workout plan that's left her feeling fit and confident.

EXCLUSIVE: Charlotte Le Bon (Falcon Lake) has joined Season 3 of HBO‘s The White Lotus in a role that is being recast. She is replacing Francesca Corney, who had been originally tapped for the part, sources close to production tell Deadline. HBO would not comment but we hear that the producers felt they needed someone who played older. Details regarding the character are being kept under wraps.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, as well as a number of James Bond films, passed away on February 27, aged 85. A cause of death has not been disclosed.The news was announced by Alliance Agents on Tuesday (March 12), with the agency paying tribute to a career “spanning over 50 years with notable roles in Sherlock Holmes, A Passage to India, Secret Army and of course one of the most memorable death scenes in the Star Wars franchise.”Culver played Captain Needa in The Empire Strikes Back, the character who is Force-choked to death by Darth Vader after losing track of a rebel ship.“Apology accepted, Captain Needa,” Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) says as Culver’s character drops to the ground clutching his throat.

Michael Culver, who starred in the 1980 “Star Wars” film, “Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back,” has died. He was 85. While his cause of death has yet to be determined, he suffered from poor health for years.

If Vladimir Putin was watching the Academy Awards on Sunday night from his dacha on the Black Sea, his mood may have been blackened by the Best Documentary Feature category. As Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast had predicted, the Oscar went to , Mstyslav Chernov’s harrowing film about the early days of Russia’s brutal siege of the Ukrainian port city.