‘Demon Slayer,’ ‘Spy x Family’ on Slate as India’s JioCinema Launches Anime Hub (EXCLUSIVE)

Addie Morfoot Contributor HamptonsFilm’s 16th annual SummerDocs series will feature three Sundance favorites: “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” “War Game,” and “Super/Man:The Christopher Reeve Story.” HamptonsFilm and Hamptons Intl. Film Festival artistic director David Nugent and chairman emeritus Alec Baldwin will lead conversations with attending filmmakers and guests. The series will kick-off on July 5 with Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina’s “Skywalkers: A Love Story.” Following a successful Sundance debut, Netflix acquired the worldwide rights to the docu about daredevil couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus from Moscow, as they take their relationship to terrifying new heights in a wild scheme to climb the world’s last great skyscraper and perform a death-defying stunt on its spire.

Naman Ramachandran Glasgow-based Momentum Films, led by producer Rakasree Basu (“Iqbal and the Jewel of India”), has officially launched at the Cannes Film Festival‘s market. The company is focusing on developing original stories by converging the Scottish and the South Asian cinematic landscapes across feature films, high end television and narrative documentaries. Momentum has an under-production film “Adrift,” which was shot in Tamil Nadu, southern India, and is currently in post-production.

EXCLUSIVE: Mike Goodridge has been on a rare journey. Not many in the industry can boast a CV that includes running a trade publication, an international sales company, a film festival and being the producer of multiple Cannes Film Festival movies.

Naman Ramachandran India is making a concerted push to become a global production hub with enhanced incentives, diverse locations and a strong presence at Cannes. It is a record year for India at Cannes, with its first title in competition in 30 years, Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light,” and seven more Indian or Indian-themed films across the festival’s various strands. In addition, the country has a strong Cannes Film Market presence, while the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, on behalf of India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), has organized a range of events aimed at global content co-producers, sales agents and distributors at the India Pavilion on the Croisette.

Alex Ritman Having starred in only his first Western films in the last few years with ‘The Old Way’ and ‘Butcher’s Crossing,’ Nicolas Cage is doubling down on the genre, having teamed up with Heather Graham (“Austin Powers”) and Stephen Dorff (“True Detective”) for “The Gunslingers.” Costas Mandylor (“Saw”), Scarlet Stallone (“Tulsa King”), Tzi Ma (“The Farewell”), and Randall Batinkoff (“Dead Man’s Hand”) also star in the film, which is being launched in Cannes with Brilliant Pictures handling international sales. Grindstone has U.S. rights to the film.

Naman Ramachandran Animation studio Toonz Media Group has unveiled an eclectic slate for the Cannes Film Market. Drawing stories from popular Indian ancient fables and retelling them with a contemporary flavor, “Return of the Jungle” is set in present-day India and revolves around a group of classmates from junior school who must outwit the biggest, meanest bully in the school. A cool and loveable grandpa by their side peps the fourth graders with inspiring stories from the jungle.

Alex Ritman Guy Ritchie has another film in the works that doubles down on the British upper class. The prolific director — already behind this year’s Netflix hit “The Gentlemen” and WWII action thriller “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” — has unveiled his 18th feature film, “Wife and Dog,” with Black Bear launching sales in Cannes.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Pinnacle Peak Pictures is bringing a slate of faith-based films to the Cannes market, including a new installment in the “God’s Not Dead” franchise. Entitled “God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust,” the film will be released theatrically in the U.S. this fall, but, like the rest of Pinnacle’s slate, foreign territories are available to buyers.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc is here!

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, premieres tonight, but how many episodes of the Hashira Training Arc will there be?The hour-long opening episode of the season, titled ‘To Defeat Muzan Kibutsuji’, will be airing today (May 12) on Crunchyroll for anime fans in the UK and around the world, on the same day that it receives its premiere in Japan.The synopsis for the upcoming new season states: “To the Hashira Training…the members of the Demon Slayer Corps and their highest-ranking swordsmen, the Hashira. In preparation for the forthcoming final battle against Muzan Kibutsuji, the Hashira Training commences.

Naman Ramachandran Indian streamer SonyLIV has unveiled the actors playing Pakistani leader Mohammed Ali Jinnah and his sister Fatima in its magnum opus series “Freedom at Midnight.” Based on the 1975 non-fiction book of the same name by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, the political drama delves into India’s independence movement, weaving together untold tales and critical moments from the era when the country’s then British colonial rulers partitioned the country into India and Pakistan in 1947. Formerly a member of the Congress party that the leaders of India’s independence movement, including Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru also belonged to, Mohammed Ali Jinnah became the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the formation of Pakistan.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros. Discovery has appointed entertainment creative advertising and marketing specialist, Once Upon a Time, and brand consultancy and creative agency, BigSmall, for the European launch of streamer Max.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, but when does the Hashira Training Arc come out?The saga is based on the manga series by Koyoharu Gotoge, published under Shueisha’s Jump Comics imprint. The entire series consists of 23 volumes and to date has sold over 150 million copies.The first instalment of the anime adaptation came in 2019 with the Tanjiro Kamado, Unwavering Resolve Arc, which was followed by the 2020 feature film Mugen Train, which made over $450million at the box office and became the highest grossing Japanese film of all time.Since then, we have seen the release of the Mugen Train Arc, Entertainment District Arc and the Swordsmith Village Arc, all of which are currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.Earlier this year, the first episode of the Hashira Training Arc was bundled together with the final episode of the Swordsmith Village Arc in the cinematic experience, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training.The synopsis for the upcoming new season states: “To the Hashira Training…The members of the Demon Slayer Corps and their highest-ranking swordsmen, the Hashira.

Alex Ritman Paul Walter Hauser has added another project to a packed upcoming slate. The Emmy and Golden Globe winner, who in the last few weeks alone has been tapped to play Chris Farley in Josh Gad’s biopic and has joined the cast of both “Fantastic Four” and the “Naked Gun” reboot, is to lead “Press Your Luck,” a drama-thriller based on the true story of Michael Larson. Protagonist Pictures has unveiled the drama-thriller — from Plenty Good in co-production with Fabula — alongside a first look image and will handle international sales, while CAA Media Finance represents North American rights.

Lexi Carson NBCUniversal’s Emmy FYC House is set to return for its third annual pop-up activation at The Aster in Los Angeles from May 16 through May 22. Additionally, on Wednesday night, Peacock will host their official FYC event for “The Traitors,” a reality show where contestants move into a castle and compete on challenges to earn money for a prize pot.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Cirque du Soleil is known for their extravagant visual displays but the entertainment brand is tapping into more sensory experiences (the ones you can smell) with the launch of a debut fragrance.

Naman Ramachandran David Oyelowo, Meera Syal, Emma D’Arcy and Tobias Menzies are among the actors leading a trio of fall productions at the U.K.’s National Theatre in London. At the National Theatre’s Olivier Theater, David Oyelowo (“Selma”) will play the title role of Shakespeare’s “Coriolanus,” directed by Lyndsey Turner (“Under Milk Wood”). In the play, Coriolanus is Rome’s greatest soldier.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Sandra Hüller, the Oscar-nominated actor of “Anatomy of a Fall,” and four-time Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe (“At Eternity’s Gate”) are set to co-star in Kent Jones’ “Late Fame,” reteaming “May December” co-screenwriter Samy Burch and producer Killer Films. One of the hottest packages set for a Cannes Launch, “Late Fame” has been boarded by MK2 Films which is hot off an Oscar win for “Anatomy of a Fall” and will represent worldwide sales outside of North America.

Naman Ramachandran Rising Indian star, Vaani Kapoor will headline coming-of-age Bollywood drama-comedy “Badtameez Gill,” where she plays the titular character. Aparshakti Khurrana (Prime Video series “Jubilee”) plays Kapoor’s character’s brother in the film and veteran Paresh Rawal (Busan title “The Storyteller”), her father. The film, which is set across Bareilly, northern India, and London, is being directed by Navjot Gulati, whose writing credits include “Running Shaadi,” “Ginny Weds Sunny” with “Jai Mummy Di” and the upcoming “Pooja Meri Jaan” among his directing credits.

Naman Ramachandran Indian studio Applause Entertainment‘s upcoming big-budget series “Gandhi” aims to humanize the Mahatma. The first season covers the formative years of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s life as a law student in London and later as lawyer and civil rights activist in South Africa, during which time he conceived the ideas that ultimately led India to independence from British rule.