France’s Mediawan Buys Germany’s Leonine Studios

Fundamental Films chairman Mark Gao and his CEO Ivy Hua are in Cannes to reconnect with the international industry as part of the Shanghai-based company’s return to international acquisitions and production. 

Addie Morfoot Contributor Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nicole Newnham (“Crip Camp”) is at work on her next documentary — “Tunnel 29,” about a secret escape tunnel built under the Berlin Wall in 1962. The film, co-produced by NBC News Studios and Story Force Entertainment, will chronicle the story of a group of students who risked their lives and defied the Iron Curtain by digging a tunnel under the Berlin Wall, enabling 29 East Germans to escape to the West. “‘Tunnel 29’ will cinematically immerse the audience in the fraught and tense time when the world grappled with the trauma and consequences of the Wall and the Cold War — a time that bears an astonishing resemblance to today,” says Newnham.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Neon has bought North American rights to “The Unknown” (“L’Inconnue”), the hotly anticipated next movie from “Anatomy of a Fall”’s Oscar-winning co-writer Arthur Harari. As revealed by Variety earlier this week, the movie will star Léa Seydoux (“Dune 2”) and is being represented in international markets. Harari is rolling off of “Anatomy of a Fall” which he co-wrote with director Justine Triet, abd won an Oscar, two Golden Globes, a BAFTA and the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Reflecting the breadth of Mediawan CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton‘s vast network and friendships, an impressive roster of film industry players flocked to celebrate him as he received Variety‘s International Visionary Award at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday. Attendees included CAA’s co-chairman and CEO Bryan Lourd, who said a few words about Capton on stage, as well as AGC Studios’ Stuart Ford, SPC’s Tom Bernard, Netflix’s Larry Tanz and Pauline Dauvin, and Mediawan executives including Elisabeth d’Arvieu and Justine Planchon.

Mediawan CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton into France’s Legion of Honor last October, calling the exec “the ultimate French success story.” In a country rarely known to promote social mobility, Capton-esque career trajectories are scarce. A self-made entrepreneur born into a middle-class Normandy family, Capton began his professional life as a teen with an entry-level internship, eschewing elite universities, making the exec a rare bird among France’s top media execs.

K.J. Yossman This year’s Cannes is set to be the most activist-heavy yet.

Naman Ramachandran The film adaptation of popular comic strip “Natacha (Almost) Air Hostess” boasts an all-star cast. The cast includes Camille Lou (“Anthracite”), Vincent Dedienne (“We Can Be Heroes”), Fabrice Luchini (“The Empire”), Didier Bourdon (“Cocorico), Elsa Zylberstein (“Coup de Chance”), Isabelle Adjani (“Wingwomen”) and Baptiste Lecaplain (“Meet the Leroys”). The film is loosely based on the comic strip of the same name created by screenwriter François Walthéry, which was published by Editions Dupuy, and which comprises 23 albums and has sold more than five million copies.

Winnie, 10, and Frances, 9, tickets to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour despite his Hollywood connections. “I didn’t get them tickets to see Taylor. I said, ‘No, you have to earn certain things.

Greta Gerwig addressed the growing #MeToo movement in France at the jury press conference on opening day of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. “I think people in the community of movies telling us stories and trying to change things for the better is only good,” Gerwig said when asked how she felt about #MeToo-related rumors swirling ahead of the festival. “I have seen substantive change in in the American film community, and I think it’s important that we continue to expand that conversation.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent European powerhouse Mediawan has appointed Italian film and TV producer Carlo Degli Esposti – who is founder and chief of its Rome-based Palomar shingle – as a member of its board of supervisors and strategic committee. Degli Esposti in his new role will be involved “in all strategic decisions” at Mediawan, a statement said, adding that he “will make his experience available to the group’s activities in the Italian market and, in particular, for future development operations and acquisitions in this important European territory.” Mediawan, which is a global production conglomerate comprising more than 85 labels around the world — it recently announced its acquisition of German production-distribution outfit Leonine — is clearly in expansion mode in Italy where, besides Palomar, they are in final stages of acquiring a 51% stake in Our Films, the new company being launched by prominent producers Mario Giananani and Lorenzo Mieli after their recent exit from the Fremantle fold.

EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of the Cannes market, Lionsgate has taken North American rights off the table on one of the bigger-budget new packages that’ll be on sale next week: that’s action-thriller Mutiny, which will star action evergreen Jason Statham (Fast & Furious) and be directed by Jean-François Richet (Plane).

UK network ITV has posted Q1 revenues down 7%, as its studios division felt the impact of last year’s Hollywood labor strikes.

Naman Ramachandran U.K. broadcaster ITV has reported mixed financial fortunes for the first quarter of 2024. Its advertising revenue growth of 3%, with the second quarter expected to be up around 12%, is offset by the downturn in revenues from ITV Studios.

As Gov. Phil Murphy continues his push to woo film and television production to New Jersey, the state economic development authority today approved a partnership with a $1+ billion studio complex including 22 sound stages set to rise in the Bergen Point neighborhood of Bayonne, New Jersey at the site of a former Texaco oil refinery.

European production and sales studio Vuelta Group has bought German producer Telepool from Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook.

EXCLUSIVE: The grades are in and the film and TV studios taking part in BAFTA albert’s climate assessment have upped their game in the past year.

Studiocanal has appointed former Netflix France exec Isabelle Pain as Head of Global Acquisitions & Analytics in a new position created in response to the company’s international expansion.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Studio 100 Intl., in collaboration with Germany’s Caligari Film and Studio Isar Animation, and Spain’s 3 Doubles Producciones, is to produce action-comedy CGI movie “Dougie Dolittle.” Targeting a core demographic of 8-12 year olds and a family audience, the movie is planned for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2026. Studio 100 Film is handling global sales and will introduce the film at Marché du Film in Cannes.

EXCLUSIVE: The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy’s sweeping portrait of a wealthy British family in 1880s London, is getting its third TV adaptation in less than 60 years.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Starring “3o Coins’” Miguel Angel Silvestre and “The Palace’s” Katia Fellin, “Weiss & Morales” has gone into production in the Canary Islands, boasting the credentials of a textbook procedural appealing to current market appetites. As co-production ramps up between free-to-air players in Europe, led very often by its state-backed networks, “Weiss & Morales” links two of the continents’ most powerful public broadcasters, Germany’s ZDF and Spain’s RTVE, which produce with ZDF Studios.