Gory, Transgressive Fantasy Movie ‘Conann,’ Selected at Cannes and Locarno, Sells to North America (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: Lisa Collins is Warner Bros. Discovery’s new Group Vice President, overseeing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion employee initiatives across North America. She will report to Chief DEI Officer Asif Sadiq.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In one of the big deals announced out of Canada’s Fantasia Film Festival, XYZ Films has boarded North American sales rights to “New Life,” John Rosman’s feature directorial debut which is hailed by Fantasia itself as “one of the major discoveries of Fantasia 2023.” “New Life” stars Sonya Walger (“For All Mankind,” “Lost”) and Hayley Erin (“Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists,” “General Hospital”) and Tony Amendola (“Annabelle,” “Curse of Llorona”). XYZ Films has also dropped the film’s first teaser, shared in exclusivity with Variety, ahead of “New Life’s” world premiere on Aug.

Pink wowed audiences in Europe with her 2023 Summer Carnival tour and now the shows have moved to North America!

EXCLUSIVE: Anonymous Content has partnered with New Europe Film Sales to handle North American rights for animated feature The Peasants, directed by Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent filmmakers D.K. Welchman and Hugh Welchman. 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Camerimage Film Festival, which is devoted to the art of cinematography, is to pay tribute to Peter Biziou. The British cinematographer, who won an Oscar for “Mississippi Burning,” and was BAFTA nominated for “The Truman Show,” will receive the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Biziou, the son of cinematographer-animator Leon Bijou, started his career at an animation company in London. In the mid-sixties, he started to light film sets for commercials and shorts, which helped foster “his innate intuition and his courage to implement innovation,” the festival said. He worked with the likes of Len Fulford, Bob Brooks, Terence Donovan, John Swannell and Frank Budgen.

EXCLUSIVE: Frank Grillo action film MR-9: Do or Die has struck a North American distribution deal with Canadian outfit Swapna Scarecrow.

Gkids has acquired North American rights to Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, the Japanese maestro’s latest feature which Toho is releasing today in Japan as Kimitachi wa Do Ikiruka (How Do You Live?). The Boy and the Heron is now the official international title. This all-rights deal marks a continuation of Gkids’ long-standing relationship with the Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli; Gkids will release the original story written and directed by Miyazaki theatrically laster this year.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Strand Releasing has acquired the North American rights to Pierre Creton’s “A Prince,” a French film which world premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. “A Prince” won the SACD Prize from France’s Writers’ Guild for the best French-language film at Directors’ Fortnight. Represented in international markets by Andolfi, “A Prince” follows a horticultural student, Pierre-Joseph, whose sexual encounters with his botany teacher and mentors lead to a unique hybrid tale of science, sex and meditation. “We’re thrilled to be handling ‘A Prince,’ Creton’s work is such a rarified vision that fits so well with the Strand Releasing brand, we look forward to taking this out to some of the top festivals across North America,” said Marcus Hu at Strand Releasing. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief ITN Distribution has picked up distribution rights in North and Latin America for the live action fantasy epic, “Fight For Freedom” from Incredible Film. The completed film, which is also available as a 5×30 mins. mini-series, is a live action fantasy epic about Friesland’s greatest hero known as Grutte Pier. Fabled Frisian freedom fighter, Peer Gerlofs Donia, is a gentle giant who turns into a blood-thirsty, revenge-driven killer when his family is brutally murdered. His quest for revenge forges him into a beacon for his people as he becomes their leader in a fight for independence. The film is directed by Steven de Jong.

Following her recent health scare, Madonna has canceled her summer and fall North American tour, with plans to reschedule the dates later.

Naman Ramachandran Brad Pitt has revealed some key plot details of his keenly anticipated Formula One racing feature. Over the weekend, Pitt and co-star Damson Idris filmed for the Apple production during the British Formula One Grand Prix at Silverstone in the U.K., driving laps around the legendary track. Speaking to former British racing champion Martin Brundle, Pitt told Sky Sports: “It’s all been great. The vibe is amazing, to get to be part of it and tell our story. The teams have opened their doors to us.” Pitt said that he plays “a guy who raced in the 1990s… who has a horrible crash, craps out and disappears, then he’s racing in other disciplines. His friend, played by Javier Bardem, he’s a team owner, contacts him. They’re a last place team, they’re 21-22 on the grid, they’ve never scored a point. But they have a young phenom, played by Damson Idris, and they bring me in as kind of a Hail Mary and hijinks ensue. Tell you what’s amazing about it — there are cameras mounted all over the car — you’ve never seen speed, you’ve never seen just the G-forces like this. It’s really, really exciting.”

Love Island is set for drama tonight as the fan-favourite Movie Night challenge makes its highly-anticipated return. As the Islanders unwind in the garden they receive a text which reads: “Islanders, It’s time to get your glam game strong and hit the red carpet as tonight is Movie Night #FrontRowSeats #SweetOrSalty.” In a boys vs girls quiz, each team answers a question by text with the team closest to the correct answer selecting the movie of their choice.

Lil Uzi Vert has shared details of their upcoming headlining tour of the United States in support of their third studio album, ‘Pink Tape’.The tour, announced on Friday (July 7), will begin on October 21 at The Armory in Minneapolis. It will continue for another month, wrapping in Philadelphia at the city’s Wells Fargo Center.

Beyonce jumpstarted the North American leg of her Renaissance World Tour on Saturday (July 8) in Toronto, Canada, and the Bey Hive thought that she had some surprises in store.

Thania Garcia Lil Uzi Vert will be performing in venues across the U.S. later this fall for the newly-announced “Pink Tape” tour in support of their latest, 26-track album album “Pink Tape.” The 17-date trip will be Uzi’s first headlining jaunt since 2018’s “Endless Summer Tour,” and is slated to begin on Oct. 21 in Minneapolis, before making numerous stops across major cities like Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, New York City, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles and Denver, among other cities. They will close the tour with a special hometown performance in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on Nov. 22. “Pink Tape,” the follow-up to the rapper’s 2020 record, “Pluto x Baby Pluto,” is expected to be one of the top rap releases of the year when it arrives on U.S. charts next week. It features guest verses from Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Bring Me The Horizon and more.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Toho International, an offshoot of the storied Japanese film and TV giant Toho, is to launch twin e-commerce sites serving the growing legion of North American fans of Japanese pop culture. One platform is specific to the Godzilla brand. The other, iiZO, will cater to a wider range of anime fans who will be served with original Japanese merchandize. The moves are being headed by Kristin Parcell GM at Toho International, and her U.S.-based team who joined the firm from Crunchyroll at the end of last year. They foresee the twin initiatives as a business with $100 million of revenue within a few years. Their in-house operation comprises anime and “Godzilla” brand experts, and also includes specialist in merchandizing, buying and fashion. The sites go live at unspecified dates this summer.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent New Europe Film Sales is set to launch international sales on “Stepne,”the debut feature of Ukraine’s Maryna Vroda, a best short Cannes Palme d’Or winner, which was announced this July 5 morning as part of Locarno’s main International Competition.  Born in Kyiv, Vroda won a Palme d’Or in 2011 for her short “Cross Country” (“Kross”), a seemingly allegorical psychological drama about a boy who is forced to run, then does so willingly, ending up watching his classmates running a senseless cross-country race as a boy rolls in a transparent ball in a river. “Kross” was inspired by Vroda’s memories of physical education lessons. “Stepne” is equally personal, coming to Vroda when her grandparents died. In it, a middle-aged man travels to his family home to care for his dying mother. He meets his brother and a woman he loves and thinks back to his life choices such as leaving to live in a big city. Then, just before dying, her mother tells her about a treasure she’s buried in the shed.

Karen Horne, who led led Warner Bros. Discovery Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for North America, is leaving the company amid a raft of layoffs and major restructuring since the merger. Executive said Horne’s departure was not part of the broader staff retrenchment but a rethinking of the DEI division.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Canada-based movie distributor and aggregator H264 is launching a world sales arm with the acquisition of “Red Rooms,” which has its world premiere next week in the Crystal Globe Competition of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. The company is focused on festival-driven, innovative films. “Red Rooms,” directed by Quebec filmmaker Pascal Plante (“Fake Tattoos,” “Nadia, Butterfly”), is a cyber-thriller questioning the collective fascination with murderers. It will screen at Karlovy Vary on July 4, and will then open the Fantasia Film Festival on July 20 for its North American premiere. Montréal-based H264 is also ramping up its international slate by adding “Mademoiselle Kenopsia,” from filmmaker Denis Côté, who won awards at Berlin with “Vic + Flo Saw a Bear” and Locarno with “Curling.”

Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour is expanding again!