‘How To Train Your Dragon’ Live-Action Pic In The Works, Sets Spring 2025 Release

Naman Ramachandran Documentary “The First Code,” which explores how Ukrainian techies are an integral pillar of the global IT industry, will debut in the spring. The film, from EASE (the European Association of Software Engineering), chronicles the birth and formation of Ukrainian IT, from the creation of the first computer by Ukrainian engineers in the 1950s to the present day, where it has become a powerful industry and an important front in the war with Russia. The film was made based on interviews with representatives of leading Ukrainian IT companies, including EPAM Ukraine, 3DLOOK, ELEKS, Looksery, Techiia holding, Sigma Software Group, SoftServe, Uklon, Infopulse Ukraine and Preply. The V. M. Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, have also participated in the film.

K.J. Yossman “Boom! Boom: The World vs. Boris Becker,” the upcoming Apple TV+ documentary that premiered in Berlin last month, has confirmed a release date. The full two-part doc, about disgraced tennis champ Boris Becker, will drop on the streamer on April. 7. The documentary, which was directed by Alex Gibney (“Enron”) and produced by John Battsek (“Searching for Sugar Man”), promises to explore “every aspect of the man who became a tennis sensation after winning The Wimbledon Championships at the age of just 17, going on to win 49 career titles, including six Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal, as well as his high-profile, sometimes tumultuous personal life,” according to the logline.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Of the 10 films up for best picture, no fewer than six run 199 minutes or more. On one extreme, James Cameron’s punishing “Avatar” sequel is long enough to require bathroom breaks. At the other, Daniels’ ADHD-styled “Everything Everywhere All at Once” proves equally exhausting, dedicating every hyperkinetic second to stimulating easily distracted audiences. It’s enough to make folks grateful for the lower-profile but still engaging live-action shorts category, where nominees are bound by a strict 40-minute time limit. This year’s crop — the so-so “2023 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Live Action” program — clocks in at under two hours. Available in theaters and on myriad streaming platforms, the international assembly may be a hit-and-miss affair, but never outstays its welcome.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter When Darren Aronofsky brought his debut feature “Pi” to Sundance Film Festival in 1998, he negotiated for the rights to eventually revert back to himself. Now, 25 years later as the owner of the numbers-inspired psychological thriller, he’s sold the film to A24. As part of the acqusition, A24 has remastered “Pi” (stylized as π) and plans to release the film in theaters and on digital platforms this year. The 8K and Atmos restoration version will play on the big screen on Pi Day, which is March 14, to commemorate its 25th anniversary. “25 years ago, when we were just kids at Sundance, I was inspired by my hero Jim Jarmusch to fight for the rights of the film to return to the filmmakers,” Aronofsky said. “It took almost a quarter of a century, but time flies. In anticipation of this moment, we went back to the original black and white reversal 16mm film and scanned it at 8K. We also turned our original stereo mix into an Atmos experience. Everyone thought we were a little crazy but the film has never looked or sounded better. I am excited to team up with A24 and release this on Pi Day in Imax. I look forward to seeing everyone back in the theater soon.”  

There’s a method to keeping yourself employed in most creative industries where you alternate between doing something you’re passionate about with something a bit more… commercial. A “one for them, one for me” mindset.

Naman Ramachandran Renowned theater practitioner Pravesh Kumar’s feature film directorial debut “Little English” will release in U.K. cinemas and go on a tour across the country from March 17. The film is set amidst a dysfunctional Punjabi family in the pressure cooker life of a terraced suburban home in Slough. Newly arrived from India, naive Simmy has come to marry the family’s eldest son Raj, who runs away, leaving Simmy locked in the house by her domineering mother-in-law. Simmy is smarter than she appears and enlists the support of the family’s disgruntled in-laws, including a sugar crazed, diabetic grandpa and a brother-in-law fresh out of jail.

Austin Butler is forever grateful for his time with Lisa Marie Presley. The 31-year-old actor continues his awards season run at the 2023 SAG Awards, where he is nominated in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor category, for his work in “Elvis”.

Austin Butler is forever grateful for his time with Lisa Marie Presley. The 31-year-old actor continues his awards season run at the 2023 SAG Awards, where he is nominated in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor category, for his work in .«It's just exciting, it's just exciting to be a part of this,» the actor told ET's Denny Directo on Sunday at the 2023 SAG Awards. Butler has been vocal about the support he received from Elvis' daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, from the beginning of the film's production to the time of her death in January. «It's just part of that profound privilege that I feel to relate to them in some way,» he said about his time with the Presley family.

Thania Garcia J-hope of BTS has become the second member of the K-pop group to begin his mandatory military service in South Korea. The 29-year-old singer had previously applied for an enlistment postponement but a new statement from Big Hit Music (the band’s label) explains that he has since pulled that request and will enlist in the military. “We would like to inform our fans that j-hope has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement,” said the note posted to Weverse, Hybe’s global fan community platform.

Julia MacCary editor An Irish Goodbye Inspiration for the black comedy came from co-director Tom Berkeley at soccer match where two brothers were “at each other’s throats,” although where one was caring for the other who had Down syndrome. In “An Irish Goodbye,” estranged brothers Lorcan and Turlough are brought back together following their mother’s death, and Turlough must take care of his younger brother, who has Down syndrome. Lorcan will not leave their farm until they complete all 100 items on their mother’s bucket list. Co-director Ross White tapped into his observations from working in a special education school. “There can be this lack of cynicism with people with Down syndrome, a sort of openness and an honesty and purity about the way they see the world,” he says. The film depicts the brothers’ respective responses to death: “You’ve got this one character who is coping with this in a very emotionally open way, and then you’ve got his brother who is a bit more of a typical masculine response,” says White. 

Disney‘s string of live-action remakes of animated films continues this year with “The Little Mermaid” this May and “Peter Pan & Wendy” later. Now it’s time to add another to the list.

Back in 2020, Disney announced plans for a live-action remake of “Lilo & Stitch”, the 2002 animated hit about a young Hawaiian girl who befriends a fun-loving alien creature named Stitch.

A ‘year in the life of Stretford’ is being displayed in polaroid picture form, in a new exhibition curated by the photographer behind the famous ‘rainstorm’ picture. Simon Buckley of Not Quite Light has chosen the best shots as taken by residents of Stretford to sum up life in the south Manchester neighbourhood.

Zach Galifianakis has been cast in Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” feature, TheWrap has confirmed. We’ve heard he will be playing Pleakley, the alien character originally voiced by Kevin McDonald and animated by Ruben A. Aquino.Dean Fleischer Camp, the Oscar-nominated director of last year’s “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” will be directing the new adaptation.

Angelique Jackson The cast of Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” movie is beginning to shape up, with the addition of Zach Galifianakis. The new film is set to be directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, from a script by Chris Kekaniokalani Bright adapting the 2002 animated feature.

Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover franchise) has signed on to star in the live-action Lilo & Stitch film from Marcell the Shell With Shoes On filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp, Deadline can confirm.

It doesn’t look like Disney will be the only studio pursuing live-action versions of the most iconic films in its animation library. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Universal Pictures wants to develop a live-action adaptation of their beloved fantasy-adventure “How To Train Your Dragon” movies from DreamWorks Animation.

“How to Train Your Dragon” will be getting a live-action adaptation which will fly into theatres in 2025.

EXCLUSIVE: A hot package has just dropped late in the day at the EFM and has cooked up the first big deal on the ground in Berlin.

th anniversary. If this works, commercially it may well open the floodgates for live-action remakes for DreamWorks franchises like “Shrek” and “Kung Fu Panda,” as well as give Disney an unofficial license to put the newer likes of “Tangled,” “Moana” and “Frozen” into the remake sandbox.