Monte-Carlo Television Festival Opens With ‘Last Light,’ Starring Matthew Fox, Joanne Froggatt

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDisney’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the fourth standalone Marvel story about Chris Hemsworth’s hulking God of Thunder, picked up $15.7 million on opening day at the international box office.The film is currently playing in 17 overseas markets, including Germany, Italy, Australia and Korea, and it will debut in North America and several other major territories on Friday.Overall ticket sales are pacing 39% ahead of “Thor: Ragnarok” (which ultimately collected $130 million during its opening weekend) and 24% behind “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (which scored a massive $265 million in its international box office debut).By the time Sunday comes around, the newest “Thor” adventure is expected to rake in at least $145 million to $155 million in North America (with some estimates reaching as high as $170 million) and another $140 million to $150 million from overseas markets. For now, “Love and Thunder” is not playing in China, Russia or France.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s your first trailer for German director Kilian Riedhof’s drama You Will Not Have My Hate based on the true story of a man’s quest to rebuild his life without hatred after his wife was killed in the 2015 Bataclan attack in Paris.

Marta Balaga Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival has revealed the lineup for its 75th edition, sticking to its promise of discovering new talent.A slew of debuting filmmakers will showcase their works, from Italy’s Nicola Prosatore with “Piano Piano” to Caterina Mona, focusing in “Semret” on an Eritrean single mother working at a Zurich hospital and dreaming of becoming a midwife.Thomas Hardiman’s U.K.’s proposition “Medusa Deluxe,” a murder mystery set in a competitive hairdressing competition — boarded by New Europe Film Sales — is also bound to generate some excitement.“‘Medusa Deluxe’ is one of the coolest debuts of the year,” the company’s CEO Jan Naszewski enthused to Variety. “I’m sure it will rock the Piazza Grande and give the festival a great spark.”But Locarno will also bring in heavyweights, starting with a screening of the much-anticipated Brad Pitt vehicle “Bullet Train,” directed by “Atomic Blond” helmer David Leitch, and Olivia Newman’s “Where the Crawdads Sing” with Daisy Edgar-Jones and David Strathairn.Anna Gutto’s “Paradise Highway” packs star power as well, starring the likes of Morgan Freeman, “Captain America’s” Frank Grillo and Juliette Binoche, cast as a truck driver forced to smuggle illicit cargo to save her brother from a prison gang.In an interview with Variety earlier this year, the French actor described the role as a “worthwhile challenge.”“I never imagined I’d play a truck driver! I was drawn to incongruity and the prospect of embarking on a new adventure.

The Locarno Film Festival has announced the full line-up and juries for its 75th edition, which is due to unfold August 3-13.

Celebrity Gogglebox got in on Pride celebrations on Friday (1 July) with celebrities tuning in to a heartfelt scene from Channel 4 comedy Big Boys. Written by Jack Rooke and starring Dylan Llewellyn and Jon Pointing, the show centres around two "mismatched boys" during their first year of university, and features a particularly poignant coming-out scene.

Phillip Forest Lewitski is a star on the rise who you can see in the new Hulu pride film Wildhood and we caught up with the young actor to learn more about him!

Splash Mountain will be transformed into Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, with the reconceived attraction set to open at Disneyland and Disney World in late 2024.

EXCLUSIVE: Wolfe Releasing has acquired worldwide rights to Charles Busch and Carl Andress’ comedy The Sixth Reel, and to the late director Mark Rucker’s cult comedy Die, Mommie, Die!, slating the former film for release in theaters and on digital this fall. The latter will hit theaters in 2023, subsequently making its streaming debut.

Rod Stewart is not the only poster-boy in his family: the singer’s son Alastair is starring in an advertising campaign in Italy — at the age of just 16. ‘My little brother has his own billboard in Milan,’ gushes his half-sister, Ruby Stewart, 35, after seeing huge images of him plastered all over the world’s fashion capital. Alastair, whose mother is Sir Rod’s wife Penny Lancaster, 51, signed the deal with luxury clothing label Palm Angels.

As one of Manchester's most loved family businesses, Forsyth Music Shop has welcomed customers through its doors for decades. Founded in 1857 by brothers James and Henry Forsyth, the business has been located at its home on Deansgate since the 1890s. It goes without saying that this music department store has earned its status as a city centre institution.

It’s Friday and that can mean only one thing, folks: another edition of International Insider. Jesse Whittock here to take you through another week in film and TV.

Long Island iced tea, please! Two decades after its premiere in 1999, Cruel Intentions still has fans talking about its scandalous story line — and dreamy lead Sebastian Valmont.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCity of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a leading research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, announced that its Music, Film and Entertainment Industry group’s 2022 Spirit of Life Gala will feature a performance by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson.The gala will take place Oct. 27, 2022, at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles — the first after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor“The Tourist,” starring Jamie Dornan, won best series Tuesday at the Golden Nymphs Awards, handed out at the conclusion of the 61st Monte-Carlo Television Festival.The show, created and written by Harry and Jack Williams, is a British thriller with comedy moments centering on the theme of identity. It was also given the best creation prize and the BetaSeries public prize.Germany’s “Martha Liebermann,” a drama about a German-Jewish woman in Nazi-era Berlin standing up for her values while risking her life, won best TV film, and Thekla Carola Wied, who plays the titular character, won best actress.Ulrich Thomsen, the lead from Nordic crime drama “Trom” won best actor.

Crystal Globe Competition“America,” Ofir Raul Graizer (Israel, Germany, Czech Republic)“Chemi otakhi” (“A Room Of My Own”), Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze (Georgia, Germany)“Edna provintsialna bolnitsa” (“A Provincial Hospital”), Ilian Metev, Ivan Chertov, Zlatina Teneva (Bulgaria, Germany)“F—ing Bornholm,” Anna Kazejak (Poland)“Hranice lásky” (“Borders of Love”), Tomasz Wiński (Czech Republic, Poland)“Isihia 6-9” (“Silence 6-9”), Christos Passalis (Greece)“The Ordinaries,”  Sophie Linnenbaum (Germany)“Slovo” (“The Word”), Beata Parkanová (Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland)“Tabestan Ba Omid” (“Summer with Hope”), Sadaf Foroughi (Canada)“Tenéis que venir a verla” (“You Have to Come and See It”), Jonás Trueba (Spain)“Tooi tokoro” (“A Far Shore”), Masaaki Kudo (Japan)“Vesper,” Kristina Buožytė, Bruno Samper (Lithuania, France, Belgium)Proxima Competition“A pak přišla láska…” (“And Then There Was Love…”),  Šimon Holý (Czech Republic)“Los Agitadores” (“Horseplay”), Marco Berger (Argentina)“Au grand jour” (“In Broad Daylight”), Emmanuel Tardif (Canada)“Balaye aseman zire ab” (“Like a Fish on the Moon”), Dornaz Hajiha (Iran)“Głupcy” (“Fools”), Tomasz Wasilewski (Poland, Romania, Germany)“Još jedno proleće” (“Another Spring”), Mladen Kovačević (Serbia, Qatar)“La pietà” (“Piety”), Eduardo Casanova (Spain, Argentina)“Ramona,” Andrea Bagney (Spain)“Stric” (“The Uncle”), David Kapac, Andrija Mardešić (Croatia, Serbia)“Tinnitus,”Gregorio Graziosi (Brazil)“Zkouška umění” (“ART talent show”), Tomáš Bojar, Adéla Komrzý (Czech Republic)“Zoo Lock Down,” Andreas Horvath (Austria)Special Screenings“BANGER.” Adam Sedlák (Czech Republic)“June Zero,” Jake Paltrow (USA, Israel)“The Killing of a Journalist,” Matt Sarnecki (Denmark, USA, Czech

Directors Amandine Fredon and Benjamin Massoubre take home the top prize for their animated film Little Nicholas–Happy as Can Be at the annual Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. 

Ben Croll Running from June 17-21, the Monte-Carlo Television Festival will mark both its 61st edition this year and its 10th under the watch of Laurent Puons. When the onetime boxer took over in 2012, he looked to reposition the august showcase created in 1961 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco, reorganizing the competition and streamlining the juries.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorDark Star Pictures has acquired distribution rights in North America for Australian gay love story “Lonesome,” directed by Craig Boreham. Following its world premiere at the Seattle Intl.

Welcome to another episode of the Scene 2 Seen Podcast! It’s your host Valerie Complex and I am back with another exciting episode.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDisney Branded Television has promoted Meredith Roberts to executive vice president of TV animation, the studio said Monday.The promotion comes for Roberts following “outstanding creative and operational oversight of the Disney Television Animation studio during a period of significant growth,” per Disney Branded TV.Most recently senior vice president/general manager of Television Animation at Disney Branded TV, Roberts has managed the division since  2018, overseeing development and current animated content and production for kids 6-14 and families, including traditional 2D and CG series, movies and shorts distributed on Disney+ and Disney Channel.The studio has 1,200 half-hours of animated content currently in production for Disney’s streaming and linear platforms, and during Roberts’ tenure in 2020, Disney Television Animation earned more Daytime Emmy Award nods than at any other point in its 38-year history. “A leader of incredible vision and a true champion of artistic talent, Meredith has set a new bar for Disney Television Animation, building upon the single greatest animation legacy in the world to lead a team that is creating the most innovative, magical animated storytelling in the business,” Ayo Davis, president of Disney Branded Television, said during the announcement at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in Annecy, France on Monday.