Newen Head of Innovation on Using AI to Assist Producers, Crew on French Soaps: ‘We Should Call It Augmented Intelligence’ (EXCLUSIVE)

EXCLUSIVE: Lena Headey (Game Of Thrones) has stepped back from the XYZ Films, Wayward Entertainment, and Resolute Films horror pic Svalta due to what has been described as scheduling conflicts. She was replaced by This Way Up actor Aisling Bea. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Consent,” an adaptation of Vanessa Springora’s bestselling book which sparked a belated #MeToo moment in France, has lured major distributors while thriving at the local box office and stirring social media buzz. Represented in international markets by Paris-based outfit SND, the film marks the sophomore outing of Vanessa Filho whose debut feature “Angel Face” stars Marion Cotillard and played at the Cannes Film Festival. Inspired by Springora’s real-life story, “Consent” tells the story of a teenage girl who is manipulated and sexually abused by a celebrated writer in his 50s.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Paris-based company 2425 Films, recently acquired by Mediawan, is working with a pool of rising filmmakers on timely movies, including Charly Delwart’s “1,5 degré,” Ilan Duran Cohen’s “Le coup d’apres” and Thomas Kruithof’s “Les Braises.” 2425 Films, founded by Thibault Gast and Matthias Weber, has been thriving with smart, high-concept commercial movies, such as Yann Gozlan’s “La boite noire” and “An Ideal Man,” as well as the thriller “Burn Out.” The company also presented Gozlan’s latest film, “Visions,” a thriller starring Diane Kruger (co-produced by Eagle Team Entetainment) at this year’s Angouleme Film Festival. Duran Cohen’s “Le coup d’apres” is a film set in the world of French politics, with a duo of French stars, Marina Fois and Laurent Laffite, who previously co-starred in “Papa ou Maman,” a French hit comedy franchise.

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood war epic “Pippa” will get a direct-to-streaming release on Prime Video. “Pippa” is based on the book “The Burning Chaffees,” written by Brigadier Balram Singh Mehta and the screenplay is by Ravinder Randhawa, Tanmay Mohan and Menon. Ishaan plays Captain Mehta of the 45th Cavalry tank squadron who fought on India’s eastern front during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, which led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Aria Mia Loberti, the breakout star of Shawn Levy‘s Netflix limited series “All the Light We Cannot See,” has narrated a new audio edition of Jules Verne’s classic novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” Loberti, a writer, human rights advocate and Fulbright Scholarship recipient, made her acting debut in “All the Light We Cannot See,” an adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel which will premiere on Netflix Thursday. In the show, Loberti plays Marie-Laure, a courageous blind teenager living in Nazi-occupied France during WWII.

Byron Allen Presents theGrio Awards special, honoring African American excellence, is returning to CBS for its second year. Co-hosted by The Talk‘s Sheryl Underwood and comedian Roy Wood, with honorees including Mariah Carey, Don Cheadle and Misty Copeland, the event will air on Saturday, November 25 from 8-10 PM on CBS and will stream live on Paramount+.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Gaumont is launching “Night Call,” a high-concept thriller set over the course of a night, directed by rising filmmaker Michiel Blanchart. Blanchart, who is repped by WME and Itaka Media, previously directed the short film “You’re Dead Hélène,” which was a festival standout and played at Clermont-Ferrand and Sitges, among other festivals. It also made the live action Oscar shortlist last year.

An SNP MP who survived skin cancer as a teenager has called on Rishi Sunak to scrap VAT on sunscreen to help save more lives.

Game of Thrones star Lena Heady has opened up about her thoughts on how the show should have ended.In a new interview, the actress, who played Cersei Lannister in the long-running hit HBO show, admitted that she hadn’t watched the new Thrones spin-off, House of the Dragon, admitting it was “too weird”.She did, however, open up about how she thought the show should have ended for her character. Heady said she and co-star Maisie Williams, who played Arya Stark in the show, had an idea for how their characters could have met at the end.When asked what her “ideal storyline” would have been for her character and “what that would have been” by The Hollywood Reporter, Heady replied: “[I] think all of us did, to be honest, because you start trying to write the story yourself.“And [Arya Stark actress Maisie Williams] and I would fantasize about a Cersei and Arya showdown; that she would come back as Jaime. That was our dream.

As the year comes to a close, one of the biggest stories of 2023 so far is what we call Marvel TV Reckoning. Essentially, the story was Marvel Studios finally recognizing their TV process was broken; they had to stop and rethink it all.

Marvel Studios‘ Daredevil: Born Again has rounded out its revamped creative team with a new showrunner and directors. Dario Scardapane (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Punisher) has been tapped as showrunner and directing team Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Loki) are set to direct the Charlie Cox series, sources confirm to Deadline.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Bhutan’s official Oscar entry “The Monk And The Gun,” Pawo Choyning Dorji‘s follow-up to “Lunana: A Yak in The Classroom,” has been bought by a raft of well-established international theatrical distributors. Following its festival premieres at Telluride, Toronto, Rome and Busan, “The Monk and the Gun” has been sold by Films Boutique to Pyramide Distribution (France), September Films (Benelux), Rialto Distribution (Australia), Future Films (Scandinavia), A Contracorriente (Spain), Lev Films (Israel), Aurora Films (Poland), Trigon (Switzerland), Alambique Films (Portugal) and Impact Films (India and Indian Subcontinent). Earlier this week, the crowdpleaser was also acquired by Roadside Attraction for the U.S.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Call of Duty and Universal Music announced a secret Chase & Status gig with 25 tickets for fans to win.Hosted in London, and accordingly titled LDN Calling, Chase & Status and DJ Bou have tasked fans with three missions to complete before October 31.Every completed mission increases an entrant’s likelihood of winning a ticket, and they will be able to invite a plus one along with them.All three missions will be released through the mission hub and announced through the band’s and Bou’s social channels.As well as the opportunity to attend an exclusive concert in a secret location somewhere in London, the event will offer fans the ability to play Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 ahead of everyone else.

ITV News has apologized after giving over airtime to an Iranian state TV journalist who described Hamas‘ attack on Israel as a “moment of triumph.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent France’s Musée Grévin took Dwayne Johnson‘s comments and social media outcry over the star’s botched wax figure to heart. Within 24 hours, his figure was updated by artists who gave it a slightly darker skin tone with meticulous strokes of oil painting.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Paramount+ in France has acquired “French Roulette – A Mother’s Ordeal,” Vincent Garenq’s (“Guilty”) limited series set in the 1970s. Under the deal, Paramount+ will have exclusive first-window rights in France to the series, which is represented internationally by France TV Distribution, and will premiere it on Dec.

Lena Headey‘s turn as Cersei Lannister helped make HBO‘s “Game Of Thrones” one of the most popular TV shows of the past decade. Will she do the same for MGM+‘s “Beacon 23“? The sci-fi series premieres on the streamer next month, which sees Headey’s government agent face off against an ex-soldier in a battle of wills that involves space travel, AI, and white-knuckle suspense.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or Modern Warfare 3 are on their way to Xbox Game Pass this year, Microsoft has confirmed, as there wasn’t enough time to sort out a “secret celebration drop”.Activision Blizzard stated that there were no intentions for its “upcoming and recently launched games” like Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Diablo 4 to be playable through Xbox Game Pass this year.Yet, rumours swirled that there was something in store. In the latest episode of the official Xbox podcast, Microsoft CEO of gaming Phil Spencer explained that there simply wasn’t enough time to arrange the games’ arrival on Game Pass.The acquisition of Activision Blizzard was only finalised last week following repeated revisions to the terms of the agreement.

Microsoft‘s Phil Spencer has shared that special Call Of Duty content or events on Xbox would exclude the rest of the “Call Of Duty nation”, and therefore is not a part of the company’s plans for the series.On October 13, the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft was finalised, passing on properties like Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Overwatch and World Of Warcraft as well as the immensely popular shooter series to the corporation.In spite of repeated insistences from Microsoft that it would not exclude players on other platforms from the future of Call Of Duty, there were still some concerns from fans.Spencer addressed these in the latest episode of the official Xbox podcast, reiterating that exclusive content for Xbox is not in Microsoft’s vision for the series (via Video Games Chronicle).“For Call of Duty players on PlayStation, and in the future Nintendo, I want you to feel 100 per cent a part of the community,” said the CEO.“I don’t want you to feel like there’s content you’re missing out, skins you’re missing out, there’s timing that you’re missing out on… that’s not the goal.”Historically, the series has prioritised those on PlayStation – Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 offered players exclusive monthly double experience point events, weapon bonuses when playing in parties with other PlayStation players, and additional loadout slots, to name a few features.This will not be replicated in future entries on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent MK2 Films has acquired a collection of films and TV series directed by Bruno Dumont, the award-winning French director behind “Life of Jesus,” “Slack Bay” and “Humanity.” The acquisition, unveiled during Mipcom Cannes, covers the bulk of the director’s work, spanning eight films and TV series including “Li’l Quinquin,” which premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. MK2 Films will represent rights to these titles in France and international markets.