On Location in Golan Heights With Venice Film Entry ‘The Stranger’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Bleecker Street’s I’m Your Man opens on 12 screens in seven markets, expanding to another 15 next week in a rare platform release banking on strong word of mouth for the well-reviewed, 94% Certified Fresh film that’s Germany’s entry for the 2022 International Feature Oscar race.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentSky has unveiled the official trailer for the fifth and final season of “Gomorrah,” Italy’s cult crime series produced by Sky Studios and ITV-owned Cattleya in collaboration with Germany’s Beta Film, which is the show’s international distributor. “Gomorrah” 5 is set to air locally on Nov.

Morten Steingrimsen Guest ContributorPeter Mullan (“Westworld,” “Top of the Lake”) and Charles Dance (“Mank,” “The Crown”) have joined the cast of “The Hanging Sun,” based on Jo Nesbø’s bestselling novel “Midnight Sun.”Frederick Schmidt (“Angel Has Fallen”) and Raphael Vicas (“Grantchester”) are also boarding the production.The Sky Original film is a U.K.-Italian co-production from Sky, ITV Studios’ Cattleya and Groenlandia.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentViacomCBS’ Pluto TV, the fast-growing, free, ad-supported, linear TV-style streaming service, is set to launch in Italy on Oct. 28 with 40 thematic channels spanning multiple genres.Pluto TV’s Italy launch will expand the service’s European footprint, segueing from successful bows in the U.K., Germany, France and Spain.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaSaban Films is getting in the Nicolas Cage business.The studio has acquired “Butcher’s Crossing,” a frontier epic that stars the off-beat, Oscar winner as a buffalo hunter. The deal covers rights in North America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia.Gabe Polsky, who directed the documentary “Red Penguins,” slides behind the camera on this one.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterA “Pitch Perfect” series has been ordered at Peacock with Adam Devine onboard to reprise his role from the film franchise, Variety has learned exclusively.The series is set several years after the events of the films. Devine returns as Bumper Allen, who moves to Germany to revive his music career when one of his songs becomes big in Berlin.Bumper was the main antagonist of the first film and the leader of the all-male a cappella group The Treblemakers.

Ann-Marie Corvin Vicente Canales’ Film Factory Entertainment has sold Icíar Bollaín’s San Sebastian Festival-bound Basque reconciliation drama “Maixabel” to Germany, striking a deal with Berlin-based distributor Piffl Medien.The film is set to make its theatrical release in Spain on Sept.

I’m Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch), the Maria Schrader-directed film that earned star Maren Eggert the best actress Silver Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, has been selected as Germany’s entry into the 2022 International Feature Oscar race.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNewen Group, the TF1-owned French production and distribution outfit, has acquired a 51% stake in the German production company Flare Film, whose slate includes the upcoming Sky Original show “Paradiso” and Ildikó Enyedi’s “Balaton Brigade.”Launched in 2008 by Martin Heisler, the Berlin-based company has been focusing on director-driven documentaries and films that have been showcased on the international festival circuit.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorProduction, finance and sales outfit Film Constellation has inked new key deals on psychological thriller “John and the Hole,” directed by one of Variety’s top 10 directors to watch, Pascual Sisto.

Kim Petras knows how to make an entrance! The German singer-songwriter arrived in style to the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night alongside Paris Hilton, who drove the pair up to the red carpet in a baby pink convertible.Petras wore a black, latex head-to-toe bodysuit and paired it with a beautifully embroidered mini-dress that featured a floral scene intertwined with crosses and gold and pearl detailing.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent“Ennio,” the hotly anticipated Ennio Morricone doc by Oscar-winning Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore has sold to a slew of territories ahead of its world premiere Friday at the Venice Film FestivalBlock 2 Distribution, which is the sales arm of Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar Wai’s Jet Tone films, has announced sales of the doc to Germany and Austria (Koch Media), Benelux (Periscope), France (Le Pacte), Scandinavia and Baltics (Non Stop Entertainment),

Christopher Vourlias Beta Film CEO Jan Mojto was in his twenties when he left his native Slovakia in the 1970s, embarking on a career as a journalist before joining the German media giant Kirch Group and finally taking the reins of the Munich-based independent in 2004. Nearly half a century later, the 73-year-old admits a part of him has never left.

“Why does it take so long to break up? Why does no one talk about the fact that [divorce] is endless trauma?” Jessica Chastain asks in a heartbreaking moment from HBO’s devastating marital and breakup mini-series “Scenes From A Marriage.” A modern adaptation of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s brutally emotionally honest 1970s series, now written, directed, and executive produced by Israeli filmmaker Hagai Levi, (“Our Boys,” “The Affair,” and “In Treatment”), this new HBO version is intimate,

Naman Ramachandran The 65th British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival has revealed the eight films in its official competition.The competition titles include a few films currently playing at the Venice Film Festival, including Michelangelo Frammartino’s “Il Buco” (Italy-Germany-France), Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” (Italy) Harry Wootliff’s “True Things” (U.K.) and Michel Franco’s “Sundown” (Mexico-France-Sweden).

The BFI London Film Festival has confirmed an eight-strong lineup for its Official Competition this year. The movies are:

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentTVNow, RTL Deutschland’s streaming service, high-flying Berlin-based production house X Filme Creative Pool and production-distribution powerhouse Beta Film are partnering on what looks like one of the biggest German drama series productions of 2021: “House of Promises.”Beta Film is handling world sales and will present first moving images of the series at October’s Mipcom trade fair in Cannes, it said Friday.Described by Beta Film as a “high-end”

Sky has ordered a terrorist drama series about an incident in Germany set 50 years after the Munich massacre.