Sony Taking Indian Regulator Order Over Planned ZEE Merger “Very Seriously”

Refresh for latest…: Busy weekend at the international box office with a strong scary new entry, some unexpected spark in holds and a milestone for a long-running franchise.

Tom Cruise has no intention of slowing down.

Naman Ramachandran Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £7.1 million ($9 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The release marked the fifth biggest opening weekend for a film in 2023 in the territory, including previews, with a market share of 43%. In its fifth weekend, Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” racked up a further £1.5 million in second place, taking its total to £25.9 million. Universal’s “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” debuted in third position with £885,056. In its sixth weekend, Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” earned £837,859 in fourth place for a total of £25 million.

Disney+ Hotstar lost the rights to offer Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket last year, but the streamer remains India’s market leader, according to Ampere Analysis.

Indiana Jones has been entertaining audiences for four decades, and the fifth movie is keeping up the tradition. In the past, Indiana Jones has worked toward stopping the Nazis in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," found himself on a dangerous adventure in India in "Temple of Doom," working against the Nazis to find the Holy Grail in "Last Crusade," and racing against the Soviets in search for a hidden artifact with his long-lost son in Peru in "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." The newest movie, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," follows the famous architect on a journey with his goddaughter, Helena Shaw, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, on their way to find a dial that is said to hold the powers of changing history.

Naman Ramachandran SonyLIV has acquired exclusive streaming rights to acclaimed Bangladeshi films “Hawa” and “Saturday Afternoon” from Reliance Entertainment and Continental Entertainment PTE Ltd (CEPL). Directed by Mejbaur Rahman Sumon, “Hawa” follows the journey of an all-men team on a fishing trawler, whose routine is disrupted when they haul in a mysterious catch. The cast is led by hugely popular star Chanchal Chowdhury and includes Nazifa Tushi, Sariful Islam Razz, Sumon Anowar, Nasir Uddin Khan and Shohel Mondol. The film was Bangladesh’s entry to the Oscars and is one of the highest grossers from the country having also found distribution in India, Singapore and the Middle East. It will premiere July 7 on SonyLIV.

Naman Ramachandran Sony Music-owned music distribution company AWAL has launched in India and South Asia, following the acquisition of OKListen, a digital music platform for independent artists and record labels. Based in Mumbai and supported by Sony Music India, AWAL will offer independent artists in the region a range of services including global marketing, creative, synch and brand partnerships, radio promotion and distribution as well as access to real-time music analytics. Vijay Basrur, who founded OKListen in 2012 as India’s first homegrown digital distribution service, has been appointed head of India and South Asia, AWAL, reporting into Lonny Olinick, CEO of AWAL and Vinit Thakkar, managing director, Sony Music India.

The internet is buzzing with curiosity over Leonardo DiCaprio’s new friend, Neelam Gill Kaur.

Eva Bourne has her palm read in this sneak peek from her new Hallmark Channel movie, Make Me A Match.

Elizabeth Hurley has been in several high-profile relationships over the years, but the most important man in her life is her son, Damian.

Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City has been released – check it out below.Set during a junior stargazer convention in 1950s America, the film stars a mix of new and frequent collaborators from Anderson’s past works, including Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston and Edward Norton.The comedy-drama had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023, where it competed for the Palme d’Or prize. It was later released in cinemas on June 23.Alexandre Desplat created the film’s score, who has previously worked with Anderson on Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle Of Dogs and The French Dispatch.His other notable credits include Guillermo Del Toro’s Shape Of Water, Little Women directed by Greta Gerwig and both parts of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.Desplat’s score is joined by various other country-orientated songs, including tracks by The Springfields featuring Dusty Springfield, Slim Whitman and Bing Crosby.Jarvis Cocker, who has a cameo in the film, contributes two original songs to the soundtrack titled ‘Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)’ and ‘You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep’.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) top brass from holding any managerial or directorial positions, Sony has responded. On June 12, SEBI barred Punit Goenka and Subhash Chandra, MD-CEO and chairman emeritus respectively, of media giant ZEEL, from holding any managerial or directorial positions in listed companies. The suspension is while SEBI carries out investigations into allegations of insider trading. ZEE has challenged the SEBI order at the Securities Appellate Tribunal and the matter will be heard on June 26.

Naman Ramachandran Prolific Indian studio Maddock Films has three successful projects currently on, 15 more in the pipeline and is developing an ambitious film series based on the “Arabian Nights.” Laxman Utekar’s comedy-drama film “Zara Hatke Zara Bachke,” a co-production with Jio Studios starring Vicky Kaushal and Sara Ali Khan, has emerged as the sleeper hit of the year grossing $11.1 million theatrically so far. Homi Adajania’s action drama series “Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo,” starring Dimple Kapadia, is a hit for streamer Disney+ Hotstar, while Arunima Sharma, Hussain Dalal and Abbas Dalal’s coming-of-age Prime Video drama series “Jee Karda,” starring Tamannaah Bhatia, is garnering positive reviews.

Scam 1992 is one of India’s highest-profile drama series of the streaming era and its sequel now has a release date.

Mads Mikkelsen has said it’s an “enormous honour” to be in the upcoming new Indiana Jones film, India Jones and the Dial of Destiny.Mikkelsen, who plays villain Jürgen Voller in the film, said it felt that way due to his personal connection to the franchise – something he said he “grew up with”.During a recent press conference about the film, Mikkelsen said: “It’s not my first franchise, but it’s the first one I grew up with. I’ve been lying in all the other interviews when I did Bond and Star Wars.

Kourtney Kardashian may have the kind of jet-setting lifestyle some can only dream of, but there’s no need to be green with envy — when you can be green with her favorite matcha-based product instead.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix has unveiled a new teaser for “The Archies,” a coming-of-age, live action musical set in 1960s India based on the teenagers of Riverdale. “The Archies” is a feature film adaptation of the Archie comics, which are hugely popular on the Indian subcontinent. The teaser, released during Netflix’s Tudum fan event, reveals that the film is set in 1964 in Riverdale, described on a railway sign as a “hill station,” a term dating back to colonial time that refers to a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain. One of the transport links servicing the hill stations are small mountain railway trains running on narrow gauge tracks, known affectionately in India as “toy trains” and the teaser opens with a shot of top train puffing into Riverdale station.

A university student has been caged after carrying a drunk woman to his halls of residence after a night out and raping her while she was passed out.

Chris Hemsworth is providing some clarity to the comments he made about taking some time off from acting.

The Sundance Institute revealed on Wednesday that it has received the largest endowment gift in its history, a $4M endowment in support of the the Institute’s Indigenous Program from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which will provide new support for artists from California-based tribes, both federally and non-federally recognized.