‘Stath Lets Flats’ Producer Roughcut TV Bolsters Development Team; Takes ‘Stath’ Back Out To U.S. Networks

The 72nd Berlin Film Festival kicks off in physical form today with M. Night Shyamalan leading the main competition jury. Also notable among panelists is Oscar nominee Ryusuke Hamaguchi whose Drive My Car this week became the first Japanese movie ever nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. Hamaguchi was actually on a plane heading to Berlin when the nominations were announced, and only learned of the results upon landing.

2022 Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday, and one pleasant surprise was the recognition for a Japanese drama that has become the latest foreign-language nominee to break out of the International Film category and earn major Academy recognition.After a Best Foreign Language Film win at the Golden Globes earlier this year,  -- directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and based on Haruki Murakami's short story of the same name -- was certainly expected to be a contender in the Best International Feature Film category. However, the film scored additional nods for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as a Best Picture nomination.Members of the cast and crew reacted to the nominations in statements to ET.

Rashida Jones has been tapped to star in Apple’s new dark comedy series, Sunny.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterApple has ordered the dark comedy series “Sunny” with Rashida Jones set to star, Variety has confirmed.The 10-episode series is based on the book “Dark Manual” by Colin O’Sullivan. In the half-hour show, Jones stars as Suzie, an American woman living in Kyoto, Japan, whose life is upended when her husband and son disappear in a mysterious plane crash. As “consolation” she’s given Sunny, one of a new class of domestic robots made by her husband’s electronics company.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple TV+ has handed a formal 10-episode series order to Sunny (fka Dark Manual), a half-hour darkly comedic drama starring and executive produced by Rashida Jones, from Katie Robbins (The Affair, The Last Tycoon) and A24. Lucy Tcherniak (Station Eleven, The End of the F***ing World) is attached to direct.

Carlos Saldanha, director of “Ice Age” and “Rio” franchise movies and creator of Netflix series “Invisible City,” is joining forces with Brazil’s outfit Ventre Studio and Warner Bros. Pictures to co-create and direct superhero feature project “Iemanjá – Ocean’s Goddess.”“Iemanjá” is planned as the first movie in a series that transports the Brazil’s Candomblé gods to a superhero universe, being a pioneering Brazilian production of this genre.Following a crucial theme in Brazilian culture, “Iemanjá – Ocean’s Goddess” will tell the story of Iemanjá, an Orixá or goddess adored by the Brazilian people and also known as the Queen of the Sea.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentIshihara Shintaro, the former Tokyo governor who first became known as the chronicler of the “Sun Tribe,” privileged kids living lives of leisure and license amidst the poverty of postwar Japan, has died aged 89. The cause of death was not announced.Ishihara’s 1955 award-winning novel “Season of the Sun” was the basis for the 1956 Nakahira Ko film “Crazed Fruit” that launched the “Sun Tribe” boom.

Rihanna fans are celebrating after the artist and business mogul revealed she is expecting her first child with rapper A$AP Rocky. In photos captured by People, Rihanna was spotted out in New York holding hands with Rocky, with her baby bump clearly showing beneath her unbuttoned pink puffer jacket.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake part two is set to be revealed sometime this year.During the Final Fantasy 7 25th anniversary event held in Japan today (January 31), the game’s original director Yoshinori Kitase stated that he was going to reveal the first details about Remake part two during the event (thanks, VGC).“We are hard at work on Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis, so please look forward to that. In addition, with regards to the long-awaited Final Fantasy 7 Remake [part two]… there will be more information… this year if we can,”  Kitase said, in a translation provided to VGC by PushDustIn.Additionally, Kitase also confirmed that the game will be revealed this year, saying, “Well yeah.

Heating up in Hollywood! If you love Greek cuisine or if you’re searching for new toys for your child, Us Weekly has you covered.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Japanese theme park, based on the works of the Miyazaki Hayao-led animation firm Studio Ghibli, has set Nov. 1, 2022, as the date for its official opening.Having previously teased ‘Fall 2022’ as the park debut, Studio Ghibli announced the confirmed date in a simple tweet alongside an image of its Totoro character.「ジブリパーク」の開園日が発表されました。 pic.twitter.com/weMpQjsyEV— スタジオジブリ STUDIO GHIBLI (@JP_GHIBLI) January 27, 2022The park is being built within the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park, near Nagoya in Central Japan on a site that is 200 hectares (494 acres). That puts it about three hours from downtown Tokyo by train.The project is a JPY34 billion ($295 million) joint venture involving Studio Ghibli, the government of Aichi Prefecture and the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper.

Nicolas Cage, believes he’s finally found his perfect match after marrying Riko Shibata, his fifth wife. “I’m really happily married. I know five is a lot, but I think I got it right this time,” he told The Los Angeles Times in an interview published on Thursday (January 27). The Oscar winner, 58, was previously married to Patricia Arquette, Lisa Marie Presley, Alice Kim and Erika Koike. And when asked by the outlet to list his favorite things in life, Nicolas immediately put Riko at the top of the list! Fifth time’s truly a charm!

Christopher Vourlias Japanese auteur Koji Fukada is developing his latest feature film, a look into the frenzied world of Japan’s idol culture, which he’ll be presenting during the Rotterdam Film Festival’s CineMart co-production market this week.The project will then head to the European Film Market next month as part of the Rotterdam-Berlinale Express, a collaboration between the two markets.Fukada spoke exclusively to Variety about his tenth feature film, “Love on Trial,” which tells the story of a burgeoning pop star who falls in love with an old schoolmate – only to have her life and career unravel because that romance violates a “no boys” clause in her contract.The film is inspired by the improbable, real-life court case of a 15-year-old Japanese pop star who was sued by her talent management company for falling into a romantic relationship that violated the terms of her contract.

EXCLUSIVE: The VOICE Creative and Slew Pictures have acquired feature film development rights to Joan Bauer’s bestselling novel Hope Was Here, with the latter’s founder Bertha Bay-Sa Pan gearing up to adapt it for the big screen.

Albeit beautifully shot and made tolerable by the warm presence of Carla Juri in the leading role, blood is a frustratingly indulgent study of emotional recovery after the loss of a loved one. This fourth feature by Bradley Rust Gray is splendidly appointed with locations in Japan and Iceland and an appreciation of emotional openness expressed by all the characters. All the same, the mostly short scenes of recent widow Chloe handling her grief day by day possess little compelling drama and are handicapped by a scruffy Japanese male lead who just doesn’t match up with his appealing female counterpart in any credible way. As with the director’s previous work, you come out of it wondering who this film was made for.

Daniel Craig (“No Time to Die”) and Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”) sat down for a virtual chat for Variety’s Actors on Actors, presented by Amazon Studios. For more, click here.Since starring together as hero and villain of 2012’s “Skyfall,” Daniel Craig and Javier Bardem have continued to test themselves on screen. Last year, Craig finally bid farewell to James Bond with “No Time to Die,” a moody sendoff for his iteration of the British superspy.