Tami Roman To Star & EP BET+ Holiday Film ‘Whatever It Takes’

The King has arrived in Romania for a private visit and a break from official engagements almost a month after his Coronation took place. But before His Majesty can enjoy his holiday, he was pictured carrying out one final duty and meeting Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis for a formal bilateral meeting in the capital Bucharest. It is understood that The King has travelled to the area alone and The Queen will spend some personal time at her home in Wiltshire.The monarch is regular visitor to the country and is incredibly popular with the locals.

EXCLUSIVE: Ben Schnetzer has signed on to star as famed Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache in The Yellow Tie replacing Rupert Friend. Schnetzer will have a central role in the feature, playing the young Celibidache with John Malkovich set to play an older version of the conductor.

Any hopes of a reconciliation between Prince Harry and his father have been halted as King Charles will be reportedly holidaying in Transylvania when his son jets into the UK.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, Eastern and Central Europe’s leading cinema event, has unveiled its lineup, which includes new works by Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev, Tinatin Kajrishvili and Babak Jalali in the Crystal Globes Competition. They will vie against films by up-and-comers Ernst De Geer, Itsaso Arana and Cyril Aris. The section has nine world and two international premieres. Oscar nominated actor Patricia Clarkson is one of the jury members. The Proxima Competition, which made its debut at last year’s KVIFF, presents what the festival defines as “bold works,” directed by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike. The section comprises of 10 world and two international premieres. The festival says “playfulness, courage and freshness can be found” in the new films by Swiss auteur Thomas Imbach, Poland’s Olga Chajdas, Cyprus-born Kyros Papavassiliou, French filmmaker Émilie Brisavoine and Romanian documentarist Alexandru Solomon, among others.

A brand new Christmas Waltz movie is in the works, and Jen Lilley is reportedly set to star!

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent While the lineup of Cannes Film Market’s newly launched initiative Cannes Investors Circle has remained under wraps, Variety has learned about four of the nine projects which were pitched during the invitation-only event. The initiative was created by the film market’s new executive director Guillaume Esmiol to connect VIP private investors with select filmmakers and producers boasting a stellar track records. Curated by experts such as Medici’s Tamara Tatishvili, Arte Cinema’s Rémi Burah and financier Serge Hayat, the nine projects are budgeted between €2 million and €12 million. Among these are “Dracula. The Second Coming” directed by Radu Jude, the Romanian helmer of Berlinale prizewinning “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn,” directed by Ada Solomon at microFILM; “Rivo Alto,” directed by Clément Cogitore (“The Wakhan Front”) and produced by Jean-Christophe Reymond at Kazak Productions (“Titane”); “The Girl” directed by Marina Ziolkowski (“But You Look So Good”) and produced by Philippe Gompel (“Cherry”) at Manny Films, and “The Birthday Party” directed by Miguel Angel Jimenez (“Chaika”) and produced by Giorgos Karnavas (“Triangle of Sadness”) at Heretic.

Christopher Vourlias Romania’s culture minister Lucian Romașcanu is confident that the country’s beleaguered cash rebate system is back on track, insisting in Cannes on Sunday that the government is committed to “repairing” a scheme that has ground to a halt in recent years. “Everyone in politics, starting with the future Prime Minister MarcelCiolacu, understands the importance of that,” said Romașcanu, outlining plans to rebuild confidence in an incentive program that faces stiff competition in the region. “There is definitely a ‘yes’ from the political world.” According to Romașcanu, the administration is now determined to clear a backlog of roughly €100 million ($108.2 million) owed to foreign productions that have lensed in the Eastern European nation since the rebate was introduced, after a host of lawsuits over outstanding payments pushed the cashback program to a breaking point.

RRR star N.T. Rama Rao Jr. (aka NTR Jr) is set to work with Prashanth Neel, a leading director of the Kannada-language film industry, on an as-yet-untitled project that is scheduled to start shooting in March 2024. 

Emmerdale fans were left divided on Friday, after the chemistry between Dr.Liam Cavanagh and Wendy Posner amped up a notch, following their shared interest of murder mysteries. As regular viewers will know, Wendy discovered Liam’s secret identity as a murder mystery author on Thursday after he had tried in vain to keep it a secret from the people around him.

EXCLUSIVE: Quiver Distribution has boarded recently wrapped holiday film Christmas Actually, starring Malin Akerman (Billions), Ryan Hansen (Party Down) and Amy Smart (Stargirl).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Zachary Levi will star in the Christmas film “Teddy’s Christmas” as the voice of the main character Teddy. The film about a Teddy Bear and a little girl will have its U.S. theatrical release in time for this year’s holiday season, following its release in several European countries. Levi is best known for his portrayal of the superhero Shazam in “Shazam!” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” and for his voice actor role in Disney’s “Tangled.” “Teddy’s Christmas” will be released by Capelight Pictures and Blue Fox Entertainment in the U.S.

Kate Bosworth, Lily James and Olivia Coleman are among the stars vying for the Best Actress trophy at the ninth annual National Film Awards 2023. Competition in the Best Actor category includes Lucien Laviscount, Jason Statham, and Taron Egerton, with movies including ‘Last Sentinel’, ‘Rye Lane’. and ‘Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre’ receiving nominations across various categories.

EXCLUSIVE: Filmax has acquired international rights to the European road movie Birds Flying East, starring Teresa Saponangelo (The Hand Of God), Luis Zahera (The Beasts), and Javier Gutierrez (The Motive).

Note: This story contains spoilers from the “9-1-1” Season 6 finale.Filming for the Season 6 finale of “9-1-1” pushed Oliver Stark to the limit, and that’s just how he likes it.The first responder drama took a massive swing with its final episode at Fox, featuring a massive overpass collapse that put the lives of the entire crew of station 118 in danger. A mildly injured Buck (Stark) — who saw his own life hanging in the balance after being struck by lightning earlier this season — got to help rescue his teammates, including performing an elaborate stunt where he repelled back and forth to save people stuck in an ambulance hanging off the collapsed piece of highway.“That was one long take!” Stark shared with TheWrap.

Tony Award-winning actress Cynthia Erivo will topline a film adaptation of the hit play “Prima Facie,” which she will also executive produce.Participant and Bunya Productions are producing the film, in association with Erivo’s Edith’s Daughter. The film will be directed by BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker Susanna White.

With HBO‘s “Succession” ending at the end of the month, it’s time for its cast to start thinking about future projects. In Sarah Snook‘s case, she tries her hand at horror in the upcoming Netflix film “Run Rabbit Run,” which had its premiere at Sundance earlier this year.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a splashy European project to end the week: Gerard Butler’s Has Fallen film franchise is getting the television treatment, with filming set to get underway at the end of the month.

With HBO‘s “Succession” ending at the end of the month, it’s time for its cast to start thinking about future projects. In Sarah Snook‘s case, she tries her hand at horror in the upcoming Netflix film “Run Rabbit Run,” which had its premiere at Sundance earlier this year.

When you look at the state of the “Star Wars” franchise, there are two different stories to be told. On the one hand, you have the TV side of things over on Disney+, which seems to be thriving.

It feels like, more and more, the entertainment industry tends to focus on massive A-list stars and huge, tentpole films and TV series. If you’re not one of the Chrises (Pratt, Pine, Evans, Hemsworth) or the latest Marvel Studios project, then it’s not on many people’s radar.