The North Road Company Names Netflix And HBO Vet Rochelle Gerson Head of Business Affairs

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Paul Feig was just a couple of days away from wrapping the sequel to “A Simple Favor” in Italy when he got to share some very good news with the cast – the first film is currently the No. 1 most watched movie on Netflix. “I sent it to all my main cast saying, ‘Hey, we’re doing the right thing here,” Feig says on a phone call from the movie’s Rome set.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Dystopian thriller “Leave the World Behind” was the most-watched film — and title overall — on Netflix globally in the second half of 2023, while anime-inspired live action series “One Piece” led on the TV side. The data comes from Netflix’s second edition of “What We Watched: A Netflix Engagement Report,” reflecting viewership on the streamer from July-December 2023 covering 99% of all viewing on Netflix. Subscribers across the world watched about 90 billion hours of Netflix in the second half of 2023, compared with 93 billion hours in the first half of the year.

Oscar winner Paolo Sorrentino ascended the red carpet here this evening for his latest Cannes competition entry, Parthenope, which was welcomed by a nine-minute standing ovation.

Naman Ramachandran It was a neck-and-neck battle atop the U.K. and Ireland box office between Paramount’s “IF” and Disney’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.” While Disney’s simian saga won the three-day weekend, Paramount’s Imaginary Friend tale was the winner including previews. “IF” bowed with £2.4 million ($3 million), while in its second weekend, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” grossed £2.1 million ($2.7 million) for a total of £7.6 million ($9.7 million), per numbers from Comscore.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off its buzzy world premiere at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, Oscar-nominated Icelandic filmmaker Rúnar Rúnarsson’s poignant drama “When The Light Breaks” has sold to a raft of territories. Represented in international markets by The Party Film Sales, the movie has been picked up for Italy (Movies Inspired), Switzerland (Xenix), Norway (Arthaus), Denmark (Ost for Paradis), Finland (Cinemanse), Hungary (Vertigo), Greece (Cinobo), Israel (New Cinema), Poland (Aurora), Turkey (Bir Film) and Baltics (Estofilm).

When Lee Sung Jin’s limited series Beef wrapped production back in 2022, the cast and crew were so happy with the profound camaraderie they’d developed that they’ve attempted to meet for dinner at least once a week ever since — some irony for a story originally borne out of anger and resentment.

Annika Pham Maverick Icelandic scribe Sjón, Oscar-nominated for the lyrics of Lars von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark” and co-writer of the eerie Cannes Un Certain Regard title “Lamb,” has teamed up with multi-awarded Swedish-Costa-Rican Nathalie Álvarez-Mesén (“Clara Sola”) on her sophomore feature “The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands,”, Variety has learned. The English-language gothic period drama is backed by Hobab’s Nima Yousefi, Swedish co-producer on this year’s Cannes competition entry “The Apprentice” and Critics’ Week’s “Julie Keeps Quiet”.

“Young Sheldon,” ended on Thursday night after seven seasons – but, that’s not the end of the line. A third show in that universe is in the works on CBS, called “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.” Premiering in fall 2024 and helmed by Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro, and Steve Holland, the series will follow Sheldon’s brother, George “Georgie” Cooper Jr.(Montana Jordan) as he marries and has a kid with Mandy McAllister (Emily Osment). “Honestly, just as we watched those two actors in the last couple of seasons [of ‘Young Sheldon’] and how much fun they were on screen, it became clear that this could be a fun thing to follow,” Holland told The Post.

Jeremy Clarkson has been named the UK and Ireland’s sexiest man for the second year running, beating the likes of Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland and Idris Elba.The Clarkson’s Farm star scored an impressive nine out of 10 points in the annual poll conducted by Illicit Encounters, which proclaims to be “the best online dating site for married people”.Entering the UK’s top 10 for the first time was Spider-Man star Tom Holland, who came second with a score of eight out 10. Completing the top three is the Prince of Wales, who has shot right up after coming near the bottom of the list last year.The annual Sexiest Man poll from Illicitencounters.com takes votes from 2,000 of its female members.

Bridgerton season 3 has delivered—and then some—on all the romance, drama, and we've come to expect from the Netflix series. And we've only seen part one! We still have more Bridgerton episodes coming in less than a month. (June 13, to be exact.)But let's back up and recap the incredible Bridgerton season 3, part 1 finale: Lord Debling (Sam Phillips) is technically still in the picture for Penelope (), but by the end of the episode—titled “Old Friends”—it seems like he's on his way to becoming a distant memory.

Nearly one million people across Great Britain, including 83,903 living in Scotland are currently receiving £81.90 each week in Carer’s Allowance. However, many of those claimants may not be aware of several changes in circumstances that must be reported to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), or risk losing their benefit entitlement.

EXCLUSIVE: Since Warner Bros acquired the rights to make more Middle-earth films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s works and the canon established by New Line’s original trilogy, Peter Jackson and his Lord of the Rings cohorts Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens hovered over the proceedings for a long time, as they mulled how to return, and much to involve themselves into another deep dive into Tolkien mythology.

Near the end of the miniseries Lawmen: Bass Reeves, David Oyelowo’s titular character is told something all too familiar to many unsung real-life heroes: “No one’s gonna ever know, but you made history today.”

HYBE has become the first entertainment company added to South Korea’s conglomerate watchlist.According to reports by South Korean media, HYBE is one of seven business groups that have been added to the watchlist of the East Asian country’s antitrust regulator, the Fair Trade Commission, per The Korea Times. The list currently includes 88 conglomerates in total, with HYBE being the only entertainment company.“The increase in the number of companies on this year’s watchlist came as entertainment, leisure and tourism industries, among others, have grown markedly thanks to the rising popularity of Korean culture and recovering consumer sentiment after the COVID-19 pandemic,” the regulator said.According to The Chosun Daily, conglomerates with assets of 5trillion won or more are classified as “large corporations” and are required to publicly disclose details about interaffiliate transactions, their ownership structure and more.

EXCLUSIVE: Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired Northern American rights for Joachim A. Lang’s historical drama Goebbels and The Führer (aka Führer and Seducer) for a fall 2024 theatrical and digital release.  

Alex Ritman Getting a feature into Cannes’ official selection is among the pinnacles of filmmaking achievements for most production companies. Ireland’s Element Pictures clearly isn’t most production companies — this year, it has three.

Instagram Sunday to all the moms in his life, including Bündchen, with whom he shares two of his three children. Brady shared a photo of Bündchen horseback riding with their son Benjamin, 14, and daughter Vivian, 11. He also honored ex Bridget Moynahan, who is the mother of his son Jack, 16.

Scotland's first hot day of the year brings some unique behaviours among the locals.

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Naman Ramachandran Universal’s “The Fall Guy” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £3.5 million ($4.5 million), according to numbers from Comscore. But the force was strong with Disney’s 25th anniversary rerelease of “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,” as it debuted in second place with £1.1 million.