Viaplay’s Sales Arm Scores First Batch of Deals on ‘Stockholm Bloodbath,’ Mikael Håfström’s Epic Period Film With Sophie Cookson, Claes Bang, Emily Beecham (EXCLUSIVE)

Ferne McCann has teased the 11th series of her ITV show First Time Mum. The former TOWIE star took to her Instagram stories to show her daughter Sunday, five, helping out the film crew. Sunday looked adorable in a knitted top and matching linen trousers as she gazed down into the camera lens.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall,” one of the best reviewed films of the Cannes competition, which was bought by Neon, examines the collapse of a marriage and a mother-and-son relationship in a documentary-style courtroom drama. The chamber piece is driven by Sandra Hüller’s (“Toni Erdmann”) nuanced performance as a successful German novelist on trial for the murder of her husband (Samuel Theis), who died in mysterious circumstances in a remote corner of the snowy French Alps. Their visually impaired 11-year-old son (Milo Machado Graner) is called on the witness stand, prompting a dissection of Sandra’s conduct as a wife and a mother. Supporting roles are played by Swann Arlaud and Antoine Reinartz.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari‘s “Terrestrial Verses,” the sole Iranian film premiering in Cannes’ Official Selection, has been acquired for distribution in key European territories. Represented by Films Boutique, “Terrestrial Verses” has been acquired for France (ARP Selection), Benelux (September Films) and Germany/Austria (Neue Visionen). All three banners are leading distributors in their respective territories. Those deals were closed following the film’s well-received world premiere. “Terrestrial Verses” marks the first collaboration between Khatami and Asgari, who are both acclaimed directors.

In the early ’90s, Japan’s Takeshi “Beat” Kitano was on a roll, with a superb string of nuanced crime movies that stood in stark contrast to the good-vs.-evil bullet operas that were coming out of Hong Kong at the time. Kitano’s darkly funny cynicism (who else could have made Violent Cop?) made him stand out by miles, but it soon became his weakness, as became evident in the lean period after the success of Zatoichi in 2013. The experimental, semi-autobiographical trilogy that followed — Takeshis’, Glory to the Filmmaker and Achilles and the Tortoise — seemed to offer little more than self-sabotage, the work of a frustrated artist trying to take a blowtorch to his populist image without much thought for the future.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent FLX (“Quicksand”), the Nordic banner owned by SF Studios, is set to adapt the bestseller “Shadowland” (“Skuggland”) into a thriller series revolving around bullying. The show will take place at an exclusive private school in Stockholm and will follow 11-year-old Daniel, who isn’t from a rich family unlike his classmates and is constantly bullied. After a serious incident, the school can no longer turn a blind eye to the harassment. In search for vindication, Daniel’s mother, Vicki, soon sees that even the truth comes with a price. The founder of the school, a billionaire called Gunnar Grentz, rules in the background. But this incident now threatens his position.                               

The CW revealed three more unscripted series after presenting its fall schedule.

Ariana Madix is getting candid about her personal life.

Naman Ramachandran Entertainment One (eOne) has solidified its collaboration with U.K. independent production company Hardcash Productions through an exclusive first-look agreement. Under the deal, brokered by Kate Cundall, eOne’s VP of acquisitions, and Robin Barty-King, Hardcash’s business affairs consultant, the partnership aims to develop and produce investigative factual content for the global market. eOne will handle international rights for all projects resulting from this collaboration. Previously, eOne and Hardcash worked together on the distribution of award-winning documentaries such as “Inside China,” “Fearless: The Women Fighting Putin” and “Outbreak: The Virus that Shook the World,” which have been sold to over 160 territories worldwide.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mikael Marcimain, the popular Swedish director of “Call Girl” and “Gentlemen,” is on track to direct “Devastation,” an epic and horrific tale of survival set in 1867. “Devastation” is one of the first projects developed by Mylla films, the new banner set up by Jakob Abrahamsson and Patrik Andersson (“Midsommar”). Mylla films has enlisted Nordic distributor and co-producer Scanbox and French boutique genre specialist Alexis Perrin of Rumble Fish as co-producers. A period piece set in Northern Sweden, “Devastation” is penned by Melina Maraki (“The Liberation of Harold Kvist”). Unfolding during the ever-ending winter and famine of 1867, the film revolves around two brothers, one the local industrialist and the other the local preacher, who keep a sawmill society in a tyrannical stronghold. An uprising begins from the most unexpected place.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mk2 Films is set to reunite with Joachim Trier following “The Worst Person in the World,” the Norwegian helmer’s Cannes prize-winning and Oscar-nominated romantic comedy which was also a worldwide box-office hit. The Paris-based company will handle international sales and co-produce alongside Juliette Schrameck at Agat Films, who was also a co-producer on “The Worst Person in the World,” alongside Nathanaël Karmitz and Elisha Karmitz for MK Production. Mk2 films, Schrameck and the Karmitz brothers join producers Maria Ekerhovd at Mer Film and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar at Eye Eye Pictures.  Trier is writing his untitled sixth feature with his long-term collaborator Eskil Vogt, with whom he shared an Oscar nomination for best screenplay. “It is an ambitious yet playful family drama. An intimate, moving, and often funny film about family, memory, and how we need to rewrite the stories we tell about ourselves in order to survive,” said the pair.

McKinley Franklin editor Asylum Entertainment Group has partnered with rocker Tom Morello for a first-look co-production deal with Morello’s recently formed company Comandante Productions, Variety can reveal exclusively.  Morello’s Comandante Productions and Asylum aim to build a portfolio of documentary films and series surrounding Morello’s history in the music industry, social consciousness and dedication to activism.  Morello, of course, is well-known for his work with both Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, two bands that have amassed more than 30 million album sales worldwide. He’s also a Grammy-winning artist and a recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (as part of this year’s class of honorees).

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” now playing in theaters. Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” was a huge undertaking for makeup head Alexei Dmitriew and hair department head Cassie Russek, who used over 22,500 prosthetics, 500 wigs and 130 facial hairpieces to create the movie’s galactic creatures. That number broke the world record for most prosthetics used in a film, previously held by “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” From Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock to villain The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) to the new hybrid humanimals, the duo were tasked with creating original looks as the Guardians set out on their newest mission.

Johnny Depp is making history with Dior. The actor reportedly signed a new $20 million deal with the luxury label to be the face of the brand’s men’s fragrance.   

EXCLUSIVE: Wilmer Valderrama’s production company WV Entertainment has signed an exclusive first-look deal with Telemundo’s TPlus brand.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Can you believe it took 75 years to nominate a woman as the president of the Cannes Film Festival?” Iris Knobloch asks, reflecting on her 2022 appointment as the fest’s top executive. Known for her strong will, the chic, charismatic German is used to being a rare woman in power — she essayed various roles at the top of WarnerMedia in Europe for 25 years, where she cultivated relationships with such Hollywood players as Warner Bros. Discovery consultant and former Disney chief Alan Horn, filmmakers Christopher Nolan and Todd Phillips, Amazon Studios and MGM film head Courtenay Valenti and Amazon Studios marketing chief Sue Kroll.

Ever since joining as GoJo CEO Lukas Matsson in season 3, Alexander Skarsgård has been an enigmatic presence on creator Jesse Armstrong's Emmy-winning HBO drama. And in the fourth and final season, the character has only become more maniacal as his dealings with Waystar Royco and the Roy family get more and more complicated. And after the recent revelation about Lukas' penchant for sending bricks of his frozen blood to his ex-girlfriend and head of communications for GoJo, Ebba (Eili Harboe), something that could lead to a sexual harassment scandal for everyone involved, episode seven doubled down on the CEO's unethical behavior and questionable business practices. As it turns out, «he's not even a real coder,» Ebba tells Kendall (Jeremy Strong) and Roman (Kieran Culkin) after Lukas made his harassment of her public when he threatened to have Greg (Nicholaus Braun) fire her during Shiv (Sarah Snook) and Tom's (Matthew Macfadyen) pre-election day party.

Sam Heughan and Priyanka Chopra Jonas are opening up about how they pulled off their scenes with Celine Dion, despite never filming with her for Love Again.

Legendary Japanese actor-director Takeshi Kitano returns to the Croisette for the first time this year since 2010, when his film “Outrage” competed for the coveted Palme d’Or. And while “Kubi,” Kitano’s latest directorial effort, may premiere out of competition at the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival this month, The Film Stage still think it’ll be a festival highlight.

The “Love Again” main cast didn’t actually all film together in person.

EXCLUSIVE: With the Frasier sequel series for Paramount+ wrapping production, star and executive producer Kelsey Grammer and his Grammnet NH Productions has closed a first-look television deal with CBS Studios, the studio behind the Cheers/Frasier franchise.