Elsa Keslassy International Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Despite being plagued by harsh reviews from French critics and a derisive retaliation by director Ridley Scott, “Napoleon” had a strong opening in France on Wednesday, grossing an estimated €868,000 ($946,000) from approximately 120,000 admissions. The figure, unveiled by Comscore France, includes about 8,000 tickets sold at preview screenings across France, notably in Paris where Sony Pictures held a lavish world premiere of the historical epic on Nov.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Less than three months after being tapped CEO of Banijay France, Alexia Laroche-Joubert, a well-known industry figure, has enlisted Authentic Media, a leading French premium scripted banner that will join the “Peaky Blinders” production-distribution powerhouse. The acquisition of Authentic Media, who produced hit French adaptations of series such as “Rita” and “This is Us,” will further bolster Banijay France’s portfolio of scripted labels.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After being convincingly portrayed by Marion Cotillard in the 2007 film “La Vie en Rose,” legendary French singer Edith Piaf will come to life in an animated biopic “Edith” that looks to break new ground by using AI to recreate her voice and image. When Warner Music, which is producing the feature-length movie with Paris-based company Seriously Happy, broke news of the project last week, it stirred an avalanche of reactions — many of them skeptical — across social media. To clear up some concerns and shed light on the decisions behind the creative endeavor, Variety spoke to Julie Veille, who came up with the original idea, and Gilles Marliac who are co-producing through their banner Seriously Happy and co-wrote the script.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Green Border,” Agnieszka Holland’s Venice Special Jury Prize-winning refugee drama, has been acquired by Kino Lorber in the U.S. (“Scrapper”) and Modern Films in the U.K. (“Drive My Car”).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Oscar winner Jeremy Irons has joined the cast of Palme d’Or-winning director Bille August‘s prestige limited series “The Count of Monte Cristo,” which also stars Sam Claflin. A sprawling adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel, the English-language series is produced by Mediawan’s banner Palomar, the leading Italian company behind “Inspector Montalbano” and “The Name of the Rose,” in collaboration with another Mediawan label, France’s DEMD Productions.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Yes Studios, the Tel Aviv-based producer and distributor behind “Fauda,” has scored major deals on “44 Hours,” a documentary feature about Gil Avni, a healthy 33-year-old father of two who was diagnosed with cerebral edema and miraculously recovered. The feature-length documentary has been acquired by Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. and by NRK in Norway for its linear channels and VOD platform.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Pathe U.K., the London-based division of the venerable French film and TV company, is folding its theatrical division to focus on premium scripted television content. Cameron McCracken, the celebrated head of film at Pathe UK who exec produced movies such as Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionnaire,” Ava DuVernay’s “Selma” and Stephen Frears’ “The Queen,” will step down and retire at the end of the year. Three key executives working for the division — Lee Bye, Lloyd Vanson and Michael Guerrero — will depart the company.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Red Bull Studios and London-based Featuristic Films have partnered on “Art of the Jump,” a feature documentary about the life and career of Sébastien Foucan, a well-known French athlete. Directed by James Kermack (“Knuckledust,” “Hi-Lo Joe”), the documentary follows Foucan’s humble upbringing in the French suburb of Lisses to sports stardom.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent More than 180,000 people across France, including approximately 105,000 in Paris, took part in a civic march against antisemitism on Sunday, according to figures released by the interior ministry and police prefecture. Major political figures such as former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, as well as prime minister Elisabeth Borne and culture minister Rima Abdul Malak attended the march.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jasmina Kuhnke, a German-born writer, actor, author and activist, has signed with CAA for representation, Variety has learned exclusively. Kuhnke’s debut novel, “Black Heart,” is a bestseller. The semi-autobiographical book recounts her experience growing up on the outskirts of the Ruhr region in Germany in the ’90s, and how she grappled with racism.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Hengameh Panahi, the celebrated French-Iranian producer who founded Celluloid Dreams and forged long-standing bonds with auteurs around the world, has died. She was 67.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent A few days after AFM wrapped in Santa Monica, the dearth of substantial deals trickling in is pointing to a weakened film sales market which is grappling with structural changes and the reverberations of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Global industry players came into the AFM with reasonable hopes of dealmaking after a quiet Toronto festival, even if many packages were held back due to the strike.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Consent,” an adaptation of Vanessa Springora’s bestselling book which sparked a belated #MeToo moment in France, has lured major distributors while thriving at the local box office and stirring social media buzz. Represented in international markets by Paris-based outfit SND, the film marks the sophomore outing of Vanessa Filho whose debut feature “Angel Face” stars Marion Cotillard and played at the Cannes Film Festival. Inspired by Springora’s real-life story, “Consent” tells the story of a teenage girl who is manipulated and sexually abused by a celebrated writer in his 50s.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Molly Manning Walker, the English cinematographer-turned-filmmaker whose debut feature “How to Have Sex” won a prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, has signed with CAA for representation. Penned and directed by Manning Walker, “How to Have Sex” world premiered at Cannes in Un Certain Regard where it won best prize and earned unanimous praise. The film follows three British teenage girls who go on a rites-of-passage holiday in sun-drenched Crete and find themselves navigating the complexities of sex, consent and self-discovery.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Leading European artists, including Maria Choustova (“Donbass”), Sergei Loznitsa (“Donbass”), Pawel Lozinski (“Film balkonowy”) and Radu Jude (“Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn”), have taken a stand to support the Israeli film community as it seeks to rally voices and help free over 220 hostages in Gaza. These names penned a heartfelt letter addressing the resurgence of antisemitism across Europe and the significant part that European artists must play in raising the alarm. The letter will be sent to the European Film Academy with a request to circulate it among its 3,000 members ahead of the European Film Awards ceremony on Dec.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent MK2 Films has boarded Bernhard Wenger’s feature debut, “Peacock,” a tragicomedy headlined by Albrecht Schuch, the German actor who starred in “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “System Crasher.” An up-and-coming Austrian director, Wenger developed the script at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinefondation residency and was part of Berlinale Talents in 2020. His shorts, including “Keeping Balance,” “Guy Proposes to His Girlfriend on a Mountain” and “Excuse Me, I’m Looking for the Ping-Pong Room and My Girlfriend,” have played at festivals in Chicago, Palm Springs and Nashville, among others.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Christopher Hampton, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “The Father” and “The Dangerous Liaisons,” is set to adapt Walter Isaacson’s acclaimed biography “Leonardo Da Vinci” for Universal Pictures. Universal Pictures had fiercely chased rights to the hot literary property six years ago, and was outbid by Paramount, which developed the project with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way. Now that Universal has finally secured those rights, it has tapped Hampton to pen the adaptation, which seems to be the perfect material for the Oscar winning writer whose movies typically lure A-list talent.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Music Box Films has dropped the trailer for “The Crime Is Mine,” François Ozon’s screwball comedy set in 1930s Paris starring Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Rebecca Marder and Isabelle Huppert. A showbiz caper with a feminist edge in the vein of Ozon’s “8 Women” and “Potiche,” “The Crime Is Mine” will open in New York on Dec. 25, followed by Los Angeles and a national expansion.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Paris-based company 2425 Films, recently acquired by Mediawan, is working with a pool of rising filmmakers on timely movies, including Charly Delwart’s “1,5 degré,” Ilan Duran Cohen’s “Le coup d’apres” and Thomas Kruithof’s “Les Braises.” 2425 Films, founded by Thibault Gast and Matthias Weber, has been thriving with smart, high-concept commercial movies, such as Yann Gozlan’s “La boite noire” and “An Ideal Man,” as well as the thriller “Burn Out.” The company also presented Gozlan’s latest film, “Visions,” a thriller starring Diane Kruger (co-produced by Eagle Team Entetainment) at this year’s Angouleme Film Festival. Duran Cohen’s “Le coup d’apres” is a film set in the world of French politics, with a duo of French stars, Marina Fois and Laurent Laffite, who previously co-starred in “Papa ou Maman,” a French hit comedy franchise.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Leading anti-piracy body Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has shut down two major illegal streaming services in Georgia. Considered the two largest illegal streamers in the former Soviet republic, adjaranet.com and imovies.cc have amassed about 140 million and 64 million visits, respectively, over the last two years.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Aria Mia Loberti, the breakout star of Shawn Levy‘s Netflix limited series “All the Light We Cannot See,” has narrated a new audio edition of Jules Verne’s classic novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” Loberti, a writer, human rights advocate and Fulbright Scholarship recipient, made her acting debut in “All the Light We Cannot See,” an adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novel which will premiere on Netflix Thursday. In the show, Loberti plays Marie-Laure, a courageous blind teenager living in Nazi-occupied France during WWII.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Gaumont is launching “Night Call,” a high-concept thriller set over the course of a night, directed by rising filmmaker Michiel Blanchart. Blanchart, who is repped by WME and Itaka Media, previously directed the short film “You’re Dead Hélène,” which was a festival standout and played at Clermont-Ferrand and Sitges, among other festivals. It also made the live action Oscar shortlist last year.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Bhutan’s official Oscar entry “The Monk And The Gun,” Pawo Choyning Dorji‘s follow-up to “Lunana: A Yak in The Classroom,” has been bought by a raft of well-established international theatrical distributors. Following its festival premieres at Telluride, Toronto, Rome and Busan, “The Monk and the Gun” has been sold by Films Boutique to Pyramide Distribution (France), September Films (Benelux), Rialto Distribution (Australia), Future Films (Scandinavia), A Contracorriente (Spain), Lev Films (Israel), Aurora Films (Poland), Trigon (Switzerland), Alambique Films (Portugal) and Impact Films (India and Indian Subcontinent). Earlier this week, the crowdpleaser was also acquired by Roadside Attraction for the U.S.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Paul McCartney and Gaumont have assembled an all-star creative crew for “High in the Clouds,” the long-awaited feature adaptation of McCartney’s children’s adventure novel. Boasting six original songs by McCartney, the family adventure movie, which is budgeted at €28 million, will be directed by Toby Genkel (“The Amazing Maurice”), scored by Michael Giacchino (“Coco,” “Inside Out”) and penned by Jon Croker (“Paddington 2”), with Patrick Hanenberger (“The Croods,” “The Lego Movie 2”) tapped as production designer. McCartney will voice one of the main characters.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent France’s Musée Grévin took Dwayne Johnson‘s comments and social media outcry over the star’s botched wax figure to heart. Within 24 hours, his figure was updated by artists who gave it a slightly darker skin tone with meticulous strokes of oil painting.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Paramount+ in France has acquired “French Roulette – A Mother’s Ordeal,” Vincent Garenq’s (“Guilty”) limited series set in the 1970s. Under the deal, Paramount+ will have exclusive first-window rights in France to the series, which is represented internationally by France TV Distribution, and will premiere it on Dec.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Shawn Levy, whose limited series “All The Light We Cannot See” is premiering on Netflix on Nov. 2, was supposed to have a packed year, between the filming “Deadpool 3” and Season 5 of “Stranger Things” of which he’s an executive producer and director. With both productions paused due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, Levy has instead been busy promoting “All the Light We Cannot See,” an adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Justin Edgar, a well-established British filmmaker and advocate for disabled people, has pushed the boundaries for accessibility films with “The Letter,” a drama shedding light on a lesser known deaf community in Germany during the WW2. Now in post, “The Letter” was directed by Edgar, who is hard of hearing, with an entire cast and crew of deaf artists.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent While at the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon, German film master Wim Wenders said he shares Martin Scorsese’s deep concern over Hollywood’s obsession with sequels, and worries about AI in line with U.S. actors who are still on strike.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Netflix has dropped a teaser for J.A. Bayona’s highly anticipated survival thriller “Society of the Snow,” which will represent Spain in the Oscars international feature film race. The film world premiered on closing night of the Venice Film Festival and is playing this week at the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon.