Markets Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Jamie Lang The first significant deal at last year’s Marché du Film was Neon’s acquisition of Pablo Berger’s eventual Oscar nominee, “Robot Dreams.” Whether or not another Spanish animated film can have that kind of impact in 2024 remains to be seen, but there is a long list of contenders to consider. Perhaps the buzziest Spanish title at this year’s market is adult animation auteur Alberto Vázquez’s “Decorado,” sold by French powerhouse Le Pacte. Like his previous titles, “Decorado” is based on a Vázquez short adapted from one of his graphic novels.

Christopher Vourlias Urban Sales has closed a raft of deals on the upcoming animated feature “Into the Wonderwoods” ahead of its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Special Screenings section. The film, which bows with a special screening May 22 at the prestigious French fest, has sold to 45 territories, the Paris-based sales outfit announced during the Cannes Market. Pic has sold to Volga for the CIS territories and the Baltics; Selim Ramia & Co.

Refresh for latest…:  After starting early offshore release on John Krasinski’s IF last weekend, Paramount expanded the imaginary friends film to another 56 international box office markets this session. The overseas frame was worth $20M, bringing the international running cume to $24M. With domestic’s $35M debut, the worldwide total is now $59M.

The numbers are in!

Ellise Shafer With only her second film, Coralie Fargeat has gone from admiring body horror king David Cronenberg to being in competition with him at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Fargeat’s “The Substance,” described as a feminist take on the body horror genre and starring Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore, bows at Cannes on Sunday night, the day before Cronenberg’s latest frightful offering, “The Shrouds,” will do the same.

If you're looking for a weekend of rest and relaxation, you need to book in to one of the UK's best spa hotels. A great spa hotel should deliver all you need to leave feeling relaxed and refreshed: good food, comfy beds, and variety of pools, saunas and steam rooms to dip in and out of, and luxurious treatments. In the past we've rounded up the best London spas, but if you're looking to escape to the countryside, this list below – expertly reviewed by our writers – should provide some excellent inspiration.

Police arrested a man on suspicion of assault after a brawl spilled out onto the street. Officers were called to Old Market Street in Blackley just before 11pm yesterday after reports of a 'disturbance'.

Naman Ramachandran Raven Banner Entertainment has launched sales at the Cannes Film Festival‘s market on the reboot of Roger Corman‘s cult sword and sorcery film series, “Deathstalker,” which is currently shooting in Canada. Daniel Bernhardt (“John Wick,” “The Matrix Reloaded”) stars as the titular character in this reimagined instalment, directed by Steven Kostanski (“The Void,” “Psycho Goreman”). Bernhardt plays a barbarian cursed by a magical talisman, leading him into conflict with a malevolent wizard and monstrous assassins.

EXCLUSIVE: Following a multi-buyer tug of war, horror movie The Monkey, the adaptation of the Stephen King short story, is heading to Neon for domestic here at the Cannes market.

As fears stack up in the industry over a possible Sony and Paramount merger, subtracting one major motion picture studio from the industry, The Chairman of NBCU Studio Group and Chief Content Officer Donna Langley at a Cannes Kering talk weighed in on what that impact will be.

Annika Pham Unspooling May 18 as part of an overall Swiss Focus at the Marché du Film, Solothurn Film Festival Goes to Cannes marks the first collaboration between the long-standing Swiss festival and the Cannes market, but also a first for many of the talents and producers carefully picked for the event. Two of Switzerland’s top documentary filmmakers Jacqueline Zünd, winner of a 2019 Crystal Bear nominated for “Where We Belong,” and Nicholas Steiner, director of “Above & Below”, ranked among Variety reviewer Peter Debruge’s Top 10 films of 2015, are set to attract buyers, sales agents and programmers’ attention with their star-stubbed fiction debuts.

EXCLUSIVE: Studiocanal has been rolling out sales on the first instalment of Germany-language film trilogy Woodwalkers in Cannes.

Naman Ramachandran The restored version of Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s 1976 masterpiece “Manthan” (“The Churning”) is screening at the Cannes Film Festival‘s Cannes Classics strand. Shot by DoP Govind Nihalani in rural Gujarat, western India, the film is produced by 500,000 farmers who contributed towards its making, under the banner Gujarat Milk Co-Op Marketing Federation Ltd. The film is a fictionalized version of the beginnings of the dairy cooperative movement that transformed India from a milk-deficient nation to the world’s largest milk producer, inspired by Dr.

Fundamental Films chairman Mark Gao and his CEO Ivy Hua are in Cannes to reconnect with the international industry as part of the Shanghai-based company’s return to international acquisitions and production. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In a deal sealed at Cannes, Spain’s Film Factory has closed France with Wild Bunch on action film “The Gentleman” as well as crime thriller “Undercover.” The directorial debut of seasoned Mexican cinematographer Luis Gabriel Beristáin (“Blade II,” “The Beekeeper”), “The Gentleman” stars Ron Perlman as Theo, an aging former U.S. soldier who pays Olga, a prostitute, to talk with him about who he once was and what he might have been. When Olga is brutally murdered, Theo embarks on bloody revenge.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Succession” star Nicholas Braun is in talks to star in Ruben Östlund’s “The Entertainment System Is Down.” Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Brühl are already on board the buzzy satire. “The Entertainment System Is Down” is one of the sexiest packages being shopped at the Cannes Film Market, where the Coproduction Office has launched international sales.

Paramount Global’s EVP, Chief Communications and Corporate Marketing Officer Julia Phelps will leave the company at the end of May.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Julia Phelps, Paramount Global‘s executive VP and chief communications and corporate marketing officer, is exiting after almost 20 years with the company and predecessor Viacom. Phelps had long worked with Bob Bakish, who was ousted as CEO of the company last month and replaced by a three-exec committee. Phelps, in a memo to her team Friday, said she will leave Paramount at the end of May.

If you’ve been keeping up with distribution news recently, there’s been one name you’ll have seen pop up again and again: Vertical.

A replacement for GMP's 'inadequate' computer system may only be installed by 2026 because of problems encountered during the original tender exercise, according to Chief Constable Stephen Watson.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Neon has bought North American rights to “The Unknown” (“L’Inconnue”), the hotly anticipated next movie from “Anatomy of a Fall”’s Oscar-winning co-writer Arthur Harari. As revealed by Variety earlier this week, the movie will star Léa Seydoux (“Dune 2”) and is being represented in international markets. Harari is rolling off of “Anatomy of a Fall” which he co-wrote with director Justine Triet, abd won an Oscar, two Golden Globes, a BAFTA and the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

, in came her 18-year-old daughter, Suri Cruise, to introduce us to a whole new side to her mother's style.Welcoming a brand new chapter of Katie Holmes wardrobe envy, there have been a number of adorable twinning mother-daughter moments over recent weeks—but this week's might be our favorite so far.Never cliché, this sartorially savvy duo have truly nailed the art of complementary dressing. Taking cues from one another's look without—crucially—ever mimicking or outshining the other, the pair were spotted out in New York on Thursday, May 16, in and sand tones.While paired her wide-leg bell-bottom jeans with a soft beige turtleneck knit and relaxed trench coat, matching her skinny black sunglasses to her waist belt and loafers, Suri's look has an appropriately more youthful, street style feel.A double denim moment no doubt being pinned to several mood boards as we speak, the daughter of Katie Holmes and paired her wide-leg jeans with an oversized denim jacket with deep statement pockets.

Christopher Vourlias Logical Pictures is launching a new Africa venture that will see the production, financing and distribution outfit expand its global footprint into the fast-growing African market. According to the group’s head, Frédéric Fiore, the move will help position Logical Pictures as the preferred financing partner on the continent for the international industry and the leading production company of African content with global ambitions.

It’s a momentous Cannes for Cairo-based film professionals Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab as they mark the 15th anniversary of the creation of marketing and distribution company MAD Solutions and the 10th anniversary of spin-off the Arab Cinema Center (ACC).

Naman Ramachandran Los Angeles-based Flourishing Films has boarded Singapore- and India-based Mumba Devi Motion Pictures‘ “Grand Sugar Daddy” and “Not Today” at the Cannes Film Festival‘s market. Flourishing is focused on expanding access to Black, diverse and female-driven filmed content originating from the U.S., Africa, the U.K. and worldwide.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s film industry is fighting to stay vibrant amid disruption caused both by politics and market forces.After reaping the rewards of a protracted growth spurt, local producers are facing a forced slowdown as the country’s right-wing government dithers with modifications they plan to make to several key regulations, most significantly to the country’s currently stalled tax incentives for film and TV production. At a packed protest event held in early April at Rome’s Cinema Adriano multiplex, industry figures from all sectors – including producers, writers, actors and big-name directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Marco Bellocchio – lashed out against having to wait endlessly for the culture ministry to approve new guidelines so production companies can apply for the 40% tax credits that basically drive the business.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming eventually!

Ben Croll Mediawan Rights, the distribution arm of the wider media group, manages scripted, unscripted, format and feature documentary sales, keying European content onto international airwaves. And if initially heritage titles, foreign-language fare and time-tested perennials made up much of the catalogue, the group’s expanding footprint and well-capitalized partnerships promise a new yield of premium fare developed in-house and marked by global ambitions.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Grand Theft Auto 6″ has been slated for a fall 2025 release by Rockstar Games. The news was announced Thursday when Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive reported its fourth-quarter and full fiscal year 2024 earnings, revealing the company posted a $2.9 billion loss for the Jan. 1-March 31 period.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Few companies in the world have had such as impact on their local film industry than Globo Filmes, the feature co-production arm of Brazilian giant Globo, which is Latin America’s biggest communications conglomerate. Over the last 25 years, Globo Filmes has backed more than 500 movies, almost all through co-production.