Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” remained No. 1 at the box office, collecting $33.1 million in its second weekend of release.

Ticket sales declined by 55% from its $74 million debut, marking a far better hold than recent Marvel adventures that slid significantly in their second weekends, such as February’s “Captain America: Brave New World” (down 68% in its sophomore outing), 2023’s “Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (down 70%), “The Marvels” (down a whopping 78%) and 2022’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” (down 67%).

“Thunderbolts*” started softer than all of those tentpoles (except for “The Marvels”), but solid reviews and positive word-of-mouth could help the movie stick around on the big screen. After opening weekend, Disney tried to stoke interest in “Thunderbolts*” by unveiling the meaning behind the asterisk in the film’s title — the ragtag group at the helm will henceforth be known as “The New Avengers.” The studio also revealed the motley crew of antiheroes will make...

Ryan Coogler’s genre-bending Sinners continues to bare sharp teeth in its fourth weekend, thanks to golden word-of-mouth that few films enjoy.

In its latest milestone, Sinners has crossed the $200 million mark at the domestic office after finishing Friday with a cume of $199.8 million. The supernatural vampire pic is another coup for Coolger, the bold and audacious filmmaker behind the Black Panther and Creed franchises. Sinners‘ actor Michael B. Jordan has starred in all five of his movies. Through Sunday, the pic’s domestic total is an estimated $214.9 million; globally, it has grossed $283.3 million.

This weekend is a notable double win for Warner Bros. Motion group co-chairs Michael Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy as A Minecraft Movie — the second-top grossing video adaptation of all time, not adjusted for inflation — jumps the $900 million mark globally to make Minecraft and Sinners the top two grossing films of the year so far domestically.

Hot on the heels of his Un Certain Regard prize win at last year’s Cannes for “Black Dog,” acclaimed Chinese director Guan Hu is set to unveil his latest project at this year’s Cannes Film Market.

The Seventh Art Pictures will handle international sales for “Dong Ji Island,” an $80 million war epic based on true events from World War II. Co-directed by Guan and his longtime assistant director Fei Zhenxiang, the film follows the harrowing rescue mission of local islanders who brave treacherous seas and Japanese forces to save British prisoners of war trapped on a sinking Japanese warship mistakenly attacked near China’s easternmost waters.

The film is based on the sinking of Japanese ship “Lisbon Maru,” which was also the subject of documentary “The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru,” which was China’s entry to the Oscars’ international category.

The production boasts an A-list Chinese cast including Zhu Yilong,...

Two strong leads in Pierre Lottin and Benjamin Lavernhe make this heart-on-sleeve but unsentimental class drama a triumph in a minor key

French film-maker Emmanuel Courcol serves up a good-natured heartwarmer with some syrup, but also two watchable and robust lead performances. For British audiences, The Marching Band might call to mind Brassed Off, The Full Monty or Billy Elliot, movies from the heartland which dared to dream that showbusiness or cultural community adventures can somehow survive the wreckage of industrial capitalism.

Benjamin Lavernhe plays Thibaut, a distinguished and sensitive orchestra conductor who collapses mid-rehearsal in Paris and is told he has leukaemia and needs a bone marrow transplant donor. Thibaut is adopted and this means tracking down his biological brother out in the boondocks: factory worker Jimmy, played by the formidable Pierre Lottin (recently seen in François Ozon’s When Autumn Falls), whose gift for deadpan comedy really only...

Jason Segel has booked the lead role in a new psychological thriller from his “Shrinking” director James Ponsoldt.

Segel will be put through the ringer in “Sponsor,” a nail-biter about a drunk driver whose court-ordered recovery program introduces him to an enigmatic 12-step guru — one who slowly drags him into a “living hell.”

The package comes from Platinum Dunes, the creatives behind “A Quiet Place” and “The Purge,” and will launch sales this week out of the Cannes Film Festival via UTA Independent Film Group and mk2. Ponsoldt directs from a script he co-wrote with Segel.

“With Sponsor, we set out to explore what happens when support becomes control — when the person you turn to for salvation slowly becomes your worst nightmare,” Segel and Ponsoldt said in joint statement. “After collaborating on ‘Shrinking,’ we were excited to channel that same emotional intimacy into a psychological thriller, where the stakes are darker,...

Thanks to two video games and a television adaptation, "The Last of Us" has managed to make us far more wary of the noble mushroom than we used to be. Well, more specifically, the cordyceps mushroom that brings about the end of the world and turns humanity into various forms of infected that look like raging, roaring fungi. But just how much of the homegrown danger in HBO's beloved post-apocalyptic series holds true? Will the world crumble under such a ferocious fungus? Well, like a lot of horrifying infections from film and television that have some fact in their blood, the infection in HBO's show is real and survives by doing precisely what we see in "The Last of Us," albeit with smaller organisms.

Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (via Yale University) is a type of fungus that infects the brains of ants and spreads through the host, taking control of their muscles...

India’s indie studio Platoon One Films has acquired theatrical rights to festival darling “Second Chance,” the directorial debut from Subhadra Mahajan, setting a June 13 release in key Indian metro markets. A trailer has been unveiled.

The black-and-white drama, which world premiered in 2024 in competition at the 58th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and had its Asian bow at the 28th Busan International Film Festival, has since traveled to more than 25 festivals worldwide, including AFI Fest, Sao Paulo, and the International Film Festival of Kerala.

“Second Chance” follows 25-year-old Nia who retreats to her family’s summer home in the Himalayas after experiencing significant trauma, where she forms healing bonds with a 70-year-old mountain woman and her mischievous seven-year-old grandson. The film stars Dheera Johnson as Nia, alongside Thakri Devi (Bhemi) and Kanav Thakur (Sunny).

“‘Second Chance,’ like most first features, comes from a very deeply personal space and purpose,...

In season 3 of the supposed anthology series "The White Lotus" (which creator Mike White set in Thailand after visiting Hawai'i and Italy in the show's first two outings), audiences get to reconnect with Belinda Lindsey (played by Natasha Rothwell), a spa employee who first showed up in Maui back in season 1. Belinda visits the Thailand outpost of the fictional White Lotus chain to learn from the wellness staff there, largely because this location bills itself as being hyper-focused on wellness. However, she ends up getting a lot more than she bargained for.

I should rephrase that. Belinda ends up quite literally bargaining for $5 million dollars from her old acquaintance Greg Hunt (Jon Gries), whom she met back in Maui, so that she'll continue to keep his many, many secrets. While that's certainly not what Belinda thought would happen in Thailand, that's how everything shook out. So, does Rothwell think Belinda is evil now?...

After playing the original masked avenger in the Cesar-winning, smash hit “The Count of Monte Cristo,” Pierre Niney is starring as a charismatic, yet toxic superstar coach in “Guru,” Yann Gozlan’s gripping psychological thriller which Studiocanal will introduce to buyers at the Cannes market this week.

Gozlan, who is presenting his latest film “Dalloway” at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is reteaming with Niney for the third time, following “An Ideal Man” and “Black Box,” two of Gozlan’s most successful films.

Niney stars in “Guru” opposite Marion Barbeau, Anthony Bajon and Holt McCallany. Along with headlining “Guru,” Niney is also co-producing the movie with Marc-Henri De Busschere via his banner Ninety Films, with Wassim Beji at Wy Productions lead producing. Studiocanal will release the film in France on Jan. 28 on top of handling international sales on it.

Ahead of the Cannes Film Festival, Niney spoke to Variety...

Sylvester Stallone might have a new title as President Trump's "special ambassador to Hollywood," but he's still sitting on the throne as the "Tulsa King." Yes, the Paramount+ juggernaut, one in a long line of Taylor Sheridan produced series, will be returning for a third season.

It makes sense that actor turned prolific TV creative has been able to create so many of these shows (considering he wrote the "Tulsa King" pilot in less than 24 hours), and yet, despite the quick script, some say "Tulsa King" may be Sheridan's best work (or at least the most entertaining of the bunch). The tale of Dwight "The General" Manfredi (Stallone) and rise from exiled New York mafia soldier to kingpin of Tulsa, Oklahoma has produced some of the funniest, strangest characters in the entire Sheridan universe. It has also helped turn the show into a hit for Paramount+, which has...

The first trailer has dropped for “Sleepless City” (“Ciudad Sin Sueño”), the hauntingly lyrical debut feature from Spanish director Guillermo Galoe, which will have its world premiere on May 19 in the Critics’ Week section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Set in the crumbling edges of Madrid’s La Cañada Real, the largest informal settlement in Europe, “Sleepless City” follows 15-year-old Toni, a Roma boy grappling with the loss of childhood and community as bulldozers close in on his home. Galoe’s film is a poignant and visually arresting portrait of adolescence on the margins, rooted in six years of deep collaboration with the real-life inhabitants of La Cañada.

The film’s trailer offers a glimpse of the world Toni inhabits, one of vivid colors, ghostly legends and tender, unflinching realities. “The characters in the film face the loss of a way of life,” Galoe explains. “Despite being completely displaced, they uphold their values and myths,...

In the mid-1990s, when Tom Cruise accepted Paramount Pictures' offer to bring his then-new production company to the studio and pick a project to develop, Cruise expressed a desire to take on a long-gestating big-screen adaptation of the "Mission: Impossible" TV series. Although the "Mission: Impossible" films under Cruise's stewardship have never sought to completely distance themselves from the series, they initially did look toward carving their own path away from it. 

This change of direction was boldly stated by the use of the TV show's longstanding protagonist, Jim Phelps, being revealed as the villain of the 1996 film. For the next several installments of the "M:i" franchise, each movie took a unique approach to the exploits of Imf Agent Ethan Hunt (played by Cruise). The only connective tissue between films, besides the appearance of Hunt and fellow team member Luther (Ving Rhames), were a couple of elements retained from the original series,...

The British Film Institute (BFI) has unveiled the line-up of speakers and events taking place at the Cannes UK Pavilion, including a talent talk with Urchin filmmaker Harris Dickinson, as well as panel discussions on artificial intelligence, gender inclusivity and disability.

Dickinson, who starred in 2022 Palme d’Or winner Triangle Of Sadness, is playing in Un Certain Regard with his BFI and BBC Film-backed directorial debut, Urchin. Dickinson will be joined by director of photographyJosêe Deshaiesand producer Archie Pearch from Devisio Pictures.

Akinola Davies Jnr, whose BBC Film and BFI-backed feature debut My Father’s Shadowalso plays in Un Certain Regard,...

Exclusive: Films Boutique has acquired Alex Camilleri’s second feature Zejtune for world sales.

Currently in post-production, Films Boutique is aiming for an autumn premiere for the film.

Set on the island of Malta, Zejtune follows Mar, a woman ready to sell the farmland she has inherited after her estranged mother’s death and leave the island. When she meets 80-year-old folk singer Nenu, she forms an unexpected connection, pulled in by the colourful traditions of the island she’s eager to escape.

Michela Farrugia and Nenu Borg lead the cast of the film, which is produced by Ramin Bahrani,...

After plotting an IPO that didn’t happen, Jérôme Seydoux’s venerable French studio Pathé is welcoming a new shareholder, Rodolphe Saadé, a French-Lebanese shipping billionaire who’s taken a 20% stake in the company through his family holding, Merit France.

Saadé also runs CMA Cgm, the world’s third-largest container shipping company, which also recently nabbed 10% of France’s second biggest commercial network M6, and the daily newspaper La Provence, as well as the news channel Bfm and radio station Rmc, as well as has invested in Brut, the influential digital media publisher which became one of the main partners for the Cannes Film Festival in 2022.

Pathé just had a banner year with “The Count of Monte Cristo” which was 2024’s second biggest box office hit in France, and is at Cannes with the opening night movie, “Leaving One Day,” Amelie Bonnin’s feature debut, as well as Martin Bourboulon...

Touching film recounts the teenage Scottish player Ethan Walker’s 745-mile pilgrimage to the Euros and his comeback from a devastating accident

This is an uplifting film about a miracle of ordinary life: the lightning-fast recovery of the teenage Scottish footballer Ethan Walker after being hit by a car, and the 745 mile bike ride he undertook from Hampden Park, Glasgow, to Munich just nine months after the accident to deliver the match pennant for the opening game of Euro 2024.

Walker – on a football scholarship in New York when he was struck at 60mph – suffered cataclysmic injuries, including two brain haemorrhages, multiple fractures, the dislocation of his right knee and a lacerated lung.

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"Jaws" turns 50 in 2025, and it's just as good as when it first swam into movie theaters. Now, the movie isn't exactly a great vacation advertisement. Anecdotes about "Jaws" making people afraid of sharks or even swimming in the ocean are endless. But it's also an undeniably beautiful movie; when there's not a shark attack happening, it can make you long for summer and beaches.

"Jaws" wasn't Steven Spielberg's first ever movie, but it was the widest stage he performed on by that point. Not even 30-years-old and still sui generis, Spielberg delivered a masterpiece out of a shoot so hectic it inspired a Broadway play (aka "The Shark Is Broken")! A big part of the difficulties on the "Jaws" production (which went 100+ days over schedule) was mechanical problems with the shark animatronic. Did the choice of shooting location have...

The Korean box office continued its steady spring performance over the weekend of May 9–11, 2025, with South Korean crime hit “Yadang: The Snitch” maintaining its hold at No. 1 for the fourth consecutive weekend.

The film, starring “Squid Game 2″ actor Kang Ha-neul, added $1.6 million, drawing 242,434 admissions across 1,150 screens, and now stands at a formidable $19.8 million in cumulative earnings with just under 3 million total admissions, according to Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council.

It was a closely contested frame just below the top, with Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” narrowly overtaking “A Minecraft Movie” for second place in revenue. The superhero ensemble earned $901,228 from 124,957 admissions, bringing its total to $5.7 million in Korea. Meanwhile, the game-to-screen hit “Minecraft” posted $871,636 over the weekend, adding another 132,906 admissions for a new cumulative total of $8.2 million and more than 1.23 million tickets sold.

South Korean action-drama “The Old Woman With the Knife” held its ground in fourth,...

A week after President Donald Trump announced his plan to impose tariffs on “foreign” movies, over 100 film and TV organisations have jointly called on governments to stand firm and safeguard the systems that support the indie sector.

Signatories from across the audiovisual sector worldwide have signed a collective statement, titled “Our Stories, Our Voices: Declaration for Artistic Freedom, Cultural Diversity and Cultural Sovereignty.”

The statement warns that public funding, cultural policy and regulation to foster independent productions and local stories are under growing threat.

“We are witnessing increasingly aggressive attempts by powerful political and corporate actors to dismantle the regulatory...

Tom Cruise was on top of the world in London Sunday night — or at least on top of the BFI Imax cinema.

The Oscar-nominated actor was spotted on the roof of the theater, which currently bears a huge advertisement for his latest spy franchise installment “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” after participating in a wide-ranging discussion about his career at the BFI. Cruise is in London to receive the prestigious BFI Fellowship, which will be presented to him at a dinner on Monday night, and then will head to Cannes Film Festival for the world premiere of “The Final Reckoning.”

It’s not clear exactly how Cruise got on the roof of the theater, but footage emerged of him standing on top of it on social media Sunday night. Discussing Film reposted a video from X user @tsureil, showing Cruise in a suit looking over London, and the post then went viral.

Cmc Pictures’ biographical drama “The Dumpling Queen” maintained its lead at the China box office for a second consecutive weekend, earning RMB46.9 million ($6.5 million) from May 9–11.

The film has now grossed $39.7 million since its release on April 30, according to Artisan Gateway. The film, which stars Ma Li and is directed by Andrew Lau, tells the real-life story of Zang Jianhe from Qingdao who builds a dumpling empire in Hong Kong after being stranded there in the late 1970s. It resonated with audiences during the extended May Day holiday period.

In second place, Universe Entertainment’s financial thriller “A Gilded Game” collected $4.8 million. Directed by Herman Yau, the Hong Kong-produced drama stars Andy Lau, Ni Ni, and Jasper Liu, and follows a principled finance intern in a global investment bank, has reached a cumulative total of $26.4 million.

“The Open Door,” a comedy distributed by Wanda Pictures, held third position with $2.1 million.

The UK training body ScreenSkills has appointed Working Title’s Sarah-Jane Wright as council chair for its Film Skills Fund.

Wright is currently head of film and TV production at Working Title and has already sat on the council for two years. She takes over the role of chair from Anita Overland, who led the fund for four years.

“I am proud to be stepping up as Chair during what has been a record year of investment into the fund,” said Wright. “I am excited to work with my fellow council members to invest these generous contributions back into the...

The European premiere of James Griffiths’ The Ballad Of Wallis Island, starring Carey Mulligan, will open the42nd Munich International Film Festival on June 28.

Mulligan stars with Tom Basden and Tim Key in the film which made its world premiere at Sundance in January.

Universal Pictures International Germany is opening the film on July 10.

The Ballad Of Wallis Islandcentres on a once successful folk duo, McGwyer Mortimer, who are invited by an eccentric fan to give a private concert on a remote island with unexpected consequences.

It is produced by Rupert Majendrie of Baby Cow, and sold internationally by Bankside Films.

Tom Cruise explained why Mission: Impossible was the first film he boarded as a producer and reflected on his inaugural filmmaking experience in the UK, during a wide-ranging discussion at the BFI Southbank ahead of collecting the organisation’s Fellowship award.

“I went to Stanley Jack, he was at Paramount, and Sherry Lansing, who I’d both known since I was 18, because I felt at that time, I wanted to produce something,” he explained, going to say he was drawn to the Mission: Impossible series.

“I loved the theme music,” Cruise joked. “I thought it’d be interesting to take...

The latest in our series of comfort movie picks is an ode to John Ford’s surprisingly gentle and laidback western

When it comes to the legendary American director John Ford, you either get it or you don’t.

If you connect with his work – and for me it’s a connection far beyond any other I have experienced through cinema, felt somewhere between the back of my throat and the depth of my soul – then nothing else matters. Not his films’ conflicted politics, their interludes of witless brawling, or those sequences of drunk comedy we can tactfully classify as “broad”.

Exclusive: Edinburgh International Film Festival and newly formed production outfit Unified are partnering on a special strand of events as part of the industry programme at this year’s festival.

Unified was founded this year by Aftersun producer Amy Jackson, vice chair of the Eiff board, and former Film4 exec and Beast producer Lauren Dark and is focused on developing a film and television slate as well as positioning themselves as go-to UK partners for international coproductions.

The strand will connect new filmmakers with established industry professionals and explore successful international partnership models. Unifed will curate a series of panels and talks,...

What happens when a pop star falls in love? In Japan’s cutthroat idol industry — she gets sued. That shocking reality forms the backbone of “Love on Trial,” Japanese director Koji Fukada’s Cannes-bound drama that rips the veil off the draconian “no-dating” clauses that keep J-Pop’s brightest stars legally barred from romance.

The project marks Fukada’s fourth collaboration with MK2 Films and his first with Japanese giant Toho, who have unveiled the film’s first clip exclusively with Variety.

The film, debuting at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cannes Premiere strand, follows Mai, a rising idol whose career implodes when her forbidden relationship is discovered, triggering a court battle that exposes the industry’s iron grip on young female performers’ personal lives.

“The starting point was a small article I came across on the internet around 2015,” Fukada tells Variety. “It told the story of a female idol...

Exclusive: Sublimity Entertainment has boarded international sales rights and will commence talks this week in Cannes on the romantic inspirational drama I’m Beginning To See The Light to star Jack Huston and Abbie Cornish.

Konstantin Khudyakov directs the Hoody Films production about Ezra (Huston), a grieving musician who rediscovers purpose at a lighthouse after losing his family in a terrible car accident.

Mark Bacci wrote the screenplay and Pavel Hoodyakov is producing. Executive producers are Vitaly Orel, Alex Saveliev, Cassian Elwes, and Bacci.

Sublimity Entertainment co-founder Alfredo Lara Orbezo said, “Abbie and Jack deliver beautifully nuanced performances. The film offers...

New Zealand-based sales outfit Black Mandala has acquired rights to the award-winning horror-comedy “Vampire Zombies…From Space!” ahead of the Cannes Film Market.

The black-and-white genre mashup, directed by Mike Stasko, has been a festival favorite, collecting over 20 awards during its impressive festival run, including multiple audience choice awards and best feature honors.

Set in 1957, the film follows a motley crew — consisting of a grizzled detective, a skeptical rookie cop, a chain-smoking greaser, and a determined young woman — as they band together to stop Dracula’s cosmic plan to turn the small town of Marlow into his personal army of vampire zombies.

“From the depths of space, Dracula has devised his most dastardly plan yet,” reads the synopsis. “A full-blown zombie outbreak hits, prompting the arrival of the dramatic (and slightly unhinged) Colonel Talbit and his troops.”

The 97-minute horror-comedy-sci-fi hybrid features notable genre appearances from Lloyd Kaufman (Troma Entertainment...

Sandra Oh is set to star in “Child’s Play,” the newly-announced psychological thriller from director Wang Xiaoshuai, Variety can reveal.

Bankside Films have boarded the film — set to start production in September and to be filmed on location in Toronto and North Bay, Ontario — and will be introducing it to buyers in Cannes.

“Child’s Play” — billed as a “haunting psychological thriller about guilt and redemption” — is written by acclaimed Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch, whose play “Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes” is currently playing Off-Broadway starring Hugh Jackman, and based on Alice Munro’s short story of the same name.

The film follows Marlene Lee, the daughter of Chinese immigrant parents and who in 1983 attends an all-white summer camp for girls. In order to fit in and impress her new friend Charlene, Marlene crosses a line that will forever change her life. Some 41 years later in 2024 and have devoted herself to a successful political career,...

Worldwide box office: May 9-11 Rank Film (distributor) 3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1 Thunderbolts*(Disney) $67.1m $272.2m $34m $143.7m 53 2 Sinners(Warner Bros) $27.7m $283.4m $6.6m $68.9m 71 3 A Minecraft Movie(Warner Bros) $20.5m $909.6m $12.5m $500.6m 79 4 The Accountant 2(Warner Bros) $10m $82.2m $3.5m $31.3m 73 5 The Dumpling Queen(various) $6.4m $39.8m $6.4m $31.3m 6 6 Karate Kid: Legends(Sony) $5.7m $5.7m $5.7m $5.7m 12 7 Until Dawn(Sony) $5.7m $44.3m $3.7m $26.3m 63 8 Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback(Toho) $5.4m $81.2m $5.4m $81.2m 1 9 A Gilded Game(various) $5m $26.5m $5m $26.5m 6 10 Clown In A Cornfiled(various) $3.9m $3.9m $251,000 $251,000 4

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

The third film in a decade about Gray tells – with an exasperating lack of passion – a story of explosive emotion, creativity and betrayal

There is some exasperatingly passionless and obtuse direction in this detached, sometimes almost somnolent drama-documentary about the extraordinary Irish architect and designer Eileen Gray, played here with a distracted air by Natalie Radmall-Quirke.

In the late 1920s, Gray designed and built a modernist villa on the Côte d’Azur for herself and her lover, the Romanian architectural journalist Jean Badovici (played here by Axel Moustache): she called it E.1027 But she quarrelled with him and impulsively moved out, leaving him in sole possession of this marvellous property – and then Badovici’s friend Le Corbusier, nettled by this brilliant work which was inspired by but possibly surpassed his own, painted frescoes all over the white walls. He then allowed the architectural world to assume E.1027 was his...

Triple Palme d’Or nominated French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello whose latest daring work “The Beast” was one of the hottest titles in the 2023 Venice competition, will be the guest of honor at the second Ecam Forum co-production platform, which will unspool over June 10-13 in Madrid.

On the heels of U.S. indie producer Ted Hope who kicked off Ecam Forum’s masterclass sessions with standout industry voices in 2024, Bonello will discuss his visionary work on June 12 at the Cineteca Madrid. Concurrently, the screening of three of his defining works –Cannes official entries “Tiresia” (2003), “House of Tolerance” (2011) and Directors’ Fortnight’s “Zombi Child” (2019) – will serve as entry points to his cinematic journey.

The Bonello tribute is organized by Ecam Forum – the new industry event spearheaded by Madrid’s prestigious film school Ecam – together with Cineteca Madrid and Filmadrid Festival, in conjunction with collection agent Dama and the Institut Français in Spain.

Beijing-based sales outfit Rediance has acquired worldwide rights to “Mother Bhumi,” the Fan Bingbing-starring drama from acclaimed Malaysian filmmaker Chong Keat Aun.

The company has released an exclusive still from the production as buyers head to the upcoming Cannes Film Market.

The film centers on Hong Im, a widowed farmer who leads a double life – tending paddy fields by day and serving as a ritual healer for villagers by night. When confronted with revelations about her husband’s death, she struggles to maintain equilibrium while seeking resolution for herself and her children.

The cast also includes Taiwan’s Bai Run-yin (Golden Horse winner “Old Fox”) and Hong Kong’s Natalie Hsu (“Suk Mung”) as Hong Im’s son and daughter, respectively.

Chong has established himself as a rising voice in Malaysian cinema. His debut “The Story of Southern Islet” (2020) earned him Best New Director honors at the Golden Horse Awards...

Screenis running this regularly updated page with the latest film festival and market dates from across the world.

To submit details of or alter your festival dates, pleasecontact us herewith the name, dates, country and website for the event.

Ongoing

Queer East, UK - April 23-May 18

DocsBarcelona, Spain - May 8-18

May

Cannes Film Festival, France - May 13-24

Marche du Film, France - May 13-21

Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, US - May 14-18

Harlem International Film Festival, US - May 15-18

Ridgefield Independent Film Festival, US - May 15-18

Seattle International Film Festival, US - May 15-25

Moonless International Film Festival,...

Exclusive: Red Sea Media arrives in Cannes with international sales rights to the horror thriller Skillhouse starring starring social media personalities Bryce Hall and Hannah Stocking, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Neal McDonough, Leah Pipes, and Emily Mei.

Josh Stolberg, whose credits include Saw X and Jigsaw, wrote and directed the film from GenTV, in which ten influencers are lured into Skillhouse, a sinister content house, and forced to compete in lethal social media challenges.

Producers are Ryan Kavanaugh, Shane Valdez, and Brad Baskin. “We have blended the most compelling elements of modern horror with authentic influencer integration – both within the...

Kevin Spacey has joined the cast of upcoming conspiracy action-thriller “The Awakening,” marking another role for the two-time Oscar winner as he looks to rebuild his career after being acquitted of sexual offense charges.

First announced last year, “The Awakening” — directed by Matt Routledge — stars Peter Stormare, Alice Eve, Steve Berkoff, Julian Glover, Matt Hookings (Prizefighter), former World’s Strongest Man Eddie Hall (“Expendables 4”) and introduces Justin Tinto.

Pia Patatian’s Cloud9 Studios is launching worldwide sales in Cannes.

“The Awakening” follows Jason (Tinto) and Rebecca (Eve) as they uncover a conspiracy to control the world. Their investigation leads them into a maze of secrets, making their quest to expose the truth in a thrilling race against time.

The film is being produced by Camelot Films who also financed the movie alongside Tinto. Currently in post-production, the screenplay is co-written by Tinto, Routledge and Matt Hookings. Hookings also produces alongside Tim Kent,...

Kevin Spacey has joined Camelot Film’s conspiracy action thriller The Awakening, which Cloud9 Studios will introduce to Cannes buyers this week.

The cast includes Peter Stormare, Alice Eve newcomer Justin Tinto, Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall (Expendables 4), and Matt Hookings (Prizefighter). Additional cast are Steve Berkoff and Julian Glover.

The Awakening follows Jason (Tinto) and Rebecca (Eve) as they uncover a conspiracy to control the world and race to expose the truth.

Matt Routledge directs and Tinto co-wrote the feature with Routledge and Hookings. Camelot Films is financing alongside Tinto. Production took place at Pinewood Studios and the project is in post.

Peter Stormare and Alice Eve will star in Camelot Film’s conspiracy action thriller The Awakening, which Cloud9 Studios will introduce to Cannes buyers this week.

The cast includes newcomer Justin Tinto and Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall (Expendables 4) with Matt Hookings (Prizefighter) and Kevin Spacey. Additional cast are Steve Berkoff and Julian Glover.

The Awakening follows Jason (Tinto) and Rebecca (Eve) as they uncover a conspiracy to control the world and race to expose the truth.

Matt Routledge directs and Tinto co-wrote the feature with Routledge and Hookings. Camelot Films is financing alongside Tinto. Production took place at Pinewood Studios...

Kmbo has secured French distribution rights to “Lucky Lu,” U.S.-based, Korean-Canadian filmmaker Lloyd Lee Choi’s feature debut, ahead of its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Global Constellation handles international sales, while WME is representing North American rights.

“Lucky Lu” is a tense, 48-hour journey through the underbelly of New York City, where an E-delivery driver’s world unravels after his bike — his sole source of income — is stolen. With his long-separated family arriving imminently from Asia, Lu races against time and the city’s indifference to recover what he’s lost, navigating a fractured community and a system that’s left him behind.

Vladimir Kokh, CEO of Kmbo, said, “It’s been a long time since we’ve been so deeply moved by a film’s vision and emotional strength. This film undoubtedly marks the emergence of a major new filmmaker. ‘Lucky Lu...

In a milestone move and some of the biggest news from Brazil as it celebrates recognition at Cannes as its Country of Honor, International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund is teaming with three leading Brazilian film promotion orgs – Spcine, RioFilme, Projeto Paradiso – to launch Hbf+Brazil: Co-development Support.

The new joint program targets the early development of projects by first and second time filmmakers from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the rest of Brazil.

In the pilot year of the planned three-year initiative, Hbf+Brazil will support up to nine fiction film projects in early development, directed by a Brazilian filmmaker and with a Brazilian production company attached, giving grants of €10,000 to each title.

As the management partner, Hbf will launch the call for projects in the second half of 2025 on IFFR.com. Hbf+Brazil partners , however, will sign a co-operation agreement at the Cannes Film Festival.

FilmSharks has bowed the first trailer for “Death of a Comedian” (“La Muerte de un Comediante”), the directorial debut of Argentine actor Diego Peretti. The film, which Peretti also wrote and headlines, wrapped post-production last week and is now headed to market with worldwide sales handled by FilmSharks.

It would be normal to list producers but this project has 10,190, individual investors brought together by the Orsai Community. It makes “Death of a Comedian” as one of the more novel Argentine productions in recent memory. The film is produced by author, journalist and cultural entrepreneur Hernán Casciari’s Orsai, which finances all its projects through its massive community-driven crowdfunding model totalling over 15,000 micro investors.

The film follows Juan Debré (Peretti), an actor who’s spent a lifetime playing the hero in a TV series while remaining detached from his own identity. When diagnosed with a terminal illness, he embarks on a surreal journey to Belgium,...

A group of more than 100 film and TV organisations from around the world launched an appeal to European Union institutions and global governments Monday – on the eve of the Cannes Film Festival kickoff – calling on them to support the indie industry ecosystem following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announced plan to impose tariffs on film imports.

Signatories include the The European Producers Club, which represents top independent film and TV drama producers across continental Europe, Irish Equity, South Africa’s Independent Directors Association, and Canada’s Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada.

The appeal, titled “Our Stories, our Voices: A Global Declaration for Artistic Freedom, Cultural Diversity and Cultural Sovereignty” asks governments “to stand firm and safeguard the systems that support independent film and audiovisual creation so that culture, creativity, and democratic access to diverse stories for the screen can continue to flourish,” it said.

“We are witnessing increasingly...

A Swiss film-maker’s parent leaves behind a visual diary that raises questions about the limitations of art in a fascinating documentary debut

The genesis of Jules Guarneri’s documentary – his first – comes from an unusual gift. Having made more than 20 hours of a filmed diary, his father, Jean, entrusted the material to the budding director, hoping that it would form the building blocks for his son’s first feature. These visual journals, in which the older man addresses the camera – and ultimately Guarneri – with recollections from his past, are awash with nostalgia and regret. As Jean’s recordings are interspersed with Guarneri’s own footage of his family, what starts out as a monologue gradually transforms into an intergenerational dialogue between father and son.

Filmed with a fixed camera, Jean’s diaries have a static quality that echoes the stagnancy of his life story. Christabel, his wife and Guarneri’s mother,...

At no point could you accuse "The Last of Us" of being a happy show, nor could you say the same of the video games on which the HBO series is based. There are times when it seems to be about the perseverance of the human spirit, our capacity to heal and rebuild, and moments of joy hidden amidst dark times. But more often than not, the bigger ideas are death, grief, and revenge.

Joel (Pedro Pascal) embodies these two sides of the story well, showing a loving side to Ellie (Bella Ramsey) but a brutal one whenever violence is called for. While Joel's death in "The Last of Us" season 2, episode 2 is gut-wrenching, it's also hard to see it as out of place in a show like this.

In the wake of that heartbreak, Ellie is taking on Joel's mantle with some new story threads pushing her further and further toward darkness,...

Music is an important element through both the "Last of Us" video games and the live-action HBO adaptation. Both have a strong style of primary background music, which relies on a lot of acoustic guitar to play into the story's neo-zombie-Western vibe. In addition to the scoring, "The Last of Us" also relies heavily on diegetic music. Joel (Pedro Pascal) plays guitar himself and tells Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in season 1 that he would have liked to have been a singer. In season 2, she's learned to play too after years of learning from him, though the schism in their relationship pushes her away from the instrument.

There are other notable examples, like the use of Linda Ronstadt's "Long Long Time" during the Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett) episode of season 1, in which the heartbreaker tune serves as both episode title and thematic throughline.

Now that we're getting into...

This article contains spoilers for "The Last of Us" season 2, episode 5.

The Cordyceps brain infection is fairly straightforward. Both in "The Last of Us" games and on the show, it got its origin from tainted crops but soon started spreading on its own, courtesy of infected individuals. After this initial infection, the poor person with the mutated Cordyceps now growing in their brain is slowly taken over, leading them to a hellish life cycle of various types of Infected zombies on "The Last of Us."

Up to now, however, the show has omitted a key component of the Cordyceps infection. In the games, all non-immune characters have to keep a gas mask ready whenever they're exploring confined areas in case they stumble upon a spot where the air is contaminated by Cordyceps spores. Breathing them in is a surefire way to become infected, which makes the spores a dangerous (and fairly common) environmental threat.

[Editor’s Note: The following review contains spoilers for “The Last of Us” Season 2, Episode 5. For previous coverage, check out last week’s review.]

“I know.”

Who knew two little words could evoke so many questions? From the second Season 2 began, “The Last of Us” has kept audiences in the dark over how much Ellie (Bella Ramsey) knows about what Joel (Pedro Pascal) did for her. The opening moments (which revisit the final scene from Season 1) see Ellie asking Joel to “swear” that the story he told her is true; that what he said happened with the Fireflies in the Salt Lake City hospital was what really happened. He swears, promising her there was no other choice, but the expression on her face doesn’t reflect a person who’s convinced; it’s more like a person who’s resolved.

Five years after that vow, when Season 2’s story picks up, Joel and Ellie are in a silent feud.

Jackie Chan says Hollywood stunt work isn’t what it used to be.

In a recent sit-down with Haute Living, the legendary actor and martial artist shared his thoughts on the current state of Hollywood stunts, which, unlike in Chan’s heyday, is dominated by CGI and wirework trickery.

“In the old days, the only [choice we had] was to be there and jump; that’s it,” Chan said. “Today, with computers, actors can do anything, but there’s always a sense of reality that you feel is missing.”

He continued, “It’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, actors become more and more capable of doing impossible stunts with the help of technology, and yet, on the other hand, the concept of danger and limit gets blurred and the audience is numb [to it]. But I’m not encouraging anybody to risk their lives to do the stunts like I did; it truly is too dangerous.

What is a producer’s job? On a fundamental level, it’s to put all the pieces together that allow for film and television to be made. Maybe it’s pairing the right material with the right director. Maybe it’s location scouting. Maybe it’s having 10 dinners with that one actor who won’t commit. The role of the producer is every-changing, but there are certain constants the best in the business have learned to adhere to.

Whether it’s Christine Vachon using Celine Song’s script for “Past Lives” as a selling point for the project or Ram Bergman advising Rian Johnson to make “Brick” on a smaller budget than he intended, the greatest producers in cinema today know that setting a project up for success means pinpointing its value. This isn’t just on a financial level, but in terms of popular culture as well. Keep reading...