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Barunson E&a, the South Korean studio behind Oscar-winning “Parasite” and Kim Jee-woon’s Cannes title “Cobweb,” has unveiled the first teaser for “The World of Love,” which has been selected for the Platform section at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival.

The selection marks a milestone as the first Korean film ever invited to TIFF’s Platform section, the festival’s sole competitive program launched in 2015. The section focuses on films with strong directorial vision and artistic innovation, having previously showcased the careers of filmmakers such as Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”), William Oldroyd (“Lady Macbeth”), Pablo Larraín (“Jackie”), and Kristoffer Borgli (“Dream Scenario”).

Director Yoon Ga-eun, acclaimed for her previous works “The World of Us” (Berlinale 2016) and “The House of Us” (BFI London 2019), returns with her latest feature following Jooin, an unpredictable 18-year-old high school student whose impulsive words unexpectedly shake the lives of those around her.

“‘The World of Love...

A formidable troika of Chilean thesps – Alfredo Castro (“The Count”), Paulina García(“Gloria”) and Benjamín Vicuña (“Envious”) – have boarded the upcoming horror series by author-screenwriter Ernesto Garratt, who has adapted his own book “Allegados” for an 8-episode series.

New project makes its market debut at the Santiago International Film Festival’s Sanfic Industria Series Lab, where it is open to sealing potential co-production and distribution deals.

Titled “The Unwelcome” in English, “Allegados” is the first book of a trilogy which will be adapted into three seasons, said producer Claudia Pérez-Muñoz of By Lace Films, the Santiago-based company she founded a year ago. The scripts for Season 2, based on the second novel, are also done, she added.

She has also signed on Yagán Films Chile for the series’ post-production in sound while image post-production will be performed by Chemistry, México led by Andrés Martínez-Ríos who has been invited to direct a few episodes.

James Bond Franchise Taps Top Talent For Next 007 Film(Photo Credit –Facebook)

It looks like the next installment in the highly anticipated James Bond franchise is heading in an exciting new direction. Previously, it was reported that Dune helmer Denis Villeneuve had been enlisted to direct the upcoming 007 venture. And now, another creative powerhouse has joined the high-profile project.

According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, British filmmaker and creator of BBC’s cult period crime drama Peaky Blinders – Steven Knight, has been tapped to write the screenplay for the 26th James Bond movie for Amazon MGM Studios. The official James Bond handle on X (formerly Twitter) has also confirmed the news.

Steven Knight to pen next James Bond film for Amazon MGM Studios. pic.twitter.com/JrIzD1WJxN

— James Bond (@007) July 31, 2025

Steven Knight’s Filmography Beyond Peaky Blinders

In addition to Peaky Blinders, the 65-year-old screenwriter...

After Amazon MGM Studios revealed on Thursday that Steven Knight will write Denis Villeneuve’s new James Bond film, the “Peaky Blinders” creator gave his first interview about the secretive project.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5’s “Live Breakfast” on Friday morning, Knight said being involved in a 007 film has “always been on my bucket list.”

“It’s fantastic to be invited to do it,” he added. “I can’t wait to get started.”

Knight, whose credits also include the Pablo Larrain films “Spencer” and “Maria” as well as TV shows “See” and “Sas: Rogue Heroes,” said he was invited to a meeting with producer Amy Pascal but “didn’t know what it was about.”

“I very quickly discovered what it was about and became very excited and hopeful,” Knight told the BBC. “And then the process is … you do some meetings, you discuss some ideas and then you find out you’ve got it.

The next James Bond film has found its writer. Variety reports that Steven Knight, the man behind Peaky Blinders, will pen the script for the upcoming 007 adventure. The movie will be directed by Dune filmmaker Denis Villeneuve and produced by Amy Pascal and David Heyman for Amazon MGM Studios.

Knight is best known for creating the hit Birmingham gangster drama, but he’s also written films like Dirty Pretty Things, Eastern Promises, and Locke. His latest produced screenplay was Maria, the biopic about opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie and directed by Pablo Larraín.

This will be the first Bond movie made under Amazon MGM’s full creative control after the company struck a deal with long-time Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli. A release date hasn’t been confirmed yet, but the film isn’t expected until 2028.

The big question still hanging over the project is who will play 007.

Steven Knight, the acclaimed creator of “Peaky Blinders” whose film credits include David Cronenberg’s “Eastern Promises” and Pablo Larraín’s “Spencer” and “Maria,” has been tapped to write Denis Villeneuve’s untitled James Bond film.

The move represents the second major puzzle piece for fans attempting to discern what the next era of the spy franchise might look like. Following the departure of Daniel Craig after “No Time to Die,” the departure of longtime producer Barbara Broccoli following Amazon’s acquisition of MGM, and the hiring of Amy Pascal and David Heyman as the franchise’s new stewards, the new film will kick off the Amazon era of the series with perhaps the blankest slate since “Dr. No” came out in 1963.

With six previous leading men and films ranging from utterly campy to deadly serious, the 007 franchise has proven its ability to fit into whatever mold its creative team desires.

Chile’s Sanfic Industria new Queer Incubator section will have the unprecedented support of Netflix through its Creative Equity Fund. “This support marks a significant milestone as it represents the first monetary award in our labs and our first collaboration with Netflix,” said Sanfic Industria head, Gabriela Sandoval, co-founder of the Santiago International Film Festival, (Sanfic) which runs Aug. 17-24 this year.

The new section also has the backing of the EU-lac Foundation, an international organization created in 2010 by the heads of state and governments of the European Union (EU), Latin America and the Caribbean (Lac).

“We’re proud to support Sanfic Industry’s Queer Incubator program, creating opportunities to foster new storytelling and creatives — a mission we both share. Initiatives like these are key in expanding the talent pool and bringing different perspectives to the audiovisual industry,” said Pierre Emile Vandoorne, senior director of global affairs for Latin America at Netflix.

Exclusive: Af, the production company founded by Frank Ariza, has acquired the rights to adapt Where Are You, Heart?, a short story from an anthology by beloved Argentinian novelist Mariana Enríquez.

Where Are You, Heart? is one of 12 short stories in The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, a 2009 anthology by Enríquez. The book was translated into English in 2021 and was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. The book, published in Spain by Editorial Anagrama, explores everyday horrors—a recurring theme in the work of Enríquez, who is best known for using classic horror elements like ghosts and rituals to explore the social and political realities of her home country.

Where Are You, Heart? follows a main character who realizes at a very young age that she is aroused by the terminally ill. After some exploration, she discovers that her true obsession is with people suffering from heart disease.

A new look at the assassination of John F. Kennedy is coming to theaters. November 1963, a historical thriller centering around the Mafia figures in Kennedy's orbit, has entered production in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The film will star John Travolta, and is helmed by two-time Oscar nominee Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields). The film is based on firsthand accounts and reports from the family of Sam Giancana, the contemporary head of the Chicago Outfit; Giancana had ties to Kennedy's family, even as Kennedy's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, took on the Mafia. Giancana is widely rumored to have been involved with Kennedy's assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963; Giancana was murdered in his suburban Chicago home by an unknown assassin in 1975.

The film is written and produced by Nicholas Celozzi, who is the grandnephew of Giancana. Says Celozzi, "The whole essence of the story, the project, why we are doing this,...

On a chilly day at a vintage studio building on the Eastside of Los Angeles, Natasha Lyonne sat in front of a large-screen TV and played with a joystick.

The device in her hand looked a lot like a vintage Atari 2600 paddle, and as she spun it one way, then the other, images appeared, shapeshifted and melted into various forms of digital surreality; at one point the model generated a tableau it called “Artpixel Monochromatic Media Shower Fractal 3.”

Lyonne would occasionally emote to the two men sitting near her, who sometimes took the paddle. “Go back to the Rothko,” she exclaimed in her unmistakable Long Island rasp at one point, as onscreen an image popped up in the style of the American abstract expressionist and then just as quickly disappeared.

Lyonne is the co-founder of Asteria, an AI entertainment startup of the kind that has begun to dot both coasts...

From All Of Us Strangers to Hundreds Of Beavers to The Zone Of Interest, last year was by all metrics a banger of a year for cinema — just check out our 20 Best Movies of 2024 if you need any further reminder. And as your friendly neighbourhood Empire has pored over what the next twelve months has in store on screens both big and small, we've found a lot of movies that you simply must see in 2025. 133 to be exact.

In a year that's set to see James Gunn's Dcu take flight with Superman; Ethan Hunt take on quite possibly his last impossible mission; Yelena Belova return to our screens in Dark Av— er, Thunderbolts*; James Cameron whisk us away to Pandora in Avatar: Fire And Ash; Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan scare us up good and proper with Sinners; and new movies fly at us from seasoned auteurs, buzzy new filmmakers,...

“Tell me how it felt to be onstage,” the journalist played by Kodi Smit-McPhee says to Maria Callas in the new trailer for Maria. “An exultation,” she responds. “An intoxication. I thought the stage itself would burn.” Starring Angelina Jolie, Pablo Larraín’s Maria is a swooning portrait of that cocktail of emotion.

Jolie has already earned a Golden Globe nomination for her stunning performance as Maria Callas. Previously, she won an Academy Award for her performance in Girl, Interrupted and has displayed her incredible range in films including Changeling, The Good Shepherd, Maleficent, and Those Who Wish Me Dead.

Renowned Chilean filmmaker Larraín is known for such films as Jackie, Spencer, No, Neruda, and 2023’s El Conde, which garnered a Best Cinematography Oscar nomination for Edward Lachman’s chiaroscuro work.

Larraín says, “I’m excited to partner again with the Netflix team who care so passionately about movies. This...

Exclusive: Jacob Scipio is set to co-lead the as-yet-untitled real estate drama pilot ordered by the Onyx Collective for Hulu, opposite Edgar Ramirez. The series regular cast includes Leslie Grace (In The Heights), Mariana di Girolamo (Ema), Liz Caribel Sierra (Dope Thief) and Armando Rivera.

Production To Start July 14 in Toronto.

From Roberto Patino and Cassius Corrigan, the drama follows a cutthroat battle to dominate the Manhattan skyline, where two rival real estate developers (Ramirez and Scipio) risk everything — wealth, family and their souls — as their ambition turns into obsession, and their partnership turns into war.

Scipio will play Abe Alonso, a wildly ambitious, charismatic up-and-coming real estate developer from the outer boroughs of New York City. He is willing to do whatever it takes to seize the American Dream for his growing family.

Grace will play Val Alonso-Rivera, a passionate...

Every career has to start somewhere, but it's hard to imagine anyone ending up with a truly brilliant career when their first film appearance was in the truly terrible 2000 comedy prequel "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas." Somehow, Brian Levant's critically panned 1994 film adaptation of the 1960s animated series "The Flintstones" was a box office hit for Universal, and it ended up making a prequel that came out six years later. Not only was it an unwanted, bizarre film, but it didn't even have the stars from the original, as apparently John Goodman, who played Fred Flintstone, begged producer Stephen Spielberg to keep him out of any future "Flintstones" films. 

Starring Mark Addy as Fred Flintstone and Stephen Baldwin as Barney Rubble (replacing Rick Moranis), "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" tells the story of Fred and Barney meeting and falling in love with their future wives, Wilma (Kristen Johnston...

Colman Domingo has been announced as the host of amfAR Venezia, the Foundation for AIDS Research’s gala at the Venice Film Festival. The black-tie event, taking place Aug. 31 at Arsenale, will feature cocktails, dinner and a live auction of contemporary artworks and exclusive experiences.

“We are deeply grateful to Colman Domingo for his commitment to our cause and for recognizing the importance of amfAR’s work,” amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost said in a statement Monday. “There are still 40 million people living with HIV worldwide, and fundraising events like amfAR Venezia that support our efforts to find a cure for HIV remain as critically important as ever.”

Recent honorees of amfAR Venezia have included Antonio Banderas, Richard Gere, Ava DuVernay, Ferzan Ozpetek, Achille Boroli and Mohammed Al Turki.

This year’s presenting sponsor is World Gold Council. San Clemente Palace Kempinski is the official hotel partner.

The 82nd edition...

Scottish-born Brazilian producer Daniel Dreifuss, whose credits include the Oscar and BAFTA-winning “All Quiet on the Western Front,” as well as the Oscar-nominated “No” by Chile’s Pablo Larrain, has boarded the limited series adaptation of “A Boy’s Own Story,” the seminal 1982 novel by the late gay author Edmund White.

Dreifuss joins director John Krokidas (“Kill Your Darlings,” “Times Like These”) and executive producers Brian Alessandro and Michael Carroll, on the first-ever screen adaptation of White’s pioneering autobiographical novel, the first in a trilogy.

Alessandro and Carroll, White’s widower, had adapted the autobiography into a graphic novel for Top Shelf Productions in 2023, and have been co-developing the series pilot with Dreifuss.

According to Dreifuss, they will also take some creative liberties, drawing from the graphic novel particularly in areas where they move beyond the strictly youth-focused narrative of the book.

Daniel Dreifuss, Credit: Emma McIntyre

“’A Boy...

Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Emma Stone are among the rich roster of stars featured in hotly anticipated new movies expected to be launching from Venice Film Festival.

With one month to go until the Lido lineup is unveiled, Venice’s artistic director Alberto Barbera is racing against the clock to assemble the festival’s 82nd edition, slots for which are still in flux. But what’s clear is that there will be no shortage of the type of buzzy titles that make Venice a prime awards season driver.

Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine,” featuring Dwayne Johnson as two-time UFC heavyweight champ Mark Kerr and Emily Blunt as his wife Dawn; Luca Guadagnino’s #MeToo-themed thriller “After the Hunt” starring Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Ayo Edebiri; and “Bugonia,” the latest collaboration between Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone — who were last...

Films by Richard Linklater, Oliver Laxe and Joachim Trier are among 53 titles selected by the Munich International Film Festival for its four main competition strands CineMasters, CineVision, CineRebels and CineCoPro.Munich runs from June 27 to July 6.

CineMasters

Oliver Laxe’s Sirat will be joined by another two Cannes 2025 Official Competition titles - Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague and Mascha Schilinski’s award-winning Sound Of Falling - to screen in the CineMasters competition for the €15,000 CineMasters Award. The prize is being sponsored for the first time this year by Dorint Hotels & Resorts and is presented to the director of the best international film.

Chilean actress Antonia Zegers, whose notable credits include several of Pablo Larraín’s films, including “Tony Manero,” “The Club,” “No,” and his Pinochet-as-Dracula pic, “The Count,” has boarded the upcoming drama “The Comeback” (“El Regreso”) by Peru’s Joanna Lombardi.

Zegers, who also toplined Lucia Puenzo’s lauded series “The Pack” (“La Jauria”), Marcela Said’s “Los Perros” and Belén Funes’ “The Exiles,” serves as a juror at the Ibero-American Fiction section of the ongoing 40th Guadalajara Film Festival (Ficg), wrapping on June 14.

“What first drew me in was the chance to work with Joanna – there’s a quiet strength in her, a way of seeing the world that speaks to me. I trust that together, we’ll create something truly special,” she told Variety.

Lombardi is a former creative executive for Movistar in Latin America and leading Peruvian shingle Tondero Films. Her directorial feature debut “Casadentro” won Montreal Festival...

Look forward to a new horror miniseries from Pablo Larraín. Netflix has announced the production of My Sad Dead (Mis muertos tristes), a miniseries based on the work of author Marina Enríquez. The Chilean filmmaker last worked with Netflix on the black horror, El Conde.

The four-part horror series starts filming in June and is said to be about not the world of the supernatural and the horror found within society. Although the work is based on My Sad Dead, the streamer announced plots and characters will also draw inspiration from Julie, A Sunny Place for Shady People and Back When We Talked to the Dead.

The story is being adapted for the screen by Enríquez herself, along with Chilean writer Guillermo Calderón, Anastasia Ayazi and Larraín himself. The director has described Mariana’s writing as “particularly visual,” “brilliant, and “dangerous.” He called her style of “casual, domestic horror” as...

Janus Films has picked up all North American rights to Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz’s historical drama Magellan that just screened in Cannes Premiere.

‘Magellan’ review

Gael García Bernal stars as the 16th century eponymous Portuguese explorer who upon reaching the Malayan Archipelago becomes obsessed with conquest and conversion, triggering violent uprisings.

Magellan marks the first feature in colour from Diaz since 2013 Un Certain Regard Award selection Norte, The End Of History. His credits include 2014 Locarno Golden Leopard winner From What Is Before and 2016 Venice Golden Lion winner The Woman Who Left.

Portugal’s Rosa Filmes produced Magellan, while Andergraun Films...

Netflix has ordered “My Sad Dead,” a four-episode limited series from Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, marking his latest collaboration with the platform after “El Conde” and the forthcoming biopic “Maria.” The project adapts Argentine author Mariana Enríquez’s ghost-laden short story of the same name and begins principal photography in Buenos Aires and Santiago late June.

Each hour-long instalment will weave elements from “My Sad Dead,” “Julie,” “A Sunny Place for Shady People” and “Back When We Talked to the Dead,” blending domestic drama with supernatural dread. “I enjoy seeing my work re-imagined; this adaptation has felt calm and respectful,” Enríquez said, adding that Netflix’s reach gives the stories “a breathtaking new audience.”

Mercedes Morán, Dolores Fonzi and Alejandra Flechner lead a cast that also includes Carlos Portaluppi, Germán de Silva, Luz Jiménez and Carolina Sánchez Álvarez. Larraín writes alongside Guillermo Calderón and Anastasia Ayazi; Fabula’s Juan de Dios Larraín...

Netflix and Chilean auteurPabloLarraín are reteaming on the horror miniseries My Sad Dead (Mis Muertos Tristes) and will begin production towards the end of June.

The four-parter is based on the stories of Argentine writer Mariana Enríquez and centres on Ema, a 60-year-old doctor who has a gift for seeing and hearing the dead, although she has never allowed herself to connect with the suffering of others.

However all that changes with the arrival of her niece Julie forfamily reunion. Thedisturbed young woman can also communicate with the dead, albeit in a far more intense and sexual manner, forcing Ema to confront her past,...

Pablo Larraín (Spencer, El Conde) is reteaming with Netflix for a four-part horror miniseries titled “My Sad Dead,” and Variety brings us the first information this afternoon.

The horror series is based on a short story by author Mariana Enríquez.

Variety details, however, “Described as a psychological and supernatural horror story rooted in societal trauma, My Sad Dead draws not only from Enríquez’s titular tale, but also incorporates characters and themes from her other works, including Julie, A Sunny Place for Shady People, and Back When We Talked to the Dead.”

Here’s the synopsis:

“Ema, a 60-year-old doctor, can see and hear the dead. She calls them ‘presences’ and has lived her entire life avoiding letting this gift connect her with the suffering of others. But when her niece Julie, a disturbed young woman who can also communicate with the dead, but in a much more intense and sexual manner,...

Netflix is moving forward with “My Sad Dead,” also titled “Mis Muertos Tristes,” a new miniseries from Pablo Larraín. The Chilean filmmaker behind such movies as “Spencer” and “Jackie” will be behind the project, which will be composed of four hour-long horror drama episodes.

The series is based on Argentine author Mariana Enríquez’s tale “My Sad Dead.” It will also borrow from passages from her other works, including “Julie,” “A Sunny Place for Shady People” and “Back When We Talked to the Dead.” “As Mariana Enríquez suggests, the true terror is not the supernatural itself, but the horrors that society hides,” a logline for the upcoming series reads.

The horror miniseries follows Ema, a 60-year-old doctor who can see and hear the dead, which she calls “presences.” But that’s a gift she has avoided her entire life. That changes once her niece Julie — who can also communicate with...

Netflix has officially announced “My Sad Dead” (“Mis muertos tristes”), a new four-part horror drama miniseries helmed by acclaimed Chilean director Pablo Larraín and produced by his Chilean label Fabula in collaboration with Argentina’s K&s Films, producers of the streamer’s recent global mega-hit “The Eternaut.”

The new series, based on the short story of the same name by Argentine author Mariana Enríquez, is set to begin filming at the end of June. Filming will take place in Buenos Aires for exteriors and Santiago, Chile for interiors.

Described as a psychological and supernatural horror story rooted in societal trauma, “My Sad Dead” draws not only from Enríquez’s titular tale, but also incorporates characters and themes from her other works, including “Julie”, “A Sunny Place for Shady People” and “Back When We Talked to the Dead.” The story was adapted for the screen by Enríquez herself, along with celebrated Chilean writer Guillermo Calderón,...

Kristen Stewart might have entered the realm of fame as a teen icon with the Twilight franchise. However, since then she has charted a different course for herself, venturing into genres and projects few expected her to.

Now, Stewart has achieved another significant milestone: directing her first feature film, The Chronology of Water. A brutal film about what it means to be a woman, Stewart recently defended the brutality of the film in an interview at Cannes. As she earns rave reviews for her directorial debut we’re reminded of her admission that she’s made only five good films.

Kristen Stewart reckons she has made just five good movies Kristen Stewart | Credit: Happiest Season / Hulu

Kristen Stewart has starred in several movies, spread across genres. Following worldwide stardom with the Twilight franchise, the actress has deviated more towards independent films and projects. Although she has time and again returned to more mainstream cinema,...

“Corsage” director Marie Kreutzer’s “Gentle Monster” emerged as the big winner at the third edition of the Cannes Film Market’s Investors Circle, scooping up the ArteKino International Prize with its €20,000 purse.

The Austrian project, produced by Alexander Glehr and Johanna Scherz of Film Ag Produktions GmbH, was selected from among 10 film projects presented to VIP investors at the high-profile Cannes financing event.

“I’m surprised in the most positive way,” Kreutzer said following her win. “Filmmaking is a really big mountain, and what happens before the premiere – to get a film made – is a very long climb. So we really need people who want to support cinema and have love for cinema – that’s why meeting investors is extremely important. I had great conversations with these investors so far. The script has sparked their interest, and they’re eager to learn more about the project.”

Held at the...

Exclusive: I’m Still Here Producer Rodrigo Teixeira is teaming with LA-based filmmaking duo Rami Kodeih and Nora Mariana on bank heist drama, inspired by the real-life collapse of Lebanon’s banking system in 2019.

Kodeih is set to direct from an original screenplay co-written with Mariana. The pair previously collaborated on Warsaw Ghetto-set short Alina and Maki & Zorro.

Teixeira is producing under his Rt Features banner alongside Mariana and Kodeih. The film is currently in production in Lebanon.

CAA Media Finance is handling sales. Executive producers include Berta Marchiori for Rt Features; David Levine and Jeff Okin for Anonymous Content; and Riccardo Maddalosso. Marie-Lynn Nasrallah will serve as co-executive producer, Jennifer Haddad as associate producer, and Joshua Owen as co-associate producer.

Wolves takes place in Beirut during Lebanon’s real-life 2019 economic collapse and revolves around a young woman who is unable to withdraw her life’s savings, which she needs...

Marie Kreutzer’s upcoming feature Gentle Monster has clinched the 2025 ArteKino International Prize at the Cannes Market’s third Investors Circle event, with the prize money going to the producers Alexander Glehr and Johanna Scherz for development of the project.

Kreutzer’s latest film after Corsage with Vicky Krieps, Gentle Monster will take the spectator on the unsettling journey of an internationally renowned pianist who moves her family from Munich to the countryside and uncovers life-shattering truths about her partner.

It was one of 10 projects pitched at the third Investors Circle event on May 18, aimed at connecting elevated arthouse projects with investors.

The festival has also unveiled details of the projects, which were under wraps until the event was over, which include new films by Belgium’s Lukas Dhont, whose second film Close shared Cannes Grand Prix; Hungarian festival regular Kornél Mundruczó, who won the Un Certain Regard Prize for White God,...

“There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold…” Led Zeppelin wasn’t singing about Princess Diana in Stairway to Heaven, but doesn’t it fit? A shy teenager plucked from nobility to become the most photographed woman on Earth, her life was less a fairy tale and more a Greek tragedy dressed in Chanel.

Directors have poked, prodded, and probed Princess Diana’s story from every angle: as a grieving mother, a fashion icon, a lost soul, and even a hunted woman. Yet every film captures only fragments. Some humanize her. Others dissect her. A few nearly sanctify her. And The Crown? It treaded lightly, like walking on royal eggshells. No one gets it quite right.

Because Princess Diana was never just one story; she was a shattered mirror, each shard reflecting something beautiful, broken, and unrepeatable.

7. Spencer (2021) Kristen Stewart in Spencer | Credit: FilmNation Entertainment

Pablo Larraín...

Gentle Monster, the new feature project from Austrian director Marie Kreutzer (Corsage), has won the 2025 ArteKino International Prize at this year’s Investors Circle in Cannes. Producers Alexander Glehr and Johanna Scherz of Film Ag Produktions received the 20,000 euro ($22,000) award during a private pitching session that capped the third edition of the Marché du Film’s curated investment platform.

I’m surprised in the most positive way,” said Kreutzer, about her win. “Filmmaking is a really big mountain, and what happens before the premiere — to get a film made — is a very long climb. So we really need people who want to support cinema and have love for cinema — that’s why meeting investors is extremely important. I had great conversations with these investors so far. The script has sparked their interest, and they’re eager to learn more about the project.”

Held at the Plage des Palmes during the 78th Cannes Film Festival,...

Several decades ago, Luc Besson had a dream: to build a world-standard studio complex in Paris which could rival the U.K.’s Pinewood. He wanted to attract iconic international shoots and stop big Hollywood movies from filming all locations in France and then moving to London or back to the U.S. to shoot interiors.

Besson opened La Cité du Cinéma in 2012, housing the 102,000 square foot Les Studios de Paris, the largest sound stage complex in the Paris area, boasting a stunning Cathedral style nave entrance.

On Friday, as part of Variety’s Global Conversations Summit at Cannes, Brigitte Segal, head of Les Studios de Paris, and John Bernard, doyen of France’s line-producers, doubled down on how far Les Studios de Paris and France at large are near to Besson’s dream, buoyed by indirect knock-on consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

When he...

Kristen Stewart is issuing a PSA.

“Stay vigilant, and look alive,” she urges her fellow Hollywood creatives. The 35-year-old, a longtime icon of the screen thanks to her starring role as Bella Swan in the era-defining vampire franchise Twilight, admits that the industry is in a dark place.

“[Trump‘s] shadow is bleak. You could almost say opaque,” Stewart tells The Hollywood Reporter in one of her first interviews as a filmmaker. “I think we’re all looking over our shoulders going, ‘Holy shit.’ The slippage is just terrifying.”

Perhaps no one is more qualified to talk on the downfall of the movie biz. Through her 20-plus years as a film star, Stewart has grown into a self-assured and cool-as-a-cucumber celebrity. She departed from mainstream productions after an appearance in the twisted Disney adaptation Snow White and the Huntsman in 2012, instead opting for indie sets like Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopper (2016) and his...

Exclusive: FilmNation Entertainment has appointed former Amazon, Sony and Fox vet Laine Kline as its General Counsel and Head of Business and Legal Affairs.

Kline will oversee all business and legal matters for FilmNation’s film, TV, podcast, and theatre business, as well as FilmNation’s genre label Infrared. FilmNation’s 15-year Gc Alison Cohen recently left to join Neon.

As we revealed, Kline exited his role as Head of Production for Amazon MGM International Originals at the end of last year. During his tenure, the division worked on local-language scripted and unscripted series and movies spanning 22 countries. Before his tenure at Amazon, Kline was EVP, Head of International Production at Sony Pictures International Productions. He also served as SVP of Business Affairs at Fox International and EVP of Business and Legal Affairs at TWC.

Recent FilmNation productions include Sean Baker’s awards hit Anora, starring Mikey Madison, which won...

István Szabó is bringing some “Sunshine” to Cannes Classics.

His 1999 historical epic, starring Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, John Neville and Jennifer Ehle, followed generations of a Hungarian-Jewish family until the mid-20th century. No stranger to Cannes thanks to award-winning “Mephisto” (which also picked up an Academy Award) and “Colonel Redl,” Szabó wrote the script with Israel Horovitz.

The full 4K digital restoration of the film was “prepared especially for Cannes,” reveals Nfi’s Filmlab director Viktória Sovák.

“The frames of the 181-minute-long film were partially corrupted and dotted with large white spots. During color grading, carried out with [the film’s original] cinematographer Lajos Koltai, the opportunity arose to make minor adjustments to the digital material that were not possible at the time it was shot. His greatest pleasure came with being able to bring out even the most minute details, which was impossible in the analogue era.”

Overall, Szabó’s nine feature...

Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie will attend the 78th Cannes Film Festival to serve as the godmother of the 25th edition of the Trophée Chopard.

Jolie will present the trophy to rising stars Marie Colomb and Finn Bennett during a ceremony on Carlton Beach on May 16. The presentation will take place during a dinner co-hosted by Cannes Film Festival president Iris Knobloch, general delegate Thierry Frémaux and Chopard co-president and artistic director Caroline Scheufele.

“I am so happy to welcome Angelina Jolie as our Trophée Chopard Godmother,” stated Scheufele. “Her amazing film career and dedication to making a difference in the world make her an ideal role model. I know the rising talents we honor this year will be inspired by her journey and advice.”

Winner of the best supporting actress Oscar for “Girl, Interrupted,” Jolie was most recently seen in Pablo Larraín’s “Maria,” and stars in Alice Winocour’s upcoming bilingual drama “Couture,...

Mubi has signed a three-year co-production, financing and distribution agreement with Italian production company Our Films.

Through the deal, Mubi will finance a slate of projects produced by Our Films, while Our Films will contribute additional equity investment.

Mubi will distribute the co-produced titles in key territories; and Mubi-owned The Match Factory will handle worldwide sales. The first title in the new partnership will be the next feature from Pawel Pawlikowski.

It is the latest collaboration between Mubi and producer Mieli, after Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Pablo Larrain’s Maria and Luca Guadagnino’s Queer.

Mieli left The Apartment last...

Mubi, the global streamer, producer and distributor behind “The Substance,” has struck a major three-year co-production, financing and distribution agreement with Our Films, the new Rome-based company founded by prominent European producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli.

Our Films, which is part of Mediawan, was launched last year by Gianani and Mieli, and has already become a creative hub for world-class filmmakers from Europe, the U.S. and overseas. Mubi and Our Films share the same passion for artistically ambitious movies that resonate internationally. The agreement also underscores Mediawan’s drive to further strengthen their status as a leading prestige European film studio.

The first film to emerge from this strategic alliance will be the next feature from Paweł Pawlikowski, the Oscar-winning director of “Ida” and “Cold War.”

Mieli previously successfully collaborated with Mubi on three high-profile films: Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” starring Cailee Spaeny; Pablo Larraín’s “Maria,” starring...

The Diplomat, Conclave & More Latest Ott Releases This Week ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

As always, this week, Netflix leads the pack with six new titles, including a Tamil mass action film starring Ajith and a Bollywood thriller featuring John Abraham. Also premiering is the final season of a celestial family drama. Over on ZEE5, there’s a Bengali vigilante action thriller, while Prime Video offers two new releases, one centered on the selection of a new Pope. Scroll down to discover the names of new releases on Ott this week.

Netflix Good Bad Ugly (Tamil) Release Date: May 8, 2025

Good Bad Ugly, directed by Adhik Ravichandran and starring Ajith Kumar, follows a reformed gangster who tries to escape his violent past but is drawn back into it for the sake of his son.

The Diplomat (Hindi) Release Date: May 9, 2025

Directed by Shivam Nair, this political thriller stars John Abraham as an Indian diplomat posted in Pakistan.

Exclusive: Oscar winner Angelina Jolie is set to star in the feature adaptation of hit Scandi novel Anxious People for A Man Called Otto and World War Z director Marc Forster.

Based on A Man Called Ove author Fredrik Backman’s novel, the film is being launched ahead of the Cannes market by Black Bear and Hope Studios with the former handling international sales and WME Independent handling domestic.

The uplifting comedy, set on the day before Christmas Eve, sees investment banker Zara (Jolie) begrudgingly find herself mingling with a group of strangers at an open house. When a reluctant bank robber inadvertently takes the group hostage, chaos and oversharing ensues, secrets are revealed and literally nothing goes according to plan. The movie is described as being “about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find...

Angelina Jolie As Maria Callas In Biopic(Photo Credit –Facebook)

Angelina Jolie is back with a role that veers away from her action-packed filmography — this time as Maria Callas, one of the most revered opera singers of the 20th century. Maria, a biographical drama set against the melancholic elegance of 1970s Paris, premieres exclusively on Lionsgate Play in India on May 9.

Directed by Pablo Larraín, the film traces the turbulent final years of Callas’ life, offering glimpses into her private struggles and the intense pressures that came with global fame. Known as La Divina, Callas was celebrated and scrutinized — a woman whose voice and persona captivated audiences but whose personal battles often stayed behind the curtain.

In this rare comeback role, Jolie embodies Callas with a restraint that speaks volumes. The film avoids showy melodrama, instead painting a quieter, more intimate portrait of the soprano shaped by loneliness, failing health,...

Stephen King has only occasionally written film or television adaptations of his own stories, including the 1989 "Pet Sematary" movie, the 1994 miniseries version of "The Stand," and the 2016 film "Cell" (which is King's lowest rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes). Be that as it may, King was adamant that only he would be allowed to adapt "Lisey's Story" for the small screen.

"Lisey's Story" is one of King's most unique books. It's not a horror tale as you would traditionally expect from King, but it is suspenseful. It's mainly a love story that spans decades of marriage between Lisey and Scott Landon: the petty fights, the romantic moments, the "Alice in Wonderland"-style language the couple invents, and the difficulties of sharing a life with a famous creative.

After his death, Lisey is left to sort through her husband's study. There, she comes across the nostalgic objects of their shared memories and his unfinished writing.

South Korean crime thriller Yadang: The Snitch took the top spot at the South Korea box office on its opening weekend (April 18-20), ending The Match’s short reign and accounting for nearly 70% of all tickets sold.

Released on April 16, Yadang: The Snitch took $4.11m from 608,149 admissions across 1,832 screens, according to Kobis, the Korean Film Council’s box office tracking service. Its cumulative gross stands at $5.26m from 786,077 total admissions.

Directed by Hwang Byung-gook, the story revolves around the intertwined ambitions of a drug broker played Kang Ha-neul of Netflix hit Squid Game, a prosecutor played by Yoo Hae-jin from box office hit Exhuma,...

FilmNation Entertainment has boarded “La Ola (The Wave),” a musical about the 2018 student feminist protests in Chile directed by Sebastián Lelio. The company is launching worldwide sales outside of Latin America at Cannes, where the film will premiere in the Cannes Premieres section.

Lelio won the Oscar for best international feature for “A Fantastic Woman.” His other credits include both the Chilean film “Gloria” and its English-language remake “Gloria Bell,” as well as “Disobedience” and “The Wonder.”

“La Ola” stars newcomers Daniela López, Avril Aurora, Lola Bravo and Paulina Cortés. It is produced by Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue and Lelio. Fabula also produced the movie, which is co-financed by Participant and Fremantle. The screenplay was written by Lelio, Manuela Infante, Josefina Fernández and Paloma Salas. “La Ola” was shot on location in Chile over nine weeks.

The film follows Julia, a music student drawn into the...

For actress Kristen Stewart, starring in "Twilight" has been both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, the worldwide popularity of the five-film vampire series helped to make Stewart one of the most recognizable actresses on the planet. Unfortunately, with that fame came the tabloids, and before long, Stewart became better known for being in gossip magazines than for her considerable skills as an actress, seemingly destined to be tagged forever as "that girl from 'Twilight.'" Fortunately, a number of international directors such as Olivier Assayas and Pablo Larrain came to the rescue, looking past the gossip to see the potential and creating roles for Stewart that were finally worthy of her talents.

Stewart's filmography encompasses a wide range of genres, from biopics and mother/daughter dramas ("Still Alice") to romantic comedies and nail-biting thrillers ("Panic Room"). While she has inhabited a wide variety of characters,...

Exclusive: Ahead of the April 4th theatrical release of his latest film, The Luckiest Man in America, Samir Oliveros — writer, director, producer, and co-founder of filmmaking collective Plenty Good — has signed with Cinetic Media for management.

A Colombia-born, U.S.-based talent who has leveraged partnerships at home in Latin America to create film and television for global audiences, Olivero’s Luckiest Man is a starry Colombia-based production that sold to IFC Films and Sapan Studio after premiering at TIFF 2024, in one of the few deals of the festival. The stranger-than-fiction story, based on true events, follows an unemployed ice cream truck driver who, in 1984, drives from Ohio to California to become a contestant on the popular game show Press Your Luck and goes on an unprecedented winning streak, all while keeping a big secret.

The project features a stacked cast led by Paul Walter Hauser, which also includes David Strathairn,...

Exclusive: Pablo Larraín’s Maria has become the Chilean filmmaker’s highest grossing movie at the international box office. With $23.3M from 54 overseas markets, the Angelina Jolie-starrer this week overtook both Spencer ($17.8M) and Jackie ($23M) outside of North America. Maria is still in release in multiple markets with Korea, Lithuania and Norway on deck, among others. Fremantle fully financed and FilmNation handled worldwide sales on the Maria Callas biopic.

Maria is the third film in Larraín’s English-language triptych exploring iconic female protagonists, following 2016’s Jackie and 2021’s Spencer. It reimagines American-Greek soprano Callas in her final days as she reckons with her identity and life.

The Steven Knight-scripted drama had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival last September, with Italy ultimately becoming the movie’s top offshore market to date. The gross there, where Rai distributes, is $3.32M.

Via Studiocanal, Germany is the second biggest market with $3.1M.

Exclusive: Mariana di Girolamo, Oscar nominee Tom Waits, Ailín Salas and Paola Giannini are boarding Martin McDonagh’s massive ensemble for Wild Horse Nine, opposite previously announced Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich, Parker Posey and Steve Buscemi.

The dark comedic drama, which we first told you about, reunites McDonagh with Searchlight Pictures, Blueprint Pictures, and Film4, following their recent collaboration on 9x Academy Award nominated The Banshees of Inisherin, with Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Anita Overland producing.

Chilean film, theatre and television actress di Girolamo starred in Pablo Larraín’s critically acclaimed Ema opposite Gael García Bernal, which gained her international recognition, as well as Kill The Jockey which premiered in Official Competition at the Venice Film Festival. She previously appeared in television series such as La Jauría and El Reino.

Waits reteams with McDonagh and Rockwell following their collaboration on Seven Psychopaths. His previous film credits also include Licorice Pizza,...

Earning his first ASC award for “Maria” last month, it seems cinematographer Ed Lachman now feels emboldened to bemoan current trends in film imagery. Though most movies no longer shoot on traditional film stock, many still seek out the grainy appeal in the final edit, a fact Lachman has come to detest. Still prone to work with film, as he did on Pablo Larraín’s “Maria,” he also knows the challenges of processing that film by digital means.

Speaking with fellow Dp Roger Deakins during a recent episode of the “Team Deakins” podcast, Lachman explained how he prefers to use “color temperature and gels” in-camera to replicate film when working with digital, but most others only manipulate the image in post.

“This whole idea of shooting wide open, with no depth of field, so everything’s mush in the front or the back, they think that gives them the film look,...