News

Warner Bros Discovery’s Turkish content chief Deniz Şaşmaz Oflaz has confirmed Max will launch in Turkey.

The international streamer will replace Wbd’s existing service, BluTV, which is acquired in full last year. During a panel at Content London, Oflaz revealed the switchover would happen in spring 2025 said her team was “working heavily on the changes.”

The BluTV team will begin informing local subscribers about the changes in coming weeks, with the new-look services combining existing originals and acquisitions, with Max’s library of Warner Bros movies, DC Universe shows, HBO content and more from the kids and docs genres.

The switch had been heavily suspected since the BluTV acquisition. Wbd said details on launch date and pricing would follow “closer to launch.” BluTV had launched in 2016 and five years later struck an agreement to carry Discovery+, with Wbd predecessor Discovery buying 35% of the streamer in the process. Wbd...

Rolling off the streaming debut of its first French original series “The Confidante” and docu “Breaking the Bank,” Max announced two new French shows, and a Spring launch in Turkey during a panel discussion at Content London.

In Turkey, Max will bring together BluTV, a local SVOD service which it acquired last year, with HBO Originals, as well returning seasons of BluTV’s beloved local productions, Türkiye streaming originals, Warner Bros. movies, DC Universe, and true crime and documentaries.

Max is already present in 74 markets with over 110 million subscribers. The streamer will bow in “three of the biggest European markets coming in 2026,” the company said.

The inaugural slate of the service in Turkey will include “Prince” season 3 and “Magarsus” season 2. It will also include “The First Gokturk,” a fantasy anthology weaving Turkish and nomadic history, created by Alper Çağlar.

Deniz Şaşmaz Oflaz, Wbd’s VP of local original productions, local...

Franchise animation Kung Fu Panda 4 and creature clash Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire lead a bumper weekend of 16 new films at the UK-Ireland box office.

Universal’s Kung Fu Panda 4 has the biggest opening of the weekend in 715 sites – a significant jump for the series, after 2008’s Kung Fu Panda (448) and sequels in 2011 (514) and 2016 (585), all through Paramount.

Conversely, the total grosses of each film have dropped, with the first title making £20.4m, followed by £17m and £14.2m for the sequels. All of these were pre-pandemic; number four will look to cross the £10m mark before challenging any of those totals.

Call My Agent’s Laure Calamy stars as a scheming factory worker with designs on a mega-rich fortune in this classy feast of backstabbing, double cross and venal greed

Succession meets Knives Out in this comedy-thriller directed by Sébastien Marnier in what is an extremely French comic style: tongue-in-cheek, a little frothy, tiptoeing close to camp. It stars Call My Agent’s brilliant Laure Calamy as a scheming factory worker who wheedles her way into a dysfunctional mega-rich family. Calamy is often cast as likable, relatable women but here she does a very convincing Isabelle Huppert (circa her Claude Chabrol years); there’s something a bit off about her character from the start, possibly even unhinged.

Calamy is Stéphane – at least that’s what she calls herself. Bored of her job on the production line at a fish factory, and broke, out of the blue she calls her father, a self-made hotel and restaurant tycoon.

Samuel Theis, who played the husband of Sandra Hüller’s character in Justine Triet’s Golden Globe-winning film “Anatomy of a Fall,” was ousted from the shoot of his third directorial outing, “Je te jure,” after being accused of rape by a crew member, Variety has confirmed. For the remainder of production, Theis remained on location but directed the film remotely.

The alleged sexual assault took place halfway through the shoot, in the aftermath of a party held at an apartment with the cast and crew on July 1, according to the French newspaper Liberation. The crew member spent the night in the flat where the party was held due to his state of inebriation and alleged he was raped by Theis in the early morning hours. The filmmaker, meanwhile, has argued that it was consensual, according to Liberation.

Shortly after, the crew member decided to leave the shoot. “Je te...

Saltburn is a slow-burn mystery that combines black comedy and psychological drama, providing an unforgettable thrill ride — much like The Origin of Evil. The unique and unsettling atmosphere of Saltburn's titular estate adds to the film's suspenseful atmosphere, and is reminiscent of The Origin of Evil's setting. The Origin of Evil shares other similarities with Saltburn, offering shocking revelations, dark humor, and a story centered on obsession and deception.

This severely underrated slow-burn mystery from 2022 is perfect for Saltburn fans who are looking for their next psychological thriller. Written and directed by Emerald Fennell, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind 2020's divisive Promising Young Woman, Saltburn combines elements of black comedy and psychological drama to create an unrelenting, unforgettable thrill ride. In the film, Barry Keoghan stars as Oliver Quick, an Oxford University student who becomes obsessed with his classmate, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). Both wealthy and popular, Felix is intrigued by Oliver,...

A femme fatale is in the business of fooling people, though we’ve seen enough of these characters to be overly familiar with their tricks. Maybe that’s why, in 2023, the most effective femme fatale is one who can fool the audience. Take Stéphane (Laure Calamy), the desperate young woman at the center of the delectable French family thriller “The Origin of Evil.” The film’s rather abstract title could refer to several things, but the most accurate is probably the cliché that first leaps to mind: Money is the root of all evil. For money — what it can and cannot do, and what people will do to get it — is the film’s theme, and the toxic life force that courses through it.

When we meet Stéphane, she’s in the women’s locker room of the fish plant she works at on an assembly line; her job consists...

Self-destructive characters who grift and deceive are ever the province of French filmmakers, from Claude Chabrol to “Tell No One” director Guillaume Canet. In Sébastien Marnier’s sinister and sly domestic thriller “The Origin of Evil,” Laure Calamy plays a woman whose lies can’t stop falling out of her mouth. Calamy is one of the MVPs of the French show business satire “Call My Agent!,” in which she plays a flustered assistant at a fictional talent agency run by ridiculous people. In “The Origin of Evil,” Calamy gives an unsettling performance as Stéphane, a grifter crawling out of a busted relationship and a toxic job at a cannery and into the life of a wealthy man, Serge, played by Jacques Weber. She contacts him out of the blue and insists she’s his long-lost daughter, and the two form a parasitic relationship that recalls the uneasy power dynamics of...

A wealthy patriarch in a lavish seaside villa. A gaudy wife. His suspicious daughter and her angsty teenage daughter. An intimidating maid. It all may be too much to bear for modest Stéphane (Laure Calamy of Call My Agent). But maybe not. After decades of separation, she’s tracked down her long-lost and aging father and desperately wants in. He’s built a family, after all. An incredibly dysfunctional one at that, but a family nonetheless. It’s something Stéphane has longed for her entire life. Why not have a go of it? And so it goes in director Sébastien Marnier’s thrilling dark French comedy, The Origin of Evil.

Don’t be fooled by the title, which suggests a supernatural demon emerging out of the ethers in some creepy horror movie. This is not that kind of film. Although it is, if you look at the movie metaphorically. The...

Stop Making Sense, the remastered concert film that sowed delight at TIFF, opens on 300 Imax screens in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Ireland. Locations Stateside number 260 ahead of a nationwide release next week.

The 1984 Talking Heads extravaganza from Jonathan Demme is presented in its new iteration by A24 — meaning the decades-old movie can now extend its reach to a new, younger audience that is A24’s core fan base. Opening numbers are hard to gauge since there aren’t many comps but there are parties, discos, stars and sellouts with film looking at about $1.5 million, including Thursday previews.

A 40th anniversary large-format special premiere screening at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month had people dancing in the aisles and broke Imax records. It was the company’s highest grossing live event, earning $640.8k and selling out 25 screens across 165 Imax locations in North America and the BFI Imax in London.

There have always been richly rewarding films that critique the wealthy and nuclear family politics, but the past decade has seen this specific type of film explode in popularity and acclaim. From the Oscar-winning Parasite to the Palme d'Or-winning Triangle of Sadness, some of the most critically revered movies of recent years have skewered the wealthy elite. This has crossed over into the mainstream as well, with popular flicks like The Menu and Bodies Bodies Bodies joining the pedigree of great satires against the rich. One of the latest additions to this glorious trend is the new comedic thriller from France, The Origin of Evil, and we have an exclusive clip you can watch below. In it, you see the economic and class tensions within a family that's literally split apart.

The Origin of Evil is a darkly entertaining thriller from queer writer and director Sébastien Marnier. The movie debuted...

The Origin of Evil is a satirical thriller that explores themes of family, patriarchy, and deception in a tense household. Stéphane's revelation as Serge's long-lost daughter disrupts his wealthy family and their lives in a seaside mansion. The film received praise for its twisty, subversive narrative and is set to captivate audiences with its dark comedy and thought-provoking themes.

Sebastien Marnier, the acclaimed director behind School’s Out and Faultless, has come up with a new satirical thriller that delves into themes of family, patriarchy, and deception. The Origin of Evil stars Laure Calamy as Stéphane, a woman who reconnects with her supposedly estranged father, Serge, played by Jacques Weber, as he approaches the end of his life. Following its premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, the film went on to win the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at Frameline47.

Per IndieWire, the plot revolves around Stéphane, who announces...

If you’ve watched “Succession” or “Knives Out,” you know that families can go a little crazy when large estates are left on the table. That’s definitely the case in the new film, “The Origin of Evil.”

Read More: ‘Medusa Deluxe’ Review: Energetic Hairdresser Murder Mystery Mainly Coasts on Vibes

As seen in the trailer for “The Origin of Evil,” the film follows the story of a woman who reconnects with her estranged father, who happens to be extremely wealthy.

Continue reading ‘The Origin Of Evil’ Trailer: Laure Calamy Stars In Sébastien Marnier’s Twisted Satire at The Playlist.

"Those two women will steal all my money." IFC Films has revealed an official US trailer for an extra dark wealthy family satire from France titled The Origin of Evil, made by filmmaker Sébastien Marnier. This first premiered at last year's Venice Film Festival, with stops at TIFF and London as well. It also won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at Frameline47. A woman is sucked into a world of secrets and betrayal as the battle over her estranged father's massive estate soon reveals him to be more than the genial patriarch she'd assumed in this twisted satire. Described as a "wildly entertaining thriller that will keep you guessing all the way to the end." Starring Laure Calamy (of Call My Agent! and Full Time) as Nathalie, with Doria Tillier, Dominique Blanc, Jacques Weber, Suzanne Clément, Céleste Brunnquell, and Véronique Ruggia Saura. The twisty, subversive film will release...

A long-lost daughter or an impostor looking for a cash-grab?

Laure Calamy stars as an elusive family member in Sebastien Marnier’s satirical thriller “The Origin of Evil,” where she reconnects with her alleged father as he nears his deathbed. “The Origin of Evil” premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, and went on to screen at TIFF, BFI, and Frameline47, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature.

The official synopsis reads: When Stéphane (Calamy) gets in touch with wealthy Serge (Jacques Weber), announcing that she is his long-abandoned daughter, his immediate family are none too thrilled. As Stéphane embarks on an extended visit in hopes of getting to know Serge, she also becomes entangled with the hostile women who share a tense existence in his beautifully appointed mansion by the sea: the restaurateur’s wife (Dominique Blanc), his other daughter (Doria Tillier), a rebellious granddaughter (Céleste Brunnquell), and a strangely off-putting housemaid,...

Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival concluded its 47th iteration on Saturday, June 24, with a screening of Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music, directed by Oscar-winning duo Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (The Celluloid Closet). The documentary feature about the titular performer’s singular spectacle was preceded by the Festival’s annual Award Ceremony, which reaffirmed the dynamic future of queer cinema.

This year, the 11-day Festival ran from June 14–24, 2023, with events held in theaters across San Francisco, including the historic Castro Theatre, located in the heart of the city’s LGBTQ+ cultural district, and the Roxie Theater, Frameline’s longest-running partner theater. Frameline47 also returned to Oakland this year, featuring the Festival’s first-ever Oakland Opening Night (Jac Cron’s Chestnut) and Centerpiece (Hannah Pearl Utt’s Cora Bora) films, both of which screened at The New Parkway Theater. With a full slate of upwards of 90 in-person screenings and programs,...

Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center have unveiled the lineup for the 28th edition of Rendez-Vous With French Cinema, an annual celebration of contemporary French filmmaking. The event will take place March 2–12.

It kicks off with a screening of Alice Winocour’s “Revoir Paris,” which stars Virginie Efira as a translator named Mia, who survived a mass shooting in a Paris restaurant and is unable to resume life as usual. In an effort to regain a sense of normalcy, Mia returns repeatedly to the site of the shooting, forming bonds with her fellow survivors. Efira is best known for her star turn in Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta.”

“It is a such a pleasure to open this year’s edition with the French critical and box-office hit ‘Revoir Paris’ in the presence of director Alice Winocour and actress Virginie Efira, who just received our French Cinema Award in Paris,” said Daniela Elstner,...

Marion Cotillard stars with Alex Brendemühl and Louis Garrel in Nicole Garcia's From The Land Of The Moon (Mal De Pierres) Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

New York's Rendez-Vous with French Cinema opens with Étienne Comar’s biopic Django, starring Reda Kateb (Wim Wender's Les Beaux Jours d'Aranjuez) as Django Reinhardt with Cécile de France (Catherine Corsini's Summertime) and closes with Jérôme Salle’s The Odyssey (L'Odyssée) starring Lambert Wilson as Jacques Cousteau with Audrey Tautou and Pierre Niney (Jalil Lespert's Yves Saint Laurent).

Emmanuelle Bercot, Stéphanie Di Giusto, Caroline Deruas, Sébastien Marnier, Marina Foïs, François Ozon, Nicole Garcia, Katell Quillévéré, Justine Triet, Rebecca Zlotowski, Marc Fitoussi, Bertrand Bonello, Julia Ducournau, Christophe Honoré, Antonin Peretjatko, and Martin Wheeler are expected to attend.

La Danseuse (Soko, Lily-Rose Depp, Gaspard Ulliel, Mélanie Thierry); Nocturama (Finnegan Oldfield); Frantz (Paula Beer, Niney), and From The Land Of The Moon (Mal De Pierres - Marion Cotillard,...

Exclusive: French company also unveils first deals on Jean-Claude Brisseau’s erotic 3D drama Tempting Devils.

Paris-based genre specialist WTFilms has taken on international sales of mainstream, same-sex romantic comedy Kiss Me! (Embrasse Moi!) in which the protagonist falls for a woman with 76 ex-girlfriends and a crazy family.

The company will kick-off sales on the title, which is in post-production, at the Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema this week.

French stand-up comedian Océanerosemarie – best known for her one woman show La Lesbienne Invisible – makes her directorial and big screen debut in the film.

She plays a happy-go-lucky osteopath who falls for the beautiful Cécile, an artist who has taken a personal vow of celibacy after a series of failed relationships.

Alice Pol plays Cécile. The actress’s other recent credits include Dany Boon’s latest comedy Raid Special Unit (Raid Dingue) in which she co-stars as a hopeless special police force recruit. That film is...

Guests attending this year to include Bernardo Bertolucci, Don DeLillo, Ralph Fiennes.Scroll down for full line-up

The Rome Film Festival (Oct 13-23) has revealed its line-up for 2016.

The festival will present 44 films and documentaries in its official programme, selected from 26 countries.

Rome will open with Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, which premiered in Toronto.

Further titles in the Official Selection include Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant [pictured], starring Ben Affleck and Anna Kendrick, Nate Parker’s The Birth Of A Nation, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea, and Oliver Stone’s Snowden.

The festival’s previously announced Alice In The City line-up will include John Carney’s Sing Street and Matt Ross’s Captain Fantastic.

The Everybody’s Talking About It strand, which highlights films that has generated exceptional buzz following their international debuts, will showcase Yeon Sang-ho’s Train To Busan, Michael Grandage’s Genius, David Mackenzie’s Hell Or High Water, and [link=nm...

What do men know about women? According to Faultless (original title: Irréprochable), some women are beyond understanding. Directed by Sébastien Marnier, the film follows Constance (Marina Foïs) as she slinks back to her hometown in rural France after losing her job as a real estate agent in Paris. She presents a self-confident, brassy attitude as she begins looking up her old friends, only to be met with universal scorn for daring to show her face again. It seems that she did not depart on the best of terms with anyone, not only burning her bridges but throwing the ashes on the faces of her former workmates and lovers. Constance is a firm, determined woman, entering middle age without any real prospects. She tells everyone that...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Although it may be hard to believe, summer is picking up speed and heading towards fall and the beginning of Fantastic Fest, taking place September 22nd–29th in Austin, Texas. The first wave of programming for the always entertaining festival has been revealed, and horror fans already have one big event to look forward to, as Don Coscarelli, David Hartman, and several original Phantasm cast members will be on hand for the world premiere of Phantasm: Ravager, along with a special showing of Phantasm: Remastered.

Press Release:Austin, TX – Tuesday, August 2, 2016 – Fantastic Fest announces its first wave of programming for its 12th annual celebration of genre-twisting cinema. This year’s festival sees Tim Burton make a triumphant return for a most peculiar red carpet screening of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children; the World Premiere of Phantasm: Ravager; an Art House Theater Day special screening of Phantasm: Remastered...

Today, Fantastic Fest, in association with Alamo Drafthouse, has announced the first wave of programming for its 12th annual celebration of the wild, wonderful, and peculiar in genre-twisting cinema. This year’s festival features a delightful array of films and guests, including Tim Burton for a red carpet screening of “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children,” a special screening of “Phantasm: Remastered” with director Don Coscarelli and cast in attendance, and Andrea Arnold’s “American Honey,” with star and Texas native Sasha Lane hosting the event.

Read More: 5 Reasons Fantastic Fest Deserves Your Respect

This year’s festival has chosen South Asia for its annual theme, embracing the glorious wonders of Indian cinema. A block of new and repertory Indian features have been carefully programmed to showcase the creative world of the second most populous country. Included is the director’s cut of Anurag Kashyareap’s “Psycho Raman,...