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Korean drama Doubt and Spanish comedy Celeste were the big winners at the inaugural Italian Global Series Festival’s Maximo Awards last night.

Held under the stars at an outdoor closing ceremony in Riccione, Italy, the awards brought together shows and stars from around the world following a week of screenings and talks.

Mbc drama Doubt, written by Han Ah-Young and starring Han Suk-Kyu, Chae Won-Bin, Han Ye-Ri, Roh Jae-Won, Yoon Kyung-Ho and Oh Yeon-Soo, took home the Best Series – International Competition, Drama award. Han Suk-kyu also won Best Actor in the drama competition.

Movistar Plus+ Spanish comedy thriller Celeste, from Diego San Josè and starring Carmen Machi, Andrea Bayardo, Manolo Solo and Clara Sansa, won Best Series – International Competition, Comedy. Marchi also won Best Actress in the comedy competition.

Ukrainian war drama The Train was awarded Best Series – International Competition, Limited Series.

Igsf is an updated incarnation of the Roma Fiction Fest,...

South Korean psychological thriller “Doubt,” written by Han Ah-Young, won the top international drama series prize at the inaugural edition of the Italian Global Series Festival on Saturday at the Arena Ceccarini in Riccione, Italy.

Han Suk-Kyu won the best actor in a drama series prize for the show, which is about a renowned profiler torn between love and suspicion as he investigates a murder linked to his psychopathic daughter.

Lisa Mulcahy won best director of a drama series for the U.K. show “The Assassin,” while the best actress in a drama series prize went to Phyllis Logan for “The Puzzle Lady.”

The drama jury was led by director Cristina Comencini.

Spain’s “Celeste,” written by Diego San José, took the best international comedy series award while best actress in a comedy series was handed to the show’s Carmen Marchi.

Other prizes in the comedy category included best director,...

France TV Distribution has boarded worldwide rights on a pair of documentary features, “Nuremberg, the Trial of the Century” and “Egypt Decoded: Raiders of the Lost Pharaohs,” in the run up to Sunny Side of the Doc festival in La Rochelle, France.

“Nuremberg, the Trial of the Century,” produced by Banijay-owned Km and Dreamtime, follows over 350 of journalists, writers, and filmmakers who followed the prosecution of 21 high-ranking Nazi officials in November 1945. The docu will show how iconic figures such as Ray D’Addario, John Dos Passos, Martha Gellhorn, Joseph Kessel et Elsa Triolet gathered at the Faber-Castell Castle, which served as press camp during the Nuremberg Trials, to document and report on the horrors of the Holocaust for a year and a half. Over that period, there were debates, friendships, romances and political engagements that unfolded.

(Copyright: Ray d’Addario)

(Copyright: Ray d’Addario)

“Egypt Decoded: Raiders of the Lost Pharaohs,...

“The Party’s Over” is a mostly entertaining satire that follows the escalating conflict between an entitled rich couple, the Trousselards, and the Azizis, the husband and wife they employ (off the books and at less than market rates) to look after their luxurious holiday home. Both families have young adult daughters, near in age, albeit not in circumstance. Compared to a similarly-themed film such as “Parasite,” it lacks the sharpness of plot and empathetic characters that would make it truly memorable. Nonetheless, the piece has a number of things going for it: top actors obviously relishing their roles, some amusing dialogue, a lovely villa location in the south of France and an attractive musical score by Clémence Ducreux that sounds both serious and mocking. Festivals and screening platforms rep the most likely venues outside of French-speaking countries to host the “Party.”

Snobbish, self-important Philippe, a lawyer given to throwing obscure...

Directors’ Fortnight has unveiled the selection for its 57th edition running May 14-24 which is heavy on first-time filmmakers and established auteurs including Robin Campillo, Lee Sang-il and Christian Petzold.

Artistic director Julien Rejl revealed the lineup at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday (April 15) for the Cannes parallel section run by French directors guild the Srf.

Scroll down for the full selection

The sidebar will open with Enzo, co-directed by the late Laurent Cantet and Robin Campillo. After Cantet died last year, his longtime friend and collaborator Campillo stepped in to direct the film set and filmed in...

Directors’ Fortnight, the independent selection running alongside the Cannes Film Festival, has unveiled an eclectic lineup for its 57th edition, which will showcase Christian Petzold’s “Miroirs No.3,” Eva Victor’s “Sorry, Baby,” Robin Campillo’s “Enzo” and Lloyd Lee Choi’s “Lucky Lu.”

Curated by Julien Rejl, Directors’ Fortnight will open with “Enzo,” a film directed by Robin Campillo (“Bpm Beats Per Minute).” Campillo stepped in at the helm after Laurent Cantet, his longtime friend and collaborator, died in April. Cantet and Campillo had previously collaborated on the script of the Palme d’Or-winning “The Class.”

Produced by Marie-Ange Luciani (“Anatomy of a Fall”) at Les Films de Pierre, “Enzo” is set in Marseille and follows the journey of a young apprentice mason, Enzo, who befriends a Ukrainian colleague who gives him a glimpse of a new horizon. The film stars newcomers Eloy Pohu and Maksym Slivinskyi, alongside Élodie Bouchez and Pierfrancesco Favino.

Directors’ Fortnight will open its 57th edition next month with Enzo, written and developed by late Cannes d’Or winner Laurent Cantet before his death last April and directed by friend and collaborator Robin Campillo.

The film is among 18 features announced Tuesday for the 2025 lineup of the Cannes Film Festival parallel section — overseen by the French Directors Guild (Société des Réalisateurs de Films) — at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday.

Big-screen debutant Eloy Pohu stars as the 16-year-old protagonist Enzo, who defies his bourgeois family’s expectations by starting a masonry apprenticeship, which brings him into contact with charismatic Ukrainian workmate Vlad (Maksym Slivinskyi). Elodie Bouchez and Pierfrancesco Favino also feature in the cast.

“It’s a magnificent tale of adolescence focused on the character of an elusive young man,” said Directors’ Fortnight artistic director Julien Rejl. “It’s a film that moved us deeply, and I felt there...

The makers of Prime Video’s French hit show “Cult”(pictured) and Max’s first French original “A Devoted Friend,” Banijay’s Screenline Productions and Studiofact Stories are partnering up on “The Kiabi Scammer,” another show based on a true story.

The series, which is produced in partnership with the French newspaper Le Parisien, is inspired by their bombshell investigation published last October and revolving around the story Aurélie B, a woman-next-door who embezzled more than 100 million euros while working as a financial director for the brand Kiabi for more than ten years. The probe revealed how Aurélie exploited the flaws in the financial systems and was ultimately arrested by police last August. The case is still ongoing.

“Cult,” produced by Screenline and 27 Tribe for Prime Video, was inspired by the real-life events of “Loft Story,” the French adaptation of “Big Brother” which marked the country’s first reality show...

Caroline Vignal’s It’s Raining Men follows Iris (Laure Calamy), a Parisian dentist whose stagnant marriage propels her into a whirlwind of app-driven dalliances, blending cheeky humor with poignant introspection.

The film’s premise—middle-aged desire clashing with marital complacency—echoes the French tradition of treating infidelity as a nuanced exploration of human complexity rather than a moral failing. Vignal situates this tale within a cultural landscape where Anglo-American audiences might demand judgment, yet here, the focus remains on Iris’s liberation.

The script nods to classics like Breathless in its breezy defiance of narrative rigidity, though Vignal swaps Godard’s frenetic jump cuts for lush, surreal detours, such as a spontaneous musical sequence set to the titular anthem.

This juxtaposition of grounded realism and whimsical escapism mirrors France’s ambivalence toward tradition and modernity—a tension as relevant in today’s #MeToo era as it was in the heyday of the Nouvelle Vague.

Fabien Gorgeart’s Rome-set family comedy What Is Love?, starring Laure Calamy and Vincent Macaigne, has sold to key European territories for Ginger and Fed at the EFM.

Distribution deals have been signed with Movies Inspired (Italy), Agora Films (Switzerland), Vertigo Films (Belgium and the Netherlands), Filmladen (Austria), Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais (Portugal), New Cinemas ( Israel) and Prorom Mediatrade.

What Is Love? “a comedy of re-divorce” as Ginger and Fed’s head of sales Sabine Chamely put it, is about a long-divorced couple attempting to annul their Catholic marriage at the Vatican who bring their new families along for a wild...

France posted box-office admissions of 13.8m in January, a slight increase of 0.8% year-on-year. This translates to approximately €100m, based on an average ticket price of €7.24.

The month was powered by continuations of late 2024 US franchise titles, led byMufasa: The Lion King(Disney) that added 1.9 million ticket sales to its nearly 4.5m cumulative andSonic The Hedgehog 3(Paramount) that added 1.1 million admissions to it 2.3m total.

Disney’sMoana 2also added some 900,000 tickets to take its total admissions to nearly 8m.

Gaumont’s dark comedyHow To Make A Killing, starring Laure Calamy, is the highest new release of 2025 with1.1m admissions.

It is...

France posted box-office admissions of 13.8m in January, a slight increase of 0.8% year-on-year. This translates to approximately €100m, based on an average ticket price of €7.24.

The month was powered by continuations of late 2024 US franchise titles, led byMufasa: The Lion King(Disney) that added 1.9 million ticket sales to its nearly 4.5m cumulative andSonic The Hedgehog 3(Paramount) that added 1.1 million admissions to it 2.3m total.

Disney’sMoana 2also added some 900,000 tickets to take its total admissions to nearly 8m.

Gaumont’s dark comedyHow To Make A Killing, starring Laure Calamy, is the highest new release of 2025 with1.1m admissions.

It is...

Laure Calamy, the Cesar prizewinning star of “My Lover, My Donkey & I,” and “The Count of Monte Cristo” actor Laurent Lafitte lead the ensemble cast of “The Party’s Over,” a satirical comedy which has been boarded by France TV Distribution ahead of the EFM.

Directed by Antony Cordier (“Gaspard at the Wedding”) the movie also stars Ramzy Bedia (“Asterix & Obelix : The Middle Kingdom”), Élodie Bouchez (“Beating Hearts”), Sami Outalbali (“A Tale of Love and Desire”) and Noée Abita (“Sink or Swim”).

This film is produced by Cheyenne Federation, a well-established banner whose credits include Julien Leclercq’s remake of “The Wage of Fear” which was a hit on Netflix.

The movie revolves around Mehdi, 25, who is invited to spend a quiet summer with his girlfriend Garance and his in-laws in the south of France, and sees their trip turn into chaos after a conflict breaks out between Garance’s...

Hafsia Herzi’s coming-of-age story La Petite Dernière, about a young woman balancing her faith and family with her ambitions and sexuality, has just wrapped for rising French production outfit June Films; mk2 Films has acquired the buzzy title for international sales.

Newcomer Nadia Melliti stars alongside Return To Seoul’s Park-ji Min with Louis Memmi, Mouna Soualem, and several non-professional actors in an adaptation of Fatima Daas’ novel. It is about the daughter of Algerian immigrants in Paris struggling to reconcile what is expected of her by her family and society and the life she wants for herself.

Awards contenders dominate new releases at UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend as Babygirl, Maria and A Real Pain all launch.

Nicole Kidman returns withBabygirl,which Entertainment Film Distributors is opening in 575 locations. Halina Reijn’s 18-ratederotic drama stars Kidmanas a high-powered CEO who becomes embroiled in an affair with a young intern, played by Harris Dickinson. Further cast include Antonio Banderas and Sophie Wilde.

Other awards contenders with 18-ratings include this year’s Anora, which grossed just shy of £2m for Universal and 2023’s Poor Things, with a £1.6m opening and a £7.1m total run for Disney’s Searchlight.

It’s a common enough problem. Iris (Laure Calamy) loves her husband Stéphane (Vincent Elbaz), but their sex life has completely fizzled out. She has a good life, with a successful career as a dentist, a comfortable home and two daughters who are doing well, but she’s increasingly troubled by the sense that something is missing. One day, when visiting her osteopath, she meets a woman who tells her that having an affair changed everything for her, and tells her about the app that made it easy. It’s an odd little conversation which initially doesn’t seem important, but the idea grows on her, and when she decides to take the plunge, a whole new world opens up to her.

To those of us of a certain age in long term, settled relationships, the dramatic changes that have taken place in the dating landscape over the past 20 years present an unfamiliar landscape.

Universal’s “Nosferatu” made a chilling debut at the U.K. and Ireland box office, securing the overall top spot with £5.2 million ($6.5 million), including previews.

Over the three-day weekend the gothic horror remake, with $3.8 million, was just behind Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King.” The photorealistic animation continued to roar with $4 million in its third week, bringing its total to $25.9 million.

Studiocanal’s “We Live in Time” landed in third place with $3.5 million. Meanwhile, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” from Paramount, last weekend’s chart-topper, dropped to fourth, adding $3.3 million to its total of $23.4 million. Disney’s “Moana 2” continued to show remarkable staying power, rounding out the top five with $2.2 million in its sixth week for a cumulative gross of $47.8 million.

Universal’s “Wicked” held firm in sixth place, earning $2 million in its seventh week, pushing its total to $71.7 million. The family favorite “Paddington in Peru” from Studiocanal slipped to seventh,...

Call My Agent! star brings her light comic touch to a flimsy, sugary but sometimes oddly daring French romcom

The star quality of Laure Calamy has been an open secret since the runaway success of the French TV comedy Dix Pour Cent, bought by Netflix and renamed Call My Agent!, in which she played Noémie, the ditsy assistant to the head of a talent agency. Since then she has appeared in a number of sugary French films of which, sadly, this is another, but her distinctive style and light comic touch elevates it a little.

Calamy is Iris, a dentist married to handsome Stéphane (Vincent Elbaz), with two teen daughters, living in a stylish Paris apartment. But their relationship is now sexless and Iris experiences a midlife crisis, yearning for the sophisticated French sex-comedy equivalent of piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. So Iris downloads a dating app...

The Confidante’s central theme is a spooky look at empathy as a cover for deception. In the aftermath of the 2015 Bataclan terrorist attack, Chris (Laure Calamy), a woman, makes up a connection to the tragedy by saying her best friend is a victim. This is the central plot of the narrative.

This false victimhood not only shows her desperate quest for belonging but also serves as a disturbing commentary on the need for trauma and resilience stories in society. Chris represents the allure of human connection and the darker urges of manipulation by making friends with people who help survivors.

The series builds tension as Chris tries to balance her two lives: she is both a caring friend and a dishonest con artist. In key moments, like when she goes to the hospital to pretend to care for a comatose “friend,” she seems eerily detached from reality. The narrative...

European production and distribution group Federation Studios, which owns more than 30 labels including the UK’s Vertigo Films and Italy’s Fabula Pictures, has formally appointed advisors to explore investment or a sale, according to a report in Screen’s sister title Broadcast.

The Paris-based company has engaged Morgan Stanley to assess its options, with a price tag of around €500m (£417m) believed to have been attached.

Federation employs around 280 staff across Europe and the US, producing and distributing across genres including drama, factual, kids & family, documentaries and film.

Numerous companies have been mooted as potential suitors including All3Media, Peter Chernin...

French sales outfit Ginger & Fed has boarded Fabien Gorgeart’s comedy drama What Is Love? (C’est Quoi l’Amour?) starring Laure Calamy and Vincent Macaigne as a long-divorced couple attempting to annul their Catholic marriage at the Vatican.

Ginger & Fed, the theatrical sales arm of French group Federation run by Sabine Chemaly, will kick off sales for the film at the American Film Market.

Lyes Salem, Melanie Thierry, Celeste Brunnquell and Saül Benchetrit round out the cast of the feature, which is shooting now and produced by Petit Film and Deuxième Lign.

Described by Chemaly as“a comedy...

My Everything tells the moving story of Mona, a devoted single mother caring for her adult son Joël who lives with cognitive disabilities. Directed by Anne-Sophie Bailly and starring the incredible Laure Calamy, this film premiered in the Orizzonti section at the Venice Film Festival.

Mona works tirelessly each day to support Joël, who she has cared for alone since his birth. Her whole life revolves around his needs and well-being. Joël also works at a facility for people with special needs, where he has fallen in love with a coworker named Océane. When they announce she is pregnant, it brings unexpected change and challenges.

As a longtime single parent, Mona struggles with how much autonomy to give Joël to make his own choices. She wonders if they are ready for such a big responsibility as parenthood. Meanwhile, Mona’s own needs and personal life have been long neglected. Through powerful acting and sensitive direction,...

Global sensation “Call My Agent!” is set for a glamorous Spanish-language adaptation starring two-time Goya Award winner Javier Gutiérrez,, Marta Hazas and Goya winner Manuela Velasco (“Velvet”).

The Madrid-set series is being produced by Mediawan’s well-established Spanish outfit Good Mood, whose previous credits include “I’m Alive,” “The Fence,” “The Accident” and “Deudas.” Mediaset Espana’s Telecinco is co-producing the show and has commissioned it.

Filming will kick off in two weeks on location in Madrid. Daniel Écija, the revered founder of Good Mood who has more than 30 series and eight films under his belt, is executive producing “The Agencia.” The rest of the cast and cameos will be announced at a later stage.

The original French series, titled “10 Pour Cent,” smashed ratings throughout four seasons on local broadcaster France Televisions, as well as ranked as the most watched shows on Netflix under its English title “Call My Agent.

Content Warning: The following article contains references to the 2015 Paris Terrorist Attack.Based on the 2015 Paris Terrorist Attack and a true crime novel, La mythomane du Bataclan (The Mythomaniac of the Bataclan) by Alexandre Kauffmann, The Confidante is a four-part limited series. It will star the 2021 Venice Film Festival winner, Laure Calamy, as she plays a woman whose friend was a victim of the Bataclan Concert Hall attack. But as she forms a group dedicated to the attack survivors, her actions will be put into question.

Max has revealed the trailer for its first French four-part limited series, The Confidante, which will debut on the streaming service on Friday, October 11. New episodes will debut weekly.

Inspired by true events, this psychological thriller follows Christelle “Chris” Blandin, a rock music-obsessed Parisian who, after witnessing the harrowing November 13, 2015 terrorist attacks, quickly latches onto a community of survivors.

Claiming that her best friend Vincent was one of dozens critically injured at the Bataclan Theatre, Chris becomes an indispensable resource for the group, working her way into a prominent role in a survivors’ association.

Though her commitment seems relentless, discrepancies begin to pepper her story – raising serious doubts among the true victims of the tragedy. A thought-provoking series, The Confidante questions the very nature of truth… and the web of lies left in one woman’s wake.

The cast of this psychological thriller includes Laure Calamy Arieh Worthalter (Le procès...

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Max is ready with an entertainment-packed October this year. The upcoming month will see the return of some of HBO’s brilliant original comedy series Somebody Somewhere and also new original movies like Salem’s Lot. Just like every month, Max is ready to overload you with great content. So, we’re here to tell you about the 10 new movies and TV shows coming to Max in October 2024.

Interview with the Vampire (October 1)

Interview with the Vampire is a gothic horror drama film directed by Neil Jordan from a screenplay by Anne Rice. Based on Rice’s 1976 novel of the same name, the 1994 film follows the story of Louis, a vampire as he tells his life story to an eager biographer and his violent maker Lestat tries to make Louis stay with him. Interview with the Vampire stars Tom Cruise,...

Production has begun on “Merteuila,” a new French original series for Max adapted from Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 18th century classic novel “Dangerous Liaisons.”

Directed by by Jessica Palud and created by Jean-Baptiste Delfaon, the show stars Anamaria Vartolomei (playing Isabelle de Merteuil), Diane Kruger (Madame de Rosemonde), Vincent Lacoste (Vicomte de Valmont) and Lucas Bravo (Comte de Gercourt). It’s produced by Clément Birnbaum and Joachim Nahum of Nabi Productions (Ugc Group) and Marie Guillaumond of Felicita Films (Newen Studios Group).

Filming is now underway in Normandy, France and will run until December. The ambitious show will stream on Max where the platform in available. The service launched in June in France and will soon roll out its first French series original, “The Confidante,” a psychological thriller (previously called “The Mythomaniac of the Bataclan”) based on a true story, starring Laure Calamy (“The Origins of Evil”) as a woman...

Screen can reveal the first trailer for French director Anne-Sophie Bailly’s My Everything, starring Laure Calamy, ahead of the film’s world premiere in Venice’s Horizons on August 30.

Calamy stars as a single mother who discovers her adult son who has intellectual disabilities has impregnated his co-worker who is also disabled, putting their bond to the test.

Les Films du Losange is handling international sales and French distribution. I Wonder Pictures will release the film in Italy.

The film is the debut feature from Bailly and co-stars Charles Peccia Galletto and Julie Froger, who are themselves disabled. Bailly...

Emily in Paris became one of Netflix’s biggest hit series upon its release but I think it was also one of the most hated shows. Created by Darren Star, the romantic-comedy series stars Lily Collins as the title character, and the series is filled with stunning scenery, glamorous fashion moments, and beautiful and delicious-looking food. The first part of Emily in Paris Season 4 was recently released on Netflix with Part 2 coming out in September this year. So, if you loved all the glamour, romance, comedy, and drama in Emily in Paris here are some similar shows you should check out while waiting for Emily in Paris Season 4 Part 2.

The Bold Type Credit – Freeform

The Bold Type is a comedy-drama series created by Sarah Watson. The Freeform series is set in New York City and it follows the story of three young friends Jane, Kat, and Sutton as they try...

French director Anne-Sophie Bailly’s debut feature My Everything ((Mon Inseparable), set to world premiere in Venice’s Orizzonti competition, has been acquired for world sales by Les Films du Losange

The film stars Cesar-winning actress Laure Calamy and is produced by David Thion’s Les Films Pelléas, whose credits include Anatomy Of A Fall.

Calamy stars as a woman whose relationship with her adult son with intellectual disabilities is tested when she discovers that he has impregnated his co-worker who is also disabled.

The cast includes actors with disabilities.

Bailly, a graduate of Paris’ prestigious film school La Fémis,...

You might have to wait a whole hour for Kristin Scott Thomas to appear in the guise of carefree and broke aristocrat Bijou in this breezy mid-life crisis drama set in Greece, but once she arrives everything suddenly falls into place.

Two tickets to Greece, the French title from director Marc Fitoussi (Call My Agent) follows two former school best friends Magalie (Laure Calamy) and Blandine (Olivia Côte) as they reconcile decades after falling out and losing touch with one another. Despite the years, Magalie hasn’t changed one bit and is still the life and soul of any party that will have her. On the other hand, stuck up upper middle class Blandine has forgotten how to have fun.

Newly divorced and still pining for her old married life, Blandine is spurred on by her well-adjusted grown-up son, Benjamin (Alexandre Desrousseaux), to take a trip with Magalie to the...

Josh Krasinski’s If leads the charge at the UK and Ireland box office in 650 cinemas for Paramount.

The family film about imaginary friends is Krasinski’s widest opening as a director following A Quiet Place Part II which arrived in 563 cinemas in 2021.

If includes an ensemble cast of A-listers, both on-screen and on voice duties, including Ryan Reynolds, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fiona Shaw, Steve Carrell, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper and Emily Blunt. Cailey Fleming leads the cast as a girl who, having recently experienced a traumatic loss, begins seeing everyone’s imaginary friends.

Krasinski previously wrote and directed A Quiet Place...

Even Kristin Scott Thomas can’t save this painful French comedy about two older women heading for the Greek islands for wacky fun

Marc Fitoussi, whose directing credits include work on the French TV hit Call My Agent!, has created this excruciatingly sugary French comedy of female friendship in a vacation paradise. It’s a one-note, one-joke, non-Mamma-Mia! the non-musical, with three lead performances that are borderline insufferable.

Olivia Côte plays Blandine, a straitlaced, sobersided woman whose life is miserable; she’s divorced from a man who is now marrying someone half his age and her 20-year-old son is moving out. But then she reconnects with an old schoolfriend, the wild and irrepressible Magalie (Laure Calamy) who suggests they do something they once dreamed of as kids: visit the Greek island of Amorgos, because it was featured in Luc Besson’s The Big Blue, their favourite film from those days.

Disney’s “Kingdom of The Planet of the Apes” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £3.8 million ($4.7 million), according to numbers from Comscore.

Universal’s “The Fall Guy” dropped down to second place with £948,970 and now has a running total of £6.7 million. In third place, in its third weekend, Warner Bros.’ “Challengers” collected £333,281 for a total of £4.7 million.

In fourth position, in its fifth weekend, Studiocanal’s “Back to Black” earned £211,408 for a total of £11.2 million. Rounding off the top five was Sony’s “Tarot,” which read the cards to the tune of £140,983 in its second weekend and now has a total of £923,013.

The only other debut in the Top 10 was Trafalgar Releasing’s opera recording “Madama Butterfly,” which bowed in ninth place with £96,727.

The mid-week releases coming up include Trafalgar’s “Transformers: 40th Anniversary Event,” where episodes of the animated 1984 series will be screened alongside original voice-over talent,...

Gaumont has added French-language action feature The Orphans starring Dali Benssalah, Alban Lenoir, Anouk Grinberg and Sonia Faidi, to its Cannes slate.

The film is the first feature from Olivier Schneider who has worked as stunt coordinator on films including No Time To Die, Spectre, Taken and Fast and Furious X. It is about a cop and a mob fixer who team up to search for the killer of a former friend from their orphanage. Producers are Inoxy Films and Gaumont.

“Our ambition is to rehabilitate the French action movie and bring it back to cinemas,” said Alexis Cassanet, Gaumont’s head of international sales.

Arriving on a jetset Mediterranean island to meet the wealthy father she has never known, Calamy’s factory worker enters a vipers’ nest of hostility in Sébastian Marnier’s devious French psychodrama

The root of all evil? Money, naturellement. Stacks of it, poured into a lavish villa on the French Mediterranean island of Porquerolles and frittered away in a unilateral war waged by a bored, ignored shopaholic wife against her overbearing husband. But even €1,500 a day squandered on everything from designer handbags to taxidermied endangered species to shopping channel tat fails to make much of a dent in the wealth of the Dumontet family, a clan that could give Succession’s Roys a run for their money in toxicity, treachery and obscene riches.

Into this nest of Lanvin-clad vipers stumbles Stéphane (Call My Agent!’s Laure Calamy), a pleasant, seemingly unremarkable youngish woman who works at an anchovy-packing factory and,...

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.

Max is coming to France this summer.

Warner Bros. Discovery has confirmed the launch date for its streaming service in Europe, saying it will start its European rollout on May 21, with Max to go live in France before the start of the Paris Olympics, which kick off in July.

Jb Perrette, Wbd’s head of global streaming and games, made the announcement at the Series Mania TV festival in Lille, France on Thursday. He said the service in France, the biggest single territory outside the U.S. to receive Max, will roll out with basic, standard and premier tiers.

Max’s European offering will combine HBO and Discovery+ content and also include live-streamed and on-demand sports content from Wbd’s Eurosport channel, including coverage of the Olympic Games and events such as Grand Slam tennis and cycling’s Tour de France.

Wbd is already bulking up its French offerings, presenting...

Ahead of its launch in France, Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service Max unveiled at Series Mania Festival its pipeline of ambitious local scripted projects, “Malditos” (working title), the adaptation of “Living with our deads,” the memoir of Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, and

“Malditos,” created by Jean Charles Hue (“Eat Your Bones”) and Olivier Prieur (“The Accident”), is an action-packed crime thriller revolving around the leader of a Gypsy community and her two sons who struggle to save their clan threatened with eviction by rising waters in Southern France. The series is produced by Eve Muller and Noor Sadar at Mediawan-owned White Lion Films, was penned by Hue, Prieur and Maya Haffar (“En thérapie”). Hue is directing the first five episode and Cécilia Verheyden (“Undercover”) is directing the remaining two.

Max has also boarded the series adaptation of the book “Living with our deads” (“Vivre avec nos morts”), which is...

Max has unveiled a trio of French shows ahead of launch, with commissioning head Vera Peltekian saying “we don’t want to do a French Succession or White Lotus.“

Peltekian and French scripted boss Clémentine Bobin unveiled series about the Bataclan attacks, the gypsy community and an adaptation of a memoir by a French rabbi.

The previously-announced Bataclan series has been given title Black Lies and will co-star Laure Calamy and César-winning The Goldman Case actor Arieh Worthalter alongside Les Misérables’ Alexis Manenti and Mother And Son’s Annabelle Lengronne.

The show tells the story of a woman who cons her way into a victim’s association following the deadly attack in 2015. Produced by StudioFact Stories with June Films, the psychological thriller is directed by Just Philippot and written by Fanny Burdino, Jean-Baptiste Delafon, Samuel Doux and Alexandre Kauffmann. The story is loosely based on the non-fiction...

Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max platform has unveiled its first French originals slate ahead of its launch in the country this summer.

Max has just kicked off production for crime actioner Western Malditos set in the Gypsy community of Southern France. The series is produced by Eve Muller Noor Sadar of Mediawan’s White Lion Films and follows two brothers and mother as they fight to keep a dark secret from destroying their legacy.

It has also greenlit an adaptation of French female rabbi Delphine Horvielleur’s best-seller Living With Our Dead (Vivre Avec Nos Morts) that follows a young...

David Thion, the French producer of Justine Triet’s best picture contender “Anatomy of a Fall,” is preparing a raft of projects helmed by daring female directors including Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet (“Anais in Love”) and Emily Atef (“More Than Ever”).

Speaking to Variety ahead of the Oscars, Thion said he and Marie-Ange Luciani, who also produced “Anatomy of a Fall,” have also signed Triet for her next movie, the topic of which hasn’t been decided yet.

“Justine has devoted herself fully to the awards campaign for ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ and she hasn’t had time to decide what her next film will be, but she has a few ideas,” Thion said. He added that Triet’s next film will likely be “mainly shot in French, but could have an Anglo-Saxon actress as the lead.”

Bourgeois-Tacquet, who made her feature debut with “Anais in Love,” which premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week,...

French prosecutors have dismissed a complaint by French actress Hélène Darras claiming she was sexually assaulted by Gérard Depardieu, citing the statute of limitations for the alleged crime.

Darras filed an official complaint against the 75-year-old French star, claiming Depardieu assaulted her on the set of Fabien Onteniente’s film Disco in 2007. Darras made her allegations public in an interview on French TV in December. The interview, combined with raw footage of Depardieu making sexually inappropriate and obscene jokes, triggered a public uproar in France that some have compared to the #MeToo movement that was galvanized by the testimonies of victims of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

Thirteen women have come forward to accuse Depardieu of sexual assault involving incidents spanning two decades. In February 2021, Depardieu was charged with rape and sexual assault allegedly committed in 2018 against actress Charlotte Arnould. Darras was auditioned as a witness during that ongoing investigation and...

Paris-based sales company is bringing eight new titles to Rendez-Vous.

Julie Delpy’s immigration-themed comedy Meet The Barbarians (Les Barbares) is among eight new titles Paris-based sales company Charades is launching at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous with French Cinema this month.

The event takes place from January 16-23 in Paris.

Charades extensive Rendez-Vous line-up also includes 3D animation Flow, romantic comedy Just A Couple of Days starring Camille Cottin, Jeremie Sein’s Olympic sports comedy Game Changers, Antoine Raimbault’s political thriller Smoke Signals, Gustave Kervern’s revenge story Enough Is Enough!, dark comedy Plastic Guns plus recently announced adaptation And...

Indie Sales has boarded Nathalie Najem’s “No Way Back,” a timely feature debut tackling domestic violence with a cast led by Bastien Bouillon (“The Night of the 12th”) and Zita Hanrot (“Angry Annie”).

Now in post, “No Way Back” will be introduced to buyers by the banner Indie Sales at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase next week.

“No Way Back” tells the story of Laura, who is rebuilding her life after years under the toxic influence of Joachim and is raising their daughter on her own. When Joachim’s new girlfriend, Shirine, shows up at her door in dire straits, Laura realizes that they must help each other to get rid of Joachim’s harmful influence. The film appears to be in a similar vein as Xavier Legrand’s Venice prizewinner “Custody,” with an emphasis on sisterhood.

Bouillon won last year’s Cesar Award for best male newcomer for his...

Graphic novel adaptation stars stars Cesar-winning actress Izia Higelin

Indie Sales has boarded Blandine Lenoir’s fourth feature Juliette In Spring and will launch sales at Unifrance’s Rendez-Vous in Paris which takes place from January 16-23.

The film, based on Camille Jourdy’s graphic novel, follows a thirty-something woman who returns to her hometown to spend time with her family as buried memories, unspoken truths and long-buried secrets bubble up to the surface in what Indie Sales calls “a sweet, tender and sometimes extravagant family portrait.”

The film stars Cesar-winning actress Izia Higelin in the titular role alongside a...

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,...

Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard and Jacques Audiard are among 500 French cinema professionals to have signed an open letter in support of a silent march for peace in Paris this Sunday.

The initiative – created in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict and its ongoing reverberations around the world – is being spearheaded by the newly launched Une Autre Voix (Another Voice) collective.

“This fratricidal war affects us all, and regardless of our reasons or affinities on each side of the wall, we want it to cease and that both peoples finally live in peace,” reads the letter.

“This is why we are organizing a silent, united, humanist and peaceful march that will open with a single long white banner. No political claims nor slogans. White flags, white handkerchiefs are welcome.”

Belgian-Moroccan actress Lubna Azabal presides over the Une Autre Voix collective which also features French...

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...

Warner Bros. Discovery will be launching its streaming service Max in France, one of its top European markets, next summer, Variety has learned.

The launch in France and in Belgium will follow a rollout in 22 countries across the Nordics, Iberia, Spain, the Netherlands and Central Eastern Europe in the spring. The European plan was unveiled in broad strokes by Gerhard Zeiler, president of international at Warner Bros. Discovery, and Leah Hooper, Warner Bros. Discovery’s European head of streaming, during a keynote at Mipcom Cannes on Monday.

Hooper also announced that Max will stream live sport in Europe with Eurosport’s rights portfolio, including Grand Slam tennis, cycling’s Grand Tours, as well as coverage of the Olympic Games which will be held in Paris starting next July and will be streamed live and on demand on Max. The streamer will offer live simulcasts of our local entertainment networks in some countries.