News

Frankie Muniz is opening up about how his child-star fame influenced him and his family.

The Malcolm in the Middle star recalled, on Tuesday’s edition of the Inside of You podcast, how when his career started to take off, it took a toll on his family because they had to move across the country.

Before Muniz’s role on the hit TV show, his parents got divorced and he decided to live with his mom in New Jersey. Muniz’s sister first lived with their dad before eventually moving in with their mom, too. However, shortly before he landed the role of Malcolm, they had to move again which caused a “weird dynamic.”

“It was the first time I thought about the past enough to think about the sacrifice that people made, and it made me really sad,” Muniz said.

However, his time on Malcolm earned him an Emmy...

Amanda Bynes had always been a natural performer. She began acting as a child, appearing in several TV commercials, demonstratively oohing and ahhing over the Cut N' Style Barbie or snacking on Buncha Crunch to a variation of the "Addams Family" theme music. At school, she appeared in the musicals "Annie," "The Sound of Music," and "The Music Man." She was bitten by the theater bug early on.

Bynes experienced her big break in 1996 when she joined the cast of the hit sketch comedy series "All That" on Nickelodeon. She was 10. "All That" ran for a whopping 11 seasons from 1994 to 2005 and proved to be a stamping ground for up-and-coming talents, serving sort-of as a junior version of "Saturday Night Live." Keenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Jamie Lynn Spears, and Nick Cannon also broke out thanks to the popularity of "All That." Bynes was a regular cast member for the show's third through sixth seasons,...

Catapulting to fame at an early age, Amanda Bynes had become a successful child actor with an envious career. It was particularly her comedic chops and infectious personality that turned her into a beloved actress and one of Nickelodeon’s top talent, by the age of 13. Prior to achieving her big break, Bynes had already starred alongside icons like Nick Cannon.

Amanda Bynes in All That | image: Nickelodeon

Following her work on the children’s network, Amanda Bynes navigated towards mainstream Hollywood and quickly became a comedy teen queen. Appearing in rom-coms and winning awards for her roles, Bynes had developed a career that was filled with envious opportunities. But then came her health setbacks and legal troubles that led her to quit acting. Once in full glory, Bynes has now become a mystery to be unraveled.

Amanda Bynes’ Rise as a Nickelodeon Star

California-born Amanda Bynes initially started her...

Netflix is removing a Ton of hit titles in September and fans are going to want to thoroughly go through this list.

Each month, the streaming service removes various movies and TV shows for a variety of reasons. In September, they’ll be removing several CW hits including all five seasons of Jane the Virgin, Dune, all six seasons of How to Get Away with Murder, all three Fifty Shades movies (despite them just becoming available in June and July), the Divergent films, two Conjuring movies, and more.

Keep reading to see the full list of titles being removed…

Every title leaving Netflix in September 2024:

Leaving 9/3/24

Beverly Hills Cop

Beverly Hills Cop II

Leaving 9/5/24

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Seasons 1-4

iZombie: Seasons 1-5

Jane The Virgin: Seasons 1-5

Leaving 9/8/24

Cuties

Leaving 9/19/24

Bodies Bodies Bodies

Leaving 9/24/24

A Walk to Remember

Leaving 9/27/24

Force of Nature

Great News: Seasons 1-...

Films directed by Shawn Levy – a list that includes Big Fat Liar, Just Married, Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther, the Night at the Museum trilogy, Date Night, Real Steel, and Free Guy, among others – have earned about 3 billion dollars at the global box office, and that number is likely to receive a substantial boost with the release of Levy’s contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Deadpool & Wolverine, this weekend. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Levy revealed his five “secrets to success” and discussed the creative empowerment he felt while working with Marvel Studios.

While it’s often assumed that Marvel micromanages their productions and doesn’t give directors space to be creative, Levy said, “Contrary to so many assumptions out there, and even within myself before I had this experience, I’ve been arguably more creatively empowered and trusted on this movie than just about...

Shawn Levy has long chafed at the labels Hollywood has placed upon him.

That helps explain the evolution of the Montreal-born filmmaker from go-to family comedy guy (Night at the Museum and Cheaper by the Dozen) to the producer of cerebral Oscar winners (Arrival) and cultural behemoths (Stranger Things).

After a string of successes in the aughts, Levy branched out with the 2011 Amblin-esque feature Real Steel, which earned nearly $300 million globally and showed he could bring his trademark emotionality to the action sphere. It also teamed him with Hugh Jackman, who, like others who have worked with the producer-director, says he creates an empathetic environment on set. “There isn’t one scene that necessarily was ‘the moment we clicked,’ ” Jackman recalls. “It was more a feeling on Real Steel that it made me know this was going to be a lifelong friendship.”

After the death of his Museum star Robin Williams...

This week marks the arrival of "Twisters" (read /Film's review), a sequel arriving nearly three decades after the original blockbuster hit "Twister." Because of how much time has elapsed between films, the cast for "Twisters" is entirely different. Although "Twisters," like its predecessor, boasts plenty of flashy special effects to create the sensation of powerful tornadoes popping up throughout Oklahoma as it tracks different groups of storm chasers trying to wrangle these bouts of Mother Nature's anger, the film doesn't quite live up to the secret weapon that "Twister" had: surprisingly committed character actors delivering better-than-needed supporting performances. But character actors popping up to steal the show in big-budget blockbusters isn't unique to "Twister" or its sequel, so let's rank the 10 best blockbuster performances by character actors.

Read more: The 20 Best Western Movie Actors Ranked

10. Paul Giamatti, Planet Of The Apes

With more than 25 years of hindsight, there's not too...

Star Trek fans are celebrating this afternoon after hearing about Paul Giamatti joining the cast of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy for a recurring villainous role. The Oscar-nominated actor plays the central villain in the upcoming series, described as “a man with an ominious past with a connection to one of the show’s cadets.”

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy “introduces us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.”

Last month, Holly Hunter joined the cast of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, lending even more star power to a fan-favorite corner of the beloved science-fiction franchise. Hunter will portray the captain...

Paul Giamatti will star in a TV version of Eli Roth’s grisly Hostel franchise. Both Roth and the films’ original producers will be involved in the new series.

A gold star to anyone who saw this coming.

Paul Giamatti, of Billions and Big Fat Liar fame, as well as his collaborations with Alexander Payne including Sideways and this year’s wonderful drama The Holdovers (pictured), is starring in a television version of Eli Roth’s Hostel, which is not a sentence I expected to type today.

It seems this collaboration has been on the cards for some time. Giamatti told Entertainment Weekly in a 2013 interview that “Eli was shooting Hostel in Prague and I was shooting The Illusionist and I met him. We talked about me actually killing somebody in that movie but it never panned out”.

Hostel is a film often, and perhaps quite rightly in the case of its sequel,...

Exclusive: As Deadpool & Wolverine tracks huge ahead of its July 26 release and looms as a summer box office savior, we can reveal that director Shawn Levy is the top choice and is having early conversations to direct another Marvel Studios pic — the next Avengers movie.

Deadline hears that Levy has been given the latest script by Michael Waldron, though sources add that he has not given an answer on whether he will take the job, and the studio is still planning to meet with other directors while they wait on a decision from him.

Marvel Studios could not be reached for comment.

We can’t say for sure that Levy will take the job; he expects to be heavily involved as a director and executive producer of the final season of Netflix’s signature series Stranger Things, and there is also a Star Wars film in his future. Still,...

A sexy comedy featuring man-of-the-moment Glen Powell posing as an undercover hitman, Jessica Alba kicking ass in an all-action revenge tale, the inimitable David Letterman interviewing a new round of guests, the continuing saga of Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton, the return of a beloved fantasy series and the story of the most iconic franchise in cheerleading are among the standout new additions to Netflix in June.

Returning in June on Netflix is the third season of the fantasy series Sweet Tooth. Based on the beloved comic book series created by Jeff Lemire, the show tells the story of society after it has been decimated by a virus and human-animal hybrids begin to appear. The focus of the show is Gus, a young half-human, half-deer boy who is looking for his mother. Season one of Sweet Tooth debuted in June 2021, with season two arriving last June. The third season launches...

Netflix’s list of new releases for June 2024 look suspiciously like last month’s.

That’s because the biggest item on the schedule is Bridgerton season 3 once again. The final four episodes of Bridgerton‘s third season will premiere on June 13. Polin fans everywhere, rejoice! Other TV items of note this month include the third and final season of Sweet Tooth (June 6), Worst Roommate Ever season 2 (June 26), and That ’90s Show Part 2 (June 28).

Bridgerton aside, Netflix’s original movie options this month might be even more impressive than the TV slate. Richard Linklater’s Hitman, which stars Glen Powell as the titular assassin, premieres on June 7. That will be followed by documentary Black Barbie on June 19, the Jessica Alba-starring Trigger Warning on June 21, and romcom A Family Affair on June 28

Here’s everything else coming to Netflix this month. Note that Netflix marks its international offerings with that respective country’s two-letter country code.

The Netflix June 2024 originals, movies, and TV shows have been revealed and can be viewed below. The streaming service has also announced which movies and TV series will be leaving next month.

The June lineup includes 100 Days to Indy Season 2, A Family Affair, America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2, Hit Man, Love Is Blind: Brazil Season 4, and My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman Season 5.

The Netflix June 2024 slate also features Perfect Match Season 2, Sweet Tooth Season 3, That ’90s Show Part 2, Trigger Warning, Worst Roommate Ever Season 2, and more.

Netflix June 2024 Schedule

June Tba

100 Days to Indy Season 2

The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse: Season 1: Part 2 (Jp) — Netflix Anime

As a prophecy of doom unfolds in the peaceful land of Britannia, a pure-hearted boy sets out on a journey of discovery—and revenge.

Supacell (Gb) — Netflix Series

When five ordinary...

Have you ever felt the crushing burden of having to catch up on a vast universe of MCU films just to enjoy the latest blockbuster? Well, according to the director of Deadpool & Wolverine, viewers don’t need to watch previous flicks to understand the upcoming Ryan Reynolds starrer.

Shawn Levy, 55, appears to have boldly promised to end a long-running trend in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has plagued fans for years. With a commitment to making Deadpool 3 an exhilarating standalone hit, Levy ensured that this film is designed for pure “entertainment”, removing the need for audiences to do extensive research.

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Deadpool & Wolverine

Following the enormous box office success of the first two flicks, Deadpool swiftly gained popularity, and fans were eager to see the Merc with a Mouth join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Reynolds as the star, co-writer, and co-producer,...

Frankie Muniz shared on the latest episode of “I’m a Celebrity Australia” (via News.com.au) that he once “walked off” the set of his beloved Fox sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle” when everyone else was refusing to stand up to certain people who were “controlling or rude or disrespectful.” Muniz starred on the comedy as the eponymous child genius for seven seasons, but he missed two episodes because of his decision.

“There were two episodes I’m not in. I walked off the set,” Muniz said, explaining that his actions were due to set tensions. “Everyone was so afraid to stand up when certain people were controlling or rude or disrespectful. Like they walked on pins and needles. I was so mortified by seeing people afraid to stand up for themselves, I was like: ‘Say something.’”

“I didn’t care if they told me I was never going back,...

Frankie Muniz was the title star of hit sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, but now he’s explained why there are two entire episodes where he doesn’t appear after he walked off set.

News.com.au website reports that the American former actor was sharing confidences with his campmates in I’m A Celebrity Australia when he revealed:

“There were two episodes I’m not in. I walked off the set.” And he explained his actions were because tension on set had reached a boiling point, because of the behavior of other “certain people.”

“Everyone was so afraid to stand up when certain people were controlling or rude or disrespectful. Like they walked on pins and needles,” he remembered.

“I was so mortified by seeing people afraid to stand up for themselves, I was like: ‘Say something.’

“I didn’t care if they told me I was never going back,...

Frankie Muniz is opening up about his experience as a child actor and why he would “never” let his son follow in his footsteps.

The actor-turned-nascar driver told Pedestrian TV in an interview shared on TikTok Sunday that he wouldn’t let his son Mauz, who’s currently 3 years old, start working as an actor at a young age because “it’s an ugly world in general.”

“I would never let my kid go into the business,” Muniz said. “And not that I had a negative experience, because to be honest, my experience was 100 percent positive. But I know so many people, friends that were close to me, that had such insanely negative experiences.”

“I just think it’s an ugly world in general,” he added. “I never cared about rejection, but there’s a ton of rejection.”

Muniz, who shares his son with wife Paige Price, rose to fame...

Marvel Studios currently has several movies in development, with one of the most notable being ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’ Based on early comments from viewers, it’s expected to rejuvenate faith in the MCU among fans.

Reportedly, this movie was chosen as the sole release for 2024 following disappointing performances of ‘The Marvels’ and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.’

According to Daniel Richtman, a well-known source, director Shawn Levy has impressed MCU executives, leading to expectations of more projects for him in the future.

Shawn Levy began his career directing television and gained fame in the 2000s with comedies like ‘Big Fat Liar’ and ‘Just Married.’ He went on to helm successful franchises such as ‘Cheaper by the Dozen,’ ‘The Pink Panther,’ and ‘Night at the Museum.’ In the early 2010s, Levy directed ‘Date Night’ and ‘Real Steel,’ alongside developing TV pilots and producing ‘Last Man Standing.’

He received an Academy Award...

Marvel Studios has quite a few movies currently in development or rumored to be currently in development and one of the most notable ones is certainly ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’ Based on the comments so far from the people who have seen parts of the movie, it’s going to be an McU-saver and restore the faith of the fans in the franchise as a whole.

Reportedly, that was the reason why it was selected to be the only movie to release in 2024 following the abysmal results of ‘The Marvels’ and ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,’ movies that barely scraped by when it comes to the box office.

Now according to Daniel Richtman, notable scooper and leaker, the movie’s director Shawn Levy impressed the execs of MCU and we can expect him to get more projects down the line.

Shawn Levy started his career directing television and gained recognition in...

If there’s one word to describe Paul Giamatti’s most common type of role, it’s “curmudgeon.” The Yale-trained actor has the extraordinary range needed to take on various parts, but his most famous characters tend to have sharp minds and even sharper tongues. His most acclaimed roles, like the wine aficionado Miles in “Sideways,” are irritable and short-tempered with an arrogance and wit that masks their more sensitive interiors.

Giamatti’s latest role leans into that casting type harder than almost any of his other parts, and has clinched the actor his first ever Best Actor nomination. In “The Holdovers,” which reunites Giamatti with “Sideways” director Alexander Payne, the actor is at his surliest as Paul Hunham: a stuffy and strict English professor at an all-boys boarding school. The ’70s throwback Christmas comedy is an astonishing actor showcase for Giamatti, as well as his two co-stars Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph,...

Shawn Levy's 2011 sci-fi film "Real Steel" takes place in the near future of 2020 when boxing and Mma have been banned, having been replaced by high-octane robot fights. Robot "trainers" buy up powerful, tank-like fighting bots, program their unique fighting moves prior to a match, and then pit them against each other in outsize, heavily sponsored arenas. The robot to remain un-smashed is declared the victor. Hugh Jackman plays a former boxer turned robot trainer who aims to purchase a high-profile robot called Noisy Boy and relive his glory days, but his attempts fail. Instead, he begins seeing potential in a battered, unassuming, out-of-date sparring robot named Atom salvaged from a dump. The robots in "Real Steel" aren't alive, but Levy does throw in a handful of shots implying that Atom may be ... feeling something. 

"Real Steel" wasn't talked about a lot upon its release, and only opened to $27 million domestically.

After a year that saw actors hit the picket lines for four months, it’s no surprise that the awards season has felt more urgent and emotional than previous years. That was no more apparent than at the 35th annual Annual Palm Springs International Film Awards Thursday. The event, hosted by Mary Hart, honored 9 acting nominees and one feature film (Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon”) that, no doubt, we’ll be hearing more of in the coming months.

The night was filled with tears and laughter, starting with Danielle Brooks, who won the Spotlight Actress Award for her role as Sofia in “The Color Purple.” The actress gave Oprah Winfrey a shout-out, praising her for taking Steven Spielberg’s advice while making the 1985 film and not losing weight. For Brooks, it allowed curvy women to feel they had a space in Hollywood. She also talked about the...

One can't say much to defend the clunky script or the bad casting decisions for Tim Burton's 2001 film adaptation of Pierre Boulle's "Planet of the Apes." Not only did Burton's film alter the story of the original novel into something far less poignant, but Mark Wahlberg didn't project the "square-jawed space hero" archetype that his character was clearly written as. Estella Warren and Kris Kristofferson also didn't fare well as put-upon wilderness dwellers, coming across as dainty weekend warriors who had never been camping before.

Where Burton's film excels, however, is the ape design. The makeup effects by Rick Baker are some of the best in cinema history, looking eerily natural on the faces of previously recognizable actors. Additionally, the ape cast went through extensive movement training and their chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan body movements are impressive and convincing.

The ape cast also did its job with aplomb.

Connections in Hollywood often run deeper than fans might suspect. Michael Weatherly, celebrated for his long-standing role in NCIS, has an unexpected link to another popular TV series that might just surprise you.

In the tapestry of television drama, the threads of family connections weave intriguing patterns. As Weatherly’s saga on NCIS unfolded, a familial face was simultaneously rising to prominence on Netflix. Here’s a look at the surprising connection between Weatherly and a star from Virgin River.

Michael Weatherly has a surprising connection to this ‘Virgin River’ star

The Weatherly clan possesses a unique talent for acting. While many recognize the name because of the NCIS star, another name in the family is making waves.

Weatherly’s niece and goddaughter, Alexandra Breckenridge, is diligently carving out her own niche in the cinematic universe, especially within the Netflix realm. Starring as Mel Monroe in the warmly-embraced series, Virgin River,...

The Toronto International Film Festival will honor one of Canada’s own, Montreal native Shawn Levy, with the inaugural Norman Jewison Award, also named after another Canadian great filmmaker.

The Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award is presented by The Budman Family, and recognizes Canadians in the film industry who have made a global impact with their careers. The awards presentation will take place at the TIFF Tribute Awards gala fundraiser on Sunday, Sept. 10, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

Levy originally set about pursuing a career in acting, attending Yale University. He turned to directing and received an Mfa from the USC School of Cinematic Arts in 1994. One of Levy’s first acting gigs was the low-budget horror 1987 movie, Zombie Nightmare, which got poked at on an episode of Comedy Central’s Mystery Science Theater 3000. He cut his teeth directing wise with teen dramas like Nickelodeon’s The Secret...

Frankie Muniz, best known for his days as a child actor starring in the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle and films like My Dog Skip, Agent Cody Banks, and Big Fat Liar, has signed on to star in the sci-fi thriller Renner alongside Violett Beane, whose credits include The Flash, God Friended Me, Flay, and Truth or Dare. Deadline notes that filming will take place at the newly formed Ascent Studios in Spring Hope, North Carolina this summer.

Robert Rippberger (Those Who Walk Away), who is a founding partner at Ascent Studios, will be directing Renner from a screenplay written by Martin Medina and David Largman Murray (who were working from a story crafted by Luke Medina). The film will center on a computer genius named Renner and played by Muniz as he looks to court his neighbor Jamie (Beane) with the help of an A.I. he develops named Salenus — only to realize,...

Exclusive: Frankie Muniz (Malcolm in the Middle) and Violett Beane (The Flash) have signed on to star in Renner, a new sci-fi thriller from filmmaker Robert Rippberger (Those Who Walk Away). Production will kick off this summer at the newly formed Ascent Studios in Spring Hope, Nc, where Rippberger is a founding partner.

Written by Martin Medina and David Largman Murray, from a story by Luke Medina, Renner follows a computer genius of the same name, played by Muniz, as he looks to court his neighbor Jamie (Beane) with the help of an AI he develops named Salenus — only to realize, a bit too late, that he accidentally programmed his manipulative mother into it.

Rippberger will produce alongside Martin Medina, KT Kent, Devin Keaton, and Jay Burnley of Slated. Exec producers are Greg Gertmenian, Ali Baghdadi, Kyle Pritchard, Stan Hahnel, LeaAnne Hahnel, Anita Konka, Laura Winstead, Nathan Edwards, and Neuman Vong.

Happy 20 years to “Agent Cody Banks.”

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of “Agent Cody Banks,” Frankie Muniz surprised fans with a throwback picture.

Read More: Frankie Muniz To Become Full-Time NASCAR Driver: ‘Making My Dream A Reality’

Muniz, 37, joked that fans may know him better for his career as a racecar driver and celebrated the 20th anniversary of the film by posting a picture of the 2003 teen spy flick’s poster on Twitter.

“I know this may be hard to believe because you all just know me as a NASCAR driver, but a long time ago before most of my competitors were born, I used to save the world,” the actor wrote.

“I did it twice. No biggie,” he added, referring to the movie’s 2004 sequel, “Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London… It was actually 20 years ago today that “Agent Cody Banks” first premiered.”

I know this may be hard...

At the start of the new millennium, Fox hit it out of the park with the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, which debuted in 2000. The long-running television series focused on a dysfunctional middle-class family centered around the titular Malcolm, played by Frankie Muniz. The young star continuously renegotiated his salary for the hit series, eventually making $150,000 per episode.

Frankie Muniz starred as the middle sibling in ‘Malcolm in the Middle’

‘Malcolm In The Middle’ made its TV debut 23 years ago today. ? pic.twitter.com/NUXesVfKco

— Complex Pop Culture (@ComplexPop) January 9, 2023

Malcolm in the Middle aired for seven seasons from 2000 to 2006, for 151 episodes. The hit show was nominated for seven Golden Globes, winning one Grammy Award and seven Emmy Awards. Muniz won an Emmy for his portrayal of Malcolm along with numerous awards.

The series is revered by many as one of the greatest television sitcoms of all time. It received...

In February 2023, Netflix will remove a bunch of movie and TV series from its library,

Netflix UK and Netflix US takes down numerous titles each month without fanfare, meaning that many things on your watchlist could suddenly disappear.

These removals are due to licencing deals coming to an end. Often, the titles make their way back to Netflix in the following year, but sometimes they leave to go to other platforms.

This month sees a selection of Netflix Originals being taken down, also.

To minimise surprise, we have put together a comprehensive list of everything being removed in both Netflix UK and US.

Find a full list of every movie and TV series being added to Netflix this month here.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK

Movies

1 February

Amélie

Biking Borders

Christmas Under Wraps

The Cider House Rules

Collateral (2004)

Equilibrium

Event Horizon...

In February 2023, Netflix will remove a bunch of movie and TV series from its library,

Netflix UK and Netflix US takes down numerous titles each month without fanfare, meaning that many things on your watchlist could suddenly disappear.

These removals are due to licencing deals coming to an end. Often, the titles make their way back to Netflix in the following year, but sometimes they leave to go to other platforms.

This month sees a selection of Netflix Originals being taken down, also.

To minimise surprise, we have put together a comprehensive list of everything being removed in both Netflix UK and US.

Find a full list of every movie and TV series being added to Netflix this month here.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK

Movies

1 February

Amélie

Biking Borders

Christmas Under Wraps

The Cider House Rules

Collateral (2004)

Equilibrium

Event Horizon...

In February 2023, Netflix will remove a bunch of movie and TV series from its library,

Netflix UK and Netflix US takes down numerous titles each month without fanfare, meaning that many things on your watchlist could suddenly disappear.

These removals are due to licencing deals coming to an end. Often, the titles make their way back to Netflix in the following year, but sometimes they leave to go to other platforms.

This month sees a selection of Netflix Originals being taken down, also.

To minimise surprise, we have put together a comprehensive list of everything being removed in both Netflix UK and US.

Find a full list of every movie and TV series being added to Netflix this month here.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK

Movies

1 February

Amélie

Biking Borders

Christmas Under Wraps

The Cider House Rules

Collateral (2004)

Equilibrium

Event Horizon...

In February 2023, Netflix will remove a bunch of movie and TV series from its library,

Netflix UK and Netflix US takes down numerous titles each month without fanfare, meaning that many things on your watchlist could suddenly disappear.

These removals are due to licencing deals coming to an end. Often, the titles make their way back to Netflix in the following year, but sometimes they leave to go to other platforms.

This month sees a selection of Netflix Originals being taken down, also.

To minimise surprise, we have put together a comprehensive list of everything being removed in both Netflix UK and US.

Nb: The Independent compiled this list with help from What’s on Netflix.

UK

Movies

1 February

Amélie

Biking Borders

Christmas Under Wraps

The Cider House Rules

Collateral (2004)

Equilibrium

Event Horizon

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Guest House

Holmes & Watson

Hostel

The King’s Speech

Letters to Juliet

Love Happens...

“Lost And Found” has closed first sales to Italy (Eagle Pictures), France (Kmbo) and Taiwan (Creative Century Entertainment) on thriller “Lost and Found,” starring Álvaro Morte, “Money Heist’s” Professor, and directed by “The Head” helmer Jorge Dorado.

The caliber of the distributors – Eagle Pictures is one of Italy’s most muscular mainstream buyers, for instance – and the movie’s high-profile talent package confirm “Lost and Found” as a preeminent title in Spain’s currently most exportable product line: Upscale ambitious thrillers with a social-issue underbelly.

Filmax, “Lost and Found’s” sales company, screened a promo at Berlin’s European Film Market. The first sales news comes just before the film’s first market screening at a private event at Cannes.

In “Lost and Found,” Morte plays Mario, who leads a solitary existence working at a Lost and Found office. One day, a suitcase arrives, found at the bottom of a river.

Documentary+, the free streaming service launched by non-fiction studio Xtr, is getting into original programming and has ordered its first project.

The company will launch Fireworks, a feature doc directed by Nathan Truesdell, who recently produced Oscar-nominated film Ascension.

Fireworks will delve into a botched LAPD operation that causes catastrophe in an LA neighborhood.

The film will be part of Documentary+’s new Lost and Found collection, which is one of three strands that it is launching as part of the originals drive. Lost and Found will feature stranger than fiction stories using found footage.

The other two collections are Pop Docs, documentaries that sit at the collision between controversy and pop culture, and After Hours, slow content documentaries created for a late night audience.

The inaugural original for the Pop Docs strand will be a film about Hot Cheetos, which goes behind the fascination of the cult snack food...

Vachik Mangassarian, a character actor with dozens of credits including Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Curb Your Enthusiasm and feature The Stoning of Soraya M., has died. He was 78.

His reps at McCaffrey Talent Management told Deadline that he died Saturday of Covid complications.

Born in Iran of Armenian descent in 1943, Mangassarian came to the U.S. in the mid-1960s, working in theater and occasionally returning to Iran, where he had roles in films including some by Iranian director Samuel Khachikian. He eventually landed his first Hollywood role in The South’s Shark (1978).

By the mid-’80s, he began scoring guest shots on such popular series as The Fall Guy, The A-Team, Sledge Hammer! and Murder, She Wrote. Mangassarian would work steadily through the 2010s, guesting on shows including Murphy Brown, Falcon Crest, Jake and the Fatman, NYPD Blue and Jag, along with some telefilms.

Mangassarian landed a key...

The Montclair Film Festival (Mff) unveiled its 2021 winners, with Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person In The World taking the top prize. This year’s festival featured four competitive categories: Fiction, Documentary, Future/ Now, and New Jersey Filmmaking. Additionally, the Fiction and Documentary juries also awarded films for the festival’s Short Film competitions. The Mff also announced the festival’s 2021 Audience Awards and Junior Jury prizes.

The Festival’s 2021 Audience Awards were given to Belfast, directed by Kenneth Branagh for fiction feature; Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over, directed by Dave Wooley for Non-Fiction Feature; Flee directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, for World Cinema, and Larry & Me directed by Lisa Melmed, for Short Film.

Flee, directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, wins the Bruce Sinofsky Award for Non-Fiction Feature and What Do We See When We Look At The Sky, directed by Aleksandre Koberidze, wins the Mark Urman Award For Fiction Filmmaking.

Actor and filmmaker Rupert Everett will direct “Lost and Found in Paris,” based on his own true-life experiences.

Kit Clarke (“Get Even”) will play Everett’s younger self – an unruly teenager sent by his exasperated parents to live with a Parisian socialite family to learn French and grow up.

The cast also includes John Malkovich, Kristin Scott Thomas as well as Everett himself in a supporting role.

Written by Everett, this will be his second film as writer/director after “The Happy Prince.”

The film is produced by Jeremy Thomas at Recorded Picture Company (“Pinocchio”), and will go into production in Spring 2022. HanWay Films is handling worldwide sales and distribution and will commence sales at the American Film Market.

Presentation of the film at the AFM is supported with funds awarded by the U.K. Global Screen Fund – a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport fund administered by the BFI.

Kit Clarke has been set to play Rupert Everett’s younger self in the autobiographical tale Lost and Found in Paris, which Everett will direct from his own screenplay.

John Malkovich and Kristin Scott Thomas are also in the cast, with Everett in a supporting role. The story follows an unruly teenager sent by his exasperated parents to live with a Parisian socialite family to learn French and grow up.

Jeremy Thomas at Recorded Picture Company is producing, with production set to get underway in spring 2022.

HanWay Films is handling worldwide sales and distribution and will launch the title at the American Film Market.

Rupert Everett said: “Lost and Found in Paris is a film about the rollercoaster of life, the exuberance and glamour of youth, seen through the lens of a life well lived. I went to Paris on an exchange trip in 1977. I was supposed to learn French.

Hollywood was in a collective state of shock last month when Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment forged a multiyear deal to make movies for Netflix. Two years ago, the legendary director reportedly opposed the idea that streaming films should qualify for Oscars. The new pact was seen as a sign that the old guard was finally embracing the realities of a shifting business forced to adapt to changing consumer habits.

“It was a big moment for us,” says Scott Stuber, Netflix’s movie chief. “Throughout Wall Street, throughout the industry, there was recognition about the possibilities that this deal presents. We’re going to do great things together.”

Luring Spielberg and other prestigious filmmakers like Martin Scorsese to the streamer in recent years has been a major coup for Stuber, who was reared in the traditional studio system both as a top hand at Universal Pictures and as the producer...

Above: US 30" x 40" poster for The Black Bird. Art by Drew Struzan.As you might be able to tell from the name-above-the-title tagline above, George Segal, who died last month at the age of 87, was a big deal in the 1970s. By the ’90s, when I started getting into the films of both Segal and his one-time co-star and fellow traveler Elliott Gould, both of these New York-born Jewish superstars of the ’70s had been reduced to playing sitcom fathers on TV: Gould in Friends and Segal in Just Shoot Me. (And by the 2010s Segal was best known as a sitcom grandfather on The Goldbergs.) But Segal’s films in particular have not survived well in the public memory, perhaps because he devoted his career mostly to comedy and a kind of dark, sophisticated relationship comedy at that. California Split, the film he made with Gould for Robert Altman...

Jane The Virgin alum Gina Rodriguez, Happy Endings’ Damon Wayans Jr., and Tom Ellis from TV’s Lucifer have signed on to star in Players, a romantic comedy from Netflix. Marc Platt and Ryan Christians are producing the pic for Marc Platt Productions with Ross Dinerstein for Campfire.

The Sleepover and Pitch Perfect 3 director Trish Sie is attached to direct the feature from a script by Whit Anderson, who has written for shows like Ozark and Marvel’s Daredevil.

The plot follows Chicago sportswriter Mack (Rodriguez) who has spent years devising successful hook-up “plays” with best friend Adam (Wayans Jr.) and their crew, but when she unexpectedly falls head-over-heels for one of her targets (Ellis), they all must learn what it takes to go from simply scoring to playing for keeps.

Rodriguez and Molly Breeskin will serve as executive producers under their I Can and I Will Productions label alongside...

U.K. and U.S. production group Argonon has launched factual indie outfit Studio Leo, led by former Hat Trick executive Claire Collinson-Jones.

Studio Leo launches with “101 Years of Tesco,” an all-access three-part series for U.K. public service broadcaster Channel 5, which traces the British retail company’s rise, from a post-wwi market stall to the supermarket giant of today. The series is executive produced by Collinson-Jones and commissioned by Channel 5 commissioning editor Denise Seneviratne.

“This series marks 101 years of Tesco and the supermarket’s ability to adapt fast in the face of adversity,” said Seneviratne. “Through sheer determination, Claire Collinson-Jones at Studio Leo secured the access in the middle of a pandemic. I am confident that the Channel 5 audience will find the story both revealing and captivating.”

Collinson-Jones’ previous executive producer credits include hit formats for U.K. broadcasters, including “Rich House, Poor House” (Channel 5), “Dinner Date” (ITV...

Gina Rodriguez and Zachary Levi are on the hunt for some treasure with Lost and Found, a new feature being developed by Amazon Studios. Steve Pink, writer of Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity and director of Hot Tub Time Machine, is directing from a script he co-wrote with Jeff Morris. The story follows an unlikely pair who join […]

The post ‘Lost and Found’ Will Star Gina Rodriguez and Zachary Levi as Treasure Hunters appeared first on /Film.

ScreenSingapore have announced finalists for the Southeast Asian Film Financing (Saff) Project Market 2020. Ten projects from China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Netherlands, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand were selected based on the project’s co-production viabilities and the strength of the filmmaking team. This year’s Saff Project Market sees entries coming in from 14 countries and regions across Asia, Europe and North America, including first-timers from Finland, France, and Iran.

Taking Asian Storytelling to the World

Since its launch in 2015, the Saff Project Market has emerged as a recognised regional platform for established and upcoming content creators to come together and present their projects to the international marketplace.

Finalists will be able to meet with financiers, commissioners, and investors – albeit virtually this year – who will be able to bridge them with the resources needed to take their projects to a global audience.

Selected projects will join the ranks of Saff Project Market alumni...

As major theatrical films scheduled for the coming months continue to be pushed to future dates, the upcoming sci-fi action comedy “Free Guy” remains dated for December 11. 20th Century Studios’ movie stars Ryan Reynolds as a video game character who, after becoming self-aware, rejects his role as a non-playable character and begins acting as the game’s hero.

The official synopsis for the movie reads: “In the open world video game ‘Free City,’ an amalgamation of Grand Theft Auto and Fortnite, Guy (Reynolds) is a non-player character (Npc) working as a bank teller. Thanks to a code developed by programmers Milly (Comer) and Keys (Keery) inserted into Free City by the publisher Antoine (Waititi), Guy becomes aware of his world being a video game, and takes steps to make himself the hero, creating a race against time to save the game before the developers can shut it down.”

Composer Christophe Beck...

Few places on Earth have been mythologized as much as New York City. The very mention of its name can instantly summon images (King Kong atop the Empire State Building; Audrey Hepburn having coffee with diamonds), sounds (Gershwin!; the Sex and the City theme; Frank singing a song Liza sings better), even smells (that boiled cabbage and piss scent of the summer; winters where the air smells like the color blue).

In his seminal essay “The Way We Live Now: 11-11-01; Lost and Found,” Colson Whitehead wrote, “You start building your private New York the first time you lay eyes on it,” each new memory becomes a brick in the structure of your personal city. Recently the playwright Jeremy O. Harris penned a piece for Vogue wherein he celebrates the strength of a city that hasn’t been able to sleep even during a pandemic. It just traded its glittery dress for PPE,...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Sky reports its latest Diamond diversity data, Abacus Media sells “Trickster” abroad, Channel 4 commissions a new home remodeling format and Pier 21 announces two executive appointments.

Diversity

Sky in the U.K. has released its latest Diamond diversity data, reporting progress towards diversity targets for original U.K. productions. The Diamond system was created by the TV industry’s Creative Diversity Network (Cdn) to allow broadcasters to collect and use data to track representation across a wide range of characteristics.

Updated numbers show that 25% of Sky’s on-screen talent now comes from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (Bame) backgrounds, surpassing the broadcaster’s initial 20% target. Sky has also reported improved minority representation in senior production roles, reaching 10% for the first time ever. Among writing positions, Bame representation in drama and comedy reached 17%, 9 points up from Sky’s full-year report shared earlier this summer.

Results come...

Harry Potter is leaving HBO Max behind.

Peacock today announced all eight Harry Potter films will be available to stream in windows over the next six months starting later this year and into 2021.

The movie adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s famed series ranked as the highest-grossing film franchise in history and are a fantastic addition to Peacock’s growing library of iconic films.

“The Harry Potter franchise is beloved by people of all ages and represents the caliber of quality entertainment customers can expect to find on Peacock,” said Frances Manfredi, President, Content Acquisition and Strategy, Peacock.

“We’ve built a world-class collection of iconic movies and shows, and we will continue to expand the film library with treasured titles from NBCUniversal and beyond that will surprise and delight Peacock customers time and time again.”

Come October, Peacock customers will be able to stream Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone...

Ivan Ayr grew up in northern India. Despite receiving a degree in Electrical Engineering, he pursued postgraduate studies in the United States in English literature as well as screenwriting and directing. At the San Francisco Film Society he wrote and directed his first short film “Lost and Found” (2014). His second short, “Quest for a Different Outcome” (2015) won Best Short Film at San Jose International Short Film Festival. Soni is Ayr’s feature directorial debut and was one of the five films selected by India’s National Film Development Corporation to be part of the prestigious ‘Work in Progress’ Lab at Film Bazaar, where it was mentored by French editor Jacques Comets and veteran festival director Marco Mueller. “Soni“, his feature debut, won a number of awards all over the world, was nominated for the Venice Horizons Award and is now streaming on Netflix.

We speak with him about the story of Soni,...