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Hirokazu Kore-eda, Cate Blanchett, Minha Kim and Owen Cooper are among the nominees at the Seoul International Drama Awards (Sda), which marks its 20th edition this year.

24 titles and 32 individuals have been nominated in the program and individual categories respectively, beating 276 entries from 50 countries.

Supported by Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Seoul City and local broadcasters Kbs, Mbc, Sbs, Ebs, and CBS, the awards will announce its final winners in September, with the ceremony broadcast on October 2 via Sbs TV and the official YouTube channel.

In the Best Director category, Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda (Asura), Denmark’s Bille August (The Count of Montecristo), South Korea’s Won-suk Kim (When Life Gives You Tangerines), Philip Barantini (Adolescence) and Jin-ah Lee (To My Lonely Sister) are among the nominees.

Screenwriters Dan Erickson (Severance S2), Soo Hugh (Pachinko S2), Sang-choon Lim (When Life Gives You Tangerines) and Stephen Graham (Adolescence) are in...

Elton John, Edward Berger collaborator Volker Bertelmann and thecomposers of Emilia Perez are among the first wave of nominees for the 25th edition of the World Soundtrack Awards (Wsa).

The winners will be announced on October 15 at the Wsa ceremony and concert, held during Film Fest Gent in Belgium.

Clément Ducol and Camille are nominated across two categories this year for their work on Emilia Pérez –film composer of the year and best original song for‘El Mal’, winner of the parallel category at this year’s Oscars. They share the latter nomination with director Jacques Audiard, who also has songwriting credits.

A Still From The Count Of Monte-Cristo(Photo Credit –Prime Video)

A French action-adventure film has broken into the top ten most popular movies list on Amazon Prime Video globally, according to FlixPatrol. We’re talking about the widely acclaimed 2024 release, The Count of Monte Cristo, a fresh adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic 1844 novel. Read on to find out what the film is about, how it’s been received by critics and audiences, and where you can watch it online.

What’s The Count of Monte-Cristo All About

Directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière, this 1800s-set film tells the gripping story of Edmond Dantès (played by Pierre Niney), a kind-hearted sailor who is falsely accused of treason and thrown into a remote island prison.

During his imprisonment, he forms a bond with a fellow inmate who educates him in various subjects and reveals the secret of a hidden treasure.

Alexandre Dumas’s novel is one of those foundational myths of Western literature, a story of betrayal and retribution so deeply embedded in our cultural consciousness that it feels permanently relevant. The 2024 French adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo understands this. It leans into the story’s inherent power without apology.

We are reintroduced to Edmond Dantès, a young, successful sailor whose bright future—a captaincy and marriage to his love, Mercédès—is stolen by the bitter jealousy of his rivals, Danglars and Fernand Mondego. Their conspiracy, enabled by the corrupt ambition of prosecutor Gérard de Villefort, sends him not just to prison, but to a place outside of time: the island fortress of the Château d’If.

It is in this crucible of despair that Dantès is reforged. Stripped of his name, his love, and his future, he is reborn through rage and knowledge. When he emerges years later,...

By Order of the Peaky Blinders, one key member of the crime series' cast in the final seasons of the show won't be returning when the upcoming Netflix feature-length movie, The Immortal Man, brings back the Birmingham-based gangsters. Sam Claflin, who played real-life fascist Oswald Mosley in the show's fifth and sixth seasons, has revealed recently that he wouldn't be returning for the upcoming film. Upon his introduction to the story, it didn't take long for Claflin's character to become entangled in a tussle of sorts with the show's main protagonist, Cillian Murphy's Tommy Shelby, as both stood on opposite sides of what they believed should be Europe's future.

The Season 6 finale of Peaky Blinders saw Claflin's Mosley, just like in real life, getting married to Lady Diana Mitford, played by Amber Anderson in the series, in Germany in 1936. Claflin, while speaking with Metro about his performance in the...

Xavier Niel, the French billionaire behind the telco group Free, has completed the acquisition of a 119-acre former air base in Reims, Northern France, to build a massive film studio.

Niel is also the co-founder of Mediawan, the leading European producer-distribution group which is behind TV hits such as “Call My Agent!” and “High Potential,” and owns more than 80 companies globally, including Plan B (“F1: The Movie”), Chapter 2 (“The Count of Monte Cristo”), See-Saw Films (“Slow Horses”) and Chi-Fou-Mi (“Beating Hearts”).

The French entrepreneur bought the former air base through his holding, Njj, rather than Mediawan.

Coined Studios de Reims, the filming location will be in construction until 2031 but is expected to be open for business by the end of 2026, according to the French outlet “L’Union,” which also reveals that the acquisition cost Niel an estimated €72 million ($84 million) with the French State contributing €12 million ($14 million).

The site will boast 17,000 square-meter of film sets,...

Exclusive: More change at Mediawan’s international sales division in Europe.

Randall Broman, Mediawan Right’s Head of International Sales – Scripted Content, exited the business last week. Mediawan confirmed his exit, but declined to comment further.

In a LinkedIn post, Broman wrote that it had been “a real pleasure and honour to be at the company during its exciting growth, and to work alongside great colleagues and clients to develop and expand the company’s international distribution business.”

Broman joined Mediawan in 2022 after several years of consulting for its subsidiary, Ls Distribution. He also worked with Germany’s Castalia Entertainment and further back held a VP level role at Studiocanal TV and had senior positions at Power Entertainment, Rhi Entertainment and Twentieth Century Fox International Television.

Broman has also been heavily involved with Unifrance, where he has held a VP role and helped developed the French TV Screenings (now known...

Fandango Sales, the international sales division of the Italian independent production and distribution powerhouse, has taken international rights for Paolo Strippoli’s elevated horror film “The Holy Boy” (La valle dei sorrisi), which will make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in a midnight screening slot in the Out of Competition section. Variety has been given exclusive access to the international trailer (below).

The film follows Sergio, a teacher tormented by his past, who is transferred to Remis, a secluded village known as the happiest town in Italy. It seems the perfect place for a new start, but Sergio soon discovers that behind the town’s joyful facade lies a dark and disturbing secret.

Each week, the villagers gather to meet Matteo, an introverted 15 year old. They say Matteo is an angel whose embrace can free one of all pain and sorrow. But as Sergio realizes the village...

After a milestone year in 2024 that saw France solidify its status as Europe’s healthiest theatrical market, the country’s box office dipped 10% during the first half of 2025 in the absence of a massive success.

At the midpoint of this year, no movie has passed 5 million theatrical admissions in France, with overall admissions falling to 76 million tickets (an estimated gross of €542 million). Disney’s live-action “Lilo & Stitch” has performed the best with 4.7 million tickets sold, followed by “God Save the Tuche” — the third opus of Pathé’s mainstream comedy — with 3 million tickets and Warner Bros.’ “A Minecraft Movie” with 2.6 million tickets, according to Comscore France.

It’s a stark contrast to 2024, when a duo of local language hits — “A Little Something Extra,” a comedy with a cast of disabled non-professionals, and Alexandre Dumas adaptation “The Count of Monte Cristo” — beat Disney’s “Inside Out” with 10 million and 9 million admissions,...

After an alarming report quoting Universal Pictures International France boss Xavier Albert saying that the studio is “officially stopping” to handle local movies, a source close to the studio told Variety that Universal will in fact continue releasing French-language movies but will be more cautious and selective going forward.

Albert was not available to comment directly but the source said he had been misquoted in the French article.

The studio’s French-language output has over the years been mostly limited to high-concept, broad comedies and movies aimed at large audiences or families which now tend to be better suited for streaming services such as Netflix and Prime Video.

The 2024 French box office showed that local films are still performing well, nabbing a 44% market share (outperforming American movies), it also reflected that tastes have evolved and contemporary audiences have an appetite for different kinds of films, such as “The Count of Monte Cristo,...

‘The Young and the Restless’ (Y&r) spoilers reveal that about a week ago, Joshua Morrow, who plays Nick Newman on the soap, leaked on social media that there would be a “murder mystery extravaganza thing” at Aristotle Dumas’s party at his summer home in France.

‘The Young and the Restless’ Spoilers: The Characters Will Be Forced To Participate In Games

We already know that the characters will be forced to participate in some unusual games, such as navigating a maze for a prize, and we have to wonder what Dumas has in store for his guests.

We have it on good authority that Flynn, who can also be seen on Days of Our Lives through 2026. Billy will be making his big debut as Cane Ashby (last played by Daniel Goddard) by the end of the week.

Not only that, but Cane is the one who’s been calling himself by the name Aristotle Dumas.

Exclusive: Following one of the more unique auctions the industry has seen in some time, Amazon MGM Studios has landed a film and docuseries package on the legendary Isle of Man Tourist Trophy Race with two movie stars at the center of it. Sources tell Deadline that Channing Tatum is attached to star in the film about the motorcycle races, which will be directed by Dog director Reid Carolin, who also wrote the script with Jason Keller and Bryan Johnson.

The film will be produced by Tatum and Carolin’s Free Association, Pitt’s Plan B and Entertainment 360’s Guymon Casady and Jason Keller. Entertainment 360 landed the rights and began bringing it to each individual party leading to this massive package coming together.

The corresponding docuseries was filmed during last year’s Tt races with never-before-seen access to the riders and the races due to an exclusive partnership between...

Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague,” a cinematic love letter to the French New Wave which bowed at Cannes, will aptly kick off the third edition of the Biarritz Film Festival, also called Nouvelles Vagues, on June 24.

On the following day, Sofia Coppola, the festival’s guest of honor, will attend a screening of “Virgin Suicides” to celebrate its 25-year anniversary and take part in a masterclass before an audience filled with film students.

Coppola’s presence at the festival reflects the involvement of Chanel, a partner of the festival whose mantra is to shine a spotlight on young talent in front and behind the camera. Chanel hosted a glamorous dinner at the Grand Café du Grand Palais in Paris in honor of the festival on June 3.

Along with Nouvelles Vagues founder and president Jérôme Pulis, general delegate Sandrine Brauer and programming director Lili Hinstin, and Chanel president of fashion Bruno Pavlovsky,...

Mediawan has acquired Les Films entre 2&4, a French production company led by popular comedian Jonathan Cohen, and fellow actors, screenwriters and producers Benjamin Bellecour and Jean-Toussaint Bernard.

Based in Paris, Les Films entre 2&4 has delivered the hit parodic dating show “La Flamme,” an adaptation of the Ben Stiller-produced format “Burning Love,” which had Cohen play a bachelor, opposite some France’s biggest female stars, from Leila Bekhti to Adele Exarchopoulos and Geraldine Nakache; and “Le Flambeau,” a “Survivor”-style adventure reality show starring Cohen, Jerome Commandeur, Jonathan Lambert and Natacha Lindinger, among others. Both shows were co-produced by Mediawan’s MakingProd banner.

​​Now part of Mediawan, Les Films entre 2&4 will look to ramp up the production of feature films and original series, following some recent well-received titles such as “Iris,” “Fucking Fred” and “McWalter.”

Les Films entre 2&4’s pipeline includes “Les Lionnes,” Olivier Rosemberg’s series which has been commissioned by Netflix.

European giant Mediawan has restructured its TV distribution operations after combining with Leonine Studios, resulting in a handful of senior exec departures and two new hires.

The move comes after Paris-headquartered Mediawan merged with Germany-based Leonine last year and will see the latter’s global TV sales activities brought under the Mediawan Rights umbrella.

Former NBCUniversal and Sky exec Patrick Phelan, who joined Leonine Studios as director of world sales in 2020, is departing along with Eric Rouillé, who was senior vice-president of global distribution and consumer products at Mediawan Kids & Family.

Mediawan Rights’ head of scripted Charles Touboul also recently left the company,...

European giant Mediawan has restructured its distribution operations after combining with Leonine Studios, resulting in a handful of senior exec departures and two new hires, Broadcast International can reveal.

The move comes after Paris-headquartered Mediawan merged with Germany-based Leonine last year and will see the latter’s global TV sales activities brought under the Mediawan Rights umbrella.

Former NBCUniversal and Sky exec Patrick Phelan, who joined Leonine Studios as director of world sales in 2020, is departing along with Eric Rouillé, who was senior vice-president of global distribution and consumer products at Mediawan Kids & Family.

Mediawan Rights’ head of scripted,...

It’s a pity that the English title of Cédric Klapisch’s pretty, lighthearted then-and-now drama does not have the same number of entendres as the French version. Not only does “La venue de l’avenir” (literally “the coming of the future”) trip more merrily off the tongue, it also has resonances lost in the comparatively one-note “Colours of Time” — specifically a pun on “La venue” and “L’avenue” which references a scene that is a survey of Paris from Montmartre hill at the moment the electric lights first go on along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. But then, perhaps it’s a suitable representation of a pleasant film that should land well with mainstream domestic viewers and French Impressionism fans abroad, who will see more colors in “Colours of Time” than other international audiences.

A few dozen strangers, all descendants of one Adèle Meunier, have been called to a meeting in...

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

The eighth installment of the Mission: Impossible film series, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, starring Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise, is running in theatres worldwide. The high-octane spy action thriller has received a critics’ score of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes with a higher audience score of 89%. But how does Mi 8 compare to some of the best-rated recent action films (2024-2025) based on their Rotten Tomatoes scores? Here’s a look at the top 10 highest-rated recent action films based on a Rotten Tomatoes list, and the result might surprise you.

Best-Rated Recent Action Films (2024-2025) and Their Rotten Tomatoes Scores

Trending Inside Demi Lovato & Jordan Lutes Wedding: Oceanfront Villa, Custom Gown & Celebration Of Love

Must-Watch Phil Robertson Films & Series: From Faith-Based Drama The Blind To Reality Hit Duck Dynasty

So, as you can see from the above table, the best-rated recent action film is Black Bag,...

The Hunger Games and Peaky Blinders star Sam Claflin's new period drama has received a season order from PBS Masterpiece. Claflin leads a new adaptation of author Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo.

The public broadcaster has ordered The Count of Monte Cristo along with picking Michael Caine's final acting role in The Great Escaper. Claflin leads The Count of Monte Cristo as the doomed sailor Edmond Dantes, a sailor who is wrongfully imprisoned for treason and locked away in a grime island prison known as the Château d’If.

Sam Claflin Will Play the Classical Literary Hero Edmond Dantes

The official synopsis for The Count of Monte Cristo reads: "After many years of captivity, Dantes finally escapes and discovers treasure, making him one of the richest men in the world. Under the identity of the Count of Monte Cristo, he plans to take revenge on those who wrongly accused him.

PBS Masterpiece has officially acquired rights to The Count of Monte Cristo, a high-profile new TV series adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ legendary revenge tale. A collaborative production between Italy's Palomar and France's Demd Productions, the internationally ambitious project was shot entirely in English. It stars British actor Sam Claflin (Daisy Jones and the Six) in the lead role of Edmond Dantès, along with Egot winner Jeremy Irons (The Borgias) as Abbé Faria, Edmond's friend and confidante. The series originally premiered at the 19th Rome Film Festival in October 2024 and aired in Switzerland, Sweden, and Italy. Now, PBS Masterpiece is set to bring this fresh take on the iconic tale to American audiences.

Masterpieces Head of Scripted Content and Executive Producer Susanne Simpson announced at the PBS Annual Meeting that The Count of Monte Cristo was acquired alongside the British film The Great Escaper, saying in a statement, “I couldn...

After one of the greatest cinematic acting careers in history, Michael Caine has retired from show business. And now his final performance, in the 2023 British film The Great Escaper, is set to make its U.S. TV debut. PBS' long-running anthology series Masterpiece will air the film this fall. Masterpiece has also acquired the 2024 miniseries adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, which stars Sam Claflin in the title role; it will premiere in 2026.

The Great Escaper stars Caine as real-life World War II veteran Bernard Jordan. Living in a nursing home in 2014, he hopes to attend the 70th anniversary ceremony for the D-Day landings in Normandy, but can't get a place on a group tour. Undeterred, he makes a daring escape from the home. The Great Escaper also features the final performance from Oscar-winning actor Glenda Jackson, who died shortly after completing it; she plays Irene, Jordan's wife of sixty years.

‘Harry Potter’ Alum Ellie Darcey-Alden Makes Producing Debut In Cannes

Exclusive: Ellie Darcey-Alden, who played Lily Potter in the final Harry Potter movie, is expanding into production and is headed to Cannes with UK indie romantic comedy Everything I Didn’t Say. Her company, Blue Paradigm Entertainment, is making the film as part of a slate of “emotionally-driven, character-focused” pics. Richard J. Lee is directing Everything I Didn’t Say with the film exploring the emotional vulnerability of reconnection, as two former lovers reunite years after their break up. Jeremy Zimmerman and Sofie Golding-Spittle (The Count of Monte Cristo) are casting directors, with casting to follow. Darcey-Alden produces alongside writer-director Lee, with support from 5ive By 5ive Studios and Joe Sisto of Sisto Entertainment & Business Law Services providing legal representation. The Everything I Didn’t Say team will be at Cannes Film Festival to meet with sales agents and distributors,...

If you are excited for a new instalment in “The Hunger Games” world, know you are not alone. Sam Claflin, who played Finnick Odair in the original film series, says he is “a huge lover and fan of the world [author] Suzanne Collins created” and “can’t help but feel attached to it.”

Speaking with Variety at Canneseries, where he is promoting Bille August’s epic series “The Count of Monte Cristo,” the actor says he loved 2023’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.” “I thought it was a fresh take with a fresh generation. They did a wonderful job. I understand the ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ book is even better.”

“The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” is currently in the works and is predicted to arrive in cinemas in November 2026. Jesse Plemmons and Mckenna Grace recently joined leads Joseph Zada and Whitney Peak, who will play...

Exclusive: Pathé International will be launching sales at Cannes on Guillaume Canet’s new psychological thriller Karma, starring Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, three-time César nominee Denis Ménochet (Inglorious Basterds) and Goya winner Leonardo Sbaraglia (Pain and Glory).

Canet, who won a César for his Harlan Coben adaptation Tell No One in 2006, has written the script with Simon Jacquet and is directing the project, which is currently in production in Europe. Plot details remain under wraps but we understand Canet devised the main role for his wife and longtime screen collaborator Cotillard.

Luis Zahera (As Bestas) also joins but contrary to some online speculation Mark Ruffalo is not in the cast. Director of photography is Benoît Debie (Spring Breakers) while Laure Gardette serves as editor (Polisse).

The French-language film heralds from ascending French production company Iconoclast, which is also behind Romain Gavras’ starry action-comedy Sacrifice, and Canet’s label Caneo.

Delivery...

‘The Young and the Restless’ (Y&r) spoilers intimate that Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) may have left a breadcrumb hinting that Cane Ashby (Daniel Goddard) is the elusive Aristotle Dumas.

‘The Young And The Restless’ Spoilers: Cane Was Last Seen On Y&r Six Years Ago

The mystery billionaire corporate shark is on everybody’s minds these days as he has the most powerful families in Genoa City quaking in their very expensive shoes.

Everyone from the Newmans to the Abbotts wants to know who this fan of “The Count of Monte Cristo” is and what his next move might be.

Image Credit: Jpi Studios

It also can’t be a coincidence that Lily Winters (Christel Khalil) has Dumas on her radar as well. She’s been significantly interested in learning more about him after Victor Newman (Eric Braden) shared with her that the businessman investigated the Winters family.

Damian Kane...

Daryl Dixon is heading to the Croisette.

The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus has been named the president of the competition jury for the upcoming Canneseries TV festival, judging the best in new television from around the globe.

Joining Reedus on the Canneseries international jury are U.S. showrunner Soo Hugh (Pachinko), TV music composer Jeff Russo (Fargo, Ripley), Spanish actress Lola Dueñas (The Sea Inside) and French actors Louise Bourgoin (The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec) and César Domboy (Outlander, The Walk).

The Canneseries competition line-up, announced Tuesday, runs the gambit from Nhk’s Norwegian/Lithuanian psychological drama A Better Man and the Belgian comedy crime thriller Dead End, to Finnish drama-thriller L/Over, Max’s southern-French drama Malditos, the Belgian-German road trip dramedy How to Kill Your Sister, corporate family drama Nepobaby from Norway’s TV2, the Icelandic foodie thriller Reykjavik Fusion, and the South Korean sci-fi entry S Line.

The stars of J.J. Abrams’ Duster, The Walking Dead: Dead City, The Agency and Severance will be heading to France next month for Canneseries, while The Walking Dead‘s Norman Reedus has been named President of the Jury.

Duster, The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Agency are premiering out of competition at the annual confab along with the likes of Bille August’s The Count of Monte Cristo adaptation, with August and Count star Sam Claflin also making the journey to the south of France.

Duster actors including Josh Holloway, Rachel Hilson and Keith David are expected on the Croisette alongside the likes of Jeffrey Dean Morgan from The Walking Dead spin-off. Eric Rochant, who created The Bureau, which The Agency is based on, will feature in the industry section.

Duster is perhaps the most high-profile upcoming show. Launching in May on Max, Abrams’ series was first announced...

Chicago – When I heard of the passing of actor Richard Chamberlain on March 29th, 2025, I immediately flashed back to our interview in 2010. It was the first comprehensive celebrity interview in my career, and it was a whirlwind of show biz history and reveals. And Joe Arce took Exclusive Portraits of him then and in 2017.

Richard Chamberlain was born in Beverly Hills, attended Pomona College and served in the U.S. Army in the late 1950s. He was a founding member of the Los Angeles theater group “Company of Angels,” and started doing guest roles in various television shows.

A Florid Career: Richard Chamberlain in 2010

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

His breakthrough came in 1961, when he portrayed Dr. James Kildare in the popular series “Dr. Kildare,” which catapulted him into superstar status for the time. This led to a smaller but successful singing career – his rendition of the “Theme from Dr.

Richard Chamberlain, the spirited actor known for his handle of larger-than-life characters on both stage and screen, passed away peacefully on March 29, 2025, at the age of 90, two days shy of his 91st birthday. As per Variety, the actor died in Waimanalo, Hawai’i due to complications following a stroke.

Throughout his remarkable career, Chamberlain captivated audiences with his easy-on-the-eyes visage, commanding presence, and zest for life and all of its adventures. Between his star-making turn on the original medical procedural “Dr. Kildare” and his treasured performance in the original mini-series adaptation of James Clavell’s “Shōgun,” Chamberlain has undoubtedly left a lasting impact on arts and entertainment.

Born on March 31, 1934, in Beverly Hills, California, Chamberlain served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army during the Korean War before beginning his journey as an actor in the 1960s. Returning to Los Angeles after his service, Chamberlain co-founded the theater group Company of Angels,...

Richard Chamberlian, the actor known for such shows as Dr. Kildare, Shōgun and The Thorn Birds, has died. He was 90.

The 3x Golden Globe winner died of complications following a stroke on Saturday afternoon in Waimanalo, Hawaii, according to multiple outlets, just days before his 91st birthday on Monday.

“Our beloved Richard is with the angels now. He is free and soaring to those loved ones before us,” Chamberlain’s partner Martin Rabbett said in a statement. “How blessed were we to have known such an amazing and loving soul. Love never dies. And our love is under his wings lifting him to his next great adventure.”

Born March 31, 1934 in Beverly Hills, Chamberlain was drafted by the U.S. Army after college, serving in Korea from 1956 to 1958, during which he achieved the rank of sergeant.

After founding the LA-based theater group Company of Angels in 1959, Chamberlain got his onscreen star in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents,...

Fans of Bridgerton and French literature rejoice, as Season 1 standout Regé-Jean Page is working with independent production company Department M on an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo. The announcement — via an exclusive report from Deadline — shared that Pagewill not only star in the film, but also produce it, alongside his producing partner Emily Brown under their A Mighty Stranger banner. Also on board to bring the classic tale of revenge to life is writer Patrick Ness, who also penned Chaos Walking and A Monster Calls.

The Count of Monte Cristo is the story of Edmond Dantès, a man falsely accused of treason, who is thrown into the grim prison Château d'If without trial. Dantès learns from fellow prisoner, Abbé Faria, about the location of a fabulous treasure and, after escaping and finding the cache of wealth, becomes part of high society and enters the world of...

Exclusive: Regé-Jean Page is continuing to build on an already busy slate as we are hearing he has signed on to star and produce The Count Of Monte Cristo from Department M, the independent production studio founded by industry-leading producers Mike Larocca and Michael Schaefer. Page will produce alongside his producing partner Emily Brown throgh their A Mighty Stranger banner alongside Larocca and Schaefer as well as Youtchi von Lintel via his YouRoc banner. Patrick Ness is attached to write.

The original classic novel was penned by Alexandre Dumas and follows a young sailor falsely accused of treason, who, after years of imprisonment, escapes and seeks revenge against those who wronged him, ultimately becoming the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo. Hollywood has always been fond of this property with several iterations including the 2002 film starring Guy Pearce and Jim Caviezel.

For Page it gives him another fun leading man role...

The MCU is gearing up for some major cosmic expansions, and the latest rumored addition has X-Men fans buzzing. A powerful alien race, closely tied to an Omega-level mutant we’d love to see Henry Cavill play, is reportedly set to make its debut. With deep Marvel lore and game-changing potential, this could open the door for one of the most epic storylines yet.

Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman in Man of Steel | Credits: DC Films/Warner Bros. Pictures

So, who’s coming to shake up the MCU? And could Cavill finally land his next superhero role?

Henry Cavill’s potential MCU role gets a major boost Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman in Man of Steel | Credits: DC Films/Warner Bros. Pictures

The Shi’ar Empire is officially on its way to the MCU, and that means one thing — Vulcan could finally make his live-action debut. During a recent Discord Q&a,...

The Italian Global Series Festival is to launch this June in Riccione and Rimini from June 21-28.

Igsf is billed as a new incarnation of the Roma Fiction Festival, which ran for 10 years until 2016. It is headed by festival director Marco Spagnoli, an Italian film and TV critic.

Igsf is organised by the APA, Italy’s producers’ association APA, in partnership with the Italian Ministry of Culture and Siae (Italian Society of Authors and Publishers).

The inaugural programme this summer will include Italian and international competition selections, first-look screenings, keynotes and Q&As.

Jurors for the 2025 edition include are director...

A new high-profile event dedicated to global TV series is being launched in Italy with “Bridgerton” star Adjoa Andoh, Evangeline Lilly (“Lost”) and Italy’s ‘Godfather of Disco’ Giorgio Moroder on board to be feted with career awards.

Also set for tributes at the new Italian Global Series Festival (Igsf) are the locally popular Italian comic actor and director Carlo Verdone and beloved actress Elena Sofia Ricci, who recently starred in pubcaster Rai’s top-rated Holocaust drama “La farfalla impazzita.”

Igsf is being touted as a reincarnation of the Roma Fiction Festival, which ran in the Eternal City between 2006 and 2016 and was prompted at the time by an urgency felt by Italy’s TV production community to expand its horizons.

Unlike its predecessor, the new TV event will run in two adjacent Italian seaside resort towns, Riccione and Rimini, with dates set for June 21-28. That slot will add one...

Mediawan has acquired a majority 51% stake in British-Australian indie powerhouse See-Saw Films, the high-profile Oscar-winning tastemakers behind hit returning TV shows such as “Slow Horses” and “Heartstopper” and acclaimed, award-winning films including “The Power of the Dog,” “The Son” and “The King’s Speech.”

The news — which is likely to cause a stir in the U.K. industry and beyond and be considered a major coup for Mediawan — is the latest in a hot streak of big-name acquisitions by the thriving European production-distribution group, which took majority ownership of Brad Pitt’s Plan B in late 2022 and struck a partnership with LeBron James’ and Maverick Carter‘s The SpringHill Company shingle last September, as well as buying fast-rising German production and distribution company Leonine last year. It already has a presence in the U.K. with Drama Republic, Misfits Entertainment (“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story”) and animation banner Wildseed Studios.

In the end, Emilia Pérez went two for 13. Jacques Audiard’s unclassifiable Mexican cartel transgender musical went into the 97th Academy Awards as the theoretical frontrunner. It’s 13 nominations — for best picture, director, actress, supporting actress, adapted screenplay, international feature, cinematography, film editing, makeup/hairstyling, original score, sound and two for original song — were the most ever for a non-English-language film, beating the 10 noms each for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Roma, and within touching distance of the all-time record held by All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land, which earned 14 each.

But when the votes were counted, Emilia Pérez walked away with just two awards: A best supporting actress nod for Zoe Saldaña and the best original song honor for “El Mal.”

We all know why. Emilia Pérez suffered the most spectacular derailing of an Oscar campaign in recent memory. There was just a week between the Jan.

The president of this year’s Césars Catherine Deneuve bestowed the Best Film César to Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez

Jacques Audiard’s Mexican drug cartel musical Emilia Pérez emerged as the big winner at the 50th anniversary edition of the French César awards at the Olympic theatre in Paris although the success won’t necessarily boost its chances at the Oscars on Sunday.

Julia Roberts took home an Honorary César It won Best Film and Best Director for Audiard among several of the glittering prizes – a total of seven from its starting point of 12 nominations. The row around a controversial Tweet by Pérez actress Karlia Sofia Gascón appeared not to have harmed its chances in France with master of ceremonies Jean-Pascal Zadi beaming at Audiard that “We have to laugh …” The same attitude may not hold sway with the members of the Academy.

Although two box office hits The Count Of Monte Cristo...

“Emilia Pérez” won Best Film from the French 2025 César Awards, a major win for the Netflix film ahead of the Oscars. Jacques Audiard’s movie had earned 13 Oscar nominations but then fell out of frontrunner status.

The film also won both Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Jacques Audiard, though Zoe Saldaña, who has dominated the awards circuit all year, lost in an upset to Hafsia Herzi for the film “Borgo.” Saldaña though was nominated alongside Karla Sofía Gascón in the Best Actress category, and not in Best Supporting Actress.

In all, “Emilia Pérez” took home seven Césars out of 12 nominations, including Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Original Music, and Best Cinematography. “The Count of Monte Cristo,” a new version of the Dumas revenge tale, led all nominees with 14, and it won two.

While the Césars this year largely did not resemble the Oscars, a few others won...

It’s rare for a movie like “The Substance” to break into the Oscars race. Written and directed by French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat, the film is an intense, satirical and violent body horror thriller about insecurity and the pressures of the unrealistic beauty standards that society forces onto women both when they are young and when they are older. It is the kind of bizarre, wholly original piece of genre entertainment that you don’t often see competing for Best Picture.

But such is the power of “The Substance.” Once you see it, you understand immediately why it is being treated by many like one of the best films of 2024. Here’s how and where you can watch it right now.

Is “The Substance” streaming or in theaters?

“The Substance” is available to stream now. It is streaming for free on Mubi for all of the platform’s active subscribers.

Jacques Audiard swept the board at the 50th Césars on Friday evening, winning Best Director and Film for Emilia Pérez against expectations after its award-season campaign was derailed by the uncovering of racist tweets by its star Karla Sofía Gascón.

“It’s such a pleasure although I fear you actually don’t like me,” quipped a visibly moved Audiard as he received the Directors Award, which was announced first, with Anatomy of Fall Oscar and César winner Justine Triet handing it over. “I thank my marvellous team and when I say my team it’s not in the sense of ownership, but rather a declaration of love.”

Audiard also cited Gascón, who he has publicly distanced himself from in the wake of the tweet scandal, as well as co-star Zoe Saldaña, referring to them as “My darling Zoe, my Darling Karla.”

Audiard’s Oscar hopeful also clinched Best Adapted Screenplay,...

Jacques Audiard’s crime musical “Emilia Perez” won a raft of prizes, including best film and director, at the 50th edition of the Cesar Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, on Friday in Paris.

“Emilia Perez” won a total of seven awards out of 12 nominations. While Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofía Gascón were both on hand and nominated for best actress, they lost to Hafsia Herzi, who starred as a prison supervisor in Stéphane Demoustier’s “Borgo.”

Gascón made her first award show appearance at the Cesar Awards ceremony after laying low in the wake of her offensive posts. Although she skipped the press line on the red carpet, Gascón sat on the same row as Audiard and Saldana inside the Olympia theater, but didn’t seat next to them and didn’t seem to be on speaking terms.

The ceremony’s emcee, French actor Jean-Pascal Zadi, tried to...

Jacques Audiard’s Oscar contender Emilia Pérez was the big winner at the 50th César Awards, France’s equivalent of the Oscars, taking best film and best director among multiple honors.

Audiard won best director and best adapted screenplay for Emilia Pérez, and the film also took honors for best sound, best cinematography, best visual effects and best original music.

But Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón, who walked the red carpet at the Paris gala, returning to the spotlight for the first time since the eruption of the controversy surrounding her offensive resurfaced tweets, lost out in the best actress race to Hafsia Herzi, who won for her role as a female prison guard in Stéphane Demoustier’s drama Borgo.

Gascón, who is Spanish, skipped Spain’s national film awards, the Goyas, earlier this month following the backlash over her past social media posts. Netflix removed the actress, the...

France’s César Awards mark their 50th ceremony at the Olympia Theatre in Paris this evening with swashbuckler The Count of Monte Cristo, star-crossed romance Beating Hearts and Mexico-set, Spanish language musical Oscar hopeful Emilia Pérez leading the nominations.

Other multi-nominated titles include asylum seeker drama Souleymane’s Story, thriller Misericordia and The Marching Band, a feel-good movie set in a declining manufacturing town in northern France.

Voted on by the just under 5,000 members of the Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques, or César Academy, France’s equivalent of the Oscars or Baftas celebrate French productions released in the country between January 1 to December 31 of a given year.

“We’re particularly happy this year because there’s a rich variety in the nominations. There’s everything from popular mainstream cinema to more difficult, demanding films, which have found success in festivals, which is also a reflection of the DNA and diversity of French cinema,...

Mediawan-owned On Animation Studios, the Montreal-based banner whose credits include “Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie,” “The Little Prince” and “Playmobil the Movie,” has shut down, Variety has confirmed.

On Animation Studios, which was launched by French producers Aton Soumache (“Little Nicholas”) and Dimitri Rassam (“The Count of Monte Cristo”) in 2012, was acquired by Mediawan five years later. The company quickly became a key animation studio in Montreal and attracted talented animators from overseas, boosted by a pipeline of projects based on famed IP’s such as the blockbuster “Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie” which ranks as one of the most-watched French animated films worldwide; and “The Little Prince,” which played at the Cannes Film Festival and won a Cesar Award, as well as nod from the British Academy Children’s Awards.

On Animation Studios was also one of the several companies that was able to tap into...

Dimitri Rassam’s Paris-based company Chapter 2 and Pathé, who last teamed on “The Count of Monte Cristo,” have unveiled the teaser clip and poster for “13 Days, 13 Nights,” Martin Bourboulon’s ambitious thriller set in the backdrop of the fall of Kabul and the takeover by the Taliban.

The movie marks Bourboulon’s follow up his two-part adventure saga “The Three Musketeers” which were also produced by Chapter 2 and Pathé and became box office hits in France, as well as sold to many territories.

Based on the gripping book “13 Days, 13 Nights in the Hell of Kabul” by commander Mohamed Bida – oversaw the exfiltration of the French Embassy and the local population fleeing the new extremist regime — the film was penned by Alexandre Smia with adaptation and dialogue co-written by Bourboulon. Chapter 2, a Mediawan company, is producing the film with Pathé, which is also representing the movie internationally and will distribute it in French theaters.

Exclusive: With one of Europe’s three flagship film festivals approaching half way stage, minds are already beginning to focus on the shape of the next two: Cannes and Venice. The former will be upon us before we know it.

As ever, there is no shortage of anticipated movies in contention. Indeed, one leading producer we spoke to remarked that 2025 is looking like “a particularly tough year, a much stronger year than 2024”. The surprise to us during our research for this piece is just how many big movies look like they will push to fall rather than launch on the Croisette. That’s not to say that Cannes won’t be box office. It remains the gold standard. The importance of both Cannes and Venice as launchpads is at an all-time high. Just look at how many Oscar nominees now start out at those two festivals — five of this year...

Quick LinksHenry Cavill Is a Massive and Beloved StarNext James Bond Candidates?Why Henry Cavill Just Proved He's Right to Play 007

James Bond fans hoping Henry Cavill will portray the next version of 007 on the big screen may have just gotten their wish. 20 years after Cavill's audition to play the dashing British superspy in Casino Royale, the screen test footage has been released online. While it's easy to notice Cavill's youthful inexperience in the video, his raw magnetism, charismatic energy, and undeniable charms are off the charts, further stoking enthusiasm for the British actor to don the tuxedo in Bond 26.

With two decades of experience since auditioning for Casino Royale, Cavill has proven his leading man bona fides countless times. Between playing Clark Kent/Superman and The Witcher, and British spies in Argylle and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and more, the newly released Casino Royale screen...

by Nathaniel R

Pierre Niney as "The Count of Monte Cristo" © Pathe

Since we've always loved French cinema, we follow along with the César Awards each year. Historical adventure The Count of Monte Cristo leads the pack with an astounding 14 nominations. Curiously the second most nominated film, Beating Hearts (13 nods) a romantic drama spanning 20 years, is Not up for Best Film. It premiered at Cannes to some negative reviews before an October theatrical release. Among the nomination leaders the Oscar-bound trans cartel musical Emilia Pérez (12 nominations) came in third.

Let's look at the fields and discuss and jot down which films we'll have to watch out for in 2025 as they make their way across the ocean...

The classic Gaston Leroux novel The Phantom of the Opera has been adapted countless times over the years – even Robert Englund played the Phantom back in the 1980s! – and it seems yet another adaptation is on the way. This one hails out of France, Deadline reports.

Alexandre Castagnetti is directing the French-language version of The Phantom of the Opera, which is said to be “aimed at a young adult audience and taking its cue from the Twilight franchise.”

Deva Cassel (The Leopard), Julien De Saint Jean (The Count Of Monte Cristo) and Romain Duris (Heartbreaker) are attached to star in the $20 million French production.

Deadline notes in today’s report, “Filming will begin this summer at the world famous Palais Garnier opera house, or Opéra Garnier, in Paris, against the backdrop of its theatre, backstage areas, domed roof and subterranean vaulted cistern, sometimes referred to as its lake.”

Here’s...