Animated Film ‘Moonbound’ Sells to Multiple Territories (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentThe Jewish Film Institute has selected six projects for its inaugural Completion Grants Program, including “The Wild One,” a documentary by French filmmaker Tessa Louise-Salomé about Holocaust survivor, Hollywood filmmaker and Method Acting pioneer Jack Garfein, who worked with George Peppard, Steve McQueen and James Dean.The funding program supports both emerging and established filmmakers developing “original, contemporary stories that promote

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticA cigar is never just a cigar where Sigmund Freud is concerned.

For a debut feature, writer-director Charlène Favier’s powerful coming-of-age sports drama Slalom couldn't come at a more timely moment.

David Robb Labor EditorPatricia Richardson, president of the SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Local, urged the guild’s members today to vote no on the union’s new film and TV contract. “The deal isn’t good enough, and now is the time to fix it,” she said during a Zoom press conference with other leaders of the opposition, which includes the local’s two vice presidents – Frances Fisher and David Jolliffe – and A.

Peter White Television EditorEXCLUSIVE: Gaumont, the production company behind series including Netflix’s Narcos and Apple TV+’s Stillwater, is shaking up its U.S. division with Nicolas Atlan taking over and Gene Stein exiting.The French company has handed oversight of its U.S.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film CriticTom Hanks shows what a commanding actor he can be from the first taut combat sequence of “Greyhound,” when the title warship, leading a convoy through the North Atlantic in the early months of World War II, spies a U-boat speeding toward it from a dozen miles away. As the German sub approaches, we hear a lot of rapid-fire military and navigational jargon shooting back and forth between the sailors (“Hydrophone effects slow rev, sounds like 60 RPM, sir!”).

Maggie Lee Chief Asia Film CriticEye-popping action steals the show in “Lupin III: The First,” the first computer-animated feature entry in the classic franchise about the French gentleman thief and master of disguise.

Spain's San Sebastian Film Festival unveiled its first six competition titles for its 68th edition, including movies from Naomi Kawase, François Ozon and Thomas Vinterberg. Most of the movies arefrom the Cannes Film Festival's "Cannes 2020" selection, which is made up of films that carry the Cannes brand to the screen at other events around the world.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorFunimation, a leading provider of anime content, plans to expand its streaming service to Brazil and Mexico this fall, offering select subtitled and dubbed anime series in Spanish and Portuguese.The company, an independent joint venture between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan’s Aniplex, already operates globally, with nine offices in six countries.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentEurope’s biggest nation of moviegoers, France, saw its theaters reopen with a bang on June 22 and managed to sell between 850,000 and 900,000 admissions through Sunday.It’s roughly 50% less than an average week in June, but considering the dearth of fresh releases, the heat wave, which plagued most of the country last week, and fears of a second wave of COVID-19, it’s an “outstanding result that is beyond our most optimistic forecast,” said Eric Marti at

Amanda N'Duka pmc-editorial-managerForesight Unlimited has announced key international territory sales for the Nicolas Cage-led thriller Willy’s Wonderland (working title), including U.K., Canada, Australia, Italy, Germany and Latin America. Directed by Kevin Lewis, the film follows The Janitor (Cage), an out-of-towner, who is forced to clean a family entertainment center in exchange for having his car serviced after it breaks down.

Get ready for a spicy new take on a Dolly Parton classic.

festival announced Thursday.The romantic comedy, written and directed by Allen, stars Elena Anaya (“Wonder Woman”), Louis Garrel (“An Officer and a Spy”), Gina Gershon (“The Insider”), Sergi López (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), Wallace Shawn (“Marriage Story”) and Christoph Waltz (“Inglourious Basterds”).Allen shot the film last summer in and around San Sebastian, a town located in the mountainous Basque region of northern Spain.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentSales agency Arclight Films has closed multiple key distribution deals for “Tomiris,” the epic action-adventure about the legendary Kazak warrior queen, directed by Akan Satayev (“The Liquidator”).

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentBerlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed key territories on its bittersweet portrayal of the end of a relationship “Are We Lost Forever.”The Swedish LGBT drama, the feature debut of director David Färdmar, has been picked up by Outplay in France, Salzgeber in Germany, Peccadillo Pictures (U.K./Ireland), Arti Films in Benelux and Surtsey Fim in Spain.

Emiliano De Pablos Madrid-based production and services company Babieka Films is joining forces with Spanish filmmaker Josué Ramos (“Bajo la rosa”) on helmer’s sophomore feature, mystery thriller “La ciudad dormida.”Ramos made waves on the festival circuit with his first film, psychological thriller “Bajo la rosa,” whose U.S.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentJan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based sales agency New Europe Film Sales has closed several deals with leading independent distributors on the upcoming supernatural drama “Lamb” by Valdimar Jóhannsson, starring Noomi Rapace.The film was picked up by distributors in France (The Jokers), Germany (Koch Films), Poland (Gutek Film), Benelux (The Searchers), Hungary (Vertigo), Czech Republic (Artcam), Austria (Filmladen), Denmark (Camera Film), Switzerland

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentMunich-based sales agent Global Screen has closed deals on major territories for nature documentary “The Hidden Life of Trees,” based on Peter Wohlleben’s non-fiction bestseller, which has been published in more than 40 countries.Capelight has acquired all rights for North America, with Metropolitan picking up France.

Daisy Ridley and Stephen Fry have joined the voice cast of a new stop-motion animation about artist and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci.The Star Wars actress and beloved British funnyman have signed up to star in The Inventor, a new movie about the Renaissance era polymath, which will be written and directed by Ratatouille co-writer Jim Capobianco, according to Deadline.com.Fry will voice da Vinci, who leaves Italy to join the French court, where he has an outlet for his curiosity and genius and can