BFI’s Global Screen Fund Unveils Latest Round Of $2.5M Payouts

All3Media, the British super-producer behind hits including The Traitors and 1917, is up for sale.

K.J. Yossman Anthony LaPaglia‘s upcoming factual series “The Black Hand” is set to be distributed internationally by eOne. The three-part series will explore Australia’s Italian community, looking at the difficulties they face, their politics, the threat of war and the mafia. According to the series synopsis, The Black Hand is the name for a gang of Italian criminals in Australia. Alan Erson, LaPaglia, Michael Tear exec produce. Adam Grossetti and Kate Pappas produce. “The Black Hand” is directed by Kriv Stenders and written by Grossetti, Stenders and Anya Beyersdorf.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Indian streaming service JioCinema claimed a record for the number of concurrent viewers this week. It reported that 32 million viewers were simultaneously using its service to watch the IPL cricket final match between The Chennai Super Kings and the Gujarat Titans. The platform’s previous peak was 25 million. Chennai eventually won the rain-affected and one-day delayed match Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has removed its bouquet of 14 channels from Indonesia’s TV largest platform, MNC, ending decades-long affiliate arrangements, Content Asia reported. The decision, confirmed by WBD, involves channels from HBO and Cartoon Network to Discovery and TLC, all of which came off air on May 12. The move is understood to be the culmination of a payments disagreement. In November last year, beIN removds its sports service from MNC. WBD content remains available on three smaller platforms in Indonesia, IndiHome First Media and Trans.

Refresh for latest…: Disney’s live-action take on The Little Mermaid is doing swimmingly at the domestic box office, with a three-day opening of $95.5M and a four-day projection of $117.5M. Factoring in the international box office bow of $68.3M, that makes for an estimated $163.8M global debut through Sunday. The offshore launch is lower than hoped for coming into the frame. But it bears noting there was something fishy going on in overseas markets with so-called review-bombing in such areas as France, Korea, Germany and beyond.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Jonathan Glazer’s Nazi drama “The Zone of Interest” has sold into major international territories following its buzzy Cannes world premiere. The film centers on the family of a high-ranking SS official that lives next door to Auschwitz concentration camp. The pic has sold into: Austria and Germany (Leonine), Benelux (Cineart), France (BAC), Greece (Spentzos), Italy (I Wonder), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Scandinavia (SF Studios), Spain (Elastica) and Switzerland (Filmcoopi). In Poland — a significant sales market for the film given it is set there — Gutek has come on board as distributor. (A24 was selling worldwide rights for the film, but did not handle the Polish sale.)

Marcel Theroux To Investigate Playboy Bunny Murders

Disney’s return to live-action takes of their animated vault in the fullest theatrical form happens this weekend with Rob Marshall’s The Little Mermaid which is eyeing a $180M worldwide start.

EXCLUSIVE: ITV Studios is seeking a VP of Global Content to work with natural history and premium doc labels including Tiny World indie Plimsoll.

Good Morning Britain regular Iain Dale was rushed to hospital after tripping at the top of an escalator at the London Underground.The 60 year old LBC panelist posted a snap to Instagram as he lay in a hospital bed as he revealed that he had broken his hip during the accident, and praised the healthcare he had received. In his post, Iain wrote: "Some news.This afternoon I tripped at the top of an escalator at Charing Cross Underground. "I was taken by Ambulance to St Thomas’ hospital.

Benedict Cumberbatch & Claire Foy To Lead Channel 4’s ‘Mog’s Christmas’ Adaptation

Naman Ramachandran “Lioness,” an official Indo-U.K. co-production being made under the 2008 bilateral treaty, will star Aditi Rao Hydari (“Jubilee”) and Paige Sandhu (“Emmerdale”), it was revealed at the Cannes India pavilion on Tuesday. Written and to be directed by Kajri Babbar (“Khoj”), the film is inspired by the research of Peter Bance, the historian who wrote about Princess Sophia Duleep, one of the key leaders of the suffragette movement in the U.K., the Princess of Punjab, granddaughter of Maharajah Ranjit Singh and the goddaughter of Queen Victoria. The film will tell the story of two British Punjabi women living in the U.K., a century apart. While Sophia’s story is rooted in history, the second story is a fictional tale of Mehak Kaur an educated, married immigrant woman living in 1990’s Southall.

EXCLUSIVE: Trom creator Torfinnur Jákupsson is turbocharging his quest to place the Faroe Islands on the global film and TV map.

Ben Whishaw Unveils First Project Since BAFTA TV Win

Lambert Wilson Named President Of Locarno Jury

Six months after the landmark debut of its ad-supported subscription tier, Netflix said the plan has hit 5 million monthly active users globally.

Naman Ramachandran British singer-songwriter Craig David (“22”) and singer and stage actor Beverley Knight (“Sister Act”) will headline the Windrush 75 celebration at London’s Royal Albert Hall on June 9. The event is being curated and hosted by DJ and radio presenter Trevor Nelson. The Windrush generation came to the U.K. from Caribbean countries between 1948 and 1971. The ship MV Empire Windrush had arrived in Tilbury on June 22, 1948, bringing workers from the Caribbean to help address a post-war labor shortage in the U.K. The concert will aim to capture the breadth of musical influence which the Windrush generation has had on British culture over the last 75 years, with performances including R&B group Loose Ends’ “Hangin’ on a String,” G-folk’ pioneer Hak Baker’s “Windrush Baby” and David’s “Fill Me In,” as well as renditions of classic tracks like Lord Kitchener’s “London is the Place for Me,” Bob Marley’s “Is this Love,” and Goldie’s “Inner City Life.”

Music charity the PRS Foundation last week unveiled a new report at the Great Escape Conference in Brighton all about its Momentum Music Fund, which was formally launched at the showcase festival ten years ago.Originally with primary funding from Arts Council England, and now supported by collecting society PPL – as well as Creative Wales, Arts Council Of Northern Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland and Spotify – the Momentum scheme “provides career-boosting grants of between £5000-£15,000 to acts at a pivotal time in their creative and business development”.Over its first decade in existence, the fund has awarded £5.2 million to 526 artists across the UK, helping support the production of 275 albums – including Mercury Prize shortlisted records – and over 300 tours and 1600 shows.The stats published last week also demonstrate how the fund seeks to help facilitate more diversity in the music industry.The Foundation said that 49.5% of Momentum grants have been awarded to artists of black, Asian or other ethnically diverse heritage; 51% of grants have gone to artists based outside London; and 47.9% of grantees identify as women, gender expansive artists or are in mixed gender groups.Commenting on the new report, PRS Foundation CEO Joe Frankland said: “The PPL Momentum Music Fund reaching ten years is a fantastic milestone and it’s clear to see the impact it continues to have on the UK music industry.

Brock Media Pushes Into Podcasts

K.J. Yossman “Tabby McTat,” the lively children’s story by writer Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler, is set to get the BBC treatment with a new adaptation by longtime Donaldson/Scheffler collaborators Magic Light Pictures. “Doctor Who” star Jodie Whittaker will narrate the tale about a cat who gets separated from his owner while Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísú (“Gangs of London”) will voice Tabby. Other stars lending their voices to the short include Rob Brydon (“Gavin and Stacey”), Cariad Lloyd (“Peep Show”), Joanna Scanlan (“The Thick of It”) and Susan Wokoma (“Enola Holmes”). “Superworm” directors Sarah Scrimgeour and Jac Hamman will helm the project, which was written by Max Lang and Suzanne Lang. Barney Goodland and Michael Rose of Magic Light Pictures will produce. BBC chief content office Charlotte Moore and BBC drama commissioning editor Nawfal Faizullah acquired the film for the BBC. Red Star Studio will provide animation services.

Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has rocketed past the $300M mark globally through Monday. At the same time, it will propel The Walt Disney Company across $2B worldwide for 2023 to date with today’s numbers included.