Birmingham City Council announce “alarming” budget cuts

Taylor Swift has a very famous relative and it seems like they have something in common: writing amazing works of art!

Good afternoon Insiders, Jesse Whittock with you in London, where the TV world has decamped this week for a series of screenings. Read on, and sign up for the newsletter here.

This year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival will feature a masterclass and career retrospective of UK-Irish writer and director Martin McDonagh.

Drishyam,” a hit Indian thriller in which an ordinary man confounds the police in order to protect his family, is to be re-made in English. Production is by India’s Panorama Studios with U.S. companies Gulfstream Pictures and JOAT Films.

Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios, and James Farrell, the L.A.-based VP of international originals at Prime Video, flew to Madrid this week, with the world premiere of “Red Queen” (“Reina Roja”), the series adaption of the first book in Juan Gómez-Jurado’s hit trilogy, taking place on Monday night. The streamer is rolling off the record-breaking finale of its first weekly live entertainment show “Operación Triunfo,” and has revealed that the top three of the the ten most-watched Spanish Originals of 2023 – “My Fault,” “Awareness” and “Los Farad” – have received on average 80% of streams outside of Spain, reaching a milestone for the international reach of Prime Video’s non-English language content.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The Sundance queer drama “Sebastian,” directed by up-and-coming Finnish-British director Mikko Mäkelä, has been bought by Kino Lorber for U.S. distribution, along with a string of international buyers. Represented in international markets by LevelK, the film made its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Journey have announced a 50th anniversary UK and Ireland arena tour, kicking off this autumn. Check out the details below.The ‘Freedom Tour’ will kick off at Cardiff’s Utilita Arena on October 30, followed by stops in Glasgow, Dublin, Liverpool, Birmingham and more.

A Glasgow City Council job has been advertised with a higher salary than the Prime Minister's for only 35 hours work.

Annika Pham One of Banijay’s scripted centrepieces at the London TV Screenings, the Swedish crime drama “Fallen” (“Sanningen”), sees the first reunion of star actor Sofia Helin, writer Camilla Ahlgren, and Stockholm-based Filmlance International since the multi-season hit crime show “The Bridge” (2011-2018). Their collaboration has paid off again as “Fallen” has wooed a first batch of global sellers – including MHz Choice for the U.S.

Death From Above 1979 have announced a summer 2024 UK tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut album, ‘You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine’.The Canadian dance-punk duo – comprising Jesse F. Keeler and Sebastien Grainger – will kick off the run at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in London on July 15, followed by dates in Manchester (16), Glasgow (17), Leeds (19), Birmingham (20) and Brighton (21).The anniversary shows are set to celebrate 20 years since the release of their 2004 debut, and will follow their appearance at 2000trees at Upcote Farm, near Cheltenham, on July 13.Pre-sales for the UK tour go on sale Wednesday (February 28) from 10am GMT, ahead of the general sale on Friday (March 1) at 10am GMT.

Refresh for latest…: Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love continued to sing sweet tunes in its sophomore session, adding $15M from 59 international box office markets for a drop of 37% from its above-expectations stellar opening. The overseas cume is now $49.4M for $120.6M worldwide.

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here steering you away from Berlin and towards London for the Screenings. Please do read on, and sign up here.

Kings Of Leon have announced further UK and Ireland tour dates for 2024. Find ticket details below.The newly-shared live shows come ahead of the band sharing details of their forthcoming ninth album ‘Can We Please Have Fun’ yesterday (February 22), and dropping the highly anticipated lead single ‘Mustang’.Set for release on May 10, the LP comes as the follow-up to 2021’s ‘When You See Yourself’, and also saw the band announce a series of live shows for later this year.Among the list of dates, one show in Europe was mentioned: a headline slot at the 2024 edition of BST Hyde Park in London.

Such has been the chaos in international TV over the past 12 months that you could argue Cineflix Rights’ Head of Scripted, James Durie, is underplaying things when he says it has been “a hell of a year.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) has launched a new film fund called Big Time Investment to boost production of quality Arabic movies and announced a slate of Egyptian feature films toplined by a biopic of Egyptian icon Umm Kulthum who is considered the Arab world’s greatest singer. Prominent Egyptian director Marwan Hamed, whose epic “Kira and El Gen” about local resistance to British occupation, is recent hit, will direct the film titled “El Set.” Egyptian star Mona Zaki will play Kulthum who from the late 1920s onwards became the first prominent Arab singer to disseminate her work to the masses via the new technologies of the times: radio, the phonograph, cinema and television.

Dozens of skaters - many of which will go on to compete at an international level - will descend upon Blackpool in April for the town’s ice skating festival. It’s returning to Pleasure Beach Arena for its 55th year.

Refresh for latest…: Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love brought folks together around the world in its opening frame, singing up a sweet estimated $80M global bow. After coming on strong in early overseas play this week, and as audiences turned a deaf ear to critics, the international box office portion of that is $29M, landing well ahead of expectations.

The Bafta Film Awards celebrates some of the best British and international films released over the past year.

EXCLUSIVE: Singapore’s Momo Film Co has boarded Indonesian filmmaker Wregas Bhanuteja‘s third feature film, Levitating (working title).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Focus Features has bought international rights to Brady Corbet‘s “The Brutalist,” starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce and Joe Alwyn, Variety has learned. Corbet, who sits on the Berlinale jury, penned the film with Mona Fastvold (“The World to Come”), a Swedish filmmaker who is also his wife. The film charts 30 years in the lives of visionary architect László Toth and his wife, Erzsébet, who flee post-war Europe in 1947 and witness the birth of modern America.