Black Bear Hires Courtney L. Cunniff as SVP of Film (EXCLUSIVE)

Sydney Sweeney has addressed the box office flop of her latest film, Sony‘s superhero flick Madame Web.Last month, Madame Web premiered in cinemas around the world on February 14, and in its first six days, it took just $26.2 million (£20.8 million) in the US, and a further $25.7 million (£20.4 million) internationally. This represents an underperformance, even compared to Sony’s recent Morbius, which itself was seen as a commercial disappointment.The film has so far failed to garner any commercial success, rending it a “flop” at the box office.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Sydney Sweeney just premiered her latest movie, “Immaculate,” at SXSW, and it marks her third high profile release in four months. She conquered the box office opposite Glen Powell in the hit romantic comedy “Anyone But You” (which has earned more than $200 million worldwide), and then she experienced her first studio flop with the Sony comic book tentpole “Madame Web.” Not that Sweeney is too concerned. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the actor was unfazed when asked about “Madame Web” being widely mocked.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Netflix has ordered the limited series “Untamed” with Erica Bana attached to star, Variety has learned exclusively. The six-episode series hails from writers Mark L. Smith and his daughter, Elle Smith.

EXCLUSIVE: John De Mol’s Talpa has been on a run in the U.S. recently with The Floor and The Quiz With Balls both landing at Fox.

Naman Ramachandran Dubai-based sales agency Cercamon has acquired worldwide rights for Indonesian film “Crocodile Tears,” it was revealed at Hong Kong rights market FilMart. The film is a co-production between Indonesia’s Talamedia (producer Mandy Marahimin), Singapore’s Giraffe Pictures (producers Anthony Chen and Teoh Yi Peng), France’s Acrobates Films (producer Claire Lajoumard) and Poetik Film (producer Christophe Lafont) and Germany’s 2Pilots Filmproduction (producers Harry Flöter and Jörg Siepmann). The deal was negotiated by Sebastien Chesneau at Cercamon, Chen at Giraffe Pictures and Marahimin at Talamedia.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Juno Films has nabbed North American rights to “Girls Will Be Girls,” a mother-daughter drama that premiered at Sundance Film Festival. The movie will screen at SXSW next week before it lands in theaters this fall. Shuchi Talati directed “Girls Will Be Girls,” which is set at a strict boarding school in the Himalayas as 16-year-old Mira’s sexual, rebellious awakening is disrupted by her mother, who never got to come of age herself.

Katcy Stephan Ming-Na Wen has joined the cast of Sony’s new “Karate Kid” film. Previously announced cast members include “American Born Chinese” star Ben Wang in the titular role, plus Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, who will reprise their characters from previous entries in the franchise. Joshua Jackson and Sadie Stanley will also star.

after 16 years and a quartet of films, where else is there for Po to go? “4,” while nice enough, suggests that the smartest move would be to let the fuzzy guy retire to a calming bamboo forest rather than embark on yet another predictable adventure.The decent animated film still boasts the formidable voice talent of Black, Dustin Hoffman, Bryan Cranston, James Hong and Ian McShane. Now they’re joined by Awkwafina, Viola Davis and Ke Huy Quan. Not too shabby.This go-round, Po is reveling in his mini celeb status — swanning around town, posing for (hand-drawn) pictures with fans and cutting the ribbon at the Dragon Warrior Noodle and Tofu restaurant.

Emiliano De Pablos Madrid-based Begin Again Films has picked up Spanish distribution and international sales rights to Juan Gautier’s psychological thriller “El aspirante” (“The Aspirant”), about initiation into a masculine universe revolving around hazing of a university residence. “El aspirante” plays at this year’s Málaga Work in Progress’ WIP España sidebar, an industry centerpiece at the Málaga Film Festival, now in its 27th edition. The film toplines Jorge Motos, star of 2021’s “Lucas,” a film which earned him a Málaga Silver Biznaga for best actor and a Goya best new actor nomination; Lucas Nabor (“All the Names of God”), Eduardo Rosa (“La casa de las flores”) and Catalina Sopelana (“Sky Rojo”) complete the main cast.

Jaden Thompson Outside Los Angeles’ AMC Grove the afternoon of March 3, entertainment professionals and mall-goers alike were treated to a unique Hollywood spectacle as Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, Ke Huy Quan, Kyle Gass and more showed off their best martial arts moves on the “Kung Fu Panda 4” red carpet. Tenacious D’s cover of “…Baby One More Time,” which recently went viral on social media and is featured in the film’s end credits, played as bandmates Black and Gass shot scenes for the song’s forthcoming music video.

Reality star Stephen Bear, 33, arrived at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday, 4 March, in relation to his conviction for voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, after posting a video of himself and Georgia Harrison having sex to his OnlyFans account. Georgia, 29, was also seen arriving arm-in-arm with her new Love Island boyfriend Anton Danyluk, 29, who she met on the most recent series of All Stars: Love Island.

Christopher Vourlias Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions, which recently wrapped the action-thriller “G20” for Amazon Studios and MRC Film in Cape Town, is planning to return to South Africa to film the true story of a young African refugee’s improbable journey to the U.S., the company’s head of film production and development, Melanie Clark, revealed this week at the Joburg Film Festival. Developing the film with a working title of “The Refugee,” Clark said Davis and Tennon’s production banner is “actively working on [it] with some local partners and are in the process of figuring out how to shoot it” in South Africa, adding that “we do plan to shoot that here.” The veteran production executive described the project as “the true story of a young Sierra Leonean boy who lost his mother in [the country’s civil war] and found himself alone, because no family would take him in any refugee camp.

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood star Yami Gautam reveals her process in making “Article 370” and has addressed the issue of the film being banned in the Middle East. A political action thriller, the film deals with the events leading to the 2019 revocation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which granted special status to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, some parts of which are under dispute between India, Pakistan and China since independence from the British Empire in 1947. Gautam plays Kashmiri Indian National Intelligence Agency officer Zooni Haksar who is sent back to Kashmir by Prime Minister’s Office official Rajeshwari Swaminathan (Priyamani, “Jawan”) on a mission to achieve the revocation with minimal bloodshed.

Emiliano De Pablos “Professor T,” the crime series produced by Eagle Eye Drama, and starring Ben Miller (“Bridgerton”), has been greenlit for a fourth season by ITV and PBS Distribution. Attracting audiences of over four million viewers on ITV and making a successful debut on France 3, the highly acclaimed drama has been sold to almost 120 territories worldwide. Most recently, Telekom acquired rights in Germany, TV3 bought the series for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova 1 for Moldova, and BBC and TVP for Poland.

Tatiana Siegel As Hollywood agencies and production companies increasingly turn to artificial intelligence to evaluate screenplays, a group of writers and creatives have come together to design a so-called barrier against the incursion. Shane Black (“Iron Man 3”), Jim Herzfeld (“Meet the Parents”) and Akela Cooper (“M3GAN”) are among two dozen industryites who collaborated on the development of a new tech platform, dubbed the Gauntlet, in an effort to keep humans assessing screenplays at the gate-keeper stage rather than AI.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent European giant Beta Film, known for ambitious titles such as “Babylon Berlin” and “The Swarm,” has shared with Variety in exclusivity a first-look picture of 1o-part series “Rise of the Raven,” which it hails as “one of the most epic European TV productions of all time.” “Rise of the Raven” weighs in as a passion project of Hungarian-born and Canada-based producer Robert Lantos, behind “Sunshine,” “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Barney’s Version,” “Eastern Promises” and “Crimes of the Future.” A highlight at Beta Film’s showcase this Tuesday at the London TV Screenings, “Rise of the Raven” turns on the extraordinary feat of Hungarian army commander Janos Hunyadi, played by discovery Gellért L. Kádár, who in 1456 won a bloody, brutal Battle of Belgrade against a vast Ottoman force twice the size of his troops who were often farm labourers armed with just slings and patriotic fervor. Hunyadi largely halted a full Ottoman expansion in Europe for the next 70 years, allowing its Renaissance to lift off in Italy.

Todd Longwell Charles D. King has an impressive list of accomplishments, including an Oscar nomination for best picture for his 2021 feature “Judas and the Black Messiah.” But his proudest moment came when he told his young sons that he was quitting WME, where he was the first Black partner, to launch Macro, a multi-platform media company amplifying the voices and perspectives of people of color. “They said to me, ‘Dad is going to be a boss!’ and started jumping up and down on their bed,” recalls King.

Guy Lodge Film Critic The Berlin Film Festival drew to a close with tonight’s awards ceremony, with French-Senegalese director Mati Diop taking the Golden Bear for her documentary “Dahomey.” Full report to come; full list of winners below.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Oscar-nominated producer/songwriter Mark Ronson has put together an FYC video — not campaigning for his own Academy Award nomination for the music of “Barbie,” but for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bid for Foreigner, the founding lineup of which happens to have his stepfather, Mick Jones, as a cornerstone. The video, posted on Ronson’s Instagram account, features Dave Grohl, Jack Black, Slash, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme (along with Ronson himself) asserting Foreigner’s suitability for Rock Hall induction.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor International sales company Iuvit Media Sales has closed multiple deals at the European Film Market in Berlin for the suspense horror slasher “Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge.” Buyers include Gussi Films for Latin America, Pioneer for the Philippines and Front Row for the Middle East. Directed by Craig Rees (“Annabellum,” “Whispers”) and starring Olga Solo, Abigail Huxley, Rees and Julian Amos, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears: Death and Porridge” is an “intelligent” horror slasher, in the vein of Wes Craven horrors, and with comparables such as “The Strangers” and “The Purge.” In this adaptation of the fairy tale, Goldilocks and the three bears live together in an isolated house in the woods.