Brutal Coming-of-Age Story ‘Mascot’ Acquired by Sumerian for North America (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based sales outlet New Europe Film Sales has sold its 3D family animation “A Mystery on the Cattle Hill Express,” directed by Will Ashurst, to Viva Kids for North America. The third part in the “Cattle Hill” series is a detective story about the little cow Clara and her friend Gavin who join forces with the world famous detective Agatha Chichester to unveil the thief of a revolutionary Nano-seed stolen from a high-tech laboratory train. New Europe has also sold the film to South Korea (First Run) and South Africa (Red Dot Digitals) and, as previously announced, France (Alba Films), Poland (New Horizons), JUST4KIDS in Benelux, Neo Films in Greece, Birfilm in Turkey, FILMS4YOU in Portugal and Arthousetraffic in Ukraine.

The 1975 have announced their ‘Still … At their very best’ 2023 North American Tour. check out the complete list of dates below.The tour will see the band perform in arenas across North America and Canada throughout autumn.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The wolf pack is hoping for Emmys love. “Teen Wolf: The Movie,” Paramount+’s adaptation of the MTV supernatural-thriller series, has been submitted for the Primetime Emmy Awards for outstanding television movie, Variety has learned exclusively. Moreover, the streamer also submitted the film in five other categories: lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie (Tyler Posey), directing (Russell Mulcahy), writing (Jeff Davis, Will Wallace, Joseph P. Genier, Russell Mulcahy), prosthetic makeup (Chris Gallaher, Adrien Morot, Erik Porn, Hailey Trifiro, Kyle Yaklin) and original music and lyrics (“Lemon” by Tyler Posey). This provides Posey, who plays the True Alpha werewolf Scott and produces the film, three chances for recognition.

Bella Ramsey-starring BBC prison drama Time has added BritBox North America as co-producer and revealed more cast plus first-look image (above).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Liu Jian’s “Art College 1994,” the critically acclaimed Chinese animated feature competing at this week’s Annecy festival, has been acquired by New York-based outfit Dekanalog for North American distribution. A poignant and vibrant portrait of on-campus youth at the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts in the early 1990s, the feature world premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival as one of the rare animated movies that have vied for the Golden Bear. “Art College 1994” will open in North American theaters in 2024, following its release in China. “Art College 1994” is set against the backdrop of reforms opening China to the Western world and revolves around a group of college students who take their first steps into adulthood, where love and friendships are intertwined with artistic pursuits, ideals and ambitions. Caught between tradition and modernity, these young adults now have to choose who they want to become. The film, whose voice cast includes Venice Golden Lion-winning filmmaker Jia Zhangke, is filled with pop references and deadpan humor.

The late Roger Ebert swore by the “Stanton-Walsh rule.” He claimed no film featuring character actors Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmett Walsh could ever be entirely bad.

“How do people do this?” asks well-to-do New York book publisher Nicky (Luke Evans) in a state of exasperation. Nicky is in the thick of a bitter custody battle for his eight-year-old son Owen (Christopher Woodley), after Gabriel (Billy Porter), his partner of 13 years, has decided to call time on their relationship. It’s a well-worn premise in mainstream cinema — essayed most recently by Noah Baumbach’s acerbic Marriage Story, and still portrayed most famously in Robert Benton’s 1979 weepie Kramer vs. Kramer — but gay cinema has been slow to tackle the issue. With his second movie, the follow-up to the 2018 sci-fi Jonathan, Bill Oliver corrects that oversight with a beautifully judged human drama that dissects a dying marriage with humor and intelligence, drawing out an especially open and moving performance from Porter.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Forest,” an Italian eco-themed animation film about deforestation, has scored some strong pre-sales for Rome-based True Colours at the Cannes Marché du film. The still-in-production 3-D animation feature – the protagonist of which is a young mushroom named Fey – has been picked up for roughly 20 territories by Top Film Distribution which will distribute “Forest” in Ukraine, CIS, the Baltics, and Eastern European countries including former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland, Czech and Slovak Republics, Romania, and Hungary.  Helmed by Luca Della Grotta and Francesco Dafano, the film is produced by Italy’s AI One, the same team that previously spawned 2020 similarly themed animation feature “Trash” that sold in more than 30 countries. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cohen Media Group has scooped rights to “Kidnapped,” the latest movie by revered Italian master Marco Bellocchio, which world premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The drama reconstructs the true tale of Edgardo Mortara, a young Jewish boy who was kidnapped and forcibly raised as a Christian in 19th-century Italy. Described by Variety as a “handsomely mounted period drama,” “Kidnapped” opens in 1858, in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, where the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby, and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education.

Selome Hailu The Native American and Indigenous Writers committee is “one of the smallest committees in the Writers Guild, but [with] one of the loudest voices ever” according to its vice chair Aiko Little — which was evidenced by the turnout of some 100 picketers who joined the NAIWC for a strike event in front of Walt Disney Studios on Wednesday. The NAIWC’s Disney picket was the most recent of a string of of WGA strike events over the past several weeks that have gathered writers from specific marginalized backgrounds — Trans Takeover Thursday, for example — to highlight how current working conditions are affecting them while celebrating storytellers from their communities.

Marvel Studios typically hates when set photos get leaked and fans around the world get a sneak peek at one of the upcoming films or TV shows. But it’s not so bad, I suppose, when someone from Marvel is actually doing the leaking, as is the case with Anthony Mackie giving people a behind-the-scenes look at the new “Captain America” film.

Queens Of The Stone Age have announced a 2023 North American tour titled ‘The End Is Nero’ that kicks off in August.The 28-city-date tour will commence in Sterling Heights, Michigan at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre. From there, the band will make stops in Toronto, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., New York, Atlanta and more.

The Independent. Astrud was best known for her iconic recording of The Girl From Ipanema. Alongside the famous track, she recorded 16 studio albums and two live records during her music career, which began in the Sixties.

Prepare for an incredible fusion of musical powerhouses as Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin, and Pitbull team up for The Trilogy Tour across North America this fall.

Janelle Monae is hitting the road!

AB6IX have announced the dates for their upcoming 2023 ‘The Future’ world tour.AB6IX are set to go on a 12-date world tour from July to September this year, in support of their new mini-album ‘The Future Is Ours: Lost’. The upcoming tour will feature shows in Asia and across North America.AB6IX’s ‘The Future’ world tour outside of South Korea will kick off in Macau, China on July 15.

When it was first announced, “I’m A Virgo” was described as a coming-of-age tale about a 13-foot-tall young Black man finally going outside his home and integrating into the larger world. That alone is an interesting story.

Rosalia and Rauw Alejandro were one of the most lowkey couples in music, until they weren’t. The pair managed to date covertly for about a year, breaking the news to the world with public outings and a sweet TikTok video.

Sam Smith is being slammed after abruptly exiting a concert stage and leaving fans "in the dark" for 20 minutes without any kind of announcement. Only adding to the anger was that fans felt Sam was particularly insensitive about the blackout, given that that particular show took place at the Manchester Arena, which was the site of a bombing during an Ariana Grande concert six years earlier.

Charna Flam Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to “Story Ave,” which won a special jury award for cinematography at SXSW. From debut filmmaker Aristotle Torres, “Story Ave” stars Luis Guzmán (“Narcos,” “Boogie Nights”) and Asante Blackk (“When They See Us,” “This Is Us”), with Guzmán serving as executive producer alongside producer Jamie Foxx. “Story Ave”follows teenage graffiti artist, Kadir Grayson (Blackk) who recently ran away from home and tries to prove himself to his neighborhood gang. One night Kadir heads over to the Story Ave. subway platform and attempts to hold up MTA worker Luis Torres (Guzmán) in a robbery. But once Luis proposes he’ll hand over the cash if Kadir has a meal with him, the two get to know each other throughout the meal, and with time their connection turns into growing and sincere friendship.