Cohen Media Group Buys HanWay Films in Major Acquisition

Neon has locked down North American rights to the thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline — a Toronto Film Festival breakout which had its world premiere as part of the 2022 festival’s Platform category — following a competitive situation.

Variety.The French language film was directed by Christian Carion (“Joyeux Noel”) and is playing in the Official Selection at the Toronto Film Festival.“Driving Madeleine” stars Dany Boon (“Bienvenue chez les ch’tis”) who plays Charles, a taxi driver in Paris who is struggling under mounting stress. His debts are coming due, his driver’s license is in danger of being suspended because of numerous fines, and his marriage is falling apart. He has no way of knowing his life is about to be transformed when he picks up Madeleine, a 92-year-old woman who is soon to move into a care facility.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cohen Media Group has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “Driving Madeleine,” a stirring new drama directed Oscar-nominated filmmaker Christian Carion (“Joyeux Noel”), and starring Dany Boon (“Bienvenue chez les ch’tis”). The film is playing in the Official Selection at the Toronto Film Festival. Besides “Joyeux Noel,” Carion’s wide-ranging films include the Cold War spy thriller “Farewell,” the World War II tale “Come What May,” the mystery “My Son,” and the rural drama “The Girl from Paris.”  “Driving Madeleine” stars Boon as Charles, a taxi driver in Paris who is struggling under mounting stress. His debts are coming due, his driver’s license is in danger of being suspended because of numerous fines, and his marriage is falling apart. He has no way of knowing his life is about to be transformed when he picks up Madeleine, a 92-year-old woman who is soon to move into a care facility. She asks Charles to make certain stops during what may be her last ride through the city. Charles grumbles but is slowly charmed by Madeleine’s warmth and fascinated by her tales as she slowly reveals the dramatic and shocking story of her life.

K.J. Yossman Banijay Rights has set a new returning drama series titled “Runners” with writer John Preston (pictured above, left) and exec producer Ellie Wood (pictured above, right) of Clearwood Films, the team behind “Stonehouse” and “The Dig.” “Runners” tells the story of the world’s first police force, the Bow Street Runners, who were formed in the 1740s in London, which at the time was facing a colossal crime wave. The Chief Magistrate of London at the time, Heny Fielding (who also happened to be a celebrated novelist), decided to take on this criminal underworld by assembling a group of police.“This extraordinary story will tell of how a group of just six police officers, none with any training or experience, set about imposing law and order on a completely lawless society and embarked on solving one of the strangest cases of its time – one with momentous political and social ramifications,” reads the logline.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Coming off a year of major international growth, Paris-based animation giant Cyber Group Studios is presenting a wide-ranging lineup of new and returning shows at this year’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous in the French seaside town of Biarritz. Among Cyber Group’s current high-profile titles is the new super-powered kid comedy series “50/50 Heroes,” which has sold to ITV in the U.K. and Discovery in Latin America. Commissioned by France Televisions and Disney, “50/50 Heroes” follows the high jinks of Mo and Sam, a half-brother and sister duo, aged 11 and 9, who share super powers. Cyber Group has been expanding its global operations over the past year with a number of major acquisitions, partnerships and joint ventures that have resulted in a number of new projects.

Strictly Come Dancing's four new professionals are set to be introduced to viewers in a cinematic routine filmed alongside the returning cast. European cup winner Vito Coppola, Chinese national champion Carlos Gu, former Under-21 British national champion Lauren Oakley and Latin dance champion Michelle Tsiakkas complete the show's largest-ever line-up of 20 pros this year.They join the returning Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Graziano Di Prima, Amy Dowden, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Cameron Lombard, Gorka Marquez, Luba Mushtuk, Giovanni Pernice, Jowita Przystal, Johannes Radebe, Kai Widdrington and Nancy Xu.The introductory routine will form part of the Strictly Come Dancing launch show airing on BBC One and iPlayer on 17 September.

Vernon Kay has given a little bit of insight into what his home life is like before and during Strictly Come Dancing thanks to wife Tess Daly. The presenter is currently gearing up for the 20th series of BBC One dance contest.

Matthew Fox makes his return to television 12 years after the end of in the new Peacock apocalyptic miniseries, . The 56-year-old actor acknowledged his time away from the spotlight and why he chose this project, which co-stars s Joanne Froggatt, to be the one that marked his TV return.«There’s a lot of reasons. It really came down to I had done a bucket list of things that I wanted to accomplish in the business and the one thing that I hadn’t done is I hadn’t done any executive producing and I really wanted to try that,» Fox, who serves as an EP on the series, tells ET's Matt Cohen. «I wanted to try my hand at it and and have my hand in more elements of the story than just the role that I was portraying.»«Obviously the story itself, the macro backdrop of the story [is] this oil crisis and this family at the core of it that is separated through this crisis and striving to get back together again and be reunited.

Keeping the party going in Paris! Artem Chigvintsev and Nikki Bella are still celebrating with son Matteo after tying the knot earlier this month.

Executives from China Film Group were recently treated to a screening of footage from Disney/20th Century Studios’ Avatar: The Way Of Water, receiving a surprise greeting from filmmaker James Cameron in the process. China Daily reported the news which Deadline has confirmed.

Vivienne Chow Taiwan at Venice 2022 — Venice Immersive Competition “All That Remains” – Director: Craig Quintero Among the latest explorers in the VR realm is Riverbed Theatre, a “total theater” company that was formed in Taipei in 1998 and combines visual and performing arts. “All That Remains” is directed by the company’s artistic director Craig Quintero. The film challenges audiences’ perceptions of truth by questioning the possibilities beyond the everyday patterns that are constructed from known facts and familiarity. The idea is to nudge viewers out of their comfort zone. It positions itself as a meditation on the malleability of facts and the increasingly fluid boundary between truth and fiction as humans are facing unprecedented alienation from each other. The film was financially backed by a grant from the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA). 

EXCLUSIVE: Participant’s Chloé Zhao-exec produced limited scripted series about Vincent Chin had found its writers and director.

France’s Asacha Media Group has acquired compatriot SRAB Films, the firm behind Ladj Ly’s Oscar-nominated Les Misérables.

cannon never gets tired of blasting off.On the red carpet at the 2022 VMAs Sunday, “Wild ‘N Out” siren Justina Valentine spoke candidly about the show’s fertile frontman Nick Cannon, who announced the impending birth of his tenth child last week.“One thing about Nick, he doesn’t vacation and neither does his junk,” Valentine, 35, told The Post after jokingly being asked if Cannon, 41, planned to launch a “Wild ‘N Out” day-care center for his brood.On Thursday, Cannon and former beauty pageant queen Brittany Bell, 34, revealed on Instagram that they are expecting their third child, which will be his tenth, together.The pair already have a 5-year-old son, Golden, and a 1-year-old daughter, Powerful Queen.“He’s a hard-working man, across the board,” Valentine added with a chuckle. And she isn’t the only lady in Cannon’s life to poke fun at his rampant fruitfulness.  Abby De La Rosa — who gave birth to his most recent set of twins, Zion and Zillion Cannon, in June 2021 and is currently pregnant with their third child — joked that the “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” star is siring an entire generation. “Move over Kardashians, ‘Gen C’ is taking over baby,” penned De La Rosa, 32, as the in-text caption of an Instagram Story following Cannon and Bell’s virtual pregnancy announcement. She re-posted a clip from comedian Brian Moller, who wisecracked that Cannon’s 10 (and counting) kids might eventually “take on the Kardashians for world supremacy.”“And they said millennials aren’t having kids,” quipped Moller. “They’re not, Nick’s having them all!”Cannon’s incessant seed-spilling notwithstanding, he seems to be making an effort to spend quality time with his growing gaggle of little ones.

Cohen Media Group hopes a Spanish film can dent the tough market for foreign language fare, Bleecker Street is out with a hostage drama and A24 presents Owen Kline’s directorial debut about a teenage cartoonist as the arthouse market flexes more muscle than it has in weeks.

Charles S. Cohen’s Cohen Media Group, which owns the Landmark Theatres chain of art-houses, has acquired HanWay Films, the U.K.-based international film sales giant founded by Jeremy Thomas and long run by his partner Peter Watson.

EXCLUSIVE: In an eye-catching independent deal, Charles S. Cohen’s Cohen Media Group, owner of Landmark Theatres and UK cinema group Curzon, has added to his arthouse fleet with the acquisition of blue-chip international sales company HanWay Films, co-owned by stalwart Brit producer Jeremy Thomas and his partner Peter Watson.

In this newly-created role, Ghee will help AMG’s senior advertising and marketing executives to strategically work with brands for significant partnerships with the AMG portfolio, including theGrio digital, broadcast, and television network platforms, as well as the HBCU GO streaming app and the global HBCU GO sports network. Ghee is based at the AMG offices in New York City.

“Minions: The Rise of Gru,” were in for a surprise after the ending was altered to have Gru, the main villain of the Illumination franchise, turned from an evil man to a good dude.The Chinese version of the animated film has an array of post-credit scenes in which a variety of subtitles say Gru “eventually became one of the good guys” who was “dedicated to raising his family.”In the United States, viewers find out how Gru tricked the police and learned to defeat his enemies to become the ultimate villain.Since “Minions” takes place before the “Despicable Me” series, Gru is not supposed to be the hero.Other post-credit scenes also feature the cops arresting Gru’s mentor, Wild Knuckles.In the Chinese adaptation, though, the police are not deceived and instead apprehend Knuckles, who is later jailed for two decades for his crimes.