‘Das Boot’ Producer Sky Studios Deutschland Signs Academy Award-Nominated Warner Bros Exec Tobias Rosen For Originals Push

Good Afternoon International Insider team, Max Goldbart here with your mid-August dose of headlines, analysis and silly emojis. We’re taking a break next week but will be back with your favourite Friday lunchtime newsletter in a fortnight on September 2. For now, read on.

Warner Bros. Discovery has exited its £60M ($72M) shareholding in fledgling UK news channel GB News, having been bought out by existing backers Legatum Ventures Limited and Sir Paul Marshall.

K.J. Yossman Warner Bros.

Wolfgang Petersen, the Oscar-nominated director of "In The Line Of Fire", "Air Force One" and "The Perfect Storm," has died due to pancreatic cancer, his representative confirmed to Fox News Digital. He was 81. The German filmmaker died peacefully on Friday at his Brentwood, California home in the arms of his wife of 50 years, Maria Antoinette.  In 1981, Petersen made his breakthrough with the German-language WWII film "Das Boot", which he wrote and directed.The submarine epic received six Academy Award nominations, with Petersen scoring nods for best director and best adapted screenplay.

Das Boot, Air Force One and others, has died aged 81.Petersen died on Friday (August 12) at his home in Brentwood, California from pancreatic cancer, his publicist confirmed (via The Hollywood Reporter).The German director, producer and writer had his breakthrough film with World War II epic Das Boot, released in 1982. The film was nominated for six Oscars, including two for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.His first English-language project was 1984 fantasy film The NeverEnding Story, which received two sequels in 1990 and 1994 respectively.Petersen achieved Hollywood success with his later works, including 1993’s In The Line Of Fire with Clint Eastwood, 1995’s Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman, and action thriller Air Force One in 1997 with Harrison Ford as the US president.In 2000, he also directed disaster film The Perfect Storm, based on a true story about a commercial fishing vessel that becomes lost at sea.

Director Wolfgang Petersen has passed away.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterRobert De Niro will be sharing the screen with Hollywood legend Robert De Niro in the upcoming gangster drama “Wise Guys.”The movie, set at Warner Bros., will be directed by Barry Levinson, the veteran filmmaker who is best known for “Rain Man” and “Wag the Dog.”Nicholas Pileggi, the co-writer of Martin Scorsese’s crime epic “Goodfellas,” which starred De Niro, is penning the screenplay for “Wise Guys.” The story follows Italian American crime bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, who ran their respective families during the 20th century. In 1957, Genovese tried (and failed) to assassinate Costello, who was ultimately injured and attempted to retire from the mafia.

Robert De Niro will star in the Warner Bros. mob drama Wise Guys from director Barry Levinson, Deadline can confirm. The project reunites the duo following their collaborations on the Emmy-nominated HBO TV movie The Wizard of Lies, which had De Niro playing Bernie Madoff, and Magnolia Pictures’ 2008 dramedy, What Just Happened, as well as the director’s earlier films Wag the Dog and Sleepers.

Wolfgang Petersen, whose German-language film “Das Boot” launched a successful Hollywood filmmaking career including “Air Force One” and “The Perfect Storm,” has died, a representative told TheWrap. He was 81.Petersen died peacefully Friday from pancreatic cancer with his wife Maria Antoinette by his side.Petersen’s film “Das Boot” or “The Boat” (1981) launched his career in Hollywood after the submarine WWII film received six Academy Award nominations.

Carmel Dagan Staff WriterWolfgang Petersen, who rode his acclaimed German-language film “Das Boot” into a career directing Hollywood blockbusters such as “In the Line of Fire,” “Air Force One,” “The Perfect Storm” and “Troy,” has died. He was 81.The news was confirmed by his production company.“Das Boot” (1981) was the harrowing story of life aboard a German U-boat during World War II; the genius of the film was that Petersen accomplished the unlikely feat of making audiences feel for the ordinary men serving on the submarine, who were all at least nominally in service to the Nazi cause — even the captain, played by Jurgen Prochnow, who himself parlayed the role in the film into a career as a character actor in Hollywood.

German film director Wolfgang Petersen has died at age 81. He died peacefully Friday at his Brentwood residence from pancreatic cancer, in the arms of his wife of 50 years, Maria Antoinette.

Post-production House Warner Bros. De Lane Lea Announce Move To New Soho Site Post-production house Warner Bros. De Lane Lea today announced it will be moving across Soho from its current home on Dean Street to Ilona Rose House, a new site developed by Soho Estates’ on Greek Street. Located over three floors of the building and spanning over 32,000 sq. ft, Ilona Rose House will house the UK’s largest mixing stage. The site will also feature a 4K DCI laser projection with Dolby Atmos and IMAX monitoring, 45 networked and acoustically treated cutting rooms with a programmable advanced lighting system, and three further mixing stages with 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos and laser projection. In a statement, Kim Waugh, EVP Worldwide Post Production Creative Services, Warner Bros. said the new facility will help “bring another level of service to the post-production world in London.” Warner Bros. De Lane Lea, which has post-production credits on films such as Gravity (2013), and the Harry Potter film series (2001-2011), will officially open the doors to Ilona Rose House in September.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s European operation continues to take shape, with Hannes Heyelmann today unveiling his German management team. The shake-up sees the departure of Discovery Communications Deutschland Deputy Managing Director Alberto Horta.

EXCLUSIVE: Sundance Now has joined Sky’s British comedy-drama series The Lovers, bagging itself rights in the U.S. and Canada. The AMC Networks streamer has been expected to board the show for a number of weeks and Deadline can now confirm its participation.

Warner Bros. Discovery UK & Ireland has unveiled its senior leadership team, which will work under new General Manager Antonio Ruiz.

Manori Ravindran International EditorWarner Bros. Discovery U.K.

VFX Firm DNEG Promotes Chas Jarrett to Creative DirectorDune and Tenet VFX firm DNEG has promoted Chas Jarrett to Creative Director. Jarrett, who is based out of London, joined DNEG as a Senior VFX Supervisor in 2019 and is an industry veteran with credits on films such as Aladdin (2019), Logan, Sherlock Holmes, and Sweeney Todd. He will take over the reins from incumbent DNEG Creative Director and two-time Oscar-winning VFX Supervisor Paul Franklin, who will continue on at the company as a Visual Effects Consultant. In a statement, DNEG Group President, VFX, and Stereo, Josh Jaggars said: “Congratulations to Chas on his well-deserved promotion to Creative Director of DNEG. He is an outstanding leader and a fine role-model for our creative teams, with a talent for developing strong relationships with filmmakers. Chas is an important addition to DNEG’s executive leadership team, and I am looking forward to working closely with him to ensure that our creative output remains second-to-none.”