Disney’s Entertainment Streaming Business Ekes Out Surprise Profit as Disney+ Core Subscribers Top 117 Million

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Sudanese first-timer Mohamed Kordofani’s “Goodbye Julia,” a timely morality tale that takes place just before the 2011 secession of South Sudan, has won top awards for both fest feature film and best screenplay at the eighth edition of the Critics Awards for Arab Films that will be handed out today at the Plage des Palmes in Cannes. The first Sudanese film ever to screen in Cannes’ official selection, where it premiered in Un Certain Regard last year, “Goodbye Julia” (pictured) is the story of two women — one from the North, the other from the South — who are brought together by fate in a complex relationship that attempts to reconcile differences between northern and southern Sudanese communities in the war-ravaged country.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Tom Felton, best-known for his role as Draco Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” franchise, is to star in the $15 million action/sci-fi film “Altered,” alongside Richard Brake (“Game of Thrones,” “Barbarian,” “Mayor of Kingstown”), Igor Jijikine (“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”), Aggy Adams (“The Witcher”) and Liza Bugulova. The film is set in an alternate present, where most of the human population have undergone genetic enhancements.

Christopher Vourlias South Africa’s Known Associates Group (KAG) is teaming up with Canada’s Inner City Films (ICF) and Circle Blue Entertainment (CBE) to launch a new venture that will produce African feature films and TV series for audiences around the world, the companies announced Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival. With offices in Johannesburg, Toronto and Los Angeles, the KIC Group will build on the track records of the three pioneering companies while also developing innovative financing models and capitalizing on an existing co-production treaty between their respective countries.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s film industry is fighting to stay vibrant amid disruption caused both by politics and market forces.After reaping the rewards of a protracted growth spurt, local producers are facing a forced slowdown as the country’s right-wing government dithers with modifications they plan to make to several key regulations, most significantly to the country’s currently stalled tax incentives for film and TV production. At a packed protest event held in early April at Rome’s Cinema Adriano multiplex, industry figures from all sectors – including producers, writers, actors and big-name directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Marco Bellocchio – lashed out against having to wait endlessly for the culture ministry to approve new guidelines so production companies can apply for the 40% tax credits that basically drive the business.

HYBE has become the first entertainment company added to South Korea’s conglomerate watchlist.According to reports by South Korean media, HYBE is one of seven business groups that have been added to the watchlist of the East Asian country’s antitrust regulator, the Fair Trade Commission, per The Korea Times. The list currently includes 88 conglomerates in total, with HYBE being the only entertainment company.“The increase in the number of companies on this year’s watchlist came as entertainment, leisure and tourism industries, among others, have grown markedly thanks to the rising popularity of Korean culture and recovering consumer sentiment after the COVID-19 pandemic,” the regulator said.According to The Chosun Daily, conglomerates with assets of 5trillion won or more are classified as “large corporations” and are required to publicly disclose details about interaffiliate transactions, their ownership structure and more.

Naman Ramachandran ProSiebenSat.1 Group, which owns one of Germany’s leading broadcasters and one of its top streaming platforms, has had an encouraging start to 2024 after a rough 2023 financial year that saw revenues dip by 7%. Financial results for the first quarter of 2024, reported on Tuesday, reveal that group revenues increased by 6% to €867 million ($935 million) in the first quarter of 2024 and adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) grew by 35% to €72 million ($77.6 million) despite higher programming expenses. The group said that in addition to revenue growth, the positive numbers are due to the cost control program implemented in the previous year.

EXCLUSIVE: Chinese streaming giant iQIYI is involved in a legal row after featuring Korean masterpiece Oldboy in its library for at least six years without a proper license.

A South African man working on a Norwegian Cruise Line ship traveling up the coast of the Pacific Northwest has been arrested after allegedly stabbing three passengers.

So many K-Pop superstars are also massive on social media – and the top idols have millions and millions of followers!

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem embarked this week on one of the more tumultuous book tours in recent memory, as she was peppered with questions about an anecdote about killing her dog Cricket, and another story about meeting North Korean leader Kim Jung Un. Major doubts were raised that the latter story was true.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Jeonju International Film Festival, South Korea’s second most important generalist film festival, on Tuesday announced “The Major Tones” and “Time to Be Strong” as the Grand Prix winners of its two competition sections. The festival continues until Friday. Directed by Argentina’s Ingrid Pokropek, “The Major Tones” is a mystery film about a youngster with a metal plate in her arm which begins to receive peculiar messages in Morse Code. It premiered at the Mar del Plata festival and also played in Berlin’s Generation KPlus section.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company will limit its output of Marvel movies to “two good films” a year — three maximum — from about four and also cut the numbers of TV series spinoffs for the franchise.

Denise Van Outen celebrated her 50th birthday - early - with a huge party on Sunday, 5 May, with boxer and bowtie-clad dancers, a giant cake and massive sparklers.The next day, Denise, who actually turns 50 on 27 May, shared a video to her Instagram Stories of the raucous-looking event as she danced the night away in a black minidress and a bright green blazer. She even donned a tiara as she beamed whilst being the centre of attention for the night.The TV and theatre star, who has presented The Big Breakfast and played Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago both in the West End and on Broadway, chose to ring in her milestone birthday at Bunga Bunga in Covent Garden, London. Over the top of the video she shared, Denise wrote: "So this happened last night," whilst tagging the venue.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Locally-produced crime action thriller “The Roundup: Punishment” dominated the South Korea box office for a second weekend. In contrast, Hollywood’s “The Fall Guy” opened softly in third place. Data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic), showed “The Roundup: Punishment” grossed $13.8 million between Friday and Sunday, earned from 1.92 million ticket sales. That represented a huge 83% market share over the weekend, albeit down from 92% a week earlier.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Jessica Casano-Antonellis is exiting SiriusXM to join the new Disney, Fox Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery sports-streaming venture as head of communications.

After calling Time magazine’s long interview with Donald Trump “shocking” and “reprehensible” earlier today, Joe Biden this evening doubled down on his predecessor’s dystopian second term plans.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The Samsung TV Plus platform has logged steady growth as a distribution platform for entertainment and lifestyle content during the past five years. Now, the South Korean electronics giant is putting a bigger spotlight on the potential of its device-based footprint, which encompasses more than 630 million TV sets, smartphones and other devices sold across 24 countries.

Naman Ramachandran Freely, the new free streaming service backed by Britain’s public service broadcasters (PSBs) that delivers live TV over broadband, has launched. The initiative is from Everyone TV, the organization which runs free TV in the U.K. and is jointly owned by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Paramount Global’s Channel 5.

It’s Dua Lipa release week, and we’re celebrating her impressive reign in pop!

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The three media companies planning to launch a much-scrutinized sports streamer later this year are set to give advertisers a sneak peek at the new outlet. Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery plan to use their new streaming joint-venture — the official name of the video hub has yet to be announced — to boost the impressions they have to sell to Madison Avenue during the industry’s annual “upfront” market, according to three people familiar with the matter.