Fantastic Fest 2022 Lineup to Include Premiere of Paramount’s ‘Smile’ and Park Chan-wook’s ‘Decision to Leave’

Professional dancer Karen Hauer looked sensational as she showed off her new hair in a photoshoot with one of Strictly Come Dancing's newest professional dancers.

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.

K.J. Yossman The BFI London Film Festival has unveiled its full lineup for the festival’s 66th edition, set to take place this October. Among the films that will be screening are “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” #MeToo thriller “She Said,” which tells the story of how two New York Times journalists broke the Harvey Weinstein story, and “The Son,” Florian Zeller’s long-awaited follow-up to “The Father.” Among the films already announced for the festival, which runs from Oct. 5-16, are the world premieres of “Pinocchio,” from Guillermo del Toro and “Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical.”

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

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Neon has landed U.S. distribution rights to South Korean director Park Chan-wook’s film “Oldboy” and plans to bring the dark revenge thriller back to theaters in honor of its 20th anniversary. It will mark the first time Park’s film plays on the big screen since its initial release on Nov. 21, 2003. Neon has not specified the exact date that “Oldboy” will return to the big screen. “Oldboy,” which Oark co-wrote with Hwang Jo-yun and Lim Joon-hyung, won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, led by jury president Quentin Tarantino. The acclaimed film stars Choi Min-sik as Oh Dae-Su, a man who was kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years. After he’s released, he has five days to find his captor. Yoo Ji-tae and Kang Hye-jung co-star in the film.

Marc Anthony and his fiancee Nadia Ferreira received a warm welcome upon their arrival in Paraguay. As soon as they landed on Paraguayan soil, the local media swarmed around the beauty queen, also known for being the first runner-up in the last edition of Miss Universe. Ferreira is in her native country to pass the crown to the upcoming queen, Miss Paraguay 2022.

Blockbuster,” a Netflix comedy series about the flagship movie rental store starring Randall Park, has set a premiere date for Nov. 3. The half-hour comedy’s 10 episodes will premiere all at once on the streaming service. Park plays Timmy Yoon, an analog dreamer who is in charge of the last operating Blockbuster Video in the United States. Timmy, alongside the rest of his employees, must work to remind their community that the local store can provide the human connection that big corporations can’t. Alongside Park, the cast includes Melissa Fumero as Eliza Walker, Tyler Alvarez as Carlos Herrera, Madeleine Arthur as Hannah Hadman and Olga Merediz as Connie Serrano. Recurring guest stars for the series include J.B. Smoove as Percy Scott and Kamaia Fairburn as Kayla Scott.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The Nashville Film Festival announced the full lineup Friday for a fall gathering of filmgoers in Music City that will begin with the Brandi Carlile-produced documentary “The Return of Tanya Tucker” as the gala opening on Sept. 29 and end with director Sacha Jenkins’ “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues” for closing night on Oct. 5. The 53rd annual edition of the festival will take place both in-person and virtually, with a selection of more than 150 films that includes 38 full-length features, about 30 of which will be world, North American or U.S. premieres. Although the virtual component continues to be strong for the festival, its leaders note that of the 150 or so films in the festival, more than 50 will screen for audiences in Nashville venues, starting with the Tanya Tucker doc, which will be seen in the historic main auditorium of the city’s beloved Belcourt Theater, one of the original homes of the Grand Ole Opry. Other locations include the Franklin Theater in the nearby city of that name, and the TPAC Andrew Johnson Theater in downtown Nashville.

Addie Morfoot ContributorThe 18th edition of the Camden Intl. Film Festival, kicking off Sept. 15, will feature a handful of award-contending documentaries fresh off showings at Telluride and the Toronto film festivals.

Brendan Fraser will be honored with a TIFF Tribute Award for Performance at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival’s eponymous gala fundraiser, which is set for an in-person return at Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Sunday, September 11. The award comes in recognition of Fraser’s work on Darren Aronofsky’s anticipated drama The Whale, which makes its North American premiere in Toronto after bowing in Venice.

“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.

EXCLUSIVE: Cinedigm has acquired all North American rights to Belgian/French horror pic Deep Fear. From director Grégory Beghin (Losers Revolution), the survival thriller will have its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest next month and then debut on Cinedigm’s Bloody Disgusting-powered genre streaming platform Screambox on October 11.

Sam Fender, Wet Leg, Self Esteem and more are all set to perform at next month’s 2022 Mercury Prize ceremony in London.Last month (July 26), the 12 albums that have been shortlisted for the Album Of The Year award were announced, including Harry Styles’ ‘Harry’s House’, Little Simz’s ‘Sometimes I Might be Introvert’, Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under’, Wet Leg’s self-titled album and Yard Act’s ‘The Overload’.Also on the shortlist are Self Esteem (‘Prioritise Pleasure’), Joy Crookes (‘Skin’), Kojey Radical (‘Reason To Smile’), Nova Twins (‘Supernova’), Fergus McCreadie (‘Forest Floor’), Gwenno (‘Tresor’) and Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler (‘For All Our Days That Tear The Heart’).11 of the 12 nominees have now been confirmed to perform live at the September 8 ceremony at London’s Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. Only Harry Styles is unable to attend, and will instead pre-record a special performance that will be broadcast at the ceremony.The 2022 Mercury Prize ceremony will be hosted by Lauren Laverne and broadcast on BBC Four from 9pm-10.15pm BST.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKevin Macdonald’s drama thriller “The Mauritanian” is poised to receive a belated theatrical release in mainland China.The film, which charts the ordeal of a man held without trial at the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison, will hit Chinese theaters on Aug. 23, 2022. That is more than a year after its theatrical outing in North America and multiple international markets in February 2021.International rights to the picture were handled by STX International.

TIFF announced its Short Cuts section today comprised of 39 live-action narrative, documentary, and animated short films from directors repping 18 countries.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterFantastic Fest, a weeklong celebration of genre filmmaking, has announced the full lineup for its 2022 festival.This year’s event, taking place in Austin, Texas, from Sept. 22 through Sept. 29, will open with the world premiere of Paramount’s unsettling thriller “The Smile,” starring Sosie Bacon as a doctor whose mind begins to turn on her after she witnesses a traumatic experience involving a patient.

The Hamptons International Film Festival will screen Cannes Jury Prize Winner EO by Jerzy Skolimowski, Phyllis Nagy’s Call Jane, and Decision to Leave by Cannes Best Director winner Park Chan-wook among others when the 30th edition unspools October 7-16.

Decision To Leave has been selected to represent South Korea in the Best International Feature Film category for the upcoming Oscars.Deadline reported that the Korean Film Council announced its pick yesterday (August 11), sharing it took into consideration “workmanship and directing ability, the possibility of box office success in the North American market, and the promotion ability of overseas distributors”. As a result, the council agreed that Decision To Leave was “the most appropriate choice, and we expect the work to be well-received”.Starring South Korean actor Park Hae-il (The King’s Letters) and Chinese star Tang Wei (Long Day’s Journey Into Night), Decision To Leave is a slow-burn mystery romance about a police detective who gets dispatched to a scene of a man’s death.

Park Chan-wook’s crime drama Decision To Leave has been selected by South Korea to represent the country in the Best International Feature category at the 95th Academy Awards.