Fifth Season Takes Global Distribution Rights to Groundbreaking Greek Teen Drama ‘Milky Way’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has confirmed details of three new maps as part of the free Season 1 update, due later this year.Modern Warfare 3 was released earlier this month but Activision Blizzard are already planning on expanding the game with a free update. According to a Call Of Duty developers blog, three new 6×6 multiplayer will be added to the title, with both Meat and Greece available as soon as Season 1 launches.Meat is described as a “compact map centred around the East Bay Meats slaughterhouse” while Greece is a “medium-sized Mediterranean-inspired Map based on a coastal town.”A third map, Rio, will allow players to “take in the bright colours, tight quarters, and elegant streets in a fight through an upscale shopping centre,” and will be available at a later date during Season 1.Further details about the 6×6 maps and information about returning 2×2 maps will be shared as part of the official Season 1 blog, but Activision Blizzard have shared information about the all-new Urzikstan map.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Matteo Garrone’s “Io Capitano” is getting a special screening on Wednesday in Brussels, where hundreds of EU parliament members will watch the timely immigration drama on which Pathè has announced a slew of sales. The film, which is Italy’s Oscar candidate for best international feature film, world premiered to strong reviews in September at Venice Film Festival, where it won best director for Garrone and best emerging actor for its co-star Seydou Sarr.

With SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP reaching a tentative agreement on a new contract, our industry’s biggest stars, previously forbidden from participating in the promotion of movies distributed and made by struck studios and streamers, are finally joining the party. 

Christopher Vourlias Sofia Exarchou’s “Animal” won the Golden Alexander at the 64th Thessaloniki Film Festival on Sunday, marking the first time in 30 years that a Greek film took home the top honors at the country’s longest-running film event. Exarchou’s sophomore feature, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, was praised by Variety’s Jessica Kiang as “a poignant portrait of life amid the sequins and the seediness of a Greek resort.” The film follows a group of entertainers at an all-inclusive island resort preparing for the busy tourist season who are forced to wrestle with the dark reality that the show must go on as the sultry Mediterranean nights turn violent.

Christopher Vourlias There were sunny skies over the Thessaloniki Film Festival this week, with unseasonably high temperatures leading many visitors to reach for the sunscreen while dashing between movie premieres and industry events at Greece’s longest-running film fest. The local industry, too, is enjoying a moment in the sun, as the Mediterranean nation has seen production surge post-pandemic, buoyed by foreign titles like Rian Johnson’s Netflix blockbuster “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” action thriller “Tin Soldier,” starring Jamie Foxx and Robert De Niro, and the Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone starring “Expend4bles,” the latest installment of the action franchise, which filmed in Thessaloniki.

After an ambitious fourth season in 2020 that arguably drifted into something different from what Noah Hawley had produced before in his Coen Brothers-inspired “Fargo,” the fifth chapter of this twisted anthology series returns to the roots of the film that gives it a title. It’s as if Hawley and his team put some of the basic elements of the 1996 Oscar winner on a whiteboard—kidnapped housewife, pair of bumbling criminals (one foreign), car salesman husband, kindly Minnesotan police officer, etc.—and then figured out how to warp them through their funhouse mirror approach to Coen-esque black comedy.

EXCLUSIVE: Lone Scherfig‘s The Shift has been renewed for a second season and distributor Beta Film has struck a deal for the first with North American streamer MHz Choice and Australia’s SBS. The Killing star Sofie Gråbøl, who led the first run, is returning as guest.

Savina Petkova Hollywood might have ground to a halt in recent months during the recent labor strikes, with the role of artificial intelligence in the moviemaking business a key stumbling block between studio bosses and both the writers and actors guilds. But two-time Academy Award winner Alexander Payne (“Sideways”) quipped at the Thessaloniki Film Festival this week that when it comes to AI, he’s all for it. “If AI could write a script for me, I would be so happy,” Payne joked.

Swedish director Ruben Östlund has been announced as a guest of honor at the 15th edition of France’s Les Arcs Film Festival, in the role of its Talent Village Ambassador.

Christopher Vourlias When the Thessaloniki Intl. Film Festival kicks off its 64th edition on Nov. 2, the organizers will unveil a host of changes while renewing their commitment to serving audiences at one of Europe’s longest-running film events — all at a time of almost unprecedented uncertainty over the future of cinema and even the very purpose of festivals themselves.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Mister Smith Entertainment has clinched first key international sales on Weston Razooli’s “Riddle of Fire.” Among major territories, Mister Smith has closed Japan (Klockworx), France (ASC Distribution) and Spain (Flamingo Films). Deals build on a co-U.S acquisition by Yellow Veil Pictures and Vinegar Syndrome, which plan a domestic theatrical bow in early 2024, releasing the film on 35mm.

Jessie Ware has been on our radar for years.The 39 year old musician first came to attention way back in 2012 when she released her debut album, Devotion.The record received critical acclaim and was even nominated for that year's Mercury Prize. Following her early success, Jessie then went on to release a string of other albums and singles, all of which have been incredibly well received - most recently, 2023's That! Feels Good! which produced the feel good single, 'Free Yourself'.Thanks to these musical talents, Jessie has also been nominated for six Brit Awards over the years.

John Stamos has been open about his excessive drinking in the past. During the peak of his battle with alcoholism, the "Full House" alum confessed he doesn’t even recall being on the movie set of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2." Stamos, 60, was arrested June 12, 2015, on suspicion of driving under the influence, and he was hospitalized. He explained how his alcoholism would deeply impact his memory.

The Howard Stern Show” Tuesday that his alcoholism had once been so bad, that he completely forgot he was cast in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.” Even more, he doesn’t recall being on set. According to the now-sober Stamos, he was hanging with cast mates Rita Wilson and Nia Vardalos in 2015 after being arrested for a DUI when they reminded him that he was expected to be filming in Toronto.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director John Stamos appeared on “The Howard Stern Show” to promote his new memoir, “If You Would Have Told Me,” and revealed that his alcoholism got so bad around 2015 that he actually does not remember being on set to film his role in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.” The actor appeared to forget he even booked a part in the film and was reminded the day after his 2015 arrest for driving under the influence that he had to go to Toronto, Canada, to film. In previous interviews, Stamos has said his 2015 DUI arrest was a definitive moment in convincing him that it was time to get sober. But it didn’t happen instantly.

EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment is adding Who I Am Not to its roster of awards-contending documentaries. 

EXCLUSIVE: In a lucrative deal, Lionsgate has landed domestic distribution rights to Guy Ritchie’s (Sherlock Holmes) next project, which remains untitled, as principal photography wraps in Spain this week. 

Naman Ramachandran Global music icons Curtis ‘50 Cent‘ Jackson and Ed Sheeran have unveiled concert dates for India. 50 Cent will perform at Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium on Nov. 25 as part of his “The Final Lap Tour” to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his blockbuster album “Get Rich or Die Tryin.” The opening line-up will consist of popular Indian acts including Divine, Prabh Deep, SVDP and Yung Raja.

Caroline Brew editor SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 7 of “Our Flag Means Death,” now streaming on Max. For the second season of “Our Flag Means Death,” Max’s comedy series starring Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby, the producers’ goal was to raise both the emotional stakes and the scale of its world building — which is exemplified in the final scene of Season 2’s penultimate episode, “Man on Fire.” Interrupting an intense duel between Stede Bonnet (Darby) and Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao (Ruibo Qian), all the ships in the bay of the Republic of Pirates explode at the same time when Prince Ricky Barnes (Erroll Shand) betrays a pact with Zheng. To pull the siege off, director of photography Mike Berlucchi, visual effects supervisor David Van Dyke and production designer Ra Vincent teamed up to devise a cable lighting system to mimic flaming cannonballs and timed the lights to practical special effects explosions on set.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Paris-based sales agency and production company Luxbox has sold the French distribution rights to 12 pics of the late Portuguese maestro filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira to Capricci Films, which plans to release the restored films in cinemas across France from 2024. Expressing his pride at adding some of Oliveira’s best films to its catalog, Capricci’s Louis Descombes said: “We had long hoped to be able to give new life to the unique, mischievous and incredibly modern work of the Portuguese filmmaker.” The Bordeaux-based distributor aims to kick off the releases with “Val Abraham” in the spring.