Film Independent Sets 30 For 2022 Global Media Makers Residency

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorMunich-based Global Screen has acquired family entertainment film “School of Magical Animals 2” for worldwide distribution. A first teaser will be presented at the Cannes Market for the project, which has a budget of more than $13 million.

Naman Ramachandran India will be the official country of honor for the Cannes Film Market (May 17-25) this year.This is the first time the market is having an official country of honor and the new tradition will be continued annually with different nations at future editions.There s a neat coincidence: India is celebrating its 75th year of independence from British rule. The Cannes festival is also celebrating its 75th anniversary.The market celebrations will lick off on May 18 at the Majestic Beach with an introduction from market executive directors Jérôme Paillard and Guillaume Esmiol and a welcome address from Anurag Singh Thakur, India’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting.India will be prominently visible throughout the festival this year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefFilm adaptation rights to hit Indian novelist Chetan Bhagat’s 2016 acclaimed book “One Indian Girl” have been acquired up by Sony Pictures International Productions. The studio plans a Hindi-language adaptation that will go into development later this year. Bhagat’s book, which broke pre-sale records on Amazon India when it was launched, revolves around a high-flying woman financier who is intelligent and successful, but finds it difficult to find love.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticFor a headlining appearance at the Hollywood Bowl Sunday night, the group Haim does have two official support acts (Waxahatchee and Buzzy Lee). But for hometown fans who really want to make a full day of it, there’s an additional opening act: a screening just a couple of blocks down the hill of the complete tandem filmography of Haim and director Paul Thomas Anderson.

EXCLUSIVE: TV and film investment fund APX Capital is expanding into Latin America with a co-financing deal with Cenya Productions, the investment group founded by a financier behind films such as The Revenant.

EXCLUSIVE: Park Chan-wook’s anticipated Cannes Competition title Decision To Leave has sold to arthouse streamer, theatrical distributor and producer Mubi in what we understand to be the company’s biggest film deal to date.

Amazon is strengthening its ties in India by unveiling a 40-strong slate of original TV series and films and an on-demand rentals service.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentFollowing a tortuous journey and dozens of crazy rumors, the Cannes Film Festival has landed Vincent Lindon, the French actor of last year’s Palme d’Or winning “Titan,” as jury president of its 75th edition.Lindon, who won best actor in 2015 for his role in Stephane Brizé’s movie “The Measure of a Man,” will be the first French star to be jury president since Isabelle Huppert in 2009. The festival said “French celebrities have often held this role in an anniversary year, such as Yves Montand in 1987 for the 40th Festival, Gérard Depardieu in 1993 for the 45th Festival, and Isabelle Adjani in 1997 for the 50th.”The jury will comprise two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Asghar Farhadi (“A Hero”), as well as U.S.

The Cannes Film Festival has set Vincent Lindon as its jury president for the 75th edition, which kicks off next month. The French actor, who won the Best Actor award in Cannes in 2015 for his role in The Measure Of A Man, starred in last year’s Palme d’Or winner Titane.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentThe Cannes Film Festival has added a string of new titles to its Official Selection, including three movies in competition: Léonor Serraille’s “Un Petit Frere,” Albert Serra’s “Tourment sur les iles” and “The Eight Mountains” by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix Van Groeningen (“The Broken Circle Breakdown”).“The Eight Mountains” is an Italian film based on Paolo Cognetti’s 2016 novel. It revolves around a young man who returns to a young man who finds refuge in the Italian village where he spent a summer as a child with his parents.

EXCLUSIVE: Singapore-based Indian financier Vistas Media Capital has launched a North American division to be run by film industry vet Ben Waisbren.

Naman Ramachandran Prashanth Neel’s “K.G.F: Chapter 2,” starring Yash, was the second highest grossing film worldwide over the Easter weekend, with a $70.6 million gross, according to estimates released by Comscore. The weekend winner was “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” with $114.7 million.“K.G.F: Chapter 2” is a sequel to 2018 film “K.G.F: Chapter 1” which earned $33 million, making it the highest grossing Kannada-language film of all time.

Ukraine as a backdrop, the Cannes Film Festival plans a special honor for Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun” comeback and to host some 35,000 people as the movie industry looks to reclaim its pre-pandemic allure.On Thursday, organizers of this year's festival unveiled the 18 films that will compete for the coveted Palme d’Or prize at the May 17-28 event. They include “The Natural History of Destruction” by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, “All that Breathes” by Indian director Shaunak Sen, and Ethan Cohen’s “Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind.”Organizers will announce the jury at a later date.After a pandemic-related production delay, “Top Gun: Maverick,” in which Cruise reprises his 1986 role as a U.S.

The 35th Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles will open next month with the L.A. premiere of Avi Nesher’s Image of Victory, which was nominated for a leading 15 Israeli Academy Ophir Awards last year. The film kicks off the hybrid in-person and online festival that runs May 5-26 and will see Henry Winkler receive the IFF Career Achievement Award and philanthropist David Wiener bestowed with the IFF Humanitarian Award.

Coming off the blockbuster success of S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR, star Ram Charan is hardly sitting on his laurels. Releasing April 29 is action drama Acharya which he’s producing and starring in with his father, the prolific actor Chiranjeevi. He’s also currently shooting RC15 (working title), a political drama from 2.0 director S. Shankar, and has more projects in the pipeline.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefLionsgate’s local-language film consortium GlobalGate Entertainment has added Japan’s Rakuten to its worldwide team of production and distribution partners.“We will acquire the adaptation and remake rights to IPs with high global value and recognition and work with talented creators in Japan to create world-class content. We will also leverage the Rakuten Ecosystem to distribute the newly created content around the world, sharing it with as many fans as possible,” said Ando Koji, Rakuten Group managing executive officer and communications and energy company senior VP.

EXCLUSIVE: And Just Like That… standout Sarita Choudhury is set to headline another potential series for HBO Max. Choudhury is starring and executive producing in The Colony, a one-hour drama written/executive produced by Sonejuhi Sinha and Charlotte Rabate. It is based on the 2018 feature Stray Dolls, written and produced by Sinha and Rabate and directed by Sinha. Nicholas Weinstock (Severance) is executive producing through his company Invention Studios.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has asked Boris Johnson to refer his ministerial declarations to the Prime Minister's independent adviser on ministerial interests.

RRR, the latest epic from Baahubali filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli, has grossed over 960 crore ($126M) at the global box office in its first two weeks, and continues to grow. It is already the fourth biggest Indian movie ever worldwide and also gives Rajamouli bragging rights to three titles on the Top 10 chart of Indian films globally, more than any other director in the country.

“Peacemaker” and “The Suicide Squad” headliner John Cena is set to star in action comedy “Officer Exchange” at Amazon Studios, according to an individual with knowledge of the project.The script is written by Ben Zazove and Evan Turner and is currently in development at the streamer.“Officer Exchange” centers on Shepard “Shep,” a wrecking ball of a cop who teams up with an Indian police officer to take down a diamond smuggling ring in India.Producing the project for Amazon are producers Peter Safran (“Shazam”) and John Rickard (“Blue Beetle”) of The Safran Company. Cena is the executive producer.Speaking of “Peacemaker,” the show will return for a second season.