French Chain CGR Cinemas Takes ICE Model to Multiple International Territories

EXCLUSIVE: Ukrainian-Canadian-American filmmaker Vadim Perelman has inked with Artist International Group for management.

Naman Ramachandran The second edition of the Ponta Lopud Festival (June 22-27) on the island of Lopud, near Dubrovnik, Croatia, will feature masterclasses from Oscar winners Frances McDormand and Joel Coen. “At this point in our professional lives, we can’t think of a better way to spend the warm days of summer than in conversation about the process of filmmaking and the love of film watching with a group of other filmmakers on an island in the Adriatic Sea,” said McDormand and Coen.Participants at this year’s edition include filmmakers Tamara Kotevska (“Honeyland”), Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (“Murina), Una Gunjak (“Chicken”), and actor Gordan Bogdan (“Fargo”).

Frances McDormand and Joel Coen are set to headline as ‘masters’ at the second edition of the Ponta Lopud Festival next month.

EXCLUSIVE: Ian McKellen is among the stars of Ken McMullen’s Hamlet Within, a part-documentary feature investigating the mythology around the Shakespeare play, which is headed to the Cannes Market.

Cannes Film Festival almost 35 years ago, I was still green and naïve enough to ask long-time Cannes attendees why the famed French fest held such a powerful place in the pecking order of international film gatherings. The late Richard Corliss, Time magazine’s peerless and beloved film critic, answered warmly and succinctly, with his own more worldly query: “Would you rather be in Germany in the winter or the South of France in the spring?”Corliss had a point, but in the decades since I’ve tucked my own couple of dozen Cannes fests under my belt, I’ve compiled my own list of reasons why Cannes remains the one film festival that people who’ve never been to a film festival have heard about and wish they could go to, and know that if a film has scored there, it must be worth their time.

Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s Julia Child documentary JULIA is to be given a linear TV showing on CNN later this month.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the latest timeline-bending entry in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, has kicked off at the international box office, collecting $27.2 million on opening day.The film is currently playing in 20 overseas markets, including France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Korea. “Doctor Strange 2” opens in North America and several other territories on Friday.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent50:50 Future, the French feminist and advocacy group promoting gender parity, has been hit by a sexual assault complaint against one of the org’s core members.The alleged incident occurred on March 11 during a dinner party organized by the group in a Paris apartment. Around 40 people were in attendance.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem,” Yes Studios’ award-winning historical series, has been picked up by Netflix for multiple territories, including the U.S., U.K., France and Spain. The multi-language series is represented in international markets by Yes Studios, the Tel Aviv-based producer and distributor behind “Fauda,” “Your Honor,” “Shtisel” and “On the Spectrum.”Set in the early-mid 20th century, “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” is adapted from Sarit Yishai-Levi’s bestselling novel of the same name and tells the story of a family set against the backdrop of the Ottoman Empire, The British Mandate and Israel’s War of Independence.Opening in 1917, the show sheds light on Judeo-Spanish traditions and the history of a fledgling country.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore crossed the $200M mark at the international box office this weekend, holding the top overseas position for the third frame in a row. The offshore session added $38.3M in 67 markets for a running total of $213.2M with worldwide at $280.3M.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFrench actor, director and producer Jacques Perrin, a fixture for decades in both French and Italian cinema — where he was best known for his role in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Oscar-winning “Cinema Paradiso” — has died. He was 80.“The family has the immense sadness of informing you of the death of filmmaker Jacques Perrin, who died on Thursday, April 21 in Paris.

Manori Ravindran International EditorWarner Bros. Discovery has set out its long-awaited international leadership team under Gerhard Zeiler.Zeiler, as announced earlier this month, is the newly installed president of international for the merged company, and oversees the global channels business with a “dotted line” to international streaming lead JB Perrette.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentDirectors’ Fortnight, the sidebar running alongside the Cannes Film Festival, has unveiled a strong lineup for its 54th edition, which will be the last one for outgoing artistic director Paolo Moretti. The sidebar has landed a pair of movies from A24, Alex Garland’s Men” which will play in the Special Screening section, and “God’s Creatures,” a psychological thriller directed by Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer, the filmmaking duo who made their feature debut with the Sundance film “The Fits.” Set in an Irish fishing village, “God’s Creatures” stars Aisling Franciosi, Emily Watson and Paul Mescal.

Refresh for latest…: It’s no secret that Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore had a less than magical opening domestically this weekend, coming after early overseas rollout began last frame. Still, offshore this weekend, the threequel was again the top movie and ranked No. 1 in 52 markets, including 41 of the 44 new openers. The overseas sophomore frame added $71.7M for a cume of $150.4M, bringing global just shy of $200M at $193.4M. In like-for-likes Dumbledore is running 38% behind the previous installment and 42% off the original.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” welcomed a boost in ticket sales at the international box office, though the third installment in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series already seems to be running out of steam.Over the weekend, “Fantastic Beasts 3” added $71.7 million from 66 foreign markets, taking the film’s international tally to $150.4 million. After debuting to a less-than-enchanting $43 million in North America, “The Secrets of Dumbledore” has collected $193.4 million to date.Along with United States and Canada, the Warner Bros.

Bilingual babies! Chris Hemsworth, Rosamund Pike and more celebrity parents are raising their little ones to speak multiple languages.

When Stars on Ice, uh, hits the ice Friday night in Estero, Florida, it will be for the first time in two years. Spicing up the tour: an Olympic gold medalist and two world champions.The 24-city tour was idled by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it returns with Beijing winner Nathan Chen and pairs world champs Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier in the cast. The skaters are as eager to entertain as figure skating fans are eager to watch.“The whole cast is excited to be here,” says Chen, whose dominant Olympic performance climaxed a career including six U.S.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterBel Powley, Liev Schreiber, and Joe Cole are set to lead the limited drama series “A Small Light” at Disney Plus, Variety has learned.The eight-episode National Geographic series tells the true story of Miep Gies (Powley), who played a critical role in hiding Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis.20-something secretary Gies didn’t hesitate when her boss Otto Frank (Schreiber) asked her to hide him and his family during World War II. For the next two years, Miep, her husband Jan (Cole) and several other everyday heroes watched over the eight souls hiding in the secret annex.

Amazon Prime Video has unveiled seven new shows from the likes of Jean Dujardin, Nicolas Bedos, Franck Gastambide and Maïmouna Doucouré, while recommissioning Celebrity Hunted and LOL: Qui Rit, Sort!. in the region.