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Trinidad Barleycorn At the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Biarritz, Studiocanal revealed further sales on its high-budget sci-fi thriller “Infiniti,” produced by Empreinte Digitale and Federation Entertainment Belgium. The show has already sold to more than 60 territories internationally, including Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Brazil, and has now been acquired by AMC Networks International, SBS (Australia), Now Studio (Hong Kong), TV2 (Norway), NOVA (Greece), Go3 (Baltics), HOT(Israel) and Telus (English speaking Canada). More deals are in the pipeline. “Infiniti” blends a sci-fi crime thriller with political intrigue and a classic love story woven through, that echoes the current global space race. 

Manori Ravindran International Editor More than a year since SkyShowtime was first announced, the SVOD is ready to join the streaming fray in Europe, Variety can reveal. The new platform — a joint venture between Comcast and Paramount Global that was first unveiled in August 2021 — will officially launch on Sept. 20 in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, before expanding into the Netherlands later this year in Q4. (The service received regulatory approval in Europe back in February.) Meanwhile, the SVOD will continue its roll out across Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) over the coming months and through Q1 of 2023. CEE markets include Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent MK2 Films has scored key territory deals on Japanese director Koji Fukada’s “Love Life,” which makes its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Set in contemporary Japan, “Love Life” is a character-driven film revolving around Taeko and her husband, Jiro, who are living a peaceful existence with her young son, Keita. When a tragic accident brings the boy’s long-lost father, Park, back into her life, Taeko throws herself into helping this deaf and homeless man to cope with the pain and guilt. Popular Japanese actress Fumino Kimura (“The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn’t Kill”) headlines the film. MK2 Films has now sold the movie to Teodora (Italy), Imagine (Benelux), Leopardo (Portugal), Demiurg (Ex Yugoslavia), New Cinema (Israel), Swallow Wings (Taiwan), Edko (Hong Kong), Impact Films (India) and Encore Inflight (Airlines).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent After taking a break from his filmmaking career to preside over the French film promotion org Unifrance, Jean-Paul Salomé has made a big comeback with a pair of films with Oscar-nominated French actor Isabelle Huppert. The latest one, “The Sitting Duck,” is world premiering at Venice in the Horizons section. Adapted from Caroline Michel-Aguirre’s book “La Syndicaliste,” “The Sitting Duck” tells the true story of Maureen Kearney, the head union representative of a French multinational nuclear powerhouse who becomes a whistleblower, denouncing top-secret deals that shook the French nuclear sector. One day, Kearney is found in her home, tied to a chair, the letter “A” carved into her abdomen, and a knife handle inserted into her vagina. Traumatized, she has no memory of the assault. However, after an investigation, the police accused her of staging the attack herself.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Danish international sales and aggregation outfit LevelK has boarded the thought-provoking drama “Great Yarmouth: Provisional Figures” by award-winning Portuguese director Marco Martins, which world premieres in main competition at next month’s San Sebastian Film Festival.  Hailed by Variety as “a powerful study of intense grief,” Martin’s debut feature, “Alice,” won the Prix Regards Jeune at Cannes in 2005. The story unravels three months before Brexit, as hundreds of migrants descend on the UK village of Great Yarmouth seeking work in the region’s turkey processing plants. Once there, Tânia greets them with matronly authority, taking charge as innkeeper, accountant, and fixer. As she’s forced to deceive them, her conscience grows heavy and she dreams of a brighter, seemingly unattainable, future transforming derelict hotels into modern retreats for elderly tourists.

Ethan Shanfeld “The Sandman,” Netflix’s TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s sprawling comic book series, is approaching its third week at the top of Netflix’s Global Top 10 list. The series has racked up over 127.5 million hours viewed, but Gaiman thinks that “may not be enough” for Netflix to renew it for a second season.Answering some questions on Twitter over the weekend, Gaiman explained why fans shouldn’t assume the show’s massive popularity will lead to a Season 2.“Because ‘Sandman’ is a really expensive show,” Gaiman tweeted, responding to a commenter asking why “S2 is even a question.”Gaiman continued, “And for Netflix to release the money to let us make another season we have to perform incredibly well.

When House of the Dragon makes its highly-anticipated global debut this week, it won’t just be fans who will be poring over every scene.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorViva Kids has acquired North American distribution rights to the Sky Original animated adventure “The Amazing Maurice,” set to be released stateside and only in theaters on Jan. 13, 2023.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThe international trailer has been debuted for Jafar Panahi’s “No Bears,” which has its world premiere on Sept. 9 in competition at Venice Film Festival, before moving to Toronto Film Festival and New York Film Festival. Celluloid Dreams, which is handling world sales, has revealed territory deals with several distributors.

A mum says she was 'gutted' for her little boy after they were not able to fly to Spain due to her passport being issued more than ten years ago. Shirelle Quinn and her son Freddy, from South Tyneside, were due to fly to Alicante in Spain from Newcastle Airport on Saturday morning (August 13).

Annika Pham U.S. born British filmmaker Aaron Brookner (“Uncle Howard”) is plotting his first Nordic noir, slated for a market debut at Haugesund’s Nordic Co-Production Market, part of the leading Scandinavian confab New Nordic Films (Aug.

Tatiana Leite at Bubbles Project has unveiled a fulsome production slate which suggests a beginning of tentative film production renaissance in Brazil, driven by renewed state subsidy lines and the promise of regime change at October’s general elections.According to Leite, one of Brazil’s most energetic international co-producers, Bubbles has currently three feature films in post-production and seven in development. The titles in post are:*Horror film “A Herança” (“Birthright”), the feature debut of João Cândido Zacharias, in which Bubble teams as a majority producer with Sony Pictures International Production and Kromaki Filmes.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentOne year after she dazzled at the Cannes Festival, winning its Golden Eye for best documentary for “A Night of Knowing Nothing,” Payal Kapadia’s fiction debut “All We Imagine as Light,” has attracted the most potent production partner support of any project introduced at this year’s Locarno Match Me!“Night’s” producers. Petit Chaos’ Thomas Hakim, Julien Graff  in France and Ranabir Das (also DP and editor on “Night”) at India’s Another Birth will produce “Light.”Also on board, confirmed early July, is Oliver Pere at Arte France Cinéma.  Further co-producers take in Zico Maitra and Aastha Singh (Chalk & Cheese, India), Frank Hoeve (Baldr, Netherlands), Gilles Chanial (Les Films Fauves, Luxembourg and, in the latest addition to partners, Denise Lee and Roberto Minervini (Pulpa Films, Italy).

John Leguizamo is taking Hollywood to task for its latest casting choice.