Imax, Japan's Toho Sign Five Movie Slate Deal (Exclusive)

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentFirst Look Media’s niche streaming service Topic has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to the second season of the Nordic thriller “Arctic Circle,” which just started shooting in the icy wilderness of Lapland.Lagardère Studios Distribution, which was recently acquired by Mediawan Group, is handling international sales on the series and participated in its financing.

Sony has retained its dominance in the Japanese console market, with sales of its newly released PlayStation 5 handily beating the Xbox Series X.According to a report from Famitsu, the PS5 moved a total of 118,000 units in its first four days of sales; a majority of those were the standard console that features a disc drive.

Lady Gaga is adding another role to her acting résumé!

Michael Shannon has joined the star-studded cast of the upcoming movie Bullet Train!

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentCharades, the Paris-based sales company behind the Oscar-nominated “Mirai” and “I Lost My Body,” has locked a raft of deals on “Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds,” a 3D animated feature inspired by Alexandre Dumas’ 19th-century classic D’Artagnan novels.Budgeted in the region of $10 million, the family-skewing film is a reboot of the popular 1980s Japanese TV series “Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds,” which aired in more than 100 countries and on

Dave McNary Film ReporterOlympic Channel has started production on a documentary on gold medalist skier Picabo Street, directed by Lindsey Vonn and Frank Marshall, Variety has learned exclusively.Street won the gold in the Super-G at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. She also won the silver medal in the downhill at the 1994 Olympics.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorRefresh for latest…: The international box office continues to be led by Asia, with Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train still enjoying runaway success this weekend. Currently the No.

Dave McNary Film Reporter“Deadpool 2” star Zazie Beetz will join Brad Pitt in the cast of Sony’s action movie “Bullet Train.”Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry and Andrew Koji are also boarding the pic. “Hobbs & Shaw” helmer David Leitch is directing with Kelly McCormick producing through 87North and Antoine Fuqua through Fuqua Films.

Eyal Booker has opened up on wanting four children with his girlfriend, Delilah Belle Hamlin. While playing a game of Mr and Mrs with his American girlfriend, the former Love Island star said he’d like to have a family of four.

Sony has reportedly “sidelined” the launch of the PlayStation 5 in Japan in order to focus on the US market.According to a new report from Bloomberg, Japan is being overlooked in promotions for the upcoming next-gen console, with its local team “left awaiting instructions from California”.

Susan Kelechi Watson wants to clarify that she is single. The 38-year-old star subtly shared the news that she is no longer engaged to Jaime Lincoln Smith on her Instagram Stories over the weekend. «And I thought becoming Single was gonna be the only eventful thing to happen to me this year.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorRefresh for latest…: With cinemas in the bulk of the European majors now dealing with a second wave of closures amid the COVID-19 crisis, international box office is again led by Asia this weekend — and should continue to be so for the foreseeable future.Japan’s runaway smash Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train is still racing along at No. 1 with a gross estimated cume approaching $200M after four weekends.

Paramount Pictures chairman Jim Gianopulos delivered a keynote address to Tokyo's TIFFCOM content market Wednesday, offering a detailed recap of how COVID-19 has reshaped the movie business in 2020. The veteran studio head's assessment, delivered via video, was sober-minded but also optimistic.

The Walking Dead crawled its way onto television screens.What started out as a six-episode debut season, watched by a modest 5.35 million viewers, eventually became one of the world's most successful shows – and the biggest on cable television in the US.

Mark Schilling Japan Correspondent“Demon Slayer,” the megahit animation that has singlehandedly revived the limping Japanese box office, passed the $150 million mark on its 17th day of release, according to figures compiled by co-distributor Aniplex. Total admissions amount to 11.9 million.Overall, for the Oct.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefJapanese broadcaster and content investor Nippon TV has created a dedicated animation division for the first time. Launched as part of the company’s international business division, the anime department will be headed by Kuwahara Kako, as executive VP of business development.The division will launch with 12-part fantasy series “Tsukumichi – Moonlit Fantasy” adapted from an award-winning novel and manga with the same title, and written by Kei Azumi.