Manori Ravindran International Editor“Sexy Beast” is back, and it’s part of a slate of six international scripted originals heading to Paramount Plus, Variety can reveal.The long-simmering “Sexy Beast” prequel series has evidently been resuscitated for the streamer after being scrapped for Paramount Network in 2020.The U.K.-originated show, based on the cult classic film of the same name, centers on the characters of Gal Dove and Don Logan (originally played by Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley, respectively) as they descend into London’s criminal underbelly during the volatile 1990s.Paramount Plus describes the series as “a love story between two men — à la Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” It’s produced by Chapter One and VIS, with showrunner Michael Caleo (“The Sopranos”) attached. Also heading to Paramount Plus out of the U.K.
International Insider: Sundance Global; EFM Gears Up; Reporting For Duty; French Windows
28.01.2022 - 16:15 / deadline.com
Welcome to this week’s International Insider. Max Goldbart here bringing you the latest in what’s been a busy seven days in the world of international TV and film.
Cha Cha Leo Grande: This year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival draws to a close on Sunday and hopefully avid Deadline readers have been keeping abreast of our U.S. team’s fantastic coverage of all the biggest deals, reviews and hits. Some big international offerings have been making an impact over in the States and our own Mike Fleming Junior had two fantastic scoops on Wednesday, first revealing that Searchlight Pictures had closed a circa-$7.5M deal for U.S. rights to Emma Thompson pic Good Luck To You, Leo Grande and, hours later, telling the world about Apple’s global $15M grab for Cooper Raiff’s Cha Cha Real Smooth, starring Dakota Johnson. Searchlight won out ahead of several distributors and will release Leo Grande via Hulu, with hopes that Thompson, who plays retired schoolteacher and widower Nancy Stokes, could be up for awards contention. Cha Cha Real Smooth follows a directionless college graduate, also played by Raiff, who gets over his head in a relationship with a young mum and her autistic teenage daughter as he works a job party-starting bar and bat mitzvahs of his younger brother’s classmates. Intriguing. The Cha Cha deal is the biggest of the fest with just two days to go, although it falls $10M short of Apple’s Coda deal from the prior year.
Landing well: Meanwhile, global screenings were landing well at Sundance, with CNN Films/HBO Max’s secret and timely Navalny “documentary thriller” well received. The fly-on-the-wall feature was made completely in secret and charts the events surrounding the Russian opposition leader’s suspected Novichok
Inside Darren Criss and Pregnant Wife Mia Criss’ ‘Magical’ Mexico Babymoon: Photos
Mom and Dad in Mexico! Darren Criss and his pregnant wife, Mia Criss, enjoyed a tropical babymoon ahead of their first child’s arrival.
International Insider: EFM Hits New Heights; Amazon’s Mega Lease; Oscars International; ‘Neighbours’ No More
Afternoon International Insiders. The team is in Berlin and EFM is hotting up. We’ve got the latest from Germany and more so read on.
Landmark Shutters San Francisco Embarcadero Center Cinema As Lease Nears End
Landmark Theatres has decided to close their Embarcadero Center Cinema in San Francisco with the lease ending, and the chain citing “landlord-created conditions” which “challenged profitability” at the location.
International Insider: BAFTA Noms; UK’s Record Year; Beijing Kicks Off; Berlinale Series Sit Down
Afternoon Insiders. It’s been a big week in the world of international film and TV but we’ve got you covered. Read on for all the in-depth news and analysis.
88Rising and Anonymous Content Executives Form EST Studios to Target Asian Marketplace – EFM (EXCLUSIVE)
Manori Ravindran International Editor88Rising co-founder Jaeson Ma and Anonymous Content executive producer Eric Tu are joining forces to launch EST Studios, an independent finance, production and sales outfit geared towards the Asian marketplace.Launching just ahead of the European Film Market — which officially kicks off Feb. 10 — the company specializes in premium film and episodic content.Ma (pictured, left) will serve as the company chairman and co-CEO, with Tu (right) serving as co-founder and co-CEO.
Chloë Grace Moretz & Joseph Gordon-Levitt Starring In Anne Sewitsky’s Jonestown Massacre Thriller ‘White Night’; FilmNation Launches Sales – EFM
Cast has been set for White Night, a thriller about one of the most infamous cult stories of all time – the Jonestown Massacre – which is being helmed by Anne Sewitsky (Happy, Happy).
UK Government Forges $28M Three-Year Global Screen Fund For Independent Film
The UK government has forged a £21M ($28M) Global Screen Fund to help build the nation’s reputation for independent film internationally.
![‘Free Chol Soo Lee’ Review: An Unflinching Portrait Of The Trauma Inflicted On An Innocent Man [Sundance] - theplaylist.net - China - California - North Korea - San Francisco - county Lee](https://popstar.one/storage/thumbs_400/site_images/big-photo.jpg "‘Free Chol Soo Lee’ Review: An Unflinching Portrait Of The Trauma Inflicted On An Innocent Man [Sundance] - theplaylist.net - China - California - North Korea - San Francisco - county Lee")
‘Free Chol Soo Lee’ Review: An Unflinching Portrait Of The Trauma Inflicted On An Innocent Man [Sundance]
In 1973, at the age of 23, Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee was arrested. An outsider within San Francisco’s Chinatown, Lee was charged with first-degree murder after being accused of shooting a Chinese gang member in the back at point-blank range.
More Sundance Deals: MUBI Lands Docu ‘Free Chol Soo Lee;’ Warner Bros Acquiring ‘Am I Ok?’ For HBO Max In Near $7M Deal
The deals keep coming at the 2022 Virtual Sundance Film Festival. MUBI closed the docu Free Chol Soo Lee, including North America, and Warner Bros is negotiating a near $7 million WW rights deal for the Tig Notaro/Stephanie Allynne film Am I Ok? to place the film on HBO Max. The Lauren Pomerantz-scripted film stars Dakota Johnson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jermaine Fowler, Molly Gordon, June Diane Raphael, and Sean Hayes.
MUBI Acquires Sundance Doc ‘Free Chol Soo Lee’ About a Social Justice Movement
Production company MUBI has acquired Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee” that premiered last week at Sundance, the company said in a release.The film has been acquired for North America, UK, Ireland, Latin America, German, Austria, Italy and Turkey and will release theatrically in 2022 in the U.S., with plans for other regions coming later.The documentary is about a movement in the 1970s in San Francisco, where a 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee gets racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. Lee is sentenced to life and fights to survive until a journalist takes up his case and ignites a social justice movement in the Asian American community.
MUBI Acquires Sundance Doc ‘Free Chol Soo Lee,’ U.S. Theatrical Release Set for 2022 (EXCLUSIVE)
Wyatte Grantham-Philips editor“Free Chol Soo Lee” has been acquired by global distributor, streamer and production company MUBI.The documentary, which premiered last week at the Sundance Film Festival, will come to U.S. theaters in 2022, with release plans in other territories (Latin America, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey, the U.K.
‘Nanny,’ ‘Exiles,’ ‘Navalny’ Among Top Sundance Winners
A drama about an undocumented nanny in New York City, a documentary about three exiled dissidents from Tiananmen Square and another doc about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny won top prizes at the Sundance Film Festival. Winners were announced Friday evening in a virtual ceremony.
‘Nanny,’ ‘Exiles,’ ‘Navalny’ among top Sundance winners
A drama about an undocumented nanny in New York City, a documentary about three exiled dissidents from Tiananmen Square and another doc about Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny won top prizes at the Sundance Film Festival. Winners were announced Friday evening in a virtual ceremony.“Nanny,” from writer-director Nikyatu Jusu and starring Anna Diop and Michelle Monaghan, won the Grand Jury Prize in the drama category for its depiction of a Senegalese immigrant working for a wealthy family in New York City.
Sundance Announces Award Winners for 2022 (Updating Live)
said upon introducing the awards ceremony. “This year’s festival expressed a powerful convergence; we were present, together, as a community connected through the work. And it is work that has already changed those who experienced it,” festival director Tabitha Jackson added.
‘Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul’: Director Adamma Ebo Talks The Myth & Grift Of Prosperity Gospel [Sundance]
“We grew up in Atlanta and in the church. Like in the height of Southern Baptist megachurches.
Julianna Margulies To Host International Holocaust Remembrance Day Specials For CBS & MTV
MTV and CBS are commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day with two primetime specials hosted by Julianna Margulies.
Dubai Sales Agent Cercamon Launches Documentary Label, Announces EFM Slate (EXCLUSIVE)
Christopher Vourlias Dubai-based sales agent Cercamon is launching a dedicated documentary feature label and will unveil its first slate of titles at this year’s European Film Market, including Constantin Wulff’s Berlinale Forum selection “For the Many – The Vienna Chamber of Labor.”The company plans to handle 8 to 10 documentaries per year across all markets, with former Doc & Film International and Mediawan Rights exec Suzanne Nodale tapped to oversee all acquisitions and sales of the slate.A specialist in documentary sales, Nodale has worked on titles such as Gianfranco Rosi’s Oscar-nominated “Fire at Sea,” Gregory Monro’s International Emmy Award winner “Kubrick by Kubrick” and “Banksy Most Wanted,” a Tribeca Film Festival selection from directors Aurelia Rouvier and Seamus Haley. “I am thrilled to have Suzanne joining the team to expand the reach of Cercamon,” said the company’s CEO, Sebastien Chesneau.