Keshet International Boards Berlinale Series-Bound ‘Storm Lara’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Kenneth Branagh's Agatha Christie adaptation “Death on the Nile” begins with a flashback to the trenches of World War I before shifting to 1930s London two decades later, but that’s nothing compared to the time that's passed since Branagh's preceding 2017 whodunit “Murder on the Orient Express.”That film, which packed a bevy of stars aboard an opulent locomotive, was a saggy contrivance that lacked the warm fizz of Sidney Lumet's 1974 version, with Albert Finney. But “Murder on the Orient” did offer a welcome reminder of two immutable cinematic maxims: Train movies are irresistible and whodunits are, generally speaking, a hoot.

Nickelodeon Animation and Paramount Animation have formed a creative partnership with LAFIG Belgium and IMPS to produce multiple The Smurfs movies.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterThe new “Goosebumps” TV series has been picked up by Disney Plus, Variety has learned exclusively.The new series version of the beloved R.L. Stine books was first reported as being in the works in April 2020. Disney Plus has given the show a 10-episode order.The series follows a group of five high schoolers who unleash supernatural forces upon their town and must all work together – thanks to and in spite of their friendships, rivalries, and pasts with each other – in order to save it, learning much about their own parents’ teenage secrets in the process.Nick Stoller and Rob Letterman serve as writers and executive producers on the show, with Stoller executive producing via Stoller Global Solutions.

K.J. Yossman Sadie Frost has been tapped for the lead role in “Boxed-Up,” a short film about mental health.Frost will play Eileen, a dysfunctional mother who is processing the grief of losing her husband at the same time as exploring her fractured relationship with her daughter.“After a devastating loss, a distant mother has 24 hours to connect with her daughter in a new age world where soul-devouring spirits use dreams to hunt the weak,” reads the logline. “The film explores the implications of losing a loved one in the heightened reality of its world.”The short, which is written by Jamie L.

EXCLUSIVE: RLJE Films and Shudder have teamed to acquire rights to The Cellar, the Irish horror film written and directed by Brendan Muldowney and starring Elisha Cuthbert and Eoin Macken. The deal comes as the pic is prepping for its world premiere next month at SXSW. It will now get an April 15 day-and-date release in the U.S., with Shudder to stream it exclusively in North America, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and its AMC Networks sibling RLJE Films handling theatrical.

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.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNetherlands-based sales outfit DFW International has acquired Ruud Schuurman’s (“Lost in the Game”) romantic comedy “Taste of Love” ahead of the European Film Market.“Taste of Love” stars Barbara Sloesen (“Life As It Should Be”) as Monica, who left her small village behind her and even changed her name to start a new life in Amsterdam. She’s now a renowned chef at a popular venue in Amsterdam.

IFC Films has nabbed U.S. rights to “Fire,” the new drama from celebrated French director Claire Denis. The pact marks the first major domestic deal of the Berlinale 2022 competition.World premiering next week at the Berlin Film Festival, “Fire” is headlined by two of France’s biggest stars, Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient”) and Vincent Lindon (“Titane”).

Emilio Mayorga Barcelona-based Nanouk Films and Funicular Films and Spanish pubcaster TVE are partnering to produce “This is Not Sweden,” a dark comedy half hour which marks the first Spanish show to be presented at the Göteborg’s Festival’s TV Drama Vision.Set in the idyllic Vallvidrera, a suburb in the foothills of the Collserola mountains surrounding Barcelona, the six-part series explores parenting and other family-related issues by focusing on a young couple ­– Mariana and Samuel – who has just moved there and wants to raise their children in contact with nature.“This is Not Sweden” is created by actor-director Aina Clotet, a Malaga Fest best actress winner for “Someone’s Daughter” and by producer Sergi Cameron. Clotet will direct along with Coll, who won a best new director Goya for “Three Days with the Family.” “‘This is Not Sweden’s’ international appeal has always been a key objective for Aina, Marta and myself.

CBS has officially announced their brand new competition series!

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBeta Film has acquired world sales rights to “Estonia,” an ambitious Finnish series telling the true story of Europe’s deadliest maritime disaster of the 20th century. The eight-part event drama will reteam “Bordertown” creator Miikko Oikkonen (“Bordertown,” “Helsinki Syndrome”) and helmer Juuso Syrjä (Bordertown) who will split directing duties with Måns Månsson (“Snabba Cash”).Finland’s biggest drama project to date, “Estonia” is produced by Beta Nordic Studio’s Finnish banner Fisher King, and co-produced by Swedish Kärnfilm AB, Panache Production Belgium and the Estonian Amrion Oü.

Belgium’s Oscar-shortlisted International Feature is an intimate child’s-eye view of bullying from debut writer-director Laura Wandel. Playground is known as Un Monde in its native French language, and this is set in a world of its own: the school that two siblings must navigate to get through the day.

EXCLUSIVE: The Berlin Film Festival and accompanying European Film Market may be all about the big screen but, over the past few years, the Berlinale Series has been growing in stature. Series Head Julia Fidel has watched as the barriers between film and TV have broken down and more and more stars, writers and execs behind the biggest movies have chosen to helm TV projects.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentIndie Sales has boarded Philippe Van Leeuw’s “The Wall,” an English-language film headlined by rising star Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread,” “Bergman Island”) and set on the border of Mexico and Arizona.“The Wall” follows Jessica Comley (Krieps), a committed and zealous border patrol agent who one day loses control and kills a harmless migrant in front of three witnesses: her colleague, who tries to cover the crime, and a Native American man with his grandson.Van Leeuw is a Belgian filmmaker known for his politically-minded films, including “Insyriated,” which won the Berlinale audience award in 2017, as well as “The Day God Walked Away” which earned San Sebastian festival’s New Director Award in 2009. With “The Wall,” Van Leew said he wanted to portray “today’s America.” Indie Sales is handling global rights on the anticipated feature and will launch it at the European Film Market.“We’re proud to work with a director whose talent has been proven,” said Nicolas Eschbach, Indie Sales CEO and co-founder.

Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, or Apple TV.The film, which was released after over a year of delays due to the coronavirus, features a star-studded cast of Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes', Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas and Rami Malek, and is the first James Bond film to to be shot with Imax film cameras. Not only does it feature over an hour of scenes in the large format expanded aspect ratio, but there will also be an exclusive Q&A featuring Daniel Craig and director Cary Joji Fukunaga broadcasted before select Imax screenings.  picks up after James Bond has recused himself from his work and is attempting to live a quiet life in Jamaica.

As the Best International Feature race comes to a close, it’s fairly clear to see who the favorites are. Since it premiered at Cannes last year, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car has dominated the landscape, featuring highly in international critics’ awards and even penetrating the consciousness of the Golden Globes. But—as we saw at Cannes, where Hamaguchi only went home with Best Screenplay—critical mass doesn’t always impact on industry juries. It’s just as possible, then, that the Oscar might go to Norway’s The Worst Person in the World, a gently subversive romcom by Joachim Trier that captures the exact moment in a director’s career when they nail their style. To add a third alternative, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s sobering emigrant story Flee has been quietly making history, a feat that will be cemented if it becomes, as many think it might, the first film to compete in the International, Documentary and Animation fields.

Refresh for latest…: Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home scaled fresh heights this session as it reached an amazing new milestone by crossing the $1B mark at the international box office. The offshore cume through Sunday is an estimated $1.003B for a global total of $1.74B.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAmazon Prime Video has ordered its next French series original, “Darknet-sur-Mer,” (“On the Darknet”) a crime comedy series produced by Noor Sadar’s White Lion Films, a Mediawan Group company. The six-episode series, directed by Remy Four and Julien War (“On The Other Side of the Tracks”), has just started filming in the Charente Maritime region of Southwest France.

Christopher Vourlias Alexandre Perrier and François-Pierre Clavel’s Bordeaux-based production outfit Kidam, which produced last year’s Cannes Critics’ Week prize winner “Zero F***s Given,” has boarded “Life Ahead,” director Olivier Meys’ story of friendship between two young asylum-seekers, which heads to the Rotterdam Film Festival’s CineMart co-production market this week.“Life Ahead” tells the story of Jahia, a 16-year-old Eritrean girl who lives in an asylum center in Belgium, where her dim prospects for the future cast a shadow over her life. Then she meets the feisty and spirited Nèta, a young Moldavian girl, who drags Jahia along with her crazy energy.But when Nèta’s family is forced to leave the country, the young girl falls into a deep sleep – a victim of the malady known as “resignation syndrome.” Jahia swears to do everything in her power to wake her up and not allow her friend to succumb to despair.

K.J. Yossman “Peppa Pig” owners eOne have filed a lawsuit against animation studio SConnect.Vietnamese-owned Sconnect run a number of YouTube channels aimed at young children including “Wolfoo,” about a cartoon wolf and his anthropomorphic friends, stop-motion “WOA Luka” and traditional 2D animation “Max’s Puppy Dog.”“Wolfoo” boasts three verified YouTube channels, one with 10.9 million subscribers, one with 10.4 million subscribers and another with 4.89 million subscribers.