Kino Lorber Acquires U.S. Rights to Sundance Indian Title ‘Fire in the Mountains’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Kane Brown is aiming to become an adventurous eater.

EXCLUSIVE: Yash Raj Films, a key production house and distributor in India, has named Akshaye Widhani to the new role of Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaYellow Veil Pictures has acquired all North American rights to Gaspar Noé’s meta mockumentary “Lux Aeterna.” The studio is planning a theatrical release for the film this spring. “Lux Aeterna” made its world premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and was later selected for the Tribeca Film Festival prior to its cancellation due to the pandemic.“Lux Aeterna” unfolds backstage at a French film production and is stylistically daring, in the manner of many of Noé’s movies.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentKino Lorber has acquired North American rights for Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s debut feature “Murina” which won the Golden Camera Award at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.Executive produced by Martin Scorsese and lushing lensed by Hélène Louvart (“The Lost Daughter”), “Murina” will be playing on opening night of the First Look Festival at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.“Murina” is a tense and sensual tale about a restless teenager, Julija, whose urge to break free from her oppressive father and isolated existence in coastal Croatia is triggered by the visit of a family friend. Variety‘s Jessica Kiang wrote in her review that “If Patricia Highsmith had ever written a coming-of-age story set on the rocky, clear-watered Croatian coastline, it might have looked a lot like Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s bright, brooding debut.” The movie also boasts a breakthrough performance by Gracija Filipovic, a promising young actor and professional swimmer who was one of this year’s 10 Shooting Stars at the Berlinale.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) is finally making its long-awaited debut in Los Angeles, Variety has learned exclusively.The professional wrestling promotion is set to broadcast its weekly TBS show, “Dynamite,” from The Forum in Inglewood on Wednesday, June 1. Earlier on Monday, The Young Bucks announced on their vlog, “Being the Elite, that the company will air its Friday night TNT show, “Rampage,” at the Toyota Center in Ontario, CA on June 3.

Baby Keem has done some growing up since he went viral rapping "Lil' bitch, shut the fuck up / Tell your best friend, shut the fuck up" on 2019's "ORANGE SODA." At 21, Keem is already the preeminent rising MC in his native Las Vegas, and he cemented his status this past September with The Melodic Blue, his dynamic studio debut. Having already shared visual treatments for the record's premier singles — "family ties" featuring Kendrick Lamar (Keem's cousin) and "durag activity" featuring Travis Scott — and for three of the album's other tracks — "no sense," "hooligan," and, most recently, "first order of business" — Keem has now dropped a video for "16," the final track of project's first disc.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentHulu has acquired U.S. rights to “Fireheart,” Anton’s ambitious animated family feature directed by Laurent Zeitoun (“Leap!”) and Theodore Ty (“Kung Fu Panda”) with a voice cast headlined by Olivia Cooke, William Shatner, Laurie Holden and Kenneth Branagh.The deal was negotiated with Hulu by CAA Media Finance and Anton’s Cécile Gaget on behalf of the producers. “Fireheart” will debut on Hulu’s streaming platform in the U.S.

Emiliano De Pablos Closing in on one of the leading voices in Caribbean cinema, Sony Pictures Television has acquired from Latido Films Latin American rights to “Hotel Coppelia,” directed by Dominican filmmaker José María Cabral.Produced by Santo Domingo-based Rafael Elías Muñoz at Lantica Media and Cabral’s outfit Tabula Rasa, “Hotel Coppelia” is a real events-inspired drama, set during the 1965 Revolution in Dominican Republic.The story focus on a forlorn band of prostitutes, forced to pick sides when the American military invades and the soldiers hole up in their seaside brothel.“It would be impossible to think of a better house to have ‘Hotel Coppelia’ seen in Latin America,” Latido Films CEO Antonio Saura told Variety about the Sony Pictures deal. “The film deals with great intelligence with important issues of the history not only of the Dominican Republic but of all the region, but seen through the eyes of unexpected protagonists, caught in events that are beyond their reach.

A sudden switch. One week after Tristan Thompson joined the Indiana Pacers, coach Rick Carlisle claimed that the athlete is heading to the Chicago Bulls.

BMG has acquired a whole load of music rights from the estate of blues musician John Lee Hooker. This includes his entire publishing catalogue – in a joint deal with Fujipacific Music – all of his royalty income from his recordings, and a sizeable chunk of his actual recorded music catalogue, spanning releases put out from 1980 and posthumously since his death in 2001.The Hooker estate is managed by JAM Inc.

Cody Rhodes and Brandi Rhodes have made their exit from All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

K.J. Yossman Dogwoof will handle international sales for Jason Kohn’s “Nothing Lasts Forever” following its world premiere in Berlin.Kohn spent ten years on the project, traversing across the world and speaking to industry insiders including Dusan Simic, Aja Raden, Martin Rappaport, Stephen Lussier and Chandu Sheta.“Infiltrating the highly secretive diamond industry, Kohn uncovers a threat to the lucrative trade that could devalue every diamond ever mined, effectively destroying the universal symbol of love and commitment,” reads the logline.

Part concert film, part character portrait, Andrew Dominik’s This Much I Know To Be True is another glimpse into the life and world of musician Nick Cave. The Berlin Film Festival Berlinale Special documentary flits between interviews in his home to performances of the songs from his albums “Ghosteen” (with the Bad Seeds) and “Carnage” (with Warren Ellis).

PBS was the top winner in the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards on Tuesday, with four honors for outstanding broadcast and digital reporting in the public interest.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Leading Italian sales company The Open Reel has snagged the international sales rights to Pablo Garcia Perez de Lara’s latest doc, “Born to be Born,” ahead of its world premiere at the European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin.Doc revolves around a progressive public school, the Escola Congrés-Indians, in Garcia’s native Barcelona, where preparations for an end-of-year trip of the school’s first graduating class are underway. Children learn at their own pace in the primary school which instills, above all, the values of respect and empathy for other people.“I was struck by the director’s ability to discreetly document the important educational role that the school and its educators play with these young students,” said The Open Reel founder Cosimo Santoro, adding: “They guide them through understanding and dialogue in every phase of their discussions and through any possible conflicts that may arise.” Garcia has trained his camera on children in many of his previous features and shorts.

Jon Burlingame editorJohn Williams turns 90 years old on Feb. 8.

While Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid been working for years with lots of acclaim (2011’s “Policeman” was very well-regarded and 2014’s “The Kindergarten Teacher” was so good, Maggie Gyllenhaal decided to produce and star in a 2018 remake), the filmmaker seemed to make an even bigger splash on the international scene with “Synonyms” which won the Golden Bear, and the FIPRESCI Award at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival and introduced more audiences to wiry star Tom Mercier.