Leonine Re-Brands Odeon Entertainment As Madame Zheng; Producer Tina Wagner Joins In Re-Structure

Anna Marie de la Fuente Planete Plus Orders Munich Hostage Thriller DocFrench broadcaster Planete Plus has commissioned factual political thriller “Munich: Of Games and Blood” from Pernel Media to mark the 50th anniversary of the hostage crisis that rocked the Munich Olympic Games on September 5, 1972. Written by Philippe Saada, Yossi Melman and cinematographer Marc Dugain, the doc is narrated by three protagonists present at the original event where Israeli athletes were taken hostage by Palestinian Black September terrorists: an ex-terrorist, a member of the German police, and a Mossad agent.

Walter Coblenz, the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated producer behind All the President’s Men and nearly two dozen other titles, died on March 16, aged 93. A cause of death has not been disclosed.

Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorWalter Coblenz, who was Oscar-nominated for producing “All the President’s Men” and also produced “The Candidate” and “The Onion Field,” died March 16. He was 93.Coblenz also produced the Emmy-nominated Joseph Wambaugh TV mini-series adaptation “The Blue Knight.”After serving as assistant director and production manager on Robert Redford’s “Downhill Racer,” he went on to work with Redford on “The Candidate” and “All the Presidents Men,” which racked up eight Oscar nominations and four wins.Coblenz served as Sr.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentIn one of the biggest swings in Europe’s market, Erik Barmack, the former Netflix VP of international originals, is teaming with Benjamin Munz, producer of “Blood Red Sky,” Netflix’s most-watched non-English movie of all time, on a tentpole high-speed German action film, “The Chase.”Billed by Barmack as “‘The Fast and the Furious’ meets ‘Money Heist’” – which he helped bring to Netflix – “The Chase” marks the first movie out of the gate at Munz’s Berlin-based new label, Fright Zone, the first production company in Germany that will focus exclusively on developing and producing fantasy, action, horror and science fiction films as well as TV shows in and from Germany. Overseen by founder and CEO Munz, Fright Zone will produce with Barmack, who is now working out of his own L.A.

EXCLUSIVE: Arrow and The Hobbit actor Manu Bennett is joining Kiana Madeira (Trinkets), Ross Butler (13 Reasons Why) and Matthew Noszka (Star) in YA movie Perfect Addiction.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBanijay has acquired Tooco, the production banner behind the non-scripted hit “Guess My Age,” to further bolster its French outpost. Under the pact, Tooco will be part of the Banijay France brand and will focus on originating concepts for the French and international markets.Tooco, spearheaded by Aurélien Lipiansky and Mikaël Moreau, has been delivering popular French formats, such as Le club des invincibles, produced with Banijay’s Air Production; and Guess My Age which has so far travelled to 22 countries, including Italy, Spain, and Germany.

Paramount International boss Raffaele Annecchino has talked up the streamer for “launching quicker than others” in key European markets, as he unveiled a tied-up with global Lupin and Narcos production house Gaumont and set titles from France, Argentina and Germany.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentParis-based lobbying group the European Producers Club (EPC) is launching an initiative in tandem with Netflix to help create new opportunities for European women TV drama producers in attempt to balance the gender gap in Europe’s industry.This new initiative, launched at the Series Mania TV festival, comprises a pitch contest for fiction series as well as a workshop run by Netflix about how to best pitch a project.Producers of the six selected best projects will get the opportunity to pitch to Netflix. The three best pitches will receive awards of €50.000 ($55,000), €20.000 and €10.000 respectively to take their projects to the next development stage.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent“Game of Thrones” producer Frank Doelger, after executive producing “The Swarm” through his Berlin-based Intaglio Films, now has two new high-end shows for the international pipeline in the pipeline: “Concordia” and “Doing Good.”During a panel at the Series Mania TV festival Doelger described “Concordia” as “a series about a 21st century community which uses cutting edge AI technology to see if it can create a fairer, safer, society.” Twenty years after this community has been a huge success, “countries around the world are approaching the founders of this social engineering experiment to found similar communities in their countries,” he added.And, “as they research the twenty-year history of this community, they discover that this instance of utopia has provided safe homes for immigrants and thousands of refugees seeking a better life. But they also discover the dark secret that led to its founding.” Doelger — whose Intaglio is a joint venture between German outfits Beta Cinema and ZDF Enterprises — said  “Concordia” will start shooting in September.

Clayton Davis “Tick, Tick … Boom!” star Alexandra Shipp has joined the live-action “Barbie” film from Oscar-nominated director Greta Gerwig, starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken.Though plot details are being kept under wraps, the film is written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach and based on the popular Mattel toy. Shipp’s role is currently unknown, along with other co-stars America Ferrera and Kate McKinnon, along with Simu Liu and Ariana Greenblatt. Warner Bros.

William Earl Variety announced today that Emilio and Gloria Estefan will be honored with the Variety Legends and Groundbreakers award at the inaugural Miami Entertainment Town breakfast held on Thursday, April 7. The event will celebrate those featured in the Miami Entertainment Impact Report, which profiles media, music and entertainment individuals based out of Miami who have made a great impact in their respective fields this year.

Sony Pictures Entertainment and theme-park corp Merlin Entertainments are teaming to extend the Jumanji brand through a range of exclusive rides, lands, retail outlets, and themed hotel rooms across the latter’s global network of theme parks and waterparks in Europe, UK, and North America.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterPrepare to enter the world of Jumanji.The 1995 adventure movie, starring Robin Williams — and the Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart-led sequels — will be the inspiration of new rides, lands, retail outlets and themed hotels.Sony Pictures, the studio behind the billion-dollar film franchise, and Merlin Entertainments, the company that operates Legoland and Madame Tussauds, have entered into a multi-territory exclusivity agreement to develop and operate attractions across Merlin’s Resort Theme Parks and Waterparks in Europe (including the United Kingdom) and North America.The first “Jumanji” experience to be brought to life will be a theme park ride, which will open in April this year at Merlin’s Gardaland Resort in Italy. A second activation is already in development at a different, yet-to-be announced theme park for a 2023 launch.

A series of rides, attractions, theme park lands, retail outlets and even themed-hotel rooms inspired by the “Jumanji” franchise are coming to theme parks and water parks across Europe and North America.Sony Pictures Entertainment has entered into an agreement with Merlin Entertainments and their brands to launch several “Jumanji” branded attractions, including the first to open at Merlin’s Gardaland Resort in Italy in April. “Jumanji – the Adventure” will open at Gardaland next month, and the ride, on which Merlin teamed up with Oceaneering and Framestore, will transport guests into the exocitc world of Jumanji and is described as a “dark ride” that will have “pitfalls, surprises and dangers through the wild jungle.” Opening alongside the ride will be a series of Jumanji hotel bedrooms.

While it took Sony’s Spider-verse to get off the ground and the results were clunky—“Venom” seemingly being a love or hate proposition for some—the entity is up and running about to take off either way. Two “Venom” films are in the can, a crossover with “Spider-Man” has been teased, “Morbius” hits in April, and “Kraven The Hunter” is due in early 2023.

K.J. Yossman Film Mode Entertainment has inked a multi-project distribution deal with Australian director/producer Luke Sparke’s company Sparke Films.Among the titles Film Mode will represent worldwide are Sparke’s upcoming projects “Weapons of Choice,” a television adaptation of John Birmingham’s World War Two trilogy “Axis of Time” and “Primitive War,” a horror feature franchise based on Ethan Pettus’ book series.Film Mode will also handle worldwide sales rights for “Occupation: Rainfall 2” and “Occupation: Rainfall 3” – the third and fourth films in Sparke’s franchise – as well as a number of other projects still in development.

Naman Ramachandran Germany’s Leonine Studios has rebranded its television subsidiary Odeon Entertainment as Madame Zheng Production to reflect its primary focus of “equality and diversity in every aspect of the production business, both in front of and behind the camera.” Tina Wagner, previously producer and executive producer at RedSeven Entertainment, and Nina Etspüler, co-head of entertainment at Leonine Studios, are joining the management team and will lead the company under Wagner’s direction along with Martin Schneider, Odeon Entertainment’s long-standing managing director.Fred Kogel, CEO and co-head of entertainment at Leonine Studios, said: “Ever since Nina Etspüler joined Leonine in Jan. 2021, we have jointly pursued the goal of establishing a production brand that advocates for equality and diversity in front of and behind the camera, in order to firmly anchor these themes, which are essential for Leonine Studios, in the production market.

Ariana Grande has a new wax figure.