Lightdox Boards Rotterdam Big Screen Competition Title ‘Les Sorcières de l’Orient’ (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentA portrait of a well-meaning man caught in events he cannot control and understands all too late, Hungarian Denes Nagy’s Berlin Competition entry “Natural Light” has a first trailer, shared exclusively with Variety by sales company Luxbox.Set in icy marshland in Russia during WWII, “Natural Light” accompanies corporal István Semetka, drafted into a Hungarian unit whose mission is to locate and kill Russian partisans hiding in the woodlands.Lodging

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentStudio Chizu is unveiling the first teaser and poster for Mamoru Hosoda’s highly anticipated animated feature “Belle,” the revered Japanese director’s follow-up to the Oscar-nominated film “Mirai.”Paris-based sales company Charades is representing the film in international markets and will kick off sales at the virtual European Film Market.

Christopher Vourlias Heretic Outreach has acquired world sales rights to “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” from acclaimed Romanian writer-director Radu Jude, which world premieres in competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, Variety can reveal.Jude’s latest film is the story of a schoolteacher, Emi (Katia Pascariu), whose life is turned upside down after a sex video shot with her husband is leaked on the internet.

Sources have exclusively revealed the Friends actress thinks Jacinda’s story would make an incredible movie – and she wants to star!

Also Read: China and Japan Delivered Half of 2020's Top 10 Box Office Hits for First Time EverWhile “Detective Chinatown 3” is not likely to challenge “Endgame”‘s all-time global record of $2.79 billion, it is well on pace to pass the Marvel blockbuster’s Chinese total of $679 million.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentParis-based Totem Films announced Friday that it is handling sales on Iranian Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam’s Berlin Film Festival competition entry, “Ballad of a White Cow.” Totem Films will bring the drama onto the market at early March’s European Film Market (EFM).The pick-up is sure to draw attention.

BERLIN -- The Berlin International Film Festival on Thursday announced 15 films that are part of this year's competition and will compete for the top Golden and Silver Bear awards.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentM-Appeal has taken world distribution rights to Japanese filmmaker Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” which has its world premiere In Competition at the Berlin Film Festival. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Boonie Bears: The Wild Life,” the latest feature-length instalment in a long-running Chinese film and TV franchise, is set to open in Japan and Australia.

Sandra Bullock is the latest addition to the upcoming movie, Bullet Train.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefPixar animation “Soul” and Japanese anime “Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train” held station at the top of the South Korean box office for the second successive weekend.Still heavily under the influence of COVID conditions, nationwide overall takings remained anemic.

This year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has named the winners from its industry-focused programs Pro Days and Cinemart, which were held online this year.

Ann-Marie Corvin When Anders Thomas Jensen hit 45 years of age the “Adam’s Apple” and “Men & Chicken” director said he had a “minor breakdown,” questioning the point of his life and desperately searching for meaning.Channeling these feelings into the character of a military man with PTSD whose wife has just died in a train explosion that may not have been an accident was the start point of Jensen’s fifth feature as a director: a mid-life noir that straddles action, comedy and existential

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic means international film buyers won't be able to travel to Berlin this year for the European Film Market —the 2021 EFM will be a virtual affair—but select distributors will get a chance to watch Berlin titles at their local cinema.

So Nic Cage is a bank robber sprung, naked except for a sumo-nappy, from a lengthy stint in jail by the white-hatted, black-hearted Governor (Bill Moseley) of a fake Japanese cowboy town populated exclusively by caged Geisha prostitutes, one of the favorites of whom, Bernice (Sofia Boutella, being bafflingly good again despite the material) recently escaped, so The Governor straps Cage into a leather suit rigged with explosives on the arms, neck and testicles that are primed to explode if they

Emilio Mayorga Few producers in Spain have earned more festival prizes than Barcelona-based Luis Miñarro, whose credits range from Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Cannes Palme d’Or laureate  “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” to Karlovy Vary top prize winner “The Mosquito Net” and Rotterdam Tiger Award winner “Finisterrae.”So Miñarro’s support for Spaniard Ainhoa Rodríguez’s debut feature, Rotterdam Tiger contender “Destello bravío” – which he’s boarded as a co-producer in

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefPixar’s “Soul” was joined by Japanese hit sensation “Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train” at the top of the box office rankings in South Korea over the weekend to Jan. 31.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterJoel Kinnaman has been cast in the upcoming “In Treatment” reboot at HBO, Variety has learned exclusively.The reimagined series brings a diverse trio of patients in session with the observant, empathetic Dr.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentTheatrical box office takings in Japan fell by 45% in 2020, compared with the previous year, as coronavirus took its toll on cinemagoing. But that makes Japan one of the most resilient major box office territories.Data published Wednesday by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (Eiren) show that total box office was $1.37 billion (JPY143 billion) 45% down on 2019’s $2.5 billion (JPY261 billion).

The Japanese box office plummeted more than 45 percent in 2020 after the novel coronavirus pandemic briefly shuttered cinemas in the country and weighed on moviegoing throughout much of the year. Total ticket sales revenue clocked in at $1.38 billion (143.3 billion yen), down from $2.39 billion (261 billion yen) in 2019, which had set an all-time record.