Lionsgate International SVP Marc Lorber To Exit

With the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences having expanded its shortlist for the Best International Feature Film Oscar to 15 in recent years, it’s inevitable that some deserving titles miss the nominations cut. However, several of the perceived frontrunners are in the mix after today’s announcement, including Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front which has nine nominations in total, including Best Picture, and is yet another sign of how foreign-language films are crossing over into other main categories. 

Gogglebox stars Mica Venna and Marcus Luther have announced that they are joining a different TV show.

Refresh for latest…: It’s now official, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has become the sixth movie ever to cross the $2B mark worldwide. It is also the filmmaker’s third to hit the milestone, alongside Titanic and the original Avatar.

EXCLUSIVE: Marc Munden (Utopia) and Fernando Meireilles (The Two Popes) have been tapped to direct episodes of The Sympathizer, a drama series adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, produced by and co-starring Robert Downey Jr. The HBO/A24 series also has added three new cast members, Duy Nguyen, Kayli Tran and VyVy Nguyen.

Join us, Insiders, for another look through the busy world of film and TV. Jesse Whittock from the TV team here taking you into the weekend.

EXCLUSIVE: Antoine Fuqua is set to direct Michael, a Lionsgate drama with script by telling the complex life story of the iconic singer Michael Jackson. A script is in by John Logan, and the film will be produced by Graham King, who turned the Freddie Mercury Queen story into the blockbuster Best Picture nominated Bohemian Rhapsody. GK Films will produce alongside co-executors of Jackson’s estate, John Branca and John McClain.

Lisa Joy, the Emmy-nominated writer, director and producer of shows like Westworld and Pushing Daisies, has been selected as Jury President for this year’s Series Mania Festival and its International Competition.

Legal docudrama Saint Omer was voted Best Picture at the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, which announced this year’s juried award winners today. 

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water continues to outdo itself having crossed $1.8B globally and reaching nearly $1.9B at the worldwide box office through this weekend.

EXCLUSIVE: Studiocanal’s coveted Amy Winehouse package Back to Black looks to have found a home as sources tell Deadline that Focus Features and Monumental Pictures are partnering with Studiocanal on the new biopic about the Grammy-winning singer who tragically passed away in 2011. Industry breakout Marisa Abela is set to star as Winehouse, with Sam Taylor-Johnson on board to direct.

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here relaying a hugely busy week in the world of film and TV as the post-Christmas blues are very much washed away. Read on.

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we’ll shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week, we’re talking with German indie producer Sol Bondy of One Two Films. Bondy, whose credits include Angry Indian Goddesses and The Tale, most recently produced Iranian crime thriller Holy Spider which is Denmark’s submission to the 2023 Academy Awards and he tells us how challenging it was to get this impactful project off the ground. 

For the last three years, the winner of the International Oscar has pretty much been a given: First came Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, then Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round, and then Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car — all anointed by Cannes and eased to the finish line after prominent festival play in the usual cosmopolitan areas.

EXCLUSIVE: Portugal has become the latest territory to order a local version of CBS’ Let’s Make a Deal.

Refresh for latest…: That was fast. Coming out of its fourth weekend of release, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has topped $1.7B globally and become the No. 7 biggest movie of all time worldwide.

The 2023 BAFTA Film Awards longlists were unveiled this morning, and an unexpected frontrunner emerged in Netflix’s wartime epic All Quiet On The Western Front.

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water rang in the New Year with another $186.7M from 52 international markets for a $1.379B global cume to date. Excluding China, the film rose 4% from last weekend’s Christmas frame offshore (including China it was even with last session). The international box office now stands at an estimated $957M, meaning Way of Water will cross $1B overseas early this week. 

As 2022 draws to an end, Deadline’s critics have each chosen their top three movies of the year to hail from abroad. Some were festival world premieres, and some have made the International Feature Oscar shortlist (not all were put forth by their country of origin, nor are they each in a foreign language). Donkeys certainly made a splash, including in one 2020 French title that only saw U.S. release this year.