Czech Republic Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Monte-Carlo Television Festival has revealed the nominees for its Golden Nymph Awards. The festival will open June 16 with the world premiere of the first episode of “Harlan Coben’s Shelter.” Hollywood producer and writer Howard Gordon (“The X-Files,” “24,” “Homeland,” “Accused”) will receive the Honorary Golden Nymph Award, the festival’s highest accolade, bestowed on a professional for their contribution to the entertainment industry. In the Fiction competition are “Poker Face” (U.S.), starring Natasha Lyonne, “The Warrant: Breaker’s Law” (U.S.), “Ten Pound Poms” (U.K./Australia), “The Seed” (Germany, Norway, Czech Republic), “Chorus Girls” (Denmark), “Fence” (Japan), “Le Colosse aux pieds d’argile” (France), “Miró” (Spain) and “Trust No One” (Israel).

Russell Crowe is set to receive the coveted Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. To celebrate his achievements, the festival will be presenting a 20-year anniversary screening of Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which earned Crowe a Golden Globe nomination. 

Russell Crowe will receive the Crystal Globe Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at the 2023 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, KVIFF organizers announced on Friday. And unlike past recipients of the Crystal Globe like Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Mel Gibson, Judi Dench and Robert De Niro, Crowe will also perform on the festival’s opening night with his rock band, Indoor Garden Party.The festival, which takes place in a spa town outside Prague in the Czech Republic, will present Crowe with the award on its opening night, June 30.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Twenty emerging producers from across Europe have been selected to take part in European Film Promotion’s promotion and networking platform Producers on the Move before and during the Cannes Film Festival. The producers who were selected for the program from nominations submitted by EFP’s member organizations are Gentian Koçi (Albania), David Bohun (Austria), Julie Esparbes (Belgium), Vanya Rainova (Bulgaria), Miljenka Čogelja (Croatia), Stelana Kliris (Cyprus), Alice Tabery (Czech Republic), Emile Hertling Péronard (Denmark), Emilia Haukka (Finland), Silvana Santamaria (Germany), Vicky Miha (Greece), Júlia Berkes (Hungary), Kathryn Kennedy (Ireland), Valon Bajgora (Kosovo), Dominiks Jarmakovičs (Latvia), Erik Glijnis (The Netherlands), Elisa Fernanda Pirir (Norway), Radu Stancu (Romania), Juraj Krasnohorský (Slovak Republic), and Julia Gebauer (Sweden).

. Anna Wintour adheres to the traditional rule that people should mix and mingle at parties. And since Suki Waterhouse and Robert Pattinson are wearing different labels to the event, they definitely won't be attached at the hip all night.

King Krule is heading out on tour with the announcement of a huge tour across North America and Europe. Krule, who recently announced details of new album Space Heavy and shared lead single "Seaforth," will begin his run of dates in North America with a show in Minneapolis on July 21.

Jennie Punter The Changing Face of Europe, which is presented by European Film Promotion (EFP) in collaboration with Hot Docs, returns to Toronto with the sixth edition of its festival-within-a-festival program—nine features and one mid-length film—exploring themes around identity, belonging and struggle. “Over the years, the Changing Face of Europe has become one of the more impactful programs in the lineup, and also an essential component of our festival programming,” Hot Docs artistic director Shane Smith told Variety in advance of the festival. “Europe has a rich history of and strong connection to the art of documentary filmmaking,” he said. “We are delighted to showcase the powerful work coming out of the continent that sheds light on crucial issues facing Europeans today.”

XYZ Films has hired Manon Barat, a former executive at the Spanish sales company Film Factory, to head a slate of titles that will fall under the company’s newly-launched global film initiative, New Visions.

Naman Ramachandran XYZ Films has unveiled New Visions, an initiative designed to spotlight bold new voices alongside established talent striking a new path in the international cinema space. The initiative will serve as a curated collection of films that “exists to discover and support the next generation of great filmmakers at the inception of their career, and to give established talents room to do something smaller, more intimate, or challenging outside of the usual box of independent filmmaking,” XYZ said in a statement. The slate will launch in Cannes with Directors’ Fortnight selection “In Flames,” a Pakistani-Canadian horror film directed by Zarrar Kahn and executive produced by Shant Joshi. As revealed by Variety, XYZ had boarded the title last year. In the Karachi-set film, after the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter’s precarious existence is ripped apart by figures from their past – both real and phantasmal. They must find strength in each other if they are to survive the malevolent forces that threaten to engulf them.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Studiocanal has sold two new thrillers from Benelux to international buyers at MipTV in Cannes. The eight-part crime thriller “1985,” produced by Eyeworks for Belgian public broadcasters VRT and RTBF, follows three friends as they move to Brussels and get caught up in the horrifying events of Belgium’s most notorious unsolved crime spree that shocked a generation and left a scar on the entire country. The series went to SBS Australia; Filmin for Portugal and Spain; Canal+ for France, Czech Republic and Slovakia; TG4 in Ireland; and Free TV in Israel.

Regal parent Cineworld has decided to terminate the marketing process for its businesses outside of the U.S., UK and Ireland. Although it received offers from “a number of prospective counterparties,” the proposals “did not meet the value level required by the group’s lenders,” the exhibition giant said today. The so-called “rest of world” businesses include cinemas in Israel, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Apple and Canal+ have signed a landmark deal that will bring Apple TV+ to all Canal+ subscribers in France, along with some other European territories. The deal is different from the aggregation agreements that Canal+ has in place with other streamers such as Disney+ and Netflix, whose offers are being accessible as part of the French pay TV operator’s bundle. Under the pact, Apple TV+ will be available at no extra cost to Canal+ subs from April 20. Canal+ customers can seamlessly and easily access the films and series of Apple TV+ directly on their existing set-top box — with no separate app or subscription necessary. This is a multi-territory agreement for France, French speaking-Switzerland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. 

Apple TV+ has struck a multi-year content deal with Canal+ in France and will become available to all Canal+ subs in the nation plus other European territories.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Competition reality TV format “Lego Masters” has been picked up by Tokyo Broadcasting System for adaptation in Japan. The deal is the 19th for the Banijay Rights-represented format and the third in Asia. Production is currently underway for the show, which will see pairs compete against each other to wow judges with inspiring designs and brick builds. “I am looking forward to working with Banijay Rights and not only learn about the production of the show, but also to closely examine the essence of creation behind it,” said Aso Kunihiro, producer, contents solution department at TBS in a prepared statement.

It's a famous football path trodden by David Beckham and Marcus Rashford among countless other Manchester United youngsters.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent While she retired prematurely at the age of 39, Brigitte Bardot has left an indelible mark on France’s popular culture in the 1960’s and 1970’s. With her wild blonde mane, smoky eyes and pouty lips, Bardot became a symbol of a modern and effortlessly sexy French woman, and a style emblem that continues to inspire current trends. The event series “Bardot,” which is penned and directed by Daniele Thompson (“The Queen Margot”) and Christopher Thompson (“La bûche”), world premiered at Series Mania Festival to unanimous praise and has been pre-sold by Federation nearly worldwide. “‘Bardot’ is like the French ‘The Crown’ because Bardot embodied France, and through her journey we reminisce about many parts of France’s history and popular culture in the 1950’s and 1960’s,” Federation’s boss and “Bardot” producer Pascal Breton told Variety.

Naman Ramachandran New history documentary series “Queens That Changed the World,” that shines a light on some of the world’s most powerful female rulers, has scored a raft of worldwide sales. Channel 4 has acquired the series for the U.K. The series is produced by Woodcut Media who brokered the deal with Channel 4, and is distributed worldwide by Abacus Media Rights who have already pre-sold it to streaming service BBC Select (U.S. and Canada) and broadcasters SBS (Australia), AMC Networks International (Spain and Portugal), Viasat World (CEE, Scandinavia, Baltics, CIS), NRK (Norway), DR (Denmark), SVT (Sweden), Czech TV (Czech Republic) and HOT8 (Israel).

Ethan Shanfeld Fifth Season, the production house behind “Severance,” “Tokyo Vice” and “80 for Brady,” is developing series based on Jean Kwok’s 2014 novel “Mambo in Chinatown,” as well as her upcoming book “The Leftover Woman,” which hits shelves later this year. According to its official description, “The Leftover Woman” is “an evocative family drama and riveting mystery about the ferocious pull of motherhood for two very different women.” Published by William Morrow, the novel will be released on Oct. 10, 2023. “Mambo in Chinatown,” which landed on various year-end lists in 2014, is “about a young woman torn between her family duties in Chinatown and her escape into the world of ballroom dancing.”

Influencer Molly-Mae Hague has been enjoying a spa getaway to London to celebrate Mother’s Day with her newborn baby Bambi in tow. Molly was surprised with a stay in five star spa and hotel Corinthia by her longtime boyfriend Tommy Fury, who she met on Love Island in 2019.The couple welcomed their first child, a baby daughter, on 23 January 2023 and have been settling into their new life as a family of three ever since.The star shared a series of snaps from their spa break on her Instagram account, where more than seven million devoted fans follow her for all the updates on her life.

Alexander Skarsgard has finally confirmed that he became a father last year and now fans are likely looking for more information on his partner!

A smuggler hid a gun in a secret van compartment filled with expanding foam. Radek Dobias, 42, was caught after the VW van was stopped in Dover by Border Force officials.

‘My King Charles’ Doc Picked Up Around The World

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Vivendi has entered into exclusive negotiations to sell 100% of its publishing house Editis to a subsidiary of Czech Media Invest (CMI) founded by Daniel Kretinsky. Following its latest board meeting on March 8, Vivendi said it has received several bids for the sale of Editis and has chosen the offer brought by International Media Invest, a subsidiary of Kretinsky’s CMI. The deal would have to be approved by the European Commission. Vivendi said the “plan is to distribute the Editis shares to the Vivendi shareholders, and their listing on the Euronext Growth market, is put on hold.” Editis’ evenues dropped by 8% to €789 million in 2022, according to Vivendi. The Paris-based banner is home to Robert Laffont, Plon and Julliard, among others.

Marta Balaga The producers of Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films alike are on the lookout for the most cost-efficient locations. Recent examples include several of the year’s Oscar nominees, from “Aftersun,” which shot in Turkey; “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” which went to Budapest; to “Elvis,” in Australia. “Budapest offered an affordable alternative to both London and Paris,” says Jonathan Halperyn, managing director at Budapest-based Hero Squared and a co-producer on the film. “Hungary often comes up as a shooting destination when there is a budget crunch.” He adds: “We applied for co-production status and support from the National Film Institute of Hungary during the COVID hiatus, and by the end of 2020, we were up and running. This is the kind of flexibility we have become known for.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Autlook Filmsales has sold “Smoke Sauna Sisterhood,” which won the directing award for Anna Hints in the World Cinema Documentary section at Sundance, to more than 20 territories in North America, Europe and Australia. Deals are confirmed with Neue Visionen in Germany, Trigon in Switzerland, Against Gravity in Poland, Fidalgo in Norway, Ost For Paradise in Denmark, Vedetta in Benelux, Filmtrade in Greece and Cyprus, FilmIn in Spain, Alambique in Portugal, Filmladen in Austria, Pasaka Films in Lithuania, Artcam in Czech Rep. and Slovak Rep., Best Film in Latvia, Mozinet in Hungary, and Madman in Australia and New Zealand. The rights in U.S. have been picked up by Greenwich Entertainment and in Canada by Sherry Media Group. The theatrical release in Estonia is by ACME Film.

Tunisian Murder Mystery ‘Ashkal’ Triumphs At FESPACOTunisian director Youssef Chebbi’s investigative thriller Ashkal has won the top prize at the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO). The festival, which ran from February 25 to March 4, unfolds every two years in Burkina Faso’s capital of Ouagadougou and is regarded as Africa’s equivalent of Cannes. Chebbi’s murder mystery revolves around a series of killings at a construction site on the outskirts of the Tunisian capital of Tunis. The film world premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and then played a raft of other festivals including Toronto and London. The FESPACO jury head, producer Dora Bouchoucha, praised the film’s pairing of a strong aesthetic with a politically tuned-in storyline. Burkinabe filmmaker Apolline Traore won the Silver Stallion for Sira, about a woman kidnapped by Jihadists, and Kenyan director Angela Wamai took home the Bronze Stallion for Shimoni, about a schoolteacher rebuilding his life in his remote village after a harsh stint in jail.

.“These are big shoes for us to fill with our film. I don’t mean to compare our film to what some of our predecessors went through, but it is very moving to be even remotely connected to this history that “All Quiet” has,” Grunert told TheWrap. “We’ve managed to capture something that is obviously horrific, and we tried to come to what we can only imagine is an emotional truth of our main character, and how it could possibly feel to him,” Grunert said.

The timing may have been tres suspicious, but supposedly Justin Bieber canceling his tour had absolutely nothing to do with his wife Hailey Bieber’s resurfaced drama with Selena Gomez!

After a string of delays, Robert Eggers‘ next feature, his “Nosferatu” remake, is currently in production in Prague. That’s great news, considering, at one point, many thought the film wouldn’t ever move ahead.

Justin Bieber is cutting his world tour short.

Officially over? Justin Bieber seemingly pulled the plug on the remaining dates for his Justice World Tour.

UPDATE: Justin Bieber’s long-postponed Justice World Tour dates have been canceled, according to the tour’s Tickemaster website page.

EXCLUSIVE: The Match Factory has unveiled a slew of deals for German director Christian Petzold’s Berlin Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winner Afire.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Celebrated actor Nigel Havers and French journalist Sophie Davant will join Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) and ZDF Studios to celebrate 10 years and a now 10 territory roll-out of antique auction show “Cash or Trash.”  The property is produced by WBITVP and distributed internationally by ZDF Studios. Celebrations will take place as part of WBITVP’s Formats Showcase, held March 2 at BAFTA during this year’s London TV Screenings.  Havers (“Chariots of Fire,” “Finding Alice”) and Davant host the adaptations of “Cash or Trash,” on BBC One (“The Bidding Room”) and French public TV channel France 2 (“Affair Conclue”).

Ivanka Trump remembered her late mother, Ivana Trump, on what would have been her 74th birthday. The daughter of former U.S.

Liza Foreman German production outfit MMC Studios (“Amelie”) is backing romanic drama “Dear Eszter,” from writer/director Alex Balassa. Bastian Griese and Lucas Hamacher will produce the film for MMC Studios in Cologne, alongside Balassa. The film’s co-producers include Peter Seres (“World War Z”) at Hungary’s Punk Films, as well as Ondrej Beranek (“The Chronicles of Narnia”) from the Czech Republic’s Blindspot Capital.  Two of Chile’s foremost TV producers, Maria Elena Wood (“Locas Mujeres”) and Patricio Pereira from Maria Wood Producciones (MEW), serve as executive producers.