Lumiere Group Swoops on Icelandic Drug Traffic ‘Haze’ Series From ‘Trapped’ Showrunner (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The CGI animated sequel to “Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness,” the hit adventure film based on the Dark Horse comics which sold around the world, has lured buyers ahead of the European Film Market. Titled “Chickenhare and the Very Very (Very) Old Groundhog,” the movie is budgeted at $23 million (a large budget by European production standards) and brings back the creative team behind the first film.

We’ve teamed up with Iceland and The Food Warehouse with a fantastic offer! You can get one free Keelings product in-store in participating Iceland and Food Warehouse stores from Thursday February 15 until close of stores on Monday February 19, 2024.

Rance Collins Angela Bassett hit a special golden hue carpet on Thursday to celebrate the docuseries series “Queens.” Bassett serves as executive producer and narrator of the show, which explores female leaders in wildlife species. From the beginning of pre-production, the project was entirely led by women. “I said ‘no,’ initially, because I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, to be in a booth so we can do these voiceovers [is] many, many hours.’ And then they came back again.

Caroline Brew editor “Oppenheimer” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” were among the winners of the top honors at the Advanced Imaging Society’s Lumiere Awards. The 14th annual awards luncheon took place on Feb. 9 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, with Google Cloud, Barco Cinema, Microsoft and Ryff sponsoring.

EXCLUSIVE: Picture Tree International (PTI) has acquired international sales rights for Icelandic box office hit Grand Finale (Fullt hús) for an EFM launch.

Annika Pham Seasoned actor Tinna Hrafnsdóttir (“The Minister,” “The Valhalla Murders”) has joined Icelandic counterparts Aníta Briem (“The Tudors”, “As Long as We Live”) and Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir (“Paris of the North”, “Happily Never After”), successful female actors who have made with panache the leap to screenwriting, sharing the distinction of a nomination for best screenplay of a Nordic drama series. Flying Iceland’s flag at this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, to be handed out Jan.

It’s not easy being a K-pop idol, and sadly, several K-pop groups are likely disbanding for good this year.

Anna Marie de la Fuente A bio-series about iconic ranchera singer Chavela Vargas starring “La Reina del Sur” lead Kate del Castillo is in the works. Colombia’s Caracol Televisión and indie Miracol Media are co-producing “Chavela,” which will trace the tumultuous life and career of the legendary singer.

Bon Jovi is getting the whole band back together for a new docuseries that has been picked up by Hulu.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Justine Triet‘s Palme d’Or winning “Anatomy of a Fall” picked up top accolades at the 29th Lumiere Awards, France’s equivalent to the Golden Globes, at a ceremony held Monday at the Forum des Images in Paris. While Triet lost the best director nod to Thomas Cailley for his supernatural family drama “The Animal Kingdom,” “Anatomy of a Fall” won best film, actress for Sandra Huller, and screenplay for Triet and Arthur Harari.

Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall continued its prize-winning run on Monday at France’s 29th Lumière Awards clinching Best Film and Best Screenplay, while its German star Sandra Hüller won Best Actress.

Ana Garcia, the host of the True Crime Daily podcast, is fronting a new syndicated crime series.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired international rights to Lenny and Harpo Guit’s new feature “Heads or Fails,” the duo’s follow-up to Sundance comedy “Mother Schmuckers.” Now in post, “Heads or Fails” tells the story of Armande Pigeon, a queen of shenanigans in Brussels who struggles to make ends meet because she can’t stop gambling on everything, always ending up on the wrong side of luck. When she teams up with Ronnie one night, everything changes – they win it all.

Annika Pham Red Arrow Studios International has inked a deal with Portuguese pubcaster RTP on the Icelandic family drama series “Descendants,“ from “Quake“ helmer Tinna Hrafnsdóttir. The show is vying for the €20,000 ($21,600) Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best Nordic screenplay at the Göteborg Film Festival‘s forthcoming TV Drama Vision confab.

Before the MCU‘s “The Avengers” took over the silver screen, a different “The Avengers” held sway over TVs in the UK. And Studiocanal hopes they might replicate the sensation of the original series with a reboot.

Naman Ramachandran U.S.-based RASA Film Group is launching a film collective at the Sundance Film Festival. The collective is actively exploring projects featuring strong female protagonists, narratives centered around social justice and stories that portray Muslim characters in positive and empowering roles. RASA is in talks for future projects involving Muslim or Pakistani women talent such as Aizzah Fatima (“Americanish”), Mehreen Jabbar (“Farar”), Afia Nathaniel (“Dukhtar”), Mahnoor Euceph (“Eid Mubarak”) and Rehana Lew Mirza (“Wishtree”).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Jean-Claude Van Damme, the global martial artist turned action hero whose 2021 movie “The Last Mercenary” was a hit on Netflix, has another film on the horizon. He will star opposite Michaël Youn (“BDE”) in “Le jardinier,” another high-voltage action-comedy reuniting him with “The Last Mercenary” director David Charhon.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor September Film has acquired all rights for Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg for “In the Land of Brothers,” which has its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section. The film is written and directed by Iranian filmmakers Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi. Alpha Violet is handling world sales.

Whiplash” has topped the Sundance Film Festival‘s list of top 10 feature films from the past four decades. In honor of the 40th edition of the festival that starts Thursday, the Sundance Institute surveyed over 500 filmmakers, critics and industry members who selected from nearly 4,000 features that have played the festival.

Annika Pham Paris-based The Party Film Sales has boarded renowned Icelandic auteur Rúnar Rúnarsson’s fourth pic, “When the Light Breaks,” which is selected for Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market’s works in progress session.Rúnarsson serves as producer together with Heather Millard of Iceland’s Compass Films, in co-production with local banner Halibut, Holland’s Revolver, France’s Eaux Vives/Jour2Fête and Croatia’s MP Film. Lauded for his coming-of age tales set against Iceland’s majestic scenery, Rúnarsson saw his international breakthrough in 2008 with his Oscar-nominated short “Two Birds.” Since then, he has delivered equally poetic fare in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight 2011 entry “Volcano,” San Sebastian 2015 winner “Sparrows “ and 2019 Valladolid and Lübeck fest winner “Echo.” As in his earlier works, Rúnarsson was inspired by a personal event for “When the Light Breaks”.