Mata Yair’s Israeli Thriller ‘The Accident’ to Pitch at Series Mania Forum (EXCLUSIVE)

When it comes to casting, Sir Ian McKellen doesn’t want to be put in a box.

Tomris Laffly Hair salons are sacred spaces. Where else could one catch up on the latest neighborhood gossip and engage in mindless chit-chat, while getting treated to a wash, trim and blow-out? But in “Paradise Now“ director Hany Abu-Assad’s restrained yet gripping “Huda’s Salon,” a feminist political thriller whose philosophical observations are richer than its white-knuckle moments, the titular Bethlehem joint secretly operates as something other than a pampering safe haven.

 star Loren is opening up about how the Ukraine crisis is affecting her family. ET's Melicia Johnson sat down with Loren on Monday and she talked about her and her husband Alexei's personal connection to the crisis, given that Alexei grew up in Ukraine.Alexei lived in Ukraine before moving to Israel, which is where he met Loren, who was there on a Birthright Israel program trip.

EXCLUSIVE: Israeli series Prime Minister’s Children is taking another run at the U.S.

Manori Ravindran International EditorAvi Armoza’s 17-year-old company Armoza Formats is becoming the Israeli production arm for ITV Studios, Variety can reveal.The business, which has specialized in global formats, will expand under the new structure to become Armoza Productions. Meanwhile, Armoza Formats will remain the development hub for new format IP and will continue to serve as the brand used for international distribution.Armoza told Variety that the company’s expansion boils down to “facing the challenges of the new world of television.”“With consolidation and the global streamers, and the fact that often you need to sell worldwide rights, how do you complement [your] income? It’s raised the importance of being a production company and being part of a production group,” said Armoza.

Naman Ramachandran Ukrainian film producer and co-founder of the Ukrainian Film Academy Julia Sinkevych (“Heat Singers”) has been selected as jury president for this year’s Series Mania Festival and its international competition. “She has always been committed to supporting Ukrainian artists and the culture of her country from Kyiv, where she lives,” the festival said in a statement.

The Co-Founder of the Ukrainian Film Academy has been named Jury President for this year’s Series Mania.

Oscar and Emmy winner Barry Levinson has been tapped to direct David E. Kelley’s The Missing, Peacock’s eight-episode series based on Israeli crime writer Dror A. Mishani’s international bestselling novel The Missing File. Levinson will direct multiple episodes, including the first, and executive produce the series from Kelley, Keshet Studios and Universal Television

Hollywood veteran Henry Winkler is to lead Aleeza Chanowitz’s Israeli/U.S. crossover comedy Chanshi, with producers in talks with U.S. and international broadcasters.

WeCrashed,” a new drama limited series starring Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway.Based on the podcast “WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork” by Wondery, “WeCrashed” tells the story of WeWork, a commercial real estate company that provides shared workspaces for technology startups. The show focuses on the rise and fall of Adam Neumann, the Israeli businessman who founded the company and stepped down in 2019 as its value plummeted.The trailer shows Neumann starting the company with his wife Rebekah (Anne Hathaway) and developing it into a global brand.

Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto are ready to revolutionize the world of work in their new AppleTV+ series, .The eight-episode series, based on the Wondery podcast series, , tells the real-life story of one of the most valuable startups in recent history, and the personalities behind its swift and seemingly inevitable demise.Leto plays Adam Neumann, the Israeli «supernova» who founded WeWork -- a co-working startup that was, at one time, valued at $47 billion -- with Miguel McKelvey, played by Kyle Marvin in the series. However, it's clear from the trailer that this is mostly a story about the partnership between Adam and his wife, Rebekah, played by Hathaway, who supports her husband's grandiose plans while also striving for a seat at the corporate table.«Are you a maverick or a muse?» a reporter asks Rebekah in the trailer. She answers quickly that she's merely a muse, but later confesses that one of her goals is to be featured in .«not for muses,» the reporter points out, to which Rebekah responds, «Then I wanna change my answer.»Check out the full trailer below:The series also stars America Ferrera, O-T Fagbenle, Robert Emmet Lunney, Steven Boyer, Cricket Brown and more. premieres with its first three episodes on March 18 on Apple TV+, with new episodes hitting the streaming service every Friday.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAMC Networks’ streaming service Sundance Now has acquired North American rights to “The Dreamers,” a series directed by Maysaloun Hamoud (“In Between”), a rising Hungarian-born Palestinian filmmaker.The thought-provoking crime comedy series screened at Series Mania Forum 2019 and went on to play at several festivals, including Zurich. “The Dreamers” was produced by Shlomi Elkabetz (“Gett,” “Our Boys”) and Galit Cahlon (“In Between”) at the banner Deux Beaux Garcons, and was commissioned by the powerful Israeli cabler HOT, whose hit shows include “In Treatment,” “Euphoria” and “Losing Alice.”Set against the backdrop of rising tensions in the Gaza Strip,”The Dreamers” tells the story of three young Palestinian students who travel to Tel Aviv in 2008 and try to establish a new and liberated Palestinian community for themselves.

Schitt’s Creek alumna Karen Robinson and The Sinner alum Michael Mosley round out the series regular cast for The Missing, Peacock’s eight-episode series from David E. Kelley based on Israeli crime writer Dror A. Mishani’s international bestselling novel The Missing File. They join previously announced leads Jeff Wilbusch and Juliana Canfield in the drama series.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a strong first English-language trailer for director Rama Burshtein’s (Fill The Void) anticipated TV debut Fire Dance, which has just been announced for Series Mania’s main competition.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentOnly six months after its 2021 edition, Series Mania will be back with a sprawling selection, including the world premieres of Michael Hirst’s “Billy The Kid” (pictured), the Israeli series “Fire Dance” and rap music-themed French show “Le monde de demain.”Underscoring the large presence of streamers within the roster, Series Mania will kick off with Netflix’s “Standing Up,” a new comedy series from “Call My Agent” creator and showrunner Fanny Herrero; while Disney Plus’ “Oussekine,” about a tragic case of police brutality in France, will close the festival.The lineup boasts 58 series spanning 21 countries. These were chosen from 331 series.

Series Mania has unveiled the nine shows from six countries competing for the prestigious International Competition along with revealing the lineup and guests of honor for this year’s edition, the first to take place in person for three years.

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip -- The Palestinian militants scrambled out of the tunnel and attacked an Israeli tank in broad daylight as gunfire and explosions echoed across the Gaza frontier.This time it wasn't the start of another war, but an action scene filmed for a TV series produced by the territory's militant Hamas rulers.The 30-episode series, titled “Fist of the Free,” presents the fighters as scrappy heroes outwitting a better-armed Israeli military. Unlike “Fauda,” the hit Israeli drama that deals with some of the same subject matter, it is unlikely to get picked up by Netflix.It's the latest such production by the media arm of Hamas, which has invested heavily in its offerings despite a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza since the Islamic militant group seized power in 2007.The shows are aired on Hamas-run TV, and “Fist of the Free” will debut during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, when viewership soars after the dawn-to-dusk fast and networks across the Muslim world debut big-budget offerings.“The idea of our films and series centers on our struggle with the enemy,” says Sadi al-Attar, the assistant director.

HBO’s Euphoria climbed to new heights on Sunday, despite competition from the evening’s main attraction, Super Bowl LVI. The latest episode brought in a series-high 5.1 million viewers across all platforms, rising 20% from the previous week and surpassing the season average by 45%.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer“Euphoria” hit another series high on Sunday, drawing 5.1 million viewers across multiple platforms, a 20% increase from last week and up 45% from the season average. That number was reached despite the HBO drama airing opposite Super Bowl LVI on NBC.As Variety previously exclusively reported, “Euphoria’s” Season 2 per-episode-viewership average is up nearly 100% from its first season.“Euphoria” Season 2 takes place amidst the intertwining lives in the town of East Highland, where 17-year-old Rue (Zendaya) must find hope while balancing the pressures of love, loss, and addiction.The series stars Zendaya, Hunter Schafer, Nika King, Eric Dane, Angus Cloud, Jacob Elordi, Algee Smith, Sydney Sweeney, Alexa Demie, Barbie Ferreira, Maude Apatow, Javon Walton, Dominic Fike, Storm Reid and Austin Abrams.

Emiliano De Pablos Spanish media giant Atresmedia is joining forces with Portocabo, the production outfit behind Movistar Plus hit series “Hierro,” for a remake of Showtime drama “Your Honor,” starring Bryan Cranston.The Spanish redo is currently at the script stage and initiating casting.With an undisclosed number of episodes, the project production is scheduled to kick off this year.The TV series release date is still unknown. But it would be logical for it to launch on platform Atresplayer Premium before airing on Atresmedia’s free-to-air channel Antena 3 primetime, a windowing strategy usually followed by the group with its new fiction releases since Atresplayer Premium bowed in 2019.