MetFilm Acquires International Rights to Icelandic Crowd Pleaser ‘The Home Game’ (EXCLUSIVE)

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor Former Monty Python member, animator and visionary director Terry Gilliam told Variety at the Red Sea Film Festival on Sunday that he wants Johnny Depp to play Satan in his new film “Carnival at the End of Days.” Gilliam summarized the plot as: “God wipes out humanity and the only character who wants to save them is Satan, and Johnny Depp plays Satan.” Gilliam was attending the screening at Red Sea of a double bill of the documentaries “Lost in La Mancha” and “He Dreams of Giants,” both of which document Gilliam’s cursed and grueling attempt to make the film “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.” The film ultimately premiered in Cannes in 2018, starring Jonathan Pryce and Adam Driver. The producer of the documentaries, Lucy Darwin, was also on stage with Gilliam to explain to the audience how she went from being a publicist on “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” to a producer via Gilliam’s encouragement.

It's not the home Kevin McCallister was left stranded in after his parents flew off for Christmas. But Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright's mansion has drawn comparisons with the Home Alone house after being given a spectacular festive makeover.

Ariana Madix is sharing more details about Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss‘ affair.

Before taking in “Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters” on Apple TV+ or “Godzilla x King: The New Empire” next April, why not sit down with “Godzilla Minus One“? Toho International‘s first Godzilla film since 2016’s “Shin Godzilla” arrives in US theaters today, and the critical response indicates this may be a legendary entry in the long-running franchise.

The Millstone is rammed. The queue at the bar is three-deep, it's standing room only, and there's a huddle of smokers outside, including one gent with a cigar.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent BUENOS AIRES — In one of the first deals to close at this week’s Ventana Sur market, Spain’s Latido Films has boarded “Lo Que Quisimos Ser,” written-directed by Alejandro Agresti, produced by Fernando Sokolowicz at Aleph Media, and Gastón Duprat, who have teamed as producer and co-writer-director on “The Distinguished Citizen,” “The Man Next Door,” and “The Artist.” “Lo Que Quisimos Ser” marks the latest film from Agresti, one of Argentina’s most international talents best known for a Hollywood sojourn which saw him directing Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in “The Lake House” and writing Argentina-set, English-language “No somos animales,” with John Cusack. Of his Argentine film, “Valentín” weighs in as a big-hearted coming of age tale of a cross-eyed and very lonely young kid.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes.Directed by Francis Lawrence, the prequel is set 64 years prior to the first film and depicts the events that led Coriolanus Snow (originally played by Donald Sutherland) to become the tyrannical leader of Panem.Tom Blyth plays the young Snow, who is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) in the 10th Hunger Games.It’s the fifth film in series, following 2012’s The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One and Part Two.There are currently no announced plans for another film in the franchise. Producer Nina Jacobson, who has overseen all five Hunger Games films, has said she is uninterested in making another instalment unless author Suzanne Collins writes another story.“If [Collins] had a story in this world with something she wanted to talk about, something to explore, then great,” Jacobson told Polygon in summer 2023.

Stuart Ford’s AGC International has picked up world rights to two Arab-produced titles, HWJN by Yasir Al-Yasiri and To My Son byDhafer L’abidine, ahead of their debuts at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. 

Netflix Games is adding three Grand Theft Auto games to their library on December 14.Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will all be joining Netflix’s game catalog on December 14, in the form of the definitive edition releases of the games.They join titles such as Poinpy, Oxenfree, Into The Breach, and Kentucky Route Zero on the service, with over 80 different games available to play on a mobile device as long as you have a Netflix membership. The three GTA titles are by far the biggest titles that Netflix has added to the service, however, and with GTA VI receiving its first trailer in early December, it’s likely to get more eyes on the service overall.Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition was released in 2021, and was received poorly.

Shifting away from sentiments he expressed in an interview last summer that Disney‘s linear TV networks “may not be core” to the company, Disney CEO Bob Iger said they are “not for sale.”

Alison Herman TV Critic From the moment Reed Hastings tuned into an earnings call wearing a green-and-white tracksuit, it was clear Netflix may have learned the wrong lessons from the success of “Squid Game.” In 2021, the South Korean drama — created, written and directed by auteur Hwang Dong-hyuk — became a surprise global sensation with a grim and violent allegory of capitalism exploiting the desperate many for the enjoyment of a wealthy few. Hastings, a rich and powerful tech founder, was closer to one of the titular game’s masked spectators than a contestant risking their life for a chance at the prize, though he didn’t seem to see the irony.

Naman Ramachandran Khatija Rahman is making her international film composing debut with Kajri Babbar’s “Lioness,” the first official Indo-U.K. co-production being made under the 2008 bilateral treaty. In 2020, Rahman released her first single, “Farishton,” composed and produced by her father, Oscar winner A.R.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Mystery-horror film “Five Nights at Freddy’s” landed on top of the South Korean cinema box office. But fellow new release title “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songs and Snakes” managed only a fourth placed start. “Five Nights” earned $1.78 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Local crime drama film “Last Suspect” returned to the top spot at the mainland China box office over the latest weekend, as “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” opened quietly in third place. Narrowly beaten last week by “The Marvels,” “Last Suspect” climbed one place while “The Marvels” fell out of the top five in China. In its third weekend of release, “Last Suspect” recorded $10.1 million (RMB76 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Refresh for latest…: Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes very (very) narrowly missed the $100M mark globally in its opening weekend, but it’s as near as dammit with an estimated $98.5M through Sunday worldwide. The Francis Lawrence-directed prequel came in slightly higher than pre-frame projections overseas with $54.5M from 87 international box office markets. The drag on getting to the century milestone was domestic at $44M versus hopes for $50M+. 

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Welcome back to Panem! “The Hunger Games” franchise is officially revived with the release of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” a prequel film set many years before the rise of Katniss Everdeen. Based on the Suzanne Collins novel of the same name, the prequel centers on a young Coriolanus Snow as his experience mentoring District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird in the 10th Hunger Games shapes him into the villain fans of the franchise know well.

Cruella,” “Joker” and “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace,” only strewn with young-adult corpses, silly clothes and Roman names.The trouble is that by the end of the over two-and-a-half-hour movie, directed by Francis Lawrence, viewers still can’t quite put their fingers on why Coryo (Tom Blyth) picks the nasty path he ultimately does. Is it a basic lust for power? A lightbulb realization that survival is more important than morality? Who knows? A lot is shoved into a long and anticlimactic third act, but we’re left hungry for a meatier conclusion.“Songbirds and Snakes” is set during the 10th annual Hunger Games — a televised battle to the death that pits 24 low-class kids against each other in an arena — 64 years before the events of the first film.

The book The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, written by Suzanne Collins, has been adapted for the screen by director Francis Lawrence, alongside screenwriters Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt. The film delves into the chillingly formative years of Panem, a society not yet inured to the brutality of its central spectacle. This prequel, starkly contrasting its YA predecessors, morphs into a harrowing adult political thriller, unraveling the genesis of the Hunger Games with a disturbingly poignant lens — that is, when it can get out of its own way.

Katcy Stephan Tom Blyth is tired, but he’s doing a good job of hiding it. When the star of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” sits down with Variety via Zoom, SAG-AFTRA is still on strike, and it’s been six short days since the Lionsgate thriller received an in- terim agreement from the guild. That means the press tour leading up to the long-anticipated release, typically spread across several months, has been condensed to just two weeks.

Welcome to Plathville. Olivia Plath and Ethan Plath’s marriage is rapidly declining. The couple hoped that moving to Minnesota would help strengthen their fractured marriage. But things are not looking up.