The Grand Jury Prize for International Competition at Sheffield DocFest has gone to At the Door of the House, Who Will Come Knocking, the feature directorial debut of Maja Novaković, a filmmaker from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
28.05.2024 - 19:39 / variety.com
John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent A Berlin Generation Crystal Bear winner and the first foray into film of the Fremantle-backed The Immigrant, Sofía Auza’s “Adolfo” saw its premiere Monday night in Mexico City. With Fremantle handling international distribution, “Adolfo” has a lot to celebrate. Auza’s first feature, it also took best feature at Stockholm, screened as opening night film at last year’s TIFF Next Wave Festival and, testing home market waters, scooped best actress for Rocío de la Mañana at Mexico’s Guadalajara Festival in June.
Now, via Cinemex, Mexico’s second biggest exhibition chain, “Adolfo” will hit 12 theaters around Mexico on June 6. A platform release via Cinemex expands in its second week to another 12 locations. “Adolfo” will play upscale Premium and Platino theaters on the Cinemex circuit, “It’s really important for a relatively small film to have a commercial release, to see the reaction of audiences.
It’s not so common for a film this size to have one,” said Camila Jiménez-Villa, The Immigrant CEO and co-founder with Silvana Aguirre, head of development. “Adolfo’s” bow also raises other key issues for the film industry in Mexico and beyond. Consolidation of An Emerging Auteur A tribute to friendship, “Adolfo” begins with a cute-meet harking back to classic Hollywood.
The kookie but troubled Momo (De la Mañana) and Hugo (Daniel García Treviño), on his way to his estranged dad’s funeral, coincide at a bus stop late at night. Hugo, however, has just missed the last bus. Momo suggests he tags along to a fancy dress party she’s bound for, dressed as Amelia Earhart.
The Grand Jury Prize for International Competition at Sheffield DocFest has gone to At the Door of the House, Who Will Come Knocking, the feature directorial debut of Maja Novaković, a filmmaker from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Inside Out 2” just scored the biggest box office previews of 2024. Disney and Pixar‘s latest animated outing grossed $13 million in Thursday previews domestically, with $22.3 million worldwide. The family-friendly sequel is projected to launch between $80 million and $90 million this weekend.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed further deals for Ray Yeung’s “All Shall Be Well,”following the North American deal with Strand Releasing and the first international sales previously announced by Variety.The film has been acquired by Nour Films in France, One From the Heart in Greece, Mezipatra in Czech Republic and Slovakia, HBO Europe in Eastern Europe, Beta Film in Bulgaria and Falcon in Indonesia, in addition to the already announced deals with Vedette in the Benelux, Karma in Spain, Trigon in Switzerland and Lev in Israel.Films Boutique is in negotiations with potential buyers in the U.K., Latin America, Germany and Japan.Additionally, New Voice Film Productions Ltd. secured distribution deals with Golden Scene for Hong Kong and Macau and Flash Forward Entertainment in Taiwan.“All Shall Be Well” is written and directed by Yeung and was produced by Yeung’s frequent collaborator Michael J.
Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 had its first full day of play at the international box office on Wednesday with No. 1 starts in each of its eight material markets, including strong debuts in majors Korea and Germany as well as the Philippines. The total through day one overseas is $4.9M. Majors joining through Friday include Australia, Mexico and the UK.
It's a rarity for England to enter any major international tournament as the outright favourites, but this year could mark the end of 58 years of disappointment and see football finally come home.
Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week we’re talking to leading German producer Fabian Gasmia, whose credits include Olivier Assayas’ Personal Shopper, Leos Carax’s Annette and, more recently, Lena Dunham and Stephen Fry starrer Treasure, which has its North American premiere at Tribeca last weekend. Gasmia, who set up production banner Seven Elephants in 2018 with directors Julia von Heinz, Erik Schmitt and David Wnendt, talks us through building that outfit, his “special relationship” with France and why he thinks German cinema is having a “renaissance.”
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Memoir of a Snail,” directed by locally-born, Oscar-winning director Adam Elliot, has been set as the opening title of the Melbourne International Film Festival. The festival runs Aug.
Emiliano De Pablos Barcelona-based Grup Mediapro has promoted Marta Ezpeleta as the next head of international content factory The Mediapro Studio, where she currently serves as its international director. Ezpeleta will replace Laura Fernández Espeso, Variety‘s International Media Woman of the Year, upped to No. 2 at Grup Mediapro from January.
John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Seriesmakers, twinning Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV fest, and European film-TV powerhouse Beta Group, is opening up its selection criteria to embrace directors of box office smashes or hits at festivals beyond “A” list events. Launching 2022 as a project-based mentorship program for film directors aiming to become TV series creators, Seriesmakers has fast consolidated as one of Europe’s top-notch training facilities. “Game of Thrones” producer-director Frank Doelger, “Babylon Berlin” producer Stefan Arndt, Ron Leshem (“Euphoria,” “No Man’s Land”) and “Narcos” creator Chris Brancato featured as speakers at its 2023-24 edition.
EXCLUSIVE: Film Independent and the U.S. Department of State on Tuesday named the 20 filmmakers, from 12 different nations, selected to participate in the 2024 Global Media Makers LA Residency.
Refresh for latest…: It may be a stretch, but we could coin a new phrase and call this the cat days of spring. To wit: Sony/Alcon’s The Garfield Movie, which began early overseas release last month, took the No. 1 spot for Hollywood on the domestic, international, and global charts this frame.
It’s not all doom and gloom at the global box office as a handful of films reached milestones this week. 20th Century Studios/Disney’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes has topped $300M worldwide, while Paramount’s IF and Sony/Alcon’s The Garfield Movie crossed the $100M mark.
Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is stalling at the international box office with $33.3 million from 75 territories. The fifth entry in director George Miller’s post-apocalyptic series has generated $58.9 million globally in its first weekend of release, a rough start given its $168 million production budget. Domestically, the Warner Bros.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian state broadcaster RAI’s new world sales arm is gaining traction in Cannes — following its soft launch in Berlin — with four new titles on its slate, including veteran auteur Roberto Andò’s historical drama “The Blunder” starring Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”). In “The Blunder,” which is currently shooting in Sicily, Servillo plays a Sicilian colonel at the head of a ragtag unit trying to outsmart the enemy during the 1860 battle led by Giuseppe Garibaldi that resulted in the unification of Italy (see first-look image, above).
John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Boosted by world-class incentives, Spain’s Canary Islands has attracted the shoots of some of the higher-profile movies on earth from “In the Heart of the Sea” to “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Eternals.” Now, however, a homegrown Canary Islands cinema is bursting onto the scene, a Canary Island New Wave cinema lifting off, hitting festivals and making ever more insistent production news. If a date can be attributed to the event, it may be March’s Malaga Film Festival.
Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Disney and 20th Century’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” conquered the international box office again with $40.6 million in its second weekend of release. So far, the fourth chapter in the “Apes” reboot franchise has generated $136 million overseas and $237 million globally. It currently stands as the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year, behind “Kung Fu Panda 4” ($533 million), “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” ($561 million) and “Dune: Part Two” ($710 million).
Refresh for latest…: After starting early offshore release on John Krasinski’s IF last weekend, Paramount expanded the imaginary friends film to another 56 international box office markets this session. The overseas frame was worth $20M, bringing the international running cume to $24M. With domestic’s $35M debut, the worldwide total is now $59M.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed the first international sales for Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” ahead of its world premiere on Friday in the Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival. The film has been acquired in Italy by BiM Distribuzione and Lucky Red, Benelux by September Film Distribution, Spain by Bteam Pictures, Greece by Ama Films, Hungary by Cirko Film, Norway by Selmer Media, Portugal by Leopardo Filmes, Taiwan by Hooray Films and Turkey by Bir Film.
John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In a deal sealed at Cannes, Spain’s Film Factory has closed France with Wild Bunch on action film “The Gentleman” as well as crime thriller “Undercover.” The directorial debut of seasoned Mexican cinematographer Luis Gabriel Beristáin (“Blade II,” “The Beekeeper”), “The Gentleman” stars Ron Perlman as Theo, an aging former U.S. soldier who pays Olga, a prostitute, to talk with him about who he once was and what he might have been. When Olga is brutally murdered, Theo embarks on bloody revenge.
Ireland’s screen industry is having a moment. With the Cannes Film Festival well underway, there’s a notable strong Irish presence in this year’s line-up including Element Pictures’ three entrants – Competition title Kinds of Kindness from Yorgos Lanthimos, Rungano Nyoni’s sophomore feature On Becoming A Guinea Fowl and Ariane Labed’s directorial debut September Says (both in Un Certain Regard). There’s also Competition title The Apprentice, which is co-produced with Irish outfit Tailored Films and Lorcan Finnegan’s Nicolas Cage starrer The Surfer premiering in the Midnight Screenings strand. Even Andrea Arnold’s Competition title Bird is rich with Irish talent with star Barry Keoghan and Oscar-nominated cinematographer Robbie Ryan both having worked on the film.