Music Industry Moves: Universal Music Acquires $240 Million Stake in Chord Music; Atlantic Records Ups Erica Bellarosa

With four TV and film projects in as many years, few filmmakers right now are more prolific than Hirokazu Kore-eda. 

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Kung Fu Panda 4” topped the domestic box office, earning a solid $58.3 million from 4,035 theaters in its opening weekend. It marks the biggest debut of the franchise since the original, 2008’s “Kung Fu Panda” ($60 million), overtaking the start of the two prior entries, 2016’s “Kung Fu Panda 3” ($41 million) and 2011’s “Kung Fu Panda 2” ($47.6 million), not adjusted for inflation. Internationally, the fourth film in the martial arts-inspired animated comedy collected $22 million from 41 markets for a global tally of $80 million.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “Los caminantes de la calle,” directed by Argentina’s Juan Martín Hsu, Chilean Ignacio Pávez’s docu-fiction drama “An Amputee” and Uruguayan Lorenzo Tocco’s “For God’s Sake” proved the biggest winners at the Malaga Festival’s MAFIZ industry area awards, announced at a ceremony on Friday night. Covering Malaga’s Work in Progress showcase, its Málaga Festival Fund Co-Production forum (MAFF) and the Spanish Screenings Content – Málaga Short Corner, prizes were divvied up among a slew of titles, with ‘Sometimes,’ by Sara Fantova and Enrique Buleo’s ‘Still Life With Ghosts,’ both scoring multiple awards. From his first feature, 2015’s “La Salada,” a patchwork narrative tale of immigrants’ lives, dreams and suffering in Argentina, to 2021’s “La Luna Reprenta Mi Corazon,” a docu feature record of the rencounter with his mother in Taiwan, Hsu has carved out a niche depicting the immigrant experience in Argentina.

Christopher Vourlias As the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival embarks on its second quarter-century, with its 26th edition kicking off March 7, the event’s industry arm continues to look for ways to reinvent itself. “We are educating ourselves. We are asking the local and the regional industries and communities, ‘What do you need from us?’” says Angeliki Vergou, who heads the Agora industry program.

Taking place alongside Filmart, the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) is one of Asia’s oldest and most established project markets, helping a string of award-winning films to get made. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent MALAGA — Antonio Chavarrías’ “Holy Mother,” Celia Rico’s “Little Loves” and Diogo Viegas’s “Alice’s Diary” play at this year’s 3rd Spanish Screenings Content, the Malaga Festival’s part of the Spanish Screenings XXL, Spain’s biggest international industry platform in its history, featuring over March 4-7 and – when it comes to Málaga – the monumental number of 222 titles. In production volume, Spain has never had it so good.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Dune: Part Two” is turbocharging the international box office. Director Denis Villeneuve’s otherworldly sequel has generated $97 million from 71 overseas markets, bringing its global tally to a promising $178.5 million. Those worldwide revenues include $81.5 million from North American theaters, where it landed the biggest domestic opening weekend of the year.

UPDATE: As expected, layoffs commenced today at Universal Music Group, which includes Interscope, Republic, Capitol, Def Jam and Island, as well as catalog division Universal Music Enterprises and UMG corporate. 

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios has bought British broadcaster ITV‘s 50% stake in streamer BritBox International for £255 million ($322 million), the companies revealed on Friday. The streamer was founded in 2017 as a joint venture between BBC Studios, which is the commercial arm of the British broadcaster, and ITV. “The transaction will provide net proceeds including loan repayments and accrued dividends and after tax of around £235 million,” the companies said.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music As expected, layoffs began hitting Universal Music Group almost immediately after the company’s earnings call on Wednesday. The moves, which have been signaled by chairman-CEO Lucian Grainge since last fall, were still evolving at the time of this article’s publication, and follow the broad consolidation of the company’s labels under Interscope (West Coast) and Republic (East Coast) groups, under CEOs John Janick and Monte Lipman, respectively.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Ticket sales at the box office this weekend will be flowing as freely as spice on the desert planet of Arrakis. Director Denis Villeneuve‘s big-budget sequel “Dune: Part Two,” where “spice” is an all-powerful commodity, is targeting $70 million to $80 million in its opening weekend. Warner Bros., the studio behind the sci-fi epic, is conservatively projecting a $65 million start, though most box office prognosticators believe that revenues could near the $90 million mark.

K.J. Yossman Lil Nas X’s feature documentary has been acquired by Universal Pictures Content Group for international distribution. “Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero” is a fly-on-the-wall feature helmed by Oscar-nominated director Carlos López Estrada (“Billie Eilish: When the Party’s Over”) and filmmaker Zac Manuel.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief France’s Canal+ Group said that it has increased its stake in multi-territory Asian streaming platform Viu to 30%. “This additional investment underlines the confidence that Canal+ has in Viu and its teams. It also highlights the determination of Canal+ to make Asia its next growth vector, through its strategic partnership with PCCW, and through an acceleration of growth at Viu, a premium streaming service present in Asia, the Middle East and South Asfrica,” the French group said in a statement.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Score one for true love! Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s romantic comedy “Anyone But You” hit a notable box office milestone with $200 million globally. It stands as the highest-grossing romantic comedy in years, outperforming recent star-driven entries in the genre like Julia Roberts and George Clooney’s “Ticket to Paradise” ($168 million) and the Sandra Bullock-led “The Lost City” ($192 million). “Anyone But You” is the first rom-com in half a decade to cross $200 million, since 2018’s PG-13 “Crazy Rich Asians” ($239 million), and the first of the R-rated variety since 2016’s “Bridget Jones’s Baby” ($211 million).

Alex Ritman 42, the L.A.- and London-based management and production company behind titles including “The Silent Twins,” “The Girl Before” and “The Flatshare,” has appointed former Universal International Studios exec David O’Donoghue to the position of chief operating office with immediate effect. O’Donoghue will run the company’s operations and business development globally, in addition to having oversight of business affairs and production across the portfolio. He’ll work from 42’s London office.

K.J. Yossman Keshet International has acquired worldwide distribution rights for hostage drama “Conflict.” Produced by Backmann & Hoderhoff and XZY Films, “Conflict” is a six-part political thriller about an enemy force trying to incite a global conflict with a surprise attack. The series was created and produced by Andrei Alén and Aku Louhimies (“Rebellion”).

J. Kim Murphy “True Detective: Night Country” finished off with a season-high viewership for its finale, drawing 3.2 million across HBO and Max. The Feb.

Marta Balaga No surprises there: Sex and crime still work when it comes to attracting viewers. But even when playing with familiar tropes, it’s crucial to add complexity to stories and characters, Fremantle’s Jamie Lynn argued on a roof table at the Berlinale Series Market. “Easy is not always best.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In an exclusive one-on-one interview with Variety, Fernando Medin, president and managing director of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Latin America and U.S. Hispanic, drilled down onthe company’s programming and growth strategy for the region where it launches its rebranded streaming platform, Max, on Feb.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Locarno Film Festival has formed an advisory board for its industry side and recruited a roster of top indie industry figures including former Amazon Studios film executive Ted Hope, Bobby Allen, who is senior VP of content at Mubi, and former European Film Market chief Beki Probst as members. Locarno’s industry advisory board will be headed by Nadia Dresti, the former head of the prominent Swiss indie cinema event’s market side who has been with Locarno intermittently for roughly 30 years with an interlude for a few years as head of marketing for Fox Switzerland.