Netflix Readies ‘Rana Naidu’ Season 2 In India Push; BBC Expands ‘The 1% Club’; ‘Star Academy’ Opens In Israel; Podcaster Joins Australian Directors’ Guild — Global Briefs

India Amarteifio is all everyone is talking about after the debut of Queen Charlotte on Netflix.

If you want to watch one of the most unique and stylish directorial debuts of the past five years, definitely check out Andrew Patterson’s “The Vast of Night.” That film is one of the best-underseen films of 2020, and announced Patterson as a filmmaker to keep an eye on. Now, it appears he’s about to level up in a big way with his next film, “The Rivals of Amziah King.” READ MORE: The 25 Best Films Of 2020 You Didn’t See According to Black Bear International, handling sales for the film, Andrew Patterson’s next film is set to be “The Rivals of Amziah King,” which will feature Matthew McConaughey as the lead.

Matthew McConaughey has been set to lead crime thriller The Rivals of Amziah King, written and directed by Andrew Patterson (The Vast of Night). Black Bear International will launch offshore sales in Cannes with WME Independent repping U.S. rights.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Matthew McConaughey is set to star in “The Rivals of Amziah King,” a crime thriller that takes place in rural Oklahoma. Black Bear International will launch international sales in Cannes, with WME Independent representing the U.S rights.  Andrew Patterson (“The Vast of Night”) is writing and directing “The Rivals of Amziah King.” Plot details are being kept under wraps, but a press release describes the film as a “deeply atmospheric, character-focused crime thriller set against the unique backdrop of remote Oklahoma.” McConaughey will star in the titular role of Amziah King.

Happy Star Wars Day!

Naman Ramachandran India is the fastest growing market market in the world for giant streamer Netflix and Monika Shergill, VP, content, for the country, has a clear plan to keep the trajectory going. “A healthy streaming business, according to us, has to be built on the strong fundamentals of engagement, where we are doing very well, and revenue and profit as a global service. We are a profitable service – in many of our markets, we are on the path to profitability,” Shergill told Variety. Earlier this year, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos had said that content watching grew by 30% last year in India and revenue grew by 25%. In a subsequent earnings call, Sarandos addressed the importance of pricing in India, saying: “We’ve got to get pricing and the main payment methods right.”

BreAnna Bell The “Firefly Lane” girls rejoined this week’s rankings with the final half of Season 2’s release. During the April 24-30 viewing window, the series earned 43.49 million hours viewed with the addition of its final seven episodes and landed in third on the Netflix’s Top 10 English-language TV chart. Meanwhile, “The Diplomat” continued to lead the list of titles with 66.46 million hours viewed. Since its premiere, the show has quickly raked in over 18 million views. Netflix calculates total views by dividing the total hours viewed (123.95 million hours viewed) by its total runtime (6.76 hours). With its quick success, the streamer speedily announced a Season 2 renewal just one week after its debut.

The subjects of season two of Ryan Murphy‘s anthology series, Monster, have been revealed.

Netflix has set June 9 for the Season 2 premiere of Big Mouth spinoff Human Resources. An impressive list of guest stars will join the show for its upcoming final season including Florence Pugh, Miley Cyrus, Eugene Levy, Sam Richardson, Niecy Nash-Betts, Jason Mantzoukas, and Isabella Rossellini.

No more morning blues!

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh leads the star-studded cast in the new trailer for Kenneth Branagh‘s “A Haunting in Venice.” The murder mystery, which will release on Sept. 15, is based on Agatha Christie’s 1969 novel “Hallowe’en Party.” The film also stars Tina Fey, Jude Hill, Kelly Reilly and Jamie Dornan, with Branagh reprising his role as Hercule Poirot from “Death on the Nile” and “Murder on the Orient Express.” “It’s a supernatural world where the normal rules do not apply,” Branagh told Variety. “Murders and ghosts are irresistible to a man with that mustache and that nose for sniffing other culprits.”

"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" director James Mangold said this week that the fifth installment of the franchise opens with a 25-minute action sequence in which Harrison Ford, 80, plays a 35-year-old version of himself.  "I just shot him, and he just pretended that he was 35," Mangold told Total Film magazine of Ford who he called "incredibly gifted and agile." He added, "But the technology involved is a whole other thing."  Mangold explained that dots were placed on Ford’s face during the scene that takes place in 1944 and using VFX technology and old Lucasfilm footage of the actor as a younger man, he was de-aged.  The new film is set in the space race-era of 1969.  "We had hundreds of hours of footage of him in close-ups, in mediums, in wides, in every kind of lighting, night and day," he told the magazine. "I could shoot Harrison on a Monday as, you know, a 79-year-old playing a 35-year-old, and I could see dailies by Wednesday with his head already replaced." The director called the technology "incredible," saying he did not think about it while shooting the sequence.

EXCLUSIVE: The EP behind Prince Harry’s bombshell ITV interview has stressed its “truly independent” nature in contrast to Netflix’s Harry & Meghan docuseries.

Netflix on Tuesday announced the new animated films In Your Dreams and Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, coming to the platform in 2024, also setting new voice cast for the fantasy adventure Nimona and offering new first-look stills from each of its animated titles debuting over the next 18 months, which you can view above and below.

Netflix has said it will invest $2.5BN in South Korean series, films and unscripted shows over the next four years.

The stars are stepping out for the opening of a new Broadway show!

Netflix has unveiled a packed line-up of animated feature films and series that it will be taking to France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June.

Currently riding high on the success of Netflix series Rana Naidu, Indian production outfit Locomotive Global is building out its slate through a string of deals with companies including All3Media and Endemol Shine India.

Naman Ramachandran “Rana Naidu,” the Indian adaptation of “Ray Donovan,” has been renewed for a second season by Netflix. The news emerged the same day that Netflix announced a 1.75 million jump in subscriptions worldwide. The action thriller that stars Venkatesh Daggubati and Rana Daggubati trended on the No.1 spot as the most watched series in India for three consecutive weeks after launch last month and continues to be in the top 10 series in India for the fifth week in a row. It trended in Netflix’s global top 10 for non-English TV for two weeks after it launched on March 10.

The 10 most popular English-language television shows on Netflix have been revealed.