Nicole Kidman Funds Award Honoring Late Australian Industry Executive Brian Walsh: ‘I Considered Him Family’

Chris Hemsworth wears a relaxed gray suit while stepping out for the 2023 Red Sea International Film Festival on Monday (December 4) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor A full house greeted Chris Hemsworth as he dropped into the Red Sea Film Festival for an In Conversation event with jury head, Baz Luhrmann. It was something of an Oz fest as the beginning of the conversation was dominated by George Miller and littered with references to fellow antipodean superstars like Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman and Mel Gibson. It was natural Miller was predominant as Hemsworth had flown directly from Comic Con in Brazil, where the first trailer of Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” was premiered.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief France-based multinational Studiocanal has launched Cultivator Films to facilitate local co-productions in Australia and will kick off with book-to-film adaptation “Kangaroo.” “Kangaroo” is scripted by Harry Cripps (“The Dry,” “Penguin Bloom”) and directed by Kate Woods (“The Lincoln Lawyer,” “The Umbrella Academy,” “The Good Lord Bird,” “Looking for Alibrandi”). Eastern Arrernte emerging director Samantha Laughton is set as a director’s attachment. Slated to start production in Alice Springs in the first half of 2024, “Kangaroo” is a Northern Territory-inspired story based on Chris Barnes, aka ‘Brolga,’ who is the founder of the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs. Cultivator Films Australia is led by Studiocanal’s Australia and New Zealand CEO Elizabeth Trotman.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Full River Red,” the Zhang Yimou-directed period comedy-drama that released in January this year has earned its producer Huanxi Media Beijing the 2023 Asia Pacific Box Office Achievement Award at the CineAsia convention. The convention gets under way Monday in Bangkok and will run till Thursday (Dec. 4-7).

Cardi B made her runway debut in the Balenciaga Fall 2024 Fashion Show, and she did so in front of a star-studded audience.

Film Liaisons in California Statewide (FLICS) has announced winners for the 28th annual California on Location Awards (COLAs), presented Friday at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Carmen,” “Foe,” “Limbo,” Australia’s Oscar contender “Shayda,” “Streets of Colour” and “The Royal Hotel” have received the six nominations for best feature film at this year’s Screen Producers Australia Awards. The SPA Awards will be held on Thursday, March 21, 2024, the final evening of the Screen Forever conference. In the documentary feature section, the nominations are “Flyaways,” “Harley & Katya,” “Living With Devils,” “ONEFOUR: Against All Odds,” “The Cape,” “The Giants,” “The Jewish Nazi?” and “The Platypus Garden.” Nominations for best telemovie or miniseries production are “While the Men Are Away,” “The Claremont Murders,” “Wellmania,” “The Messenger,” “Bad Behaviour” and “The Clearing.” “2023 was a year filled with a number of challenges for our industry, but the Australian screen sector continued to delight audiences globally with stories that share our unique culture and creativity,” said SPA CEO Matthew Deaner.

Keith Urban says the performance of wife Nicole Kidman‘s AMC Theatres ad was an unexpected surprise.

Nicole Kidman‘s ad for AMC Theatres has been a cultural phenomenon for the past couple years and her husband Keith Urban is now sharing his thoughts on the surprise success.

Even in its original, nearly three-hour shape, Baz Luhrmann’s “Australia” was a lot of movie beyond just length. Sandwiched within that ambitious old school Hollywood undertaking—about an Englishwoman who inherits a sprawling ranch and the drover she teams up with herding cattle across an unforgiving land— was a broad screwball meet-cute romcom between Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman’s characters—at least at first, those rhythms are unmistakable—a fabulist fairy tale about dreamers, an idealistic ranching Western, a sweeping wild wilderness adventure, an immense historical epic (with elements of brassy, jazz-age chutzpah to add yet another flavor), a mystical fable about Indigenous people, and a grand, lush romance.

Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson are set to star in the upcoming movie Babygirl, which will follows their characters having an affair.

Dutch actress/director Halina Reijn made a big splash for her English-language feature debut last year with A24’s anti-slasher “Bodies Bodies Bodies.” Not everyone loved the movie (this writer didn’t), but once A24 becomes interested in an artist, loads of moviegoers also become interested.

After a period of speculation prolonged by the double strike, A24 has officially confirmed the cast set for its erotic thriller Babygirl, marking a reteam with Bodies Bodies Bodies helmer Halina Reijn. Nicole Kidman (The Undoing), Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory) and Harris Dickinson (The Iron Claw) lead an ensemble that also includes Talk to Me‘s Sophie Wilde and Jean Reno (Léon: The Professional).

There’s no denying “Big Little Lies” was a huge hit for HBO. Originally pitched as a limited series, the show with an all-star cast (including Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, and more) was such a hit, HBO decided to pay a huge sum for a second season.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Veteran actor Ciaran Hinds and Odessa Young have joined Euphoria star Jacob Elordi in the cast of premium Australian miniseries “The Narrow Road to the Deep North.” Production is now under way. An adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanaghan, the five-part series is love story set against the backdrop of World War II. Production is by Curio Pictures with Prime Video releasing the title in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

during a Q&A session at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida. “It sort of came along at a time in my life when I had my children and I was thinking I was going to retire. And then this situation came along, where Reese Witherspoon and I were able to produce that show and create that show,” Kidman, 56, gushed on Friday.

Nicole Kidman has shocked fans by revealing that a new season of hit HBO show Big Little Lies is on the way.Based on the novel by Liane Moriarty, Big Little Lies was originally billed as a mini-series but its success led to a second season.Alongside Kidman, the show starred Reese Witherspoon, Zoë Kravitz, Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern. The second season introduced Meryl Streep as Kidman’s mother-in-law in the show.While speaking onstage at a Q&A event this weekend (November 18), Kidman was asked about the show and revealed that a new season was in the works.“I loved Big Little Lies,” Kidman said (via E! Online), before adding: “because it sort of came along at a time in my life when I had my children and I was thinking I was going to retire.

It’s been more than four years since Season 2 of HBO‘s Big Little Lies. Over that time, the prospect of another installment has occasionally come up, with the network and the core team behind the series largely non-committal but leaving the door open. Star and executive producer Nicole Kidman on Friday gave the strongest indication to date that a third season may be happening.

Are we really getting a third season of Big Little Lies?!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Concrete Utopia,” South Korea’s Oscar contender, was Wednesday named best film at the country’s annual Grand Bell Awards. It also won prizes for best actor, best supporting actress, art direction, sound mixing and visual effects.