Pakistan Bans Oscars Submission ‘Joyland’ For ‘Objectionable Material’; Director Saim Sadiq And Filmmaking Team To Appeal Decision

Written and directed by Saim Sadiq, Joyland has had a tumultuous trajectory this season. It burst out of the gate in Cannes as the first Pakistani film ever in the official selection, winning the Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard and taking several awards later down the road.

Their story. Shannon Abloh, the widow of designer Virgil Abloh, opened up about her late husband’s legacy one year after his devastating death.

In its third weekend, Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever continued to reign at the global and international box office. With a $32.1M offshore frame (-53%), the sequel has an overseas total of $308M for $675.6M worldwide through Sunday.

Premiering in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Nikyatu Jusu’s unsettling “Nanny” is a supernatural thriller that weaves together strands of domestic drama and West African folklore.

A big-hearted Kilwinning woman, known as Mrs Claus, is recruiting thoughtful Christmas elves to help needy families this festive period.

Singapore-based producer and distributor Clover Films is teaming with filmmaker Jack Neo’s J Team Productions to launch a joint venture production company, HiJack Pictures. 

Call it a holiday tradition as common as sweet potatoes on the Thanksgiving table, but Disney is going to rule the five-day holiday stretch again after wins in 2016 (Moana), 2017 (Coco), 2018 (Ralph Breaks the Internet), 2019 (Frozen 2) and last year (Encanto), as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s third weekend looks to do $40M over Wednesday-Sunday and Disney Animation’s Strange World hopes to squeeze out $30M+. All of this occurs as Bob Iger is re-installed as the CEO of Disney and the studio’s distribution czar Kareem Daniel exits.

French filmmaker Jean-Marie Straub, who was one half of the radical, arthouse filmmaking duo Straub-Huillet with his late wife Danièle Huillet, has died at the age of 89 in Switzerland.

EXCLUSIVE: In step with domestic, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Strange World will make its offshore theatrical debut this week, and is eyeing an overseas start in the $21M-$29M range. That’s lower than where a new animated movie from Disney might normally kick off, but the studio has taken a voluntary pass on more than 20 markets, choosing not to submit the film in countries where its LGBTQ+ content would have very likely forced demands for edits.

Pakistan has reversed a ban on Joyland, the country’s official submission for the Best International Feature Oscar. The film has now been cleared for theatrical release in its home country, though some minor cuts are expected.

Saim Sadiq’s Joyland will receive a theatrical release in France from November 22 so that it can still qualify for the Oscars, despite being banned in its home country of Pakistan. 

Jimmy Kimmel is set to host the 95th Academy Awards in 2023 and he’s teasing the topics that he will have to address while helming the show.

Following the premiere of his biopic comedy Weird: The Al Yankovic Story on Roku last weekend, director Eric Appel looks to have already found his follow-up film as he is set to direct and write the comedy Stepdude for Sony Pictures. Matt Tolmach (Jumanji franchise, Venom) is producing along Jack Black and Roz Music.

Steven Spielberg‘s latest movie, “The Fabelmans,” is all about the power of film and the theatrical experience. But in a new interview with The New York Times in the leadup to the film’s release, Spielberg argued the magic of moviegoing took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Warner Bros.

It’s a Winchester brother reunion on Walker as former Supernatural stars Jared Padalecki and Jake Abel reunite on the set of The CW show.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been shot at a protest march in what his supporters are saying was an assassination attempt.