Pathe Cinemas Sets Five-Screen and Co-Distribution Deal With Imax as French Box Office Recovery Continues

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Wonka,” starring Timothee Chalamet, has debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £8.9 million ($11.2 million), according to numbers from Comscore. In its third weekend, Disney’s “Wish” climbed up to £1.9 million in second place for a total of £5.8 million.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Justine Triet‘s “Anatomy of a Fall” missed out on being chosen as France’s Oscar entry, but the movie has been a critical and commercial hit — including in the U.S., where it’s become the highest-grossing specialized foreign-language release post-pandemic, according to distributor Neon. Released in the States on Oct. 13, “Anatomy of a Fall” has pulled in $3.5 million so far, putting it ahead of Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” and on track to match last year’s Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness,” another Neon movie.

EXCLUSIVE: Tubi has acquired North American rights to Spanish and English-language thriller Upon Entry from French sales firm Charades and Anonymous Content Independent.

EXCLUSIVE: Veteran action icon Jean-Claude Van Damme is set to star in sequel Kill ‘Em All 2, which will shoot in the Caribbean island of Antigua from January.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hollywood’s role in Asian TV has changed in the streaming era and age of hyper-local content. A top-down sales and distribution position has eased into one of co-production, co-financing and acquisition. A high-powered array of western executives offered experienced views and discussed their current positions at a panel session Thursday within the Asia Television Forum & Market in Singapore. “We want to be an additive partner on shows that cannot be created locally, said Georgina Gonzalez, director of scripted series and global series at Universal Int’l Studios, NBCU.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Something Special, the Seoul-based international format agency founded by format specialists Jin Woo Hwang (president and executive producer) and Kim In Soon (EVP & head of content) announce that ITV Studios has optioned the hit Korean celebrity format “Battle in the Box” for France, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel. The deal was unveiled on Wednewday, the first full day of the Asia Television Forum and Market (ATF) in Singapore. “Battle in the Box,” created by Korea’s NMedia and represented globally by Something Special, has previously seen deals announced with Fremantle for Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal.

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 Ridley Scott’s historical epic “Napoleon” was cruelly defeated at the mainland Chinese box office, where it opened in only fifth place on its opening weekend. Chinese crime thriller “Across the Furious Sea” headed the mainland China charts for a second weekend, earning $20.0 million (RMB142 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. “Napoleon” earned just $2.8 million ($19.6 million) in China, according to the firm whose figures are generally considered as final, not estimates. The film earned generally mixed to positive reviews, but only a middling score of 6.6 out of 10 from users of the Douban movie fan site. But it appears that Chinese audiences found the travails of an ancient French emperor to be too much of a specialist topic.

Naman Ramachandran Sandeep Vanga Reddy’s blood-soaked Bollywood epic “Animal,” starring Ranbir Kapoor, emerged as the No. 1 film globally with $42.1 million, according to data published by ComScore. “Animal” released across 38 global territories.

Tom Sandoval is spending time with a model!

Ariana Madix is sharing more details about Tom Sandoval and Raquel Leviss‘ affair.

Disney CEO Bob Iger blames the pandemic effect as part of the reason for the dismal box office results on The Marvels.

Oscar-contending documentary The Disappearance of Shere Hite will be making an appearance in cinemas in the U.K. and Ireland within weeks, courtesy of Dogwoof.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief CJ ENM (Hong Kong), a channels and content distributor that is part of the Korean CJ ENM conglomerate, has picked up pay-TV rights in parts of Asia to a handful of Korean series that were co-financed by streaming platform Tving and Paramount+. The deal was struck with Paramount Global Content Distribution. The productions are part of a global strategic partnership between CJ ENM and Paramount Global that was announced in December 2021. The deal was announced on the eve of the Asian TV Forum (ATF), which kicks off next week in Singapore. The series debut first on Tving in Korea and on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Naman Ramachandran Sony’s magnum opus “Napoleon,” directed by Ridley Scott, debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with a regal £5.2 million ($6.6 million), according to numbers from Comscore. In its second weekend, Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes” dropped down a spot to second place with £2.6 million for a total of £10.1 million.

As it continues its rapid global growth, IMAX has set a significant expansion of its partnership with Pathé Cinemas in Europe, pacting for five new IMAX with Laser systems locations, four of which will be in France. The agreement also spans distribution, with IMAX and Pathé Live set to release three upcoming Pathé Live films across the IMAX network.

Napoleon has made a strong start at the French box office despite some scathing reviews from French critics.The film – which stars Joaquin Phoenix as the famed French emperor – has received largely positive reviews internationally, though some French critics have slated the film.French GQ called it “deeply clumsy, unnatural and unintentionally funny”, while Le Figaro compared it to “Barbie and Ken under the Empire”.Nevertheless, it took $1.019million (£810,000) during its opening day in France last week (via Variety) – accounting for nearly a third of international takings – before making a total $5.6million (£4.44million) over its first five days.Its weekend takings also make France one of the biggest international markets for Napoleon, second behind the UK with $6.6million (£5.23million), according to ScreenDaily.Last week, director Ridley Scott hit back at French critics of the film, telling the BBC: “The French don’t even like themselves”.He added: “The audience that I showed it to in Paris, they loved it.”Scott also previously hit back at historian Dan Snow’s criticism of the film, after the latter broke down Napoleon‘s historical inaccuracies.“Get a life,” the director said. “I tend to be visual above all things, before the written word.”Napoleon focuses on the emperor’s rise to power and his relationship with Empress Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby).

Amazon/MGM’s Saltburn, the dark-comedy sendoff of British upper class, expanded nicely in a big jump from seven screens to 1,566, nabbing a spot in the top ten. The film by Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) grossed $1.73 million for the three-day weekend and $2.7 million for the five-day Thanksgiving frame thanks to a strong core group of theaters.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Despite being plagued by harsh reviews from French critics and a derisive retaliation by director Ridley Scott, “Napoleon” had a strong opening in France on Wednesday, grossing an estimated €868,000 ($946,000) from approximately 120,000 admissions. The figure, unveiled by Comscore France, includes about 8,000 tickets sold at preview screenings across France, notably in Paris where Sony Pictures held a lavish world premiere of the historical epic on Nov.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Cannes’ Directors Fortnight section has joined forces with The Philippines for the latest edition of its Directors Factory professional training program. Operating since 2013, when it kicked off in Taiwan, the Directors’ Factory works with a new partner country each year to mentor eight budding filmmakers who are preparing ambitious first or second feature projects that they will make in pairs. The four resulting co-written and co-directed short films will be screened as part of the Directors’ Fortnight (aka Quinzaine des Cineastes) in May. Four pairs were selected in Manila in October: Eve Baswel (Philippines) and Gogularaajan Rajendran (Malaysia); Maria Estela Paiso (Philippines) and Ashok Vish (India); Arvin Belarmino (Philippines) and Lomorpich Rithy (aka YoKi) (Cambodia); Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan (Philippines) and Tan Siyou (Singapore). They have now begun writing their screenplays and are expected to shoot their films March in Dapitan, a city in The Philippines’ Zamboanga Peninsula, known for its many shrines and as the place of exile of Philippines’ national hero, Jose Rizal. These days it is a hub for domestic and international tourism. Post-production of the four titles will then be hosted in Quezon City, which seeks to become the new film capital of the Philippines and where many of the country’s post-production houses are already based. The program is operated and co-produced by Epicmedia Productions of The Philippines and Dominique Welinski, founder and curator of DW (France).