Pathé U.K. Managing Director Discusses Focusing on Quality Not Quantity

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent“The Three Musketeers,” Pathé Films’s $75-million two-part adventure epic saga based on Alexandre Dumas’s masterpiece, has been bought in major international territories rolling off a busy Cannes market. Pathé unveiled a sprawling 15-minute promoreel for both “The Three Musketeers” – D’Artagnan” and “The Three Musketeers – Milady” at Cannes Marché du Film. Both movies are directed by Martin Bourboulon and boast a star-studded cast, including Vincent Cassel, Eva Green, Vicky Krieps, Romain Duris, Pio Marmaï, François Civil, Lyna Khoudri and Louis Garrel.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMike Minogue, Naomi Ferry and Tim Foley have launched Frank Management, a new creative talent agency in New Zealand.Frank Management is open to representing clients across all disciplines, including acting, writing and filmmaking. The company aims to fill gaps they see across the industry, by offering an alternative for all creatives seeking representation.Minogue is best known to the public in the on-screen role of Officer Minogue in Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s TV series “Wellington Paranormal.” He is also successful writer and producer, having recently produced the 2021 Sundance hit “Coming Home In The Dark.” He is designated as head of development at the new agency.

New BBC series Conversations With Friends has been a hot topic of conversation since landing on screens in the past week.The new series – based on the novel of the same name – was also written by Normal People's author Sally Rooney and directed by Lenny Abrahamson, and follows the story of students Frances and Bobbi, ex-girlfriends who become entangled in the relationship of an older couple.The series was shot in a range of places, including in Ireland and abroad in Croatia, and in a recent behind-the-scenes look, the cast joined together at the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival to share an insight into the makings of the beguiling adaptation. And it turns out a great deal of run-ins with animals took place during filming, one of which the cast wasn't aware of.

K.J. Yossman NEW HIRESSky Studios Elstree, which will open later this year, has named Leavesden Studios sales VP Noel Tovey as managing director.

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Spinning Gold” director Timothy Scott Bogart has set up his next projects on the heels of his musical biopic about his father, Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart.Bogart will produce the semi-autobiographical feature “North Star” from Oscar nominee Jim Sheridan (“My Left Foot,” “In the Name of the Father”), which tells the story of the director’s early life in Northern Ireland. U2 musicians Bono and The Edge are in discussions to compose original music for the film, Variety can reveal.Meanwhile, Bogart will also write and direct the modern pop-music driven, 1191-set “Marian,” which charts the love story of Robin Hood and Maid Marian, with music from Grammy-winning songwriter Evan Bogart.

The debut of a Scottish director is one of seven films to be selected for Critic's Week at the Cannes Film Festival in a spectacular moment for Scottish cinema.

EXCLUSIVE: Hulu’s WeWork director Jed Rothstein is forging landmark Sky documentary Once Upon a Time in Londongrad, exploring 14 mysterious deaths in the UK with alleged connections to Russia over two decades.

Pete Doherty has discussed his recovery from drug issues, saying he has “managed to get out of the addictive cycle”.The Libertines frontman has been clean for over two years, and recently revealed in an interview that he “nearly lost my feet” while he was battling drug addiction.In a new interview with The Guardian, Doherty said he is “surprised I’m not dead” due to his drug abuse, adding: “I’ve hedged my bets with all the scrapes, skirmishes and disasters, but I do believe in corny, happy Hollywood endings. I’m not a good guy, but I’m not evil.”Doherty added: “I’ve managed to get out of the addictive cycle – which I maintained all along I was quite happy in – but I was pretty fucked, and I’ve never really admitted to that.

Avi Federgreen’s Indiecan Entertainment is launching a genre-focused distribution arm, hot on the heels of releasing Junta Yamaguchi’s time paradox comedy Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes.

Mads Mikkelsen will star in new action-thriller The Black Kaiser, based on the Dark Horse graphic novel Polar by Victor Santos.

K.J. Yossman Polly Cochrane, WarnerMedia’s EVP and Country Manager for U.K. and Ireland, is stepping down, she revealed today.

Warner Bros Discovery UK EVP & Country Manager, UK & Ireland, Polly Cochrane is stepping down after 13 years.

NEW YORK -- “Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be,” by Marissa R. Moss (Henry Holt & Co.)Women have always played a major part of country music, from the Carter Family to Dolly Parton, but in recent years you’d be hard pressed to hear that on country music radio.

Ben Croll Pathé subsidiary Cinémas Pathé Gaumont — one of Europe’s largest exhibition chains — operates 133 theaters with more than 1,300 screens throughout France, the Benelux region and Switzerland. Which means that when it comes to market growth, this industry leader must look beyond building new multiplexes.“The network of theaters in our principal territories is now very dense,” says Cinémas Pathé Gaumont CEO Aurélien Bosc.

Lise Pedersen Nestled in a former theater whose facade was sculpted by Auguste Renoir, the Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé is dedicated to the preservation, restoration and promotion of film heritage belonging to historical French production company and exhibitor Pathé.Named after the company’s co-chairman, Jérôme Seydoux, the institution is a nonprofit organization founded in 2006. Designed by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano, the shell-shaped building opened to the public in 2014 and is home to the only cinema theater in France dedicated to silent movies.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentSian Heder’s heartwarming family film “CODA” not only scored a historic Oscar for Deaf actor Troy Kotsur, it’s also the first English-language remake of a French film to win the best picture Academy Award.Acquired by Apple Studios at the 2021 Sundance in a record-breaking $25 million deal, “CODA” is based on the 2014 French box office hit “La Famille Bélier,” about a teenage girl with a singing talent who is the only hearing member of a Deaf family. Like most remakes, the underdog movie could have died off after sitting on a shelf for too long had it not been for the all-star team of French producers with U.S.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentLess than a year after launching, Pathé’s division dedicated to series is already firing up a flurry of premium projects that are equally as ambitious as its film output.The first slate of Pathé’s TV arm boasts 12 series in different stages of development. These include two shows based on Alexandre Dumas’ literary classic “The Three Musketeers,” as well as adaptations of “Cyrano de Bergerac” and Joel Dicker’s bestseller “The Last Days of Our Fathers.”The division is spearheaded by Aude Albano, a well-connected industry player who previously worked alongside Claude Chelli at Capa Drama, where she produced “Versailles,” “Osmosis” and “Marie Antoinette.” “Our slate spans large-scale series that reflect Pathé’s DNA and the endeavor to expand our brand in the series world,” says Albano.

Ben Croll To the degree that a global sales division can shape its own image, Pathé’s international arm has built and bolstered its current brand around strong IP, recognizable faces and unbelievable but true stories.To see those elements in play, one need only look to last year, when projects including Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta” and Martin Bourboulon’s “Eiffel” lifted from world and film history as they showcased stars such as Virginie Efira, Romain Duris and Emma Mackey, while collectively finding homes in more than a hundred international territories. (In the U.S., for example, “Benedetta” sold to IFC Films, while “Eiffel” went to Blue Fox Entertainment.)To witness those same imperatives, but supercharged, one need only glimpse Pathé’s 2022 slate, which goes long on hometown IP and star power.