Peter Chernin Launches Film and TV Studio The North Road With $800 Million-Plus in Financing

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorBerlin-based sales agent Pluto Film has acquired Michal Blaško’s suspense drama “Victim,” about a woman seeking justice in a racist society, ahead of its world premiere in Venice’s competitive Horizons strand.The Slovak-Czech-German coproduction tells the story of Irina (Vita Smachelyuk), a single mother from Ukraine living in a town in the Czech Republic. When her son Igor (Gleb Kuchuk) is attacked, the whole town stands in solidarity with her family and condemns their Roma neighbors, who allegedly committed the crime.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentVenice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera will soon unveil the lineup for the fest’s upcoming 79th edition, which will open with Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise.”“White Noise” stars Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig and Jodie Turner-Smith, and is based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Don DeLillo. The film, which will screen in competition, also marks the first time a Netflix film has landed Venice’s opening slot.Elsewhere, Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All,” starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell as cannibal lovers on a road trip across America in the 1980s, is among other titles strongly believed to also be set to vie for a Golden Lion.U.S.

Venice Critics’ Week Unveils 2022 Selection

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s True Colours has sold Mario Martone’s Naples-set Cannes competition drama “Nostalgia” to Curzon Film for the U.K. and Ireland, among other new territories.The deal, negotiated by True Colours sales manager Francesca Tiberi and Curzon acquisitions executive Eleonora Pesci, marks the first partnership between the companies.At the Italian Screenings market event recently held in Lecce, Southern Italy, the Rome-based sales company also sealed fresh deals on several other films, including pre-sales on upcoming Locarno title “Delta,” which is a revenge drama with a contemporary Western vibe.Martone’s “Nostalgia,” which has been praised by Variety critic Guy Lodge as the prolific Italian auteur’s “most rewarding film in years,” stars Pierfrancesco Favino as the middle-aged Felice Lasco, who returns to the bustling port city after having lived in Egypt for 40 years.

Legendary Hollywood actor Brad Pitt delighted fans as he rocked a skirt on the red carpet for the premiere of his new film Bullet Train in Berlin on Tuesday. The 58 year old father of six looked in high spirits as he posed on the red carpet in a brown linen skirt that showed off the various tattoos on his legs. Brad, who shares six children with ex Angelina Jolie - Maddox, 20; Pax, 18; Zahara, 17; Shiloh, 16, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 17, teamed the skirt with a matching brown shacket worn over a pink shirt, and on his feet he wore combat boots to edge up the look.

Naman Ramachandran British music exports soared 13.7% to a high of £590.8 million ($709 million) in 2021, the highest total on record, per the latest analysis from British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the trade body for independent and major record labels in the U.K.The 2021 total is the highest since the BPI began its annual survey of record label overseas income in 2000 and was driven by a record number of U.K. artists, nearly 400, each achieving 100 million-plus global streams. These include superstars like Adele, Dua Lipa, Dave and Ed Sheeran, and several emerging artists, including Glass Animals, PinkPantheress and Rex Orange County.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentAlarm Pictures has closed North American rights from Hewes Pictures on “The Protector,” the latest film from Canadian writer-director Lenin M. Sivam, in advance of its July 28 world premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia Festival.The U.S.

Margot Robbie never fails to dazzle with her Chanel couture gowns, glowing complexion and Hollywood smile. Along with Jennifer Aniston and Elle McPherson, she’s a fan of luxury beauty brand Augustinus Bader, which has enjoyed rave reviews from celebrities and beauty editors since its launch in 2018.  Described by Kim Kardashian as “product heaven!” and with Victoria Beckham saying she’s “obsessed”, the royal blue and copper bottles have become a staple in the beauty routines of the most glamorous celebrities.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentContent giant Fremantle is making a big push into feature films as it expands its horizons, says group COO Andrea Scrosati who is also the multi-pronged company’s continental Europe chief.At last year’s Venice fest Fremantle, known for talent shows “X-Factor” and “American Idol” and TV series such as “The Mosquito Coast,” was flying the flag with several pics including Paolo Sorrentino’s prizewinning and Oscar-nommed “The Hand of God.” More recently at Cannes, Fremantle-produced film “The Eight Mountains” scored the jury prize. All of which, Scrosati boasts, is pretty good for just the past nine months.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentFernando Franco’s coming of age drama “The Rite of Spring” and Mikel Gurrea’s rural drama “Suro” will vie for the top Golden Seashell at September’s 70th San Sebastian Festival, the highest-profile film event in the Spanish-speaking world. Also making the cut are Jaime Rosales’s female emancipation tale “Wild Flowers” and Pilar Palomero’s teen motherhood story “La Maternal.”The four titles form part of a Spanish film line-up which looks to be “the strongest Spanish movie presence at San Sebastian in the 11 years I’ve been directing the festival,” San Sebastian director José Luis Rebordinos said on Friday.One or two more Spanish films could still be added to the selection, including one more in New Directors, he went on. Galvanizing the selection is new talent.

With our nation increasingly divided, several media gurus over the July 4 break decreed that Hollywood owed filmgoers a “feel-good-about-America” movie. Something unifying and patriotic, like a contemporary Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorPeter Chernin is going all-in on building an independent content studio with global reach backed with up to $800 million in financing from private equity giants Providence Equity Partners and Apollo.The media investor and former Fox chief has formed The North Road Company after quietly acquiring the U.S. production assets of Red Arrow Studios in a deal with Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 said to be worth about $180 million.The Red Arrow units will combine with the existing Chernin Entertainment banner as the backbone of the new venture that will focus on producing movies, scripted and unscripted TV programs and documentaries, among other content.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s your first trailer for German director Kilian Riedhof’s drama You Will Not Have My Hate based on the true story of a man’s quest to rebuild his life without hatred after his wife was killed in the 2015 Bataclan attack in Paris.

The Locarno Film Festival has announced the full line-up and juries for its 75th edition, which is due to unfold August 3-13.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterTiny yellow creatures are taking over the international box office.“Minions: The Rise of Gru” ignited to $93.7 million from 61 overseas markets and notched one of the biggest pandemic-era opening weekends for an animated film in many of those territories.Those returns take the fifth installment in Universal and Illumination’s popular “Despicable Me” franchise past $200 million at the global box office. In North America, “The Rise of Gru” debuted to $108 million over the weekend and looks to reach $127.9 million through Independence Day on Monday.Outside of the U.S. and Canada, “Minions: The Rise of Gru” enjoyed the strongest showing in the United Kingdom and Ireland with $12.9 million, followed by Mexico with $12.4 million and Germany with $4.8 million.

Marta Balaga Georgian-German drama “A Room of My Own,” about a young woman looking for a female roommate in Tbilisi after her personal life implodes, has its team thinking about future reactions in the Republic of Georgia. But director Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze and actress/co-writer Taki Mumladze are “ready” to address subjects considered controversial in their home country, they tell Variety, from domestic abuse to same-sex relationships.“We will fight for this film,” says Bliadze, returning to Karlovy Vary Film Festival after his 2021 release “Otar’s Death.” Now, “A Room of My Own” – a Maisis Peri and Color of May production – will vie for the festival’s Crystal Globe award.

Ground-breaking France-based British theater director Peter Brook, who revolutionized 20th-century theater, has died at the age of 97-years-old in Paris.