‘Riot Police’s’ Rodrigo Sorogoyen Brings ‘La Guerra’ Onto the International Market (EXCLUSIVE)

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Rodrigo Santoro – Hector in “Westworld,” Xerxes in “300”– leans forward in his chair during a Zoom interview almost touching the screen, such is his excitement. “It’s absolutely extraordinary, the accomplishment. What they did, what this man did. The mission seemed completely impossible.” Santoro is talking about Ferdinand Magellan, whom he plays in Prime Video’s “Boundless,” directed by Simon West (“Con Air,” “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”), also starring Alvaro Morte, the Professor in “Money Heist,” and ZDF Studios and RTVE’s banner title at this year’s Mipcom.  West calls the series his “passion project.” For anybody interested in the Age of Discovery, Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world, completed by Basque Juan Sebastián Elcano, is the voyage of voyages, the greatest feat in maritime history, writes historian    

Iranian protesters have demanded "justice" for a woman who was assaulted by anti-riot police, with one officer forcibly grabbing her bottom and then pushing her on the ground.  The video, captured on a security camera at the Argentina Square in Tehran on Wednesday, shows police surrounding the woman. When they start to cart her away, one officer grabs the woman’s bottom before she drops to her knees.  Another woman can be heard saying that the officers were pulling the victim’s hair as she knelt on the ground.  Tehran’s Police Public Relations office has said the incident will be investigated, the BBC reported, but the police provided no statement as to what might have happened.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Ahead of next week’s Mipcom, Banijay has acquired global rights to Argentine celebrity competition series “The Hotel,”  continuing its hugely successful relationship with Diego Guebel’s high-flying Boxfish in Argentina.  Produced by Boxfish for Canal 13, one of Argentina’s biggest free-to-air channels, “The Hotel” (“El Hotel”) sees 16 celebrity contestants shut themselves away for four months in a luxury hotel on the outskirts of a city. There’s only one caveat: the luxury establishment does not employ any staff.  “While guests enjoy a luxurious stay in the pool, spa and live shows and tuck into gourmet dinners, staff are housed in the hotel’s service area, washing linen, preparing breakfast and serving the guests’ every need,” Banijay explained Saturday, announcing its acquisition. 

MK2 Managing Director Fionnuala Jamison was the focus of the London Film Festival’s second ‘spotlight’ industry talk Wednesday, during which she provided insights on navigating the international film market, including how regional prejudices can impact how films are sold.

Democratic lawmakers Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., are pushing for the U.S.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent YouTube Originals will launch on Nov. 18 “Behind the Beats,” a novel animated pop music anthology series produced by France’s TeamTO and 22D Music Group in partnership with France Télévisions, the French public broadcaster.  Episodes 1-4 of the novel history of pop will also debut on the YouTube Kids app, YouTube Originals Kids & Family announced on Wednesday. YouTube and TeamTO have shared first-look images from the series in exclusivity with Variety.  The deal sees YouTube launching the series worldwide but with a one-year holdback in the French language, where France Télévisions has first-window exclusivity. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Mediawan Rights has expanded its unscripted division with the appointment of former Shine France top executive Jeremy Klif, and is opening up to formats from third-party producers. Klif has been tapped deputy director of international sales for the unscripted unit which was launched by Mediawan Rights’ managing director Valérie Vleeschhouwer, in April. Klif began his career in the U.S. at Mark Burnett Productions, and later worked as head of sales and acquisitions for Shine France (“The Voice,” “MasterChef”) upon his return to Paris. He went on to launch Borderline Media, a production and distribution banner specialized in formats, in 2017. At Mediawan Rights, Klif will work alongside Estelle Bodén, the co-founder of Sweden’s Elk Entertainment, who serves as head of distribution for the division. Like Klif, Bodén has a track record as an entrepreneur and also worked for indies and big groups such as Strix Television.

EJ Panaligan editor Paramount+ announced a premiere date for their upcoming original series “Wolf Pack,” as well as a new teaser trailer and additional casting for the show, Variety has exclusively learned. Revealing details at New York Comic Con, Paramount+ shared news that “Wolf Pack” would premiere Thursday, January 26, 2023, the same day as “Teen Wolf: The Movie.” Alongside announced cast such as Sarah Michelle Gellar, Armani Jackson, Rodrigo Santoro, Bella Shepard and more, the streamer shared that Bailey Stender, Chase Liefeld, Hollie Bahar, Lanny Joon, Rio Mangini, Stella Smith, Zack Nelson and James Martinez have joined the show in recurring roles. Additional casting includes Amy Pietz, Bria Brimmer, John L. Adams and Sean Philip Glasgow.

K.J. Yossman Jemima Khan (“What’s Love Got to Do With It?”) and Jaime Ray Newman (“Dopesick”) have boarded Seemab Gul’s Oscar-qualifying short film “Sandstorm” as executive producers. A coming of age story, centering around a Pakistani schoolgirl called Zara, “Sandstorm” navigates the “tricky terrain of internet dating in a conservative Muslim society,” according to the logline as well as questions “the objectification of the female body and its relationship to honor in Pakistani culture.” In the short, Zara sends her virtual boyfriend a “sensual dance video” which he then uses to blackmail her. “Caught between his manipulative behaviour and the desire to experience love on her own terms, Zara searches for the strength to reject the confines of a patriarchal society,” reads the synopsis.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Daniel Goldhaber’s heist thriller “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” has been boarded by Paris-based world sales banner Charades following its critically acclaimed world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. The breakout film played in the competitive Platform section at Toronto and was acquired by Neon for North America in a deal negotiated by CAA Media Finance. Based on Andreas Malm’s controversial manifesto tackling the climate crisis, the film stars Ariela Barer (“Runaways”, “Atypical”), who also produced and co-wrote with Jordan Sjol. It was edited by Daniel Garber (“CAM,” “Some Kind of Heaven”). “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” follows a group of young environmental activists who set out to sabotage an oil pipeline in a timely thriller that’s described as “part high-stakes heist, part radical exploration of direct action as climate activism.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian sales company True Colours has taken international distribution rights to Roberto Andò’s “La Stranezza” (“Strangeness”), toplining Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”) as the Nobel-prize-winning playwright Luigi Pirandello. This tragicomic period piece about how Pirandello found inspiration to write his masterpiece “Six Characters in Search of an Author” will launch from the Rome Film Festival and concurrently have its market premiere at the Eternal City’s upcoming MIA Market, which runs Oct. 11-15. Starring alongside Servillo are popular Sicilian comedy duo Salvo Ficarra and Valentino Picone, who are known in Italy as Ficarra and Picone. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Spain’s Marc Clotet (“The Sleeping Voice,” “15 Hours”) and Argentina’s Juan Gil Navarro (“100 Days To Fall in Love”), Santiago Achaga (“Like, La Leyenda”) and Esteban Pérez (“Limbo”) are attached to star in “Fragile,” a slice of Patagonia noir thriller from Argentina’s StoryLab.  Created and produced by StoryLab partners Nacho Viale and Diego Palacio, “Fragile” is backed by Flow, Telecom’s dominate Argentine SVOD service, and Televisión Publica Argentina, the country’s public broadcast network.  Palacio will direct “Fragile” (“Fragiles”) from screenplays penned by Lucas Molteni, whose has written on five StoryLab series dating back to 201’s “Estocolmo,” up-and-coming scribes Juan E. Cordoni and Luciano Cocciardi and Viale and Palacio. 

Lewis Capaldi covered Britney Spears‘ 2003 single ‘Everytime’ in the BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge earlier today (September 26).The track featured on Spears’ fourth studio album ‘In The Zone’ which also featured her huge hit ‘Toxic’.Capadli was joined by a pianist and a string section for his take on the track, which you can view below.The singer-songwriter also performed comeback single ‘Forget Me’, which recently went straight to Number One in the UK singles chart and came complete with a music video that recreates Wham!’s ‘Club Tropicana’ video shot-for-shot.‘Forget Me’ is his first new original material since the release of the extended edition of his 2019 debut album ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent’.He recently said of the track: “It’s a wee bit more upbeat than my previous numbers, mostly because after touring the world, I noticed that my lesser known slower tracks were making some of the crowds look like they were about to fall asleep out of sheer boredom. However, this new one is sad AND fast, much like my love making.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Headed by ex-HBO exec James Costos, Los Angeles and Madrid-based Secuoya Studios and Colombia’s Caracol Television have closed a framework deal to jointly develop, produce and finance scripted series over the next year.  The agreement seals an alliance between two of Latin America’s powerhouses, with large international ambitions. Amazon’s Prime Video and now Mediawan have boarded Secuoya Studios’ flagship series “Zorro,” starring “Elite’s” Miguel Bernardeau and Renata Notni, directed by “Money Heist’s” Javier Quintas. Producer of iconic longer-format series, Caracol TV’s “La Reina del Flow” Season 1 sold to over 100 countries; “El Rey; Vicente Fernandez” Season 1 bowed on Netflix Sept. 12 , shooting to No. 3 in global non-English charts. 

When Chris Wallace’s talk show returns today on HBO Max, there won’t be many changes from its previous incarnation: Sitting on a spartan set with a black backdrop, he interviews celebrities, politicians, authors and other boldfaced names. He even sings, a bit, with Shania Twain.

Lewis Capaldi has covered Olivia Rodrigo‘s ‘Driver’s License’ for Spotify Singles – hear the cover, recorded at Abbey Road, below.Capaldi recently returned with comeback single ‘Forget Me’, which went straight to Number One in the UK singles chart and came complete with a music video that recreates Wham!’s ‘Club Tropicana’ video shot-for-shot.Alongside the ‘Driver’s License’ cover, Capaldi also shared a stripped back version of ‘Forget Me’ for the Spotify Singles release.In a statement about the new song, Capaldi wrote: “I’m back. My new single is called ‘Forget Me’, and let’s just be honest here, lyrically it covers a lot of the same ground as before.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi-owned MBC Group has officially opened its new headquarters in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh in a move that will boost its stated mission to serve as a driver to kickstart the kingdom’s nascent film and TV industry. The broadcaster which is the top satellite free-to-air player in the Middle East and North Africa, and also a major MENA region premium streamer, held a gala opening on Monday attended by a host of Saudi royal family members, ministers, and foreign ambassadors, according to a statement. Other guests included MBC’s executive directors in addition to local talents and hosts of MBC’s TV channels and also from news service Al Arabiya in which MBC owns a minority stake.

Chris Redd has announced that he is leaving Saturday Night Live after five seasons on the sketch comedy series.

Saudi Arabian media and entertainment giant MBC Group has officially launched its new headquarters in the capital of Riyadh.