Ruben Östlund Teases ‘The Entertainment System Is Down’ With Kirsten Dunst & Daniel Brühl At Cannes Presser: “It’s F–ing Hard To Make A Good Airplane Movie”

ABBA reunited for an appearance at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, where they were given the Royal Vasa Order, a Swedish knighthood.All four members – Bjorn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Faltskog and Benny Andersson – were in attendance last Friday (May 31) at the country’s Royal Palace, accepting the honour from King Carl XVI Gustaf for their “very distinguished contributions within Swedish and international music life.”Per The Associated Press, the Royal Vasa Order is one of the most prestigious knighthoods in the country, and it was handed out for the first time in almost 50 years.The knighthoods were awarded during a solemn ceremony at the Royal Palace’s Vita Havet Assembly Rooms. The monarch handed them the order in a red box while a diploma was given to them by Queen Silvia.”The order you get today is Sweden’s thanks for your exceptional efforts,” the monarch said, as reported by The Associated Press.ABBA have not performed live together since 1982, although they have made sporadic public appearances together – including the unveiling of their ABBA Voyage show in 2022.Last Monday (May 27), Ulvaeus and Andersson participated in a Q&A session on a night that celebrated the second anniversary of ABBA Voyage.The two ABBA members entertained the idea of the Voyage live band performing at Glastonbury.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Black Bear’s management arm has signed Swedish creator, writer and showrunner Oskar Söderlund for international representation. Söderlund is best known for creating the Swedish crime thriller, “Snabba Cash,” which was a hit series for Netflix.

EXCLUSIVE: Global TV and film studio Sister is gearing up for a string of projects to hit the small and big screens and today might well see the launch of its most daring.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off the Cannes Film Festival where it won several awards, Mohammad Rasoulof‘s “The Seed of The Sacred Fig” has been acquired by a flurry of high profile distributors in major international territories. Films Boutique, which represents the critically acclaimed political drama globally, has sold it to Lionsgate for the U.K.

Anamaria Vartolomei, the breakout star of Audrey Diwan’s Venice prizewinning “Happening,” is under the spotlight at this year’s Cannes Film Festival playing strong women in a pair of movies, “Being Maria” and “The Count Monte Cristo.” Both movies are supported by Chanel for which Vartolomei is an ambassador. Vartolomei says since starring in Diwan’s drama “Happening,” which was set in the 1960s and centered around the then-illegal act of abortion, she has continued being lured to demanding roles with political and social themes.

Travel plans are being altered, ministerial meetings in Westminster are being cancelled, as Rishi Sunak has now finally called the much-anticipated General Election for July 4 - and with more than 100 MPs throwing in the towel at this election, including a former Prime Minister, the next parliament will look very different.

Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy has become a father for the third time after his US model wife Elle Evans gave birth to their second child together.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Swedish director Ruben Östlund, who won Cannes Film Festival‘s Palme d’Or for “The Square” and “Triangle of Sadness,” was among the guests at the German Films and Medienboard Reception on May 18 in the garden of the Mondrian Hotel in Cannes. Östlund, who is in the Riviera resort to promote his latest production, “The Entertainment System Is Down,” was accompanied by Philippe Bober of Coproduction Office, one of the film’s producers, and Erik Hemmendorf of Plattform Produktion, Östlund’s Swedish producer. (They are pictured above.) German Films, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, was represented at the event by managing director Simone Baumann, and Medienboard, which is a film fund for the Berlin-Brandenburg region, was represented by its CEO Kirsten Niehuus.

Five years ago, Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi broke out internationally with the Oscar-nominated “Border,” a thorny little beast of a fable about love, complicity, and guilt. His latest prods at some of the same themes, although the thorny little beast at the center of “The Apprentice” is far from a fictional creature of fables.

Michaela Zee A24 is closing an eight-figure deal to acquire the U.S. rights to Ruben Östlund’s “The Entertainment System Is Down,” Variety has confirmed.

CANNES – There is nothing wrong with a three-hour movie. There have been absolute masterworks longer than 180 minutes.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed the first international sales for Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” ahead of its world premiere on Friday in the Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival. The film has been acquired in Italy by BiM Distribuzione and Lucky Red, Benelux by September Film Distribution, Spain by Bteam Pictures, Greece by Ama Films, Hungary by Cirko Film, Norway by Selmer Media, Portugal by Leopardo Filmes, Taiwan by Hooray Films and Turkey by Bir Film.

Annika Pham Back in Cannes a year after presiding over the main Cannes jury, the two-time Palme d’or winner Ruben Öslund unveiled more details about his next mega-project, English-language “The Entertainment is Down,” which he said should be ready for Cannes 2026. The press conference, attended by the hottest talent and producers from the Nordic region and beyond, was hosted by Film i Väst, one of Europe’s largest regional film funds.

Annika Pham Billed the ‘Trollywood’ of the North for its close ties to talent, the leading Scandinavian regional film fund Film i Väst in Sweden’s Trollhättan has boarded the Noomi Rapace starrer “Mother, to be helmed by Macedonia’s Teona Stugar Mitevska. The biopic, in which Rapace will play the legendary religious figure Mother Teresa, will mark the English-language debut of esteemed auteur Mitevska, credited for the 2019 Berlin entry “God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya”.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Succession” star Nicholas Braun is in talks to star in Ruben Östlund’s “The Entertainment System Is Down.” Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Brühl are already on board the buzzy satire. “The Entertainment System Is Down” is one of the sexiest packages being shopped at the Cannes Film Market, where the Coproduction Office has launched international sales.

The cast of Kinds of Kindness took over the red carpet at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival on Friday afternoon (May 17).

Rithy Panh has dedicated the lion’s share of his career to interrogating the genocidal Khmer Rouge era in his native Cambodia, and it is no trivial obsession. Panh fled Phnom Penh when he was just 11, and after his family was devastated in the Killing Fields, he escaped to a Thai refugee camp at 15. Now 60, Panh has been committed to keeping the memory of the impact of Pol Pot’s tyrannical regime alive in documentary, narrative and animated film.

After two Palme d’Or wins, it feels like Ruben Östlund can make a movie about whatever the hell he wants with whatever actors he chooses. And for his new film, “The Entertainment System is Down,” it appears he’s doing just that.

Keanu Reeves (John Wick) is now confirmed for Ruben Östlund’s anticipated upcoming film The Entertainment System Is Down and we can reveal that he’ll be joined in the cast by Kirsten Dunst (Civil War) and Daniel Brühl (Rush).

Annika Pham Scandinavia’s top sales agent TrustNordisk has scored major deals on the English-language epic “Stockholm Bloodbath” by Oscar-nominated Mikael Håfström (‘Evil”), which has sold to Brainstorm Media and Sunrise Films for the US and Canada, The Jokers for France and Divisa Red for Spain. The Claes Bang-vehicle, produced by Helena Danielsson for Viaplay Studios Sweden, is due to screen at the Cannes Market May 18, in a new international version.