Samuel Goldwyn Head Weighs in on Controversial India Oscar Selection and ‘RRR’ Snub, Calls ‘The Last Film Show’ a ‘Strong Contender’

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Paramount’s R-rated thriller “Smile” continues to beat box office expectations in North America and beyond. Over the weekend, the horror movie added $16.3 million at the international box office, boosting its overseas tally to $66.4 million. Globally, “Smile” has grossed $137.5 million, a killer result for a film with a $17 million production budget. It’s an even bigger win when taking into account that “Smile” was originally commissioned for the streaming service Paramount+ and wasn’t intended to play in theaters at all. But positive test screenings encouraged Paramount to give the film a full theatrical rollout. It’s the studio’s latest win following “Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Lost City,” “Scream” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.”

Refresh for latest…: Horror ruled at the global and international box office again this session with Universal/Blumhouse’s Halloween Ends bowing to $17.2M in 77 overseas markets for a $58.4M worldwide launch. Last week’s champ, Paramount’s Smile, put in another scary strong performance, dropping just 16% with $16.3M in 61 markets, to beam at a running offshore total of $66.4M and $137.6M global. The latter had crossed $100M worldwide on Tuesday.

Roving gangs have gained power throughout Haiti over the past 15 months in the wake of former President Jovenel Moïse's assassination, blockading essential ports and terrorizing citizens who are increasingly in need of basic supplies like food and medicine.  The Biden administration announced this week that it will deploy security assistance to Haiti's National Police and issue visa restrictions on Haitian officials involved with gangs.  The move falls short of "a specialized armed force" that Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry requested from the international community, an action that U.S. Sen.

Kim Kardashian is reportedly not in close communication with ex Kanye West at the moment.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Novelist Amy Tan and Oscar-winning “Rain Man” screenwriter Ron Bass are on board to deliver a sequel to “The Joy Luck Club,” the 1993 movie that broke new ground for Asian American representation. The new film, “Joy Luck Club 2,” is set up at Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment Group, with Ashok and Priya Amritraj producing alongside Tan, Bass and Jeff Kleeman. A director hasn’t been announced yet. The original “Joy Luck Club,” directed by Wayne Wang, was an epic, multigenerational saga of Chinese and Chinese-American mothers and daughters, whose histories, stories and lives interweave as they navigate life. Club members included characters played by Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lisa Lu and Kieu Chinh. The ensemble cast also included Tamlyn Tomita, Rosalind Chao and Russell Wong.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kamila Andini’s “Before Now and Then” (aka “Nana”) topped the nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, with nods in four categories including best film and best director. The film, about a gentlewoman’s memories of escaping from a Communist purge, narrowly headed three films with three nominations each: “Poet” (aka “Akyn”) by Kazakhstan’s Darezhan Omirbayev; “This Is What I Remember” (aka “Esimde”) by Kyrgyzstan’s Aktan Arym Kubat; and Philippines director Lav Diaz’s “When The Waves Are Gone” (“Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”). APSA casts its net wide, seeking honors for cinematic excellence from 78 countries and territories defined as Asia Pacific. The awards will be presented at a ceremony at HOTA on Australia’s Gold Coast on Nov. 11, 2022.

A Minnesota woman is accused of a threatening to kill a Somali family while invading their St. Cloud-area home on two occasions, court documents say. Alyssa Holmberg, 33, of Ogilvie, is charged with bias-motivated assault and three other counts in connection with the Saturday disturbance at a Waite Park apartment building.

Naman Ramachandran “Last Film Show” (“Chhello Show”) India’s contender in the Oscars international feature category, will release across India on Oct. 14. Cashing in on the fact that it is in contention at the 95th Oscars, the distributors – Roy Kapur Films in partnership with PVR – are pricing previews on Oct. 13 across 95 Indian cinemas at INR95 ($1.16). The partly autobiographical drama takes director Pan Nalin back to his roots in Saurashtra, Gujarat, western India, where “Last Film Show” was filmed. The story is set against the backdrop of Indian cinemas witnessing a massive transition from celluloid to digital where hundreds of single-screen cinemas are either in ruins or have disappeared altogether.

Controversial plans to build more than 2,000 homes in the Hyde countryside are to go out to public consultation again ahead of a potential decision at the end of the year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Rithy Panh, director of “Rice People” and “S21 The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine” is an icon of art-house cinema, at once political, unique, and charming. The iconic image may be another of his confections – a palatable work built on uncomfortable facts. On the incomplete evidence of a 50-minute on-stage dialog at the Busan International Film Festival on Sunday, Panh comes across as simultaneously contrarian and principled. A curmudgeonly veteran and yet a filmmaker still curious to learn. “If there were no Khmer Rouge maybe I would not be a filmmaker,” he said of the Communist insurgents, who won the Cambodian civil war in 1975 and whose brutality and atrocities he has spent a lifetime documenting and exposing.

Paramount’s Smile is positively grinning ear-to-ear as the horror pic from director Parker Finn saw a wild 19% upswing in holdovers at the international box office in its second frame. The weekend gross was $17.5M in 61 markets for a $40M offshore cume and $89.9M global to date.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean sales agent Finecut has added “Secret: Untold Melody” and “The Dinner” to its burgeoning Asian Contents & Film Market slate. Both titles are sourced from a deal with Hive Media Corp. (“Inside Men,” “The Man Standing Next”). An adaptation of 2007 Taiwan hit “Secret,” “Secret: Untold Melody” is a romance film about pianist and a student. While the original film starred Jay Chou and Gwei Lun-mei, the Korean retread stars Doh Kyung-soo (a.k.a D.O. from celebrated K-pop group EXO) who has acting credits including “Swing Kids” and the “Along With The Gods” franchise, and rising star Won Jin-a (“Netflix’s “Hellbound”). Now in post-production, the film is directed by Seo You-min (“Recalled”).

“Smile,” which was projected for an opening in the high teens against its $17 million production budget, actually saw a slight 4% increase in grosses from Friday to Saturday, beating industry estimates which had predicted a slight decrease after the film earned audience scores of B- on CinemaScore and a 69% positive rating on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak. While those scores could signal a more frontloaded box office run, the word-of-mouth among hardcore horror fans still seems to be running pretty strong and giving “Smile” a chance to match the $23.6 million opening of Universal/Blumhouse’s “The Black Phone” from earlier this year if Sunday numbers also beat projections.

Bob Saget's last film has been described as the actor's "final gift to all that loved him". The 'Full House' actor/comedian - who was found dead on January 9 aged 65 at a hotel in Florida after suffering an apparent fall - stars in director Jeremy LaLonde's new comedy 'Daniel's Gotta Die' and the moviemaker has insisted it's a tragedy that Bob never got to see the project finished. 'Daniel's Gotta Die' is now set to receive its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival in Texas later this year and Jeremy declared the movie is his pal's "final gift" to the world, saying in a statement: "Bob's passing came as a shock to the entire 'Daniel's Gotta Die' team.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter After years of declarations about the death of the romantic comedy, Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s recent commercial hit “The Lost City” proved there’s still a place on the big screen for meet-cute stories. Now, comedian and actor Billy Eichner is taking a stab at the feel-good genre with “Bros,” an R-rated romantic comedy that opens in 3,300 North American theaters on Friday. The movie, from Universal Pictures, is aiming to generate $8 million to $10 million in its opening weekend. It’s not a huge number, but the film carries a modest $22 million production budget. “Bros” is debuting in theaters alongside Paramount’s R-rated chiller “Smile,” which is projected to cast a toothy glow over the domestic box office charts with $16 million to $20 million. That’s a stellar result given that it only cost the studio $17 million to make.

The mayor of a small northwest Georgia town has died in what’s being described as a freak accident.