‘Silver Stars’ Director Auli Mantila takes Nordic Noir in New Directions in ‘Transport’

Kanye West’s new album Donda 2 will not be available on streaming platforms.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic“Animals are people too!” a liberal yahoo in Portland yells before nearly getting his face eaten off by a Belgian Malinois named Lulu in “Dog,” a movie that not-so-secretly agrees with that sentiment, even as it has a laugh at the clueless animal lover’s expense.Lulu, it turns out, is a more complicated character than the one her human co-star, Channing Tatum, gets to play — which explains why it took three Malinoises to embody her on screen: one to do most of the “acting” (Britta), one to lie down (Lana) and one to look as incorrigibly homicidal as possible, like she could rip out your throat or murder Al-Qaeda, if necessary (that would be Zuza). But Tatum had the much tougher job, trying to disappear into the skin of a battle-scarred ex-U.S.

EXCLUSIVE: Saban Films is continuing to expand its international footprint, having recently inked a deal with distribution partners in Switzerland and Benelux. The L.A.-based company has signed with WW Entertainment in Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) and Ascot Elite in Switzerland, which it will add to deals it already has in place in the UK and Ireland (Altitude), Germany and Austria (Splendid), France (ACE Entertainment), Spain (Key2Media), Scandinavia (Mis.Label) and Australia and New Zealand (Defiant Screen Entertainment).

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian director Matteo Garrone, who was at the 2020 Berlinale with Roberto Benigni-starrer “Pinocchio,” is set to return to the director’s chair in March with coming-of-age adventure drama “Io Capitano,” on which France’s Pathé will be handling international distribution.Garrone’s new pic, whose title translates as “I, Captain,” will be shot in Italy, Morocco and Senegal, marking the first time, Garrone –– a two-time Cannes jury prize-winner, with “Gomorrah” in 2008 and “Reality” in 2012 –– sets a feature film outside of Italy.As is customary with Garrone, story details of “Io Capitano” are being kept under wraps, besides the fact that he wrote the screenplay with regular collaborators Massimo Gaudioso and Andrea Tagliaferri and actor Massimo Ceccherini (“Pinocchio”), who also contributed to the “Pinocchio” screenplay.

No tissues needed! Channing Tatum offered reassurance that his new film will not follow in Marley and Me’s tragic footsteps.

K.J. Yossman Komplizen Film, the German studio behind Princess Diana biopic “Spencer,” have joined The Creatives, an alliance of independent production companies.The alliance was formed to increase the companies’ “collective power in the face of the changing landscape.”Film and TV production outfit Komplizen, which was founded in 1999 by Janine Jackowski and Maren Ade, joins eleven other companies from across the world including Razor and Haut Et Court, the latter of which initiated the collective.The companies work closely together in a number of ways, from sharing information, combining talent and networks and negotiating with common rules to co-production and partnerships.

Komplizen Film, the German indie run by Janine Jackowski, Maren Ade and Jonas Dornbach, has joined The Creatives, an alliance of independent production companies that has a three-year partnership for developing and funding series with Fremantle.

The stars of Death on the Nile are gearing up for the release of their new movie!

Nickelodeon Animation and Paramount Animation have formed a creative partnership with LAFIG Belgium and IMPS to produce multiple The Smurfs movies.

EXCLUSIVE: RLJE Films and Shudder have teamed to acquire rights to The Cellar, the Irish horror film written and directed by Brendan Muldowney and starring Elisha Cuthbert and Eoin Macken. The deal comes as the pic is prepping for its world premiere next month at SXSW. It will now get an April 15 day-and-date release in the U.S., with Shudder to stream it exclusively in North America, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and its AMC Networks sibling RLJE Films handling theatrical.

Hibs have announced the signing of rising Standard Liege star Allan Delferrière until 2024 with an option to extend for a further season.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentIndie Sales has boarded Philippe Van Leeuw’s “The Wall,” an English-language film headlined by rising star Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread,” “Bergman Island”) and set on the border of Mexico and Arizona.“The Wall” follows Jessica Comley (Krieps), a committed and zealous border patrol agent who one day loses control and kills a harmless migrant in front of three witnesses: her colleague, who tries to cover the crime, and a Native American man with his grandson.Van Leeuw is a Belgian filmmaker known for his politically-minded films, including “Insyriated,” which won the Berlinale audience award in 2017, as well as “The Day God Walked Away” which earned San Sebastian festival’s New Director Award in 2009. With “The Wall,” Van Leew said he wanted to portray “today’s America.” Indie Sales is handling global rights on the anticipated feature and will launch it at the European Film Market.“We’re proud to work with a director whose talent has been proven,” said Nicolas Eschbach, Indie Sales CEO and co-founder.

As the Best International Feature race comes to a close, it’s fairly clear to see who the favorites are. Since it premiered at Cannes last year, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car has dominated the landscape, featuring highly in international critics’ awards and even penetrating the consciousness of the Golden Globes. But—as we saw at Cannes, where Hamaguchi only went home with Best Screenplay—critical mass doesn’t always impact on industry juries. It’s just as possible, then, that the Oscar might go to Norway’s The Worst Person in the World, a gently subversive romcom by Joachim Trier that captures the exact moment in a director’s career when they nail their style. To add a third alternative, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s sobering emigrant story Flee has been quietly making history, a feat that will be cemented if it becomes, as many think it might, the first film to compete in the International, Documentary and Animation fields.

Refresh for latest…: Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home scaled fresh heights this session as it reached an amazing new milestone by crossing the $1B mark at the international box office. The offshore cume through Sunday is an estimated $1.003B for a global total of $1.74B.