Sundance Discovery ‘A Love Song’ Sells to Sony’s Stage 6, Bleecker Street (EXCLUSIVE)

The Saturdays singer Mollie King and her fiancé Stuart Broad have jetted off on a romantic city break to Paris.The pair, who got engaged on New Year’s Day in 2021, flew to the city of love and romance to celebrate Valentine’s Day together. And keeping her fans updated, 34 year old Mollie has been sharing glimpses of the trip with her 950,000 Instagram followers.Taking to the social media platform, the BBC Radio 1 presenter shared a loved-up snap of her and her beau looking cosy in front of the Seine River. Looking as chic as ever, Mollie wore a smart camel jacket and paired it with some straight leg white jeans and a pair of chunky black boots.

Cinema Guild has acquired U.S. rights to The Novelist’s Film, the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winner from South Korean writer-director Hong Sangsoo, which recently made its world premiere at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival. The film is the third Silver Bear winner in as many years from Hong—who won Best Director for The Woman Who Ran in 2020 and Best Screenplay for Introduction in 2021—and will be the 11th of the director’s works released by Cinema Guild in the last seven years.

Despite her young age, Indian-born British actress Alia Bhatt has sustained herself as a leading lady in Hindi cinema for the past decade, racking up credits including Gully Boy, Raazi and Highway.

Christopher Vourlias Germany’s Sola Media has closed a wave of international sales for the animated feature “Finnick,” produced by Riki Group, which will be released by Sony Pictures Russia in Russia and CIS on March 24.The CGI-animated comedy follows the adventures of 13-year-old Christine, who befriends the young prankster Finnick – one of the furry and usually invisible beings known as Finns. The odd couple has to team up as detectives to solve the mysterious events happening in their city.The Stuttgart-based sales agency has inked deals with Eagle Pictures (Italy), Independent Films (Benelux), Koch Films (German/Austria/Switzerland), Vertigo Releasing (U.K.), Tanweer (Greece), Selmer Media (Scandinavia), Myndform (Iceland), Rialto (Australia and New Zealand), and Black Sheep Films (South Africa), and holds exclusive distribution rights in multiple additional territories.

Frances Bean Cobain, the daughter of Courtney Love and the late rocker Kurt Cobain, is dating Riley Hawk, the son of pro skateboarder Tony Hawk!

Naman Ramachandran Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. rights to writer-director Ajitpal Singh’s debut feature, “Fire in the Mountains,” which premiered in the World Dramatic Competition of the Sundance Film Festival in 2021.A powerful feminist tale set in a tourist homestay in the Himalayan foothills of northern India, the film centers around a woman (Vinamrata Rai), the sole breadwinner of the household, who scrimps and saves for her son’s medical treatment, while her alcoholic husband believes that an expensive shamanic ritual is the answer to all their woes.The film is produced by Alan McAlex and Ajai Rai of prolific Indian arthouse producers Jar Pictures alongside Mauli Singh and Amit Mehta.

Love Island’s Shannon Singh and her boyfriend Ben Sterling have given a glimpse inside their stunning home after moving into a new property together. The reality TV star, who infamously left the Love Island villa after just 48 hours, rekindled her former relationship with DJ Ben weeks after exiting the show. The 23 year old Scottish model shared a snap of her and boyfriend Ben looking loved up in front of their new home to her 452,000 Instagram followers.The pair can be seen standing in front of what appears to be a gorgeous new build property.

Naman Ramachandran Protagonist Pictures has closed multiple deals for several key territories on Sundance selection and Berlin Film Festival competition title “Call Jane.”Territories sold include DCM for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Umbrella Entertainment for Australia and New Zealand, Mis.label for Scandinavia, Eagle for Italy, Shaw for Singapore and Empire for South Africa.Directed by Phyllis Nagy, the Oscar nominated writer of “Carol,” the film stars Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara and Chris Messina. The film follows Joy (Banks), a traditional 1960s housewife who unexpectedly falls pregnant and finds the Janes, an underground abortion movement led by Virginia (Weaver).

Christopher Vourlias “Gotham” star Ben McKenzie and “Instinct” actress Bojana Novakovic are attached to star in the new J-horror film “Bloat,” Variety can reveal.Produced by Bazelevs, the production banner of Screenlife pioneer Timur Bekmambetov (“Unfriended,” “Searching,” “Profile”), “Bloat” is a co-production with Russian streaming platform Okko, French production and sales house Pulsar Content (“The Deep House”), and Japanese production company flag Co., Ltd.Filming has already started in New York and will continue in Japan. Pic marks the first time Okko has co-financed an international production.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorGlobal Screen has closed a raft of presales for 3D-animated feature film “My Fairy Troublemaker,” and will present new scenes to buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market.The film has been sold to U.K. and Ireland (Signature Entertainment), Australia and New Zealand (Rialto), Spain and Portugal (Big Picture Films), Italy (Koch), Scandinavia (Selmer Media), Poland (Kino Swiat), CIS (Silver Box), Ukraine (UFD), Baltics (Garsu Pasaulio), former Yugoslavia (Karantanija), Bulgaria (Pro Films), Middle East (Gulf Film), South Korea (Big Film), Malaysia (Suraya) and Vietnam (Lightening McQueen).In the film, Violetta, a cheeky fairy, smuggles herself into the human world.

Angelique Jackson Bleecker Street has secured North American rights to Catherine Hardwicke’s new action-comedy, “Mafia Mamma,” starring Toni Collette, Monica Bellucci and Rob Huebel.Collette stars in the film as a suburban American woman, who inherits her grandfather’s mafia empire and must learn navigate her new role as the head of the family business, defying everyone’s expectations.Based on an original idea by acclaimed French novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker Amanda Sthers, Hardwicke directs from a screenplay written by Debbie Jhoon and Michael J. Feldman (Peacock’s “AP Bio,” Hulu’s”Deadbeat”).

Bleecker Street has acquired North American rights to Catherine Hardwicke’s action-comedy Mafia Mamma, starring Toni Collette (The Staircase, Nightmare Alley), Monica Bellucci (The Matrix franchise, The Man Who Sold His Skin) and Rob Huebel (The Descendants, The Goldbergs), which is heading into production in Italy in May.

Bleecker Street has acquired domestic rights to Catherine Hardwicke’s new action comedy “Mafia Mamma” starring Toni Collette, the company announced on Wednesday.The film also stars Monica Bellucci and Rob Huebel. The film is set to go into production this May in Italy.“Mafia Mamma” centers on a suburban American woman who inherits her grandfather’s Mafia empire, and guided by the Firm’s trusted consigliere defies everyone’s expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business.“Mafia Mamma” is a Vocab Films, IDEA(L) and New Sparta Production based on an original idea by French novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker Amanda Sthers.

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.

Holly Jones In anticipation of its world premiere at the Berlinale, Latido Films, which is handling international distribution, has provided Variety exclusive access to the international trailer for Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s debut feature, “Lullaby.”The film, which takes an earnest glimpse into the fraught dynamics of cross-generational caregiving, will be included as part of the Panorama strand at the fest, which lends a platform to projects covering societal taboos and topics not oft-breached by commercial cinema.In “Lullaby,” an exhausted Amaia (Laia Costa) is tasked with seeking comfort and aid from her aging parents as her husband, Javi (Mikel Bustamante), follows his career out of town after the birth of their child. A wide range of emotions are displayed as Amaia learns to understand and engage with her mother, Begoñia (Susi Sanchez), while forging her way towards independence. “We never talk about motherhood as a crisis.

Tonight there’s going to be another one of those moments you never thought you’d see on television on addictive reality show Celebs Go Dating. Vanessa Feltz, one of the original talk show hosts and legendary radio host, is on hand to offer Abz Love - of boyband ‘5ive’ fame - some relationship advice. Not only is it surprising to learn that Vanessa and her fiance Ben Ofoedu are good friends with Abz, and keen to come on the show to help him find love and break his bad relationship habits.

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali has revealed the first trailer for his long-awaited film “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” which will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Starring Alia Bhatt (“Gully Boy”) in the titular role alongside Ajay Devgn (“Tanhaji”), the film is based on the book, “Mafia Queens of Mumbai,” written by S. Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges.