Sundance Horror Film ‘Speak No Evil’ Acquired by AMC Networks’ Shudder (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorCopenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival, which runs March 21-April 3, has revealed the lineup for its international financing and co-production event CPH:FORUM.Women are taking central stage in the lineup both as characters and storytellers, and the Forum will feature new projects by Jialing Zhang (“One Child Nation”), Ilinca Calugareanu (“Chuck Norris vs.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentOne of Scandinavia’s leading film distributors, Scanbox Entertainment is changing ownership with a new board including CEO Thor Sigurjonsson. The company was bought back from Scanbox Chairman Joni Sighvatsson. New owners include COO Kim William Beich, commercial director Torben Thorup Jorgensen, and producer Chris Briggs.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentNordic streamer Viaplay is partnering with filmmaker Mikael Håfström to produce the ambitious period film “Stockholm Bloodbath.” The female-led epic adventure movie will mark the service’s second English-language film original, following Oscar-nominated helmer Lasse Hallström’s biopic “Hilma,” which will premiere later this year.Set in 1520, “Stockholm Bloodbath” explores a dark chapter in Sweden’s history, which saw the infamous massacre of nearly 100 nobles and civilians in the Swedish capital. The story is told through the eyes of Anne and her foster sister Freja as they seek revenge on the men who murdered their family at Anne’s wedding.

Star-crossed lovers? Liam Neeson confessed that he nearly sparked a romance while filming his new action film, Blacklight, in Australia.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Gucci family saga isn’t quite over.Just months after the release of Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci” — a film that could see Lady Gaga nominated for her second Oscar — a TV drama and documentary focusing on the Gucci family is in the works from Comcast-backed Sky Studios.The company is in early stages of development on a high-end TV series, and is in pre-production on a documentary series, both of which will tell “the story of a great family and a great brand,” says producer Nils Hartmann, senior VP for Sky Studios Germany and Italy.Both projects were brought to Sky by Leone Film Group, which has an agreement with several members of the Gucci family, including Alessandro Gucci, Guccio Gucci Jr. and Giorgio Gucci.

Naman Ramachandran Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” won four major awards at the 42nd annual London Critics’ Circle Film Awards on Sunday.“The Power of the Dog” won film of the year, Campion director of the year, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Kodi Smit-McPhee, actor and supporting actor of the year, respectively. This is Campion’s second film to take the Circle’s top honor, 28 years after “The Piano” won in 1994.Olivia Colman’s performance in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter,” which was snubbed at the BAFTA nominations, earned her the actress of the year award.

Alissa Simon Film CriticDanish debut feature helmer-writer Tea Lindeburg’s period drama “As In Heaven,” that portrays a fateful summer day and night in 19th century farming society, came away the biggest winner at the 44th Göteborg Film Festival, scoring on Saturday the best Nordic film kudo, this year worth approx. $44,000.Meanwhile, Seidi Haarla of Finland’s Oscar-shortlisted drama, “Compartment No.

We Don’t Talk About Bruno continues its domination of the UK’s Official Singles Chart, settling in for a third consecutive week at Number 1.

We Don’t Talk About Bruno continues its domination of the UK’s Official Singles Chart, settling in for a third consecutive week at Number 1.

EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American rights to Double Play, the latest feature from award-winning filmmaker Ernest Dickerson (DMZ, Juice). The digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios will release the film, based on Curaçaoan author Frank Martinus Arion’s internationally acclaimed Dutch-language novel Dubbelspel, on digital and VOD platforms on February 22.

Bas van der Ree has been elected chairman of the Association of Film Commissioners International, becoming the first European to chair the organization in more than a decade. Van der Ree, who has been the Netherlands Film Commissioner since 2014 when the nation’s film production incentive was launched, previously served as AFCI’s 1st vice chair.

Naman Ramachandran In cheering news for the British entertainment business, film and high-end television production spend in the U.K. reached over £5.64 billion ($7.65 billion) in 2021, £1.27 billion higher than for the pre-pandemic year 2019. Official figures published on Friday by the BFI’s Research and Statistics Unit reveal that film production reached £1.55 billion, 3% up on 2020, while high-end TV production soared to £4.09 billion, nearly double pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAnders Klarlund’s Nordic noir feature “The Last Client” with “Borgen” star Signe Egholm Olsen has been acquired by international sales and aggregation outfit LevelK. The thriller, produced by Morten Rasmussen (“Held for Ransom,” “White Sands”) at well-established Danish banner Deluca Film AS, revolves around the intense relationship between a psychotherapist and her dangerous new client. The strong cast is headlined by Egholm Olsen and Anton Hjejle (“Liberty”).“The Last Client” was written by Anders Klarlund and Jacob Weinreich, the creative duo known as A.

EXCLUSIVE: Numerous broadcasters and streamers vied for it, but Deadline hears that Showtime is in exclusive negotiations for the worldwide rights to Nothing Compares, the Sundance buzz title documentary about the provocative life of Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor.

The deals keep coming at the 2022 Virtual Sundance Film Festival. MUBI closed the docu Free Chol Soo Lee, including North America, and Warner Bros is negotiating a near $7 million WW rights deal for the Tig Notaro/Stephanie Allynne film Am I Ok? to place the film on HBO Max. The Lauren Pomerantz-scripted film stars Dakota Johnson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jermaine Fowler, Molly Gordon, June Diane Raphael, and Sean Hayes.

Production company MUBI has acquired Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee” that premiered last week at Sundance, the company said in a release.The film has been acquired for North America, UK, Ireland, Latin America, German, Austria, Italy and Turkey and will release theatrically in 2022 in the U.S., with plans for other regions coming later.The documentary is about a movement in the 1970s in San Francisco, where a 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee gets racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. Lee is sentenced to life and fights to survive until a journalist takes up his case and ignites a social justice movement in the Asian American community.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips editor“Free Chol Soo Lee” has been acquired by global distributor, streamer and production company MUBI.The documentary, which premiered last week at the Sundance Film Festival, will come to U.S. theaters in 2022, with release plans in other territories (Latin America, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey, the U.K.

Annika Pham Scandinavia’s leading sales outfit TrustNordisk has beefed up its Nordic film slate with the culinary doc “Nordic By Nature,” about the world’s most remote food destination – the two-star Michelin restaurant Koks in the Faroe Islands.The Danish film “Nordic By Nature” has already opened up festivals and audiences’ appetites, world premiering at San Sebastian and segueing to the Newport Beach Film Fest where the pic won an Audience Award for best culinary film.In his second doc in a Michelin Star series after “Michelin Stars – Tales from the Kitchen,” director Rasmus Dinesen captures the poetic mind of the young Faroese chef Poul Andrias Ziska, and his connection to the rugged local natural habitat and ancient traditions. “’We are excited to represent this fascinating film which gives us a unique and tasteful insight into the exquisite world of fine dining, and we look forward to bringing it to the global audience,” said TrustNordisk managing director Susan Wendt.TrustNordisk has a full slate of Nordic delights at the hybrid Göteborg Film Festival and parallel Nordic Film Market.On the heels of its Sundance world premiere, Christian Tafdrup’s psycho horror “Speak No Evil” will receive a market screening.

The plaudits for “Belfast” seem to be endless. They started in September at the Toronto film festival, where Kenneth Branagh’s coming-of-age-movie set in 1969 won the People’s Choice Award. And they’ve kept pouring in ever since, in the form of nominations from dozens of prominent critics groups and guilds.

The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival has confirmed its various juries, including who will be joining M. Night Shyamalan to award the International Competition prizes.