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Lionsgate has delivered yet another trailer for the upcoming Laika movie Missing Link. The film is coming to cinemas in the spring, and features an impressive vocal cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana, Timothy Olyphant, Emma Thompson, and Zach Galifianakis.Lionsgate/Laika/YouTubeMr. Link is the altogether lovable and hilarious title character in this globe-trotting comedy-adventure from the award-winning animation studio, Laika.Hugh Jackman is Sir Lionel Frost: a brave and dashing adventurer who considers himself to be the world’s foremost investigator of myths and monsters.

A luxury spa is coming to a holiday park in a Lake District village loved by Mancunians and will feature one of the largest hydropools in the UK.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic It’s one thing to direct an episode of the sitcom on which you appeared for six seasons. “Schitt’s Creek” star Daniel Levy aced that exercise back in 2020, earning an Emmy for co-helming the series finale. But it’s an entirely different challenge to write and direct a smart, sensitive original feature in which you also play the lead character — a feat Levy deftly achieves with New Year’s tearjerker “Good Grief,” giving those unsatisfied with the rest of Netflix’s fluffy Christmas fare something substantial to kick off 2024.

Hello, and welcome to the Scene to Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex Associate editor and film writer at Deadline. 

“Each year, First Feature Competition is something truly special. We can’t wait to introduce these emerging talents to the world.”, she adds.

Until very recently with the release of James Wan’s Aquaman, the film side of the DC Universe has had patchy track record to say the least. Warner Bros are clearly still finding their feet, while also chasing the tail of their Disney competitors. On the animated side of the spectrum however, things have always looked a little brighter. DC have always been comfortably reliable in terms of their animated output, dating all the way back to the critically acclaimed Batman series of the 90’s. Now, Warner Animation have taken another stab at the renowned ‘Death of Superman’ comic storyline.The well-documented and heavily-adapted plotline of the early 90’s is something even casual audience members will have an awareness of by now.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer There has been little improvement in diversity among film directors over the last five years, as the total number of features as plummeted, according to a new report from the Directors Guild of America. The DGA report found that women directed 16% of the films released since 2018, while non-white directors accounted for 17%. The total number of DGA-covered theatrical releases fell from 292 in 2018 to 162 in 2022, which the union said has had an effect on the opportunity for hiring diversity.

The shortlist of 15 films set to vie for a Best International Feature FiOscar nomination has now been revealed, with only a few surprises in the mix. 

The Directors Guild of America on Thursday unveiled a new Feature Film Diversity & Inclusion report, which spotlights the limited progress that’s been made in the feature space over the last five years, when it comes to the hiring of women and people of color, in stark contrast to what’s transpired in TV.

Bob Dylan song is set to feature in a new box set compilation chronicling The Waterboys’ album ‘This Is The Sea’. The track, an instrumental titled ‘Meridian West’, came about in 1985 when the British-Irish folk rock band were invited to play with Dylan at a session in North London recording studio Church Studios. Dylan had been working on the piece with the musician Dave Stewart when The Waterboys joined in, and the band’s frontman Mike Scott happened to record the jam session.

EXCLUSIVE: Sandbox Films (Fire of Love) and XTR (Ascension) have teamed to produce feature doc A Life Illuminated, exploring the life and legacy of pioneering marine biologist Edie Widder, in association with ocean exploration nonprofit OceanX.

K.J. Yossman Danny A. Abeckaser is directing and starring in a new World War II drama, “Bardejov” from a screenplay by Shmuel Lynn.

K.J. Yossman “The Invisible Man” star Oliver Jackson-Cohen and “Grantchester’s” Jeremy Neumark Jones have been tapped to lead upcoming World War II feature “The World Will Tremble.” Written and directed by Lior Geller, the film tells the true story of a group pf prisoners who broke out of the Third Reich’s first Nazi death camp, Chelmno. Jackson-Cohen plays Solomon Wiener while Neumark Jones takes on the role of Michael Podchlebnik.

TikTok’s ‘Add To Music App’ is set to roll out to users in 19 more countries worldwide following its launch last month.Last month, TikTok announced a new feature that allows users to directly save sounds from the app to their streaming platform of choice.Users in the US and UK can already utilise the feature now, which allows fans to save music they’ve discovered to Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.The social media platform has now announced plans for it to be available in the following countries: Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Sweden, Thailand, Malaysia, UAE, Argentina, Colombia, The Netherlands, Turkey, South Africa, Vietnam and the Philippines.“Add To Music App has been designed to help music fans capture songs that they love on TikTok in the moment of discovery, and to easily save the song to their preferred music streaming service to enjoy whenever they like,” read a statement from the video sharing platform.The feature can be used by tapping on a sound which is listed below a user’s name, then hitting ‘Add to music app’, where you can choose your preferred streaming platform.

The shortlist of 15 films to vie for a Best International Feature Film Oscar nomination is set to be announced on December 21. In all, movies from 88 countries are eligible this year, and as we regularly see, they offer up a rich treasure trove. 

George Clooney and Adam Sandler will team up in a new Noah Baumbach movie for Netflix that’s still untitled, Variety has confirmed. Baumbach co-wrote the script with actor Emily Mortimer, who also created the series “Doll and Em.” Baumbach is producing with Amy Pascal and David Heyman. Under his exclusive deal with Netflix, Baumbach has already made “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected),” in which Sandler also starred, as well as the best picture nominee “Marriage Story,” with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, and “White Noise,” adapted from the Don DeLillo novel and starring Drive and Greta Gerwig.

EXCLUSIVE: An exposé about institutionalized corruption in the Hare Krishna movement is being adapted into a feature doc by Sphere Media.

Naman Ramachandran Pham Thien An’s “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” which previously won the Golden Camera at Cannes, has won the Asian Feature Film Competition at the 34th Singapore International Film Festival. Yoon Eun-Kyung won best director for “The Tenants,” which also won the FIPRESCI award. “Dreaming & Dying,” by Singaporean director Nelson Yeo earned a special mention.

Omen is the official submission from Belgium for the International Feature Oscar category and comes from multi-hyphenate interdisciplinary artist Baloji, who makes his feature directing debut. The film had its world premiere in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section this year where it won the New Voice Prize, before going on to play myriad festivals. Utopia is the North American distributor. 

For Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari, her debut feature Shayda has served as an authentic and honest exploration into her own personal childhood trauma. The film, which is being released by Sony Pictures Classics and won the World Cinema Dramatic Competition Audience Award in Sundance earlier this year, is Australia’s Oscar submission for the Best International Feature Oscar.

Nick Holdsworth A young boy is fleeing war after his father is killed. All alone in the world, he finds a treasure map that will change his life — and give him the chance to heal from trauma. The plot of “Saleem” — Jordan’s first feature-length animation — is a universal story of the horrors so many children around the world face today, its producers say.

The third annual Red Sea Film Festival handed out its Yusr Awards on Thursday night, with Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames taking Best Feature and Farah Nabulsi’s The Teacher scoring a pair of wins including Best Actor for Saleh Bakri. See the full list below.

A year after WNBA star Brittney Griner was released from a Russian prison, she has signed a sweeping deal with Disney.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Academy has revealed the list of eligible films for consideration in best animated, documentary and international feature of the year, encompassing a broad range of blockbusters and critically acclaimed titles. GKids’ “The Boy and the Heron,” Pixar’s “Elemental,” Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and Illumination’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” are among the 33 animated films in the running.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday unveiled the films eligible for consideration for the 2024 Oscars in the categories of Documentary Feature Film and International Feature Film and Animated Feature Film.

Back in October Kelela announced a remix album to accompany this year's Raven. Today it has been confirmed that RAVE:N, The Remixes will be released on February 9 and include contributions from artists including Shygirl, Yaeji, Liv.e, BbyMutha, LSDXOXO, and Loraine James among others.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic The urge to dazzle can be its own straitjacket, and it’s one that weighs heavily on Meshal Aljaser’s feature debut “Naga.” He aims for a hurtling virtuosity, à la “Run Lola Run,” in depicting a disobedient young Saudi woman’s extreme travails in trying to get home before her strict curfew. But that quarter-century-old German thriller’s simplicity of plot supported its hyperbolic style, while here the writer-director is so preoccupied with camera and editorial calisthenics, nothing else has a chance to come into focus.

There’s an independently financed feature take of the 1992 John Kander and Fred Ebb West End and Broadway musical of Kiss of the Spider Woman that’s being ready to shoot in the spring with Jennifer Lopez set to play the role of Aurora, which Chita Rivera originated on the Great White Way.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor MAD Solutions has acquired world sales rights to OSN’s first-ever original feature, “Yellow Bus,” which world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. As well as world sales, MAD Solutions will handle Middle East and North Africa theatrical distribution, while OSN will handle all other MENA rights.

EXCLUSIVE: Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi (Entergalactic) will star in and produce the new animated feature Slime which will serve as animator Jeron Braxton‘s (Baby Demon) feature directorial debut. Brian Ash (The Boondocks) penned the script and will executive produce.

In what is an annual tradition, A24 led all nominations at this morning’s 39th Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations with 11 nods while their movie Past Lives, along with Netflix’s May December and Amazon MGM’s American Fiction all tied for the most nominations with five apiece.

Single’s Inferno, its producers have teased.During a press conference for Single’s Inferno season three, producer Kim Jae-won revealed that “a lot of changes to the rules” have been made after his team got “a lot of feedback for [season two] being too similar [to season one]”, per The Korea Times.“So many things have changed, such as allowing couples to go to paradise within 30 minutes of meeting on the first day,” he added. “The dynamics of the show evolved so rapidly, which even surprised us creators.”Kim also teased a “hidden rule” that will be in place during the third season of Single’s Inferno, while keeping mum on details “So please see it for yourself through the show and find out,” he said.Elsewhere during the press conference, the Single’s Inferno produced also said that he thinks season three is “the best season in terms of entertainment”, adding that the cast members are “ore upfront and straightforward” than before.“They don’t care what other people think,” he revealed.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief France-based multinational Studiocanal has launched Cultivator Films to facilitate local co-productions in Australia and will kick off with book-to-film adaptation “Kangaroo.” “Kangaroo” is scripted by Harry Cripps (“The Dry,” “Penguin Bloom”) and directed by Kate Woods (“The Lincoln Lawyer,” “The Umbrella Academy,” “The Good Lord Bird,” “Looking for Alibrandi”). Eastern Arrernte emerging director Samantha Laughton is set as a director’s attachment. Slated to start production in Alice Springs in the first half of 2024, “Kangaroo” is a Northern Territory-inspired story based on Chris Barnes, aka ‘Brolga,’ who is the founder of the Kangaroo Sanctuary in Alice Springs. Cultivator Films Australia is led by Studiocanal’s Australia and New Zealand CEO Elizabeth Trotman.

EXCLUSIVE: Radar Pictures and Bandits Roost Entertainment have tapped Kenny Ortega (High School Musical) to direct Weslandia, a feature adaptation of the international bestselling children’s book by Newbery Medal winner Paul Fleischman.

Film Liaisons in California Statewide (FLICS) has announced winners for the 28th annual California on Location Awards (COLAs), presented Friday at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City.

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of a huge week for their Adam Sandler-led Netflix animated feature Leo, co-directed with Robert Smigel, David Wachtenheim and Robert Marianetti have signed with Independent Artist Group for representation.