‘Talk to Me’ Producer Causeway Films Opens U.K. Division, Hires Daniel Negret

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two films from Japan, Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” and Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” won the top prizes at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards on Friday. Multiple other honors went to films from Korea and Kazakhstan. The 16th edition of the APSA Awards was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and recognized films from eight countries. “Perfect Days,” a gentle comedy drama about a toilet cleaner in Tokyo finding happiness in the everyday, premiered in Cannes and more recently was selected as Japan’s Oscar contender and as the opening title of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

EXCLUSIVE: James McAvoy (X-Men franchise), Lucas Bravo (Emily In Paris), Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale) and Almudena Amor (The Good Boss) have been set for thriller Turn Up The Sun! which has begun production in the UK under an Equity PACT agreement.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Progress has been made toward ending the SAG-AFTRA strike in recent days, but “a lot” of issues are still on the table, the union’s chief negotiator said Monday morning. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the chief negotiator and executive director of the guild, made an appearance at the Disney picket lines. In an interview outside the studio gates, he would not hazard a guess as to when the strike will be over.

Danielle Fishel is spilling all the hot tea… which has cooled considerably 24 years later!

Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex Associate editor and film writer at Deadline!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Australia’s Rialto and the U.K’s Vertigo Releasing have joined forces to launch Galaxy Pictures, a new film distribution company in Australia and New Zealand. The company will focus on “broad-appeal, star-driven commercial pictures that cater to consumers attuned to an increasingly digital landscape.” The two companies have already been cooperating for the past three years and handle 120 titles.

Starring Cynthia Erivo and Alia Shawkat, the upcoming indie drama, “Drift,” a film by filmmaker Anthony Chen (“Ilo Ilo“), from the producers of “Call Me By Your Name” and “Nomadland” opens in early 2024. Two-time Academy Award nominee Erivo stars as Jacqueline, a woman who escapes her war-torn country to a Greek island.

L.A. lawyer E. Randol Schoenberg is best known internationally for his work recovering art stolen by the Nazi during the Holocaust, with his most famous case being that of ‘Maria Altmann versus Austria’ in 2004, involving five Gustav Klimt paintings.

James Bond producers have shared an update on the next instalment, saying they are planning on “reinventing” the franchise.Speaking in an interview with The Guardian, producer Barbara Broccoli explained why it will be a while before we see 007’s return following Daniel Craig’s departure in No Time To Die.“I think these movies reflect the time they are in, and there’s a big, big road ahead reinventing it for the next chapter and we haven’t even begun with that,” Broccoli said.She explained how, with Craig, they “wanted to focus on what a 21st-century hero would look like”, adding that modernisation is necessary when a new actor takes on the role.“I go back to GoldenEye when everyone was saying ‘the Cold War is over, the wall is over, Bond is dead, no need for Bond, the whole world’s at peace and now there’s no villains’ – and boy was that wrong!” Broccoli said.Broccoli is currently promoting Amazon reality series 007 Road To A Million, which sees nine pairs of contestants compete in various Bond-themed challenges to win £1million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Iranian drama film “Empty Nets” was Monday named winner of the AFF Feature Fiction Award at the Adelaide Film Festival. Directed by Behrooz Karamizade, it collected an A$10,000 ($6,320) cash prize.

Valerie Wu Intern Fans of the iconic British secret agent James Bond will have to wait a while to see who the next 007 will be, according to franchise producer Barbara Broccoli. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Broccoli shared that executives “haven’t even begun” modernizing the franchise, adding that there is a “big road ahead” before the James Bond character is “reinvented for the next chapter.” Broccoli praised what Daniel Craig, who retired from the role of James Bond in 2021 after the release of “No Time to Die,” brought to the character.

Bob George, who served as a producer on the dramas Newness, Zoe and Endings, Beginnings, died Tuesday from injuries suffered in a bicycle accident in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief VVS Films, a leading Canada-based film distributor, will expand its operations to Australia and New Zealand. A24’s Nicolas Cage-starring comedy “Dream Scenario” is set as its first title for the new markets and will release on Jan. 1, 2024.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Dynamic Singaporean producer Jeremy Chua is to receive the FIAPF Award for Outstanding Contribution to Asia Pacific Cinema, at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) on Nov. 3 on Australia’s Gold Coast.

EXCLUSIVE: Coming off the breakout box office performance of horror hit Talk To Me, Australian production company Causeway Films has expanded internationally opening a London office and appointing Daniel Negret as its Chief Executive Officer.

EXCLUSIVE: London and LA-based management and production outfit 42 has hired MXN Entertainment partner Michelle Knudsen in its LA office.

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic It may be time for Jada Pinkett Smith to bring herself back to the red table. For years now, the actress and personality — known for movies like “Set It Off” and “Girls Trip,” as well as for her high-profile marriage to Will Smith and family life — has traded on a sort of tactical openness. “Red Table Talk,” a streaming series in which she, her daughter Willow Smith, and her mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris discuss personal matters, has, its 2018 launch to its leaving Facebook Watch and going on hiatus earlier this year, helped rebrand a performer already recognized for her flair and edge as a say-almost-everything matriarch.

The astonishing opening day box office numbers for Taylor Swift‘s The Eras Tour concert film are in!

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Taylor Swift is bringing her “Eras Tour” to the big screen a day earlier than planned. The concert film was originally scheduled to open on Friday the 13th (to coincide with her lucky number), but the singer has announced a surprise shift in release to a day earlier, with showtimes beginning Thursday at 6 p.m.

EXCLUSIVE: Anand Ramayya’s Karma Film is set to produce Maya Bastian’s The Devil’s Tears alongside Canada’s Blackout Media, while Shant Joshi’s Fae Pictures has also come on board to executive produce.