‘The Witcher’ Season 2: Joey Batey Explains Why He Felt No Pressure to Top ‘Toss a Coin to Your Witcher’

French film exports generated 91.4M euros ($103.6M) in 2021, a 5.5% increase on the previous year’s provisional figures, while admissions were up 8% to 14.8M. Comparatively, French films within France sold 39.2M tickets during the year. The figures were announced during the annual Unifrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema which is taking place in Paris this week — one of the rare international gatherings in the current landscape that’s being held as a physical event.

“I think for the next two weeks, we’re going to continue to see our case rates rise,” said Los Angeles Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer on Thursday. That statement was made more ominous by the fact that, on that very day, the county recorded a record number of new daily cases for the pandemic. At 37,000, the new tally was 10,000 cases higher than the previous record. It’s hard to imagine where two more weeks of increases will lead.

Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Garrett Bradley (Time), Joey Soloway (Transparent), Andrew Haigh (Lean on Pete) and Dawn Porter (The Me You Can’t See) have been named as jurors for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, taking place virtually from January 20-30.

Afternoon subscribers and a very happy new year. 2022 is only a few days old but we’re back with the biggest stories of the week and some more long-term stuff to look out for. 

Given the ongoing pandemic with regard to global box office, it’s tempting to say “The more things change, the more things stay the same.” To wit: Disney still leads all studios worldwide, piracy remains a major concern, and many markets are still in Covid-induced flux. But when looking back over 2021 versus 2020, there are some key differences and highlights. Thank heavens, or at least, thank the Toretto family, Godzilla and Kong, James Bond and phenom Spider-Man to name a few headliners who proved that when product is available in cinemas, audiences will embrace the communal experience.

Sony Pictures Entertainment follows its release of Parallel Mothers last week with Jockey in three theaters in NY/LA (Film Forum, AMC Lincoln Square, Laemmle Royal) in a specialty market crowded by holdovers and wide releases, and amid a Covid-19 surge that’s particularly tough on arthouses. The frame isn’t ideal for new specialty fare in any case but gets it on the board for a January rollout ahead of Oscar nominations.

Nick Cannon is sharing his family’s Christmas spirit.

Nick Cannon celebrated Christmas by sharing a few snaps of all his children, including his 5-month-old son, Zen, on what would have been his first Christmas.

Refresh for latest…: Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home is having a very happy holiday as it is now officially the first movie of the pandemic-era to pass the $1B mark at the global box office. The worldwide gross through Sunday is $1.05B which makes this installment Sony’s No. 2 film of all time, behind only Spider-Man: Far From Home ($1.13B). No Way Home is the No. 1 film of the year worldwide — and one of the only movies of the modern era to ever reach $1B without China. Simply amazing.

Susan Lucci is a soap opera icon! The 75-year-old star is probably the best known daytime soap actress, as she played the deliciously cunning Erika Kane on All My Children during its entire run from 1970 to 2011. Born in Scarsdale, New York, Susan graduated from Marymount College with a degree in drama.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentLocally-made films, especially animated titles, dominated the Japanese box office in 2021.

Stray Kids, ASTRO, THE BOYZ and more, are set to collaborate for a performance at this year’s MBC Music Festival.On December 22, MBC released a video teasing the upcoming collaboration, which begins with clips of different newscasters announcing the oncoming year of the tiger during the years 1998 and 2010, in accordance with the Chinese zodiac.Ushering 2022 in as the next year of the tiger, the 2021 MBC Music Festival will see seven idols across six different K-pop boy groups collaborating for

Running around in the snow in a bathing suit may not sound ideal, but when you have a hot tub nearby, it’s quite nice! Mariah Carey posted a silly and sweet video of herself and her twins running into the snow, after chilling in a hot tub in Aspen. The 52-year-old “We Belong Together” singer and her 10-year-old twins Monroe and Moroccan Scott Cannon looked like they had tons of fun running between the snow and hot tub.

Fucked Up have shared the sprawling new video for ‘Year Of The Horse’, as the band also celebrate the 10th anniversary reissue of ‘David Comes To Life’. Check out the video below, along with our interview with frontman Damian Abraham.‘Year Of The Horse’ is the latest in the band’s Zodiac series of albums, released periodically to coincide with the Chinese new year.

Pink Floyd have surprised fans with the release of a dozen live albums documenting some of their gigs from the early ’70s.The 12 LPs were added to streaming services this week with no prior announcement, spanning the years 1970 to 1972, covering the period in which the band released ‘Atom Heart Mother’ (1970), ‘Meddle’ (1971), and ‘Obscured By Clouds’ (1972).The earliest recording, titled ‘They Came In Peace’, and featuring performances from Leeds University on February 28, 1970 and Washington

Awards season has begun, and the entertainment industry is gearing up for the busiest — and glitziest — time of the year. Whether or not you’re an A-lister, conquer your next big event with style and confidence by using these celebrity-inspired tips for awards show prep, courtesy of Kelley Blue Book. From wellness rituals to a perfectly planned arrival, here are secrets straight from the red carpet.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese viewers may not get a chance to catch the Chloe Zhao-helmed Marvel movie “Eternals” in theaters due to China’s thorny relationship with the director, but the film’s meshing of Eastern and Western ideas has nonetheless appealed to some Chinese viewers.Many reviewers on the Douban social media platform who have seen the film — presumably through illicit means — have commented on how excited they are to identify with what they feel are Chinese elements buried within the

Rebecca Davis editorChinese action-adventure title “Schemes in Antiques” conspired to hold its own at the top of the China box office with a $14.7 million second weekend, having opened first last week with a solid $25.6 million three-day debut.Originally set to premiere in April, the tale of intrigue around real and counterfeit artifacts from Hong Kong director Derek Kwok Chi-kin (“Wukong”) has now grossed $52 million (RMB331 million) of a projected $66.6 million, according to data from Maoyan.