Ukrainian War Anthology ‘Those Who Stayed’ Enters Production

Cohen Media Group (CMG) has acquired US rights to the feature documentary Slava Ukraini, co-directed by French philosopher and activist Bernard-Henri Lévy.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” an adaptation of the popular role-playing game, ignited at the international box office with $33 million from 60 markets. Paramount and eOne’s film also opened in North America with $38.5 million, bringing its global tally to $71 million. It’s a good start, especially considering Hollywood’s track record in adapting games for the big screen. But “Dungeons and Dragons” needs to keep playing in theaters to justify its $150 million price tag before marketing. Overseas audiences will be key to the success of “D&D.” The film, directed Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley and starring Chris Pine and Regé-Jean Page, enjoyed the biggest start in China with $5 million, followed by the U.K. with $4.3 million, Mexico with $2.4 million, Australia with $2.4 million, and Germany with $2 million.

Ruben Östlund and Erik Hemmendorff’s company Plattform Produktion has issued an apology to Berlin-based Argentinian artist Lola Arias over the use of her name in the 2017 Cannes Palme d’Or Winner The Square.

Orlando Bloom is sharing snippets from his recent trip to Ukraine, his first visit to the country since 2016. The "Lord of the Rings" actor announced he had arrived in Ukraine on Sunday as part of a trip with UNICEF, during which he would learn more about how the ongoing conflict with Russia has affected the children in the country.  Bloom shared photos and videos from his trip on Instagram, saying he visited the UNICEF supported Splino center and was "fortunate to hear children's laughter" there.

Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev have revealed that the Ukrainian refugees they have taken into their home didn't know they were a famous couple when they arrived. The Countdown star, 37, and her Strictly star husband, 43, wanted to help Sasha Borysenko, her eight-year-old son Mykyta, mother Luba and her aunt Gayla amid the conflict with Russia.  Gayla arrived last June and recently the rest of her family joined her - and they all now use the nickname 'star' for Rachel after learning she is a celebrity.

Manchester City defender John Stones has spoken about the impact the war in Ukraine had on Oleksandr Zinchenko while the pair were teammates at the Etihad.

EXCLUSIVE: Production has wrapped on a Bulgarian live-action short film starring Oscar-nominated Bulgarian actor Maria Bakalova. The film, titled Това, Kоето Oстава (English title: What Stays After), is directed by Dimitris Georgiev. The short is produced by No Blink Pictures, New European Wave Entertainment and Bakalova’s production company Five Oceans, co-founded with fellow actor and filmmaker Julian Kostov (Shadow and Bone, The Toxic Avenger).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Fremantle has acquired a majority stake in Belgium’s A Team Productions the indie outfit behind hit drug gang drama “Patsers” by directorial duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and standout short “ “Baghdad Messi.”  The company, which was founded in 2009, is headed by Kobe van Steenberghe and Hendrik Verthé and scored its first major international in 2011 with the short “Land of the Heroes” which won the International Jury Prize at the Berlinale that year. They are also behind short “Baghdad Messi,” by Belgium-based Kurdish director Sahim Omar Kalifa, which won prizes at dozens of international fests and was shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2014.

Fremantle Acquires Majority Stake In Belguim’s A Team ProductionsFremantle has acquired a majority stake in A Team Productions (ATP). Based in Belgium, A Team Productions was founded in 2009 and is led by Kobe van Steenberghe and Hendrik Verthé. The company is behind the 2011 short film Land of the Heroes, which won the International Jury Prize at Berlin in 2011. A Team also produced the short Baghdad Messi, which was shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2014. Other credits from the outfit include Patser (Gangsta) by filmmakers Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. Later this year, A Team will release the feature-length film Baghdad Messi and the high-end fiction series Alter Ego. “I have long admired Kobe, Hendrik, and the whole ATP team’s work,” said Dave Heuten, CEO Fremantle Belgium. “I am excited to be going on this journey with them, finding synergies and developing new content together – I can’t wait to work with this brilliant team and achieve great things together.”

Prince William is meeting the British and Polish troops fighting in the Ukraine-Russia war.

As they smile for the camera Maryna Demianenko and Alyona Lykhosherstova’s hearts are silently breaking for loved ones left behind in wartorn Ukraine.

EXCLUSIVE: Anna Winger drew inspiration from comedy and entertainment in Casablanca when penning upcoming Netflix war drama Transatlantic.

Ben Croll Gaumont has kick-started the engine on “In the Car,” a road drama set during the early days of the war in Ukraine, that has just started shooting in confidential locations in and around Kyiv. Leading Ukrainian media group Starlight Media is handling production duties. Created by “Early Birds” producer Eugene Tunik, the dramatic series pulls from lived experiences of Kyivans scrambling for shelter following the Russian invasion in February 2022, with each episode finding local therapist Lydia (“How is Katia?” star Anastasia Karpenko) shuttling a different person to safety. Told from inside the protagonist’s car, the 10 episodes will explore different tales of resilience and civic responsibility.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has travelled to Crimea to mark the ninth anniversary of the Black Sea peninsula’s annexation from Ukraine.

Spotify have shared a playlist of every song entering the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest – listen to it below.The 2023 Eurovision Song Contest will take place at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool from May 9-13, with the UK city staging the contest on behalf of Ukraine after organisers deemed the country unable to host the event due to the ongoing war with Russia.Last week, Mae Muller was announced as the UK’s entry with ‘I Wrote A Song’, following Sam Ryder, who came second in 2022’s contest.Ahead of the contest, Universal Music will release ‘United By Music’, an album featuring all 37 songs entering the 2023 contest. The digital album and a karaoke version will land on April 14 before CD versions on April 28 and a 3LP format on May 12.Listen to every song entering and see the full tracklist below.

Frank Rubio, NASA’s first Salvadoran American to go to space, is currently stuck on the International Space System after their spacecraft got a coolant leak. He might be stuck there for a full year, but the astronaut is staying positive. In a recent interview he assured that there will be new opportunities for Latinos.Rubio and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin launched a mission on the ISS aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-22 on September 21, 2022, and were supposed to return to Earth in March 2023.

American-European media fund APX Group and André Singer’s Oscar and Bafta-nominated documentary and non-scripted company Spring Films have launched a joint production initiative.  

Full Disclosure: Sue me but not only have I never played 80’s iconic video game Tetris, I had never heard of it before encountering this new film, Tetris, which world premiered tonight at SXSW and comes from Apple Original Films, I realize that probably makes me a bit of an oddity to the Gameboy generation, but I can only say my lack of knowledge on this product did not hurt one bit in being wildly entertained by a movie that tells its origin story. In fact it seems to be part of an encouraging, but unlikely, new genre this young year: movies all about the backstory of well known products – Blackberry from IFC and Paramount; Flamin’ Hot from Searchlight; and now Tetris from Apple. All three have been on display this week at SXSW (Blackberry actually premiered at Berlin), and if you think watching the emergence of a smart phone, a Cheetos brand, and a single player video game is , well uh, less than compelling, think again.

Countdown star Rachel Riley said it is “so rewarding” hosting four Ukrainian refugees, adding that her two daughters “absolutely love” living with a little boy they treat as an extra brother.The TV presenter and mathematician, 37, has spoken about opening her home to refugees, just over a year after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 2022. She told BBC Breakfast: “It is so rewarding and it’s working for us. “Our little girls absolutely love having this little boy, it’s like they’ve got an extra brother and he’s got little sisters that he looks after.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “We 12,” a movie featuring the entire group of 12 Mirror Canto-pop stars is part of the expanding production slate of Makerville, the talent and production arm of Hong Kong telecoms and TV group PCCW. The development is paralleled by an expansion of the production operations of Viu, PCCW’s multi-territory video streamer which recently confirmed its profitability. Makerville is the talent agency behind Mirror, which was created in 2018 through the “Good Night Show – Kingmaker” talent show on ViuTV, a PCCW terrestrial channel. And it was able to put all the band members on stage Wednesday at a promotional event within the FilMart rights market in Hong Kong.