Viacom Unloads Foreign Rights For ‘SpongeBob: Sponge On The Run’ To Netflix

New York Times.The Utah native found his breakthrough role in a recurring role in the 1970s period drama “The Waltons.” Soon, he played a range of often crotchety characters on the big screen, including a nuclear power plant engineer in 1979’s “The China Syndrome,” a tenacious district attorney in 1981’s “Absence of Malice” and a country music manager in 1983’s “Tender Mercies.”His biggest role may have come in Ron Howard’s 1985 hit “Cocoon” as the leader of a group of senior-citizen outcasts

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterIt has been a long six years since Scott Sava persuaded some Chinese investors to give him $13.5 million to make an animated film.An illustrator from Franklin, Tenn., Sava had written a graphic novel for his twin boys about a magic box of animal crackers, and he wanted to adapt it to the screen.

Netflix has acquired Paramount and Nickelodeon's The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Runfor international markets, excluding China where the streaming giant has no presence. Domestically, the film is bypassing a theatrical release and will instead debut on premium VOD in early 2021 before soaking up an exclusive spot on CBS All Access, ViacomCBS previously said.

The Shanghai International Film Festival, China's longest-running major cinema event, will take place in-person beginning July 25. The 2020 edition of the festival, now scheduled to kick off in just over one week, will take a condensed form and be mostly a Chinese affair, staffers for the event told The Hollywood Reporter Thursday.

Jake Kanter International TV EditorBBC One’s adaptation of Vikram Seth’s best-selling novel A Suitable Boy is heading to Netflix outside of the U.S., Canada and China, distributor BBC Studios has announced.The streamer has also clinched the Lookout Point drama for subscribers in UK and Ireland after its 12-month iPlayer window has expired following its broadcast on BBC One. Lookout Point-owner BBC Studios is currently in talks with a U.S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefGlobal streaming giant Netflix has come on board “A Suitable Boy,” the BBC Studios and Lookout Point adaptation of Vikram Seth’s bestselling novel. The series begins airing later this month in the U.K.

Patrick Hipes Executive Managing EditorNetflix has acquired rights to Bombay Rose, Gitanjali Rao’s animated film that last year became the first Indian animated pic to open Venice Critics Week.

Netflix has acquired the international distribution rights for the latest “SpongeBob” film, insiders familiar with the deal told Variety.The streaming giant picked up the foreign rights for the twice-delayed Paramount Animation title from Viacom. The film is one of many theatrical releases thwarted by the coronavirus pandemic this year.The deal excludes China, where Netflix has no presence, one source said.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese movie “Double World” will forgo a theatrical premiere in favor of a simultaneous online debut on Netflix and China’s streaming service iQiyi, the film’s producers announced.The news comes as China’s cinemas have yet to offer a timeline for reopening despite nearly six months of closures. The film will stream via iQiyi in China on July 24 and via Netflix elsewhere in the world, as the Western platform is blocked in the mainland.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese production firm Aim Media has sold the North American rights of director Yang Lina’s “Spring Tide” to distributor China Lion. Smart Cinema, the new venture by former Wanda executive Jack Gao, has also bought the rights to screen the film on its platform in South Korea.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson responded to an Instagram troll hating on his and Justin Mikita’s newborn son Beckett’s name.When a social media user commented that the infant’s name was “stupid,” the Modern Family alum, 44, clapped back. “‘If we could all just get along as one nation.’ — You four posts ago.

Scotland appearance left him the butt of good-natured jokes from pal Walter Smith. Ferguson grabbed 10 goals in seven games on a 1967 world tour that took in Israel, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.