Voltage Pictures Taps Alexandra Cocean For EVP International Sales and Distribution Role

Controversial £20,000 planters in Alexandria are set to be removed, after being branded “a waste of money” by the council leader.

Refresh for latest…: On a weekend we could term “the calm before the Strange,” there was nevertheless sustained holdover business at the international box office, and a new entry in the form of Universal/Focus’ Downton Abbey: A New Era.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorNew Europe Film Sales has announced the first sales for Cannes Un Certain Regard-selected “Godland,” directed by Iceland’s Hlynur Pálmason.The film was picked up in France by Jour2Fete, and the movie was also acquired by three distributors that worked on Pálmason’s Cannes Critics’ Week title “A White, White Day” – Benelux rights were sold to Imagine, Poland was picked up by New Horizons Association and Australia/New Zealand was picked up by Palace.The film is set in the late 19th century, when a young Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, the mission and morality.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaNetflix has acquired “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” the new film from Oscar-winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu.The highly-anticipated film is currently in post-production, and is expected to wrap by fall.

), “BARDO” will enjoy a theatrical release on a global scale later this year including in Mexico, its country of origin, as well as the US, Canada, UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Japan and Korea, among many more before debuting on Netflix.Iñàrritu previously worked with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki on his last two films to Oscar-winning effect.“BARDO” stars Daniel Giménez Cacho and Griselda Siciliani. In addition to Khondji, the film features a below-the-line team that includes production design by the Oscar-winning Mexican designer Eugenio Caballero (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) and costume design by Anna Terrazas (“ROMA”).Netflix previously released noteworthy titles like Alfonso Cuaron’s “ROMA,” Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up” in theaters before the films were available to stream on Netflix, and for Iñárritu’s first Netflix feature it appears he’s being given a similar rollout strategy – although it’s unclear if “BARDO” will have an exclusive theatrical window or if the film will release on streaming and in theaters on the same day.This is Iñárritu’s first film since 2015’s “The Revenant,” which earned him a Best Director Oscar on the heels of 2014’s “Birdman” which won Best Director, Picture and Original Screenplay.

Manori Ravindran International EditorNeon has snapped up the North American rights to “The Royal Hotel,” directed by “The Assistant” helmer Kitty Green and “Power of the Dog” producer See-Saw Films.Billed as social thriller, the film stars two-time Emmy Award winner Julia Garner (“Inventing Anna,” “Ozark”), AFI winner Hugo Weaving (“Patrick Melrose,” “The Matrix”) and Jessica Henwick (“The Matrix Resurrections,” “Knives Out 2”).“The Royal Hotel” reunites Green with her “The Assistant” star Garner. “The Assistant” dealt with the broken culture at a film production company, where women are regularly sexually harassed by higher-ups.

Manori Ravindran International EditorThe Paul Mescal-led “Aftersun,” which will world premiere at Critics’ Week in Cannes next month, has been picked up for sales by Charades.Directed by Charlotte Wells, the drama is billed as an intimate story about a young father and his 11-year-old daughter, Sophie, who are on holiday at a resort in Turkey in the late 1990s. The film stars Mescal, the breakout star of “Normal People,” as the father and new talent Frankie Corio as Sophie.Here’s an official description of the film: Sophie (Corio) reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father (Mescal) 20 years earlier.

Naman Ramachandran London-based sales agent MetFilm Sales has boarded feature documentary “Exposing Muybridge,” featuring Gary Oldman, about revolutionary photographer Eadweard Muybridge.Muybridge (1830–1904) was an English photographer known for his groundbreaking work in photographic studies of motion who played a seminal role in motion picture history. His images of running horses transformed the camera into a machine of unmatched powers of perception and persuasion, and set the course for the birth of cinema.

Germany’s Leonine Studios has acquired distribution rights to AGC Television’s Australian crime drama Troppo.

Warner Bros Discovery International Head Honcho Gerhard Zeiler has set his leadership team, with big promotions for the likes of Priya Dogra and Anil Jhingan.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBritBox, the ITV and the BBC’s streaming service, is set to roll out across the Nordics with a raft of original programming on April 28. BritBox International will launch in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, and will include BritBox Originals, exclusive new series, as well as TV classics.

Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrections) and Hugo Weaving (Patrick Melrose) have joined the cast of The Royal Hotel, Kitty Green’s social thriller following two friends backpacking in Australia.

Coronation Street star Alexandra Mardell has shared a collection of sweet behind-the-scenes snaps after her character Emma Brooker made an emotional exit on Friday. During the latest instalment, Emma decided to leave Weatherfield for a new life in Australia with her boyfriend Jon, who is the grandson of Ted. It comes after actress Alexandra, 28, announced earlier this year that she had quit the ITV soap after almost four years of playing Emma.Taking to Instagram after her character's exit on Friday, Alexandra posted a collection of sweet behind-the-scenes snaps.

EXCLUSIVE: Horror-thriller All Fun And Games, starring Asa Butterfield (Sex Education) and Natalia Dyer (Stranger Things), begins production today in Canada with joining cast including Benjamin Evan Ainsworth — who has the title role in Disney’s upcoming Pinocchio — Keith David (Greenleaf) and Annabeth Gish (The Fall of the House of Usher).

A+E Networks Global Content Sales has hired Sony Pictures Television exec Kerstin Gühne as its Vice President for EMEA.

Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore is releasing ahead of domestic in 22 international box office markets this weekend, beginning in Holland and Belgium today and including the UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, Spain and China through Friday. The latter, unfortunately, is not expected to serve up any magic given significant cinema closures.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMGM Worldwide Television Distribution has boarded “The Devil Speaks – Eichmann’s Lost Confession,” a riveting documentary revealing a long-hidden, bombshell interview conducted by a Nazi journalist with Adolf Eichmann in Argentina. Produced by Israel’s leading outfit Tadmor Entertainment and Steve Stark’s Toluca Pictures, “The Devil Speaks – Eichmann’s Lost Confession” will world premiere on opening night of Docaviv, the Tel Aviv-based documentary film festival, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Eichmann trial.