Want to Film in Tokyo? City Welcomes for Locals Foreign Shoots Still Hit COVID Restrictions

Sheila Benson, who was chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times from 1981-1991, died February 23 in Seattle. She was 91.

K.J. Yossman It was only a few months ago that Ivanna Sakhno had every reason to celebrate, when it was announced the “Pacific Rim: Uprising” actor would be joining highly anticipated Star Wars limited series “Ahsoka” opposite Rosario Dawson.But last week Sakhno’s world came crashing down when, during an evening out with friends in New York’s East Village, she found out Russia had invaded her native Ukraine.

EXCLUSIVE: Amblin Partners has entered into an overall deal with SRO Productions, the label founded by director Bartlett Sher (Broadway’s To Kill a Mockingbird), writer JT Rogers (Tokyo Vice) and producer Cambra Overend (Oslo). Under the two-year deal, Amblin will have first-look rights on SRO’s film projects.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentKino Lorber has acquired North American rights for Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s debut feature “Murina” which won the Golden Camera Award at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.Executive produced by Martin Scorsese and lushing lensed by Hélène Louvart (“The Lost Daughter”), “Murina” will be playing on opening night of the First Look Festival at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.“Murina” is a tense and sensual tale about a restless teenager, Julija, whose urge to break free from her oppressive father and isolated existence in coastal Croatia is triggered by the visit of a family friend. Variety‘s Jessica Kiang wrote in her review that “If Patricia Highsmith had ever written a coming-of-age story set on the rocky, clear-watered Croatian coastline, it might have looked a lot like Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s bright, brooding debut.” The movie also boasts a breakthrough performance by Gracija Filipovic, a promising young actor and professional swimmer who was one of this year’s 10 Shooting Stars at the Berlinale.

Milan Fashion Week there was a new air of glamour, joy and lots of style. One of our favorite Latina Powerhouses, Danna Paola arrived in Italy as an ambassador for Fendi, and from day one she has provided us tons fashion inspiration.

Kid Cudi has teamed up with DJ and Bape founder Nigo for a brand new single called ‘Want It Bad’ – listen to it below.Produced by Pharrell, it’s the second preview of Nigo’s upcoming album, ‘I Know Nigo’. The first track to be released from the project was last month’s A$AP Rocky-featured ‘Ayra’.On the euphoric ‘Want It Bad’, Cudi celebrates his successes and the grind it took to get to this point: “Lives fast, with high hopes/ Story of a kid who was feelin’ low/ To the life of me, lemme set the scene/ On my grind, I work hard/ Lord hit me, woah, tell ’em it’s a new mould/ Walk into a different zone, doin’ the impossible/ Too incredible.”Arriving with a flashy video shot in Paris, you can check out the Harrison Boyce-directed clip below:Nigo first announced the forthcoming album back in December, revealing that the project was on the way and that he’d signed to Steven Victor’s Victor Victor Worldwide label, a joint venture between Victor and Universal Music Group.Guest appearances will include Pharrell, Kid Cudi, A$AP Rocky, Lil Uzi Vert, Pusha T, Tyler, The Creator, Fam-Lay and Teriyaki Boyz, with more to be announced.Outside of his work as the head of the streetwear brand A Bating Ape, Nigo has long had an interest and association with the world of music.

Cate Blanchett (Nightmare Alley, Don’t Look Up) has been named as the latest recipient of Film At Lincoln Center’s Chaplin Award.

Kid Cudi and Bape founder Nigo have joined forces on a new song titled "Want It Bad." The Pharrell-produced track is the second to be taken from Nigo's upcoming project I Know Nigo after A$AP Rocky collaboration "Arya." Nigo founded A Bathing Ape in 1993, launched Human Made in 2010, and collaborated with Uniqlo and Louis Vuitton after selling Bape to a Hong Kong conglomerate in 2011. The Japanese multi-hyphenate has always been a designer first, but he had a strong run of albums in the first decade of the new millennium, both on his own and with his Yokohama-based rap group, Teriyaki Boyz.

Madison Wells, Gigi Pritzker’s award-winning, independent entertainment company, has acquired and will develop a feature adaptation of State of Terror, the best-selling novel by former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and New York Times best-selling novelist Louise Penny. This high-stakes thriller of international intrigue follows novice Secretary of State Ellen Adams, who is unexpectedly brought into the administration by a newly-elected President, her political and personal adversary. Events soon erupt that sweep her into a world of global intrigue and diplomacy where the stakes could not be higher and the potential consequences, both personal and global, could not be greater.

Following a competitive bidding situation, Gigi Pritzker’s indie production company Madison Wells has acquired rights to develop a feature film adaptation of “State of Terror,” a thriller novel by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and author Louise Penny, the company announced on Thursday.“State of Terror” centers on novice Secretary of State Ellen Adams, who is unexpectedly brought into the administration by a newly-elected president, her political and personal adversary.   Events soon erupt that sweep her into a world of global intrigue and diplomacy where the stakes could not be higher and the potential consequences, both personal and global, could not be greater.  Both Clinton and Penny will serve as executive producers as well as consultants on the film. Clinton will produce via her HiddenLight Productions banner founded by Clinton, Sam Branson and Chelsea Clinton.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Novelist’s Film,” which Wednesday earned Korean director Hong Sang-soo the Grand Jury Prize in Berlin, has scored multiple rights deals. With Seoul-based Finecut handling the rights sales, the film was licensed to Ama Films for Greece and Cyprus, Mimosa Films for Japan, L’Atalante Cinema for Spain, Arizona Films Distribution for France and to The Cinema Guild for the U.S.Finecut also did European Film Market business with “Contorted,” an unorthodox horror about a family tragedy.

Sony Pictures Classics has pushed back the release for Roger Michell’s film The Duke, starring Academy Award winners Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, by a month—from March 25 to April 22, 2022. It will be released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on the latter date before expanding to additional cities over the following weeks.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeIf you’ve forgotten where “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” left off at the end of Season 3, you can be forgiven: So have executive producers Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino.“It’s been so long, we don’t remember what the season was about. I think they’re still Jewish,” Sherman-Palladino quips.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterThe omicron wave has peaked across the country, and states including New York and California are once again easing up on their COVID restrictions.But in the entertainment industry, there is no rush to get back to “normal.” The studios and unions are largely holding firm on the set of COVID production protocols that has been in place since the summer of 2020. Both sides are in talks this week on adjustments to the plan — which is formally set to expire on Sunday.

Flume will return to North America for his first tour dates in nearly three years this April, in support of his forthcoming album ‘Palaces’.Flume had previously been announced as part of the 2022 Coachella line-up in April, as well as Bonnaroo and New York City’s Governors Ball this June. Headlining shows for the producer have now been announced that are largely based around these festival dates.

Selome Hailu CBS has given a pilot order to “East New York,” a drama series written by William Finkelstein and Mike Flynn.The series follows Regina Haywood, the newly promoted police captain of East New York, an impoverished, working class neighborhood at the eastern edge of Brooklyn. She leads a diverse group of officers and detectives, some of whom are reluctant to deploy her creative methods of serving and protecting during the midst of social upheaval and the early seeds of gentrification.Finkelstein is best known for his writing and producing work on a number of police and legal dramas.