Well Go USA Takes North America For Dutch Action Thriller ‘Invasion’

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Picture Tree Intl. has acquired the supernatural crime thriller “The Osha Rule,” and will start seeking distribution partner at the Cannes Film Market. The film will start principal photography in August 2024.

Netflix has unveiled nine new movies and series from Poland including the directorial debut of High Water writer Kasper Bajon and a thriller from the team behind Forgotten Love.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In its latest expansive move, independent production house Nevision is opening offices in Barcelona, its first in Europe outside its London-based headquarters. The Barcelona operation is headed by seasoned publisher, author, journalist and producer Tim Parfitt who will work with Nevision founder James Cabourne to develop scripted series in Spanish for both local and global markets, Nevision announced last week in a written statement. First up are three projects, two with scribe-helmer Roger Guäl, who broke out with 2002’s “Smoking Room,” an acerbic take on office politics.

EXCLUSIVE: Rotterdam competition title Small Hours of the Night from Daniel Hui (Demons, Snakeskin) and SXSW premiere Adrianne & The Castle by Shannon Walsh (The Gig is Up, Illusions of Control) have landed international reputation via non-fiction agency Indox. 

EXCLUSIVE: Sunrise Films and Vertigo Releasing have acquired North American and UK distribution rights on the Danish horror-thriller The Girl in the Trunk. The film will be released on digital download across both territories on May 28. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “Barren Land,” from Spain’s Albert Pintó, director of Netflix global blockbusters “Money Heist,” “Berlin” and “Nowhere,” have been snapped up by Spain’s Film Factory Entertainment. From an original idea by producer Alvaro Ariza, “Barren Land” (“Tierra de Nadie”) is penned by Fernando Navarro, one of Spain’s go-to screenwriters whose credits include Netflix hits “Below Zero” and “Veronica.” Film Factory will launch world sales on “Barren Land,” as it builds a powerful slate of upscale commercial packages.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Strand Releasing has acquired North American rights from sales company Films Boutique to tender coming-of-age drama “Young Hearts” by Belgian newcomer Anthony Schatteman, which recently launched from the Berlin Film Festival. Schatteman’s standout debut follows a 13-year-old boy named Elias, who feels attracted to his new neighbor, Alexander, and must overcome his conflicted feelings about being attracted to another boy.

EXCLUSIVE: June Zero, the latest from writer-director Jake Paltrow (Young Ones, The Good Night, De Palma) and producers Oren Moverman (The Messenger, Bad Education), Miranda Bailey (Swiss Army Man, The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and David Silber (Incitement, Junction 48), is set for theatrical release in New York on June 28, Los Angeles July 5 and nationwide July 12 by Cohen Media Group.

The Tribeca Festival on Tuesday announced its lineup of short narrative, documentary, and animated films, as well as music videos for 2024.

Fifth in a series on broadcast network series renewals. As the CW transformation’s under new owners Nexstar continues with the addition of sports as well as acquired scripted series and international co-productions, questions are persisting about the fate of the last remaining dramas from the “old” CW.

EXCLUSIVE: Film Movement has acquired U.S. and Canadian distribution rights to the acclaimed documentary Obsessed with Light, which explores the influence of one of the most remarkable figures in American arts – dancer-choreographer Loïe Fuller.

Thania Garcia The Latin Grammys will happen in Miami this year, marking the Spanish-language awards show’s return to the United States just one year after it made a controversial move to Spain. The 25th annual show will air live from the Kaseya Center on Nov. 14.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Miami-based MGE Media has scooped up international distribution rights to Katherina Harder’s feature debut, “La Pérgola de las Flores,” produced by Parox, the Chilean producer of mini-series “Allende, The Thousand Days” (“Los mil días de Allende”), which is nominated for three Premios Platino. The prestigious Ibero-American awards event takes place April 20 in Cancun, Mexico where “Allende…” has been nominated for best series, best actor for Alfredo Castro, who plays the doomed socialist president Salvador Allende, and best actress for Aline Kuppenheim.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korea’s second largest generalist film event the Jeonju International Film Festival has set eight fiction films by first or second-time feature directors, for its main competition. They are “Cu Li Never Cries,” by Pham Ngoc Lan; “Junkyard Dog,” by Jean-Baptiste Durand, “La Palisiada,” by Philip Sotnychenko; “My Endless Numbered Days,” by Shaun Neo; “Oxygen Station,” by Ivan Tymchenko; “Practice,” by Laurens Perol; “The Major Tones,” by Ingrid Pokropek; and “The Permanent Picture,” by Laura Ferres. Additionally, two documentary features also compete: “After the Snowmelt,” directed by Lo Yi-Shan and “Kix,” by Balint Revesz and David Mikulan. The COVID-pandemic continues to affect filmmaking and festival selection, organizers said. “Even films planned to be made beforehand had to extend their production period due to the pandemic, and many works highlighted the limitations of the production environments, such as smaller cast numbers and minimal locations,” said chief programmer Chun Jinsu. The festival runs May 1-10 in Jeonju, a major town on South Korea’s west coast.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Marco Mueller has been appointed artistic director of Italy’s Taormina Film Festival, which will have a top notch selection committee comprising British film curator and former London fest chief Sandra Hebron and former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight boss Edouard Waintrop. As anticipated by Variety, Mueller, who over the past decades has headed both the Venice and Rome fests — among several other events — is taking the reins of the storied Sicilian event that has had its ups and downs over the years. Held since the mid-1950s in the Sicilian resort known to U.S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Rights to “I, The Executioner,” which will premiere as a Midnight Screening at the Cannes Film Festival this year, have been picked up by South Korea’s CJ ENM. The crime-action film directed by Ryu Seung-wan (also written Ryoo Seung-wan) is a sequel to Ryu’s 2015 hit “Veteran” and in Korea goes by the title “Veteran 2.” Few details of the story have yet been disclosed, but CJ describes the film as “combining Ryu’s trademark action with observations and messages about social change.” Ryu last year enjoyed major box office success with crime comedy “Smugglers.” Hwang Jung-min, who recently enjoyed box office success in “12.12: The Day,” reprises his role from “Veteran.” He is joined in the sequel by Jung Hae-in (“Tune in for Love”) as a new member of the film’s Violent Crime Investigation Squad. “I, The Executioner” was produced by Filmmaker R & K, the production shingle owned by Ryu and his wife Kang Hae-jung, with CJ ENM as financier and local and international distributor. CJ ENM expects to give the film a theatrical release in South Korea at an unspecified date in the second half of the year. The original “Veteran” had its international premiere in a sidebar of the 2015 Toronto festival, was named best film at the Sitges genre festival in Spain.

EXCLUSIVE: Isabel J Kim’s debut novel Sublimation, which has been causing quite a stir in publishing and television circles, has landed at Universal International Studios.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Strand Releasing has acquired the North American rights to Ray Yeung’s “All Shall Be Well,” which world premiered at this year’s Berlinale and won the Teddy Prize for best film. The movie played last week as the opening film at the Hong Kong Film Festival. “All Shall Be Well” chronicles the lives of two women, Angie and Pat, a couple living in Hong Kong who have been together for over four decades.

Katcy Stephan Two-time Oscar winner Renée Zellweger is set to return to one of her most beloved roles in Universal Pictures’ and Working Title’s “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” an adaptation of Helen Fielding’s best-selling novel. Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson are confirmed to return alongside franchise newcomers Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall. The film will be directed by Michael Morris (“To Leslie,” “Better Call Saul”).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Qatar-based powerhouse BeIN Media Group, a co-owner of U.S. indie studio Miramax, has taken distribution rights across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to live-action pre-school series “Saïd & Anna,” which has been nominated for this year’s Banff World Media Festival‘s Rockie Awards.