With France on Highest Alert, Olympics Organizers Plan Opening Ceremony Along Seine Under Unprecedented Security Protocol

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Nora Arnezeder (“The Famous Five”) and Maria Bello (“A History of Violence”) are set to co-star in “Hell in Paradise,” a female-powered thriller inspired by a true story and produced by EuropaCorp’s Virginie Silla (“Dogman”). Penned by Karine Silla (“A Butterfly Kiss”), “Hell in Paradise” revolves around Nina, a young French girl who leaves her native Marseille and accepts her first job as a receptionist at a luxurious hotel resort on a magnificent island of the Maldives, hoping for a better life.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Morgan Freeman will receive the Crystal Nymph Award at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, which runs June 14-18 in Monaco. Freeman will receive the award at the opening ceremony from Prince Albert II of Monaco, in recognition of his television career.

After debuting early last weekend, Universal’s The Fall Guy expanded to 78 overseas markets during its sophomore session, adding $25.4M for a running total of $36.9M at the international box office. That’s in line with Bullet Train and above The Lost City at the same point in release. Globally, the David Leitch-directed action romance is at $65.4M. 

Flavor Flav is stepping up to support the US Women’s Olympic Waterpolo Team at the 2024 Olympic Games this summer.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Vive la France! Vive la WWE! The first major event after Wrestlemania XL is also one of the biggest events in Europe. The WWE is going international with Backlash France 2024.

Afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here in a week where we have barely stopped. Plenty news and analysis below. Sign up here.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Indie Sales has acquired Japanese director Momoko Seto’s “Dandelion’s Odyssey,” an ecological fable animated by Guionne Leroy (“Toy Story”) and scored by Nicolas Becker (“Sound of Metal”) and Quentin Sirjacq. Shot from Japan to Iceland, “Dandelion’s Odyssey” is an adventure set in a dystopian world and is reminiscent of “Microcosmos,” with plants and animals as the main characters. The feature boasts a mix of timelapse photography, as well as live-action shooting and 3D animation.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Paris-based international sales and production company Totem Films has revealed its production slate, with projects by Nastia Korkia, Vytautas Katkus, Ernst de Geer and Anna Roller. Totem brought together the directors and writers of the projects they are developing to take part in a Script Circle in Berlin, led by consultants Françoise von Roy and Franz Rodenkirchen. Totem partners Bérénice Vincent and Laure Parleani said that the production companies they are working with, Garagefilm, TamTam and Kalekone, were “enthusiastic about this collaborative idea, so were the directors and scriptwriters.” They added: “It is very nurturing to have a mix of different personalities, countries and backgrounds.

EXCLUSIVE: The Cannes Film Festival is well known as a place of protest and this year will be no different. However, this edition, the rebellion is coming from within.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Lily Collins is in Rome to shoot a portion of “Emily in Paris” Season 4, which wrapped filming in France last week, she announced on Instagram. The hit Netflix show started shooting in January in Paris ahead of the Olympic Games, which will kick off on July 26, for which the French capital is now in final preparatory stages. Collins on Saturday posted a photo of herself and Ashley Park, who plays Mindy Chen on the comedy series, which a caption that said: “Next stop: Rome!” Incidentally, Season 4 is shaping up to be a big one for Mindy who is reportedly headed to Eurovision.

EXCLUSIVE: France tv distribution has acquired world sales rights for Romuald Boulanger’s upcoming bio-pic Mansour, capturing the journey of celebrity tennis player Mansour Bahrami’s from post-Revolutionary Iran, to exile and poverty in France, and then fame on the international circuit.

A new season of Drag Race France is on the way!

Lexi Carson After spending more than 30 years at Ubisoft, Cécile Russeil has been promoted to executive vice president, starting Wednesday. In her elevated role, Russeil will bring her experience in the company to lead Ubisoft’s functions and teams. She will also be in charge of communications, corporate affairs, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, human resources, and legal.

Manchester United and Chelsea are reportedly battling it out to sign RB Leipzig centre-back Castello Lukeba.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent In the run-up to its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Francis Ford Coppola‘s 135-minute epic “Megalopolis” is on track to sell to a French distributor, Le Pacte. The indie company, presided over by veteran French distributor Jean Labadie, is currently negotiating a deal. It seems like an odd match for such a pricey movie considering Le Pacte’s fairly modest size.

Holly Jones Standout Paris-based sales outfit Luxbox (“1976”) has acquired international sales rights to the debut solo feature effort from Chilean multi-hyphenate Vinko Tomičić Salinas(“Durmiente”),“The Dog Thief” (“El Ladrón de Perros”), which bows in the international narrative competition at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, running June 5-16. The film follows an adolescent shoe shining orphan, Martín (Franklin Aro Huasco), in his quest to get closer to Mr.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent It was in the land that took “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” as its motto that women were first allowed to participate in the Olympic Games, in 1900. This summer, the French capital will come full circle as it hosts the first-ever gender-balanced Olympics. From politicians to business titans to cultural leaders, the most powerful forces in Paris are aligning to make the three weeks of the Games a showcase for the modernity of France.

Lise Pedersen Two new cash prizes introduced this year in Swiss film festival Visions du Reel’s industry section, VdR-Industry, were among a flurry of awards handed out as the program wrapped in Nyon, Switzerland, on Wednesday. The Eurimages Co-production Development Award, created to promote the fund’s role in encouraging international co-production from the initial stages of a project, and which comes with a cash prize of €20,000 ($22,000), went to “The Last Days of the Hospital” by Mehran Tamadon (“My Worst Enemy,” “Bassidji”).

Snoop Dogg, Kelly Clarkson, Mike Tirico and Jimmy Fallon have in common? This is not a joke — at least not to the leaders of NBC­ Universal and a small army of NBC Sports producers hunkered down at offices in Stamford, Conn., and Paris, France. The answer is the Paris Olympics, which will be telecast in the U.S. with a markedly different approach this summer.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, will be the subject of a biopic series produced by French mini-major Gaumont. The six-part show is being penned by Bénédicte Charles and Olivier Pouponneau, who previously teamed on the thriller series “J’ai menti.” Titled “Brigitte, une femme libre” (“Brigitte, a free woman”), the series will chart the life of French President Emmanuel Macron‘s wife. Gaumont is keeping the plot of the show under wraps and will be announcing the cast in the next few weeks.