Yellow Veil Pictures Buys Global Rights to ‘The Becomers,’ Prepares to Launch Global Sales in Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)

K.J. Yossman Super-indie All3Media is for sale, according to reports. The London-headquartered independent television producer, which is responsible for shows including “Fleabag,” “The Traitors” and Jamie Dornan starrer “The Tourist,” is being put up for sale by owners Liberty Global and Warner Bros Discovery, The Telegraph reports. The newspaper said JP Morgan have been “called in to run an auction” but plans could still change given the tough market conditions. If it goes ahead, the sale could generate more than £1 billion ($1.2 billion). Parties posited as potential buyers include ITV and Banijay as well as private equity firms.

McKinley Franklin editor HBO has released the official trailer for its explicit Sam Levinson-directed series “The Idol,” which is set to premiere on June 4. “The Idol” premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, making it the first television show to officially debut at the festival. The series stars Lily-Rose Depp as rising pop star Jocelyn and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye as Tedros, a powerful, sex-obsessed cult leader.  After calling off her latest tour, Jocelyn is on a mission to reignite her career, with big dreams of becoming the biggest star in the industry. After she meets Tedros, Jocelyn is swiftly drawn into his world, where he promises to expand her career to new heights — at any cost.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Family audiences turned out in force, propelling Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” to the top of the box office over the Memorial Day weekend. The film, a live-action remake of the 1988 animated favorite, earned a splashy $117.5 million over the four-day holiday. It ranks as the fifth largest Memorial Day debut — last year’s “Top Gun: Maverick” set a new record for the holiday with its $160.5 million launch. At one point over the weekend, it looked as if “The Little Mermaid” might even open north of $120 million, but ticket sales flagged slightly. For Disney, the film’s popularity is a testament to its strategy of digging deep into its vaults and rebooting animated titles as live action movies, something it has done successfully with the likes of “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King.” Waiting out on the horizon: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, the Oscar-winning director of “Summer of Soul,” is helming a remake of “The Aristocats” for Disney.

Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera” flits between languages (English, Italian, French, German) as fluidly as it does mediums (35mm, Super16mm, and 16mm cinematography) and styles (jerkily sped up Chaplin-esque scenes, clinical CCTV footage, audacious 180-degree camera flips). Rohrwacher uses this mosaic of disparate approaches to hone in on other kinds of incongruous and unpredictable interplay: modern Italy and its ancient past, heartbreak and new love, and the real world and its spiritual mirror realm.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Pan Distribution has acquired French rights to Joanna Arnow’s dark comedy “The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed” following its Cannes Film Festival debut. Loco Films is handling international sales on the title.  The film is a major breakthrough for Arnow, who not only makes her narrative feature directing debut, but also wrote, edited and stars in the picture. Critics liked her vision, with Variety‘s Catherine Bray praising “The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed” as “brilliantly sardonic” and adding that “you would hope that this is the kind of film that would lead to fame and fortune for Arnow.” The film follows the life of a thirtysomething woman named Ann, as she engages in a casual BDSM relationship, grapples with her low-level corporate job, and deals with her bickering family.  

There was no shortage of shocks and surprises in the season 2 finale of . On the hit Showtime drama about the remaining members of a high school soccer team struggling to survive in the wilderness after their plane crashed, the body count in the past timeline continues to pile up as the teenagers turn to in-fighting and cannibalism.Among them is Travis (Kevin Alves), whose father was the coach of the team and initially survived the crash along with his younger brother, Javi (Luciano Leroux).

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer HBO’s buzzy new original series “The Idol” has been steadily building momentum on the road to its June 4 debut — including a lavish world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, followed by one of the most talked-about afterparties on the Croisette. The show follows an embattled young pop star named Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), recovering from a psychotic break after the death of her mother and hounded relentlessly by industry vultures that need her back on top. A sketchy Svengali named Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye) appears in her life, promising artistic and sexual liberation and fame beyond her wildest dreams. “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson steers the show with co-creators Tesfaye and Reza Fahim.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Jonathan Glazer’s Nazi drama “The Zone of Interest” has sold into major international territories following its buzzy Cannes world premiere. The film centers on the family of a high-ranking SS official that lives next door to Auschwitz concentration camp. The pic has sold into: Austria and Germany (Leonine), Benelux (Cineart), France (BAC), Greece (Spentzos), Italy (I Wonder), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Scandinavia (SF Studios), Spain (Elastica) and Switzerland (Filmcoopi). In Poland — a significant sales market for the film given it is set there — Gutek has come on board as distributor. (A24 was selling worldwide rights for the film, but did not handle the Polish sale.)

A third Wings of Desire centering on the angels that watch over us, is not in the cards, German director Wim Wenders said today at the Cannes press conference for his latest in competition title at the fest, Perfect Days.

K.J. Yossman Barbara Neri’s LGBTQIA+ play about a woman who claims to be Tennessee Williams heroine Blanche DuBois is set to be adapted as a feature film, with sales launching at Cannes. Neri has partnered with Ango-American filmmaker Jaclyn Bethany’s BKE Productions for the adaptation. According to the logline, “Unlocking Desire” tells the story of “an institutionalized woman who claims to be Tennessee Williams’ iconic heroine Blanche DuBois and must unravel the tragic circumstances that brought her there.” Nancy Oswein (“Betrayed”) is on board to produce the feature, which is set to shoot on location in New Orleans and Detroit later this summer.

EXCLUSIVE: France tv distribution has launched sales on French director Benoît Jacquot’s upcoming crime thriller Belle starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Guillaume Canet.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Paris-based company Indie Sales has closed further sales on “Richard the Stork 2,” and expects to sell the last remaining territories during the Cannes Film Market. The film, also known as “Richard the Stork and the Mystery of the Great Jewel,” is a follow up to “Richard the Stork” (released in North America as “A Stork’s Journey”), which was widely distributed in 155 countries and grossed more than $20 million worldwide. Indie Sales, which sold Oscar nominee “My Life as a Zucchini” to more than 80 territories, is increasingly focusing on acquiring big budget animation.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Palestinian-British filmmaker Farah Nabulsi’s upcoming drama “The Teacher,” which is shot and set in Palestine’s Left Bank, has been acquired by top Italian indie distributor Eagle Pictures just as Vincent Maraval’s Goodfellas launches sales on the timely title in Cannes. Goodfellas, formerly known as Wild Bunch, on Thursday will be presenting to buyers the almost completed film that takes its cue from a real prisoners swap that took place in 2011 when Israel freed more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one soldier who had been kidnapped by Palestinian militants. In “The Teacher” a Palestinian school teacher played by Saleh Bakri (“Costa Brava, Lebanon”) struggles to reconcile his commitment to political resistance with his emotional support for one of his students. There is also a subplot involving his romantic relationship with a British volunteer worker, played by Imogen Poots (“The Father”).

EXCLUSIVE: Shia LaBeouf has joined action thriller Mace, directed by Jon Amiel from a script by David Chisholm. Trevor Jackson (Grown-ish, Superfly) will co-star. Myriad Pictures is shopping the project to buyers here in Cannes this week. 

Rose Ayling-Ellis To Lead ITV Drama ‘Code Of Silence’

EXCLUSIVE: Benedict Cumberbatch has signed to star in Dylan Southern’s adaptation of Max Porter’s acclaimed novel Grief is the Thing With Feathers about a father and his two young sons dealing with the sudden death of their wife and mother.

Taipei-based sales agency Distribution Workshop has picked up international sales rights to $50M action adventure A Legend, starring Jackie Chan and directed by Stanley Tong. 

EXCLUSIVE: RRR and Thor franchise star Ray Stevenson is headlining Frank Ciota’s Cassino in Ischia, a feature which is being produced by Goodfellas and Casino‘s Barbara DeFina.

EXCLUSIVE: International finance, production and sales company EST Studios has taken worldwide sales rights, excluding South Korea, to Korean horror thriller Chabak – Night Of Murder And Romance, directed by William Inhyuk Hyoung.

EXCLUSIVE: British genre specialist Tea Shop, known for 47 Meters Down and coming off breakout thriller Fall, is lining up its next survival pic in the shape of The Bayou, which Architect is launching for sales in Cannes.