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Category: Entertainment

  • HBO Max Picks 12 European Writers for Script Engine Program

    HBO Max Picks 12 European Writers for Script Engine Program

    HBO Max and WBD Access, Warner Bros. Discovery’s talent development division, have picked the 12 European writers who will participate in this year’s Script Engine Program.

    Veteran producer and showrunner Frank Spotnitz, (The X-Files, The Man in the High Castle, Medici) will serve as lead facilitator and mentor on the four-month program which aims to help screenwriters develop original locally-rooted series concepts that they will pitch to HBO Max executives in November.

    “European storytelling has never been in greater demand,” said Spotnitz. “Audiences around the world are looking for distinctive voices and stories that reflect different cultures and perspectives, and European writers are increasingly creating work that travels internationally. Script Engine is important because it doesn’t just help writers develop their craft, it introduces them to a collaborative way of working that empowers writers to do their best work. [The program] gives mid-level writers the confidence, skills and professional mindset to build sustainable international careers.”

    The writers for the 2026 program include France’s Tolula Dada (Gangs of London, Grantchester), Justine Gautier (Petits Secrets en Famille, Leo Mattei), Storm Sigal-Battesti (Off Season, Carême); Germany’s Tunde Aladese (Transatlantic, Shuga), Stefanie Ren (A Thin Line, Nicht tot zu kriegen), and Ben Braeunlich (Tatort, Professor T.); Italy’s Tommaso Matano (Curon, Survivors), Emanuele Mochi (Zio Gianni), Simona Nobile (5 minuti prima); and Spain’s Jesica Aran (Campamento Newton, Bandidos), Lidia Fraga (Auga Seca, Montecristo) and Miguel Mayorga Moscoso.

    The four-month program includes a series workshops, masterclasses and networking opportunities led by HBO Max executives and industry experts. During the program, writers will also benefit from the expertise of HBO Max market advisors for their local territories. The curriculum was developed together with the Series Mania Institute.

    The initiative reflects HBO Max’s move to integrate its originals strategy, with both U.S. and international programming teams grouped together under HBO Max head of original programming Sarah Aubrey. HBO Max completed its European rollout this year, launching in several major territories, including Germany, France, Italy and the U.K..

  • China’s Pingyao Film Festival Sets 10th Edition Dates – Global Bulletin

    China’s Pingyao Film Festival Sets 10th Edition Dates – Global Bulletin

    PINGYAO PREMIERE

    The Pingyao International Film Festival will mark its 10th edition with a run set for Sept. 24–30, at the Pingyao Festival Palace in Shanxi Province. Founded in 2017 by director Jia Zhangke, the festival spans four programs: Screening, Market, Cultivation and Academics. The Screening slate will include Crouching Tigers, dedicated to emerging directors’ debut, second or third features; Hidden Dragons, reserved for Chinese-language filmmakers at a similar career stage; and Galas, showcasing major works and festival prizewinners. Films in Crouching Tigers and Hidden Dragons will compete for the Roberto Rossellini Awards and the Fei Mu Awards, with the Fei Mu Best Film prize carrying a cash award of RMB1 million ($140,000) and Best Director earning RMB200,000 ($28,000). Past editions have showcased early works from directors including Chloé Zhao, Wei Shujun and Liu Jian, among many others.

    BHOPAL BOW

    India’s Madhya Pradesh state will get its own festival platform, with the inaugural People’s International Film Festival of India (PIFFI) set for Dec. 17–20, at Rabindra Bhawan in Bhopal. Organized by the People’s Art, Culture and Education Foundation, the four-day, competitive event will screen features, shorts, documentaries and AI-assisted films, alongside masterclasses, panel discussions and a closing awards gala. Filmmaker Anwar Jamal serves as festival director, with critic Saibal Chatterjee heading programming and Ruchi Vijayvargia chairing the organizing committee. The advisory board includes directors Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Sudhir Mishra and former Film and Television Institute of India director Tripurari Sharan.

    TAIYUPIAN TRIBUTE

    The Singapore Film Society, Asian Film Archive and Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute will team up for Treasured Legacy: Celebrating 70 Years of ‘Taiyupian,’ running Sept. 4–6, at the Oldham Theatre in Singapore. The program, Asia’s first stop on a world touring series, will present five newly restored classics spoken in Taiwanese Hokkien and the Amoy dialect, including Southeast Asia premieres of “Zhang Di Seeks A-Zu,” “Good Neighbors,” “The Rice Dumpling Vendors” and “Romance at Lungshan Temple,” alongside the archive’s restoration of “Taming of the Princess.” A free public talk on Amoy-dialect cinema will accompany the screenings.

  • Podcast Giant Goalhanger Hires Tom Miceli to Lead TV and Film Expansion (EXCLUSIVE)

    Podcast Giant Goalhanger Hires Tom Miceli to Lead TV and Film Expansion (EXCLUSIVE)

    Goalhanger, the British podcasting giant behind series such as as “The Rest is Football,” which recently launched as a Netflix show covering the World Cup, is looking to accelerate its growth on screen with the hire of Tom Miceli.

    Miceli joins from WME in the newly created role of head of IP development and will focus on expanding the company’s TV and film business. In his new role, Miceli will lead Goalhanger’s IP development and licensing strategy, identifying opportunities across its existing shows and development pipeline and turning them into compelling television and film propositions for U.K. and international markets.

    Reporting directly to Goalhanger’s founders, he will work closely with the company’s talent, editorial teams and general managers to develop a prioritised slate, build relationships with commissioners and production partners, and lead negotiations across licensing, co-production and format-sale opportunities.

    Miceli spent more than a decade at WME in the agency’s TV division, representing producers, directors, talent, and helping lead the agency’s international format business. Most recently, he led WME’s work on Goalhanger’s Netflix partnership, which brought “The Rest Is Football” to the platform for the World Cup and the upcoming Premier League season.

    “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining Goalhanger, a company I have long admired both as a business and as a fan,” said Micheli. “I consume its content every day and look forward to helping bring its IP to new verticals and platforms, while preserving the quality that has enabled Goalhanger to flourish and establish itself as one of the leading media and content companies in the industry.”

    Jack Davenport, co-founder of Goalhanger, added: “Our shows are built around distinctive ideas, brilliant talent and deeply engaged audiences, creating enormous potential to develop them beyond their original formats. Having worked closely with Tom for many years, we have seen first-hand the rare combination of creative judgement, commercial experience and strong industry relationships he brings. We’re delighted to welcome him in-house, where his dedicated expertise will help us identify the right opportunities and turn them into successful television and film projects.”

    The hire comes during a period of rapid growth for Goalhanger, which was recently named Britain’s fastest-growing private company in The Sunday Times 100. The company is set to bring its biggest shows together in London for its inaugural three-day Goalhanger: The Rest Is Fest in September.

  • Manoj Bajpayee, Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha’s Gandhi Film Unveils Plot, Adds Saurabh Shukla, Narendra Hirawat (EXCLUSIVE)

    Manoj Bajpayee, Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha’s Gandhi Film Unveils Plot, Adds Saurabh Shukla, Narendra Hirawat (EXCLUSIVE)

    Indian thespian Manoj Bajpayee‘s first screen portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi will focus on a previously undisclosed chapter of India’s independence history, according to new details released on the Sudhir Mishra-directed film.

    Saurabh Shukla has joined the cast, and Narendra Hirawat and NH Studioz have come aboard as producer and presenter, respectively, alongside Anubhav Sinha‘s Benaras Mediaworks.

    Sinha, known for directing “Mulk,” “Article 15” and “Thappad,” is producing the feature as Mishra’s next directorial effort. The film marks Mishra’s return to a theatrical release after 2023’s “Afwaah,” and it lands as he nears four decades working in Hindi cinema. Mishra has won three Indian National Film Awards, for “Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin” (best debut film of a director), “Dharavi” (best feature film in Hindi) and “Main Zinda Hoon” (best film on other social issues), and his credits also include “Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi” and “Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin.”

    Bajpayee, a multiple Indian National Film Award winner, takes on the role of Gandhi for the first time in his career. Shukla joins him in the ensemble cast.

    “This new film focuses on an important yet lesser-known chapter of history – the 21 days in the life of Mahatma Gandhi during India’s independence. At a time when the nation was stepping into freedom, and Delhi was becoming the center of power, Gandhi made an unexpected choice: he chose to walk away. But by walking away, he did not retreat. He reinvented himself. While history books record the surface events of that era, this story explores what lay beneath that famous choice and will depict the personal journey of a leader redefining his path,” Mishra tells Variety.

    Sinha and Hirawat produce the film through Sinha’s Benaras Mediaworks banner, with NH Studioz presenting.

    The film joins Hansal Mehta’s own Gandhi series, starring Pratik Gandhi and scored by A.R. Rahman for Applause Entertainment, which has yet to unveil a streaming home.

  • Jonathan Jackson Shares Touching Tribute to Hayden Panettiere: “She Had Such a Bright Light Within Her”

    Jonathan Jackson Shares Touching Tribute to Hayden Panettiere: “She Had Such a Bright Light Within Her”

    Nashville actors Jonathan Jackson and Clare Bowen paid a touching tributes to their late co-star Hayden Panettiere on social media on Wednesday.

    In a message on Instagram, Jackson, who played Avery Barkley, the bad boy on-again and-off again love interest of Panettiere’s Juliette Barnes in the ABC country music drama, described his co-star as a “sensitive soul” who was “incredibly funny and witty.”

    Panettiere, who died Sunday in Greenville, South Carolina at 36, and Jackson starred in Nashville for six seasons, from October 2010 to March 2016. Jackson described how they both “grew up in the industry” and shared that “silent knowing of how intense the struggles can be.” He went on to write that, “she was an absolute joy to work with. Focused, spontaneous and brilliant. The most important thing between friends and coworkers is trust, and we had this.”

    He added that it was “not possible to express the shock and grief that so many of us feel right now.”

    ‘Nashville’

    Everett Collection

    Panettiere’s other Nashville co-star, Australian actress Clare Bowen also posted a tribute on Instagram. Bowen, who played Scarlett O’Connor in the show, wrote a poem set to images of Bowen and Panettiere together from their time working on Nashville together. In one passage, Bowen writes, “I’ll remember you, cheeky in pretty red soles. You said kind things about strangeness, old boots, an old soul. You warned me our monsters only half hid at best…and then fixed the tear in my favorite dress.”

    In another couplet, Bowen wrote, “We’ll see you someday in your beautiful wings, where vultures and sinners aren’t worthy to sing. Wove from new gold and celestial breath, this isn’t goodbye, it’s just “have a rest.”

    Following the news of Panettiere’s death, many of her former co-stars on the various film and TV projects she had worked on shared deeply personal and emotional memories of the actress. Nashville alums Connie Britton and Charles Esten, as well as Solange Knowles (Bring It On: All or Nothing), Jack Coleman (Heroes), Griff Hurst (A Breed Apart), Neve Campbell (Scream) and Tim Fywell (Ice Princess) have all penned tributes to Panettiere.

    Jonathan Jackson’s full note on Instagram:

    “I have no words to express the loss of our beloved Hayden. She had such a bright light within her. She was a sensitive soul. Incredibly funny and witty. Amazingly gifted, with a great sense of empathy and compassion. We both grew up in the industry, although she started even younger than me, but we shared that. A silent knowing of how intense the struggles can be. She was an absolute joy to work with. Focused, spontaneous and brilliant. The most important thing between friends and coworkers is trust, and we had this. Elisa and I both love and cherish her deeply, like our own sister. She holds that place in our hearts. My prayer for her every day we worked together was that she would know how loved she is, and that she would find the peace that she was looking for. It’s not possible to express the shock and grief that so many of us feel right now. Our humble prayers are with her family. May God’s angels carry you to your place of rest and true peace. We love you Hayden. You will always be in our hearts. Always.”

    Clare Bowen’s poem, posted on Instagram:

    “It’s been raining in the treehouse for days…for you…you whispered like you’d found the sun, just in June. But you always were full of surprises and dreams pulling at threads and the lines in between. I’ll remember nights side by side in a nest on the same street by fate, that ridiculous bed. The day you got cross that I didn’t scare then by looking glass light cried for everyone there. Thank you for chasing me that day in the dark. I was shattered and bruised, a hollowed out heart. You’d been there. You listened to the bad…and the worst. Our faces painted with the kisses of a good wolf, a good ghost. I’ll remember you, cheeky in pretty red soles. You said kind things about strangeness, old boots, an old soul. You warned me our monsters only half hid at best…and then fixed the tear in my favorite dress. One, in so many in pain, in plain sight, with the last of yourself you kicked on the lights. We’ll see you someday in your beautiful wings, where vultures and sinners aren’t worthy to sing. Wove from new gold and celestial breath, this isn’t goodbye, it’s just “have a rest.” We’ll switch all the coffees, ride our horses too fast…dance with fireflies…and brothers…sisters…friends…under that beautiful blanket of stars. Fly safe, little butterfly. I miss you. Love, Luna Moth.”

  • Busan Festival Honors Ahn Sung-ki, Market Names Thailand Country of Honor

    Busan Festival Honors Ahn Sung-ki, Market Names Thailand Country of Honor

    The 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has unveiled a Special Program in Focus honoring the late Korean screen legend Ahn Sung-ki, while the festival’s market arm has named Thailand the first-ever recipient of a new top-tier country partnership.

    “Those Beautiful Years, Ahn Sung-ki” serves as the grand finale to the nationwide tributes paid to the actor, who died earlier this year. The six-film lineup was hand-picked by Ahn himself before his passing and centers on his 1980s and 1990s peak, including “A Fine, Windy Day” (1980), “Whale Hunting” (1984), “Chil-su and Man-su” (1988), “Gagman” (1989), “White Badge” (1992) and “Festival” (1996). Each screening will include a guest visit featuring longtime collaborators, among them directors Lee Jang-ho, Bae Chang-ho and Chung Jiyoung, along with actors Kim Bo-Yeon and Bae Jong-ok. BIFF will also publish an essay collection on Ahn’s career and legacy, co-hosted with the Korean Film Archive. Ahn’s screen career stretched nearly seven decades, from his 1957 debut as a child actor through his later years as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and longtime member of the BIFF festival committee.

    Elsewhere at the festival, the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) has launched a Country of Honor program, its highest-tier country partnership, naming Thailand as the inaugural recipient for 2026. The designation builds on a long history of ties between the two markets, including Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s “Ploy,” picked for the Pusan Promotion Plan in 2006, and Aditya Assarat’s “Wonderful Town,” which took the New Currents prize at the festival in 2007. More than 540 foreign film and TV productions shot in Thailand last year, drawn in part by cash rebates of up to 30% for eligible projects.

    Chookiat Sakveerakul, president of the Thai Film Directors Association, said, “Thailand is deeply honored to be named the first Country of Honor at ACFM 2026.” He added that the partnership would “open new doors for Thai films and content to reach wider international audiences, while strengthening collaboration between Thailand, South Korea, and partners across the global industry.”

    The 31st Busan International Film Festival runs Oct. 6-15, with the 21st Asian Contents & Film Market held Oct. 10-13.

  • India’s Epic Studios, Rusk Media Ink 50-Title Vertical Drama Deal (EXCLUSIVE)

    India’s Epic Studios, Rusk Media Ink 50-Title Vertical Drama Deal (EXCLUSIVE)

    India’s Epic Studios has partnered with Rusk Media Private Limited (RMPL) to produce 50 original vertical drama series, aiming to build the country’s largest library of owned vertical-drama intellectual property.

    The slate will span genres including mythology, drama, mystery, thriller and romance. The series will premiere on Alright! TV, Rusk Media’s platform for original vertical-drama content, combining Epic Studios’ background in television, streaming and film development with Rusk Media’s digital-first distribution reach.

    Aditya Pittie, managing director of The Epic Company, said, “Vertical dramas are experiencing massive global and domestic growth, reshaping how content is consumed. For us, this partnership is about driving true scale and building the biggest library of owned vertical-drama IPs in the country. A slate of 50 original series is just the beginning – by the middle of next year, we aim to have over 250 titles, and becoming one of the largest independent IP owners in this space. Partnering with Rusk Media and Alright! TV creates a seamless, one-stop ecosystem that blends powerful storytelling with unprecedented volume.”

    Karanvir Sofat, co-founder and chief revenue officer of Rusk Media, cast the deal as a continuation of Alright! TV’s push to build high-quality content for younger Indian audiences, saying, “Epic has been a long-standing partner and this slate collaboration reinforces the commitment to deliver premium, engaging entertainment for digital audiences, that combine compelling storytelling with the pace and accessibility today’s viewers expect.”

    The Epic Company, formerly known as IN10 Media Network, is the parent of Epic Studios and is led by Pittie. Epic Studios, itself formerly Juggernaut Productions and MovieVerse Studio, is headed by Vivek Krishnani as CEO of its film division and Samar Khan as CEO of its OTT and TV division.

    Rusk Media, founded in 2019, produces mobile-first entertainment aimed at Gen Z and millennial audiences. Beyond Alright! TV, its content reaches viewers through platforms including Amazon MX Player and JioHotstar, alongside its advertising arm, Rusk Ads.

  • ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Aims to Swing Past ‘Insidious’ Sequel for Fourth Box Office Win

    ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Aims to Swing Past ‘Insidious’ Sequel for Fourth Box Office Win

    Spider-Man: Brand New Day looks to continue its indefatigable run at the box office against such new challengers as horror sequel Insidious: Out of the Further and the Jason Statham-led Mutiny.

    Sony Pictures releases Insidious: Out of the Further in roughly 3,000 North American theaters on Friday, with the studio projecting an opening weekend around $23 million. Hailing from Screen Gems, Stage 6 Films and Blumhouse Atomic Monster, Out of the Further is the sixth title in the franchise that kicked off with 2011’s Insidious and carries an $18 million production budget.

    Amelia Eve, Brandon Perea and Lin Shaye star in writer-director Jacob Chase’s film that centers on a young mother who can bring spirits back with her to the real world. Out of the Further follows 2023’s Insidious: The Red Door, which saw the return of original series stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne and opened to $33 million domestically before hitting a global total of $189 million for its run.

    Insidious: Out of the Further holds a 65 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Frank Scheck wrote that the film “proves routine in its elaborate plot machinations that remind you how tiresome a place the Further can be.”

    Jason Statham as Cole Reed in Mutiny.

    Dan Smith/Lionsgate

    Opening in roughly 2,700 North American locations is Mutiny, starring Jason Statham as a former Marine who sets out to prove his innocence after he is framed for murder. Lionsgate releases the movie that is tracking to open in the high single-digit range and carries a $40 million production budget. MadRiver Pictures and Punch Palace Productions produced the project.

    Jean-François Richet helmed the feature that holds a 49 percent approval score from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes. Statham’s recent films include Shelter, which opened to $5.5 million domestically earlier this year, while 2025’s A Working Man launched with an initial weekend of $15.5 million in North America. Next year sees the star leading The Beekeeper 2.

    Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

    Jay Maidment/Sony Pictures

    Other new theatrical offerings this weekend include the Andrew Garfield-led The Magic Faraway Tree and Spa Weekend, starring Isla Fisher, Leslie Mann and Anna Faris.

    Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues its historic run into the waning days of summer, as the Sony Pictures juggernaut that stars Tom Holland and Zendaya is set to lead the box office for its fourth consecutive weekend. Having recently set the record as the fastest movie to hit $800 million domestically, director Destin Daniel Cretton‘s feature is expected to surpass 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home as the No. 3 highest-grossing title ever in North America.

    The success of Brand New Day — along with other titles like The Odyssey and Toy Story 5 — has helped bring the 2026 summer box office to a total of $4.24 billion domestically as of Sunday, according to Rentrak, putting the season 23.7 percent above last year’s tally to that point. The all-time summer mark remains 2013’s $4.75 billion.

  • Naomi Watts to Receive Zurich Fest Golden Eye Award

    Naomi Watts to Receive Zurich Fest Golden Eye Award

    The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) will honor two-time Oscar nominee Naomi Watts this year with a Golden Eye Award for her performance in Ben Shirinian’s The Housewife.

    In the ’60s-set drama, based on a true-story, a young New York Times journalist, played by Tye Sheridan, tracks down a man he suspects of being a Nazi officer living secretly in Queens (Luke Evans). But when the reporter befriends the suspect’s elegant and enigmatic wife (Watts), the implications of his investigation become much more unsettling.

    The Housewife will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival before heading to Zurich. Watts will accept her Golden Eye honor in person in Zurich on Sept. 26 and take part in a ZFF masterclass.

    “Since her breakthrough in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Naomi Watts has been one of the most fascinating actresses of our time,” said Zurich Festival CEO Christian Jungen, announcing the honor on Thursday. “Her greatest performances thrive on the tension between glamour and darkness, between what a character reveals and what she conceals — making her the kind of character actress Hitchcock would have loved.”

    In The Housewife, said Jungen, Watts “masters this ambiguity as an elegant and mysterious woman [and] delivers one of the most compelling performances of her career.”

    Watts is a two-time Academy Award nominee, nominated for best actress in 2004 for her turn as a grieving mother in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 21 Grams; and in 2013 for her role as a survivor of the 2004 tsunami in J.A. Bayona’s The Impossible. On the small screen, her performance as Baby Paley in the second season of Ryan Murphy’s Feud earned her an Emmy nomination for best actress in a limited/anthology series or TV movie.

    Previous winners of Zurich’s Golden Eye Award include Kristen Stewart, Jude Law, Benedict Cumberbatch and Dakota Johnson. The 2026 Zurich Film Festival runs Sept. 24 – Oct. 4.

  • Naomi Watts to Receive Zurich Film Festival’s Golden Eye Award for ‘The Housewife’

    Naomi Watts to Receive Zurich Film Festival’s Golden Eye Award for ‘The Housewife’

    Zurich Film Festival is to honor actress Naomi Watts with the Golden Eye Award for her performance in Ben Shirinian’s “The Housewife.”

    In Zurich, she will present the film, in which she portrays the enigmatic wife of a suspected Nazi. The actress will personally accept the award on Sept. 26 and offer insights into her career during a ZFF Masters session.

    The festival described Watts, who has earned two Academy Award nominations, as “an artist renowned for her emotional depth, versatility and unwavering commitment to her roles.”

    In “The Housewife,” she plays an elegant and inscrutable woman living in 1960s New York whose flawless façade gradually begins to crack when a young journalist from the New York Times uncovers clues about her husband’s dark past.

    Christian Jungen, CEO of the festival, said, “Since her breakthrough in David Lynch’s ‘Mulholland Drive,’ Naomi Watts has been one of the most fascinating actresses of our time. Her greatest performances thrive on the tension between glamour and darkness, between what a character reveals and what she conceals – making her the kind of character actress Hitchcock would have loved.

    “In ‘The Housewife,’ she masters this ambiguity as an elegant and mysterious woman. At the same time, the film tells a true story that powerfully illustrates how indispensable investigative journalism is in uncovering historical crimes. Naomi Watts delivers one of the most compelling performances of her career.”

    Watts said, “It is such an honor to be presented with the Golden Eye Award from Zurich Film Festival. I cannot wait to be there, accepting this award among such great company, and I thank the film festival for honoring my role in this film.”