Streaming platforms in the U.K. are set to come under “enhanced regulation” from media regulator Ofcom, which already oversees television and radio broadcasting in the country. The rules will give Ofcom the power to accept viewer complaints and investigate streaming platforms.
The U.K. government is set to implement another layer of legislation to the Media Act 2024 to bring video on demand services in the U.K. under Ofcom’s eye. It will apply to the biggest streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney+ as well as broadcaster platforms such as ITVX and Channel 4.
Any video on demand platform with more than 500,000 users will automatically be designated a “Tier 1” service, bringing them under a new video on demand standards code, which will be similar to the Broadcasting Code followed by traditional broadcasters such as the BBC and ITV.
The code will include rules on accuracy and impartiality and protecting audiences against “harmful or offensive” material. Where Ofcom considers there has been a breach of the code they will have the power to take action.
There will be a public consultation to establish the video on demand standards code, giving the public and streamers to put forward their views on what should be included.
The news comes as increasing numbers of viewers abandon traditional television for on demand streaming platforms. According to the latest report from U.K. ratings body Barb, live TV viewing dropped significantly between 2022 and 2025, from 60% to 45% of all viewing. It also found that a third of audiences who turned on a TV set in the U.K. went to streaming platforms or YouTube as their first choice of viewing — the same number as those who went to traditional broadcasters. (The final third was miscellaneous).
“We know that the way audiences watch TV has fundamentally changed,” said culture secretary Lisa Nandy. “Millions now choose to watch content on video-on-demand platforms alongside or, in the case of many young people, instead of traditional TV.”
“The Media Act introduced vital updates to our regulatory framework which this government is committed to implementing. By bringing the most popular video-on-demand services under enhanced regulation by Ofcom, we are strengthening protections for audiences, creating a level playing field for industry and supporting our vibrant media sector that continues to innovate and drive growth across the U.K.”
Beta Film has secured a wave of international sales for the British hit series “Patience,” bringing the Channel 4 show to 100 territories around the world.
“Patience” travels to AMC Networks for Latin America, ABC for Australia, and across Africa to BBC Brit. In Europe, RAI acquired the rights to the series for Italy, while ProSiebenSat.1 bought the series for Germany, VRT for Belgium, TET for Latvia and Telia for Estonia. In Asia, NOW TV in Hong Kong and NHK in Japan have acquired the rights, as well as Ajara TV for Georgia. Previous deals with Scandinavia, Spain, New Zealand and others have already been announced.
Produced by Eagle Eye Drama in association with Beta Film, “Patience” Season 2 continues to build on its success: On Channel 4, the series was the channel’s most-watched show across linear and streaming since its return. With the first episode delivering a 28-day audience of 4.2 million, and streaming viewing minutes up 38% year on year, this marks 18% rise on the launch of Season 1.
In the U.S., “Patience” was also one of the most popular series of 2025 on PBS’s digital platforms.
Set in the historic city of York, “Patience” Season 2 once more stars Ella Maisy Purvis as the young police archivist Patience Evans, who is joined by a new team lead, Detective Frankie Monroe, played by BAFTA winner Jessica Hynes (“Miss Austen,” “The Franchise”), to tackle a series of tricky and twisted crimes. Detective Frankie Monroe brings a radically different management style, sparking tensions and forcing both “Patience” and “Frankie” to adjust.
Recently greenlit for a third season, “Patience” is set to begin shooting in Belgium and York this spring. Returning alongside Ella Maisy Purvis and Jessica Hynes are Nathan Welsh (“Trying,” “Domina”), Mark Benton (“Bookish,” “Inside No. 9”), Adrian Rawlins (“Inspector Barnaby,” “Slow Horses”), Tom Lewis (“Gentlemen Jack”), Ali Ariaie (“The Great,” “The Couple Next Door – Deadly Attraction”), and Liza Sadovy (“Outlander,” “A Real Pain”).
Behind the camera, Maarten Moerkerke (“Professor T”) returns as director and is joined by Jan Matthys (“Outlander”). Matt Baker, lead writer on “Patience” Season 1, returns and joins forces with Amy Shindler and Beth Chalmers, both lead writers of Season 2.
Jo McGrath and Walter Iuzzolino serve as executive producers across all seasons.
Beta Film handles worldwide distribution. PBS Distribution holds the North American rights to “Patience.”
Universal Music Group U.K.’s Globe sync and brand business has a long track record of placing music into films, TV shows, video games, advertising, and other content, plus making artists brand ambassadors. But it has also started pushing into original films via Globe Originals, a unit whose mission is to develop films with music as the creative engine, “opening opportunities for artists in new avenues.”
Globe Originals has collaborated on such film and TV productions Amy, Steven Knight’s This Town for the BBC,Mary McCartney’s If These Walls Could Sing forDisney+, the BAFTA-nominated and Irish Film & TV Awards (IFTA)-winning short film Nostalgie, and the Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning Hamnet.It has also worked with such directors and producers as Quentin Tarantino, Richard Curtis, Danny Boyle, and Faye Ward.
Led by president Marc Robinson, the London-based Globe has recently been expanding into the U.S. and looking beyond its traditional business borders to open up new opportunities for multi-talented creatives ready to branch out, such as via a just-unveiled partnership with Hollywood producer and long-time Quentin Tarantino collaborator Shannon McIntosh (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Hateful Eight) focused on a slate of music-driven feature films. They are modern-day love story Falling, written and directed by Dominic Savage, which has Simone Ashley and Sam Claflin attached, Dusty vs Dusty, a twist on the biopic focused on Dusty Springfield, and the music-driven Annie Oakley Hanging.
Globe Originals is also responsible for a Hamnet short film, Scientist of the Soul, about composer Max Richter’s journey on the film, which has been shown at Everyman cinemas in the U.K. before the feature presentation. And it is in the process of producing four documentaries about U.K. artists, for which details are expected to be revealed later this year.
Among the core reasons for the focus on Globe Originals are the increased demand for music-driven storytelling, the growing role of music as a driving force in audiovisual storytelling, and the interest of music creatives to move beyond traditional music releases and concert tours, according to Robinson.
Case in point for all these is one film in development under the partnership with McIntosh, Annie Oakley Hanging, described as a “fully music-driven feature ” and “a rebellious love story set in the wild American frontier.” It will be driven by an original soundtrack created by Dan Smith, songwriter and lead singer of Bastille, and Ralph Pelleymounter, songwriter and lead singer of To Kill a King.
“I loved the music Dan and Ralph wrote for Annie Oakley Hanging – its strong sense of narrative and ambition made it feel like a project we could have real fun and success with,” McIntosh tells THR. “Reverse engineering the normal process of making a film by starting with the soundtrack is absolutely invigorating. Globe Originals continues to seamlessly bridge music and screen, championing world-leading U.K. artists and bringing powerful, music-driven storytelling to audiences around the world.”
Globe president Marc Robinson
Courtesy of Globe/Mercury Portraits
Multi-talented creatives who happily work as multi-hyphenates, just like Smith, are logical creators drawn to Globe Originals, Robinson and Smith say in discussing the new opportunities it is designed to open up.
“In our Globe work over the last 15 to 20 years, we’ve had a very close working relationship with the film and TV community through music for shows and film soundtracks,” Robinson tells THR. “As that world has evolved over the last decade, especially with streamers coming on board, and the soundtrack market has also evolved, we’ve wanted to keep our relationship with film and TV as solid as before. But we also have a whole new generation of artists now that come with such a broad skill set, and Dan Smith is one of those people. So we wanted to have a setup where we could really accommodate artist storytelling, catalog storytelling, work with filmmakers that we know get and love music, and push the boundaries of what we’re doing.” The result: Globe Originals, which brings film and music creatives together to jointly work on audiovisual projects.
So, how have collaborations changed? “In the old days, we were very much the receiver of the product that the film and TV industry made,” Robinson explains. “And now, we are trying to get in at the early stage and really bring a music conversation to film and TV in a way that we haven’t done before. Globe productions were initially focused very much on the documentary space, but we’ve started leaning into the scripted space more.”
Among his past musical work for film and TV, Smith wrote and produced the original song “Eurydice” for Netflix series Kaos and collaborated with Hans Zimmer, singer-songwriter Raye, and Bleeding Fingers Music to create the track “Mother Nature” for the BBC’s Planet Earth III documentary series.
More recently, thanks to Globe, the self-professed movie buff wrote songs and the score for the BAFTA-nominated short film Nostalgie, directed by Kathryn Ferguson (Sinéad O’Connor documentary Nothing Compares) and starring Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders, Kin, Mayor of Kingstown, The Wire), which is set in the 1980s.
“Globe Originals is such a rare thing that bridges music and narrative storytelling and film, TV and short film. And Nostalgie is an amazing example of Mark bringing people together so fantastically,” Smith highlights. “I feel incredibly fortunate for the chance to expand beyond a traditional artist [career]. As a musician, as a songwriter, I have always been much more interested in not just writing an album about myself but diving into stories that fascinate me, trying to find out about different worlds or parts of history or things that I either know about or don’t.”
But how did he get involved in Nostalgie? “I was really excited when Mark told me all about it and introduced me to Kathryn, and the three of us chatted a few times about what would be required,” Smith tells THR with a smile that can’t hide his excitement.
Nostalgie needed songs “that were written in the ’80s, but have come to take on a meaning for a certain set of people that is wholly different from what the songwriter had intended,” Smith tells THR. “It’s about a topic so close to home, but often so untalked about, and using music as a way to explore that, almost as fable songs, is really central to the film. And Kathryn and everybody involved did such an amazing job. It’s really powerful, and we’re really proud of it.”
A synopsis for the 19-minute Nostalgie, which also features Jessica Reynolds (Kneecap) and Michael Smiley (Bad Sisters, Alien: Earth, The Lobster, Blue Lights), reads: “A 1980s popstar receives a surprising invitation to perform, pulling him out of musical retirement and into a moral dilemma.”
Asked about the challenge he faced as a songwriter to hit the right and necessary notes for Nostalgie, Smith summarizes things this way: “I had to write songs that were weird and goth and ’80s, but also immediate. You have to watch the film and believe that it would be an anthem for certain people in the film, and that as an audience member, you would maybe leave the film singing it.”
Shannon McIntosh
Courtesy of Globe Originals
Smith ended up moving from writing key songs to handling the film score. “That was a whole other piece of work, trying to thread the music throughout, which is what I’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” he recalls. “Working across the whole project is, for a musician or a songwriter, the absolute dream.”
The music star also highlights that writing for film or TV is very different from writing a song or a whole music album. “It’s so different from an artist project, which I tend to write mainly by myself or with the guys in the band,” Smith notes. “When you’re starting an album, you can literally write about anything. It’s your own artistic endeavor. Whereas, obviously, when you’re writing for film, musicals or TV, you are in service of the director and their vision. And that’s a really different approach. I love it. I also do a lot of songwriting for other artists. It’s a really happy space for me, work-wise, to be in a room with someone else trying to help them tell the best version of what they’re trying to say.”
Robinson describes Smith as the blueprint for a talent tailor-made for Globe Originals. “Dan is a great example, probably the number one example, of an artist who thinks very narratively and is a huge cinephile,” he tells THR. “If you look at Dan’s work, also as a musician, it has always been cinematic, aesthetically. All his music videos are quite cinematic. And all his artist posters are like film posters. So, for artists like him, we wanted to have a set-up for music and film really coming together based on that collaboration ethos.”
Smith loved the Nostalgie experience. “It was just a really fun challenge and the dream project for me to be brought in for,” he tells THR. “And because the songs are central to the film, I got to work really closely with everyone to get the songs right, including with Aidan Gillen, who had to record studio versions of the songs and then learn to sing them live on set.”
And he adds: All the extras and actors had to learn them and scream along. It was this crazy, accelerated process of writing these songs while I was on tour, sitting in the back of a van, and then within a month seeing this raw footage come back from the set in Belfast with dozens of people screaming along every lyric of this song. It was the most surreal but gratifying experience.”
Smith is looking forward to more opportunities in film. And Globe Originals is already providing the next one, courtesy of its deal with McIntosh.
“I’m a big believer in knowing your skill sets and what you’re capable of,” Robinson tells THR. “We’re not a film production company in the scripted space. So for me, it was about partnering with people who can bring that expertise and who can also help celebrate and develop these ideas from artists. So with Shannon, we’re currently developing three projects. One is a musical, one is a twist on the biopic, and the third one is an idea that was the brainchild of Dan and Ralph.”
Aidan Gillen in ‘Nostalgie’
Courtesy of Film4
Indeed, Smith and his friend and collaborator Ralph Pelleymounter, lead vocalist of the band To Kill A King, came up with a story and a soundtrack. “Shannon was blown away by the quality of the music and the storytelling and will help us bring that to life,” explains the Globe executive. “We’ve started developing that. So, the evolution of Dan Smith is happening in real time right now. It’s all about that fusion of music and film in an organic way, and being there from the beginning and seeing how we can evolve this with the right people and the right team.”
Could we see Smith directing a movie one day? He sounds very much open to the idea. “I really enjoyed directing music videos in the past,” she tells THR. “I was co-director on one of my videos for a song called ‘No Bad Days,’ which was trying to make a time-lapse sci-fi about the reanimation of an android in the future. That was my first experience of directing. And then I also did a self-directed music video in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle at sea when I was on a Greenpeace ship.”
Smith also shares: “When I was growing up, the rock star that I looked up to more than anyone else was David Lynch. He was kind of my Bowie when I was a kid. He made films, he scored his own films, he painted, he made albums. So the idea of getting to do what he has done would be amazing.”
Anthony Chen’s Berlinale competition title “We Are All Strangers” has proven to be a hot title, with Paris-based Paradise City Sales locking in distribution partners across the world.
The film made history as the first Singaporean entry ever to compete in Berlin’s main competition section. Among the deals closed are ARP Selection (France), Curzon (U.K. and Ireland), Elastica Films (Spain), Trigon Film (Switzerland), A-One Films (Baltics), Ama Films (Greece), Golden Scene (Hong Kong), Movicloud (Taiwan), Challan (South Korea), PT Falcon (Indonesia) and Moving Turtle (Middle East and North Africa), with additional negotiations still ongoing.
The new film rounds out what Chen has called his “Growing Up” trilogy, a body of work that began with “Ilo Ilo,” which won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes, and continued with “Wet Season.” Set in contemporary Singapore, the new film again features Yeo Yann Yann and Koh Jia Ler, who have appeared throughout the trilogy. Paradise City Sales has represented Chen’s work internationally across all three films, as well as “Drift,” with the films collectively travelling to Cannes, Toronto, Sundance and Berlin.
The film is written and directed by Chen and produced by Huang Wenhong and Chen for Giraffe Pictures, with Joe Tsai, Arthur Wang and KH Kuok serving as executive producers. Financing comes from the Singapore Film Commission and the MPA APSA Academy Film Fund.
“Dreams swiftly turn to survival strategies in Anthony Chen‘s gentle, perceptive domestic saga, and love isn’t always enough to live on,” wrote Guy Lodge, reviewing the film for Variety. “The film is consistently involving and finally moving, sparked especially by Chen regular Yeo Yann Yann’s wonderful performance as an immigrant outsider in this family and society alike.”
“We’ve long appreciated Anthony’s work, and it’s a pleasure to finally be able to work together on ‘We Are All Strangers,’ a film which has the rare ability to build a deep intimacy with its characters whilst also revealing the heart of a nation,” said Curzon managing director Louisa Dent. “We believe it will be a welcome discovery for audiences in the U.K. and Ireland.”
“We are incredibly proud to work with Anthony Chen and to bring his deeply moving and universal cinema to Spanish audiences,” said Elastica director Enrique Costa. “With ‘We Are All Strangers,’ he crafts a powerful and emotionally resonant portrait of the family we are born into and the family we choose, confirming his place as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary cinema.”
Other titles on the Paradise City Sales slate include Moshe Rosenthal’s “Tell Me Everything,” in Sundance’s World Cinema Competition; Warwick Thornton’s “Wolfram,” competing at the Berlinale; and Mees Peijnenburg’s “A Family,” which picked up a Special Mention in the Berlinale Generation section.
As the London TV Screenings kick into high gear, Banijay Rights is set to bring to market upcoming BBC title “The Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley,” a new six-part docuseries separating truth behind some of the most hyped health claims on social media.
The series was announced by the BBC last September, but Banijay Rights acquisition of global distribution rights is much for recent, in time for its LTVS showcase on Feb. 25.
The pick-up also marks Banijay’s first partnership with London and U.S.-based Nutopia, founded in 2009 by Jane Root, a leading premium docuseries producer behind “America: The Story of Us” and “Limitless With Chris Hemsworth.”
“The Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley” sees Dooley working with doctors and scientists to expose the truth, if there is any, behind what Banijay describes as the internet’s most hyped medical claims, from fitness boosters to pain beaters, youth elixirs to fat busters.
“With social media playing an increasing role in all our lives, ‘The Clickbait Clinic’s’ final verdict could be life changing… or lifesaving,” says Banijay Rights.
Headed by Root, a former BBC Two controller (1999-2004) and president of Discovery Networks (2004-07), Nutopia’s factual series event premium docuseries may be celebrity-narrated but seek to trace the forces shaping our world, as in “Pole to Pole With Will Smith,” currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
In like fashion, “The Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley” will also seek to figure out how a trend went viral, meet the key influencers driving the buzz and how online trends are shaping our health choices – at a time when 1 in 3 Brits now turn to social media for health advice, Fremantle Rights noted Tuesday.
“‘The Clickbait Clinic’ is a bold, timely and hugely engaging series that takes a deep dive into some of the internet’s most extreme and obscure health claims,” said Nicola Davey, VP acquisitions, Banijay Rights.
She added: “Speaking directly to the digital culture shaping our lives, this programme unpacks the mechanics of online information in a way that feels accessible, globally relevant and entertaining.”
“‘The Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley’ taps into a global shift in how we make decisions about our health – in a world where social media and viral ‘miracle’ claims travel fast,” noted Simon Willgoss, Nutopia Chief Creative Officer. “It’s a subject that resonates everywhere, and Stacey tackles it with a mix of proper rigour, curiosity and humour that gives it mainstream appeal. It’s a great first partnership with Banijay Rights on global distribution, and we can’t wait to share the series with audiences around the world.”
With a relatively short turn-around time documentaries can tap into cutting-edge Zeitgeist much more easily than scripted fare. Presented Sunday, an Ampere Analysis report revealed that commissioning of documentaries is 15% down from peak TV, which isn’t anything as much as scripted TV, which has plunged 25%. Of doc types, the only to register an increase last year over 2024 is medical & health and biography.
The new docuseries “epitomises the depth and range that sits in Banijay Entertainment’s multi-genre catalogue as we head into The London TV screenings,” said Davey.
“The Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley” joins a Banijay Entertainment’s non-scripted (finished tape) line-up for The London TV Screenings 2026 takes in, as revealed by Variety, “America’s Toughest Jails” for Discovery from Lucky 8; Channel 4’s “Mission To Space with Francis Bourgeois” from Shine TV; “Bear Grylls – Wild Reckoning” for BBC One, BBC Cymru Wales and iPlayer from Tŷ’r Ddraig (part of Workerbee); Emmy-winning documentary collection “Super Bowl Champions” from NFL Films and BD4; and CNN Original series Eva Longoria: “Searching for France” from Hyphenate Media Group.
Spotify and Mindhouse have confirmed that the popular interview show, hosted by the beloved British broadcaster and documentary-maker, will launch on March 3.
Theroux is back opposite some of the most intriguing names in entertainment, film, sport and more, including tennis maverick Boris Becker, Twin Peaks‘ detective Kyle Maclachan, singer Lulu, comedian Stewart Lee, Icelandic singer-songwriter Laufey, and investigative journalist and author Patrick Radden Feefe. A bonus episode and more guests will be announced in due course.
“Someone once said to me that the key to a great conversation is genuine curiosity. ‘Could you repeat that?’ I replied. ‘I wasn’t listening,’” Theroux joked to The Hollywood Reporter. “But seriously — who could fail to be curious when faced with guests as fascinating, whose lives and work are as full of incident, insight, and artistry, as Boris Becker, Lulu, Stewart Lee, Laufey, Kyle MacLachlan, Patrick Radden Keefe, and Yorgos Lanthimos?”
“Each one, it strikes me now, comes from a different area of professional life, but all of them practise their art forms at the highest levels,” he continued. “It’s a real pleasure having these conversations, and being allowed the space to let them flow and go in surprising directions, and with no topics off the tables. Thanks for watching!”
Since its launch in 2023, The Louis Theroux Podcast has cemented Theroux as one of the U.K.’s most successful podcasters. Last year, it was the third most-listened-to podcast overall in the U.K., according to Spotify Wrapped data — climbing from sixth place in 2024.
Series six saw Florence Pugh dissecting the pros and cons of intimacy coordinators, Steve Coogan got candid on his most challenging role yet, and Malala Yousafzai discussed her university experience as a Nobel prize winner.
The podcast’s back-catalogue also boasts recordings with Little Simz, Ed Sheeran, Michael Cera, Nick Cave and Tracey Emin, alongside headline-making episodes with Jimmy Carr, Bella Ramsey and many more.
The Louis Theroux Podcast is a Spotify podcast from Mindhouse, available on all podcast platforms, with video episodes exclusively on Spotify. Series 7 launches Tues, Mar. 3, 2026.
She will get the honor on March 6 at a special In Conversation event entitled “From Page to Pulse,” which will be hosted by Glasgow filmmaker AduraOnashile (Girl) and be part of the festival’s annual Industry Focus strand. In it, the director will take “a deep dive into her unparalleled approach to adaptation,” organizers said.
The filmmaker made her feature film debut in 1999 with the Glasgow-shot Ratcatcher, which won the BAFTA for Outstanding Debut. “Throughout the last three decades Lynne has become renowned for her distinctive visual style and powerful storytelling, having directed Hollywood titles that include We Need to Talk About Kevin, Die My Love,and You Were Never Really Here,” the festival said.
Launched in 2024, the Cinema City Honorary Award recognizes filmmakers who have made “an outstanding contribution to cinema.” The name of the award stems from the 1930s when Glasgow was home to more cinemas per person than any other place in the U.K. and it became affectionately known as the Cinema City.
Previous recipients of the award are Viggo Mortensen and Glaswegian Hollywood star James McAvoy.
“Lynne Ramsay is one of a very small number of filmmakers who have the seemingly miraculous power of taking a unique vision in their minds and creating it onscreen exactly as they imagined,” said Paul Gallagher, GFF head of program. “Her films have changed our understanding hiiiof what cinema can do and be.”
Added Samantha Bennett, GFF industry manager:“It is a true honor to welcome a homegrown talent of Lynne’s calibre to the Industry Focus program.”
GFF’s 2026 lineup of guest will also include a variety of other stars and filmmakers. McAvoy will attend GFF’s closing gala for the U.K. premiere of hos directorial debut California Schemin’, joined on the red carpet by film cast members Samuel Bottomley, Séamus McLean Ross and Lucy Halliday Glasgow-based director Felipe Bustos Sierra (NaePasaran) will return to the fest for the opening gala of Everybody to Kenmure Street, after the film won an award at Sundance.
Other filmmaking talent attending the festival includes Alice Winocour, Mark Jenkin, Polly Findlay, Marc Evans, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, and Edinburgh filmmaker Sean Dunn for the U.K. premiere of his black comedy The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford.
The 22nd edition of GFF will take place Feb. 25-March 8.
Global colossus Fremantle has added to its vast entertainment portfolio, securing worldwide production, development and distribution rights outside Japan to “Special Delivery,” a whacky fun comedy game show co-developed by Amsterdam’s Blue Circle, a Fremantle company, and Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), the top Japanese producer and broadcaster.
Fremantle will bring “Special Delivery” to market at this week’s London TV Screenings, the biggest European TV sales platform of the first six months of the year, where the RTL-owned Super Indie hold a Feb. 27 upfront.
Billed by Fremantle as an “irresistibly fun comedy competition,” “Special Delivery” plays to Japan’s strength as an format export power, Variety noted Monday: “high-concept entertainment formats built around simple game mechanics.”
Here, comedians are sent on hilarious missions to try to deliver anything, anywhere, anyhow. The parcels they collect at Delivery HQ are “absurd,” the destinations “impossible” and the conditions “ridiculous.” The net result is “unpredictable deliveries that create maximum mischief, laugh-out-moments and instantly visual, viral-ready comedy,” Fremantle noted Tuesday, announcing its deal on “Special Delivery.”
Commissioned for TBS in Japan, “Special Delivery” bowed this January in Japan, where its debut episode ranked No. 1 in its time slot, scoring a 28% audience share.
Played by celebrities in Japan, the format can be adapted to different casting approaches worldwide, Fremantle noted.
“As a broadcaster known for bold, inventive comedy, TBS has been an exceptional creative partner, and together we’ve shaped a format that harnesses the originality of Japanese entertainment into something with clear global potential,” said Vasha Wallace, Fremantle EVP global acquisitions and development, global entertainment. “There is a strong appetite worldwide for big, visual, laugh-out-loud comedy, and ‘Special Delivery’ has all the ingredients to travel and connect with audiences beyond Japan,” she added.
“We’re delighted to partner with Fremantle on ‘Special Delivery,’ and proud of what the teams have created together in Japan. The format’s bold physical comedy and playful competition feel universally entertaining, and we’re excited to see the format reach audiences internationally,” observed Kentaro Fukuda, head of global IP studio at TBS.
Blue Circle is a 100% Fremantle subsidiary which is one of the biggest and most prolific Netherlands specialists in entertainment, daily show, sports and lifestyle programming, behind Dutch reversions of “Dancing With the Stars,” “Idols” and “X-Factor.”
TBS ranks as one of Japan’s biggest media conglomerates, with a bevy of international format breakouts, such as game show “Takeshi’s Castle,” sports entertainment reality format “Ninja Warrior,” sold to 160 territories, and variety show “Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan,” which spawned “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
In any other market during any other holiday, a blockbuster opening of over $300 million would be an instant cause for celebration. But the $369.3 million debut of race-car comedy Pegasus 3 during the first six days of China‘s Lunar New Year holiday came with a potentially worrying caveat.
The film pulled far ahead of the competition during the opening stretch of China’s biggest moviegoing week of the year, leaving Zhang Yimou’s espionage thriller Scare Out in a distant second place with $110.7 million, martial arts epic Blades of the Guardians in third with $97.3 million and family animation Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector in the third at $89.7 million, according to data from Artisan Gateway covering Feb. 17–22. Jackie Chan’s action-comedy sequel Panda Plan 2 took up the rear with $24.6 million.
Total ticket revenue during the holiday so far, however, has amounted to $715 million (RMB 5.1 billion), a 38.6 percent drop from the first six days of Chinese New Year in 2025 ($1.2 billion, or RMB 8.3 billion).
China’s theatrical film market has grown so top-heavy in recent years that the Lunar New Year holiday corridor generally sets the tone for the whole year. Last year’s holiday winner, animated sequel Ne Zha 2, went on to smash global records with a $2.2 billion box office total, ensuring that China’s film market staged a full-year recovery even though most major domestic releases disappointed throughout the rest of the calendar.
Pegasus 3 is currently on track to top out at around $622 million (RMB 4.3 billion) — a huge number, for sure, but not enough to save the market amid the relatively weak performance of its fellow holiday releases. To date, China’s theatrical box office is down 65 percent compared to the same period in 2025.
Pegasus 3 is the latest installment of blogger-turned-blockbuster director Han Han’s hit racing-comedy franchise, again led by Shen Teng as underdog driver Zhang Chi. In the latest installment, Zhang returns to competition to lead a newly assembled team in a high-stakes international rally. The film’s producers include Shanghai Tingdong Film Co., Maoyan Damai Entertainment, Bona Film Group, Wanda Pictures and others.
Zhang Yimou’s Scare Out, which opened in second place, marks the veteran filmmaker’s return to the espionage genre following the success of Cliff Walkers (2021). The contemporary spy thriller stars Jackson Yee and Zhu Yilong and centers on a national-security investigation triggered by the leak of sensitive military intelligence. The project is produced by Damai Entertainment, with Alibaba Pictures handling distribution.
In third position, Blades of the Guardians is a star-driven wuxia spectacle directed by legendary action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping and adapted from the popular manhua Biao Ren. The film features a marquee ensemble led by Wu Jing, Nicholas Tse, Yu Shi, Tony Leung Ka-fai and Jet Li. Production is backed by Woo Ping Pictures and Beijing Dengfeng International Culture Communications Company, alongside Damai Entertainment, China Film Group, Huaxia Film and other partners.
Fourth-place finisher Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector continues the long-running animated franchise’s regular Lunar New Year presence for family audiences. Directed by Lin Huida and produced by Fantawild Animation, the installment follows Briar, Bramble and their human companion Vick as they encounter Nian — the mythical beast associated with the Lunar New Year — whose arrival grants them mysterious new powers and draws them into a fantastical city inhabited by supernatural forces.
The overall softness of the lineup compared with recent years’ holiday hauls underscores the growing volatility of China’s theatrical sector, where a single breakout hit can disproportionately determine the market’s annual trajectory. Theater operators have now started 2026 at a deficit, placing added pressure on the local industry to deliver major hits later in the year that can reverse the downward momentum at the country’s cinemas in recent years.
Newly formed Australian independent production banner Filmbarr is making its formal debut at SXSW 2026 with two films in the festival’s lineup, anchored by the world premiere of psychological thriller “And Her Body Was Never Found,” while simultaneously unveiling a four-title slate that spans elevated horror, true crime and prestige drama.
Founded by Tristan Barr (“Subject,” “Head Count”), longtime collaborator Josh Doke – one of the forces behind breakout indie hit “Skinamarink” – and producing partner Erin Crittenden (“The Grand Tour,” “Seven Snipers”), Filmbarr is positioning itself as a home for formally inventive, filmmaker-driven genre cinema built to travel internationally. The company’s mandate centers on pairing bold directors with recognizable international casts, bridging festival and commercial audiences at disciplined budget levels.
“And Her Body Was Never Found,” which lands in SXSW’s Visions section for risk-taking artists, is perhaps the most literal embodiment of that philosophy. Inspired by the self-contained filmmaking ethos of Robert Rodriguez, Banks and Cohen wrote, directed, and starred in the film – essentially functioning as their own crew – shooting across Washington State’s national parks while hauling their own gear and operating out of a rental van. The script was assembled from real arguments between the couple, reframed as a cinematic metaphor for being trapped in a communicative spiral, as their characters’ attempts to reconnect devolve into murder. The pair generated the film’s entire budget through clinical trial participation and credit cards.
Also premiering at SXSW is “Dead Eyes,” a visceral horror feature from director Richard Williams shot entirely in a specialist-designed first-person POV format. The film stars Mischa Heyward (“Bring Her Back”), Ana Thu Nguyen (“Mortal Kombat”), Stephen Phillips (“Bring Her Back”), Alea O’Shea (“Sissy”) and Charles Cottier (“Demon Disorder”).
Beyond SXSW, Filmbarr has two additional titles in the pipeline. Australian fantasy-horror “Deathkeeper” will world premiere at FrightFest in March. Based on a novel, the elevated genre film follows an angel cursed to age decades each time he saves a life, and features an ensemble cast including Shuang Hu (“Five Blind Dates”), Peter Thurnwald (“XO, Kitty”), Isabella Procida (“Rock Island Mysteries”), Charles Cottier (“Seven Snipers”), George Pullar (“Evil Dead Burn”) and Matt Caffoe (“Dunny Derby”). Collectively the cast commands more than 18 million social media followers, reflecting Filmbarr’s strategy of aligning traditional genre storytelling with strong digital reach.
Rounding out the slate is “Cut Sick,” a psychological crime drama directed by Amanda Kaye exploring the story of one of Australia’s most notorious female murderers. The project previously participated in the Biennale College Cinema at the Venice Film Festival and is moving into production later this year, signaling Filmbarr’s expansion into prestige-leaning true crime with strong international festival potential. Action feature “Seven Snipers,” starring Tim Roth, Radha Mitchell, Ioan Gruffudd and Ryan Kwanten, is also among the company’s upcoming releases.
“The independent market has tightened significantly, particularly around pre-sales,” said Barr. “To compete in a landscape dominated by IP and in-house streamer production, the model must evolve. Audiences will always look for singular authentic voices and distinct cinematic experiences. We’re building Filmbarr around projects that can cut through on originality.”
Crittenden added: “Budgets are contracting, but the tools available to filmmakers have never been more powerful. Technology is enabling ambitious storytelling at a fraction of traditional costs. The opportunity now lies in backing filmmakers with bold perspectives and giving them the creative latitude to deliver something the market hasn’t seen before.”
Banks said of “And Her Body Was Never Found”: “We really put everything we had into this movie, not only our finances, but our experiences, our secrets, our fears. Both of us have dreamed of making movies our entire lives, though, so what could be more worth the risk?”
Cohen added: “We studied the dysfunction in our communication inside and out, and learned to accept and rely on each other in ways we never thought possible.”
