Tag: Entertainment-HollywoodReporter

U.K. media bosses have formed a coalition over AI publishing rights and penned an open letter pleading with fellow global leaders to join them.

Outgoing director-general at the BBC Tim Davie, Sky News executive chairman David Rhodes, CEO at the Telegraph Media Group Anna Jones, CEO of The Guardian Anna Bateson, and CEO of the Financial Times Jon Slade published the letter on Thursday, inviting others to come aboard SPUR — the Standards for Publisher Usage Rights coalition.

“We write to you at a pivotal moment for our industry. Artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping how content is created, distributed, discovered and monetised,” the letter began. “We believe we need to come together to protect original journalism and secure the long-term sustainability of our industry.”

“AI brings opportunities for publishers and our audience,” said the SPUR members. “Our organisations are already at the forefront of using AI in responsible ways to benefit our audiences. But AI also raises urgent questions about fairness, consent, attribution, transparency and trust.”

Across the industry, they say, “our reporting, our archives, our original content, have become foundational training material for AI systems.” This material has been “scraped, copied and reused with no common standards to enable permission or payment, weakening the economic model that supports journalism.”

The lack of transparency about how AI answers are created “risks eroding public trust in both the news and the technologies used to access it,” they add.

The SPUR mission is to establish shared technical standards and licensing frameworks that ensure AI developers can access high-quality, reliable journalism in “legitimate, responsible and convenient ways,” while guaranteeing publishers “retrain practical control of their content.” They vow to “bridge the gap” between publishers and AI developers, and ensure content can be accessed through rights-cleared, accountable channels.

The letter calls the issue “a global challenge, and SPUR’s ambition is to be a global coalition.”

Paramount‘s second quarterly earnings report under the leadership of CEO David Ellison is in, but Wall Street attention remains focused on the company’s attempts to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, in a showdown with Netflix, via a sweetened bid.

Ellison highlighted in a letter to shareholders after the Wednesday market close that he and his team see the potential mega-deal as a key strategic focus. “While we are confident in our standalone strategy and growth trajectory for Paramount, we view WBD as an accelerant to achieving these goals more quickly,” he highlighted.

Wall Street analysts on Thursday started dissecting Paramount’s results and latest management commentary. Here is The Hollywood Reporter‘s look at their takeaways.

Analyst: Michael Morris, Guggenheim
Stock rating and price target: neutral, $16, down $5
Key takeaways: “Early Skydance playbook on track,” Morris highlighted in the headline of his report, noting that results were “largely in line” with management guidance. And he shared this takeaway: “Strong cost discipline at TV Media offset weaker than forecast operating income before depreciation and amortization at direct-to-consumer/film.”

The analyst said he cut his price target by $5 after applying a lower earnings multiple, which he noted was “in line with the current media peer group average, which has also declined.” And Morris noted: “We believe that the outcome of bidding for WBD will continue to impact investor sentiment on Paramount shares, with concern toward a potentially higher bid and/or failure to win the asset as overhangs on investor confidence during the bid process.”

The Guggenheim analyst’s conclusion: “While we view a WBD combination as potentially transformational, significant execution and regulatory hurdles remain.”

Analyst: Laurent Yoon, Bernstein
Stock rating and price target: underperform, $12
Key takeaways: “TV Media declined 9 percent in fiscal year ’25, Filmed Entertainment was down 5 percent, but direct-to-consumer (DTC) grew 12 percent, driven by subscription revenue,” Yoon summarized in his report. “Consistent with industry trends, TV Media will continue to face headwinds, and the company’s growth will rely primarily on DTC, with some support from Filmed Entertainment. … DTC still has a long road, but progress is visible.”

The analyst put that into the broader M&A context, concluding: “It’s a tough setup, and the headline numbers underscore the challenges ahead and the urgency of accelerating DTC growth – hence the pursuit of WBD.”

Yoon also highlighted what he called the “NFL overhang” for the stock. “The NFL renegotiation continues to be a thorny issue for Paramount and peers,” he explained. “Although the topic received limited attention in the [earnings] call – given ongoing uncertainty around timing, package, and participants – we anticipate a potential material step-up in costs to remain an overhang throughout the year. It does not appear that anyone will emerge from the process unscathed.”

Analyst: Doug Creutz, TD Cowen
Stock rating and price target: hold, $13, down $2
Key takeaways: After the earnings update, Creutz’s key takeaway for the company’s financial outlook was simple: “Management reiterated prior 2026 guidance, with improving profitability for DTC, a return to profitability at studios, and stable linear contributions, helped by cost cutting.” The analyst kept his 2026 revenue estimate unchanged, but raised his earnings per share forecast for the year from 62 cents to 71 cents, while cutting his stock price target.

He also highlighted the continued investor deal focus in the title of his report: “Management maintains outlook for 2026 while we wait on WBD outcome.”

Creutz summarized his investment view this way: “Paramount Skydance has some attractive video content assets, including the most-viewed network in the United States. We believe the company has enough high-quality content to continue to survive in an increasingly challenging video content ecosystem. New management’s plan to invest aggressively in content offers the chance for meaningful upside if the company can grow share, but could also accelerate problems if new projects fail to capture sufficient audience attention.”

Analyst: Robert Fishman, MoffettNathanson
Stock rating and price target: neutral, $14
Key takeaways: It may have been earnings time for Paramount, but Fishman highlighted that “investor focus remains on what comes next with the company’s revised bid” for WBD. “The key question is whether Paramount’s revised bid is truly ‘best and final,’ or whether further back-and-forth lies ahead before WBD’s fate is decided.”

The analyst also shared his take on the company’s studio segment outlook: “Without a marquee blockbuster comparable to last year’s Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, the segment theatrical revenue is set to be down but offset by Skydance revenue consolidation and higher licensing revenues.”

Plus, Fishman addressed “softness” at Paramount’s advertising-supported streaming service Pluto TV, “with weaker monetization despite growing monthly average users.” He expects the company “to right-size the platform over the course of the year as engagement grows and older content libraries continue to be added.” But he emphasized: “The bigger question is how effectively the company can integrate its DTC offerings more holistically – for example, leveraging Pluto TV as an entry point for future Paramount+ subscribers.”

Warner Bros. Discovery reported its fourth quarter 2025 results on Thursday morning, posting total revenue of $9.46 billion and 131.6 million global streaming subscribers. WBD lost $252 million in Q4; adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was $2.216 billion.

Overall revenue was down 6 percent from the fourth quarter last year, though the number ought to satisfy Wall Street from an expectations POV. But no one likes an unprofitable company.

Streaming subs rose by 3.5 million from October through December. Advertising revenues dropped 9 percent, with the loss of the NBA on Turner costing WBD about half that. The company’s studio revenues decreased 13 percent vs. the comparable quarter in 2024, mostly due to lower content sales. Global linear networks revenue dropped 12 percent.

In the prior quarter, WBD posted a net loss of $148 million on revenue of $9 billion.

Of course, everything was different back then. Netflix buying WBD was not a (public) thing, and there were only initial reports of Paramount‘s interest. In the summer, Paramount was still in the process of transforming into Paramount Skydance.

In December, Warner Bros. accepted a proposal to be acquired by Netflix for $83 billion. The agreement was to wait for WBD to split and spin off Discovery, and for Netflix to take the WB studios and streaming businesses (and HBO).

David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance is not letting David Zaslav‘s Warner Bros. Discovery go. Following multiple rounds of sweeteners, it seems Paramount may now be in the driver’s seat and Netflix is playing defense, despite the deal that remains in place. Paramount wants the whole thing, Warner Bros. and Discovery, and it is willing to pay a premium.

The split and spin a la NBCUniversal and Versant, which would also send the Turner assets to a Discovery Global standalone company, remains on track as the boards of directors and shareholders sort this mess out. Zaslav would run Warner Bros. (at least until it is acquired) and his current CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels gets Discovery — if Netflix is indeed the final boss and there is a standalone Discovery.

In a letter to shareholders accompanying the fourth quarter and full-year financials, WBD vaguely reiterated the latest in the two-suitors, one-deal situation. It was a preemptive strike to ward off media analysts’ prying questions.

“We will not be answering any questions on this topic during our earnings call,” the letter read.

The earnings call begins at 8:00 a.m. ET/5:00 a.m. PT.

Paramount reported its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday; find those here. Netflix’s, from January, are here.

The future of Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle remains uncertain following a supervisory board meeting on Thursday morning.

The supervisory board of the KBB, the umbrella association that operates the Berlinale, held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the future of the Berlin film festival and its director. The KBB is fully owned by the German government, which, through the culture ministry, is the main financial backer of the Berlinale.

“This morning, a supervisory board meeting of KBB GmbH took place at the Federal Chancellery,” the German culture ministry said in a statement. “The topic was the Berlinale. Discussions regarding the direction of the Berlinale will continue in the coming days between the director, Tricia Tuttle, and the supervisory board.”

Tuttle has come under fire from conservative circles for pro-Palestinian comments made by some of the filmmakers at this year’s award ceremony, held on Saturday. Palestinian director Abdallah Al-Khatib, whose film Chronicles From the Siege won the top prize in the Perspectives section, used his acceptance speech to call for a “free Palestine” and accused the German government of “being partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel.” That prompted German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider to walk out of the ceremony in protest, and triggered a backlash from conservative politicians and media in Germany, who say the statements amount to “antisemitism” and “hate of Israel.”

German conservative tabloid Bild has led the backlash, targeting Tuttle in particular. A Bild column on Tuesday by right-wing journalist Gunnar Schupelius accused Tuttle of having “posed for Gaza propaganda,” referencing a photo of the festival director with Al-Khatib and the Chronicles From the Siege crew at the film’s Berlinale world premiere on Feb. 15. Tuttle is standing next to crew members holding up a Palestinian flag. Several men in the group are wearing the traditional Palestinian headscarf, the keffiyeh.

On Wednesday, Bild broke the news that the KBB was calling an extraordinary supervisory board meeting to discuss the events at this year’s festival and Tuttle’s future at the Berlinale. The paper, citing no sources, speculated that Tuttle would be fired, two years into her five-year mandate as Berlinale director.

The German and European film academies have thrown their support behind Tuttle, warning that firing her would be both unjust — as none of the supposedly offensive comments came from Tuttle or the festival but were made by filmmakers themselves — and would have a chilling effect on free speech at the Berlinale.

“An international film festival is not a diplomatic instrument; it is a democratic cultural space worthy of protection,” the German film academy wrote in its open letter. “Its strength lies in its ability to hold divergent perspectives and to give visibility to a plurality of voices.”

Several international filmmakers, including Tilda Swinton, Nancy Spielberg, Sean Baker, Kleber Mendonça Filho, and Radu Jude, have added their names to the open letter in support of Tuttle.

On Thursday, Berlinale staff and contractors also issued a statement on the festival’s official Instagram page, expressing their support for “extraordinary” artistic director Tricia Tuttle amid uncertainty over her future.

“The Berlinale Team looks back on a successful festival 2026, realised collectively and met with a positive response from filmmakers, industry representatives, as well as tens of thousands of audience members,” the statement reads. “In light of the ongoing debates and deeply worrying developments around our Festival Director, Tricia Tuttle, more than 500 Berlinale employees have now jointly shared this message with policymakers:

“We, the staff, contract employees and freelancers of the Berlinale and associated institutions, representing a plurality of perspectives, speak with one voice in unanimous support of the extraordinary Tricia Tuttle as the Director of the Berlinale.”

“We have all worked closely with Tricia during her tenure and witnessed firsthand the clarity, integrity, and artistic vision that she has brought to the Berlinale,” the statement continues. “She has made the many hundreds of Berlinale colleagues feel individually respected and, collectively, extremely proud of our achievements over the course of two difficult years.

We do not exaggerate when we say, as one, that it is unlikely the KBB Supervisory Board could have appointed a more intelligent, ethical, and responsive leader for the Berlinale, nor one more dedicated to the core principles that make this festival a vital platform for cinema in Germany and internationally.”

In her first year at the job, Tuttle was broadly praised for her efforts to foster an open and respectful debate on Gaza and other contentious political issues. In addition to screening Chronicles From the Siege, the Berlinale also invited Israeli director Tom Shoval to screen a recut version of his documentary A Letter to David, his tribute to actor friend David Cunio, who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 and only recently released. The first version of A Letter to David screened at the Berlinale last year.

Tuttle attended the screening of A Letter To David – The Complete Version and, following the conservative backlash this week, Shoval posted a picture of the festival director hugging him before the 2025 premiere.

“She chose to screen the film and show solidarity with David and Ariel who were at the time still in captivity,” Shoval wrote in the post. “Tricia Tuttle saw beyond the politics. She saw the family’s human suffering and understood the urgent need to make their voice heard. She recognized that an innocent person who had acted in a film once screened at Berlinale, was now a hostage, and that the film community had a moral responsibility to demand his release…Tricia Tuttle is a true model of cultural leadership. She is a visionary with a cosmopolitan, progressive artistic outlook, and above all, an individual of unparalleled integrity. Tricia is an irreplaceable asset to the Berlinale, and I stand firmly behind her.

The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the Berlinale for comment.

German writer-director Kai Stänicke (short films Gay Goth Scene, Circle, and Pace) attracted much attention and rave reviews after world premiering his feature film debut Trial of Hein (Der Heimatlose) in the Perspectives section of the 76th edition of the Berlin Film Festival.

The movie, which won the Teddy Award jury honor and was widely seen as an example of how the Perspectives can succeed in its mission of showcasing up-and-coming voices, tells the story of a return that raises all sorts of questions.

After 14 years on the mainland, Hein returns to the place he is from, the only village on a remote island in the North Sea. However, the close-knit community no longer recognizes him. Even his closest childhood friend, Friedemann, distances himself from the visitor. Eventually, the island community convenes a village court to determine whether Hein is who he claims to be or an impostor.

The court hearings bring to light how different Hein’s recollections of his youth are from the memories of various witnesses. As such, Trial of Hein is a parable on memory, identity and the tension between the sense of belonging and the sense of restrictions that living in a community brings with it.

Paul Boche stars as Hein, with the ensemble cast also including Philip Günsch, Philip Froissant, Emilia Schüle, Jeanette Hain, Sebastian Blomberg, and Stephanie Amarell. Written and directed by Stänicke, Trial of Hein was produced by Tamtam Film, and co-produced by Lupa Film. The cinematographer is Florian Mag, the editor Susanne Ocklitz. Heretic is handling world sales.

THR can now exclusively reveal the official trailer for Trial of Hein. Get ready for the sights and sounds of the sea, the enigmatic atmosphere, as well as questions, accusations, and despair. Oh yeah, and things get really fishy.

So check out the trailer to dive into the world of Trial of Hein.

The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced the winners for the 2026 VES Awards, recognizing excellence in the craft across 25 categories, including film, television, special venue projects, technological innovation, student projects and more.

Avatar: Fire and Ash led the winners with seven including the top prize of outstanding visual effects in a photoreal feature. KPop Demon Hunters led the animation category wins with three trophies, including the top prize of outstanding animation in an animated feature.

Sinners won the award for outstanding supporting visual effects in a photoreal feature, while Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age won the award for outstanding visual effects in a photoreal episode.

Heading into the evening, Avatar: Fire and Ash led nominations with 10 overall. Other nominees in the society’s top award category were F1: The Movie, Jurassic World Rebirth, The Lost Bus and How To Train Your Dragon.

The 2026 VES Awards were held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Jerry Bruckheimer received the VES Lifetime Achievement Award, and Weta Workshop co-founder and chief creative officer Sir Richard Taylor was honored with the VES Visionary Award. Comedy duo Randy and Jason Sklar (the Sklar Brothers) hosted the event.

Enuka Okuma (Paradise), Haley Joel Osment (The Burbs, Happy Gilmore 2), Jazz Raycole (The Lincoln Lawyer), Lil Rel Howery (One of Them Days), Omar Benson Miller (Sinners) and singer/songwriter Raphael Saadiq (Sinners) presented awards.

“The VES is honored to recognize brilliant artistry and technological innovation across a wide range of disciplines,” VES Board Chair Kim Davidson said in a statement. “The craft of visual effects is constantly evolving to push the limits of our imaginations, and tonight’s inspiring winners and nominees represent best-in-class work from around the world. Congratulations to all!”

See below for the full list of winners.

1. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash
Richard Baneham
Peter Litvack
Eric Saindon
Nicky Muir
Steve Ingram

2. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Sinners
Michael Ralla
James Alexander
Nick Marshall
Espen Nordahl
Donnie Dean

3. OUTSTANDING ANIMATION IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters
Joshua Beveridge
Jacky Priddle
Benjamin Hendricks
Clara Chan

4. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; “The Big Freeze”
Russell Dodgson
Tracey Gibbons
François Dumoulin
Gavin McKenzie

5. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

The Residence; “The Fall of the House of Usher”
Seth Hill
Tesa Kubicek
John Nelson
Gabriel Vargas

6. OUTSTANDING VISUAL ARTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT

Ghost of Yōtei
Jason Connell
Matt Vainio
Joanna Wang
Jasmin Patry

7. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL

BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”
Tom Raynor
Helen Tang
Jack Harris
Alex Kulikov

8. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT

The Wizard of Oz at Sphere
Ben Grossmann
Tamara Watts Kent
Dr. Irfan Essa
Matt Dougan
Glenn Derry

9. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Varang: Leader of the Ash Clan
Stephen Clee
Stuart Adcock
Keven Norris
Joseph Kim

10. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters; Rumi
Sophia (Seung Hee) Lee
Andrea Matamoros
Marc Souliere
Joshua Beveridge

11. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN EPISODIC, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

IT: Welcome to Derry; “The Thing in the Dark;” The Pickle Monster
Philip Harris-Genois
Pierric Danjou
Chloé Ostiguy
Jonathan Bourdua

12. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Bridgehead Industrial City
Gianluca Pizzaia
Steve Bevins
Dziga Kaiser
Zsolt Máté

13. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Zootopia 2; Marsh Market
Limei Z. Hshieh
Alexander Nicholas Whang
Joshua Fry
Ryan DeYoung

14. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODIC, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Andor; “Welcome to the Rebellion;” The Senate District

John O’Connell

Falk Boje

Hasan Ilhan

Kevin George

15. OUTSTANDING CG CINEMATOGRAPHY

Avatar: Fire and Ash
Steve Deane
A.J. Briones
Zachary Brake
Andrew Moffett

16. OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT

Avatar: Fire and Ash; The Windtraders’ Gondola
Michael Smale
Sam Sharplin
Joe W. Churchill
Jacqi Dillon

17. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Simulating Pandora
Nicholas James Illingworth
Sarah C. Farmer
James Robinson
Ryan Bowden

18. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

KPop Demon Hunters
Filippo Maccari
Nikolaos Finizio
Daniel La Chapelle
Srdjan Milosevic

19. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; The Big Freeze
Edward Ferrysienanda
Kevin Christensen
Guy Schuleman
Kevin Tarpinian

20. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE

F1: The Movie; Modern Race and POV Footage
Hugo Gauvreau
Chris Davies
Raushan Raj
Amaury Rospars

21. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE

The Last of Us; “Through the Valley;” A Storm of Ice, Fire and Flesh
Tobias Wiesner
Mark Julien
Owen Longstaff
Brendan Naylor

22. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL

BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”
Alex Kulikov
Jack Harris
Adam Chabane
Nicola Borsari

23. OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT

Andor; “Who Are You?”
Luke Murphy
Dean Ford
Jody Eltham
Darrell Guyon

24. EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD

Avatar: Fire and Ash; Kora Fire Toolset
Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin
John Edholm
Murali Ramachari
Aleksandr Isakov

25. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT

Azimuth
Thomas Teisseire
Cassandre Cinier
Martin Bluy
Mathis Giraudeau

Harry Styles has admitted that he laughed at his grandma’s funeral, but he has a specific reason.

The Grammy-winning singer made a recent appearance on Brittany Broski’s Royal Court, where she brought up Styles’s song “Music for a Sushi Restaurant.” The host then proceeded to ask him what other locations he thinks also deserve to have a song written about them.

In a surprising response, the singer said the crematorium. “I really like cremation songs,” Styles confessed, as Broski and the room erupted in laughter.

The former One Direction member went on to explain how his interest in cremation songs first came about. “I remember being at my grandma’s funeral, and as the belt started, it just went ‘the long and winding road’ (referring to The Beatles song), and it made me laugh,” he recalled.

“It feels so inappropriate because of how abrupt it was,” Styles added. “And then I just started thinking about inappropriate cremation songs. … And then I was off.”

The “As It Was” artist also took a moment to name some of the specific songs on his mind at the time, including Dan Hartman’s “Relight My Fire,” The Trammps “Disco Inferno” and Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”

Styles’s fourth solo studio album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, is set to be released on March 6. Later this year, he’ll also head out on an extensive world tour, including several residencies around the world.

Elsewhere during his chat with Broski, the “Sign of the Times” singer said, “I had so much fun making this album.”

South Korean director Park Chan-wook will be the jury president for the 79th Cannes International Film Festival, Cannes announced Thursday.

The acclaimed filmmaker behind Oldboy, The Handmaiden and No Other Choice will head up the international jury that will select the winner of this year’s Palme d’Or. The 2026 Cannes Film Festival runs May 12 – 23. He will be the first Korean head of the Cannes jury.

“Park Chan-wook‘s inventiveness, visual mastery, and penchant for capturing the multiple impulses of women and men with strange destinies have given contemporary cinema some truly memorable moments,” Cannes festival president Iris Knobloch and director Thierry Frémaux said in a statement. “We are delighted to celebrate his immense talent and, more broadly, the cinema of a country deeply engaged with the questioning of our time.”

Park Chan-wook first attracted international attention with his third feature, Joint Security Area, which screened in Berlin in 2001, but his breakthrough came three years later with the world premiere of Oldboy in Cannes. The groundbreaking revenge thriller won the Grand Jury Prize (there was speculation that jury president Quentin Tarantino wanted to give it the Palme).

Park returned to the Croisette multiple times since, rarely leaving empty-handed. His vampire drama Thirst won Cannes’ jury prize in 2009, the period drama The Handmaiden (2016) won the Vulcan Prize for its production design, and his Hitchcockian thriller Decision to Leave took best director in 2022.

“His presence at the Palais des Festivals testifies to the mutual loyalty that exists between Park Chan-wook and the Festival de Cannes,” the festival said in a statement. “He is often compared to film-makers such as Tarantino, De Palma, and Fincher for artistry in composing images whose formal beauty is matched only by their moral rigor. He also cites Kurosawa, Bergman, Visconti, and Hitchcock as models.”

Park is also a regular in Venice, where Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and No Other Choice premiered. No Other Choice made the shortlist for this year’s Academy Awards in the best international feature category but was not among the final five nominees.

Cannes said Park Chan-wook’s presidency symbolizes “the festival’s early and deep attachment to Korean cinema, whose creativity has been revealed by the Official Selection. Korea is a great film-making country whose treasures are being restored year after year; it has shown that it can produce major contemporary works that attract millions of theatergoers in a space that celebrates its film-makers.”

In a statement following the announcement of his presidency, Park said he was looking forward to spending two weeks watching and debating movies in Cannes.

“The theater is dark so that we may see the light of cinema,” his statement reads. “We confine ourselves within the theater so that our souls may be liberated through the window of film. To be enclosed in a theater to watch films, and enclosed again to engage in debate with the members of the Jury, this double, voluntary confinement is something I await with great anticipation. In this age of mutual hatred and division, I believe that the simple act of gathering in a theater to watch a single film together, our breaths and heartbeats aligning, is itself a moving and universal expression of solidarity. There is no doubt that hearts will be beating intensely on May 12.”

The line-up for the 79th Cannes International Film Festival will be announced in mid-April.

Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters marched outside the Los Angeles premiere for Scream 7 on Wednesday night.

Some demonstrators could be seen waving Palestinian flags, while others were holding signs that read “Cancel Paramount+” and “Stand For Free Speech Boycott Scream 7.” The group could also be heard chanting “Boycott Scream 7” and “Free, free, free Palestine,” while some played drums and trumpets.

The premiere took place at the Paramount Studios lot; however, the protests could only be faintly heard from the red carpet, where the film’s stars, like Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, were posing for photos.

When director Kevin Williamson was asked about the protest at the premiere, he told The Hollywood Reporter, “I saw them and my heart just sort of stopped. Look, we live in America. Everyone has a right to protest and everyone should be heard. And if you have your truth and if you want to stand up and be heard, you protest. That is your right in this country, and I stand by it. I support that 100 percent.”

SCREAM 7 premiere: about 30 pro-Palestine protestors play drums and horns as they chant that David Ellison and Paramount support genocide and should be boycotted. pic.twitter.com/7B65oGlPaB

— Borys Kit (@Borys_Kit) February 26, 2026

The protest, which was led by Entertainment Labor for Palestine, CODEPINK LA and Jewish Voice for Peace-Los Angeles, aimed to call “attention to the industry’s widespread silencing of pro-Palestinian voices and its whitewashing of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza,” according to a news release from CODEPINK LA.

More specifically, the protest was also in response to Melissa Barrera‘s firing from Scream 7 in November 2023 after she expressed support for Palestine on her social media after Hamas invaded Israel in October 2023.

Spyglass Media Group, the company behind the Scream franchise, said in a statement at the time, “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”

The CODEPINK LA news release added that the protest was to “raise awareness about the Boycott Scream 7 campaign and urge audiences to refrain from supporting the film,” which releases on Feb. 27.

“We believe that Melissa Barrera is a part of the Scream community and that it’s our responsibility to speak out when a member of our community has been harmed,” Boycott Scream 7 organizer and longtime fan, Nino Testa, shared in a statement. “We refuse to let the franchise we love be used as propaganda for a genocide. We reject Hollywood’s racist blacklisting and censorship of any person who advocates for a free Palestine.”

THR has reached out to Paramount for comment, but did not hear back at the time of publication.