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January 2025 could mark a bleak month for very specific reasons, but in that month one can watch a nicely curated collection of David Bowie’s best performances. Nearly a decade since he passed, the iconic actor (who had some other trades) is celebrated with The Man Who Fell to Earth, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, The Linguini Incident, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and Basquiat. (Note: watch The Missing Pieces under Fire Walk with Me‘s Criterion edition for about three times as much Phillip Jeffries.) It’s a retrospective-heavy month: Nicole Kidman, Cameron Crowe, Ethan Hawke, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Paolo Sorrentino, and Sean Baker are given spotlights; the first and last bring with them To Die For and Take Out‘s Criterion Editions, joining Still Walking, Hunger, and A Face in the Crowd.

“Surveillance Cinema” brings Thx 1138, Body Double, Minority Report, and others, while “Love in Disguise” offers films by Lubitsch,...

Mexican-born auteur Guillermo del Toro hit the Oscar jackpot with his fantastical love story “The Shape of Water” (2017), which took home four prizes including Best Picture and Best Director. But that’s just one of many eye-popping fantasies he has crafted throughout his career. Let’s take a look back at all 12 of del Toro’s films, ranked worst to best.

Del Toro made his feature directing debut with the Spanish-language horror drama “Cronos” (1993), which established him as a maker of dark, visually-stunning fright-fests. The film wrote him a ticket to Hollywood, where he helmed the creepy chiller “Mimic” (1997). Over the next two decades, he would bounce back-and-forth between mainstream American productions and more personal stories in his native language.

It was for “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006), a fable about a young Mexican girl escaping into a terrifying fantasy realm during the falangist Spain of 1944, that del Toro reaped his first Oscar bid for Best Original Screenplay.

When it was released in 2010, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's "The Tourist" -- a remake of Jérôme Salle's 2005 French thriller "Anthony Zimmer" -- was unfairly maligned. The film only racked up a piddling 21% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 175 reviews, with critics lambasting the complicated plot and the casual pace. Peter Travers called it one of the worst films of the year, and Roger Moore felt the two leads, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, had no romantic chemistry.

Stephanie Zacharek, however, loved it, noting that it was the kind of romantic international caper film that isn't made anymore, calling it "elegant" and "sensuous." This author tends to agree with Zacharek, feeling "The Tourist" to be sexy, adult, and dazzling. It has two sexy movie stars trekking through gorgeous European locales, engaging in lightweight espionage and trading flirty looks. It feels like a movie from a prior generation, one...

Plan B’s pan-European parent company Mediawan has taken a majority stake in Our Films, the new production and film financing company formed by Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli, the award-winning Italian producer duo behind “The Young Pope” and “My Brilliant Friend.”

Based in Rome, Our Films reunites Gianani and Mieli, who exited their respective Fremantle-owned banners, Wildside and the Apartment, earlier this year. The pair, whose flair for talent has shined through their impressive track record over the years, will continue working with European, U.S. and international filmmakers and talent across features, documentaries and series.

Gianani and Mieli also have a co-production deal with Fremantle under which they will continue to shepherd a number of projects that they initiated at Fremantle, some of which are hot titles world premiering at the Venice Film Festival, such as Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer,” starring Daniel Craig; Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas...

Election season is in the air and Turner Classic Movies is here to celebrate. Starting on September 6 and continuing every Friday up until this year’s general election, TCM will be running a nine-week limited series entitled “Making Change: The Most Significant Political Films of All Time.” This cinematic showcase is inspired by The New Republic rankings released in June 2023 and includes selections such as “All the King’s Men,” “Germany, Year Zero,” and “High and Low.”

To introduce the upcoming series, TCM host Ben Mankiewicz took to Washington D.C. for a trailer highlighting some of the films featured, as well as special guests like Stacey Abrams, Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, and John Turturro.

“I grew up here in Washington D.C.,” Mankiewicz said, the Capitol Building behind him. “My father’s life was politics — capital P politics. Though I went in a different direction, I understood at an early age,...

In the run-up to Election Day, TCM is going after the movie lovers’ popular vote by showing 50 films over nine successive Fridays under the banner Making Change: The Most Significant Political Films of All Time.

The series runs Sept. 6 to Nov. 1 — four days before America votes for its next president — and features TCM host Ben Mankiewicz in conversation with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Lee Grant, Sally Field, Andy Garcia, Melissa Etheridge, John Turturro, Bill Maher, Alexander Payne, Diane Lane, Josh Mankiewicz, Barry Levinson, Maureen Dowd, Stacey Abrams and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Watch the trailer here.

Making Change showcases half of the movies unveiled by The New Republic in the rankings it released in June 2023. The films on TCM span the years 1915 to 2016 (from D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation to Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro); the whole thing kicks off with the No.

Japanese director Tanigaki Kenji has completed production in Bangkok, Thailand, on his upcoming film “The Furious,” intended as an elite-level Asian martial arts actioner.

Written by Mak Tin Shu, the film follows a simple tradesman (portrayed by mainland Chinese star Xie Miao) who fights his way through a complex web of criminals and evil agents in a frantic attempt to win back his kidnapped daughter by any means necessary.

(For full Bangkok set report see here.)

Produced by the region’s top producer Bill Kong, Frank Hui and Shan Tam, the film features a pan-Asian cast that also includes Indonesian’s Joe Taslim, Thai star Jeeja Yanin (“Chocolate”), Yang Enyu, Brian Le, Joey Iwanaga and Yayan Ruhian.

Michael J. Werner, former principal at Fortissimo Films, joins Todd Brown and Aram Tertzakian of XYZ Films as an executive producer.

Kong’s Edko Films is financing the movie and will distribute in Hong Kong,...

Exclusive: BAFTA nominee and Emmy winner Christopher Eccleston (Thor: The Dark World) and Thomas W. Gabrielsson (A Royal Affair) have rounded out the cast of Cold War biopic Whispers of Freedom as production wraps in Berlin.

Set in 1980s East Berlin, the British-German co-production is based on the tragic true story of young East German Chris Gueffroy in the lead up to his attempted escape from the isolated Eastern bloc state. Gueffroy was the last person to be shot and the second-last to die in an escape attempt while trying to flee to the West across the Berlin Wall.

Eccleston, best known for portraying the ninth incarnation of The Doctor in Doctor Who, and for playing Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, joins the cast to lend his voice as East German radio personality Herbert Köfer.

Swedish vet Gabrielsson, who most recently appeared opposite Mads Mikkelsen in The Promised Land,...

Hackman’s surveillance expert Harry Caul is inexpressibly sad and lonely – a classic and poignant American everyman

God’s surveillance is everywhere: this is the thought that weighs heavily on bugging expert and practising Catholic Harry Caul in Francis Ford Coppola’s eerie 1974 classic, now on rerelease. It was a movie that intuited Watergate-era paranoia and disillusion: at the nadir of his despair, Harry ends up smashing a figure of the Blessed Virgin in his apartment because he suspects it contains a listening device. The Conversation contains an unforgettable performance from Gene Hackman as Caul: in his glasses and moustache, drab suit, white shirt and tie with clear plastic mac worn indoors, it is a classic and poignant “American everyman” portrayal, to put alongside Ernest Borgnine in Delbert Mann’s Marty from 1955 or Paul Walter Hauser in Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell from 2019. He probably inspired Ulrich Mühe’s East...

Influential German producer Max Wiedemann has said the likes of OpenAI and Google need to let content owners share in the upside created by new artificial intelligence tools.

“You have to let the rights holders participate in your productivity gains,” he said, before suggesting a body similar to those found in the music business could redistribute some of the bounty. “Maybe we need some kind of AI collection agency; those AI models that earn money from offering these tools have to pay the agency and the money is distributed among the copyright owners.”

Wiedemann is cofounder of Munich-based Wiedemann & Berg, the German producer behind movies including The Lives of Others and series such as Dark. He was speaking at a Munich Film Festival debate about the legal ramifications AI in Film.

Copyright and how rights owners are compensated is a hot button issue in the world of AI. Last week...

How Things Used to Be Assuming you’re not too young, you probably remember what life was like before the age of high-speed and high-quality video streaming; it was a dark, primitive period in human history. Of course, given my age, some of my fondest childhood memories leading up to high school are inextricably connected with watching movies on pieces of physical media, be they VHS tapes or scratched-up DVDs. My parents sometimes bought copies for our living room setup, but more often than not we would rent movies from our local Blockbuster. It’s important to remember that before the chain eroded completely in 2014, Blockbuster was the video rental place, and indeed my first encounters with more niche cinema came from roaming the aisles of that bygone store. I specifically remember my mother renting a copy of the Oscar-winning German film ‘The Lives of Others,’ when that movie’s...

Exclusive: Studiocanal has been rolling out sales on the first instalment of Germany-language film trilogy Woodwalkers in Cannes.

A joint production between Blue Eyes Fiction and Studiocanal Germany, it is one the most ambitious German-language productions to date for both partners.

The franchise is adapted from the best-selling novels by German writer Katja Brandis about a group of teenagers with secret shapeshifting abilities, known as ‘Woodwalkers’.

Blue Eyes Fiction MD and founder Corinna Mehner is lead producing, with Berlin-based Studiocanal exec Sandrine Mattes, EVP German Production & Acquisition, spearheading her company’s involvement.

Mattes says the Woodwalkers ticks a number of boxes for Studiocanal.

“Studiocanal’s DNA is truly European so we’re always looking for European content that can work on the global market. The ‘Woodwalkers’ books are a perfect fit. They’re one of the biggest IPs we have for family and kids in the German market, both in...

This year’s Cannes Film Festival should prove particularly festive for Mediawan Pictures managing director Elisabeth d’Arvieu. With five in-house productions premiering in the official selection and another in Critics’ Week, the exec and her team will hit the Croisette with cause for celebration.

As an ardent cinephile, she bolstered an extracurricular passion for movies while getting an Mba from Baruch College in New York. She still takes in a film a day.

The Cannes celebration promises to start early for Mediawan, kicking off with Quentin Dupieux’s festival opener “The Second Act,” then Palme d’Or contending Hearts” from Gilles Lellouche and Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie,” the epic “The Count of Monte-Cristo” screening out of competition and Un Certain Regard player “Le Royaume” from

emerging talent Julien Colonna.

When taken as a whole, the strong showing nicely reflects the group’s wider ambitions, from...

It’s little wonder why French president Emmanuel Macron was visibly moved as he inducted Mediawan CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton into France’s Legion of Honor last October, calling the exec “the ultimate French success story.”

In a country rarely known to promote social mobility, Capton-esque career trajectories are scarce. A self-made entrepreneur born into a middle-class Normandy family, Capton began his professional life as a teen with an entry-level internship, eschewing elite universities, making the exec a rare bird among France’s top media execs. For all that, Capton remains more humble than flamboyant, letting his track record speak for itself.

In 2015, he co-founded Mediawan with investment banker Matthieu Pigasse and telecom billionaire Xavier Niel, and since then the group has traversed a tumultuous period marked by a pandemic, strikes and economic recessions by growing stronger.

France’s president Emmanuel Macron and Pierre-Antoine Capton.

Following its recent acquisition of German...

Italian producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli are entering the Mediawan fold after recently exiting Fremantle to jointly form a new independent outfit.

The two producers will both be in Cannes as executive producers with Fremantle movies premiering in the Cannes competition, Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov” and Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope,” respectively.

Mediawan, the production powerhouse that now comprises more than 85 labels around the world, is in the process of acquiring a 51% majority stake in Gianani and Mieli’s Rome-based Our Films company under a deal that will officially close in September, according to several sources.

Gianani and Mieli, who declined to be interviewed for this article, are still closely tied to Fremantle even after exiting their Fremantle-owned banners, Wildside and the Apartment, earlier this year. As previously announced, they have a co-production deal with Fremantle under which they will continue to shepherd a number of projects that they had in the Fremantle pipeline.

Cannes mayor David Lisnard has published a blistering critique of media coverage of #MeToo in France, suggesting that investigations into cinema figures accused of sexual harassment were not dissimilar to those of East Germany’s secret police into political dissidents.

Lisnard made the comments in an article published in French newspaper L’Opinion over the weekend, written in response to recent speculation in the local media and film industry that a bombshell #MeToo exposé was poised to drop during the Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off this Tuesday.

The rumor mill went into overdrive last week following a report in Le Figaro newspaper that the festival had hired a crisis management PR firm to help it navigate the potential impending storm.

“Just a few days ago, a rumor surfaced promising shattering revelations about ten well-known actors, producers and directors accused of sexual assault. That was all that was needed to...

Mediawan CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton is set to receive Variety’s International Visionary Award at the Cannes Film Festival where the company will have multiple films playing across the Official Selection.

The award will pay tribute to Capton’s trailblazing track record at the helm of Mediawan, the company he founded with investment banker Mathieu Pigasse and telecom billionaire Xavier Niel in late 2015. Mediawan is now a global production powerhouse encompassing more than 85 labels around the world, having just announced its acquisition of Leonine, a leading German distribution-production company.

The combined group comprises Brad Pitt’s Plan B (“Bob Marley: One Love”) in the U.S., France’s On Entertainment (“Miraculous”), Hugo Selignac’s Chi-Fou-Mi (“Beating Hearts”), Dimitri Rassam’s Chapter 2, Italy’s Palomar (“The Count of Monte Cristo”), as well as Drama Republic and Misfits Entertainment (“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story”) in the U.K and Wiedemann & Berg Film (“The Lives Of Others...

France’s Mediawan has acquired German group Leonine Studios.

The all-stock transaction creates a European-based production and distribution group with a presence across 13 countries, 85 labels and revenues over €1bn. The financial terms of the deal were not revealed.

Paris-based Mediawan has had a 25% stake in Munich-based Leonine since 2020, and both groups are backed by US private equity firm Kkr. Mediawan was reported to be weighing an acquisition of Leonine back in November 2023.

For Mediawan the deal bolsters its European footprint with the addition of the German-speaking market.

Mediawan CEO Pierre-Antoine Capton will continue to lead the group while Leonine CEO...

France’s Mediawan has acquired Germany’s Leonine Studios.

The deal, financial terms of which were not revealed, has been bubbling since November last year. Call My Agent maker Mediawan has owned a 25% stake in the business since 2020.

The all-stock deal will see the two companies move even closer together and forms a major European indie studio with 85 labels operating across 13 countries and revenues of more than €1B ($1.1B).

Leonine was founded in 2019 by Fred Kogel with financial support from Kkr — a Mediawan backer — and Atwater Capital through acquiring and merging Tmg, Universum Film, i&u TV and Wiedemann & Berg Film, and then W&b Television, Seo Entertainment, Hyperbole, BeetzBros Film Production and Toon2Tango.

Productions from within the group include The Lives of Others, School of Magical Animals, Dark, The Gryphon, Crooks, Juan Carlos – Downfall of The King, and The Cleaners. It also has certain rights to blockbuster titles such as the John Wick franchise,...

European powerhouse Mediawan has acquired Leonine, a leading production and distribution group active in German-speaking markets.

With the acquisition of Leonine, Mediawan will boast a portfolio of 85 labels, a catalogue spanning 30,000 hours of premium content and revenues exceeding €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion). Mediawan’s worth is now believed to be in the $2-billion range. The deal is an all-stock transaction; both companies have the same shareholder, the U.S. private equity fund Kkr whose stake in Mediawan will still be below 50%, according to a source close to the company.

Mediawan now has a significant footprint in all major European markets, including German-speaking territories which represent the continent’s second largest TV market. The pact positions Mediawan as one of the world’s biggest super indies with a large proportion of scripted business across prestige series and movies. Mediawan now spans 13 countries including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, Benelux and the U.K.

Germany network Rtl Deutschland has struck a long-term strategic deal with Wiedemann & Berg Film and the producer’s parent, Leonine Studios.

The multi-year agreement covers free TV and streaming, and means Rtl Deutschland will have exclusive rights to German theatrical releases from the two companies, which produced or co-produced the country’s most successful film in each year between 2020 and 2023.

The pact includes the new comedy Alter Weisser Mann from director Simon Verhoeven starring Jan Josef Liefers, Nadja Uhl, Friedrich von Thun, Michael Maertens, Meltem Kaptan and Elyas M’Barek. It began shooting this month.

The film follows family man Heinz Hellmich, who tries show is ‘wokest’ side and prove he is not an ‘old white man’ to land the job he has longed for. Inviting his boss and colleagues to a dinner party, his family politically correct facade begins to crumble, causing chaos among the guests.

Andreas Fischer, Chief Operating...

The 2024 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) will take place on December 8 at the Roundhouse in Camden. The ceremony will mark a return for the BIFAs, which were last held at the storied London venue in 2007.

“We’re delighted to be returning to Roundhouse this year. The opportunity to work with our production partners and the brilliant team at the venue to do something different and really special in the space is incredibly exciting for us, and we hope for the industry we celebrate too,” said BIFA directors Amy Gustin and Deena Wallace.

The BIFAs have been staged at Old Billingsgate in the City of London for the last 14 years. The awards body’s last outing in Camden was hosted by James Nesbitt. Guests and honorees included Judi Dench, Daniel Craig, Ray Winstone, Jamie Bell, Sam Riley, Carey Mulligan, and Tilda Swinton. Film winners on the night included Control, Notes on a Scandal,...

Germany’s Beta Film (“Babylon Berlin”) sets its sights on the Croisette for the world premiere of Dutch Royal drama “Máxima,” selected to screen out-of-competition at Canneseries on April 9. In tow, Delfina Chaves (“The Secret of the Greco Family”), who portrays the titular character in the series that Variety recently likened to Emmy-Award-Winning Netflix Drama “The Crown.”

Teased at last month’s London TV Screenings, the six-part drama series unravels the love story between then Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander (Martijn Lakemeier) and his enigmatic Argentine love interest, Máxima, who goes on to become Queen, at his side.

Her future fraught with whispers of her father’s political connection to Argentina’s brutal dictatorship, she’s tasked with circumventing harsh truths to remain faithful to her destiny in the narrative that follows her through her formative years.

“You don’t have to know Máxima and the Dutch royal family to enjoy the show.

Germany’s Beta Film is introducing at the London TV Screenings the first episode of “Maxima,” a six-part drama about the love story between future Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and the then Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. The series is produced by Millstreet Films “The Neighbors”), with Videoland (Rtl Netherlands) holding Dutch broadcasting rights.

“Maxima” is adapted from the biography written by Dutch journalist Marcia Luyten in celebration of the Queen’s 50th birthday and focuses mainly on how the political background of Maxima’s father interfered with her very public engagement to the Crown Prince. Speaking to Variety ahead of the London TV Screenings, Justus Riesenkampff, EVP Nordics & Benelux at Beta Film, said “Maxima” was “especially appealing because royal stories resonate well.”

“It’s the second TV series made about a living royal — we couldn’t think of any other than ‘The Crown.’ And we have a lot of...

Ready for another deliciously outré performance from Lars Eidinger, everybody’s favorite German arthouse weirdo (known for his work in Personal Shopper, Clouds of Sils Maria, White Noise, and on and on)? Well, strap in for Sterben (Dying) from German director Matthias Glasner.

In the exclusive first trailer from The Match Factory (see below), Eidinger plays Tom, a Berlin conductor with more than a few personal issues to deal with.

Dying is a rare new feature from Glasner who, unlike his prolific star, has kept his filmography tight. (His last feature was 2012’s Gnade.) Judging by the trailer, and Glasner’s previous work, including 2006 Silver Bear winner The Free Will, Dying looks like another powerful mix of melodrama, wry humor and philosophical ponderings about the “big questions” of life and, given the title, of death.

“The name of the piece… is ‘Dying’,” a high-strung composer, played by Robert Gwisdek, instructs the orchestra.

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are emerging in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. That’s why we’re doing the hard work for you.

This week, we make our first trip to Poland, to check out a World War II spy drama. The Bay of Spies draws parallels to the likes of German Oscar Winner The Lives of Others and John le Carré TV adaptations such as The Night Manager. Politically, Poland is a charged place right now. The fact a film noir-influenced story based on real events during the war and with real moral ambiguity is the country’s most talked-about show right now is perhaps no coincidence.

If you’re going to make a music biopic — and with new dramatic takes on the lives of Bob Dylan, Amy Winehouse, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson on the way, it appears everyone is — you’d better secure the music rights. Making a movie purporting to tell the story of a pop music legend without first clearing rights to use the pop music that made them legendary is a recipe for box office disaster.

Remember Stardust, Gabriel Range’s 2020 David Bowie biopic starring Johnny Flynn, shot without any music from Bowie? Or Jimi: All Is By My Side (2013) directed by John Ridley with André 3000 as Jimi Hendrix playing none of his original songs? How about England Is Mine, Mark Gill’s unauthorized Morrissey biopic with Jack Lowden and Jodie Comer? Probably not. Without the sing-alone tunes, those films sank without a trace.

The blockbuster pop biopics — Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman,...

Exclusive: Picture Tree International (Pti) has boarded sales on German Iranian director Alireza Golafshan’s comedy Everything’s Fifty Fifty about a divorced couple who embark on a family vacation, ahead of the AFM.

Laura Tonke (Jupiter) and Moritz Bleitreu play a divorced couple who head to Italy for a family holiday with their young son and the former’s new boyfriend, played by David Kross.

Planned with the best of intentions, the trip exposes cracks in their parenting, forcing them to reappraise their approach and work out how to function as a family again.

The movie follows Golafshan’s Ibiza-set hen party caper Jga and reunites him with producers Justyna Muesch, Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann at Leonine-company Wiedemann & Berg, best known for The Lives Of Others, Never Look Away and Who am I.

They are lead producing in...

Germany’s Rtl has acquired royal drama “Maxima” from Beta Film. The show follows the life of Argentinian born Maxima Zorreguieta, who later became Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.

The first six-hour season of the show has just wrapped shooting. Several additional territories are in negotiations. A sneak preview of “Maxima” will be presented at Mipcom in Cannes. The series is produced by Millstreet Films and was commissioned by Rtl Netherlands’ Ott service Videoland.

Shot in New York, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium over the course of the summer, the series features a stellar cast: Maxima is portrayed by Argentinian actress Delfina Chaves (“The Secret of the Greco Family”), and Crown Prince Willem-Alexander by Martijn Lakemeier (“The East”). German star actor Sebastian Koch takes on the role of Claus von Amsberg, Willem-Alexander’s father, and Elsie de Brauw (“The Death of My Mother”) stars as Queen Beatrix. Valeria Alonso (“Tell Me Who I Am...

Leonine Studios founder and CEO Fred Kogel has said he does not expect his Germany-focused content group to expand much more in the near future, after four years of rapid and continuous growth.

The veteran film and TV exec was talking about the journey around the creation of Leonine Studios in 2019 in an onstage conversation with CAA Media Finance Co-head Benjamin Kramer at the Zurich Film Festival’s finance and industry-focused Zurich Summit on Saturday.

Kogel will be feted with the Zurich Film Festival’s Game Changer Award on Sunday, following in the footsteps of Pamela Abdy, Patrick Wachsberger as well as Michael Barker and Tom Bernard.

“There are many companies who drop by Leonine at the moment who say: ‘Can we be interesting for you in the German market?’,” said the veteran exec.

“There are always two questions for us: ‘Who is the talent and what kind of programs they do,...

Exclusive: The Lives of Others star Sebastian Koch and The Death of My Mother‘s Elsie de Brauw have joined Máxima, Rtl’s upcoming drama about the Argentine-born Queen of the Netherlands. Germany’s Beta Film has also joined the Millstreet Films production.

Principal photography on the six-part drama for Rtl’s streamer Videoland began last month in New York and Madrid in Spain, which subbed in for Buenos Aires, and is set to move to the Netherlands and Belgium with its cast rounded out.

German star Koch joins the cast in the role of Claus van Amsberg, the father of Crown Prince King Willem-Alexander, and Elsie de Brauw will play Queen Beatrix. Koch has appeared in 2007 Academy Award-winning feature The Lives of Others, Tom Hanks starrer Bridge of Spies and Showtime series Homeland.

Queen Máxima is portrayed by Argentinian star Delfina Chaves (The Secret of the Greco Family) and Prince Willem-Alexander,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is expanding its membership.

According to a press release, the organization that hands out Oscars each year at the Academy Awards has extended invitations to join the Academy to 398 artists and executives who have made notable contributions to the motion picture industry.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang in a joint statement.

Read More: The Academy Announces 2024 Oscars Date As Well As Submission Deadline

There are some big names and familiar faces among the invitees, including musicians Taylor Swift and David Byrne, and numerous actors, ranging from Selma Blair to Keke Palmer to “Elvis” Oscar nominee Austin Butler.

Those who accept will be only additions to Academy’s membership in 2023.

Vicky Krieps, Paul Mescal, Warner Bros Discovery head David Zaslav, Aftersun writer-director Charlotte Wells, She Said director Maria Schrader, and Kerry Condon are among 398 who have been invited to join the Academy.

Some 40% of the 2023 class identify as women, 34% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 52% are from 50 countries and territories outside the United States. There are 76 Oscar nominees including 22 winners among the invitees.

Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership. Should they all accept, the total number of members...

“Everything Everywhere All At Once” Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan, Daniel Kwan, and Daniel Scheinert, recent acting nominees Austin Butler, Paul Mescal, and Stephanie Hsu, and bold-face names for the extremely online like Taylor Swift, Abel Tesfaye (a.k.a. The Weeknd), and Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav were among the 398 people announced as new members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday.

“The academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said academy CEO Bill Kramer and academy president Janet Yang in a joint statement.

This year’s class of new members is heavy on 2022 breakouts, like the aforementioned Kwan and Scheinert – invitees in both the directors’ brand and the producers’ branch. In keeping with academy practice,...

The Academy has invited 398 artists across cinematic disciplines to join its membership, including Taylor Swift, Keke Palmer and this year’s Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang.

Also scoring invitations are actors Selma Blair, Austin Butler, Ram Charan, Kerry Condon, Bill Hader, Nicholas Hoult, Stephanie Hsu, Noémie Merlant, Paul Mescal, Nt Rama Rao Jr. and Paul Reiser, directors Joseph Kosinski, Maria Schrader and Michael Showalter, writers Josh Friedman, Kazuo Ishiguro and Charlotte Wells.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” duo The Daniels (Credit: Getty Images)

Eight people were invited to join the Academy by multiple branches and must choose which...

Austin Butler, Ke Huy Quan, Keke Palmer, Nt Rama Rao Jr and music superstar Taylor Swift are among the 398 artists and executives invited to join the membership of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. If all of this year’s invitees accept membership, it will bring the total number of overall Academy members to 10,817, with 9,375 eligible to vote for the 96th Oscars, set to take place on March 10, 2024.

The 2023 class is 40% women. 34% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities and 52% hail from 51 countries and territories outside the United States. There are many recent Oscar nominees among the invitees, such as Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”), Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) and Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”). The list also includes many of the 95th ceremony’s winners, such as Ke Huy Quan (supporting actor for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”) cinematographer James Friend (“All Quiet on the Western Front...

Singer-songwriters Taylor Swift and David Byrne, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria, Everything Everywhere All at Once filmmakers Daniels (Kwan and Scheinert), Nobel Prize-winning writer Kazuo Ishiguro, former SXSW chief Janet Pierson, WME co-chairs Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz, and actors including Selma Blair, Austin Butler, Bill Hader, Paul Mescal, Nicholas Hoult, Keke Palmer, Ke Huy Quan and Rrr stars Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr. are among the 398 artists and executives from around the world who have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year, the Oscar-dispensing organization announced Wednesday.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang said in a statement. “They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the names of its newest round of invitees, increasing the number of voting members past 10,000, should everyone accept.

With the addition of the 398 artists and executives that the Academy extended invitations to (totaling one more invite than last year), the Academy now boasts a membership that is 34 percent women, 18 percent from underrepresented ethnic and racial communities, and 20 percent from countries or territories outside of the United States. Though their invites have a rolling deadline, they must accept them and pay dues in order to vote for the Oscars and gain access to benefits like the Academy Screening Room.

Among the list of possible new members are, predictably, many of the filmmakers behind Best Picture winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” including Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan, Best Supporting Actress nominee Stephanie Hsu, Best Film Editing winner Paul Rogers,...

With the 76th Cannes Film Festival nearing its conclusion, it has been apparent that the most frequent stories have leaned heavily on how long the standing ovations have been. Johnny Depp’s Jeanne du Barry opened the fest with a seven minute standing O, while Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon landed nine and on and on and on. But none of these—or any others—have matched the reigning champ of Cannes ovations: Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, which clocked in at an astounding 22 minutes.

Pan’s Labyrinth may not have won the Palme d’Or at the 59th Cannes Film Festival, but it did set the new record for standing ovation length, topping 2004’s Fahrenheit 9/11’s reported 20-minute reception. (Michael Moore’s film at least also received the festival’s top honor.) Reflecting on that memorable moment, director del Toro said such a response is overwhelming...

With some of Germany’s most successful production companies in its stable, Leonine Studios is reaping the rewards with such feature film and television hits as “School of Magical Animals,” “Nightlife,” “Dark” and “Pagan Peak.”

Leonine’s production division includes such well-established companies as Wiedemann & Berg Film, which focuses on theatrical features, W&b Television and Odeon Fiction, which produce movies and series for all broadcasters and streaming platforms in Germany, documentary outfit Gebrueder Beetz and format maker I&u TV.

“We are in for high creative quality and commercial success,” explains Quirin Berg, who, along with Max Wiedemann, serves as Leonine’s chief production officer and managing director of Wiedemann & Berg Film.

“The parameters in each segment we are operating in may be different, but the agenda is not. And that was already the profile when we started out as producers some 20 years ago.”

Indeed, Wiedemann & Berg’s first feature film,...

Experience the richness of world cinema with these classic foreign language films. From intense drama to thrilling action, each one offers an unforgettable cinematic experience that will stay with you long after watching. These iconic movies break boundaries while teaching viewers more about diverse cultures, so grab some popcorn today.

Related: 10 Best TV Movies of All Time, Ranked by Viewers

Foreign films have been inaccurately labeled as arrogant. However, these movies offer many genres, including action flicks, comedies, musicals, and thrillers. This list of best foreign movies includes those from non-English speaking countries but no silent films. This is your cinematic passport to the world’s movie scene.

10 Best Foreign Movies, Ranked on IMDb The Lives of Others (2006) – 8.4 Oldboy (2003) – 8.4 The Best of Youth (2003) – 8.5 Cinema Paradiso (1988) – 8.5 The Intouchables (2011) – 8.5 Parasite (2019) – 8.5 Harakiri (1962) – 8.6 Life Is Beautiful (1997) – 8.6 City of God (2002) – 8.6 Spirited Away (2001) – 8.6 10 The Lives of Others (2006)

IMDb: 8.4/10 396K | Popularity: 1,156 | Top 250: #58 | Metascore: 89

The Lives of Others...

Filmmakers and executives, creatives of music, theater and art remembered Tom Luddy as friend and mentor, tastemaker and cultural force who deployed an astonishingly vast network to nurture talent and bring people and projects together over decades.

The co-founder of the Telluride Film Festival passed away in February.

“I am thinking of getting a tattoo of you on my arm,” said Irish director Mark Cousins at tribute event at the Paris Theatre over the weekend. “Here is Hitchcock on my arm, and here is and Kira Muratova. Maybe you would fit between the two?” He added, “For the rest of my life, I will see partly through your eyes. I miss you and I love you.”

“Tom Luddy was a constant presence. The sun around which so many of us have revolved,” said Ken Burns. The two met when Burns screened Huey Long at Telluride in 1985. “For the next 35-plus years,...

Tom Luddy wasn’t famous exactly. But he had a huge impact on film culture via Uc Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive in the ’60s and the Telluride Film Festival in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and up to his death in February at age 79. And while he was based in the Bay Area, a theater full of Luddy-philes from both coasts turned up for his tribute at New York’s packed Paris Theater on April 15. They represented the cross-cultural network that Luddy created over decades of introducing people, sharing his favorite film gems, and luring folks to Telluride by inviting their films or bringing them in as guest directors (like Stephen Sondheim or Salman Rushdie) or tributees (like Athol Fugard or Michael Powell). Once they came, they usually came back.

Five of the stalwarts in the Luddy family, who have supported the festival on the Telluride board of directors and in other ways,...

Variety will bestow its International Achievement in Film Award on German production, licensing and distribution company Leonine Studios at a ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival next month.

This award is the most prestigious honor Variety can bestow on an international film company or executive, and is designed to spotlight the honoree’s achievements over the past few years.

Steven Gaydos, Executive Vice President, Global Content, Variety, said: “Building on the links to a storied, successful history, Leonine Studios has rapidly established itself in the past few years as one of the world’s leading producers, licensors and distributors of premium movies and series.

“The Leonine Studios name is now known for its brave and highly informed decision-making, as well as its innovation, and its allegiance to high-quality product. In a challenging and complex global entertainment business environment, Leonine is steering a dynamic, creative course that is serving as a...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Body Double (Brian De Palma)

When rewatching Body Double for the third time, its most striking element was, as on my first viewing, Craig Wasson’s performance. As central character Jake Scully, Wasson turns his conventionally attractive looks into an endlessly fascinating nebbishness and awkwardness. In an early scene, Jake simply walks to his car and jumps in the driver’s seat, yet Wasson manages to turn this casual action into one of the most amusing instances of purposefully bad acting. This unquestionably intended ridiculousness in fact informs an audience of the approach required by the entire film: just as it is difficult to take this ludicrous failed actor and naïve man seriously, Body Double itself is better enjoyed with a grain of salt.

All Quiet on the Western Front scooped the Best International Feature Film Oscar this evening, after earlier taking the Cinematography trophy and then winning for Production Design and Original Score. Such categories in which it is also nominated, including Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Sound are still to be unveiled. This is the first time a German title has taken the International Feature prize since 2006’s The Lives of Others.

In accepting the International Feature Oscar, director Edward Berger thanked his collaborators and family, and had special praise for an emotional All Quiet star Felix Kammerer saying, “This was your first movie and you carried us on your shoulders. Without you, none of us would be here.”

Related: The 2023 Oscars’ Biggest Moments, Snubs And Surprises

The last time Erich Maria Remarque’s classic anti-war novel was made as a theatrical motion picture was nearly a century ago, and it went...

Edward Berger’s antiwar epic All Quiet on the Western Front has won the Oscar for best international feature for Germany at the 2023 Oscars.

The drama, the first German adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s World War I novel, was the frontrunner in the category after the film picked up nine Oscar nominations, including for best picture.

Lewis Milestone’s 1930 adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front was also an Oscar champ, winning Academy Awards for best picture and best director.

When taking the stage, Berger gave credit to the “many new friends” he made while working on the film including the cinematographer, costume designer, the hair and makeup designer and the production designer. “I owe everything to you and the rest of my crew,” he said.

He later mentioned how he recently connected with Tár cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister: “We’re from the same town … we made our...

Best Cinematography at the Oscars will be a particularly interesting category this year, since two of the nominees are the only nominations received by their respective films.

SEEJohn Williams (‘The Fabelmans’): 5 reasons why we’re all underestimating him at Oscars

It’s also interesting because four movies that received quite a bit of below-the-line support from other academy branches –”Top Gun: Maverick,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Batman,” and even the presumptive Best Picture favorite, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” – were omitted from the category. In fact, none of the bigger theatrical releases were nominated in favor of two streaming movies, two movies that didn’t make much of a dent at the box office, and Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis.” Also, only two of this year’s Cinematography-nominated films received a Production Design nomination (“Elvis” and “All Quiet on the Western Front”), whereas last year the two categories matched five-for-five.

The launch of innovative thrillers like “Glass Onion” and “Bullet Train” has re-ignited the love for this classic genre. These films are a potent concoction of action, suspense, crime, and sci-fi – prepared to keep viewers in an endless loop of anticipation (or fear).

IMDb makes it a breeze for thriller fanatics to find the cream of the crop. From award-winning classics like “Witness for the Prosecution” that form this genre’s identity to worldwide successes such as “Parasite.” It even includes two dark superhero movies from “The Dark Knight” franchise among its top-rated gems.

Ranked Best Thriller Movies [Sortable Table] Rank Title Year IMDb Metascore 18 Witness for the Prosecution 1957 8.4 76 17 The Lives of Others 2006 8.4 89 16 Rear Window 1954 8.5 100 15 Oldboy 2003 8.4 77 14 Psycho 1960 8.5 97 13 Aliens 1986 8.4 84 12 Parasite 2019 8.5 96 11 The Usual Suspects 1995 8.5 77 10 Léon: The Professional 1994 8.5 64 9 Memento 2000 8.4 81 8 Joker 2019 8.4 59 7 The Departed 2006 8.5 85 6 The Prestige 2006 8.5 66 5 The Silence of the Lambs 1991 8.6 85 4 Se7en 1995 8.6 65 3 The Dark Knight Rises 2012 8.4 78 2 Inception 2010 8.8 74 1 The Dark Knight 2008 9 84 More About the Best Thriller Movies List...

Despite representing Germany at this year’s Academy Awards for best international feature, “All Quiet on the Western Front” writer-director Edward Berger doesn’t feel national pride for the country.

“I don’t feel that because of the history,” Berger tells Variety. “I could never say I’m proud to be German. Those words don’t fit into our mouths, and rightly so. I would have a hard time thinking I would represent the country because I can’t speak for the entire country.”

On this episode of Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast, Berger discusses “All Quiet on the Western Front’s” nine Oscar noms — the second most of the year — and employing the most artisans of any non-English movie in history. Finally, he shares why he feels a responsibility to accurately portray Germany’s role in some of humanity’s most devastating wars. Listen to the full podcast below.