Author: SD

Black Bear, the US and UK-based production, finance and distribution company, is expanding into US theatrical distribution.  Benjamin Kramer, most recently co-head of CAA Media Finance, has been recruited to oversee the expansion as Black Bear’s president of US distribution.  The US operation will handle up to 12 theatrical releases a year, focusing on a curated slate of filmmaker-driven titles and wide-release action and genre films. Additional executives are set to be hired in the coming months.  The company described the expansion as a “natural evolution” from its increased production output and theatrical businesses in Canada and the UK.  Black Bear currently has a…

Disney’s Lilo & Stitch has become the first Hollywood studio film of 2025 to cross the $1bn mark at the global box office.  The live action/CG take on Disney’s 2002 animated original reached a US/Canada gross of $416.2m this week and an international take of $584.8m. It stands as the year’s highest grossing release from a Motion Picture Association member company both globally and internationally.  The film’s biggest international takes include $67m from Mexico, $49m from the UK, $42.5m from France and $37.4m from Brazil. China has delivered $25.2m.  Lilo & Stitch, for which a sequel is now in development,…

Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, Paul Greengrass’s wildfire drama The Lost Bus starring Matthew McConaughey, and Rian Johnson’s ensemble Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery led by Daniel Craig, are among 11 Galas and Special Presentations that will screen at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Apple Original Films’ The Lost Bus and the third Knives Out mystery at Netflix receive their world premieres at the festival’s 50th edition running September 4-14. The latter will go on to open the BFI London Film Festival in October.  Zhao’s period drama for Focus Features is about a tragedy…

The final edition of Sundance Film Festival in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2026 (January 22-February 1) will celebrate standout moments from the last 40 years and honour founder Robert Redford’s contribution to independent cinema before the event relocates to Colorado in 2027. The full programme will include more than 90 features, episodic projects, more than 50 shorts, and the annual Beyond Film series of talks and events. Director of Sundance Film Festival and public programming Eugene Hernandez said in a letter released to media outlets on Monday that Redford’s “immense impact and his unwavering commitment” to…

František Klišík, protagonist of Better Go Mad in the Wild, has died just hours after the documentary won the main Grand Prix prize at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Klišík was found dead in a pond in the town of Ohrobec near the Czech capital Prague on the morning of Sunday, July 13, according to several Czech media outlets. He was 62 years old. Czech radio station Radiozurnal announced the death on Sunday, July 13. Klišík had attended Karlovy Vary just three days previously for the film’s world premiere on Thursday, July 10. Last night it became the first Czech…

Czech-Slovak documentary Better Go Mad in the Wild won the Grand Prix Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which closed its 59th edition on Saturday, July 12. The fifth feature from Czechoslovakian filmmaker Remo, Better Go Mad… is loosely based on Ales Palan and Jan Sibik’s book of the same name, and follows two twins who see whether it is possible to live their entire lives in the same place. Scroll down for the full list of winners Awarding the $25,000 prize shared between Remo and producer Tomas Hruby, the jury praised “a funny valentine to the fading…

The DC Studios test case is off to a record-breaking start in 2025 as James Gunn’s Superman earned an estimated $22.5m in Thursday previews through Warner Bros. The comic book adaptation starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Hoult easily overtook the year’s previous best previews of $14.5m set by Disney’s family smash Lilo & Stitch. This is also the top career preview figure for Gunn, eclipsing the $17.5m of Marvel Studios’ Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2023. The tentpole is projected to earn anywhere from $100m to $140m in North America, based on Warner Bros and tracking,…

Projects from Emily Atef, Babak Jalali, Luis Ortega and Ulrich Seidl are among the 40 films selected for the 12th edition of the Venice Gap-Financing Market (August 29 – 31), taking place during the Venice Film Festivals. The market is a part of the Venice Production Bridge and provides the 67 projects with the chance to close their intentional financing. This year’s focus is on projects from the UK, Chile and Morocco.  Atef makes her English-language debut with Call Me Queen about a friendship between an Irish journalist in Kenya and a Rwandan woman during the 1990s AIDS crisis. It…

Charlie Coleman has been appointed head of international theatrical marketing at Amazon MGM Studios as the company continues to build its distribution infrastructure. The executive will be based in London and starts on August 18 following his departure from Warner Bros, and will work closely with Stephen Bruno and the distribution and PR teams. He reports to Amazon MGM Studios’ head of global marketing, film and series, Sue Kroll. During his tenure at Warner Bros, Coleman led international marketing campaigns on Barbie, Elvis, Dune, The Batman, and A Minecraft Movie, among others. Prior to Warner Bros, he worked in various…

Niels Swinkels, EVP and managing director at Universal Pictures International, (UPI) has been promoted and will add president of international distribution at Focus Features to his role. Los Angeles-based Swinkels joined Universal in 2004 as marketing director and was appointed vice president of sales & distribution for the EMEA region in 2006, becoming SVP of the region in 2009. He served four years as managing director of the UK & Ireland before he was named EVP international distribution in 2014, and was promoted to his current role in January 2021. In his new role, announced on Tuesday morning by Veronika…