Author: SD

The first industry speakers have been confirmed for Screen International’s ‘Financing the Future of UK Film’ summit, taking place on September 29 at the BFI Southbank in London. They include Ben Browning, co-CEO of Pathe UK, and president of global film. Browning joined the company this year, relocating to London from his role as president of motion pictures at FilmNation in Los Angeles to spearhead Pathe’s renewed focus on English-language filmmaking. Frederic Fiore, president of French production, sales and distribution company Logical Pictures Group, has also joined the lineup. The company’s second Logical Content Ventures fund recently backed Simon Woods’…

Series financed by the international streaming platforms were the main beneficiaries of the TV-focused German Motion Picture Fund (GMPF) in the first six months of 2026. Fifteen local and international TV series received almost 90% of the total €70m paid out to the German producers and co-producers of these series. They included the eight-part limited series Wild Things, produced by the US’ Imagine Entertainment and in Germany by Henning Molfenter’s Berlin Production Group for Apple TV+, which received the maximum payout of €20m. Wild Things stars Andrew Garfield and Jude Law as German-born magicians Siegfried & Roy,  The second-largest tranche of GMPF funding…

Rank Film (origin)DistributorJuly 10-12TotalWeek  UK-Ireland top five, July 10-12 1 Moana (US) Disney £2.8m £2.8m  1 2  Toy Story 5 (US)  Disney £2.5m £42.4m  4 3  Minions & Monsters (US) Universal £1.6m £7.3m  2 4  Evil Dead Burn (US) Studiocanal £696,706 £696,706  1 5  The Invite (US) Black Bear £430,000 £1.8m  2 GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.34 Disney pulled off a one-two at the UK and Ireland box office this weekend as Moana topped the charts, followed closely by Toy Story 5. The live-action Moana opened on £2.8m…

EXCLUSIVE: Ena Sendijareviç’s anticipated next project The Possessed and Nina Gantz’s animation project Once Upon An Egg will be among the projects presented at the second edition of Dutch industry showcase NLWave26, which will run September 30 to October 2 in Utrecht.  The Possessed is a love triangle drama set during Europe’s 17th-century witch hunts. Ariane Labed stars in the French-language film, which is in pre-production. It is being produced by Maarten Van Der Ven’s Studio Ruba as a coproduction with Barcelona-based Distinto Films, with backing from Catalan fund ICEC.  Bosnian-Dutch filmmaker Sendijareviç’s previous film Sweet Dreams premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2023…

Neon has closed a transaction to sell a “significant” stake to Department M and will use the capital influx to continue expanding operations and launch Neon TV. The long-anticipated move sees Neon founder Tom Quinn remain as CEO while Department M partner Michael Schaefer becomes Neon’s chief content officer. Department M partner Mike Larocca remains at that company and joins the Neon board. In other key executive news, Jeff Deutchman continues as president of acquisition, production and development for film while Carina Sposato joins the company as EVP, television. Both report directly to Schaefer. The investor will contribute development assets and…

EXCLUSIVE: Amsterdam-based Piece of Magic Entertainment (POM) is set to release Godzilla Minus Zero in 46 markets across Europe and beyond after closing a deal with Japan’s Toho Global. The highly anticipated follow-up to Oscar-winning monster feature Godzilla Minus One will begin its rollout from November 4, with most territories releasing on November 5 and 6. Key territories include Spain, Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, Croatia, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Turkey and South Africa. It marks a renewed partnership between POM and Toho after its theatrical release of Godzilla Minus One across 38 territories in 2023. The film…

The Television Academy announced its Emmys nominations on Wednesday (July 8) with HBO Max shows The Pitt and Hacks leading the way on 25 and 24 nods apiece. New shows made their presence felt. Apple TV Plus series Widow’s Bay and Pluribus were close behind on 19 and 18, respectively, while HBO Max’s DTF St. Louis earned 13 and Prime Video’s Spider-Noir 11. Netflix’s Season 2 of Beef garnered 16 nominations and HBO’s A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms and the Apple TV pair of Shrinking and Slow Horses earned nine each. 2025 dramatic series winner The Pitt goes against Slow Horses…

UK-Ireland box office revenue was up 14% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, after a strong June saw takings up 29% on the equivalent month last year, according to Rentrak. The year to date is at £604.9m, 14% up on the £532.2m at the same stage in 2025, and up 34% on the £451.6m at the same point in 2024. Box office receipts for June grossed £99.4m, up 29% on the £76.8m in June 2025. Takings have been up in five of the six months of the year so far, as the theatrical sector shows recovery post-pandemic and post-strikes.…

Netflix is doubling down on its pushback to mandatory content investment requirements in France with a formal appeal to the country’s Council of State, alongside Prime Video and Disney+, challenging new diversity clauses introduced this year. The US streaming platform argues the rules are unsustainable and threaten diversity and creative freedom for the entire film and audiovisual industry in France and beyond borders. In a letter in French newspaper Le Monde on Monday (July 6), Pauline Dauvin, Netflix France’s vice president of content, explained why it was issuing an appeal disputing a new sub-quota introduced in 2026 to the 2021…

EXCLUSIVE: Jesse Eisenberg has confirmed his upcoming film The Debut will launch at an autumn film festival this year, and teased new projects including an A24 series with The Social Reckoning producer Peter Rice. Speaking to Screen at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where he received an honorary President’s Award, Eisenberg said making third feature The Debut was his most comfortable directing experience to date. “We shot right after the Oscars [in 2025, where Eisenberg was nominated for best original screenplay for A Real Pain],” said the filmmaker. “I had been on a six-month press tour. The Debut feels looser, fun…