Author: SD

Experienced distribution executive Scott Sargeant has joined Amazon MGM Studios in the newly created role of head of UK theatrical distribution. London-based Sargeant joins from Black Bear, where he was VP, UK distribution for three years. Sargeant’s previous experience includes working as VP, sales, UK at STX Entertainment; as a sales manager for Universal Pictures; and as sales executive at eOne. Sargeant’s appointment comes as Amazon MGM Studios received its biggest opening weekend to date at the UK-Ireland box office for Project Hail Mary, with £4.6m from Friday to Sunday and £7.4m including previews. Sony handles the distribution operations on…

One Battle After Another has received six nominations for the 35th annual Gotham Film Awards, earning recognition for best film and director Paul Thomas Anderson, but not lead Leonardo DiCaprio. Benicio del Toro and Teyana Taylor are in the running in the gender-neutral supporting performance category, while newcomer Chase Infiniti earned a nod for Breakthrough Performer. For the first time, the Gothams has expanded its best feature category from five to 10 slots. Contenders include The Testament Of Ann Lee, Hamnet, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Train Dreams, and Sorry, Baby. Lead performance nominees include Jessie Buckley for…

Steve Coogan and production companies Baby Cow Productions and Pathe Productions have settled a defamation case brought by university academic Richard Taylor over Stephen Frears’ 2022 feature The Lost King, co-written, produced by and starring Coogan. Taylor was successful in his claim against the filmmakers, in a ruling passed down by the UK’s High Court on Monday, October 27. He has been awarded damages, and a clarification message will be added to the start of the film, with the defamatory comments not repeated, according to reports by BBC News. The clarification, which will be the only change to the film, will…

Bruce Springsteen biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere leads the new titles at UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend, opening in 696 venues through Disney. Based on Warren Zanes’ book, Deliver Me From Nowhere  follows rock icon Springsteen’s journey to create his 1982 album Nebraska, and his battles with mental health and his growing acclaim. The Bear star Jeremy Allen White leads the cast as Springsteen, with Jeremy Strong as his manager Jon Landau, Stephen Graham and Gaby Hoffman as his parents Douglas and Adele, and Odessa Young as his (fictionalised) love interest Faye Romano. The film debuted at Telluride Film Festival…

Jennifer Coolidge and Nicole Scherzinger have joined the cast of Rebel Wilson’s comedy Girl Group, now in production in the UK. The film follows a pop star, played by Wilson,  who has been kicked out of her own group’s reunion tour and sentenced to community service. She looks to stage a comeback by coaching a group of misfit teenage girls for a major record label audition. The ensemble cast also includes Randall Park, Sheridan Smith, Jamie Lee O’Donnell, Guz Khan, Jolene, and Loren Gray. Ashley Roberts – a Pussycat Dolls member alongside Scherzinger – Melanie Chisholm of the Spice Girls…

EXCLUSIVE: Mister Smith Entertainment has acquired world sales for David Turpin’s Irish-UK directorial debut Ancestors, as the feature wraps its Dublin shoot. Saipan’s Éanna Hardwicke, Shadow And Bone’s Jack Wolfe and Kneecap’s Jessica Reynolds star alongside Rupert Everett and Christina Hendricks in the love story, noir mystery and metaphysical fable. A charismatic but vulnerable man, Beau searches 1980s London for his missing friend. Dream, reality, memory and history entwine, bringing him face-to-face with life, death and the beyond. David Collins and Eamon Hughes produce through Ireland’s Samson Films with Miranda Ballesteros of the UK’s Lunatica. The project is financed by Screen…

Callum Turner, Adria Arjona and Amir El-Masry will lead the cast of Alone Together, from Limbo director Ben Sharrock. Written by Sharrock, it will shoot in the desert in Oman in March 2026. HanWay Films will launch international sales on the title at next month’s American Film Market (AFM, November 11-16). The film will follow two strangers – played by Turner and Arjona – whose lives collide during a rare storm in a desert city, sparking a brief but profound connection that leads to a journey of self-discovery. The film will be produced by The Father and The Son filmmaker…

EXCLUSIVE: Production is underway on Christmas comedy Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint, with John Bradley, Celia Imrie and Richard E. Grant among a cast of UK actors. WestEnd Films has boarded world sales on the title, which is directed by Jack Spring, and produced by Andy Brunskill for SUMS Film & Media with Spring’s Shush Films. Adjoa Andoh, Sophia Di Martino, Adrian Rawlins, Karl Pilkington, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Nigel Planer, Ann Mitchell, Dave Johns, Dustin Demri-Burns, Harriet Webb and Beau Thompson round out the cast. Merry Christmas Aubrey Flint follows Aubrey Flint, a reclusive model soldier painter with a deep-seated disdain for…

A new installment in Sony’s Jumanji franchise and Michael Mann’s Heat 2 are among 52 feature projects included in the latest round of awards from California’s film and TV tax credit programme.  The awards allocation is the first for feature films since California’s 4.0 credit programme came into effect with massively expanded funding of $750m a year. According to the California Film Commission (CFC), applications for the awards round were nearly double those for the final feature round under the state’s 3.0 programme.  Between them, the 52 projects are expected to make $1bn of qualified expenditures in California and inject…

UK-Ireland top five, Oct 17-19  Rank Film (origin) Distributor Oct 17-19 Total Week 1 Gabby’s Dollhouse  (US)   Universal  £1.7m  £1.9m 1 2  Black Phone 2  (US)   Universal    £1.1m  £1.1m 1  3  I Swear  (UK)   Studiocanal  £866,877  £2.9m 2  4  Tron: Ares  (US)   Disney  £837,797  £3.3m 2  5  One Battle After Another  (US)  Warner Bros  £790,668  £9.7m 4  GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.34 Universal’s Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie saw off The Black Phone 2 at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, with a £1.7m opening for the family-friendly title. Playing in 606…