Author: SD

EXCLUSIVE: Petersen Vargas’ Some Nights I Feel Like Walking is set for a local release in the Philippines and has sold to key territories. The coming-of-age drama has received an R18 rating for its sexual content and LGBTQ+ themes and will open locally on August 27 through Black Cap Pictures, also a co-producer of the film. It follows a band of young male street hustlers who brave the dark corners of the Manila night, who fulfil their friend’s last wish of bringing his body home.  “It’s a rare arthouse release especially with the landscape where cinema attendance is super down.…

Mubi CEO Efe Cakarel has written an open letter in response to criticisms of controversial US firm Sequoia Capital’s investment in the company. Cakarel said accusations that Mubi is complicit in events in Gaza are “fundamentally at odds with the values we hold as individuals and as a company” and pledged to create both an ‘Ethical Funding and Investment Policy’ and establish an ‘Artists At Risk Fund’. Read the letter in full Mubi has received significant criticism from across the film industry following the $100m investment it received from US firm Sequoia in May. Since then, details have emerged of investments…

Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich’s documentaryThe Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue had its invitation withdrawn to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) because it did not meet “conditions that were requested” by the festival, TIFF organisers said today (August 13). The film tells the story of retired Israel Defense Forces General Noam Tibon who went on a mission to rescue family members during the October 7 attacks. In a statement, TIFF claimed the filmmakers did not secure “legal clearance of all footage”, which was among the conditions requested to mitigate “known risks around the screening of a film”.  The film was not…

The world premieres of Claire Denis’ The Fence and Argentinian director Pablo Trapero’s English-language debut & Sons have been added to Special Presentations at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, September 4-14), bringing the total count to 291 including 209 new features and six Classics. The Fence stars Matt Dillon and Isaach de Bankolé and takes place over the course of one night at a white-run construction site in Africa where the site foreman hides the truth surrounding a worker’s death. The film is based on Bernard-Marie Koltes’ play Black Battles With Dogs. Bill Nighy, George McKay, Johnny Flynn, and Noah…

James Cameron has said generative AI is the “next big wave in cinema technology” and “a genie that has been released from the bottle”.  “We haven’t learned how to control it yet,” he added.  Speaking from New Zealand, where he is wrapping post-production on Avatar: Fire And Ash, Cameron spoke candidly about the potential possibilities and threats of generative AI.  “I can’t think of anything coming up that is bigger and more important to us right now than confronting this generative AI issue,” he said. “It is critical that we master it and control it so that it remains an…

Warner Bros’ muscular box office run continues as Weapons stormed to the top of the charts in North America on an estimated $42.5m, one place ahead of Disney’s new release Freakier Friday, to ensure the studio’s last six films have each opened on more than $40m – a Hollywood record. ComScore reported that the weekend generated an estimated $131m, with $5.6bn year-to-date tracking 7.6% ahead of 2024 by the same stage. Weapons, the follow-up to Zach Cregger’s 2022 debut Barbarian, arrived on an A- CinemaScore and debuted via New Line in 3,202 locations. EntTelligence reported an estimated 2.8m audience and a 54%-46% male-female…

EXCLUSIVE: Hot on the heels of its world premiere last night (August 7) in Locarno’s Piazza Grande, The Birthday Party, directed by Miguel Angel Jimenez and starring Willem Dafoe, has secured distribution across a wide range of international territories. The film, which started pre-sales at this year’s European Film Market, is represented by Heretic and Bankside Films. Both companies said the Locarno premiere has added momentum to the global sales push. Paradiso has acquired rights for Benelux, with Praesens on board for Switzerland. Warner Bros Discovery has purchased the broadcast rights to the film, set to be launched after its…

Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, September 4-14) has unveiled the 25th edition of its Wavelengths line-up celebrating international, experimental and avant-garde cinema and contemporary art. A roster of eight features, a special pairing, and three shorts programmes brings the world premiere of Rhayne Vermette’s Levers, the follow-up to her TIFF Amplify Voices award-winning Ste. Anne (2021). There are North American premieres for Lav Diaz’s adventure and Cannes Premiere entry Magellan starring Gael García Bernal, and Alexandre Koberidze’s Dry Leaf, which shot on an antiquated Sony Ericsson phone and gets its world premiere in Locarno next week. The line-up features a tribute…

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) revenues for the second quarter increased marginally on the year-ago period to reach $9.8bn as the Streaming and Studios segment saw a 9% rise to $2.8bn buoyed by strong theatrical performances. For the three months ended June 30 studios revenue increased 55% to $3.8bn and content revenues increased 16% ex-FX, primarily driven by excellent box office that generated more than $2bn worldwide. A Minecraft Movie opened on April 2 and has grossed more than $955m to date, complemented by Sinners ($365m), F1 on behalf of Apple ($552m), and New Line’s Final Destination: Bloodlines ($285m). The last five…

Apple Original Films’ global hit F1 distributed theatrically by Warner Bros will get a re-release on Imax starting August 8. Joseph Kosinski’s motor racing drama starring Brad Pitt, Kerry Condon, Damson Idris and Javier Bardem was filmed for Imax and will expand into further Imax locations and large formats worldwide starting August 15. Currently sitting on $552.5m worldwide through August 5, of which $377.8m hails from international markets and $174.7m from North America, F1 now ranks as Pitt’s biggest global hit and Imax’s highest-grossing release of 2025 to date on $85m worldwide. F1 was filmed for Imax and will expand…