Author: SD

Ben Roberts, chief executive of the British Film Institute (BFI), and BFI chair Jay Hunt today said they were in talks with the UK government regarding the possibility of rejoining the Creative Europe Media programme. Hunt confirmed there are “more positive noises from this [Labour] government” about rejoining Creative Europe, in comparison to the former Conservative government. The UK was forced to withdraw from the funding programme following the country’s exit from the European Union. However, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway are not part of the EU but can participate in the programme as a third country. According to the BFI, the UK…

Rank Film (origin)  DistributorJan 24-26 gross  Total  Week 1 A Complete Unknown (US)                                 Disney  £1.7m £5.9m 2 2  Mufasa: The Lion King  (US)         Disney  £1.4m £27.9m 6 3  Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (US)  Paramount  £872,000 £23.3m 5 4 Flight Risk (US) Lionsgate  £810,244 £810,244 1 5  The Brutalist (US-UK)                                           Universal £703,617 £753,400 1 …

On the eve of Sundance Film Festival (January 23-Februrary 2) many filmmakers and executives had already descended upon Park City for the 2025 edition. As attendees sample the blend of work from established talents and the promise of discoveries, amid the customary mingling and business side of things there will be real stories of heartbreak. Scroll down for list of acquisition titles The devastating LA County wildfires are likely to have impacted many from the Los Angeles region who make the journey to the Utah mountains. The writer-director team of Meera Menon and husband Paul Gleason behind Midnight zombie selection…

Uncertainty hangs over next month’s Berlinale screening of BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions after the film’s backer Participant pulled it from Sundance claiming director Kahlil Joseph made an unauthorised new cut. In a letter dated January 21, lawyers for now defunct company’s said it was “shocked” to learn several hours before a screening at CAA for critics last Friday (January 17) that Joseph had prepared a new version. Claiming “breach of trust”, Participant said it learned the filmmaker and video installation artist “secretly” delivered the new cut to CAA, to the New York screening room Participant had paid for, to Sundance,…

Rank  Film (origin)   Distributor Jan 17-19 gross   Total   Week 1 A Complete Unknown (US)                                 Disney  £2.6m £2.6m 1 2  Mufasa: The Lion King  (US)         Disney  £1.6m £26.1m 5 3  Sonic The Hedgehog 3 (US)  Paramount  £1.1m £22.3m 4 4 Nosferatu (US) Universal  £1.1m £10.9m 3 5  We Live In Time (UK-Fr)                                  …

The total box office at German cinemas in 2024 fell almost 8% year-on-year, according to provisional figures from Comscore. Overall ticket sales totalled €792.5m, down 7.8% on 2023’s € 859m, while total admissions slipped year-on-year by 7.3% from 87.2m to 80.9m. This compared to the 23.7% year-on-year increase in box-office takings and 18.5% in admissions that had been posted between 2022 and 2023. Scroll down for the Top 30 Walt Disney Pictures’ Inside Out 2 was the year’s most successful new release, grossing $56.9m and garnering 5.7m admissions since its opening week on 678 screens on June 12.  The performance of…

President-elect Donald Trump has said he is “most likely” to give TikTok a 90-day reprieve over a ban in the United States that will come into effect on Sunday should the video-sharing app’s Chinese owner ByteDance fail to sell to a non-Chinese buyer. Trump told NBC’s Meet The Press on Saturday that he was looking at the situation and would “probably” announce his decision on Monday, the day of his presidential inauguration. TikTok said on Friday it would be forced to “go dark” on Sunday unless the government gave reassurances that companies like Apple and Google would not be punished for…

The United States Supreme Court has upheld a nationwide TikTok ban in the country that comes into effect on Sunday unless Chinese owner ByteDance finds a new US buyer. The unanimous decision by the Court’s nine Justices upheld the ban last month by a US appeals court and aligns with the belief of US lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and the US Department of Justice that the immensely popular video-sharing app presents a national security risk when it is downloaded to US phones. The concern is that the Chinese government could get hold of customer information and might…

David Lynch, director of film classics such as Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive and The Elephant Man, and co-creator of  the groundbreaking TV series Twin Peaks, has died aged 78. His family announced the news in a Facebook post, saying: “It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch. We would appreciate some privacy at this time. There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, “Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.” It’s a beautiful day…

Omissions and surprises galore There are always more contenders than there are spaces on the nomination ballot but of particular note was that Denzel Washington’s Bafta drought continued as he was left out of the best supporting actor shortlist for Gladiator II. Throughout his near five-decade career, Washington has landed 10 Oscar nominations, and two wins – but a Bafta nomination has eluded him. “Did I do something or say something bad?” he asked Screen last year. UK actors Daniel Craig (Queer), Kate Winslet (Lee) and Michele Austin (Hard Truths) were also left out in the cold, as was Paddington In…