Author: SD

France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 8-14) will preview upcoming animations including Zootopia 2, Animal Farm and the Stranger Things animated series as part of its 2025 lineup. The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, director Michel Gondry and acclaimed UK animator Joanna Quinn will receive honorary Cristal awards. Gondry will present his Berlinale 2025 title Maya, Give Me a Title as a special screening.  Scroll down for the full list of competition films, screening events and studio showcases  Also attending are Andy Serkis for what the festival described as a ‘special premiere’ of his animated feature adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal…

UK-Ireland top five, Apr 18-20, 2025 RankFilm (origin)Distributor Apr 18-20 gross TotalWeek  1  A Minecraft Movie  (US)  Warner Bros  £5.3m  £47.4m  3 2   Sinners  (US)  Warner Bros  £2.4m  £3.3m  1 3   The Amateur  (US)  Disney  £903,139  £3.3m  2 4   The Penguin Lessons  (UK-US-Sp)  Lionsgate  £772,196  £1.4m  1 5   Warfare  (US-UK)  A24  £637,810  TBC  1 Ryan Coogler’s Sinners started with a healthy £2.4m at the UK-Ireland box office, as A Minecraft Movie held top spot for a Warner Bros one-two. A Minecraft Movie added £5.3m on its third weekend…

The Academy board has announced the upcoming awards season timetable culminating in the 98th Oscar ceremony on March 15 2026 and approved rules regarding several categories and generative artificial intelligence. In the rules for film eligibility, the following language has been introduced on the advice of the Academy’s science and technology council: “With regard to Generative Artificial Intelligence and other digital tools used in the making of the film, the tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination. The Academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was…

Lionsgate’s ‘The Penguin Lessons’, starring Steve Coogan as a teacher who forms a bond with a penguin, is also out.

Worldwide box office: April 4-6 Rank Film (distributor)  3-day (world) Cume (world) 3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1 A Minecraft Movie (Warner Bros) $301m $301m $144m $144m 76 2 Snow White (Disney) $15.1m $168.4m $9m $90.9m 52 3 Ne Zha 2 (various) $10.9m $2.1bn $10.9m $2.1bn 12 4 We Girls (various) $10.8m $10.8m $10.8m $10.8m 1 5 A Working Man (Amazon MGM) $7.3m $27.8m N/A N/A 1 6 Mumu (various) $7.1m $9.7m $7.1m $9.7m 1 7 Chosen: The Last Supper Part 2 (Fathom Events) $7m $7m N/A N/A 1 …

Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher has been selected to preside over the Caméra d’Or jury at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, running May 13-24. The Caméra d’Or (golden camera) is awarded to the best first feature film in Cannes’ Official Selection, or in the parallel Critics’ Week or Directors’ Fortnight sections. Last year’s prize went to Norwegian director Halfdan Ullmann Tøondel for his Un Certain Regard premiere Armand. Rohrwacher is a Cannes regular whose own debut feature Heavenly Body premiered in Directors’ Fortnight in 2011 and her follow-up film The Wonders won the Grand Prix in Competition in 2014. Her 2018 film Happy As Lazzaro screened in Competition and…

UPDATE: Warner Bros./Legendary’s A Minecraft Movie has extended its rule over North American box office in the second weekend thanks to a confirmed $78.5m that boosted the running total to $278.9m. The mighty second weekend produced the highest sophomore session by a video game adaptation behind only The Super Mario Bros. Movie on $92.3m almost exactly two years ago. It also helped swing box office into a slender 0.58% year-to-date lead over 2024 after it had fallen approximately 13% behind by the start of April. The family smash plays in 4,289 locations and dropped a decent 50%. Screen will report in more detail on the…

Two Hollywood features have retained their release dates in China despite restrictions recently announced by authorities on the import of US films amid escalating tariff disputes. Warner Bros Animation’s The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is set to open this Friday (April 18) and Marvel’s latest superhero film Thunderbolts* is scheduled for release on April 30, ahead of its May 2 release in the US, according to ticketing platform Maoyan. Whether they will be the last US films to secure a theatrical release in China for the foreseeable future remains unclear as the escalating trade war…

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has lined up key territory buyers for Hurry Up Tomorrow, the psychological thriller that marks the lead acting debut of The Weeknd alongside Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan that will open in the US on May 16 day-and-date with most international markets. Trey Edward Shults’ feature will release through Lionsgate in North America and the UK, while distribution partners include Village Roadshow for Australia & New Zealand, Wild Bunch for Germany, IDC for Latin America, and Metropolitan in France. Launching in more than 65 international markets, Hurry Up Tomorrow centres on an insomniac musician whose world is turned…

Worldwide box office: April 11-13 RankFilm (distributor) 3-day (world)Cume (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l)Territories 1 A Minecraft Movie (Warner Bros) $160.2m $550.6m $79.6m $269.6m 77 2 The Amateur (Disney) $32.2m $32.2m $17.2m $17.2m 53 3 The King Of Kings (various) $19.7m $19.7m $618,000 $624,000 24 4 Good Bad Ugly (various) $10.3m $16.8m $9.7m $15.7m 18 5 Drop (Universal) $10m $10m $2.5m $2.5m 48 6 A Working Man (Amazon MGM/various) $8.4m $79m $5.4m $45.5m 68 7 Warfare (A24/various) $8.4m $8.4m $96,400 $96,400 13 8 Snow White (Disney) $7.5m $181.6m $4.7m $99.7m 52 …