Author: SD

Anselm Chan’s The Last Dance has broken multiple records, rejuvenating the Hong Kong box office after a lacklustre six months since the release of blockbuster Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In. Just nine days after its opening on November 9, the Hong Kong drama has grossed almost $7.7m (HK$60m) at the local box office so far. This includes $1.1m (HK$8.6m) – or $1.2m (HK$9.18m) inclusive of Macau – on November 16 alone, surpassing 2016’s Cold War 2 ($970,000 / HK$7.56m) to take the biggest single-day box office for a Hong Kong and Chinese-language film. The data is provided by Hong…

Comcast made the formal announcement on Wednesday that it is spinning off the majority of its cable assets into a stand-alone public company. It expects the transaction to close in approximately one year, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals. The new venture will house NBCUniversal cable networks including USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel, along with complementary digital assets including Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow, and Sports Engine. Comcast said the new “SpinCo” entity’s assets will reach approximately 70m US households, adding that over the last 12 months ended September 30 SpinCo generated approximately $7bn…

In a major declaration of intent between two Hollywood and Asian studio powerhouses, Warner Bros Motion Pictures Group and CJ ENM have formed a co-development, co-financing and distribution partnership to exploit remakes of each other’s films. Warner Bros Motion Pictures will act as lead studio on English-language films emanating from CJ ENM’s library, while CJ ENM will act as lead studio on Korean-language remakes from the Warner Bros vault. Warner Bros Pictures will serve as global distributor on the films, with the exception of CJ ENM remakes, where the latter will distribute in South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Turkey. Warner…

The Berlinale has lost €2m in financial support from the Berlin Senate for its upcoming 2025 edition as part of drastic expenditure cuts to the €3bn overall budget of the city government. However, Berlinale spokesperson Frauke Greiner said the event would not be impacted. “Despite the tight financial situation, we are able to secure balanced financing until the end of March 2025.” “We are in regular contact with the Senate and learned that the €2m is not incoming for the 2025 financial year this summer,” Greiner told Screen. “We have a balanced budget through the next festival, and with a…

Coralie Fargeat has pulled her Cannes sensation The Substance from Camerimage in response to recent remarks by festival director Marek Żydowicz about representation of female filmmakers. The Polish cinematography festival kicks off on Saturday and Fargeat’s film had been scheduled to screen on Sunday afternoon with cinematographer Benjamin Kračun in attendance. Kračun will now not attend, just as Steve McQueen said earlier this week he will stay away from the opening night presentation of his film Blitz, which will go ahead, On Friday Fargeat and Kračun issued a statement to Screen that read: “After discovering the highly misogynistic and offensive words…

Venom: The Last Dance topped the Korean box office on its first weekend, capturing more than 60% of ticket sales. The third instalment in the Sony franchise took $4.2m from Friday to Sunday (October 25-27) for a cume of $5.7m since opening on October 23, according to Kobis, the Korean Film Council’s box office tracking system. It may struggle to match the $15.2 taken by predecessor Venom: Let There Be Carnage in 2021 let alone the $24.6m taken by 2018’s Venom. In second place was mystery drama A Normal Family, which took $730,000 on its second weekend – half of…

Paramount’s leading the charge this weekend with the highly anticipated Gladiator II, out at 722 sites across the UK and Ireland. The original 2000 historical epic Gladiator was also directed by Ridley Scott and starred Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen and Oliver Reed, taking $466m at the global box office, with over $43m in the UK alone. This time, it’s Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington taking centre stage. A young barbarian named Lucius (Mescal) lives with his wife and child in Numidia, which is invaded and conquered by the powerful Roman army. It is the widest ever opening…

Tricia Tuttle, the director of the Berlin International Film Festival, has said statements made by No Other Land director Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra at the closing ceremony of this year’s festival were not antisemitic, and “any discourse which suggests this… creates danger” for the film’s four directors. In a post on the Berlinale’s Instagram page, Tuttle addressed the latest controversy around the film, which opens in German cinemas today (Thursday, November 14) via ImmerGuteFilme. In its listing page for the film, the Berlin city website Berlin.de had described No Other Land as “exhibiting anti-Semitic tendencies”. This was highlighted by Abraham…

US-based independent film financier TPC has opened an office in London, spurred by the launch of the UK’s Independent Film Tax Credit (IFTC) to ignite production of lower and mid-budget movies in the territory.  TPC recently provided finance for Longlegs, starring Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe, and Stephen King adaptation The Monkey, starring Theo James and Elijah Wood, which will be released in February 2025 by Neon. TPC’s parent company is The Forest Road Company, the owner of well-known media and entertainment investment bank ACF which is based in London and Los Angeles. The opening of its London office follows TPC’s…

The Really Local Group (RLG)’s Preston Benson has called on UK industry bodies the UK Cinema Association (UKCA) and the British Film Institute (BFI) to provide greater support for independent cinemas, nearly two weeks after the local council closed the RLG-operated two-screen Catford Mews site in south London, citing non-payment of rent. “We need the UKCA and the BFI to properly engage and help independent cinemas navigate this new world,” said Benson, founder of RLG. Benson suggested the organisations should lead discussions on issues including lengthening the theatrical window, providing flexibility within the “all dates/all show” regime which can be…