Author: SD

John Legend will play actor, singer, and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte in Bill Condon’s The Road Home, with production underway in South Africa. Legend joins Thabo Rametsi, Cynthia Erivo, Guy Pearce and Screen Star of Tomorrow Johnny Flynn on the cast. The Road Home tells the true story of trumpeter Hugh Makesela, who was exiled from his native South Africa. He is pulled between two worlds when the anti-apartheid movement, led by his mentor archbishop Trevor Huddleston, launches a boycott against Hugh’s friend Paul Simon over his album Graceland, accusing Simon of violating the cultural boycott of the country.…

Cinema admissions in Indonesia dropped 16.7% in the first half of 2026, despite strong performances from local titles. A total of 53.77 million admissions were recorded over the period, which translated to an estimated $137.7m (IDR2.48tn) based on an average ticket price of $2.56 (IDR46,056). The top five biggest earners at the box office were all local titles, led by Danur: The Last Chapter with 3.62 million admissions. The supernatural horror marks the fourth instalment in the popular Danur franchise and reunited director Awi Suryadi with actress Prilly Latuconsina. It was followed by Joko Anwar’s horror comedy Ghost In The…

“Phew!” is how one UK producer expressed their relief following Isabel Davis’s appointment as director of the BFI Filmmaking Funds last week. This sentiment seems to be reverberating throughout much of the UK independent producing community, impressed by what Davis has achieved in her eight years as Screen Scotland’s inaugural executive director. Davis takes up the BFI role in October, with current head Mia Bays leaving the same month after her five-year contract ends. “Isabel has done a tremendous job leading Screen Scotland, creating the conditions in which we can all do our best work,” said John Archer of Glasgow-based Hopscotch Films.…

Italian and European film organisations have published a statement criticising the Venice Film Festival for the lack of Italian female filmmakers in its official selection, calling the lineup “one-dimensional” and “troubling”. The statement, published in leading Italian newspaper La Repubblica, is signed by Italian filmmaking bodies 100autori and ANAC, directing organisation Air3, documentary group Doc/it and Women in Film Television & Media Italia as well as the European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA). Scroll down for statement in full It comes a few days after the Venice lineup was unveiled, featuring only one film made by a female director out of 20 titles in…

In its second weekend, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey delivered the biggest second weekend of the filmmaker’s career, adding an estimated $87m to stay top of the North American charts and reach $286.4m. Beating the inflation-unadjusted $75.2m July 2008 second weekend of Nolan’s superhero adaptation The Dark Knight (which earned $114.2m in real terms) The Odyssey fell 30% from last weekend’s storming debut and plays in 3,942 sites.  In further second-weekend glory, the UK director’s latest blockbuster produced the second-highest-grossing sophomore session by an R-rated film behind Disney/Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine on $96.8m in August 2024. It also delivered the third-highest…

David Ellison’s Paramount has agreed to postpone the Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) merger in light of antitrust lawsuits brought by US states and Writers Guild Of America. In papers filed by the media company on Friday, Paramount agreed it would not close the $111bn transaction until five days after the cases are heard or June 1 2027, whichever occurs first. There is still no trial date after a coalition of 12 states spearheaded by California secured a temporary restraining order earlier this week blocking the merger for 28 days. They have alleged a merger will harm cable and theatrical competition. The…

Venice’s artistic director Alberto Barbera unveiled the festival’s lineup yesterday (July 23), including films by Nanni Moretti, Martin McDonagh and Lee Chang-dong. It’s Barbera’s 19th edition at the helm, and as always he has sought to attract a mix of potential Oscar contenders, big-name stars and the latest in auteur-driven, global arthouse cinema.  He talks to Screen about the 2026 line-up, from the challenges of pulling together the selection from a whopping 1,972 feature film entries to his personal highlights and who to expect on the red carpet. He also addresses the lack of female filmmakers in competition and explains why there are fewer…

On this week’s episode of The Screen Podcast, the team delves into the lineup for the 2026 Venice Film Festival, which was announced earlier today.  Watch above or listen below To download or subscribe to future episodes, search for ‘The Screen Podcast’, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and YouTube. Host Wendy Mitchell is joined by Screen’s editor Matt Mueller and senior international critic Wendy Ide to discuss what themes emerged from this year’s programme, including the absence of Hollywood studios once again, the lengthy documentary section and the inclusion of just one woman in competition.  The Screen…

The European Commission has approved Paramount Skydance’s $111bn (£84bn) takeover of Warner Bros Discovery on the condition that it ends its United International Pictures (UIP) film distribution joint venture with Universal Pictures. In its ruling, the Commission expressed concern about Paramount’s distribution market power in Europe if it acquired WBD while continuing its UIP joint venture. It noted: “The transaction would have meant Warner’s films were also distributed via UIP and, without the commitments, it would have led to worse rental and distribution terms for cinema operators, ultimately disadvantaging consumers.” The Commission confirmed reports last month that Paramount had offered…

EXCLUSIVE: Leading independent film organisations in Georgia have written an open letter to warn the international community they believe the country’s state-backed cultural events are being hijacked to mask the “deterioration of human rights, growing restrictions on freedom of expression and the shrinking of civic space”. In a letter published in full below, they write these events “present only a carefully curated version of reality, creating the illusion that everything is well at home”. Speaking to Screen, one of the signatories alleged: “The situation in Georgia is really difficult. Many innocent people are in prison now. We want the international community…