Author: SD

Former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein will not take the stand in his New York sex crimes retrial, his spokesperson said. According to the Associated Press on Sunday the disgraced former executive was willing to testify, however his legal team deemed it a safer strategic bet to keep him off the stand. The New York court was not in session on Monday and the defence is expected to begin closing arguments on Tuesday, nearly six weeks after the hearing began. Weinstein, 73, is charged with two counts of first degree criminal sexual act and one count of third degree rape, all…

In their second weekends, Lilo & Stitch and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning added an estimated $63m and $27.3m respectively in North America, while Wes Anderson’s Cannes Competition premiere The Phoenician Scheme delivered the highest per-theatre score of the year to date. Comscore reported that total weekend box office amounted to $149.2m as the year-to-date tally reached $3.4bn. Box office is currently tracking 26% ahead of 2024 by the same stage. Lilo & Stitch, Disney Live Action’s reboot of the studio’s popular animation, held on to top spot and now stands at $280.1m after last weekend’s record Memorial Day…

Sony’s Karate Kid: Legends and Black Bear’s The Salt Path lead new releases in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend. Out in front is Jonathan Entwistle’s Karate Kid: Legends in 552 locations. The sixth entry in the franchise opens wider than its predecessor, 2010’s The Karate Kid, which debuted in 446 sites. That title, a reimagining of the 1984 original, opened on £4.9m. Legends stars Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, reprising their roles as Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso, who must help a Kung Fu prodigy win a Karate competition. UK drama The Salt Path wanders into 525 venues for Black Bear. Gillian Anderson…

The acrimonious dispute between Cineworld-owned Picturehouse Cinemas and the landlord at its flagship Trocadero site in central London looks set to continue. Last Friday (May 23), Picturehouse won a judgment against the landlord London Trocadero LLP over the overcharging of commission on insurance rent at Picturehouse Central, with the landlord now required to repay the cinema operator an amount reportedly above £700,000. However, contacted by Screen, London Trocadero LLP, part of the Criterion Group of companies, confirmed it would be appealing against the judgment. “Whilst we respect the decision of the Learned Judge, we disagree with it. Indeed, no doubt many…

193 has secured extensive sales on four titles from its Cannes slate, including Lynne Ramsay’s Competition entry Die, My Love. Patrick Wachsberger’s sales and production firm, a stand-alone joint venture with US firm Legendary, has sold Die, My Love to Baltics (GPI), CIS (Provzglyad-Vesta), Hong Kong (Golden Scene), Indonesia (Falcon Films), Israel (Forum Film), Japan (The Klockworx), Middle East (Italia Films), Mongolia (FilmBridge), Philippines (Pioneer Films), Poland (Vision Film), Portugal (NOS Audiovisuais), and Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro (KCS). Mubi previously picked up the film during the festival for North America, UK-Ireland, Latin America, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Benelux, Turkey,…

Rank Film (origin)DistributorMay 2-4 gross TotalWeek UK-Ireland top five, May 16-18, 2025 1  Final Destination: Bloodlines (US)  Warner Bros  £2.8m  £4m  1 2  Thunderbolts* (US)  Disney  £1.2m  £13.9m  3 3  Sinners (US)  Warner Bros  £717,642  £14.4m  5 4  A Minecraft Movie (US)  Warner Bros  £470,437  £55.5m   7 5  Hurry Up Tomorrow (US)  Lionsgate  £164,638  £164,638  1 GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.34 Warner Bros’ horror Final Destination: Bloodlines knocked Disney’s Thundebolts* off the top spot at the UK and Ireland box office this weekend with the second strongest opening of the franchise.…

HBO has unveiled the casting of the key roles of Harry, Hermione and Ron for its upcoming series adaptation of Harry Potter. HBO has cast screen newcomers Dominic McLaughlin in the role of Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.  Harry Potter showrunner and executive producer Francesca Gardiner and director and executive producer Mark Mylod said: “After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The talent of these three unique actors is wonderful to behold, and…

Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch and Paramount/Skydance’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning kicked off summer blockbuster season with a record-breaking four-day Memorial Day weekend, securing the top two slots on an estimated $183m and $77.5m, respectively. Over three days, the dynamic duo earned $145m and $64m. Comscore said the three-day Friday-through-Sunday weekend generated $262m in total, pushing North American box office for the year to date to just over $3bn. All releases combined for $322m, ahead of the previous $314m benchmark set in 2013, when Fast & Furious 6, The Hangover Part III, and Star Trek: Into Darkness fuelled film-going. Through Sunday, sales were…

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning comfortably led the weekend box office in South Korea, earning $5.46m from 759,358 admissions and recording the highest opening day of the year to date. The Hollywood action sequel, starring Tom Cruise, drew 423,945 admissions on Saturday (May 17), according to the Korean Film Council. This surpassed the year’s previous opening-day high of 248,047 set by Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17, and was also comfortably ahead of Exhuma, the biggest hit of 2024, which began with 330,118. The eighth instalment in the blockbuster franchise also managed to top the opening day of previous film Mission:…

The Match Factory has secured 20 additional sales on Cannes Jury Prize winner Sirât, including major territories UK-Ireland, Germany and Latin America. Oliver Laxe’s film has sold to UK-Ireland (Altitude), Latin America (Cine Video y TV), Benelux (Cineart), Germany and Austria (Pandora Film), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Japan (Transformer), South Korea (Challan), Taiwan (Andrews Film), Australia-New Zealand (Madman Entertainment), Poland (New Horizons), Sweden (TriArt Film), Norway (Fidalgo), Finland (Cinema Mondo), Greece (Feelgood Entertainment), Portugal (Nitrato Filmes), former Yugoslavia (MCF MegaCom), Romania (Transilvania Film), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aerofilms), Hungary (Cirko Film), and the Baltics (A-One Films). Neon acquired the film for North…