Author: SD

Roadside Attractions has picked up North American rights to H Is For Hawk ahead of its BFI London Film Festival slot on Sunday (October 12) and plans a December awards-qualifying run for Claire Foy.  Philippa Lowthorpe directed the film produced by Plan B, which premiered in Telluride and centres on a grieving woman who turns to falconry to navigate her way through the loss of her father. The cast includes Brendan Gleeson, Denise Gough, Lindsay Duncan, and Sam Spruell. Lowthorpe co-wrote the screenplay with Room author and screenwriter Emma Donoghue, based on Helen Macdonald’s memoir of the same name. Foy’s…

Studiocanal’s Scottish drama I Swear and Disney’s AI action Tron: Area will battle it out as the new releases in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend. Kirk Jones’s I Swear opens in 653 locations. The film tells the true story of John Davidson who was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome in the 80s when the condition was not well known. It had its world premiere at Toronto in the Centrepiece programme. Peter Mullan, Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson and Robert Aramayo lead the cast. As a director, Jones’s previous films include My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016 – £983,534 opening); What To Expect…

House Productions’ Tessa Ross voiced her support for calls from UK independent producers for the UK government to cashflow the Independent Film Tax Credit (IFTC) during a wide-ranging conversation at the BFI London Film Festival today (October 9).  Conclave producer Ross, who was taking part in an on-stage discussion with BFI CEO Ben Roberts, said of her wishlist of interventions to help UK independent producers: “I have a sort of dream, it’s a mad dream, but yes, I would love it if you would cashflow the tax credit. It would be amazing…that pressure is taken away.” The subject was a hot…

Saoirse Ronan is understood to have signed a deal to play Linda McCartney in Sam Mendes’ upcoming The Beatles films. Sony did not return calls to comment after reports appeared on Wednesday morning, however sources said Ronan has signed on. Mendes is directing The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event, which Sony Pictures will release in April 2028 in a bold distribution strategy. Linda McCartney was the music photographer and musician who married Paul McCartney and became the keyboard player and back-up vocalist in Wings. She died from cancer in 1998. Ronan will star opposite Paul Mescal as The Beatles…

Paramount Pictures president of domestic theatrical distribution Chris Aronson will depart the studio on December 1 as the executive shuffle under David Ellison’s new ownership continues. Aronson, a widely respected and beloved executive renowned for his insight, sharp wit and flamboyant presentations at CinemaCon, notified staff in a memo on Tuesday morning. There has been no indication from Paramount Pictures co-heads Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg as to who will succeed Aronson. Screen has confirmed that president of international theatrical distribution Mark Viane remains in place. Scroll down to read the full memo Aronson will stay at the studio to…

UK-Ireland top five, Oct 3-5  Rank Film (origin) DistributorOct 3-5 Total Week 1  Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party Of A Showgirl  (US)  Piece Of Magic  £3.5m  £3.5m  1 2   One Battle After Another  (US)  Warner Bros  £2m  £6m  2 3   Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale  (UK)  Universal  £865,075  £15.6m  4 4   The Smashing Machine  (US)   Entertainment Film Distributors  £862,322  £862,322  1 5   The Conjuring: Last Rites  (US)   Warner Bros  £510,757  £17.3m  5 GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.34 Event cinema title Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party Of A…

The world’s biggest pop star has done it again as the one-weekend-only theatrical release of Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party Of A Showgirl blew away the competition to open top in North America on an estimated $33m. What makes the number all the more remarkable is two weeks ago nobody had even heard of the film until AMC Theatres Distribution announced the limited engagement, partnering with Variance Films to release in 3,702 cinemas including non-AMC sites. It is unprecedented for any film to storm to the top of the charts with two weeks of marketing, demonstrating once again the…

UK-Ireland box office takings in September 2025 were up 18% on the previous year, as the year-to-date recovered from a slow August and runs 9% ahead of 2024. Total revenue for September 2025 was just over £71m, 18% up on the £60.3m of September 2024. The release of one high-grossing title last year – Beetlejuice Beetlejuice with £21.6m – was trumped by two decent figures this year. Warner Bros’ horror The Conjuring: Last Rites became comfortably the highest-grossing in the nine-film Conjuring universe with £16.8m; and Universal’s Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale took £14.7m. UK-Ireland September 2025 top 10  Rank Title (origin)Distributor  Release date September totalTotal  …

Searchlight Pictures has scheduled a December 25 limited release in 70mm for its new acquisition of Mona Fastvold’s Venice world premiere The Testament Of Ann Lee. Amanda Seyfried stars in the musical drama as the titular head of the 18th century Shaker movement, who was proclaimed the female Jesus Christ by her followers. Lee emigrated from England to New York state and established a US-set utopia based on equality, communal living, and celibacy. The Quaker offshoot also revelled in song and dance. The cast includes Thomas McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Tim Blake Nelson, and Christopher Abbott. Fastvold co-wrote the screenplay with…

European films that have received distribution grants from Creative Europe’s Films on the Move scheme generated on average €1.70 at the box office for every €1 invested, according to new research. For every €1,000 in grant funding, it reported an extra €1,700 in box office takings and an additional 16 showtimes generated. Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle Of Sadness generated the highest return from a €985,000 Films on the Move grant, taking €19.3m at the European box office outside its national release, a return of 19.6 times on the award. Further successful grant outcomes include to Anatomy Of A Fall (€14.4m box office vs €757,000 grant)…