Author: SD

Universal’s romantic comedy You, Me & Tuscany and Studiocanal’s Scottish biopic California Schemin’ are the widest new releases in UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend. You, Me & Tuscany is opening in 510 locations. Halle Bailey stars as a young cook staying in an abandoned Tuscan villa who forms an unexpected romance with the owner’s cousin, played by Rege-Jean Page. Kat Coiro directs.  James McAvoy’s directorial debut California Schemin’ launches in 391 sites via Studiocanal. The Toronto premiere is based on the real story of two Dundee rappers who posed as Californians and secured a record deal. Screen Star of Tomorrow…

In this week’s episode of The Screen Podcast, the team reacts to this year’s Cannes Official Selection, which was unveiled by Thierry Fremaux and Iris Knobloch in Paris 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, Soundcloud  and YouTube. Breaking down the list of titles with host Wendy Mitchell are Screen’s editor-in-chief Matt Mueller and senior international critic Wendy Ide. The trio picks out the films they are excited about, plus some of the trends from this year’s list.  “My metric for an exciting Cannes line-up…

Embattled Paramount president Jeff Shell is exiting the company following a lawsuit and allegations over leaking inside information and owing crisis communication fees. Paramount confirmed the departure on Wednesday morning and said an internal review did not find that the executive had violated SEC disclosure rules, adding that Shell had “elected to transition from his positions as President of PSKY and a member of PSKY’s board of directors to focus on this lawsuit”. Shell is being sued by professional gambler R. J. Cipriani, who alleges that Paramount CEO David Ellison’s second-in-command leaked inside information pertaining to the $111bn merger with Warner…

Playtime has taken on international sales rights to Pierre Salvadori’s The Electric Kiss (La Vénus Electrique) ahead of its world premiere on May 12 as Cannes Film Festival’s opening night film. Set in Paris in 1928, the film stars Pio Marmai as a painter at the height of his fame who, after losing inspiration after the death of his wife, is tricked into believing he is communicating with his deceased spouse by his gallery owner. Vimala Pons, Gilles Lellouche and Anais Demoustier round out the cast. Salvadori penned the script with Benjamin Charbit and Benoit Graffin based on an original…

Worldwide box office: April 3-5 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (world)Cume (int’l) Territories 1 The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Universal) $313.3m $182.4m $372.4m $182.4m 81 2 Project Hail Mary (Amazon / MGM) $72.7m $42.1m $420.7m $203.6m 87 3 The Drama (A24) $28m $13.6m $28m $13.6m 17 4 Hoppers (Disney) $18.2m $12.4m $332.2m $182.6m 54 5 Dhurandhar The Revenge (various) $11.8m $10m $174.6m $148.4m 20 6 It’s OK (various) $5.7m $5.7m $9.5m $9.5m 1 7 Reminders Of Him (Universal) $4.9m $2.7m $79m $33.7m 68 …

Universal/Nintendo/Illumination’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie arrived with a bang over Easter on an estimated $130.9m over three days and $190.1m over five for the biggest debut of the year to date. Opening in 4,252 locations, the family sequel to the 2023 global smash delivered the biggest three-day debut since Wicked: For Good in December; the biggest five-day debut since Moana 2 in 2024; the second-biggest three-day bow for Universal and Illumination behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie; and the third-biggest three-day opening for a film based on a video game behind A Minecraft Movie and The Super Mario Bros.…

Lawyers for Paramount president Jeff Shell are reportedly in preliminary talks with the studio over the executive’s potential departure. Shell is being sued by professional gambler R. J. Cipriani, who alleges that Paramount CEO David Ellison’s second-in-command leaked inside information pertaining to the $110bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery. Cipriani filed a $150m lawsuit last month and is also claiming that Shell is in breach of contract relating to a TV show concept, and for unpaid crisis communication fees. Shell countersued claiming extortion and defamation. According to reports the ongoing talks between Shell’s legal team and Paramount could result in…

The combined might of Hoppers from Disney/Pixar and Marsupilami from Pathé was not enough to maintain early 2026 momentum at the French box office as March produced 12.9 million admissions, marking a 28% drop from 17.9 million in February. While March drove a 1.4% year-on-year rise over 12.7 million ticket sales in 2025 – when admissions fell to their lowest March level since 1999 excluding Covid-impacted 2020 and 2021), the first three months of 2026 have produced 46.7 million admissions, up 14.3% over last year. Hoppers – released as Jumpers in France – led the month with more than 1.1 million tickets…

Bong Joon Ho’s debut animated feature Ally has been set for release in 2027, distributed by CJ ENM, Penture Invest and Pathé. It has been known for several years that the Oscar-winning South Korean director of Parasite has been working on an animated film about deep-sea creatures, but details of the project – including its title – have only been revealed today. A first look at the film can be seen above. The family adventure follows Ally, a curious piglet squid living in the uncharted depths of the South Pacific Ocean. She dreams of one day seeing the sun and…

Tessa Ross’ London-based House Productions and BBC Film have joined Justine Triet’s psychological thriller Fonda, which starts shooting in the southwest of France this month. Screen has confirmed the French production will also shoot for a few days in the English countryside, overseen by the UK partners. BBC Film has boarded as a financier.  In France, Screen understands further backing is coming from the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and the Landes Department. Cast Fonda has also added Odessa A’zion, Ewan Mitchell, Cherry Jones and Benedict Wong to its cast, alongside the previously announced Mia Goth, Allison Janney, Andrew Scott, Frank Dillane and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. The film is…