Movies

Above all, Laurent Cantet and Robin Campillo were friends. Close since their student days, the duo soon began a keen creative partnership — co-writing films that Cantet directed and Campillo edited. When Cantet’s health began to decline, the two were already deep into developing “Enzo.” Now brought to the screen by Campillo, this year’s Directors’ Fortnight opener began as a passion project for Cantet, who set out to explore class and sexual fluidity through the story of a privileged young man rejecting his place in society. Cantet thought about the...

Ukrainian production powerhouse Film.UA has racked up a raft of deals at the Cannes Market, with “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” distributor ITN Films taking North American and Latin American rights to the forthcoming horror film “The Witch. Revenge,” and Germany’s Splendid Film snatching up rights to the anticipated live-action fantasy feature “Mavka. The True Myth.” Set in Ukraine during its ongoing war with Russia, “The Witch. Revenge” follows an ancient witch who decides to exact revenge on the Russian soldiers who have occupied her city and brutally murdered...

Polish director Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s (“The Silent Twins”) highly anticipated sentient AI thriller “Hot Spot” has found French distribution with The Jokers, in a deal that was brokered by Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales. Focus Features previously acquired worldwide rights to the film, excluding France, Poland and Greece. Set in the near future in a society ruled by sentient artificial intelligence, “Hot Spot” follows a private investigator who stumbles upon a rebel group capable of undermining the digital overlord while investigating a murder case. BAFTA and Intl.

Hollywood Thailand has inked a theatrical distribution deal with Commercial Films Siam for “Dream!,” an English-language musical that will hit cinemas across Thailand and the Southeast Asia region in December. The production, directed by Paul Spurrier, marks the first Thai musical in over 50 years and is the first Thai film produced entirely in English. The project spent five years in development, six months in workshops and casting, and nine months filming across eight Thai provinces. The musical features 10-year-old Amata “Manao” Masmalai in her breakout role as Lek, a...

Italian fashion house Prada is entering the film production space by setting up the Fondazione Prada Film Fund to sustain independent cinema. The new fund will be managed by former Directors’ Fortnight chief Paolo Moretti in collaboration with film programmer Rebecca De Pas. The Prada fund, which is starting out with a €1.5 million ($1.6 million) pot, will support 10-12 selected feature films per year with no geographical or genre restrictions. The fund will be launched during the Venice Film Festival through a call for entries. “Cinema is for us...

Taiwan‘s theatrical distribution powerhouse Vie Vision Pictures has secured exclusive distribution rights in Taiwan for Indo-Taiwanese action buddy comedy “Demon Hunters,” it was revealed at the Cannes Film Market. The film is directed by Chen Mei-Juin (“The Gangster’s Daughter”) and produced by Light House Productions (Taiwan) and Kleos Entertainment Group (India). The plot follows an unconventional partnership between a Taiwanese paranormal YouTuber and an Indian tech engineer who must join forces to combat a supernatural threat endangering both their worlds.

Sony Group 6758 -3.17 %decrease; red down pointing triangle reported a rise in fourth-quarter net profit thanks partly to higher earnings from its music and movie businesses.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment company said Wednesday that net profit rose 4.6% from a year earlier to 197.73 billion yen, equivalent to $1.34 billion, for the three months ended March. That beat the estimate of ¥153.6 billion in a poll of analysts by data provider Visible Alpha.

On Monday, in the lead-up to the annual Cannes Film Festival in France, nearly 400 international actors, directors, and producers released an open letter condemning Israel's genocide in the Strip. The letter— by French newspaper and U.S. magazine —begins with a 25-year-old Palestinian freelance photojournalist killed in an Israeli military strike on April 16, 2025, just a day after it was announced that Sepideh Farsi's film , in which she stars, was selected to premiere at a section of the festival. Just weeks earlier, in March, "Palestinian filmmaker , who...

Tyler Alvarez has joined the ensemble cast of the horror-thriller “Corporate Retreat.” The film, which is set to begin shooting in June, stars Alan Ruck (“Succession”), Ashton Sanders (“Moonlight”), Rosanna Arquette (“Pulp Fiction”), Simona Tabasco (“The White Lotus”) and Odeya Rush (“Lady Bird”). It is directed by Aaron Fisher, who also co-wrote the script with Kerri Lee Romeo. Uri Singer’s Passage Pictures is producing the film. “Corporate Retreat” follows a group of executives who arrive at an exclusive desert retreat, expecting luxury and leadership training.

Rosamund Pike says her audition for “Die Another Day” almost went too far. In a recent sit-down with Harper’s Bazaar UK, Pike, who played Miranda Frost in the 2002 Bond flick, says she was asked to strip down to her underwear when auditioning for the film. “In the Bond audition, I was asked to unzip and drop the dress I was wearing, to just stand there in underwear,” Pike said. “And I thought, ‘Well, no, I’ll be doing that if I get the part. I won’t be doing that now.’...