Israel

Our Boys creator Hagai Levi has said he was arrested briefly during a protest in Tel Aviv on Thursday. Following his return from the Series Mania confab, Levi attended a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s planned overhaul of the Israeli judicial system during what was dubbed “rage day.” Many such protests have broken out across the country over the past few weeks. Levi said people started being arrested for standing in the road instead of sidewalks and he was stopped by police after stepping down from the sidewalk onto the street. According to Levi, he was grabbed by police and walked into a prisoners truck where he was detained in an arrest cell for a couple of hours and had his rights read to him. Levi and the other prisoners were driven to an unknown location and told to exit the vehicle on condition of leaving the area, he said. “I saw some violent arrests, was filming them with my iPhone and the police noticed and didn’t like it,” added … [Read more...] about ‘Our Boys’ Creator Hagai Levi Arrested Briefly At Israeli Protest

Bill Maher celebrated St. Patrick’s Day on Friday during his Real Time on HBO – or, as he referred to it, “Alcoholic Christmas” – by bringing up the dangerous parallels between the religious hatreds that fueled politics in last century Ireland and the turmoil in today’s United States between Democrats and Republicans. “You can’t think about the Irish without thinking about the division,” Maher said, harkening back to the violent rebellions that created a fractured society there. Now, the same level of intensity is bubbling between Democrats and Republicans here, he noted. “We used to pray for the nation. Now each side prays the other side doesn’t destroy the nation.” Taking excerpts from a speech former President Donald Trump gave recently at the CPAC convention, Maher noted how it reflected an almost Biblical level of intensity about smiting the other side. It was “big talk from a guy who can’t even shut up his girlfriends,” Maher joked, but then noted, “That’s … [Read more...] about Bill Maher Gets His Irish Up With A Warning To Those Who Want To Subdivide The US Into Separate Political States

Dwight Howard should NOT have apologized for tweeting #FreePalestine over the weekend ... so says a powerful Palestinian interest group who says Dwight's message was "humanitarian" in nature. We spoke with Hussein Ibish -- a Senior Fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine ... a D.C.-based org. that's dedicated to creating a Palestinian state that can peacefully coexist with Israel. Ibish tells us, "It seems fantastically mean-spirited that people would have a problem with what [Dwight] said. It was a very vague, humanitarian message. It's an unobjectionable value." As we previously reported, Howard quickly deleted the tweet ... and apologized for getting involved in international politics. "I understand why a sports star would delete the message and not want to get involved in such a serious issue," Ibish says ... "but what takes me back is that [Dwight] simply wished freedom for Palestinians. I don't understand the offense." When we asked about … [Read more...] about Dwight Howard’s #FreePalestine Tweet — Palestinian Org.: He Should NOT Apologize for

Imagine not only believing the world is coming to an end, but wanting it to happen. Eagerly. Then, take it a step further and imagine people with such a mentality engineering American politics and foreign policy to bring about the very thing they seek — the apocalypse. It may sound outlandish, but there are many well organized fundamentalist Christian leaders and their followers working hard to make this doomsday scenario a reality, an alarming movement explored in the documentary Praying for Armageddon . The film directed by Norwegian filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei and co-directed by Michael Rowley makes its world premiere Monday night at the prestigious CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen. “What they are really pushing for is the destruction of our civilization. It’s quite outrageous and mind blowing, really,” Schei tells Deadline as we sit at a café in Copenhagen. “And I don’t think a lot of Americans realize that the sort of hidden end time Armageddon lobby… that … [Read more...] about New Documentary Shows How American Evangelicals Are ‘Praying For Armageddon’ And Pulling The Levers Of Power To Achieve It – CPH:DOX

Lille’s Series Mania Forum is kicking off today with a packed schedule of talks, screenings and competitions. Fighting it out in International Competition are the likes of Prime Video’s Toni Collette starrer The Power , Haven of Grace from Magnetic Beats director Vincent Maël Cardona, and Quoc Dang Tran’s Apple TV+ series Drops of God . They compete against Greek series Milky Way , which opened the festival, Viaplay’s futuristic Russell Tovey drama The Fortress , Red Skies from Israel, The Actor from Iran and Fleeting Lies from Spain. Each will have its world premiere at the event. The Power is a fantasy series set in a world where the physical balance of power between men and women switches when electric arcs emerge from the fingers of teenage girls all around the world. Debuting later this month, it comes from Sister, the UK producer behind Chernobyl and is based on Naomi Alderman’s sci-fi novel. Drops of God is the latest series from Call … [Read more...] about Series Mania Kicks Off With ‘The Power’, ‘Drops Of God’ & ‘Haven Of Grace’ In Competition

Fremantle has launched a premium documentaries label helmed by Mandy Chang . The super-indie’s Head of Documentaries will oversee Undeniable, which she has just unveiled on stage at Copenhagen’s CPH:DOX. Helming “provocative, entertaining, diverse, and influential” premium documentaries with high-profile talent, Undeniable’s launch comes amidst a Fremantle docs push. The outfit has recently acquired One Day In America indie 72 Films , natural history producer Wildstar Films and Israel’s Silvio Productions. Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle’s Group COO and Continental CEO, said the launch “forms part of Fremantle’s growth strategy to boost our capabilities in documentaries as we have successfully achieved in film and drama over recent years.” He added that Fremantle and its labels delivered 52 documentaries last year, including Kingdom of Dreams and Mrs. America. “Working with the very best filmmakers and emerging talent, the label will provide editorial and … [Read more...] about Fremantle Launches Premium Docs Label

SUNDAY UPDATE, writethru : Legendary Entertainment/Warner Bros’ Pokemon Detective Pikachu took the No. 1 spot at the international box office this weekend with a $103M start in 62 markets, just edging the third frame of Avengers: Endgame per today’s estimates. Along with the early release in Japan, Pikachu ‘s offshore cume is $112.4M through Sunday, and the global total with the strong domestic bow is $170.4M . By a hair of his lightning tail, Pikachu topped the third overseas session of Disney/Marvel’s Endgame which added $102.3M in 55 material markets (globally the MCU pic won the weekend with $165.4M to the little critter’s $161M). Last session, Endgame sailed past Titanic to become the No. 2 movie of all time both offshore and worldwide. Its cumes currently sit at $1.762B international and $2.486B global. Endgame remains the No. 2 film of all time behind Avatar with about $302M now separating them on a worldwide basis. … [Read more...] about ‘Pokémon Detective Pikachu’ Catches $103M In Overseas Bow; ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Assembles $2.486B WW – International Box Office

Giant theater chain Cineworld will convene a meeting of its shareholders on April 20 related to the Chapter 11 process currently underway in a Texas bankruptcy court. The meeting, which is in-person only, is required by UK securities law, Cineworld said today, “in circumstances where the value of the company’s net assets is less than half of its called up share capital” – officially constituting a “serious loss of capital.” The purpose — “allowing shareholders to consider whether any, and if so what, steps should be taken to deal with the situation.” That said, there isn’t much stockholders can actually do beyond “consider” as they’re set to be wiped out, something the company acknowledged, saying, “It is not expected that any plan of reorganisation or sale transaction would result in any recovery for Cineworld’s shareholders.” The Board “is calling the General Meeting to ensure that this matter is addressed as required by the Act. The Board welcomes dialogue with the … [Read more...] about Regal Parent Cineworld Plans UK Meeting Of Shareholders As Bankruptcy Proceeds In Texas

With Series Mania 2023 coming to a close, the event’s founder and general director Laurence Herszberg announced the winners of the Series Mania Festival today. ”We would first like to thank the public and the professionals who attended this edition, which brought together more than 85,000 participants for the Festival and 3,800 participants from 64 countries for the Forum. We are delighted to announce our prize list and figures that have far exceeded our expectations,” said Herszberg. With the rise of streaming across the world, Series Mania has become one of the most attractive events in the global TV calendar. It’s largely looked at as a place where writers, distributors and producers can liase with each other in a less formal setting than compared to a TV sales market. It includes not just the festival, the Forum, key conferences, keynotes, and pitching sessions. This year the festival screened 54 unreleased series, with 32 world premieres and 10 international … [Read more...] about Series Mania Festival 2023 Winners Announced

World premieres for some of the global streamers’ biggest upcoming launches will take place at next month’s Canneseries . Unveiled earlier today, the likes of Apple TV+’s Silo, Prime Video’s Dead Ringers and Paramount+’s Fatal Attraction reboot will be screened at the France event, which takes place concurrently with Mip TV . They will be joined by a list including Netflix France’s Tapie, Israels Corduroy and highly-anticipated South African Studiocanal drama Spinners. Other notable inclusions are Bargain, the Korean smash that has emerged from CJ ENM’s partnership with Paramount+, Childhood Dreams from The Netherlands and Good Morning Chuck (Or the Art of Harm Reduction) from Canada. The list, which makes up the shows for the 6th Canneseries, has more U.S. streamer shows than ever before. Fatal Attraction, which sees Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson star in the reboot of the 1987 classic, will air out of competition alongside Silo , … [Read more...] about ‘Fatal Attraction’ Reboot, Apple TV+’s ‘Silo’ & Prime Video’s ‘Dead Ringers’ Set To Premiere At Canneseries