Webb co acquired 100 of rand

EXCLUSIVE : Shudder has acquired multiple territories for the indie thriller Influencer from Kurtis David Harder — the filmmaker with whom it’s previously been in business on titles like Spiral . The award-winning feature, which launched its festival run at last year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, will bow on the streamer this spring in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Influencer tells the story of Madison (Emily Tennant), a popular social media influencer who is having a lonely and uneventful trip in Thailand despite what she tells her followers on Instagram. While reflecting on her boyfriend canceling the trip, she meets CW (Cassandra Naud), a fearless and enigmatic traveler who offers to take her to some of the most Instagram-worthy locations. Together they share authentic meals and drinks with locals, discussing the differences between Madison’s online presence and CW’s lack of one. After showing Madison … [Read more...] about Shudder Acquires YA Horror-Thriller ‘Influencer’ From Filmmaker Kurtis David Harder Ahead Of EFM

EXCLUSIVE : Arthouse streamer and distributor Mubi has traditionally been shy about revealing performance numbers for its movies, but today we can reveal that BAFTA and Oscar hopeful Aftersun has become the company’s most streamed release globally. We’re told the Paul Mescal -starrer has now far surpassed Mubi’s previous best-performers including Portrait Of A Lady On Fire , The Worst Person In The World , Drive My Car , Decision To Leave , Shiva Baby and Titane , some of which were released during the pandemic, a boom time for streamer engagement. The film started streaming in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Latin America and a handful of other markets on January 6, 2023, and has also become the top-viewed film all time in these individual territories. It will join the platform in Germany, Austria and Spain in March, and later in France. Writer-director Charlotte Wells’ acclaimed debut has also blazed a trail for Mubi at the theatrical box office, becoming … [Read more...] about ‘Aftersun’ Becomes Mubi’s Most Streamed Movie Ever & Crosses Box Office Milestones

Microsoft ’s proposed $69B acquisition of Activision could bring harm to the UK’s 45M-strong gaming community, the nation’s competition body has ruled. In a provisional finding delivered in the past hour, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that Microsoft “buying one of the world’s most important game publishers would reinforce [its] strong position and substantially reduce the competition that Microsoft would otherwise face in the cloud gaming market in the UK.” Both companies can respond to the ruling, which will conclude in April. Microsoft already accounts for an estimated 60% to 70% of global cloud gaming services, said the ruling, and corners the market in other ways via its ownership of Xbox, Windows and Azure. A small number of Activision’s flagship games such as Call of Duty play an important role in driving competition between consoles, added the CMA, which said Xbox and Playstation’s competition would “weaken competition” and “in turn … [Read more...] about Microsoft Activision Deal Could Bring Harm To UK Gaming Community, Rules Regulator

EXCLUSIVE : Cohen Media Group has acquired all North American distribution rights to filmmaker Mark Cousins ’ Alfred Hitchcock doc My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock . The film premiered at Telluride and examines the Psycho and Vertigo director’s vast body of work, exploring his techniques, themes and obsessions. The plan is for a theatrical release later this year. Cousins, who utilizes actor and impressionist Alistair McGowan to portray Hitch in voiceover, connects the stylistic dots running through the director’s 50-plus films, from revered classics like North by Northwest, Psycho and Rear Window to less frequently discussed but intriguing works such as The Paradine Case, Sabotage and more, stretching all the way back to his silent films. The deal, announced by Cohen Media Group Chairman and CEO Charles S. Cohen, was negotiated by CMG Senior Vice President Robert Aaronson and Cleo Veger, Head Sales at London-based film sales company Dogwoof. Among … [Read more...] about Mark Cousins’ Alfred Hitchcock Documentary Gets North American Deal

EXCLUSIVE : Kino Lorber has acquired all North American distribution rights to Four Quartets , the film version of the Ralph Fiennes -starring stage adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s seminal poem. Directed by Sophie Fiennes, the film will get its U.S. premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival later this week followed by a theatrical release this spring. One of the giants of modern literature, the poet, playwright, critic, and editor T.S. Eliot is best known as one of the central figures of the Modernist movement in poetry. Consisting of four poems published over a six-year period – Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages , and Little Gidding , each titled after the landscape that inspired their writing – Four Quartets is widely considered Eliot’s masterpiece and the culminating achievement of his career as a poet, offering four interwoven meditations on the nature of time and the quest for spiritual enlightenment. Following the completion of Four Quartets … [Read more...] about Ralph Fiennes’ ‘Four Quartets’ Gets North American Distribution Deal Ahead Of Stateside Bow At Santa Barbara

Warner Bros Discovery has ditched plans for a 100% merger of streaming services HBO Max and Discovery+ and will continue offering the latter as a stand-alone product. Insiders confirmed the strategic shift with Deadline after it was initially reported by The Wall Street Journal . The WSJ cited unidentified people familiar with the decision, saying they felt Discovery+ subscribers could balk at paying a higher price for a combined service. HBO Max costs $16 a month, or $10 with ads, compared with $7 and $5 for the respective equivalents of Discovery+. Over the past several months, WBD execs have talked of combining the two into a single offering. HBO Max has already been featuring Discovery titles more prominently of late, even though the ultimate fit between prestige HBO fare and Discovery mainstays like 90-Day Fiancé has been questioned both inside and outside of the company. The plan now is to continue to have Discovery+ in the market even as a newly … [Read more...] about Warner Bros Discovery Abandons Plan To Shut Down Discovery+ As Stand-Alone Service As It Moves Ahead With HBO Max Merger

EXCLUSIVE : Steve Coogan is set to star in The Penguin Lessons , with The Full Monty ’s Peter Cattaneo to direct the Jeff Pope -scripted adaptation of the Tom Michell nonfiction bestseller. The management/production company 42 partners Rory Aitken and Ben Pugh will produce alongside Robert Walak. Rocket Science is handling international sales and will introduce the film at the European Film Market , with CAA Media Finance repping U.S. distribution rights. The Penguin Lessons is the true story of a disillusioned Englishman who went to work in a school in Argentina in 1976. Expecting an easy ride, he discovered instead a complicated and divided nation – and a class of practically unteachable young boys. When he finds a small penguin washed up on an oil-slicked beach, his life is turned upside down – and the penguin becomes not only a valued friend, but also a teacher of life’s most important lessons, for Tom, the boys and many others. “We were captivated by … [Read more...] about EFM Hot Package: Steve Coogan Stars In Peter Cattaneo-Helmed ‘The Penguin Lessons’

EXCLUSIVE: We hear that Sarah Rothschild , the writer of the Netflix movie Sleepover, will be writing the latest draft of Disney/Imagine/Free Association’s Splash remake. Deadline first told you about the remake back in 2016 with the 22 Jump Street and Inherent Vice actress attached. The original Splash in 1984 was a huge hit for Disney at a near $70M stateside, the first of its adult-demo features released at the time under its Touchstone label, and the first major hit for director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer which led to the creation of their Imagine in November 1985. The original starred Tom Hanks and Darryl Hanna as a man and a mermaid, respectively, who fall in love after being reunited years after she saved his life as a boy. Marja-Lewis Ryan wrote an earlier draft of the Splash remake. Rothschild, an award-winning screenwriter, recently adapted The Love Hypothesis for MRC and Elizabeth Cantillon and wrote 24/7 – a modern day take … [Read more...] about ‘Splash’ Redo With Jillian Bell Sets ‘Sleepover’s Sarah Rothschild As Scribe

EXCLUSIVE : Renowned documentarian Lisa Cortés has entered into a first-look development agreement with the Museum of the City of New York , the goal being to hone documentary IP based on the museum’s exhibitions. News of the deal — initiated by producer Jon Sechrist — follows the Sundance world premiere of Cortés’ latest critically acclaimed feature doc, Little Richard: I Am Everything , which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize in U.S. Documentary Competition and sold to Magnolia Pictures. Cortés will now look to build a creative pipeline from MCNY’s 100 years of exhibitions to the screen, with plans for projects on food, social justice, music, and more. The first being made under the deal is a docuseries based on Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off , an exhibition inviting bakers from every borough to design New York City-inspired gingerbread creations. Cortés will develop and produce all projects through her New York-based production company Cortés … [Read more...] about ‘Little Richard: I Am Everything’s Lisa Cortés Strikes First-Look Development Deal With Museum Of The City Of New York

Netflix is rolling out paid password sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain as the company looks to reap revenue from a practice it long encouraged customers to engage in at no charge. A blog post confirmed the rollout and said it would expand in the coming months. The announcement followed some online unrest earlier in the week when a company web page pertaining to tests of the password plan in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru went live in other countries. (A trial of the new setup launched in those countries last year.) The bulletin ricocheted around online, causing anxiety over its apparent requirement for users to specify a “primary location” for a given household’s accounts. Backlash centered on the notion of having to verify WiFi information on a regular basis. “We know there’s been a lot of confusion about sharing Netflix,” the company acknowledged in a tweet. “A Netflix account is intended for one household,” it continued, adding that the aim is to “give you … [Read more...] about Netflix Expands Paid Password Sharing To Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain