India’s antitrust watchdog has expressed initial concerns about the proposed $8.5 billion merger between Reliance and Walt Disney’s media assets in the country, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has reportedly flagged potential harm to competition, primarily due to the combined entity’s power over cricket broadcast rights. Cricket is the […]

The latest edition of Ormax Media’s streaming audience research reveals significant growth in India’s streaming landscape, albeit driven entirely by ad-supported viewership. The Ormax OTT Audience Report: 2024 provides insights into the evolving digital content consumption patterns across the country. Based on a sample size of 12,000 respondents from urban and rural India, the study […]

Big World Pictures has acquired U.S. and Canadian distribution rights to Iair Said’s “Most People Die on Sundays” from sales agent Heretic. The existential comedy, Said’s fiction feature debut, was an official selection in the ACID sidebar at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film is set for a theatrical release in early 2025, following […]

Oscar-winning actor Cate Blanchett is returning to the London stage, taking on the role of Arkadina in Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull.” The production will run for six weeks at London’s Barbican Theatre beginning in February 2025. Joining Blanchett in the cast is Tom Burke, known for his role in BBC series “Strike” and in “Furiosa: […]

Lawrence Valin’s feature directorial debut “Little Jaffna” is set to make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The first clip has been unveiled from the film. The film, which Valin also co-wrote and stars in, explores the Tamil diaspora experience in France through the prism of gang culture in the area of central […]

SOVIET SAGA Stockard Channing and Michael Praed will star in the world premiere of “The Gates of Kyiv” at the U.K.’s Theatre Royal Windsor. Written by Ian Kelly and directed by Roxana Silbert, the play tells the story of Soviet piano virtuoso Maria Yudina and her defiance against Stalin’s regime. Channing takes on the role […]

Varun Dhawan has joined Sunny Deol in the cast of Bollywood war epic “Border 2,” Variety has confirmed. The film will be directed by Anurag Singh who previously helmed Akshay Kumar-starring “Kesari” (2019), based on the Battle of Saragarhi in which an army of 21 Sikhs fought against 10,000 Afghans in 1897. “Border 2” is […]

The first trailer has been unveiled for Singaporean filmmaker Yeo Siew Hua‘s “Stranger Eyes,” which is in the main competition at the Venice Film Festival. In the film, after the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter, a young couple receives strange videos and realises someone has been filming their daily life — even their most […]

Canada’s Wango Films has completed filming on their upcoming feature “Little Lorraine,” which marks the big-screen debut of bestselling Latin artist J Balvin, known as the “Prince of Reggaeton.” The production, shot in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Ontario, also stars Stephen Amell (“Arrow,” “Code 8”) and Sean Astin (“Lord of the Rings,” “Stranger Things”). […]

After a 27-year hiatus from television, veteran Indian filmmaker Anubhav Sinha is making his streaming series debut with Netflix’s “IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack.” The six-episode thriller, based on the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight, marks Sinha’s first return to long-form storytelling since his early days in television, which includes DD Metro series […]

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has revealed the full ensemble for its upcoming production of “Othello,” completing a cast led by previously revealed headliners. The ensemble includes Al Barclay as Lodovico, Scott Brooksbank as Montano, Ricardo Castro as Messenger, and John Paul Connolly as the Duke of Venice. Also cast are Jason Eddy as Sailor, […]

Deepak Rauniyar’s “Pooja, Sir,” which is in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons strand competition this year, has revealed several territory sales and a first teaser. The film is inspired by real events which took place in Southern Nepal during the 2015 race protests, involving the Madhesi community. In the film, when two boys are kidnapped […]

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd and Sony’s Culver Max Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, operating as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), along with Sony group company Bangla Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, have announced a comprehensive settlement to resolve all disputes related to their previously planned merger. The agreement brings an end to the legal proceedings that had been ongoing […]

Rebecca Ferguson has been cast in Neal Street Productions, Elysian Film Group and Ashland Hill Media Finance’s adaptation of Enid Blyton’s “The Magic Faraway Tree.” The film, based on Blyton’s beloved “The Faraway Tree” series, follows the Thompson family as they move to the English countryside and discover a magical tree. The fantastical tree’s residents […]

MultiChoice is commencing production on “My F*k, Marelize,” a feature film inspired by a viral video from Namibia. The announcement was made at this year’s Silwerskerm Film Festival in Cape Town. The film, set in Windhoek, Namibia, is based on true events surrounding the Horn family. It follows Marelize Horn as she prepares to become […]

ZEE5 Global, a streaming platform specializing in South Asian content, has reported significant success with its Telugu-language offerings. On the eve of Telugu Language Day, Aug. 29, the platform revealed that Telugu has become one of the top Indian languages consumed by its global audience, alongside Hindi and Tamil. Oscar-winning “RRR,” along with “Karthikeya 2” […]

UPDATED: India’s National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai Bench approved the high-profile merger between Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL) media arm and Disney’s Indian entertainment assets on Friday. This follows the approval – that may be subject to so-far unspecified conditions – by the Competition Commission of India on Wednesday. The NCLT order states that the […]

When Nepali filmmaker Deepak Rauniyar and actor Asha Magrati were preparing to shoot their latest film “Pooja, Sir” in 2022, life threw them an unexpected curveball. What started as a concerning throat swelling for Magrati, Rauniyar’s wife and frequent collaborator, during a trip to New York quickly spiraled into a series of cancer diagnoses that […]

The 68th BFI London Film Festival (LFF) has announced the 11 films selected for its official competition, vying for the best film award at this year’s event. The diverse lineup represents 13 countries and showcases a range of international filmmaking talent. The selected films include: “Memoir of a Snail” (Australia) dir. Adam Elliot: A stop-motion […]