LEVELING UP Sony-owned anime company Crunchyroll has acquired North American and select international theatrical rights for “Solo Leveling – ReAwakening.” The presentation represents a recap of the “Solo Leveling” anime series’ hit first season and a sneak peek of the first two episodes of the second season. Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment will bring “Solo […]

GRACIE PERIOD Streaming service, Paramount+ has commissioned “Playing Gracie Darling,” a mystery drama series about the aftermath of a girl’s sudden disappearance. The six-part show is created and written by Miranda Nation (“Undertow”), directed by Jonathan Brough (“Rosehaven,” “The End”) and produced by Curio Pictures. When Joni was 14, her best friend Gracie Darling disappeared […]

KAREENA KINEMA PVR Inox, India’s largest cinema exhibitor, is launching a film festival celebrating Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan‘s 25-year career. The week-long event will run from Sept. 20-27 across 30 cinemas in 15 Indian cities. The festival coincides with the release of Kapoor Khan’s latest film, “The Buckingham Murders,” directed by Hansal Mehta. The […]

FIVE FIND FRESH FOOTING The BBC, Moonage Pictures and Nicolas Winding Refn have begun production on a second season of “The Famous Five.” The 2 x 90′ instalment, created for television and executive produced by Refn and Matthew Read of Moonage, follows the success of the first series, which saw its premiere become CBBC’s top-rated episode […]

DEADLOCH UNLOCKED Production has begun in Darwin, Northern Territory, on season 2 of Prime Video’s Australian comedy series “Deadloch.” Filming will later relocate to Brisbane, Queensland. The first season saw two very different female detectives thrown together to solve the murder of a man and was set in Tasmania. While the second season sees the return […]

SHABANA SHINES The International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA) Toronto 2024 will honor “Halo” and “Fire” star Shabana Azmi‘s five-decade career during its 13th edition, running Oct. 10-20. The festival’s tribute program includes a screening of Shyam Benegal’s “Mandi,” a masterclass, and a musical celebration titled “Shab-e-Sur.” The festival will feature premieres and events […]

GRAND PRAEMIUM Taiwan-born film director Ang Lee (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Life of Pi,” “Brokeback Mountain”) has been named as one of the five recipients of the Praemium Imperiale award of the Japan Art Association. The awards ceremony will take place in Tokyo on Nov. 19.   Each recipient will receive JPY15 million ($104,000) alongside […]

POTENT PALOOZA Green Day and Shawn Mendes are set to headline Lollapalooza India‘s third edition. The music festival, will feature a mix of international and local acts across multiple genres in Mumbai. Punk-rock veterans Green Day will make their India debut, while pop star Mendes returns to the live stage after a two-year hiatus. Following […]

SCARING UP A BIG WIN Jon Bell’s “The Moogai” was Saturday named winner of the Film Prize at Western Australia’s CinefestOZ festival. With a cash award of A$100,000 ($67,000), it is one of the richest film festival prizes in the world. Sarah and Fergus, a hopeful young Aboriginal couple, give birth to their second baby. […]

CLOSE ENCOUNTER The 68th BFI London Film Festival has unveiled additional titles for its 2024 program. The new slate includes one world premiere, one international premiere, one European premiere, and four U.K. premieres. Charlie McDowell’s “The Summer Book,” starring Glenn Close, Emily Matthews and Anders Danielsen Lie, will have its world premiere as a special […]

STRANGER DANGER “Stranger Eyes,” Yeo Siew Hua’s powerful film about surveillance and the surveilled, has been selected as the opening title for the Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan. The film, which is structured as a co-production between Singapore and Taiwan, stars Taiwan film icon Lee Kang-sheng alongside Wu Chien-ho, Vera Chen and Anicca Panna. […]

AFRICA AMPLIFIES Netflix presented its upcoming South African content lineup at MIP Africa on Tuesday. The slate includes series “Love Never Lies: South Africa,” a reality show featuring six couples testing their trust with lie detectors. Premieres Nov. 29. The streamer also unveiled several films. “Happiness Is,” the latest instalment in the romantic comedy franchise, […]

STREAMING SENSATIONS The Busan International Film Festival‘s sixth annual Asia Contents Awards and Global OTT Awards has revealed its nominees across 11 competitive categories. PTS Taiwan’s “Imperfect Us” leads with five nominations, followed by Indonesian Netflix series “Cigarette Girl” with four. Wong Kar-wai‘s series debut “Blossoms Shanghai” (Tencent Video) and Korea’s “A Killer Paradox” (Netflix) […]