News

Animated blockbuster Despicable Me 4 will be aiming to set records across its UK-Ireland run, as it opens in 688 cinemas this weekend through Universal.

Produced by Universal-owned animation stalwarts Illumination Entertainment, the Despicable Me franchise is among the most profitable of recent decades. The first film opened to £3.9m on its way to a £20.2m total in 2010; before the sequel started with £10m and ended on £47.5m in 2013; and was in turn surpassed by Despicable Me 3, which opened to £11.2m and closed on £47.9m.

The two Minions spin-off films landed in a similar territory as the two sequels. Minions...

The son and grandson of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss appear in Daniela Volker’s engrossing documentary, a companion piece to Zone of Interest

The first shock delivered by this engrossing documentary is probably the queasy jolt of recognition. Hans Jürgen Höss, the now elderly son of the Nazi Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss (who was executed in 1947), is taken to see his childhood home: the wartime house with its “paradise flower garden” just next to the camp, where the Höss family lived their grotesquely placid and innocent existence, all unaware – or so they said – of what was going on just over the wall. This is the house and garden re-created in detailed replica not far from the original site by film-maker Jonathan Glazer and production designer Chris Oddy for the chilling, Oscar-winning film The Zone of Interest; for those who have seen that film there is a bizarre, intestinal shock in seeing the house again,...

Creativeland Studios has tapped industry veteran Shobha Sant as its new CEO, Variety can reveal.

In her new position, Sant will lead Creativeland’s filmed entertainment division and oversee the talent business of Aig-India, the joint venture between Creativeland Studios and Artist International Group. The joint venture seeks to provide Indian talent with opportunities to achieve international acclaim while also introducing international talent to the Indian subcontinent.

Sant brings over 30 years of experience to the role, most recently serving as head of content alliances – films, at billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Studios.

Sant will work alongside Creativeland founder and managing director Sajan Raj Kurup and COO Alpa Golcha, who joined the company after stints at Amazon Prime Video India and Dharma Productions.

Prior to her time at Jio Studios, Sant held the CEO position at Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bhansali Productions (“Heeramandi”) for more than five years, during which she...

After Jonathan Glazer’s Cannes, Oscar and BAFTA-winning “The Zone of Interest,” Daniela Volker’s “The Commandant’s Shadow” tackles the same subject – what it was like to live next door to a WWII concentration camp.

While Glazer’s film was a work of fiction, based on Martin Amis’ novel, Volker’s film is a documentary. Exploring the legacy of Auschwitz, it follows Hans-Juergen Höss, son of commandant Rudolf Höss, and grandson Kai, on an emotional journey. Their path leads to a meeting with Holocaust survivor Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, known as the ‘cellist from Auschwitz,’ and her daughter Maya. It features hitherto unseen archival footage and draws from Rudolf Höss’s autobiography, written shortly before his death.

“The Commandant’s Shadow,” produced by Gloria Abramoff from the London-based production company Creators Inc, in association with Snowstorm productions, played at Israel’s DocAviv festival where it won the Yad Vashem Award for outstanding Holocaust-related documentary.