News

Pop icon Jennifer Lopez has been a powerhouse in the music industry for several decades. Popularly known as JLo or Jenny from the Block, the singer is all set to host the upcoming 2025 American Music Awards, and given her successful career, there’s no better star for the job. Throughout the years, fans have seen her in different roles – singing, acting, fashion, and even business, with a stellar portfolio to her name.

Given all of these elements, she has been a major figure in pop culture for over twenty years. While we may know her for her chart-topping albums and bold red-carpet appearances, there is a lot about her that fans are still not aware of. So, let’s dive deeper and learn some lesser-known facts about the multi-talented star who has captured the entire world with her captivating beats.

15. Jennifer Lopez created a foundation after her daughter’s health...

Exclusive: European sales, production and financing company mk2 films and international fund manager Ipr.Vc have confirmed their first investment collaboration on Marie Kreutzer’s upcoming feature Gentle Monster, her follow-up to critically acclaimed historical drama Corsage.

It marks the first joint operation under the partners’ multi-year slate financing deal, which was announced last September.

“Our joint slate was inspired to support daring, authored cinema with global resonance. Marie Kreutzer’s Gentle Monster is the perfect embodiment of that inspiration,” said mk2 films Managing Director Fionnuala Jamison.

Paris-based mk2 Films will also manage international sales on Gentle Monster, in a move that continues the company’s collaboration with Austrian director Kreutzer following its successful sales, festival and awards campaign for Corsage in 2022.

“We are incredibly excited to support Gentle Monster as the first project in our collaboration with mk2 films,” said Andrea Scarso, Partner at Helsinki and London-based Ipr.Vc.

“This...

As The Simpsonsgears up to return for the second half of its 36th season, one of the show’s stars is commemorating a landmark occasion for the series. Yeardley Smith, who has voiced Lisa Simpson on the series since its debut in 1989, posted a photo on social media on Feb. 20 to celebrate a milestone episode of the long-running animated series.

Smith posted a photo on the social media site, X, holding up a script for the 800th episode of The Simpsons, for which the cast was seemingly doing a table read before shooting the episode. Smith captioned the photo: “Today we’re reading #800! Which of the 700-something [The Simpsons] episodes is your all-time favorite?”

Today we’re reading #800! 🤯ðŸ˜ðŸ™ Which of the 700-something @TheSimpsons episodes is your all-time favorite? 💛 pic.twitter.com/OCoBLmZanC— Yeardley Smith (@YeardleySmith) February 20, 2025 The Simpsons Started in 1989

So far, in its run on Fox,...

Six-time Emmy Award-winner Hank Azaria is worried that artificial intelligence will soon leave him out of a job. Azaria, who has voiced countless characters on The Simpsonssince 1989, including Chief Wiggum, Moe, Duffman, and Comic Book Guy, touched on his fears in a recent op-ed for The New York Times,per The Hollywood Reporter.

“I imagine that soon enough, artificial intelligence will be able to re-create the sounds of the more than 100 voices I created for characters on The Simpsons over almost four decades,” wrote the Brockmire star.“It makes me sad to think about it. Not to mention, it seems just plain wrong to steal my likeness or sound - or anyone else’s,” he added.

Azaria focused on one of his most iconic characters, the bartender Moe Szyslak, saying, “In my case, AI could have access to 36 years of Moe, the permanently disgruntled bartender. He’s appeared in just...

The Simpsons voice actor Hank Azaria is expressing his concerns over potentially being replaced by artificial intelligence.

Azaria, who has voiced dozens of characters over his 40-year film and TV career, including bartender Moe, Chief Wiggum and Comic Book Guy on the long-running animated comedy, wrote about his fears in a recent op-ed for The New York Times.

“I imagine that soon enough, artificial intelligence will be able to re-create the sounds of the more than 100 voices I created for characters on The Simpsons over almost four decades,” he wrote. “It makes me sad to think about it. Not to mention, it seems just plain wrong to steal my likeness or sound — or anyone else’s.”

The Brockmire actor continued, “In my case, AI could have access to 36 years of Moe, the permanently disgruntled bartender. He’s appeared in just about every episode of The Simpsons. He’s been terrified,...

In the age of streaming, there’s a widespread belief that every movie is available, all the time, everywhere. Don’t fall for it! Some of the greatest movies ever made are nowhere to be found due to everything from music rights snafus to corporate negligence. In this column, we take a look at films currently out-of-print on physical media and unavailable on any streaming platform in an effort to draw attention to them and say to their rights holders, “Release This!”

At the end of 1999, Entertainment Weekly ran a cover story titled “The Year That Changed Movies,” celebrating the abundance of highwire masterpieces that the American film industry seemed to be cranking out on a weekly basis that year. “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Magnolia,” “The Limey,” “Fight Club,” “Being John Malkovich,” “Election,” “Boys Don’t Cry”, “The Straight Story,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Bringing Out the Dead,” “The Matrix,” and “Three Kings” are just a random sampling,...

Sometimes films highlight little-known events in their country of origin that wind up catalyzing a re-evaluation of their nation’s history. Finnish director Klaus Härö’s “Never Alone” is shaping up to be that sort of film. It follows the deportation from Finland of eight Austrian-Jewish refugees by the Gestapo during World War II and the work of Abraham Stiller, a pillar of the Helsinki Jewish community, who tried to stop it from happening.

Despite Finland’s uneasy alliance with Nazi Germany during the early years of the war, Jewish citizens of Finland had their government’s protection in spite of some Finnish officials who would have preferred to comply with the Gestapo’s requests to expel them all.

It’s the first cinematic treatment of this subject, which producer Ilkka Matila says was too painful a story for the Finnish state and the entire society to speak about publicly.

Since its confirmation in 2018, fans have been anticipating the release of Alan Wake’s TV show. However, it has been six years since it was announced, and many felt like the TV series might never come to fruition. Fortunately, it has been revealed that a new TV adaptation is in the works for the series, and the hunt for the cast is already underway.

All eyes will be on the lead character, aka Alan Wake himself, and who will take on this role in the TV adaptation. Unsurprisingly, fans want to see Ilkka Villi reprise his role from the video game as he is more than capable of doing so.

There Can Be No Other Alan Wake Than Ilkka Villi Fans want to see Ilkka Villi in the TV show adaptation. Image credit: Remedy Entertainment

It goes without saying that Ilkka Villi should be the top priority when it comes to casting for TV adaptation.

Ville Virtanen as Kari Sorjonen, in the Finnish crime series “Bordertown.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

The first two seasons of the moody Finnish police procedural, “Bordertown” were excellent, featuring one of those troubled, eccentric, brilliant police detectives that have been so popular for many years, in many countries.

Here is the link to my laudatory review of Season 2 to bring you up to speed on characters and relevant backstories for this one: www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2024/04/bordertown-season-2-review/.

Unfortunately, Season 3 doesn’t quite live up to the first two. Again it’s 10 episodes, with each featured crime covered in two or three of them, and several subplots carried over from before and recurring throughout this one. Kari’s wife dies in the first, and the way he and daughter Janina deal with their grief is the stuff of which melodramas are made for the whole season. Many clashes and moody musings...

Babylon Berlin has landed a new U.S. home on a newly-merged streaming service created as Kino Lorber’s MHz Choice and Topic combine.

The boutique streamer will be named MHz Choice and feature the likes of The Killing, The Bridge, Detective Montalbano, The Sea Beyond and Pagan Peak, alongside the popular Babylon Berlin, which moves over from Netflix after three seasons on that streamer.

Kino Lorber said the new streamer will “combine the best European dramas and mysteries with Nordic noir crime and thrillers under the MHz Choice brand.”

The Four Daughters distributor owns MHz Choice and Topic, the latter of which in a Jv with First Look Media under which Kino has a majority stake and management oversight. The news comes a few weeks after we revealed layoffs at First Look production subsidiary Topic Studios.

Viaplay has also exited the U.S. following a disastrous 12 months that has...

Jennifer Lopez's upcoming sci-fi movie, Atlas, follows her surprise action star turn in The Mother, solidifying a new chapter in her acting career. While Lopez is known for her rom-coms and dramas, The Mother showcased her as an action-film lead. Atlas differentiates itself from The Mother with its sci-fi premise, but it's also primed to break streaming records — just like Lopez's other Netflix collaboration.

An upcoming 2024 sci-fi movie featuring Jennifer Lopez seems like the perfect follow-up to the beloved star's surprise Netflix hit from 2023. One of the most influential entertainers worldwide, J.Lo kicked off her multidisciplinary career as a dancer, singer, and actor in the late '80s and early '90s. Credited with making the Latin pop movement an international sensation, Jennifer Lopez rose to fame in Hollywood after starring in 1997's Selena — a landmark biopic about Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez that earned Lopez a Golden...

Fisher King, the leading Finnish company behind some of Scandinavia’s biggest scripted hits including “Bordertown” and “The Helsinki Syndrome,” has gone bankrupt amid challenges that have thrown the Scandinavian TV industry into turmoil.

Beta Film, which acquired Fisher King in 2019 and subsequently launched the umbrella banner Beta Nordic Studios, said the company was declared bankrupt on Dec. 23.

Fisher King was founded in 2013 by executive producer Matti Halonen and chief visual officer Miikko Oikkonen. Over the years, the outfit was able to produce some of the region’s most ambitious drama series through international co-productions. The company’s recent titles include “Estonia,” a limited series directed by Swedish director Måns Månsson and Finnish director Juuso Syrjä, about Europe’s deadliest civil maritime disaster which killed over 850 people in 1994. Oikkonen was a showrunner and co-wrote the show.

Speaking to Variety, Beta Nordic Studios’ executive chairman Justus Riesenkampff said that in spite of its stellar track record,...

Exclusive: Fox has given a script commitment to Elfquest, a one-hour animated drama series based on the epic fantasy adventure comic series created by Wendy and Richard Pini, from Rodney Rothman and Adam Rosenberg’s Modern Magic. Susan Hurwitz Arneson (The Last Amazon) will pen the series adaptation and serve as showrunner and executive producer.

Created in 1978, Elfquest, published by Dark Horse Comics, is a fantasy story about a community of elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on a primitive Earth-like planet with two moons.

Rothman and Rosenberg will executive produce for Modern Magic, along with Arneson and Wendy and Richard Pini. Bento Box Entertainment is the studio.

“ElfQuest couldn’t be in better hands,” said Wendy and Richard Pini in a statement to Deadline. “Our collaborators trust the story. We have the highest regard for their previous achievements, and they have our blessing and input.

Seth MacFarlane's notable cameos span across both live-action and animated shows, showcasing his versatile talent in various formats. MacFarlane's cameo appearances are not limited to voice acting; he has also made memorable in-person appearances in shows and movies like Star Trek: Enterprise and Hellboy II. From The Simpsons and Futurama, MacFarlane's love for animation shines through his cameo appearances, delighting fans with his recognizable voices and comedic timing.

Seth MacFarlane's career goes back decades, and he has an impressive number of cameos under his belt in both live-action and animated formats. MacFarlane has mainly made a name for himself with his stellar voice work, and is best recognized as the creator of animated shows like Family Guy and American Dad! However, MacFarlane's talents have opened up doors for him to appear in other shows with which he has no or little affiliation, making for some highly memorable cameos over the years.

Big-budget disaster series “Estonia,” Canneseries winner “Power Play” and “Painkiller,” the TV drama debut of Göteborg victor Gabriela Pilcher (“Amateur”) feature among the five contenders for next year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize which serves to underscore the robust breadth of current Nordic scripted series.

Also in the running is “Prisoner,” a second admired Canneseries main competition contender featuring “The Killing” star Sofie Gråbøl, and “Descendants,” the showrunning debut of famed Icelandic thesp Tinna Hrafnsdóttir.

Backed by the Göteborg Film Festival and the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the 8th edition of the Prize, awarded to series’ main writers, pits Beta Film, the sales agent on “Estonia” and owner of its producer, “Bordertown’s” Fisher King, against Fremantle, owner of “Power Play” producer Motlys/Novemberfilm and Red Arrow Studios International, the sales agent on “Descendants.” REinvent International Sales handles sales on “Painkiller” and “Power Play.”

The Nordic drama series...

Andrea Scarso, a well-established entertainment financier who previously worked at Ingenious Media, has joined the fund management company Ipr.Vc.

Ipr.Vc has just raised nearly €100 million ($109 million) in its third funding round and will be investing further in content under the leadership of Scarso, who is joining the banner as partner and investment director.

The company, launched in 2015 and based in Finland, has so far raised €150 million from a broad range of investors. Half of the funds have already been allocated to 35 film and TV productions in Europe and the U.S.

Ipr.Vc initially focused its investment on Nordic scripted projects, including the Netflix hit series “Bordertown,” and went on to establish strategic partnerships with U.S. and international banners such as A24, XYZ Films and the animation studio Gigglebug.

Based in the company’s London office, Scarso has a long experience in media and entertainment financing, including the sourcing and evaluating of projects,...

Company has slate wide partnerships with US and European producers including A24, XYZ Films and Gigglebug.

Fund management company Ipr.Vc Management – which has invested in slates by A24 and XYZ Films - says it has raised the majority of a targeted €100m for its latest film and television production financing fund.

The Finnish based company has also hired former Ignenious Media senior investment director Andrea Scarso as a partner and investment director who will be based in its London office.

Ipr.Vc has to date raised €150 million from institutional investors, pension funds, family offices and non-profit sector investors through three...

Finland-based fund management company Ipr.Vc Management has completed the first closing of its largest film and television production financing fund to date (Ipr.Vc Fund III), and has appointed entertainment financier Andrea Scarso as Partner and Investment Director.

Established and headquartered in Finland since 2015, Ipr.Vc has to date raised €150 million ($164M) from institutional investors, pension funds, family offices and the non-profit sector through three content funds. More than half of the capital has already been allocated against film and TV projects in Europe and the U.S.

The company has moved from an initial phase of investment in Nordic scripted projects including Netflix’s Bordertown, to establishing strategic long-term slate-wide partnerships with U.S. and European producers including A24 and XYZ Films and European animation studio Gigglebug. In total to date, Ipr.Vc has financed 35 productions.

Ipr.Vc Fund III is the company’s most ambitious to date. With...

Finland’s industry is ready to appeal to the government as the future of a film and TV production incentive is under threat, with a 25% cash rebate levied on spend on foreign and Finnish shoots in the country conspicuously absent from a provisional budget for 2024, announced Monday.

“People have been hopeful, so they didn’t want to believe in what the government has been saying. For the whole autumn, we kept hearing they will cut the incentives altogether and that our budget at the Foundation will be cut by a few per cent. The final decision was made on Monday,” said Finnish Film Foundation CEO Lasse Saarinen.

“All these years when we had the incentives, we had opposition in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. These officials just didn’t like the idea,” he noted.

But the fight isn’t over just yet.

“I will speak to the Minister...

Beta Film has dropped the trailer for “Estonia,” a Scandinavian limited series about Europe’s deadliest civil maritime disaster.

The eight-part cinematic show, which is represented in international markets by Jan Mojto’s Beta Film (“Babylon Berlin”), charts the sinking of the Ms Estonia on Sept. 28, 1994, which killed over 850 people.

The series is directed by Swedish director Måns Månsson and Finnish director Juuso Syrjä. While the sinking of the ship is an important part of the show, “Estonia” also spotlights the tentacular probe launched in the aftermath of the tragedy by the Joint Accident Investigation Committee established by Sweden, Estonia and Finland.

Showrunner Miikko Oikkonen, who co-wrote the series with Olli Suitiala and Tuomas Hakola, said that when he “started to read the final report and went through the material, (he) realized the investigation itself was even more interesting than the accident.”

“It was a power play, a political game...

Peter Gonzales Falcon, the actor from Texas who portrayed a young Federico Fellini in Roma, the famed Italian director’s 1972 autobiographical film, has died. He was 74.

Gonzales Falcon was found dead at his home Tuesday in La Pryor, Texas, by authorities called there for a safety check, his friend Aurelio Montemayor told The Hollywood Reporter.

After dropping out of college after being cast in Viva Max (1969), a farcical present-day comedy about retaking the Alamo, Gonzales Falcon was hired by Fellini himself for Roma, which featured cameos from Anna Magnani, Marcello Mastroianni and Gore Vidal.

Segments of the film show Gonzales Falcon as Fellini during the 1930s and ’40s after the future filmmaker arrives in Rome to pursue a career as a journalist and wanders the city to experience what it has to offer. He worked on the documentary-style feature for 41 weeks, he told author Tom Lisanti during an expansive 2018 interview.

Alan Wake shows itself to be scarier than ever in the sequel Alan Wake 2.

During what was dubbed Opening Night Live at big gaming conference Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, hosted by journalist Geoff Keighley, the Finnish company Remedy Entertainment unveiled a trailer featuring some gameplay snippets from the sequel to a horror video game released in 2010 and taking viewers to the dark place between CG and live action.

“In a horror story, there are only monsters and victims,” says a voiceover. “And the trick is to become neither.” This new, and grim, adventure follows beloved writer Alan Wake, who has disappeared and become trapped in a nightmare in the frightening town of Bright Falls, Washington, where he’s already had paranormal experiences in the first installment of the franchise.

Investigating his disappearance is FBI agent Saga Anderson, who finds herself embroiled in a series of unexplained events — a horror story written by Wake himself.

Programme at International Film School Cologne is headed by ’Borgen’ showrunner Jeppe Gjervig Gram.

Screenwriters including Domina’s Rachel Paterson and The Gryphon’s Senad Halilbasic are among 12 series writers from 10 countries selected for the 2023 edition of the European Showrunner Programme at International Film School Cologne (ifs).

The training and mentoring programme is run by Borgen showrunner Jeppe Gjervig Gram with showrunners Jeff Melvoin (Killing Eve), Petja Peltomaa (Syke/Nurses) as well as Philipp Käßbohrer and Matthias Murmann (How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)).

The programme is designed to train up a new generation of showrunners in Europe. Show runners,...

A-list multi-hyphenate celebrity Jennifer Lopez is most known for her successful career as a pop singer, but she's also an accomplished actress, and has starred in a wide variety of movies. Lopez got her start in 1991, appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on sketch comedy show In Living Color. Her breakout role was in 1997's Selena, for which Lopez was paid $1 million, the most for any Latina actress at the time (via Variety). She released her debut studio album "On the 6ix" in 1999 and went on to become one of the world's most famous pop stars, and performed at the Super Bowl Liv halftime show in 2020.

In addition to her music career, Lopez has acted steadily since the '90s. Though critics haven't always been kind to her work, Lopez's best movies often strike a chord with audiences. She is mostly known for her crowd-pleasing romantic comedies, but Lopez has...

Jennifer Lopez has range — from music to movies — and in acting she can do action and romantic comedy, sometimes combined into the same film. In honor of “The Mother” releasing this weekend, we’ve rounded up seven of JLo’s other great action and drama film performances.

She starred alongside George Clooney in “Out of Sight” (1998) as a federal marshall, and in “Bordertown” (2007) she plays an investigative journalist. “Hustlers” (2019) shows her as an entrepreneurial exotic dancer scheming to game the system of the patriarchy.

Time is running out to stream the animated series “Bordertown,” the tearjerker classic “My Girl” and the cult favorite comedy “Galaxy Quest” on Netflix. These are among the handful of films and TV shows departing the streaming service in May, which also includes Steven Soderbergh’s Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum-fronted thriller “Side Effects,” the Hailee Steinfeld coming-of-age comedy “Edge of Seventeen” and the terrific animated film “Rango.”

Check out the full list of what’s leaving Netflix in May 2023 below.

Also Read:

What’s New on Netflix in May 2023 May 4

“Pup Star: World Tour”

May 10

“Bordertown” (Seasons 1-3)

May 13

“Weed the People”

May 14

“Booba: Food Puzzle” (Season 1)

May 16

“Side Effects”

May 18

“The Last Days”

May 27

“Collateral Beauty”

May 29

“The 2nd”

May 31

“Barbershop 2: Back in Business”

“The Boy”

“Edge of Seventeen”

“Galaxy Quest”

“Hachi: A Dog’s Tale”

“Little Boxes”

“Midnight Diner” (Seasons 1-3)

“My Girl”

“Rango”

“The Space Between Us...

Every month brings a new slate of entertainment to streaming services everywhere, but each turn of the calendar also brings the tragic removal of a list of movies and television shows. While Netflix is debuting a bevy of releases in May 2023, the streaming service is losing some treasured titles. Good thing you have this guide to make sure you catch everything that may have been sitting in your Netflix queue before they mysteriously disappear.

Unfortunately, juggling distribution rights in the ongoing proliferation of streaming services makes it a headache to keep up with who owns what. HBO Max is the biggest offender of losing its own original content, as the merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery and the induction of CEO David Zaslav has wiped a chunk of HBO Max exclusives from the platform. Netflix has a better grasp on its properties, but even the longest-running streaming service has lost some of its licensing,...

Projects come from 34 different countries.

Projects from Rodrigo Reyes, Ike Nnaebue and Sean McAllister are among 48 titles that will be pitched to international and UK industry representatives and experts at this year’s Sheffield DocFest MeetMarket.

One of the world’s largest documentary and factual pitching forums, MeetMarket moved to the beginning of the festival and will take place on June 15-16 with all projects in the development or production stage.

The projects have been selected from more than 500 submissions. Rodrigo Reyes, whose doc Sanson And Me was the winner of DocFest’s 2022 international competition, is pitching Mexican-us co-pro Warrior Mothers.

Ever since the massive success of Money Heist, Netflix has been rapidly expanding its library of international content, especially European original series. With shows like Bordertown, Lupin, Fauda, Dark, etc., the viewership of European series and shows on the network have been on a rise. If you have been a fan of any (or all) of these series, then you might want to watch out for the streamer's new original, Transatlantic (2023).

“Mobile 101, a Nokia Story,” a series about the dramatic rise and fall of the Finnish phone company, has been acquired by Disney+ and Walter Presents in multiple territories. The series was produced by Finland’s Rabbit Films and is represented in international markets by the outfit.

The six-part series, which sheds light on how a small Finnish company specializing in rubber boots became the world’s biggest mobile manufacturer at the turn of the 21st century, has been picked by Disney+ Italy, Netherlands and Belgium. Walter Presents, meanwhile, bought it for the UK & Ireland. Ruv Iceland has also acquired season one of the series.

“Mobile 101” was originally commissioned by Finnish broadcaster MTV3 Finland and streamer CMore for Sweden, Denmark and Norway. It premiered in 2022 to both critical and commercial acclaim.

Directed and written by Maarit Lalli, the series zooms in on how Nokia switched from rubber boots to...

Internationale Filmschule Köln’s showrunner programme is headed by ’Borgen’ writer Jeppe Gjervig Gram

As the role of showrunner becomes increasingly important in European series production, the ifs Internationale Filmschule Köln’s European Showrunner Programme has secured an additional three years of funding from Creative Europe – Media Programme of the European Union.

The Film-und-Medienstiftung Nrw is on board as a funding partner and Netflix is continuing to support the programme both financially and in terms of experts and content. In addition to Series Mania and the Film Festival Cologne, the ifs has gained the Seriencamp and the Film Festival Göteborg as new festival partners.

Hey, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" fans. We've got some super great news for you in this article. Your favorite ABC, late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live is officially back in action with a brand new episode tonight, February 13, 2023. That's right, guys. After having been on a hiatus all last week, its finally back, and we've got a little preview of who you can expect to see show up on it. Tonight's new episode will feature 2 actors and a professional football player. The first description for tonight's new, February 13, 2023 episode reveals that 53 year old Australian actress Cate Blanchett will arrive in the studio at some point to talk with Jimmy. Cate has acted in productions like: Nightmare Alley movie, Fox's The Simpsons, Ocean's Eight movie, Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok movie, Cinderella movie, The Hobbit movies, How To Train Your Dragon movies, Tar movie, Family Guy TV show, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button movie,...

Screen Rant is proud to present an exclusive clip from the new Finnish series Helsinki Syndrome, streaming exclusively on Topic beginning on February 16. The 8-episode thriller follows entrepreneur and family man Elias Karo, whose vendetta against the government causes him to take four journalists hostage in order to uncover a decades-long deceit that ruined his family and along with far too many others. When a bank manager and a district court judge made off with his family’s possessions in the '90s, an event that was sanctioned by the Finnish government, hundreds of others were affected and cannot escape the cycle of poverty to this day. who find themselves ineligible for any Covid assistance, bankrupting their businesses. Elias hopes that by holding the journalists captive, he can expose the corruption and conspiracy to keep Finland’s working poor from getting ahead.

Helsinki Syndrome is directed by Juuso Syrjä (who...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products released each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

They Live Steelbook 4K Uhd from Scream Factory

John Carpenter’s They Live came to 4K Ultra HD last year, but Scream Factory is giving it a makeover with a limited edition Steelbook featuring new artwork by Devon Whitehead.

The 1988 cult classic will be released on January 17. Based on Ray Nelson’s 1963 short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning,” it stars Roddy Piper, Keith David, and Meg Foster.

They Live is presented in 4K with 7.1 Dolby Atmos Audio. Special features are identical to the previous edition, including a commentary track by Carpenter and Piper, interviews with Carpenter, David, and Foster, and more.

Godzilla: Tokyo Sos Statue from Mondo

Mondo celebrated Godzilla Day by unveiling its Godzilla: Tokyo S.

Exclusive: Rosa Salazar (Alita: Battle Angel), Bobby Soto (Narcos: Mexico), Julio Cesar Cedillo (Narcos: Mexico), Veronica Falcón (Ozark), Sarayu Blue (I Feel Bad) and Eric Johnson (Fifty Shades franchise) are among the newest additions to Prime Video’s Michael Peña starrer A Million Miles Away, which has entered production in Mexico City. Others rounding out the ensemble of the Alejandra Márquez Abella-helmed film include Jordan Dean (Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace), Ashley Ciarra (Chupa), Michelle Krusiec (Hollywood), Emma Fassler (Recovery Road), Michael Adler (Super Pumped), Carlos S. Sanchez (Chicago Fire) and Isaac Arellanes (Ghostwriter).

A Million Miles Away is based on the inspiring true story of Jose Hernandez, who defied insurmountable odds to become the first migrant farmworker to travel to space. From six years old, he toiled in the fields between Michoacán and Stockton, California —dreaming of traveling the night skies on a rocket ship. Through his...

BT And Warner Bros Discovery UK Sports Joint Venture Approved

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has given approval for BT Group and Warner Bros. Discovery to form a 50-50 sports joint venture for the UK & Ireland. Both companies sports assets will now combine over coming weeks. BT Sport and Wbd’s Eurosport will initially retain their brand propositions before uniting under a single brand name in the future. BT’s Consumer division CEO Marc Allera, who has been named Chairman of the Jv, said the approval marked a “milestone.” The chair will rotate between the two shareholders, with management of the Jv going to board member Andrew Georgiou, President and Managing Director, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe. The CMA had initially decided too investigate the merger more than six weeks ago.

Netflix Ties With ‘Descendants Of The Sun’ Team For K-Drama

Netflix has greenlit a Korean series from...

Beta has pre-sold sprawling Finnish drama series “Estonia” to Germany’s broadcaster Seven.One Entertainment Group, the parent company of ProSieben. This acquisition marks the start of a collaboration between Beta and Seven.One Entertainment.

The eight-hour drama, about the deadliest civil maritime disaster in recent European history, is now in its third week of shooting.

Produced by Fisher King, a subsidiary of Beta Nordic Studio, the drama charts the sinking of the Ms Estonia on September 28, 1994 which claimed the lives of over 850 people. The series also chronicles the tentacular investigation launched in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Miikko Oikkonen created the series based on numerous testimonies of survivors, which were classified until recently. The story is told though the perspectives of survivors, investigators and journalists.

“Estonia” reunites the creative team behind “Chernobyl,” including award-winning Swedish director Måns Månsson (“Snabba Cash”), cinematographer Jani-Petteri Passi and the VFX company Dneg.

The series...

The 7th MipDrama ended on Sunday with German series “House of Promises” named as the winner of the Buyers’ Coup de Coeur Award. While the showcase received mixed reactions from the participants, gathered onsite in Cannes – with only Italy’s “Bangla” opting for a more humorous approach – the event marked a win for Finland’s Elisa Viihde, presenting “Evilside,” “Summer of Sorrow” and “The Invicibles” (with Viaplay also attached.)

It must be some kind of a record that three out of 10 series are from the same commissioning broadcaster,” said Sari Lempiäinen, executive producer at Elisa Viihde. “We are excited and proud, as all of them are unique and brilliant.”

Here’s a drill-down on the 10 shows profiled at this year’s MipDrama:

“All That Is Left” (Sweden)

Genre: Teen / Young Adult

Format: 8 x 20’-25′

Production Companies: Erik McAllister for Svt and Lia Cederström for Baluba

Main Broadcaster: Svt

Distribution Company:...

Exclusive: Kate Del Castillo, the Mexican actress who stars in Telemundo’s hit drama La Reina del Sur, has signed with Buchwald.

One of the highest rated Spanish-language series in the world, La Reina del Sur adapts the bestseller by Spanish novelist Arturo Perez-Reverte. In the crime drama, which recently wrapped filming for Season 3, Del Castillo plays Teresa Mendonza, a woman from Mexico who becomes the most powerful drug trafficker in southern Spain.

Castillo recently completed a two-series deal with Telemundo. Her production company, Cholawood, has a first-look development deal with Boomdog, the Mexico City-based division of Endemol Shine North America.

The actress starred opposite Will Smith as the villain in Sony’s Bad Boys for Life, also recently featuring on NBC’s sitcom Mr. Mayor, from creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, and the Netflix animated series Maya and the Three, created by Jorge R. Gutiérrez. She gained notoriety...

Thanks to fresh takes on established genres and highlighting local elements, Finnish drama is commanding attention from international buyers. A Series Mania Focus on Finland will teasing more series to come, from “Nordic blue” to horror for kids and a Christmas fairytale crime story. The biggest event dedicated to television series in Europe will take place March 18-25 in Lille, France. Here’s a breakdown on some higher titles:

“Crash Plan” (Take Two Studios)

(Nordic blue/procedural crime)

Creator: Ralph Christians, Marteinn Thorisson

Producers: Eero Hietala, Ralph Christians, Dirk Schweitzer

8 Episodes x 44 Minutes/ 4 Episodes x 90 Minutes

Take Two Studios production “Crash Plan,” co-produced by Splendid Film, is a “Nordic blue” procedural drama taking place in the Finnish Turku archipelago, where police detective Elisa and emergency helicopter doctor Markus investigate local crime. Elisa recently transferred from patrol police and is eager to prove her skills. Markus has no experience as a detective,...

Everybody has to start somewhere. Cate Blanchett — long before her two Oscars and starring roles in film, TV and on stage — had an oddball beginning in showbiz.

On March 28, 1994, Variety mentioned “Police Rescue,” a big-screen version of the hit Aussie TV series, in which she appeared. It’s sometimes listed as her film debut. It’s not.

After studying theater in her native Australia, she traveled; running out of money in Cairo, she worked briefly on the 1990 Egyptian film “Kaboria,” dancing in a party scene (which is visible on YouTube).

Variety wrote about other projects in which she appeared, like the TV series “Heartland” and “Bordertown.” But she was not mentioned by name until the 1996 review of the 51-minute film “Parklands.” Variety critic David Stratton disliked it and said Blanchett had “little to work with,” but he noted that she “is on the road to becoming Australia’s next prominent actress,...

Dutch Features has acquired international rights to Finnish streaming service Elisa Viihde’s crime series “Evilside,” a six-hour Archipelago thriller set in the Oulu region of northern Finland. Filming took place from Dec. 2021 through Feb. 2022.

“Evilside” is produced by Whatevergroup Oy in collaboration with Handmade Films in Norwegian Woods, Business Finland, Business Oulu and the Finnish Film Foundation.

“What drew us to ‘Evilside’ is that the script had all the characteristics of a good Scandi noir thriller, but with a very diverse mix of characters and so many new elements added,” Dutch Features CEO Pim van Collem told Variety.

She added: “Two women are at the center here: the detective trying to solve the case and the young woman who is accused of the crime. Including a teenage character as one of the leads will feed into a whole new younger audience and we are excited to be hitting the international market with this gem.

Beta Film has acquired world sales rights to “Estonia,” an ambitious Finnish series telling the true story of Europe’s deadliest maritime disaster of the 20th century. The eight-part event drama will reteam “Bordertown” creator Miikko Oikkonen and helmer Juuso Syrjä (Bordertown), who will split directing duties with Måns Månsson (“Snabba Cash”).

Finland’s biggest drama project to date, “Estonia” is produced by Beta Nordic Studio’s Finnish banner Fisher King, and co-produced by Swedish Kärnfilm Ab, Panache Production Belgium and the Estonian Amrion Oü. Also co-producing are streaming service C More Finland and Sweden, along with the broadcaster TV4 and MTV Finland, in collaboration with Beta Film.

The character-driven series, whose shoot is due to start in the spring, will captures the true event of the sinking of the Ms Estonia, the country’s largest ship, in September 1994. The cruise ferry was hit by a major storm, which led to uncontrolled tilting.

Helsinki-based Tekele has unveiled the international trailer of its first premium crime drama “Transport”, which is in the running for this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best Nordic TV screenplay. The prestigious award will be handed out Feb. 2 during Göteborg’s two-day TV Drama Vision confab.

Created and directed by Prix Europa winner Auli Mantila (“Silver Stars”), “Transport” is repped by REIvent International.

The eight-part series delves into the criminal activity of horsemeat trafficking and money laundering in Europe. It’s about ordinary people, under pressure, who somehow get involved, while a young journalist investigates the case of a microchip found in baby food. Toplining the show are Emmi Parviainen (“Shadow Lines”), Maria Heskanen (“Everlasting Moments”), Ville Virtanen (“Bordertown”) and Geert van Rampelberg (“De Infiltrant”).

“Transport” is the first major European premium TV show produced by fast-expanding Tekele, founded by seasoned producer Miia Haavisto. Speaking about her Belgium co-production partners Jonnydepony,...

Cate Blanchett will produce and star in A Manual for Cleaning Women, the first English-language feature from Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, Deadline has confirmed.

The film in early stages of development is based on Lucia Berlin’s 43-part collection of short stories, examining the lives of women working a wide variety of demanding jobs. Blanchett, Andrew Upton and Coco Francini will produce for Dirty Films, with Almodóvar for El Deseo, and Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer for New Republic Pictures. Pic is Almodóvar’s follow-up to Parallel Mothers, the Sony Pictures Classic drama starring Penélope Cruz about two mothers who give birth the same day, and the English-language short The Human Voice starring Tilda Swinton, which was shortlisted by the Film Academy last year.

Blanchett is a two-time Oscar winner known who most recently appeared in Adam McKay’s...

Academy Award-winning film vet Kevin Kline will make his series TV* debut opposite fellow Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett in an Apple TV+ adaptation of the psychological thriller Disclaimer, from — stop me if you’ve heard this qualifier before — Academy Award-winning director Alfonso Cuarón.

As part of his overall deal with Apple TV+, Cuarón will write, direct and executive produce all episodes of the series, which is based on the novel of the same name by Renee Knight. Blanchett will serve as another of the executive producers, as well as star.

More from TVLineThe Morning Show's Desean Terry on How...

The year is somehow already almost over! To celebrate another passage around the sun, Netflix is putting its best foot forward with its list of new releases for December 2021.

Netflix’s options of original series are quite vast and impressive this month. It starts early on with two finales: Lost in Space wraps up its story with a third and final season on Dec. 1 and is quickly followed by the last go-around for Spanish hit Money Heist. The blockbusters continue apace from there with The Witcher season 2 premiering on Dec. 17, Emily in Paris season 2 on Dec. 22, and Cobra Kai season 4 on Dec. 31 to close out the year.

Read more TV The Witcher Season 2 First Look Asks What Kind of Father Geralt Will Be By Michael Ahr TV How Will Money Heist End? By Gene Ching

It’s also a good month for movies on Netflix. Adam McKay’s satirical climate...

Almost anyone over 30 has owned a Nokia phone at some point in their lives, but not many people know that the iconic brand was created at a Finnish company formerly specializing in rubber boots.

Once the world’s biggest mobile manufacturer at the turn of the 21st century, the company was nearly wiped out of the smartphone market by Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android well before 2010, and ultimately sold its handset division to Microsoft in 2013.

When news broke of Microsoft’s takeover on TV, Finnish director Maarit Lalli’s first thought was, “There’s going to be only one [drama] on Nokia in Finland: It will either be me or someone else, and it’s most likely going to be made by a man,” she told Variety during a set visit in Helsinki.

The next morning, Lalli called Finnish TV channels and the Finish Film Foundation to check if...

Exclusive: Mia Kaplan (Smilf), Rainn Wilson (Jerry and Marge Go Large), Missi Pyle (Y: The Last Man), newcomer Jemima Yevu and Jolene Purdy (The White Lotus) have signed on to star in Empire Waist, a body-positive, coming-of-age dramedy from writer-director Claire Ayoub and Wayfarer Studios, which is currently in production in New York.

Ayoub’s first feature centers on a group of teens who overcome societal bias and celebrate self-acceptance through inclusive fashion design and friendship. Kaplan plays the lead role of Lenore, a teen deeply insecure about her weight. Hiding her passion for fashion design, Lenore tries to make herself invisible in her day-to-day life to avoid being bullied — both by her classmates and image-conscious mother (Pyle). Meanwhile her best friend Kayla (Yevu) is confident, funny, outgoing, and proud of her plus-sized body.

Wilson will play Lenore’s father, Mark, who is his daughter’s biggest cheerleader, with Purdy as Ms.

Exclusive: Glitter & Doom, an Lgbtqia+ jukebox feature musical told with the iconic tunes of Grammy winning folk duo Indigo Girls, is in production already in Mexico City starring The Mandalorian‘s Ming-Na Wen, Y: The Last Man‘s Missi Pyle, and directed by Tom Gustafson off a screenplay by Cory Krueckeberg.

Billed as a fantastical summer romance, the pic follows a musician who wears charisma as camouflage and a carefree kid about to run away with the circus as they fall in love at first sight. But will 29 days be enough time to fall in love forever? International discoveries Alex Diaz stars as Glitter and Alan Cammish as Doom with Orange Is The New Black‘s Lea DeLaria also starring, and cameos by Tig Notaro and Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. Wen will play the role of Ivy in the film.

The film is produced by Speak productions...