News

Charge your glasses. Apple TV+ is taking on Legendary Entertainment’s Drops of God Season 2.

Quoc Dang Tran’s French-Japanese drama adaptation of the smash manga series was a hit for the streamer and Season 2 will again be bought rather than commissioned by Apple in a rare TV acquisitions deal.

Starring Fleur Geffrier (Das Boot) as Camille Léger and Tomohisa Yamashita (The Head) as Issei Tomine, Drops of God follows an estranged child who learns she must master and correctly identify the properties of 13 wines to assume control of her newly deceased father’s collection. In Season 2, Camille and Issei once again face a nearly impossible challenge: to uncover the origin of the world’s most wonderful wine, a secret that even Alexandre Léger failed to unlock.

Deadline revealed last year that Apple beat a number of suitors to land the international series, which we hear had a budget of around $30M,...

Zack Snyder is a prolific screenwriter, director, and producer who made his directorial debut with the 2004 movie, Dawn of the Dead. He came into the limelight with movies like 300 (2006) and Watchmen (2009), and then went on to establish the Dceu with movies like Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the directorial cut of the 2017 release, Justice League. Recently, he sat with Joe Rogan for the latter’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, where Snyder shared many stories about his career.

Zack Snyder with Joe Rogan in The Joe Rogan Experience podcast

During the podcast, he talked about how if he got to make The Dark Knight Returns, that would be it for him – his legacy. He won’t need or want to make any more comic book movies if he gets to make Tdkr. He also said that though Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had...

Adherence to historical accuracy is crucial in war movies to create a compelling and immersive experience for viewers. Military historians praise films like "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Longest Day" for their realistic portrayal of combat events. Movies like "Dunkirk" and "Das Boot" utilize practical effects and authentic training to ensure historical authenticity.

War movies are often judged by their adherence to historical fact, and authenticity can make a war movie feel much more compelling and immersive. Few conflicts receive as much attention in the war genre as World War II. The global scale of the conflict and the extreme violence of the combat surpassed anything that came before it, and there are countless fascinating stories from across the globe waiting to be given the big-screen treatment. Whether World War II movies focus on the Pacific Theater, the European campaign or the home front, they should all commit to historical accuracy.

If you’ve been keeping up with The Test of Time, you have probably learned what the rules are in terms of what we tackle. Those rules, of course, are that there are no rules whatsoever and we cover whatever sounds good or we think would be an interesting topic. In the Mouth of Madness (watch it Here) came out in Italy in late 1994 and that means, gulp, that movie is now 30 years old. It came during an interesting time in the master of horrors career when he was running flop after flop and being disappointed by studios interference and stars that weren’t willing to be true collaborators. It’s the ending of a loose trilogy and in some people’s estimation his last great film. Is In the Mouth of Madness a tale that stands the Test of Time, or should it be put in the bargain bin...

Exclusive: Multiple German film organizations are planning protests at this year’s Berlinale in response to the festival’s decision to invite members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to the opening ceremony, we can reveal.

A number of trade and industry organizations have banded together in opposition to the AfD’s presence at the festival and, in the coming days, are set to publish another open letter voicing their anger over the decision.

We understand the groups — who have asked to remain anonymous for now — intend to protest at Berlin’s opening ceremony on February 15 with demonstrations potentially including a human chain where protesters link arms on the red carpet. There is speculation among a handful of our sources that some industry members could boycott the festival this year, with the potential for another open letter explaining that move.

Discussions over demonstrations intensified soon after Deadline revealed...

Exclusive: Dennis Gansel, director of acclaimed film The Wave and Sky TV series Das Boot, has become the most prominent German filmmaker to call out the Berlin Film Festival’s decision to invite members of far-right party AfD (Alternative For Germany) to this year’s opening ceremony on February 15.

In a message sent to Deadline, the award-winning filmmaker said: “To invite people from the far-right to a film festival which represents cultural diversity and liberal virtues is highly problematic.”

He continued: “The numbers behind the AfD party in Germany are rising constantly, so civil resistance on any level is of utmost importance.”

However, the director went on to caution that a ban on the party would be counter-productive:

“Let’s not forget that a ban of a political party or banning of its members will not save us in the long run. We must continue to communicate and argue with the supporters of the AfD.

The Match Factory has acquired world sales rights to Berlinale Golden Bear contender Dying by German director Matthias Glasner.

It is one of 20 films set to play in the Berlinale’s main Competition which was announced on Monday alongside the festival’s Encounters sidebar.

Glasner was previously in Competition at the Berlinale with Gnade and Der Freie Will in 2012 and 2006 respectively. More recent credits include directing episodes of Das Boot and TV movie Redemption Road.

German star Lars Eidinger co-leads the family drama following the very individual members of the dysfunctional Lunies family.

Corinna Harfouch co-stars at the mother who is quietly happy about her demented husband, played by Hans-Uwe Bauer, slowly wasting away in a home, until her new freedom looks set to be cut short by diabetes, cancer and kidney failure.

Eidinger plays a conductor in his...

Media Rights

Viacom18, a TV and streaming group backed by billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani, has secured Indian media rights for field hockey from the International Hockey Federation (Fih). The agreement runs for a four-year cycle (2023-2027) and includes all Fih events, except the Fih Nations Cup. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The upcoming Fih Hockey Olympic Qualifiers, the first ever Fih Hockey5s World Cup, the Fih Hockey Pro League and the 2026 Fih Hockey World Cup, among other tournaments, will be available on streaming platform JioCinema and Viacom18’s linear channels Network Sports18.

While cricket remains the most popular sport in India, with Viacom18 paying $3 billion in 2022 for digital rights to the Indian Premier League, field hockey also enjoys much support.

Viacom18 Sports head of strategy, partnerships and acquisitions Hursh Shrivastava said: “Hockey has been one of the most loved, followed and storied sports in India. The recent success of...

Roger Corman's 1960 feature films "House of Usher" was the first film in a long series of Edgar Allan Poe-based movies at American International Pictures. From 1960 to 1964, Corman directed eight Poe films, with all but one of them starring Vincent Price. After "House of Usher," Corman made "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Premature Burial," the anthology film "Tales of Terror," "The Raven," "The Haunted Palace," "The Masque of the Red Death," and "The Tomb of Ligeia." Technically, 1963's "The Haunted Palace" isn't a Poe movie. It was named after Poe's 1893 poem but was in fact based on the 1927 short novel "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" by H.P. Lovecraft. Poe, it seems, was a bigger marquee name than Lovecraft, so the latter author's story was merely folded into Corman's short-lived but well-remembered Poe subgenre. 

Fans of gothic horror would do well to marathon all eight movies. They're all...

'80s retro is popular right now, and chances are when people remember the great films of the decade, they are thinking of movies from 1982. In that magical year, the stars aligned and Hollywood seemed to create smash hit after smash hit. 1982 made not just the best movies of the decade, but some of the most enduring classics of all time.

The roster of amazing features from 1982 is so extensive that Oscar-winners like Gandhi, Das Boot, Quest for Fire, Sophie's Choice, and An Officer and a Gentleman won't fit on this list. Drama may have run the table at the Academy Awards that year, but sci-fi, action, and comedy dominated the pop culture, proving that 1982 was a truly great year for cinema.

Blade Runner Transformed the Sci-Fi Genre

Blade Runner

A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.

Military historian Dan Snow breaks down a battle scene in 2014's Fury between four Sherman tanks and a German Tiger tank. The sequence features the Sherman tanks trying to get behind the Tiger to penetrate its weaker armor, but Brad Pitt's tank in the scene has a 76mm gun that would have been able to penetrate the Tiger's armor from anywhere. While Fury features visceral combat sequences and a compelling exploration of World War II tank warfare, the characters, themes, and story hold it back from being a truly iconic war film.

One of Fury's big tank battle sequences makes a crucial mistake that makes the whole thing pointless, an expert reveals. Released in 2014, Fury is directed by David Ayer, with Brad Pitt starring as a grizzled tank commander leading his crew across Germany in April 1945. The film presents a violent portrayal of tank warfare during World War II,...

More than 800 film industry professionals in Germany and Austria have signed an open letter opposing antisemitism, with the number of signatories continuing to grow.

The signatories include a wide range of directors, writers, producers and other film industry professionals. Those signing the letter include directors Caroline Link, whose “Nowhere in Africa” won an Oscar; Stefan Ruzowitzky, whose “The Counterfeiters” also won an Oscar; and Marie Kreutzer, whose “Corsage” won a prize at Cannes (all pictured above). Further directors include Julia von Heinz, Kilian Riedhof, Dominik Graf, David Wnendt, Dani Levy and Doris Dörrie.

Others signing the letter include European Film Academy director Matthijs Wouter Knol, “Resident Evil” producer Martin Moszkowicz, producers Oliver Berben and Fabian Gasmia, and Jürgen Prochnow, an actor best known for the Oscar-nominated “Das Boot.”

The letter was originally published on Nov. 9, the anniversary of Kristallnacht in 1938, when the Nazis in Germany attacked Jewish people and property.

War films use unexpected twists to captivate audiences, whether it's a lead character's death or a revelation of a true identity. These twists add an extra punch to the narrative, standing out in the genre and tapping into the emotion and drama of war. From a shocking ending in Das Boot to the alternate history in Inglourious Basterds, war films deliver twists that linger with audiences.

Article contains mentions of concentration camps and Nazis

War films provide the perfect backdrop to deliver shocking twists that no one sees coming, and a few movies in the genre have delivered twists that have lingered with audiences. War forces people to do the unthinkable to survive, adding a curveball to any movie. Whether it's a lead character's death, the introduction of a parallel history, or a revelation of a true identity, war films are the ideal platform for these twists.

A good war film is built on emotion.

Ironic German crime procedural Tatort has found an American home. Specialist streamer MHz Choice, owned by New York-based art house distributor Kino Lorber and focused on international TV series, has picked up North American rights to the long-running, phenomenally successful series, inking a deal with sales group Beta Film for 250 episodes of the show.

It’s hard to overstate the impact of Tatort (Crime Scene) on German pop culture. The show, which airs every Sunday night on public broadcaster Ard, regularly draws more than 10 million viewers. Top-rated episodes have peaked at more than 14 million, a 40 percent-plus share of the country’s overall TV audience.

The series is a variant of the classic “case of the week” format, with alternating teams of detectives from different German cities and regions (Berlin, Munich, Cologne) investigating murders and other crimes. Since its premiere Nov. 29, 1970 — the show still uses the same 1970s intro music, written by Klaus Doldinger,...

Ioane “John” King, the New Zealand-born actor who starred as the gladiator Rhaskos in Starz’s “Spartacus” series, has died following a battle with cancer, his family announced on Facebook. He was 49.

The actor starred in “Spartacus” from 2010 to 2013, and reprised his role in the prequel miniseries “Spartacus: Stars of the Arena.” The Stephen S. DeKnight show chronicles Spartacus’ journey from Roman gladiator to rebellion leader.

In a Facebook post, his family wrote that he “passed in the company of loving friends and family.”

Also Read:

Q Lazzarus, Singer Behind Cult Hit ‘Goodbye Horses’ From ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ Dies at 61

“John leaves a big hole in this world, having been a wonderful husband, father, son, brother, friend and human being,” the post continued. “Those of us lucky to have met him will carry on with his legacy of kindness, positive influence, hard work and love.”

The actor had announced...

Wolfgang Petersen, the German director who helmed some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, has passed away at the age of 81 following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. It’s another big loss for the film industry, but his legacy carries on with a filmography that is rich and diverse, from his breakout hit The Boat (Das Boot) in 1981 that brought him to the attention of Hollywood up to Poseidon, his 2006 remake of The Poseidon Adventure. While Petersen's portfolio might be smaller than other directors', the creativity behind his films is exceptional.

Click here to read the full article.

Australian Film, Television and Radio School

Australia’s preeminent screen arts and broadcast school benefits from a beautiful setting in one of the most pleasant parts of Sydney, as well as a wealth of industry lecturers and connections to the country’s working film and TV world. Notable alumni include last year’s Oscar best director nominee Jane Campion (Power of the Dog) and Black Widow filmmaker Cate Shortland, in addition to a slew of past Oscar nominees and winners in technical categories, like David White (sound editing for Mad Max: Fury Road), Andrew Lesnie (cinematography for The Lord of the Rings) and Tony McNamara (best original screenplay with The Favourite).

Centro de Capacitacion Cinematografica (Mexico)

Mexico’s most prestigious film school prides itself on the gender parity of its student body (a goal it first achieved in 2020) and its track record in turning out world-class professionals,...

Tobias Rosen will oversee drama slate including Frankenstein.

Sky Studios Deutschland has appointed Oscar-nominated Warner Bros exec producer Tobias Rosen to a newly-created scripted series role.

Rosen has been appointed vice-president at the German arm of the production business, where he will oversee an ambitious scripted slate which includes seven-part dystopian drama Helgoland 513 and a reboot of Mary Shelley’s epic gothic novel Frankenstein.

He will work closely with Elke Walthelm, Sky Deutschland’s executive vice-president of content plus Sky’s wider content teams in the UK and Italy, as Sky Deutschland aims to build on the success of previous...

Sky Studios has appointed Tobias Rosen as vice president of Sky Studios Deutschland. He is set to join in the fall.

In the role Rosen will oversee scripted originals across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, already home to shows including “Babylon Berlin” and “Das Boot.” He will report to Sky Studios Deutschland and Italia EVP Nils Hartmann and work alongside Sky Deutschland’s content EVP Elke Walthelm as well as the U.K. and Italian content teams.

Rosen joins from Warner Bros. International Television Production Germany, where, in his role as executive producer, he acquired, developed and produced projects. Among those under his purview were “Sultan City,” “Love Addicts” and “Club Las Piranjas 2.0.” Previously he was a producer at Relevant Film GmbH.

The Hamburg Media School graduate has also been nominated for an Oscar for his best short live action film “Watu Wote.”

Meanwhile Frank Jastfelder has been upped to Sky...

Click here to read the full article.

Former Warner Bros. Television Deutschland executive Tobias Rosen has been appointed a new VP at Sky Studios Deutschland, the German production arm of Comcast-owned European pay TV giant Sky, tasked with overseeing the company’s growing slate of German-language originals.

At WB, Rosen developed and produced series such as Love Addicts for Amazon Prime. Before joining Warners, he worked as a producer with Relevant Film, where his credits included 2019’s Rocca Changes the World, which won the German film prize for best children’s film.

In his newly-created role at Sky, Rosen will oversee the pay-tv group’s ambitious slate of scripted Originals across the company’s German-speaking territories. Sky Deutschland has found international success with local-language dramas including Babylon Berlin and Das Boot and is looking to ramp up its originals output to better compete with international streaming services.

Rosen is...

Lionsgate-owned Starzplay, Starz’s premium international streaming service, and Spain’s Bambú Producciones, producer of “Cable Girls,” are wrapping production on “Nacho,” one of Starzplay highest-profile productions as it builds its burgeoning international originals portfolio.

Premium U.S. Spanish-language SVOD service Pantaya – already a partner with Starzplay on Lucia Puenzo’s “Señorita 89,” Pablo Fendrik’s “El Refugio” and Sofía Auza and Silviana Aguirre’s “Yellow” – will release “Nacho” in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Starzplay distributes in Spain and Latin America. Elsewhere, Lionsgate will oversee international distribution.

Starzplay has shared with Variety a first-look image from the eight-part series, inspired by the life and times of Nacho Vidal, an adult film industry legend. Taken to California by Rocco Siffredi in 1998, Vidal became the sector’s first Spanish international mega-star.

The series is associate produced in Spain by La Claqueta. Caught on a late June set-visit, few productions look...

Cop Car Photo: Matthew J Lloyd

Cop Car, 9pm, Legend, Monday, July 11

When two boys run away from home intent on having an adventure and decide to steal a police car which they find by the side of the road, they get a lot more than they bargained for. Not only does the car belong to a corrupt cop (Kevin Bacon) who was in the process of hiding evidence, but there’s another dangerous individual (Shea Wigham) locked in the boot, and our young heroes soon become pawns in the struggle between them. In a film which combines elements of comedy with a tight thriller structure, it’s anybody’s guess how the situation might develop. The boys have great chemistry and there’s a surprisingly emotional conclusion.

Das Boot, 1pm, Great! movies classic, Tuesday, July 12

Wolfgang Petersen’s epic tale of life aboard a German U-boat during the Second...

As the UK production boom shows no sign of letting up and capacity and crew shortages in and around London continue to trouble producers, Manchester is fast becoming an attractive destination for international film and television crews. The city is, as the crow flies, just 163 miles north of the English capital and its high-end 85,000 square foot Space Studios Manchester, a mere five minutes from the city center, has housed prolific productions ranging from Sony/Marvel’s Jared Leto starrer Morbius to Netflix’s Anatomy Of A Scandal to multiple seasons of BBC gangster drama Peaky Blinders.

While the city has a long history of hosting local films like 28 Days Later or East Is East as well as lauded British television shows ranging from Queer As Folk to Shameless and the iconic longstanding soap Coronation Street, the last few years have seen the city really ramp up its efforts to...

For its final season, Stranger Things has gone super-sized. Its episodes are longer, its storylines are multiple, its locations are further flung, and its cast has expanded beyond all reasonable measure. Even allowing for the usual body count replacement rate to fill in the gaps left by last season’s victims of the Upside Down, there are a lot of new faces.

To orient us through the new crowd, here’s an introduction to high school students Eddie, Chrissy, Jason, Argyle, Patrick, Angela, Vickie and their counsellor Ms Kelly; military types Dmitri and Lt. Colonel Sullivan; psychiatric hospital nurse Peter Ballard and resident and nurse Victor Creel, played by none other than A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Robert Englund. And that’s not even all of them…

Robert Englund/Kevin L. Johnson as Victor Creel

The Stranger Things kids are all Freddy’s children now! In season four, horror...

Picture Tree Intl. has acquired international sales on “A Whole Life,” which is based on the bestselling novel by Robert Seethaler, and was adapted for the screen by Ulrich Limmer, whose credits include Oscar nominee “Schtonk.”

The film is directed by Hans Steinbichler, whose films include Berlin Film Festival entry “The Diary of Anne Frank,” and the third season of pay TV operator Sky’s TV series “Das Boot.” Austrian actor Stefan Gorski takes the lead role.

“A Whole Life,” produced by Germany’s Tobis Film and Austria’s Epo-Film, is shooting now and is scheduled for release in the summer or fall next year.

The film tells the story of Andreas Egger over eight decades of the last century, a life marked by poverty, war and violence, but also moments of bliss and love. His experiences make him a humble man, happy with the little things life has to offer.

Paris-based international sales company The Party Film Sales has nabbed the rights for Antongiulio Panizzi’s hybrid documentary “The Girl in the Fountain,” a double portrait of icons Anita Ekberg and Monica Bellucci, which opened at the Torino Film Festival last November.

The story of an actress devoured by her own icon, the film alternates between archive footage of Ekberg and reenacted scenes by Bellucci, who retraces Ekberg’s weaknesses and choices, inviting the viewer to reflect on what it is like to be an icon, providing a fresh look at femininity, fame and media exposure.

The famous scene in Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita,” in which Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg take a midnight dip in the Trevi Fountain, hides a much more chaotic life – that of an actress consumed by her own iconic image, says Panizzi.

Speaking to Variety ahead of the Torino premiere, Panizzi said that...

Epic Films’ First Day, Ludo Studio’s Content, and More Sauce’s Cancelled are among the Aussie nominees for this year’s prestigious Rose d’Or Awards.

Commissioned by the ABC, First Day will compete in the Children and Youth category, against projects from the UK, Canada, US, and Belgium.

The series, which has sold the BBC and Hulu, stars young transgender actor Evie Macdonald as Hannah Bradford, who is about to start her first year of high school.

As a transgender girl, Hannah not only has to navigate the challenges that come with starting a new school but find the courage to live as her most authentic self.

Created and written by Julie Kalceff and produced by Kirsty Stark and Kate Croser, First Day has already won a slew of awards including the Diversify TV Excellence Award for Kids’ Programming at MIPCOM 2018, the Gender Equity Prize at the Prix...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Starzplay takes series from Fremantle; Hoplite Entertainment sells unscripted shows to Turkey; Keshet sells a divine docu-reality show across Europe; and Sky original “Das Boot” is renewed for a third season.

U.S. cabler Starz’s international streaming service Starzplay has finalized a licensing agreement with Fremantle for several series, including acclaimed coming-of-age drama “We Are Who We Are,” by “Call Me By Your Name” director Luca Guadagnino; Syria war thriller “No Man’s Land”; and drama “The Attaché,” exclusively for select territories.

Eight-part series “We Are Who We Are,” an HBO-Sky co-production, is licensed in Austria, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Switzerland.

“No Man’s Land,” an eight-part series, is produced by Masha Productions, Spiro Films, Haut et Court TV, and co-produced by Arte France and Versus Production in association with Hulu, with the support of Wallimage, Belga Films Fund and Inver Tax Shelter. It is licensed in Austria,...

Sky/PBS Stage ‘Romeo & Juliet’

The Crown’s Josh O’Connor and Chernobyl’s Jessie Buckley are to star in Sky Arts and PBS staging of Romeo & Juliet. The National Theatre originally intended to bring the Shakespeare production to theatre audiences this summer, but will now film a 90-minute version of the pandemic-hit play over the course of three weeks at its Lyttelton theater. Emily Burns has adapted the play for television, while Simon Godwin directs. Sky Arts and PBS will broadcast Romeo & Juliet in the UK and U.S. respectively next year.

Hulu Picks Up Reality Series ‘Bad Habits, Holy Orders’

Hulu has picked up Channel 5 reality series Bad Habits, Holy Orders under a deal with Keshet International. The four-part, Crackit Productions-produced format follows a Catholic convent as it takes in five raucous, selfie-obsessed party girls. As well as the Hulu deal, Ki has licensed Bad Habits,...

In today’s Global Bulletin, The Apartment and Castlefield team on “Death at SeaWorld” series adaptation, Series Mania opens the call for series and projects, MTV U.K. commissions “Celebs on the Farm,” Love Nature announces streaming plans for “Nature of the Beast,” and ViacomCBS Networks Intl. promotes long-time exec Wincie Knight.

Series

Fremantle companies The Apartment (“The Young Pope”) and recently launched Castlefield have scooped the rights to David Kirby’s popular book “Death at SeaWorld,” and will produce a 10-part series headed by showrunner Simon Allen.

The Apartment’s Lorenzo Mieli will produce along with Hilary Martin and Simon Judd for Castlefield, with shooting planned for late 2021. The book and series draw on investigations done ahead of the 2013 BAFTA-nominated documentary “Blackfish,” and the real-life story of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau, who was killed by a captive killer whale during a performance.

“‘Death at SeaWorld’ will not only be...

Zdf Enterprises, the highly active international production and sales arm of German public broadcaster Zdf, has sealed a major multi-territory deal with Viasat World’s Epic Drama channel on “Dead Still,” continuing the macabre dramedic mystery series’ rollout in much of the world.

Backed by U.S. SVOD service Acorn TV and Irish state TV service Rte, set in 1880 Dublin and starring Michael Smiley (“Luther”), Kerr Logan (“Game of Thrones”) and Eileen O’Higgins (“Mary Queen of Scots”), “Dead Still” will have its pay TV premiere on Oct. 10 on Epic Drama when it will be made available across Central and Eastern Europe, Cis territories, the Baltic States, Malta and Turkey.

Epic Drama’s past lineup has featured some of the biggest international period dramas of the last decade, such as “Versailles,” “World on Fire” and “Das Boot.”

Russian VOD service Showjet and crime channel Polar Plus, part of French pay TV Canal Plus,...

The U.K. is Europe’s top destination for Hollywood productions, with $3.75 billion spent on movies and high-end TV last year, followed by Hungary and Czech Republic.

Countries including Romania, Poland, Belgium, Ireland, Bulgaria and Malta are upping the ante in the contest to bring international shoots to their studios. France, Germany, Spain and Italy all have vibrant production sectors too, largely underpinned by local-language production, and boosted by orders from streamers, but with an eye to attract Hollywood projects.

Incentives are highly competitive with U.K.’s set at 25%, Hungary at 30%, and Czech Republic at 20%, for example. Visual effects is a growth area with France offering an extra 10% for VFX on top of its 30% rate. However, just as important is the availability of top-notch crew and production facilities, which is one of the reasons U.K., Hungary and Czech Republic still lead the way. The U.K. is in...

Amazon’s second season of Carnival Row has wrapped the two weeks of its remaining filming in the Czech Republic under strict coronavirus protocols.

The Czech Film Commission said today that the marathon shoot, which began last November but was interrupted in March by the spread of Covid-19, is the country’s “most financially beneficial foreign production since the introduction of production incentives.”

The Emmy-nominated neo-Victorian fantasy series, starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne, is a joint venture between Amazon Studios and Legendary Television.

“Carnival Row represents the most amount that foreign filmmakers have ever spent in the Czech Republic and has earned a significant incentive for both seasons filmed,” said Helena Bezděk Fraňková, director of the Czech Film Fund. “Bear in mind that this is a direct financial injection into the Czech economy, of which more than 60% goes to non-film SMEs in not only the fields of construction, real estate,...

The Victorian fantasy series “Carnival Row,” starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne, has wrapped its post-covid shoot in the Czech Republic. The series, produced by Amazon Studios and Legendary Television, is the biggest spending production ever to shoot in the country.

The show’s second season began filming on Nov. 11, 2019, but was halted by the country’s pandemic shutdown on March 12, with only two weeks of shooting left. International shoots in the Czech Republic were allowed to resume on May 7, but U.S. productions held back until agreements were in place between Hollywood studios and unions.

Among other big-budget series shooting in the country are “Wheel of Time” (Amazon Studios), “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (Marvel Studios), “Haunted” (Netflix), and “Das Boot” (Bavaria Fiction), as well as the movie “Transatlantic 473” (Netflix).

The Czech Film Commission, together with its parent body, the Czech Film Fund, the Audiovisual Producers Assn. and...

Dominik Graf's The Invincibles (Director's Cut) (1994/2019), which is receiving an exclusive global online premiere on Mubi, is showing in Mubi's Rediscovered series.Above: Dummy explosion in Düsseldorf from the set of The Invincibles.Greetings to all of you interested in The Invicibles! It is a pleasure and honor for me to see that Mubi now presents my more than a quarter-century old film in its 2019 extended cut. Thanks a lot for that! In the following remarks, I shall talk a bit about some of the notions that developed like concentric circles from the film's original idea—the thoughts beyond the core plot.Flashback: Starting around the so-called Wende (the German Democratic Republic's Anschluß into the wealthy West, polemically speaking), a series of still unsolved assassinations and murders happened at regular two-year intervals: On November 30th, 1989, Alfred Herrhausen, banker and political advisor, was shot in Bad Homburg; on April 1st,...

Yesterday’s news that the European Union will not lift travel restrictions on the U.S. due to the scale of the country’s ongoing coronavirus outbreak prompted concerns about the re-start of American film and TV production based in Europe.

As of today (July 1), travelers from 15 countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and China can cross borders into the EU, but the U.S. remains excluded alongside Brazil and Russia.

However, Deadline has spoken to local agencies in numerous EU nations and it is becoming clear that exceptions will be made in many countries for U.S. film and TV crew.

Key countries with major production facilities including Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria have all confirmed that they will still welcome U.S. shoots this summer, as long as they meet Covid-19 safety stipulations, and some projects are already back underway.

In the UK,...

Show will capture life of female cinema pioneer who created one of the first Us studios.

UK screenwriter Tim Loane has joined the creative team of French director Jean-Jacques Annaud’s previously announced upcoming series The Girl In The Picture, about pioneering filmmaker and Us studio boss Alice Guy.

Belfast-based writer Loane’s recent credits include German series Das Boot and racy French costume drama series Versailles, on which he was a screenwriter and showrunner.

He will co-write the series with Annaud, adapting the 2015 autobiography Alice Guy by French writer Emmanuelle Gaume.

The show will follow Guy’s trajectory from illegitimate,...

Though international film and TV production is currently halted due the pandemic, Russia is becoming more attractive for prospective partnerships once lockdown restrictions lift.

That was the takeaway of a panel held during the Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition organized by Russian promotional entity Roskino moderated by Variety’s Leo Barraclough who chatted with Marc Lorber, senior VP international co-productions and acquisitions at Lionsgate, and David Ellender, CEO of Los Angeles-based Sonar Entertainment.

Lorber said Lionsgate has a BBC drama series on hiatus in the U.K., which he hopes will go back into production in September, and “about 20 series in the U.S. that all stopped in various forms of prep, pre-production or post production” due to the coronavirus outbreak. Luckily the company managed to finish post in the nick of time on “Love Life,” which dropped May 27 on HBO Max in the U.S.

Ellender said Sonar, which is known for “Das Boot,...

Madrid – Orange TV Spain today became the first operator internationally to launch AMC Network International’s on-demand service, AMC Selekt, bringing more than 5,000 programs to subscribers.

Promoted as the most varied on-demand service now available in the Spanish market, the service offers all the on-demand films, series, documentaries, lifestyle, kids and musical content from AMC Networks International’s 10 channels across Southern Europe. Examples include recent drama series such as “Das Boot,” “Wisting” and “Bordertown” as well as popular feature films such as the “Lord of the

Rings” franchise, “Meet the Parents” and “The Addams Family.”

In addition to AMC’s in-house productions, the offer also includes concerts from popular national artists such as Vetusta Morla, Alice Wonder and Nunatak.

Orange TV subscribers will have access to the service starting today, at no additional cost to their current subscriptions. Networks with content available on the service include AMC, Canal Hollywood, SundanceTV,...

Yesterday saw a deluge of precursor results hit the Oscar race, including one of the biggest Guilds chiming in. Obviously, we know already that last night the Directors Guild of America gave their top prize to Sam Mendes for 1917, but Saturday evening also saw the American Society of Cinematographers Awards, the Annie Awards, the Cinema Audio Society Awards, and the USC Scripter Awards, in addition to the Directors Guild of America Awards. Below, we’ll run down the results of the various shows, though obviously we already covered DGA in a previous post. Together, you can begin to piece together more of the awards season, as the races head into the home stretch… First up, the Asc results: Theatrical Release Roger Deakins, Asc, Bsc for “1917” – Winner Phedon Papamichael, Asc, Gsc for “Ford v Ferrari” Rodrigo Prieto, Asc, AMC for “The Irishman” Robert Richardson, Asc for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” Lawrence Sher,...

Cinematographer Roger Deakins won the top prize Saturday night at the 34th annual Asc Awards (at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland) for his bravura camera work on “1917,” the continuous-shot, World War I extravaganza, directed by Sam Mendes.

Deakins beat Phedon Papamichael (“Ford v Ferrari”), Rodrigo Prieto (“The Irishman”), Robert Richardson (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), and Lawrence Sher (“Joker”). The latter three are Oscar-nominated with Deakins. The fifth nominee, Jarin Blaschke (“The Lighthouse”), earned the Asc Spotlight Award for his gritty, Gothic-looking black-and-white cinematography.

Additionally, Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma took the Asc Documentary category for “Honeyland.”

Given the Best Picture momentum and universal acclaim for the technical feat, Deakins moves a step closer to his second Oscar. He finally landed his first with “Blade Runner 2049″ after 14 Academy Award nominations. Deakins leads the Asc with five wins.

“1917” is not only the tour de force of the season,...

From the director of the beloved Local Hero: ‘Pure Simple Joy’ is an apt way to describe this deceptively meek, completely endearing Scottish film with a universal theme about adolescence and the reality of teen love. John Hughes’ teen pix do not hold a candle to the innocent charm found here. The gawky yet boundlessly optimistic Gregory falls head over heels for the teenaged wonder girl of his dreams… his only problem is that she’s light years ahead of him in terms of maturity. But the female social system takes on the problem in what must be the most gentle (make that Utopian) view of high school ever. Writer-director Bill Forsythe struck independent hit gold.

Gregory’s Girl

Blu-ray

Film Movement Classics

1980 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 91 min. / Street Date January 21, 2020 / 20.05

Starring: Gordon John Sinclair, Dee Hepburn, Jake D’Arcy, Clare Grogan, Robert Buchanan, Billy Greenlees, Alan Love.

Cinematography: Michael Coulter

Film Editor:...

To celebrate the release of The Wolf’s Call – available on Digital 23rd December and DVD 30th December – we are giving away a DVD!

Call of Duty meets The Hunt For Red October in this slick, gripping underwater action thriller that pits one man against a devastating nuclear threat. This impressive, big budget French production, with director Antonin Baudry helming his first feature, plunges the viewer deep into the highly-charged underwater world of the submarine crew, combining the claustrophobic atmosphere of Das Boot with the nerve-shredding action sequences of The Hunt For Red October.

Lead actors Francois Civil, Omar Sy (Jurassic World) and Mathieu Kassovitz (The Fifth Element) are terrific, as the sub crew desperately attempting to prevent an international catastrophe, despite being only ‘small cogs in a big machine’. The plot twists and turns like an eel, and the sophisticated military hardware is stunningly realised.

“Smart, stylish and nail-bitingly tense...

Sky Studios has boarded “Das Boot.” The content arm of the pay-tv giant will invest in and take the international rights to the series, which plays as an original on Sky in Germany as well as in Italy and the U.K.

The second season of the well-received drama is in post-production. Sky will have it on its platforms, and distribution will be handled by the sales arm of its Comcast stablemate NBCUniversal. Sonar Entertainment had sold the first season, notching deals in 100-plus territories, with buyers including Hulu in the U.S., but is out of the sales picture on new seasons.

Season 2 of the Bavaria Fiction and Sky Deutschland co-production sails onto screens next year. It is too early for news on a possible third season of the World War II submarine drama. In Germany, the first run was Sky’s biggest-ever original show.

Jane Millichip, chief commercial officer,...

The features “Honeyland,” “Antopocene: The Human Epoch” and “Obscuro Barroco” were each recognized Monday with nominations for the brand-new documentary award from the American Society of Cinematographers’ Outstanding Achievement Awards.

The Asc also announced nominees in various TV categories for the 34th annual ceremony, which will be held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles on Jan. 25, 2020.

The Asc, which celebrated its 100th year in 2019, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art of cinematography.

Also Read: Eddie Murphy to Receive Career Achievement Award from Critics Choice Association

New to this year’s ceremony is the Asc Documentary Award, which was added to recognize exceptional cinematography in non-fiction filmmaking.

First-time nominees this year are Fejmi Daut, Nicholas de Pencier, Evangelia Kranioti, Samir Ljuma, C. Kim Miles, Polly Morgan, Peter Robertson, Chris Seeger and Craig Wrobleski. This year’s honorees include Frederick Elmes, Donald A. Morgan,...

American Society of Cinematographers (Asc) revealed the nominees in documentary and television categories for the 34th Annual Asc Outstanding Achievement Awards which will take place January 25, 2020, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles.

Nominees in the newly created documentary category include Honeyland, Anthropocene: The Human Epoch and Obscuro Barroco. On the TV side, nominees include awards season favorites The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Handmaid’s Tale in the Non-Commercial Television category while FX’s Legion received two noms in the Commercial Television category. Meanwhile, the AMC series The Terror: Infamy and CBS All Access’ new take on The Twilight Zone were among those in the Motion Picture, Miniseries, or Pilot Made for Television category.

Earlier this year, the Asc announced the new documentary category to recognize exceptional cinematography in nonfiction filmmaking. The category was open to all features and episodes 30 minutes or longer that are released in theaters, at film festivals,...

FX’s science-fiction series “Legion” scored a leading two nominations for the American Society of Cinematographers Awards.

“Legion” received nods in the commercial television category, along with “Project Blue Book,” “Vikings” and “Gotham.”

Non-commercial TV series recognition went to “Das Boot,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Carnival Row,” “Titans” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Winners will be announced at the organization’s gala on Jan. 25 at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland.

See the full list of nominees below:

Documentary

Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma – Honeyland

Nicholas de Pencier – Anthropocene: The Human Epoch

Evangelia Kranioti – Obscuro Barroco

Episode of a Series for Non-Commercial Television

David Luther – Das Boot, “Gegen die Zeit” (episode 6) (Sky)

M. David Mullen, Asc – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, “Simone” (Amazon)

Chris Seager, Bsc – Carnival Row, “Grieve No More” (Amazon)

Brendan Steacy, Csc – Titans, “Dick Grayson” (DC Universe)

Colin Watkinson, Asc, Bsc – The Handmaid’s Tale, “Night” (Hulu)

Episode...

Devesh Raj will take the helm at Comcast-owned Sky Deutschland, replacing Carsten Schmidt, who has stepped down and will leave at year-end.

Devesh joined Sky as COO last summer after Comcast took over the European pay-tv giant. Prior to Sky he was at Comcast in the U.S. for five years in a strategy role.

Schmidt will retain an advisory position at Sky Deutschland, having been with the business for two decades. He has been CEO for four-and-a-half years. Sky originals “Das Boot” and “Babylon Berlin” rolled out on his watch, as did the high-end Sky Q service.

Sky has about 5 million customers in German-speaking markets. As was the case with Schmidt, Raj will report to Andrea Zappia, Sky’s CEO, continental Europe.

Zappia paid tribute to Schmidt, who he said “has been a major contributor to Sky’s growth and success over two decades.” He added: “Having worked...

Pennyworth’s Anna Chancellor and Outlander’s James Fleet have joined the cast of BBC America’s The Watch, based on Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels.

The pair are the latest actors to join the BBC Studios and Narrativia-produced series, joining lead Richard Dormer.

Chancellor stars as Lord Vetinari, The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, and architect of the city’s normalized wrongness and ramshackle system of governance, while Fleet stars as The Archchancellor, wizard, magical advisor, and the Head of the Unseen University.

Set in the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, where crime has been legalized, The Watch is a “punk rock” drama. The eight-part series centers on a group of misfit cops as they rise up from decades of helplessness to save their corrupt city from catastrophe.

Elsewhere, Ingrid Oliver (Doctor Who) stars as the Head of The Assassins’ Guild, Doctor Cruces. Ruth Madeley (The Rook) stars as the wiry Throat,...

The Mediterranean island nation of Malta has long been attracting international film and TV productions mainly for tales with either a strong marine or biblical element, and often for limited portions of the overall shoot.

Now Malta is trying to make a quantum leap to lure a wider scope of productions for longer stays. And Hollywood is keen for that to happen, but conditions aren’t quite there yet.

“I was in L.A. two weeks ago, making the rounds. I saw roughly 20 companies and producers, and 75% of them, they all asked me about Malta,” says prominent German line producer Holger Reibiger who in July was on the island for two weeks shooting the second season of Sky Germany’s high-end TV series “Das Boot.”

“They are all interested in Malta, but they need stage space,” Reibiger notes. “Hollywood producers are not thinking about: ‘We just want to shoot there for 12 days,...