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Disney’s Frozen franchise has become a cultural juggernaut, with its empowering anthems, sisterly bonds, and that earworm “Let It Go” turning Elsa into an icon of self-acceptance. But rewind the clock to the early days of development, and things were way darker: Elsa wasn’t the misunderstood queen we know today—she was straight-up the villain, drawing directly from Hans Christian Andersen’s chilling fairy tale The Snow Queen.

This original vision paints a fascinating “what if” scenario for the series, especially as we eye Frozen 3 on the horizon. Let’s dive into the icy origins, the massive pivots Disney made, and whether Elsa could ever flip to...

Lucile Hadžihalilović’s lyrical fantasy The Ice Tower swept Switzerland’s Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (Nifff) over the weekend, capturing the H.R. Giger “Narcisse” award for best feature and the production-design prize while cementing Marion Cotillard’s latest collaboration with the French auteur as the season’s genre headline.

The jury announced its verdict late Saturday, praising the film’s “mesmerising interplay of desire and control” as it led a prize list that also saw Emilie Blichfeldt’s The Ugly Stepsister claim the Silver Méliès. Nifff’s 24th edition drew 66 000 attendees—up on last year’s estimate—and premiered 127 titles from 42 countries, buoyed by a new open-air venue that sold out nightly. Festival director Pierre-Yves Walder said the awards underline “genre cinema’s ability to reinvent itself through daring perspectives,” while the Chf 10 000 top-feature purse positions Ice Tower for an expanded European roll-out this autumn.

Set in the 1970s,...

Starz has announced the movie and TV titles that will be available on the service in April. The Starz April 2025 schedule includes new episodes of Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 4.

The Starz app expands its movie slate in April with an exciting mix of films, including the thriller Both Eyes Open, starring Gail Bean, Joy Brunson, and Taye Diggs; the comedy Strays, featuring the voices of Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, and Will Forte; and the video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s, starring Josh Hutcherson, Matthew Lillard, and Piper Rubio.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan

Exclusively available on the Starz app this month, fan-favorite films including 8 Mile, American Gangster, Belly, The Nutty Professor, That’s My Boy, Poetic Justice, and Friday Night Lights join the lineup.

Additionally, Starz will spotlight curated collections, featuring cast members from Power Book III: Raising Kanan, along with specially selected movie picks.

Power Book...

What is it with Lucile Hadzihalilovic and ice? In her last film, Earwig, her central character was a browbeaten little girl without teeth who had to submit to wearing ice dentures, suspended from a cruel metal frame, all day. Her new film turns up the freezing unit to 11 in a long riff on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, moving between the white peaks of the French Haute Savoie, an ice rink and a film set where a version of The Snow Queen is being filmed in what appears to be real snow. It certainly sounds real as Jeanne (Clara Pacini), the young girl Hadzihalilovic sends out into this endless cold, crunches it underfoot.

Like Andersen’s story, The Ice Tower centers on a girl on a quest, a framework that in the original can be read — as in many fairytales — as a mythologizing of the heroine’s growth into womanhood.

Last month, we got confirmation that a live-action remake of Disney's 2010 animated classic Tangled is officially in development, and the project may have found its villain.

According to scooper Daniel Richtman, Agatha All Along star Kathryn Hahn is being eyed to play Mother Gothel. If the actress - who was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the Disney+ series - does land the part, she will likely return to play Gothel in a spin-off focusing on the character.

Though nothing has been confirmed, Disney is believed to be developing a number of baddie-centric live-action projects to tie-in to the planned Villains Land Disneyland attraction. In addition to a Mother Gothel movie, we have heard that Queen of Hearts and Snow Queen films are also in the works, and this is said to be why the Hercules adaptation was repurposed to focus on Hades.

In Tangled, Mother Gothel is a vain,...

Disney Animation chief creative officer and Oscar winner Jennifer Lee is reshifting her focus back to filmmaking, stepping out of her role as the studio’s Cco to focus fully on writing and directing “Frozen 3” and “Frozen 4.” Jared Bush, who won an Academy Award for “Encanto” and is one of the writers and executive producers for “Moana 2,” has been named the studio’s Cco.

Lee is writing and directing “Frozen 3” and writing (and exec producing) “Frozen 4” with Marc Smith — the sequels to Disney Animation’s 2013 “Snow Queen”-inspired cultural hit “Frozen,” for which she served as writer/director. The movie made $1.3 billion worldwide and earned two Oscars, for best animated feature and for earworm song “Let It Go.”

Longtime Disney creative Bush won an Oscar for 2021’s “Encanto,” for which he was a writer and director. Earlier, Bush was an executive producer of “Raya and the Last Dragon,...

Members of the Russian movie industry may be personae non gratae at the great festivals of the West, but at the Shanghai International Film Festival, China’s most prestigious cinema event, they will be welcomed with open arms.

In the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feburary 2022, the Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Toronto international film festivals and markets all imposed blanket bans on Russian delegations and film companies connected to the Putin government. The events only made an exception for individual Russian artists and filmmakers, who continue to be welcomed, provided they don’t have state affiliation.

The Shanghai film festival has taken a much different approach to wartime Russia’s movie sector — one in keeping with China’s so-called “no limits” geopolitical partnership with the Kremlin.

At the 2023 Siff Market, a tradeshow-like event that runs in tandem with the festival, and where new international movies are bought and sold,...

Disney animation is famous for producing movies that are sweet, magical, romantic, and have uplifting happy endings that the whole family can enjoy. But if you go back to the source material they generally ignored, it turns out a lot of those childhood favorites should have had endings that were… different. Darker. Sadder. Sometimes even murder-y.

Like these…

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid is based on a story by 19th century Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. A lot of the details are pretty similar. A little mermaid who loves human things rescues and then falls in love with a human prince. She asks a sea witch to give her legs while sacrificing her voice to the witch in order to become human. However, the prince thinks another woman rescued him and agrees to marry her instead of the former mermaid. It is a relatively faithful adaptation for the most part.

Bridget Fonda reaffirmed that she will remain retired from acting in a rare on-camera appearance on Monday.

In a video obtained via The Daily Mail, the 59-year-old was approached by paparazzi at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday and simply said, “No” when asked about staging a potential Hollywood comeback. After further prodding, she declined the idea once again, saying, “I don’t think so,” then gave the greatest explanation for why she wouldn’t give another go for the glamorous life: “It’s too nice being a civilian.”

You heard it from Fonda first: fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and she would certainly know as a third-generation member of the elite Hollywood acting family that includes her grandfather Henry Fonda, father Peter Fonda, and aunt Jane Fonda. Bridget Fonda made her first screen appearance in 1969’s Easy Rider, and eventually became an icon in...

Bridget Fonda is happy out of the spotlight.

On Monday, the 59-year-old “Jackie Brown” star was spotted getting into a car with her son outside Lax airport, and she said she has no interest in getting back into Hollywood.

Read More: Jane Fonda Opens Up About Her Decades-Long Struggle With Bulimia: ‘I Assumed I Wouldn’t Live Past 30’

“No,” when asked, in a paparazzi video obtained by the Daily Mail, “It’s too nice being a civilian.”

Asked if there was any director who could convince her otherwise, Fonda answered, “Nope.”

The daughter of late actor Peter Fonda and niece of Jane Fonda, the actress made a name for herself in a string of ’90s films like “Single White Female” and “Point of No Return”.

In the early ’00s, Fonda retired from acting, making her final big screen appearance in the 2001 film “The Whole Shebang”, and her final on-screen appearance...

Katerina Pshenitsyna is joining from Central Partnership in a big shake-up of the Russian scene.

Leading international producer Alexander Rodnyansky’s Russian production outfit Ar Content has appointed Central Partnership executive Katerina Pshenitsyna as director of international business development and co-productions, in what is a significant shake-up of the Russian film sales and production scene.

Pshenitsyna was formerly vice president, international distribution at Central Partnership.

Rodnyansky is Russia’s leading international-focused producer, with credits including Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Oscar-nominated Leviathan and Loveless.

“I have always been fascinated with the work of Alexander Rodnyansky and the global impact his projects make,...

Russia’s Wizart Animation has closed pre-sales in multiple territories ahead of AFM for its animated feature “The Snow Queen and the Princess,” and has inked a package deal across Scandinavia for the first four titles in the successful “Snow Queen” franchise.

The fifth movie in the series, which will be released in 2022, has been acquired by Klb Sas for France and French-speaking territories in Europe and Africa. The company will release the animated feature in theaters and on VOD platforms.

“We are very proud and excited to continue working with Wizart’s titles,” said Karen Levy Bencheton, president of Klb Sas, which distributed “The Snow Queen: Fire and Ice” to cinemas and broadcasters in France. “The audience was thrilled with this animation full of emotion, action, adventure and magic. The ‘Snow Queen’ franchise is so popular among the French audience because the story is always based on strong values like family,...

Speakers at the “Breakthrough of Russian Animation” panel held during the Key Buyers Event on Thursday discussed the advantages of teaming with international partners.

“If you want to see your animated series on the global scene, you need to develop your IP with international experts on board,” Ksenia Gordienko, director of the animation department at Ctc Media, tells Variety, mentioning “Kid-e-Cats.”

“The idea was developed by Dmitry Vysotsky and Andrey Sikorsky, but we have an international story editor in London, we get input from our global rights distributor Apc Kids, based in Paris, and dubbing is done in New York.”

The company is set to follow the same pattern with “Little Tiaras,” about to be showcased at Shanghai Television Festival and swapping felines for princesses.

The key to success is to be everywhere, Victoria Bolotova, head of media international sales at Digital Television Russia, says. “Kids can watch your content,...

Russian animation house Wizart has struck a deal with Vertical Entertainment for the latest installments of its two biggest family franchises.

Vertical has swooped on The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands and Sheep and Wolves: Pig Deal for the U.S. and Canada, with theatrical and digital releases planned.

Mirrorlands — the fourth Snow Queen title — is set to hit North American screens in time for Christmas on Dec. 18, while Pig Deal is planned for release on Jan. 29.

According to Wizart, Mirrorlands has already been seen by 17 million viewers in more than 80 countries, while the Snow Queen franchise as a whole has amassed a ...

Russian animation house Wizart has struck a deal with Vertical Entertainment for the latest installments of its two biggest family franchises.

Vertical has swooped on The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands and Sheep and Wolves: Pig Deal for the U.S. and Canada, with theatrical and digital releases planned.

Mirrorlands — the fourth Snow Queen title — is set to hit North American screens in time for Christmas on Dec. 18, while Pig Deal is planned for release on Jan. 29.

According to Wizart, Mirrorlands has already been seen by 17 million viewers in more than 80 countries, while the Snow Queen franchise as a whole has amassed a ...

For an industry that relies on theatrical releases for up to 80% of its revenue, it was perhaps inevitable that 2020 would be a challenging year for the Russian film biz, as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered cinemas throughout the spring and summer, and theaters subsequently reopened at reduced capacity.

But Evgenia Markova, head of the state film promotion body Roskino, sees a silver lining in the industry’s resilience in the face of such an existential threat. “The Russian industry has learned to adapt to all the new circumstances,” she says. “It became more flexible, and more responsive to the needs of the global market.”

Since the end of this summer’s lockdown, Russian production has continued apace, with local streaming services stepping in to fill the theatrical void. “The good thing is that the platforms are growing, and they’re also becoming more active in terms of buying films as well,...

Elton John has unearthed his bluesy early demo of “Here’s to the Next Time” — recorded in 1967 when the artist was still known as Reg Dwight — as the latest offering from John’s upcoming Elton: Jewel Box collection, due out November 13th.

This solo rendition of “Here’s to the Next Time,” written by John prior to working with Bernie Taupin, was recorded at Djm Studios in late 1967; the completed version would eventually appear as the B-side of John’s first single, 1968’s “I’ve Been Loving You.”

In addition...

Elton John recorded significantly more music in the Sixties and Seventies than the public ever got a chance to hear, and on November 13th, he’s finally sharing much of it with the world with the release of his 8-disc collection Elton: Jewel Box.

The latest preview from the set is John’s lost 1968 tune “Regimental Sgt. Zippo,” which has been paired with a new animated video. “The title track of an unreleased debut album, this track captures Elton and Bernie in full 60s psychedelic mode,” reads a press release.

Anna Pokorska is named senior vice president of international sales.

UK-based Gfm Animation has appointed Anna Pokorska as senior vice president of international sales.

She took up the position on August 1, having previously handled international sales, co-production and licensing at Wizart Animation, the Russian outfit behind the Snow Queen and Sheep And Wolves franchises.

Pokorska has also acted as line producer on projects for European network Arte and worked with Russian production firm Amedia and Odessa International Film Festival.

In her new role, she will focus on sales and licensing activities across Gfm’s growing slate of animated features including Blazing Samurai,...

Leading Russian toon house Wizart Animation has closed deals for the U.K., India, and across the African continent for two of its leading feature film franchises. The deals were announced Tuesday during the Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition, a showcase of the latest Russian productions organized by film promotion body Roskino.

Signature Entertainment has acquired U.K. rights to “Sheep & Wolves: Pig Deal” and “The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands,” the latest instalments in the blockbuster animated feature franchises. “Mirrorlands” will be released theatrically on July 10 and will be available on VOD platforms in November, while “Pig Deal” will be available on home entertainment Aug. 10.

“Signature are thrilled to be releasing ‘Sheep & Wolves: Pig Deal’ and ‘The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands’ in the U.K. & Ireland,” says Signature’s Katie Wilkinson. “Both are very appealing, great quality animations and are strong additions to our 2020 slate, emphasizing the company’s ongoing dedication to...

When Russian toon house Wizart Animation began enlisting collaborators for its upcoming series “Snow Queen: Keepers of Wonders,” a small-screen spinoff of the blockbuster animated film franchise, it wasted no time in recruiting talent from abroad. Brad Breeck, the composer from Disney Xd’s “Gravity Falls,” came on board to assist with the soundtrack, while TV and comic-book writer Matthew Wayne was tapped as a script doctor. “We’re aiming it at the international market as much as possible,” says Wizart’s Vladimir Nikolaev.

Wizart is responsible for some of the most successful Russian releases of all time, including the “Snow Queen” and “Sheep and Wolves” franchises, which have combined sold to more than 150 territories. Production on the “Snow Queen” series began last year, and Nikolaev says interest from foreign buyers is already high. “We know there is a big demand, a big appetite, from TV channels, from VOD platforms,...

When “Frozen” landed in theaters in 2013, it plowed down several notable cinematic records. The computer-animated musical fantasy inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Snow Queen” became the highest-grossing feature-length cartoon feature at that time, grossing $1.3 billion in world-wide ticket sales — a record that was recently broken by this year’s “The Lion King” remake. It was also the first animated release by Walt Disney Studios to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar that wasn’t tied to Pixar or Studio Ghibli (which was behind the 2002 champ “Spirited Away”) since the honor was first given out in 2001. Disney’s 53rd animated release also won Best Original Song for its female empowerment anthem, “Let It Go.”

It was also the first fairy-tale feature from the House of Mouse where the primary love story was shared by two royal sisters and not one involving a Prince Charming. And, on top of that,...

The film will shoot in early 2020; Altitude’s Afm slate also includes Ya comedy ‘Beards’.

UK sales outfit Altitude Film Sales has taken worldwide rights to Jet Ski, a high-concept survival thriller in the vein of 47 Meters Down, and will introduce the project to buyers at Afm.

The film is directed by James Nunn, whose credits include co-director on 2012 UK thriller Tower Block and second-unit director on 47 Meters Down, while the script is by Nick Saltrese (A Prayer Before Dawn). The producer is Andrew Prendergast for Vitality Visual Effects UK, whose recent credits include The Courier starring Olga Kurylenko and Gary Oldman.

First film due for completion in 2021.

Russian animation specialist Wizart is launching a franchise based on the epic fairy tales by one of Russia’s most celebrated writers, Alexander Pushkin.

The first of the films in what is envisaged as a series will be Ruslan & Ludmila, due to be completed in 2021. The company is showing a sizzle reel to Efm buyers, and will commence pre-sales in earnest in Cannes. Vladimir Nikolaev and Yuri Moskvin produce and Shelley Page is the international representative.

Nikolaev is promising the Pushkin adaptations will be animated features on the scale of Disney’s Aladdin or Tangled.

The Second War War film grossed $10.6m in first four days.

Russian Second World War tank movie T-34 has become the most successful local film of all time to open at the Russian box office.

The film, released by Central Partnership, grossed $10.6m (713m roubles) over the four-day weekend from from January 3-6, a sizeable increase on the previous record set by Oleg Stepchenko’s fantasy film, Viy which grossed $9m ( 602m roubles) on its opening weekend in 2014.

With T-34 driving growth early 2019 growth, media measurement specialist Comscore confirmed the lucrative holiday season in Russia that ran from Janaury 1-...

Family animation sequel sells to Poland and Germany, Austria, Switzerland.

Moscow-based Wizart has sealed some early Afm business on one of the titles on its slate.

Sheep And Wolves: Pig Deal, the sequel to 2016 family animation Sheep And Wolves, has now sold to Kino Swiat for Poland, with a theatrical release planned, and Koch Films GmbH for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where the film will be relased across TV, DVD and VoD.

The film previously sold to Norway (Storytelling Media), former Yugoslavia (McF MegaCom), Bulgaria (Pro Films) and Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia (Acme Film).

The film is a Wizart Animation...

Hollywood composers Brad Breeck and Gabriel Hays have come on board to pen the soundtrack for TV series “Snow Queen: Gerda and the Keepers of Wonders.”

Breeck is best known for his work on Disney’s “Gravity Falls” and the “Voltron” series reboot for Dreamworks and Netflix. He was the composer for MTV’s “Awkward” and Cartoon Network’s “We Bare Bears.” For Nickelodeon he scored the series “Fanboy and Chumchum” and penned the theme for “Robot and Monster.”

Hays is most well-known for writing music for the Disney animated series “Star Darlings” and “Whisker Haven.” He has also composed for numerous other films, documentaries and TV shows, including Disney’s “Puppy Dog Pals” and “Pickle and Peanut,” “We Bare Bears” for Cartoon Network, PBS’s “Half the Sky” and “A Path Appears,” and “7 Deadly Sins” for Showtime.

The soundtrack for “Snow Queen” will combine pop and folk. “We...

Russian animation company Wizart is set to sign a theatrical deal with China’s Hy Media/Cayie International Media Group for animated movie “The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands,” the fourth instalment in the global hit franchise.

Lisha Ning, CEO of Hy Media/Cayie Intl., said he hoped the investment in “Snow Queen 4” would “open a new chapter” in the relationship between the Chinese and Russian film industries. The third film in the franchise, “Snow Queen: Fire and Ice,” earned nearly $12 million during its theatrical run in China earlier this year.

At Cannes, Wizart signed deals for “Mirrorlands” for Latvia/Lithuania/Estonia (Acme Film), Poland (Kino Swiat), ex-Yugoslavia (Blitz D.O.O.), Czech Republic/Slovakia (CinemArt), and Bulgaria (Pro Films). In Berlin, Wizart closed a deal for French-language territories with Universal Pictures.

In “Mirrorlands,” after King Harald nearly loses his family due to the Snow Queen’s evil deeds, he bans the use of magic.

The Russian animation outfit have arranged sales for ‘The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands’ and ‘Sheep And Wolves: Pig Deal’.

Russian animation outfit Wizart has confirmed new deals on animated features The Snow Queen: Mirrorlands and Sheep And Wolves: Pig Deal. Both films are currently in production.

The previous Snow Queen movie, The Snow Queen 3: Fire And Ice, has grossed around $11m in China since its release there last month. Local distributor Turbo Films, together with China Film Group, has decided to keep it on screens until early June. Wizart is screening first footage from the fourth film in the franchise in Cannes,...

Easily leading the new wave of Russian animation successes abroad, the “Snow Queen” series see its third edition this year at Cannes with “Snow Queen 3: Fire and Ice,” which producer Wizart’s Yuri Moskvin contends will continue to build alongside the company’s other hit toon franchise, “Sheep and Wolves.”

The latest “Snow Queen” film was released in France through Universal and Klb in February, and launched April 5 in China across more than 8,000 screens. With the two franchises having earned more than $100 million worldwide, Moskvin says they were “setting a new threshold and a record for independently produced European-American animated feature films released globally without any support from a major multi-national corporation.”

As Russian animation continues to gain wider visibility, Moscow-based studio Licensing Brands is behind two 3D toon feature films in Cannes Market this year with worldwide distribution by Luminescence.

“The Big Trip 3D” is described by Licensing...

Ever since #GiveElsaAGirlfriend began trending in 2016, the Internet has truly rallied behind the idea of a lesbian romance being woven into the fabric of Frozen 2.

And now, thanks to a new interview with The Huffington Post, director Jennifer Lee has weighed in on the possibility of Elsa finding true love. Currently in the midst of promoting her live-action rendition of A Wrinkle in Time, Lee is due to spearhead development on Frozen 2 sometime this year ahead of the sequel’s planned launch in 2019.

But when it comes to Elsa, in particular, the director refuses to rule out the possibility of a gay romance, and noted that the Frozen team is considering all options for the animated sequel.

I love everything people are saying [and] people are thinking about with our film ― that it’s creating dialogue, that Elsa is this wonderful character that speaks to so many people. It...

Russian animation outfit Wizart’s new projects The Snow Queen: Fire And Ice and Sheep And Wolves have been sold to the Us.

Russian animation outfit Wizart’s new projects The Snow Queen: Fire And Ice and Sheep And Wolves have been sold to the Us. Both have been picked up by Vertical Entertainment, it was confirmed on the first day of the European Film Market in Berlin.

Vertical Entertainment also distributed the first entry in the Snow Queen franchise in 2013-2014.

“We’re thrilled to partner again with Wizart and help share their creative vision for animated family films with audiences,” Rich Goldberg, co-President of Vertical Entertainment, said of the deal.

Vertical’s release of Fire And Ice, which has already been licensed to over 50 countries, is planned for late 2018.

The distribution date is also set for Sheep And Wolves. The animated movie will be released theatrically as well as on VOD and digital platforms on March 9, 2018.

The...

Russian sales outfit strikes deals in Cannes.

Russian animation sales specialist Wizart has licensed Sheep & Wolves [pictured] and the first instalment of the Snow Queen franchise to Spentzos Film in Greece.

Cinemundo has picked up all three instalments for a theatrical release in Portugal.

Wizart has also signed an agreement with Klb for the TVoD release of Sheep & Wolves in France.

Indonesian company Pt Satuvisi Abadi / Onevision Entertainment has acquired Sheep & Wolves and the third instalment of Snow Queen.

Russian animation studio Wizart has signed multiple international deals for its Snow Queen franchise and stand-alone title Sheep & Wolves.

Sheep & Wolves and the first installment of The Snow Queen are heading to Greece, where Spentzos Film is handling distribution.

Cinemundo has picked up all three installments of the Snow Queen franchise for a theatrical release in Portugal, with the first part set to hit cinemas in June.

Wizart has also signed an agreement in France with Klb for the release of Sheep & Wolves. The movie has already been broadcast by TV network Gulli. Klb will handle its release...

You don’t just happen upon the title of social media queen by chance, a fact Chrissy Teigen, as one of the reigning artistes of the medium, knows all too well. The model has invested a fair amount of her free time into sharing every facet of her life, ruthlessly clapping back at the endless stream of trolls on Twitter, and even sharing all of her various drunk musings, trials, and tribulations on Snapchat, much to the delight of her millions of followers. And if you thought the Sports Illustrated star had already reached peak overshare this weekend, drunkenly snapping...

One of the reasons Frozen was such a big success for Disney—outside of the incredibly catchy songs—was that it screwed with the classic fairy tale formula just enough to feel modern, edgy, and feminist. The real villain in the story about sisters rekindling their bond was self-doubt, after all. But, according to Entertainment Weekly, the original plan was to take the film down a more traditional route.

“So when we started off, Anna and Elsa were not sisters,” Peter Del Vecho told the magazine. “They weren’t even royal. So Anna was not a princess. Elsa was a self-proclaimed Snow Queen, but she was a villain and pure evil—much more like the Hans Christian Andersen tale. We started out with an evil female villain and an innocent female heroine and the ending involved a big epic battle with snow monsters that Elsa had created as her army...

Exclusive: Universal/Klb to release in French cinemas in winter 2017-2018.

Russian animation studio Wizart has signed a deal with Universal Pictures Video France (Upvf) and Klb for a wide release of The Snow Queen 3: Fire And Ice in French-speaking territories.

The animation comedy is set to be released in French cinemas in winter 2017/18 and will also be distributed in the principalities of Andorra and Monaco, the French-speaking territories of Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg as well as French-speaking Africa.

Upvf and Klb had previously released the first two films in the Snow Queen franchise in the French home video market.

The Snow Queen 3 – which will have a market screening at the Efm on Saturday – opened in Russia for Universal Pictures at the end of December and had taken over $4.9m gross box office in the first five weeks of release.

Odin’s Eye has picked up Russian animated movie The Snow Queen 3, produced by Wizart Animation, for a theatrical release in Australia and New Zealand.

Wizart also concluded a deal with Klb for the movie's theatrical distribution in France, while Universal Pictures Video France acquired it for France and the French-speaking territories in Europe and Africa.

Meanwhile, Blitz will release the Snow Queen franchise's third installment in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania.

Wizart also has sold another one of its animated movies. Sheep & Wolves was picked up by Norway's Storytelling Media and will...

Ukrainian animated feature The Stolen Princess has sold to China, Germany, the Middle East, North Africa and a raft of other territories after its debut at the American Film Market last month.

The sales, by Kiev-based Film.UA Group at Afm, reflect the growing strength of animation from the region. Russia's Wizart also had strong sales for the latest episode of its leading franchise Snow Queen and fellow animated film, Sheep and Wolves.

The Stolen Princess tells the story of Ruslan, a young warrior determined to marry the king's daughter Mila. When they meet love soon blossoms, only to be threatened...

Come back, Mr. Hyde!

Once Upon a Time Season 6 Episode 4 gave us an ending to the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story, with both characters making an exit.

It was an episode filled with additional twists, as we learned that the only definite way to kill the Evil Queen is if Regina dies, leaving us wondering if this will play into Emma's vision from the Oracle. Could Regina be the hooded figure who kills the Savior?

Elsewhere, Mary Margaret went back to teaching, getting a little help from her new friend, Princess Jasmine. David shared some fatherly hesitation about Emma and Killian moving in together, and Belle found herself trapped on the Jolly Roger because of a spell, courtesy of Gold.

Are you Team Rumple or Team Belle? Will you miss Jekyll and Hyde? Is Killian and Belle's new bromance enjoyable?

Join TV Fanatics Allison Nichols, Robin Harry, Caralynn Lippo,...

Fairy Tales are also cautionary tales, a way to teach morals and values to children at a time when the majority of the populace couldn’t read or write. It wasn’t until the last four centuries or so when we began writing it all down and solidifying the variations. Even today, people take the classics and reinterpret them for new generations, bringing in modern themes and issues, making them more relevant.

The cautionary tale to take from The Huntsman: Winter’s War is that you have to have something interesting to say. The preceding film, Snow White and the Huntsman, gave us a revisionist Snow White in the form of plucky Kristen Stewart, a modern day action heroine that made her a proactive player in the classic German tale.

Given behind the scenes shenanigans, Stewart was out of the proposed sequel with the emphasis shifting to the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth...

Fans of the short-lived alien drama V will be treated to a mini-reunion later this year: Charles Mesure will join his onetime castmate Elizabeth Mitchell on Freeform’s upcoming Dead of Summer.

VideosBaby Daddy Finale Sneak Peek: Sam Makes Ben an Offer He Can’t Refuse

Created by Once Upon a Time bosses Adam Horowitz, Eddy Kitsis and Ian Goldberg, the 1980s-set horror-drama takes place at Camp Clearwater, a seemingly idyllic Midwestern summer camp, which quickly turns into “unforgettable scares and evil at every turn.” (TVLine’s Matt Mitovich served as an early consultant on the project.)

Per our sister site Deadline,...

Did anyone else just feel a chill?

Freeform on Wednesday announced that Elizabeth Mitchell and Elizabeth Lail — both of whom appeared during Once Upon a Time‘s Frozen arc as the Snow Queen and Princess Anna, respectively — have been cast in the upcoming horror series Dead of Summer, executive-produced by Once‘s Adam Horowitz, Edward Kitsis and Ian Goldberg.

RelatedDead of Summer Exclusive: Freeform Horror Series Casts Ugly Betty Vet, Others

As you might infer from the title, Dead of Summer tells the story of a seemingly idyllic 1980s summer camp, though it quickly spirals into a series of...

Conan the Buccaneer

Frank Frazetta is one of the best artists that has ever lived. His fantasy art is simply incredible. I was introduced to his art when I was a little kid going through my uncle's old books and comics collection. His stuff was just so cool, and it popped.

There is a huge collection of his work, including sketches, drawings, and watercolor paintings, that will be going up for sale. There’s a lot of art in this collection that I’ve never seen before, and seeing these gives me even more of an appreciation for Frazetta's talent.

The art is being auctioned off by Frazetta’s best friend Doc Dave Winiewicz. That auction will take place on Friday at 11 Am Pst with Profiles in History. In an interview with io9, Winiewicz said:

“The thing that separates my collection from a lot of others is that I concentrated on drawings.

Have you ever wanted to know more about The Huntsman, the axe-man sent to take down Snow White? Well, you’re about to find out that there’s more to this hunter than you might have expected.

Chris Hemsworth returns as Eric, The Huntsman in this sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman. This time around, we’ve ditched Snow White because who needs her anyway when you have a trio of deadly kick-ass women front and centre in The Huntsman: Winter’s War?

Charlize Theron is back as the beguiling and brutal Queen Ravenna, whose costumes and wicked ways stunned audiences in the 2012 film. Joining her are Emily Blunt as the Snow Queen, Freya, and Jessica Chastain as Sara, aka The Warrior.

Don’t let the film’s fairytale roots fool you. This is a prequel to an epic saga of hatred, war, and revenge. Before Theron’s...

Once Upon a Time is pulling out all the stops for its upcoming milestone 100th episode, bringing back a who's who of favorite faces to join in the festivities. E! News has confirmed that a trio of troublemakers will be returning for the momentous occasion, with Barbara Hershey reprising her role of Regina's (Lana Parilla) mother Cora (aka, the Queen of Hearts), Robbie Kay stepping back into Peter Pan's tights, and Giancarlo Esposito appearing as Sidney Glass/the Magic Mirror. Details surrounding each of the returns are being kept under wraps, naturally.  As as refresh on what each of the three were up to when last we saw them, Sidney had aligned himself with the Snow Queen (Elizabeth Mitchell)...

Seoul-based sales agent M-Line Distribution has picked up new titles from Lee Joon-ik and Lee Sung-gang and sealed a Japanese deal on Kang Hyo-jin’s Wonderful Nightmare [pictured].

Lee Joon-ik’s Dongju: The Portrait Of A Poet is a biopic of Korean poet Yun Dongju, who wrote poetry during the Japanese colonial era. Kang Ha-neul and Park Jung-min head the cast of the film, which is in post-production. Lee has previously directed hits such as the King And The Clown, Radio Star and The Throne.

Lee Sung-gang’s Kai is an animated feature about a young warrior in the grasslands of Central Asia who attempts to rescue his sister from an evil Snow Queen. An acclaimed animation director, Lee has credits including My Beautiful Girl, Mari and Yobi, and The Five-Tailed Fox. His new film is produced by fellow animation director Yeon Sang-ho (The King Of Pigs).

Meanwhile, Wonderful Nightmare has been sold to Klockworx in Japan, following...

Seoul-based sales agent M-Line Distribution has picked up new titles from Lee Joon-ik and Lee Sung-gang and sealed a Japanese deal on Kang Hyo-jin’s Wonderful Nightmare [pictured].

Lee Joon-ik’s Dongju: The Portrait Of A Poet is a biopic of Korean poet Yun Dongju, who wrote poetry during the Japanese colonial era. Kang Ha-neul and Park Jung-min head the cast of the film, which is in post-production. Lee has previously directed hits such as the King And The Clown, Radio Star and The Throne.

Lee Sung-gang’s Kai is an animated feature about a young warrior in the grasslands of Central Asia who attempts to rescue his sister from an evil Snow Queen. An acclaimed animation director, Lee has credits including My Beautiful Girl, Mari and Yobi, and The Five-Tailed Fox. His new film is produced by fellow animation director Yeon Sang-ho (The King Of Pigs).

Meanwhile, Wonderful Nightmare has been sold to Klockworx in Japan, following...

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What makes a hero? That's the question being asked by this week's Once Upon A Time episode, Siege Perilous...

This review contains spoilers.

5.3 Siege Perilous

Heroes are reborn in this week’s Once Upon A Time, Siege Perilous.

For better or for worse, this episode revolves around David. The Charmings have been shunted to the background for a long time now, without even the obligatory ‘I will always find you’ storyline that used to be a part of every season. They are generally relegated to looking worried and offering mediocre advice to Emma, so it’s a nice change to make David a more active player. However, David is probably one of the most boring characters on the show, as he is unfailingly good, which is never interesting to watch.

The theme of the episode, though, is much more interesting. What makes a hero? King Arthur and...

The sequel to the delightful Enchanted, starring Amy Adams, has come back to life at Disney...

Well, we presumed this one had pretty much died a death. As much fun as we had with 2007's Enchanted, the hugely entertaining Disney movie where Amy Adam's Princess crosses over from animation to live action, it's been a while since we heard anything of the sequel. There had been talk last year of a new script being ordered, but nothing seemed to come of it.

When the film was first talked about around five years ago, The Proposal's Anne Fletcher was taking over from Tarzan's Kevin Lima as director. Amy Adams was expected to return, as were fellow cast members Patrick Dempsey and James Marsden (although the fate of Susan Sarandon's villain was unclear).

It's now being reported that Disney has reawakened its interest in Enchanted 2, which is now...