News

Montreal’s On Animation Studios, known for working on films like “Playmobil: The Movie,” “The Little Prince,” and “Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie,” has shut down. The announcement came through a LinkedIn post, with the company citing industry changes as the reason for ceasing operations.

“Amid the changes in our industry, On Animation Studios is ceasing its activities,” the company stated. “It is sad to say goodbye to a team as incredible, talented, and skilled as ours. We will deeply miss the joy and excitement of creating outstanding films alongside such remarkable people and partners.”

The closure was not entirely unexpected. The animation and VFX industry in Quebec has been struggling, with significant job losses in the past year. In September, the Quebec Film and Television Council reported that more than half of the province’s 8,000 animation and VFX workers had lost their jobs.

One of the key factors...

Mediawan-owned On Animation Studios, the Montreal-based banner whose credits include “Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie,” “The Little Prince” and “Playmobil the Movie,” has shut down, Variety has confirmed.

On Animation Studios, which was launched by French producers Aton Soumache (“Little Nicholas”) and Dimitri Rassam (“The Count of Monte Cristo”) in 2012, was acquired by Mediawan five years later. The company quickly became a key animation studio in Montreal and attracted talented animators from overseas, boosted by a pipeline of projects based on famed IP’s such as the blockbuster “Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie” which ranks as one of the most-watched French animated films worldwide; and “The Little Prince,” which played at the Cannes Film Festival and won a Cesar Award, as well as nod from the British Academy Children’s Awards.

On Animation Studios was also one of the several companies that was able to tap into...

The international box office for French cinema dropped by 11% in 2024, according to data released by Unifrance on Monday, but the film and TV export agency said the figures only gave part of the picture.

Unifrance said French film productions racked up 33.4M admissions internationally in the first 50 weeks of 2024 for a €222.8M ($227.09M) gross. The body gave a preliminary forecast for the entire year of 38M admissions for €250M ($254M) of revenue, which it said corresponded to a 11% drop compared to 2023.

The top performing French film in international markets was The Count of Monte Cristo, which generated 3.3M admissions for a €20.7M ($21.2) gross. It was followed in the charts by four films that had begun their international careers in 2023: Anatomy of a Fall, Autumn and the Black Jaguar, The Taste Of Things and The Jungle Bunch 2: World Tour.

2024 newcomers in the international top ten included surprise local breakout A Little Something Else,...

The wait is almost over. A brand-new season of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir will soon become available for viewers in late January.

The Disney Channel has uploaded a new trailer for Season 6 of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir on its official YouTube channel. Season 6 will air on the Disney Channel and Disney Xd on Jan. 25, 2025. New episodes will air in simulcast at 11 am Et/Pt. International airings will occur in the first quarter of 2025.

Related Takara Reveals Update for Transformers' Most Bestial Decepticon Combiner

A new reveal of the upcoming Adamas Machina Predaking action figure, based on the classic G1 Transformers Combiner, has pounced onto social media.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Gets New Trailer Showcasing Season 6 Superhero Designs

The Miraculous Season 6 teaser shows off the new superhero designs for Ladybug (Marinette Dupain-Cheng), Cat Noir (Adrien Agreste) and their friends. Carapace (Nino Lahiffe...

January 2025 is an exciting month for fans of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. The superhero-esque anime-inspired series by Thomas Astruc, Nathanaël Bronn and Jeremy Zag will soon debut its latest season for its 10th anniversary.

According to Variety, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Season 6 will make its worldwide Disney debut in late January. Disney Channel and Disney Xd will air the new season on Jan. 25, 2025. New episodes will air in simulcast at 11 am Et/Pt, while international premieres will roll out during the first quarter of 2025.

Related World's Biggest Anime Piracy Site Risks Imploding as It Surpasses Disney+ in Monthly Visits

Recent estimates indicate that HiAnime, the world's biggest anime piracy site, has surpassed Disney+ in monthly visits, including in the U.S.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Gets Season 6 Release Date for Worldwide Disney Premiere

The upcoming season of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir...

“The Big War,” one of Europe’s most ambitious feature projects brought to market at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is heading the AFM with some incredible new graphics for its CG animal cast.

Inspired by the iconic two-part graphic novel “La Bête Est Morte,” written by Edmond-François Calvo during the Nazi occupation of France during World War II and published just after the liberation of Paris, “The Big War” is helmed by “La Haine” director Mathieu Kassovitz and produced by leading French producer Aton Soumache, whose recent credits include Annecy winner “Little Nicholas – Happy as Can Be” and Netflix’s mega-hit “Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, the Movie.”

Given that the original book has very little by way of narrative, longtime Tim Burton collaborator Caroline Thompson, the award-winning screenwriter of “Edward Scissorhands” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” was recruited to adapt the screenplay. Former Cannes Film Festival...

Kinology has boarded international sales to “The Big War,” an epic €30-million live action-cgi characters hybrid movie which will mark the directorial comeback of “La Haine” filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz.

The ambitious feature is adapted from “La Bête Est Morte,” an iconic two-part graphic novel illustrated by Edmond Calvo during War World 2 in Nazi-Occupied France and published after the country was liberated.

Pitched as a “”Paddington” meets ‘Saving Private Ryan,'” “The Big War” is a true passion project for Kassovitz who bought rights to “La Bête est Morte” nearly two decades ago and has now joined forces with well-respected animation producer Aton Soumache, whose credits range from literary adaptations such as the Cesar-winning “The Little Prince” to the global smash-hit “Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, the Movie.”

Kassovitz and Soumache have assembled a dream team for “The Big War,” including Caroline Thompson, the award-winning screenwriter of “Edward Scissorhands” and “The Nightmare before Christmas,...

After keeping a fairly low profile as president of France’s leading commercial network TF1 Group for seven years, Gilles Pelisson, the discreet Harvard-educated executive, is ready for showtime. He has been propelled into the spotlight to promote French film and TV in his new role as president of Unifrance, succeeding Serge Toubiana last summer.

While participating in his first big gig for Unifrance at the Rendez-Vous showcase in Paris (which wraps Tuesday), Pelisson showed he had enough swagger to mingle with French stars and industry professionals alike, as well as deliver speeches about the prospects for French movies and TV series with both authority and conviction.

In the space of one week during the Rendez-Vous, he handed out the French Film Award to “By the Grace of God” actor Melvil Poupaud, and presented Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan with the best international co-production prize at the Lumiere Award on Monday.

It was followed by Germany, Poland, Italy and Spain.

French films grossed an estimated €234m and 37.4m admissions from overseas markets in 2023. This was up 37.8% year on year and a 38.5% jump from 2022, but 18.5% down on a pre-pandemic 2019, according to export figures unveiled by Unifrance.

Animation was the top genre for French films internationally for the first time, stealing the spotlight from comedy and drama that typically attract the most audiences overseas.

The top five films by admissions were the animated Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir – The Movie (7.15m), live action comedy Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom (2.74m), animation...

Disney Branded Television has acquired two more seasons of “Miraculous — Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir,” as well as three original animated specials from Zag studio and Method Animation, a label owned by Mediawan Kids & Family.

Currently in production, the sixth and seventh seasons, as well as the specials will roll out on Disney Channel worldwide in the fall, and will go on to stream on Disney+ globally thereafter (excluding Brazil where they will air on Globo).

“Miraculous — Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir” follows the adventures of two teens with secret identities, Marinette and Adrien, who transform into superheroes Ladybug and Cat Noir to save Paris from villains. The two new seasons, each consisting of 26 half-hour episodes, and the original specials are produced in collaboration with Disney Branded Television, Brazil’s Globo, Italy’s KidsMe and France’s TF1.

The show and specials are based on the massively popular “Miraculous” franchise,...

The Academy has revealed the list of eligible films for consideration in best animated, documentary and international feature of the year, encompassing a broad range of blockbusters and critically acclaimed titles.

GKids’ “The Boy and the Heron,” Pixar’s “Elemental,” Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and Illumination’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” are among the 33 animated films in the running. This is up from 27 in 2023, when “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” took home the prize.

The eventual five nominees are determined by members of the shorts and animation branch, and any Academy members outside the branch who wish to participate. The number of outside members who opt in is unknown. All films submitted for animated feature also qualify for the Academy Awards in other categories, including best picture.

Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.

There are 88 films representing their countries for the international feature Oscar,...

Netflix’s latest limited series starring Matthew Broderick and “Orange is the New Black” alum Uzo Aduba, “Painkiller” opened atop the top 10’s English TV list with 7.2 million total views. Thus, ending “The Lincoln Lawyer” Season 2’s second run in first place following the release of part 2. The procedural drama moved to No. 2 with 5.2 million total views as Season 1 came in at No. 8, earning 2.2 million views during the Aug. 7-13 viewing window.

Gal Gadot’s “Heart of Stone” led the Netflix Top 10 as the action-thriller opened to 33.1 million views. Elsewhere on the film chart is “Untold: Johnny Football,” which landed in third with 7.7 million and “Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie” (5.6 million views) and “Happiness for Beginners” (5 million views), maintaining their three-week runs on the list.

Meanwhile, Season 8 of “Gabby’s Dollhouse” cracked the English TV list at No. 3 with 4.1 million total views. With a runtime of 2 hours and 26 minutes,...

The second half of “The Lincoln Lawyer” Season 2 has pushed its way to the top of Netflix’s top 10 English-language TV list.

Since its return on Thursday, Part 2 of the legal drama has secured 6.7 million views for the week, bringing the season’s total views to 23.3 million. The first half of this installment was released over a month ago on July 6. Season 1 of the David E. Kelley series also reappeared on the list, securing the No. 6 spot with 2.1 million views.

“The Lincoln Lawyer” was then followed by the romantic return of Nick and Charlie thanks to Season 2 of “Heartstopper.” The young-adult series has received 6.1 million views since its Thursday premiere, putting it right ahead of last week’s TV leader, “The Witcher” Season 3 Part 2. The Henry Cavill fantasy thriller only secured 5.4 million views compared to last week’s 7.8 million views.

As for the rest of the English-language TV list, “Sweet Magnolias...

Although a few movies have been dominating Netflix’s film charts for weeks, the Top 10 English film chart for the week of July 24 had a new entry in the action-comedy “Hidden Strike,” starring Jackie Chan and John Cena. Meanwhile, “The Witcher” returned to first place for TV. Read on for this week’s analysis.

Directed by Scott Waugh (“Need for Speed”), “Hidden Strike” was produced independently and sold to Netflix for worldwide streaming rights, a wise purchase considering that the film received 22 million views since quietly hitting the streamer last Friday. It was the #1 watched movie in roughly 50 territories worldwide, and made the Top 10 in 73 countries. Oddly, the United States was not one of them, since that honor went to “They Cloned Tyrone,” which received 11.1 million views worldwide in its first full week on Netflix, enough for third place.

See Grab the popcorn and sound off in our movie forums...

July is shaping up to be an exciting month for Netflix subscribers with new seasons of your favorite shows, exciting new series, highly anticipated films, fascinating documentaries, and much more. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo returns as Mickey Haller in Part 1 of The Lincoln Lawyer Season 2, which follows the rule-breaking lawyer taking on an all-new case. Henry Cavill's final episodes as Geralt of Riviera in Part 2 of The Witcher Season 3 will also be coming to Netflix this month. New seasons of Sweet Magnolias, The Dragon Prince, Sonic Prime, and the hit reality series Too Hot To Handle will also all be premiering in July, alongside brand-new Netflix original series like Survival of the Thickest starring Michelle Buteau, the thriller series Fatal Seduction, and the animated comedy Captain Fall. On the film side John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris will play a ragtag trio who uncovers a government conspiracy happening in their...

But production levels were below pre-pandemic levels of 2019.

After playing catch-up with a surge in production in 2021 following delays and full national lockdowns in 2020, French production retained a sense of stability in 2022 but is still under pre-pandemic levels, according to an annual report from France’s National Cinema Centre (Cnc) released on Wednesday (March 29).

The figures showed a surge in production from US streamers and a rise in investment from international co-productions, signs of a giant shift in the filmmaking landscape in the country.

After film production skyrocketed by 43.5% year on year to 340 films made in 2021 compared to just 237 in...

Comedies such as “Serial (Bad) Weddings 3” and family fare, including “Pil’s Adventures” and “The Wolf and the Lion,” helped the overseas box office for French movies climb back in 2022.

While international ticket sales for French movies were still 32.5 down compared with pre-pandemic times, admissions grossed €167.4 million (180 million) from 27 million admissions in 2022 – a 51.8 year-on increase.

Figures highlighting the performance of French movies in theaters at festivals and on streaming services were unveiled by Unifrance, the French film and TV promotion org, during the Export Day, which took place on Tuesday in Paris.

“Youth and family audiences were the first to return to theaters (when they reopened), and so films targeted at these demographics performed best,” said Unifrance in its study. Theaters in most countries around the world were indeed shut down for several months in 2021.

The org’s co-managing director Gilles Renouard also noted that there was a “concentration of...

Exclusive: Singer/songwriter Katy Perry will star as the title character in Melody, an animated musical feature created, directed and produced by Jeremy Zag. Cross Creek’s Tyler Thompson will produce alongside Perry, Zag and Michael Gracey, The Greatest Showman director who helmed the upcoming big budget animated film Ladybug & Cat Noir Awakening, done by Zag’s Zagtoons.

Zag is also the director, producer and creator of the Miraculous Ladybug universe.

In this musical adventure, Melody is a kind-hearted, insecure singer who must overcome the evil plans of Rose Stellar, a jealous wicked pop queen who has vowed to destroy her. Set against the backdrop of New York City, Melody will take audiences on an adventure of song, laughter and heroic quest. In her arsenal, Melody has seven musical notes that set her apart and have magical qualities and help guide her moral compass. Perry is writing and performing songs for the film,...