News

Exclusive: There’s been a lot of buzz in the UK surrounding rising producer Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor.

With intriguing credits like Blue Story and Boxing Day, Gharoro-Akpojotor has demonstrated a unique ability to get projects that are subversive in both content and creation — everything she’s produced so far has boasted a majority non-white cast — over the line and onto our screens at a time when commissioners are more risk-averse, and budgets are much tighter.

The Nigerian-raised Londoner is at the Berlinale this year with a new project, her directorial debut. Titled Dreamers, Gharoro-Akpojotor directed the film from a screenplay she wrote. The film follows Nigerian-born Isio, who, after living undocumented in the UK for two years, is caught and sent to the Hatchworth Removal Centre. She hopes for a fair asylum hearing and is convinced that, as long as she strictly follows the rules, she will be released – even if her charismatic new roommate,...

Veteran actor and musician Ashley Walters (Top Boy) has started production on Animol, his debut feature as a director.

Written by Nick Love the project is described as a “poignant coming-of-age story” based on life within the confines of a Young Offenders’ institution.

Animol was developed by Film4 in collaboration with Joi Productions. Sky is collaborating with Film4 for the first time as co-financiers on the project, with the BFI also financing. Bankside Films is handling international sales for the film.

Starring in the flick are Tut Nyuot and Vladyslav Baliuk, who feature as the two central teenagers in the Young Offenders’ institution. Veteran actor Stephen Graham joins the supporting cast as a Welfare Officer tasked with supporting the young offenders during their incarceration. Sharon Duncan-Brewster rounds off the ensemble.

The film is...

Ashley Walters — the trailblazing British actor and star of “Top Boy” and “Missing You” — has started production on his directorial feature debut and unveiled his main cast.

“Animol” — written by Nick Love — draws on Walters’ own experiences and is described by the filmmakers as a “searing portrayal of life within the confines of a Young Offenders’ institution” and a “raw and poignant coming-of-age story highlights the power of humanity in the midst of adversity.”

Leading the feature are a pair of young rising stars in Tut Nyuot and Vladyslav Baliuk, who will play two teenagers embroiled in the prison’s harsh environment. BAFTA winner Stephen Graham joins the cast as a welfare officer tasked with supporting the young offenders during their incarceration, while Sharon Duncan-Brewster rounds out the lineup.

“Animol” was developed by Film4 in collaboration with Joi Productions. Sky is collaborating with Film4 for the first time as co-financiers on the project,...

British actor Sheyi Cole has a prominent role in Thea Sharrock’s Netflix original film “The Beautiful Game.”

The film revolves around the Homeless World Cup, an annual soccer tournament bringing together displaced or dispossessed players from nearly 50 countries, playing not merely for a trophy but for a second shot at life. Cole plays Jason, a would-be ladies’ man given a sharp #MeToo education when he inappropriately comes onto sparky Mexican-American player Rosita (Cristina Rodio).

“One thing that was great about Thea is that she was so hands on – any concerns that we had, she was willing to have conversations and was able to alleviate any concerns that we essentially had, surrounding that conversation with Jason,” Cole told Variety. “I think what she really wanted to highlight was Jason’s naivety and innocence. And the lack of role models that he had in his life. So although Jason does make grave mistakes,...

Actor, writer and director Aml Ameen is plotting a sequel to festive film Boxing Day, as well as thriller project Night And Day, here are the details.

While Britain has produced a number of films that grew into festive favourites like Scrooge, Love, Actually and Arthur Christmas, there are a number of festive films that flew under the radar, like Eddie Izzard’s Lost Christmas.

One such film is Boxing Day, which was released in 2019. Notable as being the first British Christmas film with an almost entirely black cast. It came from actor and writer Aml Ameen, who directed the film and co-wrote the script with Bruce Purnell.

He also starred as Melvin Mackenzie, a successful author who returns home to confront his chaotic family and his past. Aja Naomi King played Lisa, a Hollywood casting director who accompanies Ameen’s Melvin home to face Georgia, his chart-topping pop-star ex,...

Exclusive: Aml Ameen, who portrays Dr.Martin Luther King in Rustin, reveals that he’s in talks with Film4 and the BFI to direct and star in the sequel to holiday romance Boxing Day, his feature directorial debut — and he has a second film, a crime saga called Night and Day that he wants to make soon.

That’s not all, because the L.A.-based Brit is in London prepping to play a “transformative” lead role in an as-yet-unannounced film.

The hush-hush part in the secret film requires him to “shut down my entire life because” of the life-changing nature of the character he’ll be playing.

While Ameen’s shooting that film, he’ll pop up as a lawyer alongside Jeff Daniels in the six-part Netflix drama A Man in Full, an the adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s novel written by David E. Kelley and directed by Regina King,...

Sky Cinema, one of Europe's leading entertainment streaming services, offers an extensive catalog of content every month. It has been streaming popular films like Dune, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Ghostbusters: Afterlife for some time now, making it easier for European viewers to access these excellent films. It also recently included DC League of Super-Pets, Top Gun: Maverick, John Wick, and a slew of other fan favorites. In May, Sky Cinema subscribers will also be treated to a new action movie, Dead Shot.

Dead Shot is an upcoming British action thriller directed by Charles Guard and Thomas Guard for Sky Cinema. Aml Ameen, Colin Morgan, Mark Strong, and Felicity Jones star in the film, which was written by Ronan Bennett and The Guard Brothers. The film's trailer has gotten fans excited as they find it highly captivating and thrilling. With that in mind, here's everything we know about the upcoming action movie Dead Shot,...

“The Rising” Season 2 has been canceled just months before production was due to start, Variety has learned.

Cast and crew were gearing up for the Sky Studios show when they were told to down tools two months before principal photography got underway. “It was canceled before they were due to start filming,” a source familiar with the project told Variety. “All the cast and everything [were ready to go] and they just pulled the plug.”

Variety understands there were a “number of reasons” the production will not go ahead.

The second season, which was set to be titled “Risen,” was due to have a similar premise to the first but with different characters, settings and themes, turning the show into something of an anthology series.

The debut season of the supernatural crime thriller, which was Sky Studios’ first entirely in-house production, starred Clara Ruggaard as the ghost of a woman determined to track down...

Exclusive: The BFI and BAFTA have set the 2023 cohort of the BFI Flare x BAFTA mentoring scheme, which provides support to six Lgbtqia+ filmmakers working towards their debuts in film and television.

The programme runs in partnership with BFI Network and is in its ninth year. Alums include Aleem Khan (After Love), Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Georgi Banks-Davies (I Hate Suzie), Kayleigh Llewellyn, and Georgia Oakley (Blue Jean).

This year’s programme will support writer Dylan Brady, writer/director Phoebe Brooks, writer Matilda Feyiṣayọ Ibini, writer/director Sarah Grant, writer Bethan Marlow, and writer/director/producer Shiva Raichandani.

As part of the initiative, the participants are matched with industry mentors and invited to attend a two-day lab of events during BFI Flare, the BFI’s Lgbtqia+ film festival. The festival runs this month from March 15-26. They will also receive access to wellbeing...

Malcolm D. Lee’s Blackmaled Productions has bolstered its executive ranks by naming Emmy-nominated producer Dominique Telson as executive VP of film and television and announcing three new key hires and promotions within the company.

Blackmaled’s new hires include Michael Scott Allen as the VP of television and Giselle Johnson as director of film. Chigo Menakaya, who has worked for the company since 2020, has been promoted to creative executive and leads Blackmaled’s unscripted content department. All three team members report to Telson and are based out of the company’s West Coast office on the Universal lot in Los Angeles.

The executive moves come hot off the success of “The Best Man: The Final Chapters,” which launched on Peacock in December and rates as the streamer’s biggest debut ever. Telson served as an executive producer on the project, which concluded the franchise following 1999’s “The Best Man...

Shot during the pandemic and set on May 30, 2020 — just a few days after the death of George Floyd during an arrest by the Minneapolis Police Department — “Traveling Light” is an experimental attempt at social commentary that fails to provide any insight, emotion or even entertainment of the most basic kind. Nearly a year after its weird-fit premiere at genre-focused Beyond Fest in Los Angeles, this scrappy Covid-era quickie from eclectic director Bernard Rose (who made the original “Candyman”) opens today in New York and Seattle, with other cities to follow.

It seems Rose was aiming for a loose riff on “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie,” focusing on a gathering in the Hollywood Hills of the followers of a self-proclaimed guru/prophet (Danny Huston), where everyone drinks a concoction spiked with an unnamed hallucinogenic and eventually line-dances while chanting “Hare Hare,” even though there isn’t a single Hare Krishna in sight.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Boxing Day”), Alistair Petrie (“Sex Education”), Romola Garai (“The Hour”) have joined BBC drama series “The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies.”

Rounding out the cast are Rebekah Staton (“Raised by Wolves”), Derek Jacobi (“Last Tango in Halifax”), Julian Barratt (“The Mighty Boosh”), Karl Johnson (“Hot Fuzz”) and Ellie Haddington (“Enola Holmes”).

Robbie McKillop (“Guilt”) and Nicole Charles (“Hair Power: Me and My Afro”) will split directing duties on the series, which was created and written by Penelope Skinner and Ginny Skinner.

Production has already begun on the series, which will be distributed internationally by BBC Studios.

“This is the story of two very different women and the conman they have in common; a dark, funny, and unpredictable thriller about three remarkable characters trapped in a tangled triangle of complexly layered half-truths and lies of epic proportions,” reads the logline.

The series is produced by...

5Ringside Media, the investment arm of Newen-backed indie Ringside Studios, has taken a minority stake in Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Joi Productions.

Joi Productions was founded by Gharoro-Akpojotor, and in 2020 received a BFI Vision award. Gharoro-Akpojotor, a BAFTA Breakthrough nominee, has had breakout hits producing Rapman’s “Blue Story” and “Boxing Day.” She is currently producing the BBC’s “Champion,” written by “Queenie” author and screenwriter Candice Carty-Williams. Joi Productions focuses on Black, queer and female-led stories. Joining Joy is Wildgaze’s head of development, Tom Hawkins.

Ringside Media was established in 2020 as part of parent company Newen’s strategy to expand into the English-speaking scripted market and the U.K. The boutique investment fund is making bespoke investments and partnerships with companies looking for the benefits of a larger international and domestic network. The companies will work closely with Newen Connect, Newen’s distribution arm.

Ringside Media has also invested in Fictionhouse,...

Netflix announced today that Karl Urban (The Boys), Zaris-Angel Hator (The Power), Jared Harris (Foundation), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Boxing Day), Dan Stevens (Gaslit) and Kathy Burke (Tinker Tailor Solider Spy) will topline The Sea Beast, its upcoming animated film from Academy Award winner Chris Williams.

Pic is set in an era when terrifying beasts roamed the seas, and monster hunters were celebrated heroes, with none being more beloved than the great Jacob Holland. But when young Maisie Brumble stows away on his fabled ship, he’s saddled with an unexpected ally. Together, they embark on an epic journey into uncharted waters and make history.

Williams is directing from his screenplay, written with Nell Benjamin, and is producing alongside Jed Schlanger. Check out the first teaser for The Sea Beast above.

Former Little Mix band member Leigh-Anne Pinnock just signed a pretty major solo deal with Warner Records, and we are beyond excited to see where it takes her. Back in December, the girl group announced that they'd be taking a break following their 10-year anniversary to "recharge and work on some other projects," which we now know includes solo music careers.

The initial announcement was shared by Warner Records on Instagram on Feb.2, with a caption that read "Delighted to welcome @leighannepinnock to the Warner Records family," to which Pinnock replied with "So excited for what's to come." Pinnock isn't the only one planning to be making solo music either, since fellow band member Perrie Edwards was also recently spotted in the studio, working with one of Ed Sheeran's producers, Fred Again.

Outside of the band, Pinnock has had a few different projects up her sleeve over the years,...

Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci,” starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, continued atop the U.K. and Ireland box office in its second weekend.

The Universal release collected £1.5 million ($2 million) and now has £5.5 million at the box office, according to numbers released by Comscore.

Disney release “Encanto,” took £1.2 million in its second weekend and has a total of £3.3 million.

Sony’s “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” was in third place with £1.06 million and has amassed £9.1 million after three weekends.

Piece of Magic Entertainment’s seasonal release, Christmas concert film “Christmas With Andre,” featuring Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu, debuted in fourth position with £693,676.

Rounding off the top five was Disney release “Eternals” with £318,718 in its fifth weekend for a total of £14.4 million.

In its tenth weekend, James Bond film “No Time to Die” collected £270,149 in sixth position and now has £96.1 million at the box office.

There were three other new entries...

Holdovers dominate the top five, with ‘Boxing Day’ the best-performing new release.

Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Dec 3-5) Total gross to date Week 1 House Of Gucci (Universal) £1.5m £5.6m 2 2 Encanto (Disney)

£1.3m £3.3m 2 3 Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Sony) £1.1m £9.2m 3 4 Eternals (Disney) £318,602 £14.5m 5 5 No Time To Die (Universal) £270,076 £96m 10

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.33

Holdovers dominated at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, with Aml Ameen’s Boxing Day just missing out on breaking into the top five, but leading the new releases.

Universal’s House Of Gucci, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Lady Gaga, Adam Driver and Jared Leto,...

Further Christmas releases include ‘Silent Night’, ‘CBeebies Christmas Show’.

Aml Ameen’s romantic comedy Boxing Day heads the new titles at the UK-Ireland box office, as one of six Christmas-themed releases this weekend.

Released in 439 sites through Warner Bros, Boxing Day is inspired by Ameen’s own experiences, and follows a UK author who returns home from Los Angeles to introduce his US fiancée to his eccentric British-Caribbean family at Christmas.

The film is produced by Screen Star of Tomorrow 2020 Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, alongside Damian Jones of DJ Films, plus Ameen, Dominique Telson and Matthew G. Zamias; backing came from the BFI Film Fund and Film4.

Melvin is coming home for the holidays. He's got a new book to promote, but that's not the only thing he seems to be unwilling to talk about. However generous the airline's allowance is, he's carrying a lot of baggage.

There are already several films called Boxing Day. One of Danny Huston's many Russian Literature adaptations, another one subtitled A Day After Christmas, which depending on your level of pedantry, may be both true and meaningless. There are crime dramas, sporting comedies, others that, like this one, are romantic comedies, and most if not all of them involve families. 'Tis the season, and all that.

Plenty of other holidays have eponymous movies. Halloween has three films called Halloween in the same franchise. The first, second, last, 12th, and 13th days of Christmas have all had popcorn a-popping. There's Father's Day(s), Mother's Day(s), a fistful of Valentines. Other Saints get a bit of.

The holiday season is almost here and Amazon Prime is getting in the mood with its list of December 2021 releases. Sure there are the usual Christmas movies to be found but the real gift this month are two big original titles.

The sixth and final season of beloved sci-fi series The Expanse premieres on Dec. 10. Amazon is doing its usual release strategy of three episodes on the premiere day followed by a weekly schedule so there’s still some time to be spent with the crew of the Rocinante. The other big ticket item is the Desi and Lucy biopic Being the Ricardos on Dec. 21. Sure, Aaron Sorkin seems to be completely disinterested in I Love Lucy and Nicole Kidman bears no passing resemblance to the iconic comedienne whatsoever but uh…it’s a movie!

Read more TV The Expanse Season 5 Ending Explained By Michael Ahr Books How Science Fiction...

Exclusive: Domina and The Terror actor Matthew McNulty has joined Sky’s supernatural crime thriller The Rising. McNulty replaced actor Daniel Ings in pre-production with filming ongoing in the UK on the series.

Clara Rugaard, the Danish actress who starred in Netflix’s I Am Mother, leads cast on the series inspired by Belgian drama Hotel Beau Séjour. The eight-part series is the first Sky drama produced entirely in-house by Sky Studios.

We understand the series is likely to air next spring in the UK.

Rugaard stars as Neve Kelly, a woman who discovers she is dead. She’s scared and confused by this new existence. But, when she realizes she has been murdered, she’s furious. She’s determined to find her killer and get justice, believing that it was someone she knew.

Also starring are Silent Witness actress Emily Taaffe as Kelly’s estranged father and beloved mother,...

"Love, relationships – all a matter of perspective." Warner Bros UK has released the official UK trailer for the holiday romantic comedy Boxing Day, directed by and co-written by and starring actor Aml Ameen. For those that don't know, Boxing Day is a British holiday celebrated the day after Christmas Day, occurring the second day of Christmastide. Inspired by Ameen's own life, Boxing Day follows Melvin, a British author living in America, who returns home to London for Christmas to introduce his American fiancée, Lisa, to his eccentric British-Caribbean family. Their relationship is put to the test when she discovers the world her fiancée left behind in the UK. Aja Naomi King co-stars as his new lover, joined by Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Tamara Lawrance, Sheyi Cole, Samson Kayo, Joshua Maloney, Lisa Davina Phillip, and Claire Skinner. This actually looks good! Sure it's a bit cheesy and cliche, but nice to...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Sky commissions supernatural thriller “The Rising” and Channel 4 and Peacock wage “The Undeclared War”; The Garden, BBC Studios Productions and Constantin Film Development reveal senior appointments; Rakuten TV expands AVOD offering; and Disney India picks up kids series “Dr Tenali Rama Hmkd” from Cosmos-Maya.

Commissions

Sky original series, supernatural crime thriller “The Rising,” is the first series produced entirely in-house from Sky Studios, Sky’s production and development arm. It tells the story of Neve Kelly who discovers that she is dead, and is determined to find her killer and get justice, believing that it was someone she knew.

The cast includes Clara Rugaard (“I Am Mother”), Nenda Neururer (“A Brief History of Struggle”) and Solly McLeod (“Boxing Day”), alongside Daniel Ings (“I Hate Suzie”), Emily Taaffe (“Rare Beasts”), Alex Lanipekun (“Spooks”) and Robyn Cara (“Ackley Bridge”).

The eight-part drama was commissioned by Zai Bennett,...

Clara Rugaard, the Danish actress who starred in Netflix’s I Am Mother, is to lead the cast for Sky’s The Rising, a supernatural crime thriller that was originally inspired by Belgian drama Hotel Beau Séjour.

Deadline first revealed in October 2019 that Sky was making its own version of Hotel Beau Séjour, and the drama is now poised to shoot in the Lake District, England, next month. The eight-part series represents the first Sky drama produced entirely in-house by Sky Studios.

Rugaard stars as Neve Kelly, a woman who discovers she is dead. She’s scared and confused by this new existence. But, when she realizes she has been murdered, she’s furious. She’s determined to find her killer and get justice, believing that it was someone she knew. Billed as having a distinctive tone and visual style, The Rising is a story about love, justice, and the...