International Insider: Views From Venice; Paris Paralympics; Oasis Reunion Fever
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Views From Venice
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Lift off on the Lido: After a starry opening night courtesy of Tim Burton’s zany Beetlejuice sequel, the Venice Film Festival is booming with a stacked roll call of A-list talent shooting into town on those cute little boats. This year is perhaps starrier than ever with names including Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, Daniel Craig, Angelina Jolie, Kevin Costner, Nicole Kidman, Isabelle Huppert, Winona Ryder, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe and Sigourney Weaver. The latter received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement and was on great form at several press events tied to the Beetlejuice premiere. Venice will likely once again serve as the awards season launch pad for several titles, though as Andreas’ scene-setter noted, none of the fall season fests have provided a Best Pic Oscar winner for three years now. Obvious hopefuls include Warner Bros’ Joker: Folie à Deux, Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language debut The Room Next Door and Pablo Larraín’s Maria, which debuted last night on the Lido. Larraín’s biopic follows the life story of the world’s greatest opera singer, Maria Callas, played by Angelina Jolie, during her final days in 1970s Paris. Critics have perhaps been more enthusiastic about Jolie’s performance than the film itself, which could prove challenging for the actress’s Academy prospects, but Netflix picked the film up this week and the strong notices mean in a relatively quiet year for the streamer so far, Jolie’s turn could be a live contender for them. Deadline’s Stephanie Bunbury, in her review, said of the actress: “Jolie is an almost magical match for the real diva: achingly thin but still beautiful, loftily patrician, capriciously kind or selfish, tip-toeing dangerously close to madness. The actor’s commitment to this creation is obvious at every turn.” It received a 10-minute standing ovation last night, so the jury is out for now on Maria‘s overall chances. Joker: Folie à Deux seemingly is the most solid Best Picture candidate among the Venice crop. Joker scored 11 Oscar nominations back in 2019, and Venice head Alberto Barbera described the sequel to us as “one of the most daring, brave, and creative films in recent American cinema” in a pre-fest interview. Phillips’ sequel charts how failed comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga), while in Arkham State Hospital. Upon release, the pair embark on a doomed romantic misadventure. The film debuts next week. There’s also Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, starring Daniel Craig. Barbera has described Craig’s performance as a career-best, and A24 picked the flick up earlier this week, as Anthony D’Alessandro revealed. The film screens this weekend. Among other Venice films we’re hearing good things about are September 5 by Tim Fehlbaum, Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Harvest, and the doc Russians at War. Check back with us over the weekend to see which titles land with critics on the Lido. All our reviews are here and full Venice coverage can be found here.
Stand to attention: As noted, Maria‘s world premiere received a 10-minute standing ovation as director Larraín’s and star Jolie watched on in excitement. The clap-o-meter isn’t really a thing for TV show screenings, but it has been a growing theme of recent film fests. In Venice, Alfonso Cuarón’s limited series for Apple TV+, Disclaimer, got a six-minute, 24-second round of applause with Cuarón and stars Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline in attendance. Given anything above four minutes is considered a positive sign, both of the early Venice premieres can feel pretty pleased.
Access denied: One of the more inside baseball moments of Venice week one came when an international film festival journalists group penned an open letter decrying the absence of interview access to stars of films such as Maria and Queer. Hacks had been informed before the event got underway that there would be no interview opportunities away from press conferences. This has been a growing trend at festivals, and forced the press corps to release their missive. The letter claims this approach could end in boycotts and talent refusing to engage with press at festivals in the future. While I’m a TV biz journalist and these issues don’t necessarily relate to me directly, there has certainly been a creeping sense that studios, event organizers and publicists are seeking more control over press interactions and messaging across the board in journalism. It’s a concern to all interested in press freedom.
Paralympic Paris
Paris, je t’aime: Edith Piaf’s ‘Non, je ne Regrette Rien’ and the 1970s disco hit ‘Born to Be Alive’ were the soundtrack to the opening of the 2024 Paralympic Games on Wednesday evening, as Mel reported. Christine and the Queens performed the songs during a ceremony that also included a host of singers and dancers with disability. Lucky Love, who was signed to UTA earlier this year, was declared a hit by French press after his performance after being persuaded by Paralympics Creative Director Thomas Jolley to appear. South African dancer Musa Motha and singer Luan Pommier were also lauded for their roles in the La Place de la Concorde event. The sport kicked off this week, with NBC and Peacock in the U.S., Channel 4 in the UK and France Télévisions among the global broadcasters running coverage. The International Olympic Committee is expecting record viewership, with two million tickets already sold on the ground as of Tuesday. With the Paris Olympics having been such a success for the city, sports and broadcasting, there is real hope the Paralympics can garner similar attention. Max’s feature from last week outlines the challenges still faced by Paralympians and the TV execs fighting to make the second show a historic success. The Paralympics run until September 8.
Oasis Reunion: Definitely, Not Maybe
The Importance of Being Idols: “I’m a rock ‘n’ roooooll star,” snarled Liam Gallagher back in 1994 at the height of his fame as part of Oasis. Three decades on, the world will get to see if that still applies when Oasis reform next year to go on a huge UK tour that is expected to sell out in minutes over the weekend. With Liam and his brother, band leader Noel Gallagher, at loggerheads since 2009, nobody really expected Oasis to reunite, but a series of cryptic social media posts were followed on Tuesday with the confirmation Manchester’s favorite bad boy sons are going back on tour. The internet has been alight ever since with memes, and we reported yesterday that another three dates have been added due to “unprecedented” demand. Though the message confirming the reunion warned the tour “will not be televised,” there’s already chatter among the UK’s unscripted community that producers are lining up to pitch the band over access to the tour. Starry premium docs are the order of the day, after all. More if it comes to anything. What’s for sure is Oasis-mania is sweeping the world. Caroline Frost wrote it best over the weekend: “Taylor Swift may have owned 2024, but it will be Britpop take two for 2025.”
Rendez-Vouz Point
Matters of Le Havre: French TV market Rendez-vouz’s thirtieth edition is moving to Le Havre, a port city in northern France, and buyers are gearing up to see whether the change in venue will be coupled with new programming opportunities. Stewart chatted with Daniela Elstner, Executive Director of organizer Unifrance, to get a flavor of what we can expect in Normandy. She said it’s the unique informal nature of the event that sets it apart, even as it hits 30 and swaps the beaches of Biarritz for the port of Le Havre, and addressed how Rendez-vous can act as bridge to France’s biggest television get-together, MIPCOM.
Showtime: In a separate feature, Stewart assessed what buyers will find in Le Havre, with 700 programs available to screen and 60 distributors in town. Among the most notable shows is ?a c’est Paris, a Federation drama for France 2 about a fictional cabaret renowned for staging wild Parisien nights, and how its owner battles to restore his family business to past glories while resisting a sale to a supermarket chain. “Buyers can’t have Emily in Paris,” said Federation’s Guillaume Pommier, “but they can have ?a c’est Paris.” Catchy line. For more on that one and other big-ticket items at Rendez-vouz, click here.
Indian Summergers
Disney deal done, Sony walks away: Ever since Bob Iger said Disney needed to “strengthen our hand, improve the bottom line” in India, its future in the country has been in flux. A plan to merge Disney India’s entertainment assets with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, which controls assets such as Viacom18, emerged soon after, in December last year. A formal deal followed in February and this week a final hurdle was jumped as the Indian antitrust authority greenlit the $8.5B merger, providing certain “voluntary modifications” are made. No word on exactly what these are but it’s understood they relate to the merged operation’s monopoly on cricket rights. The watchdog has said it was concerned advertising prices could increase on the highest-profile cricket matches. With love for the sport a defining characteristic of Indian people and their media consumption, the fact that most rights currently reside with Disney (through Star India and Disney+ Hotstar) and Reliance (through the likes of Viacom18 and JioCinema) was closely assessed. Whatever the case, India is about to get its biggest entertainment player, which is competing in a highly competitive streaming market. Earlier in the week, Sony Pictures Networks India (officially Culver Max Entertainment) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises agreed to drop all legal disputes that arose from their failed $10B merger at the start of the year. A joint statement said a non-cash settlement was “amicably resolving” the issues and that all claims against the other had been withdrawn. With the likes of Netflix and Prime Video increasingly important in a country of 1.4 billion people, Sony and Zee are both facing up to futures as smaller entities in a world of increasingly big rivals.
The Essentials
??? Hot One: Barry Keoghan is joining Cillian Murphy and Rebecca Ferguson in Netflix’s Peaky Blinders movie.
??? Heating up: Wolf Creek‘s Greg McLean will direct supernatural thriller The First Exorcist from his Emu Creek Pictures and Helium.
??? Hotter: Angourie Rice and Spike Fearn will lead UK-set romcom CC: Emily from Focus Features and Working Title.
?? Take off: Banijay Asia is planning to send an Indian citizen into space as part of an ambitious new format.
?? London: James Norton, Bill Nighy and Thomasin McKenzie-starring Netflix pic Joy will premiere at the London Film Festival.
??? News: CNN International will provide Europe with election coverage on streamer Max.
?? Submissions: Japan and Canada were among the latest to submit their Best International Film pick for the Oscars.
?? Done deal: Mediawan has taken a majority stake in Lorenzo Mieli and Marii Gianani’s OUR Films.
?? Exiting: Christophe Riandee from Gaumont after more than two decades.
??? Trailer: For the Zurich-bound Wisdom of Happiness.
Zak Ntim contributed to this week’s Insider.
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