Features: Last News

Jamie Lang Sideral has officially acquired the distribution rights for Eloy Calvo’s buzzy Spanish mixed-media feature “The Van” (“La Furgo”). The film will premiere at the BCN Film Festival on April 26, with a theatrical release in Spain set for June 20. Produced by Teidees, traditionally an animation outfit, led by Marta Alonso and Sílvia Cortés, “The Van” is backed by RTVE, 3CAT and supported by the Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals (ICEC) and Crea SGR.

Emma Chamberlain is getting in front of the camera in a different way!

Stephen Saito Writer-director Nastasya Popov finely threads a needle in her debut feature “Idiotka,” dipping into the chaotic life of Margarita (Anna Baryshnikov), an aspiring fashion designer with a barely functioning sewing machine in the tight-knit Russian district of West Hollywood. Margarita seems as much a work in progress as the eternally under-construction house she lives in.

Clifford Coonan Hong Kong’s PCCW Media is linking up with independent film and TV studio SK Global Entertainment (“Crazy Rich Asians”) to produce the drama series, “The Season.” The six-part series is set in Hong Kong and tells of a group of friends gathering for a summer of fun in the sun as boating season begins but which spirals into a web of deception and power struggles. The show was unveiled at a special presentation at Hong Kong FilMart.

Naman Ramachandran Director Chong Keat Aun, known for his evocative storytelling rooted in Southeast Asian history and folklore, is completing his latest feature, “Mother Bhumi,” a multi-lingual drama weaving land disputes, mysticism and female empowerment. The film is selected for the Hong Kong — Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), the project market that operates concurrently with Hong Kong FilMart.

EXCLUSIVE: Screenwriter J S Mayank has been tapped by producers Kate Cohen, Alexander Vesely and Tony Robbins to join Oscar nominee and Bafta winner Lesley Paterson (All Quiet on the Western Front) in writing the feature adaptation of Viktor Frankl‘s classic treatise, Man’s Search for Meaning.

Naman Ramachandran Shaz Khan‘s feature “The Martial Artist” has locked its global theatrical rollout, with North American and U.K. audiences getting their first look on April 4, following Eid celebrations, it was revealed on the sidelines of Hong Kong FilMart. The film will debut in Pakistan on March 30 and later in MENA territories on May 8, with additional global dates to be confirmed.

Jamie Lang China’s “Ne Zha 2” has dominated the first quarter of 2025 at the global box office, raking in over $2 billion and becoming the highest-grossing animated film and sixth-highest-grossing film ever at press time. The film has certainly overperformed expectations, but there were plenty of clues that a box office boom for Chinese animation was in the cards. Before “Ne Zha,” “Boonie Bears” was the country’s big animated IP.

Jack Dunn “The Big Bang Theory” co-creator Chuck Lorre says Kaley Cuoco‘s character Penny took a few seasons to fully understand. “It’s a cliched character: the dumb blonde, and we missed it,” Lorre said during the first episode of “The Official Big Bang Theory Podcast.” “We didn’t have that right away that what she brought to this story, this series, to these other characters was an intelligence that they didn’t have. A kind of intelligence that was alien to them, an intelligence about people and relationships and family.” Cuoco’s Penny didn’t enter “The Big Bang Theory” cast until Lorre penned a “do-over” pilot after shooting a failed first version that never aired.

EXCLUSIVE: The Colleen Hoover business isn’t slowing down following the success of her last feature adaptation It Ends With Us as sources tell Deadline Maika Monroe is set to star in Universal’s adaptation of Hoover’s novel Reminders of Him. Vanessa Caswill is set to direct the film.

American Cinematheque’s This Is Not A Fiction Festival is returning for its second season.

J. Kim Murphy It’s not ripped from the headlines, but Tyler Cornack’s comedy “Mermaid” certainly seems inspired by them — specifically, the strange “Florida Man” news stories that have become a meme-friendly internet fixation. In the midst of a “Jaws” parody opening centered on a monstrous murder at sea, the film takes a pause for a title card labeling the story as “a love letter to Florida.” But the drug-addled shenanigans that follow strive for more than gawking spectacle.

Siddhant Adlakha Part addiction self-portrait, part medical exposé, Benjamin Flaherty’s powerful, essayistic “Shuffle” was the winner of this year’s Documentary Feature Competition at SXSW. The film offers an intimate chronicle of three drug users and several whistleblowers trying to turn over new leaves, as they gradually paint a chilling portrait of a predatory system of faux-recovery. Focusing on a number of rehab facilities in Florida, “Shuffle” weaves together a detailed fabric of the “who,” “how” and “why” concerning the structural abuse of addicts seeking recovery.

Ethan Shanfeld Jason Isaacs is walking back a comment he made on the “White Lotus” press tour regarding his full-frontal scene and “how the sausage is made.” In an attempt to playfully dodge questions about whether he was wearing a prosthetic or going au naturel in Season 3’s fourth episode, Isaacs told journalists that there is a “double standard” for male actors doing nude scenes and that the media “would never dream” of asking “Anora’s” Mikey Madison or “The Substance” star Margaret Qualley about their genitalia. To his dismay, his remarks made a splash online.

Carlos Aguilar A mother’s death set the stage for “My Life as a Zucchini,” the heartsore 2016 Swiss stop-motion that landed director Claude Barras an Oscar nomination for best animated feature. Now, the passing of a different maternal figure at the hands of unscrupulous men ignites the filmmaker’s eco-conscious, anti-colonial follow-up “Savages.” When a female orangutan is killed by loggers on the Indonesian island of Borneo, 11-year-old Kéria (Babette De Coster) and her father Mutang (Benoît Poelvoorde) adopt her adorable offspring and name it Oshi.

With the winter season coming to an end, Telfar has launched a 50% off sale for its “puff” line and you can shop all of the items now on Amazon!

Disney‘s feature take of 1937 classic toon Snow White is finally hitting theaters after weathering a tormenting tabloid, blown out of proportion controversy. Domestic is looking to land between a $45M-$50M opening with another $55M abroad.

Katie Cassidy is sharing the true details behind initially getting fired from Arrow.

As we welcome a fresh season, it's the ideal moment to spruce up our closets with some springtime flair. Next shoppers can't stop gushing over a 'warm' and 'stylish' jumper that's just the ticket for the seasonal shift, hailed for its fab look when paired with denim. Retailing at £32, the animal print Soft Touch Short Sleeve Knitted Jumper With Wool is flying off the racks.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer A dramatic thriller starring “The Apprentice” and “Bodies Bodies Bodies” breakout Maria Bakalova has sold to Level 33 Entertainment for domestic theatrical release. The sales and distribution entity will take “Elecrtra” out day and date on May 2. The film marks the directorial debut of Hala Matar, an influential filmmaker in the worlds of high fashion and music videos.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor Multi-hyphenate filmmaker Jay Duplass has been named as the recipient of this year’s Spotlight Award at the 31st Annual San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (SLOIFF.) Duplass will attend the event with a screening of his new film, “The Baltimorons,” followed by a Q&A on Sunday, April 27. The festival runs this year from April 24-29 in San Luis Obispo, the coastal community located midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.Duplass is well-known on the independent film circuit for his work and his collaborations with brother Mark Duplass on such films as “The Puffy Chair” and “Cyrus” and for creating such TV shows as “Togetherness” and “Room 104.” In recent years, Duplass has also carved out an impressive acting career with roles on the Emmy-award winning series “Transparent” and “Industry” and films like “Outside In” and “Beatriz at Dinner.” Skye McLennan, executive director of SLOIFF, says, “Personally, I have been a huge fan of the Duplass Brothers’ work, and they have been a significant inspiration for many independent filmmakers and film festivals.” Mark Duplass serves as writer-director on “The Baltimorons,” which marks his first feature as director since 2012.