STREAMING
Amazon Freevee has unveiled the first trailer for the new chapter of long-running Australian soap “Neighbours.” The continuation of the series – about the lives, loves and challenges of the residents on Ramsay Street in Erinsborough, Australia, a fictional suburb of Melbourne – will pick up two years after the finale in 2022.
“Neighbours” ran for more than three decades and nearly 9,000 episodes before being canceled in 2022 when the show’s primary funder, U.K.’s Channel 5, pulled out. Freevee then picked up the rights from “Neighbours” producer and distributorFremantle.
The new series will star Alan Fletcher, Annie Jones, Candice Leask, Emerald Chan, Georgie Stone, Jackie Woodburne, Lloyd Will, Lucinda Armstrong Hall, Lucinda Cowden, Marley Williams, Naomi Rukavina, Rebekah Elmaloglou, Riley Bryant, Ryan Moloney, Sara West, Shiv Palekar, Stefan Dennis, Tim Kano, and Xavier Molyneux as series regulars. April Rose Pengilly, Guy Pearce, Ian Smith, Jodi Gordon, Melissa Bell, Mischa Barton and Trevor the Dog will feature as guest stars.
The series will return to screens on Sept. 18, with new episodes releasing daily, Monday-Thursday, on Freevee in the U.K. and the U.S. The series will also stream on Prime Video in Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Australia’s Network 10 will retain first-run rights in Australia for the new chapter of the series.
Watch the trailer here:
THEATRICAL RELEASES
Following its world premiere at Berlin earlier this year, Vertical acquired U.K. and Ireland distribution rights from Embankment Films to Guy Nattiv‘s “Golda” and will release the film theatrically on Oct. 6, in partnership with Met Film Distribution. Written by Nicholas Martin, produced by Jane Hook, Michael Kuhn and Nicholas Martin, “Golda” stars BAFTA and Oscar winner Helen Mirren (“The Queen”), Liev Schreiber (“Spotlight”) and Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!”). The film follows then Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir and the controversial decisions that she faced during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
***
Meanwhile, Sky will release Todd Haynes’ “May December” in U.K. cinemas on Nov. 17 and on the Sky Cinema channel on Dec. 1 and Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” in U.K. cinemas on Dec. 26 and on Sky Cinema in 2024.
“May December,” which premiered at Cannes in May, follows married couple Gracie and Joe Atherton-Yoo (Julianne Moore and Charles Melton) whose 23-year age gap sparked a tabloid scandal. Their marriage comes under renewed strain when Hollywood actor Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman) comes to spend time with the family to better understand Gracie, who she will be playing in a film about the scandal.
“Ferrari” follows Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari during the summer of 1957. Bankruptcy stalks the company he and his wife, Laura, built from nothing ten years earlier. The fates of the protagonists converge in one race, the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, the Mille Miglia. The cast also includes Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Patrick Dempsey and Jack O’Connell.
KIM COMEBACK
Echelon Studios has acquired North American rights to two award-winning feature films“Address Unknown”and“Bad Guy”from controversial South Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk. The pair, both from Kim’s early career and dated as being made in 2001, have recently been restored. “Address Unknown” offers an uncompromising view of humanity and the dehumanizing effects of war. “Bad Guy”toes the line between what is right and wrong with an unconventional and uncharacteristic tale of obsession. Echelon will partner with Kinoscope, a New York-based streaming and publication company, for a theatrical screening of“Address Unknown”on Aug. 23 at the city’s Maxwell House venue, followed by a multi-platform VOD release later this year. Kim died in December 2020.
MENTORING
Women in Film and Television U.K. (WFTV) is accepting applications for its 2024 WFTV Four Nations Mentoring Scheme. WFTV is in quest of 41 mentees for the scheme – 20 from England and seven each from Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland – from all disciplines across the film, television and digital media industry. The scheme, which is designed for mid-career women working in film, television and the creative media who are looking to take the next big step in their career, will run for six months starting in January 2024. The participants are paired up with senior industry professionals for one-to-one mentoring alongside peer-to-peer training and career and personal development workshops.
