International Insider: The Battle of the Prequels; Venice kicks off; london training

Good afternoon Insider, Max Goldbart here with his weekly roundup of the top news as the prequels begin and Venice begins. Read it.

Rings Vs Thrones Goes Global

A prerequisite for managing them all: Two of the biggest events of all time are about to collide and it’s going to be fun. It’s hard to say whether Amazon Prime Video and HBO will, but when the most expensive TV show of all time, The Lord of the Rings: The rings of power Arriving today in dozens of territories, it will arrive in just two weeks. game of Thrones predecessor dragon house The debut of the first episode. Both US conglomerates have been busy highlighting their global credentials and have even held their international premieres at the same venue, the Odeon Luxe in Leicester Square in London, where the Amazon meeting took place on Tuesday evening and seen your sincere participation. What happens next will be fascinating.

Jeffrey “Spielberg”: To the delight and frankly surprised of a packed audience, the richest man in the world, Jeffrey Bezos, was in attendance at the launch of the richest television franchise in the world when he treated them with a hilarious five-minute opening sequence that included the weird. reference to taking notes. Lord of the Rings Showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay were greeted with giggles and awkward looks. “Every showrunner’s dream is to get their first scripts and take notes from the CEO, they just love it,” he joked. “I want to thank you both for listening to me when you helped me, but most of all I have to thank you for ignoring me at the right time.” easily. Payne and McKay are fairly new to the game and, at a more worrying time, Bezos hailed their hiring as “one of the best decisions we’ve ever made”. Attendees told Deadline later that Bezos’ appearance reflected how big Amazon’s stakes are in Middle-earth. The streamer has been doing great things over the past five years, but streaming has always been a bit of a sideshow. So it was odd that Amazon Studios Europe boss Georgia Brown’s departure was revealed just two days after the premiere, as Brown, who scored several big hits during his tenure, is moving on to new pastures. For what it’s worth, this reviewer loved the first two episodes. LOTR, McKay and Payne took to the track, throwing some intriguing stories and getting some excellent performances (Morphid Clarke stands out as Galadriel).

free the dragon: Now the question is yes or no Lord of the Rings there will be a dent dragon house initial success. For the average fantasy fan, it’s hard to imagine that both can adjust to the weekly TV viewing habits that are currently rife with shows. This may explain why the marketing budget outside the US was astronomical. You can hardly walk around London without seeing Billboard, and HBO has also picked a duo of premieres, one in London and one in Amsterdam. HBO has already gone out of its way to say this. dragon house it is its most-watched release in European history, at a time when the new owner of the Warner Bros. Discovery conglomerate is downsizing European operations teams. Amazon wants to talk LOTR Run and run while dragon house It has been relaunched for a second season this week, so it will be interesting to see if these giants continue to tiptoe and how it turns out. As Bezos reminded a stunned crowd in London on Tuesday, “not everyone who wanders is lost.” Tolkien’s mantra could be as relevant to today’s viewers as Frodo Baggins from The Shire.

Venice begins

About international: Here Zach Ntimi covers the 79th Venice Film Festival, which began on Wednesday evening with a much quieter and more focused program. There is no tent with a large budget and an A list like that DuneOr, luckily for some, jester. However, there are so many prestigious awards in entertainment that Bill Kramer, the new CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, jumped in a water taxi to the Lido. Surprisingly, the Academy has never had an official presence in Venice. During a panel session at the festival, Kramer said the academy’s future is “as much for international cinema as it is for American cinema,” as Deadline’s Nancy Tartaglione reports. A cynic might suggest that these are peculiar comments in a festival like Venice, which has a strong focus on American cinema rather than the international market. But Kramer stressed that it will be an integral part of the “evolution” of the International Film Academy. Anyway, let’s all stop talking about The Slap. Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. was also at the Lido, jumping aboard with Venice boss Alberto Barbera to talk about all things cinema in an engaging multi-part video series in which Barbera delves into the competition and offers some gems. of the past. . Including the time he managed to get the famous Stanley Kubrick to see him die shortly before his appearance.

“I’m doing it right”: In other news from Venice, Danish director Lars von Trier appeared in video link Thursday at the premiere of his next series. speech of the kingdom. It was Von Trier’s first international appearance since he announced in August that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. “I’m fine, but it will take me some time to fight the concussion. I feel better, but a little more stupid than before, that says a lot, “he said to the applause of the press. speech of the kingdom is the third and final installment of Von Trier’s cult supernatural television show restarted in the 1990s. Kingdom and screens without competition.

new titles: In the field of cinema, the festival opened with the latest film by Noah Baumbach Vermontis noise, which received a warm response from critics and festival goers. Todd camp tarInstead, it became a firm favorite with instant awards, with critics praising Cate Blanchett’s central performance and Field’s confident direction. Next week, the festival will host a curious title. The hottest ticket in town is the world premiere of Olivia Wilde’s Beaugered on Monday. do not worry dearWith Harry Styles and Florence Pugh.

London training

An attractive mix: The London Film Festival (LFF) announced the full line-up for the 66th edition on Wednesday. As always, LFF’s lineup consists of a tempting mix of funky fall festival titles like Alejandro González Iñárritu. Bardo, false chronicle of a handful of truths Out of Venice, and daring works by first-time directors such as Thomas Hardiman, who brings his feature film fancy jellyfish After the debut in Locarno in the capital of Great Britain. The festival will also host flashy galas, including the world premiere of Guillermo del Toro. Pinocchio and first international She said With Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan. of the bull Pinocchio It’s a huge coup for the festival, which runs from October 5th to 16th. Festival director Tricia Tuttle spoke to Deadline about the launch of the animation and the festival’s desire to strengthen its presence in the industry.

rapist paul

RAI-t to play a note: RAI Cinema CEO Paolo Del Brocco sat on the sidelines of International Disruptors this week as his team prepared to premiere 24 titles in Venice. As all Insider readers will no doubt know, it has been a difficult couple of years for cinema and Italy, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic in Europe, has certainly not been immune. Paolo is accused of returning to the big screen and our Diana talked about how to bring all men and women back to the cinema. “We’re not sure yet of all the answers, but our directive is and always has been to work to make better films that can surprise audiences,” Paolo told Diana. Go deeper here, you know you want it.

RIP Charlby Dean

“Shock and tragedy”At the opening in Venice on Wednesday, the world of cinema was shocked by the death of Charlby Dean, the South African model and actor and winner of Ruben Ostlund’s Palme d’Or. The triangle of sadness. Dean, who died of a sudden illness in New York, wowed Cannes audiences with her role as model Yaya in Ostlund’s satirical comedy about wealthy guests on a superyacht and was also known for her role as Zionide, a recurring character in TheCW. Series based on DC Comics black lightning. Ostlund led the tributes, describing the news as “shock and tragedy” in an Instagram post. “Charleby had a care and sensitivity that strengthened his colleagues and the entire film crew,” he wrote. “The idea that he won’t be by our side in the future makes me very sad.”

essential

🌶️ Warm: Helena Bonham Carter joins Anthony Hopkins and others a life A drama about Nicholas Winton, who saved 669 children during the Holocaust. base with this.

🌶️ Other: downton abbey Allen Leach and normal people In command is India Mullen the vanishing triangle for Sundance Now from AMC Networks and Virgin Media Television. Presented by Jess.

🌶️ Other: Apple TV + Drama Criminal record An ensemble cast that includes a BAFTA winner Help Stella Cathy Tyson.

🖊️ registered: from Netflix delhi crime Season 2 showrunner and director Tanuj Chopra has signed on the dotted line with WME.

🍿 at the cash desks: Universal / Amblin’s six-film Jurassic franchise has crossed the $ 6 billion mark worldwide.

🏆 The prizes are the latest: Poland chose Jerzy Skolimowski as Cannes winner EO, which follows a nomadic gray donkey as his official introduction to the international Oscar race.

🤝 Transaction completed: Warner Bros. strengths of Discovery and BT Sports offerings will formally join forces in the UK and Ireland with the closing of a month-long sports joint venture agreement.

🤝 Other dA deal: Acquired French media group Asacha Media Group moved to functions via purchase The Miserables Produced by SRAB Films.

🧑‍💼 New job: For Cecil Gage, who has been named head of cinema on the ever-expanding Wild Bunch.

🎥 Trailer: BBC drama bloody lands The second season will debut soon, producer. policy Created by Jed Mercury.

🖼️ first look: China Film Group executives attended the screening of James Cameron’s long-awaited film Avatar: The way of waterAnd Cameron was there to congratulate them.

And finally: The world was shaken this week by the death of Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the Soviet Union who, in many ways, broke down the Iron Curtain and brought freedom to millions of Eastern Europeans. Deadline co-editor Nellie Andreeva was one of those people and wrote movingly about the impact of Gorbachev’s reforms. From “Repentance” to Freedom: How Mikhail Gorbachev led my generation somewhere along the way can be read in full here.

Zach Nutty contributed to this week’s International Insider.