International Insider: EFM Nears; Turkey-Syria Earthquake; ‘Aftersun’ Rises; Global Breakouts; Basils Back

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here. The Berlinale is nearly upon us and plenty has been going down in the film and TV world this week. Read on.

EFM Nears

A welcome return: Berlin’s European Film Market was the last major physical market to take place in 2020 as the world began to shut down with the Covid-19 pandemic taking hold. The virus would force the event online in 2021 and 2022. Finally, this year, the market returns to in-person events, with thousands of industry professionals once again gearing up to descend on the Gropius Bau, the market’s traditional home, for the 2023 edition, running February 16-22.

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Heating up: The market has already begun to heat up, with the first of the high-profile packages arriving this week. Mike Fleming had the scoop that Sacha Baron Cohen and Keke Palmer are set to star in Super Toys, a new pic written and directed by David O Russell, while Andreas reported that Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult are attached to lead the true-crime movie The Order, from Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel (Macbeth) and AGC Studios. Other hot packages include Anthony Hopkins teaming up with Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) for a remake of Argentinian action thriller 4X4 for ZQ Entertainment and Raimi Productions, and Steve Coogan attached to star in The Penguin Lessons, with The Full Monty’s Peter Cattaneo directing from a Jeff Pope screenplay. Meanwhile, Mel broke the news that Canada’s APL Film has acquired sales on Palestinian-Canadian LGBTQ+ drama Polarized and Reel Suspects boarded Belgian Donald Trump-inspired dark comedy Krump. There will be more announcements in the coming days as the industry heads out to Berlin. Keep your eyes peeled for our round-the-clock coverage.

Turkey-Syria Earthquake

Sobering week: A major dose of perspective came following a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria that at last count had claimed the lives of at least 21,000 people, according to Reuters. Rescuers are still searching through the rubble for people trapped as we write and desperation is growing. Turkey’s TV and film community has taken action and is supplying financial aid and resources to the victims of the earthquakes, with producers association Tesiyap saying work is taking place “as soon as possible.” “The majority of our member producers shared with us that they took a break from the movie sets for a while to support their charity work,” added a Tesiyap statement. The earthquake has dominated news bulletins over the past few days and has been a sobering reminder of the destruction that can be wrought by natural disasters. The likes of Doctors Without Borders, the Syrian American Medical Society and the White Helmets are collecting aid and donations. For more on how you can help, you can visit Unicef’s website.

‘Aftersun’ Rises

Mubi on up: Indie smash Aftersun has already been showered with BIFA wins, BAFTA noms and a cheeky Oscar nod for beloved Irish heartthrob Paul Mescal and this week it broke new ground for Mubi. Andreas broke the news on Wednesday that Charlotte Wells’ astonishing debut is now the company’s most streamed release globally – not a bad feat given competition includes Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, The Worst Person In The World, Drive My Car and Decision To Leave. Aftersun is in good company on a platform that has nurtured a reputation in recent years for carrying some of the hottest indie pics. In the coming weeks it should overtake Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave to become Mubi’s biggest global theatrical release. Since its January 6 launch, the movie has been hailed for its astonishingly confident nature and head-on treatment of issues such as male mental health, and Mescal is an outside bet for the Oscar. Speaking to the BBC’s Today program Thursday, Mescal – who is definitely not British – described the Oscar nom as “absurd”  but said it has provided welcome relief for his family as they go through a difficult time. Ever the likely lad, he joked that even with recognition from the Academy Awards, he will never escape a sausage ad he made in Ireland before his breakthrough role in Normal People. If he ever feels he’s getting too big for his boots, a swift YouTube search for this gem brings Mr Mescal back down to Earth.

Deadline Global Breakouts

Resurrecting ‘Reborn Rich’: We have a new strand! Each fortnight, Deadline Global Breakouts will bring you a TV show or film killing it in its local territory and analyze how the show achieved its outsized success, while delving deeper into the state of the nation’s industry. We kicked off Tuesday with Korea’s Reborn Rich, a buzzy resurrection drama that has in recent weeks become the nation’s second most-watched cable show of all time. Dive deeper here to discover how the Inception-like drama came about, the financial commitment required to get it going and what’s coming next from the nation that introduced Squid Game to the world. Stay tuned for your next fortnightly Breakout.

Basil’s Back

Fawlty what? Reboots and remakes are all the rave at the moment but news of a Fawlty Towers development project with Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment caught pretty much everybody unawares. More than 40 years after filming wrapped on the second and final season of (some would argue) the greatest British comedy of all time, John Cleese is set to create and star in season three alongside his daughter Camilla Cleese (nepo baby fans look away now). Reiner will EP along with Matthew George for the show that will bring Cleese’s hapless hotel manager kicking and screaming into the 21st century, as he takes the reins of a boutique hotel in the Caribbean. Fawlty’s take on the modern world may well have resonance with the real-life Cleese’s public life over the past decade. He has become something of a culture warrior, raging – often falsely – against British broadcasting’s desire to shun repeats of Fawlty Towers and Monty Python and preparing to helm a Channel 4 documentary and GB News show on cancel culture/free speech. Speaking to GB News last night, Cleese said the reboot definitely won’t end up on the BBC but scotched the idea that it will focus on “wokery.” “The idea hadn’t particular occurred to me,” he said.

Kapoor’s ‘Night Manager’

“With great power comes great responsibility”: Speaking of hotels, our Asia expert Liz Shackleton brought the skinny on India’s Anil Kapoor-starring version of John Le Carre’s The Night Manager for Disney+ Hotstar. The adaptation is one of the most hotly anticipated Indian reworks in recent years and Director Sandeep Modi already hopes to shoot a second season. “I keep joking with Simon [Cornwell, Le Carre’s son and co-CEO of producer The Ink Factory] that we’ll make season two before you do and you can use that for the English version,” joked Modi, and Simon Cornwell concurred, saying he’d “love to see a season two.” Sandeep and Simon walked Liz through the challenges of adapting one of the world’s best known thrillers, which achieved major success when the Hugh Laurie-starring UK version hit the screens in 2016. “With great power comes great responsibility,” Sandeep considered. And in a separate interview, Kapoor tells Liz he drew on “everything I’d learned and unlearned” during the making of India’s 24. Read here for Sundeep/Simon and here for Anil.

The Essentials

🌶️ Hot One: Bad Wolf and ITVX rounded out cast on Arthurian legend The Winter King.

🌶️ Another One: Fremantle is in talks to once again merge Britain’s Got Talent indie Thames with Talkback.

🌶️ A third: Canada’s HighballTV unveiled a $15.6M slate of original indie pics. Mel with this one.

🏢 Restructured: Kelly Day’s Prime Video EMEA, APAC and Americas division. Barry Furlong and Gaurav Gandhi were handed expanded roles.

👊 Record-smasher: Happy Valley’s finale became comfortably the most-watched UK show of 2023.

🏆 Awards latest: World Trailer Awards set regional winners.

🖼️ Casting: Evergreen Friends star David Schwimmer joined Channel 4’s The Great Celebrity Bake Off.

💺 Chair: BBC Boss Richard Sharp’s relationship with Boris Johnson remains in the spotlight and he faced a committee grilling.

🤝🏽 Partners: Whitney director Kevin Macdonald and Banijay label Workerbee Group tied on a multi-project deal.

❌ In trouble: Korean Hellbound star Yoo Ah-in is under police investigation for alleged illegal use of an anaesthetic drug.

⚽ Footbaaaallll: No fairytale ending for Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny’s Wrexham, whose FA Cup run was ended by Sheffield United.

🍿 Box office: Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan topped $100M global – the first Bollywood movie to hit this milestone without China release.

✈️ It’s … been sold: BritBox North America, Australia’s Foxtel and New Zealand’s +HR=E snapped up Channel 4 Wagatha Christie drama Vardy vs Rooney.

🎥 Trail: For The Swarm, Frank Doelger’s big-budget European thriller that will premiere at the Berlinale Series.

And finally… Ever wondered what it’s like to perform for 24 hours with 100 men on a London West End stage? Well wonder no more, as this week’s Breaking Baz sees Baz Bamigboye get the lowdown on Luther star Ruth Wilson’s upcoming endurance performance, while our intrepid International Editor-at-Large provides a deep dive combining mud with All Quiet on the Western Front.

Zac Ntim contributed to this week’s Insider

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