Updated every Friday 12:00 PM
July 17 - July 23

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Apple TV+ has officially unveiled a brand-new trailer and a poster for Mayday, an action-comedy. Directed, written, and produced by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the duo behind Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Game Night, the new preview effortlessly blends explosive action and incredibly funny moments. Set during the middle of a war, Mayday follows Lieutenant Troy "Assassin" Kelly (Reynolds), a U.S. Navy pilot who is assigned to a dangerous mission in Russian territory. What begins as a carefully planned military operation quickly spirals out of control, leaving Troy stranded in the country with minimal resources as he tries to stay alive...

Bond - the younger. An unknown actor that has caught the bookies' attention is Tom Francis, an English actor and singer best-known for his roles on the West End and Broadway stages. Francis currently only has a handful of on-screen credits to his name, including Netflix's Jay Kelly and You, making him by far the most enigmatic choice among the current favorites. Sporting the dark hair and good looks expected of 007, the 27-year-old Tom Francis certainly has the potential to appeal to Gen-Z as Amazon strives to reintroduce Bond for the younger generations and modern audiences. While his affinity for action has never been tested, his acting talent certainly has, with Francis winning an Olivier Award in 2024 for his performance in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, and being nominated for a Tony Award...

Imax has partnered with Chinese company Goer Dynamics to develop the first Imax entertainment system designed specifically for self-driving cars. Unveiled Wednesday at a ceremony in Qingdao by the two companies, the system pairs an Imax-exclusive acoustic architecture — engineered for ultra-high dynamic range and heavy, distortion-free bass — with a 4K HDR flip-down display that adapts to changing light conditions on the road. The partners are pitching the system as the natural answer to autonomous driving's transformation of the car into a "third living space," and they plan to co-market it to premium automakers across China, with modular configurations for different vehicle types. The first systems are expected to enter commercial production by the end of 2026....

Bow Street Academy LA — which will be based at the historic The Lot at Formosa, where Charlie Chaplin first set up United Artists Studios — joins The Identity School of Acting, the London-based college that launched its first LA outpost in 2018. Meanwhile, LAMDA, London's oldest drama school (it dates back to 1861), last yea. an office in New York from which it plans to start offering short courses. Bow Street Academy LA will be overseen on the ground by Oscar-nominated writer, director and producer Kirsten Sheridan (who recently wrote on FX hit "Say Nothing"), part of a trio of directors who — alongside Shimmy Marcus — helped set up The Factory in Dublin in 2010. The space began as a grassroots home for filmmaker to chat, bounce and develop ideas and it there where then up-and-coming talents like Barry Keoghan, Niamh Algar and Jack Reynor would come to flex their early skills. But it soon transformed into a dedicated acting college, relaunching in 2015 as Bow Street Academy (and more formally recognised as Ireland's National Screen Acting School). The school has been growing ever since, but the idea of branching out overseas came around 2023 when Marcus says they noticed a "huge uptake in applications, particularly of people from America — even Los Angeles." When asking would-be students why they were prepared to travel all the way from the west coast of America to Dublin for acting lessons, he says a regular response would be: "Because we. just don't have this over here."...

Péter Magyar's new Hungarian government has reaffirmed its support for the film production sector in the country, which is Europe's second biggest hub for production, and has hosted Hollywood films like "F1: The Movie," the "Dune" films, "The Brutalist" and "Poor Things," and series like "The Day of the Jackal." Applications for the 30% film incentive will be able to resume after the government removed the cap on new registrations, which was introduced last year by the outgoing administration. Ervin Nagy, state secretary for culture, said, "Today, we have opened a new chapter in our cooperation with the film industry by lifting the blockage on the tax incentive system that ensures the smooth and predictable operation of the Hungarian film industry. This decision was made in consultation with industry stakeholders and with the support and trust of the Ministry of Finance." "The amount allocated to the tax incentive yearly pays for itself over through its multiplier effect, as numerous studies have already shown. Hungary's highly skilled craftspeople and outstanding creative talents are increasingly taking on key creative and technical roles in international productions. Today, it is almost unimaginable to have a box-office chart or an awards season without a production made with the participation of Hungarian professionals...

Paul Greengrass has seemingly never encountered a true story that he didn't want to dramatize. The British director has made films about many of the most dramatic historical events of the 20th and 21st centuries, including the Falklands War ("Resurrected"), the Troubles of Northern Ireland ("Bloody Sunday"), the 9/11 attacks ("United 93"), the Iraq War ("Green Zone"), Somali pirate kidnappings ("Captain Phillips"), the 2011 Norway attacks ("22 July"), and the 2018 Camp Fire evacuations ("The Lost Bus"). And for his next directorial effort, "The Uprising," Greengrass is going further back into the past than ever before. The new film stars Andrew Garfield as Ploughman, a member of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt that saw poor Englishmen rebel against King Richard II in the aftermath of the Black Death. Per an official synopsis, Garfield plays "the legendary leader of a ferocious rebellion against the tyranny of King Richard II. As war burns across England, he forms an army of the people to face the King's might in a fight for justice and survival."...

A coalition of 12 states has filed an antitrust lawsuit on Monday, July 13 to block the planned merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery in a $111 billion transaction. The lawsuit, led by California District Attorney Rob Bonta, wrote in a suit that the merger would "extinguish competition between Paramount and Warner Bros. and inflict substantial harm on movie theatres, basic cable distributors, and, ultimately, audiences nationwide." The suit argues that a merger would specifically harm competition and violate the Clayton act by impacting wide-release theatrical films released in the United States, the distribution of top-grossing theatrical films in the U.S., and the licensing of basic cable channels to distributors in the U.S. Paramount is considering shifting all of its operations out of California if such a lawsuit were to come from the states, but that no decisions had been made...

"Fresh Meat," a horror short-film competition that will culminate in a theatrically released feature anthology. Created in partnership with Atlas Entertainment's Atlas Literary and Hades Film, the initiative is Dead Meat's most ambitious yet. "Fresh Meat" submissions open on Saturday, July 25, and will close on Monday, August 24. Shorts from around the world are eligible, provided English is the submission's primary spoken language, and a $50 submission fee applies. Dead Meat and Hades will jointly evaluate entries while also taking the Dead Meat audience's feedback into consideration. Roughly 10 films are expected to be selected for the anthology, and rather than naming a "best" short, the final collection is intended to operate as a collaborative launchpad. Chosen filmmakers will receive a cash award in addition to sharing in their portion of the box office. Participants retain rights to their work unless and until they are chosen to participate in the "Fresh Meat" feature. The anthology is aiming for a quick turnaround, with a planned October 12 theatrical release date through Hades. Variance Films will handle booking, and a TVOD rollout will begin shortly after. As for what "Fresh Meat" is actually looking for? The best horror short you've got — period...