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August 9 - August 15

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Apple Original Films had made a deal with director Jon Watts to write, direct, and produce a sequel for his upcoming George Clooney–Brad Pitt movie. On top of that, Apple also wants “Wolfs” in theaters. The flick will get a limited theatrical run through Sony on September 20 before its exclusive streaming debut on Apple TV+ September 27...

Grasshopper Film has announced today its acquisition of North American distribution rights to Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan’s mesmerizing documentary “Nocturnes,” which has picked up prize-wins at Sundance, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, and Mediterrane Film Festival Malta, in addition to screening at other festivals, including CPHDOX, DOCVILLE, Hot Docs, Sheffield DocFest, Ambulante Documentary Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, and Hong Kong International Film Festival. The doc follows the “secret lives of moths in the mountains of northern India” and was an IndieWire Critic’s Pick when it debuted at Sundance in January...

The anime industry just got hit with one of the worst leaks in history. Though spoilers and small leaks are relatively common, particularly phone-recorded leaks at big events like Anime Expo, production screeners of upcoming titles don't tend to leak very often. What makes this an especially egregious leak is that multiple high-profile productions suffered episode leaks — and of multiple episodes each. The leak began with the opening and ending themes for anticipated titles like the remake of "Ranma ½," as well as the opening for the "Dandadan" anime adaptation. But then it snowballed and the leak is threatening multiple areas of the industry. According to AnimeNewsNetwork, the first four episodes of "Ranma ½," the first six episodes of "Dandadan," the premiere of "Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-" season 3, the movie "Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain," and even all eight episodes of the upcoming "Terminator Zero" anime have leaked online via 4chan and pirate BitTorrent sites. Curiously, the premiere of "Re:ZERO" has a watermark for France's Japan Expo 2024 — which took place last month. Additionally, "Dandadan" screened its first three episodes at Anime Expo last month, too, while "Terminator Zero" is scheduled to premiere later this monthly on August 29, 2024. As for "Ranma ½," Viz Media and Hot Topic were slated to screen the premiere episode at Anime NYC on August 24, 2024...

Over the past couple of years, Abrams Books has been releasing omnibus collections of "The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror" comic books, found in "Vol. 1: Scary Tales & Scarier Tentacles" and "Vol. 2: Deadtime Stories for Boos & Ghouls." While some of these issues feature illustrated adaptations of some of the show's best Halloween special segments, more importantly they have original horror and sci-fi inspired comic stories from an outstanding assembly of guest writers and artists. Now, the collection is about to be complete with the third and final volume, "The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Ominous Omnibus Volume 3: Fiendish Fables of Devilish Delicacies," arriving in August. Featuring a glow in the dark, die-cut slipcase with artwork sending the Simpsons to hell, with Devil Flanders laughing maniacally, this comic book collection has a special introduction from Marge Simpson and over 50 different Treehouse of Horror stories written and illustrated by the likes of Rob Zombie, Zander Cannon, Gene Colan, Dan Decarlo, Garth Ennis, Gilbert Hernandez, Carol Lay, Thomas Lennon, Doug Moenich, Phil Noto, Stan Sakai, Len Wein, Bernie Wrightson, Marv Wolfman, and more...

In unveiling the program for Locarno77 last month, Giona A. Nazzaro, the Swiss festival’s artistic director, mentioned “the whole discussion around artificial intelligence” as one of the themes featured across the fest. “We didn’t seek out these themes. We didn’t say ‘okay, we are going to have a festival focusing on certain themes’,” he emphasized though. Instead, after finishing the selection for Locarno 2024, his team noticed overarching and underlying subjects. “The festival is a catalyst for major dialogue, intensive exchanges,” Nazzaro concluded. What might surprise festivalgoers is how different the filmmakers’ approaches to digital worlds and AI are. They range from a narrative feature to a feature documentary all the way to a movie using AI images...

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back has become a success on Netflix in the United States eight years after its theatrical debut. The 2016 action-thriller sequel starring Tom Cruise is an adaptation of the 2013 Lee Child novel Never Go Back, following Cruise's title character attempting to uncover a government conspiracy and clear the name of his former Army unit's leader, Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders). The Jack Reacher: Never Go Back cast also includes Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh, Holt McCallany, and Jessica Stroup. Netflix has now calculated their Top 10 most-watched movies in the United States for the week of July 29 through August 4. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back has landed on the chart at No. 2, above the new Netflix original Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie. It is also the third-oldest movie on the entire chart, behind a pair of 2015 releases, namely Minions (No. 7), which is likely trending because of the animated franchise's current theatrical hit Despicable Me 4, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (No. 8)...