John Hazelton

2 days ago | screendaily.com | John Hazelton

Source: Amazon Prime Video The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has revealed its first five special presentation world premieres for this year’s official selection, among them Steven Soderbergh’s comedy The Christophers, Alejandro Amenábar’s adventure The Captive and Nia DaCosta’s Hedda. Also set to make their global debuts at the 50th TIFF edition, running September 4-14, are Sung-hyun Byun’s action thriller Good News, Nia DaCosta’s Hedda and Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicks.

2 days ago | screendaily.com | John Hazelton

Source: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for BFI “Die-hard Bond fan” Denis Villeneuve has been set to direct the next James Bond film, the first since Amazon MGM Studios took creative control of the franchise. Villeneuve will also serve as an executive producer on the film, along with his regular collaborator Tanya Lapointe, who most recently produced the French-Canadian filmmaker’s Dune: Part Two.

3 days ago | screendaily.com | John Hazelton

Source: Screengrab from California Governor website Lawmakers in California have approved the plan to more than double annual funding for the state’s tax credit programme to $750m, according to reports, though a formal vote is still a few days away. The increase in annual funding from the current $330m was first proposed by state Governor Gavin Newsom last October, as a response to the continuing production slump that has affected the state since the 2023 Hollywood strikes.

3 days ago | screendaily.com | John Hazelton

Doug Liman has been set to direct a feature version of Stephen King’s 1978 post-apocalyptic fantasy novel The Stand for Paramount Pictures. Liman will produce with Tyler Thompson of Cross Creek Pictures and Paramount is believed to be fast-tracking development. The epic King novel is about the aftermath of a pandemic of weaponised influenza that causes the surviving humans to divide into good and evil factions. The novel has been filmed twice before, both times as a TV miniseries.

4 days ago | screenglobalproduction.com | John Hazelton

The state of Texas has increased funding for its production incentive programme to $300m every two years for the next decade and boosted grant percentages for lower budget films and TV programmes. A bill calling for the increase passed into law on Monday (June 23) after being approved by the state legislature earlier this month. Texas’ Republican governor Greg Abbott could have either signed the bill or vetoed it, but instead opted to do neither and simply allow it to become law.