“Avatar: The Way of Water” topped the 21st Annual VES Awards with nine wins, including for photoreal feature. Meanwhile, Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” was named best animated feature and took home three awards total. On the TV side, Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” won three awards and was named best…

Alexander Rodnyansky, the Oscar-nominated producer behind “Leviathan” and “Loveless,” has boarded “The Dissident,” a Cold War drama that follows a former Ukrainian resistance fighter trying to rebuild his life after his release from a Soviet prison camp. The film marks the fiction feature debut of directors Andriy Alferov, a renowned Ukrainian film critic, and Stas…

Polish directorial duo Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert have set drama “Let Me Out” as their next film. Spanning 45 years, the film will focus on Adam, trying to be a good husband and father in a small town in Poland. But Adam starts to feel increasingly uncomfortable in his body, one that doesn’t reflect…

Saban Films has acquired the U.S., U.K. and other international rights to Jean-Claude Van Damme action-spy thriller “Darkness of Man.” Directed by James Cullen Bressack, the film sees Van Damme playing Interpol operative Russell Hatch, who witnesses the death of his last informant in a routine raid gone wrong. Years later, he takes on a…

What better way to celebrate Jamie Lee Curtis’ Oscar nomination for her work in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” then by slipping on a pair of hot dog finger gloves? That’s exactly what a star-studded crowd did Wednesday night during a party for the Hollywood icon at Dear Jane’s in Marina del Ray. Demi Lovato,…

Paris-based Haut et Court has closed French distribution rights with sales agent Film Factory Entertainment on Victor Erice’s ”Close Your Eyes” (“Cerrar los ojos”), the legendary Spanish director’s return to feature film direction 30 years after Cannes Jury Prize winner “Dream of Light” and a half century on from his milestone debut, “The Spirit of…

Linking two top players on the Spanish TV scene, Barcelona studio Filmax has acquired international sales rights to Spanish comedy “Co-Husbands,” whose backers include Telecinco Cinema, producer of Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” and J.A. Bayona’s The Impossible.” Filmax will unveil a trailer to clients at this week’s Berlin European Film Market, before the film’s…

Ted Field’s Radar Pictures, best known for the “Jumanji” and “The Chronicles of Riddick” franchises, has teamed with James Leon’s 8th Gear Entertainment to produce action-thriller “Breakneck,” centering on a female driver who moves between the worlds of getaway driving and Formula E racing. The project is eyed as a franchise-starter in the vein of…

Multimedia Music has closed an eight-figure deal to acquire the music publishing and music master rights from the entire film music library of STX Entertainment, including film titles such as “Bad Moms,” “The Gentlemen,” “Den of Thieves,” “Greenland” and “The Foreigner,” and music from leading composers including Hans Zimmer, Cliff Martinez, Marcelo Zarvos, Hauschke, Chris…

Bobby “RZA” Diggs, the producer and leader of the legendary hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, hopes he’s created a guidebook for people who grew up the way he did. Speaking about Season 3 of Hulu’s “Wu-Tang: An American Saga,” the fictionalized account of the group’s origin that he created with Alex Tse, he says, “This show…