International Insider: Mission Possible; Submarine Tragedy; Cannes Lions Roars
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Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here bringing you the latest from the world of international film and TV. Do read on. And sign up here if you haven’t already.
Mission: Possible
“Movies for the big screen”: Tom Cruise launched the latest edition of his sprawling Mission: Impossible franchise Monday afternoon with an elaborate red carpet hoisted up on the Spanish Steps in Rome, and Nancy and Baz were there to witness all. The eternal city and it’s famous stone staircase feature heavily in the film alongside the Piazza di Spagne, giving it quite the European feel. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the seventh entry in the wider franchise and is once again helmed by Cruise’s now-frequent collaborator Christopher McQuarrie. You can check out images from the premiere here, which appeared to be an emotional event for Cruise, who spoke passionately with Nancy about his desire to preserve the theatrical experience with his films. “I make movies for the big screen — that is what I do,” he said. Cruise later added: “It’s not just a cinema experience – it is about all of us together from all walks of life, and being there together in the theater and having a common experience. And that is what cinema does. It bridges walls, it breaks them down and allows people to be able to share that kind of commonality and experience.”
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Those stunts: Across the decades, Cruise, also a longtime producer on the series, has shifted each film to represent the industry at the time it was released. People often forget New Hollywood provocateur Brian De Palma directed the first Mission: Impossible and subsequent editions included everyone from Thandiwe Newton and Keri Russell to Léa Seydoux. One thing that has stayed the same, however, is the stunts. In promo footage released earlier this year, audiences were given a teaser of Cruise’s latest high-octaine set piece. You can see that here. At the premiere, co-star Simon Pegg told Baz that the film’s crew carry an acute anxiety about Cruise’s safety. “There’s always a sense that, you know, one day, something might go wrong and we might lose Tom,” he said. “Anytime there’s a big stunt, we all have that sense of, you know, fear, but he always pulls it off.”
Momentum: Dead Reckoning Part One hits cinemas worldwide from July 12, and Paramount/Skydance will hope the film can galvanize audiences as the first undeniable summer tentpole out the gate. The release couldn’t come at a better time for Cruise, who, after turning 60 this year, seems to have the most momentum he’s had in decades following the success of Top Gun: Maverick. The pic nabbed six Oscar noms, including Best Picture. Steven Spielberg even hailed the actor, telling him he “saved Hollywood’s ass” with the megahit sequel, which brought massive box office returns following record lows out of the pandemic. Cruise also seems to have quashed any potentially awkward intrigue around his links to the Church of Scientology and its controversial leader David Miscavige. In the coming weeks, however, Cruise and co will have to fight off competition from the two most anticipated films of the year: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Both films drop July 21, right on the heels of Mission: Impossible, and there had been some loose reports that Cruise was furious at the potential loss of IMAX screens to Oppenheimer. If social media buzz is something to be considered — and we know this is a key battleground for studios — team Mission: Impossible have much to fear from Gerwig and Nolan.
Submarine Tragedy
“Struck by the similarity of the Titanic”: It’s the story that has dominated headlines and cornered TV screens across the world this week and it has ended in tragedy. News of the missing OceanGate sub Titan started to emerge on Tuesday and, with the world grasping the notion that time was running out, we were transfixed. Recent TV shows about the vessel emerged including a six-month-old CBS report that went viral after reporter David Pogue raised safety concerns about the vessel, commenting on its “improvised design” including an unofficial Playstation controller that was used to drive it. Josh Gates, host of Discovery’s Expedition: Unknown, meanwhile, took to Twitter to say he had decided against going in the vessel for a second time as it “did not perform well” on the first. Elsewhere, Paramount’s UK network Channel 5 had turned around a quickfire documentary on the sub within just a day. Debris found near the Titanic has been confirmed as the wreckage of the missing submarine and, tragically, all five crewmembers are feared dead. The story will likely remain in public discourse for some time, with questions over the vessel’s safety abound along with wider debates around just why this story has taken up so much media airspace. Titanic director James Cameron mulled that he had been “struck by the similarity of the Titanic disaster itself, where the captain was repeatedly warned about ice ahead of his ship and yet he steamed at full speed into an ice field on a moonless night.” Our thoughts go out to the families of those who died.
Netflix’s Korea Plan
Sarandos bears his Seoul: We will compensate producers and talent fairly, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos told a Korean press conference this week. During a three-day visit to the capital Seoul, the Netflix Co-CEO stressed that the mega $2.5B investment planned over the coming years will be fair, following calls from some local lawmakers and industry figures for more profit-sharing with creators. Netflix was placed under the microscope due to the phenomenal success of Squid Game but lack of bonuses for actors and creators after it became a bona fide breakout hit. Squid Game director Hwang told me last year that if he had had his time again he would have struck an IP-sharing deal. Last week, the Korean government announced plans to provide $390M (KRW500BN) to help local streaming platforms compete with global streamers, including Netflix, as they tackle soaring production costs, but Korean public service broadcasting is in a tricky place and the viability of the KBS network has been called into question by a public service media advocacy group. Our Asia expert Liz Shackleton brought the news, and, in another breaker from the continent, was on hand to report on Canal+ taking a 26% stake in leading streamer Viu.
Besson Cleared & Bedos Held
French cinema troubles: Difficult week for French cinema fans after popular actor and director Nicolas Bedos was reported to have spent 24 hours in police custody in Paris from Wednesday to Thursday following a complaint against him for sexual assault. The La Belle Epoque auteur now faces a court hearing next year in relation to events that took place on the night of June 1 to 2. Bedos has just wrapped on Prime Video’s Alphonse starring Jean Dujardin and the streamer had no comment on whether it will be pushing forward with the show. French media reports also broke Wednesday about The Fifth Element writer Luc Besson and the dismissal of accusations of rape by Belgian-Dutch actress Sand Van Roy. France’s highest appeals court dismissed the accusations following Van Roy’s appeal. She first filed a rape complaint in 2018, a few hours after a meeting in a luxury Paris hotel. Besson has previously called the accusations a “lie.” The scandals are just two of many to have beset French cinema in past years and come off the back of a tricky Cannes Film Festival, which was full of controversy. Mel’s Besson report is here.
Cannes Lions Roars
Great and the good: The movers and shakers of the global ad market, plus plenty of stars, gathered this week in France for a busy Cannes Lions. Our Weekend Editor Caroline Frost was on the ground reporting on talks from a whole gamut of uber-famous folks including Spike Lee, Keke Palmer, Jameela Jamil, Michael Johnson and SNL creator Lorne Michaels. Silos between the world of ads and traditional TV and film are continually breaking down and, notably, there was a heavy presence from Amazon this year in the French Riviera. Notable highlights included Creative Maker of the Year winner Lee revealing the one piece of career advice he was given by Michael Jackson, while sprinter Johnson called on sports brands to support stars who want to use their voice. All our coverage can be found here.
The Essentials
🌶️ Hot One: The BBC is under fire for its “appalling” treament of five female news channel anchors, per Jake’s latest update.
🌶️ Another one: ITV made a failed bid for Channel 4’s Gogglebox earlier this year in what would have been a major shake-up of the broadcasting landscape, we revealed.
🌶️ Another: Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s disappearance is to be investigated in a feature doc for Canada’s CBC.
⛺ Festival: Mel sat down with Taormina Film Festival head Barrett Wissman to talk Indiana Jones and next gen audiences.
⛺ Another festival: Karlovy Vary will fete Robin Wright and Christine Vachon.
⛺ Leaving the festival: Goteborg Film Festival Head Jonas Holmberg is to step down.
🎥 Casting: Wednesday star Emma Myers boarded the BBC’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder adaptation.
💵 Big spenders: More than $5B has been splashed by Amazon on the UK creative industries since 2010, the streamer revealed at a swanky London do.
🌪️ Shakeup: At Alibaba, with Co-Founder Joe Tsai set to become Chairman.
🤥 Big lie: Glastonbury cancelled a screening of a Jeremy Corbyn doc accused of peddling anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
❌ Trial: For Andrew Tate, who will stand with three others in Romania over rape and human trafficking.
🤖 AI latest: Will someone please think of the journalists, said ITN boss Rachel Corp.
🎭 Breaking Baz: Succession’s Sarah Snook will play all 26 characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray on stage, per our roving International Editor-at-Large’s latest column.
🍿 Box office: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swung past $500M worldwide, per Nancy’s latest.
Zac Ntim and Jesse Whittock contributed to this week’s International Insider.
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