GAME SHOW RETURNS
The British version of the iconic reality TV series “Big Brother,” which first launched 23 years ago, is set to return to ITV screens on Oct. 8. The show is hosted by AJ Odudu and Will Best and produced by Initial, part of Banijay U.K. “Big Brother: The Launch” will air on ITV1, ITV2 and streamer ITVX, while the remainder of the series will be available nightly at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX, except Saturdays.
“Big Brother” will be followed each night by “Big Brother: Late & Live,” hosted live by Odudu and Best from the site of the Big Brother house in front of a studio audience, where evictees will be interviewed. Following this, “Big Brother: Live Stream” will stream live footage seven nights a week on ITVX.
The Banijay format is popular globally with some 500 seasons of the show having aired around the world in 64 countries and regions. In the U.K., “Big Brother” first aired on Channel 4 and ran for 11 seasons, plus seven seasons of “Celebrity Big Brother” and a final special edition season titled “Ultimate Big Brother.” The show subsequently aired for a further eight seasons on Channel 5, with an additional 15 celebrity seasons, before going on hiatus in 2018.
KUROSAWA’S LEGACY
Chinese director Gu Xiaogang and Indonesian director Mouly Surya have been named as recipients of the 2023 Kurosawa Akira Award. The prestigious award was revived by the Tokyo International Film Festival last year after 14 years in remission and was presented to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Fukada Koji. Gu has made just one film to date, the acclaimed 2019 title “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains.” “We present this award in recognition of his unique talent and in the hope that he will make a substantial contribution to cinema culture in the future,” said the awards committee.
Surya has made three: 2008’s “Fiction,” 2013 title “What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love,” which went to Tokyo and Sundance, and “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts.” The latter won the Grand Prix at the Tokyo Filmex festival, was Indonesia’s Oscars contender and went on to be theatrically released in 14 countries.
SCREEN CASH
Six feature films, two television dramas and one children’s project will share in over A$10 million ($6.5 million) of production funding from federal body Screen Australia. The projects include: “The Fox,” which stars Jai Courtney and is from the producers of supernatural horror film hit, “Talk to Me”; “An Ideal Wife,” about the story of Oscar Wilde’s wife Constance Lloyd from writer-director-producer Sophie Hyde (“Good Luck To You, Leo Grande”) and starring Emilia Clarke (“Game of Thrones”); reimagined television drama “Ladies in Black,” adapted from the original novel “The Women In Black,” by Madeleine St John; and season three of ABC’s popular children’s show “Ginger and the Vegesaurs.”
ACTORS ON ACTORS
Korean actors Jung Woo and Han Yeri have been named as the jury members who will decide the actor of the year award at next month’s Busan International Film Festival. The award is presented to one male and one female actor appearing in a Korean independent film appearing in the New Currents or Korean Cinema Today – Vision sections. Jung has a filmography that includes “C’est Si Bon,” “The Himalayas” and 202’s “Hot Blooded.” Han is best known for her co-starring role in Oscar-winning U.S. film “Minari.” The 28th Busan International Film Festival runs Oct. 4-13.
SALES
All3Media International has sold five-part BBC drama “Better,” produced by Sister, to Hulu for the U.S., Pickbox for the Balkans, Sýn hf for Iceland, Binge and Foxtel On Demand for Australia, TVNZ for New Zealand, BritBox International for Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden, NPO for the Netherlands, VRT for Belgium and America Video Films S.A. in a pan-territory deal covering South America.
Written and created by Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent, “Better” follows the story of Lou (Leila Farzad), a high ranking police officer whose shared history with powerful criminal Col (Andrew Buchan) continues to bind her to him despite their separate paths.
