At Ciné – Giornate di Cinema, the summer industry gathering held every year in Riccione where Italian film distributors present their upcoming release slates to industry professionals, a major agreement was signed between three of the country's leading film organizations: ANICA (the National Union of Film Publishers and Distributors), ANEC (the National Association of Cinema Exhibitors), and IFC (Italian Film Commissions, the national association of regional film offices). Distributors, movie theaters, and Italy's regional film commissions are joining forces: with [...]

U.S. movie theaters are in the middle of a season the industry has been waiting a long time for. As of June 28, the summer season's box office (conventionally measured from the first weekend of May through September 7, Labor Day) has already brought in roughly $1.8 billion, a figure just 2% off the same period in 2019, the last year the American film market could truly be called healthy. That's not a small detail: since 2020, every attempt to [...]

Fox Corporation announced the acquisition of Roku, Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal that values the streaming platform at approximately $22 billion in enterprise value, with consideration of $160.00 per share in a combination of cash and FOX Class A common stock. The agreement, unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, marks a strategic turning point for the U.S. media industry. Once the deal closes, the combined group will bring together FOX's sports and news coverage, alongside a [...]

Google is investing around $75 million in A24 in a deal focused on research and development of artificial intelligence tools for filmmaking, marking the tech giant’s first direct stake in an independent film studio according to reports from Variety and Deadline. The agreement involves DeepMind, Google’s AI research arm, which will work closely with A24’s creative and production teams to develop new workflows and tools for directors, editors and showrunners, spanning the entire process from idea generation to post-production. According [...]

Two first-time feature directors. A combined budget of under $11 million. Over $260 million at the worldwide box office. Summer 2026 has barely started, and the indie sector is already rewriting the rules. Backrooms, A24's adaptation of Kane Parsons' viral YouTube series, crossed $100 million domestically in just six days, a milestone that most arthouse releases never reach across their entire theatrical run. The film opened to $81.4 million over Memorial Day weekend, more than tripling A24's previous opening record, [...]

The "Produced By" Conference is the annual gathering organized by the Producers Guild of America, held this year on the Universal Studios Lot in Los Angeles, a facility running entirely on renewable energy. A full day of panels, networking, and conversations among the leading voices of the American film and television industry. Among those in attendance was the Italian Trade Agency, which closely followed two of the most significant sessions of the conference: the fireside chats with Tom Quinn, CEO [...]