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‘Minions & Monsters’ To Open Annecy Animation Film Festival

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Minions & Monsters may follow the titular heroes as they conquer Hollywood but the movie will be stopping by the French lakeside Annecy International Animation Film Festival for its world premiere.

The festival has confirmed that the Illumination and Universal Pictures production, which launches worldwide on July 1, will open the 2026 edition of the festival running June 21 to June 27.

In a storyline teased at CinemaCon earlier this month, Minions & Monsters follows the Minions as they conquer Hollywood, become movie stars, lose everything, unwittingly unleash monsters onto the world and then unite to save the planet from the mayhem they created.

Oscar-nominated Illumination stalwart Pierre Coffin directs the new movie, the third movie in the Minions franchise after Minions (2015) and  Minions: The Rise of Gru.

Illumination has a long relationship with Annecy, with highlights including the world premiere in 2010 of Despicable Me, launching of the hit franchise which then spawned the Minions movies.

The three subsequent Despicable Me films have played at the festival, with the fourth instalment making its French premiere there in 2024 in the presence of director Chris Renaud and Delage, while Minions: The Rise of Gru opened the festival in 2022.

Illumination’s CEO Chris Meledandri was feted with the festival’s Golden Ticket lifetime achievement award in 2023.

Coffin was the director of the first three Despicable Me films and the first Minions film. He has also provided the voice for the Minions since their film debut in 2010.

The film is written by Brian Lynch (MinionsThe Secret Life of Pets films) and Coffin. It is produced by Meledandri and by Bill Ryan, who was executive producer on The Super Mario Bros. Movie), while Lynch takes an executive producer credit.

Illumination has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Pictures.

Annecy will unveil its full lineup on Tuesday, April 28. Variety was the first to report the news that Minions & Monsters was opening the festival.

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CA Lawmakers Compromise With Film Industry On Corporate Tax Credit Cap

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The California production community can breathe a sigh of relief: State lawmakers have officially introduced a bill meant to allow studios a few key exemptions from a recently enacted restriction on corporate tax credits.

AB136, introduced Friday evening, addresses concerns raised from stakeholders including the Motion Picture Association about the threat of undermining the efforts to expand California’s Film & TV Tax Credit pool to $750 million.

Lawmakers have to consider legislation for 72 hours before voting. With that in mind, a vote on AB136 is likely to come Monday evening, hours before the midnight end to the legislative session.

The state budget, passed this summer, seeks to stabilize revenue by preventing corporations from offsetting more than $5 million in tax liability annually for the next three years. Several advocacy groups pushed for a complete exemption, but the solution introduced by lawmakers on Friday evening does fall short of that.

Instead, only independent productions will be completely exempt from the $5 million cap. The legislation also addresses concerns about the payback period for studios that have elected to refund credits for cash. Current law allows studios to get cash instead of claiming the credit against tax liability for a 10% discount on the total with a payback period of five years. The fix accelerates that to two years with just a 5% discount.

The new legislation will also extend the expiration date of the non-refundable tax credits that were issued prior to 2025.

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Tennessee Governor Plans To Rename Nashville Airport For Dolly Parton

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As the world mourns Dolly Parton, Tennessee has plans to immortalize the late Queen of Country while welcoming visitors to Music City.

On Friday, Gov. Bill Lee‘s office announced a partnership with the Nashville International Airport (BNA) in conversations with Parton’s team to rename the airport in honor of the 11x Grammy-winning country pop/songstress, who died at age 80 on Tuesday.

The Metro Nashville Airport Authority will discuss its naming policy and Gov. Lee’s proposal to rename the airport at its Thursday, Sept. 17 meeting.

“Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life is forever woven into the fabric of our state,” said Gov. Lee in a statement. “From her rural mountain home in East Tennessee to global stages, Dolly carried the Volunteer Spirit with her.

“At a place where Tennessee welcomes the world, it is fitting that Nashville International Airport would bear the name of our state’s favorite daughter and greet travelers with the enduring legacy of Dolly’s music, generosity, faith and kindness,” he added.

Born Jan. 19, 1946 in Pittman Center, Tennessee, Parton lived with husband Carl Dean in his native Nashville for several years, and he died there last March at age 82.

Parton’s family announced that she died in Nashville on Tuesday following a brief sickness with cancer. Although she remained busy until her final days, the “I Will Always Love You” artist had dealt with health issues over the past year.

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Nicole Kidman On “Spontaneous” Appearance In Troye Sivan Video

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Nicole Kidman seems to be popping up onscreen everywhere the past few years, and Troye Sivan‘s latest music video was no exception.

After the Oscar-winning actress made a surprise appearance in the 3x Grammy-nominated artist’s “She’s the Best” music video earlier this month, she recently explained the “spontaneous” decision.

“I love him. I’ve known him for such a long time,” Kidman told Attitude. “He called me up and just said: ‘Will you be in this with me?’ I didn’t even need to read anything, I didn’t need to have any information, I just said: ‘Yeah! I’m in!’ But that’s me! I make very spontaneous decisions!”

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Marking the lead single on Sivan’s upcoming fourth studio album of the same name, the video for “She’s the Best” features Kidman on a night out in New York City, where Sivan serenades and dances with her at a bar before slipping into drag.

Kidman’s appearance in her fellow Aussie’s video came after they co-starred in the 2018 Joel Edgerton-helmed adaptation of Garrard Conley’s memoir Boy Erased, recounting the author’s experience as an LGBTQ kid in conversion therapy.

Announced a day before the video dropped, She’s the Best is scheduled for an Oct. 9 album release via Interscope’s EMI Records.

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