movies

Animated Viking Drama ViQueens Unveils Teaser In Annecy

Published

35 minutes ago

June 25, 2026

EXCLUSIVE: Dutch-Norwegian director Zwart Arbeid gave a sneak peek of his upcoming animated feature ViQueens in a masterclass at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Thursday, and Deadline can share the teaser exclusively too.

Co-starring Ella Purnell and Rita Ora in the voice cast, with a special appearance by global soccer superstar Erling Haaland, the adventure-comedy follows fearless Viking girls Ingrid and Hedvig as they defy tradition to return a stowaway boy to China.

Their journey spans icy fjords, Byzantine intrigue, and the fabled Silk Road, blending Viking grit with ancient Chinese wisdom, unexpected alliances, and a touch of magic.

The teaser launch coincides with a special Annecy masterclass presented by Zwart (The Karate Kid, The Mortal Instruments) and producer Veslemøy Ruud Zwart, sharing the creative journey behind the making of the film and unveiling an innovative production methodology they developed called “Reference Capture.”

Designed to bridge the gap between live-action filmmaking and animation, Reference Capture combines performance, cinematography, and physical staging early in the creative process, providing animators with a rich visual and emotional foundation for storytelling, with every frame still being animated and no AI being used.

“From the beginning, we wanted ViQueens to feel as emotionally authentic and cinematically grounded as a live-action film while retaining all the imagination and scale that animation makes possible,” said Zwart.

“Reference Capture allowed us to bridge those worlds by capturing real performances, camera language, and physicality early in the process, giving our artists a richer foundation from which to build the film’s animated universe.”

The film features an original score by acclaimed composer Christophe Beck, whose iconic work on Disney’s Frozen and Frozen II has resonated with audiences around the world and helped define a generation of animated storytelling.

Joining Purnell, Ora, and Haaland in the voice cast are Steve Speirs as King Erik, Anton Lesser as the scheming Lars, and Alan Carr as the Bard, an overly enthusiastic royal scribe.

“The teaser is our first opportunity to invite audiences into the world of ViQueens,” said producer Veslemøy Ruud Zwart. “It captures the humor, heart, adventure, and cinematic scope of the film while showcasing a new approach to animation production that has been central to bringing this story to life.”

Animation and visual effects for ViQueens are being produced by Gimpville, with post-production and audio services provided by OPCM both out of Norway.

The film is executive produced by Torgeir Sanders of Gimpville (Troll, Troll Hunter), Robert Chandler of Space Age Films (The Amazing Maurice, The Canterville Ghost), Peter Clausen of OPCM (Lilyhammer, Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole, Troll, Billionaires Island), Andrew Williams of Vamonos, Rasmus Ramstad of Rumba AS, and Solveig Langeland of Sola Media, which is also handling worldwide sales.

The film is slated for delivery in late 2026, with a home territory release planned for December 25, 2026.

movies

Sky & ITV Agree Terms Over $2.1B Deal As Love Sold To ITV Studios

Published

20 minutes ago

June 25, 2026

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Sky and ITV have agreed terms over their £1.6B ($2.1B) acquisition deal and the move that will shake up British broadcasting could be announced in the next fortnight, according to Reuters.

As part of the deal, Reuters confirmed previous reporting that The Great British Bake Off producer Love Productions will be sold to ITV Studios.

The deal is for ITV’s Media & Entertainment arm, not its Studios production and distribution division, and it first emerged late last year. In May, ITV followed up by saying it remained in “active discussions” with Sky. Reuters said it is now being finalized by lawyers and an announcement could be made in the next couple of weeks.

ITV Studios, which makes the likes of Love Island and Squid Game: The Challenge, will remain separate and will add Love Productions to its stable, a huge boon given the Great British Bake Off IP. Sky bought 70% of Love in 2014 and the remainder in 2020. Founder Richard McKerrow exited last year.

Earlier this month, ITV boss Carolyn McCall gave an impassioned speech at a leaders conference about why the Media & Entertainment biz, aka ITV channels and streamer ITVX, is “extremely resilient and cash generative.”

The network is “recognized by shareholders as a strong business, not what it was six or seven years ago,” she said. ITV’s share price rose 2.5% this morning.

Sky is owned by U.S. media giant Comcast but we are told Sky is very much leading on the ITV deal with its parent in the background. The deal will require approval from Ofcom and the Competition Markets Authority and will lead to question marks over what will happen to Sky and ITV’s respective news operations. ITV News is run by Channel 4 and 5 newsmaker ITN.

ITV declined comment. Deadline has reached out to Sky for comment.

movies

Virginie Efira To Receive Locarno’s Honorary Leopard Club Award

Published

26 minutes ago

June 25, 2026

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Virginie Efira will be awarded Locarno’s honorary Leopard Club Award during this year’s festival, which runs from August 5-15.

Efira will receive the award at the festival’s Piazza Grande stage on August 7 and will also present, as part of the Festival programme, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden, the film for which she won the Best Actress award at Cannes.

Locarno’s Leopard Club Award is handed out to individuals “whose work in the film industry has left its mark on the collective imagination.” Previous winners include Faye Dunaway, Mia Farrow, Andy García, Stefania Sandrelli, Adrien Brody, Meg Ryan, Hilary Swank, Kasia Smutniak, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Irène Jacob, and Emma Thompson.

Locarno Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro described Efira as a performer with “a unique sensibility to her roles.”

“Bold yet thoughtful, instinctive yet ironic, she offers contemporary cinema a fresh perspective that continually reinvents itself,” Nazzaro said of Efira.

“From working with Verhoeven to Hamaguchi and beyond, she has consistently explored her artistic potential, revealing a talent that evolves with freedom and vitality. Efira captures the beauty of what it means to be an actress in today’s cinema.”

All Of A Sudden is Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to Evil Does Not Exist, which won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.

Hamaguchi wrote the script in collaboration with Léa Le Dimna, which is loosely inspired by a collection of real-life exchanged letters published in the book When Life Suddenly Takes a Turn: Twenty Letters Between a Philosopher with Terminal Cancer and Medical Anthropologist by Makiko Miyano and Maho Isono.

The film is produced by David Gauquié, Julien Deris, Jean-Luc Ormières, Renan Artukmaç for Paris-based Cinefrance Studios; Hiroko Matsuda, Kosuke Oshida, Yuji Sadai for Japan’s Office Shirous & Bitters End; Bettina Brokemper for Germany’s Heimatfilm; and Joseph Rouschop for Belgium’s Tarantula.

Neon has acquired North American rights to the film.

movies

Virginie Efira to Receive Locarno Leopard Club Award

Published

41 minutes ago

June 25, 2026

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The Locarno Film Festival will honor and celebrate the Belgian-born actress Virginie Efira with the Leopard Club Award at its 79th edition this August.

Efira will receive the award in the Swiss town’s Piazza Grande on the evening of Friday, Aug. 7. In the fest program, she will also present Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All of a Sudden (Soudain), for which she won the Palme for best actress at Cannes and for which she learned to act partly in Japanese.

“Over the past decade, Virginie Efira has become a defining presence in French-language cinema,” Locarno said on Thursday. “In 2023, she earned the César for best actress for Alice Winocour’s Paris Memories (Revoir Paris) and has repeatedly ventured into bold, formally adventurous work with some of the most distinctive contemporary filmmakers.”

Also at Cannes 2026, Efira starred in Asghar Farhadi’s Parallel Tales (Histoires parallèles), another competition title, in which she featured opposite Isabelle Huppert and Vincent Cassel.

“Along with popular successes, Efira’s trajectory has been marked by memorable turns with Dutch auteur Paul Verhoeven and Anatomy of a Fall (2023) filmmaker Justine Triet,” Locarno said. “In Verhoeven’s Elle (2016), and especially in Benedetta (2021), Efira demonstrated a willingness to inhabit provocative, demanding characters whose thorny complexities resist easy categorisation. Her extraordinary performances in Triet’s Victoria (2016) and Sibyl (2019) likewise confirmed that gift and, along with a handful of other remarkable films of that period, secured her status as one of the rising stars of modern European cinema.”

Said Giona A. Nazzaro, Locarno’s artistic director: “Virginie Efira brings a unique sensibility to her roles as a performer. Bold yet thoughtful, instinctive yet ironic, she offers contemporary cinema a fresh perspective that continually reinvents itself. From working with Verhoeven to Hamaguchi and beyond, she has consistently explored her artistic potential, revealing a talent that evolves with freedom and vitality. Efira captures the beauty of what it means to be an actress in today’s cinema.”

The Leopard Club, the official supporting association of the Locarno festival, presents the Leopard Club Award each year to “an individual whose work in the film industry has left its mark on the collective imagination.” Among the stars who have received the honor are Faye Dunaway, Mia Farrow, Andy García, Stefania Sandrelli, Adrien Brody, Meg Ryan, Hilary Swank, Kasia Smutniak, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Irène Jacob, and Emma Thompson.

The 79th edition of Locarno will take place Aug. 5-15.