SUNDAY AM: Sony/Crunchyroll’s Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc is landing at the high end of where we were seeing it yesterday with $17.2M after a $5.2M million Saturday in a weekend where the Toronto Blue Jays and LA Dodgers were a complete distraction in the World Series, now with 1-1 tied streak. Universal/Blumhouse’s second weekend of […]
“I Swear,” the British indie film about Tourette’s Syndrome campaigner John Davidson that has already been a hit with audiences and critics in the U.K., has been bought by Sony Pictures Classics.
SPC acquired all rights to the film for the United States, Latin America, most of Eastern Europe, Turkey, Southeast Asia, Portugal and South Korea.
Written and directed by BAFTA nominee Kirk Jones (“Waked Ned Devine,” “Nanny McPhee”), “I Swear” first premiered in Toronto to critical acclaim and earlier this month launched in U.K. and Irish cinemas, opening at third spot behind “Tron: Ares” and “One Battle After Another.” According to distributor StudioCanal, it also set a new record as the most highly rated film by cinemas audiences since records began in the U.K. — above “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Top Gun Maverick” and “Parasite” in Comscore PostTrak exit polls.
Alongside Robert Aramayo (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”) as the lead, the film’s supporting cast includes three-time BAFTA nominee Maxine Peake (“Say Nothing,” “The Theory of Everything”), BAFTA winner Shirley Henderson (“Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” “Harry Potter”) and Cannes best actor Award winner and Golden Lion winner Peter Mullan (“War Horse,” “The Magdalene Sisters”).
Set in 1980s Britain, “I Swear” charts Davidson’s Tourette’s diagnosis at the age of 15 years old, following him throughout his troubled teens and early adulthood exploring this little known and entirely misunderstood condition, along with his attempts to live a “normal” life against the odds. The production worked closely with the Tourette’s community, casting individuals who live with Tourette’s, and collaborated with a Tourette’s charity.
The film was produced by Jones, Georgia Bayliff and Piers Tempest for One Story High and Tempo Productions. Cindy Jones and John Davidson serve as executive Producers.
“I am thrilled to partner with Sony Pictures Classics on ‘I Swear,’” said Jones. “Their history, vision, ambition and passion for what is a very special project for us, feels like a perfect fit for U.S. and additional territories.”
Added Tempest, “We are delighted that ‘I Swear’ is resonating so much with audiences in the United Kingdom and can’t think of better partners than Sony Pictures Classics to bring the film to U.S. audiences and beyond.”
The deal was negotiated between Sony Pictures Classics and Bankside Films on behalf of the filmmakers.
“I Swear’ is one of those extraordinary, one-of-a-kind, true-to-life movies, emotionally engaging, funny and compelling,” said Sony Pictures Classics. “Many will identify as ‘I Swear’ explores conquering an entirely misunderstood condition, by a young man and the people around him. Directed to perfection by Kirk Jones with amazing performances by Robert Aramayo and stalwarts Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson and Peter Mullan, ‘I Swear’ will be adored by audiences everywhere.”
The Mitchells and the machines are readying for a rematch.
Sony Pictures Animation is making a sequel to its 2021 Oscar-nominated feature “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” with Guillermo Martinez (head of story for the first “Mitchells” film) and JP Sans (co-director of “The Bad Guys 2”) signing on to direct, marking Martinez’s directorial debut. Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin (“The Great North”), known professionally as the Molyneux sisters, are writing the screenplay. Production is expected to begin in early 2026.
As with the original, Netflix will distribute the “Mitchells” sequel as part of a licensing agreement with Sony. The first film was initially slated to be released by Sony Pictures in 2020 after the title was changed to “Connected,” but following delays due to the COVID pandemic, Netflix picked up the film (under its original title) for reportedly more than $100 million. The studios are planning a more collaborative partnership on the second “Mitchells” movie. (Sony’s recent animated feature “KPop Demon Hunters” landed at Netflix under a separate output deal with the streamer; it’s now Netflix’s most-watched movie ever and the companies are in talks for a sequel.)
“The Mitchells vs. the Machines” follows the titular family as they drive their eldest daughter, Katie (Abbi Jacobson), across the country to film school in California. While en route, a rogue AI called PAL (Olivia Colman) commanders an army of robots to launch a worldwide rebellion against humanity. It’s up to the Mitchells — including Katie’s technophobic father, Rick (Danny McBride), overly sweet mother, Linda (Maya Rudolph) and hyperactive younger brother, Aaron (Mike Rianda) — to save the day. The film won wide praise for its hand-painted animation style, won eight Annie Awards, including for animated feature, and was nominated for best animated feature at the Oscars.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are producing through their company Lord Miller, and Kurt Albrecht is producing for Sony Pictures Animation. Rianda, who co-wrote and directed the original, is an executive producer, along with Lord Miller’s Aditya Sood.
Martinez started out on the 2019 Laika production “Missing Link”; after serving as head of story on the first “Mitchells vs. Machines” film, he worked on 2023’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and on “KPop Demon Hunters.”
Prior to co-directing 2025’s “The Bad Guys 2” with Pierre Perifel, Sans worked as an animator on several DreamWorks Animation films, including “Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken,” “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” and “Trolls World Tour.”
Sony Pictures International Productions is set to showcase its IP adaptation playbook at the Tokyo International Film Festival‘s TIFFCOM content market, with executive VP of creative production and head of SPIP Shebnem Askin leading a deep dive into the studio’s strategy for turning local hits into global franchises.
The session comes as international interest in IP adaptations reaches fever pitch across the content industry. SPIP, which has carved out a distinctive niche producing local-language films across 10 countries, will pull back the curtain on how it strategically develops remake projects and localizes IP across diverse markets.
Askin’s presentation will spotlight SPIP’s track record of cross-cultural adaptations, including the Spanish remake of Argentine IP “Ten Days Without Mom” (“Padre No Hay Más Que Uno”), the Spanish reimagining of Italian property “I Hate Summer,” and multiple adaptations of French IP “Price of Parenting” in Italy, Mexico and Spain. The studio has also produced a Thai remake of “50 First Dates,” a Brazilian version of “Friends with Benefits,” and Italian and Mexican remakes of SPIP’s German production “25 km/h.”
Japanese IP figures prominently in SPIP’s strategy. The division recently produced a Mexican adaptation of “Shall We Dance?” and secured international distribution rights for the Chinese remake of “YOLO,” the comedy-drama from China’s top-grossing female director Jia Ling.
Under Askin’s leadership, SPIP has built a robust theatrical business anchored by three local-language franchises: the “3 Investigators” movies in Germany, “Father is the Only One” in Spain, and the powerhouse “Kingdom” franchise in Japan. Recent releases include Korean thriller “Highjack, 1971,” Taiwanese feature “Dead Talents Society,” Mamoru Hosoda’s “Scarlet,” and the studio’s first Thai production.
Beyond theatrical releases, SPIP has delivered 11 direct-to-streaming movies for Amazon Prime, Netflix and Max in Mexico over the past three years, including Argentine film “The Heart Knows” and Netflix Italy originals “The Price of Family” and its sequel “The Price of Nonna’s Inheritance.”
The newly rebranded Tokyo IP Market: Adaptation & Remake launches its first open pitch session featuring Kadokawa, Kodansha, Shufu to Seikatsu Sha, Square Enix, Toei and Nihonbungeisha. The expanded market now includes visual content production companies alongside publishers holding original rights to Japanese manga and novels. Other highlighted programming includes a keynote from Tetsu Fujimura on the “One Piece” live-action adaptation and Japanese IP, Japanese animation seminars featuring Studio4°C, and the MPA/DHU/TIFFCOM Pitching Contest with “Elvis” producer Schuyler Weiss among the judges. The Tokyo Gap-Financing Market has selected 23 projects for presentation.
TIFFCOM is organized by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, and Unijapan.
The 22nd edition of TIFFCOM runs Oct. 29-31 at Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center Hamamatsucho-Kan during the Tokyo International Film Festival. The market aims to foster international co-productions and content business development through seminars, project markets, pitch contests and networking opportunities.
EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures Television (SPT) will introduce a drama award at this week’s MIA Market in Rome.
The Sony Pictures Television Award will be presented for the first time at the Italian industry confab. This will go to the winner of the annual MIA Drama Coproduction Market & Pitching Forum, with a jury from Sony Pictures Television making the choice from the 15 in contention.
Projects in contention include 1980s Parisian skinheads drama Rage, which will be directed by Xavier Dolan, and Dutch art theft drama Hitler’s Horses: An Arthur Brand Story, produced by Femke Wolting from Submarine and written by Ed McCardie. There are also projects from Palestine, the UK, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Switzerland, Ireland, Norway and, of course, Italy.
SPT has been a big supporter of MIA over the years, with the President of Sony Pictures Television Studios, Katherine Pope, speaking on stage last year. She’ll be in town again this week to present the award, as SPT becomes the official sponsor of the Drama Coproduction Market for the first time.
The launch of the Sony Pictures Television Award “underscores a shared commitment to fostering innovative new voices, promoting international coproductions, and telling stories with the potential to transcend borders,” SPT and MIA jointly said.
“We’re thrilled to partner with MIA and Gaia Tridente’s incredible team and establish the Sony Pictures Television Award for Best Drama Project 2025,” said Pope. “The Drama Coproduction Market at MIA brings together creators from around the world who are pushing boundaries and thinking globally. We’re excited to support these kinds of bold projects that can travel across cultures while maintaining their unique voice. It is important to champion these stories and the talented teams behind them.”
MIA boss Tridente has repeatedly positioned her market as one where stand-out projects truly begin their journeys to screen.
“This recognition, through the new Sony Pictures Television Award, seals an important partnership with a global major and highlights the value of the MIA Co-Production Market,” she said today. “I am especially grateful to Kathrine Pope and Sony Pictures Television for their trust and vision, which confirms the strategic role of MIA as a platform for international co-production.
“This award celebrates the drama projects and talents that emerge from our market, reinforcing our mission to connect creativity and business on a global scale. Together, we aim to foster stories with worldwide resonance and provide producers with concrete opportunities to grow and succeed.”
MIA begins today (October 6) and runs through the week, gently warming up participants for next week’s MIPCOM. Now in its eleventh year, and fourth with Tridente at the helm, the event is heavily focused on its pitching competitions for drama, documentaries and animation.
This year, there will also be a Book Adaptation Forum and training initiative Apollo Series, which has been developed in partnership with Series Mania Institute and Goteborg Film TV’s Drama Vision track. There will also be a short-film showcase, ‘Vertical’ AI workshops curated by Largo.ai, and an Industry Insider Bootcamp, which is presented by UTA.
As usual, there will also be panel sessions, content showcases, the MIA Buyers’ Club, the C EU Soon work-in-progress program, market screenings, networking sessions, workshops, roundtables and conferences. The 2024 edition attracted 2,800 participants, up 10% year-on-year.
SoundPatrol has entered a partnership with Universal Music Group and Sony Music to protect artists from copyright infringement coming from AI music models.
According to a press release, SoundPatrol specializes in using a “forensic AI model for audio-video fingerprinting.” Through neural fingerprinting, SoundPatrol claims it can analyze fully (or partially) AI generated songs to identify influences and traces of human-made music.
For the music industry, finding out ways to fingerprint, track and attribute traces of copyrighted material in AI songs is the key to properly compensating and crediting talent for their work when it’s used to influence AI models. In recent months, AI companies like Udio and Music AI have proactively announced partnerships with Audible Magic to help fingerprint their works.
But UMG and Sony’s approval of SoundPatrol’s “neural fingerprinting” approach represents a major co-sign for this type of technology, which SoundPatrol claims is “a significant advancement beyond traditional audio fingerprinting techniques”
“Traditional audio fingerprinting… primarily rel[ies] on matching exact audio snippets. Neural embeddings capture semantic relationships to identify covers, remixes and generative-AI derivatives,” the press release states. SoundPatrol also has future plans to develop tools and models that will “proactively help third-party platforms and research labs prevent copyright violations,” the press release reads.
SoundPatrol is a company that originated in a Stanford University lab and was founded by top AI, machine learning and cybersecurity academics. This includes Walter De Brouwer Ph. D., SoundPatrol’s co-founder and CEO, and Percy Liang Ph. D. (director of the Center for Foundation Models and leading Stanford’s Marin, the Open Lab for Building Foundation Models), Chris Re, Ph. D. (Stanford AI Lab, Director of FactoryHQ), and Dan Boneh, Ph. D. (Director of the Applied Cryptography Lab and Co Director of the Cybersecurity Lab).
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Lucian Grainge, UMG’s chairman and CEO, says of the deal: “We’re constantly focused on enabling AI — bringing to market the many commercial and creative opportunities that will benefit our artists while establishing effective tools to protect them. Bringing solutions to the table that support the entire industry is at the heart of our relationship with SoundPatrol, who share our commitment to safeguarding our artists’ creative integrity and work.”
“The possibilities of AI present opportunities for artists and creators when used the right way,” says Dennis Kooker, president of global digital business at Sony Music. “We’re committed to navigating this developing landscape by protecting their work while also exploring the innovative potential of these technologies. Our collaboration with SoundPatrol is about respecting artists’ rights to build a sustainable and equitable ecosystem for everyone.”
“Generative AI is transforming music in extraordinary ways, but if we abandon copyright, we risk severing artists from ownership of their own work,” says Walter De Brouwer, SoundPatrol co-founder and CEO. “It is compulsory to proactively feed deep embeddings of these neural signatures into streaming infrastructures so that owners can maintain control, authenticity, and monetization of their intellectual property in the generative AI era. Eliminating copyright to accelerate AI is like changing the speed of light to advance physics — it misunderstands the fundamental laws that sustain creativity.”
Michael Ovitz, SoundPatrol co-founder and chairman of the board, adds: “This is a huge victory for all artists in the creative universe.” He continued: “One of the premier issues affecting artists has always been the protection of their intellectual property rights. SoundPatrol has answered the long-standing problem of IP theft by creating a frontier lab with neural fingerprinting capabilities that can identify all pipelines of directly transmitted content, whether on its own or intermixed, in real time. This is the first of-its-kind technology implemented to protect all copyright holders and creators of any type of intellectual property.”
Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group CEO Tom Rothman knows what it takes to be a studio exec, and he called out the way people in the role are depicted in The Studio.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Hollywood satire series follows Matt Remick (Rogen), the new executive of Continental Studios who struggles to run the fictional company.
“In each one of those episodes, there is a kernel of brilliant, blinding truth, and that’s what makes great satire,” Rothman told Letterboxd in an interview published on Thursday. “The show is wonderfully satiric.”
While he was able to admire “that kernel,” Rothman said that “everything else is horseshit.” He continued, “Maybe some days, but most days we’re not morons.”
Despite his issues with the portrayal of studio execs, Rothman insisted he was able to view the Apple TV+ series “with the sense of humor intended.” In fact, he even referenced The Studio while giving a presentation in March.
“When I took the stage a few months ago at CinemaCon, I walked out and said, ‘Hi, everybody, I’m Seth Rogen!’ which was good for a laugh there,” he said, referring to Rogen’s character on the show. During the final two episodes of Season 1, Remick presented at the Las Vegas exhibitors’ conference.
Meanwhile, Rothman also said that The Studio accurately depicts Remick’s undying passion for cinema despite the persistent mistakes he’s made as an executive. “What it gets right is that there’s a fundamental truth of studio executives trying to do the right thing, and there being many, many obstacles to doing [so],” Rothman said. “The difference there is it depicts a great deal of moral compromise in pursuing that. That’s not really the way it is. Most people are people like me, who love movies, have a lot of integrity and are just trying to do the best we can.”
Season 1 of The Studio was critically acclaimed and nabbed 23 nominations at the 77th Emmy Awards. Additionally, the show made headlines for featuring an all-star cast of guest stars including Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Zoë Kravitz, Anthony Mackie and Dave Franco.
Following the Emmy nominations, Rogen and Goldberg spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about tying the record with The Bear for most comedy nominations in a season.
“I think I’m still in shock a little bit, but it’s very, very, very nice. It’s not something that has been a part of our career, really, in any way, shape or form,” Rogen said. “We’ve had a lovely career despite awards, and so the fact that at this age, there’s a whole new novelty and level of recognition that we’ve never gotten is very nice, and it’s surreal that it’s for something that is so Hollywood specific.”
Sony Music has unearthed rare material from both Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen and has begun sharing the fruits of those labors. First up is a 50th anniversary edition of Smith’s iconic debut, Horses, while a never-before-heard Springsteen tune, “Lonely Night in the Park,” is out now ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Boss’ Born To Run.
Sony’s Legacy imprint will release an expanded Horses on Oct. 10 in both two-LP and two-CD packages. The original album has been mastered from the 1/4″ master tapes and is appended by eight previously unreleased songs, plus Smith’s 1975 RCA audition tape. The lead track, “Snowball,” can be heard below. Smith is also prepping her memoir, Bread of Angels, for Nov. 4 release from Random House.
“It’s a double album and the second was compiled after much labor,” Smith wrote on her Substack account. “Unearthed recordings, a couple live pieces from CBGB, youthful efforts gathering dust, little bits scavenged from half a century ago.” She added, “when we recorded Horses, I hoped to communicate with like minds — the misfits, disenfranchised, those scraping away off the beaten track. I am quite moved that the community I hoped to find found us as well and those that survived are still at work.”
Meanwhile, the official release of Springsteen’s long-bootlegged “Lonely Night in the Park” presages the Aug. 25 anniversary of Born To Run, for which it was “heavily considered” as part of the original 1975 track list. He and the E Street Band have never performed the song live.
Two years after the respective releases of Horses and Born To Run, Smith scored a hit single with her version of the Springsteen-penned “Because the Night,” which he recorded but ultimately left off the 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town.
