World Movie News: The Last 24 Hours
Awards season begins in London, Drishyam’s record-breaking week, Nigeria’s Oscar entry, the Nordic Council prize race & Tokyo’s festival line-up.
Morning, all. After yesterday’s Megalopolis unwelcome comeback, Sunday means the weekly lap of the world’s other film industries, with a record-breaker in India and plenty of festival news in between.
Awards season gets going in London: Deadline’s ‘Contenders Film: London’ event took place on Saturday at the Ham Yard Hotel, an industry showcase designed for voting guild members, where studios show clips from the films they hope will feature in this year’s Oscars race and put the people behind them on panels. Twelve films from eight studios were on show, including Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn, Bunker, with real-life couple Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, and Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care, his latest and possibly last film. The Project Hail Mary panel – yes, difficult to remember isn’t it that an early 2026 release is still a contender – featured its cinematographer, Greig Fraser, and production designer, Charles Wood. It could be viewed as the unofficial starting gun for the Oscars race, and it took place right here in London.
Bollywood’s record-breaking week: Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam: The Conclusion has had a remarkable first week. Pinkvilla puts the worldwide gross at roughly Rs 370 crore (about $39 million), with around Rs 236 crore (about $25 million) net in India, while The Week has the worldwide gross at Rs 383.6 crore. That makes it the biggest worldwide grosser of Devgn’s career, ahead of Tanhaji‘s Rs 358 crore (about $37 million), and it has already passed the lifetime India net of its predecessor, Drishyam 2, which finished at Rs 234 crore. A strong second Friday of Rs 14 crore took the India net total to Rs 250.5 crore (about $26 million). Whatever else the franchise may be doing, it’s certainly making its point.
Nollywood’s Oscar pick: Nigeria has chosen Dear Ajayi as its Oscar entry. At the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival, it won Best Suspense/Thriller Film, while its lead actress, Linda Osifo, took Best Actress, and it follows a woman who discovers the price attached to her new life. Elsewhere, actor Femi Adebayo has opened a new film and media hub in Lagos for filmmakers who haven’t yet made their first film, and the first trailer has landed for Issakaba: The Return, which arrives on 13 November, more than two decades after the original. Meanwhile, as I reported on Tuesday, faith-based hit Agbara Nla: The Return is still riding its record-breaking opening.
The Nordic Council Film Prize race: The winner of the 2026 Nordic Council Film Prize will be announced on 20 October, with a prize of DKK 300,000 ($47,000), ahead of the ceremony in Helsinki on 27 October. The Norwegian heavyweight in the field is Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, which won the international feature Oscar in March, and Trier has already won this prize once, for Louder Than Bombs. It faces Hlynur Pálmason’s The Love That Remains, his fourth nomination for the award, alongside Denmark’s Beginnings, Sweden’s Kevlar Soul, Finland’s A Light That Never Goes Out and the Faroese documentary Birita. All six screen at Reykjavík’s Bíó Paradís from 15 to 18 October.
Tokyo’s line-up: In the Far East, the Tokyo International Film Festival has revealed its line-up. It runs from 26 October to 4 November, opens with Zeze Takahisa’s Sukiyaki, a film about the story behind Kyu Sakamoto’s famous song, and closes with Yeon Sang-ho’s zombie horror Colony. The centrepiece is Godzilla Minus Zero, and the gala screenings include Fjord and Wild Horse Nine. Australian director Rolf de Heer will preside over the international competition jury.
Birthdays: Joan Cusack, Oscar nominee for Working Girl and the voice of Jessie in the Toy Story films, turns 64 today. Also celebrating are Jane Krakowski (58) and Cardi B (34) of Hustlers.
That’s all for today.
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