World Movie News: The Last 24 Hours
Netflix cuts 1,000 jobs, El Gouna opens in Egypt, Khosla Ka Ghosla 2 gets a new date & The Evil Dead turns 45.
Morning, all. Yesterday I told you Narnia would be Netflix’s biggest cinema release; today the streamer is showing about 1,000 colleagues the wardrobe door.
Netflix cuts 1,000 jobs: Netflix began its biggest round of layoffs in four years on Wednesday, cutting about 6% of its global staff, or some 1,000 jobs, mostly in its product, tech, legal and HR teams. Film VP Doug Belgrad, who was Netflix film head Dan Lin’s first hire, was among those leaving, as was Sheroum Kim, director of independent films since 2019, who worked on My Oxford Year, Roommates and Don’t Say Good Luck. Netflix told staff the business remains strong and on track to deliver its full-year forecast, although co-CEO Ted Sarandos recently admitted that Netflix is not growing as fast as he would like. It follows hot on the heels of the Skydance merger, so it’s turning into a rather grim fortnight for Hollywood’s day jobs.
El Gouna opens its doors: The 9th El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt opens today with the French film All About Corinne (Ni vue, ni connue), directed by Marc Fitoussi and starring Isabelle Huppert and Sandrine Kiberlain. British director Joanna Hogg presides over the narrative competition jury, and the Golden Star for the best narrative film comes with a $50,000 prize. As I mentioned on Tuesday, Nigeria’s Oscar entry Dear Ajayi is also getting its North African premiere there. The festival runs until 23 October.
Khosla Ka Ghosla 2 gets a new date: The eagerly awaited sequel to the 2006 Hindi comedy Khosla Ka Ghosla has been postponed from its original date of 28 August 2026 to 5 March 2027. Anupam Kher returns as Kamal Kishore Khosla and Boman Irani as the property dealer Kishan Khurana, alongside Tara Sharma, Ranvir Shorey, Kiran Juneja and Parvin Dabas from the original cast. The original, directed by Dibakar Banerjee, follows a middle-class Delhi family trying to reclaim land seized by a builder, so the Khoslas will have to wait a few more months to get their plot back.
Forty-five years of The Evil Dead: Sam Raimi’s gloriously gory debut premiered 45 years ago today. It was made on a shoestring budget in a remote cabin in Tennessee, and it launched Bruce Campbell as Ash, as well as a franchise of sequels, a remake and a television series. It was also famously one of the UK’s banned “video nasties” in the 1980s, which only added to its reputation. It’s a film that proves that enthusiasm, ingenuity and a lot of fake blood can go a very long way.
Birthdays: Dominic West turns 57 today, star of 300 and The Wire. Also celebrating are Mira Nair (69), director of Monsoon Wedding and Salaam Bombay!, and Todd Solondz (67), the director of Happiness.
That’s all for today. Back tomorrow with the week’s UK and US new releases.
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