Hollywood
International actors expected to line-up at the Shanghai International Film Festival
MUMBAI: The organizing committee of the Shanghai International Film Festival has announced that Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, Hayden Christensen, Rain, Song Seung Heon and Park Shin Hye will grace the red carpet at the opening ceremony on 14 June. The closing ceremony red carpet scheduled for 22 June will be equally as star-studded with Natalie Portman and Son Tae-Yeong, among others, on parade.
Shanghai International Film Festival’s (SIFF) opening night is renowned for attracting the strongest array of “red carpet” stars of any festival in Asia. In recent years it has hosted Halle Berry, Adrien Brody, John Paul Cusack, Sharon Stone, Clive Owen, and Susan Sarandon. The stand-out feature this year is the pair of Best Actress Oscar-winning stars, Nicole Kidman and Natalie Portman, headlining SIFF’s grandest line-up of overseas film celebrities.
British heartthrob Hugh Grant will be making his debut visit to Shanghai to promote his new work The Rewrite and Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars, will attend to support his new film Outcast. The movie is a China-US co-production co-starring China’s Liu Yifei and Andy On.
The presence of many well-known Korean stars on the red carpet this year reflects the surging popularity of Korean TV series and films in Asia and around the world. Rain will attend with Liu Yifei to promote Difficult Love, a film by director Gao Xixi. Song Seung Heon will bring his new film Obsessed. Son Tae-yeong will hit the closing ceremony red carpet for her co-starring work in a Chinese film.
As the only A-accredited film festival in China, SIFF has gained a reputation over the years for its strong line-up of guest international celebrities on the red carpet and in other festival activities.
Since last year’s glittering festival appearances by Helen Mirren (The Queen), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), and Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) there has been strong interest in who will attend this year. Kidman’s latest movie, Grace of Monaco, will be screened at SIFF in the film premiere section, giving Shanghai audiences an opportunity to see it before general release in China.
The movie opened the Cannes Film Festival program in May and is relatively unknown by Chinese movie fans. Hollywood sweetheart Kidman will attend the Shanghai screening as part of her first visit to the city in a movie promotion role. The visiting stars will also participate in a range of other film industry activities during the festival.
China has rapidly grown into the second most important box office battlefield after the U.S in the increasingly competitive world cinema market. As one of the most important exchange platforms for Chinese and foreign films, SIFF has won increasing recognition and support at home and abroad for its integrated promotion, marketing and distribution activities.
American and European producers are highly aware of the promotion opportunities provided by SIFF. More and more Chinese and overseas film companies consider participation in the festival in June as an essential opportunity to premiere and promote films to be released during summer holidays.
SIFF provides an important promotion and marketing platform for those films. The festival opens the door for overseas filmmakers into the Chinese market and serves as an important stage for displaying the latest productions. At the same time, these key filmmakers draw worldwide attention to China.
With the world’s media feasting on the star-studded opening and closing ceremonies and, the festival’s strong program, SIFF and the Chinese industry’s unique style and elegant demeanour are prominently showcased.
Hollywood
Paramount Skydance secures financing for Warner Bros Discovery deal
Debt syndication and new loans push $111 billion merger closer to close
WASHINGTON: Paramount Skydance has taken a major step towards its planned acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, securing fresh financing and completing the syndication of its bridge loan facility.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company confirmed that the bridge facility has now been distributed among a group of 18 banks, reducing total commitments to $49 billion from an earlier $54 billion. The move spreads risk across lenders and signals growing confidence in one of the year’s largest media deals.
Alongside this, the company has finalised permanent financing arrangements, including $5 billion in senior term loans and a $5 billion revolving credit facility. A previously planned $3.5 billion credit line has been dropped as part of the restructuring.
The loans are secured against key assets, including Paramount Global, Skydance Media and Warner Bros post-merger, underlining the scale and complexity of the transaction.
The financing push follows a competitive bidding process earlier this year, which saw interest from players such as Netflix before Paramount Skydance emerged as the frontrunner. The deal, valued at $111 billion, is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to regulatory approvals.
Adding to the momentum, the company has also secured significant equity backing, including investments from Middle Eastern funds, with support from billionaire Larry Ellison, who has guaranteed the equity portion of the transaction.
Commenting on the development, Paramount Skydance chief strategy officer Andy Gordon said, “Our successful debt syndication and new debt facilities represent another important milestone towards the completion of our acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.”
Once completed, the combined entity is expected to carry net debt of just under $80 billion, reflecting the sheer scale of the merger.
As Hollywood continues to consolidate in the streaming era, this deal could reshape the competitive landscape, with Paramount Skydance betting big on scale, content and financial muscle to take on global rivals.
