Hollywood
Jackie Chan film to be highlight of Far East Film Festival in Italy
NEW DELHI: Legendary martial arts exponent Jackie Chan’s movie will be the opening film at the 17th Far East Film Festival in Udine in Italy.
The event opens with the international festival premiere of Dragon Blade. The period epic about exiled Chinese soldiers partnering with Roman soldiers to protect China’s borders also stars John Cusack and Adrien Brody along with Chan.
The Festival will be held from 24 April to 2 May and will screen around seventy feature films from eleven countries. The festival will see six world premieres, 13 international premieres, 25 European premiers and 14 Italian premieres.
A highlight will be a live concert by Joe Hisaishi, the composer best known for his soundtracks to films by Hayao Miyazaki and Takeshi Kitano, a day before the formal opening.
The festival’s closing film is Tsui Hark’s The Taking of Tiger Mountain, a period action-adventure in which Communist soldiers infiltrate and raid a bandit group’s mountain base. It stars Zhang Hanyu, Tony Leung Ka-fai and Lin Gengxin. The festival will screen the 2D version of the film.
Five other films will have their international festival premiere in Italy namely Parasyte: Part 1 from Japan, Miss Granny from China and gangster epic Gangnam Blues 1970 from South Korea, romance thriller My Ordinary Love Story and palace drama The Royal Tailor.
This year’s films include Hong Kong thriller Helios, Chinese romance The Old Cinderella, Japanese boxing drama 100 Yen Love and Yubari award-winning comedy Make Room.
Other films include China road movie The Continent, Vietnamese horror Hollow and Cambodian youth drama The Last Reel. It is the first time that a Cambodian film will be screened at the Italian festival.
The programme includes a six-film retrospective dedicated to Hong Kong martial arts films from the 1970s and 1980s. The festival will also screen two restored classics, China’s Two Stage Sisters (1964) and samurai dramatic The Tragedy of Bushido (1960) from Japan.
Hollywood
Paramount eyes $24bn Gulf support to fund Warner Bros Discovery merger: Reports
Sovereign funds line up funding as media giants chase streaming scale
NEW YORK: Paramount Skydance is in talks to secure nearly $24 billion in equity commitments from Gulf sovereign wealth funds to support its planned takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to a WSJ report.
The funding push comes as Paramount Skydance advances its proposed $110 billion deal for Warner Bros. Discovery, which carries an equity valuation of $81 billion and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
At the heart of the financing plan are three major Gulf investors. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is expected to contribute roughly $10 billion, while the Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi-based L’imad Holding are likely to make up the remainder.
Crucially, the proposed investments are structured as non-voting stakes. This means the Gulf backers would not have direct control in the combined entity, a move designed to ease regulatory concerns in the United States. Paramount executives reportedly do not expect the deal to trigger scrutiny from bodies such as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States or the Federal Communications Commission.
If completed, the merger would bring together a formidable portfolio of entertainment and news assets, including CNN and CBS. The combined entity aims to better compete in a fast-evolving media landscape where streaming platforms are steadily pulling audiences away from traditional television.
The deal reflects a broader shift in global media, where scale is increasingly seen as essential to survive the streaming wars. By pooling content libraries, technology and distribution, Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery are betting on size and synergy to drive future growth.
The involvement of deep-pocketed Gulf investors also underscores the growing role of sovereign wealth in shaping global media consolidation, particularly at a time when high-value deals demand equally large financial backing.
With shareholder votes and regulatory milestones still ahead, the proposed tie-up remains one of the most closely watched media deals of the year. If it clears the final hurdles, it could redraw the competitive map of the global entertainment industry.
