Category: Movies/TV

Femi Adebayo has won a 3-year legal battle against a media company for piracy.

Femi Adebayo, who hails from Kwara State, is a talented Nollywood actor and producer known for his roles in Yoruba movies.

Femi Adebayo won ₦25 million in damages in a lawsuit against an online media company, Murphy Ben International, for exploitation of the intellectual property of his film, Survival of Jelili.

Piracy has been a long-lasting battle in the Nollywood film industry, from illegal distributors to websites and blogs. Despite its damage to the industry, actors and filmmakers have found ways to tell their stories and share their art with a substantial global audience.

In a statement shared on his Instagram, Femi Adebayo said:

The Nigerian film industry has experienced exponential growth over the years, but we haven’t been able to maximise the true dividends of this business because of dare devil pirates who benefit where they didn’t sow. This is a major reason why investors find it hard to commit their funds to filmmakers. However, through persistence and the use of the legal framework covering intellectual property, we can bring their activities to a gradual halt.

Several times, I have been a victim of movie pirates and I never spare them. I recently concluded a legal battle with a notable media company that owns a big radio station and also engages in youtube content distribution. During the cinema run of “Survival of Jelili” in 2019, my movie was gathering good numbers at that time. They decided to use my movie poster and title to promote a movie on their platform, thereby deceiving fans and diverting revenue accrued to me.

It took 3 years, but my trust in the legal and justice system remained unwavering. With the dedication of our legal team, Bola Adebowale & Co Legal Practitioners, who are seasoned professionals with wealth of experience in handling such cases. They presented undeniable evidence, put up a strong argument, and took the case to trial. Their promptness, efficiency, and attention to detail played a huge part in the direction of the case. We won and were awarded a total of Twenty Five Million Naira.

This isn’t just my win as a filmmaker and content producer but a win for all of Nollywood. We need to be ready to fight IP theft and piracy at all levels. Every win brings us closer to protecting and getting the true economic value of our works.

The media platform, via their YouTube channel, used images from his film to create another YouTube video to increase their views and, in return, make money.

Toyin Abraham has also spoken out against piracy and how it has caused mental unrest for her as a filmmaker. Five suspects were charged in court earlier this year for illegally leaking her 2023 movie, Malaika, online. They were accused of stealing intellectual property, conspiring, and attempting to obstruct justice. [Pulse].

Margot Robbie is embarking on a new journey and off to a new project since the record-breaking success of Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie.

Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap, including co-founders Josey McNamara and Tom Ackerley, alongside Hasbro Entertainment, will give life to the board game Monopoly for Lionsgate in conjunction with toymaker Hasbro.

Lionsgate will distribute the forthcoming movie. Adam Fogelson, the chairman of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, made the film announcement at CinemaCon 2024 in Las Vegas on April 10. “I could not imagine a better production team for this beloved and iconic brand than LuckyChap. They are exceptional producers who choose their projects with great thought and care and join ‘Monopoly’ with a clear point of view. We are tremendously excited to be working with the entire LuckyChap team on what we all believe can be their next blockbuster,” Adam said of LuckyChap’s involvement. James Myers and Robert Melnik will be part of the project on behalf of Lionsgate.

“Monopoly is a top property—pun fully intended,” said LuckyChap. “Like all of the best IP, this game has resonated worldwide for generations, and we are so excited to bring this game to life alongside the wonderful teams involved at Lionsgate and Hasbro.”

The head of film at Hasbro Entertainment, Zev Foreman, said, “As one of the most iconic games in the world, Monopoly provides an incredible platform for storytelling opportunities. We are thrilled to have the unique vision of LuckyChap and Lionsgate alongside us to bring this historic piece of popular culture to the big screen.”

Margot Robbie and LuckyChap have a wide array of successful movies, including the most recent, Barbie, which garnered over $1.4 billion at the global box office. Moving on, they are working with Vertigo Entertainment to create a live-action adaptation of Digital Dollhouse‘s The Sims.

In 2014, Margot Robbie, Josey McNamara, Tom Ackerley, and Sophia Kerr founded LuckyChap. It has produced movies and shows like I, Tonya (2017), Birds of Prey (2020), Maid (2021), Barbie (2023), and Saltburn (2023).

Dilli Dark is an Indian-Nigerian cross-culture comedy film exploring the life of an African in the beautiful city of New Delhi, India.

The movie follows the journey of a Nigerian, Michael Okeke, who dreams of living in New Delhi and obtaining his MBA. Yet, his aspirations are obstructed by his previous life as a drug dealer. Michael, being African, has to navigate the Indian culture as he will face racial discrimination.

The movie stars Nollywood actor Samuel Abiola Robinson, Geetika Vidya Ohlyan and Shantanu Anam. Directed by Dibakar Das Roy.

“I am back!!! And happy to be Announcing my Next film DILLI DARK; A film about racial discrimination and what life is like for people with darker skin in Delhi and India as a whole,” Samuel Robinson.

The director tells IANS that the film was conceived as an amalgamation of ideas that stemmed from personal experiences including being bullied for having dark skin as well as events that happen in Delhi — racial prejudices against Africans and other dark-skinned people — that brought together themes of race, colour and identity. (Outlook)

See the trailer below:

After seeing Wonder Woman 3, the first actress for the iconic DC character, Lynda Carter, described the movie has “really interesting, wonderful and about something important. Not just your typical thing.” She starred in the live-action series from 1975 to 1979.

Lynda Carter made a cameo in Patty Jenkins “Wonder Woman 1984” as Asteria, a legendary Amazonian warrior who was declared missing and dead. For many who believed there will be a third installment after seeing Wonder Woman 1984 they were in shock after hearing it was “Dead.”

In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment she described the ship to the third installment could continue to sail, if there’s enough pressure from fans.

“I don’t think they want to do it unless there’s enough pressure from fans…I just don’t think they have the mind to do it. And I don’t understand that, because it seems to me that Wonder Woman is different from other characters. She’s not just a superhero. Her whole thing is about peaceful solutions. She’s not aggressive to be aggressive. It’s a different story. It’s about inner strength, outer strength. I don’t know why they tabled it, because it’s a great franchise.”

2017 Wonder Woman had an audience score of 83% and Wonder Woman 1984 got an audience score of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s quite unfortunate the 2022 sequel to Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman didn’t get much reception from fans, many preferred the 2020 version and called it the best in the past decade.

Any expectation for a new Wonder Woman reboot under Gal Gadot will be decided by DC Studio new co-CEOs, James Gunn and Peter Safran.

“I have to give a lot of credit to Patty and Gal because the interest in my show had peaked when they came on the scene. [Their vision] was intentional — and how I played the character was intentional. To be good, kind, strong and do everything for the right reasons. Even when she was angry, she was angry at the right people.” – Lynda Cater

Jenkins had already been developing Wonder Woman 3 when the news broke to him. “I never walked away. I was open to considering anything asked of me. It was my understanding there was nothing I could do to move anything forward at this time. DC is obviously buried in changes they are having to make, so I understand these decisions are difficult right now,” Jenkins via Twitter (Now X).

Finding Messiah tells the story of freedom over oppression and terror, written and directed by Ghanaian-Nigerian music executive Oscar Heman-Ackah. This cinematic masterpiece is set in the fictional nation of Zambay and will serve as his directorial debut.

Working with his wife, Kemi Adetiba, Oscar created a unique world with its culture, language, values, and story.

The trailer released on March 28th, 2024, is so relatable—a world with political unrest, oppressors unwilling to give the people freedom, and people killed and arrested for speaking against oppression. Starring Bucci Fraklin, Pete Edochie, keppy Ekpeyoung, Segun Arinze, Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett, Ngozi Ezeonu, Ejike Asiegbu, Alex Usifo alongside Majid Michael, Sunshine Rosman, Daddy Showkey and Lilin Afegbai.

Watch Trailer

Finding Messiah produced by Sol Tracka Production, will feature its original soundtrack. The music score is expected to be spectacular. Oscar is known for his achievements in the music industry; he has worked with notable Nigerian music stars and global stars like Rihanna and Chris Brown. He is also known for crafting the 2014 World Cup theme song.

There is no official confirmation of the release of FInding Messiah yet.

The Bad Boys franchise is coming back on screen with the fourth installment titled ‘Ride or Die.’ The action-comedy franchise starring Will Smith (Mike Lowrey) and Martin Lawrence (Marcus Burnett) debuted in 1995.

The first installment directed by Michael Bay, features Will Smith and Martin Lawrence characters teaming up as detectives to investigate a drug scandal in Miami. Micheal Bay also the second installment, while Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah directed “Bad Boys for Life.”

Bad Boys II debuted in 2003 and Bad Boys for Life in 2020, “Bad Boys 4” is set to be released in theaters June 7.

Watch the trailer below.

Jake Gyllenhaal was supposed to play Batman at some point but lost the role. That doesn’t deter his interest in the role of Bruce Wayne. In 2005, in Batman Begins, Jake Gyllenhaal and Christian Bale were top choices; however, the role eventually went to Christian Bale.

During press rounds for his new Prime Video movie “Road House,” Jake was asked by Screen Rant if he still had an interest in the role, and his response: “Of course. It would be an honour always.” “Speaking of playing roles that other incredible actors have played in the past … When I think about it, I’m going to play Iago in ‘Othello’ with Denzel Washington, and I think about like the history of actors that have played that role throughout time, and I’m intimidated by that. So that’s the first level. That’s what I’m working on right now. But of course. It would be an honour always. Those types of things and those roles are classics,” Gyllenhaal said.

There’s currently an open spot in the DC Extended Universe for the upcoming Batman movie The Brave and the Bold, which will shine a light on a new actor willing to take up the role of Bruce Wayne. The role is expected to shine a brighter light and be a better version of DCU Batman. It will be directed by “The Flash” and “It” helmer Andy Muschietti and be the birth of James Gunn and Peter Safran DC Studio’s dreams for Batman.

The DCU Batman is currently played by Robert Pattison and The Batman Part II release date has been moved to Oct. 2, 2026.

While he might have missed the initial Batman spot, Jake Gyllenhaal had the chance to play Mysterio in the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man: Far from Home. He described the role of Mysterio as hard. In his words; “That world is enormous. And I joined that world way into that run; a train that was already moving. Normally, I come in way early on and I get to figure it out.”

Speaking on his experience: “I was freaking out. It was a scene with [Samuel L.] Jackson, Tom [Holland] … There were a number of actors in that scene. And I remember not being able to remember my lines. I was the wooden board. And they were like, ‘Whoa…I went up to Tom Holland and was like, ‘Dude, help me out’. He’s like, ‘It’s all good, man. Just relax’. It was like he was me in so many situations. And I finally did. I just put a lot of pressure on [myself] because I love that world. I had to walk up [to people on set] and be like, ‘Look man, I just came off Broadway doing a one-man show for an hour and a half onstage, so I got this. Please, believe me.”

Mr. Beast, the biggest YouTuber in the world, is bringing his mojo to Prime Video. He recently announced his deal with the streaming platform, and according to him, it will be the biggest reality game show on the planet.

Mr. Beast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, once created one of the biggest replicas of Squid Game on YouTube. He will be given full autonomy over the creative process and will also be the host of the show.

He announced the game show will have a thousand competitors and a cast price of $5,000,000, and he also hinted that the show will be packed with world record holders.

Mr. Beast has yet to announce a release date for the show.