Reuters Entertainment News Summary

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

At Cannes, French #MeToo director hopes film will open dialogue

French director Judith Godreche praised the Cannes Film Festival for welcoming her and cast members of her movie about the #MeToo movement on the red carpet on Thursday, saying she hoped the film would help progress conversation on the matter. "That the festival of Cannes authorized, allowed us this photo and this moment all together, that's beautiful," Godreche told journalists, adding: "It's a way, in fact, to open a dialogue and now we need to continue the dialogue."

More 'Mad Max' stories to tell, says director George Miller

Director George Miller said there are more stories to be told within the "Mad Max" universe, a day after the fifth film in the franchise, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. "There's certainly other stories there. Mainly because we wrote, in order to tell the story of 'Fury Road,' we had to know the back story of Furiosa and Max in the year before," he told journalists on Thursday.

Pioneering English Channel swimmer celebrated in ‘Young Woman and the Sea’

New Hollywood film "Young Woman and the Sea" brings the story of Gertrude "Trudy" Ederle to the big screen, shining a light on the Olympic gold medalist's feat to become the first woman to swim the English Channel. In 1926, the American set off from northern France for the southern English coast, making the crossing in 14 hours 31 minutes and beating the men’s world record by one hour and 59 minutes.

After decades, Francis Ford Coppola's opus 'Megalopolis' finally debuts at Cannes

Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola closed a decades-in-the-making chapter of his long career on Thursday as his passion project "Megalopolis," a 138-minute epic science-fiction tale drawn from Roman history, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. With "Megalopolis," the Oscar-winning director of "The Godfather" is in the running for the Palme d'Or for the first time since "Apocalypse Now" netted him the top prize in 1979.

Concord terminates $1.51 billion offer for Hipgnosis

Apollo-backed Concord terminated its proposed $1.51 billion offer for Hipgnosis Songs Fund on Thursday, according to Alchemy Copyrights, which indirectly controls Concord. Nashville-based independent music company Concord's revised offer was trumped by Blackstone's sweetened $1.57 billion proposal for the owner of music rights of artists including Shakira and Blondie.

Disney, Fox, Warner Bros Discovery sports-streaming venture named Venu Sports

The sports-streaming service set to be launched by Walt Disney Co, Warner Bros Discovery and Fox Corp will be called Venu Sports and is on track for launch this fall, Pete Distad, the venture's CEO, said on Thursday. Announced in February, the service will try to woo younger viewers who are not tuned in to cable TV with a bundled offering of the companies' broad portfolio of professional and collegiate sports rights, including the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and FIFA World Cup.

Judge to rule on Alec Baldwin bid to avoid 'Rust' trial

A New Mexico judge was expected to rule on Friday whether to throw out the involuntary manslaughter case against actor Alec Baldwin in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie 'Rust.' Baldwin's lawyers have filed motions to dismiss his indictment, alleging prosecutorial misconduct, a failure to show the actor committed a crime and destruction of evidence during testing of the gun Baldwin was using during a rehearsal on the film's New Mexico set.

A younger Furiosa stars in action-packed 'Mad Max' prequel

Director George Miller needed a fresh set of A-list actors to star in the latest installment of the “Mad Max” franchise, but he knew they would need to bring something special to the iconic roles. That meant recasting the titular role of the officer turned rebel, Furiosa, who was portrayed by Oscar-winning actor Charlize Theron in 2015 film “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Friendship, not romance, at the heart of comedy film 'Babes'

For director Pamela Adlon, Hollywood’s overfocus on romance has faded, making room for more stories focused on friendships like her comedy film “Babes.” “I mean, romance is over. Best friends, that's where it's at,” Adlon, the Emmy-winning star and co-creator of FX TV drama "Better Things," told Reuters.

TV companies flaunt ad tech and AI to persuade advertisers to spend

Television "upfront" advertiser presentations this week in New York City were hardly about TV at all. The annual week-long affair where media executives have traditionally pre-sold TV advertising featured many familiar trappings: pop stars Alicia Keys and Billie Eilish dazzled packed auditoriums with live performances; celebrities Kevin Hart, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds hawked their latest projects, and Super Bowl star Tom Brady joined other pro athletes on stage.