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When Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund’s City of God came out in 2002, it was generally acclaimed — countless Top 10 lists, four Oscar nominations, etc. But it did not go without criticism. There were some who found the violent coming-of-age drama to be exploitative, fetishizing poverty and crime in the Brazilian favelas without digging deeper than misery.

In very meta terms, it’s a duality that haunts the lead of HBO Latino and Max’s new spinoff series, City of God: The Fight Rages On. Wilson (Alexandre Rodrigues) grew up in the sprawling lower-income suburbs of Rio de Janeiro and, after watching many of his friends and rivals die in the film’s escalating violence, found his escape through his camera. Though he’s become one of the country’s most famous photojournalists, even he’s exhausted by how much of his success has come from capturing images of death.

Wilson...

City Of God: The Fight Rages On is a television sequel to the acclaimed 2002 film, City Of God. Here’s the trailer.

City Of God is a modern classic, insofar as 2002 can be considered modern. Written by Bráulio Mantovani and directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, the film received praise for its stark depiction of the lives of its characters and for filming in real favelas in Rio de Janeiro. It went on to be nominated for four Oscars and is often cited as one of the best films of the 21st century.

A spin-off television drama, City Of Men, ran for four series in 2002 to 2005, which was adapted into a film in 2007.

Back in the present, City Of God: The Fight Rages On is described as a direct sequel to the film, with Alexandre Rodrigues – who played budding photographer Rocket in the original 2002 film – reprising his role.

The...

"Someone needs to tell this story." HBO has revealed the first official trailer for a streaming series called City of God: The Fight Rages On, a long-awaited legacy sequel to the iconic masterpiece Brazilian film City of God (from 2002). There was already a sort-of-sequel made in 2007 called City of Men, but it had mixed reviews and didn't make much of an impact. This new series follows the very same kid, Rocket (aka Buscapé), and stars Alexandre Rodrigues bringing him back 22 years after starring in the original. The series will follow in the footsteps of the film by Fernando Meirelles and will also be based on Paulo Lins’ book "City of God”. It's set two decades after that of the original, following the current lives of the characters seen in the 2002 film – showing what happened to them. With excerpts used in flashbacks to reconstruct memories and affective recollections. The cast includes: Roberta Rodrigues,...

Professional wrestler and rock musician Chris Jericho is teaming with author and filmmaker Jay Bonansinga on psychological thriller “Self Storage.”

The film is based on Bonansinga’s 2016 novel of the same name. It centers on a heroin-addicted father and his son who accidentally lock themselves inside a self-storage unit. Surviving will depend on a battle with demons both real and manufactured by drug withdrawal.

That lead character of John Fitzgerald is slated to be played by Lew Temple. Bonansinga, who previously directed the short “City of Men” (1988) and feature “Stash” (2007), will direct from his own script.

“Self Storage” is the second recent adaptation of a Bonansinga novel, following Lionsgate’s “The Killer’s Game,” based on his 1997 novel, directed by J.J. Perry and starring Dave Bautista. A prolific and bestselling author, Bonansinga is known for co-writing several novels based on “The Walking Dead” comics series, with Robert Kirkman of Skybound Entertainment...

August is here, and a bounty of noteworthy new movies and TV shows are coming to Amazon Prime Video this month. If it’s new release films you’re looking for, Paramount’s excellent (and very funny) “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” arrives on the streaming service on Aug. 25 after first streaming on Paramount+, while the Elizabeth Banks-directed action-comedy “Cocaine Bear” will be streaming on Aug. 15.

There’s also a Prime Video original film hitting this month in the form of “Red, White & Royal Blue” on Aug. 11, based on the book of the same name by author Casey McQuiston. The LGBTQ romantic comedy stars Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine in the story of a prince who falls in love with the son of the president of the United States.

And Thursday Night Football comes to Prime Video starting Aug. 24.

Check out a complete list of what...

With its list of new releases for August 2023, Prime Video is relying on a heaping dose of fun library movies.

The first of the month brings a big influx of worthwhile flicks, including Galaxy Quest, Saw, F9: The Fast Saga, and Jurassic Park (the last two via Amazon’s Freevee free streaming option). Then some other recents hits arrive later on like the appropriately titled Cocaine Bear on Aug. 15 and the Chris Pine-starring Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves on Aug. 25.

August also sees the arrival of a major Amazon Original movie in the form of Red, White & Royal Blue. Based on a New York Times bestselling book, this LGBTQ romance follows a U.S. president’s son and a British prince. Over on the TV side of things, Prime Video subscribers can check out the Sigourney Weaver project The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart on Aug. 4 and Harlan Coben’s Shelter on Aug.

It’s been quite a year for Prime Video already. The service is seeing huge success with its second season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” and its international espionage thriller “Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan” turned in its fourth and final season earlier this summer.

Unfortunately for Tolkien fans, there’s no new season of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” to dive into this August, but there are some fantastic titles coming to Prime Video all throughout the month. From Prime Video originals to hot new movies, here are the top five titles The Streamable is most excited about on the service in August 2023.

30-Day Free Trial $8.99 / month amazon.com What Are the Best Shows and Movies Coming to Prime Video in August 2023? ‘The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart’ | Aug. 4

Alice Hart has to endure a tragedy no child should have to face, losing her parents...

Dear God, how does one even begin to rebuild a 536 year old structure like the Sistine Chapel?

For Two Popes filmmaker Fernando Meirelles and his production designer Mark Tildesley, they certainly couldn’t fully paint one, because the film production would’ve wrapped before the set’s completion.

But there was a clever way, and the two, who’ve worked together since Constant Gardener, talk with us today on Crew Call about how they pulled off a pitch-perfect recreation in 7 weeks at Rome’s Cinecitta Studios. Shooting in the Vatican was off limits for the Netflix movie about Pope Francis’ rise and Pope Benedict’s resignation; a narrative production can only shoot the exteriors around St. Peter’s and Vatican City. There were also other high-bar set reproductions such as the Vatican’s map room. The duo also expound on that as well as how they brought Benedict’s summer residence to life.

For years, Latin American TV dramas have centered on the same old stories of passion, betrayal and revenge. Rich old men woo humble young beauties, and prodigal sons return home to childhood sweethearts and troubled families in melodramatic sagas spanning as many as 200 episodes.

A change, however, is under way. Competition from online platforms and growing familiarity with award-winning series from abroad are prompting Latin America’s TV giants to up their game and make shorter, tighter, more sophisticated and increasingly topical dramas to complement their famously lucrative — and famously long — telenovelas.

“Players like Netflix and Amazon are starting to produce their own programs, and that has increased the demand for locally produced content here in Brazil,” says Andrucha Waddington, producer and director of “Under Pressure,” a hospital drama that won four Fipa d’Or awards in France in January. “Creatively it is very good news.”

Brazil, Latin America’s biggest country,...

Watch a brand new clip of director Fernando Meirelles discusses the recently DVD release “City of Men,” the long-awaited follow-up to his Academy Award-nominated film “City Of God.” The film stars Douglas Silva, Darlan Cunha and Jonathan Haagensen. Plot: Growing up in a culture dictated by violence and run by street gangs, teenagers Acerola and Laranjinha have become as close as brothers. With their 18th birthdays fast approaching, Laranjinha sets out to find the father he never met, while Acerola struggles to raise his own young son. But, when they suddenly find themselves on opposite sides of a gang war, the lifelong friends are forced to confront a shocking secret from their shared past.

PARIS -- After keeping everyone in the dark for days, Festival de Cannes organizers took the wraps off the remaining lineup Tuesday, unveiling Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles' Blindness as their May 14 opening-night film.

Blindness, the English-language adaptation of Jose Saramago's best-selling mystery novel, stars Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover and Gael Garcia Bernal in a story about a city struck by a strange blindness pandemic.

Meirelles is a familiar face on the Croisette. The director's acclaimed Rio-based crime drama City of God screened in 2002 at the festival before launching an international career that has included The Constant Gardener and City of Men.

Miramax has U.S. rights to Blindness, and Pathe will release the film in France and the U.K.

Also added to the festival lineup were a pair of Competition titles. Laurent Cantet's Entre Les Murs will be the third Gallic title in the section, while James Gray's Two Lovers, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow, also will vye for this year's Palme d'Or.

CANNES -- Hot Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles is in talks to set up a joint venture between his production shingle, O2 Filmes, and Madrid-based sales consortium 6 Sales to co-develop, produce and distribute Brazilian films worldwide.

"We produce a lot of great films out of Brazil, but they never leave the country because there isn't the (distribution) infrastructure in place to handle it," Meirelles said in an interview. "This is what this new company will do."

Set up by Meirelles, Andrea Barata Ribeiro and Paolo Morelli, 02 is one of Latin America's leading production houses, having created Meirelles' Academy Award-winning City of God as well as Morelli's upcoming City of Men and Meirelles' Blindness, set to shoot in 2008.

Spain's 6 Sales specializes in commercial art house fare and features for the international market in English and Spanish, produced by independent companies from the U.S., Latin America and Europe and is now handling O2 co-production Antonia, Tata Amaral's second feature film.

Meirelles is finalizing cast on dark drama Blindness, meeting with actors to take on the lead role of a Doctor Who is the only man who can see in a village where everyone else is struck blind.

PARIS -- Months of conjecture surrounding the Festival de Cannes lineup will come to an end Thursday as organizers unveil the festival's 2007 lineup.

Wong Kar Wai's "My Blueberry Nights", which the Weinstein Co. will release in the U.S., looks as if it will be completed in time to fill the high-profile opening-night slot May 16, while David Fincher's "Zodiac", a Paramount Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures co-production, is rumored as the festival closer on May 27.

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's "Grindhouse", Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Thirteen", James Gray's "We Own the Night" and the Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men" are locked, and Michael Winterbottom's "A Mighty Heart" is set to premiere May 21 in Cannes.

The U.S.-heavy lineup awaits final confirmation on front-runner "Paranoid Park" by fest veteran Gus Van Sant.

Michael Moore will most likely be making it back to the Croisette with his health care documentary "Sicko", following the director's Palme d'Or win in 2004 for "Fahrenheit 9/11." Paulo Morelli's "City of Men" (the sequel to Fernando Meirelles' "City of God") and Harmony Korine's "Mister Lonely" also are anticipated.

As usual, the French are taking their time to secure festival slots, but it looks as if the black-and-white animated film "Persepolis" will be a contender. Claude Miller's "Un Secret" and Alain Corneau's "Le deuxieme souffle" are still in the running, and U.S. director Julian Schnabel's French production "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is poised to ring on the Croisette.

Although originally rumored as a possible Gallic addition to the In Competition section, Cedric Klapisch's "Paris" won't be finished in time to screen at the fest.