On Monday night in Cannes, celebrities from the film business gathered at Mr. Nakamoto at the Mondrian hotel to celebrate Universal Pictures International.
In his introductory remarks, Variety co-editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh noted that Universal had a number of notable hits in the previous year, not the least of which was Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” which won seven Oscars. Hits at the box office, including “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “M3GAN,” and “Cocaine Bear,” and with “The Bikeriders,” “Despicable Me 4,” “Twisters,” and “Wicked” on the schedule, it’s aiming for a triumphant return this year.
Because of this, Universal Pictures International was given Variety’s international achievement in film award, which was acknowledged by international Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, president of distribution for the business.
Kwan Vandenberg thanked her colleagues during her address, mentioning Donna Langley, the chairman of NBCUniversal and chief content officer, Jimmy Horowitz, the head of business affairs, Peter Levinsohn, the head of global distribution, Peter Cramer, the head of production, and Peter Kujawski of Focus Features.
Naturally, the product comes first, as Kwan Vandenberg stated, “We have the incredible honour of working with the best directors in the industry right now.” “I want to thank everyone who helped with our 2023 lineup, but especially Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan for their vision and brilliance.”
The speaker went on, “Our core business is theatrical, and we are dedicated to offering a wide and varied selection of films in a number of genres. This is reflected in the 29 DreamWorks, Universal, and Focus Features releases we have this year. We have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming year, and we can’t wait.
