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PRESENTATIONS
Saturday, October 10, 2026 NETFLIX
Ray Gunn
Brad Bird (Writer/Director/Producer) Michael Giacchino (Composer)
INK
James Graham (Writer) Danny Boyle (Director) Jack O’Connell (Actor)
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Everest: The Other Side
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (Director) Jimmy Chin (Director) Jim Morrison (Elite Ski Mountaineer and Film Subject)
BLEECKER STREET / STUDIOCANAL
Tender Loving Care
Mike Leigh (Writer/Director) Kate O’Flynn (Actor)
BLEECKER STREET
The Liberation
Guy Nattiv (Writer/Director) Carrie Coon (Actor)
LAIKA
Wildwood
Travis Knight (Director/Producer) Caleb Deschanel (Cinematographer) Dario Marianelli (Composer) Deb Cook (Costume Designer)
SCHEDULE AND SPEAKERS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS
Being Heumann
Ruth Madeley (Actor) Bernard Telsey (Casting Director) Adam Caldwell (Casting Director)
NETFLIX
Gentle Monster
Marie Kreutzer (Writer/Director) Léa Seydoux (Actor)
La Bola Negra
Javier Calvo (Writer/Director/Producer) Javier Ambrossi (Writer/Director/Producer) Miguel Bernardeau (Actor) Guitarraicadelafuente (Actor)
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Bunker
Florian Zeller (Writer/Director)
AMAZON MGM STUDIOS
Project Hail Mary
Greig Fraser (Cinematographer) Charles Wood (Production Designer) Neal Scanlan (Creature Effects Supervisor)
Lettering By DARREN BOOTH Cover Illustration By MARTIN HAAKE
Brixton THE ITALIAN JOB Charlie Croker’s famous line, “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!,” was filmed at South London’s Crystal Palace National Sports Centre during the security van explosion scene.
TALK OF THE TOWN Deadline’s Contenders event returns to London with the buzziest films of the year By Damon Wise
T
ry telling Londoners that cinema is dead and they will direct you to the BFI IMAX cinema on the Southbank, where Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is still playing to sold-out houses nearly three months after its release. But if you’ve been there, done that, 2026 still has some surprises left up its sleeve, and plenty of other titles will be jockeying for your consideration once the Oscar landscape starts to take shape. For the moment, that race is still wide open; luckily, Deadline’s Contenders event is here to help you make sense of an already overcrowded calendar. Our event is a one-stop shop for movie fans, packed with preview clips, star-studded panels and insider insights from behind-the-scenes players. A good place to start would be two animation world premieres coming to the capital in October. We open the day with Pixar’s neo-noir science fiction mystery Ray Gunn, welcoming writer/director/producer Brad Bird and composer Michael Giacchino to the stage. Later in the day,
we’ll have director/producer Travis Knight, cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, composer Dario Marianelli and costume designer Deb Cook on hand to present Laika’s magical stopmotion fantasy Wildwood. Back in the real world, director Danny Boyle will accompany writer James Graham and actor Jack O’Connell for a discussion of their new collaboration Ink, which tells the story of Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s takeover of British tabloid newspaper The Sun in 1969. From the documentary world, directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy
DID YOU GUESS THE FILMS AND LANDMARKS ON THE COVER?
Sloane Square A CLOCKWORK ORANGE Alex’s violent world collides with the exclusive streets of Chelsea. Marble Arch LOVE ACTUALLY At Selfridges, Harry secretly buys a gift for his lover— setting off one of the film’s most painfully suspenseful moments.
Paddington PADDINGTON The railway platform where Paddington first encounters the Brown family.
Chin, with elite ski mountaineer Jim Morrison, will share stories about the making of Everest: The Other Side. Legendary British director Mike Leigh returns to Contenders with his latest and possibly last film, Tender Loving Care. Starring Kate O’Flynn, who will be joining him for the event, it tells the story of a professional carer trying to get her life back on track after a breakup. Similarly, writer/director Guy Nattiv will be joined by leading lady Carrie Coon to take questions about The Liberation, the ’80s-set tale of a woman who leaves her family to join an all-female cult. Being Heumann is the latest from Sian Heder, who last came to Contenders with her 2021 Oscar winner CODA. Representing the film on her behalf will be the film’s star, Ruth Madeley, who plays real-life American disability rights activist Judith Heumann, and casting directors Bernard Telsey and Adam Caldwell. Afterwards, Austrian writer/ director Marie Kreutzer will take the
Westminster 28 DAYS LATER Jim wakes from a coma to an eerily deserted London, wandering past abandoned cars and an overturned doubledecker bus before discovering the city has been evacuated because of a deadly virus outbreak.
stage for her drama Gentle Monster, joined by actress Léa Seydoux. Fresh from their success at the Toronto International Film Festival, “Los Javos”—the Spanish writer/director/ producing team of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi—will present their literary, multi-stranded period drama La Bola Negra with actors Miguel Bernardeau and Guitarricadelafuente. We end with two extremes; first we welcome Florian Zeller with his film Bunker, in which a married couple (real-life partners Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz) hit a rock in their relationship over the husband’s commitment to building a billionaire’s safe room. Then we’re off to outer space to meet the creative team behind sci-fi spectacular Project Hail Mary—cinematographer Greig Fraser, production designer Charles Wood and creature effects supervisor Neal Scanlan. Timings are subject to change and surprise guests—look out for a festival favorite that won a significant award at Cannes—are likely to be added. It’s going to be quite a day.
MEET THE
MODERATORS The Deadline staffers who’ll be guiding you through this year’s Contenders YOUR HOST
ANTONIA BLYTH Executive Editor, AwardsLine ● Antonia has contributed to Deadline and AwardsLine’s print magazines since 2014. A native Brit based in LA, prior to joining she covered West Coast entertainment for ELLE.com, and her work has been featured in The Guardian, UK Marie Claire and InStyle. She has written a New York Times bestselling non-fiction book and regularly appears on French television network TF1 as an entertainment expert.
YOUR MODERATORS MELANIE GOODFELLOW Senior International Film Correspondent
● Melanie joined Deadline in
2022 as Senior International Film Correspondent. She
came from UK trade Screen International, where she spent a decade covering film and TV news out of France, Europe and the Middle East. She has also worked for Variety and Moving Pictures as well as the UK broadsheet The Independent, entertainment magazine Heat and Japan’s The Daily Yomiuri, working out of London, Rome, Brussels, Tokyo and Jerusalem. Melanie originally trained in journalism at Reuters and spent four years there in the mid-1990s as a reporter.
DIANA LODDERHOSE International Features Editor ● Diana has been working in
global film journalism since 2005. Before returning to Deadline in 2021 to focus on features for international film and television, she was previously International Reporter for the
site. She is based in London and has frequently covered all the major film festivals and markets including Cannes, Berlin, AFM, Toronto and Sundance. Prior to joining Deadline, Diana was the UK correspondent for Variety and also covered film news and box office at Screen International.
ZAC NTIM International Reporter ● Zac joined Deadline in 2022
from Insider/Business Insider, where he started as an intern before being promoted to a full reporter. After joining the site’s
Notting Hill Gate NOTTING HILL Bookstore owner, William Thacker, and actress, Anna Scott, share their first kiss at his apartment.
Bond Street KINGSMAN Savile Row is the London home of the Kingsman, a secret spy agency disguised as a traditional bespoke tailor.
entertainment team in 2020 he wrote profiles and covered film and TV as well as film festivals. He is currently based in London.
covering set visits and junkets, he is a regular attendee at key international film festivals. In 1998 he published his first book, Come By Sunday (Sidgwick & Jackson), a biography of British film star Diana Dors, and he is currently an advisor to the London Film Festival.
ANDREAS WISEMAN Executive Editor, Film & International ● Andreas joined Deadline in 2018 covering the international and U.S. film industries and is a
DAMON WISE Film Editor, Awards ● Damon has contributed
to Deadline since 2017. As a journalist, his film features, interviews and reviews have been published in publications such as Empire, Total Film, The Guardian, The Times and The Financial Times, and as well as
Holborn OLIVER TWIST A starving Oliver Twist says to the workhouse master “Please, sir, I want some more,” begging for a second helping of gruel.
Leicester Square ODEON CINEMA The ODEON Luxe cinema in Leicester Square is the flagship location for film premieres.
regular fixture at major festivals and markets including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto and AFM. He is based in London but makes regular forays to Los Angeles. Andreas spent eight years covering the film industry at Screen International and held posts there including Chief Reporter, News Editor and Deputy Editor. He has broken hundreds of stories and has written extensively on harassment and diversity. He has also worked in film production.
THE
FILMS AMAZON MGM STUDIOS ● Project Hail Mary
Based on Andy Weir’s novel of the same name, Project Hail Mary follows Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), who wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Soon, his solo mission becomes clear: solve the riddle of mysterious particles that are causing the sun to die out. During his scientific experiments, he meets a rambunctious alien (James Ortiz) who has traveled light years to save his own species from the same fate. The film is directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller and is written by Drew Goddard.
(Ruth Madeley). Based on Heumann’s memoir, the film centers on 1977’s accessibility movement, which saw more than 100 disabled people take over the San Francisco Federal Building, kicking off a 26 day
APPLE TV
● Being Heumann
Oscar-winning CODA filmmaker Siân Heder co-writes and directs Being Heumann, which tells the true story of disabilityrights advocate Judy Heumann
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King’s Cross St. Pancras HARRY POTTER Harry and classmates board the Hogwarts Express to the School of Wizardry from the hidden Platform 9¾.
Vauxhall JAMES BOND The explosion of the British Intelligence headquarters, MI6, brings a presumed dead James Bond back to the service in Skyfall.
sit-in—the longest occupation of a federal building in U.S. history. Mark Ruffalo, Dylan O’Brien, Ray Fisher, Daniel Durant and Rob Delaney also star.
BLEECKER STREET ● The Liberation
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Set in the early ’80s Carrie Coon plays a seemingly ordinary suburban woman named Rita Cooper, who works as an assistant manager at a New Jersey, has two loving teenage daughters and a seemingly content marriage to her husband Reuben (Tracy Letts). However, underneath the facade, Rita still silently reels from the traumas of being the sole survivor of her Polish family’s internment as a child in a Nazi concentration camp. When an attractive younger woman, Ricki (Lily James), arrives to deposit a large amount of cash, it is the beginning of a life-changing experience. The Liberation is co-directed and written by Guy Nattiv.
BLEECKER STREET / STUDIOCANAL ● Tender Loving Care 3
Borough SNATCH Borough, associated with the gritty world of Snatch, Guy Ritchie’s fast-paced crime comedy set across London’s underworld, where a stolen diamond drives the story.
Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care tackles the complexities of aging, family and life’s unpredictability. Following the 1 Project Hail Mary 2 Being Heumann 3 The Liberation
THE
FILMS story of Amy (Kate O’Flynn), a devoted social service worker who puts her heart and soul into her job to care for those in need. At home, however, she finds herself confronting new challenges as her father begins to have health issues and she and her mother have to make peace with that new reality. Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson and Alice Bailey Johnson also star.
LAIKA STUDIOS ● Wildwood
After her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows, headstrong teenager Prue McKeel (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) ventures into the enchanted Impassable Wilderness to rescue him. Joined by her loyal but hapless classmate Curtis, Prue encounters talking animals, bandits and powerful figures whose ambitions threaten the forest’s delicate balance. As they become caught in a growing conflict, Prue must discover an inner strength she never knew she had. The voice cast also features Carey Mulligan, Richard E. Grant, Charlie Day and Blythe Danner. The film, based on Colin Meloy’s novel of the same name, is directed by Travis Knight and adapted by Chris Butler. 1 Tender Loving Care 2 Wildwood
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Elephant & Castle ATTACK THE BLOCK A samurai sword is the weapon of choice for Moses, as he and his friends defend their home in Elephant & Castle from invading extra-terrestrials in Attack the Block.
Deadline’s Take Ten is the rapid-fire interview series that goes beyond your typical press interviews — delivering the juicy and fun behind-the-scenes stories, hot takes and unexpected confessions from the season’s buzzed-about talent and their latest projects.
WATCH NOW ON DEADLINE.COM
THE
FILMS NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTARY FILMS ● Everest: The Other Side
Professional skiers Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson set out to accomplish what no one has done before: ski down the North Face of Mount Everest. After building their reputations separately as elite outdoor adventurers, the couple now joins forces for their most dangerous challenge yet, facing days of grueling climbing before attempting to ski the treacherous descent. Oscarwinning filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin showcase the risky journey where one wrong move could prove fatal.
NETFLIX
Liverpool Street THE ELEPHANT MAN Escaping a traveling freak show, John Merrick is chased through Liverpool Street, pleading, “I am not an animal. I am a human being.”
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● Gentle Monster
Marie Kreutzer’s Gentle Monster stars Léa Seydoux as Lucy, an experimental pianist who moves with her anxiety-ridden husband Philip (Laurence Rupp) and young son to a rural farmhouse in Bavaria. Life seems swell until a special unit of bigcity police led by Detective Kühn (Jella Haase) swoops in and seizes Philip’s devices. When they find thousands of 1 Everest: The Other Side 2 Gentle Monster
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Highlights Newsletter Through engaging interviews, news updates, and reviews, Deadline’s International team of reporters and editors will provide insights into 2026 BAFTA contenders.
THE
FILMS images of child pornography his double life is exposed. ● Ink
Danny Boyle, working from a screenplay written by James Graham, based on his Tonynominated play Ink, dramatizes the rise of The Sun and the birth of modern British tabloid culture. Rupert Murdoch (Guy Pearce) recruits editor Larry Lamb (Jack O’Connell) to revive the struggling newspaper. Determined to stand out in a fiercely competitive market, Lamb embraces increasingly sensational and provocative stories. The strategy pays off, sending the paper’s circulation soaring and transforming The Sun into Britain’s most notorious newspaper. Claire Foy, Patrick Kennedy and Blake Harrison also star.
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● La Bola Negra
Written and directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, La Bola Negra (The Black Ball) explores LGBTQ cultural and pays tribute to the assassinated Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca through the interconnected stories of three men in the three different eras of 1932, 1937 and 2017. The cast features Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel 1 Ink 2 La Bola Negra
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Baker Street SHERLOCK HOLMES 221B Baker Street is the famous London home and headquarters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, where they live, work, and solve cases.
EXPLORING
THE COMEDY
INDUSTRY’S INNER DYNAMICS AND
THE INDIVIDUALS WHO DRIVE ITS SUCCESS.
Watch Now
Available on Deadline.com and podcast streaming platforms.
THE
FILMS Bernardeau, Carlos González, Milo Quifes, Penélope Cruz, Lola Dueñas and Glenn Close. ● Ray Gunn Set in Metropia,
a gigantic city in an alternate future inhabited by aliens and humans as seen from a 1939 perspective, Ray Gunn is an animated neo-noir science fiction mystery that revolves around private eye Raymond Gunn (Sam Rockwell), who is drawn into a case involving murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson). Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Patton Oswalt and Alan Tudyk also star. The film is directed by Academy Award winner Brad Bird.
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SONY PICTURES CLASSICS ● Bunker
Florian Zeller’s psychological thriller Bunker follows the emotional and moral challenges faced by a couple. Jaiver Bardem plays Miguel, a successful London architect, who considers a prestigious offer to build a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire. The project causes his wife, Sofia (Penelope Cruz), to question their relationship of 17 years as they are drawn into a life of extreme wealth, paranoia and fear. 1 Ray Gunn 2 Bunker
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London Bridge HAMNET Agnes travels to London to visit her husband, William Shakespeare. They find him on stage at The Globe Theatre for the first performance of Hamlet, a play he wrote as tribute to their late son.
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