Month: December 2020

The entertainment business is by definition unpredictable. That’s what makes it such a magnet for the best and the brightest, the bold and the brazen, the born innovators and entrepreneurs. Efforts to forecast the future are often folly, because the path is determined by financial agendas and the interests and discretionary income of American and, increasingly, global consumers.

Studios didn’t exactly jump at the chance to make a movie about the late Black Panther chairman Fred Hampton. “It knocked me on my ass,” admits Shaka King, the co-writer and director of “Judas and the Black Messiah,” the blistering new look at Hampton’s short life and enduring impact. “I was under the impression that

Film Movement has acquired North American rights to Amjad Abu Alala’s feature debut “You Will Die at Twenty,” which marks Sudan’s first official Oscar submission. As part of the deal, Film Movement will give “You Will Die at Twenty” a theatrical rollout via virtual cinema in 2021, followed by a release on home entertainment and

“Wonder Woman 1984” is finally here after a long and winding road of delays. “The fact that we’re going to share it with everybody during the holidays is the best feeling,” Gal Gadot tells me as she awaits the film’s Christmas Day debut on HBO Max. “I’m so happy.” And she’d be happy to do

Many actors dread comparisons to James Dean, the movie icon who helped define a new type of on-screen masculinity. But Steven Yeun, the 36-year-old who rose to global recognition on the TV megahit “The Walking Dead,” is comfortable with the juxtaposition to Hollywood’s most famous rebel. When Yeun was talking to director Lee Isaac Chung

Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” may be an ensemble drama at heart, but it does feature one inarguable breakout performance by its young star: Alan S. Kim. The 7-year-old firecracker won over crowds in Park City in January at the film’s Sundance premiere (and subsequent press tour, cosplaying as Woody from “Toy Story”) with his portrayal

The Canadian film and television industry has been rocked following allegations that prominent filmmaker and “Inconvenient Indian” director Michelle Latimer is not Indigenous, as she has claimed to be for the past 20 years. The hurt and anger from the Indigenous filmmaking community that followed on social media has been palpable, drawing further attention to

Film industry relations between China and Europe have been kept alive throughout the coronavirus outbreak by Bridging The Dragon, an informal trade organization now in its sixth year. After its regular event held during the Berlin film festival in February, further seminars, presentations and mixers should have taken place in Cannes in May and in

The Hyderabad filming schedule of Sun Pictures’ “Annaatthe,” starring Indian superstar Rajinikanth, has been stopped due to crew members testing positive for COVID-19. “During routine testing at #Annaathe shoot 4 crew members have tested positive for Covid19. Superstar @rajinikanth and other crew members have tested negative. To ensure utmost safety #Annaatthe shooting has been postponed,”

Much like its “will they, won’t they” plotline, the road to release for “Sylvie’s Love” has been its own brand of love rollercoaster. From filming on beaches and soundstages in Los Angeles (doubling as New York) to launching the film with a COVID-safe, yet romantic drive-in premiere in Malibu, Calif., stars Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi

Warner Bros. has rescheduled the release date for “Judas and the Black Messiah.” The historical biopic, starring Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield, will debut on Feb. 17, 2021. Prior to Tuesday night’s announcement, the studio had delayed the movie to early 2021 but hadn’t set an exact date. “Judas and the Black Messiah” was initially

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has completed its annual review of film submissions for the Golden Globe awards, and Variety has learned exclusively that many films and performances have been switched from the studios’ intended submissions. “Promising Young Woman” from Focus Features was switched from comedy to the drama categories. Written and directed by Emerald

The legal battle between Brazilian producer Rodrigo Teixeira (“Call Me By Your Name”) and his former business partner Luiz Mussnich has heated up. An October lawsuit filed by Mussnich and another by his brother-in-law Carlos Randolpho Gros in Brazil, alleged that Teixeira wooed well-to-do Brazilian investors through the years but the bulk of the funds

“Monster Hunter” director Paul W.S Anderson calls VFX head Dennis Berardi “an invaluable creative partner.” The two have collaborated on movies dating back to “Resident Evil.” This time, Berardi serves as a producer on the big-screen adaptation of the Capcom video game. “There are 1400 visual effects shots in this movie, so Dennis is a

The beginning of “Rebuilding Paradise” is a heart pounding re-telling of the 2018 Camp fire, one of the most destructive and deadliest blazes in the history of California. Cut together with news reels and phone footage from survivors from the city of Paradise, one particularly gripping moment showed a family driving through what was seemingly