Month: February 2022

Closing in on one of the leading voices in Caribbean cinema, Sony Pictures Television has acquired from Latido Films Latin American rights to “Hotel Coppelia,” directed by Dominican filmmaker José María Cabral. Produced by Santo Domingo-based Rafael Elías Muñoz at Lantica Media and Cabral’s outfit Tabula Rasa, “Hotel Coppelia” is a real events-inspired drama, set

That Colson Baker can act is no revelation. The rap-rocker, better known to his legions of fans as Machine Gun Kelly, has already held his own in a dozen or so roles for film and TV, demonstrating a scuzzy on-screen charisma within admittedly limited boundaries. His canny casting as Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee in

Gentle is the most fitting word to describe the aura of “The Last Bus,” Gillies MacKinnon’s placid travelogue of a movie about an ailing Englishman on a heartrending mission. Sadly, the filmmaker’s road trip errs on the side of excessive gentleness. For a tender movie that follows an old man on a long and demanding

First look images from upcoming U.K./Italian co-production “Commedia” have been released, Variety can exclusively reveal. Actor and writer Greta Bellamacina, who will next be seen in Sky Atlantic’s “This Sceptred Isle,” plays the lead, Irene. Helmed by Italian film and theater director Riccardo Vannuccini, “Commedia” will be Vannuccini’s first English-language film and is intended as

101 Films International has picked up world sales rights to “Fear the Invisible Man,” an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic novel, Variety can exclusively reveal. Described as a “period action thriller,” the adaptation stars Mhairi Calvey (“Braveheart”), David Hayman (“The Boy in the Striped Pjamas”), Mark Arnold (“Teen Wolf”) and Mike Beckingham (“Truth Seekers”). “‘Fear

I’m all for bad horror movies having short running times. (It lessens the pain.) And there are classics of horror cinema that are notably compact, like “Frankenstein” (1931), with its twisty tumultuous plot that lasts 71 minutes, or the original 1974 version of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” which achieved its slow-burn descent into the

Warner Bros.’ franchise title “The Batman” and Sony’s game adaptation “Uncharted” have both been given confirmed theatrical release dates in mainland China. “The Batman” will reach conventional and Imax theaters in China on Friday March 18, 2022. “Uncharted” will release four days earlier on Monday March 14. The confirmations mean that there is a rebounding

Variety won 26 National Art and Entertainment Journalism Awards, including entertainment publication for its 115th anniversary issue “Gamechangers” and two journalist of the year awards: senior vice president Tim Gray for print and deputy music editor Jem Aswad for online. The venerable entertainment publication received 98 nominations. The awards, presented by the Los Angeles Press

Apple tapped Park Chan-wook, among Korea’s most successful and critically acclaimed directors, to make a movie shot entirely on its latest iPhones. Park’s “Life Is But a Dream” is the first project in Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” marketing campaign to be produced, shot and edited entirely in Korea. (Watch Park’s film below or at this

Nearly 30 years since their Oscar-winning collaboration on “Forrest Gump,” Tom Hanks, Robert Zemeckis and Eric Roth will reunite for a new movie. The trio are set to adapt the innovative graphic novel, “Here,” with Hanks attached to star, Zemeckis to direct and Roth to pen the script.  Published in 2014 by illustrator and comics

This year’s Academy Awards will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for most — but not all — inside the Dolby Theater, Variety has confirmed. As the New York Times reports, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences determined on Thursday that all nominees and invited guests must show proof of vaccination and test negative at

Actors Sherri Shepherd and Jo Marie Payton have joined the feature film “ImPossible” in key roles. The movie, from executive producer and NFL champ Donald Driver, will weave narrative with Brandon Keith Lewis’ real-life diabetes battle. He will star, direct and co-write the film. Lewis contends with morbid obesity and type 2 diabetes onscreen and

Michael Bay is calling “bullshit” on the James Bond franchise for holding the Guinness World Record for largest film stunt explosion. It was the 007 tentpole “Spectre” that set the record with one set explosion that had “a total yield of 68.47 tonnes of TNT equivalent.” Not so fast, Bay recently told Empire magazine. According

Paramount confirmed this week that “WandaVision” director Matt Shakman will head into production on a new “Star Trek” movie later this year with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho and Simon Pegg reprising their roles for a fourth go-around on the big screen. For Quentin Tarantino fans, the news is the

Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine has forged a storytelling partnership with World of Women (WoW), the NFT collective that is cracking open the male-dominated world of crypto currency while celebrating inclusivity and equality. World of Women launched in July 2021 with some 10,000 artworks from women creators, quickly becoming one of the most popular and profitable

Casey Wilson and Andrew Rannells will host the 24th Costume Designer Guild Awards. “Throughout our history, the CDGA has been lucky enough to have incredible hosts like Mindy Kaling, Anjelica Huston, Gina Rodriguez and Mandy Moore join us,” Guild president Salvador Perez said in a statement. “We are excited to welcome Casey and Andrew to

More than two years after completing his ninth “Star Wars” movie, composer John Williams is returning to the Jedi fold with a theme for “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Variety has learned. Williams has written the musical signature for the continuing adventures of the character played by Ewan McGregor, airing on Disney Plus beginning May 25. He recorded

Big Beach, the production label behind Awkwafina starrer “The Farewell” and Tom Hanks’ “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” has abruptly closed its New York headquarters and parted ways with a significant number of staff, sources tell Variety. The cuts are a sign of the increasingly difficult challenges facing independent film shops, even those with