Month: July 2022

“Clerks III” is finally coming to the big screen, 28 years after the original film latched onto the hearts of millions. The third installment to Kevin Smith’s cult classic film series has released its first trailer from Lionsgate, teasing the newest chapter to Smith’s “View Askewniverse.” “Clerks III” is set to follow Randal, played by

The Hulu original unscripted series “Captive Audience” has lived up to its name, earning record-breaking viewership for the streamer. Hulu documentary chief Belisa Balaban told Variety exclusively that the show — which explores the harrowing kidnapping of 7-year-old Steven Stayner and its resulting media frenzy — has set a record for most-viewed nonfiction TV program in its first

Viola Davis is no stranger to transformations. In the past couple years alone, she’s played DC’s Amanda Waller, Ma Rainey and even Michelle Obama. But in the warrior epic “The Woman King,” the trailer for which dropped Wednesday, Davis plays a character unlike any she’s played before. Davis stars in the film as Nanisca, the

With eternal respect to Virginia Woolf, whose “A Room of One’s Own” clearly inspires the title of Ioseb ‘Soso’ Bliadze’s beautifully articulate miniature, even before a woman needs money and her own space to be able to pursue self-fulfillment, she needs to know she needs those things. Bliadze’s superbly performed, remarkably immersive Karlovy Vary competition

Peter Chernin is going all-in on building an independent content studio with global reach backed with up to $800 million in financing from private equity giants Providence Equity Partners and Apollo. The media investor and former Fox chief has formed The North Road Company after quietly acquiring the U.S. production assets of Red Arrow Studios

Maxime Saada, the chairman and CEO of Canal+ Group and chair of its film and TV subsidiary Studiocanal, has joined the management board of Vivendi. The arrival of Saada within Vivendi’s management board is part of the company’s recent strategic moves and underscores its ambition to continue growing its international scope and focus on content,

There are considerable ethnic, economic and geographical inequalities across the U.K. cinema exhibition workforce, a new survey has revealed. The survey was conducted by the Independent Cinema Office (ICO), the U.K.’s national body that supports independent cinemas through programming, training, consultancy and cultural distribution and the Bridge Group, a non-profit consultancy that uses research to

Brussels-based sales company Be For Films has picked up international sales rights to two world premiere titles at the upcoming 75th Locarno Film Festival: Delphine Lehericey’s Piazza Grande entry “Last Dance” and Julie Lerat-Gersant’s Cineasti del Presente player “Little Ones.” Lehericey’s third film, the dramedy “Last Dance,” is a Switzerland-Belgium co-production, teaming Lausanne-based Box Productions

DEVELOPING SITUATION New president of the Philippines Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday swore in a swath of new officials at government agencies. Among them, veteran actor Tirso Cruz III, was appointed as chair and chief executive of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). He replaces Liza Dino Seguerra who has held the post

Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival has revealed the lineup for its 75th edition, sticking to its promise of discovering new talent. A slew of debuting filmmakers will showcase their works, from Italy’s Nicola Prosatore with “Piano Piano” to Caterina Mona, focusing in “Semret” on an Eritrean single mother working at a Zurich hospital and dreaming of

Energetic Italian sales agent Open Reel has closed world sales rights to Valentin Merz’s “De noche los gatos son pardos,” which will world premiere in this year’s Locarno Festival International Competition.  One of two first features in Locarno’s main competitive section, “De noche los gatos son pardos” (“At Night All Cats Are Black”) returns to

Trinity Cine Asia has acquired upcoming Hong Kong comedy “Chilli Laugh Story” for distribution in the U.K. and North America. The work-from-home story of the director Coba Cheng’s relatives sees a locked-down family starting an online business during the pandemic. It stars Sandra Ng, who also produces, Ronald Cheng, Gigi Leung and Edan Lui, a