Month: November 2023

Marina Cicogna, Italy’s first major female film producer who shepherded films by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Zeffirelli and Elio Petri, including Petri’s Oscar-winning “Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion,” has died. She was 89. Cicogna died on Nov. 4 in her Rome home after a long battle with an unspecified form of cancer, according to

The 31st edition of the Camerimage Film Festival, Europe’s top cinematography event, will welcome a host of stellar guests to the Gothic Polish town of Torun, including Adam Driver, Sean Penn and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer. Driver and Penn will screen their latest films, respectively, the high-octane biopic “Ferrari”

Pia Lundberg, a Swedish film industry veteran, is set to succeed Jonas Holmberg as the new artistic director of Göteborg Film Festival, Scandinavia’s leading film-TV event. Lundberg most recently served as counsellor for cultural affairs at the Embassy of Sweden in London for the last five years. A former journalist, Lundberg also served as head of international at

“The Boy and the Heron” supposedly the final feature film by Japanese animation maestro Miyazaki Hayao, placed on top of the south Korean box office for a second weekend. It held off challenges from a clutch of new releases, including “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Talk to Me.” “The Boy and the Heron” collected

Doug Jones, a veteran film programmer, curator and exhibitor at several U.S. film festivals, has died. He was 53. Jones most recently worked as a consulting programmer for the South by Southwest Film and TV Festival, as well as a programmer for the Vidiots Foundation, a relaunched Los Angeles nonprofit video store and cinema. The

SAG-AFTRA may take another day to respond to the studios’ “last, best and final” offer, as the union’s negotiating committee continues to weigh its next move. The studios last talked to union leadership on Saturday afternoon, when a large group of CEOs sought to make clear that they will not make further concessions. After that

In a recent interview with GQ, Danny DeVito discussed the possibility of reuniting with his “Twins” co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger on a project. DeVito shared that he and Schwarzenegger want to work together again, but this new project would be separate from “Twins,” the 1988 comedy where the two portrayed fraternal twin brothers separated at birth.

Taraja Ramsess, a stuntman known for his work in “Avengers: Endgame” and “Black Panther,” died on Oct. 31 in Atlanta. He was 41. Ramsess died in a car accident alongside his two daughters Sundari and Fujibo, who were 13 years old and eight weeks old, respectively. His mother Akili Ramsess confirmed the death of Ramsess

“Poor Things,” starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo, has already generated a substantial amount of Oscars buzz, becoming a major contender for next year’s awards season. What less people might know about the film is that it was shot in Budapest, Hungary — a location that appealed to the “Poor Things” filmmakers for its “abundant

Jim Lee, veteran comicbook artist and now chief creative officer of DC Comics, explained during an onstage interview at Lucca Comics & Games why the likes of Wonder Woman, Batman and the Joker still tug at the heartstrings of readers, and how his drive to rise to the peak of the business sometimes came at

Fifty years ago, the release of two movies — “Jaws” in 1975, and “Star Wars” in 1977 — changed movies, America, and the world, not just by giving rise to “the blockbuster mentality” but by ushering in the cinematic age of all-popcorn-all-the-time. There had been antecedents, of course. In hindsight, much of our fantasy culture

Russell Brand has been accused of sexual assault by a film extra during the production of “Arthur” in July 2010. In a lawsuit, filed Friday in the New York Supreme Court and obtained by Variety, a woman — referred to as Jane Doe — said that Brand “appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol, and was carrying

Cinemagoers seated early for “Five Nights at Freddy’s” are treated to a new kind of movie advertisement: one that tells viewers not to look at the screen. The trailer, a theaters-only promo for Lionsgate and Blumhouse‘s upcoming horror film “Imaginary,” begins with a child’s voice asking, “Hi, wanna play a game with me? Close your

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” collapsed at the box office but still managed to emerge on top. Universal and Blumhouse’s fall sleeper hit has collected $19.4 million in its sophomore outing, resulting in a massive 76% decline from its debut. Universal and Blumhouse’s spooky video game adaptation, which takes place in a haunted Chuck E. Cheese-esque

Comicbook artist and writer Frank Miller, the man behind classics “300,” “Sin City” and “Daredevil,” is working on his new projects through Frank Miller Presents, the publishing banner he launched last year. Miller, speaking at Lucca Comics & Games this week, told Variety what drove him to embark on this new creative venture. “I’d say

West Hollywood-based indie distribution outfit Indican Pictures (“Gossamer Folds”) has secured North American rights for Santiago Fillol’s political thriller “Matadero” (“Slaughterhouse”).  The debut fiction feature from the Argentine director saw its world premiere in competition at Locarno in 2022, with further festival bows at Mar Del Plata and Seville before December theatrical runs in Argentina

The forbidden love between two soldiers in a society riven by war is at the heart of “So the Lovers Could Come Out Again,” the sophomore feature from Lebanese filmmaker George Peter Barbari, whose debut, “Death of a Virgin, and the Sin of Not Living,” premiered in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama strand. Barbari will

UPDATED: The studios told SAG-AFTRA on Saturday that they have made their “last, best and final” offer, as they seek an end to the 114-day actors strike. The offer includes an enhanced residual bonus for high-performing streaming shows. Under the proposal, actors who appear on the most-watched shows on each platform will see their standard

Skybound Entertainment, the company behind animated TV series “Invincible,” has acquired the historic Spike & Mike’s animation events, with plans for a revival. Marge Dean, head of studio at Skybound Entertainment, announced the news at Toronto’s Animation Industry Conference (TAAFI) on Saturday. Spike & Mike began in the 1970s as a curator of animated shorts.

“Consent,” an adaptation of Vanessa Springora’s bestselling book which sparked a belated #MeToo moment in France, has lured major distributors while thriving at the local box office and stirring social media buzz. Represented in international markets by Paris-based outfit SND, the film marks the sophomore outing of Vanessa Filho whose debut feature “Angel Face” stars