Awards

The New York Film Critics Circle, one of the first critics’ groups to weigh in on awards season, announced its winners on Friday morning. The East Coast org is comprised of more than 50 journalists from publications such as Time and Variety. NYFCC’s winner for best film has typically had a strong correlation with the

The first phase of the awards season will be fully underway starting in the Big Apple. Beginning with the Gotham Awards where “Everything Everywhere All at Once” triumphed, the New York Film Critics Circle will be the first major group of film journalists to reveal its winners on Friday, Dec. 2. Members of NYFCC will

It’s not just about the best when it comes to the Oscars. It’s about the most watched. The voters are made up of working industry folks who don’t have the luxury of dedicating infinite hours to watching hundreds of films in the calendar year. That’s where awards strategists come in: They help create and build

There are some Oscar recipients who don’t have to sweat the big night  — they already know they are receiving honorary statuettes at this year’s Governors Awards, which will be held Nov. 19 in Los Angeles.  Michael J. Fox  Five-time Emmy Award winner Fox will be honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an Oscar

There’s a new Board in town. The Television Academy is set to reveal the names of the newly-elected governors who will serve a two-year term. Many are first-timers. The approximately 70 board members include two representatives from each of the Academy’s approximately 31 peer groups, as well its officers. The members announced on Friday will

Don’t underestimate the power of chuckles. The Oscars favor cradle-to-grave biopics and sprawling epics, but once in a while they embrace the comedy genre that so often gets passed over, especially in major categories such as screenplay and directing. Coming off a global pandemic, voters are looking to be in a good mood — see

Pakistan’s “Joyland” could still qualify for the upcoming Academy Awards for best international feature, despite being banned in its native country, which was announced on Nov. 12. The government of Pakistan banned Saim Sadiq’s Oscar contender — which is Pakistan’s Oscar entry —for containing “highly objectionable” material. An order dated Nov. 11 from Pakistan’s Ministry

The Israeli-Palestinian drama “Roll,” from Italian-American first-time director Loris Lai and producer Lawrence Bender, has wrapped production in Tunisia and in Tarak Ben Ammar Studios in Tunis. The film, which is inspired by the Italian novel “Sulle Onde della Libertà” by Nicoletta Bortolotti, is written by Lai and Dahlia Heyman. The story is set in

Ke Huy Quan, who played Harrison Ford’s 11-year-old sidekick Short Round in 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” is all grown up now and ready to be an Oscar contender. Quan, 51, has received rousing reviews for his turn as Waymond Wang, the delightfully goofy husband in the Daniels’ whimsical multiverse comedy “Everything

Jimmy Kimmel is back as host of the 95th Oscars in 2023, marking the late-night star’s third time fronting the ceremony — which he last did five years ago. Kimmel’s return was announced Monday by Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, the executive producers and showrunners behind the Academy Awards.  The “Jimmy Kimmel Live” host previously led

Todd Field was working as an actor on Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” when star Tom Cruise took him aside. Cruise looked Field in the eye and told the budding auteur that he would one day be a director. “He basically pushing me onto the fighter jet,” Field recalls to Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast. “I

Rank Film Visual effects team Distributor 1 “Top Gun: Maverick” Ryan Tudhope (visual effects supervisor), Scott R. Fisher (special effects coordinator), Seth Hill (visual effects supervisor), Bryan Litson (visual effects supervisor) Paramount Pictures After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when

Danielle Deadwyler had just moved to L.A. with her 13-year-old son and was in the middle of looking for an apartment when her reps gave her the script. “I can’t look for a place and read ‘Till,’” she remembers telling herself, but what she meant was, “Who wants to read about the mutilation and murder

Rank Film Production Designer and Set Decorator Distributor 1 “The Fabelmans” Rick Carter (production designer), Karen O’Hara (set decorator) Universal Pictures A semi-autobiography based on Spielberg’s own childhood growing up in post-war Arizona, from age seven to eighteen. 2 “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Hannah Beachler (production designer), Lisa K. Sessions (set decorator) Marvel Studios The

Comedian Chelsea Handler has signed on to host the next Critics Choice Awards, set to be held in January. The announcement means that the streak has ended for Taye Diggs, who hosted the show for four consecutive years — including in 2022, with Nicole Byer. The 28th annual Critics Choice Awards will take place Sunday,

“Cha Cha Real Smooth” and “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” are among the recent honorees of the Ruderman Family Foundation’s Seal of Authentic Representation, Variety has learned exclusively. The Foundation recognizes films and television series that include authentic representation of people with disabilities. Vanessa Burghardt, an actor with autism, plays Domino’s (Dakota Johnson) autistic daughter

Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan are splitting up, at least in terms of their Oscar campaign. “She Said,” which premiered at the New York Film Festival, and then one day later at the Middleburg Film Festival in Virginia, will be campaigned by Universal Pictures in the highly competitive best actress category for Kazan while Mulligan

After Nina Hoss received the role as Sharon in “Tár,” she happened to be in Budapest shooting Amazon Prime’s “Jack Ryan” — where her eventual co-star Cate Blanchett was also on location shooting Eli Roth’s “Borderland.” Hoss and Blanchett soon built a rapport and friendship that would become the foundation of their characters. After that,

Allen Media Group’s African American-focused news, lifestyle, sports and entertainment platform theGrio has announced the inaugural The Grio Awards. The black-tie event will take place at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday, October 22th with co-hosts comedian Sheryl Underwood and Taye Diggs. The award show’s inaugural honorees are slated to attend in-person, including: Tyler Perry –

J.D. Dillard’s “Devotion” was announced as the Audience Award winner for best narrative film following the conclusion of the Middleburg Film Festival. The Sony Pictures historical drama, which stars Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell, was a heavy favorite from patrons and could be a quiet dark horse contender in the Oscar race. Dillard and actor

Rank Film Editor(s) Distributor 1 “Top Gun: Maverick” Eddie Hamilton Paramount Pictures After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when he leads TOP GUN’s elite graduates on a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it. 2

Can Will Smith overcome the controversy surrounding the slap heard around the world to win his second Oscar? That’s the question facing Apple after it announced that it will release “Emancipation,” a drama about an escaped slave that it paid Smith $35 million to star in and produce. The streamer is betting that the furor

Grammy-winner Jazmine Sullivan has teamed up with Grammy and Oscar-winning songwriter Dernst “D’Mile’ Emile II for a possible Oscar contender for best original song. Variety has exclusively learned the song “Stand Up,” which will be featured in Orion and United Artists Releasing’s upcoming drama “Till,” will be submitted for Academy Awards consideration. The song will

A slew of consumer-friendly Oscar contenders are vying for nominations in the coveted best picture category — and that could be just what the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences needs to boost ratings and keep ABC happy. Analysts have found correlations between box office success and viewership over the years, but the broadcast

ABC and Vice tied with the most wins, at 8 each, on night one as the news portion of the 43rd Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards were handed out at the Palladium Times Square in New York City. Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor of “PBS NewsHour” was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. 

If someone told me a decade ago that the woman who would play Marilyn Monroe in a fictionalized biopic of her life would have the best chance of being the one Latina woman nominated at this year’s Oscars for best actress, I would have asked, “where is Ashton Kutcher? Because clearly, I’m on ‘Punk’d’?”  But what

Naomi Watts has been gracing our movie screens for over 25 years, earning the respect of her peers as well as multiple industry accolades, including two Oscar nominations for best actress.   To celebrate Watts’ birthday, Variety is ranking her 15 best film performances so far.  Born in England and raised in Australia, Watts was sprinkled

Zar Amir Ebrahimi (also known as Zahra) should be basking in the glow of her best actress win at Cannes for “Holy Spider.” Instead, she’s in a reflective mood when she sits down with Variety for a Zoom interview, recounting the tumultuous 16 years that culminated with earning a prominent role in one of the

The rebirth of the Golden Globes has found its showrunner. Jesse Collins, who just won an Emmy earlier this month as the producer behind “The Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, 50 Cent,” has signed on to executive produce and showrun the 2023 Golden

“The Rescue” filmmakers and Oscar winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are among the presenters set to appear at the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ 43rd Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards.  The news ceremony will take place on Wednesday, September 28 at 7:30 p.m. ET and the documentary ceremony takes place Thursday,