Movies

In today’s film news roundup, Participant has expanded its social impact campaign on behalf of domestic workers, Concordia Media bulks up and documentary “Funny Pains” gets distribution. PARTICIPANT CAMPAIGN Building on its social impact campaign for “Roma,” Participant Media has launched the Care For The People Who Care For You campaign in partnership with the

The Directors Guild of America has selected “Contagion” director Steven Soderbergh to head a committee to explore resuming production when the coronavirus pandemic abates. DGA President Thomas Schlamme and National Executive Director Russell Hollander made the announcement late Thursday afternoon. “A major concern we’re hearing most right now is about when we’ll be returning to

After news broke on Thursday that Tony-winning actor Brian Dennehy had died, tributes from those who had worked with and admired him began to pour in on social media. Dennehy, who was 81, starred in “Death of a Salesman” on both Broadway and television, as well as films such as “Tommy Boy,” “First Blood” and

President Donald Trump announced new proposed guidelines on Thursday for how and when the U.S. economy can reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which include a phased plan for audiences to return to movie theaters. The plan, dubbed “Opening Up America Again,” sets a series of proposed benchmarks, or “gating criteria,” that states and regions (like

Expanding his operation to original content of the visual kind, longtime Motley Crue manager Allen Kovac today announced the creation of Better Noise Films. Its initial project slate includes horror film “The Retaliators” starring Michael Lombardi (FX’s “Rescue Me”), Marc Menchaca (“Ozark,” “The Outsider”) and Joseph Gatt (“Dumbo”). Written by Darren Geare and Jeff Allen

Cinematographer Allen Daviau, a five-time Academy Award nominee for films including Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial” and “Empire of the Sun,” died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 77. Food editor and writer Colman Andrews wrote on Twitter that Daviau had died of coronavirus at the MPTF hospital. “RIP Allen Daviau, my friend of

Tribeca Film Institute announced on Thursday the 43 projects that will participate in this year’s TFI Network film market, to be held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. A traditional TFI Network three-day event would see emerging filmmakers and creators from across the globe coming together in New York City to embark on a day

“Harriet” director Kasi Lemmons has come on board to write and direct World War II drama “The Shadow King,” set during Benito Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia. The Atlas Entertainment project is based on Maaza Mengiste’s historical fiction novel, set during the first real conflict of World War II and spotlighting the Ethiopian women soldiers

Universal Pictures and Amasia Entertainment are partnering on “The Green Hornet and Kato” and are in development on a film based on the classic characters. Amasia won the feature film franchise rights to the Green Hornet in January with Amasia’s co-founders Michael Helfant and Bradley Gallo producing. Helfant is a veteran Hollywood executive who was president

Director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer are teaming with National Geographic Documentary Films for a movie about chef José Andrés and his humanitarian work through World Central Kitchen. “Serving people a plate of fresh food after a disaster is more than just about calories to fill them up. A hot meal is comfort, dignity,

Agencies CAA Media Finance, Endeavor Content, ICM Partners and UTA have confirmed their virtual market in Cannes will run from June 22 to 28. As previously reported, the market will coincide with the official Marché du Film. Details of the market first emerged last month, as agents and distributors clamored to keep business going in

You might recognize Wagner Moura starring as the late United Nations diplomat Sérgio Vieira de Mello in Netflix’s new film “Sergio.” Or maybe not. Moura looked a lot different when he earned a Golden Globe nomination in 2016 for his work as Pablo Escobar in the first two seasons of the streamer’s “Narcos.” He packed

On the last day of February, county officials in suburban Seattle went public with the news that the Life Care Center had become the center of an outbreak of the coronavirus disease. That disclosure began setting off alarms at America’s elder care facilities, due to residents being at heightened risk because of their age and close

Korean producer Little Big Pictures and foreign sales agent Contents Panda have agreed terms over the licensing of action thriller “Time to Hunt.” The agreement paves the way for the movie to have its premiere on global streaming platform Netflix. The two companies issued separate statements on Thursday afternoon. Little Big Pictures’ statement was a

Hong Kong sports drama film “Knockout” will head straight to streaming in China through streaming platform iQIYI. Prompted to change strategy by the coronavirus outbreak, which has shuttered cinemas across China since late January, “Knockout” joins a growing list of films that are skipping theatrical outings and will premiere online instead. IQIYI said that the

MADRID — Morena Films, one of Spain’s biggest independent movie-TV producers, is set to develop and produce a slice of high school noir: A drama series inspired by the country’s YA “La Chica Invisible” trilogy, in which a hyper-intelligent pupil, Julia, 16, battles adolescence and the challenges of solving the murder of a fellow student.

Alexander Abaturov’s “Paradise,” Lola Arias’ “Reas” and Yosep Anggi Noen’s “Voice of Baceprot” figure among 15 documentary features set to be pitched over April 27-28 at the 51st Pitching du Réel. A co-production forum for creative documentaries, the Pitching is an industry centerpiece at Visions du Réel, one of Europe’s most prestigious documentary festivals. These

More than 5,000 Chinese film and TV companies have cancelled or revoked their business registrations so far this year, nearly twice the tally for the entirety of 2019, a state-run media outlet said Wednesday. That is a signal of the devastating impact of the coronavirus outbreak on China’s film industry. Shut since January with high

Legendary Entertainment has hired Sirena Liu as the CEO of its China subsidiary, Legendary East. Legendary is the studio behind the “Pacific Rim,” “Jurassic World” and the “Godzilla” movie franchises. Liu was most recently managing director for Twentieth Century Fox’s China office, a post she’d held since October 2015 until mid 2019. The post became

In today’s film news roundup, Cinema Guild starts its virtual cinema initiative, Mucho Mas Media announces a partnership, Amazon hires a Netflix veteran and “Pot Luck” gets released. VIRTUAL CINEMA Cinema Guild is launching its virtual cinema initiative with 2019 Cannes Film Festival prize winner, Albert Serra’s “Liberté” in partnership with arthouse theaters. “We’re grateful

Tom Hardy is playing an aging and sickly Al Capone in a trailer for the upcoming retitled “Capone” biopic about “America’s most notorious gangster.” Director Josh Trank released the trailer on his Twitter account Wednesday. With theaters closed, the film will release on VOD on May 12 with a 48-hour rental. Plans are still in

Sports betting giant DraftKings has been cleared to become a public company following approval of a merger with SBTech and Diamond Eagle Acquisition, the public acquisition vehicle headed by industry veterans Harry Sloan and Jeff Sagansky. Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp., led by Sloan, announced Wednesday that it had received the approval from the Securities and

Fact-based “The Wolf of Wall Street” won criticism from some quarters for seeming to revel in its protagonist’s sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, while barely chiding him for the predatory, large-scale financial fraud that funded it. Cuneyt Kaya’s new “Rising High” offers a similar disconnect in its fictive tale of bold chicanery in

Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro are offering fans the opportunity to win a walk-on role in their upcoming film “Killers of the Flower Moon,” directed by Martin Scorsese. Fans can enter the contest by donating funds through the “All in Challenge,” which supports DiCaprio’s “America’s Food Fund,” “Meals on Wheels” and “No Kid Hungry.”

In 1995, “Outbreak” represented a very different type of Hollywood thriller. Instead of pitting its heroes against criminals, terrorists or other generic baddies, the movie’s antagonist was a deadly virus. Twenty-five years later, with the globe on lockdown due to the coronavirus and the death count from the disease rising, “Outbreak” looks remarkably prescient. But

For his feature directorial debut, Alan Yang chose to look close to home. Based on Yang’s own family’s experiences, “Tigertail” is set in both the past and the present and explores the life of retired Taiwanese immigrant Pin-Jui (Tzi Ma). We meet him as a child and watch him become a young man (played by

One of the buzz films at Visions Du Reel, Mexican filmmaker Laura Plancarte’s Montana-set “Non Western” explores the romantic journey of Thaddeus, a Cheyenne native, and Nanci, a Caucasian, and the challenges their interracial union faces. Through them, Plancarte explores the chains of oppression that persist from one generation to another. Thaddeus and Nanci were

Despite a global health crisis that’s left borders in Europe closed, theaters shut down and large events banned in multiple countries, including France, the Cannes Film Festival refuses to throw in the towel and continues to explore alternate options. The leading force behind the festival, director Thierry Fremaux, tells Variety that Cannes wants “to be

Variety has been given exclusive access to the first clip from David Bowie origin story “Stardust,” which receives its online premiere for distribution executives and select press on Wednesday. The film, written and directed by Gabriel Range, was slated to premiere at the Tribeca Festival Festival this week, but due to its postponement the filmmakers

With countless medical professionals fighting on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, one timely documentary about a healthcare activist caught the eyes of Bradley Whitford and brothers Mark and Jay Duplass. Whitford and Duplass Brothers Productions have signed on to executive produce “Not Going Quietly,” Variety has learned. The documentary, which will premiere at the