Movies

Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” a sequel to Tom Cruise’s 1986 classic, is the latest summer movie to vacate its release date as theaters remain closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The anticipated follow-up was scheduled to debut June 24 and will now release Dec. 23, 2020. As part of the release shake-up, Paramount

The South Korean government has unveiled a package of measures to help the local film industry, which is currently reeling from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Chief among the measures is the decision to exempt multiplex chains from having to contribute to the country’s movie development fund. This normally operates as a mandatory contribution

The blockbusters will be postponed, the indie films in many cases will head straight to streaming. But even before the apple cart of movie distribution got tipped over, “Blue Story” had traced an unlikely path. An artfully corrosive British youth-gang drama, at once jaggedly real and modly stylized, it was written and directed by Andrew

Korean-made war film “Battle of Jangsari,” which features Megan Fox in a key role as a front line reporter, is set to play in multiple European and Asian territories. The film already had a deal with WellGo USA for North America. Seoul-based sales agent, Finecut said that it had additionally licensed the film to Pandastorm

Doc Edge, New Zealand’s annual factual film festival, will this year become an online-only event. Instead of cancelling due to the disruptions to production and travel caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the festival will move all screenings and events into the virtual space. The virtual festival is scheduled to run between May 28 and June

The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan has cut 50% from the cost of premiums for the second quarter in response to the coronavirus crisis. SAG-AFTRA members were notified of the reduction on Wednesday via a message from SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris and national executive director David White. They said the cuts would cover participants who had been

In today’s film news roundup, Dolly Parton makes a donation for coronavirus cure, Howie Mandel and Ashlee Simpson join the voice cast of “Pierre The Pigeon-Hawk” and American Documentary launches an artists emergency fund. RESEARCH DONATION Dolly Parton has donated $1 million to Nashville’s Vanderbilt Hospital to help aid research to find a cure for

Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams are opening their contact lists for their new endeavor to help children during the coronavirus pandemic. Not long after the U.S. came to a screeching halt because of COVID-19, the two superstars launched “SaveWithStories,” an Instagram account that features celebrities and other notable figures reading children’s books. The line-up already

Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” appears to have left behind a couple of little mistakes – namely a black Hydro Flask and a Poland Spring water bottle. Self-proclaimed “Little Women” superfan Madelyn Rancourt, who claims to have seen the movie seven times in theaters, exposed the flaw to the internet via TikTok on March 26. After

The National Association of Theatre Owners of California/Nevada has established a $1.25 million relief fund to assist employees of member theaters who have been laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As we all know, our industry is dependent on our employees for survival, and we want to do what we can to assist them during

The mobster comedy is by now such familiar terrain that it ought to have its own nickname (mobcom, obviously), and that familiarity does not make breathing new life into the subgenre easier. Alas, there isn’t much fresh air to be had in “Clover,” a polished but pedestrian romp in which two knucklehead siblings in hock

Chinese president Xi Jinping indicated that cinemas should remain shut while on a tour to Zhejiang province that otherwise signaled Beijing’s desire to get its economy back on track post-coronavirus, state media said on Wednesday. His comments come as China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has ordered entertainment venues across the country that had just

Farce is not a genre we commonly associate with the Germans, but then, as “Curveball” reminds us at the outset, this wildly atypical Teutonic satire — which plays like a cross between “Wag the Dog” and “Dr. Strangelove” in its portrayal of incompetence at the highest levels — is “A true story. Unfortunately.” More mea

John Sloss, founder and principal of Cinetic Media, is the consummate mover and shaker in the independent film business. But a conversation with Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos a few years ago changed his view of television forever. “From the moment Ted Sarandos informed me he was going to drop an entire season of ‘House

Director Stephen Williams, who most recently helmed HBO’s “Watchmen,” has boarded “Don’t Go in the Water,” an original horror film from Universal Pictures. Peter Gaffney wrote the script, most of which is being kept tightly under wraps. The film is described as a suspenseful monster movie. Shawn Levy and Dan Levine will produce “Don’t Go

Universal Pictures is shaking up its release calendar, setting new dates for Illumination’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” and “Sing 2.” The “Minions” sequel will now hit theaters next summer, on July 2, 2021. “Sing 2,” originally set to open on that date, has been pushed to Dec. 22, 2021, leaving “Wicked,” an adaptation of

Former Hulu chief Jason Kilar has been named CEO of WarnerMedia, giving him oversight of Warner Bros., HBO, the Turner cable assets and the company’s nascent HBO Max streaming platform. Kilar succeeds John Stankey, who was upped in September to AT&T president and chief operating officer. Kilar’s name had surfaced as a contender for the

Another word for “Cargo,” a truly unique blend of Hindu mythology and mid-concept science fiction about a futuristic new process by which the recently deceased are beamed onto a spaceship far away in order to have their memories wiped and their souls cleansed for reincarnation, might be “baggage” — as in, dead people show up

Taiwan has launched a grant scheme to boost the island’s status as a global hub for virtual reality production. It is offering finance to projects co-produced by companies established in Taiwan and internationally, but excluding those from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. The three-year Immersive Content Grant for International Joint Ventures or Co-Productions under

While most of the world is on lockdown mode, Sweden has taken a different route, with schools, restaurants, some theaters and most public venues still open. The Swedish prime minister, Stefan Löfven, has asked people to behave like “adults” and not give in to the panic, advising them to work from home, as well as

“Tomboy” filmmaker Lindsay Lindenbaum spent five years following four female drummers trying to make it in a male-dominated world. Lindenbaum profiles Bobbye Hall, a drummer who started at Motown Records in the late ’60s and later toured with Bob Dylan. Samantha Maloney, whose obsession with MTV’s “Headbangers Ball” as a teenager led her to fall

Say goodbye to blockbuster season — at least for this year. After would-be summer hits from Disney, Warner Bros., and Universal already vacated their release dates, Sony Pictures announced Monday that its comic book adventure “Morbius,” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and virtually all of its upcoming tentpoles were being moved into the fall or beyond. It was

After a month of increasing anxiety and self-isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic, audiences in the U.S. are largely not eager to return to public events once the crisis subsides, according to a new study. In a survey of 1,000 consumers in the U.S., 44% of respondents said they would attend fewer large public events,

Out of the vast universe of nature documentaries, I don’t think I’m alone in finding films about life under the sea to occupy a special place. The very fact that they exist, of course, is amazing — though when you watch one, part of the wonder is that you’re not thinking about how aquamarine filmmakers

As everyone continues to self-quarantine and practice social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic, there’s no better “at-home” activity than catching up on all the new films and shows streaming on Netflix this April. A number of new series are set to premiere on the streaming platform, including “Never Have I Ever,” “#BlackAf,” “OuterBanks,” “The

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to escalate and Americans face more time in quarantine, “There’s no place like home” resonates in an entirely different way, with the power to save millions – not just Dorothy. Aiming to encourage social distancing, the American Film Institute announced the launch of the AFI Movie Club with the help

Actor Vincent Marzello, best known for his roles in “The Witches,” “Superman” and “The Spy Who Loved Me,” died on Tuesday. He was 68. Marzello’s wife, “Notting Hill” actor Lorelei King, tweeted the news. “The love of my life, my darling husband Vincent Marzello, died this morning,” she wrote. “To those who knew him, I

French producers have banded together to lobby the government to push insurance companies to start covering damages caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In any other country, asking insurance companies to change their policies in the midst of a pandemic for the sake of solidarity would be perceived as a practical joke, but not in France.

In Dubrovnik, as everywhere, the wealthy do not live near the airport — so much noise, so much traffic, so many planes overhead stealing sections of cloudless blue sky. Instead, the airport’s depressed, cracked-concrete environs are occupied by blue-collar families like the one at the heart of Andrea Staka’s third feature (after “Cure” and 2008’s

The San Sebastian and Zurich film festivals have teamed to launch new film markets that will cater to the gaps created by the cancellation of SXSW and the postponement of Tribeca due to the coronavirus pandemic. The programming of both fall festivals will feature titles originally scheduled for spring fests SXSW and Tribeca. The markets