Movies

More than 500 cinema screens have reopened in China, where the coronavirus outbreak is seen to be receding, though box office takings remain minimal as the public is mostly staying away. State media CGTN reported that 486 theaters were open for business on Friday. On Monday, financial publication Caixin said the number had risen to

March 22, 2020 10:38PM PT “Time to Hunt,” the Korean action thriller that had its world premiere last month as a gala screening at the Berlin Film Festival, has given up its theatrical release plans. Instead, it will be released by streaming giant Netflix in mid-April. The move has not sat easily with Contents Panda,

Film and TV guilds, regional bodies and representatives of leading companies in New Zealand have joined forces to set up a coronavirus crisis center. The move comes the same day as the government put the entire country into lockdown for four weeks and New Zealand cinemas close for an indefinite period. The Screen Sector COVID-19

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical adaptation of “In the Heights” could struggle to be ready in time for its big-screen debut, currently set for June 26, if coronavirus concerns delay post-production, the Tony winner suggested Sunday night. Miranda — in a livestream interview with Rosie O’Donnell that was billed as a remounting of her successful daytime talk

March 22, 2020 12:31PM PT New York production company American High is calling for volunteers to help assemble face masks for health care workers fighting coronavirus. On Monday, people can drop off materials to make the face masks and build them at the Greater Syracuse Soundstage in New York. Volunteers will be given gloves and

The Australian federal government has ordered all cinemas in the country to close, as an additional measure against the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The order was made on Sunday evening local time and takes effect from noon on Monday. The measure could remain in place for several months. The move is part of a

Los Angeles landmark Magic Castle has laid off almost all of its staff, as the spread of coronavirus affects businesses nationwide, Variety has learned. The members-only club pink slipped 189 employees on Saturday, insiders said, and will operate on a skeletal staff of nine to maintain the historic Hollywood clubhouse, which sits just behind the

It could be lights out for the movie theater business if Congress doesn’t pass the trillion-dollar coronavirus rescue bill. That’s the stark message from John Fithian, president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO). “The situation is that dire,” Fithian told Variety, taking a break from working the phones in Washington D.C.,

SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris has issued a video detailing the union’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. “Make no mistake: We are in this together,” she said. “I want you to know that we, SAG-AFTRA, are responding to this and taking action in real time, and I mean that’s morning and night and into the wee

Every time a new mental-health therapy arrives, it’s propelled by the ideology — and the testimonials — of a religion. Sigmund Freud’s descriptions of psychoanalysis all point to the miracle-cure mythology of the moment when a patient, at long last, touches the nerve of his or her suppressed trauma and is liberated from it. In

March 21, 2020 1:11PM PT Frisky if familiar, this rom-com asks, can a carnal road trip lead to its odd couple to self-knowledge? An elementary school classroom may seem an odd place to launch a romantic comedy that soon finds its protagonists coupling with abandon in a slew of quasi-public spaces. But in the rom-com

With thousands of theaters shut down across the country due to the coronavirus pandemic, filmmaker Christopher Nolan urges people to show their support when they reopen. In an essay for The Washington Post, Nolan calls movie theaters a “vital part of social life” that not only provides entertainment for everyone, but also jobs for many

France’s culture minister has passed a decree allowing the National Film Board (CNC) to tweak the country’s notoriously strict window release policy as the industry struggles to cope with the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown. Under the exceptional measures, films that came out last week and were in theaters as of March 14 — when cinemas

As Hollywood’s guilds begin to petition the U.S. government for aid to unemployed workers, many guild and grassroots efforts are springing up to help in the meantime. Netflix was the first major company to make a commitment, pledging $1 million to assist out-of-work crew members across the industry, organizations that support entertainment workers and workers

The postponement of the Cannes Film Festival from mid-May to the end of June has elicited a mix of sadness and scepticism among international film executives. The festival’s decision Thursday evening to delay this year’s edition from its originally scheduled dates of May 12-23 to an as yet undetermined period between June and July was

Amid the cinema closures, redundancies and cancellations across the U.K. due to the coronavirus pandemic, institutions big and small are exploring myriad ways to stay in business — some more controversial than others. Genesis, an independent cinema in East London, remained open until Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered all cinemas and theaters to shut down

It may sound like we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel with sports films if we’re now showcasing lacrosse. However, in the case of director Miranda de Pencier’s “The Grizzlies,” our barrel runneth over. Like any good, inspirational athletic adventure, the film forges a strong connection with the human side of the story. There’s a

The last time Nia Vardalos saw her dad, Gus, in person was at Christmas when she was visiting her parents in Winnipeg, Canada. Gus, the inspiration for Nia’s father in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” was 87 and in declining health. “It was like watching your favorite wind-up toy slowly slowly losing its batteries over

March 20, 2020 2:40PM PT Adam Bolt’s CRISPR documentary brings together scientists, journalists and potential test subjects for an engaging look at genetic modification. Like any good science documentary, “Human Nature” starts with a hypothesis. The filmmakers posit that audiences are bored by the dry format of most science docs, but that there is a

March 20, 2020 12:07PM PT Amid widespread closures of movie theaters in the U.S., theater owners are applauding the efforts to pass coronavirus relief legislation to aid vulnerable employees and ensure business continuity during the coronavirus pandemic. “We particularly applaud the elements of phase III stimulus legislation that provide assistance to employees to help them

March 20, 2020 12:00PM PT Netflix has created a $100 million relief fund to help members of the creative community who have been left unemployed and without a way to earn an income during the coronavirus crisis. The streaming giant said that the bulk of the funds will go towards supporting laid-off crew members. “The

For Maeve Higgins, launching a film career started with denial. “It’s so hard to get a movie made, I just didn’t believe it would happen,” she says with a laugh. Written and directed by Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, “” features the Irish comedian in her first starring role. “It’s probably good I didn’t fully

The U.K. government is escalating its response to the country’s coronavirus outbreak, with lockdown measures finally in place and extensive economic support for retained workers. Speaking as part of a daily televised press briefing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered all cinemas, theatres, bars, pubs, restaurants, nightclubs and gyms to shut down from Friday evening

Following the news that the Cannes Film Festival will be postponed, Critics Week, the section dedicated to first and second films which runs parallel to the fest, said its 59th edition will not be taking place in May either. The organizers of Critics’ Week said in statement on Friday that the section may be moved

Times are rough right now under self-quarantine, so maybe it’s time to stop begging for scraps from Disney and watch some fantastic LGBTQIA+ cinema instead. Why not watch some smaller films that haven’t been talked to death by every pop culture website on the planet? The purpose of this list is to cheer people up,

The members of Congress who represent the entertainment industry are trying to make sure the next coronavirus relief package includes aid to freelance workers. But while there is sympathy for the theater business — which has almost entirely shut down — there appears to be little appetite for an industry-specific bailout package. Congressional Democrats are

Disney joins the growing number of studios releasing films early digitally as theaters remain shuttered nationwide in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Disney and Pixar’s “Onward” will be available to buy digitally and on Movies Anywhere for $19.99 beginning on Friday at 5 p.m. PT. It hits Disney Plus on April 3 in the U.S.

Movie theater chain Cineworld Group, which also owns specialty exhibitor Picturehouse, has come under fire for letting go many of its staff and reducing the wages of others in the U.K. following the closure of all their British cinemas due to the coronavirus pandemic. Staff employed on a casual basis – on so-called “zero-hours contracts,”

March 20, 2020 3:59AM PT Chinese actor Gao Yunxiang was this week acquitted in Australia of multiple rape and sexual assault charges. Producer, Wang Jing was similarly found not guilty on seven counts of sexual assault and attempted sexual assault. The cases sprang from accusations made in March 2018 that the two men had gone

As studios and distributors continue to pull the theatrical releases of their films, and cinemas nationwide close their doors to the public, what becomes of film criticism in the time of coronavirus? Like many of the U.K.’s film and TV workers, most critics work on a freelance basis and with most major theater chains shuttered