Imax has named Pablo Calamera as chief technology officer and executive VP, the company announced Monday. He succeeds Brian Bonnick, who will retire after 20 years on the job. Calamera, who joins Imax from video platform JW Player, will report to Imax CEO Rich Gelfond and will be based in New York. “Over the course
Movies
Disney is gearing up for a splashy free TV premiere of “The Mandalorian” in Germany ahead of the official March 24 launch of its much anticipated Disney Plus streaming service, but “Star Wars”-loving Amazon Fire TV users may be in for a disappointment. The first episode of the series, “Chapter 1: The Mandalorian,” will debut
Independent distribution company Infotainment China has acquired the China rights to the buzzy Holocaust film “Persian Lessons,” which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last week. The firm has also acquired the Juliette Binoche-starring French title “How to Be a Good Wife” and Australian thriller “Black Water: Abyss.” But its representatives were unable to see
Fresh off his first Oscar nomination, Antonio Banderas has joined Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg in the cast of Sony’s “Uncharted” adaptation. Sophia Ali and “The 100” actor Tati Gabrielle have also boarded the film, sources tell Variety. Ruben Fletcher (“Venom”) will direct the movie, closing a deal after he was reported as the top
The surge of coronavirus cases in Italy is taking its toll on theatrical box office returns which plunged this weekend by more than 75% compared to the same frame a year ago. With nearly half of the country’s screens shuttered, the Feb. 28-March 1 weekend’s total intake was a measly roughly €2 million ($2.2 million), according to box
Hillary Clinton will make her first visit to South by Southwest, the annual festival in Austin, Texas, devoted to the latest buzzy movies, musical artists and big tech companies. Clinton will appear at SXSW as part of two days of political talks, from March 14 to 15, co-hosted by the Texas Tribune. The former secretary
When Universal released “The Mummy” starring Tom Cruise in 2017, the results were horrific. The big-budget reboot cost $350 million to make and promote, so the studio lost a sizable chunk of change when the film ended its box office run with $409 million globally. “The Mummy” was intended to kick off an interconnected cinematic
The U.K.’s Twickenham Studios is set for major investment following a £50 million ($64 million) deal that has seen property developer General Projects and urban regeneration specialists The Creative District Improvement Company (TCDI) take a 50% stake in the studios. The stake was acquired from Twickeham Studios owner Sunny Vohra, who will continue as chairman.
Image Nation Abu Dhabi has inked a multi-picture deal with Los Angeles-based Spooky Pictures and set up-and-coming director Chloe Okuno’s psychological thriller “Watcher” as the slate’s first title. Spooky Pictures, which is the low budget genre label recently formed by producers Roy Lee (“The Ring”) (who is pictured, right) and Steven Schneider (“Pet Sematary”), and the Abu
The annual APOS conference in Bali, Indonesia, a leading event in Asia for the media, telecoms and entertainment industries, has become the latest victim of COVID-19. Its organizers, Media Partners Asia, have decided to move the event from spring to fall, joining a long list of cultural and entertainment events that have been postponed or
Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof, whose sixth feature “There Is No Evil” won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear on Saturday, is one of his country’s most prominent directors even though none of his films have screened in Iran where they are banned. In 2011, the year he won two prizes at Cannes with his censorship-themed
Jennifer Lopez opened up on her snub at this year’s Oscars during a discussion with Oprah Winfrey, admitting she felt disappointed about not getting nominated. Many expected the “Hustlers” star to have her name called out during this year’s nominations for supporting actress, but Lopez was missing from the list. Kathy Bates (“Richard Jewell”), Laura
Harrison Ford’s canine adventure “The Call of the Wild” is shaping up to be the latest box office dud for the Disney-owned 20th Century. The film, based on Jack London’s best-selling novel, has made $45 million in the U.S. and $79 million globally after two weeks in theaters. That wouldn’t be a bad result, had
A woman-in-peril movie is a not a new thing (just think of “Wait Until Dark,” “Eyes of Laura Mars,” or “Panic Room”), and neither is a woman-in-peril movie in which the heroine, after being stalked and terrorized, takes charges and fights back. That was the scenario, 30 years ago, in “Sleeping with the Enemy,” a
Universal and Blumhouse’s “The Invisible Man” materialized at the top of box office charts after debuting to $29 million in North America over the weekend. “The Invisible Man” is Universal’s latest attempt to remake its classic monster properties, an effort that flailed spectacularly with 2017’s “The Mummy” starring Tom Cruise. After that movie was commercially
Two only glancingly connected stories of street-level life in Lagos form the ostensible backbone of “This Is My Desire,” the engaging, earnest, loose-limbed debut feature from Nigerian twin-brother directors Arie and Chuko Esiri. But the shape of those lives is vaguely similar. Both characters begin their chapters not just dreaming of escaping the everyday grind
It’s a strange feeling to be among the earliest audiences — and who can tell just how many more such a disturbing, hard-sell film will reach — for a project destined for notoriety. But then Sandra Wollner’s “The Trouble With Being Born” inspires nothing but strange feelings, from unnerving horror to shocked admiration to visceral
At 34, Bridget doesn’t know what she wants, but she knows she doesn’t want a baby — not now, at least — and so she doesn’t hesitate to make the decision that might’ve served as the focal point of a different kind of film. In “Saint Frances,” getting an abortion is just one of the
Some were bemused earlier this month when Joaquin Phoenix used his entirely expected Oscar win as a less predictable occasion for an impassioned animal-rights plea: It was certainly the first time bovine artificial insemination had been discussed amid the glitter and glistening tears of Hollywood’s biggest night. What we didn’t know, however, was how neatly
Fresh off the successful opening weekend of “The Invisible Man,” director Leigh Whannel has signed a first-look deal with Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions for film and television. “Ten years ago, I walked into Jason Blum’s office thinking that I was having a general meeting with a producer who liked horror movies — little did I
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s “There Is No Evil,” a drama about the impact of capital punishment on society and the human condition, won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival on Saturday. The seven-person festival jury, headed by Jeremy Irons, spread the prizes far and wide, with no single filmmaker dominating the awards.
Even though she won Hollywood’s top TV awards, including an Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award for her lead role in “Ugly Betty,” America Ferrera felt on her own as a Latina actress. “For a very long time, I felt very alone and isolated as a Latina in this industry,” Ferrera said Friday
Apple TV Plus may have only launched back in November, but it already has plenty of content to keep viewers entertained. The streaming service is already home to shows including Golden Globe-nominated “The Morning Show,” starring Steve Carell, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston; “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet”; and “Oprah’s Book Club.” Apple TV Plus is
A group of Russian journalists at the Berlinale have published an open letter to festival leadership, questioning their selection of controversial Russian film “Dau. Natasha” during a period “marked by the struggle against the culture of violence and abuse in the film industry.” The post, published Saturday on Russian feminist film website KKBBD.com and signed
February 28, 2020 10:17PM PT A penniless man makes an epic cross-country journey on foot to regain custody of his kids in Srdan Golubović’s tough but compelling downer. “Father” begins with a mother. Dragging her two sullen, uncomprehending kids along with her, Biljana (Nada Šargin) strides onto the grounds of the factory from which her
In 1985, New Line rushed out a sequel to its breakout horror hit of the prior year. But while commercially successful enough, “A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge” was initially disliked by mainstream horror fans, then later won cult status, for the same reason: It struck many as “the gayest horror film of
HBO urged an appeals court on Friday to throw out litigation brought by the Michael Jackson estate over the 2019 documentary “Leaving Neverland.” HBO and the Jackson estate have been locked in a legal war ever since the premium cable network agreed to run the documentary, which chronicles child sexual abuse allegations against Jackson. The
In today’s film news roundup, a Denzel Washington–Rami Malek thriller gets a release date, “Escape Room 2” gets moved, Paramount sets a double feature, “So Cold the River” wraps and the Sonoma Film Festival unveils its lineup. RELEASE DATES Warner Bros. has set the Denzel Washington–Rami Malek police thriller “The Little Things” for a Jan. 29,
The Writers Guild of America has asserted that it has assisted in negotiating more than 100 deals in recent months for members without agents. The missive from the WGA West board of directors comes nearly a year after the guild leaders ordered their 15,000 members to fire their agents if the agents had not agreed
For French musician Émilie Simon, the flamenco-meets-gypsy vibe writer-director John Turturro was seeking for the soundtrack to his movie “The Jesus Rolls” turned out to be in her musical and genetical DNA. “This music originally comes from where I grew up in the south of France,” says the 41-year-old electronic musician, who has released five