Movies

Veteran mainland Chinese director Zhang Yimou is to be honored twice over at the Asian Film Awards ceremony on Sunday. He will be presented with a lifetime achievement award and a separate prize for directing the highest-grossing Asian film of 2023. “These two awards are not only a testament to Zhang’s extraordinary achievements, but also

FESTIVAL The South Asian House initiative is back at SXSW with the festival’s first-ever South Asian music showcase. Featured acts include Jay Dhami, Bodur, Simar, Avara, Meetu Chilana, The Tabla Queen, DJ Anupi, Bollyflow and The Diversity Band. In addition, South Asian co-founder and film producer, Jitin Hingorani (“Zende”), will highlight the Telugu-language film industry

“Michael,” the splashy forthcoming biopic about Michael Jackson from director Antoine Fuqua, has added actor Laura Harrier in a key role. Harrier, of “BlacKkKlansman” and “Spider-Man: Homecoming” fame, will portray pioneering female music executive Suzanne de Passe in the Lionsgate project. De Passe was a creative assistant to Motown founder Berry Gordy, and is credited

The Miami Film Festival has announced the lineup for its 41st edition, including “Thelma,” starring June Squibb, opening the event and Tony Goldwyn‘s “Ezra” as closing night selection. Goldwyn will be honored at the festivl with the Art of Light award along with Alison Brie, while Greg Kwedar, director of “Sing Sing,” will receive the

“Nimona,” Netflix and Annapurna Animation’s Oscar-nominated film, is a compelling tale of passion, resilience and searching for community — both on and off the screen.  When brave knight Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) is falsely accused of assassinating the queen, he teams up with the chaotic, shapeshifting teenager Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) in the hopes of

Robert Downey Jr. revealed last summer that his audition for Nancy Meyers’ “The Holiday” went poorly after Kate Winslet roasted his accent work. Now Winslet herself is admitting to hating Downey Jr.’s interpretation of the character ultimately played by Jude Law. Winslet recently appeared on “The Tonight Show” while promoting her new HBO series “The

Jacqueline West searched far and wide to bring the expansive world of Denis Villeneueve’s “Dune: Part Two” to life. The seasoned artisan recruited the help of locals in Budapest and jewelry makers in the Middle East to tell a visual story through costume, particularly with the female characters in the film. She also looked to

Oscar producers Raj Kapoor, Katy Mullan, Molly McNearney and Rob Paine, as well as music director Rickey Minor are days away from the 96th Academy Awards. But they took time out on Wednesday afternoon to share insight into what to expect from Sunday’s ceremony. In a conversation moderated by Jacqueline Coley, Awards Editor at Rotten

Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer on the ill-fated Western film “Rust,” was convicted on Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter in the death of the film’s cinematographer. Jurors returned a verdict after less than three hours of deliberations on Wednesday afternoon, following two weeks of testimony about safety lapses on set. Gutierrez Reed was acquitted of a

Ming-Na Wen has joined the cast of Sony’s new “Karate Kid” film. Previously announced cast members include “American Born Chinese” star Ben Wang in the titular role, plus Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, who will reprise their characters from previous entries in the franchise. Joshua Jackson will also star. Much like the film’s plot, details

“Deadpool” star Karan Soni (Dopinder) told Variety this week that a ton of surprise cameos were filmed for the upcoming third installment, “Deadpool and Wolverine,” adding: “Let’s just say a lot of people traveled to London [for filming].” One actor who apparently did not make it to London was Vinnie Jones, who debuted as Juggernaut

Berlin-winning Argentine helmer Ariel Rotter (“Incident Light,” “The Others”) debuts his latest feature “A Blue Bird” (“Un Pájaro Azul”) to Spanish audiences in Málaga this week, the film screening in a particularly robust out-of-competition 19 title lineup that include Benito Zembrano’s “Jumping the Fence” and Morena Films-backed “Puntos Suspensivos,” from David Marqués. Produced by Argentina’s

Attorneys gave their closing arguments in the “Rust” trial in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wednesday, with the prosecution urging jurors to find Hannah Gutierrez Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter and to hold her accountable for an “astonishing” lack of gun safety on the film set. Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey argued that as the film’s armorer,

Women dancing, women singing, women burning their hijab: these acts of defiance shape Iranian filmmaker Farahnaz Sharifi’s feature-length debut, “My Stolen Planet.” After premiering in Berlinale’s Panorama section and winning a second place Audience Award, the film now competes for the Golden Alexander at Thessaloniki International Doc Fest. Prior to her feature, Sharifi made eight

Reviews for Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s action comedy “The Fall Guy” are still under embargo, but Gosling has already gotten all the praise he needs thanks to Steven Spielberg. The two ran into each other earlier this year at the Golden Globes, and Spielberg apparently made it a priority to let Gosling known that

Variety‘s senior awards editor Clayton Davis will make his return to the Oscars pre-show “Countdown to Oscars: On the Red Carpet Live,” airing on ABC from 1:00-4:00 p.m. EDT/10:00-1:00 p.m. PDT. Davis has been tracking awards season for Variety since 2020; his predictions for this year’s Oscars can be found here. Hosted by “World News

Loyola Marymount University has introduced a new master’s program to its fall 2024 lineup: the Master in Entertainment Leadership and Management (MELM). The program is a collaboration between LMU School of Film and Television (SFTV) and LMU College of Business Administration (CBA), is strategically curated to provide individuals with a deep understanding of how productions

Grasshopper Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “The 50,” a documentary from Brenton Gieser centered on some of the nation’s first incarcerated substance abuse counselors. The film will be released on VOD on April 9, tied to a series of special screenings in Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco. Additional markets will follow as

A myriad of sentiments converge when estranged siblings meet to unpack the weight of their father’s recent death in Spain’s Álex Montoya’s third feature “La Casa,” adapted from the Eisner-winning graphic novel by Paco Roca and sold by Latido Films. The film, which bowed last night, figures in the official competition selection at this year’s

At the West Hollywood Edition on March 6, where Greta Gerwig was honored as one of Time’s Women of the Year, the record-breaking director spoke to her artistic process and the possibility of a “Barbie” sequel. “My North Star is ‘What do I deeply love? What do I really care about? Like, ‘What’s the story

Sideral, the Madrid-based integrated production-distribution-sales label, has acquired Spanish distribution rights to Enrique Buleo’s black comedy film “Bodegón con fantasmas” (“Still Life with Ghosts”), one of the six films playing at Málaga’s WIP España sidebar. Buleo’s first feature, “Still Life with Ghosts” has been produced by Alejandra Mora at Valencia’s Quatre Films (“Tehran Blues,” “An

In August 2001, Kyle Hausmann-Stokes had just graduated from high school and wanted to escape the confines of his native Wisconsin. So he enlisted in the Army. Then 9/11 happened, and the teen would eventually head to Iraq, where he became a paratrooper. As his three-year enlistment was about to end, he was hit with

Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” has been earning rave reviews across the board from film critics and audiences, but perhaps no reaction is bigger than the one shared by “Death Stranding” creator Hideo Kojima. The video game master wrote to this 3.7 million followers on X (formerly Twitter) that “Dune: Part Two” is such monumental

This year’s Vanity Fair Oscar party will mark the hot-ticket soiree’s 30th anniversary. While the magazine is keeping tight-lipped on what exactly is planned to commemorate the milestone (because editor-in-chief Radhika Jones wants the VIP guests surprised), it’s no secret that the dinner and after-party will, for the ninth consecutive year, take place in a

Dominique Boutonnat, the president of the National Film Board (CNC), the country’s most powerful film institution, will stand trial for alleged sexual assault starting on June 14, Variety has confirmed. Boutonnat was indicted in February 2021 for the alleged sexual assault of his 22-year-old godson in 2020. It took over two years for the Nanterre

Seven decades after four lads from Liverpool formed a band, the Beatles remain a cultural juggernaut. But will the Fab Four be able to rock the box office? Sony Pictures is counting on Beatlemania to bring audiences to theaters not once, but four times – for director Sam Mendes’ quartet of biopics that will tell

In the trailer for Prime Video’s “The Idea of You,” Anne Hathaway portrays a 40-year-old single mom who gets to live out a teenage girl’s dream: embarking on a whirlwind romance with the 23-year-old lead singer of the world’s hottest boy band, played by Nicholas Galitzine. The R-rated film will stream globally on Prime Video

It is no great aberration in the modern mysteries of film finances that the Manhattan-set “5lbs of Pressure” was, for whatever reason, shot in Manchester, England. While the ruse works well enough superficially — maybe the industrial U.K. city is even more persuasively “gritty” than NYC these days — it might partly explain why writer-director

During the reading of the U.K. government’s spring budget on Wednesday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt revealed a 40% corporate tax relief for film and TV studios through 2034. The plan also includes a new tax credit for independent films shot in the U.K. that have a budget less than $19 million (£15 million),

Madrid-based Begin Again Films has picked up Spanish distribution and international sales rights to Juan Gautier’s psychological thriller “El aspirante” (“The Aspirant”), about initiation into a masculine universe revolving around hazing of a university residence. “El aspirante” plays at this year’s Málaga Work in Progress’ WIP España sidebar, an industry centerpiece at the Málaga Film