Movies

Effie T. Brown joined film financing fund Gamechanger as CEO earlier this year because she wanted to make a difference in the industry. After “Parasite’s” historic win at the 92nd Academy Awards, she finally feels hopeful. “It was that feeling of — and it’s a bit of a stretch — ‘Wait, Obama is being elected.’

February 11, 2020 1:41PM PT Rian Johnson’s murder mystery “Knives Out” notched another box office benchmark, surpassing $300 million globally. Since debuting last November, the Oscar-nominated whodunit has made $159 million in the U.S. and $140.9 million overseas for a global haul of $299.9 million. It’s expected to hit the $300 million mark on Tuesday.

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, the cliche goes, a fate that top filmmakers are still hoping to avoid for a reboot of the iconic movie monster: the Bride of Frankenstein. In the past year alone, figures like Oscar-nominated producer Amy Pascal and freshmen horror sensation John Krasinski have been quietly exploring ways to reimagine

Solstice Studios has acquired rights to “Bomb Squad,” an original pitch from Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley, who previously collaborated on “Transpecos.” “Bomb Squad” is an action-thriller about two unlikely partners who team up to stop a serial bomber whose escalating attacks are building to a catastrophic event that will kill millions and destroy America’s

“Birds of Paradise,” a new drama from the director of the buzzy indie “Buster’s Mal Heart,” has been set at Amazon Studios with producer Anonymous Content. Currently shooting in Budapest, the feature is directed by Sarah Adina Smith, who hails from Amazon’s streaming series “Hanna.” Smith also adapted the screenplay, from the A.K. Small novel

Walking out of court on Tuesday afternoon, Harvey Weinstein shot down rumors that his walker is fake. “I’ll have a race with you,” he sarcastically quipped to reporters, in response to the press questioning whether his walker is a prop. Ever since his trial began, Weinstein’s walker has been a constant subject of discussion on

“Shazam!” star Zachary Levi and “Riverdale’s” Cole Sprouse have boarded Lionsgate’s music-driven comedy “Undercover” from director Steve Pink. Levi will play a down-on-his-luck rocker-turned-father, who secretly joins a group of young musicians in a wedding cover band led by Sprouse. When things start looking up for the band, Levi’s character gets exposed. Mandeville Films’ Todd

In the run to the Berlin Film Festival, MovieChainer, the cloud-based app allowing right-holders to model and track the legal and financial structure of their film projects, has added German sales powerhouse The Match Factory and France’s Memento Film Distribution, to its client roster. Created by the Paris-based production banner Backup Films in 2014,  MovieChainer also

February 11, 2020 9:56AM PT Netflix is in talks with Nipsey Hussle’s production company, Marathon Films, for Ava DuVernay to co-produce and possibly direct a documentary about the late rapper. Although DuVernay has attached herself to direct, it’s unclear if she has the room in her schedule, given her commitment to helm DC Comics’ “New

South by Southwest’s speaker lineup is always an embarrassment of riches and this year is no exception, as the festival’s final round of keynotes and featured speakers includes Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Damon Lindelof, St. Vincent, Carrie Brownstein, Janelle Monáe, Lulu Wang, Soo-Man Lee, and Capitol Music Group’s Michelle Jubelirer. They join Judd Apatow, Noam

Indie Sales, the Paris-based company which sold the Oscar-nominated “My Life as a Zucchini” around the world, has come on board Florence Miailhe’s “The Crossing,” a timely, hand-painted animated feature shedding light on children refugees. Written by Miailhe, along with the popular children’s book author Marie Desplechin, “The Crossing” is a contemporary tale exploring the

Lionsgate’s local-language film consortium, Globalgate Entertainment, has added Indonesia’s Falcon Pictures to its consortium of production and distribution partners. Other Globalgate partners include Televisa, TF1, Nordisk, Tobis, Rai, Kadokawa, Lotte, TME, Paris Filmes, CineColombia/Dynamo, Belga and Viva Communications. Lionsgate launched Globalgate four years ago to produce and distribute local-language films in markets around the world

Universal and Blumhouse are ready to unveil “The Hunt,” a satiric thriller that follows a group of liberal elites who try to track down and kill “red state” conservatives for sport, after canceling its initial theatrical release last year. In an interview with Variety, producer Jason Blum and co-writer Damon Lindelof argued that the film

“The Hunt,” Universal and Blumhouse’s satirical political thriller that was marred by controversy before it even saw the light of day, is finally making its way to theaters and will be released on March 13. The film, depicting a group of elites that hunt ordinary Americans for sport, was initially set to debut last September.

Harvey Weinstein will not testify in his rape trial in New York City, his defense team said on Tuesday. The announcement came as Weinstein’s lawyers rested their case after putting on four days of testimony. After consulting with Weinstein on Tuesday morning, attorney Damon Cheronis informed the court of his decision. “The state hasn’t met

Faced with mounting pressures within the French film industry and threats of a boycott, the board of the Cesar Academy (France’s equivalent to the Oscars), has vowed to reform its functioning and its corporate leadership with the help of a mediator. Presided by French producer Alain Terzian, the Cesar Academy has been under fire since

Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland’s “Charlatan,” which premieres in the Berlinale Special Gala section of the Berlin Film Festival. The film is based on the true story of Czech healer Jan Mikolášek, who dedicated his life to treat the sick using medicinal plants. Throughout the war

Variety has been given an exclusive clip from Berlin Film Festival competition film “Volevo Nascondermi” (Hidden Away) by Giorgio Diritti. The film stars Cannes award-winner Elio Germano (“La nostra vita”) as the 20th century Naïve artist Antonio Ligabue. Diritti describes Ligabue’s story as a “bitter fairy tale” in which “a significant bond with life and

Fear of the coronavirus increased its impact on the South Korean cinema industry. Films were cancelled and box office revenues dropped for a second weekend. Ticket sales fell by some 10%, compared to the previous weekend, which itself followed an already depressed previous session and a slow January. That caused Megabox to delay its Jeon

Raphael Coleman, who starred alongside Emma Thompson and Colin Firth in the 2005 film “Nanny McPhee,” died on Friday after collapsing on a run. He was 25 years old. The British actor appeared in three feature films, “It’s Alive” and “The Fourth Kind” in 2009. He then studied zoology at the University of Manchester before

In today’s film news roundup, “Guest of Honour” and “Skin Deep: The Battle Over Morgellons” have found distribution and Screen Gems is developing “Urban Legend.” ACQUISITIONS Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. rights to Atom Egoyan’s drama, “Guest of Honour,” starring David Thewlis, Laysla De Oliveira and Luke Wilson. The film premiered at the Venice Film

Whether the nominees took home a golden statue or not Sunday, it was clear they all looked like winners upon arriving at the 92nd Academy Awards, rocking some of the most expensive jewels and accessories one can only find at the Oscars. Charlize Theron, Scarlett Johansson, Zazie Beets and Gal Gadot were just some a-list

Following his Oscar victory for “Jojo Rabbit,” Taika Waititi has turned his focus to Marvel’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” and gained some help in shaping the script. Sources tell Variety that Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who wrote and directed the Netflix pic “Someone Great,” has joined Waititi to work on the script prior to its production

Eminem rarely does interviews, and a conversation about last night’s surprise performance of “Lose Yourself” at the Academy Awards — some 17 years after the song won him an Oscar — would seem rarer still. The performance in many ways was a belated do-over: He’d decided not to attend the ceremony in 2003, leaving his

Like Thor’s computer-generated hammer raining down on his enemies, Hollywood’s Visual Effects Society is speaking out against last night’s Academy Awards telecast for making them the butt of a joke. In a scathing statement, the group of more than 4,000 artisans expressed offense over the presentation of the Oscar for best visual effects — which

Neon is doubling the North American run of best picture Oscar winner “Parasite” to as many as 2,000 locations. Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” is the first non-English-language movie ever to win the Oscar for best picture. The South Korean film took in $1.6 million at 1,060 domestic locations during Oscar weekend, lifting its cumulative take

“Muppets” filmmaker James Bobin is in talks to direct 20th Century’s “Clue” remake starring Ryan Reynolds. Jason Bateman had been previously attached to helm the murder mystery, but departed the project due to scheduling conflicts with Netflix’s “Ozark.” Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the writing team behind “Deadpool,” penned the script. Reynolds’ Maximum Effort is

Every time I’ve wandered into a department store in the past decade or so, I inevitably run into a display of sassy, glittering shirts emblazoned with aggressively empowering phrases — “FEMINIST,” “GIRL BOSS,” “THE FUTURE IS FEMALE” — aimed at teenagers and millennial women like me. Corporate feminism like this tends to smooth the edges

If you promise not to tell anyone, we’ll sneak you inside the Vanity Fair Oscar party. At around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday night, “Little Women” director Greta Gerwig was standing next to Noah Baumbach (OK, she was actually swaying to a Bruno Mars song). Although neither of them had won any Oscars, they should get

The latest fashion flex? Rewearing an Oscar dress — aka flaunting your commitment to preventing climate change and your ability to fit into a past outfit. The 2020 Academy Awards were dotted with sustainable fashion choices, intentional or not, and we champion the recycling. Arianna Huffington at the Vanity Fair Oscars After-Party (2020, 2013) Arianna