Movies

Showcasing the wide scope and many nuances of French comedies, Oscar-winning director Michel Hazanavicius’s “The Lost Prince,” “Mama Weed” with Isabelle Huppert (pictured), “The Lion” with Dany Boon, and “Welcome to the Jungle” with Catherine Deneuve are set to have their market premieres at the 22nd edition of the UniFrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in

There will be a root and branch review of how the BAFTA Film Awards are voted on in the wake of this week’s nominations, which saw no people of color nominated in the acting categories and, again, no female helmers get a nod for best director. The head of BAFTA’s film committee, Marc Samuelson, told

MADRID  — Berlin-based Pluto Film has acquired international sales rights to “Las Mil y Una” (“One in a Thousand”), the second feature by Argentina’s Clarisa Navas and one of the first titles ti be announced for the Panorama section of this year’s Berlinale. A world premiere at the Berlinale, “One in a Thousand” marks the

European Film Promotion has unveiled the 10 Shooting Stars, up-and-coming acting talents set to break out internationally, who will be honored at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival. The selection comprises Bartosz Bielenia from Poland, star of Jan Komasa’s “Corpus Christi,” among films shortlisted for this year’s best international feature film Oscar; France’s Zita Hanrot, the voice talent of Zunaira in

Salma Hayek is very hopeful about the future for women in Hollywood. “What I can tell you is that a lot more women are directing and acting and writing and producing. And there are a lot more movies made about women and for women because the audience was neglected,” the star told Variety at the

For Variety’s Jan. 2 cover story on Margot Robbie, she talked extensively about her passion project “Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.” She conceived of the Warner Bros./DC Entertainment movie while filming “Suicide Squad” almost five years ago. Her company, LuckyChap Entertainment, produced the $75 million film, set to be

Its economic message might be fuzzy. Its feminism, too. But best-friend comedy “Like a Boss” rides Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrnes’s frisky and believable chemistry to laughs — some worn, some crude, but more than a few delivered deftly and consistently enough to keep audiences smiling if not doubled over. The two share the house

To deliver the “anti-hate satire” of “Jojo Rabbit,” the story of a German boy who idolizes his own particular vision of Hitler before slowly learning the truth, director Taika Waititi followed a simple philosophy when it came to assembling his crew: “I like working with nice people.”  Most of the members had previously collaborated with

With the Globes now behind us and Oscar noms rapidly approaching on Jan. 13, what should we be paying attention to in Hollywood’s biggest film awards race? Surefire bets are Globe winners Renée Zellweger (“Judy”), who already has one Oscar, and Brad Pitt, who should garner his third acting nomination for his work in Quentin

Variety‘s team of writers, editors, photographers and designers has been nominated for outstanding magazine overall coverage at the forthcoming 31st GLAAD Media Awards. Announced Wednesday, the annual ceremony honors fair, accurate and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues in filmed content and journalism across platforms and languages. Variety won the outstanding magazine prize in

Shooting “Underwater” was no easy feat for Kristen Stewart. Stewart and her co-stars spent the majority of their time filming the sci-fi flick in the water wearing heavy 100 lb. scuba suits — a challenge which none of them were prepared for. “It was so scary and so horrific. It wasn’t fun scary. It was

EuropaCorp founder Luc Besson (“Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”) was found guilty on Jan. 8 of having unlawfully fired his former assistant while she was on medical leave. As part of the ruling by the high court of Bobigny, Besson and his production company EuropaCorp were sentenced to pay €10,000 ($11,114) and

Harvey Weinstein’s defense team asked the trial judge on Wednesday to recuse himself from the case, arguing that he has already decided that Weinstein is guilty. In a letter to the court, the defense accused Justice James Burke of making “prejudicial and inflammatory comments” when directing Weinstein not to use his cell phone in the

January 8, 2020 10:15AM PT There were several memorable speeches Sunday night from the Golden Globes podium on vital subjects ranging from the horrific fires in Australia to getting out the vote in 2020. Two of the addresses that stood out most for me were the personal words spoken so eloquently by Kate McKinnon and

Jenny Raskin has been named executive director of Impact Partners, a documentary film funding company. Raskin replaces Impact co-founder Dan Cogan, who will continue his involvement with the company in an advisory role. Raskin will work closely with Impact’s co-founder and veteran producer Geralyn Dreyfous, who serves in an advisory role to the company. One

The New York Film Critics Circle Awards is a confounding reprieve in the middle of awards season. Nestled between the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards, the annual ceremony brings A-list celebrities and standout filmmakers and writers who critique their work together in a gloves-off evening where actors trade jabs with their detractors and disciples.

Netflix may have stumbled at the Golden Globes with just two wins, but the streamer isn’t slowing down its awards campaigning anytime soon. On the film side, Netflix is going full throttle in its attempt to earn honors for “The Irishman” and “Marriage Story” along the way to eventual wins at the Oscars. “It’s still

A sprawling and diverse amount of fictional and real life LGBTQ narratives are represented in the nominees for the 31st annual GLAAD Media Awards, announced by the legacy watchdog group on Wednesday. A total of 176 nominations were awarded in categories from outstanding wide release movie, to newspaper article, to kids and family programming —

Change has come to the multiplex. In 2019, “Captain Marvel,” “Little Women,” “Us,” and “Frozen 2” helped usher in a banner year for female protagonists. Women made unprecedented gains as the stars in the top grossing films with the percentage of female leads rising from 31% to 40%, according to a new study by the

Pepsi will soon be the soft drink of choice for Regal Entertainment, Variety has learned. The move is a blow to the Coca-Cola Company, which has long maintained a vice-like grip on the exhibition industry, supplying its products to most of the major chains, such as AMC and Cinemark. With the Regal pact, Pepsi will

Restored footage of an infamous Tokyo University debate between controversial Japanese poet and novelist Yukio Mishima and university students is the centerpiece of a documentary “Mishima: The Last Debate” by Keisuke Toyoshima, which will be released theatrically in Japan in March. Mishima, real name Hiraoka Kimitake, is known equally as one of Japan’s most important

Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir continued her winning streak, claiming top honors for both her “Joker” and “Chernobyl” scores at Tuesday night’s inaugural awards of the Society of Composers & Lyricists at Los Angeles’ Skirball Cultural Center. Her music for “Joker” was named outstanding original score for a studio film and her score for HBO’s “Chernobyl”

January 7, 2020 10:14PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company iSpot.tv, Universal Pictures claims the top spot in spending with “1917.” Ads placed for the drama had an estimated media value of $10.41 million through Sunday for 692 national ad

January 7, 2020 10:00PM PT Kristen Stewart battles an alien of the deep in a waterlogged thriller that can’t come up with one original variation on the movies it’s ripping off. Before technology took over the movies, a cruddy sci-fi action thriller often looked just as bad as it played. No longer. “Underwater,” a deep-sea

Sergio Mendes is set to perform after the world premiere of “Sergio Mendes: In the Key of Joy” at the Santa Barbara Film Festival on Jan. 18. The Grammy award-winning Brazilian musician will perform three songs and participate in a Q&A at the Lobero Theater with director John Scheinfeld. “Sergio Mendes: In the Key of

January 7, 2020 6:28PM PT Gamechanger has hired veteran producer Effie T. Brown (“Dear White People”) as its new chief executive officer. Launched in 2013, Gamechanger became the first film financing fund built for and managed by women. Brown will oversee the fund’s expansion to include projects by people of color, LGBTQ+ and people with

Over the weekend, Dexter Fletcher’s “Rocketman” received a surge on the Oscar buzz meter. Elton John, whose life the film is based on, won a Golden Globe for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” beating out Beyonce (for “The Lion King”) and Taylor Swift (for “Cats”). Taron Egerton, who portrays John, also won, besting favorites Eddie

Sam Mendes’ “1917,” a war epic that unspools to look like one continuous shot, was a surprise winner at the Golden Globes Sunday night, taking home trophies for best motion picture drama and best director for Mendes. That could prove to be a welcome injection of publicity as Universal expands the film to more than 3,000

On Tuesday, veteran Hollywood producer Amy Pascal became only the fifth woman in the history of the Producers Guild Awards to earn a solo nomination for the guild’s top prize — the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. Even more fitting is that Pascal, the former Sony Pictures head who

The BAFTAs, the British equivalent of the Academy Awards, have come under fire for nominating only white actors in its lead and supporting categories. But, in a move that highlights the disconnect between awards shows that try to promote inclusivity but don’t always make significant progress, the BAFTAs — or the EE British Academy Films