For Variety’s Writers on Writers, Stephen Rohde pens a tribute to “Clemency” (written by Chinonye Chukwu). For more, click here. The film begins and ends with a close-up of Warden Bernadine Williams, played with wrenching intensity by Alfre Woodard. There is an indelible weariness in her eyes — eyes that have witnessed far too many
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December 19, 2019 7:00AM PT Variety will honor “The Irishman” star Robert De Niro with the Creative Impact in Acting Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. De Niro will be presented with the award on Jan. 3 as part of the annual 10 Directors to Watch brunch presented by AT&T. Todd Phillips will
Imax is powering to a record year at the box office, crossing $1.035 billion in global ticket sales through Tuesday. With two weeks left in the year, those figures already cement a new high-water mark for the company that specializes in high-tech cinema. That number will continue to grow this weekend when Disney’s “Star Wars:
This past summer at San Diego Comic-Con, about a dozen attendees gathered outside the Hilton Bayfront Hotel for the “Rally for Rose,” the second event of its kind and organized by Nerds of Color, an online community and publication. Participants held signs that read “rebellions are built on hope” and donned green jumpsuits, the signature
Sky has boarded “Four Kids and It,” Andy De Emmony’s family adventure film starring Sir Michael Caine, Matthew Goode, Paula Patton and Russell Brand. The film, which is based on the 1902 bestselling book by Jacqueline Wilson, will be available on pay-channel Sky Cinema and in theaters day-and-date at Easter. Set on the Cornish coast,
The first gay kiss of the “Star Wars” film franchise has surprisingly survived China’s censors and made it to the big screens across the country. Audiences were unfazed as well – or, in some cases, puzzled. “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” enjoyed a night of previews in China on Dec. 18, ahead of its
It took Guy Ritchie a little over a decade to make the transition from self-styled auteur to journeyman, and his output was hardly worse off for the change. At the turn of the century, he announced himself as the swaggering enfant terrible of British genre cinema with the sharp Cockney crime pic “Lock, Stock and Two
Village Roadshow, the embattled Australian studios, cinemas and theme parks group, has received a takeover offer worth more than $500 million from a financial group. The company is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, where share trading was halted ahead of the announcement. Management said that it is considering the offer, and that it will
The Oscars producers are weighing whether or not to go host-less for the second year in a row. For now it’s unclear where the broadcast will fall on that debate, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and broadcaster ABC are currently exploring a compromise solution, insiders close to the show told Variety.
After its official trailer debuted in November, many were equal parts horrified and enraged by the litany of humanoid cats preparing for the Jellicle ball and Jellicle sacrifice in “Cats.” Based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical of the same name, said outrage came to no one’s surprise. Unfortunately for director Tom Hopper and team, the
Back in the summer of 2015, the co-directors of Disney’s “Zootopia” went rogue, disregarding the advice of their corporate colleagues and appearing onstage at the Annecy animation festival disguised as the talking-animal cartoon’s fur-covered lead characters, an anthropomorphic rabbit and her foxy best friend. The audience ate it up, but behind the scenes, the Disney
In today’s film news roundup, the Santa Barbara Film Festival announces its final slate of virtuosos award winners, Slamdance reveals its opening night films and Elton John’s Oscar viewing party names “Queer Eye” stars as hosts of its annual festivities. HONORS Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”), Beanie Feldstein (“Booksmart”), Aldis Hodge (“Clemency”) and George MacKay (“1917”) will
As the last movie in the Skywalker saga prepares to hit theaters, Rian Johnson, who directed the divisive “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” is speaking out about his “creative process” and why he isn’t trying to pander to fans. “I think approaching any creative process with [making fandoms happy] would be a mistake that would
Disney is capping off its banner year at the box office with “Star Wars: the Rise of Skywalker,” director J.J. Abram’s grand conclusion to a nine-chapter saga that kicked off more than four decades ago. The finale to George Lucas’ space opera set in a galaxy far, far away is arriving in theaters with outsized
December 18, 2019 1:21PM PT Despite Fox Searchlight’s Oscar campaign for Terrence Malick’s script for “A Hidden Life” to compete in the original screenplay category, the Academy sees things differently. A rep for the Academy confirms that its Writers Branch Executive Committee has ruled that the script for the real-life WWII drama be eligible to
Chrissy Teigen is hitting the big screen, signed on to produce a documentary about French fries, called “Fries! The Movie.” The documentary dives into the reasoning behind the universal love for fried potatoes and will include appearances by Teigen, best-selling author and podcast host Malcolm Gladwell, chef Eric Ripert and founder and president of the
Anthony Ramos will star in Amblin’s upcoming sci-fi comedy “Distant.” “Blades of Glory” and “Office Christmas Party” directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon will helm the pic, written by Spenser Cohen. The film tells the story of an asteroid miner who, after crash-landing on an alien planet, must contend with the challenges of his new
Not only was the flamethrower used by Leonardo DiCaprio to torch Nazi soldiers and a member of the Mason family in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” real, but the flames felt by the stuntmen on set were real, too. “The first day I used that [flamethrower] was a really hard day because they had
Technicolor and its former CEO, Frederic Rose, have been indicted in France on charges of fraud and breach of trust in connection with their role in the bankruptcy of Tarak Ben Ammar’s post-production group, Quinta Industries, and its subsequent acquisition of the company in January 2012. The indictment, handed down by the high court of
With “The Rise of Skywalker,” set to open Dec. 20, composer John Williams closes the book on his 42-year history with “Star Wars” after nine films and more than 20 hours of some of the most lavish and memorable symphonic accompaniment in the history of movies. “Forty years ago, if you said to me, ‘Here’s a
The road to the Oscars is full of shoo-ins like Renée Zellweger, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lopez. They, and many others, have consistently received nominations and awards as well as recognition from critics groups. But falling through the cracks are plenty of films and individual performances that I hope Academy voters will pay
December 18, 2019 9:53AM PT Paul Thomas Anderson set his next movie at Focus Features, the specialty studio he teamed with for his latest feature, 2017’s Phantom Thread.” The still-untitled film is scheduled to begin production in California during spring and summer of 2020. Though details are scarce, the movie is expected to take place
Read more from Variety’s Directors on Directors, in which filmmakers praise their favorite movies of the year, here. “Parasite” starts as a novel of manners that relentlessly metamorphoses into a black comedy, ghost story, psychological thriller, horror movie, and ends in an unexpected but inevitable tragedy. It was a unanimous Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film
Read more from Variety’s Directors on Directors, in which filmmakers praise their favorite movies of the year, here. Light and sky. Rain and wind. Sea and smoke. These are the fearsome natural elements that Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse” explores, creating a modern cinema that manages to look both backward and forward. Backward, to an almost square format
Read more from Variety’s Directors on Directors, in which filmmakers praise their favorite movies of the year, here. The story that Todd Phillips tells in “Joker” and the issues that this cinematic masterpiece raises are so profound, so necessary, that if you look away from the genius of this work of art, you will miss the gift
Filmmaker James Cameron had the idea for 2009’s “Avatar” brewing even before “Titanic” hit theaters in 1997. Born in Ontario, Canada’s tiny town of Kapuskasing, Cameron was inspired by the vast wilderness around him. Later, he took up scuba diving as a way of exploring the ocean. Those experiences in nature sparked his imagination and
December 18, 2019 6:00AM PT “The Vampire Diaries” and “Tell Me a Story” star Paul Wesley has teamed with award-winning helmer Dekel Berenson to create projects under their new banner, Three Color Films. The pair are already working on their first short, “Abel,” shot in Yosemite, which turns on a father and son bonding over
December 18, 2019 4:33AM PT Legal proceedings have begun against a former employee of Taiwan-based production and distribution company A Really Happy Film (Taipei) who is alleged to have embezzled $3.3 million (NT$100 million) of the company’s funds over a four-year period. A Really Happy Film is controlled by Hong Kong filmmaker Jeffrey Chan, who
In “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” there’s a lightsaber duel that’s pretty fantastic — not because of any unprecedented whirling-action whoa! factor (we have, after all, been through one or two of these my-sword-of-electric-fire-is-mightier-than-your-sword-of-electric-fire duels in our “Star Wars” lifetimes), but because of the emotions it channels. Visually, it’s a splendid fight. Rey (Daisy
Netflix keeps getting news that helps it bolster the case that spending $175 million on “The Irishman,” its 209 minute-long Martin Scorsese-helmed mob epic, wasn’t an erroneous decision. Last Tuesday, Netflix announced that 26.4 million accounts globally streamed “The Irishman” (Nov. 1 theatrical release; Nov. 27 Netflix release), over the first 7 days on the