Movies

BUENOS AIRES  — Argentina’s Lucía Puenzo, one of Latin America’s most sought-after writer-directors, is in talks with Mariana di Girolamo, star of Pablo Larraín’s “Ema,” and Marcelo Alonso (“Neruda,” “The Club,” “Araña”) for both to star in feature “Impactados.” Both actors have expressed their interest in appearing in the film, said Puenzo, which she will

Paz Fábrega’s “Restless” comes into Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte section as one of the sidebar’s most buzzed titles. In 2011, Fábregá’s “Agua Fria de Mar,” (“Cold Water of the Sea”) played in San Sebastian’s Horizontes Latinos competition and scooped awards at Lima’s Latin American Film Fest and Rotterdam, after playing well in rough-cut at an

BUENOS AIRES  —  Under municipal Minister of Culture Enrique Avogadro, the City of Buenos Aires is relaunching its Film Commission, taking advantage, yes, of the peso-dollar exchange but, above all, of Argentina’s unquestioned talent base, which is already triumphing outside Argentina. Two examples, both from the TV sector: in 2018, Argentina sold more top 20

Written and directed by popular Argentine genre filmmaker Santiago Fernandez Calvete, “Vurdalak Blood,” based on Alexi Tolstoy’s short story “The Family of the Vourdalak,” is screening in works in progress version at this year’s Ventana Sur Blood Window genre sidebar. “Vurdalak Blood” takes place in the uncertain hours after a vampire hunt when it’s unclear

December 4, 2019 2:24AM PT Jessica Chastain is in negotiations to star alongside Ralph Fiennes and Caleb Landry Jones in “The Forgiven,” an adaptation of the novel by Lawrence Osborne, Variety has learned. John Michael McDonagh will be directing the film, which deals with the impact of a tragic accident on the lives of an

BUENOS AIRES  — Caracol Televisión is introducing to select sales agents at Ventana Sur “El Olvido que Seremos,” the latest feature film from Academy Award-winning director Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”), which is written by David Trueba (“Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed”) and stars Javier Cámara (“Truman”) and adapts one of the most loved of

Robert Pattinson, Alicia Vikander, Sam Rockwell, Melissa McCarthy, Joanne Froggatt, Himesh Patel and Nicholas Hoult are among the record-setting 559 new members joining BAFTA in 2019, Variety can reveal. The new class includes a number of recent BAFTA Award nominees, such as composer Nicholas Britell (“If Beale Street Could Talk”), director and producer “Arthur Cary”

Khadija Alami, CEO of K Films, is line producing and producing an increasing number of foreign shoots in Morocco, and is also hosting a rising number of shoots in her studio facility, Oasis Studios Morocco, built in 2015, located in Ouarzazate on the edge of the Sahara desert. Oasis Studios Morocco is conceived as a

December 3, 2019 9:46PM 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, Lucasfilm claims the top spot in spending with “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” Ads placed for the sci-fi drama had an estimated media value of $6.08 million through

The Society of Composers & Lyricists has been around for nearly 75 years, but not until this year did the organization start its own annual awards program for music appearing in film, TV and videogames — and the nominees announced Tuesday for the inaugural show are certain to be scrutinized as a bellwether for what

December 3, 2019 6:25PM PT French multiplex company CGR Cinemas has selected Sony’s “Jumanji: The Next Level” as the first Hollywood film to be shown in the United States with its Immersive Cinema Experience technology. The announcement was made Tuesday by execs from AEG, Sony and CGR at the Regal LA Live in downtown Los

A knife fight, books thrown across the room, a broken jaw and a rainy New York. Those are just a few of the many components that went into the sound design and sound mixing for “John Wick 3: Parabellum.” The film is as much about sound as it is about the action and the acting.

In today’s film news roundup, Patrick Stewart receives an honor, Nick Pillegi is working on a “Sex and the Shield” script, “Driveways” finds a home and the DGA honors student filmmakers. STEWART HONORED Patrick Stewart will receive this year’s distinguished artisan award at the 7th Annual Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards. The event

Australian comedy “Top End Wedding” has been acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films for the U.S. market. The deal was announced by producer Goalpost Pictures Australia. The film had its premiere at the Sundance festival in the U.S. in January this year. Samuel Goldwyn says that it will release the film on multiple digital platforms from

Striking a lightsaber into the hearts of “Star Wars” fans, it appears that a romance between Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) will not materialize in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” But that does not necessarily mean there won’t be any LGBTQ representation in the final film in the Skywalker saga, either.

Less than 24 hours after “Marriage Story” swept the Gotham Awards with four wins, it failed to snag any major prize Tuesday from the National Board of Review. However, the Noah Baumbach divorce drama did land on the NBR’s top ten film list. Meanwhile, NBR’s top honor went to “The Irishman.” What does this mean

British producer Jeremy Thomas, whose credits include “The Last Emperor,” “Crash” and “Sexy Beast,” is attending the Marrakech Film Festival where he was interviewed onstage by U.K. film critic Jason Solomons, who introduced him as “the Last Emperor of independent cinema.” Interviewed by Variety, Thomas talked about Matteo Garrone’s “Pinocchio,” starring Roberto Benigni, which will

December 3, 2019 2:47PM PT “Avengers: Endgame,” “Cats,” “The Irishman,” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” are among the 20 films that will vie at the Oscars for best visual effects. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee determined the preliminary list of films eligible for further awards

Paris-based Moroccan filmmaker Laila Marrakchi is developing a pair of daring female-driven projects, “Casa Girls,” a series about four twentysomething single women living in Casablanca, and a drama based on a real-life sex scandal set against an agricultural backdrop in Spain. Marrakchi, who has so far directed “Rock the Casbah” and “Marock,” both of which

Princesses Anna and Elsa will have no trouble maintaining their box office rule as Disney’s “Frozen 2” heads for its third straight victory. The animated sequel is nearing the $300 million mark at the domestic box office and could collect another $30 million to $40 million this weekend. Recent Thanksgiving leftovers such as “The Hunger

David Michôd, who sits on the jury of the Marrakech Film Festival alongside Tilda Swinton and Andrea Arnold, among others, told Variety that he’s yearning to “go back to his roots” and make another film in Australia. Michôd, whose latest film “The King,” starring Timothée Chalamet as young Henry V, world premiered at the Venice

December 3, 2019 1:17PM PT Disney is expanding the “Planet of the Apes.” The studio has signed “Maze Runner” director Wes Ball to helm a new movie for the franchise. On an earnings call in August, CEO Bob Iger stressed that the classic franchise is a project that the studio plans to reboot as soon

Harvey Keitel has been a major presence at the 18th Marrakech Film Festival, presenting two gala sessions: for the career tribute to French helmer Bertrand Tavernier – with whom he worked on “Death Watch” (1980), and to present Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.” He also took part in an onstage discussion, to a packed audience, which

“Winner,” a biopic about the leaker of the Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election intelligence report, is in the works at Big Beach, with “Booksmart” co-writer Susanna Fogel on board to direct. The film follows the real life story of Reality Leigh Winner, a former American intelligence specialist who was the first to expose

December 3, 2019 8:57AM PT A second “Downton Abbey” movie looks likely – but it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon, despite efforts to get writer Julian Fellowes to pull some night shifts, producer Gareth Neame says. Fellowes and Neame were quizzed about a sequel to “Downton Abbey: The Movie,” which enjoyed a successful release earlier

Latido Films has picked up international sales rights to musical comedy “Explota Explota” (“My Heart Goes Boom!”), a Spanish-Italian co-production, based on the hit songs by Italian singer Raffaella Carrà. Produced by Mariela Besuievsky at Madrid-based Tornasol Films and Carlotta Calori at Rome’s Indigo Film, the movie marks the feature debut by Uruguayan-Spanish director Nacho

It’s a family affair in the inaugural trailer for “Black Widow,” Marvel’s first solo film starring Scarlett Johansson’s superhero. Marvel debuted a first look Tuesday at its 24th comic-book adventure, which finds Russian spy-turned-hero Natasha Romanoff reuniting with her sister-figure (Florence Pugh), an older Black Widow (Rachel Weisz) and the Red Guardian (David Harbour). “I

December 3, 2019 6:00AM PT The Palm Springs International Film Festival is honoring Antonio Banderas with its International Star Award for his work in “Pain and Glory.” The festival will present Banderas with the award on Jan. 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The festival runs Jan. 2-13. Banderas stars in “Pain and Glory”

Already vying for six European Film Awards, Roman Polanski’s ‘An Officer and a Spy” (“J’accuse”) is nominated for five Lumieres Awards, the French prizes given by Paris-based members of the foreign press. The period film, which won the Silver Prize at the Venice Film Festival, is nominated for best film, director, actor (for Oscar-winning Jean

Mexican filmmakers Jack and Yossy Zagha Kababie (“Almacenados”) are back at Ventana Sur’s Blood Window with “The Containment,” an English-language possession thriller set in the bayous of Louisiana, which participated as a project at Blood Window and Bifan in 2018. “The Containment” is co-written by Yossy and breakout Basque scribe David Desola, whose last feature