Movies

It’s a leap year! If you’re looking for the perfect way to celebrate this February’s extra day, look no further than “Leap Year,” the 2010 romantic comedy from Anand Tucker starring Amy Adams.  In the film, Adams’ Anna, a successful real estate stager, grows tired of waiting for her longtime boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) to

Before he had even shot a single frame in Lagos, director Babatunde Apalowo knew his film depicting two men falling in love would never see the inside of a cinema in Nigeria. He made it anyway. The 37-year-old wrote and helmed “All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White” as a gay-themed

Richard Lewis, the stand-up comedian who also starred alongside Larry David in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” died Tuesday night at his Los Angeles home due to a heart attack, Variety has confirmed. He was 76. Lewis announced last April he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was retiring from stand-up comedy. He most recently appeared

Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, also known as Ebertfest, is celebrating its 25th anniversary by hosting screenings of Bob Fosse’s most polarizing film and one of Malcolm D. Lee’s most beloved movies. The annual celebration of movies, which is named for the famous critic, will run April 17 to April 20 at the historic Virginia Theatre

At his high school on the Kenyan coast, Daudi Anguka could only get non-speaking roles, like closing and opening doors, in the school’s stage productions. The southeast Kenyan region where he grew up is similarly overlooked by the country’s growing film biz, but Anguka not only produced his directorial feature debut, “Mvera,” there — he

Executive turnover dialed up the palace intrigue in the Magic Kingdom this week. Walt Disney Studios announced on Monday that 15-year veteran Sean Bailey would step down as president of its motion picture production group – a job in which he oversaw splashy live-action remakes of beloved animated properties. In his place, Searchlight Pictures co-head

Dan Lin has been appointed as Netflix’s new head of film. He’ll replace Scott Stuber, who previously announced he’d be stepping down from the streaming behemoth in March. Lin’s name had been in the mix — along with recently departed Disney executive Sean Bailey, former Universal chief Stacey Snider and others — since the top

A long-gestating reboot of the “Naked Gun” franchise with Liam Neeson is finally moving forward at Paramount, landing a release date of July 18, 2025. The currently untitled project will be directed and executive produced by Akiva Schaffer, who co-wrote the draft script alongside Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, reprising their partnership from the Emmy-winning

The 13th annual Sun Valley Film Festival, kicking off Feb. 28, will aim to once again to capture the spirit of storytelling by celebrating poignant films at the Idaho ski resort town. This year’s festival kicks off with “Ezra,” directed by Tony Goldwyn and starring Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne and Robert De Niro, and concludes

Moët Hennessy USA has inked a deal with Range Media Partners to amplify the brand’s presence in the world of entertainment and pop culture. Range will steer entertainment marketing initiatives for MHUSA, the luxury wine and spirits sector of LVMH. Moët and Chandon, Hennessy, Veuve Clicquot, Dom Pérignon and Belvedere Vodka are some of the

The sci-fi thriller “Things Will Be Different” has released a first-look clip ahead of its SXSW Film & TV Festival world premiere. The film stars Adam David Thompson and Riley Dandy and premieres March 11 as part of the festival’s Midnight selection. Marking Michael Felker’s feature directorial debut, “Things Will Be Different” follows siblings Joseph

A remake of the ’90s classic “Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead” is coming to theaters in spring. Nicole Richie and June Squibb will lead an ensemble including Jermaine Fowler (“Superior Donuts”), comic Ms. Pat, Olympian Gus Kenworthy, and newcomers Simone Joy Jones, Donielle Tremaine Hansley, Miles Fowler, Iantha Richardson and Tyriq Withers. Like the

AMC Theaters and Fifth Season are teaming up to release Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb’s feature documentary “Butterfly in the Sky,” about the beloved 1980’s PBS children’s series “Reading Rainbow.” The film, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023, takes audiences behind the scenes of the children’s series and tells the story of

Best picture nominee “Poor Things” is coming to Hulu ahead of the Academy Awards. The film, a Frankenstein-esque tale directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe, will arrive on Hulu on March 7. It’s nominated for 11 Oscars, including best picture, lead actress and director. “From filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos

South African filmmaker John Barker (“Bunny Chow,” “Umbrella Men”) is developing a six-episode, “Last Dance”-style documentary series about the South African national soccer team’s stirring triumph at the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations, a landmark moment for a young nation still celebrating its transition to democracy after the end of apartheid. “Bafana the Boys,” which

The Sonoma Intl. Film Festival kicks off with the U.S. premiere of Thomas Napper’s “Widow Clicquot,” starring Haley Bennett. The film, which world premiered to strong reviews at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, tells the story of the formidable Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, who flouts conventional and turns the family Champagne business into a global

After scoring robust box office results regionally, Egyptian thriller “Flight 404,” starring Mona Zaki as a woman whose tainted past resurfaces as she is about to embark on a pilgrimage to Mecca, is getting a small but significant rollout in the U.S. and Europe. Directed by Hani Khalifa, “Flight 404” sees Zaki – who starred

“Dune: Part Two” star Rebecca Ferguson revealed on the “Reign With Josh Smith” podcast that she was once screamed at by a co-star on set to such an unprofessional degree that she ultimately fired back and requested she only act opposite the back of the actor’s head. Ferguson did not name the actor. “I did

Superstar Japanese auteur Hamaguchi Ryusuke will unveil “Gift,” a companion piece to his recent “Evil Does Not Exist” as a one-off live performance at next month’s Hong Kong International Film Festival. Following the success of his breakout “Drive My Car,” which won the Oscar for best international feature film, Hamaguchi initially made “Gift” as a silent

AWARDS JAMBOREE The Asian Film Awards Academy has revealed several events around the annual Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong. Veteran filmmakers, jury president of this year’s awards, Japan’s Kurosawa Kiyoshi and Hong Kong’s Fruit Chan, will share their filmmaking experiences and artistic concepts in a joint masterclass. Thai star Metawin Opas-Iamkajorn (“2gether” series and

Janet Yang, the Los Angeles-based producer and president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, has been appointed as an independent non-executive director to the board of Imax China, a subsidiary of premium large format cinema company Imax that has its own share listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company, Wednesday,

Fremantle revealed Wednesday that it has secured worldwide distribution rights, outside of German-speaking territories, to the premium fantasy drama “Hagen” — a working title — from Constantin Film. The deal includes rights to a six-part series and a feature film for theatrical release. RTL Group holds German streaming and free TV rights. Fremantle will be

The Playmaker has closed a raft of pre-sales deals on “Ploey 2 – The Legend of the Winds,” which was presented to international buyers for the first time at the European Film Market this month. The Playmaker screened an exclusive first-look teaser at its booth in Berlin as well as a promo for attending buyers.

In what marks Sony Pictures Television’s (SPT) first international format deal for its non-fiction unit since its distribution takeover in 2022, SPT has sold the Nordics and Benelux region format rights of “So You Think You Can Dance” to Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP). The deal comes just as the dance competition series returns to Fox

All3Media International has boarded documentary “The Accidental President” about Belarusian political activist – and 2020 presidential candidate – Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Her husband Sergei Tikhanovsky decided to run against Alexander Lukashenko the same year, only to be arrested. As a result, she entered herself into the race. Although she reportedly won the popular vote, after Lukashenko

Buddy Duress (né Michael C. Stathis), who starred alongside Robert Pattinson in the Safdie brothers’ 2017 crime thriller “Good Time,” has died. He was 38. Duress’ brother Christopher Stathis revealed to People on Tuesday that the actor died in November 2023 of “cardiac arrest from a drug cocktail.” Duress was born in Queens, New York,

SANTA FE, N.M. — “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed told detectives that she brought dummy rounds to set that were left over from a previous film, and that had been loose in a bag in her car. Gutierrez Reed is on trial for involuntary manslaughter in the death of Halyna Hutchins, who was killed by

That’s all, Oscar folks! In just 12 days, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will crack open 23 illustrious envelopes to unveil the victors of this year’s 96th Oscars. It’s a night where predictability usually reigns supreme, but hey, there’s always room for a curveball or two. During the past six days of

The contract talks finally reached the handshake point at 3 a.m. PT on Feb. 23. But the real breakthrough in the negotiation between the American Federation of Musicians and Hollywood’s major studios came in the afternoon of Feb. 22 — after AFM president Tino Gagliardi called in reinforcements to the conference rooms at AMPTP headquarters,

The Jackson 5 have found their harmony once again for the upcoming biopic “Michael” from director Antoine Fuqua and producer Graham King. Jackson’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson, plays the King of Pop, with Juliano Krue Valdi as the younger Michael. Likewise, Jamal R. Henderson plays Jermaine Jackson in his later years, while Jayden Harville plays the