MADRID — Venice 2018 Queer Lion winner “José,” a movie which went on to play 50 festivals in 35 countries, has been acquired for North American distribution and international sales by Paul Hudson’s Outsider Pictures. Strand Releasing will handle digital distribution. “José” was acquired from its production house YQstudio. World premiering in Venice Days, “Jose,”
Movies
MADRID — Mauricio Osaki’s “The Paths of My Father,” Angeles Cruz’s “Nudo Mixteco” and Joan Gómez Endara’s “The Red Tree” will screen at San Sebastian’s Films in Progress, in a 36th edition which drinks from the seemingly bottomless well of directorial new talent in Latin America – all six of the pix-in-post are first features.
When visiting zoos and wildlife sanctuaries, we don’t find it strange to come across animals far removed from their native lands: lemurs in the Bronx, penguins in Rome, bonobos in Berlin. In our increasingly globalized society, the same can be said for our fellow humans, who don’t necessarily seem out of place, no matter how
It’s 50 years since John Waters made his first feature film, “Mondo Trasho” — a scuzzy, Divine-starring underground ride that set the tone for a career of joyously offending delicate sensibilities and expanding the boundaries of U.S. indie cinema, through such now-celebrated films as “Pink Flamingos,” “Polyester” and the original, pre-Broadway incarnation of “Hairspray.” With
Gentle coming-of-age comedy-drama “Days of the Bagnold Summer,” which world premieres at Locarno Festival Wednesday, is the directorial feature debut of British actor Simon Bird, best known as the star of hit comedy series and movie franchise “The Inbetweeners.” Bird spoke to Variety in advance of the screening in Locarno’s Piazza Grande. The film stars
If you count yourself among those who interpret a matrimonial “I do” to mean “happily ever after,” maybe “Ready or Not” isn’t the late-summer date movie for you. On the other hand, for “Crazy Rich Asians” haters and the romantically disinclined, this deranged and darkly comedic thriller — which stuffs the wedding cake full of
“Jaws,” the movie that did for sharks what “Psycho” did for showers, was rooted in the primal fear that drove its famous opening scene: the terror of having your body shredded by razory teeth and engulfed in a great white gullet. In its limb-shearing way, it caught the fear of getting sucked into a tiny
In today’s film news roundup, Jordan Peele’s “Candyman” rounds out its cast, Hayes Hargrove gets two parts, and Oscar-winning sound mixer Tom Fleischman is honored. CASTINGS Colman Domingo and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett have joined Jordan Peele’s “Candyman” reboot, which has started shooting in Chicago. Written by Peele and Rosenfeld and directed by Nia DaCosta, the new
“You know what I find really refreshing?” Cate Blanchett asked. “I don’t know if you find it refreshing, but I do — that women are having dialogue with one another and they’re sharing their f— ups and their failures, and how to navigate their way through the mess of daily, domestic lives.” Speaking to Variety
August 13, 2019 3:42PM PT Harry Styles has passed on the role of Prince Eric in “The Little Mermaid,” sources confirmed to Variety. Sources say the initial reports about his casting were premature and that Styles made the decision to move on amicably. The studio has already begun looking at others for the part and,
August’s box office traffic jam is turning into full-on pileup. After five new nationwide releases last weekend, most of which failed in spectacular fashion, five more newcomers are arriving on movie theater marquees. It could mean another rough outing for Hollywood studios. Universal’s raunchy comedy “Good Boys,” Sony’s animated “Angry Birds” sequel and Entertainment Studio’s
August 13, 2019 12:53PM PT Film Movement has picked up North American rights to “God of the Piano,” with the deal sealed by sales agent Film Republic. Itay Tal’s debut first launched at the Rotterdam Film Festival, before screening at BAFICI and Moscow. Last week it took the best actress prize at the Jerusalem Film
Hollywood’s landscape has changed dramatically since Viacom and CBS were last married in 2005. Now that the two media giants seek a Wall Street reunion, there are endless possibilities for the future of its shared content pie. Huge action franchises like “Mission: Impossible” and “Transformers” from Paramount Pictures could explore new origin stories or exploit
In their feature film debut, “Cat in the Wall,” which screens in competition at both Locarno and Sarajevo film festivals, Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova examine life on a housing project in modern-day London, where the often difficult co-existence of immigrants and locals is under threat from gentrification. Written and directed by the London-based Bulgarian
Awkwafina will star in the fantasy-adventure feature film “The Last Adventure of Constance Verity” for Legendary. The production company has acquired the feature film rights to adapt the eponymous series written by A. Lee Martinez. John Raffo has written the script. Jon Shestack, who brought the project to Raffo and attached Awkwafina, is producing. Jon
Eight years ago, protests against President Bashar al-Assad filled the streets of Syria, swept up by the boisterous energy of the Arab Spring. As hundreds of thousands of Syrians marched to demand an end to the dictator’s reign, Abounaddara, which describes itself as “a collective of self-taught and volunteer filmmakers involved in emergency cinema,” began
Vanessa Bell Calloway is set to reprise her role as Imani Izzi in Paramount Pictures’ upcoming sequel “Coming 2 America.” Comedian Luenell will also join the cast. In the original pic, Calloway portrayed Prince Akeem’s wife-to-be after a marriage arranged by his father. Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall are returning to star in “Coming 2
Composer Tom Holkenborg, also known by the moniker Junkie XL, has signed with Kraft-Engel Management for agent representation of his film and TV composition work. He joins a roster that includes Michael Abels, Jeff Beal, Christophe Beck, Marco Beltrami, Jon Brion, Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman, Alan Menken, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, Marc Shaiman and
August 13, 2019 9:28AM PT Netflix has won the rights to the science-fiction story “Pyros,” with Reese Witherspoon attached to produce and star. “Dark Phoenix” director Simon Kimberg will also produce “Pyros” through his Genre Films company along with Audrey Chon. Witherspoon is producing through her Hello Sunshine company with Lauren Neustadter. “Pyros” will be adapted
Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for political satire “,” which has been selected for the Contemporary World Cinema section at the Toronto Film Festival. Directed, written and produced by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth, the film is a sequel of “King of the Belgians,” which had its world premiere in Venice.
Basil Da Cunha’s second feature “O Fim do Mundo,” (“The End of the World”) kicked off its festival run with a premiere in Locarno’s main International Competition on Tuesday afternoon. Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole in narrative, language and location, “O Fim do Mundo” is a 100% Swiss production from Thera Production co-produced by public
At the height of the Chinese film industry’s hot money years, no one could compete with Wang Jianlin for flashy boasts. The Dalian Wanda chairman pledged to buy stakes in all six Hollywood major studios and threatened to unleash a “wolf pack” of Chinese theme parks that would devour Shanghai Disneyland. In 2013, he promised
Indonesian filmmaker Makbul Mubarak’s “Autobiography” scooped the top prize at Locarno Festival’s Open Doors Hub co-production forum, which is focused on feature film projects from South-East Asia and Mongolia. Eight producers took part in the Hub, looking for international partners for their films. “Autobiography,” produced by Yulia Evina Bhara, takes home the Open Doors Grant
“Incitement,” about the promising Israeli law student who became an ultra-nationalist obsessed with assassinating Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. WestEnd Films is producing and will also launch sales on the picture at TIFF. Rabin was serving his second term as Israel’s prime minister when he
LevelK has picked up Zaida Bergroth’s “Maria’s Paradise,” ahead of its screening at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films and at Toronto’s World Contemporary Cinema section. Bergroth is an habitué of the Toronto International Film Festival and a favored Finnish director for programmer Steve Gravestock who has praised in the past her “sensitivity and intelligence,” displayed in
This report card isn’t going on anyone’s fridge. Twentieth Century Fox received its first-quarter grades from the Walt Disney Co. last week, and in a public rebuke, the studio’s new corporate parent made it plain that it viewed the first few months as an ominous sign of trouble ahead. In a sharp reprimand that left
The numbers always dazzle in China. The country has more than 60,000 movie screens, the most of any nation on Earth, almost all built within the last 10 years. It boasts more paid subscribers to streaming-video services than the rest of the globe combined, and Netflix doesn’t even operate there. It’s home to the world’s
Woody Allen’s “A Rainy Day in New York” will hit theaters in Hong Kong on Oct. 3, and a mainland China release “is expected,” Chinese film website Mtime said, without naming a date. The romantic comedy – which was shelved by Amazon in the U.S. – stars Timothee Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Selena Gomez and Jude
MADRID — Starring Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon and Mia Wasikowska, “Blackbird,” an English-language remake of Bille August’s 2014 Danish-language movie “Silent Heart,” will open the 67th San Sebastian Film Festival on Sept. 20. World premiering at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival as a Gala Presentation, “Blackbird” will play in competition at what will be its
The fledgling film industry of Laos is poised to take further steps forward on the international stage after pioneering filmmaker Anysay Keola’s project “Red Mekong” was chosen to participate in Locarno Festival’s Open Doors program, which wraps Tuesday, and path breaker Mattie Do’s “The Long Walk” was selected to premiere at next month’s Venice Film