The 25th New Nordic Films, unspooling Aug. 20-23 parallel to the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, will kick off with the critically-lauded “A White, White Day” by Hlynur Pálmason. The Icelandic drama which world premiered at Cannes’ Critics’ Week, is among 19 films set to screen, of which 13 are world market premieres such as
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Fran Borgia, of prolific Singapore production house Akanga Film Asia, has boarded Amanda Nell Eu’s “Tiger Stripes,” a project entered in Locarno Festival’s Open Doors section, as co-producer. Akanga’s “A Land Imagined,” directed by Yeo Siew Hua, won three prizes at Locarno last year, including the coveted Golden Leopard for best film, amongst a slew
Matthew James Wilkinson, one of the original producers of box-office hit “Yesterday,” has his latest movie, “Days of the Bagnold Summer,” premiering at the Locarno Festival on Wednesday. He talks to Variety about those movies, as well as upcoming projects, including a heist musical, a feminist horror pic, and a new film – as yet
Lady Gaga, Post Malone and Kris Bowers are among the contenders for the 2019 World Soundtrack Awards. Other composers nominated for awards include Nicholas Britell (“If Beale Street Could Talk”), Alan Silvestri (“Avengers: Endgame”) and John Powell (“How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World”) as well as Daniel Pemberton (“Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse”) and Benjamin
IMDb has revised its birth name policy and will allow industry professionals to remove their birth names in response to feedback from transgender customers and other entertainment industry leaders. The issue arose in June after a coalition of national LGBTQ groups objected to IMDB’s continued publication of the birth names of transgender performers and people
Edward Lewis, an independent producer best known for “Spartacus” and “Missing,” died at the age of 99 in his Los Angeles home on July 27. He produced 33 films, which garnered 15 Oscars and Golden Globe awards as well as 90 nominations. Additionally, he co-wrote musicals, works of fiction, and screenplays with the his partner
In today’s film news roundup, Djimon Hounsou fills in for Brian Tyree Henry in the “Quiet Place” sequel, “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” gets a wide release and a Louis Armstrong documentary has been set. CASTING Paramount Pictures has cast Djimon Hounsou as a replacement for Brian Tyree Henry in its sequel to “A
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nicholas Kazan has attacked leaders of the Writers Guild of America for “vitriol” in their hardline stance on Hollywood agents. “This Guild is in crisis,” he said in an email sent Monday to members. “It’s not the crisis you think…it’s not whether or how to negotiate with the ATA or the individual talent
Quentin Tarantino responded to criticisms of the “arrogant” portrayal of Bruce Lee in his latest film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” claiming that it isn’t so inaccurate after all. “Bruce Lee was kind of an arrogant guy,” Tarantino said at a recent press junket in Moscow. The film depicts Lee (played by Mike Moh)
August 12, 2019 2:22PM PT Robert De Niro and Shia LaBeouf will portray a father and son in the upcoming independent crime drama “After Exile.” LaBeouf will play an ex-con who, after being released from prison for killing an innocent man after a violent robbery, must re-enter his old life with his father (De Niro)
In his new film “L’apprendistato” (“The Young Observant”), which premiered at the 72nd Locarno Festival in the Cineasti del presente competition, Italian filmmaker Davide Maldi explores a crucial moment in a young life as a teenage boy is forced to grow up after enrolling at a prestigious hotel and catering school. Building on his background
An actress on the verge of a nervous breakdown heads to her hometown on the banks of the Danube, a river separating her adopted country of Romania from the Serbia of her youth. Hoping to recover from a mysterious illness no doctor can diagnosis, she instead falls into a torrid love affair with a younger
Some of the most vibrant documentaries in recent years have been those that have deliberately blurred the lines that typically separate fiction from reality, and in this, Lisbon-based Swiss filmmaking duo Sergio da Costa and Maya Kosa’s “L’Île aux oiseaux” (“Bird Island”) is no exception. Selected as part of Locarno Festival’s Concorso Cineasti del presente,
August 12, 2019 10:59AM PT “Aquaman” director James Wan has come on board the horror camping movie “The Troop” and will produce the project through his Atomic Monster banner. Atomic Monster announced Monday that it has acquired the rights to “The Troop,” a book by Nick Cutter. The movie will follow a group of teens on a
August 12, 2019 10:58AM PT Viacom has signed Paramount Pictures chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos to a new, multi-year contract, individuals familiar with the talks told Variety. The development comes as Viacom is expected to recombine with CBS in a deal believed to be announced after market close on Monday. The media giant has also
WME has signed Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey, sources tell Variety. The actor is best known for his roles in “Dallas Buyers Club,” for which he won an Oscar and Golden Globe for best actor, “Dazed and Confused,” “Magic Mike,” “Lincoln Lawyer” and “Mud.” He will next be seen in Guy Ritchie’s “The Gentlemen,” where
“The Kitchen” couldn’t take the heat. Burned by negative reviews and pitched competition, Warner Bros. and New Line’s heist thriller — starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss — opened with a dismal $5.5 million when it debuted in 2,765 theaters. The people who did venture out to see the film this weekend weren’t
August 12, 2019 8:58AM PT New Line has won the bidding for “Don’t Worry Darling,” a psychological thriller to from Olivia Wilde. A total of 18 bids were submitted on the project, centered on a 1950s housewife whose reality begins to crack, revealing a disturbing truth underneath. Wilde is directing, producing and starring in the
August 12, 2019 8:00AM PT Imperative Entertainment has unveiled plans for its first podcast “Gangster House,” a look at the rise and fall of Mike Thevis, a businessman and pornographer. The 10-part podcast series will debut Oct. 22. Imperative Entertainment is perhaps best known for its work in the film world. Its credits include the
Galician filmmaker Eloy Enciso returns to Switzerland’s Locarno Festival after seven years with his third film Longa Noite (“Endless Night”), the only Spanish feature in the main international competition. Fílmica Galaika, the production company behind it, has just released a trailer – days ahead of its premiere at Locarno. Accompanied once again by the filmmaker
Iraqi actress and filmmaker Zahraa Ghandour, who stars in the Locarno Festival screener “Baghdad in My Shadow,” by Iraqi-born Swiss filmmaker Samir, is making her first independent feature documentary about one of Iraq’s leading women’s rights advocates. The film will explore the life of Hanaa Edwar, known as a fearless champion of human rights in
Chinese animation “Nezha” continues its meteoric ascent to become one of China’s top-performing titles of all time, leading the weekend box office for the third week in a row thanks to a $66.5 million haul — still more than double that of its closest competitor, despite already having been in theaters for 18 days. Its
As streaming giants continue to upend the global film business scenario it’s getting tougher for indie cinema to survive, both as an art form and as entertainment. But smart new strategies are being devised to mount productions that stay true to the indie ethos, and the thrill of theatrical isn’t gone yet. In broad terms
Board members of CBS and Viacom worked most of the weekend in an effort to reach a long-awaited merger agreement for the two halves of the Redstone media empire. Sources close to the situation said the sides have made progress since Friday in hashing out some of the final details in the tie-up between the
August 11, 2019 5:11PM PT Once viewers jettison narrative expectations, they’ll be able to bury themselves snugly in this moving composite vision in which Icelandic society itself is the protagonist. There are numerous magical moments in Rúnar Rúnarsson’s moving mosaic “Echo,” though perhaps none more powerful than that instant when we as viewers allow ourselves
The election for the Writers Guild of America West remains heated with dissidents attacking the guild’s hardline stance on Hollywood agents. The latest salvo came Sunday from “Wonder Woman” writer Jason Fuchs, who’s part of the WGA Forward Together slate. His group is contending that the WGA needs to get back to the bargaining table after
“All my life is loving you,” is a line of dialogue that, on the page, looks worn thin with familiarity, a little like the trite English title of Claire Burger’s solo directorial debut, “Real Love.” But to reveal that the words are spoken not by a pining lover during the dash-to-the-airport climax of a romantic
I tend to be an absolutist when it comes to matters of censorship, and if the decision by Universal Pictures to cancel the Sept. 27 release of “The Hunt” was a case of censorship, pure and simple, then I’d be against it. But I believe, in this instance, that the word censorship would be misapplied.
Genesis Tennon is used to attending Hollywood events with mom Oscar-winner Viola Davis, but at “The Angry Birds Movie 2” premiere, it was her turn to be the star. As Davis and husband Julius Tennon looked on beaming with pride, Genesis walked the red carpet for her first screen credit and chatted animatedly with reporters.
Three winners were announced on Sunday evening for the ninth edition of Locarno’s First Look, the festival’s initiative to showcase films in post-production: Milica Tomović’s “Celts,” Filip Martinović’s “Telenovela Greyscale in Color” and Marta Popivoda’s “Resisting Landscapes.” First Look offers a potential springboard onto the international market, having previously hosted breakout projects such as Alejandro