In today’s film news roundup, Bill Pullman, Eddie Izzard, Diplo and Nina Dobrov get cast and Treehouse Pictures is developing John Grisham’s “The Confession” as a movie; Uzo Adaba’s “Miss Virginia” gets sold. CASTINGS Bill Pullman, Eddie Izzard and Diplo have joined the cast of the Focus Features comedy “Covers” opposite Dakota Johnson, Tracee Ellis
Movies
July 25, 2019 6:00PM PT Could this rags-to-riches Cinderella story about an abused single mom and a troubled athlete be the best-worst movie of the year? Good bad movies are hard to come by, but thank goodness for director David Mahmoudieh’s “See You Soon.” He and co-writer, co-producer and leading lady Jenia Tanaeva have crafted
While vampires and zombies are evergreen horror movie favorites, the motion picture arts have not been particularly kind to that bush-league cousin, the killer tree-spirit. Two of the better-known among relatively few examples are esteemed by bad movie aficionados: There was 1957’s drive-in special “From Hell It Came,” in which an actor lumbering around in
To fully appreciate some of the allusions and inspirations that propel Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” you should consider doing some homework — or streaming some other movies. Of course, you don’t have to be familiar with any of the following titles to enjoy Tarantino’s 1969-set fact-and-fiction mashup about Rick Dalton (Leonardo
July 25, 2019 2:05PM PT AEG and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti teamed up to host a kickoff event for the Evolve Entertainment Fund (EEF), an effort to boost diversity in the entertainment industry. The event, which took place at L.A Live on June 15, featured a panel discussion with writer, producer, and actress Issa
July 25, 2019 1:58PM PT The 26th SAG Awards have been moved forward a week, taking place on Jan. 19 instead of Jan. 26 and avoiding going head to head with the 62nd Grammy Awards. Executive producer Kathy Connell made the announcement Thursday and noted that the ceremonies will be simulcast live on TNT and
July 25, 2019 12:03PM PT Sony’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home” is crossing the $1 billion milestone for worldwide grosses, becoming the 40th title to do so. The tentpole has outperformed 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” which debuted Tom Holland as the webslinger and wound up with $334 million in North America and $880 million worldwide. “Spider-Man: Far
July 25, 2019 12:00PM PT “The Walking Dead” star Andrew Lincoln has joined Naomi Watts in the family drama “Penguin Bloom.” Lincoln will portray the husband of Watts’ character in the drama, which is set on Sydney’s northern beaches and centers on a young family struggling to come to terms with a near-fatal accident that
Immediately after unveiling the Venice Film Festival lineup Thursday, artistic chief Alberto Barbera found himself contending with hot-potato issues, including the continued poor representation of female directors in the competition lineup (just two of 21), his embrace of Netflix, and the competition slot given to Roman Polanski, despite the director’s 1977 conviction for statutory rape.
“The Lion King” soundtrack is feeling the love tonight, with both the original 1994 and the latest 2019 albums seeing a 50% Spotify streaming spike in the last week. The Disney remake opened with $191 million last weekend, and the property’s songs new and old are reaping dividends. For the newest iteration, “Can You Feel
Jamie Bell admits he was hesitant to sign on to star in “Skin,” his new indie drama about Bryon Widner, a real-life neo-Nazi who left the white supremacy movement and became an FBI informant. “I was very scared, honestly,” says Bell, who stars as Widner. “There was a lot of fear and trepidation about doing
Industry veterans Anick Poirier and Lorne Price have launched Quebec-based WaZabi Films, an international sales agency that will license theatrical feature films to distributors worldwide. WaZabi has signed a pact with Les Films Séville to represent films from the executives’ former company, Séville Intl. Poirier and Price, who will serve as co-presidents of the new
July 25, 2019 9:11AM PT [embedded content] It is officially time to, once again, nut up or shut up. The first trailer for “Zombieland: Double Tap,” the sequel to the 2009 comedy, dropped on Thursday and finds the original cast of Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone back in zombie-fighting action. “Zombieland:
Luc Besson’s latest film, the Helen Mirren-starring thriller “Anna,” is failing at the French box office, dealing a further blow to his financially ailing EuropaCorp, which is in talks to be taken over by one of its lenders. After falling flat at the U.S. box office with a mere $7.6 million in nearly five weeks,
Jennifer Lopez will produce and star in the drug lord drama “The Godmother” for STXfilms. Lopez is also considering “The Godmother” for her directorial debut, according to a source close to the project. Lopez will portray Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco, also known as “The Godmother.” The story follows the life of Blanco, who outsmarted
July 25, 2019 8:05AM PT Andrea Miloro is stepping down as co-president of Fox Animation, Variety has confirmed. Robert Baird, who was co-president of the division, will remain on board. The two oversaw Fox-owned Blue Sky Animation, which has produced such films as “Ice Age,” “Rio” and the upcoming “Spies in Disguise” and “Nimona.” Its
The tagline for the latest attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood reads “It Just Got Real” — and things got very “real” as dinosaurs walked the red carpet and photobombed stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard at the grand opening ceremony for “Jurassic World: The Ride” on Monday night. “I used to sneak onto this
European exhibitors’ organization UNIC has lambasted the Venice Film Festival for including Netflix titles “The Laundromat” by Stephen Soderbergh and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” in its competition lineup. Shortly after the Lido lineup was unveiled Thursday, the organization, which represents movie theater operators in 38 European territories, including Italy, fired off a statement calling for
Robbie Robertson, soon to be in the limelight again as the focus of a documentary about his life and career, plans to make good on all that attention by releasing “Sinematic,” his first album since 2011. The album is being heralded with a duet with Van Morrison, “I Hear You Paint Houses,” released as a
Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to “Little Joe,” a sci-fi drama that won the Cannes Film Festival’s best actress award for star Emily Beecham. The indie studio is planning a theatrical release for later this year. “Little Joe” centers on Alice (Beecham), a single mother and dedicated plant breeder at a corporation engaged
Sheila Nevins has set her first projects in her new capacity as head of MTV Documentary Films: the feature “17 Blocks” and short “St. Louis Superman.” Both titles will have awards qualifying runs in the fall before airing on MTV’s various platforms. “17 Blocks,” from filmmaker Davy Rothbart, chronicles 20 years in the life of
After world premiering in the main competition at Karlovy Vary, the first Chilean film ever to receive that honor, “The Man of the Future” from Felipe Ríos has released a trailer ahead of its domestic premiere at next month’s Sanfic Festival in Santiago, Chile. Set primarily on the highways and in truck stops along the
REFRESH FOR UPDATES: “The Laundromat,” which stars Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas in a tale based on the Panama Papers exposé, and “Joker“ with Joaquin Phoenix will have their red-carpet premieres at the 76th Venice Film Festival. They join and “Ad Astra,” starring Brad Pitt as an astronaut who must save the world,
MADRID — Beating out other suitors, Madrid-based sales company Latido Films has closed international sales rights on Belén Funes’ anticipated San Sebastian main competition contender “A Thief’s Daughter” (“La hija de un ladrón”). BTeam Pictures will release the film in Spain. Already one of the most talked-about titles heading to San Sebastian this year, based
Two violent fictional American films have been granted summer releases in China, and an uplifting Chinese movie has had its local release pushed back because of real-life violence. Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule” will hit theaters in the Middle Kingdom on Aug. 26, and “Cold Pursuit,” the thriller starring Liam Neeson, follows on Sept. 6. “Little
The common nostalgia for an idealized simpler time in which tight-knit communities satisfied all personal needs can be warped to serve fascist ideologies, a notion that is not at all lost on “1BR.” In this thriller, a needy, insecure young woman thinks she’s lucked out in being accepted to an apartment complex where everyone is
July 24, 2019 6:16PM PT In this unimaginative French splatter-comedy twist on “The Most Dangerous Game,” a volleyball team gets ambushed by backwoods freaks. Festival midnight slates are always teeming with Z-grade splatter comedies like “Girls with Balls,” which offer the uncomplicated pleasure of attractive young people fighting for their lives in the great outdoors.
July 24, 2019 6:07PM PT Shelagh McLeod’s sentimental drama lacks resources to build a credible world gearing up for the first commercial space travel. But Richard Dreyfuss still manages to inspire. The recently widowed retiree Angus (Richard Dreyfuss) might be in the gutter, but he looks at the stars. Indeed, despite his flailing health and
In a perfect world, the versatile and hard-working (172 acting credits on IMDb!) Dutch actor Rutger Hauer, who has died in the Netherlands from cancer, would have had a film or even a franchise that capitalized on his range and the blonde good looks of his early years. After early stardom in his home country,
July 24, 2019 12:36PM PT Following the news of Rutger Hauer’s death, celebrities took to social media to remember the Dutch actor. Hauer died July 19 after a short illness at the age of 75. Celebrities shared quotes, photos and gifs showcasing the actor’s most famous role, such as the villainous John Ryder in the 1986