Movies

July 1, 2019 10:31AM PT Greenwich Entertainment and 1091 have co-acquired the North American distribution rights to the documentary “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice.” Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman directed the movie with James Keach, Michele Farinola and CNN Films producing. The film was co-financed by PCH Films and CNN Films. CNN Films

German filmmaker Jan-Ole Gerster made a major splash with his critically acclaimed and award-heavy 2012 debut feature “Oh Boy” (“A Coffee in Berlin”), starring Tom Schilling (“Never Look Away”). In Gerster’s latest film, “Lara,” Corinna Harfouch portrays a woman, who, on her 60th birthday, plans to attend the premiere of piano concerto performed by her

As black filmmakers gain more traction within the Hollywood studio system, the Locarno Film Festival is putting the spotlight on black cinema around the world with a major retrospective titled Black Light set to kick off with Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing” freshly restored by Universal in 4K for the landmark race drama’s 30th

Nobody can quite explain why, but there’s long been a significant thread connecting the Newport Beach Film Festival to British film culture. The Southern California festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this spring, always features a popular showcase of U.K. films. And now, for the fifth year running, the Southern California fest’s U.K. Honors is

Celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year, India’s Toonz Media Group announced on Monday a change in leadership at its Spanish subsidiary Imira Entertainment, one of Spain’s leading producers and distributors of kids and family content. The doble move sees seasoned animation producer Carlos Biern joins Toonz as its new president of animation productions & co-productions

July 1, 2019 6:14AM PT [embedded content] Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan and Jack Black are heading back to the jungle. Sony debuted the first look at “Jumanji: The Next Level,” a sequel to the 2017 surprise hit “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.” In the upcoming adventure the gang returns to Jumanji only to

Magnolia Pictures has nabbed North American rights to “Mister America,” a feature-length comedy that’s being billed as an extension of the world of “On Cinema,” the cult Adult Swim show. The film stars “On Cinema” hosts Tim Heidecker and Gregg Turkington and follows Heidecker’s attempt to enter the world of politics. Eric Notarnicola, who previously

July 1, 2019 4:00AM PT “Aladdin” reclaimed its top spot, at the Korean box office over the weekend, beating “Toy Story 4”. “Aladdin” earned $7 million from 910,000 admissions between Friday and Sunday for a cumulative total of $61.1 million after six weekends on release. “Toy Story 4” declined only modestly, down 29%, as it

Wild Bunch is spinning off its international sales operation as a standalone company launched by French film industry veteran Vincent Maraval and Brahim Chioua, two of Wild Bunch’s co-founders. The new outfit, Wild Bunch International (WBI), which is being set up as a subsidiary of Wild Bunch, will handle world distribution on French and foreign

“Article 15” has scooped the audience award at the London Indian Film Festival. Anubhav Sinha’s movie stars Ayushmann Khurrana and also opened the tenth edition of LIFF, which is Europe’s largest South Asian film festival. Khurrana stars as a police officer from a privileged background in “Article 15,” which Zee Studios International is distributing. He

Of all the ways to begin a movie, few are more cruel than presenting a character such as Lara Jenkins and, before the audience has even gotten the chance to know her, showing her wearily open the window to her depressing German flat, position a chair and prepare to jump. Then the doorbell rings. It

Tom Holland’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is ruling the international box office ahead of its release in North America. “Spider-Man: Far From Home” collected a huge $111 million this weekend when it launched in China, Japan and Hong Kong. Most of that haul came from China, where the superhero tentpole earned $98 million, marking the fourth-best

June 30, 2019 9:39AM PT Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are still doing whatever it takes to beat “Avatar’s” all-time box office record. Disney’s re-release of “Avengers: Endgame” brought in another $5.5 million in its 10th weekend in theaters, marking a 200% increase in ticket sales from its previous outing. “Avengers: Endgame,” which originally opened April 26,

Displacement, grief, the generation gap and gay relationships characterized by cultural difference — Cambodian-British filmmaker Hong Khaou’s second film swims in similar thematic waters to his acclaimed first, “Lilting.” But while “Monsoon” broaches these subjects with Khaou’s already trademark, borderline tremulous sensitivity, it comes from the opposite direction, tracking the hesitant attempts of a Vietnamese-born

Victor Moreno’s “The Hidden City” is an underground doc – literally – years in the making. The film had help in finding its light at the end of a tunnel with awards at the Abycine Lanza independent film market and the inaugural European Council Eurimages Lab Project Award in 2016, and competed at the Seville

Oscar winner Julianne Moore praised the power of film to promote empathy and warned against the danger of history repeating itself Saturday at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where she was promoting her latest film, “After the Wedding,” alongside the film’s director, her husband Bart Freundlich, and co-star Billy Crudup. Moore received the festival’s Crystal

Of all the here’s-a-cool-way-to-make-a-pop-biopic! ideas floating around in “Rocketman” that work better in theory than they do onscreen, one of the most pivotal was the decision to have Taron Egerton do his own singing. That almost never happens in music biopics (Rami Malek lip-synched in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Jamie Foxx lip-synched in “Ray,” Marion Cotillard lip-synched

June 29, 2019 11:12AM PT Keanu Reeves has issued his support of the Italian cinema collective Cinema America, after it was attacked by an alt right organization. Reeves joins a number of high profile film leaders in signing a statement issued from Cinema America, which condemns the violence directed at the film collective. The organization

“Toy Story 4” has a friend in the box office. The Disney Pixar sequel took home another $17 million in Friday ticket sales, leading to a decisive victory over weekend openers “Annabelle Comes Home” and “Yesterday.” After collecting $118 million in its inaugural weekend and topping more than $167 million in its first six days,

Well-known South Korean actress Jeon Mi-seon was found dead around midday local time on Saturday in a hotel in Jeonju. She was 48. Her manager, who raised the alarm after Jeon had gone missing for two days, said that Jeon had been suffering from depression. Local media reported that she was found hanged in the

Despite such melodramatic flourishes as a near-disaster on a storm-tossed sea, a violent attack on an apostate by a group of religious zealots, and a startling (albeit not entirely convincing) death by lightning bolt, Mitch Davis’ “The Other Side of Heaven II: Fire of Faith” is as tedious as rush-hour traffic and as bland as

In today’s film news roundup, Michael Moore’s film festival will include appearances by Kathy Griffin and Lily Tomlin, a gerrymandering documentary gets sold and pop singer Meredith O’Connor gets cast. FILM FESTIVAL Kathy Griffin and Lily Tomlin have signed on to appear at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival, now in its 15th year. Griffin

June 28, 2019 2:57PM PT Disney has decided hit the pause button on Fox’s remake of 1988’s science-fiction thriller “Alien Nation.” Fox signed director Jeff Nichols in 2016 to write and direct the project. That deal was announced two days before Nichols’ “Loving” premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Nichols was re-teaming with “Loving” producers

If, like most people, you haven’t gotten around to reading the entirety of the Mueller report, stars like Mark Ruffalo, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mark Hamill, and Annette Bening have made it easier to understand the Russia investigation by recording a video of themselves reading aloud the report’s most pertinent passages. The exclusive video obtained by Variety

The 54th Karlovy Vary Film Festival kicked off Friday with a short explainer in communist-era culture from host Marek Eben, who commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in the Czech Republic with a tribute to a retro snack. Eben reminded audiences of what the evening would have looked like if not for the

Director Hong Khaou follows his debut feature, the Sundance critical hit “Lilting,” with “Monsoon,” which premieres Saturday in competition at Karlovy Vary Film Festival. The film stars “Crazy Rich Asians” lead Henry Golding and Parker Sawyers. Variety spoke to Khaou about the film. “Monsoon” follows a Vietnamese-born British guy Kit, played by Golding, as he

Melissa McCarthy may be ready to help some poor unfortunate souls in Disney’s live-action version of “The Little Mermaid.” Sources tell Variety that while the deal is not yet completed, McCarthy is in early talks to play the sea witch Ursula in the live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid.” As Disney preps its live action

June 28, 2019 11:00AM PT Mark Wahlberg is in negotiations to take over Chris Evans’ role in Antoine Fuqua’s action thriller, “Infinite.” Evans, who signed on to the pic in February, was unable to continue with the project due to scheduling issues. “Infinite” is based on D. Eric Maikranz’s novel “The Reincarnationist Papers,” which centers

Netflix has everyone’s Fourth of July entertainment covered. Hitting the streaming platform on July 4 is “Stranger Things” season three, which is finally returning two years after its predecessor. Martin Scorsese fans are also sure to be excited once they see four of the director’s films (“Taxi Driver” “Mean Streets” “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”

Nu Boyana Film Studios, the Bulgarian production hub that’s serviced Hollywood blockbusters like the “Expendables” franchise and the upcoming “Rambo V,” is preparing to break ground on a studio in Thessaloniki, Greece. The partnership with John Kalafatis, CEO of the New York City-based York Studios, will be dubbed Nu Boyana Hellenic, and will highlight the