Idris Elba has worn a lot of hats: actor, DJ, director — but it was the time he spent working a series of dull jobs that solidified his desire to pursue a career in the arts. Appearing in a string of roles on British television, he first saw his name appear in Variety on May
Movies
Military adviser Dale Dye may have done more to help Hollywood deliver an accurate portrayal of war than anyone else in the business. From “Platoon” and “Saving Private Ryan” to “The Thin Red Line” and his most recent work, 2019’s “The Last Full Measure,” his attention to detail — along with his boot camp methods for
May 31, 2019 9:16AM PT China has set a June 28 launch for Sony’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” five days ahead of the film’s North American launch. China was by far the top international market for 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” with $116 million. The Tom Holland vehicle launched there two months after nearly every other territory.
Something unusual happened at the Cannes premiere of “The Best Years of a Life,” Claude Lelouch’s syrupy second sequel to his trend-setting 1966 global smash “A Man and a Woman.” Not the endless, roaring standing ovation that happened when the lights came up: That’s expected, even required, of the tuxed-up crowd at Grand Théâtre Lumière,
May 31, 2019 8:03AM PT Robert Pattinson is officially the new Batman. Warner Bros. has closed a deal for the “Twilight” actor to play the Caped Crusader in “The Batman.” Matt Reeves’ upcoming superhero tentpole hits theaters on June 25, 2021. Variety first reported on May 16 that Pattinson was in negotiations for the part.
Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” roared to $6.3 million during Thursday night previews in North America. Its earnings were lower than “Godzilla’s” previews of $9.3 million in 2014 and higher than 2017’s “Kong: Skull Island” ($3.7 million). The sequel to 2014’s “Godzilla” (and the 35th feature about the titular beast) is expected to
Claus von Bulow, the socialite whose conviction and then sensational acquittal of the attempted murder of his wealthy wife was portrayed in the award-winning film “Reversal of Fortune,” has died. He was 92. The Danish-born von Bulow died Saturday at his home in London, news reports said. Von Bulow was found guilty in 1982 of
North American streaming and aggregation firm Digital Media Rights has licensed a slate of nine Chinese-language movies from distributor China Lion. The films which have already enjoyed specialty theatrical releases in North America range from 2016 titles to 2018 hits. They include recent mainland Chinese hit “A Cool Fish,” to 2017 Taiwanese drama “A Gangster’s
May 31, 2019 5:34AM PT Japan’s iconic Studio Ghibli animation house has joined forces with local partners to build its first theme park. Together with the government of Aichi Prefecture and the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper, the company will develop a park within Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park. The venue, not far from Nagoya in central
Producer Ada Solomon, whose credits include Cãlin Peter Netzer’s Berlin Golden Bear winner “Child’s Pose,” Radu Jude’s Berlin Silver Bear winner “Aferim!” and Maren Ade’s Oscar-nominated “Toni Erdmann,” has announced new projects from Jude and Ivana Mladenovic, whose debut feature “Soldiers. Story from Ferentari” premiered in Toronto in 2017. Jude’s “Uppercase Print” (pictured) is an adaptation of a
Dana and Arthur are a married couple in their forties whose relationship is at a crossroads. Facing pressure from a society and family that seems to love them together, they’re also driven by desires that are pushing them apart. On one fateful day, the two have to decide if the biggest proof of their love
David Young, longtime executive director of the Writers Guild of America West, has blasted news media coverage of negotiating committee co-chair Christopher Keyser. Young, in a message to members Thursday, unleashed a pointed attack on the coverage by accusing publications of lying and being “histrionic” and “biased” in stories about Keyser shopping a new series
Watching a documentary about a famous and beloved artist, I’ll sometimes be suffused with a childlike desire to see his or her life flow forward in one long uninterrupted river of happiness and achievement, with no slumps or setbacks, no peccadilloes, no dark side. It never works out that way, of course. If it did,
“Parasite,” the Palme d’Or-winning film from South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, has enjoyed a winning start at its home box office. It earned $3.93 million on Thursday, according to data from Kobiz, the tracking service of the Korean Film Council. That put it far ahead of holdover title “Aladdin,” which came in second place ($527,000),
A group of Hollywood studios wants to remind consumers that they can rent movies — including recent releases not available on Netflix — from a wide array of digital providers, through a four-day promo offering discounts on titles starting at 99 cents. Dubbed the “Ultimate Movie Weekend,” the special sale runs May 31-June 3 and
In today’s film news roundup, Jesse Metcalfe joins “The Latin From Manhattan,” Judith Light is honored and Franklin Leonard and Hayden Schlossberg are added to the speakers list for the Produced By Conference. CASTING Jesse Metcalfe will portray a federal agent in the independent biopic “The Latin From Manhattan,” joining Esai Morales, Drea De Matteo
Too much echo… not enough Canyon. That’s at the core of the imbalances in the celebrated new rock doc “Echo in the Canyon”: It’s a movie with too much Beach Boys and Beatles — as strange as it seems to make a complaint of that — and not enough of the people who really lived in
May 30, 2019 3:26PM PT Eight women directors from eight Pacific Island cultures contribute to this visually sunny yet poetically sorrowful portmanteau feature. Most portmanteau features are potluck. But “Vai” has a lovely consistency of style and content that heightens the accessibility of its unique value as a combined effort among eight native female directors
Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to the upcoming movie “The Power of the Dog,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Elisabeth Moss. The streaming giant bought “The Power of the Dog” from See-Saw Films’ in house sales arm Cross City Films. Variety first reported on the project earlier this month and Cross City Films launched sales at the
The tongue-in-cheek apology with which mega-prolific Japanese mischief maker Takashi Miike introduced the premiere of his latest madcap mashup in Cannes — “I want to apologize for making such a sweet love story with no violence and no decapitations” — was proved almost instantly to be a joke, as within the first few minutes of
Folk tales have always existed to give shape and meaning to the formless randomness of ordinary life, and to account for why certain occurrences — the death of a parent, the rejection of a lover, the rivalry between brothers — can have an impact on our psyches disproportionate to their un-mythic scale. This is a
Millions of people struggle with depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues — just not on the big screen or on television. Historically, films such as “Ordinary People” or “Good Will Hunting” and shows such as “In Treatment” have dramatized these types of issues, but they remain the exception to the rule. Less than 2%
May 30, 2019 1:07PM PT A heartfelt though slight social-issue drama diluted by its formulaic structure and rudimentary screenplay. A forensic anthropologist recovering the bones of people killed during Guatemala’s dark civil war believes he may have found his father’s remains in “Our Mothers,” a heartfelt though slight drama whose surprise Camera d’Or win at
May 30, 2019 12:49PM PT Bong Joon-Ho’s dark comedy “Parasite,” which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, has been scheduled by Neon for an awards season release of Oct. 11 in Los Angeles and New York. Neon made the announcement Thursday, asserting that it has positioned the title as a prime awards
Chinese actor Zu Feng makes a professional, polished but overly cautious directorial debut with “Summer of Changsha,” a dour police procedural wrapped around an even more dour romance that seems to exist to make the point that no good deed goes unpunished in our modern, alienated world. Trapped in a muddy, deterministic plot, hurting, guilt-ridden
Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to Disney Marc Webb goes. The filmmaker is in talks to direct the studio’s upcoming live-action adaptation of “Snow White.” While the deal isn’t finalized, sources tell Variety that Webb is the top choice to helm the movie. “The Girl on the Train” screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson is in negotiations to
May 30, 2019 11:01AM PT Gina Rodriguez will star in Netflix’s science-fiction thriller “Awake,” portraying an ex-soldier with a troubled past. “Kodachrome” helmer Mark Raso is attached to direct from a script he co-wrote with his brother Joseph Raso and Greg Poirier. Paul Schiff is producing for Entertainment One. Rodriguez and the Raso brothers are
Matt Bomer plays a weatherman in his new movie “Papi Chulo,” but he didn’t shadow TV meteorologists to prepare for the role. What he was most concerned about was making sure the nervous breakdown his character has on live television was believable. To capture those emotions, he did a deep dive on the internet. “I
May 30, 2019 9:23AM PT [embedded content] Sylvester Stallone has returned as his brooding — and indestructible — John Rambo character in the latest trailer for Lionsgate’s “Rambo: Last Blood.” “I’ve lived in a world of death,” Stallone’s Rambo says in the clip for the fifth entry in the action franchise. “I’ve watched people I’ve
Sci-fi will be center stage at South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, Asia’s largest genre film event. The ten-day film festival will run from Jun. 27 through Jul. 7. Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” inspired the festival’s official artwork this year. The film will also play in special program ‘Robots: Future Beyond the Human Race’