May 21, 2019 11:28AM PT Reactions to Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which premiered Tuesday evening in Cannes, have started flooding Twitter, and critics are excited, to say the least. The movie, starring Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie, is set in 1969 Hollywood against the backdrop of the Manson murders.
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Jordan is raising its cash back rebate for film and TV productions from 20% to 25% after recently hosting Disney’s ‘Aladdin,’ “Star Wars IX, The Rise of Skywalker,” and the Denis Villeneuve-directed “Dune” reboot. Concurrently, the kingdom, which provides one of the few stable environments for filmmaking in the Middle East, has reinstated the Jordan Film
May 21, 2019 10:16AM PT David Glasser’s 101 Studios is positioning the long-shelved and revamped “The Current War,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon, for an awards-season release in October. 101 Studios announced Tuesday that the film would open in limited release on Oct. 4, then go wide on the following weekend. The film presents
May 21, 2019 10:00AM PT “Just Cause” is the latest video game getting the movie treatment. Germany’s Constantin Film has acquired movie rights to the “Just Cause” video game franchise and hired “John Wick” creator Derek Kolstad to write the script. Constantin Film’s Robert Kulzer and Prime Universe Films’ Adrian Askarieh will produce the pic
May 21, 2019 8:21AM PT [embedded content] The height of Hippy Hollywood is in full swing in the official trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Sony released the new footage ahead of the movie’s highly anticipated premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Tarantino’s ninth feature stars Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and
Rising British actress Florence Pugh (“Lady Macbeth”) and French actor Francois Civil (“Wolf’s Call”) received the Chopard Trophy Award at a star-studded ceremony hosted by Chopard on Monday during the Cannes Film Festival. Pugh and Civil were chosen among many actors by a jury consisting of former Chopard Trophy recipients such as Marion Cotillard, Gael
French sales, distribution and production company Pathé has closed a raft of sales deals on three titles at the Cannes Film Market: “La Belle Epoque,” “Misbehaviour” and project “Eifel.” The company will handle distribution in France and Switzerland on all three. Nicolas Bedos’ “La Belle Epoque,” which screened out of competition at the festival, is
Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group is partnering with Rideback, producer of “Aladdin,” “It” and the Lego franchise, to develop movies inspired by the Cirque du Soleil catalogue. The partnership, announced Tuesday, aims to leverage Rideback’s track record and increase the opportunities for a global audience to enjoy the Cirque du Soleil universe. “Cirque du Soleil
The 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival hasn’t included too many movie stars — yet. But festivalgoers were able to come face-to-face with zombies, Elton John singing on the beach and Robert Pattinson going full Method actor. Here are the six biggest highs and lows from the French Riviera so far. 1. Elton John
TOKYO — Sony Corp. CEO Kenichiro Yoshida underscored the importance of Sony Pictures Entertainment to the conglomerate’s strategy going forward at a media briefing Tuesday, citing the global boom in subscription streaming services. The comments from Yoshida, who hosted the session with SPE chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra, come amid industry consolidation and possible pressure
The first full trailer for “Downton Abbey,” the much-anticipated movie spin-off of the hit TV series, has been released, showing the Crawley family girding themselves for a royal visit. The trailer for the Focus Features title was released on the film’s official Twitter account after debuting on NBC morning show “Today.” While little of the
The first set of images in “Black Mother,” Khalik Allah’s intensely felt act of cinematic hypnosis, is a cavalcade of monochrome, vignetted portraits: A young woman in a tight minidress dances in a market; a shirtless man wriggles on one foot, extending the other leg gymnastically high in the air; an old woman with milky
Greta Bellamacina will star in “Thomasina,” an upcoming horror movie from Jaclyn Bethany. Rileigh McDonald (“The Sinner”) has also signed on for the movie, which is set in the underbelly of L.A. Director and actress Bellamacina has been in the news at Cannes after being refused entry to the Marche with her baby son, then
Forty years ago in Los Angeles, the decision to invest millions in a museum dedicated exclusively to contemporary art — not to mention its formerly desolate downtown location, where the vibe was more apocalyptic than artsy — was a risky proposition. But now that the city’s cultural heart has shifted south of Hollywood, it seems
CANNES — Jeremy Clapin’s feature debut “I Lost My Body” follows Naoufel, a young man who moves to France, falls in love and tries to create a new life. Then in a parallel storyline, it follows Naoufel’s severed hand, which runs, jumps and rolls across Paris in an attempt to find the rest of its
The Writers Guild of America has bulked up its lawsuit with additional fraud allegations against Hollywood’s four biggest talent agencies. The WGA amended its suit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court with the claim that CAA, WME, UTA and ICM partners have engaged “constructive fraud” by allegedly placing their own interests ahead of their clients
May 20, 2019 11:23PM PT Aude Léa Rapin’s ambitious, peculiar debut joins a reincarnation-based mystery and a Bosnian War reckoning, with patchy results. Just when you think modern cinema has exploited the found-footage conceit from every conceivable angle, along comes a tragicomic mockumentary tracing Bosnia’s recent war-ravaged history via the travails of a young French
Madrid-based production hub The Mediapro Studio has announced finalized details of an arrangement with Madrid’s Complutense University (UCM) and the National Film and Television School of London (NFTS) on a new Master’s program designed to develop new screenwriting talent. Mediapro general director Juan Ruiz de Gauna, UCM dean of information sciences Jorge Clemente and Irene
CANNES – Argentina will join the European Council’s co-production fund Eurimages as an associate member starting on October 1 2019, it was officially announced Monday at the Cannes Film Market. The agreement was unveiled by Ralph Haiek, president of Argentine agency Incaa, Eurimages executive director Roberto Olla and the president of global producers assn. Fiapf,
Diao Yinan is the only Chinese director with a film in the main competition this year at Cannes. He’s already a known entity on the arthouse circuit having won the Golden Bear in Berlin in 2014 for his hardscrabble coal-blackened detective thriller “Black Coal, Thin Ice.” Now he makes the leap to the Croisette with
Swiss filmmaker Blaise Harrison is bringing his fiction feature debut to this year’s Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. Known for his documentary work, Harrison was selected for competition at the 2013 Locarno Festival for his film “Harmony,” about a marching band in the small French town of Pontarlier. “Particles” follows P.A., a teenager
CANNES — 2019’s Cannes hit the floor running. Even after just two days of business, major sales companies were fielding offers from much of the world on top titles. After four days, quite a few were pretty confident they’d sell much of the world. Some of those deals are now being confirmed. Martin Moszkowicz, executive
CANNES–Five projects by Greek filmmakers were presented Monday at Thessaloniki Goes to Cannes, the Cannes Film Market’s pix-in-post industry showcase supported by the Thessaloniki Intl. Film Festival. The third edition shined a spotlight on dynamic new fiction features whose producers are currently in Cannes looking for festival premieres, sales agents and distribution. Thessaloniki Intl. Film
In today’s film news roundup, a Neil Armstrong documentary and “The Invisible Man” get release dates, “Forrest Gump” and “Saving Private Ryan” get re-released and Patrick Fugit gets cast. RELEASE DATES Gravitas Ventures has bought worldwide rights to the Neil Armstrong documentary “Armstrong” and will open the film on July 12 in theaters and on
Across the country on Saturday, movie theaters sold over $12 million in tickets to “Avengers: Endgame,” helping it amass $771 million in the U.S. since its release in April. On the same day, in a stunning urban greenhouse complex in DTLA, the film’s supporting star Gwyneth Paltrow counted tickets of her own — pricey, perk-loaded
May 20, 2019 4:43PM PT Johnny Depp was hit with a $350,000 lawsuit on Monday from a law firm that claims he has not paid his bills. Depp retained Buckley LLP in the fall of 2017 to sue his former entertainment law firm, Bloom Hergott LLP, which he accused of pocketing $30 million in fees
May 20, 2019 4:26PM PT John Wick will be back in exactly two years and a day. Lionsgate announced Monday that it has scheduled “John Wick 4” for May 21, 2021. The studio made the announcement via a text message to fans: “You have served. You will be of service. John Wick: Chapter 4 is
May 20, 2019 3:31PM PT Veteran film industry executive Krysanne Katsoolis has launched Viewpark, which will finance, package and release high-end film and TV content. Viewpark has partnered with former Wall Street executive Keith Price’s Obsidian Asset Management to create a multi-million dollar fund for the production and marketing of its slate, Katsoolis told Variety.
May 20, 2019 3:23PM PT Elle Fanning, a member of this year’s Cannes jury, had a brief scare Monday night when she fainted at the Chopard Trophee dinner. Festival director Thierry Fremaux had just introduced actor Francois Civil onstage when Fanning, star of “The Beguiled” and “Maleficent,” collapsed and fell off her chair nearby. Fanning
Amazon Studios has returned the domestic rights to indie film “A Rainy Day in New York” back to its director and producer, Woody Allen, Variety has learned. Allen sparked widespread media confusion last week when he released a trailer for his Elle Fanning and Timothée Chalamet drama on his Facebook page, saying it was “coming