There’s a rather vital figure in the history of Christianity — his name is Jesus Christ — who suffered a famous, agonizing moment of spiritual doubt when he looked up from the Cross and said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” But no such crisis of faith, even for a split second,
Movies
April 8, 2019 8:01AM PT Russian film and theater director Kirill Serebrennikov, whose film “Leto” (Summer) was in competition in Cannes last year, has been released from house arrest. He will remain on bail while a criminal charge against him for the alleged embezzlement of 130 million rubles ($1.98 million) is considered. Serebrennikov remains confident
DC Comics welcomed another hit with “Shazam!” Warner Bros. and New Line’s latest comic-book adventure powered box office charts, debuting with $53 million in North America and $102 million overseas. For many films in superhero space, that start could spell trouble. But for “Shazam!,” its $98 million price tag makes it a win. The DC
April 8, 2019 4:32AM PT Warwick Thornton, Garth Davis, Joel Edgerton and Anthony Maras go head to head at the Australian Directors Guild Awards. They are each nominated as best director in the category of films with a budget of A$1 million ($710,0000 and above, for “Sweet Country,” “Mary Magdalene,” “Boy Erased” and “Hotel Mumbai”
“P Storm,” the fourth installment of a Hong Kong crime thriller franchise, beat Warner Bros.’ new DC Comics superhero flick “Shazam!” by nearly $10 million over their three-day opening weekend in China, indicating a continued preference of Chinese audiences for local films over U.S. fare. According to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway, “P Storm” took
Nearly 15 years ago, Mediapro founder Jaume Roures sat in a posh hotel bar in Barcelona explaining why he had moved into director-driven film production, and lamenting the lack of ambition of many Catalans. “For many people, success is opening a shop on the Diagonal,” he said, referring to Barcelona’s major thoroughfare.Flash forward to 2019,
Profiles of some of Mediapro’s production milestones, and select titles on its 2019 production slate. TVE has also just announced season four on the Mediapro co-produced cult time-travel adventure “The Department of Time.” MONDAYS IN THE SUN, 2002Produced with Elías Querejeta, directed by Fernando León, “Sun” was Mediapro’s first big movie hit. It was a
April 1994 As Spanish TV stations increasingly out-house services, Jaume Roures and Gerard Romy found Mediapro, with Taxto Benet’s encouragement, renting an office in Barcelona’s Sarria-district Riu de l’Or to organize the Andorra Intl. Jazz Festival. Oct. 1994: From the near get-go, Medaipro begins handling sport event production and rights, starting with boxing, tennis and
A flurry of phone calls and emails and one crucial text message led to Saturday’s stealth meeting between WGA representatives and talent agency leaders. The four-hour session at WGA West headquarters ended with the guild agreeing to a six-day delay in implementing new rules governing agents who represent the guild’s 15,000 members. The sides are
April 7, 2019 12:29PM PT Just a week after Beyonce was crowned Entertainer of the Year at the NAACP Image Awards, the Beyhive has another reason to celebrate. Netflix posted a tweet Sunday teasing its rumored upcoming Beyonce concert documentary, which will reportedly highlight her 2018 performance at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
Warner Bros.’ “Shazam!” powered the international box office, generating $102 million when it debuted in 79 foreign markets. In North America, the comic-book adventure about a young boy who transforms into a grown superhero when someone says the magic word debuted with $53 million for a global start of $158.6 million. The studio spent $98
PANAMA CITY — Paul Federbush, international director, Sundance Feature Film Program, andLaura Michalchyshyn, at Sundance Productions, delivered a presentation at IFF Panama, moderated by Diana Sanchez, focusing on how the changing media landscape has created new opportunities for filmmakers, in particular in regions such as Latin America. “I’m very interested in this part of the
TENERIFE, Spain – Santiago Caicedo’s debut “Virus Tropical” took best feature prize at Quirino Awards in a ceremony held at Tenerife’s auditorium on Saturday April 6. Best TV series award went to Juliano Enrico’s “Jorel’s Brother – Be Broccoli!” and best short kudo to Nara Normande’s “Guaxuma.” Two out of three main prizes went to
The magic word at the box office this weekend was “Shazam!” Warner Bros.’ latest superhero adventure easily topped charts in North America, pocketing $53 million when it debuted in 4,217 venues. Buoyed by positive reviews, “Shazam!” arrived ahead of expectations, which anticipated a start around $40 million to $45 million. The film also earned $3
PANAMA CITY — Prior to the launch of IFF Panama in 2012, Panama’s film production was virtually non-existent. With the aid of the festival, the national film fund, and impetus created by an influx of foreign shoots, local productions have secured an increasingly important role at the domestic box office. Several projects now enjoy multi-territory
PANAMA CITY — Argentine actor Ricardo Darin, currently attending the 8th IFF Panama for the fest’s opening film, “An Unexpected Love,” is prepping a new film, “Heroic Losers,” (La Odisea de los Giles) about an agricultural cooperative in Argentina in 2001, to be directed by Sebastián Borensztein, with whom Darin previously worked on “Koblic” (2016) and
April 6, 2019 7:28PM PT A contentious biopic about India’s polarizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, titled “PM Narendra Modi,” will finally release on April 11. That is the same day that the mega exercise that is the Indian elections begins. The film has been put together remarkably quickly, with principal photography commencing Jan. 28. It
April 6, 2019 11:59AM PT Longtime producing partners Will Ferrell and Adam McKay are splitting up after more than a decade together. The duo announced the break-up on Saturday and insisted that it’s amicable. Projects produced under their Gary Sanchez banner include “Vice,” “Step Brothers,” “Talladega Nights” and the Anchorman and Daddy’s Home movies. In
Warner Bros.’ “Shazam” is powering to the top of the domestic box office with an estimated $51 million from 4,217 North American locations in its debut. The DC and New Line superhero story drew $20.5 million domestically on Friday along with $29.2 million globally. “Shazam’s” international cume is currently sitting at $44 million. Asher Angel
Australia’s federal government is to provide a $17.1 million (A$24 million) subsidy to Disney to shoot a currently untitled Marvel movie at Fox Studios Australia. Disney took ownership of the Sydney studios last month as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Australia also offers location incentive schemes, known as offsets, that are directly
In a message underlining the diminishing prospect for a deal between Hollywood agents and writers, the agents’ top negotiator has excoriated leaders of the Writers Guild of America. Karen Stuart, executive director of the Association of Talent Agents, sent the message to members Friday evening, with only 28 hours left to work out a new
In today’s film news roundup, Orlando Jones will play a horror director, Boyd Holbrook will play a pathologist, four Batman movies will get a re-release and a spider movie gets a release. CASTINGS Orlando Jones will star in Lexicon’s horror movie “Dark Forces” with Anthony O’Brien (“The Timber”) directing, Variety has learned exclusively. O’Brien will
April 5, 2019 4:39PM PT Dave Bautista is joining Zack Snyder’s zombie movie “Army of the Dead” at Netflix. Snyder, whose most recent credits are “Justice League,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” and “Man of Steel,” made his directorial debut 15 years ago with “Dawn of the Dead.” Shay Hatten and Snyder are writing
Make room on the bench, Sergei Loznitsa (“Donbass”). Scoot along, Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy (“The Tribe”). It’s time to share the title of contemporary Ukraine’s most intriguing filmmaker with helmer Roman Bondarchuk, an erstwhile documentarian (“Ukrainian Sheriffs”), who makes a mesmerizing fiction debut with “Volcano.” An impressively shot drama marbled with welcome notes of absurdist comedy and
April 5, 2019 2:19PM PT Film editor Barry Malkin, who was nominated for two Oscars for Francis Ford Coppola films “The Godfather: Part III” and “The Cotton Club,” died Thursday. He was 80. Malkin’s career in film editing last more than 40 years, and he is credited for working on more than 30 films in
After 47 years, the Aretha Franklin concert documentary “Amazing Grace” finally arrives in theaters Friday. Alan Elliott has told the story of how he rescued the unreleased footage from the Warner Bros. vault, had it restored and assembled, and then spent years negotiating with Franklin and her estate to secure the film’s release. But absent
April 5, 2019 1:41PM PT Though the next installment in the “Suicide Squad” franchise is moving full-steam ahead with the addition of Idris Elba to the team, the movie will now move forward without one of its main characters. Though it was previously reported that Elba would be replacing Will Smith as Deadshot in the
“Shazam!” is showing respectable box office power, heading for as much as a $50 million opening weekend while “Pet Sematary” will wind up around $22 million, early estimates showed Friday. The numbers are at the top end of recent forecasts for both. Warner Bros.’ “Shazam!” has been expected to wind up between $45 million to
April 5, 2019 1:05PM PT Kumail Nanjiani is in talks to join Angelina Jolie to star in Marvel Studios’ “The Eternals” in what would be Nanjiani’s first venture into the superhero realm. Details about the movie and what characters Nanjiani and Jolie would play are being kept under wraps. Created by Jack Kirby in 1976,
“I figured it out early: if you didn’t get cast, or didn’t care to play the game, you’d better figure out how to put on your own show.” Words to live by from Bette Midler. Beginning by singing a bit of “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” the Broadway star and actress revealed the inspiration