“Traumfabrik” marks the return of one of Germany’s most successful producers back onto the film stage in more ways than one. A period-piece love letter to East Germany’s famed DEFA film studios, now known as Studio Babelsberg, “Traumfabrik” is a romantic drama set in 1961 that follows a young studio extra’s ambitious efforts to reunite
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Cannes Film Festival has earned the admiration of film lovers for showcasing the finest in auteur films. But for the last 60 years, the Cannes Market has provided economic oomph to the annual seaside unspoolings, with fare perhaps less artsy, but with its own special aesthetic pleasures. Cannes Palme d’Or winner (and 2019 Fest competitor)
Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat’s “The Orphanage”will participate at this year’s Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, and Variety has been granted access to an exclusive clip from the upcoming feature. Sadat’s first feature, “Wolf and Sheep,” was developed with the Cannes Cinéfondation Residence in 2010 and scored the Art Cinema Award at the 2016 Directors’ Fortnight. “The Orphanage,”
The dust in “Dreamland” is so thick, it makes your eyeballs itch. Clouds of the stuff billow up from dirt roads with every car that passes, swarming dark and angry as a massive bee horde when the winds pick up. And when the air is still, it smudges the cheeks of the film’s characters —
Best Friend Forever, the newly-launched sales company based in Brussels, has acquired Nicolas Rincón Gille’s feature debut “Valley of Souls.” Rincón Gille was previously a critically-acclaimed documentary trilogy whose third part, “Wounded Night,” won the special mention of the international jury at Cinéma de Réel and best film in the Colombian competition at FICCI Set
May 13, 2019 12:45AM PT LevelK has acquired world sales rights to “Lone Wolf,” an Australian thriller starring Hugo Weaving (“The Matrix”) and Tilda Cobham-Hervey (“Hotel Mumbai”) in the run up to Cannes. Written and directed by Jonathan Ogilvie, “Lone Wolf” is set in contemporary Melbourne and tells the story of Winnie, a young woman
Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” made a sweep of the 6th Premios Platino on Sunday, May 12, trouncing its fellow nominees in direction, cinematography, screenplay, sound, and best Iberoamerican film. The annual Iberoamerican awards ceremony, held once again at the Teatro Gran Tlachco within the sprawling Ecotourist Xcaret Park in Mexico’s Riviera Maya coast, was beamed live
The documentary “Olympia,” a revealing look at the life and career of Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, will join the other films screening at the 13th annual Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, which will take place at UCLA and at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre on June 3-9. The event will kick off June 3 at the
The premiere of HBO’s upcoming documentary about the life of Muhammad Ali more closely resembled a boxing hall of fame induction than your typical Hollywood event, with some of the best fighters of all time coming together to pay tribute to their idol. Boxing legends Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Ray Leonard, “Sugar” Shane Mosley,
The reign of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes has fallen, at least at the international box office. While numbers could fluctuate after final tallies come in Monday, estimates on Sunday show Warner Bros. and Legendary’s “Detective Pikachu” earned $103 million from 62 foreign markets. Meanwhile, Disney and Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” pulled in $102 million from 55 overseas
Disney and Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” remained victorious in North America, collecting $65 million during its third weekend in theaters. “Avengers: Endgame” officially passed “Avengers: Infinity War” ($679 million) and “Black Panther” ($700 million) to become the third-highest grossing movie of all time at the domestic box office with $724 million in ticket sales. It’s still
The first official feature documentary about Formula One racing legend Michael Schumacher is in the final stages of production, with award-winning German filmmakers Michael Wech and Hanns-Bruno Kammertöns directing. Rocket Science will launch sales at Cannes. “Schumacher” will tell the eponymous sporting star’s story. He is the only driver in history to win seven Formula
How many screenwriters in Hollywood can claim to have written a popular film that connects with a new generation each decade for half a century? Alvin Sargent — who passed away on May 9 at the age of 92 — began writing for television in the mid-1950s; was off to the races from his first
Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are likely to live to reign another day at the box office. “Avengers: Endgame” is on its way to its third weekend at No. 1 with an estimated $62 million. The first real challenger to “Endgame’s” rule, Warner Bros. and Legendary’s “Detective Pikachu,” is heading for about $55 million from 4,202 locations
It’s time to talk “Avengers: Endgame” spoilers. Sure, the epic Marvel movie may have raked in a record-breaking $2 billion at the box office, but what about the decisions made in the film that will forever effect the status of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? What standout moments made fans cheer, and what was just fan
May 11, 2019 1:00AM PT Set within the film industry and examining corrosive, bullying culture, “Nina Wu” is certainly a movie for the #MeToo era. But Harvey Weinstein makes no appearance either in the new trailer, or in the completed picture. Instead the film, which will have its premiere in Un Certain Regard at the
Can a movie be a dawdling, moody, stitched-together-in-the-editing room art trifle…and also an adventure? “Burning Cane,” which won the Founders Award for best narrative feature at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, isn’t a major work, yet it’s a movie of minor fascinations and seductions; it exerts the pull of a natural-born filmmaker’s eye. To say
May 10, 2019 6:56PM PT Chris Pine has signed on to star in the upcoming independent black ops action-thriller “Violence of Action” from Thunder Road Films and 30West. Tarik Saleh (“The Nile Hilton Incident”) will direct from a script written by J.P. Davis. Principal photography on the film is set to begin in the fall.
May 10, 2019 6:54PM PT Annette Bening and Michelle Pfeiffer have signed on to star in the psychological thriller “Turn of Mind” With Gideon Raff directing. Rocket Science will finance the film and launch international sales at Cannes next week. CAA Media Finance represents the U.S. domestic rights. The script for “Turn of Mind,” based
Academy Award winner Alvin Sargent, who penned an extraordinary number of popular and critically successful films, from “Paper Moon” and “Ordinary People” to the “Spider-Man” sequels of the 2000s, died Thursday, his talent agency Gersh confirmed to Variety. He was 92. Sargent won adapted screenplay Oscars for “Julia” in 1978 and “Ordinary People” in 1981
“Yellow Rose,” written, directed, and produced by Diane Paragas, was awarded the Grand Jury Award for outstanding North American narrative feature at the 35th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, which ran May 2-10. Special Jury Awards for cinematography, actress and breakthrough performance went, respectively, to Ante Cheng for “Ms. Purple”; Maya Erskine for “Plus
May 10, 2019 5:14PM PT In a pre-Cannes Film Festival signing, Russell Crowe has come on board “Unhinged,” a psychological road rage thriller which will start production July 15 in New Orleans. Rights to the film, which is the first Solstice Studios movie to go into production, will go on sale next week at the
A young Quebecois girl slowly learns to color outside the lines in writer-director Genevieve Dulude-de Celles’ Berlinale award-winning narrative feature debut, a sensitive and tasteful coming-of-age story that would perhaps have been richer, and certainly more surprising, had it embraced that lesson too. “A Colony,” however, is a neatly rendered package that cycles through its
“The Professor and the Madmen” director Farhad Safinia is standing behind Mel Gibson’s statement after a long legal tussle over the release of the film. Though Gibson settled with the production company behind the movie, Voltage Pictures, in April, he said in a statement that it was “unfortunate for all concerned that this film was
Veteran Hollywood executives Jeff Sagansky and Harry Sloan are launching Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp. with a $400 million initial public offering. Diamond Eagle Acquisition is the fifth public acquisition vehicle since 2011 launched by Sagansky and Sloan. These kind of acquisition companies have gained in popularity in recent years as a means for investors to
Having thrived as an actress, comedian, writer and producer, directing may seem like a natural next step for Amy Poehler. But as she told Variety at the world premiere of “Wine Country,” she decided to take the plunge for one reason: “The ladies said yes. The end. Period!” Once it was suggested, all of the
When it comes to the box office, the Avengers’ moves are still super effective. “Avengers: Endgame” is heading for around $68 million in its third weekend in North America, fending off the opening of “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” with about $55 million, early estimates showed Friday. The opening of revenge comedy “The Hustle,” starring Rebel Wilson
May 10, 2019 1:04PM PT Jake Manley will star opposite Bella Thorne in “Southland,” Variety has learned. The film centers on a diner employee named Arielle who dreams of a better life outside of her small Florida town. After falling for a young parolee named Dean, she convinces him to return to his criminal ways.
May 10, 2019 12:14PM PT Sony Pictures has acquired the film rights to best-selling author Richard Kirshenbaum’s first novel “Rouge” about the glitzy-glam, competitive 20th century beauty industry, Variety has learned. Wendy Finerman (“The Devil Wears Prada”) will produce the project, which will cast A-list actresses in the lead roles of the business titans, who
May 10, 2019 12:03PM PT Matt Walsh and Isla Fisher will star in “Unplugging,” a comedy about a couple who try to recapture their romance by taking a vacation in a rural town. They hope that unplugging from social media and electronics will force them to reconnect with each other and will save their marriage.