For the upcoming animated comedy adventure “Missing Link,” stop-motion studio Laika set the bar very high. To execute the designs created by director and writer Chris Butler, artists would have to speed up their 3D printing of character faces — and those faces would have to be the most complex they’d ever created. “Missing Link”
Movies
March 20, 2019 9:55AM PT [embedded content] It took just a few months for the team at Goodbye Kansas Studios to create a stunning cinematic short demo called “Troll” using the latest version of Unreal Engine. The short, directed and written by Deep Forest Films’ Björne Larson, shows a princess playing with a trio of
“Hamilton” star Leslie Odom Jr. has joined “The Many Saints of Newark,” the prequel movie to the television series “The Sopranos.” Odom Jr. will play an unspecified role in the movie, which will open on Sept. 25, 2020. Alan Taylor is directing the movie for New Line. The previously announced cast includes Cory Stoll, Billy
“One Cut of the Dead,” a micro-budget horror film that last year defied the odds to become one of the biggest hits of the year in Japan, is headed for an English-language remake. Patrick Cunningham, a Japan-based American producer whose credits include “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and “Starlet,” is behind the venture. The original film,
March 19, 2019 11:40PM PT Three disabled men go on a road trip to lose their virginity at a special-needs bordello in this ingratiating remake of a Belgian film. The rare remake that’s actually a slight improvement on its predecessor, Richard Wong’s “Come as You Are” translates Geoffrey Enthoven’s 2011 Belgian “Hasta la Vista” to
In a era when some mainstream entertainers have transitioned to targeting faith-based audiences, David Bazan is moving in the other direction. The gifted songwriter’s ersatz band Pedro the Lion was perhaps the most successful Christian indie rock act of its time, and the first to significantly cross over to secular fans. Then he ditched that persona (and
As affectionate as a love letter but as substantial as an infomercial, Brian Loschiavo’s “Bluebird” may be of most interest to casual and/or newly converted country music fans who have occasionally wondered about the songwriters behind the songs. There’s a better than even-money chance that anyone who’s a loyal and longtime aficionado of the musical
March 19, 2019 8:44PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the TV advertising attention analytics company iSpot.tv, Paramount Pictures claims the top spot in spending for the fourth week in row with “Wonder Park.” Ads placed for the animated film had an estimated media value of $5.18 million
In today’s film news roundup, Michael B. Jordan is producing a creature feature, billiards champ Cisero Murphy is getting a movie, the sixth Terminator movie gets a title, and Graham King receives an honor. PROJECT UNVEILED New Regency and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society are partnering on an untitled monster movie from “Kong: Skull Island”
March 19, 2019 5:00PM PT Nicolas Cage will star in the martial arts actioner “Jiu Jitsu,” based on the comic book of the same name. The cast will also include Alain Moussi, who stars in the “Kickboxer” franchise. Dimitri Logothetis is producing with Martin Barab and directing from a script he wrote with Jim McGrath.
Chinese success of Thai film “Bad Genius” prompts co-production fund – Variety You will be redirected back to your article in seconds March 19, 2019 4:45PM PT A deal to establish a 100 million yuan ($14.9 million) co-production fund between China and Thailand was struck at FilMart on Tuesday to help launch TV and film
March 19, 2019 3:31PM PT The sudden ouster of Warner Bros. Entertainment chief Kevin Tsujihara kicked off what is likely to go down as one of the most extraordinary weeks in Hollywood history, spelling enormous turmoil and transition across the media landscape. In addition to the news about Tsujihara, which comes amid a wider shake-up
More than half of the films playing at Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival, are directed by women, the Canadian event said Tuesday. The festival’s 26th edition, which runs April 25-May 5, will screen 234 films, with 54% of the directors being women. In the competitive International Spectrum program, notable films receiving their world
Korean distributors are having to fight ever harder for their share of Korea’s theatrical market share. Threats on the horizon include a slide in the performance of local movies, consolidation, the arrival of new players and the challenge from streaming services. South Korea’s theatrical box office is now bigger than that of France or Germany despite
In 2018, the Korean film business stumbled, as local films made with blockbuster budgets and targeting the usual high seasons of Chuseok and Christmas last year failed to deliver blockbuster earnings. So Korean distributors have embraced some tactics to enhance their bottom lines. Genre films “Monstrum,” “Fengshui,” “The Negotiation,” “Take Point,” “Swing Kids” and “Drug King”
Fantawild, the Chinese entertainment group behind the widely popular “Boonie Bears” animated franchise, is for the first time planning to target slightly older viewers with a new IP, “Realm of Terracotta.” Intended for teenagers, the adventure story is expected to hit theaters this summer. Fantawild has produced six “Boonie Bears” films in just seven years,
At a time of heightened scrutiny of tax affairs in China’s entertainment sector, even industry veterans in Hong Kong are struggling to figure out how to operate in the new financial environment and pleading for more clarity from the Chinese government. Hong Kong produces about 60 films a year, three-quarters of which are typically co-productions
March 19, 2019 2:04PM PT IQIYI Motion Pictures, the film production and investment arm of Chinese streaming leader iQIYI, will release animated feature “Spycies” in China this summer, and overseas shortly afterwards. “Spycies” is a Sino-French co-production – a rarity as far as animated films are concerned – and the first animated film that iQIYI
March 19, 2019 11:34AM PT International entertainment and music management company Three Six Zero has acquired Westbrook Entertainment, the talent management company which represents Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jaden Smith, Willow Smith, Kenna and Crespo. “Bringing Miguel, his clients and his management team to Three Six Zero is an exciting next step on our
March 19, 2019 11:15AM PT Focus Features is partnering with Plan B Entertainment to produce and distribute Jon Stewart’s political comedy “Irresistible,” with Chris Cooper joining stars Steve Carell and Rose Byrne. Variety first reported in October that Stewart and Carell had come on board the project, with Stewart directing and producing with Plan B.
March 19, 2019 9:06AM PT [embedded content] Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Bo Peep, and a strange new toy named Forky have returned in the new trailer for “Toy Story 4” that sends the gang out on the road. Disney unveiled the footage Tuesday with Woody telling the other toys that Forky — a craft-project-turned-toy — is
March 19, 2019 8:08AM PT Warner Bros. Entertainment is setting an interim leadership team to lead the Hollywood studio following the abrupt dismissal of CEO Kevin Tsujihara on Monday. As Variety first reported, the team will consist of Warner Bros. motion pictures group chairman Toby Emmerich and Warner Bros. television group president and CCO Peter
When NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said goodbye to his job in September after eight years, he became a free agent just when the largest players in media were taking a hard look at their management ranks. At the time, a top TV producer dubbed Greenblatt a “lethal weapon” that could be drawn by any
March 19, 2019 8:00AM PT Game designer Hideo Kojima is talking about his latest project, the action title “Death Stranding,” at the Tribeca Film Festival next month, the event’s organizers announced on Tuesday. Kojima is joined by “The Walking Dead” star Norman Reedus, who appears in the game. The pair will discuss pushing the boundaries
Warner Bros. Entertainment is suddenly in the market for a new CEO. The hunt is taking place at a moment when that job description is in a state of massive flux due to the corporate upheaval implemented in the past few weeks by new parent company AT&T. The stunning downfall of Kevin Tsujihara as the
“Rocketman” is ready for lift off. Paramount Pictures threw a cocktail party Monday night to preview 15 minutes of the upcoming Elton John biopic, set for release on May 31, at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, the legendary rock club where John made his U.S. debut nearly 50 years ago. The footage featured pieces of
MADRID — Strengthening its activities in Eastern Europe as the region makes ever more ambitiously financed shows, Munich’s Beta Film has boarded crime thriller “The Pleasure Principle,” the first ever international TV production between three Eastern Europe countries. Written by Maciej Maciejewski, a scribe on TVP’s Polish crime TV series “The Cop,” “The Pleasure Principle”
Italy’s top film organizations on Tuesday announced a concerted initiative to lure more local moviegoers into theaters during summer months, just as the country’s box office continues to plunge after a disastrous 2018. The country’s motion picture association ANICA, which comprises reps from the Hollywood majors as well as Italy’s distributors, producers and exhibitors said
Indie film specialist Gravitas Ventures has launched the streaming service Gravitas Movies with a $4.99 monthly price, Variety has learned exclusively. The 13-year-old distributor unveiled the SVOD service in the U.S. on Tuesday, touting Gravitas Movies as the new streaming service for lovers of independent film, offering a 1,000-title catalog of commercial-free films with new
Over the past decade, Singaporean films have routinely been selected for A-list international film festivals and have won accolades worldwide. While the world trained its eyes on the city-state in 2018 thanks to “Crazy Rich Asians,” the global Singaporean success story of the year was Yeo Siew Hua’s “A Land Imagined,” winning three awards at