Movies

The cinemas of Empire employ the latest in theater perks and technology. Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” is currently playing in its Beirut Souks Cinemacity 14-screener in both 3D and Imax. Its Empire Premiere screening rooms boast reclining soft leather seats, tables and food and drink table service, and attracts crowds looking for specialized fare such as

Outlandish coincidences abound in Pedro Almodóvar’s films, from unlikely chance encounters to mistaken identities. But in his latest picture, “Pain and Glory,” it’s surely no coincidence that a poster for Fellini’s “8½” graces the wall of somebody’s apartment, or that the central character, Salvador Mallo, is an aging gay Spanish director with spiky gray hair

The Haddad family’s role as one of the founders of today’s global film business began shortly after the birth of cinema. Empire Intl. was launched 100 years ago when a young pharmacist named Georges Haddad began projecting silent shorts in Beirut cafes, and in 1919 opened the city’s first movie theater, which he called the

“Being in a family business isn’t easy,” says Mario Haddad Jr., who points out that the trio who run Empire Intl. — Mario Sr., brother Gino and he himself — have very different personalities, “and we often clash.” Of course they are also “complementary” when it comes to work. Still, when Mario Jr. was 25,

Empire Intl. currently releases roughly 60 titles a year across the Middle East, which ranks among the top 10 largest global markets for Hollywood. The region, unlike most of the rest of the world, is also likely to soon experience an exponential box office burst. Mario Haddad Jr., who now runs Empire’s distribution side, grew

Under the new leadership of artistic chief Carlo Chatrian and executive director Mariette Rissenbeek, the Berlin Film Festival is instituting a new competitive section, along with a few other changes to the Berlinale program. On top of the international competition for the Golden and Silver Bears and the Berlinale Shorts sections, the festival will now

Colin Firth, an Oscar winner with “The King’s Speech,” is to star in “Operation Mincemeat,” a true story of World War II counterespionage that will be directed by John Madden, an Oscar nominee with “Shakespeare in Love.” Emmy-nominated Michelle Ashford (“Masters of Sex,” “The Pacific,” “John Adams”) has written the screenplay, based on the Ben

Lionsgate U.K. has acquired U.K. rights to comedy “Made in Italy,” starring Liam Neeson. Lindsay Duncan, who starred in “Le Week-End,” and Valeria Bilello have joined the cast, which includes Micheál Richardson. HanWay Films is handling worldwide sales. The film, James D’Arcy’s feature directorial debut, is set in Tuscany. It centers on bohemian London artist

The first thing you want from a history of MTV is to get dunked in the hot-but-cool nostalgia of it, and the fast, fleet documentary “I Want My MTV” delivers those 1980s goods about as good as you can get. Here’s “Video Killed the Radio Star,” the novelty single by the Buggles that launched the

In today’s film news roundup, Evangeline Lilly, Ike Barinholtz and Mike Manning get acting jobs, “Easy Rider” returns and Gravitas buys “Chasing Molly.” CASTINGS Evangeline Lilly and Ike Barinholtz have joined the independent comedy “Happy Life” with David Stassen (“The Mindy Project”) set to write and direct his debut feature film. Stassen and Barinholtz are

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig D. Karlan has been assigned to handle the Writers Guild of America’s lawsuit against Hollywood’s four major talent agencies. Karlan was appointed Monday. The WGA, using its only preemptory challenge, removed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Marc Gross on May 3 after Gross refused to voluntarily recuse himself from

Producer Mark Damon, whose credits include “2 Guns” and “Lone Survivor,” has bought the film and television rights for Israeli war story “Angels in The Sky” in a pre-Cannes Film Festival deal. Damon, the co-head of DCR Finance Fund and Foresight Unlimited, will executive produce with DCR Finance Fund as primary financial backer. Damon will

Whose idea was it to go to Napa to celebrate Rebecca’s 50th birthday? Because it wasn’t Rebecca’s. A psychoanalyst who’s been actively repressing many of her own issues, Rebecca (Rachel Dratch) is determined not to make a big deal about reaching the half-century mark, but five of her oldest friends — which is to say,

Lady Gaga busted into the 2019 Met Gala with an extravagant Brandon Maxwell outfit–well, outfits. Like a Russian nesting doll, Gaga took off one layer after another. The Oscar-winning singer-actress began the carpet walk with an army of umbrella holding men, led by Maxwell, trailing her voluminous pink dress. Her dress was so large that

Members of SAG-AFTRA and Los Angeles Congressman Adam Schiff sounded alarms Monday about the proliferation of “deep fake” technologies — realistic digital forgeries including sex scenes. “We have a medium in which lies and fear travel faster than anything else and this has happened practically overnight,” said Schiff during a two-hour panel discussion at union

There may never have been “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” if it wasn’t for Wigstock. The one-day festival in New York’s East Village celebrating all things drag lasted for almost 20 years before ending in 2001. “Wig,” the new HBO documentary about Wigstock, premiered on Saturday at the Tribeca Film Festival. “With Tribeca comes great respect, strength

“Asbury Park: Riot, Redemption, Rock n’ Roll,” a new documentary exploring the roots of the New Jersey sound, is hitting theaters worldwide for an engagement on May 22 and 29. The film chronicles the town’s founding, its Jersey Shore heyday and dark periods like the race riots of the 1960s. Helping to dig deep into

The Cannes Film Festival is going forward with its decision to award an honorary Palme d’Or to Alain Delon despite criticism from the U.S. organization Women and Hollywood over comments that the veteran French actor has made about slapping women, opposing the adoption of children by same-sex parents and supporting the rise of the far

Benedict Cumberbatch and Elisabeth Moss will star in Jane Campion’s new film, “The Power of the Dog,” an adaptation of the Thomas Savage novel. Campion will direct from a script she adapted, with See-Saw Films’ in-house sales arm, Cross City Films, launching sales at this month’s Cannes Film Festival. The movie will go into pre-production

In their conversation Sunday night at a private Netflix event honoring “Springsteen on Broadway,” Bruce Springsteen and Martin Scorsese spent close to a third of the 45-minute chat discussing their mutual roots in east coast Catholicism and how they’ve both come to terms with a kind of faith. “I think as you get older, what

Clive Barker’s 1987 horror movie “Hellriaser” is getting the revival treatment at Gary Barber’s Spyglass Media Group. “The Dark Knight” writer David S. Goyer is on board to produce and pen the script. Spyglass will finance, develop, and fast track the film for worldwide theatrical distribution. This marks the first project since the company announced

Whether they’re fighting to keep their family together or fighting to hold on to their youth, there has been no shortage of memorable mother-daughter moments in film. This Mother’s Day, we’re taking cues from some of our favorite movie moms to find gifts that even the most discerning of them would approve of. From new

May 6, 2019 10:47AM PT Sony Pictures Animation has named Alison Mann as a VP of creative and strategy, Variety has learned exclusively. Mann joins the Culver City studio from Illumination Entertainment, in a newly created role. She will report directly to Sony Pictures Animation president Kristine Belson She will advise on film and series-based

Aloha, Paul Rudd! The “Avengers: Endgame” star will receive the Nova Award at the 2019 Maui Film Festival. “With empathy, compassion, grace, kindheartedness and, as we’ve all enjoyed so many times, a perfect sense of comedic timing, Rudd breathes life into characters in blockbusters and picture-perfect indie films that delight us,” festival director and founder

Grammy winner Janelle Monae will contribute new music to the Disney Plus streaming title “Lady and the Tramp,” in addition to her voice role in the live-action reboot. Monae will perform two original songs for the film, led by Tessa Thompson and Justin Theroux. Monae’s artist collective Wondaland is also “reinventing” a track from the

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for “Avengers: Endgame.”] Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is still reeling from the events of “Avengers: Endgame” in the latest trailer for Sony’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home.” “Everywhere I go, I see his face,” Parker says of Tony Stark, who died at the end of the last Marvel installment. “I just

Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s “The Specials,” a social comedy with Vincent Cassel and Reda Kateb, is set to close the 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival. The film will screen May 25 during the festival’s closing ceremony. Produced and distributed by Gaumont, “The Specials” is the latest film from Nakache and Toledano, the

May 6, 2019 12:51AM PT M-appeal has acquired world sales rights to Michael Mayer’s dark comedy “Happy Times,” and will present the film to buyers at Cannes. Mayer’s debut feature, “Out in the Dark,” world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, sold to more than 40 countries, and screened at more than 125 festivals, winning

May 6, 2019 12:00AM PT Picture Tree Intl. has acquired international sales rights to romantic drama “Traumfabrik,” which will be released in Germany by Tobis Film, in cooperation with Telepool. PTI will hold a private screening of the film for buyers in Cannes. The pic is the first from new production company Traumfabrik Babelberg, headed

Lewis Rothenberg has been elected to a three-year term as president of the powerful International Cinematographers Guild, ousting incumbent Steven Poster from a post he had held since 2006. The ICG, which operates as Local 600 of the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, reps about 8,600 camera crew workers and publicists and is Hollywood’s