March 8, 2019 6:09PM PT Andy Serkis and Thomas Brodie-Sangster will star in Fox’s fantasy-action movie “Mouse Guard” with “Maze Runner’s” Wes Ball directing. Fox started development on the movie, based on the “Mouse Guard” graphic novel series, in 2016 with “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” writer Gary Whitta on board to pen the
Movies
March 8, 2019 4:22PM PT Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners has acquired the worldwide film rights for the science-fiction novel “The Mother Code,” Variety has learned exclusively. The story, written by Silicon Valley biochemist Carole Stivers, will be published next year. Amy Louise Johnson, who has credits on the Syfy series “Nightflyers,” has been hired to
Kat Candler is set to rewrite and direct Fox Searchlight’s “,” sources tell Variety. The pic is inspired by a 1936 New Yorker article written by journalist and bestselling author Carl Carmer about the first documented haunted house. The story follows a jaded reporter who, after having a disturbing encounter that raises the prospect that
Lakeshore Entertainment has put its film library on the block as it seeks to expand its activities in television. The company quietly began shopping its 300-title library earlier this year. Moelis & Co. is handling the sale process. “Over the past 20 years, Lakeshore has built a top-tier 300-title motion picture library through production and
March 8, 2019 2:06PM PT MGM has set its Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” for an Aug. 14, 2020, release. Stage director Liesl Tommy boarded the film earlier this year. The studio set the project in motion a year ago when it was announced that Jennifer Hudson, who won a supporting actress Oscar for “Dreamgirls,” had
“Captain Marvel” is heading for a dazzling opening weekend of at least $150 million in North America, early estimates showed Friday. Should the projections hold, “Captain Marvel” will wind up with one of the top 20 domestic opening weekends of all time. Sony’s “Spider-Man 3” has the 19th-highest launch frame with $151.1 million in 2007.
Julianne Moore admitted that she was fired from the Oscar-nominated film “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Moore opened up about her ousting during Thursday night’s episode of “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” after a caller asked the “Still Alice” star why she left the pic. “I didn’t leave that movie, I was fired,”
Embattled Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara apologized to staff on Friday following the publication of a report alleging that he helped a woman get auditions after they had engaged in a sexual relationship. “I deeply regret that I have made mistakes in my personal life that have caused pain and embarrassment to the people I
The force of nature born Elizabeth Ann Cole, and rechristened Elizabeth Ashley for stage and screen of the late 1950s, first drew the attention of critics and fans with her work in New York theater, garnering an early-career Tony Award for her portrayal of Mollie in the Broadway production of “Take Her, She’s Mine” in
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Mexico’s Emilio Maille, whose visually arresting docu “Sky Poets” competes in Guadalajara’s Premio Mezcal section, is gearing up to make only the second fiction film of his career, “Yesterday’s Dream” (“El Sueño de Ayer”). Maille is best known for his breakout drama, “Rosario Tijeras,” a 2005 box office hit based on the
Dressing dolls as a child at her parents’ Wisconsin farm, future costume designer Betty Pecha Madden created stories using clothes. By age 17, her interest in costuming having grown serious via high school plays, she left home upon graduation and went to Chicago to find work in the industry. Madden clothed rock groups and college
Brie Larson’s “Captain Marvel” is already showing off a lot of power at the international box office. The latest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe pulled in $78 million in its first two days in 25 markets, including an estimated $34 million opening in China. “Captain Marvel” will be opening Friday in most international markets including
Jan-Michael Vincent, best known for playing the lead role in the 1980s CBS series “Airwolf,” died on Feb. 10 after suffering cardiac arrest, according to a death certificate obtained by several outlets. His death, first reported by TMZ, has only now come to light. He was 73. His image as a baby-faced blonde heartthrob was
Cinematographers coordinate their efforts with a platoon of visual artists and other artisans, from colorists to computer scientists, from digital imaging technicians to glassmakers. On “Captain Marvel,” Ben Davis worked closely with Dan Sasaki (pictured above), VP of optics at Panavision, to find exactly the right optical solutions for the look he imagined. Their collaboration
March 8, 2019 9:09AM PT Lionsgate, the movie and TV studio behind “Orange Is the New Black” and “The Hunger Games,” laid off roughly 20 people on Friday. The cuts mostly impact employees in business operations. There are also a few layoffs in its television division. It is the second round of layoffs at Lionsgate
Brie Larson’s “Captain Marvel” is living up to its name, earning $20.7 million from Thursday night previews in North America. It’s the 18th-highest preview number of all time and the fifth-biggest for a Marvel title, behind only the second and third “Avengers,” “Black Panther,” and “Captain America: Civil War.” The Disney-Marvel tentpole, which expands to
March is a triumphant month for Ben Davis. Two of the films shot by the DP — Disney’s “Dumbo” and Marvel’s “Captain Marvel” — are being released this month, bringing to fruition two years of hard work. In both cases, Davis’ cinematography has classic progenitors: the iconic cel animation of the 1941 original Disney film,
Cinematographer Ben Davis is often credited with a crucial role in creating the visual tone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In films including “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Doctor Strange,” he proved that big-budget superhero films can offer strong characters and soulful visuals. But at the same time, Davis has kept
“Captain Marvel” is on course to finish its opening day in Chinese theaters with a gross score of $30 million. That figure, according to the Maoyan online ticketing service, takes in $2.2 million earned in previews on Thursday, plus Friday ticket sales to 8.15pm local time, for a running total of $29.8 million (RMB200 million).
March 8, 2019 3:47AM PT The European Union has accepted commitments from Sky and several Hollywood studios over the geo-blocking of movie content. Exclusivity and territory-specific clauses in deals between Sky U.K. and the studios prevented the pay-TV giant from making content available to consumers in other countries in Europe, and required the studios not
Oscar-winning actress and singer Julie Andrews will be honored by the Venice Film Festival with its Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement. Best known for her iconic roles in “Mary Poppins” and “The Sound of Music,” Andrews has starred in more than 40 movies, including a memorable performance as Victoria Grant and Count Victor Grezhinski
In a year of change and growth for Mexico’s Guadalajara Intl. Film Festival (FICG), the revamped animation competitions, godfathered by Guadalajara native Guillermo del Toro, stand out as key examples of ambitions shared by the event’s new leadership, headed by Vendo Cine co-founder and longtime FICG Industria head Estrella Araiza. Where many animation-focused festivals and
A valiant young social activist for asylum seekers in the teeming immigrant enclaves of Tel Aviv is clubbed to death. Days before she had a run- in with its organized crime which runs a banking racket for the illegal immigrants. Appointed to lead the murder investigation, police officer Anat Sitton has to clear the obvious
In 1979, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, attempting to curb the country’s looming population crisis, initiated a mandatory one-child policy. At the time, it all sounded so simple, so logical, reinforced by a propaganda campaign so convincing that Chinese citizens greeted the government’s expansion into family planning without protest. The messaging was so successful that even
They call New York the city that never sleeps, but Peter Lucian thinks he has the solution for the Big Apple’s many insomniacs. In “The Sound of Silence,” Peter — who is not a scientist, but a made-up specialist called a “house tuner” — believes that noises are to blame for the stress and anxiety
Mia Hansen-Løve’s best films envelop the viewer so persuasively in their currents of feeling that it can take you a moment or two to notice how coolly and methodically constructed they are: the revealing agility of her camera placement, the sharp economy of her editing, the often rich irony of her musical selections, all subtly
The extended dance of death played out by lawman Pat Garrett and outlaw Billy the Kid has inspired countless accounts of varying authenticity in literature, cinema and primetime TV, ranging from Sam Peckinpah’s violently elegiac 1973 Western (featuring a singularly hunky Kris Kristofferson as the desperado also known as William Bonney) to “The Tall Man,”
Sidney Sheinberg, who served for more than 20 years as president and COO of MCA, Inc and Universal Studios and helped build the former agency into a potent entertainment corporation, died Thursday at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 84. Sheinberg’s son, Jonathan, confirmed the news in an email. “He was an amazing man,”
In today’s film news roundup, Sinemia is offering a non-subscription movie ticket plan, the ACLU is starting a tour at SXSW and production has launched on a documentary about the Knoedler Gallery art scandal, MOVIE TICKETS MoviePass rival Sinemia is expanding its service with the launch of a discounted plan that does not require a
March 7, 2019 5:53PM PT Some Marvel fans possess encyclopedic knowledge of characters that have been well established in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but how well do you know “Captain Marvel”? The eponymous hero has appeared in Marvel comics since the 1960s, but this is her first-ever appearance in the MCU. Even if you could