April 16, 2019 9:31AM PT Warner Bros. Pictures will take an equity stake in Spyglass Media Group, the new content company launched by former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer chief Gary Barber. Along with the investment, Spyglass has inked a first-look arrangement to provide content to the Hollywood studio. Barber is a close friend of Kevin Tsujihara, the former
Movies
The upcoming “Minecraft” movie will release on March 4, 2022, Mojang revealed via a news post on Tuesday. We also have a few details on the movie’s plot. The “Minecraft” movie will follow an unnamed teenage girl and her fellow adventurers, who must take on the Ender Dragon. Their foe is on a path of
The superheroes of Marvel have spectacular powers at their disposal to achieve goals and blow off steam — but the busy executives at the monolithic content engine which creates them are mere mortals, who need practical solutions to manage time and handle pressure from the industry and fans. One popular method that has captivated their
Where is Lew Wasserman when you need him? Hollywood could desperately use an industry statesman to step in and help bridge the acrimonious divide between writers and agents. The current vitriol is sure to be ratcheted up even more this week if the WGA and ATA make good on their threats to sue each other.
April 16, 2019 7:56AM PT A massive trove of spoiler-heavy video clips, screen shots and other info from Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame” is reportedly circulating online. According to a CNBC report, “Avengers: Endgame” screen shots, GIFs, short clips, and detailed posts have recently surfaced on Twitter and Reddit. Variety has not independently confirmed the leaks. Disney
Netflix is a digital disruptor that’s done more than almost any company to upend the media business, and yet so much recent chatter about the streamer revolves around movie theaters. Last week’s news that the streaming giant was in negotiations to buy Hollywood’s iconic Egyptian Theatre from the American Cinematheque is Netflix’s latest brush with
Films from a number of big-name returning auteurs – including Xavier Dolan, Pedro Almodovar, Terrence Malick, Bong Joon-ho and Ken Loach – appear to have a lock on competing at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, making for a stronger and starrier lineup than last year’s slate, sources tell Variety. Dolan’s “Matthias & Maxime” (in which
Can Hollywood function without writers’ agents doing its behind-the-scenes bidding? The industry is about to find out. The battle between the largest talent agencies and the Writers Guild of America went nuclear on the evening of April 12 as negotiations broke down and the guild issued a directive to members to fire their representatives. As of April 15,
Danny Boyle has come on board rock music biopic “Creation Stories,” about music mogul Alan McGee, as exec producer. Rupert Everett, Suki Waterhouse and Jason Flemyng have joined the cast of the film, which is being sold by Metro International. Irvine Welsh, who wrote the novel that was adapted as Boyle’s movie “Trainspotting,” and Dean
Growing up in suburban New Jersey, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was obsessive about watching movies. “I used to keep a journal, and I’d write down every movie that I saw and where I saw it and how many times I saw it,” says Feige. “I’d record what the sound system was like. It was
“Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” was the big game reveal of Star Wars Celebration in Chicago this weekend, but Respawn Entertainment didn’t share a single second of actual gameplay. However, “Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series – Episode I,” first announced last fall alongside the standalone Oculus Quest headset, was playable—and impressive, too. Strapping
On the 130th anniversary of Charlie Chaplin’s birth, the team behind the Showtime feature documentary about the movie icon has released the first image from the project, now titled “Chasing Chaplin.” Altitude Film Sales is handling international rights and will be at Cannes to show the first footage to buyers. Showtime will premiere the film
April 16, 2019 5:18AM PT Jeon Do-yeon-starring Korean drama “Birthday” climbed to top spot at the Korean box office, up from the previous week’s second. Distributed by Next Entertainment World, the first commercial film about the Sewol ferry disaster earned $1.75 million from 231,000 admissions for a two-weekend total of $5.65 million. “Hellboy” opened on
Spanish film critic Diego Galán, a decisive, and longtime, artistic director of Spain’s San Sebastian Intl. Film Festival, died April 15 in Madrid. He was 72. Born in Tangiers, Morocco, in 1946, Galán began from 1967 to write in Nuestro Cine with a generation of reviewers – Angel Fernández-Santos, Miguel Marías, Francesc Llinás, Vicente Molina
The Hong Kong film industry will be given greater access to the $9 billion mainland Chinese movie market following a relaxation of rules that had kept Hong Kong films and film makers on a separate footing. The territory which returned to China in 1997 after 150 years of British colonial rule, saw its film industry
Donald Glover continues to grow and impress as an artist, adding the short film “Guava Island” to his already impressive resume of Grammy-winning music as Childish Gambino and his Emmy-winning show “Atlanta.” The 55-minute movie seemingly came out of nowhere. In early April, Spotify began running ads for “Guava Island” and created a hidden playlist
April 15, 2019 5:22PM PT Lucy Hale and Lucas Till are starring in Spike Lee’s civil rights drama “Son of the South,” Variety has learned exclusively. “Son of the South” is based on the Bob Zellner autobiography, “The Wrong Side of Murder Creek: A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement.” Zellner, an Alabama native and
April 15, 2019 4:51PM PT The Directors Guild of America will not tell hyphenate members — those belong to both the DGA and Writers Guild of America — to fire their agents. A rep for the DGA responded Monday to Variety‘s request for comment on the issue. The WGA had told members on April 12
Lazard Ltd has named longtime Hollywood player Sanford R. (Sandy) Climan as a senior financial advisor, Variety has learned exclusively. Based in Los Angeles, he will serve as an advisor to Lazard’s Global Telecommunications, Media and Technology Group. Climan has more than 35 years of experience in senior management in the media and entertainment industry,
April 15, 2019 3:50PM PT Lesley Manville, Kayli Carter, Jeffrey Donovan and Will Brittain are set to join the cast of “Let Him Go,” a suspense thriller starring Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. Focus Features has tapped Thomas Bezucha (“The Family Stone”) is set to direct from his own screenplay, based on Larry Watson’s novel
April 15, 2019 2:04PM PT STXfilms has set its strip-club drama “Hustlers,” starring Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu and Cardi B, for a Sept. 13 release in North America. Lopez announced the date on her Instagram account on Monday. Lili Reinhart, Keke Palmer, Julia Stiles and Mercedes Ruehl are also in the cast. The film is
Tribeca Film Institute has selected 13 finalists from a pool of 115 submissions from New York City to screen at their annual “Our City, My Story” showcase on May 5 during the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. Each film focuses on New York City through the perspective of a filmmaker 21 years old or younger in
Disney-Pixar’s “Toy Story 4,” Nickelodeon’s “Spongebob’s Big Birthday Blowout,” work-in progress sneak peeks at Netflix’s “Klaus” and Warner Animation Group’s “Scoob” look set to be some of the highlights at this year’s Annecy Intl. Animation Festival whose lineup was announced in Paris on Monday. Opening, as already announced, with the world premieres of an episode
Michelle Yeoh is heading to Pandora. The veteran actress is boarding James Cameron’s “Avatar” franchise, and will portray scientist Dr. Karina Mogue. “Throughout her career, Michelle has always created unique and memorable characters,” Cameron said. “I look forward to working with Michelle to do the same thing on the ‘Avatar’ sequels.” Yeoh starred in “Crazy
Warner Bros. has unveiled a major expansion plan, adding two Frank Gehry-designed office buildings adjacent to its main lot in the Burbank Media District. The studio will also purchase a portion of the Burbank Studios, formerly known as NBC Studios, and be the sole and long-term tenant of the two buildings. Worthe Real Estate Group
April 15, 2019 8:53AM PT Focus Features has teamed with Pastel, the producer of “Moonlight” and “If Beale Street Could Talk,” and BBC Films on “Never Rarely Sometimes Always.” Pic is written and directed by Eliza Hittman, who won best director at Sundance for “Beach Rats.” Focus will distribute worldwide with Universal Pictures International, excluding
April 15, 2019 7:40AM PT Mackenzie Nichols is joining Variety as a staff writer based out of New York. Nichols will be covering movies, TV, and theater. She previously worked as a freelance writer whose work has been published in the Boston Globe, the American Gardener Magazine, and Society of American Florists’ Floral Management magazine,
Bolstered by the performance of Universal Music Group, Vivendi posted a 10.7% year-on increase in revenue to €3.4 billion ($3.8 billion) during the first quarter of 2019, the company reported Monday. Vivendi said the company’s first quarter results were boosted by the growth of Universal Music Group whose revenues went up by 18.8% to €1.5
April 15, 2019 5:21AM PT Joan Collins has posted a video of the damage wrought by a fire at her London apartment and paid tribute to her husband, Percy, and the emergency services who responded to the incident. Collins was left needing treatment for smoke inhalation after the blaze at her apartment in the upmarket
For the second year in a row, a documentary feature won the Grand Prize at South Korea’s Wildflower Film Awards. “The Remnants” was directed by Kim Il-ran & Lee Hyuk-san. Jung Sung-il was named best documentary director for “Night and Fog in Zona.” Best director in the narrative category was Jeon Go-woon for “Microhabitat.” The