Shivani Rawat helped rescue “Hotel Mumbai” from the cold grip of Harvey Weinstein. When she saw the drama, which revisits the 2008 terrorist attacks at the famed Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, the finished movie needed a distributor. The prestige picture starring Dev Patel was up for sale after the closure of the Weinstein Co. and the
Movies
The Orchard Film Group is re-launching as 1091 after being acquired by investment group 1091 Media. Daniel Stein and Joe Samberg, principals of 1091 Media, made the announcement on Wednesday. Stein will take an active role in the company as executive chairman of 1091. The company has set a May 3 opening for Werner Herzog’s
Last week, Angelina Jolie stole headlines with the news that she is the latest A-lister to join the Marvel fold, taking a key role in the franchise hopeful “The Eternals.” Buried deep in the stories was the previously announced news that Chloé Zhao, a Chinese filmmaker with the acclaimed indie “The Rider” and one other
Elle Fanning transforms into a pop star for “Teen Spirit.” The actress has been acting and singing since she was two years old, but until now, audiences had yet to see her combine the two talents. Fanning plays Violet, an aspiring pop singer who enters a singing competition, in the film. The actress recorded several
Dogwoof has acquired international sales rights to Tim Travers Hawkins’ “XY Chelsea,” an intimate portrait of Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who was recently incarcerated after refusing to testify in the WikiLeaks case. Manning was was sentenced to 35 years at a maximum-security prison for leaking classified military information to WikiLeaks in
Smiling may be the theme of the first trailer for Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” but it’s anything but smile-inducing. The disturbing teaser, set to Jimmy Durante’s “Smile,” was released on Wednesday and shows Joaquin Phoenix’s character’s transformation from a momma’s boy to the Clown Prince of Crime as it gets “crazier out there.” “I used to
Shah Rukh Khan-starring romance “Zero” has been set as the closing film of the Beijing International Film Festival. The sprawling festival will open with “The Composer,” a forthcoming Chinese-Kazakh co-production, as its opening title. The festival, which runs April 13 to 20, 2019, has revealed its full selection of 261 titles. The decision to program
April 3, 2019 12:01AM PT “Aurora,” a horror thriller directed by Yam Laranas (“The Road,” “Sigaw”) has been acquired by Netflix. It is one of the first films from The Philippines to be picked up by the global streaming giant and will play out from April 25. With a screenplay by Laranas and Gin de
Though cocky as they come, Sir Lionel Frost doesn’t fit the mold of other classical adventure heroes, whether animated or otherwise. In “Missing Link,” the top-heavy monster hunter (imbued with chest-swollen bravado by Hugh Jackman) does a remarkable thing upon discovering a rare Sasquatch in America’s still-untamed Pacific Northwest: He listens. Compare that with Indiana
As theatrical windows collapse and old distribution models are rendered obsolete, the future seems likely to accommodate more multi-platform initiatives like “Billboard,” a self-described “cine-experience” by writer-director Zeke Zelker. Centered on an indie radio station that holds a promotional contest in a last-ditch bid for solvency, the project exists not only as an 89-minute feature
April 2, 2019 8:42PM PT China’s Fosun Pictures has come on board Ang Lee-directed thriller “Gemini Man” as a global partner. The film is backed by Skydance and Paramount Pictures. The film stars Will Smith (“Suicide Squad”) as an elite assassin, who is suddenly targeted and pursued by a mysterious young operative who seemingly can
In today’s film news roundup, the long-stalled “Current War” gets a release, Todd Rundgren makes his feature film debut and AMC’s Adam Aron saw a pay hike last year. ACQUISITION David Glasser’s 101 Studios has bought North American distribution to the long-shelved “The Current War,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon. The film, which premiered
Sure, Warner Bros. has Pikachu, Godzilla and an army of DC superheroes to impress audiences, but a first look at their straight-up dramas for 2019 did not disappoint at CinemaCon. The studio showed off their wares at the annual convention of theater owners on Tuesday, with the August release “The Kitchen” playing strongest to the
DC Films offered up female heroes and villains during the Warner Bros. CinemaCon presentation on Tuesday. The studio showed footage from and interviews with the stars of “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” and “Wonder Woman 1984,” two of its most highly anticipated comic book films. “Birds of Prey” focuses
Pennywise is dancing back into audiences’ nightmares this fall, and the demonic creature is taking the form of a little old lady. Warner Bros. and New Line scared the expletive out of theater owners at CinemaCon on Tuesday with a terrifying look at the sequel to their 2017 smash “It.” The Losers’ Club has grown
Esteemed actress Helen Mirren knows how to get a crowd of movie theater owners going — by hurling obscenities at their streaming competitors. “I love Netflix, but f— Netflix!” Mirren cheered onstage at CinemaCon, the annual convention of movie exhibitors, on Tuesday. She was met with thunderous applause, while talking up her new film “The
As the clock ticks down to Saturday’s deadline for the Writers Guild of America and talent agencies to reach a new franchise agreement, anxiety is rising over the impact on employment and dealmaking if writers and agents wind up parting ways. Industry sources said there have been back-channeling efforts among a handful of prominent showrunners
The Clown Prince of Crime made his Vegas debut. The crowd of exhibitors at CinemaCon, the annual trade show convention currently unfolding at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, got a first look at footage of Joaquin Phoenix’s “Joker.” It looks gritty and very, very, very dark. The footage shows Phoenix as a failed stand-up slowly
Ousted Warner Bros. Entertainment CEO Kevin Tsujihara received an emotional thank you at the top of the studio’s CinemaCon 2019 presentation on Tuesday in Las Vegas. Warner Bros. Film Chairman Toby Emmerich addressed the annual convention of movie theater owners, taking a victory lap for the diverse and top-earning films the studio released this year.
Advance ticket sales of “Avengers: Endgame” have broken first-day records — with the demand so great that it caused delays for many would-be purchasers. Online ticket seller Fandango reported Tuesday that the fourth “Avengers” movie topped its first-day U.S. sales record (previously held by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) within the first six hours of
April 2, 2019 2:47PM PT The Boies/Schiller Film Group filed suit on Tuesday, accusing Emmett Furla Oasis of breaching a deal to produce two “Escape Plan” sequels starring Sylvester Stallone. Boies/Schiller was founded in 2012 by star litigator David Boies and Zack Schiller, the son of Jonathan Schiller — the co-founder of Boies’ law firm.
April 2, 2019 2:35PM PT Chadwick Boseman is remembering Nipsey Hussle. “Just remember that he was a person of his community, that he lifted up the people around him and that to me is everything,” the “Black Panther” star told Variety‘s Marc Malkin at Cinemacon on Tuesday. “It was authentic and I think that authenticity
Legendary Entertainment has acquired the feature film rights to Simon Rich’s short story “Any Person, Living or Dead,” with Kumail Nanjiani attached to star. Rich will adapt the script with Jonathan Krisel set to direct. The story was recently published by Little, Brown and Company in Rich’s collection of short stories titled “Hits and Misses,”
April 2, 2019 12:29PM PT The “Bad Moms” cinematic universe continues to grow. STX Films is revisiting its parental-figures-who-behave-poorly franchise with “Bad Moms’ Moms.” The film will presumably focus on the grandmother characters who were first introduced in 2017’s “A Bad Moms Christmas,” and who were played by Christine Baranski, Susan Sarandon, and Cheryl Hines.
April 2, 2019 12:20PM PT Longtime Motion Picture Association of America executive Joan Graves is recovering after a fall from the stage at CinemaCon. Graves fell and suffered a head injury Tuesday morning at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas after receiving an award for her career as chair of the MPAA ratings board. MPAA
When you’re king of Wakanda, you get big applauses just for showing up. “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman didn’t come to CinemaCon, the annual exhibition industry trade show unfolding this week in Las Vegas, to plug another “Avengers” movie. He was here to promote “21 Bridges,” a gritty action thriller that finds Boseman playing a
April 2, 2019 11:30AM PT Variety has been nominated in the best general video: news & politics, general social: entertainment and general social: celebrity/fan categories at the 2019 Webby Awards. The exclusive #MeToo video story “Tom Brokaw Accused of Sexual Harassment By Former NBC Anchor” competes against The New Yorker, ABC News, Time Magazine and Retro
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has warned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that its potential rule changes limiting the eligibility of Netflix and other streaming services for the Oscars could raise antitrust concerns and violate competition law. According to a letter obtained by Variety, the chief of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, Makan
Zac Efron offers a chilling look at serial killer Ted Bundy in Netflix’s stark new trailer for the drama “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.” “Extremely Wicked” premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and portrays Bundy’s crimes from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer (Lily Collins), who refused to believe the truth
CinemaCon, the annual exhibition industry trade show unfolding this week in Las Vegas, has threatened to be overshadowed by ongoing tensions between theater owners and Netflix. Without mentioning the streaming giant by name, John Fithian, head of the theater business’s main lobbying firm, argued in public remarks that the two business models can be complementary,