Director Michael Lehmann was shocked when he looked at the New York Times and Los Angeles Times entertainment sections and saw there were no ads for the second week of dark high school comedy “Heathers.” When the film opened on March 31, 1989, the indie film studio New World had taken out ads for the
Movies
Sunday, March 31 marks the 20th anniversary of landmark film “The Matrix,” a movie about a multitude of ideas all wrapped around the singular notion that the reality humans know is, in fact, an incredibly elaborate simulation run by computers, a sort of video game if you will. In honor of the movie’s anniversary, Variety
Disney’s “Dumbo” had an underwhelming liftoff at the domestic box office. Tim Burton’s live-action remake of the 1941 cartoon debuted with $45 million from 4,259 North American theaters, below expectations heading into the weekend. While that was easily enough to top the domestic box office, it marks the lowest start among the studio’s recent live-action
The term “artificial intelligence” was coined in 1956, but one way or another it has been the subject of just about every great science-fiction movie, from “Metropolis” to “Frankenstein,” from the paranoid fables of the ’50s (about brainy robots and aliens with giant noggins who were like “advanced” versions of ourselves) to “2001: A Space
Maintaining Chile’s protracted awards honeymoon with international festivals, Jorge Riqeulme’s “Some Beasts,” starring Alfredo Castro and Paulina Garcia, swept Toulouse’s 35th Films in Progress, a pix-in-post competition which also serves as a traditional launch-pad for selection at the Cannes Festival. “Some Beasts” won three of the four prizes on offer: Toulouse Films in Progress Prize;
Beyonce was named Entertainer of the Year, and “Black Panther” nearly swept the film categories at the 50th NAACP Awards on Saturday night. During her speech at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Beyonce graciously thanked her fellow nominees in the category, including NBA superstar LeBron James, “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler and star Chadwick Boseman,
Leaders of the Writers Guild of America have repeated a threat to sue the major Hollywood talent agencies for alleged conflicts of interest. The leaders issued the threat Saturday during a members-only meeting at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif., attended by about 300, according to an attendee. The meeting was the fourth
“Romancing the Stone” looks like a fun adventure romp onscreen, but making the Michael Douglas–Kathleen Turner movie that turns 35 this week was no stroll through the jungle. There were alligators, mud and plenty of back-and-forth with the studio — not to mention a tragedy after it opened. The romantic comedy adventure opened March 30,
When you watch the silent-screen star Louise Brooks in one of the films that made her a legend, most spectacularly the glittering femme-fatale drama “Pandora’s Box” (1929), it’s shocking to see how contemporary she looks. Haircuts that were once cutting edge — punk spikes, a ’50s ducktail, Jane Fonda’s “Klute” shag — look, almost inevitably
March 29, 2019 6:05PM PT Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy are in negotiations to star as women who obtain superpowers in Netflix’s “Thunder Force.” The film will be written and directed by McCarthy’s husband Ben Falcone. “Thunder Force” will be produced by Marc Platt, Falcone and McCarthy. Plot details are under wraps. Spencer was an
In today’s film news roundup, AMC sets free screenings of a Martin Luther King documentary, Participant comes on board “Monos,” and David Glasser’s 101 Studios hires three execs. SCREENINGS AMC Theatres will honor the life of Martin Luther King Jr. with free showings at 100 locations of the documentary “King: A Filmed Record…Montgomery to Memphis.”
March 29, 2019 3:45PM PT Jason Reitman has hired “Captain Marvel” actress Mckenna Grace for his new “Ghostbusters” movie, which centers on a family headed by a single mother. The news came after Variety reported this month that Carrie Coon is in talks to play the mom and Finn Wolfhard is in negotiations to play her son.
March 29, 2019 3:14PM PT Irish actor Cillian Murphy is in talks to join John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place” sequel along with Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, and Noah Jupe. Krasinski is returning to direct the untitled sequel for Paramount. “A Quiet Place” grossed $340 million at the global box office last year. Since then, the
Rita Wilson delivered a love letter to Hollywood in her speech while accepting her new star on the Walk of Fame. “This street has drawn people from around the world to come walk the boulevard, where these beautiful stars allowed them to dream about what it must be like to live in Hollywood, and who
June Harding, who starred in “The Trouble With Angels” and “The Richard Boone Show,” has died. She was 81. Harding died in hospice care in Deer Isle, Maine, on March 22, her brother, John, confirmed with the Richmond Times-Dispatch of Richmond, Va. The actress made her debut on Broadway in the comedy “Take Her, She’s
March 29, 2019 2:15PM PT “Eighth Grade” director Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, and Connie Britton have joined Carey Mulligan’s thriller “Promising Young Woman.” Other new cast members include Adam Brody, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Max Greenfield, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Sam Richardson, and Molly Shannon. The pic has started production in Los Angeles. Mulligan will play a
March 29, 2019 2:13PM PT The Writers Guild of America has blasted Endeavor, the parent of WME, over a report that it’s planning an initial public offering. “Today’s announcement that Endeavor plans to become a publicly-traded company only strengthens the call for the conflicted and illegal practices of the major talent agencies to end,” the
Tim Burton’s “Dumbo” is flying toward a $48 million opening weekend in North America, while the second session of Jordan Peele’s “Us” should take in about $32 million, early estimates showed on Friday. “Dumbo’s” launch is slightly lower than recent Disney forecasts for the live-action re-imagining of the 1941 animated movie. “Dumbo” earned $2.6 million
Weeks after generating controversy for discussing a past event in which he wanted to bait a black man into fighting him to avenge a recently raped friend, Liam Neeson has released an apology for the remarks. “Over the last several weeks, I have reflected on and spoken to a variety of people who were hurt
March 29, 2019 1:10PM PT Saban Films has acquired U.S. rights to Casey Affleck’s narrative feature debut, “Light of My Life.” The dystopian survival drama is written, directed by, and stars Affleck along with Anna Pniowsky (“PEN15”) and Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”). “Light of My Life” had its world premiere at last month’s Berlin
Until today, if you had asked me to name the greatest living filmmaker, I would have answered Agnès Varda. What a loss that the 90-year-old director — who died Friday, leaving behind such intimate masterpieces as “Cléo from 5 to 7,” “Vagabond,” and “The Gleaners and I” — will create no more. Her passing is
Can’t stop thinking about Elizabeth Holmes after watching HBO’s riveting documentary “The Inventor,” which exposed the Theranos scammer? Worry not, because come April, Hulu will be adding a slew of new titles to its slate, including “Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine” from the same director, Alex Gibney, and it’s sure to contain more
In the 20 years since its debut, Warner Bros.-Roadshow’s “The Matrix” has remained a major influence on countless action and sci-fi films. When it premiered in Los Angeles on March 24, 1999, producer Joel Silver described the film as “the first movie of the 21st century.” Variety also reported that Warner Bros. execs were “gleeful,
Perception matters. This is why the NAACP Image Awards has heralded the artistic achievements of people of color for 50 years. The award show’s milestone celebration airs March 30 on TV One with “Black-ish” star Anthony Anderson hosting for the sixth consecutive time. As for the emphasis on imagery, it’s a concept Frederick Douglass embraced
It’s no coincidence that the NAACP Image Awards are taking place a lot later than usual this year. Trumpeting its 50th anniversary, the organizers behind the broadcast say they wanted this year’s show to bask in its own spotlight away from other awards-season mainstays. This is worth noting because in past years, the Image Awards
In the history of motion-picture technology, few operators have had a more profound effect on camera movement than Garrett Brown. While dollies and cranes were Hollywood’s go-to platforms into the late ’60s, Brown’s ingenious camera rig — dubbed the Pole and later renamed Steadicam — started a photographic breakthrough that’s still growing 50 years later.
In a market where big screens for indies and foreign films are few and far between, these art houses are developing and serving local cinephile communities: AFS Cinema (Austin) Director Richard Linklater founded the Austin Film Society in the mid-’80s as an excuse to screen obscure classics. Thistwo-screen venue gives such films — plus worthy
Director Harmony Korine may have been wastin’ away again in Margaritaville when he came up with the idea for “The Beach Bum.” According to Jimmy Buffett, his songs “Margaritaville” and “A Pirate Looks at Forty” inspired the stoner comedy, and his friendship with Korine landed him a role in the film. “He was telling me
The new Sex Pistols film-in-the-making, news of which has punks young and old abuzz, has a name: “Only Anarchists Are Pretty.” The writer and producer of the project tell Variety that they are setting about getting the picture financed ahead of casting their Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten et al. Producer Ayesha Plunkett is making the
Tim Burton’s “Dumbo” has taken flight with an estimated $2.6 million in North America on Thursday night. It’s a similar figure to the $3 million earned by “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” during Thursday previews and the $2.1 million gross for “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part.” Disney expects the live-action re-imagining