Movies

Nent Group’s Nordic streaming service  Viaplay has boarded “With One Eye Open,” partnering Twelve Town and Nice Drama on the Swedish drama series which brings a fresh look to Swedish and Russian ties. The eight-part series is based on Martin Österdahl’s “Ask No Mercy,” the first of three books in the Max Anger suspense trilogy.

When 27-year-old Anton Yelchin was killed in a freak accident in 2016, the outpouring of grief from the film community was overwhelming and immediate. But for those of us who only knew him onscreen, it was difficult to immediately assess his career. Unlike Heath Ledger, another star of a slightly older generation who died a

January 29, 2019 7:26PM PT A ferocious Lovie Simone plays an overachieving prep school mob-boss-in-training in writer-director Tayarisha Poe’s compelling debut. Students from Haldwell, a woodland prep school decorated in floral pillows and electric candelabras, graduate prepared for any career, particularly the Mafia. This exclusive boarding prep school is controlled by five factions, and senior

“This is not about electing me to Congress,” says Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just before her debate versus longstanding New York Rep. Joe Crowley. “This is about electing us to Congress.” By us, she means the insurrectionist progressives at the center of filmmaker Rachel Lears’ emotional documentary “Knock Down the House,” which follows her and three other grassroots female candidates

Taraji P. Henson not only stars in the movie “What Men Want,” but she says she does indeed know what men want. “The same things women want,” Henson told Variety at the movie’s premiere on Monday night in Los Angeles. “Especially in a relationship. They want peace, quiet, they want food, they want unconditional love,

January 29, 2019 4:59PM PT Zack Snyder is returning to his zombie roots to direct and produce “Army of the Dead” at Netflix. Snyder, whose most recent credits are “Justice League,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” and “Man of Steel,” made his directorial debut 15 years ago with “Dawn of the Dead.” Joby Harold

The Annie Awards, recognizing a need to celebrate all the animated content being made these days in virtual reality, has created a category this year to honor that work. Until now, VR content had to create a 2D version and, in some cases, play in theaters, in order to become eligible for awards recognition, which

Oscar winners Octavia Spencer, Sam Rockwell, and Allison Janney are starring in the independent comedy “The Heart” with shooting beginning at the end of the year. Nat Faxon and Jim Rash will direct from their own script. Kevin Walsh and Ryan Stowell are producing the film through the Walsh Company banner. Sierra/Affinity is launching international

January 29, 2019 3:18PM PT Highly pedigreed Sundance alum Anne Sewitsky returns to the festival with a Hollywood bombshell story you haven’t heard. “Sonja – The White Swan” tells the true story of acclaimed athlete and architect of modern figure skating Sonja Henie. The Norwegian celebrity traveled to Los Angeles in 1936 to embark on a

January 29, 2019 3:15PM PT Pete Davidson will star in an untitled semi-autobiographical comedy from director Judd Apatow. The Universal Pictures film is written by Apatow, Davidson, and Dave Sirus. Davidson, who grew up in Staten Island, lost his firefighter father in the September 11 attacks. Davidson has said that his dad’s death has greatly influenced his

January 29, 2019 2:19PM PT Rosario Dawson has been cast to join original cast members Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, and Abigail Breslin in “Zombieland 2.” Variety first reported that Zoey Deutch is also boarding the comedy. Original “Zombieland” director Ruben Fleischer returns to helm following his work on “Venom.” Fleischer is re-teaming with

One of the most unexpected Oscar nominations this year came for a German film in the thick of the foreign-language race that managed to score love elsewhere: Caleb Deschanel’s cinematography notice for Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s “Never Look Away,” a three-hour epic inspired by the life of artist Gerhard Richter. For Deschanel, a beloved industry

January 29, 2019 12:00PM PT Orion Pictures has set an Oct. 25 domestic release for the hidden-camera prank comedy “Bad Trip,” from “Jackass” producer Jeff Tremaine with Eric Andre and Lil Rel Howery starring. Orion noted that “Bad Trip” is the first hidden-camera narrative film released in theaters since Paramount debuted “Bad Grandpa” in 2013.

Documentarian and director Lauren Greenfield has launched a production company, Girl Culture Films, to address the lack of diversity behind the camera in the advertising industry. Greenfield, who directed the documentary “The Queen of Versailles” and Always’ #LikeAGirl Campaign, created the company with her partners Frank Evers to represent directors for commercial projects and branded content

It’s been one year since deadly fires and mudslides came close to shutting down the 33rd edition of the Santa Barbara Intl. Film Festival. The Thomas Fire and subsequent flooding devastated the city and left 23 dead in the Montecito area. After some soul searching, organizers decided to carry on as scheduled. “Last year there

Monday night’s Los Angeles premiere of Netflix’s “Velvet Buzzsaw” at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre must have seemed like deja vu to the film’s cast, since they had just attended the Sundance premiere in Park City just the night before. “I am so f—ing tired — I want to die right now,” Rene Russo told Variety. Russo

Oscar Isaac is the latest star in negotiations to join Legendary’s “Dune” reboot, sources tell Variety. He will join a cast that includes Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgard, and Charlotte Rampling. Isaac will play the father of Chalamet’s character in the movie. “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049” filmmaker Denis Villeneuve is directing and is co-writing the

January 29, 2019 9:59AM PT Ryan Reynolds is starring in and producing the action-comedy “Shotgun Wedding” for Lionsgate. The “Deadpool” star will produce through his Maximum Effort production company alongside Mandeville Films’ Todd Lieberman and David Hoberman. “Pitch Perfect” director Jason Moore will helm from an original script and pitch by Mark Hammer. Liz Meriwether will

Before bedtime in Kingsport, Tenn., 16-year-old Austyn Tester shoots an inspirational selfie video just for himself. “It is 10:06 pm, and I am not famous right now,” admits Austyn. Yet, the aspiring social media star plans to be — soon — via filming daily live streams telling young girls to believe in themselves and chase

As Hollywood re-litigates Dick Cheney’s influence on the launch of the Iraq War with “Vice,” here’s Gavin Hood’s addendum from across the Atlantic about a forgotten story that could have prevented the disaster. “Official Secrets” traces the 2004 criminal trial of Katharine Gun (Keira Knightley), a 28-year-old Mandarin translator for Britain’s secretive Government Communications Headquarters,

“The Kid Who Would Be King” isn’t exactly ruling over the box office. Fox’s family friendly adventure is looking like one of the year’s first big-budget flops after the $60 million movie debuted last weekend with a disastrous $7 million from 3,521 theaters. It’s only January, but “The Kid Who Would Be King” also marks

January 29, 2019 7:09AM PT Beta Cinema has taken worldwide rights to German director Edward Berger’s “All My Loving,” which will have its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. The film, which plays in Berlin’s Panorama sidebar, follows three siblings who seem to be doing fine, but when cracks in their seemingly perfect lives

Studios hit Sundance with their checkbooks firmly in hand. It was a weekend of frenzied dealmaking, with Hollywood players showing an unexpected willingness to shell out big money for the chance to find the next indie film breakout. Here are five takeaways after five days in Park City. 1. Era of the Mega-Deal ReturnsIt’s a

Thirty is a curious age, at once unsettling and perilously close to settled: the first point at which you can see another adult version of yourself in the rearview mirror, and wonder what’s gone right or wrong. Its onset has a different effect on the two hard-partying Dublin girlfriends at the center of “Animals,” as

Kids’ content firm Jetpack Distribution has moved into feature film, snagging rights to a package of family movies from Perplexia, a U.K.-based shingle that counts former Jim Henson Television president Angus Fletcher as its co-founder. The deal covers international rights to four films from Perplexia, which was founded by Fletcher and Ronald Henry, who created

Toni Morrison’s artistic, cultural and historical legacies are by now firmly established, which doesn’t prevent “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” from revealing them anew and setting them out in an appreciative, and appropriate, package. An eloquent nonfiction biopic that travels creatively through the past, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ film is enlivened both by its own storytelling dexterity

Actress-director Trudie Styler and Chilean helmer Sebastian Lelio are among those tapped for jury duty at the upcoming Berlin Film Festival. The Berlinale announced the full lineup of the main competition jury Tuesday for its 69th edition. U.S. film critic Justin Chang, German actress Sandra Hüller and American museum curator Rajendra Roy will join Lelio

A change of pace from the usual action-driven output from WWE studios, “Fighting With My Family” at times more closely brings to mind 2000’s guilty-pleasure comedy “Ready to Rumble,” one of the few filmmaking ventures by the wrestling conglomerate’s then-rival WCW. The current film has some of the same crotch-kick-level humor, and much of the

GOTEBORG, Sweden —  There’s an impending sense of doom in the current zeitgeist, particularly with feelings about climate change, that the Göteborg Film Festival taps into this year with Focus: Apocalypse. Fest artistic director Jonas Holmberg notes, “We are exploring how today’s filmmakers work with the existential, ethical and political aspects of this crisis. Perhaps

GOTEBORG, Sweden —  New Europe Film Sales has boarded “A White, White Day,” by Hlynur Pálmason, and sealed new deals on “The County,” from “Rams’” director Grímur Hákonarson. Both Icelandic titles will be pitched at Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market (Jan 31.-Feb 3) as works in progress. “A White, White Day” marks Pálmason’s second feature after