Movies

Khalid Itum, the executive tasked with overseeing day-to-day operations at MoviePass, has left the struggling subscription service, Variety has confirmed. Insiders had previously said Itum had been largely absent in recent weeks and MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe had assumed more of a leadership role after previously stepping back. According to a spokesperson for the company,

March 13, 2019 1:18PM PT Denzel Washington is in talks to star in the thriller “Little Things” for Warner Bros., sources tell Variety. “The Blindside” and “Highway Men” director John Lee Hancock is board to write. He’s also being eyed to direct, though a deal for that has not yet been closed. The story follows

March 13, 2019 12:16PM PT The Duffer brothers have signed with Creative Artists Agency, exiting previous rep Paradigm Talent Agency. The pair, who created the Netflix juggernaut “Stranger Things,” has signed in all areas with the shop, run by managing partners Kevin Huvane and Bryan Lourd, and president Richard Lovett. “Stranger Things,” an homage to

Gary Barber, the executive credited with bringing Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer back from bankruptcy, has found his next act. The former studio chief is partnering with Lantern Entertainment co-presidents Andy Mitchell and Milos Brajovic to relaunch Spyglass Media Group as a content company. Italian distributor Eagle Pictures and exhibition giant Cineworld Group are strategic investors in the new

March 13, 2019 12:00PM PT Marvel Studios has hired Destin Daniel Cretton to direct “Shang-Chi,” its first superhero movie with an Asian protagonist. Cretton is currently directing “Just Mercy,” starring Brie Larson and Michael B. Jordan. Dave Callaham is writing the script that will ultimately modernize the Shang-Chi story and character arc. The original Marvel

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Colombia’s Fidelio Films has had a week to remember at this year’s Guadalajara Intl. Film Festival (FICG) as its full slate of TV and film projects has impressed in a number of sections. The company’s feature film “The Life and Death of Espíritu Perdomo” won the “El Taller” post-production prize and the

Jessica Chastain‘s work for gender parity in Hollywood isn’t slowing down soon. “I have noticed, of course, now that it’s in fashion there are other people that are jumping on board, and honestly, I don’t care what their motives are,” Chastain tells Variety. “Because at the end of the day, the more we focus on

March 13, 2019 10:24AM PT Toni Collette (“Hereditary”) is set to star as Jan, a woman who starts a racing syndicate in her small Welsh village and attempts to raise a champion racehorse, in “Dream Horse.” Damian Lewis (“Billions”) has also been cast in the film and will play the local accountant who joins the

March 13, 2019 10:22AM PT Richard E. Grant and Antonio Banderas have joined the cast of the untitled sequel to Lionsgate’s “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” starring Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, and Salma Hayek. Grant, who was Oscar-nominated for “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” will reprise his role from the 2017 original as a drug-addicted corporate

Lionsgate’s local-language film consortium GlobalGate Entertainment has added the Philippines’ Viva Communications to its worldwide consortium of 13 production and distribution partners. Other Globalgate partners include Televisa, Gaumont, Nordisk, Tobis, Rai, Kadokawa, Lotte, TME, Paris Filmes, CineColombia/Dynamo and Belga. Lionsgate launched GlobalGate three years ago to produce and distribute local-language films in markets around the

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Mexico’s Arte Mecánica is participating at this year’s inaugural FICG TV Pitchbox with one of the company’s first TV projects, a border-crossing immigration series titled “Kicked Out.” The series was created by Jacopo Fontana and Tereza Suárez, and is produced by Ozcar Ramírez at Arte Mecánica. The company’s work in feature films

Shockingly high concept for its astonishingly low budget, Robert Rodriguez’s “Red 11” was never meant to see the light of day, but turned out so well (for what it is: a run-and-gun, $7,000 exercise in DIY filmmaking) that the director opted to share it with the public as a kind of empowerment tool. Make no

March 13, 2019 3:40AM PT Karen Maine’s naughty but nice coming-of-age story showcases an exceptional performance by Natalia Dyer. You don’t have to be Catholic, lapsed or otherwise, to be amused by “Yes, God, Yes,” writer-director Karen Maine’s semi-autobiographical account of a Catholic high school girl’s coming-of-age experiences with self-discovery and self-gratification. On the other

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — New Mexican production shingle Zafiro Cinema, launched by Machete Prods. founder Edher Campos and Bolivian producer Gabriela Maire late last year, is gearing up to make its first film, “Perros” (“Dogs”), written and to be directed by Chilean director Vinko Tomičić. Chilean thesp Alfredo Castro, who broke out internationally in Pablo Larraín’s

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Mexico’s Ernesto Contreras, best known for his lauded Sundance Audience Award winner “I Dream in Another Language” is preparing his next feature film, “Cosas Imposibles” (“Impossible Things”). “I Dream…” producers Monica Lozano and Eamon O’Farrill of Alebrije Prods. and Luis Albores and Érika Ávila of Contreras’ Agencia SHA, are re-teaming to make

Set to air March 15 on the Paramount Network after its SXSW world premiere, “I Am Richard Pryor” is a largely satisfying if thoroughly conventional portrait of the immensely gifted and deeply troubled entertainer whose richly deserved reputation as a comic genius stems at least partially from his frequent and fearless willingness to make himself

March 12, 2019 9:02PM PT A teenager’s first sexual experience leads to her giving birth to an alien monster in this giddily entertaining horror comedy spinoff. “Clueless” meets “It’s Alive,” among other things, in “Snatchers.” Stephen Cedars and Benji Kleiman’s first feature is a great argument for teenage chastity, in that its high school heroine’s

Chinese movie ticketing platform Maoyan is to spend $50 million (HK$390 million) buying a stake in celebrity-backed Chinese production company Huanxi Media. The deal had been trailed by Maoyan at the time of its recent IPO. Maoyan raised some $250 million when it launched on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January. It is now

March 12, 2019 8:25PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the TV advertising attention analytics company iSpot.tv, Paramount Pictures claims the top spot in spending for the third week in row with “Wonder Park.” Ads placed for the animated film had an estimated media value of $6.32 million

Josephine Mackerras’ marital drama “Alice” won the top prize for best narrative feature at the South by Southwest Awards on Tuesday night. The French film is Mackerras’ feature directorial debut and explores the collapse of a seemingly perfect marriage. Emilie Piponnier stars as the title character who becomes a sex worker after discovering that her

In today’s film news roundup, Alan Tudyk is supplying to voice of Iago in “Aladdin,” Atonement Pictures launches and Michael Keaton is narrating “Wings 3D.” VOICE CAST Alan Tudyk has signed on to voice Iago, the scarlet macaw parrot sidekick to the villain Jafar in Disney’s live-action “Aladdin,” which opens May 24. Tudyk has voiced

In an attempt to calm an explosive situation, Hollywood agents have offered counter-proposals to the Writers Guild of America following several weeks of acrimony. The Association of Talent Agents proposed Tuesday a “statement of choice” that emphasized that writer clients get to decide on whether they want to work on a packaged show and that

March 12, 2019 5:22PM PT Production designer William Creber, who served as art director on the original “Planet of the Apes” movies, died in Los Angeles on March 7 from pneumonia after a prolonged illness. He was 87. “This was the man who designed and then flipped cruise ships, burned skyscrapers, and created an entire

Felicity Huffman appeared in a federal courtroom in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon to face a charge of paying a bribe to boost her daughter’s SAT score. Judge Alexander F. MacKinnon set her bond for $250,000. Though he was not indicted, Huffman’s husband William H. Macy sat in the front row in court. “Full

Akio Sakurai grew up idolizing Led Zeppelin in his small hometown in Japan and would eventually move to Tokyo and become “Mr. Jimmy,” adopting the guitar chops and persona of guitar virtuoso Jimmy Page. For the better part of three decades, he recreated vintage Zeppelin concerts note-for-note in small Tokyo clubs, until the “real” Jimmy

Playwright David Mamet has expressed sympathy for his longtime friend Felicity Huffman and her husband, fellow actor William H. Macy, following her indictment in a widespread college admissions bribery scandal. In a statement sent to media outlets on Tuesday, Mamet also slammed the “elite universities,” calling their admissions policies “an unfortunate and corrupt joke.” “I’ve known

March 12, 2019 4:04PM PT You can get to Sesame Street on Jan. 15, 2021. Warner Bros. has set a release date for its live-action “Sesame Street” movie. “Portlandia” director and co-creator Jonathan Krisel will helm the musical, co-financed by Warner Bros. and MGM. Shawn Levy is producing with Michael Aguilar. Mike Rosolio and Chris

Writer-director Ricky Tollma’s “Run This Town” — about a young Toronto journalist’s quest to break the infamous Rob Ford crack-smoking story — premiered at SXSW over the weekend, and the movie’s score plays a subtle but pivotal role in stringing viewers along for the tense ride . The team behind the score is Ali Shaheed

Brie Larson’s “Captain Marvel” is expected to fly past $500 million at the worldwide box office on Tuesday. The blockbuster has taken in $164.3 million in its first four days, along with $325.6 million in its first six days in international markets. China is the biggest foreign market with $95 million, followed by South Korea

The Writers Guild of America has issued a blistering report accusing the top four Hollywood talent agencies of extensive and illegal conflicts of interest. “While the major agencies have pursued growth through conflicts of interest, these practices contravene how agents are required to act under state and federal law,” the report said. “By maximizing their