Movies

January 26, 2019 12:48AM PT Russell Mulcahy’s seriocomic imagining of Errol Flynn’s pre-stardom adventures is hugely satisfying old-fashioned fun. A jauntily old-fashioned adventure that plays like the nautical equivalent of a picaresque road movie, “In Like Flynn” offers a fanciful glimpse at the pre-fame formative experiences of Old Hollywood luminary Errol Flynn, indicating that the

“Focus: Nordic Comedy is a tribute to the contemporary Nordic comedy and an attempt to try to understand humor’s social and political role in today’s culture,” says Göteborg fest artistic director Jonas Holmberg. He admits that it was partially conceived as an antidote to the fest’s other focus on the Apocalypse. He says, “The Apocalypse

Of all the terrifying things Harvey Weinstein has ever said — insults hurled, jobs threatened, tantrums unleashed — perhaps the most blood-chilling are these six words: “Don’t you know who I am!?” That’s the line actress Nannette Klatt recalls the producer bellowing when she declined his advances in a private hotel-room meeting. For decades, Weinstein

The Michael Jackson estate has issued a statement on the film “Leaving Neverland,” which premiered at Sundance on Friday morning (Jan. 25). The documentary was screened at Park City, Utah’s Egyptian Theater. The Estate issued its statement about 12 hours after the film debuted, taking issue with what it calls “the kind of tabloid character

It’s been a while since Emma Thompson landed a lead role she could sink her comic incisors into, so you’re grateful for every well-played frozen stare and whiplash line reading she serves up in “Late Night.” The movie, written by Mindy Kaling and directed by Nisha Ganatra (“Chutney Popcorn”), is a light and spiky office

“I Am Mother” depicts a future in which humanity has been nearly wiped out and robots are left to pick up the pieces. The thriller, which debuted on Friday at Sundance, sounds a cautionary note about the perils of automation. It’s a message that resonates with Hilary Swank. the Oscar-winning actress who stars in the

Sony Pictures has set Jason Reitman’s “Ghostbusters” sequel for a July 10, 2020, release date. The studio made the announcement late Friday afternoon, 10 days after disclosing that it revealed that Reitman was on board to direct the untitled sequel. Reitman’s father, Ivan, directed the original “Ghostbusters,” starring Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie

Ever since Harvey Weinstein’s story launched the Me Too movement in late 2018, much discussion in Hollywood has revolved around the positive progress for women in the industry. But actress Rosanna Arquette — one of the first women to publicly speak out against Weinstein — says things have not necessarily gotten better. “I think the people that

In today’s film news roundup, “Deadpool 2: I Love My Family” opened in first place in China, Chiwetel Ejiofor takes a directing gig, and Theo James’ “Lying and Stealing” gets distribution. BOX OFFICE Fox’s re-cut, PG-13 “Deadpool 2: I Love My Family” has opened in first place in China, with $8.5 million in its first

Shia LaBeouf premiered his autobiographical memoir “Honey Boy” to a standing ovation at the Eccles Theater on Friday night at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie, which LaBeouf wrote and co-stars in, is set in the 2000s during the height of his Disney star fame, and it traces his strained relationship with his alcoholic father,

Taking a sideways approach to transgender issues that might attract a more diverse (and younger) audience than many film treatments of that theme, “Adam” amusingly channels those issues through an update of the Shakespearean mistaken-identity hook plus familiar “losin’ it” teen sex comedics. Graphic novelist and “L Word” contributor writer Ariel Shrag’s original 2014 book

January 25, 2019 4:51PM PT Netflix has signed John Cena to an untitled action-comedy movie that Jason Bateman will direct and produce. The project re-teams Bateman with “Game Night” writer Mark Perez, who is scripting. Bateman is producing with Michael Costigan for Aggregate Films along with Jeff Kirschenbaum and Joe Roth for Roth Kirschenbaum Films.

January 25, 2019 4:35PM PT Variety returns to the Sundance Film Festival with its annual interview studio in partnership with AT&T at the DirecTV lounge. Running from Friday, Jan. 25 through Monday, Jan. 28, guests of the studio include Jake Gyllenhaal, Lupita N’yongo, Michelle Williams, Zac Efron, Mindy Kaling, Demi Moore, Adam Driver, Awkwafina, Zach

“Stars — They’re Just Like Us!” That’s the ingenious header Us Weekly gives a section of otherwise worthless paparazzi shots depicting incognito celebrities shopping for groceries, feeding the meter, and otherwise spotted doing activities far too banal to merit publication. Certainly, when the very same stars let the public into their lives, as they do

Michael Jackson was one of the most photographed celebrities who ever lived. But in “Leaving Neverland,” a devastating four-hour documentary about the serial predator he really was, there are photographs of Jackson that have a quality unlike anything you’ve ever seen. They are homespun, casually candid, sitting-around-the-living-room shots, most of them snapped during the visits

Ryan Reynolds’ “Detective Pikachu” is already getting a sequel. Oren Uziel will write the script for the second installment to the upcoming live-action movie “Detective Pikachu.” Uziel most recently worked on the screenplay for Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog.” His past credits include writing and directing “Shimmer Lake,” and penning “The Cloverfield Paradox” and “22

A&E IndieFilms and Sundance Institute have selected four recipients for their inaugural “Brave Storytellers Award,” an honor that is intended to provide financial support for documentary filmmakers. The winners are Cecilia Aldarondo, Jemka Autry, Margaret Brown, and Yoruba Richen. Each honoree will receive $25,000 in seed funding, as well as year-round mentorship from staff of

Robert Townson, the veteran producer who helped build Varèse Sarabande into L.A.’s leading soundtrack label, is leaving after more than 30 years to launch a new venture producing live concerts of film music. Concord Music, which purchased Varèse last year from Cutting Edge Group, has eliminated Townson’s vice-president position effective Jan. 31. “I have spent

Zac Efron wasn’t sure if he could portray Ted Bundy in “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” a drama that premieres at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. “Initially, I had reservations about playing a serial killer,” Efron tells Variety in his first interview about the project. “I’ve seen people make horror films like this before,

January 25, 2019 1:34PM PT “Leaving Neverland,” a new documentary focused on the child sexual abuse allegations against Michael Jackson, has already stirred some controversy at the Sundance Film Festival, and now that backlash has hit its IMDb page. On Friday afternoon at about 1:20 p.m. PT, the IMDb page for the documentary read “Liar,

The second weekend of M. Night Shyamalan’s “Glass” will handily repeat as the winner of a mild North American weekend box office with about $16 million at 3,844 sites, early estimates showed Friday. Despite mostly negative reviews, “Glass” has racked up $54 million in its first week. It’s a sequel to both “Unbreakable” and “Split”

January 25, 2019 1:09PM PT “Her Smell” helmer Alex Ross Perry will direct “Fear Street 2,” the second film in Fox’s upcoming trilogy based on the R.L. Stine book series of the same name. Leigh Janiak is helming the first and third films. Stine wrote the “Fear Street” books about three years prior to his

The Screen Actors Guild Awards winners can diverge from other awards season kudos due to the sheer size of the org’s voting body. That often means using them as a bellwether for Oscar or Emmy glory can be difficult. Boasting around 160,000 members from across the country, voters frequently give the ensemble awards in TV

January 25, 2019 12:09PM PT Fox Searchlight has acquired the short film “Lavender” out of the Sundance Film Festival. The company said the movie, which tells the story of a young gay man who develops a complex relationship with an older couple, will be released on its social media channels. The film stars Michael Urie,

Last spring, “Always Amazing” — a scrappy portrait of gonzo stand-up/magician/performance artist John Edward Szeles, aka the Amazing Johnathan — premiered at Vancouver’s Just for Laughs Festival. This is not a review of that movie, although Ben Berman’s “Untitled Amazing Johnathan Documentary” (as this competing project was strategically dubbed at the Sundance Film Festival) wrestles with the

January 25, 2019 8:24AM PT Netflix will fully finance the economic drama “Hillbilly Elegy,” with Ron Howard directing and producing through Imagine Entertainment. The streamer has committed to spend $45 million on the film after winning an auction conducted by CAA. Imagine began developing “Hillbilly Elegy” after winning the movie rights in 2017. The company

January 25, 2019 8:18AM PT Maggie Gyllenhaal and Ralph Fiennes are starring in the independent drama “Farnsworth House.” Gyllenhaal will play Dr. Edith Farnsworth and Fiennes will portray the Bauhaus architect Mies van der Rohe. Their efforts to build the first glass house in the 1940s led them into a passionate but tempestuous love affair.

Films like “Crazy Rich Asians” and “The Favourite,” as well as artists such as Troye Sivan are among the nominees for the 30th annual GLAAD Media Awards. The awards, handed out by the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, recognizes media for fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues. Mj Rodriguez of

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Andy Vajna, the Hollywood producer who died earlier this week, have appeared in a just-released video from the set of the latest movie in the “Terminator” franchise, which shot in Hungary last year. The behind-the-scenes promotional video, posted online by the Hungarian National Film Fund, sees Schwarzenegger and the movie’s director, Tim

Variety has been given the exclusive first-look image for “The Education of Fredrick Fitzell,” which stars Dylan O’Brien (“The Maze Runner,” “American Assassin,” “Deepwater Horizon”) and Maika Monroe (“It Follows,” “I’m Not Here,” “The Guest,” “The Bling Ring”). The cast for the pic, which is written and directed by Christopher MacBride (“The Conspiracy”), also includes