Movies

January 10, 2019 3:40PM PT Henry Winkler has become the latest actor to join the star-studded cast of Wes Anderson’s period project “The French Dispatch.” The ensemble includes Frances McDormand, Benicio del Toro, Jeffrey Wright, Timothee Chalamet and Lois Smith along with Anderson regulars Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray and Bob Balaban. Plot details

Skydance CEO David Ellison reaffirmed his company’s zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment during a series of town halls about his controversial decision to hire John Lasseter to head his animation division. Lasseter was pushed out at Disney after a long run running its animation division and transforming the company’s Pixar brand into one of

Verna Bloom, who appeared in “Animal House” and worked with the likes of Martin Scorsese, died Jan. 9 in Bar Harbor, Maine, her rep confirmed to Variety. She was 80 years old. The cause was complications of dementia, her family stated. Although Bloom appeared extensively in theater and television, she is most noted for her film

STXfilms will release its senior-citizen cheerleader comedy “Poms,” starring Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver, and Pam Grier, on May 10 over Mother’s Day weekend in the U.S. STX bought domestic rights for the movie at the American Film Market in November. Zara Hayes directed from a script by Shane Atkinson, based on a story by Hayes

In “Tale of the Sea,” the drama of lyrical despair that’s the opening-night film of 1st Iranian Film Festival New York, the venerable Iranian filmmaker Bahman Farmanara (“Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine”), who wrote and directed the movie and also stars in it, plays Taher, an esteemed novelist who has just spent three years

The premise of Paolo Genovese’s 2016 Italian hit “Perfetti sconosciuti” was simple: A group of longtime friends – three couples, and one seventh wheel – gather for an intimate dinner party, and in a sort of ill-advised parlor game, decide to spend the evening with their cell phones on the table, reading all their incoming

Sterling K. Brown is better known for his small-screen roles, such as Emmy-winning performances in “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” and “This Is Us” than for films, but this year his role as N’Jobu in “Black Panther” started to turn the tide. Brown only had two short scenes of dialogue in “Black

January 10, 2019 10:48AM PT [embedded content] Museum goers, beware. Art has more power than meets the eye in Netflix’s upcoming horror-thriller “Velvet Buzzsaw,” in which paintings begin to come alive at night to fulfill a grizzly purpose. Debuting Feb. 1 on Netflix, the movie will make its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival

Kicking off on Jan. 17 with the world premiere of Philippe de Chauveron’s “Serial Bad Weddings 2,” the 21st edition of the UniFrance Rendez-Vous in Paris will showcase a flurry of French comedies, biopics and a raft of documentaries. The Rendez-Vous in Paris, organized by the promotion org UniFrance, will take place over five days

PLAYBACK is a Variety / iHeartRadio podcast bringing you conversations with the talents behind many of today’s hottest films. New episodes air every Thursday. Kevin Hart has had an eventful few weeks, to say the least. He was tapped to host the Oscars in December, only to pull out after first refusing to apologize for

Call it a pink wave if you must. But there’s no denying that a bunch of feminist-leaning movies are vying for Hollywood’s biggest trophies this awards season. From animated superhero mom Elastigirl, leaving her husband and kids behind to fight crime in “Incredibles 2,” to a flame-haired Saoirse Ronan leading troops into battle in “Mary

Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures is moving ahead on its Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect,” tapping stage director Liesl Tommy to direct. MGM set the project in motion a year ago when it was announced that Jennifer Hudson — who won a supporting actor Oscar for “Dreamgirls” — had been personally selected for the role by Franklin.

The Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Guild (IATSE Local 706) has announced nominees in film and television categories for 2018. A slew of films picked up multiple nominations, including “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Stan & Ollie,” “A Star Is Born” and “Vice.” On the television side, “American Horror Story: Apocalypse” led the way with four

New films by Agnieszka Holland, Agnes Varda and Isabel Coixet have been added to the official lineup of the upcoming Berlin Film Festival, along with special screenings of directorial debuts by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and “Narcos” star Wagner Moura of Brazil. The Berlinale added 11 titles to its competition slate Thursday, representing countries including

The Costume Designers Guild has announced its nominees in film and television categories for 2018. In the contemporary film races, “Crazy Rich Asians” was nominated alongside “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” “Ocean’s 8,” “A Star Is Born” (extending its streak of nominations from every single industry group so far) and “Widows.” For period film,

January 10, 2019 2:24AM PT Miia Tervo’s Finnish romantic comedy “Aurora” has been acquired by international sales company LevelK ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Goteborg Film Festival. Set to open the fest, “Aurora” marks Tervo’s feature debut. The film, a comedy-drama set in the snowy Finnish region of Lapland, tells the

MADRID — Ran Tellem (“Homeland,” “The Paradise”), Daniel Burman (“Lost Embrace,” “Edha”) and Javier Olivares (“The Department of Time,” “Isabel”) will tutor or lecture at this year’s first Master’s Degree in Creative Writing and Screenplays, launched by Spain’s Mediapro Group and Madrid’s Complutense University. Steered by one of Europe’s biggest international fiction creation forces with

“Green Book” screenwriter Nick Vallelonga has deleted his Twitter account after a tweet espousing a debunked conservative narrative that American Muslims could be seen cheering after 9/11 was recirculated Wednesday. “@realDonaldTrump 100% correct,” the Nov. 2015 tweet read. “Muslims in Jersey City cheering when towers went down. I saw it, as you did, possibly on

Gregg Rudloff, who won Academy Awards for sound mixing “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Matrix,” and “Glory” and was nominated four other times, died in Los Angeles on Jan. 6. He was 63. A representative for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office told Variety that the office is treating his death as a possible suicide

Is the whole genre of “Music Inspired by the Film” albums getting its redemption? They became a joke by the 1990s, when it seemed like any blockbuster was an excuse to put together an album of supposedly movie-inspired tracks that were really just as likely to be leftovers from artists’ previous releases. But this year,

Hollywood was jolted Wednesday by former Pixar honcho John Lasseter’s hire for the top job at Skydance Animation, blindsiding the studio’s filmmaking partners, employees and the industry at large. One current Skydance staffer expressed “disappointment” to Variety over CEO David Ellison’s decision to bring on Lasseter, who was put on leave from his post atop Pixar

Alessandro Nivola, star of the upcoming “Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints of Newark,” revealed that Tony Soprano, the protagonist in the iconic HBO series, will be a central character in the film. Nivola spoke to Variety at the 20th anniversary of “The Sopranos” in New York on Wednesday, where the cast and creator David Chase held a

In today’s film news roundup, Stellan Skarsgard has joined “Dune,” Jamie Lee Curtis and Melissa McCarthy are selected for awards, and Fathom Events has hired Andrew Goldman. CASTING Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard will portray the villain Baron Harkonnen in Legendary’s sci-fier “Dune,” based on the Frank Herbert novel. Denis Villeneuve is directing from a script

January 9, 2019 4:38PM PT Prepare to rock while watching “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The Golden Globe winner is getting sing-along screenings at more than 750 North American locations beginning on Friday. The sing-along version will display song lyrics on screen, allowing viewers to perform the movie’s score. The tracks include Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the

John Lasseter’s contract with Skydance Media contains provisions that make the former Pixar Animation chief financially responsible for any legal claims involving sexual harassment, according to multiple insiders. The pact to bring Lasseter in as head of the company’s animation division is said to include “ironclad” provisions that require the executive to not only pay

After M. Night Shyamalan’s 2016 film “Split” was revealed to be set in the same universe as his 2000 superhero thriller “Unbreakable,” the director brings all the characters together in “Glass.” The heroes and villains of the previous two movies return in “Glass.” Bruce Willis plays David Dunn, the security guard with super strength; Samuel

Cinema lives or dies by illusion. To make stories work, movies must take audiences to another place, suspend their disbelief and thrill them. And effects, whether created in-camera or in post-production or a combination of the two, have always been among the tools used by filmmakers to make that happen. But despite their vital role,

Caleb Landry Jones is set to join Tom Hanks in Amblin Entertainment’s sci-fi pic “Bios,” sources tell Variety. The film follows Finch, the last man on Earth. An ailing inventor facing his own mortality, Finch builds a robot to keep his beloved dog safe. As the trio embarks upon an epic cross-country journey, the scientist

January 9, 2019 1:00PM PT “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan has come on board to rewrite Paramount’s adaptation of the Tom Clancy novel “Without Remorse,” with Michael B. Jordan starring as operations officer John Clark. The pic marks a reunion for Sheridan and his “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” helmer Stefano Sollima, who will be directing.

January 9, 2019 12:30PM PT Time’s Up, the high-profile organization committed to women’s causes in Hollywood and beyond, has slammed Skydance Animation for hiring John Lasseter. Read the full statement below: “Skydance Media’s decision to hire John Lasseter as head of animation endorses and perpetuates a broken system that allows powerful men to act without