Movies

James Bond will arrive two months later than planned as MGM moved back the release date on the untitled Bond 25 movie from Feb. 14 to April 8, 2020 — a Wednesday before the start of Easter weekend. It’s the second delay for Bond 25. MGM and Eon originally announced in 2017 that the film

Universal Pictures has shifted “Fast and Furious 9” back six weeks from April 10 to May 22, 2020 — the start of the Memorial Day weekend. It’s the second backwards shift for the title. In 2017, Universal moved the film back a year from April 19, 2019, to April 10, 2020. Both dates fall on

James Cameron’s “Alita: Battle Angel” has a slight edge over “The Lego Movie 2” in a tight race for domestic box office supremacy during Presidents Day weekend. Both are aiming for about $27 million, early estimates showed on Friday. The two titles are the only current bright spots as overall moviegoing for 2019 trails far

Unlike the song category, it’s impossible to predict the winner from this year’s quintet of original-score nominees. It’s almost anyone’s game. Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson spent a month in Africa recording unusual drums, flutes and vocals, then adding them to a massive London orchestra and choir to create a unique soundscape for the fictional land

This year’s crop of Oscar-nominated songs may be the most diverse in years: a ballad and a pop-rap from two of the year’s biggest films, plus a delicate lullaby from a Disney musical, a political themed anthem, and a novelty tune for singing cowboys. “Shallow,” the top-10 hit from “A Star Is Born,” is widely

February 15, 2019 2:58PM PT The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has reversed its controversial decision to hand out four Oscars during the telecast’s commercial breaks. Following a Thursday night meeting with top cinematographers, Academy leadership including president John Bailey and CEO Dawn Hudson have pledged to air every awards category on the

Cinematographers who are opposing the decision to curtail four Oscar presentations on the telecast have said a “productive” Thursday night meeting with Academy brass may lead to a reversal of the exclusions. American Society of Cinematographers president Kees van Oostrum said in a letter to members Friday that he expects a decision by the end

February 15, 2019 1:10PM PT The end is nigh! Filming for “Star Wars Episode IX” has officially wrapped, bringing an end to a franchise that has spanned more than 40 years and eight films. Director J.J. Abrams confirmed the news Friday tweeting, “It feels impossible, but today wrapped photography on ‘Episode IX.’ There is no

February 15, 2019 12:51PM PT Ben Affleck is hanging up his cape and saying goodbye to Batman. In an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Thursday, the actor explained why he will not be returning as the Caped Crusader in the 2021 film “The Batman,” to be written and directed by Matt Reeves. Affleck is retiring

February 15, 2019 12:34PM PT Ryan Reynolds narrates an enlightening Imax documentary about a remote coastal ecosystem that offers solutions for sustainability. Imax documentaries take us into the wilderness in ways we could only ever dream of experiencing in person, inviting us to marvel at the majesty of mother nature. Director Ian McAllister’s “Great Bear

Worried that growing political tension in Brazil may hamper the domestic release of “Marighella,” Wagner Moura’s directorial debut about a leftist revolutionary, the movie’s producers may seek to crowd-fund its distribution independently. “We are going to fight for it,” producer Andrea Barata Ribeiro said ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Berlinale on Friday.

Andy Gent says it was clear as soon as he read Wes Anderson’s script for “Isle of Dogs” that the project was very ambitious. It just took a while to understand exactly how ambitious. For example, it was originally estimated the animated movie would require between 300 and 400 puppets, the same number needed for

With the Berlin Film Festival about to wrap and Cannes fast approaching, the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC) is urging programmers at leading festivals to select for competition only films that will receive a full theatrical release. UNIC, which represents exhibitors and cinema associations in 37 countries, mostly in Europe, said in a statement Friday

In helmer Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One,” a vast group of familiar characters and those created for the film had to be integrated into one story and some had to travel between two worlds. Visual-effects supervisor Roger Guyett knew he’d be working with multiple styles and sources to pull it off. Original characters including the

The second Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly appear onscreen in “Stan & Ollie,” there is no question that they are the legendary Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, respectively. The physical transformations masterminded by prosthetic makeup designer Mark Coulier and makeup and hair designer Jeremy Woodhead are that remarkable, enabling the actors to fully inhabit

What if living in silence was your only means of survival? That’s the question supervising sound editors Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl had to answer in the hair-raising thriller “A Quiet Place” from co-writer-director John Krasinski, who also starred alongside wife Emily Blunt as the on-screen couple Lee and Evelyn Abbott. The allegory

“Cold War,” Pawel Pawlikowski’s tale of star-crossed lovers in the aftermath of World War II, is framed in a distinctive squarish, 1.37:1 frame. With deep focus black-and-white photography by Pawlikowski’s fellow Pole Lukasz Zal, the film has been gaining interest beyond the lensing community — “Cold War” is nominated for three Oscars: foreign-language film, directing

“Love knows nothing improper,” chides a zealous preacher in “Tremors.” Ostensibly, she says it to an entire rapt church; more pointedly, she’s addressing mild-mannered family man Pablo, as he’s dragged through a terrestrial hell for the cardinal sin of falling in love with another man. What’s the greater impropriety, then: same-sex love or the victimization

Mattel and MGM have partnered to develop a live-action motion picture based on Mattel’s American Girl line of books and dolls. Mattel Films, MGM, and PictureStart’s Erik Feig will produce the film. Cassidy Lange, MGM’s co-president of production, and Robbie Brenner, Mattel Films’ executive producer, will oversee production. American Girl characters were first introduced in

February 15, 2019 2:18AM PT Turner Asia Pacific has signed an MOU to formalize a partnership with Beijing-based animation company UYoung Culture & Media to develop new IP, the company has announced. The signing occurred earlier this week at the Kidscreen Summit in Miami. Details of any new IP won’t be revealed until later in

February 15, 2019 12:45AM PT Live Action Role-Playing is therapeutic for a woman from a troubled family in this handsome but somewhat unrevealing doc. The surprise Oscar nomination of impressionistic “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” suggested a broadening of acceptance towards documentaries well beyond standard “Just the facts, ma’am” territory. Still, juggling style and

Editors Guild President Alan Heim has joined the chorus of dissent to the Academy’s plans to present four Oscar categories during commercial breaks and air the moments in condensed form later in the telecast. In an email sent Thursday night to the 8,100 members of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Heim voiced his union’s opposition

In today’s film news roundup, Miramax has set up the comedy “Silent Retreat,” sci-fi romance “Clara” and “Cold Case Hammarskjold” get distribution and Olivia Wilde is honored for directing “Booksmart.” PROJECT UNVEILED Miramax has set up the comedy “Silent Retreat” with “Isn’t It Romantic” director Todd Strauss-Schulson attached to helm from a script he co-wrote

Cinematographers opposing the decision to curtail four Oscar presentations on the telecast have blasted the Academy’s latest attempt to assuage concerns about the move. The group responded Thursday to officers of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ board of governors, sending a letter Wednesday night to its membership, asserting that no award category

In many ways, “Velvet Buzzsaw” never should have happened for Zawe Ashton. A literal art house movie, Dan Gilroy’s latest explores the intersection of art and commerce as members of the L.A. art scene, from Jake Gyllenhaal’s critic to Rene Russo’s gallery owner, find themselves haunted by a series of paintings. Trippy and original, with

February 14, 2019 3:38PM PT Skydance Animation head John Lasseter and his CEO David Ellison have named longtime executive Holly Edwards as president of the division, Variety has learned. Edwards replaces outgoing president Bill Damaschke, and will serve as Lasseter’s right hand in business dealings, as the former Pixar head sets his creative goals, an

February 14, 2019 3:32PM PT Ivanhoe Pictures, which produced “Crazy Rich Asians,” has partnered with Jeffrey Sharp and Sharp Independent Pictures to finance and co-produce “The Baccarat Queen” about Chinese gambler Cheung Yin “Kelly” Sun. The project is inspired by Michael Kaplan’s article “The Baccarat Machine,” published in Cigar Aficionado, about Sun amassing millions of

February 14, 2019 3:00PM PT “Aquaman” star Jason Momoa is in negotiations to join Legendary’s “Dune” reboot. If a deal closes, he would join a cast that includes Timothee Chalamet, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Josh Brolin, Oscar Isaac, and Zendaya. Momoa will portray Duncan Idaho, a swordmaster in the house of

Sebastian Stan is starring in Netflix’s backwoods drama “The Devil All the Time” after Chris Evans had to depart due to scheduling conflicts. Stan will appear alongside Tom Holland, Jason Clarke, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson, Riley Keough, and Bill Skarsgard. The film is an adaptation of Donald Ray Pollock’s 2011 novel and set in a

February 14, 2019 1:40PM PT Stephen Rivkin, president of the American Cinema Editors organization, has issued a statement denouncing the Academy’s plans to present four Oscar categories during the commercial breaks and air the moments in condensed form later in the telecast. The Academy’s plans “will not amount to enough running time to save more