February 5, 2019 9:18PM PT In this week’s edition of the Variety Movie Commercial Tracker, powered by the TV advertising attention analytics company iSpot.tv, Universal Pictures claims the top spot in spending with its “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” movie ad that ran during Super Bowl LIII. Ads placed for the “Fast and
Movies
In Ryan White’s breezy documentary “Ask Dr. Ruth,” the 90-year-old Ruth Westheimer asks a fair share of the questions. “Are you hungry?” “Are you sure you’re not hungry?” And with her grandmotherly credentials thus verified, she’s free to turn to her Alexa and ask it to find her a boyfriend. Alas, the app demurs. “If
February 5, 2019 6:13PM PT Veteran docmaker Kim Longinotto turns her lens on veteran Italian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia, leaving us with more admiration than insight. “I wasn’t a real person,” Letizia Battaglia says of the days before she took to photography. As an unhappily married housewife stifled and abused by Italy’s dominant patriarchy, picking up
Spike Lee is executive producing the civil rights drama “Son of the South,” with his longtime editor Barry Alexander Brown directing from his own screenplay, Variety has learned exclusively. Brown is up for an Academy Award for editing “BlacKkKlansman.” Lee received Oscar nominations for best picture, director, and adapted screenplay for “BlacKkKlansman.” “Son of the
February 5, 2019 3:09PM PT Billy Eichner is teaming up with Judd Apatow and Nick Stoller in a romantic comedy for Universal. Eincher will star in the movie and co-write the screenplay with Stoller, who will direct. Apatow will produce the film about two men with commitment problems attempting a relationship. It’s the second Apatow project
February 5, 2019 2:34PM PT There may be a few more F-bombs dropped around the Magic Kingdom. The Walt Disney Company has enjoyed a squeaky clean image as the preeminent provider of family-friendly entertainment. However, things may get a little less wholesome with the upcoming acquisition of much of 21st Century Fox’s film and television
February 5, 2019 2:10PM PT Lionsgate has scrubbed Tuesday night’s red carpet for the New York City premiere of Liam Neeson’s “Cold Pursuit” in the wake of the actor’s racially charged comments. The studio had no comment but sources said that Lionsgate decided to pull the plug on the carpet due to his revelation in
#GoldOpen, the Asian community movement that bought out theaters for showings of “Crazy Rich Asians,” has announced a new partnership with AMC Theaters. The collaboration aims to streamline group movie-going, theater buyouts, bulk regular-price ticket purchasing, and more through a ticket buying system that includes a dedicated ticketing web page, purchasing support, and special events
Walt Disney Studios had a much more magical earnings report than analysts had expected. The entertainment powerhouse behind Pixar, Marvel, and the world’s most trafficked theme parks logged earnings per share of $1.84, a 3% drop from $1.89 in the prior-year quarter. Disney also reported revenue of $15.3 billion, essentially flat with the year-ago period.
February 5, 2019 12:24PM PT It may be hard to believe, but it wasn’t until last month at the SAG Awards that Ryan Coogler and met for the first time. “I got to meet Ryan Coogler for the first time,” Chu told Variety at the ADG Awards on Saturday while discussing the viral photo of the “Black
Annapurna Pictures and MGM have doubled down on their joint distribution venture, rebranding the operation as United Artists Releasing. MGM has long owned the storied UA label, which turns 100 on Tuesday. The newly named entity will proceed with its planned slate, led by the 25th installment in the James Bond franchise — in theaters
February 5, 2019 11:37AM PT In the race for best actress, Glenn Close has already emerged as the clear frontrunner. Even though her “The Wife” may be little known to the average Oscars viewer, Close won the Golden Globe and SAG Award for the role, cementing her status as the actress to beat. But she
February 5, 2019 10:15AM PT Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has bought rights in most markets for the upcoming romantic drama “Ammonite,” starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. Lionsgate picked up the distribution rights for the U.K. Cross City will be launching sales on the remaining territories at the European Film Market in Berlin this week,
The “top end” in “Top End Wedding” refers to the remote Northern Territory of Down Under, where things are done a little differently from what its young townies from bottom-end Adelaide are used to. For all its vibrant indigenous details, however, almost everything else about Wayne Blair’s amiable second feature adheres to universal wedding-comedy formula.
February 5, 2019 9:45AM PT Rebecca Hall will star in the independent horror-thriller “The Night House” from producer David S. Goyer. The film will be directed by David Bruckner from a script written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski. “The Night House” follows a widow who begins to uncover her recently deceased husband’s disturbing secrets.
February 5, 2019 9:35AM PT Dutch Features, one of Holland’s leading sales agencies, has acquired the cross-cultural romantic comedy “Cuban Love” directed by Johan Nijenhuis (“Tuscan Wedding”) ahead of the European Film Market. “Cuban Live” is headlined by Susan Visser, who won the EFP Shooting Star at the Berlin Film Festival in 2015. Set to
Variety’s fifth annual Artisan Awards Feb. 4 featured nine behind-the-camera artists trying to explain how complicated their work is, but all admitted that it isn’t easy. “Even my children don’t understand what I do,” deadpanned “The Favourite” production designer Fiona Crombie. “BlacKkKlansman” editor Barry Alexander Brown agreed that it’s often hard to describe, but he
Liam Neeson is apologizing after recent comments he made about an incident that happened decades ago drew backlash. Neeson was the subject of controversy when he revealed in an interview earlier this week with the Independent that he wanted to “unleash physical violence” on a black man upon upon learning his close friend was brutally raped
Granted, youth has certainly not lost its cachet in Hollywood, but at AARP’s 18th annual Movies for Grownups Awards, more seasoned actors were the toast of the evening. (Or as host Martin Short referred to the event: “The Olden Globes.”) The intimate ceremony, which was taped last night at the Beverly Wilshire and will air
Fiorella Moretti and Hedi Zardi’s Paris-based Luxbox has acquired international sales rights to the complete film catalogue of high-art Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr. The deal takes in Tarr’s “Satan’s Tango,” acclaimed as a masterpiece, whose 25th anniversary will be marked at this year’s Berlinale Forum by a special screening of a remastered version on Feb.
Twenty years after activist-artists Guerrilla Girls papered film festivals and billboards in protest over a lack of female film directors, the group is back to remind show business that shockingly little has changed. In 1999, the group spread a simple bumper sticker message saying, “the U.S. Senate is more progressive than Hollywood,” noting that women
“Crazy Alien,” a comedy caper by hit-making director Ning Hao, led the box office in China on the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday period. By 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the film had earned $55 million in mainland Chinese cinemas. The top eight movies earned a combined $200 million (RMB1.35 billion) by 7:30
Sky has taken the U.K. and Ireland rights to “SAS: Red Notice,” the Magnus Martens’ action thriller based on the novel by former British special forces operative turned bestselling writer Andy McNab. Sky Cinema will release the film in 2020 and it will have a theatrical run and play on the pay-TV platform. Altitude has
Italian sales company Slingshot Films has taken world sales on timely Berlin Panorama doc “Normal,” a reflection on how female and male identities play out in everyday interactions, through a collage of immersive scenes filmed all over Italy. Directed by London and Rome-based director Adele Tulli – who has made a splash on the specialized
In today’s film news roundup, Bucky Covington is cast as a coach, casting director Kerry Barden is honored and “The Karate Kid” will get a two-day rerelease. CASTING Country music star Bucky Covington is joining Milo Gibson and Laurence Fishburne in the sports drama “Brother’s Keeper” as a high school football coach. Covington is also
In the nearly half-century since author Stephen King began entertaining and simultaneously scaring the bejesus out of his countless fans around the world, filmed adaptations of his work have become so much a staple that we’re now deep into the remakes phase of his prolific output. The 2017 feature film version of King’s “It” grossed
The 91st Academy Award nominations delivered the expected and unexpected, with a strong showing for African-American artists, who were nominated in 10 out of 24 categories, matching totals achieved in 2016 and 2017. “Every year, further steps are taken towards inclusion, but obviously more needs to be done to support women filmmakers,” says Gil Robertson,
This year’s Academy Award nominees gathered Monday for the annual Oscar nominees luncheon and class photo, hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ board of governors. A number of stars attended the event held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, including this year’s best actress nominees Glenn Close, Lady Gaga, Yalitza Aparicio, and Melissa McCarthy,
February 4, 2019 3:32PM PT Fox 2000 has bought movie rights to the upcoming novel “On the Come Up” from “The Hate U Give” author Angie Thomas. The studio has reunited its “The Hate U Give” production team for “On the Come Up.” George Tillman, Jr., is directing and Thomas is producing with Marty Bowen,
February 4, 2019 2:57PM PT Paramount has set spy thriller “Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse,” starring Michael B. Jordan, for a Sept. 18, 2020, release. Jordan is starring as operations officer John Clark, who is one of the recurring characters in Clancy’s Jack Ryan universe. In the novel, published in 1993 and set during the 1970s,