Movies

A former executive for MoviePass Inc. was found guilty on Thursday of embezzling at least $260,000 from the subscription service and its parent company, Helios & Matheson Analytics, to repay debts incurred by producing a marketing event at the Coachella music festival in 2018. Khalid Itum, now 43 years old, was found guilty by a

Tanaka Toshihiko’s “Rei” was awarded the Tiger Award, the top prize of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, on Friday. Toshihiko’s feature debut chronicles a woman in her early 30s employed in a corporate job in Tokyo who meets a deaf landscape photographer living deep in the mountains of Hokkaido. Toshihiko worked with a cast and

Larry David‘s viral attack on Elmo became the focal point of his visit later in the day to “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” where the host grilled David on answers for what would make a person want to attack the beloved “Sesame Street” character on live television. Both David and Elmo were guests on the

Film and media company Buffalo 8 has acquired worldwide rights to “Invaders from Proxima B,” the science fiction comedy from writer-director-star Ward Roberts (“Westworld,” “Agents of SHIELD”). The cast also includes Samantha Sloyan (“The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Haunting of Hill House,” “Midnight Mass”), Mike C. Nelson (“Shrinking,” “Black-ish”), Richard Riehle (“Office

Paris-based company Indie Sales has acquired “Happy Holidays,” the sophomore feature of Oscar-nominated Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti. Copti’s feature debut, “Ajami,” co-directed by Yaron Shani, won the Camera d’Or Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and was nominated for an Oscar in the international feature category. “Happy Holidays” takes place in contemporary

Luke Evans and Milla Jovovich are attached to lead the sci-fi action thriller “World Breaker,” which will be directed by Brad Anderson. The Exchange is handling international sales and will introduce the cast to buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin. Evans, whose credits include “Beauty and the Beast,” is coming off a starring

Mark Gustafson, who won an Oscar last year for co-directing the animated feature “Guillermo del Toro‘s Pinocchio,” died on Thursday, The Oregonian reported. He was 64. Guillermo del Toro, Gustafson’s co-director on the dark reimagining of the classic tale of Pinocchio, posted a tribute to him on Friday morning. “I admired Mark Gustafson, even before

“Argylle” is looking to slowly ascend the box office charts this weekend. Matthew Vaughn’s latest film, a star-studded action comedy about a spy novelist, opened with $1.7 million in Thursday previews at the box office. “Argylle,” which stars an avalanche of A-listers like Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Dua Lipa and

Italy’s Coccinelle Film has scored multiple sales on German director Veit Helmer‘s gay love story “Gondola,” which world premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival. “Gondola” is the dialogue-free tale of two female cable car attendants who fall in love as they face each other going up and down the remote mountains of Georgia. It has

French director Thomas Bidegain is setting the record straight about Jake Gyllenhaal and Vanessa Kirby‘s exit from his project “Suddenly.” An interview with Bidegain that ran last week in the French magazine Technikart got international attention, with the headline “Four Days to Bury a Movie.” The interview suggested that Gyllenhaal and Kirby had left the

Professional wrestler and rock musician Chris Jericho is teaming with author and filmmaker Jay Bonansinga on psychological thriller “Self Storage.” The film is based on Bonansinga’s 2016 novel of the same name. It centers on a heroin-addicted father and his son who accidentally lock themselves inside a self-storage unit. Surviving will depend on a battle

The Annecy Animation Film Festival, which hosts world premieres of buzzy U.S. movies each year, is set to expand its official lineup with the launch of a non-competitive section. Called Annecy Présente, the section will give the festival the opportunity to host gala premieres of high-profile movies. “Annecy Présente will allow festivalgoers to discover a wider range

Barunson E&A, the production company behind Korean Oscar-winner “Parasite,” is investing in Base Entertainment’s upcoming Indonesian horror film “Respati.” The Korean company will also take on worldwide sales duties and pre-sell rights at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin. “Respati” tells the story of a teenager with the ability to enter other people’s dreams.

While other media companies have been paring back content spending, Amazon shelled out more than $2 billion more in 2023 for TV shows, movies and music than it did a year earlier. Amazon’s total video and music expense last year was $18.9 billion, representing a 14% increase from $16.6 billion in 2022, according to the

“Much Ado About Dying,” Scott Chamber’s documentary about elderly care that won the best directing award at IDFA in 2022, has been acquired by First Run Features for the U.S. and Canada. The feature, produced by Soilsiú Films and Tiffin Films, will have its U.S. festival premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival ahead of

For Italian conductor Beatrice Venezi, 2024 kicked off on a decidedly sour note.  On New Year’s Eve the baton-wielding Venezi, a friend of right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, was heckled at the Opéra de Nice by French anti-fascist protesters as she took to the podium.  The incident reflected tensions rippling through European entertainment industry circles

Just days after the Russian blockbuster “The Master and Margarita” surged to the top of the domestic box office, Kremlin cronies, pro-war propagandists and an army of online trolls have waged a campaign to discredit the film and its director, Michael Lockshin, a U.S. citizen who was raised in the Soviet Union and has been

RIPE FRUIT Fruit Chan has been named as the filmmaker in focus at this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (March 28-April 8). The maverick director will be honored with a commemorative book, a face-to-face interview and the screening of ten of his movies. These include: 1997’s “Made in Hong Kong,” 1998’s “The Longest Summer,” 1999’s

Actor, film producer and executive Chen Xi has been appointed as board director, chair and representative of Wanda Film, China’s largest cinema operator. Chen (who is also known as Chen Zhixi and who sometimes uses the English name Yedda Chen) becomes one of the highest-positioned women in the Chinese film industry. It is heavily dominated

The first female-led film in leading Indian studio Yash Raj Films‘ (YRF) spy universe has found its director in Shiv Rawail, Variety has learned. Alia Bhatt (“Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani,” “Heart of Stone”) and Sharvari (“Bunty Aur Babli 2”) will play super agents in the as-yet-untiitled film. Rawail, who had previous stints as assistant

DreamWorks Animation’s latest feature, “Orion and the Dark,” is all but guaranteed to surprise you. It’s skipping theaters and going straight to Netflix, for starters. On a story level, it reveals the little-known fact that every time humans fall asleep, they’re being bludgeoned or smothered into unconsciousness by a little blue gremlin. But the biggest

Christopher Nolan recently appeared on the “Countdown to the BAFTAs” podcast and reflected on the record-breaking box office success of “Oppenheimer,” which has earned $958 million worldwide to become the highest-grossing biographical drama in film history. Those box office numbers are more or less unheard of for an incredibly dense, three-hour, R-rated historical drama. “Everybody

Fans of NBC’s beloved sitcom “The Office” got huge news at the start of 2024 when it was revealed that showrunner Greg Daniels had opened a development room to officially begin planning a reboot. Details on a new iteration of “The Office” are scarce, but Emmy winner Bryan Cranston recently floated the idea to some

Brad Pitt is likely reuniting with Quentin Tarantino for the filmmaker’s 10th and ostensibly final feature, “The Movie Critic.” The status of the deal is unclear. Tarantino has remained tight-lipped about “The Movie Critic,” but it’s reportedly set in southern California during the 1970s and center on a cynical film reviewer. It’s rumored to be

As the nominees for the animated feature Oscar were unveiled this year, one thing was clear: 2D and 2D-influenced animated films are dominating awards season. Among this year’s nominees, “The Boy and the Heron,” “Nimona,” “Robot Dreams” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” all used traditional 2D techniques or other methods to create a 2D look.

Put on your winged eyeliner and get your nail polish out because Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” is streaming on Max beginning Feb. 23, following its October theatrical release. Based on the book “Elvis and Me” by Priscilla Presley, the A24 film stars Cailee Spaeny in the titular role, chronicling her marriage to Elvis Presley, played by

Justine Triet, the French director whose Palme d’Or winning film “Anatomy of Fall” is nominated for five Oscars, has signed with CAA. Triet is the only woman nominated for a directing Oscar this year. Since “Anatomy of a Fall” world premiered at Cannes, it went on to have a thriving run in the North American

“The Nightmare Before Christmas” creator Tim Burton and “Gone Girl” writer Gillian Flynn are tackling a remake of “” for Warner Bros. Burton is directing the upcoming film from a script by Flynn. The science-fiction horror story follows a wealthy heiress who grows into a giant after an alien encounter and exacts revenge on her

“Will & Harper,” a heartfelt and heartbreaking documentary about Will Ferrell‘s cross-country road trip with his best friend Harper Steele, who recently came out as transgender, sold to Netflix after its Sundance Film Festival debut. Financial terms of the pact were not disclosed, but “Will & Harper” was drawing interest from several buyers. The film,

Variety has a first look at “The Damned,” the upcoming psychological horror starring Odessa Young (“Mothering Sunday,” “The Staircase”) and Joe Cole (“Gangs of London,” “A Small Light”). From director Thordur Palsson (“The Valhalla Murders”), the film, which shot in Iceland last year, follows Eva (Young), a 19th-century widow who is tasked with making an