The U.K.’s film and TV industry took a massive hit following last year’s writers and actors strikes, latest figures show. While the U.K.’s production industry continues to generate billions, inward investment dropped by 35% to £4.23 billion ($5.3 billion) according to a new report from the British Film Institute. The previous two years saw record
Movies
Denis Villeneuve is gearing up to release “Dune: Part Two” in a theatrical landscape that is considerably different from when his first “Dune” movie opened in 2021. In response to the COVID pandemic, Warner Bros. made the controversial decision to release its entire 2021 film slate in theaters and on Max (then known as HBO
Oscar-nominated actor Annette Bening is set to receive the Spotlight Award from the Costume Designers Guild. The Spotlight Award honors an actor whose talent and career personify an enduring commitment to excellence, including a special awareness of the role and importance of costume design. Bening, whose credits include “Bugsy,” “The Grifters,” “American Beauty” and more,
Vince Vaughn has been offered Super Bowl commercials in the past, but he finally said yes when he got the chance to work alongside sports greats Tom Brady and Wayne Gretzky in an ad this year for gambling app BetMGM. The spot features Vaughn explaining that anyone could use BetMGM except the retired NFL star
Sony Pictures Classics is reuniting with Pedro Almodovar and will release the cinematic legend’s first English-language feature film, “The Room Next Door.” The indie studio announced it has acquired all rights in North America, the Middle East, India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to the film, which is set to star Oscar winners Julianne
Bryce Dallas Howard and Orlando Bloom will lead the all-star cast of Prime Video’s U.K. Original movie “Deep Cover.” The British action-comedy will also feature Sean Bean (“Game of Thrones”), Nick Mohammed (“Ted Lasso”), Ian McShane (“John Wick”), Paddy Considine (“Game of Thrones”) and Sonoya Mizuno (“Maniac,” “House of the Dragon”). According to its official
Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria was a mix of confident and casual on Jan. 31 as she led a very network TV-like presentation to explain why Netflix is nothing like a traditional TV network. “No entertainment company has tried to program with this ambition — for this many tastes, cultures and languages. Ever,” Bajaria
Whether you are still thinking about the call Gi-hun takes at the end of “Squid Game” Season 1 or anxiously awaiting a new series like “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” Netflix is here to deliver in 2024. In a new sizzle reel released Thursday, Netflix unveiled footage from some of this year’s most anticipated films and
Khaby Lame, the Senegalese-born Italian influencer who is the most-followed content creator on TikTok, is set to make his feature film debut playing a food delivery rider who is recruited by the CIA in an action-comedy that will take him around the world. The English-language spy comedy working-titled “00Khaby” – and set in Italy, the
Film Factory will bring to market at Berlín Icíar Bollaín’s latest film, “I’m Nevenka,” a recount of Spain’s first high-profile case of sexual harassment starring Mireia Oriol (“The Girl in the Mirror”). It will reunite much of the team behind Bollain’s “Maixabel, including Urko Olazaba who won a best supporting Spanish Academy Goya Award for
The Berlinale has issued a statement calling for Iranian authorities to allow “My Favourite Cake” directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha to travel to this year’s film festival. “My Favourite Cake” is set to premiere in competition at the festival, which starts on Feb. 15. Since the announcement, Moghaddam and Sanaeeha have been banned from
Sasha Nathwani’s feature film debut “Last Swim,” which opens the Generation 14plus competition at the Berlin Film Festival, will be represented for worldwide sales by Indie Sales. Set over a hot summer day in London as the high-school year is ending, the film follows British-Iranian teen Ziba as she leads her friends on an eventful journey
The first look has been revealed of “The Light,” Tom Tykwer’s return to the big screen after seven years and four seasons as writer and director of the hit series “Babylon Berlin.” Beta Cinema is handling sales for all territories except German-speaking territories, France and North America and will start selling the film at the
M-Appeal will handle the world sales for “Sex,” the first part of the “Sex Dreams Love” trilogy by Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud. The film will have its world premiere in the Panorama strand of Berlinale on Feb. 17. “Sex” follows two men in heterosexual marriages, who have an unexpected experience that challenges them to reconsider their
Leading Asian filmmakers including Chang Tso-Chi, Lav Diaz, Midi Z, Tan Chui Mui and Yang Chao are poised to make appearances next month at the Work-in-Progress section of the Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF) project market. HAF organizers Thursday added 15 WIP projects, having previously selected 26 in-development projects and six genre
“Gaucho Gaucho” opens on a pristinely framed, lushly monochromatic shot of something that can only, at first glance, be described as an unidentified lying object. On a flat expanse of matted grassland, under a rolling widescreen canvas of sky, the camera centers a large, dark clump of what may be rock, earth or animal matter.
Filmmaker Jason Reitman is working on a deal to take over Westwood’s historic Fox Village Theater in the next few weeks, Variety has confirmed. The approximately 1,375-seat theater has been listed for sale for the past year. Reitman is leading a group of other entertainment industry figures in the purchase, which was first reported by
The prosecutor in the “Rust” case says there is “substantial” evidence that armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed unwittingly brought live bullets on the set, leading to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. In a court filing on Monday, prosecutor Kari Morrissey argued that several photos taken on set — including ones taken by Gutierrez Reed —
Negotiations on new union contracts with Hollywood crews will begin in early March with a focus on shoring up the pension and health funds, which took a severe hit during the writers and actors strikes last year. In an unusual move, all of the “below the line” guilds — IATSE, the Teamsters and the other
Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in the “Rust” shooting, avoiding a formal arraignment on the charge. Baldwin faces up to 18 months in prison if convicted of negligently shooting Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer on the film, in October 2021. Baldwin was indicted by a New Mexico grand jury on Jan. 19, one
Bradley Cooper joined his fellow best actor SAG Award nominees Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”), Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”), Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”) and Colman Domingo (“Rustin”) for an hour-long conversation, during which each actor was asked to name a career-changing moment they had with a fellow actor on set. Cooper, nominated for his self-directed performance in
Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Fremaux took a break from screening movies to share his faith in the big screen and why filmmakers shouldn’t compromise on theatrical in a conversation with two-time Palme d’Or winner Ruben Ostlund at the Goteborg Film Festival. Fremaux talked about the winning theatrical strategy of streamers such as Apple, which
James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC Universe came into greater focus this week beyond the upcoming “Superman: Legacy” when Gunn confirmed that “House of the Dragon” breakout Milly Alcock has been cast as Supergirl, a character that is getting her own superhero tentpole with “Supergirl: World of Tomorrow.” And who might direct the movie?
It’s a tale as old as time: a young musician leaves their life behind with a bag on their back and a burning desire to find inspiration away from society. Phoebe Nir’s “gonzo female desire musical” “Eco Village,” however, is far from your conventional Age of Aquarius funfair about a hippie-adjacent community in the woods.
Half a century ago, Universal Pictures hoped to carry over the success of its entries in the short-lived disaster film vogue to naval combat movies, stirring some box office if few other rewards via dullish “Midway” and “Gray Lady Down,” which felt like bloated retro B-movies. Having revived the disaster genre with trilogy “The Wave,”
What should we make of the “Barbie” blowup? After the candy-coated phenom debuted last summer to glowing reviews and box office glory, it seemed like a certifiable Oscar juggernaut. Last week as the Academy Award nominations were unveiled, “Barbie” scored a perfectly respectable eight nominations. However, voters overlooked director Greta Gerwig and lead actress Margot
Margot Robbie is not letting the Oscars snubbing her for best actress break her spirit when it comes to “Barbie,” which still pulled off an impressive eight Academy Award nominations this year. Robbie is a nominee in 2024 for best picture as she produced the blockbuster comedy. She recently joined her “Barbie” co-stars for a
When Amy Pascal was toppled from her perch as Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chairperson in 2015, the landing was soft. The longtime executive negotiated a lucrative four-year exit deal that guaranteed her two theatrical releases per year and the right to produce future “Spider-Man” movies. That meant Pascal would earn tens of millions of dollars in
Swann Arlaud, recently seen as Sandra Hüller’s lawyer in “Anatomy of a Fall,” and Woody Norman, who appeared alongside Joaquin Phoenix in 2021 crowdpleaser “C’mon C’mon,” are set to lead the cast of “Sukkwan Island.” Ruaridh Mollica, who turned heads in this year’s Sundance following his lead turn in “Sebastian,” and Alma Pöysti, who was
Linda Cardellini, Edi Patterson, Tim Heidecker and Toby Huss will star in David Gordon Green’s “Nutcrackers.” They join the previously announced Ben Stiller, who will play a work-obsessed man who travels to rural Ohio to look after his four nephews after their parents die in a car accident. Heidecker will play a local deputy, Patterson has been