November 6, 2018 3:04PM PT Anna Kendrick’s sci-fi thriller “Stowaway,” from XYZ Films and CAA Media Finance, has closed sales in multiple overseas territories. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has bought rights to the United Kingdom and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and most of Asia. Additional territories sold include
Movies
The Oscar circuit is roaring to life with soirees and cocktail gatherings booked throughout New York and Los Angeles until the end of the year and beyond. Campaigns are looking for the usual footholds, shipping in talent to hold court with members of the Hollywood Foreign Press and Broadcast Film Critics associations, angling for representation
It’s never too early to cash in on a little Yuletide spirit. Universal and Illumination are seeing green as “The Grinch” anticipates to earn between $55 million to $65 million when it launches on 4,140 screens. The animated comedy is expected to dominate over “The Girl In the Spider’s Web” and “Overlord,” the two other wide
November 6, 2018 12:22PM PT The Panama Papers, an incendiary data leak of some 11.5 million documents, revealed world leaders, celebrities, and politicians involved in offshore tax evasion and money laundering in 2015. Former actor and filmmaker Alex Winter gets to the heart of the scandal in “The Panama Papers,” a documentary that played the
MEXICO CITY — In what is already an extraordinary year for Mexican filmmaking, Piano, the Mexico City-based production-distribution house, has boarded “Memoria,” from Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul who dazzled the Cannes Festival in 2010 with Palme d-Or winner “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.” The move comes after Piano, founded by Julio Chavezmontes
This year, Variety will honor its 10 Actors to Watch with the Newport Beach Film Festival at a brunch taking place on Nov. 11 at the Resort at Pelican Hill. NBFF will also present honors to several artists, including the Icon Award to Robert Forster (now on screens in “What They Had”) and Artist of
Illumination founder Chris Meledandri wants to make an animated version of “Super Mario Bros.” and Variety has the inside scoop on his plans for bringing the Mushroom Kingdom to the multiplexes. It’s a daunting challenge. The classic Nintendo game about a pair of Italian plumbers who must rescue Princess Peach from the villainous Bowser has already inspired
With a soundtrack recorded by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in Wellington and sound engineer John Neill of Peter Jackson’s Park Road Studio serving as recording producer and score mixer, Latin America’s first multi-million dollar science fiction horror movie “Pacific,” is set to make a splash when it bows next year. Producer Mauricio Brunetti estimates
“The China Syndrome” (1979)“It goes back to ‘The China Syndrome’ when I first became actively involved,” says Douglas of the decades he’s spent working for various nuclear disarmament groups, including the Ploughshares Fund and the United Nations, which, under former secretary-general Kofi Annan, named Douglas a Messenger of Peace. “I didn’t choose the picture because
When we meet at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Michael Douglas has just battled afternoon traffic from Pasadena, where he was doing an errand while in town to present at the Emmys and do promotional press for “The Kominsky Method,” the Netflix comedy created by Chuck Lorre that bows Nov. 16 and in which
BARCELONA — Paris-based Cat & Docs has taken all international rights to Bettina Perut and Iván Osnovikoff’s “Los Reyes,” a documentary feature which screens in competition at the 31st International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). The feature is produced by Chile’s foremost young documentary director Maite Alberdi (“The Grown-Ups,” “Tea Time”) in association with Perut
November 6, 2018 9:30AM PT European authorities have approved Disney’s purchase of 21st Century Fox assets, with conditions attached. The European Commission said that Disney had agreed to offload it’s A&E channels in Europe to alleviate concerns that the Fox deal would eliminate competition in the realm of factual channels. Through its A&E joint venture
MoviePass rival Sinemia has announced a weekday discounting pricing for its movie subscription plans for the lower-attendance days of Monday through Thursday. The new pricing plans covers the U.S., UK, Canadian, and Australian markets. The lowest price is a $4.99 package for one movie ticket per month, which will now drop to $3.99 on weekdays,
Nadine Labaki made “Capernaum,” her arresting new drama about a young boy who sues his parents for giving birth to him, after observing the soul-crushing poverty around her in Beirut. She wondered what happened to the children she saw begging on the streets or working dead end jobs as delivery boys or assistants in mechanic
“Shrek” and “Puss ’n’ Boots” are getting rebooted and Chris Meledandri, the man behind “Despicable Me,” is overseeing their revival. Universal Pictures has tasked Meledandri with finding some fresh story lines to reintroduce the lovable ogre and the sword-wielding feline to new generations of moviegoers. One thing the animation guru doesn’t want to mess with
Netflix is unveiling six new animated projects as the streaming giant continues to bolster its family entertainment slate. The offerings span film and television, and spring from the minds of some of the most acclaimed names in media. The movies include “My Father’s Dragon,” a 2D animated family feature film from Oscar-nominated director Nora Twomey
Jorge R. Gutiérrez knew he couldn’t turn down the invitation. In January, the “Book of Life” director was one of a select group of animators asked to attend a special presentation at Netflix’s Hollywood offices. Even though the event coincided with Gutiérrez’s 43rd birthday, the filmmaker felt he had to make the time. “My wife kept asking
Chris Meledandri is Hollywood’s most reluctant mogul. With Jeffrey Katzenberg selling DreamWorks and John Lasseter forced out at Disney over harassment allegations, the founder of Illumination Entertainment is the last person standing among the trio of industry animation titans. Whereas Lasseter for decades cut a larger-than-life figure at Pixar’s sprawling campus in Emeryville, Calif., dominating
MEXICO CITY — Los Cabos Film Festival’s Mexico Primero section is intended to encourage and promote both up-and-coming and against-the-grain Mexican filmmakers. Five films make up this year’s edition of Mexico Primero, spanning from intimate indie dramas to thrillers to fantasy and horror. Each film offers something unique to the slate, while sharing an almost
MEXICO CITY — Capricci Films, the French producer on Argentine director Pablo Agüero’s upcoming comedy-horror project “Sangria,” will be joined by the newly formed, all-female Mexican production company Calouma Films. “Sangria” turns on Xavier, a carefree Canadian on vacation in Mexico who visits the worship space of a pagan saint. There, he meets beautiful Flor,
Auli’i Cravalho has given her official approval for all “Moana” Halloween costumes regardless of skin color. “I think Moana is a character for anyone who wants to be the hero or heroine of their own story. If you resonate with the character, you dress up as that character. For me, that’s what that is,” the
November 5, 2018 6:14PM PT Focus Features has acquired worldwide rights to “Street Gang,” Marilyn Agrelo’s documentary exploring the “Sesame Street” phenomenon. HBO has acquired U.S. rights, Variety has learned. Introduced to buyers at the AFM by the Exchange, “Street Gang” is partly based on Michael Davis’ best-selling book of the same name published in
In today’s film news roundup, Ben Foster is playing a boxer, Corbin Bernsen will portray a real estate developer and vampire fantasy “Empire V” is selling at AFM. CASTINGS Ben Foster has signed on to star in boxing drama “Harry Haft” with Barry Levinson directing. Bron Studios and New Mandate Films are producing in association
Grammy Award-winning artists/producer duo Drew Taggart and Alex Pall of the Chainsmokers have formed Kick the Habit Productions to develop and produce film, television, and digital projects. Dan Marcus, a former digital media agent at UTA, has been named chief operating officer and president and will oversee development and production for the company. Adam Alpert,
Jason Blum has made bank from things that go bump in the night. Thanks to the success of skin-crawling franchises such as “Paranormal Activity,” “The Purge,” and most recently “Halloween,” the horror maestro has slashed through a major milestone. Blumhouse, the mega-producer’s indie film label, has officially hit $4 billion in box office revenues. Its
Before arriving at its current title, Danish director Bille August’s English-Mandarin WWII film “In Harm’s Way” was released in Britain as “The Hidden Soldier,” and premiered at 2017’s Shanghai Intl. Film Festival as “The Chinese Widow.” Why the film would reject two prosaic yet descriptive English-language titles for an equally prosaic yet randomly applied one
China Capital Zhongcai Fund Management Co. Ltd. will inject $300 million into the film fund of Starlight Culture Entertainment Group, Variety has learned exclusively. Starlight is a China-backed firm with offices in Beverly Hills, Calif. It operates under the leadership of CEO Peter Luo, and came to notice in 2016 through a deal with “Aquaman”
We’re happy to report that John Krasinki is well on his way to making the sequel to “A Quiet Place.” “I’m writing it now,” Krasinski told Variety Sunday at 10th annual Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards, adding, “I’ve mapped out an idea and hopefully it’s good enough to shoot … Paramount’s been unbelievably supportive and I’m
November 5, 2018 3:35PM PT Before stepping into Lisbeth Salander’s shoes for “The Girl in the Spider’s Web,” Claire Foy didn’t watch any of the previous films, which starred Rooney Mara and Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth. “I didn’t watch them ahead,” the Golden Globe winner told Variety on Sunday at the NYC screening of the
Larry Namer’s Metan Entertainment and Entree Pictures are to produce an English-language movie about 7th century Chinese Empress Wu. The film is an adaptation of the novel “Empress” by Evelyn McCune, with a screenplay by Ron Bass (“Rain Man,” “The Joy Luck Club”). The film will feature an American and Canadian Chinese cast, and cameos from