October 30, 2018 2:31PM PT Fox has hired “Overlord” director Julius Avery to write and direct a “Flash Gordon” movie. The studio had been in negotiations in 2015 with “Kingsman” director Matthew Vaughn to helm “Flash Gordon.” Vaughn will now produce with John Davis and Hearst Entertainment & Syndication Group. Fox senior vice president Matt
Movies
Stripped of CD playing time limitations, Spotify devised the fluid soundtrack last year, one that could add song after song as a TV show progressed. HBO’s “Insecure” was the guinea pig; by mid-October it was up to 159 songs. The streaming service is taking it further this month, partnering with Jonah Hill and A24 on
Suggesting an artist to perform the title song for Matthew Heineman’s “A Private War,” the movie about British journalist Marie Colvin, who was killed in 2012 while covering the war in Syria, was a no-brainer for CAA’s Brian Loucks. “I thought this was the kind of movie Annie would love,” the agent says of his
Ubisoft is working on scripts for a “Child of Light” live-action television show and a “Werewolves Within” movie, the company told Variety. Both video game adaptations are products of the company’s inaugural Women’s Film and Television Fellowship. “We were so thrilled with the outcome of this fellowship, it is exactly what we wanted,” Margaret Boykin,
Since debuting in 1999, Tyler Perry’s Madea character has appeared in dozens of films, plays, and television appearances. But in 2019, exactly 20 years after audiences first met the tough-talking grandmother, Perry is taking off the makeup and wig once and for all. The filmmaker will do a farewell stage tour and 2019’s “Tyler Perry’s
October 30, 2018 12:21PM PT Rebecca Hall has landed one of the new leads in Legendary’s “Godzilla vs. Kong,” sources tell Variety. Adam Wingard is directing the film, which also stars Millie Bobby Brown, Alexander Skarsgard, “Deadpool 2” actor Julian Dennison, and “Atlanta” star Brian Tyree Henry. Plot details are vague, but the actioner will
In order to give films from the continent a chance to stand out among the more than 80 foreign-language submissions, European Film Promotion is arranging for a series of screenings of 25 entries at the AFM. Starting Wednesday and running through Nov. 20, the screenings will be accompanied, in some cases, by Q&As with the
Diversity, both social and cultural, has become inherent in all aspects of show business, and that includes film music. The various meanings of that term will be a topic for discussion at Variety’s inaugural Music for Screens Summit featuring a composer panel comprising Marco Beltrami (“A Quiet Place”), Terence Blanchard (“BlacKkKlansman”), Ramin Djawadi (“Game of
Christmas is coming early to Netflix, with the streaming platform adding a host of new holiday movies to its November lineup. Kicking off the month is “Angela’s Christmas” — an animated feature about a young Irish girl — followed by another heartwarming holiday tale, “The Holiday Calendar,” about a young photographer who discovers a magical
October 30, 2018 10:00AM PT Toni Collette is set to join the cast of Rian Johnson’s murder mystery “Knives Out.” The movie stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Ana de Armas. Johnson will write and direct, as well as produce with Ram Bergman. Production is set
October 30, 2018 9:53AM PT Olga Kurylenko will lead a female-led cast in “The Courier,” a London-set action thriller from Zackary Adler (“The Rise of the Krays”). Kurylenko (“Quantum of Solace”) will play the titular courier, whose daily deliveries are interrupted when she discovers that her latest package is a bomb aimed at the witness
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross just got off tour. They also just got out of the recording studio. These are not contradictory statements. In recent months, it’s been Nine Inch Nails by night, film scoring by day — sometimes right up to the moment they walk on stage. They wrapped up work on Jonah Hill’s
“War is a state of mind,” notes Cyprien Clément-Delmas, who, together with Igor Kosenko, directed “Boy of War,” the study of Artiom, a teenage Ukrainian whose dream is to become a soldier and fight for his homeland. Has Artiom really thought this idea through? This was the question on the duo’s minds as they began
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to the historical drama “All Is True,” starring Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench, and Ian McKellen. Branagh directed from Ben Elton’s script about the little-known period in the final years of William Shakespeare. Branagh portrays the playwright with Dench as his wife Anne, while McKellen plays the Earl of
This year Lucca Comics & Games, which draws almost 250,000 guests, will really have something for everyone. Michael Pena and Diego Luna of Netflix’s “Narcos,” Marvel Comics’ editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski, executive producer of videogame “Kingdom Hearts III” Shinji Hashimoto, “The Crow” creator James O’Barr, former Ferrari racer Jean Alesi and manga master Leiji Matsumoto are
How does Heather Parry, president of Live Nation Productions, operate? A telling example comes in answer to a question about how her company became involved with “A Star Is Born,” the Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga vehicle that is already one of the biggest films of the year. “I know Bradley, and as soon as
Christmas is more than a month away, but Netflix is already adding a host of holiday flicks to its November lineup of original movies. Starting Nov. 2, the streaming platform is adding almost ten original films to its fall slate, including “The Holiday Calendar,” a movie about a magic calendar that can predict the future,
The Middle East premiere of U.S. director Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” will open the revamped Cairo Film Festival where Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” is also set to launch in the region and Ralph Fiennes will be feted with a career award. Cairo’s upcoming 40th edition, which will run November 20-29, bears the stamp of a big
It was more or less inevitable that the centenary of Ingmar Bergman (he was born on July 14, 1918) would be commemorated with a reverent film portrait of the legendary Swedish director’s life and work. But here’s where we’ve been lucky: The year has given us not one but two world-class, eye-and-mind-opening Bergman documentaries. The
In today’s film news roundup, Mel Gibson and Charlie Hunnam are starring in “Waldo,” romantic drama “Stay” gets picked up and the Academy is partnering with the African American Film Critics Association. CASTINGS Mel Gibson, Charlie Hunnam and Eiza González are attached to star in Tim Kirkby’s action-thriller “Waldo.” Andrew Lazar, Christina Weiss Lurie and
October 29, 2018 5:44PM PT Jeffrey Dean Morgan, star of AMC’s series “The Walking Dead,” and Connie Nielsen have signed on for the Janusz Kaminski-directed thriller “The Postcard Killings.” The two will co-star in the film adapted from James Patterson and Liza Marklund’s bestseller. The film follows a New York detective (Morgan) whose life is
Despite the Trump administration’s threat to define transgender individuals out of existence, and the recent violence against those of the Jewish faith, Steven Canals and Janet Mock are not afraid of the violence against marginalized people in the United States. “The truth is that our lives as queer people of color, LGBTQ people, as women, our
Hollywood may be reassessing its ties to Saudi Arabia following the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. But at a big international film industry conference underway in the Middle East, there are no signs anyone else is thinking about pulling back from what continues to be considered a global top 10 movie market in
October 29, 2018 3:00PM PT After the record-breaking box office run of “It,” director Andy Muschietti has found his next project. Muschietti will direct a feature film adaptation of “Attack on Titans” for Warner Bros. The studio finalized a deal with Japan-based publishing company Kodansha on Monday. “Attack on Titan,” written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama,
Christmas may be more than a month away, but that isn’t stopping streaming platforms from adding some holiday cheer to their November lineups. Beginning with the animated film “Angela’s Christmas” on Nov. 1, Netflix is adding several holiday movies to its streaming slate, including “The Holiday Calendar,” “The Princess Switch,” and “A Christmas Prince: The
The producers of “Crazy Rich Asians,” which doesn’t release in China till the end of next month, are already warming up plans to shoot the film’s sequel in the Middle Kingdom. Producer John Penotti, president of SK Global, said that “China Rich Girlfriend” is targeting a shoot in Shanghai. He made the revelation Monday in
October 29, 2018 11:24AM PT Not even a star-studded cast could save “London Fields” from pushing daisies at the box office. The long-delayed mystery drama — starring Amber Heard, Billy Bob Thornton, Jim Sturgess, Johnny Depp, and Cara Delevingne — brought in a dismal $116,470 when it opened in 613 North American theaters. That means each
Liam Neeson and Micheal Richardson (“Vox Lux”) will star in James D’Arcy’s directorial debut, “Made in Italy.” Neeson will play a bohemian London artist who returns to Italy with his estranged son, portrayed by Richardson, to sell the house they inherited from his late wife. The movie, also written by D’Arcy, will commence production in April
October 29, 2018 9:00AM PT Dev Patel will make his directorial debut with “Monkey Man.” The “Slumdog Millionaire” star will also act in the revenge thriller, which is being presented to buyers at this year’s American Film Market. “Monkey Man” centers on the Kid (Patel), who emerges from prison to grapple with a world marred
October 29, 2018 8:51AM PT Lena Dunham will write the harrowing survival tale of a Syrian refugee stranded at sea for the big screen. Dunham has been tapped by co-producers Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams to adapt “A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival.” The nonfiction