Movies

Netflix has acquired “Skywalkers: A Love Story” following the documentary feature’s debut at the Sundance Film Festival. “Skywalkers,” which premiered Jan. 18 at the Ray Theatre, follows daring couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus from Moscow, who saved their relationship and career by climbing one of the world’s tallest buildings. Per the official logline: “A

“Scream” franchise star Hayden Panettiere has spoken out about Melissa Barrera‘s firing from the horror film series, calling her controversial exit “very unfair and upsetting.” Barrera, who played Sam Carpenter in 2022’s “Scream” and 2023’s “Scream VI,” was fired last November from the upcoming “Scream 7” after her social media posts about Palestine were deemed

“Super/Man,” a documentary about the life of Christopher Reeve, is finalizing a deal to sell to Warner Bros. Discovery following its buzzy Sundance Film Festival premiere. It’s an interesting home for the documentary, because Reeve experienced his greatest commercial success playing the Man of Steel in the first four Superman movies, which Warner Bros. produced.

Marcelo Gomes’ new film “Portrait of a Certain Orient” will be represented for world sales by Brazil’s O2 Play. The deal was sealed ahead of the film’s premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where it plays as part of the Big Screen Competition. O2 Play is the distribution arm of O2 Filmes group, a

The 40th edition of Sundance proved that despite corporate consolidation, there is still a market for independently made documentaries. While there haven’t been many sales so far, there has been strong buyer interest in two celeb-focused docs — “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” and “Will & Harper,” featuring Will Ferrell — and healthy interest in

Barnaby Clay is a true Renaissance man. Having directed short films (“Carousel” with Chloë Sevigny, “Sickdog” with Natasha Lyonne), music videos for artists ranging from David Bowie to Rihanna, a feature-length documentary on photographer Mick Rock, and even launched a visual art installation with Danger Mouse and his wife, Yeah Yeah Yeahs rocker Karen O,

Whenever Denis Villeneuve decides it’s time to make a third “Dune” movie, Zendaya is ready to reprise her role of Chani. During a cast interview with Fandango ahead of “Dune: Part Two” opening in theaters, Zendaya said returning for a potential “Dune Messiah” movie is a no brainer. Villeneuve has already stated publicly that his

Finnish director Tiina Lymi decided to “go big” for “Stormskerry Maja,” set in the 19th century. Based on a series of books by Anni Blomqvist, it has been selected for International Film Festival Rotterdam and Goteborg. “It had to be done this way. It’s about life and death, love, sorrow and lust. Big emotions. I

The debate around Oscar snubs exploded following the announcement of the 2024 Academy Award nominations, which now infamously excluded “Barbie” filmmaker Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie from the best director and actress races. Michelle Yeoh, who won the best actress Oscar last year for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” was asked to weigh in

Far-out cineaste Santiago Mohar Volkow (“Los Muertos”) will deliver his fourth feature “A History of Love & War” (“Una Historia de Amor y de Guerra”) to audiences at the 53rd edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.  A viscally ludicrous examination of Mexico’s colonial history and the duplicitous nature of high-wealth, the film screens as

“Presence,” a twisty haunted house thriller, marks the second collaboration between Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp. The duo, who are longtime friends, also partnered on 2022’s “Kimi,” which featured Zoë Kravitz as an agoraphobic tech wiz. But Soderergh and Koepp entered each other’s orbit long before “Kimi” debuted. Koepp wrote the screenplay for the

Even before Nike founder Phil Knight acquired the studio that would be renamed Laika in 2002, it was already a staple of the Oregon filmmaking landscape. Will Vinton Studios spent 30 years creating stop-motion animation staples such as the California Raisins, and that history and legacy permeates both Laika’s work and that of the other

Brazil’s giant media conglom Globo and Spain’s Atresmedia International, the overseas arm of top commercial broadcaster Atresmedia, have renewed their strategic pact for another five years, in which Atresmedia delivers Globo telenovelas, series and mini-series across Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market. “Since we launched the agreement five years ago, we have witnessed how

A production coming to Oregon with an in-state spend of $1 million dollars or more doesn’t have to hire locally to qualify for the state’s incentive program, but it’s still likely to be staffed largely by Oregonians. “Over the last eight or nine years, in excess of 85% of the crews on larger movies have

Disney + Oscar nominated documentary short “Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó” about two Asian grandmothers, is set to debut on the streamer and Hulu on Feb. 9. The 17-minute film directed by Taiwanese American filmmaker Sean Wang follows the daily, often humorous, lives of his elderly maternal and paternal grandmothers who are best friends and

Amazon MGM Studios is in final negotiations to acquire Megan Park’s sophomore feature “My Old Ass,” starring Aubrey Plaza and Maisy Stella, following its Sundance Film Festival debut. The high-concept film — which was produced by LuckyChap’s Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara, with Indian Paintbrush’s Steven Rales — made its world premiere on

The Sundance Film Festival welcomed a new class of indie film stars on Friday, handing out its annual awards in Park City, Utah. Taking the festival’s grand jury prize in the U.S. dramatic competition was “In the Summers” from writer-director Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio. The film tells of two daughters who come of age navigating a

Ariana DeBose, Boy George and Nile Rodgers have teamed up for “Electric Energy,” the disco-infused bop featured in Matthew Vaughn’s “Argylle.” Rodgers, who produced the track which plays over the film’s end credits, says he got a call from Vaughn asking if he wanted to be involved. Speaking with Variety over Zoom, the musician said

“Concrete Utopia,” the highly regarded drama-thriller that was South Korea’s Oscars contender and one of the biggest box office hits of 2023, has scored a streaming release in North America. Rakuten Viki, which specializes in Asian content, has licensed exclusive rights to the film in the U.S. and Canada and will begin streaming it to

Ecuador-based 2bLatam, the driving creative force behind the wildly popular Spanish-language comedy channel enchufe.tv, has joined forces with Mexican media & entertainment indie Elefantec Global to develop content around enchufe.tv’s IP. Founded by former Televisa exec José “Pepe” Bastón, Elefantec Global is behind such notable productions as “Bosé” for Paramount+ in Latin America, “La rebellion”

Ahead of its 41st edition, International Film Festival Rotterdam’s industry event CineMart isn’t interested in uniformity. “The trend is diversity,” says head of IFFR Pro Alessia Acone. “We feature different themes, different production structures and different filmmakers. We want to make sure we can represent many things at the same time. This year, more than

IMAGINARY WORLDWIDE DEAL Netflix has picked up worldwide rights to “The Imaginary,” a currently-on-release Japanese animation film from producer Studio Ponoc. “Studio Ponoc is thrilled to bring our storytelling and innovative hand-drawn, hand-painted animated films to all audiences, and in particular to children and their families to enjoy together, around the world on Netflix,” said

Lotte Cultureworks will launch “Holy Night: Demon Hunters,” likely to be one of the biggest Korean movies of the year, at next month’s European Film Market in Berlin. The occult-themed action movie stars Don Lee, the Korean-American superstar who also fronts “The Roundup” comedy-action franchise. The fourth instalment in that series “The Roundup: Punishment” will

Award-winning artist Justin Anderson’s debut feature “Swimming Home” has its world premiere in competition at International Film Festival Rotterdam. Variety has secured access to the first clip from the film. The film, an adaptation of Deborah Levy’s 2012 Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel, centers on poet Joe (Christopher Abbott) and war photographer Isabel (Mackenzie Davis),

Depending on how you look at it, “Ponyboi” is either a Trojan horse for exploring nonbinary gender identity or a hackneyed crime movie with a radically unorthodox queer protagonist. Either way, it’s a sordid yet stylish showcase for intersex actor (and activist) River Gallo, who uses “they/them” pronouns and sees the project as an opportunity

Belgian group Lumiere has signed as co-producer – via its production arm Lunanime – and distributor for Benelux of the Icelandic crime drama “Haze” from Iceland’s seasoned showrunner Sigurjón Kjartansson (“Trapped” Season 1 & 2, “Katla”). The eight-part series, produced by Kjartansson’s S800 for Icelandic pubcaster RÚV, will be showcased at Göteborg’s TV Drama Vision

Amid the surfeit of films about women’s rights and men’s abuses of power that have emerged in the wake of the #MeToo reckoning, we haven’t yet seen one quite like “Black Box Diaries.” A tightly wound, heart-on-sleeve procedural documentary, Shiori Ito‘s directorial debut identifies a world of systemic iniquities through the prism of a single,

Billy Dee Williams appeared on Entertainment Weekly’s “Dagobah Dispatch” podcast and discussed the backlash he’s faced throughout the years due to the “Star Wars” franchise. Williams debuted as Lando Calrissian in “The Empire Strikes Back,” which includes a moment in which Lando makes a deal with the Empire that leads to Han Solo being captured and

How do you choose between Tom Cruise and Quentin Tarantino? It’s a dilemma Austin Butler faced before his Oscar-nominated performance in “Elvis” turned him into a global star. During an interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast (via People) while promoting his new Apple TV+ series “Masters of the Air,” Butler confirmed reports he was

“Rustin” star Colman Domingo has just been named an Oscar nominee for best actor for his powerhouse performance in the biographical drama. As he arrives to record the latest episode of Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, Domingo says he wants to stay present in this moment, noting that he was “waiting around for a certain call