Herman Raucher, a best-selling author and the Academy Award nominated screenwriter of “Summer of ’42,” died Dec. 28 of natural causes at Stamford Hospital in Stamford, Conn. He was 95. Raucher got his start in the industry working in live television. He wrote one hour dramas for anthology series including “Studio One,” “Good Year Playhouse”
Movies
At the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, Kristen Stewart announced that her feature directorial debut would be an adaptation of “The Chronology of Water,” the 2011 memoir by author Lidia Yuknavitch. Since then, Stewart has been pounding the pavement to drum up financing for the project. But despite her track record of headlining some of
A decade ago, Gerard Depardieu played a character inspired by Dominique Strauss-Kahn — the disgraced former head of the International Monetary Fund who was accused of assaulting a hotel maid — in Abel Ferrara’s “Welcome to New York.” In an ironic twist, the iconic French actor has now become the poster boy for the country’s
Kristen Stewart is Variety’s Sundance cover star and said while recording a “Know Their Lines” video that she “hated” making “Charlie’s Angels,” the Elizabeth Banks-directed action-comedy that flopped at the box office in fall 2019. Stewart was joined in the film by Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska. While reviews were mixed, Stewart’s performance as the
“I will quit the fucking business.” Kristen Stewart is jabbing her finger into the couch we’re sharing, speaking with increasing speed and ferocity about what has driven her to this brink. She’s spent five years fruitlessly trying to drum up financing for what she hopes will be her feature directing debut, “The Chronology of Water,” based
“Nimona,” Netflix‘s sci-fi fantasy about a disgraced knight and a shape-shifting teenager, led the features category of the 51st Annie Awards nominations with nine, including best feature, director, character animation, character design, production design, storyboarding, voice acting, writing and editorial. In the feature race, “Nimona,” produced by Annapurna Animation for Netflix, will go up against
The future of media, tech and advertising — both their promise and peril — was the topic of the day at the Variety Entertainment Summit at CES 2024, held during the technology industry’s huge annual confab in Las Vegas. Speakers at the full-day event included Roku Media president Charlie Collier, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, Jenefer
A prize ceremony attended by Hamaguchi Ryusuke (“Drive My Car”), Vinod Vidhu Chopra (“3 Idiots”), Amir Naderi and Yonfan on Thursday wrapped up the final event of the debut edition of the Festival of Young Cinema in Macau. Following a week (Jan. 6-11) of industry-only screenings and presentations of 17 partly-completed films by emerging directors
U.K. sales and distribution outfit Blue Finch Films has boarded worldwide rights, excluding Australia and New Zealand, to thriller “Birdeater.” The debut feature from filmmaking duo Jack Clark and Jim Weir follows a bride-to-be who is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the
“Back to Black,” a new biopic about the late Amy Winehouse, has debuted its first footage. Starring “Industry” actor Marisa Abela as Winehouse and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (“Nowhere Boy,” “Fifty Shades of Grey”), “Back to Black” is executive produced by Nicky Kentish-Barnes, Ron Halpern and Joe Naftalin for Studiocanal and Alison Owen and Debra Hayward for
LAS VEGAS – The Walt Disney Co. showcased its investments in cutting-edge advertising technology on Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show, with top executives talking up the company’s enhanced ablity to serve marketers across linear and streaming platforms around the world. “2023 was Disney’s biggest year in our history for investments in ad technology, including
A new “Star Trek” film is in the works at Paramount with “Andor’s” Toby Haynes on board to direct and Seth Grahame-Smith penning the script, Variety has confirmed. While plot details are being kept under wraps, the upcoming feature will be an origin story that is set decades before 2009’s “Star Trek,” as well as
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are collaborating on a follow-up to their zombie genre game-changer “28 Days Later,” developing a follow-up titled “28 Years Later” that would hope to launch a new trilogy of films. William Morris Endeavor, which represents both creators, looks to shop the project to studios and streamers later this year. Released
Greta Gerwig doesn’t seem too upset over the polarizing “Barbie” joke Jo Koy made during his gig hosting the 2024 Golden Globes. Koy received mostly negative reviews for his hosting stint, and the “Barbie” joke led to backlash on social media as many viewers thought Koy was being reductive and sexist toward the film. During
A night full of legends, tears and an amazing audition to be the next Oscars host, the 14th annual Governors Awards brought all of this year’s award contenders out to celebrate four industry titans on Tuesday inside the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Los Angeles. Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and Carol Littleton received honorary Oscars, while
The SAG Awards nominations provided an exciting blend of usual suspects and stunning omissions. For some awards season strategists — particularly the ones behind critically adored films like “Anatomy of a Fall” and “May December” — there’s no choice but to ask, “what happened?” The SAG Awards’ pearl anniversary brought expected mentions for Oscar contenders
Variety rounded up some of our favorite creators behind several films recently shortlisted by the Academy to discuss the work that goes into making these now iconic cinematic moments. From “American Fiction’s” score to the heartrending tunes of “Flora and Son,” the artisans went deep on their process and revealed the layers of thought and
Selena Gomez will play Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic, Variety has confirmed. The pop singer and “Only Murders in the Building” star teased the role Tuesday night by posting a picture of Ronstadt’s 2013 memoir “Simple Dreams” on her Instagram story. The music biopic is currently in pre-production, with producers including Ronstadt’s manager, John
Fremantle label Undeniable, Big Pond Films and Concordia Studio have teamed on true-crime feature documentary “Whatever It Takes,” which will world premiere at SXSW. The documentary follows the true story of journalists Ina and David Steiner, who were targeted in a Silicon Valley scandal. “In the summer of 2019, a middle-aged couple are subjected to
SXSW Film & TV Festival announced multiple categories for the 2024 event, including Opening Night TV Premiere, Centerpiece Screening and more. Netflix’s “3 Body Problem,” executive produced and written by “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, along with “True Blood” writer Alexander Woo is set to debut as the Opening Night
“Barbenheimer” forever! Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan, the filmmakers behind last summer’s blockbusters “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” are among the best feature film director nominees at the 76th annual DGA Awards. The Directors Guild of America nominated five directors in total, including Martin Scorsese for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Yorgos Lanthimos for “Poor Things” and
“The Beekeeper” is the best kind of bad movie — which is to say, it’s the sort that puts entertainment ahead of pretentiousness, embracing the laughter sure to accompany such an unapologetically stupid, ultra-violent premise. Starring Jason Statham in what feels like a parody of Jason Statham movies, this conspiracy-fueled action showcase tortures its central
Seth Rogen‘s production company Point Grey Pictures is teaming up with the studio that backed its raunchy, R-rated hits like “Neighbors,” “Good Boys” and “Blockers.” Universal Pictures has forged a first-look film partnership with Point Grey Pictures, the company that Rogen co-founded with Evan Goldberg in 2011. James Weaver, a longtime producing partner, is the
Can “Mean Girls” make fetch happen at the box office? Paramount’s new take on the teen classic is aiming to generate $30 million from 3,800 North American theaters over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. The studio projecting a debut in the high $20 million range. Those ticket sales would, indeed, be fetch because “Mean Girls”
French cinema icon Catherine Deneuve has begun filming in Japan of “Spirit World,” a fantasy-drama film directed by Singapore’s Eric Khoo. Deneuve portrays a singer who dies suddenly while on tour in Japan. But her spirit lives on and she embarks on a journey to find humanity in the after-world. The project was revealed by
Los Angeles-based independent studio XYZ Films has renewed its financing agreement with fund management company IPR.VC. The agreement was set in 2019 and started an investment vehicle that has resulted in 20 productions in four years, including Matt Johnson’s 2023 Berlin and SXSW selection “BlackBerry” and upcoming Sundance premieres “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” a documentary
German actor Christian Friedel melts into his roles, most recently as the commandant of Auschwitz in Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest.” The Dresden, Germany-based actor and musician fashioned Rudolf Höss as an executive on the rise: he’s a snappy dresser who’s efficient and knows how to get the most out of his employees and
A24 is developing a new documentary titled “Open Wide,” about an orthodontist whose controversial method of reshaping people’s jawlines went viral on TikTok for all the wrong reasons. Sara Goldblatt directed “Open Wide,” which will be available to watch Jan. 23 on Netflix. The documentary explores a father and son who are fighting to upend
“Barbenheimer” dominated nominations for the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards, just as the two blockbusters ruled over last year’s box office. Both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” received a leading four nominations, including nods for their ensembles. The movies will vie for that top prize alongside “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “American Fiction” and “The Color Purple.”
Italy’s box office revenue rose in 2023 to €495 million ($542,000) while the country’s admissions tally reached 70.5 million, representing a roughly 60% increase compared with 2022. Though Italian moviegoing figures – announced Wednesday in Rome by national box office compiler Cinetel – mark a substantial leap forward, they are still down roughly 23% compared