Amazon is laying off “several hundred” employees at Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. “This is a difficult decision to make and one that my leadership team and I do not take lightly,” the company’s entertainment chief Mike Hopkins wrote in an email to staff Wednesday. “It is hard to say goodbye to talented Amazonians
Movies
Gold House and CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics) in Entertainment released the fourth annual Gold List, which spotlights outstanding work and talent within the AAPI community over the past 12 months. “The Gold List was created to ensure awards seasons and mainstream society are up to date on the most worthy creative work — particularly
Not every movie — indeed, almost no movie — was meant to be turned into a musical. But the trend of doing so has become more common over the last two decades, and when you see a movie-to-musical transformation that really works, a surprising alchemy occurs. It can feel as if that story was always
Jay Hunt has been appointed chair of the British Film Institute. A hugely well-respected name in British TV, Hunt is currently the creative director for Apple TV+ in Europe, and has been a governor of the British Film Institute since 2020. Prior to joining Apple, she was chief creative officer at Channel 4 and, thanks
Just after Spaniard J.A. Bayona’s Oscar-shortlisted “Society of the Snow” opened on Netflix to a massive 55.8 million hours watched over Jan. 4-7 – the second best bow ever in watching time for a non-English Netflix movie – ICEX Spain Trade & Investment, the country’s powerful export and inward investment board, has unveiled a new
Olivia Rodrigo hasn’t completely abandoned her acting career for music. The “Vampire” singer tells me she’d love to star in a film. “I love movies, I love telling stories,” Rodrigo said at the Academy’s Governors Awards on Tuesday night in Hollywood. “I really want to do a coming-of-age thing maybe before I’m actually of age.
U.K. and India-based production outfit Avani Films is developing an eclectic slate including three feature films and a limited drama series. Avani Films is led by Anu Vaidyanathan, a filmmaker, comedian and previously a long-course triathlete representing India. The company’s output, which includes several shorts by Vaidyanathan, is now expanding into longer form content. Carlos
Warner Bros. has undated Bong Joon-ho‘s “Mickey 17,” starring Robert Pattinson. The studio also announce a move of “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” to a March 29 release date. Sources tell Variety that the decision to move the highly anticipated sci-fi movie from the Korean filmmaker was made to allow more time to finish
Awards Circuit Column: It’s decision time. After months of campaigning, festivalgoing, splashy premieres, magazine profiles and morning-show appearances, Academy voters will finally get their ballots this week (Thursday, Jan. 11). Hopefully, the organization’s nearly 10,000 members did their homework and watched as many of 2023’s offerings as possible. It’s hard to distill an entire year
Eddie Cockrell, who reviewed films for Variety for many years and programmed for several film series, died of liver failure Dec. 29 in Sydney, Australia, according to his sister Ann. He was 67. Cockrell reviewed dozens of films for Variety from the Berlin, Karlovy Vary, Montreal and Toronto festivals. He also reviewed for Indiewire, Nitrate
Barry Keoghan has successfully made the jump from Oscar-nominee to internet boyfriend thanks to the success of “Saltburn.” Emerald Fennell’s thriller has turned the 31-year-old actor into a new kind of sex symbol — thanks to scenes in which he slurps Jacob Elordi’s bathwater, has sex with a grave and one full-frontal long take in
Sandra Hüller, who is an awards contender with “The Zone of Interest” and “Anatomy of a Fall,” will be one of the guest speakers taking part in the International Film Festival Rotterdam‘s Talks program later this month. In her talk, Hüller will “delve into her acting trajectory, discussing the highlights of her career, but also
When the call went out for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Cara Jade Myers first read for the part of Rita and then for her sister Mollie, the focus of the film. Finally, she auditioned for the third sister, Anna, who is the most independent and the most troubled, her mother’s favorite but also a
Amazon MGM Studios has signed an exclusive first-look TV and film deal with “Lizzo’s Watch Out For the Big Grrrls” Director Nneka Onuorah, the studio announced on Tuesday. “Nneka has a track record of crafting stories that excite, intrigue, and inspire,” said Vernon Sanders, Amazon MGM Studios’ head of television. “This is a process we’ve
Running Jan. 19-Feb. 19, this year’s MyFrenchFilmFestival, an online showcase organized by France’s film-TV promotional body UniFrance, will mark its 14th edition with an accent on young talent, both in front of and behind the camera, and an emphasis on female empowerment. With a mix of heritage docs like Agnès Varda’s “Jane B. for Agnès
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has promoted Teni Melidonian to the newly created role of Chief Oscars Officer and MaryJane Partlow to Executive Vice President, Awards Production and Special Events. Melidonian will report directly to Bill Kramer, Academy CEO while Partlow will report to Melidonian. In her new role, Melidonian will lead
Former UFA executive Katja Bäuerle has become CEO of the Erich Pommer Institut, a professional training institution in Potsdam-Babelsberg, near Berlin, affiliated with the Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf. Bäuerle is a producer and manager with decades of experience in production, team leadership and communication. Bäuerle, who graduated in business administration, produced more than 500
In 2012, the world’s film critics considered Federico Fellini’s 1963 Oscar-winning “8 ½” one of the 10 greatest films of all time. By 2022, Fellini’s landmark film had fallen out of the top 30. Once upon a time, director/screenwriter/producer Martin Scorsese had reportedly cited it as his favorite film of all time. More recently it’s
The powerful emotions of loneliness, loss and the spirit of memory that run through “All of Us Strangers” spoke volumes to cinematographer Jamie Ramsay. Written and directed by Andrew Haigh, the movie stars Andrew Scott as Adam, a gay screenwriter who lives alone. A chance encounter with Harry (Paul Mescal) leads to a relationship and
Tom Cruise has his next mission. The ageless action star signed a new deal to develop and produce theatrical films with Warner Bros. Discovery. These movies will be a mix of original productions and franchise fare and will star Cruise, the company said in a release touting the deal. As part of what is being billed as a
“Saltburn,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Asteroid City,” “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are among the films singled out for excellence by the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800). The guild announced the nominations for its 28th Excellence in Production Design Awards in motion pictures, television, commercial and music video categories. ADG Awards winners will be announced at a
Willem Dafoe recently told The Guardian that “more difficult movies, more challenging movies” usually fail to perform well on streaming platforms because most subscribers just want to go home and “watch something stupid.” That’s a problem for someone like Dafoe, whose movies are often dense and challenging such as “The Northman,” “Inside” and “Poor Things,”
AARP The Magazine has announced the nominees for the annual Movies for Grownups (MFG) Awards. “Barbie,” “The Color Purple,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro” and “Oppenheimer” will contend for best picture/best movie for grownups. AARP offers a description of MFG’s goal: “For more than two decades, AARP’s Movies for Grownups initiative has championed movies for grownups,
Picture Tree International has boarded international sales and debuted the trailer for Miia Tervo’s upcoming comedy “The Missile,” set to world premiere at Göteborg’s just-announced Nordic Competition. Produced by Finland’s Kaisla Viitala at Elokuvayhtio Komeetta and Estonia’s Daniel Kuitunen at Stellar Film, the movie will be distributed in Scandinavia by Aurora Studios. Tervo’s second feature
Sam Worthington told People magazine at the premiere of his Netflix heist thriller “Lift” that the cast of James Cameron‘s “Avatar” films are gearing up to return to production in February. The director is currently deep into post-production on “Avatar 3,” which Disney has given a 2025 release date. Cameron has also shot all of
Imax boasted a near-record year at the box office in 2023, thanks to the smash success of Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic “Oppenheimer.” The company — which houses some of the biggest and brightest movie theater screens, known in the industry as premium large formats (PLF) — collected $1.06 billion worldwide, the second-largest year in its
Warner Bros.’ “Wonka” continued its dominance over the U.K. and Ireland box office with £3.7 million ($4.8 million) in its fifth weekend, according to numbers from Comscore. The Timothée Chalamet starrer has now amassed £53.3 million. In second place, another Warner Bros. title, “One Life,” starring Anthony Hopkins, which opened on Jan. 1, collected £1.7
Temps Noir, the French documentary production powerhouse behind Mediawan Rights sales hits “Kubrick by Kubrick” and “Cinecittà: Making of History,” has boarded “Passengers for the Last Trip,” the fiction feature debut of Cuba’s Marta María Borrás (“Atardecer en el Trópico”). It will hit Spain’s Malaga Festival Fund & Co-Production Event (MAFF) this March as the
Actors Ewan McGregor, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, directors Ruben Östlund, Ernst de Geer, Ramata-Toulaye Sy and Cannes Film Festival honcho Thierry Frémaux are some of the stellar guests set to walk the red carpet at the 47th edition of Sweden’s Göteborg Film Festival. This year’s Göteborg Fest unspools from Jan. 26 to
Daniel Battsek, one of the most respected execs in the U.K. film industry, is set to leave his role as chairman of Film4 after eight years at the company. The news was announced in an internal note from Alex Mahon, CEO of Channel 4 (Film4 is its film production division), seen by Variety. Battsek is