Stan Rogow, a veteran writer, producer and music manager who was a key player in such series as “Lizzie McGuire” and “Fame” and the 1986 feature “Clan of the Cave Bear, died Dec. 7 at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 75. Rogow was most active in television, working on such notable series
Movies
SPOILER ALERT: This story contains major spoilers for “Leave the World Behind,” now streaming on Netflix. “There was one ending that was really inevitable,” says Rumaan Alam, whose novel “Leave the World Behind” was the source material for Netflix’s latest apocalyptic thriller. “The key thing to look at … is that the book ends with a
Sofia Coppola‘s “Priscilla” has earned critical acclaim for artfully pulling back the curtain on the title character’s life with superstar Elvis Presley. However, it has also been met with some criticism over Elvis’ portrayal in the film, which shows the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll (played by Jacob Elordi) being abusive toward Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny).
Dubai-based distribution and production outfit Oceana Studios has picked up worldwide sales rights to thriller “Tonic,” starring Billy Blair (“Doc Holliday”) and Ed Westwick (“Gossip Girl”). Written and directed by Derek Presley (“Boon”) and produced by U.S. production company Muscular Puppy, the film follows Sebastian Poe (Blair), a washed-up piano player performing across seedy jazz
A documentary on revered filmmaker James Ivory is part of an eclectic slate from Min(d) Studio, New York, it was revealed on the sidelines of Singapore’s Asia TV Forum and Market. The boutique studio, the brainchild of Dev Benegal (New York City), Maya Patel (London and Hong Kong), Neeraj Jain (Los Angeles), came together during
The third edition of the Red Sea Film Festival, wrapping Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, felt like a direct response to a burning question from executives and investors present at the festival’s market arm last year: Could Saudi Arabia step out from drama and comedy and head into genre filmmaking? The answer offered by the
Singapore‘s Robot Playground Media (RPM) and Valencia-based co-producer TV ON Producciones (TOP) have commenced production on animated feature film “The Violinist,” it was revealed at the Asia TV Forum and Market. The film was unveiled at a presentation attended by the representatives of Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Spanish Embassy in Singapore.
With her debut feature “Tiger Stripes,” Malaysian writer-director Amanda Nell Eu joins an exciting group of directors who provide subversive takes on genre and body horror. Julia Ducournau and “Raw” comes to mind, as do Agnieszka Smoczynska and “The Lure” and John Fawcett and “Ginger Snaps” — like David Cronenberg before them. Eu, an MA
The prospect of a picket line outside the Beverly Hilton on Golden Globe Awards day has been averted now that the hotel has reached a tentative agremeent to end the weeks-old walkout. The hotel and Unite Here Local 11 released a joint statement on Friday afternoon. “Together the iconic Beverly Hilton and its employees set
Greed may not be good, but it is universal. And while America would appear to have a monopoly on movies about the pursuit of wealth for wealth’s sake, plenty of other nations have exported their version of the rags-to-riches tale — of which Saudi Arabia’s Oscar submission, “Alhamour H.A.,” is just the latest. Like its
Palestinian refugees have been arriving in the slum district of Sabra and Shalila on the outskirts of Beirut since what Israel calls the War of Independence in 1948. Forty-four years later, their presence (and that of suspected PLO fighters) got targeted in a mid-September massacre by the Christian militia known as Lebanese Forces, executed while
Shot in dense, high-contrast black and white, writer-director C.J. “Fiery” Obasi’s “Mami Wata,” unspools like a mysterious dream. It’s both inscrutable and hypnotic, delivering indelible images while remaining narratively opaque. Billed as a “West African folklore,” its story could be taken as a straightforward fable about tradition vs. modernity and how power corrupts. But as
The toxicity of patriarchal masculinity has become such a well-worn trope in pop culture (and especially in recent Colombian cinema) that it’s hard to remember its effects continue unabated in streets and households all over the world, and in that Latin American country specifically. And so, while Fabián Hernández’s central concerns in his simply-titled film,
Julia Roberts is an icon of the romantic-comedy genre, but there’s one famous rom-com the Oscar-winner happened to turn down: Nora Ephron’s 1998 classic “You’ve Got Mail.” Roberts revealed the scoop during a recent appearance on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live.” Ephron’s film memorably paired Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the story of business
It’s impossible to imagine “The Devil Wears Prada” without Meryl Streep‘s icy, Oscar-nominated performance as Miranda Priestly, but it turns out there was initial resistance to casting the acting icon in the 2006 classic. During a recent appearance on the “Hollywood Gold” podcast, producer Wendy Finerman revealed Streep was almost passed over for the role because
Netflix‘s board has approved 2024 pay packages of its top execs, with co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters each to receive compensation worth $40 million. For Sarandos, $40 million is the same level of pay he is set to receive in 2023, while Peters is getting a 5% step-up from the $34.65 million in target
Oscar-nominated actor Ryan O’Neal, who came to prominence on TV’s “Peyton Place” and became a top star of the 1970s in films including “Love Story,” “What’s Up, Doc?,” “Paper Moon” and “Barry Lyndon,” died Friday, his son Patrick said on Instagram. He was 82. O’Neal was diagnosed with chronic leukemia in 2001 and with prostate
A judge on Friday certified a class action lawsuit that alleges that Disney paid 9,000 women less than their male counterparts. The suit is the largest ever certified under California’s Equal Pay Act, which makes it illegal for workers to be paid less for substantially similar work based on their gender. Lori Andrus, the plaintiffs’
Lena Waithe can’t be anymore direct when talking about “A Thousand and One,” writer-director A.V. Rockwell’s feature film debut. “Films like this oftentimes are not always seen or recognized by the Academy,” says Waithe, a producer on the Sundance Film Festival winner. The film follows Inez (Teyana Taylor), a woman recently released from prison who
Jonathan Majors‘ ex-girlfriend finished her testimony Friday — her fourth day on the witness stand in the “Creed III” actor’s trial for his alleged assault earlier this year. Two more witnesses, including the police officer who arrested Majors in March, also testified. After the defense’s cross-examination on Thursday, Grace Jabbari returned to the stand for
It didn’t take long for America Ferrera to find the personal connection in the speech she delivers as Gloria in the box-office smash “Barbie.” “I think when we’re not historically meant to be in a room, it’s very difficult to show up in those spaces as your whole self,” she says on Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast. “Because
A young boy is fleeing war after his father is killed. All alone in the world, he finds a treasure map that will change his life — and give him the chance to heal from trauma. The plot of “Saleem” — Jordan’s first feature-length animation — is a universal story of the horrors so many
George C. Wolfe has a way with actors, having worked with the best of the best on stage and screen, from the original staging of “Angels in America” to guiding Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis to Oscar noms in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” In his latest film “Rustin,” now playing on Netflix, Wolfe has again
At first glance, “Omen” appears to be another entry in the long tradition of immigrant narratives dedicated to the old adage that you can’t go home again. Returning to the country of his birth, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Belgian resident Koffi (Marc Zinga) finds himself not just a stranger in a strange land,
Darren Lynn Bousman is no stranger to taking big risks, having helmed the high-profile sequel to “Saw” in his 20s and directed the flop-turned-cult classic “Repo! The Genetic Opera.” But one phone call would point his life in a completely new direction. “I got a phone call one afternoon from a friend of mine who
All for one and … two for all? In a bold move, French film studio Pathé (together with partners in Germany, Spain and Belgium) bet nearly $80 million on an all-star, double-barreled adaptation of “The Three Musketeers,” gambling that interest would be high enough that director Martin Bourboulon could split Alexandre Dumas’ swashbuckling epic over
Les Arcs Film Festival, the European equivalent to the Sundance Film Festival, has unveiled the list of projects which will be presented during its competitive Work-in-Progress showcase. Curated by Tribeca and Les Arcs’ artistic director Frederic Boyer and Lison Hervé, the selection will present a broad range of movies in post-production seeking a sales agent,
Denis Villeneuve participated in a “Dune: Part Two” press conference in South Korea and went on record saying the upcoming “Part Two” is a “much better” movie than his 2021 original. The sequel, arriving in theaters in March 2024, once again stars Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya and picks up the story of Paul Atreides as
While attending the third edition of the Red Sea Film Festival, Wayne Borg, managing director of media, entertainment and culture and fashion at Neom sat down with U.S. producer Eric Hedayat and Variety‘s Italy and Middle East correspondent Nick Vivarelli to discuss Neom’s key role in Saudi Arabia’s entertainment industry boom. Coupling state-of-the-art infrastructure with
Cohen Media Group has bought all North American rights to “Io Capitano,” a lushly-lensed, stirring immigration drama by “Gomorrah” director Matteo Garrone. Sold worldwide by Pathé Films, the critically acclaimed movie is Italy’s official Oscar entry and is slated to be released theatrically in early 2024. With Cohen Media Group as its North American distributor,