Movies

Sony’s magnum opus “Napoleon,” directed by Ridley Scott, debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with a regal £5.2 million ($6.6 million), according to numbers from Comscore. In its second weekend, Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes” dropped down a spot to second place with £2.6 million for a total

Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, after being postponed due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, has announced it will hold a special edition from Dec. 14 to 21. The event held in a seaside resort near the tourist town of Hurghada, 250 miles south of Cairo, will feature its previously announced full lineup

AWARD Zarrar Kahn‘s “In Flames,” Pakistan‘s submission to the Oscars‘ international feature category, has won the International Newcomer Award for the best film in competition at the 72nd International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg, Germany. The award carries a cash prize of €30,000 ($32,850). “In Flames,” a Pakistani Canadian horror-drama about a Karachi woman and her mother

The Gotham Awards are underway at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The 33rd edition of the ceremony — which traditionally serves as the earliest awards show of the season — begins at 7 p.m. ET and is being livestreamed on Variety‘s official YouTube. Director Andrew Haigh’s metaphysical gay romance “All of Us Strangers”

A confused Robert De Niro claimed that his Gothams Awards speech was censored during the live ceremony on Monday night. The actor claimed that anti-Trump comments were removed without notice. “I’m going to go back. I’m sorry. Okay there was a mistake in this. I’ll keep going. Just keep scrolling. Filmmakers on the other hand

Rita Hollingsworth, a longtime publicist for entertainment clients and non-profit organizations, died Nov. 16 in Los Angeles. She was 61. Her husband Jeff Hollingsworth said she had suffered a intracerebral brain hemorrhage. When working at the Lee Solters Company, she represented clients including Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli and Neil Diamond, as well as

The Gotham Awards are a night to celebrate independent film, but Cailee Spaeny snuck in a tease for 20th Century Studios’ upcoming “Alien: Romulus” when asked about the project on the red carpet Monday evening. The “Priscilla” star is leading the Fede Alvarez-directed revival, which has been described as a standalone story in the “Alien”

Forty years after making his directorial debut with the 1984 cult classic “This Is Spinal Tap,” Rob Reiner will begin filming the follow-up to the music mockumentary in February. Plus, the fictional heavy metal band will apparently be joined by real-life music legends Paul McCartney, Elton John and Garth Brooks, Reiner revealed on the “RHLSTP

Ridley Scott is back in the arena. The sequel to “Gladiator” will resume shooting in Malta on Dec. 4, sources tell Variety. Shooting on the historical epic was delayed when the actors went on strike in July. But the Nov. 8 announcement that SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, had reached a tentative agreement on a new

Checkmate, she couldn’t lose. Taylor Swift‘s “The Eras Tour” has crossed a notable box office milestone. The concert film has grossed more than $250 million globally, including $178.2 million domestically and $71.8 million internationally. It stands as the 19th highest-grossing release of the year worldwide, recently surpassing “Sound of Freedom” ($248 million) and “Dungeons &

Taika Waititi revealed on the “SmartLess” podcast (via Business Insider) that Donald Trump had a list of demands when the two collaborated on a 2012 advertisement for NBC. The commercial, titled “Brotherhood of Man,” aired during the Super Bowl and touted the network’s television slate by combining characters from series such as “The Office,” “30

With a few weeks to go until the original song for Oscars shortlist is released, Aotearoa, New Zealand-based Māori Artist Stan Walker (Tūhoe, Ngāi TeRangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Pūkenga, Tūhourangi Ngāti Wāhiao, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whakaue and Ngai Tahu) has released the video for the haunting original song created for Ava DuVernay‘s searing drama “Origin,”

Edgar Wright appeared on the latest episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast and went on a reflective rant about the current state of Hollywood and IP (via IndieWire). Without calling out any franchises in particular, the “Scott Pilgrim” and “Baby Driver” director expressed frustration over the lack of breathing room when it comes to

Elliot Silverstein, known for directing films such as “Cat Ballou” and “A Man Called Horse,” died on Nov. 24 in Los Angeles, his family confirmed via Legacy. He was 96. After working on episodes of TV series like “The Twilight Zone,” “Naked City” and “Route 66,” Silverstein made his feature directorial debut in 1965 with

James Cameron described post-production on “Avatar 3″ as “hectic” during a recent New Zealand press conference moderated by 1News chief correspondent John Campbell. Cameron used the discussion to celebrate New Zealand as his main production hub, announcing his plan to make movies there “indefinitely” and revealing that he will finally become a New Zealand citizen

The 33rd annual Gotham Awards will be held on Nov. 27 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The livestreamed event can be viewed on Variety’s YouTube account beginning at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET. [embedded content] The metaphysical drama “All of Us Strangers,” which follows a gay man reconciling his past, led the

If John Woo had permitted the characters in “Silent Night” to speak, chances are that audiences would laugh them off the screen. Instead, the director gets right down to business, opening with a wordless chase sequence in which a sad dad (Joel Kinnaman) in a corny Christmas sweater sprints after a pair of speeding cars.

“Wish” misfired in its opening weekend, extending Disney‘s bleak box office fortunes. The animated musical fable, about the Wishing Star that so many Disney characters have wished upon over the studio’s century-long history, failed to become the de facto choice for families around Thanksgiving. “Wish” opened in third place with a dull $31.7 million over

Kaleem Aftab, director of international programming at the Red Sea Film Festival, has cast his net wide in selecting the 14 films in the festival’s International Short Film Competition program. Aimed at attracting emerging talent from across Africa, Asia and the Islamic world, the section includes fiction, animation and documentary in films that average 15-20

Melita Toscan du Plantier has been the driving force behind the Marrakech Film Festival ever since her late husband, revered French producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier, wrote to Morocco’s king two decades ago expressing “his ambition for a big international festival in Morocco,” as she recounts. The festival’s 20th edition is currently underway in the

Taika Waititi revealed on a new episode of the “SmartLess” podcast that he had no interest in joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a director. The filmmaker has directed two MCU movies: 2017’s “Thor: Ragnarok,” which is widely considered one of the best Marvel movies, and 2022’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which is one of

Chile-based Escala Humana Prods., led by Sebastián Brahm, is developing an ambitious English-language series titled “Golpe” about a little-known story behind the CIA’s involvement in the fall of Chile’s first Socialist president, Salvador Allende. Intended for a U.S. audience and based on declassified U.S. government documents, the first season of the historical crime drama series,

Taylor Swift announced Monday morning that her “Eras Tour” film will be released for streaming on her birthday, Dec. 13 — and that, as hoped by fans, it will include songs from the tour not included in the movie’s theatrical release. “Well, so, basically I have a birthday coming up and I was thinking a

Prime Video has pounced on Mexican comedy “Tequila Repasado” by Gabriela Tagliavini., which it premieres worldwide on Dec. 22. Co-produced by Sony Pictures Int’l Prods and Mexico-based Itaca Films and Feel Good Films, the comedy was originally written in English by Judd Pilot (“Coach”) and Gerald B. Fillmore (“Muertos S.L.”) to be later adapted for

In a notable prestige project package from Chile, Gonzalo Maza, co-writer of Sebastian Lelio’s Academy Award-winning “A Fantastic Woman,” has boarded “I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye,” a drama thriller non-fiction series to be directed by Carola Fuentes and produced by Rafael Valdeavellano, re-teaming after their collaboration as co-writers and directors on the admired

The producers of “F9,” the ninth instalment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise, have been fined over $1 million in a U.K. court after a stunt performer suffered “life-changing” injuries on set. FF9 Pictures Limited, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, received the fine after they pleaded guilty to breaching the U.K.’s Health and Safety at

The Dominican Republic (DR) has been making bold strides in its film industry, reporting dynamic growth and earning kudos both at home and internationally. Ironically, what spurred its growth was a global pandemic. As many countries remained in lockdown, DR opened its borders to more location shoots by June 2020. “It was precisely during the

An idyllic getaway goes awry after a freak accident leaving teen Lidia (Zoe Arnao) and her father, Pablo (Hugo Silva) to mourn the loss of the family matriarch (Paula Echevarria) by escaping to their isolated lighthouse where the paranormal flirts with their fragile dispositions while a troubled family friend (Sergio Castellanos) stirs the pot on the periphery. A

Jointly organized by Cannes’ Marché du Film with a Thierry Fremaux Cannes Film Week adding star auteur glamor, Ventana Sur turns 15 this week unspooling Nov. 27-Dec.1 at its usual venue of the Universidad Católica Argentina in Buenos Aires’ Puerto Madero, its most modern and most chic of districts.  Founded with Argentina’s INCAA film-TV agency

Multi-territory European cinema operator, Pathe Cinemas has expanded its existing deal with premium large format technology company Imax. The new agreement sees the addition of five new Imax With Laser systems in Europe, including four in France. The new agreement also spans distribution, with Imax and Pathe Live, Pathe’s subsidiary dedicated to production and distribution