Movies

Russell Brand has been accused of sexual assault by a film extra during the production of “Arthur” in July 2010. In a lawsuit, filed Friday in the New York Supreme Court and obtained by Variety, a woman — referred to as Jane Doe — said that Brand “appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol, and was carrying

Fifty years ago, the release of two movies — “Jaws” in 1975, and “Star Wars” in 1977 — changed movies, America, and the world, not just by giving rise to “the blockbuster mentality” but by ushering in the cinematic age of all-popcorn-all-the-time. There had been antecedents, of course. In hindsight, much of our fantasy culture

Jim Lee, veteran comicbook artist and now chief creative officer of DC Comics, explained during an onstage interview at Lucca Comics & Games why the likes of Wonder Woman, Batman and the Joker still tug at the heartstrings of readers, and how his drive to rise to the peak of the business sometimes came at

Comicbook artist and writer Frank Miller, the man behind classics “300,” “Sin City” and “Daredevil,” is working on his new projects through Frank Miller Presents, the publishing banner he launched last year. Miller, speaking at Lucca Comics & Games this week, told Variety what drove him to embark on this new creative venture. “I’d say

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” collapsed at the box office but still managed to emerge on top. Universal and Blumhouse’s fall sleeper hit has collected $19.4 million in its sophomore outing, resulting in a massive 76% decline from its debut. Universal and Blumhouse’s spooky video game adaptation, which takes place in a haunted Chuck E. Cheese-esque

Cinemagoers seated early for “Five Nights at Freddy’s” are treated to a new kind of movie advertisement: one that tells viewers not to look at the screen. The trailer, a theaters-only promo for Lionsgate and Blumhouse‘s upcoming horror film “Imaginary,” begins with a child’s voice asking, “Hi, wanna play a game with me? Close your

The forbidden love between two soldiers in a society riven by war is at the heart of “So the Lovers Could Come Out Again,” the sophomore feature from Lebanese filmmaker George Peter Barbari, whose debut, “Death of a Virgin, and the Sin of Not Living,” premiered in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama strand. Barbari will

West Hollywood-based indie distribution outfit Indican Pictures (“Gossamer Folds”) has secured North American rights for Santiago Fillol’s political thriller “Matadero” (“Slaughterhouse”).  The debut fiction feature from the Argentine director saw its world premiere in competition at Locarno in 2022, with further festival bows at Mar Del Plata and Seville before December theatrical runs in Argentina

UPDATED: The studios told SAG-AFTRA on Saturday that they have made their “last, best and final” offer, as they seek an end to the 114-day actors strike. The offer includes an enhanced residual bonus for high-performing streaming shows. Under the proposal, actors who appear on the most-watched shows on each platform will see their standard

“Consent,” an adaptation of Vanessa Springora’s bestselling book which sparked a belated #MeToo moment in France, has lured major distributors while thriving at the local box office and stirring social media buzz. Represented in international markets by Paris-based outfit SND, the film marks the sophomore outing of Vanessa Filho whose debut feature “Angel Face” stars

Skybound Entertainment, the company behind animated TV series “Invincible,” has acquired the historic Spike & Mike’s animation events, with plans for a revival. Marge Dean, head of studio at Skybound Entertainment, announced the news at Toronto’s Animation Industry Conference (TAAFI) on Saturday. Spike & Mike began in the 1970s as a curator of animated shorts.

SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for “Quiz Lady,” now streaming on Hulu. The premise of Jessica Yu‘s “Quiz Lady” seems like the perfect recipe for an over-the-top, slapstick comedy: two estranged sisters — the uptight Anne (Awkwafina) and the unhinged Jenny (Sandra Oh) — embark on a cross-country roadtrip to cover their mother’s gambling

Can someone say method acting? In a recent roundtable interview with Entertainment Weekly alongside “Priscilla” co-star Cailee Spaeny and director Sofia Coppola, Jacob Elordi revealed that he ate a pound of bacon a day to play Elvis Presley. “You ate a lot of bacon,” Coppola said to Elordi. She then explained, “Priscilla [Presley] told us

In August 2021, as the U.S. withdrew forces from Afghanistan and the Taliban took power, many people fled the country. But despite having U.S. citizenship, the then 73-year-old Mahbouba Seraj stayed. The journalist, activist and co-founder of Afghan Women’s Network had been forced to leave her country once before, but this time she would remain. 

What’s fact and what’s fiction in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla?” We fact-checked the film against the source material, Priscilla Beaulieu Presley’s memoir “Elvis and Me.”  The new film, starring Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) and Jacob Elordi (Elvis Presley), was inspired by the 1985 book, which became a New York Times bestseller at its release. Everyone knew Elvis

“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is having no trouble staying atop the domestic box office, despite projecting a sizable drop from its hefty Halloween weekend opening. The Universal release is looking to earn $17.8 million in its sophomore outing, down 78% from its $80 million debut. It’s a sizable fall, though still somewhat impressive given the

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Priscilla,” in theaters now. As the opening sequence of Sofia Coppola‘s biographical drama “Priscilla” unfolds, viewers meet a 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) in 1959 West Germany to the tune of the Ramones’ 1980 hit “Baby, I Love You.” This time-bending choice may seem unexpected, but to those

Sarvnik Kaur’s documentary “Against the Tide” has won the Golden Gateway Award at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. The film previously won awards at Sundance, Sydney and Seattle. Diwa Shah’s San Sebastian winner “Bahadur: The Brave” received Mumbai’s Silver Gateway Award. The festival’s Gender Sensitivity Award, decided by India’s Film Critics Guild, was won

The super spies of producer Aditya Chopra’s spy universe are set to converge in Yash Raj Films’ “Tiger 3.” Hrithik Roshan‘s Kabir from “War” and Shah Rukh Khan‘s Pathaan from “Pathaan” are set to join Salman Khan‘s Avinash Singh Rathore and Katrina Kaif’s Zoya Humaini Rathore in the film, Variety has learned. The spy universe

David Young, the longtime executive director of the Writers Guild of America West, is stepping down, the guild announced on Friday. Ellen Stutzman, who served as chief negotiator through its 148-day strike this year, will take over as executive director. Young was initially expected to lead this year’s negotiations, but surprisingly took a medical leave

“Diversity” is undoubtedly a buzzword in Hollywood, but the inclusion of people with disabilities behind and in front of the camera remains an overlooked topic in the industry. At Variety‘s inaugural Inclusion Gathering, presented by the Ruderman Family Foundation at West Hollywood’s London Hotel on Nov. 2, industry creatives and executives gathered for breakfast and

Nicolas Cage is one of the internet’s most beloved actors. Social media platforms like X/Twitter and Reddit are constantly flooded with clips of and tributes to his larger-than-life performances. Google “Nicolas Cage memes” and you get list upon list devoted to the Oscar-winning actor. But such viral attention is an afterthought for Cage. “I got

The holiday movie season kicks off in November, and the streamers are providing no shortage of Christmas movies to subscribers this month. Whether it’s the reemergence of beloved classics (see “Elf” making its way to Hulu) or streamers offering up new originals (Disney+’s “Dashing Through the Snow,” for instance), holiday movie lovers will have plenty

The Bulgarian producer of an espionage thriller sued Abigail Breslin, one of the film’s stars, on Friday, alleging that her “hysterical” and “imaginary” allegations against co-star Aaron Eckhart have imperiled the film’s release. Dream Team Studios produced the film, entitled “Classified,” in Malta earlier this year. Eckhart plays a hitman who learns that his CIA

“Barbie” screenwriters Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach recently joined Tony Kushner (“Angels in America,” “Lincoln”) for a discussion about the record-breaking Warner Bros. blockbuster and revealed one of the first notes Mattel gave them on the script: Please don’t have the Mattel exec stand-in characters be shot. In the third act of “Barbie,” an all-out

Hollywood’s major studios are preparing to make an offer to SAG-AFTRA on Friday that they hope will end the 113-day actors strike. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had previously warned the actors union that if a deal could not be reached by the end of this week, the networks would have to

Oscar-winning filmmaker Michel Gondry presented “The Book of Solutions” at Lucca Comics & Games this week, and took the opportunity to explore his ideas about creativity, and to urge aspiring directors to fight against perfectionism and embrace risk. He was accompanied by his editor, Élise Fievet. Gondry explained that the self-help guide from which the

In “Rustin,” producer and director George C. Wolfe turns the spotlight on Bayard Rustin, a lesser-known contemporary of Martin Luther King Jr. The film reunites Wolfe with his “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” star Colman Domingo, who plays the gay civil rights leader as he prepares for the 1963 March on Washington. “Rustin” hits theaters Nov.

Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has picked up North American theatrical and VOD rights to “America’s Family.” The immigrant docudrama, written, directed by and starring Anike Tourse, follows the events of an ICE raid of the Diaz family on Thanksgiving day. “As each family member braves

Priscilla Beaulieu was a 14-year-old Army brat when she met the world’s biggest star, Elvis Presley, sparking a love story that’s the stuff of rock ‘n’ roll legend. When “Priscilla” star Cailee Spaeny was 14, she developed a different kind of crush — a cinematic one — on Sofia Coppola. It all started when she