Movies

Graham Chase Robinson, ex-employee to Robert De Niro and former VP of production and finance at his Canal Productions, took the stand in a New York court Friday in the ongoing trial regarding gender discrimination and retaliation charges against the actor. Robinson was hired as De Niro’s executive assistant in 2008 and later became the

Molly Manning Walker, the English cinematographer-turned-filmmaker whose debut feature “How to Have Sex” won a prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, has signed with CAA for representation. Penned and directed by Manning Walker, “How to Have Sex” world premiered at Cannes in Un Certain Regard where it won best prize and earned unanimous praise. The film

In “Sly,” director Thom Zimny (“Springsteen on Broadway,” “Elvis Presley: The Searcher”) captures a side of Sylvester Stallone seldom seen. The 95-minute docu exposes a relatable, vulnerable man who is often thought to be the movie characters he made iconic — Rocky Balboa or John Rambo. Born in 1946, Stallone grew up in New York

In “Familiar,” Berlinale Golden Bear-winning director Călin Peter Netzer follows Dragoş Binder, a film director, as he delves into the murky secrets of his family, and tries to exorcise the trauma of his childhood by making a film about it. Beta Cinema is handling world sales for the film, which has its world premiere this

No documentaries have been nominated for a best sound Oscar since Michael Wadleigh’s “Woodstock” more than half a century ago — even potential contenders such as Questlove’s “Summer of Soul” did not make the cut. Sam Green hopes that his doc “32 Sounds” will break that dry spell and become the second documentary nominated in

Patrick Wachsberger‘s Picture Perfect Entertainment is launching international sales on Jan Kounen’s “The Incredible Shrinking Man” starring Jean Dujardin, the Oscar-winning actor of “The Artist.” The ambitious film is a modern adaption of Richard Matheson’s science fiction novel, which was previously brought to the big screen by Universal Pictures in 1957 with Jack Arnold’s “The

Roc Espinet’s “Chica y Lobo” and Cynthia Fernández Trejo’s“El Lenguaje de los Pájaros” are two highly-anticipated titlesat Ventana Sur’s 2023 Animation! Works In Progress strand, a joint initiative of Animation! and France’s Annecy Animation Film Festival and its MIFA market. Animation! and indeed Ventana Sur at large, unspools Nov. 27- Dec. 1 in Buenos Aires.

Every year the race for the Oscar for best documentary feature gets more expensive and less inclusive. The challenging doc marketplace favors a handful of big-name filmmakers commissioned to make one-off films or docuseries. During the last two years, directors of independently made docs, especially those tackling hard-hitting social issues, have been facing an uphill

ARRAY Releasing has acquired “Frybread Face and Me,” and has set a release date for Nov. 24 in select theaters and on Netflix. The film marks documentary filmmaker Billy Luther’s narrative feature debut. The President of Array Tilane Jones announced the news that the company had acquired rights in the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland.

Shawn Levy revealed in a first-person essay for Esquire magazine that he’s worked a huge “Star Wars” homage into “Deadpool 3,” which was well into filming when production shut down amid the SAG-AFTRA strike. The director said watching “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” in a packed theater inspired him to recreate one of the

Director Atlee‘s “Jawan,” starring Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, is the highest grossing Indian film of the year with $138.6 million. With 91%, it has also become the first Indian film to surpass the 90% level critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, above Karan Johar’s “Rocky aur Rani kii Prem Kahaani” (88%) and Khan’s own “Pathaan”

UPDATED with SAG-AFTRA statement: SAG-AFTRA negotiators spent Thursday afternoon in a holding pattern as the union waited for a response from management to its most recent counterproposal. The union confirmed late Thursday that talks would resume on Friday. Agreements around AI remain elusive and frustrating to both sides of the table. Management believes the union

Henry Selick and Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is officially 30 years old. In a recent interview with The New York Times, the two collaborators recalled Disney not wanting to have its name on the project due to its darker tone. The studio had the film developed under its more adult-leaning production banner Touchstone

Martin Scorsese recently said at a press conference (via LADbible) that Brendan Fraser is “perfect” in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” The actor, who won the Oscar this year for his performance in “The Whale,” has been panned by some viewers, claiming his over-the-top acting feels largely out of place in the film. Fraser has

Helena (Daisy Ridley), the title character of “The Marsh King’s Daughter,” is a woman living what she thinks is a safe, comfortable middle-class existence — just like the heroes of “Cape Fear” or “Straw Dogs.” And like those characters, she’s ripped out of her cocoon by a man with a vengeful agenda. In this case,

There may not be a funnier moment on screen this year than when Ryan Gosling yells “sublime!” off-screen in Greta Gerwig’s billion-dollar box office smash “Barbie.” That’s why Variety Awards Circuit Podcast had a pressing question that needed answering from the filmmaker herself: Who gets the credit for this brilliant moment? “Ryan had the idea of [Ken]

Before her death earlier this year, Lisa Marie Presley expressed shock and horror over the depiction of her father Elvis Presley in the script for Sofia Coppola’s new film “Priscilla.” Described in two emails obtained exclusively by Variety, the late Presley asked Coppola to reconsider her vision for the character and to spare her family public

Helen Lee-Kim has extended her contract as president of international for Lionsgate‘s Motion Picture Group. Lee-Kim has generated nearly $1 billion in sales since rejoining the company in December 2017, according to the company. She will continue to head the international licensing of Lionsgate’s movies in theaters and on digital platforms. Lee-Kim and her team’s

Neon has acquired North American rights to Sean Baker‘s new romantic comedic drama, “Anora.” Plot details have been kept under wraps for the movie, which is currently in post-production and is aiming to release in theaters in 2024. It was filmed in Brooklyn and stars Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yuriy Borisov, Karren Karagulian and Vache

A&E Ole Networks has acquired a seven-pic Christmas package from Argentine-based EO Media Distribution. The Xmas-themed TV movies produced by Nicely Entertainment will be airing on Lifetime Latin America and the Caribbean during the holiday season. The new pact, signed between A&E Ole Networks and EO Media CEO Ezequiel Olzanski, comprises “Cloudy with a Chance

If life were a superhero movie, one of the major characters would be Ray Halbritter. That’s because the Oneida Indian Nation member has traveled a true superhero journey, using his connections and power not only to raise the visibility and elevate the prosperity of Native Americans, but to change the very culture of the country.

MK2 Films has boarded Bernhard Wenger’s feature debut, “Peacock,” a tragicomedy headlined by Albrecht Schuch, the German actor who starred in “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “System Crasher.” An up-and-coming Austrian director, Wenger developed the script at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinefondation residency and was part of Berlinale Talents in 2020. His shorts,

Marv Studios CEO Zygi Kamasa is stepping down to launch his own theatrical distribution company, True Brit Entertainment. True Brit is set to ramp up its team in 2024 but is already working on investing in films, including funding P&A, and acquiring U.K. rights to projects. The plan is to invest in and release 4-8

Ryan Gosling hits the crash pad in the all-new trailer for David Leitch’s thriller “The Fall Guy.” Based on Glen A. Larson’s 1980s television series of the same name, the film stars Gosling as Colt, a stuntman on the hunt for a missing movie star he once doubled for. The film also stars Emily Blunt

Picking up several years after the events of 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes,” the 20th Century Studios franchise is back with a trailer for its newest chapter, “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” set to premiere May 24, 2024. With Caesar dying at the end of the last film, the fourth

“There’s Still Tomorrow,” a dramedy inspired by Italy’s Pink Neorealism genre that follows the plight of an abused housewife in post-war Rome, is scoring record-breaking numbers at Italy’s box office. After winning three prizes – including the audience award – at the Rome Film Festival, the black-and-white film, which marks the directorial debut of popular

It’s not homework, it’s “American Fiction.” At first glance, writer-director Cord Jefferson’s satire about the exploitation of Black people in media might seem like another “message” movie offering difficult conversations around politics and race. Well, it is that — but it’s also funny. So funny, it just might be this year’s Oscar best picture winner.

Richard Linklater’s action comedy “Hit Man” is set to open the Marrakech International Film Festival, which has announced its lineup of more than 70 films mixing known titles and fresh fare. The fest is forging ahead with its 20th edition, which will run Nov. 24- Dec.2 in the ancient Moroccan city despite the Israel-Hamas conflict that

Feature debutant Raine Allen-Miller’s “Rye Lane” led the nominations at the 2023 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) with 16 nods. “Scrapper” by debutant Charlotte Regan and veteran Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers” scored 14 nominations each while Molly Manning Walker’s “How to Have Sex” had 13, Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s “Femme” 11 and

There is an ample tradition of historical dramas set in Interwar Poland, but there’s rarely one made by a woman director. Anna Jadowska wants to fill in this gap with her new project, “Tethys Ocean,” which will be presented at Thessaloniki Film Festival’s Agora Crossroads Co-production Forum next week. The story unfolds in 1938, as