Prominent Chilean TV producer Maria Elena Wood, a producer on “News of a Kidnapping,” “Dignity” and “Mary & Mike,” is teaming with multi-prized TV toon series director Bernardita Ojeda, helmer of two-time Intl. Emmy nominee “Petit,” to make 2D “Lucila,” both Wood and Ojeda’s first animated feature. “I am amazed at [animation’s] narrative possibilities,” Wood enthused to Variety.
Movies
Tyler Perry has formalized a new creative partnership with Netflix to write, direct and produce feature films under a multi-year, first-look deal. Perry already has five films under his belt at the streamer: “A Fall From Grace,” “A Madea Homecoming,” the period drama “A Jazzman’s Blues” (his longtime passion project produced from his first screenplay,
Chile’s “The Devil’s Vein” and “Lucila” and Mexico’s “Ch’ulel” figure among a 14-title lineup at Animation! Pitching Sessions, part of Ventana Sur, the Cannes Festival and Marché du Film’s biggest annual event organized beyond its May event on the Riviera – in this case in Buenos Aires hand in hand with Argentina’s INCAA film agency. Among
Fresh off Britney Spears‘ reveal in her upcoming memoir, “The Woman in Me,” that she made it to the final round of auditions to play Allie opposite Ryan Gosling in “The Notebook, the Daily Mail has exclusively shared the pop singer’s emotional casting tape. In the video, Spears is brought to the edge of tears
“Kingsman” director Matthew Vaughn knows a thing or two about bringing comic books to life on the big screen as the filmmaker behind acclaimed outings such as “Kick-Ass” and “X-Men: First Class.” In a recent interview with ScreenRant, the director shared his thoughts on the current era of comic book movies. He said poor visual
“Paddington in Peru,” the third adventure about the lovable bear with a fondness for marmalade, will make its way to theaters during Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in 2025. The movie is set to release on Jan. 17, 2025, in the United States, about two months after it lands in the United Kingdom on Nov. 8,
Iranian drama film “Empty Nets” was Monday named winner of the AFF Feature Fiction Award at the Adelaide Film Festival. Directed by Behrooz Karamizade, it collected an A$10,000 ($6,320) cash prize. The festival’s competition section is one of the oldest in Australia and seeks to reward bold filmmaking. This year’s competition mostly comprised films by
Justin Edgar, a well-established British filmmaker and advocate for disabled people, has pushed the boundaries for accessibility films with “The Letter,” a drama shedding light on a lesser known deaf community in Germany during the WW2. Now in post, “The Letter” was produced by Edgar, who is hard of hearing, and directed by Sam Dore,
Dwayne Johnson announced on Instagram that he is reaching out to the Musée Grévin in Paris after it unveiled a botched wax figure of the A-list Hollywood star. Fans reacted in horror earlier this month at the museum’s light-skinned wax figure of Johnson, complete with a suburban dad kind of outfit that Johnson is almost
New York-based Cinema Tropical has pounced on the U.S. theatrical rights to Fabián Hernández’s debut feature “Un Varón” (“A Male”), Colombia’s official submission to the 2024 Oscar race. The drama, which had its world premiere at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight last year, will open in New York City on Dec. 8 before rolling out to other
As dusk fell on a warm Tokyo evening, comeback director Wim Wenders introduced the cast and crew of “Perfect Days” at an outdoor stage, giving the opening ceremony of the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival a moment of European cool. Inside the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater, Wenders was brought on stage twice more. “I had a
Lokesh Kanagaraj‘s Tamil-language “Leo: Bloody Sweet,” starring Vijay, debuted in third position at the global box office over the latest weekend, with $31.2 million planetwide, according to estimates released on Sunday by Comscore. The weekend was won by Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone, with
“Only the River Flows,” a pitch-black crime noir from auteur Wei Shujun, comfortably topped the mainland China box office on a quietish weekend. The film, ostensibly a murder mystery, but one concerned more with atmosphere than linear plotting, earned $12.6 million (RMB90.8 million) in its opening three days, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway,
Best-selling Australian novel, Runt” is to be adapted as a feature movie that will begin shooting from next month. Studiocanal is handling international rights sales and local distribution in Australia and New Zealand. The story is a heartfelt, contemporary Australian tale, set in the country town of Upson Downs, where eleven-year-old Annie Shearer and her
Jason Blum is bringing the “Blumhouse edge” to the upcoming “Spawn” film adaptation. During a press line for Blumhouse at New York Comic Con 2023 (per Screen Rant), Blum teased the “Spawn” movie currently in development at his eponymous production company. “It’s going to be edgy and original as compared to other superhero movies,” he
Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” opened with an unconvincing second place debut at the South Korean cinema box office. It earned $406,000 between Friday and Sunday and $499,000 over its full four-day opening period. Its market share was a shade below 9%, according to data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the
Chinese film sales company Parallax Films is poised to make a splash this week in Tokyo. The outfit has two titles in the Tokyo International Film Festival official selection and a host of festival-travelled Chinese films in the TIFFCOM market. Appearing in main competition is “A Long Shot,” a crime drama by first time feature
Recently-released titles by – very different – Japanese film icons Yamada Yoji and Shimizu Takashi adorn the TIFFCOM sales slate of Shochiku, one of Japan’s oldest and most powerful film studios. The 91-year-old Yamada, known for classics including “The Yellow Handkerchief” and “The Twilight Samurai,” is behind “Mom, Is That You?,” a heartwarming drama that
“The Quiet Yakuza,” is one of two late additions made by Japanese indie sales firm Free Stone Productions to its slate of films being pitched at TIFFCOM, the film rights market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival. Directed by Yamaguchi Kento, the two-part-film is adapted from the highly popular manga “Shizukanaru Don – Yakuza
CAA agent Maha Dakhil has resigned from the agency’s internal board after making controversial comments on social media regarding Israel. She is also is stepping away from her leadership duties as co-head of the motion pictures department, Variety has confirmed. Dakhil, who represents A-list talent such as Tom Cruise, Natalie Portman and Madonna, will continue
Hong Kong-based studio Edko Films will launch “Table for Six 2,” a sequel to its 2022 smash hit, at TIFFCOM, the rights market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival. The heartfelt comedy is again written and directed by Sunny Chan, who enjoyed breakout success with “Table for Six,” a comedy-drama that starts with an
Elaine Devry, who appeared in such films as “The Atomic Kid” and “A Guide for the Married Man” and dozens of television series, died Sept. 20 at her home in Grants Pass, Oregon, according to a notice on a local funeral home website. She was 93. Devry married actor Mickey Rooney in Las Vegas in
Taylor Swift’s movie is presiding over Martin Scorsese’s in North American theaters, but the “Mean Streets” director has outstripped the “Mean” singer at the international box office. Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a crime epic starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, has generated $21 million from 63 overseas markets. In terms of weekend
“A Batalha da Rua Maria Antonia,” directed by Vera Egito, nabbed the main Redentor prize for fiction film at the 2023 Rio de Janeiro International Film Fest which wrapped this year’s edition last weekend, consolidating its position as South America’s largest fest and world’s main showcase of Brazilian productions. The fest held the world premieres
Fans of the iconic British secret agent James Bond will have to wait a while to see who the next 007 will be, according to franchise producer Barbara Broccoli. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Broccoli shared that executives “haven’t even begun” modernizing the franchise, adding that there is a “big road ahead” before
When DreamWorks’ original “Trolls” movie was released, it wasn’t immediately apparent that the studio was launching a musical franchise. The rainbow-bright computer-animated feature boasted a sparkly soundtrack and the voice of Justin Timberlake as grumpy, gray-skinned Branch, but it wasn’t until the sequel — “Trolls World Tour,” released straight to streaming during the pandemic —
Annecy Cristal Prize winner Áron Gauder, who won the festival’s top prize in 2005 for his time-traveling love story “The District!”, returned to the prestigious French animation event this year with “Four Souls of Coyote,” an epic adventure inspired by a Native American myth about the creation of the universe that scooped the festival’s Jury
As my friend Bob George used to say, “You’re getting close.” He’d say it about my personal life and he’d say it on set. He always knew what the missing pieces were and wasn’t afraid to tell me. I met Bob, who died last week at 51 in a tragic bike accident in Silver Lake,
As a young boy growing up in Budapest, a town that would come to be known as “Hollywood on the Danube,” Béla Bunyik dreamed of being in the pictures. “I fell in love with movies in Hungary back in the ’50s,” Bunyik tells Variety. “When I was 12 years old, I started to work as
It’s been more than 15 years since Oscar-nominated cinematographer and director Lajos Koltai (“Fateless,” “Malena”) helmed his last film, “Evening” (2007), a poignant meditation on mortality, regret and womanhood that featured a star-studded ensemble cast, including Vanessa Redgrave, Glenn Close, Eileen Atkins and Meryl Streep, and was released domestically by Focus Features. For his return