Not even time-tested adventurers like Indiana Jones and Ethan Hunt are immune to the shifting sands of the movie business. Those action heroes, played by Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise, returned to theaters in Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” with the hope that
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Movie distributors headed to this year’s fall film festivals hoping to buy select star-studded indie films must be prepared to agree to new contract terms from SAG-AFTRA, the union’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said Tuesday. During a broad press conference on the topic of SAG-AFTRA’s interim agreements program — under which some movies and TV
“Tron 3” director Joachim Rønning took to Instagram to reveal that production on the Disney-backed sequel was supposed to start this week but has been shut down amid the WAG and SAG-AFTRA strikes. As a result, more than 150 crew members have been laid off from the movie, he revealed. The film, which is officially
The Sarajevo Film Festival has modified its scheduled activities on Wednesday after the Bosnia and Herzegovina government declared it to be a “Day of Mourning” following three murders committed in Gradačac on Friday. The perpetrator, a bodybuilder, reportedly livestreamed the murder of his first victim, his former wife, on Instagram. He then killed a man
The 2023 Academy Museum Gala will honor Meryl Streep, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and Sofia Coppola, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced Tuesday. The third annual fundraiser will be held on Oct. 14 and has been given permission to move forward by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA as the guilds’ strikes continue. Streep will
BAFTA-nominated visual effects supervisor Jake Morrison has partnered with VFX studio DNEG for a creative partnership. Morrison, who has worked on films such as “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Thor: Ragnarok” and Disney’s “Jungle Cruise,” has over 25 years of experience in visual effects. His work on “Ant-Man” landed him his BAFTA nod for best special
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone to promote his directorial effort “Shortcomings,” actor and comedian Randall Park criticized Hollywood for taking the wrong lessons from a massive blockbuster like Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.” The Margot Robbie-led comedy has earned over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, but Park said making more movies about toys
Tim Richards, CEO of international cinema chain Vue, will step down from his role as chair of the British Film Institute (BFI) in 2024, when his term will come to a close. The boss of the European cinema giant took on the position, which is appointed by the U.K. government, in February 2021. At the
Disney-owned Lucasfilm/ Industrial Light & Magic is to close its VFX and animation facility in Singapore, where more than 300 people are employed. The company points to changes in the global entertainment industry as a factor behind the decision. “Over the next several months, ILM will be consolidating its global footprint and winding down its
Iconic British horror label Amicus Productions is resurrecting with anthology film “In the Grip of Terror.” Based at Shepperton Studios, Amicus was founded by American producers and screenwriters Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg and was active between 1962 and 1977. The outfit was mainly known for their portmanteau or anthology films featuring four or five
To step inside Sarajevo’s Apollo Cinema 30 years ago, you first had to find the door. The streets of the Bosnian capital were pitch black. Power cuts brought on by a crippling siege, which started in 1992 when Bosnian Serb forces surrounded the city, left the town plunged in darkness. Residents fortunate enough to own
The Writers Guild of America is expected to meet in the coming days with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, amid rising hopes for a resolution of the three-month strike. The WGA is set to respond to the studios’ latest offer, which was presented on Friday. The AMPTP delivered proposals that touched on
Christopher Nolan revealed on “The Rich Eisen Show” during his “Oppenheimer” press tour that he considers “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” to be one of the “great comedies,” which may come as a surprise to anyone who assumed the Oscar-nominated filmmaker is as brooding and cold as some of his films are. Eisen
Add Peter Jackson to the list of high profile directors who adore “Talk to Me,” the new A24 horror movie from sibling filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou that’s become a word-of-mouth box office sensation this summer. The “Lord of the Rings” Oscar winner issued a statement through Ahi, one of the film’s distributors across Aotearoa
Mindy Kaling and Dev Patel have signed on to executive produce the documentary “To Kill a Tiger,” a gripping story about a father’s pursuit of justice in rural India. Directed and written by Nisha Pahuja (“The World Before Her”), the film charts the emotional journey of Ranjit, a farmer in Jharkhand, who forces a social
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences
SAG-AFTRA announced Monday that it will no longer grant interim agreements to independent projects that were written under a Writers Guild of America contract. The union has already given permission for 207 independent projects to continue to film during the strike, including ones with stars like Jason Bateman, Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey. The union
Margot Robbie is being richly rewarded for her key role in bringing “Barbie” to the big screen. The star and producer behind the summer’s biggest hit stands to make roughly $50 million in salary and box office bonuses, according to three individuals with knowledge of her deal. “Barbie” director and co-writer Greta Gerwig will also
In Brigitta Kanyaro’s debut feature, “Vagabondess,” the Romania-native Austria-based director takes her protagonist Camelia, a millennial mom, on the road in a bid to prevent her daughter from meeting her biological father. The road trip allows the film to explore issues of motherhood and migration in the age of fourth-wave feminism and TikTok. The film
The story of Michael Oher, the retired NFL star who was supposedly adopted by a wealthy white family who lifted him out of poverty, was immortalized in the 2009 blockbuster film “The Blind Side.” But now, Oher, 37, alleges that much of that heartwarming tale is a lie crafted by the family in order to
Aaron Taylor-Johnson revealed to Esquire magazine that he turned down “big, huge franchises” after he started making a name for himself in Hollywood with roles in blockbusters such as “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Godzilla.” Those back-to-back releases made Taylor-Johnson one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood, but he actively rejected more franchises to
With the long “Elvis” awards season behind him, Austin Butler is gearing up for two major upcoming releases: Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part 2” and the Apple TV+ miniseries “Masters of the Air.” The latter comes from executive producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks and serves as the third installment in their long-running World War II
In 2008, French politician Simone Veil became only the sixth woman ever inducted into the Académie Française, an august institution tasked with the regulation of the French language. As a newly minted “immortal” — the unofficial name given to the Académie’s 40 members — she was presented with a sword that bore three engravings: the
“Shazam!” star Zachary Levi railed against Hollywood “garbage” during an appearance at Chicago Fan Expo (via Entertainment Weekly). The actor urged attendees at the event to “actively not choose” to seek out garbage movies. Levi’s own 2023 release, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” is one of the biggest studio flops of the year. “I personally
Netflix is toasting Mexico’s National Day of Cinema on Aug. 15 with a slew of projects, many of them tapping the country’s wealth of literary classics and original storytellers. Working with some of the most prominent local filmmakers, the streaming giant is also reaffirming its $300 million commitment to Mexican cinema and series and its #QueMéxicoSeVea (“Let
Despite its status as the highest-grossing indie film since 2019’s “Parasite,” “Sound of Freedom” has been dismissed as a QAnon fever dream by large swaths of the mainstream media. But that derisive label is “so ridiculous” to the film’s writer-director Alejandro Monteverde, who began working on the project in 2015, two years before QAnon emerged. “The origin
Lee Byung-hun-starring disaster movie “Concrete Utopia” topped the South Korean box office over the latest weekend, replacing female led crime caper “Smugglers.” Directed by Um Tae-hwa, “Concrete Utopia” is set in a Seoul that has been largely destroyed by a massive earthquake. One building stands tall among the wreckage and becomes a refuge for those
Multi-prized Latin American directors Federico Veiroj, Theo Court, Alicia Scherson and Daniel Hendler head a muscular project lineup at September’s San Sebastian Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, the Spanish festival’s industry centerpiece which underscores this year a welling sea-change in the region’s filmmaking. “The Moneychanger,” the latest film from Uruguay’s Veiroj, was selected for Toronto’s 2019
SF Studios has named Iréne Lindblad its new CEO, effective Oct. 16. Lindblad will take over from acting CEO Jan Bernhardsson, who will return to his role as chairman of the Swedish production company’s board. Erik Haegerstrand, CEO of SF Studios owner Bonnier Group and current chairman of the board, will remain a member. Currently,
The jury for the Docu Talents From the East Award, presented Sunday as part of CineLink Industry Days at the Sarajevo Film Festival, split the award between two projects: “A Picture to Remember” by Ukrainian director Olga Chernykh and producer Regina Maryanovska-Davidzon, and the Czech-Slovak co-production “Chronicle” by Martin Kollar. The award comes with a