Lebanon, once thought of as among the most liberal parts of the Middle East, is poised to ban global hit movie “Barbie.” The country’s culture minister accuses the Greta Gerwig-directed film of promoting homosexuality. Minister Mohammad Mortada said on Wednesday that the Warner Bros. film was found to “promote homosexuality and sexual transformation” and “contradicts
Movies
An action-packed trailer has been unveiled for “King of Kotha,” headlined by Dulquer Salmaan. The film is produced by Zee Studios and Salmaan’s Wayfarer Films and directed by Abhilash Joshiy. The film is due to release worldwide on Aug. 24, during the Onam festival holiday frame. The cast also features Aishwarya Lekshmi, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Prasanna,
Latinos were optimistic about making a great stride in representation in the summer box office season with films like “Blue Beetle,” the first superhero movie directed and written by and starring Latinos. However, writers and actors aren’t able to promote their projects during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, as guild members advocate for new contracts.
A New Mexico judge has scheduled the manslaughter trial in the “Rust” shooting to begin on Dec. 6. Hannah Gutierrez Reed, 26, faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in connection with the accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. She faces up to three years in prison if convicted. Gutierrez Reed submitted a
David Harbour is back in theaters this month opposite Orlando Bloom in Sony’s “Gran Turismo,” but he’s well aware the public will continue to recognize him for his role as Hopper on Netflix’s blockbuster series “Stranger Things.” With the fifth and final season of the show still left to film once the WGA and SAG-AFTRA
Mark Ronson roasted Bill Maher on social media over his response to “Barbie,” for which Ronson served as music producer and oversaw the film’s original soundtrack. Maher slammed “Barbie” as “man-hating” and “preachy” and criticized the scene in which Barbie (Margot Robbie) confronts the Mattel board of executives, which is depicted as 12 men in
The Walt Disney Co. saw its streaming losses narrow in the second quarter amid an exodus of 12.5 million subscribers from its Disney+ Hotstar streaming platform in India. For the quarter, Disney exceeded Wall Street’s targets on earnings per share but missed on revenue. The Mouse reported total revenue of $22.3 billion, up 4% from
Losses narrowed and revenues climbed as film hits such as “John Wick: Chapter 4” helped power Lionsgate’s quarterly earnings. It’s a time of change for the company, which is separating its motion picture and television groups from its Starz streaming and pay TV business, relaunching both as publicly traded entities. That was originally supposed to
Henry Deas III, a longtime Variety advertising sales executive who specialized in film festivals and international markets, died Aug. 6 in Culver City. He was 75. Deas was known throughout the entertainment industry for his love of the movie business. He was an expert on the world’s largest film festivals and had an encylopedic knowledge
Hit any picket line in Hollywood these days, and there’s a good chance you’ll see signs slamming the lavish paydays for entertainment chiefs like Disney’s Bob Iger and Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav. For the striking actors and writers who are holding out for a better deal from the major studios, these bloated compensation packages
LOCARNO — Switzerland’s Locarno Fest hit its final straits on Wednesday evening with “Spring Breakers” director Harmony Korine, among a slim roster of on-site stars, set to arrive to accept in person an Honorary Golden Pard. Otherwise, the dust is settling on activities at the festival’s vibrant industry arm, Locarno Pro, which broke all-time attendance
It’s been a long and winding road so far for Hollywood during its summer of strikes, and the path forward is anything but clear. As the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reach the 100-day milestone of the work stoppage, here is a timeline of the key events, pivotal
Drawn from an exciting Locarno Pro lineup, these talents – directors, producers and industry execs – impacted at Locarno, and will often in the future. Nine are women, which says a lot about cutting-edge innovation in Europe and beyond. Despina Athanassiadis, France Born in France and with Greek roots, Athanassiadis is currently focusing on her
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s “Nyad” will be the opening night film of the Hamptons International Film Festival. The event will take place on Oct. 5, according to HamptonsFilm, which runs the festival. It is the East Coast premiere of the Netflix release, which is shaping up to be one of the streaming service’s
LOCARNO — Brazil’s Pandora Filmes, one of the country’s premier independent distributors, has secured Brazilian distribution rights to “Tomorrow’s Rain”(“Amanhã Já Não Chove”), a Portuguese portrait of bourgeois malaise which was brought onto the market last weekend at the Locarno Festival’s Match Me! Pandora Filmes’ distribution slate takes in “Parasite,” “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” and
This year marks 30 years since Bob Byington’s first feature, though it’s only during the last 15 of those — since SXSW midnight-movie breakout “RSO: Registered Sex Offender” — that the Austin-based director has enjoyed “indie darling” status. During that same stretch, the cultural discourse has changed a great deal, while Byington’s voice remains remarkably
The elements are finally coming together for Pixar’s “Elemental,” which is enjoying a rebound after a spark-less start at the box office. The animation adventure stumbled in its debut with $29.5 million domestically and $44.5 million globally, by far the worst opening weekend in Pixar’s 28-year history. Yet two months later, its ticket sales have
The talent highlighted in Variety’s Young Hollywood Impact Report come from the worlds of film, television, music and digital and all made a splash in the last year. All interviews were conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike began. Many of the young performers are active in the labor movement. “The stakes are incredibly high when it
The Writers Guild of America strike reaches its 100th day on Wednesday, equaling the duration of the last strike with no signs that labor or management is about to back down from hardened positions that have fueled the contract impasse. The WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) had their first
One belongs in two places: in love and at home. With her sophomore feature, Golden Leopard contender Leonor Teles questions the stability of both. “Baan” (Thai for home) reimagines the world of a lovelorn person coming to terms with her own loneliness through a quasi-magical shift between Bangkok and Lisbon. Part of Locarno’s main competition,
Eminent filmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan is in post-production on “Phule,” about the pioneers of women’s education in India. Jyotirao Govindrao Phule and his wife Savitribai were social reformers known for their efforts against India’s endemic caste system. Phule’s first school for girls was founded in Pune, western India, in 1848. In 1873, Jyotirao Phule and
LevelK has boarded “The Invisible Fight,” Estonian director Rainer Sarnet’s kung fu comedy set in an Orthodox monastery in the former Soviet Union. The film world premieres Aug. 11 in the main competition of the Locarno Film Festival. “The Invisible Fight” is set in 1973 on the Soviet-Chinese border, where Private Rafael is on guard
After a 20-year pact, the Oscars will no longer broadcast on Sky in the U.K., Variety has confirmed. Sky, the U.K.’s largest pay-TV broadcaster, has given up the rights to Hollywood’s biggest awards ceremony. The Comcast-owned company got the rights to the broadcast back from the BBC in 2004. Previously, the two companies had taken
Ranveer Singh will be the latest actor to take on the role of Don, in the third film in Farhan Akhtar’s franchise. Created by Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, “Don” (1978), directed by Chandra Barot, starred Amitabh Bachchan in dual roles – that of a ruthless mafia don and his look alike Vijay, a slum-dweller
Nearly two decades ago, “March of the Penguins” crossed a frontier hardly any nonfiction film ever does: not just the Antarctic Circle, but the even more remote $100 million mark at the global box office. A bona fide global phenomenon, Luc Jacquet wondrous nature doc — and its adorable, relatable emperor penguin stars — got
Steven Soderbergh recently spoke to Rolling Stone while promoting his new series “Command Z” about the origins of his friendship with fellow filmmaker Christopher Nolan. According to the “Traffic” and “Ocean’s Eleven” director, a Warner Bros. executive refused to meet with Nolan about a potential directing gig for the studio’s thriller “Insomnia.” The exec allegedly
Dan Ackerman, editor in chief of tech news site Gizmodo, alleges Apple TV+ film “Tetris” illegally copied from his book on the popular video game, in a lawsuit he filed seeking at least $4.8 million in damages from Apple and others. Ackerman’s “The Tetris Effect: The Game That Hypnotized the World,” published in 2016, is
Billy Porter revealed in a recent interview with Evening Standard that he has to sell his house amid the ongoing strikes in Hollywood in order to save money. Porter, an Emmy winner for his work on FX’s “Pose,” was speaking to the outlet to promote his music career and steered clear of discussing any of
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay will be honored by international AIDS organization amfAR with its Award of Inspiration during the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 3. The black-tie gala and dinner, taking place at La Misericordia, will include performances by singers Rita Ora and Leona Lewis. The evening is presented by Mastercard, the Red Sea International
Endeavor swung to a big profit in the second quarter thanks to the sale of its IMG Academy business, which will help fuel a stock buyback program and a cash dividend payments at the end of the current quarter. The parent company of WME, IMG, UFC and other media and sports assets delivered revenue of