Movies

A Vulture report published in June claimed that animators on Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” were extremely overworked during production. The report followed similar claims made by several visual effects workers about the brutal working conditions at Marvel Studios. For Paramount’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” it appears director Jeff Rowe wanted to buck

With ruminating obscurity, the ambitious Negu Film Collective – which includes filmmakers Ekain Albite, Mikel Ibarguren, Nicolau Mallofré and Adrià Roca – works to explore the contradictions of a Basque conflict that weighs heavy on all that lived through it. Stakes, set in slow succession, portray reverberations of the era’s traumas. With international sales and distribution

Yellow Veil Pictures and Vinegar Syndrome announced have co-acquired North American rights for “Riddle of Fire,” the feature debut of writer and director Weston Razooli. The movie follows three mischievous children as they embark on an odyssey when their mother asks them to run an errand. The film was also an official selection at this

Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s “The Miracle Club” is making its way back to theaters across the United States on Aug. 18 via Sony Pictures Classics. After making its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, “The Miracle Club” opened on July 14 in over 600 theaters across the U.S. and has grossed a total $1.73 million. “The

“you’re full of hate and frustrations. you should take a break,” director Quentin Dupieux once tweeted at me, immediately following my review of his 2014 film “Reality.” In another world, someone might have advised him against picking a fight with a film critic. You know, never quarrel with a man who buys ink by the

Director William Friedkin, best known for his Oscar-winning “The French Connection” and blockbuster “The Exorcist,” died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 87. His death was confirmed by Chapman University dean Stephen Galloway, a friend of Friedkin’s wife Sherry Lansing.  His final film, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” starring Kiefer Sutherland, is set to premiere at the

The lineup for Docu Talents From the East – a showcase of standout documentary films from Central and Eastern Europe that are in post-production – has been unveiled. Eight documentary projects will be presented on Aug. 13 at Sarajevo Film Festival. The event is part of CineLink Industry Day, the festival’s program for film and

Will Smith told Kevin Hart on a new episode of Peacock’s “Hart to Heart” talk show that he “went too far” as an actor while portraying a slave in the Apple drama “Emancipation.” The film, Smith’s first release after the notorious Oscars slap, centered on the true story of a runaway slave named Peter, a

FilmSharks has picked up world sales rights to Finnish children’s film “Snot & Splash: The Mystery of Disappearing Holes.” “It was a bidding war. They got offers from everybody,” said FilmSharks CEO Guido Rud. “Snot & Splash” (“Räkä ja Roiskis”) is produced by It’s Alive Films – founded by director Teemu Nikki and Jani Pösö

“Control,” Kevin Spacey’s first project since he was acquitted of sexual assault in the U.K., has dropped its first trailer. Spacey, who was found not guilty on all counts last month at Southwark Crown Court, can be heard but not seen in the upcoming thriller. In the micro-budget film, which was directed by Gene Fallaize,

Unity Wētā Tools has launched its newest tools to help artists work more efficiently on digital character creation and in film production. Wētā Tools, recently acquired by Unity, is a platform offering tools for creating 3D content and experiences. This new division of Unity aims to deliver solutions for artists to collaborate and create 2D

Now on its fourth year, the Santiago Film Festival’s Morbido-Sanfic Lab features an ever more diverse selection from Ibero-America.  As Morbido founder-CEO Pablo Guisa said of this year’s edition: “It has projects from multiple countries, several produced or directed by women as well as one LGBTQ-themed project and, for the first time, a documentary.” Vampire creatures

Greta Gerwig celebrated her 40th birthday just as “Barbie” was getting ready to cross the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. The feat has made “Barbie” the first movie solo directed by a female filmmaker to cross the box office milestone. The director’s “Barbie” star Ryan Gosling marked the occasion by sending her

Argentine director Paula Hernández’s “The Ravaging Wind,” toplined by Latin American star Alfredo Castro (“Karnawal,” “El Club”), will be the opening night film of Horizontes Latinos sidebar at the 71st edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival, which runs Sept. 22-30. Carolina Markowicz’s “Toll,” whose producers include Brazilian giant Globo Filmes, will close the section,

Nobody can be both the magnifying glass and the ant burning up under its glare. Nobody, that is, except shaggy Romanian shaman Radu Jude who, with his Locarno competition entry “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World,” follows up 2021’s Berlinale-winning “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” with a dizzying, dazzling

Wes Anderson will be honored at the 80th Venice Film Festival, which runs Aug. 30-Sept. 9. The U.S. director will receive the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award, which is given to “a personality who has made a particularly original contribution to the contemporary film industry.” The awards ceremony will take place on Sept. 1

“Saltburn,” Emerald Fennell’s hotly anticipated sophomore feature after the Oscar and BAFTA-winning “Promising Young Woman,” will open the 67th BFI London Film Festival. The film is produced by Fennell and Margot Robbie, whose “Barbie” has grossed more than $1 billion, as well as Josey McNamara (“Promising Young Woman,” “Barbie”). “Saltburn” reunites Fennell with her “Promising

Karim Aïnouz’s “Motel Destino,” which began filming last week, has eroticism, a recurring element in his films, as the backdrop. The Match Factory is selling the international rights. His eighth fiction feature marks a return to the director’s Brazilian roots after having shot his first English-language production, “Firebrand,” starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law, which

Celebrated Malaysian-Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang sat down with Variety on the eve of receiving the Locarno Film Festival Career Award. The award is only the latest in a series of prizes from major European festivals the art-house maverick has received – from the 1994 Golden Lion from Venice for “Vive L’Amour” to the Silver Bear

Swiss Films previewed four films to industry guests at a special event hosted by Locarno Pro, the industry section of Locarno Film Festival, showcasing generational range and genre diversity. The selection included the new film by Carmen Jaquier, the director of “Thunder,” which was announced this week as the Swiss entry in the international feature

LOCARNO — Spain’s Vertigo Films has boarded “All the World Drops Dead,” committing to co-produce the next scarefest from Austrian Kevin Kopacka, director of 2021’s noteworthy “Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes.” Set up at Germany’s Manderley Films, which oversaw VFX on “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “All the World Drops Dead” has been brought

As the title may suggest, Nelson Yeo’s Locarno title “Dreaming & Dying” is driven by multiple transgressions and surprises. Identities, between humans, fish, and frogs, fluctuate and morph. Dreams and nightmares come together – to blend harmoniously or combust.  Singapore’s landscape proves a fertile ground for plumbing the depths of fantasies and repressed desires, which is just

While “Love in Taipei” promises transportive and transformative escapades with its adaptation of Abigail Hing Wen’s novel “Loveboat, Taipei,” the story’s core strengths are undervalued in the translation from book to screen. This Paramount Plus feature, centered on a young woman embarking on a life-changing overseas journey, only pays lip service to the struggle of

“Meg 2: The Trench,” the second instalment in the Chinese-financed giant shark franchise, was the top film worldwide over the weekend. But in its China home market “Meg 2” was beaten by strong previews of “No More Bets.” Nevertheless, the arrival of two popular films at the top of the chart meant that China enjoyed

Ryu Seung-wan’s female-led crime caper “Smugglers” topped the South Korean box office for a second weekend, ahead of new release title “Ransomed.” “Smugglers” enjoyed a strong hold in its second weekend of release and commanded 42% market share. It delivered $7.09 million, a drop of only 20% on its opening weekend, giving a 12-day cumulative

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

“Meg 2: The Trench,” the second Jason Statham-led shark thriller, is swimming to $112 million in its international box office debut, bringing its global total to $142 million. It’s a strong start for the $130 million-budgeted film, which was co-financed by Warner Bros. and China Media Capital. Like the original, 2018’s “The Meg,” which earned

“The Vanishing Soldier” is a coming of age story, as breathless as its protagonist: the kind of film that will make cinephiles of seventeen-year-olds. Which is one of the reasons that Dani Rosenberg, the film’s 43-year-old director, is delighted to be in Locarno, where the film, sold by Intramovies, is screening in main competition, and

When did the “Mission: Impossible” films become action movies? I’m not sure when that happened, but I do know this much: For a series like the one in question, it’s live by the action, die by the action. For a few days there, people were chattering about all the great action in “Dead Reckoning Part

SPOILER ALERT: This contains spoilers from “Shortcomings,” now in theaters. Sherry Cola calls working with Randall Park in his directorial debut, “Shortcomings,” a full circle moment. Not only has she been watching the actor-director’s work for years, encountering him at parties, and having mutual acquaintances, but she had always wanted to be on MTV’s “Wild ‘N Out,’