Movies

Principal photography has commenced on Adam MacDonald’s survival thriller “Out Come the Wolves.” The feral feature, which will be shot on location in Dundas, Ontario throughout May, follows the story of a woman who takes her fiancé to a secluded cabin to meet her best male friend, before things take a dark turn during a

Following the completion of its first feature film, Aylin Tezel’s “Falling Into Place” – which Global Screen has just acquired for sale at Cannes – Glasgow-based emerging indie Compact Pictures has optioned “The Pharmacist” for development. The novel, the debut by Scots-Egyptian author Rachelle Atalla, was chosen as a Sunday Times Book of the Week

Bruce Berman, a senior executive who was previously chairman and CEO of Los Angeles-based Village Roadshow Pictures, has come out of retirement to board the recently-founded film studio Through the Lens Entertainment. The company, founded by producer Aditya Chand, is headquartered in Singapore with operations in the U.S. and Japan. It aims to combine the

Disney is going on a diet — but Hulu is still on the menu. Disney CEO Bob Iger and chief financial officer Christine McCarthy delivered a clear message on Wednesday to Wall Street and Hollywood during Disney’s quarterly earnings call. Disney will cut the overall volume of content produced for its streaming platforms — primarily

Twenty years later, Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis are in talks to reunite for a sequel to the hit body-swap comedy “Freaky Friday.” The sequel is in the works at Disney, with Lohan and Curtis expected to reprise their roles as mother-daughter duo Anna and Tess Coleman. Elyse Hollander, whose work has been featured

“Aladdin” and “Charlie’s Angels” breakout Naomi Scott will star alongside “Game of Thrones” alum Kit Harrington and Oscar winner Jeremy Irons in the epic romance “Eternal Return,” Variety can report exclusively. Village Roadshow Pictures is producing the project and will introduce the film to buyers at next week’s Cannes Film Festival. “Eternal Return” follows Cass

“The Eight Mountains,” Belgian directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama about friendship, mountains and growing up, scored the top prize at Italy’s 68th David di Donatello Awards. Besides winning best picture, the film also scooped statuettes for best non-original screenplay, photography and sound. Given that the directors are not Italian, it was

Some straight-to-streaming offerings inspire viewers to bemoan the movie’s fate, wishing it had received a proper theatrical release — to be seen the way movies are meant to be seen, and by the widest audience possible. “Crater” isn’t one of those, but neither is this Disney+ original mere algorithm-created dross. Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s lunar adventure

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos will no longer attend a gala meant to honor him next week in New York. The decision comes as labor issues grab headlines across Hollywood. Sarandos was set to accept the Business Visionary Award at the annual PEN American Spring Literary Gala, alongside fellow honoree Lorne Michaels and a host of

From riding boats in Venice to landing in Tuscany in a helicopter, “Book Club: The Next Chapter” star Jane Fonda had quite the adventure in Italy with Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen.  Her favorite memory there? “When we went to see the Sistine Chapel at night, and there was nobody else there,” Fonda

Will Poulter revealed in a recent GQ magazine interview that he was mistaken for the “Toy Story” villain Sid by a moviegoer during a recent trip to Los Angeles. The actor, who recently joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Adam Warlock in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” spoke out on often being reduced to

Jenny Tartikoff, the executive VP of global communications at Paramount Pictures, has departed the studio. “I wanted to let you know that Jenny Tartikoff informed me that she will be departing the company, effective today,” Paramount’s president & CEO Brian Robbins said in a statement. “She has been a trusted colleague to us, and I

The Directors Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced a joint media blackout on Wednesday, as the two sides met for their first day of collective bargaining. The DGA negotiators are convening at the AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks to present their proposals, which include a hike in international

Dolph Lundgren revealed for the first time during an interview on “In Depth With Graham Bensinger” that he’s been privately battling cancer on and off for the last eight years. Doctors first discovered and removed a cancerous tumor on the actor’s kidney in 2015. “Then I did scans every six months, then you do it

Back in 2017, Kevin King was looking to retire from ABS Payroll, the company he founded in 1985 to service independent productions, and hand the business off to his son Kris. He invited BondIt Media Capital co-founders Matthew Helderman (above, left) and Luke Taylor (above, right) to lunch. Their production company Buffalo8 had been an

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures announced its summer programming will include a new concert film series, public events, education programs and conversations with Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter and 14-time Oscar-nominee Diane Warren. The events begin on June 1 with a screening of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn’s “Desk Set,” followed by a

By the mid-2010s, BondIt Media Capital was thriving, funding 50 projects a year, as well as producing its own slate through its Buffalo8 division. But its post-production pipeline was a chaotic tangle, employing an uncoordinated mix of talent working at facilities spread across the map. Simply put, “it was unsustainable,” says BondIt CEO and co-founder

It is often said that the secret to becoming a successful entrepreneur is finding a need and filling it. When Santa Monica-based BondIt Media Capital launched in 2013, it zeroed in on the deposits productions must leave with SAG-AFTRA, DGA, IATSE and other guilds to ensure that their members get paid in a timely fashion. 

Spain’s animation services and VFX industry is booming as never before, positioning itself as a leading hub in the global landscape. With tax rebates firing up Spain’s audiovisual industry, the animation sector has produced 16 feature films, 72 seasons of TV series and 156 short films from 2020-2022, according to toon and VFX federation Diboos.

In 2018, the U.K. was the unquestioned capital of Hollywood in Europe, home to 563 TV channels aimed at non-domestic markets — what is now Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global and Disney, for instance. With the country’s exit from the European Union, however, over half of those services have relocated. After the Netherlands, their second-most-favored

Begho Ukueberuwa, the director of development at Fat City, died May 7 in Providence, R.I., after suffering complications from heat stroke while running a half-marathon. He was 27. As a passionate film fan, Ukueberuwa began his career in entertainment as an agent in Creative Artists Agency’s Motion Picture Literary department. In August 2022, he was

These women are backing buzzed-about Spanish projects, many of them co-productions. Leire Apellaniz Image Credit: Eneko Muruzabal With noteworthy titles — Goya-nominated “Advantages of Travelling by Train,” Locarno standout “The Sacred Spirit” — proud Basque Country native Apellaniz has grown step by step. She is following “Samsara,” buzzed about at Berlin, with upcoming Henry Golding

Noémie Merlant, the French actor of “Tár,” is reteaming with Celine Sciamma, who directed her in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” for her sophomore outing, “The Balconettes.” The fantastical comedy horror movie is being written by Merlant with the collaboration of Céline Sciamma. MK2 Films will launch sales at the Cannes Film Market. Filming

I remember once watching an episode of “Game of Thrones” and thinking to myself: “My brother-in-law is right. My films are pathetic.” “Game of Thrones” has deadly dragons, I’ve got lukewarm cups of tea. They’ve got epic battles, I’ve got people being slightly off with each other. At the end of my films two people

The selection of two restored films by Ozu Yasujiro for the Cannes Classics section will kick-off a six-month long celebration of the iconic Japanese auteur around the world. Cannes revealed last week that it will showcase Ozu’s 1947 “Record of a Tenement Gentleman” and his 1950 picture “The Muneteka Sisters.” The screenings mark the 120th

Hulu dropped its first trailer for “Flamin’ Hot,” an Eva Longoria-directed film about Mexican immigrant and former Frito-Lay janitor Richard Montañez, who claims he invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. The film, streaming June 9, stars Jesse Garcia as Montañez, as well as Annie Gonzales, Dennis Haysbert, Tony Shalhoub, Matt Walsh and Emilio Rivera. Montañez’s story is

On Tuesday, on the eve of the opening of Belgrade’s Beldocs Film Festival, festival director Mara Prohaska Markovic sent her condolences to the families of those killed in two mass shootings in Serbia in recent weeks, including one in Belgrade. After a minute’s silence, Prohaska Markovic presented the films that will screen in the 16th

Elle Fanning (“The Great”), Christopher Abbott (“Poor Things”) and Nadia Tereszkiewicz (“The Crime is Mine”) are set to headline “The Maid of Orleans,” Sarah Elizabeth Mintz’s daring follow up to “Good Girl Jane.” Loosely inspired by Mintz’s real-life experiences, “The Maid of Orleans” will explore sexual power dynamics on and off set. Jessica Chastain’s Freckle

U.K.-based sales and distribution outfit Blue Finch Films has boarded international sales, excluding North America, for William Shatner documentary “You Can Call Me Bill” from Legion M and Exhibit A Pictures. Written and directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, who has previously helmed documentaries such as “78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene,” “Memory: The Origins of Alien,” and

Picture Tree Intl. has picked up global sales rights to “Gina” (working title), by Ulrike Kofler, which follows her Netflix debut “What We Wanted.” “Gina” tells the story of a 9-year-old girl longing for a home and family while having to take care of her younger siblings and mother, who is too overwhelmed to take