Movies

Lena Khan (“Flora and Ulysses”) is set to direct the Bollywood comedy “Best of the Best.” The Amazon Studios project, formerly titled “For the Culture,” chronicles the highly competitive world of collegiate Bollywood dance competitions. Comedian Hasan Minhaj, best known for his Peabody Award-winning Netflix series “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj,” wrote the project with

SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot points, including the ending for “The Pope’s Exorcist” currently playing in theaters. Director Julius Avery has “only seen parts” of William Friedkin’s classic “The Exorcist.” “I’m not a massive aficionado of exorcist movies,” he tells Variety. Yet despite that, his latest release, “The Pope’s Exorcist,” which is based on

Count Dracula’s bold extravagance has never been an oversight for costume designers, but “Renfield’s” Lisa Lovaas wanted to add a bit of “rockstar flair” to Nicolas Cage’s take on the Prince of Darkness. While Lovaas still aimed for a “current but timeless” wardrobe for the iconic vampire, she pulled inspiration from David Bowie as well

Grammy winner and Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Anthony Ramos is the latest star in talks to join “Twisters,” the sequel to the 1996 storm-chasing blockbuster. Ramos, a Grammy winner and Golden Globe and Emmy nominee, would join Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell in the film, directed by “Minari” helmer Lee Isaac Chung, from a

Not to be confused with an adaptation of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” comedy troupe Broken Lizard’s “Quasi” tells a story that’s truer to the Oxford definition of its title than the 1831 Victor Hugo novel that inspired it. Kevin Heffernan settles uneasily into the director’s seat usually occupied by colleague Jay Chandrasekhar for an

Nardeep Khurmi’s “Land of Gold,” which won AT&T’s Untold Stories award at the Tribeca Film Festival, will have a limited theatrical release on May 5 before premiering May 15 on HBO Max. The film follows a first-generation Punjabi truck driver and terrified father-to-be who discovers a young Mexican-American girl inside his trailer after taking a

Vidiots is finally getting ready to welcome movie fans, as the video store and nonprofit film organization unveils its renovation of the Eagle Theatre in northeast L.A.’s Eagle Rock neighborhood. The official opening is set for June 1, with sneak previews for supporters starting in May. The beloved Santa Monica video rental store opened in

Representation for Asian actors increased in TV and film between 2021 and 2022, according to a study of how casting and crew for scripted live-action content has changed over the past two years. The Entertainment Diversity Progress Report was conducted by Luminate, a subsidiary of PME TopCo., a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” soared higher than expected in its second weekend of release. The animated adventure, from Universal, Nintendo and Illumination, took first place again with $92 million over the weekend, above Sunday’s already-huge estimate of $87 million. Those returns rank as the highest-grossing second weekend for an animated film, as well as

In a rare new interview while promoting his performance in Zach Braff’s “A Good Person,” Morgan Freeman told The Sunday Times that he’s insulted by Black History Month and the term “African American.” “Two things I can say publicly that I do not like,” Freeman said. “Black History Month is an insult. You’re going to

Plan B’s new owner Mediawan is pursuing its buying spree with the acquisition of a majority stake in the Emmy Award-winning company Submarine. The Amsterdam-based company develops and produces international scripted series and feature films and documentaries, and owns the largest animation studio in the Netherlands. Submarine’s film and series credits include the Emmy Award-winning

The trailer (below) has debuted for “An Owl, a Garden and the Writer,” which is having its world premiere as part of the Burning Lights Competition of Visions du Réel, the documentary film festival, which runs April 21-30 in Nyon, Switzerland. Sara Dolatabadi’s film previously won the Works in Progress Post-Production Development Award at Karlovy

The Hong Kong Film Awards gave a huge dose of support to veteran filmmaker Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting, naming her documentary “To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self” as best film on Sunday, despite local controversy which saw it pulled from screens earlier this year. The numerical winner on the night was “Detectives Vs Sleuths,” which earned four major

Rolling off a successful edition that premiered Charlotte Wells’ celebrated film “Aftersun” with Paul Mescal, Cannes’ Critics Week is back with an international lineup spanning South Korea and Malaysia to France and Jordan, among others. The Critics Week sidebar runs parallel to the Cannes Film Festival, and focuses on first and second films. Under the leadership of

TrustNordisk has sold Martin Skovbjerg’s psychological drama “Copenhagen Does Not Exist” to three European territories. The screenplay, based on the novel “Sander” by Terje Holtet Larsen, is written by Eskil Vogt, who was Oscar nominated with Joachim Trier for the original screenplay for “The Worst Person in the World.” “Copenhagen Does Not Exist” had its

Picture Tree Intl. has picked up international sales duties on “Manta Manta: Legacy,” directed by and starring Til Schweiger. The action comedy is a sequel to the first “Manta, Manta” feature film from 1991, with a market premiere for both movies planned at the Cannes Film Market. Released by Constantin Film Verleih on March 30,

Benita (Julia Mayorga), the young woman at the center of “Rare Objects,” the third feature directed by Katie Holmes, has been through a transformative trauma. In the film’s opening moments, she’s discharged from a mental ward, where she’s been dealing with PTSD; a series of charged flashbacks show us what happened to her. In Manhattan,

ZDF Studios has secured the global distribution rights (excluding India) for “Colonies in Conflict,” a feature-length documentary that examines the perilous existence of wild bees in a fast-changing Indian landscape. Last year, the film was a finalist at the Jackson Wild Media Awards and won the best independent production award at Rotterdam’s Wildlife Film Festival.

Jackie Chan-starring nostalgic stuntman comedy film “Ride On” trotted to a second weekend atop the mainland Chinese box office. “The Super Mario” Bros. Movie” remained in fourth place. “Ride On” earned $6.0 million (RMB41.5 million) between Friday and Sunday, a 48% week-on week drop, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That took it to

“John Wick: Chapter 4” easily outgunned Japanese animation film Suzume to claim top spot at the South Korean box office over the latest weekend. The American action title earned $4.05 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented a nearly 50%

Good news! She’s dead. Director Jon M. Chu has revealed the first look at Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda in the movie version of “Wicked.” “You weren’t told the whole story. What happens when you veer off the Yellow Brick Road? FIRST LOOK of the #WickedMovie … currently in production in Oz,” Chu

Ari Aster’s latest anxiety-inducer “Beau Is Afraid” is taking the independent box office by storm. The A24 film, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as an apprehensive man who endures a lot over the course of three hours, grossed $320,396 on four screens in New York and Los Angeles. Those ticket sales translate to a sizable $80,099

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” left its box office competitors in the dust, scoring a massive $87 million in its second weekend of release. Ticket sales declined just 41% from its debut, resulting in the best sophomore outing ever for an animated film. So far, the video game adaptation has grossed $347.8 million in North

SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot points of “Suzume,” currently playing in theaters. Makoto Shinkai’s latest anime feature, “Suzume,” hits American theaters this weekend. The film is set in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake that devastated Japan’s Tohoku region, centering on themes of loss and grief. Shinkai brings in a talking cat and mobile

Mamma mia! “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is staying on top at the domestic box office. The Universal release added a commanding $22.6 million on Friday from 4,371 theaters. After achieving the biggest opening weekend of the year, “Mario Bros.” actually added 28 more locations in its sophomore outing. The Universal, Illumination and Nintendo co-production

If Lars von Trier hadn’t grown top-heavy with the mythology of his self-importance (I’d say that happened around the time of “Antichrist,” in 2009), he might have tossed off a movie like “Sick of Myself” — a social satire in the form of a queasy drama of body horror, and a movie whose disturbing bad-boy

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television has named its batch of 2023 film and TV winners ahead of Sunday night’s broadcast of the Canadian Screen Awards on CBC and CBC Gem. During the weeklong celebration, which was broken up over four days, “The Porter” and “Brother” emerged with the most victories in their respective

Derek Luke always knew he wanted to be a hero — or rather, play one. But when the opportunity for him to join the Marvel universe arose in 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger,” he wasn’t so sure — even after his agent, the late Ed Limato, insisted. “If he sent me something, he would

Samantha Geimer is once again defending Roman Polanski, who raped her in 1977 when she was 13 years old. Geimer has often spoken out in support of Polanski, although this time she did it in an interview with France’s Le Point magazine that was conducted by none other than Polanski’s wife, the actor Emmanuelle Seigner.

Guy Ritchie is being sued over his film “The Gentlemen,” which starred Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam and Michelle Dockery. The lawsuit, which was filed in the London High Court last month by actor and writer Mickey De Hara, claims that Ritchie commissioned De Hara to write a sequel to the 2008 gangster movie “RockNRolla” based