Movies

Composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, should have been as famous as Mozart — except he wasn’t. Stephen Williams‘ new film “Chevalier” starring Kelvin Harrison Jr. as the titular violinist explores why. From Searchlight Pictures, the film opens in theaters on April 21 and follows Chevalier, a name bestowed on him after he caught the

Documentarian Dawn Mikkelson, known for her work on ”Finding Her Beat,” “Risking Light” and “The Red Tail,” is exploring the lives of six of the Minnesota RollerGirls in her upcoming documentary, “Minnesota Mean.” The documentary feature will make its world premiere at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival on April 15 followed by screenings

One of the biggest announcements to emerge out of Star Wars Celebration was the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey in a new movie that will follow the events of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” which concluded the most recent Skywalker trilogy in 2019. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms. Marvel”) is directing the still-untitled Rey movie

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has recruited another 128 journalists to join the voting body that selects the nominees and winners of the annual Golden Globe Awards. The new recruits bring the number of people set to vote for the 2024 Globe kudos to 310, representing journalists from 76 countries around the world. The HFPA

It’s-a blockbuster! “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” an animated adventure based on the classic video game, crushed the competition with its jaw-dropping $204.6 million domestic and $377 million global debut over the long Easter weekend. Those results far exceeded expectations and even surpassed the starts of recent installments in Universal’s biggest franchises, like “Jurassic World

The Jackie Chan-starring stunt-man comedy drama “Ride On” pratfalled its way to first place at the mainland Chinese box office with a lowball $11.7 million opening. Still, that was enough to beat another new release, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which ranked fourth over the latest weekend. Chan is an enduring, but fading, star in

Michael Lerner, an actor who featured in films such as “Elf,” “Godzilla” and “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and who received an Oscar nomination in best supporting actor for his performance in Joel and Ethan Coen’s 1991 psychological comedy “Barton Fink,” died Saturday evening. He was 81 years old. Lerner’s death was confirmed by his

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” towered over box office charts with $377 million in global ticket sales, taking the title for the biggest worldwide debut of the year from “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” ($225.3 million). The animated movie — a collaboration between Illumination, Nintendo and Universal — crushed already-high expectations, igniting to $173 million

Wahoo! “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” racked up a blockbuster $146 million in its opening weekend and powered to $204.6 million in its first five days of release, squashing expectations and steamrolling the competition at the domestic box office. The animated movie, a collaboration between Illumination, Nintendo and Universal, has landed a number of records,

The Oscars love a sprawling biopic, an underdog character and a triumphant tale marred by obstacles and resulting in success. Those themes have marked the sports genre since the creation of cinema. In the Academy Awards’ history, 591 movies have been nominated for best picture, with 95 winners named among them. Depending on the definition

Following his traumatic snowplow accident, actor Jeremy Renner is continuing his recovery. In January, Renner was hospitalized for blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries after a 14,330-pound snow plow ran him over as he attempted to reach his nephew Alex in the snow. Renner’s recovery has been progressing well, with the actor sharing a photograph

There are a lot of reasons why “Air,” the sensational new movie starring Matt Damon and directed by Ben Affleck, is being consumed by audiences with eager pleasure. It’s the rare drama for adults these days that people actually want to see in a movie theater (I don’t mean that to sound negative; the film

The ongoing and ever-growing need to connect accomplished artistic works with sophisticated viewers has given rise to a new and altogether idiosyncratic new post within the XR ecosystem – the impact producer. Rather than chase after indiscriminate revenue, the impact producer focuses on audience returns; rather than aiming for the largest possible public, the impact

Before “Air” could get the greenlight, director Ben Affleck needed one last seal of approval. With months of development already complete, the director flew out to meet with Michael Jordan, seeking his blessing for the film, which explores the NBA star’s landmark 1984 sponsorship deal with Nike and the origin of the Air Jordan line.

After the “Ahsoka” panel at the Star Wars Celebration in London, Variety spoke with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy about some of the franchise’s future installments. Kennedy was keen to talk about bringing back Daisy Ridley’s Rey for a new “Star Wars” film, which was announced during an April 7 panel. “It was a pretty straightforward

As director Alex Ruhl’s “Rock, Paper, Scissors” continues an international festival tour, the project’s funder has sent out a message to other immersive titles considering public support: BFI Network is open for business. “We are open for all applications, and accepting narrative fiction VR projects,” says BFI Network talent exec Alexzandra Jackson. “I had such

Of the seven XR projects selected for this year’s Quebec spotlight at the NewImages Festival, all but one originated from the Montreal Interactive Studio branch of Canada’s National Film Board (NFB). More than a victory lap for the French Canadian branch, this recent festival perch offered another testament to the benefits of public investment in

An irreverent fable that imagines a civilization’s rise, fracture and fall, Pedro Harres’ “From the Main Square” took top honors at the NewImages Festival on Friday, claiming the festival’s Grand Prize, which came with €6,000 ($6,597) in prize money. Born in Brazil and based in Berlin, Harres channeled his frustrations and heartache about his native

It’s a box office Koopa d’état. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” continues to super smash its opening projections, drawing $55 million from 4,343 theaters on Friday. Released Wednesday, the film has already earned $137 million in domestic ticket sales. Replace every dollar with a coin and that would amount to 1.37 million 1-Up mushrooms. That’s

Banking on the continued success of Latin American projects at immersive festivals and showcases across the globe, Mediamorfosis director Damian Kirzner is looking to help local creatives build stronger in-roads into the international XR ecosystem. The founder and director of Latin America’s largest new media forum, Kirzner was at this year’s NewImages Festival to present

Questions of distribution animated industry talk and private debate at this year’s NewImages Festival, as delegates considered new strategies to connect accomplished immersive works with the widest possible public. Of the new opportunities presented, the Full Dome model – which sees 360 works projected on the large spherical screens – proved particularly eye opening, as

The past, present and future of Star Wars was on ample display on Friday at the Star Wars Celebration fan convention, as Lucasfilm unveiled the most robust look yet at the company’s plans for the hallowed franchise. As studio chief Kathleen Kennedy revealed three new feature films and first looks at four upcoming TV series,

Chris Pratt’s Mario voice has been a topic of discussion ever since the first trailer for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” debuted last October. Some fans claimed it wasn’t Italian enough, while others felt it was too aggressively Brooklyn. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Pratt revealed that one of his first attempts at

French actor-director Maiwenn, whose latest film “Jeanne du Barry” starring Johnny Depp is set to open the Cannes Film Festival, is being sued by Edwy Plenel, the editor-in-chief of Mediapart magazine for allegedly attacking him at a restaurant. A police complaint was filed on March 7 by Plenel, accusing Maiween of aggression. Variety confirmed the

Can Chris Evans and Ana de Armas convince moviegoers to flock to Apple TV+ this month? The streamer is surely hoping as it prepares to launch “Ghosted,” an action comedy in which a romantic hopeful (Evans) falls for a CIA agent (Armas) and gets entangled in her latest mission. While Apple TV+ hopes to court

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. If you missed “Cocaine Bear” in theaters, worry not: the absolutely preposterous slasher comedy about, yes, a coked-up bear, is coming to Peacock on April 14. The Elizabeth Banks-directed film hits the streamer nearly

“Snowfall” star Damson Idris will appear opposite Brad Pitt in a new Formula One racing film from “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski. The untitled movie is being made by Apple Original Films and will be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. Kosinski will produce the feature alongside seven-time Formula One champion

In a heartfelt example of life imitating art, “Babe” star James Cromwell is helping save a real baby big from being slaughtered. Cromwell serves as an honorary director at PETA and is working with the animal rights organization to transfer a piglet to the Indraloka Animal Sanctuary after it fell off a truck that was

David Finfer, the Academy Award-nominated film editor of “The Fugitive,” died on Monday following complications that resulted from a heart attack. He was 80. Finfer was nominated for the Oscar as well as the American Cinema Editors and BAFTA awards for editing the 1993 film “The Fugitive,” which starred Harrison Ford. He worked with Albert

Brut, the influential digital media publisher which became one of the main partners for the Cannes Film Festival last year, has just finalized its fourth funding round for approximately $40 million. The company, founded by Guillaume Lacroix, Renaud Le Van Kim and Laurent Lucas six years ago, has enlisted a pair of powerful financial backers: