Movies

Elizabeth Olsen has no idea when she will return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, but she’s hoping her character finds humor and redemption whenever that time comes. Scarlet Witch was the villain of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which ended with the character being crushed under a collapsing building

Academy Award-nominee and BAFTA-winner Barry Keoghan is circling his next high-profile role, with the actor in negotiations to join Ridley Scott’s untitled “Gladiator” sequel. If the deal closes, Keoghan would join fellow 2023 Academy Award nominee Paul Mescal (a best actor nominee for “Aftersun”), who is set to star in the Paramount Pictures film. The

Recently, there has been a consistent tide of well crafted and highly regarded films coming out of Spain. “Alcarràs,” “The Beasts,” “Lullaby,” “La Maternal,” “Prison 77,” to name just the five that the Spanish Academy Goyas singled out in early February.  This level of quality, over a short period, is getting noticed internationally. Last week

Netflix and Chicken & Egg Pictures have teamed up on a new $450,000 documentary fund to support seasoned women and non-binary filmmakers working on their next feature-length project. Up to 30 filmmaking teams will receive either a $10,000 research grant or a $20,000 development grant to use towards a docu project. Recipients of the Chicken

Oscar award-winning veteran producer Gerardo Herrero, (“The Secret In Their Eyes”) returns to the director’s chair with “Under Therapy,” his stark and unnerving big screen rendition of playwright Matías Del Federico’s theatrical production. The project bowed in competition at the Málaga Film festival earlier this week and is set for broader theatrical release in Spanish

Veteran Hollywood executive Megan Colligan is resigning her post as president of Imax Entertainment. Imax CEO Rich Gelfond made the announcement Thursday in an internal memo. Gelfond said Colligan “decided to move on from Imax. Megan will stay with the company through the end of April — helping see us through a busy period that

This year’s Malaga Festival and its industry section’s Latin American Focus are celebrating Peruvian cinema and talent. A number of Peruvian films are screening in the festival and industry section, including “El Caso Monroy,” by Josué Mendez, and Leonardo Barbuy’s debut feature “Diógenes,” which unspool in the fest’s main section and Zonazine sidebar. As a

Demi Lovato is stepping into the director’s chair. The singer, songwriter and actor will make their directorial debut with “Child Star” (working title), a feature-length documentary that aims to “deconstruct the highs and lows of growing up in the spotlight through the lens of some of the world’s most famous former child stars, including Lovato,”

Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to the erotic thriller documentary “We Kill For Love” ahead of its world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival. The company is planning a domestic release later this year and will represent the film for international sales with a launch at the upcoming Marche Du Film in Cannes.

The vibe for costumes in Amazon’s “Daisy Jones & the Six” ranges from boho chic to lots of denim and earthtones oozing ‘70s California vibes. Costume designer Denise Wingate spent many weekends scouring thrift shops and flea markets to build the wardrobe that consisted of over 1500 changes for the series based on the best-selling

CAA has signed rising British star Rosy McEwen.  The actor, who was named to Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch for 2020, was not previously represented in the U.S., and will now be represented by the agency in all areas.  In 2022, McEwen won the British Independent Film Award for best lead performance for “Blue Jean.” She

Kino Lorber has bought U.S. and Anglo-Canadian distribution rights to Nicolas Philibert’s poignant documentary “On the Adamant” which just won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release later this year followed by a digital and home video release on all major platforms. Sold by Films du

The trio behind Mediawan, the French company which recently acquired a majority stake in Brad Pitt’s Plan B, have made an offer to buy CGR Cinema, France’s second biggest multiplex chain, Variety has confirmed. The bid has been made by Pierre-Antoine Capton and French telecom tycoon Xavier Niel, the co-founders of Mediawan. Capton and Niel

When Lee Unkrich was 12, he saw “The Shining” for the first time. He remembers less from the screening than what happened shortly afterward, which set in motion a lifelong obsession with Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece of horror. On his way to summer camp, Unkrich bought the movie tie-in edition of Stephen King’s novel. “There were

Lucy Liu is making her comic book movie debut in “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” playing the villainous Kalypso alongside Helen Mirren and “West Side Story” breakout Rachel Zegler. The three actors play the daughters of Atlas, who come to our planet to reclaim the magic that fuels Zachary Levi’s Shazam. Liu was recently asked

Non-Londoners might think of the U.K. capital as a single city, the perceived interchangeability of its regions and locations evident in many a notionally London-set but geographically manic film where characters stroll from Chelsea Bridge to the heart of Soho in a matter of minutes. Residents know that its quadrants are so disparate as to

London-based Spring Films, producers of Oscar nominated and BAFTA-winning 2012 documentary “The Act of Killing,” has signed a joint venture and partnership agreement with U.S.-Europe media fund APX Group. The new venture, via which APX and Spring will invest in new productions over the next five years, will be based in London and owned equally.

Bleak atmosphere and a David Fincher-inspired aesthetic are the first things that audiences will notice when watching “Boston Strangler.” Writer-director Matt Ruskin pulls us into this true-crime tale, centered on the dedicated reporters determined to solve Boston’s serial killings in the early 1960s, using similarly desaturated color, frame composition and camera movements. A distant cousin

New York-based investment firm MEP Capital, which previously acquired the library of Lotus Entertainment, is launching West Side Pictures, a new independent rights management banner. Along with Lotus Entertainment, MEP also recently acquired the distribution rights to over 500 films and TV shows previously owned by Kew Media, including “Line of Duty,” “Thank You For

Confirming the increasingly strong interest by international buyers in Spanish animated features, Pink Parrot Media has scored a bevy of key European pre-sales on upcoming Spanish family adventure toon film “4 Days Before Christmas,” led by deals with Splendid in Germany and Kaleidoscope in the U.K. Produced by Spain’s 3Doubles Producciones and Capitán Araña with

Just a skosh more than a decade after Fede Alvarez’s carnage-crammed “Evil Dead” reboot jump-started the horror franchise spawned by Sam Raimi’s low-budget 1981 cult favorite, writer-director Lee Cronin has delivered his own imaginatively scary take on the “Book of the Dead” mythos with “Evil Dead Rise.” A kinda-sorta sequel, it offers incontrovertible evidence that

Cannes acclaimed filmmaker Marie Amachoukeli and leading French studio Miyu Productions will pair on “Happy End,” a macabre comedy Amachoukeli will co-direct with Vladimir Mavounia Kouka. Set for production in 2024, the project has already received backing from Bac Films and MK2, with the latter handling international sales. Variety has scored a first look at

After sitting through an hour and a half-long movie and 10 minutes of a post-screening Q&A, one spectator at the world premiere of “Evil Dead Rise” decided he had finally had enough. The man was approached by South by Southwest venue staff after falling asleep with his legs propped up and yelled something unintelligible in

At last, a video game movie that’s more than just a video game movie. In theory, “Tetris” — that primitive and highly addictive block-stacking strategy game — doesn’t lend itself to the big-screen treatment any more than Rubik’s Cube or Tic-Tac-Toe might. But Noah Pink has found an ingenious solution to a classic puzzle. The

The ReelAbilities Film Festival returns for its 15th year, as the largest film festival in the U.S. dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation for the lives, stories, and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. The festival announced Academy Award winner Troy Kotsur as the 2023 Spotlight Award recipient, as well as listed the festival’s lineup,

The so-called “crackberry” is back. IFC Films has released the first official trailer for the upcoming comedy-drama film, “BlackBerry,” which provides a peek into exactly how the handheld device revolutionized the cell phone industry. Director Matt Johnson, along with co-screenwriter Matthew Miller, adapted Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s book “Losing the Signal: The Untold Story

Why did they give Zachary Levi a haircut for “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”? Four years ago, in the first “Shazam!,” Levi played a kid in a superhero’s body, and the movie was smart and witty enough to come off as a caped version of “Big.” Levi’s look was a major part of it. Shazam,

Is there an animal better suited to the big screen than the elephant? From Topsy (RIP) to Dumbo, these magnificent creatures have been especially prominent in documentaries and animation. (Understandable, given the logistical difficulties of making the soulful pachyderms into live-action protagonists.) Continuing this long tradition is “The Magician’s Elephant,” in which a boy (voiced

Jeremy Renner shared to Instagram a heartfelt note that his young nephew sent him sometime following the actor’s Jan. 1 snow plow accident. Renner was hospitalized for blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries after his snow plow ran him over. The “Hawkeye” star was driving a Sno-Cat, an extremely large piece of snow removal equipment

Somebody must be flashing their pearly whites. Paramount Pictures has entered a multi-year, first-look deal with Parker Finn to write, produce and direct features. The pact comes on the heels of Finn’s breakout horror hit “Smile,” which became a sleeper box office sensation. Finn wrote and directed the creepy tale, which went on to be the