Movies

The ensemble for Academy Award nominee Ava DuVernay’s upcoming film “Caste” is growing more star-studded with the addition of Niecy Nash-Betts, Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Nick Offerman, Jasmine Cephas Jones and Connie Nielsen. The six actors join Academy Award nominee Aunjanue Ellis, who was previously announced as the lead in the film inspired by Pulitzer

M.M Keeravaani, “RRR” composer and “Naatu Naatu” songwriter; Catherine Martin, costume designer, production designer and producer on “Elvis”; Claudio Miranda, cinematographer of “Top Gun: Maverick”; and Florencia Martin, production designer for “Babylon” are among the recipients of Variety’s Artisans Awards. The honorees will be feted at the Santa Barbara Film Festival on Feb. 12 at

An awards ceremony the public can get excited about? That’s a concept Oscar producers can drive home over the next seven weeks. From the robust showing of popcorn movies to the recognition of some of the most respected stars of the past four decades to the embrace of new faces, this year’s nominations offer something

There’s no stopping “The Way of Water.” James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequel is now the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time, passing “Avengers: Infinity War” to take its spot on Thursday. “Avatar: The Way of Water” has now grossed $2.054 billion at the global box office. “Infinity War” had an equally impressive $2.052 billion total, after

The second trailer for DC Studios’ “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” starring Zachary Levi and Asher Angel in their return as Billy Batson, aka Shazam, has arrived. This time, fans get a closer look at Helen Mirren’s turn as villain Hespera, one of the daughters of Greek god Atlas. The sequel to 2019’s “Shazam!” will

Welcome Villain Films, a studio specializing in genre fare, has landed the survival horror thriller “Hunt Her, Kill Her.” It’s the company’s first acquisition since launching in March of 2022. The movie, which was originally titled “Night Shift,” will be released theatrically on March 3. Directed by Ryan Thiessen and Greg Swinson, “Hunt Her, Kill

Unifrance and Film at Lincoln Center have unveiled the lineup for the 28th edition of Rendez-Vous With French Cinema, an annual celebration of contemporary French filmmaking. The event will take place March 2–12.  It kicks off with a screening of Alice Winocour’s “Revoir Paris,” which stars Virginie Efira as a translator named Mia, who survived a

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired U.S. rights to Ukrainian director Maryna Er Gorbach’s harrowing anti-war drama “Klondike,” a powerful and timely portrait of the horrors of warfare that the company will release in theaters and on digital platforms later this year. Submitted as Ukraine’s official entry in the best international feature film race for the

Jordanian director Bassel Ghandour’s thriller “The Alleys,” which depicts lowlife intrigue in Amman’s murky underworld, is drawing fire from conservative members of Jordan’s parliament for its use of expletives and allegedly blasphemous themes. Ghandour’s multi-strand genre film — shot in a claustrophobic neighborhood in East Amman called Jabal Al Natheef, where violence runs rampant — is

Abramorama, a New York-based film distribution and marketing company, is launching a global video-on-demand rental service. It’s collaborating with Artinii.Pro, a cloud-tech driven media enterprise, to extend film offerings through the digital platform Abramorama at Home. To kick off the partnership, six music and social issue documentaries including “Long Live Rock,” “Herb Alpert Is…” and “Cosplay

Italy-based sales agent Lights On has acquired world rights for “Mammalia” by Romanian director Sebastian Mihăilescu, ahead of its world premiere in the Berlinale Forum strand. It has debuted the film’s trailer (below). In “Mammalia,” 39-year-old Camil (István Téglás) embarks on a dreamlike trip where the banal and the surreal merge. Struggling to come to

We’re all aware of the hokey old “the doctor is a woman!” riddle, but what if that doctor were Dr. Frankenstein? Distaff riffs on Mary Shelley’s OG horror novel do exist — schlocky 1971 Italian exploitation flick “Lady Frankenstein,” for one. But given that it’s a story of life-creation, it’s slightly surprising that it’s taken

Cinema box office in Hong Kong rebounded over the recent Chinese New Year holiday period. They failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels, but local titles performed strongly. Data from Hong Kong Box Office Limited showed gross revenues between Saturday and Tuesday (Jan 21-24, 2023) amounted to HK$50.89 million ($6.52 million). That is a 19% improvement

The title “The Accidental Getaway Driver” says it all: A down-on-his-luck driver picks up felons in his vehicle and unwittingly gets mixed up in their criminal acts. This “Collateral”-esque proposition propels renowned music video director Sing J. Lee’s minor-key and frustratingly one-note crime-drama, inspired by the true story of a Southern California driver of Vietnamese

The success of long-format cult-exposé documentaries like HBO’s “The Vow” and Netflix’s “Wild Wild Country” has given the cult-curious an appetite for the kind of chain-link explosion rhythms that only serials can supply. We’re primed, one might even say programmed, to expect the smallest new kink on even the oddest tangent to get ample screentime,

Having its world premiere at the Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam, Georden West’s directorial debut “Playland” is an interdisciplinary film about the titular establishment, Boston’s oldest gay bar. “I was volunteering at an MIT event, like an archive hackathon, and I learned about People Before Highways, which was a grassroots movement against urban renewal and the

On Monday night, NBA star Stephen Curry found himself facing a different kind of full-court press — in the form of a mass of reporters lined up on the red carpet at Sundance Film Festival for the world premiere of the new documentary “Underrated,” which chronicles his life and career. In a lucky bit of

One travels to the Sundance Film Festival in the dead of winter for numerous reasons, chief of them being the promise of a front-row seat to confident debuts like Cory Finley’s delectably dark “Thoroughbreds.” Indeed, the playwright-turned-filmmaker demonstrated himself an original voice with his first cinematic outing in 2017, proving his promise with the equally

Pathé has signed a three-year co-production and co-financing deal with Logical Pictures to strengthen its ambitious film production strategy. The family-owned company operates France’s leading multiplex chain and runs one of the country’s most successful film studios. 2023 looks to be Pathé’s biggest year in a while with three major French releases: Guillaume Canet’s “Asterix

Film and TV production spending in New Jersey topped $650 million in 2022, a record level of lensing activity that reflects the Garden State’s efforts to woo Hollywood productions. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy disclosed the milestone earlier this week, touting the success generated since he reinstated the state’s production tax incentive program in 2018.

“I knew from day one it was Geraldine Chaplin who needed to play The General,” says director Jessica Woodworth about having Charlie Chaplin’s daughter play one of the central characters in her latest drama, “Luka,” which is having its world premiere in the Big Screen Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. “Not because she’s

Actor and producer Jimmy Jean-Louis has signed with CAA.  Best known for playing René (a.k.a. the Haitian) in NBC’s “Heroes” and “Heroes: Reborn,” Jean-Louis will next appear opposite Henry Golding, Noomi Rapace, and Sam Neill in the upcoming action movie “Assassin Club.” The Haitian American actor was most recently seen in “The Gray Man” and

Dave Halls, the first assistant director on “Rust,” became the first person held accountable in the death of Halyna Hutchins when he agreed to plead to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. In a win for prosecutors, Halls is also expected to testify against Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed

Edvard Munch’s best-known work, “The Scream,” has been endlessly referenced or parodied – even in “The Simpsons.” But the painter himself, who passed away in 1944, remains an enigma. “His art is famous, but not the artist. And I wanted to tell a story about the artist. His life is the main focus here,” says

After parting ways with its parent company First Look Media in December, the non-profit documentary production studio Field of Vision is at Sundance with four docus and actively seeking new donors and supporters. Founded in 2015 by former Hot Docs programming director Charlotte Cook, “CitizenFour” Oscar winner Laura Poitras and SXSW prize winner A.J. Schnack

The Razzie Awards have introduced an age limit for nominations following blowback after 12-year-old Ryan Kiera Armstrong (pictured above) was nominated for Worst Actress. In a statement, Razzies founder John Wilson apologized and confirmed Armstrong’s name has been removed from the ballot. He also said that going forward under-18s would not be eligible to be

“House of the Dragon” star Paddy Considine is set to star alongside Mena Massoud (“Aladdin”) in the boxing drama “Giant,” based on the true story of British-Yemeni pugilist Prince Naseem “Naz” Hamed and his ascent to a world championship under the tutelage of Irish-born boxing trainer Brendan Ingle. The film will be written and directed

Set in a sleepaway stage-training program for shy kids and incorrigible natural hams, where attendees get intensive instruction from Broadway burnouts, “Theater Camp” is that rare parody that has viewers laughing from the opening scene till the credits roll. I’m talking about the 18-minute short film that Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman and Ben

Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan’s supernatural drama “A House in Jerusalem,” about a young girl’s enigmatic quest to unravel the mystery around her new home, has released a chilling trailer ahead of its world premiere in the Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam’s Limelight strand. Heretic is handling international sales. Alayan’s third feature follows a young girl (Miley

Sales agency LevelK has unveiled the first clip (below) for Selma Vilhunen’s “Four Little Adults,” set to bow at Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam and then Goteborg. The film sees a happily married couple faced with an affair and then trying to embrace it, welcoming the husband’s lover into their daily routine. And that’s just the