Movies

It’s time to commit Fifth Season to memory. The production and distribution company working across film, scripted TV and nonfiction spent five years building a brand as Endeavor Content. After the WGA victory over talent agency packaging fees and ownership, however, Endeavor Content was stripped of its sales department and sold a majority stake to

The Berlin Film Festival has revealed the first tranche of titles for its Panorama and Generation strands. The Panorama lineup includes films from Ukraine, Yemen and about Iran. Of the 14 films selected, 11 are world premieres. There are new films by Sepideh Farsi, Jennifer Reeder, Tina Satter, Sacha Polak, Malene Choi and Ira Sachs.

HAINAN FILM FESTIVAL: ISLAND MENTALITY The Hainan Island International Film Festival in China’s Sanya is back on again after a cancelation earlier this month at short notice. The festival, overseen and curated by Marco Mueller, will operate Dec. 18-25 and open with a premiere screening of “Post Truth.” The film directed by and starring Da

BFI has partnered with Film4 on Future Takes, a pilot fund seeking applications for ambitious and original short form work from emerging filmmaking talent from across the U.K. The initiative will award up to £90,000 ($111,000) each to up to seven projects with funding by BFI National Lottery and Film4. It is positioned as a

SF Studios, the 104-year old Nordic giant, has crashed into the awards season with Tom Hanks’ “A Man Called Otto,” which it produced with Playtone and fully financed. Buzzed about as a potentially strong Oscar candidate since its first official screening in L.A. last week, the Sony Pictures film is a remake of “A Man

Indian auteur Sanjay Leela Bhansali has told stories of the underrepresented in several of his works and his latest film, “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” for which Oscar and BAFTA campaigns are running, is an addition to that canon. Bhansali’s debut “Khamoshi” (1996) delved into the world of deaf-mute people; “Black” (2005), told the tale of a young

Spanish director Manolo Munguía, who made a splash on the festival circuit with his feature debut “H0us3,” is prepping his lo-fi sci-fi follow-up, “In Another World.”  Set up at Munguía’s Barcelona-based Ghostdog label and produced by Sergio Martínez,  a co-scribe with Munguía on “H0us3,” “In Another World” has been selected for next March’s Malaga Festival Fund

Disquieting thriller “Lateral Thinking” (“Pensamiento Lateral”) enjoyed a private Buenos Aires preview screening alongside key Latin American film market, Ventana Sur.  Argentine director Mariano Hueter (“El Legado”) and lead actress Spain’s Itziar Ituño (“Money Heist”) fielded audience questions ahead of its wider release in the coming months. The film revolves around a school of thought

Long Japan’s cinema industry leader, Toho is poised to reassert itself in 2023 with a muscular new distribution slate, following an off-year. One surefire reason is that anime maestro and box office king Miyazaki Hayao is bringing out his first film since the 2013 “When the Wind Rises.” Called “How Do You Live?” and inspired

Things are heating up in Metropolis, as DC Studios co-head James Gunn has announced he is writing a new feature film about Superman. In step with the new project, Gunn has also revealed that Henry Cavill will not return as the hero. “Peter & I have a DC slate ready to go, which we couldn’t

Though superstition would suggest otherwise, the number “13” has been lucky for Ron Howard. The filmmaker won his first DGA Award for the 1995 hit “Apollo 13,” which documented the troubled 1970 lunar mission. Now he’s earning raves for “Thirteen Lives,” another true-life story about the 2018 effort to rescue a youth football team from

It’s been 13 years since James Cameron introduced the world of Pandora to the audiences of Earth with “Avatar.” With its sequel, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” finally set to debut on Dec. 16, it’s understandable that some people may not quite remember some, or maybe all, of the details from the first film.  For

The jurors in the Harvey Weinstein trial in Los Angeles will resume deliberations on Monday, after failing to reach a verdict over a span of more than eight days. They began deliberating on Dec. 2 and have since discussed the case for about 37 hours in total. Weinstein, 70, is facing seven charges of rape

Natalie Portman won the Oscar for best actress thanks to her role as Nina Sayers in “Black Swan.” Might the character earn another actor a Tony Award some day? It might if filmmaker Darren Aronofsky sees through with his plan to bring “Black Swan” to the stage as a Broadway musical. The director, who has

Harrison Ford and Ke Huy Quan broke the internet in September when they ran into each other at Disney’s D23 convention and posed for a photograph. The moment was a reunion 38 years in the making, as the two actors starred opposite one another in Steven Spielberg’s 1984 adventure “Indiana Jones and the Temple of

Actors Mark Fuerstein, Neal McDonough, Dermot Mulroney and Christopher Lloyd will star in the neo-western crime-thriller, “Man in the Long Black Coat,” from director Salvador Litvak. Fuerstein is best known for starring in “Royal Pains”; McDonough for his turn in Paramount’s “Yellowstone” series and for his work on “Justified”; Mulroney for his appearance in the

Tyler Perry will write and direct Netflix’s “Six Triple Eight,” a World War II epic about the efforts of the only all-Black, all-female battalion. In addition to directing, Perry is also adapting the screenplay from Kevin M. Hymel’s article about the 6888th battalion, published in WWII History Magazine by Sovereign Media.  “Six Triple Eight” tells

Les Arcs Film Festival’s industry sidebar has unveiled prizes for several projects at different stages, including Annarita Zambrano’s black comedy “Rossosperanza.” “Rossosperanza” is being produced by Italy’s Mad Entertainment, Rai Cinema, Minnerva Pictures, and France’s TS Productions. The movie is set in the 1980’s and unfolds at a luxurious villa turned into a rehabilitation center

James Cameron is flanked by towering trees and lush, dreamlike vistas. No, the “Avatar” director isn’t dialing in from Pandora, he assures Robert Rodriguez. It’s just a screen saver, meant to enliven whatever drab editing bay he’s in, putting the final touches, this November afternoon, on “Avatar: The Way of Water,” his long-gestating sequel to the 2009

In this universe, everything revolves around “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” To the surprise of no one, A24’s innovative sensation from The Daniels led the Critics Choice Awards nominations with 14 nods, after a strong showing at the Golden Globes where it picked up six nominations. That followed its Gotham Awards win for best feature.

James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” is jam-packed with extraordinary visuals that moviegoers have never seen before on the big screen. For the Oscar-winning director, the sight of a pregnant woman marching into battle is one of them. Speaking to Robert Rodriguez as part of Variety’s “Directors on Directors” series, Cameron spoke about the

Director-actor-writer-producer Michael Showalter’s career ranges from straight-up comedy such as  “The State,” “Wet Hot American Summer” and “Search Party” to more nuanced projects including “Hello, My Name Is Doris,” “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (for which Jessica Chastain won an Oscar) and “The Dropout” (Amanda Seyfried won an Emmy for that limited series). His latest

The U.S. theatrical market has never been more volatile for specialty films, even star-studded ones, but the appeal of Hollywood A-listers hasn’t faded — at least when it comes to finding investors. Brad Pitt’s Plan B is the latest star-driven production company to be scooped up by deep-pocketed buyers, joining After Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine,

Carey Mulligan and Margot Robbie know each other, having worked together on Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman,” which Mulligan starred in and Robbie produced through her company, LuckyChap Entertainment. So when they sit down to discuss their recent projects — Mulligan’s turn in “She Said” as Megan Twohey, the New York Times reporter whose investigative work with Jodi Kantor

The Critics Choice Awards nominations were announced Wednesday, where The Daniels’ multiverse dramedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once” led the field with an astounding 14 nods, including best picture. Among its massive tally were four acting mentions for Michelle Yeoh in best actress, Ke Huy Quan in supporting actor and Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie

Variety will honor “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” actor Angela Bassett with the Creative Impact in Acting Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. The award will be presented on Friday, Jan. 6, as part of the annual 10 Directors to Watch brunch at the Parker Palm Springs. Bassett is an actor, director and executive

Sony release “Matilda the Musical” stayed in pole position at the U.K. and Ireland box office for the third weekend in a row. The Roald Dahl adaptation added £2.1 million ($2.6 million) for a total of £10.7 million, according to numbers released by Comscore. In second place, Disney’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” collected £803,800 for

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will present the 24th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to Adam Sandler at a gala performance at the Kennedy Center on March 19. The prize recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel

AMC Theaters, the country’s biggest movie theater chain, is launching a credit card. The AMC Entertainment Visa Card, coming in early 2023, will offer its holders the opportunity to earn additional AMC Stubs rewards points at the movies and on everyday purchases. Per AMC, it’s the only co-branded movie theater credit card in the United

Sabu, the Japanese actor and director who has at times enjoyed cult status, is to direct his first Korean-language film, a thriller called “Under Your Bed.” In doing so, Sabu (real name Tanaka Hiroyuki) joins a growing list of international directors attempting to catch their own piece of the Korean wave by making movies in