Movies

Without any box office competition, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” has remained the No. 1 movie in North America for the fifth weekend in a row. The superhero sequel added $11.1 million from 3,725 theaters over the weekend, boosting its domestic total to $409 million. “Wakanda Forever” is only the third movie this year to cross the

Austin Butler transformed into a music icon this year, taking on the presence and the swagger of the King in Baz Luhrmann’s electrifying “Elvis.” And Janelle Monáe made the reverse journey, continuing her reinvention from futuristic pop diva to multi-hyphenate actor with a meaty (and mysterious) central role as a tech entrepreneur in “Glass Onion: A Knives

Actor Aubrey Plaza dropped an F-bomb on live TV Saturday when she called into the “Lights, Camera, Take Action!” telethon that aired on KTLA-TV Los Angeles and raised nearly $860,000 for the Motion Picture and Television Fund Home. Plaza spoke excitedly on speakerphone to actor Clark Gregg, who was in the KTLA studio serving as

“All That Breathes” took top prize for best feature at the International Documentary Assn. Awards Dec. 10, also grabbing prizes for director Shaunak Sen, editing and the special Pare Lorentz award. “We Need to Talk About Cosby” won the award for multi-part documentary, while “Fire of Love” took the cinematography and writing prizes. The 38th

Oscar winning actor, producer and philanthropist Charlize Theron has signed with CAA for representation in all areas. Variety learned Saturday that Theron parted ways with longtime agency WME and that she and her Denver & Delilah production company will now be represented by CAA. The change in representation comes as Theron prepares for a major

“Joker: Folie à Deux” seems to have hit the rails, as director Todd Phillips shared a teaser image announcing “day one” of work on the film on Saturday afternoon. “Day 1. Our boy. #joker,” Phillips wrote in a simple caption. The filmmaker shared an image of Joaquin Phoenix in character as Arthur Fleck. The homicidal

This year’s Oscar race for documentary feature, as every other year, includes films made by veteran directors. Oscar-win- ner Laura Poitras (“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”), Primetime Emmy nominee Ryan White (“Good Night Oppy”) and two-time Sundance grand jury prize winner Ondi Timoner (“Last Flight Home”) are among the seasoned helmers vying for a

Ruben Östlund’s satire “Triangle of Sadness” dominated the 35th European Film Awards on Saturday, taking the awards for best film, director and screenwriter, as well as best actor for Zlatko Burić. Philippe Bober, who produced the film alongside Erik Hemmendorff, said the film exemplified Europe’s desire to be a haven for auteur filmmaking. “Europe is

Brendan Fraser’s transformation in “The Whale” is part of one of the most talked-about performances of the year. In the Darren Aronofsky-helmed film, Fraser plays Charlie, a house-bound 600 lb. English teacher who teaches students virtually with his camera blacked out. He’s also working to salvage his relationship with his estranged daughter, played by Sadie

Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor wowed the audience in his conversation at the Red Sea Film Festival in which he received the Variety International Vanguard Actor Award. Fans were eager to get the chance to hold his hand, give him an embrace or grab a selfie, as he entered and exited the theater. During the talk

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” will get to rule over domestic charts one more time as total box office grosses for the weekend threaten to hit a 2022 low. Analysts are projecting $38.5 million in ticket sales across all theatrical releases for the three-day period. Not only is that the worst collective result in some months,

Jamie Lee Curtis and Colin Farrell are two of Hollywood’s most charismatic figures — and for both actors, magnetism can sometimes disguise contemplative depths. Curtis, who played an unforgiving IRS inspector opposite Michelle Yeoh in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and Farrell, who performs an acting duet as an Irish farmer who has a falling out with his best

Haider Rashid, who was awarded the best director prize at last year’s Red Sea Film Festival for his Cannes selected film “Europa,” was back at the event this week to pitch his new project, the coming-of-age thriller “Tigris.” The Italian-Iraqi filmmaker plans to explore themes of resistance and identity through a love story between two

“To create engagement, you have to have a story. In the metaverse, the creators will create the community, and the stories they tell will create the community, just like at the beginning of time. The king’s storyteller kept people engaged, Shakespeare kept people engaged,” said American film producer Donald Kushner, whose 1982 film “Tron” is

Emma Thompson looks unrecognizable as the tyrannical headmistress Miss Trunchbull in “Matilda the Musical,” but achieving this look was no small feat. At the New York premiere of the Netflix film on Wednesday, Thompson revealed that she spent about three and a half hours a day with the makeup and wardrobe departments as they applied

It’s not always bad to be late to the party, even when it comes to the Oscars. Sony Pictures’ “A Man Called Otto” had its first official screening on Monday at the Academy Museum, with a crowd full of industry voters and critics alike. Though the film wasn’t really on anyone’s radar, the reception was

Creative Media Solutions, which has its headquarters in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and a base in Jordan, is prepping two new feature films – “Montreal” and “Sink.” Jordanian feature film “Montreal” will be directed by Jordanian-Palestinian helmer Ameen Nayfeh, whose debut feature “200 Meters,” starring Ali Suliman, about a Palestinian family separated by

“Scapegoat,” a quirky comedy drama about a remote Saudi village, received the top $100,000 prize for a Saudi film in development in the Red Sea Souk awards, as well as a $50,000 minimum guarantee from Cinewaves Films, for acquisition of Arab world distribution rights. Structured as a $1.5 million Saudi-Netherlands co-production, the project will be

It took dozens of security guards to ensure Indian superstar Hrithik Roshan could safely walk the 50 meters from the entrance of the Red Sea Mall to the cinema screening where his In Conversation event took place as part of the Red Sea Film Festival. The lucky ones who got a space in one of

“Write what you know” — the age-old advice to aspiring writers has long been debated by distinguished wordsmiths and creative minds. Kazuo Ishiguro, writer of the 2022 British drama “Living,” has said the phrase “is the most stupid thing I’ve heard. … It’s the reverse of firing the imagination and potential of writers.” Does similar

James Cameron said at the start of November that his “Avatar” franchise might end after three films depending on box office results, but he’s already touting his planned fourth installment as the most nuts of them all. Speaking to Collider about “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Cameron revealed that the “Avatar 4” script was the

The Golden Globes continue its march to possible redemption, with approximately 300 members, many of which are new. Recognizing both film and television, the nominees will be announced on Monday, Dec. 12 with expected names and titles such as Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” with Austin Butler, Netflix’s “Glass Onion” with Daniel Craig and Joseph Kosinski’s “Top

During the press tour for “Jackass Forever,” Johnny Knoxville repeatedly denied rumors that the film would be the last installment of the “Jackass” franchise. And that may be true, though Knoxville & Co. are filming again, likely on the new series “The Prank Patrol,” according to a lawsuit filed on Friday by a handyman who

On Thursday evening in New York City, the Museum of Modern Art presented its annual Film Benefit, alongside sponsor Chanel, and bowed to Guillermo del Toro.  In a celebration attended by del Toro’s many collaborators, including Jessica Chastain, Richard Jenkins, Oscar Isaac, Tim Blake Nelson and Michael Shannon, New York’s haute film community paid its dues to the master

Billy Ray Cyrus, Chevy Chase and Freddie Prinze Jr. have boarded the voice cast of animated Christmas movie “Glisten and the Merry Mission.” Co-produced by Build-A-Bear Entertainment and Foundation Media, the feature also stars Michael Rappaport, Morgan Simianer, Tim Johnson Jr and Reginald VelJohnson. The film is led by five-time Grammy-nominated and multi-platinum singer-songwriter Julia

Cuban star Ana de Armas made waves with her controversial take on Marilyn Monroe in Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde,” an adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel about the late star. De Armas’ endlessly emotive performance makes an interesting contrast to London-born Eddie Redmayne, tightly controlled in “The Good Nurse,” as serial murderer Charles Cullen, whose crimes eventually raise the suspicions of

Ghostface is back, and blood is going to flow. Lots of blood. “Scream 6” cast member Melissa Barrera recently told Collider that the upcoming sequel has the potential to be 100 times gorier than any previous entry in the long-running horror franchise. According to the actor, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett were always asking

Film director Yoshida Kiju (formerly Yoshida Yoshishige) died on Thursday of pneumonia at age 89, Japanese media sources have revealed. Together with Oshima Nagisa and Shinoda Masahiro, Yoshida was part of the Shochiku-backed Nouvelle Vague of the late 1950s and early 1960s that had a major impact on Japanese cinema both then and in succeeding

Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment is on track to sell a majority stake to Mediawan, the pan-European media conglomerate. The deal is expected to close this weekend, Variety has confirmed. Plan B Entertainment, which is run by Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner, hired Moelis & Co. to shop for a buyer or potential investors last month. The company

Cinema operators in Hong Kong are lobbying the city government to keep up with the new pandemic rules in mainland China and scrap COVID restrictions on local theaters before the release of “Avatar: The Way of Water” and ahead of the Christmas holiday peak. Hong Kong authorities relaxed some of their COVID restrictions in mid-November,