Movies

Mehran Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian man whose time living in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport inspired the Steven Spielberg film “The Terminal,” died of a heart attack Saturday in the airport’s Terminal 2F. His death was confirmed by the Associated Press, which wrote that police and medical professionals were ultimately unable to save Nasseri. The

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains major spoilers for the ending and mid-credits scene in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” currently playing in theaters. At San Diego Comic-Con in July, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige took to the Hall H stage and for the first time delineated the grand plan for the Multiverse Saga — including that “Black

From starring in mega hit movies to playing a destructive drug addict to a cowgirl whose husband is hiding a secret love affair, Anne Hathaway has been a high-profile Hollywood princess for more than two decades. To celebrate her 40th birthday, Variety took a look back to rank the Oscar-winner’s 12 best film performances to

Michael Kurinsky was supposed to make his directorial debut alongside co-director Bill Haller with “Scoob! Holiday Haunt.” That is, until the film — starring Iain Armitage, Mark Hamill, Cristo Fernández, Ming Na-Wen and Frank Welker — was abruptly pulled from release by Warner Bros. Discovery on Aug. 2, terminating Kurinsky’s two years of work on

In May 2015, 19-year-old Kurdish aspiring singer Mutlu Kaya was shot in the head by a man whose marriage proposal she refused. The femicide attempt came after dozens of death threats related to the young woman’s successful participation in Turkey’s equivalent to “Got Talent,” which granted her country-wide notoriety. Co-directed by BAFTA and Emmy-nominated Nick

Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is reigning over the box office. The superhero sequel earned $84 million from 4,396 locations on its opening day. That figures includes $28 million in Thursday previews, which marked the 15th-highest preview gross in history and bested the first “Black Panther’s” figure by $3 million. It’s also the second biggest

MARRAKECH – Saving cinema, the joy of sitting in darkened rooms and a lack of female role models in Arab cinema, were just some of the topics addressed by this year’s star-studded jury at the Marrakech Film Festival on Saturday.  Slightly different to October’s announcement, this year’s jury consists of  Vanessa Kirby (“The Son”), French-Algerian

“One of my main jobs is to expose the myth of American exceptionalism,” said Oscar-winning director Laura Poitras (“Citizenfour,” “The Oath”) at Amsterdam’s historic Royal Theatre Carré, where she sat for an extended Master Talk with IDFA’s artistic director, Orwa Nyrabia. The American filmmaker, who is also this year’s Guest of Honor at IDFA, started

“Paradise City” is a semi-under-the-radar junk crime thriller, but when a movie like this one stars actors like John Travolta, Bruce Willis, and Stephen Dorff it can sometimes mean two things: that the stars are slumming, but that you’ll have fun watching them. The same movie made with grade-Z actors wouldn’t have the same frisson.

SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” now playing in theaters. Plenty of new and returning Marvel characters are back for Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” but there are two major, surprising cameos that avoided being leaked ahead of the sequel’s release. Letitia Wright’s Shuri, Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda and Danai

Alec Baldwin filed a cross-complaint on Friday seeking to “clear his name” in the shooting death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, and said that blame for the tragedy lies with three crew members and with the man who supplied ammunition to the set. Baldwin named all four as cross-defendants in a lawsuit originally filed against

Lucasfilm and Studio Ghibli have joined forces for the animated short film “Zen – Grogu and Dust Bunnies,” marking one of the most auspicious — and adorable — creative partnerships for either entity. The hand-drawn short film, which will debut on Nov. 12 on Disney+, brings together the adorable alien child Grogu from “The Mandalorian” and the

Disney will begin enacting layoffs, implementing a targeted hiring freeze and limiting company travel as part of a sweep cost-cutting move announced to leadership Friday. In a memo obtained by Variety, which was sent to top execs Friday afternoon, Disney CEO Bob Chapek wrote: “I am fully aware this will be a difficult process for

Authorities are investigating the death of an experienced transportation captain who died last Friday during the making of Netflix film “The Electric State,” Variety has learned. Peter DeToffoli died almost instantly when the Chevrolet SUV he was driving slammed into a semi-truck on the I-75 northbound (pictured above in 2014) at a “high rate of

The Iranian co-directors of “Silent House” have been banned from leaving their country, according to a spokesman for the film, and so will be unable to travel to the Netherlands, where the film will have its world premiere at IDFA, one of the world’s leading documentary film festivals. Farnaz and Mohammadreza Jurabchian were due to

MARRAKECH — Running Nov. 14-17, the 5th Atlas Workshops, the industry-and-talent development program for Moroccan, Arab and African projects at the Marrakech Film Festival, is celebrating its return to an in-person event this time round. With an increase in submissions, awards, and an ever-larger audience of industry execs checking out projects, the three-day confab showcases some

Anya Taylor-Joy revealed in a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar magazine that she rejected an offer to star in a Disney Channel pilot in order to act in Robert Eggers’ “The Witch” instead. The 2015 horror movie served as Taylor-Joy’s acting breakthrough. Suffice to say, the Emmy nominee’s career would’ve looked a whole lot different

Egyptian helmer-writer Ahmad Abdalla, known for being part of the new wave of independent cinema in the Arab world with his early films “Heliopolis” (2009) and “Microphone” (2010), returns to the Cairo Film Festival with the world premiere of his sixth feature, “19B.” It marks the sole film from the host country in the International

Boasting a selection of 76 films from 33 countries spread across seven sections, this year’s Marrakech Film Festival will offer no shortage of cinematic treasure.  Running over Nov. 11 – 19, the festival’s 19th edition will open with “Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” ahead of gala screenings of James Gray’s “Armageddon Time,” Paul Schrader’s “Master Gardener,”

After a two-year, pandemic-forced pause, the Marrakech Film Festival returns with a roar, hosting a comeback edition chock-full of stars and that will showcase an international competition of first and second films. Running from Nov. 11 – 19, the festival’s 19th edition will also cap an already stellar year for the Moroccan film industry, as

Just hours after Dominique Thorne made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as Riri Williams in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” at the film’s world premiere in Hollywood on Oct. 26, she hopped on a flight to get back to work on “Ironheart,” the upcoming Disney+ spinoff in which she stars. Asked what she’ll remember most about

The WGA East and FilmNation Entertainment announced that applications are now open for the second New York Screenwriting Fellowship, which is designed to support underrepresented, early-career screenwriters based in New York City. The NY Screenwriting Fellowship is a weekly intensive that will run from early April through August 2023. Eight or more writers will be

The Party Film Sales has debuted the trailer (below) for Alexander Abaturov’s “Paradise,” premiering in IDFA’s International Competition. The film is produced by Rebecca Houzel for French outlet Petit à Petit Production in co-production with Abaturov for Sibériade, Luc Peter for Intermezzo Films and ARTE France Cinéma. “Paradise” is set in the summer of 2021,

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has earned $28 million in Thursday previews. It ranks as the No. 15 highest preview haul ever, and it opens in 4,396 total theaters Friday. As the sequel to 2018’s “Black Panther,” which took in $25 million in previews before grossing more than

During opening statements in Harvey Weinstein’s Los Angeles trial, attorneys for the former Hollywood titan told the jury that Weinstein was innocent. His defense stated that the women with whom Weinstein was sexually involved all agreed to “transactional sex,” in exchange for work in the entertainment industry. They took aim at the trial’s most high-profile

The recent success of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight urban noir “Ashkal” from helmer Youssef Chebbi, and the 2021 international feature Oscar nomination for the provocative art world drama “The Man Who Sold His Skin” from director Kaouther Ben Hania reignited industry interest in projects from Tunisian directors. The Cairo Film Connection’s work-in-progress section supports this interest

Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to “In Viaggio,” a documentary that offers a comprehensive look at the travels of Pope Francis. The globe-trotting film was directed by Gianfranco Rosi, the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker behind “Fire at Sea” and “Notturno.” It is composed mostly of archival footage, and shows the public life of the

After debuting at Cannes with his debut feature “Peddlers” and Toronto with his sophomore film “The Man Who Feels No Pain,” director Vasan Bala’s third feature “Monica, O My Darling” is one of the marquee titles of the year for Netflix India. The film is produced by Matchbox Shots (“Andhadhun”) for Netflix. Prior to “Monica,

In “La Mesías,” their follow-up as writers-directors to ‘Veneno,’ an HBO Max pickup for the U.S., Spanish showrunners Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi are promising their biggest series yet, a “near apocalyptic family drama,” as Ambrossi puts it, which chronicles the deep scars left for decades by childhood trauma. In it, Enric, in the modern-day,

The 48th edition of the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival will honor Spanish actress Nathalie Poza (“Julieta,” “Rosa’s Wedding,” “While at War”) with a City of Huelva Award, an acknowledgment whose previous recipients included filmmaker Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”) and actors Dario Grandinetti, Eduard Fernández and Edward James Olmos.  Running Nov. 11-18, Huelva 2022