Movies

After being subpoenaed by the prosecution, a social media influencer reluctantly took the stand, after she was given assurances that she would not be charged as Harvey Weinstein’s accomplice. Claudia Salinas, a dancer and influencer who met Weinstein in the early 2000’s, was called by the prosecution, who questioned Salinas as to whether she led

AFI FEST 2022 announced the three winners of this year’s short film Jury awards on Nov. 7, spotlighting the live action short “Birds,” the documentary short “Haulout” and the animated short “Sierra” for creating art that can “bring people together,” AFI president and CEO Bob Gazzale said. “Birds,” directed by Katherine Propper, is a 14-minute

A former Macy’s in Chicago’s historic Water Tower Place is now the site of a massive Harry Potter interactive experience that looks to draw scores of wizards and muggles of all ages. “Harry Potter: Magic at Play” is the newest collaboration between Warner Bros. and Original X Productions, which also has created three other traveling

Steven Spielberg said in a new interview with The New York Times that streaming services like HBO Max have thrown filmmakers “under the bus” by “unceremoniously” dumping high profile new releases on streaming and not in theaters. The Oscar winner is referring to Warner Bros.’ decision to release all of its 2021 film slate both

Jury deliberations will begin on Thursday after tense closing arguments in the New York civil rape trial of Paul Haggis, who has been accused of sexually assaulting a former film publicist nearly a decade ago. It’s unclear how long it will take to reach a verdict, but since it’s a civil trial, the Oscar-winning filmmaker

Thirteen years ago, composer Simon Franglen worked with James Cameron and composer James Horner on “Avatar.” But Horner’s 2015 death left a big hole for the music team to fill for the upcoming sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water.” “In the gaping absence that Horner left, we kept the core of his ‘Avatar’ music team

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the IDFA Bertha Fund, which was originally created to support documentary filmmaking in developing countries, has seen a series of pivotal changes in both its budget and scope of financing in the last couple of years. Speaking to Variety, Bertha Fund managing director and IDFA deputy director Isabel Arrate

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” marks a reunion between Daniel Craig and Dave Bautista, who first starred together in the 2015 James Bond tentpole “Spectre.” Craig, of course, was front and center in the film as 007, while Bautista had a supporting role as Mr. Hinx, Spectre’s top assassin. Now that Bautista has starred

Find out what’s happening in Hollywood, New York and beyond. Nov. 9, WednesdayGottmik, Violet Chachki, Mo Heart and Crystal Methyd perform at WednesGAY, a party for Netflix’s new series “Wednesday.”Los Globos, Los Angeles Sylvester Stallone walks the red carpet at the “Tulsa King” premiere.Regal Union Square, New York Nov. 12, SaturdayKim Kardashian is honored at

Before filming “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” director Ryan Coogler didn’t know how to swim. “A lot of us were raised to have fear of water,” the 36-year-old filmmaker told Variety, admitting his own trepidation and evoking the various reasons Black people have avoided — or ways they’ve been excluded — from pools and the ocean

Hollywood movies transition from silents to talkies in Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” as decadence and extravagance are all the rage in the 1920s showbiz milieu embodied by Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt and Tobey Maguire. “Babylon” production designer Florencia Martin is no stranger to recreating a certain period in Los Angeles. For Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,”

Filmmaker Kari Skogland will direct a sequel to 2017’s crime drama “Wind River.” Castle Rock Entertainment is backing the follow-up film, titled “Wind River: The Next Chapter.” “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan directed the original “Wind River,” which starred Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tracker and an FBI agent

Jennifer Aniston briefly lamented on Hollywood’s fading glamour during a recent Allure magazine cover story. The writer of the piece read a text aloud to Aniston in which a friend wrote the following about the “Friends” superstar: “No one’s ever going to be famous the way she is. That kind of mass-fame phenomenon burning so

In his debut feature film, “The Sparrow,” writer-director Michael Kinirons explores the psychological struggle of a teenage boy dealing with unbearable guilt and the exacerbation of his quandary caused by his dysfunctional family situation. “The Sparrow,” which screens out of competition at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, centers on Kevin (Ollie West), a melancholic boy still

Sales agent Deckert Distribution has boarded “Racist Trees,” directed by Sara Newens and Mina T. Son, and produced by Wayfarer Studios and Wild Pair Films, ahead of its world premiere in IDFA’s Frontlight strand. The feature-length documentary investigates the timely story of racial conflict in Palm Springs, uncovering an even darker racist history that few

Happy holidays, indeed! Brendan Fraser, Jean Smart, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen and Ken Jeong will star in this year’s virtual table read of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” benefitting the Ed Asner Family Center, on Dec. 11. The cast also includes JK Simmons, Jim Beaver, Brent Spiner, Phil LaMarr, Chelsea Darnell and Ben Mankiewicz. “As the

Nothing makes me feel Scroogier than a slapped-together Christmas movie, which, thanks to the algorithms of tech-companies-turned-content-creators, start to drop in late October (even before Halloween) at a rate of nearly a dozen a week. This year, Netflix has entries planned with Lindsay Lohan and Freddie Prinze Jr., Disney+ is doing “The Hip Hop Nutcracker,”

Israel-based world sales company Antipode Sales has boarded Bangladeshi filmmaker Humaira Bilkis’ documentary “Things I Could Never Tell My Mother.” The film premiered at Switzerland’s Visions du Réel and it has also been to France’s Etats Generaux du Film Documentaire, Lussas Doc, among others. It plays at IDFA’s Best of Fests strand and also at

Banijay has taken a majority stake in Israel’s MoviePlus Productions, producers of HBO and Keshet International’s “Our Boys” and the Oscar-nominated film “Footnote,” further expanding the company’s operations in Israel. The 51% stake will help to bolster Banijay’s drama capabilities in the region. MoviePlus Productions specializes in drama, documentaries and feature-length films. Established by David

Heading into its 30th year, the IDFA Forum continues to be a key market for nonfiction professionals to not only gain interest for a project and raise funds, but also a space to network and get feedback. Taking place over five days in the middle of the 35th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival

Opening this year’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), “All You See” explores what it feels like to no longer be seen, but stared at. Told through four parallel stories of immigrants in the Netherlands, the film investigates what it feels like to be a foreigner in the country. It is a deeply personal project

The 35th edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam launches on Nov. 9. In all, 277 titles will be screened at the in-person festival. Variety spoke to IDFA’s artistic director Orwa Nyrabia about this year’s edition and the future of documentary filmmaking. IDFA is opening with the world premiere of Iranian-Dutch filmmaker Niki Padidar’s

A model whose police report caused sex crimes prosecutors to investigate Harvey Weinstein in 2015 — two years before his colossal downfall in 2017 — testified in Weinstein’s rape trial on Tuesday at the criminal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. Ambra Battilana Gutierrez — who is an uncharged witness in Weinstein’s current trial — was at

In a recent visit to Kyiv, Sean Penn met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to further express his support for Ukraine amid Russia’s military invasion of the country. During their encounter, Penn gifted one of his two Oscar statuettes to Zelenskyy as a gift. The exchange was featured in a video shared by Anton Gerashchenko, advisor

Documentary filmmaker Ryan White calls his latest project, “Good Night Oppy,”(in theaters now and streaming on Amazon Prime Video on November 23) his “COVID baby” because this was the one project he could work on during the pandemic when all his other projects got shut down. The heartwarming documentary follows and chronicles the true story

“Avatar: The Way of Water” is set to run approximately three hours and 10 minutes, nearly 30 minutes longer than the already-long original “Avatar” in 2009. James Cameron told Total Film magazine that his “Avatar” sequel runs so much longer because there is an increased focus on “relationship and emotion” compared to the first movie.

Keanu Reeves is expected to make an appearance as John Wick in “Ballerina,” a female-centric spinoff in the popular action franchise. Lionsgate, the studio behind the series, declined to comment on Reeves’ casting, but the company confirmed that Ian McShane has closed a deal to reprise his role as Winston, the manager of the Continental

There’s no doubt that Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” will prove to be a box office smash when it debuts in 4,300 North American theaters on Friday. But just how many tickets will the comic book sequel sell in its opening weekend? The answer, at least according to early estimates? A lot… “Black Panther: Wakanda

The Walt Disney Co. closed its July-September quarter with a 12.1 million gain in Disney+ streaming subscribers. Coming in at 152.1 million last quarter, Disney+ subscribers totaled 164.2 million by Oct. 1, the end of the conglomerate’s fourth quarter and full-year fiscal 2022 results, which were reported Tuesday. The pickup of 12.1 million, 2 million of those

Daphne Zuniga, an actor best known for her roles on “Melrose Place” and “One Tree Hill,” testified in the Harvey Weinstein trial Tuesday. She was called by the prosecution as a witness related to Jane Doe #4, who was revealed to be First Partner of California, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the actor, filmmaker and wife to