Movies

Former reality star Holly Madison won’t be called to testify during Harvey Weinstein’s Los Angeles rape trial, a judge ruled on Tuesday. The defense wanted Madison to take the stand in order to undermine testimony from actress Ashley Matthau, one of the uncharged supporting witnesses. Matthau, who’s accusing Weinstein of sexual battery, claims the former mogul

A jury has been selected in the Paul Haggis rape trial, which is set to begin with opening remarks on Wednesday morning in New York City. Haggis, the Oscar-winning director of “Crash” and screenwriter of “Million Dollar Baby,” has been accused of raping a publicist named Haleigh Breest after a movie premiere nearly a decade

In addition to bestowing Variety’s Legends and Groundbreakers Award on Ron Howard, the festival will recognize several creatives at their 2022 Festival Honors on Oct. 16 and Eddie Redmayne on Oct. 15. Eddie RedmayneIcon Award When Oscar winner Redmayne sat down in his first production meeting for “The Good Nurse,” his daughter had just been

Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions nabbed “Somewhere in Queens,” a heartfelt comedy from writer-director Ray Romano. Romano, who stars in the movie as a working-class dad, also directed, co-wrote and produced “Somewhere in Queens” in his feature filmmaking debut. The film will be released theatrically by Roadside Attractions in 2023.  “I am so excited to know

Damien Chazelle’s Hollywood epic “Babylon” will open in theaters across the country on Dec. 23. Paramount initially planned to debut the movie in select theaters on Dec. 25 before expanding it nationwide on Jan. 6. Sources close to “Babylon” suggest the earlier release date points to the studio’s confidence in the film, which carries a

The Newport Beach Film Festival is attracting more interest from Hollywood as it opens its 23rd edition Oct. 13. The festival, which runs through Oct. 20 will feature a battalion of acclaimed films and attract talent for its numerous awards. This year’s opening night screening is the Daniel Radcliffe-led biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,”

VFX educator Pam Hogarth and Pixar’s Pete Docter were among the honorees at this year’s Visual Effects Society Honors Celebration. The in-person ceremony took place on Oct. 14 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, Calif., where VES members celebrated their colleagues’ achievements and the organization’s 25th anniversary. Docter, Pixar’s chief creative officer best

Academy Award nominated screenwriter Rian Johnson met editor Bob Ducsay a little over 10 years ago when Johnson called on the editor behind “The Mummy” and “Catch Me If You Can” to cut his film “Looper.” A lunchtime meeting would turn one job into an ongoing collaboration, as the duo has since teamed on “Knives

Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.” Attention, Marvel and DC! Julia Roberts would love to be in a superhero movie. When I suggested the idea to the Oscar winner at the “Ticket to Paradise” premiere in L.A., she beamed, “Wouldn’t it be awesome?” Her co-star George Clooney added, “We should do one — you

Spanish streamer Filmin is set to launch its latest original series, “Autodefensa,” a semi-autobiographical show about two young women in Barcelona living a wild and care-free life while also struggling with the conflicts and frustrations faced by Generation Z. Co-created by Miguel Ángel Blanca (“Magaluf Ghost Town”) and stars Berta Prieto and Belén Barenys, “Autodefensa”

August Diehl (“A Hidden Life”) is set to star in Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov‘s film adaptation of the best-selling French novel “The Disappearance of Josef Mengele” which will start shooting in early June. Produced by Charles Gillibert at CG Cinema (“Annette”) and Ilya Stewart at Hype Studios (“Tchaikovsky’s Wife”), the film will star Diehl as Mengele, the

UFC Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas’s life story will be the subject of “Thug Rose: Mixed Martial Artist,” a new documentary that will debut at the Austin Film Festival before premiering on Fight Pass, the combat sport’s official streaming service. The film was produced by UFC, which hopes it will be the first of many such

Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” will open the 44th edition of the Cairo Film Festival, the Arab world’s venerable cinematic showcase, which takes place Nov. 13 – 22. The Oscar-winning director’s semi-autobiographical film, which follows the formative years of a young man who discovers movies as a means to help him see the truth about others

SINGAPORE BANS ‘#LOOKATME’ Singapore has banned the release of “#LookAtMe,” a feature film by local director Ken Kwek. The InfoComm Media Development Authority said that the film exceeds film classification guidelines because it denigrates a religious community. Supposedly based in true events, the film depicts a man who is offended by a pastor who preaches

If it seems like Jonathan Majors is everywhere lately, that’s because he has been. Michael B. Jordan shared the first official look of Majors as boxer Damian “Dame” Anderson in “Creed III” on Monday morning, but Variety caught up with the actor over the weekend at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Gala and the

Talent agent Brandon Liebman has parted ways with longtime employer WME, multiple sources tell Variety. A partner at the power agency since 2014, Liebman’s exit was announced in a brief companywide memo circulated on Monday. WME declined to comment on the matter. Liebman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Liebman’s contract was

When Jennifer Siebel Newsom was caught in the midst of a sex scandal in 2007, she reached out to Harvey Weinstein for help. Siebel Newsom, who was identified by the L.A. Times as Jane Doe 4 last week, emailed Weinstein in 2007, two years after he allegedly raped her, seeking advice for how to handle “bad

Kevin Spacey became visibly distraught in a New York City courtroom on Monday afternoon, breaking down as he blamed his publicist for convincing him to publicly apologize to Anthony Rapp in 2017 after the “Star Trek: Discovery” actor accused him of sexual misconduct. “I was being encouraged to apologize and I’ve learned a lesson, which

From Billy Eichner’s “Bros” to David O. Russell’s star-studded “Amsterdam,” October 2022 has been a notable month for high-profile box office bombs. Not that bad box office ever reflects a movie’s quality. Martin Scorsese recently went viral for railing against the industry’s obsession with box office numbers and judging films based on the strength of

“Black Adam” is rated PG-13 for “sequences of strong violence, intense action and some language,” but it turns out the first several cuts of the film were even more violent. Producers Beau Flynn and Hiram Garcia confirmed to Collider that “Black Adam” originally earned an R rating, and it took “four rounds” of cuts for

Focus Features has set A.V. Rockwell’s “A Thousand and One,” starring Teyana Taylor, for theatrical release on March 31, 2023. Written and directed by A.V. Rockwell in her feature-length directorial debut, the film centers on unapologetic and free-spirited Inez (Taylor), who kidnaps her six-year-old son Terry from the foster care system. As the film’s official

“Schitt’s Creek” co-creator Dan Levy is making his feature film directing debut with “Good Grief,” a bittersweet comedy set at Netflix. The movie will star Levy, Ruth Negga (“Passing”), Himesh Patel (“Station Eleven”), Luke Evans (“Beauty and the Beast”), Celia Imrie (“Better Things”), Arnaud Valois (“Spring Blossom”), David Bradley (“Game of Thrones”) and Jamael Westman

The teaser trailer for the long-awaited “A Christmas Story” sequel is jam-packed with holiday nostalgia. From dusty “fragile” leg lamps to triple dog dare mistakes, the first look at the HBO Max movie sequel, officially titled “A Christmas Story Christmas,” promises all the holiday retread you could shake a turkey leg at. The original Ralphie,

The Rio Intl. Film Festival wrapped Monday amid political tension and with a strong local competition that awarded Marcelo Gomes’ “Paloma” the top film prize. It is based on the true story of a poor trans woman who struggled to marry her partner in a religious ceremony. Following compact editions over the past three years,

The import of crafting an original song for “Till,” director and co-writer Chinonye Chukwu’s heart-wrenching biopic on the execution of Emmett Till and the quest for justice led by his mother, Mamie, was never lost on Jazmine Sullivan and Dernst “D’Mile’ Emile II, the songwriters, performer and producer, respectively, of “Stand Up.” Soon to be

Kevin Spacey said that he struggled to come out publicly as gay because of his father’s racist, homophobic and antisemitic views. “My father was a white supremacist and a neo-Nazi,” Spacey said of his father, Thomas Fowler. “I have never talked about these things publicly ever.” He added, “I grew up in a very complicated

Paul Dano has been acting since the early 2000s, but it took playing the Riddler opposite Robert Pattinson in “The Batman” for the world to start noticing the 38-year-old in his every day life. As part of a new GQ cover story, Dano said he now gets recognized in public when he least expects it.

France’s Tamasa Distribution has acquired a number of new films and classic titles, including works by Volker Schlondörff, Signe Baumane, Alain Cavalier and Jean-Louis Bertucelli. The Paris-based distributor secured Schlondörff’s new documentary “The Forest Maker,” a portrait of Australian agronomist Tony Rinaudo, who has found a way to grow trees in the most barren areas

The Critics Choice Documentary Awards has announced its nominees, with Sara Dosa’s lava-fueled love story “Fire of Love” leading the field with seven nominations, including best documentary feature and director. Co-distributed by National Geographic and Neon, the film’s early release date has seemed to have no effect on its awards prospects, with its critical acclaim

“Ticket to Paradise,” a romantic comedy that reunites long-time friends and co-stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney, could defy box office odds. Admittedly, it seems strange to suggest a movie with megawatt talent like Roberts and Clooney could be anything other than a massive triumph. But even in pre-pandemic times, romantic comedies were challenged at