Movies

On the heels of a world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival and ahead of its bow in New Directors competition at San Sebastian, BFF, who heads international sales, has given Variety exclusive access to the trailer for Nicaraguan director Laura Baumeister’s debut feature, “Daughter of Rage.” The film follows 11-year-old María and her mother, Lilibeth, who

One of the five projects at the 5th ECAM Madrid Film School’s Incubator, a six-month producer mentorship initiative, “Macramé” explores the politics of sex in the story of a bourgeoise 70-year-old woman with a passion for macramé.  Her life shifts radically when her 64-year-old Ecuadorian housekeeper makes her feel the knots in her skin, sparking a mutual

Playing in the prestigious New Directors’ section at San Sebastián, “Woman at Sea” (“Grand Marin”), a beautifully shot adaptation of the best-selling book of the same name, marks the feature directing debut of Russian actor Dinara Drukarova, who also stars in the film.  Sold by Loco Films, “Woman at Sea” is produced by Marianne Slot

Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner will serve as executive producers of the 95th Oscars, which will take place in March 2023. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Bill Kramer announced the producing duo, both of White Cherry Entertainment, on Saturday morning. Along with producing, Weiss will serve as director for the ceremony for

“The Woman King” has found its throne at the box office. The Sony release is drumming up a projected $18 million opening from 3,765 locations, in line with most analysts’ estimates heading into the weekend. The epic also benefited from landing some premium format auditoriums, such as Imax, lending an additional boost to revenue. Though

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages are Davis’ assessment of the current standings of the race and

After wowing a home crowd at the opening night of the San Sebastián Film Festival on Friday, looking dazzling at 48, Spain’s best-known actress, Penélope Cruz, spoke to a packed auditorium at the city’s Tabakalera culture center on Saturday when she was honored with Spain’s National Cinematography Prize. “It is truly an honor for me

Spanish production and distribution company Elamedia has acquired “Tengo sueños eléctricos” (I Have Electric Dreams), the Locarno prize-winning debut by director Valentina Maurel, which will screen in the Horizontes Latinos section of the San Sebastian Film Festival. Elamedia will be releasing the film in Spanish theaters later this year. Set in Costa Rica, “Electric Dreams”

Austrian director Ulrich Seidl has cancelled his visit to San Sebastian for the Sept. 18 world premiere of “Sparta,” amid allegations of impropriety and child exploitation made against the director. The world premiere will still go ahead at San Sebastian with the film playing in main competition contending for San Sebastian’s Gold Shell. Seidl’s decision

In the little-remembered 1950 noir “The Damned Don’t Cry,” Joan Crawford plays a Texan housewife whose grief for her late son spurs her to make a new life for herself in the urban underworld. Fyzal Boulifa’s exquisite new film of the same title is named expressly for that Crawford vehicle, but is neither a remake

If you’re someone who considers themself a foodie (and I totally am), chances are there was a moment in the last few years when you had The Awakening. It may have been when the waiter was describing the veal marrow with beat foam served with baby lettuces from New Zealand. It may have been when

As the pioneer of premium cable, HBO became popular for a programming lineup that offered plenty of adult-oriented choices alongside shows for children. But the cabler’s streaming service HBO Max continues to make tweaks in the wake of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, film enthusiasts are fearful the service is over-compensating in trying to protect

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you have watched “The Barbarian,” playing in theaters now. Actor Matthew Patrick Davis was flying blind when he signed on to play the monstrous Mother in 20th Century Studios’ horror hit, “Barbarian.” “There are usually renderings that you can see, but I was not shown anything,” he explained, having

The only soul Satan himself would come up to collect is getting a follow-up film. “Constantine” is back. Variety can confirm that Warner Bros. will make a sequel to the 2005 supernatural action film “Constantine” starring Keanu Reeves. The blockbuster star will reunite with original director Francis Lawrence, best known for taking over the “Hunger

Henry Silva, an actor with a striking look who often played villains and had credits in hundreds of films including “Ocean’s Eleven” and “The Manchurian Candidate,” died of natural causes Wednesday at the Motion Picture Picture and Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Calif., his son Scott confirmed. He was 94. One of

Sony Pictures has announced the “return of the original ‘Karate Kid’ franchise” to the big screen by dating a new “Karate Kid” movie for June 7, 2024. While the franchise has lived on thanks to Netflix’s “Cobra Kai” series, which just debuted its fifth season on the streaming platform, this new “Karate Kid” project will

Disney and Marvel Studios announced at the D23 Expo that “Unorthodox” Emmy nominee Shira Haas is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the superhero Sabra in the upcoming fourth “Captain America” movie, officially titled “Captain America: New World Order.” In the comics, Sabra is a mutant who serves as a Mossad agent. The character’s inclusion

Universal has merged its brand development team with its parks and resorts merchandise group to create the newly formed products and experiences division. The current Universal Brand Development president, Vince Klaseus, will lead the new division. He will report directly to Mark Woodbury, chairman and CEO, Universal Parks and Resorts. Universal Parks and Resorts in

In the DC Extended Universe, it’s not the villains who have identity issues, but the heroes. Bruce Wayne watched his parents get murdered, adopted a teenage sidekick and now spends his nights cosplaying as the creature everyone associates with vampires. Kal-El also saw his parents die and goes through life trying to pass as the

On Friday, during the 18th edition of the Camden Intl. Film Festival, organizers unveiled a Diane Weyermann Fellowship at Points North Institute. Weyermann, the former chief content officer at Participant and former director of the Sundance Institute’s documentary film program, died last October of cancer. She was 66. In addition to an apartment in New

Super, the boutique distribution label from Neon, has acquired U.S. rights to Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer” after it won the Silver Lion Grand Jury prize in Venice along with the Luigi De Laurentiis Lion of the Future award. “Saint Omer” was recently shortlisted for France’s submission to the Academy Awards and will premiere at the

British Columbia Takes Steps to Tackle Growth It’s estimated that the production workforce in Vancouver, B.C., needs to expand by up to 5% annually, or 1,000 people a year, and those figures are drawn from a study conducted in 2017, before the streaming wars went into high gear. To help accommodate the growth, government-supported independent

When PBS announced in 2017 that vaunted documentarian Ken Burns was hard at work on a four-part docuseries about Muhammad Ali, to debut in 2021, the news was greeted with much anticipation: one of the film world’s greats on the Greatest. The only hint of criticism came from some who thought Ali’s life was already

Sony’s “The Woman King,” starring Viola Davis, has earned $1.7 million at the domestic box office, as theatergoers slowly embrace one of the first major studio releases in a few weeks. The historical epic, co-financed by eOne and TriStar Pictures, is aiming for a $15 million opening this weekend, where it doesn’t face much competition

Trevor Noah has joined the growing number of celebrities fighting back against racist backlash to Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid,” which stars singer Halle Bailey as the mermaid princess Ariel. Some fans are upset that a Black actor is headlining the new movie, to which Noah responded: “Really, people — we’re doing this again?” Addressing

The first part of “The Strangers,” a trilogy directed by Renny Harlin and produced by Lionsgate, has started production in Slovakia. Rastislav Kuril’s Frame Film is servicing the production in the country. The producers registered for the 33% cash rebate at the Slovak Audiovisual Fund in June, Film New Europe reports. Filming on the first

Packing its first full-on onsite edition since the pandemic, Spain’s San Sebastian Festival has never been busier or bigger. 10 Takes on what is shaping up as a vibrant edition:    Playing Off Powerful Market Forces Nine of Netflix’s 20 Top 10 non-English-language films and TV series are sourced from Spain or Latin America. Platforms

Thanks in part to a strong co-production drive, 13 Mexican-nationality movies play at San Sebastian this year, a major presence.  Perlak frames Alejandro G. Iñarritu Venice player “Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths.”  Much of the heat, in industry terms at least, will come from the the premieres and sneak peeks.   In one highlight,

A humdrum thriller that clumsily digs into themes of sexual and emotional trauma, Amy Redford’s sophomore feature “Roost” follows Anna (Grace Van Dien), an archetypal perceptive teenage girl on the cusp of maturity. Because she’s the observant kind who yearns for big ideas and possibilities outside of her small suburban world, it’s no surprise that

Imagine a domineering father so dead set on messing with his two sons’ heads that he gives them both the same name. The ghost of one such dad haunts Rodrigo García’s “Raymond & Ray,” a tired, mild-mannered road trip drama that does the opposite of taking the path less traveled. Portraying the two Rays, stars